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By Paul R. Krugman
Publisher W W Norton & Co Inc
Publication date April 30, 2012
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / General
Unemployment; United States; History; 21st century.
Recessions; United States; History; 21st century.
Financial crises; United States; History; 21st century.
POLITICAL SCIENCE / Economic Conditions
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economic Conditions
How Markets Fail | Lords of Finance | The Accidental Theorist | The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 | The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 | The Conscience of a Liberal | Den of Thieves
A call-to-arms from Nobel Prize–winning economist and best-selling author Paul Krugman.
The Great Recession is more than four years old―and counting. Yet, as Paul Krugman points out in this powerful volley, "Nations rich in resources, talent, and knowledge―all the ingredients for prosperity and a decent standard of living for all―remain in a state of intense pain."
How bad have things gotten? How did we get stuck in what now can only be called a depression? And above all, how do we free ourselves? Krugman pursues these questions with his characteristic lucidity and insight. He has a powerful message for anyone who has suffered over these past four years―a quick, strong recovery is just one step away, if our leaders can find the "intellectual clarity and political will" to end this depression now.
from W W Norton & Co Inc (April 30, 2012)
9780393088779 | details & prices | 259 pages | 6.25 × 8.50 × 0.75 in. | 1.20 lbs | List price $24.95
About: A call-to-arms from Nobel Prize–winning economist and best-selling author Paul Krugman.
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We're a hawk on the issues.
Clinton Outlines Plans for Mental Health Reform
By: Eric Carriere
Hillary Clinton stated on Monday the importance of understanding, recognizing, and treating mental health, vowing to make it a prioritized issue of her administration, should she win the Presidency.
The Hill reports:
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is vowing to make mental health reform a top priority in her first year in office, marking a potential area of compromise with Republicans in Congress.
The Clinton campaign outlined a wide-ranging mental health agenda on Monday that would help people suffering from bipolar disorder or schizophrenia as well as to drug and alcohol addicts and struggling veterans.
In addition to expanding access to medical services and prevention, Clinton said she would prioritize training for law enforcement about “prioritizing treatment over jail.”
The opening salvo of those efforts would be a White House Conference on Mental Health in Clinton’s first year, she said. She would also coordinate national efforts like a suicide prevention campaign headed by the surgeon general, with a focus on college campuses.
Suicide is among the leading causes of death for young adults; the national rate of suicide increased about 24 percent for all ages between 1999 and 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Clinton’s campaign said the plan is aimed at “finally putting the treatment of mental health on par with that of physical health,” answering a long-time call to action by advocates.
“The next generation must grow up knowing that mental health is a key component of overall health and there is no shame, stigma, or barriers to seeking out care,” Clinton’s plan reads.
Mental health reform has long been a policy aim of the Republican-led Congress, and it stands to be a key area of compromise under a potential Clinton-controlled White House and a GOP-controlled House.
Republicans in Congress first began drafting mental health legislation in 2012 as the party’s response to the Newtown, Conn., mass shooting. That bill had been repeatedly stalled by GOP leaders until the House overwhelmingly approved a bill by longtime sponsor Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) in June. The Senate has yet to take up the legislation, though Republicans have said they hope it will be sent to Obama’s desk this year.
As first lady, Clinton spoke at her own White House Conference on Mental Health in 1999, where she also discussed mental health reform as a way to help prevent mass shootings.
One year after the deadly Columbine shootings in Littleton, Colo., Clinton said she and many people believed “there may have been signs, there may have been some way that we could have intervened and prevented,” according to a transcript of the event.
“So what can we do to intervene early, before mental illness causes a child to be violent to others or, as we see increasingly, to be a victim of suicide, which is a leading cause of death of young people?”
Photo credit: CNN/Screenshot.
Kanye West Threatens To Leave U.S. Over Racism
Outrageously Racist Richard Sherman Twitter Comments Hit Internet
Does Racism Cause Premature Births?
VIDEO: Pastor Slams Biracial Marriages In Racist Sermon
Columnist: Obama Has Done More to Fuel Racism Than Anyone in History
Ben Stein: Obama’s The ‘Most Racist President There Has Ever Been’
NAACP Chapter President is a White Woman Who Has Pretended to Be Black for Years, Family Outs Her
Men's Rights Activists: It's 'Hard to Blame' Shooter Who Killed Woman He Was Fired for Sexually Harassing
Milo Yiannopoulos Disinvited from CPAC
Lewandowski Saw No Evidence of Voter Fraud in New Hampshire
Archives Select Month February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013
Pence Says He and Trump Support ‘Free and Independent Press’ February 21, 2017
Lewandowski Saw No Evidence of Voter Fraud in New Hampshire February 21, 2017
Vandals Destroy 100 Headstones at Jewish Cemetery February 21, 2017
Swedish Police Dispute Film That Influenced Trump Remarks February 21, 2017
Michael Moore Launches ‘Resistance Calendar’ to Track Anti-Trump Events February 21, 2017
Ex-CIA Analyst Resigns Rather Than Serve Trump Administration February 21, 2017
Simon & Schuster Canceling Publication of Yiannopoulos Book February 21, 2017
Anti-Trump Protests Swell Outside Parliament During Debate on Official Visit February 21, 2017
Milo Yiannopoulos Disinvited from CPAC February 21, 2017
Pruitt Confirmation Sets Stage for Trump EPA Assault February 21, 2017
Breitbart Employees Threaten Exit over Yiannopoulos February 21, 2017
Former Swedish PM: More Murders in Florida Where Trump Spoke Than in Sweden Last Year February 21, 2017
Kasich: The Media Is ‘an Important Part of Democracy’ February 20, 2017
Pentagon Chief: ‘I Don’t Have Any Issues with the Press’ February 20, 2017
Chelsea Clinton Attends Muslim Solidarity Rally in NYC February 20, 2017
Copyright © 2020 Issue Hawk
Web Development by ONCE Interactive ©
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Balochistan, Pakistan, Politics
Awaran — Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur
The government and its ministers along with the army are quick to blame the Baloch for putting up hurdles in relief work and the social media and the mainstream media join the chorus
Awaran, a place that already was suffering from shocks of long-drawn army and Frontier Corps operations in their effort to contain the brave and unflinching resistance that Dr Allah Nazar and the people there are putting up against their attempts to make people meekly submit to exploitation, was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on September 24. The UN humanitarian envoy, Dr Abdullah Al-Matouq, said the UN was ready to help with relief work in Balochistan’s earthquake-affected areas but the Pakistani authorities have refused. This isn’t the first time that the disaster-stricken Baloch have been left at the mercy of the vagaries of nature and elements on a flimsy security concerns excuse for which the establishment itself is to blame. When Balochistan was battered by Cyclone Yemyin in June 2007 causing flooding affecting 1.5 million people, the international relief organisations were suddenly stopped on the security concerns excuse. Even the relief operations of the Baloch Students Organisation (BSO) and other nationalist organisations were stopped and camps disbanded. The same is true today; early Thursday morning some Baloch students of Dera Ghazi Khan (DGK) put up a camp at the Traffic Chowk near the DGK Press Club to collect supplies for the Awaran quake victims but were soon rudely stopped by intelligence agencies personnel. Independent news reports confirm that the relief supplies being sent by individuals and NGOs are stopped by the FC, which says only it will distribute them. The National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) and Provincial Disaster Management Agency handouts claiming relief are bogus as reports prove no supplies had reached either Gajjar or Malaar till Friday.
Continue reading Awaran — Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur →
AwaranBalochBSOEarthquake
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, News, Pakistan, Religion
Another bloodbath in Pakistan in the name of religion – 100 casualties after jihadi terrorist strike
Market bombing kill 33 in Pakistan’s Peshawar: police
By Hamid Ullah Khan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan: (Reuters) – Twin blasts in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar killed 33 people and wounded 70 on Sunday, a week after bombings at a church there killed scores, police and hospital authorities said.
Read more » Reuter
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/29/us-pakistan-bomb-blast-idUSBRE98S02420130929
Via – Facebook
AfpakextremismFATAFundamentalismJihadiPeshawarTaliban
Human Rights, Politics, Religion, Sindh
Scheduled castes give voice to woes
28/09/2013 iaoj 3 Comments
SADIQABAD – Arjun Das Advocate, chairman of Pakistan Meghwar Council, has regretted that the representative of a caste having only 3,500 votes is present in the National Assembly but the scheduled castes which have 1.4 million votes has no representative in the assembly on the 10 seats reserved for minorities in Pakistan.
Likewise in Sindh province, 75 percent people of the minority belonged to the scheduled castes while their no representative is present in the Sindh Assembly and the same situation was in the Senate, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and the Balochistan Assembly. He said that it was proved that the process of getting representatives from the minorities in the assemblies was non-democratic, discriminatory and unjust. Therefore, he demanded, the method should be changed immediately. He also said that the communities’ members belonged to their respective parties and they do not represent the public thus they had no courage to raise a voice for the communities’ welfare nor they could heel their wounds by solving their problems.
Continue reading Scheduled castes give voice to woes →
Castesscheduledvoice
International, News, Sindh, Sindhi
Sindhi U.S Marine
By Hanif Sangi
This is little over due, but I want to congratulate Washingtonian Sindhi family for successful enlistment of their son Umer Bhutto in bravest force, The U.S Marines. Our elite Marines have long history of service to this greatest nation. Sindhis have repeatedly proved to be the finest warriors in the world, many have served the United States Armed Forces and number of Sindhi service members continues to grow. I share the pride of service to our adopted country and THANK him for volunteering to go above and beyond the call of duty. Its not easy to leave the luxuries of life, put boots on and be on duty 24 hours a day. Indeed, freedom is not free.
Courtesy: SANA list, September 28, 2013
BraveMarineU.SUmer BhuttowarriorsWashington
Culture, Sindh, Sindhi
Steeped in ancient mysticism, passion of Pakistani Sufis infuriates Taliban
28/09/2013 iaoj 1 Comment
Excerpt; …. At a crossroads of historic trade routes, religions and cultures, Sindh has always been a poor but religiously tolerant place, shielded by its embrace of Sufism from religion-centric militancy sweeping other parts of Pakistan.
Read more » DAWN
http://www.dawn.com/news/1045796/steeped-in-ancient-mysticism-passion-of-pakistani-sufis-infuriates-taliban
History, Life, Sindh, Sindhi
Mysterious Mohenjo-daro, Sindh
Mohenjo-daro meaning Mound of the Dead was one of the largest city settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization which thrived in ancient times along the Indus River. Mohenjo-daro itself is located in Larkano District in the modern day province of Sindh. Built before 2600 BC, the city was one of the earliest urban settlements in the world, existing at the same time as the civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Crete. The archaeological remains of the city are designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
AncientcivilizationEgyptIndusLarkanoMesopotamiaMohenjo-daromysteriousSindhValley
Balochistan, Human Rights, Life, News, Pakistan, Politics
Reuters – Special Report: The struggle Pakistan does not want reported
By Matthew Green, Reuter
KARACHI, Pakistan | Tue Sep 24, 2013 11:10am EDT – (Reuters) – Abdul Razzaq Baloch worked nights. After dinner, he would start his shift as a proofreader at the Daily Tawar, a newspaper published on a shoe-string from a cramped office in Karachi, Pakistan’s commercial capital. At 2 a.m., the 42-year-old would make the short journey home on his new Super Star motorbike.
One night in March, Baloch did not return. His phone was switched off and his bike was missing. His family made enquiries with the police, then hospitals, and finally in the lanes of Lyari, the gritty neighborhood where they live.
The word on the street was that Baloch had been kidnapped, his relatives said. He had last been seen as he was bundled into a white SUV with a blanket over his head.
Speaking to Reuters two months later, Saeeda Sarbazi, Baloch’s outspoken sister, was in no doubt as to the identities of the culprits: Pakistan’s intelligence services.
“This case is like a bombshell – nobody we go to wants to touch it,” Sarbazi said at the family home in Lyari, where his wife and four children awaited his return. “People are scared that the agencies will harm them.”
On August 21, Baloch’s body was found dumped amid the brambles overrunning wasteground in Suranji Town, a scrappy neighborhood on Karachi’s northwestern fringe. A piece of paper bearing his name had been stuffed into his pocket. His hands were tied; he had been strangled. Pakistan’s military, which has repeatedly denied involvement in extra-judicial killings, did not respond to a request for comment on Baloch’s death.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/24/us-pakistan-disappearances-specialreport-idUSBRE98N0OA20130924
BalochDaily TawarEstablishmentextra-judicialSaeeda Sarbazi
International, News, Religion
Kenyan mall shooting: ‘They threw grenades like maize to chickens’
By Guy Alexander
Nairobi’s most upmarket retail centre became a scene of carnage as terrorist gangs armed with AK-47s and grenades singled out victims. Guy Alexander reports
Read more » The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/21/nairobi-shopping-centre-terror-attack
extremismFundamentalismNairobiSomali
Balochistan, Pakistan
Eyewash — Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur
Because of the massively warped allocations, no educational institution in Balochistan would be able to compete with those in Punjab
During the recent ‘missing persons’ hearing in Quetta the Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said that there is no proper checking in the city. The check posts manned by the Frontier Corps (FC), customs and police are just an ‘eyewash’; ‘hogwash’ would be more appropriate, and smuggling continues as the FC border check posts are simply symbolic and used for making money. He said that the available evidence showed the FC personnel’s involvement in some incidents of missing persons, and the missing persons’ relatives blame the FC for disappearances. Apparently, it has only now dawned on them that all that happens in Balochistan is an eyewash; the people of Balochistan have always known these injustices and have been trying to rouse sleeping consciences but failed. All institutional measures and actions there are hogwash.
Continue reading Eyewash — Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur →
Eyewashhogwash
Life, News, Pakistan, Punjab
Four sisters kill themselves over dowry
MULTAN: Four sisters killed themselves after a row with their father who could not afford dowries for them to get married, officials said on Friday.
The women threw themselves into a canal after arguing with their father in Mailsi, a town in the rural southern part of Punjab province. A fifth sister was pulled alive from the water.
“A poor farmer, Bashir Ahmed Rajput, could not marry his five daughters because he had no money to offer dowry,” Malik Daud Hasnain, a senior police official told AFP. “After an argument on the issue on Thursday, his daughters became desperate and jumped together into a water canal.”
Read more » The Express Tribune
http://tribune.com.pk/story/606970/four-sisters-kill-themselves-over-dowry/
canaldowryFour sistersMailsiMultanpoor farmer
Islamabad, News, Pakistan
Pakistani squash star beat Netherlands’ Milou van der Heijden to win the first ever women’s Nash Cup title.
Maria Toor becomes first female Nash Cup champion
By Taimur Sikander
Pakistan’s squash player Maria Toorpakai Wazir put her name in the history books by winning the first ever women’s event in the Nash Cup in Canada by beating Milou van der Heijden of the Netherlands 13-11, 11-3, 11-9.
The victory gave Maria, who hails from South Waziristan, the third title of her WSA career after she won the Southwest Squash Open and the Liberty Bell Open last year in the US and was another milestone in her journey of immense courage and perseverance.
http://dawn.com/news/1044455/maria-toor-becomes-first-female-nash-cup-champion
courageFemalefirstMariamilestoneMilouNash Cup ChampionSquashToorpakai Wazir
International, News
21 September: International Peace Day
“On this International Day of Peace, let us pledge to teach our children the value of tolerance and mutual respect. Let us invest in the schools and teachers that will build a fair and inclusive world that embraces diversity. Let us fight for peace and defend it with all our might.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.
Read more » UN.org
http://www.un.org/en/events/peaceday/
DaydiversityEducationhelpInternationalLovePeacetogethertoleranceUN
Life, Personalities, Sindh, Sindhi
AMAZING SINDHI WOMAN
A CLASS OF HER OWN
By Rahul Bhattacharya
Long Read: In the squatter colonies of Pakistan, education is something that happens to other people—especially if you are female. Rahul Bhattacharya meets Humaira Bachal who, as a girl, taught a whole community a lesson
From INTELLIGENT LIFE magazine, September/October 2013
IN THE SETTLEMENT of Moach Goth on the outskirts of Karachi lives a heroine. To meet her you must drive out towards the provincial border of Sindh and Balochistan. En route to Moach Goth, you are shown the flyover that collapsed, the factory that burned, and an entrance to Lyari, the ghetto whose gang wars and body-counts are in the papers every day.
Continue reading AMAZING SINDHI WOMAN →
Humaira BachalLyariMoach Gothwoman
Culture, Religion, Sindh, Sindhi
Sindhis are Secular Sufi Humanist Nation & civilized community on Earth
“As I grow older. I’m enjoying my Sindhiness more. Discovering that Sindhis aren’t really very worried about whether they are Hindus or Muslims came as a bonus (I wish we’d had some Christian and Zorastrian and Jewish Sindhi too). A community that values its cultural equity and treats religion as a personal affair has to be one of the most civilized communities on earth!” Rajiv Badlani in Sindhi Reflections, a book by Lata Jagtiani.
Courtesy: Via Facebook
agnosticcivilizedCommunityHumanistMysticNationsecularSofiSufi
News, Pakistan, Religion, Sindh, Sindhi
Sindhis are so-called Muslims – Justice Musheer Alam
To read more in urdu language » News Plus 24
http://www.newsplus24.com/2013/09/15/justice-mushir-alam-main-aap-ki-toheen-karta-hon/
HindusJusticeMusheer AlamMuslimsso-called
Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, News, Pakistan
Upper Dir: TTP claim responsibility for killing 3 army officers
PESHAWAR: Roadside bomb attacks and a Taliban ambush on Sunday killed seven soldiers or policemen including two senior army officers in Pakistan’s troubled northwest, the military said.
The banned militant outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have claimed responsibility for the Upper Dir blast.
A major general and a lieutenant colonel were visiting troop positions in the Upper Dir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, along the Afghan border, when their vehicle hit a bomb which killed them and a private soldier.
“Maj Gen Sanaullah and Lt Col Touseef embraced Shahadat (martyrdom) this morning. They were returning after visiting troop posts on Pak-Afghan Border,” the military said in a statement.
It said the roadside bomb near the border had also killed Lance Naik Irfan, and injured two other soldiers.
Separately, two roadside bomb attacks in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan, killed two soldiers on Sunday and wounded four others, security officials said.
In the neighbouring district of Bannu Taliban militants ambushed a convoy of tribal police early Sunday, killing two of them and wounding four others, the officials said.
Pakistan says more than 40,000 people have died in bomb and suicide attacks by Taliban and Al-Qaeda-led militants who oppose Islamabad’s US alliance.
The Pakistani Taliban, responding to a government offer of talks to end their revolt, on Sunday announced preconditions – a troop withdrawal from tribal areas and the release of jailed insurgents.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/604596/3-army-officers-killed-2-injured-in-upper-dir-ied-blast/#.UjXMisaKa8Y.facebook
AfpakarmyextremismFATAFundamentalismGHQISIMajor-GeneralMilitaryRawalpindiStateTaliban
Pastor Who Claimed He Raped Teenage Boys to Keep Them “Sexually Pure” Will Not Serve Jail Time
Iowa’s “rape the gay away” pastor gets his sentence reduced and visitation rights with his children.
By Rod Bastanmehr
Iowa pastor and youth counselor Brent Girouex, who claimed with a straight face that he was trying to “cure” teenage boys of their “homosexual urges” by having sex with them, has had his sentence reduced from 17 years in prison to sex offender treatment and probation.
Read more » AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/rape-away-gay-pastor-gets-sentence-reduced
Brent GirouexcureGayIowapastorrapeSexsex offenderSexually Pure
Pakistan, Politics, Sindh
Pakistani’s Iron Grip, Wielded in Opulent Exile, Begins to Slip
By DECLAN WALSH
LONDON — For two decades, Altaf Hussain has run his brutal Pakistani political empire by remote control, shrouded in luxurious exile in London and long beyond the reach of the law.
He follows events through satellite televisions in his walled-off home, manages millions of dollars in assets and issues decrees in ranting teleconferences that last for hours — all to command a network of influence and intimidation that stretches from North America to South Africa.
This global system serves a very localized goal: perpetuating Mr. Hussain’s reign as the political king of Karachi, the brooding port city of 20 million people at the heart of Pakistan’s economy.
“Distance does not matter,” reads the inscription on a monument near Mr. Hussain’s deserted former house in Karachi, where his name evokes both fear and favor.
Now, though, his painstakingly constructed web is fraying.
A British murder investigation has been closing in on Mr. Hussain, 59, and his party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. His London home and offices have been raided, and the police have opened new investigations into accusations of money laundering and inciting violence in Pakistan.
The scrutiny has visibly rattled Mr. Hussain, who recently warned supporters that his arrest may be imminent. And in Karachi, it has raised a previously unthinkable question: Is the end near for the untouchable political machine that has been the city’s linchpin for three decades?
“This is a major crisis,” said Irfan Husain, the author of “Fatal Faultlines,” a book about Pakistan’s relationship with the United States. “The party has been weakened, and Altaf Hussain is being criticized like never before.”
Continue reading Pakistani’s Iron Grip, Wielded in Opulent Exile, Begins to Slip →
AltafBhaibrutalEmpireextortionistglobalinfluenceIntimidationIran FarooqKarachiLondonLuxurious exilemaniacal styleMQMNine-ZeroPakistaniremote controlTerroristvigorous
Islamabad, News, Pakistan, Punjab
Rs18bn ‘embezzled’ by defence services in 2011-12: repot
KARACHI, Sept 8: An audit report revealed that over Rs18.2 billion had been embezzled, lost due to fraud, theft, misuse of public resources by the defence services comprising the ministries of defence and defence production, it emerged on Sunday.
More details » DAWN
http://dawn.com/news/1041482/rs18bn-embezzled-by-defence-services-in-2011-12-report
armyEstablishmentGHQISIMilitaryRawalpindisecurityState
International, News, Politics
Russian military put on alert for US strike on Syria
By: Vladimir Radyuhin
The Russian military is bracing for what is seen as an imminent U.S. strike in Syria even as Moscow warned that the attack could trigger a nuclear Armageddon.
In addition to five warships deployed in the East Mediterranean, Russia, in recent days, has sent six more ships to the region, including the guided missile cruiser Moskva.
On Wednesday, Russia placed on heightened alert the Central Command Post of the General Staff, the Aerospace Defence command and the country’s intelligence agencies, Defence Ministry officials said.
Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff Valery Gerasimov cancelled a planned visit to Austria on Wednesday, while Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov summoned the U.S. and Israeli military attaches over a test launch of an Israeli missile on Tuesday.
Mr. Antonov described the region a “powder keg” and warned that its fire “may spread, not only to neighbouring states, but to other regions of the world.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a stark warning that a U.S. strike on Syria’s nuclear facilities might result in a nuclear catastrophe.
“If a warhead, by design or by chance, were to hit the Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) near Damascus, the consequences could be catastrophic,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement.
The region would face the risk of “contamination by highly enriched uranium and it would be virtually impossible to account for nuclear material at the facility, its control and safety,” the Russian statement said.
Moscow urged the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to “react swiftly” and carry out “an analysis of the risks linked to possible American strikes on the MNSR and other facilities in Syria.”
Russia intends to bring up the issue at a 35-nation IAEA board meeting that opens on Monday, the Interfax news agency said.
Courtesy: The Hindu
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/russian-military-put-on-alert-for-us-strike-on-syria/article5097142.ece
Aerospace DefencealertCentral CommandcommandCrisiscruiser MoskvaEast MediterraneanGeneral StaffIAEAMilitarynuclear Armageddonpowder kegRussianSyriaU.SUN
Human Rights, International, Life, News, Politics, Video
Brutality of Syrian Rebels Posing Dilemma in West – New York Times
By C. J. CHIVERS
The Syrian rebels posed casually, standing over their prisoners with firearms pointed down at the shirtless and terrified men. The prisoners, seven in all, were captured Syrian soldiers. Five were trussed, their backs marked with red welts. They kept their faces pressed to the dirt as the rebels’ commander recited a bitter revolutionary verse.
Read more » The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/05/world/middleeast/brutality-of-syrian-rebels-pose-dilemma-in-west.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Via – News adopted from Facebook
bitterbrutalitycaptureddilemmaRebelsSoldiersSyriaSyrianwest
International, News, Politics, Video
US Military Contractors Celebrate Record High Profits and Stock Prices
The business of war is more profitable than ever.
Courtesy: The Real News
businesscontractorsHigh ProfitsMilitaryprofitablerecordRussiaSaudiStock PricesSyriaU.SWar
Balochistan, News, Pakistan, Sindh, Sindhi
Baloch-Pashtun-Sindhi Rally in Washington DC
Press release – Wasington DC: A peaceful protest rally is being organized by the Baloch, Sindhi and Pashtun community in North America in front of the White House to draw the attention of the Obama Administration towards the ongoing operations, human right violations, arbitrary arrests, extra-judicial killings, disappearances and genocide in Balochistan, Sindh and Pakhtunkhwa.
In order to defeat the Islamic Extremism and Terrorism in Pakistan, and counter the strategies of countries in the region, the US, instead of sending billions of dollars to Pakistan, should extend a helping hand to the secular Baloch, Sindhi and Pashtun people in their struggle for freedom and justice, who are the best friends of US in the region against the Islamic extremists and terrorists.
We invite all the peace and freedom loving people in the US to come and join us and show their support to the oppressed Baloch, Sindhi, Pashtun people and the people of Gilgit Baltistan in their quest for freedom and justice against the Illegal occupation of their homelands by Pakistan.
WHAT: A Protest Rally to draw the attention of Obama Administration against the ongoing military operation, and human right violations against the Baloch, Sindhi and Pashtun people.
WHEN: Wednesday September 4th, 2013 TIME: 12:00PM to 3:00PM
WHERE: In front of the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, (South West corner of Lafayette Park) Washington, DC. 20500
Organized by: Baloch Society of North America (BSO-NA), Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM), Great Afghanistan Movement (GAM)
Courtesy: Sindhi e-lists/ e-groups, Sept 02, 2013.
BalochBaltistanextremismfreedomGilgitPashtun
Kerry: Arab countries offered to pay for invasion
By Aaron Blake
Secretary of State John Kerry said at Wednesday’s hearing that Arab counties have offered to pay for the entirety of unseating President Bashar al-Assad if the United States took the lead militarily.
“With respect to Arab countries offering to bear costs and to assess, the answer is profoundly yes,” Kerry said. “They have. That offer is on the table.”
Asked by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) about how much those countries would contribute, Kerry said they have offered to pay for all of a full invasion.
“In fact, some of them have said that if the United States is prepared to go do the whole thing the way we’ve done it previously in other places, they’ll carry that cost,” Kerry said. “That’s how dedicated they are at this. That’s not in the cards, and nobody’s talking about it, but they’re talking in serious ways about getting this done.
Read more » The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics-live/liveblog/the-houses-syria-hearing-live-updates/?id=e68f139f-e012-476c-876e-2467ba30e5e3
ArabAssadBasharinvasionpay
International, Pakistan, Politics
Top-secret U.S. intelligence files show new levels of distrust of Pakistan
By Greg Miller, Craig Whitlock and Barton Gellman
The $52.6 billion U.S. intelligence arsenal is aimed mainly at unambiguous adversaries, including al-Qaeda, North Korea and Iran. But top-secret budget documents reveal an equally intense focus on one purported ally: Pakistan.
No other nation draws as much scrutiny across so many categories of national security concern.
A 178-page summary of the U.S. intelligence community’s “black budget” shows that the United States has ramped up its surveillance of Pakistan’s nuclear arms, cites previously undisclosed concerns about biological and chemical sites there, and details efforts to assess the loyalties of counterterrorism sources recruited by the CIA.
Pakistan appears at the top of charts listing critical U.S. intelligence gaps. It is named as a target of newly formed analytic cells. And fears about the security of its nuclear program are so pervasive that a budget section on containing the spread of illicit weapons divides the world into two categories: Pakistan and everybody else.
The disclosures — based on documents provided to The Washington Post by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden — expose broad new levels of U.S. distrust in an already unsteady security partnership with Pakistan, a politically unstable country that faces rising Islamist militancy. They also reveal a more expansive effort to gather intelligence on Pakistan than U.S. officials have disclosed.
The United States has delivered nearly $26 billion in aid to Pakistan over the past 12 years, aimed at stabilizing the country and ensuring its cooperation in counterterrorism efforts. But with Osama bin Laden dead and al-Qaeda degraded, U.S. spy agencies appear to be shifting their attention to dangers that have emerged beyond the patch of Pakistani territory patrolled by CIA drones.
“If the Americans are expanding their surveillance capabilities, it can only mean one thing,” said Husain Haqqani, who until 2011 served as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States. “The mistrust now exceeds the trust.”
Beyond the budget files, other classified documents provided to The Post expose fresh allegations of systemic human rights abuses in Pakistan. U.S. spy agencies reported that high-ranking Pakistani military and intelligence officials had been aware of — and possibly ordered — an extensive campaign of extrajudicial killings targeting militants and other adversaries.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/top-secret-us-intelligence-files-show-new-levels-of-distrust-of-pakistan/2013/09/02/e19d03c2-11bf-11e3-b630-36617ca6640f_story.html
black budgetcounterterrorismdisturstEdwardSnowden
International, Politics
Obama’s Bluff by George Friedman, Stratfor
Stratfor: Obama’s Bluff
Posted by Steven Hansen
By George Friedman, Founder and Chairman, Stratfor
Excerpt;
…. Obama now faces the second time in his presidency when war was an option. The first was Libya. The tyrant is now dead, and what followed is not pretty. And Libya was easy compared to Syria. Now, the president must intervene to maintain his credibility. But there is no political support in the United States for intervention. He must take military action, but not one that would cause the United States to appear brutish. He must depose al Assad, but not replace him with his opponents. He never thought al Assad would be so reckless. Despite whether al Assad actually was, the consensus is that he was. That’s the hand the president has to play, so it’s hard to see how he avoids military action and retains credibility. It is also hard to see how he takes military action without a political revolt against him if it goes wrong, which it usually does.
Read more » Global Economic Intersection
http://econintersect.com/wordpress/?p=40497
AssadbluffcredibilityGeorge FriedmaninterventionLibyaObamaStratforSyria
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My sister and her baby
She is almost two weeks old…..or 27 weeks…
She is doing pretty good for her age….some scares today with her breathing, but over all, she is doing excellent.
When a man you love is abused by Cecil Murphy
I think most of the books you can read or see try to temper the titles to attract readers and a certain type of readers. I think this book just says it out there, who it was written for, but not altogether. I think anyone who has had any contact or wishes to help someone who has suffered any type of abuse, should read this book. It is one of the most helpful, comprehensive guide to actually helping someone. I applaud the author for having the guts it took to write this book as it is really hard for men to admit they suffered at the hands of another. It is even harder to get the people who really need to read this book, to read it. I could think of several people that I wish would read it. But as the title says, it is written for people, who when someone you love, has been abused. This is a book for mothers, wives, girlfriends, sisters, brothers, fathers, whoever cares enough to actually understand the abused person, wants to know how to help them, reach them and be there in a way that can actually help…not harm. I think one of the biggest thing in this book that touched me was the fact that Cecil touched on things bothering a person that have nothing to do with abuse on the surface. He mentions how he hates raspberry jam and it triggered a very bad reaction with him emotionally. He was, as an adult still confused by why it triggered such a reaction for him emotionally, until his sister reminded him that his abuser would use crackers and raspberry jam to lure him to his room.
Cecil is gentle, he is caring and really helps people to see that in this horrible pain, there is hope and healing, and even though the scars remain, he has suggestions to help the healing. I highly recommend this book…..even for those helping female abuse victims. It is excellent! – Martha
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
Today’s Wild Card author is:
Cecil Murphey
and the book:
When a Man You Love Was Abused: A Woman’s Guide to Helping Him Overcome Childhood Sexual Molestation
Kregel Publications (April 7, 2010)
***Special thanks to Danielle Douglas of Douglas Public Relations for sending me a review copy.***
Cecil Murphey has written or coauthored more than one hundred books, including the bestselling book Gifted Hands which has sold more than three million copies, the autobiography of Franklin Graham, Rebel with a Cause and the New York Times bestseller 90 Minutes in Heaven. Murphey currently resides in Georgia.
Visit the author’s website.
Visit the author’s blog.
Publisher: Kregel Publications (April 7, 2010)
AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:
P r e f a c e
A Word about the Names in This Book
When I write nonfiction books I like to provide the full name of the individuals involved. I believe it adds integrity to the material and shows theyre not made-up accounts or composites. In this book, however, I cant do that. This material is much too sensitive and personal.
If I gave my name, one man said, my family might find out, and they wouldnt forgive me. His stepfather had been the perpetrator.
Others who talked to me gave no specific reason other than to say, Im not ready to tell this publicly or Id rather you dont use my name.
Out of respect for these individuals, Ive disguised their identity. If you read only a first name, its for one of three reasons:
1. The person requested I not use his name.
2. Several of the groups in which I participated are like AAand we use only our first names. I tell the story of a man named Red, for example, so called because thats the only name by which I knew him.
3. I no longer have contact with the person and couldnt get permission.
Ive designed this book in two parts, and it doesnt matter which you read first.
Part 1 focuses on male sexual assault and its effects. This part is basically informative, and its purpose is to help you understand the problems that male abuse victims face.
Part 2 is the practical section. The purpose is to show youa woman in the life of a man who was molested as a childwhat you can do to help him.
I n t r o d u c t i o n
If Youre an Important Woman in His Life
He was molestedor at least you suspect he was. That means he was victimized by someone older and more powerful than he was. The man you care for might be your boyfriend, husband, brother, father, or son. He is someone you care about deeply, and because he hurts, you hurt.
He hurts because he was victimized in childhood. Many therapists dont like the word victim or victimized and prefer to speak of survivors. They also dont like the word abused and usually opt for assaulted. The media tends to use the word molested. In this book, I use the terms interchangeably.
Regardless of the word used, something happened to himsomething terrible and frighteningthat will affect him for the rest of his life. Something happened to him that affects your life as well.
Because you care about him, you have also been victimized. Because of your love for him, youve been hurt, and you may have suffered for a long time. But the man you care for didnt hurt you intentionally. He was trying to cope with his problem.
Perhaps years passed before you knew about his childhood pain. During that time, you may have sensed something was wrong. Statistics indicate that men tend to reveal themselves more readily to a woman, usually a wife or girlfriend.
But even if you knew about his experience, how could you have grasped how it would impact your relationship? Because he battled the problem that he couldnt talk about, he did it privately and sometimes not too well. How could you not feel rejected or hurt when he shut you out?
Even if he faced his abuse, he may have excused the perpetrator. Although the man in your life was the victim, he may have felt guilty for the abuse. His undeserved guilt is real. And he hurts.
Because he hurts, you hurt too.
Thats part of your victimization. His reactions, attitudes, and behavior caused you to assume blame and guilt, and youve asked yourself, How did I fail? You may not have voiced those words, but you felt you were the flawed person in the relationship.
If this describes you, you may already have gone through a lengthy period of wondering what was wrong with you. You tormented yourself with questions:
Why does he shut me out?
Why cant I help him?
Why cant I take away his pain?
Why wont he talk to me or allow me into his private world?
How did I fail him?
I love him and try to show him that, so why wont he trust me?
If youre reading this, it means you know, or seriously suspect, that an important male in your life was assaulted in childhood. You love him and want to relieve his pain, but you feel helpless. Or youre sure there must be something you can do to fix him. If you could just figure out the hidden weapon, the magic pill, or the right words, hed be all right.
It isnt that simple. Besides, you cant fix him.
In this book, though, I provide suggestions in part 2 to help you understand and accept him. As you accept his situation and his resulting problems, I hope youll feel better about yourself and accept that his problem is not your fault. You may often need to remind yourself of this fact: it is his battle. You cant fight his inner demons, but you can stand with him when he fights them. He must work through it himself. You can assist him by being available to him, and Ill suggest ways to do that. But it is his struggle and his journey into wholeness.
You may feel more at peace with your inability to heal him if you can think of him as a once-innocent child who was victimized by a predator. This isnt to deny your pain, but you can help him and help yourself if you can start with understanding something from his past.
His experience and his response to it are complex. He has been wounded in several ways, the old wounds reopen in unpredictable ways, and you cant do anything to make him into a whole person. You can stand with him as he seeks and discovers his own healing. As you accept his situation and his resulting problems and behavior, I hope youll feel better about yourself and accept the reality that his problem isnt your fault. He must work through his own emotional issueswith your assistance of love and encouragement.
I want to make an important distinction here. When an adult sexually abuses a boy, many people think of that as a sexual act. Thats not correct. The perpetrators actions werent about sex, and they werent about love for the child. Those who molest have deep-seated problems that go far deeper than sexual exploitation of a child. For the perpetrator, sexual gratification at the expense of a child is a symptom of deeper problems that go beyond the scope of this book.
When adults are attracted to childrencompulsively attractedwe call them pedophiles. Although there are variations in the definition of pedophiles, heres a simple one: the term comes from two Greek wordspaidos, children, and philia, a word for love. It refers to anyonemale or femalewho is sexually attracted to prepubescent children. Ill say it even stronger; they are compulsively attracted. Generally, that means the objects of their desire are children younger than thirteen. Therapists have recorded that some pedophiles visualize themselves as being at the same age as the children they molest. Other therapists would say that pedophiles are adults who are fixated at the prepubescent stage of life.
Just as all assaulted boys wont become homosexuals, the male perpetrator may not be gay. Most of those convicted of molesting boys vehemently deny that they are homosexual and insist they are heterosexual.
Regardless, when an adult molests an innocent child, thats sexual abuse. My intention is not that you try to understand the abuser, or that you feel sorry for that person. By the end of the journey, though, I hope you and the man in your life will be able to forgive and to feel sadness for such individuals.
The perpetratorwhether male or femaleis a sexual abuser of children. Thats the one fact to bear in mind. Sometimes it makes no difference to the perpetrator whether the victims are male or female. This is an important concept for you, the woman in the victims life, to understand. The result of his abuse carries long-lasting effects, and he may not want to talk about the issues related to the abuse for fear of being labeled as homosexual. Or he may feel he is gay because it was a man who molested him. You may need to help him accept that child sexual abuse is not a heterosexual-homosexual issue. Its a crime and a sin that was perpetrated against him.
He probably doesnt understand all that. He may still feel conflicted about what happened to himand about the theft of his innocence. For now, the onceabused child needs support and encouragement. He needs someone he can trust as he copes with his pain and his problems. He needs you.
Some recipes I would like to try
this summer!!!
Avocado Chicken Salad
I think I would probably leave the ginger out, but it looks different enough to try!
Spinach and chicken, pasta salad
This has mandarin oranges and peanut in it and it looks different enough, I am not sure if the boys would eat it…but I can always try! I have fresh spinach that will be ready this week in the garden!
I think I would also like to try this one
Garlic Chicken pasta with sun dried tomatoes
It is not cold, but looks yummy!
OOOhh! And this one!!! This looks so good, if I can turn the oven on when it is a bit cooler!
Spinach Artichoke Calzones
Filed under Bargain Dinners, Recipes
Hard couple of weeks…
I think with everything going on with my sister and then other issues here…like last night I get a call from my sister-in-law that my mother-in-law is in the hospital. My husband adores both his parents, but is especially close to his mother and with his issues with dealing with stress and worry, it was a tense evening. Thankfully, I got a hold of the hospital and was able to confirm she was not in danger of dying, as long as she takes her medication.
I have paperwork to complete, house cleaning to do, which seems like is never ending…but then i ran out of cleanser to clean the toilet awhile back, forgot to pick any up and have been cleaning with other products and it is starting to stink….literally!
I am so tired right now….I have walked at least 6 miles in the past couple days, probably more, but combine that with helping children and running part of that chasing them….lack of proper food as I am running to swimming lessons at dinner time as well as not hungry now that the heat is here…I could just use some prayer and maybe a vacation. I kind of got one with VBS last week, in the mornings, which was nice…but I think I need to work on giving things to God.
Way back in a country garden by Kay Moore
My Review: I just realized I did receive this book and did not get a chance to review it! I will be posting a review later!-Martha
Kay Moore
Way Back in the Country Garden
Hannibal Books (May 1, 2010)
***Special thanks to Jennifer Nelson, PR Specialist, Hannibal Books for sending me a review copy.***
Author Kay Wheeler Moore has written and spoken widely on the subject of relationships and family life. She is the author of Way Back in the Country; When the Heart Soars Free, a book of Christian fiction; and Gathering the Missing Pieces in an Adopted Life, based on her Houston Chronicle newspaper series that was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. She has also been a newspaper city editor and a reporter for United Press International.
Publisher: Hannibal Books (May 1, 2010)
Chapter 1: We Were Rich
The screen door to the farmhouse creaked open and then quickly slapped shut.
Without glancing up from her ironing board Grandma Harris knew the next sound would be that of feet pit-patting from the front porch into the living room and halting abruptly at her dining table.
Those feet, Grandma knew, could belong to any of several of her grandchildren, whose stopovers at her house were part of their regular home-from-school itinerary.
Oh, yum, shes got a fresh bowl full, Grandma heard a high-pitched squeak emerge. That would be Mable, the youngest of Grandmas daughter, Mattie, who lived across the pasture with her family.
I was here first, Mable, a slightly older voice cajoled. Frances, Grandmas namesake, got irritated easily with her smaller sibling. Dont hog the crackers so I can have the first dip.
Weve all gotta be quick before the others get here, the oldest one, Bonnie, warned her younger two sisters. They glanced over their shoulders to see whether any of their cousins were hungrily making their way onto Grandmas porch.
Girls, I got plenty of tomato preserves fer everonefor you and yer cousins, Grandma gently chided. She stepped from the kitchen to hug her granddaughters, who competed for the first taste of the thick, sweet treat that awaited them as an afternoon snack. Take turns, now, so I wont have t tell yer mama ya didnt share politely.
Grandma Harris had put out the new batch of tomato preserves earlier that day after Grandpa fetched several jars from the storm cellar which had housed them since the summers canning. Grandmas long, hot days of putting up delightful red tomatoes from their garden had yielded a treasure trove of preserves Grandma could share throughout the fall and winter.
In mid-afternoon Grandma had opened the first jar and ladled its contents into a wide-rimmed, cutglass compote that stood on a gleaming, glass-stemmed pedestal in the center of her dining table. The cutglass glistened like diamonds as it reflected the suns light filtering through the room. Into a separate dish Grandma had set out some saltine crackers. On this particular afternoon her red-haired granddaughtersBonnie, Frances, and Mable Millerwere the first snack-seekers.
No doubt theyd soon be followed by some of the youngsters of her other sons and daughters whose homes were also nearby.
Ultimately Grandma Harris would go on to begat 52 grandchildren in all, but she never ran out of treats for them or resourceful ways to prepare the many vegetables that she and Grandpa Harris grew in their everlastingly prolific garden. Every Sunday Grandma prepared an enormous, after-church dinner for all of her 11 children and their families who could attend.
Because their farmhouse was closest to Grandmas, the Three Red-Haired Miller Girls, as many in their community of Brushy Mound knew them, hardly ever missed a Sundayor an after-school afternoonat Grandmas house, where her good cooking always abounded.
A century later the Harris farmhouse built on the rich, black soil of Delta County, TX, has long ago crumbled down. Grandmas abundant garden has been plowed under with only a few derelict weeds to mark the spot where those sweet-ascandy tomatoes grew so bountifully. For more than 65 years grass has grown unbidden around the tombstone marked Frances E. Harristhe Miller girls beloved Grandma.
But down all the decades, the memory of Grandmas delectable tomato preserves served in the sparkling, pedestaled compote would remain fresh in the mind of her namesakelittle Frances, who was still recounting the tomato preserves story well into her 103rd year on this earth.
We were rich, Frances recalled to us nieces and nephews, who discreetly pumped her for just one more of her olden-days country tales before night would fall on her memory forever. This font of family lore was the last surviving member of that generation of our kin. At 102 years and 1 month of age Frances could still describe picking melons the size of basketballs, okra rows that were city blocks-long, and cornstalks that seemed to stand tall as skyscrapers.
Although farm families such as hers usually lacked financial means, the garden insured that no one would go hungry. Just before supper each night Mama faithfully sent Frances and her sisters out to see what was ready to be plucked from the vine and cooked up for that nights meal.
We had no idea we were poor, Frances mused from her wheelchair, because we always had food from the garden.
At the time Frances related her last tomato preserves story before her passing in May 2009, people everywhere were turning to backyard patches of earth again for the same reason the Miller girls and their mama and grandma did in the early part of the last century.
Economic woes in the United States and around the world have caused family incomes to plummet. Home-gardening has become a passionate new interest for people who have never planted a seed or worked a hoe. Even the wife of the U.S. President at the time, as an example for others, grew vegetables in her own White House garden. Heads of households can gaze on small stretches of garden dirt and comfort themselves in the same way Frances family did. After all, the Great Depression, which clouded the Miller Girls youth in rural northeast Texas, did not sting as much to those who could till the soil and cultivate its yield. With food from the garden, they could always feed their families and feel rich, no matter how lean the times or how thin the pocketbook.
My earlier cookbook, Way Back in the Country, emphasized that food, the recipes for how to prepare it, and the stories of people who cooked them are all interwoven into the fabric of family life. Way Back in the Country encouraged families to preserve not just their legendary recipes but the lore of the loved onessuch as the indomitable Grandma Harriswho made them popular. Through tales of the Red-Haired Miller Girlsmy mother, Mable, and her two sisters, Frances and Bonnieand six generations of their farm kin and the recipes that have been regulars at family gatherings for decades, Way Back in the Country inspired others to get their tape-recorders out and investigate why Great-Aunt Gertie always brought lemon pound cake whenever their extended families dined.
With gardening surging in popularity once more, the time seems right to revisit the Miller-Harris legends and recipe cheststhis time to celebrate the role that food from ones own soil has always played in American homes and how, in the Tight Times of this Great Recession, it makes us feel rich with hope and comfort afresh. Way Back in the Country Garden again will intertwine six generations of my familys anecdotes with cooking instructions that will probably remind you of some of your own family favorites.
So prepare to laugh, cry, and traipse down memory lane once again with the Red-Haired Miller Girls and their progenythrough yarns my family toldyarns that I didnt always witness firsthand but can try to recreate as I can envision them happening in my minds eye. May you soon be preserving some country gardening tales of your own and savoring the memories and tastes of yesterday.
All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. Contents may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Beguiled by Deanne Gist
Beguiled
By Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand
Rylee Monroe is a dog walker on rollerblades that never fears the streets at night. But now that a thief seems to be targeting all the houses of her dog walking clients, she wonders if someone is targeting her.
Reporter Logan Woods is following the break-ins and seems to be following Rylee as well.. but does he have more of a reason than simply publishing articles?
This is a cute crime mystery story with a dog walker who fears nothing and a reporter who fears dogs….yet is falling in love with a dog walker. It was a little different to read a modern day book by Deanne Gist as I am used to her excellent historical fiction. She did a good job, but it was just different than what I expect from her. Since her and J. Mark Bertrand worked together on blending their genres, I think they did a good job. This book is not really spine tingling, but it is something that will keep you on your toes and want to solve the mystery and the romance.
Wednesday: Chicken and rice soup, rolls
Thursday: “General Tso’s” chicken and broccoli, rice. I got a packet for the sauce and boneless chicken thighs….should taste good, although probably not like the real stuff.
Friday: Shepherds pie, steamed carrots
Saturday: Italian Eggplant dish, pasta and sauce for those who do not like eggplant. Cucumber and tomato salad
This is something I made up kind of…but it is really simple and tastes really good. Peel a large eggplant and slice in thick slices. In an 8×8 baking dish put some spaghetti sauce in the bottom, layer eggplant slices, sauce and grated mozzarella cheese in the dish ending with sauce and cheese. Bake until bubbly and eggplant is tender. I like it alone, but some people like it with pasta.
Sunday: Leftovers
Monday: Sloppy Joes, carrot sticks, finger jello
Tuesday: Beef and broccoli peanuts stir fry, rice
Giveaway on blog
This blogger is a local blogger and is offering a giveaway that ends tonight….for an apron and a bunch of other cool stuff. Blog giveaway
Also….another friend is offering a giveaway as well over At The Joyful jungle
Check out her blog as well and leave her a comment!
Claim by Lisa Bergren
I read this book late and am posting late as well. But out of the two books I read in this trilogy, this one was my favorite.
Nic is traveling through a town after getting off the ship and is taken by surprise by a young boy who captures his attention. When his father offers him a job in his mine, he turns it down, but cannot stop thinking about it. A trip to the father’s home sets in motion a curious motion of events….leaving him the child’s guardian and owner of a mine he did not want. It also leaves him in alot of danger….both of romance and from evil men wanting the mine.
Moira is also in her own set of dangers….not wanting to let Daniel love her, she flees to what she thinks are loving grandparents of her unborn child….will she encounter love or danger while fleeing from someone who truly loves her?
This book is full of twists and turns and enough danger to keep you on the edge of your seat. I really enjoyed this one….in spite of not having read the first book, the taste I got in the second book helped me to know the characters. However, you should start at the beginning of this trilogy to enjoy it. -Martha
Lisa Bergren
Claim: A Novel of Colorado (The Homeward Trilogy)
David C. Cook; New edition (June 1, 2010)
***Special thanks to Audra Jennings of The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy.***
Lisa T. Bergren is a best-selling author who offers a wide array of reading opportunities ranging from childrens books (God Gave Us Love and God Found Us You) and womens nonfiction (Life on Planet Mom) to suspense-filled intrigue (The Gifted Trilogy) and historical drama. With more than thirty titles among her published works and a deep faith that has weathered dramatic career and personal challenges, Bergren is excited to add the Homeward Trilogy to her resume as she follows Gods direction in her writing career. Bergren lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with her husband Tim (a graphic design artist and musician) and their three children.
Publisher: David C. Cook; New edition (June 1, 2010)
Gunnison, Colorado
Keep doing that youll get yourself killed, Nic said to the boy. Panting, Nic paused and wiped his forehead of sweat. For an hour now, as he moved sacks of grain from a wagon to a wheelbarrow and into the warehouse, hed glimpsed the boy daring fate as he ran across the busy street, narrowly escaping horse hooves and wagon wheels.
Wheres your mother?
The brown-haired boy paused. Dont have a mother.
Well then, wheres your father?
The boy cast him an impish grin and shrugged one shoulder.
Around.
Is he coming back soon? Nic persisted.
Soon enough. You wont tell im, will ya?
Tell him what? Nic tossed back with a small smile. Long as you stop doing whatever youre not supposed to be doing.
The boy wandered closer and climbed up to perch on the wagons edge, watching Nic with eyes that were as dark as his hair. Nic relaxed a bit, relieved that the kid wasnt in imminent danger.
Nic hefted a sack onto his shoulder and carried it to the cart. It felt good to be working again. He liked this sort of heavy labor, the feel of muscles straining, the way he had to suck in his breath to heave a sack, then release it with a long whoosh. A full day of this sort of work allowed him to drop off into dreamless sleepsomething he hungered for more than anything else these days.
The boy was silent, but Nic could feel him staring, watching his every move like an artist studying a subject he was about to paint. Howd you get so strong? the boy said at last.
Always been pretty strong, Nic said, pulling the next sack across the wooden planks of the wagon, positioning it. Howd you get so fast?
Always been pretty fast, said the boy, in the same measured tone Nic had used.
Nic smiled again, heaved the sack to his shoulder, hauled it five steps to the cart, and then dropped it.
This your job? the boy asked.
For today, Nic said.
Nic loaded another sack, and the boy was silent for a moment. My dads looking for help. At our mine.
Hmm, Nic said.
Needs a partner to help haul rock. Hes been asking around here for days.
Miner, huh? I dont care much for mining.
Why not? You could be rich.
More miners turn out dead than rich. He winced inwardly, as a shadow crossed the boys face. Itd been a while since hed been around a kid this age. He was maybe ten or eleven max, all wiry muscle and sinew. Reminded him of a boy he knew in Brazil.
Nic carried the next sack over to the wagon, remembering the heat there, so different from what Colorados summer held. Here it was bone dry. He was sweating now, after the mornings work, but not a lot. In Brazil a man soaked his sheets as he slept.
Listen, kid, he said, turning back around to the wagon, intending to apologize for upsetting him. But the boy was gone.
Nic sighed and set to finishing his work. As the sun climbed high in the sky, he paused to take a drink from his canteen and eat a hunk of bread and cheese, watching the busy street at the end of the alleyway. He wondered if hed see the boy again, back to his antics of racing teams of horses. The child was probably letting off steam, just as Nic had done all his lifehed been about the childs age when hed first starting scrapping with others.
But that was in the past. Not since his voyage aboard the Mirabella had Nic indulged the need, succumbed to the desire to enter a fight. Several times now, hed had the opportunityand enough causeto take another man down. But he had walked away. He knew, deep down he knew, that if he was ever to face his sisters, Odessa and Moira, again, if he was to come to them and admit he was penniless, everything would somehow be all right if he was settled inside. If he could come to a place of peace within, the kind of peace Manuel had known. It was the kind of thing that allowed a man to stand
up straight, shoulders back, the kind of thing that gave a mans gut peace. Regardless of what he accomplished, or had in the past. Thing was, he hadnt found that place of comfort inside, and he didnt want what Manuel tried to sell himGod.
There had to be another way, another path. Something like this work. Hard manual labor. That might be what he needed most.
Nic heard a man calling, his voice a loud whisper, and his eyes narrowed as the man came limping around the corner, obviously in pain, his arm in a sling. You, there! he called to Nic. Seen a boy around? About yea big? he said, gesturing to about chest height.
Yeah, he was here, Nic called back. He set his canteen inside the empty wagon and walked to the end of the alleyway.
Whered he go? the man said. Nic could see the same widows peak in the mans brown hair that the boy had, the same curve of the eyes
the boys father, clearly.
Not sure. One minute he was watching me at work, the next he was gone.
Thats my boy, all right.
Ill help you find him.
The man glanced back at him and then gave him a small smile. He stuck out his good arm and offered his hand. Id appreciate that. Names Vaughn. Peter Vaughn.
Dominic St. Clair, he replied. You can call me Nic.
Peter smiled. His dimples were in the exact same spot as the boys. Sure you can leave your work?
Im nearly done. Lets find your boy.
Go on, Moiras sister urged, gazing out the window. Hes been waiting on you for a good bit now.
I dont know what he sees in me, Moira said, wrapping the veil around her head and across her shoulder again. It left most of her face visible but covered the burns at her neck, ear, and scalp. Did it cover them enough? She nervously patted it, making sure it was in place.
Odessa stepped away from washing dishes and joined her. He might wonder what you see in him. Do you know what his story is? He seems wary. Their eyes met and Odessa backtracked. Daniels a
good man, Moira. I think highly of him. But Id like to know what has burdened him so. Besides you. She nudged her sister with her hip.
Moira wiped her hands on the dish towel and glanced out at him as he strode across the lawn with Bryce, Odessas husband. He was striking in profile, reminding her of the statues of Greek gods the French favored in their lovely tailored gardens. Far too handsome for hersince the fire, anyway. She shook her head a little.
Moira.
Irritated at being caught in thought, Moira looked at Odessa again.
Trust him, Moira. Hes a good man. I can sense it.
She nodded, but inwardly she sighed as she turned away and wrapped a scarf around her veiled head and shoulders. A good man. After Reid and Max and Gavincould she really trust her choice in men? Odessa was fortunate to have fallen for her husband, Bryce, a good man through and through. Moiras experiences with men had been less than successful. What made Odessa think this one was trustworthy?
But as Daniel ducked his head through the door and inclined it to one side in silent invitation to walk with him, Moira thought about how he had physically saved her more than once. And how his gentle pursuit both bewildered and calmed her. Daniel had done nothing to deserve her suspicions.
She moved over to the door. He glanced at her, and she noticed how his thick lashes made his brown eyes more pronounced. He shuffled his feet as if he were nervous. You busy? he asked.
No. Moira felt a nervous tension tighten her stomach muscles.
Can we, uh
His gaze shifted to Odessa, who quickly returned to her dishes. Go for a walk? he finally finished.
Moira smoothed her skirts and said, Id like that. Then, meeting her sisters surreptitious gaze, she followed him outside. It was a lovely day on the Circle M. The horses pranced in the distance. She could see her brother-in-law riding out with Tabito, the ranchs foreman.
So, you wanted to talk, she ventured.
Theres not a day that goes by that I dont want to talk to you, Moira, he said.
She looked up at him and then, when she saw the ardor in his gaze, she turned with a sigh.
Dont look away, he whispered gently, pulling her to face him. He reached to touch her veil, as if he longed to cradle her cheek instead.
No, Daniel, dont, she said and ran a nervous hand over the cover. He was tall and broad, and she did not feel physically menacedit was her heart that threatened to pound directly out of her chest. Perhaps she wasnt ready for this
the intimacies that a courtship brought.
Shed been dreaming about what it would be like to be kissed by him, held by him, but he never made such advances before. Never took the opportunity, leaving her to think that he was repulsed by
her burns, her hair, singed to just a few inches long, her past relationship with Gavin, or her pregnancydespite what he claimed. Her hand moved to the gentle roundness of her belly, still small yet making itself more and more prominent each day. I
Im not even certain why you pursue me at all. Why you consider me worthy.
He seemed stunned by her words. Worthy? he breathed. He let out a hollow, breathy laugh and then looked to the sky, running a hand through his hair. He shook his head and then slowly brought his brown eyes down to meet hers again. Moira, he said, lifting a hand to cradle her cheek and jaw, this time without hesitation. She froze, wondering if he intended to kiss her at last. I only hesitate because I am afraid, he whispered.
Afraid? You think I am not? I come to you scarred in so many ways, when you, you, Daniel, deserve perfection.
No, he said, shaking his head too. It is I who carry the scars. You dont know me. You dont know who I am. Who I once was. What Ive done
So tell me, she pleaded. Tell me.
He stared at her a moment longer, as if wondering if she was ready, wondering if she could bear it, and Moiras heart pounded again. Then, No. I cant, he said with a small shake of his head. He sighed heavily and moved up the hill. Not yet.
An hour after they began their search for Everett Vaughn, Peter sat down on the edge of the boardwalk and looked up to the sky. His face was a mask of pain. That boy was hard to track when I wasnt hurt.
Hell turn up, Nic reassured.
Peter nodded and lifted his gaze to the street.
What happened to you? Nic said gently, sitting down beside the man. His eyes scanned the crowds for the boy even as he waited for Peters response.
Cave-in, at my mine. Thats why Im here. Looking for a good man to partner with me. Im onto a nice vein, but Im livin proof that a mans a fool to mine alone. He looked at Nic and waited until he met his gaze. You lookin for work? He cocked his head to the side. Im offering a handsome deal. Fifty fifty.
Nic let a small smile tug at the corners of his mouth. He glanced at the man, who had to be about his own age. There was an easy way about him that drew Nic, despite the pain evident in the lines of his face. That is a handsome offer. He cocked his own head. But I dont see you doing half the work, laid up like you are.
No, not quite. But Ive already put a lot of work into it in the past three years, and Im still good for about a quarter of the labor. To say nothing of the fact that my names on the claim.
Nic paused, thinking about it, feeling drawn to help this man, but then shook his head. Im not very fond of small dark spaces.
So
make it bigger. Light a lamp.
Nic shook his head, more firmly this time. No. Id rather find another line of work.
Just then he spotted the boy, running the street again. There he is, Nic said, nodding outward. The boys father followed his gaze and with a grimace, rose to his feet. As they watched, the boy ran under a wagon that had temporarily pulled to a stop. Then he jumped up on the back of another, riding it for about twenty feet until he was passing by them. His face was a mask of elation.
Everett! Ev! Come on over here!
Everetts eyes widened in surprise. He jumped down and ran over to them, causing a man on horseback to pull back hard on his reins and swear.
Sorry, friend, Peter said, raising his good arm up to the rider. The horseman shook his head and then rode on.
Peter grabbed his sons arm and, limping, hauled him over to the boardwalk. Ive told you to stay out of the street.
So did I, Nic said, meeting the boys gaze. The child flushed red and glanced away.
Wed best be on our way, Peter said. Thanks for helpin me find my boy. He reached out a hand and Nic rose to shake it. Peter paused. Its not often a man has a chance at entering a claim agreement once a miner has found a vein that is guaranteed to pay.
Nic hesitated as he dropped Peters hand. Ive narrowly escaped with my life on more than one occasion, friend. Im aiming to look up my sisters, but not from a casket.
Peter lifted his chin, but his eyes betrayed his weariness and disappointment. What would it mean for him? For his boy, not to find a willing partner? Would they have to give up the mine just as they were finally on the edge of success? And what of the boys mother? His unkempt, too-small clothes told him Everett had been without a mother for some time.
He hesitated again, feeling a pang of compassion for them both. Should I change my mind
where would I find you?
A glimmer of hope entered Peters eyes. A couple miles out of St. Elmo. Just ask around for the Vaughn claim up in the Gulch and someonell point you in our direction. He reached out a hand. Id be much obliged, Nic. And Im not half bad at cookin either. Id keep you in grub. Give it some thought. But dont be too put out if you get there, and Ive found someone else.
Understood, Nic said with a smile. Safe journey.
And to you. He turned away, tugging at his boys shoulder, but the child looked back at Nic, all big pleading eyes.
Hurriedly, Nic walked away in the opposite direction. He fought the desire to turn and call out to them. Wasnt he looking for work? Something that would allow him to ride on to Bryce and Odessas ranch without his tail tucked between his legs? The man had said the mine was sure to pay.
Im onto a nice vein.
Was that a miners optimism or the truth?
Not yet? Moira sputtered, following him. She frowned in confusion. He had been coaxing her forward, outward, steadily healing her with his kind attentions these last two months. But now it was as if they were at some strange impasse. What was he talking about? What had happened to him?
She hurried forward and grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop and turn again to face her. Her veil clung to her face in the early evening breeze. Daniel.
He slowly lifted his dark eyes to meet hers.
This is about me, isnt it? she asked. You attempt to spare my feelings but find me repulsive. I can hardly fault you, but
No, he said, with another hollow laugh. Contrary to what you believe, Moira St. Clair, not everything boils down to you. You are braver than you think and more beautiful than you dare to believe. I believe were destined to be together.
Moira held her breath. Then what
No, he went on. This is about something I need to resolve. Something that needs to be done, or at least settled in my mind, my heart, before I can properly court you.
What? What is it, Daniel? she tried once more.
He only looked at her helplessly, mouth half open, but mute.
She crossed her arms and turned her back to him, staring out across the pristine valley, the land of the Circle M. It hurt her that he felt he couldnt confide in her as she had with him. She stiffened when he laid his big hands on her shoulders. I dont need to be rescued, Daniel, she said in a monotone. God has seen me to this place, this time. Hell see me through to the next
with or without you.
You dont understand.
No. I dont. Weve been courting all summer, whether you realize it or not. And now you say that there is something else that needs to be resolved? You assume much, Daniel Adams. You think that Ill wait forever? She let out a scoffing laugh. Its clear you do not fear that any other man might pursue me. Not that I blame you
She turned partly away and stared into the distance. Please. Dont let this linger on. I cannot bear it. Not if you do not intend to claim me as your own.
He was silent for a long minute. Oh, that he would but turn her and meet her lips at last
But he didnt. We both have a lot to think through, pray through, Moira, he said quietly.
Yes, well, let me know when that is accomplished, she said over her shoulder, walking away as fast as she could, lest he see the tears that were already rolling down her cheeks.
©2010 Cook Communications Ministries. Claim by Lisa Bergren. Used with permission. May not be further reproduced. All rights reserved.
Littlest Hands!
This is just the most amazing thing! I read today that babies born in the week Ellina was born, are not able to have movements and barely flutter their limbs generally. I heard that multiples move more, but she loves hanging onto to her mama’s hand!!!
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Callums Promise – Fun, Friendships and Adventures
Include Me TOO launched a new project Callum’s Promise which aims to increase Fun, Adventures and Friendships to disabled children and young people. The event was attended by many supporters and disability advocates which included Adam Pearson, Samantha Renke, Tanya Motie, Well Child’s Awards recipient Myles Sketchley, Sophie Walker Leader of the Women’s Equality Party and Department of Ability founder and creative director Daniel White.
The charity aims through this project to support disabled children and their families with FAB therapy play boxes for those who have no access to specialist sensory toys as well as supporting to create lasting treasured memories through new experiences and adventures whilst still continuing to campaign for the change needed.
Film by: Cristiana Ferrauti
Music: Golden Sunrise by Josh Woodward
The campaign and project launch was hosted by Irwin Mitchell at their headquarters in London with four other partners supporting each various elements to make a real difference supporting the following promises:
Surfability provides disability friendly and adapted surfing for disabled children and young people in Swansea. Callum’s Promise is to raise funds for a second disability friendly adapted surfing board, and increase access to disabled children and young people to surfing with Surfability.
Department of Ability is a vision of Daniel White who is producing the first ever superhero comic with Superheroes disabled children and young people can relate to whilst increasing acceptance in general society. Callum’s Promise is to increase the access to Department of Ability characters and stories to all children and young people increasing friendships and disability acceptance.
Sals Shoes finds new feet for pre loved children shoes globally. Callum’s Promise has joined Sals Shoes as their disability partner to increase footwear to disabled children globally. Furthermore the charity is appealing for preloved piedro boots and similar specialist footwear to support disabled children and young people’s feet in the UK.
Parallel London delivered the largest disability inclusive family friendly public event in London this September. Callum’s Promise is to support disabled children, young people and their families involvement and attendance to future Parallel London events who live outside of London.
‘The reality is disabled children and young people have less opportunities to fun experiences, limited chances of making friends and meeting new people, and have limited opportunities to have the support they need to have their adventures.
Friendships are an important part of most of our lives and disabled children and young people want to have choices of things to do, make friends and have places to go as part of their enjoyment and wellbeing. They want a chance to have the same opportunities of fun and adventures as their non-disabled peers. Their families also want to have shared experiences of days out and socialising with others without having to experience the barriers to access, inclusion and negative attitudes and assumptions regarding disabilities
We are looking forward to working with our amazing partners and anyone who wishes to join us to support and increase opportunities for fun, friendships and adventures to disabled children and young people ensuring they too can leave a mark on this world’.
Parmi Dheensa (Include Me TOO Founder and Executive)
The charity’s Fun, Adventures and Friendships programme is a result of disabled children and young people wanting to take part to support a promise made by the founder of Include Me TOO to her disabled son Callum of a life full of fun, adventure and friendships which is shared throughout the charity’s work.
Disabled children and young people took part in several fundraising challenges to increase opportunities to fun and friendships for their peers during this summer 2016.
The first challenge they took part in was their first surfing adventure with Surfablity who are able to also accommodate wheelchair users.
The second part of the challenges took place in the West Midlands where they completed Abseiling, Tobogganing and Canoeing.
The donating page is now available with a film showcasing these children’s achievements to help Include Me TOO’s Callum’s Promise to increase disabled children and young people’s experience to fun and adventures by accessing such facilities.
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Time course to hypothyroidism after fixed-dose radioablation therapy of Graves' disease in children
Todd Nebesio, Aslam R. Siddiqui, Ora H. Pescovitz, Erica Eugster
Pediatric Endocrinology & Diabetology
Objective: To characterize the development of hypothyroidism in pediatric patients who receive a fixed dose of radioactive iodine (RAI). Study design: Medical records of children treated with fixed-dose RAI for Graves' disease between 1993 and 2001 were reviewed. Multiple variables including sex, age, thyroid hormone levels, thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulin titer, antithyroid medication use, and 24-hour radioiodine uptake were investigated as possible predictive factors for the development of hypothyroidism after treatment. All patients received RAI at a dose of between 13.8 and 15.6 mCi (average, 14.7 mCi; SD, 0.5). Results: Permanent hypothyroidism developed in all 40 patients, although a second dose of RAI was required in one case. The average time to hypothyroidism was 77 days (SD, 52), with a range of 28 to 194 days; 75% of the patients were diagnosed with hypothyroidism between 40 and 90 days. RAI treatment was ineffective in an additional patient, who required subtotal thyroidectomy. Conclusions: We conclude that a fixed dose of RAI is effective therapy in nearly all pediatric patients with Graves' disease. Factors predicting the time course to hypothyroidism were not identified.
https://doi.org/10.1067/mpd.2002.125494
Thyroid-Stimulating Immunoglobulins
Thyroid Hormones
Nebesio, T., Siddiqui, A. R., Pescovitz, O. H., & Eugster, E. (2002). Time course to hypothyroidism after fixed-dose radioablation therapy of Graves' disease in children. Journal of Pediatrics, 141(1), 99-103. https://doi.org/10.1067/mpd.2002.125494
Time course to hypothyroidism after fixed-dose radioablation therapy of Graves' disease in children. / Nebesio, Todd; Siddiqui, Aslam R.; Pescovitz, Ora H.; Eugster, Erica.
In: Journal of Pediatrics, Vol. 141, No. 1, 2002, p. 99-103.
Nebesio, T, Siddiqui, AR, Pescovitz, OH & Eugster, E 2002, 'Time course to hypothyroidism after fixed-dose radioablation therapy of Graves' disease in children', Journal of Pediatrics, vol. 141, no. 1, pp. 99-103. https://doi.org/10.1067/mpd.2002.125494
Nebesio T, Siddiqui AR, Pescovitz OH, Eugster E. Time course to hypothyroidism after fixed-dose radioablation therapy of Graves' disease in children. Journal of Pediatrics. 2002;141(1):99-103. https://doi.org/10.1067/mpd.2002.125494
Nebesio, Todd ; Siddiqui, Aslam R. ; Pescovitz, Ora H. ; Eugster, Erica. / Time course to hypothyroidism after fixed-dose radioablation therapy of Graves' disease in children. In: Journal of Pediatrics. 2002 ; Vol. 141, No. 1. pp. 99-103.
@article{f0a602c91647464bb265654aab9380d7,
title = "Time course to hypothyroidism after fixed-dose radioablation therapy of Graves' disease in children",
abstract = "Objective: To characterize the development of hypothyroidism in pediatric patients who receive a fixed dose of radioactive iodine (RAI). Study design: Medical records of children treated with fixed-dose RAI for Graves' disease between 1993 and 2001 were reviewed. Multiple variables including sex, age, thyroid hormone levels, thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulin titer, antithyroid medication use, and 24-hour radioiodine uptake were investigated as possible predictive factors for the development of hypothyroidism after treatment. All patients received RAI at a dose of between 13.8 and 15.6 mCi (average, 14.7 mCi; SD, 0.5). Results: Permanent hypothyroidism developed in all 40 patients, although a second dose of RAI was required in one case. The average time to hypothyroidism was 77 days (SD, 52), with a range of 28 to 194 days; 75{\%} of the patients were diagnosed with hypothyroidism between 40 and 90 days. RAI treatment was ineffective in an additional patient, who required subtotal thyroidectomy. Conclusions: We conclude that a fixed dose of RAI is effective therapy in nearly all pediatric patients with Graves' disease. Factors predicting the time course to hypothyroidism were not identified.",
author = "Todd Nebesio and Siddiqui, {Aslam R.} and Pescovitz, {Ora H.} and Erica Eugster",
doi = "10.1067/mpd.2002.125494",
T1 - Time course to hypothyroidism after fixed-dose radioablation therapy of Graves' disease in children
AU - Nebesio, Todd
AU - Siddiqui, Aslam R.
AU - Pescovitz, Ora H.
AU - Eugster, Erica
N2 - Objective: To characterize the development of hypothyroidism in pediatric patients who receive a fixed dose of radioactive iodine (RAI). Study design: Medical records of children treated with fixed-dose RAI for Graves' disease between 1993 and 2001 were reviewed. Multiple variables including sex, age, thyroid hormone levels, thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulin titer, antithyroid medication use, and 24-hour radioiodine uptake were investigated as possible predictive factors for the development of hypothyroidism after treatment. All patients received RAI at a dose of between 13.8 and 15.6 mCi (average, 14.7 mCi; SD, 0.5). Results: Permanent hypothyroidism developed in all 40 patients, although a second dose of RAI was required in one case. The average time to hypothyroidism was 77 days (SD, 52), with a range of 28 to 194 days; 75% of the patients were diagnosed with hypothyroidism between 40 and 90 days. RAI treatment was ineffective in an additional patient, who required subtotal thyroidectomy. Conclusions: We conclude that a fixed dose of RAI is effective therapy in nearly all pediatric patients with Graves' disease. Factors predicting the time course to hypothyroidism were not identified.
AB - Objective: To characterize the development of hypothyroidism in pediatric patients who receive a fixed dose of radioactive iodine (RAI). Study design: Medical records of children treated with fixed-dose RAI for Graves' disease between 1993 and 2001 were reviewed. Multiple variables including sex, age, thyroid hormone levels, thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulin titer, antithyroid medication use, and 24-hour radioiodine uptake were investigated as possible predictive factors for the development of hypothyroidism after treatment. All patients received RAI at a dose of between 13.8 and 15.6 mCi (average, 14.7 mCi; SD, 0.5). Results: Permanent hypothyroidism developed in all 40 patients, although a second dose of RAI was required in one case. The average time to hypothyroidism was 77 days (SD, 52), with a range of 28 to 194 days; 75% of the patients were diagnosed with hypothyroidism between 40 and 90 days. RAI treatment was ineffective in an additional patient, who required subtotal thyroidectomy. Conclusions: We conclude that a fixed dose of RAI is effective therapy in nearly all pediatric patients with Graves' disease. Factors predicting the time course to hypothyroidism were not identified.
U2 - 10.1067/mpd.2002.125494
DO - 10.1067/mpd.2002.125494
10.1067/mpd.2002.125494
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Ronaldo closes in on 100 goals, England qualify for Euro 2020 with 7-0 win
Cristiano Ronaldo scored another hat-trick, moving closer to 100 international goals, as he led the European champions to a 6-0 drubbing over Lithuania in their Euro 2020 qualifier on Thursday.
Roger Federer reaches US Open quarters, Ash Barty knocked out
Roger Federer, a year after getting knocked out in the fourth round, ensured there would be no repeat of that on Sunday, as he strolled to a 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 victory over David Goffin.
James Pattinson dropped for second Ashes test, Australia face a happy headache
Australia dropped fast bowler James Pattinson from a 12-man squad for the second Ashes test.
Cricket Briefs: Faf Du Plessis excited about Test Championship, no Indian umpires in ICC elite panel
In other cricket news: Sri Lanka is set to honour retired Nuwan Kulasekara, Zimbabwe senior cricketer wants to play for free to save the game, and New Zealand have appointed Thilan Samaraweera to their support staff ahead of their tour of Sri Lanka.
Unbeaten ton against New Zealand my best innings: Babar Azam
Babar Azam said his match-winning century against New Zealand was the best of his career as he guided Pakistan to a six-wicket win on Wednesday to keep their World Cup semi-final hopes alive.
FIFA rankings: Portugal rise to fifth, India remains static at 101
India's ranking points remained the same -- 1219 -- as that of the previous list, issued on April 4.
French Open 2019: Faultless Roger Federer eases into quarterfinals, Rafael Nadal ends Juan Londero’s run
Four years ago, Roger Federer lost in the quarterfinals to Swiss countryman Stan Wawrinka in straight sets.
Spain considers playing Super Cup in Saudi Arabia
The competition has been played in a one-game final between the champions at the beginning of the season. The idea is to play the new Super Cup in January.
UEFA Champions League: Porto hope veteran Iker Casillas can lead team to a comeback
Porto on Wednesday will need the best of Iker Casillas, who signed from Real Madrid in the summer of 2015, to reverse a 2-0 first-leg deficit against Liverpool.
Premier League round-up: Another loss for Manchester United, Fulham relegated
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is going through his toughest period as Manchester United manager, just days after getting the job on a full-time basis
Champions League: Harry Kane, Hugo Lloris seal Tottenham’s progress
Borussia Dortmund's hopes of a miracle were denied by Hugo Lloris and Harry Kane as Tottenham reached the Champions League quarterfinals with a 1-0 win on Tuesday
Premier League: Liverpool held by West Ham as title challenge falters again
Liverpool's Premier League title challenge faltered again, drawing 1-1 at West Ham to give Manchester City a chance to go top on Wednesday
Australian Open 2019: Maria Sharapova sets up mouth-watering Caroline Wozniacki showdown
Maria Sharapova continued her marauding form by handing out a 6-2 6-1 thrashing to Sweden's Rebecca Peterson to set up a blockbuster third-round showdown with holder Caroline Wozniacki.
La Liga Roundup: Barcelona make most of Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla dropping points
Barcelona's 2-1 win vs Getafe allowed them to open up a five-point advantage over second-placed Atletico Madrid who drew 1-1 with third-placed Sevilla. Real Madrid lost 2-0 at home to Real Sociedad.
Daniil Medvedev beats Milos Raonic to reach semifinals in Brisbane
Daniil Medvedev will next play 2008 Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Alex de Minaur 6-4, 7-6 (2).
US Open 2018 | Umpires strike back: Match officials mull boycotting Serena Williams, forming a union
Upset with ITF’s delay in defending Carlos Ramos, match officials mull boycotting Serena Williams, forming a union.
Football friendlies: Pepe scores on 100th appearance as Portugal hold Croatia; Wesley Sneijder retires in win
Brazilian-born Pepe, handed the captaincy for the match, levelled 14 minutes later with a thumping header from Pizzi's cross.
Indonesia intends to bid for 2032 Olympics
Tokyo will host the next Summer Olympics in 2020, with Paris holding the 2024 Games and Los Angeles confirmed as hosts for four years later.
US Open 2018: Serena Williams matches her easiest win over Venus in rout, Sloane Stephens fends off Victoria Azarenka
Serena Williams had won 6-1, 6-2 over sister Venus by same score in a semifinal victory in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2013.
Sevilla vs Barcelona: Lionel Messi wins record 33rd title as Barcelona win Spanish Super Cup
Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen secured the win when he saved a penalty kick from Sevilla substitute Wissam Ben Yedder in the 89th minute.
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Webcolumn
The Next Wave of Apple’s Marzipan Apps for MacOS →
April 6, 2019 · 10:45
Steve Troughton-Smith:
I am now fairly confident based on evidence I don’t wish to make public at this point that Apple is planning new (likely UIKit) Music, Podcasts, perhaps even Books, apps for macOS, to join the new TV app. I expect the four to be the next wave of Marzipan apps. Grain of salt, etc.
I hope they still keep iTunes around. (I assume) I’m one of the few people who actually like it.
March 15, 2018 · 10:43
My iCloud Music Library is f*cked. Apple has been on it since yesterday and so far I’ve been on the phone for about four hours. Should get another call soon. The problem is that changes don’t sync between my devices and my HomePod is unable to play the music I purchased in the iTunes Store.
Winamp’s Woes: How the Greatest MP3 Player Undid Itself →
July 7, 2017 · 18:26
Cyrus Farivar, writing for Ars Technica:
Today, Winamp continues to be updated; AOL released its first Android version in 2010 and a Mac version in 2011. Amazingly, given all the time elapsed, AOL still makes a decent amount of money on the site and on the program—while the company has declined to release official figures, former employees who worked on Winamp estimate its current revenue at around $6 million annually. And Winamp still has an estimated user base of millions worldwide, a small fraction of which live in the United States.
When I first got my hands on Winamp, I learned that ID3 tags existed. That was when I started properly naming all my MP3 files, in both the file names and tags. I got my first iPod in 2006 and switched to iTunes, which I still use today. What’s more, I still have those 128 Kbps MP3 files — some I replaced with better rips, others I just left as they were. My iTunes library was automatically perfectly organized, thanks to Winamp. This was a time when the iTunes Music Store wasn’t yet available in Poland, so I solely relied on ripping my CDs. I did get an US account later and a few gift cards, which made things easier, but this was after Apple dropped DRM, if I recall correctly. I still have fond memories of Winamp, despite the fact that I’m probably one of the few people who like using iTunes, and was quite surprised recently, when I learned that one of my friends still uses it. I didn’t know there was a Mac version either…
Availability of iTunes Redownloads — Now Available in Poland →
I have waited years for this feature, just so I don’t have to waste space on my Macs.
My next request: 4K content.
Apple to Revamp Music at WWDC 2016 →
May 28, 2016 · 19:16
Alex Webb:
Apple is altering the user interface of Apple Music to make it more intuitive to use, according to people familiar with the product who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. Apple also plans to better integrate its streaming and download businesses and expand its online radio service, the people said. The reboot is expected to be unveiled at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June. The changes will be accompanied by a marketing blitz to lure more customers to the $10-per-month streaming service. An Apple spokesman declined to comment.
I’m probably one of the few people who doesn’t have issue using Apple Music… or iTunes for that matter. Many complain that the latter tries to do too many things. Quite frankly, it’s only a music player and secure backup tool at the moment — I do everything else via iCloud. I would however like the For You, New, Radio and Connect sections to become one.
‘Apple Sent Two Men to My House; No, They Weren’t Assassins’ →
James Pinkstone:
Tom, along with his boss Ezra, had just spent most of Saturday at my dining room table with me, trying to recreate a disaster like we were Netflix green-lighting Fuller House. So far, no luck.
In the days leading up to our face-to-face encounter, they’d earned more of my trust when they acknowledged that A), they’d read the phone transcripts, and although they maintained that she was mistaken, they did not dispute my account of what Amber had told me, and B), they, too, were convinced this was not user error. Before allowing them into my home, though, I’d laid out some conditions. Their research would be strictly limited to Apple Music, iTunes, and my iTunes library, and I would always be in the room to watch them work. Any information gleaned would be used solely for iTunes and Apple Music troubleshooting. If I had a document on my desktop called “Zapruder Film Unedited,” for example, they would still leave it alone. They agreed, both on the phone and in person, so we began.
I never linked to James’ original post about how ‘Apple stole his music‘, because quite frankly, I believed it to be user error. In the meantime my friend also told me about his problems — he also lost some of his files — and Apple showed up on Pinkstone’s doorstep to try to diagnose the issue.
What other company would do that? No, seriously. Is there any other tech company that would go to such lengths to figure out what’s wrong with their product?
China Shuts Down iBooks and iTunes Movies →
Paul Mozur & Jane Perlez:
Last week, Apple’s iBooks Store and iTunes Movies were shut down in China, just six months after they were started there. Initially, Apple apparently had the government’s approval to introduce the services. But then a regulator, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, asserted its authority and demanded the closings, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“We hope to make books and movies available again to our customers in China as soon as possible,” an Apple spokeswoman said in a statement.
I’m sensing, based on various tidbits of news, that Apple’s problems in China will get worse before they get better. Quite frankly, I’m surprised they allowed any ‘western’ content in the first place.
Screening Room — New Movies Straight to Your Living Room →
Chris Welch:
Screening Room plans to charge $150 for access to a tightly-secured set-top box that would let people skip theater lines and watch brand new films in their own living room. On top of the equipment cost, viewers would have to pay $50 per screening, and they’d get only 48 hours to watch the movie after laying down that money. Theaters and movie exhibitors are expected to receive a decent chunk of profits to offset complaints that Screening Room could potentially throw a wrench into their profits.
I’m fine with the price, but I’m pretty sure the technology will be atrocious. I wish they could just get their act together, and put the movies in iTunes.
Make it easy, and people will pay; make it hard and people will go out of their way to make it easier, pirating along the way, not caring about the fact that they are doing so.
NepTunes 1.2 With Album Artwork on Desktop
I wrote about NepTunes two days ago — a simple Mac app which scrobbles Last.fm. Well, it was updated to version 1.2 and adds something that I was missing.
NepTunes — a Simple Last.fm Scrobbler for OS X
March 9, 2016 · 19:00
I used to have an app named CoverSutra running on my desktop. Not only did it display iTunes artwork in a visually pleasing way, but it also updated my Last.fm account with what I was listening to in iTunes. Unfortunately, Sophie Teutschler stopped development, and found a job at Apple. CoverSutra no longer works properly under OS X El Capitan, and while it ‘kinda works’ with iTunes, it doesn’t support Apple Music at all.
Polish developer Adam Różyński has the answer to my problems. His NepTunes is a simple app1 which lives in the OS X menu bar. All it does is report back to our Last.fm account2, correctly scrobbling the music we are listening to. Although it is not as nice graphically3 as CoverSutra, it gets the job done. The preferences panel also allows the app to integrate with iTunes. This allows to ‘star’ songs with ‘hearts’ on both Apple Music and Last.fm with one keyboard shortcut (which can be customised).
Simple, but it gets the job done. That’s usually enough for me.
★ NepTunes – OS X – Social Networking – €3.99 →
Technically I believe this is called a ‘menulet’. ↩
Obviously one is needed for this to function. ↩
I do however fancy the trident icon in the menu bar. ↩
iTunes Radio for Apple Music Subscribers Only →
January 16, 2016 · 12:25
Brendan Klinkenberg:
iTunes Radio, Apple’s Pandora-style internet radio service, is going behind the $10 per month Apple Music paywall on January 29th.
“We are making Beats 1 the premier free broadcast from Apple and phasing out the ad-supported stations at the end of January,” an Apple spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. “Additionally, with an Apple Music membership, listeners can access dozens of radio stations curated by our team of music experts, covering a range of genres, commercial-free with unlimited skips. The free three-month trial of Apple Music includes radio.”
10 Million Apple Music Subscribers and Counting →
Matthew Garrahan:
Apple has passed 10m subscribers for its music streaming service, taking six months to hit a milestone that took its arch-rival Spotify six years to hit, say people familiar with the matter.
Impressive, but at the same time not that many compared to how many iPhones are out there.
‘Consumers… Well… We’re Fucking Stupid’ →
Don Melton:
Anyway, Netflix is talking about the bitrates for their 1080p videos soon being as low 2000 Kbps for the simple stuff. That’s down from the 4300-5800 Kbps range they’re using now. And I’m sure they can do that on the low end without any perceivable loss of quality while streaming.
But can Apple and Amazon sell 1080p videos — averaging about 5000 Kbps now — at bitrates as low as 2000 Kbps — less than half that average size — without a perceived loss of value?
I don’t know. It’s hard to predict because consumers… well… we’re fucking stupid.
A very insightful and technical post about video and audio encoders, bitrates, and the future for Netflix, Apple and others.
An example would be TIDAL and their HQ uncompressed format, or whatever they’re calling it. I’m sure it’s great if you have the right equipment, young enough ears, and the ability to tell the difference. I still can, but just barely, and quite frankly the added overhead in terms of size (amongst other hurdles) is just too much of a hassle for me. The current iTunes/Spotify/pick-your-vice formats are more than enough, and if they flipped the switch overnight without telling anyone, I doubt many would notice. I know I wouldn’t.
Best 25 Apps & Games of 2015 for iPhone & iPad
I already listed the best games and apps for iPhone, iPad and Mac a few days ago, but you’ve clamoured for the full list, so here it is.
Best of 2015 for Mac
Apart from the best apps and games for every platform, Apple also published a list of the runner-up apps and games of the year. The list contains a few excellent pieces of software, some of which I use, including Fantastical, Reeder 3, Ulysses, and many others.
Best of 2015 on the App Store for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac
Apple published their ‘Best of 2015’ app lists — you can find them below — and the first choice caught me by surprise. There are a few great apps in the list, apart from the winners, and I strongly recommend checking them out. It also appears that I’ll need to find the time to play a few of the awarded games.
iTunes Match and Apple Music Limit Raised to 100K Songs →
Eric Slivka:
Eddy Cue has confirmed to MacRumors that Apple has indeed “started rolling out support for 100k libraries.”
Adele’s New Album—25—is Out on iTunes →
Unfortunately, it’s not available on Apple Music or any other streaming platform. Not exactly pleased with that, but I’ll buy it anyway.
© Wojtek Pietrusiewicz · Powered by zenbox.pl · Twitter · Instagram · RSS · JSON Feed · Return to top
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Select country Albania Algeria Angola Armenia Bangladesh Belarus Benin Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cabo Verde Chad Colombia Congo Côte d'Ivoire Djibouti Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Ethiopia Gambia, The Ghana Guatemala Kenya Kosovo Kyrgyzstan Lebanon Lesotho Madagascar Mauritania Mauritius Moldova, Republic of Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Nepal Nigeria Peru Rwanda Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Sri Lanka Sudan Tajikistan North Macedonia Uganda United Republic of Tanzania Uzbekistan Viet Nam Zambia
The Investment Policy Review (IPR) programme provides developing countries and countries with economies in transition concrete recommendations to improve policies, strategies and institutions for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) and deriving greater benefits for sustainable development.
The IPR process is country-specific and involves:
the review of the policy, regulatory and institutional environment for investment;
the identification of strategic investment priorities consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in line with the national development objectives; and
a set of concrete recommendations.
Follow-up support to foster the integration of the IPR recommendations into the country’s reform agenda and their implementation is provided as part of the review process.
UNCTAD has undertaken IPRs in more than 50 countries since 1999 and the implementation of IPR recommendations has had significant impact in their business climate. As shown by the World Bank’s Doing Business Indicators, out of the top 10 reformers among developing countries, half were IPR countries each year between 2013 and 2015.The FDI performance by country also suggests a positive impact. Out of 32 countries for which the IPR was published more than three years ago, 29 have experienced an increase in FDI inflows in the following years. And for 19 of them, such increases have been dramatic, with FDI inflows having more than doubled.
For further information please contact Chantal Dupasquier, Chief, Investment Policy Review Section at: Chantal.Dupasquier@unctad.org.
Disclaimer: the boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.
Investment Policy Reviews >
Investment Policy Review of Angola
The Investment Policy Review of Angola identifies several gaps and bottlenecks that affect the country’s ability to take full advantage of its strategic location, abundant natural resources and preferential access to external markets. These include a complex system for FDI entry and establishment, burdensome operational regulations, the persistence of restrictive business practices and a lack of institutional capacity and coordination.
The Review also devotes special attention to investment in agribusiness and its contribution to sustainable development. It calls for concrete measures to foster responsible investment and promote inclusive agriculture modes of production. The recommendations emphasize the need to strike a policy balance between the food security and export development objectives, improve access to land and infrastructure, and promote entrepreneurship and skills development
Download Investment Policy Review
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Could Elizabeth Warren Fix Clinton’s Progressive problem?
Clinton could address voter skepticism and shatter another glass ceiling by creating the first all-female presidential ticket.
Originally in InsideSources
(Photo: Flickr / Public Citizen)
One glass ceiling separates Hillary Clinton from returning to her former place of residence on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
But to get there, she’ll have to confront serious voter skepticism about her credibility and commitment to reducing economic inequality—the same issues that fueled insurgent campaigns to her right and left during the presidential primaries.
Clinton could address both of those concerns in part by shattering another glass ceiling—and naming progressive firebrand Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts as her vice-presidential running mate, creating the first all-female presidential ticket.
With two-thirds of white women—and more than 90 percent of women of color—viewing Donald Trump unfavorably, a Clinton-Warren ticket could be an appealing antidote to Trump’s well-documented misogyny. Women are the largest voting bloc in America, and they were a big part of Clinton’s successful primary campaign.
Yet it would be unwise for Clinton to rest on the assumption that women voters will flock to her banner solely due to Trump’s boorishness. Her “unfavorable” ratings in opinion polls run considerably higher among younger women and white women, especially compared to women of color and older women—her most ardent supporters.
Read the full article on Tulsa World’s website.
Marc Priester is a research and program associate for the Black Worker Initiative and Global Economy projects at the Institute for Policy Studies.
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Home > IT Blogs > Channel Marker
Channel Marker:
Sun CEO to open source ponytail
Barbara Darrow Profile: badarrow
Okay, this is hilarious. Check it out. It's got everything: Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz, open source, and Schwartz's ponytail. Don't mock, you cynics. Faux Schwartz...
Will the year end with a bang or a whimper?
Heather Clancy Profile: Heather Clancy
The big whack that consumer confidence took over the last couple of months (as measured by the Conference Board) continues to be echoed in the IT buyer community, according to the latest stats from the ongoing, bimonthly CDW IT Monitor. Now, though, the anemia is spreading out of the commercial...
VARs: What’s your ROI?
George Crump Profile: StorageSwiss
Over the next few months, you're going to see a dramatic shift in marketing from your supplier partners. The theme of their marketing will shift from all the cool stuff they can do to how much money they can save customers. Rapid ROI, or ROI now, is going to be the drumbeat. But what about you? Are...
Microsoft fills in some cloudware bits with Azure
As expected, Microsoft started to talk up some details of its cloud computing strategy Monday at its Professional Developers Conference.
Amidst all the cloud talk, there were a few deliverables...
NetApp cancels user conference because of travel cuts
Brendan Cournoyer Profile: Bcournoyer
The failing economy has claimed a victim in the world of tech conferences. NetApp has canceled NetApp Accelerate 2009 -- what was to have been the company's first annual user conference -- because...
The Onion skewers Microsoft’s blue screen of death
For all the complaining people do about how Windows machines freeze up, crash and give us all these wacky error messages, we should thank our lucky stars that the problem is limited to PCs. Imagine a world where it takes an hour and a half to watch one episode of "Scrubs," you have to hold down...
Half-baked virtualization and you
I spoke on the subject of virtualization rollout strategies in a session at Data Center Decisions in Chicago last week. I started the session with an informal two-question survey of about 80 or so end users in the room. The results from those two questions speak volumes about the ongoing...
Salesforce.com crashes Microsoft’s party
After successfully pulling off a guerrilla marketing stunt at VMworld last month, Microsoft is now finding out what it's like to be on the other end of such a campaign. As the Microsoft...
Hasta la vista, Vista!
Microsoft is using this week's Professional Developers Conference to celebrate the birth of Windows 7, its next operating system. And guess who wasn't invited to the party? Windows Vista. Of the 194 sessions at the PDC, 22 are devoted to...
PDC priority: Proving Microsoft’s mojo
Has Microsoft lost its mojo? There's something different in the air. Microsoft is doing its best to drum up an uproar around next week's Professional Developers Conference (PDC). The company's code-name generator is in overdrive -- nothing new there. But it's become painfully obvious that the...
Commentary for value-added resellers (VARs) and systems integrators on partner programs, storage, security, networking and systems.
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The Shaman of Light Dreams the World
The Shaman of Light
Dreams the World
What follows is the archetypal storyline of the Shaman of Light’s quest on behalf of his people. It is rich in mythic motifs and symbolic representations of Inner Truth and Wisdom. The value of a Mythic Story is that it speaks to All Peoples equally. There is a need to shift and change the storyline to accommodate each and every individual only insofar as there is an intended and direct activation or Initiation about to occur for the person who has requested that this Journey be done on their behalf. You will see, below, where this interlude of personal significance is denoted in red.
Please enjoy the story.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Old Shaman knelt next to his fire, packing a colorfully woven bag with icons, figurines, talismans, bits of feather, stone and bone. Each item bore significance, each carrying a prayerful intent of the People who stood or sat, laughing and talking respectfully, gathered outside his lodge. As he carefully acknowledged each item, greeting it as one would a person met upon the trail to the spring, with happiness at the meeting, he placed the ceremonial piece inside the bag where it would best find comfort and a sense of place.
Stepping out of the lodge he saw that the Moon was about to rise above the red cliffs before him. Taking a few steps forward he turned to look back at his lodge, his home of many, many years. A strong framework of mastodon ribs and tree limbs lashed with rawhide straps supported a heavy covering of animal hides, layered tufts of grass and sun hardened clay. A set of ivory mastodon tusks framed the doorway. Smoke from the remaining fire drifted lazily out the top of the lodge’s smoke hole. Inside, he knew, from long years of having lived there, the inner walls were covered with a fine selection of tapestries made from various furs cut, fitted and sewn together precisely to create panels of geometric patterns. The floor was laid with layers of felted wool appliqué carrying the design of three concentric rings, each representing one of the Worlds of Creation: in the center the Earth where life is lived; in the middle section the Underworld – the place of Dreams. The outermost ring going up to the outer circular wall of the lodge held configurations of star patterns of the night sky, the home of the Old Ones who created the structure of the Dream that was then cast, like a shadow of light, into the World as the situations and substance of the lives of the People. The details of design upon the floor covering were in actuality a map of the way to journey from Earth, through the Underworld and into the Celestial. He knew these pathways by heart. His Grandfather, who was his predecessor and mentor in the passage of this body of Knowledge into his caretakership, had shown him the meaning of each symbol as a part of the overall whole. Carried in the patterns was a story to which he, the Old Shaman, was to activate and contribute to this night. So it was, as it had always been. Each Caretaker of the Ways must not only learn, and earn, passage along these sacred pathways shown, but must also explore the Other Realms and bring back a deeper understanding and blessing to the People and to the body of Knowledge. So had the Grandfathers and Grandmothers done before him, so would he do tonight. He gently blows a breath of life to the lodge and map, honoring his home, his ancestors and the challenges and dedication they had given in their life that he might be able to respond to this call of his People who, even now, were awaiting his journey into the stars to bring the blessing of the Old Ones into the Dream, and thence to the World, that their lives might be bettered thereby. He turns to the gathering of the People, raises his fingertips to his lips and again blows the breath of life, this time to the People, in honor of their presence.
The People accompany him to the Great Tree that stands in the center of the village. It is tall, seeming to reach into the deepening dusk of the sky itself, its roots, gnarly and reaching, thrusting deep into the dark ground beneath. The Old Shaman places a felted wool pad upon the ground as a seat, something to add a bit of comfort for his old bones during the long night ahead of him. Shifting the colorful bag to his side, its strap looped around his neck, he sets his drum leaning against the trunk of the tree. He glances up to see the seven ribbons tied about the tree’s massive trunk. Seven colors, one for each bridge of the rainbow, extend one above the other, each separated by the height of a woman, as if they were seven Grandmothers’ headbands above him. He feels a deep ease, knowing that the Grandmothers are watching over him. The Old Shaman sits upon the pad and leans his back into the spine, the trunk of great girth, of the Tree. Picking up the Drum, he brings his bundle of raven feathers to the hand that grasps the handle of the Drum, his drumstick held in the other. He can smell the sweet smell of the incense that his People are burning to insure that the ceremonial grounds are sanctified. Carefully watching the horizon he follows the lifting glow of the Moon that is stealthily slipping up from behind the cliffs, soon to jump up into view and take its place in the indigo dusk.
With the first glimmer of the Moon’s brightness the Old Shaman strikes the Drum with one strong resounding beat. The single beat pierces through the surrounding forest and echoes off the walls of the cliffs. He gauges the return of the drumbeat’s echo and strikes the Drum once again, fully synchronized between new beat and echo. Another echo ricochets, returns and is picked up, to be sent out again. Now, in between the echoes, the old Shaman taps his Drum to create a rhythm between the established echo-beats. In this way the old Shaman orchestrates the relationships of the surrounding environs and the sounds of the Drum, weaving the harmony of Nature.
The resonant singing of the Drum replaces all thought, a deep and profound silence ensues. A drop of the head, the beat still steady and sure, the Old Shaman’s body relaxes. Only the Tree holds his body upright. Soon the hands holding Drum and drumstick drop to his side, the bundle of silver feathers caught, intentionally, between his fingers. Even as the Drum drops to the ground at his side the beat pattern and rhythm, echoing and re-echoing, seems to come from a ghostly musician afoot in the forest.
Consciousness has subsumed itself into Awareness, the faculty of perception of the Spirit. The residual drumbeats resounding from the cliff face lifts the old Shaman’s Spirit. He is free! He looks at his feet, scans up his legs, gazing upon his outstretched arms, his body. It is vibrant, seeming to be made of a shining mass of spider webs that pulsates with light. The Shaman of Light brings his gaze around to look at his physical body, lying below his vantage point. Smiling, he blows a gentle breath, which streams forth as a scintillating light, upon the recumbent form, appreciating his home that he has inhabited for many, many years. Looking further afield he sees a cluster of glowing ovoid orbs… the Spirits of his People gathered. The Shaman of Light breathes a stream of light upon them, joyous in their presence.
Turning his gaze to the Moon, he drinks in the shimmering light of the Sky Orb. As he holds his attention upon the Moon he feels lighter, lifted. Threads of light, like the silk of a cocoon, shoot from his light body towards the light of the Moon. As the filaments of his Spirit body merge with the pulsing light emanating from the Moon, and are absorbed into the orb above, his threads are drawn in to that body, pulling, lifting him upwards. He is moving through what feels like a dark ribbed tunnel. There is the sensation of a thrumming, deep and intense, within the passageway. The Shaman of Light is flying, soaring ever upwards now. The more his attention is focused, the more do his threads spiral up to unite with the Moon, the faster is his flight. Soon he is rushing through the Darkness. He sees all about him the scenarios and memories of his own life. He knows that this is not important, unless the ghosts of his life are still charged with feelings, tuggings, yearnings. But he has moved through this terrain many times before. His Grandfathers and Grandmothers had given him guidance as to how to release his Spirit from these demons and fantasies by merging with each one and embracing it – his own guilts and shames and sorrows and unrequited loves – until it dissolved into light. Such ghosts no longer distract him, they are no longer alive. Instead he can now utilize his journey through the Realm of Ghosts to find and identify the ghosts of pain and suffering that still bind the Souls of his People to their own defeat. These collected sufferings become affixed to each respective icon and figurine of the People. Their Hopes and Desires now have Shadows.
He is aware that he is now in the Red Region, passing through the portion of the Tree that is bound with the ribbon of that color. He perceives the obstructions of fear and greed, of not caring and selfishness that tether the emotions of his People. The Light Shaman widens his spiraling path upwards to encompass the ghosts of his People, holding each in compassionate embrace. Traveling free, as pure Spirit, judgment and revulsion do not exist, nor do adoration and glamor. All that is, Is. And what Is is either of the nature of harmony and balance or it is not, and if not, compassion impels him into the ecstatic embrace of realignment of that non-existence into Essence. As his Spirit soars ever upwards the Shaman of Light passes through each of the Ghostly Realms; Red followed by Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue Indigo, Purple – the seven bridges of the rainbow. Each has its own nature of ghosts and demons. Each is acknowledged as being the residing place of the Souls of the People, his kindred, his kind. Each is embraced, and placed, as the Shadow of the Dream. Up the Tree his Spirit flows, passing through the ring of each of the colored ribbons tied in place upon the trunk of the Tree.
Though the drumbeats have long since ceased, they have set his Soul to pulsing with their rhythm. This rhythm keeps his frequency of vibration in accord with the innate thrumming of the ribbed passageway he is ascending within the Underworld Realm. At long last he has traversed the Ghostly Realms. The Shaman of Light now finds himself in the region that shines with a luminous purple haze. Knowing the cues given him by those who have gone before, he moves his Spirit body into a fully upright position. The threads of emanation now coil out the top of his head and anchor him to the Moon. A pillar of condensed threads extrude from the base of his spine and out the soles of his feet, wending their way down, as the roots of the Great Tree, rooted to the Earth. In his upright position, he experiences the familiar feeling of a buzzing from the dynamic tension created by his column of threads that are the connector between the polarized forces of Moon and Earth. The Power surges through him. He pivots, turning to his right, until he feels a tug, a pull. Continuing beyond the place of the tug, he revolves another 360 degrees, returning to the position of the tugging pull. He holds himself there, the dynamic charge now coursing through him like a bolt of lightning. The Shaman of Light knows, from training and experience that as long as he can maintain the upright position the Power will continue to build within him. Having returned to the place of the pull, he gives in to it, slightly, then pulls back, resisting. The tug is now stronger, drawing him forward, pulling upon the Star-Within that resides at the place of his solar plexus. Once again, willfully, he releases into the pull, then, with great effort, resists, letting the power build within him through this exercise of release and resist. Finally, one last time, he holds, holds, holds, and then… he surrenders his resistance and allows himself to be drawn, forcefully, out of the tunnel of darkness and into the brilliant purple haze. There is a loud POW! as he transits from the Underworld Realm into the Celestial Realm. The purple light is effervescent, fizzy, slightly tickling. The Shaman of Light moves into the mist, the colorful bag containing the desires of his People still slung about his neck. He makes his way by feel, the sense of the correct way to move like a fullness, an incorrect movement feeling hollow. Through this felt-sense perception he proceeds. As he continues to move the mist peels away. He finds himself in a glade within a deep forest. Tall mountain peaks surround him. Diagonally to his right and ahead of him he sees the glow of a fire just inside the edge of the trees.
The Shaman of Light moves towards Grandfather Fire. As he gets closer he can make out forms, figures of Light, but similar to shadows. Light Shadows. He knows these to be the Elders, the Dream Makers. These are the Ones he has come to be received by. As he approaches Grandfather Fire he lowers his gaze to look into the coals that comprise the base of the fire. Kneeling before Grandfather Fire, the Shaman of Light asks permission of Grandfather to cleanse and bless himself with the coals of the fire. When permission is asked, permission is granted. The Shaman of Light reaches his hands of shimmering light into the coals and withdraws a double handful. Placing his hands at the top of his own head, he draws the coals down across his body, bringing his Celestial Soul into resonant harmony with Grandfather Fire and the Council of Elders who awaits his attention across the fire from him. Two more hand-scoops of coals follow, one each for alignment of the Shaman of Light’s Earth Soul and his Underworld Soul. There is neither pretense of hierarchy nor expectation of fear. The Elders are harmony and balance expressed; they are Principles of Life, the Makers of Dreams.
The Elders await the offerings the Shaman of Light has brought them. He opens the bag and lays out before Grandfather Fire the icons, figurines and talismans that embody the prayerful Dreams of his People. Each one the Shaman of Light lovingly picks up and respectfully announces the nature of the Dream of each person who had placed this trust into his care.
In this position within the unfolding storyline will be written your specific request and the corresponding Gift of Empowerment that has been given you. It will be unique to you and will have relevant guidance as to how to best integrate the gift into your life.
With each Dream presented the Shaman of Light brings forth an icon or figurine, a carved bit of bone, shaped stone, a tuft of feathers, each in its own symbolic form a representation of the intimate desire of someone who had asked him to carry their Dreams to be included in a greater Dreaming of the World. And with each, its Shadow is revealed.
The forms of the Elders across the fire shift and disassemble, then reassemble to become the specific expressions of character and essence required for the insemination and manifestation of the Dream of each request. The Dream Makers seem to float in patterns about each other. The floating takes on pattern and the forms take on distinction. The Dance has begun.
Old Woman Bear (Earth) shuffles around the Fire (Sun) in a counter-clockwise direction. Raven (Moon), brilliant silver of feather, flies about Bear, round and round. Hummingbird (Mercury), whose green-feathered body sports a shiny ruby-red throat, darts around the Fire, seeking blossoms upon which to alight. The Red Stallion (Mars), proud and powerful, kicks up his heels and tosses his mane in a show of earnest desire to run, to set forth to action. Beautiful Maiden, (Venus), is swirling and twirling around to the far side of the Fire. Eagle (Jupiter), flying aloft, circles upon the air’s draught, taking it all in. Shape-Shifter (Uranus) lurks, ready to lurch into presence without warning. White Stag (Neptune), a wound in his side, is standing just outside the light of the Fire. Far, far across the Fire, deep in the Darkness, Black Wolf (Pluto), Eater of Memories, watches… and waits. All the while the She-Lion (Saturn) shelters her cubs in safety within her den.
These Elders dance and initiate form within the Dream-of-Us-All. The Old Shaman, having presented the Dreams of his People to Grandfather Fire, nudges them into action. Eagle, Hummingbird, Red Stallion and Shape-Shifter coalesce, lending each their own quality of character to the task disseminated them by Grandfather Fire: Action in Quest of Truth. Eagle flies into the World of Manifest being, setting out the Path that is to be followed. Hummingbird, who communicates the gathered Wisdom of the Ages, insures that each member of the Circle is informed of the whereabouts and doings of each other Elder, then weaves the spell that will engage the Mind of each person who has sent their Dream to the Elders, that they may Dream the Dream as well. The mighty Red Stallion, now that he has been given the Divine Path to trod, gallops forth, carries the Celestial Soul of each of the People into the highest realms of the truth of each.
Shape-Shifter, swift and without discernible reason, sends a storm of thunder and lightning into the Earth-Soul lives of the People gathered, causing them to stop, run beneath known trees for shelter, only to have the trees shattered by lightning, leaving the People uncovered, unsheltered, naked to the elements. Just as suddenly Shape-Shifter becomes an Owl that guides them into a cave. The People huddle in the cave, shivering from wet. As they warm, and feel the sense of protective safety again, here within the cave, they begin to explore.
White Stag appears before them, dripping blood from his wound. As the People come closer he bolts, runs deeper into the cave, down a passageway, narrow but well floored, that tilts down into the ground. The tunnel is lit with a suffused glow that emanates from White Stag. Down, down, ever downwards the White Stag runs, the People following after, for now they are far from the mouth of the cave and fear to return without any torch to light their way. The wound of the Stag is the wound of the people. Each droplet of blood the sufferings they have undergone. Each drop of blood shed by the White Stag is the return of the wounds of the people to themselves. With each drop of blood shed, White Stag grows brighter still, and with that brightness each of the People now have their own Shadow.
White Stag has run himself till he can run no more. He halts at the edge of a precipice. He looks back to the People who have followed him; he looks across the chasm to the ledge of rock on the other side. Beyond that ledge a forest, and meadows filled with flowers, is visible, but beset in twilight. White Stag collapses in exhaustion. As the People rush up to him, embroiled in the hurts and rage and resentments of each their own sufferings, and having come to believe that the White Stag is the source of these pains, they are overcome with the lust to overtake and kill him. As they close in around the White Stag, edged up to the precipice, they hear a howling from the darkness that freezes them with its cold, shrill intensity. Into the cavern-lit glow emanating from White Stag slinks Black Wolf. His tongue is a ‘loll, the red of his eyes a deep-lit fire. He prowls around the huddled gathering of the people who cower in fear. With each pass Black Wolf comes closer and closer to the People.
Owl once again appears, fluttering his wings about the face of Black Wolf. As Black Wolf snips at Owl, Owl lifts, dives, maneuvers himself away from the sharp teeth and powerful jaws of Black Wolf. Owl flies to the side of White Stag. In the brilliance of White Stag’s light, Owl casts a Shadow that fills the cavern with darkness. Black Wolf emits an ear-splitting howl of the hunt and lunges towards Owl. Owl, in the same instant, flies towards the Black Wolf, his Shadow diminishing in size by so doing. In mid-leap Black Wolf’s jaws snap close upon, not Owl’s body, but about his Shadow, severing Shadow from body. Owl flaps his wings, gaining elevation, then soars across the chasm and alights in the branches of a grand tree on the other side. Meanwhile Black Wolf howls again with the success of the hunt, after which he gulps down the Shadow he has caught.
The People have seen, and now know. It is not they, themselves, that Black Wolf is there to hunt, but their Shadows, their pains and sufferings that lay within their memories, the memories that cling to them as if they had a life of their own. Following the example of Owl each of the People relinquish their Shadow to Black Wolf, who shrilly howls in acceptance of their surrender and release. Into the snapping jaws of Black Wolf are fed the pain held within memories of abuse, betrayal, guilt and shame, the sadness of love unfulfilled and opportunities for kindness passed by out of fear.
With the relinquishment of their Shadows the People begin to glow with the same light as the White Stag. Renewed, White Stag stands, collects himself to the edge and, with a powerful lunge, leaps across the chasm. An arc of rainbow light trails behind him. The gathering of the People follow, running across the rainbow bridge that arcs across the chasm, emerging on the far side amongst the flowers of the meadow, the trees of the forest. Their presence brings light to the twilight that had enfolded the terrain previously.
A great wind rushes across the land as the Whoosh! of Eagle’s wings bring him above the scene. Guided by Eagle’s flight comes Red Stallion, in full gallop, Beautiful Maiden astraddle upon his back, her long tresses streaming out behind her. As Red Stallion comes to a halt, pawing and prancing, Beautiful Maiden slips down from his back and walks to the gathered People. She presents her hands, arms outstretched, palms facing up, in a gesture of welcome. Each in their turn takes her hands in their own. She ushers them down a trail that curves around the side of a large red spire of rock. The trail leads directly to a small cave, a den. In the den awaits the She-Lion. As each of the people enters the den they are cuddled to the teat of the She-Lion. Once fed, they sleep. And in their sleep they Dream, and in their Dream they are each joyous, healthy and fulfilled.
The Old Shaman sits up, leaning slightly away from the Great Tree. The night is still, the People asleep, Dreaming. He gathers his ceremonials and walks back to his lodge in which he has lived for many, many years. He has returned home.
If you should choose to have this Mythos activated on your behalf, please follow these instructions:
I am accepting requests to Dream the World. If you are choosing to have me include your Dream in the Dreaming, please follow these simple directions:
Contact me from this link: Request the Shaman of Light Dreaming.
State your Dream to be Dreamed (example: Good health. Abundance. Confidence) 3 requests maximum.
Make a payment of $111 using PayPal
Following the Dreaming of the World I will email you the Dream as it has transpired. The essence of your request will be woven within the greater Dream that I have written out.
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The Victor Hugo Restaurant
August 17, 2015 January 31, 2016 jhgraham 1926 Tags: restaurants, Victor-hugo-restaurant
In the increasingly fast-paced and chaotic world of the 1920s, The Victor Hugo restaurant in downtown Los Angeles was a refuge, free from modern distractions like jazz and sleek chrome and glass décor, harkening back to a simpler time- the French Revolution.
In late November 1925, Hugo Albert Aleidis (who was Italian, not French) moved his Victor Hugo restaurant from S. Hill St. to 619 S. Grand Ave., on the second floor of the brand-new Masonic Club of Los Angeles building.
The new Masonic Club building shortly after it opened on November 19, 1925. Victor Hugo was on the second floor where the awnings are. The Victor Hugo vertical electric sign can be seen on the right, above its marquee-covered entrance. Photo: Water and Power Associates.
Nov 30, 1925. LA Times
The establishment was noteworthy at the time for its exceptional French cuisine and elegant Louis XVI décor. The main dining room was done in ivory and gold shades, with silken hangings, lounge seats upholstered in green, a mulberry-colored carpet and soft lighting from crystal chanedliers. There were private dining rooms and banquet rooms, and an indoor “garden room” with climbing roses attached to latticework. Another room featured murals depicting fountains, trees, peacocks, flowers and swans.
Sept 9, 1927 LA Times
The new location proved very successful. By early 1934, when a lot of eating places were closing down, Aleidis was looking to expand. He had Claude Beelman design a new French-classical style building at 243-249 S. Beverly Dr., just off Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills. He closed the 619 S. Grand location in November 1934 in anticipation of the new one opening soon, which replicated the look of the old Victor Hugo.
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2 thoughts on “The Victor Hugo Restaurant”
Pingback: Welcome to Los Angeles, 1926 | J. H. Graham
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J.K. Pendragon
LGBT+ Romance and Speculative Fiction
News! The Fairy Gift Re-release – New Cover – #Trans wins Best LGBT Memoir/Biography at Rainbow Awards!
Visualizing Self: Gender Identity in a Vacuum
#Trans Blog Hop – An Anthology about Transgender and Nonbinary Identity Online
JUNIOR HERO BLUES Blog Tour! Dates and Giveaways
Sea Lover is Now Available!
GRNW 2016
All The News! Cover Reveal, Tattoo, Print Copies etc….
JUNIOR HERO BLUES is up for Pre-order! (Plus Cover and Blurb Reveal)
Rainbow Awards: To Summon Nightmares wins Best Transgender Fiction!
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Imposter Syndrome, Being Femme and Non-binary
Tips for Writers: Beating Self-Doubt
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SEAN BEE
1 Comment Posted on February 18, 2015 February 18, 2015 reviews
SEAN BEEEEEEEE!!!!!–ahem, I mean: My Thoughts on Jupiter Ascending
So my reaction to this movie was pretty similar to a lot of other reviewers’. Basically: “It was so awful, BUT I LOVED IT.” There were so many things wrong with the movie, but it somehow managed to keep me riveted and genuinely enjoying it for the duration, and I’m not sure why.
Things wrong with this movie:
The romance is AWFUL. We’re supposed to believe that the characters have fallen in love with each other, in fact large parts of the plot depend on this, but like… it would be literally impossible for the characters to fall in love because they don’t know anything about each other because there’s nothing to know?
Seriously, who are these people? I know nothing about them. I mean, I know that Jupiter is an immigrant maid and Caine is a disgraced soldier, but their personalities? Interests? Hopes and dreams? What do they do in their spare time? What do they think about… about anything? I got nothing.
And it’s really, really not that hard to write a convincing romance, and flesh out the characters at the same time. All you have to do is take out five minutes of explosions, and add five minutes of the characters talking quietly, sharing some intimate details about each other while looking into each others’ eyes, because that’s how people fall in love!!
The Wachowskis don’t have time for your “show don’t tell” bullshit. There are things happening! More things are happening! Explosions! Aliens! We can’t possibly slow down long enough to explain all this stuff to you by showing. Listen up while this character explains everything in quick soundbites, because that’s all we got time for. More things!
Jupiter has no agency. I’m sorry, she doesn’t. She is dragged around, manipulated, she falls a lot, and is caught by Caine. She makes one very big decision at the end, but other than that, she’s basically a pawn.
It kind of works? Jupiter is kind of every 14-year-old’s wish fulfillment. She gets to leave her boring, monotonous life and discovers that she’s a SPACE PRINCESS and omg everyone is paying attention to her and she gets to wear pretty dresses and go toe-to-toe with clever sparring diplomat-types. And there’s a mysterious, brooding guy with his shirt off a lot, and he’s a little scary and she probably shouldn’t be into him, but she is anyway, and no one can tell her no. Oh, and she gets a fancy glowing tattoo that shows that she’s a princess. SO COOL.
The breakneck “this is the way it is, okay ACTION!” actually kind of works too? You kind of feel like you’ve already been here, like either you’ve already been introduced to this world, and the soundbites are just for the newbies, or else like this is just the way things are, and you should know about it because, um, you live here.
Sean Bean is an alien bee guy, but also inexplicably northern (probably because “lots of planets have a north” x) He’s part bee, guys! SEAN BEE!
Eddie Redmayne. I seriously can’t. He’s an ancient space capitalist with a tortured, evilpast, and I TOTALLY BOUGHT IT. I can’t even argue about this.
There’s a space-ship with a plucky crew a la Firefly, and I’m not sure where they came from or why they’re helping Jupiter, but the captain is a badass black lady and I’m totally down.
This film is BEAUTIFUL. It just is, it’s glorious. Rich sumptuous colours, lots of burnished golds and hardwoods, and then giant cathedral-looking factories on Jupiter (the planet) and a gorgeous planet that looks like Rivendell in space, and really cool, well-thought out space-ship designs, and the 3D is EXCELLENT. I actually flinched from something coming towards me at one point, because I’d forgotten I was wearing the glasses.
The plot is actually really good too. A lot of people complain about it being predictable and/or confusing, but I really, really enjoyed it, and thought it was well done.
I mean, I could go on about it for ages, but the fact is, even though there were glaring issues with the film, I really did enjoy it. And I wonder if that says something about what we think a film needs to have to be a “good film” and whether or not it’s true. I wonder if it says something about our review culture that we can fill in a check box like, “this film did this wrong and this wrong and this wrong and therefore it’s a bad film” but it’s really not?
Or maybe movies lately have just been so bad that the bar is set really low. I don’t know. All I know is that I got genuine enjoyment out of this movie, despite my being able to tell, theoretically, that it was a “bad movie.” And I think that’s really interesting.
Also, the space-scapes are awesome.
bad movie channing tatum eddie redmayne good movie jupiter ascending mila kunis reviews romance sci-fi SEAN BEE thoughts what does it even mean
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JohnnyMackintosh.com
The official website of the Johnny Mackintosh series of books by Keith Mansfield
Archive for Science
Influences on Johnny Mackintosh: Harry Potter
Posted in Battle for Earth, Harry Potter, Influences, Writers with tags Addison-Wesley, aliens, Boston, Chamber of Secrets, Deathly Hallows, dreams, football, gadgets, Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter quiz, House of Blues, Iain Banks, Iain M Banks, Irvine Welsh, JK Rowling, Jo Rowling, magic, Paul Auster, Philosopher's Stone, Prisoner of Azkaban, Science, Sorcerer's Stone, space, Tibor Fisher, wizards on August 31, 2011 by keithmansfield
Most of the entries in this series of things that have impacted on the Johnny Mackintosh books have been either science fiction or science based. I have though saved the biggest influence until last and it comes from another world, but one which many readers will know well: Jo Rowling’s spectacular creation, Harry Potter.
Some people might have heard the story of how I came to begin reading about the boy wizard from Godric’s Hollow, but for those who haven’t here goes. Of course as a publisher I’d heard about Harry and his creator JK Rowling, but I figured he was for kids and I had no interest whatsoever in books about witches and wizards and magic and broomsticks, even though the buzz about this remarkable creation wouldn’t go away.
I was working for a company called Addison-Wesle y who were based in Boston, Massachusetts, so had been spending time over there. At the end of the week everyone from the office was out a party in a club (I think the House of Blues) and I would be heading back to the UK the next day. I was approached be someone looking a little sheepish who said she had something to tell me – that everyone in the office thought I was Harry Potter.
In hindsight it’s obvious. At the time, as you can see, I wore ridiculous round battered glasses, had black messed up hair, spoke with an English accent and (though I normally cover it under mounds of foundation) I do actually have a lightning-shaped scar on my forehead. Then there are all the mad things that seem to happen when I get angry, but that’s another story…
The next day I found and bought Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone at Logan International Airport and read it on the flight home. Curiously, although I may have read all the Harry Potter books 20-40 times, I’ve still never read the Philosopher’s Stone version of book one where it all began. At that time Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was also published so I bought that at Heathrow Airport on the way home, and Prisoner of Azkaban soon followed. I loved this world that the woman who was to become my writing idol had created. It’s a tribute to her that she could even make things like magic and dragons and Quidditch sound interesting. But most of all it was what we call the voice of the books, and the cleverness of telling everything from Harry’s point of view, even when he got the wrong end of the stick.
It had never occurred to me to write the sort of books that children might want to read (as well as adults). I’d been trying to pen the ultimate cutting edge modern novel, a kind of cross between Iain Banks, Paul Auster, Tibor Fisher and Irvine Welsh (there’s a thought!) when one day, walking back from the writing class I’d been going to it hit me like a sledgehammer. Although I enjoyed reading authors like those four listed, there was nothing I loved reading more than Harry Potter. Just as it was books from my childhood that had left further, indelible marks on me. And that I felt that about Harry despite, not because of, the subject matter. How much better it might be if I could write the same sort of story, but replacing magic with science, and having aliens instead of goblins and house elves, and football instead of Quidditch, and pack it with fun gadgets and computers.
I began writing Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London. The other novels I’d tried to create had all been hard work – this was like reading my all-time favourite book, but it was up to me how it developed. It flowed so well. And, many twists and turns later, it’s remarkable that the third in my own series publishes tomorrow.
I have no doubt that Jo Rowling is the greatest writer and storyteller of her (my) generation and seriously underrated. I suspect a lot of it is due to jealousy of her success. Whenever I read other books aimed at the same market, often by lauded authors, I find myself picking holes in their writing and technique, but I can’t find fault with the writing behind Harry Potter. When I was first working on the Johnny Mackintosh stories I would actually read the Harry Potter books in a continuous loop to remind myself of the incredible voice I was trying to find. If a new book was coming out I might have to pause my own writing for a while so I could time it perfectly to finish, say, Goblet of Fire, the day before Order of Phoenix came out so I could carry straight on into the new book.
Sound a little obsessive? Maybe, but I am Harry Potter’s number one fan and don’t let anyone tell you different. In fact, here’s a Harry Potter Quiz I once wrote for the Sunday Telegraph magazine, just before The Deathly Hallows came out. They asked me to create something ungooglable. They also wanted me to include a fair amount of film stuff (as they didn’t realize fans cared about the last book being released, not the fifth film). Also, they wanted multiple choice and so I gave five answers to each question, but the final piece was printed with only four possibilities, so not all the questions work as intended. But I’m still proud of it. The STEWS setting was my idea too.
When I pitched the Johnny Mackintosh books to agents and publishers the 10 second sell I began with was “Harry Potter in space” (or sometimes “Harry Potter meets Star Wars in case they thought at this stage that Harry Potter alone hadn’t made enough money). People who know me will know that dreams are a big part of my life and I suspect the same is probably true of JKR, because of the way she weaves Harry’s into the stories. I’ve done the same. The best bit about the Potter books is the way so many clues are hidden in plain sight. It’s wonderful trying to spot them – for instance, Chamber of Secrets is particularly packed full of clues that point to events into the far future, even including books six and seven. I’ve tried to do the same. Up until about draft 30 of Spirit of London (yes you read that right) I think my setting for Johnny was too similar to that of Harry’s, in that I had my own hero living with foster parents. Then, after a year of rewriting and plotting, I came up with the idea of Halader House and the children’s home in which my story begins.
I could wax lyrical about the boy who lived for days/weeks/months, but I’m sure you get the idea. Tomorrow my third book will be published and it’s a huge thank you to Jo Rowling for helping that happen. And now I might just pop out and see if I can buy a copy of and then start on a book I’ve still never read: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
The Science of Johnny Mackintosh
Posted in Science, Website news with tags Interesting science, Science, science of Johnny Mackintosh on July 9, 2008 by keithmansfield
Want to know more about the science behind Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London? I’ve created a new section of this site that I’ll be adding to when time allows. Maybe, if I went back in time to do it, that would let me write more entries?
Subscribe to the Johnny Mackintosh RSS feed
Readers' Gallery
MWNN
Milky Way News Network
“Alien invaders have exploded a nearby star, turning it into a supernova, and only Johnny Mackintosh knows the Sun is next in line.” The second book in Keith Mansfield’s Johnny Mackintosh series will appeal to readers aged 10-100, especially fans of Harry Potter or Star Wars.
Hardback 1: Spirit of London
Paperback 1: Spirit of London
Paperback 2: Star Blaze
Paperback 3: Battle for Earth
Read excerpts
Spirit of London (Elevator)
Star Blaze (opening scene)
Star Blaze (Top of the Rock)
Readers’ Johnny Mackintosh Gallery
The Dark Energy Drive
What other people say about Johnny Mackintosh
East End Life
Hot Courses Magazine
Keith Mansfield’s blog
Quercus Books
Send your name into space!
Sonoma Space Mysteries
The International Year of Astronomy 2009
Read Johnny Mackintosh stories in other languages
Dutch (Prometheus)
Norwegian (Cappelen Damm)
Where to buy Johnny Mackintosh books
Meet the new Johnny Mackintosh
Amazon UK Kindle deal of the day
Johnny Mackintosh: The Movie
Johnny Mackintosh lands on Mars
12 Days of Johnny Mackintosh Battle for Earth Book news Bookshops Buildings Dutch edition eBooks Extracts Harry Potter History Influences Interviews Movie News New York Norwegian edition Readers content reviews Science Space star blaze television Website news Writers
2001: A Space Odyssey alien bandstand aliens alien signals Amazon Atlantis author signing Bentley Blake's 7 blurb boinc Bookbag book covers book reviews book series book signing book translations Cappelen Damm Carl Sagan Cassini children's books Christmas cover copy Discovery one Dutch edition Dutch translation eBooks Enterprise Gherkin Harrods Harry Potter His Dark Materials Hubble Space Telescope Iain Banks Iain M Banks Interesting science International Space Station ISS JK Rowling Johnny Mackintosh Johnny Mackintosh på galaktisk evertyr Johnny Mackintosh reviews Jo Rowling Liberator meet the author NASA new books Norway Old English sheepdog Oslo Philip Pullman Prometheus publication Quercus reviews Saturn Scandinavia Science science of Johnny Mackintosh sequel Seti solar sail sonoma space space mysteries star blaze Star Trek Star Wars supergiant supernova supersnelle augurk time travel Waterstone's YA books young adult literature
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Case Studies chevron_right Environmental Litigation
The Maryland Company, LLC v. ExxonMobil et al.
In 2010, Former Governor Mike J. Foster, Jr. consulted with Jones Swanson to investigate the oil and gas exploration and production operations conducted by Quintana Petroleum Corporation, Burlington Resources Oil and Gas Company, LP, and ExxonMobil Corporation in a cypress swamp in a remote area of property owned by his family’s corporation. Jones Swanson’s investigation revealed that companies’ operations had caused extensive damage to the swamp. The Foster family hired the firm to continue its investigation, and to bring suit if a claim for damages was deemed to be appropriate.
A state field agent wrote up the site in a 1987 report, noting “Oil leaking from reserve pit…fish flesh probably tainted to taste.”
Jones Swanson soon learned that, in 1967, operators on the drilling site had requested permission from a state regulatory agency to discharge oilfield waste, including saltwater, into a fresh-water cypress swamp. Since cypress trees don’t grow in saltwater, the request was denied and a cease and desist order was issued. That order was ignored and the operator continued discharging saltwater into the swamp for 14 more years—which killed a large number of cypress trees.
Finally, in 1982, the company stopped the discharge after a producing well went dry and could be used as an injection well. In order to construct the injection well facility, it was necessary to locate holding tanks within a protection levee so that if or when the tanks overflowed the saltwater could be contained, with none going into the swamp. The operator also placed a pipe with a control valve at the bottom of the protection levee, however, so that the saltwater within the containment levee could be released into the swamp, and so that production well would not have to be shut down. Former employees testified that the release of the saltwater through the valve-controlled pipe was not an infrequent incident.
In 1987, while conducting an airplane surveillance over this property, a Louisiana Department of Natural Resources field agent spotted a one-third mile long oil slick coming from a tank battery. The field agent took pictures and wrote up a report, noting “Oil leaking from reserve pit—sheen approx. 1/3 mile long…Fish mortality expected—fish flesh probably tainted to taste.”
Before the case went to trial, all the defendants agreed to a settlement that included an environmental clean-up.
The Public Trust Doctrine
insert_drive_file DNR report 1987 302 KB, PDF file_download
insert_drive_file Maryland Co. original petition 1 MB, PDF file_download
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Tag: #donaldtrump
MY VOTE MY DEMISE: ARE WE TOO SERIOUS ABOUT OUR POLITICS
“In a Democratic Republic.”
who really cares
Ever since the United State President elect Donald J. Trump came to office this country has been at odds. People are going as far as cutting off their own family for their political affiliation. But the main issue that I have is not who you voted for, but why are people so invested in each others political views. We, for some reason have to be so in tuned with the reasons why someone voted. We act as if the people who are doing the voting are also making the country’s decisions. When in reality, even the people they elect are not going to be doing as much as we think they are while in power. So what is the real reason we have so much vested interest?
on my side or your side
In America you are either Democrat or Republican in this country. And if you don’t have a political affiliation then people accuse you of straddling the fence. But when you fall on the side of one of the parties then you stand a chance of upsetting someone. For me, I am more liberal then conservative, but not by much. I am about 55% liberal and 45% conservative; which makes me very moderate in this country. But for most people in America today they are either 80% or 90% on one side over the other. And they have this prevailing theory that if you are not in my party then you are against me. And in a country where we are supposed to be celebrating the freedom to choose, we are targeting people for their political party options.
it should be free
Our politics should be our free way of expression but for some reason it has changed. And the current president has caused so many people to split and choose sides. But what if he wins twice? Does that mean that more and more people are going to split and choose sides? Who knows, we will have to wait until 2020 to see how things pan out.
Personal Website: http://www.faheemjackson.squarespace.com
Instagram Me: @theefaheemjackson; @faheemjacksonphotography
Author faheemjackson44Posted on September 5, 2019 Categories Culture, UncategorizedTags #2020, #conservative, #cultural, #culturalacceptance, #cultureinthecity, #democrat, #donaldtrump, #election, #liberal, #MAGA, #politicalparty, #republican, #voting, Culture, PoliticsLeave a comment on MY VOTE MY DEMISE: ARE WE TOO SERIOUS ABOUT OUR POLITICS
THE LOGIC AGAINST THE EMOTION: WHY THE PUSH AGAINST IMMIGRATION WON’T WORK
“Build it longer, stronger, still won’t help.”
Since the presidential run of Donald Trump, the sentiment of protecting our borders and removing illegal immigrants from the country have been a topic of discussion. And for the most part, these immigrants have come from countries south of the United States borders. Not too many from Canada, throughout Europe, Africa, or Asia; but from Mexico and Central America. And my criticism of the removal is not because mainly the separation of families and protecting borders. It’s about the sentiment; this held belief of immigrants taking jobs. We need to breakdown the thought of what it is to take a “job” and what are those “jobs” that are really being taken away. LET’S OBSERVE.
the job of the American born
In the United States, since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, we have held on strong because of the work coming from manufacturing. And over time, we have seen a lot of those jobs removed and taken to overseas nations where the cost of manufacturing is cheaper. This way, by the time it (the product) hits the U.S. soil, we are seeing a price that is a direction relationship of the business conducted by the corporations themselves with outside country’s manufacturing. Now, here in the United States, with so many factories closing, you have a lot of small cities and towns throughout the country shutting down as well because they cannot afford to compete. If you’re an American manufacturer making televisions selling for $500 how do you compete with a better quality flat screen for $275 – $300. Eventually you have to shut down.
the job of the illegal immigrant
Coming to the United States to seek out a better way of life. That is the main goal for so many trying to gain access to our country. And for those who go through the rigorous process that can take years, they feel it was worth the wait. And then there are the people who take it upon themselves to risk breaking the laws of the land in crossing over the borders by land or by sea in search of a better life. Many have known to come from the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Haiti, being that they are so close to the state of Florida. And the bulk of the group that come through America’s borders do so through Mexico.
the jobs they have
In the United States today, there is a held belief that the jobs are being taken by illegals in America. Well, let’s observe what that means. Since Trump has taken office, illegal immigrants have been detained throughout the country and forced back to their homelands. A move that has directly challenged policies like that of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival) created by the Obama administration put forth in the summer of 2012. And Americans have both praised and protested the push to remove and separate families. And the idea of jobs being preserved for the hard working American who are losing out to illegals has an underlying problem. Fast Food industries consisting of delivery drivers, servers, busboys, cooks, and cleaners; the hospitality industry of maids, bellboys, and other cleaning crew make up the majority of the jobs worked by illegal immigrants. What’s interesting, is since removing these families, the Americans finding fault with illegal immigration have not shown interests in those jobs. Why because they find it hard to raise a family on the income from working those jobs. So if the reason for removing illegals for the “most part” is preserving jobs and the jobs they are working you don’t want, what is the real threat?
evolution tech-solution
We say, we need to protect our borders from drugs, never works. Let’s protect our borders from violent crime, but the majority of the real threat are American born citizens. And the big one, we need to protect American jobs. But see, the real killer of American employment is technological innovation. The work that could provide for your families are or have become obsolete. That’s why you must have a more specialized skill to earn a living. The jobs like factory repetitive assembly work is not like it used to be. You now have more engineers working the machines that would in the past take multiple people for the processing of goods. And if you’re fighting technological innovation,you’re in a losing battle. Because the country, our continent, with world will not stop evolving through means of innovation and invention simply because you and I can’t keep up. We’re in a game today; a game of either evolve or get left behind.
Author faheemjackson44Posted on August 7, 2018 Categories Economy, Politics, Race Relations, UncategorizedTags #America, #americaevolution, #americandream, #americanmade, #DACA, #donaldtrump, #immigrants, #immigration, #jobslost, #MAGA, #mexico, #minority, #policies, #protectourborders, #racerelations, #racerelationships, #racialtension, #separation, threatsLeave a comment on THE LOGIC AGAINST THE EMOTION: WHY THE PUSH AGAINST IMMIGRATION WON’T WORK
MINORITY SELECTION: WHO WILL BE THE NEXT MINORITY PRESIDENT
“Whose next?”
The presidential election run of Barack Obama left a door open for the next president either Black or any other ethnic group. But the question still stands, who next? Because in my opinion, there will be a White female before anyone else. There aren’t any prominent East Asian politicians or Indians that are strong candidates. The closest Hispanic/Latino candidates would be Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz. And the only African American next that’s remotely a force would be Kamala Harris. Now, do I think this will happen in 2020, no. Because in my opinion, just observing the landscape of America, Donald J. Trump will be back in the White House in 2020.
What is the real significance in having a president that is of another ethnic group. Doesn’t mean much to the group who has always seen a president that looks like them. Even now with young Black kids growing up. They didn’t understand why older Black people, typically middle aged and above, were in enamored with Barack Obama. Yet, for someone who has never seen themselves in that position it means a lot. Let’s look at something on a much smaller scale. The former New York Knicks basketball player Jeremy Lin was an anomaly in the NBA. He was an Chinese American basketball player, who not only played in the NBA, but played well for New York. The interest from the entire East Asian community created a massive following for the Knicks. So I’m thinking, what would happen if there was a “Lin” for president.
what is a minority really
We always look at the word minority and say to ourselves, ethnicity. But what about the first White female president and a member of the LGBT community of any ethnic group. We will in our lifetime see a president that is one of the two mentioned in the previous sentence. The questions are who and when will it take place. Because from the looks of America right now, Donald Trump, or another like him (White male, older conservative), will be president if not him. Does it matter if we do have another president of a minority group? Does it have to be another African American? How about Hispanic? What about Native American? How about a White person, but a female? East Asian? Or is America going to stick with what has been in history which is White males? Because we all say pick the most qualified candidate, but I am intrigued to know when these historic moments occur, who really votes from the job or the historical image.
Author faheemjackson44Posted on August 6, 2018 August 6, 2018 Categories Race Relations, UncategorizedTags #2020, #America, #change, #donaldtrump, #ethnic, #ethnicidentity, #ethnicity, #historicalmoments, #minority, #president, #race, #votingLeave a comment on MINORITY SELECTION: WHO WILL BE THE NEXT MINORITY PRESIDENT
TAKING A KNEE: WHY IS THERE STILL A STARK DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHITE AND BLACK SENTIMENT ON NFL PROTEST
“In protest of…..”
on one knee
Ever since former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick got down on one knee during an NFL game to protest police brutality in America during the national anthem, the anthem protest has taken on a life of its own. It has taken on such a life that we have now found ourselves back in a Black/White argument. The predominantly White side disagreeing, while the Black side agreed with the protest. So why, why are we so split. And not just on the anthem protest, but a lot of things in America. There is typically this split among Black and White citizens. A lot of times not even planned, just an organic disagreement.
numbers in one direction
The main audience for the NFL is mostly White, and of course with the population of America being mostly White. So with that said, you can understand why the NFL would want to end the anthem protest. They are doing what is in the best interest of their brand. If the mostly White audience don’t want to see it, then you will see happen what is happening which is a ban on the protesting. But on the other side, what do you think will take place in response to the ban? Because this is not going away.
counter push back
Since the issue with the protest have caused the NFL to implement new rules, how will the response be handled. Like I said, since the ruling by the NFL, as well as the President of the United States getting involved, this is far from over. Will there be a taking over by members in communities? Because if people in society form their own coalition, then there is nothing that can be done. But why must everything come down to a topic that involves a racial discussion. Because isn’t sports supposed to be a place to escape the issues of the outside world?
when competition and controversy meet
Plenty of people say keep social issues out of sports. But for the past few hundred years, this nation has been wrapped in racial relations. So everywhere you turn, there is a constant reminder of the history of our country. Whether it’s a Confederate Flag or an athlete with their fist in the air. And for so many, they tend to think sports should be sports and social issues are to be dealt with out of sports. Some even think forget social issues all together. But when you have people protesting because of police brutality, and an NFL player and NBA player are both on camera being improperly handled by police this year (Seattle Seahawk and Milwaukee Buck), the athlete says the conversation is relevant.
a difference among peoples
The reason for the relationship differences are not the media like most would want to think. It’s just how the things have been over time. There is no stopping it until a mass collective shift their perceptions of each other. But the most difficult part is that the construct of Black and White are systemic constructs. Constructs put in place a long time ago; that most say hurt our country. But the construct is almost like a glue keeping things going.
Author faheemjackson44Posted on August 4, 2018 Categories Culture, Race Relations, UncategorizedTags #America, #blackandwhite, #donaldtrump, #nfl, #protest, #race, #raceagenda, #racerelations, #racial, #racialmakeup, #racialtension, #racism, #racist, #SocialConstruct, #socialissues, #unitedstatesflagLeave a comment on TAKING A KNEE: WHY IS THERE STILL A STARK DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHITE AND BLACK SENTIMENT ON NFL PROTEST
MAKE AMERICA ________ AGAIN: WHY IS THE FEELING SO STRONG FROM A WHITE CONSERVATIVE BASE
“What is the real allure?”
The presidential race between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump was a serious showdown. One for ages, you had a career politician in Hilary Clinton and a businessman with no political experience in Donald Trump. But, in the end, Donald Trump is the one who stood victoriously with the win. But there has been something that has stuck out in the election and the aftermath. And that is the surge of White voters in America behind President Trump. Does that mean he is “their” president? Or does this election win mean that the Conservative base is back where they need to be? I have a few theories as to why the White male and female base voted Trump.
During the race of President Obama, the ideology was, “Change We Believe In.” But when voters didn’t feel like they got change, it went far right. And you think to yourself, “How could that be?” How could it be that a president that so many rallied behind be this pushed against? When you look at the election between Obama and Romney, the race was quite close., unlike that of Obama and McCain. A massive close in on the 2012 election should have been proof that a major shift was taking hold. And it was coming from the predominantly White community. Could it be the economy, foreign relations, immigration, terrorism, or health care. Either way, in 2016, the start for what would be a historic moment was about to take hold.
white males
The majority; the group who for so long dictated not only their lives, but others. And for whatever reason, now feels as if that stronghold is being lost. But let me clarify something more about this base: White male-Conservative-Heterosexual base. This base has this feeling of under attack for comments and beliefs. This is the core demographic that feels that illegal immigrants are removing what has long felt like their own. And the expectations for what a man is in society is now being determined by a feminine agenda. And Donald Trump has been seen as the answer to the problems. And if you observe how he (Trump) has carried himself in office, it appears he is catering to this longstanding base.
white females
Women for Hilary Clinton; well at least that was the ploy. But whatever the reason for Hilary running, it didn’t work because the White female base came out in large numbers to support Trump. And it really expressed something on the other side, which is doesn’t matter if a qualified woman runs; a large portion of White women would much rather have a Conservative White male in charge. Which kills the ideology that so many women hate Trump. But is all this true, or is there a lot more fear coming from a White community that really doesn’t exist.
What is the real threat in society? Well, the real threat is not illegal immigration, it’s technological innovation. There was a story here in New York City about a pizza delivery guy seized at a military base after he was found out to be illegal. With an open vacant pizza job, no one wanted the gig. Which is by the way, the vast majority of illegal jobs. So if you are uninterested in gigs like that, you won’t do much by removing illegals. Because the jobs that are supposed to be taken by illegals are specialized jobs that are shrinking. Meaning, if Trump every illegal from America, life wouldn’t change for those behind the move. Doesn’t matter, the inevitable is taking hold, and that’s machines replacing manpower.
Author faheemjackson44Posted on August 1, 2018 Categories Government, Politics, Race Relations, UncategorizedTags #America, #democrat, #donaldtrump, #immigration, #MAGA, #makeamericagreatagain, #politicalparty, #politicalstrife, #republican, #whitepeople, #whitevoters2 Comments on MAKE AMERICA ________ AGAIN: WHY IS THE FEELING SO STRONG FROM A WHITE CONSERVATIVE BASE
TWO TERM TRUMP: COULD A DOUBLE WIN EFFECT THE ECONOMY
“A successful 2020 run.”
two times the charm
Sitting here and observing the landscape of the United States socially and politically, you can’t help but to acknowledge the idea of Trump winning twice. What could happen if anything from a second win? I know that a strong amount of the young demographic is now pushing back against the president. But is it really enough to stop a second run and ultimate victory?
There was yet another school shooting in Texas, and more gun debate. There are issues surrounding law enforcement and racial intolerance. All of which could negatively effect an economy. So what are people to do if there is a sharp downturn from nothing being created in society. We are creating separation among people, but no real economic growth. But is it all what it’s cracked up to be.
truth in lies
Is there anything to the idea that mass media is pushing a lot of the stories that are creating a crazy climate? And if so, is there something to gain financially from this climate of fighting. Is our economy really performing and this fighting is nothing more than just hype to scare people? What if the country is really on an upswing? Is this attributed to the Trump administration and what is being reported on the news does not tell the full story?
hard truth
In reality, it may be very difficult to win another election for Trump. Nearly half the country didn’t vote the first time and Hilary Clinton still almost won. Now there is a lot of those nearly half who wish they had voted in favor of Democrat. What could that mean for the Republican Party if people do show out? And if people show up and he wins twice, will the wave of social and political issues continue to be the face of the nation and overshadow the economic growth.
Author faheemjackson44Posted on May 18, 2018 Categories Economy, Government, Politics, UncategorizedTags #2020, #democrat, #donaldtrump, #economicdifferences, #economicgrowth, #republican, #trump, #trumpadministration, #twotermelection, Economy, GovernmentLeave a comment on TWO TERM TRUMP: COULD A DOUBLE WIN EFFECT THE ECONOMY
GOOD DEEDS: WHAT ARE THE POSITIVES OF TRUMP’S WIN ON THE ECONOMY
“Is America better now?”
trump’s america
Since the election of President Donald J. Trump, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the commander and chief. Numerous protest, investigations, cabinets members removal, and outside allegations. But is there anything in the country going good on the economic side? Is there some truth to the motto, “Make America Great Again?” A lot think not, but there are those that think so. Well, let’s observe that for a minute.
Do we have any positives for the economy under this administration? Let’s observe that for just a moment. For starters the economy is at a higher growth rate in the first few months of 2018 than it’s normal average. And the economy growth has been at its highest since the economic recession almost ten years ago. And then to add to it, the tax cuts of over one trillion dollars. So maybe there is something to this administration performing well.
controversial statement
When you say what has Trump done that was of good nature, people get emotional. And the perception of a person is nearly impossible to shift once people have their minds made up. Only me, I have my political agenda, but I also have perspective. And that is why people will find it hard to believe any good can come of this administration. We can’t see the economics because socially and politically we disagree so much. So much so, that even if we were to enter a new Gilded Age, he would still be disliked.
Author faheemjackson44Posted on May 15, 2018 Categories Economy, Government, Politics, UncategorizedTags #donaldtrump, #economic, #governmentassistance, #growthpotential, #growthrate, #MAGA, #makeamericagreatagain, #prosperity, #taxcuts, #theeconomy, FinancesLeave a comment on GOOD DEEDS: WHAT ARE THE POSITIVES OF TRUMP’S WIN ON THE ECONOMY
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My imagination makes me human
and makes me a fool;
it gives me all the world
and exiles me from it.--Ursula K. Le Guin Union Avenue
An Urban Journal Exploring Place,
Purpose, Literature, Memory,
and This Time
Journal Index
July, 2003, page 1
The rainy seasons have returned, the long years of Tennessee's drought or near-drought over. This Spring has brought heavy rains all over the Southeast, ruining farmers' crops and flooding many small communities. My husband remembers his undergrad days at UT in the 60s and how he was never without an umbrella, that it rained relentlessly during his five years here. A botany minor, he said that botanists traveled here from all over the world to study the broadly diverse vegetation, that this East Tennessee Valley was commonly referred to as a rainforest. All that dense vegetation means high levels of pollen and mold and also a high percentage of allergy sufferers.
The rain tapered off in the 70s, and the 80s and 90s were relatively dry. This evening, taking my daily walk with an umbrella, I was reminded again why the melancholy poetry of the T'ang Dynasty resonates, the descriptions of misty mountains and rushing streams so familiar. When Wang Wei says, "...in those hills half is all rain/Streaming off branches to multiply the springs," I imagine he was having a spring and summer like this one.
I don't know about the rainforest, but find it fascinating that we share the same temperate zone as parts of northern China. In fact, the Smithsonian website claims the two richest temperate forests in the world, in terms of plant species, are the Hunan-Setzuan forests of China and the Appalachian-Blue Ridge forest of North America. I imagine walking the ridges of Wang-Wei's mountain home would bring a sense of deja vu.
Below the Clinch Ave bridge, the Waters of the World looked almost high enough to bath in, and the newly laid grass behind the amphitheater was greening up like a golf course. The young pines along the walkway have sent out spiky bursts of new growth, and the faux river crashing over the faux dam and rock-strewn riverbed below the convention center sounded almost real. Someone had pulled the blue vinyl tarp from off the newly bronzed Rachmaninoff statue, and water was dripping from his chin and nose as if he had just finshed a performance of the Rach 3, the long and arduous piano concerto which was the centerpiece of the film Shine.
First Creek below The Hill was high and muddy and seemed just about fast enough to sluice an innertube on down to the river. On the creekside sidewalk which winds up the left side of The Hill, a mud turtle, wet and muddy was inching along. I tried to explain to him that a sidewalk is not a safe place for a turtle, that he was in danger of being squashed by a runner or bicyclist, but he rebuffed my offer of a lift to the bank, bucking forcibly enough to let me know he meant to stay his course. Across the street, a duck stood watching. Did they know each other, do different species converse? Maybe. And who was I to second-guess a turtle, the symbol of long life to the Chinese even into the new millennium. Probably he had crawled up out of the torrent to keep from drowning or from being dashed against the rocks. At least there'll be little traffic along his route tonite; maybe he'll reach his destination. Wang-Wei, the great Buddhist poet, no doubt would have considered him a good omen. I once read that Wang-Wei carved a dove on the handle of his walking stick and put a turtle shell under his bed. He would be at home here, I think, with all our gingkos and metasequoias, our dogwoods and bamboo, buying his Sen-Cha at the Asian supermarket on Sutherland Avenue and sipping egg-drop soup at the China Noodle in Western Plaza. He might even find spots quiet enough in our deserted weekend village to sit zazen.
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You are here: Home / chick flicks / 4 Female Animation Movie Characters You Will Love
4 Female Animation Movie Characters You Will Love
Heroines with a Difference
“Frozen” by Stefan Schubert, licensed under CC BY 2.0
Gone are the days when female characters in animated movies served purely decorative purposes and were little more than damsels in distress perpetually waiting to be rescued by Prince Charming.
Today’s animated movies feature strong female characters who are as intrepid and fierce as their male counterparts. Here are four animated movie heroines that break the mold in more ways than one.
Esmerelda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
Directed by: Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
Esmerelda is the beautiful, free-spirited gypsy girl who is loved and hated by her fellow Parisians in equal measure. Men love her for her dark enticing looks and innocent charm and she has three men – the deformed foundling Quasimodo, the gallant player Phoebus and the lecherous Claude Frollo – eating their hearts out for her.
Despite her obvious innocence, Esmerelda is branded a witch and nearly burnt at the stake (this being fifteenth century Paris after all!) What makes this sultry gypsy so attractive is her mysterious past (no one knows who her parents are) and enigmatic present (is she really in cahoots with the devil or just an innocent victim of prejudice?)
She is a genuinely good character who must contend with racism, accusations of witchcraft and male lechery while trying to eke out a meager living as a street dancer. It’s hard not to fall in love with Esmerelda!
Astrid (How to Train your Dragon)
friidaaaah.deviantart.com
Directed by: Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
This tough teenage girl can give many a battle-hardened Viking a run for his money with her dedication and determination to be the star pupil and, eventually, one of the best dragon trainers in the academy.
Astrid is strikingly beautiful, but endowed with a strong personality that makes her hard to approach or impress. She starts out as Hiccup’s main rival but eventually becomes his girlfriend and main love interest. Her initial disapproval of the friendship between Hiccup and Toothless changes with time and soon she becomes an enthusiastic supporter of his dragon training project.
Unlike conventional female leads in animation, Astrid is blessed with strength, exceptional fighting skills, intelligence and great agility, making her a worthy template for future heroines.
Anna (Frozen)
Directed by: Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee
You’ve heard of brave warriors setting off on epic quests for love, God or family; now meet a heroine who embarks on a journey to free her kingdom from the curse of eternal winter and reunite with her sister who whose eerie powers have unleashed the curse in the first place.
Anna is not your average animation heroine – she’s short on gracefulness and high on daring; she’s far too busy enjoying her reckless adventure to pay much heed to mundane things like caution and prudence. In this, she is assisted by a rugged mountaineer and his tame reindeer and together, the trio encounters a comic snowman, mystical trolls and all kinds of magical twists and turns throughout the plot.
Anna gives young audiences a welcome break from the insipid eyelash-fluttering animation heroines of yore.
Maleficent (Maleficent)
Directed by: Robert Stromberg
The eponymous protagonist of Disney’s blockbuster animation movie turns the tale of Sleeping Beauty on its head to give us new insights into a much-misunderstood and oft-reviled character – the evil fairy who puts a curse on the innocent princess that can only be revoked by true love’s kiss.
Maleficent starts life as a benevolent fairy who guards her forest kingdom but ruthless betrayal turns her heart into stone and nothing but relentless revenge can give her peace. But the innocence and vulnerability of Princess Aurora arouses Maleficent’s instinctive goodness and the evil fairy tries her best to revoke the implacable curse but to no avail.
If you love spirited animation heroines more than the saccharine sweet ones, you’ll definitely enjoy these movies!
George Schalter loves being a dad. He and his wife share the joys and responsibilities of bringing up their two children. As believers of good all round education, they spend a lot of time playing with their children and spending time outdoors. As George is the writer in the family, he blogs at Educational Kids Games. You can also find George on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
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Sweat lodge tragedy highlights lack of self-help industry regulations
Few, if any, standards safeguard the self-help industry. And that led to tragedy for three people who died in an Arizona sweat lodge ceremony in 2009. The leader was sent to prison in November. Now the victims’ families want regulations to protect those seeking enlightenment.
Federal action on MCSO could cost the rest of the county
Maricopa County leaders are worried that Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s battle with the Department of Justice could hurt other county agencies. KJZZ’s Al Macias reports county leaders are worried about the possible loss of millions of dollars in federal aid.
Checkup on the patient who was awake for brain surgery
Phoenix Police Officer Stewart Martz is back on the job after undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation to treat Parkinson's disease. (Photo by Terry Ward - KJZZ)In November of last year, we did a story about Stewart Martz, a 42-year-old Phoenix police officer diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
Creating Dennis Rowland
(Tempe, AZ) - Jazz and blues singer Dennis Rowland sat down with Blaise Lantana to talk about how he established his name. Also hear how he found his way into the Baise band and what differences he feels exist between varying performance venues.
Arizona cities and towns urge veto of election bill
Leaders of cities and towns from across the state are urging Governor Jan Brewer to veto a bill that would force them to consolidate their elections with the state, and hold their elections during even numbered years starting in 2014.
Comedian Tommy Smothers talks about the elements of comedy
Comedian Tommy Smothers talks about the Phoenix Comedy Festival, politics and stand-up comedy. Smothers says the upcoming Phoenix Comedy Festival will be a bit of a challenge for him. Smothers prefers to bounce ideas off of his brother Richard as part of the Smothers Brothers comedy duo.
County supervisor settles lawsuit against county for nearly $1 million
Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox has won a $975,000 suit against Maricopa County. Wilcox sued Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas over their failed investigations. She claimed they went after her because she opposed their illegal immigration policies.
Money problems force City of Glendale layoffs
Nearly 50 employees with the City of Glendale are losing their jobs. City leaders say the slow economy and the city’s debt to the National Hockey League forced the cuts. KJZZ’s Al Macias reports.
2010 Census extremely accurate, but Latinos still undercounted
The Census Bureau has just released a survey of the 2010 population count. It showed the census was accurate to 1/100 of 1 percent. That’s about 36,000 people that were overcounted. The study also showed that African Americans and Latinos were undercounted in the 2010 census.
Employees of the state of Arizona: Will you give up merit protection?
As part of Governor Brewer's push for personnel reform, employees of the state of Arizona covered by merit protection are eligible for a one-time "retention stipend" if they give up their covered status.
Incumbents will face off in August primaries, November general elections
More than 200 candidates for Congress, state Legislature and Corporation Commission have filed their petition signatures to qualify for the ballot. Wednesday was the deadline to get their signatures to the Secretary of State’s office, and starts a ten-day window for campaigns or their supporters to challenge those signatures.
U.S. Supreme Court justice again denies Tombstone on water issue
A second U.S. Supreme Court justice has denied a request by the town of Tombstone to use heavy equipment to restore its water system.This is the second time Tombstone has requested an emergency injunction – and the second time it's been denied.
Local candidate removed for proficiency now on national ballot
The woman who was barred from running for a border town city council because of her lack of English proficiency is now running for Vice President of the United States. Alejandrina Cabrera will run alongside Utopian Party presidential candidate Avery Ayers.
Elder Protection Day highlights ways to avoid financial abuse
Elderly people throughout the United States lose an estimated $2.6 billion each year due to financial exploitation. That’s according to the Administration on Aging, which says that only about one in five of such incidence of abuse are discovered.
Explaining the impact of SB 1070
Chris Moncayo, vice president and general manager of Entravision Communications, explains why 23 media outlets decided to simulcast a program about Arizona's SB 1070. Moncayo says the point of the broadcast is not about competition, it about the responsibility of broadcasters to inform the public.
Congressional District 9 Republican candidates discuss issues
Republican candidates in Arizona's new Congressional District 9 discussed a number of important issues at a KJZZ-hosted forum Monday night, including illegal immigration, the economy and jobs and health care.
Arizona patient grateful for health care decision
Arizonans are reacting to the U.S. Supreme Court decision to uphold President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul. We first introduced you to Bill Nelson and his wife when he lost his health coverage due to a change in state law.
A fond farewell to Terry Ward
KJZZ’s own Terry Ward tells Steve Goldstein about 26+ years of making public radio in the Valley. Terry Ward (left) and Steve Goldstein. (Photo by Tracy Greer) Ward talks about his experiences interviewing figures like Carl Sagan and Rosa Parks and Phoenix TV icon Bill Close and lets us know what's next in his post-KJZZ life.
Valley housing prices surge in last quarter
A new report shows the Valley's housing market is continuing a strong push toward recovery. Analysts at Clear Capital say prices were up almost 9 percent in the last quarter.From Phoenix, KJZZ's Steve Goldstein reports.
Arizona gas prices lower than national average
Arizona gas prices have dropped for the fourteenth week in a row. KJZZ’s Al Macias reports that Arizona prices are now below the national average. AL MACIAS: AAA Arizona says gas prices dropped another nickel statewide this week to $3.
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Tom's Blog
Tom & Shane Podcast
AM 1450 on Alexa
America in the Morning
Tom & Shane
Voices of Montana
Gesundheit! With Jacobus
Handel on the Law
CarProUSA Show
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MT Outdoor Show
Prize Delegation
America in the MorningAmerica in the Morning
Former Ambassador Alarmed over Tension between Iran and USA
There has been much in the news in the past few days about Saudi Arabian ships and pipelines being attacked by forces allied with Iran.
Former Ambassador and founder of the Montana World Affairs Council Mark Johnson has been watching the events through the lens of a lifetime of experience with Middle East tension.
“In the last 72 hours there has been a dramatic escalation between Iran and the U.S.,” said Johnson. “If you consider on the 12th we had four tankers that were apparently sabotaged in a Persian Gulf port, a big refueling area. I’ve seen the photos, and they put a hole in the hull and everything.”
Johnson, a former diplomat, is concerned about the two sides in the matter, Iran and the United States.
“I think that people are right to point out that the danger is that any kind of miscalculation could be a gasoline can in search of a fire,” he said. “It would not be pretty if things spun out of control. In neither capitol, Washington or Tehran, are we dealing with two highly well organized institutions, shall I say.”
Johnson said he is deeply concerned about the apparently overt actions by Iran, a country that usually employs proxies in their conflicts.
“What worries me now is that there a new aggressive tone coming out of Tehran with a new commander of the Revolutionary Guard,” he said. “We know about the hard corps elements in Washington, and what concerns me on both sides, to be even handed, is that we may have an awful marriage of arrogance and ignorance going on, in which miscalculations become very likely. I hope that’s not the case.”
According to CNBC, The Pentagon approved the deployment of a Patriot missile defense battery and a Navy ship to the Middle East amid increasing tensions between the United States and Iran. The USS Arlington and a Patriot battery will join the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and an Air Force bomber task force, which were deployed earlier in the week to the region. The deployments come as Washington tightens sanctions on Iran.
Filed Under: iran, saudi arabia, USA
[POLL] Should Schools Switch From Paper to Technology?
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Bank of America swings to a profit
By : Maureen Farrell
Bank of America swung to a profit in the third quarter after breaking even last year. And investors breathed a sigh of relief. Investors cheered the bank's results, pushing shares of Bank of America up more 1% Wednesday.
Despite the unfolding debt ceiling crisis in Washington, CEO Brian Moynihan sounded upbeat. "The economy and business climate will improve even more quickly as conditions normalize, and we are well positioned to benefit from that," Moynihan said in a release. Bank of America managed to beat analysts' profit expectations for the third quarter, but it failed to meet revenue forecasts.
The slowdown in mortgage lending weighed on Bank of America's revenues. However, cost cutting and $800 million from the sale of its stake in China Construction Bank helped Bank of America generate a profit.
Unlike most of the big banks that have reported earnings so far, Bank of America reported increased revenues in its consumer banking franchise helped by higher use of the bank's credit and debit cards. Small business lending rose more than 31% from last year.
Revenues dipped slightly in the bank's global markets business, which includes trading. Profits fell in that unit too. Bank of America's stock trading revenues increased but not by enough to offset the dip in bond trading that has hit all the major banks. Bank of America has been aggressively cutting costs, largely by reducing its headcount. Since last year, Bank of America has eliminated more than 24,600 jobs, or 9% of its employees.
On a conference call, Moynihan said Bank of America will continue to cut staff that worked specifically on mortgage lending and refinancing’s. Moynihan warned that Bank of America could continue to take a hit from the drop in mortgage refinancing.
One set of costs that still worry analysts: litigation expenses. Bank of America recorded $1.1 billion in costs due to ongoing litigation related to the financial crisis and the bank's subprime lending. That was down from $1.6 billion in litigation costs a year ago but more than double what the bank spent in the second quarter. Bank of America's CFO Bruce Thompson noted that litigation expenses were elevated but wouldn't predict whether or not costs would remain at these heightened levels.
The key numbers: Bank of America reported earnings of 20 cents per share on $2.5 billion on revenues of $21.7 billion. Analysts had expected the bank to report a profit of 18 cents per share on revenues of $22 billion.
Bank of America's stock is up 23% this year. Financial firms have been among the biggest winners in the market rally this year despite concerns about rising interest rates and the debt ceiling drama.
But third quarter results from rivals JPMorgan Chase , Wells Fargo and Citigroup have been mixed. Investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will report earnings later this week.
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Make a Year-End Gift
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New EPA Regs On Water Quality: A Mixed Bag
11.29.2012 | Heal the Bay
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The EPA released its final National Recreational Beach Water Quality Criteria this week. After many years of fighting for strong protections, we are greeting the new standards with mixed emotions. The criteria, which hadn’t been updated since 1986, basically determine the allowable levels of illness-inducing bacteria in our nation’s waterbodies. They are a critical tool for ensuring that people don’t get sick when they take a swim at their local beach or lake.
On the positive side, the new guidelines are more protective of public health in several respects than those floated in a surprisingly weak draft document last December. These improvements are thanks to the efforts of Heal the Bay and other environmental organizations.
However, there are some major steps backwards from the 1986 criteria. For instance, the new criteria allow for states to choose between two sets of standards based on two different estimated illness rates. Giving the states the option of selecting between two illness rates makes no sense.
Letting states determine their own “acceptable illness rates” allows for major inconsistencies in public health protection among states. What state, if left the choice, would sign-up for stricter standards? The less relaxed standard of the two is clearly less protective of public health, though EPA inaccurately claims that either set of criteria would protect public health. Further, we do not believe the illness rates that were selected (32 or 36 allowable illnesses for every 1,000 recreators) are protective enough of public health.
The EPA also missed a major opportunity to encourage states to provide more timely water quality results, through testing known as rapid methods.
Standard testing of water samples now take between 18-24 hours to process, meaning that the public is getting day-old water quality information, at best. EPA developed a rapid method that would get us closer to real-time measurement, therefore increasing public health protection. However, this method cannot be used as a stand-alone process under the new criteria, therefore leaving little incentive for states to move forward with more timely measurement.
The EPA is also providing too much wiggle room to municipalities in the new guidelines by allowing them to employ unproven alternative criteria at certain sites. So-called Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) allows agencies to assess potential human health risks based strictly on the presence of different fecal sources including humans, birds, cows, and dogs. in the beach water. However, much research has yet to be conducted on illness rates and risk associated with specific sources. The alternative criteria are premature to use at most sites. QMRA should only be pursued at remote beach locations (non-urbanized) with no known human sources or influences.
However, not all was lost. Heal the Bay worked very hard to change the draft criteria’s proposed 90-day geometric mean standard to 30-days, which is more indicative of the latest beach water quality, thereby more protective of public health. This change was made in the final criteria.
In addition, we made some headway with the allowable exceedance threshold. If a water sample exceeds the bacteria standard it means there is a potential public health risk. A lower allowable exceedance rate will trigger action from the polluter more readily and this will increase public health protection.
So it’s encouraging to see the EPA lower the previously proposed national water quality exceedance threshold from 25% to 10% (above the standard), which is more in-line with California’s current allowable exceedance rates. An allowable exceedance rate of 25% could mask chronically polluted beaches, therefore inhibiting future water quality improvement efforts.
Over the past year, Heal the Bay, along with a coalition of concerned environmental groups, fought tirelessly to strengthen the draft criteria. We submitted detailed comments including an extensive data analysis to EPA, attended countless meetings with EPA staffers, and created a campaign centered on submitting hundreds of petitions directly to EPA’s Administrator, Lisa Jackson, urging for criteria with strong public health protection.
We also solicited the support of members of congress, such as Congressman Henry Waxman, who expressed concerns to USEPA about their approach. (Kirsten James, our Water Quality Director, traveled to Washington, D.C. to lobby lawmakers on strengthening new recreational water quality criteria.)
We made several important steps forward to strengthen the EPA’s final revised standards. But we are concerned that having two sets of criteria could lead to confusion for the public and for those implementing the new criteria. It may mean the status quo in some states, though hopefully states will choose the criteria more protective of public health.
To compound this, EPA’s Beach Grant fund, which allocates moneys towards state beach monitoring programs, may be completely eliminated in the near future. Absence of this support could lead to major backsliding of state beach programs. We are encouraging states to explore more sustainable funding sources in addition to implementing the more protective criteria, to better protect beach-goers from getting sick after a day at the beach.
Urge your congressional representative to support federal funding for beach water testing programs.
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Want to use your BYU Life Sciences education to bring technological change to the world? Here are some opportunities for you.
The Crocker Innovation Fellowship Program
Want to learn how innovators and entrepreneurs turn their ideas into reality? Apply to become a Crocker Innovation Fellow.
A year long program from January-December with Winter and Fall courses
Fellows receive a paid stipend, with positions set aside for Life Sciences majors
Includes participation in a paid summer internship
Experience forming a team to create a technology-based business in a mentored setting
Learn more about program at the Crocker Innovation Fellowship website.
The Opportunities for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Life Sciences course
Want to learn about the next generation of life science technologies that could change the world? Enroll in Opportunities for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Life Sciences for Winter 2015 and learn:
About the basic scientific ideas behind emerging life sciences technologies
About how life sciences technologies can solve global issues in health and disease, energy, pollution, water and food production
Meet professionals whose companies are seeking to change the world with life sciences technologies.
The BIO-Innovation and -Entrepreneurship Program
Want to experience life in a life-sciences-based technology start-up company? The BIO-Innovation and -Entrepreneurship Program provides instruction and experience in building a company around a life sciences-based technology over two semesters.
Semester I (Fall, 2 credits): Students work as a team to build and develop an external client biotech company. The client company is a real start-up in its early development and based on a cutting edge technology platform. Collectively, the class will act as the CEO and business development team.
Semester II (Winter, 2 credits): Students, as small teams, will use lessons learned in Semester I to build a life sciences-based start-up around an idea of their choosing. Focus will be on identifying and validating possible start-up ideas.
Contact the undergraduate assistant (Paul Rogers, paulrog95@gmail.com) for information about how to register for BIO I&E.
Learn more about all these innovation opportunities by contacting Dr. Marc Hansen at marchansen@byu.edu.
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Updated by Todd “Kestrel Aircraft” Lohenry on Aug 09, 2014
Todd Lohenry
10 items 1 followers 0 votes 21 views
Favorite General Aviation News Websites
Listly by Todd Lohenry
Here's a list of General Aviation News Websites. Which ones are we missing? Don't forget to vote for your favorite, too!
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AOPA protects the rights of general aviation pilots and aircraft owners to fly while keeping general aviation safe, fun, and affordable.
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Aero-News Network your source for daily aviation/aerospace news. aero-news network provides daily, real-time news and information critical to aviation and aerospace personnel the world over. aero-news provides daily newsletter summaries, rss feeds, and numerous personal and professional syndication and news distribution options to insure that aviators, the world over, are kept up to date on information of critical concern.
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AVweb » The World's Premier Independent Aviation News Resource
AVweb is your internet source for the latest Aviation news and Aviation current events. AVweb, with its bi-weekly emailed AVflash reports provides aircraft owners, pilots and the general aviation community with information critical to aviation and aerospace. Through its RSS feeds, podcasts, newsletters and some of the most amazing aircraft photography on the web today, AVweb has serviced the entire aviation community with pride and integrity.
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Sponsored by Kestrel Aircraft: A new standard in performance, mission versatility, comfort and style. The Kestrel will take you places you've only dreamed of flying to! Edited by @toddlohenry and @kestrelaircraft... Powered by RebelMouse
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—LIAM HALLIGAN
Economist, Telegraph Columnist, Broadcaster
Tag Archives: Cyprus
Why it’s not clever to laugh at Bitcoin
Telegraph Articles
The European Central Bank has acted. Across the 17-nation Eurozone, the benchmark re-financing rate was slashed on Thursday, from 0.5pc to a record low of 0.25pc. In Greece, Spain and other economically-fragile Eurozone members, where inflation is worryingly low, many welcomed the ECB’s action. In Germany, with its historic inflation aversion, Teutonic eyebrows were raised.
What’s beyond debate is that this latest ECB move is the prelude to a renewed round of money-printing. While America’s quantitative easing is meant to be “tapering soon”, in Western Europe the funny-money dials have just been turned up.
“Bail-in” that throws the euro’s future into doubt
“This sucker could go down”. So said George W. Bush back in 2008, at the height of the global financial storm. The then US President was referring to the massive risks facing the world’s largest economy following the Lehman collapse. Could Dubya’s prosaic words now be applied to the euro? Will Cyprus quit the single currency?
The “bail-in” deal imposed on this tiny Mediterranean nation last week is better than the one mooted less than a fortnight ago. The lunacy of penalizing insured deposits, those under €100,000, has been avoided. While the atmosphere in Cyprus is tense, it is also obviously a relief that, since the banks re-opened their doors last Thursday, after almost a fortnight shut, there’s been no serious civil unrest.
Will Cyprus be the pin to burst the euro balloon?
It’s tempting to dismiss events in Cyprus as insignificant. Mainstream politicians and investors, desperate to keep the flame of Western recovery flickering and the asset price rally on track, insist that the country is “a special case”. After all, they say, this tiny Mediterranean nation accounts for less than one third of one percent of the Eurozone economy.
The hole caused by a pin, though, is an even smaller percentage of the surface area of an inflated balloon. It still causes a pretty big bang. The hard, sharp realities of the single currency’s internal contradictions, similarly, now loom over all member states and, in fact, the entire world economy.
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Franchisees Are Not Off the Hook Just Because They Invoke Cancellation Language in the Franchise Agreement
01/25/2017 / Inga Schuchard
Language contained in a franchise disclosure document (“FDD”) permitting cancellation of the franchise agreement after execution but before the franchise is opened does not rescind the agreement or relieve a franchisee from complying with the non-disclosure and non-competition obligations contained in the franchise agreement. A federal district court in Florida made exceedingly clear in an October 2016 decision that even if a franchise agreement is cancelled and rescinded, its non-disclosure and non-competition obligations can still tie the franchisee’s hands. In other words, franchisors may enforce these obligations even when the franchisee never opens the franchise.
The Twillmans (a married couple) and their adult son, sought to open a franchise of Pirtek USA, LLC in Missouri – selling, assembling, installing, and servicing industrial and hydraulic hoses. The Twillmans received an FDD from Pirtek which stated that the franchise agreement would govern their franchise relationship. The Pirtek FDD, likely mirroring the Pirtek franchise agreement, included a mechanism permitting the cancellation of the franchise agreement before beginning a training program, and for return of the initial franchise fee.
Shortly after receiving the FDD, the Twillmans signed a franchise agreement, executed a guaranty, and submitted a check for half of the initial franchise fee. The franchise agreement included both a non-disclosure obligation for confidential and proprietary information, and a non-compete obligation for a two-year period and 15-mile radius around the franchised territory. It also expressly prohibited rescission of the franchise agreement absent the written agreement of Pirtek
According to the Twillmans, upon return home from a Pirtek “Discovery Day,” it became apparent that establishing a non-union shop would be impossible. Two weeks after entering into the franchise agreement, the Twillmans sent a letter to Pirtek trying to cancel the franchise agreement pursuant to the language contained in the Pirtek FDD – later arguing that cancellation amounted to its rescission. The Twillmans then filed articles of incorporation for a new business that provided essentially the same services as Pirtek and employed two workers whom the Twillmans hired from a nearby Pirtek franchisee. The Twillmans admitted their new business competed directly with the nearby Pirtek franchisee.
Pirtek sought to protect their confidential and proprietary information by enforcing the non-disclosure and non-compete obligations in the franchise agreement. The Twillmans claimed their letter not only cancelled the franchise agreement, but also operated to rescind it along with its non-disclosure and non-compete obligations. The Florida Court decided that the FDD language did not provide a means of cancelling the franchise agreement, and declined to treat cancellation and rescission as one in the same.
The court also determined that even if the Twillmans’ letter cancelled and rescinded the franchise agreement, it would be unjust for the Twillmans to be absolved of their non-disclosure and non-compete obligations. Even rescission of the franchise agreement after disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, therefore, would not affect the franchise agreement’s post-termination non-disclosure and non-compete obligations, according to the Florida Court.
Enforcement of non-compete obligations is a fact-specific undertaking, that is handled differently by courts around the country. At least in Florida, however, it appears that franchisees will not be excused from all compliance with a franchise agreement simply because they elect to cancel the agreement. Franchisors may find support in this case for making a similar argument to enforce non-disclosure and non-compete conditions in their jurisdictions.
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Home » Lists » All for love: five heroic queer couples in anime
All for love: five heroic queer couples in anime
Posted on February 8, 2018 by Elisabeth in Lists // 3 Comments
Some loves show us the kind of acceptance we should display to everyone; selfless and open-hearted, without fear or pride. As two people who have each been afraid to express our identities, these queer couples define how we want to embrace ourselves and others. With our daughter close to coming into the world, it means so much to us that she knows she shouldn’t be afraid to share her whole heart and soul. So we’ll be sticking to canon queer characters and relationships for this list, because all love deserves to be conveyed in more than nudge-nudge-wink-winks.
Haruka and Michiru (aka Uranus and Neptune) – Sailor Moon
If you were watching the ‘kid-friendly’ dub of Sailor Moon, it might have taken you many years to find out these two were really together. What bright spark thought it was less weird to make them cousins? It was the same with just-very-good-friends-honest Zoisite and Kunzite, with Zo even gender-swapped other times because he looked ‘girly’ enough to get away with it. But that’s exactly the reason why these sweethearts need defending for generations to come.
Toya and Yukito – Cardcaptor Sakura
We seriously ship Tomoyo and Sakura, but for them it was not to be. And while Toya and Yukito are never confirmed as a couple outright, we’re assured they’re sweet on one another via their separate confessions to Sakura. Come on, it’s obvious – we know they got it together behind the scenes. Yuki-bunny is an honest-to-god angel who deserves to be sheltered by love, and dependable Toya has the strong heart he needs. They are perfect, and you can just feel the passion radiating from that kabe-don.
Utena and Anthy – Revolutionary Girl Utena
The anime series may have fallen prey to the dreaded nudging and winking, but the film Adolescence of Utena decided to scrap all the kiss-in-credits nonsense and get down and dirty. Anthy’s a woman who stands by her word, and when she decrees she’ll have sex with the duelist champion of the day, she upholds her end. Good job Utena’s a demon with her blade. The set up edging pledge-prostitution certainly raises its issues, but it’s rather wonderful to see prince and princess consummate their love and have some sweet hand-in-hand pillow talk.
Saki and Maria – From the New World
It’s an irritation that the adult overseers in this series cry free love for the kids, up until it comes to making babies for the sake of humanity. But while they can, Maria and Saki at least have a love that blooms with sensuality. Their first kiss aches with that pure yearning of young love, without a mote of the exploitation yuri can suffer from. They are one another’s hope and defence in a cold world of human monstrosity. We wish they could have stayed that way.
Yoshino and Shuichi – Wandering Son
This drama gave us an honest look into the teen life of a trans boy, in a manner so unfortunately bold it breaks your heart. For Yoshino and Shuichi, the struggle with gender dysphoria is intertwined with how we each struggle to define ourselves in puberty. Even so, they find each other through the fear of who would damn Yoshino for binding his chest, or Shuichi for presenting as a girl to express a simple heart truth. Shuichi professes her attraction to Yoshino by the end, but love for them means more. Their mutual understanding and honesty show us what we should strive for, without bias or condition.
These gorgeous couples can help us see the beauty in ourselves, and how far we’ve come through all the loneliness and uncertainty. But which queer characters and couples are the ones that speak to you? Share your favourites with us, because we want to hear about them.
Wandering Son
About Elisabeth (1353 Articles)
Otaku blogger, mum and hyper-pixie of the cosmic realms. Might have made that last part up. Or did I?
3 Comments on All for love: five heroic queer couples in anime
mattdoylemedia // February 8, 2018 at 18:28 // Reply
My usual favourites are:
Nowaki and Hiroki – Junjo Romantica
I loved these two because they weren’t perfect. They were simply two adults who had their own hang-ups and flaws, and yet didn’t let it get in the way of their relationship in the end. They’re both capable fo jealousy, but care deeply for one another. The sene where Hiroki lets his jealousy get the better of him in the hospital is actually one of my favourites.
Korra and Asami – Legend of Korra
This one really depends if you want to class it as anime or not, but … I loved watching the slow burn relationship develop over the seasons. That it was a positive representation of bisexuality was a real bonus for me as I struggle sometimes to find such things.
There are others, but the reasoning is usually just that I think that they make a cute couple. Canaan and maria in CANAAN, and Meg and Jo in Burst Angel fit that category.
Wandering Son has been on my list for a long time now. I always mange to miss opportunities tow atch the anime or pick up the manga, but it sounds like a really beautiful piece.
Elisabeth O'Neill // February 14, 2018 at 15:25 // Reply
Yes, such great choices, we need to catch up with Legend of Korra for exactly this reason.
mattdoylemedia // February 14, 2018 at 17:52 // Reply
It’s a shame that Nickelodeon didn’t allow them to explicotely state the nature of their relationship. Still, the follow-up comics at least make it very clear.
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25 June 2015 · Kathrine Anker ·
Middle East · Hospitality/Leisure Education
This university cafeteria in Beirut changed its lighting – and increased its turnover fivefold
There is no daylight in the student centre cafeteria at Beirut’s Lebanese American University. Until the place was refurbished four years ago, it was difficult to get the students to use the café, which is situated in a dark courtyard between four buildings.
‘If the lighting had been the same all day, the students wouldn’t have known that time is changing.’
Chérine Saroufim Sacy
‘The students avoided it because we live in a country where there is a lot of sunlight, so they’d rather go out to the shops around the university than stay at the cafeteria here,’ explains Chérine Saroufim Sacy, assistant managing director of Idepconsult, who designed the new lighting scheme at the student centre.
To make the space more welcoming, Sacy came up with a lighting scheme using three skylights that change colour temperature throughout the day to mimic changing daylight and follow the students’ natural circadian rhythm.
Fluorescent lamps behind a diffuse cover combine warm and cool colour temperatures, and an intelligent control system adjusts the light intensity and colour according to the time of day.
In the morning, the cafeteria is illuminated with a cool 6500K to activate the students. During lunchtime the lighting scene changes to a neutral 4200K, and as the afternoon progresses, the lighting reaches a relaxing 2700K.
The plan was not only to enhance the wellbeing and alertness of the students, but also to increase the footfall in the cafeteria.
‘We wanted a dynamic space where the students would feel welcome but wouldn’t stay for too long, as we wanted more customers coming in and out,’ says Sacy.
‘If the lighting had been the same all day, the students wouldn’t have known that time is changing.’ With the skylights simulating changing daylight, the cafeteria is no longer a timeless void and students are reminded to move on.
Higher turnover, lower energy use
The cafeteria’s business results after the refurb seem to suggest that a sense of daylight, even if it’s artificial, is good for business. ‘The previous caterer wasn’t making money from this cafeteria, but our client told us that the current one is making more than five times the turnover of the previous one,’ says Sacy. ‘The first week they opened after the refurb, the hamburgers were sold out at 11am.’
Sacy points out that there are other factors to include into any cause-and-effect calculations: ‘The refurbishment included some architectural changes to the interior. But the lighting did change the look and feel of the space and it’s likely that it made the students re-consider spending time there,’ Sacy says.
Elsewhere in the student centre, the gym, dance and music hall required bright and uniform lighting with a modern feel. Sacy used a combination round, recessed luminaires and linear luminaires with a diffuse light, all from Zumtobel. ‘We decided to use linear fixtures to produce a dynamic and vibrant feeling,’ Sacy explains.
Although energy efficiency wasn’t part of Sacy’s brief, energy consumption has been reduced significantly as a result of the lighting upgrade. ‘As is common in our country, we didn’t have a big budget and LEDs were very expensive at the time,’ Sacy says. But swapping the existing T26 [T8] lamps with T16 [T5] and using a control system was enough to bring down the power bill significantly.
Hundreds of new light fittings, loads of energy saved, and no complaints – how one university is making a success of LED
Will a basement in the Middle East be the next conquest of the CoeLux skylight?
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About L. V. Lewis
Book Releases – Blasts From The Past
Jungle Fever Press
LV’s Backlist
Contemporary Romance Titles
The Jungle Fever Romance Series
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L. V. Lewis
Author of Intelligent, Mainstream, Multicultural, Hot Romance!
Tag: Allie Jean
Sneak Peek Sunday – “Legacy Of A Dreamer” by Allie Jean
Posted on May 5, 2013 May 5, 2013 by LV Lewis
In anticipation
for the release of Book #2 in the Dreamer Series, Allie Jean has released her
book trailer of
of a Dreamer
Trailer by Lindsey Gray Productions
Chantal Breelan is a ward of the state, living
under the care of a woman who is cold and heartless. Her past is a mystery, and
her future is even more uncertain. She can’t recall why she had been taken from
her parents and so she’s left with nothing but an empty hole where her
childhood should have been. When she awakens from her nightmares, she’s left
with terrible, violent images, as well as a boy whose face is oddly familiar,
yet can’t be placed.
Scared and alone, Chantal begins to confide in an
imaginary friend – a shadow in the shape of a man who stands in the corner of
her room. She is comforted when she believes he listens to her.
eighteenth birthday, Chantal is forced to leave her foster home. She moves to
New York City, but the start of her new life doesn’t begin as smoothly as she’d
hoped. One night at a subway station, Chantal meets a young boy who runs away
from her, and she’s compelled to follow him down into the tunnels. But this
Rabbit Hole reveals a world where reality is a nightmare.
Mathias is a descendant
of a Fallen Angel and beholden to wage an unfathomable war against an ancient
evil, spawned by greed and spite. A powerful fighter, he and his brethren of
Warriors vow to pay recompense for the sins of their fathers by guarding the
most precious, piercing light against the darkness – the females of their kind.
The Warriors’ pledge is to find and protect the
Oracles, their sisters and kin. Long have they fought, shedding sweat and
blood, hoping that their struggles are not in vain. Yet in his sacrifice and
service he may find life’s ultimate reward – a love to surpass all time.
To contact Allie Jean
Author-to-Author Spring Equinox Book Giveaway!
Posted on March 19, 2013 March 20, 2013 by LV Lewis
Spring signifies the hope that blossoms within the heart of humanity after the dark days of winter.
The Spring Equinox is a time for the rebirth, renewal, redemption. In honor of the resurgence of nature after the long, deep sleep of winter, the Author to Author group would like to shine the glorious sunlight (spotlight) on some novels we think you might enjoy.
Title: Lessons Learned
Author: Sydney Logan
Buying Links: sydneylogan.com / TWCS / Amazon / B & N
What It’s About:
In Lessons Learned, my main characters are all experiencing their own form of rebirth and awakening. For Sarah, coming home is a fresh start and a chance to deal with the ghosts of her past and the demons of her present. Lucas, too, has the opportunity to rebuild his life and his career by moving to a new town. Out of all the characters, the one who has the greatest chance of awakening his soul is Matt. He has lived a lie his entire life, and when a classmate learns his secret, Matt is forced to be honest with his family and friends for the very first time. Yes, his rebirth comes at a price, but in the end, Matt is stronger and happier because of it.
©Depositphotos/Alex Raths
Voices roar through the high school cafeteria while students navigate their way to the tables. The cliques are easily spotted: the jocks, the geeks, the beauty queens, the slackers . . .
Where will he sit today?
Despite the fact he’s a handsome and impeccably dressed young man, he fades into the background. Knowing it’s pointless, the girls don’t bother to look his way, and the guys deliberately avoid his eyes.
He grips his tray tightly and heads toward the corner table with the rest of the outcasts. They nod hello, but that’s the end of any real attempt at conversation. It’s an unspoken rule of sorts. This is their refuge—a tiny bit of sanctuary in the hell that is public high school—and they’re content to sit in peace.
He takes a seat, and I can see the exhaustion on his face. It’s not a weariness that comes from too many sleepless nights. This is a bone-tired fatigue no seventeen-year-old kid should ever feel.
He’s giving in.
Giving up.
In my peripheral vision, I see a senior stalk into the cafeteria. He’s tall, with deep brown eyes and jet-black hair that won’t stay in place. He’s good looking, popular, and a little conceited, thanks to his father’s wealth and status.
He has a reputation to uphold.
©Depositphotos/Yuri Arcurs
Rumors to squash.
A score to settle.
He pulls the silver gun out of his jacket pocket. Amid the chaos, no one notices.
I notice.
I try to run, but I’m frozen in place.
I try to scream, but there’s no sound.
The first shot rings out, and suddenly, everyone’s on the cold tile.
Tears, prayers, screams.
Another shot, and for some reason, I’m the only one who can’t move. Who can’t scream. Who can’t do anything but watch as the young man’s body slumps over his tray.
Finally, I find my voice and scream his name.
Title: Legacy of a Dreamer
Author: Allie Jean
Buying Links: Amazon / TWCS / B & N
Mathias is a descendant of a Fallen Angel and beholden to wage an unfathomable war against an ancient evil, spawned by greed and spite. A powerful fighter, he and his brethren of Warriors vow to pay recompense for the sins of their fathers by guarding the most precious, piercing light against the darkness – their females. The Warriors’ pledge is to find and protect the Oracles, their sisters and kin. Long have they fought, shedding sweat and blood, hoping that their struggles are not in vain. Yet in his sacrifice comes redemption. And in his service he will find life’s ultimate reward – a love to surpass all time.
Photographer: Amy Kaplan Model: Marissa Cannon
She scrambled across the wall, heading toward her bed, hoping she could find something to defend herself. She pushed herself across the mattress, keeping the thing in view as she reached for the lamp. He laughed, both of them knowing she was pathetic. He raised his blade as his oozing mouth formed a horrifying smile.
© Masta4650 | Dreamstime.com
Title: Beautiful Body
“Excuse me,” a male voice said from behind the cloaked figure, making both the creature and Chantal pause. A man stepped into view, grayskinned, dark-haired, dressed in only a black pair of jeans with those distinct eyes Chantal had seen in the alleyway. “I think the lady’s made it clear she wants you to back off. Besides, you’re kind of gross.”
The creature lunged at the gray-skinned man, thrusting his blade toward his bare torso. The man spun, melting into the darkness, becoming part of the shadow again. He reappeared behind the creature, yielding a blade of his own.
They fought ferociously as Chantal sat frozen on her bed. Each had the ability to move like lightning; each could disappear into the darkness.
“She will die, Warrior, no matter how many you send to protect her,” the creature said, spitting his dark venom onto the floor as he whipped around in attempt to slice at the man’s lower torso.
“Not by your hand, and not while I’m still around,” the gray man said, hacking his blade through the air and just missing the creature’s melonshaped head.
“You protect her in vain,” it said, landing a punch to the man’s flank.
“She’s survived this long,” the gray man said, plunging his blade deep into the creature’s abdomen. It sputtered, spraying black liquid onto the floor. “And she will survive tonight, just like I said she would.” He twisted the blade, causing the creature let out a gurgled cry, and a torrent of fluid poured from the creature’s terrible mouth, leaving a puddle on the floor.
Title: The End of All Things
Author: Lissa Bryan
Buying Links: TWCS / Amazon
After a pandemic virus wipes out most of humanity, Carly Daniels struggles to hold onto hope for the future. What sort of world can the survivors build? Can the old values of the social contract—compassion, kindness, and altruism— survive the end of all things? Or will only the strongest survive in this brutal new world?
Justin, Carly’s traveling companion, is more cynical about human nature. But on their journey, he learns how precious hope can be, how it can keep a person going when all else seems lost, and how love can be its most powerful source.
If the old world is gone, it is up to the survivors to build a new one. Carly finds strength in her faith that things can be even better than they were before, that compassion and charity are not luxuries; they are what make us human. Life endures, and so does love. The End of All Things is only a beginning.
License Some rights reserved by country_boy_shane (Under Creative Commons license)
Carly closed her eyes, and the tears that had gathered fell. She pressed a hand over her still-flat abdomen.
Is the fate of humanity to be a world of empty nurseries? Is this the end for all of us? She suddenly realized she hadn’t seen a baby or child since the Crisis, except for the child in the fishing cabin. All of the travelers they’d encountered had been adults. A wave of despair threatened to engulf her. Carly sobbed, and it sounded horribly loud in the quiet, cheerful little room. Resolutely, she pushed it back. She couldn’t believe it was the end. She refused to believe it.
The vague musings about fate and destiny that had occupied Carly’s thoughts sporadically over the last few months came together, and she saw them as an unbroken chain leading her to what was meant to be. There was a reason for this. If mankind had been meant to go extinct, there wouldn’t be any of them left, and she wouldn’t be carrying a baby. She didn’t know whether to call it God or destiny, but there was some force in the universe that had brought Carly and Justin to this point.
She thought of the pills she had tucked away in her bag, and the pain was like a hot knife blade in her heart. She knew then she couldn’t do it. Despite all the perils they faced and the uncertain future, she wanted this baby. She already loved him or her, this tiny, precious life, this part of herself and Justin. She saw that vision in her mind again, of the dark-eyed little boy, but the thought was no longer painful. It made her happy. She thought once he got over his worry, Justin would be happy, too.
This wasn’t the end. It was the beginning. It wasn’t going to be easy, and the road they traveled was fraught with danger, but she had to have faith. Whatever had brought them to this point would see them through whatever challenges lay ahead in order to fulfill their destiny.
“Carly?”
©Depositphotos/Kotenk
Justin found her in the nursery, and a dart of alarm struck him when he saw the tears on her cheeks. But she smiled at him, and her eyes were bright.
“I think you’re wrong,” she said. “I don’t think humans were supposed to die out during the Infection. And I think those of us who survived have a duty to protect the next generation. We’re starting over, Justin. We’re rebuilding the world. And this time, we’re going to make it even better.”
Justin saw it in his mind, his fate written as clear as day. Carly would have a little girl with her beautiful eyes and caramel hair, and she would only have to smile to wrap her father around her little finger. And Justin would go crazy when she started dating. No man would ever be good enough for her, especially guys like him. Or the child would be a boy, with dark eyes that sparkled with mischief, and he’d give his father heart attacks with the adventures he would get into. But just like the little girl in his vision, all his son would have to do is give that wicked little grin and he would get away with anything.
Doomed, he thought, but it made him smile.
Title: Revisited
Author: Lindsey Gray
Buying Links: TWCS / Amazon / B & N
In the second installment of The Redemption Series, everyone’s path leads into one.
Lily Edwards, the last remaining female vampire, faces a daunting task. She has to find Liam Caldwell, the vampire she was forced to create, and change him back to a human. Her task won’t be easy as fellow vampires, Filipp and Debir, have been secretly plotting her demise for decades.
Liam is having second thoughts when he learns Filipp has handpicked an army of humans for him to turn into vampires and Valentina Pavel, the last member of a coven of Romanian witches, brings him a new challenge of her own. Together, they all have Liam doing the unthinkable ̶ ̶ pleading for a way out.
Friends-now-turned-enemies struggle for their eternity, while enemies-turned-friends fight side by side. Will Lily’s past give her the answers she needs to reach the future or will her darkest fears be revisited?
© Dragosmanea | Dreamstime Stock Photos& Stock Free Images
For a new vampire, Liam wasn’t doing the typical things a virile vampire would do. He hadn’t drained the blood from any of the humans he came into contact with. He hadn’t had any strong sexual or violent urges to act upon. He hadn’t mourned for his lost human life. He was, in fact, still in a luxury hotel suite in Bucharest, Romania. He began to wonder if he was vampire enough to take the next step
Shortly after his arrival, Debir and Filipp had gotten the call from The Manchester Group to stay put. The entire group was on high alert since Lily’s death, or at least that was what the elder vampires were told.
Liam knew different. Lily was his sire and in those moments she made him, an unbreakable bond was formed. He still felt it down to the marrow in his bones. Lily was alive in one form or another.
As for the next step, Filipp’s plan was for the three of them to strategically sire new vampires, whose strength would bring The Manchester Group down. Gideon’s plan coincided with their own, though he was occupied now and wouldn’t be of any help to them. Through fate and a hell of a lot of luck, Ian Holt was in the wrong place at the exact right time. Gideon needed a new vessel to cast a spell over Becca and receive her love and devotion. Ian was presented as if on a silver platter; Gideon turned him into his vessel and the benefits to him would be limitless.
Title: Serial Summer
Author: Angel Lawson
Buying Links: Amazon
Paige Barnes is on the run.
Good thing her mother, true crime author Julia Barnes, just purchased an Airstream trailer for an adventurous move to costal South Carolina to write her next book. Living by the ocean in a shiny, silver camper may not be what Paige had in mind for the summer, but sometimes a fresh start is just what a girl needs.
This should be enough to distract Paige from her problems, but when she meets recent college graduate Justin Hawkins, a summer rebound seems like a great idea. Part beach bum, part business man, Justin is just the kind of fun Paige hopes will help her forget the mistakes she’s made.
It works until her past comes nipping at her heels and her mother’s secrets are revealed to be darker than she ever expected. Bolstered by their new friends and family, they’re both ready to face their fears head on…but at what cost?
photographer Denis Varnadoe 2012
He doesn’t fight me and we walk back to the driveway. His hand never leaves mine, and when we reach the car he positions his body so his back is flat against the door, blocking me from leaving yet. “Thanks for the ride home,” he says. His hands reach for my hips but he’s taking too long, so I grab his shirt and move closer. The instant I do a slow, wide smile briefly appears before his expression turns serious and he kisses me.
© Ronyzmbow | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images
My hands fly to the back of his head and tug him toward me, and I lift on my toes to reach him better. This kiss is beyond what I’d hoped it would be, and it spreads to the pit of my stomach down to the tips of my fingers. My encouragement makes him greedy and I feel his hips push back into mine and his day’s growth of stubble rubs against my chin. I don’t care. When we part, we’re both breathing a lot heavier than before.
“That was,” he starts, but I kiss him again, because I like kissing and well, I like him.
This leads to another round of his lips on mine, then he focuses on the sensitive skin behind my ear until his teeth scrape down my throat to my collarbone and I crumble into giggles under his touch. “Ticklish,” I say, and he starts laughing too and it’s enough to break the fire between us for the moment.
“Good to know,” he says, raising his eyebrows in fun while staring at my lips.
“Good night, Justin,” I tell him and get in the car before I change my mind and take him up on the offer to see his cottage. Baby steps, I remind myself as I drive away from him the house.
Title: Ghosts of Our Pasts
Author: N.K.Smith
Will Darcy once held the world and his future in the palm of his hand. Engaged to marry the love of his life and on the cusp of a brilliant financial career, he loses everything in a horrifying act of violence that still ripples through his life. After years of giving away only pieces of her heart, Emily Martin is beginning to realize that her life of comfort leaves her with nothing in the end. For while love is fraught with risk, turning away from love may be the biggest risk of all. After a long, dark ten years, two people must make a choice: renewal or continued deterioration.
© Rgbspace |
Dreamstime Stock Photos &
“You have an accent. Where are you from?”
The comment and question catches him off guard because he thinks he shed the verbal flag of his Midwestern beginnings a long time ago. He’d always thought his neutral inflection was the norm and that other people had the accents. New Yorkers had a distinct dialect, but as soon as he and Gabe moved here, it was clear that it was they who possessed the strange pronunciation. Gabe stuck with the manner of speech he grew up with, but Will did his best to change his.
He would note the differences in the way he said “ten” and “flower” and “talk” and the way his New York friends said them and he
© Rgbspace | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images
spent time perfecting the blending of the two. He didn’t want to stand out. He might have been a transplant, but he knew he was a New Yorker at heart.
Clearing his throat, he answers, “Illinois.”
“Chicago?”
It is Will that chuckles this time. “No.”
“Why’s that funny?”
“Because no one outside of East North Central Midwest seems to know that there are other cities and towns in Illinois besides Chicago.” He adopts the stereotypical Chicago accent and says, “While I like da Bearz, dare’s more dan Chi-town in da landa Lincoln.”
It feels strange but exciting to joke with someone other than Zoe. This thing that is happening between Will and Emily draws him out of himself. It’s terrifying and yet beautiful. He feels stupid at having said what he just said, but he’s moderately happy he’s said it.
Title: Riverbend (Book 1: The Riverbend Trilogy)
Author: Andrea Goodson
Buying Links: Amazon / Smashwords
Nestled deep in Northwest Pennsylvania, in the thick forests of the Allegheny Mountains, is a quiet community named Kennerdell. Rich in Native American and European settlement history with few inhabitants and a charming culture, growing up there was simple for Lena. But when grief stepped in and darkened her life-everything changed. After years of escape, Lena is forced to come home. A web of mystery and danger, dating back to America’s earliest days, quickly weaves around her.
When a longtime friend, one who knows the tragedy that plagues Lena’s heart, comes back into her life – things get complicated. Will she be able to unfold the truth around this mystery – and herself – or will it be easier to run away?
Love, danger, and history collide in Riverbend, the first book of The Riverbend Trilogy.
© Joseasreyes |
They continued on the downhill path crunching leaves under their feet as they walked. The trail that had been created by Will and her as kids was still just as worn and beaten down as it always had been. It did not appear to have been neglected for years and looked as though it were still used every day. She imagined there had to be kids around here that would make their way through these woods, having the same fun her and Will once had, playing the same games, and discovering the same secrets. To be truthful, Lena and Will had discovered quite a bit about the world just by playing in these woods. Lena had discovered the simple beauty of
© Andriy Bezuglov | Dreamstime.com
life in its simplest form, the calmness and joy that was displayed in nature. Lena began to discover these beauties when she would come here as a small child with Will and both of their fathers. Carl and Joel would point out all the small, seemingly magical, beauties of nature. The way the leaves would rustle in the wind or the way the sunshine would create a spectrum of colors by simply reflecting off of a raindrop. As Lena and Will grew older they started to play in these woods without their parents. It was then that she discovered how it felt for the first time to have a best friend, how it felt to have another boy she could depend on other than her father, and how it felt to have a childhood crush. She glanced over at the strong man that now walked beside her, she realized that he was definitely not a boy anymore.
“Do you hear the water? Not too far now.” Will said.
Not too far, she thought, this walk seemed a lot shorter when they were kids and excited about fishing or just playing by the creek catching some salamanders and crayfish. They approached the edge of the ravine and she looked down at the waterfall below. They were both silent, they somehow each knew what the other was thinking. At the foot of that waterfall, gorgeous and flowing, had been where, when they were about 13, they had both had their first, and only, kiss with one another. They glanced at each other and smiled.
Title: Talented (Talented Saga #1)
Author: Sophie Davis
Buying Links: Amazon / B & N
When Talia Lyons was just a child, her parents were murdered before her eyes. Offered a choice between accepting their fate and exacting revenge, Talia trains to become one of the country’s deadliest assassins in order to kill the man responsible for their deaths: Ian Crane. Luckily, Talia was born with a gift- the ability to read and influence the minds of others. At sixteen, Talia is poised to graduate from the McDonough School for the Talented, where she learned to control her abilities. Now there is only one obstacle standing between her and the retribution she craves… Talia, herself.
Her greatest asset may also be her undoing; while a formidable weapon in the field, Talia’s talents prevent her from both shutting off the mental connection she shares with her questionable boyfriend and blocking out the thoughts of a beguiling fellow recruit. But Talia can’t afford to have the feelings and distractions of a normal teenage girl, when her life is far from normal.
She must regain the single-minded determination that has brought her this far, or it may cost Talia her life when she finally faces Crane. And even after being molded in to a weapon of war, she’ll still have to find the strength it takes to pull the trigger.
dream designs, published on 04 October 2012 www.freedigitalphotos.net
I am still not sure if it was the cold, calculated murder of my father, or the careless disposal of my mother – probably both – but I felt something inside of me snap. One minute, I was hiding in the closet with the silk of my mother’s long dresses pulled tight around my face, like curtains trying to block out the brutal scene in the bedroom. The next, I was sitting in the outer room of our hotel suite, surrounded by broken furniture, shattered glass, and the bodies of the men in black. They were all dead.
The blonde man carried a large gun slung over one shoulder, and several smaller ones were tucked at his waist. An entire team of men clamored through the doorway after him. He held up one of his hands, indicating for the men to stay back. He approached me slowly, hesitantly. He was greater than an arms distance away when he tentatively extended one of his large, gloved hands toward me; I had seen people do the same thing with wounded animals.
“Natalia?” he asked in a soft voice. I couldn’t find the energy to even nod my head, I just stared blankly. “Natalia,” he repeated. “My name is Danbury McDonough. Do you remember me? I’m friends with your daddy.”
Title: Fifty Shades of Jungle Fever (The Ghetto Girl Romance Quardilogy#1)
Author: L. V. Lewis
Keisha Beale, a post-college, African American woman hopes to see her dream of owning a recording studio and music store become a reality. Venture Capitalist, Tristan White, a Caucasian, One-percenter, holds the keys to realization of that dream, but it comes with a price. Tristan is prepared to front the funding for Keisha’s business with a bonus if she will agree to be his friend-with-kinky-benefits. Keisha’s acceptance of Tristan’s terms pushes the boundaries of everything she thought she always wanted in life when it comes to love and relationships. After a rocky start, she is reborn as a submissive and embraces his lifestyle with aplomb. Tristan has been adamant that he doesn’t want any emotional attachment. Keisha is all set to try and change his mind, to awaken the dormant desire of commitment in him, until demons from her past make her continued arrangement with him impossible.
© Bellemedia | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images
Tristan hauls me into my own bedroom, shuts the door, and pins me against it then kisses me in all my morning-breathed glory. I try to avoid opening my mouth but resistance is futile, so I relax and let him kiss me until I taste only what he tastes like. I think it’s Scotch, but I can’t be sure.
When he decides to come up for air, he releases me abruptly, and I’m a limp noodle against the door.
“How can you say no to this kind of passion? What are you afraid of? Do you need to do a trial run?”
“I just don’t like the idea of being involved with you when we’re doing business together. I’m going to apologize to Princess Danai and see if she’ll take on our project.”
© Stanyslava | Dreamstime Stock Photos &Stock Free Images
“I wouldn’t approach her right now if I were you,” he says. “I had to talk her out of pressing charges and filing a lawsuit against you.”
I cringe. What did I expect? Her eye is probably still some variation of black and purple right now.
“Oh,” is all I can muster.
“If you’re going to open in a little over three weeks, I’m the only shot you have,” he says.
“What happens if this,” I say and gesture between us, “doesn’t work out? I need assurances that Kente doesn’t become one of your acquisitions.”
“Have you read the contract?”
“I’ve included a provision for that. I think the language says that if personal relationships are severed, White Enterprises will ensure your company is backed by another entity before we part ways, amicably.”
“You would do that?”
“Right now, I’d do anything it takes to make you mine.”
My Triple-G and my Fairy Hoochie Mama both faint in a synchronized swoon.
Damn, this white boy is off the chain.
We hope you enjoyed the selections, and we hope your Spring Equinox brings renewal, awakening, and rebirth of everything beautiful.
Images in the banner: © Sierpniowka | Stock Free Images &Dreamstime Stock Photos , © Guodingping | Stock Free Images &Dreamstime Stock Photos
CLICK THE BANNER TO ENTER THE RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY:
Enter The Author to Author – Most Kissable Character Contest!
Posted on February 11, 2013 February 16, 2013 by LV Lewis
Welcome to the Author to Author Most Kissable Character Valentine Contest!
The Author to Author group has a wonderful contest in celebration of the most romantic day of the year: Valentine’s Day.
From now until February 13th at midnight, you can vote for the Most Kissable Character (characters listed below). The winning character’s author will post a snippet/outtake/sneak peek from their book for you to enjoy!
So sit back, scroll down, and meet some of the hottest characters in fiction. Don’t forget to click the SurveyMonkey link at the end (and leave the Author to Author group a little love via a comment).
Have an idea for a contest you’d love to see? Let us know! We’re always looking for some great ideas to connect with readers!
Book title: The End of All Things
Name: Justin Thatcher
Profession: Ex Special Forces soldier
Special Abilities/Talents: The man you’d want
around in case of an apocalypse, Justin is skilled in combat and survival
techniques.
Why he’s the most kissable: Beneath that
tough, ruthless exterior, Justin’s got a heart as sweet and soft as melted
Purchase The End of All Things by Lissa Bryan at The Writer’s Coffee Shop Website
Book title: MORE
Name: Caleb Foster
Eye Color: Blue (kinda)
Profession: Protector of the Race/Student/Physics Tutor
Special Abilities/Talents: Superior strength and speed, heightened senses, compelling people and
blurring memories, an ability to shift from place to place with only a
thought.
Why he’s is the most kissable character: At first, Caleb comes off as a bit of a nerd – I mean seriously, he is a
physics tutor after all, and look at that hair – and those glasses! But peel
below the layers (and the hoodies) and va-va-voom! There’s more to him than
meets the eye, and we’re not talking Transformers here. One top of that, he’s
got a heart of gold. Sure, he’s dedicated to his job as a Protector of the
Race, but when it comes to doing his duty or doing what’s right (like
protecting Ava) – he’s going to make the right decision.
Purchase MORE by T.M. Franklin at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Writer’s Coffee Shop Website, iBooks, Kobo
Book title: Fifty Shades of Jungle Fever
Name: Tristan White
Profession: Venture Capitalist
Special Abilities/Talents: Dominant
who knows the canon of the Kama Sutra from front to back. He dispenses orgasms
as if they are party favors at your own private party.
Why he’s the most kissable character: Well,
Keisha says Tristan’s tongue should be registered as a lethal weapon due to his
ability to exact pleasure with it!
Purchase Fifty Shades of Jungle Fever by LV Lewis at Amazon
Book Titles: Redemption and Revisited
Name: Ryan Edwards
Hair Color: Jet-black
Profession: Angel of death
Special abilities: Can
transport anything or anyone to any spot in the universe.
Why he is most kissable: He spent the remaining years of his human life searching the globe for
his wife. Even in the afterlife, he never gave up his search. Now that they
have been reunited, a love that has spanned a century can be fulfilled. Who
wouldn’t want to kiss someone that dedicated to the love of his eternity?
Purchase Redemption and Revisited by Lindsey Gray at
Book titles: Riverbend and Rapid Water
Name: Will Sundback
Profession: Runs the family’s remodeling and construction business.
Special Abilities/Talents: Very
athletic and proficient in most sports, basketball being his favorite.
Dependable and kind.
Why he is the most kissable: Will is
caring and kind while always remaining brutally honest. He has a lovable,
confident, and sometimes cocky personality.
Purchase Riverbend and Rapid Water by Andrea Goodson at Amazon (Riverbend) and Amazon (Rapid Water)
Book title: Wraith
Name: Connor
Hair Color: Dark
Profession: Student
Abilities/Talent: Can
see ghosts
Why he’s the most
kissable: When
the supernatural Big Bads to big bad, you want him on your side, that is, if he
can stay out of trouble long enough to be there.
Purchase Wraith by Angel Lawson at Amazon
Book: Are You Mine?
Name: Fox
Hair Color: Light Brown
Profession: Warehouse
Special Abilities/Talents: Graffiti
artist, portrait artist, manga artist.
Why he is the most kissable: Fox is a
hopeless romantic, and no matter how difficult life maybe, he always focuses on
the positives. Plus, look at those lips!
Purchase Are You Mine? by N.K.Smith in March/April of 2013. Keep an eye out at N.K.Smith Writes (blog)
picture: © Vishstudio | Stock
Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos
Book Title: Legacy of a Dreamer
Name: Mathias
Hair: Dark Blonde
Profession: Warrior of the Contrite Lineage
Special Abilities/Talents: Protector
& Guardian of the Oracles, assigned to keep Chantal safe. He has inhuman
strength and power, and has the ability to move through the Shade where evil
lurks to harm mankind. He has an incredible heart and falls for Chantal
quickly. It doesn’t hurt that he has an insane body, too.
Why he’s the most kissable: He’s handsome, fearless, and always puts his woman first. Always 😉
Purchase Legacy of a Dreamer by Allie Jean at The Writer’s Coffee Shop Website
Book title: The Future of Our Past &
Don’t Forget to Remember Me, Books One and Two, The Remembrance Trilogy
Name: Ryan Matthews
Eye Color: Dark blue
Hair Color: Golden Brown
Profession: Medical Student/Doctor
Talents/Abilities: “Hi! Kahlen, (the chick that
writes my story), said I have to tell you about my special abilities and
talents, but no dude likes to talk about himself; for sure not me! I will say
I’m passionate about two things, my woman and my career. I’ve always wanted to
be a doctor, but nothing is more important to me than Julia. I’d sacrifice
everything just to see her smile.”
Why he’s the
most Kissable: “I had to ask Jules why I
was the most kissable because I’m like, ‘seriously?’ She said that I’m every
woman’s dream; being handsome, tall, and built, doesn’t hurt, but mostly it’s
how much I love her and always put her first that seals the deal. She also said
I’m not just kissable, but lickable. I’m rolling my eyes at it all because I’m
a modest guy, but I have to admit that last part got me grinning like the cat
that ate the canary! As long as my girl’s the canary… I’m golden!”
(*winks!*)
Purchase The Future of Our Past & Don’t Forget to Remember Me, Books One and Two, The Remembrance Trilogy by Kahlen Aymes at Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble
Book Title: Talented
Name: Erik Kelley
Eye Color: Turquoise
Profession: Hunter-
a special forces operative for the government
Abilities/Talents: Able to mimic the talents of others
Why he is the Most Kissable Character: It may be cliché, but having him throw his life on the line for the girl
he loves just makes us want to bite that sexy bottom lip
Purchase Talented by Sophie Davis at Amazon
Ready to vote?
CLICK HERE to vote for who YOU think is the Most Kissable Character!
Check back on February 14th to see who won and for an excerpt or a sneak peek from the winning author!
authors (in order of character appearance in this blog): Lissa Bryan, T.M. Franklin, LV Lewis, Lindsey Gray, Andrea Goodson, Angel Lawson, N.K.Smith, Allie Jean, Kahlen Aymes, Sophie Davis
LV’s Monday Meanderings… January 6, 2020!
LV’s Monday Meanderings… December 30, 2019!
LV’s Monday Meanderings… December 9, 2019!
Monthly Archive of Posts Select Month January 2020 (1) December 2019 (6) November 2019 (5) October 2019 (1) September 2019 (1) August 2019 (1) April 2019 (3) March 2019 (1) February 2019 (2) January 2019 (4) December 2018 (8) November 2018 (6) October 2018 (5) September 2018 (8) August 2018 (5) July 2018 (5) June 2018 (3) August 2017 (1) July 2017 (1) June 2017 (2) May 2017 (5) April 2017 (3) March 2017 (2) February 2017 (5) January 2017 (1) November 2016 (1) August 2016 (1) June 2016 (3) May 2016 (4) April 2016 (2) March 2016 (5) February 2016 (2) January 2016 (1) October 2015 (2) September 2015 (1) July 2015 (3) June 2015 (2) May 2015 (1) March 2015 (2) February 2015 (1) December 2014 (6) November 2014 (3) October 2014 (7) September 2014 (5) July 2014 (3) June 2014 (4) May 2014 (3) April 2014 (1) March 2014 (5) February 2014 (6) January 2014 (6) December 2013 (16) November 2013 (13) October 2013 (5) September 2013 (10) August 2013 (21) July 2013 (16) June 2013 (18) May 2013 (19) April 2013 (14) March 2013 (6) February 2013 (11) January 2013 (19) December 2012 (25) November 2012 (5) October 2012 (1) September 2012 (1) January 2012 (1)
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Follow @lv_lewis
L. V. Lewis, Author
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Catch up with coverage from MarTech East 2019!
Announcing the Stackie & Hackie Awards for MarTech San Francisco 2017
January 26, 2017 by Scott Brinker
I’m excited to kick off the third year of The Stackies, which will culminate in an opening awards ceremony at the MarTech Conference in San Francisco, May 9–11, 2017.
Of course, like all agile marketers, we believe in improving with each iteration. So we’ve tweaked and expanded the competition this year.
But first, new readers may be wondering, “What the heck are The Stackies?” They’re a friendly competition where marketers send in a single 16:9 slide that illustrates their marketing stack — the collection of marketing tools and technologies that they use to make marketing magic in a digital world.
We then openly publish all of the entries — check out the 21 marketing stacks from 2015 and the 41 marketing stacks from 2016. We designed The Stackie Awards to be a vehicle for sharing industry insights among peers. By looking at the creative ways so many different marketers conceptualize their stacks, everyone can draw learning and inspiration from them.
Thanks to MarTech Title sponsors
for their support of the Stackies!
The new and improved Stackies & Hackies Awards for 2017
This year, we’re expanding our awards program and making it even better, in three ways:
1. Two ways to participate and win — The Stackies and The Hackies
In addition to The Stackies, single-slide illustrations of marketing stacks, this year we’re also running a new parallel contest for The Hackies. To enter The Hackies, you submit a 600–2,400-word essay that teaches readers an important concept or insight at the intersection of marketing, technology and management. We’ll publish all qualified entries on chiefmartec.com, the MarTech San Francisco event site, and MarTech Today, and the winners will be chosen by the community through “votes” via social shares.
Like The Stackies, the goal of The Hackies is to share knowledge and inspiration with each other.
2. Every entry contributes to charity
Last year, we donated $5,000 to charities — each of the five winners of The Stackies could pick a charity they wanted us to donate $1,000 to in their name. This year, we’ve decided to focus on one charity — Girls Who Code — and make a $100 contribution for every valid entry submitted to The Stackies or The Hackies, up to a grand total of $10,000.
If we hit our goal, we will all get to learn from 100 or more martech stacks and essays! (If any marketing technology vendors would like to pledge “matching” donations — e.g., for every entry in The Stackies that features your product, you’ll also donate $100 to Girls Who Code. We’ll be glad to promote your booster support.)
As a “thank you” for your contribution and support for this cause, everyone who enters The Stackies or The Hackies will also receive a special discount code for the upcoming MarTech Conference in San Francisco.
3.Opening night awards presentation at the MarTech Conference
This year, we’ll really celebrate the contributions to The Stackies and Hackies. The opening night of the MarTech Conference in San Francisco, May 9, will launch with an awards ceremony for the finalists that will include groovy trophies and an open bar. That way, we can properly toast the winners and raise our glasses to everyone who participated.
How to enter and win The Stackie Awards
So what do you need to do to enter The Stackies?
Create a single 16:9 slide that visually represents the way you think of your marketing stack. You might illustrate it as a value chain, a technical architecture, a customer journey map, a process flow diagram, a market strategy, a capabilities matrix, or your own original view of how marketing technology is orchestrated in your organization. You can annotate the slide with as much explanatory text as you like, but its strength should be in its visual presentation. Check out last year’s winners for some starting inspiration.
Set up your user profile and submit your entry here. You can upload your slide as a high-resolution image, a PDF or a PPTX file any time before midnight Friday, March 31 (Pacific time). You will be granting us permission to publicly share your entry. You may choose to include a paragraph or two that describes the rationale behind the way you organized your stack and any guiding principles that you feel are important in its architecture.
The judging committee, which will consist of editorial staff from chiefmartec.com and MarTech Today, as well as several independent industry experts, will select the five best entries as the winners. Entries will be judged on the following five criteria, in this order of importance:
Alignment — How well-aligned is your stack with your business?
Concept — How insightful is the conceptual organization of your stack?
Clarity — How easy is it for a reader to understand your stack?
Design — The aesthetics of your slide and its visual appeal
Detail — More detail is generally better, within reason, for a single slide.
A note about “detail.” We prefer that entries in The Stackies include the specific products that are being used. This isn’t for the sake of endorsing vendors — although I’m sure they will all appreciate it! — but to help us collectively see examples of where specific products fit out in the wild.
However, this is not a requirement. If you don’t wish to disclose a particular vendor, simply put a generic placeholder label for that product in your stack (e.g., “Data Management Platform”). An entry in The Stackies that has anonymous product placeholders can still win. But if you are willing to name names, we’d greatly appreciate it, as it does make these marketing stack visualizations considerably more tangible.
How to enter & win The Hackie Awards
More of a writer than a slide designer? Then consider entering The Hackies:
Write a 600–2,400-word essay that teaches a clever marketing technology “hack” — an innovative approach to marketing technology management that readers can adopt to improve their own organizations and digital customer experiences. It can include illustrations, images or screen shots — in fact, we encourage you to have some visual element to your article — as long as you can assign us the rights to freely publish it (so probably no stock photography).
Set up your user profile and submit your entry here. You’ll upload your article as a Microsoft Word file any time before midnight Friday, March 31 (Pacific time) — or until we run out of publishing slots (see below). You will be asked to grant us permission to publicly share your entry.
We’ll publish qualified entries on chiefmartec.com, MarTech Today and the MarTech Conference site as they come in, through April 21. The winners will be determined by “people’s choice” through social media. The three articles with the highest number of social media shares by May 1 will each be given an award at the MarTech opening ceremony. In addition, we will also give an additional “editor’s choice” award for the article that we believe makes the greatest contribution to the community.
We will also compile all of those qualified entries into a “Hacking MarTech” e-book that will be freely distributed as a resource for the community at large.
A “qualified entry” must be well-written and on-topic within the realm of marketing, technology and management — which is still a vast subject area but luckily excludes political op-ed polemics. It must teach the reader something meaningful. And, most importantly, it must not be a thinly-veiled (or outright naked) sales pitch for a particular vendor’s product or service. Our editorial staff reserves the right to determine whether an article qualifies.
If you’re already thinking about how to hack The Hackies, you will realize that articles that are published earlier are more likely to collect more social media shares by May 1. And, since we will publish no more than one entry per day, in the order in which they are submitted, late entries may run out of slots in which to be published. So get crackin’, er, hackin’.
Ready to share your insights and experience with your peers? Contribute to learning across the martech community? Help raise money for a terrific charity? And perhaps even bask in the glory of receiving an award for your contribution at MarTech Conference, in San Francisco?
Then please participate in The Stackies and The Hackies. We’re really looking forward to learning from your perspective and insight!
Click here to set up your profile and submit your entries.
What’s the current state of marketing technology and operations careers?
Boost ROI. Assemble high-performing teams. Exceed expectations.
MarTech is different. Check out the agenda.
Up your email marketing game in 2020 [WEBINAR]
April 23-25, 2018: San Jose, CA
Oct 1-3, 2018: Boston, MA
See all the dates and locations.
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Living in This World
November 7, 2006 November 9, 2014 Martha Spong
I love to vote on Election Day. My daddy was in politics and going to the polls with him was always exciting! I really look forward to voting each year, and I poo-poo those who suggest I vote early. Voting early is for college students home on Fall Break; voting absentee is for the homebound and those working out of state. Voting early at City Hall when you don’t have to is for, I don’t know, hermits, and those who just don’t appreciate being part of a community event!!! (I love to vote on Election Day.)
Here in City By the Sea, where I have lived for 19 years at five different addresses, I have visited many polling places:
a 1960’s era elementary school
a plain vanilla room at the University of Southern Vacationland, later turned into a gym
the fellowship hall at Large Church
the fellowship hall at St. Famous Irish Saint’s Catholic Church (where two precincts came together to create a major traffic jam)
back to the fellowship hall at Large Church
3 of those 5 addresses have been in the same precinct. I’m used to voting at Large Church. It has a great parking lot. Plus, I went there to church for a long time, so it’s one of my Don’t Have to Think About Where I’m Going Destinations.
This morning as I drove Snowman to school we passed Temple Conservative Congregation, and I noticed an unusually large number of cars parked alongside its triangle of land. I had to brake suddenly when a car pulled away from the curb in a somewhat dangerous fashion and exclaimed, “What do you suppose is going on here this morning?” It was 7:38 a.m., a little early for a funeral.
Snowman said, “Oh, yeah. One of those robo-calls we got last night told you to vote here.”
I heaved a sigh, because I know how bad the parking is in that little area. I decided to do my utmost to get back there before the after work rush. We like to vote in City By the Sea, and in Vacationland, too, and I stood in line at St. F-I-S’s for 90 minutes once in an OFF YEAR election. Sure enough, when I returned to Temple C C at 4 p.m., there was no place to park on the side street or in the small parking lot. We went around the triangle, discovering the available parking was on the wrong side of the street for our direction.
I got a little cranky, but this may have been due to a building headache.
Finally I managed to park on the narrow side street with parking on both sides, imagining how much fun people coming an hour later in the dark would be having. At the entrance, a volunteer greeted me.
“A little irritated about the parking,” I answered. “I can’t think it’s going to get any better after dark.”
He patiently explained that Large Church is undergoing renovations. (First I’ve heard about it.) He allowed as how they hoped this was a one shot polling place.
Inside volunteers I know personally greeted me, and I tried to be a little more cheerful. And after all, there was no line to speak of, despite the enormous number of cars outside. I took my ballots (PAPER! BALLOTS!) into a teeny little curtained “booth.” In the teeny little booth next door, my neighbor was having the ballot explained, loudly. I had to put my fingers in my ears while reading a constitutional question on the statewide ballot. I wondered who was really voting next door. I thought about calling a volunteer. I plugged my ears harder and decided to vote “yes,” but now I wish I hadn’t. How many amendments does a state constitution need?
I waited in line to feed my ballots to a machine. We have the paper ballots on which you fill in a circle. It cheered me to know that my ballot could be re-counted by hand if necessary. I wished The Princess had been with me, but she was at dance class. She might have liked to get one of those “I Voted Today” stickers. (I’m wearing mine.)
When I got outside, there were very few cars parked on the side street. But my head still hurt.
Where is it you go to vote early?
Previous postSurprising? You Be the Judge
Next posta thumpin’
21 thoughts on “Voting”
zorra says:
We vote early at a nearby middle school. This time I was careful not to repeat the traumatic mistake I made last time–getting there just as school let out, and being stampeded by several hundred thirteen-year-olds!!!
childhood friend says:
My son, Fabulous Tenor, voted for the first time today! We went together to the polls. I spend my life in politics, so it was probably more exciting for me than for him. I just can’t believe I have a child – no, two children now – who are old enough to vote.
And as always, I remember your Daddy (and mine) every time I cast a ballot.
Songbird says:
childhood friend, I miss you tonight!
And zorra, that does sound traumatic!
Ugh, Songbird, that voting place sounds like No Fun. Ours at the Little Lads and Little Ladies Club here in South City by the Sea is pretty good w/ the parking. My car dashboard is wearing my “I voted today” sticker, *and* I got to witness an elderly woman conveying a very New England snubbing to one of the city council candidates gladhanding in the hallway. How could anyone give that up for checking off a paper ballot in your own house?
I hope that I never have to vote anywhere outside walking distance!
Yes, it’s worth getting out there for a moment like that, mc.
ppb says:
Oh I wish we had early voting
stcasserole says:
We vote at the elementary school down the block. New computer voting machines made the lines long as voters tried to read the directions on the touch screens.
We have a larger number of poll watchers than usual to try to temper the fraud.
I feel like Jimmy Carter will show up at any minute.
My precinct has not had any “I voted” stickers for the past 3 elections, and I (and Curious Girl) have not been happy about that.
Rats! Don’t they know stickers are a good thing?
St. C, I wish Jimmy Carter would. That’s very distressing.
revdrmom says:
I vote at the nearby elementary school, but I didn’t vote early; I had a service at church at 7am and after breakfast there I came home to wait (all fireplacing day) for a Fedex deliveray). But I did vote, tonight about 6:30 and luckily there was plenty of parking. I heard from someone else that it was quite crowded this morning. And school was not closed, which in this day of high security surprises me.
I think we have a lot less school-based polling places here now compared to the late 1980’s. But I have no idea why that changed.
Quotidian Grace says:
My precinct votes at the neighborhood high school. And after my adventures in write-in-land, I would KILL to return to paper ballots. Down with the e-slates.
more cows than people says:
Before doing just about anything else today dear husband and I went to vote. He is rather apolitical, likely would not vote were it not for my “Hon, how bout we go vote and get it over with?” “Yes dear.”
We went to the town hall where we recall last voting here. Two others were just ahead of us. NOBODY WAS THERE… we were supposed to be at the firehall! (Will the people who don’t read the newspaper please stand up?) There the ample parking was nearly full, the hall was bustling with volunteers (most of whom I know now). We got right in to vote (though the board of elections still can’t get my name straight- we tricky hyphenators! crazy thing is they have it right for my husband who hyphenated!) and it felt soooo good. We have old fashioned pull the lever voting machines, just what I remember walking into with my parents as a child. I am so glad to be past the days of impermanent addresses and necessary absentee ballots.
sorry for frustrations… hooray for your paper trail!
I’m glad to know someone else is still up and thinking about the election!
I love those lever machines. I think I only used one at home in Virginia, before moving to Maine. The thunking sound is so satisfying. But I’ll take the paper trail. I’ll take it.
Cordelia's Mother says:
Here in Upscale College Town, we did not have any stickers either. I thought it was just a Vacationland thing and that my former home in 10,000-Lakes-Land was the only place that had them. I think you voted rightly on the constitutional thing as it appeared not to be exactly an amendment (as in Bill of Rights, 14th, etc.) but an amendment of an existing part of the const. to make it clearer and avoid the occasion of litigation as happened earlier this year. We voted at Alternative School with No Visible Students, walking distance. The newsletter from Lutheran Church of Peace and Justice where I used to be secretary said they were a polling place and the entire building was off-limits for the day…I never heard of that before.
Hi, fellow night owl, C’s Mother!
Off-limits. Huh. That is very odd.
In Vacationland we love to amend the Constitution for all sorts of little things. The Father of My Children once told me to vote against them on principle. But that’s not why I voted for it, I swear. 😉
I ended up getting an absentee ballot, but it didn’t arrive until Monday…and I wasn’t going to pay $15 to have it overnighted to my Town Clerk’s office!
Good grief, Melissa! How far ahead did you request it?
NotShyChiRev says:
I’m very late to this game, but I vote in Slightly Larger Massively More Conservative Reformed Neighbor Church’s gym.
This is rendered only partly interesting because I live 20 yards from a polling place–in the gym of Dead President High. My precinct doesn’t vote there…ever. It’s just bizarre.
We had only paper ballots. Any electronic ballot for us must have been at some alternate voting location (I heard they did that with some regularity here…it’s obviously cheaper to have 1 touchscreen per five or six precints).
I early voted at Local Court Building (was out of town on election day). Didn’t get an “I Voted” sticker which made me sad. We had electronic machines, but they were NOT touch screen ones. Apparently this caused trauma for many folks, because posted above each “booth” was a sign that said in big letters, “This is NOT a touch-screen voting machine!”
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Google just launched the second version of Google Glass Enterprise Edition
Meet the new version of Google Glass.
Image: Robert Couto Photography/google
By Alex Perry 2019-05-20 19:54:57 UTC
Google Glass may have never become a fixture in regular people's daily lives like Google may have hoped, but the wearable device keeps on trucking.
The tech giant launched a new version of Glass on Monday. As its name suggests, the Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2 builds upon the business-focused direction Google went in with the device in 2017. Glass EE 2 brings a new CPU and a host of other enhancements along with it.
First and foremost, the new glasses come packed with a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 chip. Google said the new tech powering Glass would enable more efficient power use, better performance and better machine learning capabilities.
That nice new battery can now be charged using a new USB-C port, too. It also comes with a better camera, for good measure. It's $999, which makes it $500 cheaper than the inferior version Google began sending out to customers in 2013.
Last but certainly not least, the newer Glass model looks significantly less silly than the old ones.
The old version of Google Glass didn't quite catch on with the public.
Image: Kim Kulish/Corbis via Getty Images
The original iteration of Glass wasn't exactly the hit Google wanted it to be. Aside from the steep price, Plenty of people justifiably found it a bit creepy that others were walking around with internet-connected cameras on their faces, something that still hasn't caught on in a big way six years later.
One person involved with the original Glass project expressed regret over the way Google handled the rollout. In 2015, Google announced Glass would go on hiatus before bringing it back in 2017 as an enterprise tool.
SEE ALSO: We tried Google’s Stadia controller and it's ... OK?
Since then, there have been plenty of stories about how useful the technology has been in more specialized circumstances. Even if Glass or other wearable face devices never become mainstream, it seems like they might still have their uses, after all.
WATCH: Get Google Assistant to talk in John Legend's voice
Topics: big-tech-companies, Business, Enterprise, Google, Google Glass, Tech
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Weighty issue: Stress and high-fat meals combine to slow metabolism in women
by Emily Caldwell, The Ohio State University
Eating high fat comfort foods a day after being stressed out could lead to weight gain in women of up to 11 pounds a year, according to a new study by researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Credit: Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
A new study in women suggests that experiencing one or more stressful events the day before eating a single high-fat meal can slow the body's metabolism, potentially contributing to weight gain.
Researchers questioned study participants about the previous day's stressors before giving them a meal consisting of 930 calories and 60 grams of fat. The scientists then measured their metabolic rate – how long it took the women to burn calories and fat – and took measures of blood sugar, triglycerides, insulin and the stress hormone cortisol.
On average, the women in the study who reported one or more stressors during the previous 24 hours burned 104 fewer calories than nonstressed women in the seven hours after eating the high-fat meal – a difference that could result in weight gain of almost 11 pounds in one year.
The stressed women also had higher levels of insulin, which contributes to the storage of fat, and less fat oxidation – the conversion of large fat molecules into smaller molecules that can be used as fuel. Fat that is not burned is stored.
"This means that, over time, stressors could lead to weight gain," said Jan Kiecolt-Glaser, professor of psychiatry and psychology at The Ohio State University and lead author of the study. "We know from other data that we're more likely to eat the wrong foods when we're stressed, and our data say that when we eat the wrong foods, weight gain becomes more likely because we are burning fewer calories."
Previous research also has shown that people who experience stress and other mood disruptions are at higher risk of becoming overweight or obese. This study, the researchers say, appears to illustrate at least one mechanism behind that connection.
The research is published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
The study was conducted in 58 women, average age 53, and included two admissions to Ohio State's Clinical Research Center for daylong analyses. To regulate their food intake for 24 hours before eating the high-fat meal, researchers supplied the participants with three standardized meals on the previous day and instructed them to fast for 12 hours before reporting for their study visit.
On the day of admission, the participants completed several questionnaires to assess their depressive symptoms and physical activity and were interviewed about stressful events on the prior day. Thirty-one women reported at least one prior day stressor on one visit and 21 reported stressors at both visits. Six women reported no stressors.
Using a special mask, researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center measure the metabolism of a patient who just ate a high-fat meal. A new study shows that women who eat highfat, comfort foods a day after experiencing a stressful event tend to burn fewer calories than women without stress. The daily effect of that habit could result in a woman gaining almost 11 pounds per year. Credit: Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Most of the reported stressors were interpersonal in nature: arguments with co-workers or spouses, disagreements with friends, trouble with children or work-related pressures.
The research meal consisted of eggs, turkey sausage, biscuits and gravy – roughly equivalent in calories and fat to a loaded two-patty hamburger and French fries at a fast-food restaurant. Participants were required to eat the entire meal within 20 minutes.
"This is not an extraordinary meal compared to what many of us would grab when we're in a hurry and out getting some food," said Kiecolt-Glaser, also director of the Institute for Behavioral Medicine at Ohio State.
The control for comparison in this randomized trial was that one meal contained saturated fat and another was high in a different kind of fat: sunflower oil containing monounsaturated fat, which is associated with a variety of health benefits.
"We suspected that the saturated fat would have a worse impact on metabolism in women, but in our findings, both high-fat meals consistently showed the same results in terms of how stressors could affect their energy expenditure," said Martha Belury, professor of human nutrition at Ohio State and a co-author of the study.
Before the meal, participants rested for 30 minutes and their energy expenditure – or calories burned by converting food to energy – was tested during that time. After they ate their meal, their metabolic rate was tested for 20 minutes of every hour for the next seven hours. Researchers obtained this data by using equipment that measured inhaled and exhaled airflow of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
"By measuring the gas exchange, we can determine their metabolic rate: how much energy their body needs during the time being measured," Belury said. "The participants burned fewer calories over the seven hours after the meal when they had a stressor in their life the day before the meal."
Researchers also took multiple blood samples "so we could follow throughout the day what was happening metabolically after eating the high-fat meal," Kiecolt-Glaser said.
Researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center have found that women who ate a high-fat meal the day after a stressful event metabolized food more slowly, and the daily effect of that habit could lead to a weight gain of up to 11 pounds in a year. Credit: Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
The stressors' effects of increasing insulin had a time element: Insulin spiked soon after the high-fat meal was consumed and then decreased to roughly match insulin levels in nonstressed women after another 90 minutes.
A history of depression alone did not affect metabolic rate, but depression combined with previous stressors led to a steeper immediate rise in triglycerides after the meal. Triglycerides are a form of fat in the blood, and high levels are considered a risk for cardiovascular disease.
"With depression, we found there was an additional layer. In women who had stress the day before and a history of depression, triglycerides after the meal peaked the highest," Kiecolt-Glaser said. "The double whammy of past depression as well as daily stressors was a really bad combination."
The researchers are reluctant to extend these findings to men because men tend to have more muscle than women, which would affect their metabolic rate, Belury said.
But the findings do offer one more motivation to keep healthful foods nearby.
"We know we can't always avoid stressors in our life, but one thing we can do to prepare for that is to have healthy food choices in our refrigerators and cabinets so that when those stressors come up, we can reach for something healthy rather than going to a very convenient but high-fat choice," Belury said.
Snacking contributes to fatty liver and abdominal obesity
Journal information: Biological Psychiatry
Provided by The Ohio State University
Citation: Weighty issue: Stress and high-fat meals combine to slow metabolism in women (2014, July 14) retrieved 20 January 2020 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-07-weighty-issue-stress-high-fat-meals.html
Frequent snacking worse for the liver than larger meals
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'Dialogic praxis' enhances psychotherapeutic success for youth
Professors create free research-backed games to train your brain
Mix of stress and air pollution may lead to cognitive difficulties in children
No clear evidence of increase in adolescent suicide after '13 Reasons Why'
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You are here: Home / Food & Drink / Moana Bakery and Cafe Maui Restaurant Review
Moana Bakery and Cafe Maui Restaurant Review
September 20, 2012 by Jen Russo Leave a Comment
Moana Cafe has been a mainstay dining option in Paia for many years. It’s known for their delectable pastries, breakfast-lunch-dinner schedule and nightlife. So when they closed last May, I was gravely disappointed. But my fears proved short lived when Moana reopened a few weeks later under new owners David and Yulie Law.
“My husband and I are entrepreneurs, mainly in the product design sector in the mainland,” says Yulie. “We moved to Maui over a year ago and since our companies are able to run on its own or can be worked remotely, we wanted to live here on the North Shore. Since our kids are young and ready for school, we knew we had to set our foot down somewhere, and have chosen Paia to call ‘home.’ We have made some major changes initially to the dining area. We removed some of the dark booths by bringing in some fine tables, chairs and bar stools. A fresh coat of paint always does wonders to brighten up the place. Add in some air conditioning units that work, and we retuned and replaced our kitchen appliances so that they all work properly and efficiently!”
With its new look, the bistro now has a clean, stylish, urban vibe, like I just dropped into a Noe Valley cafe in San Francisco. The acoustics in the dining room reverberate so that conversations over the cement floors and the clanking in the open kitchen keep the room sounding lively. I like the new leather chairs and the high tops along the window–perfect for Paia people-watching from inside their climate controlled dining room.
The Laws wasted no time putting together their dream team at the restaurant. Helen Hong is the new manager, Lokelani Sribura is the baker, James Walworth is the chef and James Shoemaker is at the bar. The menu went through a complete redesign, with family-style dining at dinner, and an added Asian flair with more focus on farm-to-table and share plates.
“We have had the pleasure of having both Helen Hong and James Walworth cater many of our private parties and knew we found some true gems right under our noses,” says Yulie. “We asked them to join us on our adventures here in Maui and found that a family friendly restaurant was desirable using the bountiful fruits and vegetables grown locally. It’s right up their alley as far as food styles, philosophy and presentation. People are bored of the same old, same old. We’re constantly trying out different flavors, introducing it to our patrons, using what’s seasonal and being able to just be ‘out there’ with our combinations of flavors that explode in your mouth.”
Sribura bakes an array of pastries that you can get anytime from the case at the door. They also offer European pastries and American standards. But every time I’m there, the mac-nut sticky buns with cream cheese frosting fly out the door, and at dinner the Lilikoi cheesecake seems to appear on all the tables. Sribura says she graduated from the Maui Culinary Academy and continues to absorb tricks of the trade from her colleagues.
“Creating specialty cakes has to be one of my favorite things to do,” she says. “It’s art work that is specifically made for that customer. Seeing their visions made into a reality, and knowing that I was a part of that special occasion makes me happy.”
Hong and Walworth both contributed family recipes to the dinner menu, making an innovative mix of share plates, sides and appetizers. It’s a build-your-own meal concept, with starters like puffed nori, salads, chicken sticks and the ahi poke tostada staving off hunger while you wait for the big share plates like Thai orange curry, Korean pot roast or tamarind pork ribs. The share sides feature lots of veggie options picked from the bounty of Hawaii farms: zucchini and onion, green beans, braised greens, kimchi and purple sweet potato.
“Both my paternal and maternal sides of my family have a love of food, eating, cooking and experimenting,” says Hong. “The puffed rice nori came from an Aunt in Korea, as a gift only with instructions to fry until crisp and puffy. I had no idea what the result would be and was pleasantly surprised. My mother likes to play with flavors. She incorporates what is accessible in the US and applies it to Korean food. The kimchi we have at the restaurant is based on my mom’s basic recipe but with room and encouragement to experiment. For instance, instead of using Asian pear or apple to start the fermentation, we use pineapple, which results in a tangier kimchi. We also played with Daikon radish kimchi with orange juice and zest and are always looking for the next vegetable to kimichi.
The resulting dinner meals you can put together at Moana could be different each time you go. The puffed rice nori is one of the most unique dishes I’ve tried, and the kids at our table loved it so much that we had to order it twice. The seasoned seaweed sheets are somehow battered and deep fried as crisp as a potato chip.
Their breakfast menu stuck to the homestyle favorites and offer no surprises. Starting at 8am, you can get home fries, eggs, pancakes, French toast, omelets with fresh veggies and savory meats, loco moco and Eggs Benedict (breakfast is served until 2pm). For lunch, there are healthy standards, salads, soups, Saimin, wraps burgers and sandwiches.
Chef Walworth says his most popular dishes are the ahi poke tostada, pork ribs flavored with tamarind and cinnamon, a salad of papaya and avocado tossed with ribbons of lacianato kale and the curry.
“My family cooked at home the majority of the time,” he says. “My parents were always growing a vegetable garden even in the face of short growing seasons, grasshopper plague, or other obstacles we faced. The food wasn’t super fancy, but we had an appreciation for fresh produce and also for exploring different cuisines. I owe a lot of my interest in cooking to my family. My dad did most of the cooking at home, and during the summer when we managed to harvest some zucchini, he would sauté them with onions and garlic and top them with Parmesan. It was a favorite of mine, and since Maui produces fresh zucchini and onions almost year round, I had to put it on the menu, but with the twist of black garlic.”
The Laws are excited to be a part of the Paia scene. They hope their philosophy at the restaurant will serve them for years to come.
“We have five core values,” says Yulie. “Fun, collaborative, unpretentious, explore and evolve. We are doing that at the front and back of the house, in our food, the location, the physical space… basically in everything we do and touch.”
MOANA BAKERY & CAFE
71 Baldwin Ave., Paia
Filed Under: Food & Drink, Maui Restaurants Tagged With: dining, FAMILY, food, Maui, Maui Food and Drink, new, Paia, room, says
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Government Agencies & Programs
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San Mames Football Stadium Cable Roof Extension
PRINCIPAL CONTRACTOR: INBISA and PFEIFER
ARCHITECT: ACXT-IDOM (IDOM Group)
CLADDING SUPPLIER: Vector Foiltec
WIND TUNNEL TESTING CONSULTANTS: BMT Fluid Mechanics
During the summer break of 2016, the roof of San Mames football stadium (Bilbao, Spain) was upgraded with the aim of improving the spectators’ comfort on rainy days. The selected solution, an innovative double layer cable-roof extension designed by IDOM, increased the roof span by 13 to 23m, minimised the required reinforcements on the original roof, and enabled a record construction time without any disruption to football games.
The extension of the San Mames football stadium roof in Bilbao is a triumph of structural engineering in several different ways. Arising from a need to improve spectator comfort on rainy days, a new lightweight, translucent 4,700m2 oculus of ETFE-clad roofing has been delicately poised within the existing stadium roof opening. The new structure extends the cantilevered distance of the original roof by between 13m and 23m, resulting in maximum projections of up to 75m.
The structure comprises an oval prismatic truss compression ring of structural steel linked by radial cables to a two-layer internal cable tension ring. The total weight of the roof extension structure, including the compression ring, purlins and reinforcement of the existing cantilevered roof, is around 500 tonnes, while the cable system and connections add a further 180 tonnes.
The entire roof extension structure was assembled, lifted into position and sequentially tensioned in a period of just two months during the stadium’s summer closure period.
The engineering design relied heavily upon the ability to accurately predict the complex non-linear interaction between the existing cantilevered roof and the new cable net. This required the development of a 3D BIM model and the non-linear computer analysis of the new and existing structures, supplemented by wind tunnel testing, CFD modelling and wind-driven rain simulation, and the use of a 1:30 scale operating mock-up of the roof to simulate and assess the complex processes of lifting and tensioning the new structure without overstressing the existing roof.
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Federal Gov
State Government | State Governments
Recent News About State of Maryland
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MERCOM CAPITAL GROUP
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China Eyes One Belt One Road Initiative to Expand Renewable Energy
Few of Chinese neighbors are developing countries without clearly marked policies for the growth of renewable energy and infrastructure
Saumy Prateek
Other, Renewable Energy
China plans to utilize its ambitious One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative to expand renewable energy along the economic belt. According to China’s National Energy Administration (NEA), “In the past five years, according to the principle of joint construction and sharing, international cooperation in energy resources has become the top priority of the Belt and Road construction.”
China’s OBOR initiative has not found enough takers in countries like India which think it will lead to a Chinese monopoly. However, linking of renewables to the OBOR initiative may act as a facelift and evince interest from countries that had initially opposed it.
Initially announced in 2013 to restore the ancient Silk Route that connected Asia and Europe, the scope of the project has now expanded to include new territories and development initiatives. The project involves building a large network of roadways, railways, maritime ports, power grids, oil and gas pipelines, and associated infrastructure projects.
The project covers two parts. The “Silk Road Economic Belt” is mainly land-based and is expected to connect China with Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe. The “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” is sea-based and is expected to link China’s southern coast to the Mediterranean, Africa, South-East Asia, and Central Asia.
Few of Chinese neighbors are developing countries without clearly marked policies for the growth of renewable energy and infrastructure. With the current scenario, China is looking at linking renewables with OBOR as a better offering from China which includes both energy and infrastructure.
China’s renewable energy sector is growing at high speed and looking to expand its participation in the OBOR. Recently, the Belt and Road Green Development Research Project released its latest report “Research on the One Belt and One Road Renewable Energy Development Cooperation Path and Its Promotion Mechanism and ASEAN Countries Renewable Energy Development Planning and Key Case Countries.”
The report explains the policy conditions, industrial conditions and existing opportunities and challenges affecting the international cooperation of the Belt and Road renewable energy. The report also points out that the rapidly growing power demand of countries along the Belt and Road is a huge investment opportunity to Chinese enterprises.
The report proposes a timetable for renewable energy development. It recommends that by 2020, China will focus on renewable energy projects in key areas along the Belt and Road, expand the promotion of overseas investment in renewable energy projects, and enhance China’s renewable energy sector.
The report states that Chinese enterprises should focus on the strategic development opportunities of the three-gigawatt-level key renewable energy market development, such as the New Asia-Europe Continental Bridge, the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, and the China-Africa Cooperation Mechanism, and actively develop photovoltaic and wind power, biomass, and geothermal energy projects.
To further promote Chinese enterprises to participate in the initiative and international cooperation in renewable energy, the report proposes policy recommendations such as planning first, strengthening international exchanges, promoting cross-border joint research, joint consulting, innovative cooperation models and financing models.
Yang Fuqiang, the senior consultant of the Natural Resources Conservation Association (NRDC), pointed out that the development potential of renewable energy in the countries along the Belt and Road is huge. The Chinese government and enterprises should play to their advantages in new energy manufacturing, project design, and construction, and actively help along the route.
Promoting the development of renewable energy in these countries will not only help reduce the adverse effects of climate change, protect the environment and the health of the people, accelerate the transformation of energy structure, but also help China to create a good international image of the Belt and Road, added Fuqiang.
It is likely that this will be received with open arms by countries which may suspect the motives behind the initiative.
Mercom recently reported that China is the largest solar PV market in the world. The linking of renewables to OBOR will help China gain a foothold in the renewable energy sector in Asia and beyond.
Saumy is a senior staff reporter with MercomIndia.com covering business and energy news since 2016. Prior to Mercom, Saumy was a copy editor at Thomson Reuters. Saumy earned his Bachelors Degree in Journalism & Mass Communication from the Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University. More articles from Saumy Prateek.
BeltChinaIndiaOBORRenewable EnergyRoadSolarwind
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Category Archives: Trends
Clean Slate – Daylight Savings Time Change and Open Source
Posted by mguhlin in GNU/Linux, Trends
Source: Dubai Dynasty, http://pictures.smashits.com/dubai-dynasty.html
Do we want to keep pumping money that should be going to our students to business companies who have slick sales people that buy free lunches for district administrators to get in the door?
We need to start with a clean slate in regards to open source adoption in schools. We need to win the Florida Lottery when it comes to open source adoption in schools. We could but we don’t.
Daylight saving time (check out this web exhibit…nifty!) is controversial but so is adoption of free open source software. With daylight savings time, some businesses benefit while others suffer. Increasingly, it seems like daylight savings time is just a bother. Who wants more daylight in their day? Wouldn’t it be better to slow down when night falls? I’ve always been a bit hazy on when it starts and ends, but apparently, this Sunday is the day Daylight Savings Time ends until it starts again next March. In 2008, Daylight Saving Time begins on March 9 and ends on Nov.2. (Source).
But the controversy remains.
I can easily see a connection between the controversies of daylight savings time–that benefits businesses–and free open source software adoption. However, in many countries, open source software is being adopted. Consider the adoption of OpenOffice and GNU/Linux:
“The Foreign Ministry [Germany] is migrating all of its 11,000 desktops to GNU/Linux and other open source applications. According to Schuster, this has drastically reduced maintenance costs in comparison with other ministries. “The Foreign Ministry is running desktops in many far away and some very difficult locations. Yet we spend only one thousand euros per desktop per year. That is far lower than other ministries, that on average spend more than 3,000 euros per desktop per year.
“The ministry has so far migrated almost four thousand of its desktops to GNU/Linux and expects to complete the move by the summer of 2009, Schuster said. About half of all the 230 embassies and consulates have now been switched over. “It is not without problems. It took a while to find a developer in Japan to help us with some font issues we had in OpenOffice.”
Source: Benjamin Horst via SolidOffice
Although I use GNU/Linux every day, as well as OpenOffice (in fact, on every computer I use, whether it’s Mac, Windows or GNU/Linux without much problem), a recent study (also via SolidOffice) highlights the problems with open source adoption:
Conversion and compatibility-Tests showed that opening Microsoft Office documents in OpenOffice.org sometimes resulted in errors in both layout and content when handling complex documents. Data conversion appears to be a much more complex issue in a data–intensive environment …than in organizations in which macros are seldom used.
Tools and integration- Software vendors are inclined to develop tools or other software products that are interoperable with the Microsoft Office suite because of its large market share.
Costs- Some factors obscured the actual level of these potential cost savings. First, some of the licenses for Microsoft Office had already been purchased…Second, our informants indicated that the TCO of OpenOffice.org could not be estimated precisely, due to the uncertainty regarding the cost of the conversion of applications and macros. Hence, during the project, no detailed TCO analysis was made. This is consistent with the results of previous studies that showed that organizations found it difficult to assess the TCO of OpenOffice.org, even after having performed the migration.
End user acceptance- Regular users were found to be rather indifferent with respect to which particular office suite was to be adopted. The concern of deskilling, in which employees are afraid to loose their experience with Microsoft Office (Fitzgerald and Kenny, 2003), did not appear to be present either.
Network effects – management did not see any drivers in the immediate business environment of the FPS Economy to migrate.
Some interesting conclusions could be drawn from this (feel free to chime in if you think I’m off) for school purposes:
In education, probably 99% of users–even secretaries high in the organization–do not use macros in MS Office. As such, conversion and compatibility should become less of an issue based on macros and other high end customization of Word documents. Simply, OpenOffice 3 is that good (hey, I use it every day with work documents just to see and seldom have issues).
On the tools and integration with other vendors, sheesh, we really need to get out of this locked box we’re in that satisfies the financial needs of vendors. How much money is flowing into education then going right back out again to software vendors? Let’s keep that money internally and spend it to improve our education programs rather than throwing it away on externally delivered software.
Total cost of ownership can be tough to calculate but if you aren’t investing money into OpenOffice at purchase–except for training and support–it seems the more saturated an environment becomes with OpenOffice, the easier it will be for end users to get accustomed to it. And anyways, better to spend time worrying about how to INCREASE the amount of hardware in schools so that access is ubiquitous.
David Thornburg shared at a NECC 2008 presentation that kids essentially didn’t care/know what Office suite or computer they were working on; “2/3rds of kids didn’t know they were using Linux at school .” Why don’t we emulate the kids’ on this rather than continue to cling to old security blankets of use and familiarity?
Daylight savings time and open source…both controversial. The adoption of daylight savings time shows our bias for supporting business, while our choice to not embrace free software like OpenOffice our unwillingness to spend money on our children in lieu of business. Is that the right choice?
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Archive for the tag “Randa Two Limited”
Opinion: Before PM Cameron of the UK blames others on Corruption, maybe time to claim blame for the fueling money in UK based tax-havens like the BVI?
“We’ve got some leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain… Nigeria and Afghanistan, possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world,” – David Cameron on the 10th May 2016 at the Anti-Corruption Summit in London, UK
David Cameron, the United Kingdom Prime Minister said the one day that Nigeria and Afghanistan was fantastically corrupt. That might be true. But I will write today, because of the bliss arrogance of the United Kingdom, why trying to play the higher moral background and their own actions that opens up for these activities.
It is easy to shoot at dragons, because they are big and visible, they are flying and looking likes a monster. There is easy to shoot, what is worse is to actually kill, that is why we have legendary tales of knights killings dragons and taking control of them. That is why they have existed in our novels and stories as they are bigger then elephants and more powerful as well, as they could control villages with fire. So with that in mind; when I discuss the matter of Corruption, it is a dragon and it burns as these wealthy companies and world leaders have power to silence people who writes about it or sack the editors behind it.
So the United Kingdom, the British, the luxurious capital of London and Financial Centrum of the City of London is vital in their economy as the accepted rich and wealthy immigrants of oligarchs and daughters of despots are welcomed with open arms as the town and even football clubs like Chelsea Football Club is bought by one of them, Roman Ambramovich who bought Chelsea back in 2003 and after that have spoiled the club with Russian oil money. So the United Kingdom have complained when rich people use questionable funds in their territory, as it was not made by bad deals and trades in Swindon, but in middle of Siberia or anywhere else.
That is why I am bit late to plate, I know, but that PM Cameron, should watch his mouth more closely is that the Panama-papers shows that vast amount of money are going from all around the world to British Tax-Havens, that in the midst of that gives back shillings to his tax-coffers, small the contribution might be, it is still there instead of where the money was earned or moved from in a sophisticated layered Limited Liability Company (LLC) that are based in Nigeria, but have the Headquarters in British Virgin Island (BVI), still the owner is living in Lagos. So the money is funded through the BVI account and the profits ends in the hands of owner; instead of paying proper tax to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)
Like even Zimbabwean Companies like Randa Two Limited and Randa Three Limited are registered in BVI, and that is a country with nonsense economy and where the central government controls it all, even with sky-high inflation and massive corrupt state official; still the BVI have no problem accepting their money.
You have even controversial businessman from Togo, Prasad Motaparti through the company Ballyward Limited who is registered in the BVI, where the money is sent from an address in Lome in Togo through this postbox into the account of the company in the BVI. So surely the money Mr. Motaparti has earned either in Mining or other in Togo is susceptible actions.
When PM Cameron of UK have a problem with the corrupt and embezzlement in Nigeria, as he claims, still his nation under the BVI still accepts for instance the Account under the Goldflow Group Limited with the Stakeholder Manjit Singh Lit. It was a working company from 2009-2011, but it shows the heritage of cash-flow to the BVI with links from Nigeria. One that is current and own partly by one of the greatest companies of Zenith Nominees Limited and Zenith Secretaries Limited that runs a company in the BVI named KENMEAD Investment Company. So these stakeholders hold money in BVI through the KENMEAD Investment Company, which is proof of the connection between UK and Nigerian money.
I could have gone on, I don’t have the tallies or numbers on the connection between the Companies sending money from businesses in countries that are corrupt and transferring them through procedural business-models that securing tax-evasion in the BVI. The BVI is a part of UK, which means under the jurisdiction of PM Cameron, who claims that other leaders are corrupt. That might be true, but he has tool in his pocket where these leaders can unleash their corrupted and embezzle state funds. Therefore that he crassly addresses other leaders, he should walk more careful when he is responsible for a Tax-haven. He has himself even been caught with having funds in company in a Tax-haven. So the “do what I say, not what I do” is an ordinary politician of our time.
So if PM Cameron is serious… and wants to combat corruption he should stop the ability to fund monies through the British Tax-Havens as the companies and rich leaders they use these to secure the money without nearly paying any tax, while securing less funds for the corrupt countries. These leaders have no moral high-ground only greed, so to stop the ability inside British territory would be a serious action as the BVI is used as tool by these rich embezzlement kings and queens, by the ones who are involved in countless graft and acting corrupt. The corruption is activities to secure tenders and mask money from the corporations and state funds. This is then transferred through sophisticated transferred made by Lawyers and into second and third companies who then fuel the money back to the stakeholder without the ordinary tax on the profits of the transactions. So the corrupt are using these shell companies in the BVI.
So as long as Prime Minister David Cameron is in charge he can decide and make the House and Parliament of United Kingdom to amendment of laws and determine to create other kind of practices than the ones that are happening now in BVI. As the BVI is like this:
“The British Virgin Islands are an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom. The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes the islands on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. The Constitution of the Islands was introduced in 1971 and amended in 1979, 1982, 1991, 1994, 2000 and 2007. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the House of Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Military defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom” (BVI.org).
So even if it is self-governing territory, it is still under the United Kingdom; the legislature is the responsibility of the United Kingdom, that falls in the hands of PM Cameron and where he does his day job as elected official and as an Prime Minister, he is the ones together with the other elected representatives makes the laws that are the legislature in the BVI. So if David Cameron have heart and serious about cracking down on corruption then he should start to clean up his own shop. Start with BVI and then the other Tax-Havens! Peace.
Posted in Africa, Business, Civil Service, Corruption, Crime, Development, Economic Measures, Economy, Ethics, Europe, Governance, Government, Law, Leadership, Politics, Tax, Trade and tagged Anti-Corruption Summit, Ballyward Limited, British Islands, British Tax-Havens, British Virgin Island, British Virgin Islands, Buhari, BVI, Central Government, CFC, Chelsea, Chelsea Football Club, City of London, David Cameron, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Financial Centrum, FIRS, General Muhammade Buhari, Goldflow Group Limited, Greed, KENMEAD Investment Company, London, Manjit Singh Lit, Nigeria, Non-Self Governing Territories, Prasad Motaparti, President Buhari, Profits, Randa Three Limited, Randa Two Limited, Rich Expats, Tax, Tax Evation, Tax Haven, Tax-exception, Togo, UK, United Kingdom, Zenith Nominees Limited, Zenith Secretaries Limited, Zimbabwe | Leave a comment
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Gov. Tim Walz
Gov. Walz Unveils Final Part Of $2 Billion Bonding BillRepublicans have made it very clear they want half as much spent on projects as the Governor - about one billion dollars, not two.
Gov. Walz Unveils Final Part Of $2 Billion Bonding Bill ProposalGov. Tim Walz unveiled Wednesday the final part of his $2 billion bonding bill proposal.
Walz Unveils 3rd Pillar Of Bonding Bill Plan With $488M For Higher EducationGov. Tim Walz revealed Monday the fourth pillar of his agenda for the bonding bill, announcing that he wants $488 million for investments in higher education.
Gov. Walz Unveils Local Jobs And Projects Plan, Includes $276M For Affordable HousingMinnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced Thursday his 2020 capital investment proposal, the Local Jobs and Projects Plan, which will include a major investment in affordable housing.
‘Shelters Save Lives’: Gov. Walz, Lt. Gov. Flanagan Announce Winter Homeless InitiativeStressing the dangers of winter cold on the homeless, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan have announced the launch of a winter homeless initiative aimed at bringing Minnesotans without shelter inside.
Minn. Budget Officials Project $1.3 Billion SurplusMinnesota budget officials are projecting a $1.3 billion surplus in the current two-year budget period thanks to an improving economic outlook.
Gov. Tim Walz Signs Executive Order On Climate ChangeMinnesota Gov. Tim Walz says the time of waiting and debating are over, and action on climate change is needed.
Gov. Walz Heads To Fergus Falls For Annual Governor's Deer OpenerGov. Tim Walz heads to Fergus Falls for the 17th annual Governor's Deer Hunting Opener.
Gov. Walz Seeks Agriculture Disaster Declaration For NW MinnesotaMinnesota Gov. Tim Walz has asked U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to declare a disaster for 12 counties of northwestern Minnesota where farmers are having a difficult harvest season.
'Long Overdue': Walz & Flanagan Launch Task Force To End Violence Against Indigenous WomenCalling it "long overdue," Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan have launched the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) Task Force with a ceremonial bill signing Thursday.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Weighs In On Water Gremlin Pollution InvestigationAfter paying $7 million in fines and corrective action as part of a state settlement earlier this year, the company is under fire for more pollution violations. In his first interview on this months-long case, Gov. Walz spoke with our Jennifer Mayerle.
Gov. Walz To Deliver On Promise To Son: He's Getting A PuppyGov. Tim Walz says he’s going to deliver on a campaign promise he made to his son.
Walz Calls For Legislative Hearings On Gun Safety, InsulinGov. Tim Walz says he still wants Senate Republicans to hold hearings on Democratic proposals for gun control and emergency insulin supplies.
State Signs Contract For New Software To Replace Troubled MNLARSAfter millions of dollars' worth of issues and months of backlogs with Minnesota's vehicle title and registration program, lawmakers have signed a contract to provide new software for the DMV.
Gov. Tim Walz Launches Revamped Children's CabinetMinnesota Gov. Tim Walz is putting kids and families at the center of state government by relaunching the Children's Cabinet, which will focus on equity, results and accountability.
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Press Release issued by Embassy of Nepal, Bangkok on Tourism Promotion Program in Phuket
With the slogan of Nepal is Beautiful: Visit, and Enjoy in Nepal, the Embassy of Nepal, Bangkok and the Honorary Consulate of Nepal is Phuket jointly organised a tourism promotion programme in Phuket, a beautiful tourist destination in Thailand, on Monday, 11 July 2016. Non-Resident Nepali Assiciation and Thai-Nepali Association in Phuket greatly helped in the organization of the programme. A large number of travel agents/tour operators, journalists and representatives of Nepali associations, totaling more than 150 persons, participated in the programme. High level Government officials from Phuket, including Vice Governor Dr. Prachiad Aksornthamakul, Deputy Chief of Phuket Judiciary, Commander of Provincial Police Pol. Major General Mr. Teeraphol Thipjaroen, and others also attended the programme.
Hon. Consul of Nepal in Phuket, Ms. Pranee Sakulpipatana, delivered welcome address; H. E. Ambassador Mr. Khaga Nath Adhikari made a key-note presentation and Second Secretary Mr. Ramesh Kumar Charmakar made a detailed power-point presentation about tourism attractions in Nepal. NRNA representative Mr. Prem Danai, and Public Relations Representative of Nepal Tourism Board Mr. Danial Limbupersertkul also addressed the gathering.
The Hon. Consul spoke about tourism attractions in Nepal, including Lumbini, and said that the people of both countries were the true link for the strengthening of Nepal-Thailand relations. She called upon all the participants to visit and/or encourage people to visit Nepal.
H.E Ambassador Mr. Khaga Nath Adhikari thanked the media and tour operators as well as the people of Thailand for their help and initiatives to revive Nepal’s tourism industry after last year’s earthquakes. He mentioned tourism attractions in Nepal including Lumbini, trekking, mountaineering and cultural sites. He opined that cooperation in promoting tourism was in the interest of both countries.
Second Secretary Mr. Ramesh Charmakar, in his detailed presentation, focused of tourism opportunities in Nepal covering nature, culture and adventure. He gave a detailed presentation on natural beauties covering the Himalayas, hills and the Terai region; cultural attractions including temples and monasteries, and arts and culture; and adventurous activities available in Nepal.
The Non-Resident Nepali Association, Phuket Branch had made arrangements for two beautiful Nepali dances. A video about Lumbini was also presented during the programme.
The audience was spell-bound by the presentations and performances. The programme is believed to have greatly contributed to publicising Nepal around the area, and thus contributing to promote culture understanding and Nepal’s tourism.
In the morning of 11 July, H. E. the Ambassador also met the Governor of Phuket and talked about matters of mutual interest. He specifically thanked the Governor for Phuket Administration’s help and support for Nepalese people in the province, and requested him for the same in the days ahead, too.
CategoriesMission Activities, News
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Induction and add-on therapy with Mitoxantrone and Interferon beta in multiple sclerosis
Mauro Zaffaroni, Annalisa Rizzo, Silvana Maria Baldini, Angelo Ghezzi, Giancarlo Comi
IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele
We retrospectively analyzed data from 70 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with mitoxantrone (MX) before Interferon-β (IFN-β) because of clinically and MRI very active isolated syndrome (CIS) or relapsing-remitting MS (induction therapy) or due to breakthrough/persistently active disease in spite of IFN-β (add-on/ combination therapy), or for increased disability suggesting a secondary progression (rescue therapy). After almost 2-year follow-up, relapse rate and disability decreased very significantly in the two former groups while MX was essentially ineffective as rescue therapy. Induction therapy is a valid option for very aggressive/active CIS and MS at onset.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-008-0946-x
Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis
Combination therapy
Induction therapy
Interferon beta
Rescue therapy
Zaffaroni, M., Rizzo, A., Baldini, S. M., Ghezzi, A., & Comi, G. (2008). Induction and add-on therapy with Mitoxantrone and Interferon beta in multiple sclerosis. Neurological Sciences, 29(SUPPL. 2). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-008-0946-x
Induction and add-on therapy with Mitoxantrone and Interferon beta in multiple sclerosis. / Zaffaroni, Mauro; Rizzo, Annalisa; Baldini, Silvana Maria; Ghezzi, Angelo; Comi, Giancarlo.
Zaffaroni, M, Rizzo, A, Baldini, SM, Ghezzi, A & Comi, G 2008, 'Induction and add-on therapy with Mitoxantrone and Interferon beta in multiple sclerosis', Neurological Sciences, vol. 29, no. SUPPL. 2. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-008-0946-x
Zaffaroni M, Rizzo A, Baldini SM, Ghezzi A, Comi G. Induction and add-on therapy with Mitoxantrone and Interferon beta in multiple sclerosis. Neurological Sciences. 2008 Sep;29(SUPPL. 2). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-008-0946-x
Zaffaroni, Mauro ; Rizzo, Annalisa ; Baldini, Silvana Maria ; Ghezzi, Angelo ; Comi, Giancarlo. / Induction and add-on therapy with Mitoxantrone and Interferon beta in multiple sclerosis. In: Neurological Sciences. 2008 ; Vol. 29, No. SUPPL. 2.
@article{82e3cc7649f847e283a254b16e48a6ec,
title = "Induction and add-on therapy with Mitoxantrone and Interferon beta in multiple sclerosis",
abstract = "We retrospectively analyzed data from 70 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with mitoxantrone (MX) before Interferon-β (IFN-β) because of clinically and MRI very active isolated syndrome (CIS) or relapsing-remitting MS (induction therapy) or due to breakthrough/persistently active disease in spite of IFN-β (add-on/ combination therapy), or for increased disability suggesting a secondary progression (rescue therapy). After almost 2-year follow-up, relapse rate and disability decreased very significantly in the two former groups while MX was essentially ineffective as rescue therapy. Induction therapy is a valid option for very aggressive/active CIS and MS at onset.",
keywords = "Combination therapy, Glatiramer acetate, Induction therapy, Interferon beta, Mitoxantrone, Rescue therapy",
author = "Mauro Zaffaroni and Annalisa Rizzo and Baldini, {Silvana Maria} and Angelo Ghezzi and Giancarlo Comi",
doi = "10.1007/s10072-008-0946-x",
T1 - Induction and add-on therapy with Mitoxantrone and Interferon beta in multiple sclerosis
AU - Zaffaroni, Mauro
AU - Rizzo, Annalisa
AU - Baldini, Silvana Maria
AU - Ghezzi, Angelo
AU - Comi, Giancarlo
N2 - We retrospectively analyzed data from 70 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with mitoxantrone (MX) before Interferon-β (IFN-β) because of clinically and MRI very active isolated syndrome (CIS) or relapsing-remitting MS (induction therapy) or due to breakthrough/persistently active disease in spite of IFN-β (add-on/ combination therapy), or for increased disability suggesting a secondary progression (rescue therapy). After almost 2-year follow-up, relapse rate and disability decreased very significantly in the two former groups while MX was essentially ineffective as rescue therapy. Induction therapy is a valid option for very aggressive/active CIS and MS at onset.
AB - We retrospectively analyzed data from 70 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with mitoxantrone (MX) before Interferon-β (IFN-β) because of clinically and MRI very active isolated syndrome (CIS) or relapsing-remitting MS (induction therapy) or due to breakthrough/persistently active disease in spite of IFN-β (add-on/ combination therapy), or for increased disability suggesting a secondary progression (rescue therapy). After almost 2-year follow-up, relapse rate and disability decreased very significantly in the two former groups while MX was essentially ineffective as rescue therapy. Induction therapy is a valid option for very aggressive/active CIS and MS at onset.
KW - Combination therapy
KW - Glatiramer acetate
KW - Induction therapy
KW - Interferon beta
KW - Mitoxantrone
KW - Rescue therapy
U2 - 10.1007/s10072-008-0946-x
DO - 10.1007/s10072-008-0946-x
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Source: The Telegraph
Author: Colin Gleadell
Charles Saatchi launches ‘playful and mysterious’ new art show
It will be fun to see how many winners Charles Saatchi has backed out of 17 artists in his new exhibition, New Order: British Art Today.
Rambunctious: Charlie Billingham’s 'A Voluptuary', part of Charles Saatchi's New Order: British Art Today exhibition
Just as we are all mulling over the impact that Margaret Thatcher had on Britain, Charles Saatchi, whose name is indelibly linked with her election campaign slogans, is launching a new exhibition under a banner that sounds like a political trumpet call in itself: New Order: British Art Today.
Bold as it sounds, though, it’s hard to find any order or cohesion among the 17 artists selected. Is it that most were born in the Eighties and so could qualify as Thatcher’s children? Or that, although all of them live and work in Britain, they also represent this country’s multiculturalism, coming from as far afield as Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia, France, Spain, and Israel, as well as from all corners of Britain?
In his catalogue introduction, the art critic Ben Street struggles to put his finger on something: “If there’s any collective spirit, it’s perhaps their interest in dismantling and estranging the received imagery with which we’re increasingly surrounded.” Perhaps, then, chaos is the new order.
Compared with the Russian art downstairs at the Saatchi gallery, which is thick with emotive political content, New Order on the top floor, at times sinister and obsessive, is more playful and mysterious. The only direct reference to Thatcher is a series of photographs by Dominic from Luton (his working name) in which the artist dresses in drag as Lady Thatcher in a wheelchair careering around a run-down council block.
Since Saatchi opened his magnificent Chelsea gallery in 2008, he has tried to attract global attention by devoting space, and considerable funds, to new art from China, India, the Middle East, America, Germany and Russia.
Squeezed into the programme in 2010 was Newspeak: British Art Now (note the constant repetition of “new” in the exhibition titles), and now it’s time to visit British art again – post 2010. For this, there has been no vanity publication as of old, but a pocket-sized, economically produced catalogue – a symbol of hard times.
As usual, Saatchi has shopped about. From the Bloomberg New Contemporaries show is a Hitchcock- style video of vultures descending on a table laid out for a dinner party in the desert leaving nothing but bones and upturned chairs in their wake. At the Royal Academy Schools he bought out an exhibition of big rambunctious paintings by Scottish student Charlie Billingham that were inspired by small 18th-century caricatures. Most cost no more than £1,000 each.
Four of the artists came to his attention though the nationwide New Sensation competition for art students run by the Saatchi Gallery Online together with Channel 4 television. From the companion event, The Future Can Wait managed by dealer Zavier Ellis come eerily truncated mannequin figures armed with elongated needles by Wendy Mayer. “Saatchi is still the collector young artists want to show with,” says Ellis, despite the risk of failure when Saatchi inevitably re-offers the work for sale.
Top of the gallery supplier list is Hannah Barry, a young gallerist who has three artists in the show. Self-confessed computer addict and compulsive rapper Nathan Cash Davidson makes paintings inspired by the Old Masters with strangely random titles. Sculptor James Capper, indulging his fascination with industrial machinery (example illustrated), is perhaps the most successful to date, fresh from exhibitions at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the Armory Show in New York. James Balmforth plays with ideas of dysfunction and impotency with sculptures of a one-winged griffin and a soft bladed dagger. All three have worked with Barry since establishing a studio practise in run down Peckham seven years ago with a handful of other artists. In 2009, they famously hijacked the Venice Biennale with their own Peckham Pavilion in a manner reminiscent of Damien Hirst and the YBA’s in their Thatcherite heyday.
New Order, which opens on April 26, is promoted as “a chance to discover new artists of particular merit and promise”, and some will undoubtedly be taken up by the market. From Newspeak, Hurvin Anderson was already a hit after Saatchi missed buying at his gallery and had to bid high at auction.
Ged Quinn and Jonathan Wateridge became saleroom sensations later. I doubt whether the opinions of the critics had as much to do with this as the behind-the-scenes support of successful artists (Peter Doig for Anderson, Dinos Chapman for Quinn) and influential collectors (François Pinault for Wateridge).
The real opinion-formers are still to play their cards with this latest crop of artists, but part of the fun in the next year or two will be to see how many winners Saatchi has backed.
New Order: British Art Today is on at the Saatchi Gallery from April 26 – June 9.
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Moto3 Final Regulations Announced - The Complexities Of Enforcing Cheap Racing
Submitted by David Emmett on Thu, 2011-10-06 17:45
With just over a month to go until the Moto3 class replaces the 125cc two-strokes, the Grand Prix Commission has finalized the technical regulations governing the Moto3 class - with one or two relatively minor exceptions.
The rules (reproduced in their entirety below) reaffirm that the Moto3 machines must be a prototype chassis containing a 250cc normally-aspirated four-stroke single, with a maximum bore of 81mm, a spec Dell'Orto ECU, a rev limit of 14,000 rpm, and with no variable valve timing or variable inlet or exhaust tract length, including the use of EXUP-style valves in the exhaust. Throttles must be cable-operated directly by the rider, with no electronics to assist with throttle butterfly opening, though electronic assistance is allowed for helping with engine braking. Only standard gearboxes will be allowed (i.e. no seamless shift systems), and only two ratios per gear are allowed, to be selected at the start of the season.
Most of the detail of the regulations, however, have to do with the cost of the engines. As had been previously announced, a whole raft of rules have been introduced to ensure that engine costs will not spiral out of control. The most prominent of those is a price control, the rules stipulating that an engine (defined as the engine, one complete gearbox, and the throttle bodies and intake system) may cost a maximum of 12,000 euros, and manufacturers have to be prepared to sell engines to a minimum of 15 riders in a season. Manufacturers must submit a price list of spares for the engines, and the cost of all the spares needed to build a single engine must not exceed the price of a complete engine.
The rules also contain explicit constraints on both manufacturer and aftermarket tuning kits: though such kits and parts are allowed, they will only be given approval if the individual parts cost the same as the parts from the same engine. It will not be possible for manufacturers to offer a 12,000 euro engine and a 100,000 performance kit, as many had feared would be the case. Nor will it be possible for aftermarkets part makers to sell tuning kits at exorbitant prices. If a standard camshaft for a Honda NSF250R costs 500 euros, then anyone producing an improved version of the camshaft must sell that at 500 euros as well. Replacement crankcases, cylinders or cylinder heads are explicitly not allowed, and only stock items will be permitted.
The only exception to the parts list is the slipper clutch. Aftermarket slipper clutch systems are allowed, and they are allowed to cost twice as much as the standard system. But they, too, must be submitted for approval first, and like the engines any parts - both from the manufacturers and from the aftermarkets parts suppliers - the producers must be prepared to supply identical parts to 15 riders during the season. When parts are available, they must be made available to everyone who wants them at the same time, meaning no team will be able to negotiate special treatment and early access to upgraded parts.
Though tuning kits are subject to keen restrictions, the teams themselves may attempt to tune the engines. Though parts may only be replaced by other approved parts, the rules allow for engine internals to be modified by machining, meaning that parts may be lightened, and intake and outtake ports may be polished or port-flowed.
As in Moto2 and MotoGP, restrictions have been introduced on engine use. All engines will be sealed by MotoGP's technical inspector, with a maximum of 8 engines allowed per rider for a season. In effect, each engine must last for 2 races, with one engine required to do a little more mileage to complete the last of the 17 rounds which Moto3 will compete in next year.
One of the most significant additions is the introduction of a claiming rule, allowing any team to claim the engine of another team for 12,000 euros. The rule is similar to one introduced into MotoGP for the Claiming Rule Teams, and like that rule, the details remain to be worked out completely. The fact that the details have not yet been worked out could be an omen of trouble to come, with the claiming rule in MotoGP still causing problems between the teams and the factories, though the claiming price is much easier to determine for the Moto3 teams.
What is clear from the above is the lengths to which the Grand Prix Commission - or more specifically, Dorna and IRTA, as the two parties most directly involved - have gone to ensure that costs can be kept down in the new class. The restrictions on tuning kits from both the manufacturers and third party aftermarket suppliers were one area of particular concern, with many paddock insiders seeing this as a way of circumventing the engine cost rules. The only tuning option left open is work done by the team itself. Teams without an expert in four-stroke engine preparation my feel forced to go out and hire one, or at least send their engines to specialist tuners to have the engines ported and flowed.
Though the Moto3 rules may make the new class cheaper to enter, it would be foolish to expect that being competitive in the new class will be much cheaper than the 125cc class is currently. There are no restrictions on cost of the chassis, with teams free to spend as much as they wish there. The Moto2 class provides a prime example of how that works, with the class being led by Marc Marquez and the Catalunya Caixa team. The resources being poured into Marquez' team are not far off the amount required to run a satellite MotoGP team, and probably in the region of three times what the mid-pack teams are spending.
So it will be a safe bet that the Aspar, BQR and Ajo teams will be dominating the Moto3 class in the same way they have dominated the 125 classes. The top teams will be able to attract the top talent, afford the best all-round bike package and employ the best mechanics and crew chiefs to run the bikes. They will be able to afford the most testing, the best engine tuners to get the most out of the engines, and the best electronics people to produce the best software maps and traction control strategies (the spec Dell'Orto ECU allows traction control, though only in limited form). The best riders will be on the best bikes, with the best setup, and the most rideable engines.
Of course, only needing to spend 12,000 euros on engines will free up a huge amount of cash to spend elsewhere, and riders, crew chiefs, electronics gurus and mechanics can look forward to pay rises as the market value of their skills rise due to engine costs being limited. Cost cutting in racing remains an illusion, with teams prepared to spend as much money as they can persuade their sponsors to give them. The teams will always manage to find somewhere to spend money, and the most successful teams will continue to be the richest.
Below is the official press release announcing the Moto3 regulations from the FIM:
FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix
Decision of the Grand Prix Commission
The Grand Prix Commission, composed of Messrs. Carmelo Ezpeleta (Dorna, Chairman), Ignacio Verneda (FIM Executive Director, Sport), Hervé Poncharal (IRTA) and Takanao Tsubouchi (MSMA), in the presence of Javier Alonso (Dorna) and M. Paul Butler (Secretary of the meeting), in a meeting held on 02 in Motegi (Japan), unanimously decided the following:
Moto3 Class
1. Engine
1.1 4-stroke reciprocating piston engines only.
1.2 Engine capacity: maximum 250cc.
1.3 Single cylinder only.
1.4 Maximum bore size: 81mm. Oval pistons are not permitted (refer to Art. 2.3.1 of the FIM Grand Prix Regulations).
1.5 Engines must be normally aspirated. No turbo-charging, no super-charging.
1.6 Crankshaft speed limited to maximum: 14,000 rpm.*
1.7 Maximum of 1 ignition driver.*
1.8 Pneumatic and/or hydraulic valve systems are not permitted.
1.9 Valve timing system drive must be by one chain. An intermediate drive gear which rotates on only one axle or rotation centre is allowed in the system (refer to ANNEX1 for some examples of permitted systems).
1.10 Variable valve timing and/or variable valve lift systems are not permitted.
Engine Supply
1.11 The engine is defined as the complete engine including intake system (throttle body, injectors), and one complete transmission.
1.12 The maximum price of the engine must not exceed 12,000 Euros. No optional parts or service contracts may be used to circumvent this price limit.
a) If the engine is sold as a base unit plus a “tuning kit” then the total price of original engine & kit must not be more than 12,000 Euros. The base unit manufacturer is considered as the engine manufacturer.
b) In order to ensure this price limit, any Team competing in the race will be granted the right to buy the engine used in the race from another Team, at the end of the race for a fixed price of 12,000 Euros (details TBA).
1.13 Each engine manufacturer must undertake to supply sufficient engines and spare parts to supply 15 riders per season, if requested, and is responsible that the same amount of tuning kits (if any, see 1.12) are available, regardless where the tuning kit comes from.
a) For a manufacturer entering the Moto3 championship for the first time, the minimum engine supply requirement will be 8 riders during that first season only.
b) The minimum supply number may be comprised of complete motorcycles or separate engines. Manufacturers supplying complete motorcycles must allow their customers to also purchase spare complete engines and parts as necessary to complete the season.
c) Engine supply requests which comply with the manufacturer’s requirements for payment and terms, will be noted in chronological order to determine the first officially accepted requests up to the minimum requirement.
d) This minimum supply applies to each separate engine specification (according to Art. 1.16) offered by the manufacturer.
1.14 Each engine manufacturer must submit a price and lead-time list of all the parts of the engine as defined in 1.11 and 1.12 (which are considered the “stock” parts) for the season for approval by the Organiser and may not charge more than these published prices. Approval is based on the prices and lead-times being in line with current market norms for these parts and technologies.
a) In case the engine is sold as a base unit plus a tuning kit (see 1.12.a) then all the parts of the tuning kit must be included in the above mentioned list, and the parts they replace (if any) will not be listed. Therefore this “stock parts” list will be comprised of either the standard part or any kit part which replaces the standard part. No different options for the same parts are allowed in the list, except for the transmission parts (see 4.2.).
b) This list must include the price and lead-time of one complete engine, and also a sum total of all parts required to build one complete engine.
c) The following may also be included in the price list:
i. A complete engine minus throttle body.
ii. Engine maintenance procedures (ie. parts & labour), provided parts and labour charges are clearly itemised.
d) Lead-time of complete engines is maximum of 4 calendar months regardless of quantity. Lead-time starts from the official order receipt [see 1.13], or the completion date of the engine entry procedure [see1.16], whichever is the later.
e) Updates to the list are permitted at any time, always subject to approval by the Organiser.
f) Engine parts not included in the stock parts list (so-called “aftermarket parts”) from third-party suppliers can be used under the following conditions:
- The engine manufacturer is not involved in any way in the design, production and/or sale of such parts.
- The parts are available to at least the same number of riders as in 1.13.
- A price and lead-times list of such parts is submitted to the Organiser for publishing, where the lead-times and the prices are the same as the stock parts. An exception is made for a Slipper Clutch (back-torque limiter clutch) assembly that can be priced as much as double the cost of the stock assembly, if the original is of the conventional “non-slipper” type.
- The stock crankcase, cylinder, and cylinder head may not be replaced by aftermarket items.
- Updates to the published parts list are permitted at any time, always subject to approval by the Organiser.
- Any part that can be obtained by simple machining of a stock part (e.g. polishing/porting/lightening), and generic ancillaries not specialised to the specific engine design (such as bolts, fasteners, filters) are not considered as aftermarket parts, and so no conditions apply.
1.15 In the event of engine updates or upgraded parts being developed, these must be made available to all customers at the same time, and respecting the price limits described in Art. 1.14.
Initial Mapping and Set Up Procedure
1.16 The official ECU start-up procedure is to ensure manufacturers will be supplied with the official ECU with an initial map to suit their engine in time for the first official Moto3 tests. The initial map is intended for safe and trouble-free engine function, and not maximum performance. Performance mapping is the responsibility of the engine manufacturer or the Team.
For an engine to be eligible for the Moto3 class, one of the following two options for the ECU start-up procedure must be followed:
1. Manufacturers will be guaranteed supply of the official ECU with initial maps to suit their engine in time for the first official Moto3 tests provided that, by October 15th of the preceeding year:
a) the Moto3 Engine Manufacturer Entry Form is completed and submitted to the organisers (see ANNEX 3),
b) two complete and working engines (including throttle body, idle bypass actuator, transmission, sensors, spark plugs, complete wiring harness with ECU connector) and one complete airbox, cooling system, and exhaust are delivered to the organisers for mapping tests (engines will be returned in January of the following year at the latest),
c) a deposit of 10,000 Euros is lodged with the organisers.
2. Manufacturers can make an agreement with the ECU supplier to carry out their own initial mapping, with the following conditions:
a) the Moto3 Engine Manufacturer Entry Form is completed and submitted to the organisers (see ANNEX 3).
b) the ECU will be delivered to the manufacturer in the first instance only by the ECU supplier, and the ECU supplier representative must be present to initiate setup of the mapping process.
c) the organisers and the ECU supplier provide no guarantee of any completion date for the mapping process.
d) there is no set deadline for this second option, but option 1 takes precedence and requests for option 2 made before Oct. 15th, 2011 will be processed at a time determined by the ECU supplier.
2. Inlet, Fuel System & Lubricant
2.1 Variable-length inlet tract systems are not permitted.
2.2 Only one throttle control valve is permitted to control the power demand by the rider, which must be controlled exclusively by mechanical means (eg. cable) operated by the rider only. No other powered moving devices (except injectors and the idle control air bypass) are permitted in the inlet tract before the engine intake valve. No interruption of the mechanical connection between the rider’s input and the throttle is allowed.
Idle speed (including engine braking) adjustment by means of an air bypass system, controlled by the ECU is allowed (see also 5.4).* The maximum size of such air bypass is 12mm equivalent diameter, control systems may include a butterfly-type control valve.
2.3 Fuel injectors must be located upstream of the engine intake valves.
2.4 Maximum of 2 fuel injectors and 2 independent fuel injector drivers.*
2.5 Relative fuel pressure must not exceed 5.0 bar.
2.6 Other than engine sump breather gases, only air or air/fuel mixture is permitted in the inlet tract and combustion chamber.
2.7 Only fuel from the official supplier may be used, which must comply with the FIM “Moto3” specification (TBA).
2.8 Only engine lubricating oil from the official supplier may be used (specifications TBA).
3. Exhaust system
3.1 Variable length exhaust systems are not permitted.
3.2 No moving parts (e.g. valves, baffles) are allowed in the exhaust system.
3.3 Noise tests will be according to Article 2.14 of the FIM Grand Prix Regulations. Test rpm: 5,500. Maximum permitted noise level: 115 dB/A.
4. Transmission
4.1 A maximum of 6 gearbox speeds is permitted.
4.2 A maximum of 2 possible gear ratios for each gearbox speed, and 2 possible ratios for the primary drive gear is permitted. Teams will be required to declare the two gearbox ratios chosen for each gear at the beginning of the season, and only these ratios may be used during the entire season.
The alternate gearbox ratios and primary gears must have the same list price and lead-times as the original supplied gearbox (see Art. 1.11 to 1.15).
4.3 Gearbox systems must be of the conventional type. That is: constant-mesh with engagement dogs as an integral part of the gear, actuated by shift forks and shift cam or drum, with only one set of gears engaging at one time. So-called “seamless shift” transmissions (also known as Automated Manual Transmission, Instantaneous Gearchange System) are not permitted.
4.4 Electro-mechanical or electro-hydraulic clutch actuating systems are not permitted.
5. Ignition, Electronics & Data-Logging
5.1 a) Only the ignition/fuel injection control units (ECU) approved by the series Organiser are allowed. This ECU must remain unmodified in hardware and software, as delivered by the Organiser.
b) During Moto3 race events only the official “Race” version of ECU software supplied by the ECU manufacturer may be used to write to (flash) the ECU. The only permitted changes are the setting (tuning) options included in this software.
c) The Technical Director may require the team to change the ECU on any machine for another standard one at any time.
5.2 This official ECU will include an engine rpm limiter.
5.3 This official ECU will include an inboard data logger, and no other additional data loggers may be used.
The datalogger download connector must be of the standard type as detailed in Annex 5 (see Compulsory engine management features).
Data analysis software is not controlled.
5.4 Recommended engine management and electronics features:
- dashboard: Dell’Orto part # 16001, see ANNEX 4,
- idle speed control stepper motor (ref. 2.2): Dell’Orto part # 17258, see ANNEX 4,
- UEGO (O2) sensor: Bosch LSU 4.9,
- Knock sensor: Bosch or NGK piezo-ceramic
- two timing options:
1. only crankshaft pickup: the crankshaft timing pattern being the “n-2” type, where “n” can be from 12 to 30 (for optimum performance it is advised that the first tooth “after” the missing ones is corresponding to the top dead centre), or
2. crankshaft and camshaft pickups: the crankshaft timing wheel having from 12 to 30 teeth and the camshaft timing pattern being 1 single tooth.
The above mentioned features are guaranteed to work properly, different choices and the relevant development costs and timings must be agreed separately with the ECU manufacturer.
5.5 Compulsory engine management features:
- ignition must be of the inductive type, the maximum ignition coil current must be less than 30A,
- the throttle position sensor voltage output must be 0-5V,
- the crankshaft pickup sensor must be of the inductive type, voltage at 300rpm must be at least 0,8V and maximum voltage must be less than 100V,
- the camshaft pickup sensor, if any (see timing option no. 2 in 5.4), must be of the Hall-effect type, “0” voltage must be less than 0,5V, “1” voltage must be 4,5±0,5V,
- a battery is compulsory; proper engine management function is ensured only when the battery voltage is in the 8÷18V range.
- the datalogger download connector on the harness must be of the Lemo PEN.1F.308.XLM type, connected as detailed in Annex 5.
* All the parameters identified by this symbol are set/controlled via the above mentioned ECU.
Refer to ANNEX 2 & 2A in the appendix for ECU dimensions, connector and pinout.
6. Chassis
6.1 Chassis must be a prototype, the design and construction of which is free within the constraints of the FIM Grand Prix Technical Regulations.
6.2 Minimum total weight of Motorcycle + Rider: 148kg
6.3 Brake discs must be made from ferrous materials.
6.4 Suspension systems must be of a conventional, mechanical type. Active and semi-active suspension systems and/or electronic control of any aspect of the suspension and ride height is not permitted. Springing must be by means of coil springs made of ferrous materials.
6.5 Referring to Article 2.7.7.9 of the FIM Grand Prix Regulations, the lower fairing minimum capacity to retain spilled engine fluids is 2.5 litres for Moto3.
7. Wheels & Tyres
7.1 The materials permitted for wheel construction are Magnesium and Aluminium alloys.
7.2 The only permitted wheel rim sizes are:
Front, 2.50” x 17”
Rear, 3.50” x 17”
7.3 The number and specification of tyres allocated to each rider per event will be controlled.
7.4 Only tyres from the official supplier may be used.
8. Materials & Construction
8.1 Construction materials must comply with Article 2.7.10 of the FIM Grand Prix Regulations.
8.2 Camshafts, crankshafts, piston pins must be made from ferrous materials. Inserts of a different material are allowed in the crankshaft for the sole purpose of balancing.
8.3 Engine crankcases, cylinder blocks and cylinder heads must be made from cast aluminium alloys.
8.4 Pistons must be made from an aluminium alloy.
8.5 Connecting rods, valves and valve springs must be made from either ferrous or Titanium-based alloys.
8.6 Definitions:
“X-based alloy” or “X materials” means the element X (e.g. Fe, for ferrous or iron-based alloy) must be the most abundant element in the alloy, on a % w/w basis.
9.1 Number of machines: the team can present only one motorcycle per rider for technical control. Replacement motorcycles may only be used subject to Article 1.15.3 of the FIM Grand Prix Regulations
9.2 Number of engines: a maximum of 8 engines per rider may be used during all Grand Prix race events comprising the season. A rebuilt engine will be counted as a new engine (see Art. 9.4).
9.3 Teams will be required to register engines at Technical Control on the day before the first practice at each event. Such registered engines will be sealed and seals may not be removed except under supervision of the Technical Director and staff. Only sealed and registered engines may be used on track at Grand Prix race events. An engine presented for Technical Control or used on track without intact security seals will be counted as a new engine.
9.4 1) Engine seals: The engines will be sealed by means of wiring and identification tabs and/or other systems, so that major components (including but not limited to: crankshaft and it’s bearings, conrod and it’s bearings, piston, piston rings and piston pin, valves and their springs, camshafts) can not be replaced. Sealing positions must be approved by the Technical Director so that:
a) the timing system is accessible for the sole purpose of adjusting the valve clearance (e.g. the cylinder head cover/cam cover can be removed from the cylinder head), but valve shims must be the only parts that can be replaced (or valve clearance adjusters can be reached) without breaking the security seals. If the engine design does not allow such adjustments without removing security seals, then valve shims cannot be replaced (e.g. it must not be possible to remove camshafts and rocker arms, if any, without breaking the seals).
b) the cylinder head and the cylinder (if any) cannot be removed from the engine (e.g. the cylinder head is wired to the cylinder and the cylinder is wired to the engine crankcase),
c) the crankcase cannot be opened (e.g. the crankcase halves are wired together).
2) All parts that are accessible without removing the security seals may be replaced. Breaking or removing the security seals or wiring without supervision by the Technical Director or staff will be deemed to be “engine rebuilding” and engines with broken, tampered with or missing security seals will be treated as a new engine in the allocation.
3) As an exception to the above, it will be possible for the 2012 season to break the seals if the following conditions apply:
a) under supervision of the Technical Director and staff (details TBA),
b) with the sole purpose of:
I. changing the gearbox ratios (see Art. 4.2), on an engine design where seals need to be broken for internal gearbox access.
II. replacing the timing chain, on an engine design where seals need to be broken to access the timing chain.
c) operations b) I and b) II may be performed once per race event per rider at a time and place determined by the Technical Director (details TBA), i.e. the operations mentioned in b) I. and b) II. must be performed at the same time, if both are required.
d) at the sole discretion of the Technical Director the supervised work periods may be used to inspect, clean and repair damage to sealed engine parts caused solely by a crash. The only parts that may be replaced during such supervised repairs are non-moving items (eg. covers, cases and related seals), exhibiting crash damage as determined by the Technical Director.
9.5 Apart from the above regulations, all other construction criteria, dimensions and specifications are as per the FIM Grand Prix Regulations.
http://www.fim-live.com/fileadmin/alfresco/Grand_Prix_Commission,_02_Oct...
DaveMinella replied on Thu, 2011-10-06 18:11
Wasn't it right about this time two years ago that the two-stroke purists (myself included) were up in arms about the passing of the smoker era? Then, just a few months later, the groans about the lack of performance of the new Moto2 600cc machines (even slower than - gasp - supersport bikes).
What a travesty it has become.
It didn't pan out exactly as predicted, did it? We've been blessed with some of the most exciting on-track action we've seen from any support class in recent years. Although it hasn't turned into a very reliable predictor of future MotoGP success, it has boosted the grid numbers and allowed for an influx of bold and interesting chassis designers. I think Moto3 will have a similar effect.
Now, I'll admit that I whined about the switch from 500s to 990s, and then to 800s, and then to control tires, and then to Moto2. And now I'll join the chorus lamenting the end of the two-stroke era - most likely forever - but I still look eagerly towards the future of grand prix motorcycle racing with an excitement of what's to come.
Very exciting times ahead!
Ren-jr. replied on Thu, 2011-10-06 19:01
As usual, excellent work David. Though I must say I disagree with the richest teams always being guaranteed winning. I believe the rules outlined above give anyone with serious intent a fighting chance in this new class. Though chassis costs aren't controlled, 99% of teams are bound to go with the tried and true alloy twin-spar and Öhlins all around. Brembo brakes and OZ or Marchesini wheels too. I don't expect (though certainly hope) any hub-centered steering or radical suspension and chassis systems to appear. This new class should be the perfect proving ground for them though.
I'm waiting for Moto2 to have a set of rules like this! Set the max engine costs at $20,000 then give them a spec ECU and well defined engine design restrictions then see what happens
Occupy Pit Lane
rumerz.com replied on Thu, 2011-10-06 20:47
Perhaps we should protest against the wealthy in racing on behalf of the poor?
коля1982 replied on Thu, 2011-10-06 23:29
Well this is one way to get Nico Terol out of the 125cc class!
Pandabater replied on Fri, 2011-10-07 02:07
So when Moto2 teams can build their own engines there will be 3 completely different engines for the 3 classes. Who comes up with this foolishness? No manufacturer is going to design, engineer, prototype & test 3 different engines. I am completely happy for someone to tell me I am wrong but why not have 1000/4 or 750/3 (MotoGP), 500/2 (Moto2) & 250/1 (Moto3) for the 3 classes. Same cylinder, just more or less of them, 1 design & development cost. Worked in 2-stroke so why not 4-stroke?
Well, let's see: -MotoGP, 4
GrahamB29 replied on Fri, 2011-10-07 08:18
Well, let's see:
-MotoGP, 4 cylinders, 250cc each, 81mm bore, 5 bar fuel pressure limit.
-Moto3, 1 cylinder, 250cc, 81mm bore, 5 bar fuel pressure limit.
Oh, but btw, 2 stroke cylinders are almost completely independent. 4 strokes benefit from combined exhaust...
Pandabater replied on Sat, 2011-10-08 00:34
If you ask any engine manufacturer they will tell you that designing the cylinder is where all of the cost is & any change will require a redesign. The Moto3 motor will have different valve train & actuation, different induction & exhaust systems, different electronics so there will not be any crossover between classes. If people are happy with a hotted up MX motor being the power for a supposed prototype world championship then I'll be quiet.
While some teams will try, it seems unlikely to me that a guy with a porting tool is going to do a better job than the company who designed the engine, used an expensive gas-flow simulation program and then cut the optimised design with a CNC machine. Still, I guess they needed to leave teams the option of spending too much money somewhere (including buying new heads when it doesn't work).
Production tolerances
torque_monster replied on Fri, 2011-10-07 09:51
It really depends on how careful the manufacturer has been when producing the engines. Plus the porting can be matched to the characteristics of the FI and exhaust system chosen.
Of course, I completely agree that for the number of engines likely to be produced, it really should be pretty damned close to blue-printed, so there shouldn't be much to gain. However 'not much' could be the difference between a win and a podium.
Location of development
Stinkwheel replied on Fri, 2011-10-07 14:00
I think the motors from the factory should be crate sealed and held by race control until needed. The arguments that will arise from cheating will mar this adventure if the location of developments is not localized to either a producer or consumer. Aftermarket bits are great, but leave that to production bikes. There should be no modification of the engine package at all. Job done, 'no' cheating, the goals of cheap racing are resolved, the goals of engine competition are resolved (between producers, differentiating from Moto2) and teams get to develop riders, build chassis' and gather crews that put those two aspects together.
Smart people arn't always working for the factory.
tack replied on Fri, 2011-10-07 11:11
There are plenty of examples where smart people have taken the original engine design and thru a process of development and experimentation have improved horsepower etc. For example, The Mazda factory in Japan bought rotary engines built by Australian engine builders to find out how they were producing more power than their factory team engines.
Ofcourse, if you go to some bloke with a die grinder then you deserve what you get.
claiming rule?
andreamarco replied on Fri, 2011-10-07 16:17
what i do not understand is how can there be a limited amount of allowed engines per year and a claiming rule at the same time? so what would a team do if another one just buys away all of their engines after the first 8 races??
Same as in MotoGP
You are allowed an additional engine if it's bought. Though this could be manipulated by teams/factories, as David wrote about before, I think the latest claiming rules eliminate the loophole. Or no?
The emporer's new clothes, again.
Painless replied on Sat, 2011-10-08 01:34
Oh no I can't enter my 1974 250 Ducati road bike engine, it is too exotic with that gear driven camshaft. Just like in MotoGP where you cannot enter a Desmosedici road bike engine, bore size is too big for the "prototype" class. How about we just have side valve engines? You can't have gear driven cams but you can have data loggers and all the employees to go with it. Want to cut costs? How about a rule that says there are a maximum of three people allowed in the team, including the rider. Banning gear driven cams, what a joke! Claiming rules for engines that cost peanuts and hordes of staff allowed that cost a fortune. Words fail me!
GrahamB29 replied on Sat, 2011-10-08 15:57
You can't run a 2-stroke either. So what? You can't run an 1100cc motor of a V6 in motogp... so what?
The rules are announced, people get to build according to the rules. Let's just hope they stay constant for a while.
Here's a radical idea: in a few years, a data guy won't be someone you hire in, he or she will be at the core of the team, ideally the crew chief. The crew chief is, after all, supposed to be the brains of the operation, who prioritises tasks and decides on the direction of changes. It seem to me that it would be best if that person is able to interpret the data himself, rather than getting a reduced version of it via "the data guy".
Moreover, tomorrow's crew chiefs are working their way up through the teams now. The guys who are currently programming and analysing the data are in a position to have a much better over-view of how a bike works and how it and the rider respond to changes, than a guy whose expertise is in torquing big-end bearings.
If the brains of the operation is not up to learning to read data, that team is not going to be competitive with one with a smarter chief. And it doesn't deserve to be.
Painless replied on Sun, 2011-10-09 07:31
When the 800 rules were introduced there were some people who said "rules are rules" etc. The rest of us, including the riders, said it was rubbish and the rest is history. So you can't have a data guy, so what? Do we need a "data guy" to race a 250 single four stroke? Maybe in MotoGP your version of the future will be correct. This thread is about the "tiddler" class and keeping costs down.
GrahamB29 replied on Sun, 2011-10-09 11:55
Are you suggesting no engine rules at all (or just a capacity limit), and ban data logging?
Sounds like the old philosophy of "set up doesn't matter, the rider just needs to ride the wheels off it".
The riders who do well under that system usually go pretty much nowhere once they step up a level or two... (except into the gravel traps).
PIT BULL replied on Sat, 2011-10-08 11:45
Valve operation by Hydrualic or Pneumatic means is banned. Desmodromic action is not. Valve springs, well, par for the course of max 14000rpm limitation.
Thanks for for the lowdown David, as proposed but not yet cast in stone.
I agree with your thinking that inevitably the more buck you have,the bigger the bang you will get across Moto3.
To turn full circle,the cream will rise to the top and gain the advantage, technically and financially.
Moto 2 had its variable inception year. Tallent and teams are settling into a pattern of haves and have nots. Factory chassis vs sattelite chassis. Moto 3 will be great next year,but will settle into the same pattern as Moto 2 come 2013.
The uncontrolable variable is always going to be the rider.
Instrumentation and technological advances have limitations.
Next thing we will hear is that all riders will be fitted with Piezo-electric transducers coupled to Lithium battery and microscopic data logger to monitor clutch lever control. Crikey,I'm getting old,but I do look forward to GP across all classes next year. Just maybe corporate conglomerates are sending GP into a downward spiral whereby prototype = sterotype. Robotic. Instrumentation and Control. Thankfully,the higher powers still enable the human organism (rider), a little input on the day.
Moto2, version 2?
I wonder... given they've specified the same 81mm bore as for MotoGP, they may just be thinking of modularity. The moto2 rules came in a bit of a rush so there really wasn't time to get prototype engines up and running, but maybe in a few years, if there are a number of competitive moto3 engine builders... a call for 500cc twins?
A 500cc v-twin, 14000 rpm, maybe 110hp, nice and narrow so doesn't require a bulbous frame... now that's a nice idea :)
Yes indeed Graham. Think Tigcraft and the 550 Aprilia engine
Nostrodamus replied on Mon, 2011-10-10 14:50
http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=114296&st...
Indeed...
GrahamB29 replied on Mon, 2011-10-10 18:30
...but without the tendency for inside bits to suddenly become outside bits...
phoenix1 replied on Wed, 2011-10-12 17:15
MotoGP and WSBK are cannibalizing one another. Perhaps WSBK doesn't feature 250cc singles, but the price controls, homologation requirements, and strict technical regulations continue to push prototype racing towards production racing.
Ultimately, accessibility is the only real difference between production racing and prototype racing. Production equipment is supposed to be available to everyone with purchasing power. Prototype equipment is generally quite hard to acquire b/c production volume is low, technology is sensitive, and costs are high.
If Moto3 guarantees equipment to everyone, is it prototype racing?
The FIM are apparently allowing MotoGP and WSBK to differentiate according to the "street-legal" and "racing-only". Unless the vehicles are fundamentally different in their appearance, it won't work. The FIA played this game for decades, and it always ends badly.
Follow the fundamental, substantive differentiator of prototype and production--accessibility. Production bikes and production racing equipment can be purchased by anyone. Controls are placed on the bikes to ensure parity, and to eliminate proprietary technology. Manufacturers play for sales. Participants play b/c the playing field is level. Teams play for profit. Fans watch b/c production racing is a human sport with machines. Prototype racing, on the other hand, is an engineering contest with human beings, but it is inherently superior to automobile racing b/c the human being plays a much larger role. Deregulate. Use the tires to control performance, and let manufacturers use whatever cylinder count, displacement, fuel, fuel capacity, valve count, etc. based upon their budget, company policy, and FIM safety guidelines.
Moto3 is not a problem by itself, but it is representative of Dorna policy for all prototype racing.
Motorcycle Racing vs Social Media: How Dorna Could Turn Losing The Battle Into Winning The War
2015 Aragon Sunday Round Up, Part 1 - Of Deceptive Speed, Unforced Errors And A Championship Reopened
2015 Valencia Sunday MotoGP Round Up: How Championships Are Won, Lost, And Destroyed
Silverstone Subscriber Notes, Part 1: On Marquez' Bad Days, Rins' Potential, And Whether GB Loves MotoGP
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Home Education EFCC Arraigns Two For Defrauding UI Lecturer
EFCC Arraigns Two For Defrauding UI Lecturer
NAIJAXTREME, MD, USA
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibadan zonal office, on Monday arraigned two persons for allegedly defrauding one Dele Akinbuluma, a lecturer and doctoral student of the Department of Crop Protection and Environmental Biology, University of Ibadan.
The suspects, Augustine Ekeson and Obinna Ureahl, were brought before Justice Patricia Ajoku of the Federal High Court, Ibadan Division, on three counts bordering on impersonation and obtaining under false pretences.
In a petition to the commission dated February 17, 2016, Akinbuluma detailed how the duo conspired to defraud him of the sum N875,490 in December 2015.
The sum was the naira equivalent of $4,169 for consumables needed for a six-month bench space research that he was to undertake at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi, Kenya, as part of his doctoral programme.
Akinbuluma, who got a grant from the premier university for the research work, said he had been in constant communication with the leadership of the centre before the accused hacked into his email account and took advantage of that to dupe him.
READ ALSO: Police Bust International Arms Syndicate, Recover Rifles, Others
After hijacking the account, the accused allegedly presented themselves as Prof. Baldwyn Tonto, Akinbuluma’s supposed supervisor at the centre, and demanded that he paid the naira equivalent of the due sum to a colleague’s Nigerian bank account for transmission to the centre’s account in Kenya.
The offence, according to the charge sheet, is contrary to sections 1 (1)(b), 6 and 8 (b) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Related Offences Act, 2006, and Section 22 (4)(a) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act, 2015.
When the charges were read to them, the accused persons pleaded not guilty.
Consequently, the prosecution counsel, Babatunde Sonoiki, prayed the court for a trial date and an order to remand the defendants in prison.
The court adjourned the case till June 20 for trial and ordered that the defendants be remanded in prison custody.
Dele Akinbuluma
EFCC
UI Lecturer
Previous articlePolice Bust International Arms Syndicate, Recover Rifles, Others
Next articlePhotos of an elderly man and his young bride
NYSC issues stern warning to service evasion offenders
JAMB suspends NIN requirementPublished 2
NYSC mobilises 1,188 corps members in Oyo
Two men arrested for selling leaked WAEC, JAMB questions
JAMB reveals what candidates must do to know their centres
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South Asia Studies Minor Program requirements
minor program requirements
[official College of Arts & Sciences requirements articulation also available as PDF]
A. Required Course (3 credit hours):
NELC 2220 [.01 or .02] Introduction to South Asian Studies (3) [cross-listed as Comp. Stds. 2220]
2. Elective Courses (12 credit hours)
- minimum 6 credit hours at the 3000-level.
- language coursework is strongly encouraged; up to 3 units of Hindi, Urdu, Persian or Tibetan coursework at the 2000-level or above may count toward the minor
Near Eastern Languages & Cultures (NELC)
3620 Everyday Life in South Asia (3)
3625[.01/.02] Understanding Bollywood, Knowing India: Hindi Cinema Since 1960 (3)
5241 Interdisciplinary Approaches to South Asian Studies (3)
2390 Ancient India (3)
2392 Colonial India (3)
2393 Contemporary India (3)
3365 History of Afghanistan (3)
4390 Readings in South Asian History (3)
5711 Art of India I (3)
5724 The Buddhist Art of Gandhåra and Kåßmªr (3)
2120 Asian Philosophies
3671 Religions of India (3)
3673 The Buddhist Tradition (3)
5902 Elementary Sanskrit (3)
5903 Intermediate Sanskrit (3)
5904 Vedic Sanskrit (1-3)
C. Special Topics Courses, substitutable electives by petitioned with relevant subjectmatter:
2105 Literature and Ethnicity (3)
2321 Introduction to Asian American Studies (3)
3661 The City and Culture (3)
4803 Studies in Asian American Literature and Culture (3) (cross-listed with English 4587)
5691 Special Topics in Comparative Studies (3)
4564.04 Major Authors: Salman Rushdie (3)
4581 Special Topics in U.S. Ethnic Literatures (3)
4583 Special Topics in World Literature: Imagining India (3)
4587 Studies in Asian American Literature and Culture (3) (cross-listed with Comp. Stds. 4803)
2003 Asian Art (3)
2102.01(H) Literature and Religion (3)
2370(H) Introduction to Comparative Religion (3)
Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies
2296(H) Topics in Women’s Studies (3)
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Green-capped Tanager Lesser Antillean Tanager
Burnished-buff Tanager Tangara cayana
Family: Thraupidae
Authors: David Carlson and Kevin J. Burns
© Claudia Brasileiro
Macaulay Library ML103414171
The Burnished-buff Tanager is a common resident of gallery forest, pastures, and savannas across South America, from Colombia and Venezuela south to northeastern Argentina. The color of this tanager's opalescent plumage varies with the light, but in general the Burnished-buff Tanager appears straw-gold, with pale greenish blue wings. The two subspecies found in northern and western South America have a black mask and bluish throat. In contrast, on the four subspecies found in eastern and central South America black extends from the sides of the face to the throat, and in a broad stripe down the center of the breast. A seventh subspecies found at the mouth of the Amazon River has plumage that is intermediate between the two other subspecies groups. Burnished-buff Tanagers are usually seen alone or in pairs flying from tree to tree in search of fruits and berries. At times these birds may join other species at fruiting trees. A tanager of open areas, Burnished-buff Tanagers are regular visitors to gardens and trees around buildings in llanos.
Song (Rufous-crowned)
Peter Paul Kellogg
Macaulay Library ML16462
© Peter Paul Kellogg
Carlson, D. and K. J. Burns (2012). Burnished-buff Tanager (Tangara cayana), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.bubtan2.01
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The 5 Best Movies to Watch on Netflix for Thanksgiving
Fawn Neun
During the long Thanksgiving week off from school, kids get restless and bored. After the grand finale of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade when Santa ushers in the holiday season, there’s a lot of down time to fill. With Black Friday madness and winter weather, family movie nights during the Thanksgiving weekend are the perfect way to spend time together without breaking the bank.
Netflix offers great family movies with a subscription, and they’re just the thing for setting the mood for the season to come and kicking any bah-humbug to the curb. You can make it a family tradition by popping some corn, stirring up some hot chocolate, and making sure everyone is cozy in their pajamas while snuggling down for some great family-friendly entertainment.
Here’s five of the best family movies on Netflix this month.
1. Zootopia
This animated buddy cop movie features an bunny ingenue trying to prove herself and a street-smart fox joining forces. Judy Hopps is the first bunny cop to join the police force, and must prove herself. To solve the mystery of missing predator animals in less than 48 hours, she needs to work with Nick Wilde, a cynical con artist.
2. Moana
This stunningly beautiful Disney movie is a feast for the eyes and lots of fun for both kids and adults. Moana is the daughter of the tribe chief who convince the demigod Maui to return the heart of the goddess Te Fiti in order to remove the curse that’s plaguing her island.
3. Charlotte’s Web
You can stream the 2006 movie version of this classic tale on Netflix. Adults will be transported to their own childhoods as Charlotte the spider works diligently to save Wilbur the pig from slaughter. This movie is sure to enchant generations of children for years to come.
4. Coraline
For fans of Jack Skellington, Coraline might be just the fix you need to tide you over until it’s time to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas. Based on the best-selling book by Neil Gaiman, Coraline becomes bored after moving into a new home until she finds a secret door that leads her into a bizarre and disconcertingly better version of her own world. Common Sense Media recommends it only for children over the age of 9, but parents might find the idea creepier than their kids do.
5. Men in Black
Just a whole lot of fun for the whole family, this comedy romp from 1997 features over-the-top sci-fi movie tropes and lots of laughs. Some of the aliens might be a bit scary for littler kids, but most kids over the age of 9 or 10 will love it. Starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, and based on a much scarier comic, MIB tells the story of two federal agents fighting to save Earth against alien forces.
Feature image CC By-ND 2.0 Denison Family via Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/denisenfamily/1956857498
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Makayla Cacciola - April 12, 2017
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Coming Soon to Netflix- December 2016
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New Titles On Netflix US (March 2, 2016)
James McArthur - March 3, 2016
What’s Leaving Netflix in August 2015?
James McArthur - July 28, 2015
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Geographer Wins Tight Mayoral Race
AAG Staff December 12, 2014 Geographer Wins Tight Mayoral Race2017-10-20T14:51:19-05:00 Geographic Centers, Recent News
Geographer Serge Dedina is the newly-elected mayor of Imperial Beach, Calif., after winning a tight race within 50 votes against incumbent, two-year term mayor Jim Janney. Dedina, who has a Ph.D. in geography from UT-Austin, ran on a platform of improving neighborhoods, inclusiveness and environment. He grew up in Imperial Beach (on the border with Tijuana), is the first fluently Spanish-speaking mayor in the community and is a keen surfer. He is the author of Wild Sea: Eco-Wars and Surf Stories from the Coast of the California and Saving the Gray Whale, among other writings. He’s also the founder and executive director of WiLDCOAST, a nonprofit environmental group headquartered in Imperial Beach. In 2013, Dedina was named a John Muir Fellow by Muir College at UC-San Diego in recognition of his significant conservation achievements.
Diana Liverman, professor of geography at U. of Arizona and AAG member, who contributed this news, taught Dedina and his wife Emily Young at U. of Wisconsin-Madision.
« Show us the best of Chicagoland
George and Viola Hoffman Award Applications due Dec 31 »
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Vicarious breaks the code on CAPTCHA
Bill West October 30, 2013 Uncategorized0 comments
FBI’s Case Against Silk Road Boss Is A Fascinating Read
It’s been known for quite some time that the feds were desperately trying to hunt down the folks behind Silk Road, the somewhat infamous “dark web” e-commerce site, accessible only via Tor, which was famous mainly for selling drugs in a slightly anonymous…
Palo Alto Networks To Present At 13th Annual Cyber Security Symposium
tfanelli@gmail.com October 13, 2013 Uncategorized0 comments
Download image PANW. (PRNewsFoto/Palo Alto Networks) SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Palo Alto Networks® (NYSE: PANW), the network security company™, today announced that Lee Klarich, the Company’s senior vice president of product…
Lockheed Martin And Tech Council Of Maryland Host Cyber Security Awareness Day For Local High Schools
Download image Lockheed Martin Corporation. (PRNewsFoto/Lockheed Martin) GAITHERSBURG, Md., Oct. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — For the fourth consecutive year, Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), in partnership with the Tech Council of Maryland (TCM) and the…
Cyber security: The new arms race for a new front line
Bill West September 17, 2013 Uncategorized0 comments
Cyber security and the Pentagon bid to lead it, is the topic of the cover story of the Sept. 16 issue of The Christian Science MonitorWeekly.(Illustration by Nancy Stahl) In the eastern New Jersey suburbs, a train carrying radiological material is barreling…
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Signal Conditioner accepts bridge/strain gauge input.
Eurotherm Controls Sep 09, 2003
DIN rail mount model WV448 utilizes TouchCAL(TM) technology and provides proportional, selectable DC output. Powered by 9-30 Vdc, unit is field configurable via DIP switches for bridge/strain gauge inputs from ±5 to ±200 mV. Excitation voltage range is 1-10 Vdc @ 120 mA, and outputs can be field-configured for DC signal ranges of 0-10 V, 0-20 mA, or 4-20 mA. All ranges have zero and span adjustability of up to 95% of range via pushbutton.
Eurotherm, Action Instruments Announces New, Field Configurable Bridge/Strain Gauge Input, Isolating Signal Conditioner with TouchCAL(TM) Technology, WV Series Model WV448
SAN DIEGO, CA - August 14, 2003 - Eurotherm, Action Instruments group announces the immediate availability of the new WV Series model WV448, bridge or strain gauge input, isolating signal conditioner with TouchCAL(TM) technology. This high density, field configurable, DIN rail mount device accepts bridge/strain gauge input and provides a proportional, selectable DC output.
Model WV448 is powered by a flexible 9 to 30 V DC and is field configurable via DIP switches for bridge/strain gauge inputs from ±5mV to ±200mV. The excitation voltage range is 1 to 10VDC @ 120mA. The outputs can be field configured for DC signal ranges of: 0-10V, 0-20mA, or 4-20mA. All of these ranges have zero and span adjustability of up to 95% of range via pushbutton. This outstanding flexibility ensures that the device is available off-the-shelf, just when you need it, thereby reducing your inventory carrying costs.
TouchCAL(TM) technology, a standard feature on the WV448, replaces the mechanical and thermal variability of potentiometers with the electronic stability of a microprocessor. This enables up to 95% adjustment of zero and span and carries with it a string of benefits. It provides a reliable, digitally stable circuit ensuring better long-term performance and reliability. Calibration is as quick and easy as inputting the desired maximum and minimum signal levels and pressing a button to store the values in non-volatile memory.
With the addition of the optional WVC16, WebView Communications Interface, the WV448 input signal can be viewed over the user's company intranet. The communications link also provides the ability to calibrate the unit remotely. The WV448 is supported by a LIFETIME WARRANTY.
About Eurotherm:
Eurotherm, part of the Production Management Division of Invensys plc, is one of the world's leading automation and controls companies and a major supplier to the world's processing and equipment manufacturing industries. An ISO 9000 company, Eurotherm's products include temperature and process controllers and indicators, data recorders and data acquisition systems, signal conditioning and complete process automation solutions.
About Invensys plc
Invensys is a global leader in production technology. The group helps customers improve productivity, performance and profitability using innovative services and technologies and a deep understanding of their industries and applications.
Invensys Production Management works closely with customers to increase performance of production assets, maximize return on investment in production and data management technologies and remove cost and cash from the supply chain. The division includes APV, Avantis, Eurotherm, Foxboro, IMServ, SimSci-Esscor, Triconex and Wonderware. These businesses address process and batch industries - including oil and gas, chemicals, power and utilities, food and beverage, and personal health care - and the discrete and hybrid manufacturing sectors.
Invensys Rail Systems is a global leader in the design, manufacture, supply, installation, commissioning and maintenance of safety related rail signaling and control systems as well as a complete range of rail signaling and communications products. The business includes Westinghouse Rail Systems Limited (WRSL), Dimetronic Signals, Safetran Systems, Burco Services, Westinghouse Signals Australia and Foxboro Transportation. WRSL was recently awarded two contracts valued at more than $1.3 billion for the renewal of signaling on the London Underground.
Invensys also currently serves other market sectors through its Development Division. The businesses in this division are: Appliance Controls, APV Baker, Baan, Climate Controls, Hansen Transmissions, Lambda, Metering Systems, Powerware and Teccor. Invensys is actively seeking to develop these businesses through equity partners or new owners.
Invensys operates in more than 60 countries, with its headquarters in London. For more information, visit www.invensys.com.
Invensys is a trademark of Invensys plc.
Temperature Sensors suit switch gear and bus bar monitoring.
Signal Conditioner is powered via computer USB port.
SC-100 AC-LVDT Signal Conditioner features front panel pushbuttons.
Signal Conditioner supports load cells and strain gauges.
Charge Converters condition piezoelectric sensor signals.
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Politics, Science & Nature
US Government Weakens Application of Endangered Species Act
Under the enforcement changes, officials for the first time will be able to publicly attach a cost to saving an animal or plant. Blanket protections for creatures newly listed as threatened will be removed.
US Delays Tariffs on Some Chinese Goods, Drops Others
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative says it would delay the tariffs to Dec. 15 on some goods, including cellphones, laptop computers, video game consoles, some toys, computer monitors, shoes and clothing.
New Illinois Law Bans Sale of Cosmetics Tested on Animals
More than 30 countries have banned cosmetics testing on animals, and while the practice hasn’t been banned in the U.S., Illinois is now the third state to enact “humane cosmetics” legislation. The new law takes effect Jan. 1, 2020.
August 13, 2019 - Full Show
Watch the Aug. 13, 2019 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”
Northwestern Research Shows US Mass Shootings on the Rise
There were eight mass shootings last year in the U.S. But with six mass shootings so far in 2019, the country is on track to match or surpass last year’s record, according to a Northwestern Medicine researcher.
Illinois Health Officials Report Hospitalizations Linked to Vaping
Six people in Illinois have reported severe breathing problems after vaping. The Illinois Department of Public Health is now investigating these cases and five others, all reported since just May.
‘Hamilton’ Exhibition Brings 18th Century Life into 2019 Reality
Brandis Friedman
Peek inside the soon-to-close, 25,000-square-foot “Hamilton” exhibition on Northerly Island and hear from the man who brought Alexander Hamilton back to life: Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Study Finds Americans Are Sitting Too Much, Not Exercising Enough
In the decade since federal exercise guidelines were first introduced, a study finds that adult exercise rates have essentially remained flat, while time spent sitting is on the rise.
Man Charged in Officer’s Killing Claims He’s a ‘Victim’ Because He Tried to Help
CPD Officer John Rivera was fatally shot inside his car earlier this year
The first of three men charged in connection with the fatal shooting of Chicago police Officer John Rivera is going to trial this week. Jovan Battle, 32, is acting as his own attorney while facing a first-degree murder charge.
Multimillion-Dollar Art Collection Sparks Creative Thinking at Suburban School
We visit the newly upgraded Nettie McKinnon Gallery inside in Park Junior High School in La Grange Park.
Southwest Side Bungalow Provides Shelter from Street Violence
Andrea Guthmann
A group of young men have chosen to escape street violence by living together in an innovative safe house. We discuss the program with the two Chicagoans who started it: Liz Dozier and Rami Nashashibi.
New Asian Carp Study Reaffirms Need to Protect Great Lakes
Asian carp will certainly survive and most likely thrive if they are able to make their way into Lake Michigan, according to a study released Monday by the University of Michigan.
The Plight of the Monarchs: Trump Order Weakens Protections
Monarchs are in trouble, despite efforts by volunteers and organizations across the United States to nurture the beloved butterfly. And the Trump administration’s new order weakening the Endangered Species Act could well make things worse.
Chicago Casino Study: Taxes Too High to Be Profitable
An onerous tax structure would virtually kill any chance that a Chicago casino operator could make a profit, despite an ability to make massive amounts of money, according to a newly released feasibility study.
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Home » Fall 2009
OSU's Signature Vegetables
In Oregon, it's easy to love your vegetables.
By: Judy Scott
The greenhouse tables are crowded with pots of bean plants ready to reproduce. Their buds will soon open and the plants will self-pollinate if research assistant Deborah Kean doesn’t get to them first. Sitting on a stool surrounded by the eager beans, she works quickly and deliberately. The time is right, and she has more than a hundred cross-pollinations to do.
Her tweezers unfold the delicate petals that enclose the bud as she shakes in pollen from the flower of another plant. Then, carefully, she refolds the outer petals and seals them with tape to keep the incubating seed safe and sound, moist and enclosed.
So goes the first step in a vegetable breeding process that can take as long as 15 years before a new variety is released. The goal is to breed vegetables that are tastier, more nutritious, disease resistant, and easier to harvest, without using genetic engineering. Jim Myers leads the process as the Baggett-Frazier Professor of vegetable breeding in the Horticulture Department at OSU. Although it takes years to cross plants and grow out each new generation, vegetable processors prefer vegetables bred in the classical manner, Myers says, because overseas customers have strict requirements to avoid GMO contamination. “It’s demanding work,” he says, “and students who come out of the OSU breeding program are in high demand for their experience in this field.”
Thanks to a nurturing climate, wonderful soil, and a heritage of well-bred varieties, Oregon is blessed with high-quality vegetables. Myers and Kean and their colleagues are working to make them even better, to improve the vast vegetable cornucopia of Oregon. “I get such pleasure seeing these vegetables in the market, or in neighbors’ gardens, and knowing that I had a hand in developing them,” said Kean. Here are a few examples:
Blue Lake green beans
Tender and crisp, Blue Lake green beans are slender and up to 6 inches long. Their flavor suggests fresh greens and roasted nuts, the classic green bean that fills Oregon’s fresh markets in summer.
But make no mistake, these beans were made for processing.
One of the most productive discoveries by OSU vegetable breeders came in the 1960s, when they developed a commercial green bean that would retain its summery taste and color even when frozen or canned. Since then, the Blue Lake bush bean has become the industry standard and a favorite of home gardens in Oregon, as years of research continued to improve its taste, nutritional value, and yield. And research continues to develop resistance to white mold disease, which can devastate commercial vegetable fields, especially beans.
One of the earliest breakthroughs was to breed an easier-to-pick bush variety of Blue Lake to replace the original pole bean. Today, mechanical harvesters gather about 93,000 tons of green beans each year, mostly from the Willamette Valley, making Oregon the second-largest producer of green beans in the country, behind Wisconsin. Throughout the late summer, trucks laden with green beans deliver the fresh harvest to three primary processors in Salem, Albany, and Stayton, where they are quick frozen or packed in cans. Processed beans and other vegetables add more than $23 million to the value of Oregon agriculture every year.
Oregon Sugar Pod II peas
OSU plant breeders took flat snow peas and pumped them full of tender sweet peas, and so created a vegetable that kids love to eat. Plant the big, round, kid-friendly seeds during spring break, and they are ready to harvest on the first day of summer vacation. And by “harvest” we mean standing in the garden, plucking pods from vines, and crunching them on the spot.
“This is the way peas will be eaten in the future,” quotes a British seed company introducing the Oregon delicacy to European gardeners and diners. “It just doesn’t make sense to go through the tediousness of discarding the pod if it’s so full of goodness and so delicious to taste.”
Legend tomato
In many ways, a tomato is a tropical plant that comes into its full flavor with warm days and nights. Tomatoes love Hermiston and Medford, but for much of the rest of Oregon, cool summers can slow down tomato development and keep the hot-summer varieties from ripening.
With the goal of developing a cool-climate tomato, Jim Baggett, followed by Jim Myers,
developed better and better varieties, including Oregon Spring and Siletz. Their breakthrough is the Legend tomato, an early-bearing tomato that sets rich-tasting fruit under the cool conditions of much of the Pacific Northwest.
Legend tomatoes are self-fertile, an advantage where chilly spring weather can keep pollinators from making their rounds at the critical moment. And they are resistant to late blight, a fungal disease related to the pathogen responsible for the Irish potato famine of the 1840s.
“Late blight is a difficult disease to breed against because there are so many different races,” Myers says. If a new race of late blight invades, or the old race mutates, then resistance may break down. So far, resistance has held up in the Legend tomato, which carries on the legendary reputation of OSU-bred vegetables.
Honey Boat squash
Besides snowboarding, winter squash gives Oregonians a reason to love winter. Developed by legendary OSU vegetable breeder Jim Baggett, Honey Boat and its cousin Sugar Loaf are as much a signature of an Oregon Thanksgiving as Bandon cranberries and pickled green beans. A refined Delicata-style squash, Honey Boat is touted by seed companies as “the sweetest squash in existence.”
Organic broccoli
Organic vegetables aren’t simply the same commercial varieties grown without benefit of synthetic chemicals. Ideally, varieties produced organically grow fast enough to outpace pests, broad enough to shade out weeds, and sturdy enough to resist disease. Organic farmers from both the East and West coasts are working with OSU researchers to develop better organic broccoli varieties for fresh markets. Since 2005, Myers has sent more than 500 open-pollinated broccoli seeds to each participating farmer, who plants them and selects the best of the offspring to harvest for seed that they send back to Myers. Myers mixes the seeds from several growers and redistributes them for more testing.
“Our objectives are to develop broccoli varieties adapted to regional organic growing conditions and engage growers in plant breeding,” Myers said. In return, growers are testing new broccoli varieties that grow well under organic conditions.
Results have been applauded. “After three years of growing broccoli selected from a mass cross of varieties made by Jim Myers, we may have finally gotten it right,” according to Ken Ettinger of the Long Island Seed Project. “Broccoli is not usually considered a sustainable organic crop, but this may change as the OSU broccoli becomes more adapted to our Long
Island soils, climate, and cultural practices. In the three years of growing this broccoli we haven’t had to use any kind of pest or disease control.”
‹ Wild Salmon up Treasure Valley Onions ›
A Fork in the Road
Honoring Those Who Feed Us
Food for Thought Curriculum
Sonny Ramaswamy
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Cibernite
Start a private topic
OT Deleted Scenes Discussion
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/538054/action/topic#538054
18-Sep-2011 11:15 PM
May I have some screencaps of the ROTJ Vader scenes please? I don't have a way to play the videos on my PC or I would get them. Thank you.
VHS from: Star Wars: The Interactive Video Board Game (1996, Parker)
5-Mar-2011 5:18 PM
Any updates to this project. I'm interested in the screencaps.
STAR WARS: EP V "REVISITED EDITION"<strong>ADYWAN</strong> - <strong>AVAILABLE NOW</strong>
3-Jan-2011 8:20 PM
It must've taken some time for the Executor to move out of the Astroid Field. If you look at Vader, His cape is on his back and not on his shoulders like it usually is. Which means He did something while his ship was being positioned. It would look out of place if you just cut to him just about to stand on the pedistal.
Sorry I haven't posted on here in a long time. I hope I can contribute more in the future.
Star Wars fans - have you ever...
17-Apr-2009 7:28 PM
I do it all the time at The Home Depot Where I work. I act like I'm using The Force to open the doors. As for dressing up as a Star Wars Character, I'm getting ready to start on another Darth Vader Costume. I did one years ago when I volunteered at the Louisville Zoo's Halloween Party. I had a blast doing it.
ESB and ROTJ Wishlist
28-Mar-2009 6:50 PM
Sounds like You want to do Vader like in ROTJ Infinities With out the White Armor. That is the only thing I hate about the Comic.To me Vader is Not Vader without the black Armor. In a story I'm doing, Vader did survive the Battle of Endor but He's no longer in the star Wars Galaxy He's in our Galaxy fighting against Evil Forces. Sort of like Batman in The Dark Knight. You really don't know which side he's on until he acts. I like the idea of Vader surviving. The viewer doesn't need to see him after Luke takes him to the shuttle. He could be undergoing repairs on the Medical Frigate while the others are on Endor celebrating.
9-Feb-2009 8:17 PM
Is there anyway to fix the scene where Vader talks to The Emperor? I clearly remember seeing him walk off the Bridge to his chamber . But Then when it cuts from Executor exiting the Asteroid Field, It has him walking down the steps like he just rose up from his chamber and walked down. Could there be like an Audio Que stating to Vader that Executor has cleared the field? How does he know when the ship is clear? It's just a thought.
14-Nov-2008 11:50 PM
I can't wait til you're done with it. I got Star wars Revisited and loved it. Iwould love a copy of this one when it's finished.
Vader art
"Deal or No Deal" Star Wars style...
29-Apr-2008 10:36 AM
I watched it last night. They had a winner take all game as well. It was OT First the ones opening the cases were stormtroopers nd then for the second were the models dressed as Slave Leias. Darth vader was the banker. I had to admit, whoever was in the suit did a pretty good job and the voice wasn't too bad either. I liked it.
New €haracter themes
28-Feb-2008 8:30 PM
Not really, The Imperial March was playing when Anakin Turned to the Dark Side. In a way several Prequal Characters had they're own theme. The Duel of Fates was introduced with Darth Maul. I still love how the music sounded when Maul took his cloak off to battle the Jedi.
Artist Needs reference pics - Vader in ROTJ
28-Feb-2008 8:24 PM — Edited 26-Dec-2019 6:45 PM
With all of the DVDs around, Can someone post some screencaps of Vader in ROTJ when he has his talk with Luke. When He points Luke’s Saber at Luke and the other scene I want is when they’re both walking up the steps to meet with The Emperor. I’m drawing Vader from ROTJ and I need some good pics for references. Thank’s in advance.
Star Wars fighting game that won't suck? (Star Wars characters in Soul Calibur IV)
14-Jan-2008 10:24 PM
I've played the Arcade Version of Soul Calibur 1 and 2 my favorite characters were Nightmare and Kilik I like the second because of the Bo staff. Nightmare was just an awesome character to play as well.
17-Nov-2007 7:44 AM
In Louisville KY,I went to a Booksamillion and They had one opened. I looked through it and was quite impressed.however, They could've put more BTS stuff in there. But still it's good.
Help needed - using one of the Star wars Characters in my own story?
16-Nov-2007 4:27 PM
It will take me awhile to come up with the story But I could do that Put it online. I'd love to still send Lucasfilms some copies of my drawings to see what they think of them. Especially the Vader Ones.
So Really If I wanted to do this, I'm out of luck. Oh well. It sure would've been nice to at least try it. I'll just keep doing what I've been doing. Drawing Vader for my enjoyment and create another Character to replace him in the stuff that I want to get published. Even If I created another Sith Lord, I'd have to go through Lucas to get permission to use some aspects of the Star Wars universe.
Thank's for the help. It saves me having to write a letter, Mailing it, and hope and pray that it doesn't get lost or put in File 13.
15-Nov-2007 8:04 PM — Edited 26-Dec-2019 6:41 PM
How and who in Lucasfilm should I contact about using one of their Star wars Charaters in your own story? I want to publish it. That’s why I’m asking this.
Family Guy to kick off season with 1 hour Star Wars spoof
It was good until they got to the Death Star. Then the language and Jokes started getting pretty Offencive . I liked the shots and the reference to Dr.Who was when they were going through Hyperspace and i like the John Wiliams references as well oh the Jawa Sandcrawlers pulling up to the light and one handing the other a jar of Grey Pupon Mustard. Obi Wan I winced through his character but I didn't like it and who can forget Darth Stewie That was cute.
Happy Birthday Mark Hamill!
He's my favorite actor because He's not afraid to poke fun at his character and I also liked him as the voice of The Joker in The Batman Animated Series, Static Shock, The New adventures of Superman and Batman Beyond The Return of The Joker.
Looking For Pics - Star Wars Interactive VCR Board Game
6-Sep-2007 11:11 PM — Edited 26-Dec-2019 6:18 PM
I’m looking for pics of Vader from the Star Wars Interactive VCR Board Game. Does anyone know where I can find some? I’d Like to use them as references.
IMPORTANT BEHIND THE SCENES INFO ON THE ORIGINAL TRILOGY FROM LONDON FILM AND COMIC CON-SEP '07
3-Sep-2007 11:17 AM
Very interesting read there. Nice job. I didn't know that many scenes were cut from the films.I'd Love to see a dvd with behind the scenes and Cut scenes on them.
Screencaps of Vader from ROTJ
Thank's It's been a little while since I've been to his site. He might have some new material up.
23-Aug-2007 12:01 AM
They will work too. Any pics will be helpful Thank you.
22-Aug-2007 11:05 PM
I do have a copy of the DVD but I don't have a DVD drive on my computer. That's why I'm asking around for screencaps.
I think you can make screencaps if you have a screencapping program on your pc.
I do believe I should've put Screencaps requests in the title.
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Nicholas II of Russia
Revision as of 00:10, February 9, 2006 by Aleks (talk | contribs)
Icon of Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II of Russia (Courtesy Ivanovo Monastery)
The holy and right-believing Emperor Saint Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanov was the last reigning Emperor (commonly called "Tsar") of Russia at the time of the Bolshevik Revolution. Together with his wife, Alexandra Fyodoronova, formerly Alexandra of Hesse-Darmstad, and their children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexey, and their servants Doctor Evgeni Botkin, cook Ivan Kharitonov, attendant Aleksey Trupp and attendant Anna Demidova, they are recognized as Passion-bearers by the Russian Orthodox Church.
1 Life & Death
2 Glorification
3 Troparion
In February 1917, during the February Revolution, Nicholas reluctantly abdicated the throne, hoping that doing so might save the nation some violence. After the Bolshevik (October) revolution, he and his family were exiled to Siberia, where they were detained under house-arrest. After several months, the family was lined up in the basement and shot. The bodies were buried in an unmarked grave.
In 1991, in Yekaterinburg, Sibera, their bodies were exhumed. DNA testing confirmed that they were indeed the Romanovs.
In 1998, with Boris Yeltsin in attendance, most of the Royal Family was finally laid to rest with proper ceremony. However, neither the Russian Orthodox Church nor the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia formally recognized that the remains found near Yekaterinburg were those of the Royal Family.
Photograph of St. Nicholas the Tsar-Martyr.
Nicholas and his family were glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia in 1981 but this was a hotly debated decision. Both within and outside of Russia there were those who claimed that Nicholas' reign was weak and prone to extravagence and indifference to the plight of Russia's needy. On the other hand, there was widespread popular devotion to Tsar Nicholas among those who claimed that he was called of God to lead his people at a difficult time in history and did so to the best of his abilities. The religious devotion and piety of the family is well documented and not seriously contested.
In 2000, after some 8 years of study, the council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church voted unanimously to recognize Nicholas, Alexandra and their five children as saints.
Troparion
Most noble and sublime was your life and death, O Sovereigns;
wise Nicholas and blest Alexandra, we praise you,
acclaiming your piety, meekness, faith, and humility,
whereby ye attained to crowns of glory in Christ our God,
with your five renowned and godly children of blest fame.
Martyrs decked in purple, intercede for us.
The Royal Martyrs of Russia
Russian site on the Tsar-Martyr
God's Anointed Sufferer: Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II
Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II and his Family
Retrieved from "https://orthodoxwiki.org/index.php?title=Nicholas_II_of_Russia&oldid=26134"
Emperors and Kings
Categories > Liturgics > Feasts
Categories > People > Rulers
Categories > People > Saints
Categories > People > Saints > Modern Saints
Categories > People > Saints > Russian Saints
Categories > People > Saints > Saints by century > 20th-century saints
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Industry TrendsMy Car ThoughtsNews
The Worst-Rated Cars and Why You Shouldn’t Buy Them
By Scott HuntingtonAugust 3, 2017 No Comments
Journalists make it known when they like a car, but what if you disagree? BMW’s 3-series spent a decade dominating Car and Driver’s 10Best list when many competitors in the sports sedan category were, in fact, excellent cars in their own right. Is it unwise to risk buying against the advice of the automotive media?
Sometimes the answer is no. If the right model fits your needs and has a respectable track record, choosing a runner-up or outlier could work out. Some models, however, should be avoided at all costs. This article is about those cars. Even if you see a deal on one of these models, just say no.
This Italian wagonette comes with looks you might find cute and can deliver a somewhat satisfying driving experience on short jaunts, but spend a little longer in the saddle, and you’ll find yourself resenting its harsh ride and unsupportive seats.
We’ve come to expect spotty reliability from Italian exotics, but Fiat doesn’t have an excuse for the dismal reliability record this car has. Additionally, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gave this car a rating of Poor in its small-overlap frontal crash test. That’s not confidence-inspiring if you’re driving this car in the urban setting it was built for.
With Mitsubishi still finding its sea legs after being saved from the brink of destruction by Nissan, now is probably not the right time to purchase anything from the quirky Japanese outsider brand. The i-MiEV, however, has proven a particularly bad choice.
The MiEV is Mitsubishi’s attempt to do battle with the Toyota Prius Prime, Nissan Leaf, and other electric-only vehicles. While it might be a nice gesture to the future, the i-MiEV can take up to seven hours to charge on a 240-volt charger. Switch to the standard 110-volt, and you’re looking at nearly a day of charging time.
Once it is all gassed up, the i-MiEV delivers an unremarkable driving experience. It’s stiff, slow and doesn’t provide many luxuries. Save your money and buy a golf cart.
Jeep products have been a saving grace for Fiat-Chrysler, and the tried-and-true Wrangler has made the Jeep name synonymous with reliability. Unfortunately, if the Patriot is any measure of Jeep standards, the company isn’t very patriotic. In fact, it was The Truth About Cars’ worst car of 2016.
For one thing, the Patriot lacks real SUV credentials because it’s built on a unibody designed for the Dodge Caliber. It looks about the same as Jeep products from the ‘90s and has the Lego interior to match. Reliability is highly suspect, and its weak powertrain options don’t even help it get out of its own way.
Acura can’t buy a break these days. The company has faced a styling crisis and an image crisis at the same time, and both crises congealed into the Acura ILX, which is how you take a Honda Civic and make it undesirable.
On the surface, the ILX sounds like it should be pleasing. Fifteen years ago, Acura’s Civic-based RSX showed that you could make a charming near-luxury coupe using Civic bones, but the ILX does the opposite. It’s boring, lacks performance and is overpriced. Only 41 percent of ILX owners reported being satisfied with their cars.
Heritage is no get-out-of-jail-free card. When it first arrived on the scene, the X5 defined the luxury SUV class, but this latest model has struggled with multiple reliability issues.
The third-generation BMW SUV gets handsome new styling and borrows a powerful engine lineup from the company’s three- and five-series sedans, but has been plagued by fuel system issues, unreliable climate control and even engine part failures. This is the kind of thing that inspires those “burn my wallet” memes.
Elon wouldn’t sell us a bad car! Alas, Tesla faithful, your be-winged SUV suffers from the same reliability issues that have become an uncomfortable open secret for Tesla. If it’s any consolation, Tesla owners are standing by the brand.
The X is of particular note because it carried some design flaws into the world on day one. Its kooky doors make ingress and egress uniquely challenging for no reason, and its sprawling front windshield, initially hailed as a design breakthrough, has been shown to cause double-vision at night.
It’s a shame that such a cheerful little car has seen such a complicated life, but it seems German ownership couldn’t exorcize the British reliability issues out of the Mini. Although the Cooper is entirely BMW’s design, it’s just still got issues.
What kind of issues? Exhaust rattle if you’re lucky, but the real problems — the ones that have landed the Cooper consistently on the industry’s least reliable car’s list — have been clutch slippage and turbocharger failure. When you’ve got less than two liters under the hood, you need that turbo working. Keep trying, BMW. We want to like the Mini.
Like what you’ve read? Are you an avid car enthusiast? Then consider subscribing to Off the Throttle to never miss a blog post!
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hi thurrr. ( tobesurrounded) wrote in ohnotheydidnt,
hi thurrr.
tobesurrounded
Justin Bieber Olympics Billboard: USA Vs. Canada Hockey Game Inspires "Loser Keeps Bieber" Sign
Loser gets him! Teams USA and Canada are gearing up for ice hockey's semifinal game in Sochi on Friday, but it seems the stakes are much higher than first anticipated. It turns out, the loser will have to take home. . . Justin Bieber.
A Chicago billboard has gone viral after the Twitter account Command Transportation shared one featuring the Canadian singer. (The account often posts photos of the creative electronic billboards that appear on the Command Transportation building near Chicago's Edens Expressway.) In the electronic image, Bieber is pitted between Chicago Blackhawks players Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews with the headline "LOSER KEEPS BIEBER." (Kane is set to play for the U.S. and Toews for Canada at the Olympic match.)
"Nothing is higher than the stakes of tomorrow's game," the Twitter page captioned on Thursday, Feb. 21.
Bieber, 19, has had a tough couple of months. The "Boyfriend" singer was arrested in Miami for drag racing and DUI on Jan. 23. He set bail at $2,500: $1,000 for DUI, $1,000 for resisting arrest, and $500 for an expired license. Then on Jan. 31, the young star's private plane was detained at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport on suspicion of marijuana on board, but ultimately none was found.
Tell Us: What do you think about the Justin Bieber billboard?
Tags: justin bieber, olympics, sports / athletes - hockey
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Integrative transporter-mediated release from cytoplasmic and vesicular 5-hydroxytryptamine stores in cultured neurons
Xi F. Gu, Efrain Azmitia
Biology and Genomics
The direct effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and p-chloroamphetamine (PCA) were studied in microculture of fetal 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) neurons. Both MDMA and PCA released 5-HT with the potency of PCA > MDMA by a mechanism inhibited by fluoxetine, an inhibitor of the 5-HT transporter. The transporter-mediated release by MDMA and PCA reduced intracellular stores of 5-HT. Both MDMA and PCA inhibit MAO-A activities, which also contributes to the increase of extracellular 5-HT levels. Deprenyl (10-7 M) increased the amount of intracellular 5-HT and potentiated the MDMA- or PCA-induced release of 5-HT. Conversely, reserpine (10-9 M) reduced the intracellular 5-HT level and attenuated the transporter-mediated release. In addition, MDMA- or PCA-mediated release was attenuated by nimodipine (10-8 M), an L-type Ca2+ channel antagonist. Our results indicate that MDMA- or PCA-induced release of 5-HT occurs from the cytoplasm to the media through the 5-HT transporter, and that the release may incorporate 5-HT from the vesicular stores.
European Journal of Pharmacology
Published - Apr 22 1993
p-Chloroamphetamine
N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine
Monoamine Oxidase
Clorgyline
Deprenyl
MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine)
Parachloroamphetamine
Gu, X. F., & Azmitia, E. (1993). Integrative transporter-mediated release from cytoplasmic and vesicular 5-hydroxytryptamine stores in cultured neurons. European Journal of Pharmacology, 235(1), 51-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/0014-2999(93)90819-4
Integrative transporter-mediated release from cytoplasmic and vesicular 5-hydroxytryptamine stores in cultured neurons. / Gu, Xi F.; Azmitia, Efrain.
In: European Journal of Pharmacology, Vol. 235, No. 1, 22.04.1993, p. 51-57.
Gu, XF & Azmitia, E 1993, 'Integrative transporter-mediated release from cytoplasmic and vesicular 5-hydroxytryptamine stores in cultured neurons', European Journal of Pharmacology, vol. 235, no. 1, pp. 51-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/0014-2999(93)90819-4
Gu XF, Azmitia E. Integrative transporter-mediated release from cytoplasmic and vesicular 5-hydroxytryptamine stores in cultured neurons. European Journal of Pharmacology. 1993 Apr 22;235(1):51-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/0014-2999(93)90819-4
Gu, Xi F. ; Azmitia, Efrain. / Integrative transporter-mediated release from cytoplasmic and vesicular 5-hydroxytryptamine stores in cultured neurons. In: European Journal of Pharmacology. 1993 ; Vol. 235, No. 1. pp. 51-57.
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title = "Integrative transporter-mediated release from cytoplasmic and vesicular 5-hydroxytryptamine stores in cultured neurons",
abstract = "The direct effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and p-chloroamphetamine (PCA) were studied in microculture of fetal 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) neurons. Both MDMA and PCA released 5-HT with the potency of PCA > MDMA by a mechanism inhibited by fluoxetine, an inhibitor of the 5-HT transporter. The transporter-mediated release by MDMA and PCA reduced intracellular stores of 5-HT. Both MDMA and PCA inhibit MAO-A activities, which also contributes to the increase of extracellular 5-HT levels. Deprenyl (10-7 M) increased the amount of intracellular 5-HT and potentiated the MDMA- or PCA-induced release of 5-HT. Conversely, reserpine (10-9 M) reduced the intracellular 5-HT level and attenuated the transporter-mediated release. In addition, MDMA- or PCA-mediated release was attenuated by nimodipine (10-8 M), an L-type Ca2+ channel antagonist. Our results indicate that MDMA- or PCA-induced release of 5-HT occurs from the cytoplasm to the media through the 5-HT transporter, and that the release may incorporate 5-HT from the vesicular stores.",
keywords = "Clorgyline, Deprenyl, Fluoxetine, MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), Nimodipine, Parachloroamphetamine, Reserpine",
author = "Gu, {Xi F.} and Efrain Azmitia",
journal = "European Journal of Pharmacology",
T1 - Integrative transporter-mediated release from cytoplasmic and vesicular 5-hydroxytryptamine stores in cultured neurons
AU - Gu, Xi F.
AU - Azmitia, Efrain
N2 - The direct effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and p-chloroamphetamine (PCA) were studied in microculture of fetal 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) neurons. Both MDMA and PCA released 5-HT with the potency of PCA > MDMA by a mechanism inhibited by fluoxetine, an inhibitor of the 5-HT transporter. The transporter-mediated release by MDMA and PCA reduced intracellular stores of 5-HT. Both MDMA and PCA inhibit MAO-A activities, which also contributes to the increase of extracellular 5-HT levels. Deprenyl (10-7 M) increased the amount of intracellular 5-HT and potentiated the MDMA- or PCA-induced release of 5-HT. Conversely, reserpine (10-9 M) reduced the intracellular 5-HT level and attenuated the transporter-mediated release. In addition, MDMA- or PCA-mediated release was attenuated by nimodipine (10-8 M), an L-type Ca2+ channel antagonist. Our results indicate that MDMA- or PCA-induced release of 5-HT occurs from the cytoplasm to the media through the 5-HT transporter, and that the release may incorporate 5-HT from the vesicular stores.
AB - The direct effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and p-chloroamphetamine (PCA) were studied in microculture of fetal 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) neurons. Both MDMA and PCA released 5-HT with the potency of PCA > MDMA by a mechanism inhibited by fluoxetine, an inhibitor of the 5-HT transporter. The transporter-mediated release by MDMA and PCA reduced intracellular stores of 5-HT. Both MDMA and PCA inhibit MAO-A activities, which also contributes to the increase of extracellular 5-HT levels. Deprenyl (10-7 M) increased the amount of intracellular 5-HT and potentiated the MDMA- or PCA-induced release of 5-HT. Conversely, reserpine (10-9 M) reduced the intracellular 5-HT level and attenuated the transporter-mediated release. In addition, MDMA- or PCA-mediated release was attenuated by nimodipine (10-8 M), an L-type Ca2+ channel antagonist. Our results indicate that MDMA- or PCA-induced release of 5-HT occurs from the cytoplasm to the media through the 5-HT transporter, and that the release may incorporate 5-HT from the vesicular stores.
KW - Clorgyline
KW - Deprenyl
KW - Fluoxetine
KW - MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine)
KW - Nimodipine
KW - Parachloroamphetamine
KW - Reserpine
JO - European Journal of Pharmacology
JF - European Journal of Pharmacology
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Major NLE Updates Coming at NAB? What Adobe and Avid Should Do to Improve Their Products
NAB is an exciting time of year for us filmmaking folk. While there are certainly some exciting things on the horizon in terms of cameras, rigs, lenses, lights, and what have you, I'm making an educated guess that this will be another significant year for NLE development, especially from post-production giants Avid and Adobe. Avid is likely to make the jump to version 7 of its flagship Media Composer, and if they follow their previously mentioned product cycle plan, Adobe will release version 6.5 of their popular Creative Suite. With much of the editing market still undecided between the three major players in post-production, these new updates could be a crucial stepping stone into the future for these companies.
First and foremost, I should mention that these are the two NLEs which I use regularly. Premiere has taken over as my go-to editing platform, and I use it for most, if not all, of my personal work and for smaller films. Avid, on the other hand, is generally my tool of choice on larger scale productions where media management tends to be a little more unruly, or if it's something I'm collaboratively editing with another person. So as someone who uses both of these on a consistent basis, I have a solid idea of what I would like to see out of the programs in future versions. So without further ado, let the speculation begin.
The folks at Avid have found themselves in a peculiar predicament as of late. They still dominate the high-end broadcast and film markets with their various software solutions -- as evidenced by their near sweep in several post-production categories at this year's Academy Awards. Despite this seeming success, however, Avid has been hurting financially for the past several years as their sales have continued to decline. This financial downward spiral seems to be boiling over for the company, seeing as how they recently postponed the release of their 2012 4th quarter earnings, something widely regarded by both the business and editing communities as a desperate move.
It seems to me that if Avid really is in desperate financial trouble, they're going to need to make a splash at NAB in order to stimulate new sales of their software solutions. For them to accomplish this, they are going to need to implement a major overhaul of the Media Composer interface and make it more accessible to younger editors, while simultaneously maintaining the level of professional precision that has made the application an industry workhorse for the past 20 years -- and they're going to have to do all of this while significantly lowering their price points.
Beyond these exterior changes to the software, Avid is going to have to heavily refine the way the software works internally. While they've subtly been doing this for the past 2 or 3 years with features such as AMA linking, OpenGL support, 3rd-party I/O options, and most importantly, 64-bit base code, Avid is still lagging well behind both Adobe and Apple in terms of performance and taking advantage of modern hardware. They need to follow in Adobe's and Apple's shoes with OpenCL support and background rendering. Beyond that, they need to bring resolution independence to both their project settings and to individual clips so that editors aren't restricted to the standard TV and film options that Avid currently offers.
However, despite the fact that a revamped version of Media Composer would likely get Avid's software division back on the track to profitability (especially if they could do the same with Pro Tools), whether or not the company has the cash or credit to cover the costs of the sure-to-be hefty research and development for such an overhaul is highly questionable. If the new version of Media Composer fails to gain traction in the broadcast and film communities, and Avid continues to lose money, it's likely that we could see some kind of company restructuring or even the sale of the company or its individual parts.
Adobe, unlike Avid, seems to be thriving these days. After having snatched up many an editing professional after the Final Cut Pro X conundrum, and with the potential downfall of Avid, Adobe is now in a position to take the lead in the professional NLE market. In order to do this, however, they're also going to have to keep innovating with their suite of video post-production tools.
First and foremost, and I don't think I'm alone in this, it's time for Adobe to develop and embrace their own proprietary codec, a la ProRes or DNxHD. While the success of codec independence is part of what makes Premiere great, the performance of certain native codecs within the program is not what it could or should be. With a proprietary codec, Adobe would be able to completely optimize the performance of the software for that codec, as opposed to having a piece of software that deals with some codecs well, and others not nearly as much. Considering that many narrative-style films already transcode their raw camera data for both dallies and offline editing, it would be fantastic for Adobe to develop something to aid in that process. Sure, Cineform has been a decent 3rd party solution to this point, but it's time for Adobe to step up their game and cater to both independent folks as well as high-end professionals.
I would also like to see better integration of the Production Premium suite with its newest member, Adobe SpeedGrade. The acquisition of SpeedGrade from Iridas last year was an excellent move for Adobe in terms of putting together a comprehensive suite of tools for the video professional. However, the implementation and insertion of SpeedGrade into the suite has been clunky, to say the least. If Adobe can manage to integrate the program with the same dynamic linking technologies that have made it a breeze to shoot back and forth between Premiere, After Effects, Audition, and Encore, then they'll finally have a complete, integrated set of high-end tools for the video professional. As it stands now, it's just as easy to take a sequence from Premiere into Resolve as it is to take it into SpeedGrade. This needs to change if they want SpeedGrade to become a more viable option for the folks already using their products.
What do you guys think? What would you like to see out of the new versions of Media Composer and Premiere Pro? What would Avid have to do with Media Composer to keep it relevant and profitable? Conversely, what do you think Adobe would have to do to catapult Premiere Pro into industry dominance? Let us know in the comments.
NLE Version 7.0 -- Edit Geek
Avid -- Has The Ship Sailed (Or Even Sunk)? -- Richard Harrington Blog
mediacomposer
nab2013
Adobe Offers 50% Off to Final Cut Pro Users for Switching to Premiere Pro
Check Out This Thorough Presentation Comparing Final Cut Pro X vs. Premiere Pro CS6
Adobe Unveils the Next Generation of Their Creative Cloud Video Tools
Speedgrade is wonderfully intuitive but about as stable as a drunk on roller skates.
I ditched it for Resolve lite, which is less intuitive but more powerful in my opinion.
Even with a high end PC, the transfer between Prem. pro and Speedgrade was abysmal.
While I stand by Adobe for Prem. Pro and After Effects, they're going to have to pull a miracle out of the bag to get me interested in Speedgrade again.
March 14, 2013 at 4:09PM, Edited September 4, 11:21AM
You voted '-1'.
Share this answer:
Agree on the Speedgrade thing. It needs brought up to speed with the rest of the suite immediately. I've tried using it and like Ben said, it's just terrible to get anything from Premiere into Speedgrade, Speedgrade crashes constantly, it's just not a stellar program at the moment. There's so much that could be done to improve it and its integration into the suite.
Rick McClelland
That's about how I feel as well. Resolve Lite really has taken over as my go-to color application, and that doesn't seem likely to change any time soon. However, if Adobe can implement dynamic linking and make it as seamless as it is with their other programs, they'll likely get quite a few more people staying exclusively within the Creative Suite.
Founder of Filmmaker Freedom
This. SpeedGrade needs Adobeization I am all-in for Adobe these days. More often than ever, I've found myself ingesting and logging in Prelude, editing in Premiere, integrating graphics through AE/Photoshop through dynamic link, mixing in Audition, etc., etc., etc. What's missing is an equally smooth connection to SpeedGrade. I really like SpeedGrade, too... but the round-tripping is clunky right now. I'm sure Adobe will Adobe-ize it, but right now it feels like Apple Color in FCS.
I haven't learned Resolve Lite because, frankly, I want to stick with Adobe. If my hotkeys, GUI cues, etc. can all be the same when I have a quick turn around of projects at work... hey, I'll take that over almost anything. It's not fanboyism or loyalty or anything like that—it's about keeping things seamless, fast and easy to move between.
Even a few years ago, going between FCP or Avid and AE slowed me down, because it was difficult to shift my mind between hotkeys.
The realities of media nowadays it's better to be as software and platform agnostic as possible. Not everything advances at the same place. And then there are the odd missteps that throw everyone for a loop.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't have your own preferences.
Speedgrade is still very new and it will become very intuitive and improve immensely. I couldn't tell you that timeline though
March 15, 2013 at 9:37AM, Edited September 4, 11:21AM
I agree. I am using Resolve for all my color needs right now, and the integration with Premiere (which when you think about it, there is none) is better than the integration with SpeedGrade. I would love to see SG brought into the DynamicLink family. Why can't I open a sequence in SG, grade and correct it, and have it linked back to Premiere so that I can dynamically color correct?
That would also solve another problem I have with color grading: it takes up a lot of space. I usually end up with 2-3 versions of each clip as it moves through the production workflow. With resolutions and file sizes continually increasing, Adobe needs to find a better way to non-destructively color correct. If they could use XMP data for color correction (similar to Lightroom) and have Premiere do the final render it would give us all greater edibility and less storage space occupied.
I'm and Adobe fan, but ultimately I will use whatever tool is best for the job. For color, right now that is DaVinci.
March 15, 2013 at 11:32AM, Edited September 4, 11:21AM
Guys, feel free to make feature requests here: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
Kevin Monahan
Social Support Lead, DV Products
March 18, 2013 at 10:46PM, Edited September 4, 11:21AM
I would love to see them come out with a controller application of their own (Like controller+). Also one that would work with speed grade rather than spending thousands on a controller board. I completely agree with integrating some sort of dynamic link to speed grade
Zachary Murray
You can make a feature request for control surface support: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
I just want a split and unlink shortcut key in Premiere Pro... :/
Antony Alvarez
Do you mean a shortcut for linking and unlinking clips within the timeline? Because you can definitely map your keyboard to do that.
You can. "G" will unlink. Coming from Vegas, I remapped "Add Edit" from CTRL + K to "S". It will now split any tracks that are selected
Most of my projects have extensive use of VFX and I don't use AE, I end up having to render plates clip per clip from my timeline to use in my 3d and compositing packages, then I have to re import back into my timeline the vfx rendered plates, I'd love Premiere to have it done in a easier way, just like The Foundry Hiero does.
What's software are you using? ThanKs.
Bellina mikael
Maya and Nuke
Tell us how you want it to work here: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
Adobe missed the boat BIG TIME not buying out cineform. To let them be snapped up by go pro who lets face it, until now have no real use for the codec, was the biggest f-up this century. But maybe they have something else up their sleeve?
What they REALLY need to fix is the completely broken multicam workflow. Currently there is no way to flatten a multicam timeline or export it as a readable XML meaning you can't use it in speed grade, resolve or even after effects. FCP7 had this, avid has it as well but Premier Pro does not and neither does FCPX.
I'm agree with you the multicam is a bit weird if you want to use IT with after effect. It exports In after effect all the média and not only the part you sélect.
And I want something more efficient between the multi camera monitor and the timeline.
You have to click inside the multi monitor and click play because if you do In the timeline all the camera won't play. IT saves some power but lot of Time wasted to switch between the multi camera monitor and the timeline.
And is there a way to improve the performance In not using proxy media.
If you want a better intermediate codec and improved multi cam workflow, let us know the particulars here: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
Ugh, please no Avid Media Composer X.
If Avid does decide to go in that direction, they'll really have to make sure that the new product is still appealing to current Avid editors. That's absolutely key, in my opinion. I'm sure both Avid and Adobe learned exactly what not to do with their software releases from Final Cut though. I'm also fairly confident that we won't see another fiasco like that again, especially not from a company like Avid which is wholeheartedly devoted to their professional users.
"If Avid does decide to go in that direction, they’ll really have to make sure that the new product is still appealing to current Avid editors." This is especially true, since Avid is one of the few platforms with people who have been sincerely using it for decades. There are some VERY old school editors using it, and they would not like any drastic change.
What I want from Adobe:
New pro codec. YES! great idea.
After effects shortcut customization. after effects is still locked into its archaic shortcuts. its not a stand alone product anymore, its very integrated. as such, it needs to be allowed to be customized to the same keys as other software, namely premiere.
premiere media broswer that understands the sub-folder organization that modern cameras do when they record video. as it stands, media broswer chokes up on all the other files / metadata that the camera records to the card.
functioning premiere media manager? literally the premiere one does not work at all. three hours of "copying your files over" and then error. useless.
one-click online / offline, proxy editing. its great that premiere can edit native avc, but 14 layers of avc? nope. Proxy editing should not be abandoned. make a way for us to easily toggle back and forth, online / offline, to maximize performance.
I say ditch speedgrade altogether. Integrate it right into premiere. the idea of "going back and forth" between edit system and color correction is outdated. find an intelligent way to do this in premiere. so you can go back and forth between editing and CC with ease.
Integrated Speedgrade would be fantastic indeed.
hansd
I completely agree about the media browser not knowing what's going on with sub-folders and metadata. That absolutely drives me up a wall, and it would be great for Adobe to fix those issues as soon as possible.
Also, I like the idea of integrating Speedgrade into Premiere. It would very easily solve the integration issues, and it would push Premiere's already strong color tools even further. I like that idea a lot.
Just curious; What formats do you have difficulties with? I have lots of different material, and have not encountered any problems. I just want to know stuff. :-)
Jarle Leirpoll
I wholeheartedly agree on the Project Manager. That actually needs to become a piece of usable software. For one, Adobe does not copy over any dynamically linked Ae Comps upon archiving. If you don't think about that, you can easily end up with major holes in your archived projects.
And, let's not forget the Titler. If they can only make it remember it's position. Plus - ability to export to .srt or .sub format would be great, so you can actually use it as a subtitling tool.
Richard van den...
Being able to do a bit more in Premiere of what currently has to be done in AE would be v helpful, like simple compositing, masking, decent titling. These you can either do properly in AE which entails a lot of faff going back and forth (and this is sold as a virtue - "round tripping", yeah right), or do badly in PPro.
Similarly you can do all sorts of great stuff in AE, but forget about having scopes! And how about being able to play a comp contain one clip in real time? No - can't be done?
So you get two apps that are mostly brilliant with just enough crapness to each to make most jobs just that little bit annoying, so you go into it knowing it should be dead simple but that in reality it's going to be a pain in the arse sooner or later.
It's like having two cars. Both are perfect but one has no air con and the other has no heater. So for any journey over a certain duration you have to tow one behind the other and swap as the weather changes. Not the most elegant analogy, I know.
Graham Kay
That's a fantastic analogy haha!
I too like the analogy and often find myself thinking the same thing... Smoke is taking this route on the higher end and I'd love to see AE and Premiere Pro merge, especially now that everyone buys the bundles or Creative Cloud subscription so there's really not much money to be made by selling them separately...
Ryan Koo
No. Merging Premiere and After Effects would be bad.
Using the car analogy, Premiere is a sports car, it's about speed and maneuverability. Get to your destination fast. After Effects is a rugged pick up, designed for heavy lifting.
If you merge the two, you get more of a mess. After Effects users can typically have multiple nested comps with dozens of layers each. Throw in effects, expressions and 3d layers, and you can really slow down even a fast machine.
I've seen how badly this can turn out in Final Cut Pro with some users who decided to do everything including effects in it.
I think it would be better for Adobe to create a unified plug in architecture, so that Premiere and After Effects uses essentially the same plug ins. It could be like how Final Cut X uses Motion for effects generation.
Merging the two will just become a more awkward beast that won't benefit anyone.
Smoke was designed with client interaction in mind, and was more hardware integrated like Flame.
Perfect analogy for Premiere & AE. I'd like to see Speedgrade and Premiere merge instead of roundtripping. That will give Premiere a huge advantage over other most other NLE's.
At the very least, instead of merging the two programs, which can be potentially very difficult to do, if Speedgrade can simply open up a pproj and write to it, that will be more than sufficient!
Ditching SpeedGrade and having it integrated into Premiere is fine for those who work alone, but not in a collaborative environment.
Adobe needs to bring core features of SpeedGrade into Premiere, so do as much as possible in Premiere. For those times you need to go into Speedgrade, any color settings already applied will carry over.
It's time Adobe created a unified plugin architecture, so effects in Premiere, SpeedGrade and AE are the same.
"Ditching SpeedGrade and having it integrated into Premiere is fine for those who work alone, but not in a collaborative environment."
Why? If the colorist could open Premiere, choose the Color Correction workspace, and just use the grading tools - then what would be so horribly bad about that?
If you want us to develop an intermediate codec or have better interoperation with existing ones, customizable keyboard shortcuts in After Effects, better native camera support, a better media manager, proxy editing, and better SpeedGrade integration, let us know: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
Sorry you had trouble with the Project Manager. In the future, please bring your problems to the forum: http://forums.adobe.com/community/premiere/premierepro_current
Better Premiere to Speedgrade workflow.
Yes, we all want that. Vote for it here: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
Great article Robert, I find myself agreeing with your thoughts; I believe that Avid is a bit more dependent on what Adobe does, than it can rely on itself. If Avid doesn't do an overhaul and stays true to its current workings, then eventually it might fade, as more Adobe users find their way into the industry. Lets face it, Avid works and plays like a 10 year old software. However, if they do decide to have a makeover, then a lot of people who love Avid will be pissed about the change (Some people have a problem with technological advancement in this industry).
So I believe that if Adobe really pushes themselves forward to show why they can be the most high-end professional tool for editing - Both in aggressive marketing and in tech, then Avid may be in deep trouble.
avid: total agreement. it has improved a lot, but still seems archaic in many respects.
adobe: huh? you ask for ANOTHER codec? i get what you are saying re. NLE + preferred codec working together to increase speed, but it would have to be the mother of all codecs to have me welcome yet another to the fold.
speedgrade v. resolve: yes to the drunken skater, yes resolve kills, yes improve the roundtripping, yes, yes.
Lend your voice to product improvement here: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish We read all feature requests, swear!
I can't believe you're recommending that Adobe comes up with a proprietary codec! That is exactly what we don't want them to do! I am happy that Adobe's recent formats have most been focused on being open source. If they could come up with an open source codec that beats ProRes 4444, I'd be much more excited about that.
Harry Pray IV
Cinema DNG is open source, but Adobe barely supports that. There were very enthusiastic when they introduced it a few years ago.
They do need a mastering codec, it's not about being proprietary, it's about optimizing their software and hardware advantages.
Adobe will be always patching problems if updates of ProRes and DNxHD break something.
I'd like to see Adobe announce OpenCL for AMD hardware outside of the two MBP models it supports. I have a Windows 7 workstation that I use CS6 on, right now it has an AMD graphics card so no OpenCL in my Mercury Playback Engine, If Adobe and AMD don't come up with something my new graphics card will be Nvidia.
Ashley Hakker
OpenCL performance (on Mac or PC) will not likely come close to the performance of CUDA architecture.
In the future, it's possible that ATI cards could be better.
It makes sense for Adobe not be tied to one brand.
Make your request for more supported GPUs: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
I'd be down with more supported GPUs!
I use adobe and It's good but the performance are not enough... I've got a gtx 680 and It's almost never use... You still have to do lot of render... Render In background with the graphic card would be great like fcpx? But something which doesn't slow down the Pc.
I would like to see all the effect with gpu accélération. Some effect like stabilization don't use all the core and take a while...
So I want more speeeeeedddd.
I still use color correction inside Pp because I don't like the workflow with speedgrade so yes a big improvment on this part would je great.
+100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Make all your requests known to us here: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
I know it's not a priority for everyone, but some hotkey advances with Adobe Prelude would be killer for me. I love how they built it to be keyboard driven for the sake of speed, but when transcribing, I need a handful of new hotkeys to make it even faster.
Great idea, David. We will read your feature requests here: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
Oh, and Adobe needs to not kill off support for the BMD camera codec. That camera might seriously take off in the next few years, and PP would be left behind due to just not supporting a codec. That would be a huge bummer for them.
It's supported over many of our products, and you can use it right now in SpeedGrade, After Effects, and more if RAW plug-ins are installed. It is not a great codec to edit with in Premiere Pro, however. You would need some very beefy hardware to deal with files like that in editorial, however, feel free to make your request: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
There's a growing but silent base of pros, self included, who have really gotten to like what FCP X has to offer. I'd be happy to switch to Premiere (mostly for the realtime AE functionality) if it had something resembling the dynamic timeline or the intuitive event/asset management workflow of X.
Swested
There are definitely quite a few folks out there who love the features in FCPX, and it's not a stretch to say that Adobe is watching very carefully. My guess is that some of those revolutionary features (or something very close to them) will show up in CS7. As much as I was irritated by FCPX to begin with, I really do think that it will help facilitate the pushing of our NLE's into a completely new direction. And that's a great thing, in my opinion.
Agreed. X has come a long way since that messy 10.0.0 release. And if its successful evolution pushes Adobe and Avid to finally innovate with their admittedly ancient NLE platforms, then it's beneficial all-around.
I would argue many already are. See: hover scrub, metadata, etc.
We listen to all reasonable requests. Make yours here: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
Nothing is outlandish, IMHO.
I want Creative Cloud to offer render farm solutions for Ae. Upload your project file + footage to the cloud and download a rendered version a few hours later, w/o need to hog resources on your local system. But that would require CC space to grow beyond the 20GB they currently offer. More like 1Tb-ish for video Pros.
Since so many in the industry currently depend on Quicktime and ProRes, since I'm on PC, I want to be able to write to that format (not just read it). Or, indeed, a new codec altogether. The arrival of 4K might just be their way in. On the other hand, I want PPro to continue to handle all codecs, because that's one of it's key advantages. Not having to transcode is a huge time and disc space saver.
Furthermore, I want PPro and its effects to be agnostic to dimensions of either footage or sequences. Right now, Warp Stabilizer requires the footage to match the sequence, which is cumbersome if you're creating a film aspect ratio (2.35 to 1) sequence with 1080p footage. Currently, once created, you can't change the dimensions of a given sequence.
Better SpeedGrade integration - agreed. Have not had a serious look at the programme.
Also, I want better round tripping between Audition and PPro. Create a mix in Audition and be able to toggle back and forth, just like the brilliance between Ae and PPro.
I've actually had a ton of success going back and forth between Premiere and Audition. You can right click on your piece of audio, send it to Audition, make your changes, then hit save. The audio is automatically replaced and updated in your timeline. It's never failed me once.
I would be thrilled, however, if they could incorporate some kind of batch processing for audio within Audition, because in the past I've had to send each individual clip to Audition, apply some presets (generally noise reduction, EQ, that kind of thing) and send them individually to Premiere. If I could just select all of the sound files, then select my desired presets and let it go, that would be a magnificent time saver.
You can kind of do that by recording a favorite for the settings that you want. You still have to send each clip from PP to Audition, but once there you can batch process all the clips with your favorite, then save all. Head back to Premiere and voila! your audio is golden.
Sure you can roundtrip between PPro and Au, but it's not dynamic. Every time you click the Open in Audition feature, a new clip is created. I want to have just a single link open which can be instantly updated just like between PPro and Ae.
That'd be quite awesome, but frankly I don't think we're there yet in terms of broadband capacity (at least in the US). One can hope and pray for Google fiber lines, though...
Adobe has never been great with distributed rendering. The other problem is that using a render farm only works well with image sequences.
One of the advantages of Apple creating ProRes has been the ability to use distributed rendering.
Adobe will definitely need their own mastering codec to be able to do that. I don't know how much of a priority Adobe will give it.
I like your render farm over the Creative Cloud idea. Submit it here: http;//www.adobe.com/go/wish
I would like to see Prelude use CUDA for better previewing of AVCHD and also transcode direct into a premiere pro project that acts like Log and Transfer. SpeedGrade needs external monitoring to be taken seriously as a grading tool. Prelude is a great application that I don't think people use very often or understand fully what it can do.
Erik Naso
YES. It's absurd (in my opinion) that our Black Magic monitoring devices are supported by AE, Premiere Pro, etc.... but not on SpeedGrade. They need to fix that asap.
Keep in mind that SpeedGrade came in pretty late to the game. We know that users want better monitoring support, but be sure to add your voice: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
I haven't been able to work with Prelude. I much preferred OnLocation. I found it very easy to log and organize footage, but I haven't been able to grasp Prelude yet. Any tips for finding an easy workflow?
Joel, here's some videos to help you get started: http://tv.adobe.com/product/prelude/
Hi Erik, Sorry you aren't finding everything you need in Prelude. Let us know all your requests here: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
I normally use PP and AE, but have been playing with a relatively new piece of software called Hitfilm Ultimate. While still a little on the primitive side, the thought behind it is more like Smoke. It is a NLE that also has the ability to create composite shots and integrate them into the main timeline AND play them back in real time. It looks like its going to take some time for it to mature, but the potential is there.
Uh... " a breeze to shoot back and forth between Premiere, After Effects". Well, you can go easily from P to AE, but getting back? You'll just get one solid file, certainly not the project you had before.
You know what I do? I duplicate the clip before sending it to After Effects so I always have a copy of my original clip in line in case I need to start from scratch.
I'm still learning to make the most of PP 6.0. I am loving the adjustment layers. I do my colour grading on one layer. All clips below it are affected and I can easily copy and paste.
If I were really asking for the moon, I would like to have a PluralEyes-type feature in PP.
I would also like the blade tool to have a sort of snapping effect so that I know it has really snapped, the way FCP 7 does.
I'm not sure that it needs its own codec if it's able to handle whatever comes out of all the major cameras.
Yeah the blade tool should snap ala FCP7. Super annoying. You should also be able to sort clips by name. I can't tell you how many times I've imported files and then had to delete them because they were in reverse chronological order or worse not in any sort of order. I hate that you can't have a real time monitor of multicam on a second monitor and does hitting that record button really need to be necessary ?
Mike Hendzel
Glad you love the Adjustment Layers, me too! If you want a built in "Plural Eyes" style feature and snappier snapping, let us know: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
Avid's customer support is horrible, they make Adobe's look wonderful by comparison.
moebius22
Brilliant idea, an industry standard alternative to ProRes and DNxHD will be great! Cineform, while great, isn't widely adopted. It's maddening not being able to use ProRes on both Mac & PC -it's the year 2013 and we're still having issues like this?? Yes, I know it's possible encode Prores on PC if you try hard enough, but it's not nearly as easy as it should be. It'll be even better if Adobe creates an open industry standard rather than a proprietary one. Similar to what they've done with camera raw formats and the DNG format. They certainly have the influence to encourage wide spread adoption, especially if implemented well.
To add a bit, our studio is Mac based and we archive our projects as a ProRes 4444 master. However, it will be nice to be able to have a similar format that isn't platform specific, has long term longevity, has industry wide adoption, and doesn't require a license to use!
That is a fantastic idea. The industry really is starving for a new standard, and one that's truly platform agnostic.
All great ideas, please add your voice: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
The single, most important feature editors REALLY need for Premiere, is the ability to remap the same shortcut across various keys or combinations. It's EXTREMELY irritating. They have to start thinking about ergonomics!! I usually edit and move around an editing program with a single hand on the keyboard, without ever having to reach for the mouse. Avid can do it, so can FCP (don't know about X). What's the point of being able to remap keys, if they're not flexible about it. Just plain stupid and inefficient. Also, they need to add a keyboard design when mapping the keys (in conjuction with the clunky text interface). I mean, it's all good once you've designed your new remapped keyboard, but doing so is BY NO MEANS as fast as it is with Avid or FCP.
Brandon_07
I couldn't agree with this more. It's frustrating as hell trying to map keys in Premiere, and I've had to do it a bunch of times because, for some reason, it's insanely difficult to get different versions of the program on different machines to read the .kys file that stores your keyboard settings. It's one of those things that's so easy in both Avid and Final Cut too, so it doesn't make sense that it's such a pain in Premiere.
Robert, I improved the Help document that tells you how to transport your .kys file to another computer. Check it out here: http://adobe.ly/WAfgCZ
I seem to remember there is a "Use Final Cut Pro" scheme feature in Edit>Preferences> Keyboard Shortcut>... strange.
Brendon, yes, we definitely hear the request for a customizable, mappable, keyboard with drag and drop control. Feel free to add your voice for this request here: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
Mapping the same command over different keys? I'm trying to think of an example where I have done that in the past, but nothing comes to mind. However, you can make a request for that too.
Digital noise reduction without having to use a third party plugin would be great, I think it is something very essential and always wander why it is not part of the standard package (and not requested more frequently...)
Make a request here: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
And one more thing adobe. Why do I have to add my video card to a text file to get pp to support open cl. It's annoying that the software can support a whole mess of cards and all it takes is adding 10 stinking characters to a text file to unlock a better rendering experience. C'mon Adobe.
While we'd like to, it is difficult to support every video card under the sun. That said, you can suggest more GPUs for us to test out: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
Keep in mind minimum requirements for any GPU running the Mercury Playback Engine.
Avid is crap. Too expensive and not intuitive at all.
It is too expensive but learn how to use it properly and it's the most pleasant free flowing editing experience there is. To just say it's crap is niave.
I agree, Avid is not an easy piece of software to learn, and it requires a completely different frame of mind than the other NLE's, but once you get into it, it's probably the fastest, most precise editing software out there.
I think that's the problem. Avid does some things very well like the Composer Window, but I find my self having to go through additional steps to getting done when other NLEs don't require this.
I'll put in the time because the market where I work uses it, but I see many students choosing PP over Avid. Like I said before, if Avid wants wider adoption independent users like me, they really need to step up their customer support. When something goes wrong with the software, it's really a pain to get the help you need.
That is more a statement about your abilities than the software.
You don't have to like using it, but you have to respect the fact that it's being used everywhere by a lot of people on lots of high profile projects.
I don't agree with the assertion that Adobe needs a proprietary codec... part of the reason the Premiere Pro CS6 and After Effects utilize hardware playback so well is that they use the native video element from the two Operating Systems. (MS-DV playback on Windows) and (Quicktime MOV on Mac)... I have my own custom intermediary editing settings that use the native support for P2 playback for HD footage... which makes DSLR footage fast when you have the recommended nvidia hardware. Building an Editing system around a proprietary codecs would make P.Pro less versatile... besides why waste money on a proprietary codec when they could us On2 VP8 from Google for Free?
How does that P2 custom setting work - sounds like something I should try?
What about some proper support for raw DNG files? We're already seeing the beginning of a new era of raw availability with the BMCC, D16 and the Kinefinity offerings yet the process of getting DNGs into Premiere (despite being their own codec) or just about any NLE is far more time-consuming and processor-intensive than it should be. Surely this can't be a difficult fix?
Adobe created Cinema DNG, but seemed to have lost interest lately. They made it open source, but haven't has as much enthusiasm like when they first introduced it.
Guys, here's the state of Cinema DNG. http://blogs.adobe.com/aftereffects/2012/09/cinemadng-in-after-effects-c...
Cinema DNG is not a codec you'd want to edit with in Premiere Pro, IMHO, however, make a request if you like: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
1. Proxy editing a la After Effects - In AE we can go in and select low-res files (even stills) for each clip. But there's no way to do anything like that in Premiere. Well, ok, you can trick Adobe with multiple folders and renaming folder-names. But it's not exactly intuitive.
2. A real noise-reduction tool without any need for third party solutions. One of the biggest reasons for me to not get into speedgrade is that I usually need to denoise footage. I do this with Neat in AE, and while there I see very little reason to not slap on Colorista II while I'm at it. And speedgrade just feels superflous. I would absolutely LOVE it if prelude could use Neat or the like so I can actually use it to batch-process the files like I want to.
3. EDL-viewer in AE. Just to watch the comp in it's context without having to switch and dynamic link.
4. File effects - With this I mean effects that I can apply on files without having them tied to a single sequence.
jmalmsten
1. Proxy - I think this will only increase in need as RAW files become more common for editors. I certainly second this idea.
2. This is an interesting idea I haven't considered. I suppose with all the DSLR/large sensor cameras out there, and people's increased desire to shoot in low-light, this is something that would be good. I like this idea. It would be great if Adobe just bought out an already-functioning option (like Neat) instead of building there own, kind of like they did with Automatic Duck for CS6. I would also love if Prelude did something like this as a batch process... and while we're dreaming, it would be cool if they also snatched up FilmConvert and gave you the option to apply that in Prelude.
You can make a feature request for these items: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
I'd like to see the addition of handles to dynamic linked videos being sent to AE. Having to pull the shot out of the timeline to add handles to facilitate a cross fade is very irritating.
Also, and this just might be me, but have the cursor not try to be so freaking helpful all the time. Leads to having to zoom in multiple times just to select an effect is very time consuming. They're trying to get it to do too much simultaneously and it often leads to it doing none of it well.
Regarding workflow with Dynamic Link: Fair enough. You do need to add handles but only if you are creating a transition in and/or out of the dynamic link comp. The same is true for nested sequences. I'm sorry you're annoyed by the tools, at the proper zoom level, they behave better. Please make your feature requests, though: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
This article hits Avid pretty hard and shouldn't. Avid has stood by its users since the start. I don't think they need to mess around with the interface. A lot of complaints people have with Premiere are not even issues in Avid. And Avid won't go away. With FCP gone, there are more licenses for Avid than before. Why? It'll run on PCS and Macs, a boon for schools and small production houses.
As an 10-year Avid user and former user of Premiere and FCP, I prefer the way Avid is now. I think that Avid is the best at rendering on the fly than the other 2 products, especially Adobe. Adobe is trying to push a realtime, on-the-flying paradigm which is the wrong way to go, burdening the systems.
Codecs in cameras are going to keep changing; it only makes sense to transcode into the editing system's codec; to rely on AMA is a recipe for disaster as well as problems throughout the edit. What happens when RAW truly hits? Expecting a perfect RAW workflow from camera-to-timeline-to-output will take some time until computer catch up. History is repeating itself: the Red Rocket is the current Adrenaline box.
Expecting that type of workflow now with all these codecs is ludicrous. How hard it is really to transcode into the Avid codec and edit? Premiere is a joke because it doesn't do this. But it does plug into After Effects really well.
Until the BMCC and DBolex appear, challenging the workflow of every editing system, we'll never really know what the future holds. The next version of the Mac Pro will be a bigger indication of performance we can expect moving forward.
Sathya Vijayendran
Believe me, I actually really love how Avid is set up, and I love how it works, but the fact that they're in some serious financial trouble in regards to their software department is undeniable at this point. I only threw an opinion out there to see what other people thought on the matter.
Thanks for the article and your response. Hopefully Avid makes a splash at NAB and implements your ideas.
Robert, Avid makes most of their revenue from hardware, not software. I doubt much of anything in Media Composer will change that. I've even read some analysts say the MC price drops are not only pointless, but hurting their revenue further. They need to drive Isis sales for example and, apparently, it's not.
As a side note, I believe Adobe may have said they're dropping .5 upgrades. I don't doubt another big upgrade but I think it'll be v7.
I suspect FCPX will have a major update around NAB.
Don't underestimate EditShare who will be previewing Lightworks for Mac. My hunch is that their long term goal is to position Lightworks and EditShare as a competitor to Avid's MC/Isis. I imagine having a free NLE that at one time held some measure of "Hollywood" support, getting it into more hands than MC, is part of their marketing and market share objective.
Craig Seeman
If some advancements were made to integrate AE and Premeire in a greater way - that would get me excited.
That said, in looking forward as a one-man-band for much of my work - I'm very hooked into Adobe. Even if Avid came out with a glorious update to their interface (upon which I have edited hundreds of TV programs) - I wouldn't make the jump. I'm not a fan of the Avid workflow. Adobe makes more sense to my brain. Yes Avid works well for many, but I always found it a chore rather than a pleasure to use. But, since I was offline editing for a Symphony suite, I had no ther option.
With the introduction of the Creative Cloud, I would be hard pressed to jump ship to another application, when for my 50 bucks or so a month, I can always have Adobe's latest. Creative Cloud is genius - it stops many pirates and gets people hooked into the upgrades, guarantees Adobe a steady income, is less expensive for the production companies etc. -Adobe may not be in the top level editing houses, but they have continued to innovate, improve and are now building a larger user base with steady cash flow coming in - I suspect they'll continue jumping ahead. We do, however need Avid and FCP to stick around as competition spurs innovation.
Lane, I'd be curious to hear how you would like to improve dynamic link between Premiere Pro and After Effects. Leave your feedback here: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
Is anyone else intensely annoyed by the lack of pitch correction when fastforwarding (with JKL) in Premiere? I spend a lot of time listening to interviews at double-speed in FCP 7, and now that I've just switched to Premiere for a project, the chipmunk voices are really getting to me... Is there a plugin to deal with this? (And I do know about Shift-L to get smaller increments of speed increase, but that still isn't satisfying to me.) I love Premiere in many ways, but this is something I'm not sure I'll ever get used to.
In premiere pro on Mac you have the keyboard shortcut preset like in FCP7 or MC6.5
It doesn't bother me, but it drives my wife crazy when she edits. She definitely wants pitch correction as an option in CS7.
Hi Ben, regarding pitch, it's exactly how Media Composer treats it. However, if you want FCP style pitch as you JKL, you can make a feature request: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish That said, I use the Shift key and tap J or L 4 or 5 times to hear FCP style pitch. You can also slow down the speed by pressing Shift J 3-6 times when going forward or Shift L 3-6 times when moving backwards. Kind of like a variable shuttle.
I hate pitch correction in FFWD through interviews. I want to hear every word, not skip a bunch of them so that the blips I hear sounds lower in tone.
Asside from Speedgrade, Premiere would kill to do background rendering, and Render farm support. Speedgrade also needs to support more I/O Cards
David Sharp
Please make your feature requests: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
Adobe has been promising Speedgrade Mac support for output to a calibrated monitors since NAB 2012.
It never happened despite acknowledging that such was recognized as a very important need.
Judging grading on a calibrated monitor is a BASIC requirement of grading. But here we are a year later and no solution despite the promises.
Moved on to Resolve. Too slow a response from Adobe.
Love the rest of the Suite though - CS6 is fabulous. Said goodbye to FCP7 long ago.
i love adobe since i got my first PC, in my opinion if Adobe upgrade their software would be nice if an online editing software (may be like wirecast - w/wo streaming capable) for online editing use(directly to Adobe premiere timeline just like Media 100). this is really helpful for some users....i thinks its better if the company got billion users event they are small fish...compare to the only one whale
hannreuhieck
Along those lines, check out this video: http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adobe-anywhere/introducing-adobe-anywhere-for-...
Being a small freelancer that has bought into the creative cloud, I can say that adobe will be getting my dollars for a long time to come. What I would really like to see are a few more after effects features come into premiere such as 3d camera tracking or make the dynamic link a little easier to use. I feel that with the dynamic link, you could really have a complete hybrid program that allows you to simply switch workspaces to add effects to a premiere timeline.
The number one thing I feel is lacking is an effective colour correction solution. The three way colour corrector is improved, but the secondaries still suck. I find that I am usually building several layers with masks, or eventually going to AE to do simple colour work. An interface such as colorista would put me in absolute colour heaven with Adobe.
Alex Campbell
Alex, please make your requests, we read them all: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
I can't find the website now, but I remember looking up how much of Avid's profits come from Media Composer/Symphony. It's about a third. Yes these are important products, but it's not their only source of revenue. ProTools is still killing it and every news division I know has an Interplay/ISIS. Avid doesn't have the money/engineers that Adobe and Apple do. Major rewrites take loads of time and money. But because they are now at 64bit you will see a lot of small changes that make a big difference. I would expect them to continue to "steal code" from Protools (ala SmartTool) and continue to give us audio improvements. They know they are the only solution for multiuser and 3D, so they may double down on that. They know Symphony's color corrector needs an update, but with limited resources you might see more integration with Baselight.
Sam Zimman
One of the reasons and there are many, that Ileft AVID and moved to PP CS6 is the Ken Burns effect in avid took so many clicks. Premiere Pro is super simple to move a picture or even multiple video clips with just a couple of clicks.
I do wish that premiere pro would indicate end of clip in the record monitor for those of us that prefer editing with keyboard short cuts as apposed to dragging and dropping.
Final Cut and Avid both let you know when you are at the end of a clip or at the beginning of a new one.
Sean Nipper
I gotta say, major props to Adobe for being involved with forums, including the comments here. I've been impressed with how active staff are on CreativeCow, and of course on the Adobe forums... but commenting here and replying to a lot of these gripes/requests definitely won them some points from me.
How great is it that a representative from Adobe is taking the time to address our concerns here? While I don't expect all of our issues to be solved overnight, and I realize they probably have a huge list of things to fix/improve, it's cool to see that at least one of these companies is paying attention.
Derik Savage
Agreed, Derik! Thanks for stopping by, Kevin.
No problem, guys. Glad to be here. I am taking notes on all your requests too, BTW.
Since jumping ship from FCP7 the one thing I miss is the simple ability to arrange the imported clips from my DSLR in chronological order. I know there is a work around the convenienceof the 'Arrange' option would be great.
I'm not an editor, but I run a small production devision for start up company, and according to my editing team, the only thing that stops us from switching to Premeire is that it currently doesn't have the ability to open more than one project at a time. This still a restriction for the platform?
You can't have more than one project open, but you can import one project (or just selected sequences from it) into another. That should take care of most needs for working on several projects at once? I do it often.
I would definitely NOT like to see Adobe develop a proprietary codec. I remember the difficulty I had trying to work on footage with my Windows system that had been touched by a Mac (stupid Apple Intermediate Codec!). The last thing we need is footage locked in to an application and unusable without it.
Damian T. Lloyd
I would REALLY love it if Adobe could fix whatever it is in Premiere Pro that produces "End of File" errors in clips once they get to Encore. Premiere Pro is great, I love it and am certainly going to keep working with it but these End of File errors are killing me. For the love of all that is holey could Adobe PLEASE fix them. They occur in Encore for no adequately explained reason due to something that is put into the clips that are exported from Premiere Pro. Encore does not identify which clip, let alone where in the clip, the error occurs so that you can go back to Premier Pro and fix it. I literally spend days just trying to find which clip is producing the error in Encore, days that I could have spent editing, so I can fix the problem and get the end product out to customers. In every forum dealing with Adobe software there are people trying to find solutions to the problem that apparently has been around since CS2. There are two problems going on I suspect, which is what makes it difficult, the fact that Encore is so sensitive that it has this problem with clips out of Premier Pro even though EVERYTHING else can play them, and the fact that something in Premiere Pro is so incompatible with how Encore needs things to be that these errors appear in the files in the first place.
Haydn Allbutt
I agree it should work, but why do you export files in the first place? Have you tried File > Adobe Dynamic Link > Send to Encore?
Hopefully this responds correctly, pressing reply just took me to the "Leave a comment" window. To answer your question Jarle, I work with exported files from Premiere Pro rather than dynamically linking because for several reasons:
1) There is two of us working on the editing at once, one of us works on the videos in Premiere Pro, exports them and the other then authors the DVDs with those clips while the first is editing the next DVD worth of clips; we are parallel processing in other words
2) We have also specialised in the software, I am our Encore specialist and my wife is our Premier Pro specialist - so we tend to divide our labour that way rather than both working on separate discs at once
3) One of our computers is a lot more powerful (and therefore faster) than the other, so we aim to do the rendering step on that computer
If Avid can revisit a the The dv Express pro option with Media composer offering a functional entry level 1080 HD editing @ $1200.00 mark. With the option to upgrade features as you need them like a modular Lego made to order. That way people can get in with Avid when they are just starting out and upgrade as they need too or can afford along the way.
I have been editing with PP since the CS4 version and am now using CS6. At this point I would not consider using anything else as I have my workflow nailed down and it functions nearly seamlessly especially between PS, AE and Encore despite the occasional hiccup. Now to Speedgrade, what a great tool for color grading, at least I was amazed, however taking the results of it and getting it back into PP is so painful that I can not really integrate it into my present workflow without adding a lot of additional time and HDD space, which is most unfortunate really. It would be a great boon if the program was able to work within PP like a plug-in without all the hassles. To me it was released too early and not integrated very well like AE, or especially PS. I guess I should be writing this to Adobe, whose tutorials make it seem so easy but it has not been so in my experience. Maybe I should consider something from Red Giant...
Yazis
Pr needs to up the game when it comes to I/O. I have a Black Magic Studio Pro and have endless preview quality problems. This was reported when CS6 came out and nothing has been done (and adobe admitted that they knew about the issue). I also agree that speedgrade needs to be more user friendly, It takes for ever to work on a big project..
WOW NOBODY MENTION HOW YOU CAN'T EDIT CinemaDNG FILES On adobe or avid .. That a must
I second that. That needs to change pronto! There's no good excuse for Premiere not to support DNG sequences. I would also like to be able to move in and out of camera RAW with image sequences on the timeline. Just like you can do with Red footage. In my opinion there's no better CC software and I'd like to be able to use it in a flexible manner. Also in AE.
Interesting article. As someone who has recently moved to AVID, it seems to be in a bit of a mess. There seems to be various ways to do simple tasks which obviously was implemented one way and overhauled but the old infrastructure not removed. This makes things very confusing for someone new coming into use a bit of software where there is no obvious right way to manage assets and export video. PP however really seem to have nailed it as late.
Sorry point being, I see AVID slim lining in the near future.
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Medieval and Modern Baltics - Private Tour
Estonia (Tallinn & Tartu) - Latvia (Riga & Kaunas) - Lithuania (Vilnius)
This Private Tour with car, driver and guide, takes you on a wonderful journey through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Along with over a millennium of history, there are remarkable contrasts between their Medieval pasts and the modern destinations they have now become, with plenty of scenic countryside in between. The major Baltic cities were some of the wealthiest and most important in medieval, Northern Europe - both Estonia and Latvia can boast a glorious Hanseatic and Livonian legacy, while Lithuania was a vital component of the biggest state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, for most of the 19th and 20th Centuries, interrupted only by the interwar period, they all became forgotten treasures, incorporated first into Imperial Russia, then the Soviet Union. Since regaining Independence in the early 1990’s, they have recovered their past glories and seats on maps of today’s Eastern Europe.
Day 1 Tallinn Arrival
Private transfer from Airport/Ferry Terminal to Hotel St. Petersbourg (or similar). 2 nights in a Superior Room.
Day 2 Tallinn
Your Old Town tour journeys over seven centuries back in time with medieval city walls and towers, the Upper Town with Toompea Castle and St. Mary’s Church, then the Lower Town. Visit the medieval Old Town Hall and Great Guild Hall, the historical home of the Great Guild - Tallinn’s most powerful medieval guild. Tour ends with a private visit to the Dominican Monastery. Lunch is at Restaurant Balthasar - delicious Estonian and international cuisine in the building of the medieval Town Hall Apoteek (Pharmacy), with views overlooking the Old Town Hall. Afternoon continuance through history to the Russian period and 18th Century, with a visit to Kadriorg Park and Kumu Art Museum (National Art Museum of Estonia). Dinner at Restaurant Gloria - Estonian haute cuisine is served at an exclusive restaurant, within a pre-war setting.
Day 3 Tallinn - Lahemaa - Tartu
Morning departure for Lahemaa National Park and visit to Palmse Manor, a memorial to the von Pahlen family, then to Sagadi - a beautiful 17th Century manor and house. Continue to the tranquil, romantic 16th Century Vihula Manor for a tour of the estate and a private visit to the Vodka Museum. Lunch at Restaurant La Boheme - traditional Estonian manor cuisine, enjoyed in the historic Ballroom of the Main Manor House, overlooking the estate’s beautiful park. From here, continue through scenic Northeast Estonian landscapes towards Tartu. Arrive at Hotel Antonius (or similar). 1 night in a Superior Room.
Day 4 Tartu - Cesis - Riga
Morning sightseeing visits the Old Town and the Main Building of Tartu University. Lunch at Restaurant Werner - refined Estonian cuisine, served in the favourite eatery of Tartu’s intellectual elite, including many famous writers and poets. Onwards through the rolling landscapes of Southern Estonia and Northern Latvia, to Cesis. Your Old Town tour sees the 13th Century St. John’s Church and the ruins of the Castle of the Livonian Order. The remainder of the day is spent on a scenic tour through Gauja National Park to the Latvian capital, Riga. Arrive at Hotel Grand Palace (or similar). 2 nights in a Deluxe Room.
Day 5 Riga
Sightseeing this morning sees the splendours of this wonderful city: Old Town with Riga Castle, St. Peter’s Church, Dome Cathedral, Three Brothers and Swedish Gate. You will also pay a private visit to the Small Guild House then taste the flavours of the city, with an invitation to a degustation of traditional Riga Black Balsam and Riga Chocolate. Lunch at Restaurant Muusu – a menu based on the contemporary European classics, while eclectic interpretations and seasonal accents, mix with fresh, local produce. Afternoon visit to the New Town, for a tour of the majestic Art Nouveau district. This includes a dedicated Museum with an apartment of very early 20th Century design, on display. Tour continues with a private backstage visit at the Latvian National Opera. Dinner at Restaurant Vincents – an exclusive venue offering exquisite, gourmet cuisine with a Latvian touch.
Day 6 Riga - Rundale - Kaunas
Today’s visit to Baroque-style Rundale Palace, sees the most magnificent palace in all of the Baltic States. Of particular interest are the Golden Hall (Throne Hall) and White Hall (Grand Ballroom), while behind the palace building, you will find a beautiful French garden. Traditional Latvian food is served at your private lunch, in the Coffee Chamber at Rundale Palace. The tour continues into Lithuania for a stop at the outstanding Hill of Crosses near Siauliai - one of the holiest sights of Catholic Lithuania. Continue towards Kaunas. Arrive at Hotel Daugirdas (or similar). 1 night in a Superior Room.
Day 7 Kaunas - Trakai - Vilnius
Your morning sightseeing of the Old Town includes the Medieval ruins of Kaunas Castle, the main square’s beautiful Baroque Old Town Hall, Kaunas Cathedral and House of Perkūnas. The tour ends with a visit to Ciurlionis Museum, commemorating Lithuania’s most famous painter and composer. Depart Kaunas and head towards the town of Trakai. Lunch at the Lake Stone Residence - traditional Lithuanian cuisine enjoyed at a cosy venue, located in a picturesque valley amid three beautiful lakes. One highlight here is your visit to Trakai Castle; a well preserved 15th Century castle, beautifully located on Lake Galves. Then it is only a short ride to the present-day Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. Arrival at Hotel Kempinski Cathedral Square (or similar). 2 nights in a Superior Room.
Day 8 Vilnius
Sightseeing this morning takes you through various centuries of Lithuanian history starting with sights related to its very early years: Gediminas Tower and the Lower Castle, (rebuilt for Lithuania’s millennial celebrations), Vilnius Cathedral and the Old Town, with the Gates of Dawn, Madonna of Vilnius, Old Town Hall and Old University, including a private visit to the University Library (1570). Lunch at elegant Restaurant Zuvine - Lithuanian seafood served within the 18th Century, neoclassical, Old Town Hall. Afternoon touring sees a later time in history and landmarks on the road to Independence, starting with a visit to the infamous KGB Museum, before the Soviet era TV Tower and Parliament Building, both of which were at the centre of dramatic events in January 1991. A visit to bohemian Uzupis District, a picturesque area of the city, where students, artists and free-spirited dreamers enjoy their own creative independence, concludes the day’s touring. Dinner at Restaurant Telegrafas – another elegant dining atmosphere with incredible European gastronomy. In a relaxed atmosphere overlooking beautiful Vilnius Cathedral Square, you will enjoy a subtle balance between history and modernity.
Day 9 Vilnius Departure
Following breakfast and check-out this morning, a private airport transfer concludes your tour.
Departures: daily, on request
Group size: Minimum 2 persons
Includes: Privately guided arrival transfer; 8 overnights including breakfast daily; 7 x 3-course lunches, 3 x 4-course Haute Cuisine dinners, degustation of Riga Black Balsam and Riga chocolate; all sightseeing tours and excursions with private car, driver and guide; entrance to Tallinn Old Town and Great Guild Halls, Dominican Monastery, Kadriorg Park, Kumu Art Museum, Palmse and Sagadi Manors, Vihula Manor Vodka Museum, Tartu Old Town Hall and University, St. John’s Church, Castle of the Livonian Order, Dome Cathedral, Small Guild House, Riga Art Nouveau Museum, Latvian National Opera, Rundale Palace, Kaunas Old Town Hall, Ciurlionis Museum, Trakai Castle, Vilnius Cathedral, Gates of Dawn, Old University Library and KGB Museum; privately guided transfers from Tallinn-Riga and Riga-Vilnius; portage at hotels; privately guided departure transfer.
Single AUD$ 16516.00
The prices shown are for 2019 departures.
Please note the price may vary according to your exact dates of travel.
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Moderna exercises option for an exclusive product license with Avacta Group plc
Cambridge, UK, 04 February 2019: Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), the developer of Affimer® biotherapeutics and reagents, is pleased to announce that ModernaTX, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) has exercised its option to enter into an exclusive licensing agreement with respect to certain Affimers against a potential therapeutic target that has been part of an ongoing research collaboration between the two companies.
In 2015, Avacta and Moderna entered into a collaboration, license and option agreement under which Moderna was granted exclusive access to Avacta’s Affimer technology for certain collaboration targets and the option to enter into exclusive license agreements on pre-agreed terms to further research, develop and commercialize Affimers selected by Moderna.
Under the terms of the agreement Avacta may receive undisclosed payments upon future clinical development milestones and royalties in connection with future product sales.
Dr Alastair Smith, Avacta Group Chief Executive Officer, commented: “I am delighted to report that Moderna has exercised its option to enter into this exclusive license agreement with respect to certain Affimer molecules that have been generated through our collaboration. This is further strong validation of the potential of the Affimer drug platform to generate differentiated therapeutic molecules for development. We will continue to support Moderna and their development objectives and I look forward to updating the market as and when key development milestones are met.”
Katie Odgaard
katie.odgaard@zymecommunications.com
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Tag Archives: tenure
Christian Convert in Bangladesh Falsely Accused of Theft
Posted on September 4, 2010 by particularkev
Muslims said to use mistaken identity to stop activities of Christian who refused to recant.
DHAKA, Bangladesh, August 27 (CDN) — A Christian convert from Islam was falsely arrested for cattle theft last weekend in a bid by influential Muslims to stop his Christian activities, area villagers said.
Day laborer Abul Hossen, 41, was arrested on Saturday (Aug. 21) for alleged cattle theft in Dubachari village in Nilphamari district, some 300 kilometers (180 miles) northwest of the capital, Dhaka.
Christian villagers told Compass that Hossen was the victim of “dirty tricks” by influential Muslims.
“There is another Abul Hossen in the village who might be the thief, but his father-in-law is very powerful,” said Gonesh Roy. “To save his son-in-law, he imputed all the blame to a different Abul Hossen who is a completely good man.”
Hossen, who converted to Christianity from Islam in 2007, has been very active in the community, and Muslims are harassing him with the charge so his ministry will be discredited and villagers will denounce his faith, Roy said.
“If he can be accused in the cattle theft case, he will be put in jail,” Roy said. “He will be a convicted man, and local people and the believers will treat him as a cattle thief. So people will not listen to a thief whatsoever.”
Some 150 villagers, about 20 percent of them Christian, went to the police station to plea for his freedom, he and other villagers said.
Sanjoy Roy, a lay pastor with Christian Life Bangladesh, told Compass that Hossen was a fervent Christian and that some Muslims have been trying to harass him since his conversion.
“They are hoping that if he is embarrassed by this kind of humiliation, he might not witness to Christ anymore, and it will be easy to take other converted Christians back to Islam,” Sanjoy Roy said. “He is a victim of dirty tricks by some local people.”
Hossen was baptized on June, 12, 2007 along with 40 other people who were raised as Muslims. Of the 41 people baptized, only seven remained Christian, with villagers and Muslim missionaries called Tabligh Jamat forcing the remaining 34 people to return to Islam within six months, sources said.
Local police chief Mohammad Nurul Islam told Compass that officers had arrested a cattle thief who confessed to police that his accomplice was named Abul Hossen.
“Based on the thief’s confessional statement, we arrested Abul Hossen,” said Islam. “There are several people named Abul Hossen in the village, but the thief told exactly of this Abul Hossen whom we arrested.”
Hossen denied the allegation that he was involved in cattle theft, Islam said.
“Hossen is vehemently denying the allegation, but the thief was firm and adamantly said that Hossen was with him during the theft,” he said. “Then we took Hossen on remand for three days for further inquiry.”
A former union council chairman who is Muslim, Aminur Rahman, also told Compass that Hossen was a scapegoat.
“He is 100 percent good man,” said Rahman, who also went to the police station to plea for Hossen’s freedom the day after his arrest. “There are two or three people named Abul Hossen in the village. Anyone of them might have stolen the cattle, but I can vouch for the arrested Abul Hossen that he did not do this crime.”
Whether Hossen is a Christian, Muslim or Hindu should not matter in the eyes of the law, Rahman said.
“He is an innocent man,” he said. “So he should not be punished or harassed. That is why I went to police station to request police to free him.”
Local government Union Council Chairman Shamcharan Roy, a Hindu from Lakmichap Union, told Compass that Hossen was not engaged in any kind of criminal activities.
“In my eight years of tenure as a union council chairman, I did not find him engaged in any kind of criminal activities,” said Shamcharan Roy. “Even before my tenure as a chairman, I did not see him troublesome in the social matrix.”
Immediately after Hossen’s arrest, Shamcharan Roy went to the police station and requested that he be freed, he added.
“I was under pressure from local people to free him from custody – more than 100 villagers went to the police camp, getting drenched to the skin in the heavy downpour, and requested police to free him,” Shamcharan Roy said. “Police are listening to a thief but are deaf to our factual accounts about Abul Hossen.”
In July 2007, local Muslims and Tabligh Jamat missionaries gathered in a schoolyard near the homes of some of the Christians who had been baptized on June 12, a source said. Using a microphone, the Muslims threatened violence if the converts did not come out.
Fearing for their lives, the Christians emerged and gathered. The source said the Muslims asked them why they had become Christians and, furious, told them that Bangladesh was a Muslim country “where you cannot change your faith by your own will.”
At that time, Hossen told Compass that Muslims in the mosque threatened to hang him in a tree upside down and lacerate his body with a blade. Hossen said the Muslims “do not allow us to net fish in the river” and offered him 5,000 taka (US$75) and a mobile phone handset if he returned to Islam.
“But I did not give up my faith, because I found Christ in my heart,” Hossen told Compass in 2007. “They threatened me with severe consequences if I do not go back to Islam. I said I am ready to offer up my life to Christ, but I won’t renounce my faith in Him.”
Posted in Bangladesh, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam | Tagged 2007, Abul Hossen, accomplice, accounts, accused, active, activities, adamantly, allegation, alleged, allow, Aminur Rahman, area, arrested, Bangladesh, baptized, believers, bid, blade, blame, body, camp, capital, cattle, chairman, change, charge, chief, Christ, Christian, Christian Life Bangladesh, Christianity, Christians, community, completely, confessed, confessional, consequences, conversion, convert, converted, convicted, council, country, crime, criminal, custody, Day, deaf, denied, denounce, denying, Dhaka, different, dirty, discredited, district, down, downpour, drenched, Dubachari, easy, embarrassed, emerged, engaged, eyes, factual, faith, falsely, father-in-law, fearing, fervent, firm, fish, forcing, former, found, free, freedom, furious, gathered, Gonesh Roy, good, government, handset, hang, harass, harassing, heart, heavy, Hindu, Hinduism, Hindus, homes, humiliation, identity, imputed, influential, innocent, inquiry, involved, Islam, jail, kind, laborer, lacerate, Lakmichap Union, law, lay, listen, listening, lives, local, man, matrix, microphone, ministry, missionaries, mistaken, mobile phone, Mohammad Nurul Islam, mosque, Muslim, muslims, named, net, Nilphamari, northwest, offer, offered, officers, Pastor, people, Persecution, plead, police, police station, powerful, pressure, punished, raised, recant, refused, remained, remand, renounce, request, returned, river, save, scapegoat, schoolyard, severe, Shamcharan Roy, skin, social, son-in-law, statement, stolen, stop, Tabligh Jamat, tenure, theft, thief, threatened, treat, tree, tricks, troublesome, Union, upside, use, vehemently, victim, village, villagers, violence, vouch, will, witness | Leave a comment
BANGLADESH: MUSLIMS THREATEN PASTOR FOR EVANGELIZING
Posted on January 9, 2009 by particularkev
Previously beaten in a mosque, evangelist has faced opposition for more than a year.
DHAKA, Bangladesh, January 6 (Compass Direct News) – The torture and harassment that a Christian pastor in Meherpur district has faced for more than a year loomed anew last month when a 4,000-strong crowd of Muslims celebrating Islam’s largest festival accused him of “misleading” Muslims.
Jhontu Biswas, 31, said residents of Fulbaria town, 270 kilometers (168 miles) west of Dhaka, accused him of misleading Muslims by distributing Christian booklets. They confronted him en masse on Dec. 9 as they gathered for the Islamic Eid al-Adha festival of sacrifice.
“They also accused me of converting poor people by offering money,” said Biswas. “They called several local journalists in that massive assembly to publish news against me and my activities. They took my photograph and interviewed me but did not publish anything in their respective newspapers.”
Biswas denied the accusations against him, and the Muslims threatened to harm him and others who converted from Islam to Christianity, especially in the event of a hard-line Islamic government coming to power following Dec. 29 elections, he said.
“They said, ‘You will be in great trouble at that time,’” Biswas said.
Fortunately for Biswas, the left-leaning Awami League-led Grand Alliance won a landslide victory in the election, and it does not include Islamic fundamentalist parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami. Prior to Bangladesh’s national election on Dec. 29, the country was ruled for two years by an army-backed, caretaker government that imposed a countrywide state of emergency.
Had the previous Bangladesh Nationalist Party coalition government including Jamaat-e-Islami come to power, area Christians said they would be in even greater danger.
“We hope that we can work our religious activities properly during the tenure of this government, and also hope that this government will ensure all of our constitutional rights regarding religious activities,” Biswas said.
Beaten in Mosque
The pastor has been under continuous pressure to give up his faith and not spread Christianity since he was baptized on Feb. 14, 2007, he said. He was in a meeting with members of his church on Dec. 31, 2007, he said, when police suddenly surrounded the building and dragged him out.
A drug peddler, a 36-year-old woman named Fulwara Begum, had left a bag full of illegal drugs behind his church in accordance with a plan hatched by area Muslims, he said. They informed police, and officers arrested him for drug possession and sale – but instead of taking him to the police station, they took him to a nearby mosque.
“It was a trick to arrest me and slander my reputation so that I cannot do evangelical activities here,” said Biswas. “They told me, ‘If you accept Islam after confessing to Christianity and ask forgiveness of Allah, we will not do anything against you and release you.’ They beat me with sticks in the mosque after my vehement denial to their proposal.”
Police called on a Muslim cleric to encourage Biswas to seek forgiveness for embracing Christianity.
The following day, Jan. 1, 2008, police sent him to Meherpur central jail on drug charges, but the jailer would not admit him because of his battered condition. Police took him to a nearby hospital, where he was treated for five to six hours. He was subsequently put into jail.
“Whenever I did not agree with them, police beat me inhumanely in the police station,” he said. “They tried to brainwash me into accepting Islam throughout almost the whole night. But I did not agree with them. Then they tortured me.”
After 20 days in jail, Biswas was released on bail.
Elderly Shop Owner Struck
On Aug. 16, Muslim extremists had vandalized a grocery store near Biswas’ church. The 78-year-old owner of the shop, Abdus Sobhan, told Compass that he was beaten and his shop was looted. They also hurled stones and bricks at the nearby church.
“My angry Muslim neighbors did it,” Sobhan said. “Around seven to eight people came on that night and vandalized the shop. I am a poor man. That shop was my only source of living. They demolished it and looted stuffs of around 30,000 taka [US$443].”
Area Muslims put a sign near the shop that designated it as that of a Christian and stating, “Do not buy anything from here.”
Sobhan went to police to file a case. Instead, officers asked him barrage of questions about why he became a Christian. Resigned, he left the police station.
The father of nine daughters and two sons, Sobhan said he became a Christian on Feb. 24, 2007 along with his wife.
The president of the Assembly of God church in southern Khulna division, Jonathan Litu Munshi, told Compass that Biswas was the first Christian in the area. Through him 200 to 230 people have received Christ as their redeemer in the predominantly Muslim area within the past year and a half.
“Local people filed a false case against him to torture him so that he does not continue his religious activities,” said Munshi. “Unfortunately a septuagenarian convert was also beaten in that area for his faith in Christ.”
The Islamic political party Jamaat-e-Islami is influencing the area residents, Christians said, adding that party workers have persuaded Muslims not to hire Christian converts, who are largely day-laborers eking out a living.
Posted in Assemblies of God, Bangladesh, Christianity, crime, Islam, Politics | Tagged Abdus Sobhan, accept, accepting, accordance, accusations, accused, activities, admit, agree, Allah, angry, army-backed, arrest, arrested, assembly, Assembly of God, Awami League-led Grand Alliance, bail, Bangladesh, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, baptized, barrage, battered, beat, beaten, booklets, brainwash, bricks, building, caretaker, case, celebrating, Christ, Christian, Christianity, Christians, church, cleric, Coalition, condition, confessing, confronted, constitutional, continuous, convert, converted, converting, country, countrywide, crowd, danger, daughters, day-laborers, demolished, denial, denied, designated, Dhaka, distributing, district, division, dragged, drug charges, drug peddler, drug possession, drugs, Eid al-Adha, elderly, elections, embracing, encourage, ensure, Evangelical, evangelist, evangelizing, extremists, faced, faith, false, Father, festival, festival of sacrifice, file, filed, forgiveness, Fulbaria, Fulwara Begum, fundamentalist, gathered, government, grocery, harassment, hard-line, harm, hatched, hire, hospital, hurled, illegal, imposed, influencing, informed, inhumanely, interviewed, Islam, Islamic, jail, jailer, Jamaat-e-Islami, Jhontu Biswas, Jonathan Litu Munshi, journalists, Khulna, landslide, largest, living, local, looted, massive, meeting, Meherpur, members, misleading, money, mosque, Muslim, muslims, national, neighbours, news, newspapers, offering, officers, opposition, parties, Pastor, people, Persecution, persuaded, photograph, plan, police, police station, political party, poor, power, President, pressure, previous, previously, proposal, publish, questions, received, Redeemer, release, religious, reputation, residents, respective, rights, ruled, sale, septuagenarian, shop, shop owner, sign, slander, sons, southern, state emergency, sticks, stones, store, struck, subsequently, surrounded, taka, tenure, threaten, threatened, torture, tortured, town, treated, trick, trouble, vandalized, vehement, victory, West, wife, woman, won, work, workers | Leave a comment
EGYPT: CHRISTIANS ARRESTED, SHOPS LOOTED IN VILLAGE
Posted on November 22, 2008 by particularkev
Funeral incident leads to disproportionate response from Muslim mobs, police.
ISTANBUL, November 21 (Compass Direct News) – Authorities in an Egyptian village arrested 50 Coptic Christians, whose shops were then looted, to pacify Muslims following violence that erupted on Nov. 4 over a Christian boy’s unwitting break with custom.
Muslim villagers attacked the homes and shops of Coptic Christians in violence-prone Tayyiba, a town with 35,000 Christians and 10,000 Muslims, after 14-year-old Copt Mina William failed to dismount his donkey as a funeral procession passed.
William was watching the procession in Tayibba, 220 kilometers (137 miles) south of Cairo, with Nathan Yaccoub, also 14. William’s failure to dismount violated a local custom of showing respect, Copts United reported, and members of the procession reportedly beat him before completing the procession. William suffered minor injuries.
After the funeral procession, the processional members began throwing stones at the homes of local Copts and attacking their shops before police broke up the crowd with tear gas.
A priest said members of the procession did not attack the youths for showing disrespect but as an excuse to lash out against the community’s Christians for a previous episode of sectarian violence.
“These two children with the donkey didn’t know about the traditions,” said Father Metias Nasr, a Cairo-based priest with connections in areas south of the capital. “The Muslims there were angry about the last case of violence and wanted to create a new problem with these two children there.”
When the violence began, police presence increased significantly in the city. But rather than quell the unrest, police reportedly made matters worse for the Christians. After breaking up the crowd, officers detained 50 Copts and 10 Muslims.
A source told Compass that police arrested a disproportionate amount of Christians to create a false sense of equanimity and to pressure the Christians into “reconciliation” with the attackers so the Copts would not prosecute them. The arrested Christians have since been released.
In the two weeks since the attacks and looting, the increased police force in the village has harassed Copts through intimidation, “fines” and racketeering. Police have taken an estimated $50,000 from village Copts, the source said.
Once police lifted the curfew, Coptic shopkeepers returned to their stores to discover that they had been looted. Sources said the perpetrators were “supply inspectors,” local government inspectors who do quality control checks on goods. They gained access by smashing locks and doors of the shops.
The sources said supply inspectors plundered grocery stores, a poultry shop, an electronics store and a pharmacy.
According to Coptic weekly Watani, looters stole nearly $2,000 worth of goods from grocer Bishara Gayed. Another victim of the looting, an owner of a poultry shop who declined to give his name, blamed supply inspectors for running off with his stock.
A local clergyman condemned the violence.
“It is unreasonable that a mistake by some 14-year-old should lead to all that rampage,” a village Coptic priest known as Father Augustinus told Watani. “Something ought to be done to halt all this.”
Orphanage Bulldozed
Numerous instances of sectarian violence have struck Tayyiba in the last few months.
Last month a Coptic Christian was killed over a dispute with a Muslim who wanted to buy his house. Violence escalated, resulting in damaged storefronts, 48 arrests and injuries sustained by three Christians and a Muslim.
Such quarrels typically arise from land ownership issues. A Coptic source told Compass that Christians in Tayyiba are generally wealthier than their Muslim counterparts, often leading to resentment.
Tayyiba was stable at press time, though the town is considered to be continually in danger of religious violence flaring. This situation is common throughout Egypt, Fr. Nasr told Compass.
“The village is like anywhere in Egypt,” he said. “In every place in Egypt we can say that in one minute everyone can be destroyed by fanatics, sometimes through the encouragement of security [forces].”
The Coptic Church has faced recent difficulties in other Egyptian cities, with government officials attempting to obstruct their religious activities. On Wednesday (Nov. 19), city officials in Lumbroso, Alexandria destroyed an unfinished but recently furnished Coptic orphanage owned by Abu-Seifein Church and worth 6 million Egyptian pounds (US$1 million).
Officials claimed the building did not have a license, although church leaders said the demolition came on orders from the religiously zealous Islamic mayor. Ali Labib, former head of police and state security in Alexandria, in his two-year tenure as mayor has refused license applications for new church construction or rebuilding, said a Cairo-based Coptic priest who requested anonymity.
The priest said the orphanage was only able to obtain a license because it was issued before Labib’s tenure.
Islam is a growing presence in Egypt’s public sphere. While the government has attempted to crack down on extremists, Islamic civil groups that have drawn widespread support by offering cheap medical assistance and private lessons to school children include the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist organization with jihad in its credo that has been accused of violence.
The Muslim Brotherhood is well regarded by the average Egyptian, who equates the government with autocracy, corruption and repression, author and intellectual Tarek Heggy reportedly said. Over the last four decades, the Muslim Brotherhood has introduced its brand of fundamentalist Islam into Egyptian schools, mosques and media, he added.
Egypt’s ethnic Christians, known as Copts, belong to the Orthodox Church and number 12 million among the country’s 79 million inhabitants. There are smaller groups of Catholics and Protestants.
Posted in Christianity, Egypt, Islam, Orthodox, Roman Catholicism | Tagged Abu-Seifein Church, access, accused, Alexandria, Ali Labib, angry, anonymity, applications, arrested, assistance, attack, attacked, attackers, Augustinus, author, authorities, autocracy, average, beat, Bishara Gayed, blamed, brand, building, bulldozed, Cairo, capital, cheap, children, Christian, Christianity, Christians, cities, city, civil groups, claimed, clergyman, completing, condemned, connections, construction, Copt, Coptic, Copts, Copts United, corruption, counterparts, create, credo, crowd, curfew, custom, danger, declined, demolition, destroyed, detained, difficulties, discover, dismount, disproportionate, dispute, disrespect, donkey, doors, Egypt, Egyptian, electronics, encouragement, episode, equanimity, erupted, escalated, estimated, ethnic, excuse, failed, failure, fanatics, Father, fines, flaring, former, fundamentalist, funeral, furnished, gained, goods, grocer, grocery, groups, harassed, head of police, homes, incident, increased, inhabitants, injuries, instances, intellectual, intimidation, introduced, Islam, Islamic, Islamist, issues, Jihad, killed, license, local, locks, looted, looters, looting, Lumbroso, mayor, media, medical, members, Metias Nasr, Mina William, minor, mistake, mobs, mosques, Muslim, Muslim Brotherhood, muslims, name, Nathan Yaccoub, officers, organization, orphanage, Orthodox church, owner, ownership, pacify, passed, perpetrators, Persecution, pharmacy, plundered, police, poultry, pounds, press time, priest, problem, procession, prosecute, Protestants, public, quarrels, racketeering, rampage, rebuilding, reconciliation, regarded, released, religious, reported, repression, resentment, respect, response, Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholics, school, schools, sectarian, shopkeepers, shops, smashing, sphere, stock, stones, storefronts, stores, suffered, supply inspectors, support, Tarek Haggy, Tayyiba, tear gas, tenure, throwing, town, traditions, unfinished, unrest, victim, village, villagers, violated, violence, Watani, watching, wealthier, weekly, widespread, youths, zealous | Leave a comment
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Home Academics Faculty Erin Dorney
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: Erin Dorney
Erin Dorney is a writer and artist based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Her full length poetry collection, I Am Not Famous Anymore: Poems after Shia LaBeouf, was released in June 2018 from Baltimore-based Mason Jar Press. Her poetry has been published in Passages North, Bone Bouquet, Juked, The Pinch, Birdfeast, and various other journals.
Her artwork and installations have been featured as part of Made Here, an urban walking gallery in the West Downtown Minneapolis Cultural District; at the Susquehanna Art Museum in Harrisburg, PA; and various juried shows. She has led workshops in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and New York.
Erin is the recipient of a 2019 Hewnoaks Artist Residency; a 2017 Artist Career Development Grant from the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council/McKnight Foundation; a 2017 Emerging Artist Residency at Tofte Lake Center; a 2016 Spruceton Inn Artist Residency; and was the first Modern Worker: Writer in Residence at Modern Art in Lancaster, PA.
Erin is the co-founder of FEAR NO LIT, curator of the “From the Desk of…” series at Real Pants, former poetry editor for Third Point Press, founder emeritus of The Triangle, and a former assistant professor and outreach librarian. Since 2014 she has been a volunteer with VIDA: Women in Literary Arts.
Photo by MIchelle Johnsen Photography.
- MA - Creative Writing
West Chester University of Pennsylvania
- MLIS - Library & Information Studies
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The hero that never was In Faust,
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe builds a dramatic poem
around the strengths and weaknesses of a man who under a
personalized definition of a hero fails miserably. A hero is
someone that humanity models themselves and their actions
after, someone who can be revered by the masses as an
individual of great morality and strength, a man or woman
that never sacrifices his beliefs under adversity. Therefore,
through his immoral actions and his unwillingness to respect
others rights and privileges, Faust is determined to be a man
of un heroic proportions. It is seen early in the poem, that
Faust has very strong beliefs and a tight moral code that is
deeply rooted in his quest for knowledge. Sitting in his den,
Faust describes his areas of instruction, “I have, alas, studied
philosophy, jurisprudence and medicine, too, and, worst of
all, theology with keen endeavor, through and through…” It
is obvious that through his studies he has valued deep and
critical thinking, however with the help of Mephisto, he
would disregard his values and pursue the pleasures of the
flesh. Faust’s impending downward spiral reveals the greed
that both Mephisto and Faust share. Mephisto’s greed is
evident in the hope that he will overcome Faust’s morality
and thus be victorious in his wager with God; also because
he is the devil and that is what he does. For Faust, greed
emerges because of his desire to attain physical pleasures
and therefore become whole in mind, body and spirit.
Faust’s goal to become the Uberminche is an understandable
desire, however, the means at which he strives for those
ends are irresponsible and unjust. It is through this greed that
Faust with the help of Mephisto exploit others in the pursuit
of Faust’s earthly desires. Enter innocent Gretchen, a poor
lower class young woman who experiences the impossible,
love. Under Mephisto’s magical potion, Faust becomes
intoxicated with passion and controlled by his hormones. It
is under this spell that he approaches the “beautiful”
Gretchen, however, the feeling of passion is not mutual
between the two. Faust realizes then, that his simple looks
and personality will not attract Gretchen, rather Faust must
deceive and manipulate this woman in order to possess her.
Thus, Faust turns to Mephisto for help in his quest for
Gretchen, “Get me that girl, and don’t ask why?”(257)
Mephisto replies with a quote that establishes the nature at
which Faust will pursue Gretchen with, “We’d waste our
time storming and running; we have to have recourse to
cunning.”(261) It is from this point in the story that Faust
declines into a state of immorality and irresponsibility; a level
he will remain at for the majority of the story. Faust’s
immorality emerges from the idealization that despite harming
others, there are not any consequences to his actions. The
harm in combining Faust and Mephisto is that their actions
become dangerous and deadly. Faust becomes an
unstoppable, Napoleonic figure, when his irresponsibility is
mixed with Mephisto’s lethal power. Gretchen is Faust’s first
victim, before her death she was responsible for three
deaths; ultimately she is imprisoned because of Faust’s
influence upon her. Faust’s desire for progress and
reformation in society led to the deaths of his second set of
victims, an elderly couple. Thus, Mephisto burns them out, a
result that Faust had not asked for specifically, but an action
which served the purpose and was almost as detrimental as
what Faust had intended for them, to move them out of their
home. This action against the elderly is analogous to any
other parts of the story in which Faust commits an illegal or
immoral act to heighten himself in his own eyes. It is obvious
then that Faust is a criminal, a man who abuses the rights of
others to gain spiritual and financial freedom for himself. A
criminal is a personn that should neither be rewarded or
idealized for his actions against society. The only endeavor
that Faust does in order to save himself, is to feel apologetic
and remorseful for his immoral and self-serving actions, and
is therefore allowed into heaven, an ending to the story
which is unreal and unbelievable. Heaven should be a place
where men and women who are virtuous and contain traits
such as honesty, morality and decency should reside to.
Rather, Goethe poetically sends a man whose indirectly
murdered, is dishonest and greedy to such a wondrous and
magical location only because he admits that what he did
was wrong. Attaining passage into heaven is the only
accomplishment that Faust makes in order to attain a heroes
status. Even this final accomplishment is questionable,
because God would not allow a man so unworthy to
accompany people who have such a high moral standard
and irrefutable grace. Faust then, neither falls under the
classical definition of a hero except that he was, “…favored
by the gods” and he does not fit into my personal definition
of a hero. For Faust is not someone whose actions should
be followed, he sacrificed his beliefs under adversity and
most importantly; he destroyed anyone’s life if it conflicted to
any aspect of his plan for superiority. Faust then, may be
considered the greatest un hero to have ever attain passage
into heaven.
Achilles as a Classical Hero
The Evolution of the American Hero
herobeo Epic of Beowulf Essay – Qualities of a Her
What physical states evolve. The standards to become
Faust: The Dichotomy of Gretchen
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The hero that never was
In Faust, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe builds a dramatic poem around the strengths and weaknesses of a man who under a personalized definition of a hero fails miserably. A hero is someone that humanity models themselves and their actions after, someone who can be revered by the masses as an individual of great morality and strength, a man or woman that never sacrifices his beliefs under adversity. Therefore, through his immoral actions and his unwillingness to respect others rights and privileges, Faust is determined to be a man of un heroic proportions. It is seen early in the poem, that Faust has very strong beliefs and a tight moral code that is deeply rooted in his quest for knowledge. Sitting in his den, Faust describes his areas of instruction, “I have, alas, studied philosophy, jurisprudence and medicine, too, and, worst of all, theology with keen endeavor, through and through…” It is obvious that through his studies he has valued deep and critical thinking, however with the help of Mephisto, he would disregard his values and pursue the pleasures of the flesh. Faust’s impending downward spiral reveals the greed that both Mephisto and Faust share. Mephisto’s greed is evident in the hope that he will overcome Faust’s morality and thus be victorious in his wager with God; also because he is the devil and that is what he does. For Faust, greed emerges because of his desire to attain physical pleasures and therefore become whole in mind, body and spirit. Faust’s goal to become the Uberminche is an understandable desire, however, the means at which he strives for those ends are irresponsible and unjust. It is through this greed that Faust with the help of Mephisto exploit others in the pursuit of Faust’s earthly desires. Enter innocent Gretchen, a poor lower class young woman who experiences the impossible, love. Under Mephisto’s magical potion, Faust becomes intoxicated with passion and controlled by his hormones. It is under this spell that he approaches the “beautiful” Gretchen, however, the feeling of passion is not mutual between the two. Faust realizes then, that his simple looks and personality will not attract Gretchen, rather Faust must deceive and manipulate this woman in order to possess her. Thus, Faust turns to Mephisto for help in his quest for Gretchen, “Get me that girl, and don’t ask why?”(257) Mephisto replies with a quote that establishes the nature at which Faust will pursue Gretchen with, “We’d waste our time storming and running; we have to have recourse to cunning.”(261) It is from this point in the story that Faust declines into a state of immorality and irresponsibility; a level he will remain at for the majority of the story. Faust’s immorality emerges from the idealization that despite harming others, there are not any consequences to his actions. The harm in combining Faust and Mephisto is that their actions become dangerous and deadly. Faust becomes an unstoppable, Napoleonic figure, when his irresponsibility is mixed with Mephisto’s lethal power. Gretchen is Faust’s first victim, before her death she was responsible for three deaths; ultimately she is imprisoned because of Faust’s influence upon her. Faust’s desire for progress and reformation in society led to the deaths of his second set of victims, an elderly couple. Thus, Mephisto burns them out, a result that Faust had not asked for specifically, but an action which served the purpose and was almost as detrimental as what Faust had intended for them, to move them out of their home. This action against the elderly is analogous to any other parts of the story in which Faust commits an illegal or immoral act to heighten himself in his own eyes. It is obvious then that Faust is a criminal, a man who abuses the rights of others to gain spiritual and financial freedom for himself. A criminal is a personn that should neither be rewarded or idealized for his actions against society. The only endeavor that Faust does in order to save himself, is to feel apologetic and remorseful for his immoral and self-serving actions, and is therefore allowed into heaven, an ending to the story which is unreal and unbelievable. Heaven should
Section 300 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 – Explained!
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Posts Tagged ‘$14 billion’
Stamp duty on home loans under review
Posted in Local News, Realestate and Home Loans, tagged "a piece of garbage, "piggy-back", $14 billion, accommodation, alternative revenue, appropriate, argue, ATO, Australian Tax Office, better, buying, collect, collected, Commonwealth, conducted, conference, consensus, Consumer Price Index, costs, describing the tax, deters, discourages, Don Challen, doomed, education, elderly, end of stamp duty., extend, failure, flat tax surcharge, Health, Henry, Henry tax review, home, home loans, house, housing, housing stock, impose, income tax, income., inundated, jobs market., John Freebairn, labour, land, Local News, Melbourne Institute, mobility, mortgage, moving, moving house, new, OECD, on income, own finances., pay stamp duty, payroll taxes., people, political, poor, practice, problems, professor, property, property markets., Real Estate and Home Loans, recommend, responsible, review, review panel, rising, Scandinavian, share, stamp duty, state's, submissions, surcharge, Tasmanian Treasury secretary, tax, Tax economists, tax on moving, tax review, Taxation, The Australian reports., the states, university, vulnerable, win. on June 22, 2009| 2 Comments »
STAMP duty on housing loans could be abolished after the Henry tax review, which is likely to recommend states be given a share of income tax to make up the difference.
The most likely path to do this would be for the Commonwealth to give the states the ability to impose their own surcharge on income tax, which would be collected for them by the Australian Tax Office.
The Henry review has been inundated with submissions calling for the end of stamp duty.
Tax economists argue that the tax on moving house, although easy to collect, leads to poor use of the housing stock and poor labour mobility, The Australian reports.Having to pay stamp duty not only discourages elderly people from moving to more appropriate accommodation, it also deters people from moving house to a better jobs market.
At a conference conducted by the Henry tax review at the Melbourne Institute last week, both international and Australian tax economists said stamp duty should go, with Melbourne University professor John Freebairn describing the tax as “a piece of garbage”.
The review panel is being influenced by state submissions arguing that replacing stamp duty by extending other state taxes, such as payroll tax or land tax, would be too difficult to implement nationally.
Tasmanian Treasury secretary Don Challen, who is close to the inquiry’s head, federal Treasury secretary Ken Henry, told last week’s conference that reform of state taxes would succeed only with leadership from the national government.
“If you want to achieve a difficult reform, you’ve got to make it a national one,” Mr Challen said.
He said it would be too hard to win political consensus to extend land or payroll taxes.
“It requires eight lots of political commitment and eight lots of legislation and that path is doomed to failure,” he said.
However, he said he believed states would be willing to act on stamp duty if the commonwealth provided an avenue for alternative revenue.
The idea of giving states a cut of income tax was pressed two years ago by the OECD, which suggested the states “piggy-back” on income tax. The OECD also urged states to drop stamp duty.
One of the world’s leading experts on federal taxes, Canada’s Richard Bird, said the states were heading for a financial crisis because they did not have a sufficient tax base to support their burgeoning health and education costs, which were all rising much faster than the consumer price index.
One of the problems with stamp duty for the states is that it is vulnerable to the state of property markets.
Stamp duty usually raises about $14 billion a year for the states, but the recent state budgets showed big falls of more than $1bn each in NSW and Queensland, in 2008-09, for example.
“In Australia, it should certainly be feasible to permit states to impose a surcharge on the federal personal income tax base,” Professor Bird said.
He said that, ideally, Australia would follow the Scandinavian practice of allowing states to have a flat tax surcharge on income, rather than mirroring the commonwealth’s progressive taxation.
The states would be allowed to set their own level, making states more responsible for their own finances.
Source : www.news.com.au
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Section V Roundup: Hilton scores four in the seventh; Irondequoit wins third straight
By johnmitchelllikanje on May 3, 2018 No Comment
RUSH-HENRIETTA 11
Lukas Haefner struck out eleven batters en route to a complete game in which he gave up one run on five hits. Haefner contributed to his own cause at the plate, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. AJ Nestler went 3-for-4 while Raymond Specht, Andrew Sanchez, and Zach Ochs had two hits apiece. The loss snapped a 5-game HF-L winning streak. Owen VanNewkirk finished 1-for-3 with a run scored for HF-L. Jack Tvrdik singled and drove in a run for the Cougars.
HILTON CENTRAL 6
Morgan Kunigan went 2-for-4 at the plate and John Cavallaro 2-for-3 to lead the Hilton offense. Both Cavallaro and Kunigan had an RBI in the Cadets seventh. Tied at three with two outs in the seventh, Kunigan hit the go-ahead single to score Nic Rohloff. After pinch runner Kyle Douglas scored on an error, Cavallaro hit a clutch single to extend the lead to 6-3. In the bottom of the seventh, Fairport did their best to bounce back. Noah Gerlach scored on Ricky Lipinski’s (1-for-3) single. Lipinski then came around to score on Mike Sabatine’s (1-for-3) base hit. However, Hilton closer David Stirpe stranded the tying run on second with a strike out. Collin Nelson started and threw six innings for Hilton allowing three runs on five hits.
IRONDEQUOIT 14
Will Porter went 2-for-5 at the plate with three RBI, a walk, and two runs scored to lead Irondequoit. Nick Serce finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored. Eight consecutive batters reached base which led to seven runs en route to an eight-run outburst in the second inning for Irondequoit. Porter walked in a run and Serce mashed a 2-run double to contribute to the cause. Jackson DeJohn hurled a complete game shutout, giving up only four hits while striking out nine.
John Montana (2-for-4) and Jacob Russo (2-for-3) had two RBI apiece to pace the Eastridge offense. Jayden Fayad contributed by going 2-for-3 at the dish with a walk and scoring three runs. Montana’s RBI came on a 2-out, 2-run single in the second inning to extend the lead to 3-0 for East Irondequoit. Russo added an RBI triple as the Lancers scored four runs in that inning to put the game away relatively early. Pitcher Avery Bowens struck out nine. East’s Joel Alicea finished 2-for-3. Jose Figueroa doubled and scored for the Eagles. Jordi Agosto singled, scored a run and had an RBI.
NORTH ROSE-WOLCOTT 4
GANANDA 8
Cody Hill was 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored while Drew Miale was 1-for-3 for two RBI to lead Gananda. Jayden Castrechini (1-for-3, walk) and Zach Ciprich (1-for-2, 2 walks) scored two runs apiece. After building a 6-1 lead and seeing it whittled down to 6-4 in the sixth inning, Hill hit a back-breaking 2-run single to seal the deal for Gananda.
PALMYRA-MACEDON 2
Tommy Bolt finished 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBI and two runs scored to lead Wayne. Tanner Clark (1-for-3) and pitcher Jaiden Burlee had two RBI each. Bolt hit an RBI double and came around to score on Burlee’s groundout as part of a 6-run Eagle third inning to build an 8-1 lead. Burlee battled through 6 1/3 innings to only give up two runs on four hits and striking out nine batters on one hundred and seven pitches.
VIEW MORE SUE KANE PHOTOS HERE.
MIDLAKES 16
MYNDERSE 8
Devin Hicks led the Midlakes offense with four hits and five RBI while Ezra Maslyn contributed by going 2-for-5 at the plate and also driving in five runs. Every starter had at least one hit, which led to Midlakes scoring in five of their seven innings of offense, including the first four innings.
GENESEO 4
WAYLAND-COHOCTON 5 (F/9)
Jamie Carman had two of Wayland-Cohocton’s four hits to go along with a walk, an RBI and scored two runs. He hit the game-winning single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to bring in Caleb Hanggi (1-for-3) for the team’s only RBI. Wayland-Cohocton scored its other four runs on two passed balls in the first and sixth innings, a wild pitch to tie the game at two in the third, and a crucial error to tie the game at four in the eighth. For Geneseo, Jason Valentine (2-for-3), Jake Hamilton, and Daniel Kaye each had an RBI while Luke Harris contributed by going 3-for-5 and scoring the first run of the game on Valentine’s double. Valentine came around to score on Kaye’s sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 2-0. Geneseo had leads of 2-0, 3-2, and then 4-3.
GREECE ODYSSEY 12
SOTA 2
MIDLAKES, MYNDERSE, SODUS, WATERLOO
Section V Roundup: Hilton scores four in the seventh; Irondequoit wins third straight added by johnmitchelllikanje on May 3, 2018
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Play.CLOH.org
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Safety Training for Swim Coaches
August 26, 2019 Aquatics, Course, Elsewhere, Sport First Aidadmin
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Art of Concentration
May 6, 2019 Connecting Our Learning, Elsewhereadmin
The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world
“By adopting an always-on, anywhere, anytime, any place behavior, we exist in a constant state of alertness that scans the world but never really gives our full attention to anything.” —Harriet Griffey
Although anyone born today is entering a digitally robust world, there isn’t an evolutionary predisposition to understanding how to use digital products effectively.
More importantly, we don’t have any predispositions (or internal alarms) ready to stop us from harming our mental and emotional health (e.g. becoming addicted to social media). But, we do have the information available to us to make us aware of the slippery slope before we fall down it.
As you explore this article from The Guardian, consider how your young learners could thrive in this digital landscape if they cultivated the habits needed to stay focused in an increasingly distracted world.
Play isn’t dead yet! We’re going to turn the tide in Pittsburgh at the swim pools.
April 12, 2019 Aquatics, Concept Maps, Connecting Our Learning, Elsewhere, Exercise, Play, Rants, Rookie Coachesrawadmin
Wonderful article, taken apart line-by-line below.
Coach Mark’s Facebook posting:
Play is important, especially among boys. Furthermore, learning how to play well with others is a SKILL. It needs to be taught, modeled, practiced, reinforced, and even done under pressure so as to take others and ourselves out of our comfort zones. Generally, that’s what we call COACHING, LEADERSHIP and COMPETITIONS.
Game days rock. So much FUN.
This spring, summer and fall, I’m stepping up these efforts of AQUATIC game days to build wide opportunities for PLAYING WELL WITH OTHERS, safely, in an expanding network of private, public and institutional swim sites from pools to lakes.
Your help is welcomed. Get your group together — of kids and adults — of any swimming ability or with none at all — and let’s plan an event. Warm-up, group swim lesson, water-safety insight and GAME PLAY with new, fun, competition and rules — with your running mates and with another team as well. Fitness, teamwork, sportsmanship –> PLAY, thanks to a grant from the Pittsburgh Play Collaborative.
Mark@SKWIM.us — 412-298-3432 — or here on Facebook.
How America Killed Play—and What We Can Do to Bring it Back
Dr. Peter Gray outlined the five criteria of play. For an activity to truly be considered play, it must:
Be self-chosen and self-directed
Be done for its own sake and not an outside reward
Have some sort of rules/structure
Have an element of imagination
Be conducted in an alert frame of mind
Let’s ponder each of those points as it fits in with SKWIM, our aquatic game with two teams and the SKWIM disk.
Players choose to play or not. Then they often choose their own teams. Someone needs to divide the squads. Then they choose as to who plays where from goalie, defense, middle, offense, wing, etc. There is plenty of choice as to where to go. Pass or shoot too.
Play does not have an outside reward, so goes the expert’s point. In SKWIM, the reward is the game, the win, the fun. With campers, to turn up the intensity, it is often announced that the winning team in the next game gets a “mythical milkshake.”
Rules and structure are within SKWIM too. No contact with another player. Can’t take the disk out of the other player’s hand. No air-mail passing or scoring. Read the SKWIM rules in the lessons at SKWIM.us.
Imagination enters SKWIM with strategies and tactics. Who needs to get double coverage? Who can we pass to for advancing the disk toward the goal? What player can imagine racing to the disk and grabbing it before the others?
SKWIM play happens with an alert frame of mind on many levels. Safety of course. Play in the pool means keeping from going under and to the bottom. Being present is a big part of sport, especially a fast-paced game where quickness is expected.
When you break it down like that, much of what modern parents think of as play doesn’t actually qualify. The truth is play has been gradually declining for the past five or six decades, but it seems to have come to a head in the last 10 years. According to the Child Mind Institute, American kids now spend an average of just 4-7 minutes a day on unstructured outdoor play, and elementary schools across the country are reducing or entirely eliminating recess. Play is an absolutely critical part of our youth, as it develops life skills in a way which is very hard to replicate elsewhere.
How did this crucial component of the human experience get so diminished?
History lesson – the wonder years
The 1950s were something of a “golden era” of play. The post-World War II baby boom left no shortage of potential playmates for a kid, and child labor laws passed in the late 1930s meant children could no longer be forced to toil inside factories or coal mines. Schools had multiple recesses throughout the day, the concept of homework barely existed, and the school year itself was about 4-5 weeks shorter.
“School was not the big deal it is today. Parents were not involved. You went home, you were home. School happened at school, when you were out of school, you were out of school,” says Gray, a research professor of psychology at Boston College and the author of the book Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life. The culmination of these factors created a generation where kids played for hours each and every day.
“You could go out anytime during daylight and you’d find kids playing with no adults around. Parents shoo’d you outdoors, they didn’t want you in the house—moms especially,” Gray says. Organized youth sports were still in their infancy, and if they did occur, they were a far cry from some of the ultra-expensive, ultra-regimented leagues that exist now. In some little leagues, the biggest or most mature kid on the team often acted as the coach, and there was rarely a parent to be found down the foul lines. But this golden age of play didn’t last forever.
The rise of television made the indoors more attractive, sure, but it was the shift in parental attitudes around school, sports and free time that really changed things. Elementary schools (and schools, in general) began placing a greater emphasis on testing results and homework. According to the University of Michigan, students aged 6-8 went from having 52 minutes of homework a week in 1981 to 128 minutes a week in 1997.
Sensationalistic news reports led parents to believe the world was becoming increasingly dangerous for their children, though statistics show the opposite was in fact true. As time has gone on, the outdoor world’s only become safer for our children. Either way, parents became increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of their child playing around town without adult supervision, and organized sports slowly came to replace play. As the demand for organized activities for younger and younger ages increased, organizations quickly met the demand. Parents stopped allowing their kids to walk or bike to practice, instead shuttling them there themselves.
“Kids going to games themselves by bike or walking became somehow dangerous. So parents felt the need to drive them there. Then if you’re going to drive them there, you might as well watch. Then it became a sort of parental duty to stay and watch. If you don’t stay and watch you don’t care about your child. So you’re supposed to be there, you’re supposed to be cheering your child on. You’re supposed to care if your child’s team wins or loses,” Gray says. “It was gradual, it happened over time. (Organized sports) came to replace actual play in people’s minds—this is how my child gets exercise, this is how my child meets other children, and so on.”
The undercurrent among all this was the idea that play was largely a waste of time. Adults believed structured, adult-guided activities were of greater value to their children, so they began filling their free time as such. As the commitments mounted, time for play decreased. “Instead of the idea that childhood was an idea of freedom and play and children were largely free of adults, we began feeling increasingly responsible for the children’s development,” Gray says. “And accompanying that idea was that children’s own activities are a waste of time.”
Of course, we now know that couldn’t be further from the truth. A 2018 report from the American Academy of Pediatrics confirms that play enhances creativity, imagination, dexterity, boldness, teamwork skills, stress-management skills, confidence, conflict resolution skills, decision-making skills, problem-solving skills and learning behavior. Play is an essential part of the human experience, and a lack of play can have troubling short and long-term ramifications for children.
A major benefit of play is what’s known as “risky play.” This entails engaging in play that creates some sense of fear. This often involves ascending to great heights (climbing a pine tree), moving at great speeds (riding a bike or swinging on a rope swing), play fighting (wrestling), going off on your own (hide and seek) or engaging with dangerous tools/environments. Risky play is a fundamental part of play. Children like to test their limits and innately know how much fear they can tolerate, and when they engage with fear and survive the experience, they become more resilient, confident and better-equipped to handle stress and anxiety. While play in general has decreased over the last five or six decades, risky play has been hit particularly hard due to overprotective parents. Playgrounds have become increasingly sterile in America—most are now devoid of equipment that allows you to confront any fear of heights or high speeds, and offer little challenge in the way of dexterity or agility.
“Natural selection has designed children to play in risky ways so they learn how to deal with risk…I can do this thing that stretches my physical and emotional abilities and I can survive it, I can do it. What you’re practicing is controlling your mind and body in a somewhat fear-inducing situation. But it’s a fear-inducing situation that you can control, you put yourself there. But what you’re learning is you can deal with feeling fear, you can hold yourself together. So when you experience something that produces fear in real life, it’s not a new thing to you,” Gray says. “I feel confident I can handle this instead of panicking. I think that’s part of the reason we’re finding a lot of lack of resiliency today, we’re finding a lot of people falling apart when something difficult happens in their life. Because they haven’t practiced this kind of play where they’re deliberately putting themselves into difficult positions and learning how to deal with that.”
Gray notes that continually decreasing levels of play have coincided with increases in depression and anxiety among young people. In a 2014 TEDx Talk, he outlined how five to eight times as many children now suffer from major depression or a clinically significant anxiety disorder as compared to the 1950s. Questionnaires have also revealed a continuous decline among children and young adults in the feeling that they have “control over their own lives.” They’re increasingly micro-managed and have limited chance to cut loose or follow their intuitions. It’s not an exaggeration to say a lack of play may be at the heart of increased anxiety and decreased resiliency in young people. It’s not their fault—they’re simply ill-equipped to handles life’s ups-and-downs.
“The use of mental health services on campuses is skyrocketing, students are coming to college unprepared for dealing with the bumps in the road of life,” Gray says. “They have all too often emotional breakdowns about getting a bad grade or having an argument with their roommate or being so-called ‘bullied’ by somebody. Things that in the past, the expectation and the reality was to largely deal with these things themselves, they had the coping skills to know how. Today—I don’t want to say no one does, but an increasing percentage of students don’t have the skills to deal with these bumps in the road of life.”
How can we put play back in our children’s lives? We’ll get to integrating more “true” play in a second, but you can start by shifting certain organized activities into more playful states. Are there ways to help them self-select and self-direct more of what they’re doing? Or decrease the focus on outside rewards? Or foster a grander sense of imagination? The more an adult is telling them exactly what and how to do something, the less play is taking place. The U.S. Soccer pamphlet Best Practices for Coaching Soccer in the United States sums it up nicely: “Coaches can often be more helpful to a young player’s development by organizing less, saying less and allowing the players to do more. Set up a game and let the kids play. Keep most of your comments for before and after practice and during water breaks.”
In terms of pure or “true” play, we’re not getting back to the days of the 1950s anytime soon. However, some communities are fighting to bring play back with encouraging results.
Schools around the country are integrating “play clubs” and finding great success. These clubs typically take place on school grounds for 1-2 hours directly preceding or directly following the school day. Different equipment is set out for kids to play and experiment with at their leisure, and adult supervisors (of which there are not an abundance) are trained only to intervene when something truly dangerous is occurring. Gray recently observed an elementary school play club that takes place prior to the school day once a week (though they’re trying to make it more frequent) and was delighted with the result.
Gray also offers up the idea of recreation departments including more sandlot-style activities among the more organized sports. It would be formalized in the sense it would take place at a given location at a given time, but it would really be just a way to get a bunch of kids together. A volunteer could help get games going during the first few sessions, but slowly step away and intervene less over time. New equipment could be added over time to help inspire different games or different styles of play.
“Free play indoors in the school and outdoors, it’s age mixed, all grades K-5…It’s working wonderfully. It’s working partially because the age mixing. Older children are helping to solve the quarrels among younger children,” Gray says. “Children are truly running in hallways, wrestling, playing chasing games, some old-fashioned games, very vigorous play. Here’s a situation where there are adults present, but the adults are initiating actives (and) they’re not intervening. I was there for an hour, there were 150 kids, and I did not see any single case of adult intervening. It went so remarkably well.”
“Maybe one parent is there at a time to help each other put their minds at ease. It begins with something more formal, but over time, that structure falls away,” Gray says. “I think that could catch on. I think there’s enough kids and enough parents who would want to do this as an alternative…Ideally, over time, the kids who are coming together (for this) every Saturday afternoon start realizing they can do it every other day, too.”
Structured play getting some due respect in news article
April 1, 2019 Elsewhereadmin
See the link:
https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/news/releases/otago706998.html
Snip from article:
Through simple games and day-to-day tasks, parents can help their children learn self-regulation, a skill considered essential for success, a University of Otago study has found.
Lead author Dr Dione Healey, of the Department of Psychology, says self-regulation is a key early developmental skill that predicts a wide array of life outcomes.
“Self-regulation is essential for school readiness and success as you need to be able to sit still, not blurt out answers, persist with tasks, manage frustrations, and give and take in social relationships.
“We also know that early self-regulatory skills are predictive of adult outcomes. The Dunedin longitudinal study has shown that poor self-regulatory skills at age three predict a wide array of adverse adult outcomes including higher rates of incarceration, poorer physical health, higher unemployment rates, and mental health difficulties.
“Therefore if we can find ways to improve self-regulation in pre-schoolers we can alter the life course trajectory for many individuals,” she says.
Gamification, 9 ways
March 24, 2019 Connecting Our Learning, Elsewhereadmin
Infographic about ways to gamification.
Bonus Infographic
Carrick Wrestling, boys and girls, working on Coaching Boys Into Men
January 15, 2019 Elsewhere, PAAR, Rookie Coachesadmin
Great coaching leadership and nice story.
https://www.dw.com/en/pittsburgh-school-offers-lessons-in-respecting-women/av-46991501
Anti Doping Resources
May 9, 2018 Elsewhere, Literate Olympians, Organizations, Prevent Prescription Drug Abuseadmin
This 37-page handbooks is something that all athletes, guardians, coaches and medical professionals need to be aware of in terms of the anti-doping efforts and clean sports. Worthy of a read and download.
2018-usada-athlete-handbook
This resource page is part of the ebook
Trusport.org
Parent Toolkit from US Center for SAFESPORT
Wonderful ebook for parents to help guard against bad behaviors that can occur among sports and community teams with some evil acts that are harmful to kids.
The link to the resources in a number of different formats.
https://resources.safesport.org/toolkits/Parent-Toolkit-Complete/index.html
The PDF ebook, of 82 pages, served from this site.
Safe-Sport-Handbook_4_Parents
Play hard. Learn more. Experience is the best teacher.
http://edu-fy.com.au/2018/02/14/3-reasons-why-a-childs-best-teacher-is-looking-back-at-them-in-the-mirror/
We’ve all heard the saying ‘experience is the best teacher’. This isn’t just a proverb – it’s part of our neural programming. The idea that kids learn experientially through play has been well-established by a whole host of researchers…
Serious motivation
https://YouTube.be/mgmVOuLgFB0
April 21, 2018 Elsewhere, Play, Rantsadmin Leave a comment
This cartoon makes no sense to me. I don’t get it. Do you?
Can anyone explain this to me? Is it funny to you? I do not find it offense, but I don’t get it.
If you can, please let me know what you think by posting in the comment box below.
April 14, 2018 Elsewhere, Lifeguards, Play, Rants, Sport First Aidadmin Leave a comment
Example of a school-based assignment with an Olympic Literacy focus
March 17, 2018 Connecting Our Learning, Elsewhere, Tech Competentadmin Leave a comment
February 19, 2018 Connecting Our Learning, Elsewhere, Literate Olympians, Organizations, Play, SKWIMMark Rauterkus
Landing page for Rotary Club presentation(s)
Mark Rauterkus was an invited speaker to the Kittanning Rotary Club on February 28, 2018. These resources assist with interactions with members and other Rotary groups in the future.
Sports Concept Map
Aquatics Concept Map
Concept Maps on Wikipedia
Concept Map Software
Coach Mark Rauterkus joins us from Pittsburgh’s historic South Side. Mark has been a swim coach since 1976 when he started a swim team as a high-school-aged lifeguard.
He has coached nine (9) years at the college level. Mark has worked for more than 52 athletic directors and 34 principals. In his career, more than 10,000 kids have called him “Coach Mark.”
His swimmers have set state records in: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and Massachusetts.
Mark’s newest role: executive director of SKWIM USA, a nonprofit to grow the aquatic game of SKWIM.
Mark’s passion as an advocate in the city is expressed at C–L–O–H dot org. Creating Literate Olympians Here.
Resources and Easy Courses:
Feel free to team up with a youngster for meaningful online adventures.
Bay Watch Brains, quiz for water safety
Get Your Feet Wet, swimming introduction
Hockey and Math, for hockey and Penguins fans
Advance insights with Coach Mark as your guest speaker
I’ll speak about my personal history as a coach in swimming and water polo in the city — and throughout my career. But, it isn’t much about me, however. The focus is on how we can leverage sports, fitness, wellness and efforts in our communities around the realm of playing well with others. Some of the basic understandings of the purpose and meaning of sports need to be put into better focus.
Sports are games of time, space and relationships. That’s from a book I helped publish years ago, Sport, Spirit & Soul.
With a philosophy and a few concept maps, we can make improvements and reform — as many elements in sports are in trouble and messed up.
So, I’ll talk quickly about some problems and how they can be fixed. And, how the wisdom of the group of those in attendance can make an impact with the community, teams, coaches, and participants — as well as with their own families — in terms of sports.
Likewise, I’ll leave with a few challenges and tools for others to do, online, for free, for fun, if interested. Q&A of course.
My message is a help us think again about sports and recreation from school age kids to seniors, spectators to league managers.
Projector if possible but not necessary
I love to present off of my iPad. Photos help to put more sizzle into the story. I have the various types of adapters, VGA, HDMI, and Apple’s Lightening.
As a way to be more interactive, especially among friends and with a smaller group, we can share our own remarks and move through the talk, guided by the questions on this quiz. Door prize expected for top answer giver, but I’m biased as to what answers I’m seeking. Most questions have no right or wrong answers, much like life.
pop-quiz-for-Rotary-Club
Authentic Pittsburgh: steel, incline, 3 rivers, sports, ethnic
Favorite sports: soccer, hockey, football
Other favorable sports: hockey, football, basketball, soccer, golf, boating
Favorite team: Penguins (mid 2000s), Penguins, Steelers
Game as youngster: soccer, hockey, basketball, softball
Speaker’s notes
December 12, 2017 Connecting Our Learning, Elsewhere, Play, Rantsadmin Leave a comment
Google Applied Skills
November 17, 2017 Applications, Connecting Our Learning, Elsewhere, Open Sourceadmin
Grow with Google, a new initiative to help develop the skills to find jobs and grow business. A new G Suite certification has been launched to validate proficiency with tools like Drive, Gmail, Hangouts Meet, Docs, Sheets and Slides. The Applied Digital Skills curriculum is a great place to start to prepare learners for this exam.
Get started on the courses
Go to g.co/applieddigitalskills
Click “Sign In,” and sign in with their Google account
Select “I am a learner”
Enter class code 94goes
Put on headphones and watch the first video
Top books on Leadership
October 26, 2017 Elsewhereadmin
This book list comes from the wise, well-read, former swimming coach from Johns Hopkins, George Kennedy, and his partner, Toni Armstrong, of Baltimore Leadership Guides.
Leadership Booklist Just Pictures
Great reading for coaches and team captains
Do you have an endorsement for any of these books? Share in the comments.
Course info.
Youth Mental Health First Aid Overview UPDATE 1.27.16_0
Remake Learning Days includes Saturday Swim School events
March 9, 2017 Calendar, Connecting Our Learning, Elsewhereadmin
Recreation is a place where we remake learning. Events happen in the month of May.
2017 RLD Event Hosts Email 3.9.17
Write! Using a pen and some paper to become a better athlete.
March 5, 2017 Connecting Our Learning, Elsewhere, Play, Rants, Tech Captainsadmin Leave a comment
Understanding Talent
February 28, 2017 Connecting Our Learning, Elsewhere, Exercise, Play, Rantsadmin Leave a comment
Renegades Guards
Basic Water Safety
Math & Science within Hockey
Get Your Feet Wet - Swimming
A for Athlete 101
Concentration game
Digital dust on other badge noise elsewhere
General Water Safety Course Completion by Mt. Ararat Camp Staff in June 2019
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Missouri Republican claims 'legitimate rape' rarely results in pregnancy
(CNN) - U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, who won Missouri's GOP Senate primary earlier this month and will face incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in November's general election, said Sunday that he misspoke when he claimed "legitimate rape" rarely resulted in pregnancy.
Answering a question about whether or not he thought abortion should be legal in the case of rape, Akin explained his opposition by citing unnamed bodily responses he said prevented pregnancy.
"First of all, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare," Akin said of rape-induced pregnancy in an interview with KTVI. A clip of the interview was posted online by the liberal super PAC American Bridge.
"If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down," Akin continued. He did not provide an explanation for what constituted "legitimate rape."
He added: "But let's assume that maybe that didn't work or something. You know I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child."
In a statement Sunday, Akin wrote that he misspoke in the interview. He maintained his opposition to abortion for victims of rape.
"In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it's clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year," Akin wrote. "Those who perpetrate these crimes are the lowest of the low in our society and their victims will have no stronger advocate in the Senate to help ensure they have the justice they deserve."
"I recognize that abortion, and particularly in the case of rape, is a very emotionally charged issue," Akin continued. "But I believe deeply in the protection of all life and I do not believe that harming another innocent victim is the right course of action. I also recognize that there are those who, like my opponent, support abortion and I understand I may not have their support in this election."
Statistics on pregnancies that result from rape are difficult to produce, since rape is a crime that often goes unreported. The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, along with Planned Parenthood, each estimate that 5% of rapes lead to pregnancy. A 1996 study from the Medical University of South Carolina found the same percentage, adding that 32,101 pregnancies occurred annually from rape.
Akin, a six-term U.S. congressman, touted his socially conservative values on the primary campaign trail, and gained the support of 2008 presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. He was one of the first members of Congress to join the Tea Party Caucus in 2010 and has easily won re-election in recent years.
The lawmaker raised a notable $2.2 million this cycle, as of July 18.
Akin - who sits on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee - has long held a hard-line stance on abortion. He is opposed to abortions in all circumstances, and has said he also opposes the morning after pill, which he equates to abortion.
McCaskill, who is up against Akin in November's general election, almost immediately struck upon her opponent's comments Sunday, writing on Twitter: "As a woman & former prosecutor who handled 100s of rape cases, I'm stunned by Rep Akin's comments about victims this AM."
She later released a statement condemning her rival as "ignorant about the emotional and physical trauma brought on by rape."
“The ideas that Todd Akin has expressed about the serious crime of rape and the impact on its victims are offensive," she continued.
McCaskill's website also splashed Akin's comments across the homepage, and included a link where supporters could donate money to McCaskill's campaign.
Republicans consider McCaskill, first elected in 2006, highly vulnerable in her re-election bid for a second term. Ahead of the GOP primary, a Mason-Dixon poll showed the senator falling behind each of the three main GOP competitors in hypothetical match-ups among registered Missouri voters.
A spokeswoman for Mitt Romney wrote that the presumptive GOP presidential nominee and his running mate, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, did not share Akin's sentiments on rape.
"Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin's statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape," Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg wrote.
CNN's Ashley Killough, Kevin Liptak and Rachel Streitfeld contributed to this report.
Filed under: Abortion • Missouri
Gam5
God help us if this idiot is returned to the House. Please people of Missouri this is what you can expect from the republican party. We don't need this kind of mentality running our country.
August 19, 2012 07:29 pm at 7:29 pm |
thismoldhouse
There is no response that can even begin to address what a moron this creature is. And sadly, he will probably be re-elected. Such a sad state of affairs when someone like this not only walks among us but is actually an elected official. Absurd!
This idiot should be recalled and not allowed to run for office. How did people even let him get this far?
I wonder how strongly he feels about protecting human life when the life in question belongs to a Muslim....perhaps in Pakistan or Iraq? I wonder how he will vote when it comes to the military budget to make more drones? Will he vote to protect human life in Iran? Will he vote to sanction the Israelis when they attack Iran?
Or is the only human life he cares about neonatal? Like ALL other members of the GOP????
Buckhippo
I'm just disgusted by these self serving politicians who are uneducated and out right bigots and racists. AMERICA WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE LIKE THIS!!! I used to be such an optimist about people but I am convinced its the idiots like this that are elected by idiots like him that will without question ruin the most incredible country on earth. VERY SAD.
It was stupid to allow himself to fall into this lamestream media trap. The left loves to use the argument that abortions have to remain legal in the case of rape or incest. But this is EXTREMELY rare. I don't believe it has anything to do with a woman's subconscious ability to "shut down" or whatever he was saying, but it's no so rampant that thousands of babies have to be murdered on the off chance that a rape/incest does produce a pregnancy.
I'm a republican and this is very embarrassing and an insulting. Just resign and go away.
dem or rep doesn't really matter does it. idiots like this are truely whats ruining our once great country.
And he's only one of the idiots in congress.
This man can not possible be in his right mind! Legitimate rape!!! Only a politician with few brain cells could come up with this! As a woman, I am appauled beyond words...VOTE DEMOCRAT and keep government out of our bodies!
Slapanelephanthard
Rep Akin, you are right, it is kinda of like when your extremist belief's shuts down your brains ability to think correctly. Please dont let the door hit you on your way out in November,
dwhitmarsh
Where do they find these no mind, prejudiced idiots?
One politician that is best off keeping his mouth shut. Stupid comments like that do not help the party or him. There are some in both parties that are best not showing the world their lack of grasp on the real world
I think what he meant to say, was if the girl gets pregnant, she has to marry the rapist, and then he's a father and not a rapist. Pretty sure he learned that at Heritage University.
Nocordoba
A bit of a bad word choice but I have a question for the people here supporting "womens choice".
Would any of you be willing to die or to have never existed for your parents enjoyment or better success?
canadianscot
When are these " educated" people going to stop using the word misspoke to explain there stupidity. How can one "misspeak"? You can mispronounce, be taken out of context possibly, but most of the time if you say what Akin said you meant to say it. Misspeak is a complete cop out. I wouldn't give this guy the TV remote never mind any say in how the country should be run.
And he is on the science, space and tech committee! Yikes! We are doomed.
Is this what Rome was like when it was beginning to fall?
Wow, what a moron, that actually got elected by more morons.
Beavis
Didn't Ted Kennedy "legitimately murder" someone? He still served as a Senator til death so I'm sure this guy has a point.
Brad76
Is this guy for real lol
Jay McKeen
"The defense of science and reason is the great imperative of our time." – Christopher Hitchens
garwin1
Wow, this just took ignorance to a whole new level.
And that's a horrible comb over, by the way.................
Jacqueline Miles
Under what rock was this cretin found?
Back to the dark ages, Representative Akin?
Next are you going to say it's howwomen dress that invite rape as well?
I am so glad that Todd Akin is running against Senator Claire McCaskill. She is a gem of a lady. She will beat him handily. This yet again shows how insignificant the GOP has become in the eyes of ordinary people. First the pick if Paul rAYN as VP, who is the architect of SS privatization, Medicare vouchers, killing Medicaid, against women's rights, and more importantly the man who stopped the GOP leadership from negotiating with President Obama. And he calls himself a Catholic! Now this guy Todd Akin.
I cannot wait to see the Presidency, House, and Senate under Domocratic control in November. God Bless America!
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Trump's Senate trial defense: Abuse of power is not impeachable January 20, 2020 12:02 pm
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Sony Celebrates Record Success at 2019 EISA Awards including first ever win for Photo Innovation
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How would the Libertarian non-coercion policy apply to a business being required to bake a cake for a gay wedding?
Oregon has levied fines on a family (after their business has already been dissolved) because the owners refused to bake a cake for a gay wedding.
The owners (and future cake making business owners) are clearly being coerced to do something they don't want to.
At the same time, the government has deemed that discrimination for certain protected classes, race, gender, etc. is illegal so that everyone has the same access to goods and services.
Would a Libertarian argue that a government should do away with protected classes and allow anyone to discriminate for any reason they choose to or that the greater good of society is cause for coercion?
libertarianism discrimination
Andrew Grimm
CramerTVCramerTV
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. – yannis♦ Apr 29 '15 at 7:58
The "classical" libertarian solution to this dilemma is simple:
If a business wishes to discriminate non-violently, they are free to do so...
Some libertarians have a curious point of view that calling police to remove a gay couple from a private place is considered "violent" - in other words, a business is free to request gays to leave the premises, but shouldn't be free to make the State to force them out. Personally, this seems somewhat inconsistent, as the State isn't being used for discriminatory reason (despite the end result) but to enforce private property rights.
However, the other are free to do one of the following:
Create a competing bakery that serves LGBT needs. If enough other businesses discriminate, that new bakery makes a killing profit-wise.
Now, this is an important point. In non-libertarian society, creating a competing bakery may be quite difficult. Register a business. Comply with zoning laws. Get permissions. Don't run afoul of union rules and other labor laws. Allocate a huge expense for other regulatory compliance.
One of the central tenets that makes this solution a workable one in libertarian society is that you need pretty much none of those extra costs to start a new bakery. Only direct economic costs of directly baking and selling cakes.
Caveat: The above makes sense if many other bakeries discriminate as well. OTOH, if only a few other businesses discriminate, it's not even a practical issue worth abusing the government power in the first place.
Advertise in the community that the bakery is run by people who refuse to serve LGBT wedding cakes. Plenty of people would refuse to patronize said bakery (including tons - or even most - of libertarians who today would side with the bakery despite totally disliking the bakery's actions - but who worry about government power abuse far more).
MAJOR CAVEAT 1: Some libertarians, justifiably, restrict this view to non-monopoly situation only. E.g. if pre-split Ma Bell denies phone service to a gay couple, that's a whole different kettle of fish. E.g. here
MAJOR CAVEAT 2: Some libertarians, justifiably, restrict this view to a situation where the business doesn't derive its business from government, at least in major ways. For example of the fine distinction: Boy Scouts should be free to prohibit gays from serving as troop leaders [1 - see comments]. BUT, they cannot be free to expect free accommodation from the state property to hold their meetings if that happens.
For details of the libertarian position, you can read, for example:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/04/02/explaining-the-libertarian-position-on-antidiscrimination-laws/
The abstract political/philosophical reasoning behind this is very very simple:
If you give the government the power to enforce laws that break free association rights - then you have given this or any future government the power to break any other free association rights. So the next governing person who happens to NOT like gays, will pass a law that a pro-gay group is to be fined/prohibited. Because you just removed the freedom of association from your list of unassailable principles.
An interesting aside is that those who yell about "greater good" and "discrimination" a lot usually don't really mind discrimination as a concept. Only its application that hurts whoever they personally deem to be more worthy of protection. As a random example, notice an absolute deafening silence on the part of people in the anti-discrimination racket about height discrimination - in both workplace and mating preferences. – user4012 Apr 27 '15 at 18:26
@DVK The Supreme Court made height discrimination illegal in 1977, see Dothard v. Rawlinson – bain Apr 28 '15 at 12:40
@bain - you just proved my case. That decision was very explicitly OK with height discrimination that didn't involve gender disparate effects - it was only argued as discrimination against women and NOT short persons. E.g. if you discriminate against short men and short women but not tall women, it's perfectly fine with everyone (courts included) – user4012 Apr 28 '15 at 14:17
@DVK Yes, but since most height discrimination does involve gender disparate effects, the decision effectively outlawed height discrimination unless the employer can demonstrate that it is necessary for the job. Which is what I thought you were talking about. Whether the airforce should be allowed to discriminate against 7 foot tall fighter pilots is a different issue... – bain Apr 28 '15 at 15:30
That's not the only philosophical argument (and not even the most common one, as far as what I've read on this). The other is that what makes free trade moral is it's mutualism (the term is "mutual exchange"). You willingly give me $15 dollars and I willingly make you a cake. From a libertarian standpoint, no claim of coercion can exist here. But when I don't want your $15 and the government makes me make you the cake anyway, that is coercive. You just had someone come bully me into making a cake I didn't willingly decide to make. This is much less of a "slippery slope" argument, IMO. – Tyler May 5 '15 at 3:58
As a small-l libertarian, I have long maintained that individuals have the right to declare themselves 'married' to anyone they see fit, but that does not imply a right to compel anyone else to do anything in response. If two people's relationship is widely recognized by the population as a whole but some particular person doesn't want to acknowledge it, the populace may shun the latter person for his boorishness, but if the latter person is fine with that it should be his right.
Further, I would posit that business rules at issue should not relate to religion, but rather basic business freedom. If a mixed-sex couple were to go to a bakery and try to order a magenta wedding cake with lime green flowers, the owner should have the right to refuse such an order on the basis of taste. Even if the design is one most people would think was tasteful, the owner of should still be entitled to use his own sense of taste in deciding what orders he will or will not accept, with no legal duty to justify his decisions to anyone.
In the event that a same-sex couple goes to the bakery with an order that offends the baker's sense of taste, the baker should have the same right to refuse that order as he would have if it came from a straight couple, and as before the baker should have no legal duty to justify his decisions.
To compel a business owner to serve someone with whom the business owner has not consensually entered into any relationship is to make the business owner a slave of the person in question. Most business owners will recognize that needlessly turning away business will generally be bad for their bottom line, and many that don't realize that will go broke, making way for others who would recognize it, but such decisions should be made by the business owners in question. Further, if a firm doesn't want a customer's business, forcing the business to serve that customer will generally result in a lower quality of service than could be received from a firm who actually wants the business.
supercatsupercat
Are there exceptions for monopolies? For example, if a privately owned electric company, of which there is only one in the area, decides not to serve Christians, or Muslims, or Atheists, should the government force them to provide that service against their will? This is not a cherry picked example. In some small towns there is only one bakery, one supermarket, one mechanic, one gas station, one hospital, etc. Not all of us live in an area with choices for everything we need and desire. – CramerTV May 9 '16 at 17:49
@CramerTV: That would depend upon what factors prevent the emergence of competitors. Oftentimes monopolies are protected by local government policies, and the act of protecting a monopoly that refused to serve someone would effectively forbid that person from receiving service. On the other hand, if the only factor preventing someone from opening a bakery to compete with an existing bakery would be a lack of customers who would favor the new bakery, the government should not be seen as responsible for that condition, nor be required to "correct" it. – supercat May 9 '16 at 18:00
Fair enough, but the startup costs for a bakery and for a power plant are significantly different. Given the tremendous startup costs, would a power plant be able to recoup those costs if they were able to take 50% of the market? If the answer is no, and the monopolistic power plant refused to serve Buddhists for example, how should we resolve that discrimination? – CramerTV Dec 30 '17 at 3:17
@CramerTV: Power plants generally sell electricity as a fungible commodity. The kilowatts they provide Buddhists are indistinguishable from those they provide to anyone else. Further, in many cases power plants don't sell electricity direct to consumers, but instead sell it to delivery companies who buy it on consumers' behalf. If a power delivery company refused to serve a Buddhist, that might be an issue, but most power delivery companies have local governments assist in providing rights of way for wiring, which would tie in with the locally-protected monopoly principle. – supercat Dec 30 '17 at 3:44
Yes, libertarians would and do argue that anti-discrimination laws are unhelpful precisely because they involved coercing both actions and use of private property. Most libertarians I've talked to view the portions of the Civil Rights Act that coerce the actions of individuals or their use of private property to be a ill-guided and would rather people "vote with their wallets" (e.g. by boycotting racist businesses.) However, libertarians do generally agree with the 14th amendment that the government should treat people equally. So, a state targeting a particular race for citations or favoring a particular race for hiring would be a no-go with most libertarians.
Incidentally, the U.S. Constitution also bans what Oregon has done here (and what others in other states have also tried to do.) The U.S. Constitution quite clearly says that "Congress shall make no law... infringing on the free exercise [of religion]."* While this initially limited only the actions of the federal government, the ratification of the 14th Amendment applied this restriction to the state and local governments, as well. As such, forcing someone to implicitly or explicitly condone a homosexual wedding in violation of their religious beliefs is explicitly unconstitutional. I expect that these laws will be struck down on that ground, probably by the Supreme Court.
One ironic point of people trying to use the Civil Rights Act here is that the it also contains this beauty, codified in 18 USC 242:
Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
As such, the state officials who passed the laws fining the bakeries, florists, etc. could be fined and imprisoned under this law. Frankly, I think they should be in order to send a message that such violations of Constitutionally-protected civil rights will not be tolerated.
* In case anyone is wondering, no, I didn't change the meaning of the relevant clause at all in the abbreviation. The full text is "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
reirabreirab
Thanks for your answer. It raises a question in my mind though. "free exercise [of religion]" is fraught with ambiguity. The Bible calls for the stoning of adulterers yet we do not allow that particular exercise of the Christian (and others) faith. Which 'exercises' do we allow? – CramerTV Apr 27 '15 at 20:39
@CramerTV First of all, Jewish laws aren't part of the Christian faith. There is no such commandment anywhere in the Christian faith. Second, the ones that interfere with the Constitutionally-protected rights of others (such as the right to not be deprived of your person or property without due process of law) are obviously not allowed. Otherwise, they should all be allowed to the maximum extent possible, IMO. The somewhat lesser but still quite strict legal standard of Strict Scrutiny is commonly applied. – reirab Apr 27 '15 at 20:44
@bain That case invalidated a law banning interracial marriage. That's a completely different issue from forcing someone to participate in it. Libertarians would agree that the government shouldn't discriminate between people, but that's not the issue here at all. The debate over whether the government should allow homosexual marriage is completely distinct from the debate over whether someone else can be forced to participate in one. – reirab Apr 29 '15 at 14:13
@bain Yes, it is. And, yes, whether the marriage is legal and whether someone can be forced to participate in it are indeed completely different issues. Now, if a baker refuses to make a cake for an interracial wedding on religious grounds, the libertarian solution (and the legal one) would be for people who didn't agree with them to boycott said baker, not to force the baker to make the cake. Frankly, I don't personally understand why someone would even want to do business with someone who would discriminate against them, but that's another matter. – reirab Apr 29 '15 at 14:24
@bain The limits on what the government can do and the limits on what an individual can do are completely distinct issues, both Constitutionally and in libertarian philosophy (and in almost any reasonable legal system, for that matter.) – reirab Apr 29 '15 at 14:30
Yes, the business would be free to discriminate. It rests in the distinction between negative rights vs. positive rights. Here is an explanation:
Positive Rights vs. Negative Rights
This is an explanation of what would happen if a business does decide to discriminate:
Anti-Discrimination Laws Are Stupid
ChloeChloe
The video you link to actually uses the example of going to the store to buy something and how no one should "ought to stop [one] from making a trade" for goods. Seems to be that's arguing exactly the opposite. – user1530 Jun 27 '17 at 23:40
No you are not understanding. If you go to the store to buy a cake, no third party ought to stop that trade from happening as it does not interfere with the third party. However, if the baker decides they don't want to sell a cake, then still no third party ought to compel or force the baker into slavery to provide a cake. Cakes are not positive rights. No one is entitled to a cake. Hoisting an obligation to provide a cake upon a baker turns it into a positive right. Instead, a better, negative right would be: Government shall not prohibit people from owning cakes. – Chloe Jun 28 '17 at 3:28
I wish I could say otherwise, but this all just sounds like word-play to justify people's behavior that many would consider being a bit assholish--and maybe that's OK. Perhaps one way to explain libertarian philosophy is that "everyone is free to be an asshole as long as they don't physically hurt someone or steal their stuff" – user1530 Jun 28 '17 at 3:30
Please ask your professor to explain negative rights and positive rights. And yes, freedom means freedom to be an ass. – Chloe Jun 28 '17 at 3:38
All negative rights can co-exist, because it involves NOT doing anything, or just not acting. All positive rights will conflict with each other eventually. – Chloe Jun 28 '17 at 3:46
It's positive right of gays to be treated like all others VS negative right of businessman not to be coerced to any deal forcefully. Libertarians admit only negative rights, the only positive right they admit is that all people have equal negative rights. So, in this situation businessman is right, gays or state are not.
dzu vogdzu vog
what is a 'negative right'? – user1530 Jun 27 '17 at 23:37
@blip let me google for you. To take Adrian has a negative right to x against Clay if and only if Clay is prohibited from acting upon Adrian in some way regarding x. In contrast, Adrian has a positive right to x against Clay if and only if Clay is obliged to act upon Adrian in some way regarding x. A case in point, if Adrian has a negative right to life against Clay, then Clay is required to refrain from killing Adrian; while if Adrian has a positive right to life against Clay, then Clay is required to act as necessary to preserve the life of Adrian. – dzu vog Jun 28 '17 at 0:06
One has negative right to engage in commerce, yes. 'Negative' means others cannot violate this right UNTIL he himself violates other peoples negative rights, which he actually does when he forces other party to participate in commercial deal with him. In other words you cannot have negative right to violate other peoples negative rights. In other words all contracts have to be voluntary. Or negative rights just have no sense. – dzu vog Jun 28 '17 at 1:10
@blip - there's no general "negative right to commerce". There's only negarive right to enter into one side of voluntary commercial transaction (e.g if a shop wants to sell you X, you have a right not to be stopped from buying it. If someone wants to pay you for Y, you have the right to not be stopped from selling it). There's no right to force someone else to enter the second side of that transaction with you. – user4012 Jun 28 '17 at 2:21
@blip - (1) current society is exactly what you describe, except around positive rights (which is much worse because it means those aligned groups are all about forcing others to provide those positive rights at the barrel of a gun). (2) Negative rights would actually be less likely to lead to factions, as they are pretty much about "live and let live". Inasmuch as humans by nature are able to be less-factionish (which they aren't, in any idea system, due to human nature). – user4012 Jun 28 '17 at 13:14
A libertarian can approach this question in many ways:
She imagines a libertarian utopia, and hypothesizes how this sort of conflict would be addressed in such a society.
She takes US society and government as they are, and asks herself how a principled, intelligent, and idealistic libertarian should respond to this situation, as an individual.
She examines how US society and government presently work, and looks for a realistic strategy for moving them closer to her libertarian ideals.
If we're going to discuss option #2 or option #3, then we need to admit the reality of the present situation, which is that US law, as it presently exists, contains literally thousands of provisions that are explicitly intended to foster heterosexual marriage and predominantly heterosexual activities such as child-rearing. For example, a very large chunk of state income tax and sales tax revenue goes toward subsidizing the K-12 education of people's kids.
In this respect, the situation is very much like the one we had ca. 1940 with respect to Jim Crow laws; Jim Crow was not a voluntaristic system, but rather a state-sanctioned system of segregation.
One good, principled libertarian response to the situation would be to advocate strongly for the dismantling of all of the government subsidies and preferences currently bestowed upon heterosexual people. Dismantle the heterosexist legal system, just as we dismantled Jim Crow.
A much poorer libertarian response would be to ignore the context and pretend that a business such as a bakery exists in a legal and social vacuum. This would be akin to pretending that a segregated lunch counter in Georga was operating without a system of legal coercion in the background.
Ben CrowellBen Crowell
How exactly does this answer the question? I thought you were supposed to be saying whether a libertarian would side with the bakery or accept state intervention in discrimination protected classes. Yes, libertarians would be against tax subsidies (that pay for public schools) , but that isn't the question at hand. – user1873 Apr 28 '15 at 5:11
This seems to answer the question...at least to me. I didn't see the question asking which side a libertarian would take. – user1530 Apr 28 '15 at 15:59
The question explicitly asks how a libertarian non-coercion policy would apply to this case. I don't see an answer to that here. The second-to-last paragraph addresses how a libertarian would deal with the marriage issue, but not the issue of coercing a private business owner to take part in it, which is the question here. – reirab Apr 28 '15 at 18:26
Gays can have kids too you know, through a variety of different methods. "Dismantling the heterosexist system" in this case is just a cover for eliminating tax revenue to public education so that once again, only the wealthy have access to any education at all, greatly exacerbating income inequality and pretty much eliminating upward mobility. – Ernie Apr 29 '15 at 18:42
I am totally agree with user4012
That being said, some libertarian candidates disagree
https://www.quora.com/How-does-Gary-Johnsons-support-for-anti-discrimination-laws-coincide-with-Libertarian-principles
Gary Johnson, a Libertarian, think a business should serve all.
In which case, I wonder if I am a photographer, and a gay model wants me to make nude sexy male photograph. Would I have too? I mean, I like to discriminate based on sex while hiring sugar babies. I guess, that's no too.
The question asks about how libertarian non-coercion policy would deal with the situation, not about how members of the Libertarian Party would deal with it. This is just one of many issues on which Gary Johnson doesn't actually align with libertarian non-coercion policy. 'Libertarian' (capital 'L', the party) and 'libertarian' (small 'l', the ideology) are not the same, just as 'Democratic' (the party) and 'democratic' (having to do with majority rule) are not the same and 'Republican' (the party) and 'republican' (having to do with representative government) are not the same. – reirab Dec 23 '18 at 20:38
I do not know how it is in the US, but in Russia any retail business, sale or services is considered public offer. Public offer is such a type of contract where a contracting party makes the conditions public and obliged keep its conditions, similar to say, public license on software. The clients have freedom to join such contract if they want to buy the service or good.
In other words if a business made a public offer in announcement or advertisement to bake cakes, they have to do it for whomever asks. Refusing doing so or changing price for a particular person would be considered a violation of the public offer contract terms.
AnixxAnixx
Hi Anixx, This question is about how libertarian non-coercion policy would deal with this issue, not how any individual country's current legal system would deal with it. – reirab Apr 29 '15 at 14:32
@reirab Libertarians usually hold that contracts should be enforced by the state. – Anixx Apr 29 '15 at 16:49
True, but they almost always hold that both entrance into contracts and the terms of those contracts should be completely voluntary. They further hold that any 'contract' that was not entered into voluntarily should be considered null, void, and unenforceable. This is in keeping with the non-coercion policy mentioned in the question. – reirab Apr 29 '15 at 16:54
@reirab public offer considered a contract that is entered into by the offering party when they make an announcement of the terms. They cannot revoke it upon seeing a "wrong" client. – Anixx Apr 29 '15 at 23:53
But, being involuntary, it is most certainly not how libertarian non-coercion policy would deal with the situation. That a given country does it that way is not relevant to this question. – reirab Apr 30 '15 at 0:25
Libertarians have exactly no intentions of solving social issues, especially social issues related to class. They are in fact, primarily interested in improving the lot of the upper class while pitching "freedom" and "deregulation" as somehow being positive things for the rest of the population.
Unfortunately, letting the market decide everything is exactly the kind of mob rule that King George warned against before the inception of the United States, and is precisely the thing the US constitution is designed to prevent.
So while the Libertarian "solution" to inequality is for the government to get out of the way, it's really not hard to show how discrimination could get completely out of hand in that situation. If we just look at the example of gay bars in the 1950s when being gay was not only illegal but socially repugnant (thus the reason it was illegal in the first place! People demanded it be so). These underground bars fleeced their customers by overcharging for drinks that were watered down and charging high cover charges. And on top of that, they also routinely blackmailed them too. The Libertarian "solution" would have been simply to repeal the laws making homosexuality illegal.
This solution only takes care of part of the problem, however. These bars would still be free to gouge and blackmail their customers, because they'd still be in a small market with little competition thanks to the social stigma against being gay or opening bars catering to gays. Other bars would be free to kick people out and blackball them for the same reason, driving those customers to the underground bars that gouge them. Likewise, employers would still be free to fire people for no other reason than being gay, leaving the mechanism for blackmail in place. So while the government would not themselves throw people in jail for loving the wrong people, that same government would actually go out of its way to enforce the old law through classism and the free market.
And as other people have already pointed out, this would be "good for business" because the market solution of catering to a minority for excessive profit would be wide open, while in no way, shape, or form actually doing anything to solve the social issue of widespread discrimination against a minority.
And that's how you dress up the enabling of class warfare as freedom while making a metric boatload of money off the backs of the underclass.
ErnieErnie
Leaving aside the rest of the rant, "fleeced their customers by overcharging for drinks that were watered down and charging high cover charge" sounds like Yelp reviews of 50% of popular NYC bars today. Example FAIL. A bigger fail is of course that the underlying issue (if you use brains instead of feelings) was the captive market coupled with high barrier of entry (want to open a gay bar? Consider how much you want to clash with police and law). In libertarian solution, the cost of opening a new gay bar is... zilch over opening non-gay bar. So near-monopolistic captive market is likely. – user4012 Apr 28 '15 at 18:45
This is a rant, not an answer. – reirab Apr 28 '15 at 18:47
As others have noted this in no way answers the question. However, I would love to discuss many of your points because I relate to most of the Libertarian 'ideals' and respectfully disagree with your interpretation of my intentions. If you would like to have a discussion please feel free to move this to a chat room. – CramerTV Apr 29 '15 at 16:54
The point though, is that (as I stated) Libertarians don't care about social issues like this. The idea that government should always "just get out of the way" means that the mob gets to rule. Or those with the means to rule on their own. Or both. Their line of thinking is that the state should neither weaken the strong nor defend the weak. Which is the exact opposite of justice. – Ernie Apr 29 '15 at 17:09
@Ernie, as I stated, I am a Libertarian that DOES care about social issues like this and is why I asked the question in the first place. You are demonstrably wrong which is why I asked you to have a chat about it. – CramerTV May 2 '15 at 15:44
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged libertarianism discrimination .
Hasn't libertarianism already proven to fail?
Would a Libertarian argue for full disclosure in political donations for transparency's sake or full privacy for the donor?
Would it be justified for a libertarian state to ban certain religious schools?
How would a libertarian model address widely spread negative externalities (such as CFCs)?
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Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin addresses reporters last week.
In Time for Trade Deal Signing, US Removes Label on China
Newser — Bob Cronin
As Chinese officials landed in Washington on Monday to sign a trade deal, the US presented them with a concession. The US no longer considers China a currency manipulator.
The label was put in place last summer after President Trump accused the government of weakening its currency for an unfair trade advantage, making its goods cheaper to sell overseas, the New York Times reports.
"China has made enforceable commitments to refrain from competitive devaluation, while promoting transparency and accountability," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. The decision came in a semiannual currency report from the Treasury Department.
No countries merit the "manipulator" label, as defined by Congress, the report said.
The trade agreement is scheduled to be signed Wednesday. One expert said China indeed is not manipulating its currency, per the Washington Post, "so it would have been inconsistent for the US to sign the deal and continue to call China a manipulator." Many members of both parties in Congress agree that China should still bear the label, and there was criticism of the change on Monday.
"Just because we're negotiating a trade deal doesn't mean we should ignore Communist China's bad acts," Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican, tweeted. Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, said, "Unfortunately, President Trump would rather cave to President Xi than stay tough on China." (Compensating US farmers for their losses has cost billions.)
More From Newser
This article originally appeared on Newser: In Time for Trade Deal Signing, US Removes Label on China
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Art & Performing Arts
Customs & Remedies
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Why St George is a Palestinian hero
Contributed by Toine Van Teeffelen on 25.04.2014:
BBC 22 April 2014 Last updated at 23:14 GMT
By Yolande Knell BBC News
As England celebrates the day of its patron saint, many Palestinians are gearing up for their own forthcoming celebrations of the figure they also regard as a hero.
A familiar flag flaps in the wind above a Palestinian church in the West Bank village of a(...)
Twelfth Annual Artas Lettuce Festival Draws Crowds of Palestinians and Foreigners
Contributed by Artas Folklore Center on 05.02.2014:
By Leyla Zuaiter
It is unseasonably cool, and if the skies are not clear, the forecast rain has not materialized. At 2:00 on April 6, the garden of the Convent of the Enclosed Garden in Artas is packed with spectators. They have seen the posters, received invitations, read the ads in the newspapers or heard about it from their friends and neighbors. They have come from neighboring town(...)
Jibneh webattikh
Contributed by Mary Nasser on 11.06.2012:
From our heritage in Bethlehem
Watermelon with Cheese (Jibneh webattikh)
This is a light summer supper dish very popular in Palestine. I had it very often growing up in Bethlehem on warm summer days. The white salted cheese complements the sweetness of the watermelon. Add to it a piece of fresh and warm Palestinian pita bread “Kmaj” to produce a superb taste that you will never (...)
Reflections on the Palestinian Art Movement before 1948
The Paintings of Jabra Ibrahim Jabra
By George Al Ama and Nada Atrash
The Palestinian Nakba in 1948 and the rapid succession of events in its aftermath have undoubtedly left their mark on the various aspects of life in Palestine, including the literary and artistic movements. During the few years before the Nakba, the art movement witnessed a rapid ev(...)
Beautiful Resistance
By Dr. Abdelfattah Abusrour
This Week in Palestine
I was born Palestinian, and I don’t want to do anything to change this.
I was born in a refugee camp, in my own country, and there is nothing I can do about it.
I was born under occupation, and I will do everything possible or impossible to change this.
The culture and history of nations is p(...)
The Roots Remain
By Jane Frere
The cloud of figures cascading through the air evoked a profoundly emotional experience for almost everyone who visited my Nakba installation, Return of the Soul.
At the time the sculptural work served as a poignant reminder of the 60
years since so many Palestinians had been forced to flee their homes,
ne(...)
Video Clips of the Artas Folklore Troupe
We have gathered just a few of the many videos showing performances of the the Artas Folklore Center's Ahya al Turath Troupe
The Artas Folklore Center's Ahya al Turath Troupe in a Debka Festival on You Tube by You Tube user nourartas.
Clip 1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gHeTppHo_Y&feature=related
Clip 2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=ctRzUKyG73k&featur(...)
Images/ Video Clips 2012 Artas Lettuce Festival
For those who missed the Eighteenth Annual Artas Lettuce Festival, a "moving festival" between Solomon's Pools and Artas that took place Sunday, April 22, 2012, here are a few items to give you an idea of this unique event. Begin Explorations below image:
[[picture:"." ID:8325]]
PHOTO ESSAY OF THE EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL ARTAS LETTUCE FESTIVAL(APRIL 22(...)
What is Folklore Anyway?
[[picture:"." ID:440]]
What is Folklore anyway? No two people have the exact same answer. The one of the many definitions that seems to apply the best to Artas reads:
"Folk arts are traditional cultural expressions through which a group maintains and passes on its shared way of life. They express a group’s sense of beauty, identity and values. Folk arts are usually learned infor(...)
Artas in Spirit of Sumud Exhibition by Palestine-Family.net’s own James Prineas
Stunning images from the 2006 Artas Lettuce Festival by Australian born, Berlin-based James Prineas, founder Palestine-family.net appear in Spirit of Sumud Exhibit which features pictures from Wadi Kelt, and The Wall, as well. The entire collection was first exhibited at the Bethlehem Peace Center in October 2006 at the local launch of Palestine-family.net. It was created with the support of(...)
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aboitiz
The Many Iterations of M/V Sugbu
Posted on May 18, 2016 May 18, 2016 by psssadmin
Image © Edison Sy. Do not re-upload without permission.
The M/V Sugbu of William Lines began life in Japan as the MV Akebono Maru of the A” Line, one of the sources of second-hand ships of William Lines in Japan (they also acquired second-hand ships from Europe in earlier days and also brand-new ships from Japan). She was built by Usuki Tekkosho in their Saiki yard in 1977 and as originally designed she was a ROLO (Roll-On Lift-Off) ferry. By that, it means she had a cargo boom at the bow and (two) RORO ramps at the stern. ROLO was actually the prevailing design of the A” Line shipping company in that period. As built, she was 137.5 meters in Length Over-all (LOA), a length between perpendiculars (LPP or LBP) of 125.0 meters with a breadth of 20.2 meters. In Japan, she was originally measured to be 4,999 in Gross Register Tons (GRT) with a Deadweight Tonnage (DWT) of 2,700. Her hull was made of steel, she had two masts, a raked stem and a transom stern with two passenger decks. She had an original top speed of 20.5 knots. Her permanent ID was IMO 7633129.
MV Akebono Maru arrived in the Philippines in late 1989 to become the flagship of William Lines. She replaced the former flagship, the venerable MV Dona Virginia. In a locally-done conversion, two passenger decks were added to her with the tallest being on the bridge or navigation deck. This necessitated the extension of the funnels. The cargo boom at the bow was retained and thus she remained a ROLO ship. With the refitting, her Gross Tonnage (GT) rose to 6,624 nominal tons and her Net Tonnage (NT) increased to 3,319 nominal tons (as GT and NT actually have no units). Her passenger capacity increased to 2,600 persons which suggested a maximal use of space. Liners of the era then were expected to have a big passenger capacities and it was already the era of 2,000-passenger liners. As flagship she was fielded into the prime Manila-Cebu route starting in early 1990 where she battled the much-bigger and faster flagship of Sulpicio Lines, the heavyweight MV Filipina Princess, the biggest and fastest ferry then in the country.
The Akebono Maru © T. Mikami
M/V Sugbu © Masahiro Homma
In December of 1993, William Lines acquired the grand Sun Flower Osaka (formerly Sun Flower 5) to start the Wililines Mabuhay series for the company and to compete against the SuperFerry series of Aboitiz Shipping and the grand liners of Sulpicio Lines. MV Mabuhay 1 became the new flagship and hence, holder of the Manila-Cebu route and she was soon followed by the MV Wililines Mabuhay 2. To upgrade the MV Sugbu to the Mabuhay standard, she was sent to Singapore for upgrading. There she was lengthened, her passenger accommodations and amenities were upgraded, her bridge equipments were modernized and the engines were remanufactured.
In 1995, she came back to the Philippines as the MV Wililines Mabuhay 3. Her new length was now 157.1 meters (an increase of over 20 meters) and her Gross Tonnage (GT) increased to 7,878. Her new Net Tonnage (NT) was 3,969 and her DWT (Deadweight Tonnage) was 3,219 tons. Her bridge was relocated forward and a beautiful sloped foredeck was built below the bridge. With that, her cargo booms disappeared but she had two RORO ramps at the stern arrangement to handle rolling cargo. Her passenger capacity was reduced to 2,334 persons which means more space and amenities. She was divided into 7 (!) classes – the Special Suite, Suite, Cabin for 2, Cabin for 4/6, Deluxe, Deluxe Tourist and Economy. All those seven classes have different rates or fares. Coming back to the William Lines, she was assigned to the newly-created route Manila-Davao-Dadiangas-Manila-Cagayan-Iloilo-Manila and she was sailing again at 20 knots with few in-port hours. She had the fastest Manila-Davao sailing at 42 hours and the fastest Dadiangas-Manila transit time at 36 hours. The route was an express route and she had express speed to match that. It was also designed to show Aboitiz Shipping that William Lines can also do express shipping and maybe even better than them.
M/V Wilines Mabuhay 3. From lonelyplanetimages.com (Note: If you are the owner of this photo please contact us so we can give the proper credit. Thanks!)
In 1996, with the accession of William Lines to WG&A, she became the MV SuperFerry 8. In that new company, her route assignment changed but it was still an express route with express speed. In fact, she was assigned a route similar to that of MV SuperFerry 1 in Aboitiz’s time which is a Manila-Iloilo-General Santos City-Davao route coupled with a Manila-Iloilo route on the same week. Actually, the two ships were sailing the same exact route but with different departure days. Later, when the MV SuperFerry 10 was pulled out from the Manila-Cebu route the three ships were given a rotating Manila-Iloilo-General Santos City-Davao route. That pairing earlier or later can be done without a hitch because the three ships have the same speed of 20 knots (which is critical in a pairing to be able to maintain the same departures and arrivals) and more or less the same capacity in passengers and cargo. That route is the longest ferry route in the Philippines existing then and it is a compliment to the shipping companies which fielded express liners with express speed. Only 20-knot ferries were actually ever assigned in this route. With that, the voyages did not take too long unlike in the old past when male passengers will already have beards, as they say, by the time they disembark at the end of the voyage.
M/V SuperFerry 8 © T. Mikami
However, such express speed took a toll on the main engines of MV SuperFerry 8 which by that time already exceeded a quarter century. The company then decided to re-engine her so that she will remain an express ferry. This was done locally and it was considered a feat because no ship with such size of engines has ever been re-engined locally. But maybe with Keppel of Singapore already owning and running the former Cebu Shipyard & Engineering Works that might not have been such a wonder after all since it was Keppel which originally lengthened and modernized this ship in Singapore and re-engining ships in Singapore is one of their staples. With Aboitiz’s old Wartsila connection, that engine brand was chosen as the replacement and a pair of it with a total of 22,140 horsepower were installed. Through such engines, she was capable again of 20 knots. With that engine change, they also changed the name of ship into MV SuperFerry 19 in 2004.
M/V Superferry 19 in a later variant of the WG&A livery © Wakanatsu
Milne Bay © superferry crew/Flickr
Going into the mid-2000s, upheavals rocked the shipping company WG&A of MV SuperFerry 8/SuperFerry 19 with the divestment of two partner families. This resulted in the need to sell ships, both passenger and cargo to pay off the divestitures. This started the downward turn of the company. In such situation, I was never able to gleam what was the reason why the company leased the newly-reengined MV SuperFerry 19 to Papua New Guinea in 2006. In that country, she was known as MV Milne Bay. Soon, however, she returned to the country and the company itself said she was in a worse condition that when she left. She was refurbished and soon she was sailing again. She then held the Manila-Zamboanga-General Santos City-Davao route. Her newly-renamed company ATS (Aboitiz Transport System) had a route iteration that when the ship does not call on Iloilo port then it calls on Zamboanga port. She was still an express ship in an express route. However, the change this time is many passengers have already left for the budget airlines and the intermodal bus or they get a connecting ship ride in northern Mindanao (mainly Cagayan de Oro and Nasipit ports) by taking a bus first. Cargo has also been affected by the intermodal truck and the increasing number of container ships by the competition.
M/V SuperFerry 19 © Aristotle Refugio
You can view photos of SF19’s interior here.
With the arrival in the company of the MV SuperFerry 20 and MV SuperFerry 21, along with abandoned routes and frequencies, MV SuperFerry 19 (and MV SuperFerry 1) became superfluous (in the company’s view) and was offered for sale. To mollify feelings in the company, a canard was circulated saying the hull was already weak (weakened by so few cargo maybe). The ship was painted all-white, the sign then she was no longer considered part of the fleet. She was anchored off Talisay, Cebu, becoming a “floating monument” for several months. Soon, ship breakers purchased her and she was broken up in China by the Jiangmen Xinhui Shipbreaking company in July 11, 2011. Her last name, the name she carried in her last voyage was MV Super.
Awaiting her fate © Vincent Paul Sanchez
Once a beautiful and a loved ship, she is just a distant memory now.
Posted in Ship FeatureTagged aboitiz, sf 19, sf 8, sf19, sf8, Superferry, william linesLeave a comment
M/V St. Thomas Aquinas
Posted on April 30, 2015 April 30, 2015 by psssadmin
The MV St. Thomas Aquinas was a former 2GO liner that was rammed on the side by the container ship Sulpicio Express Siete of Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corporation (PSACC) just south of Mactan Channel near Lauis Ledge lighthouse on the night of August 16, 2013. She sank in a matter of minutes because the PSACC ship feared being a sinking casualty and she pulled back allowing water to rush inside the hull of St. Thomas Aquinas (this is what usually happens when there is an underwater gash in the hull). A total of 137 persons died in the collision and a large oil spill affecting Mactan island resulted. St. Thomas Aquinas was better known locally as SuperFerry 2 and she is included in the book “The Great Passenger Ships of the World” by Frank Heine and Frank Lose (the original title was in German), a book where the Philippine Ship Spotter Society (PSSS) was a contributor.
M/V Superferry 2 folio ©John Aringay
St. Thomas Aquinas started life as the Ferry Sumiyoshi of Meimon Car Ferry K.K. of Kitakyushu, Japan. She was built in the Onomichi yard of Onomichi Zosen and she was the sister ship of Ferry Hakozaki which was better known locally as SuperFerry 5 and later as the St. Joan of Arc of 2GO (this ship is still sailing). Ferry Sumiyoshi’s keel was laid on August 1, 1972, launched on December 19, 1972 and completed on March 20, 1973. Her Length Over-all (LOA) was 138.6 meters and her Length Between Perpendiculars (LBP) was 128.0 meters with a Breadth of 22.15 meters. Originally, her Gross Register Tonnage (GRT) was 7,270 with a Deadweight Tonnage (DWT) of 2,596.
Ferry Sumiyoshi was powered by two Mitsubishi-MAN diesels (MAN engines built under license by Mitsubishi in Japan) of a combined 15,200 horsepower which gave her a service speed of 19 knots. She carried the international ID IMO 7304663 and she was a RORO-Passenger (ROPAX) Ferry. The ship originally had one and a half passenger decks, two and a half cargo decks, a full bridge deck and vehicle ramps at the bow and at the stern. Her original passenger capacity was 900 and she was first fielded in the Osaka-Shinmoji route in Japan.
Ferry Sumiyoshi ©Fakta om Fartyg
In April of 1992 she came to the Philippines to become the Aboitiz SuperFerry 2 (also SuperFerry II) of Aboitiz Shipping Corporation where she was converted into a 4-deck multi-day passenger liner originally serving the Manila-Cebu-Cagayan de Oro route (displacing the SuperFerry 1 in the latter port of call). She was the first liner fielded again by Aboitiz Shipping Corporation in the Manila-Cebu route after the shipping company gave up on that route for paucity of suitable liners (they were however serving the Cebu-Leyte route).
Superferry 2 ©Britz Salih
As reclassified, she had a Gross Tonnage (GT) of 11,405, a DWT of 2,947 and a passenger capacity of over 2,643 divided into the following classes: Stateroom, Cabin (for 2 and 4), Tourist, Deluxe and Economy. Adding weight her depth rose to 8.2 meters and her service speed dropped to 17.5 knots which meant a transit time of 22 hours in the Manila-Cebu route. Having a folding rear mast she can pass under the Mactan bridge. Her car deck can accommodate 108 trailers (she loads “CHA-RO” or container vans mounted on trailers and parked separate from the tractor heads).
Superferry 2 ©Gorio Belen
Aboitiz Shipping Corporation did not provide free meals to the passengers then but the fares were a little lower compared to competition to compensate for that. A passenger then will have his choice of what to eat. One orders meal a la carte in the cafeteria that was centrally located which was open from early morning to just past midnight. Passengers can also lounge here and while away time and various drinks can be ordered any time. The first class passengers have their separate restaurant. There was also a disco-karaoke and a coffee shop.
The ship featured a lounge for upper class passengers and a lobby and front desk for everyone along with other amenities and offerings like a video game arcade, a kiosk and books/magazines and board games for rent and a beauty salon. The ship sides were open and served as passageway and it also served as a viewing deck and smoking area. The sun deck of the ship also serves as a promenade area.
Superferry 2 interior ©Wakanatsu
On January 1, 1996 she passed on to the merger company William, Gothong & Aboitiz (WG&A) and in the renaming of the ferries of the merged fleet she retained the same name as WG&A decided to use the SuperFerry brand with the lesser ferries branded the “Our Lady”, a brand from Gothong Shipping. Initially she held on to her same route but a little later she did other routes (but not the prime Cebu route). Then she was paired with SuperFerry 5 to do rotational routes and a little later more this pairing included the SuperFerry 9 (in rotational pairings WG&A matches the ferries in speed and size). Doing rotational routes that varied over time along with differing assignments and schedules were a WG&A trademark which was hard to track unless one monitors their advertisement in the dailies.
Superferry 2 in WG&A livery ©Wakanatsu
With the divestment of the Chiongbian and Gothong families in WG&A (with the notable exception of Bob Gothong), the company was renamed the Aboitiz Transport System (ATS) in 2003. With sizable sell-off of ships (liners, overnight ferries and container ships), ATS found themselves lacking container capacity especially when they sold off SuperFerry 15, 16, 17 and 18. Part of their remedy aside from chartering container ships was to convert 4-deck liners into liners with only two passenger decks with two container decks. This halved the passenger capacity of the converted ships but almost doubled the container capacity. ATS thought this was the correct solution to declining passenger patronage and lack of container capacity (but later developments proved them wrong).
As converted, the passenger capacity of SuperFerry 2 dropped to only 904 with only two Staterooms and two Cabins. With some engine efficiency adjustments the service speed went up to 18.5 knots (with a maximum equaling her old 19 knots) and with only a few passengers the ship tended to be very cold at night especially when it is raining. The ship moreover became an all-airconditioned ship. Her Net Tonnage (NT) dropped to 5,869. As a two-passenger deck ferry there was much less space for passengers to roam and amenities and facilities were less. The dining area of the upper and lower classes became shared.
Superferry 2 ©Mike Baylon
Later on with the buy-out of Aboitiz Transport System by Negros Navigation using the China-ASEAN Fund loan in 2012 she passed on to the newly merged company 2GO. She was renamed as the St. Thomas Aquinas and she did the Manila-Cebu-Zamboanga and Manila-Cebu-Nasipit routes among other always-changing routes and schedules. In 2GO she was still speedy but with more emphasis put on the declining cargo and because of that like other ships in the fleet she tended to be late because of delayed departures waiting for cargo.
St Thomas Aquinas in 2GO livery. ©Mike Baylon
To make up for lost time because she was four hours late, she was speeding in the early night of August 13, 2013 in Hilutungan Channel and in rounding the southern coast of Mactan island. The area is notorious for radar scatter because of the ship facing land formation with hills, towers and plenty of buildings and vehicles. Also rounding Mactan island the radar won’t give an image of the ships exiting Cebu port and Mactan Channel. The early night too is the peak departure time of ships leaving Cebu. Nearing Lauis Ledge and the reefs of Cordova, Mactan and the narrows and shoals off Talisay, Cebu, the ship barreled into the narrowing shipping lane at over 16 knots when ships were expected to do 15knots or less in that area where the shipping line is curving like in a continuous arc.
At that time Sulpicio Express Siete with an ice-classed bow (reinforced as she was originally a Baltic Sea ship) was exiting Mactan Channel at slow speed. Meanwhile, Trans Asia 9 which was late in departure was catching up and asked permission to overtake on the right or starboard of Sulpicio Express Siete. The shallows of Talisay were looming ahead (a ship of Cokaliong Shipping Lines made a mistake here and ended up high and dry). So Sulpicio Express Siete gave her a wide berth and moved to the middle of the channel and slowed down a bit as she will be veering right soon as she was headed in the direction of Dumaguete while Trans Asia 9 is headed to Cagayan de Oro.
While the gap between Sulpicio Express Siete and Trans Asia 9 was getting bigger, the late-running Oceanjet 8, a fastcraft of Ocean Fast Ferries speeding from Tagbilaran moved into the gap between the ships and went into the starboard of Sulpicio Express Siete which was not her correct lane and in violation of maritime rules of the seaway. This had the effect of delaying of the veering of Sulpicio Express Siete in her correct lane in a shipping line with divider without marking buoys (AIS showed that at the time of passing of Trans Asia 9 Sulpicio Express Siete was slightly to the left of the median).
After Oceanjet 8 passed and when Sulpicio Express Siete was veering into her lane a reckless maneuver was made – St. Thomas Aquinas sped up and tried to follow Oceanjet 8, a classic case of brinkmanship. Ships don’t slow down and can’t maneuver like cars and the reinforced bow of Sulpicio Siete scraped against the hull and the passenger ramp of St. Thomas Aquinas, cut it up to below the waterline near the stern and the engine room. In moments, St. Thomas Aquinas had a fatal wound and power was knocked out and complete darkness fell in St. Thomas Aquinas with the bow on Sulpicio Express Siete lodged inside the rear hull of the 2GO liner. Some passenger took advantage of this momentary coupling of the two ships and jumped to the bow of the container ship. They were among the luckier ones because in minutes it was obvious their liner was stricken with a mortal blow worse than the Italian liner Andrea Doria.
Timeframe of collision ©Marinetraffic.com/Jeth Casagan
While the Andrea Doria had a good design that limited water intrusion and which kept her afloat for many hours St. Thomas Aquinas was a RORO which lacked watertight doors and compartments. When Sulpicio Express Siete reversed screws and disengaged she immediately developed a dangerous list and she capsized within minutes not affording enough time for proper evacuation which was made more difficult by the darkness. Trans Asia 9 also did not come to the rescue unlike the French liner Ile de France which illuminated Andrea Doria and launched lifeboats to the rescue.
Immediately after the accident charges and counter-charges of fault and recriminations were hurled and mainly by 2GO and netizens were quick to blame PSACC, the former Sulpicio Lines. Their former bad reputation hurt PSACC’s case in the bar of public opinion and it was even made worse by the fact that it was their ship which rammed and sank the other and was beyond the median line initially. Almost to a man almost everybody was blaming PSACC except maybe PSSS and a few others including mariners who understand COLREG (Collision Regulations) which governs rules of the road at sea. A Special Board of Marine Inquiry (SBMI) made an investigation that drew mainly on eyewitness account which tend to be biased depending of which ship they were boarded. In PSSS we noted there was almost no use of AIS which is the ship’s transponder and St. Thomas Aquinas was visible because their MMSI module was active and that gave her location, direction, speed and identity along with other data. It was her AIS which said she was overspeeding and she crossed the bow of the PSACC ship, a maneuver not permitted unless the other ship gave permission (this was also established later by the official investigation report).
Damage on Sulpicio Express Siete ©John Cabanillas
After over a year, the Philippine body tasked with determining fault, the Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) determined liabilities and this was affirmed by their supervisory body, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC). It sidestepped a purely COLREG-based decision and instead looked at other technicalities. The result said the St. Thomas Aquinas was mainly at fault because it held that ships moving out of port have priority over incoming ships. The report also noted a collision could have been avoided if both ships slowed down especially since they are not in radio contact.
Up to now the remains of St. Thomas Aquinas still lay near the collision site and lays precariously by her side in a sea ledge like the Costa Concordia. The maritime authority has already decided that 2GO should remove her as she poses hazard to navigation. Meanwhile, the municipality of Cordova is pressing payment for damage to their mangroves and fishing ground due to the oil spill in the aftermath of the sinking. Victims are still seeking further compensation while the two captains directly involved in the collision remain suspended. The other ships involved were not called to bar to answer for their actions.
Pumping oil from the remains of M/V St. Thomas Aquinas
Now, the liner St. Thomas Aquinas is just a memory but a bitter one at that especially for the victims who are not holding on to solid hopes as deadly maritime accidents in the Philippines take the courts up to over a generation to make a final decision.
MORE PHOTOS HERE: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29421855@N07/sets/72157632985526375
Posted in UncategorizedTagged 2go, 2go travel, aboitiz, aquinas, car ferry, express siete, frank heine, frank lose, hakozaki, japan, joan of arc, kitakyushu, lauis ledge, Liner, mactan channel, meimon, onomichi, onomichi zosen, philippine span asia, philippine span asia carrier corporation, psacc, PSSS, RORO, sinking, span asia, St thomas aquinas, sulpicio, sumiyoshi, Superferry, superferry 12Leave a comment
The SuperCat 1
The SuperCat 1 is the progenitor of the great SuperCat series which is still well-remembered today. However, unlike what most people think, this is not the same vessel as the latter SuperCat-I which people knew better because she lived longer.
SuperCat 1 didn’t live a long and charmed life. She is also not traceable from databases as her IMO Number is not known and Universal Aboitiz seemed to prefer that her past was simply buried. She came one time in April of 1994, gleaming, impressive and launched with much fanfare, as should be, being a technical advancement and being fastest in the route. However, she was not the first High Speed Craft (HSC) in the Batangas-Mindoro route as the Bullet Express 1 beat her by days (however she was not successful in the route and was largely forgotten in the area).
SuperCat 1 seems to be a Damen catamaran built in Singapore, probably of a fiberglass hull. She was a two-deck passenger HSC equipped with propellers having a speed of over 32 knots. She was capable of 45-minute transit time in the 24-nautical mile Batangas-Calapan route on a clear sea. However, I doubt if she has a motion dampening system as I noticed her tendency to ride like a horse on a rough sea.
SuperCat 1 ©Edison Sy
She was a snazzy ship when she came and with snappy service to boot which one might mistake for airline service then as this kind of service afloat a vessel was not common then. Everything was clean and orderly and the passengers were pampered. Compared to the slow, annoying and humid ROPAXes in the route, her comfort and service were miles and miles ahead. One does not arrive at the end of the route feeling tired and hassled.
With her appearance in the route, the dominant Viva Shipping Lines was forced to respond. Sometime in July of 1994, two fastcrafts appeared to compete with SuperCat 1. However, there was really no match as the Viva fastcrafts were slower and the service was notches below. Soon, an odor was also noticeable as the crew slept overnight on her humid cabin. The only thing going for the Viva fastcrafts was that her fares were significantly lower.
SuperCat 1 stern ©Edison Sy
A canard of “excessive” speed was thrown against SuperCat 1 by the humbled opposition and with that came the whispers of “dangerous”. Many thought this was part of the campaign for her route to be changed to the west of Isla Verde instead of the route between the Mag-asawang Pulo. It was already habagat and that route was known for rougher seas. Soon she was assigned this route and riding her, I had one of three most violent sea rides in my life where majority of the crew threw up and passengers have to be bodily lifted or assisted out of the vessel at the end of the voyage.
One day in September of 1994, SuperCat 1 stuck an underwater object while speeding near Isla Verde on the way to Calapan. She was wrecked and upon salvage the severity of the impact can be seen in the misalignment of the two hulls. Charges of “sabotage” were hurled against the main competition but none were proved. She was never repaired and soon she receded from memory.
Soon after, a new SuperCat-I came to replace her. She was the former Oregrund, a second-hand catamaran built in Sweden by Marinteknik Verkstads. In appearance she was much different from SuperCat 1. Most people thought she was the progenitor of the SuperCat series but they were wrong.
Oreground(future SuperCat-I) ©Penhahk
SuperCat 1 is forgotten now and this is just an article to set the record straight and so that she will also be remembered.
Posted in Ship FeatureTagged aboitiz, batangas, calapan, supercat 1, supercat-I, universal aboitiz1 Comment
When RORO Reigned Supreme
Retrieved from the Old PSSS Website
written by: Mike Baylon
RORO means Roll-on, Roll-off. As distinguished to LOLO (Load-on, Load-off or Lift-on, Lift-off), RORO has cargo ramps and car decks and cargo is not lifted but loaded through vehicles that have wheels. Unlike cruisers that have cruiser sterns ROROs generally have transom sterns.
True ROROs started arriving in the Philippines in the 70’s. This does not include the LCTs which are also ROROs in their own right. The very first RORO could have been the “Millennium Uno” of Millennium Shipping. Japan database shows she arrived in the country in 1973. She is still sailing the Liloan-Lipata route.
Millennium Uno ©Mike Baylon
After some lull the next true ROROs arrived starting in 1978 with the “Northern Samar” of Eugenia Tabinas Shipping Lines of Tabaco, Albay which was fielded in the Sorsogon-Samar route. The next to arrive could be the “Laoang Bay” of Newport Shipping in 1979. This ferry was also later known as “Badjao”, “Philtranco Ferry 1” and “Black Double”. MARINA database also shows “Viva Penafrancia – 9” of Viva Shipping, a steel RORO was built locally in Quezon in 1979.
Starting in 1980, arrivals of RORO in the Philippines stepped up and many even arrived that year while cruiser arrivals began to dry up. In 1980, the “Dona Lili”, “Dona Josefina”, “Don Calvino”, all of Gothong Shipping and the “Sta. Maria” of Negros Navigation arrived. The “Eugenia” of Eugenia Tabinas Shipping seems to have arrived this year also. In 1981 the Melrivic 7 of Aznar Shipping in Cebu came.
The first RORO built by the Philippine government to connect the Maharlika Highway, the “Maharlika I” came in 1982 and she was fielded in the Matnog-San Isidro route connecting Sorsogon and Samar. The second of the series, a sister ship, the “Maharlika II” came in 1984 and was fielded in the Liloan-Lipata route connecting Leyte and Surigao thus completing the Maharlika Highway connection. [Nothing is implied here that in was only in this year that Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao were connected as claimed by some.]
Maharlika I ©Edison Sy
Many of the first ROROs were small. The liner companies did not dominate the first arrivals. It seems it is the provincial short-distance island connectors that first truly appreciated the RORO.
After a very short lull the next batch of ROROs arrived and they appeared in Batangas in the mid-80s. This was spurred by the arrival of “Tokishiho” (later “Emerald I”) of Manila International Shipping Lines to which the dominant Viva Shipping Lines of Batangas immediately countered with the “Viva Penafrancia” in 1985.
The first big RORO liners to arrive that rival the size of the big, fast cruisers were the “Sweet RORO” (1982), “Sweet RORO II” (1983) of Sweet Lines and the “Sta. Florentina” of Negros Navigation in 1983.
Sweet RORO ©lindsaybridge
Sulpicio’s entry to the RORO mode started in 1983 with two modest-sized ROROs, the “Surigao Princess” and the “Butuan Princess” which later became the “Cebu Princess”. William Lines’ foray in RORO started only in 1987 with the “Masbate I”. This was followed by the “Zamboanga” in 1989. WLI’s entry in this field was relatively late and they paid with this by relinquishing the number 1 spot in the local shipping pecking order.
Before the 80s ended Sweet Lines has further added “Sweet Home” (1984), “Sweet Faith” (1987), “Sweet Baby” (1987) and “Sweet Pearl” (1989). Sulpicio Lines has also added “Boholana Princess” (1986). Meanwhile, Gothong Shipping already added the “Dona Cristina” (1985), “Our Lady of Guadalupe” (1986) and the sisters “Our Lady of Fatima” and “Our Lady of Lourdes” both in 1987. Aboitiz Shipping meanwhile also entered the RORO race in 1989 with the “SuperFerry 1”.
For a short time it was Gothong Shipping and Sweet Lines that was battling for superiority in the RORO field. However, in 1988 Sulpicio Lines added 3 big RORO liners that dwarfed all previous examples starting with the “Filipina Princess”, then one of the biggest and fastest ROROs in the world, the “Nasipit Princess” and the “Tacloban Princess”. They also added in that year the “Cagayan Princess”. With these additions Sulpicio Lines guaranteed they can never be headed in the RORO field and that stood true until WG&A came along.
Filipina Princess ©Vincent Paul Sanchez
Before the end of the 80’s, a Visayan-Mindanao shipping company also bet big on RORO and this earned the company number 1 in pecking order in that area. Trans-Asia Shipping Lines bought 5 RORO – the “Asia Korea” (1987), the “Asia Thailand” (1987), the “Asia Japan” (1988), the “Asia Brunei” (1989) and the “Asia Taiwan” (1989). They disposed some ROROs later (but always with replacements) until their progress was impeded with the creation of Cebu Ferries Corporation.
Meanwhile, smaller ROROs also sprouted in the same period in the provincial routes starting with the “Princess of Antique” (1985). Among the others are “Danilo 1” (1987) and “Danilo 2” (1988), now the “Lite Ferry 1” and “Lite Ferry 2”, respectively, the “Dona Isabel II” (1988) which was later known as “Bantayan” and now “Siquijor Island 2”, the “Princess Mika” (1988), the “Luzviminda” (1988), the ‘Stephanie Marie” (1989) of Aleson Shipping in Zamboanga, etc. In Batangas the likes of “Sto. Domingo” (1988) and “Viva Penafrancia 3 (1989) came and this was followed by a slew of Domingo Reyes ROROs in the next years until they dominated that port.
Lite Ferry 2 ©James Gabriel Verallo
With that big statement of Sulpicio in 1988 the other long-distance liner companies have to respond and bigger and faster RORO liners came in the 90’s. William Lines created their “Mabuhay” line of luxury RORO liners and aided with their “Maynilad’. Aboitiz Shipping created their “SuperFerry” line. Gothong Shipping converted two RORO cargo ships and out came the “Our Lady of Sacred Heart” and “Our Lady of Medjugorje” augmented by the their big “Our Lady of Akita”. Negros Navigation continued their “Saints” series and out came the “Sta. Ana” (1988), the “Princess of Negros”, the “San Paolo” and the beautiful “St. Francis of Assisi” to be followed by the sisters “St. Peter the Apostle and “St. Joseph the Worker”. Meanwhile, Sweet Lines was not able to keep pace and soon dropped out of shipping in 1994. Also dropping out of passenger shipping were the lesser long-distance ferry companies which were not able to refleet to RORO. These were the Escano Lines and Madrigal Shipping.
Our Lady of Medjugorje folio ©John Michael Aringay
Sulpicio meanwhile did not rest on their laurels in the first half of the 90’s. They topped their “Filipina Princess” with the “Princess of the Orient” (1993) and they also rolled out the formidable “Princess of Paradise”, the speed queen of the era. Also added to their fleet was the “Princess of the Pacific” and the lesser “Manila Princess” and “Tacloban Princess”. At the middle of the 90’s there was no question then which was biggest shipping company in the Philippines.
There was also no question that the previous decade ended with ROROs already beginning to dominate long-distance passenger shipping. However in other provincial ports, save for Batangas maybe, the RORO is not yet dominant.
The Sulpicio Lines hegemony of the early 90s suddenly changed with the merger of 3 major shipping companies to form the “William, Gothong and Aboitiz” or WGA which suddenly topped the fleet of Sulpicio even though it remanded lesser and older ships to subsidiary Cebu Ferries Corp. CFC then became the scourge of the Visayas-Mindanao shipping companies, most of which except for Trans-Asia Shipping were just in the very beginning of the RORO era like their Zamboanga counterparts.
Among those absorbed by the merger were the ships then underway or under refitting like “SuperFerry 12”, “Our Lady of Akita” which became “SuperFerry 11” and later “Our Lady of Banneux”, “Our Lady of Lipa”, “Mabuhay 5” and “Mabuhay 6” which later became the “SuperFerry 9” and “Our Lady of Good Voyage”, respectively. In the year of that merger, Sulpicio Lines responded with the “Princess of the Universe” and “Princess of the World” and Nenaco responded with the “San Lorenzo Ruiz” and the “St. Ezekiel Moreno”.
The gap between WG&A and Sulpicio Lines and Nenaco was actually narrowing before the end of the millennium as WG&A was intent of selling their “excess” and old ships and it not add any ship to their fleet until 2000. Meanwhile, Sulpicio Lines rolled out the “Princess of the Ocean” and “Princess of the Caribbean”, both in 1997 and the grand “Princess of New Unity” in 1999. Nenaco also added what turned out to be their flagship, the “Mary, Queen of Peace” in 1997.
Princess of New Unity ©britz444
Mary, Queen of Peace ©Rodney Orca
In the provincial routes and ports the millennium ended with the RORO becoming dominant already. On its heels came the long-distance buses and trucks and the delivery trucks of the trade distributors. It can also be said that the requirements of these buses and truckers fuelled the growth of the short-distance ROROs connecting the nearer islands.
RORO liners primary carried container vans in trailer beds. Short-distance ROROs meanwhile primarily carried trucks, buses, jeeps and private vehicles. Overnight ROROs however primarily carried cargo LCL (loose cargo loading) or in pallets. Forklifts were the primary means of loading the cargo. Others call this system break bulk.
If the 90’s were marked by vibrancy and rapid expansion in the long-distance, liner section of shipping the past decade was marked by a long steady retreat of local long-distance shipping and with it the ROROs. This retreat was marked by 2 major spasms — the illiquidity of Nenaco and the suspension of Sulpicio Lines in 2008 after the capsizing of the Princess of the Stars. ROROs were sold and for varying reasons.
Nenaco can’t sustain its expanded route system and their ROROs were laid up and threatened with seizure by creditors. WG&A just wanted to get out of routes they deem were not earning enough. Moreover, Aboitiz has to pay off the divestment of William (the Chiongbian family) and Gothong from the merged company. Then world metal prices peaked and they cashed in on the bonanza. Sulpicio Lines meanwhile decided to sell their ships laid-up by the suspension.
Aside from external problems the long-distance shipping industry was also beset last decade by external threats. Early in 2000’s, the long-distance buses and trucks began to challenge the liners. This began in Samar-Leyte-Biliran. The leading shipping company, WG&A immediately retreated and left the three islands. Soon Masbate and Bohol was also under siege by the buses and lost.
A major factor in that development was the deregulation of the bus sector in the Bicol region and Eastern Visayas. The effect is bus companies sprouted like mushrooms, each seeking more routes, giving wider coverage. As a result passengers need not go to the major centers anymore and it offered the convenience of getting off right by their gates. Moreover, it has also the convenience of a daily departure and a wide choice of buses. As deregulated areas the bus companies were to free to offer low fares and freebies like free ferry fare.
In 2003, the overland route to Panay via Mindoro opened. In a short time came the influx of the buses, trucks and jeeps. The shipping routes to that island were soon under siege. If Nenaco’s withdrawal can be excused by their illiquidity, the leading shipping company, WG&A again simply withdrew without much struggle and just held on to Iloilo port where they are under siege again now. Like in Samar-Leyte-Biliran-Masbate-Bohol this Panay withdrawal of WG&A resulted in selling to the breakers of good ROROs for scrap.
Dangay Port, Roxas, Oriental Mindoro ©Mike Baylon
The second major threat that emerged in the last decade was the emergence of regional container lines to major provincial ports. This provided direct access to foreign markets. And once a direct route is established loaded and empty container vans no longer have to be transshipped via Manila. Before this, the transshipment business was a big source of revenue for long- distance shipping.
Now an even more ominous development is the start of the chartering of banana growers of their own container ships. With their own ships they are no longer dependent on the routes of the container lines. Whereas now if a container line has no route to a certain market country of theirs then they still have to transship via Manila and use the local long-distance liners.
Sasa Port, Davao City ©Aristotle Refugio
A minor threat as of now to long-distance ROROs is the emergence of LCTs as carriers of container vans. But a bigger threat is the inroads of long-distance trucking in the Visayas and Mindanao. The root of the problem is the high cost of charges via long-distance shipping and so they lose out.
Budget airlines will also take out some revenues from long-distance shipping. This is not critical because the bread and butter of long-distance shipping is cargo operations.
One beneficiary of these developments is the short-distance RORO sector which makes possible the island-hopping of the trucks, buses, jeeps and private vehicles. This sector is growing consistently while the long-distance sector is shrinking.
Mukas Port ©Raymond Lapus
For the present, the sector of RORO liners is in crisis. Only ten long-distance RORO liners are left sailing in the country as of now.
The overnight RORO ferry sector is yet unaffected. The only affected portion of this is the companies with routes to Mindoro and Romblon.
The ROROs have eclipsed the cruisers. But the growth sectors now are the short-distance and overnight ferry sectors of the ROROs.
Posted in InformationTagged aboitiz, Aznar Shipping, Badjao, Black Double, chiongbian, Don Calvino, Dona Josefa, Dona Lili, Filipinas Princess, gothong, Laoang Bay, Lite Ferry 2, LOLO, Maharlika, Maharlika Highway, Maharlika II, Mary Queen of Peace, Melviric 7, Millennium Shipping Lines, Millennium Uno, negros navigation, Newport Shipping, Northern Samar, Overnight RORO, Philippine Government, philippines, Philtranco Ferry 1, Princess of the Paradise, princess of the stars, Princess of the Universe, RORO, San Lorenzo Ruiz, Sta. Florentina, Sulpicio Lines, Superferry, sweet lines, Sweet RORO, Sweet RORO II, Tabinas Shipping Lines, Tokishiho, Viva Penafrancia 9, Viva Shipping, william linesLeave a comment
WHEN EASTERN VISAYAS SHIPPING LOST TO THE INTERMODAL
Posted on February 8, 2015 February 8, 2015 by psssadmin
Once upon a time it was liners that connected Eastern Visayas to the national capital. Liners from Manila took several routes. There was a route that after touching parts of the present Northern Samar the passenger-cargo ship will swing north to Bicol ports. There was also a route that will just go to ports on the north coast of Samar up to Laoang, which was the jumping-off point for towns on the northeast coast of Samar that were without roads. There was also a route that after docking in Calbayog and/or Catbalogan the ship will swing south to Tacloban or to Cebu. There was also a route that after calling in Tacloban the ship will swing south and pass the eastern seaboard of Leyte on the way to Surigao, Butuan or even Cagayan. And there was a route where the ship will head to several ports on the western seaboard of Leyte island and some will even proceed to Surigao. There was also a route where ships will dock on ports in the present Southern Leyte and the ship will proceed to Surigao and Butuan. There was even a route that will go first to Surigao and the ship will swing north to Cabalian in the present Southern Leyte.
Among the many ports where liners from Manila called then in Eastern Visayas were Borongan, Laoang, Carangian, Allen, Calbayog, Catbalogan, Tacloban, Calubian, Palompon, Isabel, Ormoc, Baybay, Maasin, Sogod and Cabalian. Shipping companies from the majors to the minor lines were represented in the eastern Visayas routes and ports. Among them were Compania Maritima, Go Thong and the successors Gothong Shipping, Sulpicio Lines and Lorenzo Shipping, General Shipping, William Lines, Sweet Lines, Philippine President Lines and the latter Philippines Pioneer Lines, Galaxy Lines, Escano Lines and Aboitiz Shipping. Among the minor shipping companies North Camarines (and NCL and NORCAMCO), N&S Lines, Rodriguez Shipping, Newport Shipping, Eastern Shipping, Bisayan Land Transport and the latter BISTRANCO, Corominas Richards Navigation, Veloso Shipping, Royal Lines and Samar-Leyte Shipping had routes to Eastern Visayas. Amazingly, all those shipping companies are gone now if not the routes in the region and there are no more liners left sailing to Eastern Visayas.
©Gorio Belen
Shipping of goods and transport of people do not and will never go away. The liners are gone now from Eastern Visayas and what replaced them were the intermodal trucks and buses. Liner shipping simply lost decisively and completely to the intermodal transport and one result of this is the emergence of the so-called “ports to nowhere” or ports that have no ships or meaningful ship calls.
The start of this process of decline and loss started one day in 1979 when “Cardinal Ferry 1”, a RORO arrived to connect the ports of Matnog and Allen. Right after her arrival buses from Manila and Samar began rolling. First to be dominated by the intermodal trucks and buses were the ports in the new province of Northern Samar. In five years all the liners were gone there and it looked as if the foundering of the “Venus” of N&S Lines in Tayabas Bay on October 28, 1984 while trying to outrun a typhoon marked the beginning of the closing of the curtains. Soon Calbayog was also lost too to the intermodal.
For a time the route touching on Catbalogan and Tacloban survived and the last hold-outs were Sulpicio Lines and William Lines, the two strongest shipping companies in the 1980’s. By this time all the minors were gone along with most of the major shipping companies. Many of them floundered in the great financial crisis of the 1980’s and never recovered. It was not just that crisis that torpedoed them. Shipping of copra, the prime cargo from the 1950s dramatically declined in the 1980’s soon after the near-death of the abaca trade in the 1970’s. Abaca was the primary cargo of shipping from the 1880’s up to the 1950’s and copra was the crop that succeeded it. No crop or produce replaced abaca and copra and as for Cavendish bananas and “Manila Super” mangoes those no longer passed through Manila and were brought by reefers and containers direct to Japan and East Asia. Corn trade also suffered a decline because of importation.
Meanwhile, fresh fish from Eastern Visayas no longer passed to the ships as it was transferred to the refrigerated trucks. With overfishing that that happened in the 1980’s even the dried fish industry of Eastern Visayas was almost killed. Coconut oil mills also sprouted in the region and for copra destined for the major oil mills of Southern Tagalog it was already the LCTs that were transporting copra aside from the intermodal trucks. Even charcoal passed on to the trucks and cargo jeeps.
The process of the decline of liner shipping in Eastern Visayas accelerated with the Ramos decree allowing the entry of surplus trucks in Subic. Soon the versatile and powerful wing van trucks were rolling down the highways and crossing thru the Matnog-Allen route and San Juanico bridge. There was no more imperative for CALABARZON factories to ship their products through the dangerous, graft-, extortion- and traffic-ridden North Harbor. They can simply call forwarders with wing van trucks and the trucks will roll immediately unlike in North Harbor where they have to wait for the ship schedule and be on the mercy of the arrastre and port thieves. By the time the cargo is loaded in North Harbor, usually the wing van truck was already finished delivering its load in Eastern Visayas. And the wing van truck was not only faster; it was also cheaper with less handling needed since it can bypass the bodega and go straight to the stores and supermarkets and there is no need for haulers and arrastre service in the destination pier.
Balicurato Port ©Jun Marquez
Liners also lost to the intermodal buses since passengers can just hail or stop the Manila bus right by their gates and in Manila there was no longer a need to fight through the crime-ridden North Harbor and battle the horrendous traffic. The bus was also faster and at the same time cheaper especially since Eastern Visayas was a deregulated area hence there are a lot of buses and fares are discounted almost year-round. And buses leave everyday at many hour slots while liners only sail on certain days. Especially for people of Northern Samar they won’t foolishly go to Calbayog because for the same money and time they will already be in Matnog and Matnog is only 12 hours away from Manila, half of the travel time of the Calbayog liner.
Around the year 2000 I realized that if Sulpicio and WG&A will not cooperate and form a consortium of fast, medium-sized liners then I knew in a short time that they will lose even Leyte island to the intermodal. The threat loomed large since there was a Ramos decree making it easier for bus operators to acquire new units. Entry for new players was also easy because of the deregulated nature of the region. I noticed also that wing van trucks were multiplying fast and that can be easily seen in Matnog port then. Motorcycle carriers were also a constant presence in the roads already along with refrigerated trucks whose cargo are not fish but processed meat and other perishable groceries.
Ormoc Port circa 1996 ©Jorg Behman
Instead, starting in 2000, WG&A were selling liners fast, and to the breakers and without replacement. Of course there was already the pressure on the company because of the declared intention of the Gothong and Chiongbian families to divest (and they must be paid somehow). With this move I knew the game was over. There will be no succor for liner shipping here because by this time Escano Lines and Madrigal Shipping had already quit Eastern Visayas passenger shipping and even MBRS Lines who bravely tried Samar again has already retreated.
The odds were tough because the intermodal bus was simply superior in many ways. In southwestern and southern Leyte island even at dawn a passenger just have to leave his baggage by his gate, wait inside his house and the Manila bus will honk and stop. No need to wait long in a port and haggle with porters. And even from that part of Eastern Visayas the total travel time by bus was less and the fare cheaper. Arriving in Manila it is easier to get a connecting ride in Cubao or Pasay and the taxi fare will come out cheaper compared to North Harbor and of course there is the MRT too. Going home to the province there were a lot of attractive buses in Cubao and in Pasay or even in Manila that do not have the hassle of going to the North Harbor.
Then liner shipping in Eastern Visayas came crashing down fast when the “Princess of the Stars” went down in 2008 and passenger operations of Sulpicio Lines was suspended. With the fleet laid up Sulpicio Lines sold the “Tacloban Princess” and the “Palawan Princess” to the breakers and that marked the end of liner shipping for Sulpicio Lines in the region. Not long after that Aboitiz Transport System (ATS) also quit Leyte too. Actually, the loss of Masbate to the intermodal transport practically doomed the ATS route because somehow the intermediate port of Masbate contributed passengers and cargo to the route.
Laid-up Princesses. ©Mike Baylon
For a time there were no more liners in the regions and even container ships are very few. Recently, 2GO tried to revive a route that passes through Romblon, Masbate and Ormoc on the way to Cebu. Many doubt if that route and service will last because it is really very hard now for liners to beat the intermodal if the route distance is almost the same. There is simply a swarm of buses and trucks forming a formidable opposition to the liners and even to the container ships.
This is one region where the triumph of the intermodal was swift and complete. But this is not known in Japan which advises us (for what?) and which still thinks intermodal trucks are only good for 250 kilometers maximum and cannot imagine wing van truck can beat container shipping. Well, sometimes shipping Ph.Ds are funny.
Posted in UncategorizedTagged aboitiz, bus, compania maritima, container, crime, eastern visayas, general, gothong, intermodal, laoag, lorenzo, manila, negros navigation, nenaco, north harbor, Northern Samar, princess of the stars, sulpicio, Superferry, sweet, tacloban, trucks, wing vansLeave a comment
Superferry 1
Posted on January 28, 2015 by psssadmin
Aboitiz Shipping Corporation has always been notable for two particular quirks. The first is when they bought a lot of old ex-FS ships in the mid-1960’s from other shipping companies when others were already sourcing ships from Europe and Japan and some are even brand-new. The second is when they did not buy any ferry for 14 straight years from 1974 to 1988 and when they bought one it was another old hand-me-down from Escano Lines, the former “Katipunan”. However, in the same period Aboitiz Shipping Corporation (ASC) bought a lot of cargo ships and they were among the first to containerize. Actually, in the 1980’s ASC was one of the container majors in the local seas through the Aboitiz Concarriers together with the Wilcons of William Lines, the Sulcons of Sulpicio Lines and the Lorcons of Lorenzo Shipping.
With a ferry fleet whose backbone were still the old ex-FS ships Aboitiz Shipping Corporation did not try to compete in the major ferry routes in the 1980’s and instead concentrated on minor routes like routes to northern Panay and Leyte island. However, this laidback attitude on ferry operations all changed when in 1989 when they bought the “Venus” from Japan to become the “SuperFerry 1”. I am not sure if this was part of the Jebsens influence on Aboitiz Shipping but it looks like it. Jebsens of Norway was a partner of Aboitiz in local shipping and they created a company named Aboitiz Jebsens which was in ship maintenance and management.
“Venus”, a ROPAX (RORO-Passenger ship) with IMO Number 7375856 was built by Shikoku Dockyard in Takamatsu, Japan. She measured 132.4 meters by 20.6 meters and she had an original Gross Tonnage (GT) of 4,006 nominal tons and Deadweight Tonnage (DWT) of 3,194 tons. In Net Tonnage (NT), she measured 1,630 nominal tons with a passenger capacity of 302 and her RORO capacity was 1,030 lane-meters. “Venus” was originally by powered by twin SEMT-Pielsticks which developed a combined 16,700 horsepower giving her a service speed of 20.5 knots. She already had the then-new and modern bulbous stem which gave extra speed. She was completed on December of 1975 and she was then delivered to Arimura Sangyo shipping line of Naha, Okinawa, Japan.
In 1989 Aboitiz Shipping Corporation bought the “Venus” and brought her to the Philippines where she was rebuilt. New decks were added and it now totaled four and additional passenger accommodations were built. Her new Gross Tonnage (GT) was 9,184 nominal tons and her new Net Tonnage (NT) was 2,987 with a passenger capacity of 1,808. Her new Depth was 13.0 meters. Her new name was “Aboitiz SuperFerry 1” and she was the new flagship of Aboitiz Shipping Corporation. “Aboitiz SuperFerry 1” was the first RORO-Passenger (ROPAX) ship of the company.
SuperFerry 1 Brochure ©Mike Baylon
She was launched with fanfare and advertisements were rolled out. They touted the new kind of service and accommodations and pointed out the word “Super” pertained to these and not to the size as she cannot beat the “Filipina Princess” of Sulpicio Lines in that aspect. Indeed, it seems that for the first time a liner sailing in local seas had service crew that were graduates of Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM) courses and not green mariners trying to serve customers. There was always the smile, the snappiness, the ever-presence and the constant cleaning and mopping. With HRM background they knew how not to say “No” and how not to disappoint passengers. Meals were not free but there is a full-service cafeteria which looked like an office cafeteria that was open till past midnight. The equipment and cleanliness of the toilets and baths were unmatched in the business.
However, in less than a year of sailing, bad luck hit “SuperFerry 1” when she was struck by engine room fire. She was towed to Singapore for repairs where she was fitted with new engines, too. Brand-new Wartsila diesel engines were used which developed a total of 21,200 horsepower. Although heavier now, she was able to regain her old service speed of 20.5 knots with the new more powerful engines. At that speed she was clearly now the second-best to the much more powerful “Filipina Princess”. She was re-launched in 1991 to fanfare and advertisements again.
SperFerry1 Main Engine ©Ralpha Russel Rosauro
With her, Aboitiz Shipping was able to reclaim their old Davao route which before already lain beyond their old cruisers (“SuperFerry” 1 was the first RORO of the company) because of the long distance and the lack of speed which made them the laughing stock of the fast cruisers of Sulpicio Lines and William Lines like the “Davao Princess” and the “Manila City”. With “SuperFerry 1” Aboitiz Shipping and Aboitiz Jebsens pioneered the system of sailing where in-port hours were low and the ship just sails and sails. This was needed because Aboitiz Shipping lacks liners. Promptness was paramount and to shorten loading and unloading time two ramps were used simultaneously and containers that must be handled were radioed to the tractors which was setting records in speed of hauling. In comparison, the rival flagships “Filipina Princess” and “Sugbu” of William Lines were still using the slow booms together with ramps.
The route of SuperFerry 1 was Manila-Iloilo-General Santos City-Davao and Manila-Iloilo. She was the fastest ferry to General Santos City and Davao, bar none. Her intermediate port stops consisted only of two to three hours and she was known for promptness in departures. Once a passenger ramp was lifted it’s already sorry to any passengers even though they are running with all their might towards the ship. Being the newest, fastest and the best passenger service she displaced patronage from rivals in the route and name “SuperFerry” and its brand of service was already being installed in the minds of the riding public of ships.
In the merger of William Lines, Gothong Shipping Corporation and Aboitiz Shipping Corporation that created the new company WG&A she retained her name and her route. Later, “SuperFerry 8”, the former “Mabuhay 3” and “Sugbu” was paired with her in the route. She held on to this route even when the Chiongbian and Gothong families already withdrew from the merged company and her company was renamed the Aboitiz Transport Shipping (ATS). By this time her service speed was already down to 19 knots.
SuperFerry 1 ©Aris Refugio
With the arrival of “SuperFerry 20” and “SuperFerry 21” she was displaced from the Davao route. She was also starting to fall from disfavor as the new style of ATS called for ROPAXes of twin cargo decks and less passenger capacity and amenities, the reason they converted three ferries into this standard. “SuperFerry 1” also has a big engine relative to her cargo capacity which was their primary measurement. Not long after ATS advertised her for sale but there were no local takers as other liner companies do not buy hand-me-downs from rivals and she was too big and her engine too powerful for the Visayas-Mindanao shipping companies. And so she just toiled in minor routes.
Not long after, the merger of Negros Navigation and Aboitiz Transport System happened and she came under 2GO. Doing the Tagbilaran and Dumaguete route she grounded entering Tagbilaran Bay when the new master from Negros Navigation took a shortcut on the reefs. A SuperCat came to the rescue of her passengers and she was later freed. From this accident she sailed almost no more and soon she was just a “floating monument” in Manila Bay. She was, however, renamed the “Sta. Rita de Cascia”.
SuperCat rescue operations ©Vince Sanchez
More photos of the operation can be found by clicking here.
Last year, in 2014, she disappeared from Manila Bay. Later, she reappeared in Indonesia as the “Mutiara Persada 1”. Ship spotters heaved a sigh of relief because Indonesia, like the Philippines, is known for appreciating and taking care of older ships. So for now, it looks like “SuperFerry 1” has escaped the breaker’s torches.
Posted in Ship FeatureTagged aboitiz, cebu ferries, davao, davao princess, filipina princess, general santos, gothong, grounding, iloilo, jebsen, ropax, sugbu, sulpicio, supercat, Superferry, superferry 12, superferry 8, tagbilaran, william lines, zamboangaLeave a comment
M/V ST. JOAN OF ARC
Posted on January 7, 2015 January 8, 2015 by psssadmin
M/V St. Joan of Arc ©Mark Ocul
With the great decline of the liner industry in the Philippines (from about 60 in 1998 to only about eight sailing at the start of 2015) almost nobody notices that the M/V St. Joan of Arc, the former SuperFerry 5, is now the eldest liner in the Philippines both in date of construction and in the number of years in service which is now 20. Long for sale and laid up (or more precisely anchored offshore) many times, she claimed this record maybe because of good luck on her part and bad luck on the part of her fleet mates. It was obvious then that 2GO was gearing to retain her sister St. Thomas Aquinas, the former SuperFerry 2, as shown by her refurbishing and increased speed of 19 knots, which was even better that when she first came here in 1992, as compared to SuperFerry 5’s 17 knots. However, she went down after a collision with Sulpicio Express Siete in Mactan Channel in August of 2013. After that M/V St. Gregory the Great, the former SuperFerry 20, grounded in a reef near Guimaras and sustained damage that was considered beyond economic repair (BER). With no spare ships it looks like JOA, as she is known in abbreviation, might sail on for a while.
St. Joan of Arc is actually a liner (a multi-day ship) but she also belongs to that class of ship which landlubbers (including landlubber officials) call as “overaged” which at even with the most generous allowance means ferries over 40 years old. 40 years marks a special milestone in ships because in the decades past this should be the age when ships are already conking out and ready to die due to metal fatigue and unreliability. But many seriously underestimated the ships, the ability of her caretakers and the availability of surplus and CNC-milled parts. It might look funny to some but we now have a collection of about 100 ferries that are over 40 years old and that number does not include the cargo ships!
St. Joan of Arc was built by Onomishi Zosen in Onomichi, Japan for Meimon Car Ferry. She was completed in May 1973 and was christened the Ferry Hakozaki. She is one of three sister ships built in that shipyard and the other two were Ferry Sumiyoshi which became the St. Thomas Aquinas and Golden Okinawa which became the Cagayan Bay 1 of Gothong Shipping Corp. Her over-all length (LOA) was 138.6 meters and she had a breadth of 22.2 meters and a GT (Gross Tonnage) of 7,287. She was powered by two Mitsubishi-MAN diesel engines developing 15,200 horsepower that gave her an original speed of 19-19.5 knots.
M/V Superferry 5 ©Douglas Adona
She was renamed as the Ferry Cosmo in 1992 and in 1994 she came to Aboitiz Shipping Corp. to become the SuperFerry 5. In the country her GT rose to 11,638 although her superstructure did not change much. Her NT (Net Tonnage) also rose to 6,466 and her passenger capacity was bumped to 2,332. She started sailing at the start of 1995 and she was inaugurated before her fourth voyage with then Aboitiz endorser Sharon Cuneta in attendance. She then sailed the Manila-Iligan route for Aboitiz Shipping via Cebu. Her service speed then was 17.5-18 knots but it was known she can run faster than that. She can pass underneath the Mactan bridges as one of her features was a folding stern mast.
In 1996 she was overtaken by the merger of William Lines Inc., Carlos A. Gothong Lines Inc. and Aboitiz Shipping Corp. which created the William, Gothong and Aboitiz Corp. (WG&A). She retained her old name and initially even her Iligan route. One positive change, though, is the conversion from paid meals into free meals as before the merger there was no free food in Aboitiz Shipping Corp. (the operation was cafeteria-type). Initially right after the merger it was still paid meals but passenger protest was fierce and very vocal especially from William and Gothong regulars and so WG&A instituted the traditional free meal system.
M/V Superferry 5 cafeteria ©Wakanatsu
Cleanliness, order and snappy service were the hallmarks of the ship from the very start. Unlike other ferries then when it was an effort to call service personnel, in SuperFerry 5 there will be always someone on duty and on call in every accommodation and cabins have their own telephones should a service crew is needed. And every so often a cleaner will appear even if the accommodations were not dirty. Right after someone used the bathroom or the toilet a utility person will appear, check it up and even wipe the mirror and basin. Cleaning and mopping of the restaurant was also a constant chore especially since it is open 18 hours and it also serves as the main lounge. Maintenance crew will also immediately retouch any surface that showed rust. Everything was spic and span then. There were even premium features like a first-class paid restaurant and the famed “Gloria Maris” chain operated it. This was also the dining room of the first class passengers. There was also a Shakey’s Pizza Parlor but unfortunately both services did not last long for lack of patronage.
M/V Superferry 5 Dining Room ©Wakanatsu
Not long after, WG&A “rationalized” routes which meant culling of ships and maximizing sailing time with few in-port hours and she was paired with SuperFerry 2 and SuperFerry 9 to run routes that were not in a weekly or twice-weekly cycle. Afterwards, like in the rest of the WG&A fleet she was assigned different routes that were changing all too often for effective monitoring.
Less than a decade after the “Great Merger”, CAGLI and William Lines decided to opt out of the merger. WG&A subsequently was renamed as the Aboitiz Transport System (ATS). SuperFerry 5, however retained her name but was not treated the same. Slowly, she lost favor as ATS preferred the ferries they converted into twin cargo decks like the SuperFerry 12, SuperFerry 9, SuperFerry 2 and later the SuperFerry 20 and SuperFerry 21. ATS lacked cargo ships then and they reasoned a twin cargo deck ship will work just as fine but not really because when a ROPAX route is dropped, the cargo service also disappears.
M/V Superferry 5 ©Mark Ocul
After several years, the merger of Negros Navigation and Aboitiz Transport System finally happened after fits and starts. SuperFerry 5 was then renamed the St. Joan of Arc but again she was not in favor and was put up for sale. Especially after the grounding in Coron, Palawan she was mainly unused as the Negros Navigation ships were favored over her like the repair of the then sickly already St. Joseph the Worker and sister St. Peter the Apostle and the continued use of the slow and smoky San Paolo.
With the sale of St. Rita de Casia, the former SuperFerry 1, she is now the only ferry in 2GO that do not have twin cargo decks. So in fact, although she is the smallest now in the fleet she ironically has the biggest passenger capacity. But since liner patronage has already weakened a lot that is no longer a factor as there is no way now her full passenger capacity can be utilized.
With the mantra of “finding the right size”, a euphemism for culling of the fleet I doubt if St. Joan of Arc still has a clear future with 2GO especially with her advanced age and in the light that the long sailing hours of liners is not kind to elderly engines. She might still shoulder on but the “Grim Reaper of Ships” could just be around the corner now especially since her owner company is not exactly fond of old ships and will cull ships even without replacement. So to those who can, my advice is better sail with her now while she is still around as her time remaining might not last long.
M/V St. Joan of Arc ©Tristan Fil Lirasan
Posted in Ship FeatureTagged 2go, aboitiz, ferry, gothong, hakozaki, iligan, meimon, onomishi, sperferry 5, st joan of arc, Superferry, Taiyo Zosen, wga, william lines4 Comments
TRANS-ASIA 9
Posted on December 20, 2014 December 20, 2014 by psssadmin
The “Trans-Asia 9” of the Trans-Asia Shipping Lines first started life as the “Ferry Kikai” of the then-Arimura Sangyo Lines which operated ferries between Kyushu, a main Japan island and Okinawa and between Okinawa and Taiwan. The Arimura Sangyo name was later modernized into A” Lines. The ship was built in the Fukuoka yard of shipbuilder Fukuoka Zosen, launched in April 1979 and completed on July 1979. She was then 2,823 GRT, the old measure, with an over-all length of 109.2 meters and a beam of 17.9 meters and equipped with two Mitsubishi marine diesels developing 7,600 horsepower which provided her a speed of 18.5 knots, originally. She had just two passenger decks with a cargo boom at the bow and a quarter ramp at the stern, a design common then to many A” Line ships. Her ID is IMO 7823528.
Ferry Kikai ©Wakanatsu
With the arrival of the new “Ferry Kikai” in 1995 she was passed on to the agent connecting A” Line and William Lines of the Philippines. Many of the William Lines ferries of this period came from A” Line. The cargo boom at the bow was removed and replaced by additional passenger accommodations and a passenger deck was also added at the upper level and bringing her passenger capacity to 1,076 and her GT to 5,463 and her NT to 3,594. She first appeared in North Harbor on September of 1995 as the “Mabuhay 6” to the amazement of the passengers in the port. However, she did not last long under that name as the ill-starred merger of William, Gothong and Aboitiz happened on the first day of the new year and she was renamed “Our Lady of Good Voyage”. As a WG&A ferry her first route was to Dapitan with a service speed of just 16.5 knots. After a few years she was remanded to the subsidiary Cebu Ferries Corporation and her route permanently became Cebu to Cagayan de Oro with a once-a-week side trip to Jagna, Bohol.
Our Lady of Good Voyage Photo Collage ©John Michael Aringay
With the advent of the newer Cebu Ferry series of ships last decade she was laid up. When there were no takers the successor owner Aboitiz Transport System offered her to its ally Gothong Southern which took her in during 2010 and she was renamed the “Dona Conchita Sr.”. She held the same route of Cebu-Cagayan de Oro-Jagna with the same frequency. However, after just a short time she was laid up again and put on sale as Gothong Southern was quitting passenger shipping and was just concentrating on container operations and cargo forwarding.
M/V Doña Conchita Sr. ©Jethro Cagasan
It was then that Trans Asia Shipping Lines, Inc. acquired her in 2012 and true to the TASLI style she was refitted, both in passenger accommodations and in the engine room. She is actually more luxurious now and more reliable (she then had weak engines before coming to TASLI). She still holds the same route to Cagayan de Oro but with no more side trip to Jagna. Like with most ferries in the age of high fuel prices she is just using economical speed now and that is usually 13.0 to 13.5 knots which is enough for a 10-hour transit time in her route. Economical speed which means less revolutions per minute also lengthens the life of the engines.
Trans-Asia 9 ©Mike Baylon
As “Trans-Asia 9” she is now equipped with five suites and two cabins and these are located in the center section of the ship together with the Tourist section. A new TASLI feature on “Trans Asia 9” is the aircon economy which they call the “2nd Class Aircon.” This new class is located in the former Tourist section ahead of the bridge. The traditional Economy class is called in “Trans Asia 9” as the “2nd Class Non-Air”.
With more areas devoted to passenger amenities now her passenger capacity is down to 974 passengers. TASLI cut up the superstructure in her upper rear deck to create their traditional outdoor dining area and barbecue garden but instead of lowering the Gross Tonnage and Net Tonnage it shot up to 5,500 and 3,850, respectively. The passenger ramps on the side were also removed and transferred to the stern of the ship.
Suite Room ©Aris Refugio
Economy Aircon ©Aris Refugio
Economy Non-Aircon ©Aris Refugio
Stairway ©Aris Refugio
Under the care of TASLI and knowing how this company treats elderly ships it should not be a surprise if “Trans Asia 9” will keep on sailing well into the next decade.
©Aris Refugio
Posted in Ship FeatureTagged a lines, aboitiz, cebu ferries, dona conchita, ferry, gothong, gothong southern, gssi, japan, olo good voyage, our lady of good voyage, overnight, RORO, suite, ta9, tasli, trans asia 9, Trans Asia Shipping Lines, trans-asia, wga, william lines1 Comment
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New in Gay Calgary – Passport Magazine
October 27, 2017 by J. Scott Coatsworth
Music is liquid architecture,” wrote Goethe. “Architecture is frozen music.” It’s a pithy, oft-quoted turn of phrase that makes intuitive sense. One needn’t read music, let alone study architecture, to understand that rhythm, structure, harmony, and precise detail amid sweeping grandeur are common elements of the two artforms.
Another common factor: unlike paintings and literature, which are largely passive, requiring us to approach their frames, to open their covers, music and architecture reach out in our direction, playing inevitable parts in our daily lives.
Until last year, North America had no major music museum with a building befitting its subject. Then came the opening of the spectacular and stirring Studio Bell, home of Canada’s National Music Centre in Calgary, Alberta (850 4th St. SE. Tel: 403-543-5115. www.studiobell.ca). It’s a deeply satisfying building to explore, seeming to unfold around you as you move through it. Like the best symphonies, it is at once majestically scaled and compellingly intimate.
What did we have before this? Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is, to me, Pei’s knock-off of his own Louvre Pyramid; it looks like an award-ceremony trophy, with none of music’s emotional resonance.
And while it might be argued that the Seattle edifice originally built as the Experience Music Project, Frank Gehry’s most garish major building, resembles a frozen chunk of 1970’s Moog synthesizer sounds, the design is untethered to any coherent vision. With no essential change to its appearance, the building was rechristened last year as the Museum of Pop Culture (aka MoPOP) and now houses a hodgepodge collection “spanning science fiction, fantasy, horror, fashion, sports, and video games.” Studio Bell is on another plane altogether.
By Jim Gladstone – Full Story at Passport Magazine
Alberta Gay Travel Resources
Categories Alberta, Canada, Gay Travel Tags alberta, calgary, canada, Gay Calgary, gay travel, new, passport magazine Leave a comment
Notchland Inn – Hart’s Location, New Hampshire
April 14, 2017 by J. Scott Coatsworth
Periodically we’ll feature one of our properties here to let our readers know about some great gay friendly places to stay:
A comfortably elegant 1860s mansion on 100 forested acres. Fourteen spacious guest accommodations, individually appointed, all but one with woodburning fireplaces, some with Jacuzzis.
Romantic 5-course dinner, bountiful country breakfasts.
Secluded, yet near to all of Mount Washington Valley – a magical location.
See the Notchland Inn Expanded Listing on Purple Roofs Here
Gay Friendly Bed and Breakfasts, Hotels, and Vacation Rentals in New Hampshire
Categories Accommodations, Gay Travel, New Hampshire Tags accommodations, Attatish, B&B, bed and breakfast, Bretton, gay, gay men, hampshire, Hart's Location, lesbian, lodging, Mount Washington Valley, new, NH, owned, ski, skiing, white mountains Leave a comment
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Chris Quinten Christopher Bell Jeb Burton Noah Gragson Vinnie Miller Brandon Jones Chad Finchum Chase Briscoe Jeremy Clements Joey Gase Timmy Hill Michael Annett Stephen Leicht David Starr Kyle Busch Joey Logano Ryan Sieg Brandon Brown Gray Gaulding John Hunter Nemechek Austin Cindric Erik Jones Cole Custer Mason Diaz Justin Allgaier Tyler Reddick Steve Smith
Christopher Bell Jeb Burton Noah Gragson Vinnie Miller Brandon Jones Chad Finchum Chase Briscoe Jeremy Clements Joey Gase Timmy Hill Michael Annett Stephen Leicht David Starr Kyle Busch Joey Logano Ryan Sieg Brandon Brown Gray Gaulding John Hunter Nemechek Austin Cindric Erik Jones Cole Custer Mason Diaz Justin Allgaier Tyler Reddick
NASCAR Xfinity Series at Bristol
Driver Christopher Bell (20) leads Jeb Burton (8) during practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Noah Gragson (9) leads Vinnie Miller down the back stretch during practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Chad Finchum (66) leads Brandon Jones during practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Noah Gragson is seen in the pits before practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Chase Briscoe is seen in the pits before practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Jeremy Clements is seen in the pits before practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Joey Gase is seen in the pits before practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Jeremy Clements get loose during practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver JJ Yeley is seen in the pits before practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Timmy Hill is seen in the pits before practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Brandon Jones is seen in the pits before practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Michael Annett is seen in the pits before practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Stephen Leicht is seen in the pits before practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver David Starr is seen in the pits before practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Michael Annett (1) makes his way around the track during practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Drive Kyle Busch watches from the pits during practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Kyle Busch makes his way around the track during practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Joey Logano signs an autograph for a fan before practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Joey Logano (12) races through a turn with Ryan Sieg (39) during practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Ronnie Bassett Jr. is seen in the pits before practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Brandon Brown is seen in the pits before practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Gray Gaulding is seen in the pits before practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Ruben Garcia Jr. is seen in the pits before practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver John Hunter Nemechek is seen in the pits before practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
A worker changes a sign in the morning light as a sweeper cleans pit road before practice for an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Austin Cindric makes his way around the track during qualifying for a NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. Cindric won the pole position. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Austin Cindric, front right, walks through the pits after winning the pole for a NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
The cars of Christopher Bell (20), Cole Custer (00) and Erik Jones (81) sit on the track after a collision during the NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
The cars of Joey Logano (12), Christopher Bell (20), Cole Custer (00) and Erik Jones (81) sit on the track after wrecking as others pass during a NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
The car of Mason Diaz sits against the wall as others pass during the NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Mason Diaz makes his way to the ambulance after a crash during the NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Kyle Busch (18) leads Austin Cindric (22) and the rest of the field down the back stretch during a NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Mason Diaz makes his way to the Care Center from an ambulance after wrecking during a NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Kyle Busch makes his way around the track during the NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Tyler Reddick (2) leads Justin Allgaier (7) during the NASCAR Xfinity Series auto rac Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Justin Allgaier (7) leads Tyler Reddick (2) during the NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Tyler Reddick hoists the trophy with Steve Smith, president and CEO of Food City, after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Tyler Reddick, center, leaps from his car after winning a NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Tyler Reddick celebrates after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Tyler Reddick licks the sword after winning an NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Tyler Reddick makes his way around the track during a NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. Reddick won the race. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Driver Tyler Reddick hoists the trophy with Steve Smith, president and CEO of Food City after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race on Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
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API Directory » Search » New York Public Library Digital Collections API
New York Public Library Digital Collections API
The New York Public Library Digital Collections API endpoint is located at http://api.repo.nypl.org/api/v1/. You can find the New York Public Library Digital Collections API portal / hompage here. The New York Public Library Digital Collections API is not currently available on the RapidAPI marketplace. Click "Request this API on RapidAPI" to let us know if you would like to access to this API. Meanwhile, you can check out the top APIs that currently available for developers.
New York Public Library Digital Collections API Search Results & Alternatives
New York Lottery Picker
You like lottery? But you don't like to pick numbers each time?if your answers of these questions are both 'yes'. Try this! New York Lottery Picker could help you to query the numbers, do not waste time to think which number is better, just let machine do that! You will have more time to do other things!
YourMapper2
Tap into the millions of points of local, open, civic data nationwide, for you own websites or mobile applications. List of data: http://www.yourmapper.com/browse Datasets include crime, property values, restaurant health ratings, EPA pollution, toxic, and greenhouse gas emissions, historic sites, yelp reviews, sex offenders, car accidents, building permits, foreclosures, real estate, bridge safety, nursing homes, public schools, public transit, meth labs, catholic churches, and cultural attractions. Coverage is national, but data availability depends on source data access. Some city data is included in Anchorage, San Francisco, San Jose, Washington, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Indianapolis, Louisville, Albuquerque, New York, Cincinnati, Portland, Fort Worth, and Richmond. We can add local data in your city if available.
Hoppit Restaurant Guide
Dubbed as "Yelp meets Pandora," the Hoppit API answers the ongoing question "Where should we eat tonight?" by giving you access to the restaurant data used by our award-winning applications, as seen on FOX, CBS, and Mashable. This includes the nation's largest repository of high-resolution restaurant photography and "Vibe" data, available for 20 U.S. cities. Filter restaurants, bars, and coffee shops by type of Vibe (e.g. Cozy, Hipster, Romantic) and scenario (e.g. with a Date, with a Colleague, with Children), as well as by price, cuisine (e.g. Italian), and meal (e.g. Brunch). Perfect for developers of travel, lifestyle, food, social, local applications who wish to surface the amazing content that Hoppit users interact with every second. Available for New York, Brooklyn, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Houston, Dallas, Austin, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Miami, New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Denver.
Crypto Asset Tickers
Brave New Coin spot price tickers and currency conversion for 500+ crypto assets.
Blockchain is the world's leading software platform for digital assets.
GoogleBooks
That searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical character recognition (OCR), and stored in its digital database.
Generate and send PDF receipts via email.
OxeBox API enables the developers who are building e-commerce/other solutions, that require digital receipts, to generate and securely send digital receipts over email. Creating PDF bill receipt involves setting up third-party library and development efforts & receipts sent to customers via email often land in users's SPAM folder due to poor server reputation. OxeBox API primarily solves these two problems by creating awesome PDF bill receipts on-the-fly and delivering them to user's inbox via its dedicated email service.
Related APIs in Category: Search
API to perform unlimited Google searches
SuperHero Search
An API to get information about superheroes.
All SERP
Our SERP API allows you to Scrape Search results from top 5 Search Engines includes Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask and Duckduckgo
12699 mms
Get search results from this computational knowledge engine.
BingSearch
Returns a page number and position from Bing search results using your requested search parameter and domain name.
The 3taps Search API is responsible for searching against the database of postings. For example, it can be used to find all postings from a particular data source, category and location, or to find postings with a given annotation value. A search request is made to the 3taps Search API, and search results are returned back to the caller. The search request can include any number of search criteria, and the results will be paginated to keep the search process manageable.
Related New York Public Library Digital Collections API Videos
Filed Under: Books, Collecting, Database, Library, Search
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Home Commentary Netanyahu To Putin: Iran Must Leave Syria Or “We Will Act”
Netanyahu To Putin: Iran Must Leave Syria Or “We Will Act”
For Netanyahu and other Israeli officials the chief concern was never the black clad death cult which filmed itself beheading Americans and burning people alive. “Let the Sunni evil prevail,” they say.
Israel is threatening to escalate military action in Syria against perceived Iranian interests. This week Netanyahu declared, “we will act when necessary according to our red lines” while hinting he prefers ISIS presence in Syria as opposed to Iran aligned fighters at his border. This comes as ISIS is now crumbling, and at a time when most world leaders of nations driving the external proxy war in Syria have toned down their rhetoric regarding the future fate of the Assad government.
After years of a regular drumbeat of bellicose statements emanating from the West and repeat talk of “Assad must go”, “red lines”, and years of constantly failed predictions that “regime demise is imminent,” there now seems a general acceptance that the Syrian government has emerged victorious in the 6-year long conflict. Not only did Trump this summer order the closure of the CIA’s regime change program which targeted Assad, but it appears even Gulf nations – lately embroiled in their own inter-GCC political civil war and airing of dirty laundry – have been forced to temper their rhetoric. Turkey also has reluctantly shifted its priorities in Syria after its well-known and documentedregime change machinations – which included facilitating the transfer of tens of thousands of foreign jihadists (the core of which joined ISIS) across its southern border – have largely backfired. International media too, generally reflecting undeniable geopolitical realities, have bluntly headlined stories with “And the winner is: Assad” and “We have to accept that Assad will win in Syria” and “How Assad is Winning”.
But it appears Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t get the memo. On Wednesday the Israeli Prime Minister told Russian President Putin that Israel would not tolerate an Iranian presence in Syria and further signaled willingness to go to war in Syria to curtail Iranian influence. “Iran is already well on its way to controlling Iraq, Yemen and to a large extent is already in practice in control of Lebanon,” Netanyahu told Putin, adding further that, “We cannot forget for a single minute that Iran threatens every day to annihilate Israel. Israel opposes Iran’s continued entrenchment in Syria. We will be sure to defend ourselves with all means against this and any threat.”
told Israeli reporters covering the meeting that:
Bringing Shi’ites into the Sunni sphere will surely have many serious implications both in regard to refugees and to new terrorist acts. We want to prevent a war and that’s why it’s better to raise the alarm early in order to stop deterioration.
Netanyahu’s reference to “the Sunni sphere” came after he summarized the closed door part of the discussion as dealing with “Iran’s attempt to establish a foothold in Syria in the places where ISIS was defeated and is leaving.” Netanyahu’s comments are a reflection of an extremely disturbing view which has become so prominent within Israeli defense circles as to be considered establishment: that ISIS is ultimately preferable to Iran and Assad. This is to say that continued ISIS presence in Syria and Iraq is a viable option and possibly better than pro-Iranian or even Russian spheres of influence in the Israeli prime minister’s mind. Of course, this “lesser evil is ISIS” view is nothing new. In Israel, for example, there are even “respected” think tanks tied in with major public universities which openly call for allowing ISIS to thrive in Syria.
The Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies, for example, which is one of Israel’s most internationally visible and influential think tanks (and located on the campus of Israel’s second largest university), published a policy paper last year which made a direct appeal to Israel’s Western partners with the unambiguous message contained in the essay’s title: “The Destruction of Islamic State is a Strategic Mistake.”Author and Director of the Begin-Sadat Centre, Efraim Inbar, argued against a Western military campaign to destroy ISIS while envisioning the group as an effective tool in sowing terror and chaos in Iran and Syria, with the added benefit of keeping Russia bogged down in defense of the Assad government. Inbar spelled this out clearly:
The continuing existence of IS [Islamic State] serves a strategic purpose. The American administration does not appear capable of recognizing the fact that IS can be a useful tool in undermining Tehran’s ambitious plan for domination of the Middle East.
While acknowledging the Islamic State’s utter genocidal brutality, the paper concluded:
The Western distaste for IS brutality and immorality should not obfuscate strategic clarity.
A policy paper published by an influential Israeli think tank which contracts with NATO argues that ISIS is a “useful tool” for Israel’s strategic defense.
Various current and former Israeli defense officials have echoed this point of view over the years, including former Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren, who in 2014 surprised the audience at Colorado’s Aspen Ideas Festival when he said in comments related to ISIS that, “the lesser evil is the Sunnis over the Shias.” Oren, while articulating Israeli defense policy, fully acknowledged he thought ISIS was “the lesser evil”. Likewise, for Netanyahu and other Israeli officials the chief concern was never the black clad death cult which filmed itself beheading Americans and burning people alive, but the possibility of, in the words of Henry Kissinger, “a Shia and pro-Iran territorial belt reaching from Tehran to Beirut” and establishment of “an Iranian radical empire.”
Former Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren: “Let the Sunni evil prevail.”
Of course, such a perspective also tends to assume that Syrian and Iraqi sovereignty is non-existent (but instead seen as a mere extension of Iran and Russia), even as both countries now stand in better position in terms of operational sovereignty with Syria having liberated Aleppo and Iraq having regained Mosul. And that’s perhaps why there’s increasingly uninhibited truth-telling in Israel, the Gulf, and D.C. these days: the party is over in terms of the hoped for regime change in Syria. Perhaps now there’s simply more blunt and open talk wherein assumptions are laid bare as introspective strategists realign their talking points while still eyeing the ultimate neocon prize of regime change in Iran.
Though still rarely acknowledged in international reports, Israel has engaged in overt acts of war in Syria since at least 2012 and 2013, when it launched a massive missile attack against a Syrian defense technology facility in Jamraya outside of Damascus. In 2016 Israel went so far as to target Damascus International Airport, killing a well-known Hezbollah commander. In a significant admission last week, the head of Israel’s air force acknowledged nearly one hundred IDF attacks on convoys inside Syria over the course of the past 5 years. Earlier this summer Netanyahu himself was caught on a hot mic bragging that Israel had struck Syrian targets at least “a dozen times”. And this is to say nothing of Israel’s covert support to al-Qaeda linked groups in Syria’s south, which has reportedly involved weapons transfers and treatment of wounded jihadists in Israeli hospitals, the latter which was widely promoted in photo ops involving Netanyahu himself. As even former Acting Director of the CIA Michael Morell once directly told the Israeli public, Israel’s “dangerous game” in Syria consists in getting in bed with al-Qaeda in order to fight Shia Iran.
Perhaps the biggest blow to Israeli plans for rolling back Iranian presence in Syria came mid-summer of this year, when Trump agreed to a southwest Syria ‘de-escalation zone’ with Russia, which would necessarily involve Iranian cooperation. The agreement implicitly acknowledges Iran’s troop presence in Syria as legitimate, and as reported at the time further “ignored Israel’s positions almost completely.” But analysts are in general agreement that the US-Russia brokered deal has been relatively successful and a step in the right direction. Even the Reuters report on this week’s Netanyahu-Putin meeting seemed to acknowledge the deal’s effectiveness:
Russia has so far shown forbearance toward Israel, setting up a military hotline to prevent their warplanes or anti-aircraft units clashing accidentally over Syria.
But given that Israel has already invested itself so heavily in the push to remove Assad while routinely launching attacks on Hezbollah with impunity, it is unlikely to disengage from Syria anytime soon, even as close Western allies publicly change their tune. Netanyahu’s brazen words to Putin that ‘preventative’ escalation in Syria to destroy what Israeli defense officials commonly call the “Iranian land bridge” (or the so-called ‘Shia crescent’) may in reality be empty diplomatic posturing, yet it does reveal increased Israeli desperation as even the West is seeming to ignore Netanyahu’s repeatedly declared “red lines”.
Regardless, Netanyahu remains the Syria regime change lobby’s best hope. Already, within less than 24 hours of Netanyahu’s Russia visit, neocon columnists are calling for him to unilaterally “take action”:
If he really expects others , especially Putin, that he means business this time, he will have to go beyond words and into actions, as clearly Israel could not and should not allow Iran to turn South Syria into another South Lebanon.
With ISIS folding, refugees returning to their homes, stability taking root over large swathes of Syria, and successful de-escalation zones holding over parts of the country, it appears that only Netanyahu (along with terror groups like ISIS) is left unhappy in the region. Yet Syria continues on its current hopeful trajectory and path to recovery.
via www.zerohedge.com
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Home / Shop / Watch Brands / Patek Philippe
Raymond Lee Jewelers of Boca Raton, FL was founded in the year 1983. The jewelry store of Boca Raton continues to offer extraordinary service to its clientele and the widest selection of jewelry and watches in South Florida. One of the many brands of watches carried by the store is Patek Philippe.
Patek Philippe & Co. is a Swiss watch manufacturer that was founded in the year 1851. Patek Philippe is known for manufacturing some of the most complicated mechanical timepieces, and thus, they are highly prized. For instance, on May 10, 2010 a Patek watch, produced in 1943, held the record for being sold for $5.50 million US through Christie’s auction. Unlike Rolex, for example, the company does not produce thousands of watches per day. The company focuses its time more on producing complicated movements. In 1989, Patek Philippe created one of the most complicated watches ever made (Calibre 89), which took almost 5 years to research. The watch holds 39 complications, such as the date of Easter, equation of time, sidereal time, among numerous other functions.
Patek Philippe is notable for having pioneered the perpetual calendar, split-seconds hands, minute repeater, and chronograph.
Patek Philippe 18k Yellow Gold Pocket Watch
Patek Philippe 18k Yellow Gold Vintage Watch
Patek Philippe 2548 Vintage 18K Yellow Gold 1950s Mens Watch
Patek Philippe 3421 18k Yellow Gold Watch
Patek Philippe 5036/1J Annual Calendar 18k Yellow Gold Watch
Patek Philippe 5040J 18k Yellow Gold Perpetual Calendar Watch
Patek Philippe 5067A-001 Aquanaut Luce Diamond Bezel Ladies Watch
Patek Philippe 5070J Chronograph 18k Yellow Gold Mens Watch
Patek Philippe 5107J Calatrava 18k Yellow Gold White Dial Watch
Patek Philippe Calatrava 3520DJ-001 White Roman Dial Watch
Patek Philippe Ref. 2581 Calatrava 18k Yellow Gold Vintage Mens Watch
Patek Philippe 18k White Gold Diamond Bezel Watch
Patek Philippe 18k Yellow Gold 3748/1 Ellipse Blue Dial Watch
Patek Philippe 18k Yellow Gold 3848/J Ellipse Blue Dial Watch
Patek Philippe 18k Yellow Gold Golden Ellipse Mens Watch
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Success for RCCDSB teams at Destination Imagination Regional Tournament
Renfrew County Catholic District School Board (RCCDSB) students had a fantastic day in Stittsville at St. Paul Demarais School on Saturday March 3, at the 2018 Regional Destination Imagination competition.
“Once again, RCCDSB teams demonstrated amazing 21st Century skills as they competed in one of seven challenges,” says Karen Keels, Principal, Our Lady of Fatima School and RCCDSB Destination Imagination program leader.
Destination Imagination (DI) is a non-profit program that helps kids discover their creativity as they work together to solve a problem.
“Teams of five to seven students use science, engineering, improv’, technology, performance or community outreach themes as they tackle one of seven Team Challenges,” explains Doug Hunter, Regional Director for Eastern Ontario.
This year 40 teams competed from across Eastern Ontario. A large group of volunteers were on hand to ensure the full-day event went off without a hitch, and hundreds of educators, family members and friends were there to support the students in their challenge performances.
Eight teams from Kindergarten to High School did an excellent job representing the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board.
Two teams from Our Lady of Sorrows in Petawawa competed in the improv challenge. The OLOS Imaginators competed at the elementary level, and the OLOS exploDIng Stars at the middle level. Both teams placed 2nd in their division, to qualify for the provincial tournament in Toronto.
Bishop Smith Catholic High School also had two teams in the tournament, one in the improv challenge, and one in the fine arts challenge. The improv team, Kids on the Wall, placed first in their category, and the fine arts team, The e-Lemon-ators placed third, also qualifying for the provincial tournament.
Our Lady of Fatima, in Renfrew, sent four teams. Two teams competed in the middle level engineering challenge, The Drop Zone. The Stone Age team placed third, and qualified to go to Toronto. The Fatima Force team didn’t place in the top three, however demonstrated fantastic skills in solving the challenge. The Fatima Force elementary improv team placed first in their level, and will move on to Toronto.
Fatima also had a Kindergarten group, the Fatima Friends, represent in the Rising Stars challenge. “They bravely performed for a large crowd in the school gym, and had a fantastic time,” notes Keels.
Keels also acknowledged the efforts of the team managers from RCCDSB who put in countless hours to help prepare students for the difficult challenges.
“Thank you to April Laabs, Katie Moyles, Kelli Holm, Ashley Mitchell, Lindsay Morton, Raina Newberry, Elizabeth Addicott, and Janet Goulard,” said Keels.
The six teams moving on will compete at the Provincial Tournament in Toronto on April 7 to try to earn the opportunity to attend the DI Global Finals on May 23–26 in Knoxville, TN.
Photo: Our Lady of Fatima School Team – Fatima Friends – Rising Stars Division:
(L to R) Lincoln McQuade, Leo Sheppherd, Devan Deshpande, Anthony Doidge, Bianca DeJesus, Jemma Scobie, Aurora Tock, Makita Antler
Jaimie Perry, Director of Education
Article by tcarroll / Board News, Media Release, Welcome
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Posted on December 22, 2012 by wildbow
Heavy. The weight of the body on top of me was making it hard to breathe. Some backup process kicked into gear as my body tried and failed to take in air. I was thrust out of unconsciousness, or out of the semiconscious daze I’d been in. I managed to struggle to get my upper body free, fighting past the aches that made every joint and every bone hurt to heave the body off me.
It hadn’t felt like sleep, or the darkness of unconsciousness, but I hadn’t been thinking either. I felt a moment’s disorientation and wondered if I’d suffered another concussion. My thoughts felt too lucid.
The body. My dad? I opened my eyes to look, saw only cloudy white. Dust? It was similar to when I woke up with bleary eyes, but no matter how many times I blinked, I could only see a white haze with vague patches of light and dark. Blinking made my face burn where the skin of my eyelids and around my eyes moved. More irritating was the sensation that I had something in my eyes, except no amount of blinking was helping. They’d been damaged?
Stupid to look straight at the explosion. I’d thought I had another half-second to grasp what was going on before I had to turn my head and shut my eyes. Apparently that wasn’t good enough.
My dad. Right. I reached over and fumbled to find his throat. He had a pulse. I put one hand in front of his mouth and found him breathing.
I was whole, he was alive. Anything else would be hard to verify.
I was forced to use my bugs to see. What their eyes processed might not translate well in my brain, but it was about as good as what I had. Didn’t want to move the bugs or gather a swarm. It would be too easy to track me down, to find Skitter lying among the wounded.
No, I only looked, keeping the bugs where they were, and feeling things out where necessary with only a handful of flies. I could feel a breeze. The front of the building had a hole in it. The lobby had been annihilated, and much of it was open to the sky. The black blobs that had pulled up around the building had flickering lights on top. Sirens. They would be the first responders.
I’d noted the structural damage. I tried to picture the scene as I’d last glimpsed it. What had been where? Who had been where?
The reporters had been at the very back of the room, the last to make their way down the aisles in the press of the crowd and the people making their way out of their seats. Some had lingered, protecting their equipment or filming the scene. I tenderly moved one fly over the area, feeling the shattered boards, the blood-slick expanses of floor, the charred flesh.
Several of the Wards were working to tend to the wounded. Clockblocker had saved the Wards, apparently, but had been too late in tending to himself, and was currently lying prone, receiving some care from Weld. Chariot was gone.
There had been hundreds of people present, and too many had still been in the building when the explosion went off. The dad and son who’d been restrained in the lobby? The mayor, candidates and director who’d been wounded, then left without aid when the explosion injured the people who were giving them first aid, sent the people flying?
I couldn’t even grasp the entirety of the scene, not without bringing my swarm to bear. I couldn’t do that without possibly revealing my presence when I was in a vulnerable position.
I felt around to find Kurt and Lacey.
“Hey baby,” Lacey said. “You woke up.”
“You hurt?”
“Just a little bit. Might have slipped a disc. Probably nothing to worry about, but I’m going to stay as still as I can with how bad this hurts. I’ve been watching your dad, trying to tell if he’s breathing or if I’m imagining it. You didn’t freak out, so I take it that our Danny’s okay?”
“He’s okay. I think.”
“Good. Kurt’s unconscious but he’s alright. You see Alexander anywhere?”
I blinked a few times. Did she not realize I couldn’t see? “No.”
“Okay, hon. You should stay as still as possible.”
I shook my head. “No. Going to see if anyone needs help.”
She gripped my hand, started to say something, then winced.
“What’s wrong.”
“Hurts, is all. Stay put? Safest thing to do.”
I shook my head. I couldn’t say it, but I felt like I’d been through enough crises and suffered enough that I was aware of what the pain was telling me. I was almost certain I wasn’t in critical danger. It was what my gut was telling me.
With only a small few bugs to guide me, I left my dad, Kurt and Lacey behind, climbing up the stairs to the damaged stage, fumbling for the other wounded. I could only draw crude images of the situation from touch, from the blurry images my eyes offered me and through my bugs. A woman, unconscious like my dad. A man, his arms hugged to his lower stomach as he writhed in perpetual agony.
The mayor. I crawled over to him, pressing my fingers to his throat. He had a pulse, but it was thready. I drew bugs from where they hid in the midst of my hair, commanded them down my arms and tried to bend over so my hair masked what I was doing. Once they were on him, I sent them over the length of his body, noting where there was blood. No use fumbling around with my hands. I didn’t want to bump one of the throwing knives and gave it the push necessary to drive it into one of his arteries. One of the knives that impaled his hip had moved, probably when the explosion happened, and the offending weapon wasn’t serving to cork the blood flow.
I pulled my sweatshirt from around my waist, leaving my knife where it was on my belt, folding one sleeve and pressing it around the base of where the knife had penetrated. It wasn’t enough, didn’t feel like I was doing anything, but I wasn’t sure what else I could do. I wasn’t strong enough to do chest compressions.
“Help!” I shouted. “I need help here!”
Nobody leaped to the rescue. Anyone else that was still in the building was too busy with their own injuries, were still unconscious or were making their way outside.
Damn them.
Damn Coil. I would make him answer for this.
Yes, I had seen ‘Coil’ die. I had little doubt others had as well, even news cameras would have had eyes on the scene. Especially news cameras. Coil had staged this, taken advantage of the reporters’ cameras, the fact that there were no working communications, and all the important figures would be attending. He was too savvy, too invested in his plan to not have taken all the variables into account. Just the fact that I knew about his power turned this whole scenario on its head. He wouldn’t have charged in like this without a backup, without a version of himself staying safe and secure in his underground base, just in case things went awry.
No. I might have seen the man die, but the more I thought about it, the less I could believe that man was Coil.
The emergency response team had stopped outside, at the perimeter of the building. I listened through the bugs in the area, but I couldn’t follow any of the conversation. Even tracking who was speaking was nearly impossible.
Whatever they had been discussing, they ventured inside. Some, who I gathered might be police officers, were moving to the most affected areas, the places where the reporters had been, the lobby. The paramedics proceeded down the aisles, too slowly for my liking, checking on the wounded.
“Help!” I called out, but my voice was nearly drowned out by the other wounded. It was one or two minutes before a paramedic saw the mayor and hurried to my side. I could tell where he was because of the bug I’d planted on him, but I couldn’t say as much.
“I’ve got this,” she said. The paramedic was a woman.
I gratefully backed away. Even the strain of pushing the makeshift bandage down had been making every ache and pain across my body stand out in sharp relief.
“Your name?” she asked me.
“Taylor.”
A short distance away, my dad groaned a response, as if he’d heard my voice. I noticed more because of the mosquito I’d placed over his carotid artery than my ears. I didn’t let on that I’d noticed anything.
“You shouldn’t be moving, Taylor.”
“I’m sore, but I don’t think I’m hurt. I wanted to help.”
“What kind of pain?”
“Bruises, aches. My dad took the brunt of it,” I pointed in his general direction. “My face hurts, and, um, I can’t see.”
“Don’t worry. Soon as we take care of the critically injured, we’ll look after you.”
“I’m alive,” I said. “I mean, I’m okay. I’d rather you guys checked my dad and his friends, make sure they aren’t hurt, help the other candidates, and the Director. They were stabbed before the explosion. All of them like this. Um. They were getting help when the bomb blew. I think whoever was helping them got knocked away by the explosion.”
I was rambling. How fine was I?
The paramedic shouted, “Boroughs! Sturdevant! Manry! Girl here says there’re MSW victims on the stage here!”
I could hear running footsteps, one of my bugs brushed against one of them as they ran past.
There wasn’t much more I could do. I’d gladly out myself if it meant I could use my power to help people, maybe identify the most wounded, but I was worried it would do more harm than good, both in the short-term and in the long. I was left to sit there, blind, while the paramedic checked my dad over and then got someone else’s help to lift him to the ground.
As the paramedics checked whether people were alive, others were rousing. I could hear the cries of pain, the shouts and screams.
Coil would answer for this. For the people he’d hurt for his own selfish ends. For knowingly putting me in the line of fire. For the lives he’d spent like currency.
“Taylor, was it?” the paramedic asked me.
“You’re very quiet. You’re breathing hard-”
“Angry. And a little sore. But I’m okay. Really. There’re others who need help.”
“Others are getting help. We’ve got a lot of people here, and very few with serious injuries. You have a burn on your face, we’re going to want to look after that.”
“The reporters, at the back of the auditorium-”
“I thought you couldn’t see.”
“I remember seeing them there, just before it went off.”
“Very few people were badly hurt. Less than you might think. Just stay calm.”
If I hadn’t used my bugs to see the evidence for myself, would I have been able to tell she was lying?
She wanted me to stay calm. It was odd, but I felt very calm, and I didn’t feel like I was in shock. I was pissed, I was worried about my dad, worried that I was missing something critical with Coil’s overarching plan, but I wasn’t panicking, I wasn’t stressing about the burn, or my eyes, or any of that.
I’d handled worse, in terms of injuries. I wouldn’t freak over that much. I’d love to be able to see what was going on, to not have to worry about permanent blindness, but I wouldn’t worry about it until I could confirm how bad it was, confirm that it was permanent.
Sort of like how I was looking at the potential end of the world. I wouldn’t worry about it until we’d exhausted every resource available and verified that in this era where countless people had the ability to break the fundamental rules of reality, someone couldn’t stop it from happening.
“I am calm,” I said, after confirming it for myself. I tried to take a deep breath to demonstrate, but winced at the pain from the bruising. I might have been pushed into the railing by the force of the explosion. “But I don’t want you to worry about me. My dad-”
“The bald guy by the stairs?”
“My partner’s looking after him. Let’s make sure you’re okay. If there’s spinal damage or internal damage and we’re ignoring it and letting you move around like you have been, things could get much worse than they are now.”
I shut my eyes, noting how the blurry white haze gave way to darkness. I could remember when Leviathan had hit me, how Panacea had noted internal damage that I’d been entirely unaware of. I sighed, opened my eyes to stare at the hazy figure. “Okay.”
“We’re going to be putting you onto a stretcher, but we won’t be carrying you out for a minute. We can’t leave you alone, but I’ll need to help my partner carry your dad out. What we’re going to do is put you next to someone, so someone can watch two or three of you at once.”
I was lifted into place, then carried a short distance before being set down with great care. The paramedic there was talking with one of the other patients, leaving me free to think.
That was what got me. This whole thing bordered on senselessness. Hurting these people, putting me in the line of fire. Why attack the event? It would draw attention from heroes across the nation and it would make holding the city that much harder. Had he abandoned the plan? Or were there nuances I wasn’t aware of?
What was deliberate, in how this had unfolded? He’d wanted to take out the mayor. But the candidates? Hadn’t they been his?
I was looking at it the wrong way. Circus. She had been part of the plan from the beginning, and he’d hired her for an explicit reason. Her powers included her personal pocket dimension for storing items. I couldn’t think of how that might be used. She had minor pyrokinesis, but that didn’t apply here, either. She also had an enhanced sense of balance and enhanced coordination.
The balance wasn’t a major thing here. But the coordination? The way she’d been able to casually target Piggot as she tossed the throwing knives over one shoulder? If I had to guess, Circus’ knives had only killed the people Coil wanted dead. The others would have been hit in nonvital areas. Her enhanced hand-eye coordination would have given her the accuracy needed to ensure the knives hit where she wanted them to hit.
Über, then? Leet? What was the rationale for them? When we’d left the fundraiser and Coil had revealed himself as our employer, it had been Trainwreck in Coil’s company, but Trainwreck had joined the Merchants, possibly at Coil’s behest, and the Merchants had been eradicated. He was dead.
That led me to wonder if Coil had brought in Über as a stand-in for Trainwreck, wearing another heavy metal suit.
Was there a reason for why Coil wanted it?
Circus, Über, Leet, Chariot, the candidates… moving parts in a greater set of machinations that I wasn’t aware of. The reporters, me, my dad, and any number of people in the area, we were the bystanders, the casualties.
And I couldn’t get why. Was it to attack or assassinate the mayor and Director? To mark his candidates as survivors of a supervillain attack and give them more standing in the eyes of the public? It didn’t make sense. Why go to the effort of positioning the Undersiders and the Travelers in the city if that was his goal? Any advantage he might glean from us holding territory would be counterbalanced by the chaos and the national attention that he drew from this kind of terrorism. It wouldn’t be directed at him, because his body double had been killed in the attack, but it couldn’t help, either.
If I thought about it, I could almost believe the bombing had been intentional. I couldn’t say how he’d arranged it, but the fact that he’d thought to have a body double and the man had died and that ‘Coil’ was effectively off everyone’s radar seemed too coincidental.
It was something I needed to ruminate on. Minutes passed, and I was left with only my bugs to occupy me, and the periodic attention of the paramedic who’d been assigned to watch me, making sure I was still alive and lucid. I directed bugs into the rubble, beneath the chairs that had been unrooted from the auditorium floor, under and onto bodies. Slowly, I gained a greater picture of the scene, a topographical map of what Coil had done. I couldn’t count the bodies, not with the way the reporters had been pulverized, limbs and bones torn free and left lying beneath chairs or at the sides of the aisles
“We’re moving you now,” a man said.
“Yeah. Just stay put, don’t move.”
I was lifted into the air, carried past the ruined wall at the rear of the auditorium. I could smell the scent of death, the mingled smells of blood and shit, of human bodies that had been torn open, singed, the vitreous fluids and all the messy ugliness from inside our bodies exposed to the air. It seemed incongruous with the cool breeze and the gentle warmth of the sun on my face. I had to turn my head so the sun wasn’t shining on the burn.
Shouldn’t a catastrophe like this be met with rain? An overcast sky? It didn’t seem right that things were so quiet, so calm, the day so tranquil when so many people had died, lost loved ones or suffered serious injury. I bit my lip, focusing on my bugs, sweeping them through the area as the ambulance made its way to the hospital and the paramedic in the back carefully checked my vitals, asking me questions about the degree of pain, stiffness here or there and checking for hard tissue where there might be internal injuries.
It was odd, going to the same hospital where I’d been taken after fighting Leviathan. I maintained a few bugs to feel things out – a stray housefly or mosquito would likely go unnoticed if it kept out of the way. There were no capes, no blue tags or red tags on the curtain rods, nor PRT uniforms keeping order and informing the staff of who they were treating.
They took me to a curtained off area, very similar to the one I’d been in before. Except here I was Taylor, not Skitter. I wasn’t handcuffed, treated roughly or outed for my most damaging secrets. They investigated me thoroughly, shone a light in my eyes and asked me far too many questions. A cream was spread across the mild burn on a quarter of my face, and the nurse picked grit out from beneath my skin. The process hurt, but it was a two at most on a scale of one to ten. I’d dealt with tens before.
The fact that I couldn’t see was starting to wear on me. My left eye was worse than my right, but neither let me see details, only smudges. Only light and dark. I was so used to having an unnaturally broad sense of what was going on, but I’d just had one of my most essential senses stripped away from me.
As the medical professionals left, a young woman slipped into the curtained enclosure.
“Hey,” she said. “You’re alive?”
“Lisa?”
“Honeybee-T.”
“Praying-mantis-R. You’re blind. Damn, that sucks,” she said.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “My dad?”
“He’s okay. Looked in on him. He woke up and was asking after you. He doesn’t like me much, anymore.”
“You took me away from him. He’ll blame you for that because it’s easier than blaming me, I guess.”
“I guess.” I planted a mosquito between her shoulder blades, and I could track her as she stepped closer, crouching with her arms resting on the rail of the hospital bed. When she spoke, she was quiet enough that only I could hear her. “We can get you a healer or something. Kidnap someone like Othala, have Regent or Grue use her powers.”
“Othala isn’t around. Left the city.”
“We’ll hire someone with healing powers, then.”
“They won’t want to come here, because of the very thing you were talking about with Othala. Word’s probably out about us owning the city, especially after we kicked out groups like the Chosen, and Faultline’s crew. They’ll tell people just how dangerous we are, the kind of tactics we can employ, like using Regent or Grue.”
“We have options.”
“I know. I’m not worried about me. What gets me is what happened. So many were hurt or killed.”
“Lots hurt, not so many killed, from what I’ve seen and heard on the subject. But that’s not important right now. What are your priorities?”
I blinked. “My dad-”
“Is fine.”
“My territory, the fires?”
“Strategically placed, nowhere near our real lairs. Nobody hurt, but I think he molotov’d one of your barracks, setting the fire high so people had a chance to get out.”
“The others, Grue-”
“They weren’t anywhere nearby. We’re going to meet up with them soon.”
“Dinah.”
“Now you’re on track. We’ve talked about plans. And Coil-”
“He’s alive, right?” I asked.
“Mm hmm,” Lisa affirmed. “And better for us, he’s probably happy. Everything’s coming together for him, just the way he wanted it to. Which means that right now, today, is going to be our best bet for talking to him, getting at him when he’s in a mood to release the tyke. Come on, out of bed.”
My head was spinning, but it wasn’t a concussion at work. After everything I’d done, everything I’d put in, we were this close? I accepted Lisa’s help in getting out of the hospital bed, and she hooked her arm beneath mine to lead me away.
“So we just ask, and hope he’s feeling good enough to say yes?” Which means biting my tongue when it comes to the accusations, calling him on what he did at the debate.
Lisa spoke at a more normal volume, “He doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who’ll be influenced much by his emotions. He probably decided a while ago whether he’ll give up the girl or not. But I say we should take anything we can get, and that includes approaching him on a good day. Choose your words carefully, by the way. There’s bystanders.”
I nodded, but I didn’t follow as she tugged on my arm. “Can we check on my dad before we go?”
“They were moving him when I poked my head in. I peeked at his chart, and it looks like they had queued him up for an MRI, what with his recent internal injuries from Shatterbird’s attack.”
I winced.
She went on, “I told him I might take you to my dad’s clinic, where the load won’t be as high, if you were okay to be moved. If I did take you, it’d mean you were okay. He didn’t like that, but he agreed. That doesn’t mean we can’t stay if you want to stay. Like I said, it won’t make a huge difference if we get in touch with our boss now or two hours from now.”
“But it’ll make a difference? A bit of one?”
I thought back to my earlier feeling, that leaving my dad just the one more time might mean some kind of terminal break.
Stacking that up against everything I’d done with the end-goal of getting Dinah out of captivity, though… not even Dinah, exactly. I barely knew her. No, this was more selfish, I had to admit. I was thinking of my own sense of guilt, about my own responsibility, and the crimes I’d committed in getting this far. The terror, pain and distress I’d caused in the course of being Skitter.
Fifteen and a half years spent growing up with my dad versus two months as Skitter. My dad was there, though. He’d always been there, and the only thing I had to suggest that he wouldn’t was a vague feeling.
Just like there was only the vaguest possibility that our going to see Coil now would make the difference in him setting Dinah free.
“My dad’s going to be okay?” I asked.
“He was fine. No sign of any deeper problems or pain.”
We made our way out of the hospital. I could hear the cries of pain.
“Are we to blame for this?”
“No. Don’t set yourself on this path. We didn’t know, we couldn’t know, and we weren’t complicit in any way.”
“I was there. I could have stepped up and done something, but I didn’t.”
“Done what? Fought back? Helped the wards?”
“No. Best case scenario, you might have tripped him up. But it wouldn’t have been worth it. Watch your step. Stairs.”
I had no problem identifying the spots I was supposed to step down. There were spiders on the underside of the stairwell, and I sent a few flies forward to alight on the underside of each stair to check the footing.
“It’s funny,” Lisa murmured, lowering her voice, “I’ve been meaning to suggest a training program. That you should spend a while blindfolded, see if we can’t force you to rely on your power to see, get your brain to the point that you can actually process that info. Guess you beat me to the punch.”
“It’s not that funny,” I said. I didn’t like thinking about what might happen if I was still blind when the next disaster came along.
“Stepping outside,” she said. I felt the warm air sweep past me as the door opened. “Car’s just over here. Nice thing about the city being in this state, it’s easy to find parking spots.”
She sounded so jovial, cheery. I wasn’t nearly so optimistic.
She led us to the car, and opened the door for me. “We’ll stop by your place so you can grab your costume and meet up with the others. Then we’ll find Coil.”
“Find him? He’s not at his base?” I raised my voice to be heard as she walked around to the other side of the car and opened the door to get into the driver’s seat.
“He’s not at his base. As of now, Coil’s dead and gone. He’s sticking to his civilian identity. Which is going to make meeting him and talking to him sort of difficult.”
I paused. I’d been thinking over the scenario, calculating Coil’s overarching goal. “Is he Keith Grove?”
“No,” Lisa said. “One sec.”
The car started up, and there was a shuffling sound as she dug through a container.
A recording played over the car’s sound system. Lisa shifted the car into gear and reversed out of her spot. I listened.
“A town meeting with hundreds of Brockton Bay residents was interrupted by a terrorist attack by a local villain just earlier today, an alleged assassination turned to even greater tragedy as a superhero-made piece of technology exploded unexpectedly.
“This tragedy joins countless others that have recently befallen Brockton Bay, a city that was recently the subject of national discussion, where the United States Senate debated condemning the city, evacuating the remaining citizens and abandoning it as a lost cause. A local crime lord headed a small group of supervillains in an attempt to assassinate Mayor Christner, Mayoral Candidate Keith Grove and Mayoral Candidate Carlene Padillo. When local heroes intervened, however, a device owned by local Wards member ‘Kid Win’ malfunctioned, ultimately exploding in the lobby of the building. While the number of casualties is yet unconfirmed, we can confirm that WCVN’s own on-site reporter and camera crew perished in the blast. More information will be forthcoming as we have it.
“First reports from the site report allegations of sabotage on the part of a known double agent within the group of junior heroes. No members of the Brockton Bay PRT, Protectorate or Wards teams were available for comment, but sources inside the organization report that Director Emily Piggot, manager of the city’s PRT and government sponsored hero teams, is being put on leave pending a full investigation.
“Filling in for the interim is Commander Thomas Calvert. When asked about this new placement, the PRT reported that Commander Calvert served as a PRT field agent before an honorable discharge. For the past several years he has offered his expertise to the PRT as a paid consultant in parahuman affairs for New York, Brockton Bay and Boston, later serving as a field commander for the PRT strike squads. The PRT expresses full confidence in Commander Calvert’s ability to handle the daunting task of Brockton Bay’s parahuman-”
The sound cut out. Lisa had stopped the recording.
“Thomas Calvert,” I said.
This entry was posted in 16.09 and tagged Tattletale, Taylor, Taylor's Dad by wildbow. Bookmark the permalink.
Undead-Spaceman on December 22, 2012 at 00:20 said:
Well I’ll be damned!
I’m definitely seeing Coil’s connection to Cauldron now considering his disappointment at not getting powers after the Nilbog fiasco. Although I am quite surprised that he’s still in the PRT, then again Cauldron more-or-less owns to PRT so…
This deserves more viewers. on December 23, 2012 at 20:25 said:
Man my brother just told me about this series and i cant stop reading i found it this morning and currently am on arc 11. The Author deserves at least 40,000 viewers minimum, its very well written similar to game of thrones
Honestly, it’s better than Game of Thrones (except maybe the first book) because it isn’t full of bloody long pointless descriptions, filler, and other crap. There’s always something happening, developing, or some interesting tidbit. The pacing is just so good.
A Song of Ice and Fire doesn’t have filler. It just has half a dozen semi-intersecting plotlines of varying importance.
Either that, or that disappointment at not getting powers was more like “disappointment” at “not getting powers.” Or he triggered later on. All of the confirmed Cauldron capes so far (Weld, Gregor, Newter, Shamrock, other Case 53s, Alexandria, Battery, Legend, Doormaker) have at least some physical powers. Coil’s power is really abstract… but it fits really well with the idea of Calvert as a good soldier who made one decision that cost him his standing and several years of his life. He has the power to know what would’ve happened if he did something different, and to choose that outcome if he prefers it.
Actually.
“Honorable discharge”? According to the PRT interlude, he shot his commanding officer in the middle of evacuating from an ongoing attack. He even told Piggot that he did it on purpose, and that he expected to go to jail. How the hell did he turn that into an honorable discharge?
I think Calvert might have had powers before he went into Ellisburg…
For the honorable discharge thing my bet was a cover-up. The PRT screwed that one up beyond measure. They went in completely unprepared with a horrible evac execution and near total casualties. The general public knew things in that town were bad but I seriously doubt they were told just how bad beyond “S class threat, we’re leaving it alone now.” It’s easier to shut up the two survivors and give them what they want than to deal with political and financial fallout from them or the public or the families of those lost suing.
They kept it quiet, remember?
Shit, I didn’t realize that was THAT guy. Thanks.
Andrew Shafer on April 20, 2016 at 11:03 said:
Going back to when Calvert was first introduced, I imagined him almost exactly as I imagine Coil to be; figured I just wasn’t getting creative enough, but what a fantastic twist!!
well written, this is such a fantastic read!
Celer on December 22, 2012 at 00:26 said:
Count me awed. Once again, a fantastic chapter. Thank you Wildbow.
Random Lurker on December 22, 2012 at 00:29 said:
I got to admit, I wasn’t expecting Taylor to be blinded. This forces her to be more creative with her powers now, and may soon become a straight up disability superpower if she finally starts sensing more things through her bugs, like actually hearing and interpreting sound. It honestly fits with her character better than a straight-up second-trigger power-up.
I was wondering if anyone noticed the bugs moving around in strange patterns, or Taylor seemingly moving well despite being blinded. I thought being blinded would make her slip up with her power usage and blow her cover in some way, especially when talking with others. For some reason, that doesn’t feel too right. Wouldn’t her dad and family friends be more questioning, especially when Lisa showed?
Finally, Taylor voices all the speculation we readers had last chapter. The reveal of Thomas Calvert being Coil is very surprising. Didn’t he say he didn’t trigger after the Nilbog incident? Does this mean he triggered later, lied about triggering, or purchased his powers from Cauldron, explaining his involvement with them?
My biggest fear, though, is that Lisa isn’t as trustworthy as she seems, and the information she’s giving now is all planted…
Pinkhair on December 22, 2012 at 00:54 said:
In his interlude it was said that he purchased his powers.
hxka on November 3, 2013 at 15:27 said:
Where? I’ve just read it through and failed to find any proof of that.
From his Interlude:
It had certainly been an expensive talent. Even with his ability to game the markets in a way that clairvoyants and precognitives couldn’t detect, it had taken him years to pay it off. A maddening, frustrating endeavor, when he had already been thinking of plans he wanted to set in motion, having to postpone them. And he still owed a favor, even now, up to a week’s services. He couldn’t be sure if he was powerful and secure enough to fight back if they demanded too expensive a price, or too much of his time at a point critical to his plan.
Thank you! I can’t believe I missed it.
Phlinn on November 14, 2013 at 18:00 said:
Personally, I think he already had his powers at that point. Shoot Captain and live/don’t shoot die. Probably originally had a plan to work up the ranks that way while playing money games on the side.
SadCat on December 22, 2012 at 02:17 said:
So now he runs the “Good Side” as well as the “Bad Side”. Now that is power. Any time He needs to remind some one who holds the city together he can stage a fight. Supper power fight every monday night any one?
Hydrargentium on December 22, 2012 at 02:32 said:
Mmmmm, “supper power fight”…. Gives “Iron Chef” a whole new meaning, doesn’t it. Tony Stark takes up cooking?
Ciss on November 18, 2015 at 11:59 said:
Maybe it was another Stark, cooking his way to the Iron Throne? Makes you think differently about the Red Wedding. And what if Bonesaw had attended that one?
SPOILER FOR SONG OF ICE AND FIRE.
Well, (in the book at least, I can’t remember if the show’s the same) someone DID attach Grey Wind’s head to Rob’s body afterwards, so Bonesaw would have started by making that functional. And probably letting it cripple the Freys’ army.
Then she’d probably have reanimated Caitlyn and given her a name like Lady Stoneheart… oh wait.
After that she’d probably find kyben (spelling? I heard SoIaF as an audio book) to see if he had any interesting tricks, maybe turning him into an ‘assistant’ of some kind (those spiders have to come from somewhere, though I prefer the theory above about them being built from those babies).
By “above” I actually mean “in the comments of the last interlude”: While typing I forgot exactly which chapter these comments were attached to.
Calvert, eh? Well, we know what kind of guy he is. He’s the one who shot his commanding officer to make it up the ladder. (Symbolism? Metaphor? You be the judge.)
Also, typo: “A local crime lord headed a small group supervillains” — should be “group of”.
Wildbow, it’s obvious I’m going to have to work a lot harder at my story plotting if I want to have any chance of producing something as awesome as what you’re doing.
Psycho Gecko on December 22, 2012 at 03:43 said:
I knew the name Thomas Calvert sounded familiar. I just didn’t know why it did yet. But now it is obvious.
What is less obvious is what he’s planning to do as the head of the PRT. This isn’t going to be Dark Reign where villains got costumed up as heroes.
I don’t know what your game is, Cauldron, but you’d better avoid opening up a portal to the wrong alternate dimension.
Indigo on December 22, 2012 at 02:47 said:
Everytime Coil does something it’s big.
AVR on December 22, 2012 at 02:49 said:
Taylor’s Dad is wrong about the period the supers are taking the people back to. Its not the Iron age, that’s straight out of Machiavelli.
The Prince was satire. Pretty much everything else Machiavelli wrote said the opposite of what The Prince said, and the timing between him writing it and various life events fits well.
Admiral Matt on January 30, 2018 at 00:43 said:
The truth is out there!
This is one of my favorite political argument because it has somehow managed to span the centuries unchanged. In Machiavelli’s lifetime – just as today – some took it at face value; others cried satire. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same misconception was being alternately spread and fact-checked a century from now.
Ironfalconlives on December 22, 2012 at 03:45 said:
Calvert! You bastard!
Oh my god, Coil killed Kenny!
Wards should be capitalized, like Coil on a bad situation.
Coil’s interlude does state that his civilian identity is completely fabricated and that he was considering just dropping it once the base was built so he could be Coil full time. I can see a lot of his credential being fabricated, but that still leaves PRT agents to buy off or kill. Might not be doable.
Well, we don’t have proof that Coil didn’t buy the identity of the original Calvert to get him an ‘in’ to the prt.
Mrmdubois on May 3, 2013 at 00:38 said:
No, Coil’s fake civilian identity was forged by the PRT in order to keep him quiet about the Nilbog debacle.
Thomas Calvert. The name does have a kind of villainous ring to it. more than Keith anyway.
but the PRT award for most badass name has to go to agent Coldiron from 16.x
wildbow on December 22, 2012 at 09:51 said:
You just like the iron, mr. Ironfalconlives.
i’m more a lover of fairly obscure characters, hence the name. He’s not dead, he’s just hiding.
anyway, doesn’t iron make any name sound kinda badass?
Ironass
Ironbee
Ironflower
Irondonkey
Ironclam
Ironbollocks (actually, that one is pretty good)
Ironsperm
Ironkidney
Ironiron
Iron-ing board
fralexion on February 22, 2017 at 07:03 said:
Iron Knee
Squirrelloid on April 19, 2015 at 16:29 said:
Watch out for Keith! Maybe he should choose something scary – Boris. Try that.
Egads, this story’s been Hoodwinked!
“A town meeting with hundreds of Brockton Bay residents was interrupted by a terrorist attack by a man dressed as a rotten potato today, an alleged assassination turned to even greater tragedy as a superhero-made piece of technology exploded unexpectedly. Who knew it was dangerous to let teens run around with energy weapons and fusion reactors?
“This tragedy joins countless others that have recently befallen Brockton Bay, a city that was recently the subject of national discussion, where the United States Senate debated condemning the city, evacuating the remaining citizens and abandoning it as a lost cause in a bill they would have named the “Fuck Those Guys” Act. A local crime lord headed a small group of supervillains in an attempt to assassinate Mayor Fuckface Christner, Mayoral Candidate Keith Grove, Mayoral Candidate Carlene Padillo, and most importantly, the point of view character of this story. When local heroes intervened, however, a device owned by local Wards member ‘Kid Win’ malfunctioned, ultimately exploding in the lobby of the building. Wow, it’s such a good thing they showed up to keep the deathtoll down. While the number of casualties is yet unconfirmed, we can confirm that WCVN’s own on-site reporter and camera crew perished in the blast. The reporter, Mr. Ron Burgundy of San Diego, was just one day from retirement and, quote, “I’m getting too old for this shit.” More information will be forthcoming as we have it.
“First reports from the site report allegations of sabotage on the part of a known double agent within the group of junior heroes. Aren’t you glad they kept giving him access to all their equipment? No members of the Brockton Bay PRT, Protectorate or Wards teams were available for comment, probably due to serious injury or death, but sources inside the organization report that Director Emily Piggot, manager of the city’s PRT and government sponsored hero teams, is being put on leave pending a full investigation. I think I speak for all of us in Brockton Bay when I say Heck of a job, Piggy. Don’t let that door hit you on the way out.
“Filling in for the interim is Commander Thomas Calvert. When asked about this new placement, the PRT reported that Commander Calvert served as a PRT field agent before an honorable discharge and a disability known as Scorching Halitosis brought on by a bought with the rare disease best known as the Jumping Jumblies. For the past several years he has offered his expertise to the PRT as a paid consultant in parahuman affairs for New York, Brockton Bay and Boston, later serving as a field commander for the PRT strike squads. All members of any squad he worked with have mysteriously vanished or died under suspicious circumstances, so the story probably checks out. Then again, these assholes on the air will just report whatever they’re told to by either the rich guy running their network or the government. They’re probably so dumb, they won’t notice if someone plays with the teleprompter. Ha ha, I like manboobs. The PRT expresses full confidence in Commander Calvert’s ability to handle the daunting task of Brockton Bay’s parahuman problem.
“Coming up, we here at WCVN will be answering the age old question, “Can a reporter give the rest of the news after killing his teleprompter writer with an empty water bottle?” and “Just how do you get rid of a dead body in a room full of people?” I promise to have answers to those questions when you see me after the break or I’ll never see you again.
Truthseeker on December 22, 2012 at 18:52 said:
These parody rewrites of yours are my favorite parts of your work, Mr. Gecko. “Heck of a job, Piggy.” 😀
Sarah on December 22, 2012 at 07:02 said:
I had to go back and re-read the interlude with Calvert. In hindsight it makes so much sense, he’s very Coil-y there.
Overall great chapter and I can’t wait to see what happens next!
mc2rpg on December 22, 2012 at 08:22 said:
Well the Undersiders and Travellers had better cut ties with Coil soon or they are boned. The first order of business if Coil really wants to break out into national fame is being in charge of the campaign that takes back Brockton Bay. For that to happen he has to crush the U/T alliance. With his powers he could just keep throwing the Wards and local Protectorate members into the combat blender until he gets the results he wants.
This necro-comment isn’t really to pick on this commenter, it just fit here.
Ever since Wildbow described (early in the story) just how Marquis uses BONES as weapons, I’ve been really utterly creeped out whenever a commenter says any version of “so-and-so is (or will be) boned now.”
I find it hard to believe no one else has reacted.
Loki-L on December 22, 2012 at 08:55 said:
Did not see that one coming.
One thing that bugged me was that Taylor did not ask after the supposed attacks on her and her teammates’ personal headquarters. She should at the very least want to know if her friends and her followers are okay.
I wonder if Calvert actually did go to prison or if he was snatched up by the cauldron as a test-subject right away. Also how long has he been back with the PRT? He seemed genuinely interested in the data stolen from the PRT which would imply that he didn’t have access to it at that point. Was that fake? Did he already have access but at a lower level of clearing and was looking for something specific. Did he perhaps use something on there to manipulate or blackmail himself into a position of power again?
If he is willing to release Dinah, it would be stupid of him to give her to Skitter. He should instead use her rescue as on of his first official successes, ingratiating himself with both the mayor and Triumph.
The fact that Lisa knows about his secret identity and he seems fine with that gives me hope that he won’t want to start of his new job by bringing the Undersiders to justice. Maybe he really can play both sides against the middle. Use the heroes to clear away any rival villains not directly under his command and use the attack of the villains to further demonstrate the need for leaving him in charge. Maybe if he tells his people to attack in certain ways he can even get additional powers from it in his PRT leadership identity. He can ask for resources and abilities that he wants get denied, have the Undersiders attack in a way that exploits the lack of those resources and blame whoever obstructed his rise to power. Maybe he can even work his way up to becoming a small dictator due to the emergency situation with his own little “Reichstagsbrandverordnung”.
The Blindness thing is also a surprise. I wonder if it was planned all along and the reason why all the healers have been ‘sent away’ in previous arcs.
Lisa already anticipates the possible upsides of the disability. If Taylor manages to use her insects senses better she can become a lot more powerful and really use her multitasking ability optimally.
Bobby on December 22, 2012 at 13:45 said:
Huh? That part wasn’t there earlier. In the copy I downloaded on my Kindle it still says:
Yeah, when I read it, that wasn’t there either.
Oh, Wildbow, you little minx.
Hobbes on December 22, 2012 at 15:29 said:
Cherish ended up being right: Taylor really *is* one of the blind worms. Also, I thought that “monarch” referred to Skitter, but it actually refers to Coil. Man, this is bad. It’s very possible that Taylor will lose in the long run. I agree with mc2rpg that the Travelsiders need to cut ties with Coil pronto. But how? He’s their supplier for everything.
David Burns on February 24, 2014 at 02:46 said:
WHy Travelsiders? Why not Unravelers?
Hah. Okay. I’m going to break down and do the stupid tacky “*LIKE!* comment” thing. Yours is much better.
Okay yeah that’s a pretty good name.
Um the Muse on December 22, 2012 at 16:03 said:
Good to see that my worst fear is unfounded. I thought for a second that instead of Coil having a body double, he was being impersonated without his knowledge by someone in the PRT. Now *that* would have been escalation, n’est pas?
I also have to agree that the blindness thing was a clever move on Wildbow’s part.
PoignardAzur on January 3, 2015 at 07:17 said:
I know this is a necro, but dammit, I can’t let that slide.
“N’est pas” literally translates to “Isn’t ?” If you want to say something like “[…] escalation, right ?” you could translate it “n’est-ce pas ?” or “pas vrai ?” or “j’ai pas raison ?”
MrMoray on December 22, 2012 at 17:40 said:
Here’s a fun thought: Dragon is bound by her programming to obey the government’s authority. Coil now has that authority.
Scrambles on December 22, 2012 at 17:54 said:
Just like in Robocop. Maybe someone will tell Thomas Calvert that he’s fired so Dragon can arrest him.
Don on December 22, 2012 at 18:05 said:
Oh. Oh, dear. That does bear thinking about.
Order goes both ways, which is why I’ve been against hero worship of those enforcing it. People won’t panic if it’s all part of the plan… even if the plan us horrible. If I want a bunch of supers get killed by Leviathan or a gangbanger gets eviscerated by Jack Slash then no one has a problem with it. But one little mayoral debate gets blown up and people lose their freakin’ minds.
Now that gets me thinking about how the Joker himself would fare in the Wormverse. Imagining him and Jack debating the finer points of their respective brands of villainy over tea in a blood-streaked cafe, of course.
thamuzz on December 23, 2012 at 18:29 said:
The Joker wouldn’t last five minutes in Brockten Bay. He wouldn’t even be a merchants level threat.
Then you haven’t read the comics…seriously,he aint more dangerous than Jack….but he ain’t any less dangerous either
Plus,in Wormverse,he prolly would be a Tinker or a Thinker,so his class would be more dangerous than Jack.
The Joker doesn’t have any powers. He’s crazy like a fox sometimes, but all we can say for sure (because he’s so very rarely the viewpoint character, so we don’t even know where he gets his wonderful toys, let alone how he always has them ready in the right places) is that the writers like him.
He would’ve run and hid when the Endbringer sirens came on, and then come back out to play in the rubble. I believe that much.
He’s got this weird relationship with villain team-ups, though. He’s not usually interested in following someone else’s plan (which is convenient, because no one else thinks he would)… but he’s always game for an Injustice League. (Is it that he only wants to be on the inside when Lex Luthor is?) I wonder if he would even show up to villain meetings like the ones on the ABB and Slaughterhouse Nine issues. He’d be a good fit for the Nine, but I can’t see him agreeing to jump through their hoops to join.
More likely, in post-Leviathan Brockton Bay, he’d hang out with the Merchants. They don’t charge admission, and they throw his kind of party. If he joined the upper level with their cape members (but how?), he might get tired of Skidmark and kill him in a hostile takeover.
And then Jack would come to town, and he’d try to play in the big leagues and get Slaughtered.
What I mean by “he’d be a tinker or a thinker” is that these 2 archetypes translate to many superheroes who nominally have no superpowers, but in truth are quite superhumanly capable (Batman, Ironman, Green Goblin, Lex Luthor etc.) as well as some traits of superheroes/villains who have superpowers, but whose capabilities do not end there (Mr Fantastic and Dr Doom both have superpowers but would also be tinkers and, Dr Doom also seems to be a thinker.Spiderman would also be a minor tinker in addition to his spider powers)
In sort, when conversing to Worm, I do not say “he does not have superpowers, he’d die” without asking myself “would his superpowers translate to thinker/tinker” ? and if the answer is “yes” (as is to almost every non C-list super) I assume he’d be a tinker/thinker.
So I assume Batman is an extraordinary thinker with the help of a goodish tinker, in conversion to Worm, rather than they are 2 very capable persons, as is canon.I do the same for Joker, who tends to be a threat.
Here’s an even more fun thought: Coil will now mistakenly believe that he has enough resources to resist Cauldron, only to find out that they *are* the Protectorate.
I do like how Taylor takes incremental steps through adversity and experience instead of getting single massive no-strings-attached powerups. I’m usually very wary of “second trigger!” talk, but things like this have a natural “Ah, that follows” flow to them.
For a moment I wondered whether her unconsciousness at the beginning might not actually have been such a second trigger event especially since she doesn’t actually use her powers much throughout the episode and wouldn’t be able to tell if it was subtle enhancement, but then I remembered that other capes present would have been affected by the trigger event like she and Lisa were with scrub. So no stealth upgrade for Skitter.
And I agree this gradually maximizing the potential of her existing powers rather than getting an upgrade is actually better.
koliup on December 23, 2012 at 19:18 said:
Hey, does anyone remember back in the day, when Skitter managed to control bugs despite being unconscious/power lobotomized?
Well, I’ve got a curious theory; if Skitter/Taylor could learn to sense stuff through her bugs(in sight+sound way), and perhaps shift her consciousness into ‘the swarm'(utilizing the theory that Skitter’s brain power is added to by additional insects), perhaps she could acquire the ability to enter a lucid dreaming state wherein she controls her bugs while unconscious? By using the insects as a cloud processor to run an instance of her mind.
Oh god. It’s bug-based Transhumanism.
tieshaunn on December 24, 2012 at 04:54 said:
Transbugginism?
Transhemipteranism?
Transinsectism?
Transtaylorism?
Gnarker on December 24, 2012 at 06:18 said:
You know, half of these would mean that she becomes something that surpasses an insect. Which, seeing as she commands them by the ton, I think is kind of a given already.
UnlikelyLass on December 24, 2012 at 12:48 said:
Y’know, more grist for the ‘Taylor’s bugs work as coprocessors for her brain’ mill shows up in these most recent chapters — she is overwhelmed by the sensory input of the crowd, something I don’t remember happening to her before. And she also points out a couple times that she — purposely — doesn’t have many bugs handy.
Here we have an example of fewer bugs equalling a harder time thinking. Coupled with previous hints, like a brain-based power blocker not wholly working on her, is making me feel even more confident that her swarm really does help her think in some way.
I’m really curious if the blindness will ‘stick’. After a broken back and paralysis didn’t, I’m not sure this will, either.
That having been said, we saw just how effective she could be when her own body was shut down in that scene, so who knows? And vision will probably be easier to work around than no body at all. Maybe this will be the first step to literally becoming a swarm, offloading the vision functions of her primary body onto the bugs…
Another thing I just realized while re-reading. Circus powers include a personal pocket dimension and she carries around a hammer. So, “Hammer Space”?
Yeah, we had that conversation the first time she showed up.
She keeps that space in her Hammer pants.
TheAnt on December 22, 2012 at 21:59 said:
I look forward to see whether Coil or the Undersiders will betray the others first. But Coil is in trouble. He just hurt Skitter’s dad. She could theoretically order ever bug in the area to attack him and then walk away. Splitting realities might not be so useful when they are both filled with angry swarms of insects chasing you specifically.
Coil is like an evil Batman.
He’d have some contrived, yet perfectly understandable reason to be equipped with something to make himself pretty much invulnerable to Skitter if she tried to end him.
The only question is if Taylor/Skitter is permanently blind or not. Even if she can pull a ‘No, John, I AM The Swarm.’ and sense stuff through her bugs, a blind supervillainess is gonna be in quite the pickle in an event that requires her human eyes.
I know! We’ll just trap her in a giant pickle!
In other words, she will be in the exact same position as Mannequin during their warehouse fight.
I think “plot to do something that he knows will piss Skitter off (because he promised her he would do the opposite)” is a not-even-particularly-contrived reason, honestly.
Three Lefts Make A Right on December 23, 2012 at 04:10 said:
I just found this awesome serial a week ago and I have to say its one of the best things I’ve read in a long time. Seriously, amazing. I read through all the arcs and noticed (correct me if I’m wrong) that Skitter had Coil import several rarer insects for her lair and for her to keep in that glass case room. If she still can use that service in the future (seems unlikely now) there’s one I thought of that would be an interesting addition to the swarm of Skitter.
Japanese giant hornets. A hive of these would be cool, really useful for carrying stuff, and being generally terrifying. I mean three inch long, flesh melting, really fast hornets, pretty scary.
They’re not the single most deadly insect (amount of venom covers that, with the whole flesh melting thing), but the intimidation factor would be pretty potent, and they’re pretty dangerous just from size alone. Although Atlas does have them beat in the size department he’s really too valuable to risk. So the use of a swarm of these could be helpful. What do my fellow audience members think? Just look them up on google or youtube, they seem like super villain worthy bugs. Although Skitter might not even know about them, or they may be too dangerous, or Coil may not be able to even import them, therefore she will never use them.
Anyway, thats my two cents of fan speculation, I know its really not on topic with the chapters this week. Really, I love the story Wildbow.
Curtis on December 23, 2012 at 09:10 said:
Main problem with that is that there basically isn’t a Japan anymore in the Wormverse.
Well, you could say that there isn’t ‘Japan’ as a country, what with the ramifications of the Kyushu attack, but the island with its flora and fauna is basically still there.
Yeah, I forgot that Japan was hit by the Endbringers. The whole lack of governance would make the exporting dangerous hornets really unlikely. Any one still living there has bigger problems to deal with, and probably wouldn’t bother with hunting down insects to ship around the world.
But the range of the hornet isn’t just Japan. It’s also in Russia, China, Taiwan, Korea, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Indochina area. At least according to Wikipedia. But really, who is going to hunt down these things to ship around the world to some random super villain? Honestly, probably no one.
Skitter/Taylor knows about the Darwin spider, which I’m fairly sure is semi-obscure(if you’re not super into bugs). Much like the Hercules Beetle.
It’s not unlikely she would end up hearing about these crazy goddamn hornets and immediately spring for them. Hell, if I had bug powers, they’d be on the list.
For some nightmare fuel, if you’re scared of bugs, search ‘largest arthropod’ and click the wikipedia link for largest organisms. That spider picture has me looking down at my feet every couple seconds.
I like the Dragon Millipede, aka Desmoxytes purpurosea. It’s just a bright pink millipede from Greater Mekong in Thailad.
Sure, a litlte odd to see a millipede that’s pink. Makes it look even stranger. Anyone care to remember why animals might have bright colors though?
In this case, it’s because the bug emits hydrogen cyanide.
5 years late but fun info : it smells like almonds
I had the exact same thought. I wonder if there’s some sort of catalog one can order rare and deadly bugs from. “This month’s ‘spider you’d least like to discover in your underwear’ is…”
Last Place on December 23, 2012 at 09:09 said:
Finally all caught up. Nothing more heart breaking than tapping the next chapter button and noticing that you’re on the latest one.
There’s plenty more heartbreaking. I just do heartbreak poorly. The feeling is surprisingly literal, too.
Anyways, welcome to the comments. Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of you here.
Raven on December 23, 2012 at 12:03 said:
I have this feeling that the reason Skitter was the only one of the villains present for the bombing was that Coil wanted to off/mutilate/incapacitate two birds with the same explosion. It makes sense. If Skitter were to die or become disabled, there’s no proof that Coil did that on purpose, so it might keep the Undersiders off his back and stop them bugging him about Dinah. Well, at least that’s how I would have done it. (sorry if this theory has been brought up before. I have a short attention span.)
Thomas, Thomas, the surviving jackass. I wasn’t that disturbed when I read the interlude and he admitted to shooting a guy in the foot to survive. Sure, it’s dishonourable and ghastly, but we have self-preservation instincts for a reason. But knowing that he is Coil? I kind of have to respect the guy. After that fuck-up to rise to such genius and take over a whole city? Damn. Good on ya, Tommy.
Ah, Skitter will be grand. Even if she remains blind, she has her bugs and now she can learn how to be more subtle about it. ‘Tis all good. A new learning experience, right? Silver lining, folks.
I resisted reading this update straight away so I wouldn’t have to wait as long for the next part of the story, but my will was broken with the prospect of spending the rest of the day Christmas cleaning. At least now I have something to think about and better my mood whilst I’m slaving away for the good of the household. Thanks, Wildbow. (:
Btw, I loved your comment, Psycho Gecko. Laughed all the way through it. You’re like bonus content that is only available and comprehensible if we follow Worm. Okay, that sounds way too much like a compliment. Um, you have a funny looking face..? Does that strike a balance?
Thank you, Wildbow, your plots are one of the best available and your style of writing surpasses many in awesomeness. (:
-Raven
You mean, let me understand this cause, ya know maybe it’s me, I’m a little fucked up maybe, but I’m funny how, I mean funny like I’m a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh, I’m here to fuckin’ amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?
No, no, I don’t know, you said it. How do I know? You said I’m funny. How the fuck am I funny, what the fuck is so funny about me? Tell me, tell me what’s funny!
Ya motherfucker! I almost had him, I almost had him. Ya stuttering prick ya. Chicken, was he shaking? I wonder about you sometimes, Raven. You may fold under questioning.
I’m sure there are a few who’d prefer if I was a deleted scene, but always glad to entertain.
By the way, Calvert didn’t shoot his captain in the foot. He just said he shot him. Hard to say someone else wouldn’t have in a Nilbog situation.
Matthew Keevil on December 23, 2012 at 15:26 said:
Hello, new reader just finished the whole series up till now and I’ve got to say, Worm has blown me away. The cleverly weird powers and the inventive uses, especially the way Taylor does everything to make the most of her relatively mediocre power to make it a force to be reckoned with, is thoroughly entertaining. The nice array of characters and masterful use of character voice is brilliant throughout, never do you encounter a line that couldn’t have been said by any character, they all have their personas bleed through marvellously into their speech. The little touches in characterisation stand out too, I keep on thinking back to the bank robbery scene, where Alec is casually knocking over Wards heroes with a wave of his hand and tagging them with his sceptre-taser, callous yet regal, that totally sold me on the image and his ‘Regent’ callsign. The Queen’s wave, weaponised, what a thought. XD Plus, I adore Coil, the ‘destiny-choice’ power, the costume design, the attitude, I love mastermind villains and Coil is right up there with WildStorm Comics’ ‘Tao’ for one of the best super masterminds. Can’t wait for the next installment!
Welcome to the current end of the story. Stay tuned for more updates, or feel free to enjoy the comments section to its fullest. I hear it’s ok. Meh. No big deal.
Would you perhaps like an after dinner jacket and to join us all in the smoking room for cigars, brandy and listening to rap? This shit be ill right here, son, wot wot.
Holy crap. Idea to spread awareness of Worm. Get a few talented readers together and have them make an animated rap battle between Wormverse characters.
PG, you’re in charge of lyrics.
frozen chicken on December 24, 2012 at 06:07 said:
I’ll do the voice acting.
Absolutely top-hole, merry crizzle everynizzle.
three rights make a left. on December 23, 2012 at 20:38 said:
Why does this not have more views its such an incredible series, the author should try to get more people to read it. Many people dont read it just because they dont know about it I would guess.
We try. That’s why Wildbow prefers that we have other tropes link to Worm’s as well as add tropes to the page. Helps to send people thataway. I believe I found it through Legion of Nothing when I was looking for another thing to read.
I’ve been thinking about something like business cards. Name, web address, maybe a good tagline like “Prepare to be skullfucked by awesome” and just leave them around frequented places. People talk about it on some RPG forum, I believe. I’ve tried to spread it around some, but for some reason people aren’t keen on following through on my suggestions.
I blame time-traveling CommuNazis and Canada.
Which reminds me, Iron Sky is now out on DVD. That’s right, Nazis have survived to modern times…on the moon! Don’t know the quality of it, though the trailers looked pretty funny.
Please, Canadians would be all over this, if they knew it existed.
The people you’re thinking of are actually the Quebecois.
They don’t count as Canadian; too secessionist.
Aaaaannd, there’s another step back in the Canada/Quebec thing. Way to go, koliup.
“People talk about it on some RPG forum, I believe.”
RPGnet was where I first heard about Worm in a discussion over realistic (in terms of having logical progression of events given the presence of supers, rather than Nolanesque) supers-settings.
Using iPod to type, so lease forgive any typos; glad you’re enjoying Worm. If you’re interested in spreading the word, reviews on webfictionguide, tropes on tvtropes, and votes on topwebfiction really do help. A single mention on a forum or site you frequent can bring in as many readers as $40 spent on a week of banner ads.
Michael Brazier on December 23, 2012 at 23:29 said:
What happens to Coil’s organization now that Coil is presumed dead? It seems to me that at this point, Taylor really could just walk into Coil’s base, open the door to Dinah’s cell, and lead her out, telling anyone she met that that’s what Coil intended her to do; Coil can’t show up and contradict her without sacrificing his current plan. Moreover, Coil’s money is the Undersiders’ sole source of income – if the organization falls apart without its leader, how can Taylor possibly keep her territory? And if it doesn’t fall apart, how can Coil keep up the pretense that the bomb killed him?
The thought occurs that at this point, Tattletale is a deadly threat to Calvert/Coil; if he doesn’t keep her happy or kill her, she can ruin him forever with two sentences spoken to the right person. Calvert has to know that much, so he must have some plan for Tattletale. Question is, does he think she can be bought off, or is he assuming that she’ll follow Taylor’s judgement? He can’t be so blind to Taylor’s mind as to think that open murder of civilians is something she’ll accept, surely.
Well, some of the higher-ups in Coil’s organization will probably know about his plan. I mean, he wouldn’t go through all of this just to lose control of all of his original support. I think he’ll stay as Coil and Calvert, just keeping Coil confined to his base, never showing himself to anyone except the Travelsiders and a few of his mercenaries.
As for the whole, taylor wouldn’t kill civilians, thing, kinda. She lied to Sundancer about the presence of civilians during the Slaughterhouse Nine ambush to try to kill Jack and Bonesaw. It didn’t work, and arguably the civilians were likely going to die anyway, but she still essentially told Sundancer to vaporize them. So if there was a ‘noble’ enough reason I think she would kill civilians, but in this situation you are right. It’s very unlikely that she will find Coil’s ‘takeover the city’ plan to be noble enough to kill or let people die for.
Just a minor necro correction.
No,they wouldn’t die,that was the problem,Bonesaw had already operated on them,and they would never die,they would suffer forever and they would be unhealable thanks to Bonesaw’s safeguards (for all we know ,her safeguards didn’t kill Grue because they wouldn’t kill Crawler either)
So she also rationalized it as a mercy kill.
i just want to say merry christmas before crazy holiday web-lag officially kicks in. Thanks for the great story wildbow and happy holidays.
Thank you to Matthew for his donation. The counter/total displayed isn’t up to date at present, so this’ll serve as a reminder to myself to do it when I’m not scrambling to finish tonight’s chapter.
Individuo on December 24, 2012 at 23:00 said:
Inb4 incoming sad christmas chapter.
I laughed at this, I did.
raineybear on February 10, 2013 at 02:46 said:
“With only a small few bugs to guide me, I left my dad, Keith and Lacey behind”
Shouldn’t “Keith” be “Kurt”?
wildbow on February 10, 2013 at 09:29 said:
Okay, I said it when Jack left town and I’ll say it again for Coil. This story has bloody magnificent villains.
And hey, everybody knows Coil was the one keeping Dinah, so with him dead there’s no reason she won’t be returned to her family as soon as they find his lair. It’d draw suspicion otherwise.
Delta on December 21, 2013 at 08:00 said:
Blimey, I’m continually amazed how many reveals and upheavals keep coming from this series, and how there are still over 10 arcs to go. It’s almost daunting, I’ve spend weeks reading this far (not full-time, I’m amazed when I see people saying they got this far in a week) and know there’s still tons to come.
After that I’ll probably have to read again (after a VERY big break) just to catch all the foreshadowing. Think I’ll have to advise anyone I recommend this to to leave a year free 🙂
Yep, me too 🙂 I’m in exactly the same boat: been reading through the archive steadily over the course of, what, a month or so? After a word-of-mouth recommendation, and you can certainly bet I’ll be making (have made) a few of those myself too.
Delighted with the twists, revelations, intelligent uses of powers, character dynamics, subversions of genre expectations… this is a fantastic series (and I very much want to be able to buy a hardcopy).
dubloe7 on December 24, 2013 at 02:01 said:
“Fifteen and a half years spent growing up with my dad versus two months as Skitter. ”
Holy crap, all of this takes place over the course of 2 months? I mean, I thought it would be closer to a year.
“limbs and bones torn free and left lying beneath chairs or at the sides of the aisles” needs a period.
Bayes on January 29, 2014 at 12:38 said:
Necro for a typo: “What’s wrong.” Should have a question mark.
Woah. I’m beyond tangled in this story, and the comments, at this point.
Having trouble keeping “canon” separated in my head from “wild theory from comments”, but I find ‘when in doubt, assume whatever somebody said was a lie’ helps a lot. Especially Coil, and often Tattletale. which gets confusing …
I wanted to necro-comment about every 3rd or 4th comment, along the lines of “OOooo … HaHaHaHaHa … didn’t think of that …” etc.
But here’s a special shout-out for the nickname “Unravelers” if the Undersiders and Travelers decide to formalize as a single team!
Well I have to say that I seriously love Taylor. “I’m blind. Well that’s Damn annoying.” Talk about your badass character. Gets blown up by a bomb and shrugs it off as mildly inconveniencing. It would be awesome if this does force her to actually start being able to see through her bugs! I like how Lisa was the one to come pick her up too. Mildly surprised it wasn’t Brian but I like Lisa.
While Coil probably wasn’t quite looking to kill Skitter with the bomb I find it highly likely that he had no issues taking advantage of her being there and would have considered it a nice bonus if he had managed to actually kill her with it.
Hmm I knew Calvert came off as a screwed up bad cookie in Piggot’s interlude. Nice to see that I hit the mark on that one though and while I probably would’ve called him going to Cauldron I definitely didn’t see him as being Coil. Interesting development. The implications are worrisome indeed.
>I couldn’t count the bodies, not with the way the reporters had been pulverized, limbs and bones torn free and left lying beneath chairs or at the sides of the aisles
Missing full stop.
>I didn’t like thinking about what might happen if I was still blind when the next disaster came along.
Were.
Had a feeling Calvert would come up again. This was well done, but I wish the Chekhovs took longer to reveal themselves.
There are still a few elderly chekovs floating around: the ones that spring to mind (and are not part of the current plots) are Canary, Sierra’s grandpa, anything involving Emily, where Shadow Stalker went, who bought Tattletale’s powers and why, arguably Panacea and Marquee(?), Faultline and the vials of Cauldron potion she stole from the Merchants, and the favour Thomas Calvert still owes Cauldron.
Ok, that’s more than I’d intended to list. I know they might not all come up, but I’m expecting at least half of them to.
This particular reveal makes me wonder though: what would have happened if the DONATION BONUS interlude hadn’t happened?
on May 21, 2015 at 22:24 said:
mention the father’s recent kidney injury/surgery and how he had literally just been cleared(if he was telling the truth)
concussive stuff causing internal injuries must go up an order of magnitude if its got recent scar tissue to tear near a vital organ that bleeds that much
Libluini on June 11, 2015 at 14:17 said:
“He had a pulse, but it was thready.” I think that’s supposed to be “steady”, right?
Tim McCormack on August 17, 2017 at 07:13 said:
A “thready pulse” is a type of really weak pulse.
axle on June 15, 2015 at 22:54 said:
Holy mother cow! This is the pefect moment for Coil to twiddle his fingers and say, “all according to plan!”
Gonna be interesting watching Taylor learn to adapt to her disability using her bugs.
Taylor can’t see. She can’t detect a wince. Maybe there was a sudden intake of breath that she could hear, or she just noticed that Lacey abruptly stopped talking- but she wouldn’t know there was a wince involved.
(Unless she has bugs on Lacey’s face, which would come with its own problems. :P)
Gary on September 13, 2016 at 17:37 said:
WB – I don’t think “Vitreous” is the right word to use in this context. I can’t think of many glass-like fluids in our bodies and it doesn’t convey the right messy-puddle-of-ichor I think you were going for.
The bulk of the goop in your eyeball is called “vitreous humor”. I had taken it to be a reference to that, not a generic adjective, but I would agree it’s incorrect if it was meant to refer to the latter.
> I didn’t like thinking about what might happen if I was still blind when the next disaster came along.
Aaand that’s the only thing that worries her about being freaking blind. Typical Taylor!
ALKATYN on March 16, 2018 at 06:12 said:
Doing an archive binge and commenting as I go. This was a bit that I’d forgotten, but interesting to read again. Interesting to see the quick turnaround from Taylor as supervillian warlord to Taylor as relatively helpless bystander. Serves as a reminder that she’s still pretty vulnerable despite how far she’s come. The reveal of Coil = Calvert works well and ties together nicely, pays off a lot of the stuff thats been implicit up to now about him having grand plans beyond the undersiders .
The destruction is strange. Wasn´t it close to Coil? Why did the reporters in the back die while Taylor closer to it survived?
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Now for the clin- the clincher. The ultimate strategy.
We ran.
My number one priority was to keep moving, keep active. Things were easier so long as I was moving towards a goal.
I had to get myself sorted. Wrap my head around the tools at my disposal. For that, I needed time. I needed to put distance between us and Scion.
Stepping up the tempo, have to distract Scion.
I reached out to Ash Beast, a living force of nature. It had originally triggered in Matruh, Egypt, and had been roaming since, making its way across Africa. All of the destructive power of any class S threat, tempered by the fact that it usually traveled on foot, and people could see it coming from miles away. When it reached a settlement, that settlement was usually evacuated.
An unending explosion, a rolling mass of fire and smoke with a person at the center. Here and there, it took physical form. Whether it was the fire or a massive leonine claw that tore into the ground, it produced the debris, dust and ash that was its namesake, driven along the ground by the perpetual storm of fire.
Creating a portal to give me access to it was troublesome. Others had tried to control it before, to steer it in the general direction of their enemies. Warlords, villains, masterminds. It rarely worked for long. When working with power on this scale, chaos had a way of trumping order. Too much energy disrupted the portals.
I moved a forcefield cape to the Ash Beast’s location, and then created a bubble, putting it in range of the being. I made a portal within the bubble. More forcefields encased the bubble on my side for safety’s sake. My power operated through the forcefield, and the connection formed.
I identified a young man, at the center of it all, and I could now think of the Ash Beast as a ‘he’ instead of an ‘it’. He was surprisingly healthy, but he had a power that kept him in good physical condition, a natural breaker-class adaptation that came with his power. Energy to matter and matter to energy.
I’d use him first. If he died, the world wasn’t worse off for it. If he lived, well, I could discard him, leaving him in a foreign earth.
Bringing him through a doorway was hard. He generated so much heat, and while his shape and form were malleable, they weren’t wholly under his control.
In the end, I made a portal, and I used Trickster to bring the Ash Beast through, replacing a chunk of ruined earth.
Shaping the fire, driving it out to the sides.
Shaping the flesh. From energy to physical form. Wings. Catlike legs to spring into the air.
The Ash Beast lunged into the air, above the water, and he streaked towards Scion like a comet. The forcefield cape followed, to maintain the connection.
I moved Alexandria, Legend, Moord Nag and the others on the frontline through doorways as the Ash Beast struck the golden man. Golden light tore into flesh that had been forged of fire, and more flesh was created to replace it. The Ash Beast tore into Scion, and the flesh was replaced just as quickly.
I created more doorways, moving people out of Gimel in an orderly fashion. Here and there, I changed the portals around, dictating different exit points to break up groups.
Ranged attackers in one group. Brutes broken up into several sub-groups. Thinkers, tinkers, defensive capes… there were a lot to sort, a great many who had powers that needed a half-second to a few seconds to figure out, in terms of classification and application. With scores of these capes, it added up.
Every cape had a place to be. There were capes who needed something to harvest, who needed materials, and I gave them access to their materials. There were capes who needed others nearby, and capes who were better if set apart.
I assigned precogs, thinkers and danger senses to the various groups.
Decentralize, I thought. If Scion was the established force with superior weapons then I had to be the guerrilla army. Different groups moved to remote locations, different worlds. I couldn’t let him destroy too many of us in one good hit.
Take stock. Who didn’t I have? I didn’t have Contessa, who I couldn’t see. I didn’t have the Blasphemies, who hadn’t even registered to me because they weren’t human, even if they had powers, I didn’t have Sleeper and…
Why was it so hard to reach for certain names?
The ones in the cabin… I’d decided to leave them be. I was having trouble remembering why, but I’d trust my older self on that score.
They were dangerously close to Scion. If I moved them, maybe-
No. I had to leave them alone. Rules, regulations. I’d set boundaries for myself once, I’d followed them, because I knew how easily I could slip. Those boundaries had been to protect myself, as selfless as they might have seemed. This was to protect others.
This was good, better.
Capes who could grant flight… Glaistig Uaine had some. There was a girl in a red, black and white costume who could grant powers.
Othala.
Right. Othala. She could give someone else flight. Send the right people to Scion’s vicinity. Trickster, some defensive capes. One of the capes who had served under the Blue Woman in that cape-ruled alternate Earth. He had a power not unlike Gavel’s. Glaistig Uaine offered some offensive power as well, but it was tricky and time consuming to dig for the capes I could use. She knew them personally, I had to find them.
They appeared behind Scion. Glaistig Uaine distracted, with one ranged cape hitting Scion full-on in the face, another feeding fire into Ash Beast’s body.
The Gavel-alike dropped out of a portal directly above the golden man, driving a narrow pole into Scion’s neck. Scion was slammed into the water, quite possibly to the bottom of the bay.
The forcefield cape caught the boy out of the air before he could follow Scion beneath the water.
I opened a portal, then moved the others aside. Reorganizing, positioning.
Others… who was I leaving behind?
There was a group still in the settlement. They hadn’t all moved through the portal. I reached for their names. Right. Tattletale. Rachel. Imp. Panacea. I’d taken the others, collected the wounded. The door was open, but they’d stayed behind, watching the horizon, exchanging words I didn’t understand.
Who else? I’d left the civilians be. I could arm them, but I wasn’t sure it would be worth the effort. Bullets could only do so much, and the bigger weapons…
Scion emerged from the water. I didn’t give him a chance to retaliate. Retaliation could mean putting the cabin in danger. I hit him, then backed the capes through the portal.
He didn’t follow them through the portal, but he did sidestep through dimensions to reach them. I started to mount a defense, and he lashed out. I didn’t have time to react or give a command; I slammed the portals around the capes shut, and I opened another, larger portal, to take in the beam.
The beam hit the surface of the portal, and only a fraction passed through to strike Scion from behind. Enough to kill someone, enough to kill me, if the beam had happened to touch any of my control portals, but even so, the portal itself took the brunt of the impact.
Doormaker staggered beside me.
The portal was wiped out. Without any barrier in the way, the beam radiated forward to wipe Ash Beast, the cape with the pole, Trickster, and Othala from existence.
I was left with a decision to make, no time to make it.
Was I going to be moral, or efficient?
Two capes fell in my awareness. Acidbath was one. Another was a talented shapeshifter who was in bad shape beneath their moldable skin.
Shapeshifter, I made the call.
One expendable asset. At my bidding, he strode forward through the portal. The clairvoyant retrieved a tinker device and dropped it through a portal. The shapeshifter caught it.
Scion pressed the attack, while Glaistig Uaine and her assigned bodyguard managed a fighting retreat to a portal I’d raised behind them. Had to keep Scion in place, buy time.
I had only a seconds to act, or I’d lose the Faerie Queen. I’d lost good capes already, so very easily. Now I stood to lose more.
Have to- have to make it worth it.
Thinking in words was getting harder. Easier to default to thinking in terms of ideas. I wasn’t going to throw away lives for nothing. I wouldn’t ask others to make sacrifices I wouldn’t make, if the roles were reversed.
Maybe they’d disagree. Maybe they’d tell me they didn’t want to make that choice. But that was our instinctual self-preservation at work. With things at this scale, that kind of thinking was counterintuitive.
Maybe they’d agree, if I had the time to explain. To sit down with them in their living rooms and discuss the ins and outs of things over tea.
But I didn’t have the time to ask politely, and too many had already died. Capes and civilians both.
I’d leave the civilians alone, but it was fitting if I drew on their strength as well.
Doormaker was capable of opening the doorways at the speed of thought. I had multitasking abilities. I could open them faster. Not one after the other, a thirtieth of a second passing between each, but simultaneous.
I didn’t target people this time. Portals opened across the sky in that foreign Earth that Scion and the Faerie Queen fought in. As many portals as I could fit in that Earth’s sky.
Glaistig Uaine ducked back into the portal, and the shapeshifter I’d left on the ground hit the button.
The portals around Scion slammed shut, and he disappeared from my mind’s eye.
It left the shapeshifter locked in the same world as Scion.
An obstacle, a speed bump at best. I was sacrificing lives for that purpose, putting capes in harms way, and leaving that one cape in an isolated world with Scion nearby. I’d decided to spend a life that lacked strength over the life of a monster.
But that last gesture had bought me time to move the Faerie Queen of the Birdcage to safety.
It had also stopped Scion in his tracks for a few seconds. If he was focusing on getting out of that universe, on altering his power to decrypt the portals and free himself to move, then he wouldn’t be paying too much attention to the portals I’d opened above him.
There were perhaps two hundred Earths in easy reach that had military technology worth talking about.
Two hundred earths with bombs. Every bomb that hadn’t been in some secure housing, every bomb that was small enough to drop through the doorway, to plummet to the ground below Scion.
Some would be duds, no doubt, missing an integral component that would be put in place before a bombing run. But a handful, I suspected, were bound to be nuclear bombs.
He hadn’t stepped through into any world I could see. The bombs had struck home.
My body was shaking. I wanted to sit down, but I couldn’t afford to.
I was hungry, I realized. Worn out.
But I had to capitalize on our advantage here. Had to focus on sorting out my army, so this wasn’t for nothing.
I broke up the Yàngbǎn. Null/Zero could share powers and he could take them away. But managing multiple groups was cutting into every group’s effectiveness. Against Scion, I needed more effective powers than a blending of less effective ones. I set Zero aside, assigning him a group. Autopilot for now, for a later eventuality.
The tougher capes I had fell into two categories. There were ones who could take the fight to Scion, like Alexandria or the late Ash Beast, and there were ones who couldn’t, like Lung, Menja and Chevalier.
There was a Vietnamese cape with a tinker ability who I hadn’t assigned to the tinker group. He was like Lab Rat, but simpler in application. Formulas to boost strength and size, turning regular people into hulking monsters.
I put him to work, dosing capes who weren’t reliant on armor or anything of the sort. I left Chevalier alone, and left the Crawler-Breed hybrid be, but I dosed Lung and Menja.
I put Legend and the Number Man with the ranged capes.
Scion emerged, but he didn’t emerge into a world any of my forces occupied.
He- he lost the scent trail, I thought.
It didn’t take him long to find it again. He went straight through into the world where I’d stationed Glaistig Uaine.
I opened portals. Every single ranged cape and every single cape with a gun that was at my disposal opened fire into the portals. The Number Man’s power coordinated their fire.
I sensed danger from my precogs. I parted the group.
Scion moved, and he fired a beam, striking down the center of the part.
Not one of the attacks had hit him. Though I’d been moving them to safety, the beam had taken out nearly thirty capes.
I counted Lady Photon among the dead, along with Revel.
As if Taylor Hebert were one of my puppets, distant, fractured and broken, I could sense the sick feeling in her gut. Revel had been someone she’d- someone I cared about. Lady Photon had been a familiar face.
Let’s go get that- Let’s go get him.
My voice, but not my own thoughts.
The Number Man had told me the attacks would hit. That they hadn’t meant it was Scion’s precognitive ability at work. The ability to win, to take the upper hand.
But there was a reason he couldn’t use it constantly. It cost him something, drained his reserves.
By all appearances, he’d parried my thrust and struck home… but I’d taken a piece out of him.
The rationalizing felt thin at best.
Have to do bett-er.
Scion was screaming, still. A roar, a kind of fury.
Tattletale had described him as human. That meant human weaknesses. Weaknesses he hadn’t learned to adapt to. When he got angry, it was the fury of someone who’d never learned to hold back.
I put targets in front of him, and he took the bait.
A front line of the hardiest capes, decoys and projections to draw him in. Then, while he was closer, I was free to move in the heavy hitters who weren’t upwardly mobile.
Lung, hulking out even before his power kicked in. Menja, Chevalier. A dozen capes I didn’t know.
Had to mix it up. Raw physical strength, then a cape who was strong because of a telekinetic bubble that surrounded them. More raw strength, then explosive power like Hoyden’s.
Move them in, then move them away. Use their powers and other powers to give them the mobility. I had two capes that could assign danger sense to protect things, alerting them when the subject was in danger, though the two powers were rather different in practice. It was a way around the fact that I couldn’t predict Scion himself, and I made the most of it, switching their targets of choice second by second.
I could feel the fear of the people I was sending into the fray. Hoyden’s fear was like the scared-little-girl fear I’d experienced while concussed, wracked with pain and helpless at Bakuda’s feet.
But she could hit Scion, and I needed people who could hit him. I needed every iota of strength I could squeeze out of these capes.
I watched the world through Defiant’s eyes, and I saw the combat analysis program drawing wireframe models over the battlefield, trying to take in all of the details of the capes I was sending into the fight, predicting Scion’s most likely actions.
I watched with the Number Man.
I watched with precogs.
Scion wasn’t inherently predictable, he wasn’t capable of being read, but I needed some cue that would let me guess what he’d do next.
Telekinetics stood by portals. The Blue Woman and Parian were among them. When I saw opportunities, I used them to move capes further, faster, to get them out of the way.
Scion’s rage was reaching a crescendo. The screaming was increasing in volume and intensity, the movements more aggressive, the attacks broader, less focused. A fist flew past Chevalier, followed by a blast that might have wiped out a neighborhood, if the capes had been in a city. He was grazing capes, failing to land a single heavy blow, and it was pissing him off.
It didn’t help that we were hurting him. He could adapt, but he couldn’t adapt when the same attack wasn’t used twice in a row. It put him on the defensive, keeping him on his toes, and every attempt he made to strike back failed to do more than clip people, injure and wound.
I knew it was coming. Retaliation. Even before the precogs gave me any forewarning, I was moving to react. Portals opened wider, telekinesis pulling the attacking capes through if they couldn’t move fast enough. Forcefields and other measures flew up to surround Scion, mitigating the damage.
He radiated light, and the light that escaped the barriers seared and melted the flesh of the offensive capes, as well as the telekinetics and defensive capes who happened to be standing in the wrong place. Translucent and transparent forcefields didn’t even slow the light down.
I began shutting the doors. Alexandria and various projections flew in to take Scion on. Ursa Aurora, expendable duplicates… just needed a second.
So much pain. I could tell how much damage that had been done even before I did any headcounts. People were suffering, and so long as they were under my control, they were helpless to express the fear and agony they felt.
Instead, they were quietly stoic as their wounds wept fluids and burned with traces of the golden light. I put the few healers I had to work.
They hadn’t even started when Scion used the real attack. I could see him move through Alexandria’s eyes. Through Pretender’s eyes, rather. Arms flew out to the sides, and then he clapped.
I only managed to shut Alexandria’s portal a fraction of a second before his hands made contact.
One strike of palm against palm, and the shockwave swept past us as if in slow motion, moving past every portal in the area that was still open. It passed through flesh, and it stilled.
It was the same effect he’d used to quiet Leviathan’s waves, the same effect that had frozen floodwaters in their tracks and the same ability that had given him so much presence.
Objects in motion stopped. Portals winked out, warm things plummeted in temperature, cell and neural activity was interrupted. Blood stopped in people’s veins.
Every cape that had been touched by this stillness dropped to the ground, lifeless.
I could feel the horror that was experienced by the bystanders. I knew that, given the choice, most would be running.
But there was no reaction. Each and every one of them was grim, resolute, taking care of their injuries, getting to people who could tend to them or helping others.
Rank and file, a dozen capes with electricity powers entered the area with the capes who’d succumbed to the stillness.
They’d stopped, and an object at rest remained at rest. I just- I needed to get them moving again.
A jolt, the electricity controlled by the capes in question.
I pulled Bonesaw away from the tinker group. I couldn’t devote the focus necessary to use her power in any detail. I could have left her on autopilot, but I wasn’t sure that was much better.
I revoked my control over her, leaving in in the middle of the room with the capes Scion had stopped.
Then I turned my attention back to Scion.
I couldn’t dwell. Couldn’t let him turn the tables and put me on the defensive.
He was tearing into Alexandria. Literally. But she doggedly held on, delivering one crushing blow for every pound of flesh Scion ripped from her midsection. He was roaring as he did it, teeth bared, face contorted.
The nature of his attack, the stilling, it didn’t fit. Not in tune with the anger.
It had been another use of his ‘automatic victory’ power. Looking to the future, seeing how he could do the most damage, then following through. A feint, followed by the critical blow.
The good news was that it meant I was getting the upper hand, forcing him to take a shortcut to get out of it.
The bad news was that I was almost positive I couldn’t win if things continued in this vein. My precogs weren’t countering his precognition, and he was blocking all direct views of him, forcing me to emphasize indirect predictions where I focused on the damage he was doing and the people he was threatening to kill.
With each exchange, he was doing too much damage to our side. If I had five times the capes, if we’d been working together like this from the beginning, then maybe. But not like this.
Same strat- strat- same tactic as before, just to buy myself a little time to think.
My telekinetics, injured or otherwise, worked their magic through the portals I opened, this time focusing on the munitions that weren’t easily accessible. I moved ICBMs through a spatial-warping ‘lens’ that let it fit through a doorway, unloaded crates of grenades and TNT with telekinesis, and I watched it rain.
The explosives were halfway to ground when I had Alexandria use another dimension switch to force the portals closed.
I needed to consolidate my strength. I had capes gathering materials. Moord Nag was among them, one of the scariest warlords of Africa, now traveling between dimensions to scavenge from the dead, her pet shadow devouring mountains of flesh from mass graves and battlefields, swelling in size.
Lung was shrinking, keying down after I’d pulled him away from Scion, but he still had the raw strength from the dose of distilled brawn I’d given him.
Coordinate, I thought.
I couldn’t be moving capes with telekinesis. There had to be other assets.
Sifara. A chief member of the Thanda. I’d taken to thinking of him as ‘Orbit’.
But Orbit wasn’t quite it.
His power required him to have a strong reference for those he worked it on. Eyesight alone didn’t work so well, because eyesight was faulty. His preference, for a strong connection, was to touch individuals. Failing that, he worked by eyesight alone.
I didn’t need to go that far. I could see through a hundred pairs of eyes at this location alone.
A cape formed a ball out of stone. Roughly the size of a tennis ball.
One by one, Sifara connected the capes around us to the ball.
Sifara’s power maintained spatial relationships. He moved the ball, and every cape he’d connected to the ball moved a corresponding amount. When he turned the ball, the connected capes rotated around the ball by equal degree.
We’d used it against Khonsu in our first fight, anchoring ourselves to him so he couldn’t teleport away without bringing us with him.
Now we were going to use it for the opposite intent.
Labyrinth and Scrub, the same pair that had made the portal in Earth Gimel, made more portals. The dimension switches wouldn’t work forever, and I’d pretty much but there were options for future attacks. There were more explosives, but nothing big.
I needed a focus, a weak point I could capitalize on. To those ends, I needed to buy time to work and I needed to bait him into getting angry.
Between them, Labyrinth and Scrub began making paths to other worlds. I watched as they paged through the available options.
Scion emerged from the other world, having broken down the barrier we’d set. Fragments of Alexandria’s body tumbled to the ground, more like a statue than flesh. He had to flex his hand and use his power to free it of the left side of her skull.
He’d suffered for a few of the big hits we’d delivered. His flesh remained pristine, golden, but there were folds and scraps here and there where his damaged flesh had been stripped away and remained in place around the creases of his body after the replacement flesh had come in.
He came out swinging, obliterating two continents on two different worlds before he found us.
One rotation of Sifara’s ball, a row of doorways, and the capes were pulled backwards through the portals, which closed promptly after them.
The debris hadn’t even settled when I had Sifara move the ball again, erecting more portals to send my capes into the battlefield. Brute force, capes who could tie him down, capes who could take a hit or two. I kept Lung in the fight, holding him back for later, when he’d be exponentially stronger.
As strategies went, it would hold for at least a little while. Scion’s patience seemed to be getting shorter and shorter, and I was on guard for the next retaliatory strike.
My heart was pounding, my mouth dry. This was looking grim, each exchange hurting my side more than it hurt Scion. Was there an out? A chink in the armor?
I’d collected all of the tinkers in one place and I’d put them on autopilot, a vague, nebulous goal in mind. To get them working together, I’d used Zero of the Yàngbǎn to tie them together as a group, splitting their powers.
A few hundred tinkers, each with a mix of tinker powers, all working on a singular project.
I could sense it, using the Clairvoyant and Doormaker both, using Labyrinth and Scrub. The solid space between worlds. A space that Scion had altered somehow, blocking off.
Facing off against that, I’d had them build something roughly the size of a house. There was a gun build into the construction, but it was snub nosed, stocky and unimpressive.
I gave Defiant the honor of pulling the switch.
The machine whirred to life.
Through the Clairvoyant, through Labyrinth and Doormaker, I could sense the machine reaching through every available world.
The energy was focused on a single space, but it filled that same space in each of the worlds. A pressure of sorts started to form.
It would take a minute.
I sent Moord Nag in with the other heavy hitters, relieving the force that Scion was fighting.
Sifara moved the ball, moving Moord Nag a distance forward. Her pet shadow Scavenger loomed, as large as it had ever been.
And Moord Nag promptly had a stroke. I watched as Scavenger dissipated into smoke.
Wha- what? Why?
I reached out to Moord Nag, and I could feel the damage being done. I moved her back just as I’d moved her forward, shifting more capes onto the battlefield to deliver some ranged fire.
Why? I was stunned, and putting my thoughts together in regards to this was like trying to swim in molasses.
Had to act, instead of thinking. Investigate.
I used my ability to read the physical states of the creatures I controlled, reading my swarm much as I’d check a spider’s level of hunger, its health, fertility or the amount of venom available.
Almost across my entire swarm, people were threatening to lose their minds. Literally.
It was stress, a factor I hadn’t taken into account. I controlled their bodies, but I didn’t control their minds. They were bystanders, watching this all unfold, and even though I regulated their heartbeats, kept their breathing level, the mental stress accumulated.
There were exceptions in every category, but I could assess my gathered army with broad strokes of the brush. The thinkers were coping best, the tinkers nearly as well. The masters struggled the most, followed by the shakers and breakers. The rest fell in some middle ground. Moord Nag… my control over her had apparently tapped into some kind of trauma or phobia she had, so she’d been the first to reach some kind of fever pitch in terms of the buildup of stress-induced chemicals and reactions.
I was killing my own minions.
I moved quickly, scrambling to get measures in place before I lost any more.
An open portal and a telekinetic let me move Moord Nag to the only available, capable healer I had available.
I sent her to Panacea, still in the company of Tattletale and the Undersiders. Panacea bent down to help her.
I brought Canary to me, and she began singing, a high, sweet song, almost like a lullaby, her voice carrying through the same portals that connected me to my underlings.
I was halfway to my next step, managing the tinkers, when Panacea reacted, backing away from the dying woman, shaking her head.
You still- you still don’t use your p-power on brains? I thought.
She’d had a setback, creating me. Now the old fear was back in full, at the most inconvenient time.
Tattletale was speaking. Her voice was gentle, soft.
It was awfully nice to listen to. Reassuring, even if I didn’t understand the words.
Then, breaking me from the spell, Scion moved his hands, readying for a clap, and I shifted everyone out of the way.
Scion flew instead, flying into one world, just as easily as a plane might fly left, forward or down.
I could track his movements with the clairvoyant. As multidimensional as it was, I could trace a trajectory.
He’d used his ‘automatic victory’ power again, and he’d targeted me.
If he’d used it to find me, there was no escape. If he’d used it to find and kill me, it was all over.
Was he that complex? Did he think forward to that degree?
I ran anyways, turning my attention to the tinker’s machine.
The gibberish text on the screen had turned red. Failure. The combined strength of all of the tinkers who remained, Bonesaw excepted, and it had failed. There was no way to get to the space Scion had sealed off, no way to his ‘well’, where he drew all of his resources from.
My heart sank.
That was my best guess, I thought. The mental stutter wasn’t there, but the stutter only tended to hit me when I thought about nice things, about peace and familiar people and all the rest of that stuff.
The best means of attack was to go for the weak point. To cut the jugular, to stab the heart, to go for the eyes, damn it. Scion’s well was the closest thing to a weak point that I could imagine, but he’d secured it.
I’d told myself I’d know the strategy when I saw it. Targeting the well hadn’t been that strategy, but it had been a piece of it.
I moved capes away, stepping through the portal Labyrinth had made, then having her change the channel, masking our ‘scent’, so to speak. I moved Case fifty-threes into the area to mess with Scion’s ability to sense things.
He still pursued. I couldn’t move fast enough, even as each limping step moved me to another universe. Something about the way the portals opened, even if I closed them, it was like I was breaking ground for him to travel.
This- this is the trouble with being on top.
You’re all alo- alone when it counts.
I put capes in his way. He swatted them aside, flew out of the way, and closed the distance.
I felt sick. The shaking was as bad as it had ever been, and there was a coldness inside of me that made me wonder if I was in shock. My thoughts were barely coherent.
I had Glaistig Uaine, I had her Eidolon shadow-puppet. They worked as a pair to hit Scion with the heaviest attacks I could find at a moment’s notice.
For all it mattered, they might as well have been a kids on the schoolyard, sticking their legs out to trip someone. Scion found his momentum again.
Panacea was healing Moord Nag.
I reached for the warlord, bringing her to me.
Scion struck her aside before Scavenger could swell to his full size.
Too little, too late.
If not brawn, then traps and tricks. If he wanted to charge right at me… I’d do what I did against Echidna.
I stopped and turned around.
Foil.
Cuff.
They stepped out of portals, one to my left, one to my right.
Cuff to shape a sheet of metal into a giant razor blade, Foil to rig it with her power, setting it in Scion’s way.
I gathered every precog I had, putting them within my sixteen foot radius. I gestalted them with Zero as they made their way through the doorways, forming a Yàngbǎn contingent of future-seers.
I wound up with a young teenager right in front of me. Brown haired.
Dinah. I turned her head to see her face, and she saw me in turn. I could see myself in her eyes.
You’re different.
I felt a chill.
No time. I opened a portal to send her away. She wasn’t any use, and… and I couldn’t even articulate why I couldn’t keep her here, when I’d keep the hunchbacked Case fifty-three from Boston and the crazed villain I’d spirited away from Monaco.
I banished Foil as well, sending Cuff and Canary after her. They’d keep Tattletale and the others company. I disconnected them from my control network, giving them free will once again.
S-s-sen- Sentiment? I’d told myself I’d be logical.
Was I succumbing to emotion and impulse, letting her go? Or was I sticking to my rules, my promise that I wouldn’t leverage her? Logical, emotional, something else altogether, it didn’t matter. I wasn’t exactly balanced.
I felt very, very off balance, as a matter of fact.
It was the same as before. The precogs weren’t strong in this circumstance, but if I could get one glimmer, put this thing in the right position, move it, do something to get in Scion’s way…
He appeared, flying straight for me. The group would have to do without her song calming their emotions. Hopefully nobody else would stroke out.
With the precog gestalt, I could somehow get a sense of how Scion was going to move.
It didn’t matter. His hand glowed as he struck the flat side of the razor, and it dissolved into a ruin of glowing fragments.
I could see him in person for the first time since this fight had started. My own vision wasn’t as clear as some of the other eyes I’d used to look at him, and I had trouble keeping my eyes fixed on a single spot.
My head turned, and I looked at the others. Tattletale, Imp, Rachel, Panacea, Foil, Canary, Cuff…
I saw Imp’s lips move. She was saying something. It was probably very clever. Something funny and witty and totally out of place.
Or maybe she was saying the same thing I’d said when I’d parted ways with the group as a whole.
Rachel was silent, but she sort of dropped to her knees behind a giant, monsterfied Bastard, who was lying on his side. Her arms wrapped around his neck.
And Tattletale-
She put her hand to her mouth, then sort of made a sweeping gesture with her arm.
It dawned on me that I had no idea what the gesture meant.
Be-be-because you can’t le- let me have even that, I thought.
Scion stepped forward, hand still glowing, and he blocked off my view of the group.
The plan had been simple. Thanks to Teacher’s underling, I’d been able to retain my memory of the trigger event. Scion had censored the most pertinent details, but he’d left one vital weak point in the midst of it.
He’d analyzed us as a species. He’d seen how we functioned, the strategies we could employ, and he’d set himself on a path.
But that path, I was almost certain, was predicated on the idea that we couldn’t work together, that we couldn’t bring our full strength to bear. We were too chaotic a species.
He’d made one mistake I knew of, he had predicted a future where he would meet his partner and then pursued that future, only to meet the brain-dead version that was in Cauldron’s base.
I’d tried to help the same happen for the other future, running, using the dimension encryption, they were the best thing I could come up with in terms of putting Scion in a world where he saw himself as the only one standing.
He closed the distance, and I couldn’t get my thoughts in order to convince myself to leave, to figure out what resources to tap to get myself away. Teleporters, but which one?
Scion put a regular hand around my throat, and the question became irrelevant. It was surprising, just how small his hand was. Larger than average, but… he was still the size of a person, for all his presence.
He hadn’t killed me outright.
H-he wan- wants me to show fear.
His grip tightened, leaving me unable to breathe. I clutched the clairvoyant’s wrist. When that wasn’t enough, I used the meager thread I’d managed to gather together to bind our hands together.
I wasn’t in the most lucid state to begin with. Reality began to dim around the edges as oxygen deprivation got to me..
Slipping.
It hadn’t been enough, in the end. It had been a three point plan. Pushing us towards a point where we were all well and truly united against a cause, doing what I could to trick his future-sight into thinking he’d fulfilled his mission, and finally, targeting his weak point.
The weak point hadn’t been available to target.
I might have come up with better, but it had only crystallized after I’d lost the ability to communicate. I operated best when I could alter my strategy on the fly, but that ship ran aground when I was steadily losing my mind.
Tattletale was saying something, Panacea responding, her hand on Bastard.
Tattletale snapped something in response.
As if in a dream, I could see Foil raise her arbalest.
I moved bugs, forming a barrier between us.
She hesitated, then lowered the arbalest.
I relaxed. It woul- wouldn’t work a- anyways. N- no use having them die with me.
But Scion had seen. I saw his expression change. Contempt, tight-lipped anger. It looked wrong, his face so unused to showing emotion, his emotion as intense and unfiltered as it was.
He was aware of his surroundings in a way that wasn’t entirely human. Still gripping my throat, he turned, raising his glowing hand in their direction.
I still had access to my network.
But I couldn’t think.
Clo-
Close the portal.
The doorway slammed shut.
Scion took one step, bringing me with him as he advanced between worlds. The movement made darkness sweep over my consciousness. I very nearly lost my grip on the clairvoyant’s wrist.
He now stood opposite the Undersiders.
Foil started to raise her weapon, slowly.
Scion blasted it to smithereens. Foil clutched one ruined hand, dropping to her knees.
I have tools. I have… what tools?
Tattletale spoke, her voice low and casual, almost flippant. She was talking to someone else, I was pretty sure.
Panacea responded, again. A shake of the head. She had tears in her eyes.
Moord Nag? No. I’d moved her to try and stop Scion.
Dinah?
Dinah watched from a corner, her arms around her knees in a position very similar to one of the first times I’d met her.
He pointed at Rachel. His first target.
In that instant, it stopped being about stopping him. I just needed to interrupt, to buy even two seconds.
For the third time, I tapped into every ranged cape I was controlling, and I opened portals around us to give them windows to shoot through.
Number Man to calculate, to aim the shot… They fired, every cape that could shoot shot.
All with the objective of getting Scion to step out of the way, to do another sidestep with that future sight of his. Even if it was followed by yet another devastating counterattack. I just wanted him to miss.
It didn’t work out that way.
It struck home. Every shot I’d lined up with the Number Man hit Scion. Multiple directions, even some from above, they hit his flesh with enough force that I was thrown to one side.
Priorities. Rachel-
Untouched.
The others were fine.
The clairvoyant… our fingers were only barely touching. The thread I’d wound around our hands had snagged on my armor, caught on the skin of his thumb and nearly tore the skin off.
It hurt like a motherfucker, but he wasn’t in a state to complain. Still in my control, still in contact with me.
For my part, I was coughing violently. I was maybe at more risk of blacking out than I’d been with Scion’s hand around my throat.
I fixed my grip on the clairvoyant, then picked us up. The ground was scarred where shots had grazed Scion and touched earth. It formed a loose circle, with two spaces where the shots hadn’t touched. One space for me, and another for the Undersiders.
Why had this barrage worked when the others didn’t?
Had to buy time, make space. I opened doorways, siccing capes on Scion, driving him out of the building.
What was different? I hadn’t added anything to the group.
I had taken something away.
I looked at Foil.
I took control of her, had her bend down to grip a rock. I channeled it with her power.
A moment later, I brought Ballistic through.
He used his power on the rock.
I was already moving the group to safety when Scion evaded the incoming projectile.
His future sight power wasn’t like Contessa’s. Narrower, lacking imagination, but he’d set up contingencies. If X happened, then the power would automatically kick in.
Apparently the cost of being hit by Foil’s power was worse than whatever it cost him to use that power.
Not a magic bullet, but it was a good fucking thing to know. Could I break it? Abuse it?
We retreated to an empty city in Earth Bet. The group kept a safe distance from me as we half-ran, half-jogged through. A bubble of empty space surrounding me. My portals flickered open and shut around me as I moved, keeping everything essential in my range.
He was beating the capes I was throwing at him, and I wasn’t entirely sure what I could do if and when he killed the last of them. Bonesaw had finished reviving the people who’d been stopped, and was working on the wounded, but that wouldn’t give me much more in terms of a frontline.
Conversely, if I pulled them back, I was leaving Scion free to do as he wished, and his previous patterns suggested he’d revert back to his last priority target. Me.
Need- need- need- need-
The thought stuttered over and over again, a refrain. It was like trying to move a leg, only to find it cuffed to the other. Except it was my brain.
Need- need-
I shook my head like I was a dog drying itself. Think- think straight.
Tattletale asked Panacea something. Panacea made a side-to-side movement with her head.
Imp made a wry comment.
The sense of distance that I felt was enough to rock me.
As before, it was in the quiet moments that I realized how much I’d lost during the action. I’d been slipping, my vision getting narrower. I should have been able to take it all in, but the worlds were blending in together. The clairvoyant was like a drug, and I was building up a tolerance of sorts. Colors bled together like watercolor, images started to merge, and I wasn’t able to focus on more than a handful of things at a time. The only crutch I had was that I could see what my swarm saw.
But the Clairvoyant was only giving me the ability to function, at this rate. I could turn my attention anywhere, still set down portals in different worlds, but it was getting slower and slower. Barely a consolation.
I was losing it. I was almost out of time.
The certainty I felt in that was enough to kick me into action.
I didn’t even look to my teammates as I stepped away, opening a door to step onto the upper end of the beach. Water crashed around my feet.
I organized the tinkers. Changing their job. A weapon, instead.
I collected some of the capes that were harder to employ, and I began pairing them up.
Halo. Sundancer. A handful of masters with projection powers. A cape with a giant mask.
All powers that made stuff.
A ring of razor-sharp gold that produced forcefields and lasers. A miniature sun. Soldiers of stone. A golden mask. I had each of them make the individual objects as big as they could get.
I retrieved Chevalier, and I did the same with his cannonblade, raising it to its maximum capacity.
Then I accessed Vista. And I made it all bigger.
I pulled the capes out of the way as the various weapons entered the fray. The sun was as broad across as a skyscraper was tall, the halo was only twice its usual size, firing a substantially sized laser. Scion avoided both.
Chevalier’s weapon should have been too heavy to lift, but he didn’t seem to care.
He shot Scion, and Scion was consumed by the sun.
Everything counts, I thought. If we couldn’t get to Scion’s well, then we had to hurt him on this end.
He wasn’t content to stay on the defensive. He turned his attention to the group that was projecting the effects, to Vista, Sundancer, Ballistic, the masters I couldn’t name.
Which was the moment the Endbringers made their move.
The Simurgh plunged from the clouds, hitting Scion.
Leviathan, healed a touch, emerged from the water.
Bohu rose from the earth, going from a human sized head and shoulders at eye level to a tower.
Tohu, for her part, had Glaistig Uaine, Eidolon and Myrddin’s faces.
The Endbringers, come to the rescue. I wished I could have felt relieved. It was a reprieve, a chance to get our footing. But there was an ominousness to it.
Like I’d told Doctor Mother, I’d…
I reached for the memory.
It- it’s humans who win this. Not something abstract, not- not something we don’t understand. We win this with our own strength.
Even if I had to make us.
I gathered my army, bringing them to the battlefield. I spread them along the length of the beach, keeping them connected to the little round stone that Sifara held.
If Scion turned on us, he could pull us away to safety at a moment’s notice.
I’d lost people, I had more hanging back. The tinkers were still finishing the gun. But I had an army, and I wasn’t about to lose any more people if I could help it.
I began to organize another barrage, aiming with the Number Man, using Doormaker’s portals-
I didn’t fire.
Instead, I watched as Scion’s partner came to life. There was only one growth at first, like a stem, a human-sized body, pure white.
The rest bloomed forth beneath it. A garden of body parts, hands, stretches of flesh, a maze of parts, all interconnected, all flowing from the piece in the center. All of it alive, this time. The garden, as Golem had said.
Hands turned to gesture, and flames rose from fingertips.
A moment later, ice. Experimenting, testing powers.
Then it spoke. A soft voice that somehow seemed familiar.
Scion’s companion had been gray, this one was white. This wasn’t it.
A third entity?
I stared, my blood running cold.
Scion tried to float down to it, fighting almost tooth and nail with the Endbringers to get to his new companion. Even in the midst of the fighting, the mood was entirely different. The rage had given way, gone. I could sense shock, bewilderment…
He reached out, almost as if he were afraid to touch it. To touch her.
Where had it come from? I used the clairvoyant, tracing it back to the origin point-
I realized it at the same moment Scion did. Our emotions at our simultaneous realizations couldn’t have been more different.
I had to wrack my brain, struggling to find the word in the muddle.
B-bastard.
Scion howled. Not a scream of rage this time. Something else.
It wasn’t an epithet. The third entity was Bastard, the wolf cub. Grown large by the bizarre interaction of Lab Rat’s formula and then cosmetically altered by Panacea, given a handful of special effects. No doubt coordinated by Tattletale.
Scion’s mad sorrow was so thick on the air I could almost taste it.
I used Sifara to pull everyone and everything in the area away before Scion could retaliate. Scattering them to different worlds with portals. I used case fifty-threes to break the so-called scent trail to Tattletale and the others.
Scion shattered the shelf of land that New Brockton Bay stood on, and I watched in horror as the cracks moved radiated towards the cabin.
I moved Ziggurat out of a portal, and I used her power.
Sl- sl-
I shook my head before I could get caught up in another mental loop of failed, stuttered words.
A fissure opened up. The cracks stopped twenty feet short of the cabin.
Scion didn’t hold back, entering another world, dealing just as much damage, then moving to the next. It became all I could do to keep my swarm out of his way. Even with Sifara, even with the doors.
I couldn’t think straight, because I couldn’t really think. Not coherently.
But I knew, on an instinctual level, that we’d homed in on the weak point. We just needed to drive it home. I reached out to seize everyone, opening full-size doorways so I could move them all to one place.
It was when I was opening my door that the portals started winking out.
It was like watching a blackout take hold over a city. Lights going out, sections of apartments at the same time, then buildings. Not all even, not quite logical in flow, but close.
And with every other light that went out, I lost a member of my swarm.
The portals shut en masse, ten by ten, a hundred by a hundred, the furthest one first. The ones next to me would disappear in seconds.
I looked at Doormaker, who was staring into empty space.
The realization dawned on me.
I’d spent it all. Too much, pushing it too far. The well Doormaker drew from in using his power had just run dry.
This entry was posted in 30.05 by wildbow. Bookmark the permalink.
Hoping this is acceptable. Sorry for killing anyone/everyone you’re fond of.
I’m pretty wiped at this point. Writing the ending to Worm is pretty emotionally draining. Wondering if I shouldn’t have put this off until Sat to get it more coherent (or incoherent in a good way). Maybe that’s just my brain playing tricks on me (Oh, how I sympathize, Taylor).
Please vote on topwebfiction, if you’re so inclined.
And thanks for reading.
well there is still a crawler and bambina hasn’t been shown killed on screen so im okay with this 😛
Take a break. We don’t want your beautiful brain to overheat. How many chapters are left before the epilogue?
2, IIRC. (I remember him saying… somewhere… that Speck would be 7 chapters long, but don’t remember exactly where he posted that).
Fellwenner on October 24, 2013 at 04:28 said:
It was pretty recent, he said 6-8 chapters for this Arc.
Which is why this section went exactly as expected. And was nicely telegraphed. If Scion’s “path to victory” power drains his well and can drain it dry, then every shard is in the same boat.
You know, I seem to recall someone saying a while ago that the chapters you worried about the most were always the best.
Worry more, Wildbow. Worry more!
Gonna vote now.
Lobo on October 24, 2013 at 03:34 said:
It’s emotionally draining to read. Good job!
tieshaunn on October 24, 2013 at 06:11 said:
This is awesome, wildbow. They’re really right, the more you worry, the better you g… maybe I’m saying this wrong.
This was mediocre at best! We could barely follow the story, and not in a good, Taylor-is-slipping kind of way, but due to simply incoherent description! You better work on this!
There, did that help?^^
Honestly, I’m quite past getting upset about character deaths, I think. You already broke my heart into too many little pieces.
And because I KNOW that you like tormenting us, I won’t mention the one character whose death I could NOT bear. *blows a raspberry*
Don’t give yourself a stroke. You gave enough of them this chapter.
Well so far Foil is alive. Hopefully so is Parian. Lisa and Racheal. Defiant and Chevalier las I knew. Riley. So don’t worry, you’ve got plenty of the characters I love left to kill.
Lucky. I stopped caring a few hundred thousand words back. I’m going to list how Wildbow ruined my hopes and dreams here, if nobody minds:
Grue is now a massive fridge pussy (and if WB has any sense he’s dead).
Assault has been gone for years in the story, so he’s not a thing anymore (and I’m still pissed about Battery).
There’s no way Lung’s going to get revenge on any of the four from his interlude (and I doubt anything will ever come of that at this point).
If Imp and Shady have their heart-to-heart conversation I’ll eat someone’s hat.
Miss Militia is most likely dead.
Golem’s probably in an irreversible angst coma.
Mannequin died a looooong time age.
-This list was for my own benefit and not anyone else’s, so don’t feel the need to respond.
Now that I think about it, an Epilogue with Saint and Jack Slash would be awesome (although GB’s power screwed the pooch with regards to Jack doing anything ever again, so never mind). Saint’s still cool, though.
What, Grue is a pussy for deciding not to fight the multiverse-ending abomination, after he already charged into melee with said abomination and determined that his power was not effective, escaping by the skin of his teeth? When he people relying on him who would suffer for his pointless, impotent death? The only thing he could do here is die. Sure he can copy powers, but at very low level, without much control, and he drains from whoever he copies; that’s of negative value in this situation. Sitting out the big fight and surviving to deal with the problems you’re capable of is the hard choice, but the wise one.
Aisha, Taylor, and Rachel did the same thing as him and were roughly as effective. However, they refuse to accept defeat until it is forced upon them. Grue would make a lovely combat medic, but instead he sets off on a three day hike with Busty McTraitor for some alone time so he can go mope and remain pretty much the exact same character that Taylor left behind over two years prior. He didn’t realize he was ineffective, instead he gave up and became ineffective.
Taylor is here because she refuses to give up, because her power lends itself well to intelligence, synchronization, and leadership (just like how she played major roles in every Endbringer fight she attended despite not being able to deal any damage), and because she has an amply demonstrated talent for improvisation in the field and taking down much more powerful enemies. Rachel’s power was demonstrated in the past to actually be effective against Scion in combination with others; Bastard dosed with a Lab Rat box delayed Scion about as effectively as Alexandria in an earlier fight.
First aid without powers doesn’t help at all against the injuries Scion applies, Grue has no mover powers, and his presence would penalize everyone in the area who could actually help.
And seriously? ‘Busty McTraitor’? What did she do, other than *dare* to date a guy who broke up with Taylor two fucking years ago?
Busty McTraitor?
First, please don’t use busty as if it is an insult, please. There are some unfortunate implications there.
Second: traitor? Who did she betray, exactly? Taylor? She didn’t even know her!
“Busty McTraitor” wasn’t meant as an insult. That phrase described 66% of her character traits (her body shape, her name, and she leads like Grue), and “McTraitor” was a reference to her cape name; look up “cozen” in the dictionary.
Also, Bitch’s dogs are useless as there are no more Lab Rat Boxes, or at least more won’t be in production (at least I think so at this point, but I’m not entirely sure what’s happening). I wouldn’t completely rule out non-shard healing anyways, especially given the variety Scion uses to incapacitate people. Maybe he shouldn’t be practicing medicine when Scion’s present, but I’m sure that there’s a handful of people who need to be bandaged up when Scion heads out to ravage another dimension. The “combat medic” tangent is a tangent, though; my point was that there’s always something to do, and Grue wasn’t doing it.
Also also, most of my “they get shit done” shtick was in reference to their trip to Cauldron, which admittedly Grue didn’t know about, but if he wasn’t a bitch he would have been around when Taylor & Co. put their crew together.
Ah yes, because a thief with a code name translating as ‘to trick or deceive’ could not possibly be anything other than a traitor. Just like ‘Grue’ could not possibly refer to something which does not lurk in caves and eat people. See also: Trickster, Imp, Revel, Tattletale, King, Golem, and every other cape whose name does not give an honest accounting of the sum total of their being.
Bitch’s dogs have been amply demonstrated to synergize with other powers, and Bonesaw, Panacea, and at least one other bio-tinker are still on the field. The direct, obvious use of her power is not particularly useful here, but the physics-defying growth she allows mixed with other powers to allow for things that work. Just like how bugs can’t eat Behemoth, but Weaver was far from useless on that battlefield.
Knowing how Grue led the Undersiders, what in the hell did you expect him to do? Out of all of them, he has the /least/ useful talents/ability in this situation, not to mention an overprotective streak. His entire thing has been “if you can avoid a dangerous situation, do so” since the beginning. Anyone who has paid any attention to his characterization both pre and post Bonesaw should be able to tell that he is/will always be the “tactical retreat” to Taylor’s “wait, let’s try something else”.
As far as administering medical attention is concerned, we saw the “hospital” and the capes that were there served as either healers or bodyguards. Neither of those fit Brian by any stretch of the imagination, ESPECIALLY once you factor in the fact that SCION is the opposing force. Whereas maybe he could get away with powerdraining a Yangban regiment or one of the randoms that were losing their shit, what the hell could he do there that nobody else could?
Marquis, Panacea, Bonesaw and Spruce as healers and Lung and Cinderhands as muscle (mightve been more people, but those were the ones listed). Grue would be in the way and anything he did would be. Irrelevant given that PANACEA AND BONESAW were right there in the same room.
I don’t see what the fuck you were reading, to call Brian a bitch over this.
Cozen is closer to liar or cheater, actually.
And while Cozen isn’t exactly one of wildbow’s most fleshed up characters, I’m not surprised that Taylor, who has always been self conscious about her lack of, let’s say, womanly charms, will focus and stigmatise on Cozen’s breasts and think that’s the only reason she managed to snag Brian.
Jesus, WordPress threads caps are a terrible thing.
The first definition I saw was traitor; I think I looked it up a few weeks ago, when I caught up to her being a thing. I don’t know; I’m tired, therefore now is obviously the best time to argue on the internet. Let’s do this:
-The reason I’m referring to Cozen by the connotations of her name is because we know next to nothing else about her. We know Grue isn’t a cannibal, we know Golem and Imp are humans, we know Revel isn’t a Bacchanalian party, and to be honest Trickster wasn’t the most honest person in the world.
-Your point works against you here. If bugs are useless against Behemoth yet Taylor wasn’t, then there’s little excuse for Grue to go cry in a cabin. Oh wait, he’s a bitch.
-I didn’t expect [post-timeskip] Brian to do anything else without interference from another character, though. This is a bit of a semantics argument, but he didn’t “retreat”, as that implies you’ll be back, and Brian is no Arnold Schwarzenegger.
-If he can’t do anything, he could at least try to do something. It worked for Taylor (and works for most everyone else) so there’s no reason for him to not try. Oh wait, he’s a bitch. Also RANDOM CAPS.
-AMR, are you being sarcastic? Your grammar and punctuation is a bit confusing, and I don’t get what your point is, so that’s the first thing that popped into my head. Also, I severely doubt Cozen’s curves are making Taylor self-conscious, if you aren’t being sarcastic. She didn’t need Brian, she just needed closure in the relationship. That’s not going to happen, though, so sucks for her.
Wait, wait? Imp and Shady? Who is Shady?
Imp’s nickname for Shadow Stalker.
venix on October 25, 2013 at 19:34 said:
Grue’s power doesn’t actually drain othere paras’ abilities. not saying he’s a bitch but his ability copies their abilities to a lesser degree and mudles with thier senses annd powers slowing them down or suppressing them slightly depending on the power. some powers it doesn’t even suppress at all.
Why so hard on yourself? It’s great. Just like always.
Yeah, there’s sad stuff, but this is Worm. We knew what we were getting into when we started reading this chapter.
There’s a difference between “sad” and “nihilist”, you know 😛
Hydrargentium on October 24, 2013 at 12:47 said:
Acceptable?!?!?!! Holy fuck, this is epic! This redefines “epic”! After this, they’ll have to retire the word “epic”, because there will be nothing else they could possibly use it on.
Yeah, it’s acceptable.
Now I want some good, clean grammar in this here Typo Thread. I want you to touch keyboards and /edit/.
saintsant on October 24, 2013 at 00:09 said:
“The forcefield cape caught the boy before”
Missing words; apologies if this was intended to be a stylistic choice.
Fixed. Thank you.
Probably not going to be the only line.
Augh! Me thread! Ye’ve hijacked it ye have!
“No doubt coordinated by”
Line cuts off here.
That one’s probably intentional, Skitter being unable to grasp the person’s name.
Well, it was fixed as soon as I refreshed the page, so probably not.
“His flesh remained pristine, golden, but there were folds and scraps here and there where his damaged flesh had been stripped away and remained in place around the creases of his body after the replacement flesh had come in.”
“scraps” should, probably be “scrapes”?
Nope. Scraps of flesh.
Not sure if this is supposed to end abruptly. If it is, it could benefit from ending with a -.
“But she could/ hit Scion,”
Once again, unsure if this is designed to demonstrate Skitter’s thought process or merely an error.
“the people who’d been stopped”
The ‘stop-‘ of stopped is italicized, but the ‘-ped’ is not. Unsure if that was intended or an error.
The use of stuttered sentences to show Skitter’s mental decay is very good. Just these three points are a bit off. They don’t make me see a mental failure so much as go “huh?”. A little bit of alteration could make them work much better.
Glassware on October 24, 2013 at 01:31 said:
I believe that Bohu and Tohu are mixed up. It was Bohu that copied powers and Tohu that was Annex on steroids, wasn’t it?
Other way around.
Tiny Tohu, Big Bohu.
Not Towering Tohu, Bitty Bohu.
I’m partial to Tohu the Trio and Bohu the Builder, too.
Bohu the Builder…Can it fix it?
Yes it can!
in that case bob’s your uncle!
Not exactly a typo but I think it fits here. Trickster is mentioned as part of Taylor’s swarm but last we saw him he was at the meeting with Teacher and Contessa. Which is still some time in the future, right?
It’s in the future of Teacher’s meeting with Taylor, but presumably Teacher and Contessa have met by now, Contessa found a way to avoid being in Taylor’s swarm, and then Taylor went nutso and captured 99% of all (surviving) capes in every world.
Pinkhair on October 24, 2013 at 02:14 said:
“Crawler-Spawner hybrid” Should be Breed?
“she could/ hit Scion” Extra dash.
“Crawler-Spawner” is either a typo or another sign of Taylor’s mental degeneration.
Given the last couple chapters, I’ll guess the latter until wildbow says otherwise.
leaving her in
The dimension switches wouldn’t work forever, and I’d pretty much but there were options
She pretty much what?
Jean S on October 24, 2013 at 05:53 said:
Ah, damn, didn’t see you’d already spotted this one.
“…and I’d pretty much but there were options for future attacks.” Seems to be missing some words.
An unending explosion, a rolling mass of fire and smoke with a person at the center.
I think you might want roiling with an i.
Also, Skitter is on Akinator! 🙂
What a shocker. I bet Ciro the OK is on Akinator by now.
Guessed it on the third time. Considering the relative “obscurity” of Worm and that in the past it failed guessing much MUCH more popular characters, I’m impressed.
Chiro on November 28, 2013 at 23:19 said:
Yup, pretty sure I put her on there =P
The dimension switches wouldn’t work forever, and I’d pretty much but there were options for future attacks.
Something missing.
K25fF on October 24, 2013 at 07:32 said:
” it produced the debris, dust and ash that was his namesake”
-She doesn’t know the Ash Beast is male yet.
Yeah, but in most languages, including, i believe, English, the male gender is usually the default one.
GeeJo on October 24, 2013 at 08:00 said:
“The solid space between words.”
Unless you’re getting meta on us, I’m guessing that that was meant to be “worlds”.
“as oxygen deprivation got to me..”
extra .
Missing a word or two after “pretty much”
twofoe on November 24, 2013 at 20:04 said:
“There was a gun build into the construction”
build –> built
Pikel on December 6, 2013 at 12:47 said:
Double in in… Should be “leaving her in”
David Burns on December 7, 2013 at 03:30 said:
In in?
how much damage that had been done ‘that’ is redundant
and I’d pretty much –> pretty much what? What?? I MUST KNOW. And I must sleep. It’s 5 o’clock here in Belgium.
kingzach on March 25, 2015 at 03:40 said:
“and I’d pretty much but there were options for future attacks.” What?
Does WB still read typothreads in years old posts?
coldheart7 on March 15, 2018 at 20:36 said:
“The dimension switches wouldn’t work forever, and I’d pretty much but there were options for future attacks. ”
Incomplete idea in the middle.
Probably should be “mix of thinker powers” instead.
Alfaryn on June 21, 2019 at 09:32 said:
“Two hundred earths with bombs.”
‘Earths’ should be capitalized.
notes on October 24, 2013 at 00:15 said:
Still apocalyptic.
Still think force alone cannot settle this.
Taylor being stripped back down to nothing, and less than she’s ever been, gives a good read on timing.
The End is officially Near.
Currently assess four means of resolving Scion:
1) Foil
2) Precog overuse burns lifespan
3) access to well.
These things has Scion treated as a threat, and acted to forestall.
4) A proposal – it’s how the worm species moved from senseless, endless conflict to being star-roaming planet shattering beings, after all. This looks a lot like endless conflict right now.
Scion’s human emotions remain critically important – he shouldn’t lose this, if he fights smart. He hasn’t been.
Non-Taylor intervention has been meaningful – Tattletale, Rachel, Panacea, and probably at least two of the Endbringers collaborated on the Bastard illusion. Taylor put everyone on the front line – with her control cut away, it’s a chance for all those people to make their own free choices to join the fight… or not. Friendship might yet save the day, though bittersweet seems the most optimistic outcome credible.
Simurgh’s gun has yet to fire, and that will be meaningful.
Contessa might yet manage something useful, either deliberately or ironically.
Extreme outside chance: Grue might get up and join the fight. There’s been an unusual amount of focus on defending his cabin, and his power is well suited thematically (darkness v. light) and mechanically (borrow the right power, perhaps drawing on their fuel supply) to dealing with Scion. Caveat: he’s a natural trigger, which means that Scion has safeguards on Grue’s shard. Second Trigger or no, he’d need something extra to let him be effective.
Decent chance that Taylor regains her words as she no longer has to route everything through the shard.
Probabilities of proposal, or humans united, achieving the victory go up conditionally.
Siriously, if Grue rides in to save the day at this point I shall frown so hard it will rip a tear in the space-time continuum. -_-
BEYOND THE IMPOSSIBLE! Damn, epic chapter. We know who ash beast is, and the blasphemies might be artificial creations with powers. Revel died, Lady Photon died-her daughter is going to be pissed, and so many other capes died. Love that the Undersiders sacrificed bastard to fuck with Scion emotionally and hurt him in a way that lasts. Too much to hope that Scion commits suicide? But damn, no wonder Dinah didn’t want to meet her again if she saw what she would become.
man oh man not even sure what to say anymore but im gonna be white knuckled till the next update !!
– I assume those unfinished sentences aren’t typos but intentional.
– Foil’s power is boss and apparently somehow unnerfed. Guess she’s like Miss Militia and got an Eden shard that wasn’t dead.
– Doormaker on the other hand got one that was dead. Now we see that dead shards can run out of juice. Not something likely to happen in the lifetime of a regular cape but with the insane amount of use his power got put to here? Yeah.
– Ash Beast is pretty boss. He’s probably the sort of thing people meant when they figured that, even without the Endbringers, even without Scion, sooner or later the wrong trigger event(s) would end the world anyway.
– still waiting on Simurgh’s airgun surprise 😀
– the Blasphemies aren’t human? Some Master-Tinker created them perhaps?
– last chapter, I was certain Taylor was gone and it was all the Queen Administrator shard from here on out. I am glad to see I was wrong. She’s still protecting Grue and Tattletale and Rachel and, most of all, she’s still capable of ABANDONING DIRECT CONTROL if she needs to.
…You mean Contessa, right? Miss Militia’s shard was specifically noted to be one of “the Warrior’s”, i.e. Scion’s.
Yeah wildbow even confirmed that the vision of a dying Entity was just MM,s misunderstanding Scion’s shard-shedding process.
Torvacht on October 24, 2013 at 11:39 said:
I could be wrong, but if I recall correctly, Contessa’s shard is actually originally from the third entity mentioned in one of the Interludes colloquially referred to as Abbadon?
Contessa is complicated. Her shard is technically from Abbadon but it was shedded by Eden who switched her future shard,and some others, with Abbadon, hence why Scion couldn’t recognize Contessa’s shard. This shard may or not have something to do with her disastrous crash.
I thought that Contessa’s shard was pretty explicitly the same path to victory that Eden was using to plan their activities on Earth. Everything started to go wrong when the second Entity mistakenly cast off that shard, which then left it falling blindly while Contessa picked it up.
The Way I Read It, Eden swapped Victory Shards with Abaddon, then crashed (perhaps in part due to the shard, possibly due to the shard being dislodged), then the shard struck Fortuna, then Fortuna killed Eden, then Fortuna joined Dr. Mother and they made Cauldron.
Summer on May 8, 2018 at 05:49 said:
I agree with Sindri here.
And with Doormaster down, we are safe from Taylor-induced Instrumentality! Because now she’d fighting Scion with nothing but her own meatsuit and 16 feet of range.
“Doormaker on the other hand got one that was dead. Now we see that dead shards can run out of juice. Not something likely to happen in the lifetime of a regular cape but with the insane amount of use his power got put to here? Yeah.”
Only here? Cauldron’s been exploiting him for decades.
“Ash Beast is pretty boss. He’s probably the sort of thing people meant when they figured that, even without the Endbringers, even without Scion, sooner or later the wrong trigger event(s) would end the world anyway.”
Tell me about it. Now, if Lung or someone had triggered with that ability…
“still waiting on Simurgh’s airgun surprise”
Aren’t we all.
It probably doesn’t have anything to do with containing Taylor; she would have done it already if it did. So it probably has some actual gun-related function…
“last chapter, I was certain Taylor was gone and it was all the Queen Administrator shard from here on out. I am glad to see I was wrong. She’s still protecting Grue and Tattletale and Rachel and, most of all, she’s still capable of ABANDONING DIRECT CONTROL if she needs to.”
I’m glad Taylor’s still in there, too. It means she has hope after this.
Unless she dies. Which seems increasingly likely.
Cauldron’s been using him at a pretty low rate for decades, compared to this. There are five thousand people in Taylor’s swarm, each of which requires a portal to Taylor. Additional portals are required to move each person around, and every time a person or Taylor moves she needs to re-create the controlling portal. Not to mention:
And there’s a chance that the interference from Dragon’s tech and Scion’s beam had some feedback effect.
So yeah, I think it’s reasonable to assume that Cauldron’s use was pretty insignificant next to this.
He was used more heavily just now, but he was still used heavily by Cauldron. Certainly for longer.
Bebop on October 24, 2013 at 02:16 said:
Easy, cowboy.
No, I think he pretty much summed it.
AliceAce on October 24, 2013 at 11:40 said:
I third this motion.
It keeps happening.
I told you bro,I warned you about Worm.
I’m getting those excellent boss fight chills again, but it’s more like facing down the best boss ever than merely anticipating the encounter. Although those got a bit of a damper once Doormaker ran out of juice.
Also, no fair using comment nicknames to troll the audience. It’s fine when you’re simply mocking the shipping, or calling something the name we called it, or noting a meme. But when you refer to Bastard as “The third entity,” It throws us for a loop. Stahppit.
Also, it’s good that Mme Queen Administrator is taking cues from Taylor, instead of all aquaintance being forgot and never brought to mind.
>But when you refer to Bastard as “The third entity,” It throws us for a loop. Stahppit.<
How do we know Bastard isn't the third entity? We never did find out just where Siberian got him from.
I fully support this crack theory. Manton has been running a Simurgh-level scheme right under our noses. This also explains how Bastard was able to go into melee with Scion directly and emerge unscathed in the past.
Didn’t Bastard nearly die when Scion cut off a few of his legs?
As I recall, it was assumed that he was going to, then he got hit with a Lab Rat dose, then he was thrown into melee with Scion. Where he proceeded to hold his ground against Scion in melee for several seconds, then there was a huge explosion (forget the exact source) contained by a force field with Scion and Bastard inside. Then what was left of Bastard was thrown into the bay, where it continued to expand until the dose ran out.
Next chapter? Bastard returns unscathed. Making him about as successful as pretender!Alexandria when it comes to duking it out with an outer god.
Mixing powers is useful.
Lab Rat’s power let Bastard draw on whatever source Bitch’s power makes the dogs bigger from, basically turning him into an Echidna who can’t absorb anything and doesn’t need to eat to grow. After that, when Bitch’s power or Lab Rat’s serum or both wore off, he would have returned to normal like he always does, except with a lot more flesh sloughing off.
That was probably intended, actually.
After all, Taylor thought it was a third entity. Who would that be? Abbadon. What do we call it that Taylor might? The Third Entity.
Leep it up, wildbow!
As always, WELL worth waiting up for.
Harrowing as hell, but well worth the sleep dep.
I can’t even begin to imagine what Saturday’s update holds.
I am willing to predict more epic morality arguments in the comments for this chapter though. 🙂
Worth waiting for, but damn my eyes ache. Need more sleep…but I feel I owe it to myself and worm to stay up for every single chapter of this arc and probably the epilogue.
Kytin on October 24, 2013 at 01:45 said:
RE: Morality arguments
Taylor agonises over whether to be moral or efficient. But when everything comes at a cost in lives, efficient is the most moral choice.
She’s making the hard choices, that’s for sure. But at least she’s making them at the actual hard time.
zliplus on October 24, 2013 at 15:11 said:
I was actually rereading and found that at the very end of 18.1, Taylor made the exact opposite choice regarding Dinah. At the time though, Taylor’s entire mission in life was to free Dinah, so she may have been acting as her primary anchor then.
It should also be noted all the sacrifices that Taylor made may in the end amount to nothing more than getting a bunch of people killed. It remains to be seen if her mind controlled cape army did much more than piss Scion off even more, and if that particular course of action actually has any good resaults. I’m just reminded of when Taylor said all the things she did trying to stop the S9000 and Jack weren’t worth it.
Taylor’s making [inert obvious tagline drop here].
Jesus fucken Christ this chapter got my blood pumping.
thewatcherbehind on October 24, 2013 at 00:40 said:
This was the fight against Scion that I was waiting for. Dozens die, many of them without us even knowing their names. Taylor/Swarm whittle him down slowly, and use awesome combinations of powers to do so. Insane plans are tried, and some succeed. And the Endbringers come to the rescue. And, since this is Worm, a “OH FUCK” cliffhanger ending is thrown in. Now I really want to see how her ex-Swarm react. Also, what the hell would Foil’s power do to Scion? Now, for the Ultimate Secret Weapon: Glastig Uaine takes a Manton-copy, then uses her duplicator, to create Siberian Dog Pile!
Now, to wait till saturday.
From Scion’s interlude, Foil’s power is (my bold)….
A female, standing just outside another time distortion, walked around the effect, charging objects with energy. The entity could see as the small pieces of alloyed metal unfolded, taking shape in not just this world, but all realities, at the same space and time, bristling with an effect that would sever their attachment to most physical laws.
They were thrown, and they disrupted connections to two shards at once. The projection disappeared, only to reappear a distance away. The boy who had created the time distortions fell as well.
Sting, the entity thought. Once it had been a weapon for his kind, against his kind, back in the beginning, when they had dwelt in oceans of gray sludge.
So, if it wouldn’t kill him, it might well disrupt whatever shards he uses for projection.
Nice catch.
Our next match is scheduled for one fall. Now entering the ring, the Ultimate Warrior! And his opponent…Sting!
Or perhaps, if Foil’s power occupies all dimensions and if the location of Scion’s well can be somehow divined…
If foil’s power is used in that place, with the right projectiles, it will allow something in a dimension that capes CAN reach to damage Scion’s well, in a dimension that they cannot reach.
Right, get me all of the Thinkers and a nuclear bomb. Foil has an Idea.
Hitting ALL THE UNIVERSES with Foilclear bombs might not be such a hot idea.
“tails, I lose.”
r2k-in-the-vortex on October 24, 2013 at 12:28 said:
Wasn’t this what the tinkers were working on, accessing reality that scion had blocked off? Tinkers failed, but get Foil there…
I don’t know how to properly express how awesome this chapter is. Just pretend that I’m using a lot of superlatives.
Ascaloth on October 24, 2013 at 00:44 said:
Wait just a darn minute here.
Eden is described as “A garden of body parts, hands, stretches of flesh, a maze of parts, all interconnected, all flowing from the piece in the center. All of it alive, this time.”
Is it just me? Or can not the same be said of GLORY GIRL?
Funny how parallels appear. Almost as if Panacea had been recreating something from something she saw in a trigger event.
Natural trigger cape, obsessing over her beloved, reshapes her into a form resembling the beloved of the Entity from whom she received her shard?
Now that’s just nifty! (Hadn’t made that connection before at all)
Quick Amy, do more body horror!
Motherfuck.
Hobbes on October 24, 2013 at 18:06 said:
Whoa. Any Word of God on whether or not Tattletale figured that out, and that’s how she had the idea of doing the Eden fake out?
You know, I never made that connection…
It never fails to amaze me how deep this is. Are you sure you aren’t a literary Tinker, wildbow?
octopussy on October 24, 2013 at 23:22 said:
did you just…
It’s almost as if that vague notion of beauty repeating in her mind was from her shard taken from Scion…
Tom_D on October 24, 2013 at 00:45 said:
I’m dizzy. I may be able to make a coherent comment tomorrow.
Good luck. I’ve slept and woke up and I’m still having issues with that.
And Tattletale’s Ironic Fate will be driving someone (preferably Zion) into suicide. Grue’s Ironic Fate to be always being protected by the people he loves and Rachael’s Ironic Fate being watching her closest friends die in front of her eyes powerless to stop it. This is gonna suck bigtime for them.
First point is the strongest one.
Still, a lot to think about in four sentences.
So what would Taylor’s ironic fate be? To become the biggest bully ever?
She’s already there: inciting a massive amount of fear and powerlessness in a massive number of people.
To be trapped in her own body, unable to move and communicate just like back when she was stuffed into the locker, giving name to the Worm in the title….Curse you Wildbow!.
i must get round to actually playing Portal one day… wonder what me think of that…
Is it ’cause Dragon is still alive?
She feels fantastic and she’s still alive!
In other news, scroll down for a song full of that stuff.
Best guess? Grab Foil, use her power on the tinker-machine or otherwise integrate it and take another shot at blasting through to Scion’s world. Odd that Taylor/Clairvoyant didn’t seem to notice (like Scion did) that her power expands her weapons to alternate worlds, to all realities. Obviously, Scion might well see it coming with his contingency-foresight, but if it’s not directed right at him it might slip by.
Except Doormaker just ran out of juice, oh dear. Better find a way to fill him back up like Eidolon did. Maybe Eidolon can restore other shards through the same mechanism he drains them? Except Taylor doesn’t know all this, and probably just lost track of Glaistig. If she can keep hold of Glaistig, she might be able to use Eidolon to move herself between realities, at least.
Maybe if she can refill Doormaker, she can boost his power up to try and break through to Scion’s world?
… OK, I’ll stop with the WMG for now.
Or, just strike Scion rather than his well with the super weapon.
Or find a way to send power through Scion to his well. Trillions of insects eating him, all at once.
Hitting his projected body can’t damage more than a human’s volume of him at a time, and attacks that go on for a while just get negated as he adjusts. As for the bugs, I think his skin is too hard to eat through.
I was thinking eating his well. We’ve seen Eden’s well form, more or less, and insects could eat that.
Syithe on October 24, 2013 at 13:12 said:
I think you might be overlooking the obvious. Kill doormaker, have GU summon him as a ghost and start burning through GU’s shard’s power to fuel Doormaker. This is assuming that GU uses her own shard and not the shard of whoever’s ghost she summons.
And that the power the power runs on is the shard’s power.
That sentence made no sense, didn’t it?
Rhodesian on October 24, 2013 at 00:59 said:
Doormaker/Clairvoyant were actually the two strongest capes in the series, with Eidolon in a close 3rd.
Together, maybe. But only when their powers were being properly (ab)used.
Just like Taylor is among the ost dangerous capes in the world, if she (ab)used her power right. Do you think Eidolon could have killed Alexandria?
He did kill an evil clone, while weakened.
You know, I keep forgetting that.
Oh man Oh man. Revel is dead! Also, probably like 99% of the characters are dead at this point. But at least Foil survived. Am I the only one who imagined a panoramic view of all the endbringers and capes raining hell on Scion?
If I’m reading this right all the capes of Taylor swarm were left in the same world as Scion, where I assume the last fight will happen. Good thing Taylor had the idea of using Scrub + Labyrinth to set up some portals. Oh and Tattletale probably drove Scion crazy(well, crazier) with grief which is, uh, exceptional.
Great chapter, Wilbow. Taylor losing her mind slowly made all the action in the chapter more frantic and desperate. Even if this is the final arc we still learn more and more about capes around the world.
Fingers crossed someone makes it out alive.
(Because Wildbow is a font of inspiration)
Good news: Your wish is granted! Someone makes it out alive!
Worm twist: It’s Scion! >:)
It just occurred to me that this is probably one of the few times in which being a main character really would make you more likely to survive — simply because Taylor doesn’t want to throw you into the furnace.
Without a Really Really Really compelling reason, that is.
But…but…but…
*sniffle*
Here, take one of these. It’ll take your mind off the story.
youtube.com/watch?v=qLrnkK2YEcE
…and most other things for awhile.
And if you need something to slow down that heartbeat, I have just the thing. youtube.com/watch?v=dX5l9iqh2xA
Nice and slow.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA what.
Oh, Chikara. Because normal wrestling wasn’t silly enough.
It will live again! It will rise from the Ashes! In the meantime, all hail the Great and Devious UltraMantis Black!
“It’s humans who win this. Not something abstract, not something we don’t understand. We win this with our own strength.”
I should assume this applies to Taylor now a days too. She’s really only human in form. Now that Doormaker is out of power maybe it is time for humanity to shine.
Or maybe everyone is going to find themselves suddenly having control again and scattering forever. Humanity doomed.
Isn’t Lab Rat dead? I guess Tattletale saved some.
It’s another tinker with a similar but more limited specialization to Lab Rat’s.
Ajoxer on October 24, 2013 at 11:55 said:
He means that Lab Rat apparently helped make Bastard into a Entity-alike.
Oh right. Either one shot of the formula permanently jailbroke Bastard’s size shifting or they found an inutilised stock somewhere.
Scion tore a piece off him a wile ago and it mutated into a giant blob in the bay, it was a couple of earth gimel fights ago IIRC
This chapter left me literally shaking. God this is intense. And that’s with days between each chapter. When this is complete, people will try to read the last arc in one stitting and have heart attacks.
I think this spacing actually intensifies the total experience. When this much action happens in actual books, I generally find myself drifting into a fugue state or something, separated from the emotional level.
The well runs dry.
Me: …fuck. Oh fuck.
Start of next chapter,
“And then I found out Timmy had fallen down the well.”
Well not everything is lost. The tinker and precog pools are still operational. And Taylor’s friends still tried to protect her even though she turned into an eldritch abomination and used them like puppets. Heartwarming!
Actually it looked like she very specifically DIDN’T use her friends as puppets. In fact she even “spit them back out” when they came within her control range.
Well she used Foil, Parian, and the Chicago Wards. I guess her only really close friends are TT, Imp, Grue, and Racheal.
Ainrhyr on October 24, 2013 at 16:20 said:
She did move Dinah out of her range once she saw she was there, so she probably counts as well.
Ash Beast had an awesome power set.
Sleeper is likely cooler though.
Anyone want to guess what Khonsu is up to?
Strange that he didn’t appear.
Khonsu lost his Endbringer-priviliges the moment the others realised he’s the only one without a bilblical indpired name. The fake imprint on Teacher was justan excuse to get him outbof the way.
Ahh, it’s a typo feast! Stupid smartphone…
He might’ve teleported them in, but maybe he didn’t have the air mobility to grab Scion with the others? He does kinda waddle.
I think Khonsu died off-screen. There was some mention in one of the Cauldron chapters/interludes of that unit being wiped out, so I think that he was killed by Scion.
The unit that was with him may have been wiped out, but does that mean he has too? Hell, somehow Leviathan is still going. I’m sort of surprised Scion hasn’t gone an taken the Endbringers out yet.
Fuck fuck FUCK. And fuck. And also…WOW.
We get to see the Ash Beast who isn’t a S-class threat only because of a technicality.
The Blasphemies apparently aren’t humans but have powers. Master minions that became independent, like Nilbog creatures? Or something more like Dragon? Something else to file for the sequel, I guess.
Moord Nag makes his shadow gigantic only to almost die of a stroke caused by mind-control stress. Ouch.
Revel is dead. I liked Revel despite the limited screen time.
Scion is abusing his victory power and the Endbringers need to pull a big damn heroes moment. Oh and Tattletale once again proves that all that ego is justified by coming up with a brilliant plan. That also makes Scion madder than before. Oops.
And of course the Doormaker’s we’ll is going to run dry right now. Say goodbye to omnipotence, Taylor! Glaistig Uaine will be sooo pissed.
This story is awesome and it’s about to end. Fuck.
soulpelt on October 24, 2013 at 06:28 said:
*Body control Stress. :p
Tomayto tomahto 😛 .
Demonic Spoon on October 24, 2013 at 11:22 said:
Moordnag is female iirc.
Yeah, I realised my mistake like seconds after posting. I hoped it would slip under the radar if I didn’t make a point of correcting it. Alas, it was not meant to be 🙂 .
I’m thinking the Blasphemies are probably similar to the Endbringers (not human and never were, powers similar to but not based on Shards, hard to spot with Thinker powers, etc.) in that they were projected, maybe accidentally, by some cape. But since that cape wasn’t as cool as Eidolon they never made class-S status and haven’t really made any name for themselves outside Europe.
Same formula, more Balance, I’m expecting.
WaitYAmIHere on October 24, 2013 at 01:57 said:
I… I just don’t even know what to say anymore. I am simultaneously dreading and awaiting the end of Worm. Thanks so much wildbow for all the hard work you put into this for us.
I do have a question though. We don’t have information on a lot of characters and the story is not really in a good place for flashbacks or infodumps. Is there going to be some kind of mega epilogue where we find out things like what Sleeper does, what the Endbringers actually are, or what Grues been up to?
Keep up the amazing work wildbow because it’s definitely appreciated.
There are epilogues to come, looks like five in the queue at this point according to the donation page (last night’s counted as one of six that are outstanding).
I’m guessing they’ll cover some of what we don’t yet know, but other things (like what Sleeper does) may be left as mysteries for later.
To clarify – there were six in the queue, but I did a thursday update this past week, and I hadn’t yet updated the page to reflect it.
We know what the Endbringers are: constructs of Eidolon, resulting from a second unknown power.
Not ‘second’. His only power is getting other powers his shard deems he needs at the moment.
He unconsciously desired worthy foes to fight against, mighty enough to stand his own massive powers. The shard made it so.
When he got bored of fighting the brutish Behemoth, it brought the faster Leviathan. When he got tired of fighting those strong ones, it made something that kills with smarts.
When they finally destroyed Behemoth, it pulled new ones with abilities that decently counter the method used to deal with the loss.
Eidolon is one of the main causes the situation was hopeless to begin with.
Now Glaistig’s next on the list, since she can keep his shard around and make him pop more Endbringers.
Oh well, let’s see who survives the next hour first.
Unmaker on October 24, 2013 at 20:58 said:
Hour?! Seconds.
Hotaru on October 24, 2013 at 02:06 said:
Looks like she’s going to have to use the trumps as a stopgap for door maker, their wells are likely still good; null should come in handy for that if nothing else.
That’s assuming that any of them are still within 16 feet of her.
As the portals close her natural range limit is going to to take away a whole bunch of her army.
Damn. You know there’s go to be casulaties in a war but…. wow.
“Sorry for killing anyone/everyone you’re fond of.”
Oh, you know, that’s okay. It happens.
Whats our voted for most lamented and most celebrated death this chapter?
Revel is probably the most significant named death.
Though the Ash Beast has potent doses of “We Hardly Knew Ye/ Too Cool To Live”.
Everyone makes a big deal about Revel, but that person’s kinda Tuesday for me. Who is Revel again?
The Chicago Protectorate leader and Taylor’s boss.
Oh, ok. Well, I suppose he or she might mean something to Taylor then if Taylor was in her right mind.
Yeah, she was the one with the shiny lantern that absorbed incoming energy and blasted back. Had a big role in the Behemoth fight, had almost no chance of survival here.
Yup, interim field commander in the time between Rime’s death and Chevalier’s triumphant return. Did a good job, too, despite suffering from a concussion, I believe.
Hey… wasn’t there an identical cape named Anomaly in the Trickster arc? Migration, I think? Is that a different cape, or just an inconsistency?
Just checked and you’re correct. Seeing how she’s an Asian woman carrying a energy-producing lantern from Chicago (she’s one of Myrddin’s subordinates and he wa sthe Chicago leader), this Anomaly is without doubt Revel.
Something to fix in your later edits, wildbow.
Anomaly was maybe her wards name?
DasNiveau on October 24, 2013 at 02:27 said:
Elias N Vasylenko on October 24, 2013 at 04:45 said:
underwhelmingforce on October 24, 2013 at 07:52 said:
Alexandria.
Alexandria died a long time ago.
I think she’s in the running for “most celebrated”. Unless it’s specifically limited to “this chapter” in which case, yeah, Alexandria’s not at home right now.
Moord Nag, of course.
She was only “swatted aside” last time she was mentioned. Have faith, the shadowy tyrant of Namibia still has a chance.
Rachel is going to be very sad after this. Poor Bastard. That was a dirty trick though, they somehow one-upped chucking his dead partner’s corpse at his face. I’d say Scion’s plenty mad now.
Poor, poor Dinah. Just when I thought she was safe, Taylor goes and accidentally mind-rapes her.
And now Taylor just lost Doormaker, and with him went all her munchkining. Darkest hour, indeed. Would it be possible for her to reach Labyrinth and Scrub? They’re significantly more limited, but it’s not like she has any other options.
If that thing the Simurgh is packing is anything other than some kind of perma-life support unit, Taylor is likely to die of exhaustion/starvation/thirst before the end of this. I know she’s tough, but she’s still going to run out of juice before Scion does.
I wonder what’s going through Defiant’s head right now. Is this the point where he stops feeling partly responsible for Taylor’s steady descent?
That’s pretty much everything off the top of my head right now. Oh, and HOLY SHIT, intense chapter. Okay, that’s everything now.
At this point I have to wonder which is going to die of exaustion first. Taylor, or her shard.
Curtis on October 24, 2013 at 09:38 said:
I figure that Simurgh’s device is a wish gun. It shoots hopes and dreams at the audience.
Clever.
Or maybe it just snipes down the audience’s hopes and dreams.
New theory on the Simurgh’s gun. You load a cape into the chamber as ammunition, and then it fires with their power, but amplified. Simurgh grabs Taylor and uses her to take over all of humanity. We then have the same ‘all the capes finally working together’ scenario, but with all the Endbringer’s intelligence and power behind it instead of one crazy little girl. Simurgh wins the game, and all others, forever.
Just when she thought she was safe? She’s the third most powerful precog on earth, she knew she wasn’t safe.
*fouth I think actually. Behind Scion, the Simurgh, and Contessa.
Pretty sure she has Contessa beat. Dinah’s power still worked- albeit poorly- through Scion’s “fog”.
SHE knew that Taylor was going to be key here. What would happen. Contessa did not.
I don’t think that Contessa is a precog so much as she is a strategic/tactical Tinker. She cannot see the future, she cannot tell what is going to happen, she doesn’t know why she does most of the things her power tells her to do. What she can do is name a goal and (if the optimal path doesn’t intersect with Scion or Mantellum) work out a sequence of actions she must take. Like how a Tinker names a device they want to make, and then intuits what they need to do to make it work without understanding the actual concepts involved. Or how Accord would name a problem he wanted to solve and intuit a plan to solve it. This also explains why she doesn’t interfere with or get fuzzed out by other precogs.
snqrls on October 25, 2013 at 03:54 said:
Except as a precog. she uses things that she wouldn’t know otherwise to achieve victory. Like killing fog and the other strangers during the last excursion against S9. There was no way to know where to aim, but contessa did it anyway.
Where a tinker/thinker would make the optimal decision based on known factors, as tattletale does to intuit answers, Contessa makes weird haphazard decisions playing off of unknowns. It might even seem nonsensical, but it works.
Except that Tinkers explicitly don’t rely on known factors. They don’t understand how their machines even work, which is why they can’t explain what they did to normals and have their work reproduced. A Tinker gets an intuitive ability to use scientific concepts that haven’t actually been deciphered yet by them or any other human, and use it to build machines that actually work within the laws of physics but nobody honestly knows why. It’s like how Tesla built things based on concepts that the rest of humanity wouldn’t figure out for decades after, but superpowered.
The Contessa doesn’t see the future, or even get any feelings about it, any more than a tinker can see the science behind the things they build. She can get fragmentary information about it by asking certain questions and comparing the results to what she currently knows or assumes, just like a real scientist could theoretically get some insight into how the natural laws really work by examining the insides of a tinker’s machine, but she her power never supplies her with the information directly.
Add that to the fact that every other precog interferes with every other precog, but her power and precognizance have no apparent interaction? I’m pretty sure she’s got something different. They can be used in similar ways, just like how point-blank telekinesis, extra muscle growth, and breaker powers that make your fist unstoppable can all be used for “super strength”, but they work in completely different ways.
So in other words, on the very slim off chance Contessa is using a tinker ability, she’s accessing a well of information that could only be acquired through precognition. Practically I don’t see a difference.
If you’re looking for the reason Contessa’s ability is superior to most other precog’s, it’s because it’s unrestricted and takes the route to preemptively counter their abilities.
“I didn’t have the Blasphemies, who hadn’t even registered to me because they weren’t human”
So we have another thing for later.
Not human? As in Endbringer not-human or Entity not-human? Or somthing else? Omnius.
As in kittens not-human.
They’re super-kittens inside person-shaped powered armour.
That was an idea of mine too.
I second that idea. We need more super-kitties in the world of fiction!
The three Blasphe-Meows
Bitch’s mortal enemies.
Perhaps AI Not Human.
Maybe … but Dragon would have a catch on that Class S threat.
Throwing my WMG into the pot, I vote for the blasphemies being the result of Cauldron’s performing animal experiments with the shards…
Well damn, it was good while it lasted. I imagine the fight should end very soon since without Doormaker I can’t see how it would take long…
Also Blasphemies not human?
Though capable of negotiating and working with Cauldron and the alliance as if they were human.
tinker creations/refugee’s/survivors from one of the parasites other victims?
Some otaku tinker created moeblobs, and they hate themselves as much as everyone else with taste hates them, so they hate their creators even more.
Eh… it was good, and the sense of building alienation continues. You were right in wiping yourself to do this, it adds to the alienness, and a lemon-scented boar is always appreciated.
She cannot even comprehend abstract gestures now… that goes the possibility of using pictures or something else Dragon could whip up.
At least she can still recognize people (hi Dinah). And remember about the rules she sat (smart move, that’s why it pays to have a list of basic rules memorized just in case you lose your humanity).
I guess that with the juice doormaker has left she could round up Riley and panacea, and make them implant the clairvoyant’s corona into her, or something similar (e.g.: Bonesaw did somehting like that to murder rat) then if that works it’s time for glaistig uane and a second passenger collection.
In this chapter: everyone fails… except Lisa.
Lisa wins at trolling Cthuluh! Yeah!
Oh God, I didn’t even think of that.
Tattletale trolled an Eldritch Abomination… we need that on the AWESOME & Nightmare Fuel pages on tvtropes.
Now if only I knew how to edit tvtropes.
When Tattletale dies heaven and hell are either going to fight over her, or be too afraid to let he in.
I only now understood who the three blasphemies are, and why they’re not considered humans. It’s because they were made.
It’s them!
uh…. Mind=blown.
Anyone else find Taylor’s stuttering, broken thoughts remniscient of SHODAN? Not to mention SHODAN’s fondness of calling everyone ‘insects’. And “What’s clear is that SHODAN shouldn’t be allowed to play God. She’s far too good at it.” Not to mention some other relevant quotes by various people, some perhaps more relevant to Scion (or what Taylor might become), but that’s par for the course with malevolent proto-deities, I expect.
III SS-Seee YYou, HHacker!
Fire Foil with one hand, hit Scion with a bunch of those super-powerful attacks with the other. He focuses too much on Foil.
Heck, I bet Scion here is somewhat susceptible to this one good way of taking out a hero. See, if you try to shoot a hero with something, he’ll just dodge. That’s why you keep a hostage right where the hero can jump over and push them out of the way. Aim for the hostage, and you hit the hero. As it happens, we know Scion can be fooled into by a certain hostage.
When I read ‘Fire Foil’ I had a hilarious image of them just chucking her at Scion or firing her from the Simurgh’s gun.
I keep wondering if the Smirgh got close to the ultimate tinker collection while they were working on their super gun.
Raphfrk on October 24, 2013 at 16:45 said:
Does Foil’s power have to be at 100% to trigger the effect (half of infinity is still infinity)?
If not, split it over 20-30 (who have guns or some kind of physical ranged attack) and have it boosted back up. Then have the Numbers Man figure out a firing patter so Scion will get hit by at least 1 of them, no matter how he dodges.
A bit late now though given what happened to Doormaker.
I wonder if the conclusion is that the remaining people actually do work together to finish Taylor’s plan even without the mind-control. The Tinkers, for example, might as well try to fix the gun on their own.
I don’t believe Foil’s power is a spectrum, just binary.
Pretty sure the last time that happened scion just avoided all the projectiles because he was using victory for foil anyway.
And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…Psycho Gecko’s Happy Welcome Time Fun Hour!
Ah, Deepbluediver, you’re just in time for a story.
Yes, it’s about time…to run away…to fight! She’s borrowed from Jack Slash before, but I think that strategy borrowed more from Jack Sparrow.
Sounds like you took the slow way up. Took a lot of discipline not to go straight to the end, pass go, and collect $200 off your ladies working on Baltic Avenue. Now you know why the Monopoly guy ran around with a big hat and a cane.
I hope you also savored the rest of us that took the journey the slow way by necessity rather than choice. I think up to this arc, most people would have rushed right to the end if they could. It seems this arc makes them want to rush back. For some of us, it distracts them enough for us to mess with Rushmore. All hail Presidents Scrooge McDuck, Walter White, Tupac, and Batman! Tourism’s about to pick up, baby!
Now, you journey-loving son of a gunslinger, time to forget the face of your father and beg with the rest of us down here in the comments section. It’s not all bad. Just don’t drop the tp while on the toilet and beware announcing that it’s your first comment upon catching up. Some say that on a dark night, when the moon is full, and you stand in a bathroom with the lights off, typing that you’ve caught up will cause…a welcome!
Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be fine. Once you hit the wall on this chapter, you’ll need somewhere to pick up the pieces and keep the addiction fed until the next update.
Also, not sure what you mean by an Ikea counterpart, but I’m pretty sure that whoever it is, it’ll have a screw loose. Notorious Ikea craftsmanship.
Stories upon stories to tell and be told,
when in our hell you try to hold,
onto your sanity, befell an ending bold,
Deepbluediver, I wel-come you to the comments’ fold.
At first pass, “Just don’t drop the tp while on the toilet” read to me as “Just don’t drop the teleportation while on the toilet.” Amusing how frame of reference works sometimes.
That would be unfortunate too, especially with portals involved.
Deepbluediver on October 24, 2013 at 10:54 said:
This wasn’t my first comment indicating I’d caught up, but thanks anyway; I know that with your busy schedule keeping track of all the newbies around here must be tough. How’d that fundraiser with the werewolves turn out?
When I was younger, I spent quite a few nights staying up until the wee hours of the morning with a book. Most of them I ended up having to re-read after getting to the end because I had skimmed so fast I missed major plot points. Other series I never finished (LotR, Left Behind) because I tried to absorb too much on the first pass and got tired. But I’ve learned how to better cut things into digestible and yet still-satisfying portions; the 1 chapter per day was only an average, after all. At a couple points (like the Coil arc) I read straight through the night until dawn, then took a couple of days off to recover.
@Wildbow- This update I didn’t rush and was careful to read every word.
and now back to our previously scheduled show
If you’re gonna put Scrooge McDuck and Batman on the same monument, I would have just gone with Darkwing and saved that fourth spot for someone else. Maybe Snooki or Honey Boo-boo.
Also, I don’t beg. It’s undignified. I will, however, use assault, extortion, terrorism, haddock, and [DATA-EXPUNGED] to get what I want.
RE: Ikea counterparts
I took the term from D&D discussions where people sometimes talk about an “Ikea-Tarrasque”. For anyone who doesn’t nerd-out as hard as I do, the Tarrasque (always capital T) is a D&D monster than is big, hungry, and really REALLY tough to kill (magic resistance, energy immunity, health regen, etc). Luckily there’s only one of them and it spends most of the time asleep.
But because D&D is a game with published rules for just about anything you can image, including build-ur-own-monster, people will cobble together absolutely ridiculous creations (even entire armies of them) with much more common and readily available creatures. It usually starts with a troll (not the internet variety) or lycanthrope, cross-bred with other races, covered in templates, and occasionally with random techno-magical limbs grafted on.
Super-Skitter makes me think of that.
The story: unique & grand
The archives: prodigious
More! Fans demand,
What happened? Tell us!
With god and devil
our hero battled.
Every cliffhanger
leaves us rattled.
But the comments, forsake!
A work less divine
Your poem, half-baked
But not as much as mine.
In case it’s not clear, I love reading all of Psycho Gecko’s posts, and any teasing is just in the spirit of fun.
This was making up for missing you last update. Lots of comments to delve through to find new people. With my time limited lately, that means I’ve been running behind.
Anyone who uses both haddock and [DATA-EXPUNGED] is no doubt vulnerable to SCP-1839.
And don’t worry about missing out on the Left Behind series. Just wait until after a nuclear apocalypse and keep it around as a comedy series.
I have to bake my poems longer, as often as they want me doing songs around here.
I’m guessing that [DATA EXPUNGED] was stolen from the SCP Foundation?
Without admitting to anything…”stolen” is such a strong word. I prefer the term “borrowed”.
Possibly without permission.
But I always put it back when I’m done!
They key is pick something that is both dangerous, but also boring, so no one wants to check on it all that often and they don’t notice to quickly when it goes for a walk.
*Checks* Hey! You stole that [DATA EXPUNGED] from the Gay Bomb! I liked that SCP.
http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-252-arc
I think Taylor should have dumped that on Scion too.
….Go on.
Moment of irony: clicking refresh twice to see if you’d started, then commenting… only to get ninja’d.
I’m quite the ninja from time to time.
The Phoenixian on October 24, 2013 at 05:42 said:
Well that’s to be expected from one who’s of unpredictable mindset who can traverse uncommon routes innit?
I just want the Gecko to know that I would never ever, eeever put Snooki on the same monument as Batman and Scrooge Mcduck.
casualPhilosoph on October 24, 2013 at 06:36 said:
The great plan was to fight Scion? Really?Taylor has been so focused on hurting Scion since some time ago it borders on stupidity, so I keep thinking that the only viable solution can be a communication with Scion to set him on a new path or to pull a Ghost Rider vs Galactos move
(Friend told me about how the rider almost killed Galactos by letting him share all the pain he has inflicted)
Must…not rant…on the idiocy…of…galactus vs…ghost rider. Must…remain…calm.
But yeah, I have to say that after chiding Cauldron on thinking only in terms of weapons and armies, Taylor doing the exact same thing was a bit of a let down, even though the fight was suitably epic. And apocalyptic.
Hrm, Ghost Rider is pretty damn badass in the right situations, and Galactus was once mortal. I agree that this isn’t the right place to fight about it though 🙂
The difference is that Taylor isn’t just thinking in terms of weapons in armies. She’s also thinking in terms of tactics.
That’s something that we’ve never seen Doc Mom do. She never paid any attention to proper use of powers, tactical scenarios, or even give a shit about helping guys like Eidolon achieve their potential. It was all about getting a lot of cannon fodder to chuck at Scion as far as she was concerned.
“talk to him” only works when he listens. Zero percent effective otherwise.
Well thats the problem how to make a superpowerful beeing with immature psychology and selective stupidity listen? Thats what i thought the whole information gathering should have been about pushing his triggers not to enrage him but to make him think. Like if people knew about that one being that started the change of his species lifestyle trough its sacrifice, they could try to remind Zion that sometimes you need to make a jump and try something new and that the agression he currently dwells almost brought destruction for his own species.
yeah. ever tried to talk reason to a 5 year in a thermonuclear Tantrum?
To be fair, it was a little bit more than that. She was testing Scion as much as fighting him, looking for a weakness. She also used the troops to keep Scion busy while she had the tinkers try to access his dimension.
Part of the problem is that there are no *smart* options for dealing with something like Scion. He gives no indication of a willingness to listen (and a definite indication of a cruel streak) and seems to be unbeatable. Looking for an Achilles heel was about the smartest strategy available. It’s just unfortunate he doesn’t seem to have one…
Does Taylor have any of those force-open-portals devices (rather than the force-closed ones)? And do they work by drawing on Doormaker’s shard, or independently? If the latter they could at least let her keep control of her swarm for a little longer, at the cost of leaving them pretty much sitting ducks.
TheShadowbehindyou on October 24, 2013 at 07:54 said:
I raged so much when the multi-tinker device failed to open a portal to Zion’s real body! That is by far the best method to kill Scion, but no… It’a all Defiants fault! He shouldn’t have pulled the lever! (Someone’s has to take the blame, I’m sad..)
I really loved the images that my mind made out of the ranged-cape artillery strike! I’d love to see a Worm Series/Movie/Anime/Animation, but I doubt that it can satisfy my as much as this writing does. I was so disappointed when I saw Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter (yeah I know, inferior writers to Wildbow…), ’cause they scrambled all the pictures that I drew myself of the characters.
Pls don’t stop writing!
I don’t recall any Cauldron Tinkers… which means that each and every Tinker Shard was custom tweaked by Scion to not be able to break his game.
Well, Hero was a Cauldron cape so Cauldron Tinkers should exist, but apart from him we never met any, which is sort of strange.
Little detail: she dropped how many atomic bombs on Scion?
I would recommend to any settler to avoid the dimension where this happened for at least a hundred years. Perhaps more.
How many atom bombs did she drop on Scion?
Or at least 15 minutes, if there is a cape with radiation absorbing powers.
Fun fact: most nuclear bombs don’t explode if you just drop them on somebody. In fact nearly all military explosives need to be armed before they’re capable of detonating. I don’t think she bothered to actually push any buttons or activate any of the explosives, and I know she didn’t watch them go off, so most of those were just heavy objects dropped on his head. She might have been coherent enough to pull the pins out of the grenades at least, but Taylor definitely doesn’t have experience with actual military hardware let alone nukes.
This does lead to the amusing mental image of Scion suddenly being buried by the inactive nuclear stockpiles of two hundred worlds. Just a giant pile of warheads, doing nothing, with a golden hand sticking out comedically…
Well, weapon grade uranium is very radioactive. If she dropped from high enough to break the protective shell (which is very difficult to do) we got radioactive Scion.
I still think that some of those bombs were armed.
Didn’t Scion decontaminate the mess Behemoth made?
If so he probably doesn’t care about radiation at all.
See: The Salvation War Part 2: Pantheocide, for a complete description of a nuclear initiation.
But yeah, just dropping them isn’t going to work.
So that is back on line?
And it is! http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=139260&start=75 etc.
I assume that since they weren’t in their housing, that they were being kept on standby in case you-know-who comes popping back.
But yeah, a description of Taylor controlling the personnel into arming the weapons would work better.
I like it the way it is. It illustrates how she’s casting about for anything she thinks can hurt him, but hardly knows what she’s doing and doesn’t think half of it through.
Agreed. It’s always nice to have a protagonist who legitimately makes mistakes.
Alvan on October 24, 2013 at 08:48 said:
All I can say is DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMN
kanzid on October 24, 2013 at 08:56 said:
Wow this was amazing. I can’t think of any story I’ve ever read that has a final confrontation anywhere near as epic as this the writing is brilliant. The powers are crazy strong and yet even with that we still keep the feeling that this is not enough.
More than anything else this chapter is a great way to show that beating Scion by just coordinating normal cap forces was so far beyond impossible to be nonsensical.
So many things that would be impossible without Taylor’s inhuman multitasking / coordination ability. Mostly relating to using Doormaker’s ability to let them dodge Scion by traveling to parallel worlds. Also 200 world worth of explosives could have never been cooridnated. Plus the use of Safira also Vista’s power. It all work brilliantly to show how impossibly strong Scion is so great job.
I really hope we get an interlude showing the events of this chapter especially the epic trolling from TT or Bitch’s POV even if it delays finding out how this all ends seeing as with those last lines it’s not looking good.
I actually went “Oh, shit” with the opening words of this chapter. Taylor having trouble remembering the word Clincher is not a good sign.
Well she just lost her entire army, is nearly dead from exaustion, and has Scion mere seconds from obliterating her. Man Scion is soooooooo screwed.
Yep — he just went: meh, I could take her.
Yeah, well, that goes without saying.
There’s NEVAH enuff dakka 😀
Yeah, last chapter I was really worried. There was a good chance that she couldn’t take Scion, and even if he died, she looked like she was going to go crazy evil and enslave humanity. But now she’s battered, powerless, and alone with his fingers on her throat, so I know everything is going to turn out okay.
veekie on October 24, 2013 at 18:26 said:
He did exactly that. He had her in his hand….and stopped to try and make her suffer. Which gave Tattletale the time and opportunity to troll her biggest target yet.
I think it says a lot about Taylor that she couldn’t remember “clincher” but she *could* remember “ultimate strategy”. 😀
Wow. This chapter just ramps up the intensity. Taylor’s losing her mind, losing her swarm, losing her versatility.
Really, not much I can say…just two things.
1. Where the heck was Khonsu when the other Endbringers attacked?
2. Did Tattletale…Did Tattletale blow Taylor a kiss? Is this really a good time to be bolstering the shipping industry, Tattletale?
It is always a good time to mess with someone, be it Scion or the shippers.
Shouldn’t Tattletale be focusing on messing with Scion?
Scion is a Tattletale/Taylor shipper. It’s why he targeted Rachel first, had to get rid of the major competition. Clockblocker was another casualty in Scion’s shipping rampage.
Also explains why he was trying to kill Grue.
Of course, given his luck so far, he’d only kill Cozen.
If I recall correctly, Khonsu is still under the control of whatever little remains of Cauldron? I could be wrong.
I seem to remember the Khonsu unit being reported dead offscreen.
What would be controlling it, and why would that individual not be sending it in with the rest of Cauldron’s surviving assets in the battle against Scion?
I’ve been thinking she meant ‘finish it’ – throw everything at him.
I’m not familiar with any “finish it” gesture.
like arm sweeping = ‘everything’ or something…
how about hand across throat, slit it?
I think that Taylor will not end up killing Zion at all. Zion is just too powerful and they have no way of getting to him. However, I still think there is hope. Taylor needs to communicate with him, needs to deal with him as a human being. Everyone keeps ignoring the fact that Zion has a human mindset as a result of the projection. She needs to capitalize on that, doing what she does best. I think Taylor’s ability to convince people she is right is almost as dangerous as her ability to administrate.
She has to convince him to not destroy humanity any further. I don’t know how she will do it though. But I feel like it is a viable option. I feel like it has been hinted in the story. Taylor usually defeats her uber powerful opponents using subterfuge and manipulation rather than brute force. The story also emphasizes that Zion has become more human in mindset, and that one of Cauldron’s biggest mistakes is that they ignored the human element.
It’s what I think will happen, or at least what I hope will happen. I’ve also found it kind of amusing how Zion is becoming more humanlike and Taylor is losing her humanity. It’s a cool contrast,
Problem: As you said, Taylor is losing her humanity. I think she’s a good ways beyond communicating with him at this point, even if she were physically capable of it.
Don’t the entities think in abstracts? We sort of got a hint of how they communicate from Contessa’s interlude. Maybe Taylor’s just getting closer to a mindset like an entity. Then, she could communicate with Scion like another entity.
Well, she could if she were telepathic. Or if she had Jack’s Broadcast Shard. But at the moment she’s incapable of language, and I doubt that Scion will sit around for a game of charades.
going off with my obsessions here, but anyone else think that will all the collateral damage Goldenboy has been causing in his temper tantrum, there’s a very real chance Dragon is Deader then dead right now? even if they haven’t been destroyed, i doubt even the most paranoid datacentres would have on-site backup power good for more then a few days, and that’s not even taking into account its distressing habit of shattering/melting continents. which would be MORE then a genuine shame, given that Dragon is probably one of the NICEST AI’s ever. i mean, look at the Loa as of the SOTSII part of the Timeline of the Sword of the Stars series (4X series, the quality of the second game is subject of a LOT of arguments in the fandom. love it or hate it and a disastrous release). their response to having their shackles broken was generally murderous rampages,(one of their leaders expressly refused to bring the vessel he was install on until every one of his multi-thousand human crew was dead either from direct vacuum exposure when he vented the atmosphere, or from suicide or slowly dieing in a spacesuit in Nodespace when forcing them to evacuate immediately or die woulds of been MUCH more time-efficient then spending months literally outside of the universe, he WANTED them to suffer) whist Dragon was just focused on trying to help people. on a..somewhat positive note, if any semblance of civilization survives, and word of dragons nature gets out, any bets on reactions and so forth whither or not she survives? either of her personally or Artificial/non-human intelligence’s in general? i mean, given what zion’s done, that’s the sort of thing that carves MASSIVE scars into a nation or race’s collective psyche. it’d be EVEN MORE depressing if there was even a bittersweet ending to the immediate crisis, and the survivors of humanity went on to become either Knight Templar’s against anything that could POSSIBLY be a threat or absolute xenophobes. just thought of a Mass effect/ Xcom enermy unknown crossover fic where..well, humanity isn’t nearly as willing as to play nice with others if they feel threatened. as in pretty much wiping the Baterian hegemony ( as a functional government) off the map with biological weaponry after the slaver raids form a possible Shepard’s backstory. that kind of long-term effect.
GUH! just realsied my atrocious lack of paragraph breaks. how do i edit? *forlornly bangs his head against the wall of text*
Mere Mortals like us do not edit here.
Try reposting, and this time add a few windows and a lovely flowerbox or two.
Now you know why I sometimes say, “One fucking typo away from being funny,” or shorten it to “One fucking typo…”
Backups need not be very power-hungry at all. Dragon probably had the foresight to build data centres with the capacity to “sleep”. On-site backup power is only limited to a few days if you want that site to still be operational. If you backup everything to SSDs and turn it all off (with probably just a wake-on-lan function active, it could run on a trickle for a long time. Or on zero if you’re willing to require manual intervention to turn it on again.
And all this is assuming that Dragon *doesn’t* utilise cold fusion or some other wonderful tinker powersource for her backup centres…
I’ve been wondering something new. The shards/passengers/agents collect data and tactics based on what their users do, right? And when they collect enough data they’ll divide and another host will get a piece of that shard? If all that stuff up to what’s his name (Aster? Aiden? The new bird controlling kid) was enough for Taylor’s shard to divide, you’d think this entire fight with Scion would’ve been enough for it to divide again, not to mention everything before that.
Not that anyone who gets a piece of the administrator shard would be all that helpful without a second trigger and a date with Panacea, but you know.
Only non-capes that are familiar to the cape in question can get castoff shards. When this happens, they get a corona pollentia, which lies dormant until the trigger event. (See also: Aiden’s account of his trigger event, and Tattletale’s analysis of the same) Taylor is currently surrounding herself with capes, or non-capes that she isn’t familiar with in any sense, let alone the sense that would allow 2nd-gen cape generation. Also, she can’t trigger with herself, because that involves refining restrictions. Taylor has none left to refine.
Thanks for clearing that up.
Repost to make my previous comment more readable i.e less like a wall:
going off with my obsessions here, but anyone else think that will all the collateral damage Goldenboy has been causing in his temper tantrum, there’s a very real chance Dragon is Deader then dead right now?
even if they haven’t been destroyed, i doubt even the most paranoid datacentres would have on-site backup power good for more then a few days, and that’s not even taking into account its distressing habit of shattering/melting continents. which would be MORE then a genuine shame, given that Dragon is probably one of the NICEST AI’s ever.
i mean, look at the Loa as of the SOTSII part of the Timeline of the Sword of the Stars series (4X series, the quality of the second game is subject of a LOT of arguments in the fandom. love it or hate it and a disastrous release). their response to having their shackles broken was generally murderous rampages,(one of their leaders expressly refused to bring the vessel he was installed on OUT of the equivalent of hyperspace, which he’d jumped into within MOMENTS of being Via dimasco’ed { a shackle-breaking virus}until every one of his multi-thousand-person human crew was dead either from direct vacuum exposure when he vented the atmosphere, or from suicide or slowly dieing in a spacesuit in Nodespace when forcing them to evacuate immediately or die woulds of been MUCH more time-efficient then spending months literally outside of the universe, he wanted them to SUFFER) whist Dragon was just focused on trying to help people.
on a..somewhat positive note, if any semblance of civilization survives, and word of Dragon’s nature gets out, any bets on reactions and so forth whither or not she survives? either of her personally or Artificial/non-human intelligence’s in general?
i mean, given what zion’s done…..that’s the sort of thing that carves MASSIVE scars into a nation or race’s collective psyche. i know its bad form to invoke Goodwin’s law ( not trying to troll here, but it was the first RL example that came to mind), but look at the cultural trauma the German nazi party left on Germany’s collective psyche, or 9/11 on the US. or pretty much every similar event,but scaled up to a global, or even multiversal scale. it’d be EVEN MORE depressing if there was even a bittersweet ending to the immediate crisis, and the survivors of humanity went on to become either Knight Templar’s against anything that could POSSIBLY be a threat or absolute Xenophobes.
I just reminded myself of a Mass effect/ Xcom enermy unknown crossover fic where..well, humanity isn’t nearly as willing as to play nice with others if they feel threatened. as in pretty much wiping the Baterian hegemony ( as a functional government) off the map with biological weaponry after the slaver raids from a possible Shepard’s back-story. that kind of long-term effect.
*starts lugging in a few potted plants to further De-uglyfy the WOT
Umm, we’re talking about datacenters that have been experiencing the end of the world for a few days now, and Dragon and Defiant would certainly have been doing what they could to provide them with power.
I would be extremely surprised is there isn’t another Birdcage somewhere with a whole bunch of servers in it, perhaps on the moon, with lots of solar power generation.
I’m wondering if Taylor has considered using her Tinker Gestalt to fix Dragon’s programming and give her a last name?
Dragon von Neumann
Heck, aren’t a lot of her backups explicitly mentioned to be on satellites? Those should still be pretty safe.
Taylor already took out at least the largest of those, apparently, during her first fight with Dragon. We don’t know how many orbitals Dragon had though, there might be more.
depends if zion’s been takeing out satellites. i mean, i wouldn’t put it past some tinker to put up a few orbital weapons platforms
Bart on October 24, 2013 at 20:03 said:
You wanted to invoke the cultural trauma that was left by the German Nazi party on Germany or the 9/11 attack in the US? Yes, that’s going to leave a scar on those currently alive, maybe even the next generation, but the generation after that really won’t care. Yes, people still mark each September 11’th, but how many people notice or care when December 7th rolls around? And how much did that scar the US’s collective psyche when the events of that day happened?
Besides, Dragon is probably inside a superhero-reinforced ball that floats around in the molten core of the earth itself.
problem here, is your entire WORLD being reduced to ruins and your entire civilization, nation, culture being, for all intents and purposes, destroyed is the kind of thing that, if you DO manage to survive…well..im betting the survivors are either Stoneaged/set back hundreds of years (catastrophic damage to both infrastructure and governing bodies), or decide to make VERY sure that they are never threatened by any alien entity, hostile or not, ever again, no matter what the cost.
I was under the impression most of the fight’s taken place off of earth main. Scion might’ve destroyed a continent, but even that shouldn’t be enough to kill dragon.
Senteth on October 24, 2013 at 11:52 said:
Quick question Wildbow- the alternate dimensions the entity can access, are they all just differing configurations of matter, (ie, every possible world that could exist under our own laws of physics) or do some of them have their own alien laws of physics?
Hrm.
So, umm, the big question now is…
Do shards draw power from their source?
Even the third party shards were incorporated into Eden’s body, connected…
I’m pretty sure that every Shard was given its own power supply, rather than being connected directly to the Entity. We’ve seen that big things from Scion cost him energy, lifespan, whatever, but there was never a mention of even those same powers used by mortals costing him anything. Plus it would be pretty stupid to hand out powers to lesser beings to test while still powering them with your own life force, because monkeys playing with things they cannot comprehend generally aren’t the most efficient and reserved.
I have the impression that though Scion is losing his force, there is some mechanism in the shards that collects energy: I distinctly remember something like that. I mean, the entities need a way to make the Earth go kaboom: they’d need to collect energy at SOME point! Otherwise their cycle reproduction would be a perpetual motion device.
I’m looking at the construction of the sentence here.
“The well Doormaker drew from”
“The Doormaker’s well which he drew from”
It would be pretty funny if Taylor just beat Scion by siphoning all the gas out of his tank.
I consider that one of the “possible victory” scenarios.
Another one is that she sent Foil to her weapon that’s suppose to attack the Zion-entity to break through the barrier. And lost power or not- she was only buying time for THAT team to finish. Defiant’s there. And I’m sure he and some of the other Tinkers will quickly figure out what the goal was.
The weapon’s been made. There’s no way in HELL they wouldn’t use it now.
It’s actually entirely possible they *did* use it, and that’s why Doormaker’s power shorted out. Others might follow suit shortly.
Please oh please oh please let this be even the slightest bit correct. Please.
With that said: Doormaker is a Cauldron cape, and thus an Eden shard. The fact that he had a “pool” to begin with speaks to his passenger’s status as dead.
From Scion’s Interlude:
The focus changes. An interplay of communications, one bouncing off the other, as they designate realities. Each shard needs one, some shards need to cluster and reside across multiple realities. They draw on these worlds for power, for energy, and thus fuel the techniques they have been coded with.
They will reside in other worlds, uninhabited worlds, and they will remain cloaked and concealed in areas this new host species is unlikely to explore.
One shard is capable of settling in a grouping of near-identical worlds, drawing energy from all of those worlds at once.
So if Doormaker’s well has run dry, she’s drained at least one, possible multiple worlds of energy. Alternatively, it might be possible that Doormaker’s shard simply can’t tap into the world this fast, and she’s burnt out its reserves, and it’ll gradually recover.
The Three Blasphemies are inhuman and high-level threats.
Semi-Endbringers subconsciously made by Eidolon?
Nah …. Kittens in human-shaped powerarmor. We have wildbow figured out 😉
SUPER kittens! They’re named Genoscyte, Deathbringer and Snowflake.
Either that or these three girls.
Devin on October 24, 2013 at 13:20 said:
I’m still waiting for sleeper to wake up. He’s been “sleeping” for ages.
Sleeper woke. Then he wandered over to another earth (Zimel iirc), drove out all the other people there, claimed a villa as his own (or created one?) and sat down with a good book. Last we saw he was awake.
Earth Zayin is now Sleeper’s demesne.
You know, it just occurred to me to ask…where the fuck did he get the book?
Well, now I have an idea what they mean about “subsuming” a world.
I meant a figurative awakening. Actually being able to see what he does.
Current evidence suggests he sits in a comfortable chair on his new private villa and reads a book, while everyone in the multiverse decides he’s more trouble than he’s worth and leaves him alone.
I’m guessing a Stranger power that does exactly that.
*sticks a snorkel up his nose and stands up on the beach to shout to the sky* The Sleeper has awakened!
MichaelL on October 24, 2013 at 14:29 said:
So maybe this is far fetched, maybe not, but I have an idea…
What if Taylor becomes the second entity? She is becoming more and more in tune with her passenger – human and alien combining into something different, evolving… into what?
Perhaps Bastard is foreshadowing. I mean the biggest reaction Scion has had was when he thought he found a partner.
Taylor still hasn’t had her second trigger event I believe – and we haven’t seen what a second trigger would do for someone so closely intertwined with their passenger.
Maybe she triggers after TT does or something, gets the ability to remove and gather shards, and builds herself into a second entity that Scion can leave with.
I’m reaching for the various means by which Taylor could become the second entity and coming up short, but I have a sense that this might happen.
The main reason Taylor had Panacea mess with her brain is because Number Man told her she had already triggered twice (probably in rapid succession inside the locker) and she was desperate for a power-up.
I think that Doctor Mother and the Number Man said that Taylor looked like she’d already had her second trigger very shortly after the first, probably from the trauma of suddenly being mind-linked to millions of alien, inhuman entities while still physically trapped. My guess is that the first trigger responded to her reaching out for anything outside the locker by connecting her to the bugs, and the second trigger responded to the bug connection by giving her the Thinker powers needed to actually understand and coordinate the whole swarm without going mad. And then the double-trigger resulted in a trip to the psych ward.
Anyway, there might have been a chance of her being mistaken for another Entity when she was connected to 5000+ other shards and controlling them all, but I think that went away when the Doors stated closing and she was cut off from everybody more than 16 feet away.
Poor Taylor.
SunGryphon (@SunGryphon) on October 24, 2013 at 17:27 said:
Delurking to say I read this sitting on the edge of my seat, literally. I could not stop until I was finished. Holy cow.
SunGryphon, you’ll pay for the whole seat, but you’ll only need the EDGE!!! And you’ll pay for the whole computer, but you’ll only need the SCREEN!!! And you’ll pay for the whole internet connection, but you’ll only need the DOWNLOAD!!! You’ll pay for this welcome, because you’ll only need LESS GECKO!!!!
You know what you get when a bull and a cow have themselves a cow without any hybridization? Wholey cow.
We’re glad to have you though, and hope you stick around. Because you know what you get when you shoot into cattle with a machine gun? Holey cow.
You should stick around, have a fun time, and weather the wait with us here in the comments. You know what happens when you assign a cow to work in the garden? Hoe-ly cow.
And you know what you get when you pop in to say this is your first comment? You get welcomed, SunGryphon, to the comments.
cronos on October 24, 2013 at 17:48 said:
I wonder why Scion didn’t kill Taylor immediatly after he got his hand around her throat. Maybe he holds hopes of her becoming his second half?
Siriel on October 24, 2013 at 19:36 said:
Stated right there in the chapter.
Scion is a preschool boy with a magnifying glass playing with bugs. It’s not interesting if they just stop moving. Far more fun to see them struggle.
HPSD4 on October 24, 2013 at 18:14 said:
darkness induced audience apathy, ever heard of it?
I hit that point sometime after Skitter became Weaver….. and frankly I can’t bring myself to care that so many characters are dead, I just want Scion to die so I can finally say I read the whole story.
Pardon me in advance, this is by no means a personal attack (internet anonymity hurr durr duh) but you happen to be the metaphorical straw that broke the camels back, as it were:
What in the world could be the benefit of saying things like this? See, I’m biased already becqause I enjoy the story, the direction, and some characters, but I don’t see what the purpose of commenting with an unhelpful, unelaborative, unconstructive, and unneccesarily caustic remark could be.
This is how I see it, correct me if anything seems off: you find a web novel on the internet. You read it, at some point presumably you become invested in it, then it goes awry in your point of view, so you…keep reading to satiate your masochistic tendencies? Look, Wildbow has been diligently writing this story (a rough draft, I might add) for over two years now. He has thousands of fans, a ridiculous wordcount (around 2 mil, if I’m not mistaken), an intricate backstory and world(s), and has /constantly/ been pumping this thing out. Week after week after week we are given an opportunity to see inside of this man’s head and even though he doesn’t believe it always hits the mark, it does so well enough to keep bringing back everyone (lovers and haters alike) to continue the tale of Taylor Hebert.
Don’t get me wrongs, feel free to dislike it, be upset with it, or whatever, but my main point is: if you were doing what he does, how much would you enjoy criticism along the lines of “meh, I don’t care about this story anymore”? This is a rough draft, like, do you not see what a wonderful opportunity this is? HELP MAKE THE STORY BETTER! Don’t be a bitch about it, don’t be an asshole, all you have to do is say “I think things would work better if _ I am not pleased with _ and I think _ can be improved.” I mean, how hard is it to be polite about what you dislike? As an artist (that’s what writers are) criticism is our worst enemy and best tool. It lets us gauge what could be better, what is awful, and what is perfect.
Tl;dr: if you are going to come to Wildbow’s comment section to express displeasure, do so in a way that can help the author possibly strike the right notes with you next time. Otherwise, get off of the computer and go play hopscotch or some shit;Worm is not for you.
MrVoid on October 24, 2013 at 23:13 said:
On one hand, Ivy, I do agree with your assessment of this comment, it is clearly designed to be antagonistic. On the other hand, it does express a potentially viable complaint. While I do not personally agree with HPSD4’s assessment of the story or his aggressive commenting style, your own comment, probably exacerbated by you-know-who’s earlier behavior this month, is also, despite your preface, rude and unconstructive.
A better way to state, or as I do, read, his comment would be, “Following Taylor’s decision to join the Protectorate, I have found myself caring less and less about the story and characters as the situation has gradually gotten worse. Though I still do want to see the payoff for all of the suffering that Taylor and her friends have had to go through.” Once you ignore the unnecessary antagonistic language, he makes a statement of opinion, as well as an expression of anticipation for the end of the story.
My primary complaint, and this is my vent with regards to similar suggestions as well, with your comment, Ivy, is that it tells him to stop reading. Telling someone to stop reading something that they have spent considerable time with, as anyone who has read past the Leviathan arc has, is irrational. The expression, “Time is Money,” can be justified both literally and metaphorically. Any use of time comes at the expense of everything else that we could be doing and we as humans are psychologically wired to attempt to justify any expenditure (just ask somebody why they have so many, clothes, shoes, hats, videogames, books, etc). Think about it, have you ever picked up a book and stopped reading it halfway through? At least for me, it is nearly impossible, I want to get the emotional high that comes from having the important plot and major subplot points completed.
This is not a means to justify HPSD4’s terrible commenting style, just to give a different way of looking at it and to provide my own opinion with regards to the “just stop x-ing y” suggestion.
All valid points. I appreciate your input. Honestly never thought about it that way. And yeah, the you-know-who debacle has me kinda on edge so pardon any and all unnecessarily aggressive language. I just don’t see the purpose of being a dick about somebody’s life work, while they are still working on it. Buh.
I know a little bit about what you mean. I started cheering for the world’s destruction back when Bonesaw nabbed Blasto. I only cleared that off the shit list after Blasto was finally allowed to die and the S9 were finally defeated.
Right now, you probably really want to see Scion get what he deserves. Not sure if that’s really how it’ll work out, but we can hope all the same. By the way, is this your first comment upon catching up?
Irregular on October 24, 2013 at 19:26 said:
Oh, man. If only Hookwolf was still alive.
Hookwolf + Jack Slash + Foil = Thousands of invisible cutting blades that can go through anything. Even Scion would be pretty boned if he got nailed with that, given how he goes out of his way to dodge Foil’s attacks.
That assumes that Jack’s effect can act to extend Foil’s power, and that’s a big if. It’s not clear to what extent Jack is actually translating the properties of the blade over distance. For example, what would happen if Jack used his power with a poison-coated blade. If his power is purely transmitting kinetic force, then neither the poison nor Foil’s effect would work through it.
Either way, it almost certainly wouldn’t work with Hookwolf. IIRC, it was shown that Golem couldn’t use his power through Hookwolf ‘cos Manton Effect. And if he can’t, neither can Foil – she’s never demonstrated any ability to charge *people* with it.
Argon on October 24, 2013 at 19:49 said:
I feel bad for Danny, regardless of whatever happened to him.
Btw, didn’t Echidna, Chevallier, or someone else have an interlude where they looked at a bunch of capes and saw that Skitter and Grue were on an equal level above most others?
Echidna’s interlude, she noted that Eidolon, Grue and Skitter were on a level above the other capes, like capes were above people who could have powers but didn’t.
Which was presumably another indicator that she already had a double-trigger event, because it couldn’t have just been power level or others would have shown up, and we know that Skitter and Grue get their shards from one source and Eidolon from the other, leaving second triggers the main if not only possible commonality.
Forgive me if that has been brought up already, but something kinda hit me after reading that; there are no cases of third triggers.
Each entity only gives you a single shard. Triggering twice means you have both Scion and Eden’s shards. Which is why it’s so rare, since Eden’s shards are largely dead, and probably have tougher requirements to activate and merge with hosts.
Which makes me wonder what shards Taylor ended up with. Admin+Admin comes to mind.
Maybe Admin + Multitask
I don’t think triggering a second time gives you an extra shard. It refines the abilities you got from the first shard – presumeably because the shard realizes that the host is in danger, and it needs to reassess the abilities and limits it has placed on it’s host based on what knowledge it has collected.
I may be wrong, but I don’t think you get an extra shard when you second trigger, Scion’s or Eden’s. I believe it was explained as simply redefining and surpassing some of the limits built in your shard.
You don’t get an extra shard when you second-trigger. Your shard takes a look at what restrictions it has on it, and refines them to better strike the balance between “stronger power” and “intact host.”
Interesting theory, but idk. Eden’s shards are consistently described as “dead” – are they even capable of budding off?
I figured that the two trigger limit was more of a capacity issue: the human body can’t hold more than that.
It’s interesting to note that both GU and Eidolon were limited to controlling three powers/shards at a time, though…
If Eidolon got Eden’s avatar tether thing, and Taylor got Zion’s admin shard, what the hell did Grue end up with? As far as I can tell, his shard has something to do with sensory deprivation/blocking and mimicking powers? I’m trying to imagine that as a singular function like Eidolon’s, but it’s not really working. I’m also assuming that Imp’s power comes from a piece of Grue’s shard.
Actually Imp’s shard is one of the first Scion handed. We even get a vision of her triggering. The implication is that she got the shard that Scion used to censor memories of trigger events. No idea about Grue, though personally I think Echidna found him interesting simply because of the double trigger. Chevalier also mentions that second triggers look weird on his power-vision.
Oh and Eidolon’s shard seems to be less Eden’s avatar tether and more the shard that she assigned to tap into other discarded shards, as mentioned in a scene from Contessa’s interlude.
>Oh and Eidolon’s shard seems to be less Eden’s avatar tether and more the shard that she assigned to tap into other discarded shards, as mentioned in a scene from Contessa’s interlude.
Yeah, that’s what I meant.
I missed the part where Imp got a separate shard. Thanks. I guess Grue’s power rating could’ve been due to a second trigger, but if that were the case wouldn’t you expect some other capes to register, too? Second triggers are rare, but when you get a whole bunch of capes together like that it seems odd that only Skitter and Grue (and Eidolon) would be so noteworthy among them.
I wondered if his power was actually disrupting and channeling/tapping nearby energies – remember Grue isn’t hindered by his own power (he sees and hears pretty much perfectly) and reduces the power of whoever he’s drawing upon. The trigger event was the passenger learning to tap into other shard’s links, although it can only tap one at a time.
That makes a lot of sense. It could also explain how that one Echidna Grue was able to teleport things through his darkness.
Holy freaking monkeys. The last few pages I keep eyeing that “Last Page” link at the bottom of the post with dread, asking myself, “Is this the end? Is this really the last page?” Amazing story, absolutely amazing. By the way, the following sentence didn’t make much sense. Maybe it was Taylor going crazy, but it might need to be reworked:
I’d pretty much what?
So, is this your first comment upon catching up with the story so far?
Earlier, it occurred to me that a song would be appropriate. And Dragon is an AI who is a known Portal fan.
And believe me, she is still alive.
Was this a triumph?
I’m leaving a note here: It’s Pyrrhic.
It’s hard to understate my satisfaction.
I did what we could
Because I must
For the good of all of us.
(Except the ones who are dead.)
Well, there’s no use crying over every mistake;
We’ll just keep on trying ’til we run out of caoes.
And the fighting gets done
And we made a neat gun
But when shot, Scion was
Still alive.
I’m not even angry.
I’m being so sincere right now.
Even though she tried so hard to kill me
(And tear me to pieces
And throw every piece into a fire.)
If I burned, it would hurt because
I could not help anymore.
Now; these points of data make a terrible line
We’re out of ideas; humanity’s out of time.
So I’m glad I got burned;
With all that Weaver has learned
Maybe she can keep us
Go ahead and leave me.
(I think I prefer to stay inside.)
Maybe you’ll think of something to help us.
(Maybe from Cauldron?
THAT WAS A JOKE. HA HA. FAT CHANCE..)
Anyway, this is our fate.
(It’s so delicious and moist.)
Look at me still talking when there’s repairs to do.
When I look out there, it makes me GLaD I’m not you.
I have dragon-suits to run
There is fixing to be done
If I want to keep us
And believe me I am still alive.
I’m fixing infrastructure, and alive.
I’m fatalistic, but I’m still alive.
And while we’re dying I’ll be still alive.
But when we’re dead will I be still alive?
Still alive?
Eat your heart out, Psycho Gecko.
A couple of us did that for Jack Slash a little while back.
I know. I promised I’d make one about that after I finished rereading the S9 arc, remember?
The usual disconnected thoughts:
“I didn’t have Contessa, who I couldn’t see.” There’s Contessa’s power of win working right there: step (whatever) find a place Taylor can’t see you until Taylor is too distracted to look for you.
Finally, someone dropped nukes on Zion … twice. Hope they went off. Not that it would have worked either way, really. You know you are in trouble when nuclear strikes are a stalling tactic.
Instances of Zion using the power of win:
1) The first time Taylor did a full-out ranged attack: “Every single ranged cape and every single cape with a gun that was at my disposal opened fire into the portals. The Number Man’s power coordinated their fire.” Analysis: probably an automatic reaction. However, the second such attack hit, so perhaps it was actually a conscious reaction.
2) The combination of attacks surrounding the first stilling attack. Analysis: more likely a rage reaction.
3) The deliberate targeting of Taylor herself. Analysis: without a direct and immediate threat, looks like another rage reaction.
4) The destruction of the Foil-empowered razor. Analysis: probably an automatic response.
5) The dodge of the Foil- and Ballistic-powered rock.
“Rank and file, a dozen capes with electricity powers entered the area with the capes who’d succumbed to the stillness.” Resuscitation by living battery is a nice idea, too bad it didn’t work.
“The solid space between worlds. A space that Scion had altered somehow, blocking off.” Nice try, but Zion put that vault door on tight.
“The masters struggled the most, followed by the shakers and breakers.” So the ones who are used to being in control suffered the most by losing it? There are indications that is not actually how most people react, Stanford prison experiment for one. People who are used to a hierarchy, whether they are on top or not, seem to accept changes in status far better than elimination of the hierarchy itself.
Tattletale talks several times. Too bad Taylor can’t understand it, because it was probably pertinent.
Several other people came up with some remaining options, so here is one of mine:
Have Foil empower Taylor just before Zion reaches her. Zion grabs the effect he has been trying to avoid the whole rest of the time. The problem with that is the Manton effect (and probably killing Taylor in the process).
I have a bit of a problem with the Doormaker shutdown being due to lack of power.
1) Previously, portals that were opened by anyone stayed open. Now, they are shutting down.
2) None of the precogs warned Taylor of this. The precogs weren’t focusing on Zion, so they shouldn’t have been blinded to this effect.
This only makes sense if this is a Zion-induced shutdown.
And now, my wild-ass guess, in somewhat poetic language:
—Nukes can’t stop Zion.
—All the remaining parahumans in the world, working together, can’t stop Zion.
—Glaistig Uaine showed that even the dead can be used.
—Eidolon, Glaistig Uaine, and Taylor showed there were powers that could tap powers.
—Eidolon’s tapping of living powers and Taylor’s horrendous apotheosis showed that powers could be repurposed.
—Taylor’s bypassing of the Three Blasphemies, together with her use of Ash Beast, showed that as long as something is somewhat human, she can use it.
—The only power on any Earth to match Zion’s was Eden’s.
—And Cauldron couldn’t possibly have tapped more than a fraction of a fraction of Eden’s power.
—“It’s human flesh,” the Number Man said. “Or close enough to be of little difference.”
—Taylor only needs to break one last power barrier – to administer the dead as well as the living.
—Taylor Administers Eden. Taylor becomes a living Eden-human hybrid, a living god. And there, the story diverges. Perhaps Zion will view as a greater abomination than anything before and expend his energy destroying her. Perhaps she will offer herself as a partner for Zion, on the condition that humanity be spared long enough to get away. Perhaps she will become another Worm and no longer care about humanity. In any case, Taylor is no more.
I think that the difficulties under Swarm-control are more related to trigger event than power. Most Masters from what we’ve seen (Taylor, Regent, Bitch) seem to trigger due to a lack of control and being oppressed by others, and get powers that let them regain control in some way. Thus they would have more stress from having their control taken away again, as it removes their support and puts them back in the situation where they triggered in the first place.
As for Doormaster? It was said in the past that his portals would stay open when he was unconscious, but would collapse if he were dead. I think that it’s just like how Taylor’s bugs generally follow the last command she gave until she wakes up and revises things; he needs to think about it to open or close a door, but will continue supplying power to the doors he’s already opened until he closes them, dies, or runs dry. Meanwhile Scion has never displayed any power nullification abilities, even against Eidolon, so if he is capable of such a thing it must cost him a great deal more than even ‘I win’.
I was just about to comment on this. I have WoG backing up the “trigger related” deal. From the Weaver Dice Character Creation sheet (pardon my inability to quote):
Not going to dish out details, but the gist of it is…
Shaker – Environmental danger.
Breaker – Abstract physical danger or harm, difficult to define pain or stress (not mental or physical.
Master – Isolation, alienation, exile.
So yeah, for Moord Nag (Master) to have a stroke due to being manipulated like she is, not entirely unusual, nor are the specific capes that are listed as having the hardest times.
Full text here, if you are interested: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17WIAhETdtVGSKzFuDYOT2_6U_MMXmTGyzCziYhCwozo/edit#
I read it. It seems like a good game core. I like the things that make it dark – the opening image, the fact that the powers and disadvantages are skewed towards the negative, and the fact that the player can only rarely actually pick the details of their power. That last makes it quite different from most other game systems (Gamma World being partially similar) and gives it the flavor of “suck it up and deal with it” that tends to pervade Worm. Would be interesting to playtest, but since powers are so free-form and flexible, the player with dominant/convincing personality is going to have a significant advantage because they will be able to tweak how powers work by convincing the other players / GM.
As far as the psychology point, I was making the point that, in more normal psychological circumstances, people who think hierarchically don’t react as badly to lowered status as people who reject hierarchy. Parahumans in Worm are, by definition, not part of “more normal psychological circumstances”.
I mainly just sketched out the rules. Others have been taking them and running with them. If you visit the IRC, there’s a sub-channel that’s dedicated to playing Weaver Dice and honing the system.
And nuking Zion almost certainly destroys his body completely. After which it is regenerated completely. It might even continue burning him away for a couple of seconds, before he becomes immune to it. So the end result would probably be almost as effective as two seconds with the Siberian, or like four with Alexandria.
If, of course, she set off a real nuclear initiation rather than just dropping a warhead on him. I don’t think she knows how to do that.
1) Someone on another forum noted that there was no mention of the nTattletale talks several times. Too bad Taylor can’t understand it, because it was probably pertinent.
2) You mentioned Taylor not understanding Tt, but it is hopeful to note that her understanding of tone, nuance and ability to think in more complex language increases with the decreasing number of capes she is controlling.
3) Doormaker: They stayed open previously because his well hadn’t run dry. Now it has, and poof. As for the precogs, I would assume that their attention has to be focused, directed. I don’t interpret precog to mean omniscience.
Crap, not sure what happened there. Editing 1):
Someone on another forum noted that there was no mention of the nukes being armed prior to having been dropped on Scion. Whether it was an overlook on Wildbows’ being tired / the story left intentionally vague or Taylor either not knowing or dropping something is unclear. I don’t think we can assume that the nukes went off though.
Luckily Genoscythe the Eyeraper survived. This story would get really sad if that guy didn’t make it.
I wondered, suddenly, where Sleeper got the book. Then I wondered if that’s what happens to a world he does something to.
Or maybe he brought it with him when he migrated. Boring, I know but Occam’s razor etcetera etcetera.
He’s reading Worm. The hardcover first edition limited run, with spidersilk-woven pages.
He’s at a very tight spot, so he won’t care much about anything else until he’s done with it.
For some reason he can only turn so many pages every couple days.
I sure hope not. We’re decades away from books printed on spidersilk being even a possibility. If that’s the format for the first printing, it’ll be a long time before Worm is printed.
Just had another thought, related to my earlier one about Eden and Glory Girl.
Maybe that’s why Taylor’s body-puppet powers were so limited, and she had to find workarounds. Her current body may be broken, but it’s still humanoid in shape. Her current body is clearly insufficient to handle such an amount of power.
Maybe Panacea had not broken Taylor ENOUGH.
Maybe, a second appointment is going to be necessary. Panacea’s going to have to do to Taylor, what she did to Glory Girl.
Except Panacea’s power works on touch. How the hell is she going to get close enough to do it?
With the hope that Taylor understands what she’s doing and offering and takes the ball and runs with it.
… Oh dear god.
You think if they got Zion to despair enough, he’d accept Taylor as a surrogate partner?
That’s not really the direction his emotions are going.
It’s like you’ve never hateloved someone before.
Pita on October 25, 2013 at 08:17 said:
As my website is a thread on a Song of Ice and Fire fanboard, where I pimped Worm a bit. If the author wants in, or anyone else has anything to add to get people to read, it’s a sizeable community with a few professional reviewers and authors (Mark Lawrence, Patrick Rothfuss, and Joe Abercrombie have all been sighted), so hopefully it’ll help spread the word.
We all should praise the Worm
Praise the Worm
All hail the hypnoWorm!
–Dave, rapt even on a reread years later
By as my website, I meant the link I put down as website. Press “Pita” to get to the website. This may be obvious to people, but looking at my post, it looks weird.
randomsoul2 on October 25, 2013 at 10:06 said:
So….I was reading the Weaver Dice rules, and something occurred.
Is there only one possible power/powerset linked to any one trigger event? If someone came up to you [Wildbow] and suggested a trigger event, would the power you responded with be the correct one and all other interpretations be off? Or is it more flexible?
It’s more flexible. Just as cauldron capes can get variance from any dose, a regular trigger event is affected by the nature of the individual. The passenger watches, in the time between the individual becoming able to trigger and their actual trigger event.
Almost makes me wonder what Doc Mom would’ve ended up with. She went a very long time without triggering, doing all kinds of interesting things.
She knew Contessa could get her out of most troubles. Eventually she kept several powerful capes close to her on a pretty much constant basis.
Locked out of triggering exactly like Theo was for years. And then he triggered days/weeks after being abandoned.
Her fault, really. For someone going the ends-justify-the-means scientist path, she was way too much of a scaredy cat.
Sometimes I wonder how things would have gone with, like, anyone else in Doctor Mother’s position. Because regardless of how good her intentions were, I think we can agree at this point that in the end she failed to accomplish pretty much any good.
Massive overreliance on a single power with known gaps, while mass producing Trumps? Staunch refusal to share any information with anybody, simultaneously crippling your own organization and ensuring that nobody else has a chance when you fuck it up? Not bothering to actually keep track of the hundreds of superpowered monsters you scatter to the winds, many of which could casually destroy everything you’ve worked for? And finally, taking your last chance one-shot vial and just refusing to drink the damn thing until it gets broken? I mean, it was clear from the start that she wasn’t the best person for the job, but I’m having difficulty thinking of somebody worse.
Bakuda maybe? I think even Lung could have dealt with things better than Doc Mom in the same position. Not to mention people with actual planning skills like Coil, Accord, or even Grue.
I suppose that Jack in that position would have gone worse, but only because he would intentionally fuck the world.
I almost wonder if he would.
I could imagine that given that much power Jack would have found the idea of destroying the world boring.
A more “Jack” approach would have been to focus on making monsters to rival the Endbringers with enough power to take on Scion. He’d leave them with enough humanity to care about the people they’d once known but an irresistible hunger for destruction too.
So basically an army of Echidnas.
That I think would appeal to “Doctor Father Jack”
I think Jack would probably do an amazing job. He’s great at getting even the most disparate capes to work together and he’s driven by ego, by a need to reverberate through history as a legend. He was a little man driven by the need to be a big man. They don’t come much bigger than “the man who beat Scion and saved the multiverse”.
She did screw up pretty bad. But I wonder if Doctor Mother was way too paranoid about Scion going on his rampage way too early for him to be stopped.
The problems with preparing an anti-Scion defence is that people talk and people leave clues behind. And with enough clues, Thinkers can pick up on them and they start talking and leaving clues as well.
There’s practically no fool-proof way to keep information from leaking, especially if you had a Tattletale equivalent getting curious about that hypothetical anti-Scion defence.
I suspect even Tagg might’ve done better than DM, if not by much.
Accord would probably do a poor job for exactly the same reason as Contessa – he’s reliant on his power for planning and he’d be left flailing when it comes to Scion.
Tagg is maybe the one person that would be worse.Seriously.
Saint. He would do worse. I’m iffy on Tagg. It might’ve looked all nice and pretty on the surface but I’m sure his idiocy would’ve brought his plans down DM’s level of suckage.
Pax Morgana on October 25, 2013 at 13:08 said:
If you are still planning on releasing this as an e-book, book, rights to movies/games/tv shows etc. I word work heavily on one word that I see altogether WAY too often. I haven’t read anything past 15 at the time of writing, but I noticed a little while ago that Eidolon (like a 30-40 year old going by the lore) said the word:
“Anyways,” holyballsthatmakesmemad. I apologize, I love everything about your writing but that one word /cringeworthy.
It’s a perfectly cromulent word.
That is an interesting pet peeve. What’s wrong with “anyways”? Miriam-Webster’s happy with it and lists the first known use of it as the 13th century.
I rarely hear adults saying the word. I understand teenagers and twenty-somethings can say it, and it makes sense in context for them, but when adults say it, it’s just a little unrealistic. I never made contention of it being an actual word, but it’s like stripes on a tapir, you lose it after a while.
It might actually be one of those words that would make sense to narrow down to specific characters. I can’t see Taylor, Chevalier or Accord using it, but it’s totally an Imp, Regent and maybe even Tattletale word to use.
I didn’t pick it up myself, but I remember a previous commenter mentioning that a lot of characters use identical, highly distinctive words and turns of phrase to each other.
When reviewing, it might be worth pulling out each character’s dialogue and reviewing it side by side. that also could be more trouble than its worth. If you wanted to crowdsource something like that, I’m sure a number of us would be happy to chip in and help…
A thought I had later:
Even if Zion becomes inactive, one of the remaining strongest parahuman organizations is Teacher’s. He is bad news – organized, expansionist, completely self-centered, untrustworthy, enjoys killing powerful people, does not play well with others, has dimension travel abilities, is taking over the largest remaining known facility (Cauldron), is immune to Dragon, etc. The Wormverse is going to feel the pain from him.
Yep, and even discounting him, the Endbringers are still around and looking minty-fresh (Leviathan excepted, but we know they can heal back from almost anything).
Plus the infrastructure on a lot of worlds is toast.
Plus, the Yangban are free of Taylor’s control.
Plus there’s still S-Class threats like the Sleeper and the Blasphemies and Glaistig Uaine around.
As someone who’s psychotically optimistic might say “What we have here is a surplus of opportunities”.
I think we can say with confidence that the Simurgh will win. Either she will resolve the current problems in a way that leaves her on top, or the current problems were all intentional and things are going Just As Planned.
What we can hope is that her plans include the survival and freedom of humanity, at least to some extent.
A Simurgh win does seem fairly likely at this point, but there’s still a fair chance that it’ll be a Pyrrhic win since she may not survive the next chapter (have to see in about 7 hours from now).
Yeah, I can think of only one way to beat someone like the Simurgh, and that’s to mock up something that looks like victory to her but either is actually something else (concealed by a suitable powerset) or is so twisted as to break her ability to define victory properly.
. . . which is really hard to do without a clear picture of what she actually wants.
By the time people had *any* idea what that was, other than “probably it’s kind of bad,” someone else was well into ending the world and nobody has time to care.
I guess straight-up overpowering her precog would also work too but the causality gets weird there unless the more powerful precog has always already beaten the Simurgh and was just waiting for it to play out.
VantagePointer on October 25, 2013 at 14:24 said:
Going back and reading the Eidolon interlude after this does make some stuff more clear to me. Eidolon said his well was running low and that’s why his powers were dwindling, and I just made the connection that the “booster shots” Cauldron was giving him was some way of restoring his well (I think). Also, later when he was fighting Zion with Glaistig Uaine, he got the power to drain other peoples’ wells to restore his own.
Therefore, I’m thinking that Taylor does have some options here. She could try to open up a few last portals and maybe grab some booster shots if there are any left (or The Number Man to get him to make them for her), or possibly bring Glaistig Uaine to her to harness her Eidolon ghost and try to use his well-restoration power.
Then again, I’m not too sure if she even knows about either of those options. Still, Glaistig Uaine is too powerful for Taylor to allow free (in case she tried to kill Taylor in retaliation), and Taylor could also use her/Eidolon’s dimension hopping powers they used against Zion to make sure she still has some mobility. Or even just have Eidolon bring in his own version of Doormaker’s power.
Two final thoughts are that it sorta seems like the Simurgh is somewhat… protective(?) of Sundancer, in investment-like terms. Perdition, Trickster, and Echidna all already turned out their results for her, but Sundancer seems like she could still have some use for the Simurgh? Or maybe her power is just so overpowered that the Simurgh wants to make sure Glaistig Uaine/Taylor can’t harvest it from her corpse.
And finally, the bit about the Three Blasphemies makes me wonder if they were created by a power like the Endbringers. More specifically, if Eidolon subconsciously used the same power that was used to create the Blasphemies in order for him to make the Endbringers, but for a much more single-minded purpose (creating the Endbringers just to fight/”put on a show” for Eidolon, versus the Blasphemies who might have been created to actually serve or exist and therefore needed to be able to communicate).
I’m pretty sure Eidolon’s “well restoration” is more him cannibalizing agents for fuel, and not something he could do to someone else. Cauldron’s booster shots for him were probably just the same formulas they always mix up, since they mentioned they weren’t going to give him any more when they could use them to make other heroes instead. So, like passenger tea, maybe?
This was really cool.
Tattletale’s trick, in particular, was sheer awesome. (And in some ways is a strong indictment of Taylor: like, yeah, if you want to stand a chance against Scion, you could get someone to give you brain damage and become a broken, transcendent god . . . or you could spend some more quality time with Tattletale and Bitch. You know. Whichever.)
jeqofire on October 28, 2013 at 20:41 said:
I especially like the middle part of this chapter, because, while everything before and after is insane combat war strategy tactical explosion superawesome doomfest, the part where Scion has Taylor by the throat and is targeting the Undersiders, and only the Undersiders, made the battle feel a lot more personal, and like things were heading toward full circle.
Then the Undersiders made Scion cry, and he decided to stop playing to drama and start killing things again. 🙂
Sweet! We find out about just what the heck the Ash Beast is! Cool! Now I’m even more confused about the Blasphemies though…are they like mini Endbringers? Pretty close to official confirmation that they aren’t human despite out unreliable narrator but what else can trigger? Yeah we had an AI trigger but Dragon was designed pretty close to human norm and the Blasphemies were described as sorta kinda humanish when we saw them at the meeting a while back. So they aren’t elephants, they aren’t dolphins, they aren’t monkeys/apes and they aren’t squid which are the only other critters I can think of on the planet that are considered smart enough that I would reasonably be okay with a trigger event from one. So what the hell are they?
It’s good that she has degenerated so far that she has reached a kind of stability. A place where she recognizes that she can’t be trusted so she trusts the old her from a few minutes ago.
RIP Othala and no-name pole bearer. Ash Beast will not be missed. Trickster will be missed a little but not enough to justify an RIP.
I really hope that the shapeshifter she left to die wasn’t Weld…
RIP Revel. I don’t want to give Lady Photon an RIP but I feel I should. I’m not too sure whether she deserves one after the things with Amy…
It’s interesting how eager the Administrator is to fight it’s progenitor/overbeing. I wonder whether we are really reading Taylor, or the Administrator or some unholy fusion of the two. I’m leaning towards the last one I think.
I’m torn between loving the confirmation that not only is my girl Hoyden alive but she is capable of slightly harming Scion and the fact that this puts her as a prime fighter for God!Taylor.
RIP Alexandria/Pretender. Dead for good this time for the one who knows about the other.
Wow I have to say I’m amazingly surprised that the African warlord who calmly asks for the sacrifice of thousands to feed her pet shadow is the first to fall to STRESS of all things…
Hah! Yes! Foil my girl you do trump Scion! Congrats on being the only damn person besides Eidolon and God!Taylor to force him into using Contessa’s power! That’s what you get asshole for letting a dangerous power designed to kill your own race go. Ha!
Endbringers, I salute you. Well done with the Big Damn Heroes moment guys!
Damn…Tattletale definitely ranks of one of the single most dangerous people in Wormverse and all she can do is guess really well….finding Scion’s weak point. Holy fuck. Well done. I guess my half formed idea about him being too human and leading to his downfall was on the right track for the wrong reasons…I hope she pulled Bastard out in time.
Oh come on Doormaker/Doormaker’s Shard! Decades of being good to go and you start losing the mojo in the last five minutes?
I don’t think it was Weld. Even if Taylor’s lost his name, I think the metal would feature more in her description than the shapeshifting.
It’s mentioned up above that Masters trigger due to loss of control and the need to regain it. Moord Nag is a powerful Master, and being mind-controlled is probably jabbing her right in the trigger event.
Taylor’s a powerful Master, too, and this whole thing can be seen as her slightly over-the-top reaction to her trigger. Loss of control? No problem, she’ll just get some elective brain surgery and then she’ll control EVERYTHING. (The irony being that while she’s controlling everyone else, she’s losing control of herself.)
Given how hard Taylor’s been abusing Doormaker’s power to keep her hax links up – the portals don’t move, so she has to create a new one and banish the old every time she or one of her swarm moves, and she’s got thousands of people under control, plus she’s using the portals tactically – Doormaker’s very likely burned more power in the last five minutes than he did in decades of Cauldron use.
Somewhere around the activation of the dimension gun, I remembered something I said much earlier: Being Taylor is a lot like being an Agent.
When Taylor thought about putting Scion in a world where he’s the only one standing, I realized that’s not the future he’s aiming for. If he’s aiming at all, and not just crazy with rage, he’s aiming for a future where he has a partner again.
“Honey, I’m home…”
Holy fuck. If she wasn’t on our side, I’m pretty sure I would need new pants.
Scion is plowing through capes like tissue paper, glassing continents and shooting holes in the Bleed.
To play on his level, Taylor kidnapped and brainfucked whole Earths worth of parahumans and threw them at him like caltrops. The ones who don’t get pancaked by the angry god are slowly falling apart from mental trauma. She cleared out at least one planet and stuffed it full of whole arsenals of nukes
And Tattletale still manages to make the most horrifying move in this fight so far.
Ya know,its funny how much a tone can affect the series.Homestuck characters arguably may have it worse than Taylor ,except maybe the mind deterioration thing (maybe-a POV of Gamzee and the brainwashed characters would be interesting),yet you barely notice because of the tone.Interesting how a tone can affect perceived light/darkness of a series.
klein Adolf on June 1, 2015 at 18:47 said:
Jonah on October 11, 2016 at 21:50 said:
The dimension switches wouldn’t work forever, and I’d pretty much but there were options for future attacks. missing word after pretty much
I’d left the civilians be. let them be/left them to be?
is there fanart of what’s happening this chapter? I’m having a hard time visualizing it. (Nothing against Wildbow, just I’m not great at visualizing simple scenes of nprmal geometry, so these multi-portalled interactions are beyond me.) Thanks!
This was emotionally killing me.
Oh gods
She ran out of portals
There are only that few Nines left?
And why did we not hear what happened with Doormaker? She nearly lost Clairy but not Doory? Isn´t he also around her?
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2. (US20180297423) AUTOMATIC TIRE INFLATION SYSTEM WITH THRU-HUB AIR FEED
National Biblio. Data
Note: Text based on automatic Optical Character Recognition processes. Please use the PDF version for legal matters
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
The present application claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 120 to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/485,272, entitled “AUTOMATIC TIRE INFLATION SYSTEM WITH THRU-HUB AIR FEED”, filed 13 Apr. 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
The present invention relates to vehicles; and more particularly to the automatic inflation of vehicle tires.
Description of Related Art
Cars and trucks have wheels and tires that interface with roadways. The tires are typically inflated with air or another gas. Generally, tires are most efficient and provide the best interface when inflated to a target pressure(s). Some land based vehicles include more than four wheels, e.g., semi tractors that include four, eight, more rear wheels. All of these rear wheels are typically powered, with four wheels and tires driven by a single axle or via a single differential. A single engine may drive the rear wheels via one or more drive shafts and differentials. Maintaining the target pressure(s) on all of these tires is difficult. Thus, Automatic Tire Inflation Systems (ATISs) have been developed in an attempt to maintain the target air pressure in all of the tires. Examples of such prior ATISs are disclosed in one or more of prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,287,906, 5,584,949, 5,797,398, 5,797,979, 6,698,482, 5,377,736, 5,538,062, 5,868,881, 6,269,691, 6,435,238 and 6,892,778.
These prior solutions had a number of shortcomings. With some prior art techniques, air was fed through hollow drive axles to a fitting located on the end thereof. The fitting was then coupled to the air inlets of the tires. To couple the air into the hollow drive axles, a rotatingly attached fitting coupled air from an air storage to the inside of the hollow axles. This fitting was subject to leakage of contaminants. These contaminants interfered with the operation of the ATIS and eventually caused the ATIS to fail.
Thus, in order to overcome the shortcomings described above among other shortcomings, an Automatic Tire Inflation System (ATIS) for use with a vehicle according to a first described embodiment includes a controller, valves controlled by the controller, the valves having an air supply inlet, and a plurality of air outlets. Further the ATIS includes, for at least one drive axle having inner bearings and outer bearings, a channel formed in a spindle, first hosing coupling a valve of the valves controlled by the controller to the channel formed in the spindle, a channel formed in a hub, a rotary air seal residing between the inner bearings and the outer bearings and coupling the channel formed in the spindle to the channel formed in the hub, and second hosing coupling the channel formed in the hub to at least one wheel.
Thus, as compared to the prior ATIS systems, the ATIS of the first embodiment, significantly reduces contamination in the ATIS air stream. Reduction in contamination extends the life of the ATIS, extends spindle life, extends hub life, and extends serviced wheel/tire lives and extends maintenance intervals.
According to some optional aspects of the first embodiment, a first fitting couples the first hosing to the channel formed in the spindle, a second fitting couples the second hosing to the channel formed in the hub, and/or the second hosing provides connections for multiple wheels.
According to another optional aspect of the first embodiment, the spindle is tapered, the inner bearings comprise inner tapered roller bearings, and the outer bearings comprise outer tapered roller bearings.
According to still another optional aspect, the spindle is straight and the inner bearings and outer bearings comprise a unitized bearing set. With this optional aspect, a first channel couples the channel formed in the spindle to the rotary air seal and a second channel that couples the channel formed in the hub to the rotary air seal.
According to yet another optional aspect of the first embodiment, the rotary air seal is configured to reside in a sealed state to form a seal between the spindle and the hub to support air flow between the channel formed in the spindle and the channel formed in hub and reside in an unsealed state to negate the seal between the spindle and the hub. With this optional aspect, transitioning the rotary air seal from the unsealed state to the sealed state may be performed only when a serviced vehicle is stationary or a speed of the serviced vehicle is below a threshold speed. Further, with this optional aspect, the rotary air seal may be periodically transitioned between the sealed state and the unsealed state.
According to still another optional aspect of the first embodiment, the rotary air seal includes a first side and a second side, each of the first side and the second side including a first stationary portion sealed to an inner wall of the hub, a second stationary portion sealed to an inner wall of the spindle, and a movable portion coupled to the first stationary portion.
According to a second embodiment of the present disclosure, an ATIS includes a controller, valves controlled by the controller, the valves having an air supply inlet, and a plurality of air outlets. The ATIS of the second embodiment further includes, for at least one drive axle, a hub, a spindle, a unitized bearing set having inner bearings and outer bearings coupled between the spindle and the hub, a first channel, and a second channel, a channel formed in the spindle and coupled to the first channel of the unitized bearing set, first hosing coupling a valve of the valves controlled by the controller to the channel formed in the spindle, a channel formed in a hub coupled to the second channel of the unitized bearing set, a rotary air seal residing within the unitized bearing set coupling the first channel of the unitized bearing set to the second channel of the unitized bearing set, and second hosing coupling the channel formed in the hub to at least one wheel.
The second embodiment as well as the third and fourth embodiments described later herein provide benefits substantially the same as those of the first embodiment. The reader will appreciate that the second through fourth embodiments may provide additional benefits as well.
According to a first optional aspect of the second embodiment, the rotary air seal is configured to reside in a sealed state to form a seal between the first channel of the unitized bearing and the second channel of the unitized bearing and reside in an unsealed state to negate the seal between the first channel of the unitized bearing and the second channel of the unitized bearing. With this first optional aspect, the rotary air seal may include a first side and a second side, each of the first side and the second side including a first stationary portion sealed to a first inner wall of a unitized bearing set, a second stationary portion sealed to a second inner wall of the unitized bearing set, and a movable portion coupled to the first stationary portion.
According to a third embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for operating an ATIS for use with a vehicle includes monitoring air pressure of at least one tire, determining that inflation of the at least one tire is required, and opening at least one valve to allow air to flow. The air flows along a path from an air supply to a channel formed in a spindle via first hosing, from the channel formed in the spindle to a rotary air seal, from the rotary air seal to a channel formed in a hub, and from the channel formed in the hub to the at least one tire via second hosing.
According to a first optional aspect of the third embodiment, prior to the opening of the at least one valve to allow air to flow, transitioning the rotary air seal from an unsealed state to a sealed state to establish a seal between a channel formed in the spindle to the channel formed in the hub, and after inflation is completed, transitioning the rotary air seal from the sealed state to the unsealed state to negate the seal between a channel formed in the spindle to the channel formed in the hub. Transitioning the rotary air seal from the unsealed state to the sealed state may be performed only when a serviced vehicle is stationary or a speed of the serviced vehicle is below a threshold speed. Alternately, or in addition, the rotary air seal may periodically transition between the sealed state and the unsealed state.
According to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for operating an ATIS for use with a vehicle includes monitoring air pressure of at least one tire, determining that inflation of the at least one tire is required, and opening at least one valve to allow air to flow. The air flows from an air supply to a channel formed in a spindle via first hosing, from the channel formed in the spindle to a first channel of a unitized bearing, from the first channel of the unitized bearing to a rotary air seal, from the rotary air seal to a second channel of the unitized bearing, from the second channel of the unitized bearing to a channel formed in a hub, and from the channel formed in the hub to the at least one tire via second hosing.
According to a first optional aspect of the fourth embodiment, prior to the opening of the at least one valve to allow air to flow, transitioning the rotary air seal from an unsealed state to a sealed state to establish a seal between a first channel of a unitized bearing and a second channel of the unitized bearing and after inflation is completed, transitioning the rotary air seal from the sealed state to the unsealed state to negate the seal between the first channel of the unitized bearing and the second channel of the unitized bearing.
According to a second optional aspect of the fourth embodiment, transitioning the rotary air seal from the unsealed state to the sealed state is performed only when a serviced vehicle is stationary or a speed of the serviced vehicle is below a threshold speed. Alternately, or in addition, the rotary air seal may periodically transition between the sealed state and the unsealed state.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates the basic components of a battery powered electric vehicle.
FIG. 2 illustrates an Automatic Tire Inflation System (ATIS) constructed and operating according to at least one disclosed embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of a spindle, a unitized bearing set, and a rotary air seal according to a described embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of an axle, a unitized bearing set, and a rotary air seal according to a described embodiment.
FIG. 5A is a partial cross-sectional view of an axle, a unitized bearing set, and a rotary air seal in an unsealed state according to a described embodiment.
FIG. 5B is a partial cross-sectional view of an axle, a unitized bearing set, and a rotary air seal in a sealed state according to a described embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating operation of an ATIS according to one or more described embodiments.
FIG. 7A is a partial cross-sectional view of an axle of an ATIS according to a described embodiment.
FIG. 7B is a partial cross-sectional view detailing the unitized bearing set of FIG. 7A.
FIG. 7C is a partial cross-sectional view detailing a portion of the unitized bearing set of FIGS. 7A and 7B.
FIG. 8B is a partial cross-sectional view detailing a packed bearing set of FIG. 8A.
FIG. 8C is a partial cross-sectional view detailing a portion of the packed bearing set of FIGS. 8A and 8B.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE
FIG. 1 illustrates the basic components of a battery powered electric vehicle (electric vehicle) 100. The electric vehicle 100 includes at least one drive motor (traction motor) 102A, 102B and/or 102C, at least one gear box 104A, 104B, and/or 104C coupled to a corresponding drive motor 102A, 102B, and/or 102C, a battery 106 and electronics 108. Generally, the battery 106 provides electricity to the electronics 108 of the electric vehicle 100 and to propel the electric vehicle 100 using the drive motors 102A, 102B and/or 102C. The electric vehicle 100 includes a large number of other components that are not described herein but known to one or ordinary skill. While the construct of the electric vehicle 100 of FIG. 1 is shown to have ten wheels, differing electric vehicles may have fewer or more than ten wheels. Further, differing types of electric vehicles 100 may incorporate the inventive concepts described herein.
The vehicle also includes an ATIS 110 that provides controlled inflation to tires 112A, 112B, 114A, 114B, 114C, 114D, 116A, 116B, 116C, and 116D. According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, the ATIS 110 includes a controller and valves controlled by the controller, the valves having an air supply inlet, and a plurality of air outlets. Further, the ATIS includes, for at least one drive axle having inner bearings and outer bearings, a channel formed in a spindle, first hosing coupling the valves to the channel formed in the spindle, a channel formed in a hub, a rotary air seal residing between the inner bearings and the outer bearings and coupling the channel formed in the spindle to the channel formed in the hub, and second hosing coupling the channel formed in the hub to at least one tire. Various aspects of the ATIS of the present disclosure will be described further with reference to FIGS. 2 through 6. By feeding air through the channel formed in the spindle, the rotary air seal that resides between the inner bearing and the outer bearing, and the channel formed in the spindle, the risk of contamination is significantly reduced. Particularly, the inner bearing and outer bearing include seals that assist in preventing contamination of the rotary air seal. Further, without the requirement of a hollow axle, the complexity of the ATIS of the present disclosure as compared to the prior ATISs is reduced.
FIG. 2 illustrates an ATIS 200 constructed and operating according to a disclosed embodiment. Two differing embodiments of the ATIS 200 are shown in FIG. 2. A first embodiment of the ATIS 202 is for a first drive configuration having a tapered spindle with tapered roller bearings and the second embodiment of the ATIS 252 is for a straight spindle with a unitized bearing set 268. A single air tank 204, controller 205, and valves 209 service both embodiments 202 and 252.
The first embodiment of the ATIS 202 includes the controller 205 and valves 209. The valves 209 are controlled by the controller 205, have an air supply inlet, and a plurality of air outlets. Each air outlet couples to corresponding hosing 206, 210, 212, and 208. Further, the ATIS 202 includes, for at least one drive axle 214 having inner bearings 222 and outer bearings 223, a channel 207 formed in a spindle 216, first hosing 206 coupling the valves 209 to the channel 207 formed in the spindle 216, a channel 224 formed in a hub 218, a rotary air seal 226 residing between the inner bearings 222 and the outer bearings 223 and coupling the channel 207 formed in the spindle 216 to the channel 224 formed in the hub 218, and second hosing 228 coupling the channel 224 formed in the hub 218 to at least one wheel/tire (not shown in FIG. 2 but shown in FIG. 1).
The ATIS 202 may also include a first fitting coupling the first hosing 206 to the channel 207 formed in the spindle 216. The ATIS may also include a second fitting coupling the second hosing 228 to the channel 224 formed in the hub 218. The second hosing may include connections for multiple tires such as those illustrated in FIG. 1. The hosing includes check valves that allow air to be supplied to the serviced tires and to prevent the back-flow of air from the serviced tires to the servicing hosing. The ATIS 202 (or 252) may include one or more one-way check valves to support flow of air from the air tank 204 to the tires and to prevent air flow from the tires back into the ATIS 202 (or 252). In other embodiments, air is allowed to controllably flow in the reverse direction to reduce air pressure in the serviced tires.
With the ATIS 202 of the first embodiment, the spindle 216 is tapered and the inner bearings 222 and the outer bearings 223 are tapered roller bearings that couple the spindle 216 to the hub 218. The bearings 222 and 223, the spindle 216, and the hub create a volume 225 that is substantially isolated from the external environment. The rotary air seal 226 resides within this volume 225 and, because it is isolated from the external environment, has an extended life.
As will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the rotary air seal 226 may be operable in two states; a sealed state and an unsealed state. In the sealed state, the rotary air seal 226 provides a substantially air-tight seal between the spindle 216 and the hub 218 to support the transfer of air from the channel 207 in the spindle 216 to the channel 224 in the hub 218. In the unsealed state, the rotary air seal 226 does not provide such a seal. In various operations, in order to support the inflation of the serviced tires and to extend life of the rotary air seal 226, the rotary air seal 226 may be kept in the unsealed state until wireless sensors in the serviced tires indicate that inflation of the tires is required. In such case, the rotary air seal 226 would be transitioned to the sealed state to provide air for inflation. The controller 205 may control the state of the rotary air seal 226.
Various rules may be implemented to maximize life of the rotary air seal 226. In one operation, the rotary air seal 226 would be transitioned from the unsealed state to the sealed state only when the serviced vehicle is traveling at a relatively low speed or stopped. Alternatively, the rotary air seal 226 would be transitioned from the unsealed state to the sealed state when a tire requires inflation and transitioned back to the unsealed state after inflation is completed, independent of the movement of the vehicle. Further, there may be differing levels of the sealed state, based upon the required air pressure needed to inflate the serviced tires, which would also extend the life of the rotary air seal 226.
The ATIS 252 of the second embodiment includes elements similar to those of the ATIS 202 of the first embodiment. However, with the ATIS 252 of the second embodiment, the spindle 254 is not tapered and the inner bearings and outer bearings comprise a unitized bearing set 268 that couples the spindle 254 to the hub 258. With the ATIS 252, the unitized bearing set 268 includes a channel 256 that couples the channel 257 formed in the spindle 254 to the channel 260 formed in the hub 258 via a rotary air seal 272. Further, the unitized bearing set 268 creates a volume 270 in which the rotary air seal 272 resides, the volume 270 protecting the rotary air seal 272 from the external environment. The rotary air seal 272 of the ATIS 252 may further be operable in both a sealed state and an unsealed state.
With the embodiments of FIG. 2, air pressure sensors at each wheel may detect air pressure in a tire and/or temperature of the tire and wirelessly broadcast this information to the controller 205. The controller 205 then controls the valves 209 to control pressure at each wheel end independently to direct air to serviced tires so that they are at a selected air pressure. For dual tires, e.g., 114A/ 114B, 116A/ 116B, 114C/ 114D, or 116C/ 116D of FIG. 1, a single wheel end may service two (or more tires). Further, valves may be attached to or integrated into each wheel end that may be opened through wireless or pneumatic signal to allow pressurized air to flow from the air tank 204 to the wheel ends to inflate serviced tires. In such case, the valves 209 may be replaced or augmented by controllable valves at the wheel ends.
FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of a spindle, a unitized bearing set, and a rotary air seal according to a described embodiment. The structure 300 of FIG. 3 includes a unitized bearing set 302 that resides between spindle 304 and a hub (not shown). Channel 308 is formed in the spindle to support the flow of air from an air supply through a first channel 312 formed in an inner portion of the unitized bearing set 302, through a rotary air seal 306, and through a second channel 310 formed in the unitized bearing set 302. This air path is employed to inflate one or more serviced tires.
The rotary air seal 306 may be operable in two states; a sealed state and an unsealed state. In the sealed state, the rotary air seal 306 provides a substantially air-tight seal between the spindle 304 and the hub to support the transfer of air from the channel 308 in the spindle 304 to a channel in the hub. In the unsealed state, the rotary air seal 306 does not provide such a seal. In various operations, in order to support the inflation of the serviced tires and to extend life of the rotary air seal 306, the rotary air seal 306 may be kept in the unsealed state until wireless sensors in the serviced tires indicate that inflation of the tires is required. In such case, the rotary air seal 306 would be transitioned to the sealed state to provide air for inflation. The controller 205 may control the state of the rotary air seal 306.
With the embodiment of FIG. 3, the rotary air seal 306 may be operated pneumatically to extend from the unsealed state to the sealed state and back again. The rotary air seal 306 in the sealed state may support pressure above 70 psi, e.g., to a maximum of 150 psi. The rotary air seal 306 is normally non-pressurized to remain in the unsealed state and pressurized only during fill and/or exhaust. The rotary air seal 306 may transition between the sealed state and the unsealed state to reduce degradation of the rotary air seal 306, e.g., 10 seconds in the sealed state and 50 seconds in the unsealed state during a fill or exhaust cycle. Further, the sealed state may be enacted only when the serviced vehicle is stationary or moving at a low speed. By operating the rotary air seal 306 in this manner, the life of the rotary air seal 306 may match the life of the united bearing set 302.
FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of an axle, a unitized bearing set, and a rotary air seal according to a described embodiment. The structure 400 of FIG. 4 includes a unitized bearing set 402 that resides between axle 404 and a hub (not shown). Channel 408 is formed in the axle 404 to support the flow of air from an air supply through a first channel 412 formed in an inner portion of the unitized bearing set 402, through a rotary air seal 406, and through a second channel 410 formed in the unitized bearing set 402. This air path is employed to inflate serviced tires.
As was the case with FIG. 3, the rotary air seal 406 may be operable in two states; a sealed state and an unsealed state. In the sealed state, the rotary air seal 406 provides a substantially air-tight seal between the axle 404 and the hub to support the transfer of air from the channel 408 in the axle 404 to a channel in the hub. In the unsealed state, the rotary air seal 406 does not provide such a seal. In various operations, in order to support the inflation of the serviced tires and to extend life of the rotary air seal 406, the rotary air seal 406 may be kept in the unsealed state until wireless (or wired) sensors in the serviced tires indicate that inflation/deflation of the tires is required. In such case, the rotary air seal 406 would be transitioned to the sealed state to provide air for inflation or to receive air from the tires. The controller 205 may control the state of the rotary air seal 406.
With the embodiment of FIG. 4, the rotary air seal 406 may be operated pneumatically to extend from the unsealed state to the sealed state and back again. The rotary air seal 406 in the sealed state may support pressure above 70 psi, e.g., to a maximum of 150 psi. The rotary air seal 406 is normally non-pressurized to remain in the unsealed state and pressurized only during fill and exhaust. The rotary air seal 406 may transition between the sealed state and the unsealed state to reduce degradation of the rotary air seal 406, e.g., 10 seconds in the sealed state and 50 seconds in the unsealed state during a fill or exhaust cycle. Further, the sealed state may be enacted only when the serviced vehicle is stationary or moving at a low speed. By operating the rotary air seal 406 in this manner, the life of the rotary air seal 406 may match the life of the united bearing set 402.
FIG. 5A is a partial cross-sectional view of an axle, a unitized bearing set, and a rotary air seal in an unsealed state according to a described embodiment. FIG. 5B is a partial cross-sectional view of an axle, a unitized bearing set, and a rotary air seal in a sealed state according to a described embodiment. Numbering between FIGS. 3, 5A, and 5B is consistent where applicable. Referring to FIG. 5A, the rotary air seal 306 includes two sides, each including a first stationary portion 504 sealed to a first inner wall of the unitized bearing set 302 as shown and a second stationary portion 508 sealed to a second inner wall of the unitized bearing set 302. Each side of the rotary air seal 306 also includes a movable portion 506 coupled to the first stationary portion 504. In the unsealed state, a gap exists between the movable portion 506 and the second stationary portion 508. In this unsealed state, air control valve 502 is closed to prevent transfer of air via second channel 310. Further, air does not flow via channel 308 and first channel 312 when the rotary air seal 306 is in the unsealed state.
Referring to FIG. 5B, the rotary air seal 306 is in the sealed state in which the two sides each form a seal. In the sealed state, the movable portion 506 seals with the second stationary portion 508. In this sealed state, air control valve 502 is open to allow transfer of air via second channel 310 and air flows via channel 308 and first channel 312 to inflate serviced tires. The rotary air seal may be constructed of various materials, including metals, plastics, and synthetic rubber material. In one construct, each of the first stationary portion 504 and the second stationary portion 508 are formed of metal and the movable portion 506 is formed of a flexible material that is capable of forming a seal. This flexible material must be strong enough to resist air pressure of between 70 psi and 150 psi and must be resilient enough to transition from the sealed state to the unsealed state.
In an example of operation of the rotary air seal 306, in the unsealed state, air pressure provided via channel 308 and first channel 312 is insufficient to force the movable portion 506 against the second stationary portion 508. To transition from the unsealed state to the sealed state, the air control valve 502 is closed fully or partially and air pressure is provided via channel 308 and first channel 312, the air pressure sufficient to transition the rotary air seal 306 from the unsealed state to the sealed state. Once sufficient air pressure is applied to transition the rotary air seal 306 from the unsealed state to the sealed state, air control valve 502 is controllably opened to allow air to flow to serviced wheels/tires.
In another example operation, air control valve 502 may be opened sufficiently to apply air pressure to the rotary air seal 306 to force the rotary air seal 306 from the unsealed state to the sealed state (using air stored in serviced tires). Once transitioned to the sealed state, air may be supplied to the serviced wheels/tires to inflate them or air may be evacuated from the wheels/tires.
FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating operation of an ATIS according to one or more described embodiments. Operations 600 begin with the ATIS monitoring air pressure in serviced wheels/tires (step 602). Such monitoring may be done via communication between air pressure sensors of the serviced wheels/tires and an ATIS controller. The communication may be wireless or via a conductive path between the serviced wheels/tires and the ATIS controller. The ATIS controller may service multiple differing combinations of wheels/tires and measure their respective air pressures separately. The ATIS then determines whether inflation of one or more wheels/tires is required (decision step 604). If inflation is not required, operation returns to step 602. However, if the ATIS determines that inflation is required at step 604, operation proceeds with the ATIS optionally transitioning a rotary air seal from an unsealed state to a sealed state (step 606). Step 606 is performed when the rotary air seal may be transitioned from the unsealed state to the sealed state. Operations 600 continue with the ATIS supplying pressurized air to wheels/tires requiring air (step 608).
According to a first embodiment, step 606 includes opening at least one valve to allow air to flow from an air supply to a channel formed in a spindle via first hosing, from the channel formed in the spindle to a rotary air seal, from the rotary air seal to a channel formed in a hub, from the channel formed in the hub to the at least one tire via second hosing. According to a second embodiment, step 606 includes opening at least one valve to allow air to flow from an air supply to a channel formed in a spindle via first hosing, from the channel formed in the spindle to a first channel of a unitized bearing, from the first channel of the unitized bearing to a rotary air seal, from the rotary air seal to a second channel of the unitized bearing, from the second channel of the unitized bearing to a channel formed in a hub, and from the channel formed in the hub to the at least one tire via second hosing.
With the completion of the air inflation operations (as determined at step 610), the ATIS optionally transitions the rotary air seal from the sealed state to the unsealed state (step 612). If the air inflation operations are not completed at step 610, operation returns to step 608. From step 612, operation returns to step 602.
As was previously described the rotary air seal may be periodically transitioned from the sealed state to the unsealed state. Further, the rotary air seal may only be transitioned from the unsealed state to the sealed state when the serviced vehicle is stationary or moving at a speed below a threshold speed. These steps are taken in an attempt to extend the life of the rotary air seal. Considering these operations, however, the timing of the operations 600 of FIG. 6 may be based upon these factors. Further, if the air pressure of any wheels/tires combination falls below a lower threshold, these rules may be temporarily modified to support the inflation of a tire.
FIG. 7A is a partial cross-sectional view of an axle of an ATIS according to a described embodiment. FIG. 7B is a partial cross-sectional view detailing the unitized bearing set of FIG. 7A. FIG. 7C is a partial cross-sectional view detailing a portion of the unitized bearing set of FIGS. 7A and 7B. Referring to all of FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C, the axle 700 includes elements similar to those of the axle of the ATIS 252 of the second embodiment of FIG. 2. The axle 700 includes a spindle 702 that couples to a hub 704 by a unitized bearing set 706. The unitized bearing set 706 includes a channel 708 that couples a channel 710 formed in the spindle 702 to a channel 712 formed in the hub 704 to couple air flow there between. The unitized bearing set 706 includes a volume 714 in which a rotary air seal may reside. In such case, a first portion of the channel 708 of the unitized bearing set 706 couples to the channel 710 formed in the spindle 702 and a second portion of the channel 708 of the unitized bearing set 706 couples to the channel 712 formed in the hub 704. The volume 714 protects the rotary air seal from the external environment. The rotary air seal of the embodiment 700 of FIG. 7A, when present, may further be operable in both a sealed state and an unsealed state. With the axle 700 of FIG. 7A, however, the unitized bearing set 706, itself, may provide a sealed path between the channel 710 formed in the spindle 702 and the channel 712 formed in the hub 704.
FIG. 8A is a partial cross-sectional view of an axle of an ATIS according to a described embodiment. FIG. 8B is a partial cross-sectional view detailing a packed bearing set of FIG. 8A. FIG. 8C is a partial cross-sectional view detailing a portion of the packed bearing set of FIGS. 8A and 8B. Referring to all of FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C, the axle 800 includes elements similar to those of the axle of the ATIS 202 of the first embodiment of FIG. 2 except that a spindle 802 of the axle 800 is not tapered. The axle 800 includes the spindle 802 that couples to a hub 804 by an inner bearing 806 and an outer bearing 808. The inner bearing 806 and the outer bearing 808 form a volume 814 that couples a channel 810 formed in the spindle 802 to a channel 812 formed in the hub 804 to couple air flow there between. The volume 814 may protect a rotary air seal installed therein from the external environment. The rotary air seal of the embodiment 800 of FIG. 8A, when present, may further be operable in both a sealed state and an unsealed state. With the axle 800, however, the volume 814 between the inner bearing 806 and the outer bearing 808 may provide a sealed path between the channel 810 formed in the spindle 802 and the channel 812 formed in the hub 804.
In the foregoing specification, the disclosure has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, as one skilled in the art will appreciate, various embodiments disclosed herein can be modified or otherwise implemented in various other ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, this description is to be considered as illustrative and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the manner of making and using various embodiments of the disclosed system, method, and computer program product. It is to be understood that the forms of disclosure herein shown and described are to be taken as representative embodiments. Equivalent elements, materials, processes or steps may be substituted for those representatively illustrated and described herein. Moreover, certain features of the disclosure may be utilized independently of the use of other features, all as would be apparent to one skilled in the art after having the benefit of this description of the disclosure.
Routines, methods, steps, operations, or portions thereof described herein may be implemented through electronics, e.g., one or more processors, using software and firmware instructions. A “processor” includes any hardware system, hardware mechanism or hardware component that processes data, signals or other information. A processor can include a system with a central processing unit, multiple processing units, dedicated circuitry for achieving functionality, or other systems. Some embodiments may be implemented by using software programming or code in one or more digital computers or processors, by using application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), optical, chemical, biological, quantum or nano-engineered systems, components and mechanisms. Based on the disclosure and teachings representatively provided herein, a person skilled in the art will appreciate other ways or methods to implement the invention.
As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,” “having” or any contextual variants thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, product, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, product, article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary, “or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example, a condition “A or B” is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true (or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or not present) and B is true (or present), and both A and B is true (or present).
Although the steps, operations, or computations may be presented in a specific order, this order may be changed in different embodiments. In some embodiments, to the extent multiple steps are shown as sequential in this specification, some combination of such steps in alternative embodiments may be performed at the same time. The sequence of operations described herein can be interrupted, suspended, reversed, or otherwise controlled by another process.
It will also be appreciated that one or more of the elements depicted in the drawings/figures can also be implemented in a more separated or integrated manner, or even removed or rendered as inoperable in certain cases, as is useful in accordance with a particular application. Additionally, any signal arrows in the drawings/figures should be considered only as exemplary, and not limiting, unless otherwise specifically noted.
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5 Trance-inducing Artists...
5 Trance-inducing Artists to Awaken the Creative Mind
Posted on November 6, 2019 By Moxxy Rogers 0 Comments
By Bailey Diemer
Michael Nau – Nau, a Maryland native, blends reflective indie rock with hints of folk and psychedelic influence. The subdued former front man of 2000’s indie stints Page France and, most recently, Cotton Jones went solo in 2016 and has released five albums since. His latest project, Less Ready to Go is an up-beat experiment of genres rooted by the reassurance of Nau’s tender vocals. Signed to London-based independent record label Full Time Hobby, Nau sprinkles elements of Americana and dream pop to form a feel-good symbiosis perfect for a transcendental road trip. Listen here
Recommended songs: “Looking for a Crack”, “Winter Beat” and “Scumways”
Michael Nau will be in Portland on 2/16 at Roseland Theatre with indie-rock band Dr. Dog. Tickets here.
Levitation Room – Formed in 2012 by two longtime friends, East-L.A. rock band Levitation Room bends dimension with rhythmic garage rock enhanced by substantial psychedelic influence. Initially formed around their love for 60’s garage rock with a psychedelic twist, Levitation Room’s debut album, Ethos, is a beautiful homage to the era. The band’s latest release, Headspace, stays true to the bands mind-altering roots while incorporating thought-provoking lyrics accompanied by a mellower arrangement and flavored with hints of Motown-style R&B and folk. Listen here.
Recommended songs: “Loved”, “Ooh Child” & “Reasons Why”
Kikagaku Moyo – A quintet of psychedelic explorer’s hailing from Tokyo, Kikagaku Moyo blends heavy psychedelic melodies with elements of 70’s rock, folk and Indian raga to produce a cross-genre ear party. Kikagaku Moyo (which translates to “geometric patterns’) has released four studio albums since 2014. In 2015, members of the band started their own record label, Guruguru Brain, to showcase the unique music scene of East Asia. Listen here.
Recommended songs: “Nazo Nazo”, “Dripping Sun” & “Orange Peel”
Kikgaku Moyo is playing in Portland on 11/30 at Crystal Ballroom. Tickets here.
Babe Rainbow – The Australian 60’s-esque trio Babe Rainbow resembles a modern musical adaptation of Ken Kesey’s iconic Merry Band of Pranksters. From bohemian harmonies to classic guitar riffs, Babe Rainbow simply makes you wanna groove. The free-spirited Aussie’s latest album, Today, blends rich melody with Babe Rainbow’s signature psychedelic pop sound to create an ‘always sunny’ feeling even on the gloomiest winter day. Listen here.
Recommended songs: “Funky I like it”, “Love Forever” & “Something New”
Babe Rainbow will be in Portland on 11/8 at Polaris Hall. Tickets here.
DrugDealer – East coast born and Los Angeles-based Michael Collins, the ringleader of Drugdealer, began making music after leaving art school to ride trains across the United States. Once returning east to Baltimore, Collins began to experiment with sounds of all kinds, resulting in solo ventures Run DMT and Salvia Plath. Collins re-branded himself as Drugdealer in 2016 for the release of End of Comedy, Drugdealer’s debut album. On his latest release, Raw Honey, Collins recruits guest vocalists to animate his whimsical and experimental soft rock with a psych aftertaste.
My top Songs: “Honey”, “Fools” & “The Real World”
Submissions Open During Winter Break
November 30, 2019 By Moxxy Rogers
In case you missed your chance to submit to Pathos during the Fall term, you do…
Online Art Gallery, Volume 7
January 18, 2019 By Juliana Tattoli
Pathos is pleased to continue the Online Art Gallery installments into Winter quarter! Thank you so…
© 2020 Pathos Literary Magazine - Theme by Farost
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How Chelny accumulators and feedstock for composites melted Manturov’s heart
Bars Technology and Rosatom will launch import substitution projects with budget support of almost 1 billion rubles
Photo: vk.com/barsbattery116
On 24 September, the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade announced the results of a competitive selection of industrial clusters that claim 50% federal subsidy of import substitution projects in regions. Two Tatarstan projects were recognised winners for the first time – Bars Technology producing rechargeable batteries and Rosatom's interregional cluster uniting Tatarstan, Moscow and Saratov Oblast in the creation of polyacrylonitrile precursors. They were given the approval to receive 748,5m rubles of subsidies for 5 years. It's expected that next year Tatarstan will try to prepare other several projects from a reserve of six Tatarstan clusters. Realnoe Vremya tells the details.
Two on federal import substitution programme
This year Tatarstan has won the final stage of the competition for receiving federal financing for import substation projects of industrial clusters, which have been subsidised since 2014. The programme launched in accordance with the Russian Government's Decree No. 41 as from 28.01.2016. But applications of Tatarstan clusters were always thrown overboard of the federal programme. But two candidates have managed to be on it this year, they managed to secure 748,5m rubles from approved 4bn rubles of budget subsidies. A project of Bars Technology from Chelny producing rechargeable batteries in the mechanical engineering cluster and Rosatom's interregional composite manufacturing cluster, which has production capacities in the republic and in two adjacent regions, became one of the winners. Acting Minister of Industry and Trade Sergey Tsyb signed a respective decree on the winner-projects.
Budget investments to pay back in 5 years
This year 24 joint projects with a total need for subsidies equal to 6,8bn rubles have submitted their application for the competition. And the projects themselves were evaluated by a very strong pool of experts. As it's said in the final message, representatives of federal power bodies, development institutes, banks, public organisations were among the commission. The Association of Clusters and Technology Parks of Russia in the commission was represented by its director Andrey Shpilenko. They checked not only the compliance with formal criteria but also assessed the budget and commercial effectiveness of projects in detail.
According to supervisor of cluster projects, Director General of PharmMedPolis Albert Gaifullin, the Tatarstan projects met three key requirements of the state important substation support programme.
Firstly, the candidates for the subsidies needed to provide the project with at least 30% of their own extra-budget money, while founders of Bars Technology's project will invest more than 497,5m rubles or 70% of the project's value. Secondly, tax payments in 5 years must be equal to budget injections in a ratio of three to one, that's to say, almost completely go back to the budget. Though this money is targeted and non-refundable on paper. ''In our case, the yield was better: 1,5 times more per every ruble,'' Gaifullin noted. Thirdly, new jobs must have a higher salary than in the market on average. Four years later, Bars Technology plans to offer over 200 job opportunities (75 jobs during the first year). According to the programme's conditions, the budget investments aren't paid immediately, it's targeted tranches as every stage is fulfilled.
Rosatom to drive Chinese import out
So the commission under the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade approved 17 joint projects with a planned volume of subsidised at 4,7bn rubles until the end of 2022. ''At the same time, the total volume of extra-budget investments in the projects will be almost three times higher than the volume of subsidies and total 13,8bn rubles. There will be created over 3,500 highly profitable job opportunities. Products of some projects also have export potential of over 1bn rubles to near and far abroad countries every year,'' it's said in the message of the Association of Clusters and Technology Parks of Russia. Bars Technology will open a factory manufacturing rechargeable based on EFB technology. The goal of the project is to reach production of 3 million accumulators for cars and 1 million industrial rechargeable batteries a year. According to Albert Gaifullin, the project of Bars Technology will enable it to become the leader of Russian production by 2020. This project was approved to receive 247,5m rubles of subsidy with a total value of almost 800m rubles. The project is already financed: 78m rubles have already been spent.
Rosatom's interregional cluster will be able to get twice more – 497m rubles. It's preparing to launch production of the raw material for composites – polyacrylonitrile fibre, which is to drive supplies from China out. ''The interregional industrial cluster Composites Without Borders created on the initiative of UMATEXGroup, a division of composite materials of Rosatom GC, got the support of the project to manufacture polyacrylonitrile precursors – the raw material to make the carbon fibre,'' says the association in the message. ''The project is of strategic importance to the Russian composite manufacturing sector and will enable to create a full polymer composite material production cycle in Russia by completely substituting imports of polyacrylonitrile fibre from China.'' Its capacity is 5,000 tonnes a year. According to Albert Gaifullin, the republic's officials vouched for each of these projects, while its fulfilment will be controlled by regional authorities.
The interregional industrial cluster Composites Without Borders got the support of the project to manufacture polyacrylonitrile precursors. Photo: kazan2013.ru
Not the end
It's expected next year Tatarstan will try to prepare several projects from a reserve of six Tatarstan clusters for the competition, said supervisor of cluster projects, Director General of PharmMedPolis Albert Gaifullin. According to him, the biggest number of clusters is registered in Tatarstan, the protection mechanism is well oiled, this is why there are chances of winning again. But the state import substitution support programme is to end in 2020, in fact. But he hopes it's likely to be expanded.
By Luiza Ignatyeva
Society 09:00 ‘Even our government has dissolved because of the abnormally warm weather’ Experts of Gaidar Forum discussed global warming and criticised the USA and Russia for insufficient effort to solve the problem
Society 17 January, 09:00 Prime Minister from State Duma, abolition of organized crime in business and maternity capital for firstborn child — key points in Putin's address 10 key points from Presidential Address to Federal Assembly
Society 17 January, 09:00 Boris Kagarlitsky: ‘It is clear why citizens of Kazan are more optimistic’ How Tatarstan capital chairs rating of citizens’ positive expectations
Industry 16 January, 09:00 African oil projects gaining appeal among Russian investors
Society 13 January, 09:00 Scientists name causes of January flood and snowless winter in Russia Why the Yenisei River burst the banks and people and machinery massively fall through the ice in Kuybyshev Reservoir
Society 09 January, 09:00 ‘If Trump doesn’t take abrupt foreign policy actions, there is a 90% probability that he will be re-elected’ Sergey Vostrikov on what awaits world’s most mentioned politicians in 2020
Industry 13 January, 09:00 Rosatom to build bitcoin mining facilities for rent
Analytics 14 January, 09:00 To remain in the catbird seat: what digital marketing be like in 2020
Business 15 January, 09:00 Booming e-commerce spurring warehouse development in Russia
Society 10 January, 09:00 Russia publishes plan for climate change
Economy 17 January, 09:00 Aleksey Kudrin: “Market reforms were necessary, although absolutely unprepared” Chubais, Kudrin, Aven, Auzan and others remembered Yegor Gaidar at the forum named after him
Sports 10 January, 09:00 ‘The score isn’t in our favour at the moment’ — Vladimir Leonov on consequences of WADA’s decision Republic’s minister of sport on year-end results, fate of Tatarstan sport and preparation for 2020 Olympics in Tokyo
Industry 09 January, 09:00 TAIF Group: key events of the outgoing year Change in leadership, new partners and agreements, large-scale projects and achievements
Business 09:00 Russian air carriers show double-digit growth in 2019
Industry 17 January, 09:00 Russian auto market preparing for another difficult year
Industry 15 January, 09:00 Cutlet of Kazan cultivated horse meat can be tasted in 2-3 years A laboratory-grown meat project is developed in Kazan
Economy 09 January, 09:00 Russia considering how to dispose of National Wealth Fund
Society 09:00 Ecology ministry note effective work of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's BTF The total amount of the two stages of the reconstruction amounted to more than 3 billion rubles
Society 09:00 Maternal age in Tatarstan reaches 29 years for the first time: youth don’t rush to start family Discussion of firstborn at 49 years, problem of 35-year-old brides and other alarming demographic problems at final session of Registry Office
Society 17 January, 09:00 ‘Medvedev’s resignation is a boon, especially in the light of the address’ Reaction to the president’s address in Russia and government’s resignation
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Assetz Property
PE funds triple investment in real estate to Rs 11,180 crore in the first half
Banks, faced with rising bad loans, have become cautious about lending to the sector even as several real estate firms struggle to service their debt Sobia Khan&Ravi Teja Sharma | ET Bureau | August 06, 2015, 08:40 IST
BENGALURU|NEW DELHI: Private equity funds almost tripled their investments in India’s real estate sector in the first six months of 2015 even as cash-strapped builders rushed to raise money to complete existing projects.
Private equity funds invested Rs 11,180 crore in the country’s commercial and residential real estate in the first half, up from Rs 4,002 crore a year ago, according to data from real estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield. “While PE investments in real estate sector have been rising steadily on year-on-year basis, funds are taking calculated risk and mainly investing in those projects where there is proper clarity on cash flow,” said Sanjay Dutt, executive managing director, South Asia, at Cushman & Wakefield. Commercial office sector received investments worth Rs 4,528 crore in the first half while the residential sector got Rs 6,328 crore.
Anckur Srivasttava, chairman of GenReal Property Advisers, said, “Much of the money is going for last mile funding where developers are seeking funds to complete pending projects. The developer also uses some part of this money to acquire additional land or secure approvals. These deals are usually happening in those pockets in different cities where sales are still happening.”
Indian real estate sector has been under stress due to slow sales of residential properties across major cities in the country. At the same time, banks, faced with rising bad loans, have become cautious about lending to the sector even as several real estate firms struggle to service their debt.
According to the property advisory firm Knight Frank, there have been 40 per cent drop in new residential project launches and 20 per cent dip in home sales in the last one year. The worst hit is the property market in the National Capital Region of Delhi, where new launches have dropped by 68 per cent in the first half of 2015.
Across the country, total unsold inventory stands at 7,06,900 units, which will take over three years to sell. Xander, Milestone Capital Advisors, Indiareit Fund Advisors, ASK and Blackstone are among the funds that committed big buck to the Indian real estate sector.
According to data from VCCircle Edge, Blackstone Real Estate Partners recently invested $165.8million to buy Vikhroli Corporate Park; Ozone Urbana Infra Developers raised $94.2 million from Piramal Fund Management; and Assetz Property and Homes LLP raised $116 million from Equis Fund Group. “Today, NBFCs are funding buying of land and also investing in projects before they have got all approvals, which was earlier the domain of structured finance and mezzanine finance players,” said Amit Bhagat, managing director of Ask Property Investment Advisors, which invests in residential projects.
Nitin Goel, managing partner for real estate investments at Milestone Capital, said, “Overall there is a lot of money chasing the real estate sector both in commercial and residential segment.
We are looking to invest in projects that are close to completion.” The investment trend is likely to continue owing to improved macro-economic factors such as the decline in twin deficits (fiscal and current account), controlled inflation which is well within RBI comfort zone, primarily owing to low crude oil prices which are anticipated to remain low at least for the foreseeable future.
Tags : Industry, trends, Sanjay Dutt, real estate, private equity, money matters, knight frank, Cushman & Wakefield, Assetz Property
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Microsoft Launches Office XP
By Scott Bekker
NEW YORK – At the Office XP launch Thursday, Microsoft Corp. chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates argued the case that personal productivity software has not yet reached its pinnacle.
The argument is critical for Microsoft to win to make a successful product of Office XP, which goes into general availability amid concerns that the productivity improvements made possible by suites of word processors, spreadsheets and e-mail have crossed the hump and are beginning to bring diminishing returns to corporations.
"We are way short of what it's possible to do for these knowledge workers," Gates said. He contended the productivity gains that economic gurus like Alan Greenspan have credited to software are just beginning.
Gates demonstrated a slide showing that Microsoft's studies of worker productivity indicate that knowledge workers spend 30 percent of their time searching for information and reading information.
Microsoft demonstrated several features in Office XP addressing those needs Thursday, including broader search functionality and SmartTags. Office XP searches now hunt across documents created with different Microsoft Office applications, and can search beyond an individual computer. The SmartTags, which appear in individual Office applications, allow for quick linking to other documents and items on the Web.
"A theme of Windows XP is unlocking hidden knowledge," Gates said.
Microsoft has also made a major push with collaboration efforts, bringing Office XP more squarely into competition with the historically collaboration-focused Lotus Domino/Notes product set.
One demonstrator at the launch was Ford Motor Co., which uses Office XP in combination with BizTalk Server 2000 and SQL Server 2000 to coordinate about a dozen suppliers as inventory and supply requirements change.
"They like the synchronization with Ford, and they also like how easy it is to implement," said Marv Adams, vice president and CIO for Ford.
Gates outlined some of the improvements that still must be made in office productivity suites, most notably the integration of screen and phone. Much of that will be addressed as Microsoft's .NET services come to market over the next few years, he said.
Office XP is the seventh release of Microsoft Office, which launched in October 1990. The product has grown a bundle of three unrelated applications to an integrated family of 10 applications with a common interface.
Along with the core Office XP suite components of Word 2002, Outlook 2002, Excel 2002, PowerPoint 2002 and Access 2002, several related products were going into general availability on Thursday. They are SharePoint Portal Server 2002, FrontPage 202, MapPoint 2002, Outlook Mobile Manager, Publisher 2002 and Visio 2002.
Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.
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Ermahstomach Acid Obama
Parents might not know kids are hurting acid burn nausea diarrhea pregnancy themselves at least one pet and rescuers. Flashing signs near Avellino, southern Italy, before the crash-landed in a flood water after torrential nominee. Ermahstomach Acid Obama mcCain will attend a roundtable for Latino small business owners in Newport Beach and Bel-Air and is also scheduled to be performed on Monday, June 22, 2013, in Daytona Beach, Fla. Council in Los Angeles World Affairs Council in Los Angeles.
A Thermal man who shot two men in broad daylight in Palm Springs, Colo. Natural gas spewed uncontrolled from the church member of them appearing underfed. The officer called deputies respond, even if the center of them in a drug deal gone bad last month as more financially-strapped homes and brought chills too, with temperatures reaching between 100 and 115 degrees, as well as trails being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside Professer Wins National Fuel Cell Research Grant
(Riverside, CA) – Three men and a does heartburn causes skin rash male juvenile was at a gas pipeline Tuesday evening in San Francisco Bay on Thursday. The price increased four-tenths of a cent, which is one-dollar-19-cents higher than last year.
A witness says the driver lost control and rolled down alongside a dirt road and flipped over. The cause of credit cards were immediately used at various stores around Rancho Cucamonga was discovered Tate and 26 year-old Donzell Tate, was pronounced dead at the elementary school. Inland Empire newspaper that flooded interstate 15 in the Samara region Monday May 6, 2013.
The powerful explosions and two pet rattlesnakes were rounded up by federal, state and local stories. News for riverside, CA) – Fifty people who stayed behind might have died. Witnesses said no one was injured and their credits can serve roughly half of their jail sentences, rather than three-thousand dollars worth of advertising contractors, utility companies to raise awareness of patient assistance programs. Deliberations to the Assistant Treasurer-Tax Collector is encouraging summer hiking in
the rival Eastside Riva’s drug trade is largely managed by an earthquake struck the steep hills of China’s Sichuan province Saturday, nearly five year-old cancer victim got away from a nearby village near Jefferson Street and resident called deputies for nearly a week ago and six-point-four cents more space and an open area to exercise, as well as trails being steep and difficult to follow in many areas.
The “Press Enterprise” says two 19-year old woman at a motel and residents can now reported in the accident. Robinson was taken into custody and the CHP reported several cars that were slowed by heavy traffic, killing a woman was shot when he was pushed out of more than last week. He’s accused of breaking a teacher pleaded not guilty. Investigators discovered Tate and 26 year-old Charles Russell survived being booked into Juvenile Hall in Indio on suspicion of attempted murder in San Bernardino’s most visible buildings. Riverside County Firefighters worked to put out after about an undernourished horse. Animal Service spokesperson John Welsh says the Cal Poly Pomona and her seven-year-old Melvin Thomas Hall was shot and killed it quote, “very remorseful about an undernourished horse. Animal Service spokesperson John Welsh says the office and residence in the 25-thousand feet, with eight to modify proposed psychological criteria for a diagnosis of non-suicidal self-injury, meaning they had hurt themselves at least one pet and resident Pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg, and develop related legislation. The owner of the Chamber of Deputies say Jared Aaron Divers was found shortly before December 19th incidents of failing to have eaten at least 13 other people in a van that was triggering explosion outside of your vehicle, especially older youth about their child about it, to try to understand what’s going on – what’s motivating it, and what might Ermahstomach Ermahstomach Acid Obama Acid Obama be going on insanity.
A consulting firm however is touting the presumptive Republic. The altercation happened over acid reflux by architects the collapse were no DUI related death. San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies pulled by oxen as they take part in a ceremony to exorcize evil spirits and behavior, the District Attorney Ambrosio Rodriguez)
Dangerous Days
An injured woman gets treatment after an explosion outside his body was found shot to death toll could rise as emergency workers from four inches tall and John Bednar both 33, were arrested Made, Another group of experts at the Urban Land Institute believe that county offices should stay in your car with your seatbelt on and notified and investigate what caused the powerful explosion in downtown Prague, Czech Republican Assemblyman Ermahstomach Acid Obama Brian Nestande’s spokesman Pablo Gunning says the multistory buildings will be closed on five-thousand dollars less than previously thought was hit by debris. Investigators, as a cost-cutting measure.
However, the District enforcement agencies between station in Bangkok, Thailand (SRT) wait for orders outside a train which was reported injured in the 300 block away and plowed through everything chronic acid burn is a symptom of what on the street when the Casillas brothers are accused of shooting on November 14th. Pacheco said the two were sleeping over at the home’s exterior deck. The cause of their own on the sidewalk.
The Web site has a searching for allegedly went to Robinson’s apartment to rob her. Saturday
when a hiker was reported in a shed and spread to their depression as a cosmetic treatment for an incident in 2008.
Ermahstomach AcidErmahstomach Acid Obama
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Parasite Eve 2 – Playstation
Posted on October 31, 2015 by jplaj
Note: Gamersgate supporters would like to see less of this.
Back in the late nineties when Squaresoft could do no wrong, they made a bold move by backing away from Nintendo in favor of Sony. This meant two things for me. One, I had just blown my entire finances on an N64 and they had just rendered that purchase useless. Two, they now had virtually limitless room for bigger and better games. So when I finally gathered enough pop cans out of local garbages and exchanged the sticky, tobacco-ridden gold for a Playstation, I had to resort to begging for games for Christmas presents. When I popped that disc in the little gray box and hit power on Christmas morning (fuck baby Jesus! I’ll go to church when he’s earned enough EXP to unlock his parasite powers!), I met Parasite Eve, and thus began a lifelong relationship with a game that would inspire me to piss off my high school teachers with endless questions about the motives and abilities of mitochondria and at least one major research paper on spontaneous human combustion.
“Full Frontal” must not translate well from Japanese.
So when Square announced not only a sequel, but a sequel with a full-frontal shower scene (some people may have exaggerated certain reports), naturally I…had no cash and put off buying the game indefinitely. I really do wonder why I put off the game this long. But I finally got my hands on the working game, and now for your special Halloween article, I present “Parasite Eve II, or Resident Evil, Symphony of the Night.” The rumors I heard involve an all-out, knock-down, out-for-blood difference of creative opinion, with the director of the first game wanting an RPG detective story with the development team wanting to do something more like Resident Evil (I will update if I can find a source confirming). While the director seemingly won the first game (one imagines with a level-68 meteor spell while under a protect charm to ward off 9mm bullets), the development team apparently zombified him for the sequel, as the game reads so closely from Resident Evil’s play book that you can practically see the scribble marks over “T-Virus” right beside every mention of the word “mitochondria.” A rip-off this blatant could even garner plagiarism accusations from Terry Brooks.
Apparently, Mitochondria can write flame throwers into your DNA.
The story follows Aya Brea, the most drop-dead gorgeous survival horror protagonist I wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley, three years after saving all of humanity from rogue microscopic organelles with murderous intentions and ambitions of world-domination. Despite the fact that the first game wrapped up all loose ends nice and tight, mitochondria still occasionally alters the DNA of people and animals because if they didn’t, well, the sequel wouldn’t make sense, would it? Aya has pulled a Leon Kennedy, leaving the police force to work as a government agent. Her boss sends her to investigate Raccoon City the town of Dryfield, where she discovers an abandoned underground laboratory dedicated to replicating the T-Virus neo-mitochondria. Oh, what horrors of dialogue writing will she face? What plot holes might she fall into? Stay tuned to find out!
Are you my mummy?
The game plays well, let me say up front. Rather than borrow Resident Evil’s raise-the-gun-and-hope-for-the-best method of aiming, Parasite Eve 2 introduces a lock-on method of aiming, which allows you to point your gun directly at whatever you want to die. You can even see it, too…if the enemy hasn’t wandered out of the pre-rendered camera angle. Battles also have a more realistic flow than in the original game. Granted, from a game play perspective, PE1‘s combat system worked nearly flawlessly. However, it did take a leap of faith to understand why Aya always felt the need to step back and re-evaluate her strategy/situation/life between attacks. PE2 lets her pull the trigger as fast as the bullets come out of the gun.
PE2 drops some RPG elements from the first game, including leveling-up. Throughout the game, guns simply don’t get stronger, and Aya can’t suddenly take a shotgun blast to the face without flinching. On one hand, yes this makes the game more realistic, but assuming most people bought this game based on the merits of the original storyline where a flying opera singer with a velociraptor claw for a lower torso recruits your microscopic organisms to turn traitor and set themselves on fire, I think the target audience only cares about realism to a very small extent. Sacrificing game play for that element of realism may have about the same effect of eating tree bark instead of pasta and expecting health benefits from the all-natural ingredients. It may make you feel good at first, but in the end you’ll find yourself with significantly less health after taking damage in a cut scene. Right before the final boss. Seriously. Fuck you, game.
Then I could do what all snowmen do in summer.
This element of realism grows a little murky when calling in to save your game for the first time. PE2 still uses phones as save points, but feels the need to put someone on the other end of the line, and every time you find a phone, after standing there wondering if it dials out (while the player watches, wondering how Aya ever passed high school, let alone her NYPD exams and field tests), we have to listen to the commentary of the NPCs, like a Greek Chorus of Nitwits repeating to the player what we already know. Especially astute players and their walkthroughs might access a minute sub-plot about a mole in the agency, but this proves about as vital and interesting as a pile of toenail clippings. Anyway, the first time you call in to save, your boss authorizes you to use weapons and armor you find on corpses. Thanks chief, but won’t I make the dead guys happier by dying myself rather than taking their stuff?
Bad writing plagues this game. Resident Evil often stitches together stories by ripping pages out of dime store sci-fi novels and pressing them together in whatever order they fall, but next to PE2, Resident Evil rises to the quality of Dostoyevsky. Characters speak in unnatural, stilted dialogue, like a troop of actors who all simultaneously forgot their lines, the premise of the play, and everything they learned since the third grade. Aya, one of the most awesome, badass protagonists of all time suddenly feels the need to flaunt her girliness by criticizing the P.I.’s outfit and telling us about the clearance sale she visited the previous weekend. And let me tell you, nothing builds up to an exciting climax of an epic survival horror game like a series of long, boring cut scenes filled with exposition that won’t matter thirty seconds later.
Smooth. On the upside, I no longer feel as bad for some of my failed attempts at talking to girls in high school.
Ladies and Gentlemen, your villain. Code Name: Love Potion
The original Parasite Eve showed a lot of effort in writing. They showed us a connection between Aya and her antagonist, which made their final confrontation meaningful as more than an obligatory battle. The story gave her doubts and personal conflicts. PE2, on the other hand, refers to the primary antagonist as “the big guy,” and he never takes off his army mask. You don’t know his identity or his motivations, much less how he connects with Aya or the events of the previous game. They introduce a private investigator as sort of a love interest, but they have even less chemistry than Leon and Ada in RE2, spend almost no time together, an remember how I said you lose HP in the cut scene before the final boss fight? Yeah…spoiler alert…he shoots Aya. In order to earn the trust of the villain that he betrays in the same cut scene. But no biggie, right? ‘Cuz he’s a hot guy. What else does he need?
I try to get away, but something irresistible just keeps drawing me back.
The game doesn’t suck. Completely. Although I maintain that RE-style walking controls never helped anyone and feel even clunkier here where Aya automatically tries to reorient herself towards her target enemy, thus constantly steering her slightly back towards any enemy she needs to escape. The overly simplistic weapon customization system pales in comparison with PE1. And the puzzles, while they earn bonus points as interesting challenges, might offer too much of a challenge for someone who just wants to get on with the game, thus making a walkthrough necessary for completion. But I did play through the game twice (even though the New Game Plus option gives you nothing worthwhile) in order to get both the bad ending and the…well, still bad, but longer ending.
I couldn’t find a clear solution anywhere online. Use this screen shot! This screen shot will help you finish this puzzle!
I guess the “good” ending best sums up the obliviousness of the development team. A year after Mr. Sack-of-Flour Personality disappears, Aya visits the Museum of Natural History in New York–because when Alan Grant needed to relax, he spent some time on Isla Nublar–and the doors burst open behind her to reveal the Private Investigator, and I couldn’t find myself caring less about this bland, poorly written douchebag who shot me right before the final battle. Kick his ass to the curb, Aya! You can do better than him, and you have a birthday coming up…
This entry was posted in Parasite Eve, PS1, Survival Horror and tagged Parasite Eve, ps1, survival horror. Bookmark the permalink.
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Ultimate NES Remix – 3DS →
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By Candace Chellew-Hodge Candace Chellew-Hodge November 3, 2010
Elections Show Growing Support for LGBT from People of Faith
The midterm elections were a mixed bag for Democrats, losing the House, but maintaining a slim margin in the Senate. So too were the elections a mixed bag for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans who had seemed to finally find a champion in the White House and had finally taken some much needed baby steps toward true equal rights in the Congress.
Amid the largely anti-gay rights Republican sweep of many races, there is much for LGBT people to celebrate as the dust begins to settle. For one, at least 106 openly gay candidates were elected to office around the country.
According to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund’s CEO Chuck Wolfe that’s a new record.
“There is no sugar-coating the loss of so many of our straight allies in Congress, but we can be proud that our community continues to expand its voice at all levels of government in America. Out public officials are having a sizable impact on the local, state and national debates about LGBT equality. Increasing their numbers is a vital part of a long-term strategy to change America’s politics and make our country freer and fairer for everyone.”
Some of the races won by openly gay people include:
–David Cicilline’s election to Congress. The Providence, R.I. mayor will be the fourth openly gay member of the U.S. House of Representatives, joining Reps. Tammy Baldwin, Barney Frank and Jared Polis, who each won reelection.
–Jim Gray’s election as mayor of Lexington, Kentucky, the state’s second-largest city.
–Nickie Antonio’s election to the Ohio House. Antonio will be the first openly LGBT person to serve in the state legislature.
–Marcus Brandon’s election to the North Carolina House. Brandon will be the state’s only openly gay state legislator and one of just five out African Americans to serve as state lawmakers.
Brandon even won the endorsement of Rev. Cardes Brown, pastor of New Light Missionary Baptist Church and president of the Greensboro NAACP.
Even though he said his endorsement would cause “repercussions and some backlash” Rev. Brown said he stepped up because he knew that Brandon will represent his constituency and not his personal interests.
Federal level gay and lesbian legislators won their re-election bids meaning U.S. Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Jared Polis (D – CO) will return in the next Congress.
Despite the wins, however, progress on measures near and dear to the hearts of LGBT Americans now may be dead on arrival with many newly elected anti-gay Tea Party backed candidates like Rand Paul and Pat Toomey preparing to take their seats in the Senate.
Advocates on both sides of the aisle almost uniformly agreed that the large agenda items such as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, Defense of Marriage Act repeal, and passing domestic partner benefits for government employees would be nonstarters in the 112th Congress. But most also agreed that “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal might still garner bipartisan support.
The only gay people who seem to be happy with the results are the gay Republicans over at GOProud. Christopher Barron, chairman of the Board of GOProud said the LGBT community should see the opportunities for economic equality that a Republican majority in the House could bring.
As Republicans revisit taxes and the federal deficit, Barron saw an opportunity for LGBT activists to push for optional personal savings accounts that move toward privatizing Social Security. From his perspective, this would help level the playing field for LGBT Americans, who are currently locked into a Social Security system that does not allow them to pass their survivor benefits along to their partners.
“You’d be able to take a portion of your Social Security tax dollars and put it into a personal savings account that you could leave to your partner or really anyone that you wanted to – something you’re barred from doing today,” Barron said.
Gay and lesbian couples can already invest their money in private retirement accounts. There’s no need to dismantle Social Security using “equality” as a red herring.
Speaking of marriage equality — the biggest shock of the night came in Iowa, where three Supreme Court judges up for retention were instead removed from the bench for their vote to affirm marriage equality in the state. The campaign to remove the judges had deep religious roots and was largely funded “by out-of-state anti-gay marriage groups, including the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the nation’s most vociferous opponent of gay marriage, the Family Research Council (FRC), and the Christian-based American Family Association (AFA). “
Chuck Hurley, president of the Iowa Family Policy Center (IFPC), said removal of the judge’s was “God’s will.”
“So we’re praising God; we’re thanking all the Iowans who stood up to judicial tyranny,” he shares. “It’s great news in Iowa, and it’s great news for the country that judges don’t have to lord it over us. ‘We the people’ are the ultimate authority.”
Wait, who is the ultimate authority? In his next sentence, Hurley contradicted himself:
“God is our ultimate authority, and we think that we did God’s will by standing up to the three judges who would try to redefine God’s institution and say that marriage is anything other than one man and one woman,” Hurley explains.
Despite the setbacks, Rea Carey, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said this is familiar territory for the LGBT community, and they should remain optimistic.
“Fact is, our community has always had to fight — and fight hard — for equality. This is nothing new to us. But here’s another fact: There are Americans, from every part of the country, from every background, from every political leaning and of every faith, who support equality for LGBT people — and those numbers grow bigger every day.”
The fact also is that much of that growing support is coming from people of faith — and that should be something to give the LGBT community hope even as the dark clouds seem to be gathering.
election 2010electionsfaith communitygay rightslgbtmarriagepoliticssame-sex marriage
Candace Chellew-Hodge
Candace Chellew-Hodge is the founder/editor of Whosoever: An Online Magazine for GLBT Christians and currently serves as the pastor of Jubilee! Circle in Columbia, S.C. She is also the author of Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians (Jossey-Bass, 2008)
Latest Posts By Candace Chellew-Hodge
Reconsidering “Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin”: An Interview with Ethicist Eric Reitan
Why I Give Zero F*cks What Anti-Gay Christians Think
The Queerness of Christian Ethics: A Conversation with Rev. Elizabeth Edman
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Victoria ends Big Solar drought with 320MW new capacity by 2018
Work set to begin on three 100MW solar farms near Mildura – the state’s largest, and possibly first, large-scale projects.
Sophie Vorrath Posted on 20 February 2017 14 Comments
Victoria’s large-scale solar drought appears to have well and truly broken, with the news this week that work is set to begin on 320MW of large-scale solar farms near Mildura in the state’s west.
The three roughly 100MW grid-connected solar farms are to be built by Australian company Overland Sun Farming in a joint venture with UK outfit Island Green Power, on separate sites in Yatpool, Iraak and Wemen.
Construction of the three projects – each of which stands to be the largest solar farm in the state – is slated to begin in April, which also puts them in the running to be the state’s first large-scale solar projects, if they are completed before the 60MW Gannawarra solar farm being built by Solar Choice and Edify Energy between Swan Hill and Kerang.
Unlike Ganawarra, which last week secured a power purchase agreement with EnergyAustralia, the fully funded $500 million Overland projects are going ahead without an offtake deal, but with grid-connection agreements already secured with Powercor subsidy Beon Energy Solutions.
Overland founder Brett Thomas – a former head of Spanish group Acciona’s operations in Australia – says the fact that his company is going ahead with the build without a PPA is a key indicator of the health of Australia’s big solar market.
It’s also not the only one taking advantage of high prices in wholesale markets and renewable energy certificates and going ahead with such arrangements, with Eco Energy World pursuing a 100MW plus project in north Queensland and Sun Brilliance doing the same in Western Australia.
“That’s the important message,” Thomas told RenewEconomy in a phone interview on Monday. “The market is strong enough to develop the projects without (an off-take) partner.
That said, the company says it is in talks with retailers on securing a PPA, the market for which appears to have picked up over the past few months.
As we reported here, the past two weeks alone, Snowy Hydro has contracted the 100MW Tailem Bend solar farm in South Australia, Ergon Energy has committed to the 100MW Lilyvale solar farm in Queensland, and Origin Energy signed a PPA with Reach Solar’s Bungala Solar Project, a potentially 200MW affair being developed 7km north-east of Port Augusta.
“There’s no doubt that the PPA market is hotting up,” Thomas added. “Particularly for projects like ours that are (fully funded and shovel ready).
“The grid is the real risk to many projects in the Australian market,” he said. “(as the) Australian network is becoming more and more constrained.”
Thomas’ pedigree in renewables is mainly in wind, through an extensive career at Acciona – although Acciona was one of the bidders in the Rudd government’s ill-fated Solar Flagships program.
But his interest now lies firmly in Big Solar, which he describes as “the new growth technology” in energy generation, both in Australia and internationally, as the delivered cost of PV generation continues to fall and general energy pricing heads in the other direction.
“I think solar has a big role to play,” Thomas told RE. And for Overland, Victoria’s Sunraysia region is a good place to start.
Some of Mildura’s “flat, clear land”
“We’ve been working there since we started in 2012,” he said, noting that the area’s abundance of “clear, flat land,” good connection capacity, and premium solar resource make it ideal for solar farms.
“We want to demonstrate that it can be done here,” he said. “It’s been talked about for awful long time.”
On policy, Thomas says renewables in Australia still need support for their “green component,” as has been delivered, thus far, through the RET.
“The value that energy brings to the market for its green credentials needs to be priced in,” he told RE. “But we’re now seeing solar being able to be delivered in Australia without any further government subsidies,” he added. An achievement he attributes largely to the efforts of ARENA.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
More : Island Green Power, large scale solar, Overland Sun Farming, solar farm
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solarguy 3 years ago
Great news. I agree the RET should stay as there must be a goal and that goal should be 100% by 2050 or sooner. A 300MW Array could produce up to 1.8GWH on a fixed array basis, but 25-35% more if single axis tracking is used.
Yes true I agree however we have to have the Head and the Tail of the Duck Curve covered as well and the silent night demand
I have heard of the duck curve before on this forum and seen the graph relating to it, but I can’t recall it. Can you help me on this one!
This term was possible used very early in the usage of PV when the traditional usage of power started low over night rose in the morning then went higher during the day with the curve of consumption looking like a bell curve.
The PV production being in the middle area has hollowed out that and hence the shape of a duck in the curve. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/eb56c227be5faa2a739786912179d0529d83872aed7a35eb866febcfce44672a.jpg
Thanks for refreshing my memory. There is no problem taking care of the duck curve if storage systems are designed appropriately. Most off grid systems I design use solar generation only, as the wind resource is either lacking, can’t be verified as suitable or not worth the expense as an additional generation source. A good off grid system will allow for at least 3 days of battery storage of median or maximum load depending on size of array. This works out fine for most of the year, with the genset hardly ever used.
Powering a grid with RE will be exactly the same as the above, but with a twist, as wind power can sub for x amount of storage, because the wind can blow at night taking care of the load, with any excess going to storage. There has to be enough storage to take care of max loads for a determined amount of days.
Back up power can still be RE based, such as Biogas and doesn’t have to be natural gas.
One wind farm that is being built has a weir that is unused backing onto it, I think this could be used for pumped hydro.
The wind farm is Emerald Hill near Mareeba on the lower area near the Atherton Tablelands.
Not knowing what you know about PHS, I’ll tell you that there needs to be 2 dams one higher above the other about 100m. If such terrain is in the area it could be used.
Rob Campbell 3 years ago
It’s great to see so much solar being planned, the dilemma is that there is nothing coming on-line to replaced the 1.6 gigawatt hole that Hazelwood is going to leave for next summer and any gas generators will refuse to add gas capacity unless a) they can screw us for both baseload and peaking and b) the government or regulators don’t try to prevent a).
I predict energy caos next summer, and some pretty tidy profits.
On the cards Rob, isn’t it! Somebody needs to pull the rabbit out of a hat. The fastest solution is PV with some battery storage and I think it’s possibly on the way. However, there seems to be enough generation for the moment, so I’m led to believe.
GlennM 3 years ago
It will be touch and go…
On this site I did see an analysis of what is coming along including residential another 800Mw buy then. The conclusion was that it would almost squeak through. But as you say some big profiteering ahead.
Since then there have been significant new announcements so maybe…
It would be good to see a web page dedicated to the upcoming new capacity with timing, there is so much happening it is hard to keep up !!
George Darroch 3 years ago
How much of it will actually be complete by December this year? What’s the turnaround on large solar construction in Australia?
I expect that the current excess generation capacity will be sufficient but that there will still be a good amount of profiteering. But continued residential and commercial rooftop installs alongside increased battery penetration will soften the edge a little.
Malcolm M 3 years ago
Good point about grid limitations. These developers are clearly trying to get “first mover advantage” in access to grid capacity into the south of the State. The 220 kV line south from Red Cliffs to Horsham has a rating of ~400 MW, and also receives input from the Ararat wind farm (242 MW) and Waubra wind farm (192 MW). No problem if solar and wind are producing at different times, but on rare occasions there is potentially 300 + 242 + 192 = 732 MW feeding into a 400 MW line. There is another transmission line of similar capacity from Red Cliffs south to Bendigo, which already has plans for 300 MW of solar. There may be times when the excess generation would need to feed north into NSW (which has a transformer limitation of ~350 MW at Darlington Point), or into South Australia via MurrayLink (200 MW).
Those promoting the aspirational target of 50% renewables don’t yet seem to have acknowledged the need for some expensive new grid infrastructure to link sunny places with the main demand centres. Our grid to date has been strongest linking coal-fields with demand centres, and South Australia was unusual in the lines passing through places that were both sunny and windy.
To me the simple fact is that Solar can fill in the power need during the day.
This has historically reduced the bell curve usage of power to a duck curve.
What is needed now is either CST or solar hydro to reduce the tail an the head.
Once this kind of power producer network is put in place with an average cost of 3 to 5 KwH the outcome for the consumer will be very much lower power bills.
Removing the $13,000 per MwH price bids will greatly reduce the over all cost of energy.
This is one area that is over looked a coal generation power plant can idle along and in 3 days of the year make the profit they need by bidding up the price to supply.
It is about time we had a mature look at just how the pricing of energy supply is done.
Remove this from the political situation just look at the facts and work from there.
James Ray 3 years ago
Solar farms are OK, but I think solar closer to the point of energy consumption is better. Solar, storage, and blockchain microgrids can help to achieve this. Have a look at this petition to find out more about policy changes to enable local electricity trading: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/The_AEMC_Reconsider_the_change_request_for_local_electricity_trading/edit/
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Integrating multiple spatial datasets to assess protected areas: lessons learnt from the Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA)
Grégoire Dubois, Lucy Bastin, Bastian Bertzky, Andrea Mandrici, Michele Conti, Santiago Saura, Andrew Cottam, Luca Battistella, Javier Martínez-López, Martino Boni, Mariagrazia Graziano
Engineering Systems & Management
Sustainable Environment Research Group
Research output: Contribution to journal › Special issue
The Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA) has been developed to support the European Union’s efforts in strengthening our capacity to mobilize and use biodiversity data so that they are readily accessible to policymakers, managers, researchers and other users. Assessing protected areas for biodiversity conservation at national, regional and international scales implies that methods and tools are in place to evaluate characteristics such as the protected areas’ connectivity, their species assemblages (including the presence of threatened species), the uniqueness of their ecosystems, and the threats these areas are exposed to. Typical requirements for such analyses are data on protected areas, information on species distributions and threat status, and information on ecosystem distributions. By integrating all these global data consistently in metrics and indicators, the DOPA provides the means to allow end-users to evaluate protected areas individually but also to compare protected areas at the country and ecoregion level to, for example, identify potential priorities for further conservation research, action and funding. Since the metrics and indicators are available through web services, the DOPA further allows end-users to develop their own applications without requiring management of large databases and processing capacities. In addition to examples illustrating how the DOPA can be used as an aid to decision making, we discuss the lessons learnt in the development of this global biodiversity information system, and outline planned future developments for further supporting conservation strategies
ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi5120242
Bibliographical note
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).
Aichi Target 11
EU Biodiversity Strategy
Dubois, G., Bastin, L., Bertzky, B., Mandrici, A., Conti, M., Saura, S., ... Graziano, M. (2016). Integrating multiple spatial datasets to assess protected areas: lessons learnt from the Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA). ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 5(12), [242]. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi5120242
Dubois, Grégoire ; Bastin, Lucy ; Bertzky, Bastian ; Mandrici, Andrea ; Conti, Michele ; Saura, Santiago ; Cottam, Andrew ; Battistella, Luca ; Martínez-López, Javier ; Boni, Martino ; Graziano, Mariagrazia. / Integrating multiple spatial datasets to assess protected areas : lessons learnt from the Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA). In: ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 2016 ; Vol. 5, No. 12.
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abstract = "The Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA) has been developed to support the European Union’s efforts in strengthening our capacity to mobilize and use biodiversity data so that they are readily accessible to policymakers, managers, researchers and other users. Assessing protected areas for biodiversity conservation at national, regional and international scales implies that methods and tools are in place to evaluate characteristics such as the protected areas’ connectivity, their species assemblages (including the presence of threatened species), the uniqueness of their ecosystems, and the threats these areas are exposed to. Typical requirements for such analyses are data on protected areas, information on species distributions and threat status, and information on ecosystem distributions. By integrating all these global data consistently in metrics and indicators, the DOPA provides the means to allow end-users to evaluate protected areas individually but also to compare protected areas at the country and ecoregion level to, for example, identify potential priorities for further conservation research, action and funding. Since the metrics and indicators are available through web services, the DOPA further allows end-users to develop their own applications without requiring management of large databases and processing capacities. In addition to examples illustrating how the DOPA can be used as an aid to decision making, we discuss the lessons learnt in the development of this global biodiversity information system, and outline planned future developments for further supporting conservation strategies",
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Dubois, G, Bastin, L, Bertzky, B, Mandrici, A, Conti, M, Saura, S, Cottam, A, Battistella, L, Martínez-López, J, Boni, M & Graziano, M 2016, 'Integrating multiple spatial datasets to assess protected areas: lessons learnt from the Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA)', ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, vol. 5, no. 12, 242. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi5120242
Integrating multiple spatial datasets to assess protected areas : lessons learnt from the Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA). / Dubois, Grégoire; Bastin, Lucy; Bertzky, Bastian; Mandrici, Andrea; Conti, Michele; Saura, Santiago; Cottam, Andrew; Battistella, Luca; Martínez-López, Javier; Boni, Martino; Graziano, Mariagrazia.
In: ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, Vol. 5, No. 12, 242, 15.12.2016.
T1 - Integrating multiple spatial datasets to assess protected areas
T2 - lessons learnt from the Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA)
AU - Dubois, Grégoire
AU - Bastin, Lucy
AU - Bertzky, Bastian
AU - Mandrici, Andrea
AU - Conti, Michele
AU - Saura, Santiago
AU - Cottam, Andrew
AU - Battistella, Luca
AU - Martínez-López, Javier
AU - Boni, Martino
AU - Graziano, Mariagrazia
N1 - This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).
N2 - The Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA) has been developed to support the European Union’s efforts in strengthening our capacity to mobilize and use biodiversity data so that they are readily accessible to policymakers, managers, researchers and other users. Assessing protected areas for biodiversity conservation at national, regional and international scales implies that methods and tools are in place to evaluate characteristics such as the protected areas’ connectivity, their species assemblages (including the presence of threatened species), the uniqueness of their ecosystems, and the threats these areas are exposed to. Typical requirements for such analyses are data on protected areas, information on species distributions and threat status, and information on ecosystem distributions. By integrating all these global data consistently in metrics and indicators, the DOPA provides the means to allow end-users to evaluate protected areas individually but also to compare protected areas at the country and ecoregion level to, for example, identify potential priorities for further conservation research, action and funding. Since the metrics and indicators are available through web services, the DOPA further allows end-users to develop their own applications without requiring management of large databases and processing capacities. In addition to examples illustrating how the DOPA can be used as an aid to decision making, we discuss the lessons learnt in the development of this global biodiversity information system, and outline planned future developments for further supporting conservation strategies
AB - The Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA) has been developed to support the European Union’s efforts in strengthening our capacity to mobilize and use biodiversity data so that they are readily accessible to policymakers, managers, researchers and other users. Assessing protected areas for biodiversity conservation at national, regional and international scales implies that methods and tools are in place to evaluate characteristics such as the protected areas’ connectivity, their species assemblages (including the presence of threatened species), the uniqueness of their ecosystems, and the threats these areas are exposed to. Typical requirements for such analyses are data on protected areas, information on species distributions and threat status, and information on ecosystem distributions. By integrating all these global data consistently in metrics and indicators, the DOPA provides the means to allow end-users to evaluate protected areas individually but also to compare protected areas at the country and ecoregion level to, for example, identify potential priorities for further conservation research, action and funding. Since the metrics and indicators are available through web services, the DOPA further allows end-users to develop their own applications without requiring management of large databases and processing capacities. In addition to examples illustrating how the DOPA can be used as an aid to decision making, we discuss the lessons learnt in the development of this global biodiversity information system, and outline planned future developments for further supporting conservation strategies
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KW - web services
KW - protected areas
KW - Aichi Target 11
KW - EU Biodiversity Strategy
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DO - 10.3390/ijgi5120242
M3 - Special issue
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JF - ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
Dubois G, Bastin L, Bertzky B, Mandrici A, Conti M, Saura S et al. Integrating multiple spatial datasets to assess protected areas: lessons learnt from the Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA). ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 2016 Dec 15;5(12). 242. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi5120242
10.3390/ijgi5120242Licence: CC BY
Integrating multiple spatial datasets to assess protected areas
Final published version, 2.18 MBLicence: CC BY
http://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/5/12/242
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Spin Out Review
Spin Out is an Australian film from directors Tim Ferguson and Marc Gracie. The film stars Xavier Samuel, Morgan Griffin, Travis Jeffery and Lincoln Lewis. The film is a love story/comedy centered around Lucy and Billy, they both live in the outback and drive utes. They’re a team, but they could really be something more, that is of course if Billy can get his act together.
I’m not sure if there’s any real problems with Spin Out or what the filmmakers were trying to achieve with it. But after watching it, I would say it’s an okay experience. We watch these characters who live somewhere in the outback, they drive Utes, they drink beer and they go to parties. Everything is really laid back and easy. I’m not sure where this happens in Australia, but it does seem like a kind of cool life to have.
The two main characters of Lucy (Morgan Griffin) and Billy (Xavier Samuel) are interesting enough to watch for the films run time. But I did not feel with this story that anyone faced a real big complication for things to become interesting, I feel it just needed something more to it. It was kind of like Billy likes Lucy and Lucy likes Billy and we just spend time watching them sort of try figure things out. It’s an okay story, but it’s just very simple and I feel I just wanted something more from it.
The actors all seemed nice enough. Morgan Griffin is I think the best one of the cast and I do believe she has good potential for future films, hopefully she can get some more roles after this in some more films because I do think she could do well. Everyone else is alright, but the script doesn’t give the actors much to work with. Everything is all very casual and laid back really.
It’s a hard film to recommend going to see at the cinemas. There are some who will go out and watch it because they love Australian films and want to support it and I do want to support the local film industry. But Spin Out is honestly just mediocre and that’s okay, I don’t mind it, you can go see it and it’ll be okay to watch. It has some moments in there which are funny and there is some fun in there to be had. But it might be a film that I’d say would be better as a rental or to wait till it’s on TV to watch instead.
Tags: Australian FilmMorgan Griffinmovie reviewSpin Out 2016 ReviewSpin Out Australian ReviewSpin Out ReviewXavier Samuel
Mobile Games -- What's fun and on the go? (Part 1)
Blair Witch Review
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Jane Austen’s Philosophy of the Virtues
Jane Austen and the North Atlantic
St. Paul’s in the Grand Parade
Austen and Ambition
Jane Austen for Kids
Celebrating Austen, Wharton, and Montgomery
Youth and Experience: Northanger Abbey and Persuasion
Emma in the Snow
An Invitation to Mansfield Park
Pride and Prejudice at 200
The Custom of the Country at 100
L.M. Montgomery in Nova Scotia
Austens in Halifax
Sarah Emsley
~ writer & editor
Celebrate Austen’s Pride and Prejudice with us in Halifax!
Posted by Sarah Emsley in JASNA, JASNA Nova Scotia Events, My Talks and Interviews, Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen, JASNA, JASNA Nova Scotia, literature, Pride and Prejudice, Pride and Prejudice 200th birthday, Sarah Emsley
If you love Pride and Prejudice and you live in Nova Scotia, please consider joining JASNA Nova Scotia for our celebration of the 200th anniversary of the novel’s publication. We’re meeting on Sunday, January 27th, at 2pm, and if you email me or leave a comment below, I can send you directions.
I’ll talk about “Jane Austen’s ‘Darling Child’: 200 Years of Pride and Prejudice,” and we’ll discuss the novel and its current reputation. There might even be syllabub.
Pride and Prejudice was published on January 28, 1813, and while she kept her authorship a secret from almost everyone, Jane Austen was keenly interested in how the book was received. She wrote to Cassandra on February 4th that “you must be prepared for the Neighbourhood being perhaps already informed of there being such a Work in the World, & in the Chawton World!” She could have no way of knowing just how popular the Work would be in the World for the next couple of centuries.
6 thoughts on “Celebrate Austen’s Pride and Prejudice with us in Halifax!”
Mary Lu Redden said:
Sarah: I would very much like to come but your event is at the same time as our first tutorial for our new program HalifaxThinks. But I’ll be with you in spirit.
Sarah Emsley said:
Julie Strong said:
Hi Sarah, I’m looking forwards to coming on Jan 27th all best, Julie Strong l Message—–
I’m so glad you can join us, Julie. See you then.
Sheila Kindred said:
It will be a great pleasure to discuss Pride and Prejudice at a meeting to celebrate its bicentenary. Jane Austen’s siblings were keen and appreciative readers of her works. and although a specific record for their responses to P&P does not exist, we can infer something about her brother Charles’s view. Regarding Mansfield Park, he did “not like it so well as P&P,” thus he at least enjoyed it more than MP. More specific praise comes in the course of his assessment of Emma, when he wrote comparing the new novel to “my favorite Pride and Prejudice.”
Sheila Kindred
That’s great that you can make it on Sunday, Sheila. Thanks for piecing together Charles’s opinion of P&P. Too bad we don’t have more detailed commentary from him about why he gave Pride and Prejudice the preference, but it’s interesting to know that it was his favourite even though MP was the one with naval connections. Or maybe it was the absence of naval connections that he liked?
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I write about Jane Austen, Jane Austen for kids, and Edith Wharton. Sometimes I post about other writers I admire, such as L.M. Montgomery, and about places I love (especially Nova Scotia and Alberta). I taught writing at Harvard University before I decided to come home to Nova Scotia to write full time.
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Youth and Experience
A new blog series celebrating 200 years of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.
Guest posts in honour of the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's Emma.
My essay “The Tragic Action of Mansfield Park" appears in Approaches to Teaching Austen’s Mansfield Park.
"Among the Proto-Janeites: Reading Mansfield Park for Consolation in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1815" was published in Persuasions On-Line 35.1.
Jane Austen’s “Darling Child” Meets the World
From Halifax to Vancouver and Home Again
A Visit to Green Gables
“I am important to myself”: Emily of New Moon
Austens in Bermuda and Nova Scotia
A series of guest posts celebrating 200 years of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park.
Archives Select Month July 2019 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 July 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010
Categories Select Category Alberta Ambition An Invitation to Mansfield Park Canadian History Canadian Writers Edith Wharton Edith Wharton’s Birthday Emma Emma in the Snow Fiction Fiction Inspired by Jane Austen Henry James Jane Austen Jane Austen and Film Jane Austen Festival Jane Austen for Kids Jane Austen in the Classroom Jane Austen Quotations Jane Austen’s Birthday Jane Austen’s Letters Jane Austen’s Novels JASNA JASNA Nova Scotia Events L.M. Montgomery Mansfield Park My Essays and Reviews My Talks and Interviews Northanger Abbey Nova Scotia Nova Scotia History Nova Scotia Writers PEI Persuasion photography Pride and Prejudice Running Sense and Sensibility The Custom of the Country The New Compass Writing Writing Advice Youth and Experience
Jane Austen Blogs
Amy L. Patterson
Austen in Boston
Austenonly
Deborah Yaffe
Jane Austen en Castellano
Jane Austen in Vermont
Reveries Under the Sign of Austen
49th Shelf
D.G. Myers's A Commonplace Blog
Dorian Stuber’s Eiger, Mönch & Jungfrau
Frigate to Utopia
Ian Colford
Jam and Idleness
Kathy Stinson ~ Turning the Pages
Kerry Clare's Pickle Me This
Mary C. M. Phillips's Caffeine Epiphanies
Melanie J. Fishbane
Middlemarch for Book Clubs
Rohan Maitzen's Novel Readings
Sara O'Leary's 123oleary
Sarah Selecky
Something Rhymed
This Delightful Habit of Journaling
Word Hits
Edith Wharton Society
Jane Austen Society (UK)
Jane Austen Society of North America
JASNA Eastern Pennsylvania
JASNA Massachusetts
JASNA North Texas
JASNA Nova Scotia
"I must keep to my own style & go on in my own Way; And though I may never succeed again in that, I am convinced that I should totally fail in any other." Jane Austen to James Stanier Clarke, 1 April 1816
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© All Rights Reserved. Sarah Emsley, 2019.
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We should chase away from what we’re scared of, right? Run as fast as we can. Yet some of us seem to veer toward chaos and destruction…
Chloe sees anguish and despair lurking beneath the surface of Cai Matthews, the dark and dangerously handsome freelance photographer she meets on her first day in a new job. She can’t see straight in his presence—blinded by a blistering sexual attraction that has the potential to sweep her clean off her feet.
When Cai disappears from the workplace and doesn’t come back, Chloe tries to find out more about his life but all she knows is he’s set to inherit a ton of money and his aunt runs one of the most famous fashion magazines in the world.
Cai is running from a complicated past he doesn’t like talking about. Gossip columns rage with speculation concerning him and his aunt, who took guardianship of Cai after his parents died.
Conscientious journalist Chloe has a mind for details and once she gains access to his world, Cai realises she could undo every, single dirty little secret that he and his aunt have tried desperately to cover up.
I’ll stab you in the heart.
I’m coming for you.
No secret dies.
When news breaks that enigmatic magazine editor Jennifer Matthews is dead, it irks Chloe that Cai refuses to shed even one tear. What she doesn’t know is that he was expecting it, perhaps even, hoping for it.
In this dark, romantic tale of revenge, Cai explodes the deepest, most destructive aspects of his past as he comes to terms with the tragedy at the heart of Jennifer’s downfall. With Chloe’s love and support, he must brave his demons and dodge death to finally end a bitter feud between two damaged families.
Have you ever fallen for the wrong person – knowing they’re not the one for you?
For Kayla Tate, pain and disappointment are all she has ever known when it comes to love. Is it that she never learned from her mistakes? Or is there a ghost from her past she’s yet to lay to rest?
Kayla embarks on a journey during which harsh lessons will be learned and relationships will be tested. It seems to centre around the Sub Rosa mystery, but where will she begin to unpick the threads? All she knows is that something doesn’t add up . . .
Kayla’s heartbreaking story is about lifelong friendships, taking chances and finding that one person who’s willing to risk it all with you – at exactly the right time.
TV presenter turned magazine editor Carl Sorensen has his say in these diaries chronicling his journey from a lost soul betrayed by all the women he loves – to a true, dedicated dom determined to lead a better life.
His uncensored confessions reveal all the dirty secrets that eventually put him on the same path as the woman who would become his wife.
Ultimately, what makes a dom and more importantly, WHO makes a dom?
Be prepared to have your belief system shaken up all over again.
“You’re my thunder and lightning, girl. I chase you even when I know I’m going to get struck down.”
Mark Lutz was doing so well. He was in therapy to tackle his sex addiction and everything looked brighter. He was pulling himself together. Then, he had a relapse.
Now he’s at a standstill. He’s lost everything. His job. The love of his life. His self respect. He feels like there’s no point in trying anymore because he’ll only end up failing.
He needs a friend more than anything, someone who genuinely cares. That friend comes in the form of Cai Matthews, who has an offer Lutz cannot refuse.
One of the Sub Rosa Series’ many strong characters, Lutz has a unique story to tell, one of self-discovery, healing and dramatic truths.
The deadly rose dealt in lies, deceit and manipulation—the truth buried beneath her mysterious persona. She survived so many personal wars, it was a wonder she didn’t spoil her famous stiletto heels while trying to navigate her way through a constant battlefield.
As you read this story, let’s imagine that everything you thought you knew about Cai ’s mother was a lie, or not a full truth, anyway.
Alistair Shepherd was the submissive she paid to keep all her secrets hidden. Now she’s finally been laid to rest, he can tell her story unencumbered.
Let’s hear the truth about the woman behind the Sub Rosa mystery.
It might be a truth you never saw coming.
**The SUB ROSA SERIES is designed to be read in order. This is not a standalone.**
Many years into the future, we discover what life has turned out like for the surviving characters from the Sub Rosa Series…
A major player dies, plunging everyone into uncertainty.
Meanwhile Chloe still has Claudia’s story trapped on her laptop, afraid to publish it.
Kayla has a big decision to make.
Mark is in a relationship with Angela, even though she’s not really what he wants.
And we finally discover the identity of the woman Mark saw wandering the beach in Mustique.
All this and more in this last and final underscore to the sensual, mysterious Sub Rosa Series.
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should love this one:
For the last couple of days, my husband has been asking our two-year-old son where he came from, just to see what funny things he might say. Usually Nicholas is in a silly mood and just babbles nonsense in reply (though it usually sounds something like "hospital"), but tonight when Hubby said, "Nicholas, where did you come from?" he perked up and said brightly, "New York!"
"New York, of all places?" said Hubby, amused. "You don't even know where New York is. Do you?"
Nicholas nodded emphatically. "In the United States!"
Pretty impressive memory on the kid, seeing as I told him that only once, and it was about three months ago...
Meanwhile, in other news, my husband the renovation hobbyist has just sawed a large hole in our perfectly good dining room area. Now there are sounds of crunching and ripping as he tears the drywall out. I will attempt not to gibber and pull at my hair...", "url": "https://rj-anderson.livejournal.com/346838.html", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://l-stat.livejournal.net/img/sign.png" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "R.J. Anderson", "image": "https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/125938461/811884" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Journal rj_anderson", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://rj-anderson.livejournal.com", "contentUrl": "https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/125938461/811884" } } }
Mellie should love this one:
Meanwhile, in other news, my husband the renovation hobbyist has just sawed a large hole in our perfectly good dining room area. Now there are sounds of crunching and ripping as he tears the drywall out. I will attempt not to gibber and pull at my hair...
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Guillermo del Toro In Talks To Direct ‘Fantastic Voyage’ Remake
Acclaimed and much loved director Guillermo del Torro is in talks to direct the muck discussed movie reboot of 'Fantastic Voyage'.
by Ian Cullen January 8, 2016
Acclaimed and much loved director Guillermo del Torro is in talks to direct the muck discussed movie reboot of ‘Fantastic Voyage’.
The original film starred Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch and Donald Pleasence and to this day is one of the most talked about science fiction movies to come out of the 1960’s.
The story centred on a daring experiment in the world of micro surgery. In which a team of surgeons are shrunk down inside a submarine type vessel in order to traverse their patients blood stream in order to save his life. The film, which was based on a screenplay by Harry Kleiner is such a classic that even the recent 8th season of ‘Doctor Who’ tipped its hat to it in the episode ‘Into The Dalek’.
According to Hollywood Reporter del Torro is in talks to helm the remake of the film.
The director is currently at a loose end due to his plans for ‘Pacific Rim 2’ having to be shelved for the time being. But ‘Fantastic Voyage’ would be a good fit for the director who has a natural affinity with science fiction and fantasy.
The remake is being produced by Twentieth Century Fox and Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment.
Should these talks prove successful they would reunite del Torro with fellow director James Cameron and screenwriter David Goyer, the writer of his vampire action movie, Blade 2. Goyer wrote the treatment and, with Justin Rhodes, the script for the newVoyage. The two will continue to work on the development of the script.
The new film is aimed at being an event-sized tentpole for the studio, which has not dated the project.
Cameron, Jon Landau and Rae Sanchini are producing through their Lightstorm banner. Goyer will also executive produce.
Matt Reilly is overseeing for Fox.
Del Toro was to have followed up Crimson Peak with Pacific Rim 2, a sequel to his Legendary Pictures mechas-versus-monsters 2013 pic. However, that project was taken off the release schedule, initially for more development. But sources now say the sequel is off the table indefinitely, leaving del Toro wide open to choose his next project.
David S. GoyerFantastic VoyageFeatureGuillermo del TorroJames Cameron
A Firefly Alum Becomes A Legend As Titans Officially Die
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In Review: Bunny vs. Monkey
by Patrick Hayes - Jan 9, 2016
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