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When Poop Becomes Medicine
Once a weird, fringe treatment, fecal transplants have started becoming mainstream.
Ed Yong
Fernando Trabanco Fotografía / Getty
In 1957, a young microbiologist named Stanley Falkow started asking sick people to swallow their own poop.
Falkow was working as a technician in a hospital lab at a time when patients were besieged by a rogue strain of the gut bacterium Staphylococcus. To prevent the bug from infecting people during surgery, all patients were told to take preemptive antibiotics before their operations. Unfortunately, these drugs also decimated the beneficial bacteria in their guts, leaving them with diarrhea and indigestion. Their stools “were even odorless,” Falkow later wrote. “Few stools can make that claim.”
One of Falkow’s colleagues came up with a solution: Get the patient to bring in a stool sample, and give that back to them after their operations to replenish their microbes. Falkow’s job was to pipe the poop into capsules that the patients could then swallow. “The chief hospital administrator discovered what was up,” Falkow later wrote on the Small Things Considered blog. “He confronted me and exclaimed: Falkow, is it true you’ve been feeding the patients s**t?” He fessed up, and was fired. Two days later, he was rehired.
Falkow’s idea wasn’t new. Fecal transplants—where doctors try to cure sick people of various ills by giving them the stools of healthy donors—have been used since at least fourth-century China, according to texts that make reference to “yellow soup.” The unusual treatment has been rediscovered many times since, but it’s finally starting to enter the medical mainstream. Partly, that’s because of a surge of interest in the microbiome—the trillions of microbes that share our bodies. Partly, it’s because many well-conducted studies have shown that fecal transplants are incredibly effective at treating Clostridium difficile—a nasty, hardy bacterium that causes severe, recurring, and potentially fatal bouts of diarrhea.
But poop is no panacea either. Scientists have treating all kinds of disorders with fecal transplants with mixed results, while a burgeoning community of DIY enthusiasts have tried the treatment without due awareness of its many risks. In the video below—the eighth in a series of online films produced by HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, which adapt the stories in my book, I Contain Multitudes—I talk about the history, science, and future of this most unorthodox of therapies.
Ed Yong is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he covers science.
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Here are the top 10 highest-taxed states in the US
Where does your state fall?
Gary Hershorn/Getty Images
A recent analysis ranks U.S. states on how much they charge citizens to live there or buy stuff. The new report names the highest-taxed states in America.
Using data compiled by the Tax Foundation, 24/7 Wall Street tallied up the tax burden per capita for each state — accounting for property, sales, and income taxes. Federal taxes were not included in the study.
Here are the 10 states with the highest tax burdens:
No. 1: New York
New York takes an average of 12.7 percent of residents' earnings. Its income tax collections per capita were the highest in the nation, at $2,345.
Ranks 3rd highest income per capita at $64,540
4th highest in property tax collections per capita:$2,679
15th lowest in general sales tax collections per capita: $682
No. 2: Connecticut
Connecticut scrapes 12.6 percent off the top from its citizens.
Ranks first in income per capita: $71,823
3rd highest for income tax collections per capita: $2,106
3rd highest for property tax collections per capita: $2,847
15th highest in general sales tax collections per capita: $1,046
No. 3: New Jersey
The Garden State collects more in property taxes per capita than anywhere else in the U.S. at $3,084
Total tax percentage rate was at 12.2 percent
4th highest in income per capita: $64,537
7th highest in income tax collections per capita: $1,488
No. 4: California
Californians pay 11 percent of their income in taxes, and have the 6th highest income per capita at $59,796.
4th highest income tax collections per capita: $2,055
6th highest income per capita: $59,796
21st highest in both property tax collections ($1,451) and general sales tax per capita ($997)
No. 5: Illinois
Property tax collections in Illinois were the 9th highest at $2,087 per capita, and total taxes as a percentage of income came in at 11 percent
9th highest for property taxes per capita: $2,087
14th highest income per capita: $54,203
18th lowest general sales taxes per capita: $707
22nd highest for income taxes per capita: $1,076
No. 6: Wisconsin
Wisconsin's rate was also 11 percent, but its income per capita was only the 22nd highest in the U.S. at $48,941
11th highest for income tax collections per capita: $1,297
14th highest property tax collections per capita: $1,616
23rd lowest general sales tax collections per capita: $876
No. 7: Maryland
Maryland's rate came in at 10.9 percent, yet its citizens can boast about having the 5th highest income in the nation at $60,847
10th highest income tax collections per capita: $1,414
18th highest general sales tax collections per capita: $1,011
No. 8: Minnesota
Income tax collections in Minnesota were the 5th highest in America at $1,943, while taxes paid as a percentage of income were at 10.8 percent.
13th highest income per capita: $545,359
No. 9: Rhode Island
Per capita property tax collections in Rhode Island were ranked as being the 7th highest in the U.S., at $2,339. Total taxes paid were at 10.8 percent.
25th lowest general sales tax collections per capita: $921
No. 10: Massachusetts
Massachusetts residents have the 2nd highest income per capita at $67,630, but they also pay the 2nd highest rate of income taxes at $2,115. The rate was marked as being 10.3 percent overall.
8th highest property tax collections per capita: $2,258
At the bottom of the list was Alaska, which had nearly half the tax burden paid by New Yorkers, at 6.5 percent, followed by South Dakota, Wyoming, Tennessee, and Louisiana. Get the full list here.
A separate study conducted by United Van Lines a few months ago showed the states that see the most people fleeing. All but one of the top five in that study were are also at the top of the tax rate analysis: New Jersey, Illinois, Connecticut and New York.
But the United Van Lines study didn't show that folks were scrambling to get to the lowest-taxed states like Alaska, South Dakota or Wyoming, which also have some of the lowest populations in the U.S.
10 States That Levy the Highest Taxes | Best States | US News ›
States where Americans pay the least (and most) in taxes ›
US states with the highest tax burdens ›
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A Better Man: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel (Hardcover)
By Louise Penny
Coming Soon - Available for Pre-Order Now
Catastrophic spring flooding, blistering attacks in the media, and a mysterious disappearance greet Chief Inspector Armand Gamache as he returns to the Sûreté du Québec in the latest novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny.
It’s Gamache’s first day back as head of the homicide department, a job he temporarily shares with his previous second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir. Flood waters are rising across the province. In the middle of the turmoil a father approaches Gamache, pleading for help in finding his daughter.
As crisis piles upon crisis, Gamache tries to hold off the encroaching chaos, and realizes the search for Vivienne Godin should be abandoned. But with a daughter of his own, he finds himself developing a profound, and perhaps unwise, empathy for her distraught father.
Increasingly hounded by the question, how would you feel…, he resumes the search.
As the rivers rise, and the social media onslaught against Gamache becomes crueler, a body is discovered. And in the tumult, mistakes are made.
In the next novel in this “constantly surprising series that deepens and darkens as it evolves” (New York Times Book Review), Gamache must face a horrific possibility, and a burning question.
What would you do if your child’s killer walked free?
LOUISE PENNY is the author of the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling series of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. She has won numerous awards, including a CWA Dagger and the Agatha Award (six times), and was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. In 2017, she received the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canadian culture. Louise lives in a small village south of Montréal.
Advance Praise for A Better Man
"With an uncompromising eye, Penny explores the depths of human emotion, both horrifying and sublime. Her love for her characters and for the mystical village of Three Pines is apparent on every page." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"The appeal of this series and especially of Gamache himself has always been Penny's ability to show her hero moving from the tangible, brutal facts of murder to the emotions within, the stories in the blood. There are multiple stories, often contradictory, to be found in the many-tentacled web of human tragedy and suffering that Gamache teases to the surface in this moving exploration of ties that both bind and destroy." —Booklist, starred review
Praise for Kingdom of the Blind
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A December 2018 Indie Next Pick
One of Kirkus Reviews' Best of 2018 Picks
BookPage Best of the Year 2018
A LibraryReads Pick for November 2018
A LibraryReads Hall of Fame Winner
Washington Post's 10 Books to Read This November
One of PopSugar’s Best Fall Books to Curl Up With
One of Publishers Weekly Booksellers' Favorite 25 Titles of the Year in 2018
“A captivating, wintry whodunit.” —PEOPLE
"A constantly surprising series that deepens and darkens as it evolves." —Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
“A spellbinder . . . another outstanding Gamache adventure… ingenious . . . what more could a mystery reader – or any reader for that matter – want?”—Maureen Corrigan, Washington Post
“Penny pulls together an insightful plot that weaves in family feuds, clandestine investigations, undercover cops and a loving look at Three Pines.” —Oline Cogdill, South Florida Sun Sentinel
“Louise Penny’s novels are unique for how seamlessly they straddle the line between charmingly small-town mysteries and big-city police procedurals . . . It’s not to be missed!” —BookPage (Top Pick)
“It’s hard to see how Louise Penny can raise the stakes any further for her iconic, fatherly good guy, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, but somehow in each book she does.” —News & Observer
“Brain-teasing puzzles, life-and-death stakes and lots of Three Pines, a magical place where the warmth in the villagers’ hearts thaws the ice on their eyelashes.”—St. Louis Post Dispatch
“Complex ongoing saga… Wait anxiously for the next installment.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Penny does a splendid job of interweaving those three main plot lines, studding them with several life-threatening scenes that had me holding my breath, and building to a wild finale.”—Tampa Bay Tribune
“Nimble sleight-of-hand plotting, strong characters, profound compassion and luminous prose are hallmarks of Penny’s novels. Although darker than previous books, this new entry is no exception.”—Seattle Times
“Another intricately plotted escapist mystery from Louise Penny.”—PopSugar
“A Louise Penny book… is better than 90% of the books I read… Her books are about love and kindness and people who care.”—Lesa’s Book Critiques
“From small puzzles do large, ever-more excellent ones grown, especially in a Louise Penny novel.”—Seattle Review of Books
“Few mystery writers intertwine the personal lives of their characters with the crimes being investigated more skillfully than Penny does, and she is at her best here, as several key players face turning points in their lives, suggesting that if the past can strangle the present, it can also help clear the way for the future.”—Booklist (Starred Review)
“Penny is a master at blending the modern evils affecting the big city and hidden secrets of the almost mythical village of Three Pines. Well-known characters return and new faces add richness to a narrative that will keep readers intrigued until the last page.” —Library Journal (Starred Review)
“Insightful, well-plotted… Penny offers intriguing commentary on the willful blindness that can keep people from acknowledging the secrets and lies in their own lives. Penny wraps up some continuing story lines and sends recurring characters in surprising directions.” —Publishers Weekly
“Penny reveals a deeper vulnerability in the introspective Gamache… The ending is adrenaline-filled....This starts as a small-town mystery and becomes something grander.” —Kirkus Reviews
"I thoroughly enjoyed Kingdom of the Blind. It’s always a treat to spend a few days with Armand Gamache and his latest investigation is one of my favorites." —James Patterson
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: August 27th, 2019
Series: Chief Inspector Gamache Novel
Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Traditional
Fiction / Mystery & Detective / International Mystery & Crime
CD-Audio (August 27th, 2019): $39.99
Library Binding, Large Print (September 25th, 2019): $35.99
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2018 Jaguar E-Pace First Drive: A Crossover Cub Goes Scouting in Corsica
Big surprise: Jaguar's small crossover is the Pretty Thing of its class. Do those hot looks translate to hot performance?
By Lawrence UlrichFebruary 8, 2018
Lawrence UlrichView Lawrence Ulrich's Articles
twitter.com/lawrenceulrich
In 2018, SUVs have become the lifeblood of every carmaker. And they’ve become a lifeboat for performance brands that might otherwise have been scuttled by the SUV armada. Porsche, most famously, found the Cayenne and Macan crossovers to be its salvation, not its ruin; their global success paid for the development of relatively-underperforming sports cars. If Porsche had to live on returns of the 911, Boxster and Cayman, it might have been out of business by now. Jaguar has found itself in the same position—which is why I found myself on the French island of Corsica in the Mediterranean, driving the E-Pace crossover SUV. (Before we get started, a word about that confusing name: The E-Pace is not the electric Jaguar. That’s the Jaguar i-Pace, coming later this year.)
If this rocky island seems an unusual place to sample a Jaguar, this SUV also springs from an unexpected locale: Not England’s green and pleasant land, as exalted by William Blake, but Graz, Austria, at the Magna Steyr factory that also builds the Mercedes-Benz G-Class and BMW 5 Series. Like Napoleon Bonaparte, who rose to fame from his Corsican birthplace, the E Pace is small, powerful, and commandingly stylish. Like the larger F-Pace, it can easily be argued as the most-stylish crossover in a class whose two-box proportions don’t lend themselves to handsome looks. The secret here is girth rather than length: Tall, small pseudo-hatchbacks like the Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class and Audi Q3 (or the Chevy Bolt for that matter) can appear stubby or insubstantial, like half-smoked cigars.
Lawrence Ulrich
E-Pace is a head-turner by any measure
But the Jaguar is a significant three inches wider than any small-fry rival, including the Mercedes, Audi, and BMW X1 (and now X2, too). The E-Pace, in fact, precisely matches the width of the one-size-larger Audi Q5. Yet at 173 inches long, the Jag is about 10 inches shorter than the Q5 and other “genuine” compacts like the BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class. (I guess we should start calling those “full-size compacts,” given the endless splitting of SUV sizes and segments). So the Jaguar not only feels a touch roomier and airier than the typical tiny crossover, but it looks tremendously appealing as I view our E-Pace convoy from my spot in the rear.
Four-cylinder Ingenium engine delivers 246 or 296 horsepower
Luxury brands love to claim, often dubiously, that their SUV designs are directly related to their sports cars, but the E-Pace really does evoke Jaguar’s sexy F-Type. The family resemblance includes the grille, of course, but also shark-like creases on the front fenders, muscular haunches, and blade-like horizontal taillamps that visually amplify the Jaguar’s wide, planted stance. Optional 20-inch split-spoke wheels look equally robust (17-inchers are standard), and buyers can even stuff those wheelwells with optional 21s. Adam Hatton, the E-Pace’s exterior designer, shows us the “eyelashes” inside the LED headlamps, his homage to the Lamborghini Miura. For this kitten-scale SUV, design Easter eggs include a graphic of a jaguar cub and its mother along the windshield base, a motif repeated by the puddle lamps’ projection on the pavement.
Corsica's notoriously knotted roads are delightful or a death wish, depending
With its tumbled granite mountains, exfoliated cliffs, dense forests and seaside villas, Corsica provides a cinematic backdrop for the E-Pace. But I’m thinking a stunt double might make sense on these wilderness roads, which must be among the curviest, craziest you’ll find anywhere in the world. The Tour de Corse rally, held here since the ‘50s, is dubbed “The Rally of 10,000 Bends.” After a few hours of never-ending high-concentration corners, we learn it’s no exaggeration. The locals—who tend to speak both French and Corsican—drive in the oblivious, home-turf manner common to island natives. Some introduce themselves by appearing directly in our lane as they attempt passes on blind corners, flirting with either a head-on collision or a deadly plunge off a strip of pavement barely wide enough for two cars. For an idea of the pucker factor, check out these heartwarming rally hints from Tour de Corse organizers:
Tight and twisty mountain roads are often bordered on one side by a rock face and on the other by a steep drop into the sea.
Rough and abrasive asphalt places high demands on tires.
Narrow roads mean errors can be punished heavily.
We fortunately avoid all those kinetic punishments—in part due to the E-Pace’s well-tuned ride and shipshape cabin, including strikingly-bolstered sport seats on R-Dynamic models. Jaguar’s 10-inch, TouchPro infotainment touchscreen peeks out from a handsomely modern, banked two-tone dash. Driver’s gauges—including an optional, 12.3-inch HD interactive display with a color head-up unit—are tucked below a natty stitched awning of soft-touch material. All five occupant positions get a standard USB port, with multiple 12-volt outlets and an available WiFi hotspot. Surprisingly, fit-and-finish and some materials actually surpass the pricier F-Pace; Jaguar designers clearly took the cabin criticism of that larger SUV to heart. But the electronic console shifter—which manages the nine-speed ZF automatic transmission—still looks low-rent. A nifty passenger grab handle is molded into the console, though a few head-tossing turns have my driving partner wishing for a traditional handle on the headliner.
Crisp, clean interior keeps knobs and switches to a mininum
As for space, the split-folding back seat does a decent imitation of a compact sedan’s. Its 35.1 inches of rear legroom trailers the F-Pace by 2.1 inches, and a Honda Civic sedan by 2.3. But the hatch is nicely wide, with handsome metal tie-down hardware on floor sliders. There’s a decent 24.2 cubic feet of cargo space, or 52.5 cubes with rear seats folded; a bit more than an Audi Q3, a skosh less than a BMW X1. The Jaguar swallows our gear with ease after a night at Domaine de Murtoli, a rustic estate that encompasses 2,500 acres of Corsican wilderness, a working farm, four miles of Mediterranean coastline, and a collection of 17th-century villas and shepherd’s quarters. Hunting abounds here, and we spot pheasant, partridge, and black-coated wild boar that trot into the brush when surprised by our headlights.
Front-drive for everyday cruising, torque-vectoring AWD when you need it.
The Jaguar proves a bit porcine itself. It’s built on a largely-steel platform shared with the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport, not the aluminum-intensive architecture that supports the F-Pace and other Jaguar models. To shed pounds, the E-Pace does get an aluminum hood, roof, front fenders and tailgate, along with a cast magnesium beam that spans the instrument panel. But as with so many diets, the results are disappointing. The E-Pace R-Dynamic plops down at 4,175 pounds on the scales; standard versions weigh in at 4,035. Yes, this E Pace actually weighs more than the one-size-larger, aluminum-chassis F Pace. It’s also heaviest-in-class by a wide margin. A BMW X1 weighs from 3,550 to 3,700 pounds, about 500 fewer than the Jag.
Fortunately, this chubby cubby gets solid motivation from the brand’s new, turbocharged 2.0-liter engine, in two strengths: The E-Pace brings 246 horsepower and 269 pound-feet of torque, while R-Dynamic versions pile on 296 horsepower and 295 pound-feet. The engine is part of the Ingenium family, which includes the 2.0-liter turbodiesel that showed me up to 42 highway mpg in the F-Pace. Unfortunately, that thrifty diesel won’t come to America on the E-Pace. But the premium-unleaded-fueled E-Pace R-Dynamic runs from 0-60 mph in a zippy 5.9 seconds, just 0.2 seconds behind an F-Pace 30t with the identical engine. The standard E-Pace nips 60 mph in a satisfactory 6.6 seconds.
And this gasoline engine – including a twin-scroll turbo and variable valve timing and lift—emits a surprisingly husky rasp for a small four-banger. We drove R-Dynamic models exclusively, which start at an eye-watering $48,245—about $11,000 more than a BMW X1 xDrive. A range-topping R-Dynamic HSE starts even higher, from $54,095. The standard E-Pace begins at a more-palatable $39,595.
Before we head deep into the island’s interior, the Jaguar climbs a few rocky hills and rutted trails, just to prove it can. On steep grades, including a climb from a maybe-20-inch-deep stream, the AWD system duly shifts torque rearward to help the Jaguar clamber up. All-Surface Progress Control helps with traction in low-speed, low-traction conditions. Drivers can toggle through four operating modes, including a Dynamic Setting. For R-Dynamic models, there’s an optional, two-position adaptive damping system. In steady-state driving, the E-Pace operates exclusively in front-wheel-drive to save fuel. But the carmaker makes much of its “Active Driveline” AWD system, which includes a pair of electronically controlled wet-plate clutches at the rear. Jaguar engineers say the system can send 100 percent of torque to either rear wheel, including powering the outside rear wheel to quell understeer and help the E-Pace scamper through corners. Brake-based torque vectoring can also operate on either the front or the rear wheels. Jaguar even claims the system will allow power-oversteer drifting in low-traction situations, though it’s hard to imagine owners throwing up rooster-tails of dirt.
The E-Pace’s steering is pleasingly familiar, with a good dose of the F-Pace’s fast, eager response. But while this cute-ute gamely tackles Corsica’s ridiculous roads, it never stops feeling like the tall, nose-heavy, front-drive-based SUV it is. The harder I push, the more the Jaguar understeers, its front tires washing out wide before finally howling and crying “uncle.” Jaguar claims the E-Pace’s AWD system can make its torque-divvying moves in milliseconds, but there’s a definite bobble and delay before I feel the rear wheels come into play. The Jaguar’s understeering ways are driven home, numbingly, by those endless tight turns on our route. Trust me as a former Mazda owner: Even a Miata driver would get tired of this many freaking turns after hours of nothing-but-hairpins. So it seems unfair to excessively ding the Jaguar—a sporty luxury crossover, but in no way a sports car—exclusively for its performance on roads so knotted that virtually no owner will ever see their kind. No SUV, not even a Porsche Macan Turbo, would be in its element here.
E Pace greets the morning at Domaine de Murtoli
After descending from the mountains to Porto Vecchio, I take a personal detour into this stylish port town. Moored yachts bob in the marina, even in the low season. For the first time in hours, I feel like I can stop my own queasy swaying and find my land legs again. And on the Route de Piccovagia that skirts the ocean—the kind of scenic, normal-curvy road you might find on the Pacific coast—the Jaguar suddenly feels plenty quick and capable. The verdict? This Jaguar outperforms its Land Rover Evoque cousin, but it’s not as sprightly as the class-benchmark BMW X1, the larger Porsche Macan, or its F-Pace stablemate. Versus the BMW, the Jaguar’s 500-pound weight penalty alone—the equivalent of three adult male passengers—explains a lot.
That beefier F-Pace found just less than 19,000 buyers in America in 2017, making it by far the most popular Jaguar. Those aren't huge sales by Mercedes or BMW standards, but considering that the entire Jaguar lineup used to move about annual 12,000 units here, 19,000 sales for a single model is a resounding success. I’ll make an early wager: Jaguar is going to sell a lot of these E-Paces, even on style alone. This baby should do its part to sustain the brand as a going concern. I’m already picturing successful types—young and old, men and women, from Los Angeles to Miami—who’ll take one look at this E-Pace and say, “You had me at ‘hello’.” They won’t drive the wheels off it on death-wish mountain roads. They won’t chuck it through rushing streams. They’ll just cruise happily, in a car that’s essentially the modern evolution of the hatchbacks that nerdy journalists always insisted people should give a try. Sure, a VW Golf or Ford Focus never weighed two tons, even in today’s AWD versions, but the basic idea is the same. I recommend the glass-half-full approach: Americans decided long ago that four doors, a tailgate, and AWD is the template for the car they want. Now they’re discovering that this layout works even in smaller sizes, especially compared with the Hummers and Excursions of old. It may not be perfection, but I call that progress.
Whatever your feelings toward the E-Pace, or SUVs in general, a healthy Jaguar is a good thing for anyone who cares about cars and their history—as it was for Porsche and its own once-controversial sport-utilities. Perhaps the story will be similar for Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Maserati, and other brands that are looking to ensure survival via SUV-based expansion. For a large percentage of buyers, the E-Pace will be their first-ever Jaguar, their introduction to the brand whose XKs and D-Types and E-Types represent some of the high points of automotive design in the 20th (and now 21st) Century. For those newbies, repeat after me: JAG-u-AR. Three syllables, with the hint of a British accent.
Lawrence Ulrich, The Drive’s chief auto critic, is an award-winning auto journalist and former chief auto critic for The New York Times and Detroit Free Press. The Detroit native and Brooklyn gentrifier owns a troubled ’93 Mazda RX-7 R1, but may want to give it a good home. Email him at Lawrence@thedrive.com.
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The Indian.News
Truthful, Incisive & Nascent
Ford India gifts vehicles to Neeva Foundation to offer training and employment to women as drivers
150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi: TCZ to organise Musical Play by autistic children at IIC Delhi on June 30, 2019
Thottappan Malayalam Movie Review: Vinayakan proves that he is an exceptional actor
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Dr Sangeetha Chennampulli bags Devaki Warrier Memorial Literary Award 2019
Breaking News/ Education News/ Featured/ Governance News/ Kerala News/ National Integrity News/ National News/ Shashi Tharoor News/ South India News/ State News/ Tamil Nadu News
National Education Policy 2019: Non-Hindi speaking states oppose draft
Jayashankar Menon AIADMK, DMK, draft National Education Policy 2019, Edapadi K Palaniswamy, K Kasturirangan, Kamal Hassan, MK Stalin, Non-Hindi Speaking States, P Chidambaram, PMK, Tamil Nadu, Three Language Policy 0 Comment June 2, 2019
The draft National Education Policy 2019, prepared by a panel led by eminent scientist K Kasturirangan, which was unveiled on May 31, is clearly heading towards a big controversy even before it is implemented as southern states, especially, Tamil Nadu is already up in arms.
As per the draft, the three language formula recommendation is for the inclusion of English and Hindi in addition to the mother tongue in the non-Hindi speaking states and for the Hindi speaking states, English and one Indian language from other parts of the country, is snowballing into a big controversy. As the non-Hindi states are up in arms, especially, the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Right from the Dravida Munetra Kazhakam (DMK) President, MK Stalin to Makkal Neethi Maiam Chief, Kamal Hassan reacted sharply, opposing the three language formula’s continuation proposed in the draft. The politicians from Tamil Nadu said in one voice that the draft National Education Policy should be construed as ‘thrusting’ Hindi on the non-Hindi speaking states and they wanted it to be dumped. Meanwhile, the Government of Tamil Nadu, headed by the All India Anna Dravida Kazhakam (AIADMK), the ally of BJP which is heading the NDA Government at the Centre, sensing trouble from the opposition ranks and the public sentiments against the proposed law, had categorically declared that it would continue with the two-language formula.
In a series of Tweets, the politicians outright rejected the proposed move by the Union Government in implementing the new draft National Education Policy 2019 to be passed into a law. P Chidambaram, senior Congress leader from Tamil Nadu Tweeted: “What is the meaning of three language formula in schools? The meaning is they will make Hindi mandatory subject.”
Again, Chidambaram said in another Tweet: “If Hindi language is compulsory subject, its import is imposition of Hindi. The BJP Government’s real face is beginning to emerge.”
DMK Chief MK Stalin opposes the draft
MK Stalin said that the three language formula which recommends Hindi from pre-school to Class XII is a big shocker and added that the recommendation would ‘divide’ the country. Quoting a DMK statement, a PTI report said that Stalin, while reminding of the anti-Hindi agitations beginning way back in 1937 in Tamil Nadu, said that since 1968 Tamil Nadu followed two-language of learning, Tamil and English. Asserting that the DMK will not stand the imposition of Hindi in Tamil Nadu, he further added that the party would oppose such move tooth and nail. “Still, I believe that the Union Government led by the BJP will not make for another language stir,” Stalin asserted.
Stating that the recommendations by the draft such as ‘Gurukula’ mode of education, teaching Sanskrit and dispatching Hindi teachers from Hindi speaking states to non-Hindi speaking states would eventually pose ‘big danger’ to non-Hindi speaking people, the DMK statement said that the recommendations, rather than lifting the standards of education has led to doubts that it had ‘ulterior motives’ like imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states and thrusting Sanskrit in schools.
Remind the present day Union Government about the assurance given by the late Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru that English will continue to be in use as long as the non-Hindi speaking states preferred that way, Stalin said that Tamil Nadu had already brought into force the Compulsory Tamil Learning Act long back. Urging the Union Government to junk the draconian draft, which was nothing but ‘imposition’ of Hindi under the pretext of three-language formula, Stalin also said that the DMK MPs will oppose the move in Parliament when the House get convened.
Taking a jibe at the ruling AIADMK Government in Tamil Nadu, Stalin mocked it as a ‘Yes Master,’ to the Federal Government and further demanded the Chief Minister, Edapadi K Palaniswami to either be on the same page with the opposition parties in the State to oppose the diabolic move by the Union Government or to remove Anna and Dravida from the AIADMK party name. Stalin asked the BJP not to even think of implementing three language formula in Tamil Nadu and he added that such a ‘greedy dream’ will lead to ‘catastrophic’ consequence for the ruling dispensation. Other political parties in Tamil Nadu such as the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), which was BJP’s ally in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, too felt that the draft recommendation on the three language formula was imposition of Hindi and demanded the Union Goverment to withdraw.
Kamal Hassan too is opposing the draft
The actor turned politician, Kamal Hassan said, “Be it language or a project, if we do not like that, it should not be forced on us. Our party will pursue legal options against such move.”
Meanwhile, in a related development, the Education Minister of Tamil Nadu, KA Sengottiyan told a Tamil television channel, “There will be no deviation from the two-language formula followed in Tamil Nadu. Only Tamil and English will continue to be taught in Tamil Nadue.”
The draft National Education Policy, 2019 available on the MHRD website said the three-language formula will need to be implemented in its spirit throughout the country, promoting multi-lingual communicative abilities for a multi-lingual country. Schools in Hindi speaking areas should also offer and teach Indian languages from other parts of India, the news agency report said quoting the website.
Tharoor’s Dig
In a related development, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor said this morning that the solution to the three-language formula is not by junking the idea, rather to ensure its better implementation, as per ANI report.
“The solution is not to abandon the three languages formula but to implement it in a better manner,” said Tharoor when the ANI reporter asked to comment on the new draft policy of National Education, which recommended among other things three languages formula in schools.
Tharoor said that the three-language formula goes back to mid-1960s but it was never properly implemented. “Most of us in the South learn Hindi as a second language but nobody in the North is learning Malayalam or Tamil,” he said.
Evening as the issue is snowballing into a major controversy in all the non-Hindi speaking states, especially, Tamil Nadu, the hash-tagged slogans such as “#StopHindiImposition, #TNAgainstHindiImposition began trending on the microblogging site Twitter.
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Home » Louisville student sues author, IBJ publishing unit over book
Louisville student sues author, IBJ publishing unit over book
J.K. Wall and Indianapolis Business Journal Staff
KEYWORDS Courts / lawsuit / Class action / neglect
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Indianapolis-based IBJ Book Publishing LLC and author Katina Powell have been sued by a University of Louisville student who claims her career prospects have been damaged by Powell’s book, which alleges Powell supplied strippers and prostitutes to the Louisville men’s basketball program.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday by Louisville sophomore Kyle Hornback in a state court in Kentucky, requests an injunction that would order IBJ Publishing to pay all profits from Powell’s book to the court’s receiver.
Hornback’s lawyer, Nader George Shunnarah, has also asked for class-action status on behalf of all University of Louisville students.
“The goal here is to benefit students instead of the prostitute," Shunnarah told the online news site The Bird Cage on Thursday. "Who better to benefit than the students? When you commit a criminal act and it damages an entire university, your degree, the value of your degree, your ability to pay back student loans, and your ability to get a job?”
He added, “Also, if the school is sanctioned by the NCAA and can’t participate in the NCAA tournament, then the school loses money and that affects the students, tuition goes up.”
Shunnarah did not immediately return messages left for him by IBJ on Friday morning. IBJ and IBJ Book Publishing are sister companies.
IBJ Book Publishing declined to comment until it consulted legal counsel.
IBJ Book Publishing released Powell’s book, “Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen,” on Oct.2. Since then, the University of Louisville has started two investigations into her allegations, and the NCAA has launched its own investigation into possible recruiting violations. Kentucky’s Commonwealth Attorney is also working with Louisville metro police and the University of Louisville to investigate possible criminal conduct.
A report on Tuesday by the sports network ESPN cited five basketball players who confirmed Powell’s allegations that the former director of men’s basketball operations at Louisville hired Powell repeatedly to provide strippers for current Louisville basketball players and recruits.
The book also claims the staff member, Andre McGee, paid Powell cash for recruits and sometimes their fathers to have sex with some of the strippers. ESPN cited one player who said he had sex with one of the strippers.
Louisville head coach Rick Pitino said he had no knowledge of the parties and does not intend to resign.
Powell’s attorney, Larry Wilder, issued a written statement Thursday night in response to the lawsuit filed by Hornback and her attorney Shunnarah.
"It seems that Mr. Shunnarah has concluded that Ms. Powell has been telling the truth about the things that happened at the university,” Wilder wrote in an email. “We will defend this lawsuit as vigorously as all the other issues in this case. We will likely add Mr. McGee as a necessary party and likely need to add other coaches, administrators and possibly students to make sure that the case if fully and fairly litigated.”
On a website called COED.com, Hornback wrote that the most memorable thing she did in her freshman year was to win the title Miss Cardinal Country in the Miss University of Louisville pageant.
“This qualifies me to compete in Miss Kentucky 2015 and hopefully Miss America 2016,” Hornback wrote.
She added that she is majoring in political science, plans to go to law school at Louisville and hopes to become a circuit court judge.
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Connect + Create with LEAF!
LEAF Overview | Press Releases | Editorial | Videos | Photos | Press Inquiries
LEAF Community Arts (LEAF), a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, is comprised of LEAF Festival, LEAF Schools & Streets and LEAF International. In 2013, we archived the name Lake Eden Arts Festival, honoring our history and recognizing that the heart of the work with cultural arts education programs extended well beyond the LEAF Festival. LEAF connects cultures & creates community through music & arts. Since 2004, LEAF has served more than 42,000 youth in the Asheville-Buncombe area and 10 countries, globally.
In 2015, LEAF launched two inaugural programs – LEAF Downtown AVL & LEAF Local Events – in order to further expand its mission to connect cultures and create community in the Asheville-Buncombe area.
We’re often asked, ‘what is LEAF?’ Here it is:
LEAF Schools & Streets cultural arts programs use the arts to bridge cultures and create life-affirming, community building experiences – empowering our youth to become global citizens, leaders and agents of positive change.
LEAF International is dedicated to cultural preservation, exchange, and fostering global citizenship. LEAF collaborate with communities to support Culture Keepers who teach local youth their traditional arts.
LEAF Festival is LEAF’s founding event. For over 20 years, an inter-generational community gathers at Lake Eden for a dynamic experience of music, art and culture for around the globe. #1 Nonprofit Serving the Arts, #1 Festival for Kids, #1 Music Festival & #1 Festival for Camping in Western NC.
LEAF Downtown celebrates creativity, diversity and families in the heart of Asheville, NC. This signature and inclusive community event encourages interpersonal exchange, cultural awareness, artistic excellence and welcoming spaces for all walks of life.
“What Is LEAF?” Bookmark – Digital Download Here
LEAF Press Release
LEAF Festival is “Breaking Ground” in Spring 2019
India.Arie, Shovels & Rope, Trevor Hall & many more!
February 07, 2019 (Asheville, NC) – LEAF Community Arts is thrilled to announce its dynamic lineup of performing artists for the Spring 2019 LEAF Festival, taking place Thursday, May 9th to Sunday, May 12th near Asheville at the majestic Lake Eden in Black Mountain, NC. Experience 400+ performing artists representing 9 different countries, 5 family adventure villages, 80+ craft & culinary vendors, 50+ healing arts, music and earth skills workshops, and a global community steeped in tradition. As LEAF approaches a new phase in its legacy with the creation of a year round Global Arts Center, we welcome one and all to gather and celebrate this new inspiring chapter in our journey together. Bring your hopes, your dreams, your families, and an open heart for a world culture celebration you will never forget. Kids under 10 FREE! Discount tickets available @ theLEAF.org/tickets.
OFFICIAL 48th LEAF FESTIVAL PERFORMER LINEUP
Shovels & Rope, India.Arie, Trevor Hall
Larkin Poe, Black Violin, The War and Treaty
Molly Tuttle, The East Pointers, Dirtwire
Gina Chavez, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Jon Stickley Trio
Sweet Crude, Sean Ardoin, Victory Boyd
Sammy Miller & The Congregation, Jarlath Henderson, Kobo Town
The Screaming J’s, Yaima, Poranguí, Abraham Jam, Jane Kramer
DJ Bowie, BoogiTherapi, Bubba Love, The Golden Trumpets, Natadas
The Campfire Reverends, Grandfather Mazatzin, Grandmother SangoMa
Unifire Theater, Illuminera, Ka Amorastreya, Imagine Circus, Ray Harperspective
Free Raisins, Lift Ticket, Ethan Hummel, Alexandra Deis-Lauby, Bob Isaacs, Jesse Edgerton
LEAF International ONEmic & Guatemala, Southern Fried Poetry Slam
6th Annual Newsong Singer-Songwriter Competition & many more…
“Breaking Ground” Festival Feature Notes:
4x Grammy Award Winning Songstress India.Arie headlines as a part of her New Album “Worthy” tour. In addition to a marquee Saturday headline performance, India will be offering an intimate Sunday solo acoustic “Songversations” set focusing on “empowerment, worthiness, clarity and inspiration.”
Folk husband & wife duo Shovels & Rope return to LEAF Festival on the heels of their upcoming new album By Blood. Known for their raw visceral emotion, powerful story telling, and magnetic connection, their Sunday headline set is sure to set your soul ablaze.
Trevor Hall will be bringing conscious ground-breaking lyrics, soulful voice, and community uplifting message to headline Friday night. Through his independent release Fruitful Darkness is 2017, Trevor produced the #1 musical crowd sourced project of all time.
“They say the creation of a thousand forests lies in a single acorn. One word, one choice, one gesture no matter how seemingly small has the power to transform this world for the better. For the 48th LEAF Festival, we’ve scoured the globe to select artists who are innovators and architects of positive change through the strength & resilience of their creative expression. Artists who defied all expectations, remaining true to their path allowing authenticity to guide them to ever higher heights of accomplishment & impact. Artists who value the power of nourishing deep roots in the community as much as reaching out for the stars.”
~ Ehren Cruz, Artistic Director
For more information on the LEAF Global Art Center project and how to get involved, please visit theLEAF.org/GlobalArtsCenter.
ABOUT LEAF COMMUNITY ARTS
LEAF Community Arts is a non-profit organization, building community, connecting cultures and enriching lives through the arts – locally and globally – with festivals, community events, and arts education programs. LEAF was founded in 1995 with the idea that music, craft, poetry, visual arts, and healing arts of diverse cultures can create powerful connections. In 2004, LEAF expanded its mission with the creation of LEAF Schools & Streets, and again in 2006 with the global initiative LEAF International. Through 23 years and 48 Festivals, through more than a thousand youth participating in LEAF International programming, and through more than 62,000 local Asheville youth taught by the LEAF Schools & Streets teaching artists, LEAF Community Arts has remained true to its roots and mission of connecting cultures and enriching lives through music and the arts.
Megan Ashley Crow | LEAF Creative Director | 828.686.8742
February 7, 2019 - 48th LEAF Festival Lineup Release Spring 2019
48th LEAF Festival Lineup Release
November 2, 2018 - LEAF Community Arts Awarded $705,000 Grant for New Global Arts Center
LEAF Community Arts Awarded $705,000 Grant for New Global Arts Center
October 23, 2018 - 47th LEAF Festival Experiences Damaging High Winds
47th LEAF Festival Experiences Damaging High Winds
July 17, 2018 - 47th LEAF Festival Lineup Release
47th LEAF Festival Lineup Release Fall 2018
May 30, 2018 - 4th LEAF Downtown AVL Lineup Release
4th LEAF Downtown AVL Lineup Release 2018
March 7, 2018 - National Distinction by Kennedy Center Awarded to LEAF Schools & Streets and Buncombe County Schools Partnership!
National Distinction by Kennedy Center Awarded to LEAF Schools & Streets and Buncombe County Schools Partnership!
February 15, 2018 - LEAF Community Arts to Receive $10,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts
LEAF Community Arts to Receive $10,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts
February 8, 2018 - 46th LEAF Festival Lineup Press Release
46th LEAF Festival Lineup Release Spring 2018
July 6, 2017 - 45th LEAF Festival Lineup Press Release
June 8, 2017 - 3rd Annual LEAF Downtown Lineup Press Release
3rd LEAF Downtown Lineup Press Release 2017
February 20, 2017 - 4th Annual LEAF Arts & Parks Camp!
Febuary 20, 2017 – 4th Annual LEAF Arts & Parks Camp Registration is Now Open!
February 16, 2017 - 4th Annual LEAF Newsong Singer-Songwriter Competition!
February 16, 2017 – 4th Annual LEAF Newsong Singer-Songwriter Competition
February 9th, 2017 – 44th LEAF Festival Official Lineup Press Release
January 31, 2017 - Transforming Education Through Hip-Hop Culture
January 31st, 2017 – Transforming Education Through Hip-Hop Culture
January 19, 2017 - Spring '17 LEAF Theme Announcement!
January 19, 2017 – Ignite & Inspire at the Spring ’17 LEAF Festival with NEA Legends of Africa!
LEAF in the News
Conscious Party: Hurricane Relief - November 5, 2017
Conscious Party: Hurricane Relief – November 5, 2017 – Mountain Xpress – By Edwin Arnaudin – “An International LEAF Ambassador, Toan has organized a daylong, family-friendly music festival at Salvage Station on Saturday, Nov. 11…”
The Broadcast has its most 'intense' gig of year at LEAF, teaches youth - October 26, 2017
The Broadcast has its most ‘intense’ gig of the year at LEAF, teaches youth– October 26, 2017 – The Tribune – By Pete Zamplas – “Krisko, earthy vocalist who fronts the band along with sizzling electric guitarist Aaron Austin, was happy about the band’s second time playing at LEAF…”
Dance offerings at LEAF Festival and beyond - October 12, 2017
Dance offerings at LEAF Festival and beyond – October 12, 2017 – Mountain Xpress – By Carla Seidl – “Cruz believes dance is at the heart of the LEAF experience. “The energy is really high and deep for dancing at LEAF,”…”
Journey Through Latin America : Fundraiser For The Future - October 11, 2017
Journey Through Latin America: Fundraiser For The Future – October 11, 2017 – Asheville Grit – By Ayana Dusenberry – “Performers from Mexico, Guatemala, and Puerto Rico will come together to inspire, entertain, and encourage the preservation of the rich, sacred traditions of Latin communities everywhere…”
LEAF Art Dash, Twilight, Hot August Night 5Ks get hearts pumping - August 3, 2017
LEAF Art Dash, Twilight, Hot August Night 5ks get hearts pumping – August 3, 2017 – The Citizen-Times – “The LEAF Art Dash is one of the important fundraising tools directly support LEAF Schools & Streets bringing arts to local youth in collaboration with local partners…”
LEAF Downtown announces lineup for Pack Square Park - June 15, 2017
LEAF Downtown announces lineup for Pack Square Park – June 15, 2017 – USA Today – By Hayley Benton – “The Family Stone is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017, making the LEAF set a legendary performance…”
LEAF seeking money for downtown arts center; other TDA grant requests - June 8, 2017
LEAF seeking money for downtown arts center; other TDA grant requests – June 8, 2017 – Citizen-Times – By Emily Patrick – “LEAF Community Arts is seeking to join the list of recipients of money generated from hotel room taxes…”
How go-go, the music of the nation’s capital, is trying to go mainstream - June 5, 2017
How go-go, the music of the nation’s capital, is trying to go mainstream – June 5, 2017 – PBS News Hour – By Elizabeth Flock – “ Rare Essence has booked more performances around the country, including Summerstage in New York in June, and the LEAF music festival in Asheville, North Carolina in August…”
Rocky Dawuni outreach with LEAF Community Arts Festival - June 1, 2017
Rocky Dawuni outreach with LEAF Community Arts Festival – June 8, 2017 – Rocky Duwani – By Cary Sullivan – GRAMMY nominated Afro Roots star, Rocky Dawuni was invited to perform two shows at the esteemed LEAF festival as well as participate in the community outreach program with a local school…”
LEAF Festival brings music and culture to Black Mountain - May 6, 2017
LEAF Festival brings music and culture to Black Mountain – May 6, 2017 – WLOS News – By Evan Donovan – “Experience the power music, art and culture has to transform lives, strengthen community, and foster unity…”
Why Everyone Should Be Listening to Balkan Beat Box - November 1, 2016
Why Everyone Should Be Listening to Balkan Beat Box – November 1, 2016 – The Odyssey Community – By Sophie Harris – “Hip-hop and traditional music are the polarities, but there’s a lot in between. We’ve always been intrigued by mashing up stuff…”
Q+A with Arouna Diarra & The AZA Band - October 28, 2016
Q+A with Arouna Diarra & The AZA Band – October 28, 2016 – Mountain Xpress – By Alli Marshall – “I had a great love of African music from the time that I was a teenager…”
Q+A with Third World - October 27, 2016
Q+A with Third World – October 27, 2016 – Mountain Xpress – By Alli Marshall – “Though the band is not touring, Third World made an appearance at fall LEAF on Saturday night…”
In Photos: Fall LEAF 2016 - October 25, 2016
In Photos: Fall LEAF 2016 – October 25, 2016 – Mountain Xpress – Alli Marshall – “Meanwhile, the Tibetan Buddhist Monks could be seen riding throughout the festival grounds on a modified shuttle complete with rooftop seating and a dance pole affixed to its hood…”
Adventure: Asheville - October 24, 2016
Adventure : Asheville – October 24, 2016 – The Odyssey Community – By Becca Colehower – “After a long night at the Orange Peel and a couple hours of sleep, we bundled up to head about 20 minutes from downtown Asheville to Black Mountain, North Carolina, where we spent the day at the LEAF Festival…”
Vaud & the Villians - a 19-Piece Time-Traveling Band - October 24, 2016
Vaud & the Villians… – October 24, 2016 – The Odyssey Community – By Sophie Harris – “If you were to take a modern band, and then have them time travel to perform in a film noir, you would get Vaud and the Villains…”
Connecting Cultures: LEAF Returns to Downtown Asheville - July 28, 2016
Connecting Cultures: LEAF Returns to Downtown Asheville – July 28, 2016 – Biltmore Beacon – By Shelby Harrell – “‘The “Voices of Asheville” tent will be back as a place to learn about the rich history of Asheville as well as its current challenges. Lots of different “Voices” will be present to share, such as Pisgah Legal Services, HACA Residents Housing Council, Center for Diversity Education, and plenty more…”
LEAF Downtown enters its second year - July 27, 2016
LEAF Downtown enters second year – July 27, 2016 – Mountain Xpress – By Bill Kopp – “We’re taking the formula that we had last year and ramping it up. We’re aiming for a natural, evolutionary growth. From a core mission perspective, we’ve made LEAF Downtown about showcasing the very best of what Asheville has to offer. Give us sunshine out there, and we’ll give you an incredible show…”
LEAF Downtown Treats Include Funky War, Cosmic Papadosio - July 27, 2016
LEAF Downtown Treats Include Funky War, Cosmic Papadosio – July 27, 2016 – Tribune Papers – By Pete Zamplas – “LEAF Downtown Asheville invigorates with various musical treats starting with cosmic electronic Papadosio in the pre-party that benefits local music education, smash local acts such as rocking The Broadcast and progressive folk Jon Stickley Trio, and funky top act War in the second annual free street festival July 30-31…”
Live for Live Music - July 7, 2016
LEAF Festival Announces Lineup – July 7, 2016 – LIVE for Live Music – By Dave Melamed – “There are lots of exciting artists to catch this year, including Here Come The Mummies, Third World, Solas, Too Many Zooz, Chali 2na & The House Vibe, Dar Williams, Leah Song (of Rising Appalachia), The Hip Abduction and so many more!…”
Grateful Web Feature - July 7, 2016
LEAF Festival Announces Lineup – July 7, 2016 – Grateful Web – By Mike Moran – Fall LEAF Festival ’16
Get Funky: War to Play Summer LEAF (Downtown) – June 7, 2016
Get Funky: War to Play Summer LEAF (Downtown) – June 7, 2016 – Asheville Citizen-Times “Headlining band War, once fronted by British rocker Eric Burdon, is now led by original member Leroy “Lonnie” Jordan. Started in 1969, it is known for the hits “Spill the Wine,” “The World Is a Ghetto,” “The Cisco Kid,” “Why Can’t We Be Friends?,” “Low Rider“, and “Summer“. This is the band’s first performance at a LEAF event…”
Recap: Fun at the LEAF Festival – May 20, 2016
Recap: Fun at the LEAF Festival – May 20, 2016 – ArtsNowNC – “One of the highlights was meeting some of the ladies of Gee’s Bend, a tiny, rural, African-American community in Alabama known for quilt making. Mostly the decedents of slaves, the people of Gee’s Bend have produced countless patchwork masterpieces beginning as far back as the mid-19th century. Pushing the boundaries of traditional quilting, these quilts included bright colors and were expressive and unconventional…”
Why My First LEAF Festival Won’t Be My Last – May 19, 2016
Why My First LEAF Festival Won’t Be My Last – May 19, 2016 – Bullet Music – “This festival is an all-in-one experience. Attendees can enjoy a pleasant, family environment during the day, where children perform, food is in the air, and acro-yoga in the field. You may even make it to the Chilean Drum Workshop if you sprint fast enough across the land. At night, you will find pockets of jams amongst the campsites, and at the top of the hill, in a cut, you will come across the after-hours (18+) drum circle that goes until the sun comes back up. Altogether, this is a sophisticated, established festival that brings immensely talented musicians to Appalachia and has something for everyone…”
Jon Stickley Trio seizes Music Video Asheville honors, captivates LEAF – May 18, 2016
Jon Stickley Trio seizes Music Video Asheville honors, captivates LEAF –May 18, 2016 – The Tribune Papers – “The Jon Stickley Trio is blazing an ear and eye-opening path with sensational instrumentation in uplifting, up-tempo “newgrass” blends, after dominating Music Video Asheville top awards then wowing crowds at LEAF this past weekend…”
Band Takes Stand For LGBTQ Rights By Performing In Drag In North Carolina – May 16, 2016
Band Takes Stand For LGBTQ Rights By Performing In Drag In North Carolina – May 16, 2016 – Live for Live Music – “Following the new laws in North Carolina against the LGBTQ community, and the recent concert cancellations that some headlining acts chose to respond with, members of MarchFourth decided to respond to the situation in a different way. After a late night drunken conversation about the matter, the band unanimously decided to go forward with both their North Carolina shows, in Durham at Motorco and headlining the LEAF Festival outside of Asheville, in full drag…”
Spherical Shot of Juan de Marcos & the Afro-Cuban All-Stars – May 15, 2016
Spherical Shot of Juan de Marcos & the Afro-Cuban All-Stars – May 15, 2016 – Shane Peters
LEAF Festival feature on Ashvegas.com – May 12, 2016
LEAF Festival feature on Ashvegas.com – May 12, 2016 – Ashevegas.com – “Since the US began easing Cuban sanctions under the Obama administration, travel to Cuba and interest in the island nation has grown quickly. Recently, the first US cruise ship made a stop in Havana. Journalist Jon Elliston, who has visited the country several times and is working on a study of the state of Cuban media, sees events like this as “opening one more bridge between the US and Cuba, just like LEAF is doing by bringing Cuban artists here as part of a greater process of our two countries getting along…”
Festival Bring Big Economic Punch – May 9, 2016
Festival Bring Big Economic Punch – May 9, 2016 – Asheville Citizen-Times – “LEAF pulls 6,000 visitors a day to historic Camp Rockmont. They all buy their tickets in advance, making a commitment for a single day or the weekend. Pickering said about 45 percent of the turnout comes from around the Southeast, including the Greenville-Spartanburg area, Charleston, across North Carolina, up from Atlanta and Florida and as far away as Washington state…”
Música de la pasión caliente! – May 4, 2016
Música de la pasión caliente! LEAF adds Cuban spice to invigorating music May 13-15 – May 4, 2016 – The Tribune Papers – “LEAF has long promoted international music, including hypnotic Afro-Cuban dance sounds. Ehren Cruz enthusiastically described Cuban music: “From the big band garacho sounds, to salsa, to timba, to bolero, samba, afro-cuban Jazz, and even a new wave of ‘reggaeton’ emerging from Cuba … the islands music packs a big punch in all genres…”
Above & Beyond: Celebration of Champions Honors Volunteers – April 18, 2016
Above & Beyond: Celebration of Champions Honors Volunteers – April 18, 2016 – The Laurel of Asheville – “… the three local partnerships crucial to his service throughout the years are with ACSF, LEAF Schools and Streets, and Roots + Wings School of Art (RWSA)…”
Sarah Jarosz Plots Extensive 2016 Tour – April 5, 2016
Sarah Jarosz Plots Extensive 2016 Tour – April 5, 2016 – Rolling Stone – Tour date mention.
LEAF Festival Announces Cuban Theme for Spring – January 19, 2016
LEAF Festival Announces Cuban Theme for Spring – January 19, 2016 – Asheville Citizen Times – “What better time to celebrate the sounds of Cuba than right now, as the U.S. relaxes travel and trade restrictions with our island neighbor? LEAF Community Arts will commemorate this new relationship and celebrate the country’s history of rich sounds at May’s LEAF Festival...”
41st LEAF Festival – October 23, 2015
41st LEAF Festival – October 23, 2015 – Grateful Web – “The thousands in attendance came not only for the six stages full of music, but also for the traditions that have become staples in the LEAF tradition: LEAF Fiddle Contest; Healing Arts Village; Ziplining, Lakeside Activities and Camping; LEAF Hike; LEAF Member’s Party; Healing Arts Village; Roaming Performing Artists; LEAF Parade (Mardi Gras-style this Festival); LEAF Southern Fried Poetry Slam; LEAF Arts Ed Pavilion (formerly called the Outreach Pavilion); Fire Performance by Unifire Theatre; Community Tribal Drum Circle…”
Rising Appalachia Recounts New Orleans @ LEAF – October 20, 2015
Rising Appalachia Recounts New Orleans @ LEAF – October 20, 2015 – AshevilleGrit.com – ” LEAF was an incredible container for all our cross pollination of muse and spirit and we were delighted to connect with old friends and dance our tails off all weekend to pretty much every band on the stage. We are incredibly thankful that LEAF has such a solid relationship with New Orleans and that the bridge between Appalachia and the bayou remains as strong as ever…”
An Interview with LEAF Performer Marcel Anton – October 20, 2015
An Interview with LEAF Performer Marcel Anton – October 20, 2015 – Mountain Xpress – “Asheville-based musician and composer Marcel Anton answered questions in the LEAF Press Lounge on Saturday. During the festival, he performed with Jeff Thompson’s SoulofNOLA project, which kicked off the weekend, as well as his own band. He also led the LEAF members party at The Barn on Sunday…”
Golden Autumn Days: LEAF Recap, Part 2 – October 19, 2015
Golden Autumn Days: LEAF Recap, Part 2 – October 19, 2015 – Mountain Xpress – “The LEAF Festival marked its 20-year anniversary in May, and last weekend’s event was the 41st biannual celebration. And while it’s grown and evolved over the years, there’s also the sense that LEAF has remained true to its core principals and preserved its earnestly freaky essence. Undeniably family oriented, the festival feels safe without being obsessively G-rated. Weirdness is celebrated on many levels and exploration — especially in the artistic sense — is encouraged…”
Golden Autumn Days: LEAF Recap, Part 1 – October 18, 2015 – Mountain Xpress – ” it’s at the shufftle drop-off on Camp Rockmont property where the magic really starts, when the daily business and routine fall away and you’re surrounded by fall colors, mountain vistas and thousands of people in costumes and various stages of parading or stiltwalking or slack-line yoga-ing. It’s pretty much like wandering into a participatory carnival…”
6 Questions with LEAF Performers Sol Driven Train – October 12, 2015
6 Questions with LEAF Performers Sol Driven Train – October 12, 2015 – Mountain Xpress – “We are excited to have two sets at LEAF, one on the Lakeside stage and one in the intimate setting of The Barn. On our Saturday Lakeside set, we will be joined by local school kids from Swannanoa Valley Montessori [as part of] the LEAF Schools & Streets program. We are going to be in the classroom all week with these kids. With the New Orleans theme at this festival, we are going to be teaching the students a few songs from NOLA that were favorites of mine when I was a kid…”
8 Questions with LEAF Performers The Revivalists – October 9, 2015
8 Questions with LEAF Performers The Revivalists – October 9, 2015 – Mountain Xpress – “Rock and soul band The Revivalists are based in New Orleans. The group, led by vocalist David Shaw, formed in 2007, and recently released its latest studio album, Men Amongst Mountains, which seems fitting considering this festival’s concept…”
5 Questions with LEAF Performer Jeff Thompson – October 8, 2015
5 Questions with LEAF Performer Jeff Thompson – October 8, 2015 – Mountain Xpress – “I couldn’t be more excited about the set my band and I have put together for LEAF this Fall. We are calling this project “SouloNOLA,” since it has involved a return to my New Orleans roots. I grew up there and still return as often as I can, so it’s been really cool to intentionally put together a set that honors my hometown…”
LaMotte and Guatemalan Children to Perform – October 3, 2015
LaMotte and Guatemalan Children to Perform – October 3, 2015 – Black Mountain News “Guatemala is geographically closer to Asheville than California is, but in other ways, it is worlds away. Through the work of PEG Partners and LEAF International, children in Guatemala have more opportunities and possibilities…”
Aaron Neville, Pres Hall… – September 23, 2015
Aaron Neville, Pres Hall… – September 23, 2015 – Live for Live Music – “The LEAF Festival has announced its lineup for the 41st annual festivities! Taking place on the beautiful Lake Eden in Black Mountain, NC, LEAF is celebrating all things NOLA in honor of the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. With a theme of “Celebrating the Spirit of New Orleans,” LEAF has unveiled a lineup with Aaron Neville, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and Dumpstaphunk (x2) at the top. The festival is held from October 15-18, and the full lineup includes such top-notch performers as Rebirth Brass Band, Rising Appalachia, The Revivalists, Charmaine Neville, Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole, Roosevelt Collier’s Gospel and more!..”
Aaron Neville, Preservation Hall & Dumpstaphunk Headline 41st LEAF Festival! – September 23, 2015
Aaron Neville, Preservation Hall & Dumpstaphunk Headline 41st LEAF Festival! – September 23, 2015 – Live Music Daily – ” August 29th, 2015 marked the 10th year since Hurricane Katrina impacted New Orleans, Louisiana – environmentally, socially and economically. In honor of the contributions that this cultural capital of the world has given to music, food, the arts and LEAF, the 41st LEAF Festival has been created with the inspirational theme of “Celebrating the Spirit of New Orleans” at heart. “
Asheville Downtown turns over a new LEAF, putting Bele Chere to rest once and for all – August 3, 2015
Asheville Downtown turns over a new LEAF, putting Bele Chere to rest once and for all – August 3, 2015 – 880 The River – By Jeff Messer – “Less all-consuming than Bele Chere had been in the past, when it closed down virtually all of downtown for a weekend, much to the joy of downtown businesses in the early years, then their contempt in later years, LEAF occupied the Pack Square Park area up to Vance monument, without interruption to the traffic and the majority of businesses in downtown.”
Jennifer Pickering & Community – August 31, 2015
Jennifer Pickering & Community – August 31, 2015 – WLOS News 13
LEAF Downtown reports 12,000-person crowd – August 3, 2015
LEAF Downtown reports 12,000-person crowd – August 3, 2015 – Asheville Citizen Times – By Emily Patrick – “…the crowd peaked during a performance by Bootsy Collins, the festival’s headliner event who is known for his space-themed performances featuring the star-shaped Space Bass. “It got beautiful,” said LEAF founder Jennifer Pickering. “The mothership landed in downtown in the most beautiful, positive, diverse experience that I’ve ever had in Asheville.”
LEAF Downtown Well-Received – August 3, 2015
LEAF Downtown Well-Received – August 3, 2015 – WLOS News 13
LEAF Downtown – August 2, 2015
LEAF Downtown – August 2, 2015 – Romantic Asheville – By Mark File – “These folks know how to present a great event since they host the big LEAF Festival twice a year in Black Mountain for more than 20 years. Celebrate communities, creativity, diversity, and families in the heart of downtown in Pack Square Park.”
First Annual Downtown LEAF Aug 1-2 – July 30, 2015
First Annual Downtown LEAF Aug 1-2 – July 30, 2015 – By AshevilleNC.com – “After 20 years of producing WNC’s #1 Music Festival, #1 Festival for Camping and #1 Festival for Kids, LEAF Community Arts (LEAF) is proud to announce the first Annual LEAF Downtown AVL taking place August 1st and 2nd in Pack Square Park.”
Diversity in Downtown AVL – July 29, 2015
Diversity in Downtown AVL – July 29, 2015 – By The Mountaineer – “Don’t miss the first ever LEAF Downtown AVL event —taking place on from noon – 10 p.m. on Aug. 1 and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Aug. 2 in Pack Square Park.”
Your Guide to Asheville’s new festival LEAF Downtown – July 29, 2015
Your Guide to Asheville’s new festival LEAF Downtown – July 29, 2015 – Asheville Citizen Times – By Emily Patrick – “In the interest of navigating this new world, Scene has created two suggested itineraries — one geared toward music enthusiasts and one geared toward families. But in true LEAF style, the two overlap. There’s plenty for kids with adult tastes as well as for the young at heart.”
Branching Out: LEAF Downtown AVL festival – July 28, 2015
Branching Out: LEAF Downtown AVL festival – July 28, 2015 – Mountain Xpress – By Bill Kopp – “The organizers of LEAF Community Arts launched their signature event — the now-biannual LEAF Festival at Lake Eden in Black Mountain — in 1995. “When you hit a landmark like 20 years,” says LEAF Executive Director Jennifer Pickering, “it’s time to ask yourself: ‘How are we meeting our mission? How are we serving our community? What are the new opportunities, the new ways of doing things?’” A conversation that began in 2014 yielded some answers, and an outgrowth of those conclusions is the upcoming LEAF Downtown AVL, a free event taking place Saturday and Sunday, Aug 1-2, in Pack Square Park.”
LEAF Downtown Asheville is Aug. 1-2 Free Festival – July 28, 2015
LEAF Downtown Asheville is Aug. 1-2 Free Festival – July 28, 2015 – The Tribune Papers – By Pete Zamplas – “…the festival has a LEAF-like local emphasis with more than 90 vendors including craft brewers, also healing arts, roaming artists, art installations and interactive play. The Family Adventure Zone, EASEL RIDER, and the Prestige Subaru Adventure Zone are among family attractions.”
Inaugural LEAF Art Dash Asheville 5k this Saturday – July 27, 2015
Inaugural LEAF Art Dash Asheville 5k this Saturday – July 27, 2015 – Asheville Citizen Times – By Karen Chavez – “At key points along the route, runners or families may take an artful moment with volunteers from Roots + Wings School of Art and Design to create small works of art that will contribute to a larger communal project that will then be donated back to the City of Asheville.”
The changing landscape of Asheville’s free music festivals – July 24, 2015
The changing landscape of Asheville’s free music festivals – July 24, 2015 – Mountain Xpress – By Ben Williamson – ““As a nonprofit, tickets for LEAF have been a main source of revenue,” Pickering says. “Since this is a free event … anyone can come, but it’s challenging in that we have to look at creative funding streams.” LEAF Downtown AVL incorporates a wide variety of for-profit satellite events, such as a kickoff party with the Ohio Players at New Mountain; a VIP experience; a “Bootsy Funk Dynasty Day” with funk icon Bootsy Collins; and a 5K run.”
My Journey to LEAF Festival – June 1, 2015
My Journey to LEAF Festival – June 1, 2015 – By Joseph McKee – “It is easy to be captivated by the plethora of interactive arts, vendors, workshops and impromptu performances. However, the heart of LEAF reveals itself in the interactions between musicians and a captivated audience.”
Why LEAF is One of the Best Fests Around – May 5, 2015
Why LEAF is One of the Best Fests Around – May 5, 2015 – By Asheville Grit – “I think what I like most about LEAF is the complete sense of community. Everyone arrives ready to relax and catch up with friends, and everything about the festival works to reinforce a sense of togetherness: the funky world music vibe; the sharing of dance, art and food; the surrounding embrace of the beautiful mountains. To attend LEAF is to step out of your singular life and experience real togetherness.”
LEAF Brings Funky Cultural Fest to Downtown – April 20, 2015
LEAF Brings Funky Cultural Fest to Downtown – April 20, 2015 – By ExploreAsheville.com – “Mark your calendars–there’s a new reason to get funky in downtown Asheville this summer! Two years after the final installment of the long-running Bele Chere, Asheville welcomes a new free, family-friendly festival from LEAF Community Arts…”
New Summer Music Fest to Fill Some of Bele Chere’s Void – April 17, 2015
New Summer Music Fest to Fill Some of Bele Chere’s Void – April 17, 2015 – Asheville Citizen Times – By Emily Patrick – “LEAF Community Arts, which organizes LEAF Festival in Black Mountain twice a year, will create the event, which will include three stages, food trucks and more than 90 locally-owned and artisan vendors and business partners.”
LEAF announces free event in Pack Square Park, Aug. 1 and 2 – April 16, 2015
LEAF announces free event in Pack Square Park, Aug. 1 and 2 – April 16, 2015 – Mountain Xpress – By Alli Marshall – “LEAF will hold the first LEAF Downtown AVL event in Pack Square Park on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 1 and 2. The free mini-festival will include Bootsy Collins and the Rubber Band Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds, The Main Squeeze, Empire Strikes Brass, The London Souls and more.”
A Weekend of Global Gratitude at LEAF’s 40th Festival – March 27, 2015
A Weekend of Global Gratitude at LEAF’s 40th Festival – March 27, 2015 – By The Laurel of Asheville – “At LEAF Festival, our senses go wild. From the scent of crêpes sizzling in the pan to the sights of hula hoops spinning and the sounds of laughter, there is so much for the whole family to experience at Lake Eden in Black Mountain.”
LEAF: Bringing the Funk Back to the Mountains – June 16, 2014
LEAF: Bringing the Funk Back to the Mountains – June 16, 2014 – Concert Photos Magazine – By Jeremy Chrzan – “LEAF is also the perfect place to let loose to the awesome music and put your dance on…”
LEAF Festival Review – May 11, 2014
LEAF Festival Review – May 11, 2014 – Appalachain Jamwich – By Michael Phillips – “Upon arriving, it became apparent that this festival was going to be much different than most I have encountered.”
Live Review: LEAF, Black Mountain, N.C. – May 11, 2014
Live Review: LEAF, Black Mountain, N.C. – May 11, 2014 – Creative Loafing – By Pat Moran – “Bedecked in silvery, multi-hued top hat and tails, star-shaped bass slung low on his hips, Bootsy Collins whipped the crowd into a delirious frenzy at LEAF’s Lakeside Stage on Saturday night.”
Shows I’ll Never Forget: Bootsy Collins – May 10, 2014
Shows I’ll Never Forget: Bootsy Collins – May 10, 2014 – Something Else – By Michael Walsh – “‘People say I’m crazy to get out here with you without security,’ said Bootsy, ‘but y’all are my security.’”
Listen! ON THE AIR:
Asheville Color & Imaging
Official LEAF Print Sponsor
Visit ACI for more info.
All hands on deck! Board the LEAF MemberSHIP!
Press Requests, Interviews & Media
Have an interview request, press opportunity or
want to get involved as a LEAF Photographer or Videographer?
Please connect w/ LEAF Communications Director,
Megan Ashley Crow for more info.
Fall LEAF Festival
2018 Guide
LEAF Downtown
Spring LEAF Festival
Live from Your Neighborhood
“More than 100 million Americans attend arts and cultural festivals each year. It is time that we start to examine these festivals more closely,” said NEA Chairman. Presenting the 1st study of outdoor arts festivals, LEAF and the National Black Arts Festival were the two organizations (out of 1,400 participants) selected to speak at the NEA Advisory Council (Presidential Appointed) annual meeting. LISTEN IN HERE.
Listen to Our Story
Check Out LEAF on the air!
May 16, 2016 – Live at LEAF: Masankho Banda
May 13, 2016 – Live at LEAF: Jon Stickley Trio
October 14, 2015 – Ivan Neville of Dumpstaphunk on Slumber Party
August 3, 2015 – Asheville Downtown to Turn Over a New LEAF
July 29, 2015 – The Jeff Messer Show (880 The Revolution)
July 22, 2015 – Talking Elvis & LEAF Downtown on Slumber Party
April 1, 2015 – What’s Your Story? (WPVM – 103.7FM)
February 3, 2015 – The Jeff Messer Show (880 The Revolution)
LEAF Festival | LEAF Downtown
#LEAFLove #LEAFLife
Sharing the stories from artists and waymakers from around the globe.
Press Photos – LEAF Festival
#LEAFFestival
Please download photos below as needed or contact communications@theLEAF.org
Press Photos – LEAF Downtown AVL
#LEAFDowntownAVL
Please download photos below as needed or contact communications@theLEAF.org with additional requests.
Press Photos – LEAF International
Press Photos – LEAF School & Streets
Press Photos – Lake Eden Grounds
Photo Credit: Steve Atkins
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The Microbiome Coalition
About Us Our Mission Management Team Founding Companies
Members Become a Member Member Companies Member News
News The Blog Monthly Newsletters Social Media
Resources White Paper Background Reading Research Articles Events
Founding Companies
Member Companies
Background Reading
Arriving at a detailed understanding of the role of the microbiome in human health and disease requires a precise characterization of the bacteria that comprise the human microbiome. To achieve that goal requires application of a set of consistent, standardized practices to ensure conformity between, and across, researchers and companies. At present, there are no widely agreed upon and accepted standards or best practices for sample collection and handling, sequencing standards, collation of reference databases or data collection and manipulation.
There are already numerous public and private groups working on these issues. TMBC hopes to be a positive force in this area by facilitating the conversation between these groups and the companies that will play a key role in translating findings in this space to diagnostics, therapeutics, adjunct therapies and direct-to-consumer services and products.
© 2017 The Microbiome Coalition (TMBC). All rights reserved. | Contact Us 202-280-5887 | info@themicrobiomecoalition.com
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What’s wrong with this police report?
HiMARS
Rockhampton NAIDOC March
The Orchard Yeppoon.
David Attenborough testifies on the Great Barrier Reef
Black Hawks at Rockhampton Airport
Stockland evacuation
Industrial Fire, Gracemere
Man charged over cold case murder
bad driving
Festival of the Bazaar
Belle Gibson - The Cancer Con Artist
by Lauren McMah
A traveller who tried to make an insurance claim worth thousands with a made-up story about being robbed overseas has been exposed as a fraudster by his own sketchy "evidence".
The customer told his Australian insurer he'd had $7000 worth of belongings stolen, including a laptop, camera, sunglasses and clothes, on a bus ride from Hyderabad to Vijayawada in India.
To support the claim, he supplied a detailed, digitally signed report from police in Hyderabad that described the circumstances of the alleged robbery.
The report, supplied to news.com.au, said CCTV captured another passenger - who was identified by name and age in the report - getting off the bus with the customer's stolen cabin bag.
An insurance cheat tried to make a $7000 lost belongings claim using this fake police report from India. (Names withheld for privacy.)
The report stated the name and badge number of the police officer assigned to the case.
"All possible efforts are in the process to trace the missing items and the culprit," the report concluded.
But when the insurance company's travel claims centre received the report with the customer's claim, it was quickly apparent something was amiss.
"The police report, issued in India, was in English, which triggered our attention," said the claims centre spokesman, who asked not to be identified.
"The report went so far as to name and accuse the suspect, which is really unusual. Sensing something was fishy, we were then able to establish that the police station did not exist, and that a similar false report had been making the rounds.
"After a bit of probing, the customer quickly caught wind that we were on to him and went quiet. He has yet to respond to our requests."
In an unrelated case, a customer presented a hospital bill to the same claims team to support a $7000 claim to cover emergency costs for her sick child.
The spokesman said the bill was filled with errors, including the incorrect phone number for the hospital.
It’s getting easier for insurance companies to spot dodgy medical documents.
When the customer refused to co-operate and the claims team dug deeper, they discovered the patient's ID number corresponded to someone else entirely.
"These claims have obvious tells," the spokesman said.
"And we have ways of uncovering the truth. We can validate receipts with stores, source surveillance footage from overseas and send investigators to do in-person field work, just to name a few of the tools at our disposal."
The spokesman said fraudsters often underestimated how easy it was for fraud-busting investigators to sniff out a phony claim.
"We can validate a lot of information quickly. It doesn't matter where it happened," he said.
"We're currently investing in machine learning and automation. Without giving too much away, document and receipt scanning software along with data extraction systems provide an additional means of detecting falsified information."
According to the latest figures from the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Australia, one in 10 claims lodged in 2017 were found to be dishonest.
Natalie Ball, from comparetravelinsurance.com.au, said that number was on the rise.
"Travel insurance fraudsters have become increasingly sophisticated," Ms Ball said.
"We've seen everything from professional-looking police reports, store receipts and hospital charges that, at first glance, seem legitimate, however insurers can identify doctored documents and stop scammers in their tracks."
Insurance cheats end up costing the rest of us more in higher premiums. Picture: iStock
The bigger problem is insurance fraud isn't a victimless crime - the Insurance Fraud Bureau estimates fake claims cost insurers $2.2 billion a year.
"Travel insurance fraud is expensive for all of us, as it drives up the cost of policies," Ms Ball said.
"Regular, honest customers will inevitably pay extra in premiums thanks to those who scam the system. Fraudsters may think they're committing a victimless crime, but it's ultimately the general public who pays the price."
She said not all fake claims were from "mastermind scam artists".
"There are those who will pad out the cost of an item when lodging a legitimate claim," she said.
"Or some will choose to leave out some crucial information on their insurance application. "Either way, these are essentially methods of stealing from your insurance company."
Insurance fraudsters could face tough penalties when caught, including fines and jail time - including a maximum sentence of 10 years in Victoria and NSW and five years in Queensland.
They could also be added to "Do Not Insure" blacklists that meant they couldn't get legitimate health, car or home insurance in the future.
The travel claims centre spokesman said it was getting harder to get away with dodgy fake claims.
"Fraudsters face tough competition because we are getting better all the time at identifying
disingenuous claims," he said.
"Every time we discover a doctored receipt or a home-brew police report it is added to our knowledge bank and improves our understanding of how these people conduct themselves."
premium_icon Mackay mum sent to jail in $1.5m fraud case
premium_icon Teen sells $7000 worth of fake festival, concert tickets
Warning over Woolworths grocery scam
fraud insurance insurance fraud
Politics A no-nonsense Queensland Federal MP and NSW’s firebrand Deputy Premier were separated after it was feared an expletive-peppered exchange could turn physical.
Politics Taxpayers have taken a financial hit from politicians claiming thousands of dollars to fix “dings” and other scrapes in their private-plated cars — like Greens MP...
Education Violent attacks and threats against Queensland teachers and school staff have surged to record levels, new data has revealed.
premium_icon Let the invasion begin! Coalition troops storm beach
News More than 1000 coalition troops invaded a Queensland beach yesterday as they started their big push to restore an allied nation’s sovereignty.
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Take My Breath Away, and Other News
A still from Top Gun, 1986.
Rivka Galchen on Kafka (or rather, his biography): “It has been said of Kafka’s work many times that the thing to remember is that it is funny. Kafka was known to laugh uncontrollably when reading his work aloud to friends, and though that sounds more like anxiety than hilarity to me, the funny point endures. But what kind of funny is he? … One element of the comedy of Kafka’s biography is the way his life, at whatever moment, is dwarfed by his work.”
In the eighties, Hollywood’s big-budget movies were teeming with sex scenes: The sex was often in silhouette, yes, and usually accompanied by a saxophone, true, but it was there, just as it is in the human experience. “In the era of Top Gun, The Big Easy, Body Heat, or other steamy Hollywood thrillers, the goal was to appeal to both men and women with the promise of (among other things) onscreen sex. (Ergo the fabled ‘date night’ movie.) Now the goal is to appeal to adults and their twelve-year-old kids with the promise of the absence of sex.”
Kenneth Snelson’s Needle Tower, a sixty-foot sculpture at the Hirshhorn, comprises thin steel wires and barely touches the ground. How does it stay upright in strong wind?
“A couple of years ago, a Chicago-based corporate-identity consultant, Chris Herron, gave himself the ultimate challenge: rebrand hell. It was half gag, half self-promotion, but Herron took the project seriously, considering what it would take for a place like hell to become a premier destination in the travel market. Herron decided that what hell needed was a complete brand overhaul. The new hell would feature no demons or devils, no tridents or lakes of fire. The brand name was rendered in a lower-case, bubbly blue font designed to evoke ‘instant accessibility and comfort’. The slogan, which was once ‘Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here,’ would be ‘Simply Heavenly.’ ”
Every December, the New York Public Library’s literary lions, Patience and Fortitude, have wreaths hung from their necks—and every year something seems to go wrong, somehow. (Last year the wreaths were simply too big.)
Kenneth Snelson
Literary Lions
Rivka Galchen
Herzog in the Jungle
By Caitlin Love
By Taylor Lannamann
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Deputies raid home of cop's friend
Woman went to high school with boyfriend who was charged with murder in the case of his girlfriend, who was nine months pregrant.
TSheriff’s deputies are investigating whether Bobby Cutts Jr. had
help in the alleged murder of Jessie Marie Davis or the cover-up of her
Myisha Ferrell was not at her northwest Canton apartment Saturday night when Stark County sheriff’s deputies were looking for
DNA trace evidence including blood, hair and fibers “which may be used as
evidence of the crime of obstructing justice,” according to the search
warrant signed by Stark County Common Pleas Judge John Haas.
Deputies smashed through the door of Ferrell’s apartment shortly before 8
p.m. as neighbors gathered in the street.
Officers removed about eight brown paper evidence bags and several smaller
envelope-sized bags from the apartment.
The warrant showed they were looking for pillows, a bed sheet, a cell phone,
cleaning supplies including bleach, children’s clothing, men’s or women’s
clothing, gloves and the DNA evidence.
An inventory of the search showed officers took three empty containers of
Febreze fabric freshener, an empty Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner (spray cleaner),
a black address book, three cell phones, a partial roll of duct tape, Hefty
CinchSak garbage bags, Lysol cleaner and bleach gallon jugs. The bleach came
from the basement, which is shared with neighbor Justin Lindstrom, and he
said one of the bleach jugs was his.
Bleach was found splattered throughout the bedroom of Davis’ Lake Township
duplex last Friday, when her family discovered she was missing. The
26-year-old girlfriend of Cutts was nine months pregnant when she was last
heard from on the night of June 13.
Her body was discovered about 3:30 p.m. in Hampton Hills Metro Park,
southeast of Blossom Music Center in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in
northern Summit County.
A source close to Cutts told The Repository on Saturday that Cutts said he
asked a female friend to help him remove Davis’ body from her home. Cutts
reportedly said Davis’ death was not his doing, but he thought no one would
believe him and decided to hide the body.
When Davis’ mother went to check on her July 15, she found Davis’ 2-year-old
son, Blake, unattended. Cutts is the boy’s father.
According to Ferrell’s neighbor, Lindstrom, “The FBI has been here about
four times in the last three days.” Agents called him again Saturday night,
and told him Ferrell had been released from police custody, but if Lindstrom
saw her he was to call immediately.
He said he last saw Ferrell on Friday, when she was at her apartment for about
20 minutes and left with cleaning supplies, a broom, a dustpan and a black
garbage bag. Lindstrom said the FBI showed up 20 minutes after Ferrell left.
Ferrell graduated from GlenOak High School in 1995 with Cutts, who was
arrested Saturday afternoon and is to be formally charged Monday with two
counts of murder.
Ferrell was scheduled to report to her job at a local restaurant at 11 p.m.
Saturday. A waitress at the restaurant told The Canton Repository that she
quit Friday.
After deputies left, duct tape held together the front panel of the door to
Ferrell’s apartment. Investigators couldn’t get it to close all the way, and
the door was slightly ajar when they left. They would not comment.
Reach Canton Repository writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail:
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Fake e-cards signal massive DDoS attack
Storm worm's a brewin'
By Dan Goodin 7 Aug 2007 at 23:11
Security researchers are reporting a sharp increase in the number of machines infected by the Storm Worm, prompting speculation that its authors, who so far have limited their activities to spam, intend to use it for more destructive purposes, such as launching massive denial of service attacks.
In June and July, internet security provider SecureWorks counted 1.7m unique hosts carrying the Storm Worm, compared with just 2,817 from January to May, according to Joe Stewart, a senior researcher with the company. The number of attacks blocked by SecureWorks has similarly skyrocketed, from 71,342 for the first five months of the year to 20.2m since June.
Just about anyone with an email account is painfully familiar with Storm, whose most recent spam messages bear subjects such as "You've received a greeting e-card from a worshipper." Once recipients follow the link and install the malicious code, they become part of the same network as the original sender and either churn out the same e-card messages or spam containing PDF files that tout penny stocks.
The spike in the number of infected machines is leading to speculation that the people maintaining the Storm network are aspiring to greater things.
"In most cases, a botnet of 1,000 or 10,000 is plenty to do what these guys want to do, which is spam or DDoS somebody," Stewart told El Reg. "We're wondering if perhaps the idea of having a virtually unstoppable DDoS net might be driving this."
One possible plan may be to build a network that could be leased out to hackers so they can launch a massive attack on a large company or entire country. Stewart, who frequently monitors underground forums where cyber criminals advertise their products and services, says little is known about the people connected with Storm. He has yet to see individuals identify themselves as being affiliated with the network.
The Storm Worm got its name after malware-laced mass emails that first spread in January promised information about winter storms that ravaged Northern Europe. Since then, the email topics have changed many times, demonstrating a strong ability in its authors to trick recipients into clicking through so they become infected.
Storm Worm combines this social-engineering savvy with a technical prowess that relies on peer-to-peer technology for updates rather than a centralized command and control channel on an internet relay chat network. And therein lies the secret to Storm's resiliency.
"Instead of being connected to a single IRC server, it's connected by p2p, so there's no head to cut off," said Allysa Myers, a virus research engineer at McAfee. "It's been difficult to do anything on a larger level to try to kill this thing off."
Storm infections can also be extremely hard to detect and remove because they frequently alter executables that get loaded during startup, rather than relying on traditional, and better understood, techniques of modifying the startup registry. For example, recent variants of the Storm Worm, which also goes by the name of W32/Newar, "parasitically infect" tcpip.sys files.
"It's something that has been used by a number of different families over the last six months or so, and Newar [authors] have seen this tactic used by other virus writers and have started to incorporate it," Myers said. ®
Youtube Queue Chrome extension booted out of store for search engine hijacking, revealing Google's lax dev checks
Follow us down the rabbit hole in uncovering who is possibly responsible
US Air Force probes targeted malware attack, blames... er, the US Navy? What?
War crimes trial takes a fresh twist
YouTube mystery ban on hacking videos has content creators puzzled
Updated Recent policy remains unclear about what's disallowed
Old-school cruel: Dodgy PDF email attachments enjoying a renaissance
Let's go back... way back
US Cyber Command warns that the Outlook is not so good - Iranians hitting email flaw
Government-backed campaign going after bug that was patched in 2017
Meet the Great Duke of... DLL: Microsoft shines light on Astaroth, a devilishly sneaky strain of fileless malware
DLL or no DLL?
Welcome! Mimecast finds interesting door policies on email filters
Microsoft and Proofpoint servers ushered in 15,656 malware attachments
Sunday seems really quiet. Hmm, thinks Google, let's have a four-hour Gmail, YouTube, G Suite, Cloud outage
Unlucky netizens struggle to connect to web giant suffering from 'network congestion'
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SEX BEAST CAGED
Vile paedo jailed for 16 years after filming himself raping young girl 120 times and grooming a second victim
Depraved Lee Stuart Curley owned over 1000 videos and images of children being assaulted
By MARK HODGE
Updated: 1 Oct 2016, 11:56
A SICK paedophile has been jailed after he filmed himself on his phone and iPad repeatedly raping a young girl.
Lee Stuart Curley took over 120 videos and images of the depraved sexual assaults on the young girl under 13 over a 10 month period.
The 36-year-old recorded the attacks on his mobile devices between May 2015 and March 2016.
Curley was jailed for 16 years after he filmed himself repeatedly raping a young girl
A second victim was also groomed by Curley over a two-year period between 2012 and 2014.
The vile pervert owned 1,006 videos and images of children being abused.
He was sentenced to a total of 16 years behind bars at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday and will also be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for life.
Curley, of Tower Hamlets, east London, was described in court as a predatory sex offender, after evidence of his sickening attacks was found on his iPad.
SICK SICKO
Jailed perv Rolf Harris dashes to hospital with suspected blood poisoning
BEAST'S TEARS
Moment pervert, hoping to meet underage girl, weeps after he is snared by paedophile hunters
'BUT I'M A GOOD PERSON'
Pervert snared by female paedophile hunters after he arranged to meet '11-year-old girl' for sex is jailed
SEX BEAST BEHIND BARS
Paedophile filmed stampeding across courtroom to slash prosecutor with piece of metal jailed for sex attack on 10-year-old girl
PAEDO HUNTER GUNNED DOWN
Migrant shot dead by cops in camp moments before he planned to murder 'refugee paedo who abused his daughter, 6'
Warning Graphic
WORLD'S MOST DEPRAVED KID KILLER
Paedo’s sick campaign of child rape and murder is so horrific the Philippines plan to bring back the death penalty
BRIT SEX BEAST
Paedo British teacher who kidnapped children and sold them as SEX SLAVES for sick porn is spared jail in Thailand
PAEDO MUM
Twisted mother-of-two exposed as a paedophile who groped 14-year-old schoolboy
The predator initially denied the sexual attacks and claimed he had no knowledge of any indecent images, but was charged on March 8, three days after his arrest.
Despite initially pleading not guilty at court, Curley changed his plea at a subsequent hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court on May 17, when presented with the weight of evidence against him.
He pleaded guilty to four offences in relation to the assaults on the young girl, rape of a girl under 13, possessing an extreme pornographic image portraying rape, possessing indecent photographs of a child and making indecent photographs of a child.
He was also charged with six offences in relation to grooming and pleaded guilty to three offences of inciting a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity and three offences of causing a child under 13 to look at an image of sexual activity.
DC Carla Goymer-Ellice of the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: "My thoughts throughout this inquiry have been with those who suffered at the hands of this man.
"In 14 years of investigating serious and sexual crime, this was one of the worst cases I have dealt with.
"It was a terrible series of assaults that upset even experienced investigators, but we were all fully committed to bringing the man responsible to justice."
The sick pervert appeared at Snaresbrook Crown CourtCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368
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postcards from berlin #19 [tickets for the people]
CALIGULA (r. nunes) @ berliner ensemble
i’ve been stuck on writing this one because it left me pretty unmoved.
not that it was bad, per se. but it didn’t grab me by the guts. which is a bit strange actually cause it’s got a pretty winning formula for grabbing someone like me by the guts: some scary clowns, a weird old play about a roman emperor, a woman in a latex bald cap playing the emperor in question, a chainsaw, buckets of blood, and a young, ballsy director who’s made a name for himself reinterpreting canonical texts with big body counts. i’d order that play off the menu just about every day of the week.
but i’ve been procrastinating on writing this post cause i’ve really got nothing much to say about it.
sure, camus’s text is an alienating play about an alienating dude who alienates himself to the extreme in a sequence of actions that’s more or less about engineering his own suicide (by arming the people who will kill him and pissing them right off).
but that kind of alienation i’m good with. (and no, even though it’s the berliner ensemble i don’t really mean verfremdungseffekt). even with lots of big potent images and high theatricality still i wasn’t all that excited. i didn’t really lean forward.
fine. not every show is a winner. but the thought also occurs to me that i was way up in the nosebleed second balcony at the BE, and it’s a pretty long way to the stage. see, the new BE has a different ticketing policy than most of the theatres here.
as an artist (or a student, senior, or low-income-earner), in germany you can get subsidized tickets (there’s a couple streams for this; artists get steuerkarten but there are also ermässigte karten). it’s why seeing this much theatre here hasn’t busted the bank for me. the tickets range from 8€ to 14€ depending on the theatre. for most theatres they aren’t rush tickets either. you just call up and they’ll put you in the best available seat.
but at the BE they’re only available 4 days in advance, and by that time a lot of shows are sold out. at schaubühne it’s a week in advance. so for both these theatres i just reserved the cheap seats cause i didn’t want to worry about it. and it’s been at these theatres that i’ve felt less enthused about the work than i have at DT or gorki.
it’s maybe not a direct case of cause and effect—it also could have to do with the curatorial aesthetic and my own selection—but it’s worth considering.
it’s simply less likely that someone in the nosebleeds is going to be seduced by a piece than someone in that 4th row centre sweet spot. (conversely, it’s also less traumatizing to sit through a shitty play up there).
theatre in canada is generally way more accessible. as someone who’s struggled to set ticket prices as a producer, you know that you’re trying to read tea leaves to balance your bottom line with the desire to have the work seen. and at larger institutions those best seats are only accessible to subscribers and those willing to dish out that cash.
which leaves those few—those happy few who actually opt for something other than netflix that night, who take a chance on being seduced, those people we most need to convince of the value of live performance—as our hardest targets to hit.
i am not yet sure of the ultimate solution to this in canada. the average per-ticket subsidy (across the board) in germany is 100€ for every ticket sold. the federal and provincial funding increases are not going to hit that target in the next 50 years in canada without some unthinkable miracle, and i’m too tired to listen to myself complain about low governmental subsidies anymore. the solution for us won’t come from the european model.
but this is one more massive barrier to people wanting to get out to BIG theatre and then having the experience of it leaving them cold. people like me who sit through 24 hour plays and go to the theatre 5 nights a week are very much the exception, so being a bit unmoved by a high-concept chainsaw clown show in spite of the tutu zombie descending from the flies crucified on a fog-enveloped cross isn’t likely to put me off from seeing another play.
a few companies in toronto have started experimenting with flexible ticket models. it’s definitely a start, and it’s right now happening in the indies, but maybe our institutions can adopt some of the underlying principles of this model. or invent their own way. all i can say is that for toronto to substantially grow its audience, we’re going to need to seduce people by giving them better access to the better seats.
for more about the show click here.
ted witzel October 30, 2017 Comment
postcards from berlin #20 [frenzy, or trump-era art #2]
postcards from berlinted witzel November 1, 2017 berlin, trump, dance, hebbel-am-ufer, HAU, kreuzberg, portugal
postcards from berlin #18 [collage is no excuse]
postcards from berlinted witzel October 26, 2017 gorki, maxim gorki theater, theatre, berlin, queer, devised theatre, community practice, engagement
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Editorial: Criminal negligence on the future of PPC
A complacent, indifferent, and anti-reform government did not concern itself with the necessary changes at the Public Power Corporation but instead focused on clientelism.
The Public Power Corporation time-bomb about which many have warned for quite some time appears ready to explode.
The country’s largest company and a pillar of growth is literally in danger of collapsing due to the tragic mistakes of its management and of the government.
Aside from its liquidity problem, the company’s viability is an issue as it has been left to its own devices.
A complacent, indifferent, and anti-reform government did not concern itself with the necessary changes but instead focused on clientelism.
It left the country’s largest public company in the hands of trade unionists and their demands for the sake of opportunistic, petty partisan objectives, and so it operated on auto pilot.
The government added another problem by allowing a massive number of consumers to have unpaid bills – which did not happen with the OTE phone company.
It is not just the current government that bears responsibility for the situation at PPC as the problems are much older.
Still, in 2014 the then government belatedly understood the coming impasse and launched procedures to sell a small PPC. It may not have been the best plan, but what followed proved tragic.
The plan was shelved and there was no new one. With the prevailing self-deceptions and ideological fixations of the government the company was handed over to the unions.
The results are obvious now as one is frantically seeking a last-minute, short-term plan to avert a collapse.
In terms of finances, management, and investment the company is in a very tough spot.
With criminal negligence the government and corporate management ignored warnings and the company’s dismal economic performance, leading the country’s energy giant to an impasse.
Now one faces the spectre of solutions to save the company which will serve neither the public interest, nor trade unionists and workers, nor taxpayers who will have to pay the piper.
PPC is in desperate need of a restructuring and cleanup along with capable and effective management.
Strong political will is needed to transcend business and trade union interests because there is no time left for games with the energy future and economic growth of the country.
Greek Government
Public Power Corporation
Editorial: The sanctions against Turkey and us After the failed 2016 coup against him, Erdogan’s decisions have completely undermined Turkey’s EU course.
Government to abolish proportional representation in local government The new code will be designed to remedy problematic provisions, reverse dysfunctions, and distinctly clarify...
EU comes down hard on Turkey over illegal drilling in Cyprus’ EEZ EU foreign ministers noted Turkey’s illegal drilling in Cyprus’ EEZ and suspended talks on the...
Staikouras hits the ground running in talks with Regling, IMF’s Dolman The looming issues are the Greek government’s hopes of lowering the 3.5 percent of GDP...
PM, Avramopoulos discuss migration, improved living conditions top priority “Greece is not alone on the great issues that concern her and this is all...
Editorial: Reforming the state The government’s organisational plan is not rare as it is implemented in most eurozone states...
New poll: 51% say election results positive, 63% say tax cuts top priority 45 percent of respondents trust the new government and 54 percent distrust it, but 61...
Vroutsis blocks simplified AMKA issuance for non-EU nationals The move has refueled fears that the conservative New Democracy government will institute harsh policies...
Greece recognises Guaido as interim president of Venezuela Germany, France, Spain, Britain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands, were among the EU...
Bank of Greece to propose complete lifting of capital controls, discusses NPLs with PM Apparently alluding to Mitsotakis’ stated hope of persuading creditors to lower the primary surplus target,...
Editorial: Unprepared for nature’s outbursts Citizens must receive timely and responsible information as there are strong mechanisms to predict extreme...
EU poised to announce measures against Turkey over Cyprus drilling As the bloc needs Turkey in matters such as security and migration, an EU...
Seven dead, over 100 injured in disastrous ‘supercell’ storm in Halkidiki Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, whose government was sworn in this week after winning elections on...
Editorial: Without self-deceptions There appears to be an opportunity and a desire for a new beginning without the...
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Tui puts Tunisia back on sale
Tui has put Tunisia back on sale for summer 2018, for the first time since the 2015 terror attack in Sousse.
The programme is starting with four flights per week
So far, it is only a small selection of hotels in Hammamet and Yasmine, Hammamet listed on the Tui website as available for 2018.
The programme is starting with four flights per week into Enfidha from Bristol, Manchester, Gatwick and Birmingham.
The flights will operate from May 1, 2018 "in response to customer demand".
A spokesperson said: "We follow the FCO advice for all destinations we operate to as well as referencing the FCO Travel Aware campaign across our website, customer documentation and in our stores and encourage everyone to check the FCO website regularly for the latest travel information."
The UK Foreign Office amended its travel advice for Tunisia in July last year, enabling holidaymakers to travel to most of the country, including the capital Tunis and Sousse.
A month later, Thomas Cook became the first major UK operator to put Tunisia back on sale with flights returning to the destination due to depart on February 13.
In February of last year a corner overseeing the inquests into the Sousse massacre rejected calls from some relatives of the 30 British victims to rule that neglect by Tui or the owners of the Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel in the resort had played a part in their deaths at the hands of gunman Seifeddine Rezgui.
Relatives of holidaymakers killed confirmed they planned to sue Tui at the conclusion of the inquest held at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.
Destinations Operators
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V “Unholy Alliance” Review
V “Unholy Alliance Season 2 Episode 4 – I was really interested in the direction that V took this week. I’m a big fan of series that mix science fiction with religion (or anything that mixes different religions for that matter), and was pretty pleased with the way this was presented in “Unholy Alliance”.
I must say that I missed the first five minutes of V – my city is currently under a blizzard warning, and the local news decided to tell us more about the weather situation and cut off the beginning of V. I wasn’t thrilled. So, I’m filling in a lot of the blanks, and if I fill them in wrong, let me know!
Basically, Anna is ticked of because three of her Peace Ambassadors were killed by the Fifth Column. She decides to meet with the Cardinal in the Vatican City in an attempt to wrangle support of the Visitors from the Catholic Church. She has ulterior motives (of course), and wants the Cardinal to issue a “no tollerance” policy against clergy that speak out against the Visitors. After threatening remarks, the Cardinal agrees, and now the Catholic church endorses the Visitors.
Meanwhile, Tyler is ticked off because of the murders of the Peace Ambassadors, and decides to take matters into his own hands by destroying Father Jack’s church. Lisa attempts to stop him, but is ignored since Tyler believes he is protesting for her people.
Erica has other issues in addition to Tyler; she has a new partner and they’ve been friends for a while. Together she and Chris begin investigating the Fifth Column, and their investigation leads them directly to Father Jack. Chris decides that Jack is hiding something and pulls surveillance tape from the area around Father Jack’s church.
Ryan, Kyle, Jack, and Erica also meet the Fifth Column leader Eli Cohn. In exchange for his freedom (and life) he helps our friends stage a rouse involving two members that Erica and Chris can arrest in conjunction with the Peace Ambassador murders, as well as Malik’s dissapearence.
I love this show. I know I say that every week, but there isn’t anything bad about it! Aside from the one issue that I had this week which involved visual effects. The travel ship that Anna and Chad take to the Vatican looked so fake, for a moment I forgot I was watching V. Normally, the effects are spot on and great, but that just looked like something pulled out of Back to the Future 2.
I’m interested to see where Anna takes the human soul dilemma with her new knowledge from her mother – that the soul is not a curse, but a gift. I’d be curious to see if she takes this to the next level and embraces the soul, but uses it to her advantage. While I’m not sure how it would work with the Visitor’s aversion to human emotion, that’s why I’m not a writer on the show!
I’ll leave that to the professionals.
Do we think the ring that Chad now has from the Visitor sleeper priest is the reason that Anna couldn’t pull his memories? Or did I read too much into that scene?
How amazing is Elizabeth Mitchell? Every week she delievers an AMAZING performance, and looks fantastic doing it, too. (I had to throw in a little fangirl over her this week – she looked perfect)
I love the direction that V is headed in, and I hope, hope, HOPE they continue down this path. What a great sci-fi show, I look forward to next week!
Follow me on Twitter @singmesweet
Kelly Gerlach
When she's not watching horror movies that are instantly streaming on Netflix or reruns of her favorite TV shows, Kelly can be found working on any of the many writing projects she has begun that she will inevitably not finish. She speaks in movie quotes and uses TV/film references in daily conversation; and she does all of this while attempting to change the world’s negative opinion of fangirls.
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‘Blessed Ramadan’ signs springing up in Minnesota
The Minnesota Council of Churches is distributing “Blessed Ramadan” signs as a welcoming gesture to area Muslims. (Courtesy photo)
PUBLISHED: June 6, 2016 at 3:20 pm | UPDATED: June 6, 2016 at 9:30 pm
Judge: Twin Cities German Immersion School demolition on hold but opponents must raise $2M in a week
Minnesota United-branded futsal court replaces basketball at West 7th park
Congestion growing on Twin Cities metro freeways, study shows
“Blessed Ramadan” signs have been popping up in Minnesota yards this week, a welcoming gesture to area Muslims led by the Minnesota Council of Churches.
The Rev. Canon Peg Chemberlin, CEO of the Minnesota Council of Churches. (Courtesy photo)
This past weekend, members of 17 area churches — including several Episcopal, Lutheran and Methodist congregations — were given the signs to put up in their yards. About 1,800 were distributed in the Twin Cities and Duluth, said the Rev. Canon Peg Chemberlin, chief executive officer of the Minnesota Council of Churches.
The yard signs, which read “To Our Muslim Neighbors BLESSED RAMADAN” are meant as a show of support for Muslims, who have been the recent target of “significant negativity,” she said.
“Many of our Muslim sisters and brothers in Minnesota find themselves being targeted solely based on their faith tradition,” said noted Bishop Brian N. Prior of Episcopal Churches of Minnesota in an effort to encourage others to participate in the sign campaign.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. During this time, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset to learn compassion, self-restraint and generosity. This year Ramadan takes place from June 5 to July 5.
The head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) in Minnesota was pleased to see the signs take root.
“It’s a powerful message to deter intolerance,” said Jaylani Hussein, CAIR-MN executive director.
Visit www.blessedramadan.org to print the standard sign or to customize your own version.
Walter James Murray
There is a difference between Ramadan in Islam and Lent in Catholic belief, but only in degree. While I was expected to give up something during those weeks until Easter, it was only a matter of degree. No more Hershey bars or, say, beef. You have to admire Muslims who can go hours and hours without food, even water. (As a teacher in Saudi Arabia, I saw what my students had to go through.) Smoking is haram (forbidden) as well. Religion require faith, and to go through such an ordeal is true faith. As they say, Allah u Akbar!
Johnny Monday
Suicide is also an ordeal called for by Islam. You willing to praise that?
mpls1981
The bible gives instructions on how to sale your daughter. Would you like to know them?
Erud
Yes, please post the Biblical daughter-selling instructions. I am confident that your hermeneutic will be sound. I am sure you can also cite numerous instances of this rampant Christian daughter-selling to further illustrate your point.
You mean like Muslims and suicide? It’s the same argument. It’s a sin for a Muslim to commit suicide. Their religion doesn’t condone such actions any more than Christians would condone selling your daughter.
Suicide alone may be considered a sin in Islam, but martyrdom is not. I would hazard a guess that the latter is what Johnny Monday was actually referencing.
If you actually paid attention when Muslims speak you’d find that the speak against violence because it’s not what Islam is about.
Or should we assume the westboro baptist church speaks for all Christians? All the same right?
Yes, yes – there are many assumptions that you can make to try to equate the 2 religions. But in all seriousness, you are comparing a single church in Kansa with less than 100 total members to a worldwide epidemic of violence and murder done in the name of Islam. Not exactly apples to apples.
Before you toss out more bigotry accusations, it is worth noting that I am not the one attributing the above epidemic to Islam. The Islamists perpetrating these acts make that claim proudly.
Except your opinions are not facts and you have more to fear from a Jewish terrorist then an Islamic one. You can actually look that up. Hence why your a bigot because you choose to believe lies rather than look for the truth.
cosmicwxdude
Yep, that’s what they say right before you go BOOM!
FlyingFarang
We don’t have to worry about what we would say because we are not going to commit terrorist acts and blow up innocent people.
Apparently you feel their acts are justified as long as they yell those words.
tccitzen
And you can’t say Merry Christmas at work or in the schools fools beyond the word
Toofcap
Blessed Sharia Law! Islam is inimical to the American way of life. Its objective is the conversion or failing this murder of all non-Muslims. Western Europe turned a blind eye and now they are faced with an existential crisis.
And you are the reason the signs are needed. So congrats on being the stereotypical bigot.
Naive you are mpls1981.
No. Just not a bigot. There’s a difference.
Sure there’s a difference, but it’s entirely possible to both naive, and a non-bigot. You are living proof.
And what makes me naive? My inability to see terrorists on every corner?
No, it’s your inability to see radical islam on any corner.
Your confusing being naive with being a bigot again.
Ok, everybody is a bigot. It’s the cheapest, easiest attack when you have nothing else to work with. Are you even disputing anything that Toofcap wrote, or just accusing him of bigotry on general principles?
Also, it appears you are confusing “your” with “you’re” again…
Ur a bigot cause that be da definition. Better?
Seems like it’s probably the best you are going to come up with, so I guess it’ll have to do.
Jay Eagle
What exactly is this “American way of life” that you speak of?
I-am-N
Ahhh! All those people came to the US long ago to be Americans. Now, many come to set up a new version of the hell hole they just left.
Assimilation has been a key factor in the immigration process. You would not know since you have never experienced the process. Come here legally and not as a refugee, and those far left Democrats no longer like you. Especially if you are capable of taking care of yourself. It is even really difficult to get a tourist visa to the US because they are afraid you will stay.
I notice you didn’t say what that “American way of life” you referenced in your original post was. I think you mean be white, speak English, and be Christian. Anything other than that is somehow less American? Is that it? As for those refugees, a lot of them have some here because the US/CIA went into their country, used them as quasi-soldiers, made them grandiose promises, and then bailed, leaving those people with 2 choices – come to the US or be killed.
I have no issue with the Hmong. There are others we are bringing in because it is just plain part of the loonie left’s vision of a world without borders. It used to mean something to be American. People in other nations used to buy Harley Davidson and other US branded product apparel simply because it meant freedom.
It’s a shame that the wealthy people in this country shipped our jobs overseas to exploit cheap 3rd world labor.
komodoman
Do you think the impoverished people living in the 3rd world, feel the same way about those jobs?
They might not be a grateful as you think. The rich in this country just want to exploit their cheap labor and then send the products back here for us to buy. The people in those countries cannot afford to buy the products they produce. But your argument is a nice way to pitch a bad idea.
They actually do buy the products. You need to get out.
Oh, you mean like the workers at Foxconn making I-phones, where the workers jumped out the windows to commit suicide? Where Foxconn had to install netting to keep them from doing it?
China is a huge market for iPhones. They also buy the ones with max memory, not the minimum like cheap Americans.
The upper class in any society lives well. How about those workers who killed themselves? What kind of I-phone did they buy?
Even the middle is doing well. Those on the bottom are working their way up. We say the Chinese economy is doing poorly because it is growing at less than 10%. Ours is lucky to get a couple percent. But Hilary and Bernie promise to make things a lot worse.
Sorry to burst your fantasy, but take a look at reality for just a moment: http://qz.com/170363/the-average-chinese-private-sector-worker-earns-about-the-same-as-a-cleaner-in-thailand/
The link never loaded but I could read the headline in the link. It is just another Liberal hack site like buzzfeed or vox. Sorry, been over there. It is a lot different than what will get reported here.
I have also read the articles on how horrible air travel is over there, especially compared to the US. Again, it is a lot of wishful thinking. Our airports and air travel is third world compared to China and other places in Asia.
Yep. Dismiss the facts and go on with what your imagination tells you. As for the article you read, I don’t think it’s so much that the air travel is bad. The air itself is. And so is the water. If you think it is so great, why are you still here? Let me guess, your main objective news site is Fox News, you know, because they are fair and balanced.
I didn’t make an argument, Jay. Do you have any brilliant ideas for economic development in poor countries? Or, are you just here to make snarky comments?
Using their cheap labor as a way to keep our working class in line is not sustainable. The middle and working classes are realizing it’s a rigged game.
Again, what are your recommendations? All you’ve done is complain while offering no alternatives approaches. Lower cost labor is not a new concept. Travel the NE US and you’ll find plenty of old textile mills that lost out to Southern mills. They, in turn, lost out to foreign production. Are you advocating we impose tariffs to punish companies who seek out lower production options? Want to guess who’ll end up being hurt the most?
Hilary supporters.
the 1%
yes, the Hilary supporters. They bought her.
I don’t disagree. Clinton’s money laundering scheme called “The Clinton Foundation” is used by a lot of one-percenters. Both Trump and Clinton are bought and paid for, albeit with a slightly different set of stockholders.
That is funny. Who bought Trump?
Beyond that, current and former employees love him. That can not be said about “The Devil Wears Pant Suits” Clinton. She can not even say Hello without a tele prompter.
The biggest thing against Trump is his problem with a LaRaza Lawyers Group lawyer, whose lawyer association site has links to how to help illegal aliens. In all of his logical explanation, he called him Mexican and that is what the media only covers.
mexiapolis
Yes indeed, the great “accomplishments” of Hillary Clinton; “The Arab Spring”.
Would these same people with the signs wish me a Merry Christmas in another 6 months?
Nah, Didn’t think so.
DavefromMinn
If its an ELCA church, they probably don’t believe in Jesus as our savior.
That reminds me of that big historic church building that went up for sale earlier this year. Huge building but only parking for about ten cars. Abandon Christ and there is no longer any compelling reason to go to your social club.
Naive.
Minnesota certainly has its share of ‘useful idiots.’
Before wasting money printing these useless signs you’d think one of them would’ve cracked a koran to have an idea of what they’re actually supporting.
But then again, it is the Minnesota Council of Churches behind this- and the DFL and your wasted tax dollars are behind them.
I heard that as a bonus, when you fold the signs the other way they say ‘reelect Keith Ellison.’
You are absolutely correct. Sadly, this is a battle our parents and grand-parents had won….
Onator
Quote: a show of support for Muslims, who have been the recent target of “significant negativity,” she said….Well when you are associated with extremists, then sorry that’s the price you pay. I don’t see these same church’s putting up signs for the U.S. Christian solders who have died at the hands of those who are intolerant of us. Sorry, this one does not sit well with me.
mike madison
islam is a cult that worships satan.
They actually worship the same God as Christians.
that’s a lie.
Nope. Jesus is God according to the Bible. Even in the Old Testament. Not in the Koran, where he is just human.
Minnesota, welcoming the refugees Muslim countries refuse to take. Pandering idiots!
BTW: I couldn’t help notice that the council said the signs were free, but they would except donations.
We have been forced by our elected representatives to forgo celebrating Christmas and other religious holidays in our schools. We cannot even say “Merry Christmas” without fear of offending one or two people. Now they expect us to celebrate Ramadan! Pity!
Bill, The solve for this is for you and I to run for our local school boards. Then when the snow fly’s I’m calling you, and you me to wish each other a Merry Christmas. Starting with each other and our families we’ll work out from the center and bring “life” back to our country and belief’s. Don’t know about you but my parents and theirs worked too damn hard to just let a couple of thugs take it all away…
EastSider
The problem is, it don’t work that way. All you need is one whiner who feels ‘bad’ about Christmas or Easter or Flag Day, and the school administrators will run away screaming. If they don’t, that ones whiner then files a lawsuit, and the taxpayers get to foot the bill for the mess. For all the liberals who hate the “economic 1%”, they sure bend over backwards for the “offended 1%”. I really do think this country is lost…now all we can do is watch the downhill slide and decided when it is time to pull up stakes and move out.
Bill, we solve this by wishing each other Merry Christmas despite what anyone else says. Now the problem of forbidding those words & celebrations in schools is solved by you and I running for our local school boards and taking this country and its values back.
bigdrone
What school did you go to? Nobody’s preventing you from saying Merry Christmas…it is your right. If people who might be offended bother you…then it’s you who have the thin skin. Who is expecting you to celebrate Ramadan? Reread your statement…it’s pretty ridiculous. Is this the stuff they spout on right wing hate radio?
Wow! You sure got your panties in a knot! When I was in school we did celebrate Christmas and had concerts etc. I guess you don’t pay attention to the school policies these days.
bannedsmoke
Drone – no kids? Not been in a public school in a while?
http://www.ween.com Mighty_Boognish
If you want a free country, in which you are free to say, or think, or worship as you please, then you HAVE to allow things/people/religions that you do not agree with.
Those signs hurt NOTHING, and yet people are all up in arms over them. We’re doomed.
The timing of this means a lot. There were many peaceful immigrants from Iran and other US friendly Muslim nations, years ago. Where were these signs then?
Now is when the west is being purposefully over run by those who live in in another long past eon. This is just another “welcome immigrants” sign directed toward those who really do not like us.
You consider Iran to be US-friendly? Because I dont. I dont know much, but I do know this. Muslims are just like any other demographic of people. Most of them are all right. They love their friends, families and neighbors. Some are REALLY pro-America. And some are the extremists that hate us and want to destroy our way of life. But to wrap them all up in that label? Foolish and shortsighted. That sign simply acknowledges their holy-period in a peaceful manner. It doesn’t threaten, glorify or hurt anyone in any way. The fact that there is such a backlash against it is sad. As long as we hold up our end of the hatred, things are never going to change. It seems like you might need reminding sir that a flag of many colors is what this land is ALL ABOUT. That includes. Muslims. And communists. And Vietnamese. And Jews. And any other nationality, religion, race, creed, or whatever else separates us. Don’t waste your anger on this sign. Save it for righteous causes, like the extremists that preach extreme violence. THEY deserve the venom. Not the people behind this simple sign.
I said nothing about current Iran.
I must have missed the period in history in which Iran was US-friendly. I’m guessing it was in the Paleozoic era – somewhere around there? Because I dont think there has ever been a time when Iran was US friendly. Which does not rule out the possibility that some of the people who have come here from there have been peaceful.
Reading through the comments is disheartening because of the bigotry and outright hatred. Your comments are the exact reason why these signs are needed. Ramadan is a holy time and the goal is give charity and make yourself a better person, how horrible right. How many of you could work your normal job in 100 degree heat all the while not eating or drinking for about 14 hours? I live in the Middle East and I see the real Islam. It’s not the extremists and radicals that I see.
I take it you are not living in Somalia or an ISIS controlled area. The issue is that we do have a fair amount of refugees brought in who are sympathetic with ISIS, support them, and have gone off to fight on their side. They are not like our Muslim friends who come here to be part of the American experience. These others openly dislike their new nation and want to set up their own version of what they left.
Granted, and that is why it is important to have programs that meets the needs of refugee youth (particularly males) so they are not easy targets for recruitment by radicals.
You need to realize that there are those within their community who sits these kids down in front of ISIS propaganda videos for hours. They are also deciding as a community to not work with the authorities in ending involvement in terrorism.
Like a sign in a church yard is going to override the local recruiting gangs. Reality…
Who says everyone is actually doing this or following the rules of this or any religion. They are no more pious or less pious than the rest of us. Dressing religiously and appearing to go through the motions means nothing.
D'On'ta'y Kuffar_Smiff
every wonder why there isn’t Sikh-phobia? it’s because they aren’t beheading people, blowing up innocents, dragging them behind cars, submerging them in acid, throwing acid in the faces of women…. and on…..and on…..and on…
there is suspicion about mooslims because of their actions every day across the world.
all it takes is for a llah to command one of his followers to kill…just like the nanny in Russia. she said a llah told her to do it…..
I can’t wait to see the Merry Christmas and Happy Easter signs in Muslim yards and on Mosque properties. These churches need to get a clue and yes thanks for bringing in multi thousands of dependent refugees and dropping them on all the taxpayers.
Anything CAIR admires means run the other way.
Patski
Right? Churches bring all these refugees over and when they get here they take them down to the welfare office to sign up for all the freebies.
If the churches want to bring them over, then the churches should support them.
Islam and reciprocity are like oil and water.
Ahhhh the useful idiots! Nice to see them welcoming the people who want to cut their throats. When the Muslims take over the first thing they will do is take all the liberals out and behead them.
throwing them from the tops of buildings seems to be reserved for Light in the Loafers Liberals….
Homer Noble
“Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. During this time, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset to learn compassion, self-restraint and generosity.”
~Pioneer Press
“Nearly 1,000 women are killed each year in so-called “honor killings” in Pakistan for allegedly violating conservative norms on love and marriage.”
~StarTribune
Islam is incompatible with Islam.
it would be nice if they would ‘self-restrain’ their killing of those that don’t but into their satanic cult.
“The head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) in Minnesota was pleased to see the signs take root.” ““It’s a powerful message to deter intolerance,” said Jaylani Hussein, CAIR-MN executive director.”
“Severe beatings are the order of the day for many Christian migrants in the care of the German state, who have given uniforms and authority to the exact people they fled the Middle East from in the first place. The hospital report of one Christian who was beaten near to death by “Turkish and Arab descent” guards read: “Skull contusion, monocular hematoma right stump chest trauma, blunt abdominal trauma history.”
~Breitbart report on conditions in a Dusseldorf Germany migrant camp
Islam is incompatible with the civilized world.
Sportinlife10
Wonder if they’ll settle for “Happy Holidays” like Christians have to?
Grandma Fox
So are the Muslins going to wish Christians Merry Christmas? Or Happy Hannaka?
mikefromminnesota
Why are Christian churches celebrating Muhammad and the Koran? Millions of Christians and jews have been murdered by these people and Ramadan is the season when Muslims go on jihad. Why celebrate that? 49 people dead In Orlando because Islam teaches that gays have to die. I can’t bless that. I am guessing by the way that it will be a cold day in hell when Muslim imams place a Blessed Easter or Merry Christmas sign in front of the local mosque.
So-called nonviolent Muslims are the sea in which Islamic radicals swim. The latter would never exist without the former. As a Protestant Christian, it’s pathetic and infuriating to see so-called Christians referring to Muslims as “brothers and sisters.” Insist on a moratorium on Muslim immigration and support repatriation of those that are here. “The first amendment is not a suicide pact,” and the founders would never have countenanced mass Muslim immigration, having recognized the threat that it was, even then, and still is today.
Kurdish ARA News agency reports that ISIS publicly executed 19 Kurdish women of the Yezidi minority, who were burned alive in iron cages. Their crime: “they were punished for refusing to have sex with IS militants.
Since millions of women in the United States support the unrestricted immigration of middle eastern “refugees” we thought it appropriate to give them a warning about the kind of mentality they can expect, because apparently the sexual assaults and rapes in Europe aren’t enough.
Husbands Can “Lightly Beat” Their Wives If They Refuse Sex According To Islamic Council. Source: Washington Post
A husband should be allowed to lightly beat his wife if she defies his commands and refuses to dress up as per his desires; turns down demand of intercourse without any religious excuse or does not take bath after intercourse or menstrual periods.
How can such an ideology ever assimilate to Western laws that protect everyone, including women, equally under the law?
Neither is Citizens United, but that didn’t stop flag-waving bible-pounding conservatives from supporting it.
islam is not compatible with humanity.
Wife-beaters used Biblical references to justify beating their wives, too. So did slave-owners.
Mall of America to open walk-in health clinic this fall
A walk-in clinic will open at the Mall of America in November, offering services for both workers and customers alike. The new clinic was announced Tuesday, and will be part of M Health Fairview, a partnership between Fairview Health Services and the University of Minnesota. It will be on the third floor of the mall’s east end and will have...
It’s a sculpture, it’s an aardvark, it’s a … storage shed? Western Sculpture Park celebrates a functional new piece.
The Aardvark in the Park Festival in St. Paul on Saturday, July 27, will celebrate a quirky new sculpture. An aardvark joined the Western Sculpture Park’s 15-piece collection last month. The work will serve as both art and a storage shed for youth workshops and other park programs. It provides 128 square feet of interior space to store art materials...
Giving is living: Twin Cities No. 1 in volunteering
Kathleen McNamara enters the classroom, pushing though the paper vines and monkeys dangling from the ceiling. She sits down in a ring of 13 preschoolers, and picks up the book “One Red Rooster.” “The chicken book!” shouts one kid. “You wrote that book?” No, she says, and starts reading aloud -- her third act of volunteerism that day. McNamara is...
Been through a ‘reduced conflict intersection’? They’re getting more common — and this one has a new twist
While reduced conflict intersections are becoming more common in Minnesota, a new one in Anoka County has an added twist that’s tying up some drivers.
One rescued from blaze at Coffee Cup restaurant
St. Paul firefighters rescued a person from a residence above the Coffee Cup on the corner of Rice Street and Arlington Avenue after the restaurant caught fire Friday evening. St. Paul Fire Chief Butch Inks said in a statement that crews arrived on the scene to find heavy smoke and fire on the first floor of the building. A bystander...
Need to raise $27,000 quick? Put on a show
A group of about 30 student actors and technicians from the Stillwater Area High School have been invited to perform this summer at the prestigious Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland, the world's largest arts festival. But the group must raise $27,000 before they leave on July 27. So they're doing what they do best — performing their show, "Hamluke," a...
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Weekly Movie News 11-08-2011
This week's edition opens with an invitation from composer Hans Zimmer for you (Yes, you!) to be a part of the soundtrack the The Dark Knight Rises.
Featured Two Oh Six Movie Review:
Real Steel has had a great run in theaters including IMAX screenings at the Pacific Science Center. CLICK HERE to read my review.
Latest Movie News:
The American Film Institute is currently holding its annual film festival in Los Angeles showcasing films by master and emerging filmmakers.
The festival runs November 3rd - 10th.
Last week, the title of the new James Bond movie was announced and now we see that shooting is officially underway. This photo was recently released on the official 007 Twitter page.
Hero Complex featured an interview with Stephen Dorff regarding his role in the soon to be released Immortals feature and involves a discussion on how his character may be the "Han Solo" of ancient Greece.
Local Movie News:
Tickets are now on sale for the third annual Seattle Italian Film Festival presented by SIFF. The festival runs November 16-20 and features Italy's official submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar as well as a film that made some noise at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
The "Seattle Yelp Movie Crew" is holding an event at Central Cinema for November 11th to view a double feature screening of Kill Bill 1 and 2.
Current Box Office Top 10:
1. Puss In Boots - $33.1M
2. Tower Heist - $24M
3. A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas - $13M
4. Paranormal Activity 3 - $8.33M
5. In Time - $7.48M
6. Footloose - $4.47M
7. Real Steel - $3.44M
8. The Rum Diary - $2.92M
9. The Ides of March - $1.94M
10. Moneyball - $1.79M
(click film titles with hyperlinks to read my review)
Opening This Weekend:
Immortals - Playing at the Cinerama!
(click film titles to view trailers)
Trailer Debut:
This week's trailer debut is a Red Band Trailer for Goon, a hockey movie starring Seann William Scott. Red Band means there is adult content so hide the kids!
Labels: Weekly Movie News
Marc's Birthday Party: Parts 1 and 2
War Horse - Movie Review and Director Q&A
J. Edgar - Movie Review
The Descendants - Movie Review
The Muppets - Movie Review
Red State - Movie Review
Immortals - Movie Review
The Ides of March - Movie Review
A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas - Movie Revie...
Puss In Boots - Movie Review
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EPIX Launches On PS3, PS Plus Subscribers Get A Free Movie Every Week
At the beginning of 2013, Sony announced it would be welcoming EPIX into its stable of video streaming applications for both its PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. It took nearly three months since their original announcement, but EPIX is finally available on the PlayStation 3 starting today.
EPIX, just like other premium cable channels, will require you to be a subscriber of its service in order for you to get everything it has to offer. PSN users are able to check out EPIX for free through a 14-day trial, although EPIX will be offering a new movie for free to PlayStation Plus subscribers, regardless if they’re a subscriber to their video service or not. If you’ve been on the fence whether to be a PS Plus member or not, now would be a pretty good time to sign up for the service.
PlayStation 3 owners can access the EPIX app under the “TV/Video Services” category of their XMB. PlayStation Vita owners are still out of luck for now as today’s release is all about the PS3, although Sony promises your day of being able to watch EPIX on your Vita will come soon enough.
Filed in Gaming >Home. Read more about PlayStation 3, Playstation Plus, PS3 and Sony.
PlayStation 3 Production In Japan Has Officially Ended
PS3 Production To End Soon In Japan
PlayStation Plus Free Games For March 2017 Revealed
Latest PlayStation Store Sale Cuts Prices Of Some Great Games
PlayStation Now Will Stop Supporting Older PlayStation Devices
PlayStation Plus Free Games For November 2016 Confirmed
PlayStation Plus Free Games For September 2016 Confirmed
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Marvel's Avengers - E3 2019 Reveal Trailer | PS4
Added 1 month ago by TrainersCity - Videos Games & Walkthrough in Video Games
Play the Beta first on PS4. Pre-Order for Beta Access at playavengers.games/E3Trailer-YT
Marvel’s Avengers begins at A-Day, where Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk, Black Widow, and Thor are unveiling a hi-tech Avengers Headquarters in San Francisco — including the reveal of their own helicarrier powered by an experimental energy source. The celebration turns deadly when a catastrophic accident results in massive devastation. Blamed for the tragedy, the Avengers disband. Five years later, with all Super Heroes outlawed and the world in peril, the only hope is to reassemble Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
Marvel Entertainment and Square Enix are excited to unveil Marvel’s Avengers, an epic action-adventure game that combines cinematic storytelling with single-player and co-operative gameplay. Developed by Crystal Dynamics in collaboration with Eidos-Montréal, Nixxes Software, and Crystal Northwest, Marvel’s Avengers will release for the PlayStation®4 system on May 15, 2020.
#EmbraceYourPowers #Reassemble #PlayAvengers
Tags: PlayStation, video, game
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Lapid: Entire Israeli security establishment is worried by Trump’s Saudi arms deal
InterviewIsrael didn't know about the weapons sale ahead of time, says Lapid, and it gives the Saudis offensive cyber capabilities that could be directed against the Jewish state
Kowtowing to US president, Netanyahu left Israel vulnerable by failing to prevent or even criticize massive, dangerous DC-Riyadh accord, says Yesh Atid leader
By Raoul Wootliff and Raphael Ahren 29 May 2017, 2:49 pm 18 Edit
Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid in Jerusalem on January 25, 2016 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid said Monday that the entire Israeli security establishment is deeply concerned by US President Donald Trump’s massive arms deal with Saudi Arabia, and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed Israel’s national security because he neither prevented nor tried to minimize the damage of the accord.
The approximately $110 billion weapons deal is the largest in American history and includes advanced air defense systems, ships, helicopters, intelligence-gathering aircraft, tanks, artillery and cybersecurity systems, according to the US State Department.
Speaking to The Times of Israel at our offices in Jerusalem, Lapid said that the way Netanyahu addressed the deal, both before it was announced and after, was “almost reckless” and ignored key Israeli security concerns. Under internal political pressure for Trump’s visit to Israel to appear a flawless success, Lapid said, the prime minster neglected to protect Israel’s interests in the region.
Lapid said Israel did not know about the deal ahead of time — but it would have, had there been a properly functioning Foreign Ministry and a full-time foreign minister.
And he raised specific concerns about some of the materiel that is being supplied to the Saudis. “Saudi Arabia is the most powerful Sunni country. Terrorist groups like Islamic State and Al Qaeda are Sunni, and millions of people in the country support Islamic State and Al Qaeda,” Lapid noted. “So even if the threat doesn’t come from Saudi Arabia itself, these weapons are an inch away from the Sunni terrorists.”
US President Donald Trump (C-L) and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (C-R) arrive for the Arabic Islamic American Summit at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh on May 21, 2017 (AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN)
In particular, Lapid highlighted the strategic partnership agreement, announced as part of the deal, between Raytheon, the contractor representing Israel for sales of the Iron Dome anti-rocket system to the US, and the Saudi government. Under the agreement, Raytheon will build Saudi Arabia a cybersecurity center that Lapid is worried may one day be used to carry out cyberattacks against Israel.
“This worries me because once you give them the cyber ability, you cannot tell them that they can only direct it towards Iran. No, it’s going to be directed towards Israel as well,” he said emphatically.
The offensive cyber capabilities that Saudi Arabia will receive as part of the accord could cause untold havoc in Israel, Lapid warned. “They could shut down the electricity in the room we are sitting in,” he said. “They could penetrate Israel’s Defense Ministry.”
Lapid, a former finance minister who sits on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee’s subcommittee on security and intelligence matters, said he was not alone in his bleak analysis of the deal, and there was deep concern in “the entire security establishment.”
“When the minister of defense is saying the opposite thing from the prime minister, you know that something is wrong. The Israeli military establishment is worried. This is a big deal,” he added.
US President Donald Trump (L) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wave after delivering a speech at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem on May 23, 2017. (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP)
One of the most notable aspects of the deal is that the Saudis will receive the Americans’ Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile system. This is the same type of battery that the US recently deployed in South Korea to help defend it against an increasingly aggressive Pyongyang. Lapid said the worry is not just in Saudi Arabia owning the system, but in the possibility of it being deployed across the Middle East and therefore limiting Israel’s aerial superiority in the region.
“Netanyahu was under pressure for this visit to be successful for domestic political reasons,” Lapid said. And “there’s nothing wrong with fully embracing the president.
“Yet, I am concerned about the things that weren’t done,” he said. “I understand that everybody wanted to have a perfect visit. And yet, is is part of policy to tell the American president, ‘Listen, we appreciate the friendship, but we are unhappy with the fact that you’re selling arms to the Saudis for $110 billion without even consulting us.'”
By not doing so, Netanyahu “ignored what is essential Israeli security,” according to Lapid, who said that the prime minister was desperate for Trump’s visit to Israel to be a success. “Our defense minister said he is very worried, and the Prime Minister’s Office said there is nothing to worry about. Who should we believe? [Defense Minister Avigdor] Liberman, who represents the entire Israeli defense system, or the Prime Minster’s Office, which was preoccupied with the fact that they don’t want to ruin the visit.”
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford, right, shakes hands with Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman in the ministry’s Tel Aviv headquarters on May 9, 2017. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Following Trump’s visit to Israel last week, Liberman said he was uneasy over the deal announced over the weekend when the US president was in Riyadh and believed it was part of a “crazy” regional arms race. “I’m not at peace with any arms race and the huge Saudi purchase for sure doesn’t add much to our peace of mind,” Liberman said in an interview with Army Radio last Wednesday, adding that he had expressed his concerns in recent talks with US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster.
Hours later, Netanyahu said the US had agreed to boost the defense aid it gives to Israel and would ensure that the country maintained its qualitative advantage.
But Lapid said that if he were prime minister, he would have worked to prevent the deal from happening in the first place and publicly spoken out against it.
“First of all I would have the kind of functional Foreign Ministry that would make sure we know these things in advance, not finding out during the ceremony in Riyadh. And I would have a foreign minister who is capable of talking to the State Department,” he said. Since the 2015 elections, Netanyahu has resisted appointing a full-time foreign minister, instead holding the position himself.
According to Lapid, had Israel known the extent of the deal beforehand, efforts could have been made via AIPAC and US lawmakers to put pressure on the Trump administration. “There are a bunch of things that could have been done, and none of them were,” he said.
Beyond the general types of weapons and systems that will be sold, many of the specifics about the deal have yet to be released, he noted. But a large influx of advanced military technology into the region should be of the utmost concern to Israel and therefore to the United States, which must continue to preserve the Jewish state’s “qualitative military edge” — its military advantage over surrounding Middle East countries, Lapid said.
A US THAAD interceptor defense system during a test launch (Screen capture: YouTube)
Speaking later Monday, at the Yesh Atid faction meeting at the Knesset, Lapid said Netanyahu now needs to confront Trump on the deal.
“The prime minister must demand public, not private, explanations, from the US president and his staff,” Lapid said, urging the Israeli security establishment to push for a compensation package from the Pentagon to uphold its regional military edge.
“The prime minister must stop being afraid of President Trump’s short fuse and tell him publicly: ‘For you it is a question of money and jobs — for us it’s a matter of life and death,'” he said.
Trump has said that he believes Saudi Arabia could be a key player in helping moderate the region, and was “deeply encouraged” during his visit to the kingdom by the prospect that Riyadh could help Israel reach a deal with the Palestinians.
King Salman, Trump said, would “love to see peace between Israel and the Palestinians.”
“Many [Muslim leaders] expressed their resolve to help end terrorism and the spread of radicalization. There’s a growing realization among your Arab neighbors that they have common cause with you on this threat posed by Iran — and it is a threat, make no mistake about that,” Trump said during a meeting with President Reuven Rivlin at his residence in Jerusalem.
Lapid, while praising Trump’s efforts, warned against over-confidence.
US President Donald Trump, left, and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas shake hands during a joint press conference at the presidential palace in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on May 23, 2017. (AFP/MANDEL NGAN)
“I would be a little more cautious saying there is a readiness to a process that will lead to an agreement,” he told The Times of Israel. “The US is not only an honest broker, but it is the broker we want. And when your biggest ally is talking you want to listen. But when push comes to shove, Israel and Israel alone will determine what’s good and what’s bad for us. And we cannot be forced to do anything which hurts our security.”
While opposition leader Isaac Herzog openly declared that he’d back the Netanyahu coalition if a peace deal were in the cards, Lapid was adamant that he would never join the current prime minister’s government, even if it meant forcing new elections. “I am not joining this coalition. I could have been foreign minister now for two years and I decided not to. I don’t think it’s the right government for Israel, so I will not join it.”
Lapid added that elections every two and half a years are not good for Israel. “But this government is even worse,” he said. “When elections are due, it is time for us to determine what kind of country we want to live in.”
Judah Ari Gross and Marissa Newman contributed to this report.
Yair Lapid
QME Qualitative Military Edge
Israel-Saudi Arabia relations
King Salman of Saudi Arabia
Iran-Saudi Arabia relations
Israel-US relations
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VW ends production of Beetle
McCarthy Tire, Snider Fleet host 'Safety Leadership Summit'
Toyo to expand U.S. tire plant — again
GRI hires Tony Lugioyo has head of global sales
Conti adopts new naming system for heavy-truck tire lines
‘Humanitarian' award deadline is July 31
Enviro recycling projects in U.S., Denmark behind schedule
Maxxis USA opening warehouse in central Indiana
Goodyear endeavor is out of this world
December gains push U.S. auto sales to fourth-biggest year on record
David Phillips, Automotive News
Automotive News photo
DETROIT — U.S. auto sales increased 2.2 percent in December, capping a year that saw overall volume rise 0.6 percent to 17.3 million cars and light trucks even as auto makers endeavored to counter slumping car demand with higher light-truck deliveries.
December, with sales of 1.64 million vehicles, was the second-best month of the year on a volume basis. The 17.3 million light vehicles sold in 2018 represents the fourth-biggest year on record.
The robust December seasonally adjusted, annualized rate of 17.7 million easily topped December 2017's SAAR of 17.4 million and November's 17.6 million sales pace.
"New vehicle sales were surprisingly strong in 2018 despite late cycle headwinds from higher interest rates and more nearly-new competition in the used market," Jonathan Smoke, chief economist for Cox Automotive, said.
"The key positive factor was stimulated demand from tax reform, which strengthened retail demand as the year progressed and also enabled strong gains in fleet sales."
Generous discounts and steady economic growth fueled new-vehicle sales throughout the year. U.S. consumers also appeared to shrug off slumping stock prices in December. U.S. sales had risen 0.4 percent through November, with higher fleet shipments offsetting a slight dip in retail demand during the year, analysts say.
Overall, U.S. light-truck sales rose 6.9 percent last month and 7.7 percent in 2018, while car deliveries slid 8.2 percent in December and 13 percent for the year, marking the fifth straight annual decline in car volume.
"U.S. sales in 2018 proved more resilient than initially expected, with an accelerated transition to utility vehicles on new models becoming available and on pullback in passenger car production and passenger car incentives," Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst with IHS Markit, said in a statement.
In Canada, sales of new vehicles fell for the first time in nearly a decade, dropping 1.9 percent shy of 2017 at just over 2 million cars and light trucks, according to the Automotive News Data Center in Detroit.
A drop in sales of 6.5 percent in December to 116,605 vehicles contributed to the decline.
"Given all of the political and economic turbulence — combined with interest rate increases — it is difficult to classify the 2018 as disappointing from a sales perspective," said David Adams, president of Global Automakers of Canada, which speaks for import brands sold in Canada.
"We've had a decade of record sales each year, and at some point things are going to slow down. That's the nature of the business."
Ford repeated as the overall sales leader wiht 297,902 vehicles sold during the year. The Ford F-series pickup and the Honda Civic retained the titles of Canada's best-selling vehicle and best-selling passenger car, respectively, for 2018.
Trucks continued to grow their market share in 2018, comprising 70.1 percent of all vehicles sold during the year, up from 68.6 percent in 2017, according to the Global Automakers of Canada.
For 2019, most early forecasts see total industry sales coming in at 16.8 million to 17 million units, with some estimates as low as 16.7 million. That would mark the first total below 17 million since 2014.
Ms. Brinley said the expansion of the mid-size pickup segment will garner enthusiasm and sales for 2019, while new mid-size and compact CUVs will serve to enable these brands a path for retaining sedan buyers who might otherwise leave.
"Auto makers will continue shifting showrooms from cars to utilities," Ms. Brinley said. "While the decline in passenger car sales in 2019 is not expected to be quite as sharp as in 2018, conditions suggest the bottom for passenger-car share has not yet been found."
Christopher Hopson, IHS Markit's manager of North America light vehicle forecasting, said in a statement that the firm expects rising interest rates, moderating growth in OEM incentive levels and competition from the used car market to impose some pressure on new vehicle demand.
IHS Markit projects auto sales to reach 16.8 million units in 2019.
While interest rates are rising and used-vehicle supplies are growing, new-vehicle sales continue to be supported by light-truck demand, employment gains, healthy economic growth and low gasoline prices.
"Despite recent market turbulence, the data we have in hand suggests an economy that remains on solid footing heading into the new year," Ford Chief Economist Emily Kolinski Morris said during a conference call with analysts and journalists. "Consumers seem to be looking through market volatility to focus on continued positive job and income conditions."
2018 Company results
U.S. sales at FCA US, American Honda and Nissan Motor Co. rose last month while Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. posted declines.
FCA US said December sales rose 14 percent, driven by gains of 10 percent at Jeep, 37 percent at Ram and 17 percent at Dodge. For the year, FCA's U.S. deliveries jumped 9 percent.
At Ford, December sales dropped 8.8 percent, with volume off 9.6 percent at the Ford division but rising 8.5 percent at Lincoln. For the year, Ford sales dropped 3.5 percent behind an18 percent decline in car deliveries.
GM's U.S. sales dipped an estimated 3.7 percent last month. GM said it sold 785,229 light vehicles in the fourth quarter, a decline of 2.7 percent from the last three months of 2017.
Overall, GM's U.S. sales fell 1.6 percent to 2.95 million last year, with every brand posting lower volume. Buick, down 5.6 percent, led the decline. GM said its U.S. car sales slid 24 percent in the fourth quarter and 21 percent for the year, while light-truck demand rose 2.4 percent in 2018.
At Toyota, December volume dropped 0.9 percent, with sales down 1.1 percent at the Toyota brand but rising 0.2 percent at Lexus. For all of 2018, Toyota's U.S. sales edged down 0.3 percent, with car demand falling 12 percent and light-truck shipments up 7.9 percent.
It was the third straight drop in annual U.S. sales at GM, Ford and Toyota — the market's top sellers.
Nissan volume rose 7.6 percent last month, including a 7.2 percent gain at the Nissan brand and 10 percent rise at Infiniti. The company's overall 2018 sales dropped 6.2 percent behind a move to lower discounts and fleet business.
Honda said December sales rose 3.9 percent, with volume up 3 percent at the Honda brand and 11 percent at Acura. But total 2018 volume slipped 2.2 percent, with the Honda brand down 2.8 percent but Acura sales rising 2.8 percent.
Subaru rolled to another annual U.S. record, with December volume rising 1.9 percent, and 2018 sales of 680,135, a gain of 4.9 percent. It was the tenth consecutive year of record U.S. sales for Subaru and the eleventh consecutive year of gains.
Sales last month rose 5.6 percent at Hyundai, 10 percent at Kia and 5.8 percent at the VW brand.
Among other auto makers, Mazda reported a 3.8 percent decline in December deliveries but a 3.8 percent increase in 2018 sales, and Mitsubishi said December sales rose 5.7 percent, with 2018 volume finishing 14 percent higher.
Along other luxury brands, December deliveries rose 33 percent at Land Rover, 1.4 percent at Jaguar and 4.4 percent at Porsche, with the German luxury brand setting an annual U.S. sales record of 57,202 units. Volume dropped 8.8 percent at Volvo and 69 percent at Genesis.
Rubber & Plastics News contributed to this report
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Our Catalog Camera & Photo Lenses Camera Lenses
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II SLR Lens
Free Shipping Included! Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II SLR Lens by Canon at Tobby News. MPN: 2042B002. Hurry! Limited time offer. Offer valid only while supplies last. The Canon 2042B002 EF 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II Zoom Lens is a standard zoom lens designed with Canon's Optical Image Stabilizer technology while retaining the compactness and lightness of previous models. Its stabilization allows sharp hand-held shots at shutter speeds up to four stops slower than otherwise possible. It consists of 11 elements in 9 groups and uses an aspherical lens element to correct aberration for excellent image quality throughout the zoom range and a circular aperture for
View More In Camera Lenses.
The Canon 2042B002 EF 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II Zoom Lens is a standard zoom lens designed with Canon's Optical Image Stabilizer technology while retaining the compactness and lightness of previous models. Its stabilization allows sharp hand-held shots at shutter speeds up to four stops slower than otherwise possible. It consists of 11 elements in 9 groups and uses an aspherical lens element to correct aberration for excellent image quality throughout the zoom range and a circular aperture for exquisite rendering of out-of-focus backgrounds. Without a lot of size, weight or cost, this lens expands picture-taking possibilities any time slow shutter speeds are needed.
Focal Length & Maximum Aperture - 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II
Lens Construction - 16 elements in 12 groups, including UD-glass and aspherical lenses
Diagonal Angle of View - 74 20' - 7 50' (with APS-C image sensors)
Focus Adjustment - Gear-driven
Closest Focusing Distance - 1.48 ft./0.45m (maximum close-up magnification 0.24x)
If you have any questions about this product by Canon, contact us by completing and submitting the form below. If you are looking for a specif part number, please include it with your message.
Crazepony 1000TVL FPV Camera 2.8mm Wide Angle Lens CMOS NTSC PAL for QAV250 Multicopter
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1000TVL FPV Camera 2.8mm Wide Angle Lens CMOS NTSC PAL for QAV250 MulticopterThis camera keeps 1000TVL resolution and excellent color rendition, supporting 4.5 to 6V operating voltage. The board size is reduced to 25 *17.5mm, which can reduce air resistance for FPV aircraft. Besides,the weight of camera is just 9.5g (with case).It is suitable for fixed-wing aircraft and Multirotor like QAV250, which are highly required in voltage and weight and compatibles with OSD.Description:Format: NTSC PAL
Bower VL337N 3x Telephoto 37mm Conversion Lens
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The Bower 3x Telephoto 37mm Conversion Lens for DSLRs is a high-quality Japanese-made lens designed for high-speed macro and telephoto still photography and videography. Its impressive high-power 3x magnification triples the focal length of your fixed and zoom lenses, while retaining full image resolution. Its multi-coated construction delivers high image clarity that minimizes light loss, particularly in low-light settings. It is designed to work in digital autofocus as well as analog modes
Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 Art DC HSM Lens for Canon
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First wide-angle to standard zoom lens to achieve a large aperture of 1.8 Due to the very shallow depth of field (DOF) of fast glass and focus variation between the cameras, users may experience focus shift and inconsistent AF. This can be fixed by using the AF fine tune ( For Nikon System) or AF Micro Adjustment( For Canon System) in the camera’s Menu to calibrate the lens to specific cameras. Also shooting at smaller aperture values will increase the DOF which reduces “focus issues”
Rokinon FE14M-C 14mm F2.8 Ultra Wide Lens for Canon (Black) - Fixed
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The new Rokinon 14mm ultra-wide angle f 2.8 if ED UMC lens is the highest quality affordably priced 14mm lens on the market. It is designed for full frame cameras and is fully compatible with aps-c cameras as well. Its build and construction are superb the lens construction is 14 elements in 12 groups and features 2 ed lens elements, one hybrid a spherical lens element and one glass a spherical lens element. All of these lens elements combine to minimize distortion and chromatic aberrations.
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Home News Nigeria Yemi Osinbajo: How Nigerian elite influences sack of corrupt officials
Yemi Osinbajo: How Nigerian elite influences sack of corrupt officials
Ferdinand Jumbo-Asukwo
Nigeria’s vice-president Yemi Osinbajo on Monday said whenever he wants to sack a public official found to be corrupt, calls from religious and political leaders reach him not to do so.
Despite this claim by the Nigerian vice-president, it will be recalled that he has been involved in the dismisaal of some government officials alleged to be found corrupt.
While president Buhari was on annual leave, Osinbajo sacked former director general of the Department of State Services (DSS) Lawal Daura.
He was also involved in the suspension of former director general of National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Ayo Oke, and former secretary to the government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir Lawal.
However, while Osinbajo spoke at 24th Nigerian Economic Summit plenary on corruption and rule of law, in Abuja he said the Nigerian elite are often times in the way of getting rid of a corrupt official.
Ngaire Woods, the founding dean of Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University, who moderated the plenary asked Ossinbajo to tell the summit who called him when he wanted to sack someone corrupt.
Osinbajo said, “I would like to refer to the Nigerian elite, and it’s probably not fair to be that broad, but practically, every segment, because people who have access to you, they could be political leaders, religious leaders, business leaders, whoever has access to you.”
“We have a system where people just feel like, ‘why don’t you just give this guy a break?’ Which again is part of the problem. You don’t get one call, you get several calls,” Osinbajo said.
The vice-president said the Buhari led government was doing much to tackle grand corruption and systemic corruption since assuming office in 2015.
Although some section of the public has criticised the current government’s fight against corruption as witch-hunting of political oppositions, Osinbajo said since he became vice president, he has seen how much impact corruption can have on a country.
Osinbajo, who was commissioner of justice and attorney general in Lagos state for eight years, said one of the most frustrating parts of the fight against corruption for him is the slow pace of prosecution.
He, however, added that the two conviction of former executive governors secured by the federal government has shown that the hand of justice may be slow, but it would yield results.
Osinbajo, also a professor of law, said the federal government has embarked on numbers of law reforms, including the criminal justice reform.
He added that the federal government does not have the constitutional backing to reform state judiciaries.
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Ayo Oke
Babachir Lawal
Department of State Services
Lawal Daura
National Intelligence Agency
Nigerian Economic Summit
Secretary to the Government of the Federation
SGF
Yemi Osinbajo
Governor Bello promises cassava revolution in Kogi
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Federal government generates N39 billion from passport issuance, others in 12 months
American universities award 303 Nigerian students $7.5 million scholarships
NYSC boss decries Cotonou universities that present fake graduates for mobilisation
Herdsmen: CAN warns against anarchy in Nigeria
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Unlimited access to UK Fight Videos for only £5 a month (that’s only £1.25 a week!). There’s already plenty of fights for you to see just Sign Up and start watching!
UK GRAPPLE SCENE
Unlimited access to UK Grappling Competition Videos! Sign Up for only £1 and try UK Grapple Scene at no extra cost until September the 1st 2019.
UK Fight Scene Membership
Pay £5 a month for Unlimited Access to all the Muay Thai, K-1, Kickboxing, MMA and Boxing fights that we film AS WELL AS all the BJJ and Grappling competitions that come with the UK Grapple Scene membership. You can cancel at any time. This membership is perfect for fans of stand up striking well as those that enjoy the ground sports too.
UK Grapple Scene Membership
Unlimited Access to all the Gi and No-Gi grappling/BJJ competitions that we film. Just pay a one-off £1 sign up fee and pay nothing further until September 2019 when the free trial ends. You will be able to cancel one month after signing up. After that, it is only £5 a month and you can cancel at any time. Perfect for BJJ and Grappling fans that want to try UK Grapple Scene.
The UK Fight Scene Team work non-stop to bring you access to K-1, Muay Thai and Grappling shows from around the country.
We work with the hard-working promoters and fighters that make these brilliant events happen – yet, are often overlooked. We want to ensure that you know of every show planned, where it will take place as well as be able to watch every exciting moment of every night – all for a subscription of only £5 a month*. That’s £1.25 for (on average) 32 new fights a week!
New members to UK Grapple Scene can sign up for a single payment of £1 and then try the website for free until the 1st of September 2019 when the free trial will end. (You can cancel at least one month after signing up).
You will also have access to up-to-date rankings, UK Fight Scene news and more!
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Dementia activity workshops appeal
Lewis* has been coming to our creative dementia hub with his wife for some time now. In his first two sessions he was quite anxious and confused and found it difficult to take part in group activities. By the following session he had started to relax and was able to start forming friendships with other's at the hub and was eager to join in the drumming session.
The more Lewis came to the hub the more he enjoy himself. Being in the moment and sharing experiences with others really improved his confidence. He's can express himself in a way he hasn't been able to for a long time, his wife is elated by how much butter his communication has become.
A lifeline for all
Margaret*, who comes to the hub with her husband Jack*, said she felt ‘confident leaving him in the care of support staff’ and would consider ‘going off on her own during future sessions’. Jack had previously been living in a care home but Margaret felt unable to live without him. These hub has become a lifeline for the couple, and they allow Margaret to have some much needed time for herself.
It can be a daily struggle for anyone affected by dementia, including close friends and family. The hub provides a happy, structured environment that encourages active engagement for people living with dementia. It gives them the opportunity to meet with others, have fun, and express their creative side. For many, it is the only time they are able to. Every session is different, involving a mix of music, dance, poetry, art, photography, recollection activities and much more.
With one in three people over 65 developing dementia, this kind of support is increasingly important. A donation of £30 could cover the cost of one member of support staff for one four hour workshop.
Please make a donation today and help the hub remain a lifeline in Cornwall.
*names have been anonymised to protect people's privacy.
Amount raised: £793.16
From: murtaza ali
Great Help to our community
From: alison earle
Donated On: 07 October 2014
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English for Africa programme (27/06/2019 18:30)
Programs Podcast
English for Africa programme
South Sudan (AFP or licensors)
Pope on hunger: The bread of the Lord is 'ours', not 'mine'
Pope Francis focuses his prayers on the world’s starving children, by reminding each Christian that the Lord’s gift of “daily bread” is ‘ours’ and not simply ‘mine’.
By Francesca Merlo
“Give us this day our daily bread”. At the General Audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis prays that the Lord might grant this to all those suffering a lack of bread – which, he says, “means also water, medicine, home, work” and “all that is necessary to live”.
He was referring, in particular, to bread for all the “starving children, in countries in which there is none”.
The “bread” for which Christians pray is “not ‘mine’, but ‘ours’”, says the Pope. “It would do us some good to stop and think about starving children”.
He refers specifically to the children living in war-torn countries, using the three examples of Yemen, Syria and South Sudan.
We can understand why he focuses on these three, forgotten, countries, and their children.
In Yemen,
At least 85 thousand children have died from malnutrition in Yemen since the war broke out 4 years ago. Two million more are in need of cures against this same killer. Along with starvation come vulnerable immune systems and along with vulnerable immune systems come illnesses – diarrhea, and cholera, which infects approximately 1,000 children daily. The United Nations Children’s Fund reminds us that the lives of almost twelve thousand minors depends entirely on humanitarian aid. These are some of the children Pope Francis is encouraging us to share our daily bread with.
But along with famine and illness come the bombs – almost 6,500 children have been killed or injured from the 19 thousand air raids that have taken place in Yemeni skies over the years. On Wednesday morning, an air raid struck a hospital – in place to help cure the other two killers: famine and illness – killing seven people, of whom 4 were children.
In Syria
Eight years of war later, in Syria, 20,000 children’s lives are at risk due to malnutrition. 5 million children have been born into this raging conflict. Eight million is the number of those disrupted by this crisis. Mines are the main cause of death amongst the youth in Syria, and of the two million who are no longer able to attend school due to the destruction of over 50% of scholastic infrastructure, almost 1000 have been recruited to join armed forces. Each child’s health is at risk, with half of the sewage system being out of use and with extremely low access to basic social services.
Famine in South Sudan puts 7 million people at risk. The war broke that out 6 years ago, has caused a lack of safe drinking water, basic sanitation, and a reduction in cereal production. The lives of 860,000 minors are at risk, and this alarming situation continues to worsen.
Pope Francis calls out selfishness
“Our love cannot stand this” says Pope Francis, that the “bread that was given to [all of] humanity, has instead been eaten only by a few”. “God’s love cannot stand this selfishness of not sharing the bread”.
More upcoming events:
The Pope's Agenda
Santa Marta Mass
Papal audiences
Pope's Activities
Angelus Regina Coeli
Copyright © 2017-2019 Dicasterium pro Communicatione - All rights reserved.
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West Coast braces for heat wave, raising fears of wildfires in Northern California
In Palm Springs, temperatures could hit 110 on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
West Coast braces for heat wave, raising fears of wildfires in Northern California In Palm Springs, temperatures could hit 110 on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Check out this story on vcstar.com: https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2019/06/08/west-coast-heat-wave-california-braces-high-temps-wildfire-threat/1393321001/
Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY Published 10:29 a.m. PT June 8, 2019 | Updated 11:22 a.m. PT June 8, 2019
When it gets hot, you want to be careful when exercising. Here are healthy tips for exercising in the desert heat Nicole Hayden, The Desert Sun
Near-record high temperatures are expected to roast the West Coast next week, with gusty, dry winds raising the danger of fire in a region still coping with last year's deadly wildfires.
Forecasters issued the year’s first red-flag warning of high fire danger in portions of the Central Valley of California and areas north of San Francisco starting Saturday.
In Palm Springs, temperatures could hit 110 on Tuesday and Wednesday, said Adam Roser, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego. The area of high pressure coming inland from the Pacific Ocean will also bring temperatures in the 90s and possibly 100s to the Inland Empire.
On the other side of the continent, a slow-moving area of low pressure interacting with deep tropical moisture will continue to generate widespread moderate-to-heavy rains across the southeastern U.S. throughout the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
The National Weather Service three-day forecast calls for near-record temperatures in parts of California. (Photo: NOAA)
More: Weather service says massive swarm of ladybugs flew over county. One expert is skeptical
More: Keeping cool without a pool: Things to do in the Coachella Valley when it's hot
More: Palm Springs' chilly May wasn't in your imagination. It was the 19th coldest on record
The heaviest rains are forecast Saturday along the Florida Panhandle northward into the southern Appalachians and the Piedmont region. Flooding conditions are likely in areas such as Atlanta, Nashville and Raleigh.
AccuWeather warns that as much as 3 to 5 inches of rain could fall each day during the weekend in the target areas, while some could see a foot or more of rain.
What's happening this weekend? (Hint: 🌡️🌬️🔥)
We created a video briefing for you to learn more: https://t.co/RTpxeDIyTz#cawx#fireweather
— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) June 7, 2019
On the West Coast, the heat wave is expected to boost temperatures from Washington state to California.
AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rathbun says high temperatures will exceed the century mark in much of central California early next week.
"Monday will mark the first 100-degree day in Sacramento, California, since Aug. 18, 2018," he says.
As the state braces for hot, dry weather, Pacific Gas & Electric warns it might turn off electricity to thousands of customers in Northern California this weekend to reduce the risk of wildfire.
Last year, power lines sparked a fire last year that killed 85 people and wiped out nearly 15,000 homes in Paradise.
The shut down could hit several counties in the North Bay and Sierra Nevada foothills, areas where the state’s most devastating wildfires occurred the past two years.
After PG&E power lines and equipment were blamed for previous fires, the utility has been under enormous pressure to avoid another deadly blaze.
“We know how much our customers rely on electric service and would only consider temporarily turning off power in the interest of safety during extreme weather conditions,” Michael Lewis, PG&E’s senior vice president of electric operations, said in a statement.
The utility said it considers several factors when determining if power should be turned off for safety concerns, including bouts of excessive winds and low humidity when vegetation is dried out and can easily ignite.
Elsewhere, scattered strong to severe thunderstorms were expected across the northern and central Plains through Saturday night, the weather service says.
Contributing: Associated Press, Desert Sun reporter Shane Newell
Need to beat the desert heat? Head up to the San Jacinto Wilderness
A view of the San Jacinto Wilderness from Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
A view from Desert View Trail in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
Desert View Trail in San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
A view from Devil's Slide Trail in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
Humber Park in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber
Long Valley ranger station in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
Manzanita blossoms in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
A view from Pacific Crest Trail in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
A view from San Jacinto Peak in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
Hikers summit San Jacinto peak in the wilderness above the Coachella Valley. Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
Hikers gather atop San Jacinto Peak in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
Hikers gather on San Jacinto peak. Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
A San Jacinto Peak emergency shelter in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
A view from San Jacinto Peak Trail in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
Signs on San Jacinto Peak Trail in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
The view from Round Valley "Loop" trail in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
Hikers traverse Round Valley "Loop" Trail in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
Saddle Junction in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
Tahquitz Peak Lookout in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
Tahquitz Peak Lookout is located on the highest peak above Idyllwild and is where volunteers keep watch for fires. Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
A view of Desert Divide from Tahquitz Peak Lookout in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
A view from Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
A view from Upper South Ridge Trail in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
A view from Wellman Cienega Trail in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
Hikers traverse Wellman Cienega trail in the San Jacinto Wilderness. Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
A view from Wellman Divide in the San Jacinto Wilderness Lance Gerber/DESERT magazine
Read or Share this story: https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2019/06/08/west-coast-heat-wave-california-braces-high-temps-wildfire-threat/1393321001/
How 7.1 magnitude quake affected Ventura County
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← Credence in Tahiti
Cale | Pago Pago, American Samoa | Thursday, October 3, 2013
…Travel stories from sailing the Cooks to Samoa…
It’s such a horrible thing, a mind without a heart. I wonder what travel is for, or what it should be for; and I know. I travel for knowledge. To acquire language. To build identity by the whole world; understanding it from the low rung that I choose; feeling the goodness of people that I’m greedy for; to see the contour of the earth and feel the upwelling of beholding; to create art, to write artfully, illustratively, presently–presently. But during a year I have lived in the future. I can see the future. I see the months and the years like seeing the curve of the road down below as it bends through the valley beyond. I anticipate. I see teaching, perhaps, and the route, the countries. It’s all planned unplanned, and this is the worst kind of preparation because the mind tells you that you’re true and spontaneous and alive, but really you are not–really you have the idea to end the travel and to be somewhere because you have yet something lingering powerfully on the fore of your brain. Where? Why am I in the future? Why am I in the past? When can I ever stand with planted feet, look at them in their trodden dirt and say to myself “I am here now”?
A year–no, a year and a half. And she has been with me, unending; suddenly in the mornings and in the evenings carefully there, tending to my soul like a broken wing. I’ve been grounded, baseless and grounded, and here in the sea it has been worse–time has gone by for the world in so swift a way, but I’m on the big blue always-shifting but never-changing ocean, distracted by the unhappy needs of cruisers; practical problems to practical days that always look the same as the last and resemble what tomorrow should be–and nothing happens. And she has lived lives in this time and I knew it in my dreams that there was another, and in the day it was the air that whispered to me the secret, and my heart caved in but I was trapped by the sea, by the seasons, by the pride of challenge to cross the sea, and it is folly.
Only there, in that desert city, was I truly in the present. And only when I said I would leave after three months did pain arise. And then once more, I limited our time, and only for that was the pain so sharp. But during the time in between, I was with her and happy and present. The principle of adaptability–ration myself for the experience of life in all its forms. How can this be done when my mind is not settled with my heart? I said I should not sacrifice passion, but I left her. I said love had to be killed, and I tried. I failed, and now I’m too late and there’s another. But no–I’m not too late. This is her. It’s impossible. It cannot be too late. It can’t be. I hate the sea, and the sea cares nothing for me. I hate the boats and the lifestyle, and I don’t care to ‘complete’ anything–fuck this sea and these boats and these frustrations and this limbo of time on the water when the heart finds recourse to betray–damn it all, and to hell with the whole mad thing. I’m going back to her. I love her. I have loved her since her milk chocolate eyes trapped me in that club all these years ago. I wrote a fool–I’ve been a fool. A fool with a clock and a ticking that tick-tocks in his noggin until the buzzer sounds and breaks glass hearts, and twice, or thrice, and now never again. Smash the clock, that its springs distort and snap, its gears fall into this terrible saltwater ocean and sink to oblivion there to rust and be forgotten. No time–no limits, because this love is never-ending. Perhaps it never was a classic love story; but hell, it’s my favorite one.
I carried a map since the day I left Oregon, and it was with me for years. Often I’d look at it for hours with nothing but the imagined travel entering my mind’s eye, and I saw images and colors and I was a hero and a maniac. When my eyes passed over South America’s western hump, where the tropical lushness of Ecuador curves into the desolate desert coast of Peru, there was something that I felt; something magnetic. I always felt it when I looked there, long before I first arrived. There was always something inexplicable. It was a recognition, unacknowledged. It was seeing something real that I couldn’t believe, like a figure half hidden down the road by bands of heat. And I walked towards her.
And from the beginning I rebelled. Only a girl could stop me, I said. I met her, and I resisted once, then again, and again. When I think of South America and Mexico and Central America, I think to the times when I learned the most–when I was with good people who became good friends–these times when my mind was present and aware and like a sponge soaked up the memories and held them. I think of Veracruz, and above all, I think of Lima. I champion this traveling way of life, constantly, and to myself I reinforce these beliefs daily. But I’ve ignored the truth, which is that I loved being in Lima, to be there among travelers and friends in the House of No Ends, and above all to be with her. I loved her. She is the only one in the world I care to be with for long times. I have love in my life; my family, my friends. But the more people that I meet, the more I understand for myself that she is the only one I want always around me, and damn it, I do.
And the only terror in that has been my blinding resolve to hitchhike around the world alone. Perhaps I want to be some kind of cultural icon–the neo-beat disenfranchised youth who experiences all the things in college that would lead him to grasp the cold steel of what chains modern lives to modern circumstances, and to tear it apart with some aeriform adrenaline rush got up from the pieces of his shattered self at feeling offended that the world should assume that he must swallow its bullshit and join the ranks of middle class apathetics. Nothing else was attractive–not even the jobs that cause goodness, because they were all within the same framework, a reality that I wanted so badly to tear myself from. And I discovered that the hitching vagabond feels apart. He is not apart, only distant, but he feels apart anyway, and I drew and grew and wrote until I’d written myself into a way to live and express that was not only accessible to me, but meaningful. And it is.
But like any life, it will be false so long as the one living it remains false to himself. I am not who I thought I was or could be. If I care to have an impact in some way in the world, it is not by doing what I have been doing alone. The writing, the learning, is something, and it is what I ought to be doing. But the mind is not itself when the heart hates it. I’m spilling over with love for a woman, and I know, now, right now, that I have been ignoring the good thing that we had created, which is better than all the feelings and thoughts I felt and thought before and since I met her. And more do I think that happy and honest feelings beget that appreciative quality which is necessary for learning. I should be writing and drawing and learning, but I have given my half to her, and without her as my counterpart, my mind is weak and my heart is a tragedy. I once said that to be with someone else, you are not yourself when as a couple you meet a third party–that part of your mind is constantly thinking of your partner, and therefore you are not you. I think to the people I’ve met while traveling alone and those I’ve met while traveling with her and I realize that the one is not better than the other, despite their differences, and that my mind had created a subjective assumption–the result of too much thinking. Now I can feel. And I’m feeling joy. I’m feeling joy; I’m honest–what I want more than travel is to be once more with her. There is another. But I will stop it.
I want it all. I know what I felt and what I wrote while we traveled together. And I want it again. I want the fighting. I want the clammy hand-in-hand and the way the road made her look disheveled. And I want her professional garb and her pink crocs and her cracking bones. I want her eyes to catch mine and hold them, and tell them things that words don’t understand. Maybe we’ll fly, and reach heights that gravity doesn’t understand, and other such magnificent cliches. I’ll sing bad opera for her again, and remain awake hours to watch her breathe when she’s sleeping off a drunk night. I’ll put my forehead on hers and tell her to enter, beg her to be me and I her. And I’ll kiss her and again and again and every time the opportunity is there I will put my skin to hers and let our hearts melt in this oven of ours.
I know that she loves me. The sea has been treacherous to me, and cruel for time, but the air was pure and gave me the word–she loves me still. I know it to be true. I know it, I’ve known it. The other came, and I knew that too. Her love, even unspoken, un-communicated, and without ever hearing or seeing her for so much time; her love was sustaining–the knowledge of it. Go on, I told myself, it’s OK, she loves you yet. But it was not words as these that I heard myself say–it was nothing; I went on, and on, and the sea killed time and then one day I felt the first twinge of fear that the love was threatened by another, and suddenly I’m going on a plane to get the fuck out of Polynesian Dodge, which for me is boats and wasted time.
But thank you, boats and long-gone time. You at least aid me to realize what is meaningful. Thank you, moneyed and moneyless boaters, who run in the world with bundled homes–try the hitching vagabond for a month–he is not running, he’s in the shit. My distaste of your flight, and your loneliness, and your pragmatic captains–it’s the last part of the puzzle that guides me back to Peru. And it was never New Zealand or Australia that I was interested in, but Asia. And just as before with Brazil, I am not ready for Asia. And again, it is because I’m in love but alone. Goddamn it am I in love! But at the end of Brazil I placed a brick blockade against her; now, my heart has melted the mortar and buried the bricks. So I wave goodbye from just off your coast, Asia–maybe one day I will see you and know you; but if I do, I hope beyond hope that I will step onto your shores beside the booted tramping feet of my love. …And so many young people are sad…
End Draft
The computer turned off. I pulled the screen down and shut it. Rob and Daniel were on the couch, and Florent was in the armchair facing me.
“So?” asked Rob.
“So, I wrote it out,” I said, thumbing the edges of the netbook. “I’m going back to Peru.”
I wasn’t looking at them, but I felt their eyes. There was a moment of silence.
“…No shit,” said Rob.
“Really? You’re going to Peru?” asked Daniel. Florent just laughed unbelieving.
“Yea.”
“Pussy,” said Daniel.
“Well, at least I don’t suck Florent off every night in the V-berth.”
“You have it backwards,” he said, and Florent shook his head.
“So what’s the deal then?” asked Rob.
“Well, I can’t very well leave the boat now that we’ve been checked out of here for a week…” I prompted Rob, who arched his eyebrows at the floor. “Right,” I said. “Then I go with you still to Tonga, and fly out from there.”
“That’s so crazy,” said Florent. “One minute we’re going to drink in Tonga and get a boat to New Zealand together, and now Peru?”
“There’s a lot to it. A history.”
“I think it’s great he’s going back,” said Rob. “I really do. You’re teaching us something about that.”
“I think an ex is an ex for a reason,” said Daniel.
I brought my eyes down on him. “I don’t think we can really compare each other, you know? Your life is different–you’d never get with this girl, not in a million years.”
“Like I said. Ex an ex for a reason.”
“Yea, and the reason being she maxed your credit card. That kind of thing aint possible in this case.”
Daniel’s experience of love and marriage bored me, and reminded me of millions of other boring stories where couples do petty bullshit. Love at the mark with frills and flourishing, things to keep it alive. Hers had none of it–true and unconditional–just two people in a city. Two sets of eyes.
“Well so much for the Pacific!” added Rob.
“I don’t care man,” I said.
“Wha?” Florent stammered. “Man I know you from Panama. You’re not across the Pacific yet.”
“I don’t care,” I said again. “What is it, this Suwarrow in the Cooks, then Tonga, then New Zealand?”
“Or Tonga to Fiji, then Vanuatu, then New Caledonia, and Australia.”
“Right,” said Rob.
“I don’t care,” I repeated.
“Wasn’t crossing the Pacific the whole idea?”
“I guess, but I don’t like boats. Rob knows it–I’ve told him.”
“He doesn’t like boats,” said Rob.
“I don’t like the cruising lifestyle. I’m in a limbo of sameness, and I’m not learning anything more than I already have. Practical stuff–repairing a boat. I’m in the middle of the ocean in cultures that are millennia old and all I do is repair a boat and do bullshit boat stuff. No offense, Rob,” I said.
“That’s fine. To each his own.”
“Right, well. I hate islands too. And I feel very much an underling. I can’t very well reproach Rob without risking my plans. It’s not something I care for anymore. I want to be free.”
“You can get off the boat anytime,” said Rob.
“Rob, I’m not trying to offend you, I’m just saying.”
“Fine fine.”
Florent was beside himself. “How can you be here and say you don’t like it?”
Later, when we were back on the boat, I was at the bow with Florent. I wanted to delve into the conversation once more, away from the perhaps reactionary ears of the captain.
“Flo,” I said. “It’s not that I hate boats themselves. It’s that I hate being crew.”
He sighed. “I do too. I want to be alone, with my boat, and my decisions.”
“Right–you want your own boat, I got that. But I think traveling on a boat to a bunch of islands is an inferior way to travel and learn than vagabonding on land–far inferior.”
“I don’t like that travel. On a boat you see places you can’t get without a boat.”
“Right, but then you’re stuck with a boat, and aside from the practical problems and expense, which take up 90 percent of your time, you’re essentially moving around the world with all your little creature comforts that you get while you’re home and sedentary. You take your whole life with you. So you go out from your boat and get input from wherever you are, but then back on the boat your mind resets itself among familiar scenes–no immersion, which is fucking essential if you ask me. Boaters look for that pristine island where people are not. Fuck man, maybe it’s ok when you’re older and done with the world of man, but it’s not for the young.”
“But you’re sailing. I love sailing. I have sailed since I was child.”
“Sure I guess. You like sailing. I think the wind is neat, but I hate sailing-traveling. Sailing a small quick thing on a lake, I don’t know, that’s more like a little hobby and I don’t know it. But sailing traveling, the sameness is fucking horrible–where the ocean is interesting is where we can’t get to; it’s down below the surface.”
“You’re not a diver.”
“I’m talking about passages. The days go by and nothing happens, it’s always blue, it’s fucking monotonous. And you’re stuck in this tiny space with other humans and you bother each other and there’s no way to avoid it. If I jump ship to vagabond then I’m stuck on an island and I have to think about the seasons.”
“Like Rob said, you can get off whenever you want.”
“Fuck that,” I retorted. “No I can’t, not if I wanted to complete this crossing. But that’s just my point–I’m done with it. I don’t need to go around the world uninterrupted. On land, maybe, but I’ve decided that I’m not interested in these isolated little islands.”
“You don’t know. You haven’t been to Tonga or Fiji or those other islands.”
“I know how I feel about the islands I have been to. I’d take a bland mainland town any day. And anyway, I can’t go everywhere,” I said. “Not interested in going everywhere anymore.”
“No, man.”
“So what about Australia, you wanted to get there eventually?”
“Yeah, only because I’d have to in order to continue onward to Asia without flying. Ego, man. It was like a fucking little chip-shaped devil was whispering to me from my shoulder.”
“I see, yes.”
“But no, man, no. I’m not interested in English-speaking countries. I was intrigued by New Zealand ’cause they said it was laid-back, and it has mountains and temperate climate in the south. Flight of the Concords. I wanted to stop and work for a spell. But as far as I’m concerned I’ve been wasting my time for months now.”
“Wasting your time? What about all these experiences you’ve had, all the things you’ve learned?” The wonder in his question showed in his bright face, so I turned to face him more directly.
“I’ve learned all I care to learn on boats, my friend. I’m wholly fucking disillusioned with the cruising lifestyle. Big yachts piloted by a bunch of people who mingle only among themselves around the world; they take their things with them everywhere; they go to desolate islands to get away from the world and the islands are boring after a few days; they bring their pleasure boats into port and expect ‘traditional cultures’ and primitive sights to dazzle their eyes and some get all indignant when they see a people like the Polynesians in American Samoa who have lost traditional custom but who are climbing the financial ladder, the same fucking financial globalized ladder that the yachties had to climb for them to even have the yacht in the first place! Fuck!”
“I see,” said Florent after my monologue cooled.
I wasn’t sure if he followed all of what I’d said–his English was good but not great. I didn’t care; this was a time to vent and get all this out of me. It was not only the truth for me, but the justification that I would need in order to settle my mind, to withdraw from the challenge of crossing the ocean and be content with one day flying directly to Asia, skipping a chunk of Pacific.
“I don’t care about circumnavigating the globe,” I continued. “I see boats, and what I see is a privileged white people who are proud of their boating lifestyle and for me it makes me sick, and I’m tired of being a part of it–and very tired of being submissive to the captains, whether I like them or not. Hell maybe I’ll crew someday again, but there are limits, and I can feel them.”
Florent drew on his rolled cigarette, and looked back at the blue lights underneath the Mai Kai marina bar. He didn’t like hearing these things, I knew. I thought he was stubborn, but really he was proud. He wanted to buy his own boat–when I met him in the Galapagos he had already decided it, and no one would tell him otherwise. “That’s it,” he had said. “I’m going to go to New Zealand, to work, and then fly to France, and I’ll work a few years, buy a boat, and go around the world.” He was my friend but a part of me mused at how perfect he’d be as a boat captain–proud and even somewhat arrogant. But then I think to the boaters I most respected, to Dirk and to Worth–they weren’t like that, were they?
“I’m a strange writer,” I said. “I need to live in a way that doesn’t distract my mind with petty concerns like those the boating life is riddled with. Stuck with my own thoughts, and the sea which I don’t care for. I want input, man. I want to be acted upon by the world, and not always in the same monotonous way.”
“This is why you’re going back,” he said. “To Peru.”
“Maybe it’s a reaction.”
“Of course it’s a reaction. There’s someone else. It brings it all out. My mind had been distracted by boating, and nothing has happened on the sea, and so much has happened for her. And like I said, I felt it, all of it. I felt her, on the way to the Galapagos, after I sent that horrible letter.”
“Well what’s your point?” I prodded.
“Will she take you back?”
I turned to face him then. We were at the bow, just behind the bowsprit, and salt crystals glistened in moonlight on the anchor chain, which disappeared into black water.
I bore into his eyes with mine and patted my chest with a closed fist. He smiled and dragged on the dying butt.
“I wish I had that,” he said.
The boat was on a mooring ball at the marina in Bora Bora. We’d been there for a week now, and the heavy wind event that Rob had feared was still with us, howling in the rigging and snapping halyards against the mast.
“Jesus fucking Christ. How the hell can you guys stand that?” Rob shouted from his cabin, storming out and onto the deck to tighten the halyards. I looked at Daniel, who looked at Florent, who looked at Daniel and I.
Just let me survive this, I thought. I just had to survive. I had to make it to Tonga. I had to make it to Tonga or to Fiji or to wherever I could get on a plane that I could afford. Just survive, I told myself, don’t flip out. And don’t die, I thought. I couldn’t die–I couldn’t; I had to make it, because my life is not meant to be a tragedy, it’s supposed to be the opposite–I’m in a comedy. I’m for happy beginnings. Just make it there.
We would stay longer, said Rob, and then no–we’re going tomorrow. When tomorrow came, we were staying yet another day. It wasn’t Rob’s fault, but my mind wouldn’t heed objectivity anymore. We’re in Bora Bora illegally–I can’t leave the boat, but my chest is imploding and nightly, daily do my thoughts remain with her. I don’t sleep.
And the time is punctuated by the erect nipples of a girl who remains in the marina bar. Daniel, Florent and I have razors and are cutting up an old Genoa for Rob, sitting beside the pool, and there’s Riva, laying out and her breasts perking through the wool sweater and she giggles at us and talks with us.
“God I want to fuck with this girl,” Florent said to us.
“No chance,” said Daniel under his breath. “She’s into big guys–did you see how she was with that other American the other day? Mine.”
“Why don’t you guys just ask if she’ll go with you both?” I said. “Look she’s just flaunting it all.”
Daniel and Florent went with her one night to a party at the next yacht club over. The theme was “Flower Child.” Yachties at a flower child party. I’m sure many were indeed flower children at one point–but did that generation change anything for the better? If there hadn’t been hippies, would we be in a more conservative society today? Daniel would be happy about that. The hippies became the rising middle class became the moneyed and some became yachties and now chuckle and wear the peace symbol for parties themed flower child.
When finally we weighed anchor and passed through the bands of colorful water at the channel, and sailed for hours, my eyes watched unengaged as Bora Bora fell away into the horizon. The guys had not bedded Riva, and so the gay jokes continued, and my mind processed them, and wore. I retreated to the bowsprit seat and leaned over the pulpit, arms dangling. I heard Rob saying something about my this or mine that. Some captains, it seemed to me, have an overdeveloped concept of property. I shouldn’t be on the boat–my mind is making enemies of friends.
I became seasick the first day, and through the second. I knew I would, and I had warned the others. Still I managed to help raise the whisker pole, or spinnaker pole, which pushed the headsail out over the water and gained us degrees downwind. But I ate a candy and threw up over the stern and all over the transom–a bleached water spout. My chest heaved and I felt the insides trying to leave.
We employed the whisker pole often in order to sail more into the wind. Here’s a diagram of the whisker pole and genoa.
It threw me back to her apartment, to that night of ayahuasca years before. I saw hate and fear and anger that night. Now I heaved and the water rushed from my mouth and splashed into the sea. She said she learned from me to appreciate even the horrible feelings. I love you, I said now, and I am pained but it is a pain that I love because you are in my chest.
During the night watches it was the sunflower seeds that kept me awake. Pain, her, and I was sleepless. I pulled my hat over my eyes, closed them, put my finger to my lips and put myself into the future. Sometimes tearful, and sometimes not. High cirrus in the night were like tire tracks or paw prints dabbled over the sky. Low embossed frescoes of cumulus shown in the moonbeam.
The days moved on and the monotonous sea remained so. I am tired of gay jokes. I’m tired of pragmatic boat concerns and hearing about the war and bar fighting culture. We are in the world, my friends, it is here that you create new memories and identity. Live it, I said. And do not talk to me of women for you are dealing with the high-maintenance modern American woman and I am thinking of someone independent of place, of addictions, of how-life-should-be. I am thinking of a creature so lovely I cannot tell you. I do not want your jokes. I will push you overboard.
“Florent,” I said. “This is a cultural experience for me as well. Southern men.”
Texas, and Oklahoma, and Georgia living. I had to avoid talking about the Civil War, or about any war for that matter. I avoided talking about guns except for that one day that I said “You speak against gun control to say that instead we must change the societal problems that create murderers–and yet you think being in Afghanistan and burning opium to destroy heroin is the answer instead of dealing with the societal problems that create users.” Later, I found Daniel and Rob in the cockpit, cleaning Rob’s two hand guns. I wondered at the coincidence–look, Cale, and now shut the fuck up.
Florent got headaches. He was cranky and lazy without cigarettes. The country music made him worse. How can you listen to love song after love song with shit metaphors comparing love to confetti, but then when it comes to talking about it, you are stone cold and jumpy? I think then of the dullness of the world without love. And a man of knowledge, of science, will think that love is a chemical, and an obsession. But so be it! The dullness of your knowledge, that you seek to explain everything–it’s frigid and calculating, and it is colorless. Andrew had no passion but unlimited knowledge and after all I despised his presence.
I came onto my watch one night around 2 am, but could not find my sunflower seeds.
“Hey Flo,” I said, and from the cabin looked up into the dark cockpit at him, and there was another Florent beside him.
OK, I said to myself, My head’s playing with me now. I will find my sunflower seeds, and then I will deal with this second Florent. But it wasn’t another Florent, it was Rob, and they both retired when I had found my sunflower seeds.
Alone. The world. I feel this girl like a mint-fresh air in my heart, can it be possible? Of course it’s possible you’re a good man and she a good woman, and this is it. A year you’ve betrayed yourself. A year!
Their lures brought in fish. “Fish on!” Rob would cry. First they lost many, and Florent and I both said pipe down, men, and let the fish hook itself before you reel–that’s how we did it on the last boats, and we used a treble. “Isn’t this fun? The ocean, man!” cried Rob. But I had it with the ocean. It’s filled with mahi mahi. We caught a 50 pound one, and when I bludgeoned it it turned candy purple dying. Then there was a skipjack tuna, and then a yellowfin.
“That was a great 60 pound fish eh?” said Rob when I’d hacked it into filets, having torn its skin from the flesh and discarded it into the waves.
“60 pounds? I thought it was 50?” asked Daniel.
“It’ll be 70 pounds by the time we arrive to Suwarrow,” I said.
“When he’s Stateside, he’ll say ‘oh shit I caught this amazing 100 pound mahi once!'” said Daniel.
Some jokes were tolerable. It was fun, but unhappy fun for me because every wave tumbled my chest and reminded me that I didn’t want to be there–get me out of here, get me from this sea, put me on a plane–I want to be in those deep dark irises, and pinched by the blinking lush lashes–get me there!
I tried and felt stupid to talk about her to them. The conversation always reverts back to waves, the boat or lures. I spoke French to Florent, who welcomed the conversation, but Rob said it was offensive to speak another language in front of them. He apologized but the opinion was voiced, and he hid behind the apologetic demeanor of feigned indifference–so no more French speaking.
Gin rummy continued when my sickness had abated. Onward, to the Cook Islands. To Suwarrow. “Tom Neal stayed alone on that island for 23 years,” said Rob. “We gotta check it out.”
Daniel grimaced and joked, and seemed upset at my decision to return. Perhaps I was powerful in his eyes before I announced my plan to go back–a loner in the world, taking it on in a gritty way. And a woman is sanitizing. But people are difficult who are proud of what they think they know, whether true or false. To him I’m a typical story: man returns to woman, asks forgiveness. But it is a narrow field of vision. He does not know. He cannot know the depth of thought it took to leave her when my heart was bleeding for her, or the sprint and spark of spirit it demands now to return, to wrap my perceived life in a blanket to keep warm and possible to share with her–but to otherwise change absolutely everything, and go back. Men who have been sad with women are bitter at a love story.
“I would have to be logical to do what you’re doing,” said Daniel.
“Logical?”
“I would need a plan. A job, and a place to stay.”
“I have a job. I have a place to stay. If I didn’t, I would still return.” Hearts will never be practical until they are made unbreakable, I thought.
The yellowfin we chopped up into sashimi. I cooked rice: salt, squeezes of lime juice. The plate had wasabi and wet pink ginger, and we mixed wasabi into the soy sauce.
With Bob, we caught many fish. The best were tuna, because we turned them immediately into sashimi and sushi. The freshest sushi on teh planet. Here’s a travel drawing of our creations.
“This right here–this is 100 bucks at a restaurant,” said Rob.
Later, I fried medallions of skipjack in onions and peppers. I mashed them, and added olive oil mayonnaise. I poured this tuna fish salad over pasta in the evening. I was the cook, again.
And she was with me even in the aroma of cooking, too. I always knew, as I knew about the space of Peru on the map–something always told me that I would turn back before making Asia. It was a question of how close before turning back. But I’m glad. One day I will see that massive country as a more mature man, who knows his wants and does not shun but accepts his emotions alongside his intellectual aspirations.
The neck I know is most sensitive. It’s her neck. The copper banks and ravines, the gleam of sweat. Where the blood pushes from the heart to the mind–it’s the former that must accommodate the later and unopposed. First we are human and then we are rational, and neither is better because now neither exists without the other. The sea spray and rain in the afternoon; the dusk light fizzling beyond torn minute layers of nimbus; salt numbing inside my cheeks and I spit shells out overboard, but the wind brings them and scatters them on deck; I pick them up individually and flick them into the wake. Where will fateful happiness lead? This new unknown, again–this wide awake man who is fearful and uncertain but chases after that once-terrible word, and lays himself out in the air to catch its tail.
And in the morning my friends search for arguments that fit their minds which are already resolved, and the conversations become bland for it. These men who speak of vagabonding as if they know, but they do not. Something happens in early life, a wind blows that makes a person political in one way or another on this sorry plain; then we argue about the right way to raise a child, but it’s all bull.
Ridicule continues, and somehow chest hair is a point of contention. Daniel is shaved all over; I do not say to him that he is a stranger in the world therefore. Healthy men. And I’m healthier. I’m tired. I’m tired of comradery being the ridicule of each other. I prefer a friendship allied in commonality. If you care, then of course I cannot handle the Marine Corps–I’m too independent, I think too much, and I’m not a young malleable chick glued to ingrained and unquestioned morals. But he is a good person, and I can see it. Fuck it, everyone’s a good guy.
We arrived finally at the end of the week to Suwarrow. New Zealand’s Cook Islands, and here we were in the Cook Islands National Park.
We entered the 11-mile atoll in front of Anchorage Island, past small breakers over the reef, floating on clear water, and around to the backside of the palm studded island. Here it is. I’ve seen this on a million Corona commercials. I’ve seen this coupled with ideas of paradise. There were 11 other boats anchored here. 12 or so reef sharks coiled around the boat as we dropped the anchor and set the dinghy into the water. I jumped into the dinghy and prepared the motor and the fuel tank, and the sharks looked curious so I swatted the water with my hand to send them off.
Coral sand bottom. The rings of blue color were graded from the brilliant beach–transparent teal, candy blue, then the dark sapphire of the lagoon water. The atoll’s other islands sat pudgy on the ring horizon, and little bursts of white like static marked the breakers. The southern reef of the atoll received the hardest onslaught.
We took the dinghy ashore and tied up on a coral and concrete dock. We could see the whole dock beneath its foot of depth, the thin shimmering surface of the clear water the only thing telling us there was even water there at all. In length the island was shorter than a hockey rink, but twice the width. On the far side the breakers sounded, and later we saw there brown black tip reef sharks in a foot of surf. Palms populated the whole island, and undisturbed coconuts all turned to saplings, which trapped the sun’s heat and made the interior of this unassuming island intensely hot.
The immigration office was a black table sitting before a set of couches on a concrete floor, opened to the air beneath a stilted room above. There were tattered and torn flags with written things like “Thank you Henry and Charlie for a wonderful time in Suwarrow!” These dangled above our heads–the leftover memorabilia from countless cruisers. Henry was the Maori official, and he came out in a sleeveless black rugby shirt and flip-flops. He had a wide mouth and a convex face, a nose like a bobby’s hat, and a slow New Zealander accent that kept his mouth open at the end of words like ‘today’.
“Did you see the sign out front?” he asked. “Those are the rules. Just follow the rules, and you’ll be ok.”
“Alright,” said Rob. “That sounds just fine Henry, thank you.” Rob became the quintessential friendly guy when we dealt with official people.
“There’s no fishing, remember, and don’t throw waste overboard. Spearfishing is the worst, don’t do that. You can go to the buoys out beyond the anchor field in the mornings to see the manta rays.”
“Any sharks?” asked Rob. “We got a member here who’s skittish around them.” He eyed me.
Henry turned to me and grinned. “Eh,” he said. “There was a tiger shark. Tore one of the manta rays to shreds.” I liked how he pronounced shreds.
“A tiger shark?” said Florent.
“Yea. It should be safe now though.”
“You guys got him out of the lagoon then?” asked Rob.
“Well, we haven’t seen him around,” he replied with a grin.
When we were checked into the country, Charlie, the assistant and only other person living at Suwarrow, took us to see the cistern via a tunnel of foliage.
“You shower here,” he said. He had lost all his front teeth. “You don’t shower here, you haven’t been to Suwarrow. People, they come here, but they don’t use Suwarrow’s water–so how can they say they’ve been to Suwarrow?”
There was a massive book exchange in the only other building on the island, but it was infested by thick tomes of New York Times Bestsellers. I found a Star Wars book and snagged it. Entertainment.
We were planning on staying 3 days but we would stay 5. Always longer. The crossings are always longer, and the anchoring is always longer. I always felt like I was wasting my time on boats. Now it was worse than that with her eyes in front of me–this was torture, and here I was, far from everything, in your conception of paradise.
This is a travel sketch on Suwarrow, in the Cook Islands. The sprouting coconuts offer a display that one would see everywhere if not for humans displacing coconuts on beaches.
We snorkeled in a candy land reef city just beside the island. The coral heads were speckled different colors, and some were solid and vibrant–blues, oranges, yellows, greens and reds and purples. Brightly colored clams were careful when we approached, retracting into their shells like popped bubble gum licked back in. Great opalescent parrot fish snapped at the growth on the bottom and traveled in large schools. The reef sharks circled us, and once a great lemon shark became curious, but we scared him away.
On the coral sand beach I collected shells and thought of her. Palms dipped their trunks over the limpid lapping surf, and to one of these someone had attached a rope swing. I sat on it, dragging my feet in the warm shore water. I stared at the silent breakers on the other side of the lagoon, and wondered whether she would like this place. A year you have deceived your own heart, you fool, and now that you are honest you are out of your goddamn mind. You’re in love, you want to see her, and you’re trapped in the middle of the largest ocean on earth. I just have to survive.
We saw the manta rays one day. We attached the dinghy to a mooring ball, donned the fins and fell in. There were three of them, with wingspans of 9 feet or more. They circled slowly above what Rob called a cleaning station; and I watched through my goggles the little wrasses picking at whatever growth the winged giants had accumulated. Only when a wrasse would get too intimate would the ray react, and spiral upward at a slightly faster pace. I wondered if they could swim swiftly; it should be doubtful–these things are built for elegance. I dove down 30 feet, popping my eardrums by holding my nose and blowing. I swam along the bottom and looked up. The manta ray slid along, gliding in his world above me, a shape against the sunlit surface water with shoots of light pouring around his massive black body.
Mostly, I stayed on the boat. I drew. I pestered Florent when he ran out of cigarettes and discovered that not one of the other boaters in the anchorage smoked. Without his fix he became unpleasant to be around. He worked like a lunatic cleaning the whole boat, and then made comments that sounded like he worked only so that he could make the comments. Remember who got you on this boat in the first place, I wanted to say, but it would be out of character. I let him alone.
Another travel drawing of Suwarrow in the Cook Islands. An utterly pristine beach, uncorrupted by the damning effects of man.
Rob was always saying “go have fun you guys this is fucking paradise,” and then somehow changing his mind and requiring us to stay and help, or we did anyway because there was a vibe and we knew that otherwise he’d make comments like Florent. I was tired. Every day it was the same: there’s the island, here’s the water, now I’m wet, now I’m cooking, now someone is repairing something on the boat and we’re all gathered around, now I’m told to do this but I feel like I’m upsetting someone, now someone is pissed about nothing, now we’re ashore with a bunch of other white-faced cruisers playing petanque, and nothing is happening. My body assisted, but my mind and chest were perpetually in that Great Latin Land.
But they were good guys. Of course they were good guys. But I wrote, and I wrote and now there’s this and it’s empty of all the fun comments and conversations because I’m so impatient to get out of here and only the frustrating things are sticking–if she were here perhaps I’d love the sea. Oh I hope not, and I think not. I don’t want to torture her with the sea. I want to let it be.
After the 5 days, we weighed anchor rumbo American Samoa, coming around the point and sailing once more into the sea. Things seemed to slow down again. My chest settled as the soft rocking of the boat made a halyard on the mast into a maritime metronome. The conditions were good, and the clacking line counted off the seconds, the minutes, and then I was in hours again.
“How are you doing?” asked Florent.
“Ain’t sick, yet.”
“That sucks, I think, to be sick of the sea all of the time.”
“I guess I only get seasick when the rocking is really bad. But it always ends after a day or so.”
The sail flogged and Florent glared at it. “Come on, sail,” he said to it. It billowed. “OK.”
“Does that help?” I asked.
“It listens to me sometimes.”
We were in the cockpit. Rob and David came up simultaneously from the fore and aft cabins and sat with us.
“Here we go, American Samoa!” exclaimed Rob. “Good ole US of A.”
“You think Florent will be able to get in? I mean, it’s the US and all.”
“Yeah he’ll be fine. It’s a territory. Puerto Rico isn’t so difficult to get into compared to the states.”
Florent grinned and clapped his hands close against his chest. “Good good,” he said through the sucking sounds he made, chewing the Nicorette.
I eyed him and told him that he was crazy, and he shook abruptly and pretended to jerk off. The Nicorette made him loony. Rob and Daniel laughed, and got a kick out of about his strange behavior under the influence of the gum.
Later Florent found me lying on the settee doing nothing.
“No Tonga.”
“No Tonga, after all, huh? Well, Rob’s still going to go there,” I said.
“Look for flights from American Samoa, otherwise come to Tonga to get that flight to Fiji, then LA.”
“You think they’re expensive?”
“Oh,” he said. “She’s worth all of this, then?”
“Man.” I sat up. “I’ve been thinking a lot. I’m going fucking crazy here.” Daniel and Rob were chatting in the cockpit, and I was whispering to Florent. “I’m tired of stories about being drunk in bars, and stories about the Marines. He’s a good guy, and the cap is too, I know they are, I’m just, man, they’re not the guys I want to be around right now.”
“Hmm,” he muttered. “I don’t know how Daniel does it. He sleeps with so many girls it sounds like. I can’t do that.”
“Man, I’ve always thought of myself as a gritty guy. But you know, I’m not that guy. I’m not the guy who gets with chicks in bars. I just ain’t, and it feels good to admit it.”
“Many fish in the sea, though,” he said.
“They’re all mahi mahi,” I said. He laughed. “I know someone who says ‘just because you’ve already ordered, doesn’t mean you can’t keep looking at the menu.'”
“Yes!” cried Florent. “I like that. Even while you’re eating, you look at other peoples’ plates”
“Yea, but I was just thinking. All that might be true. But sometimes, I don’t even have to look at the menu to know what I want.”
“You’re thinking too much,” he rolled.
A day passed. We caught yellowfin tuna and made sashimi. Then another day passed, and another. But what happened? I had been in the hours, but as the days continued, and once more I was alone on watch under the stars, I could count the minutes and seconds while I thought of her, the salty sunflower seeds soaking in my mouth.
Slowly a new vibe grew like vine to brick, and I became the irritable one when it tried to cling to me. I argued with Florent, who said that everyone should care about sustainability and I said it’s reverence that makes humans compatible together. If an asteroid was going to destroy the earth would you do something about it or not, he asked; and I said to hell with your stupid fucking absolutes you Sith bastard. I argued with Rob about Venezuela, and raved about how the Baby Boomers seem so often to equate freedom with purchasing power and property rights. I argued with Daniel about American conceptions of fairness and country music. Conversations were stopped mid-sentence and I’d be left alone. I was thinking so much about her, and now I started to think about the witty friends I expected to see also, who could hold the conversation and douse its intensity with a bit of cold humor, instead of turning things personal.
“Yes!” I cried. “That’s perfect, play that love song.”
Daniel glowered at me, a frown scrunching his brow. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Just once more,” I pleaded. “I’ve never actually listened to the lyrics before.”
“No. Here. This one. A love song.” He smiled at the corner and disappeared topside.
Take my hand, it said. Take my whole life too. Who is this, I wondered. His voice shook. For I can’t help falling in love with you. Ahh, yes. That’s perfect. Good, Daniel, good. Like a river flows surely to the sea. True, yes, that’s true. Darling so it goes; some things are meant to be. So it goes! The King said it? He did! And what truth!
“Are you done being a little girl?” asked Daniel when the song had finished.
“Another!”
Blind yourself, sea! I’m done with you. Survive. Just survive this. Don’t fall overboard.
“Flo, come here.”
“Flo do you buy round-trip tickets?”
“Usually.”
The boat rolled over a larger swell, and I braced myself against the mast table.
“Man, I always buy one-way tickets, but you know what? This is the first time I’ll buy one in the right direction.”
“I’m tired of hearing about your love story, man.”
“I can’t stop. Hey, you can have the rest of my candies.”
“Yea go ahead.”
He shook with glee and rummaged through the dry storage for the snacks.
“I’ve proven to myself that my mind is a bastard.”
“Mm hmm.”
“Shit. Man, all I gotta do is get there. I just need to look at her. I need to live.”
“Mm hmm. Sucks if you die before.”
“Yea, I’ve thought that too. If we sink or something.”
“Yea,” he giggled. “If pirates get us.”
“If the plane crashes.”
“You are hit by a bus.”
“Shot in LA.”
“Break your back on stairs at the airport.”
That last night before arriving to American Samoa, I had the early morning watch. After the sun came up, Rob rose from his cabin and stood staring at the large block of landmass forming in front of us.
“I dreamed last night that infinity stopped,” he said in a croaking morning voice.
“Ha, that’s something. How’s that?”
“Mathematical equations, man. They looked like hot dogs.”
Florent woke when he smelled Daniel’s coffee. We were all again in the cockpit, looking at the island before us.
“How do you pronounce it again?” I asked.
“Pago Pago,” said Florent.
“No. It’s Pango Pango.” Rob looked certain.
“There’s an ‘n’ hein?”
“Makes sense to me. It looks more like a Pango Pango than a Pago Pago.”
“Pago Pago is ‘I pay, I pay’ in Spanish,” said Florent. “I think it is a good warning for my first visit to the United States.”
“Territory, man. I don’t know how American this is gonna be,” said Rob.
Over the next several hours the island grew, and we came alongside its southern coast. Here’s another green mountainous island plopped here all alone in another part of the middle of nowhere. Pago Pago was the main town and harbor, and when we crossed between the breakers, we could smell the tuna processing plants.
Sailing into American Samoa’s Pago Pago.
“Largest tuna fleet in the world,” said Rob. “Really interesting stuff. Smell that? Mmmm!”
Florent was being a lunatic at the bow, gesturing to the mountains that were crowded with towering tropical vegetation bursting from the steep slopes that arrived at the road.
“Looks like he’s chewing his last gum,” I said. “Doesn’t Japan have bigger tuna fleets?”
“The Japanese own this fleet,” he replied. “And look at all those Chinese rigs!”
We came into the harbor slowly. The sky was blocked by cloud cover, which gripped and obscured the mountain peaks. The water turned black, and plastic wrappers floated in it. Other boats were anchored at the far side of the bay. The geography was pleasant, but the bay was not. After so much perfect water, our eyes were spoiled.
When we had set our anchor, I tried to take in the place. American Samoa. Hell, I didn’t know a damn thing about it. The Rock was from here, I thought. I knew these people were very large–my university’s linebackers were all Samoan. I had read that cruisers hate Pago Pago, which gave me hope that I might find reasons to like it.
We went to McDonald’s and ate Big Macs. It seemed that the bay was always pierced by ambulance sirens, which made Florent giddy as all hell, clapping his hands at his chest again and exclaiming, “It’s just like in the movies!”
People waiting to be served chicken in American Samoa.
I made a note to myself that the locals were mostly speaking Samoan together. It was true that it was more commercial here than elsewhere, but compared to French Polynesia, I felt that I was in a place that was at least more authentic; a place which didn’t exist by selling itself for the pleasure of outsiders. We spoke English with everyone, and the street dogs attacked each other and scurried before us.
There were perhaps 15 or 20 boats in the anchorage. They say Pago Pago is the best place to provision, but few cruisers stay for long, and much less do they enjoy staying at all. I squinted at a boat in the distance.
“Hey Rob,” I called. He came onto the deck at the stern.
“Yea what is it?”
“See that there?”
His eyelids closed around his irises. “No shit.”
“I told you, man. I knew they’d come here.”
“You’re fuckin’ right man. No fuckin shit. Ha!”
It was Miluna.
Later that day, Gary came over in his dinghy. It was strange to see him, again; we were continuing our game of hopscotch all over the South Pacific.
“So they’re gone.” Gary was sitting in the cockpit, and we were gathered around on the benches, listening like eager pupils.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Well, I accidentally tipped over their backpack in Tahiti, and a bag of pot rolled out onto the floor. I told them to get rid of it.”
“So they were off the boat in French Poly?”
“No, I said to get rid of it. My boat could be impounded. So I thought they got rid of it back there in Tahiti.”
I thought back to our friends Bryan and Regan, the couple I had become friends with at the Taina anchorage. I remembered entertaining them on Wild Wind when Rob had returned to the states.
“Shit, so then what happened?”
“Well, we got to Suwarrow, and we were arguing because I said we were going to American Samoa to get the new headsail. Bryan got mad and yelled. We arrived here, and right away he and Regan took the dinghy and one of their bags to shore. You see? They still had the pot on them. Then Bryan came and collected the rest of their bags. Finally he had the nerve to ask for their contribution money back. Hell no, I said, you had pot on my boat. And he didn’t seem to deny it.”
“Damn,” said Rob. “I wouldn’t have tolerated that.”
“I didn’t. So they were off, and pissed. They went to the cops, who came out and brought me to their office. I told them that I wasn’t giving the contribution money back, because Bryan and Regan had brought illegal drugs on my boat in Tahiti.”
“You told the cops directly?” I asked.
“You’re damned right. Then they came out with a sniffer dog. The mut put its paw on the same drawer three times. Must have been where they had stored the pot. The cop said they could impound the boat. Bryan and Regan were lucky. They got rid of the pot, apparently. But they were told they had 24 hours to leave. They flew to New Zealand. They were mad about spending the money.”
“You did just what I would’ve,” said Rob. “These guys know I have zero tolerance for that kind a behavior.”
I looked at Rob, then at Gary.
The following day was a day of days. We went ashore and cleared in with the port captain, and received our entry stamps at the big blocky immigration office, beneath governmental promotional banners that read “American Samoa Nutritional Education Program” or “American Samoa Developmental Disabilities Council,” both of which shocked me since the population was only 75,000. I went off alone and found internet at a hotel lobby. When I emerged 2 hours later, I had purchased 1400 dollars worth of air tickets, and had organized pick-ups at the airports in LA and Lima. I would leave that very night from American Samoa.
I saw a Japanese man jogging, and wondered about his life. Then, as I was walking back toward the dock, through the smattering of wooden and concrete buildings that made up the stretched uptown of Pago Pago, I heard a “ssstt”. I turned to see a man at a cast iron gate beside a grocery store motioning me over. Of course I went to him; I had not met any Samoans, and I was eager to learn something before the flight that night. And anyway, vagabonding’s advice is to always go at an invitation when the scene is right.
His name was Joe. He was a large man, much larger than me, with deep eyes and a bull cut. The whites of his eyes were a faded, slightly yellow color, but he smiled when I came and his eyes did as well.
“Hey man,” he said. “What are you doing man? You’re on a boat I guess right?”
“Yeah,” I replied.
“That’s cool that’s cool. You know Shane? I met shane. He was on a boat. Ukranian guy, invited us to eat. He was working on one of the tuna boats.”
“I’m on a sailboat,” I said.
“Ah, ok! Ok man, yea, cool. Welcome to Samoa my friend. Where did you come from?”
“Suwarrow, in the Cooks.”
“Alright, cool man, that’s cool. Where are you headed?”
“I’m going to Peru.”
“To where?”
“To Peru.”
“Is that in the States?”
“No sir, it’s down there in South America.”
“Oh man! Really? Why are you going there?”
“A girl.”
“That right?”
“Love is powerful, man, it’s really powerful. Hey Larry!” he cried into the gate.
“What?” said a voice. It had an Asian twang to it.
“Larry check this out, this is…?”
“Cale.”
“This is Cale,” he said. “I’m Joe.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
“What?” said Larry.
“Cale, man, and he’s going to go back to the states, to Peru, for a girl man. Man, that’s across the planet, man.”
“Ooohh,” said Larry, hidden behind the gate. “Very nice.”
“So when are you leaving?”
“Tonight, 11pm. I fly to Hawaii, then LA, then Detroit, then Fort Lauderdale in Florida, and then Lima, Peru.”
“Wow man, that’s great! Cool man, all of those places? That’s a hell of a lot man, wow.”
“And she knows you’re coming?”
“And how long you been gone?”
“16 months.”
“What!? Really, man? You been gone from your woman that long?” I liked his slight accent, the Samoan one, which made the ‘R’ prominent.
“What the hell man?”
“I left her, to travel.”
“Oh brother, and you think she’s going to take you back? Are you crazy? You think she’ll take you back?”
“I know it,” I said.
He looked at me. He eyed me, and smiled. “Man, you’re crazy brother. That must be pretty strong. I’m waitin for my kid to get outta school right now man, but man, I’m gonna tell everyone I met this crazy guy who’s going all the way across the ocean for his girl man. Wow.”
“Yea, well, it feels right.”
“That’s powerful man.”
“I’m tired of boats anyway.”
“Yea?”
“Been on them since Panama.”
“What, man? Really? You been on boats since Panama, man?”
“Oh man! It gets crazier, and I didn’t think it was possible man, whoa! So you were just coming here?”
“I was trying to hitchhike around the world without flying.”
“WHAT?! Man! Crazy! No, not crazy man, there aint a word for that man, whoa! You’re one loaded cat man!”
“Maybe I’ll travel with her again.”
“I don’t know man, they say if you can travel with a girl she’s to keep, man. You know?”
“Yeah. She came with me, hitchhiking for 4 months.”
“Oh… man… brother… you gotta get this girl. Are you serious right now? I can’t believe you, she traveled with you hitchhiking? And for 4 months? And you left her?”
“You just left her like that?”
“No, I flew her back to her home in Lima from Rio de Janeiro.”
“How do you have money man?”
“I write some. But I spend all my money on visas and planes, I guess.”
“Man, I couldn’t do that, shit man. Wow, man. You gotta come party with my friends and I.”
“I’m leaving tonight.”
“Oh that’s right! Man, I’m gonna tell everyone about you man.”
I laughed. Florent came walking up to us then.
“Hey Flo, where’s Rob and Daniel?”
He smiled at Joe and shook his hand.
“They’ll meet us later,” he said. “Hi, nice to meet you. Skittle?”
“Naw that’s alright man, thanks,” said Joe. “Hey you guys want some weed by any chance?”
I looked at Florent.
“Oh, well, sure, yeah, but not now,” he said. “But yes, I like to smoke.”
“It’s hot as hell here,” I said.
“Man it’s Samoa brother. It’s always hot here. And it’s always raining man, always.”
“I’ve seen a ton of churches here,” I said. “They’re everywhere. On every block. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many.”
“Yea man, there are a lot of churches, all kinds too man. Protestant, catholic, evangelist, baptist, mormon, oh man the list goes on. You believe in God, man?”
“I’m agnostic, I guess, if a label will do.”
“Agnostic?” asked Joe.
“Yea, I think I could believe in something, I don’t define it in a religion.”
“Ok, man, that’s cool man, so you’re not an atheist?”
“How about you, what was it?”
“Florent.”
“Yea, Florent, you aint American huh?”
“I’m French.”
“Oh ok man, alright that’s cool.”
“I’m atheist.”
“Really man? Like, really? You da second atheist I met ever. You and Shane man. But you’re alright man. You offered me Skittles, so that’s alright man, for an atheist.”
“Well we better get to our boat,” I said.
“Hey man, that’s cool. It’s nice to meet you man. Hey Florent you just come find me when you want to smoke, I gotchyou man.”
“Thanks Joe,” said Florent.
“Cale man I’m gonna tell my friends bout you man. You should write a novel. Your story is like Hollywood. Good luck to you brother.”
“Thanks a lot,” I said.
Pago Pago bay is coiled around a peninsula, and tucked away by its steep walls. When the sun rises, it arrives late, and when it sets, it disappears early. There was no sun when I was wishing Rob and Daniel well. I’d packed my things, and we took the dinghy back to shore. Only the sounds of gurgling car engines came to my ears, and the low rumble of the boat’s motor. I left Wild Wind for the last time, finally on my way back to where I ought to be.
“You left money on the boat?” asked Rob once we were walking on shore again.
“Yea,” I said. I left 10 bucks for food that we had bought in Bora Bora. But I didn’t leave the contribution for Suwarrow. It was a boat cost, not a per person cost. I didn’t want another, last argument, so I didn’t mention it.
“You’re a good man,” he said.
“Thanks for having me, Rob, and I’m sorry I’m not coming along with you guys after all.”
“I’m gonna get all choked up here. You’ve become a friend.”
“Likewise,” I said.
Florent and I crossed the street and flagged a bus. Rob and Daniel disappeared into McDonald’s to steal some internet time.
“You think you’ll go along with Rob to Tonga?” I asked Florent.
“I don’t know. Now Gary is in need of crew.”
“Yea, well.”
“You know him, what do you think?”
“I think Gary’s particular. You’re probably better off with Rob and Daniel. Just make sure the details are hammered out.”
The bus was a gutted pick-up truck with a passenger compartment built on its back. In the front, above the windshield, it read, “God,” and on the back were the words “Is good.” We were in the bus for 30 minutes or so. The US gives significant aid to American Samoa. Apparently the chiefs don their traditional Samoan getups to present themselves to congress once a year in a show meant to ensure continued financial aid. Cops have the sleekest vehicles, and the roads are good. There’s a strange mix of American and Samoan patriotism, and it speaks to the peculiar state of globalization when I heard an immigration official badmouth what he saw as the Mexican tendency to steal jobs… and we’re in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
At the airport there was only one restaurant. Florent and I sat in the bar and drank Vailima beer, imported from Western Samoa.
“Yuk,” said Flo. “This is too bitter.”
“Go get a Heineken, gimme that,” I said.
When he came back with his new beer he sat with a thump.
“That’s just so crazy that you’re leaving.”
“I’m jealous,” he said.
“…I thought you liked sailing?”
“I do, but I hate how slow it is. Nothing happens–”
“–fucking-A right.”
“But now you’re going, you’re moving now. You’re going to be in many places different. That’s it; I’m going back to France from New Zealand.”
“Sorry I’m not coming with, man. I need to get back to this girl. I’m out of my mind.”
“Come visit me in France.”
The airport was filled with people. We paid double for the 6 beers we drank between us, because it was a “flight night”, which meant that a plane was coming.
It was strange for skinny me to be among the locals. Many Samoans are blimps. They’re simply large. The diet doesn’t help. KFC failed and closed because it was cheaper to fry the chicken at home–the restaurant parking lot is now littered with high grass and rusting metal fences. But it’s the genetic propensity for largeness that keeps Samoa plump. I felt like anti-matter among them.
I’d been in or around boats for 7 and a half months. In the beginning, it was Colombia. I traveled with Worth on Satori from Cartagena to Bocas del Toro. I hitched to Panama City, meeting Collin along the way. I met Dirk on Lola and the Swedish Vikings on Warskavi. Collin and I met Florent there, and then I eventually left on Sarim. I spent months with Lido, Geli and Gil on Sarim and in the Marquesas I joined Andrew on Athena. In Tahiti I joined Wild Wind with Rob, and now, here at the end, the beginning was repeating itself. Drinking beer with Florent, as if we had brought the Panama bar with us across the ocean, and the world was opening up again to the new unknown, which came to gather me up into its fuselage and throw me into past dimensions. I never knew what to expect from the sea, but I was glad to be leaving it behind.
Florent was gone, and I went through the security checkpoint, my umbrella safe in hand. A large Hawaiian Airline plane sat alone on the tarmac, and I followed the feet in front of me, around a perimeter of orange cones, to the rear mobile staircase. The plane was not full, so I took a window seat and tried to sleep but couldn’t. I was about to turn months of movement into moments, flying over that great blue sea that looks so predictable from above.
A view out over Pago Pago, American Samoa.
We took off and it was night. 11:30. I saw Pago Pago’s thin threads of orange lamplight curl around the peninsula, into the bay. I saw the anchor lights of the sailing yachts, and I picked out what I thought to be Wild Wind. Above my head a harsh shoot of cold air shot forth from an open vent. I closed it, and when I looked back out the window we had passed through a flimsy cloud cover, and the island was gone.
I had a blanket, and ear phones, but the left node was not functional; the right one relayed ukulele tunes when I plugged it into the armrest jack. I pocketed the eye shades that the Hawaiian shirt-clad attendants had handed out. There was no turbulence; there were no lights but the stars. I didn’t sleep. I let air pass from my lips, long and slow, like the gentle pressing out of the final bit of air from a mattress. I closed my eyes and saw the desert city; I felt myself leaving the earth and the ocean behind; I saw the girl.
The story of going back
…Lima, Peru – Wednesday, October 16, 2013…
We touched down at 5 a.m. and I was out of the airport by 6, having first to go through immigration and customs. I had never been to Hawaii before, but I knew that Honolulu was home to Pearl Harbor, and so I decided to use my 8 hour layover to see about a bit of history. But it wasn’t to be. The bus driver recognized that I was new there, and when he confirmed that he was heading to Pearl Ridge, he said, “Pearl Harbor is closed today, government shutdown.”
“Government shutdown?” I asked.
“Didn’t you know? The bastards can’t agree on a budget. Government’s shut down.”
I didn’t know what he was talking about but I didn’t care.
“Where should I go? I’ve never been here.”
“Go to Waikiki.”
Words here sound funny, I thought. I didn’t know what he’d said, but I soon found out that he was talking about Honolulu’s “Most famous beach in the world.” I’d been to a few, and considered the bold phrase lacking humility. Beaches ought to be humble.
The bus through downtown showed me many pusher streets and tent communities among the financial HQ behemoth skyscrapers. As I peered out the window at the tattered camps, my hands rubbed over my arms, bumpy and chilled by an over-cooled air–the hotter the city, the less proportional the air conditioning. I looked down at myself. I could’ve fit in with the pushers. My little dirty gray pack, the destroyed boots, those sun-worn and crotch-ripped pants, the green-webbing belt with plastic snap buckle, my tacky and wrinkled orange dress shirt that was missing its top button so that I looked like a swinger, the moldy old brown hoodie with dog tooth-gouged holes above where saltwater corrosion had frozen the zipper shut, my matted unwashed long blondish hair. Then I looked up and saw that I was the only white guy on the bus. Everyone was Asian or Polynesian.
Waikiki was clean. There were more people on the beach than I’d seen in weeks. Sand formed its crescent beach that began at the Army Museum and stretched off to the east and made the people into dots. I saw a crowd of surfers a quarter kilometer out, and paddle boarders among them. To the west, tall white masts marked two marinas fronting the waterfront otherwise dominated by massive condominiums and palms deprived of their fruit. There was so much activity; paragliders, the surfers and paddle boarders and swimmers, sunbathers and ranting homeless, big sand tricycles with plastic wheels, frisbee throwing, speedboats and sailboats alike, a guy in a full black wetsuit wielding a metal detector, the Japanese doing a good job of staying together and protecting themselves from the sun, planes in the sky with banners, the vibes from that old leather surfer with wispy silver locks.
Along the boardwalk and main shopping street I felt eyes and discomfort. My clean clothes were in my bag, already checked at the airport, and I was walking among the quintessence of commercial, which frowns on anything that is not pretty. And the stores! Louis Vuitton, Starbucks, King Jewelry, Swatch; Subway, ABC stores, the Yard House, The Cheesecake Factory, bebe, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Apple, California Pizza Kitchen; all these stores that show that success is repetition and recognition and hegemony in all the big metropolises. Young guys were handing out leaflets but no one offered me any. I ate a burger at IHOP and had quirky stares from older people and respect from the servers. I felt like a ghost.
Back in the airport I watched as lines formed in front of McDonald’s and Starbucks. Half the lighting in the terminal came from electric billboards advertising products hidden by ass and tit. I’d made it through TSA, covering my rank shoes with the hoodie, and now I was sitting in my funk, watching the world act out its economy. I realized I would never be a successful writer; the tomes in the airport store were New York Times Bestsellers; a bunch of entertainment. I look at my fellow people, and I realize that they are consumers. I am one of them until I get the hell out of the airport, or the city. I can relinquish this idea to pick up where I leave off in travel–I won’t go back to American Samoa ever. But I can’t ever forget the things I’ve learned on the road about the world, which for some reason cause me to feel the same inquietude when I watch normal transactions as when I watch the poor pick at garbage.
I almost missed the flight. We flew up and over O’ahu, and it looked to be formed of a collection of smaller craters where the hotspot volcanoes once erupted. The Big Island was on the other side of the plane, and I didn’t see it and its lava. This flight was also Hawaiian Airlines, and they gave us a meal and a glass of wine, an action claimed as “our unique brand of Hawaiian hospitality.” But all airlines give you food. The wine was nice.
I didn’t sleep on the flight to Los Angeles. We debarked around 11pm. I gathered my backpack from the baggage claim and stood in the cool night LA air. Then Vikas pulled up. We embraced each other, and retired to his apartment in Boyle Heights. It’s a Latino neighborhood and in the days I spent there I was the only visible gringo around. Vikas said it was the Latin Compton of the city. He is from Delhi, and his petite mother was visiting for some months, and she cooked very nice Indian food in her colorful sari. Vikas and I reminisced about Veracruz, in Mexico in 2010, the last place other than Lima where I stayed for a significant amount of time. We spoke of Pilsen and Jarocho, carnival, our friends Matt and Oz and the verb Nadia. I remembered hot nights in that place, and the dirty sea nearby where we swam sometimes, and other times in the complex’ pool. He reminded me that I’m close friends with people for their humor, and I told him to come to Lima.
A few days later I left and went to my cousin’s house in Santa Monica, and I felt that I’d come full circle, having stayed with him rumbo Mexico in 2009. Everything was coming together, the whole cycle of the travel. I had not made it to Asia; instead, I had begun a return trip that was closing the doors of doubt one at a time; that was yanking off the shoe and pouring the pebbles back into the sea. My cousin treated me as a prince welcomes a prince, and we ate sushi and I spoke of sashimi on the high seas, and of Andrew and his nakedness jinxing the world. I watched movies, finally, and had time to write, and relax, on a couch, that looked like fluffy feather incarnate. We spoke of his life and mine, two vastly different possibilities in the same world; the start-up entrepreneur and the student-rendered-vagabond with stories to fill a mug.
He dropped me at the airport around 8pm one fine evening, and he told me I should captain his yacht one day, which I promptly declined. We embraced, then I went in to once more deal with Spirit Airlines. They said there was another flight, that I’d skip Detroit altogether and go directly to Fort Lauderdale, right now: you have to hurry. They made me buy a refundable return flight from Lima–damn it, I forgot, again, to make my fake ticket–and rushed me through TSA. Grimaces about my smelly shoe, yelling next to my hear at the people behind, rushing across the terminal to gate 39, rushing again aboard a plane already full and eyes casting their glares; look at this new asshole, this happy idiot holding up the plane, what the hell are you beaming about?
I met Dante then, and as the plane took off we spoke about search engine optimization, and about his fashion magazine and why he was going to the Bahamas to meet an investor, and how before the magazine he was a photographer in the porn industry and those parties were crazy because you had to step over people in the big mansion having sex on the floor, and the girls he brought were already sucking dudes off and it was normal. Then we talked about love and I told him my story and brought out my computer and showed him the photos and the videos and told him the story of Andrew and he said he had a sailboat before and he hated it longer than 5 days and we bonded on that, and he said sex without love is like high-fiving but missing every time, and he said love was powerful and I agreed and told him the rest of the story about hitchhiking everywhere in South America, and then across the Pacific, and that I felt her in the middle of the sea and then the torture, the torture of endlessness and nothingness on the monotonous ocean, and like Cassidy he said ‘yes, that’s it! yes!’ to my story; he smiled and laughed and held his chest and I spilled it all to this new friend I was making; and now here I am beside you, I said, talking, underway to Lima, to claim her, man, to get her love you see? Go, he said, you have to, it’s true love man, and you haven’t spoken to her or seen her in 16 months, that’s amazing, I love this story man I want to feature you, I’m coming down to Lima and I’m going to feature you! And finally when the plane landed and I had showed Dante my drawings and he yelled about featuring me and everyone else on the plane had been asleep before that, and only we two had remained awake across the whole of the United States from Los Angeles to Florida and now landing, the tarmac, the descent, baggage claim, sitting, come, Cale, you’re coming with my girl and I, and I did, Stefano came, my mind was in Lima, but I went and we had breakfast in Miami and went to South Beach, frisbee throwing with the 4 year old nephew, and sand castles that I never got to build with Gil; they dropped me back at the airport and we embraced as new friends, 24 hour friends. Now I didn’t sleep for 24 hours, and on the plane to Lima I didn’t sleep during 5 hours of flight and it got in late and it took 2 hours to get out of the terminal through immigration, but there Camilo professional tweaker Camilo and Franco! and their friend Yani and hugs and motherfucker I can’t believe you got back from France two days ago the last you were here I was trying to meet the girl for the second time and you left me in the House of No Ends and now we’re here reunited and fuck fuck fuck pisco pisco in the parking lot and ideas ideas words, laughter and face muscles contracting authentically giddy glad pisco glad rumbo the center suddenly the combi gonna kill us this fucking loon and I a lout then blacking out at the bar/club where all these chicks are staring and I’m dancing now with beer and there’s Alain, and Franco and Camilo my friends and here Lima Peru pues! Beer, more cerveza, the waterfall gullet tax haven stomach sols twinkle tingle tumble of pockets lights noise smoke black cloud street amber and marble and granite and stone and stucco steeple synthesizing syndicate stomping to bar #2 mind blown! cracked stinging aspirin couch shit shit sleep morning sleep beer Franco where, and Camilo, Alain here, daylight red vein pulse and pinch taxi on who’s this and then STOP. It’s 1 pm.
Everything slowed down. Everything stopped.
“It’s 1 pm,” I said. “Huevon, how the hell is it one pm?”
Camilo was sitting beside a random girl, who had Alain’s computer in her lap.
“I have political power,” he was saying to her.
“Camilo,” I said. “Man, what the hell happened?”
“Apparently you shat your pants,” he said. “You’re my hero.”
“Fuck, I know. Alain, lend me some pants man, I have to go.”
“Toma, gringo,” he said, tossing me a pair of blue pajama pants.
“Really?” I snapped the pants of dust. “Ok. Thanks. Shit. I have no money.”
“Gringo, take my card.”
“Take it, here’s the code, it has lots of money, take what you want.”
“Camilo, just give me 20 sols.”
“Take it.”
“Just gimme a bill, I need aspirin. Man, I’m meeting her at 4pm, I can’t go with this headache.”
“Fine, here,” he said, handing me a 20 sol bill.
“Ok. Man, what did happen last night? Where’s Franco?”
“He left early.”
“Around 5.”
“Shit. I knew drinking with you assholes would be a bad idea. You know why I’m here right?”
Camilo turned to the young girl who was immersed in Alain’s computer. Alain was passing out on the couch.
“Girl,” he said. “This huevon flew across the planet because he’s in love with a Peruvian. What do you think about that?”
She giggled but her eyes didn’t move from the screen.
“What the hell is she doing here?” I asked Camilo in English.
“I think it was your idea to bring her,” he said.
“Oh, shit. Fuck pisco. I haven’t drunk like that in 8 months. Last time I drank like that I was carrying a Pole away from Fatboy Slim in Panama City.”
“Alright. I took a shower. I have clean clothes. I just need the aspirin.”
“Go, huevon, get out of here!”
I ran out the door, down the flight of stairs, out into the street, the brindling of Lima’s garua fog above my head. Noises, familiar noises, came to me then, and I heard combis motoring past, and their attendants shouting the vehicles’ destinations, “Arequipa Arequipa, Ovalo Higuera, Miraflores!” My chest was flying, and I ran into a pharmacy, happily purchased a single aspirin tablet, something you can’t do elsewhere. I swallowed it and walked toward the Ovalo Higuera with a quickened pace. Everything was so familiar; it was so, how to say it; so welcome!
The night was lunatic, but it wasn’t a mistake. I had tried to tell my friends not to expect lots of drinking from me, but the House was in our blood now and it was a reunion that could not be denied. This random chick in Alain’s house–they said it was my idea, and that was a mistake. I felt guilt, and shame, but my chest felt the same. I rushed aboard a combi bus heading to Miraflores, and paid a sol for the transit. My head found the confines of my cupped hands, and I buried my face away from the light.
What did I have planned about this random chick in my terrible forgetfulness? Fuck pisco, I thought. Everything added up to something horribly perfect–torture on the ocean with thoughts of the girl, a year away and not touching another woman, knowledge that there had been another in her life, and the jealousy that a man might feel, and then anticipation of seeing her and being with her intimately, and 72 hours of sleep deprivation, and all of that mixed with pisco, beer, old mad friends and a city where I stick out to curious eyes like the glint of silver in water. Would I have? Could I have? I scratched at my cheeks. No; it means nothing. It is nothing. That the feelings would betray is something entirely different, but physicality is bland and heartless. To me.
Then I was walking alongside Parque Kennedy. I passed Pariwana, and the Fumador smoke shop. I walked down Larco to the mall complex, with its huge glass smoke stacks rising among the colors of skateboarders and snack vendors. I veered left and followed the ocean cliffs. 100 feet below were waves crashing on shore, and then clicking retroceding back through the maze of slick rocks. I walked rapidly, my hands in my pockets, my eyes scanning the horizon for boats. It was hard to look at the Pacific Ocean and try to feel what I used to feel. Now the ocean brought stories back into my consciousness, and I loured. Why the hell did I drink last night?
I sat in the grass at Parque Dormossola, where the Miraflores Park Hotel was. I lay down under a bush, and waited.
Peruvian couples were necking on benches. Some people were walking their dogs.
Over the wall, the ocean was gray. Tall condominiums skirted the park behind me, and I felt like they were watching me, scolding me.
I saw a girl walking then. I didn’t have my glasses, which I had lost in the night–the second pair lost to Lima–but I didn’t need them to know. She wore an embroidered turquoise sweater, fit khakis and chopines. I squinted. No, they weren’t chopines they were shorter than that; but they elevated her elegantly. That professional garb.
I stood and pulled the hood over my head. I didn’t walk straight to her, because I wasn’t sure; this girl was way out of my league. But really I knew; I could feel her.
From the path I walked slowly up to her, my hands still buried away. Here, after all the world. After so much time. Breathing; I breathed heavily. Stepping; I stepped lightly. She leaned on the brick wall. She was framed by the ocean; she was looking the other way. The foot traffic was blotted out and I could hear my organs rousing in my ears. I approached carefully, hooded, in Alain’s stark blue pajama pants and the overused brown hoodie. This dirty vagabond awkwardly testing the space of a magnificent girl. But I wasn’t outwardly aware, and I went on.
When she saw me, I saw the moment. She skipped a moment–placed briefly into some other dimension—and when instantaneously she returned, her hand shot to her mouth when she whispered my name, and her eyes were wet; she rose on her heel, descended, and fell across the space between us and into my arms. Through our layers our hearts could tell, and I brought her into me and held her there for endlessness. My chin rested aside her head; the black strands scented of jasmine and coconut milk. I felt her lips on my neck, and I heard history in my mind, and suddenly I was seeing it pass in that yellow filter of memory; I saw her again in Rio, where tears watered the airport tile and she disappeared behind the security gate; I saw her return to me in Montevideo wearing love; I saw myself in a yellow field somewhere in Argentina, my heart breaking the eyes and promising to go back; I saw her open the door wearing her garb and crocs, surrounded by yellow light, and her bones cracked when I pulled her over me; I saw again when I’d left after our night of wine, telling her the pain would pass, and wiping a tear from those lush lashed orbs; I saw walking in this very park on that first date, a golden sun dipping off, and I didn’t touch her but I knew; then our lips bared in the House of No Ends; then I saw us dancing in that club, and her big milk chocolate eyes looking up at me over the splendid contour of her nose and cheeks, which took in the dim yellow strobe and exploded it into loveliness.
“You have to contact her man!” cried Franco that one morning. “Don’t let love pass you by!”
“It is not love,” I’d said. But I wanted to see, I just, I wanted to make sure of something. Then I left to Nazca, I slept with someone there to quit my bodily urge, and I knew then that a hint of recognition, a touch of interest from those beautiful eyes back in Lima was worth more than any aimless physicality.
Now we were sitting in the grass, and the sun was dipping low again. But she saw in my eyes the confusion of the previous night, and I couldn’t hide a thing like that if I’d wanted to. Her arms hugged around herself when I started talking about the drinking, and the chick in Alain’s house. And her brow furled and my heart might as well have been impacted there between those wrinkles, smothered out in her swarthy concern. And here I was doing it again; I crossed an ocean and a continent and all for nothing–I hid myself in my hands again, and felt pure pain. I felt lost.
A small hand wrapped gently around my wrist, and pulled my broken cave apart. Her eyes were so deep. They held me in them, and she moved my arm away; then she rose, and came into my lap, and held her hands behind my neck, and she wouldn’t look away from my stare, and we didn’t blink. I rested my hands on her waist. She gave me herself, and the walls built of last night’s mistakes crumbled. Close in beside my ear, the whole world blurred.
“Te amo,” she said. “Oh God, I’ve missed you so much.”
“Chica,” I whispered. “I’m not afraid of the words anymore.”
“Chico, my love.” I felt her fingers in my hair.
“I’ve loved you since that club, when you caught me in your eyes. I’ve loved you. I felt you on the sea, Mayra. I’ve never stopped loving you.”
“Oh Cale te amo tanto!”
She bore into me, and was inside me again, finally, and forever. She engulfed herself in me as the sun parted its last rays into the ocean. Then, slowly: that adamant embrace; that melting; and that kiss.
Velabas. I think it has been about understanding human nature. But my objectivity was killing passion completely. Trying to understand human nature is one thing, but I had been trying to conquer it. As I sat in that grass wrapped up with her, staring at the sea that I’d not crossed, I felt that I had crossed it, after all. T.S. Elliot once wrote that we will travel, and we will learn and grow, and that when we are once more in the place from which we come, we will know it for the first time. And now, here in the arms of my love, I felt like I’d come home.
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Apple Athletics
Giant Land Castle
"Alright... one for the road. One for the road!" Princess Apple said as she held on tight to her bat and swung it around, waiting for the Ultra Machine to shoot the next ball. Once the ball came out, Apple took her best shot, swinging the bat forward and making contact with the ball and sending it flying over the castle walls.
"Wahoo! Another home run for me!" Apple shouted as she jumped up in excitement. She was standing in what used to be the mushroom garden, the very same garden where she found the Ultra Mushroom that allowed her to grow to the size she is at today. These days, the garden has been moved elsewhere on the castle grounds and the outdoor place is now simply a courtyard for fun and games, and today, the game was batting practice. Although... Apple wasn't taking swings at innocent baseballs just for the heck of it. She was actually testing out a new invention from E.Gadd, the Ultra Machine. And so far, the test was proving very successful and very fun too.
A little while later, Princess Apple's husband, Prince Hugo the Huge, entered the courtyard. Sipping a cup of Koopa Tea prepared by Tayce T. of the Mushroom Kingdom, he watched as Apple sent another ball flying out of Giant Land Castle.
"Well, I must say, honey, you've got the swing of a champion." Prince Hugo said.
"Awww... you're just being modest." Apple said as she took another swing, this time popping up the ball high up in the air. Apple brushed a little hair out of her face as she watched the ball sail towards the sky and brush a couple clouds.
"Oops... I hope that wasn't Sky Land I hit up there." Apple said.
"Not to worry, dear. You'd have to hit the ball miles high to reach Sky Land." Prince Hugo said.
"Right. I keep forgetting!" Apple said.
"So, I take it this new gizmo from E.Gadd is to your satisfaction?" Prince Hugo said.
"You bet! I should have him build me an Ultra Machine just for the two of us. This is too much fun." Apple said.
"Well, that's good. Oh, that reminds me, E.Gadd called me just a couple minutes ago." Prince Hugo said.
"He did? What did he want?" Apple asked.
"He just wanted you to know that the modifications are almost finished to your bracelet, and that he would deliver it personally once he was through." Prince Hugo said.
"Oh, good! I'm so glad to hear that." Apple said.
"So remind me what kind of changes he is making to your bracelet?" Prince Hugo said.
"Well, I told him, if it was possible, to add some kind of device that would allow me to beam out the same kind of energy that's inside of me from touching that Ultra Mushroom years ago." Apple said.
"Oh?" Prince Hugo said.
"Yeah. I don't want that energy to go to waste, and at the same time, I want my friends to feel what it's like being this big, even if it's only temporarily. When I asked E.Gadd if that was possible, he said it was no problem, so that's when I gave him that bracelet." Apple said.
"But are you sure you can trust him? I've heard some of his inventions have had wacky side effects... such as that golden Daisy statue thing and..." Prince Hugo said.
"Oh, Hugo, you worry too much! Those things happened because Bowser intervened. I've got one of my best Mushroom guards helping with protection for Gadd." Apple said.
"Well, that's good to know." Hugo said as he sipped his tea again.
Apple then took a swing at the next baseball coming from the Ultra Machine. She made contact and the ball sailed towards the right as it flew over the wall.
"Uh oh... that's heading for the Giant Land Raceway!" Apple said.
"Which I heard is very close to completing construction..." Hugo added.
"Gulp... hopefully they won't mind the foul ball." Apple said as a drop of sweat came down her head.
The aforementioned Giant Land Raceway was a very simple track. In fact, it was a simple short oval, similar to Baby Park that was built for the Double Dash tour. But it was what Apple and Hugo wanted... a simple track they could use to test their karts on should the Mario Kart series ever find a way to allow either of them to race. Standing near the start/finish line were three normal-sized people (therefore making them look tiny to Apple), the middle of them looking like he was on fire from head to toe. There were a couple gentlemen standing right next to the fiery man they called Cubed Cinder.
"So, we just have that one last turn to smooth out and we'll be completed?" Cubed Cinder said.
"Yes sir, Mr. Cubed Cinder, sir! Just that one more turn, and it'll be Mission Accomplished!" Twilight Prince said.
"Man, this is gonna be exciting, seeing that very first race at this gigantic race track!" DJ Yellow said.
"Indeed, though I still wonder where Princess Apple is going to find a kart big enough for her to race." Cubed Cinder said.
"Heads up!!!" a female voice shouted in the distance. Cubed Cinder and the other two guys looked up and saw a giant baseball headed right for them! They all scampered out of the way, just as the ball landed on the pavement.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt and there was no damage at all to the pavement. Still, it drove Cubed Cinder crazy.
"HEY! Who's driving baseballs onto my race track!?" Cubed Cinder shouted, his fiery body lighting up as bright as it could.
"I believe that would be the giant princess herself." Twilight Prince said.
"Well, that's interesting. I never thought of the princess to be a sporting person." Cubed Cinder said. Suddenly, a female wearing glasses, long brown hair, a pink tank top, and blue jeans joined up with Cubed Cinder and the others. Accompanying her was a man sporting golden wings, golden tail, and golden horns on his head. He wore a white T-shirt as well as dark blue jeans.
"Everybody okay?" Bigger Better Barbie said.
"Yes. Thank you, sis, for the heads up." Cubed Cinder said.
"Anytime, brother! I hope you don't mind, but Ra and I are leaving now that Turn 2 has been inspected." Bigger Better Barbie said, pointing to the gentleman next to her.
"Oh, and where are you two going?" Twilight Prince said.
"I'm continuing my hunt for the Giant Pink-Haired One, and Barbie agreed to help with the search... if that's okay with you." Ra said.
"Not a problem, Ra! Just be careful if you do find her." Cubed Cinder said.
"I'm sure she'll think twice before messing with us." Ra said. He then picked up Barbie and the two flew off into the sky.
Soon, a white cheetah looking creature joined up with the group.
"Cubed Cinder... we may have a problem." the cheetah said.
"What is it, gamdann?" Cubed Cinder asked.
"I think I saw Chris with a laptop doing something else rather than running diagnostics on the item boxes."
"Uh oh... he's not doing what I think he's doing, is he?" DJ Yellow asked.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of this. You three finish up in this corner." Cubed Cinder said.
"Roger!" Twilight Prince said.
"Oh, and... um... Cubed Cinder? Could you perhaps..." gamdann said.
"Yes, yes, gamdann. You've told me a thousand times. Don't worry, I'll put all the Transformers and other giant robots I can fit into our next track. Just make sure the asphalt here is smooth and safe first!" Cubed Cinder said.
"Understood." gamdann said.
Dark Land
Meanwhile, all the way out in Dark Land, it looked quiet on the outside of Bowser's Castle in the volcanic atmosphere that made up Dark Land, but inside, it was anything but. Bowser walked through the hallways as some of his Koopalings were running around, playing with each other or some of Bowser's minions. When Bowser almost got hit in the head with one of Lemmy's green balls, he went into his authoritative mood.
"Arrrgh! Can't you stoopa Koopas play in your rooms like I've told you to do a million times?" Bowser said.
"Well, yeah, king Dad! It's just so cramped up in our rooms!" Iggy said.
"Yeah, when will we get those bigger rooms you promised us!?" Lemmy said.
"(sigh) Why do I even bother?" Bowser said to himself.
But just then, the castle suddenly got rocked like there was an earthquake. It only lasted a couple seconds, but the booming sound reverberated throughout the castle and pieces of the ceiling fell onto the floor.
"LUDWIG!!! You didn't just blow up your room again, did you!?" Bowser shouted. As he marched towards Ludwig's room and kicked open his door, he looked around and noticed nobody was inside.
"Huh? Nobody?" Bowser said.
"Don't you remember, Daddy? Ludwig went off to Pipe Land to conduct his weirdo science stuff..." Wendy said as she walked by.
"But if he's not here, then where did..." Bowser said. But suddenly the castle shook again, exactly the same way as it happened the first time.
"Alright, I get it... that buffoon Smithy is trying to take over my castle again! I'll show him a thing or two!" Bowser shouted.
After jumping into his Koopa Clown Car, Bowser took off and flew outside the castle. It was when he flew to roof level when he was almost stunned to see what had been attacking his castle.
"Baseballs? We're under attack by giant baseballs?" Bowser asked himself. But then he had an idea where these baseballs came from.
"There's only one place that could have baseballs this big... Giant Land. Princess Apple!" Bowser said. He then turned his flying vehicle around and zipped the skies. His destination? Giant Land Castle. Yes, it was a long way away, but he was gonna have his way with Apple one way or the other.
After sending another ball flying dead center out of the castle, Princess Apple anxiously awaited the next ball to arrive.
"Wow! That was quite the long ball. Come on, give me another one!" Apple said.
"Um... there's one problem with that." Hugo said.
"Huh? What's that?" Apple asked. She looked to see Hugo pointing towards the Ultra Machine itself, and when she looked at the machine... there were no balls to be found.
"Oh... no wonder!" Apple said.
"And I don't see any loose balls around here. Are you telling me you hit every single ball out of the castle grounds?" Hugo asked.
"Yep, I guess so. I guess I got a little carried away, didn't I?" Apple said.
"Hmmm... you know. You should try your hand at golf, since you're so good at baseball." Hugo said.
"Huh? Wait a minute... Giant Land doesn't have a golf course!" Apple said.
"Not a full fledged one, sure. But my father made a hole years ago. This was way back when he wanted me to be the best golfer in the world... until of course I was deemed too big for the courses." Hugo said.
"Ah, I see." Apple said.
"Yep, they should be north of this castle. I think I even still have some golf balls and clubs somewhere in the castle." Hugo said.
"Well now, I'd like to see how good a golfer you are today." Apple said with a smile on her face.
"And I could say the same about you! Come on." Hugo said as he walked back inside the castle. Apple placed the bat down on the ground and did the same.
Giant Land "golf course"
Later that day, both Hugo and Apple were standing outside looking at a series of makeshift fairways, with a hole at the very end covered by a flag. It was your typical golf course setup, despite the fact there was only room for one hole. Next to Hugo was a small (by their standards, anyway) bag that had a bunch of different clubs front and center, with one pocket on the side reserved for the golf balls.
"Well, for one hole, this course looks magnificent." Apple said.
"Thank you. That means a lot coming from you." Hugo said.
"But do you really think I can play as well as you?" Apple asked.
"Hey, if you can knock a baseball all the way to Water Land, you can surely hit a golf ball as well as I can. I'll show you how easy it is." Hugo said. He placed one of the golf balls on the tee and then took out one of the clubs. He got into his stance, and then reared back and swung the club forward, sending the ball flying in the air.
"Wahoo! What a shot that was!" Apple said.
"Huh... I still got it, don't I?" Hugo said.
Meanwhile, Bowser had made it onto Giant Land, flying high above the air and muttering words on what he would do when he ran into Princess Apple.
"Arrrrgh... when I get my hands on that Princess Apple, I'll show her what it means to be giant and..." Bowser said, but in all his ranting... he forgot about the giant golf ball that was coming right for him.
"Eeeps!!" Bowser shouted as he tried to pull his flying ship up to dodge the ball. Unfortunately, the ball clipped the propeller that allowed his vehicle to fly.
"Oh no!!" Bowser said. He tried to get his Koopa Clown Car under control, but he and the vehicle kept falling and falling and falling. Finally, the vehicle landed upside down right smack on top of the oversized tee, trapping Bowser inside.
And while that was going on, Apple took the club from her husband's hands.
"Alright, honey, now you try. Just hold the club like so..." Hugo said, helping Apple with handling the club with her two hands.
"Thanks, but I think I can handle the rest." Apple said as she stepped up to the tee.
"Okay, give it a go! Hmmm... that's strange. Apple must've gotten a ball behind my back." Hugo said, noting how there was a 'ball' already on the tee. Of course, I quote ball because the ball really was the Koopa Clown Car. With everyone at the size they were at in Giant Land, the Koopa Clown Car was no bigger than a golf ball from this land.
And as Bowser finally was able to lift up the car and see daylight, he at first saw nothing but Apple's golden sandals and smooth skin. But as he looked up, that's when he saw Apple moving the club back and getting ready to swing it forward.
"Oh boy, this'll hurt..." Bowser said as he quickly got back inside the car and braced himself.
"FORE!" Apple shouted as she took her best swing and whacked the Koopa Clown Car (not knowing it was just that of course) off the tee and into the air.
"YEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!" Bowser shouted as he felt himself flying through the air. Eventually, Bowser and the Koopa Clown Car landed not just on the green... but right into the hole as well.
"Wow! A hole in one!" Apple shouted.
"And on your first swing too! That's incredible!" Hugo said.
"Well, I am an incredible princess of Giant Land, you must admit." Apple said with a sly smile on her face.
"Yes, I mustn't forget that. That's one more reason why I married you." Hugo said as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
Next, one of the giant Mushroom people serving as a guard of Giant Land Castle approached the two similar-sized people.
"Your excellency, please forgive the interruption, but I've just gotten word from the construction crew that the Giant Land Raceway is ready for operation." the guard said.
"Oh, beautiful! That's another piece of good news." Apple said.
"Very good, young lad. Thank you for the update." Hugo said.
"You're welcome, sir. Oh... and you also have a visitor waiting at the door for normal-sized people." the guard said.
"Oh, who is it?" Hugo said.
"His name is Professor E.Gadd. He says he has something for Princess Apple." the guard said.
"Ah! He must've finished with the modifications to my bracelet. Tell him I will be right there." Apple said.
"Right away!" the guard said. Hugo and Apple started to follow.
"Oh, wait! What about the golf balls?" Apple said.
"Don't worry, I'll pick them up later. It's not like anybody's gonna try and steal them, right?" Hugo said.
"Nope, I suppose not!" Apple said with a smile as the two followed the guard back to the castle.
In the meantime, Bowser crawled out of the hole breathing heavily after taking the ride of his life. He took one look at the Koopa Clown Car, which was bent from where Apple had struck it with the club. He knew there was no way he could fly the thing back to Dark Land now, so he reached inside his shell and pulled out the Bowser Phone (used in Mario Party 3).
"Yeah... Kamek, I'm gonna need a ride. You don't want to know..." Bowser said.
E.Gadd stood patiently outside the front gates to Giant Land Castle. Behind him was a large wagon that he was holding onto, and onboard this wagon was the oversized bracelet (complete with locket) that belonged to Princess Apple.
"Good thing I made the Heavy Duty Transportater, otherwise I'd never get this bracelet here!" E.Gadd said to himself. Just then, the big doors opened near the professor, and standing there was Princess Apple.
"Professor E.Gadd, welcome back!" Apple said.
"Ah, yes, I say the same to you, Princess Apple." E.Gadd said.
"I see my bracelet has returned." Apple said as she reached down towards the wagon to pick it up.
"Yep, and I'm happy to announce I was able to make the changes you requested." E.Gadd said.
"That's great! But... where are they? The bracelet looks perfectly normal to me." Apple said.
"I will show you... but perhaps we can do it inside where I would feel much safer?" E.Gadd said.
"Oh, of course! Hold on." Apple said. Bending her knees down and holding out her other hand, the giant princess allowed E.Gadd to jump onto her hand and he held on as Apple stood back up and walked back inside the castle.
Apple eventually walked into a room behind the throne room, setting E.Gadd down on a table that was about half her height. To the side of this table was a warp pipe, but it was too small for Apple. In fact, it was at a size for normal-sized people.
"Princess Apple, might I inquire as to what that pipe over there is for?" E.Gadd said.
"Oh, that's for a certain someone I hope to meet one day. He is more powerful than the goddesses from Rymas, so I've heard..." Apple said.
"Oh, I see." E.Gadd said.
"No, no. He's not a new boyfriend. My love with Hugo is unbreakable." Apple said with a smile.
"Ah, very good." E.Gadd said. Apple quickly brought the subject back to where it should be.
"So, professor. Tell me how I work your magic with my bracelet." Apple said as she opened it up and looked at the picture of her younger self along with the rest of her family (older sister Aska, mother Queen Pineapple, and deceased father King Askew).
"Well, your highness, all you have to do is press down on that wonderful picture of your family." E.Gadd said.
"Like this?" Apple said. She did just that, pressing a couple fingers down on the picture. The picture opened up and Apple was now suddenly looking at a shining red crystal. Apple gasped at the beauty of this crystal.
"Wow... this crystal is beautiful." Apple said.
"This is a piece of the crystal known as Enlargium. I found it during an archeological dig in a far off island known as Spira." E.Gadd said.
"Fascinating!" Apple said.
"I've modified its molecular structure to respond to your thought waves. I guess now you can understand why I needed to gather your thought waves that one day." E.Gadd said.
"Yes, I understand now." Apple said.
"All you have to do is think about the crystal. Tell it how long you want the effects of the growth beam to last, anywhere from 5 minutes to one hour! Then just think about shooting the beam and it will fire. The crystal takes care of the rest." E.Gadd said.
"Amazing! Only you could make something so easy and effortless to use. But what could I test this thing on..." Apple said as she attached the bracelet back to her wrist.
E.Gadd noted the wagon that was still behind him and he was quick to suggest that.
"How about my wagon? I have no further use for this thing anyway, so if this thing fails... no problem!" E.Gadd said.
"Okay then!" Apple said. She picked up the wagon (with no problem of course) and placed it next to her feet on the wooden floor.
"Okay... just concentrate on how long I want the growth to work." Apple said. She did just that, thinking about the crystal and how long the growth of the wagon would last. To her astonishment, an electronic display underneath the crystal showed the number 5.
"Oh? What's this number 5?" Apple asked.
"That means the growth will last five minutes after you have zapped the object. That is the time you had in mind, correct?" E.Gadd asked.
"Yes, yes it is!" Apple said.
"Wonderful! My thought receiving transmitter worked like a charm!" E.Gadd shouted, jumping up in excitement.
"Well, here goes..." Apple said. She then concentrated again after aiming the crystal down at the wagon. Her bracelet was now firing a wide red beam, and she quickly corrected her aim. As soon as the wagon started to grow, the beam automatically was cut off, just as E.Gadd had explained. Apple backed up as she watched the wagon grow bigger and bigger. It stopped growing when it was big enough to look like an ordinary wagon to Apple.
"Yes! Another success! The automatic cut off and the rate of growth! Nothing could have gone any better!" E.Gadd said.
"Well... congratulations, professor! This is exactly what I wanted... to have the power to make anything I want my size, and only temporarily too." Apple said.
"Indeed. In five minutes, that wagon should automatically revert to its original size after the beam effects have lingered off." E.Gadd said.
Soon thereafter, Hugo walked into the room and noticed the wagon next to Apple.
"Hmmm... I guess the experiment was a success?" Hugo asked.
"Indeed it was, my love. Make sure E.Gadd is rewarded handsomely with gold coins for all his hard work." Apple said.
"I'll have it taken care of immediately." Hugo said.
"Well... with this working and the race track finished, I'd say it is time for the first annual Giant Land Grand Prix!" Apple said.
"Ah, is it that time already? I can't wait... I know how much you've looked forward to this day." Hugo said with a smile.
"I better go summon Princess Peach, and hopefully some other friends of hers willing to race. I'll be back, sweetie." Apple said. She walked away from the table, kissing Hugo on the cheek as she walked out of the room.
Giant Land Raceway
Princess Apple had delivered the good news to Princess Peach about construction being completed on the race track in Giant Land. As luck with have it, also with Peach when Apple was at her castle was Rosalina, who was visiting and getting ready for the next race at Mario Circuit. The two princesses joined up with Apple as she next warped to Sarasaland and picked up Princess Daisy.
About an hour later, Giant Land Raceway was suddenly bustling with activity. Sitting at the start/finish line close together were Peach, Daisy, and Rosalina all with their karts next to them. There was also a fourth kart that was borrowed from Mario. Apple had decided to use that kart as her own for this race. In the stands were several of the Mushroom citizens of Giant Land, but there were also some normal-sized people that were there to cheer the racers on, such as Toadsworth and Toadette. They sat far enough away from the giants so that they wouldn't be in any danger whatsoever.
Apple came out from the infield pit area and looked around the stands.
"Wow... isn't this amazing, everyone?" Apple said.
"Yes, to think there would be this big of a turnout so quickly, and for just one quick race too!" Peach said.
"No pun intended, right?" Daisy said.
"Well, yes, of course." Peach said.
"May I once again say how much of an honor it is to meet you, Princess Apple, and also to race against you." Rosalina said.
"It's my pleasure, Rosalina. I'm glad to meet you too, after what Peach told me what you have done." Apple said.
"Come on, let's get going! Besides, I'm anxious to know how the heck we're supposed to race against you... let alone how you're going to fit in that itty bitty kart!" Daisy said, resting one of her feet on one of the wheels.
"Well, Daisy, your questions will be answered right now. At the same time, I have a special treat for all three of you." Apple said.
With that being said, she opened up the locket attached to her bracelet and pressed down on the family portrait. There was the crystal that was given to her by E.Gadd. She concentrated and saw the number 20 flash.
"20 minutes should be long enough. I want my friends to be able to enjoy their new size a bit longer." Apple said to herself. With a smile, Apple then aimed the crystal down at the three ladies and the four karts. The beam soon fired onto the group, and the ladies had to shield their eyes from the laser's bright light.
"Hey! What's this!?" Daisy shouted.
When the light died down, all three looked to see what had happened. Peach was the first to note the change, even as Apple spoke out about the change.
"My friends... how does it feel to be as big as me?" Apple said, almost excitedly. Peach smiled, looking at Apple as if they were normal-sized.
"Oh, Apple!" Peach said as she walked up and gave her friend a hug. Apple laughed as she hugged her right back.
"Pretty cool trick you did there, princess! Much cooler than using a lightning bolt on yourself!" Daisy said.
"My gosh..." Rosalina said as she looked around and saw the race track looking more normal from her new perspective.
"So... how did you do it?" Peach asked.
"Well, it's kind of a long story, and I really want to get to our race. The people of Giant Land have waited a long time for this." Apple said.
"You're right. Let's race, ladies!" Peach shouted.
"Alright!" Daisy said.
After all the ladies jumped into their karts and started their engines, a tiny Lakitu floated high above the racers holding a stoplight from his fishing pole.
"3...2...1... GO!!!" Lakitu shouted. When the light changed to green, the four racers sped off to the loud cheering of the spectactors.
It was a wild and competitive five laps, but the victor of this race was Princess Daisy. Peach and Apple were almost in a photo finish for second place, and Rosalina was in the back for a fourth place finish. But all the ladies hopped out of their karts in a good mood, Daisy in particular.
"Yeeeehaw! Hi, I'm Daisy!" Daisy said as she waved to the cheering crowd.
"Daisy, we were racing just for fun, not for points!" Peach said.
"I know, but you know me. I'm such a competitor!" Daisy said.
"But how about that photo finish, Apple!?" Peach shouted.
"I know... Wow! I haven't had this much fun since I was little." Apple said. All the girls, except for Rosalina, laughed from that line.
"I hope you realize the irony of that statement!!" Daisy shouted.
"Rosalina, what's wrong? You're not upset that you finished last." Peach said.
"No, I enjoyed the race as much as I'm sure you did. It's my own fault I was so far behind... I was just admiring all the sights and sounds. Especially the little ones that were cheering... I can see what makes you so special, Princess Apple. And it's not just because of your incredible size." Rosalina said.
"Well... thank you. That means a lot coming from you." Apple said.
"In fact, I feel I need to do something for you, just as you had done this for me. Peach, do you mind if I take Apple to my observatory for a short while?" Rosalina said.
"Not at all." Peach said.
"Don't worry. We won't be long. Stand close to me, Princess Apple." Rosalina said. Apple did just that, and Rosalina then pulled out her silver star wand and waved it around. The sparkles surrounded both herself and Princess Apple and the two disappeared.
Comet Observatory
Life was pretty normal for Polari and the Lumas, but they all stopped when they saw the silver sparkles forming near the center of the observatory.
"Look! Mommy's coming home!" one of the Lumas shouted.
"Yes, indeed she is... but why are there so much more sparkles than usual?" Polari asked.
Soon, the sparkles formed together, and Rosalina and Princess Apple both appeared. Of course, they both towered over the Lumas, and some of them scattered away for their safety. But as before, Rosalina's deep soothing voice helped ease their worries.
"It's okay, my children. I promise you this is only temporary. I'd like you all to meet my new friend, Princess Apple, from Giant Land of the Mushroom Kingdom." Rosalina said. The Lumas that had run away quickly made their way back towards the two giantesses, waving up and saying hi to Apple.
"Hello down there, so you're all Lumas? Rosalina has told me so much about you." Apple said.
"Hello, Princess Apple! Welcome to our home!" one of the Lumas shouted. Others greeted her in a similar manner.
"Rosalina! What happened to you? How did you get so big?" Polari said.
"I will explain when this is over, but right now, I have something important to do for Apple." Rosalina said.
"Something important?" Apple asked.
"Polari, I'm going to need a Pink Luma that has been fed enough Star Bits." Rosalina said.
"Oh, we have one ready to go just for you. Hold on, I will get him!" Polari shouted as he floated off away from the giantesses and to another part of the observatory.
A few minutes later, with Apple helping to pass the time by talking about herself to the Lumas, including how she grew so big, Polari returned with a rather large Pink Luma floating behind him.
"One Pink Luma at your service, Mother!" the Pink Luma said.
"Young Luma... the time has come for you to join your brothers and sisters of the universe and create another galaxy to help extend the circle of life." Rosalina said.
"Yes, yes! I will do as you ask! We Hungry Lumas live exactly for this purpose." the Pink Luma said.
"But not just any galaxy. Do you see my new friend behind me, my large new friend?" Rosalina said.
"Yes?" the Pink Luma said.
"I want this galaxy created in honor of my new friend. I want you to look into her eyes. Think of the perfect galaxy for her, including myself at the size I am at right now." Rosalina said.
"Have no fear... I have just the galaxy for the both of you. I shall now... TRANS...FOOOOORM!!" the Pink Luma said.
As the Pink Luma's skin changed to a bright white light, the Luma suddenly shot itself several miles into the starry sky. Despite being so far away, the Luma then exploded in a brilliant bright light, which almost blinded Apple and Rosalina. But they both looked to see the result of this Luma's work. Rosalina was smiling over what she saw, and Apple just gasped in amazement.
"Oh my gosh..." Apple said.
"Princess Apple. In your honor, I have created... the Supermassive Galaxy." Rosalina said. She then pulled out a telescope from her dress and handed it over to Apple, who looked inside with great anticipation. Supermassive Galaxy depicted many common Mario enemies and elements at an extraordinary size. Some include Piranha Plants, Lumas, coins and Platforms. It reminded her almost exactly of Giant Land.
"Rosalina... I... I don't know what to say." Apple said.
"There is nothing to say, my friend. Consider this my gift from not just myself and my beloved children, but from the entire universe. In fact, please feel free to consider this galaxy your home should the day come when you feel Giant Land of the Mushroom Kingdom is no longer for you." Rosalina said.
"Huh? You mean?" Apple said.
"Don't worry, I do not expect you to move to the Supermassive Galaxy immediately. I hope it will be years, in fact, before you consider it your new home." Rosalina said with a smile.
"Yes, I understand. Thank you, Rosalina. Thank you so much." Apple said as she finally gave Rosalina a big hug (almost literally considering the size of both).
"Come, we should return to Giant Land so we may not worry Peach or Daisy any longer. Fear not, my children, I will be back soon." Rosalina said. She waved her wand once again, transporting the two out of the observatory.
The stands had mostly cleared out after everyone saw a great race, but Peach and Daisy were still at the track and still supersized, waiting for Apple and Rosalina to return.
"What do you suppose is taking them so long?" Daisy asked.
"Come on, Daisy, have some patience for once!" Peach said.
"Hey, it's just a simple question!" Daisy said. Just as she said that, Apple and Rosalina quickly reappeared after the silver sparkles reformed.
"Welcome back, Apple!" Peach said.
"Thanks! Oh wow... you're not going to believe this. Rosalina created a galaxy in my honor... the Supermassive Galaxy!" Apple shouted.
"Well, not me directly. It was the wonderful Luma who sacrified his life to help bring new life into our vast universe." Rosalina said, keeping her emotions in check which is what she was known for. But she still showed off a smile.
"That is cool! You have to show us it!" Daisy said.
"Oh, I will... if Rosalina doesn't mind, of course." Apple said.
"Not at all, but not today, because I must be returning to my home soon, preparing to scan the cosmos where more galaxies can be created." Rosalina said.
"Hey... um, Apple? Not that I'm getting bored with being gigantic, but how long is this growth spell of yours supposed to last?" Daisy asked.
"Oh, I set it for 20 minutes, so I would guess there's about 8 to 10 minutes left before you all automatically shrink back to normal size." Apple said.
"Hmmm... I wonder what we can do for the rest of that time." Peach said. Apple, however, was quick to offer a suggestion as she looked out in the distance at more of Giant Land.
"You know... I've got a one-hole golf course behind the castle!" Apple said.
"Huh!? You never told me you had that!" Peach shouted.
"I know... I didn't know either until Hugo told me today. He said he hadn't used that hole in years, back when he wanted to play golf instead of rule a land." Apple said.
"Hmmm... I would not mind trying out the sport of golf for the first time, much like kart racing was my first sport." Rosalina said.
"Is it a short hole? I so wanna hit another hole in one!" Daisy shouted.
"Well, just follow me and you will see!" Apple said.
"Alright!" Peach shouted.
And so, the four giantesses left the Giant Land Raceway after completing the first annual Giant Land Grand Prix. As Apple was leading her giant-sized friends to the 'golf course' for a quick round of stroke play before they shrunk back to their original sizes, she thought back to the wonderful day she had. She tried out three sports (baseball, golf, kart racing) for the first time all in a single day. She got her wish granted of her bracelet enhanced so she can share her size, at least temporarily, with other friends. She got her race track built even if it wouldn't have near as many races as a place like Mario Circuit.
But probably the best thing to happen was the most unexpected thing. That Rosalina gave Apple an entire galaxy dedicated to her was almost too much to put into words.
Princess Apple smiled, took a breath of fresh air and looked at the sun setting in the background. She hadn't had this grand a day since the Grand Tour.
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@Diddy Thank you @Wale and @Sethrogen for putting this on my radar! Love 1 day 1 hour ago
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Elizabeth Doonan
Community / Watch It
Everyone You Know "The Drive" (silent tapes, dir.)
By OB Management on May 7, 2019 @ 4:20am PDT
Joy Crookes "Since I Left You (Demo)" (Leonn Ward, dir.)
After directing the Hindu-inspired ‘Don’t Let Me Down’, Leonn Ward once again teams up with rising UK singer Joy Crookes.
In the heart-breaking new video for ‘Don’t Let Me Down’, Leonn captures Crookes at her most vulnerable, leaving enough space for the sparse ballad to unfold.
It’s a captivating performance from Crookes and shows why she’s so hotly tipped
By Jim Campbell on March 27, 2019 @ 6:45am PDT
Joy Crookes "Don't Let Me Down" (Leonn Ward, dir.)
London singer Joy Crookes returns with a Hindu-inspired video from Black Dog FIlms director Leonn Ward.
Following up from her acclaimed 2017 ‘Influence’ EP, ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ is a soulful ode to the breakdown of a relationship. Drawing on Crookes’ Indian heritage, Leonn Ward’s video is a simple, and powerful piece of film.
Speaking to i-D the singer said, “the video was inspired by the Hindu goddess Lakshmi… the song itself came from a vulnerable place, and for me, these arms show my strength in the situation and how I overcame it”.
By Jim Campbell on December 19, 2018 @ 9:52am PST
Moss Kena "Silhoutte" (Ruby+Boya, dir.)
Black Dog Films diretcor duo Ruby+Boya have diretced their second video for rising r&b star Moss Kena.
Speaking to Wonderland Magazine, singer Kena said; "’Silhouette’ is about breaking out of an intense relationship, “Stepping out into the light of new possibilities and casting a shadow over the past. Ruby & Boya who I have worked with before really captured the sentiment and spirit of the song in the video which is always a hard thing to do.”
By Jim Campbell on November 6, 2018 @ 7:58am PST
Nothing But Thieves "Forever and Ever More" (Ivana Bobic, dir.)
A young man goes on holiday alone, and as his agitated demeanour suggests, he is not like other boys...
Ivana Bobic's video for Nothing But Thieves casts a spell where we are intrigued to know more about the young man (played by Ceallach Spellman) who heads for the packaged holiday hotel, with something other on his mind other than fun in the sun.
By Anna Goodman on October 1, 2018 @ 1:12pm PDT
Moss Kena "Square One" (Holly Blakey, dir.)
Avant Garde Director and Choreographer Holly Blakey directs a promo for rising artist Moss Kena’s track “Square One.” The video is visceral, a choreographic interplay of misplacement of power. In Blakey’s words "ambiguity, and the idea that we never find where power truly lies, is at the heart of this new video. Power moves on and on—nobody knows where it stops or where it began.” The track Square One marks the beginning of mysterious artist Kena’s more public career having come up through the Soundcloud underground.
By Agathe Angel Ch... on February 13, 2018 @ 5:29am PST
Au/Ra "Outsiders" (Jo Roy, dir.)
Ibiza-born and Antigua-raised singer Au/Ra drops her debut video "Outsiders," shot on Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver, BC and directed by a new talent to the Reprobates family. Filmmaker, dancer, and choreographer Jo Roy.
By OB Management on November 27, 2017 @ 5:00am PST
MØ "When I Was Young" (J.A.C.K., dir.)
It's MØ vs MØ vs death itself in this dreamlike video inspired by Edvard Munch painting The Dance Of Life.
MØ: “I'm so happy to present this video because it feels very true to the song and to who I am. It was inspired by a painting called ‘The Dance Of Life’ by one of my favorite artists, Edvard Munch. It’s an illustration of three women—one in white, one in red and one in black—and tells a story about three stages of human life: youth, maturity, and old age. I was always drawn to this image as a kid due to its simple symbolism and emotion and have been dying to do a video that could reflect on it. Since ‘When I Was Young’ is all about nostalgia and reflecting on life—especially the past, but also the now and the future—it just seemed like the perfect time to do it." [via YouTube]
By Steven Gottlieb on November 13, 2017 @ 11:55am PST
Nothing But Thieves "Particles" (Thomas James, dir.)
Continuing his collaboration with Nothing But Thieves, arguably one of the biggest UK rock bands, director Thomas James followed the band on their recent US tour.
Capturing snapshots of everyday America intercut with spoken word sections and clips from the band’s live shows, Thomas creates a moving ode to life on the road.
By Jim Campbell on November 13, 2017 @ 4:00am PST
Paloma Faith "Guilty" (Thomas James, dir.)
Continuing in the same totalitarian universe as 'Crybaby', ‘Guilty’ follows Paloma who watches on as males develop into their pre-destined positions of power. An over-riding sense of duty and guilt inhibits their plight, leading to the self-destructive climax.
By Jim Campbell on November 2, 2017 @ 8:17am PDT
Paloma Faith "Crybaby" (Thomas James, dir.)
Paloma Faith seeks to break out of a dystopian future in this video that feels not too far removed from The Handmaid's Tale.
By Steven Gottlieb on September 25, 2017 @ 6:42am PDT
HMLTD "Satan Luella and I" (Ilona McIlwain, dir.)
LEZ are proud to share Ilona McIlwain's first music video for HMLTD, described by NME as the UK's most thrilling new band.
It's summed up perfectly by a YouTube viewer Harvey Frost:
"A brilliantly directed music video, a haunting relationship between horror and glamour created from start to finish. Like a deeply dark perfume advert ".
By Mary Calderwood on September 18, 2017 @ 8:24am PDT
Everything Everything "Can't Do" (Holly Blakey, dir.)
For Everything Everything ‘Can’t Do’ Holly loved the idea of creating something dark, a horror film of sorts to harness the energy of the track in another light. She wanted to use dirt, creating a world seemingly locking it’s characters inside... it felt fitting due to the current political climate to create an inescapable place, more and more people being reborn, turning into things they never imagined. The band are represented in the form of masks which add to the surreal feel of the film.
By Mary Calderwood on June 15, 2017 @ 2:00pm PDT
Skott "Glitter & Gloss" (Zhang + Knight, dir.)
Agile Films' hottest new directing duo Zhang + Knight suffer the freezing temperatures of Kiev to direct their epic new video 'Glitter & Gloss' for Scandinavian singer-songwriter Skott.
By OB Management on February 17, 2017 @ 7:00am PST
Sundara Karma "She Said" (Rob Brandon, dir.)
Rob Brandon's new video for Sundara Karma's 'She Said' is a 16mm montage of teens preparing for a night out in classic fashion: drink, drugs, facebook, pubs and sexual tension. Intercut with Sundara's performance in a series of close-ups, the video sways between the awkwardness and joy of youth in a nostalgic aesthetic.
By OB Management on September 7, 2016 @ 12:00pm PDT
MØ "Final Song" (Mister Whitmore, dir.)
Welcome to an otherworldly location where gravity doesn't exist.
By Steven Gottlieb on June 10, 2016 @ 8:47am PDT
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virtuoso communities
Travel Advisors Share Their Most Extravagant Trips
virtuoso communities Travel Advisors Share Their Most Extravagant Trips
Jessica Mueller
Vacation like a VIP.
Photo by discus63/Getty Images
From private island escapes to one-on-one meetings with the Dalai Lama, these Virtuoso advisors know a thing or two about over-the-top travel experiences.
“Ultraluxe travel” may conjure images of private island retreats and grand penthouse accommodations – and while that’s not entirely incorrect, it’s just the beginning. Travel advisors and hotels, cruise lines, and tour operators that specialize in ultraluxe travel know it’s the relationships, connections, and access that can take a trip from ordinary to extraordinary. We asked Virtuoso advisors who specialize in ultraluxe travel to share some of the most memorable – and extravagant – trips they’ve planned for travelers.
Spiritual lessons from the Dalai Lama himself.
“I have private access to His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, India. Several years ago, I arranged a teaching session with him in his residence for a small group of American Buddhists. He travels most of the time now, so it’s hit-or-miss on if it can still be arranged!” – Pam Walker, Palm Coast, Florida
The Tower of London, bulit in the eleventh century.
Photo by Vladislav Zolotov/Getty Images
A marriage proposal fit for royalty.
“A traveler wanted to re-propose to his wife, so I arranged a private viewing of the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London so he could pop the question there. He’s also a big James Bond fan, so later that week, I secured him tickets to the world premiere of Skyfall at Albert Hall. He was seated a few rows in front of Prince Philip.” – Andrew Butler, Houston
The impossible to find Birkin bag? No problem.
“I have two clients who love to cruise. After the wife was diagnosed with cancer, her husband told me he wanted to surprise her with something very special. She had always wanted to own the iconic Hermès Birkin bag, which is notoriously difficult to get. I have excellent relationships with the Hermès team in a few destinations, so I told him we needed to pick a cruise that stopped in one of those ports. I worked with a Hermès manager, and while on their cruise, I received a picture of the wife holding her new gold Birkin, grinning from ear to ear. It was so nice to see her so happy. She’s now in remission and walking the streets with the most sought-after bag in the world.” – Amy Grigos, Little Silver, New Jersey
New Zealand’s Milford Sound, which Rudyard Kipling once proclaimed to be "the eighth wonder of the world."
Photo by Mantas Volungevicius/Getty Images
Helicopters, yachts, and fresh-caught lobster.
“I planned a great surprise for my clients on a New Zealand trip. They boarded a helicopter in Queenstown, thinking they were flying to a glacier at Milford Sound. The pilot flew around the sound, but then landed on a helipad on top of a yacht, where a butler escorted them to the ship’s stern for a lobster lunch. They cruised around the sound accompanied by dolphins frolicking in the waves.” – Peggy Purtell, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
From Starbucks to outer space.
“Four clients of mine are booked on future Virgin Galactic suborbital space flights – a family of three from Australia, and the other is an American entrepreneur I met in line at Starbucks. He asked what I did for a living and was surprised to hear I was a travel professional – he thought it was an extinct occupation. I explained that our industry has changed over the past 30 years, and instead of selling bus tickets we now sell tickets into space. That triggered more interest, and he has now booked his place in history.” – Caroline Ferguson, Sydney, Australia
A trip across Australia in a private jet.
“I organized and escorted a group of 30 people around Australia in two private jets on behalf of a Sydney couple. We traveled to Coober Pedy, Uluru, Jabiru, and Hayman Island to showcase the best of Australia and had the most wonderful experience.” – Adrienne Witteman, Sydney, Australia
Find out more about Virtuoso hotels, tour operators, on-site tour connections, and cruise lines that specialize in ultraluxe travel here.
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Immigration Guides
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himanshu.7710
About himanshu.7710
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2019 - US Passport & Card Application-Tracker
himanshu.7710 replied to TBoneTX's topic in Passports, etc. - What to do now that you are a US citizen
=================================== US Passport & Card: 2019 Applicants =================================== User Name |Expedited|Sent |Cashed |Trackable |PP Received |PPC Received|NC Received |Location Lovenil | N | 01/20/2018 | 01/24/2018 | 01/25/2018 | | | | Newark, NJ KVE | N | 07/05/2018 | 07/10/2018 | 07/09/2018 | 07/23/2018 | N/A | --/--/2018 | Ohio (USPS) soapface | N | 08/13/2018 | 08/20/2018 | 08/18/2018 | 08/25/2018 | N/A | --/--/---- | Omaha, NE (USPS) ezsosa | N | 08/20/2018 | 08/27/2018 | 08/24/2018 | 09/04/2018 | N/A | --/--/---- | Egg Harbor Township, NJ (Moorestown Mall) jrudd | N | 08/27/2018 | 08/31/2018 | 08/30/2018 | 09/14/2018 | N/A | | San Diego, CA (USPS) whowantsoranges | Y | 10/11/2018 | 10/15/2018 | 10/12/2018 | 10/17/2018 | --/--/---- | --/--/---- | Philadelphia, PA (USPS) anyz | N | 12/07/2018 | 12/12/2018 | 12/12/2018 | 12/24/2018 | 12/24/2018 | | New York, NY (USPS) Vkrishn | N | 12/14/2018 | 12/17/2018 | 12/18/2018 | 12/29/2018 | 12/31/2018 | 01/03/2019 | Sanramon Post office (USPS) hsetin | N | 12/14/2018 | 12/17/2018 | 12/18/2018 | 12/29/2018 | | | Union City, CA (USPS) JonnyO | Y | 12/14/2018 | 12/21/2018 | 12/20/2018 | 12/28/2018 | 12/31/2018 | 12/31/2018 | Boise,ID (Local University) kaberosi | Y | 12/30/2018 | 12/31/2018 | 01/04/2019 | | N/A | | Citrus Heights, CA (USPS) JoannaV | N | 12/31/2018 | 01/04/2019 | 01/04/2019 | 01/18/2019 | N/A | 01/22/2019 | Richmond, VA (USPS) himanshu.7710 | N | 01/08/2019 | 01/08/2019 | 01/08/2019 | 02/08/2019 | N/A | 02/15/2019 | Chicago, IL (USPS) B&O | N | 01/16/2019 | 01/23/2019 | 01/23/2019 | 02/08/2019 | N/A | 02/14/2019 | Baltimore, MD (USPS) tokoro10 | Y | 01/17/2019 | 01/23/2019 | 01/23/2019 | 01/26/2019 | 01/31/2019 | 02/01/2019 | Nashville, TN (USPS) rshree | Y | 01/18/2019 | | 01/24/2019 | 01/29/2019 | N/A | 02/01/2019 | San Francisco, CA (USPS) CCmm | N | 01/24/2019 | | 01/29/2019 | | | | Boston, MA (USPS) jjgouwu | Y | 01/25/2019 | | 01/29/2019 | | | | Arlington, MA (USPS) Matt Camon | N | 01/28/2019 | | 01/31/2019 | 02/14/2019 | 02/15/2019 | 02/15/2019 | Austin, TX (USPS) visaquestions2018 | N | 02/06/2019 | 02/11/2019 | 02/11/2019 | 02/15/2019 | N/A | | New York, NY (USPS) Hypnos | N | 02/19/2019 | 02/23/2019 | 02/21/2019 | | | | Weatherford, TX (USPS) Dann_tgh | N | 02/21/2019 | | | | | | Orlando, FL (City Clerks office) dvaquerano | Y | 02/15/2019 | | 02/21/2019 | | | | Atlanta, GA (Midtown Office) User Name |Expedited|Sent |Cashed |Trackable |PP Received |PPC Received|NC Received |Location DO NOT DELETE THESE INSTRUCTIONS. Please make sure you are using Rich Text Editor as your message setting. Click "Quote" on the most recent/updated posting version of this list. Remove the "Quote Coding" at the top and bottom of the list. Always use [Courier New] font and font size [12] Make changes and Add Reply. Expedited: Did you choose the expedited option? Yes or No Sent: Date you applied. Cashed: Date when your check, money order or any other payment was processed or cleared. Trackable: Date when your case became trackable on the State Department website. PP Received: Date you received your Passport back from the State Department. PPC Received: Date you received your Passport Card. NC Received: Date you received your Certificate of Naturalization back from the State Department. Location: Local office where you applied for US Passport book and or Passport Card. Redden timeline after receiving the Naturalization certificate or any other documents back.
Chicago N400 filers
himanshu.7710 replied to Waitinggame16's topic in US Citizenship Case Filing and Progress Reports
It was about 5 weeks in my case including Christmas time.
======================================================================================= US Passport & Card: 2019 Applicants ======================================================================================== UserName | Expedited | Sent | Cashed | Trackable | PP Received| PPC Received | NC Received | Location lovenil | N | 01/20/2018 | 01/24/2018 | 01/25/2018 | | | | Newark, NJ KVE | N | 07/05/2018 | 07/10/2018 | 07/09/2018 | 07/23/2018 | N/A | --/--/2018 | Ohio (USPS) soapface | N | 08/13/2018 | 08/20/2018 | 08/18/2018 | 08/25/2018 | N/A | --/--/---- | Omaha, NE (USPS) ezsosa | N | 08/20/2018 | 08/27/2018 | 08/24/2018 | 09/04/2018 | N/A | --/--/---- | Egg Harbor Township, NJ (Moorestown Mall) jrudd | N | 08/27/2018 | 08/31/2018 | 08/30/2018 | 09/14/2018 | N/A | | San Diego, CA (USPS) whowantsoranges | Y | 10/11/2018 | 10/15/2018 | 10/12/2018 | 10/17/2018 | --/--/---- | --/--/---- | Philadelphia, PA (USPS) anyz | N | 12/07/2018 | 12/12/2018 | 12/12/2018 | 12/24/2018 | 12/24/2018 | | New York, NY (USPS) vkrishn | N | 12/14/2018 | 12/17/2018 | 12/18/2018 | 12/29/2018 | 12/31/2018 | 01/03/2018 | Sanramon Post office (USPS) hsetin | N | 12/14/2018 | 12/17/2018 | 12/18/2018 | 12/29/2018 | | | Union City, CA (USPS) JonnyO | Y | 12/14/2018 | 12/21/2018 | 12/20/2018 | 12/28/2018 | 12/31/2018 | 12/31/2018 | Boise,ID (Local University) kaberosi | Y | 12/30/2018 | 12/31/2018 | 01/04/2018 | | N/A | | Citrus Heights, CA (USPS) JoannaV | N | 12/31/2018 | 01/04/2018 | 01/04/2018 | | | | Richmond, VA (USPS) himanshu.7710 | N | 01/08/2019 | | | | | | Chicago, IL (USPS) Instructions for adding/updating yourself (or assisting others) to this list: DO NOT DELETE THESE INSTRUCTIONS. Please make sure you are using Rich Text Editor as your message setting. Click "Quote" on the most recent/updated posting version of this list. Remove the "Quote Coding" at the top and bottom of the list. Always use [Courier New] Font and font size.[12] Make changes and Add Reply. Expedited - Did you choose the expedited option? Yes or No Sent - Date you applied Cashed - Date when your check, money order or any other payment was processed or cleared. Trackable- Date when your case became trackable on State Department website PP Received - Date you received passport back from State Department PPC Received -Date you received passport card Location- Local office where you applied for US Passport book and or Passport Card NC Received- Date you received your Naturalization Certificate back from State Department. Redden timeline after receiving the Naturalization certificate or any other documents back.
You really done need to take your spouse on the interview date.
What picture goes on the naturalization certificate for online filers? For the oath ceremony they did not ask to bring any picture.
ssmhty reacted to a post in a topic: Chicago N400 filers December 13, 2018
I do not exactly remember but Keep answering, if software is missing the required time frame it will prompt you for that. If it does not, you are good!
Welcome, honestly, this was not bad compare to when we file for GC, process of filing GC took me forever, this one was straight forward, online application and online evidence/document submission no hassle, they kept very good trail of where we are in process, Visajourney and fellow friends helped a lot. I think the most difficult part in the whole process is wait time and which was about 8 month from filing to Ceremony, not bad! Chicago, isnt one ofthe most fast center to process but its neither one of slowest one. IO was very friendly and I was in and out of interview in 15-20 mins.
File Date: May 1 2018 Oath Ceremony: Jan-8 2019 Total time : 8 months 7 days!
Its just N-400 for me since I filed for GC after 3 years of marriage.
Jan-8th it is. File Date: May 1 2018 Oath Ceremony: Jan-8 2019 Total time : 8 months 7 days!
Interview Scheduled, waiting for letter to show up under Documents!
Yes go for it, i think u can file 3 years - 60 days.
ssmhty reacted to a post in a topic: Chicago N400 filers November 25, 2018
Lu_So reacted to a post in a topic: Chicago N400 filers November 24, 2018
N-400 May-2018 Filers
himanshu.7710 replied to himanshu.7710's topic in US Citizenship Case Filing and Progress Reports
So, I can say I am 90% done with the process now, yay! I reached at 9:40 and my scheduled time was 10:45, the front desk told me your wait time will start aftere your schedule time. About 11:00AM IO came and called my ticket number. Interview was straight forward, Ms. Parker was the nicest interview officer I can imagine of. She asked for my passport, GC and drivers license. She asked me 6 questions, I remember few as follows 1. President for how many years 2. Longest River 3. Speaker of house 4. Independence day Read and write "When is flag day" There were few changes after I filled application, my address, an international trip and my job company. Went over all these changes, and finalize those. and thats it. She said congratiulation I am recommending you for approval but the paper I receive says "still not approved or something" and she said its because she has to get approval from her supervisor and there is noting I should be worried of. Accodring to her I will be getting the oath letter in 4-6 weeks. It was less than 20 mins of total time. I would like to thank each and everty one here on Visa Journey. Let me know guys if you have any specific question I will try to answer those.
n-400 may 2018
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Another Weigel winner? Who, when, where, what's next?
Those clever folks who brought us "The U," "Me TV," "Me-Too," and "This" are about to unveil their next Chicago television enterprise. Weigel Broadcasting Co., the Chicago-based owner of WCIU-Channel 26 and assorted other stations and digital programming services, is expected to announce a new addition to its local format lineup today. "If it's Tuesday, there must be another channel," quipped Neal Sabin, executive vice president of Weigel and the programming genius behind all those other pronoun-nicknamed successes.‚ Sabin declined to elaborate, but said the new format would not affect "Me TV" or Me-Too," the popular digital-tier outlets for reruns of vintage comedy and drama series, respectively. A clue to Weigel's plans may have turned up last week when the Federal Communications Commission approved the company's petition to change the call letters of one of its low-power analog stations from WMEU-CA to WCUU-CA.
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Career investment pays off for new Crain's publisher
Robservations on the media beat:
If he were at any other local company, his remarkable rise to the top would be worthy of a cover story in Crain's Chicago Business. But in David Snyder's case, his company is Crain's Chicago Business. Capping a 27-year career that started as a researcher for the weekly publication, Snyder this week was promoted to publisher. Effective Oct. 15, he'll succeed David Blake, who's retiring after 29 years with Crain's to form the New Center for Chicago Business History. Snyder, 48, has been associate publisher since 2004 and previously worked as a reporter, editor and general manager of interactive. "Crain's has a legacy of valuing publishers who support independent and thoughtful journalism," he said in a statement. "Making Crain's even more indispensable to our readers and advertisers -- in print, online and through events -- will be central to everything I do."
One day after Mayor Daley dropped the bombshell that he wouldn't be seeking re-election, here are the topics Cincinnati newcomer Mike McConnell covered on his midday show Wednesday on Tribune Co.-owned news/talk WGN-AM (720): Opportunities for immigrants coming to the United States; Unruly kids in restaurants; Genetically altered salmon; Why there should be a "rich people's day"; Rapes on college campuses; Raising the retirement age; Taxes Elvis Presley paid on Graceland; Campaign financing; More about taxes; Self-made millionaires; Christmas displays; Education, and more about taxes. He touched on a few other generic topics, too, but if McConnell ever mentioned Daley -- or focused on anything related to the biggest story in town -- I must have missed it. By the way, have you noticed that WGN has taken to calling itself‚ "News 720"?
As she prepares to kick off the final season of her Chicago-based talk show, Oprah Winfrey has been named among the recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors for 2010. "For more than 25 years, Oprah Winfrey has established one of the most innovative careers in the entertainment world, with distinctive accomplishments in television and film," said David M. Rubenstein, chairman of the Kennedy Center. Others to be honored Dec. 5 in Washington are Paul McCartney, Merle Haggard, Bill T. Jones and Jerry Herman. In a statement, Oprah said of the award:
"This feels like an official American citizenship in a very exclusive club of artists and contributors to the nation in a very special way. It feels like an elevated kind of award and there aren't many in this category. They look at your work, your life work, who you are as a human being and the spirit of who you are as a human being. Not many honors look at that depth."
Barbara Prieto, former music director and assistant program director at Clear Channel Radio urban contemporary WGCI-FM (107.5), is the latest Chicago radio veteran to join AccuRadio.com. Prieto will program and market AccuRadio R&B, the Chicago-based company's new offering of urban and R&B music.
"Bleeping Golden: Insiders' Stories of Covering the Blago Trial." That's the delightful title of a panel to be co-hosted tonight by the Chicago Headline Club and the Association for Women Journalists. An array of broadcast, print and online reporters who covered the trial of Rod Blagojevich will share their war stories from 6 to 8 p.m. at Columbia College's Film Row Cinema, 1104 S. Wabash. Moderator will be Bill Cameron of Citadel Broadcasting news/talk WLS-AM (890). It's open to the public -- for a price, of course. (Here's the link for details.)
I'll be back Monday. Hope you'll be here, too.
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Washington Police Department gets new gear to protect the community
The police department invested in some new gear that could help save lives. The department was able to get 21 new bulletproof vests for active shooter situations. They also got a new negotiation phone system.
Posted: Mar 23, 2018 6:23 PM
Posted By: Garrett Brown
WASHINGTON, Ind. (WTHI)- Many who call Washington home feel comfortable with their safety in town but people like Natalie Smith want to make sure officers are prepared for anything.
“Well in this day in age they have to be vigilant. They have to be looking forward to what might come down the pipe because you never know and that makes me comforted knowing they are ready for that situation," said Smith.
That's why the police department invested in some new gear that could help save lives. Its all thanks to a grant applied for by the Daviess County Emergency Management Agency.
The department was able to get 21 new bulletproof vests for active shooter situations.They also got a new negotiation phone system. Officers like Barry Hudson hope this will pay off for the community.
“First and foremost you are talking about our safety, the public's safety and the opportunity to save lives. It’s used in unison to protect the citizens of Washington and further if need be," said Hudson.
On top of the body armor and the negotiation line, the department was also able to get a robot for high-risk situations.
"We’re going to use it for removing explosives. Delivering, retrieving things from hostage rescue situations such as the phone or if they want to send anything out to go up and get it again so you don't have that human contact," said Hudson.
It's equipment the department hopes they never have to use but they hope to have it will show the community that they are ready to respond to any situation.
"They do a service and I don't think the people realize what they absolutely do every day. You know they are out there protecting us and they deserve that respect," said Smith.
The department says they’re thankful for this new equipment. They plan to help other communities if they're in need of their services.
Washington township fire department plans new facility
Community Support helps to protect local landmark
Washington Community schools dealing with overcrowding
West Terre Haute Police Department makes donation to community center
Vigo County Health Department Protects Against West Nile Virus
Rockville Police Department hiring additional police officer
Vigo County begins measures to protect community from West Nile
Photos: National Police Week in Washington, D.C.
Washington Community Schools installs stop-arm cameras on buses
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Who's who in golf - Arnaud Massy
Name: Arnaud Massy
Lived : 1877 - 1951
Original Home/Club: Biarritz, France
Turned Pro:
MAJORS [1] : The Open (1907)
Massy is remembered as a " Frenchman with the soul of a Scot ". He is the only Frenchman (to date) to win the British Open (1907) - although Jean van de Velde came very close in 1999.
Top tournaments won by Arnaud Massy
1928 Men Europe Spanish Open Puerta de Hierro 278 x
Played as the Spanish Open. Won by defending champion Arnaud Massy (Fra). [Arriba course, Real (Royal) Club de la Puerta de Hierro, Madrid].
1927 Men Europe Spanish Open Puerta de Hierro x x
Played as the Spanish Open. Won by Arnaud Massy (Fra). [Arriba course, Real (Royal) Club de la Puerta de Hierro, Madrid].
1925 Men Europe French Open Chantilly 291 x
Played as the Open de France. Massy (Fra) beat Archie Compston (Eng) by 7 shots in a 36-hole playoff (Massy 143, Compston 150). This was the last of four French Open wins for Massy. [Vineuil course, Golf de Chantilly, nr Paris].
Played as the inaugural Spanish Open. Europe's fifth oldest National Open Championship, behind The Open Championship (1860), French Open (1906), Belgian Open (1910) and German Open (1911). [Arriba course, Real (Royal) Club de la Puerta de Hierro, Madrid].
1911 Men Europe French Open La Boulie 284 x
Played as the Open de France. Second-placed Ted Ray (Jersey) finished 7 shots behind Massy (Fra). This was the third of four French Open wins for Massy. [La Vallée course, La Boulie GC (RCF), Versailles, nr Paris].
1910 Men Europe Belgian Open Royal GC of Belgium 139
Played as the inaugural Belgian Open (June 2). Second-placed Sandy Herd (Scot) and Harry Vardon (Eng) finished 5 shots behind Massy (Fra). There were 20 entries for the event. [Royal GC of Belgium (Ravenstein), Tervuren, nr Brussels].
Played as the Open de France. Second-placed Jean Gassiat (Fra) finished 2 shots behind defending champion Massy (Fra). This was the second of four French Open wins for Massy. [La Vallée course, La Boulie GC (RCF), Versailles, nr Paris].
1907 Men Majors The Open Royal Liverpool 312 £30
The Open Championship (47th) (June 20/21). Second-placed J.H. Taylor (Eng) finished 2 shots behind Massy (Fra), the first player from outside Great Britain to win the Open Championship. [Royal Liverpool GC, Hoylake, Wirral, Merseyside].
Played as the inaugural Open de France. Europe's second oldest National Open Championship, behind The Open Championship (1860). Tom Vardon (Jersey, Harry Vardon's brother) finished in second place behind Massy (Fra). This was the first of four French Open wins for Massy. [La Vallée course, La Boulie GC (RCF), Versailles, nr Paris].
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filed: January 3, 2015 • Michigan
Wind turbine sale raises legal concerns
Credit: January 3, 2015 | www.traverseticker.com ~~
The recent sale of a Traverse City Light & Power (TCL&P) wind turbine on M-72 to Heritage Sustainable Energy has raised legal concerns about the terms of the transaction.
Elmwood Township Supervisor Jack Kelly emailed both companies on December 31 pointing out there are deed restrictions on the property, including that the turbine “not be transferred to anyone other than a public utility” and that the equipment must be removed within 90 days if at any point its use is discontinued. Kelly requested written documentation that Heritage is a public utility; if it is not, he continued, the company must go through a planning commission process to remove that sales condition from the property. Kelly also requested formal written acknowledgment that as a successor to TCL&P, Heritage understood it was bound to the conditions on the turbine governing its removal if it not in use.
Vice President of Operations for Heritage Rick Wilson responded to Kelly’s request by email Friday, noting that “per the term of our agreements for the purchase and operation of the wind turbine, we are bound to decommission the wind turbine should it become inoperable.” He also noted Heritage provides wholesale electrical power generation to Michigan utility companies and plans to continue selling the power generated by the M-72 turbine to TCL&P.
“We will work diligently to address the concerns that you…have outlined in order to be fully compliant with the Elmwood Township ordinance,” Wilson wrote. TCL&P Executive Director Tim Arends also emailed Kelly to say the utility “will address the township’s concerns.”
Source: January 3, 2015 | www.traverseticker.com
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YouTube TV - More live TV to love
America Will Be - Episode 1: Uniting a Movement
Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
Unsubscribe from Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival?
Published on Apr 2, 2017
This is what it looks like for the poor to lead America towards a much-needed "revolution of values." This is what the New Poor People's Campaign looks like.
There's a "new and unsettling force" arising in America. The poor and dispossessed, facing worse and worse conditions, are coming together in new ways. We're looking to the 50th Anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Poor People's Campaign as an opportunity to go on the offensive in the struggle to unite the poor against the root causes of racism, war, poverty, and climate crisis.
Join the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival today at http://poorpeoplescampaign.org
America Will Be - Episode 2: Poverty is Violence - Duration: 9:14. Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival 4,655 views
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Rev. Barber & Ex-Page to Segregationist Strom Thurmond Unite to Launch New Poor People’s Campaign - Duration: 15:34. Democracy Now! 6,793 views
Poor People's Campaign asks America to face the injustices keeping millions in poverty - Duration: 9:51. PBS NewsHour 11,409 views
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Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.: Was the Civil-Rights Crusade a Mistake? - Duration: 48:41. Firing Line with William F. Buckley, Jr. 12,102 views
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Business Secrets from the Bible - Duration: 16:29. The 700 Club 1,508,141 views
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'Invisibility cloak' device makes objects disappear [video]
Scientists have demonstrated a cloaking device that uses a familiar optical illusion known as the mirage effect.
By Tuan Nguyen | October 5, 2011 -- 06:00 GMT (23:00 PDT) | Topic: Innovation
Mention the phrase "real-life invisibility cloak" and you're sure to get a few raised eyebrows. However, science's best efforts so far have merely hinted at what might be possible.
For instance, there's the development of metamaterials that can deflect light waves around an object, making it invisible within the microwave spectrum. It's too bad that human vision operates on a different part of the spectrum. Then there are techniques that hide things within near-infrared light, which may be useful in combat situations -- but in not in broad daylight. You can already start to see how it may be a while before researchers come up with a cloaking technology that renders an object -- in the truest sense of the word -- invisible.
Now a group of scientists at the University of Texas have taken the concept a step further by demonstrating a cloaking device that uses a familiar optical illusion known as the mirage effect. Instead of bending light around an object to make it invisible, their approach utilizes sheets of carbon nanotubes to conduct heat, which causes light rays to bend away from the hidden object.
The technology is based on the same principle that produces a similar phenomenon in the desert. Normally, our eyes make out objects by the way light bounces off them. But in this circumstance, the light never bounces but bends while passing from cooler air to the cooked high-temperature air that sits right above the sand. So instead of seeing what lies ahead, what we get is a mirage of the blue sky superimposed on the ground.
Related: Solar-powered 3-D printer turns sand into glass objects [video]
Through electrical stimulation, the transparent sheet of carbon nanotubes has the ability to transfer all its heat to surrounding areas, causing a steep temperature gradient. Just like a mirage, this steep temperature gradient causes the light rays to bend away from the object concealed behind the device, making it appear invisible.
"It is remarkable to see this cloaking device demonstrated in real life and on a workable scale," said a spokesperson for the Institute of Physics. The array of applications that could arise from this device, besides cloaking, is a testament to the excellent work of the authors."
Obviously this method of making objects "invisible" comes with it's own set of challenges. Like for instance, who would wear a scorching hot cloak? And under water no less. Well, perhaps the Navy can figure out a safe way to implement the technology for its stealth operations .
Either way, the effect is pretty cool to watch.
(via CBS News)
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The science of sci-fi:
Using a flying magic carpet to explore Mars [video]
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‘ Back to the Future’ self-lacing shoes coming soon
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Video: Jetman soars over Grand Canyon
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This could be the turning point between giving ourselves over to the lab or not.
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Everyone knows robot ants can't move a rubber tree plant. Oh shoot, they can!
Alan Turing is the face of new polymer £50 note
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Brazil completes first blockchain real estate sale
The transaction led by local construction giant Cyrela and startup Growth Tech used IBM Blockchain technology.
Over half of organizations already have at least one AI or ML project in place.
Dell Technologies crowns the Bay Area as the best city for women entrepreneurs
San Francisco has taken pole position in Dell Technologies' Women Entrepreneur Cities Index, but there's still a long way to go for the Bay Area.
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These 12 laptops deliver the best battery life
Lenovo Yoga 920
This 14-inch 2-in-1 laptop has been hailed for its battery life nearly across the board, from Consumer Reports (16.5 hours in its testing) to PC Magazine (a whopping 22 hours and 38 minutes) to our own reviewer, Sandra Vogel, who watched her test unit's battery only drop from full to 72 percent after four hours of video viewing, web surfing, and word processing.
find the perfect laptop: more resources
Best 2-in-1 laptops, convertibles, and hybrid laptops for business
The mobile professional's friend: Best ultraportable laptops for business
Best laptops for 2018: CNET editors hand-pick and test these products
Published: August 20, 2018 -- 14:02 GMT (07:02 PDT)
Caption by: Sean Portnoy
One of Dell's flagship laptops, the XPS 13 combines an extremely small form factor with solid performance and a top-notch scree,n. To round out the package, add excellent battery life to the tune of at least a dozen hours -- according to CNET -- and even 15 or 16 hours, according to Laptop Magazine and Consumer Reports, respectively. For her part, ZDNet's Sandra Vogel used her test unit for five hours and the battery only dropped to 56 percent.
At one time, Apple's laptops held a distinct advantage in battery life over their Windows counterparts. While that gap has been narrowed, MacBooks continue to hold their own, with the latest MacBook Pro delivering power for hours -- over 11 hours for the 13-inch model and a little less for the 15-inch edition, according to CNET's testing.
As the name suggests, LG's laptop is all about weight -- or lack thereof. And a byproduct of fewer ounces is improved battery life. In fact, CNET found that the larger 15-inch notebook offered more than 14 hours of charge even with a test configuration that included an Intel Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a dual of 512GB solid-state drives.
HP Spectre x360
If you're looking for an alternative to the Yoga 920, consider the Spectre x360 13, which is a similar 2-in-1 in terms of price, performance, and battery life. In fact the Spectre outperformed the Yoga in CNET's streaming video battery drain test, lasting well over 13 hours. To learn more, check out our video review of the Spectre x360 13.
You know what you're getting with a ThinkPad, a solid laptop whose lineage goes back more than a quarter-century. While the business black color scheme and boxish design remain, new models like the T480 shouldn't be confused with relics. It features the newest Intel Core processors, HD screens, and the latest ports -- along with spectacular battery life. Laptop Magazine and PC Magazine got 16 and 17 hours between charges in their respective testing, while ZDNet's Sandra Vogel only pushed the battery meter from full to 70 percent after four hours of use.
Samsung Notebook 9
Samsung's prosaically named entry in the premium 2-in-1 space is super lightweight (just 1.9 pounds for the 13.3-inch version, 2.9 pounds for the 15-inch edition) and includes a spill-resistant keyboard and a glass Windows Precision that allows multitouch gestures. Just as importantly, the Notebook 9 15-inch flavor promises 12 hours of battery life, a claim that was borne out by CNET's streaming video test.
Acer Chromebook R 13
Running the efficient Chrome OS with components that often aren't the most power hungry, nearly all Chromebooks have substantial battery life as a feature of the platform. But the Chromebook R 13 from Acer stands out even among its Chrome-running rivals. The 2-in-1 laptop clocked in at just over 13 hours of battery life in CNET's testing, which is a few hours more the typical Chromebook. It also costs a little more than some other Chromebooks, but it's still priced below most mid-range Windows notebooks.
It took a couple of iterations to get its footing, but Microsoft has turned the Surface into its vision of a high-performance portable device family that can compete with tablets and increasingly MacBooks and other Windows laptops. The Surface Laptop is a more recent addition to the lineup, and among its many features, battery life is exceptional, with CNET getting more than 10 hours out of the device and PC Magazine needing more than 16 hours between charges. ZDNet's own review confirmed the battery's prowess.
Asus Zenbook 13
Asus has made a name in the laptop market by delivering a range of quality systems, including the popular ZenBook series that features some high-end offerings like the ZenBook 13 UX331UN. Touted as the thinnest laptop available that included a discrete graphics card (Nvidia's GeForce MX150), that extra power drain hasn't appeared to put much of a damper on its battery life. CNET got more than 11 hours of juice in its testing, while ZDNet reviewer Sandra Vogel found that it should be able to get you through a full day of use.
HP Elitebook x360 1030 G2
HP hasn't refreshed the EliteBook x360 1030 G2 since last year, but if you don't require the absolute latest and greatest hardware, this 2-in-1 is still a capable business portable. Despite not being the slimmest laptop (though it does meet MIL-STD standards for durability), it delivers more-than-respectable battery life - more than 11 hours, according to CNET's testing.
Dell hasn't saved its battery-life improvements just for consumer laptops. Starting with its efficient eighth-generation Intel Core processors and light weight, the 2-in-1 Latitude 7390 may not have as good battery life as the XPS 13, but CNET's tests show that it provides over 10 hours of use between charges. In her testing, ZDNet's Sandra Vogel did four hours of typical tasks and the battery level only dropped to 73 percent.
If you need a notebook that can last all day away from a power outlet, these dozen can handle it -- and then some. Your options include top-rated Windows, Mac and Chromebook systems.
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Sunglasses, fashion and their joint history
Lifestyle + Fashion 3 Jul, 2018
The history of fashionable sunglasses
Every decade has its very own signature style.
Nowadays countless types of sunglasses are available. From mirrored sunglasses to clip-on sunglasses – not only are there different shades of lenses but there are also various shapes of sunglasses. Some of them have risen to iconic status. The classic cat eye sunglasses and aviator sunglasses are among the most well-known styles of eyewear available. Just like any other part of fashion, the styles and appearances of sunglasses has been ever changing. Especially sunglasses in movies made an impact on style and often reflected the current zeitgeist. We compiled an overview over various fashion icons and their influence on sunglasses.
1950s: Grace Kelly's Royal Style
In 1956 American actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco. Before and after her marriage, Princess Grace was often seen wearing black sunglasses. Her signature style square sunglasses influenced current fashion and is still seen as the definition of vintage sunglasses chic today.
1960s: Breakfast at Tiffany's sunglasses
When Audrey Hepburn put on the famous cat eye sunglasses for the iconic movie Breakfast at Tiffany's, she created a long-lasting trend. The iconic shape is so closely linked to the actress, that they are sometimes even referred to as Audrey Hepburn sunglasses. It might have been the first time that sunglasses from movies made a major impact on fashion trends but certainly not the last time. Popular sunglasses from the 60s mostly followed Hepburn's classic example.
1970s: No in-betweens
Two iconic shapes come to mind, when thinking about sunglasses from the 70s. On the one hand there were oversize frames, while on the other hand there were small round sunglasses, such as frequently worn by John Lennon. Frames often referred to as John Lennon sunglasses are mainly associated with the hippie subculture of the 60s and 70s. These shades were worn in several colours such as blue, red or pink.
1980s: Between Top Gun and eccentric sunglasses of the 80s
Top Gun (1986) is certainly the movie attributed to making aviator sunglasses for men fashionable. The pair worn by lead actor Tom Cruise were green sunglasses with a golden frame. Despite the movie's popularity, many people think of aviator sunglasses as police sunglasses. So called police sunglasses were frequently worn by Erik Estrada in his role as Officer Francis "Ponch" Poncherello in the popular TV-series CHiPS. Since Estrada portrayed a police officer, the connection between the iconic shape and the nickname for this type of sunglasses was even further established.
One person who will always be remembered for his eccentric choices of sunglasses is Sir Elton John. His choices may not always have been daily wear appropriate. However, they were among the most creative and unique sunglasses in history. Elton John was often seen sporting rhinestone sunglasses, oversized sunglasses or other kinds of funky sunglasses.
1990s: Supermodel chic
The 1990s were without a doubt a decade of supermodels. Popular models like Kate Moss or Claudia Schiffer opted for sleek frames and dark hues. Sleek, small designs dominated the fashion industry and grunge chic posed an edgy counterpart to the otherwise colourful and lively fashion of the decade. The late 1990s produced various hit movies which featured popular sunglasses. The most well-known example are probably the sunglasses from the Matrix movies, starring Keanu Reeves.
2000s: Heroic Sunglasses
At the beginning of the century, Marvel turned the X-Men comic book series into a movie franchise. In his role as Cyclops, James Marsden wore red sunglasses because his character used them to keep his power under control. The frame was rather small and in wraparound fashion.
Another major trend during the 2000s were rimless sunglasses worn by starlets such as Paris Hilton. Frequently worn colours included blue, red and various shades of pink. Sometimes the lenses were bedazzled or otherwise decorated.
Ever since its beginning stages in the 1850s, ZEISS has had a strong focus on optics. In the 1920s ZEISS started producing tinted lenses to enable the enjoyment of natural beauty without endangering the eyes by over-exposition to sunlight. During the century different shades were added to the portfolio. In the 2000s ZEISS Sunlens expanded their product range and added non-prescription sunglass lenses to their range of products.
2010s: Original Lenses – ZEISS Sunlens brings back the classics
To demonstrate our passion for sunglasses and all the beautiful colours and lenses we saw during the last century, ZEISS Sunlens introduced the Originals Lenses collection which designers use as a high-quality basis for their designs. Our vintage lenses collection showcases beautifully coloured tinted lenses and true classics to emphasise the heritage of sunglasses.
Even though ZEISS does not offer sunglasses to end-consumers, we offer tinted lenses to designers who use ZEISS Sunlens products to create the best sunglasses for eye protection. One of our partners is European brand Massada eyewear, which connects artful designs with protective eyewear.
* UV radiation is divided into three bands, though only UVA and UVB actually reach the Earth's surface. Short-wavelength, high-energy UVC radiation (100 - 280 nm) is almost entirely absorbed in the Earth's atmosphere. The term solar UV radiation is used solely to refer to the UVA and UVB components that reach us on the Earth's surface. UVA and UVB radiation is absorbed by the eye to differing degrees unless it is blocked by spectacle lenses.
How sunglasses are made What steps are included in the making of sunglasses? Learn what kind of materials are used to make sunglasses and how designers bring life to their ideas.
Tags: Sunglasses
Fast dark. Fast clear: modern self-tinting lenses Whether you’re out in the sun or indoors, you can enjoy 24 hours of excellent vision with ZEISS PhotoFusion photochromic lenses
Lifestyle + Fashion 24 Nov, 2017
Wearing Glasses in the Summer 10 tips for enjoying your glasses this summer
Don’t be blinded Sunglasses are fashionable accessories, but more importantly they provide vital UV protection to the eyes
Self-tinting lenses One pair of glasses for all occasions.
DuraVision Premium Coatings For optimum vision and maximum comfort.
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Photo courtesy of member of Alfie's core team
Vatican Hospital is Ready to Care for Alfie Evans
Rome’s Bambino Gesu Pediactric Hospital Would Bear Expenses
April 20, 2018 17:55ZENIT StaffFamily and Life Issues
Rome’s Vatican-owned Bambino Gesu Pediactric Hospital reiterated April 19, 2018, that it is willing to accept baby Alfie Evans as a patient and bear the expenses for his care, according to Vatican News.
Pope Francis met with Tom Evans, Alfie’s father, in Casa Santa Marta before the Holy Father’s April 18, 2018, general audience. As reported in an exclusive ZENIT interview, the Pope told Alfie’s father “no child’s life should be taken away from him.”
In that interview with Zenit, Evans stressed that Alfie is doing well and showing more signs of life, especially after receiving his sacraments. Pope Francis has made strong appeals to protect the life of Alfie Evans. At the conclusion of today’s audience, the Pope pleaded for Alfie underscoring “the only master of life is God.” During his Sunday Regina Caeli, Pope Francis similarly appealed, saying: “Let us pray so that every sick person is always respected in his dignity and cared for in a way adapted to his condition, with the harmonious contribution of the family, of doctors and of other health workers, with great respect for life.”
The Pope also tweeted last week, stressing that everything be done to help protect Alfie’s life and to make the parents’ suffering be heard.
Little Alfie has been at the center of a legal battle in the UK to keep him alive. Since December 2016, Alfie has been living with an unidentified degenerative neurological condition and has stayed in the hospital. Despite some signs of improvement, however, the hospital and courts have been saying to take him off life support, against the parents’ wishes.
April 20, 2018 17:55Family and Life Issues
Archbishop Follo: The Shepherd Good and Beautiful: True.
Pope's Homily in Molfetta: We Are to Celebrate That Every Mass We Feed on Bread of Life & Word That Saves
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Ninth Level Ireland
Irish University News Politics and Law
The Influence of rankings revisited
Posted in Governance and administration on June 30th, 2019 by steve
“Rankings are everywhere. Like a cleverly constructed virus they are all over the place and are almost impossible to delete. They are used for immigration policy, advertising, promotion, and recruitment …” (more)
[University Ranking Watch, 30 June]
Tags: rankings
High Court application for recusal of Judge Petria McDonnell
Posted in Governance and administration, Legal issues on June 30th, 2019 by steve
“The Burkes lodged an appeal in the High Court yesterday against Judge Petria McDonnell’s refusal to recuse herself from hearing their religious discrimination case against NUI Galway. They are seeking to have another judge take the case …” (more)
[Burke Broadcast, 29 June]
Tags: discrimination, High Court, NUIG, religion
Ulster University chief says sorry after review of its job cuts process
“The Vice-Chancellor of Ulster University has apologised to staff following an independent review into a botched redundancy process. The 2016 process resulted in the exit of 143 employees – and has already cost the university £1.6m. In an email to all staff sent yesterday, Professor Paddy Nixon said he wanted to offer a full and wholehearted apology …” (more)
[Belfast Telegraph, 29 June]
Tags: Paddy Nixon, redundancy, UU
UCC posts €2.8m net deficit despite boost from IMI acquisition
“UCC’s acquisition of the Irish Management Institute (IMI) was a major driver of a 7.7% increase in the university’s income to €371.7m in 2017, according to its latest accounts. However, UCC still reported a net deficit of almost €2.8m for the year ending September 2017 after a sharp rise in staff costs and other operating expenses. It followed a surplus of €562,000 the previous year …” (more)
[Seán McCárthaigh, Irish Examiner, 28 June]
Tags: accounts, Comptroller and Auditor General, IMI, UCC
Ulster University review identifies governance failings
“Senior leaders at Ulster University (UU) were guilty of a ‘disturbing lack of governance’ during a staff redundancy process in 2016. Refusing to accept a redundancy settlement offer from a staff union also cost UU an extra £1.4m. Those are among a litany of failings identified by a UU commissioned independent review into the process …” (more)
[Robbie Meredith, BBC News NI, 28 June]
Tags: UU
DkIT Hope to Have Wind Turbine Back In Action ‘In The Near Future’
“Dundalk Institute of Technology say they hope to have the iconic wind turbine at the Dublin Road campus back in action in the near future. The turbine has been out of action for over two months due to extensive renovations …” (more)
[Talk of the Town, 28 June]
Tags: DkIT
Ministers publish the National Training Fund Expenditure Report 2019
“The Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh TD, the Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor TD and the Minister of State for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development John Halligan TD today published the National Training Fund Expenditure Report 2019 …” (more)
[Department of Education and Skills, 28 June]
Tags: funding, Joe McHugh, John Halligan, Mary Mitchell O'Connor, NTF
Research and Development Funding – Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund
Posted in Research on June 28th, 2019 by steve
“Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael): To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the status of call 2 of the disruptive technologies fund; her plans for holding an information event on the fund in County Limerick; and if she will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
[Dáil written answers, 27 June]
Tags: DTIF, Heather Humphreys, research funding, Tom Neville
Universities and world rankings
“Sir, – Prof William Reville notes that many institutes of technology such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology achieved top ranking in the latest QS World University Rankings …” (more)
[Cormac O’Raifeartaigh, Irish Times, 28 June]
Tags: rankings, university status
National Library of Ireland unveils new book repository
“The National Library of Ireland (NLI) has unveiled a new book repository with state of the art safety features following devastating fires at cultural institutions such as the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the National Museum of Brazil in recent years …” (more)
[Colin Gleeson, Irish Times, 27 June]
Tags: NLI
Scientific Research – CERN
“Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the estimated cost of associate membership and full membership of CERN; if membership has been considered; and if she will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
Tags: CERN, Heather Humphreys, Maurice Quinlivan, research funding
Student Grant Scheme Eligibility – Asylum Seekers
Posted in Fees, access and admissions on June 28th, 2019 by steve
“Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if residents of an accommodation centre are eligible for a SUSI grant or other educational grants …” (more)
Tags: asylum, Joe McHugh, maintenance grants, Robert Troy, SUSI
Student Grant Scheme Eligibility – Grant Adjacency Rates
“Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will direct SUSI to amend the grant adjacency rates and restore it to the previous 24 km limit, instead of the current 42 km, which is acting as a barrier to third level education for many students in the midlands; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
Tags: Joe McHugh, maintenance grants, Peter Burke, SUSI
New Law School to Be Built Near Samuel Beckett Theatre
“Trinity’s new Law School is to be built on the north end of the campus, near the Samuel Beckett Theatre and not far from its current home in New Square, The University Times has learned …” (more)
[Emer Moreau, University Times, 27 June]
Tags: law schools, Patrick Prendergast, TCD
UL masterplan for Limerick city centre campus to cost €46m
“The University of Limerick has announced that it is now acting on more than €66m worth of major projects, namely their ambitious city centre masterplan and a new student centre which is now under construction …” (more)
[Fintan Walsh, Limerick Leader, 27 June]
Tags: UL
Long-awaited Munster Technological University decision due shortly
“A long-awaited decision on the Munster Technological University (MTU) is expected to be made shortly as an independent report sparks uncertainty over the project. Following a formal application earlier this year, an international panel of experts assessed a bid by Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) and the Institute of Technology Tralee (ITT) to become Munster’s first technological university …” (more)
[Jess Casey, Irish Examiner, 24 June]
Tags: Cork IT, HEA, IT Tralee, mergers, MTU, PAC, technological universities, TUI, WRC
Minister for Education Confirms Dundalk IT has not Pursued Technological University Status
“Minister for Education and Skills has confirmed that Dundalk IT has given no indication to him that they plan to pursue technological university status. The Donegal-based TD was replying to a parliamentary question from Labour TD Jan O’Sullivan in the Dáil on Tuesday …” (more)
Tags: DkIT, Jan O'Sullivan, Joe McHugh, Oireachtas, technological universities, TUI
The Senior Academic Leadership Initiative
“I’ve been so busy over the last week or so that I forgot to mention that on Friday (21st June) the Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor announced a new scheme to improve the gender balance in senior academic roles in Irish universities …” (more)
[In the Dark, 27 June]
Tags: equality, gender, Mary Mitchell O'Connor
Construction work starts on new €20m student centre at University of Limerick
“Works on a major centre that will form a ‘new destination’ for students at University of Limerick have started. The new Student Centre, a 3,529 square metre building set over three storeys, is in a prime front of house location adjacent to the Stables Complex and the Glucksman Library …” (more)
[Limerick Post, 27 June]
University of Limerick criticised for ‘governance failure’ that may cost €1.2m
“The Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has criticised the University of Limerick for what it has says is a ‘governance failure that could have cost the State €1.2 million’. The findings are contained in a document circulated among members of the PAC as they finalise their latest periodic report …” (more)
[Jennifer Bray, Irish Times, 27 June]
Tags: Comptroller and Auditor General, DES, PAC, UL
The ten universities
Institutes of Technology
Blogs and discussion
The word “university”
University Law
Irish Law Blogs
Overpayments
Universities (Amndmnt) Bill
Universities as public bodies
University statutes
Funding crisis
Managerialism
New universities?
Seanad Éireann
Technological universities
What is a university?
Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill
Seanad: Final Stages
Dáil: Remaining Stages
Joint Committee Discussion
Dáil 2nd reading (resumed)
Dáil 2nd reading
Seanad Report and Final Stages
Committee Stage (resumed)
Committee Stage
Seanad 2nd Reading
General Scheme of the Bill
Ciaran O'Neill on Backlash about ‘female-only’ posts is rubbish – we need to right the balance
Ciaran O'Neill on Creation of ‘women-only’ university posts not about keeping men out of power, says Mary Mitchell O’Connor
Ciaran O'Neill on Gender-specific academic posts launched to achieve balance in Irish third level
Ciaran O'Neill on Trinity students vote against slashing University Times funding
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who wobbled and hobbled into the postseason party as the sixth an
#1 von panxing18 , 01.02.2019 01:30
Half of the NFC playoff field is back from last year Michael Thomas Jersey Salute to Service , including the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles ,d final seed after a season-long slog.The Saints earned the No. 1 seed for the first time since 2009, when they beat Peyton Manning and the Colts in Super Bowl 44 for their first championship, and the Los Angeles Rams are the second seed with the franchise’s first playoff bye since 2001, when the “Greatest Show on Turf” was still rocking St. Louis.The Chicago Bears are back for the first time in eight seasons and the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks each ended a one-year hiatus.The Seahawks visit the Cowboys on Saturday night of wild-card weekend, and the Eagles visit Soldier Field on Sunday to face the Bears, who are Broncos star Von Miller’s pick to win it all this year thanks to their dogged defense in an era infused with college spread concepts and rules that tilt toward offense more than ever.“I feel like the Bears have a solid defense that can go all the way. They can tweak the rules, but at the end of the day, it’s still football,” said Miller, the MVP of Super Bowl 50 that was dominated by defense.Strength and weakness of each of the six NFC playoff teams: NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Panthers undrafted rookie Kyle Allen turned in a promising first NFL start — until he hurt his shoulder.Whether the New Orleans defense that Allen victimized was entirely dialed in is another matter.Allen passed for 228 yards and two touchdowns before his injury in the fourth quarter Authentic Craig Robertson Jersey , and Carolina cruised to a 33-14 victory over a Saints squad looking ahead to the playoffs.“It was incredible. I just felt at home right when I got on the field,” said Allen, who lost starting roles in college at both Texas A&M and Houston, and who was not on Carolina’s roster for part of this season. “This league is filled with opportunities, and guys that stay in the league for a long time are the guys that take advantage of those.”A third-stringer pressed into service with Cam Newton and backup Taylor Heinicke out, Allen also ran for a short touchdown as Carolina snapped a seven-game slide. He led the Panthers to three TDs and a field goal on their first four drives. His day ended prematurely when he was hit hard by Saints rookie end Marcus Davenport while releasing an incomplete pass. Allen said he felt pain in his right shoulder while throwing on the sideline afterward, but that he did not think the injury was serious.Carolina (7-9) led 23-0 at halftime, marking the first time since coach Sean Payton was hired by New Orleans in 2006 that the Saints (13-3) were shut out at home in a first half.“We can spin it any way we want to. We didn’t play well,” Payton said. “From the get-go, it was obvious. So you take that personally as a coach, and it’s disappointing.”Allen’s touchdowns went for 53 yards to receiver Curtis Samuel and 8 yards to tight end Ian Thomas.Having already clinched the NFC’s top seed Alex Okafor Jersey , Payton scratched several healthy offensive starters, including record-setting quarterback Drew Brees and dynamic second-year running back Alvin Kamara.By not playing, Brees finished the regular season with an NFL record 74.4 percent completion rate for a single season, breaking the mark of 72 percent he set last season.His replacement for the finale, Teddy Bridgewater, started an NFL game for the first time since the 2015 season. The move gave Bridgewater a chance to rebuild his credentials as a potential NFL starter after missing most of the past two seasons with a career-threating knee injury.“It was a pretty cool moment, just running back out there. It’s been a long time, but I’m grateful for that moment, grateful for that opportunity,” Bridgewater said. “Honestly, I just wanted to get back into the rhythm of playing football. That was my biggest goal.”Bridgewater completed 14 of 22 passes for 118 yards Larry Warford Jersey Salute to Service , one touchdown and one interception.The Panthers scored the game’s first two TDs on Allen’s 1-yard keeper and Cameron Artis-Payne’s 15-yard run, and New Orleans fell behind 30-0 before scoring its first points on Bridgewater’s 9-yard pass to rookie Tre’Quan Smith early in the fourth quarter.Saints third-string QB Taysom Hill added a 9-yard TD on a read-option run.The Saints had little at stake other than the opportunity to secure the franchise’s first 14-win regular season. They’ve gone 13-3 three times, all under Payton in 2009, 2011 and this season. The 2009 team won the Super Bowl.RECEIVING RECORDSaints receiver Michael Thomas came in needing 24 yards to break Joe Horn’s single-season franchise mark of 1,399 yards receiving in 2004. Thomas started, but with the Saints’ offense struggling to sustain drives, it took until the first minute of the fourth quarter before Thomas eclipsed Horn’s mark with a 6-yard catch. The Saints were clearly keeping track; numerous teammates congratulated Thomas right after the catch.“It’s a blessing,” Thomas said. “I feel like I’m going to be judged on my progress year in and year out.”RARE COMPAMYWith his 22-yard reception in the first quarter — his only reception of the game — Christian McCaffrey became the third running back in NFL history to have 1,500 yards rushing and receiving in his first two NFL seasons combined. He joined Kamara and Herschel Walker.INJURIESPanthers: Allen was replaced by newly signed reserve Garrett Gilbert, who went 2 for 3 for 40 yards.Saints: Versatile offensive lineman Andrus Peat, who normally starts at left guard but also has played both tackle positions this season Ted Ginn Jr Jersey Salute to Service , left in the first half with a hand injury.UP NEXTPanthers: Start their offseason with questions surrounding the futures of several prominent players, including linebacker Thomas Davis, safety Mike Adams and receiver Devin Funchess, who have expiring contracts. Center Ryan Kalil already said he’d retire after the season and coach Ron Rivera said he was “assuming” the 38-year-old Peppers would, too.Sunday’s victory, Rivera said, “was probably the best way to send Ryan and Pepp off on their way — two great Panthers.”Saints: Host their playoff opener in the divisional round on the weekend of Jan. 12-13. Custom Buffalo Bills Jerseys
panxing18
New Orleans Saints receiver Michael Thomas has been fined
2. Know A person’s Goals
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Gintama Double Feature: Gintama Figures Up And Ready For Orders And A Movie Announcement
Published by SchoolGirlBlogger on January 18, 2013 January 18, 2013
Hideaki Sorachi’s (空知 英秋) hit anime and manga franchise, Gintama (銀魂), has come a long way! Asgard gives you this week’s dose of Double Feature with Gintama starting off with their latest movie announcement.
During the Jump Festa 2013 talk event, it was announced that a second Gintama anime movie is scheduled for summer of the same year with voice actors Tomikazu Sugita, Daisuke Sakaguchi and Yu Kobayashi present to promote the said movie. Fans who missed out on the talk event were informed about the movie thanks to the latest episode of Gintama. The announcement made mention that the movie is delayed for summer 2013.
On lighter news, Gintama figures are ready for pre-orders. The characters were determined through a fan election held by Bandai and Megahouse for their Gintama GEM line. After much time has passed and 56 characters were then narrowed down, Kagura (神楽) and younger version of Gintoki Sakata (坂田 銀時) take the lion’s share of the election, earning them GEM line figures.
The Kagura figure is set at a 1/8 scale and it stands at 190mm. She is clad in a modernized kimono in red and gold and she comes with two different hair parts as well as two different face parts. And of course, Kagura won’t be caught dead without her parasol. The Kagura figure is priced at 6000 JPY (67 USD) and will be shipped in early July. The young Gintoki figure on the other hand is scheduled for release on May.
Categories: Anime FilmAnime News
SchoolGirlBlogger
Cosplayer. Gamer. Blogger. Nutcase on the loose.
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By Ali Debut, Music, Our Take, Reviews November 5, 2015
Raury Continues to Inspire with “All We Need”
Ali's Take
Listening to 19 year old Raury’s music, one senses the influence of such prominent hip-hop artists as Kid Cudi and Andre 3000. Yet despite his young age, Raury has already managed to create a sound uniquely his own, blending hip-hop, soul, rock and folk in the process.
Indigo Child – Raury
Just months after graduating high school in Stone Mountain, Georgia, Raury quickly rose to fame with the release of his first mixtape Indigo Child in 2014. For those listeners convinced that self-obsession and wanton aggressiveness had come to saturate contemporary hip-hop, Indigo Child, was a welcome surprise. With its inventive, upbeat melodies and inspirational lyrics, the mixtape was praised by many critics and fans as the debut of an artist interested in giving America an authentic message of hope. Raury sings in the mixtape’s title track, “War pt 1”:
We are the truth
We are forever
We are the youth
We are together
Raury © Faisal Muhammad
In the very first song, Raury sings as the proverbial voice of his generation – a generation that, for Raury, is both united and timeless, both young and standing for truth itself. He goes on to sing in “Seven Suns”:
And I left my friends
I left my love behind for a bigger cause
Watch: “Seven Suns” – Raury
As Raury himself says, his ambitions as an artist do not simply concern his own fame or personal relationships, but are rather concerned with larger causes. Much more than a first collection of songs, Indigo Child was the statement of a young artist aware of the suffering in the world and emboldened with the desire to sing about it.
All We Need – Raury
© Julie Matos
All We Need (released Oct 16, 2015 via Columbia Records) is Raury’s debut album. Sonically, the folk/rap album is an absolute success. Raury’s musical ability is here on full display. He has certainly entered into the special rank of hip-hop artists who can croon just as well as rap.
From a lyrical perspective, the songs on All We Need exhibit the same desire for change that Raury expressed in his mixtape. In his new album, however, Raury deepens his message and project. The songs do speak generally about changing the world, but they also engage with modern society in a way few current artists are willing or able to do.
Among the album’s fourteen tracks, “Friends” is an anthem about the way social media has the potential to bring people together. The music video sees Raury asking people via Twitter for car rides in order to get himself and a friend from Atlanta to Chicago. He is seen smiling, having a great time and having no problems along the way. On his road-trip journey to Chicago, he also sings of Nepal, China and even the Sahara desert – calling for togetherness and unity not only in America, but also throughout the world.
Watch: “Friends” – Raury ft. Tom Morello
Though some of the songs on All We Need are, like “Friends,” joyful and lighthearted, many others mention more serious issues. In the album’s opening track, “All We Need,” Raury holds nothing back in asking us:
Who’s gonna save the dyin’ man from his hunger?
Who’s gonna take from the rich
and give to the ones who never had a chance?
Later in the song, he tell us what he thinks we need to do:
We need to discover love in the earth and sky and beyond
Love is what’s missin.
From income inequality to world hunger, Raury’s All We Need calls attention to a range of current societal issues. As a follow-up to Indigo Child, the passion and directness in his lyrics is admirable. All We Need is certainly ample evidence that a young, passionate, socially conscious artist is here to stay.
Follow Raury on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr
8 Music Quality
7 Content Originality
8 Memorability
8 Lyricism
9 Sonic Diversity
8 Arranging
8.0 Total Score
2015album reviewAll We NeedAll We Need Is LoveAltAtlantaAtwood MagazineColumbia RecordsfriendsGeorgiahip-hopIndigo's ChildloveMusicNewNew MusicNovember 2015October 2015Our takeRauryRaury All We NeedRaury All We Need album reviewRaury All We Need reviewRaury Friends
Ali hails from the Midwest and currently lives in New York City.
Blu, M.E.D. and Madlib Make Enjoyably Low-Stakes Indie Rap on “Bad Neighbor”
Atwood In Focus: November 6th New Music
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"In the District" on BronxNet taps into the heart of local government, giving in depth interviews with local elected officials, while providing insight and education on community events and issues. The show airs every Tuesday at 7:30pm on Channel 67 Optimum, 33 FiOS and bronxnet.tv.
In the District: CD 13
by Creative Services 2 years ago
in In the District
Learn about the candidates running for City Council in the 13th district.
CD 13: Victor Ortiz
Learn about Victor Ortiz and why he is running for City Council.
In the District: CD12
Learn about the candidates running for the city council seat in the 12th distric...
CD 12: Andy King
Learn about candidate for City Council District 12 Andy King and why he is runni...
CD12: Karree-Lyn Gordon
Candidate for the 12h City Council District Karree-Lyn Gordon joins Javier E. Go...
CD12: Pamela Hamilton-Johnson
Candidate for the 12h City Council District Pamela Hamilton-Johnson joins Javier...
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[ISN] Panel urges cooperation on cybersecurity
To: isn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ISN] Panel urges cooperation on cybersecurity
From: InfoSec News <isn@xxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 02:36:57 -0600 (CST)
Delivery-date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 10:47:50 +0100
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Sender: owner-isn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,76610,00.html
By Michael Hardy
Protecting financial institutions from cyberattacks requires
increasing levels of cooperation between the government and the
private sector, panelists said yesterday at a conference in Washington
called Homeland Security 2002: Establishing a Culture of Cooperation.
Many of the conference's sessions emphasized such cooperation, which
is being fostered by changing mind-sets in both government and the
private sector.
In the financial services world, the responsibility for keeping up
with threats -- and the technologies that can help guard against them
-- rests with the banks and investment houses, said Richard Marshall,
deputy director of the Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office, one
of 22 federal agencies that will soon become part of the U.S.'s new
Department of Homeland Security.
"The scope of change, the pace of change is just too quick for
government regulators to keep up with," he said. "This has got to be a
self-curing issue."
The key for financial firms is business continuity, he said. The
threat might be electronic, or it might be a physical attack or
disaster. Either way, a firm must be sure that it can continue
operating, protect its customers' privacy and anticipate problems in
time to prevent them.
Marshall's agency is working on the finishing touches to the National
Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, a collection of best practices that
business are invited -- but not required -- to follow in implementing
security programs. The public comment period on the document closed
last month, and Marshall said he expects President George W. Bush to
approve it early next year.
"We don't pretend to know all the answers, but we believe that
together we can help come up with some intelligent solutions," he
said. "And we realize that it's not going to be government-down. It
has to be 'Let's join hands and work together.'"
Financial services firms in general are ahead of other private-sector
industries in securing their information, but they aren't where they
need to be, Marshall said. "You need to raise the security bar," he
The technological challenges are formidable, said Dale Hazel, senior
vice president of marketing at Convera Corp., a software company that
makes search products for businesses. More than some other types of
businesses, financial institutions store massive amounts of data, he
said. Terabyte measurements are common, and he said he has seen some
databases that exceed a petabyte, or 1,000 terabytes. Such mountains
of information stretch the limits of system scalability, he said.
Meanwhile, companies don't have a good handle on how to balance
prudence with overzealousness, said J. Michael Gibbons, a former chief
investigator of computer crime for the FBI, now a senior manager at
consulting firm BearingPoint Inc.
"Those of us in homeland security all just want to understand how much
security is enough," he said. "We want the truth, and the quest for
the truth is the most difficult thing we face."
Inside financial firms, executives see the wisdom of spending money on
security, said Leigh Williams, senior vice president and chief privacy
officer at Fidelity Investments Inc. His company spends about $1
billion per year on technology, much of it security-focused, and
believes that the cost is worth the payback.
"We have for a long time expected a return on our business-continuity
efforts," he said. "We do believe that before the September attacks,
it made a lot of sense to invest very heavily in protecting the data
and systems customers rely on. I don't think that has changed at all
in the last couple of years."
What has changed, Williams said, is the approach to the problems.
"Before September of 2001, we approached security in a very fragmented
way. We tended to split data security from physical [security]," he
said. Since then, the company has come to see both physical and
cybersecurity as part of the same issue.
Fidelity has integrated itself more closely with financial services
firms, smaller banks and other institutions, Williams said. "We're
operating more as an industry and less as a collection of firms," he
said. "And with that, industry is now better connected to government."
During the past couple of years, financial trade associations --
including the Securities Industry Association, the Investment Company
Institute "and a dozen other trade associations" -- have consolidated
their efforts to interact with government through a new group they
formed called the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council,
Williams said. Meanwhile, government agencies and regulators have also
been consolidating power.
"Instead of there being hundreds of us talking at once and getting
nothing done, we've become much more tightly integrated," said
Fidelity plans to sustain its high level of investment in security.
"It takes a pretty good bite out of our bottom line," he said. "We do
it because we think it will offer us some payback."
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Green Sheet
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Wary UW System leaders cancel presentations on campus cuts
Ray Cross
UWM chief lays out budget cuts but key details to come
5 UW campuses seek nonresident and grad school tuition hikes
By Karen Herzog of the Journal Sentinel
University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross unexpectedly pulled the plug on plans for chancellors to describe the consequences, campus-by-campus, of $250 million in biennial state funding cuts during a Board of Regents meeting in Green Bay on Thursday.
The chancellors had prepared presentations and even had a dress rehearsal with Cross last Friday. But Cross stopped the rehearsal before it was finished and has opted instead to have each campus provide a one-page written summary to the regents.
Cross told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that it was too difficult for chancellors to summarize their handling of budget cuts in five minutes, and that he was concerned about how to most effectively present the information to the public.
Cross said he made the decision after consulting with regents leadership, which includes President Regina Millner and Vice President John Behling.
"We were not confident this was the right thing to do, which is one of the reasons we had a dress rehearsal," Cross said. "As we got closer to the end (of the dress rehearsal), we realized we can't do this in three to five minutes — it's not enough time."
There likely also was some fear about the implications of one campus leader after another lining up to talk about how cuts affect staff and students. Cross acknowledged he was concerned the UW System would be criticized again for "exaggerating or being overly dramatic" about the 2015-'17 cuts — a charge Republican leaders leveled against at least a few of the chancellors last summer.
It's no secret Cross and other UW System leaders are gun-shy about how they are perceived, especially after being told they have to find ways to be more efficient and accept tighter state funding because it isn't likely to change much.
It's also worth noting that the system is just months away from preparing its next request for state funding, for the biennium beginning July 1, 2017.
"We're trying to reveal this was a significant cut to deal with, and the chancellors are really handling this well," Cross said, describing how he wanted the message to be framed. "Take a $250 million cut and handle that very well on top of previous cuts. There's a lot of positive things."
On the other hand, there is widespread concern that if the UW System downplays the impact of the cuts in this biennium, it could be that much easier for the Legislature to freeze resident undergraduate tuition for another two years, and add on another round of cuts.
Regent Chuck Pruitt told the Journal Sentinel he regretted the missed opportunity to hear from chancellors.
"I have long believed that it is critical that the Board of Regents offer a forum for public discussion about issues like the implications of deep budget cuts and multiyear tuition freezes on the quality of education on our campuses," said Pruitt, whose seven-year term ends after this week's regents meeting. "No group of individuals better understands those consequences than the chancellors who lead our campuses and deal with these issues every day."
Democratic lawmakers caught wind of the cancellation of the presentations and accused Republican leaders of working behind the scenes to quash them.
"If the governor doesn't want stories in the news about him slashing UW System funding, maybe he should stop slashing UW System funding," said Rep. Chris Taylor (D-Madison), one of the Democrats on the Joint Committee on Finance who signed a letter sent to the regents on Wednesday.
Gov. Scott Walker's office could not be reached for comment.
About Karen Herzog
Karen Herzog covers higher education. She also has covered public health and was part of a national award-winning team that took on Milwaukee's infant mortality crisis.
@HerzogJS
kherzog@journalsentinel.com
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September 8, 2018 Artemis Greenleaf
Buffalo Bayou, near the burned out ruins of Harrisburg, Texas
“I don’t think this is a good idea, John,” Quinn said.
“Of course it is, my good man. Sam Houston is the toast of Texas. A town named after him can’t help but succeed. Especially if I can get my fellow representatives in the Congress to make it the capital of the Republic of Texas – indeed, we’ve already started construction on the capitol building! The Texas government is clamoring for settlers, who will, of course, need a place to live. If we dig out this stagnant old stream, we’ve got the makings of a grand port,” John Allen replied. He gestured to the sluggish bayou in front of them, moving just fast enough to keep the mud churned up in the water and scent the air. A perch glinted silver at the surface as it grabbed a water strider that had ventured too far away from the bank, then disappeared into the murk.
Quinn looked at a pair of yellow eyes floating just above the surface of the opaque water and shrugged. His companion thought it was a basking alligator, a common enough beast in the Gulf Coast swamps, but he knew better.
“Isn’t the capital already set up in Galveston? And there’s already a major port there, too. Why would any ships come all the way up here?”
“Galveston is the interim capital. We are going to make Houston the permanent one. As for ships coming this far, that’s easy. Rail, my good man. This spot is fifty miles closer to existing railways than Galveston. They don’t even have a causeway to the island to run a rail line.”
“But there isn’t any rail here,” Quinn said. The yellow eyes in the murky water at his feet stared balefully up at him.
“Not yet. But it will come. The plans are already in the works.” John slapped at a swarm of mosquitoes buzzing around his ears.
“You’ve taken leave of your senses, John, you and Augustus both.”
John laughed loudly, and a snowy egret fled the water for the safety of the trees. “No one thought General Houston could beat Santa Anna, now did they? After the massacres at Goliad and the Alamo, and being outnumbered almost two to one at San Jacinto, only a fool would have bet on Sam Houston. Ha! It’s Manifest Destiny, my friend, the will of the Almighty.”
Quinn frowned. John Allen squeezed his shoulder. “I’ve business in Nacogdoches that I must attend to. You won’t go wrong buying a parcel of land here, I can assure you. My brother will be most delighted to assist you with the deed while I am away.” With that, he mounted his horse and trotted off, crashing noisily through the underbrush.
When the commotion of his passing had quieted, and the twitter of birds and occasional grunting snarls of alligators resumed, the eyes that had been fixed on Quinn rose out of the bayou water. The creature that belonged to the yellow orbs stood upright. Her skin was so dark green as to appear black, unless the sun struck it a certain way, and it was marked by small, vaguely square striations. She was a sobek, and while the ancient Egyptians had painted her kind as alligator-headed people, Quinn knew that modern humans had long ago lost the skill of discernment – they would see nothing but a reptile when they looked at her.
“They must not stay here,” she growled, water dripping from her large, re-curved teeth.
“I’m trying to discourage them,” Quinn replied.
“Try harder,” she answered.
“If you think this is so easy, why don’t you have a go?” Quinn snapped.
“Swamp fever has kept humans away for many years with– it was a gift they gave us themselves when they brought others of their kind here in chains to labor in their fields. The fever arrived with them. They come, many die, the survivors leave. So it has been, but I fear that not enough of these invaders will perish if they come in great numbers.”
“Perhaps not,” Quinn replied.
He was in two minds about humans. His mother had never forgiven them for killing his father, and yet, he’d had a human foundling child named Virginia who was as kind as she was beautiful. He did not know, however, if she was the exception or the norm. His work often brought him into contact with people. Although, they were typically involved with demons, so they were perhaps not the best representatives of their species. Still, he couldn’t help but like John Allen.
“It was my understanding that you were here to provide assistance,” the sobek woman said.
“I am. I’m just not sure I can accomplish your request.”
The alligator fay snarled at him before she slipped back under the murky water of the bayou.
Quinn didn’t appreciate being dismissed so harshly, but he didn’t fancy going in after her – no telling how many others of her kind were lurking in the muddy water. Besides, the rest of his Mundane Intervention Team – Siobhan, Eoin, Aleksei, and Malik – were waiting for him in Galveston. They had arrived to broker an agreement between the burgeoning human population and the merfolk, who had used the island since it was little more than a sandbar. He shook his head. He hated diplomatic missions, and here he was on not one, but two concurrent ones.
He shifted into the form of a great black horse, and galloped along the waterway. If the bayou was deeper, it would have been faster for him to take his natural kelpie form and swim down to Galveston Bay. Even so, this was not the place to dive in – water fae were notoriously territorial, and the last thing he wanted to do was cause an incident, especially since he was on his own.
Moonlight made the waves shimmer like cut glass, and glinted off the breakers that foamed white before they rolled up onto the beach. The fresh sea breeze was a welcome relief from stifling heat that had oppressed them during the day. Quinn and his team, with the addition of one human in the personage of a Montreal transplant named Michel Branamour Menard, waited at the furthest point on Galveston Island from the busy port, hoping the representative of the West End Sea Tribes Union would arrive soon. She was already late.
Quinn looked at Menard, then at his MIT. Except for Eoin, they could all assume human form, and no one was the wiser. Eoin had his own tricks, however. It would seem that the urisk, who looked human from the waist up, but goatlike from the waist down, would garner a fair amount of attention from panicked humans. But they could stand in front of him and never notice he was there. Unless he desired it. Aleksei, the blue-skinned Lesovik, is what people see when they catch movement out of the corners of their eyes and feel they are being watched in the woods. Unless they look straight at him, in which case he appears to them as a large bush. Even if sighted, recollection of him is slippery, and slides out of the pool of memory like silk over skin. Malik was a djinn, and could take any shape, including none at all, and often did for the sole purpose of amusing himself with pranks against humans. Siobhan could not be readily be distinguished by mortal eyes from a comely young lady of the homo sapiens species. The tips of her ears were perhaps a little more pointed, and her eyes were slightly larger than the typical human.
On the beach, the tide had risen substantially, and warm water encroached on their gathering.
Quinn looked around and shook his head. “It would seem the merfolk have changed their minds. It is half an hour past the designated time, and their representative has not arrived.”
“What does this mean?” snapped Menard.
“It could mean several—” Quinn was cut off by an exquisite and ethereal singing.
Somehow, they had completely missed the approach of the mermaid, because now she sat on the beach not twenty yards away. Her long hair skimmed the sand, and was the same golden brown as the sargassum seaweed that blanketed the beaches in spring. She did not glow, as such, yet even Menard could see her plainly in the dark.
Quinn’s team was immune to her song’s spell, but they could still appreciate the aching beauty of it while they waited for her to finish. Mr. Menard, on the other hand, was utterly mesmerized.
“Greetings,” said Quinn, after the song had stopped.
“Felicitations. Are you the ones that have come to chaffer with me?”
“Indeed,” Quinn replied. “And we have brought with us one Michel Menard, who has ambitions of founding a city on your island.”
He shook Menard’s shoulder, which pulled him out of his trance, then pushed him toward the mermaid. Siobhan rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“B-b-bon soir, m-m-madame,” the man stammered.
“I am called Zara,” the mermaid said, casting her silver eyes up and down the quivering human in front of her. “We have no quarrel, in general, with humans. The Karankawa people lived here for many years in peace.” When she spoke, her sharp teeth flashed in the moonlight.
“B-b-but there are no Indians here now,” Menard said.
“Do you know why that is?” Zara asked.
Menard shook his head. Quinn was unable to determine whether Menard was fearful of Zara, or just dumbfounded by her bare breasts.
“Have you heard tales of the criminal Jean Lafitte?” Zara asked.
Menard nodded.
“Lafitte and his band of miscreants took over the island. They had been here some years when they captured one of our people. She was, of course, reported by the humans to be a Karankawa woman. But when our friends, the tribesmen, tried to free the captive mermaid, they were massacred by the pirates. My people raised the storm that obliterated all of the human habitations and drove them from the island.”
Menard took a step back. “Mon dieu! You claim to call storms?” His voice had lost its nervous stutter and now contained an edge of skepticism.
“You doubt our abilities? Do not force me to disabuse you of your misapprehensions, sir. As long as your people do not harry or harass my people and do not take more than your fair share of fish, we will not be in conflict. It would be ill-considered for you to do otherwise, Mr. Menard.” One of Zara’s eyebrows arched as she spoke. “We are fond of this island, and do not wish to damage it, but we will not be mistreated.”
“Equinoxes cause the big storms, that is common knowledge – that is why they are called ‘equinoctial storms,’ after all,” Menard said, crossing his arms over his amply-padded chest, as if he had suddenly been injected with a massive dose of courage.
“Is that so, Mr. Menard?”
Suddenly a great howling, as of wind screaming around the corners of a building, rose from the sea and swirled around them. Quinn saw the faces of dozens of merfolk bobbing in the surrounding waters. Aleksei and Eoin chattered nervously together, probably making a contingency plan, given that Aleksei couldn’t swim.
Clouds scudded in and smothered the moon. Lightning flashed in the distance. A few fat drops of rain splashed lazily on the group standing on the beach.
“Is it the equinox, Mr. Menard?” Zara asked. Her voice was not loud, but it could clearly be heard over the keening of her people and the howling of the wind.
“Oui. Perhaps. The autumnal equinox is in two weeks.”
The howling increased. The wind got stronger. Menard’s pomaded hair flapped wildly in the squall, and he squinted against the blowing sand. Water ran up the beach and poured over his feet. A clap of thunder boomed above Menard, nearly knocking him to the ground. The force of its rage rippled through the sand. Rain began to torrent down, blown nearly horizontal by the wind.
“Arrêter!” Menard shouted. He dropped to his knees and covered his face. “Please stop. I believe you,” he whimpered.
The howling ceased and the wind went dead calm. The downpour became a sprinkle, and the lightning stopped flickering across the horizon.
“Do we have an agreement?” Zara asked.
“That my people will leave your people alone, and not overfish? Is that all?”
“That is enough. Break this contract at your peril, Mr. Menard.”
With a flick of her tail, Zara pushed herself off of the beach and into the surf.
“That was easy enough,” Quinn said. “Now, what are we going to do about the Allen brothers?”
The Mundane Intervention Team had opted to stay in Mrs. Reynaud’s boarding house for the few days they’d be in Galveston.
“Bon matín, mes amis!” the widow sang at them as they filed into the dining room for breakfast. The smell of fresh-baked bread made Quinn’s stomach protest having to wait another moment for food.
“Good morning,” they all responded, but far from in unison.
Mrs. Reynaud disappeared into the kitchen, and moments later, she returned with plates of food. A young lady of African descent helped serve. Quinn could not help but notice that about half of her left ear was missing. When she noticed him looking, she looked away and turned her head. He felt a twinge of guilt for staring at her.
The MIT was famished, the baguettes were hot, and the cheese was delicious. Their hostess even flaunted tradition and provided a jar of fig preserves, probably from the immense fig tree that shaded her front porch, and a large portion of her yard.
A loud banging on the front door interrupted their meal. Mrs. Reynaud’s assistant fled, bumping into Siobhan in her haste.
“Open up, Miss Rayno. I believe you got some property of mine,” called a loud voice.
“Monsieur, I have no property in this house that does not belong to me.”
Quinn could see the shadows of three men on the front porch against the lacy curtains.
“Now, Miss Rayno, we don’t want to have to break down your door, but we know you got a colored girl in there. She’s a runaway slave. Did you not know that, ma’am?”
“I do not know what you are speaking about. Go away. You are disturbing my guests.”
Quinn looked around at his team, and his lip twitched into the ghost of a smile. “Invite them in,” he said.
“Je ne comprends pas. This makes no sense.” Mrs. Reynaud replied, shaking her head. Her expression implied that death was both preferable and likely if she complied.
“Your secret is safe with us.” Quinn gestured toward the door. “Invite them in.”
Cautiously, Mrs. Reynaud opened the door. Three heavily armed men pushed their way inside.
“Jim Bowie, God rest him, always said you were gonna be trouble,” the man who had done the shouting at the door said. “Now, if you will kindly turn over our property, we’ll be on our way.”
“What property is that?” Quinn asked.
One of the men knocked over a porcelain vase filled with flowers. It smashed on the hardwood floor, scattering water, blossoms and fragments of delicate delft blue floral tracery. It was difficult to tell whether the act was deliberate or accidental. He grinned like an oaf either way.
“Colored girl, ’bout so tall…” He raised his hand, palm down, to his chin.
“What color is she?” Siohbhan asked. “Blue? Orange? Green?”
The three men looked at each other, perplexed. “She’s the same color as your tea, ma’am,” replied the one who had shattered the vase.
“What would you want with her? If such a girl was even here?” Siobhan answered.
The spokesman took a step forward. “Women ought to know their place.”
Quinn glanced at Malik. A grin spread over the djinn’s face, and his eyes glowed metallic green. A breeze blew across the room, and swirled, faster and faster around the three men. They seemed to be frozen, then disappeared for a few seconds. When they re-appeared, they were not at all themselves.
Instead of three armed white men, there stood three black men, shackled and chained together by iron collars. They started to talk to each other, and discovered, to their obvious horror, that they could only speak Swahili.
Aleksei laughed out loud. “There are three slaves who now look like men that were here, yes?”
Malik nodded.
“I would suggest, Mrs. Reynaud, that you quickly get these three to the auction house. Eoin and Aleksei will help you.”
“Non. I would not wish that on even these men. Would you set them free? I’d rather to turn them loose, and let them make their own way.”
Malik nodded, and the chains disappeared.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Siobhan said.
Mrs. Reynaud smiled. “Moi aussi. Me, too.”
The clock struck eight.
“We must be on our way,” Quinn said.
Once outside the boarding house, they strolled to the back of the building, away from prying eyes. Six feet pounded by on the sidewalk as the three slavers-cum-slaves fled Mrs. Reynaud’s boarding house. Malik waved his hand over the MIT. In an instant, they stood just outside of the building site that was quickly turning into the City of Houston.
“I don’t think there’s any way to stop the Allen brothers,” Quinn said.
“Agreed,” replied Eoin.
“You could always eat them,” said Malik.
“I’m assuming that was sarcasm,” Quinn said. Malik knew full well that, although he was quite capable of dining on humans, they gave Quinn terrible indigestion.
Malik shrugged. “People flow to this place like sand through an hour glass. One grain, more or less makes no difference.”
“But what about the sobeks in the bayou?” Siobhan asked.
“Would they consent to being relocated?” Eoin asked.
“Probably not,” Quinn replied.
“Yeccchh!”
A man came around the corner, spitting and wiping his mouth on his sleeve. He clutched an empty tin cup in one hand and a roll of papers in his other.
“Are you alright?” Siobhan asked.
“Fine, fine. This milk has gone off. Doesn’t last long at all in this heat.” He wiped his hand on his pants and extended his hand to Quinn, who was nearest to him. “Gail Borden, surveyor. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“I believe we’ve met,” Quinn said. “John Allen is an acquaintance of mine, and I call upon him from time to time.”
“Ah! So we have. You’re that fellow he’s been taking around town, aren’t you?”
“Yes. These are my associates.” He gestured to the rest of his team, but did not go to the trouble of introducing them to Mr. Borden.
Malik pulled a glass bottle from a pocket in his roomy pants and removed the wax seal from the stopper. “Perhaps you should cook it first,” he said, taking a drink from the bottle.
“Cook it?…Oh, yes the milk! Grand idea, that. Yes. I shall have to look into it. Now, were you looking for Mr. John Allen?”
“I believe he’s gone to Nacogdoches,” Quinn replied.
“Augustus is about, somewhere.”
“We will locate him, should we require his presence. Thank you.”
Borden carried on with his perambulation, and the MIT continued down to the bayou. They had to walk some distance to be out of sight of the construction operations. After calling to the sobeks for nearly an hour and getting no response, Quinn returned his team to the Mundane Activity Monitoring and Intervention Center (MAMIC) in Blackthorne, in the realm of Faery.
MAMIC authorized Quinn to buy a number of plots immediately along Buffalo Bayou to help delay the inevitable conflict between the sobeks and swelling population of the new capital of the Republic of Texas.
Quinn found himself back in Houston two years later, at the sweltering apex of summer.
“You know, my good fellow,” John Allen said to him, as they walked along the water front, “Those plots you bought are highly coveted. Shall we build on them for you? I’m sure you could put a fine house and a business or two on them. Even with no improvements, they’d still sell for a pretty penny.”
“I don’t wish to sell them right now,” Quinn replied.
“I see.” Allen leaned in and lowered his voice. “Confidentially, I’ve had a change of heart. I have told no one yet. But instead of a port, I believe that the bayou should be filled in.”
“We had one steamboat come upstream last year. One. And the bayou is so shallow and choked with weeds, that it was a slow and miserable trip. No, I think it will take too much work to make it of any use. Best to fill it in and rid ourselves of these cursed mosquitoes.” John slapped one of the offending insects on his arm, and it left a bloody smudge on his arm.
Quinn caught a glimpse of yellow eyes in the murky water, but they were gone so fast he wasn’t sure he’d even seen them.
“They seem to be especially bad this summer,” John continued.
Quinn noted small red welts, some scratched bloody, on the man’s bare forearms. He also noted that John looked thinner and paler than the last time they’d met.
“Well, here we are,” John said.
They had arrived at a makeshift tavern, which fit right in with the mostly shanty-town section of city.
“I think it’s a terrible idea,” Quinn said.
“Having a drink? Surely not.”
“No. Filling in the bayou. Are you alright?”
John Allen had crossed his arms over his chest and was rubbing his upper arms as if they were cold.
“I’m, fine,” he replied, perhaps with too much emphasis the last word. “Just a little fever. It comes and goes.”
As they entered the saloon, John’s knees buckled, and Quinn only just caught him before he hit the floor. Quinn laid him out on one of the rickety tables, and the town doctor was called. His office was only next door, and he arrived within minutes, black bag in hand.
The doctor reeked of cheap whiskey, and Quinn wasn’t particularly confident in his abilities. But his diagnosis fit.
“Congestive fever,” he said, nodding his head. “This is the third round of it. Every two days he gets a fever, and he’s sicker each time.”
John Allen, mumbling in his delirium, was carried to his house, but he never woke up.
He died the next day.
Quinn stayed for the funeral. John was only twenty-eight, and had no wife to mourn him. He was laid out in his own parlor, and his mother sat beside the open casket, veiled and dressed in black from head to toe. Quinn shuddered inwardly as he approached to pay his respects – Mrs. Allen wore a large locket with some of John’s hair fixed in a basket weave pattern inside. It was a morbidly peculiar habit, these humans had, he thought.
A tall woman, face disguised by a heavy black veil, stood near the back of the room.
“One Allen down, one to go,” she said as Quinn got near her. He recognized her as the female sobek from the bayou, although none of the humans seemed to notice her.
“I don’t think you’ll be able to stop the humans from coming. There are already too many of them, and more arrive every day. For your own safety, I’d like to help relocate your people.”
There was little point in arguing. He sighed softly. “As you wish.”
“I’m very sorry about your mother,” Quinn told the young sobek. He had not yet lost the blotchy cream stripes of a juvenile, and leadership had been thrust upon him by his mother’s untimely and fatal interaction with a steamboat.
“Thank you. She never gave up on trying to reclaim our territory from the humans.” He looked down and sighed. “Even though many in our tribe had long believed it was a lost cause.”
“I understand.” Quinn said. Miles of rail lines linking Houston to parts north, west and east were already in operation, and grew longer every day, snuffing out any flicker of hope the sobeks might have had about eradicating the human interlopers from their ancestral home. “A place has been cleared for you, about thirty miles to the southwest of here. There was a human river landing built there, but it has been removed. The Brazos River is slowed by many bends in this area, so it should meet your habitat requirements.”
The young sobek nodded slightly and opened the door to what human eyes would perceive as a garden variety stagecoach. It was actually a spatial bubble, which would expand to fit as many as necessary on the inside, but remain the same on the outside.
Quinn held the carriage door open, and the young leader stood opposite him, calling to his people in the croaking, booming language of the sobeks. In small family groups, they rose from the bayou and made their way to the carriage. Heads down, defeated, they walked slowly, and it took longer than Quinn had anticipated to collect them all. When the tear-stained face of the last one disappeared into the inside of the coach, their young leader took one final, sorrowful look around, and climbed in, pulling the door closed behind him.
Quinn climbed into the shotgun seat, and the driver shook the reins and clucked to the horses. Actually, they only looked like horses. In reality, they were a hitch of kelpies – one was even Quinn’s cousin – who could do twice the work of a mortal horse in half the time.
It was late afternoon when the coach arrived at its destination, and twilight was already creeping in on this shortest day of the year. The driver pulled up under an immense, Spanish moss-draped live oak tree on the banks of an oxbow lake, formed by a looping bend in the Brazos River. Tall clumps of Texas giant cane shaded the opposite banks and waded partway into the lake. Sabal palms were sprinkled among the oak, hackberry, and pecan trees. A bull alligator, sunning himself just out of the water, looked up cautiously at them.
Quinn opened the stage coach door, and the young leader was the first to emerge.
“It’s beautiful!” he exclaimed. “It certainly seems a natural park.”
“We’ve got a live one,” Quinn said to his team.
They sat around an oaken table in a conference room at the MAMIC headquarters.
“What is it?” Aleksei asked.
“There’s a demon, possibly two, who’ve helped some humans capture a mermaid. We’ve got to free her, acquire the demons, and neutralize the human witnesses. The method depends on how much they know.”
“Where are we off to, then?” Eoin asked.
“Texas. Again,” Quinn answered.
“Seems to be a lot going on down there,” Siobhan added.
It was still dark when Quinn, Siobhan, Aleksei, Eoin and Malik stepped through the portal onto Galveston Island. Again, they were in the far west section of it.
“It’s about time,” Zara growled.
“I’m sorry for the delay,” Quinn said. “We have been advised that one or more demons is holding one of your tribe captive. Can you apprise us of the situation?”
Anger flashed in Zara’s eyes. “Enough talk. You will do something, and do it now, or I will!”
“I understand that you’re upset. We will do everything we can to rescue the mermaid. But we’ve got to contain the demon. Or is it demons? If we don’t, this will just recur.”
“There are two of them. They’ve shown some of the humans our abode. But our sister. They’ve put her on display at the docks.”
Quinn and Siobhan exchanged looks. “That complicates things. How many of the towns people have seen her?”
“Most. Perhaps all.”
Aleksei swore in Ukranian.
“Do what you will, but know this: a storm has already been called. It is on its way, and is far too big to be stopped,” Zara said. “And we would not do so, even if it were possible. These human vermin have been infesting our island for too long. We have been too patient. No more. They have broken the pact, and they will suffer the consequences.”
“How long do we have before the storm arrives?” Quinn asked.
“It will arrive this afternoon. The sooner, the better.”
“Eoin – I need you to relay this information to Dame Rowan at MAMIC. Aleksei, you’re with him. Guard the portal. Go now.”
The urisk and the Lesovik headed back to the portal, leaving little goat tracks and odd two-toed footprints in the damp sand.
“Take us to where they are holding your sister,” Quinn said to Zara.
The docks heaved with people waiting to pay a nickel each to see the captured mermaid, who was being held in one of the warehouses.
Quinn shook his head. “This makes it much more difficult,” he said, surveying the crush of people.
He, Siobhan, and Malik stood at the edge of the crowd. Quinn spotted the first demon right away – it was the one collecting money from the people waiting in line to gawk at the poor captive. Humans, of course, couldn’t see that he was a demon – he looked like any other bow-tied salesman to them. But Quinn and company could see its bulging yellow eyes, with their vertical slits, and its grass-colored scales. It hadn’t locked onto them yet, but it did pause and wrinkle its nose as if it smelled something offensive.
“Malik, you’ll be the hardest for them to detect. Go through the line to check on the mermaid and see if you can find the other demon. If there is an unobtrusive way to free her, do it, but do not call attention to yourself.”
“And take this trap with you.”
Quinn handed over a clear quartz pyramid, the base of which was a little larger than the palm of his hand. Malik tucked it into his voluminous pocket and joined the queue.
“Shall we move to the exit? I think this fellow’s a bit suspicious of us,” Siobhan said.
They strolled around to the other side of the warehouse to wait for Malik. When he finally emerged, his face was grim.
“She looks very unwell,” he said. “Her skin is quite grey, and she is gaunt, as if she has not been eating. I doubt she will survive the night if she’s not released.”
“What’s the layout of the place? How is the mermaid being held?” Quinn asked.
“There is a warehouse with a trap door in the bottom so a barge bearing cargo can pull underneath it and offload the freight directly into storage. The mermaid is secured in a fishing net which dangles through the trap door, half out of the water, so she can be observed. There are other offices and storage areas throughout the building. I tried to slip the rope holding the net and at least lower her into the water, but it is fixed in place with a spell. “
Quinn scowled. “Any sign of the second demon?”
Malik grinned and retrieved the crystal pyramid. A red liquid swirled furiously around inside of it.
“Outstanding,” Quinn said. “Take that back to MAMIC for safekeeping, then return here.”
Malik left.
Quinn wished the circumstances were different. It was perfect beach weather, warm and sunny. It would have been nice to stroll around with Siobhan and enjoy the day. The breeze had started to pick up, and the water was a little choppy. Although the seagulls were conspicuous by their absence, there was no other hint of what was coming. Something grabbed Quinn’s shoulder, hard, and he winced.
Apparently, there was a third demon.
Siobhan pulled a crystal trap out of her handbag, but before she could activate it, the demon whirled around, Quinn still in its deadly grip, and kicked it out of her hand. It landed in the water with a plop and a splash, then sank out of sight.
“Run!” Quinn yelled.
He shifted just enough that his eyes turned black from edge to edge and his teeth went from flat human to sharp kelpie. He spun under the demon’s grip and bit down hard on its arm. The beast yowled and let go of Quinn’s shoulder. Quinn wiped the demon’s black blood off of his face as he fled, following Siobhan.
Demons are not fast runners, and Quinn and Siobhan quickly outpaced it. However, what demons lack in speed, they make up for in stamina. It would hunt relentlessly until it found them.
“Back to the portal. Need reinforcements,” Quinn panted as he leaned against the side of a dilapidated wooden house. He brushed against a large rosemary bush, thick trunk gnarled and twisted, and it released its resinous aroma profusely.
“Where is it from here?” Siobhan asked.
“Hello? Who’s there?” called a female voice, cracked with age.
Quinn and Siobhan rounded the corner and discovered an elderly woman with coffee-colored skin and white hair sitting on a porch swing. She wore a pearl earring in her right earlobe, but most of her left ear was missing.
“Sorry ma’am, didn’t mean to disturb you,” Quinn said. “We’ll be on our way now.”
“Wait,” the woman said. She tilted her head and furrowed her brow. “I know you. It’s been a very long time. You look…exactly the same. How can that be?”
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” Siobhan answered.
“Yes. We have. I’m sure of it.”
“I don’t think so,” Quinn replied, although there was something vaguely familiar about her. He could hear the slap-slap-slap of the demon’s leather boots on the boardwalk, and it would be on them any second now. “We really have to go.”
The woman stood up and hobbled the few steps to her front door. “Come inside. Please.”
Siobhan nodded to Quinn, and they both ducked into the house. The woman entered behind them and closed the door. She raised her gnarled index finger to her lips, commanding silence. The demon’s footsteps were loud now, outside the house. They could hear it snuffling around, trying to catch their scent. Frustrated, it ran on.
“I hate those things,” the woman said.
“What things?” Siobhan asked.
“Lizard men. Nasty creatures. That’s why I have all the rosemary outside – they hate the smell, and it keeps them away.”
Quinn nodded. “Most people can’t see them. Odd that you can.” Only happens to humans who have been touched by fae. “Thank you for saving us,” Quinn said. “But I don’t believe I know you.” He was only half convinced now that this was true.
“I’ve waited over sixty years to pay back this debt. I was in Ms. Reynaud’s house when the slavers came for me. You stopped them. Both of you.”
“You…were the girl?” Siobhan asked.
“Yes. Lucy is my name.”
“Lucy, it is so good to meet you again. There isn’t much time. You have to gather any friends and family that you care about, and get off the island. Today. Now. There’s a storm coming, and it’s going to be a bad one. We have to go. So do you,” Quinn said.
Lucy nodded. “I guess Dr. Cline was right about his hurricane warning, then.”
By the time that Quinn and Siobhan made their way to the portal and rendezvoused with Eoin, Aleksei and Malik, the afternoon shadows were just beginning to lengthen. The wind had kicked up and the tide was high, higher than normal. To the east and south, the sky was black with rain. Away from the town, they could hear the wrothful howling of the merfolk, calling the storm, making it stronger, pouring their rage into it. They were almost out of time to capture the remaining two demons.
With a blink of his eye, Malik took them back to the docks. The earlier crowds had dispersed, no doubt battening down their hatches, for all the good it would do them, against the approaching storm. Cautiously, expecting a trap, they neared the warehouse. What they heard was someone crying, wailing in grief. Inside the warehouse, they found Zara underneath the dock, clinging to the netting that held the captured mermaid. The captive lay limply on the bottom of the net, arms and hair drifting in the current. The rising water had floated the corpse nearly up into the trap door, and the high swells occasionally pushed her partially through it.
Zara’s head jerked up as they entered. “They have killed her! They will pay for this. They. Will. Pay.” She turned and dove into the water, splashing them with a contemptuous flick of her tail.
A door slammed behind them, in the depths of the warehouse. They all ducked behind wooden crates or bales of cotton, whichever was closest to each.
“Talco?” a demon’s gravelly voice called.
Malik eased a quartz demon trap out of his pocket and handed it to Eoin, who silently twisted the top half of it open.
The demon never knew what hit him as he came through the door. By the time he realized he’d been ambushed, it was too late, and he was locked inside the crystal. Malik tucked the pyramid away.
“Nooo!” screeched a deep, raspy voice.
The demon that had been collecting money to see the mermaid came roaring up at them.
Malik tried stunning it with a spell, but the demon swiped his magic to the side. Aleksei put his head down and drove his shoulder into the demon’s midsection with enough force to knock the wind out of him. As he staggered back, Eoin grabbed one of his arms, while Aleksei wrapped his own arms around the demon’s opposite leg. Demon claws raked Aleksei’s back and head, and deep blue blood oozed from the scratches. Malik grabbed at the flailing claws as the demon lifted Eoin off his feet with the arm that the urisk was attempting to control. The demon would not be laid down on the floor, so Quinn grabbed his foot. He was rewarded with a kick in the face hard enough to bloody his lip, but he and Aleksei were able to yank its feet out from under it. Taking Eoin and Malik with him, the demon thudded to the floor with a loud “Ooof!” Finally, they pinned him to the floor, barely.
Rain pounded the windows, increasing in fury. Wind moaned across the roof, pelting the building with small, forsaken items. Surging water splashed through the open trap door, pushing the cargo net with the dead mermaid onto the warehouse floor.
“We’ve got to get out of here. Who has a trap?” Quinn asked, wiping blood from his mouth.
No one, it turned out.
“I really hate doing this,” Siobhan said, She pulled a golden dagger from her belt. The demon fought – it knew what was coming. “I’m so sorry. If there was any other way…” she said. Then she raised her hand and drove the dagger deep into its heart. The demon bellowed, then exploded in a cloud of noisome ash.
“Go, go, go! We have to get to the portal, now,” Quinn called.
The five fae raced out of the warehouse. The furious wind ripped shingles from the roof, and planks from the walls, and hurled them after the MIT with a vengeance.
Behind them, in the collapsing warehouse, a boy began to wail for the father whose slaughter he had just witnessed through a crack in cargo area door.
“Shhh, Balcones. If you want to live long enough for revenge, we have to go,” his scaly mother called to him.
The seeds of vengeance took root then, in what passes for a demon’s heart, and demanded to be watered with the blood of his enemies. Pain and anger fused into incandescent rage, burning him from the inside out, just like malaria that had consumed John Allen.
“Yes, Mother,” he answered, his yellow eyes fever-bright.
Allen BrothersBlackthorne UniverseGail BordenGalveston 1900houstonJean LafitteKelpieMermaidsMundane Intervention TeamsobekTexas History
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February 18, 2019 - Latest Reviews, Performance
I normally disregard the blurbs on programmes because I love to be surprised by a show and gauge how well they tell a story (or at least gauge how important telling a story is to them).
With Matador, Director, Bass G Fam, and the team of choreographers (Gerard Pigg, Josephine Magliolo, Carmelo Pizzino and Jessica Raffa) tell a thematic story rather than a literal one. And it is wonderful.
Anais Nin once wrote, “I am only responsible for my own heart, you offered yours up for the smashing my darling. Only a fool would give out such a vital organ.” Indeed, love is a strange territory, wondrous yet fraught with risk and danger. Matador explores these qualities of love and other facets and consequences through dance, circus, and burlesque.
The show orbits around Kelly Byrne as the Matador and Ned Zaina as the Bull. As they tease and move around each other, so too do the other performers take to the stage (often hoisted above it) at the Melba Spiegeltent in a series of vignettes that can only be described as incendiary. Lust, betrayal, sacrifice, acceptance, and more – a myriad of scenes play out, from the tentative to the licentious.
The ensemble was strong and always engaging, filling every scene with a series of arresting moments. Artists like Indigo Hunt, whose physical storytelling was so beautiful, performed a perfect tightrope of spectacle and heart. Supported by Craig Boye’s exceptional lighting design and Will Pyett’s superb music direction, Matador is a brilliant work that deserves good audiences across its late night run.
The Melba Spiegeltent, Johnston Street, Collingwood
Performance: Friday 15 February 2019 – 8.30pm
Season continues to 2 March 2019
Bookings: www.eventfinda.com.au
For more information, visit: www.facebook.com for details.
Image: Kelly Byrne and Ned Zaina (supplied)
Review: David Collins
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Melbourne to deliver a bold new global festival
May 16, 2019 - Creative Industries, Festivals, Latest News
A spectacular new festival will redefine winter in Melbourne, with the Victorian Government bringing together ambitious and unique attractions to deliver Victoria’s sixth and only creative major events pillar.
Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley and Minister for Tourism and Major Events Martin Pakula have revealed plans for the new festival – which will celebrate Melbourne’s cultural, creative and culinary strengths.
“This bold new winter festival will build on Melbourne’s standing as a global cultural capital, showcasing our local artists and bringing our cultural arts institutions to life,” said Minister for Creative Industries, Martin Foley.
A new creative team will be charged with developing a diverse program of visual and performing arts, with large-scale takeovers of precincts filling our laneways and venues and celebrating Melbourne’s famed ‘after dark’ culture.
The festival will build on our renowned independent arts scene, having a strong focus on specially commissioned and world-first collaborations between local and international artists. The festival will improve access to cultural experiences for a greater range of Victorians with free and ticketed events, building on our strengths as a vibrant and diverse city.
Beginning with a transitional year in 2020, the festival will combine the long-running Melbourne International Arts Festival and White Night Melbourne Reimagined – creating an event that will sit with the world’s top festivals.
“The new festival will create more opportunities for local artists and creators, attract increased Victorian, interstate and international audiences and will project Melbourne’s cultural excellence to the world, said Melbourne International Arts Festival Chair, Tim Orton.
The new festival will bring Melbourne to life during the quieter winter months and support our bars, restaurants and hotels to be full year-round. It will also showcase regional Victoria with the announced White Night Bendigo in 2020 and Geelong in 2021.
“This new festival will showcase everything Melbourne has to offer on an international scale, boosting our economy and enticing more visitors from around the world while helping to keep our hotels, restaurants and cafes bustling in the quieter winter months,” said Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Martin Pakula.
The festival will provide a boost to Victoria’s world-leading major events calendar – which contributes $1.8 billion to the Victorian economy each year – as well as increasing cultural tourism. The first winter festival will be staged in 2020 over several weeks, with exact timings to be finalised.
Image: Melbourne Festival Fire Gardens (2018) – photo by Sarah Walker
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Board index » Book Discussion » Minas Tirith (The Return of the King) » Why didn't Arwen sailed over?
[ 99 posts ] Go to page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Next
Dumanyu
Location: Western New York
Frodos-Guide wrote:
Dumanyu wrote:
Just think of what would have happened if she had left for the Undying Lands. Both Aragorn and Arwen would have to live with the wonderings of what fate the other befell. If you I were madly in love like that, I'd die. I can't even imagine what that would feel like.[/color]
I think Aragorn would have fallen in love with Eowyn.
I disagree with that!! Aragorn probably would have spent his life alone, which would have been bad for the Kingdom, as there would have been no heir.
"I am Anduril, who was Narsil, let the thralls of Mordor fear me".
Translation of the blade.
Posted: October 13th, 2006, 10:36 am
Frodos-Guide
Location: With Frodo and Sam in the Shire
Why do you think that? Ye she clearly tells Eowyn that he cannot give her what she seeks etc. But there is no saying that he would not have eventually fallen in love with her. There are many people who believe that Eowyn would have been far better suited to Aragorn, i myself am one of those believers, although i do believe Arwen and Aragorn are great too together.
<center><font size="0">'Before you came along we bagginses were <i>very</i> well thought of...never had any adventures or did anything unexpected!''</font></br><a href="http://www.frodoforever.com/"><img src="http://www.hufflepuffpride.com/frodo/claim2.gif" border="0" width="200" height="120"></a>
Posted: May 21st, 2007, 4:56 pm
Fool of a Took
Movie Extra
Location: Shire
I believe Arwen did not sail over into the west because she knew that if the Ring was destroyed and Aragorn was still alive he would finally take the throne that was right for him.
Therefore, she stayed in Middle-Earth knowing what her fate would be.[Old age.] True love has also played a part in why she stayed also.
And as it has been said before it is not certain that Gimli was accepted in the Undying Lands. This is because Gimli was a dwarf and we all know of the rivalry between the races of Elves and Dwarves.
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
=] No worries! I think you explained it well, love.
Posted: June 22nd, 2007, 4:35 am
evenstarelfe
Idril Falastári wrote:
I agree - she made the choice to be mortal, and when she became mortal, even if there were all the Elven ships in the world to take her, she could not have gone.
i agree also. she decided to stay with aragorn and die in me. i think that even if she could go to valinor although she choose to be mortal she wouldn't. i agree with all of you who say that she had this one chance to decide, and that once she has she couldn't reverse it. that is why this decision was hard to make.
Post subject: The main lesson.....
Posted: November 5th, 2007, 6:03 pm
Sinbearer
Gondorian
Eä wrote:
...Basically I think it's because it appears wierd to me that... well, that (some) elves would be reincarnated after they died... In my head people stay dead when they are dead.. or at least they should in Middle-earth. Perhaps because I find it colliding with the whole immortality concept... when an immortal being dies it is somehow even worse than when a mortal dies, because it was not meant to be, not natural for their race. And then they can't come running back from the Halls of Mandos to get another shot...
The strange thing is that I don't have a problem with the idea of reincarnation in Buddhism or Hinduism... but here.. it just doesn't fit into the picture I got... I'm sorry I can't explain it more...
Tolkien may have included reincarnation in his story of the elves but I don't feel that he was making a theological statement by doing that. I think the greatest lesson the Elves bring to us is what a blessing death is for men in a dark fallen world. Mortality is not shown as being undesirable in comparison with immortality—whereas mortal men are "doomed to die", elves are "doomed not to die", not, at any rate, until the earth itself ends. There are certainly other lessons for us to learn from the elves but that death in this world is a both a gift of freedom and a gift of God is at the top.
As far as reincarnation and resurrection? I believe the concepts are mutually exclusive at the bottom line. You cannot logical hold BOTH to be true.
Aragorn certainly hinted at a resurrection in his last words to Arwen as he died. "....and beyond them is MORE than memory. Farewell!" More than memory? In order to have a memory of each other they must be resurrected from death as the same people or there would be no recognition or continuing on of their relationship. And the human experience involves more than a mind meld. It also involves an intense craving for physical touch so I believe for that relationship to be meaningful and to embrace and be even more than memory, it must be physical to. ie a physical resurrection. (regardless of our extrapolations on the final lot of the elves at world's end)
Elves are not humans but they are included in Tolkien's tale to teach us something about humans. After all, in our world, humans are everywhere but it is awfully hard to find elves! (I am so glad they exist in our immaginations though!)
"If you do not find a way, no one will."
Posted: November 6th, 2007, 6:28 am
Aerandir
Location: Mithlond
Aerlinniel Leryanëlyën wrote:
Darrell wrote:
There is something I feel I have to clear up before I put my opinion on this subject. Arwen was not Half-elven!!!!! Her mother was an Elf, and her father was an Elf by choice. Therefore, Arwen was a FULL BLOODED ELF. *breathes deeply* Sorry about that
*cough* *sputter*
Ehm...I disagree. It's for sure there've been more half-Elven people in M.E. (like Imrahil's ancestors ) and we don't know if they had a choice or not. That's got to do with genes, and Tolkien didn't explain that completely.
But Elrond & family is another case. They didn't have a choice ONLY because they were Half-Elven. And, technically, Elrond wasn't even half-Elven since BOTH of his parents, Elwing and Earendil, chose to be Elves. So he was technically a full Elf. But he and his brother had the choice to be Elven/Human since Earendil, their father, had a choice because of saving the Noldor Edain. That's why they're still called half-Elven. I don't know why Elros' children didn't have a choice, but maybe his direct descendents had. Just not when they were another generation of mingling with "normal humans" further.
So Arwen's half-Elven, methinks. Not technically, but because she did have a choice.
And I'm sorry to say this...but I think the idea of Aragorn falling in love with Eowyn after Arwen had sailed away is a bit ridiculous, sorry.
If Arwen+Aragorn was true love...you don't just "get over it"
Maybe he would eventually have married since the Kingdom needed a heir and it was his responsibility, but I don't even think he'd do that. The kingdom would probably pass on to another Dunadan who was related to the old Kings.
Sorry if I offended anyone.
Well, I don't want to inadvertently move the discussion about why Elrond and Elros got to choose over to here, but I just thought I'd mention that Eärendil and Eldarion were really only two 'half' elves of Edain descent--Beren&Lúthien, Tuor&Idril, and Aragorn&Arwen were the only three unions of Elves and Edain, according to...either The Unfinished Tales or The Silmarillion, I think. Or the appendices.
Anyway, Dior Aranel wasn't truly half-elven, as he had a mixture of Edain, Sindarin, and Maiar blood in him.
I definitely have to agree with you, though, on the point of Éowyn, Aerlinn--I consider it highly improbable that Aragorn would fall in love with her. He was in love with Arwen, and that was it. No, I don't doubt that he had some affection for Éowyn, but I don't think it was much more than that, nor likely to progress beyond that if Arwen had sailed to Valinor.
Sinbearer, I like that point (resurrection and reincarnation). Of course, it is made someone invalid, as it deals with immortal elves, as opposed to Aragorn, a mortal. It's my opinion that he and Arwen could only be reunited after death after the Dagor Dagorath, since I don't get the impression from reading LotR that Arwen gave up her immortality--she chose to stay with Aragorn in that lifetime. I don't doubt that she died afterward, but by all rights, she'd go to the Halls of Mandos, instead of passing beyond the circles of the world, as Men do.
That's something I'll have to think about.
The keyword there was 'Edain', Aerlinniel. There are only three instances of one of the Edain marrying an elf.
And I don't recall (right now, at least) any instance that implied that Arwen did anything other than remain behind. Perhaps you're thinking of the movie, since it showed it as her giving up her immortal life.
Post subject: More than a memory....
Posted: November 6th, 2007, 11:15 am
Aerandir wrote:
I am in deep waters here for me but I just feel that if you look at Aragorn's dying words logically, they prophetically predict a place somewhere sometime where Arwen and he would be together again...with the same souls and the same bodies. Otherwise the experience would certainly not be more than the memories they shared together.
I missed that bit about Mithrellas, sorry. That does put a cramp in my comment, yet--can you name a third case of a Noldorin Elf marrying an Edain?
See, I knew there were three cases, involving Edain and Elves. I thought that perhaps it was merely three cases of Edain and Noldorin, yet who'd be the third Noldorin elf?
(it's an interesting thing that in all of the unions, the guys are all human, whereas the females are the elves. Never vice-versa, to my knowledge)
Yes, but there's the problem--the men are all Edain, sure, but Lúthien isn't fully Elvish, though she's still commonly classified as one. However, she was not Noldorin. Thingol was Teleri, or Sindarin at best. Not Noldorin.
So there were no three unions of Edain and Noldorin.
Though perhaps Tolkien contradicted himself in this situation.
Posted: November 6th, 2007, 12:05 pm
I'm pretty sure as well. Not that I know much about the two of them, besides the fact that Aegnor has one of the coolest names that Tolkien came up with.
Posted: December 15th, 2007, 1:16 pm
Guard of the Citadel
Location: IN
WOW! I just read this thread for the first time, being new to the board. You guys just blew my mind. If I understand you correctly, you are basically saying that Arwen essentially gave up nothing then to stay with Aragorn, for she is still immortal. Now, let me state for the record that I am NOT an expert on Elves as all of you appear to be, okay? But I have read the triology a lot. When Aragorn dies, she states that she cannot go to the Undying Lands (she has given that as a gift to Frodo to remain with Aragorn) and she retreats to Lorien and lays herself to rest upon Cerin Amroth. Yet, according to you, she still has immortality. If that is so, then why was the parting with Elrond so grievous? He would be seeing her again. And what "sacrifice" did she make to remain in Middle-Earth with Aragorn? In my "simple" eyes, she didn't if she still retains her elvish immortality. I thought that was the "price" she paid in order to have a life with Aragorn, which grieved Elrond so.
Am I just stupid?
http://www.imagine-discoverthemagic.com ... _main.html
Post subject: I think not!
Stupid? I think not! Those are some very clear questions that most certainly need answers that fit the facts you have brought up. The answers are very important because they have to do with the nature of love and relationships.
In behaving as Arwen did in the face of the far reaching consequences she gives us a breathtaking example of what love really is. Not only did she give up her family but she chose the crushing death of a broken heart in exchange for immortality! But what does it say about love if she can have her cake and eat it too? Even if she could have potentially lived with Aragorn for all his life, and then elected to, as Aragorn says, "repent and go to the Havens" (reclaim her immortality), what would that say about their love? Aragorn would have never been more than a distraction—an experiment to while away just a fraction of her spectacular lifespan. The extent of her love for him shines bright only in the face of what she gives up.
There is a lot more I could say about the dynamic and far reaching ramifications of this that I cannot say here.
But did she give up as much as it seems? What is life without true love? It is not the quantity of either that really matters, it is the quality.
Posted: December 16th, 2007, 10:16 am
~Elfin Maiden~
Location: Imladris
I'll jump into this discussion and try to give IMHO what I feel happened to Arwen at her death. First of all Tolkien loved to reprise his themes, thus we have the love story of Beren (mortal) and Luthien (immortal), than Aragorn (mortal) and Arwen (immortal). I think we all can agree on this fact that both Beren and Aragorn both men and mortal fell head-over-heels in love with elvin maidens Luthien and Arwen who were immortal. Each of the fair-maidens fathers though, felt very strongly against their daughters marrying theses men even though they both were of sterling qualities and not the run-of-the-mill humans.
We all know how the love story of Beren and Luthien ended. Mandos, moved to pity by Luthien's songappealed to Manwe, on their behalf etc...and Luthien was given a choice to either dwell in Valinor forever--but without Beren, or she could become mortal and return with Beren to Middle-earth. She choose a brief life of a mortal with limited happiness but shared with her true love. They settled on Tol Galan, the Green Isle, in Ossiriand and lived happily in their love until the end of their days. Thus she died, not going to the Halls of Mandos. At that time Luthien became the only Elf to die and leave the confines of the world, her choice of mortality forever joined the two children of Iluvatar, the immortal Elves and mortal Men.
We now come to the love story of Aragorn-Isildur's sole heir to Arnor and Gondor, and Arwen, the only daughter of Elrond, master of Rivendell-reprising the love story of their ancestors Beren and Luthien. I find it very interesting how Aragorn and Arwen's story refers back at times to that of Beren and Luthien's story. You almost have to know Beren's and Luthien's story to make full sense of Aragorn's and Arwen's.
In the LOTR, Aragorn sings part of a song of Luthien Tinuviel, a song that tells of the initial meeting of Beren and Luthien in the glade in the forest of Neldoreth. And rhis is precisely how Aragorn first met Arwen. The day after Elrond revels to Aragorn his true, royal ancestry, Aragorn is walking by homself at sunset in the woods around Rivendell, singing (you guesses it ) the Lay of Luthien when, it seemed, Luthien herself appears before him. Aragorn actuall calls out to her and uses the nams, Tinuviel that Beren used when he first laid eyes on Luthien. Arwen explains that she's often compared to Luthien, though she doesn't yet revel Luthien as her ancester. She tells Aragorn that she is not Tinuviel, but that she may yet share her fate.[u]
Both Aragorn and Arwen's family members, Gilraen, Aragorn's mother and Elrond, Arwen's father try to discourage them from falling in love.
Elrond has a special reason for not wanting Arwen not to marry Aragorn, a mortal and, perhaps become one herself. He himself was the child of a marriage between an Elf-princess and a mortal (Elwing & Earendil) and as a consequence he lost both his parents and his twin-brother, Elros, to human mortality. Elrond and Elros both were given the choice which fate thet wanted: mortal human or immortal elf. Only Elrond choose immortality and was thus permanently seperated from his family. If Arwen chooses mortality to marry Aragorn, Elrond will loose his only daughter in exactly the same way. She chooses a mortal live and marries her true love Aragorn.
Aragorn and Arwen live as happily as they can as mere mortals. It is only when Aragorn at last comes to the end of his days and lays down his life that Arwen feels the full impact of her choice of a mortal life and the human bitterness over death and realizes exactly what she has sacrificed for the love of her life, for she realizes that there is no ship that would bear her hence to the Undying Lands and that she will indeed abide the Doom of Men. Arwen in great sorrow returns to Lothlorien only to find it deserted -- Galadriel and Elrond have left for the Undying Lands. There in Lothlorien, she faces her utter loneliness and lies down to die on the green hill of Cerin Amroth, where she and Aragorn first pledged their love.
So just as Luthien died as a mortal, so did Arwen. They had accepted the 'special gift' that the creator Eru Iluvatar had bestowed on humankind. They died, they did not go on living in another world, so to speak. That is why Men felt that the Firstborn, Elves, who recieved immortality got the greater gift, immortality.
So in my books, Arwen died, no after-life!!
[font=Arial, sans-serif]
Banners & avatar by; Arwen & Azriel Estermiriel [/font]
Posted: December 17th, 2007, 1:08 am
Hmmmm....not sure if I am being called stupid or not being called stupid but that really doesn't matter anyway. As I stated, I'm not an expert on Elves and I don't know about this "Halls of Mandos" that you are referring to. I would assume that anything that had to do with the Elves would naturally not be associated with Middle-Earth, otherwise Arwen would have retreated there (Lorien being the closest she could get to it at the time); thus these "Halls" would be in the Undying Lands? If so, she plainly told Aragorn that "there was now no ship that would bear me hence, and I must indeed abide the Doom of Men." And even earlier in the tale, when Elrond learned of the choice of his daughter, "he was silent, though his heart was grieved and found the doom long feared none the easier to endure." Later, when speaking to Aragorn he said: "Alas, my son! I fear that to Arwen the Doom of Men may seem hard at the ending." Therefore, what is the Doom of Men that they are referring to?
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Additional announcement
http://arwen-undomiel.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=22774 Page 1 of 1
Author: A-U Moderators [ August 12th, 2013, 1:41 am ]
Post subject: Additional announcement
Lately some people have brought to our attention that they feel uncomfortable talking about their relationships, because they are engaged in same-sex relationships. We were very sorry to hear that, and would like to make a general statement and reminder that everyone should feel free to discuss his/her relationship, whether that be same-sex or not. We want A-U to be welcoming of all individuals regardless of sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, political beliefs, and age.
In addition, we would like to say that sexual preference and the expression of that will be treated the same way as religion. That means everyone is allowed to express their sexual preference, and assaulting or bashing that preference is not okay. If you want to discuss that topic with someone who shares your opinion, feel free to continue that discussion via PM. But please come to us if you ever feel attacked after expressing your sexual preference or religion.
As always, for any questions or remarks please contact us
[x] A-U Moderators
Author: Fedral144 [ December 6th, 2014, 1:43 am ]
Post subject: Re: Additional announcement
A lot of things were changed this year for the Hallowfest from the first year. One most prominent aspects was the fact that it was two weeks instead of one.
http://www.pass4-sure.info
Did this work better in theory or in reality? What do you think? Was it still going too fast? Impossibly fast? Or faster than you would've liked to enjoy the 'fest?
I also added the idea of winning challenges to be exempt from guesses. Do you think this is fair? Do you think it makes it more interesting? Why? Why not?
Were the clues easier to figure out this year, now that most have had experience under their belt? Were they still too obscure (this being ones that weren't red herrings)?
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Ras Nebyu: The Singing Rapper Spreading ‘Slizzatrism’ Across The World
By Teta Alim
Emcee Ras Nebyu, whose crew is called the Washington Slizzards, makes "conscious" music with melody and bounce.
Ras Nebyu is awake, but he doesn’t necessarily call himself a “conscious rapper.”
“I can’t put all of my talents in the ‘conscious rapper’ box,” says the rising hip-hop artist from D.C. Sure, his lyrics cover politics, love and empowerment, but since his laid-back 2011 tape Kennedy Street Teachings, Nebyu has grown upward and outward.
“I was being me [when I started out], but I was being the ‘safe’ me,” says Nebyu, 24. Now he’s taking on more — including singing, which he does frequently on his 2014 tape Ras Griffin III and melodious singles such as “No Love.” He’s even gone global, taking his act to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where he performed this summer.
Warning: Explicit lyrics.
Nebyu has been heading in this direction since his primary-school days. The Northwest D.C. native says in fifth grade, he wrote his first song: a braggadocious track called “Can’t Touch Me.” Years later at Benjamin Banneker High School, Nebyu and a childhood friend started exploring music together. Now that friend, who calls himself The Arckitech, crafts many of the woozy instrumentals on Nebyu’s tapes.
The collaboration between The Arckitech and Nebyu led to a bigger concept called the Washington Slizzards. That moniker — a playful take on D.C.’s NBA team name — arose out of a joke between Nebyu and his cousin in 2011. Now “Washington Slizzards” is Nebyu’s hallmark and the name of his creative crew.
Ras flashes his tattoo, a word in black ink on his hand: “slizzatrism.” The term defines the essence of the Washington Slizzards.
“It’s the art of finessing good energy to work in your favor by way of pure intent, meditation and acknowledging the ancestors,” Nebyu says. He uses “slizzatrism” everywhere — on his Twitter page, his Instagram account and the title of his next release, expected next year.
Nebyu’s most recent song, “Naturale,” emerged in October. Hypnotic and metallic, it meditates on allegiances and the importance of black women’s roles in the world and his life. The song’s producer, Ibrahim Keita, opened the door to Nebyu’s trip to Ivory Coast, where he shared a stage with popular Nigerian artist Wizkid, worked with Keita’s band on a live EP and shot a music video. (The EP and music video are forthcoming.)
Nebyu says he hopes his trip to Africa will be the first of many. Someday, he says, he will make it to Ethiopia, where his family has roots. In the meantime, he’s working on spreading slizzatrism across D.C., where he recently opened for critically acclaimed rapper Vince Staples. Next up: the rest of the U.S.
“We got a story as deep as New Orleans, Oakland, New York, L.A.,” Nebyu says, referring to D.C. artists’ inroads into cities across the country. “It just hasn’t gotten that deep yet as far as telling that story on a national level.”
Ras Nebyu performs at U Street Music Hall Dec. 27. Top photo: Ras Nebyu and the Washington Slizzards in the video “Half Man, Half Slizzard.”
Tags Hip-Hop, Ras Nebyu, The Arckitech
Featured, Local, Music Videos, Sounds
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The greatest indoor show on earth’s greatest fan site
The Greatest Indoor Show on Earth
Once hailed as the biggest mall in the world, Canada's West Edmonton Mall still stands today as North America's largest mall.
However, make no mistake, there's a reason they call it The Greatest Indoor Show on Earth. Much more than a shopping mall, it contains an incredible collection of attractions, sights and expereiences. From nd indoor lake to the world's largest indoor amuesement park, the awe-inspiring magnitude of this establishment can impress even the most seasoned travelers.
Since opening in 1981, and through several expansions thereafter, the mall has established itself as arguably single most iconic landmark in northern Alberta, and perhaps even all of western Canada. Tourists and locals alike return to the mall to experience and re-experience an adventure one would be hard pressed to find anywhere else.
Welcome to the unofficial home of all things West Edmonton Mall, we are not affiliated with West Edmonton Mall, or Triple Five® Worldwide.
What Happened to Bourbon Street? What Happened to the Phase III Food Court? When Archie Comics Visited WEM! Marvel's Alpha Flight Saved WEM Pt. 2! Marvel's Alpha Flight Saved WEM Pt. 1! What Happened to
Lazer Maze? More Videos >>
VR 360 Videos
Video Tour of WEM
The Shoot Out Saloon Swing of the Century
Ride Cam Galaxy Orbitor
Ride Cam Autosled
Ride Cam Galaxyland Express
Ride Cam More Videos >>
Explore and experience the largest shopping and entertainment destination in North America!
Everything that brings you to West Edmonton Mall, and brings you back again.
View attractions...
The Mall has existed for over 30 years, look back over what has come and gone.
History...
Immersive and enthralling photos bring West Edmonton Mall closer than ever before.
View Photos...
Entertaining and interesting videos immerse you in Edmonton's super mall.
Watch videos...
Delve into a random "Did you know?", "huh!", or "Well, who woulda thunk it!".
This site is not affiliated with West Edmonton Mall, or Triple Five® Worldwide | Special Thanks to Kyle D for being our first Patreon Supporter!
YouTube Twitter Terms of Use FAQ Contact
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Bali Museum is located on Mayor Wisnu Street in Denpasar with it’s location exist in the strategic area right in the center of Denpasar City, easy to locate from any directions and there are important or famous points located close by. Bali Museum is one of the museums in Bali collecting the ancient objects related to the history of Bali Island generally. The existence of this museum is very important to preserve the ancient and historical objects that have a noble culture values and a legacy of Balinese ancestors.
Museum Founders
The construction of Bali Museum is begun from the idea how does the important to keep, maintain and sustainable the Balinese culture heritages. This initiative was based on sense of worry that there are symptoms such culture erosion, hence the culture heritages have become extinct, lose and leave the photos only. To save the Balinese culture heritages, come the plan to establish a museum which is now ell know as Bali Museum.
As the initial planning, the initiators of Bali Museum founders are the Dutch government officials, the kings in Bali, community leaders and artist such as:
WFJ Kroon (Dutch Resident Assistant), Curt Grundler (a German Architecture), I Gusti Alit Ngurah (Bestuurder Penegara Bandung), I Gusti Bagus Jelantik (King of Karangasem), I Gusti Ketut Djelantik (King of Buleleng), King of Tabanan and some of famous artists such as I Gusti Ketut Kandel, I Gusti Ketut Rai. The plan had been taken in 1910 with the basic concept of Bali Museum structure is blend between the Balinese Hindu Temple and a castle (palace).
After the building structure concept had been agreed, then it had been founded a new main building which has been completed in 1942. Therefore the object collections are successfully collected and deemed inadequate, hence approximately within 7 years (1925 – 1932), the main building has been functioned as periodic exhibition venue. The experts who contributed in researching the objects used as the collection by Bali Museum are DR.W.F.Stutterheim, G.I.Grader, G.M.Hendrikss, DR.R.Goris and Walter Spies (painter).
Bali Museum was initially handled by the Bali Museum Foundation and officially opened on 8 December 1931.
The museum management is taken over to the government of Indonesia by Bali Museum Foundation on 05 January 1966
The object collections or ancient tools kept at Bali Museum can be classified into prehistoric object collections such as tomb stone (sarkopagus), the object collection from the historical era such as Stupika clay containing mantra 'Ye te', bronze statues (Arca Perunggu), and ethnographic objects such as the collection of Kris, Endek material, religious ceremony equipment and Sidakarya Mask.
Nowadays, this museum has been opened for public that is easily visited since it is appointed as one of tourist destination in Denpasar, Many tourists from local and foreign country have visited this museum and were allocated in tour itinerary on Denpasar Tour Package. Besides visiting the museum, tourists can also visit other Places of Interest in denpasar City suchas Badung Traditional Market, Jagat Natha Temple, Bali art Center, and Bajra Sandhi Monument.
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Passive Iocalization of acoustic sources in media with non-constant sound velocity ' [abstract]
T. Scott Brandes (1998). Passive Iocalization of acoustic sources in media with non-constant sound velocity ' [abstract]. Bioacoustics, Volume 9 (2): 155 -156
There is a growing concern in the literature about the effects of low frequency sounds (LFS) on marine mammals. A primary way to assess these effects on marine mammals involves the study of disturbance reactions. Detailed research of disturbance reactions of submerged marine mammals requires 3- dimensional localization and tracking of the animals. Animals such as sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus are localized passively with the use of travel time differences (TTD) of their vocalizations received by multiple hydrophones at known positions. Classically, straight-line paths of sound propagation between source and receiver are used to calculate source position. A more accurate calculation of source position involves naturally occurring non- constant sound speeds. This gives rise to arced paths of sound propagation between source and receiver. An algorithm is used to recursively pinpoint source position in a medium with a non-constant sound speed. 5 hydrophone array configurations are tested, each with 30 randomly generated source positions. Average errors of the 150 source position calculations (x, y, z) are (±1.58m, ±1.70m, ±10.44m) for the straight line, and ±0.76m, ±0.87m, ±1.10m) for the algorithm. On average, the algorithm improves the source depth calculation by an order of magnitude.
environmental acoustics
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#AFFDisrupt2019: How technology disruptions are changing banking dynamics
Evidently, the future of banking is now; as innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, machine learning and other technologically advanced tools are changing banking dynamics world over.
A Futurist, Author, and Chief Executive Officer, Moven, United Kingdom, Brett King, he reiterated that technology is moving much faster than before, stressing that in such an environment of rapid change, “you either disrupt or get disrupted.”
King while speaking at the Africa Fintech Foundry (AFF2019) Disrupt Conference, organised by Access Bank, stated that is the world continuously advances at the rate of current technological advancement, there will be more robots than human beings in he next five to six years.
In the financial services sector, the futurist hailed Nigeria for leapfrogging in technology adoption saying that Nigeria probably has more modern payment systems than the United States.
However, he warned that, “disruption is central to the survivability of the banks and other sectors,” stressing that “with technology like machine learning, artificial intelligence opening more bank branches will become unfashionable”
“We are in era where cars have more information than the human driver; this is the big disruption”.
“AI in the future will be able to notify you of an intending scam and who wants to scam you. Disruptions are no respecter of persons or industries. For instance, China is 10 years ahead of the USA. With AI technology the Chinese government can recognize its 1.4billion population with CCTV cameras.”
Giving his opening speech on the future of intelligent banking; Herbert Wigwe, MD/CEO of Access Bank, stressed on how technology is demystifying services and products.
He said that this is more about data and its transferability, noting that being an intelligent bank is no longer an option, but a necessity.
“There was a time when payments could only be made through Cheques. Now, through technology, transactions worth billions can be made in seconds. That is how much the world has changed.”
“This is more about data and its transferability. The payment system like all other system is benefiting from it. There has been a massive improvement in collection, processing and transferability of data. That is the improvement worth celebrating,” Wigwe said.
The conference which featured different panel sessions on topics bordering venture capital, the future of gaming and artificial intelligence, regulation technology, the future of cash in a digital world, a robotics demo, fireside chats and master classes, had in attendance, industry experts, and technology enthusiasts from all around the world.
Posted in Artificial intelligence, Technology
NIRSAL, MECA sign pact with World Bank on agric mechanisation →
← Why new capital seeks investment, living space in The Seattle Residences
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Now that the shell of Vodafone’s new call centre in Stoke-on-Trent is nearly complete, half of the fitting out has been done. Planned to open in the autumn, it will bring together 1,150 staff at four nearby sites. Work on the £15m project began in October 2008 and it is a joint venture between Stoke City Council and St Modwen, regeneration specialists. It wil have two open plan double height areas for 850 agent positions, 450 to the north of the building and 400 in the south. Other features include a 250-seat cafeteria and a 420-space care park. RPS Design, acting for the developer, is repsosible for the shell and core and mostof the fit out and CMI Workspace is actring for Vodafone on furntiure layout and the finishing touches. Alan McBeth, technical/design director with RPS, said: “It will be a trailblazer.” Pictured: the exterior at present and some statistics.
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Sculpture garden plan for railway arch park ruined by street drinkers
Hairdresser Michael Ptootch unveils proposals to transform Camden Gardens
25 April, 2019 — By Dan Carrier
Hairdresser Michael Ptootch
A PARK with an unenviable reputation for nuisance behaviour and low-level crime could become home to a series of outlandish art works if an eye-catching proposal drawn up by a Kentish Town art gallery owner and hairdresser wins a design competition.
The future of Camden Gardens, sandwiched between Camden Street and Kentish Town Road, is up for discussion following a competition run by business group Camden Town Unlimited. It is looking for ideas of how the public space under the railway arches could be better used.
Michael Ptootch, of Flaxon Ptootch, who has been a long-time campaigner for the park to be used for art projects, submitted detailed designs to the competition judges last week.
A railway carriage cafe
The triangle patch of land, which has a railway viaduct cutting across it, has been used at Christmas to sell trees, but also has been plagued with graffiti and street drinking.
The arches and park will, it is hoped, become the start of the Camden High Line project – a £50m bid to turn an unused railway line running from Camden Town to King’s Cross into an elevated green space, modelled on a similar project in New York.
Mr Ptootch said: “I came up with the idea back in 2015, when the council ran a consultation for ideas as to what could be done to improve it. This is a historic public space and I want to make it into a creative epicentre for Camden Town – an open, invigorating, welcoming place for public art.”
In his proposals, designs show one arch being used to park a restored railway carriage or double-decker bus, which would be a café and office space. Another arch would be left open while a third would have a marquee fitted inside. This would be used for meetings, shows and exhibitions.
The events marquee in the proposals
Mr Ptootch added: “We envisage a series of sculptures, some permanent, other temporary like the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square. My ultimate dream would be to get a Henry Moore here.”
Camden Town Unlimited chief executive Simon Pitkeathley said the space needed improvement. His group hoped that by running the competition – which has a prize budget of £22,000 for the winning entry to use – a number of ideas would be put forward.
Simon Pitkeathley
He added: “If you spend time there now, you’ll know it is a great place for street drinking, taking drugs and sleeping rough. We would like to make it more usable for everyone in Camden. It could do with a rethink. There is a lot of potential – the arches could become a commercial space, for example. We are looking for interesting designers to help think what it could become. We are open to all ideas – wacky or otherwise. This park could be a really valuable part of the High Line project.”
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Home Forums > Football > Miami Dolphins >
Bobby Carpenter
Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins' started by bigunreal, Oct 7, 2006.
bigunreal Mentor
Just read where the Cowboys' #1 draft pick this season, LB Bobby Carpenter, is going to be active for this week's game (to play on special teams and nickel defenses). I guess that is some kind of a victory for a white player. The story had some quotes from Carpenter, who is clearly trying to control his understandable frustration. Coach Parcells' only apparent response to this was that Carpenter was still trying to "figure out what's going on." Yeah, he should have figured out what is going on; a club that drafted a player in the first round is discriminating against him, and treating him like it would treat no non-white #1 draft pick, simply because of the color of his skin. Carpenter has been a healthy scratch for 2 of the first 3 games this season. When was the last time a black #1 draft pick was inactive for 2 of the first 3 games of the season? I just wish one of these white guys would just come out and accuse his team of racism. He'd be crucified in the media, but if a few others spoke out afterwards in support (it's always hardest to find someone to speak out first), then even the jock sniffers would have to address the issue.
\"Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.\"
-Lord Acton
bigunreal, Oct 7, 2006
Guest Guest
Parcell's is totally infatuated with all negroes what is happening to Carpenter should'nt suprise anyone look how much of the B. S. he put up from the dumbest nigroe of them all.
Guest, Oct 8, 2006
whiteCB Master
I think Bobby held out for some of training camp which probably hurt him as far as learning the defense and all that crap. Also it probably hurt him in the eyes of Parcells as Bill always holds his white players to higher standards then the blacks ones. Bobby will play more and more as the year goes on and will be starting by next season. A lot of rookies don't start their first year but do so by their second one. Carpenter is a speical talent that will be playing, don't worry.
whiteCB, Oct 9, 2006
lumsdenpower Mentor
Who is better?Ware or Carpenter?
lumsdenpower, Oct 9, 2006
That is irrelevant becuase Ware is a weak side OLB and Carpenter is a strong side OLB. So they aren't even competing for the same position.
yeah i know but if you has to choose one guy?ware or carpenter?
ocaamikedm11 Mentor
Look at McCoy who faced a similar situation with the Eagles last season and is now a good player and their lone white starter on D.. I expect Bobby to start next season.
ocaamikedm11, Oct 9, 2006
backrow Hall of Famer
they are totally distinct as players... Ware is a pass rushing LB-DE hybrid with good size, but Carpenter should be a great linebacker in every aspect of the game, if his career in Ohio State was any indication. can't really compare those two players.
backrow, Oct 9, 2006
ocaamikedm11 said:
Yeah and look at even Sean Consodine who is starting some with the Eagles now after not playing last year.
whiteCB, Oct 11, 2006
Considine might be the best tackling defensive back in the NFL... he actually WRAPS not just fall over at their feet..
ocaamikedm11, Oct 11, 2006
Aparently they are trying to move Bobby to ILB but hes having trouble adjusting
Guest, Oct 12, 2006
Deacon Guru
From San Antonio Express-News...
First-round draft pick Bobby Carpenter has been inactive in two of the Cowboys' first three games, but coach Bill Parcells said the former Ohio State linebacker will dress today and play on special teams and nickel defense.
"I know you're just waiting to say (he's a bust)," Parcells said. "But it's a little too early. I don't think you can really make a real assessment or judgment about players until they've been a couple of years in the league."
The Cowboys moved Carpenter from outside to inside linebacker in training camp.
"I came here to play," Carpenter said. "But we've got a lot of linebackers here, so I don't feel entitled to play."
Still, Carpenter said he wished he had a more defined role.
"That's something that's kind of bothered me a little bit," Carpenter said. "I don't care what my role is. I'd like it to be clearly defined."
Asked for his assessment of Carpenter, Parcells said, "I see a young player that needs to get a foothold on what's going on."
Deacon, Oct 12, 2006
You'd think Carpenter's dad having played under Parcells would tell Bobby what to expect from this ******* and how to get on his good side.
ToughJ.Riggins Hall of Famer
By MAC ENGEL
Star-Telegram staff writerPosted: May 3rd, 2008
IRVING -- When the Miami Dolphins made a trade with the Dallas Cowboys for tight end Anthony Fasano before the draft, they also wanted a linebacker, and it wasn't Akin Ayodele.
According to an NFL source, the Dolphins wanted Bobby Carpenter, but the Cowboys weren't willing to part with the 2006 first-round draft pick. So Dallas included Ayodele in the deal.
Either way, Carpenter said Friday he is happy to be staying with the Cowboys, but that he wants to play.
"This is still a great opportunity for me, and [inside linebacker] is a place where I think I can use my athletic ability to make plays," Carpenter said. "If I'm going to have a shot to play, I want it to be here."
He's currently backing up veteran Zach Thomas. Carpenter said he's been studying game film with Thomas and already has picked up quite a bit in the short time the veteran free-agent acquisition has been with the Cowboys.
Wake Up Sheeple!
ToughJ.Riggins, May 3, 2008
Leonardfan Hall of Famer
Yea I knew Parcells would go after Carpenter. I really wish they traded him as he is just wasting away in dallas.
Leonardfan, May 5, 2008
From Fanball:
Though he has been a disappointment as a former first-round draft pick, Cowboys linebacker Bobby Carpenter probably will not be cut due to his play in nickel and dime packages, along with his special teams contributions, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Our View: Carpenter had just 18 tackles last season, and he has been described often as too soft to play the game, something that came to the forefront on the recent episode of HBO's Hard Knocks, as a teammate labeled him "Barbie" Carpenter.
Well, I guess this passes for good news for us from the Caste System. This "soft" label is now being used constantly on the few white NFL players left. I'm glad I don't watch "Hard Knocks." Something tells me the teammate who labeled him "Barbie" wasn't Todd Heap or Kyle Boller.
bigunreal, Aug 29, 2008
White Shogun Hall of Famer
The guys I work with were talking about Carpenter today. "He's a bust... he's soft... doesn't like to hit people..."
Apparently they've all been watching Hard Knocks.
I haven't watched a down of pre-season football, but I recall last year the CF consensus was that Carpenter wasn't seeing the field enough to have an impact. Anybody watch Dallas pre-season this year who can tell me the truth about Bobby Carpenter?
\"All of our Asians are busy serving other customers. Please continue to hold.\"
White Shogun, Aug 29, 2008
Colonel_Reb Hall of Famer
The Deep South
What little I saw of Dallas this preseason, he wasn't on the field.
The American people, North and South, went into The War as citizens of their respective states, they came out as subjects of the United States. And what they lost they have never got back. - H.L. Mencken
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty. - Thomas Jefferson
Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. - Henry Ford
Most bad government results from too much government. - Thomas Jefferson
They won't forget! They won't never forget...and if they do, we'll get up out of our graves and remind them! - Confederate Soldier
Everything is a work. - Colonel_Reb
Colonel_Reb, Aug 29, 2008
Don Wassall Administrator Staff Member
Carpenter hasn't had a chance to play much at all other than as a special teams demon. It's difficult if not impossible to think of a black LB drafted in the first round who wasn't just thrown in the fray even if he appeared slow to pick things up. A good example is Lawrence Timmons, drafted in the first round by the Steelers last year. The guy didn't have a clue. He also was slow and dumb and not very productive in college but he went to FSU so he became a first rounder. He ended up injured and last year was a washout but this year the Steelers are force-feeding Timmons, and he's playing a lot and will probably be a starter before the end of the regular season. And if he turns out down the road not to be starting caliber it won't be because he wasn't given ample opportunity.
With newly arrived Zach Thomas the Cowboys are already one over their usual allotment of white defensive starters. Carpenter needs to be waived or traded and start fresh with another organization.Edited by: Don Wassall
Executive Director of the American Freedom Union
http://americanfreedomunion.com/
Founder and Editor of The Nationalist Times newspaper
Don Wassall, Aug 29, 2008
Don, just finishing watching the Hard knocks Dallas show on HBO. This episode he was the star, and the alledged Trader White GM and Coaches stated that he will play alot this season and Zach Thomas stated that Carpenter's reputation as soft is all Bull Shat(Don can I write that word?)
Anyways in the pre season game with the Texans he starred in his performance. I think he will play alot and even start. I like to be positive instead of doom and gloom. Go Robbie!
W.S. the Dallas alledged Traders were all over his jock strap! Next week more cuts, I don't anticapate him being cut or banished to the other glorious league called the scout team. F that.
Guest, Sep 1, 2008
What is an 'alledgded Trader?'
White Shogun, Sep 1, 2008
Kukulcan said:
When every pronouncement from the coaching staff has Carpenter as a backup at ILB, as do all the depth charts, it's not "doom and gloom" to refer to him as a backup, merely accurate to describe his career thus far and his planned role for this season.
BTW Kukulcan, that word you like to use in many of your posts is "traitor," not "trader," though it's true that GMs and coaches often are active "traders."
Don Wassall, Sep 1, 2008
Sean Mentor
I remember how good Carpenter was at Ohio State. When he was picked by Dallas, I knew he was done. Dallas doesn't like white defenders. I would like to see Bobby traded to a team where he will actually play.
If you aspire to the highest place, it is no disgrace to stop at the second, or even the third, place.
- Cicero
Sean, Oct 14, 2008
guest301 Hall of Famer
Bobby Carpenter got a little more playing time yesterday and made a nice tackle chasing down Steven Jackson to the outside for about a yard loss. Hopefully with the terrible play of the Cowboys defensively of late, Carpenter will get even more playing time.
ARAGORN....
Loyalty above all else, except honor.
guest301, Oct 20, 2008
Here's muddled article on Carpenter. But the author does reiterate the point that the Cowboys have never given the former first round pick the opportunity to see what he can do in the NFL.
http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/news.cfm?id=87AA0A16-D201- EE4B-A62FEAAA1EC4D696
Don Wassall, Apr 17, 2009
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Broncos don’t forget about defensive line, add DT Terrance Knighton
Terrance Knighton
Lost amid Wes Welker and his 112 catch average per year, the Broncos had 330-pound defensive tackle Terrance Knighton in their building today. It’s hard to lose a 330-pound defensive tackle but such is Welker’s star power.
The Broncos, though, didn’t forget the big guy, signing Knighton to a two-year contract. The former Jacksonville Jaguar was selected in the third round of the 2009 draft at a time when Broncos defensive coordiantor Jack Del Rio was the Jags’ head coach.
Peyton Manning took player role with Wes Welker
Wes Welker trade to Broncos: “It would be a great move,” Stokley says
can you say SUPERBOWL?????????
Comment by BeastFromEast92 — March 13, 2013 @ 3:36 pm
MAYBE in madden 13
Comment by smarter then you — March 13, 2013 @ 7:02 pm
Fair winds Pot Roast!
Comment by LOLDuval — March 13, 2013 @ 3:40 pm
Comment by Kdp — March 13, 2013 @ 3:43 pm
This dude has great games, and follows them up with head scratchers. If he ever gets properly motivated… Well, I like competition. But Wolfe needs to bulk up and move inside.
Comment by George McDowell — March 13, 2013 @ 3:57 pm
Wolf doesn’t need to move inside. He is already inside when von rushes. You can’t put two speed rushers on the same side or they get in each other’s way
Comment by quinton — March 13, 2013 @ 4:19 pm
Vegas just changed super bowl odds.
Comment by Thomas Bell — March 13, 2013 @ 4:25 pm
Yyyyeeesss!! Del rio will motivate him an so will Mr. Manning!!
Comment by denverfan30 — March 13, 2013 @ 4:52 pm
The Broncos can sign whomever they wish, and it won’t get them to a Superbowl. Face facts: Denver had the easiest schedule they could have imagined the last 11 games of the regular season. Everything fell their way, and I mean everything. Every tipped ball, every referee call. They didn’t lose a single player to injury that wasn’t easily replaced. And they still couldn’t even win a single playoff game.
They will have it WAY tougher this year and Manning will be another year older.
Even though he’s younger, Welker is injury prone. Stokely was not. Big mistake there.
The Patriots will not miss Welker, but Welker will definitely miss Brady.
Broncos will go 4-4 to start the season with Manning and will end 2-6 once he goes down with a season ending (and probably career-ending) injury.
Enjoy 6-10. I’ll be watching my Pats go 12-4 or 13-3.
Comment by BradyPats — March 13, 2013 @ 5:55 pm
Actually, Welker has only missed 3 games in his career. But I’ll agree that replacing Stokely with Welker is not a smart move. And I’ll also agree that Welker will miss Brady, who is a much more accurate passer than Manning. Welker also had an almost telepathic communication with Brady. That won’t be the case with Manning. Many people might like this move just because Welker is a known name, but this really is not an upgrade over Stokely, whose familiarity with Manning was what helped last season.
Comment by Joe Dirt — March 13, 2013 @ 6:09 pm
waste of typing. clearly dont know anything about football haha you must be a girl
Comment by johnny D — March 13, 2013 @ 10:11 pm
Sounds like someone has a problem facing reality. The Broncos
almost…almost got it done with a brand new QB and a new system last
year. Most of us in the know didn’t have them winning it all until the
2nd season of the Manning regime. Now, we add a younger, stronger RT
and the most prolific slot receiver in the league the past few seasons.
Add to that, another run stuffing DT…and we’re not done yet. Be afraid NE. Be very afraid. The McDaniels nightmare is behind us.
Comment by Larry Darrell — March 13, 2013 @ 7:14 pm
Ummmm…Knighton didn’t help much when it came to stopping the run. He actually got run over last year. He also has a bad habit of only playing when he feels like it.
Comment by Richard Corl — March 17, 2013 @ 8:42 am
Ummm We lost Quinton Carter whole season, Willis McGahee season ending injury, DJ Williams for half the season, Knowshon Moreno for half of the season, our left end Jeremy Beal for the whole season, Chris Kuper, JD Walton, & Tracy Porter we lost all of them to injury. We have a better shot than Pats you lost badly to the ravens & I mean bad you got shut out for the whole second half. The Pats had a way easier schedule than the Broncos as well. You sound like a hater right now aren’t you a AFC east why the fuck are you worried about us AFC west guys? The Patriots havent been shit since being caught for cheating and since then has choked in every playoff game.
Comment by 46'INFANT — March 13, 2013 @ 7:37 pm
Look at this guy, just clueless can you go miss Welker on another blog please? Have fun watching Pats lose out again for me will ya?
Comment by DeBronx94 — March 14, 2013 @ 12:40 am
troll!! Hey get my dad and go home cuz ur both drunk oh…and he doesn’t have a ride.
Comment by sirstv — March 14, 2013 @ 2:28 pm
They had one of the hardest schedule last year
Comment by joe whitney — March 13, 2013 @ 7:48 pm
The broncos only get better
13-3 last year , only better next year
Nice job Larry
Brady’s pats…. Moron
Broncos played 5 of the top 7 teams during the regular season. Should have beat Baltimore , but the play didn’t go our way. Patriot fans are entitled . Welker will be missed and what the hell are the Patriots doing this off season. They let the best cb, best wr and a great lineman go. The pays didn’t exactly have the tougher division last yr by the way
Comment by CNote 2210 — March 13, 2013 @ 8:18 pm
330+330 DL up the middle. 330 +330 OL to the right. BIG!!!
Comment by rbemoras — March 13, 2013 @ 8:37 pm
Pot Roast better get in better shape for that thin Denver air… He’ll need to stay away from clubs..
Comment by Douglas Henning — March 14, 2013 @ 12:59 pm
I think the sick blue bronco at the DIA is a curse that prevents the Broncos from winning the Superbowl. It needs to be repainted white with an orange mane. Let the eyes be misty blue. Where did that atrocity come from? I can’t believe it was made by a real Bronco fan.
Comment by L. E. Mitchem — March 30, 2013 @ 6:43 pm
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Oscars fashion 2014: Most played it safe instead of going glam
By Suzanne Brown
Lupita Nyong’o in Prada on the Oscars red carpet. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
The red carpet parade at the Oscars is among the most anticipated events of the year for fans of both Hollywood and fashion, but at Sunday’s Academy Awards, the fireworks were few.
Kate Hudson in Versace with a draped back/ (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images)
It was refreshing to see Lupita Nyong’o — who has quickly become a fashion standout — twirl the pleated skirt of her pale blue Prada dress as she posed for photographers. What a young, lovely thing to do, rather than throw a hip out and put her hand to her waist as so many young actresses do in a pose that has become a cliche’.
Yes, the other celebrities looked gorgeous — the gowns fit like second skin, the tuxes were tailored just so. The jewelry was gorgeous and the accessories tended to match in a well-coordinated effort.
So what’s the problem?
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Categories: Beauty, Fashion News, Mile High Style, Red carpet style, Women's Fashion
Golden Globes red carpet: five fashion myths dispelled
Jennifer Lopez wears a lace gown at the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 13, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
Gorgeous gowns, impeccable hair and makeup, millions of dollars worth of jewelry. And then there are the handsome guys in their tuxedos. What’s not to love about award season?
There’s more than a month to go before the Academy Awards but the Golden Globes is a great warm-up.
Sunday night’s red carpet disproved a things you thought you knew about awards show fashion:
1. Lace is matronly. Jennifer Lopez, Emily Blunt and Michelle Dockery showed that in the right designer’s hands and on the right figure, lace is anything but bride-y and boring.
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Categories: Fashion News, Mile High Style, Women's Fashion, Worth Seeing
Holiday gift books for the fashionista
If the style maven on your list doesn’t need another cashmere sweater or a fur vest this year, why not indulge her with a thick coffee table book about fashion? Here are three to consider, as well as alternate choices in each of the categories.
The Divine Diana
Biographers can’t seem to get enough of Diana Vreeland, starting with “Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel” by Lisa Immordino Vreeland (Abrams, $55). At 4.7 pounds and 256 pages, this glossy tome covers a half-century in the life of the legendary fashion editor. At Harper’s Bazaar from 1936 until 1962, and then at Vogue until 1971, Vreeland globetrotted in search of style and how to translate it for her audience. After leaving the magazine world, she went on to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute and staged impressive shows. Hundreds of photographs help tell the story of the Parisian-born fashion diva and her relationships with photographers, models and celebrities of the day. She “discovered” Lauren Bacall and put her on Bazaar’s cover in 1943; and she had the first photos of Jackie Kennedy and family in the White House. The author, who never got to meet her subject, is married to Vreeland’s grandson Alexander and also produced a documentary film on Ms. Vreeland. She pays tribute to a subject equally as fascinating as those to whom Vreeland devoted her many issues.
Looking for more on her? Check out “Diana Vreeland An Ilustrated Biography” by Eleanor Dwight (Harper Design, $29.99)
Dresses for sucesss
Fashion lovers will enjoy flipping through “100 Unforgettable Dresses”
by Hal Rubenstein (Harper Design, $35). Full of frocks from movies, the runway and red carpet, this compedium of style from the past 80 years or so is both entertaining and enlightening. He cites iconic looks such as Julia Roberts’ red gown from “Pretty Woman” and Audrey Hepburn in “My Fair Lady” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” TV is included, too, with Sarah Jessica Parker wearing Versace couture from Paris”Sex and the City” episode (photo above by provided by HBO, Courtesy of Everett Collection)
If picking out a wedding dress is on your list, check out: One more: “It’s all about the Dress: Savvy Secrets, Priceless Advice and Insipiring Stories to Help You Find ‘The One'” (Grand Central Life & Style, $27.99)
It’s the year to look back at the evolution of glossy fashion mags:
“Vogue: The Covers”
By Dodie Kazanjian (Abrams, $50)
4.4 pounds, 272 pages
The fashion industry is always one to judge a book by its cover, so it had to be hard to figure out what to put on the front of the book depicting the top covers from its 120 years. The image chosen was Lisa Fonssigrives by Irving Penn in 1949 — a year before they married. Kazanjian has long covered art for the magazine and provides insightful tidbits about Vogue’s history. The first photograph was used on the cover in 1932– an image by Edward Steichen — and they never went back to illustrations. Until the mid-1940s, the logo’s cover script changed regularly. Model Beverly Johnson was the first African American model to appear on Vogue’s cover, in 1974, and became a trailblazer because of it.
A bonus: book owners might not be as tempted to pull out one of the 500 color illustrations for framing after learning that there are five ready-to-frame prints in a wax envelope attached to the inside back cover of the book.
One more: “Harper’s Bazaar: A Decade of Style” by Glenda Bailey (Abrams, $65)
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Categories: Fashion News, General Fashion, Women's Fashion
Certain film costumes become iconic, like Audrey Hepburn’s little black Givenchy dress from “Breakfast At Tiffany’s,” or the sexy white halter dress Marilyn Monroe’s wore in “The Seven-Year Itch.”
[photopress:keira_1_2_3_4.jpg,full,pp_image]
But does the bias-cut emerald green silk dress worn by Kiera Knightley in “Atonement” best them all? The gown has been voted the best film costume of all time in a survey run by Sky Movies and InStyle magazine. Read more…
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Categories: General Fashion
Olympian Amy Van Dyken-Rouen honored at Excelsior’s Speakeasy Soiree
Colorado Symphony Ball gets dancers on their feet
Firefly Autism’s Laugh Yourself Blue a howling success
Kempe Foundation’s Blue Ribbon Gala puts the focus on kids, raises $480,000
Colors of the Mind Gala raises $290,000 for Epilepsy Foundation of Colorado
Garden tools of the not-rich, not-famous — 47 comments
I was a "Property Virgin" — 34 comments
Emotive design with Genevieve Gorder. — 17 comments
Hands off my hoodie! Or, politicizing a fashion staple... — 15 comments
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Section 546(e)
Merit Management v. FTI: Law Firm Perspectives
by Editor | posted in: Avoidance, Financial Firms and Safe Harbors, fraudulent transfer, Statutory Interpretation, Supreme Court | 0
On February 27, the Supreme Court decided Merit Management Group, LP v. FTI Consulting, Inc., holding unanimously that the § 546(e) safe harbor does not protect allegedly fraudulent transfers “in which financial institutions served as mere conduits.” The Court’s decision resolves a circuit split on the reach of § 546(e). In reaching its conclusion, the Court focused on the “end-to-end transfer” that the trustee seeks to avoid, rather than any “component parts of the overarching transfer.” In FTI, because the overarching transfer was made between two parties not otherwise shielded by the safe harbor, the transfer will now fall outside the safe harbor.
As many law firms recognize, this decision will have wide-ranging implications on the finality of securities transactions effected through financial institutions, especially leveraged buyouts. Mayer Brown notes that as the decision enhances a trustee’s ability to recover fraudulent transfers, it also increases the bankruptcy estate’s leverage against recipients of pre-petition transfers. Cleary observes that “debtors or trustees may strategically frame avoidance actions in order to limit the scope of the safe harbor.” Mayer Brown concludes that the decision may also expose investors, investment funds and similar entities to fraudulent transfer litigation risks.
The bottom line, as Davis Polk notes, is that the § 546(e) safe harbor is no longer a blanket safe harbor for the recipients of transactions that pass through financial institutions. But the safe harbor will still shield financial institutions operating as escrow agents or clearinghouses, as the Court expressly stated that a financial institution under § 546(e) is protected whether the institution acts as a principal or as an intermediary.
Firms have noted that the decision also left open some ambiguities. First, Schulte Roth & Zabel writes that the Court leaves open possible arguments that any “customer” of a “financial institution” is also itself a “financial institution” under § 546(e). Second, Mayer Brown points out that the Court did not address whether the transaction at issue actually qualified as a transfer that is a “settlement payment” or made in connection with a “securities contract” under § 546(e). These ambiguities will draw the attention of defendants in future fraudulent transfer litigation.
Finally, Weil notes that the decision raises the question of how the preemption of state-law creditor remedies under § 546(e) will be applied in light of the Supreme Court’s now-narrow construction of the safe harbor.
By Jianjian Ye, Harvard Law School, J.D. 2018.
The roundtable has posted on FTI before. Some of those posts are: an analysis of the FTI oral argument, the Amici Curiae Brief of Bankruptcy Law Professors, an article by Ralph Brubaker on the meaning of § 546(e), and a roundup of law firm perspectives on the Seventh Circuit’s decision in FTI Consulting, Inc. v. Merit Management Group, LP, 830 F.3d 690 (7th Cir. 2016).
546(e), Avoidance, Cleary Gottlieb, Davis Polk, fraudulent conveyance, FTI, FTI Consulting v Merit Management Group, leveraged buyouts, Mayer Brown, Safe Harbors, Schulte Roth & Zabel, Section 546(e), Settlement Payment, Supreme Court, Weil Gotshal
Another Court of Appeals Broadly Reads Settlement Payment Safe Harbor
by Editor | posted in: Financial Firms and Safe Harbors | 0
By Michael L. Cook, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
The Courts of Appeals, with few exceptions, have broadly read the safe harbor defense contained in Bankruptcy Code §546(e) over the past 24 years. It insulates a “settlement payment” or “margin payment” on a “securities contract,” “commodity contract” or “forward contract” from a trustee’s fraudulent transfer or preference claims unless the debtor makes the payment with “actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud creditors.” Despite policy arguments by lower courts, trustees, creditors and commentators, the appellate courts have claimed to rely on the Code’s “plain language” to deny recovery. In this Article, we discuss a recent Seventh Circuit decision that (a) reversed a district court’s “policy” decision purporting to divine Congress’s intent as to the proper application of the safe harbor provision; (b) rejected decisions by the Fifth and Ninth Circuits that refused to apply the safe harbor in the context of a Ponzi scheme; and (c) followed recent decisions of the Second and Fourth Circuits.
We discuss the Seventh Circuit’s close reading and application of the statutory language, “clearly and predictably using well established principles of statutory construction.” Citing Supreme Court precedent, the court refused to rely on legislative history that was “neither passed by a majority of either House nor signed into law.” Instead, the court explained why the safe harbor in the case before it yielded a sensible result, avoiding instability and uncertainty in the securities business.
We also review recent conflicting decisions in the lower courts that have resulted from imaginative attempts by lawyers to avoid application of the safe harbor defense. Finally, we discuss another case pending in the Second Circuit that pushes the safe harbor defense to its outer limits. That case asks (a) whether an intermediary is required in a safe harbor case, and (b) whether the defendant must show an adverse effect on financial markets.
Schulte Roth & Zabel Client Alert, April 3, 2014: http://www.srz.com/Seventh_Circuit_Reads_Bankruptcy_Safe_Harbor_Broadly_to_Insulate_Preferential_Settlement_Payment_to_Commodity_Broker/
Michael L. Cook, Safe Harbors, Schulte Roth & Zabel, Section 546(e), Settlement Payment
The Harvard Law School Bankruptcy Roundtable promotes dissemination of academic and practitioner views of current bankruptcy issues, via weekly posts targeting issues of interest, typically linking to a more extended analysis elsewhere. For inquiries and comments, please contact us at bankruptcyproject@law.harvard.edu.
The Rise and Fall of Regulatory Competition in Corporate Insolvency Law in the European Union July 16, 2019
Indenture Trustee Duties: The Pre-Default Puzzle July 9, 2019
Establishing Corporate Insolvency: The Balance Sheet Insolvency Test July 2, 2019
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3 events to brighten a Seattle weekend
Posted by Lynn Jacobson
The days are getting longer — supposedly.
While you’re waiting for spring to come, you might check out these three entertainment options, to bring a little light into your life:
The Northern Lights Film Festival brings nine features and assorted shorts from Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland to Seattle. The three-day festival is presented by the Nordic Heritage Museum and the colorful assortment of films — comedies, dramas, documentaries, shorts and children’s movies — will flicker across the screen at SIFF Cinema at Seattle Center. My school-age son and I, who have fallen in love with the cartoon Moomintrolls of Tove Jansson, will be first in line to see “Moomin and the Comet Chase” at noon on Saturday. Read more about this and other local film events here.
Seattle Shakespeare Company presents one of Shakespeare’s more rarely produced plays this month: “Coriolanus.” Not a lot of poetic language in this one, says Seattle Times theater critic Misha Berson, but lots of rioting, war, revenge and mayhem — you won’t be bored. By the way: Ralph Fiennes stars in a screen version that arrives later this month. See SSC’s production at Seattle Center House this weekend and you’ll be the most well-informed moviegoer at the multiplex.
Finally, head indoors to the warmth and light of the Burke Museum on Saturday afternoon for Artifact ID Day 2012. It’s a Pacific Coast version of “Antiques Roadshow,” without the appraisals. Museum experts will be on hand to help identify any indigenous artifacts you may have from the Northwest or Pacific Rim, or any geologic or archeological items such as fossils, bones or rocks. Read about writer Rachel Solomon’s brush with the experts (carving in hand) and note: There’s a three-item limit.
Finally: Here’s a video preview of the weekend, taped this morning at KING 5:
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(Photos: “Coriolanus” by John Ulman; Artifact ID Day 2011 by Erika Schultz/Seattle Times.)
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Trump’s maximum pressure train hits buffers with Abe’s doomed Iran mission
Japans prime minister isnt the first leader to regret trying to do Trump a favor but he must have known he was taking a risk
Shinzo Abes trip to Tehran this week turned out to be one of the more ill-fated mediation efforts of recent times.
What was billed as a grand gesture the first Japanese leader to visit Iran in four decades ended in humiliation, with split-screen television pictures showing Abe being told off by a stern supreme leader, while a thick plume of smoke rose from a burning Japanese tanker in the Gulf of Oman.
The US has blamed Iran for Thursdays attack on two petrochemical tankers and has distributed grainy black and white images purporting to show Iranian sailors removing a limpet mine from the side of the Japanese tanker.
The footage has produced more questions than answers. Is the removal of the unexploded mine supposed to show an effort to hide evidence? The Pentagon is not saying.
If this was an effort by Iranian hardliners to torpedo peace talks, why was it not timed to disrupt Abes meeting the day before with the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani (the hardliners principal target), rather than their patron, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?
Even without the visible symbolism of burning oil, Khameneis response to Abes mission could hardly have been more dismissive. He tossed aside the polite pretense that the Japanese prime minister had come on his own initiative, inviting the television cameras into his office to explain, in the bluntest of terms while Abe looked on helplessly, that the Japanese visitor had come bearing a message from Donald Trump, and was wasting his time.
To add inevitable insult to injury, the US president then swiftly disowned Abe and his mission, portraying him in a tweet as well-meaning but naive, and declaring the time was not right for negotiations.
Shinzo Abe with Irans president, Hassan Rouhani, in Tehran, Iran, on 12 June. Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA
Abe is certainly not the first nor will he be the last foreign leader to regret trying to do Trump a favour. But he must have known he was taking a substantial risk by inserting himself in the chaos of US foreign policymaking.
By all accounts, Abe was carrying a message with Trumps approval, conveying the US presidents seriousness about talks. But the offer contained no sweeteners, no pause in the campaign of maximum pressure. In fact, less than a week before Abes peace errand, the US piled on a new level of sanctions, aimed at the petrochemical industry. The Japanese mission was doomed before it started.
It is evident Trump got onboard the maximum pressure train because he thought it would take him to the same destination as its North Korean equivalent a glamorous summit and another deal of the century, the details of which would be of secondary importance to the statesmanlike atmospheric.
This has always been the Trumps template for doing business: squeeze the other side by every means available until he or she comes begging to the table. The first summit with Kim Jong-un in Singapore seems to have only deepened Trumps conviction that this method worked.
His self-belief as the master of the deal has made him oblivious to all the signs that it had been Kims intention all along to pivot to diplomacy once a basic nuclear arsenal had been completed. It also made Trump blind to the fact that Kim gave nothing away in Singapore. Trump is now hostage to his relationship with Kim, pointing to the beautiful letters he still receives from the 35-year-old North Korean leader as a distraction from the complete absence of disarmament.
Beautiful letters were never going to cut it with Khamenei. While a summit with a US president represented a historic victory for Kim, it would be unthinkable for the supreme leader, and politically impossible under current circumstances for Rouhani.
The Iranians, too, have miscalculated. In the wake of US abrogation of the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, and its attempt to pressure the rest of the world to follow suit, Iran expected China and at least a few of their other oil customers to defy the US oil embargo. That has not happened so far. Rouhani met Xi Jinping in Kyrgyzstan on Friday to get a clear idea of Chinese intentions, but Xi seems to have remained non-committal.
Meanwhile, the European mechanism that was supposed to insulate the trade in basic humanitarian supplies from US sanctions has yet to get off the ground and may never fly.
Faced with economic strangulation, Tehran has less and less to lose. Whether it was behind the tanker attacks or not, it had signalled its intention to make the rest of the world pay some of the price for US brinksmanship. The message from Iranian officials over the past two months has been that, if Iran could not export its oil through the Gulf, nor should other nations.
Tehran has also slapped down a nuclear ultimatum. If sanctions pressures are not significantly eased by 8 July, it will throw off some of the shackles of the 2015 nuclear deal, most importantly by raising the level at which it enriches uranium. That will ring alarm bells around the world, by cutting the time Iran would need to make a bomb.
Trump now appears to realise that the train he boarded is not heading to a glorious summit, but a potentially devastating conflict in the Gulf, and that some of his own officials, notably the national security adviser, John Bolton, are quite content enthusiastic, even to keep driving in that direction. Trump wants to get off and make a deal, but the Abe mission suggests he has no idea how to.
Iran, meanwhile, has found its strongest point of leverage Trumps fears about his chances of re-election against the backdrop of a new war in the Middle East. To play on those fears is a gamble with very high risks. Every cycle of escalation brings the region closer to a point where the slide towards war goes beyond anyones control.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/14/shinzo-abe-iran-ayatollah-talks-analysis-trump
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The Bulletin of Marine and Coastal Research (ISSN: 0122-9761 - On line ISSN: 2590-4671) is a scientific journal that publishes unedited works about research topics on the sea or coastal aquatic environments, undertaken in the tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas. It has been edited since 1967 by the Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras “José Benito Vives de Andréis”-INVEMAR (Marine and Coastal Research Institute). Volumes 1-8 were called “Mitteilungen aus dem Instituto Colombo-Alemán de Investigaciones Científicas Punta de Betín” and between volumes 9 and 24 it was called “Anales del Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras”. Since 2008, the journal has published two issues per annual volume.
The journal is indexed in Web of Science, SciELO-Colombia and in SCOPUS since 2016. The Bulletin is an open access publication, which can be consulted on INVEMAR’s website (www.invemar.org.co/boletin) and it is also distributed nationally and internationally through exchange systems. Instructions to authors for preparation and submission of manuscripts are in the final pages of each published issue and our website.
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This journal provides immediate open access to its content, based on the principle that providing the public with free access to research, helps a greater global exchange of knowledge.
Potential contributors to the Bulletin of Marine and Coastal Research should follow the subsequent instructions: only original articles should be submitted; that means those having significant unpublished results and not under consideration by another journal. The Bulletin also accepts critical revision manuscripts that compile and analyze studies in particular fields and propose research lines. We suggest that authors, in any case, check the presentation style in the last Bulletin issue to follow the same structure.
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North Korea the Aggressor? A Reality Check
je-demande
Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 4:22 pm Post subject: North Korea the Aggressor? A Reality Check
I remember reading years ago that the US killed a third of all Koreans and destroyed every third house during the Korean War which they started.
But hey they must be the bad guys still because they hate our way of life like Al Qaeda right?
"Not only did the allies drop more bombs on Korea than in the Pacific theater during World War II – 635,000 tons, versus 503,000 tons – more of what fell was napalm … ‘
Two buildings left standing
In the North Korean capitol, Pyongyang, just two buildings were reported as still standing".
Not really interested whether Vets today is a CIA front the information is still real.
Love this guys Voice
North Korea an Aggressor? A Reality Check
By GPD on August 30, 2017
” … war in our time is always indiscriminate, a war against innocents, a war against children.” (Howard Zinn, 1922-2010.)
“All war represents a failure of diplomacy.” (Tony Benn, MP. 1925-2014.)
“No country too poor, too small, too far away, not to be threat, a threat to the American way of life.” (William Blum, “Rogue State.”)
The mention of one tiny country appears to strike at the rationality and sanity of those who should know far better. On Sunday, 6th August, for example, The Guardian headed an editorial: “The Guardian view on sanctions: an essential tool.” Clearly the average of five thousands souls a month, the majority children, dying of “embargo related causes” in Iraq, year after grinding year – genocide in the name of the UN – for over a decade has long been forgotten by the broadsheet of the left.
This time of course, the target is North Korea upon whom the United Nations Security Council has voted unanimously to freeze, strangulate and deny essentials, normality, humanity. Diplomacy as ever, not even a consideration. The Guardian, however, incredibly, declared the decimating sanctions: “A rare triumph of diplomacy …” (Guardian 6th August 2017.)
As US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, the US’ top “diplomat” and his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho headed for the annual Ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Manila on 5thAugust, a State Department spokesperson said of Tillerson: “The Secretary has no plans to meet the North Korean Foreign Minister in Manila, and I don’t expect to see that happen”
Trump’s buried opportunities
Pathetic. In April, approaching his hundredth day in office, Trump said of North Korea: “We’d love to solve things diplomatically but it’s very difficult.” No it is not. Talk, walk in the other’s psychological shoes. Then, there they were at the same venue but the Trump Administration clearly does not alone live in a land of missed opportunities, but of opportunities deliberately buried in landfill miles deep. This in spite of his having said in the same statement: “There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea. Absolutely.”
A bit of perspective: 27th July 2017 marked sixty four years since the armistice agreement that ended the devastating three year Korean war, however there has never been a peace treaty, thus technically the Korean war has never ended. Given that and American’s penchant for wiping out countries with small populations which pose them no threat (think most recently, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya) no wonder North Korea wishes to look as if it has some heavy protective gear behind the front door, so to speak.
Tiny North Korea has a population of just 25.37 million and landmass of 120,540 km² (square kilometres.) The US has a population of 323.1 million and a landmass of 9.834 MILLION km² (square kilometres.) Further, since 1945, the US is believed to have produced some 70,000 nuclear weapons – though now down to a “mere” near 7,000 – but North Korea is a threat?
America has fifteen military bases in South Korea – down from a staggering fifty four – bristling with every kind of weapons of mass destruction. Two bases are right on the North Korean border and another nearly as close. See full details of each, with map at (1.)
North Korea also has the collective memory of the horror wrought by the US in the three year conflict on a country then with a population of just 9.6 million souls. US General Curtis Lemay in the aftermath stated: “After destroying North Korea’s seventy eight cities and thousands of her villages, and killing countless numbers of her civilians … Over a period of three years or so we killed off – what – twenty percent of the population.”
“It is now believed that the population north of the imposed 38th Parallel lost nearly a third its population of 8 – 9 million people during the 37-month long ‘hot’ war, 1950 – 1953, perhaps an unprecedented percentage of mortality suffered by one nation due to the belligerence of another.”
In context: “During The Second World War the United Kingdom lost 0.94% of its population, France lost 1.35%, China lost 1.89% and the US lost 0.32%. During the Korean war, North Korea lost close to 30 % of its population.” (Emphasis added.)
“We went over there and fought the war and eventually burned down every town in North Korea anyway, some way or another …”, boasted Lemay.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur said during a Congressional hearing in 1951 that he had never seen such devastation.
“I shrink with horror that I cannot express in words … at this continuous slaughter of men in Korea,” MacArthur said. “I have seen, I guess, as much blood and disaster as any living man, and it just curdled my stomach, the last time I was there.” (CNN, 28th July 2017.) Horrified as he was, he did not mention the incinerated women, children, infants in the same breath.
Moreover, as Robert M. Neer wrote in “Napalm, an American Biography”:
‘ “Practically every U.S. fighter plane that has flown into Korean air carried at least two napalm bombs,” Chemical Officer Townsend wrote in January 1951. About 21,000 gallons of napalm hit Korea every day in 1950. As combat intensified after China’s intervention, that number more than tripled (…) a total of 32,357 tons of napalm fell on Korea, about double that dropped on Japan in 1945. Not only did the allies drop more bombs on Korea than in the Pacific theater during World War II – 635,000 tons, versus 503,000 tons – more of what fell was napalm … ‘
In the North Korean capitol, Pyongyang, just two buildings were reported as still standing.
In the unending history of US warmongering, North Korea is surely the smallest population they had ever attacked until their assault on tiny Grenada in October 1983, population then just 91,000 (compulsory silly name: “Operation Urgent Fury.)
North Korea has been taunted by the US since it lay in ruins after the armistice sixty five years ago, yet as ever, the US Administration paints the vast, self appointed “leader of the free world” as the victim.
As Fort-Russ pointed out succinctly (7th August 2017): “The Korean Peninsula is in a state of crisis not only due to constant US threats towards North Korea, but also due to various provocative actions, such as Washington conducting joint military exercises with Seoul amid tensions, and which Pyongyang considered a threat to its national security.”
This month “massive land, sea and air exercises” involving “tens of thousands of troops” from the US and South Korea began on 21st of August and continue until 31st. ‘In the past, the practices are believed to have included “decapitation strikes” – trial operations for an attempt to kill Kim Jong-un and his top Generals …’, according to the Guardian (11th August 2017.) The obligatory stupid name chosen for this dangerous, belligerent, money burning, sabre rattling nonsense is Ulchi-Freedom Guardian. It is an annual occurrence since first initiated back in 1976.
US B-1B bombers flying from Guam recently carried out exercises in South Korea and “practiced attack capabilities by releasing inert weapons at the Pilsung Range.” In a further provocative (and illegal) move, US bombers were again reported to overfly North Korea, another of many such bullying, threatening actions, reportedly eleven just since May this year.
Yet in spite of all, North Korea is the “aggressor.”
“The nuclear warheads of United States of America are stored in some twenty one locations, which include thirteen U.S. states and five European countries … some are on board U.S. submarines. There are some “zombie” nuclear warheads as well, and they are kept in reserve, and as many as 3,000 of these are still awaiting their dismantlement. (The US) also extends its “nuclear umbrella” to such other countries as South Korea, Japan, and Australia.” (worldatlas.com)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who also attended the ASEAN meeting in Manila, did of course, do what proper diplomats do and talked with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho. Minister Lavrov’s opinion was summed up by a Fort Russ News observer as:
“The Korean Peninsula is in a state of crisis not only due to constant US threats towards North Korea, but also due to various provocative actions, such as Washington conducting joint military exercises with Seoul amid tensions, and which Pyongyang considered a threat to its national security.”
The “provocative actions” also include the threatening over-flights by US ‘planes flying from Guam. However when North Korea said if this continued they would consider firing missiles in to the ocean near Guam – not as was reported by some hystericals as threatening to bomb Guam – Agent Orange who occasionally pops in to the White House between golf rounds and eating chocolate cake whilst muddling up which country he has dropped fifty nine Tomahawk Cruise missiles on, responded that tiny North Korea will again be: “… met with fire and fury and frankly power, the likes of which the world has never seen before.”
It was barely noticed that North Korea qualified the threat of a shot across the bows by stating pretty reasonably:
(The US) “should immediately stop its reckless military provocation against the State of the DPRK so that the latter would not be forced to make an unavoidable military choice.” (3)
As Cheryl Rofer continued, instead of endless threats, US diplomacy could have many routes:
“We could have sent a message to North Korea via the recent Canadian visit to free one of their citizens. We could send a message through the Swedish embassy to North Korea, which often represents US interests. We could arrange some diplomatic action on which China might take the lead. There are many possibilities, any of which might show North Korea that we are willing to back off from practices that scare them if they will consider backing off on some of their actions. That would not include their nuclear program explicitly at this time, but it would leave the way open for later.”
There are in fact, twenty four diplomatic missions in all, in North Korea through which the US could request to communicate – or Trump could even behave like a grown up and pick up the telephone.
Siegfried Hecker is the last known American official to inspect North Korea’s nuclear facilities. He says that treating Kim Jong-un as though he is on the verge of attacking the U.S. is both inaccurate and dangerous.
“Some like to depict Kim as being crazy – a madman – and that makes the public believe that the guy is undeterrable. He’s not crazy and he’s not suicidal. And he’s not even unpredictable. The real threat is we’re going to stumble into a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula.”
Trump made his crass “fire and fury” threat on the eve of the sixty second commemoration of the US nuclear attack on Nagasaki, the nauseating irony seemingly un-noticed by him.
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2017/08/30/north-korea-an-aggressor-a-reality-check/
Vaut mieux prévenir que guérir.
Interesting and not at all surprising.
For those who believe in the existence of nuclear weapons (I do not) 'North Korea-scare' is a great psych-op!
I wonder what the NWO plan is here? Invasion? Does N Korea lack a private central bank that is part of the global usury banking 'system'?
MichaelC wrote:
Perhaps N Korea may be the proof that Nukes exist Michael?
They are comparable with the likes of Iraq & Libya in size & population etc...
So if they don't get laid to waste again one might argue Nukes do in fact exist.
skinters
We will soon see if N. Korea has nukes.
If they are attacked they will release everything they have.
What needs to happen is the US to pull up a chair and talk to them properly. Then pull out of the south, and help both sides peacefully...Ain't going to happen.
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 4:23 am Post subject: US sanctions on N Korea similar to Japan before P Harbour
My point here is that MSM have removed any historical context from the narrative. They never mention the Genocide of the Koreans.
If the US killed a third of your entire nation it would be "Normal" or at least understandable that you hated them.
Yet they are presented as crazy.
The US sanctions on N Korea are similar to that of Japan before Pearl Harbour.
Not really sure about the origin of 'communist' N Korea. Was it started and still owned by the same international usury banking criminals who took Russia in 1917 and still own it? Then why did these same criminals, through their stooges(aka US government) attack N Korea in 1950?
It is all very confusing.
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 4:35 pm Post subject: North Korea: What can actually be done?
North Korea: What can actually be done to deal with a nuclear Pyongyang?
From the first tweak of the seismograph it was clear this was no ordinary tremor — it signalled the most powerful bomb of all.
The North Korean TV newsreader announced with a flourish this was the state's first hydrogen bomb. If that now means Pyongyang has the weapon and the delivery system that could wipe out a Los Angeles, a San Francisco or a Sydney in a flash, then the world is now a different place.
Nuclear weapons are supposed to be a deterrent — make yourself so dangerous no-one will ever dare challenge you.
Clearly the thinking for three generations of Kim is that the regime is made safe if everyone fears you. And the clear impression you are crazy helps too — no-one wants to aggravate a disturbed mind.
But what to do? US President Donald Trump has described the test as hostile and dangerous and said Pyongyang "only understands one thing".
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-03/north-korea-is-it-time-to-accept-it-will-remain-a-nuclear-threat/8868138
Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2017 4:43 am Post subject:
Think back to the 'red scares' of the 1950s and 1960s and the 'atom bomb scares' from same period.
The Master criminals are running out of new tricks to deceive you and so are recycling some some old tired CIA disinfo rags from 50 years ago on the theory that the present generation would not remember the past.
Don't buy it.
Why did these same criminals, through their stooges(aka US government) attack N Korea in 1950?
1/Arms sales.(via fear)
2/Immigration.(White Genocide)
If N Korea is a Nuclear Power and because of this it protects its people then one could argue that "Nukes Exist & Nukes are Good"
Maybe in years to come the world will have its own Constitution.
With the 2nd amendment being the right of every nation to have Nukes.
I think there would be less wars for sure. :-)
Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2017 3:38 pm Post subject:
https://www.google.es/search?q=nuclear+weapons+hoax&safe=off&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=vid&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj3rePjuJbWAhWHbVAKHdI6APsQ_AUIDCgD&biw=1040&bih=668
I don't believe the other "Earth is flat" CIA Hoax for a Minute Michael.
https://www.google.es/search?safe=off&dcr=0&biw=1280&bih=604&tbm=vid&q=flat+earth&oq=flat+earth&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l4.43821.99808.0.100024.31.20.0.0.0.0.204.1671.4j9j1.14.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..19.12.1480...0i5i30k1j0i8i30k1.wMVoz3uNYTc
Has anyone researched the banking system in N Korea?
It could explain a lot of things..........
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Getting Tweens, Teens to Become Doctors
New Program to Encourage Children to Pursue Health Careers
HEALTH— New York City hospitals announced a new program to introduce elementary and middle school students (ages 9 to 13) to careers in the health care field.
The four-week Saturday program series will allow students to learn about human anatomy, physiology, pathology, and biomedical careers in a fun and interactive format.
Shaped in partnership with the national non-profit Mentoring in Medicine, the Youth Academy will launch its first series on Saturday, March 2.
On four successive Saturdays, the program will run from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Tailored to each age group, the curriculum will cover health science topics through hands-on activities. Course content will focus on the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems, with an emphasis on anatomy, physiology, and pathology, as well as related health interventions. An expected byproduct of the program is the strengthening of the participants’ English language arts and math skills.
“Inspiring children from diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in health care will not only open an exciting professional life for them, but also help reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the field,” said Cristina Contreras, executive director of NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx. “We want the children in our program to meet and learn from a range of health professionals, including some who look, sound, and act like they do—so they learn that they are not just welcome but also belong in the health care field.”
“I am excited to hear that NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx will be offering opportunities for kids in the Northwest Bronx to explore potential future medical careers,” said Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz. “All kids should grow up with the mentality that they can accomplish any career they set their mind to, and having firsthand hospital experience is a terrific way to cement this dream. Thank you to Mentoring in Medicine and NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx for their partnership on behalf of our neighborhood kids.”
“This is not just a program,” said New York City Council Member Andrew Cohen. “This is an investment in the next generation of healthcare professionals—and it is happening right here in the Bronx! I am thrilled that children from all backgrounds will have the opportunity to get an in-depth look at the health care field. It is important that we support, engage, invest in, and challenge our youth with interesting subjects and diverse programing, so I am sincerely thankful to NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx for creating this Youth Academy and for valuing diversity and inclusivity in the healthcare industry.”
Fifty slots are open for the introductory series. The children will be divided into five teams, each led by its own instructor. There are no academic requirements to enter, but children are expected to attend an orientation session and abide by a code of conduct.
Among the highlights of the first series, children will learn about the structure of the heart, explore the anatomy of a cow’s heart, handle medical instruments, create a public health campaign to raise awareness of diseases of the heart, and learn elements of first aid.
Each session will culminate in students delivering a capstone project on lessons learned and receiving a certificate of completion.
“Engaging with children in the community is a true pleasure and a huge source of personal and professional satisfaction,” said Chinyere Anyaogu, MD, deputy chief medical officer at NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx, who will be one of the staff members teaching. “Our greatest investment in the future is our youth, and it is an honor to be able to help a child decide to enter the medical field.”
Subsequent four-week sessions will focus on different parts of the body. Additional content may be developed to focus on health informatics, mobile app development, and data science, as well as introductions to biomedical research and public health. Sufficient variety in course content is planned for students to participate in sessions over multiple years and always cover different content. Each session is designed to stand alone, so there will be no expectations that a student will have taken a previous session.
“As the co-founder and president of Mentoring in Medicine, I’m delighted to launch our Youth Academy in partnership with NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx,” said Lynne Holden, MD, professor of Emergency Medicine at the Albert Einstein Medical School. “We look forward to bringing our ten years of successful in-school programs to a hospital. Our goal is to help develop the next generation of health care leaders dedicated to serving our neediest communities. We will provide academic enrichment, leadership development, college readiness, biomedical career exposure, and mentoring targeting elementary and middle school students.”
The cost for the four-week series is $297. (A discounted cost of $199 is offered to children of NYC Health + Hospitals employees.) To register, please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nyc-health-hospitals-north-central-bronx-youth-academy-tickets-55271569753. For questions about the program, please email andrew@medicalmentor.org.
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photo by James Richards IV
Lollapalooza 2017 Thursday pics (Muse, Spoon, Liam Gallagher, more)
By BrooklynVegan Staff August 4, 2017 | BrooklynVegan
Lollapalooza's 2017 edition got off to a rocky start with a weather related evacuation and some shortened sets, like headliners Lorde and Muse. Spoon, Kaytranada, Wiz Khalifa, Cage the Elephant, A-Track, Liam Gallagher, The Drums, Middle Kids, Temples, The O'Mys, Kevin Devine, and more aslo played Thursday at Lolla.
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Lollapalooza 2017 set times
blink-182 vs Crystal Castles vs The Killers? Chance the Rapper vs The xx vs Mac DeMarco?
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Temples & Drowners played Lincoln Hall (pics)
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Category: Music, tour dates Tags: Drowners, Fat Possum, Lincoln Hall, Temples
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Scouting captures the interest of older Scouts (those who are at least 13 years old or have completed the seventh grade) who seek challenge and variety through diverse high-adventure and outdoor opportunities. Scouting not only provides adventure but also emphasizes values through ideals that reinforce God, country, and personal growth.
Nobody offers more exhilarating or a wider variety of high adventure for young people than the Boy Scouts of America. Through high adventure experiences, the BSA leaves lasting memories with youth and fosters development in character and leadership.
Philmont Council Contingent: Each summer, the council sends several contingent to Philmont Scout Ranch.
National Scout Jamboree: Scouting’s flagship event is one-of-a-kind. It’s a gathering of approximately 45,000 Scouts, leaders, and staff that showcases everything that is great about the BSA and its members. Over the course of 10 summer days, the Boy Scouts of America comes together. The council will be sending a contingent to the next jamboree which will be held in 2017.
Sea Scout Base Galveston is a high adventure marine and maritime destination. The aquatics programs educate and foster independence of body, mind and spirit, while instilling lifetime leadership and team building skills.
OA High Adventure Programs are a unique opportunity for Order of the Arrow youth members to spend two weeks at a high adventure base for a life changing experience. Arrowmen spend part of their time performing service and then take part in a crew-designed adventure. The OA Summit Experience is for those Arrowmen ages 14-17; all other programs are for Arrowmen ages 16-20.
High Adventure Bases: Boy Scout troops and Venturing crews can sign up for one of four exciting BSA's High Adventure Bases:
From June to September, Northern Tier boasts the best wilderness canoeing in the world. Scouts go canoeing, hiking, fishing, and winter camping in and around the beautiful lakes of northern Minnesota and southern Canada.
The Summit property is on 10,600 acres adjacent to the New River Gorge National River area. That means access to incredible outdoor terrain in the Appalachian Mountains that provides a home for some of the world’s best whitewater rafting, rock climbing, and mountain biking.
Scouting's "Granddaddy of them all", located on more than 200 square miles of rugged New Mexico wilderness. Scouts can go backpacking, rock climbing and see views from peaks more than 10,000 feet tall.
Philmont Scout Ranch
Cimarron, New Mexico
Mount Hope, West Virginia
Ely, Minnesota
Sea Base is Scouting's ultimate aquatic experience. Sail to the Bahamas, go snorkeling or SCUBA diving, enjoy beach camping and more. Scouts can be certified in SCUBA at the base.
Florida Sea Base
Islamorado, Florida
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Chrismatic, engaging and briliant golfer, Seve Ballesteros dies aged 54
Andrew Soar May 8, 2011
RIP Seve Ballesteros
Seve Ballesteros was told by a friend: “When the bad times arrive you have to open the umbrella and wait for the rain to stop.” Europe’s most charismatic golfer died waiting for the rain to cease, and now it is sport that stands there reminiscing, forlorn.
Notable sportsmen and women leave us every week, and stock phrases of sorrow are rolled out by people who never met them, but few will depart to so much anguish as Ballesteros, 54, who succumbed to a brain tumour after a three-year fight. His age is especially poignant, because Ballesteros is synonymous with precocity, with a fine bearing and youth. Perhaps a third of his life has been stolen from him in an age when the virtues he expressed are rare in the modern corporate world of sport.
Across Britain, as well as Spain, there was a mass appropriation of his memory as his admirers expressed unusually deep sadness at his passing.
Seve in Open glory
There is a reason for the grief. Success alone is no guarantee of adulation. Winners are respected but not necessarily adored. Ballesteros appealed to the masses because he didn’t just play golf: he attacked it, refusing to yield to the hard rules of nature that make it such an infernally difficult activity.
When he shot to prominence as the 22-year-old winner of the Open Championship, in 1979, golf was still embedded in the Jack Nicklaus/Arnold Palmer era. America was pre-eminent, and the game still radiated a country-club conservatism. Palmer and Nicklaus had brought big money in, but the sport still rationed its emotions, and it took Ballesteros’s energy and enthusiasm to loosen those binds.
The BBC’s Peter Alliss said yesterday that Seve had something of George Best about him – “a gift that very few of them are given”. Some of this was superficial: his dark hair, clean face and athletic shape made him an early poster boy for a stuffy industry. The “Seve” moniker was reminiscent of “Ali”; only the greats can be known by a single name. The eulogies for Ballesteros stretched so far that he is being talked about in that league. The common ingredient, as much as charisma, is skill, which he possessed in abundance: to be really mourned, the sportsman has to be capable of feats that would be impossible to his colleagues.
Seve seen recently
To convert pure talent into trophies requires audacity, boldness, and Ballesteros had that too. He was a gambler, a taker of risks who could find the green by improbable routes. A classic shot replayed by the obituarists came at Royal Lytham in 1979, on the 16th hole, where Ballesteros missed the fairway with his tee shot and landed in a temporary parking lot, but struck the green with a miraculous second shot, then holed a 15-foot birdie putt to hold off Nicklaus.
He became Spain’s first winner of a major and won the Open twice more in 1984 and 1988. His two Masters wins (1980 and 1983) established his reputation in America, where he is remembered with equal fondness. His warmth and exuberance challenged the stereotype of the golfer as a sober, cap-doffing figure. To him the game was entertainment and he energised the galleries.
He inspired a generation of European players to stand up to the richer US tour. In his footsteps walked a succession of talented Spaniards, such as Miguel Angel Jiménez, the ponytailed, cigar-puffing eccentric of Europe’s winning Ryder Cup team in Wales last year. That victory owed much to Ballesteros, who was constantly evoked by Europe’s players, and who shared with Colin Montgomerie, the captain, the deepest appreciation of the Ryder Cup; in 1985 he was part of the first victorious European team for 28 years and was smitten.
Most great golfers are lone wolves, individualists. Theirs is a lonely sport that makes team play difficult for the most self-absorbed. Tiger Woods is the best example of a player to whom the Ryder Cup is alien. But Ballesteros was a team man. In Europe’s biennial clash with America he found another life, winning 20 points from 37 matches spread over eight Ryder Cups.
In 1997, he captained the team to victory at Valderrama in Spain, and was in his element, arriving on the greens like a tank commander to urge his players on. So his career unfolded in two hits: the brilliance of his early years in major tournaments, then the statesman phase, in which he expressed all the new confidence of the European game.
To many, Woods is a manufactured champion: a product of parental crafting and corporate ambition. Ballesteros pre-dates the business age. Satisfyingly, he learned to play hitting pebbles on the beach near his childhood home with a cut-down three iron. He was the boy in love with a game. His pomp, the late 1970s and 1980s, arrived just as golf was changing from a game to an industry.
Much of the woe expressed yesterday stemmed from people re-connecting with those more innocent times. A life at the top in sport offers no guarantees beyond retirement. Last week we also lost Sir Henry Cooper, who, a friend said, “could hardly get out of the house” in his final months, such was his grief over the death of his wife, Albina.
Equally, Ballesteros’s game fell apart in middle age. Back trouble was partly to blame. By the time he stopped, a round of golf at professional level had become painful, and sometimes embarrassing.
Tony Jacklin, his contemporary, said of his talent: “The impossible was an everyday thing for him.” It was true in golf, but not, last week, in life.
Seve Ballesteros came to prominence as a 19 year-old prodigy in the 1976 Open, finishing second to Johnny Miller after an astonishing recovery shot from a car park to birdie the 16th hole in his final round.
Seve Ballesteros and family
Three years later, in 1980, Ballesteros became the youngest winner of the Masters at the age of 23. He went on to win the Open twice more in 1984 and 1988.
Became the first European to win the US Augusta Masters in 1980, winning it for a second time in 83.
Topped golf’s world rankings for 61 weeks between 1986 and 1989, as well as equalling Gary Player’s record of five World Match Play Championships.
Due to persistent back problems Ballesteros’ game declined in the mid 1990’s, although he carried on playing intermittently until 2007 he won the last of his record 50 European Tour titles in 1995.
Having played in eight Ryder Cups during his career, winning three, Seve then captained Europe in a non-playing role to an epic Ryder Cup victory against the United States in 1997.
brain tumourGolfPeter AllisRIPSeveSeve BallesterosSpainTiger Woods
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Andrew Soar
Andrew mixes the two dark arts of public relations and journalism, combining his role at several leading PR agencies, with editing and writing for Culture and Life.
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EPL champions Leicester backing under fire boss Claudio Ranieri
By : Steven Howard
‘It’s been a tough few weeks for us.
The Foxes, with preseason odds of 5,000/1 to lift last season’s EPL title, finished on top, 10 points ahead of second-place Arsenal.
“I love these players as they gave me something special in my career”.
Whether or not that’s true is a matter of some debate, but Ranieri was certainly a massive part of why Leicester shocked the world and won the Premier League a year ago.
In their successful season Ranieri used just 18 players to win the league. “Also, I am Pinocchio”, Ranieri said. Now it is important to be positive without bad, bad words. ‘For us it is one of the main matches of the season because we have to get a result, ‘ he said. These East Midlands rivals drew the first fixture 2-2 at Pride Park. We’re the reigning champions and quite frankly it has been awful, it has been embarrassing. He added: “We are still searching for the best way to play (without him)”.
“It’s hard but I am used to fighting, and also my players are used to fighting because Leicester always fighting in last 10 years, and I am very confident in this [survival]”.
While it is what you do out on the pitch at the end of the day that counts the most, these sort of opportunities to speak to a global sporting superstar do not come around every day.
“I think it’s the right move”, said the ex-Sunderland man on Leicester’s decision to back the Italian.
‘Some managers did it [made changes] in their first game.
When asked about the strength of the dressing room and the support of his players, Ranieri was diplomatic, insisting that Leicester remain united in their fight against the drop.
‘Ten days later you’ve got two completely different teams. Claudio Ranieri still has mostly the same players that lifted the Premier League trophy back in May, yet they still find themselves 38 points behind current leaders Chelsea. Saying that it was still a thrilling cup tie’.
Demarai Gray and Daniel Amartey could also feature from the start. It’s too easy to say we make mistakes and that is bad. “Everybody is disappointed – the players, the staff and I can tell that the fans are as well and that’s their right”, he said.
Reports of changing room unrest and increasingly alienation between players and manager have subsequently emerged, but Ranieri has sought to play down such speculation. It’ll involve playing next season without Schmeichel, Vardy, Mahrez and a few others and setting another record – albeit an unwanted one this time.
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Mrs joe great expectations. Notes on Chapter 16: Murderous Attack on Mrs. Joe... from Great Expectations 2019-01-10
Mrs joe great expectations Rating: 9,3/10 1167 reviews
Notes on Chapter 16: Murderous Attack on Mrs. Joe... from Great Expectations
Though I really see no reason why she should have worn it at all; or why, if she did wear it at all, she should not have taken it off, every day of her life. Joe does have some legitimate reasons to be so. Thereafter Orlick vanishes, only to reappear in chapter 53 in a symbolic act, when he lures Pip into a locked, abandoned building in the marshes. The novel's direction emerges from the confrontation between the two periods of time. Pumblechook Miss Havisham and relations.
How does Mrs. Joe dies in Great Expectations
Jennifer's character, Fiona, is very cruel to Sam Cinderella who she is involuntarily left to care for just as Mrs. Joe—solely out of love for Pip. Various other characters behave similarly—that is, the oppressed become the oppressors. The narrator-hero is left to draw the necessary conclusions: in the end, Pip finds the light and embarks on a path of moral regeneration. Pip also has a powerful conscience, and he deeply wants to improve himself, both morally and socially.
SparkNotes: Great Expectations: Joe Gargery
Trabb's boy reveals that appearance has taken precedence over being, protocol on feelings, decorum on authenticity; labels reign to the point of absurdity, and human solidarity is no longer the order of the day. Archived from on 2 July 2012. The police ultimately arrest him for housebreaking. Analysis: Chapters 14—16 In Chapter 10, Pip received an unwelcome reminder of the convict when the stranger in the pub appeared with the stolen file. Finally, there are women like Biddy. He abandoned Miss Havisham on their wedding day.
In London, Bentley Drummle outrages Pip, by proposing a toast to Estella. Dickens and the Grotesque Revised ed. This guy looks like Keith Urban and acts like a thug. In conclusion, Great Expectations is a juicy and interesting story and all loose ends are tied up towards the end of the book! Jaggers disburses the money Pip needs. When confronted about this, Jaggers discourages Pip from acting on his suspicions.
Makes no sense, why not hang out in Lubbock with the in-laws until she felt well enough to travel. Compeyson - A criminal and the former partner of Magwitch, Compeyson is an educated, gentlemanly outlaw who contrasts sharply with the coarse and uneducated Magwitch. From this quote, I know that Mrs. Maria Elena Santiago Holly claimed to have miscarried the child two months after Buddy's death. It came fifth in a 1999.
Relationship between Pip and Joe in The Great Expectations
This quotation suggests that Pip views Joe, who is much older than him, as more of an equal and companion in comparison to a parental figure. Miss Havisham is also central to 2002 , 's , , which features a parody of Miss Havisham. Harper's paid £1,000 for publication rights. It shows us how his life is drastically turned around at the early age of seven, following the accidental meeting of the convict Magwich. Joe commenting on Pip's good fortune, by John McLenan At the time of of 1851, Dickens and an editor of Household Words wrote an article comparing the British technology that created to the few artifacts exhibited by China: England represented an openness to worldwide trade and China isolationism. She is revealed to be Magwitch's estranged wife and Estella's mother.
Character List for Great Expectations
She gives Pip money to pay for Herbert Pocket's position at Clarriker's, and asks for his forgiveness. Pip and Herbert build up debts. These are my thoughts and reactions to the book. Even though Pip is in no way at fault in the incident, his conscience still troubles him. The benefactor provides Pip with money to supply his education and training as a gentlemen.
SparkNotes: Great Expectations: Chapters 14
Shortly after confessing her plotting to Pip and begging for his forgiveness, she is badly burned when her dress accidentally catches fire. . But there is more to Jaggers than his impenetrable exterior. Mrs Joe becomes kind-hearted after the attack. Herbert Pocket - Pip first meets Herbert Pocket in the garden of Satis House, when, as a pale young gentleman, Herbert challenges him to a fight. Silver Fork Society: Fashionable Life and Literature from 1814 to 1840.
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Opinion: Fix trade secret law to protect precious water from fracking
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Citizens Take A Stand — While Governors Turn Their Backs
Backyard Talk, News Archive
The governor in Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia are whining about how they would stop the Mountain Valley or Atlantic Coast pipelines if they could. . . but they can’t. Their hands are tied. It’s a lie and they know it. Theresa "Red" Terry has planted herself in a tree in Southwest Virginia to protest [...]
Maryland Bans Fracking
Senate passes bill with GOP governor's support, following six years of grassroots resistance across the state of Maryland With game-changing support from Republican Governor Larry Hogan, the Maryland state Senate Monday night gave final approval to a bill to forever ban the practice of fracking in Maryland. The move culminates years of protests against gas [...]
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Open banking regulations: What do big banks need to do to disrupt the disruptors?
Posted by Chris Maranis on Thu, Mar 22, 2018 @ 11:33 AM
Disruption is a buzzword in business right now.
Old models are crumbling while new models, powered by emergent technology, are replacing them. Uber, Airbnb, Deliveroo – each provides a recognisable service in a new way. Financial Services are not immune.
The UK’s Open Banking legislation came into force on January 13, 2018. This was the second phase of a ‘managed roll out’ which aims to facilitate innovation, competition and efficiency in banking. Open Banking puts everything up for grabs - including savings and transactional accounts, mortgages, personal loans, debt collection, debit cards, and credit cards.
The new regulations in the UK mirror a global shift. Across the world, customers are demanding flexibility and accessibility in all services and the democratisation of service comes a potential hit to the bottom line. A recent report by McKinsey titled A Brave New World for Global Banking estimates that banks in Europe and the UK currently have $35 billion (31%) of profits at risk because of digitisation. The report reads: "More severe digital disruption could further cut their profits from $110 billion today to $50 billion in 2020, and reduce returns on equity in half to one to two percent by 2020, even after some mitigation efforts."
With a tidal wave of disruptors about to flood the market, how do big banks go about disrupting themselves?
The status quo...
In the UK, only 3% of personal banking customers switch accounts in any given year, according to research by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMI). With an influx of new, more flexible and accessible ways for customers to handle money, that looks set to increase.
Recent reports from PwC back this up. They found “39% of bank customers would share their financial data with other banks and third parties (such as Amazon, Apple, Tesco and so on) if in return they received benefits such as an overall view of their accounts in a single app.” Rather than the bank being their go-to for transactions, loans, repayments or debt recovery, almost half of the UK populace would go elsewhere - if it made their lives easier.
So how have banks reacted thus far? Generally, badly. Natwest has been on the attack, ramping up security fears among consumers. Meanwhile, six big high-street banks, including Barclays and HSBC, managed to miss their deadlines for opening up their APIs. These missed deadlines send a message that openness is not top of the banks’ priorities, encouraging customers to start looking elsewhere.
US banks have been similarly reticent. America has had open banking regulations for years - although they are not mandated - but a only a few large banks, such as Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, have made bilateral agreements with data aggregators and accounting software providers. A small number of banks — Capital One, BBVA Compass, Silicon Valley Bank, Citi, for instance — have embraced open banking and offer APIs to almost anyone. The rest have mostly opted out.
This hasn’t stopped a steady influx of startups entering the US fintech space, however. “There are fewer and fewer moats banks have to protect their legacy business,” Lex Sokolin, global director of fintech strategy at Autonomous Research told American Banker. “Those moats are regulatory access and capture, internal data on clients and client references, and customer acquisition — banks have spent millions on customer acquisition and it will take the SoFis [Social Finance] many more millions to scale up to that.”
In the US, these moats are shrinking because new tech startups - designed around AI - can infer your financial position anyway, without data from the banks. In the UK, regulators are filling the moats with concrete - allowing easy access for disruptors.
Either way, banks closing ranks are fighting the wrong fight.
The battle is already lost
When Uber launched in Europe, there were protests in London, France, Spain, Italy and more - the established organisations rallying against the incumbent. But Uber ultimately succeeds because it gives the public what they want: convenience.
In banking, the established corporates have held customer data closely, and slowly developed services around their existing systems rather than adopting a customer-focused approach. Internet and Mobile banking has been successful, but compare that to the mobile-first approach of a financial startup like Monzo and the sluggishness of the old systems becomes apparent.
As CEO Tom Blomfield told The Guardian: “[The Monzo experience] is much more emotional. A lot of young people feel anxious and stressful about money. They lose track of their spending, with some payments taking three or four days to appear, so they exceed their overdraft. What Monzo does is auto-budget for you. It tells you how much you’re spending, say, on eating out. It’s really easy to send and receive money – so if four of you are in a restaurant it splits the bill instantly.”
The account had captured the imagination of hundreds of thousands of customers (and counting). Why? It understands its their needs entirely. The virtual ‘pots’ are a particularly nice touch - ring-fenced savings for particular purposes, presented in language the public uses and understands.
Monzo is just the tip of the banking-as-a-platform (BaaP) iceberg. Once APIs are open across the board, customers can have a current account with one provider, and bolt on other financial services (such as insurance policy, mortgage, investments, ISAs, etc.) through other providers, all under one user interface of their choosing.
Anne Boden, of mobile-only Starling Bank, told the BBC customers will be able to see exactly what they bought for lunch each day in an app that could analyse the calorie levels, and then cross-check it with how much exercise that person is doing. These little innovations, enabled by open banking, can connect banks with customers on a much deeper level.
Internationally, a number of revolutions showcase the changes in the wider banking landscape. In East Africa, new underwriting models like M-Shwari, Tala and Branch are emerging because of access to other data sources like mobile phone data. Chinese businesses like WeChat and AliPay have grown unstoppably thanks to increased availability of customer financial data.
To keep up, banks have to swim with the tide, using their existing customer base to vastly improve the way they work.
Banks need to fight a different battle
Open Banking changes in the UK are headed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA): their strapline for the new regulations is ‘Making banks work harder for you.’ This isn’t simply a catchy logo. It should act as a call to arms for large high street banks who want to retain their customer base.
Big banks can disrupt the disruptors by leveraging the data they already hold on customers to improve services across the board.
In the UK, over 80 per cent of the public banks with Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Santander or Royal Bank of Scotland. These big players need to use insights from their customers to find out what they want, and use their financial clout to provide it. Intelligent use of technology relies on capital and data - the big banks have both.
Banks are at a significant advantage to startups in one other area: they have trusted names. While trust in banking has been a hot topic post-2008, it looks like consumers are still reluctant to give their personal financial information to an unknown third party. Recent research by consultants Accenture found that 85% of respondents would be put off sharing data by the fear of fraud; 69% said they would not share financial data with businesses that were not banks.
In this dynamic, open banking is an opportunity and not an obstacle. Banks hold significant customer loyalty - all they have to do is keep it. The same Accenture study offers four ways for banks to embrace this open future:
Design engaging API experiences
Develop new operating models
Adopt a new mindset and culture
Create new business processes
What it doesn’t say, but should, is that all of these changes should have the customer at their core. The G20’s Anti-Corruption Working Group has identified open data as a priority to advance public sector transparency and integrity: banks now have an opportunity to shift focus and attack these issues
Customer-first should be the mantra: banks need to use their customer data wisely to find out exactly what customers want, and give it to them. If they don’t act, and act fast, they’ll be left behind.
Written by Chris Maranis
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Home ⁄ The Wire ⁄ [GRINDHOUSE COMICS COLUMN] VIGILANTE: SOUTHLAND #1
[GRINDHOUSE COMICS COLUMN] VIGILANTE: SOUTHLAND #1
Nov 2, 2016 Comics Tagged Comic Books, Comics, Crime, DC Comics, Elena Casagrande, Gary Phillips, George Pérez, Giulia Brusco, Los Angeles, Marv Wolfman Comments 0
In the DC Universe, the name “Vigilante” doesn’t signify a specific character so much as it does a handle: sure, Batman, Nightwing, and the like are vigilantes by trade, but the first person to specifically call himself Vigilante was the country-singing “motorcycle cowboy” Greg Saunders all the way back in 1941, and arguably the most well-known costumed crimefighter who adopted the title was district attorney Adrian Chase, a creation of Marv Wolfman and George Pérez who took on bad guys who got off the in the courtroom during his off-hours beginning in 1982 and ending, in a stellar moment of inspiration for youthful readers everywhere, with his suicide several years later. Now, though, there’s a new bolo-swinging masked adventurer who’s apparently cut from the Chase cloth: Meet failed- NBA-draft-choice-turned-college-campus-maintenance-man Donny Fairchild, who’s making his debut in the pages of Vigilante: Southland #1 just in time for some iteration or other of the character to make his small-screen debut on the CW’s Arrow TV show a few weeks from now.
Donny seems like an interesting enough cat from the outset here, and writer Gary Phillips is giving him a solid origin story that reads like a modern-day updating of CHINATOWN, to wit: his girlfriend stumbles on a conspiracy to steal LA-area water rights through a series of ultra-shady land development deals and is killed for her troubles, but when our newly-minted hero doesn’t buy the bogus “hit and run” story the cops slap over her death and decides to get training in the art of ass-kicking from an old-time neighborhood righter of wrongs who calls himself The Eastsider, he finds himself a target, as well — and the explosion that takes out his apartment building at the end of this first issue would seem to indicate that he’s on the right track.
“Lean and mean” is the order of the day here, and everything from Phillips’ sparse but effective script to Elena Casagrande’s effectively straightforward art and Giulia Brusco’s realistic color palette get the job done with minimal fuss but plenty of gritty, street-level style. This comic takes all of about ten minutes to read, but at least they’re ten enjoyable and involving minutes, and odds are you’ll probably feel like reading it again before the next issue comes out. Casagrande might be the standout talent of the bunch, as her work here shows a solid improvement over her run on the recently-completed Boom! Studios series Suicide Risk, but honestly, everyone does a damn good job on this issue and this series looks to be a fresh and interesting contemporary take on a previously-mothballed concept. Phillips has promised that his six-part story will touch on issues ranging from gun violence to class struggles to Black Lives Matter, so who knows? Maybe this book will turn out to be everything that Black Mask Studios’ Black promised to be. An honest appraisal of these pressing urban challenges is sorely needed in comics right now, that’s for sure, and while the new, dulled-down, Rebirth-era DC is probably the last place I’d expect to find it, this opening installment gives me hope that these creators are both up to the task and, crucially, being given the editorial freedom to go for it.
On a purely economic level, the $3.99 cover price is a bit of a drag, and provides the first indication that DC’s recent roll-back to $2.99 across the board will probably be somewhat short-lived, but the funny thing is that I didn’t feel particularly short-changed by this comic despite the fact that it’s a quick read. There’s plenty happening in Vigilante: Southland in terms of imagination, action, and social relevance, and while this series seems to largely be flying under the radar, you’d do very well indeed to make sure that it’s on yours.
— @TRASHFILMGURU.
CHECK OUT THE @TRASHFILMGURU ARCHIVE, SUCKA!
CHECK OUT @TRASHFILMGURU’S TOP TEN TITLES OF 2015 OVER HERE!
Tags: Comic Books, Comics, Crime, DC Comics, Elena Casagrande, Gary Phillips, George Pérez, Giulia Brusco, Los Angeles, Marv Wolfman
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Book Talk guest Matthias Hollwich author New Aging Live Smarter Now to Live Better Forever
http://dougmilesmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Matthias-Hollwich-New-Aging.mp3
Baby BoomersBook TalkDoug MilesMatthias HollwichNew AgingWTMY
Book Talk guest Asha Dornfest author Parent Hacks 134 Genius Shortcuts for Life with Kids
http://dougmilesmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Asha-Dornfest-Parent-Hacks.mp3
Asha DornfestBook TalkDoug MilesParent Hacksradio interviewTalk Across AmericaWTMY
Remembering Patty Duke
Patty Duke passed away at age 69 today. She was a talented actress and advocate for those suffering with depression.
actressPatty Duke
baseballDon HendersonDoug MilesFinal FourGarry ShandlingJason DayJoe GaragiolaKen HowardNCAA Tournamentradiosports talkspring trainingWTMY
actors, comedians, television
Remembering Garry Shandling
Garry Shandling passed away at age 66 on March 24th. He was a talented comedy writer before he became known as a great standup comedian. He guest hosted for Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show”. He had 2 successful comedy series, “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show” and “The Larry Sanders Show”. This is his first appearance on the “Tonight Show” in 1981.
Garry ShandlingTonight Show
actors, sports, television
Remembering Ken Howard
Ken Howard was a talented actor who appeared on Broadway, Television and Film. He was also the President of the Screen Actors Guild and was instrumental in improving the benefits and pensions of his fellow actors and actresses. He passed away at age 71 earlier this week.
baseball, broadcasting, sports, sportscasters, television
Remembering Joe Garagiola
Joe Garagiola passed away at age 90 earlier this week. He was one of the first professional athletes to go into broadcasting and became one of the most versatile broadcasters in the industry. In addition to calling baseball games, he co-hosted the “Today Show” on NBC, hosted game shows, hosted the “Westminster Dog Show” and “Orange Bowl Parade”. The interview above is a portion of a conversation I had with Joe on WSRQ radio several years ago.
Baltimore Orioles to Host 6th Annual All Faiths Food Drive this Saturday at Ed Smith Stadium
(Sarasota, FL) On Saturday, March 26, the Baltimore Orioles will host the sixth annual All Faiths Food Drive. Fans attending the 1:05 p.m. game against the Boston Red Sox at Ed Smith Stadium are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items and/or monetary donations to benefit the All Faiths Food Bank. Volunteers will collect all donations at the gates of the ballpark.
Since 2011, more than 4,000 pounds of food and more than $5,200 in cash donations have been collected at the yearly food drive to help people in need in the Sarasota community. In 2015, All Faiths Food Bank distributed eight million pounds of food, which equates to nearly 6.5 million meals. More than 3,500 volunteers and 184 partner agencies and programs in Sarasota and DeSoto counties support the Food Bank’s mission.
The Orioles’ participation in the All Faiths Food Drive is part of Sarasota 365, a host of initiatives through which the Baltimore Orioles and OriolesREACH demonstrate the ballclub’s year-round engagement with the Greater Sarasota community. Whether hosting youth activities, participating in charitable causes or partnering in efforts to boost the local economy, the Orioles are active in the region all year long, proving that their commitment to the club’s southern home goes far beyond baseball. For more information or to sign up for the Orioles in Sarasota e-newsletter, visit www.orioles.com/sarasota.
All Faith's Food BankBaltimore OriolesbaseballDoug Miles MediaEd Smith Stadium
Sports Talk with Don Henderson and Doug Miles guest NHL Analyst Jeffrey Payne 3/22/16
Adam LarocheDon HendersonDoug MilesFrank Sinatra Jr.Jason DayJeffrey PayneNCAA TournamentNHLradiosports talkWTMY
Book Talk guest Dr. Andrew Newberg author How Enlightenment Changes Your Brain
http://dougmilesmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Andrew-Newberg-Enlightenment.mp3
Book TalkDoug MilesDr. Andrew NewbergEnlightenmentinterviewTalk Across AmericaWTMY
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Representative LaKeshia Myers
Representative LaKeshia Myers's Home Page
Committee on Agriculture
Committee on Education
Committee on Federalism and Interstate Relations
Committee on Regulatory Licensing Reform
Committee on Tourism
Speaker's Task Force on Adoption
Born Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 21, 1984; single.
Graduate Rufus King High School, 2002; B.A. in Political Science, Alcorn State University, 2006; M. Ed., Strayer University, 2009; Ed.D., Argosy University, 2016.
Educator; small business owner. Former subcommittee clerk, U.S. House of Representatives; former legislative aide, Wisconsin State Senate.
Member: Alcorn State University National Alumni Association (Milwaukee Chapter Vice President); Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; Democratic Party of Wisconsin; Historically Black College/University Alumni United (President); Milwaukee Metropolitan Alliance of Black School Educators; National Education Association; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Wisconsin African American Chamber of Commerce.
Former member: National Membership Director College Democrats of America (2005-2006); Phi Delta Kappa International; National Council of Negro Women.
Relating to: teacher preparatory programs and granting rule-making authority.
Relating to: using an electronic voting machine to cast a vote with an in-person absentee ballot and providing a penalty. (FE)
Relating to: a license to teach based on reciprocity and granting rule-making authority. (FE)
Relating to: sexual contact by a law enforcement officer with a person in his or her custody and providing a penalty.
Relating to: proclaiming March 2019 to be Kidney Month in Wisconsin.
3/7/2019: 2019 Assembly Bill 62
Relating to: manufacturer and insurer disclosure of prescription drug costs.
Relating to: creating an appropriation for census activities and preparation and making an appropriation. (FE)
Relating to: extending voting rights to certain 17-year-old individuals and requiring a referendum.
Relating to: requiring political subdivisions and Marquette University to pay health insurance premiums for survivors of a law enforcement officer who dies in the line of duty and making an appropriation. (FE)
Relating to: honoring June 2019 as Wisconsin Fatherhood Month.
Relating to: including with the property tax bill information state aid reduction to school districts. (FE)
Relating to: increasing the homestead tax credit maximum income. (FE)
Relating to: advanced practice registered nurses, extending the time limit for emergency rule procedures, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, and granting rule-making authority. (FE)
Relating to: creating an individual income tax credit for certified nursing assistant training costs. (FE)
Relating to: grants to technical college districts for nurse aide training and making an appropriation. (FE)
Relating to: increasing reimbursement for personal care services under the Medical Assistance program, Medicaid expansion and eligibility for BadgerCare Plus and BadgerCare Plus Core, and making an appropriation. (FE)
Relating to: stalking.
Relating to: eliminating personal conviction exemption from immunizations.
Relating to: expungement of deoxyribonucleic acid from crime laboratories if the person is not found guilty or adjudicated delinquent. (FE)
Relating to: fee remission for certain veterans enrolled in University of Wisconsin System institutions or technical colleges. (FE)
Relating to: storage and processing of sexual assault kits and requiring the exercise of rule-making authority. (FE)
Relating to: privacy of lottery winner.
Relating to: recognizing May 6 through May 10, 2019, as Teacher Appreciation Week.
Relating to: regulating hemp, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. (FE)
Relating to: creating a nonrefundable individual income tax credit for certain adoption expenses and modifying eligibility for the adoption expenses tax deduction. (FE)
Relating to: proclaiming May 2019 as Lyme Disease Awareness Month.
Relating to: allowing minors to operate temporary stands without a permit or license. (FE)
Relating to: transferability of courses between the University of Wisconsin System, technical college system, and tribally controlled and private colleges. (FE)
Relating to: facilities for holding juveniles in secure custody. (FE)
Relating to: grants for certain University of Wisconsin and technical college graduates who paid nonresident tuition; granting rule-making authority; and making an appropriation.
Relating to: fee for certain motor vehicle certificate of title transfers. (FE)
Relating to: eligibility for physician, dentist, and health care provider educational loan assistance programs. (FE)
Relating to: late payment of tuition benefits for student veterans enrolled in the University of Wisconsin System or a technical college. (FE)
Relating to: the operation of electric scooters on highways, granting rule-making authority, and providing a penalty. (FE)
Relating to: sexual contact with an animal and providing a penalty.
Relating to: recognizing April 2019 as Deaf History Month in Wisconsin.
Relating to: professional development training in character education for teachers, pupil service professionals, principals, and school district administrators, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. (FE)
Relating to: honoring the public service of Michael Leckrone.
Relating to: proclaiming April 28, 2019, Workers' Memorial Day in Wisconsin.
Relating to: congratulating the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men's hockey team for winning the 2019 NCAA Division III National Championship title.
Relating to: proclaiming April as Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month in Wisconsin.
Relating to: pharmacists and pharmacy students administering vaccines.
Relating to: prohibiting abusive work environments and allowing an individual who has been subjected to such an environment to bring a civil action. (FE)
Relating to: electric bicycles and providing a penalty. (FE)
Relating to: reducing the eligibility threshold to claim the veterans and surviving spouses property tax credit. (FE)
Relating to: imposing requirements related to school lunch and breakfast programs in certain schools. (FE)
Relating to: licensure of dental therapists; extending the time limit for emergency rule procedures; providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures; providing an exemption from rule-making procedures; and granting rule-making authority. (FE)
Relating to: congratulating the Milwaukee Brewers on their 2018 season.
Relating to: hours of instructional program for nurse aides.
Relating to: restricting a person's operating privilege to vehicles equipped with an ignition interlock device. (FE)
Relating to: information on the school district and school accountability report.
Relating to: prohibiting the sale of vapor products to minors and the purchase of those products by minors. (FE)
Relating to: the minority teacher loan program. (FE)
Relating to: dispensing, distributing, or selling dialysate, drugs, or devices necessary for providing home peritoneal kidney dialysis.
Relating to: recognizing March 1, 2019, as National Speech and Debate Education Day in Wisconsin.
Relating to: creating a procedure for granting certificates of qualification for employment for persons convicted of a crime and making an appropriation. (FE)
2/7/2019: 2019 Assembly Joint Resolution 3
Relating to: proclaiming February 2019 to be American Heart Month in Wisconsin.
Relating to: recognizing February as Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month.
Relating to: the distribution of excess sales tax revenue collected by a local professional baseball park district and making an appropriation. (FE)
Relating to: proclaiming May as Lupus Awareness Month in Wisconsin.
Relating to: placement of cigarettes, nicotine products, or tobacco products by retailers and providing a penalty.
2019 Authored Amendments
6/12/2019: 2019 AA1-AB195
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EAW | Season 11 :: Interact :: EAW Discussion TweetShare
The intangibles of promoing
The Elite-Lord
Hailing From : Dortmund
Status : Alles Für Lannister
Subject: The intangibles of promoing July 10th 2014, 10:31 am
What makes a "great promo" to you?
I've always found it fascinating that people can look at a promo but can't exactly pick it apart and explain why they find it as a great/good/bad or whatever adjective you want to affiliate here. So I'm asking you to go above and beyond that here. Most people just simply look at promo quality based off how well they can insult their opponent or how big of a game they can talk up in a one-on-one battle.
But for me... there are a lot of good promos/good promoers out there, so you're have to do a little more than that to get the "great" status. For example... I think if someone's personality is often chill at chats or what have you, but they promo like a completely different person (with quality of course), then I tend to consider it a great promo due to surreal feel to it.
Another example is when someone actually promo up to their gimmick or status in scripts. If someone in script is on a four match losing streak, I'm sorry, if you promo as if you're still the greatest thing since sliced bread, no, far from "great" status. If someone's gimmick is that of a super babyface that can do wrong, but ends up drinking all the time in their promo, while going on slurring and insulting their opponent out the door, again, far from a good promo.
The ability to play up to script, become a character you're completely not, and play the gimmick to a tee are all examples of "intangibles" of promoing. I guess what I'm trying to ask here, is, do intangibles add to what makes a great promo to you? If not, what does? There's obviously more than just the intangibles, but in particular, what do you look for when deciding what makes a promo great or otherwise?
Subject: Re: The intangibles of promoing July 10th 2014, 10:37 am
- When a promoer answers all the "yeah buts" that makes it harder for you to counter his points and to come up with something new
- Yes, insulting and making your opponent feel like utter shit is a part of great promoing ability. It's actually what makes it challenging and fun to read in the first place
- Immense ability to capitalize on your wins
- Recovering from tough losses and getting back to the game
- Promoing like the person that you really are, it means you are comfortable sitting in your own shoes
I actually have to disagree with a minor part of your post there. Insulting your opponent is far from challenging. It's quite easy to throw out insults at your opponent, because they don't even have to have merit behind them.
Definitely a part of what makes a great promo is talking up a good game, but insulting... I don't know about that. Can be hit or miss, and people are generally too vague with it.
Lannister wrote:
What I meant by "challenging" is to promo back on it. There are a lot of promoers out who don't insult you in their promos, its like I don't know… they are just spitting out random stuff like about themselves or whatever. The people who take offensive side and try to rape me on my weakest sides are my biggest enemies, which is kinda of my style honestly
Hailing From : Lexington, Kentucky
Status : Blah Blah Blah
- Being able to continuously giving each other something to work with so it makes things more entertaining and also makes your promos more fluid rather than feeling forced
- Make your character connect with yourself and how you really are. Pretty much the same with most RPG games like The Elder Scrolls. I feel if you are able to do that, you are able to do anything you want with your character instead of relying on one solitary gimmick.
- Trying to shy away from being repetitive. I understand by hammering in a point but it gets to the point where you are repeating yourself way too much about something from the past or the same lines over and over gets tiresome and not many people can work with someone who is like that. I know from experience.
- Growth. What I mean by that is in your promos from months or weeks from the last one always show that you have grew. I'm not saying by using bigger and complex words but as in the quality in promo and how you start off or end. Win or losing you can have the opportunity to show that you character has grew into something better or possibly more wicked. But on the flip side don't always use simple words, try to upgrade it a little bit like find the balance of use of very complex words or small baby like words .
- Emotion. I feel like you don't always have to use caps to show that when you are yelling or have strong feelings about something. Sure that may help some but it's not really needed. That's where word diction comes into play and show through your words that you show your opponents or writers that you are expressing that you are enraged, or upset or whatever emotion you are portraying.
Abelard Becker
Status : I guess what I meant to say was those comments hurt my feelings and I brought up my income as a defense mechanism, because I'm a tough guy.
If someone in script is on a four match losing streak, I'm sorry, if you promo as if you're still the greatest thing since sliced bread, no, far from "great" status.
I disagree with that. Especially if you're a heel. I've always found it great when someone is doing so bad yet they continue to hype themselves up as being better than everyone else, I've found it both ironic and entertaining.
The Black Reaper wrote:
I disagree. It really depends. Say you make a point and he responds to it and gives you nothing new to work with then its not your fault for bringing it back again. Also there is a difference between just saying "You lost to this guy" and "you lost to this guy because of this blah blah blah"
Last edited by Moonlight Predator on July 10th 2014, 11:05 am; edited 1 time in total
Scott Diamond wrote:
Well, in that particular situation, it can be hit or miss. But that can get repetitive rather quickly, and not to mention it's a bit of a cop out. We've seen that script before. Not saying that it can't produce great promos with that mentality, I'm just saying that route has a bigger percentage of just being plain and dull.
It depends what were the reasons for your loss. And saying overused stuff like "I have changed and now I am better" isn't really better either
Moonlight Predator wrote:
You don't have to always counter that statement. Actually it would fall on you because to me if that has ever happened I failed to give that person something to work with which is why he or she is being repetitive. But if I have gave that person something to work with then find a way to say it again in a different way or just make a little comment about it and just end it at that. Like C Los has taught me you don't always have to be in debate mode to just get your points across.
That's part of the intangible though, to just not write the same script, either it be continuous self-praise or changing for the better nonsense.
Eh if I am the person that starting the promo war and I make a point, why is it my fault that nothing else new popped out in our conversation? I can easily say its your downfall because apart from responding to what I said, you have nothing else to say to me. Of course there are a lot of people who can get really repetitive, but you can't be vague about the topic, you have to be really specific and give a particular situation
I am just saying, I can't really blame those people for what they are doing because making a GOOD comeback from these kind of losses is really hard. You always want to make yourself look good in one way or the other, because otherwise how will you ever win a match against somebody?
True true, but in the same sense give that person multiple things they can grab on and hook on to, even if they are not the best promoer out there. But if they failed to do that then find something they said and hook on to it. Most of the time things can get picked up from there.
There's a difference between still proving your worth and what we're talking about right now. Because, my original post, it can conflict itself depending on how you look at it. Your gimmick can be just purely an arrogant guy, so anything but hyping one's self up doesn't make sense. But the scenario we're talking about now is an exact case, which obviously changes the topic completely and getting the original point off track. But if we're speaking in general, I'd tend to believe that changing your mindset and style to adapt what's going on script can generally lead to not only better promos, but better story telling in the actual storyline itself.
Subject: Re: The intangibles of promoing July 10th 2014, 2:08 pm
Sometimes your promos, like your character, should be an extension of who you are. You gotta know yourself if you want to play a character well. Even when Methuselah isnt close to who I am irl, his beliefs are things I think about and consider sometimes which helped fuel the fire.
Make the shit relevant too.
and interesting. captivating to read. Idk. Think outside the box is probably the best bet.
Great thread tho Ken, I agree with what you said in ur OP. I guess the case is diff for some people when they lose. I made my character take pride on admitting when you're truly defeated and brushing off petty losses that have no value to the war. As long as that's being done consistently then I feel it's a huge part of bounce-back promos. Some of my favorite promos I read are promos after losses, in fact I usually read a persons promo after a big loss more than any other time to see where they can muster up confidence.
I look for if their message is consistent throughout the promo, fits their character and if it properly conveys a message at all. The more interesting and standout the promo is in of itself the better as well. Also if it's accurate, I don't mean by opinions but actual facts, like if it looks like you actually know what has gone on in scripts that you're talking about, I always thought it was kinda dumb when people bring up things they obviously don't know about when promoing.
making the other promoer better
CollarJohn wrote:
Anderson.
Hailing From : Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Status : Answers.
Subject: Re: The intangibles of promoing July 11th 2014, 4:15 am
People automatically think out-dissing your opponent makes a great promo. I believe character development is essential in great promos. You have to truly build yourself up to be interesting.
I believe I'm finally starting to do that now.
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
― Robert F. Kennedy
Out do your opponent.
Clark Duncan
Hailing From : Taylor Swift's bedroom
Status : My spirit animal's really a pterodactyl.
The best promos are the ones that are succinct and to the point.
A lengthy promo is not a good promo.
A wordy promo is not a good promo.
A try-hard promo is not good promo.
Say what needs to be said and move on.
Oh, and be original.
#HalfHipsterHalfOutcast
Shit happens and life goes on
Subject: Re: The intangibles of promoing July 11th 2014, 12:36 pm
Um my thing on "originality" is that nobody can be completely original. Everyone has gotten their gimmick from someone or from something. But anyways my thing is with originality, it's one of my biggest pet peeves when I read people's promos that talks about it. Like to me I think that doesn't help anyone with anything talking about in your promos. For one I think it's a major cliche , for two I just think it's overused a lot and three part of me feels like it's on the verge of being in character and out of character depending how you word it.
Subject: Re: The intangibles of promoing August 19th 2015, 1:21 am
The best promos are the ones that challenge your opponent to be better. You can write a kickass promo, but once the promo war begins, what do you have left on your 2nd or 3rd promo? A good promoer will tear you apart with their response and you better build on your previous promo or start hitting new ideas. A great promo will make the good promoers really think on their response and the bad promoers just close their laptop.
aka don't be repetitive in your promo wars.
Lumen Gray
Hailing From : London, England
Status : Morally Undefeated
Some really great points and advice here. I know I am new here but I really want to try and be original and I think some of the advice here will definitely help me do that.
I think my first big worry was "People write essays for most of their promos" but these comments have made me feel a little less intimidated by the amount some people seem to write
Subject: Re: The intangibles of promoing
EAW | Season 11 :: Interact :: EAW Discussion
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Tuesday, 9 July 2019 By Richard Misso
The Chimney House – Copenhagen
Studio David Thulstrup has transformed a heritage-listed former water pumping station in Copenhagen into The Chimney House. Created for VIPP, Chimney House incorporates bold architectural interventions that honour the original structure, which features a towering chimney, adding a cutting edge contemporary overlay. Chimney House takes its name from its distinctive 35-metre high minaret shaped chimney, added...
Keeping things humble – Byron Bay
Simple and rectangular, OCM house sits tucked away from street view at the back of a grassy block. Designed by Studio Jackson Scott the dwelling is bathed in the warmth and light of the Byron Bay sun (lucky house), it responds to the client’s brief of a comfortable home for a young family, with pleasing lines and modest materials on...
Friday, 21 June 2019 By Richard Misso
Dream Space by fashion designer Roksanda Ilincic
The focal point of this London Penthouse designed by fashion designer Roksanda Ilincic is the huge geometric mural in the dining area, hand-painted by Swiss artist Caroline Denervaud. Featuring blush-pink, sandy beige and navy blue forms, the wall provides a warm backdrop to the room's pale marble table and breakfast island. Simple white cabinetry and brass hardware have been incorporated in...
Tuesday, 18 June 2019 By Richard Misso
Layered artistic heritage
Located within a former Holiday Inn in the Toronto’s fashionable Annex neighbourhood, the 188-room Kimpton Saint George Hotel marks the first outpost of the Kimpton hotel branch in Canada. Local interior design firm Mason Studio completed hotel as an ode to the Toronto's layered architectural and artistic heritage. The lobby strikes a balance between the Annex's bohemian spirit and...
living the small life!
Kaggeboda is a small and unique summer house located in the forest of the Stockholm Archipelago, Sweeden. Designed by Andren Fogelstrom Kaggeboda three cabins are placed in relation to one another, creating a diversity of indoor and outdoor spaces. The blackened plywood of the facades gives strong character that relates to the surrounding pine trees. Generous windows and skylights allow for the...
Monday, 3 June 2019 By Richard Misso
Within a Parisian historic setting
Located in the heart of Paris, close to Place des Victoires, in a grand, 18th century building, this recently renovated one-bedroom apartment by local architecture practice Atelier du Pont exemplifies how radically contemporary design can sit well a historic setting without detracting from its architectural heritage. Working with an elongated floorplan, the architects separated the apartment into an open-plan...
Friday, 24 May 2019 By Richard Misso
Winners – Belle Coco Republic Interior Design Awards 2019
A transformed timber cottage centred around a fig tree, a restaurant turned light-filled gym in the backstreets of Double Bay and a rural-Japanese-inspired ebony café, nestled in Sydney’s Chinatown, are among the illustrious winners of the 2019 Belle Coco Republic Interior Design Awards. Hosted by Belle magazine and Coco Republic, the awards attract submissions from the most respected and recognised interior designers around Australia. Raising the...
Tuesday, 21 May 2019 By Richard Misso
subtle sophistication – Paris
Underpinned by a crisp aesthetic of subtle sophistication, Spanish studio 05 AM architects were tasked with renovating this two-storey penthouse in Paris, their first order of business was to gauge its spatial potential which had until then been overlooked. Originally, the apartment was primarily accommodated on the lower floor with access to the upper storey terrace through a...
Monday, 20 May 2019 By Richard Misso
three separate views
Three locally known land formations can be seen from the site of Moose Rd House: “Eagle Rock”, a mountain ridge, and the valley of vineyards below. Designed by Mork-Ulnes Architects the main challenge was to frame all three separate views while at the same time, preserving each existing oak tree on site. Located in Ukiah, California, the three fingers extend precisely...
Wednesday, 15 May 2019 By Richard Misso
A simple house – Mexico
Immersed in the wild landscape of southeastern Mexico, Montre House serves as a holiday home for a young couple. Taller de Arquitectura Contextual (TACO) was asked to create a functional and welcome house that would foster reflection and contemplation while connecting its inhabitants with the surrounding wild landscape. An intuitive, functional and simple experience of living, but with great spatial...
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Home Kate Middleton, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge Here’s why Kate Middleton once attended two royal weddings without Prince William
Here’s why Kate Middleton once attended two royal weddings without Prince William
The Duchess of Cambridge attended the ceremonies solo in 2008
t may be daunting turning up to a wedding alone, but in 2008 the Duchess of Cambridge did just then when she was still the girlfriend of Prince William. Kate attended two royal weddings alone, without her date; the first was to Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly’s ceremony in May 2008, and the second was to Lady Rose Windsor and George Gilman’s nuptials in July of that year.
Here’s why Kate Middleton once attended two royal weddings without Prince William Photo (C) GETTY
Prince William was unable to make his cousin Peter’s wedding in Windsor as he had a previous invitation; he was attending the wedding of his ex-girlfriend Jecca Craig’s brother in Kenya. William has always remained close with the Craig family and accepted the invite for the Masaai-themed wedding. In 2016, he again flew to Kenya to attend Jecca’s own wedding.
Kate chose not to join the royals on the church steps so as not to deflect attention
Back in 2008, a source told the Telegraph that William’s decision to skip his cousin’s royal wedding was not seen as a snub to the rest of the family. “Prince William is going to be out of the country this weekend on a long-standing prior engagement,” the insider said. “It is an unfortunate clash but he spoke to his cousin Peter and he is fine with the situation. His girlfriend will be going in his absence.”
Kate chose not to join the royals on the church steps so as not to deflect attention Photo (C) PA
Despite not having a date, Kate was in good company as she attended the Windsor nuptials with Prince Harry and his girlfriend at the time, Chelsy Davy. The then Miss Middleton looked lovely at the wedding, which was covered exclusively by HELLO!, wearing a pale pink jacket, a sheer black top and full skirt, matching her veiled pillbox hat.
Kate and Chelsy had slipped into the church through a side door so as not to deflect attention from the bride and groom. They also chose not to leave the ceremony with the rest of the royal family, who were waving off Peter and Autumn in their carriage from the church steps.
Two months later, Kate attended another wedding alone, that of Lady Rose Windsor and George Gilman in London. The couple tied the knot at the Queen’s Chapel near St James’s Palace, with a host of royals on the guest list including Princess Anne, Prince Edward and his wife the Countess of Wessex. Lady Rose is the daughter of the Duke of Gloucester, who is the Queen’s cousin.
Kate attended the wedding of Lady Rose Windsor and George Gilman in 2008 Photo (C) PA
Kate drew attention for attending without her boyfriend William, who was away on military operations in the Caribbean, serving aboard HMS Iron Duke. Her solo outing sparked rumours of her own engagement, which eventually took place two years later in November 2010.
Source: HELL MAGAZINE
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Kate beams as she arrives at Wimbledon with William for Men’s final after day with Meghan
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Current Search: Research Repository (x) » Russia (x)
Φ-Value Analysis of Symfoil-4T.
Sutherland, Mason A., Department of Biological Science
A critical consideration in the process of de novo protein architecture design and protein evolution is the folding pathway and behavior a protein undertakes in transitioning to its functional tertiary structure. Of particular interest is a cryptic element within protein primary structure that enables an efficient folding pathway, and is postulated to be a heritable element in the evolution of protein architecture, the "folding nucleus" (FN). However, almost nothing is known regarding how the...
Show moreA critical consideration in the process of de novo protein architecture design and protein evolution is the folding pathway and behavior a protein undertakes in transitioning to its functional tertiary structure. Of particular interest is a cryptic element within protein primary structure that enables an efficient folding pathway, and is postulated to be a heritable element in the evolution of protein architecture, the "folding nucleus" (FN). However, almost nothing is known regarding how the FN changes as simpler peptide motifs join to form more complex polypeptides. To this effect, the structure and folding properties of foldable intermediates along the evolutionary trajectory of the β-trefoil protein type were tested. This study specifically used and compared data from Symfoil-4T (an engineered β-trefoil protein) to several mutants to show that the FN is acquired during gene fusion events, incorporating novel turn structure generated by gene fusion. Furthermore, the FN of β-trefoils are adjusted by circular permutation in response to destabilizing functional mutations to allow the survival of FN (which is made possible by the intrinsic C3 cyclic symmetry of β-trefoil architecture) identifying a selective advantage that helps explain extant cyclic structural symmetry in the proteome.
π Berry phase and Zeeman splitting of Weyl semimetal TaP.
Hu, J, Liu, J Y, Graf, D, Radmanesh, S M A, Adams, D J, Chuang, A, Wang, Y, Chiorescu, I, Wei, J, Spinu, L, Mao, Z Q
The recent breakthrough in the discovery of Weyl fermions in monopnictide semimetals provides opportunities to explore the exotic properties of relativistic fermions in condensed matter. The chiral anomaly-induced negative magnetoresistance and π Berry phase are two fundamental transport properties associated with the topological characteristics of Weyl semimetals. Since monopnictide semimetals are multiple-band systems, resolving clear Berry phase for each Fermi pocket remains a challenge....
Show moreThe recent breakthrough in the discovery of Weyl fermions in monopnictide semimetals provides opportunities to explore the exotic properties of relativistic fermions in condensed matter. The chiral anomaly-induced negative magnetoresistance and π Berry phase are two fundamental transport properties associated with the topological characteristics of Weyl semimetals. Since monopnictide semimetals are multiple-band systems, resolving clear Berry phase for each Fermi pocket remains a challenge. Here we report the determination of Berry phases of multiple Fermi pockets of Weyl semimetal TaP through high field quantum transport measurements. We show our TaP single crystal has the signatures of a Weyl state, including light effective quasiparticle masses, ultrahigh carrier mobility, as well as negative longitudinal magnetoresistance. Furthermore, we have generalized the Lifshitz-Kosevich formula for multiple-band Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations and extracted the Berry phases of π for multiple Fermi pockets in TaP through the direct fits of the modified LK formula to the SdH oscillations. In high fields, we also probed signatures of Zeeman splitting, from which the Landé g-factor is extracted.
FSU_pmch_26726050, 10.1038/srep18674, PMC4698660, 26726050, 26726050, srep18674
ΛC Semileptonic Decays in a Quark Model.
Hussain, Md Mozammel, Roberts, Winston, Goldsby, Kenneth A,, Volya, Alexander, Crede, Volker, Owens, Joseph F., Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences,...
Show moreHussain, Md Mozammel, Roberts, Winston, Goldsby, Kenneth A,, Volya, Alexander, Crede, Volker, Owens, Joseph F., Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Physics
Hadronic form factors for semileptonic decay of the Λ[subscript c] are calculated in a nonrelativistic quark model. The full quark model wave functions are employed to numerically calculate the form factors to all orders in (1/m[subscript c], 1/m[subscript s]). The form factors satisfy relationships expected from the heavy quark effective theory (HQET) form factors. No other semileptonic decays of Λ[subscript c] has been reported other than the decay to the ground state Λ that implies f = B(Λ...
Show moreHadronic form factors for semileptonic decay of the Λ[subscript c] are calculated in a nonrelativistic quark model. The full quark model wave functions are employed to numerically calculate the form factors to all orders in (1/m[subscript c], 1/m[subscript s]). The form factors satisfy relationships expected from the heavy quark effective theory (HQET) form factors. No other semileptonic decays of Λ[subscript c] has been reported other than the decay to the ground state Λ that implies f = B(Λ[subscript c]⁺ → Λl⁺ν[subscript l])/B(Λ[subscript c]⁺ → X[subscript s]l⁺ν[subscript l]) = 1. In this work, the differential decay rates and branching fractions are calculated for transitions to the ground state and a number of excited states of Λ. The branching fraction of the semileptonic decay width to the total width of Λ[subscript c] has been calculated and compared with other theoretical estimates and experimental results. The branching fractions for Λ[subscript c] → Λ*l⁺ν[subscript l] → Σπl⁺ν[subscript l] and Λ[subscript c] → Λ*l⁺ν[subscript l] → NǨl⁺ν[subscript l] are also calculated. Apart from decays to the ground state Λ(1115), it is found that decays through the Λ(1405) provide a significant portion of the branching fraction Λ[subscript c] → X[subscript s]lν[subscript l]. There are various conjectures on the structure of the Λ(1405) while we treated it as a three quark state. A new estimate for f = B(Λ[subscript c]⁺ → Λl⁺ν[subscript l] is obtained.
FSU_2017SP_Hussain_fsu_0071E_13920
δ/ω-Plectoxin-Pt1a: an excitatory spider toxin with actions on both Ca(2+) and Na(+) channels..
Zhou, Yi, Zhao, Mingli, Fields, Gregg B, Wu, Chun-Fang, Branton, W Dale
The venom of spider Plectreurys tristis contains a variety of peptide toxins that selectively target neuronal ion channels. O-palmitoylation of a threonine or serine residue, along with a characteristic and highly constrained disulfide bond structure, are hallmarks of a family of toxins found in this venom. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of a new toxin, δ/ω-plectoxin-Pt1a, from this spider venom. It is a 40 amino acid peptide containing an O-palmitoylated Ser-39. Analysis...
Show moreThe venom of spider Plectreurys tristis contains a variety of peptide toxins that selectively target neuronal ion channels. O-palmitoylation of a threonine or serine residue, along with a characteristic and highly constrained disulfide bond structure, are hallmarks of a family of toxins found in this venom. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of a new toxin, δ/ω-plectoxin-Pt1a, from this spider venom. It is a 40 amino acid peptide containing an O-palmitoylated Ser-39. Analysis of δ/ω-plectoxin-Pt1a cDNA reveals a small precursor containing a secretion signal sequence, a 14 amino acid N-terminal propeptide, and a C-terminal amidation signal. The biological activity of δ/ω-plectoxin-Pt1a is also unique. It preferentially blocks a subset of Ca(2+) channels that is apparently not required for neurotransmitter release; decreases threshold for Na(+) channel activation; and slows Na(+) channel inactivation. As δ/ω-plectoxin-Pt1a enhances synaptic transmission by prolonging presynaptic release of neurotransmitter, its effects on Na(+) and Ca(2+) channels may act synergistically to sustain the terminal excitability.
FSU_pmch_23691198, 10.1371/journal.pone.0064324, PMC3653879, 23691198, 23691198, PONE-D-13-04611
δ/ω-Plectoxin-Pt1a: An Excitatory Spider Toxin with Actions on both Ca(2+) and Na(+) Channels.
Zhou, Yi, Zhao, Mingli, Fields, Gregg B., Wu, Chun-Fang, Branton, W.
FSU_migr_biomed_faculty_publications-0044
Γ-Ray Spectroscopic Study of Calcium-48,49 and Scandium-50 Focusing on Low Lying Octupole Vibration Excitations.
McPherson, David M. (David Marc), Cottle, Paul D. (Paul Davis), Kercheval, Alec N., Cao, Jianming, Piekarewicz, Jorge, Riley, Mark A., Florida State University, College of Arts...
Show moreMcPherson, David M. (David Marc), Cottle, Paul D. (Paul Davis), Kercheval, Alec N., Cao, Jianming, Piekarewicz, Jorge, Riley, Mark A., Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Physics
An inverse kinematic proton scattering experiment was performed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) using the GRETINA-S800 detector system in conjunction with the Ursinus College liquid hydrogen target. $\gamma$-ray yields from the experiment were determined using geant4 simulations, generating state population cross sections. These cross sections were used to extract the delta_3 deformation length for the low-lying octupole vibration excitations in Ca-48,49 using the...
Show moreAn inverse kinematic proton scattering experiment was performed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) using the GRETINA-S800 detector system in conjunction with the Ursinus College liquid hydrogen target. $\gamma$-ray yields from the experiment were determined using geant4 simulations, generating state population cross sections. These cross sections were used to extract the delta_3 deformation length for the low-lying octupole vibration excitations in Ca-48,49 using the coupled channels analysis code fresco. Particle-core coupling in Ca-49 was studied in comparison to Ca-48 through determination of the neutron and proton deformation lengths. The total inverse kinematic proton scattering deformation lengths were evaluated for the low-lying octupole vibration excitations in Ca-48,49 to be delta_3(Ca-48, 3^-_1) = 1.0(2)fm, delta_3(Ca-49, 9/2^+_1) = 1.2(1)fm, delta_3 (Ca-49, 9/2^+_1) = 1.5(2)fm, delta_3(Ca-49, 5/2^+_1) = 1.1(1)fm. Proton and neutron deformation lengths for two of these octupole states were also determined to be delta_p(Ca-48, 3^-_1) = 0.9(1)fm, delta_p (Ca-49, 9/2^+_1) = 1.0(1)fm, delta_n(Ca-48, 3^-_1) = 1.1(3)fm, and delta_n(Ca-49, 9/2^+_1) = 1.3(3)fm. Additionally, the ratios of the neutron to proton transition matrix elements were also determined for these two states to be M_n/M_p(Ca-48, 3^-_1) = 1.7(6) and M_n/M_p(Ca-49, 9/2^+_1) = 2.0(5). Statistically, the derived values for these two nuclei are nearly identical.
βTRCP: Linking Circadian Rhythms and Metabolism.
Sweeney, Megan C., Department of Biomedical Sciences
Shifts in circadian rhythms, like in shift work or jet lag, have been shown to increase the risk of many metabolic disorders. Therefore, it is not surprising that many genes involved in the circadian clock mechanism have demonstrated a regulatory role in metabolism. It has been shown that E3 ubiquitin ligases can influence metabolism as well. In initial studies, my lab created a knockout of two E3 ubiquitin ligases thought to be essential to the clock, βTRCP1/2, in a mouse model in order to...
Show moreShifts in circadian rhythms, like in shift work or jet lag, have been shown to increase the risk of many metabolic disorders. Therefore, it is not surprising that many genes involved in the circadian clock mechanism have demonstrated a regulatory role in metabolism. It has been shown that E3 ubiquitin ligases can influence metabolism as well. In initial studies, my lab created a knockout of two E3 ubiquitin ligases thought to be essential to the clock, βTRCP1/2, in a mouse model in order to study the proteasomal degradation machinery in mammals. Upon characterizing the circadian phenotype of this mouse, we noticed an unprecedented, metabolic phenotype after deletion of these vital ligases. These novel mutant mice lose over 30% of their body weight within 5 days while still maintaining an eating and drinking regime similar to wild-type mice. In this project, in vivo and sequence analysis studies aimed to look further into the causes of this phenomenon and the molecular mechanisms underlying them.
¡Guerra Al Metate!: The Visuality of Foodways in Postrevolutionary Mexico City (1920 1960).
Wolff, Lesley Anne, Carrasco, Michael, Herrera, Robinson A., Niell, Paul B., Bearor, Karen A., Florida State University, College of Fine Arts, Department of Art History
This dissertation considers foodways as a vital symbolic and material force in the arts of Mexico’s volatile postrevolutionary reconstruction (1920 – 1960). Although Mexican food history has stood at the forefront of a growing food studies movement, the field has been slow to appropriate image-based methodologies. Likewise, art history has been hesitant to embrace the historical performativity and materiality of foodways. This project thus seeks to fill a gap at the margins of food studies...
Show moreThis dissertation considers foodways as a vital symbolic and material force in the arts of Mexico’s volatile postrevolutionary reconstruction (1920 – 1960). Although Mexican food history has stood at the forefront of a growing food studies movement, the field has been slow to appropriate image-based methodologies. Likewise, art history has been hesitant to embrace the historical performativity and materiality of foodways. This project thus seeks to fill a gap at the margins of food studies and art history, particularly at the nexus of indigeneity and urbanization. The dissertation traces the shifting relationships between art and food during a period of rampant modernization, in which the rise of modern cookery through electrical appliances and industrial foodstuffs converged and clashed with the nation’s growing nostalgia for its pre-Columbian heritage. The book focuses on three case studies of artistic production and alimentary consumption—Tina Modotti and pulque, Carlos E. González and mole poblano, and Rufino Tamayo and watermelon—that highlight the various ways in which visual renderings of food were used to frame indigenous culture as both the foundation of and a threat to the modern state. Each case study engages the convergence of racial imaginaries, artistic production, and foodways to show how conflictive attitudes toward indigenous heritage and bodies were made manifest through images of food and foodways. Therefore, this project demonstrates how seemingly innocuous images of foodstuffs and consumption became implicated in a broader visual, experiential, and commercial battle over the definition of nationalist attitudes toward indigeneity. The manuscript consists of five chapters and an appendix. Chapter 1, “Introduction,” surveys Mexican food and art histories and establishes my intersectional framework. Chapter 2, “Nursing the Nation: Pulque and the Indigenous Body in Tina Modotti’s Baby Nursing,” argues that Tina Modotti’s celebrated photograph Baby Nursing (1926) invokes the problematic consumption of pulque, an indigenous fermented beverage, as a metonym for nationalist ideologies that simultaneously celebrate and rebuke indigenous lifeways. Chapter 3, “The ‘Spirit of Mexico’: Consuming Heritage in Café de Tacuba,” demonstrates how an iconic but previously unstudied painting depicting the mythic invention of mole poblano, commissioned for Mexico City’s famous Café de Tacuba (1946), negotiates modern consumption by evoking colonial production. Chapter 4, “Mister Watermelon/Señor Sandía: Fruitful Anxieties in the Work of Rufino Tamayo,” argues that Rufino Tamayo’s still life mural Naturaleza muerta (1954), commissioned for the Sanborns department store café, mediated the state’s aggressive removal of fruteros [informal fruit vendors] by acting as both an icon of Anglophone modernity and a visual celebration of Mexican tropicalia. Chapter 5, “The Colonial in the Contemporary: On the State of Mexican Gastronomy,” presents the book’s conclusions while engaging in a critique of Mexico’s contemporary gastronomic movement and its reliance upon colonial aesthetics to veil Mexico City’s socio-economic fragmentation. The Appendix catalogues recipes for pulque, mole poblano, and watermelon-based dishes, all of which have been compiled from nineteenth- and twentieth-century cookbooks and manuscripts.
2018_Su_Wolff_fsu_0071E_14737
¡Casinando!: Identity, Meaning, and the Kinesthetic Language of Cuban Casino Dancing.
Martinez, Brian, Gunderson, Frank, Bakan, Michael, Brewer, Charles, College of Music, Florida State University
A genre of Cuban music known as timba and a genre of Cuban social dance known as casino have often been mistakenly categorized as styles of salsa music and dance. Because of this association, along with political relations between the United States and Cuba, these genres have been marginalized in favor of mainstream salsa. In this thesis, I argue that casino and timba must be understood as distinct genres from an historical perspective. Additionally, I examine casino from a linguistic...
Show moreA genre of Cuban music known as timba and a genre of Cuban social dance known as casino have often been mistakenly categorized as styles of salsa music and dance. Because of this association, along with political relations between the United States and Cuba, these genres have been marginalized in favor of mainstream salsa. In this thesis, I argue that casino and timba must be understood as distinct genres from an historical perspective. Additionally, I examine casino from a linguistic perspective and apply principles of linguistic relativity to create a linguistic analogy for social partner dance. By understanding casino and timba as separate from the international salsa phenomenon, they can be studied and appreciated as the unique cultural forms that they truly are.
Zymosan Fungal Infection Induces Nucleosome Redistributions During the Innate Immune Response.
Gruder, Olivia, Dennis, Jonathan, Department of Biological Science
Chromatin structure plays a critical role in the regulation of the human genome. An understanding of the role of chromatin structure and its relationship to gene regulation is critical to developing new strategies to prevent and treat diseases. We chose to investigate the anti-inflammatory response of human macrophage like cell line (THP1) to Zymosan, in order to elucidate the regulation of chromatin. Zymosan is a component the fungal cell wall that induces an innate immune response. After...
Show moreChromatin structure plays a critical role in the regulation of the human genome. An understanding of the role of chromatin structure and its relationship to gene regulation is critical to developing new strategies to prevent and treat diseases. We chose to investigate the anti-inflammatory response of human macrophage like cell line (THP1) to Zymosan, in order to elucidate the regulation of chromatin. Zymosan is a component the fungal cell wall that induces an innate immune response. After THP1 were treated with zymosan, we hypothesized that the fungal infection would initiate an inflammatory response by altering nucleosome redistribution and/or altering chromatin structure in a time dependent manner. Based on previous results that showed rapid, widespread, transient changes in nucleosome distribution in the innate immune response, we chose to look at multiple time points at high temporal resolution: 0 (control), 20', 40', 60', 80', 100', 2h, 3h, 4h and 12h. We measured nucleosome distribution at each of these time points at hundreds of genes transcription start sites involved in the immune response. nucleosome distribution changes in the innate immune response to fungal infection.
Zymosan Fungal Infection Induces Necleosome Distributions During the Innate Immune Response on a Time Dependent Manner.
Gruder, Olivia, Department of Biological Sciences
Chromatin structure plays a critical role in the regulation of the human genome. An understanding of the role of chromatin structure and its relationship to gene regulation is critical to developing new strategies to prevent and treat diseases. We chose to investigate the anti-inflammatory response of human macrophage-like cell line (THP1) to Zymosan, in order to elucidate the regulation of chromatin. Zymosan is a component of the fungal cell wall that induces an innate immune response. After...
Show moreChromatin structure plays a critical role in the regulation of the human genome. An understanding of the role of chromatin structure and its relationship to gene regulation is critical to developing new strategies to prevent and treat diseases. We chose to investigate the anti-inflammatory response of human macrophage-like cell line (THP1) to Zymosan, in order to elucidate the regulation of chromatin. Zymosan is a component of the fungal cell wall that induces an innate immune response. After THP1 were treated with Zymosan, we hypothesized that the fungal infection would initiate an inflammatory response by altering nucleosome redistribution and/or altering chromatin structure in a time dependent manner. Based on previous results that showed rapid, widespread, transient changes in nucleosome distribution in the innate immune response, we chose to look at multiple time points at high temporal resolution: 0 (control), 20', 40', 60', 80', 100', 2h, 3h, 4h and 12h. We measured nucleosome distribution at each of these time points at hundreds of genes transcription start sites involved in the immune response. We saw the greatest changes in nucleosome positioning from 20 to 60 minutes, and it appeared that these changes were transient since they reverted back to their original after the 60-minute time point. These results support our prediction that all cells have the same nucleosome distributions during their resting states, but can be altered with the addition of an insult. In response to a stimulus, a biochemical "yawn" occurs to provide accessibility to genes needed to provide a response. The data indicates that widespread but transient changes occur to the entire genome upon response to an environmental stimulus.
Zymancer.
Barron, Justin, Wingate, Mark, Kubik, Ladislav, Spencer, Peter, College of Music, Florida State University
Zymancer is an approximately 13 minute work for what is essentially a chamber orchestra, but with just one player to a part. Though it is written and performed as a single movement, there are three main formal sections of the piece that could be considered movements. These three sections are distinct from each other in tempi, meter, harmony, and mood. There is, however, a return of material from the first section at the end of the third.
Zwitteration: A Different Approach to Non Stick Surfaces.
Estephan, Zaki Georges, Schlenoff, Joseph B., Ma, Teng, Roper, Michael, Strouse, Geoffrey, Ramakrishnan, Subramanian, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State...
Show moreEstephan, Zaki Georges, Schlenoff, Joseph B., Ma, Teng, Roper, Michael, Strouse, Geoffrey, Ramakrishnan, Subramanian, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University
Limiting undesired interactions of proteins with surfaces is a vital task for implementation of many technologies that require direct exposure to protein media. This includes sensors, single molecule spectroscopy studies, and nanoparticles that would act as vehicles for therapeutic agents or diagnostic agents. Current technology relies on the resistive properties of poly(ethylene glycol), PEG, to protein adsorption. PEG has been therefore the subject of thorough studies to decipher the...
Show moreLimiting undesired interactions of proteins with surfaces is a vital task for implementation of many technologies that require direct exposure to protein media. This includes sensors, single molecule spectroscopy studies, and nanoparticles that would act as vehicles for therapeutic agents or diagnostic agents. Current technology relies on the resistive properties of poly(ethylene glycol), PEG, to protein adsorption. PEG has been therefore the subject of thorough studies to decipher the mechanism involved in protein resistivity. The latter has been mainly attributed either to chain mobility, that would suffer from entropic penalty upon protein adsorption, or due to a hydration layer that prevents close encounter of proteins to the surface. Regardless of the mechanism, PEG has been reported to suffer from performance degradation in biological media due to oxidation, and its properties have been reported to differ with temperature. Given their biocompatibility, zwitterions have been proposed as a viable alternative mimicking the cell membrane. Polymeric zwitterions, the most commonly studied alternatives, result in an increase in the hydrodynamic size of particles upon grafting to surfaces. Control over size is essential as it controls the distribution of particles in the body. This work attempts to provide a different approach to nanoparticle stabilization against different aggregating factors to alleviate some of the above mentioned shortcomings of PEG and other polymers. A monomeric zwitterion siloxane was synthesized. The zwitterion siloxane covalently bonds to the oxide surface of nanoparticles without significantly changing their hydrodynamic size. The "zwitterated" particles remain stable even when challenged with high salt solutions or incubated with serum; two factors that are known to induce aggregation. The efficacy of the zwitterionic coating was compared head-to-head with a PEG coating for its ability to prevent protein adsorption to silica nanoparticles. The same siloxane coupling chemistry is employed to yield surfaces with similar coverages of both types of ligand on two geometrically different surfaces (nanoparticlesversusplanar). While both types of surface modification are highly effective in preventing protein adsorption and nanoparticle aggregation, the zwitterion provided monolayer-type coverage with minimal thickness whereas the PEG appeared to yield a more three-dimensional coating. A mechanism is proposed to explain the resistive properties of passivating ligands such as PEG and other neutral surfaces. The role of the passivating ligand is broken down to ion-coupled and ion-decoupled processes. The ion-decoupled process minimizes intermolecular interactions, whereas the ion-coupled mechanism prevents ion pairing between protein and surface charges which releases counterions and water molecules, an entropic driving force enough to overcome a disfavored enthalpy of adsorption. Finally, the synthesis of zwitterated iron oxide nanoparticles by co-precipitation of iron salts in presence of zwitterion siloxane as the stabilizing ligand is reported. This procedure yields superparamagnetic maghemite nanoparticles whose polydispersity varies as a function of the amount of zwitterion siloxane present during synthesis. The latter has the effect of changing the effective hydrodynamic radius of the particles from 5.4 nm to 35 nm. The presence of zwitterions on the surface is validated with thermogravimetric analysis and Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform. Magnetization versus applied field data shows the absence of coercive field and low magnetization values attributed to the decreasing particle size as well as the diamagnetic coating. The particles are tested for their possible use as MRI contrast agents. The calculated relaxation rates are low indicating that a high concentration of iron is needed for good contrast. Introduction of amine functionality for incorporation of targeting agents is achieved by the addition of aminopropyltriethoxysilane post-synthesis. The presence of the latter is verified by fluorescence spectroscopy.
Zora, Color Struck and Weary Blues and Tea with Zora and Marjorie (Three plays about the life of Zora Neale Hurston).
Speisman, Barbara Waddell
A trilogy of three plays based upon the life of Florida-born author, Zora Neale Hurston, which emphasizes Hurston's unique place in American literary history. The plays, Zora, Color Struck and Weary Blues, and Tea with Zora and Marjorie are based on not only interpretations of Zora's works, letters, and conversations with people who remember her, but also the works and letters of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Carl Van Vechten, Fanny Hurst, and Langston Hughes. The three plays present Hurston...
Show moreA trilogy of three plays based upon the life of Florida-born author, Zora Neale Hurston, which emphasizes Hurston's unique place in American literary history. The plays, Zora, Color Struck and Weary Blues, and Tea with Zora and Marjorie are based on not only interpretations of Zora's works, letters, and conversations with people who remember her, but also the works and letters of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Carl Van Vechten, Fanny Hurst, and Langston Hughes. The three plays present Hurston first as a child in Eatonville at the turn of the century, then as a young woman during the Harlem Renaissance, and finally in her full maturity. The structure of Zora and Color Struck and Weary Blues is concentrated on two of the most important days of Zora's life, which are the day of her mother's death when she was about 12 and the night of the Opportunity Award's Banquet which launched the Harlem Renaissance. The structure of Tea with Zora and Marjorie is different from the two previous plays because it relates to the period from 1942 until 1952 in the life of not only Zora Hurston but Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, another prominent Florida writer.
Zora Neale Hurston: Re-Assessing the Black Southern Identity and Stone Mill Creek.
Myers, Aron Lewis, McGregory, Jerrilyn, Shinn, Christopher, Suaréz, Virgil, Department of English, Florida State University
This thesis is composed of two parts and makes use of two literary genres: the traditional essay, and a literary form called fictocriticism developed by anthropologist Michael Taussig. Both are integrated in an exploration of the rural Black southern aesthetic—from a solely critical approach with the essay Zora Neale Hurston: Re-assessing the Black Southern Identity, to the analytical fiction advanced in Stone Mill Creek. Re-assessing the Black Southern Identity traces the origin and history...
Show moreThis thesis is composed of two parts and makes use of two literary genres: the traditional essay, and a literary form called fictocriticism developed by anthropologist Michael Taussig. Both are integrated in an exploration of the rural Black southern aesthetic—from a solely critical approach with the essay Zora Neale Hurston: Re-assessing the Black Southern Identity, to the analytical fiction advanced in Stone Mill Creek. Re-assessing the Black Southern Identity traces the origin and history of the aesthetic, arguing a case for its most celebrated advocate—novelist, anthropologist and ethnographer Zora Neale Hurston. She almost single-handedly preserved many of the southern folk idioms we treasure today; her novels and folklore collections are glowing examples of the rich, cultural legacy of the rural south. She would transcend the "cultural sanitizing" imposed by the Harlem Renaissance aristocracy by remaining true to her aesthetic inclination, but would die an "unremarked and controversial" figure in 1960. Due to a move from the "cultural correctness" of the 1920s and 30s to a sort of literary and cultural revival that defined the 60s and 70s, Hurston may have become one of the movement's largest benefactors. Both her works and clandestine-like lifestyle has become the source of intense scholarly review and has led to her newly appointed canonical status. The fictocritical work Stone Mill Creek combines four years of ethnographic study, historical accounts, local folklore traditions and cultural commentary in nonlinear narratives. The chapters trace the folk-lives of a "once upon a time" group of Black farmers who settled in the Florida panhandle around the 1820s and allows for more than a theoretical glance at the vernaculars, themes, ideals and symbols representative of those Hurston called "farthest down." The semi-fictive language in Stone Mill Creek is a living, breathing cultural artifact and however reductive, is another distinct, self-defined and documented voice of the Black southern identity.
Zooarchaeological Remains from the 1998 Fewkes Site Excavations, Williamson County, Tennessee.
Peres, Tanya M.
The Fewkes site faunal assemblage, excavated as part of a Phase III data recovery project for the Tennessee Department of Transportation in 1998, was analyzed and evaluated in light of its potential to provide significant information about Middle Mississippian subsistence practices and environmental conditions of the area during the time of occupation. Specific goals of the analysis included: (1) defining the subsistence strategies and practices of the people that inhabited the site; (2)...
Show moreThe Fewkes site faunal assemblage, excavated as part of a Phase III data recovery project for the Tennessee Department of Transportation in 1998, was analyzed and evaluated in light of its potential to provide significant information about Middle Mississippian subsistence practices and environmental conditions of the area during the time of occupation. Specific goals of the analysis included: (1) defining the subsistence strategies and practices of the people that inhabited the site; (2) determining the relationship of the site to the surrounding ecological habitats; and (3) determining the seasonality of the site. Additionally, the Fewkes faunal assemblage was compared to animal exploitation practices as outlined for the Cumberland River drainage model of Mississippian period sites. The results of the analysis of selected contexts are presented here.
Zooarchaeological Analysis of Faunal Remains Recovered from Totten Key (8DA3439) (SEAC Accession #2628), Biscayne National Park, Miami-Dade County Florida.
Peres, Tanya M., McLean, Emily
This is a report of the zooarchaeological analysis of faunal remains recovered as part of the excavations by archeologists with the Southeastern Archeological Center (SEAC) of the National Park Service at the Totten Key Site (8DA3439) on Totten Key, Miami-Dade County, Florida. This analysis was performed under the Southern Appalachian Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (SA-CESU) Task Agreement Number (P14AC01652) under Cooperative Agreement Number P14AC00882 between the United States...
Show moreThis is a report of the zooarchaeological analysis of faunal remains recovered as part of the excavations by archeologists with the Southeastern Archeological Center (SEAC) of the National Park Service at the Totten Key Site (8DA3439) on Totten Key, Miami-Dade County, Florida. This analysis was performed under the Southern Appalachian Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (SA-CESU) Task Agreement Number (P14AC01652) under Cooperative Agreement Number P14AC00882 between the United States Department of the Interior - The National Park Service/Southeast Archeological Center and Middle Tennessee State University (PI Tanya M. Peres, September 2014) (Appendix 1). The Project title is “Documenting Subsistence Strategies in the Southeast Using the National Park Service’s Archeological Resources.” In October 2015, the remainder of the zooarchaeological analysis and reporting was subcontracted by Middle Tennessee State University to Tanya M. Peres at Florida State University (FSU Project# 037433 | MTSU Award# 536858S).
FSU_libsubv1_scholarship_submission_1532019273_4d277f12, 10.17125/fsu.1532019273
Zooarchaeological Analysis of Faunal Remains Recovered from Sands Key #2 (8D2) (SEAC Accession #1930), Biscayne National Park, Miami-Dade County Florida.
This is a report of the zooarchaeological analysis of faunal remains recovered as part of the excavations by archeologists with the Southeastern Archeological Center of the National Park Service at the Sands Key #2 site (8DA2) (SEAC Acc #1930), located in the Biscayne National Park, Miami-Dade County, Florida. This analysis was performed under the Southern Appalachian Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (SA-CESU) Task Agreement Number (P14AC01652) under Cooperative Agreement Number P14AC00882...
Show moreThis is a report of the zooarchaeological analysis of faunal remains recovered as part of the excavations by archeologists with the Southeastern Archeological Center of the National Park Service at the Sands Key #2 site (8DA2) (SEAC Acc #1930), located in the Biscayne National Park, Miami-Dade County, Florida. This analysis was performed under the Southern Appalachian Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (SA-CESU) Task Agreement Number (P14AC01652) under Cooperative Agreement Number P14AC00882 between the United States Department of the Interior - The National Park Service/Southeast Archeological Center and Middle Tennessee State University (PI Tanya M. Peres, September 2014). The Project title is “Documenting Subsistence Strategies in the Southeast Using the National Park Service’s Archeological Resources.” In October 2015, the remainder of the zooarchaeological analysis and reporting was subcontracted by Middle Tennessee State University to Tanya M. Peres at Florida State University (FSU Project# 037433 | MTSU Award# 536858S). The Sands Key #2 faunal assemblage reported on here contains 9,812 specimens weighing 12,791.65 g. The data generated from the zooarchaeological analysis is detailed in this report. Preliminary interpretations about the use of aquatic resources by the Tequesta are offered.
FSU_libsubv1_scholarship_submission_1532018990_f2e488bf, 10.17125/fsu.1532018990
Zooarchaeological Analysis of a Multicomponent Shell-Bearing Site in Davidson County, Tennessee.
Peres, Tanya M., Deter-Wolf, Aaron, Myers, Gage A.
Site 40DV7 is one of several large shell-bearing sites located along the Cumberland River near Nashville which were heavily impacted by catastrophic flooding and looting activity during the spring of 2010. Emergency sampling and ongoing monitoring at 40DV7 since that time have identified deeply-stratified deposits spanning the Archaic through Mississippian periods. These deposits, and particularly the temporally-distinct shell midden components, may help inform our understanding of human...
Show moreSite 40DV7 is one of several large shell-bearing sites located along the Cumberland River near Nashville which were heavily impacted by catastrophic flooding and looting activity during the spring of 2010. Emergency sampling and ongoing monitoring at 40DV7 since that time have identified deeply-stratified deposits spanning the Archaic through Mississippian periods. These deposits, and particularly the temporally-distinct shell midden components, may help inform our understanding of human occupation, species interdependence, and environmental change along the Cumberland River over a period of more than 5000 years.
Zn(II)-coordination modulated ligand photophysical processes – the development of fluorescent indicators for imaging biological Zn(II) ions.
Zhu, Lei, Yuan, Zhao, Simmons, J., Sreenath, Kesavapillai
Molecular photophysics and metal coordination chemistry are the two fundamental pillars that support the development of fluorescent cation indicators. In this article, we describe how Zn(II)-coordination alters various ligand-centered photophysical processes that are pertinent to developing Zn(II) indicators. The main aim is to show how small organic Zn(II) indicators work under the constraints of specific requirements, including Zn(II) detection range, photophysical requirements such as...
Show moreMolecular photophysics and metal coordination chemistry are the two fundamental pillars that support the development of fluorescent cation indicators. In this article, we describe how Zn(II)-coordination alters various ligand-centered photophysical processes that are pertinent to developing Zn(II) indicators. The main aim is to show how small organic Zn(II) indicators work under the constraints of specific requirements, including Zn(II) detection range, photophysical requirements such as excitation energy and emission color, temporal and spatial resolutions in a heterogeneous intracellular environment, and fluorescence response selectivity between similar cations such as Zn(II) and Cd(II). In the last section, the biological questions that fluorescent Zn(II) indicators help to answer are described, which have been motivating and challenging this field of research.
FSU_migr_chm_faculty_publications-0016, 10.1039/C4RA00354C
Zintl and Intermetallic Phases Grown from Calcium/Lithium Flux.
Blankenship, Trevor, Latturner, Susan, Locke, Bruce R., Stiegman, Albert E., Alabugin, Igor V., Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Chemistry...
Show moreBlankenship, Trevor, Latturner, Susan, Locke, Bruce R., Stiegman, Albert E., Alabugin, Igor V., Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Metal flux synthes is a useful alternative method to high temperature solid state synthesis; it allows easy diffusion of reactants at lower temperatures, and presents favorable conditions for crystal growth. A mixed flux of calcium and lithium in a 1:1 ratio was explored in this work; this mixture melts at 300°C and is an excellent solvent for main group elements and CaH₂. Reactions of p-block elements in a 1:1 Ca/Li flux have produced several new intermetallic and Zintl phases....
Show moreMetal flux synthes is a useful alternative method to high temperature solid state synthesis; it allows easy diffusion of reactants at lower temperatures, and presents favorable conditions for crystal growth. A mixed flux of calcium and lithium in a 1:1 ratio was explored in this work; this mixture melts at 300°C and is an excellent solvent for main group elements and CaH₂. Reactions of p-block elements in a 1:1 Ca/Li flux have produced several new intermetallic and Zintl phases. Electronegative elements from groups 14 and 15 are reduced to anions in this flux, yielding charge-balanced products. More electropositive metals from group 13 are not fully reduced; the resulting products are complex intermetallics. The reactions of tin or lead and carbon in Ca/Li flux produced the analogous phases Ca₁₁Tt₃C8 (Tt = Sn, Pb) in the monoclinic C21/c space group (a = 13.2117(8) Å, b =10.7029(7) Å, c = 14.2493(9) Å, β = 105.650(1)° for the Sn analog). These compounds are carbide Zintl phases that includes the rare combination of C₃⁴ and C₂² units as well as Sn⁴ or Pb⁴ anions. Ca/Li flux reactions of CaH2 and arsenic have produced the Zintl phases LiCa₃As₂H in orthorhombic Pnma (a = 11.4064(7), b = 4.2702(3), c = 11.8762(8) Å), and Ca13As6C0.46N1.155H6.045in tetragonal P4/mbm (a = 15.7493(15), c = 9.1062(9) Å). The complex stoichiometry of the latter phase was caused by incorporation of light element contaminants and was studied by neutron diffraction, showing mixing of anionic sites to achieve charge balance. Ca/Li flux reactions with group 13 metals have resulted in several new intermetallic phases. Reactions of indium and CaH₂ in the Ca/Li flux (with or without boron) formed Ca₅₃In₁₃B₄₋ₓH₂₃(2.4 < x < 4.0) in cubic space group Im-3 (a = 16.3608(6) Å) which features metallic indium atoms and ionic hydride sites. The electronic properties of this "subhydride" were confirmed by ¹H and ¹¹⁵In NMR spectroscopy. Attempts to replace boron with carbon yielded Ca₁₂InC₁₃₋ₓ, (Im-3, a = 9.6055(8)Å) which contains C34- units. A very similar phase, Ba12InC18H4 (Im-3,a = 11.1415(8) Å), was grown from the reaction of indium, carbon, and LiH in Ba/Li flux. This compound also includes C₃⁴ units. Preliminary Ca/Li flux reactions of aluminum with other main group elements have produced several new phases: a hydride clathrate Ca₃₁Al₂H₂₅ in cubic Fd-3m (a=18.0835(15) Å), Ca24Al2(C1-xHx)N2H16 in tetragonal P42/nmc (a=15.9069(12) Å, c=13.7323(10) Å, and Ca4Al2N5 in orthorhombic Pna2₁ (a = 11.2331(1) Å, b=9.0768(8) Å, c=6.0093(5) Å.
Zinc supplementation provides behavioral resiliency in a rat model of traumatic brain injury.
Cope, Elise C, Morris, Deborah R, Scrimgeour, Angus G, VanLandingham, Jacob W, Levenson, Cathy W
Depression, anxiety, and impairments in learning and memory are all associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Because of the strong link between zinc deficiency, depression, and anxiety, in both humans and rodent models, we hypothesized that dietary zinc supplementation prior to injury could provide behavioral resiliency to lessen the severity of these outcomes after TBI. Rats were fed a marginal zinc deficient (5 ppm), zinc adequate (30 ppm), or zinc supplemented (180 ppm) diet for 4...
Show moreDepression, anxiety, and impairments in learning and memory are all associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Because of the strong link between zinc deficiency, depression, and anxiety, in both humans and rodent models, we hypothesized that dietary zinc supplementation prior to injury could provide behavioral resiliency to lessen the severity of these outcomes after TBI. Rats were fed a marginal zinc deficient (5 ppm), zinc adequate (30 ppm), or zinc supplemented (180 ppm) diet for 4 weeks followed by a moderately-severe TBI using the well-established model of controlled cortical impact (CCI). Following CCI, rats displayed depression-like behaviors as measured by the 2-bottle saccharin preference test for anhedonia. Injury also resulted in evidence of stress and impairments in Morris water maze (MWM) performance compared to sham-injured controls. While moderate zinc deficiency did not worsen outcomes following TBI, rats that were fed the zinc supplemented diet for 4 weeks showed significantly attenuated increases in adrenal weight (p<0.05) as well as reduced depression-like behaviors (p<0.001). Supplementation prior to injury improved resilience such that there was not only significant improvements in cognitive behavior compared to injured rats fed an adequate diet (p<0.01), there were no significant differences between supplemented and sham-operated rats in MWM performance at any point in the 10-day trial. These data suggest a role for supplemental zinc in preventing cognitive and behavioral deficits associated with TBI.
FSU_pmch_21699908, 10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.06.007, PMC3506179, 21699908, 21699908, S0031-9384(11)00322-2
Zinc regulation of transcriptional activity during retinoic acid-induced neuronal differentiation.
Morris, Deborah R, Levenson, Cathy W
Zinc deficiency impairs the proliferation and differentiation of stem cells in the central nervous system that participate in neurogenesis. To examine the molecular mechanisms responsible for the role of this essential nutrient in neuronal precursor cells and neuronal differentiation, we identified zinc-dependent changes in the DNA-binding activity of zinc finger proteins and other transcription factors in proliferating human Ntera-2 neuronal precursor cells undergoing retinoic acid...
Show moreZinc deficiency impairs the proliferation and differentiation of stem cells in the central nervous system that participate in neurogenesis. To examine the molecular mechanisms responsible for the role of this essential nutrient in neuronal precursor cells and neuronal differentiation, we identified zinc-dependent changes in the DNA-binding activity of zinc finger proteins and other transcription factors in proliferating human Ntera-2 neuronal precursor cells undergoing retinoic acid-stimulated differentiation into a neuronal phenotype. We found that zinc deficiency altered binding activity of 28 transcription factors including retinoid X receptor (RXR) known to participate in neuronal differentiation. Alterations in zinc finger transcription factor activity were not simply the result of removal of zinc from these proteins during zinc deficiency, as the activity of other zinc-binding transcription factors such as the glucocorticoid receptor was increased by as much as twofold over zinc-adequate conditions, and nonzinc-binding transcription factors such as nuclear factor-1 and heat shock transcription factor-1 were increased by as much as fourfold over control. Western analysis did not detect significant decreases in total RXR protein abundance in neuronal precursors, suggesting that the decrease in DNA-binding activity was not simply the result of a reduction in RXR levels in neuronal precursor cells. Rather, use of a reporter gene construct containing retinoic acid response elements upstream from a luciferase coding sequence revealed that zinc deficiency results in decreased transcriptional activity of RXR and reductions in retinoic acid-mediated gene transcription during neuronal differentiation. These results show that zinc deficiency has implications for both developmental and adult neurogenesis.
FSU_pmch_24029070, 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2013.06.002, PMC3832953, 24029070, 24029070, S0955-2863(13)00126-5
Zinc Regulation of Neural Stem Cells and Behavior in Brain Injury Complicated by Ethanol Intake.
Morris, Deborah R., Levenson, Cathy W., Zhu, Lei, Olcese, James, Zhou, Yi, Florida State University, College of Medicine, Department of Biological Science
In addition to the known behavioral and cognitive impairments, including memory deficits, depression, and anxiety associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI), there is an increased risk for new onset heavy weekly drinking, binge drinking, and alcohol-related problems. Our previously published work has shown that zinc supplementation reduced TBI-associated deficits, particularly the depression-like symptom anhedonia and stress-induced anxiety. Our objective was to examine the behavioral and...
Show moreIn addition to the known behavioral and cognitive impairments, including memory deficits, depression, and anxiety associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI), there is an increased risk for new onset heavy weekly drinking, binge drinking, and alcohol-related problems. Our previously published work has shown that zinc supplementation reduced TBI-associated deficits, particularly the depression-like symptom anhedonia and stress-induced anxiety. Our objective was to examine the behavioral and cellular outcomes associated with TBI that are complicated by ethanol consumption, as well as the effect of zinc supplementation on these outcomes. Adult male rats were fed a zinc supplemented (180 ppm) or zinc adequate (30 ppm) diet for 4 weeks followed by a moderate TBI using to the medial frontal cortex produced by controlled cortical impact. After injury, rats were given 3 g/kg of ethanol daily for 7 days via gavage. Ethanol intake exacerbated TBI-induced anxiety-like and depression-like behaviors as well inducing recognition memory impairments. Furthermore, zinc supplementation was unable to reduce these behavioral deficits when injury was accompanied by ethanol intake. While ethanol did not worsen learning and memory, zinc supplementation also did not improve Morris water maze performance in ethanol-treated animals. Evidence in the literature has demonstrated that both brain injury and ethanol can regulate neurogenesis. We then wanted to examine the extent to which changes in stem cells are responsible for our behavioral observations. TBI produced a trend towards increased hippocampal stem cells, and zinc supplementation with injury resulted in a significant increase in stem cells 8 days post-injury. Ethanol did not appear to impair TBI or zinc supplemented induced proliferation. There was a small trend towards a decrease in differentiation of these labelled proliferating stem cells with ethanol and TBI combined. Finally, the molecular mechanisms responsible for the role of zinc in neuronal precursor cells and neuronal differentiation were examined.
Zinc Regulation of Neural Stem Cell Proliferation and Antidepressant Efficacy.
Mullin, Tatyana, Levenson, Cathy W., Ilich-Ernst, Jasminka, Hurt, Myra, Department of Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Science, Florida State University
Changes in zinc homeostasis are strongly associated with abnormal brain function and a variety of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression. It is hypothesized that the neurogenic potential of chronic antidepressant administration contributes to its therapeutic effects in depression. Thus, the goal of this work was to determine the extent to which zinc is needed for antidepressant drug induction of neural stem cell proliferation and differentiation. Human NTERA-2/D1 ...
Show moreChanges in zinc homeostasis are strongly associated with abnormal brain function and a variety of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression. It is hypothesized that the neurogenic potential of chronic antidepressant administration contributes to its therapeutic effects in depression. Thus, the goal of this work was to determine the extent to which zinc is needed for antidepressant drug induction of neural stem cell proliferation and differentiation. Human NTERA-2/D1 (NT2) cell culture, an established in vitro model system to study neuronal development, was utilized. Zinc deficiency impaired NT2 cell proliferation measured by the number of Ki67-positive cells. Treatment with fluoxetine or lithium did not result in a significant increase in cell proliferation rate. However, six-day treatment with these antidepressants had a stimulatory effect on NT2 cell differentiation revealed by immunofluorecent detection of the neuron-specific marker TuJ1. Furthermore, zinc deficient cultures treated with fluoxetine or lithium appeared to have a decreased expression of this neuronal marker. Taken together, these results suggest that the essential trace element zinc is needed for neuronal stem cell proliferation and differentiation.
Zinc Regulation of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Proliferation and Survival.
Hagler, Shaye, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have a wide variety of promising clinical applications including the treatment of brain disorders and injury, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. To fully exploit their potential, we need a better understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern stem cell division and survival. We have hypothesized that the essential trace element zinc regulates the proliferation and survival of rat and human bone marrow-derived MSC. Proliferation of MSC is...
Show moreMesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have a wide variety of promising clinical applications including the treatment of brain disorders and injury, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. To fully exploit their potential, we need a better understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern stem cell division and survival. We have hypothesized that the essential trace element zinc regulates the proliferation and survival of rat and human bone marrow-derived MSC. Proliferation of MSC is impaired by zinc deficiency. For example, after 48h of zinc deficiency, proliferation was reduced by 50% (p
Zinc Regulation of Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell Neuronal Differentiation.
Faye, Sari, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
The multipotent ability of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to differentiate into a large variety of mature cell types gives them a high potential for use in a variety of therapeutic purposes. Recently, it was discovered that bone marrow derived MSC could be induced to take on a neuronal phenotype through the addition of cobalt chloride (CoCl2) to the growth media. It is also well known that the trace element zinc is vital for both neuronal proliferation and differentiation from neuronal...
Show moreThe multipotent ability of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to differentiate into a large variety of mature cell types gives them a high potential for use in a variety of therapeutic purposes. Recently, it was discovered that bone marrow derived MSC could be induced to take on a neuronal phenotype through the addition of cobalt chloride (CoCl2) to the growth media. It is also well known that the trace element zinc is vital for both neuronal proliferation and differentiation from neuronal precursor cells. Thus, this work tested the hypothesis that zinc plays a role in the differentiation of MSC into neurons. Secondly, because zinc is unable to enter or exit cells without the assistance of zinc transport proteins (ZnT), this work tested the hypothesis that two transport proteins, ZnT-1 and ZnT-4, would be regulated both by zinc and by treatment with cobalt. This work used both cell morphology and markers of neuronal differentiation (TuJ1 and neuronal specific enolase) to show that zinc deficiency (ZD) combined with CoCl2 treatment appeared to induce differentiation of rat MSC. Furthermore, the zinc transporters were differentially regulated such that ZnT-4 was increased on the cell membrane by zinc deficiency, while ZnT-1 levels at the membrane were highest in the combined zinc deficiency-cobalt treatment group. These data implicate zinc in the mechanisms associated with MSC function.
Zinc in the central nervous system: From molecules to behavior..
Gower-Winter, Shannon D, Levenson, Cathy W
The trace metal zinc is a biofactor that plays essential roles in the central nervous system across the lifespan from early neonatal brain development through the maintenance of brain function in adults. At the molecular level, zinc regulates gene expression through transcription factor activity and is responsible for the activity of dozens of key enzymes in neuronal metabolism. At the cellular level, zinc is a modulator of synaptic activity and neuronal plasticity in both development and...
Show moreThe trace metal zinc is a biofactor that plays essential roles in the central nervous system across the lifespan from early neonatal brain development through the maintenance of brain function in adults. At the molecular level, zinc regulates gene expression through transcription factor activity and is responsible for the activity of dozens of key enzymes in neuronal metabolism. At the cellular level, zinc is a modulator of synaptic activity and neuronal plasticity in both development and adulthood. Given these key roles, it is not surprising that alterations in brain zinc status have been implicated in a wide array of neurological disorders including impaired brain development, neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, and mood disorders including depression. Zinc has also been implicated in neuronal damage associated with traumatic brain injury, stroke, and seizure. Understanding the mechanisms that control brain zinc homeostasis is thus critical to the development of preventive and treatment strategies for these and other neurological disorders.
FSU_pmch_22473811, 10.1002/biof.1012, PMC3757551, 22473811, 22473811
Zinc Deficiency Impairs Retinoic Acid-Induced Differentiation of Human Neurons.
Gower-Winter, Shannon Dooies, Levenson, Cathy W., Ilich-Ernst, Jasminka, Eckel, Lisa, Department of Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Science, Florida State University
Neurogenesis is the process of stem cell proliferation, survival, and differentiation. Recent research has confirmed the presence of ongoing neurogenesis throughout life in humans. This fact has led to vast interest in the mechanisms that underlie this process. Manipulation of adult neurogenesis has the potential to enhance the treatment of a multitude of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and depression as well as injury and stroke. Previous work...
Show moreNeurogenesis is the process of stem cell proliferation, survival, and differentiation. Recent research has confirmed the presence of ongoing neurogenesis throughout life in humans. This fact has led to vast interest in the mechanisms that underlie this process. Manipulation of adult neurogenesis has the potential to enhance the treatment of a multitude of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and depression as well as injury and stroke. Previous work has shown that the essential trace metal zinc regulates neuronal precursor proliferation and survival. Thus, this work is based on the central hypothesis that zinc is also needed for neuronal differentiation. Furthermore we proposed that transforming growth factor signaling may be involved in the zinc regulated mechanisms of differentiation. Zinc deficiency (ZD; 0.4µM) impaired the ability of neuronal precursor cells (NT2) to differentiate into mature neurons (NT2-N) when exposed to 2 wks of 10µM retinoic acid (RA), as measured by the early neuronal marker TuJ1. Additionally, we demonstrated a differential regulation of Transforming Growth Factor Beta (TGF-β) receptor isoforms type I (RI) and II (RII) under zinc deficient (0.4µM) conditions in NT2 cells undergoing RA-induced differentiation. Measurements of TGF-β RI and RII in zinc adequate (ZA; 2.5µM) differentiated NT2-N neurons showed that neither receptor isoform was expressed in these cells. TGF-β RI was up-regulated in NT2-N cells in response to ZD (0.4µM) however, while TGF-β RII remained down-regulated under ZD (0.4µM) conditions, as demonstrated via TGF-β RI and RII immunocytochemistry. These data confirmed that ZD (0.4µM) does impair RA-induced differentiation of human NT2 neuronal cells. There is also evidence that a differential regulation of the TGF-β receptor I and II isoforms may be involved in this mechanism, as the loss of RII expression in ZD (0.4µM) NT2-N cells could be responsible for a decline in TGF-β signaling in these cells and thus an attenuated cellular response to TGF-β responsive genes. This research suggests an important role for TGF-β and the trace metal zinc in regulating neuronal differentiation, and helps to improve understanding of adult neurogenesis in the human brain.
Zinc and neurogenesis: making new neurons from development to adulthood..
Levenson, Cathy W, Morris, Deborah
Stem cell proliferation, neuronal differentiation, cell survival, and migration in the central nervous system are all important steps in the normal process of neurogenesis. These mechanisms are highly active during gestational and early neonatal brain development. Additionally, in select regions of the brain, stem cells give rise to new neurons throughout the human lifespan. Recent work has revealed key roles for the essential trace element zinc in the control of both developmental and adult...
Show moreStem cell proliferation, neuronal differentiation, cell survival, and migration in the central nervous system are all important steps in the normal process of neurogenesis. These mechanisms are highly active during gestational and early neonatal brain development. Additionally, in select regions of the brain, stem cells give rise to new neurons throughout the human lifespan. Recent work has revealed key roles for the essential trace element zinc in the control of both developmental and adult neurogenesis. Given the prevalence of zinc deficiency, these findings have implications for brain development, cognition, and the regulation of mood.
FSU_pmch_22332038, 10.3945/an.110.000174, PMC3065768, 22332038, 22332038, 000174
Zinc and carbonic anhydrase in oysters.
Nielsen, Stephen Ashley
ZIKV AND DENV DIFFERENTIALLY PERTURB ISG15 DESPITE SIMILAR RESTRICTION BY INTERFERON.
Sherman, Allaura
Zika-Virus-Encoded NS2A Disrupts Mammalian Cortical Neurogenesis by Degrading Adherens Junction Proteins.
Yoon, Ki-Jun, Song, Guang, Qian, Xuyu, Pan, Jianbo, Xu, Dan, Rho, Hee-Sool, Kim, Nam-Shik, Habela, Christa, Zheng, Lily, Jacob, Fadi, Zhang, Feiran, Lee, Emily M, Huang, Wei-Kai...
Show moreYoon, Ki-Jun, Song, Guang, Qian, Xuyu, Pan, Jianbo, Xu, Dan, Rho, Hee-Sool, Kim, Nam-Shik, Habela, Christa, Zheng, Lily, Jacob, Fadi, Zhang, Feiran, Lee, Emily M, Huang, Wei-Kai, Ringeling, Francisca Rojas, Vissers, Caroline, Li, Cui, Yuan, Ling, Kang, Koeun, Kim, Sunghan, Yeo, Junghoon, Cheng, Yichen, Liu, Sheng, Wen, Zhexing, Qin, Cheng-Feng, Wu, Qingfeng, Christian, Kimberly M, Tang, Hengli, Jin, Peng, Xu, Zhiheng, Qian, Jiang, Zhu, Heng, Song, Hongjun, Ming, Guo-Li
Zika virus (ZIKV) directly infects neural progenitors and impairs their proliferation. How ZIKV interacts with the host molecular machinery to impact neurogenesis in vivo is not well understood. Here, by systematically introducing individual proteins encoded by ZIKV into the embryonic mouse cortex, we show that expression of ZIKV-NS2A, but not Dengue virus (DENV)-NS2A, leads to reduced proliferation and premature differentiation of radial glial cells and aberrant positioning of newborn...
Show moreZika virus (ZIKV) directly infects neural progenitors and impairs their proliferation. How ZIKV interacts with the host molecular machinery to impact neurogenesis in vivo is not well understood. Here, by systematically introducing individual proteins encoded by ZIKV into the embryonic mouse cortex, we show that expression of ZIKV-NS2A, but not Dengue virus (DENV)-NS2A, leads to reduced proliferation and premature differentiation of radial glial cells and aberrant positioning of newborn neurons. Mechanistically, in vitro mapping of protein-interactomes and biochemical analysis suggest interactions between ZIKA-NS2A and multiple adherens junction complex (AJ) components. Functionally, ZIKV-NS2A, but not DENV-NS2A, destabilizes the AJ complex, resulting in impaired AJ formation and aberrant radial glial fiber scaffolding in the embryonic mouse cortex. Similarly, ZIKA-NS2A, but not DENV-NS2A, reduces radial glial cell proliferation and causes AJ deficits in human forebrain organoids. Together, our results reveal pathogenic mechanisms underlying ZIKV infection in the developing mammalian brain.
FSU_pmch_28826723, 10.1016/j.stem.2017.07.014, PMC5600197, 28826723, 28826723, S1934-5909(17)30293-X
Zika Virus Infects Human Cortical Neural Progenitors and Attenuates Their Growth.
Tang, Hengli, Hammack, Christy, Ogden, Sarah C, Wen, Zhexing, Qian, Xuyu, Li, Yujing, Yao, Bing, Shin, Jaehoon, Zhang, Feiran, Lee, Emily M, Christian, Kimberly M, Didier, Ruth...
Show moreTang, Hengli, Hammack, Christy, Ogden, Sarah C, Wen, Zhexing, Qian, Xuyu, Li, Yujing, Yao, Bing, Shin, Jaehoon, Zhang, Feiran, Lee, Emily M, Christian, Kimberly M, Didier, Ruth A, Jin, Peng, Song, Hongjun, Ming, Guo-Li
The suspected link between infection by Zika virus (ZIKV), a re-emerging flavivirus, and microcephaly is an urgent global health concern. The direct target cells of ZIKV in the developing human fetus are not clear. Here we show that a strain of the ZIKV, MR766, serially passaged in monkey and mosquito cells efficiently infects human neural progenitor cells (hNPCs) derived from induced pluripotent stem cells. Infected hNPCs further release infectious ZIKV particles. Importantly, ZIKV infection...
Show moreThe suspected link between infection by Zika virus (ZIKV), a re-emerging flavivirus, and microcephaly is an urgent global health concern. The direct target cells of ZIKV in the developing human fetus are not clear. Here we show that a strain of the ZIKV, MR766, serially passaged in monkey and mosquito cells efficiently infects human neural progenitor cells (hNPCs) derived from induced pluripotent stem cells. Infected hNPCs further release infectious ZIKV particles. Importantly, ZIKV infection increases cell death and dysregulates cell-cycle progression, resulting in attenuated hNPC growth. Global gene expression analysis of infected hNPCs reveals transcriptional dysregulation, notably of cell-cycle-related pathways. Our results identify hNPCs as a direct ZIKV target. In addition, we establish a tractable experimental model system to investigate the impact and mechanism of ZIKV on human brain development and provide a platform to screen therapeutic compounds.
FSU_pmch_26952870, 10.1016/j.stem.2016.02.016, PMC5299540, 26952870, 26952870, S1934-5909(16)00106-5
Zika Virus Infection Induces DNA Damage Response and S-Phase Arrest in Human Cortical Neural Progenitors.
Hammack, Christy, Tang, Hengli, Megraw, Timothy L., Chadwick, Brian P., Gilbert, David M., Li, Yan, Zhu, Fanxiu, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences,...
Show moreHammack, Christy, Tang, Hengli, Megraw, Timothy L., Chadwick, Brian P., Gilbert, David M., Li, Yan, Zhu, Fanxiu, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biological Science
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a re-emerging mosquito-borne flavivirus of significant public health concern closely related to other highly pathogenic flaviviruses, such as dengue virus (DENV) and West Nile virus (WNV). With the rise of ZIKV in Brazil in 2015, its potential link to microcephaly and other severe neurological birth defects prompted the World Health Organization to declare ZIKV a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Since this time, numerous studies have provided ample...
Show moreZika virus (ZIKV) is a re-emerging mosquito-borne flavivirus of significant public health concern closely related to other highly pathogenic flaviviruses, such as dengue virus (DENV) and West Nile virus (WNV). With the rise of ZIKV in Brazil in 2015, its potential link to microcephaly and other severe neurological birth defects prompted the World Health Organization to declare ZIKV a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Since this time, numerous studies have provided ample evidence to establish ZIKV as the causative agent of microcephaly, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying these neurodevelopmental defects are not well understood. We therefore establish a tractable experimental model system to investigate the impact of ZIKV on human neural development. We demonstrate that ZIKV efficiently infects human cortical neural progenitor cells (hNPCs) derived from induced pluripotent stem cells, but less efficiently infects other cells along the neural differentiation pathway, including immature cortical neurons. Infected hNPCs further release infectious ZIKV particles. Importantly, ZIKV infection disrupts cell cycle progression and induces cell death in hNPCs contributing to their attenuated growth. Global transcriptome analyses of ZIKV-infected hNPCs reveal transcriptional dysregulation, notably a downregulation of cell-cycle-related genes, highlighting the potential involvement of cell cycle pathways in ZIKV biology. We then study the molecular mechanisms by which ZIKV manipulates the cell cycle in hNPCs and the functional consequences of cell-cycle perturbation on the replication of ZIKV and related flaviviruses. We demonstrate that host cell-cycle disruption is unique to ZIKV among the flaviviruses tested, including DENV and WNV, however similar among the two strains of ZIKV tested, including the prototype Uganda strain and a Puerto Rican strain. ZIKV, but not DENV, infection induces DNA double-strand breaks, triggering the DNA damage response through the ATM/Chk2 signaling pathway, while suppressing activation of the ATR/Chk1 signaling pathway in hNPCs. Furthermore, ZIKV infection impedes the progression of cells through S phase thereby preventing the completion of host DNA replication. Recapitulating the S-phase arrest state with S-phase inhibitors leads to an increase in ZIKV replication, but not of WNV or DENV replication. Together, our results identify hNPCs as a direct target of ZIKV and the damaging impact of ZIKV on the growth of hNPCs. Importantly, our data demonstrate ZIKV’s ability to induce host DNA damage and arrest cell cycle progression, which results in a cellular environment favorable for its replication. As hNPCs generate the cortical neurons during early fetal brain development, the ZIKV-mediated growth retardation likely contributes to the neurodevelopmental defects of the congenital Zika syndrome.
2018_Sp_Hammack_fsu_0071E_14286
Zika virus directly infects peripheral neurons and induces cell death.
Oh, Yohan, Zhang, Feiran, Wang, Yaqing, Lee, Emily M, Choi, In Young, Lim, Hotae, Mirakhori, Fahimeh, Li, Ronghua, Huang, Luoxiu, Xu, Tianlei, Wu, Hao, Li, Cui, Qin, Cheng-Feng,...
Show moreOh, Yohan, Zhang, Feiran, Wang, Yaqing, Lee, Emily M, Choi, In Young, Lim, Hotae, Mirakhori, Fahimeh, Li, Ronghua, Huang, Luoxiu, Xu, Tianlei, Wu, Hao, Li, Cui, Qin, Cheng-Feng, Wen, Zhexing, Wu, Qing-Feng, Tang, Hengli, Xu, Zhiheng, Jin, Peng, Song, Hongjun, Ming, Guo-Li, Lee, Gabsang
Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is associated with neurological disorders of both the CNS and peripheral nervous systems (PNS), yet few studies have directly examined PNS infection. Here we show that intraperitoneally or intraventricularly injected ZIKV in the mouse can infect and impact peripheral neurons in vivo. Moreover, ZIKV productively infects stem-cell-derived human neural crest cells and peripheral neurons in vitro, leading to increased cell death, transcriptional dysregulation and cell...
Show moreZika virus (ZIKV) infection is associated with neurological disorders of both the CNS and peripheral nervous systems (PNS), yet few studies have directly examined PNS infection. Here we show that intraperitoneally or intraventricularly injected ZIKV in the mouse can infect and impact peripheral neurons in vivo. Moreover, ZIKV productively infects stem-cell-derived human neural crest cells and peripheral neurons in vitro, leading to increased cell death, transcriptional dysregulation and cell-type-specific molecular pathology.
FSU_pmch_28758997, 10.1038/nn.4612, PMC5575960, 28758997, 28758997, nn.4612
Zika virus and neural developmental defects: building a case for a cause.
Ogden, Sarah C., Hammack, Christy, Tang, Hengli
FSU_libsubv1_wos_000375885300013, 10.1007/s11427-016-5053-2
Zeta regularized products and modular constants.
Heydari, Shahryar., Florida State University
The purpose of this dissertation is to, first outline a theory of Zeta regularized products which will work for sequences of complex numbers, and second to use this theory to compute Zeta regularized products and modular constants for sequences which are integer combinations of a fixed set of complex numbers., The gamma function $\Gamma(z)$ is represented as the ratio of two Zeta regularized products. This relation is then extended to define multiple gamma functions as the ratio of two...
Show moreThe purpose of this dissertation is to, first outline a theory of Zeta regularized products which will work for sequences of complex numbers, and second to use this theory to compute Zeta regularized products and modular constants for sequences which are integer combinations of a fixed set of complex numbers., The gamma function $\Gamma(z)$ is represented as the ratio of two Zeta regularized products. This relation is then extended to define multiple gamma functions as the ratio of two corresponding Zeta regularized products. A full account of the functional equations associated with multiple gamma functions is also given. The double gamma function is investigated in detail., Some other special functions are also discussed. Namely Jacobi's theta function $\theta\sb1$, the Weierstrass sigma function $\sigma(z),$ and $P(z\vert\tau)$ defined by, The determinant of the Laplacian on an n-dimensional flat Torus is computed for $n \geq$ 2, by computing
Zaffron.
Sterne, Melvin, Buter, Robert Olen, Galeano, Juan Carlos, Baggott, Julianna, Vitkus, Daniel, Fenstermaker, John, Department of English, Florida State University
Zaffron is the story of an illiterate, lower-class Muslim girl from south India sold into prostitution in Bombay. She and her friends attempt to start a small business to escape the flesh trade, but when they are not paid for their honest labor, they resort to blackmail in an attempt to collect their debt. When the incriminating camera-phone is confiscated, and a police commissioner murdered, Zaffron must work with an upper-class, well-educated Hindu policewoman to recover the phone and save...
Show moreZaffron is the story of an illiterate, lower-class Muslim girl from south India sold into prostitution in Bombay. She and her friends attempt to start a small business to escape the flesh trade, but when they are not paid for their honest labor, they resort to blackmail in an attempt to collect their debt. When the incriminating camera-phone is confiscated, and a police commissioner murdered, Zaffron must work with an upper-class, well-educated Hindu policewoman to recover the phone and save both their lives. The women must set aside cultural and religious differences and learn to trust one another. The story explores contemporary India including complex issues of gender, culture, religion, third-world politics, and human trafficking. It is based—in parts—on a true story.
Z-Sum Approach to Loop Integrals.
Rottmann, Paulo A., Reina, Laura, Aluffi, Paolo, Berg, Bernd A., Wahl, Horst D., Rikvold, Per Arne, Department of Physics, Florida State University
We study the applicability of the Z-Sum approach to multi-loop calculations with massive particles in perturbative quantum field theory. We systematically analyze the case of one-loop scalar integrals, which represent the building blocks of any higher-loop calculation. We focus in particular on triangle one-loop integrals and identify strengths and limitations of the Z-Sum approach, extending our results to the case of one-loop box integrals when appropriate. We conclude with the calculation...
Show moreWe study the applicability of the Z-Sum approach to multi-loop calculations with massive particles in perturbative quantum field theory. We systematically analyze the case of one-loop scalar integrals, which represent the building blocks of any higher-loop calculation. We focus in particular on triangle one-loop integrals and identify strengths and limitations of the Z-Sum approach, extending our results to the case of one-loop box integrals when appropriate. We conclude with the calculation of a specific physical example: the calculation of heavy flavor corrections to the renormalized scattering amplitude for deep inelastic scattering.
Yukawa Unification in SO(10) Susy Guts.
Auto, Daniel M., Baer, Howard, Hunter, Christopher, Reina, Laura, Prosper, Harrison, Piekarewicz, Jorge, Department of Physics, Florida State University
Supersymmetric grand unified models based on the SO(10) gauge group are especially attractive in light of recent data on neutrino masses. The simplest SO(10) SUSY GUT models predict unification of third generation Yukawa couplings (t –b – Ƭ) in addition to the usual gauge coupling unification. An assessment of the viability of such Yukawa unified models is presented. For the superpotential Higgs mass parameter μ>0, it is found that unification to less than 1% is possible, but only for GUT...
Show moreSupersymmetric grand unified models based on the SO(10) gauge group are especially attractive in light of recent data on neutrino masses. The simplest SO(10) SUSY GUT models predict unification of third generation Yukawa couplings (t –b – Ƭ) in addition to the usual gauge coupling unification. An assessment of the viability of such Yukawa unified models is presented. For the superpotential Higgs mass parameter μ>0, it is found that unification to less than 1% is possible, but only for GUT scale scalar mass parameter m16 ~ 8 – 20 TeV, and small values of gaugino mass m1/2 ≤ 150 GeV. Such models require tha a GUT scale mass splitting exists amongst Higgs scalars with m2Hu < m2Hd. Viable solutions lead to a radiatively generated inverted scalar mass hierarchy, with third generation and Higgs scalars being lighter than other sfermions. These models have a very heavy sfermions, so that unwanted flavor changing and CP violating SUSY processes are suppressed, but may suffer from some fine-tuning requirements. While the generated spectra satisify b → sγ and (g – 2)μ constraints, there exists tension with the dark matter relic density unless m16 ≤ 3TeV. These models offer prospects for SUSY discovery at the Fermilab Tevatron collider via the search for W1Z2 → 3l events, or via gluino pair production. If μ < 0, Yujawa coupling unification to less than 5% can occur for m16 and m 1/2≥ 1 – 2 TeV. Consistency of negative μ Yukawa unified models with b → sγ, (g – 2)μ, and relic density Ωh2 all imply very large values of m1/2 typically greater than about 2.5 TeV, in which case direct dection of sparticles may be a challenge even at the LHC. To address the tension between Yukawa unification and the excess of dark matter that the μ>0 models tend to predict, a couple of possible improvements are surveyed. One solution- lowering the GUT scale mass value of first and second generation scalars, leads to uR and cR squark masses in the 90 – 120 GeV regime, which should be accessible to Fermilab Tavatron experiments. Another possibility is relaxing gaugino mass universality which may solve the relic density problem by having neutralino annihilations via the Z or h resonances, or by having a wino-like LSP.
The yrast rotational bands of selenium-74 and krypton-77.
Gross, Carl J., Florida State University
New states in the positive parity yrast bands of $\sp{74}$Se and $\sp{77}$Kr have been observed with the reactions $\sp{52}$Cr($\sp{28}$Si,$\alpha$2p)$\sp{74}$Se and $\sp{52}$Cr($\sp{28}$Si,2pn)$\sp{77}$Kr at 98 MeV. The target consisted of approximately 1 mg/cm$\sp2$ natural chromium (84% $\sp{52}$Cr abundance) evaporated on a thick lead backing., The new states extend the known level scheme of $\sp{74}$Se up to I$\sp{\pi}$ = (22$\sp+$) and most of the transitions in the other previously...
Show moreNew states in the positive parity yrast bands of $\sp{74}$Se and $\sp{77}$Kr have been observed with the reactions $\sp{52}$Cr($\sp{28}$Si,$\alpha$2p)$\sp{74}$Se and $\sp{52}$Cr($\sp{28}$Si,2pn)$\sp{77}$Kr at 98 MeV. The target consisted of approximately 1 mg/cm$\sp2$ natural chromium (84% $\sp{52}$Cr abundance) evaporated on a thick lead backing., The new states extend the known level scheme of $\sp{74}$Se up to I$\sp{\pi}$ = (22$\sp+$) and most of the transitions in the other previously reported bands have been seen. For the states I$\sp{\pi}$ $\geq$ 6$\sp+$ the spectrum shows a relatively constant moment of inertia parameter $(\hbar\sp2$/2$\Theta)$ = 27.8 $\pm$ 0.5 keV., Excited positive parity states up to spin (41/2) have been observed in $\sp{77}$Kr. $\Delta$I = 1 transitions have been identified throughout the positive parity band. The energies, mixing ratios and B(M1) transition rates for these transitions alternate in size as the spin increases. A cranked shell model analysis was performed along with Strutinsky-Bogolyubov cranking calculations. The observed decrease in the signature splitting of the $\nu$g$\sb{9/2}$ band has been attributed to a band crossing due to an aligning pair of g$\sb{9/2}$ protons. Prolate quadrupole deformations of $\beta\sb2$ = 0.34 for the ground band and $\beta\sb2$ = 0.26 for the first excited band are predicted. This band crossing is associated with a shape change caused by the polarization effect of aligned quasiparticles.
YOUTHFUL OFFENDER'S AGGRESSIVE AND AUTONOMIC REACTIONS TO STRESS AS A FUNCTION OF RACE OF EXAMINER AND RACE OF SUBJECT.
PERRY, AUBREY MACDONNELL., The Florida State University
Youth Participation in Qualitative Research: Challenges and Possibilities.
Schelbe, Lisa, Chanmugam, Amy, Moses, Tally, Saltzburg, Susan, Williams, Lela Rankin, Letendre, Joan
Research often excludes youth participants, omitting their social and psychological realities, undermining their rights to participate and benefit from research, and weakening the validity of research. Researchers may be discouraged from including youth due to logistical (e.g. gaining access) or ethical (e.g. coercion risks based on developmental level) concerns. Increased discussion is needed around appropriate methods to use with child and youth participants that manage challenges related...
Show moreResearch often excludes youth participants, omitting their social and psychological realities, undermining their rights to participate and benefit from research, and weakening the validity of research. Researchers may be discouraged from including youth due to logistical (e.g. gaining access) or ethical (e.g. coercion risks based on developmental level) concerns. Increased discussion is needed around appropriate methods to use with child and youth participants that manage challenges related to developmental capacities, legal status, power differentials, and unpredictable aspects of qualitative research. This paper pools experiences of six researchers, describing solutions we have developed in studies employing varied qualitative methodologies with varied vulnerable youth sub-populations. We detail successful approaches to access, compensation, consent, assent, and confidentiality. Social work researchers are well suited to navigate the challenges, and we share our examples with the aim of facilitating increased youth participation in research.
FSU_libsubv1_scholarship_submission_1505837771_741d9110, 10.1177/1473325014556792
Youth in our time: a study of juvenile deliquency trends in the United States and in Gainesville and Alachua county, Florida, 1939-1945.
Bell, Betty
159052, FSDT159052, fsu:18245
Youth Educational Symphonies (Yes!): A Nonprofit Franchise Business Model for the Creation of Youth Orchestras.
Friedman, Rachel Grubb, Jiménez, Alexander, Madsen, Clifford K., Ebbers, Paul D., Bugaj, Kasia, Florida State University, College of Music
A new paradigm for running youth orchestras is needed in order to reduce redundancy, increase efficiency, deal with reduced budgets in many music programs, and create a sustainable infrastructure for the creation of youth orchestras. Large metropolitan areas often have exemplary youth orchestra systems, but smaller cities and underserved areas may not have the resources like a full time staff, business processes, communications technology, and available sheet music to maintain a youth...
Show moreA new paradigm for running youth orchestras is needed in order to reduce redundancy, increase efficiency, deal with reduced budgets in many music programs, and create a sustainable infrastructure for the creation of youth orchestras. Large metropolitan areas often have exemplary youth orchestra systems, but smaller cities and underserved areas may not have the resources like a full time staff, business processes, communications technology, and available sheet music to maintain a youth orchestra even though the area could artistically sustain one. Using knowledge from current business, nonprofit, and music education research, this document proposes an innovative approach to systematically organize and administrate youth orchestras by combining the best practices of various fields in order to tackle some of the biggest challenges to youth orchestras today. Youth Educational Symphonies (YES!) is a nonprofit franchise business model for establishing and maintaining youth orchestras. Nonprofit franchising, commonly referred to as "social franchising" in the social services sector, is a burgeoning area of entrepreneurship designed to target needs by using repeatable processes. A youth orchestra or entrepreneurial conductor will be able to "plug into" the YES! franchise to administrate the billing, accounting, payroll, publicity materials, communications, ticketing, business infrastructure, music library, string bowings, and Orchestra Manager training. By joining the YES! organization, member youth orchestras will acquire a business infrastructure specializing in the area of youth orchestras. The business systems and opportunities offered with YES! membership also include: website design and hosting, recruiting materials, an operations manual, a lending library of youth orchestra repertoire, new music written for youth orchestra, student scholarships, instrument and equipment outsourcing, consulting and training, and an organization-wide annual summer symphony festival called SForzando. This franchise model for the Youth Educational Symphonies attempts to provide the business-side infrastructure needed for an entrepreneurial conductor or a group of qualified music teachers to start up or maintain a youth orchestra in their community quickly, effectively, and sustainably.
FSU_2017SP_Friedman_fsu_0071E_13733
Youth Development and Reentry.
Mears, Daniel P., Travis, Jeremy
FSU_libsubv1_scholarship_submission_1548280672_48ff5bf0, 10.1177/1541204003260044
Your Reputation Precedes You: Women's Competition Through Social Information.
Reynolds, Tania, Baumeister, Roy F., Meltzer, Andrea L., Cougle, Jesse R. (Jesse Ray), Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology
Research suggests that women gossip more often than men. We, along with previous researchers, argue that this exchange of information may be a means by which women compete for mates. That is, women use social information to besmirch the reputations and long-term mating potential of rivals. Because men value chastity in their long-term partners and this trait is invisible, women's sexual reputations may not only influence their long-term mate value, but may also be vulnerable to defamation....
Show moreResearch suggests that women gossip more often than men. We, along with previous researchers, argue that this exchange of information may be a means by which women compete for mates. That is, women use social information to besmirch the reputations and long-term mating potential of rivals. Because men value chastity in their long-term partners and this trait is invisible, women's sexual reputations may not only influence their long-term mate value, but may also be vulnerable to defamation. Furthermore, Hess and Hagen (2009) have argued that women may use their same-sex friendships to help them in this reputational competition. If women compete with one another using social information, their psychologies and friendship patterns should be shaped for this informational battle at three stages: defense, reconnaissance, and dissemination. Across four online studies we tested predictions stemming from this informational warfare framework. In Studies 1 and 2, we evaluated whether women's interests, worries, and friendship expectations are better suited than men's for reputational competition. In Studies 3 and 4, we experimentally manipulated the mating threat level of a target woman and found that women relayed reputationally relevant information about her strategically. Specifically, women passed on more negative and less positive social information about a hypothetical a woman who flirted with their mates (compared to one who did not) and an attractive woman (compared to a less attractive woman). That is, women hurt more than helped the reputations of other women who were more formidable mating competitors compared to less. Furthermore, highly competitive women were more informationally aggressive than less competitive women. These findings support the contention that women compete with one another using social information and reputational attacks.
FSU_2016SP_Reynolds_fsu_0071N_13240
Your Diligent Looking Discover the Lacking: Individual and Societal Reconciliation in Isherwood and Auden's 1930S Literature.
Lonsberry, Samuel, Department of English
The work aims to explore the similarities and differences between Christopher Isherwood and W.H. Auden's 1930s literature. As unique authors within the decade, emphasizing artifice and aesthetics in relation to socially-conscious writing, both artists provide an interesting study of one sub-category of 1930s literature. Defining themselves against the likes of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, Auden and Isherwood attempt to retain the aesthetic-driven forms of 1920s Modernism while further...
Show moreThe work aims to explore the similarities and differences between Christopher Isherwood and W.H. Auden's 1930s literature. As unique authors within the decade, emphasizing artifice and aesthetics in relation to socially-conscious writing, both artists provide an interesting study of one sub-category of 1930s literature. Defining themselves against the likes of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, Auden and Isherwood attempt to retain the aesthetic-driven forms of 1920s Modernism while further melding them with more politically focused cultural trends.
Young Women's Engagement in Employment and Childrearing Roles: Predictors and Implications for Mental Health Outcomes.
Wadhwa, Hena K. (Hena Kamal), Tillman, Kathryn H., McWey, Lenore M, Brewster, Karin L., Waggoner, Miranda R., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public...
Show moreWadhwa, Hena K. (Hena Kamal), Tillman, Kathryn H., McWey, Lenore M, Brewster, Karin L., Waggoner, Miranda R., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Sociology
Since the mid-20th century, we have seen a rise in the percentage of women who work in the paid labor force, including women with children. Over the course of that time, much research has focused on the challenges that women have faced in finding ways to balance these “new” employment roles with the domestic labor traditionally considered women’s work, particularly childrearing and care of the home (e.g. Hoschschild 1989; Hays 1996; Christopher 2012). Increasingly research has suggested a...
Show moreSince the mid-20th century, we have seen a rise in the percentage of women who work in the paid labor force, including women with children. Over the course of that time, much research has focused on the challenges that women have faced in finding ways to balance these “new” employment roles with the domestic labor traditionally considered women’s work, particularly childrearing and care of the home (e.g. Hoschschild 1989; Hays 1996; Christopher 2012). Increasingly research has suggested a shifting of domestic labor, such that men are beginning to share more (although not yet an equal share) of the burden for childcare and housework (Fillo et al. 2015; Pew Research Center 2017). At the same time, though, changing ideas about appropriate parenting practices, particularly for mothers of young children, have led to generally more intensive and focused parenting behavior than ever (Faircloth 2014). Thus, for many people, especially young working women, parenting may be more stressful than ever, as they are more likely than women in the past to combine multiple work and family roles and hold higher expectations for their engagement as a mother. There still is inadequate research, however, about the factors that predict the specific combinations of employment and childrearing roles in which women will engage, particularly during their early adult years, and little is known about how women in the various combinations of activity are faring in terms of their mental health outcomes. This dissertation contributes meaningfully to the existing literature on young women’s involvement in employment and childrearing activities and their relation to mental health outcomes within two distinct analytical chapters, both of which draw on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). The first paper examines the distinct employment-childrearing combinations of activity that are common among women in their mid-late 20s and early 30s in the United States today, and, relying upon a lifecourse perspective as a theoretical guide, uses multinomial logistic regression to determine the socio-demographic characteristics and childhood/adolescent family factors that significantly predict particular employment-childrearing combinations. The analyses examine the long-term influence of the mother-daughter relationship during adolescence, maternal work and education status, maternal religious background and general childhood SES, and whether any relationships between these variables and adult employment-childrearing roles is conditioned by race/ethnicity or other status characteristics. The second paper focuses specifically upon women in their mid-late 20s and early 30s who are mothers, to determine whether there is a relationship between specific employment-childrearing combinations and negative mental health outcomes. Specifically, this paper relies on a stress process model and OLS regression to examine both measures of internalized mental health outcomes, such as self-reported stress and depressive symptoms, and externalized mental health outcomes, such as problematic drinking-related outcomes. In addition to direct effects, analyses examine potential mediating and moderating influences on the relationship between employment-childrearing combinations and mental health outcomes. Results of this dissertation suggest that the experiences that young girls have within their families of origin, particularly their experiences with and observations of their own mothers, have enduring consequences, influencing their adult outcomes, including the specific employment-childrearing situations in which they find themselves during the early stages of their motherhood. In general, it appears that childhood/adolescent factors may be more predictive of young women’s decisions to have children, at least by their early 30s, than they are of the particular types of employment arrangements women who do have children will hold. Among women who are mothers, maternal presence during adolescence appears a particularly important predictor of engagement in different employment situations, suggesting an important and enduring role-modeling effect. While the employment-childrearing combinations have little direct association with self-reported stress levels of young mothers, employment-childrearing combinations are significantly associated with changes in levels of problematic drinking-related outcomes and depressive symptoms over time. In particular, stay at home mothers tend to experience significantly lower levels of increase in these negative outcomes than do their full-time working mother peers. Interestingly, despite common notions that part-time working mothers are able to have the “best of both worlds,” no significant differences emerge between full-time working mothers and part-time working mothers in terms of stress, drinking-related problems or depressive symptoms. Overall, these findings increase our understanding of the factors that predict the employment-childrearing situations of women in their mid-late 20s and early 30s, and have important implications for our ability to identify the groups of young mothers who may be at most risk for declining mental health outcomes.
2018_Su_Wadhwa_fsu_0071E_14790
Journal of educational psychology (13) + -
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Turkish MP in Canada says Ankara disappointed in West
Keywords:Turkey
Turkey is disappointed its Western allies were critical of steps taken by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s following a coup attempt there last moth, the head of a Turkish delegation to Canada told reporters Monday.
Those measures included the detentions of thousands of suspected members of the Fetullah Terror Organization, or FETO, accused of mounting the July 15 defeated coup led by U.S.-based cleric Fetullah Gulen.
Speaking at a press conference in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Dr. Kani Torun, deputy chair of the parliament’s foreign relations committee, also said Gulen was behind the attempted overthrow of the Turkish government, calling the preacher’s movement a “messianic cult” as well as an “ISIS-like organization” guilty of brainwashing followers. He said the West has chosen to overlook that fact and not support Turkey.
“This is the biggest disappointment (of) the Turkish people, I tell you – this is their feelings,” he said.
Torun noted that Turkey stood with its allies when they were attacked.
“When the bombings happened in France, in Britain, Germany – wherever – we always support them,” he said. “We always work with them – and in Brussels. But this time, we did not get any support.”
At least 240 people were martyred during the overthrow attempt and 2,200 others injured.
Ankara also contends that FETO has long tried to infiltrate federal and municipal institutions and formed what is widely regarded as a parallel state.
The Turkish delegation is comprised of five MPs, including two members of opposition parties, and is touring several countries to counter the propaganda Ankara insists is being perpetrated by Gulen and his supporters.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Soft Power, The Bazaar and How to Vote for Indonesia’s Future #Jokowi9Juli
Jokowi Pemilu2014 Pilplres #Salam2Jari #Jokowi9Juli
It was one wet night in February 2009, we were all in a common area of Loji Gandrung in Solo, the official home of the mayor of Solo, a colonial remnants, build in 1792. That night we were all there to launch a newly formed Solo Blogger Community called Bengawan. There was about 40 bloggers from Solo, Yogyakarta and Jakarta attending the event. It was raining before, and the air brought in a calm and serene atmosphere, warmed by conversations and friendships.
The mayor, who we were not expecting to show, was there to greet and have dinner with all of us. He supported and applaud that Solo now have a blogger community, and he told us how all of you hold a strategic tool, our blogs, to spread a positive messages about Solo and about the country.
That night, he also told a story how in 2007 he managed to asked hundreds of street sellers (pedagang kaki lima) to move from the center of Solo, in Taman Banjarsari to a new location built as a market in Pasar Klitikan and he did this by inviting all of the sellers for a meal and discussion to this house, not once, not twice, but in total 54 times. And only at the 54th times, he ask to move them to the new location. “So what did you discuss for all of the 53 times that you met them?” One of us ask. He said, “Nothing, we just talk about the city, our daily life, but then.. “ He said. “By the 54th times, they know and agreed that they were asked to move by someone who respect them.”
That is the power of persuasion, I remember myself thinking and that Mayor of Solo is 2009 was Jokowi.
Fast forward just 5 years from that moment, today in 2014, Jokowi faced and is doing a life changing campaign as Indonesian presidential hopeful. Mind blowing to think that in that short moment how one life can change so much, but this remind me of how everyone life has change in that period of time too, thanks to social media, digital technology and how rapidly we see how these two things inspired changes in many fields and in the near future.
I can’t help myself thinking on the similarity of Jokowi leadership style and the new paradigm of how globally people try to solve their own problems.
Nowadays, in many cases, globally, instead of relying on one source of authority, or central government, people by using the tool on their hand, take charge of the problem and solve their problem locally. Called it the do it yourself (DIY) movement, the maker movement, the small pieces loosely joined, but time and time again this alternative way of solving problem proven to be more efficient and effective.
Even in Indonesia, we have seen communities from Indonesia Berkebun in urban farming initiative to Akademi Berbagi in adult continuous education. From Suara Pemuda Anti Korupsi (Speak) to Buku Untuk Papua, all are movements, organized by volunteers, loosely coordinated but they are all real actions, taking on real problems.
It’s ground up solution, instead of top down direction. It’s the power of attraction instead of coercion. It’s the power of ideas instead of the power of money. It does not command, it’s inspire.
In other words it’s a movement, not barricade. In other words, that’s how I see the biggest strength in Jokowi’s arsenal, his soft power, his power of persuasion and get things done instead of relying on bureaucratic procedures that most of times slip into solutions that unfit and came too late to arena.
Jokowi understood his role as leaders and head of state is not going to be the single source of power where all solution will derived from, he understood that what he needs to do is to orchestrate all the elements of government to work together to serve people better. To listen, to be there for the people and in the end to inspire the country, to lead us to a new age.
Government need to be there to provide people with basic infrastructures and administration, create fair rules for business, uphold the law and protect citizens, and care for the weak that cannot defend themselves. But that is all.
The dynamics of this new global age that we are all facing now are too complex to solved by the old way of command and conquer. Indonesia is too big and too dangerous to lead by a strong leader and we’ve tried that already for 32 years. A country as big and as diverse as Indonesia needs hundreds of leaders, thousands of thinkers and millions of doers, and we need to be coordinated well so we all know that we are all going to the same direction, Indonesia need to become a movement.
We need a new paradigm of leader to bring all of us to the future.
There is a famous essay, written in 1997 titled “The Cathedral and the Bazaar” by Eric S Raymond the father of open software movement. In the essay he compare how the two models work, at one there’s the big corporation propriety model where software development done by command, target and troops like single minded goal, the Cathedral, and on other side there’s The Bazaar, the open source movement where there are no ownership of the whole software because the software is own by no one and built by everyone. Everyone can volunteer to work on any part of the software that they like as long as whatever they are work on will be a part of the open software again.
The Bazaar model inspired hundreds of developers and solve millions of problem in a fraction of the cost, and in the end it’s free for everyone to use. The Bazaar model was a movement and since then it has become the model of many successful projects from Wikipedia to Firefox, from Apache, most use web server in the world to MySQL, most use database server in the world. And even until now it has evolve to what is now called sharing economy model like Airbnb and Uber or Lyft, where we can all rent our unused rooms or cars.
There are many criticism of how Jokowi run his campaign, from the lack of coordination to lack of single consistent message. In the other hands, there are many volunteer groups that work because they were inspired not because they were paid or commanded to. These volunteers group from Jokowi side are working alone and working together at the same time. They are producing comic books, images, quotable photos, facebook pages, twitter account, songs, video clips, mobile apps, music concerts by themselves, they are small pieces loosely joined, they have created a movement, they are The Bazaar. And this, by definition, is an open source campaign.
There’s a bit chaotic feeling there, things move so fast, anxiety of having to let go of feeling in control, but that’s exactly the skills we need in this day and age. We need to have our principles deeply grounded in our believes but let go of having to be in control all the time and be more adaptive and flexible while taking on real problems and doing real action.
Indonesia need new leadership style that firmly grounded in principles but agile enough to face and solve any kind of future challenges in this more and more complex and fast changing world.
A leader that listen not command, a leader that inspire not instruct.
Vote Jokowi, vote for the future.
#salam2jari #jokowi9juli
Author endaPosted on 08/07/2014 Categories Blog, IndonesiaTags #jokowi9juli, #salam2jari, jokowi, pemilu2014, pilpres
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Tak sulit mendapatkanmu, karena sejak lama kau pun mengincarku. Tak perlu lama-lama, tak perlu banyak tenaga. --Tulus Kalau kamu belum...
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Kerala shines at 64th National Film Awards
The Malayalam film industry has emerged successful in the 64th National Film Awards, that were announced in the capital on Friday, bagging several honours, including that for the Best Actress and Best Screenplay.
Surabhi C.M. won the Best Actress Award for her role in “Minnaminungu – the Firefly”. This role fetched her only a special mention in the recently announced Kerala State Film awards.
Surabhi, all of 26, was not in Kerala when the announcement was made.
“I now really wish I was in Kerala when this news came. I am here (in Oman) to attend a function. I never ever expected that this award will come to me. I take this opportunity to thank all behind the film and who helped me to win this,” said Surabhi.
At her home in suburban Kozhikode in north Kerala, it was excitement galore as her mother and grandmother could not hide their excitement.
The other awards that the Malayalam film industry won include the Best Child Artiste that has been shared by three child actors — and saw Kerala boy Adish Praveen bagging it for his role in the film “Kunju Daivam”.
The Best Screenplay prize went to Shyam Pushkaran for the film “Maheshinte Prathikaaram”, which also bagged the Best Malayalam Film award.
In the Best Sound Design category, Jayadevan Chakadath was choosen as the winner for the film “Kaadu Pookkunna Neram”.
Superstar Mohanlal won a Special Jury mention for three of his movies which included Telugu film “Janatha Garage” and two Malayalam films — “Pulimurugan” and “Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol”.
Peter Hein, who worked on the action scenes in the film “Pulimurugan” bagged the Best Action Director Award constituted for the first time.
Reacting to the award, Mohanlal said he is very excited as he has got a Special Jury Mention for a film which was not in Malayalam.
“To get it for a Telegu film makes this award all the more sweet. And I am very happy for Peter Hein who bagged the award that was constituted for the first time.
“The film ‘Pulimurugan’ was one film which saw so many people working very hard and I am happy that it also won the award,” said Mohanlal, who was shooting for his latest film “Villain” when the news of the award emerged.
He said the shooting of the film came to a standstill and everyone got together and celebrated it by cutting a cake.
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“Abhay”… A moody crime series headlined by Kunal Kemmu’s composed central act!
Tusshar Sasi May 7, 2019 Leave a Comment on “Abhay”… A moody crime series headlined by Kunal Kemmu’s composed central act!
Think of filmmakers who often make a gigantic splash, only to swiftly storm off the scene, without any rhyme or reason. Unlike Sarfarosh’s John Matthew Matthan, Ken Ghosh’s debut (Ishq Vishk) might not have been a splash in entirety but, personally, the film was one that left a lasting impression on me – for its comic book-like appeal and sheer freshness oozing out of a very familiar template. As I happened to stumble upon the Episode 8 of ZEE5 original series Abhay, it was the director’s name that struck me hard. Additionally, the series is headlined by Kunal Kemmu who essays the title character of SP Abhay Pratap Singh. Kemmu is one actor that an average (and aware) cinephile in India would want to see more of. Having bagged only a handful of films to showcase his impeccable mettle, the actor is one whose best is yet to come. Kemmu’s presence was the other prominent reason why I ended up exploring this ZEE5 original series.
When it comes to starting off a series midway, there are certain obvious cons to deal with. You are not aware of the background details and the character development processes per se. Then again, if the segment was robust enough to hold your attention, you can any day go back and retrace it from the beginning. The episode 8 of Abhay starts off with a man named Govind (played by the ever-reliable but underused, Namit Das) being shot point blank by a woman. It is soon understood that the man behind the shooting was Abhay, an investigating cop whose son Sahil was held captive by the victim. In the following scenes, the episode creates intrigue around an ongoing case where the Uttar Pradesh police are on the hunt for a man nicknamed ‘UP ka Kasai’ (translates to ‘The Butcher of UP’). Abhay’s personal equation with Natasha (Elnaaz Norouzi), the woman who shot Govind, stands somewhat established in the succeeding portions. The episode leads to a thunderous finale as it closes on a note that would make us want to look forward to the rest of the series or to revive it from the beginning if one already has not.
Exceedingly well performed, Kemmu’s casting stands justified as the actor lends gravitas to Abhay who is not the routine cop that one would see in within the usual cinema or television spectrum. He is vulnerable and is quietly eccentric as far as episode 8 of the series goes, making us want to delve more into his psyche and seemingly troubled past. Norouzi, who was last seen in Sacred Games, puts in an enticing show in what appears to be a tricky character. It was also pleasant to see Sandeepa Dhar as a senior cop who is tracking the whereabouts of the serial human butcher. Same goes for the talented Harsh Mayar who had left lasting impressions in Hichki and I am Kalam.
Post-viewing the eighth episode, I happened to track the preceding ones so that I could derive a better taste of Ghosh’s filmmaking style. The opening credits kick off with a score that is bizarrely generic – both for the genre (investigative drama) and the format (web series). Snazzily cut, it also gives us a glimpse of the issues that the series promises to cover, which includes homicide, slaughter, necrophilia, sadism and cannibalism among others.
The only problem that I felt with Abhay was prominent with the very first episode (co-directed by Kookie Gulati) which is needlessly gruesome. For an average viewer who might want the makers to ease him/her slowly into the series’ core intent, it would be an unpleasant choice to get past the amount of gore that the first episode contains. That said, the remaining episodes directed singularly by Ghosh fare considerably better in terms of atmospherics and also in finding a balance while projecting violent incidents that are inspired by real-life events.
With a definite regional flavour in place, Abhay also earns brownie points in setting a gritty mood as it brims with tension and a certain nervous energy that is essential for a series of this genre. I didn’t particularly mind the family angle that the series side by side as it has not obstructed the flow of the central narrative so far. Ghosh’s execution pattern, even though very conventional of the genre, is impactful to a very large degree. Several of the chases (Episode 6) are shot exceedingly well and so are the night sequences that are lit and edited with a pronounced sense of eeriness (Episode 4). Screenplay by Pushaan Mukherjee has its interesting bits in place whereas the dialogues (Alka Shukla, Ankana Joshi) are good but a bit too filmic in places.
Essentially striking with all the material it has in place, Abhay is one series that is worth exploring for those who dig the crime genre. Moreover, with the astonishing note that episode 8 ended at, I will be looking forward to the ensuing episodes. My only wish is that the makers keep the series crisp and do not extend it to a point where the plot-line begins to jar, especially as there is a personal subplot of the central protagonist that seemingly lacks in solid material to work upon. Let’s pass the baton over to Ghosh, Kemmu and team for a riveting finish.
Abhay is a ZEE5 Original series that premiered in February 2019 and the latest episode released on 1st May as seen on the platform.
Tagged:Abhay
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How to make your research 100% Open Access for free (and legally)
April 20, 2017 protohedgehogOpen Science
Publishing Open Access can cost a lot of money. Some journals charge up to $6000 for a single article, called an APC or article-processing charge. While researchers themselves rarely actually have to foot these bills, as their institutes of funders pay on their behalf, this sort of ‘pay to publish’ model for Open Access creates a vast layer of financial inequality within an already biased system.
But this doesn’t have to be the case.
If you self-archive your work, either in a preprint server, which are becoming increasingly available, or an institutional repository, or a general platform like Zenodo or Figshare, then you don’t have to pay a penny. Self-archiving is a form of Open Access that is free, easy, and legal.
Here’s a sort of flow chart for you to check what you’re allowed to legally do in terms of self-archiving your research.
Download (TIFF, 670KB)
Doing this is becoming increasingly important as Open Access policies become more frequent, and tools like Unpaywall are developed to make discovering self-archived papers even easier. If you’ve ever heard the policy term ‘Green Open Access’, then this is what it is all about – self-archiving.
The important thing to note here is how to check journal policies through the Sherpa/Romeo tool, which is quite comprehensive. Some institutional repositories have inbuilt checks based on Sherpa/Romeo too, to make sure that your archiving efforts are journal-compliant. It’s also worth noting the existence of embargo periods, and challenging the need for them.
So self-archiving is low cost in terms of infrastructure, free to authors, and most of all a very simple way to make your entire published record Open Access. All you have to do is upload a PDF of your work, which is where the vast majority of the true research value lies. You can also upload data files alongside this, if needed.
Importantly, this means that researchers, and in particular those who are early-career researchers, can publish in often paywalled journals that they ‘need’ to advance their careers in the current incentive system, and still have risk-free Open Access.
If we self-archive as a research community en masse, several things could be achieved.
Global Open Access to the research literature will become a reality for a very low cost;
Subscriptions to publishers for our own content will be largely redundant as everything will be OA already;
We create the basis for building tools, like Unpaywall, that can leverage the power of massive-scale access;
We save $billions every year from university libraries that can be reinvested into students and open scholarly infrastructure;
We make the need for quasi-legal entities like SciHub and ResearchGate to become redundant.
Green Open Access, Open Access, Preprints, Scholarly Publishing
How ‘broken’ is academia, and how can we fix it?
A more useful infographic about free, legal easy Open Access
13 thoughts on “How to make your research 100% Open Access for free (and legally)”
Wouldn’t archiving pre-peer review papers be massively dangerous to the scientific community? It’s been stated before that open access papers get a lot more attention than non-OA papers, all other factors being the same, and the same would be expected to be true between versions of a paper (i.e., don’t have money to get access to the final version of a paper? Get the version that’s free).
But at the same time, papers can change massively through peer review. New data can be added, ideas that do not stand up to scrutiny discarded, arguments bolstered, etc. Reviewers may have insights on a topic that may completely change the course of a section. Archiving pre-peer reviewed papers in this way means that poorly supported ideas or bad arguments may make it into the literature and important data do not. I know with several of my papers there are major differences between the pre- and post-review versions, and in a few cases in retrospect I am glad the reviewers recommended some of the information be taken out.
Additionally, there is the issue of citation. What if an author wants to cite an idea in a paper, but it was only present in the pre-peer reviewed open access version and not the final version? It is truly a published part of that paper or not?
Anton Angelo says:
It’s certainly a risk, but sites like ArXiv have been doing it for 30 years, with very few problems. People read pre-prints knowing what they are. The same argument is made of making PhD theses available, and again, few problems occur as people know what they are reading, and assess the information appropriately.
protohedgehog says:
Couldn’t agree more, thanks for the comment! 🙂
Lurdes Fonseca says:
Are you saying that legally a publisher (that has copyright over our work) cannot object to this and/or punish the author?
(for the article, too… very useful)
That is correct! Check the Sherpa/Romeo site mentioned for different journal policies on this.
Pingback: A more useful infographic about free, legal easy Open Access – Green Tea and Velociraptors
Stephen Eglen says:
Great article. Couple of suggestions:
1. Even if we have funds for OA, where possible, shouldn’t we go for green OA?
2. I’m a bit wary of Institutional Repositories; different places may have different systems that are visible to different degrees. I’d recommend people upload their papers via tools like http://dissem.in (which uses ORCID as a starting point and can stick papers on zenodo). Papers need to be visible. Check it using unpaywall.org
Some funders now require ‘gold OA’, and some researchers still prefer journals that only publish OA, or have a hybrid option. And yes, agree that visibility is a key issue, especially if IRs aren’t being used by search engines like ScienceOpen or Google Scholar. Unpaywall is awesome.
John M says:
Great post Jon. Details of a project here: OA Button and how it will work with Interlibrary loans here at Imperial College London – potentially saving thousands of pounds for the College but researchers/students too.
https://www.slideshare.net/ImperialCollege/finding-open-acces-research-two-services
Awesome, thanks for sharing, John!
Pingback: Compartes tu investigación en #OpenAccess pero ¿lo haces de forma legal? | Audeo Dicere
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Pingback: PhD status? Completed!!! In other words, I’m back, b!tches. | My Patchwork Planet
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AI Progress Reducers
Author Topic: AI Progress Reducers (Read 2401 times)
Tridus
I'm going to do what I do best: lecture her!
In AIWC, there are a number of ways to do AI Progress Reducton. Some are always there. Some are lobby options. Some are interesting, and some are less so. Lets talk about the different things in play on these.
Should they exist at all?
My opinion on this is absolutely yes, in some form. These create high priority targets for players, which creates things for players to want to do, which creates interesting situations (sometimes). If we had an objective/tutorial type system, these are targets that it could point to and say "see that? You want to blow that up. It's extremely good if you blow that up."
Those are all good things. Doubly so when the last co-processor is a mile away from where you want to be and you either have to choose to ignore all of them, change your plans, or go learn how to deepstrike raid (and take the consequences of that).
How many should there be?
Fundamentally a balance/tweaking question, and I don't care a lot. I think the sentiment is that in AIWC right now, there are too many worlds with things on them to capture/hack/whatever, because it's gradually expanded over time. So this is a chance to scale that back some while keeping the better ones. (Design Backup Servers are a candidate to vanish entirely because with a new game, the same mechanic could exist within the hacking interface itself and not require a planetary target.)
Which types of reducers are good, and why?
I think this is where it gets tricky. My favorite one is the SuperTerminal while my least favorite are Data Centers, and Toranth already explained why in the other thread:
Quote from: Toranth on September 15, 2016, 11:40:45 AM
Quote from: Tridus on September 15, 2016, 08:39:11 AM
I prefer the SuperTerminal over them in terms of implementation because Data Centers are so easy to hit, but the SuperTerminal can get very out of hand if you get careless with it. It's got a higher risk/reward ratio.
SuperTerminal, I like - It's fairly limited in effect, but it is a lot of fun (and !!FUN!!) to use.
The Data Centers, though... So few HP that even a single shot from a Raid Starship can kill them, and Raids shoot through Forcefields, so not even that can protect them. There are games I don't touch the SuperTerminal. I don't think there been a game that I didn't get all the Data Centers, though.
Fundamentally, the SuperTerminal is an interesting choice. There's one of them (at most, it's not always on a map at all), and it does something you want. But it's not easy to use, and carries the risk of going very wrong if you lean on it too hard. That risk of pushing it just a little bit more adds a lot of fun to using it, and when it goes wrong, it leads to spectacular stories.
Data Centers are dull, comparatively. They're extremely easy to raid, the AI has very few ways to stop you from raiding them (because Raid Starships), and there's never a reason to *not* get them. If I were going to chop one, it'd be these.
Co-processors are more interesting because you don't get any benefit until you can get the fourth one, and sometimes that can be a problem. They also interfere with supply, which means if one is in the way, you have to make a decision about how to proceed: take out the one that's in the way and eat the AIP until you can clear the rest of them, go out of your way to clear them all to get that one out of the way with no penalty, or alter your plans to work around the one that's in the way. That can force the player to have to react to the hand they're dealt, which creates some interesting choices.
On the lobby options side, you have Spire Civilian Leaders, which conceptually I like, but in practice could use a rework. They have to be protected for a VERY long time to pay off, they have virtually no limit on how much AIP they can reduce (which contributes to fiddly complications like the AIP floor), and some games the hand you get dealt with them is extremely advantageous for you (if you can capture 4 within 2 hours because they happened to spawn in the right places, you have 6 AIP reduction every hour for the entire rest of the game, even if you never see another one). In a "conquer the galaxy" style of game, they're absurdly overpowered and become a "well if I go slower, the AI HW assault will get easier" mechanic. That isn't something we want to encourage, so a rework is in order before I'd ever consider bringing them back.
For me, the overall goal of reducers is to create interesting things in the game, and give you a way to reduce AIP some. Both the SuperTerminal and the Co-Processors give us those things, and just having those makes the reduction a smaller amount (unless you really push the SuperTerminal), so IMO I think that's adding the most to the game, while significantly cutting down on the number of planets with special things on them.
PokerChen
Re: AI Progress Reducers
I'd chop the civilian leaders first, easily before data's centres. Unlimited +unconditional reductions here is a no-go, especially as it encourages longer game time.
Overall, I'm not all that keen on having AIP reducers, but will roll with it. Each seems like a "must-do" checklist, and there's little penalty to them. Three Mark-I raid starships in Classic was generally sufficient to deep strike a few hops in, which is not much effort.
Give Data Centres set pieces to protect them., And buff their HP somewhat.
Give players reasons to NOT kill every data centre they see. For example, they are needed to gain access to AI database (it's a freaking data centre, after all...).
For LoLs, let each living data centre increase the vulnerability of AI to your hacking, then make hacking somewhat uniquely useful against AI homeworlds.
Have two sets of co-processors, of 3 each, target than one of 4.
Quote from: zharmad on September 15, 2016, 01:38:53 PM
Agreed. They need a rework at the least, and given time constraints for 1.0, doesn't seem worth doing initially. Maybe a "one day in the future" thing.
Overall, I'm not all that keen on having AIP reducers, but will roll with it. Each seems like a "must-do" checklist, and there's little penalty to them.
Do you think that applies to the SuperTerminal, though? Especially the current incarnation that costs hacking to activate?
Neat ideas. The Co-Processor one is pretty interesting, since each AI could have one. I wonder if you could integrate the hacking idea into Co-Processors though, instead of data centers (it is doing processing, after all!). Then you could leave them up for hacking opportunity, or take them out for the AIP reduction, and just chop the data centers entirely as well.
I would remodel the Civilian Leaders before removing them.
Data Centers I think should stay in some form, as the "quick and easy" popcorn variant. But I'm thinking more like "two per galaxy" than however many there are now. It's the one that even new players go "oh that's easy" and have a goal that doesn't require too much planning.
Re Leaders:
Fast change method (i.e. I didn't think about this very hard):
+10 AIP on game start
+10 AIP when world first goes on alert [once only]
-30 AIP when [controlled by AI and destroyed by player] or world flips to player control
+30 AIP when [destroyed any other way] or world flips to AI control
The "on flip" handles the new AI recapturing territory. The initial AIP on game start handles the previous count-up mechanic, plus 10 more if the planet goes on alert. So deep-striking it would be a valid tactical decision. Note: there is currently missing the "long term" benefit of protecting these (resources? new ships?). The plus 30 when "destroyed at other times" makes sure that the player doesn't take the world, then murder the civilians to prevent recapture.
As I said before, I like the SuperTerminal. I've had huge amounts of fun over the years with that thing - setting up a massive beachhead, killing tens of thousands of ships during the hack, sometimes failing and watching the galaxy be wiped by an AI fleet of hundreds of thousands... Basically, as AIP reduction, it's mixed and dangerous, and involves the player doing stuff (often, a LOT of stuff) to use.
Co-Processors I don't think much of either way. As a want-to-win player, all AIP reduction is good, and a for-fun player, they do require a little complication (mostly just exploration and planning) before being used. On the other hand, they're basically datacenters that need to be killed all four at once, and raise the AIP Floor a bit when doing so.
But data centers are just "Of course". In most games, I've found and destroyed all the data centers before I conquer my first planet. Certainly before I take the second one. Considering how essential it is, how brainless the decision is, and how easy it is... I think something could be done. The ideal choice, I think, would be to make it a opportunity cost sort of situation.
Perhaps, you could be required to hack the AI to find out which data center holds the AI's "human threat history" database, so that destroying it would cause the AI to think you less dangerous. This would effectively turn HaP into AIP reduction, although I'm sure it should be at a not-very-good ratio.
Perhaps the choice should be between the data center being destroyed for AIP reduction - or captured for an upgrade, or resources, or some such.
Also, fewer of them. Maybe they should also only be generated as the game goes on (like Backup Design servers are) so that you can't ride the AIP Floor with -100 AIP early in the game.
Quote from: Draco18s on September 15, 2016, 01:54:45 PM
I think Spire Civilian Leaders need a rework, but it may be hard to get a good new system done for 1.0. I don't have any good ideas, myself, either.
As for your suggestion... Assuming whatever AIP variety exists in AIW2 is similar in behavior to AIP from Classic, that +10 per Leader at the beginning of the game would be HELL. There're normally 10 Leaders, IIRC, so that's starting the game at 110 AIP at second 1, or 11 times the base AIP you normally begin with. That's roughly 14x-15x as much AI response, in Classic.
Also, the +10 to start, +10 when alerted vs a max -30 benefit leaves, at best, -10 AIP... Which isn't bad, but it basically means that "Find and kill all the Spire Civilians" is the default response. Safe, easy, decent reward... and utterly heartless and cruel.
Numbers were kind of arbitrary and again the idea was put together quickly.
Quote from: Tridus on September 15, 2016, 01:50:46 PM
As long as you're not gunning for minimum AIP or at some extreme 9+ difficulty, then yes it should go on the must-do list.
*Goes through patch notes again to check HaP cost and mechanics again*
At a minimum players can deal with -60 AIP ( 20 ticks at -20, then 20 more ticks as -40), and from this you obtain 3 free planets (9K knowledge, anywhere between 0~18 rocks, plus captureable or securing extra planets to make your Mk-IV factories safer). I did it last week in my test game @ Diff. 7, fairly early on, and the final response is easily manageable with mark-II triangles plus (base) full turret caps.
ewokonfire
Quick suggestion for Civ Leaders: What if we made holding on to them a bit more of a tradeoff? When the AI holds them, you go and execute them if you don't want to capture the planet. What if the AI gained exowaves (or some other nasty offensive ability) that would try and hunt down your captured leaders? If balanced right, they could be an interesting tradeoff between reducing AIP but gaining an additional irreplacable target to defend, and become kind of like a 'slow-motion superterminal'. As they are now, I always enable them, but that's because I have slightly esoteric preferences with regard to lobby settings.
havikryan
I actually really like civilian leaders, it was basically a early game trade off for late game power, though them infinitely reducing AI progress is too strong yes.
I really like such mechanics, you get better X but it makes Y more difficult to do, in this case the early game got allot more difficult(for me at least) with ai progress going up so quickly and really being encouraged to explore to find them.
I frankly have no idea how to balance, you can limit ti how far they can reduce it, so say they will never reduce ai progress below 100 or will never reduce ai progress below X% of the total ai progress you've accumulated.
another added difficulty would be the ai realising the threat of them once you have more then 1 and sending strike forces to try and deal with them.
I personally think not reducing ai progress below x% of total accumulated ai progress seems like the best solution, this way they are useful but not to the extent it neuters the ai if you simply play defensively for a couple of hours
tadrinth
Sr. Member Mark III
Quote from: Toranth on September 15, 2016, 02:10:36 PM
In most games, I've found and destroyed all the data centers before I conquer my first planet.
Doesn't that trigger deepstrike threat? Is the deepstrike response just trivial at 10 AIP?
Sounds like deep strike spawns need to be buffed in some way, to make this play style less tempting. Maybe if you go more hops out, they start acting like an AIP of 200 instead of the current, or something.
Quote from: ewokonfire on September 15, 2016, 05:55:39 PM
What if the AI gained exowaves (or some other nasty offensive ability) that would try and hunt down your captured leaders?
I like that idea. I would also make each civilian leader only able to reduce AIP by a certain amount before they despawn. Like a spire archive, basically, where you only have to protect them for a certain amount of time. That gets rid of the infinite reduction. They can spawn a cool military unit when they're done.
The ST should become *more* important as diff goes up, because AIP is more dangerous and Data Centers offer less reduction.
Howerver, I've STILL never done a Superterminal hack; my last two games were Diff 10 and Diff 9. The former is in the AAR section (Limburger vs the Angry Gods); I was basically riding the floor which makes the ST much less worthwhile. The latter, I was GOING to do an ST hack, but a nomad conjunction right as I was about to start the ST hack forced me to do an early AI HW assault (because Core Raid Engine). Then the floor was high enough to make it not super worthwhile, and another Nomad conjunction gave a a backdoor to the second AI HW which I used to win.
I think an interesting addition would be a mini-terminal, which can be hacked to reduce AIP by a certain fixed amount with no floor increase. You could even gradually replace data centers with these as the difficulty increases.
Cinth
Core Member Mark II
Resident Zombie
Quote from: tadrinth on September 15, 2016, 07:05:33 PM
Deepstrike threat is just threat that comes from a deepstrike. It's nothing special. It usually ends up as part of the threat fleet, so it can be dealt with later.
I think fuel is mean to tone down how much you can do with deepstrikes.
Quote from: keith.lamothe
Opened your save. My computer wept. Switched to the ST planet and ship icons filled my screen, so I zoomed out. Game told me that it _was_ totally zoomed out. You could seriously walk from one end of the inner grav well to the other without getting your feet cold.
If the threat generated can be dealt with later, that may just mean that there isn't enough of it being generated.
I'm not sure this kind of sneaky raiding would be all that fuel intensive. It might depend on having a champion, though, and I don't remember seeing those in the design doc.
I do wonder what kind of AIP auto-progress Toranth is playing with, though. Auto-progress is an important counterbalance to strats which are very safe but also very very time-consuming.
If careful data center raiding takes long enough, you're at risk of CPAs getting bigger faster than you're getting stronger, but the first CPA is usually quite tame.
My opinion is that AI reducer must be reduced... until the AIP Floor mechanic does not exist anymore. To do so I'd have removed data centers for sure. Too easy to burst. Too brain-dead as an objective. Also, the last versions of AI War had enough objectives already. Both others have more interesting mechanics, so...
Which also means that game has to provide better incentive to actually have the player raise his AIP. CSG forced you to do some capturing, but apart from that... Frankly, assuming default options (1 AIP / 30 minutes I think ?), unless floored, there is little reason to take an additional planet. The AIP raise from taking one is it's the equivalent of playing 10 hours more. There are very few planets in a game, if any, which give you enough of a boost to be equivalent to playing 10 more hours.
Possibly, "forcing" the player to want to raise his AIP needs another thread though.
(Things like someone winning with a single planet... please, only with heavy tweak of the game options / mods, please, please, please...)
PS: wasn't fuel just power that applied in to ships in the latest version of the design doc ?
Mánagarmr
if (isInRange(target)) { kill(target); }
My problem with AIP reducers is that they are, without fault, the optimal strategy. If you don't go for them, you are essentially shooting yourself in the foot. That makes them a lot less fun for me.
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Board index ‹ Games and Media ‹ Games and Gaming
Hikikomori: The Game
A forum for the gamers among us. Which is probably all of us.
by Ashes » Mon Aug 31, 2009 12:47 pm
Hikikomori: The Game is a traditional pencil-paper-and-dice RPG which is played solo. Single player. You play as a hikikomori, a recluse, a shut-in, a NEET. You make a character, roll for what happens, decide what to do, and write an in-character journal about it. It's a produce of the 24 Hour RPG project, in which participants (attempt to) write a complete roleplaying game in just twenty four consecutive hours.
You can download it here: http://dsg.neko-machi.com/hikikomori.pdf
The author is Ewen Cluney: http://yarukizero.wordpress.com/
This is an example of play: http://l-the-fangirl.livejournal.com/58121.html#cutid1
Seiko Aino
17 Hope (3 dice)
Obsessive Hobby: Dating Sims 16
Rescuer: Crusader 14
Imaginary Friend: Tokho doll that occasionally "comes to life to offer advice" (Current demeanor: Depressing) 16
And the first rolls...
Go Outside - 6 + 3 hope dice = meet someone from old life. His reaction - 9; becomes a Rescuer (Kindly, 23); he doesn't really affect me.
Rant about Dating Sims to my male Rescuer - He's interested in them, but not very
Placate Imaginary Friend - She's not bying it.
Which I will turn into this story.
Mood: Confused
Music: Tales Of Centuries Hills
Eh... today was strange.
Ran out of juice and rice this morning... had to have an egg. Bleah. I can never boil them right, they taste like sulfur. Tochan said that they tasted like the first fireball she cast, ha ha. Way to cheer me up, Tochan. Told her I'd be out to the store; she said "Try not to freak out." Why does she keep trying to keep me down?
Went to the corner store. It was raining, so almost no one was there... which was nice. The person who was there...
...It was Akira.
Damn it, I thought I wouldn't see him again after I broke up with him...
He went over to talk with me, surprised to see me. Apparently he's going to some small artsy kind of college. "Least I'm not a ronin," he said. I smiled the sort of smile that if you see in in a renai you know they're faking it, you know? He didn't pick up on it.
Told him I was busy, knee deep in Ori Ochi Onoe... apparently he does play some renai games. "Not the really sick ones," he added. Ha. Sure you don't. I told him O3 was in English. Apparently he's fluent.
Said he'd check it out, then asked me if I was allright. I don't know what he's implying by that; he told me I looked... down. I really don't know...
He gave me his number... just when I thought I was over him...
I asked Tochan for advice. She seemed to do well enough. She just looked at me funny and said, "He's trouble, and you're in no position to be dating anyway. I mean, look at this place. It looks like a tornado ripped through the Hirameki art studio and deposited all it's junk across the bedroom and kitchen."
Remind me why I ask Tokho for advice again?
Still... I kind of miss him, but I think he'd freak if he saw me here...
I'm going to bed to sleep on it.
The example of play isn't by me. I could never play this. Hits too close to home. But I thought you'd find it interesting. And maybe we could talk about it?
Melon Class
Re: Hikikomori: The Game
by Relee » Mon Aug 31, 2009 3:47 pm
Oh, I thought you were going to link to the Hikkikomori: RPG that Paul Robertson did the art for. That was a depressing game. o.o;;
-- Relee the Squirrel --
Watermelon Graduate
Location: Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, North America, Earth, Sol, Milky Way, Universe 2
by Jennifer Diane Reitz » Mon Aug 31, 2009 3:57 pm
This is brilliant. And creepy.
Your story is both of these too.
Jennifer Diane Reitz
'Giniko-chan'
Creatrix
Location: Olympia, Washington
by Monthenor » Mon Aug 31, 2009 5:52 pm
Relee wrote: Oh, I thought you were going to link to the Hikkikomori: RPG that Paul Robertson did the art for. That was a depressing game. o.o;;
I was also expecting the video game. That game was funny until I hit a brick wall at the first boss.
Monthenor
Apple Class
Location: Right where I need to be
Jennifer Diane Reitz wrote: This is brilliant. And creepy.
Isn't it! The whole "solo-journal-keeping-RPG" thing is really a fun idea. But it is creepy: I can't quite bring myself to go through character creation.
Jennifer Diane Reitz wrote: Your story is both of these too.
Oh, it's not my story. That's someone else whom is not me. If follow the link, there's several more episodes.
One of them even has a (stolen) illustration.
Monthenor wrote:
Wow. That looks pretty cool. I've been a fan of Paul Robertson ever since Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle 2006. I'm surprised I never stumbled upon this before.
by Relee » Tue Sep 01, 2009 5:50 am
It's really not cool. It's an art-game about how much you the player personally suck. The only way to win is to not play, or to give up because it's too hard.
You won, Monthenor. ^.^
The bosses are beatable, or so I'm told, but the effort required to beat them is so intense that only someone who is like the main character could defeat them. A friend of mine played it for a while untill he couldn't stand it's existance as a mockery of himself. I didn't much care for it that way either, and I didn't even GET to the first boss. I just fought through a portion of the first dungeon.
The pictures are sure pretty though. <3
by Jade Cat » Wed Sep 02, 2009 6:44 pm
I saw the title and thought Yume Nikki.
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Jade Cat
Blueberry Class
Location: the armpit of Maryland
by Monthenor » Fri Sep 04, 2009 5:09 pm
Hooray I won!
Braid has a similar statement about video-game obsession done in a similar-but-still-painful way.
by Alfador » Mon Sep 07, 2009 11:29 am
Jade Cat wrote: I saw the title and thought Yume Nikki.
You're not the only one.
Arf! *wagwagwag*
Alfador
1000 Post Forum Master!
Location: Kirkland, WA
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Ken Reads The Classics
Forgotten Autumn
Gaily Bedight
~ Kenneth Lowe's writings ~
It’s been a long and difficult week: I got a fucking car, which I am ambivalent about (since I paid/will be paying too much for it). We finished up a bunch of Christmas shit early because this week, my girlfriend and I are down in Colombia. That photo is her candid shot of me last as we finally sat down with my stalwart companion Álvaro. We’re staying in Jamundí with Pacho and Orlando in the same apartment where I lived with my father.
It’s not the same without him here. Pacho claims he can feel his “energy.” I can’t really, but it is odd not having him there. It’s going to be a long week of trying to show my girlfriend the fun parts of this corner of the country, hopefully with some time to finally relax.
The Dungeon Jog – How to keep a D&D session moving along
Hey guys, got a year to clear one floor of a dungeon? | Made with tools at donjon.bin.sh
The new D&D campaign I’m running has wiped out all the DM burnout I was feeling, and it’s incredibly refreshing. In addition to taking some pressure off me by setting it in the historical Viking Age and populating it with Norse mythology – all of which requires basically no modification from 5th edition rules where things like monsters or magic is concerned – I’m also using this as an opportunity to try running the game in a way that is faster and gets to the fun stuff more quickly. One of the things I’ve found as a player in recent campaigns is that sessions just take too damn long. Time commitment, more and more, is what stands between players and having some fun. What I’ve found, in the last two sessions, is that I can encourage the game to move more quickly while still keeping player choice and exploration central to the experience, and we can get an adventure done in two sessions of two hours. Rather than a dungeon crawl, we’ll call it a “dungeon jog.” Read more…
Bad Movie Diaries: Home Sweet Home
Home Sweet Home (1981)
Paste Magazine | Bad Movie Diaries: Home Sweet Home
Again, Jim has introduced me to a horrific crime against cinema. Having to watch this while on vacation should qualify me for some kind of hazard pay. It’s the unbelievably inept story of several horny couples, one obnoxious cockblock of a KISS-makeup guitarist whose literal name is “Mistake,” and the attempt of a guy known as a bodybuilding program pitchman trying his hand at becoming a Jason- or Michael Myers-style killer. (I goofed, attributing the former to John Carpenter before Jim justifiably chided me.)
I hope you enjoy our conversation on this, one of a vanishingly few horror movies centered on the Thanksgiving Day holiday.
The dice give a dark gift
From “The Secret of Kells”
I took a long hiatus from running my D&D campaign, and pitched a new idea to my players (among several): Set that shit in the 8th Century AD, the actual historical age of the Viking, but mythology is real. It removed a lot of the pressure on me to come up with some grand over-arching world-building and it also allows for tons of adventures with interesting angles.
I threw way more time and effort into designing modified rules for it, and then I warned my players that the world was going to be cruel, life short and sharp, and that they should have at least a couple extra characters on deck in case disaster befell them. Turns out that warning was valid: In our inaugural session this past Monday, one player died to a one-shot from a cultist (a very basic enemy) in the very first fight. He had rolled an Irish monk – that is, a scriptorium monk who learned Kung Fu from his Irish monastery, which as we all know is 100% historically accurate. I was looking forward to good times with this character, whose player really is a delight to have in the group because he really just puts his all into coming up with mannerisms and hang-ups for his characters. But no: his fightin’ monk bit the dust.
Fortunately, he had a new character ready to go, and as soon as the fight resolved, the party was astounded to witness a pooka (a child-sized rabbit fairy creature from Celtic myth) poof into being nearby, introducing himself as Sprinkle Honeystone (courtesy of a fantasy name generator program my group swears by).
Play needed to stop for like, five minutes for us all to laugh our reproductive organs off at this turn of events, and Sprinkle went on to spear a zombie to death and unleash a cloud of poison gas that annihilated a small group of enemies. It really is part of the black comedy of a D&D campaign run with maximum brutality and a group of players who are game to bury a player character or two. I’m hoping for such positive energy as we continue. I’m already altogether more excited about it than I have been in quite a while.
You meet the nicest cacti in your dreams
Katharine got a candid moment of me selecting hats for the trail. None of them fit that well.
I’m back in Illinois, and the snow is back here, too. I was glad to go see my cousin and her bouncy little toddler, but I’d be lying if I said the primary motivation wasn’t to take my pretty gf to introduce her to the saguaros, who were all delighted to meet her.
We went hiking up a trail I hadn’t been to the end of the first time I went – that one was the source of the last post’s charming flora. Funnily enough, it was the site where she messaged me – before we were dating – teasing me about not being in the office. I was able to respond with a photo of the sweeping desert at dawn.
The Sonoran is a unique place – greener than you’d think if you’ve never been there. I could really get used to it, I think, especially when the winters are no cooler than an overnight low of 40 or so.
The other major thing I discovered this time was that every video game designer and fantasy author should really go on a horseback ride. It’s pretty revealing how difficult and tiring the activity is, even for the dumb sap sitting on top of the horse doing none of the heavy lifting.
Hitting the trail.
The saguaro stood perfectly still. Maybe the tiny mammals would just skitter away from her if she didn’t move.
The chollas ambled up the hill, hooting and hollering into the noonday sun.
The saguaro was certain he was well-hidden. Besides, he thought, human sight is movement-based.
“This is saguaro turf, motherfucker! Barrelheads don’t come up here!”
“Uuugh,” came a cry, in unison, from the saguaros. “Turn the light off!!!!”
Among the saguaros once more
The hills near Cave Creek. | Kenneth Lowe 2016
I’m visiting family in the Phoenix area for Thanksgiving, and it’s one of my favorite parts of the country. People who aren’t from here tend to think it’s a flat and featureless stretch of desert, but it’s a mountainous and majestic one in reality. There are all sorts of flora unique to the area, including the strange and mighty saguaro. These guys are probably my favorite plant in North America (the South American Samán tree, which I don’t know if that’s what it’s really called, is my Other America favorite).
“Let me tell you why you should vote libertarian!!!”
Saguaros seem as if they have deep, idiosyncratic personalities. They are outwardly prickly, but can’t hide their expressiveness. They seem as if they are trying to tell us something, but that it just takes them a century or two to say it. It would be something, to stay here for a long stretch of time and bend an ear to them.
These photos are all from my trip two years ago, but I’ll see about posting some more after my hike today.
“Everybody have enough shade?”
The old lecturing the young.
Chollas, creeching real horrorshow as they go rolling into the night in search of the old ultraviolence.
All Quiet
Paste Magazine | Two Views of All Quiet on the Western Front
My latest from Paste Magazine is a look at the two major adaptations of All Quiet on the Western Front, in honor of the century that now separates us from World War I.
The Great War is a kind of subject of fascination for me, because it really is the height of folly. It’s everything we all hate about humanity, and the terrible people who we agree to allow to lead us. It was so bad that we don’t tolerate any kind of true monarchy anymore. It made the heads of state realize that if we didn’t agree to specifically pull our punches, we could end humanity. I think those of us who ponder these things really look back at it and feel afraid that we didn’t truly learn anything from it. This was a difficult viewing for me, especially the 1930 version I detail in the article, blissfully ignorant as it is of just how terrifying the scenes of dumb, eager white boys gleefully signing up to wear fancy uniforms for no real reason would look a scant six or seven years later.
A really great video series on the debacle that led up to the war comes to us courtesy of Extra Credits, and you should totally watch the whole four-part series.
Death Bed is a thing
Paste Magazine: Bad Movie Diaries, by Jim Vorel and Kenneth Lowe | Death Bed: The Bed That Eats
Jim Vorel is a good friend and now a year-long collaborator with me at Paste Magazine, where he was kind enough to help me get a foot in the door way back in 2015. Since last year, we’ve been working together on “Bad Movie Diaries,” in which we chat back and forth about truly terrible films.
Jim is a true connoisseur of bad movies, with an encyclopedic knowledge of them I’ll never be able to match. Our combined film knowledge is hopefully edifying and entertaining to folks. I’ll start posting more of these here. This one is a particular doozy: Strange Gothic trappings, ridiculous scenarios, incompetent camera work, and an utter failure even to capitalize on the exploitation they were clearly going for, maybe. Also the bed gets indigestion and drinks Pepto Bismol at one point. I’m not even making that up.
We are the dead
Soldats Inconnus. | Promotional image courtesy of Ubisoft.
“In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae at poetryfoundation.org
http://gailybedight.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2018.11.13_InFlandersFields.mp3
I don’t cry very often. This isn’t a brag or anything, I just don’t. But, as I prepare an article on All Quiet on the Western Front‘s cinematic adaptations, I think about the century that has passed since the Great War ended November 11, 1918, and I made the mistake of remembering and seeking out “In Flanders Fields,” the poem by John McCrae that has been set to music.
It gets me every time.
You should be reading Pete Nickeas
The Foundation: 006 | Blessed Are The Peacemakers
My friend Peter Nickeas, a stalwart reporter at the Chicago Tribune, has been covering crime and violence in the city for years. I won’t say he’s tireless because I think he’d dispute that he is. Among one of the many reasons he inspires the admiration of most people he meets is that he’s candid about the toll his work takes on him. Besides admiring his work, I attest to him being an all-around good guy. You should check out his writing.
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Holiday Eating Tips
Humour >> Christmas
Hanging Christmas Lights Ice Cream Cone Production
Holiday Eating Tips Christmas Fwds Home
10 Tips about Christmas Dinner and what to eat and avoid
About those carrot sticks. Avoid them. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.
Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an egg-nogaholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!
If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.
As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.
Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello? Remember college?
Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.
If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. You can't leave them behind. You're not going to see them again.
Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?
Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards, mate.
And one final tip:
If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Reread tips. Start over. But hurry! Cookieless January is just around the corner.
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Medication Adherence, Health Literacy and Health Beliefs in a Massachusetts Community Health Center
Shaw, Susan J.
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Hadley, MA, United States
See 30 grants from Susan Shaw
See grants from University of Massachusetts Amherst
Intercellular competition in the gut microbiota
An electrocatalytic approach to discovering new synthetic transformations
Monitoring peripheral blood leukocyte and immune responses in health and disease
Acid-Base and Ammonia Transport in the Collecting Duct
Nanotrap technology for one step preservation and amplification of cancer biomark
Novel Detection of Early Cognitive and Functional Impairment in the Elderly
Medication Adherence, Health Literacy and Cultural Health Beliefs in a Massachusetts Community Health Center Abstract Health literacy, broadly defined as the wide range of skills and competencies that people use to manage their health (Zarcadoolas, et al. 2005, 196-197), is an important aspect of chronic disease self- management (Mancuso and Rincon 2006), though it has been inconsistently associated with medication adherence in multiple studies. While researchers continue to investigate the relationships among health literacy, medication adherence and health outcomes, few have successfully integrated individual-level factors such as health literacy with structural and social factors. In the proposed research, we rely on ethnographic and qualitative data, in combination with quantitative methods, to explore how medication adherence, a widespread problem in chronic disease management, is shaped by structural factors such as insurance copays, as well as by cultural health beliefs. Building on our previous research (Shaw, et al. 2012a, Shaw, et al. 2009b), the proposed study examines health literacy, health beliefs and barriers to medication adherence among patients from five ethnic groups (African-American, Hispanic, white, Vietnamese and Russian immigrant). We base this study in Massachusetts, which has recently expanded the number of people insured under publicly-funded programs while implementing cost-control measures that may limit access to prescription medications, especially for the poor. Drawing on self-report surveys, pill counts, chart review, in-depth interviews and other qualitative methods, this study will meet the following specific aims: 1. Using two different quantitative methods, to assess medication adherence among patients from 5 ethnic groups: (African-American, Hispanic, white, and Vietnamese and Russian immigrants) with chronic disease (hypertension, diabetes, or dyslipidemia); 2. Use qualitative and ethnographic methods to explore the chronic disease health beliefs that may combine with health literacy to shape medication adherence; 3. To identify factors associated with medication adherence among patients with low health literacy, including: a. beliefs about medicines; b. food insecurity; c. socioeconomic factors (e.g., type of health insurance coverage; formulary changes); and d. social support. 4. To develop recommendations for primary care providers and policymakers to improve medication adherence and mitigate formulary changes among low-income patients with chronic illness. The unique constellation of conditions in Massachusetts-of near-universal insurance coverage coupled with stringent cost control measures as the state struggles to balance its budget-offers an unmatched research opportunity and serves as a critical bellwether for coming changes facing other states with the advent of the Affordable Care Act. The diverse population of patients served by Caring Health Center, the proposed research site, provides a natural laboratory in which to explore the effects of these policy changes as they intersect with culturally variable health beliefs to shape medication adherence among urban, minority and low-income patients. Improved understanding of these complex dynamics will better prepare primary health care providers to improve adherence and help reduce stroke risk among patients with hypertension and other chronic conditions.
Medication Adherence, Health Literacy and Cultural Health Beliefs in a Massachusetts Community Health Center Project Narrative Health literacy plays a pivotal role in shaping the course of chronic disease, including health status, disease severity and patient adherence with prescribed medications. Urban, minority and low-income patients are at higher risk of non adhererence to their chronic disease medication regimens. While much research has been done on patient literacy and readability of forms such as informed consent and patient education materials, fewer studies have explored the relationship between health literacy, structural factors, cultural health beliefs, and medication adherence. This study focuses on an inner-city population burdened by significant disparities in diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and obesity. Not only are Springfield residents 12- 65 percent more likely to be affected by these conditions than Massachusetts residents as a whole, but the city's Black and Latino residents are 20-65 percent more likely to be affected than their Black or Latino counterparts statewide (MDPH 2003-2007). It is well-established that regular adherence to prescribed medication can help reduce the incidence and impact of chronic disease, including stroke. Yet minority and low-income patients, in particular, face significant barriers in adhering o their medication regimens, making them less likely to benefit from available care. Study results have potential national significance, especially in the context of coming changes in the nation's health care system. As tens of millions of additional individuals gain insurance coverage, cost control measures such as formulary changes and copayment tiers will become increasingly common. The Affordable Care Act invests billions more in community health centers over the next decade, and it will become increasingly important to identify effective strategies to improve medication adherence which can be integrated into those clinics where so many of those at highest risk for obesity and chronic illness receive care. Increasing our understanding of cultural factors, including cultural health beliefs, and their relationship to medication adherence among patients with low health literacy, holds significant promise for efforts to reduce disproportionate stroke risk and mortality among minority and low- income populations.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Research Project (R01)
7R01HL120907-04
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-HDM-X (56)R)
Campo, Rebecca Ann
Other Health Professions
Schools of Public Health
R01 HL Medication Adherence, Health Literacy and Health Beliefs in a Massachusetts Community Health Center
Shaw, Susan J. / University of Massachusetts Amherst $363,453
R01 HL Medication Adherence, Health Literacy and Cultural Health Beliefs in a Mass. CHC
Shaw, Susan J. / University of Arizona $365,738
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Human Resources / Equality / Protected Characteristics / Trans-Gender Reassignment
Trans: A Definition
An inclusive term for those who identify themselves as transgender, transsexual or transvestite. The term 'trans' can be used without offence but should only be used as an adjective, for example 'a trans student'. Trans is an umbrella term encompassing all those who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth, including but not limited to those who are transgender, genderqueer, agender and non-binary.
Not sure about the difference between 'genderqueer' and 'agender'? Want to find out who 'non-binary' refers to? Visit Stonewall's Glossary of Terms for up to date definitions on LGBT+ language and identities, or use our Trans Terminology Guide [PDF 217KB] (great for office notice boards and communal areas!)
Trans Equality and Legislation
The Equality Act 2010, protects trans people who propose to undergo, are undergoing, or have undergone a process (or part of a process) of having their sex reassigned. A person does not have to be under medical supervision to have the protected characteristic of gender reassignment.
The Gender Recognition Act 2004 allows transsexual people to apply to the gender recognition panel for legal recognition of their acquired gender. Applicants who meet the requirements of the Act will be issued with a gender recognition certificate (GRC).Confidentiality id essential and disclosing that someone has received a GRC without their consent is a criminal offence.
LGBT Allies
Want to learn more about how to support and be an ally to our trans staff and students? See our LGBT Allies initiative.
Gender Diversity Policy
QMUL is committed to supporting Gender Diversity and is currently working to develop a policy to support gender diverse staff and students at work/study.
If you are interested in contributing to the development of our Gender Diversity Policy, please contact the Diversity & Inclusion Team.
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Tiervermittlung Deutschland » While admitting
Hundefreunde-Freiburg » Tierschutz » Tiervermittlung Deutschland » While admitting
#1 | While admitting 06.07.2018 11:16
WASHINGTON Uomo Air Max 97 2017 Retro Marina Blu Vendita , Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- In her first testimony to the Congress, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen reiterated central bank's plan to taper its stimulus exit despite recent weakness in the economy.
The current economic situation and outlook, as well as the monetary policy, were the main focus of the hearing held twice a year.
Yellen told lawmakers she expected "a great deal of continuity" in the central bank's monetary policy, saying that she served on the Fed policy-setting committee as the bank formulated its current policy strategy and she strongly supported that strategy.
Yellen Uomo Air Max 97 Ultra Nere Italia , 67, took the oath of office to lead the Federal Reserve System on Feb. 3, succeeding Ben Bernanke, who stepped down after eight turbulent years. She was previously the Fed's vice Chair.
In the public debut in her new role, Yellen said while the economy gained steam at the end of 2013 Acquistare Uomo Air Max 97 KPU Nere , recovery in the U.S. labor market was "far from complete," underscoring the importance of considering more than just the unemployment rate when evaluating the conditions of the labor market.
Her point of keeping an eye on wider range of labor indicators is particularly important as the unemployment rate, now at 6.6 percent, is near the 6.5 percent threshold the Fed once identified as the level that would need to be reached before officials would consider a hike in the interest rates.
"If coming information broadly supports the Committee's expectation of ongoing improvement in labor market conditions and inflation moving back toward its long-run objective, the Committee will likely reduce the pace of asset purchases in further measured steps at future meetings Uomo Air Max 97 KPU Grigie Vendita ," Yellen indicated steady pullback in Fed stimulus, referring to the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets monetary policy.
While admitting she was "surprised" by the two recent jobs reports that showed the pace of job creation running under what she had expected, Yellen cautioned against jumping to conclusions of the longer trend. She told the Congress that the Fed needs to see a "notable change" in the economic outlook to consider pausing its withdrawal of stimulus.
The Fed trimmed its monthly purchases of Treasury and mortgage- backed securities by a total of 10 billion dollars in both December and January, citing strengthening economy and continued improvement in the labor market.
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Ingeus.com
Sheila’s story
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Taking the time to accompany clients to employer meetings improves confidence and their ability to 'sell' themselves
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When Georgette moved from Syria to Sweden in 1985, she was fortunate to find a job as a hotel maid within just two weeks of her arrival. Over subsequent years, she had a number of jobs, but these were all short term, and she found herself unemployed in 2009. Georgette tells her story of how Ingeus assisted her to secure a job she really enjoys:
Each day without a job was very stressful for me and I was constantly worrying about everything. I wanted nothing more than to get a job as soon as possible. The turnaround came when I started at Ingeus and met my job coach, Sara.
At Ingeus, I learnt how to prepare a professional CV and had the opportunity to participate in a number of training sessions. As well as applying for jobs and attending workshops with other participants, Sara provided extra support and personal assistance whenever I needed it.
How I got the job
One day my neighbour told me about her job in a second hand store in Norsborg. She enjoyed the job and told me the store took on trainees. At my next meeting with Sara, I asked her about how to go about applying to the store for an internship. She immediately offered to call the manager to schedule an appointment.
The manager welcomed Sara and me to the store and the meeting went better than expected. The manager talked about the possibility of a job rather than a traineeship and said he would consider whether there was a suitable job for me. Some time after our meeting, he called with the good news that he wanted me to start work.
Now I work full time and I am very happy. It's a great job and it's fun to meet new people. My role includes assisting in the shop and in their cafeterias. I will also have the opportunity to work in the church which owns the store, and this is great because I've always wanted to work in a church.
Continued support
Sara and I still speak regularly by phone. Initially she called just to ask how I was getting on. That's the great thing about Sara, she has always taken the time and has been almost like a sister to me. I am so grateful for Sara and all the help I received from Ingeus.
“...Sara provided extra support and personal assistance whenever I needed it ”
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Our approach is individualized, empowering and transformative. It focuses on what a person can do... >
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Wednesday, May 15, 2019, 2:14 pm
The Teacher Strikes Could Set Off a Private Sector Strike Wave—If We Dare
BY Joe Burns
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We should celebrate the teacher strike wave, but also apply its lessons to the private sector. (Photo by Ronen Tivony/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In the spring of 2018, teachers across West Virginia improbably shut down schools statewide, creating a political crisis that forced Republican Gov. Jim Justice and the GOP-led legislature to back down. Drawing inspiration from the West Virginia strikers, teachers in the red states of Arizona and Oklahoma soon followed suit by carrying out statewide strikes of their own.
In his new book Red State Revolt: The Teachers’ Strike Wave and Working-Class Politics, writer and former teacher Eric Blanc details the history of these teachers strikes while providing incisive analysis, informed by his visits to the sites of these labor struggles and his access to key players which provided inside accounts of strategic and tactical debates.
By providing this on-the-ground perspective, Red State Revolt captures the exhilaration and twists and turns of these strikes. Blanc recounts how an initial Facebook group among teacher activists exploded in West Virginia, helping lead to the first tentative calls for a walkout and, in a matter of months, to the massive statewide strike of teachers and support staff. Red State Revolt shows how little steps can lead to big results.
As simply a strike history, Red State Revolt would stand as a thoughtful contribution for labor activists who could find inspiration and learn from the successes and missteps of striking teachers in these three states. Fortunately for those of us in the labor movement, Blanc drives deeper.
The core of Red State Revolt is built around of the concept of “the militant minority,” explored in depth in the longest chapter of the book. As Blanc explains: “An indispensable ingredient in the victories of West Virginia and Arizona was the existence of a ‘militant minority’ of workplace activists—that is, individuals with a class struggle orientation, significant organizing experience, and a willingness to act independently of (and, if necessary, against) the top union officialdom.”
These activists helped push their struggles forward and at key moments helped the rank-and-file contend with more conservative union officials. And, as Blanc points out, a number of these activists constituting the militant minority were socialists, though not all. As Blanc explains: “Though all genuine socialists support class struggle unionism, not all class struggle unionists support socialism.” Included in the latter category were the militant teacher leaders of the Southern former mining strongholds of Mingo County and adjacent counties in West Virginia who led a one-day strike in early February 2018 which helped set the stage for the statewide walkout later that month.
Blanc notes that many of the activists at the core of the West Virginia strike were democratic socialists inspired by Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, which helped motivate them to demand far-reaching changes at their workplaces. As rank-and-file West Virginia strike leader Emily Comer told Blanc, “The role of the Bernie campaign of 2016 on organizing in West Virginia really cannot be overstated. … And it got people, especially young people, plugged in who before had been feeling hopeless and who would not have made their way into organizing before.”
Like any good strike history, Red State Revolt delves into the complicated relationship between union officials, the union militants pushing the strike from below, and the rank and file workers. As Blanc explains, because West Virginia activists had built a strong statewide network leading up to and over the course of the strike, they were able to help shape the final contract agreement, continuing the walkout for another week after the initial outline of the settlement was announced until it was finalized.
By covering three strikes in three separate states, in Red State Revolt Blanc is able to compare and contrast the various strategies and outcomes. While the strikes in both West Virginia and Arizona ended on high notes, for example, the Oklahoma walkout resulted in more of a mixed outcome, along with a certain degree of demoralization.
As Blanc notes, the conditions did not initially suggest such a result. “By virtually all possible metrics, the challenges to successful strike action were greatest in Arizona,” Blanc writes. “Its right wing was considerably stronger, and its labor movement significantly weaker, than in Oklahoma—not to mention most other US states.”
Yet the crucial difference, Blanc argues, is that Arizona boasted a militant minority of activists who were able to interact with Arizona’s relatively weak teachers' union to prod them into action and ultimately helped secure broad victories. Oklahoma, meanwhile, did not possess such a strong array of militant labor activists in the education field, which served as a liability during that state’s strike.
Teacher activists across the country will likely find Red State Revolt invaluable as the uprising shows no sign of ending. Teachers in Colorado, Washington, California and elsewhere have already since rebelled against decades of Democratic neoliberal attacks on public education. Even organizers living in such blue states will find Red State Revolt chock-full of concrete lessons.
The reality is, however, that while these public-sector strikes should give us hope, the crisis of American trade unionism lies firmly in the private sector. For many labor pundits, the lessons of the teachers' strikes boil down to advocating bargaining for the common good or other social unionist themes. While a broad-based approach to union bargaining that seeks public support is necessary, there’s no indication that corporations will be shamed into supporting worker-friendly policies. With union density hovering at six percent in the private sector, it’s time for dramatically new approaches.
Reviving the labor movement in the private sector will require a strategy capable of breaking through legal restrictions on the right to strike. As Blanc notes, “When it comes to political strategy, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. West Virginia and the other recent teacher revolts have confirmed the continued relevance of an old political insight: strikes are workers’ most powerful weapon.”
One question raised by the strikes in Republican-dominated states is ‘Why did the anti-union policymakers not respond with repression?’ After all, Arizona is a cesspool of reactionary anti-labor politicians, with essentially the entire power structure lined up against unions. Striking was deemed illegal in all of three states. Yet, while politicians made pronouncements indicating the strikes were illegal, they never pulled the trigger on punishing strikers.
For trade unionists, this outcome confirms the reality of what we saw in the 1960s teacher rebellion. In the 1960s, millions of public-sector workers went on strike despite the fact that striking was illegal in every state in the country. Rarely did these workers face recriminations, as politicians feared they could expand the strikes by responding with repression. The red state teacher revolts demonstrate the continued validity of the maxim that ‘there is no illegal strike, just an unsuccessful one.’
The four main takeaways from the Red State Revolt are the necessity of reviving the strike; the need for a broad-based approach; the importance of a conscious militant minority; and the ability of militant social movements to successfully violate labor law. This also serves as a prescription for the revival of the labor movement overall—one quite different from what most labor pundits have been dishing out for the past two decades.
Celebrating victories is a good thing and Red State Revolt does a great job of reliving the excitement of those strikes. Even better, however, is learning from our successes so they can be recreated over and over. That is how bigger and better movements are built.
Joe Burns
Joe Burns, a former local union president active in strike solidarity, is a labor negotiator and attorney. He is the author of the book Reviving the Strike: How Working People Can Regain Power and Transform America (IG Publishing, 2011) and can be reached at joe.burns2@gmail.com.
More by Joe Burns
What the Labor Movement Can Learn from Bernie Sanders’ Unapologetic Socialism
A Current Longshore Battle Shows that the NLRB Is Not a Friend of Organized Labor
As Long As the Supreme Court Is Setting Labor Policy, the Labor Movement Can Never Revive Itself
The Entire Labor Movement Should Be Paying Attention to Wisconsin’s Kohler Strike
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