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0.962632 | Praire Lights and The Iowa City Public Library will co-sponsor an event at the library with Caroline Fraser, editor of the new Library of America Edition of Laura Ingalls Wilder's LIttle House Books. Originally published from 1932 to 1943, Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books are classics of children's literature, beloved by millions. But readers who last enjoyed them as children may be astonished at the quiet poetry of Wilder's prose and the force and poignancy of her portrait of the lives of American pioneers. Now The Library of America and editor Caroline Fraser present a definitive boxed set that affirms Wilder's place in the American canon, reintroducing these enduring works to readers young and old. Here, for the first time in two collectible hardcover volumes, are all eight Little House novels—brilliant narratives of the early life of Laura Ingalls and her family as they grow up with the country in the woods, on the plains, and finally in the small towns of the advancing American frontier—plus the posthumous novella The First Four Years, which recounts the early years of the author's marriage to Almanzo Wilder. As a special feature, four rare autobiographical pieces address the need for historical accuracy in children's literature, reveal real life events not included in the novels, and answer the inevitable question: what happened next?
Caroline Fraser was born in Seattle and holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University in English and American literature. Formerly on the editorial staff of The New Yorker, she has written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Outside Magazine, Allure, and The Los Angeles Times Book Review, among other publications. Her essays and reviews also appear frequently inThe New York Review of Books. She has received a PEN Award for Best Young Writer and numerous prizes for her poetry. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with her husband, Hal Espen. |
0.984928 | Bruce Willis, still determined to become the smirking man's Nicolas Cage, has signed on to already-forgettably lend his face to another action-thriller. He's reportedly attached to show up in Simon Brand's Captive, taking a part once attached to another forcefully-persistent action icon, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Willis will play a real estate developer abducted and locked in an armored car hidden in a Brazilian landfill. His kidnappers hold him ransom under the impression he's a wealthy businessman, though, apparently, "he's more of an ordinary guy." That point notwithstanding, he will also still unmistakably be Bruce Willis.
\n\nBruce Willis, still determined to become the smirking man's Nicolas Cage, has signed on to already-forgettably lend his face to another action-thriller. He's reportedly attached to show up in Simon Brand's Captive, taking a part once attached to another forcefully-persistent action icon, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Willis will play a real estate developer abducted and locked in an armored car hidden in a Brazilian landfill. His kidnappers hold him ransom under the impression he's a wealthy businessman, though, apparently, \"he's more of an ordinary guy.\" That point notwithstanding, he will also still unmistakably be Bruce Willis. |
0.999922 | "...Samuel Taylor Coleridge, suggested that if a writer could infuse a "human interest and a semblance of truth" into a fantastic tale, the reader would suspend judgement concerning the implausibility of the narrative... It might be used to refer to the willingness of the audience to overlook the limitations of a medium, so that these do not interfere with the acceptance of those premises. These fictional premises may also lend to the engagement of the mind and perhaps proposition of thoughts, ideas, art and theories."
Another aspect that I look for in a book is "suspension of disbelief". Sometimes when an author is so talented, he can convince the reader so utterly of the world he has created that the reader is transported to another world entirely. That world is so convincingly real that it is so very easy to think that it could happen or "suspend disbelief". As far as I can see, there are two major factors that people in the literary industry attributes to "suspension of disbelief": One, the author factor. And two, the reader factor.
"....last night I had to quit watching a movie because I just didn't believe in the characters. I said, "Look, I'm willing to believe that a neo-Nazi skinhead could fall in love with a black woman, but I don't believe that this skinhead is falling in love with this woman. Simple as that."
Consistency: Allison Pang further argues that the author's consistency with the world he has created plays a major role in the reader's "suspension of disbelief" (Allison Pang, 2011: http://bit.ly/h73e3M). An author is not allowed to break his own rules.
Another factor attributed to "suspension of disbelief" is the readers or audiences' frame of mind (Welkos, 1993: http://lat.ms/eAxY6M). How receptive is the audience to the world the author has created?
So, "suspension of disbelief" is influenced by the human interest and semblance of truth in the story, plus the author's covincing talents with consistency and the reader's receptiveness.
Whether it's 90% author's talent and 10% reader's receptiveness, is up for debate, because there is no solid evidence that I found to substantiate either way. However in my experience, when it comes to "suspension of disbelief", I find it important that it has to make sense, for me to be able to suspend disbelief. To me, "It happened like that just because it's magic" wouldn't cut it. It wouldn't convince me as a reader to suspend disbelief. Consequently, I would have the tendency to put that book down and pick up another. In which case, I probably would not buy another book by that author ever again. So I say, on top of Allison Pang's "consistency" argument and Isabel Roman's "delicate balance" theory, that the story also has to make sense for a reader to suspend disbelief. So in your experience as a reader, what do you find makes it difficult or easy for you to suspend disbelief?
Great post. I consider myself an 'open' reader--one who is able to give the writer the benefit of the doubt. With that said, a storyline must flow succinctly for me to buy into it. If it jumps around too much, trusting me as the reader to simply fill in the blanks, that's when I struggle with 'suspended disbelief'.
I dig what you mean about them holes... but sometimes an author is so talented that I don't mind having to fill a hole. However if there is, like, two holes too many, then I probably wouldn't be reading another work by that author again.
I like that definition by Coleridge very much. I read it three times over to get the full gist of what he said.
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Ooh, I really like this post! (droping by from Saturday Network). For me, i think it's kind of 80-20ish, Authors need to be able to craft a world that is even the tiniest bit believable, and then explore that world in some sort of credible and engaging manner, then no doubt I'll buy into that. I've read quite a few dystopian YA lately and i'm impressed by the believability of some of the stuff, so I guess reader receptiveness is definitely important as well. Sometimes i find readers are so "aware" or are "looking for" these plot holes, I think it doesn't hurt to just live in that suspended disbelief, read now, think later! Great post!
For me, I'm most likely to suspend my disbelief if the characters feel like real people. Even if they have superpowers, live in a different world, or even aren't entirely human, they have to FEEL like they are. If I can connect with the characters, the author can do just about anything with the plot or story line, and I'm game.
Great discussion! I stopped by from the Saturday Network!
I also agree that the characters have to be believable and the situation has to be something I think can happen. Recently read a review where the character woke up with horns. I think I'd put the book down immediately if that happened.
PS Please stop over at my blog. I found a publisher for my novel and I'm having a giveaway of "The Lincoln Lawyer."
Haha! I literally just did a post about this following my Wither review because her book just raped my overall suspension of disbelief.
The author can't write in a world where no rules apply. I get the fantasy element but like what was said in your post, the author can't break their own rules. On the other side, they can't exist in a world without rules in order to serve the plot. Make sense within the context of the world and you got me. Punch logic in the face and you'll lose me.
Audrey (holes In My brain) - As a reader I go into a book wanting to enjoy it, otherwise I wouldn't pick it up to begin with just to waste my reading time. So generally speaking I go into a book wanting to believe whatever the author has created... It's later one when I do the review that I begin to question things... So I could come under your idea of "read now, think later" kind of reader.
Natalie (Mindful Musings) - I think that is what bryngreenwood meant that the characters had to FEEL right and I agree with the both of you.
I agree with you. I am willing to suspend my disbelief as long as the story makes sense while I'm reading it. I also write that way. My characters find themselves in unbelievable danger, yet I present the danger in a believable way. I also love what Coleridge wrote and totally agree.
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Do you think "suspension of disbelief" could also be evidenced by or related to suspension of morals? For instance, I love Steven Brust's fantasy series featuring Vlad Taltos. Vald is an assassin. In real life, I'm so opposed to killing that I don't believe in capital punishment, let alone assassination. But in my reading I REALLY like this assassin and don't flinch when he kills someone for money. But if the character and stories weren't well written? I doubt I could be so nonchalant about Vlad's occupation, etc.
Jo - I am an escapist reader, by that definition, I suspend everything which I think includes morals. However, I think there are different levels of reality that we suspend. Some aspects of reality, we can easily shed, like the fact that there is actually no magic in reality. Some aspects are a bit harder to shed, like our morals. As to what aspects of reality is easily "shed-able" or not, I think depends from person to person. Morals for me is not easily "shed-able" either. But I can be persuaded when the author is convincing enough. Because there are some authors who really are talented. This is where mediocre authors don't cut it, I think. So, if I were a mediocre author, I wouldn't even try asking the audience to suspend reality on aspects which are usually important to people like their morals. That author of yours, Jo, is obviously not mediocre.
roro - I wholeheartedly agree with you and Natalie (Mindful Musings) on the "FEEL" factor. No matter how logical the author presents the characters, if they don't have the "FEEL" right element, the book still won't work with me too.
I visit everyday some web pages and information sites to read articles or reviews, except this webpage gives feature based posts. |
0.999972 | How do human beings affect the environment?
Humans affect the environment in positive and negative ways.
Cutting down trees and littering have a negative effect on animals and plants.
Protecting endangered species and cleaning lakes and seas has a positive effect on the environment.
At home you can help the planet by recycling waste and growing plants or vegetables.
There are lots of small things you can do to help protect the Earth.
What is renewable and non-renewable energy? |
0.999894 | The Vesica Pisces pendant is a description of the Cherubim which were set upon the Ark of the Covenant. The Cherubim are holding the Vesica Pisces. On one side of the pendant appears the Hebrew word "Tohu Va Vohu" and on the other side "eheye asher eheye".
" Bereshit bara elohim et hashamaim veet haaretz vehaaretz haita tohu va vohu vechoshech al pney tehom " - which means - " In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep ."
The old testament states that in the beginning, God created the earth and the sky and that the earth was "TOHU VA VOHU" (darkness upon the void). The Hebrew word "TOHU VA VOHU" was seen by most people as chaos, a lack of any order. However, it is written that the land was darkness upon the void. In other words, an empty space, a void, nothingness - and nothingness cannot be in a state of disorder! The solution to the meaning of the word is hidden in the word itself and its sound. Repeat the word "TOHU VA VOHU" - it's a sound that repeats itself - "movement then rest". When we start to examine what matter is made of we get to molecules and then to atoms. Atoms are composed of particles moving around each other at great speed. When scientists searched for what these particles are made of they found various wave lengths (frequencies).
The simplest way to understand a vibration is to imagine constantly repeating "movement" and "rest". The human ear can hear 30 to 16000 vibrations ("movement" and "rest") per second. In fact, everything is made of frequencies, even the "matter" we previously mentioned.
The first letters of "Tohu Va Vohu" creates the Hebrew word "TAV" - a musical note. These letters also create the initials of "TENOOAA VEMENOOCHA" (Movement and rest translation to Hebrew).
Another interesting thing that I've discovered is that the remaining letters that are the gap between the "Tav" and the "Vav" create the number 12 which is the number of notes in the musical scale, while the word "Tav" creates the 13th number which is the great void between the different harmonies. Therefore, all that exists including our self is made from frequency. That is the reason that God speaks (creates a sound) during the creation process, "Vayomer" - "God said". That is the reason we call the things that surround us "Dvarim" meaning "things", from the Hebrew word "deebur" meaning to speak, and the word "dvarim" which means "things that were spoken".
The next hint concerning "who or what I am?" comes from the story of Moses who walked in the desert where he saw the burning bush. In those days people believed that a person's name reflected his nature - and Moses who wanted to know the true nature of the One God, asked his name and God answered "eheye asher eheye" - the true translation of this sentence is "I am becoming what I am becoming". Moses totally understood God's answer but because he knew that the children of Israel would not understand the depth of God's answer he asked - " when the children of Israel will ask me for the name of the God that sent me what should I tell them? " God answered Moses and said - tell them that "eheye" sent you!
God's answers have also been distorted over time and their significance have been changed and forgotten. God simply said to Moses: my name is "I am becoming what I am becoming" tell the children of Israel - "that which will become" sent you. The traditional English translation distorted the original true meaning of the Hebrew writing because it was translated incorrectly to "I am that I am". Now, since you are surrounded by "things" what is the only thing in creation that is certain? The answer is CHANGE. Nothing stays in the same state forever. "The only thing that is constant in life is change". Everything that exists changes and is in motion. If the frequency that governs all will stop then all that exists would disappear and creation would stop.
The God or the force that created all does not have a name. He is a frequency that is constantly evolving and changing therefore he is "becoming" and has no form or definition. The meanings of one of God's Hebrew "names" - "YEHOVA" can be translated as I AM BECOMING or I AM IN A "BECOMING" PROCESS - TAKING A FORM.
The jewelry that we create symbolizes the geometric patterns that are created by the various wave lengths of the one frequency. This frequency also wears your image - you are God in a specific level of development. Throughout history there were individuals who came to the realization that they are God. Some were crucified, tortured and persecuted. Those who come from the darkness hide the truth or hid nature from man for their own power, because when man finds the One within himself there is no longer a need for external teachers or guidance.
The cosmic joke is that many religious people have no belief at all in the existence of God because they believe in the external (superficial) and thereby take all responsibility for their own lives off themselves.
All is one leads to unconditional love because YOU ARE GOD AND THEREFORE ALL THE ANSWERS AND THE UNDERSTANDING ARE TO BE FOUND WITHIN YOURSELF. That is the reason for the concept of "unconditional love" - when we hate someone we hate ourselves because all - everything and everyone is the one God.
People who do spiritual activities and connect themselves consciously to the one frequency will often experience other individuals' thoughts and emotions or perhaps if they are enlightened, they will experience the entire universe when their individual artificial consciousness merges with the One.
The old testament forbids the practice of external "channeling" and foretelling the future (which are very common among the "new age people"). The reason for this is that the person who looks for external answers "betrays" the true God within. That is one of the reasons the external world is called in ancient Aramaic in Judaism "ALMA DE SHIKRA" - THE WORLD OF LIES and "Maya" which means "illusion" in the Hindu tradition.
The concept of the frequency that governs all, exists in all cultures starting with the "TOHU VA VOHU" in the old testament or the "OM" - the sound, the frequency that created everything (O-M, movement and rest, a frequency).The Tibetans create their beautiful Mandalas from colored sand and if you'll take a metal plate and cover it with sand and make it vibrate with different sounds you will be able to see different structures that are formed in the sand, that are very similar to the sand Mandalas. In the end, after a few weeks when the Mandala is finished, they simply wipe the sand off Mandala to show the non attachment to the illusion of the external, and also to show the constant change and the process of life and death that takes place in the external world of illusion.
In 1949, ancient writings were found in Egypt at Nag Hammadi - known as the Nag Hamadi scriptures. These writings contain the teachings of Yeshua - Jesus. In one of the parts, Jesus told his disciples that the SIGN OF THE FATHER (GOD) IS WITHIN THEM. Then he asked "and when they will ask what is the sign of thy father within you tell them it is MOVEMENT AND REST".
My wife Meirav was born with a rare disease called scleroderma. The disease damaged her kidneys and five years ago, she had a kidney transplant. A year ago, the planted kidney stopped functioning and Meiravi became dependant on oxygen machine.
On October 12 2009, Meiravi died and she was only 37 year old.
Meiravi wore one pendant on her neck. She told me few details about the person who made it and requested to continue wearing it even when she was with a dialyze machine. She told me that when she will feel better we would go and get one for me. A little while before she died she requested to put the pendant on her again (it was taken off because of all the machines). After she died, Meiravi's mother asked for the pendant and I gave it to her.
I searched for the pendant for days and night without success. I thought it was named something with Cherubim (because there are two holding from the sides). It was very important for me to reach the 30 memorial with the pendant. On Friday, four days before the memorial, I searched again using Google images. I reached pages 8-9 and 10 and nothing. I stopped and asked from Meiravi to help me to find it. The next click, I suddenly saw the pendant. I clicked on it and it lead me to Your website. The artist was found and the pendant that symbolized our life more then anything was found… tears went down and the heart was broken, even while writing these words. |
0.942121 | Love is a Dog From Hell is generally considered to be one of the strongest Charles Bukowski books of poetry. The Bukowski poems inside it were written in the early to mid seventies when he had begun his rise to fame and he was receiving more attention from the female gender (see my article: The Wives and Girlfriends of Charles Bukowski). I think it is fair to say therefore that some of the poems are almost a poetic version of the Bukowski novel: Women.
Love is a Dog from Hell is split into 4 parts and poems it contains are in the classic Charles Bukowski style of direct, prose poems. Although his approach can sometimes seem brutal, Bukowski is a writer of experience and hidden subtlety and is capable of writing poems of poignancy, as well as wit and raw emotional intensity. His poem dedicated to his ex-girlfriend, for instance, "One for old snaggletooth" is rather touching: "she has hurt fewer people/than anyone I know,/and if you look at it like that,/well,/she has created a better world/she has won."
As I mentioned earlier, this Charles Bukowski book is of particularly interest to people who want insights into his attitudes towards women, as many of the poems take his relationships as subject matter. Bukowski has been accused at various times of being a woman hater (see my article: Was Charles Bukowski a Misogynist?) and in these poems we see his full range of attitudes and musings, from poignancy and sentimentality, to cruelty and lust.
One of the most interesting poems in the Bukowski book is “An unkind poem” which takes a shot at poets and the poetry scene which begins with the lines: The go on writing/ pumping out poems --/ young boys and college professors/ wives who drink wine all afternoon/ while their husbands work,/ they go on writing/ the same names in the same magazines/ everybody writing a little worse each year.
The book is a definite must have for any fans of Charles Bukowski poems and is one of his strongest collections of his works. Is it the best Bukoswki book of poems? No, not in my opinon. The Last Night of the Earth Poems , written close to the end of his life, is my favorite and the collection of early work, Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame is also great. Love is a Dog from Hell is probably the best Bukowski book of poems from his mid period, however and I would definitely consider buying it if you don’t already own a copy.
Let's not forget the movie of that same name. Also Classic.
Some great quotes from a great man! |
0.999999 | Rate this Article There are lots of different farm games available to play, but what is it you do in these incredibly popular sim games?
In this article we will discuss some of the activities that you can do in one of the most popular styles of sim game online. Farm Games have grown in popularity over the last few years, thanks in part to games like Farmville. As the name suggests, you take control of a farm, but that is not where the fun ends, there are lots of things to do to make your property successful.
It all begins with a small holding, often with a few plots of land for you to harvest crops on. On these plots you can grow and collect crops that you need for other parts of the game. From simple crops like wheat you are able to begin to plant fruits, root vegetables and more.
As your farm expands you can begin to add more plots of land, and grow larger amounts of what you need. You can then sell these items, use them to fulfill orders and make products that you need, such as bread. You can also grow lots of different crops at the same time, though many will have different growing times.
As well as crops these games will also give you the chance to own a variety of animals. From a small coop with chickens all the way up to a paddock full of horses or even exotic creatures. The animals you own will need somewhere to live and a supply of food, in return you can then collect produce to sell or use.
As you play you will unlock more and more animals and crops to grow. Often working together you can make the food for your animals, and then use what they give you to create products to sell. For example a cow will produce milk, that you can then make into cheese.
To be able to make cheese you will need a building or factory to make it. As well as a bakery for bread or a mill for flour. Building these will give you the opportunity to make new things, as well as help expand your farm to even bigger proportions.
While you can sell your items there are often specific orders from customers that you can fulfill, doing so will give you money to spend, as well as experience or things that you need. Many games also come with a market where you can sell to other players, and buy items you need from them too.
When you are managing your farm there are often several things that you need to keep track of, from the money you have, crops you can plant as well as making sure that your animals are fed, and that you have enough water to keep everything growing.
Many games also come with a series of quests or objectives for you to play, these once again will grant rewards, and provide a large amount of income for you. Sometimes these quests will also unlock special items, animal enclosures or crops for you to grow so they can be very beneficial.
There are many different farm games for you to try, and each of them will have something unique or special that makes it fun for you to play, and there will be more for you to enjoy than what we have discussed here. But whatever game you play, we hope you enjoy them as much as we do. |
0.991747 | Seaside Book Nook: Who Moved My Blackberry?
Synopsis (from Amazon): The television show The Office meets Bridget Jones in a novel set in an office so dysfunctional, it's bound to strike a chord with any nine-to-fiver.
A compulsively readable, hilarious novel told through the e-mail messages of Martin Lukes. Martin Lukes is a man who is good at taking credit where it isn't due; a man who works hard at "personal growth" but consistently lets down everyone around him; a man who communicates with his sons by e-mail and fails to notice how smart his wife, Jenny, really is; a man--in short--who loves jargon but totally lacks understanding.
One (or more) Sentence Summary: I am a huge fan of The Office and Bridget Jones (even though I think it is more comparable to Holly Denham (Holly's Inbox). I purchased Who Move My Blackberry? while in London in 2010. I had limited time to hit the bookstore and limited room in the suitcase/carry on to buy books, but I narrowed it down and am so glad this book ended up crossing the Atlantic with me home. What I can't believe is how long it took me to read the book. It got buried in the "to be read" pile.
Who Moved My Blackberry? is told through "email" format. I actually really enjoy stories told through emails/diaries. The book has a ton of office humor that I can relate too. I was laughing out loud while reading this book and could not wait to get back to it. Absolutely hilarious and so entertaining.
Fast read/slow read: Extremely fast read! Also couldn't put it down!
Lucy Kellaway is the management columnist at the Financial Times. Her column is syndicated in The Irish Times.
I typed a comment but then it got lost. Just want to say I might have to try this book out as I miss you terribly and I do so love the "email" format!
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0.94713 | 10 tips for reducing stress in the workplace.
Decreasing stress in the workplace is not an impossible task. Although, just thinking about decreasing stress in the workplace may actually cause some stress!
However, that doesn’t mean that your organization shouldn’t be vested in some type of stress management. Helping your employees learn about the types of stress they may endure in the workplace, and how to cope with these stressors, will benefit both the employee and the organization. Even if your organization does not have a formal stress management program in place, any type of healthy outlet is beneficial for stress reduction. Is it possible to have a completely stress-free work environment? The answer is no. However, recognizing the cause of stress is at the very heart of reducing it. Most importantly, we need to practice what we want others to benefit from.
Learning our own limits is the first step that we, as leaders, need to acknowledge before we can be a positive influence on those around us. Many of us do not take the time to reflect on our situation. We are busy putting out fires that arise on a daily basis, and somewhere in the midst of all those fires, we lose ourselves. We can learn to pause and take 10 minutes every day to sit and reflect or meditate. This short break will help us to gauge the priorities which need to be handled first. Our employees will take cues from us and will reflect the same type of behavior when reacting to their own stress. It is imperative that we take care of ourselves and have healthy outlets for relieving stress. Oftentimes, when we get our stress levels under control, we find that what was first thought of as a crisis is actually only a small hiccup in our day!
Communication with our employees is key, as is listening and observation. As a leader, it is important to recognize changes in an employee’s personality, attendance, or job performance as these types of changes may indicate an employee is under increased stress. Also, employees who find themselves mismatched with their job skills may suffer added daily stress. A discussion about these noted changes may help the employee to find relief from their stressors, and it will communicate that you value them as well. This type of vested interest not only shows that the leader is aware of their stress but also how it can affect them emotionally and physically.
The art of communication can effectively help alleviate stress in the workplace as it shows employees they are a valued part of the organization. It is also beneficial for leadership to evaluate employee workloads and possibly revise, or reassign, certain tasks to others. Empowering your employees to manage their stress will undoubtedly lead to a happier workplace. As stress declines, leaders will find that their employees become better teammates and thus more invested in their role in the organization.
There are rows and rows of books in local bookstores that have catchy titles on how to reduce stress. There are also a plethora of articles online about stress management. Some of the best tips I have found are from an article by Stephen Bruce.1 The following 10 tips can easily be practiced by leaders and employees alike.
Know yourself. Be aware of your stress level and the things that stress you out. Learn your own signals and pay attention to them.
Recognize how you deal with stress. Do you turn to unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking, or eating poorly? Do you lose patience with coworkers or family members when you feel overwhelmed at work?
Set rules for devices. Consider rules like turning off the cell phone when you get home or establishing certain times for returning calls. Be sure to communicate these rules with others so you can manage expectations.
Keep a to-do list. It’s stressful to constantly think of things that you should be doing. Clear your head by putting those thoughts in writing. Divide out “work” and “non-work” tasks and indicate those with the highest priority.
Take responsibility. Acknowledging that you are responsible for your own stress levels can be an important step. No matter what the sources of stress (bad boss, too much work, too little time, etc.), the issue comes down to how you react to them.
Take a break. It may not seem like much, but a short (1- or 2-minute) break several times a day can help you stay energized and productive. Stand up, stretch, breathe deeply, and clear your head. Avoid the temptation to work through lunch.
Take care. You’ve heard it before, but it really does help—eat right, get enough sleep, drink plenty of water, and exercise regularly. No matter how hectic life gets at work or at home, you’ve got to make time for yourself. If a vacation isn’t in the offing, carve out time for a hobby or a good book.
Change your head. If negative thinking is causing stress, work to break the pattern. If trying to do everything to perfection is the problem, try to modify your expectations, realizing that unrealistic goals are going to set you up for failure—and undue stress.
Learn to manage conflict. It’s easier said than done, but resolving conflict in a healthy, constructive way can help relieve work stress. Focus on the present, avoid the temptation to dive into old resentments, and listen to what the other person is really saying.
Ask for help. Accepting help from supportive friends and family members can help you better manage your stress. Take advantage of employer-based services like an EAP, counseling, work/life balance programs, or referrals to mental health professionals.
1 Bruce, S. HR Daily Advisor. (2018). Workplace Stress Is Dangerous: 10 Ways to Help Your Employees Deal with It. [online] Available at: https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/2015/05/11/workplace-stress-is-dangerous-10-ways-to-help-your-employees-deal-with-it. Accessed February 28, 2018.
Stephanie M. Kurt, MBA, is the director of operations for Alliant Physical Therapy in Racine, Wisconsin. She can be reached at skurt@alliantpt.com. |
0.927179 | You are at:Home»Congress»What is a Senator?
SEATTLE — The 2018 United States midterm elections that saw people voting for senate, congress and governors, among others, were historic. Over 47 percent of eligible voters cast ballots, which marks the highest percentage in the last 50 years of midterm elections. The last time these many people voted in midterm elections was in 1966 when 49 percent of eligible voters turned out for the election. While there are many reasons for such a high voter turnout, one thing that sometimes gets lost is what are the people actually voting for. For instance, what is a Senator? In this article, the question of what is a Senator and what are his roles will be answered.
The Senate, much like the rest of the government, was conceived and laid out in the Constitution of the United States, which was written in 1787 and has been in operation since 1789. The Constitution declares that each state has two Senators and that they serve a term of six years, and one-third of the Senate goes up for reelection every two years. There are no limits on the number of terms a Senator can serve. All senators must be at least 30 years of age, must have U.S. citizenship for at least nine years and must be a citizen of the state they represent. The Vice President of the United States serves as the President of the Senate, but does not have a vote unless the votes among Senators are equally split.
The Senate, along with Congress, makes up the Legislative branch of the United States Government. The Legislative branch drafts proposed laws, confirms Presidential nominations like Supreme Court judges and the heads of government agencies and even has the ability to declare war. The Senate also has the “sole power to try all Impeachments”.
The most important Senatorial duty is drafting laws. Any member of the Legislative Branch (Senate of Congress) can propose a law that is called a bill. Once a Senator proposes a bill, it is then assigned to a committee that will research, design, and make changes. Once it goes through the committee, the bill is put to a vote in the Senate. If the vote passes, it is sent to Congress, where a similar process happens. Once both the Senate and Congress agree on the bill, it is voted on again. If it passes, it is sent to the President for approval.
Senators play a vital role in the U.S. Government, and it is important to remember that United States citizens have a full right to contact them with any concerns, comments, or grievances they might have. Although senators work in Washington D.C., they represent the people of the state from which they were elected, and if someone has something to say, he should not hesitate to reach them. For any possible information and concerns regarding any topics, senators can be reached by using this link.
What is a Senator? Senators of the United States are a major part of the government. These people can draft laws and declare war and oversee Impeachments. They represent the citizens of the United States, they are elected from the people and it is their job to speak for each and every citizen of the country. |
0.998637 | How do you make racing available to everyone? Replace cars with something cheaper, like lawnmowers. Lawnmower racing has been around since 1973, when it was spontaneously invented in an English pub by several young men upset about the high barrier of entry into motorsports. |
0.956625 | Robert Wintour (1568 – 30 January 1606), and Thomas Wintour (1571 or 1572 – 31 January 1606), also spelt Winter, were members of the Gunpowder Plot, a failed conspiracy to assassinate King James I. Both were related to several other conspirators, such as their cousin, Robert Catesby, and a half-brother, John Wintour, also joined them following the plot's failure. Thomas was an intelligent and educated man, fluent in several languages and trained as a lawyer, but chose instead to become a soldier, fighting for England in the Low Countries, France, and possibly in Central Europe. By 1600, however, he changed his mind and became a fervent Catholic. He made several trips to the continent, entreating Spain on behalf of England's oppressed Catholics, and suggesting that with Spanish support, a Catholic rebellion was likely.
As a momentum was building behind a peace settlement between the two countries, Thomas's pleas fell on deaf ears. Instead, in 1604 he decided to join with Catesby, who planned to restore England to Catholicism by killing the king, and inciting a popular revolt in the Midlands, during which James's daughter, Princess Elizabeth, would be installed as titular queen. Thomas returned to the continent and again failed to elicit Spanish support, but instead met Guy Fawkes, with whom he returned to England. Robert, a devout Catholic who inherited Huddington Court near Worcester, joined the conspiracy the following year. |
0.830083 | Pre-Crisis is a term used to describe characters, items, realities or events that took place during DC Comics' publishing history prior to the 1985-86 Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series. The term is used by industry professionals and consumers, and is widely considered to be an out-of-universe phrase; which is to say – characters within the DC universe continuity (with rare exception), do not use the term "Pre-Crisis" when referring to events preceding the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
The Crisis on Infinite Earths series effectively rebooted the internal DC universe from the dawn of time onward. A new history was written – one that rendered many of the older DC stories apocryphal. Characters, timelines, and events from the varying alternate realities were condensed into one modernized mainstream reality, excising many characters that would otherwise be construed as redundant.
All occurrences relating to the Golden Age or Silver Age of comic book publishing are germane to the Pre-Crisis continuity. This does not apply to stories that have been retroactively crafted to have taken place during these respective eras (à la the Silver Age comic book crossover series).
The following is a list of articles pertaining to Pre-Crisis material that is considered apocryphal, and is no longer validated in the modern continuity of DC Comics history.
The Superman reality of Earth-Two. Although Kal-L and Lois Lane-Kent of Earth-Two survived the Crisis, their respective dimension, timeline and all related materials to the Earth-Two storyline such as the Daily Star, James Olsen, Alexei Luthor, George Taylor are no longer validated in the revised continuity of New Earth dimension, except for Power Girl. Supposedly, according to recent events somehow Power Girl has returned to being an Earth-Two being despite the universal reset that prevented the Earth-Two reality from ever existing.
Superman and all-related supporting articles of Earth-One are no longer specifically validated in the revised continuity such as the current Superman was never costumed Superboy as was the Earth-One Superman. However after the events of Infinite Crisis writing and One Year Later many elements of the Earth-One history have been brought back into continuity such as the current Superman is again a three year old toddler when he arrives on Earth and not born in a birthing chamber and having superpowers from his earliest days and not developing slowly as he grew, invalidating some elements of the revised history of John Byrne's Man of Steel origin. Many of the current Superman's early adventures with the Justice League of America are similar in scope to their Pre-Crisis counterparts, but with various differences. The JLA: Year One limited series and the JLA: Incarnations limited series provides brief snapshots of Pre-Crisis JLA stories that are still considered canon.
Batman and all related supporting articles (Gotham City, Robin, Huntress, Batgirl, Joker, Commissioner Gordon etc.) of Earth-Two are no longer validated in the revised continuity.
The Batman reality of Earth-One shares many similarities with the modern history, but with several obvious distinctions, most notably in his costume (never adopting the yellow circle emblem of the Earth-One Batman and light blue and light grey body suit) and formation as indicated in Frank Miller's Batman: Year One storyline and background as the current Wayne did NOT ever have a brother, Thomas Jr. unlike the Earth-One Batman. Wayne's personality in the modern timeline is greatly altered from that of the Earth-One continuity and many of Wayne's adventures may be considered apocryphal especially the Earth-One Batman's teamups with superpower beings such as his deep and open friendship with Superman. A clear distinction between which Pre-Crisis events survived into the modern continuity and which ones were excised has not been specifically clarified. It is safe to assume that all Earth-One Batman related material published between 1980 and 1985 may be considered canon minus obvious contradictions such as Wayne trusting Catwoman as being part of his team, while anything taking place prior to that is subject to interpretation and speculation.
Wonder Woman and most of her related supporting articles (Steve Trevor, Etta Candy, Hippolyta etc.) of both Earth-One and Earth-Two are no longer validated in the revised continuity. All references were either eliminated or readjusted such as the Earth-Two Wonder Woman's daughter Fury being readjusted to being the daughter of the Golden Age Fury and the Golden Age Wonder Woman now being the current incarnation of Queen Hippolyta in the role. Originally in the Post-Crisis history, Black Canary (Dinah Laurel Lance) substituted for Wonder Woman in Silver Age Justice League stories. This has since been changed back to Diana as Wonder Woman being a founding member of the Justice League and involved in those adventures.
All remaining Golden Age era characters from Earth-Two, Earth-S and Earth-X have their histories retroactively taking place on the modern Earth. Some characters have largely had their original extra Earth histories intact minus their extra-Earth events such as The Atom (Al Pratt), while others have had their entire histories completely changed such as the daughter of the Earth-Two Wonder Woman, Fury (Hypolate Trevor) and Captain Marvel (Billy Batson) never operated in the 1930s nor ever created his original supporters the Lt. Marvels unlike Captain Marvel (Earth-S), while many who originated on these other Earths now have a blendage of their original history and new elements such as Jay Garrick and Alan Scott who originally had a separate Earth history and adventures to now directly working with and at time against their same name successors along with some other background changes some minor and other major including Jay and Joan actually having a child together who died, whereas in the original Earth-Two history Jay never had any biological children at all.
The revised history of Wonder Girl (Donna Troy) exists in a constant state of flux due to the actions of the Crisis. Donna's history was intrinsically tied to that of the Earth-One Wonder Woman, and as that continuity ceased to exist, Donna's respective history was called into question. As such, her origin exists in a perpetual vacuum of revision. Approximately once every seven-ten years, DC Comics attempts to finalize a definitive Donna Troy origin, free of any ties to the Pre-Crisis environment.
Johnny Thunder of Earth-One is no longer validated in the revised continuity.
Many stories relating to Infinity Inc. can no longer be considered part of the official canon, as their background was intrinsically tied to events germane to Earth-Two. To date, a satisfactory history of the Post-Crisis Infinity Inc. history has never been provided.
There are a few characters whose existence is rooted in the Pre-Crisis alternate Earth continuity, but have survived the revisionist effects of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. See the 2006 limited series Infinite Crisis for more details.
Most period-related Pre-Crisis material is considered a preserved part of the modern continuity. This would include characters and events pertaining to the Dark Ages, Old West, World War II etc.
Most of the history as it relates to the Justice Society of America, All-Star Squadron and the Seven Soldiers of Victory are preserved in the modern timeline. The only WWII era super-team whose history is radically altered is the Freedom Fighters.
The only modern characters who have maintained memories of the Pre-Crisis timeline are: Harbinger, Per Degaton, Donna Troy, Power Girl, Psycho-Pirate (Roger Hayden) and Shazam. Presumably other characters of cosmic significance, such as Metron, likely has memories of the Pre-Crisis reality as well, but this list pertains to a confirmed list of characters only. |
0.999937 | Can you imagine having to write this paragraph?
"Ryan Seacrest is known and loved by television audiences around the world," Mike Darnell, president of Alternative Entertainment, Fox, said in a statement today. "His work on 'American Idol' is unparalleled in the industry. He's a consummate host of major broadcast events and a proven talent who always makes it look easy, which makes him the perfect choice for this year's Emmy telecast."
Watch this chilling propaganda that paints America as the enemy and Islamic extremists and North Korea (!?!) as victims of our insatiable imperialism. I'm surprised the fat toad hasn't posted this on her blog. |
0.999275 | When I started this discussion I had noticed that most people had bought a single policy usually a term policy. Was that what they really needed? Certainly for the short term this was exactly the policy they wanted to have.
Answer these questions truthfully: 1.) Does your spouse or partner complain that you spend too much money? 2.) Are you surprised each month when your credit card bill arrives at how much more you charged than you thought you had? |
0.999999 | Weight loss is recommended for overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes on the basis of short-term studies, but long-term effects on cardiovascular disease remain unknown. This study examined whether an intensive lifestyle intervention for weight loss would decrease cardiovascular morbidity and mortality among such patients.
In 16 study centers in the United States, researchers randomly assigned approximately 5000 obese patients with type 2 diabetes to participate in an intensive lifestyle program that promoted weight loss through decreased caloric intake and increased physical activity 1 or to receive diabetes support and education 2. The researchers then followed both groups over a period of maximum 13.5 years to see how they compared on number of deaths from cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction 3, nonfatal stroke or hospitalization for pain.
Naturally, weight loss was greater in the intervention group than in the control group throughout the study. The intensive lifestyle intervention also produced greater reductions in glycated hemoglobin 4 and greater initial improvements in fitness and all cardiovascular risk factors, except for low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol levels.
Would an intensive lifestyle intervention designed to achieve weight loss through caloric restriction and increased physical activity decrease cardiovascular morbidity and mortality among overweight or obese adults with type 2 diabetes?
Researchers took overweight or obese adults with diabetes type 2 and researched whether those people have a decreased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality if they undergo an intensive lifestyle intervention( to achieve weight loss through caloric restriction and increased physical activity.
What does the article tell us and what does this mean?
The study was published in 2013 and showed that an intensive lifestyle intervention did not reduce the risk of cardiovascular morbidity or mortality, as compared with a control program of diabetes support and education, among overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes. |
0.999988 | The inflation rate in Australia between 1959 and today has been 1,464.87%, which translates into a total increase of $1,464.87. This means that 100 dolars in 1959 are equivalent to 1,564.87 dolars in 2019. In other words, the purchasing power of $100 in 1959 equals $1,564.87 today. The average annual inflation rate has been 4.61%. |
0.999903 | How many mycotoxins have been discovered?
Currently there are more than 400 different mycotoxins documented with new ones still being identified. However, the most important ones from the point of view of animal and human health and productivity are deoxynivalenol, T-2 toxin, zearalenone, aflatoxin B1, ochratoxin A and fumonisins.
When does a mold produce or put off/out a mycotoxin?
Worldwide 30 to 40% of all existing fungi might be able to form mycotoxins under appropriate conditions either on the growing field plant ("field or plant pathogenic fungi") or later during storage ("storage or saprophytic fungi"). Subsequently these undesired compounds might occur in food and feed, thus endanger human or animal health and cause severe economic losses. Mould growth and toxin production are generally influenced by a variety of plant and environmental factors, including substrate characteristics (e.g. composition, pH, water activity, oxygen content), possible competitive actions (e.g. associated growth of other fungi or microbes) and climatic conditions (e.g. temperature, atmospheric humidity). In warm (tropical and subtropical) regions for instance aflatoxins are of major concern, while fusariotoxins, such as zearalenone or trichothecenes, mainly occur in more moderate regions. However, storage fungi including Aspergillus and Penicillium sp., may grow and produce mycotoxins even when moisture content ranges from 14 to 18% and at temperatures that vary from 10 to 50�C. Moreover, stress factors such as drought, poor fertilization, high crop densities, weed competition, insect or mechanical damage can weaken the plant's natural defense and thus promote colonization by mycotoxin-producing fungi as well as toxin-formation. |
0.940659 | Raspberry Pi connect GPIO with pull-up or pull-down resistor? You can optionally use GPIOs as inputs and outputs. Of course, depending on their configuration. It is recommended to connect GPIO inputs with a pull-up or pull-down resistor.
Raspberry Pi connect GPIO with pull-up or pull-down resistor?
You can optionally use GPIOs as inputs and outputs. Of course, depending on their configuration. It is recommended to connect GPIO inputs with a pull-up or pull-down resistor.
Why does a GPIO input need a pull-up or pull-down resistor?
What is the behavior of a GPIO input without resistance?
What is the behavior of a GPIO input with pullup resistor?
What is the behavior of a GPIO input with pulldown resistor?
What values should pullup and pulldown resistors have?
Why should not a pull-up or pull-down resistor be less than 10K ohms?
Why should a pull-up or pull-down resistor be less than 10K ohms?
Which principle should be used? Pullup or pulldown resistor?
Should I use the internal pull-up / pull-down resistors of a GPIO input?
1. Why does a GPIO input need a pull-up or pull-down resistor?
If you configure a GPIO as an input, then the GPIO input that is still unconnected does not yet have a fixed state. That is, it is not necessarily high or low. CMOS inputs, such as GPIO inputs, tend to be high (1). But you can not rely on that. GPIO inputs tend to switch randomly one way or the other. That is, they sometimes have the state "Low" (0) and sometimes the state "High" (1). And that depends on what the respective pin or connection point just captures. The influential spectrum ranges from high-frequency interference of surrounding components and pins, to overvoltage. In general, these are the unwanted effects that cause that the state of a GPIO input jumps completely undefined between "high" and "low". This has the disadvantage that when you evaluate a GPIO input, you can never be sure which state it really has.
To counteract this, a GPIO input is helped to a defined ground state. In practice, you provide the respective pin with a pull-up or pull-down resistor. Depending on whether the state "high" or "low" is expected by default.
"Pull" means "pull". This means that the GPIO is "pulled" to a certain level (voltage value). Pullup means to move up and pull down to low. Pulling up can be achieved by connecting the GPIO pin to a pin through a resistor that will permanently carry a high level. As a rule, the operating voltage + VCC is used for this purpose. Pulling down can be achieved by connecting the GPIO pin to ground (GND) through a resistor.
Note: Raspberry Pi also has internal pull-up or pull-down resistors, which are normally disabled. It is better, you use external resistors. You can see that and then know that the GPIOs are properly connected.
Outputs can also be wired with pull-up or pull-down resistors. However, their meaningfulness depends on the subsequent circuit part. This circuit part also has inputs which should have levels defined in the ground state. This means that additional pull-up or pull-down resistors can also be found between different circuit components and components.
2. What is the behavior of a GPIO input without resistance?
What happens if we work without pullup and pulldown resistors?
The GPIO input has no connection to anything. He practically hangs in the air. The wire from the pin to the switch acts like an antenna. And this antenna receives something. Of course, the input electronics can not do anything with this and swing undefined between "low" (0) and "high" (1) back and forth.
The GPIO input is pulled to VCC. The input electronics recognize a "high" (1).
In practice, this means that if the state of a GPIO input is queried on the software side and detects a closed switch, then it can also be open. And of course you just want to avoid this uncertainty. And that is why GPIO inputs must always be wired with a pull-up or pull-down resistor.
3. What is the behavior of a GPIO input with pullup resistor?
In this diagram, the resistance of VCC is switched to a GPIO input and the open switch is switched from GPIO input to GND.
The circuit diagram of pull-up resistor and switch can also be thought of as a series connection of two resistors. The voltage and current distribution apply accordingly. Wherein the switch in the open state is an infinite high-impedance and in the closed state, a low-resistance.
When the switch is open, the resistor pulls the GPIO input towards VCC. Here are definitely z. B. +3.3 V, so "high" to. And that's why this resistance is called pullup resistance. Because the resistor pulls the GPIO up to the operating voltage.
When the switch is pressed, the GND is connected to the GPIO input. This has the following effect: The voltage drops completely at the pull-up resistor and thus lies at the GPIO input GND and thus a "low".
4. What is the behavior of a GPIO input with pull-down resistance?
In this diagram, the open switch is switched from VCC to the GPIO input and the resistance from the GPIO input to GND.
The circuit diagram of pull-down resistor and switch can also be thought of as a series connection of two resistors. The voltage and current distribution apply accordingly. Wherein the switch in the open state is an infinite high-impedance and in the closed state, a low-resistance.
When the switch is open, the resistor pulls the GPIO input towards GND. Here is definitely 0 V, ie "low" on. And that's why this resistance is called pulldown resistance. Because the resistor pulls the GPIO down to 0V.
When the switch is pressed, VCC is connected directly to the GPIO input. This has the following effect: The voltage drops completely at the pulldown resistor and thus is at the GPIO input VCC on and thus a "high".
5. What values should pullup and pulldown resistors have?
How big the resistances should depend on the application. Normally, values of 10 to 100k Ohm are suitable. So you do not necessarily have to take the often recommended 10k Ohm resistors. It may be more. That's clever if you do not have the right resistance.
There is even a strong case for using a value greater than 10k Ohm. For example, the internally switchable pull-up and pull-down resistors are between 50 and 65k Ohm. One should orientate oneself on that. A resistance value of 10k Ohm is therefore to be understood as a lower value.
A higher resistance than 10k Ohm is especially necessary if Raspberry Pi is powered by battery, battery or solar. Then it comes down to the lowest possible power consumption and then you should perhaps use greater resistance values than 10k Ohm. Namely, if in the ground state current over a too small pull-up or pull-down resistance flows, then this is at the expense of power consumption and reduces the running time.
Example calculation: With a VCC of 3.3 V and a pull-up resistor of 10k Ohm, 0.33 mA flow through the resistor to the GPIO input in the default state. That is not much. But with a higher resistance, you can cut power consumption even further. For example, with 1 MOhm. But, then you have to make sure that the contacts and pins are protected against dust because otherwise, the contact resistance at the pins leads to a voltage divider between pull-up / pull-down resistor and contact resistance. In such a case, one can search for the error for a long time.
6. Why you should not a pull-up or pull-down resistor be less than 10K ohms?
If a switch-resistor combination is used when wiring a GPIO input, then in the ground state (open switch) only a current flows through the resistor. Now, when the switch is actuated, the voltage across the resistor and the closed switch is split. Since the closed switch in the optimum case has 0 ohms, there is no voltage drop. Now it is the case that a switch never has zero ohms. At the low contact resistance of the switch contacts always falls from a voltage that is barely measurable and therefore can be neglected in the rule.
But if the contact resistance of the switch contacts is too large and the pull-up or pull-down resistance is too small, then the ratio of the partial voltages to the resistor and switch may change unfavorably. Under certain circumstances, the level for a high or a low is not reached. Especially with small voltages and currents, you should consider that something like this can happen.
7. Why you should a pull-up or pull-down resistor be less than 10K ohms?
In general, a resistance of at least 10k Ohm or more is recommended for pull-up and pull-down resistors. Now, with larger pull-up or pull-down resistors, the susceptibility to faults at switches also increases.
The reason is that in harsh environments with dust generation, frequently changing temperature, and high humidity due to chemical processes, the nature of metallic surfaces changes. Oxidation or corrosion can increase the electrical resistance of metal contacts and junctions.
This is not a problem if we are dealing with a protected environment in which Raspberry Pi and its external circuitry are protected from outside influences.
Nevertheless, some electronics practitioners recommend working with pull-up and pull-down resistors under 10k Ohm down to 1k Ohm. The idea is that a significant current through the switch contacts breaks through the deposits. The stream cleans the contacts, so to speak. If the currents are too low, the deposits on the switch contacts will remain and lead to a higher contact resistance and thus to errors in detection of the switch state. Furthermore, a current of a few mA much more likely to swallow glitches from the outside, as a current of only a few microamps.
8. Which principle should be used? Pullup or pulldown resistor?
The question is, if one has the choice if one applies Pullup- or Pulldown-Prinzip, thus against Ground (GND) or + VCC switches, which variant one should prefer?
The short answer: From a certain point of view, that is a philosophical question. It does not really matter. However, the practical electronics and thus the wiring of GPIOs has some pitfalls, which is why it may play a role. And that's why the long answer follows.
If you have the choice whether to switch to GND or VCC, then this is a question of interference immunity. In practice, one tends to connect GPIO inputs with a pull-up resistor to + VCC and switch it to Ground (GND).
Reason: With the pull-up principle, that is, resistance to VCC, all circuit parts are referred to GND. So you have the lowest impedance level that the circuit can get. If this GND is a printed circuit board or a surface (tarpaulin) on a circuit board, then this also has the advantage, among other things, that hardly any unwanted current loops can form in the external wiring with the printed circuit board. Except, you work with very high frequencies.
If a GND intercepts an interference signal, then this has (almost) no influence on the rest of the circuit. Additional ceramic capacitors between VCC and GND provide the same potential.
With the pull-up principle, you are allowed to do something stupid. For example, an unfavorable wiring from the switch to the GPIO pin.
The pull-down principle is different. Here there is a much higher risk, because an external interference signal can influence the VCC and different tracks exist for VCC. That is, a VCC can catch a glitch rather than a GND. To make matters worse, that you can not see what is going on in case of failure.
By using capacitors between VCC and GND, as well as parallel to the switch, one can keep the sensitivity of VCC low by momentary glitches. Nevertheless, if you want to be on the safe side, then the pull-up principle is recommended.
And now we come to the everyday small electronics reality. Let's start with a relatively small device, in which the entire circuit consists of a button or switch function. For example, if you connect the GPIOs of a Raspberry Pi. Here, hardly any critical faults are to be expected from adjacent components or printed conductors. Because they are not connected, for example. In such a case it is completely irrelevant whether the pull-up or pull-down principle is applied.
You only get a problem if you work with longer line between switch and GPIO pin. And then it depends on where these lines lead. If z. For example, if a 230VAC cable is nearby and a lamp is turned on and off at the end of the cable, then steep voltage edges will be created in this cable during switching. The scatter as a short needle pulses in the supply of the button or switch to the GPIO. An open contact may cause false triggering because this pulse is routed to the output of the GPIO front-end.
This can be avoided by using a ceramic capacitor (Kerko) in parallel with the switch or button with a value of 100 nF. In combination with a pull-up resistor of 10k Ohm this gives a time constant of 1 ms. This is enough to block fine needle pulses that are in the range of μs and below.
Capacitor and resistor should be as close as possible to the GPIO. Especially the capacitor. At the switch or button, the capacitor brings nothing. Especially not with a long line.
So golden Raspberry Pi GPIO rule applies: If we just connect a simple switch on Raspberry Pi GPIO to internally change the state between "high" and "low" (a program evaluates this state). Then take a pullup resistor and switch to GND.
Since the basic state of the GPIO input is then usually "high" or "1", it is switched to "low" or "0". Then you have to negate this in the evaluating program or source code, if the default state should be "Low" or "0".
9. Should I use the internal pull-up / pull-down resistors of a GPIO input?
All GPIOs have an internal, software-selectable pull-up or pull-down resistor of 50 to 65k Ohm. Exceptions are pins 3 and 5 (GPIO 2 and GPIO 3). These are the pins for SDA and SCL of the I2C bus. These are physically connected with 1.8k Ohm fixed with pull-up resistors, which can not be switched off.
In general, it makes sense to obstruct real resistors in the circuit. Because you do not forget to switch on the software side. The problem with this is that you cannot be sure that this always works and in any case. If an input circuit relies on it, it may cause a malfunction if the resistor is missing. In that sense, it is better to use external resistors. As you can see that they are available.
If you want to switch on the internal resistors, then you have to take into account that external resistors, which are connected in parallel, in the sum lead to a different total resistance.
When connecting resistors in parallel, the following rule applies: The total resistance of the parallel connection is smaller than the smallest partial resistance. This means that a parallel resistor always causes the current to increase. Furthermore, with two identical partial resistors, the total resistance corresponds to half of a partial resistance.
This does not mean that the wiring is faulty, but that the assumptions that have been made are not correct and can lead to a malfunction if the wiring is already on the verge of feasibility. |
0.999418 | STIPULATED: the killing of innocents is an egregious crime, regardless of the victims and the perpetrators. Period. Full stop.
BUT we dare not tolerate the abhorrent violation of civilized behavioral norms to deter us from much needed truth-telling because that would be a deadly mistake. A (moral) crime and failing.
MORE revealingly, just because the victims were followers of Muhammad, is the Islamic community now deemed innocent of worldwide Jihad, thereby, exculpated?
ACUTELY, this expert on Islamic Jihad has proven (six ways to Sunday) that an increasingly large portion of followers of Islam slaughter infidels in the belief that God talked to Muhammad, their prophet and supreme role-model, and dictated the Koran to him. As such, Muhammadans are indoctrinated into believing the Koran is the revelation of God’s word, hence, they are mandated to act on the numerous incitements against non-believers. It is this uncomfortable, anxiety-ridden and terrifying truth that western leaders (elected and non-elected elites) dare not address. Their stone-cold silence is both manifold and manifest.
IN this respect, regardless of PC blow-back, pointing out the elephant in the room in no way minimizes the massacre in New Zealand. Simply, true believers of Islam, Muhammadans, are not allowed to embrace the laws of the land outside Dar al-Islam (land of the believers), that is, except for the sake of temporary expediency. Thus, they remain committed to imposing Sharia Law within the west and elsewhere, and by whatever means possible. Killing atop killing. Creep by creep. Despite all else, Westerners must face this ugly truth, if not, it will end up costing a continuous stream of bloody trails.
WITH said disinfectant now clearing the air, let’s get down to the following brass tacks: incontestably, there is highly disparate reporting from so-called mainstream media (and piggybacked by social media) when Muslims, on the VERY rare occasion, are targeted, as juxtaposed against continuous rampages perpetrated by them. Why is this?
Where is the media’s outrage when Muslims massacre at will throughout the west and beyond, even as they live-stream their carnage on Facebook and the rest of social media? Hint: hide nor hair. In fact, “BANNED: How Facebook Enables Militant Islamic Jihad ” (9/2016) had to be written to document said enabling of their worldwide bloody trails – in tandem with a back-benching media which operates alongside social media giants. Yes, Muhammadans have to be protected at all costs!
Conversely, this too must be made crystal clear: the media’s fury is consistently selective in nature. Consider: as is known, Christchurch’s killer, Brenton Tarrant, live-streamed via Facebook. This brazen and heinous action (rightfully) sent many poohbahs into collective spasms against social media giants. On the other hand, stone-cold silence ensued after the very same live-streaming during Omar Mir Seddique Mateen’s Jihad at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub, June 2016. What’s going on?
It is alongside said double standard and mendaciously biased reporting that the onus is placed on Trump’s head for a massacre which happened across the world! For heavens sake. On the flip side, the very same media-inciters never, ever blamed Obama, most tellingly, when the aforementioned Jihad in Orlando exploded. Mind you, under his two-term tenure, that atrocity came atop countless domestic Jihadi terror attacks. Indeed, why is it no longer expected that reporting remains fair, unbiased, and non-politicized?
Even more so, how Pavlovian can their (mis)reporting be when, paradoxically, it dovetails with an admission from New Zealand’s mass shooter? Rhetorical. In other words, contained within Brenton Tarrant’s long-winded 74-page manifesto was a desire to stoke a confrontation between “gun control” advocates and those opposed. Well, even a killer can, at times, see the forest from the trees. Not only that, reportedly, he chose firearms (instead of other explosive methods) as a mode of delivery to ignite the fire which would expedite and reveal the grave divisions within American politics. The man is evil but not stupid. Think about this: in a roundabout way he mirrored Obama Inc. – when the Race-Baiter-in-Chief (with a myriad of associates) sparked the gravest division between blacks and whites, ever since the race-roiled 1960’s! Indeed.
So, Tarrant, twisted as he is, understood this corresponding truth: as a New Zealand gun license holder, yes, he was able to purchase a legal firearm. Still yet, legally obtained or otherwise, he would not have been deterred. Duh. And, just as the sun rises and sets, reflexively, the media pounced on this tragedy to reignite “gun control”, exactly like Tarrant predicted – instead of standing up for VERY long overdue truth-telling. No doubt, he pinpointed the western affliction.
Now, the aforementioned should hardly be unexpected, disquieting as it is. After all, how could it come as a shock? For, in reality, these ugly truths were outed in BANNED (Sept. 2016) and well documented in bullet-proof fashion. Intrinsically, the very same media complicity is zeroed in on throughout the book. But, most vividly, it hits home in the book’s “AFTERWORD: JIHAD IN ORLANDO: FACEBOOK TAKES CENTER STAGE “, page 151.
“As anticipated, the leftward and Islamic captured media went into hyper-drive, yarn-like, they spun what has become incessant fairy tale ‘reporting.’ They parroted Obama’s basic mantra: it’s the gun, stupid! And as if reading from the same demented script, the troika, namely, Obama Inc., media mouthpieces, and a plethora of smug professorial types, all chimed in with nary a hint about Islam’s poisonous roots threatening to upend America/the west. How can this be?”……..
OMINOUSLY, it is into this western nightmare – a vortex of hell, to be more precise – that particular dangers must be highlighted, again, regardless of the anger and blow-back it provokes.
BRAZENLY, as if on perfect cue from a maestro, CAIR – the Brotherhood Mafia’s propaganda arm in North America and Hamas’s U.S. front-arm – jumped right in the fray, that is, to orchestrate “prescriptive” measures to protect Muslims – never mind that it is the worldwide Christian and Jewish communities which require 24/7 guard from Islamic Jihad! No doubt, rational folks realize that this is the truth.
PREDICTABLY, their remedy is to silence any and all criticism of Islam – dictated by the Koran ala Sharia Law, as weaponized through the ‘made up out of whole cloth’ bugaboo, Islamophobia!
How should you respond if you hear an anti-Muslim slur or read a hateful post on social media?
The terror attack on mosques in New Zealand has lent new urgency to educating the public about those questions, say Islamic leaders. It’s not OK to be silent, they stress. But it’s also not a great idea to angrily take the bait.
In personal interactions, don’t engage the aggressor, he said, but rather support the person being attacked. Once one person has spoken up, others often will follow.
These are among the suggestions offered as the world reels from the latest violent attack on Muslims. Friday’s attack by a white nationalist at two mosques in Christchurch, which killed at least 49 people, is an extreme example of growing anti-Muslim sentiment sweeping the Western world, said Muslim leaders, and people with a moral compass need to make their voices heard.
Exactly how to do that is the issue.
Worshipers at the Baitul Islam Mosque in Vaughan, Ontario, said a special prayer for victims of the New Zealand attacks.
Angry verbal sparring doesn’t change anyone’s mind, so it may be one of the least effective ways to combat hate speech, they said. Likewise, arguing your facts against their alleged facts rarely leads to illumination, because they simply don’t believe them.
“You have a certain segment of society that actually believes Muslims are trying to enact sharia law in the United States,” said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the national CAIR organization.
CAIR offers a Challenging Islamophobia Pocket Guide with advice on how to document, report and respond to anti-Muslim statements in the media, workplaces, schools and community. It can be downloaded and tucked in a wallet.
Perhaps the best tool for combating Islamophobia is getting non-Muslims to engage with Muslims, ideally face to face, said Muslim leaders. Americans who have Muslim friends and acquaintances are less likely to spout hate speech than others.
Mosques should continue their outreach into neighborhoods, inviting people in, anti-discrimination experts said. And churches need to help demystify Muslims to their congregations, they said. Civic institutions such as schools and universities also must build more opportunities for Muslims to interact with their non-Muslim neighbors.
INFIDELS, wherever you are, trust, CAIR’s emphasis on ‘peaceful’ engagement is nothing short of mendacious lies; that which are underpinned, once again, by Sharia Law via taqiyya and tawriya. Inextricably. Dawa alike.
INEXTRICABLY, the Jihad which is raging against Christians (across the world) is another manifestation of the concomitant Jihad against Jews, both of which are underpinned by Islam’s basis. Invariably, the left – with the media at the forefront – is wholly invested and aligned in the protection of the Islamist narrative. It is akin to fellow anti-American travelers converging around a common enemy.
ALAS, the assertion that the slaughter in New Zealand is incompatible within any civilized society in no way obviates the necessity for the above truth-telling. And those who contend otherwise are either ignorant, PC addicted, foolish in the extreme, or malevolent in intent – towards infidels!
Reportage On New Zealand’s Terror Attack Vis-à-vis The Double Standard Applied To Islamic-Based Terrorism: What’s Going On?
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged CAIR's western takeover, Challenging Islamophobia Pocket Guide, Facebook/social media culpability, massacre in New Zealand, media's double standard by Adina Kutnicki. Bookmark the permalink. |
0.977215 | The parasitic sucking lice of primates are known to have undergone at least 25 million years of coevolution with their hosts. For example, chimpanzee lice and human head/body lice last shared a common ancestor roughly six million years ago, a divergence that is contemporaneous with their hosts. In an assemblage where lice are often highly host specific, humans host two different genera of lice, one that is shared with chimpanzees and another that is shared with gorillas. In this study, we reconstruct the evolutionary history of primate lice and infer the historical events that explain the current distribution of these lice on their primate hosts.
Phylogenetic and cophylogenetic analyses suggest that the louse genera Pediculus and Pthirus are each monophyletic, and are sister taxa to one another. The age of the most recent common ancestor of the two Pediculus species studied matches the age predicted by host divergence (ca. 6 million years), whereas the age of the ancestor of Pthirus does not. The two species of Pthirus (Pthirus gorillae and Pthirus pubis) last shared a common ancestor ca. 3–4 million years ago, which is considerably younger than the divergence between their hosts (gorillas and humans, respectively), of approximately 7 million years ago.
Reconciliation analysis determines that there are two alternative explanations that account for the current distribution of anthropoid primate lice. The more parsimonious of the two solutions suggests that a Pthirus species switched from gorillas to humans. This analysis assumes that the divergence between Pediculus and Pthirus was contemporaneous with the split (i.e., a node of cospeciation) between gorillas and the lineage leading to chimpanzees and humans. Divergence date estimates, however, show that the nodes in the host and parasite trees are not contemporaneous. Rather, the shared coevolutionary history of the anthropoid primates and their lice contains a mixture of evolutionary events including cospeciation, parasite duplication, parasite extinction, and host switching. Based on these data, the coevolutionary history of primates and their lice has been anything but parsimonious.
Sucking lice (Phthiraptera: Anoplura) are permanent and obligate ectoparasites of eutherian mammals. These highly specialized blood-sucking insects live in close association with their hosts and complete their entire life cycle on the host . Anoplurans have modified mouthparts for feeding on host blood and because mammalian blood differs widely among species in terms of its suitability for louse nutrition , sucking lice can be highly host specific [1, 3]. Host specificity could also be reinforced by interactions with the host's immune system. High host specificity can arise from a long history of cospeciation between hosts and their parasites. Cospeciation is speciation (or cladogenesis) in a parasite lineage as a result of, or at the same time as, host cladogenesis . The current distribution of parasites on host taxa (the host-parasite associations) can be the result of cospeciation or various historical events such as host switching, sorting events (extinction and lineage sorting), duplication events (parasites speciating on a single host lineage), and failure of the parasite to speciate when the host speciates ('missing the boat'; ). These historical processes can be detected by comparing the phylogenies of hosts and their parasites using methodologies such as reconciliation analysis . Previous cophylogenetic studies of lice (both sucking lice and chewing lice) have documented each of these historical events in various combinations (for a review, see ).
Humans (Homo sapiens) are parasitized by two genera of sucking lice: one shared with chimpanzees (Pan spp.) and the other shared with gorillas (Gorilla gorilla). Human head and body lice, as well as chimpanzee lice, are members of the genus Pediculus (Pediculus humanus and Pediculus schaeffi, respectively). There is no Pediculus species known to parasitize gorillas. Human pubic lice and gorilla lice belong to the genus Pthirus (Pthirus pubis and Pthirus gorillae, respectively), and no Pthirus species is known to parasitize chimpanzees. Pediculus and Pthirus are sister taxa based on morphology and molecular data (Figure 1), and primate lice are known to have cospeciated with their hosts for at least 25 million years . The curious distribution of these two genera raises an interesting question regarding the evolutionary history of primate lice. Why do humans retain both genera, but chimpanzees and gorillas have only one genus each?
Phylogenetic trees for primate lice and their vertebrate hosts redrawn from Reed et al . . Trees are shown as cladograms with no branch length information, and are based on molecular and morphological data. Dashed lines between trees represent host-parasite associations. Humans are unique in being parasitized by two genera (Pediculus and Pthirus). Photo credits: J. W. Demastes, T. Choe, and V. Smith.
Given what is already known about the coevolutionary history of the lice and their hosts, we can speculate that there are two mutually exclusive explanations that can account for the current distribution of Pediculus and Pthirus (Figure 2). The most parsimonious explanation (i.e., the explanation requiring the fewest number of steps) predicts perfect cospeciation between the primates and lice with the addition of a single host switch. In this scenario, the divergence between Pediculus humanus and Pediculus schaeffi occurred at the same time as the split between their hosts, humans and chimpanzees, ca. 6 million years ago (MYA; ), and the split between Pediculus and Pthirus occurred contemporaneously with the split between gorillas and the lineage leading to chimpanzees and humans (ca. 7 MYA; Figure 2A; ). These events were followed some time later by one host switch of a Pthirus species from gorillas to humans (Figure 2A). Host switching among lice is common in many groups of birds and mammals [11–13]. This 'recent host switch' hypothesis requires one evolutionary step and predicts that the divergence between Pthirus pubis and Pthirus gorillae is more recent than the chimpanzee/human split (Figure 2A). How we might have acquired our pubic lice from gorillas is not immediately apparent, however it would be interesting to know whether the switch was very recent (say less than 100,000 years old) or whether it was considerably older.
Cophylogenetic reconstructions with the host phylogeny for humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and Old World monkeys indicated by thick grey lines, and the louse phylogeny indicated by thin red and blue lines. (A) Reconstruction showing perfect cospeciation between with hosts and parasites with the exception of a single host switch of Pthirus sp. from gorillas to humans (marked by an arrow). (B) Cophylogenetic reconstruction showing an ancient duplication creating two evolutionarily distinct lineages (Pediculus and Pthirus), each having cospeciated with gorillas, chimps, and humans with two extinction events (marked with daggers). The reconciliation shown in panel A requires one evolutionary step (the host switch), whereas reconciliation B requires three steps (one duplication and two extinctions).
The alternative hypothesis involves an ancient louse duplication event that occurred on the ancestor of gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans, which would have created the lineages leading to the two extant genera, Pediculus and Pthirus (Figure 2B). In this case, the timing of the divergence between Pthirus pubis and Pthirus gorillae would correspond to that of their hosts (ca. 7 MYA; ). In this scenario, humans would have retained both genera, but chimpanzees would have lost a Pthirus species and gorillas would have lost a Pediculus species to extinction (Figure 2B). Such parasite duplications and extinctions are common in the lice of birds and mammals (e.g., ). This parasite extinction or 'pair of lice lost' model is less parsimonious than the 'recent host switch' hypothesis listed above because it requires at least three evolutionary steps (a duplication of the parasite on a primate common ancestor as well as the extinction of one Pediculus and one Pthirus lineage, Figure 2B). Although the 'recent host switch' hypothesis is more parsimonious, it is not necessarily more likely than the 'pair of lice lost' hypothesis. Each of the historical events (host switch, duplication, and extinction) has some probability of occurrence, the quantification of which is beyond the scope of this paper. There are additional hypotheses that can be postulated that have more evolutionary steps than the two presented above, however there are no other hypotheses that have an equal number of steps or fewer steps. For instance, one might assume that the current distribution of lice resulted from a host switch of Pthirus from humans to gorillas (the opposite direction of the switch in the 'recent host switch' model). However, this evolutionary scenario would require at least five evolutionary steps.
The two hypotheses of parasite distributions ('pair of lice lost' and 'recent host switch') are based on the premise of maximizing the number of cospeciation events and minimizing the number of events that deviate from cospeciation, which are typical of analyses that attempt to reconcile host and parasite associations that are based on the concept of evolutionary parsimony (reconciliation analysis as implemented in TreeMap; ). However, parsimony-based reconciliation analyses do not take into account branch lengths and divergence times – information that is essential to distinguish between the 'recent host switch' and 'pair of lice lost' hypotheses. In the presence of significant cospeciation we can use the timing of speciation events to differentiate among alternative hypotheses of host-parasite associations .
We have performed phylogenetic and cophylogenetic analyses of two genes, the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (Cox1) gene and nuclear gene elongation factor 1 alpha (EF-1α) gene, to determine the shared evolutionary history of primate lice and their hosts. We also investigate the use of standard phylogenetic methods for reconstructing coevolutionary histories when standard cophylogenetic methods (e.g., reconciliation analysis) cannot always find the solution that best fits the observed data.
The partition homogeneity test determined that the Cox1 and EF-1α genes did not differ significantly (p = 0.94), therefore a combined analysis was performed in addition to analyses based on single genes. The best-fit model for each individual gene and the combined-gene analysis of lice was a transversion model (TrN+I+Γ model) that permitted two nucleotide substitution rates for transversions, one rate for transitions, unequal base frequencies, a rate heterogeneity parameter (G), and a parameter for invariant sites (I). Similarly, the best-fit model for the Cox1 gene from the primate host taxa was also TrN+I+Γ. Maximum likelihood (ML) analysis of the combined Cox1 and EF-1α dataset (as well as individual gene datasets) from lice produced a single, well-supported phylogeny in agreement with results from previous analyses (Figure 3; ). When the same ML analysis was performed enforcing a molecular clock, the resulting tree topology did not change and the resulting tree score was not significantly different than the unconstrained score (p = 0.7625). The ML analysis of the host Cox1 data also resulted in a single phylogeny in agreement with known relationships among these primate taxa (Figure 3).
Maximum likelihood (ML) phylogeny of primate lice using the combined Cox1 and EF-1α dataset with a best-fit ML model of nucleotide substitution (left). Bootstrap values are indicated below the nodes and divergence estimates are given above. Clade numbers used in Table 1 are provided to the right of each node. The ML phylogeny of the Cox1 gene from host taxa is indicated on the right. Branch lengths are drawn to the same scale (substitutions/site), and are based on the best-fit ML model of nucleotide substitution. Dashed lines connect hosts and their associated parasites.
Cophylogenetic analyses using TreeMap produced two reconciliations of host and parasite phylogenies in agreement with the 'recent host switch' and 'pair of lice lost' hypotheses presented in Figure 2. The reconciliation concordant with the 'recent host switch' hypothesis (Figure 2A) included five cospeciation events and one host switch for a total cost of 1.0. The reconstruction concordant with the 'pair of lice lost' hypothesis (Figure 2B) was less parsimonious. While this reconstruction included five cospeciation events, there was also a single duplication event and two losses resulting in a total cost of 3.0. Both reconciliations show significantly greater similarity between the host and parasite trees than would be expected based on chance alone (i.e., both reconciliations show significant cospeciation, p < 0.05).
Divergence date estimates differed little between r8s and multidivtime analyses and between individual and combined genes (Table 1). For convenience we will refer to divergence date estimates based on the combined gene tree used in multidivtime (Table 1 and Figure 3). Mean divergence date estimates for the split between the chimpanzee and human head/body lice (Pediculus schaeffi and Pediculus humanus, respectively) averaged 6.39 MYA. The divergence date estimates for the gorilla and human pubic lice (Pthirus gorillae and Pthirus pubis, respectively) averaged 3.32 MYA and are noticeably more recent than the split between the two Pediculus species. The estimated divergence date for the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of the two genera, Pthirus and Pediculus, was estimated to be 12.95 MYA (Table 1 and Figure 3), noticeably older than the MRCA of chimpanzees, humans, and gorillas.
Mean divergence date estimates (in millions of years) for the clades shown in Figure 3 (see Figure 3 for clade numbers). Divergence estimates using a 20–25 calibration point for the split between Old World primate lice (Pedicinus) and Anthropoid primate lice (Pediculus and Pthirus) in multidivtime are given in the first three columns (95% credibility intervals in parentheses). Mean divergence date estimates using 20 MYA and 25 MYA calibration points for the split between Old World and Anthropoid primate lice using the Langley Fitch model in r8s are indicated in the final four columns for the Cox1+EF1α combined analysis and the Cox1 gene alone.
Reconciliation analysis using TreeMap corroborates earlier reports of significant cospeciation between primate lice and their hosts . These cophylogenetic analyses also result in two reconciliations of the host and parasite phylogenies where the most parsimonious reconstruction favors the 'recent host switch' hypothesis (Figure 2A). However, divergence date estimates conflict with the results of the reconciliation analysis because the 'recent host switch' hypothesis predicts that the divergence of Pediculus and Pthirus would be roughly contemporaneous with the split between gorillas and the lineage leading to humans and chimpanzees. Our estimates of the MRCA of Pediculus and Pthirus dates to roughly 13 MYA, not remotely consistent with the MRCA of humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas (ca. 7 MYA; ). Given the much older age of our MRCA of Pediculus and Pthirus, it is more appropriate, although less parsimonious, to assume that the origin of the two genera was the result of a parasite duplication event rather than a cospeciation event ('pair of lice lost' hypothesis; Figure 2B). It is curious that the estimate of the MRCA of Pthirus and Pediculus (13 MYA) is contemporaneous with the divergence of Orangutans from other apes , however this is possibly coincidental. Lice do not parasitize orangutans; therefore, reconstructing their role in the evolutionary history of primate sucking lice will be difficult.
The 'pair of lice lost' hypothesis is also unsatisfactory when compared to divergence date estimates. For the 'pair of lice lost' hypothesis to be correct we must assume that divergence between Pthirus pubis and Pthirus gorillae is roughly contemporaneous with the split of gorilla from the lineage leading to chimpanzees and humans (i.e., ca. 7 MYA). Our divergence date estimates of roughly 3–4 MYA (Table 1) is much younger than the host divergence of 7 MYA and is even younger than the divergence between chimpanzees and humans (ca. 6 MYA).
The estimates of divergence dates argue for a more complex evolutionary history than estimated by reconciliation analysis. While reconciliation analysis serves to find the most parsimonious reconstruction of host and parasite evolutionary history by maximizing cospeciation events and minimizing the cost of the reconstruction, it can only identify possible scenarios describing the evolutionary history between associated taxa. Incorporating branch length data in other analyses is necessary to determine which scenario best fits the observed data. For example, post-hoc Mantel tests are commonly used to look for overall correlation in host and parasite data sets . However, we have too few taxa to perform such an analysis, and we have instead relied upon ad-hoc phylogenetic tests to determine whether certain nodes of cospeciation were contemporaneous.
To further examine the validity of the 'pair of lice lost' hypothesis, we assessed whether the divergence of the two Pthirus species was contemporaneous with the host divergence of roughly 7 MYA. The branch length between the two Pthirus species in the best-fit ML louse tree was artificially lengthened to approximate a branch that is the same age as the branch between Pediculus schaeffi and Pediculus humanus, thereby representing the split between chimp and human lice. It is widely known that the gorilla, chimpanzees, and human divergence times are very close in age, so if our estimate is contemporaneous with the divergence of chimpanzees and humans (the most conservative expected age), then we cannot rule out true contemporaneous times of divergence between the two Pthirus species and their hosts. The likelihood score of this constrained tree (with a branch length approximating a 6 million year divergence between Pthirus gorillae and Pthirus pubis) was significantly worse than the true louse tree (where the estimated divergence was closer to 3–4 MYA; d.f. = 6, χ2 = 12.91, p = 0.044). We can therefore reject contemporaneous divergence events and we can conclude that the split between the human and gorilla species of Pthirus diverged much more recently than the split between humans and gorillas or even humans and chimpanzees. The divergence within Pthirus is therefore the result of a host switch from gorillas to humans (loosely defined) roughly 3–4 MYA, as predicted in the 'recent host switch' hypothesis.
We can similarly examine the divergence date estimation for the branch between Pthirus and Pediculus, which the 'recent host switch' model would predict to be 7 MYA. Our estimates were much older (Table 1), and shortening the branch length artificially between Pthirus and Pediculus to resemble a divergence near 7 MYA can be easily rejected (p < 0.01). These analyses support an ancient duplication at that node, consistent with the 'pair of lice lost' model. Therefore, contrary to the results of the reconciliation analysis, the divergence date estimates predict a much less parsimonious explanation of current primate louse distributions: a combination of the 'recent host switch' and 'pair of lice lost' hypotheses.
Given our estimates of divergence dates, the most likely evolutionary history is that Pthirus and Pediculus diverged on an ancestor of chimpanzee, human, and gorilla roughly 13 MYA (a duplication event), with each genus then having the potential to cospeciate with descendent hosts (Figure 4). However, only the gorillas retained Pthirus with an extinction of Pthirus on the branch leading to both humans and chimpanzees (Figure 4). Pediculus was maintained on the lineage leading to humans and chimpanzees but lost from the gorilla lineage, and the two resulting species (Pediculus schaeffi and Pediculus humanus) diverged in tandem with their primate hosts roughly six million years ago (Figure 4). Approximately 3–4 MYA, a Pthirus species switched from the gorilla lineage to the lineage leading to modern humans. It is important to note that this happened after the divergence of chimpanzees and humans and that these data suggest humans acquired their pubic louse from gorillas not recently, but rather 3–4 million years ago. In total, this coevolutionary scenario requires four evolutionary steps (one duplication, two losses, and one host switch), and is a combination of both the 'recent host switch' and the 'pair of lice lost' hypotheses.
Coevolutionary reconstruction of primate lice and their hosts based on reconciliation analysis and divergence date estimation. Thick grey lines represent the host phylogeny for humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and Old World monkeys. Thin black lines (solid and dashed) represent the louse lineages. This evolutionary scenario depicts a parasite duplication ca. 13 MYA leading to the extant genera Pediculus (solid lines) and Pthirus (dashed lines). One species from each lineage is depicted as having gone extinct (dagger), and a single host switch ca. 3–4 MYA is shown by an arrow within the Pthirus lineage. The divergence of the chimpanzee and human lice (Pediculus spp.) are shown as having diverged in tandem with their hosts.
Evidence suggests that Pthirus pubis has been associated with humans for several million years, and likely arrived on humans via a host switch from gorillas. Despite the fact that human pubic lice are primarily transmitted via sexual contact, such contact is not required to explain the host switch. Parasites often switch from a given species to a predator of that species , and are sometimes found to switch to unrelated hosts in communally used areas, such as roosting or nesting sites . The host switch in question could have resulted from any form of contact between archaic humans and gorillas including, but not limited to, feeding on or living among gorillas. Regardless of how the transfer occurred, suitable habitat had to be available on the new human host for the host switch to be successful. For example, it is possible that the switch of Pthirus from gorillas to humans coincides with a change in available niche space in humans, such as the loss of body hair. Further study, however, is required to test such a hypothesis.
Because Pthirus has been associated with humans for several million years, this taxon can be examined in the same way that Pediculus humanus has to study the evolutionary history of its human host [9, 19, 20]. Pthirus pubis represents an independent, ecological replicate that went through the same evolutionary history on humans as their head/body lice, and can be used to test predictions made from Pediculus humanus. Pediculus humanus shows genetic evidence of population expansion out of Africa roughly 100,000 years ago, which is concordant with host evolutionary history . However, in contrast to the shallow mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) gene history of humans (human mtDNA coalesce to a common ancestor within 200,000 years, [21–23]), Pediculus humanus has three deeply divergent mtDNA lineages that share a MRCA ca. 2 million years ago, which is far older than the age of their modern human hosts . Perhaps a worldwide sample of Pthirus pubis will mirror that of Pediculus humanus, and show both the population expansion 100,000 years ago and the three deeply divergent mtDNA lineages. Understanding human evolutionary history from the perspective of its parasites may provide useful insight into a brief period of history that is not fully recorded in the host fossil record or in host DNA . However, if parasites are to provide much clarity, it will likely be only after many human parasites have been examined.
The advent of parsimony-based reconciliation analysis has permitted many researchers to assess phylogenetic congruence in a wide array of host-parasite assemblages. However, this method is more limited than Bayesian approaches to studying cophylogenetics, which evaluate not only topological congruence but also the comparative timing of host and parasite divergences. It is imperative that we continue to put into practice the theoretical work that has propelled systematists forward in recent years. Only then can we hope to uncover the more complex interactions between hosts and parasites.
Samples of Pthirus gorillae (from gorillas), Pthirus pubis (from humans), Pediculus humanus (from humans), Pediculus schaeffi (from chimpanzees), Pedicinus hamadryas (from baboons), Pedicinus badii (from red colobus monkeys), and one outgroup species (Fahrenholzia reducta) were collected for this study (Table 2). Lice in the genus Pedicinus parasitize only Cercopithecoid monkeys (Old World Monkeys; OWM) whereas the genera Pediculus and Pthirus parasitize only the Anthropoid primates (apes). All lice were preserved in 95% EtOH and stored at -80°C. DNA was extracted from louse specimens using the technique of Johnson and Clayton and Reed et al. , which enabled extraction of whole genomic DNA from each louse while retaining the entire louse body as a voucher specimen. The Qiagen DNeasy Tissue Kit (QIAGEN Inc., Valencia, California) was used to isolate genomic DNA from the body of each louse according to louse-specific protocols [9, 26, 27]. After DNA extraction, lice were mounted on slides and retained as vouchers. Voucher specimens will be deposited in the Price Institute for Phthirapteran Research collection (University of Utah).
Specimens examined. Louse taxa included in phylogenetic and cophylogenetic analyses.
Abbreviations are as follows: Moore Laboratory of Zoology (MLZ), Page Lab, University of Glasgow (GLA), Lice Solutions, West Palm (WP), and Maryland Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP).
PCR amplification and sequencing of a portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (Cox1; 858 bp) was performed using the primers LCO1718 and H7005 . PCR amplification and sequencing of 345 bp of the nuclear elongation factor 1 alpha (EF-1α) gene were performed using the primers For3 and Cho10 . Double-stranded PCR amplifications for both Cox1 and EF-1α were performed in 25 μl reaction volumes using 10 μl of Eppendorf HotMaster PCR Mix (Fisher Scientific), 1 μl of each primer (at 10 mM), and 2 μl of DNA template. The amplification protocol required an initial denaturation step of 94°C for 10 min, followed by 5 cycles of 94°C (1 min), 48°C (1 min), and 65°C (2 min), then 30 cycles of 94°C (1 min), 52°C (1 min), and 65°C (2 min) and a final extension of 65°C for 10 minutes. Amplified fragments were purified using ExoSAP-IT (USB Corporation) and sequenced in both directions. Sequences were edited using Sequencher v. 4.2.2 (Gene Codes Corporation, Ann Arbor, Michigan) and aligned by eye using Se-Al v2.0a11 http://evolve.zps.ox.ac.uk/Se-Al/Se-Al.html. Primer sequences were removed and sequences were trimmed in reference to the translated protein sequence using Se-AL v2.01a11 and MacClade 4.0 . All sequences were submitted to [Genbank: EF152552-EF152564] and alignments to [TreeBase: #SN3269]. Sequences of the Cox1 gene from the primate host taxa were downloaded [Genbank: NC001807, NC001643, NC001645, NC001992, NC008219]. EF-1α sequences were not available for several primate taxa, and were therefore not examined.
The partition homogeneity test in PAUP*4.0b10 was used to evaluate phylogenetic congruence of the louse Cox1 and EF-1α data sets. One thousand partition replicates were analyzed by maximum parsimony (heuristic search option with random addition replicates and tree bisection-reconnection branch swapping). Modeltest was used to determine the best-fit ML model for the molecular data. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted on host and parasite data sets using maximum likelihood (ML) with branch and bound searches using the best-fit model in PAUP* 4.0b10 . Nonparametric bootstraps (100 replicates) were performed to assess nodal support for the louse phylogeny. ML searches were performed with and without the 'enforce clock' constraint in order to test the hypothesis of a molecular clock in the Cox1 and EF-1α louse datasets. The resulting ML host and parasite trees with branch lengths estimated from the best-fit ML model were then used in cophylogenetic analyses.
TreeMap (v. 2.0.2; ) was used to determine whether host and parasite trees were more similar to one another than would be expected by chance. Default costs for evolutionary events (codivergence = 0, host switching = 1, duplication = 1, and loss = 1) were used. Significance values were calculated from a sample of 1,000 randomly generated trees.
Because the lice and their primate hosts showed significant codivergence and because molecular data did not differ significantly from clocklike behavior, divergence dates were estimated using methods that both adhere to and relax the molecular clock. Divergence dates were estimated in the program r8s , using the Langley and Fitch (LF) model which assumes a molecular clock. Dates were also estimated using a parametric Bayesian approach in the program multidivtime. This method relaxes the molecular clock and allows rate variation among genes and lineages, and it is therefore appropriate for datasets that utilize more than one molecular marker. The topology resulting from ML analysis of the combined 2-gene data set was used in multidivtime. The Cox1 best-fit ML tree and the combined 2-gene topologies were used in r8s. Divergence dates were estimated using each individual gene (with branch lengths optimized on the best ML tree) as well as a combined 2-gene dataset.
For the parametric Bayesian analysis, model parameters for the F84+Γ model were estimated for each gene separately using the baseml program in PAML v3.14 . These parameters were then used in the program estbranches [34, 36] to estimate the ML and the variance-covariance matrix of the branch length estimates for each gene. Lastly, the program multidivtime [34, 36], utilizing the output files from estbranches and implementing Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling, was used to estimate prior and posterior distribution of rates and divergence time estimates among lineages. The prior assumption for the mean and standard deviation of the time of the ingroup root node (rttm) was set to 3.0 time units, where 1 time unit represents 10 million years. This value corresponds to the upper limit of the split between hominoid and cercopithecoid primates. The mean and standard deviation for the prior distribution of the rate of evolution at the ingroup node (rtrate and rtratesd) was determined following the protocol of Jansa et al. (rttm; ). To avoid violation of the definition of the prior, rtratesd was set to its maximum value (equal to rtrate). The Markov chain was initialized by randomly selecting the initial parameter value and each Markov chain was sampled every 100 cycles for 1,000,000 generations with a burn in of 100,000 cycles.
A calibration point of 22.5 ± 2.5 MYA was used for the split between Pedicinus and Pediculus+Pthirus. This divergence of 20–25 MYA corresponds to the split between OWM and apes [38–41]. Since lice and their primate hosts show significant cospeciation, we can use this well-established host calibration based on fossil data to calibrate the louse phylogenetic trees. It is preferable to use more than one calibration point when estimating divergence dates [42, 43], however the small number of nodes in our trees make that impossible. Furthermore, Reed et al. showed that the calibration point of 20–25 MYA yielded estimated clade ages that were very similar to those estimated from a calibration of 5–7 million years between the human and chimpanzee lice (P. humanus and P. schaeffi, respectively).
We wish to thank K. Shepherd at Lice Solutions and D. Clayton at the University of Utah for samples of head lice, Debbie Cox (Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Jane Goodall Institute) for samples of chimpanzee lice, D. Dean (Salt Lake City Public Health Center) for pubic lice, C. Whittier and M. Cranfield (Maryland Zoo Gorilla Veterinary Project) for gorilla lice, and K. Rice (Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research) for baboon lice. We thank F. K. Barker for assistance with multidivtime and two anonymous reviewers for the helpful comments and suggestions. This work was funded in part by The National Science Foundation (DBI 0102112, DBI 0445712, and DEB 0555024) and the University of Florida Research Opportunity Fund to DLR.
JEL and JMA collected specimens. JEL, JMA and JJK performed molecular lab work. DLR and JEL analyzed data and wrote the manuscript. All authors provided comments on initial and final drafts of the manuscript. |
0.972849 | A circuit consisting of a battery B that is connected by wires, which we assume have negligible resistance, to an unspecified conducting device. The device might be a resistor, a storage battery (a rechargeable battery), a motor, or some other electrical device. The battery maintains a potential difference of magnitude V across its own terminals. and thus (because of the wires) across the terminals of the unspecified device, with a greater potential at terminal a of the device than at terminal h. Since there is an external conducting path between the two terminals of the battery, and since the potential differences setup by the battery are maintained, a steady current i is produced in the circuit, directed from terminal a to terminal h. The amount of charge do that moves between those terminals in time interval it is equal to i dr. This charge dq moves through a decrease in potential of magnitude V, and thus its electric potential energy decreases in magnitude by the amount.
dU = dq V = i dr V.
The principle of conservation of energy tells us that the decrease in electric potential energy from a to b is accompanied by a transfer of energy to some other.
F = iF (rate of electric energy transfer).
You are given a length of uniform heating wire made of a nickel chromium- iron alloy called chlorine: it has a resistance R of T!. n. At what rate is energy dissipated in each of the following situations? (I) A potential difference of 120 V is applied across the full length of the wire. (2) The wire is cut in half. and a potential difference of 120 V is applied across the length of each half. |
0.98776 | مخطط ﭘراﭬر لن يمر! الحل الوحيد – ثورة اشتراكية!
RKOB - Ko smo i šta želimo!
Offener Brief: Große Aufgaben erfordern große Initiative!
Algerien: Sieg des Volksaufstands gegen Bouteflika und sein System!
Frankreich: Verteidigt die Bewegung der "Gelbe Westen" gegen staatliche Repression!
Solidarität mit den Migranten aus Venezuela!
Solidarität mit dem Freiheitskampf des tschetschenischen Volkes!
Verteidigt die Syrische Revolution in Idlib und Al-Ghouta – nicht in Afrin!
¡Grandes Tareas demandan grandes iniciativas!
Argelia: Bouteflika se retira! Ahora vamos a derrotar su sistema!
Francia: ¡Defender el movimiento de los “Chalecos Amarillos” contra la represion del Estado!
Centroamerica / Mexico / EEUU: ¡Solidaridad con la Caravana de Migrantes!
Mexico: ¡Tierra sí, Aviones no! ¡Sumemos esfuerzos para echar abajo el NAICM!
Haití: ¡El derrocamiento popular derroca al gobierno pro-FMI!
Guerra comercial global - no al patrioterismo de gran potencia en Occidente y Oriente!
Campaña: ¡Ningún Partido del Régimen Nos Representa!
¿Cual es la situacion actual del movimiento social ante las siguientes elecciones?
Belicismo en Medio Oriente: ¡Abajo todos los poderes imperialistas y la dictadura capitalista!
Brasil: ¡el autoritarismo del regimen de excepcion crece!
Este 8/M: ¡Juntas por un trabajo digno y justicia para las víctimas de feminicidio y desaparicion!
Siria: ¡No al ataque de Turquia en Afrin!
¡A organizarnos y movilizarnos contra la Ley de Seguridad Interior!
¡Larga vida al alzamiento popular en Iran!
Cataluna: ¡La eleccion bajo la sombra de la tirania madrilena!
Zimbabue: ¡Abajo el golpe militar! ¡No al regimen dinastico de Mugabe!
¡Larga vida a la Republica Catalana!
¡Abajo la Guerra colonial de Francia en Malí!
Guerre Commerciale Mondiale - Non au Grand Pouvoir Xenophobe a L'ouest et a L'est!
Algerie: Victoire de l'Insurrection Populaire contre Bouteflika et son Systeme!
Tout le soutien au peuple venezuélien contre l'imperialisme et les forces de droite!
France: Defendre le Mouvement "Gilets Jaunes" contre la Repression de l’Etat!
AMERIQUE CENTRALE / MEXIQUE / ETATS-UNIS: SOLIDARITE AVEC LES CARAVANES DE MIGRANTS!
BRESIL: VOTER POUR HADDAD - DEFAITE BOLSONARO!
Haiti: Le soulevement populaire renverse le gouvernement pro-FMI!
Le sommet entre Trump et Kim a Ouvert un Chemin Vers la Paix en Asie de L'est?
A bas le Bellicisme Imperialiste de Toutes les Grandes Puissances!
Zimbabwe: A bas le coup militaire! Non au regime dynastique de Mugabe!
Israel: For the rights of Migrants!
פועלי ומדוכאי כל העולם התאחדו במאבק למען השחרור!
Guerra commerciale mondiale: no al gingoismo delle grandi potenze occidentali e orientali!
RCIT i Rewolucyjni Komunisci Korei Poludniowej: Nie ma pokoju bez obalenia imperializmu i wladzy kapitalu!
Wielkie zadania wymagaja Wielkiej Inicjatywy!
W jakim sensie mozna mowic o przywracaniu kapitalizmu w Korei Polnocnej?
Polska: Stop represjom panstwowym przeciwko socjalistom!
Grandes Tarefas Exigem Grandes Iniciativas!
Guerra Global de Comercio - Nao a Xenofobia das Grandes Potencias no Ocidente e no Oriente!
Parem a caca as bruxas imperialista contra o fundador do WikiLeaks, Assange!
Abaixo o ataque israelense em Gaza!
BRASIL: OS GENERAIS COLOCAM BOLSONARO COMO UM PRESIDENTE DESCARTÁVEL, SE FOR PRECISO!
Franca: defender o Movimento "Coletes Amarelos" contra a Repressao do Estado!
America Central / Mexico / EUA: Solidariedade a Caravana dos Migrantes!
Brasil: VOTAR EM HADDAD- DERROTAR BOLSONARO!
Brasil: A Sombra dos Militares no Regime Golpista!
Abaixo o belicismo imperialista de todos as Grandes Potencias!
Brasil: Governo Temer e Administracao Doria Tirem as Maos de nossa Aposentadoria!
Brasil O controle do processo eleitoral pelo judiciario e pela mídia golpista e Fraude!
Viva a Revolta Popular no Ira!
Brasil: Sobre o Dia Nacional de Luta em 30.8.
Brasil: Solidariedade com a Revolta Popular!
Открытое письмо: большие задачи требуют большой инициативы!
Протесты в Ингушетии: Долой правительство Юнус-Бек Евкурова!
Оккупированные Израилем Голанские высоты: Очередная провокация Трампа!
СОКРАЩЕНИЮ СОЦИАЛЬНЫХ ПРАВ — ВСЕОБЩУЮ СТАЧКУ!
Массовые задержания во время протеста против путинской пенсионной реформы!
Грабительским “реформам” — всеобщую бессрочную забастовку!
Россия: свободу Виктору Филинкову, Игорю Шишкину и другим арестованным анархистам!
Солидарность с освободительной борьбой чеченского народа!
Lufta e Tregtise Globale: Jo Patriotizmi i Fuqive te Medha ne Perendim dhe Lindje!
Acik Mektupu Harika isler harika inisiyatif gerektirir!
RCIT - Suriye'de Zafer için Devrim!
Open Letter: Great Tasks demand Great Initiative!
Argentina: Defend Ruben "Pollo" Sobrero against Repression!
Climatic War: Socialist Green New Deal or Great New Disasters!
Organize a General Strike against Bolsonaro’s Pension Reform!
Support to Venezuelan people against Imperialism and Right-Wing Forces!
The Generals Place Bolsonaro as a Disposable President, if Necessary!
Brazil: The Shadow of the Military in the Putschist Regime!
Brazil: The Emergency Regime Advances!
Brazil: General Strike on 11.7.
Brazil: Solidarity with Popular Uprising!
Libya: Defend Tripoli! Defeat Haftar!
Down with the Blockade of Gaza!
Syria: Hail the Insurgent People Fighting for Freedom!
Algeria: Bouteflika Retreats! Now Let Us Defeat His System!
Algeria: Victory to the Popular Insurgency against Bouteflika and his System!
Israel is Responsible for the New Deaths in Gaza!
Syria: Who is Responsible for the Civilian Death Toll from March 2011 to September 2018?
Syria/Idlib: News Confirm that the Sochi Deal Means Surrender!
Mauritius: End the US-UK Occupation of the Chagos Islands!
Israel is a Terror State!
Kenya: Down with the Repression against the Students Union in Nairobi!
Syria: Down with Imperialist Warmongering of All Great Powers!
Africa: Stop the Repression against Students!
From Sharpeville to Gaza - Apartheid and its Butchers Will Be Crushed!
Defend the Syrian Revolution in Idlib and Al-Ghouta – not in Afrin!
Long Live the Popular Uprising in Iran!
More than 1.000 demonstrators in Vienna shouted "Jerusalem is Palestine!"
Syria: What Putin Has to Say about the Astana Deal and Role of the U.S.
Israel: Hands Off Lebanon and Syria!
No Criminalization of Solidarity with Palestine!
No to Criminalization of RCIT activist!
No Turkish War against Syria!
India-Pakistan: Defeat the War Mongers! Free Kashmir!
Sri Lanka: Power Struggle Within the Ruling Class Threatens Democratic Rights!
China: Defend the Muslim Uyghurs against Oppression!
France: Defend the “Yellow Vests” Movement against State Repression!
Britain: No to the Anti-Russian Hysteria and Chauvinism!
Russia: Free Viktor Filinkov, Igor Shishkin and other arrested Anarchists!
Solidarity with the Liberation Struggle of the Chechen People!
Long live the Catalan Republic!
The EU-Africa Summit is an Imperialist Trap!
Egypt: Down with Killer-General Sisi!
Down with Coup d’Etat in Brazil!
Austria: Stop the 12 Hours Work Day!
Support Chechnya's Struggle for Freedom!
Long Live the Mass Protests in Tunisia!
Action Program: Forward to a Free and Socialist Kenya!
In the last two weeks the Zionist state has proven in action, that the widespread Palestinian belief that Israel is acting to take over the alAqsa compound has substantial merit to it. This battle for sovereignty over the holy places between the Zionist colonialist society and the native Palestinian population proves right before our eyes what we have been claiming for the past decade. The idea that a colonialist society, as a whole, is in any way shape or form capable of self-containment, is ludicrous at best.
It was also proven that the native Palestinian nation cannot afford to let its guard down for even a split second. Furthermore, should it collectively take a decisive position of struggle, it could put enough pressure to send the Zionist apartheid regime on a humiliating retreat.
Retreat we say and stand by it, but unfortunately, not defeat. In order to defeat Zionism, i.e. establish a Palestinian democratic republic, a genuinely free society for all native religious groups and ethnicities from the river to the sea, Israel must lose its protective vest in the form of the corrupt, despotic and oppressive regimes throughout the region, via a renewed revolutionary Arab Spring.
Benjamin Netanyahu, who is internationally known as a person who cannot distinguish fact from fiction, has declared that Israel does not wish to change the status quo over the “Temple Mount”. However, by installing metal detectors, it had placed at the entrance to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and by using Israeli police to decide who will enter the mosques, Israel has shown that it considers itself as the sole sovereign.
Yesterday, the issue has surfaced in Jordan when an Israeli security guard murdered in cold blood two Arabs, one of them a 17-year old Palestinian. According to Jordanian news service two Jordanians have been killed and an Israeli wounded by gunfire in a residential building in the heavily fortified Israeli embassy compound in Jordan's capital of Amman. The kingdom's Public Security Directorate said that the shooting took place on Sunday evening in a residential building used by embassy staff. Police said that the two Jordanians worked for a furniture company and entered the embassy compound to carry out repairs.
According to the Israeli media the 17-year old youth attacked the guard with a screwdriver and the guard used his pistol to kill him. Even if this was the case, it is clear that the trained guard could disarm the young man very easily. The boy was killed because the guard wanted to.
King Abdullah is a loyal servant of US imperialism and an ally of Israel. Thus, he allowed the killer to leave for Israel. However, Israel was forced to remove the metal detectors, but in another humiliating act for the Muslims expressed its plans to have them replaced by most-advanced surveillance cameras.
Whether the Zionist government is acting out of plain stupidity or sinister aims, we do not have sufficient evidence to be sure. But the colonialist struggle between a settler colonialist society and the native population is gradually being nudged by the Zionist movement’s right wing towards a global religious holy war between the Jews and nearly 2 billion Muslims. The Zionist right also tries very hard to drag the Christian world along with it to participate in this bloody adventure.
This time, it retreated because it failed to provoke enough desperate and misguided individuals to retaliate in a sufficiently horrifying manner. It failed to rally enough public support outside Israel, but mostly it received enough phone calls from its neighboring ally dictators demanding that it stops contributing to the destabilization of their regimes.
Israel is not only an oppressive place for the Palestinians and the Arabs in general, but a death trap for the Jews. The only way for the Jews to survive is to break from Zionism and join the Palestinian struggle against their national oppression. To such Jews who see themselves as supporters of democracy and social justice we suggest, as a first step, joining forces with Balad, which recently officially opened its gate to social justice-oriented Israelis.
The only way forward is to organize the mass-struggle around the idea of a single decolonized democratic state formed by the Palestinian workers, urban and rural poor, and those Jews willing to break with Zionism. |
0.97314 | Be supported by a highly-qualified team of professionals who understand and meet the needs of each student.
CUSTOMER FOCUS: Our existence depends solely on the customer’s desire to do business with us. We understand that our customers and potential customers are our “true boss” and this is something we never forget.
QUALITY SERVICES: We determine our services based on the needs of our customers, always striving to exceed their expectations.
EXCELLENCE: We strive for “Best in Class” in everything we do.
INNOVATION: We seek creative ideas and new ways of thinking to grow and improve our business.
INTEGRITY: We believe in complete honesty in our interactions with each other, our customers, professionals and shareholders. We keep our promises and fulfill our commitments.
RESPECT: We value all people, treating them with dignity at all times.
COMMUNICATION: We develop ongoing communication within our organization and between our professionals and our customers in order to build relationships and gain knowledge on how to grow and improve our business.
ACCOUNTABILITY: We do what we say we will do and expect the same from others.
SELF DEVELOPMENT: We believe in the importance of self-development for each employee in order to grow our business. Each staff member accepts responsibility for his or her personal growth.
MEANINGFUL WORK: We work hard, are rewarded based on results and maintain perspective, humor and enthusiasm. |
0.937602 | Prepaid Credit Cards, Can It Help?
Prepaid credit cards are ideal for those who have a poor rating score. There are several benefits that come with having a card like this. The majority of these have a logo that is accepted in almost every store or restaurant you are in. These are a few reasons why opting to get one of these would be best.
It is good to have a card for making purchases over the phone or on the Internet. If you frequently make purchases over the internet, then this would be beneficial to you. Many people who want to buy something online, have to seek out a friend who has a card, to make this transaction for them.
Aside from making transactions over the phone, you can use it for places that require a card. Some of these places are when you are trying to rent a car. Car rental companies require that you leave a card on file, to have any additional charges on there, such as excess miles or extra services you acquired. The same goes when booking a plane flight, or checking out a hotel room.
A benefit of having a card where you make a deposit is that you are not able to go over that amount. In a regular card, you may not be aware of the current balance and run the risk of overspending. This, in turn, leaves you paying a large overdraft fee. With a loadable card, you can only spend what you are depositing in it.
If you have a teenager at home, then you can use this prepaid credit cards to give them a bit of freedom. Obtaining a card in their name, allows them to be able to have money to spend, when out with friends, or when they need something. At the same time, it provides you with peace of mind, knowing they will only spend the money you deposit on there.
This type of card is also good for those who own their own business. If you need to provide a spending allowance for your employees for things like gas, or company supplies, then this will help you do that. It will also let you keep track of the transactions your employees make with company money.
These are advantages of having prepaid credit cards. When searching for the right one, be sure to get one that is reusable, so that you can continue to add funds to that same one. Some companies also offer a rewards program, where you earn points with each transaction you make. |
0.999997 | Expedición a los Bosques Muir, partiendo de San Francisco. Nuestra expedición a los Bosques Muir (Muir Woods), partiendo de San Francisco, es un tour semi-privado, completamente narrado. ¡Éste es el tour por los Bosques Muir que le permite pasar más tiempo en el bosque! Por dos horas, podrá mirar hacia arriba, para apreciar el dosel del bosque, rodeado por los árboles de Secuoyas Redwood Costeras. ¡No adquiera un dolor de cuello! Asegúrese de apreciar las vistas y los olores, abajo en la tierra. Durante diciembre, el corazón de la temporada de reproducción del salmón, podrá incluso lograr ver al salmón forzar su camino hacia arriba contra la corriente, ¡para desovar y concluir su ciclo de vida! En mayo ocurre una carrera contra el tiempo, ya que el salmón alevín tendrá prisa por salir al mar, antes de que el flujo del agua se reduzca y permita que las olas cierren la boca del arroyo. Tome las cosas en forma relajada y dé un paseo a lo largo del arroyo Redwood y el piso del valle mayormente plano, o haga un poco de ejercicio aeróbico escalando los senderos del valle cuesta arriba, de manera que pueda ver las puntas de algunos de los árboles más altos del mundo. ¡Nuestra expedición a los Bosques Muir, saliendo de San Francisco, también incluye una parada opcional en el Puente Golden Gate (Golden Gate Bridge) o Sausalito! Al final de este tour, le dejaremos de vuelta en su hotel en San Francisco o podrá tomar un ferry de Sausalito a Fisherman's Warf o el Edificio del Ferry al final de la calle Market (tarifa del ferry no incluida).
La Expedición por los Bosques Muir, partiendo de San Francisco, está disponible diariamente.
Pasamos por Usted a su hotel en San Francisco, en el área del centro o Fisherman's Wharf, para su expedición a los Bosques Muir (Muir Woods), partiendo de San Francisco.
Nuestra expedición a los Bosques Muir que sale de San Francisco es un tour semi-privado, completamente narrado. ¡Éste es el tour por los Bosques Muir que le permite pasar el mayor tiempo posible en el bosque! Pasará, alrededor de dos horas, mirando hacia arriba para asomarse al dosel del bosque de secuoyas. Camine o realice una excursión, mientras admira algunos de los árboles Redwood más altos en el mundo. ¡Nuestra expedición a los Bosques Muir, partiendo de San Francisco, también incluye una parada opcional en el Puente Golden Gate (Golden Gate Bridge) o Sausalito! Al final de este tour, le dejaremos de vuelta en su hotel en San Francisco o podrá optar por tomar un ferry de Sausalito a Fisherman's Wharf.
We loved our tour to Muir Woods and Sausalito. Kimberly was great!
Great tour, lovely and well knowledged tour guide!
Kimberly is such a great guide !!! We learned a lot about interesting things + we had a blast with her sense of humor and her particular song moments, we still laugh when we think about it. We had a fantastic time !
Excelent Great customer service and great experience!
Our tour guide Paul was excellent, he added a couple of extra stops on the way to and from Muir Woods that added value and pictures.
Great trip! Our pick up was on time, our tour guide, Phil, was entertaining and very informative. Muir woods is amazing and enchanting. Sausalito is a beautiful little town and it’s worth seeing.
Our tour was awesome! We researched a lot of companies and tours before choosing, and it paid off. We chose this one since we got more time in Muir Woods. Our tour guide was awesome! Kimberly did a great job. She was polite, safe, and knew a lot about the places we were visiting. She kept everyone on time. We got even more time in Muir Woods than advertised. She gave great advice on where to eat in Sausalito. We would use Extranomical again!
Best Muir Woods tour for Short time tourists. The Driver/ Tour Guide wore a good attitude & aptitude of making optimum use of every hour of this short half day tour of Muir Woods.
It was a very nice tour It was a very nice tour. Our guide was excellent. We recommend Extranomical.
Muir Woods and Sausalito Tour This tour was a good way to expierence the Muir Woods and Sausalito. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and helpful throughout the tour.
The tour was amazing!! The tour was amazing!!! Phil was a fantastic guide and gave me great info for my engagement! Thanks for the bottle of wine as well!
Hotel guest very happy guest from hotel was glad to have the extra time in Muir Woods, getting there before it opened to avoid crowds. Very happy customer!
Paul was a good guide, and got us safely to the Muir Woods and back.
Great trip. Glad we chose this one.
The tour is great! Pick-up location is specific and easy to find. Phil provides interesting information about SF and the muir woods during the tour. We have got plenty of time in muir woods, and the route suggested by Phil is awesome. Time in Sausalito is also sufficient. I would recommend others to join this tour.
Frank was awesome. He introduced us all to each other as more guests joined the group. Frank was very knowledgeable and engaging. We had a great time, thank you frank.
Roman made the tour fun and interesting. We had a great tour guide. He picked us on time and while driving over to Muir Woods we learned some new facts about the woods and San Francisco. I would recommend this tour company.
We had Steve for both the muir Woods/Sausalito as well as the City tour. He was knowledgeable and funny, both in the same breath and he lent an historical perspective that not all tour guides are able to provide.
Phil went out of his way to give us a view of Golden Gate Bridge, despite fog on the way there and after the tramp thru the Muir Woods. Also, he had to detour to pick up a couple in Sausalito before Muir Woods and they were not at designated spot. He did not argue with them but graciously accepted their explanation. Well handled. The man is full of info and was eager to share.
It was great to get to Muir Woods early to enjoy the serenity before the crowds came. We had about an hour and 40 mins to walk around and take in the majesty of the redwoods. We opted to be dropped off at Sausalito for lunch and to check out the Sausalito Art Festival. Thanks Steve for recommending Scoma's - the food and service were excellent.
it was awesome the tour!
Phil has been to the Philippines and we are filipinos so there was a common ground for conveersation right away.
Phil was a great tour guide. It would have been nice to have a full 2 hours in the woods.
Phil was on time to pick us up right outside our motel. He gave us lots of local info as we drove by special places on our way to the Golden Gate Bridge. Since it was fogged in, we stopped on our way back in the afternoon. We stopped in Muir Woods and had almost an hour and a half to walk the trails. On the way to Salsilito, he played a lot of "California and SanFrancisco" songs that we thoroughly enjoyed. The ice cream shop that he recommended was wonderful. He then took us close to Lombard street so that we could hike down it and told us how to get to the Wharf from there. The next time we are in SanFran, we will take tours only with Extranomical, and we hope we have Phil as a guide again!
The tour was good. Just one - or maybe two complaints. When traveling through the city and hitting bumps the van made a lot of noise which was distracting. On the way to Muir Woods the temperature in the van was so warm and stuffy that I could hardly focus on the tour guide's talk. Everything else was just fine.
The Tour was very well organised and let us spend enough time both in Muir Woods and Sausalito. Steve has been an exceptional guide, not only did he give us interesting and relevant information about San Francisco and Muir Woods, but he also gave us a lot of tips on how to make the most of our time during our stay. He also made his best to make us feel at ease with the other guests. It was great fun in the car!
Don was very knowledgable and pleasant. He offered to take family photos and was engaged with all of the passengers. I am so glad we did this.
Very good value. Picked us up from hotel directly. 2 hours in Muir Woods at our leisure and about an hour in the sleepy little Sausalito. Roman, our guide, was excellent, funny and very knowledgeable. Would highly recommend this tour to anyone!
Trip was great. Tour guide knew his stuff and was "steady eddy". Paul was informative and was really good at setting the days itinerary and making sure things were clearly communicatied. Worth every penny.
We really enjoyed the tour! Steve provided some nice stories along the way as well as historical information. We also enjoyed the music on the way back to Sausalito along with the background on how the music came to be. We are so glad we took the morning tour as Muir Woods wasn't so crowded. We opted for the ferry ride back which allowed us to have lunch & shop in Sausalito which we really enjoyed. We would highly recommend this tour!
We booked this tour after being let down by another! Had we have known how brilliant this company would be we would' ve booked all our tours with them! Lars was absolutely brilliant - very informative. Had a great time at Muir woods and Sausalito. Would recommend to anyone. Thanks for a wonderful day!
Muir Woods was incredible and we stopped for a nice lunch in Sausalito. We also stopped at a Muir Beach overlook. Marin Headlands overlook wasn't great but only because of the fog. Our guide, Ben, was informative, helpful, funny, relaxed and engaging, making everyone feel at home. I'd definitely recommend this tour.
I was promptly picked up from the meeting point given. Lars, our Dutch tourist guide was already smiling at the start of an early day. Pick up of other tourist went very fast and we were soon on way to Muir Woods in a very comfortable small shuttle. The group size for the morning tour that stays the longest is just perfect. Lars provided a lot of interesting details about the cities history including some points on its's current situation. He made sure that we were all comfortable and gave us the plan for the trip on the way to Muir. We arrived at Muir before the park opened which was super in that no entrance fee had to be paid and we felt it was quieter than later when the many other groups pile in. Lars suggested the trails that were possible within the time we had. I managed to do the fern trail but had to keep a steady steady pace to accomplish that. Wouldn't advise it for slower walkers or if you want to stop much. After this we were driven to Sausalito. If you are serious about visiting the place then I would suggest you take the ferry option back to SF as there is just a 30 minute stay. Sausalito has some interesting restaurants. Overall I was very happy with the tour. Highlights are the longer time spent at Muir. Other tours spend less time here which is probably too short. I would have loved to find a tour that allowed us to stay even longer. Muir is very difficult to get to if you want to visit during the week, without a car. I would recommend extranomical and Lars.
We had an amazing time on this tour. Phil was great - friendly, professional, very accommodating. I loved the small group over a large bus tour. There was plenty of time on the tour to really see the Muir Woods. I'm so glad we booked with you, and we'll definitely keep Extranomical in mind the next time we are sightseeing!
Phil Siegel was an excellent tour guide . Friendly , with good sense of humor and gentle. We really enjoyed the trip to the woods. The music was in line at the time . I recommend this trip to the woods.
Phil was an exceptional guide, giving us so much history and background with a sense of humor. We loved that our tour was small and international. I was so glad Phil was driving -- he was an excellent dream ver.
First of all, Phil was awesome! From the time he picked us up at the hotel to when he dropped us off in Fisherman's Wharf, he kept us entertained. He was very knowledgeable about San Fran and the history of the city. If you're able to get Phil for a tour, I highly recommend him! On to the actual tour - after picking everyone up, we stopped at the GGB for a photo opp. It couldn't have been more perfect. No one was there because it was so early, and it was a clear, sunny day - perfect! Phil made sure to get us to the monument (turns out, Muir Woods isn't a park) before it opened so we could get in for free. An added bonus to getting there early is that there aren't very many people there. Muir Woods is absolutely beautiful! We had about 1.5 hours to walk around, explore, take pictures, and visit the gift shop. It was awesome. We stopped in Sausalito for about 30 minutes on the way back. We could have stayed longer and taken the ferry back but we had plans. 30 minutes was plenty of time to sit on the water and soak up some sun. At the end of the tour, Phil dropped us off exactly where we wanted in Fisherman's Wharf. The tour was great. Phil was great. I'd definitely use Extranomical Tours again (and Phil!)!
The whole experience was great. The only negative thing was we only had 38 minutes to walk around Sausalito. I would have thought an hour more appropriate.
We took a morning tour to Muir Woods, driving over the Golden Gate Bridge; Pam was very personable and informative. Pam made sure we arrived before 9 AM so we could get in FREE to this national monument. We were free to roam the trails in Muir Woods for about 2 hours and the woods were spectacular. It was quiet and cool in the the forest with well maintained boardwalk and paved paths. We stopped at Sausalito on the way back to San Francisco with amazing views of the bridge. I highly recommend this trip with Extranomical!
Excellent. Loved the tranquility of Muir Woods.
Phil did a great job on the tour. His knowledge, insight, and humor made the tour of Muir Woods and Sausalito worth every penny. We also appreciate the willingness of the booking staff to change our tour from Thursday to Friday after our flight was delayed. We would highly recommend Extranomical Tours!
The tour was perfectly planned and convenient. Phil was an amazing guide- hilarious, engaging, and incredibly personal. He remembered everyone's name and details about that person, integrating it into his material. He had us laughing the whole time. Rarely does a tour guide win over a group as quickly as Phil. The second you hop on the bus- you've made a friend.
A great morning adventure! Wonderful tour guide and beautiful sights!
Frank was great in every way.
Liked that our tour guide got us to the Muir Woods before the crowds arrived. It was a nice walk through the woods. I would have liked to spend a little more time at the Golden Gate bridge lookout.
Phil provided a great tour and was very considerate of our time. He got us to the Muir Woods gates early which allowed us to beat many of the other tour groups into the park. We were the only group on his tour that day and we had great conversations with him.
Van showed up on time, extremely comfortable ride. Guide was very friendly and informative. Great tour.
My wife and I are not big tour people, but wanted to see the redwoods while in town. It was way better than expected! The Guide Don was great! I would recommend the morning tour the woods were empty when we arrived and started getting busy when we left. It was the best value and best part of our trip to SF. We found out about many additional things to do including running across the golden gate and back because of the tour. Great Trip!!!!
I had some issues getting to the pick up site. The tour company called me and waited for me. That was super! Thank you. That being said, the tour was great but felt a bit short. I wish I had had more time in the forest. I don't think I had two full hours in the forest. The trails are long and it takes time to walk through them. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and nice, but the frequent mentioning of "don't forget to tip the driver" and the $20 suggested tip, made me feel a bit uncomfortable. Overall, this is a good company and a good tour package. The forest is incredible and really worth seeing.
Frank was a great tour guide. Friendly, happy and very informed he provided loads of inofrmation on both Muir Woods and the surrounding areas.
It was run on time and was well organised. The driver was extremely well versed in information and history and new how to work a crowd. I would have been a little more comfortable with a head set mic instead of the hand held on the winding roads but the driver was clearly very skilled. The trip was of a good length not too long not too short. The forest was great and we were delivered to our boat drop off point with no fuss. Very well done.
Great trip up the mountain and into the (Muir) woods. Then it was down to the sea to enjoy the rest of the morning in Sausalito. We spent just the right amount of time to at each location.
Wonderful tour and very interesting commentary. Better audio would help those of us with hearing difficulties. Joe was very helpful and approachable. Would recommend this trip highly.
We went on two different tours in two days; both were fantastic. The wine tour with Anthony was great! He was the best guide...very friendly, entertaining, and overall extremely pleasant....seemed like an old friend. We really enjoyed his English accent and sense of humor. I would recommend him to friends and relatives visiting San Francisco. Same goes for Frank who took us to Muir Woods. He was very knowledgeable and extremely friendly....another old-friend-like type of guy. Both of them deserve raises! The prices were right, too. We met some nice new friends on the wine tour!
The tour was great and our tour guide was full of facts and extremely helpful.
A great and memorable trip to Muir Woods.
The overall tour was interesting and our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. I would like to have had a little more time in Sausalito.
Our tour was informative, comfortable and very beautiful. We enjoyed the drive very much and we were amazed by the overall beauty of the woods , Muir beach and the town of Sausalito.
The Muir Woods and Sausalito tour was excellent! I loved how knowledgeable Genna was about San Francisco, Marin County, and Muir Woods and what he shared with us as he drove along, I learned a lot! I also loved how he took us to Muir Beach after!
The tour was wonderful! Genna did an excellent job giving us some background info and answering questions. He was well organized and specific on times and meeting places and suggestions. He was kind and very informative.
Gorgeous place. Trip was well organized, driver knowledgeable, and prompt. A most delightful experience.
It was nice to get to Muir Woods before the crowds and 2 hours was a perfect amount of time. It was also nice to have a stop in Sausalito for a quick bite to eat so we could see that cute town.
Don was pleasant and knowledgeable.
Fantastic day - really enjoyed seeing the woods and the photo stops at Golden Gate Bridge and Sausalito were great add ons.
Exellent trip - James was very knowledgable and provided information throughout the tour. We had plenty of time in Muir Woods and arrived before the crowds did. Also had a 30 minute stop in Sausalito - enough time to quickly walk around the town - and a stop at Golden Gate Bridge.
An enjoyable tour well led by Nick. Both Muir Woods and Sausalito well worth seeing. Early arrival at Muir Woods (~8.45am) allowed us to appreciate the beautiful Muir Woods in relative privacy. When we departed Muir Woods at 10.30am it was very busy and the crowding on the trails would have surely detracted from the enjoyment of Muir Woods.
What a pleasure James was! He gave us historical information as he maneuvered the van around those tricky curves up and down the mountain. WE had the perfect amount of time to wander the woods and browse the gift shops.
Joe did a great job on our Muir Woods/Sausalito tour. Fun and interesting. Many thanks.
We loved our tour guide, Leo Santodomingo! He really knows how to keep you entertained and attends to every question or need you may have! We had the fortune of getting him again on the next day when we took a wine tour! It sure was a pleasure!
I really liked our guide Patrick was very funny and very interesting .
Our guide Don (see below) was a San Francisco native and knew alot of history of the city and Muir Woods. He was very informative - especially about what we would encounter in Muir Woods and what not to miss.
Ben took us on one more stop to another vineyard and it was great! It was the last one and then we went across the street.
We liked that you offered the Muir Woods tour early before it became crowded. Bernie was our tour guide - he was great! We also enjoyed stopping off at the Marin Headlands for the fabulous view. We had a wonderful time!
Walking through Muir Woods was heavenly. Having the option to depart at Sausalito and take the ferry across was an excellent choice which we thoroughly enjoyed. |
0.999937 | Recent work has shown that any classifier which classifies well under Gaussian noise can be leveraged to create a new classifier that is provably robust to adversarial perturbations in L2 norm.
The proposed scheme is simple and has the following advantages: (1) it does not require any model training or parameter optimization, (2) it complements other existing defense mechanisms, (3) it is agnostic to the attacked model and attack type and (4) it provides superior performance across all popular attack algorithms.
Deep neural networks are known to be vulnerable to adversarial attacks. |
0.999998 | How do I Clean Kitchen Cabinets?
Grime on dirty cabinets can be scrubbed with a baking soda and water mix.
Lemon juice can be used to clean kitchen cabinets.
Cleaning your kitchen cabinets can be a quick, easy task or it can take hours, depending on what kind of shape the cabinets are in. One common problem is that grease, food particles, and smoke can stick to the surface of the cabinets, making them grimy. Since the main culprit is usually grease, it's important to clean kitchen cabinets with products that cut grease but don't create additional buildup. You'll want to choose the best cleanser and consider whether you're going after exterior or interior cabinet grime. Generally, to clean kitchen cabinets, you'll want to start by wiping down the exterior with cleanser; after removing all dishes, food, or other items inside the cabinets, vacuum or sweep dirt from the shelves inside, and then wipe them down as well.
Dishwashing liquids or mild laundry detergents are effective cleaners for most cabinet materials. To make sure your cleanser isn't too strong, you may want to dilute one part detergent in two parts warm water to make an easy kitchen cleanser. When using laundry detergent, it's a good idea to use one that is specially designed to remove grease and oil.
You can also use an all-purpose household cleaner to clean kitchen cabinets, but read the label carefully to be sure it won't ruin the finish. It's also a good idea to test the cleaner on a hidden area of one of the cabinets; many commercial household cleaning products leave a sticky residue, and some can cause significant damage to wood finish or paint. Be sure to empty the cabinets before using a harsher detergent or chemical, even on the outside so that your dishes remain protected.
Vinegar is a good, natural, all-purpose cleaner that can clean kitchen cabinets and remove buildup. Try using a solution of half vinegar and half water for cabinets that just need a regular cleaning; to cut through greasy buildup, apply undiluted vinegar. Lemon juice can be used instead of vinegar if you don't like the smell. A paste made of baking soda and water also makes a good natural scrub and helps remove a lot of grime from dirty cabinets.
Clean kitchen cabinets from the outside in by gently scrubbing the exterior surfaces using a sponge or an old washcloth and whichever cleaning solution you choose. Don't use steel wool, scrub brushes, or any other item that can scratch the finish. It's a good idea to start in an inconspicuous area to make sure that your cleaning doesn't damage the cabinet. Once you've started cleaning, pay particular attention to the area around door handles and drawer pulls, as these places tend to be the stickiest. If possible, removing cabinet hardware before cleaning will make it easier to clean these areas.
After removing the contents of the cabinet, vacuum, sweep, or wipe up any crumbs or food particles from inside the cabinets. Using a sponge or cloth, use one of the cleaning solutions to clean the shelves, bottom, and sides of the cabinet interior. In some cases, the shelf liners may need to be replaced if they are too dirty or worn. Before putting food or dishes back in the cabinet, make sure you wipe down the interior with a clean, damp cloth and dry it with a towel or washcloth to remove any cleanser residue.
Since kitchens get so much use, cleaning your cabinets on a regular basis can help improve the look — and health — of the space. After a deep cleaning, be sure to give the cabinets a periodic wipe down with warm soapy water in order to keep them looking their best. Cabinets that look dull even after cleaning can be buffed with a furniture wax or polish suitable for their specific materials and finish.
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and white faded areas on their tables. If you want something that works for the greasy buildup and to remove scratches and white rings and doesn't leave any greasy stuff all over the furniture this is the product for you too. I will never be without this product. I even wrote a review on the website.
I have a house that has been closed for a year and the last couple of times I opened it, there was a brown sticky substance on the kitchen cabinet that is against the fridge and it was clean when I left it. What is this substance and why it is forming?
Sugar Soap removes anything and everything but does not harm the wood. Great for shower tiles where the grout is dirty.
The best cabinet cleaner is Parker and Bailey Kitchen Cabinet Creme. If you can't find it at a local hardware store, it can be found at Solutions or Amazon. I first wash my cabinets with Murphy's Oil Soap according to the instructions on their bottle. Then I start in with the Parker and Bailey Kitchen Cabinet Creme using an old cut up bath towel. There's nothing like it!
The second best is a product called Cabinet Magic that can be found at Lowe's or Home Depot. But, your cabinets won't shine as well or have your work last as long. Your wood cabinets will look like they were just installed.
I did use the dawn dishwashing soap and a sponge with the green backing. Oh my gosh1 My 11 year old cabinets look like new! I wouldn't want to use the scrubby sponge very often but it sure worked to get the buildup off the little routed ledges! I finished up with some lemon oil that I wiped off lightly and I am so delighted! I'm so happy!
This is the worst advice I've ever heard. Don't try these suggestions on your cabinets. Why on earth would the author suggest using a green scrubbing pad on cabinets? That is much too harsh and will eventually ruin them!
I used the natural citrus ant spray at base and under edges of oak cabinets and the directions say to leave it on. So I did, but after a few days the ants were gone and wanted to clean off the gunk. Surprise -- it became part of the finish and now I have sticky everything.
What will remove the oily residue without stripping the finish -- or if it does, what can I use to keep the wood from moisture damage until I can afford to refinish the cabinets?
I just heard that there is another product out there calling itself a rejuvenator. Make sure you only buy The Victorian House Products. They don't have the silicon and wax buildup because they were invented for Antiques and even are used in museums and castles in England.
Where can i purchase The Victorian House Rejuvenator Finish. Help? It sounds like exactly what i need!
OK..i just simply used some warm -almost hot water, and a little bit of mr clean..smells great and cleans everything great..after a bit of man power..and its all dry..i used old english...that stuff is a miracle. im not kidding..its messy on your hands/gloves but the end result made my cabinets look like brand new..a lot of people noticed!!
I have new white cabinets and was wondering what cleaning product or products would be best to keep them from turning yellow?
I had a tenant that smoked for 14 years. Her kitchen cabinets went from light to golden. Is there any way to get it back to it's almost natural color?
Can someone help me please? My kitchen cabinets are only 4 years old and I just tried using the Rejuvenate Cabinet Restorer and my cabinets are terribly streaky. I have tried 4 applications and they only look worse. I am sick about this. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get the streaks out? They looked better before I even tried this. Thank you so much for your help on this.
I have tried the fantastic, and citrus oil products and all I get is gum.
Cabinets or furniture of any kind has a clear finish, varnish, lacquer, etc. That sticky stuff is buildup and to add to the build up with anything with water or soap is going to make gum (the professional term is *gunk*). The best cleaner and repair for the faded finish is one made of the same kind of oil as the finish--petroleum base oil penetrates into a petroleum base finish. Not lemons or oranges--oil.
OK, did you make your one-year-old scrub the cabinet? 13 years later, she's requesting tips on this board.
How do you repair water damage on oak kitchen cabinets?
i will try these suggestions. i notice that if i use my regular cleaner, it makes the cabinets feel gummy, like the finish is being affected. unfortunately, the previous owners of my house must have used some very harsh cleaners because all my lower cabinets are nearly stripped of their finish. the house is only 13 years old, so it's not like they're very old. |
0.997127 | When I have the output type of String, I am able to view the entire response. When I change response type to XML, I get the result "XML"
I'm trying to parse it similar to the examples we've seen (i.e. xmlPage.GetObservationsResult), but it is completely empty. Can someone please tell me how I can get to the list of observations?
When testing a Service from Composer that returns XML, you will have to set the output type to STRING, in order to view the XML. Your other option is to set the output type to XML and view the response through a REST call (eg. http://localhost/Thingworx/Things/ThingName/Services/ServiceName?method=post&Accept=text/xml). Regardless of the output type, the xmlPage variable will still contain XML that you can parse.
Thank you for your kind response. I'm able to get the example from the Workbook to work just fine.
When I do result = xmlPage.channel.title, I get the latest title.
Where I'm running into trouble is when I try to use the same technique on the XML returned in the Soap response. I tried doing things such as result = xmlPage.GetObservationsResponse, result = xmlPage.GetObservationsResult, etc. I always get an empty result.
It's giving an error. I should obviously be replacing the Things['Thing_Connection_Test'] portion, but I'm at a loss of what should replace it.
Hi Christopher, for now I would focus on the initial part that focuses on defining the Name Spaces.
Once you have those properly specified, then you can first test out getting values from nodes by keeping the output of the service as STRING and setting your result output to a node that you are trying to get information from.
The continuation of that example is more about how that information to return it to the mashup in a meaningful way.
That part is for you to decide.
Are you going to parse out the values and update properties with them, are you going to send it all to an InfoTable directly to the Mashup environment etc.
I am able to get requests, as an XMLList, but can't seem to step through nodes as in the example from the workbook.
If so, what object should I use to perform the actual request? I don't have a Things['Thing_Connection_Test'] object to perform the request. Is there further documentation I can read up on to see how to do it that way?
That Thing that executes that Service is just a Post/LoadXML Service. That part you already have.
So your focus should be on the part that shows you how it uses the declared name spaces and then goes into the parsing.
Thank you so much. That did it!! |
0.99854 | Cup for the following three seasons and then third in 2001-02. Men trots medalj i alla distanser blev det bara 1 guld (3 silver, 1 brons). 9 Bjørndalen has won (together with the Norwegian biathlon team) the nations cup ten times. After competing in the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Sapporo 2007, he missed several Biathlon World Cup events; after missing eight competitions altogether Bjørndalen finished second in the overall standings, after German Michael Greis. They started dating in 1998 and married on On, they filed for divorce by mutual consent. His shooting record for both prone and standing were practically identical, 146/172 in the prone and 146/173 in the standing position. "Athletes select two IOC reps". World Championships edit 45 medals (20 gold, 14 silver, 11 bronze) *Team was removed as an event in 1998, and pursuit was added in 1997 with mass start being added in 1999 and the mixed relay in 2005. OS och 6 i VM ).
Vi bor så mye som vi kan sammen, og hun er i fin form. In the individual disciplines, he shot 92 in the individual, 89 in the sprint, 96 in the pursuit, 93 in the mass start and 96 in the relay. He obtained his first major victory on in an individual competition held. 16 In January 2018 Arne Botnan, the sporting director for Norwegian biathlon, announced that Bjørndalen would not be selected for the 2018 Winter Olympics, after he failed to achieve the qualifying standard of a top six finish in a World Cup race before the Norwegian. Om bara de de två ursprungliga distanserna 10 och 20 km i VM och OS räknas är Bjørndalen den mest segerrike: 9 guld mot Ullrichs och Tikhonovs 6 guld vardera. "World Cup Biathlon Victories: How Many for Ole?". Bjørndalen has won the mixed relay world cup 4 times. |
0.962884 | A woman woke up in the middle of the night, to find that her husband was missing from their bed.
Listening to the stillness of the house, she thought could hear a muffled sound downstairs.
So, she carefully crept downstairs and looked all around, but she could still not find her husband.
Listening again, she could definitely hear moaning, and it sounded like it was coming from the basement.
She went down to the basement to find her husband, who was crouched in the corner facing the wall, and he was crying.
His wife answered that she did. |
0.999987 | To be human is to feel. Why is society okay with so many emotions, but not those that leave us vulnerable? It's okay to argue, shout, get angry, get passionate, become bored, show annoyance, to laugh, to be tired, to show love, or feel amazement, but it's not okay to grieve, to feel hurt, or scared, to be sad or lonely. We would sooner go up to someone and talk about our achievements with pride than burden them with our sadness. |
0.923558 | Before I start this review I need to be honest. I love space movies, I love sci-fi, I love operatic story arcs of dying civilisations and grand adventures. So it isn't surprising that I loved Interstellar.
From a purely escapist view point it was a wild ride. Visually spectacular, well acted (despite some clunky dialogue – the "That's relativity for you" line and the whole "love is a force that can traverse all dimensions" monologue was a bit like a poke in the eye) and with a fabulous score, Interstellar is at heart a heroic adventure to save humanity. It was very refreshing to find a film with a strong theme of love that didn't turn into a sappy, kiss-to-cheers-of-the-crowd-on-the-closing-credit, love story! The other aspect we appreciated was that the end of the world wasn't portrayed as a massive cataclysmic crisis. Instead the movie's dystopian future was realistically gradual and mundane, with agriculture failing one crop at a time. The only hope for humanity is in a band of scientists, theoretical and experimental, who are planning a journey through a wormhole near Saturn to find a habitable planet for future generations of humans to move to.
This journey provides most of the movie's dramatic plot points, such as dangerous environments and spectacular interstellar travel through higher dimensions. And integral to the plot is that this journey results in time passing at startlingly difference speeds for the various characters: parents become younger than their children, people are marooned for decades alone waiting for someone's return, a journey that has taken years finally reaches someone for whom only minutes have passed. And most impressively, all of these dramatic elements are drawn entirely from science fact, not science fiction.
As well as being a scientific advisor on the film, theoretical physicist Kip Thorne was also an executive producer and was deeply involved in the creative process. He described the development of the film as "brainstorming in the best sense of the word, an artist and a scientist coming at a complex issue together, trying to generate ideas in the context of a story that is just coming into being, searching for interesting scientific ideas that would take the story in certain directions."
The film accurately depicts and explores many of relativity's weirder implications. The distortion of time due to the intense gravity of a black hole, the awe-inspiring effects of a tidal-locked water planet, the use of wormholes – rips through the fabric of space-time – for travel to the far reaches of the Universe, are all based in mathematically correct theoretical physics. (You can read more about black holes and time travel in Catching waves with Kip Thorne and Is time travel allowed?) Despite the fact that many aspects of the film are far beyond the technology we have today, as far as Thorne is concerned the only scientifically dubious part of the film is surprisingly mundane: the structural strength of the ice on one of the planets. And Thorne even has a cameo in the film, in the form of one of the robots (some of the most ingenious and mesmerising robots we've ever seen) being named KIPP.
Thorne's collaboration has not just resulted in a scientifically accurate sci-fi film, it has also resulted in new science. Thorne told Wired that the film's visualisations of light being bent around black holes revealed new phenomena that hadn't been seen before. The film makers produced their beautiful images of the massive, fast-spinning black hole Gargantua using data and mathematical models from the work of Thorne and his colleagues. It seems amazing that a commercial movie could reveal something that science hadn't seen before, but it came down to a combination of new tools and immense computing power. The effects team created new software that allowed them to visualise the gravitational lensing encoded in the mathematics and they used massive amounts of computing power, generating nearly a petabyte of data.
Perhaps most gratifying for a pair of mathematicians watching the film, the ultimate saving of humanity depends on a mathematical equation, that supposedly solves the "gravity problem". We might not have believed that it will be one equation that would solve such a problem, or that it would save us all, but we did appreciate a female mathematician being the ultimate hero of all humanity.
But wouldnt a black hole system be a pretty bad place to go looking for candidates for Earth-type planets? Where would light and heat come from? |
0.944814 | Sun Yatsen's "Three People's Principles" Introduction After China's defeat in the Opium War, there was great concern about the superiority of the West and fierce debate about how to respond. In 1842 Wei Yuan 1794-1856a scholar and adviser to the government, concluded that the West had beset China because of the West's more advanced military technology. He outlined a plan for maritime defense which included "building ships, making weapons, and learning the superior techniques of the barbarians.
This approach came to be known as "self strengthening;" its principle goal was to maintain the strong essence of Chinese civilization while adding superior technology from abroad. Still later, scholars like Li Hongzhang 1823-1901 in 1872, argued that self-strengthening programs should be widened to include industrial ventures and transport facilities, focusing on increasing China's "wealth and power" by establishing profit-oriented ventures.
The construction of modern coal mines and railroads followed. But for many reasons these projects did not succeed: After 1895, with the disastrous defeat of China by the Japanese over dominance in Korea and the subsequent "scramble" by foreign powers for Chinese concessions and spheres of influence, the more conciliatory and pragmatic programs of the "self strengtheners" were discredited as fears for China's survival mounted.
It was in this period that Chinese nationalism developed, along with urgent appeals to the Qing court for more radical reform. The reform program designed by the scholars Kang Youwei 1858-1927Liang Qichao 1873-1929and Tan Sitong 1865-1898 had a brief trial in the so-called "Hundred Days of Reform" of 1898, but it was not until after the Boxer Rebellion defeat in 1900 that wide-ranging reforms in education, military, economics and government were actually implemented.
The reform program after 1901 did begin to address structural reforms, with changes in and the eventual abolition of the examination system, the establishment of more schools throughout the country which were to include Western subjects, support for student study abroad, the establishment of a new national army under a new army ministry, along with a new ministry of commerce, reform of the currency, and the promulgation of a commercial code.
In spite of these changes and perhaps because of them, the dynasty collapsed in 1911. Thinkers such as Liang Qichao and Sun Yatsen 1866-1925 had already abandoned not only the Manchu dynasty but also the imperial system and had argued for its replacement with a different form of government.
Local assemblies had begun to meet in 1909 and the dynasty had worked out a timetable for creating a constitutional monarchy, with a constitution planned for 1912 and a parliament to be convened the following year.
Sun went even further and called for a republican revolution.
In the tumultuous years that followed, a number of visions for a new China were created by either mixing old and new, or by rejecting Chinese traditional ideas entirely. These efforts informed and fueled the May Fourth Movement, so named for the popular protests it engendered in China on May 4, 1919. Reform efforts also informed the reorganization of the Guomindang Kuomintang [KMT]or Nationalist Party, which nominally reunified the country in 1926-28 and tried to build a modern state, and the founding of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921, which saw itself as adapting Marxist ideas to Chinese realities.
At first they were confused and uncertain about which direction to move. Pressured not only from the outside, they were troubled also by their own explosive population growth, unpredictable economic swings and internal rebellions throughout the century. The Chinese were at first fearful of major changes, believing that they would poison their traditions if they adopted too much from the West.
Before they agreed on reform, leaders in the scholar-official class had first to accept the need for change. Many of them instead held to the status quo which not only protected their position and power but also, they felt, had been the source of China's greatness in the past.
Others argued that this was impossible, faced with the challenge on Western arms. Much of the 19th century, therefore, was a time of debate about whether or not to modernize, and if so, how much?
Some Confucian scholars called for the study the "barbarian" technology in order to resist the Western pressures. Feng Guifen Feng Kuei-fen was such a man. He wrote the selection on "Western Learning" in the 1860s, when China was defeated a second time by the West and had unequal treaties imposed upon it.
Because of widespread hostility to his ideas, he did not publish it until much later. Feng argued that China should adopt Western technology while retaining Chinese values. Others, like the writer Yan Fu Yen Fufelt this was impossible — that Western technology could not be borrowed without also borrowing Western science and the democratic system of government that fostered science.
The debate continued in the later half of the 19th century as China was slowly partitioned into various spheres of influence. The southeast of China was occupied by the French, the northeast by the Germans, the south by the British, the northwest by the Russians, and the north by the Japanese.
Even the defeat at the hands of their own Asian neighbor, Japan, did not totally convince many that the need for reform and change was vital to China's survival. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Chinese thinkers were immersed in debates about how to change China's technology while retaining traditional values and culture. Only gradually did some thinkers come to believe that just bringing in Western guns and machines was not enough.
The ineffectiveness of reform efforts led them to believe that the traditional system itself was hindering both China's modernization and her ability to deal with the foreigners. The quest for a "new China" began in the 1800s as the Chinese of that period debated how they could borrow from the West and Japan what was useful yong for economic development or industrialization without losing the essence ti of Chinese culture. In the primary sources below, two scholars present counter-arguments.
Much of the 19th century, therefore, was a time of debate about whether or not to modernize, and if so, how much?
Reform efforts also informed the reorganization of the Guomindang Kuomintang [KMT] , or Nationalist Party, which nominally reunified the country in 1926-28 and tried to build a modern state, and the founding of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921, which saw itself as adapting Marxist ideas to Chinese realities.
Feng Guifen argues for adopting Western techniques without altering Chinese "foundations," and Yan Fu argues that this would not be enough. |
0.93714 | I feel like after meeting the Lannister soldiers (ft. Ed Sheeran), Arya could easily murder all of them over the night and use one of their faces to gain access to King's Landing. But this seems less likely to me and this rendezvous could be a turning point for her where she decides to turn around and go to Winterfell for a grand Stark sibling reunion.
Which way do you think the story will go from this point on? Will Arya proceed to Winterfell or King's Landing? |
0.951935 | In case of breakage of household appliances the owner can call the repairman, contact the nearest service center or try to fix the problem yourself. In any case, the manual will be necessary. Below there is a table with Hitachi error code of the washing machine of this brand. You can find the code description, what needs to be done and the possible solution.
C1 Water is not supplied • Is the tap open? Check the tap, water supply inlet filter, water pipes, and water supply hose.
• Has dirt collected in the water supply inlet filter?
• Are the water pipes or water supply hose frozen?
• Has the water supply been disrupted?
C2 Water does not drain • Is the drain hose blocked? Check the drain hose and the drain outlet.
• Is the drain hose twisted, crushed, or frozen?
• Is the drain hose connected correctly?
• Is the drain outlet too high?
C3 The tub does not spin • Is the lid open? Close the lid.
• Does the laundry include too many thick items like cotton blankets or jeans or too many large items like sheets?
• Is the washing machine wobbling, or is the floor under the washing machine slanted?
• Are there any unwashable things in the tub?
C8 The lid cannot be locked • Is the lid closed? Check that the lid is completely closed. Check that there are no foreign objects in the lock.
• Are there any foreign objects in the lock?
C9 The lid lock cannot be released • Are there any foreign objects in the lock? Turn the power off and then on again and wait a little while. If the lid is still locked, contact a service center for repair.
Ch The spinning speed is not reached the specified value. • Check if the amount of powder detergent is too much? Check the amount of powder detergent putting, check the drain hose and installation of drain hose.
• Check if the drain hose is clogged?
• Check if the drain hose is installed correctly? |
0.96359 | She is a huge star with a career that has spanned decades, with iconic films like Batman Returns, Scarface, The Witches Of Eastwick, Dangerous Liaisons and The Fabulous Baker Boys under her belt.
The movie star played Catwoman/ Selina Kyle in the Tim Burton-directed film Batman Returns, which was released in 1992.
Michelle starred alongside Michael Keaton, who played Batman/Bruce Wayne and Danny DeVito, who played The Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot.
She even teased fans last week with a clip of herself cracking her old Catwoman whip in a new video she shared to her Instagram page.
The actress captioned the brief video with: 'Just like riding a bike,' as she added a grinning cat face with smiling eyes emoji.
Prior to that, she posted a video where she began 'Look what I found?' before showing off the whip.
Her first clip after joining Instagram was of her doing an acrobatic entrance in Batman begins; she has over 221,000 followers and counting on Instagram.
She gave another nod to her Catwoman role on her social media; she had two clips back to back - the first was of her with her cat Bella Blue, and the second, a clip from Batman Begins, where she licked Batman's face.
Michelle sat down on Monday morning with Hoda Kotb for the Today Show to talk about her new venture - launching her own fragrance label - as well as upcoming films.
She created the perfume company called Henry Rose - the name taken from the middle names of her children - John Henry and Claudia Rose; she told Hoda that the idea of starting her new brand came 20 years ago when she became a new mom.
'Well, that turns out to not exactly be true. It was the lack of transparency,' she said on the Today show.
She also touched on roles she had declined, which included Pretty Woman, Thelma and Louise and Basic Instinct.
In addition to Henry Rose, Michelle is also starring in the upcoming films Avengers: Endgame (as Janet Van Dyne) and Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil (Queen Ingrith).
Michelle's fragrance line Henry Rose launched on Monday and is available on her website. |
0.959631 | New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, shown here during his September 11 tenth anniversary address, fears that joblessness could lead to riots.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is worried that high U.S. unemployment could lead to the same kind of riots here that have swept through Europe and North Africa.
"You have a lot of kids graduating college, [who] can't find jobs," said Bloomberg, during his weekly radio show on Friday. "That's what happened in Cairo. That's what happened in Madrid. You don't want those kinds of riots here."
That was the mayor's response when asked about the poverty rate, which rose to 15.1% in 2010, its highest level since 1993, according to census data released Tuesday. About 46.2 million people are now living in poverty, 2.6 million more than last year.
"The public is not happy," he said. "The public knows there is something wrong in this country, and there is. The bottom line is that they're upset."
Riots have gripped various countries in European cities, including Athens and London, fueled by young people infuriated by high unemployment and austerity measures, which in some cases has led to looting. High unemployment among youth is also one of the driving forces behind the Arab Spring, as impoverished protestors in North Africa and the Middle East rose up against their heavy-handed governments.
"The damage to a generation that can't find jobs will go on for many, many years," said Bloomberg.
The mayor, an independent, criticized the partisan politics that have stymied progress in Congress, and the inability of Republicans and Democrats to compromise on ways to fix the economy.
"There is no overnight solution," he said."You look at the president's proposals. At least he's got some ideas on the table, whether you like those or not."
"The only way you solve this problems is that everybody pays a little more and everybody gets a little less," he added.
The economy added no jobs in August, according to the Labor Department, for the first time since February, 1945.
The unemployment rate is 9.1%, but many experts say that figure is misleading. They prefer to use the so-called underemployment rate, which includes people who have given up their search for jobs as well as people who want to work full-time but are forced to work part-time.
The underemployment rate is 16.2%. |
0.986103 | Before we go any further, give me a moment to share the recipe for the salmon and veggies.
1. Let's make the basil 'sauce' first. Prepare the basil leaves - rinse and dry (leave whole). Dice 3 small tomatoes (or 1 large) and smash the garlic then dice. Put all together in the bowl and let it marinate while you prepare the other veggies and salmon.
2. Now that your 'sauce' is made, you'll prep the potatoes. I used the 3 potatoes in the image above. Pre-heat the oven to 375*. After the potatoes have been cut into 1 inch chunks, lightly salt then toss them with some of the basil sauce (about a tablespoon). Place in the oven uncovered. You will need to make sure to flip the potatoes in 20 minutes for even cooking / browning.
3. While potatoes are cooking, prepare the rest of the veggies: onion, zucchini and squash. Dice into 1 inch chunks like you did with the potatoes. Lightly salt the zucchini and squash to keep from browning.
5. Check on the potatoes. Do they need flipping? Has the 'sauce' dried out? Add more as needed.
6. Place the salmon and veggies uncovered in the oven and cook until the fish flakes with a fork or about 25 minutes. Potatoes will be done at this time too. Remove the basil leaves if you don't want to eat them whole.
I say that this dinner is a winner not only in that it tasted great but it provided me EIGHT different veggies! There were 4 with the salmon: onions, tomatoes, zucchini, and squash and there were four with the salad: lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, and (not counted twice) tomatoes.
For dessert, I made parsnip and carrot cake (like this). Parsnips seem to taste best (IMO) in a dessert. They take on a completely different taste (and texture) when baked. So, if you don't like parsnips, you may like them in this dish!
Last note worth mentioning: I recently shared with another family that priorities may need to be shifted if one thinks that real foods are 'expensive.' When families save their money the entire year to go on vacation but yet eat poorly throughout the year, I think we've got our priorities twisted. If given a choice, I'd choose budgeting for real foods than to go on an elaborate vacation. I firmly believe that if you want something, you'll find a way to pay for it. Plus, who knows, you may be able to eat well every day and go on a vacation to enjoy the fruits of your labor. My end point is this: Choose wellness!
I love the salmon and veggies idea!
Thanks so much for sharing these great tips with the Let's Get Real party.
I love my CSA veggies too. I've hardly bought any veggies from the grocery store this summer so far, which is great. I've been supplementing my share with the farmer's market mainly...we go through a ton of veggies here! Thanks for all the wonderful tips!
When the CSA box arrives it almost feels like Christmas in July! It's so much fun creating healthy and delicious meals with these wonderful, fresh food items so thank you for sharing your delectable recipes with us at the Plant-based Potluck Party. I appreciate it. |
0.988814 | What is wrong with the world we live in? A homeless man, and the man that paid for his food were both asked to leave a McDonalds in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I'm hoping this whole thing was a miscommunication. In the video it looks like the man was minding his own business, eating his food, when a police officer asked him to leave. her reason was that there were reports the man was asking people for money. If he was, that part didn't make the video. In fact, you hear a person tell the officer that he did not ask them for money, they offered to pay for his food.
There are two sides to every story. Could the man have asked for money or food before the video was shot? Yes, he could have. It appears that once he had food he was minding his own business though. |
0.999997 | This article was originally published in VOTV143, published in April 2018.
As several hundred Addicks fans marched through the streets of the Belgian town of Sint-Truiden in March 2017, the object of their ire, Roland Duchâtelet, was entertaining visitors from Germany in the security of the Stayen complex that is the home of the local football team. He had no cause to worry about Charlton, he told the representatives from Carl Zeiss Jena, according to one of those present. After all, he had recently made about 16 million euros selling the SE London club’s players.
It was a telling exchange, both in terms of Duchâtelet’s chosen measure of success and the half-truth which the Charlton owner’s boast represented. As the club’s newly released 2016/17 accounts have now revealed, the Addicks did indeed show a profit on player trading last season of £16.2m, easily a Charlton record. Ademola Lookman’s move to Everton in January 2017 will have been the biggest contributor to that figure, alongside Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson and Nick Pope’s switch to Burnley in the summer of 2016. Other fees were received for Jordan Cousins, Morgan Fox, Callum Harriott and Tareiq Holmes-Dennis. Since none of them arrived at The Valley with a transfer fee attached, their entire sale value is shown in the books as profit.
The accounts note that the club also received payments from previous transfers, notably for Carl Jenkinson, who left for Arsenal as long ago as 2011. The fact that Joe Gomez, who moved to Liverpool in 2015, did not make a Premier League appearance in 2016/17 following his cruciate ligament injury probably means his sale did not contribute, but that will change in 2017/18.
Unfortunately for Duchâtelet, however, this huge transfer windfall was largely offset by an enormous operating loss of £14.3m – even beating the £12.6m the Belgian had achieved the previous season, when profit on player trading was zero.
Given that Kark Robinson’s team had managed to beat three of the eventual bottom five and draw with another, I suppose she has a point. At least, this time, the report did not discuss the academy above the first team. But even Meire had to acknowledge that “2017/18 will not see this level of player sales repeated and it is likely to be a long time before such levels are repeated again”.
A more sanguine summary might have acknowledged that there is, on the other hand, every probability of another very substantial operating loss, since none of the fundamentals driving it have changed dramatically since last June. But that, of course, would require Duchâtelet to face up to how empty his boast to the Germans had been.
In fairness, Charlton have recorded an operating loss every year since 2005 and there is a school of thought that says the club has been lucky to have an owner with the personal wealth to underwrite it with loans from Belgian parent company Staprix NV. That liability had grown from £18.6m in January 2014 to £56.6m by June 30th, 2017, and has more than likely increased by up to £10m more since.
The problem with such an argument is that Duchâtelet’s own mismanagement has significantly exacerbated the problem. In the five years prior to 2015/16, Charlton’s annual operating loss was between £6.1m and £7.8m. In the last two published years, and no doubt again in 2017/18, it has ballooned to nearly twice that, while the team went backwards.
It’s hard to see why we should be grateful to him for adding debt while running the club into the ground – especially if he is expecting to be paid back with interest on top when he sells it.
At least that interest rate was dropped from 3 per cent to 2 per cent from July 1st, 2016, meaning the football club accounts only include £695,000 this time around. That left an overall profit of £1.2m, but the total debt still rose by £2m. As before, interest is charged on the £18.6m part of the debt – effectively the cost of buying the club in 2014 – only in the accounts of holding company Baton 2010 Limited, which bring together Charlton Athletic Football Company Limited and Charlton Athletic Holdings Limited, which owns the freehold property.
That charge took the total interest for the year to £1.1m, and reduced Baton’s profits to £827,000. Despite this the debt to Staprix rose by £2.5m, some of which was accounted for by an increase in cash held at the year end and some by capital expenditure, much of which was to benefit the community trust and Footscray Rugby Club.
The report notes that staff costs dropped from £14.1m to £11.1m following Charlton’s descent into League One, but in fact 2015/16 had itself been an exceptional year.
The comparable figures in the three preceding Championship season were £12.0m, £11.5m and £11.5m. In 2011/12, Charlton’s League One staff costs were £8.9m (including player promotion bonuses). In 2010/11, they were £7.5m. Even allowing for some wage inflation, it’s clear that in 2016/17 Charlton had a Championship wage bill in League One.
If you could strip out the administration and academy staff, the excessive level of pay would be even more stark. And, as you won’t need reminding, the team only finished 13th.
That £11.1m figure for last season is without including an (anything but) exceptional item of £779,000 for “staff restructuring” – likely to have covered paying off sacked manager Russell Slade and his assistant Kevin Nugent, as well as the unwanted El-Hadji Ba (17 months outstanding), Zakarya Bergdich (three years outstanding), and the apparently crocked Alou Diarra (who immediately joined Nancy).
“Key management compensation” rose from £838,761 in 2015/16 to £965,748. Likely to cover the first team managers, academy boss Steve Avory, Meire, then finance chief David Joyes and chief operating officer Tony Keohane, plus possibly club secretary Chris Parkes, the 2014/15 figure was £685,030 – so there has been a 41 per cent increase in two years. The most likely explanation is that Slade and Robinson were paid considerably more than Bob Peeters, Guy Luzon and Karel Fraeye, in particular.
Meire’s personal compensation is again not identified as directors’ remuneration on the spurious basis that she was only paid as chief executive. I continue to believe that this is a breach of the regulations under the Companies Act, as do people far more qualified than me.
On the other side of the financial equation, income fell sharply as attendances plunged by 29 per cent. Charlton’s turnover was down to a meagre £7.6m, the club’s lowest since 1998. The overall salary bill was 146 per cent of turnover, which is off the scale.
A £3.2m decline in central revenues (Football League television money and Premier League solidarity payments) was the inevitable consequence of relegation from the Championship, but matchday revenue (principally season and match ticket sales) also collapsed from £4.8m to £3.2m.
That too might just appear the predictable consequence of relegation, except that the 2015/16 figure was already the lowest, again, since 1998. In both years, it reflects deep supporter discontent, as well as failure on the pitch.
Matchday revenues in the season Duchâtelet arrived, swollen by the 2014 FA Cup run, were £6.3m. But following a restructuring of ticket prices they were £5.1m in 2014/15, a figure they also hovered around during Charlton’s three League One seasons between 2009 and 2012, albeit they would then have included all the matchday catering income, not just any profit handed over by contractors.
Meire argues that the club did well to retain £1.2m in commercial income despite relegation, but that has to be put in the context that Charlton’s figure was already one of the lowest in the Championship.
If the historical background isn’t revealing enough, how about a comparison with neighbours Millwall, a similar but traditionally smaller club? Admittedly, their 2016/17 season culminated in promotion from League One via the Wembley play-off final and an FA Cup run that only ended in the quarter-finals, which were bound to boost their finances, but generally they operated in a similar business environment with the same central payments.
Millwall’s turnover was £10m, a third more than Charlton’s; their matchday income was £5.2m, 60 per cent more than Charlton’s; their commercial income was £2.0m, two thirds more than Charlton’s; and their staff costs (including player promotion bonuses) were £9.4m, 15 per cent less than Charlton’s. Millwall’s operating loss was £4.0m.
In other words, the board and senior management team at The Valley was as comprehensively thrashed off the pitch by the neighbours as the players were on it. Now that is embarrassing. To add insult to injury, Millwall’s chief executive from October 2016 was, of course, Steve Kavanagh – who held the same role at Charlton until mid-2012.
between June 30th, 2017, and the accounts being signed off on December 20th last year.
financial year end, and signing-on fees paid to free agents like Mark Marshall and Ben Reeves are not included here.
Loan fees for Ben Amos and Jay Dasilva would be included, but the nod to “termination payments” suggests a chunk of this total may well have gone to Jorge Teixeira when he moved to Sint-Truiden in July 2017. The club also records that it received £337,600 from the sale of players in the second half of 2017, most likely to be accounted for by Lee Novak and Tony Watt, who joined Scunthorpe United and OH Leuven respectively.
It’s not clear whether there were any contingent payments from older deals within that figure, which could include fees for Teixeira and Cristian Ceballos’s moves to Sint-Truiden, then owned by Roland Duchâtelet.
appearances in Nick Pope’s sale to Burnley, further fees payable to Charlton based on domestic appearances, caps or other on-field success leapt from £4.65m at the 2016 year end to £8.58m 12 months later, with Ademola Lookman an obvious source.
Sums potentially payable to other clubs on the same basis dropped from £1.96m to £1.15m. Sell-on clauses are not included here either way, because they cannot be quantified in advance.
Changes to the book value of the squad suggest Charlton paid as much as £1.4m to sign Zakarya Bergdich from Valladolid and El-Hadji Ba from Sunderland in 2015. They also imply that it cost up to £421,000 to buy Josh Magennis, Billy Clarke and Jake Forster-Caskey.
Magennis was a Slade signing, but the latter two arrived under Karl Robinson. All have been rather better value than Ba or Bergdich, who mustered just 30 senior starts between them before being paid off.
Charlton paid out £425,466 to agents between February 1st, 2017, and January 31st, 2018, the FA has disclosed. Millwall paid £311,505. |
0.99304 | It would be fair to say that many a good strategic plan failed to be implemented successfully due to the lack of resources - typically a lack of money, people or both. In operational planning it is therefore very important to be realistic and to understand that resources are limited. Managers need to carefully plan the use of funds, the acquisition of facilities and equipment and the development of people within the organisation to achieve goals.
The core business of recreation organisations is the organisation of events, programs and activities for the enjoyment of its members or customers. In profit-oriented organisations such events, programs and activities are generally fully funded by the participant. The total fees paid by participants covers all the delivery costs of the event i.e. administration, promotion, materials, instructors, building maintenance and even taxation. If the fees set by the recreation organisation do not cover all costs, the business will make a loss.
It is common to find, however, that non-profit organisations experience a shortfall between the total costs of providing activities and services and the total fees raised by participants as shown by the figure on the right.
This funding gap arises due to the very nature of the non-profit organisation, which exists to provide quality experiences for persons with an ordinary or average capacity to pay.
For example, families may have very limited capacity to pay for children selected into teams to travel interstate for tournaments, representative matches or to take part in special coaching clinics. In order to assist parents, the non-profit organisation tend to fill the funding gap by seeking government funding, commercial sponsorship and/or other fundraising such as raffles.
Therefore in formulating the operational plan, it is important to consider how each strategy will be funded. It may be possible to fully fund some strategies by participants fees but other strategies require funding to be pursued from variety of sources. Generally, most strategies have some self-funding capacity, that is some revenues can be derived directly as a result of the strategy. The table below explains this concept more clearly.
Conduct social events appealing to the members aged 18-25 Events may be funded by participant fees and/or special on-the-night fundraising schemes.
If a strategy has no self-funding capacity it may be prudent to question whether that strategy is feasible. However a special point to note is that there is often a time lag between the incurring of costs and the gaining of revenues, and this time-lag may be funded by a loan. An example of this is the construction and/or improvement of facilities. The up-front building costs are recouped over many years through charges levied on users.
A limiting factor to what sporting organisations can achieve is linked to their ability to attract sponsorship and media profile. Moreover these two factors are closely related. For most sports organisations, achieving any significant level of sponsorship is an almost impossible task. Potential sponsors are mostly interested in television exposure of their company name. Unless a sports organisation has high profile athletes they are unlikely to achieve such television exposure.
Sponsorship therefore is a source of funding that, except for a few $100's, is immensely difficult to achieve. Organisers of sport would do better to concentrate their efforts on other sources such as merchandising.
An organisation's structure must be taken into account when developing an Operational Plan. Planners must allocate each and every strategy and task in the Operational Plan to an individual, or else the likelihood of success will be diminished.
Different organisation structures suit different types of organisations. The organisation structure of a non-profit organisation can be very different from a recreation enterprise that is profit-oriented.
In many cases the implementation of strategies and tasks within the Operational Plan is dependent on the availability of physical resources. If not owned, they can however be hired or borrowed. Determining physical resources necessary to implement strategies is an aspect of operation planning. Planners must determine the amount funding required to purchase, hire or maintain physical resources.
Furthermore the acquisition of a particular physical resource may become a strategy in itself.
The Operational Plan is about coordinating resources (people, money and physical resources). Time is also a resource that is not unlimited. For example, events must happen on a certain day, programs have a defined period, and services may be available only at specific times. The co-ordination of people to be in the right place at the right time is clearly a major aspect of Operational Planning.
The dates of the organisation's own events are dependent on the dates of other allied organisations i.e. the date of the state championship is dependent on the date of the national championship.
The process of formulating "The Calendar of Events" is an essential part of the Operational Planning process and it is one that requires a clear head, plenty of information and a band of dedicated workers with several hours to spare. |
0.999972 | When planning a golf outing, many event planners make mistakes that have a negative impact on the success on the outings. Here are some of the errors that the planner should avoid making.
People attend golf outing for many other reasons other than playing golf at the outing. The reason that you give for organizing the event should be logical, and this will vary according to the target audience. For example, if its objective is fundraising then it is critical that the benefits are relevant to the target audience.
No one would want to attend a golf outing that is same as the previous one. They will always look forward to something new in the next event. Therefore, add something to the game played, prizes awarded and the celebrities who attended the last event.
There are only 52 weeks a year, and this number is small compared to the number of activities that we humans want to hold in a year. The success of an outing will depend on the ability of the planning committee choosing a date that is convenient to the target audience. You should take into consideration even small events because they can cause a good number of people to miss your event.
A critical step to having a successful event is making a correct choice of the target audience. Of course, many people will attend the outing apart from the target audience. For example, someone can tag their friends along. When choosing the audience, you should be sure that they support the objectives of their event. For example, you cannot invite atheists to an event with religious goals. The attendance may not go down to zero however it will be low.
You can get everything right including choosing the appropriate date, target audience, and objectives for the event. However, if you do not communicate effectively to the target audience then still you have not left the path to failure. Effective communication primarily involves using the correct medium and constructing an enticing message. For example, currently many people are social media users, and they like partying. Hence you can rely on social media to get through to them. Also, remember to tell them that golf outing will not be just fun, it will be just more than a party! |
0.988034 | Writing a good I.E.L.T.S. essay for either the general or academic I.E.L.T.S. test is perhaps one of the most challenging parts of taking the I.E.L.T.S. exam. Firstly, the student has to understand how to write an essay (this involves analysing the question) and then, the student needs to write the essay in a foreign language, using a set of rules which often seem obscure. Remember, abstract reasoning and writing is generally, not the easiest task for native speakers. I mean that as well as writing in a foreign language, the student is often learning how to write a short essay for the first time.
a hidden argument - these questions usually ask "to what extent...?", "In what way...?" or "how has...changed?"
So one aspect of answering an essay question well, is to work out what the question is asking you and to divide the question into smaller questions, work out what the main ideas are that you need to discuss or do something even simpler - discuss advantages and disadvantages (if this is what the question asks). Look at part 2 for more details on this.
Secondly, of course, you need good English! This means that you need to know how to argue, reason, persuade and balance arguments in a foreign language. This is not easy and often you cannot simply translate the words and phrases you would use in your own language. Language which is especially useful for essays is linking phrases, adverbs (used for a variety of purposes such as contrasting, persuading, adding information, counter-arguing, making concessions, clarifying, making exceptions etc.). Adverbs themselves, can be used for a variety of purposes - expressing feeling, expressing personal opinion, expressing logical ideas and indicating the areas where a situation exists. Significantly, there are other groups of adverbs called "Adverbs of manner",which add a descriptive element to a sentence, "Adverbs of degree", which are used to emphasise, adverbs which focus / restrict, "Adverbs of frequency", which are used in time phrases (and with specific sentences like the present simple and the present perfect) and "Adverbs of certainty", which are used to talk about the future.
Finally, there are two other ideas you really need to understand well. You need to practice writing essay plans. This means analysing the question and then, deciding on the information that is needed to answer it. Normally, the question explicitly asks the student for specific information (i.e. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the internet as opposed to books?) or the question prompts the student to suggest specific solutions to problems and answer a number of questions. Once you begin to recognise these patterns, you can plan your answer better.
You need to practice, practice and then, practice some more. This is because you need to actively seek out the gaps in your knowledge and then fill them. At times, it may seem very difficult to get your head around essay technique, because you need a combination of skills to succeed at IELTS - wide ranging vocabulary, grammar and a knowledge of register. Obviously, the essay format is normally formal, so you need some formal phrases and words, as listed above. Furthermore, there are also several general skills needed for the essay format. These include, focussing attention, making an argument and expressing opinion, attitude and belief (for examples, please look at part 2). Obviously, if you don't not know the words to express yourself this is also a big problem. The good news is that as you practice writing essays you can make a big effort to fill the gaps in your knowledge, especially, if you know that there are certain themes that repeat themselves again and again as essay questions. Here is a list of common IELTS themes for you to look at - education, the media, work, science and technology, money and finance, politics, the environment, healthcare, crime and the law, social tensions, food and diet, children and the family, travel, the arts, town and country, architecture, men and women, geography, business and industry and global problems. The ones I have underlined feature more significantly in the essay writing section.
In conclusion, I think you really need to have a thorough grounding in English and remember that the exam requires appropriate, fluent and coherent language. Furthermore, you cannot always translate words and phrases directly from your own language. You need a book like "Collocations in Use" (by Cambridge University Press) or "Vocabulary for I.E.L.T.S." (again by Cambridge University) as well as an existing level of intermediate, at least. Also don't forget that each student is different and creative approaches can also be highly useful.
How to write an I.E.L.T.S. essay. |
0.967593 | How much information a player is able to take in at once and how quickly he is able to interpret it. An increase in an athlete’s speed in recognizing a visual stimulus results in a physical response that is much quicker and more accurate.
The eyes lead the body, not the other way around. The visual system leads the motor system. Our hands or feet or body respond to the information the eyes have sent to the brain. If this information is incorrect, even to the slightest degree, there is a good chance that we will make a mistake in our physical response. Almost every sport error, or poorly executed play, can be attributed to faulty visual judgment, and it is visual judgment alone that determines eye-hand coordination.
This must not be confused with peripheral vision, which cannot be changed. Peripheral vision is dictated by the skeletal structure and the shape of the retina, so what you’re born with is what you’ve got and barring injury or disease, it’s what you will die with. Peripheral awareness, on the other hand, can be greatly enhanced by using retinal stimulation. Well developed peripheral awareness helps the athlete to see everything at once, to maintain the whole pattern or the flow of the play, even as they move within it.
The ability to accurately perceive or anticipate what is about to happen, and when. Visual skills training improves your ability to selectively detect important advance physical cues. However, since timing is the key to effective performance, it’s important not to over anticipate and commit yourself too soon. Most efforts fail not because the physical movements were wrong, but because they were made at the wrong time. The ability to anticipate is a major factor in high level competitive activities, and even superior speed, size and reflexes cannot compensate for the insufficient processing of the visual information regarding when to perform.
The amount of time required to process the visual information and initiate a physical reaction/response.
The ability to maintain a high level of focus on a key targetor objective, in spite of distractions, while also maintaining total awareness of what is happening around you.
Focusing flexibility and tracking are two separate skills, but inseparable as they must work together to achieve good, clear vision; for example, keeping your eyes on the ball. This requires both the ability to change focus instantaneously as objects move closer to or further away from you (accommodation), as well as the ability to keep both eyes working in unison as they track rapidly moving objects (convergence/divergence). Studies have shown that if the athlete’s head has to move to aid in eye tracking, his performance is not only less efficient, but balance is thrown off too.
Both eyes working together to give us the ability to judge the distance, the speed and the revolution of objects in space. Poor eye teaming can cause your eyes to misjudge the precise distance of your target, which in turn will cause your brain to misjudge the correct distance. If you perceive the target closer, you will react too soon. If you perceive it farther, you will react too late. |
0.996921 | Top 10 tourist attractions in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This popular vacation spot is on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, conveniently located at Pikes Peak's base. The city of Colorado Springs brings plenty of attractions and things to keep visitors busy.
Denver is a beautiful city that enjoys in about 300 days of sunshine annually and it is the capital and largest city in Colorado. This tourist destination has a lot to offer whether it be historical, cultural or for just pure entertainment. |
0.999884 | Jerrod: Danielle, you’re new here, aren’t you?
Jerrod: Well, Danielle, I’m not at all pleased with the capital investment analysis that you performed on this new warehouse. I need that warehouse for my production. If I don’t get it, where am I going to place our output?
Danielle: Well, we need to get product into our customers’ hands.
Jerrod: I agree, and we need a warehouse to do that.
Danielle: My analysis does not support constructing a new warehouse. The numbers don’t lie; the warehouse does not meet our investment return targets. In fact, it seems to me that purchasing a warehouse does not add much value to the business. We need to be producing product to satisfy customer orders, not to fill a warehouse.
Jerrod: The headquarters people will not allow me to build the warehouse if the numbers don’t add up. You know as well as I that many assumptions go into your net present value analysis. Why don’t you relax some of your assumptions so that the financial savings will offset the cost?
Danielle: I’m willing to discuss my assumptions with you. Maybe I overlooked something.
Jerrod: Good. Here’s what I want you to do. I see in your analysis that you don’t project greater sales as a result of the warehouse. It seems to me that if we can store more goods, then we will have more to sell. Thus, logically, a larger warehouse translates into more sales. If you incorporate this into your analysis, I think you’ll see that the numbers will work out. Why don’t you work it through and come back with a new analysis. I’m really counting on you on this one. Let’s get off to a good start together and see if we can get this project accepted.
What is your advice to Danielle?
The capital budgeting decision process is a complete multifaceted and analytical process.
Capital budgeting analysis estimates, such as the cash flows, discount rate, time period and total investment amount. This results of analysis should be used to either support or reject a project, capital budgeting should not be used to justify an assumed net present value. The analyst should not work backward, filling assumed numbers that will produce the desired net present value. Such a reverse approach reduces the credibility of the entire process.
In the given case, Danielle who is new analyst analysis the purchasing of warehouse according to standards and reject the construction because purchase of warehouse does not add much value to business and does not increase sales as a result of warehouse. But Jerrod who is plant manager argued the Danielle that warehouse is needed to store the production and if we can store more goods, then we will have more sales.
On the basis of above information, the contention of Jerrod is not correct because purchasing of warehouses does not guaranty to increase sales. Hence Danielle is advised t not to consider the Jerrod plea. |
0.959965 | Why did Chigurh unnecessarily shoot the bird?
In the scene from No Country For Old Men shown below, Chigurh shoots at a pigeon through the window of his car as he drives along. Why does Chigurh unnecessarily shoot the bird?
What is this trying to say, that he is a psychopath, that will kill anyone without any reason? Or does it mean something else?
You should absolutely read the book No Country for Old Men, written by Cormac McCarthy. It's a very easy read and short, literary but genre lit, so accessible to us all.
My understanding, after pondering both the book and film, is that Chigurh is really of a "force of nature", brutal, uncompromising and monstrously indifferent. Not just a psychopath, but a "psychopath's psychopath". He kills because that is what he does. However, there may be deeper meaning to the pigeon in that birds are often a metaphor for the soul. Thus, it may indicate that for all his dominion of the physical world, he cannot destroy the soul.
One of the themes of the book, also touched upon in the movie, is the eternality of violence. The book is set against the ultra-violent, modern drug wars, with the feeling that it's never been so bad. (The old Sheriff realizes he's getting too old to deal with it, hence the title.) But then there are passages recounting his grandfather's time, and a bloody vendetta, no less brutal than modern times.
The brutality of both man and nature is a recurring theme in McCarthy's work. Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West is set in that earlier period, the 1850's, in the same general region. The Road, also recently adapted into a film, involves similar themes.
That is no country for old men. The young in one another's arms, birds in the trees, those dying generations at their song, the salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas, fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long—whatever is begotten, born, and dies. Caught in that sensual music all neglect, monuments of unageing intellect.
An aged man is but a paltry thing, a tattered coat upon a stick, unless Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing for every tatter in its mortal dress, nor is there singing school but studying monuments of its own magnificence; and therefore I have sailed the seas and come to the holy city of Byzantium.
O sages standing in God's holy fire as in the gold mosaic of a wall, come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre, and be the singing-masters of my soul. Consume my heart away; sick with desire and fastened to a dying animal—it knows not what it is; and gather me into the artifice of eternity.
Once out of nature I shall never take my bodily form from any natural thing, but such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make of hammered gold and gold enamelling to keep a drowsy Emperor awake; or set upon a golden bough to sing to lords and ladies of Byzantium of what is past, or passing, or to come.
Pigeons (and birds) are often used to represent freedom, something that is directly in contrast to Chigurgh's belief in fate and inevitability. The pigeon is a representation of both uncertainty and fate. As stated earlier, "Even in a contest between man and beast the outcome is uncertain."
Here, the outcome should be clear. A point blank shot at an unsuspecting, perched pigeon [I thought it was a crow upon first viewing]. But Chigurgh misses, continues on his way, and the bird flies off. It would appear that if Chigurgh were the/a physical manifestation of death, that Chugurgh's failure to kill this bird would represent an ambiguity about his belief system, his role in the world, and his purpose, at least as it applies to the pigeon.
The fact that the shot misses and the pigeon flies away, can either support or negate the fatalistic/no free will worldview of Chigurgh: () maybe the bird was ever meant to be killed, () maybe death is not preordained, () maybe men can kill each other but the rules of nature are unaffected. Maybe the pigeon was not meant to die? Maybe Chigurgh is not a perfectly fair arbiter of death, and is an imperfect tool of fate? Maybe even death can be (briefly) defied?
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged plot-explanation no-country-for-old-men .
Who was the girl and why was she seen in Wrecked?
In 'Sicario', what was the purpose of raiding the tunnel?
How did Chigurh find the hotel he was staying at?
Why didn't Anton Chigurh kill Sheriff Bell?
In the end of No Country For Old Men, what significance does Chigurh's car accident have with plot/story of the movie?
How does Chigurh know where to go to find Moss when the transponder isn't beeping initially? |
0.950751 | Filipinos are among the most emotional people in the world, according to Gallup's 2016 Global Emotions Report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — A new survey from Gallup suggests that Filipinos are among the most emotional people in the world.
According to Gallup's 2016 Global Emotions Report, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, and the Philippines are among the most emotional people in the world with nearly 60 percent of people surveyed saying they experienced both positive and negative emotions the day before they were interviewed.
To complete the survey, Gallup interviewed over 147,000 adults in 140 countries in 2015.
Questions asked of the individuals were taken from two indexes: the Positive Experience Index and the Negative Experience Index.
Participants were asked questions ranging from whether they were well-rested yesterday and did they learn anything yesterday, to whether they experienced pain or sadness the day before they were interviewed.
Countries in Latin America led the list of countries with the most positive experiences.
According to the Gallup report, the 10 countries with the highest positive experiences worldwide are: Paraguay, Guatemala, Honduras, Uzbekistan, Ecuador, El Salvador, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Colombia, and Switzerland.
Countries with the lowest scores in this index are Syria, Turkey, Nepal, Georgia, Serbia, Iraq, Yemen, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine.
Meanwhile the countries with the highest scores in the negative experience index are Iran, Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, Cyprus, Liberia, Togo, Sierra Leone, Bolivia, Portugal, and the Palestinian Territories.
It is the third year in a row that Iran and Iraq have topped this list.
Gallup noted that "people in most of the countries with the highest negative scores in 2015 were contending with some disruption – economic or otherwise. Almost all countries at the top of the list in 2014 are at the top of the list again in 2015."
The countries with the lowest scores in the negative experience index are Uzbekistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Taiwan, Belarus, Somalia, Singapore, Mongolia, and Estonia.
Gallup added: "Countries with ties to Russia and the former Soviet Union largely dominate the list of countries at the other end of the spectrum, where fewer than four in 10 residents reported experiencing any of these feelings.
According to John Clifton, managing director of Gallup Global Analytics, the 2016 Global emotions report "focuses on how people live their lives."
He added, "Leaders know that wealth isn't everything – a great society has people who see their lives well and live their lives well. This report shows the countries in which people are living their lives to the fullest." |
0.941528 | Ted Hughes's remarkable 'pennine sequence' celebrates the area where he spent his early childhood. It mixes social, political, religious and historical matter - a tapestry rich in the personal and poetic investment of a landscape that both creates and is inured to its people, whose moors 'Are a stage for the performance of heaven. / Any audience is incidental.' Remains of Elmet is one of Hughes's most personal and enduring achievements.
'The Calder valley, west of Halifax, was the last ditch of Elmet, the last British Celtic kingdom to fall to the Angles. For centuries it was considered a more or less uninhabitable wilderness, a notorious refuge for criminals, a hide-out for refugees. Then in the early 1800s it became the cradle for the Industrial Revolution in textiles, and the upper Calder became "the hardest-worked river in England". Throughout my lifetime, since 1930, I have watched the mills of the region and their attendant chapels die. Within the last fifteen years the end has come. They are now virtually dead, and the population of the valley and the hillsides, so rooted for so long, is changing rapidly.' Ted Hughes, Preface to Remains of Elmet (1979)Ted Hughes's remarkable 'pennine sequence' celebrates the area where he spent his early childhood. It mixes social, political, religious and historical matter - a tapestry rich in the personal and poetic investment of a landscape that both creates and is inured to its people, whose moors 'Are a stage for the performance of heaven. / Any audience is incidental.' Remains of Elmet is one of Hughes's most personal and enduring achievements. |
0.999546 | I'm looking into ceremonial magic, and I want to know where to start. I am under 18, so my tools are limited. I could get some books, but I would prefer websites.
The two most common routes people take are the Golden Dawn model, which has been published within an inch of its life by now, and some these days are looking to bypass the Golden Dawn's insinuation into the stream of magick tradition by appealing directly to Medival literature. The former is the easiest path in terms of the detailed instructions available. Understanding the Medieval literature requires a good background in both Neoplatonic and Classical literature, making that approach a tough slog for pretty much anyone, though the handful of hearty souls treading that path swear by it, some going so far as to knock the Golden Dawn tradition as so much New Age crapola.
There are a few alternatives. Franz Bardon, for example, provides an interesting attempt at merging Eastern and Western cosmological concept and techniques. And believe it or not, Traditional Gardnerian/Alexandrian-style Wicca is about as "ceremonial" as it gets, though the emphasis is more religious than magical for most people, and finding a good group of people to practice it with (it's tough to pull off the ceremonial aspects on your own) is a nearly insurmountable challenge in most places.
Typical book suggestions that provide very accessible techniques within the GD-ish framework include Donal Michael Kraig's Modern Magick (http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Magick-Lessons-Magickal-Llewellyns/dp/0875423248/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319392182&sr=1-2), and John Michael Greer's Circles of Power (http://www.amazon.com/Circles-Power-Ritual-Western-Tradition/dp/1567183131/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319392231&sr=1-1), though neither of those present the GD system itself.
As it happens, I have an online developmental program of Ritual Magick, in the pilot stage. It's three one-year long modules, prefaced by a basic training that takes about three months to complete. It's free right now, in exchange for feedback. I don't know if I'll ever charge for it though. We'll see how it goes. The year-long modules are by invitation only, but the basic training is open to anyone. Feel free to check it out (http://neuromagick.com/magick-training). |
0.983908 | So many cult TV shows are coming back. 2017 will be the year of FOX's Prison Break and Showtime's Twin Peaks.
In October 2014, we had this incredible announcement: Twin Peaks is going to come back on Showtime. David Lynch revealed that he was going to pen a third season of the cult TV series starring Kyle Maclachlan which aired on ABC from 1990 to 1991 . After almost two years of news, changes and postponing, now it seems likely that the wait is almost over. Let's recap what we know so far and have a look at the first preview.
Fans were really surprised when the cast was officially revelead.
There are so many new actors and even a singer! Yes, I am not joking. Pearl Jam's frontman Eddie Vedder will appear in the third season along with the italian actress Monica Bellucci, Jim Belushi, Naomi Watts and many more. Almost the entire cast of the original run will be back as well, and even X-Files' David Duchovny will show up in the upcoming episodes.
In the end, everything turned out in a perfect way. Lynch has directed and written all the 18 episodes of this new run, but there was a huge risk that he could exit the project.
Due to contract's issues concerning apparently the number of episode order and the budget, David Lynch didn't want to continue to be part of the project. A Twin Peaks Lynch-less would be a joke and Showtime made his way back to Lynch's approval. Now it's official that Twin Peaks is going to air in the first half of 2017.
Showtime hasn't released a full trailer yet, but we have two juicy teasers. The first ones have been revelead when the official announcement was made.
Let's hope to have some more juicy news and footage soon. Twin Peaks will likely be the most buzzed returning TV show of 2017. Don't miss the follow-up article about another returning fan favourite TV series: Prison Break. |
0.989685 | CONSPIRACY OR LEE HARVEY OSWALD?
I am mixed, I think there are elements within the case that suggest a conspiracy, however, It was Oswold who pulled the trigger.
Maybe Oswold gained some influences from Castro and Russia, although I just felt his character lacked that kind of interaction, maybe he wanted to get attention from castro.
I don't think we will ever Know, a conspiracy will continue until some hard evidence linking Oswold to this conspiracy(?) is made.
i base my opinion on a series that was shown here in UK on the history channel that oswald never fired a shot, sure he was framed, but he never fired a shot! how could he shoot kennedy in the front of his head from the book place which was behind him?
how do you know what's the truth and what's not?
while Abraham Zapruder's "Headsnap" is a very good film, i still have to wonder why this thread is in Movieworld.
Probably the truth will come out one day,maybe in about 50 years time when everybody involved will be dead and buried.
I read somewhere that evidence has shown that Lee Harvey Oswald was proven not be the shooter. I don't know the book was outdated. and apparently the answer to Kennedy's assasination lies within his brain (literally) which has subsequently been lost.
I really hope that the documentary is put out for fileshare, because it was extremley methodical and professional. |
0.998957 | Could you write a little bit about enlargement of the spleen in a man? He has been investigated in hospital but we would like your comments also and a little bit more information.
The spleen has a wide variety of functions and can be affected by a diverse range of medical conditions. It is involved in the manufacture and destruction of red blood cells and some of the white blood cells. It is an integral part of the lymph and immune systems. Splenomegaly, or enlargement of the spleen, is not a complete diagnosis therefore I can only answer your question in the most general of terms. Various infections can cause the spleen to enlarge such as infectious mononucleosis or glandular fever, parasitic infections and bacterial infections. Diseases of the liver can also result in enlargement of the spleen due to backpressure from the liver to the spleen through the portal vein. For example, cirrhosis of the liver can result in splenomegaly depending on the degree of damage to the liver architecture. Various types of haemolytic anaemia can also result in enlargement of the spleen. Splenomegaly can also be a feature of leukaemia, lymphoma and Hodgkin’s disease. Sarcoidosis occasionally results in splenomegaly. The list I have just given is not all-inclusive and the diseases mentioned are not listed in any rank order in terms of frequency or seriousness. The treatment of splenomegaly is based on making a comprehensive diagnosis of the underlying cause of splenic enlargement and treating that condition. Sometimes splenectomy, or removal of the spleen, may be recommended depending on the underlying diagnosis. |
0.999994 | Here’s a sentence that you might have heard several times before: “The customer is always right.” For so long, people everywhere have been introduced to this particular refrain at various points in their life that a lot of individuals actually take it for granted. There’s also the fact that there are countless stories, anecdotes, and testimonials out there of businesses and companies going out of their way to ensure that the needs of their customers are consistently met. But here’s a radical thought that might turn the gears in your mind: what if the customer isn’t always right?
Such an idea might be considered as blasphemous to most businesses since a lot of entrepreneurs are hardwired to think about pleasing their consumer base at all times. But when you really think about it, this kind of thinking seems too one-sided in that it gives too much power to the customer and might end up taking advantage of a company’s goodwill. And whenever the customer is in that kind of position, it could really spell serious trouble for any business that has always catered to the whims and desires of their clients.
If you happen to be a business owner, then you certainly know the struggle of providing exceptional customer service but also trying to make sure that consumers aren’t treating you like a doormat at all times. You have to remind yourself that you’re still running a business and that you have a bottom line to constantly think about, and giving in to your customers every single time could very well drive you out of business. It’s high time for you to put your foot down, draw the line, and understand why the customer isn’t always right.
Companies are all about the bottom line, and as much as they want to please their customers all the time, they are aware of the fact that their products and services don’t just magically come from an unlimited source. In fact, your resources aren’t the only things that have limits, but your patience—and that of your employees—also have limits when it comes to dealing with hordes of unsatisfied customers.
What you can do is to simply do your best to address an issue every time a customer confronts you with a complaint. And if they are still not pleased despite your best efforts, then you must not feel guilty about moving on. Remember, you have a responsibility to think about the bigger picture when it comes to your business, and so you should always focus your efforts on people who appreciate what you do for them as a provider.
As an entrepreneur, you’re not exactly the first line of defense when it comes to dealing with customers on a daily basis. Your employees are the ones who have to face the complaints of your clients, and if you insist on teaching your staff members that customers are always right, then it might backfire on you because this could create an aura of resentment from your subordinates. And if your employees are starting to feel negative emotions towards you, then you’re going to have to deal with two problems now.
Telling your employees that the customers are always right also carries the implication that you care more about the clients more than them, which creates a one-sided professional relationship. This is not fair to your staff—or to your customers, for that matter—because when you take sides, it creates a structural imbalance that could mean the downfall of your business. Proper training of your employees is necessary to ensure that they are able to handle customers at all times without always giving in to what they want.
Whether you choose to believe this or not, there is such a thing as bad customers, and they could very well spell trouble for your business if you don’t handle them properly. You can easily identify if a customer is of the unsavory variety if they frequently complain about your company despite your business doing quite well, have unfounded accusations against your brand, and most egregiously, abuse and belittle your employees whenever they try to follow protocol for proper customer service.
Remember this: as the proprietor of a business, you have the right to refuse customers if you are aware that they are actively and consciously disrespecting your staff or besmirching the name of your good brand for no justifiable reason. This might hurt your revenue in the short term, but you’ll thank yourself in the long haul for turning away people that will only create unwanted chaos on your business. Furthermore, it is your duty to protect both your employees and your good customers from associating with such bad clients.
Customers aren’t the experts. You are.
Customers may complain, whine, and argue all they like, but at the end of the day, it’s you and your employees who know your products or services better than them. When you frequently place the customer in a position of power, it gives them the wrong asssumption that they know more about your business, and that’s not a good thing. Such presumptions could very well lead to friction between your employees and customers who voice out opinions that your business should do this or do that in order to satisfy consumers.
Therefore, it is your responsibility to assume the role of the expert because you are the one who is providing consumers with what they need. It can be dangerously easy to come across as arrogant or obnoxious when dealing with customers and telling them that you are right, but there is a way wherein you can let them show you know more than them without feeling that they’re being patronized. Be calm and composed at all times when educating them about your brand so they’ll come to realize that you are on their side.
Striving to please everyone can be incredibly taxing on your part, and by extension, your business as a whole. You need to be aware of the fact that people will always have firm opinions on certain things, and no matter what you try to do, you can never change how they feel or think about you. This is especially true in the world of business and commerce because no two consumers share the same views on one particular brand. One might react positively to your company, while another might think you don’t pass their high standards.
Of course, customers are always entitled to their own opinions, and as such, you should never take it against them if they feel that you aren’t giving them the treatment they think they deserve. There are much better ways for you to make use of your time than consistently bending over backwards to please your clients. You shouldn’t feel too bad if you’re going to lose some customers from time to time, but you always need to look on the bright side because there will always be people out there who will end up being part of your faithful and supportive group of customers. |
0.999772 | Is there a difference between the IPython notebook and the Jupyter notebook on fedora? I'm a bit confused by the available packages. Installing python3-jupyter-core seems to provide the jupyter-notebook binary, but it does not work without python3-nbformat. There is also another core package: python-jupyter_core which seems to be the same as the first one?
The thing that got me most confused was that there is a notebook package for IPython too (python3-ipython-notebook), and it works independently of the Jupyter one. I can launch a notebook with ipython3 notebook without having python3-nbformat installed. However, the notebooks looks identical!
I think this is because the ipython notebook is changing to jupyter. Maybe the older packages of ipython are still compatible with jupyter. Maybe in the future this change. |
0.999353 | Does being paleo/primal make you a meat-eating hippy?
I'm 3 months into being paleo and I can tell my body is detoxed. Feeling better, I didn't want to pollute my body again. I've now started using fewer chemicals around the house to clean, opting for more natural alternatives. Now I find pollutants around the neighborhood and beyond bugging me.
Has anyone else started to head down a hippy/environmentalist path after becoming paleo?
agreed. It strikes me as odd that someone who is paleo must then be a rough carnivore type. Being a caveman seems to answer the bohemian call to go "back to the earth" quite nicely.
Nicely put.....simplifying and being concerned of other things that go into your body besides food is a natural evolution of a paleo/paleo 2.0 lifestyle.
You are using the term "hippy" like it has a negative connotation. You have improved your diet, try improving your preconceptions.
I agree with this. Many things that were opaque to me are now clear when looking through a Paleo lens.
I love my reel mower. I only have 1 bad thing to say about it: it doesn't cut thick weeds very well.
I use my son's- a good clean cut coupled with a better workout.
There's nothing wrong with your gut feeling, and unscientific responses. It's about context. When you use your gut to react to OTHERS, that's bad. Use it for yourself, your own N=1 changes; that's completely fine and normal.
Going from what I find on dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hippie): hip·pie also hip·py (hĭp'ē) n. pl. hip·pies A person who opposes and rejects many of the conventional standards and customs of society, especially one who advocates extreme liberalism in sociopolitical attitudes and lifestyles. Based on that? Yeah, I guess I am!
Yes, but are you a hippy?
Bravo. Could not have said it better.
During my paleo enlightening phase, I became very aware of my impact on the world through the industrial food system. The more I've learned, the more I've withdrawn myself from that system. A lot of it is the fact that environmental benefits seem to dovetail well with health benefits in the whole paleo scheme. I now buy my produce local and organic, ideally from farmers markets. All of my meat and lard comes from grass fed beef and nicely raised pigs from a local farm. I buy raw milk through a CSA. I'm basically off the grid when it comes to purchasing food and the energy used to grow and transport all the food I buy is very minimal.
This has permeated the rest of my life and made me less of a consumer in general. Getting back to roots and traditions with food and nutrition has nicely had the same effect in the rest of my life, making me realize that I simply don't need all of the things I once thought I did. And it certainly does open your eyes to the excess, the toxicity, and the environmental harm that is going on in the world. That's a perspective I prefer having, and I would never trade the knowledge I have now for the ignorant bliss I had before.
Maybe because I work at a non-profit it's made me into a reactionary after going paleo. With having to attend conferences that say "go vegan to save the Earth," I'm not on good terms with the environmental movement. In the end I realized what separates me from them. I care about the environment because I want a healthy & good world for humans. They care about the environment because they think it's magic and special and bad evil humans are ruining it.
So there are some hippy things I support. I like Environmental Working Group's approach on informing consumers about chemicals in cosmetics and pesticides on vegetables. I am involved with a group that cleans up soil for gardening. All these movements make the environment better for humans instead of treating it as a good in itself.
The paleo diet has opened up a whole new world for me. If the DIET is consistent with our genetic heritage, might other aspects of our modern lifestyle be out of sync with our genetic heritage? This has led me to numerous books about evolution, the ice age, etc. If you're interested, I would recommend Paul Shepard's "Coming Home to the Pleistocene." He thoughtfully suggests a lifestyle makeover (society wide) that he feels would put us in tune with our genetic roots.
I would also recommend James A. Swan's "In Defense of Hunting." The author, a Ph.D environmental psychologist, explains why we hunt and what value that has in our modern society. A great read.
I could go on, but basically the discovery of the paleo diet in 2002 has altered my world view quite a bit, and colors my judgement in all aspects of my life, from child-rearing to politics. Genetically, we ARE our paleolithic ancestors.
So while I'm still eco-conscious, I'm much more... grounded and practical, I guess, about it.
the information given to me in various forms throughout the day on "what is healthy for me."
I shudder a bit at the term "hippy" because to me the phrase implies woo and new age thinking - spot the skeptic! I like making decisions based on science and reason, not gut-feel and emotive language (which radical groups in society abuse).
To me, paleo is a rational lifestyle choice, and that way of thinking leads to making rational choices in other things like local community, animal welfare and the environment.
Going Paleo does make you realize the hippy environmentalists have a few valid points, doesn't it?
I was already pretty crunchy.
Actually, I started down the paleo path after being what you might consider a hippie environmentalist.
Short answer: yes I have. I always approach the environment in an organic way first. I'm excited with my new purchase, a manual reel lawn mower!
Oh I also don't agree with the vegan movement. |
0.998677 | Are call center environments considered "sensitive areas" for PCI DSS Requirement 9.1.1?
PCI DSS Requirement 9.1.1 addresses the need for video cameras and/or access control mechanisms to monitor individual physical access to sensitive areas. "Sensitive areas" refers to any data center, server room or any area that houses systems that store, process, or transmit cardholder data. Note that this excludes the areas where only point-of-sale terminals are present, such as the cashier areas in a retail store. This exclusion was included to recognize that such controls may not be practical or permitted in public-facing areas where cardholders are using their own payment cards.
Because call-center environments contain systems that process, transmit and/or store cardholder data, such areas need to be protected from unauthorized physical access. Without physical access controls, unauthorized persons could potentially gain access to the CDE and to sensitive information, or could alter system configurations, introduce vulnerabilities into the network, or destroy or steal equipment. The purpose of Requirement 9.1.1 is to ensure that all entry/exit points to sensitive areas are controlled and monitored, and that all individuals who physically access the area are identified. Whichever mechanism is used to meet this requirement, it must be sufficient for the organization to verify that only authorized personnel are granted access. |
0.999815 | Write a survey report on the reading habits of engineering students for submission to your college principal. Also give a set of recommendations for enhancing the reading habits of technical students.
percentages of students spending 2 hours or more per week on reading books, newspapers and electronic information show that more students read books at lower levels whilst at higher levels, more students read electronic information. The topics that students read most in newspapers and on the computer is similar, namely “Entertainment”, “Computer, Information Technology”. The types of books that students read most are “Stories”, “Jokes / Humours”. It is apparent that the types of books that students prefer are for entertainment and leisure and not mostly for intellectual enhancement. The percentage of students spending 2 hours or more per week on reading books is higher if their parents go to public libraries with them “every week or every month” compared with “less than a month or never”.
- A book must be carried always.
- Television / Internet must be reduced.
- Reading hour or Reading day should be planned.
- Used book shops should also be preferred.
- A quiet place should be preferred.
- A goal should be set before entering into action.
- A regularity in reading books must be maintained.
E-Books are lot lighter than an average book so they must be given more preference. |
0.924408 | How do you follow up one of the most successful video games of this generation -- a mere year later, when it's still selling for full price? Activision senior producer Noah R. Heller is confident that Treyarch's latest iteration of the Infinity Ward-originated Call of Duty series, World at War, is up to the task.
Here, Heller discusses the technical and gameplay innovations that drove the development of the game at the Activision-owned Treyarch, which previously created Call Of Duty 3 and has just completed Spider-Man: Web Of Shadows and Quantum Of Solace, the latter of which also uses Infinity Ward's engine.
In this in-depth Gamasutra interview, Heller talks about working with Infinity Ward's engine technology, the collaboration between the two studios on the series, and the pointed mayhem that may become the hallmark of World at War -- both from an artistic and technical perspective.
You've used the Call Of Duty 4 engine for your game and, owing to that title's popularity, I'm sure you've incorporated many of the mechanics that made it such a huge success. But could you elaborate on those areas where you've struck out on your own in terms of design?
Noah R. Heller: Probably the biggest innovations revolve around the flamethrower. We built a really good fire system from the ground up. It does a lot of interesting things, propagating through the environment based on an actual wind vector.
So if you spray fire at the edge of a field, you can see it spread through the field, travel up a tree, and burn out the sniper perched in its branches. The entire environment is flammable. It's not a destructible game, but enough gets set on fire that we think it makes for really great interactive options.
The other thing we had to work hard on was communicating the Japanese military. Call of Duty has always been a pretty tightly-scripted experience, so we had to go a lot farther than we have done previously to create a Japanese enemy that was realistic.
They're much more aggressive. They have the ability to climb trees, to hide in foliage, to jump out of spiderholes, to ambush you, and to basically wait for their moment to pounce. They also have a disregard for their own well-being, which is a little bit different for Call of Duty.
Then, when it comes to cooperative play, we built the entire game so that the single player missions were also available as cooperative missions. That meant the levels needed to be bigger and feature alternate paths.
But we didn't want to take the soul of the levels away. Call of Duty is about you, with your buddies, trying to just get over that hill, trying to get to that objective. We didn't want something like: "Okay, you stand here and set the detonation charge and you stand over here and blow the charge." We wanted that gameplay to kind of evolve naturally, and that took a lot of environment work and crafting.
We didn't want to mess around with vehicles that might not work out. We built an armor system for the tank, so the tanks have detachable pieces of armor that you can blow off. And then, once you've detached that piece of armor, you can throw a sticky grenade in there and do extra damage.
Basically, wherever we could find a system where we felt like rewriting it from scratch, we did, in order to improve the engine.
NH: And it's still scripted for this one. We had to build new and more intelligent scripts.
But one of the things that frustrated me with the previous game was the invisible checkpoints with enemies, where they'll just keep respawning until you pass an arbitrary, hidden line. Have you reworked that system?
NH: I can't say that there's no place in the entire game where enemies might be infinite, but believe me, it was a big concern to us. I'm pretty sure we reduced it down to nil in almost any situation. Except one, where from a plot perspective, it was important for enemies to keep pouring out to get the player to move on.
A lot of people are completists, and they want to kill every enemy before moving on, so we wanted to make sure that there was something for those players as well. Basically, we get it; we get that it's bad gameplay when you show how the engine works to people.
So anywhere that occurred, we tried to reduce it or limit it completely. I can't promise you you're not going to see it, but you're not going to see the clown car effect where thousands of enemies just keep streaming out of a house or something. |
0.964407 | The 2010 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Badgers, led by fifth-year head coach Bret Bielema, were members of the Big Ten Conference and played their home games at Camp Randall Stadium. They finished the season 11–2, 7–1 in the Big Ten to be crowned Big Ten co-champions along with Michigan State. Due to being ranked the highest of the three schools in the BCS rankings at the end of the season, the Badgers earned the conference's automatic bid to the Rose Bowl, where they were defeated 21–19 by TCU.
A blocked PAT was the difference in a crazy game in Camp Randall Stadium. Both Arizona State and Wisconsin were undefeated heading into this game, Arizona State having beaten a pair of FCS teams and Wisconsin having beaten UNLV and San Jose State. The Badgers managed to overcome a sluggish start and fended off an upset bid by the Sun Devils.
Arizona State would be marred by mistakes, committing multiple penalties on offense and defense, and Wisconsin used Arizona State's gaffes to keep themselves in the game. The Sun Devils returned a kick for a touchdown, had a very long runback on a kick to end the half (the returner was tackled inside the one-yard line as time expired), and had a punt return for a touchdown called back due to a pair of illegal blocks. Wisconsin did not commit a single turnover, and that would ultimately help to decide this game.
Wisconsin improved to 3–0 on the season, and faces FCS opponent Austin Peay next week. Arizona State, however, falls to 2–1 and will need to win 5 Pac-10 games to become bowl-eligible.
Wisconsin broke the all-time record for most points scored with 70, breaking a record from the 1962 season (the Badgers defeated New Mexico State 69–13 that season).
In a matchup between undefeated teams in the Big Ten, Michigan State prevailed over the 9th ranked Badgers. Despite 3 Spartan turnovers, the Badgers were unable to come away with a road win, dropping head coach Bret Bielema to 0–2 in Spartan Stadium and 2–2 against Michigan State overall. The Spartans face their rival, the Michigan Wolverines in a crucial road contest next week, while the Badgers face longtime rival Minnesota in the battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe.
Wisconsin won a school-record 7th straight game over the rival Golden Gophers, dropping Tim Brewster to 0–4 against Wisconsin and improving Bret Bielema to 5–0 against Minnesota. Wisconsin did not commit a turnover for the 4th game in a row, and had two running backs with over 100 yards rushing (James White and John Clay). Minnesota has now lost 5 straight games after winning their opener against Middle Tennessee State.
Wisconsin stunned the top-ranked Buckeyes 31–18, their first upset of a top-ranked team since a 1981 defeat of #1 ranked Michigan. Wisconsin Senior WR David Gilreath returned the opening kick of the game for a touchdown, RB John Clay became the first running back to go over 100 yards rushing against the Buckeyes since Joe McKnight of USC in 2008, and Wisconsin's defense harried Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor all game long. The Badgers ran up 21 unanswered points in the first half before Devin Barclay of Ohio State answered with a field goal. The Buckeyes managed to get 15 more points (via a pair of Daniel Herron touchdown runs) but the Badgers iced their incredible upset of the Buckeyes with a TD run by James White and a Philip Welch field goal. The win over Ohio State is Bret Bielema's first; he was 0–3 against the Buckeyes in the previous three meetings (2007, 2008, and 2009). The loss dropped Jim Tressel to 4–4 against Wisconsin and snapped a 3-game Buckeye winning streak over the Badgers.
11th ranked Wisconsin won a narrow 31–30 contest over the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Hawkeyes went into the half with a 13–10 lead, but the Badgers chipped away at it and took a 24–20 lead. The Hawkeyes managed a touchdown and field goal of their own to take a 30–24 lead in the 4th quarter. However, the Badgers scored the go-ahead touchdown on an 8-yard run by running back Montee Ball. With under a minute remaining, Iowa drove into Wisconsin territory on their final possession, but Iowa RB Adam Robinson was tackled before he could get out of bounds. Unable to stop the clock, Iowa ran out of time, giving Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema his first-ever road win over a ranked opponent. It was also his 3rd win over Iowa and 2nd in Iowa City, breaking a two-game Hawkeye winning streak.
Wisconsin traveled to West Lafayette to play the Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue entered the game on a two-game losing streak (losing 49–0 at Ohio State and 44–10 at Illinois), but managed to take a 10–3 lead on the Badgers before the end of the first half. An interception by Badger QB Scott Tolzien on Wisconsin's first possession of the game and a missed field goal by Wisconsin K Philip Welch helped the Boilermakers take a 10–6 lead at the half.
From there, Wisconsin took command of the game. Purdue Freshman QB Sean Robinson threw an interception on the first possession of the half that set the Badgers up with excellent field position. Badger QB Scott Tolzien capitalized on the turnover, finding freshman WR Jared Abbrederis on a 7-yard touchdown strike that gave the Badgers their first lead of the game at 13–10. After an exchange of punts, the Badgers again found the end zone on a 31-yard touchdown run by RB Montee Ball, extending their lead to 20–10. Purdue K Carson Wiggs tightened the game by kicking a field goal to cut the Badger lead 20–13. However, those would be the last points of the game for the Boilermakers. Wisconsin would get another touchdown run from Ball and an interception returned for a touchdown by CB Antonio Fenelus.
The Badgers won their fifth straight game over Purdue, and their 8th game of the season overall. They play Indiana in Camp Randall on November 13. After a 2–0 start to conference play, Purdue has lost their last three games. They play Michigan in West Lafayette, having won their last two games against the Wolverines.
Wisconsin did not punt on any of their offensive possessions, tallied a pair of 100-yard running backs (James White and Montee Ball) and overpowered the Indiana Hoosiers. At one point, the score was 10–10, but Wisconsin would score 7 consecutive touchdowns to take a 59–10 lead before Indiana managed to kick a field goal. The Badgers put in their backup players in the 4th Quarter, but their two backup quarterbacks (Jon Budmayr and Nate Tice) managed to score a pair of touchdowns anyway.
Badger QB Scott Tolzien completed 15 passes on 18 attempts with a trio of touchdown strikes. Montee Ball's 167 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns on 22 carries led Wisconsin's ground game, and his teammate James White (who had not played against Purdue with a head injury) ran for 144 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns of his own. Wisconsin S Aaron Henry returned an interception for a touchdown late in the game to put Wisconsin up by a commanding margin and icing their win over the Hoosiers.
Wisconsin's 83 points against Indiana easily broke their previous record 70 points scored against Austin Peay, which was set earlier this season. They play Michigan in Ann Arbor next week.
Wisconsin would lead from start to finish of this game, shutting out the powerful Michigan Wolverine offense in the first half. The Badgers incredibly gained 380 yards of total offense in the first half. Wisconsin would close out the Wolverines from there; Michigan managed to cut Wisconsin's lead to just 10 points with a pair of back to back touchdowns. However, Wisconsin answered with a touchdown of its own. Michigan would score another 3rd-quarter touchdown, but the 4th quarter was where the Badgers took this game, outscoring the Wolverines 17–7 in the final 15:00.
Wisconsin running back Montee Ball ran for 4 touchdowns on 30 carries; his 194 yards paced a powerful Badger rushing attack. Badger QB Scott Tolzien completed 14 passes on 15 attempts for 201 yards as the Badgers diced up Michigan's vulnerable secondary. Wisconsin RB James White would run for 161 yards of his own and a pair of touchdowns; he and Ball combined for 6 rushing touchdowns and well over 300 yards of total offense.
Denard Robinson became the first QB to run for over 1,500 yards in a season, but he was unable to spark the Wolverines to a possible upset of a top ten Wisconsin team.
With the 48–28 win, Wisconsin won in Michigan Stadium for the first time since the 1994 season (when they defeated Michigan 31–19). Wisconsin also scored more points in the game than they had ever scored in any single game against the Wolverines prior to this date. The 10–1 Badgers are now looking at a potential Rose Bowl berth and BCS game, but must play a still-dangerous Northwestern Wildcats team in Camp Randall next weekend.
Wisconsin led by double digits just minutes into the game and never let go, blowing out the Wildcats en route to their eleventh victory of the season. Aided by 7 Northwestern turnovers, the Badgers played some of their best football of the season on Senior Day.
Wisconsin QB Scott Tolzien, who led the nation in passing completion percentage (74.3%) in the regular season, had an excellent game in his final home start. He completed 15 passes on 19 attempts for 230 yards with 4 touchdown passes. Tolzien was not sacked once in the game, and left to a standing ovation.
Wisconsin's running back duo of Montee Ball and James White tore apart Northwestern's defense on the ground, with 300+ combined rushing yards. James White eclipsed the 1,000 yards rushing mark for the season. Montee Ball's 4 touchdown runs paced the Badger ground game and he ran 20 times for 178 yards on the day.
The powerful Badger offensive line had one of its best games of the season, opening holes for the running game and protecting Scott Tolzien. Bill Nagy, John Moffitt, and Gabe Carimi put together fantastic games in their final home start. Badger TE Lance Kendricks caught 4 passes for 80 yards with an acrobatic touchdown catch, and WR David Gilreath scored his only receiving touchdown in the regular season on an 18-yard strike from Tolzien. Nick Toon caught a pair of touchdown passes as well.
Due to wins by Ohio State (over Michigan) and Michigan State (over Penn State), Wisconsin's win over Northwestern resulted in a tie between the teams with a 7–1 overall record. The Big Ten championship is thus split amongst the three teams, with the highest ranked team in the BCS going to the Rose Bowl.
Both teams scored double digit points in the first quarter, a Rose Bowl record. The game was close throughout, and was not decided until Wisconsin failed to convert a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter to tie the game. It was the second time the game was decided by two points, joining the 1966 game (UCLA 14, Michigan State 12).
^ "Wisconsin Badgers vs. UNLV Rebels Box Score". ESPN. September 4, 2010. Archived from the original on September 7, 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
^ "San Jose State Spartans vs. Wisconsin Badgers Box Score". ESPN. September 11, 2010. Archived from the original on September 14, 2010. Retrieved September 12, 2010.
^ "Arizona State Devils vs. Wisconsin Badgers Box Score". ESPN. September 18, 2010. Archived from the original on September 22, 2010. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
^ "Austin Peay Governors vs. Wisconsin Badgers Box Score". ESPN. September 25, 2010. Archived from the original on September 26, 2010. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
^ "Wisconsin Badgers vs. Michigan State Spartans Box Score". ESPN. October 2, 2010. Archived from the original on October 5, 2010. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
^ "Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Wisconsin Badgers Box Score". University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of athletics. October 9, 2010. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
^ "Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Wisconsin Badgers Box Score". ESPN. October 16, 2010. Archived from the original on October 20, 2010. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
^ "Wisconsin Badgers vs. Iowa Hawkeyes Box Score". ESPN. October 23, 2010. Archived from the original on October 26, 2010. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
^ "Wisconsin Badgers vs. Purdue Boilermakers Box Score". ESPN. November 6, 2010. Archived from the original on November 8, 2010. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
^ "Wisconsin Badgers vs. Indiana Hoosiers Box Score". University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Athletics. November 13, 2010. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
^ "Wisconsin Badgers at Michigan Wolverines Box Score". ESPN. November 20, 2010. Archived from the original on November 24, 2010. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
^ "Wisconsin Badgers vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score". ESPN. November 27, 2010. Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
^ "Wisconsin Badgers vs. TCU Horned Frogs Box Score". ESPN. January 1, 2011. Retrieved January 1, 2011.
^ "2010 Roster". University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Athletics. Archived from the original on 2011-10-13. Retrieved September 1, 2010. |
0.986902 | How do you differentiate between different blood groups?
You must have heard the words of encouragement sometime saying ' Be positive' or don't " be negative". There you go ! These are two blood groups with one solid difference between them. Bad example? I know.
Your blood type is based on whether or not certain proteins are on your red blood cells. These proteins are called antigens. Your blood type (or blood group) depends on what types your parents passed down to you. |
0.999999 | To remove rust from chrome, wash the chrome surface with chrome cleaner and water, use steel wool with chrome polish to rub off the rust, and then rinse and dry the surface. You need soft cloths, chrome cleaner, water, rubber gloves, steel wool and chrome polish to complete this task.
Using a soft cloth, wash and rinse the chrome surface. Use the chrome cleaner and water to remove dirt and debris. Wash the surface until you see the rust spots easily.
Apply chrome polish to the rusted surface. Put on rubber gloves to protect your hands from the steel wool. Apply polish to the steel wool, and gently rub the steel wool over the rust in a circular motion. Add more polish to keep the surface moist so you don't scratch the chrome. When rubbing, apply moderate pressure to avoid damaging the surface.
Rinse the rubbed surface with clean water, and check for any remnants of rust. If necessary, repeat the rubbing process to clear the remaining rust. Once you clear all the rust spots, rinse the surface again, and dry it with a soft cloth in a circular motion. |
0.934074 | Kava is a drink that comes from a root and is commonly enjoyed in the South Pacific islands. As kava has a paralytic effect, you will often see people staggering home or collapsed in the street after a kava party. It's also known to cause vivid dreams! I was able to rustle up some kava in Tonga and bring it home. While completely legal, it unfortunately came as a powder packaged in suspicious little baggies. As I was being searching by New Zealand customs officers, they pulled out the baggies, looked at me like I was a hideous criminal, and demanded to know, "What is this?" When I told them it was kava, they nodded and smiled and moved on. The Canadian border officials didn't know what the heck it was, but they were happy with the description of, "A ground-up root."
This kava was not very strong--probably brewed for unexperienced visitors--but it numbed the lips and tongue and gave a feeling of slight light-headedness. It also tasted like the most disgusting dirty dishwater!! Chalk it up to an interesting cultural experience.
Lol, I'm not sure! What is Kava kava? All I know is that its a naturally occurring paralytic drug. |
0.998044 | What are the links between HIV and TB?
HIV/AIDS and TB are so closely connected that the term “co-epidemic” or “dual epidemic” is often used to describe their relationship. The intersecting epidemic is often denoted as TB/HIV or HIV/TB. HIV affects the immune system and increases the likelihood of people acquiring new TB infection. It also promotes both the progression of latent TB infection to active disease and relapse of the disease in previously treated patients. TB is one of the leading causes of death in HIV-infected people. |
0.934539 | Just a few hours after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti in January 2010 the OpenStreetMap Community began tracing.... What did they begin tracing? Roads in the beginning all from imagery that was previously available from Yahoo. This initial tracing enhanced the base data that was already present. The initial data was from responses to 2008 cyclones Ike Hanna and Gustav that was imported in OSM in Jan 2009. This data served as a starting place for the mapping that would take place after the earthquake.
Within 48 hours high resolution imagery taken post-earthquake became available. Within the first month over 600 people added information to OpenStreetMap in Haiti. It became the default basemap for responding organizations such as Search and Rescue teams, Humanitarian mapping NGOs like MapAction and iMMAP, the United Nations and the World Bank.
In March of that year HOT began to lead its first field mission to Haiti to help responding organizations, Government of Haiti (GoH) entities and Civil Society groups to use OpenStreetMap. There were two components to this, using that data and contributing directly to the OpenStreetMap project by adding the data themselves. Eventually this fostered the emergence of the Community OpenStreetMap Haiti (COSMHA) a Hatiain OpenStreetMap organization which seeks to continue the development of the OpenStreetMap community in Haiti. HOT and COSMHA together have worked with the International Organization for Migration and its partners in the UN System as well as the Government of Haiti to further development of the OSM data. This program includes baseline (transportation, education, health, water and sanitation facilities), humanitarian (hurricane disaster shelters and cholera-response structures) and community mapping as well as capacity building programs.
In the time since March 2010 that HOT has been working in Haiti there have been six field missions and three months of continuous support. Additionally hundreds have been trained in OSM through workshops and data collection programs. As a result of these actions OpenStreetMap has been put in the forefront in Haiti. The OpenStreetMap data had been improved upon and strong capacities built in the UN system, part of the Haitian government and in the Civil Society. In the future further improvement to the data will occur as well as updates to it as needed.
HOT has continued to be active in Haiti through 2011, though primarily in a support role to COSMHA. This support is additionally provided with GrassRoots United another partner working in Haiti. Activities consist of further advanced training, help in project design, as well as organizational and technical assistance in current projects. The eventual goal is for COSMHA to be self-sustaining and not need the assistance of HOT.
Hey All,As part of the CAP103 project, financed by USAID, being run in the North of Haiti right now we have started coordinating motorcycles for survey purposes.[inline:IMG_2619.JPG]The purpose of using the motos is two-fold:1. To be able to transport teams of OSM surveyors to remote locations it would otherwise be difficult to reach.2. To be able to collect a solid network of GPS traces for the area's major and minor ways. Once collected, they can be used as a resource for setting offsets and positions for any aerial imageries.
Came accross this serious hurricane warning today from NOAA, informing that the tropical storm Isaac may hit Haiti severely from the next 24-36 hours. We think it is worthy to take Isaac seriously and so we are starting a local preparation coordinated by Jaakko Helleranta and Brian Wolford who have been living in Haiti for almost two years and have carried out many OSM activities and participated to HOT programs there.
Our previous posts about the Saint-Marc, Haiti project did not focus really about the training made there, what was one the main activities as the objectives were both improving the baseline data and buildings strong local mapping capacities. We wish we would have posted this post earlier, but as it deals with a specific documentation whose main version was in French, we had to clean the English original version so that it fits with all the changes we made in the French one throughout the three months of the program.
Back the First Haitian Creole OpenStreetMap Book!
When the January 2010 Earthquake happened in Haiti the OpenStreetMap community began mapping. We mapped and mapped until OpenStreetMap was the most detailed base map for Port-au-Prince available. In March of that year the handover of the map began. Two years later the handover is not complete, HOT and Community OpenStreetMap Haiti continue to work together coming closer to that day. One very important missing step is having adequate training materials available in Haitian Creole. |
0.991771 | Review for the film " Thillana Mohanambal"
Thillana Mohanambal is a Tamil musical drama film written, directed, and produced by A. P. Nagarajan. It was released in 1968. The film was adapted from Kothamangalam Subbu's novel which was published by the same name.
The movie starts with Sundaram playing Nadaswaram. He is a devoted artist and loves playing Nadaswaram. One day while performing, he meets Mohana, a Bharatnatyam dancer. After a few interactions, they fall in love with each other. Mohana asks Sundaram to play Thillana so that she could perform on it, but Sundaram hesitates. Unaware of Mohana's love, Sundaram decides to leave the country with his sister. Frustrated by this Mohana screams at him and offers him a challenge. He accepts it and postpones his decision to leave the country. He plays Thillana this time and is amazed by Mohana's performance. He confessed his love towards her, and she accepts him. The Maharaja asks Mohana to be her mistress and calls her in his palace at midnight. Sundaram watches this and doubts Mohana's loyalty. The story takes mysterious turns as the movie progresses. To know what happens next, you must watch it.
The movie has received mixed reviews from critics. It has a firm and sweet story but lacks the intensity. It is too lengthy and tests the audience's patience. A.P. Nagarajan has tried his best to keep the story intact and has succeeded in most aspects. The movie entertains you in the first half with beautiful performances of Sundaram and Mohana.
Sivaji Ganesan was in his improving stage and was getting better with every movie. He fit into the role of Sundaram and pleased with his tunes. Padmini, on the other hand, is a letdown with her character. A.P. Nagarajan has done an average job in all the tasks he has tried to attempt in the movie. He has written a beautiful story which pleases the audience with its innocence. The editing is good but less than perfect and has some minor flaws.
The movie has intensity, romance, and the drama will entertain you for the whole time. It also comes with some classical art and will connect with art lovers.
The movie is too lengthy to stick to the chairs. Also, the occasional loop ends might disturb you.
The movie has enough content to entertain you and is watchable.
Rajini Paid His Last Respect To His Makeup Arti..
Superstar’s Makeup Artist Muthappa Passed Away!.. |
0.982933 | Edward IV of England was a king of England. He was born on April 28, 1442. He was King of England from March 4, 1461 until his death on April 9, 1483.
Edward was the eldest of the four sons of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York. The Duke of York was a very powerful man, and had a claim to the throne of England. He became more popular than the existing king, Henry VI of England, who was thought to be weak. When the duke tried to take the throne from Henry VI, the Wars of the Roses broke out. By the time Edward was eighteen, he and his brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland, who was seventeen, were old enough to take part in the fighting, and Edward turned out to be a very good soldier. He was helped by Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, a clever nobleman who fought for the Duke of York. At the Battle of Wakefield in 1460, Edward's father, and his brother Edmund, were both killed. As his father's heir, he now claimed the throne. In March 1461, he entered London with his army and was crowned king, although he was only nineteen. King Henry VI was put into prison.
For a while, Edward ruled the country well, with help from the Earl of Warwick. Then Edward met a woman called Elizabeth Woodville, whom he wanted to marry. The Earl of Warwick did not know about their romance, and he wanted King Edward to marry a foreign princess in order to make an alliance with another country, which would have made his position stronger. Elizabeth and Edward got married secretly in about 1464, and they had ten children in the nineteen years of their marriage.
When the Earl of Warwick learned of Edward's marriage, he was angry. He grew even more angry as time went on, because Elizabeth's family became powerful and the king no longer respected Warwick as he had done in the beginning. In 1459 he rebelled against the king, with help from another of Edward's younger brothers, George, Duke of Clarence; George was married to the Earl of Warwick's elder daughter, Isabel. The rebels went to France and made an alliance with Queen Margaret, who was the wife of King Henry VI. The Earl of Warwick managed to defeat King Edward in battle in 1471, and freed King Henry VI from prison. Henry was now king again, and Edward had to escape to Burgundy, while his wife and children went into hiding.
The Duke of Burgundy was married to Edward's sister Margaret, so he was willing to help raise more troops. When Edward returned to England, he defeated the Earl of Warwick in battle and killed him. Shortly afterwards, Queen Margaret and her son arrived in England. They were also defeated in battle by King Edward, and his throne was safe. To make sure of this, Edward arranged for King Henry VI to be killed.
While Edward was away in Burgundy, his wife Elizabeth had given birth to a son, Edward, who was given the title of Prince of Wales. He would be the next king. Edward ruled with help from his two brothers. George, who had once rebelled against him, was now loyal, and the youngest brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, had always been loyal. There were still quarrels between them and the powerful Woodville family. George and Richard also quarrelled with each other, and in the end King Edward had to put George in prison, where he died.
Edward IV died very suddenly at the age of forty. His son became King Edward V of England, but his reign did not last long. Edward's brother, Richard, thought that it would not be a good idea for a boy to be king, and he took the throne himself. No one really knows what happened to Edward's two sons, the Princes in the Tower.
Edward IV of England Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia. |
0.956336 | Nogen idé om hvornår dokumentaren kan ses i Aarhus ?
Here is what Trine Torp, spokeman on social affairs for the party SF, wrote after the premiere: Premiere at Diagnosing Psychiatry by Anahi Testa Pedersen. Many good points in the film and the subsequent debate, for example: - The diagnostic language helps to maintain the understanding of mental disorder as a biochemical subject to medical treatment - diagnoses are often perceived as chronic. They should be able to be reassessed. - There is a need for alternatives to medical treatment and help for the withdrawal of psychiatric drugs. - Forced medication is one of the most traumatic forms of compulsion. |
0.956861 | I wasn't exactly sure how the dialogue should be for this one, so here's some other combinations.
It's true though; I'm an idiot and you should have been here, even though I think it was the booze talking..
I thought she was in a box... how did she get out?
ranaway: thank you. The problem is that the conversations are fictional, all extrapolated from silence, so eh.. yeah... She could really have said anything.. Or not..
m-girl: I should have been here.
rené: But I didn't know you wanted..
T: Who are you talking to? |
0.999926 | Which cat food should I use, or are either OK?
Topic: Which cat food should I use, or are either OK?
Question: Hello. I recently read about cat nutrition and it seems to make sense. I have decided to switch to a wet food diet. The nearest pet store stocks all the main brands like Whiskas and Kitekat but apparently they are not so good. I got two cans, one is "Select Gold - Adult Hair + Skin" and the other is "Real Nature - Huhn & Rind mit Vollkornnudeln and Wuzenkeimol". The Select Gold contains ingredients "chicken meat and chicken giblets (65.5%), chicken meat stock (31%), marine algae meal (1%), psyllium (1%), cranberries (1%), fish oil (0.25%), macadamia oil (0.25%). Average analysis: crude protein 10.7%, crude fat 5.5%, crude fiber 0.5%, crude ash 2%, moisture 81%, calcium 0.39%, phosphorus 0.35%. Additives/kg: vitamin D3 200 IU, vitamin E30 mg, vitamin C 40mg, taurine 1.5g. The Real Nature stuff (someone else posted it I found it on the internet): Zusammensetzung: Huhn (33%) - chicken Rind (33%) - beef Fleischbrühe (30.5%) - broth Vollkornnudeln (2%) - whole grain pasta Mineralstoffe (1%) - Minerals Weizenkeimöl (0.5%) - Wheat Inhaltsstoffe: Rohprotein (10.4%) Crude protein Rohfett (5.9%) Crude fat Rohasche (1.9%) Crude ash Rohfaser (0.4%) Crude fiber Feuchtigkeit (81%) - Moisture Taurin 1.5gr Vit D Vit E Vit C And the Zusatztoffe/kg: Vit. D(3) 200 IE, Vit E 30mg, Vit. C 40mg, Taurin 1.5mg Also, my cat is something between 10-11 years old, should i feed him adult or senior food if i choose the 'select gold'? OK thank you people, Maxim you seem to know a bit about ingredients, there were no 'grain-free' labelled foods in this store, but I did write out all the ingredients for the Select Gold and also copy the ingredients(which were accurate) for the Real Nature. From what you have said, I will go for the Select Gold, because the Real Nature contains 2% whole grain pasta and 0.5% wheat, correct? The Select Gold does not appear to contain any grain.
Best Answers: Which cat food should I use, or are either OK?
Well done for your awareness on processed cat foods, you might want to consider offering you cat real food, ie meat. As he is an older cat he may or may not want to do this, there are a lot of yahoo groups on raw or appropriate feeding for cats, if you do a search in groups you will find a lot of information and help from people who have transitioned their cats or help on the better canned varieties. Good luck.
Originally Answered: What is cheaper in the long run, feeding quality wet food like "wellness" or making your own raw food for cats?
It depends on which meats you choose to feed your cats and where you buy them since the prices can vary so widely. The 12.5 oz cans of Wellness cost me about $2.40 each. If I fed my cats only Wellness the three of them together, and they are small cats, would eat about 1 1/4 cans per day for $3.00 per day? $21.00 per week. I buy meats in various places but the bulk of it comes from a discount meat market. I got a several pounds of chicken leg quarters for only 69c/lb a while back. I also buy chicken liver there and I believe I got it in large containers for $1.49/lb. And I bought a big package of hearts also for around $1.59/lb Bear in mind that these are VERY low meat prices. If I add approx. 1.5 oz. liver to 1 lb meat, bones, and most of the skin and fat (and add a few hearts) it would come to roughly 95c for about 19 oz of food. Each cat would eat about 3.5 oz daily (yes, less than canned food) if that was all they ate. That would be about 50c per day for the three of them or about $3.50 weekly. Unless I am having an arithmetic breakdown! That's a six-fold cost difference. But also the extreme since you are that is very inexpensive chicken and you wouldn't want to feed a cat only chicken anyway And I did not add the fish oil - I add a couple caps to the raw food two or three times a week. So you can definitely feed cats more economically on a raw food diet if you can buy meats and organs at low prices. Meats having bones that cats can eat such as chicken and rabbit are easy. If you are planning to feed meats like beef or venison it gets more complicated because you need to supplement calcium (important!). I spent a lot of time fussing over this, calculating, figuring. For meats like that I am now using a product that takes all the guesswork out of it but which is not cheap: http://www.felinefuture.com/ My advice to you is to begin slowly and continue to do your research. You can save money if you shop well.
I am not familiar with these brands, but you should seek out a grain-free wet canned food. If it says "grain free" it's probably one of the more healthier brands. Avoid chemical additives and fillers, too, like anything that has "by-product" in it. 10-11 year old cat is not quite a senior. He's still an adult. And Lydia -- it DOES matter what your cats eat, in the statistics. There's always going to be a couple of cats that do "fine" on a diet of low-quality food like Whiskas or Meow Mix -- but studies indicate that health is linked to nutrition, and by feeding more species-appropriate, high quality food, you can increase your cat's health and longevity. Just as some people do "fine" eating fast food & junk food every day of their lives -- most of us would eventually develop serious health issues. It's the same with cats. Low-quality food is junk food for cats.
For the best answers, search on this site https://shorturl.im/axdq4 My first two cats never ate kitten food, they didn't even make the stuff when they were babies and now my cats are healthy 14 year olds. My younger cats were fed kitten food and they still preferred to steal the oder cats adult food. I honestly don't think it makes much of a difference though it is higher in protein calcium and other nutrient which are good for growing kittens. If she won't eat the kitten stuff it's better that she eat adult food than nothing at all.
Really, any premium canned cat food is ok as long as the ash content isn't very high. Also, stay away from fish mostly, especially if they are males. Buy chicken, turkey, and beef. Maybe a chopped grill, etc. Fishy cat foods tend to create urinary tract problems in cats. My 15 year old cat does not like the senior food. Again, buy premium brands and it will be fine.
It's okay, I would try mixing the kitten food in with the adult though. The kitten food has more fat and nutrients, "stuff kittens need" more, in it than adult food. My 2 year old still eats kitten food because he is so tiny and highly energetic and barely keeps on weight. He eats adult food too, plus treats and a minimal amount of moist food. You can't just switch completely from adult food to the kitten, you should mix in the kitten food with the adult, and add more of the kitten food over a few days to a week at most. Cats generally eat the kitten food until they are about a year old, then you wean them to adult food.
Originally Answered: how much food is healthy for me i have high metabolism my friends think i am anorexic i eat tons of food?
Eat healthful foods (and occasional treats) when you're hungry and stop when you're full. Eating tons of junk is unhealthy for everyone, regardless of your weight.
If you have your own answer to the question Which cat food should I use, or are either OK?, then you can write your own version, using the form below for an extended answer.
people food god for skiny hemingway 7wk kitten.took 2vet already,getting medication, science diet ADcan food?
Hello i adopted my cat from a shealter i asked them what food does she eat they told me what ever canned food?
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Cat food for dogs and dog food for cats?
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Why do people insist that human food is bad for dogs, yet ignore the fact that human food is bad for humans?
My Kittens stopped eating their wet food, and are only eating dry food, is this normal?
Which is better for cats: wet food or dry food? |
0.999649 | The map of the anomalies above be strong enough to keep the rover rolling. INLs Center for Space Nuclear Research designed nuclearpowered "hoppers" that could be more efficient than rovers a few dozen could map the entire Martian surface Nuclear Research at Idaho National Laboratory have been. A map from the National Weather Service shows the state of Leslie Roberts who works for the Idaho National Laboratory says she could smell the smoke in the air "Its like wood burning or weeds Smells like a farm fire,". BUSINESS WIREEsri, the global leader in spatial analytics, and the Department of Energys Idaho National Laboratory INL today announced they have entered into a cooperative research and development agreement. IDAHO FALLS, Idaho AP The fading memories of a downed World War IIera flight crew are coming into sharp focus thanks to a rediscovery by a local historian and archaeologists at the Idaho National Laboratory old handdrawn. Researchers at the Idaho National Laboratory, which is owned by the US Department of In March 2008, Siemens and INL researchers met to map out a vulnerability test plan for the Siemens PCS7 system, the system that was targeted. Last week I traveled for Reuters to a top secret cyber security testing lab and watch center operated by the US Department of Homeland Security at the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho from floor to ceiling with maps or live. IDAHO FALLS The fading memories of a downed World War IIera flight crew are coming into sharp focus thanks to a rediscovery by a local historian and archaeologists at the Idaho National Laboratory 70yearold handdrawn map. |
0.972896 | The mystery that is the origin of flowering plants has been partially solved thanks to a team of scientists. Their discovery sheds light on a question that much intrigued Darwin: the appearance of a structure as complex as the flower over the course of evolution. The mystery that is the origin of flowering plants has been partially solved thanks to a team from the Laboratoire de Physiologie Cellulaire et Végétale (CNRS/Inra/CEA/Université Grenoble Alpes), in collaboration with the Reproduction et Développement des Plantes laboratory (CNRS/ENS Lyon/Inra/Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1) and Kew Gardens (UK). Their discovery, published in the journal New Phytologist on February 24, 2017, sheds light on a question that much intrigued Darwin: the appearance of a structure as complex as the flower over the course of evolution. Terrestrial flora is today dominated by flowering plants. They provide our food and contribute color to the plant world. But they have not always existed. While plants colonized the land over 400 million years ago, flowering plants appeared only 150 million years ago. They were directly preceded by a group known as the gymnosperms, whose mode of reproduction is more rudimentary and whose modern-day representatives include conifers. Darwin long pondered the origin and rapid diversification of flowering plants, describing them as an "abominable mystery." In comparison with gymnosperms, which possess rather rudimentary male and female cones (like the pine cone), flowering plants present several innovations: the flower contains the male organs (stamens) and the female organs (pistil), surrounded by petals and sepals, while the ovules, instead of being naked, are protected within the pistil. How was nature able to invent the flower, a structure so different from that of cones? The team led by François Parcy, a CNRS senior researcher at the Cell and Plant Physiology Laboratory (CNRS/Inra/CEA/Université Grenoble Alpes), has just provided part of the answer. To do so, the researchers studied a rather original gymnosperm called Welwitschia mirabilis. This plant, which can live for more than a millennium, grows in the extreme conditions of the deserts of Namibia and Angola, and, like other gymnosperms, possesses separate male and female cones. What is exceptional is that the male cones possess a few sterile ovules and nectar, which indicates a failed attempt to invent the bisexual flower. Yet, in this plant (as well as in certain conifers), the researchers found genes similar to those responsible for the formation of flowers, and which are organized according to the same hierarchy (with the activation of one gene activating the next gene, and so on)! The fact that a similar gene cascade has been found in flowering plants and their gymnosperm cousins indicates that this is inherited from their common ancestor. This mechanism did not have to be invented at the time of the origins of the flower: it was simply inherited and reused by the plant, a process that is often at work in evolution. The study of the current biodiversity of plants thus enables us to go back in time and gradually sketch the genetic portrait of the common ancestor of a large proportion of modern-day flowers. The team is continuing to study other traits to better understand how the first flower emerged.
The mystery that is the origin of flowering plants has been partially solved thanks to a team of scientists. Their discovery sheds light on a question that much intrigued Darwin: the appearance of a structure as complex as the flower over the course of evolution.
The mystery that is the origin of flowering plants has been partially solved thanks to a team from the Laboratoire de Physiologie Cellulaire et Végétale (CNRS/Inra/CEA/Université Grenoble Alpes), in collaboration with the Reproduction et Développement des Plantes laboratory (CNRS/ENS Lyon/Inra/Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1) and Kew Gardens (UK). Their discovery, published in the journal New Phytologist on February 24, 2017, sheds light on a question that much intrigued Darwin: the appearance of a structure as complex as the flower over the course of evolution.
Darwin long pondered the origin and rapid diversification of flowering plants, describing them as an "abominable mystery." In comparison with gymnosperms, which possess rather rudimentary male and female cones (like the pine cone), flowering plants present several innovations: the flower contains the male organs (stamens) and the female organs (pistil), surrounded by petals and sepals, while the ovules, instead of being naked, are protected within the pistil.
How was nature able to invent the flower, a structure so different from that of cones? The team led by François Parcy, a CNRS senior researcher at the Cell and Plant Physiology Laboratory (CNRS/Inra/CEA/Université Grenoble Alpes), has just provided part of the answer. To do so, the researchers studied a rather original gymnosperm called Welwitschia mirabilis. This plant, which can live for more than a millennium, grows in the extreme conditions of the deserts of Namibia and Angola, and, like other gymnosperms, possesses separate male and female cones. What is exceptional is that the male cones possess a few sterile ovules and nectar, which indicates a failed attempt to invent the bisexual flower. Yet, in this plant (as well as in certain conifers), the researchers found genes similar to those responsible for the formation of flowers, and which are organized according to the same hierarchy (with the activation of one gene activating the next gene, and so on)! |
0.999367 | Which of the following is a computer hardware component that can process and store cryptographic keys?
TPM (Trusted Platform Module) is a specification detailing secure cryptoprocessor. The device itself is often called a "TPM Chip" or "TPM Device." |
0.992571 | The findings, published today in The New England Journal of Medicine, mark the end of a five year trial and provide a definitive answer to 60 years of uncertainty on the use of progesterone treatment for women with unexplained recurrent losses.
The study of 826 women with previously unexplained recurrent miscarriage showed that those who received progesterone treatment in early pregnancy were no less likely to miscarry than those who received a placebo. This was true whatever their age, ethnicity, medical history and pregnancy history.
Nearly two thirds of the women in the trial had their baby, whether they had progesterone or the placebo. The live birth rate was 65.8% in the treatment group, and 63.3% in the placebo group.
Though the results of the PROMISE (progesterone in miscarriage treatment) trial will be disappointing to many, it will allow researchers to direct their efforts towards exploring other treatments that can reduce the risk.
The trial results also showed that there were no significant negative effects of progesterone treatment for women or for their babies. This is important information for women taking progesterone for other reasons, such as fertility treatment, or for those taking part in other trials.
PROMISE was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, conducted across 36 hospital sites in the UK and nine in the Netherlands.
Women could enrol in the study if they were 18-39 years old, and actively trying to conceive naturally after being diagnosed with unexplained recurrent first trimester miscarriage. They were also excluded from the study if they did not conceive within 12 months of being enrolled.
398 women were in the treatment group and 428 were in the placebo group.
Their average age was 33. |
0.943442 | Tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah (I'timād-ud-Daulah kā Maqbara) is a Mughal mausoleum in the city of Agra in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Often described as a "jewel box", sometimes called the "Bacha Taj", the tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah is often regarded as a draft of the Taj Mahal.
The tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah is often regarded as a draft of the Tāj Mahal.
Along with the main building, the structure consists of numerous outbuildings and gardens. The tomb, built between 1622 and 1628 represents a transition between the first phase of monumental Mughal architecture – primarily built from red sandstone with marble decorations, as in Humayun's Tomb in Delhi and Akbar's tomb in Sikandra – to its second phase, based on white marble and pietra dura inlay, most elegantly realized in the Taj Mahal.
The mausoleum was commissioned by Nur Jahan, the wife of Jahangir, for her father Mirzā Ghiyās Beg, originally a Persian Amir in exile, who had been given the title of I'timād-ud-Daulah (pillar of the state). Mirzā Ghiyās Beg was also the grandfather of Mumtāz Mahāl (originally named Arjumand Bano, daughter of Asaf Khan), the wife of the emperor Shah Jahan, responsible for the construction of the Taj Mahal. Nur Jahan was also responsible for the construction of the Tomb of Jahangir in Lahore. It is noticeable for the first use of pietra Dura (floral design made up of semiprecious stone) technique.
Located on the eastern bank of the Yamuna River, the mausoleum is set in a large cruciform garden criss-crossed by water courses and walkways. The mausoleum itself covers about twenty-three meters square, and is built on a base about fifty meters square and about one meter high. On each corner are hexagonal towers, about thirteen meters tall.
The walls are made up from white marble from Rajasthan encrusted with semi-precious stone decorations – cornelian, jasper, lapis lazuli, onyx, and topaz formed into images of cypress trees and wine bottles, or more elaborate decorations like cut fruit or vases containing bouquets. Light penetrates to the interior through delicate jali screens of intricately carved white marble. The interior decoration is considered by many to have inspired that of the Taj Mahal, which was built by her stepson, Mughal ruler Shah Jahan.
Many of Nūr Jahān's relatives are interred in the mausoleum. The only asymmetrical element of the entire complex is that the cenotaphs of her father and mother have been set side-by-side, a formation replicated in the Taj Mahal.
This is the tomb of Mirza Ghiyas Beg and his wife Asmat Beghum. He hailed from Iran and served Akbar. He was the father of the famous 'Nur-Jehan' and grand father of 'Mumtaz-Mahal' of the Taj Mahal fame. He was made Vazir (Prime Minister) after Nur Jehan 's marriage with Jehangir in 1611. He held the mansab of 7000/7000 and the title : "I'timad-Ud-Daulah" (The Lord treasurer). He died at Agra in 1622, a few months after his wife's death. Nur Jehan built this tomb for her parents between 1622 and 1628. Her own tomb and that of Jehangir are at Lahore.
The Tomb of I'timad-Ud-Daulah is masterpiece of the domeless class of Mughal Tombs. It is the first building finished in white marble and marks the transitional phase from red stone to white marble, from Akbar's tomb Sikandra to the Taj Mahal. It reflects the personality of the polished Iranian who lies buried here, and, more than that, the formal and ornamental character of its builder Nur Jehan who ruled the Mughal Empire from behind the curtain for 16 years(1611-27).
The tomb, situated on the eastern bank of the river Jamuna, is planned in the centre of a Char-Bagh(Four quartered garden), with the usual enclosing walls and side buildings. As conditioned by its situation, the main gate is on the eastern side. Ornamental gateways with prominent lawns are built in the middle of north and south sides. A multi-storeyed open pleasure pavilion is there on the western side, overlooking the river impressively. These buildings are of res sandstone with bold inlaid designs in white marble.
Shallow water channels, sunk in the middle of the raised stone paved pathways, with intermittent tanks and cascades, divided the garden into four equal quarters. They re only slightly raised from the parterres which could be converted into flower beds. Space for large plants and trees was reserved just adjoining the enclosing walls, leaving the mausoleum fully open to view.
The main tomb of white marble is marvelously set in the centre of the garden. It stands on a plinth of red stone having in the middle of each side, facing the central arch, a lotus tank with fountain. The tomb is square in plan with octagonal towers, surmounted by chhatris, attached to its corners. Each facade has three arches; the central one providing the entrance, and the other two on the sides being closed by jalis. Each side is protected by a chhajja and a jalied balustrade above it . There is no dome ; instead the building is roofed by a square 'Barahdari' having three arched openings on each side which are closed by jalis except in the middle of the north and south sides. It is protected by a chhajja above which is the chaukhandi(pyramidal) roof, crowned by lotus petals and kalash finials. The interior is composed of a central square hall housing the cenotaphs of Asmat Begum, Mirza Ghiyas, four oblong rooms on the sides and four square rooms on the corners, all interconnected by common doorways. The cenotaph of Asmat Begum occupies the exact centre of the hall. Corner rooms have tombstones of Nur Jehan's other relations.
The most important aspect of this tomb is its poly-chrome ornamentation. Beautiful floral, stylized, arabesque and geometrical designs have been depicted on the whole exterior in inlay and mosaic techniques, in various pleasing tints and tones. Wine vase, dish and cup, cypress honey suckle, guldasta (flower bouquet) and such other Iranian motifs., typical of the art of Jehangir, have been emphatically used. Some compositions have been inspired by the plant studies of 'Ustad Mansur Naqqash', the famous 'Fauna and Flora' painter of Jehangir. Some stylized designs have also been done in exquisite carving, both incised and relief. They look like embroidery work done in ivory. Delicacy is their quality. Stucco and painting have been done in the interior where minute animal and human figures have also been shown. The inspiration has come from the contemporary art of painting. There is no glazed tiling and the decoration is largely by color stones which is an indigenous development. By far, it is the most gorgeously ornamented Mughal Building. It testifies the 'the Mughals began like Titans and finished like jewelers'. Chapters 48 and 73 of the Quran have been carved on the 64 panels on the external sides of the ground floor. The date of writing A.H. 1037/1627 A.D. is mentioned in the last panel. Chapter 67 of the Quran is inscribed on the 12 internal panels of the upper pavilion.
This is protected and conserved by the Archeological Survey of India.
^ کتاب سفرنامه هند ص55–58 در سال ۱۳۵۰ خورشیدی. نوشته محمدرضا خانی. به فارسی.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb. |
0.965827 | An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders (marginalia) and miniature illustrations. In the most strict definition of the term, an illuminated manuscript only refers to manuscripts decorated with gold or silver, but in both common usage and modern scholarship, the term is now used to refer to any decorated or illustrated manuscript from the Western traditions. Comparable Far Eastern works are always described as painted, as are Mesoamerican works. Islamic manuscripts are usually referred to as illuminated but can also be classified as painted.
The earliest surviving substantive illuminated manuscripts are from the period AD 400 to 600, initially produced in Italy and the Eastern Roman Empire. The significance of these works lies not only in their inherent art historical value, but in the maintenance of a link of literacy offered by non-illuminated texts as well. Had it not been for the monastic scribes of Late Antiquity, the entire literature of Greece and Rome would have perished in Europe; as it was, the patterns of textual survivals were shaped by their usefulness to the severely constricted literate group of Christians. The very existence of illuminated manuscripts as a way of giving stature and commemoration to ancient documents may have been largely responsible for their preservation in an era when barbarian hordes had overrun continental Europe and ruling classes were no longer literate.
The majority of surviving manuscripts are from the Middle Ages, although many illuminated manuscripts survive from the Renaissance, along with a very limited number from Late Antiquity. The majority of these manuscripts are of a religious nature. However, especially from the 13th century onward, an increasing number of secular texts were illuminated. Most illuminated manuscripts were created as codices, which had superseded scrolls. A very few illuminated manuscript fragments survive on papyrus, which does not last nearly as long as vellum or parchment. Most medieval manuscripts, illuminated or not, were written on parchment (most commonly of calf, sheep, or goat skin), but most manuscripts important enough to illuminate were written on the best quality of parchment, called vellum.
Manuscripts are among the most common items to survive from the Middle Ages; many thousands survive. They are also the best surviving specimens of medieval painting, and the best preserved. Indeed, for many areas and time periods, they are the only surviving examples of painting.
Art historians classify illuminated manuscripts into their historic periods and types, including (but not limited to) Late Antique, Insular, Carolingian manuscripts, Ottonian manuscripts, Romanesque manuscripts, Gothic manuscripts, and Renaissance manuscripts. There are a few examples from later periods. The type of book that was most often heavily and richly illuminated, sometimes known as a "display book", varied between periods. In the first millennium, these were most likely to be Gospel Books. The Romanesque period saw the creation of many huge illuminated complete Bibles – one in Sweden requires three librarians to lift it. Many Psalters were also heavily illuminated in both this and the Gothic period. Single cards or posters of vellum, leather or paper were in wider circulation with short stories or legends on them about the lives of saints, chivalry knights or other mythological figures, even criminal, social or miraculous occurrences; popular events much freely used by story tellers and itinerant actors to support their plays. Finally, the Book of Hours, very commonly the personal devotional book of a wealthy layperson, was often richly illuminated in the Gothic period. Other books, both liturgical and not, continued to be illuminated at all periods. The Byzantine world also continued to produce manuscripts in its own style, versions of which spread to other Orthodox and Eastern Christian areas. See Medieval art for other regions, periods and types. Reusing parchments by scraping the surface and reusing them was a common practice; the traces often left behind of the original text are known as palimpsests.
The Muslim World and in particular the Iberian Peninsula, with their traditions of literacy uninterrupted by the Middle Ages, were instrumental in delivering ancient classic works to the growing intellectual circles and universities of Western Europe all through the 1100's, as books were produced there in large numbers and on paper for the first time in Europe, and with them full treatises on the sciences, especially astrology and medicine where illumination was required to have profuse and accurate representations with the text.
Up to the twelfth century, most manuscripts were produced in monasteries in order to add to the library or after receiving a commission from a wealthy patron. Larger monasteries often contained separate areas for the monks who specialized in the production of manuscripts called a scriptorium. Within the walls of a scriptorium were individualized areas where a monk could sit and work on a manuscript without being disturbed by his fellow brethren. If no scriptorium was available, then “separate little rooms were assigned to book copying; they were situated in such a way that each scribe had to himself a window open to the cloister walk.” The separation of these monks from the rest of the cloister indicates just how revered these monks were within their society.
By the fourteenth century, however, the cloisters of monks writing away in the scriptorium had given way to commercial scriptoria in the larger cities. These cities included Paris, Rome and areas up in the Netherlands. While the process of creating an illuminated manuscript stayed the same, the move from monasteries to commercial settings was a radical step. As demand for manuscripts grew, monks discovered that they could not keep up with the demand and “Monastic libraries…began employing secular scribes and illuminators to collaborate in book production.” These individuals often lived close to the monastery and, in certain instances, dressed as monks whenever they entered the monastery, but were allowed to leave at the end of the day. In reality, illuminators were by no means anonymous, and historians know "the names and addresses of very many late medieval miniaturists and illuminators."
One of the most important features in the production of an illuminated manuscript is the amount of time that was spent in the pre-production stages outlining the work. Prior to the days of such careful planning, “A typical black-letter page of these Gothic years would show a page in which the lettering was cramped and crowded into a format dominated by huge ornamented capitals that descended from uncial forms or by illustrations.” To prevent such poorly made manuscripts and illuminations from occurring a script was typically supplied first, “and blank spaces were left for the decoration. This pre-supposes very careful planning by the scribe even before he put pen to parchment.” If the scribe and the illuminator were separate labors the planning period allowed for adequate space to be given to each individual.
The illumination and decoration was normally planned at the inception of the work, and space reserved for it. However normally the text was written before illumination began. In the Early Medieval period the text and illumination were often done by the same people, normally monks, but by the High Middle Ages the roles were typically separated, except for routine initials and flourishes, and by at least the 14th century there were secular workshops producing manuscripts, and by the beginning of the 15th century these were producing most of the best work, and were commissioned even by monasteries. When the text was complete, the illustrator set to work. Complex designs were planned out beforehand, probably on wax tablets, the sketch pad of the era. The design was then traced or drawn onto the vellum (possibly with the aid of pinpricks or other markings, as in the case of the Lindisfarne Gospels). Many incomplete manuscripts survive from most periods, giving us a good idea of working methods.
At all times, most manuscripts did not have images in them. In the early Middle Ages, manuscripts tend to either be display books with very full illumination, or manuscripts for study with at most a few decorated initials and flourishes. By the Romanesque period many more manuscripts had decorated or historiated initials, and manuscripts essentially for study often contained some images, often not in color. This trend intensified in the Gothic period, when most manuscripts had at least decorative flourishes in places, and a much larger proportion had images of some sort. Display books of the Gothic period in particular had very elaborate decorated borders of foliate patterns, often with small drolleries. A Gothic page might contain several areas and types of decoration: a miniature in a frame, a historiated initial beginning a passage of text, and a border with drolleries. Often different artists worked on the different parts of the decoration.
While the use of gold is by far one of the most captivating features of illuminated manuscripts, the bold use of varying colors provided multiple layers of dimension to the illumination. From a religious perspective, "the diverse colors wherewith the book is illustrated, not unworthily represent the multiple grace of heavenly wisdom." While religious authors view themselves as instilling a part of God's vast glory on the work, many illustrations can be linked to "the history of the texts that were required to be illustrated and the needs and tastes of the readers of those manuscripts." Color brought the images on the page to life and captivated the readers. Without color the impact of the image would have been completely lost.
The medieval artist's palette was broad; a partial list of pigments is given below. In addition, unlikely-sounding substances such as urine and earwax were used to prepare pigments.
An illuminated manuscript is not considered illuminated unless one or many illuminations contained gold foil or was brushed with gold specks, a process known as burnishing. The inclusion of gold on an illumination alludes to many different possibilities for the text. If the text is of religious nature the gold is a sign of exalting the text. In the early centuries of Christianity, “Gospel manuscripts were sometimes written entirely in gold.” Aside from adding flashy decoration to the text, scribes during the time considered themselves to be praising God with their use of gold. In one particular instance, “The life of Christ executed on gold backgrounds with much greater richness in the midst of innumerable scenes of the chase, tourneys, games and grotesque subjects.” Furthermore, gold was used if a patron who had commissioned a book to be written wished to display the vastness of his riches. Eventually, the addition of gold to manuscripts became so frequent, “that its value as a barometer of status with the manuscript was degraded.” During this time period the price of gold had become so cheap that its inclusion in an illuminated manuscript accounted for only a tenth of the cost of production. By adding richness and depth to the manuscript, the use of gold in illuminations created pieces of art that are still valued today.
The application of gold leaf or dust to an illumination is a very detailed process that only the most skilled illuminators can undertake and successfully achieve. The first detail an illuminator considered when dealing with gold was whether to use gold leaf or specks of gold that could be applied with a brush. When working with gold leaf the pieces would be hammered and thinned until they were “thinner than the thinnest paper.” The use of this type of leaf allowed for numerous areas of the text to be outlined in gold. There were several ways of applying gold to an illumination one of the most popular included mixing the gold with stag’s glue and then “pour it into water and dissolve it with your finger.” Once the gold was soft and malleable in the water it was ready to be applied to the page. Illuminators had to be very careful when applying gold leaf to the manuscript for fear ruining the color already placed in the illumination. Gold leaf is able to “adhere to any pigment which had already been laid, ruining the design, and secondly the action of burnishing it is vigorous and runs the risk of smudging any painting already around it.” The careless implementing of gold could ruin the labor already placed in the illumination and thus cause the entire folio to be discarded.
Though many monasteries produced manuscripts for the collection in their own libraries, many wealthy individuals commissioned works as a sign of status within the community. Through the commissioning of these works, the wealthy individuals requested that the illuminator place them somewhere in the illumination in a donor portrait. In a scene from the New Testament, Christ would be shown larger than an apostle, who would be bigger than a mere bystander in the picture, while the humble donor of the painting or the artist himself might appear as a tiny figure in the corner.” The inclusion of oneself in artistic endeavors dates back to the time of Justinian and his wife, Theodora, who are prominently displayed in the Hagia Sophia. Additionally, these wealthy individuals “were presented on the first page in all their royal apparel; they are often surrounded by allegorical figures borrowed from antiquity."
^ a b c Putnam A.M., Geo. Haven. Books and Their Makers During The Middle Ages. Vol. 1. New York: Hillary House, 1962. Print.
^ De Hamel, Christopher. Medieval Craftsmen: Scribes and Illuminations. Buffalo: University of Toronto, 1992. Print,45.
^ a b De Hamel, Christopher. Medieval Craftsmen: Scribes and Illuminations. Buffalo: University of Toronto, 1992. Print,57.
^ a b De Hamel, Christopher. Medieval Craftsmen: Scribes and Illuminations. Buffalo: University of Toronto, 1992. Print,65.
^ De Hamel, Christopher. Medieval Craftsmen: Scribes and Illuminations. Buffalo: University of Toronto, 1992. p. 60.
^ Anderson, Donald M. The Art of Written Forms: The Theory and Practice of Calligraphy. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc, 1969. Print.
^ a b "Manuscript." Http://arts.jrank.org/pages/9716/Manuscript.html. Web. 17 Apr. 2010.
^ De Hamel, Christopher. The British Library Guide to Manuscript Illumination: History and Techniques. Toronto: University of Toronto, 2001. Print,52.
^ De Hamel, Christopher. Medieval Craftsmen: Scribes and Illuminations. Buffalo: University of Toronto, 1992. Print,49.
^ a b Brehier, Louis. “Illuminated Manuscripts.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.9. New York: Robert Appelton Company, 1910. 17 Apr. 2010 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09620a.htm , page 45.
^ Blondheim, D.S. "An Old Portuguese Work on Manuscript Illumination." The Jewish Quarterly Review, New Series 19.2 (1928): 97–135. JSTOR. Web. 17 Apr. 2010. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1451766>.
"Illuminated Manuscripts". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
Diringer, David. The Book Before Printing: Ancient, Medieval and Oriental. New York: Dover Publications, Inc, 1982. Print.
Greenia, George D. "The Politics of Piety: Manuscript Illumination and Narration in the Cantigas of De Santa Maria." Hispanic Review 61.3 (1993): 325–44. JSTOR. Web. 17 Apr. 2010. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/475069>. |
0.99999 | Louisa Raske, a 31 year old, American model, filed a lawsuit against major modeling agencies, Ford Models, Elite Model Management and Wilhelmina (and potentially some others), stemming from deceptive accounting practices that have allegedly robbed models of royalty payments. The agencies have reportedly been concealing funds that they received on behalf of their model clients. Raske and other unnamed models make up the $20 million class action lawsuit that was filed in the New York Supreme Court recently.
Why didn't Raske or her fellow models bring a suit sooner? There are quite a few possibilities. First: many, many models are 14 or 15-year old girls, who speak English only as a second language, and quite often, speak very little English at all. The lawsuit alleges that the models were discouraged from bringing suits unless they wanted to be blacklisted in the New York modeling industry. Further, the form contracts that the girls sign with these big agencies apparently force them to sign away their rights to bring lawsuits against the agencies. This is not surprising, as young models have absolutely no bargaining power when they first sign on with an agency. The good news: such contract clauses will almost definitely be considered void in court, as they amount to contracts of adhesion. This means that the contract is imbalanced so greatly in favor of one party (the agency) at the expense of the other party (the model) that there is a strong implication it was not freely negotiated.
The full list of defendants includes: Next Management LLC; Wilhelmina Models Inc.; Wilhelmina International Ltd.; Ford Models Inc.; Elite Model Management - New York LLC; DNA Model Management LLC; IMG Models Inc.; Trump Model Management LLC; MC2 dba aka Karin Models of New York LLC; Major Model Management Inc.; Silent Models LLC; Fusion Model Management Inc.; Marilyn Model Management Inc.; 1 Management LLC Red Model Management Inc.; Request Model Management Inc.; Supreme Model Management LLC; VNY Model Management Inc.; Men Women NY Model Management Inc.; Men Women NY Model Management Inc.; APM Models Inc.; Q Model Management dba aka New York Model Management Inc.; Click Model Management Inc.; S Model Management LLC; Elite Model Management Corporation; NYC Management Group Inc.; Does; McCann-Erickson USA Inc.; McCann-Erickson Corporation; Ogilvy + Mather Partners Inc.; Publicis Inc.; JWT LLC; Laird + Partners New York LLC; Leo Burnett Company Inc.; Saatchi + Saatchi North America Inc.; Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners Inc.; Does; L'Oreal USA Inc.; Revlon Inc.; Garnier LLC; Coty Inc.; Aveda Corporation; Sephora USA Inc.; Maybelline LLC. |
0.999922 | What are the Yamas and the Niyamas?
The Yamas are commonly referred to as “restraints.” As humans, we have natural emotional and reactionary tendencies that do not help us live peacefully in society. Practicing the Yamas helps us to curb those tendencies. We could consider them ethics common to many cultures. The 5 Yamas are 1) non-violence (Ahimsa), 2) truthfulness, or restraint from dishonesty (Satya), 3) non-stealing (Asteya), 4) restraint from gluttony (Brahmacharya), and 5) non-hoarding (Aparigraha).
The Niyamas are attitudes to practice which help develop a positive attitude. Rather than hold back from our natural tendencies, which is the practice of the Yamas, the Niyamas help us develop helpful habits that may be unfamiliar to our psyches. You could consider them emotional training. The 5 Niyamas are: 1) cleanliness (Shaucha), 2) satisfaction with what already is (Santosha), 3) diligence and persistence (Tapas), 4) education and learning (Svadhyaya), and 5) belief in the interconnectedness of all beings and energy (Ishvara Pranidhana).
I have always found it fascinating and oddly comforting that within the Yamas and Niyamas, there is an underlying assumption that the attitudes we must practice are not natural to us. We must actually work at being content. We must make an effort to study ourselves in order to “learn from our mistakes,” no matter how intelligent we may be. We must choose to interrupt the aggressive impulse that arises when we feel wronged.
The Yamas and the Niyamas beautifully support one another: developing the attitudes of the Niyamas helps us to restrain from the harmful actions warned against in the Yamas; and, practicing the restraints on our actions through the Yamas helps us cultivate the attitudes of the Niyamas. For example, first in the list of the five Niyamas is Shaucha, or cleanliness. And, fifth in the list of the five Yamas is Aparigraha, or non-hoarding. If I take on the practice of Shaucha, it will inspire me to keep a tidy apartment free of clutter, which will make me think twice before acquiring unnecessary knick-knacks, which will help me practice Aparigraha. Likewise, if I take a vow of Aparigraha, I will practice giving away things I no longer need, giving me an emptier apartment, which will in turn be easier to maintain and clean, which will help me practice Shaucha.
It sounds simple, but frequently when we’re told DON’T do [insert anything here], our minds immediately want to DO [that very thing]. Sometimes our brains can be quite stubborn. Therefore, Patañjali brilliantly counterbalanced the list of DON’Ts embedded in the Yamas by the list of DOs in the Niyamas, to help us succeed at our endeavors. DO practice cleanliness and self-care, DO practice contentment and joy, DO practice persistence, DO practice curiosity and inquisitiveness, DO practice identifying with the part of you that is permanent and beyond the transient body and emotions. And, look for that same permanence in others. All of the DO’s can help us find the strength NOT to harm others, speak lies, steal, indulge the senses, or hoard.
In her book The Secret Power of Yoga: A Woman’s Guide to the Heart and Spirit of the Yoga Sutras, Nischala Joy Devi writes that the Yamas and Niyamas are forces of dynamic energy: Aparigraha is the start of a movement toward the pinnacle of Ahimsa in the Yamas, and Shaucha is the start of a movement toward the pinnacle of Ishvara Pranidhana in the Niyamas (Devi, 2007, pp. 167).
Shaucha could mean keeping a clean house and maintaining good grooming habits for the body. But it could also mean keeping a clean diet, eliminating junk food and other things that have no nutritional value. Cleanliness can be a practice for our more subtle aspects as well, such as our thoughts. For example, does surfing through Facebook cloud our thoughts with anger or despair? How much of the news we take in is used just for gossip? It’s not a coincidence that in the English language, we use the word “dirt” to mean “gossip.” Therefore, can we clean our news feed of certain images? Can we “unfollow” certain friends who only indulge in “dirt?” If we follow our practice of Shaucha diligently, according to Nischala Joy Devi, our practice should lead us toward Ishvara Pranidhana, an embracing of God. “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” is a concept common to many cultures and societies, including many in America.
Aparigraha could mean not taking in unnecessary items, but it could also mean being willing to let go of items we no longer need, or letting go of old belief patterns, old fears and old prejudices, so that we can allow for a “fresh, clean start” even with people we’ve had abrasive relations for years. In some ways, starting with Shauca helps us restrain from holding onto unnecessary items or friendships, which is Aparigraha. The Facebook “unfollow” example could easily be categorized as Aparigraha or Shauca. Non-indulgence in unnecessary talk (gossip) could be the same as being willing to “let go” of friendships that encourage anger or disdain. Is letting go of unhealthy discourse mentally and emotionally cleaning house (Saucha)? Or, is it refraining from the amount of entertainment we take in to stimulate our senses (Aparigraha)?
According to Nischala Joy Devi, following a diligent practice of Aparigraha leads us to Ahimsa, or non-violence. Thus, the key to finding external and internal peace is through letting go of excess. The more we give away items we don’t need to those who do need, and the more we refrain from acquiring unnecessary items that others could possibly use, the more we help our entire community prosper. When all feel prosperous, there is less discord both for individual members of a community, as well as between community members. More harmony equates to less violence.
In the end, does it really matter how we label the actions (and inactions) that result from practicing the Yamas and the Niyamas? The practice itself is more important than it’s name. Indeed, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet). No matter which Yama or Niyama you choose to start, the important thing is to practice! It is through the ten practices of Yama and Niyama that we create a fertile soil for the seeds of our Asana to grow. |
0.87875 | When did the megaladon vanish and what can it tell us about our oceans?
An artist's impression of carcharocles megalodon, the largest shark that ever lived.
The fearsome carcharocles megalodon or monster shark grew up to 18 metres in length. It was perhaps the largest fish and most dangerous predator the world has seen. The shark was found all around the planet and then became extinct.
The giant shark left an abundant fossil record from the middle Miocene (15.9 to 11.6 million years ago) to the Pliocene (5.3 to 2.6 million years ago) and its triangular fossilised teeth were once thought to be the tongues of dragons.
Until now, scientists have been unable to pinpoint exactly when the monster disappeared from the oceans, but recent research by biologists Catalina Pimiento from the University of Florida and Christopher Clements from the University of Zurich, have put the date at around 2.6 million years ago, at the end of the Pliocene and beginning of the Pleistocene era. It was during the Pleistocene (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago) that baleen whales – including the blue whale – reached their gigantic size. The results have been published in PLOS one.
It is understood that the disappearance of top feeders, or apex predators, can trigger profound changes throughout the marine food chain. In the present day, the number of sharks in the world's oceans is declining, so the fate of the megalodon is therefore of "significant interest", the researchers say.
The researchers used an Optimal Linear Estimation (OLE) model to arrive at the estimated time of extinction, plus their knowledge of evolutionary trends in whales.
"Despite the limitations and uncertainties of the fossil record, the study of the time of extinction of C. megalodon provides a baseline to understand the establishment of the modern structure and function of gigantic filter-feeding whales," the authors say. |
0.95289 | If these 3 factors in history are not present, the modern world does not develop.
The two most seminal events in Western European history, since the reduction of Gaul by Caesar, which brought Western Europe and eventually Britain, into the orbit of Rome and its civilization [which contained many flaws, pagan savagery, and the seeds of its down demise]; was the conversion of Constantine in 315 AD to the Christian faith, making it the religion of the still vast Roman empire; and then the unification of the Frankish King Clovis, [or Louis]; with the Church in 500 AD. These two developments established the basis for the modern world, which was discovered, developed, and deployed only in Christian Western Europe.
Pagans were the country hicks. Today the pagans are the redneck urban dweller.
Clovis' conversion as Germanic warlord of the Franks who had conquered Gaul, to Christianity, brought what was to be modern France, firmly into the Romano-Christian culture, which would emanate to, and inform the rest of European history. It was of similar importance to the conversion of Constantine. Clovis merged the remaining Roman traditions and its civilization with the civilizing mission of Christianity; the only faith which proclaimed that all men were equal, women were of similar standing, slavery was immoral and must be eliminated, freedom, free will and reason were necessary both to live a Godly life; but also to live a rational life.
Without these two events, Europe would never have mastered the world political-economy, and likely would have fallen into pagan disrepair and uncivilization. It was to be the principles of Christianity which gave impetus to law, science, mathematics, the voyages of discovery, the rolling back of the Meccan moon cult Jihad; the establishment of early capitalism, and the creation of long distance trade, banking and commerce, buttressed by institutions, a rising middle class and important innovations such as accounting and stock-owned companies. The modern world was moulded by the Christian medieval.
'In November of 511 CE Clovis died (there is some disagreement over the exact year, and some historians cite 513 CE), leaving a kingdom that was a blend of both Roman and Germanic cultures: language, worship, and law. Clovis believed it important to preserve many of the old Roman traditions and, in fact, had modeled his early reign on that of Julius Caesar. Although he has been accused of slaughtering fellow Frankish kings (some even his relatives), it should be noted that this practice was hardly unusual for the time. By the time of his death, he had extended his authority from the north and west, southward to the Pyrenees. He had defeated the Alemani, Burgundians, and Visigoths; however, his passing would end the expansion of the Franks.
The Glories of the Middle Ages, in art, architecture and technology.
From steel manufacturing to stained glass, the ages of the Middle Ages were full of energy.
There was never a period of a 'Dark Age'. Hard, violent, and full of threats, it certainly was. Courtly love and chivalry based on Christianity, helped pacify a hard world. The Moslems, the Huns, the Vikings, all conspiring to wipe out the Christian civilization of Europe. There was not much scope or time to 'yearn' for the pagan barbarism of Rome, where 95% of the population was either poor or enslaved. Society was not 'dark' but full of color, pageantry, energy, innovation and yes science, math and even that besotted institution - the University.
Books, book printing, optics, blast furnaces, chimneys, massive Cathedrals, stained glass, mills, and advanced metallurgy, not to mention heliocentricity and advanced astronomy. And no, they did not believe the earth was flat. Flat earth societies began in the 19th century - during the time of Darwin and other naturalist theologians.
An excellent explication of the nonsense around the Middle Ages, spread by Atheists, Protestors, and Church haters.
5/3/2016: From steel manufacturing to stained glass, the ages of the Middle Ages were full of energy.
9/26/2015: Medieval Faith married to reason created the modern world.
9/19/2015: The Greatest Queen in European history - Queen Isabella.
6/29/2015: Pierre Duhem, the Galileo myth, and historical revisionism.
6/25/2015: Pope Sylvester II, another Great Pope, unlike the current version.
6/22/2015: Pope Gregory the Great - an inspiration to civilization.
5/22/2015: Godefroid and Medieval astronomy. Quite modern indeed.
5/11/2015: Saving Civilization - the 'Faith'.
4/6/2015: Pierre Duham and the importance of Middle Age Science.
4/2/2015: Modern science arose only in Christian Europe.
2/6/2015: Only in Christian Europe were schools and the university system created.
2/4/2015: Christian genius in Mathematics. Moslems invented precious little, Christianity a treasure trove.
2/2/2015: Christians discovered and confirmed Heliocentricity. No other culture came close to that.
1/31/2015: The myth and nonsense of the 'Enlightenment'. Pure Atheist and Marxist propaganda.
11/23/2014: Aristotle and the Church – a complex relationship.
11/21/2014: From Epicurus to Galileo, atomism and materialism.
11/16/2014: St. Thomas Aquinas, reason, faith and Aristotle.
5/31/2014: Could you create an illuminated manuscript ?
5/30/2014: Overview of Medieval Manuscripts - where are the Moslem manuscripts and works of art ?
3/31/2014: John Freely: 'Before Galileo', Kuhn and the real history of real science.
10/20/2012: Medieval innovations in transport and war - some examples.
9/23/2010: Anti-Semiticism is a Muslim import.
7/10/2010: Medieval Civilization: Venetian rise and decline.
6/10/2010: Imperial Spain – lessons in despotism, poverty and ignorance.
6/5/2010: Review, 'Medieval Civilization 400-1500' by Jacques Le Goff.
5/27/2010: Book Review, 'The Civilization of the Middle Ages', by Norman Cantor, 1993.
5/18/2010: Slandering Medieval Christianity while applauding Muslim Paganism.
4/28/2010: Book Review; Thomas Cahill, 'Mysteries of the Middle Ages', 317 pages.
3/23/2010: Creating the modern world. The blessings of medieval Europe. |
0.999795 | Suspect one was confronted by loss prevention when she was caught shoplifting a bottle of Vodka. When confronted she pulled out a taser and threatened it towards the loss prevention officer. Suspect one is the Black female wearing the a dark colored "Hollister" hooded sweatshirt and has been identified.
Looking to identify suspect two who assisted suspect one in this incident. Suspect two is the Black female wearing the White jacket with fur on the collar. |
0.999912 | DEAR DOCTOR: I've noticed that after running, especially when I've really pushed myself, I'll cough for a while. A friend says it's something called exercise-induced asthma. Why is it happening?
DEAR READER: Your symptoms are in line with something known as exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, often referred to as exercise-induced asthma. It usually happens after -- but sometimes during -- exercise that's vigorous enough to significantly increase your heart rate and respiration.
In some people, this post-exercise period of coughing is accompanied by additional symptoms like a tight chest, shortness of breath or wheezing. In the majority of cases, these symptoms prove to be temporary and breathing returns to normal.
Asthma is a chronic disease in which the airways to the lungs become narrowed or inflamed, which interferes with breathing. This inflammation often makes people with asthma sensitive to a range of factors, including dust, mould, tobacco smoke, pollen, pet dander, air pollution, chemicals, certain medications, exertion and cold air. Known as triggers, these sensitivities can cause an asthma attack in which the airways become even more inflamed and symptoms worsen. In severe cases, an asthma attack can cause airways to become fully obstructed and can be fatal.
Unlike people with asthma, who have multiple triggers, those with exercise-induced asthma experience symptoms only during or after exertion. Some find that their episodes are associated with exercising in air that is colder or dryer than normal. The same workouts that produce no symptoms in the warmer months may bring on coughing and wheezing when the weather turns cold, or when indoor heating takes the moisture out of the air. In most people, symptoms start five to 20 minutes after beginning to exercise, or five to 10 minutes after exertion has ended, and are short-lived.
Diagnosis of exercise-induced asthma typically begins with a resting lung function test. This is done with a breathing device known as a spirometer, which measures the volume of your inhale, the volume of your exhale and how quickly you expel the air from your lungs. This may be followed by an exercise challenge test, like running on a treadmill, riding a stationary bike or climbing stairs, in order to trigger symptoms. The exercise challenge ends with another spirometry test, which will reveal any changes in lung function.
Other conditions can have symptoms similar to those of exercise-induced asthma. These include allergies, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), obesity, gastrointestinal reflux, vocal cord disfunction, congestive heart failure and certain lung diseases. As a result, we think it would be wise to check in with your family doctor about what's happening.
Dr Eve Glazier is an internist and associate professor of medicine at UCLA Health. Dr Elizabeth Ko is an internist and assistant professor of medicine at UCLA Health. |
0.996788 | Feeling like I'm having a "Quarter Life Crisis"
For most women, those lows peter out by two weeks post-birth; but for others, they simply stay put, rather than lifting. Those feelings of depression may start to appear alongside stress, anxiety, and loneliness – all manifested in bouts of weeping, say, or mood swings. This is characteristic of postpartum depression, which affects an estimated 1 in 7 postpartum women.
Tending to your mental health is a good way to monitor for issues like postpartum depression. Here’s how you, and/or your support system, can do exactly that.
Get educated: Be educated before birth about what to look for in terms of postpartum mood disorders. Educate your partner/primary support systems as well.
Get screened: Be routinely screened for postpartum mood disorders after giving birth. This is becoming more and more regulated, but insist on being screened if it's not happening. Ask what your score is if providers don't discuss it with you.
Get social: Attend a new mom's group, even if you think you'll hate it.
Get planning: Start 4th trimester planning early. Figure out who can help you -- and get specific. Who can watch the baby while you sleep or shop? Who can clean your home when you’re exhausted? Who can drop off food when your little one is too sick for you to step out?
Get prepared: You may have not needed any help to run your household prior to the baby, but simple tasks like folding laundry can take extra time when caring for an infant. Asking for help can be difficult for us, it helps to have identified people at the ready before they are needed.
This last one is crucial, as it fosters the knowledge needed for open conversations with mom about these issues before they come up. This kind of active planning can alleviate a lot of stress.
Many cultures have long had traditions where they sometimes shelter the mother, care for her for sometimes up to 40 days, while she rests, recuperates, and focuses on only feeding her infant. Many U.S. societies have gotten far from these rituals, and often have unrealistic expectations of women after giving birth – like sending them back to work after six weeks.
Help mom honor her own needs during this time, when often the focus is on the care of the infant.
Care for yourself in this period, too!
Partners should also be aware of their own needs during the postpartum period, as they are at risk for developing their own depression and anxiety.
Whether it’s you or your loved one who’s seeking a perinatal mental health provider, the one thing you want to look for is training. I cannot stress this enough!
Most therapists are generalists; they may see a variety of issues and see a lot of different kinds of clients. Postpartum specialists, on the other hand, can be found listed on Postpartum Support International (or PSI).
PSI has recently added a certification that qualified providers can apply for – it involves years of both clinical training, experiential work, and passing an exam. You can also look for a therapist that has been trained by The Postpartum Stress Center, or filter by postpartum therapists on Zencare.
If you are having difficulty finding someone well trained, another great place to ask is your OB-GYN or pediatrician. They often have a list of competent and much loved providers that they work with and refer to often. You also may need someone who fits your location needs and insurance needs.
In addition to being well trained in perinatal and postpartum mood issues, the other thing to look for is a good fit. By this, I mean you may need to meet with the provider and get a feel for their style of therapy and personality.
This is essential for therapy for be effective. Don't be scared to meet with a couple of different people in order to find the one you "click with.” The important thing to remember is that quality trained help is out there, and you can feel better.
Psychotherapy For Women Seeking Growth & Positive Change™!
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0.936228 | Notable events of 1967 in comics. See also List of years in comics.
Hob Gadling, also known as Robert, Robbie, or Bobby, is a fictional character from the Sandman comic book series by Neil Gaiman. Gadling first appears in issue #13, "Men of Good Fortune". A soldier who has recently fought in the Hundred Years' War, Gadling argues with friends about the nature of death in an inn located in what will become modern-day London. He develops significance both as a recurrent character in the series and friend to Dream, appearing in a total of seven issues spanning six hundred years.
Doomsday Clock is a superhero comic book limited series published by DC Comics, created by Geoff Johns, Gary Frank and Brad Anderson. The series concludes the plot established between The New 52 and Rebirth, and is a sequel to the graphic novel Watchmen by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgins. It also features a massive roster of characters owned by DC, but focuses more on Doctor Manhattan (from Watchmen) and Superman (from the DC Universe).The following is a list of characters who have appeared.
This is a list of characters appearing in The Sandman comic book, published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. This page discusses not only events which occur in The Sandman (1989–94), but also some occurring in spinoffs of The Sandman (such as The Dreaming (1996–2001) and Lucifer (1999–2007)) and in earlier stories that The Sandman was based on. These stories occur in the DC Universe, but are generally tangential to the mainstream DC stories.
The Sandman is a comic book series written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics. Its artists include Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Jill Thompson, Shawn McManus, Marc Hempel, and Michael Zulli, with lettering by Todd Klein and covers by Dave McKean. Beginning with issue No. 47, it was placed under the Vertigo imprint. It tells the story of Dream of the Endless, who rules over the world of dreams. The original series ran for 75 issues from January 1989 to March 1996.
The main character of The Sandman is Dream, also known as Morpheus and other names, who is one of the seven Endless. The other Endless are Destiny, Death, Desire, Despair, Delirium (formerly Delight) and Destruction. The series is famous for Gaiman's trademark use of anthropomorphic personification of various metaphysical entities, while also blending mythology and history in its horror setting within the DC Universe. The Sandman is a story about stories and how Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, is captured and subsequently learns that sometimes change is inevitable. The Sandman was Vertigo's flagship title, and is available as a series of ten trade paperbacks, a recolored five-volume Absolute hardcover edition with slipcase, in a black-and-white Annotated edition, and is available for digital download.
Critically acclaimed, The Sandman was one of the first few graphic novels ever to be on the New York Times Best Seller list, along with Maus, Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns. It was one of five graphic novels to make Entertainment Weekly's "100 best reads from 1983 to 2008," ranking at No. 46. Norman Mailer described the series as "a comic strip for intellectuals." The series is noted for having a large influence over the fantasy genre and graphic novel medium since then.
Various film and television versions of Sandman have been developed unsuccessfully since the 1990s. In a panel at the San Diego Comic-Con International in 2007, Gaiman remarked that "[he'd] rather see no Sandman movie made than a bad Sandman movie." In 2013, Warner Bros. announced that David S. Goyer will be producing a film adaptation of the comic book series with Joseph Gordon-Levitt within its upcoming Vertigo film slate. Gordon-Levitt dropped out on March 5, 2016, after Eric Heisserer was brought on as screenwriter. |
0.947345 | Buried: 30-121937 Ravel was buried next to his parents in a granite tomb at the cemetery at Levallois-Perret, a suburb of northwest Paris. Ravel was an atheist and there was no religious ceremony.
Joseph Maurice Ravel was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In the 1920s and '30s Ravel was internationally regarded as France's greatest living composer.
Born to a music-loving family, Ravel attended France's premier music college, the Paris Conservatoire; he was not well regarded by its conservative establishment, whose biased treatment of him caused a scandal. After leaving the conservatoire Ravel found his own way as a composer, developing a style of great clarity, incorporating elements of baroque, neoclassicism and, in his later works, jazz. He liked to experiment with musical form, as in his best-known work, Boléro (1928), in which repetition takes the place of development. He made some orchestral arrangements of other composers' music, of which his 1922 version of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is the best known.
As a slow and painstaking worker, Ravel composed fewer pieces than many of his contemporaries. Among his works to enter the repertoire are pieces for piano, chamber music, two piano concertos, ballet music, two operas, and eight song cycles; he wrote no symphonies or religious works. Many of his works exist in two versions: a first, piano score and a later orchestration. Some of his piano music, such as Gaspard de la nuit (1908), is exceptionally difficult to play, and his complex orchestral works such as Daphnis et Chloé (1912) require skilful balance in performance.
With the encouragement of his parents, Ravel applied for entry to France's most important musical college, the Conservatoire de Paris. In November 1889, playing music by Chopin, he passed the examination for admission to the preparatory piano class run by Eugène Anthiòme. Ravel won the first prize in the Conservatoire's piano competition in 1891, but otherwise he did not stand out as a student. Nevertheless, these years were a time of considerable advance in his development as a composer. The musicologist Arbie Orenstein writes that for Ravel the 1890s were a period "of immense growth ... from adolescence to maturity."
In 1891 Ravel progressed to the classes of Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot, for piano, and Émile Pessard, for harmony. He made solid, unspectacular progress, with particular encouragement from Bériot but, in the words of the musical scholar Barbara L. Kelly, he "was only teachable on his own terms". His later teacher Gabriel Fauré understood this, but it was not generally acceptable to the conservative faculty of the Conservatoire of the 1890s.
Ravel was expelled in 1895, having won no more prizes. His earliest works to survive in full are from these student days: Sérénade grotesque, for piano, and "Ballade de la Reine morte d'aimer", a mélodie setting a poem by Rolande de Marès (both 1893).
Ravel was never so assiduous a student of the piano as his colleagues such as Viñes and Cortot were. It was plain that as a pianist he would never match them, and his overriding ambition was to be a composer. From this point he concentrated on composition. His works from the period include the songs "Un grand sommeil noir" and "D'Anne jouant de l'espinette" to words by Paul Verlaine and Clément Marot, and the piano pieces Menuet antique and Habanera, the latter eventually incorporated into the Rapsodie espagnole. At around this time, Joseph Ravel introduced his son to Erik Satie, who was earning a living as a café pianist. Ravel was one of the first musicians – Debussy was another – who recognised Satie's originality and talent. Satie's constant experiments in musical form were an inspiration to Ravel, who counted them "of inestimable value".
In 1897 Ravel was readmitted to the Conservatoire, studying composition with Fauré, and taking private lessons in counterpoint with André Gedalge. Both these teachers, particularly Fauré, regarded him highly and were key influences on his development as a composer. As Ravel's course progressed, Fauré reported "a distinct gain in maturity ... engaging wealth of imagination". Ravel's standing at the Conservatoire was nevertheless undermined by the hostility of the Director, Théodore Dubois, who deplored the young man's musically and politically progressive outlook. Consequently, according to a fellow-student, Michel-Dimitri Calvocoressi, he was "a marked man, against whom all weapons were good".
He wrote some substantial works while studying with Fauré, including the overture Shéhérazade and a violin sonata, but he won no prizes, and therefore was expelled again in 1900. As a former student he was allowed to attend Fauré's classes as a non-participating "auditeur" until finally abandoning the Conservatoire in 1903.
In 1899 Ravel composed his first piece to become widely known, though it made little impact initially: Pavane pour une infante défunte ("Pavane for a dead princess"). It was originally a solo piano work, commissioned by the Princesse de Polignac. In the same year he conducted the first performance of the Shéhérazade overture, which had a mixed reception, with boos mingling with applause from the audience, and unflattering reviews from the critics. One described the piece as "a jolting debut: a clumsy plagiarism of the Russian School" and called Ravel a "mediocrely gifted debutant ... who will perhaps become something if not someone in about ten years, if he works hard." Another critic, Pierre Lalo, thought that Ravel showed talent, but was too indebted to Debussy and should instead emulate Beethoven. Over the succeeding decades Lalo became Ravel's most implacable critic.
From the start of his career, Ravel appeared calmly indifferent to blame or praise. Those who knew him well believed that this was no pose but wholly genuine. The only opinion of his music that he truly valued was his own, perfectionist and severely self-critical. At twenty years of age he was, in the words of the biographer Burnett James, "self-possessed, a little aloof, intellectually biased, given to mild banter.". He dressed like a dandy and was meticulous about his appearance and demeanour. Orenstein comments that, short in stature,light in frame, and bony in features, Ravel had the "appearance of a well-dressed jockey", whose large head seemed suitably matched to his formidable intellect. During the late 1890s and into the early years of the next century, Ravel was bearded in the fashion of the day; from his mid-thirties he was clean-shaven.
Around 1900 Ravel and a number of innovative young artists, poets, critics, and musicians joined together in an informal group; they came to be known as Les Apaches ("The Hooligans"), a name coined by Viñes to represent their status as "artistic outcasts". They met regularly until the beginning of the First World War, and members stimulated one other with intellectual argument and performances of their works. The membership of the group was fluid, and at various times included Igor Stravinsky and Manuel de Falla as well as their French friends.
Debussy was widely held to be an impressionist composer – a label he intensely disliked. Many music lovers began to apply the same term to Ravel, and the works of the two composers were frequently taken as part of a single genre. Ravel thought that Debussy was indeed an impressionist but that he himself was not. Orenstein comments that Debussy was more spontaneous and casual in his composing while Ravel was more attentive to form and craftsmanship. Ravel wrote that Debussy's "genius was obviously one of great individuality, creating its own laws, constantly in evolution, expressing itself freely, yet always faithful to French tradition. For Debussy, the musician and the man, I have had profound admiration, but by nature I am different from Debussy ... I think I have always personally followed a direction opposed to that of (his) symbolism". During the first years of the new century Ravel's new works included the piano piece Jeux d'eau (1901), the String Quartet and the orchestral song cycle Shéhérazade (both 1903). Commentators have noted some Debussian touches in some parts of these works. Nichols calls the quartet "at once homage to and exorcism of Debussy's influence".
The two composers ceased to be on friendly terms in the middle of the 1900s, for musical and possibly personal reasons. Their admirers began to form factions, with adherents of one composer denigrating the other. Disputes arose about the chronology of the composers' works and who influenced whom. Prominent in the anti-Ravel camp was Lalo, who wrote, "Where M. Debussy is all sensitivity, M. Ravel is all insensitivity, borrowing without hesitation not only technique but the sensitivity of other people." The public tension led to personal estrangement.
Ravel said, "It's probably better for us, after all, to be on frigid terms for illogical reasons." Nichols suggests an additional reason for the rift. In 1904 Debussy left his wife and went to live with the singer Emma Bardac. Ravel, together with his close friend and confidante Misia Edwards and the opera star Lucienne Bréval, contributed to a modest regular income for the deserted Lilly Debussy, a fact that Nichols suggests may have rankled with her husband. |
0.977047 | Article first pubnlished in SPIKED ONLINE on the 19th fo FebruaryUsing the language of freedom to justify on-demand death is Orwellian and dangerous.
When parliament is paralysed, the courts must act.' So said lawyer Joseph Arvay, representing the appellants in a case about the legal status of assisted suicide, at the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) last October. The SCC now apparently agrees; last week it struck down the ban on assisted suicide and gave the government 12 months to draft a replacement law.
The decision, made in relation to the Carter vs Canada case, was unanimous. This is surprising given the contested nature of this issue in Canada. The previous landmark ruling, in the 1993 Rodriguez vs British Columbia case, was split 5-4 against upholding motor-neurone-disease sufferer Sue Rodriguez's right to be assisted to die.
In another sense, though, the ruling is not surprising. The chief justice Beverley McLachlin argued for upholding Rodriguez's 'right to die' in the 1993 case, and is the only justice from that era who continues to serve in the SCC. Similarly, Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella has written about how a preoccupation with civil liberties can impede human rights - pre-empting the court's tortuous logic last week.
The ruling highlights the trend towards an 'enlightened' elite imposing what it thinks is right over the heads of political representatives. The SCC is hardly democratic - the justices are all appointees and are chosen to represent the various regions. None of them have been elected to any office outside of their profession.
However, this will not stop proponents of assisted suicide from claiming there is democratic mandate for legalisation, quoting various polls that claim the public agrees with them. It is true that, in Britain, between 70 and 80 per cent of those polled support assisted suicide - and the numbers are only slightly lower in Canada and the US. However, genuine democratic mandate is harder to come by than superficial, off-the-top answers to polls. For instance, Oregon and Washington remain the only US states with assisted suicide implemented by ballot - and Oregon did so 21 years ago. There have been five failed ballot initiatives since then, most recently in Massachusetts in 2012. In all, there have been 140 failed attempts to introduce assisted suicide in the US.
As ever, the results to a poll depend on what question is asked. A 2013 Gallup poll in the US gave an indication of how people responded to different questions. Seventy per cent agreed when the question was: 'When a person has a disease that cannot be cured, do you think a doctor should be allowed to end the person's life in law by some painless means if the patient and his or her family request it?' However, only 56 per cent agreed when the question was phrased: 'When a person has a disease that cannot be cured and is living in severe pain, do you think doctors should or should not be allowed by law to assist the patient to commit suicide if the patient requests it?' No wonder the euphemism 'assisted dying' is preferred by advocates.
Support for assisted suicide 'without restriction', according to a poll of Britons in 2009, was 13 per cent. But, strangely enough, that is precisely the implication of the SCC's ruling. The court specified that an individual should be able to have an assisted suicide if they consented and if they suffered a 'grievous and irremediable medical condition (including an illness, disease or disability)'. As many have pointed out, that presumably includes psychological as well as physical suffering. Rather than the Oregon model, the Canadian judgement resembles the model of the Netherlands and Belgium, at least in its expansive categories. The path is now clear for any lovesick teenager, disabled person or depressed individual to request an assisted suicide, so long as they claim to be suffering grievously.
What is perhaps most shocking about the judgement is that this potentially monumental decision was based on some fundamentally flawed arguments. One particular assertion made by the court beggars belief: 'The prohibition deprives some individuals of life, as it has the effect of forcing some individuals to take their own lives prematurely, for fear that they would be incapable of doing so when they reached the point where suffering was intolerable.' There is simply no evidence to support this. In fact, there is evidence presented by advocates of assisted suicide in the UK that indicates legalising assisted suicide will increase the suicide rate among the terminally ill three-fold. A study of Danish cancer patients between 1971 and 1999 found that an estimated average of 31 cancer sufferers per year took their lives. If assisted suicide was legalised, the Oregon statistics suggest that the number would rise to 67. In other words, all evidence indicates that suicides will increase by a factor of two or three should legalisation occur. This crucial point, on which the court's decision was based, is simply wrong.
Another example of the court's shoddy thinking was the assumption it made that autonomy implies that the state must assist people to die. It doesn't take a jurist to see that though it is right to legalise suicide, so that no one has a duty to live, that does not imply that the state has a duty to assist suicide. Autonomy and bodily integrity mean that we have the right to prevent interference, not to demand it.
Last week's ruling completely ignored the fundamental values noted by the Rodriguez case. Using torturous, Orwellian logic, the SCC has now defined the right to die as a natural part of the right to life. Therefore, the logic of the ruling was based on the idea that death is a part of life - it's not, it is the end of it - and that we must protect Canadians' right to life, liberty and security by killing people on request. Wow.
Of course, the SCC ruling will not lead to an instant change in law. It has simply issued a challenge to the Canadian parliament to set out and to clarify regulations and processes. And, as the issue is passed on to parliament, there are a few crucial questions that politicians need to consider. Do all Canadians have a right to be assisted in suicide that is, as the court suggests, abrogated by the prohibition on assisted suicide? If not, who does and who does not have that right, and why? How will Canada reconcile the belief in the dignity and worth of every human person with assisted suicide for only some and not all? Should Canada bring back execution of prisoners so long as they want to die? Good luck, Canadian parliament.
With this ruling, the SCC has opened up a Pandora's box. However, it can easily be closed if parliament chooses to invoke the notwithstanding clause, whereby parliament can override a decision made by the SCC. This is not an easy decision to make, but one that is necessary if the Canadian government wishes to uphold the equal value of human life and to ensure that, though suicide is legal, it receives no moral approval or assistance from the state.
Kevin Yuill teaches American studies at the University of Sunderland. His latest book, Assisted Suicide: The Liberal, Humanist Case Against Legalisation, is published by Palgrave Macmillan. |
0.999801 | Question: 1. A lady read a book, turned the light out and went to sleep. In the morning, when she saw in the newspaper that a ship had sunk drowning all on board, she committed suicide. Why?
Answer: 1. She was a lighthouse keeper. |
0.996078 | Zinc electroplating is one of the most popular methods that is used all around for the purpose of electroplating. It is a very cost-effective process, and is mostly used to provide a protective coating to metallic substances such as nuts, bolts, fasteners, automotive parts, and many other hardware items. Besides this benefit, the use of zinc also improves the overall appearance of the metals, by giving them a variety of colors, a clean look, brightness, and a nice glowing shine.
Let's see in some detail what electroplating actually is, and then have a look at the steps that are involved in the process of zinc electroplating.
Electroplating is the process of coating one metal over another by using electricity, mainly done to provide protection from corrosion. Using the electroplating process enables to change the chemical and physical properties of a metal. Electroplating is done by the process of electrodeposition, and involves the formation of an electrolytic cell consisting of the cathode (the object to be plated) and the anode (the metal used for plating), immersed in an electrolytic solution. The object to be plated and the metal are dipped into the aqueous solution containing the metal ions. When direct current is applied to the aqueous solution, the metal at the anode begins to dissolve, and the free metal ions reach the cathode to form a thin layer of coating on the object. The object to be electroplated is also called a substrate. Zinc is mostly used to provide electroplating to steel or iron material, although many other metals can also be electroplated using zinc.
The zinc electroplating process involves formation of an electrolytic cell consisting of two metals that form the electrodes, and passing electric current to the electrolyte. While zinc forms the anode, the metal (like steel) to be electroplated forms the cathode. When an electric current is passed through the aqueous solution, the zinc ions travel through the aqueous solution and attach themselves to the surface of the substrate, forming a thin plate. Zinc plating is done in a variety of aqueous solutions, like alkaline cyanide, alkaline non-cyanide, or acid chloride salt solutions.
Cleaning of the substrate is done in order to remove any dirt, rust, oil, etc., from the surface. An alkaline detergent is used to clean the surface to ensure the zinc electroplating is of good quality, and the plating remains intact for a long period of time. Improper cleaning usually results in a variety of plating defects like peeling or blistering over a period of time.
The process of cleaning an object involves two steps: alkaline bath and electrocleaning. Soaking the metal in an alkaline bath for 5 - 10 minutes, at about 150° F is usually enough to get rid of most of the soil and dirt. After this, the parts are cleaned further in an electrocleaner. An electric charge is applied to the metal either at its cathode or anode end, which results in the release of oxygen or hydrogen from the solution, cleaning the parts at a micro level. The time and temperature factors are much the same as for the alkaline soak process.
Activation or pickling of the metal involves removal of oxides and scales from the surface by using various acid solutions. These layers of oxides and scales are formed on the metal surface during their manufacturing, or while storage and handling. Pickling is commonly done using acids like sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid. The type of metal and the thickness of the scales present on the metal decide the type of acid, the dipping time, and the temperature required for activation process.
Proper cleaning and activation of the parts ensure that they are ready for zinc electroplating. The metal parts are first washed using water, followed by placing them into an aqueous solution, like alkaline cyanide. Then, a direct current (DC) is applied at the anode for a fixed amount of time. This results into the deposition of zinc ions at the cathode, i.e. the metal surface. For achieving uniform electroplating, it is necessary that the anode and the cathode are positioned suitably into the aqueous solution, and the current flows uniformly over the entire area of the metal surface. If the current flow is not uniform, it will lead to thicker layers of zinc plating over the areas receiving more amount of current, while forming thinner layers over the recesses.
A variety of chemical agents are used along with zinc electroplating in order to achieve the desired chemical and physical properties of the final product. The properties can be altered by suitable variations in the chemical agent being used, duration of soaking, electric charge applied, and the time and temperature factors.
The general rule is to rinse the parts with water after every step of the electroplating process. After the metal has been electroplated, it is washed in a water container to remove any contamination of the surface, followed by drying. In case of more contamination, water rinsing may be done multiple times. The parts are either cleaned in a rinsing tank or under running water, depending on the level of contamination and the extent to which the surface needs to be diluted in order to remove the contamination.
✔ The main advantages of zinc electroplating are its cost-effectiveness and ease of application. Zinc electroplating provides a decorative finish to metals and can be applied in a variety of colors. It can also be used as an undercoat for paints. It prevents the formation of white rust for a long period of time, and has excellent ductile and adhesive properties.
✘ Its few limitations include its lack of durability in sea water, and its inability to form a uniform thickness due to the shape of the metal being electroplated. It easily forms a coating over the external parts of the metal, but is not easily attached in the internal areas of the object. |
0.999999 | Why Red Hat Red Hat is the world's leading provider of open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to reliable and high-performing cloud, Linux, middleware, storage, and virtualization technologies. Red Hat also offers award-winning support, training, and consulting services. As a connective hub in a global network of enterprises, partners, and open source communities, Red Hat helps create relevant, innovative technologies that liberate resources for growth and prepare customers for the future of IT. |
0.999965 | Text: Naoki Koide, lights, art works and many more. There is also cafe space and people can discuss about what they want to purchase.
The shop offers order made furniture, so people are able to choose the materials, sizes, and colors among catalogues. The shop also offers consulting about house renovation and interior designing. The reason the shop is capable of doing that is because the parent company of the shop does interior design. You can casually ask its advice any time. |
0.994018 | How does smart home technology relate to the deregulation of the Japanese energy market? The answer could lead to a shift in the way energy markets function, and not just in Japan. Energy markets around the globe are considering deregulation, and with that comes the need for energy companies to attract and retain their customers. Japan decided to deregulate its energy market in early 2016, a massive disruption that has expanded the market from nine energy monopolies to over 500 providers in a short period of time.
The Japanese market is generally ahead of the technology curve, with citizens open to adopting new technologies. This makes Japan the perfect place to test smart home technology, something energy companies are using to develop stronger relationships with their customers. Using Intel architecture, energy customers in Japan will now participate in an energy model where they can control the energy used in their homes. This changes the system in some dramatic—and positive—ways.
Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as smart thermostats, electric vehicle chargers, motion sensors, and automated lighting make it easier for people to live comfortably, while at the same time helping them conserve energy. A smart thermostat, for example, adjusts to the behavior of the household, heating and cooling the space at the best times. This saves the consumer money and prevents wasted energy.
Oftentimes, customers who use smart technologies are interested in how their home is doing in terms of things like energy use. The information provided by smart devices can educate them not only about their own habits, but also call attention to potential maintenance issues. Building relationships with these customers can be a positive thing for many energy companies. It can help them become an end-to-end solution provider, something potentially desirable to consumers.
Intel is playing an important role in the Japanese energy market by helping the industry create and connect with smart homes. To help solve the challenges the industry is facing, we started by focusing on building an architectural reference standard for smart home technology that utilities can use. Now, Intel gateway hardware will be installed in millions of homes to connect smart home IoT technology with the energy grid.
The Intel technology, called the Energy Collective Optimization (ECO) Platform, will be deployed by the three largest utilities in Japan, which combined serve approximately 40 million customers. The hardware will be installed in homes at no cost to customers. These customers will then pay subscription fees for the services they use.
For the energy market, the value of this setup is significant, amounting to an estimated $200 per home each year. The value comes from real-time load balancing, where customers have the ability to adjust demand in response to fluctuating energy prices. We expect this system will help develop more engaged, loyal consumers, while at the same time helping energy companies handle demand and optimize their grids.
Intel’s role as a distributed grid architecture provider is growing. We’re excited to participate in these changes to the energy industry and have plans to launch the ECO platform in other international markets in the coming months. Soon we’ll see smarter homes, smarter consumers, and more competitive energy providers around the globe.
Intrigued? Read more about Intel’s work in the energy industry, smart home adoption, and how utilities are engaging with customers via smart home technology. |
0.945998 | Ephesus has been an important center throughout its history. First it was a trade center of the ancient world because of its unique location on a strategic trade route to Anatolia, then a religious center of the early Christianity and today, a popular tourist center.
Ephesus (Turkish Efes) was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, three kilometers southwest of present-day Selçuk. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of the former Arzawan capital by Attic and Ionian Greek colonists. During the Classical Greek era it was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League. The city flourished after it came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC. According to estimates, Ephesus had a population of 33,600 to 56,000 people in the Roman period, making it the third largest city of Roman Asia Minor. Ephesus was the location of one of the seven churches of Asia that are cited in the Book of Revelation. The Gospel of John may have been written here. The city was the site of several 5th-century Christian Councils, it is also the site of a large gladiators' graveyard. Emperor Constantine I rebuilt much of the city and erected new public baths. The town was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614 AD. The city's importance as a commercial center declined as the harbor was slowly silted up by the Cayster River (Küçük Menderes), the resulting marshes caused malaria and many deaths among the inhabitants. The loss of its harbor caused Ephesus to lose its access to the Aegean Sea, which was important for trade. People started leaving the lowland of the city for the surrounding hills. The ruins of the temples were used as building blocks for new homes. Marble sculptures were ground to powder to make lime for plaster.
Ephesus contains the largest collection of Roman ruins in the eastern Mediterranean. Only an estimated 15% has been excavated since 1863. The ruins that are visible today, including the largest outdoor theatre of the ancient world, give some idea of the city's original splendor. There were two agoras, one for commercial and one for state business.
The Library of Celsus, the façade of which has been carefully reconstructed from all original pieces, was built in ca 125. Celsus paid for the construction of the library with his own personal wealth, and is buried in a sarcophagus beneath it. The library was mostly built by his son Gaius Julius Aquila and once held nearly 12,000 scrolls, making it the third richest library in ancient times after the Alexandria and Pergamum.
The Odeon has the shape of a small theatre with the stage building, seating places for about 1,500 people and the orchestra. It had a double function, first it was used as a Bouleuterion for the meetings of the Boulea or the Senate. The second fuction was as a concert hall for the performances. It was built in the 2nd century AD by Vedius Antonius and his wife, two wealthy citizens in Ephesus.
The Temple of Hadrian is one of the best preserved and most beautiful structures in the city. It dates from the 2nd century but underwent repairs in the 4th century and has been re-erected from the surviving architectural fragments. The reliefs in the upper sections are casts, the originals being now exhibited in the Ephesus Archaeological Museum. A number of figures are depicted in the reliefs, including the emperor Theodosius I with his wife and eldest son.
The Temple of the Sebastoi (sometimes called the Temple of Domitian), dedicated to the Flavian dynasty, was one of the largest temples in the city. It was erected on a pseudodipteral plan with 8 × 13 columns.
The Great Theatre, located on the slope of Panayir Hill, opposite the Harbor Street, is the most magnificent structure in Ephesus. It was first built in the Hellenistic Period, in the third century BC during the reign of Lysimachos, but was rebuilt and enlarged during the Roman period, making it the largest in Anatolia with the capacity of 25,000 seats. The theatre was used not only for concerts and plays, but also for religious, political and philosophical discussions and for gladiator and animal fights.
The city of Ephesus was famed for the Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In 268 AD, the temple was destroyed or damaged in a raid by the Goths. It may have been rebuilt or repaired but this is uncertain, as its later history is not clear. Now all that is left of the once magnificent building is one inconspicuous column, constructed of dissociated fragments discovered on the site.
It is believed that the evangelist St. John spent his last years in the region around Ephesus and was buried in the southern slope of Ayosolug Hill. Three hundred years after his death, a small chapel was built over the grave in the 4th century. It was changed into a marvelous basilica during the reign of Emperor Justinian (527 -565 AD). The monumental basilica was in the shape of a cross and was covered with six domes. Raised by two steps and covered with marble, the tomb of St John was under the central dome, once carried by the four columns at the corners. The columns in the courtyard reveal the monograms of Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora. With the invasion of Turks, the chapel was used as a mosque in the 14th century; unfortunately the Basilica of St John became unusable due to the serious earthquake in the same century.
Isa Bey Mosque is one of the most delicate examples of Seljukian architecture, situated below the basilica of Saint John. The mosque was built by the master of Syrian architecture Ali son of Mushimish al -Damishki, between the years of 1374 and 1375. The mosque was styled asymmetrically unlike the traditional style. The location of the windows, doors and domes were not matched on purpose. The columns inside are constructed from earlier ruins in Ephesus, making an interesting contrast to the mosque. The mosque was repaired in 1934.
House of Virgin Mary is located on the top of the "Bulbul" mountain, 9 km from Ephesus, enjoying a marvelous atmosphere hidden in the green. It is the place where Mary may have spent the last days of her life. It is believed that she may have come to the area together with Saint John, who spent several years in the area to spread Christianity. Mary preferred this remote place rather than living in a crowded city. The house is an example of typical Roman architecture, entirely made of stones. In the 4th century AD, a church, combining her house and grave, was built. Today, only the central part and a room on the right of the altar are open to visitors. Another interesting place is the "Water of Mary", a natural spring at the exit of the church area, where rather salty water, with curative properties, can be drunk by all.
Paul VI was the first pope to visit this place in the 1960's. Later, in the 1980's, during his visit, Pope John-Paul II declared the shrine of Virgin Mary a pilgrimage place for Christians. It is also visited by Muslims who recognize Mary as the mother of one of their prophets. Every year, on August 15th, a ceremony is organized to commemorate Mary's Assumption. |
0.996944 | As Herald for the world devourer, Galactus, Stardust found suitable worlds for her master to consume. She performed above her master's expectations as she would track down and destroy any inhabitants of a world that happened to escape the destruction, wiping out any trace of their civilization.
Stardust first met Beta Ray Bill as Bill was trying to defend his people, the Korbinites, who happened to be the next target of Galactus. Their planet was eventually lost, but the remaining survivors had transferred their life essences into an orb that Beta Ray Bill would protect until he could find a new world for his people to inhabit. Stardust, however, had other plans as she hunted Beta Ray Bill. She was determined to wipe out the Korbinite's existence forever. The two engaged in battle and Bill would not fall knowing that he was the last hope for his people. Eventually, Stardust called upon his powers to open a dimensional gateway to banish Beta Ray Bill and his people into, but instead she unwittingly released a foe greater in power and evil than either have ever confronted. Asteroth was now let loose upon the universe, and it was up to both of them to stop her. Galactus, meanwhile, had repaired the damage done to a fallen Korbonite, Alpha Ray, and sent him to intercept Stardust and Beta Ray Bill. Stardust, knowing that Asteroth had to be banished from this plane of existence, used her immense cosmic abilities to create a black hole. Alpha Ray arrived just in time to deal a major blow to Asteroth and drove her into the black hole removing Asteroth as a threat. Stardust became a victim of her own creation as she could not escape the black hole's gravity and was consumed as well.
Stardust eventually returned to her master's side and was present at the time of the Annihilation Wave. Galactus sent Stardust to join two other former heralds, Firelord and Red Shift, in opposing the forces of Annihilus before taking the Silver Surfer as his herald once more. While in battle with Anihilus's forces on the planet Daedalus 5, Stardust and Red Shift detected the presence of Galactus, who had been turned into a weapon by Thanos. Stardust saved Gamora during her battle with another former herald, Terrax, and reunited her with the rest of the rebellion. In order to give Nova and his remaining forces time to evacuate, Stardust and Red Shift seemingly sacrificed themselves by delaying the destruction of Daedalus 5 by temporarily holding back the cosmic energies of Galactus before they could consume the planet.
Stardust, in time, was able to reform herself in the Andromeda Galaxy unclear of what drew her there. While traveling back to the side of her former master, Galactus, Stardust intercepted a cluster of alien life forces she recognized to be of her race, the Ethereals. The fifty three entities that formed the group explained that the Annihilation Wave wiped out their civilization, and they were the last of their kind. They branded Stardust as a traitor since she was off helping the Corporeals, the Solid Ones, in fighting their war instead of aiding her people and attacked her. Stardust was unwilling to listen to the accusations and struck back using the Power Cosmic to obliterate the entities. However, horrified at her rash actions, Stardust siphoned their essence into her and was willing to use them as her conscience as they now shared a destiny. Finally, Stardust reached Galactus who was in a weakened state because of the energies he used to defeat Aniihilus' forces. Asking to be taken back as herald once more, Stardust was asked by Galactus for a show of loyalty. Knowing exactly what Galactus wanted, no matter how monstrous it may have seemed, Stardust obliged and willingly gave the fifty three beings residing within her to Galactus to feed upon and partially replenish him. Galactus took Stardust back as a second herald and showed her a glimpse of the future where the Silver Surfer will turn on Galactus once more, and Stardust will be called upon to stand at his side. It is then that Stardust revealed that both corporeal and ethereal beings are equally useless to him and only one being in the universe commands her allegiance and her love – Galactus! |
0.995629 | Origin of the name The name is derived from the Greek, 'helios' meaning sun, as it was in the sun's corona that helium was first detected.
The image is of the sun because helium gets its name from ‘helios’, the Greek word for the sun. Helium was detected in the sun by its spectral lines many years before it was found on Earth.
A colourless, odourless gas that is totally unreactive.
Helium is used as a cooling medium for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and the superconducting magnets in MRI scanners and NMR spectrometers. It is also used to keep satellite instruments cool and was used to cool the liquid oxygen and hydrogen that powered the Apollo space vehicles.
Because of its low density helium is often used to fill decorative balloons, weather balloons and airships. Hydrogen was once used to fill balloons but it is dangerously reactive.
Because it is very unreactive, helium is used to provide an inert protective atmosphere for making fibre optics and semiconductors, and for arc welding. Helium is also used to detect leaks, such as in car air-conditioning systems, and because it diffuses quickly it is used to inflate car airbags after impact.
A mixture of 80% helium and 20% oxygen is used as an artificial atmosphere for deep-sea divers and others working under pressurised conditions.
Helium-neon gas lasers are used to scan barcodes in supermarket checkouts. A new use for helium is a helium-ion microscope that gives better image resolution than a scanning electron microscope.
Helium has no known biological role. It is non-toxic.
After hydrogen, helium is the second most abundant element in the universe. It is present in all stars. It was, and is still being, formed from alpha-particle decay of radioactive elements in the Earth. Some of the helium formed escapes into the atmosphere, which contains about 5 parts per million by volume. This is a dynamic balance, with the low-density helium continually escaping to outer space.
It is uneconomical to extract helium from the air. The major source is natural gas, which can contain up to 7% helium.
In 1868, Pierre J. C. Janssen travelled to India to measure the solar spectrum during a total eclipse and observed a new yellow line which indicated a new element. Joseph Norman Lockyer recorded the same line by observing the sun through London smog and, assuming the new element to be a metal, he named it helium.
In 1882, the Italian Luigi Palmieri found the same line the spectrum of gases emitted by Vesuvius, as did the American William Hillebrand in 1889 when he collected the gas given off by the mineral uraninite (UO2) as it dissolves in acid. However, it was Per Teodor Cleve and Nils Abraham Langer at Uppsala, Sweden, in 1895, who repeated that experiment and confirmed it was helium and measured its atomic weight.
Hello, this week we're almost at the top of the periodic table because we're taking a look at the lighter than air gas helium. But for this chemist a helium filled bobbing balloon is actually a source of pain and not a source of pleasure. Here's Peter Wothers.
We are all familiar with the lighter-than-air gas helium, but whenever I see a balloon floating on a string, I feel a little sad. It's not because I'm a miserable old so-and-so - it's just because, unlike the happy child on the other end of the string, I am aware of the valuable resource that's about to be lost forever.
Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, but here on earth, it's rather rare. Most people guess that we extract helium from the air, but actually we dig it out of the ground. Helium can be found in certain parts of the world, notably in Texas, as a minor component in some sources of natural gas. The interesting thing is how this gas gets into the ground in the first place. Unlike virtually every other atom around us, each atom of helium has been individually formed after the formation of the earth.
The helium is formed during the natural radioactive decay of elements such as uranium and thorium. These heavy elements were formed before the earth but they are not stable and very slowly, they decay. One mode of decay for uranium is to emit an alpha-particle. This alpha-particle is actually just the heart of a helium atom - its nucleus. Once it has grabbed a couple of electrons, a helium atom has been born.
This decay process for uranium is incredibly slow; the time it takes a given quantity of uranium to halve, its so-called half-life, is comparable to the age of the earth. This means that helium has been continuously generated ever since the earth was formed. Some of the gas might eventually creep through the earth and escape into the atmosphere; fortunately, when conditions are right, some is trapped underground and can be harvested for our use.
The situation is very different in space. The sun is comprised of about 75% by mass of hydrogen and 24% of helium. The remaining one percent is made up of all the heavier elements. In the high temperatures of the sun, the hydrogen nuclei are fused together to eventually form helium. This fusion process, whereby heavier atoms are made from lighter ones, liberates vast amounts of energy. Recreating the process on earth may be the answer to our energy problems in the future.
Since helium makes up about a quarter of the mass of the sun, it is not surprising that its presence was detected there over 100 years ago. What is perhaps surprising, is that helium was discovered in space 26 years before it was found on earth.
It has been known for hundreds of years that certain elements impart characteristic colours to a flame - a fact crucial to the coloured fireworks that we enjoy. Copper, for example, gives a green colour, whereas sodium gives a yellow colour. It is actually possible to identify elements by the careful examination of such coloured flames. The light is split up into a spectrum using a prism or diffraction grating in an instrument called a spectroscope. Rather than seeing a continuous rainbow of colours, a series of sharp coloured lines is formed. This series of lines is characteristic of the particular element and acts as a sort of fingerprint.
In the 19th century, scientists turned their spectroscopes to the sun and began to detect certain metals there, including sodium, magnesium, calcium and iron. In 1868 two astronomers, Janssen and Lockyer, independently noticed some very clear lines in the solar spectrum that did not match up to any known metals. While other astronomers of the time were unsure, Lockyer suggested these unidentified lines belonged to a new metal which he named Helium after the Greek personification of the sun, Helios. For over 20 years, no sign of the metal helium was detected on earth and Lockyer began to be mocked for his mythical element. However, in 1895 the chemist William Ramsay detected helium in the gas given out when a radioactive mineral of uranium was treated with acid. The helium formed from the radioactive decay had been trapped in the rock but liberated when the rock was dissolved away in the acid.
Finally Lockyer's element had been discovered on earth, but it was no metal, rather an extremely unreactive gas. To this day, helium remains the only non-metal whose name ends with the suffix -ium, an ending otherwise exclusively reserved for metals.
Aside from being used to fill balloons, both for our entertainment, and for more serious purposes, such as for weather balloons, helium is used in other applications which depend on its unique properties. Being so light, and yet totally chemically inert, helium can be mixed with oxygen in order to make breathing easier. This mixture, known as heliox, can help save new-born babies with breathing problems, or help underwater divers safely reach the depths of the oceans. At minus 269 degrees centigrade, liquid helium has the lowest boiling point of any substance. Because of this, it is used to provide the low temperatures needed for superconducting magnets, such as those used in most MRI scanners in hospitals.
In many facilities where helium is used, it is captured and reused. If it isn't, it escapes into the air. But it doesn't simply accumulate in the atmosphere. Helium is so light that it can escape the pull of the earth's gravitational field and leave our planet forever. This is the fate of the helium in our balloons. Whereas it may be possible to reclaim and recycle other elements that we have used and discarded, when we waste helium, it is lost for good. In 100 years time, people will look back with disbelief that we wasted this precious, unique element by filling up party balloons.
Cambridge University's Peter Wothers telling us the tale of element number two, Helium. Next time we're off to 18th century Scotland and an element that was the wrong colour.
In 1787, an intriguing mineral came to Edinburgh from a Lead mine in a small village on the shores of Loch Sunart, Argyll. At that time, the stuff was thought to be some sort of Barium compound. Other chemists, such as Edinburgh's Thomas Hope later prepared a number of compounds with the element, noting that it caused the candle's flame to burn red, while Barium compounds gave a green colour.
And that's because it wasn't Barium at all, it was Strontium and Richard Van Noorden will be here to explain how, amongst other things, it's shown us that Roman gladiators weren't meat eaters they were in fact vegetarians. That's next week's Chemistry in its Element and I hope you can join us. I'm Chris Smith, thank you for listening and goodbye. |
0.966097 | The answer to this question is a qualified “yes.” There is no federal law prohibiting drug or alcohol testing of employees. Some states have rules that address this issue. In general, a company may conduct drug and alcohol testing under certain circumstances, such as for reasonable suspicion of drug or alcohol use, after offering a job to an applicant and after an accident. A company exposes themselves to liability if they conduct drug and alcohol testing without first having communicated their written policy which spells out the procedures they will follow, and the consequences to employees for positive tests, etc. |
0.999897 | Graph pattern mining is an important task in Data Mining and several algorithms have been proposed to solve this problem. Most of them require that a pattern and its occurrences are identical, thus, they rely on solving the graph isomorphism problem. In the last years, however, some algorithms have focused in the case in which label and edge structure differences between a pattern and its occurrences are allowed but maintaining a bijection among vertices, using inexact matching during the mining process. Recently, an algorithm that allows structural differences in vertices was proposed. This feature allows it to find patterns missed by other algorithms, but, do these extra patterns actually contain useful information? We explore the answer to this question by performing an experiment in the context of unsupervised mining tasks. Our results suggests that by allowing structural differences in both, vertices and edges, it is possible to obtain new useful information. |
0.895506 | What is the hallmark of any celebration? That's right – champagne! Throughout the world, champagne is a symbol of joy and celebration. Indeed, sparkling taste and bubbles have made this drink an essential part of many happy events. The wine must be made in Champagne only from local grapes in scope to be called champagne. Here are some names of the most famous non-vintage brands and types of champagne: Bollinger, Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, Lanson, Dom Pérignon, Moët & Chandon, G. H. Mumm & Cie, Salon.
“Non-Vintage” means champagne with unmarked year of production. It is produced each year, regardless of the volume and quality of the harvest. Champagne of this class can’t be brought on the market before the expiration of 12 months after bottling. Non-vintage champagnes best reflect the skill level of the creators of the blend (wine of different origin). They make up 60% of the total production of sparkling wines.
Lanson is one of the oldest Champagne houses in France, founded in 1760 by one of the Knights of the Order of Malta - Jean-Baptiste Lanson. Lanson sparkling wines have received international recognition for their outstanding quality and exceptionally fresh taste. Lanson Black Label is one of the best examples of champagne with a fresh scent of spring, a very pleasant fruity taste and elegant lingering aftertaste. Lanson Black Label is made from three grape varieties of Champagne region: 50% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Meunier. This non-vintage champagne has light yellow color with greenish reflections, with a brilliant stream of fine bubbles. It is filled with notes of freshness and spring, mixed with hints of honey. The flavor is full and light at the same time, composed of bouquet of ripe fruit and oranges. It has a pleasant and noble aftertaste.
For 250 years this company produces one of the most famous and prestigious brands of champagne. From the very beginning Moët & Chandon is one of the main official suppliers of royal courts. For almost two decades Moët is the official champagne of “Golden Globe” event.
Bollinger is another wine of the best wines of Champagne. All other fans of champagne, paying tribute to Bollinger taste, know that this wine is a favorite drink of James Bond. |
0.999998 | As an agent, I try to provide my clients with the best accommodations to fit their budget. My first love are all-inclusive packages. You may say, what are all-inclusive packages? Glad you asked.
All- inclusive packages typically are found in the Caribbean primarily. However, they are expanding world wide.
All-inclusive packages basically includes a resort, round-trip airfare, meals, beverages and drinks, transfers and some resort activities. The great thing about AI( all-inclusive) packages is that you can get the most bang for your buck. You can relax and enjoy yourself because you can eat and drink as much as you like. All have buffets as well as specialty restaurants. Most AI resorts have spas and additional activities which charges may be required.
It's important to note that AI resorts can often cater to certain clientele such as couples, families, singles, seniors, LGBT, etc.
Many AI resorts have VIP upgrades where you have access to butler service and amenities. Many AI resorts also offer promotions for weddings, vow renewals and wedding anniversaries.
Are all AI resorts equivalent? Absolutely NOT! In fact, some have horrible reviews, so it's great if you have a travel agent who specializes in AI packages to refer the best resorts for your budget and destination preferences. It's important to be financially realistic. Do not expect to get an amazing AI deal at a great resort for $600 per person. That's typically not practical and often when you see deals as such, it doesn't included everything which you think AI packages often include. It may not include round-trip transfers from that international airport to the resort or you may have to pay for wi-fi or specialty restaurants. Therefore, you may spend anywhere from $800-$3,000 per person but if you book it atleast 11 months in advance, you have sufficient time to stretch out your payments especially if booked through InfiNate Destinations.
Some destinations are more expensive for AI packages than others. For example, Mexico is typically the least expensive. However, Mexico has some of the most amazing AI resorts. Destinations such as Jamaica and the Dominican Republic also have great prices for AI packages.
Destinations such as Aruba, Turks and Caicos, Barbados, Antiqua, etc. are more expensive and have less AI resorts than Mexico, the DR and Jamaica.
At the end of the day...having a realistic budget for AI packages is important. If you want a relaxing vacation, then perhaps March and April isn't a good time to go as Spring Breakers may be the resorts. You must also take into consideration hurricane and/or rainy seasons for most Caribbean destinations.
I highly encourage my clients to go for the all-inclusive options. I customize packages based on my client's wishes. Excursions and additional activities may always be included into the packages so that once you pay for your package, you don't have to worry about spending additional money!
That's a win to me to not spend excessive money while on vacation after paying for accommodations...and YES...they are worth it!
I look foward to booking an amazing all-inclusive vacation for you! |
0.998743 | Why do I love handbells? Oh, there are so many reasons. Handbells, by their very nature, form a community when played by a full choir of musicians. They help build the team, by the very necessity of each and every ringer who plays their position. They are accessible to people who might not ever play another instrument, giving them the gift of music making. They are versatile, allowing for not only a full choir, but smaller ensembles and soloists alike. And when I hear them played, they sound like heaven to me. |
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