text:
In Katrina's Wake, a Vast and Varied Social Experiment
By JONATHAN TILOVE
September 9, 2005
c.2005 Newhouse News Service
(UNDATED) America is witnessing the largest instant migration in its history. In the days and months to come, communities across the nation will attempt to take in more than a quarter-million evacuees from New Orleans, which before Katrina was home to one of the poorest, most insular black populations in the United States.
The resettlement has the makings of a vast and varied social experiment that may try American ideas about race and poverty. And it is likely _ after the first flush of relief and goodwill _ to tax the patience and understanding of both the newcomers and the welcomers.
"We've evacuated most of a Deep South city and we haven't the foggiest idea of what's going to happen six months from now," said Steve Suitts, program coordinator for the Atlanta-based Southern Education Foundation, which works on issues of educational equity.
Katrina wreaked most of its havoc in Louisiana and Mississippi, the two blackest, poorest states in the country. The largely emptied city of New Orleans was by many measures a socioeconomic disaster area even before the hurricane, a place of danger and dysfunction where many lacked the wherewithal to seek opportunities elsewhere. And while there were many people of means, both black and white, cast out of the Crescent City, it is fair to say those with the fewest resources and connections were least likely to get to safety on their own and most likely to be among the more than 250,000 evacuees the Federal Emergency Management Agency now counts in emergency shelters across the length and breadth of America.
"What this storm has done has wrecked the lives and the economy of what could arguably be one of the poorest areas of America with one of the blackest populations," Suitts said. "As I look around, whether it's Iowa or Arizona, at the far-flung places to which people are being sent, for the short term at least, I think it's going to be a national lesson in diversity."
In the days to come, the Katrina diaspora will encounter Main Street America _ in classrooms and hospital emergency rooms, on talk radio shows and ball fields, in chance encounters and town meetings. It's an odd-couple relationship sure to be strained as the adrenaline of public compassion subsides.
"Always in the immediate aftermath of a disaster we have what is called a therapeutic community, where people want to help," said James Johnson, a geographer who is director of the Urban Investment Strategies Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "The question is, when does the therapeutic community end and the reality kick back in? Then, what do you do with them?"
It is a problem arriving with speed and magnitude, both without obvious precedent. Suddenly, said James Elliott, an urban sociologist at Tulane University, people who hadn't ventured a mile beyond their own neighborhoods in decades find themselves swept away to places they may never have heard of before.
"An entire metropolitan area has just been tossed to the wind," said Elliott, himself "in refuge" at his parents' home in Chapel Hill. For many of the children of New Orleans, he said, Katrina was only the latest trauma. The public schools, almost entirely black, were bad by Louisiana's already low standards. So many students could not pass the tests required in the fourth and eighth grades, Elliott said, that the system created what came to be known as grades four-and-a-half and eight-and-a-half _ way stations for those not qualified to move to the next grade, but taking up space needed for those coming up.
Katrina plunged New Orleans into what Donald Henry, 28, described as a state of "chaos, like wild animals." But even before, the poor Lower Ninth Ward, where Henry grew up and lived, was a place of "killing, rape, black-on-black crime, robbery, police brutality."
"It was just hell on Earth," he said. That was the title of the book that Henry, a "jack of all trades," said he was writing when Katrina hit, leaving him to make his exodus across the city's rooftops, losing his brother and two of the brother's children along the way.
Now in the Fort Custer Reserve Training Center in Augusta, Mich., Henry and his friend, Sir Anthony Brooks, 19, hope to start new lives in nearby Battle Creek.
"I never heard of Battle Creek before," Brooks said, but "I like the peace." At the Wright Beauty Academy in Battle Creek, where some of the evacuees were taken after their arrival, "They basically pampered us," Brooks said. "They barely let us lift a finger. I got my hair done, my toes, got a massage. … I know it's not always going to be like this, I just want a chance to do my thing." Brooks plans to enroll in the beauty academy and begin a new career.
Consider how odd this is. Americans, leading with their hearts, are offering _ clamoring in some cases _ to bring those dislocated by Katrina into their communities. It is probably fair to say that never before in the nation's history have tens of thousands of poor black citizens been offered such invitations and welcome. More than that, some are seizing on the hurricane to refocus the national agenda back on poverty, to rescue these folks not just from Katrina but from the desperate lives many had led before the storm.
Writing of "Katrina's silver lining," New York Times columnist David Brooks, a conservative, suggested that Katrina's aftermath could "serve as a spur to antipoverty programs nationwide."
"What you have here is the nationalization of a problem _ poverty _ which was sort of out of sight for most people," said University of Maryland political scientist Ronald Walters. For survivors who had nothing before the storm, Walters said relocation may prove "a godsend," a poor man's upward mobility landing them in places with better housing, schools and job opportunities _ safer, more supportive places in which to start over.
Walters, David Brooks and others are expecting a lot of something that begins as ad hoc efforts by relief agencies and people of goodwill to provide fellow citizens with temporary shelter after a terrible storm. Still, for a long time, much social science has suggested that the cure for the debilitating cycle of concentrated poverty is to break it up, distributing its denizens across the more salutary precincts of middle-class America. Can Katrina accomplish what the Ford Foundation could not?
"We ought to give people who don't want to go back to New Orleans the means to disperse into middle-class areas nationwide," David Brooks wrote.
But it is not clear how close these newcomers will get to those middle-class areas. Typically, temporary shelter for the poor is found in poorer neighborhoods. It is perfectly plausible that the evacuees will melt into the places, the schools, the difficulties of pre-existing poor communities _ an infusion of poverty where it is least needed. And opportunities such as those David Brooks advised might come with the resentments of the local poor, who might think themselves more deserving of the same help. They might come with the resistance of middle-class neighbors who prefer their Katrina survivors at a safe distance.
The Oregonian newspaper reported wariness among some residents of Buckman, a working-class neighborhood on the cusp of gentrification in southeast Portland, where evacuees are expected to take shelter in a closed school. "What happens when the warm fuzzy feeling wears off?" asked a man who owns a home a few blocks away. Kayse Jama, an organizer with the Portland-based Western States Center, which works on social justice issues, noted that when Somali Bantu refugees were resettled in Portland last year, no security concerns were raised.
"It was not an issue at all," he said. "Now, with an African-American population, all of a sudden it's on the table.
In the liberal redoubt of Madison, Wis., Rita Adair, a veteran local social worker, wrangled a couple of buses to drive to Texas to bring back evacuee families. She had secured some housing, awaiting redevelopment, in a low-income neighborhood known as Allied Drive. Thomas Corbett, a professor of social work affiliated with the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin, said he was a little surprised by the choice of location: Allied Drive is already "one of the more distressed areas of our city." But, said Johnson from Chapel Hill, "Where you going to take them to, Beverly Hills?"
This is not reality TV. It is reality. Battle Creek's Bishop Eugene McCoy, of Faith Assembly Christian Fellowship, believes his city is up to the challenge of generous acceptance, while acknowledging that the place, about 18 percent black, is "a very conservative community."
But he blanched when Gov. Jennifer Granholm mentioned Alpena, Mich., as a potential destination for Katrina's survivors. Only 85 of Alpena's more than 11,000 people are black.
"Oh come on, please," McCoy said. "She knows better than that."
In the end, demographer William Frey of the University of Michigan and the Brookings Institution believes most evacuees who can will return to New Orleans, a place they chose to stay when so many others, over the years, were leaving. "These were very reluctant migrants," Frey said. His understatement was obvious.


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Dr. Morse delivers a talk based on her book "Smart Sex" at Harvard University.
The MP3 file is here. (21 Mb) (Link in case that doesn't work)
- the hook-up culture and its effects on men and women
- cohabitation and its effect on marriage stability
- balancing marriage, family and career
- single motherhood by choice and IVF
- donor-conceived children
- modern sex: a sterile, recreation activity
- the real purposes of sex: procreation and spousal unity
- the hormone oxytocin: when it is secreted and what it does
- the hormone vassopressin: when it is secreted and what it does
- the sexual revolution and the commoditization of sex
- the consumer view of sex vs the organic view of sex
- fatherlessness and multi-partner fertility
- how the "sex-without-relationship" view harms children
52 minutes of lecture, 33 minutes of Q&A from the Harvard students. The Q&A is worth listening to – the first question is from a gay student, and Dr. Morse pulls a William Lane Craig to defeat her objection. It was awesome! I never get tired of listening to her talk, and especially on the topics of marriage and family.

subset: commoncrawl


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Greetings from the Land of the Dead
Heyy...Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night, (whichever one its when you're reading this), you have stumbled the profile of The Princess of Darkness...which is the fancy title I occasionally use but...uhh y'all can just call me Kate.
So about me...well I've haunted this site for just a bit over two years now...
look at me adding time into this so I have to actually update this someday. Anyway, I'm usually found spamming the people's tab with reviews here and there when I find free time, or just generally chilling somewhere in the roleplay section. I am far too many roleplays for it to be healthy for a human. Don't try this at home mortals
I do write, novels mostly, or the occasionally crazy story when I'm attempting to break through writer's block the curse that affects even us immortals. If you're really, really lucky, you might spot a poem by me....but those happen once every sixty million years so...don't hold your breath.
As for me irl, I am a nerd, certified super nerd, I should put that as my occupation, but I don't cause the current one sounds far cooler, and I lead a proper nerd squad. This is why sometimes in my reviews you might see random references to chemistry, or maths...or physics....just be careful...you do not know what you might find.
I'm someone that sort of lives life being partially invisible to most people around me, not many people even in my own school know of my existence cause of that. But when I do make friends, I tend to be loyal, to the point I think it might be an actual fatal flaw...xD
And yeah, maybe that sums me or, or I'm just getting lazy of explaining myself, I dunno, take your pick...but at any rate, have yourself a very nice day, if it hasn't been a good one, I hope it gets better, if has been a good one, then well, still, make it better. I'll stop rambling now and I'll see you around the site somewhere...probably in a review...cause I have a problem...Byee<33
Stay Safe
Reading, Writing, Minecraft, Maths, Yes I know this is heresy to most but I love numbers... & Ice Cream
Border Patrol for The Fields of Punishment, Elysium, The Isles of the Blest and Tartarus.


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One of the most ubuiquitous flavors in beer, present to some degree in pretty much every beer, is dimethyl sulfide, or DMS. It's a normal part of beer flavor but, as usual, its acceptability is dependent on the intentions and desires of the brewer. It can be a large portion of the flavor profile of certain beers, while in other beers it is expected to be at much lower levels. For example, Rolling Rock is considered to be a prominent example of a beer which is high in DMS (although in the past it may have been swamped by skunky/lightstruck flavors as I believe Rolling Rock has not always been brewed with light-stable hop extracts).
DMS has the aroma of canned vegetables, particularly corn or creamed corn. It's a small and simple molecule; as the name conveniently implies, it has two methyl-groups flanking a sulfur atom:
Typical flavor threshold for DMS in beer is about 35ppb, and beers from around the world can contain anywhere from 10-200ppb. Typically lagers tend to have a bit more DMS than ales do, but what dictates the DMS levels in your beer more than the yeast is the production parameters in your brewery, particularly the kettle boil and wort-chilling.
DMS is considered to originate from malt, although it is actually formed in the brew kettle. All malt contains a variant of the amino acid methionine called S-methyl methionine (SMM), and it is an intermediate in a number of biosynthetic pathways which plants use to make other compounds. SMM is pulled into the wort during mashing and lautering and as the wort is heated the SMM degrades and is converted into DMS. While the wort is boiled, however, the volatility of DMS allows it to be removed from the wort and out the ventilation stack to never return. If there is no way for steam condensate to escape from your kettle (like if your homebrew pot is covered during the boil) then that condensate will drip back into the wort returning that DMS back into your beer. In such a case, the SMM is still creating DMS because the wort is hot, but the DMS can't go anywhere so it just continues to build up into higher and higher levels. For this reason, the whirlpool and/or wort-chilling stage after the boil is a critical time in DMS control: if the wort sits too hot for too long, DMS will continue to develop since there is no boil to drive off the compound. I recall some power outages here at the brewery which knocked out the brewhouse for a bit. The brew that was in the whirlpool at the time wound up staying in there for much longer than it should have, which lead to a beer with astronomical DMS levels. At first glance, you may think that controlling DMS might be as easy as making your boils longer to convert all the SMM to DMS and drive it out the stack, but there is enough SMM in most malts that this is not a practical solution: the boil times required to convert it all and volatilize it could be hours long and would be quite detrimental to other wort parameters and the quality of the beer. Some kettles are more efficient at stripping DMS than others, as well. A simple direct fire or steam-jacketed kettle would be less efficient at removing DMS than a kettle with a calandria, which would be less efficient than a Merlin kettle. In fact, I recall brewery which, after installing a Merlin-style kettle, wound up being so efficient at stripping volatiles from the wort that they had to "de-tune" the kettle to make it less efficient since it was throwing off the flavor profile of their beers.
Even after the wort is chilled to the point where SMM is no longer being converted into DMS, the whole corny story isn't over yet. During fermentation, the carbon dioxide that is produced by the yeast has a scrubbing effect on the DMS, carrying some of it out of the beer. This happens more efficiently at higher temperatures since the fermentations are more vigorous, and for this reason ale fermentations are better at this than lagers. This is why many lagers tend to have somewhat higher levels of DMS than ales do.
Here is a pretty handy chart I found on the internets showing some data about the DMS levels in wort/beer over the course of production. You can see how the levels drop significantly during boiling, but how they can potentially rise again before the wort is chilled. Then they fall again during fermentation as the yeast help blow off some more of the remaining DMS.
Finally, another potential source of DMS can actually come from bacterial infection. Some species of Enterobacter can produce DMS, along with diacetyl. This is quite uncommon in normal production scenarios, but it could conceivably happen more frequently in homebrewing situations. However, the vast majority of DMS in beer comes from the malt and the boil, so if you have an issue with corny beer, check the brewhouse parameters first.
But the story of corny beer doesn't stop there, no! A challenger appears!
As I collected various flavor compounds that I understood were in beer, I came across a reference to another malt-based compound which was described as "biscuity/malty". I thought this might have something to do with the biscuity aroma which is a dominant malt flavor in beers which use Victory or "biscuit malt". Well, I was wrong. As I opened the package of 2-acetylpyridine which Sigma-Aldrich had shipped to me, I realized "This isn't biscuity at all. This smells like freshly cooked corn tortillas!" It was like opening up that container of steaming tortillas at a Mexican restaurant, or a bag of high quality corn chips. So that's what my panel calls 2-acetylpyridine now, "corn chips" rather than "biscuity". Wikipedia says that 2-ap has an odor threshold of about 60 parts-per-trillion, but other literature values I've seen indicate that in beer it is closer to 40 ppb (and my experience with it shows this to be pretty close).
2-acetylpyridine, as seen below, is found in malt (and corn chips) and is created by the Maillard browning reactions. These reactions take place when certain types of sugars are heated in the presence of amino acids. It's a highly complex series of reactions that take place which lead to a whole slew of compounds, including flavor compounds and color compounds. It's not caramelization, but it can be confused with it if you are unfamiliar with the differences. The browning of the bread as it toasts, the malting of barley, the browning of beef as it cooks – these are examples of Maillard browning reactions.
I'm not going to go much into 2-ap, but just brought it up to show that not all corn-type flavors in beer come from DMS. In fact, I'm starting to think that some of the flavors in our beer that I have previously associated with low levels of DMS might actually wind up being 2-ap and that's pretty interesting.
Hope to post again soon! But probably not.


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Phoenix-based Jones Studio has designed the Logan House.
This 4,600 square foot contemporary residence located in Scottsdale, Arizona, was completed in 2008.
The Logan House by Jones Studio:
"I want a place for my art collection – Then I want to live there. – Kent Logan.
The Logan Residence is first a private museum, and second a personal winter residence. Their art is one of the top contemporary collections in the world, and the goal was to make the architecture an equally significant addition. After several studies, it was mutually decided the program would be about multiple galleries, each with a different daylighting technique.
Passage below the metallic "golden aspen leaves" provides transitional entry shade and recalls the couple's Vail, Colorado summer residence. Upon passing through the front door, guests enter Gallery One. The Sonoran Desert is well known for its clear white light; however, it must be diffused to avoid damaging the art. Six foot deep, parabolic white plaster shafts bounce and reflect light, evenly distributing it throughout the space. They begin as a circular oculus and warp to a square, integrating an adjustable electric lighting grid, which doubles as the mounting point for suspended art hanging walls, subject to relocation as needed.
Gallery Two is easily perceived from its exterior as a glowing cube. Natural light is diffused through a translucent film within the glass and a six foot ceiling cavity, finally striking a white, stretched fabric ceiling. This further diffuses light, having been reflected up and down from the hard white ceiling above.
Gallery Three – the "black box" – has only a hint of natural light, integrated into and through the iris of the sandblasted eye pattern on the exterior cast in place concrete walls. Architecturally, the eyes are used to strategically identify spaces in the house that contain only art.
Gallery Four's specific shape accommodates the famous 30 foot long Murakami painting; "Supernova" is naturally lit from a parallel clerestory above which gathers north light to reflect off of the opposite white bulkhead.
The unusual yet orthogonal building footprint assures the very least site disruption. Every Saguaro was saved, every boulder, Palo Verde, and contour preserved. This claim is only possible when the architecture is inspired by its subordination to the landscape!"
Photos by: Robert Reck and Ed Taube


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BILLERICA — Several West End Gym boxers emerged victorious at a recent fund-raising amateur card at the Billerica Lodge of Elks.
In the Junior Olympic Division, Nick Molina won at 85 pounds and Eriq Valenzuela won at 152 pounds.
In the Novice Division Raymond Penn and Manny Antonetti posted victories in the 132-pound division, while Xavier Vega was a winner at 152 and John Maher scored a TKO victory (2nd round) at 165 pounds.
Recently-elected U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren was on hand for the event.


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Anger, Compassion, detachment, ego, feisty, honesty, idiotic behaviour, Kindness, Tias Little
- Yoga teachers are not perfect!
- Regardless of how much yoga I do, I have a feisty nature. The fuse that triggers my feisty-ness is long but when invoked, my anger isn't pleasant for anyone.
- I have a very low tolerance for idiotic behaviour when coming from people I think should know better.
- These days I've generally got a pretty good handle on detachment and letting go of my "stuff". You could say I've had a lot of practice! But sometimes, someone offends me in a way that REALLY presses my buttons. Twenty other so-called insults that might look almost identical pass me by. I laugh, I see the bigger picture and I have compassion for myself and the other party. Then, the twenty-first insult comes along and I am mightily pissed off. I take deep, deep offense and I feel that the other person owes me a heartfelt apology. Until I get that apology, I hold a grudge. I am not friendly to that person and I can hold onto that for a long, long time. It's stupid, and it doesn't make sense. I'm not proud of it, but that's how it is. Eventually I chip-chip-chip away at my own stupidity and pigheadedness. I finally let go, but it's a hard lesson. I can still be an idiot at times…
- Tonight, teaching my second weekly regular yoga class… I felt a little burst of ego bubbling to the surface when I saw there were repeat students from the previous week. My ego translated this as: they must have enjoyed MY class! Cue the swell of pride. Kinda icky really, since teaching is just so NOT about me.
- I'm not really a fan of Elephant Journal, but I really REALLY love this article: Anorexia and Yoga on the Runway, by Tias Little. THANK GOODNESS for Tias! If only all men and women could be accepting of our bodies like this!
- And then there is yoga teaching: teaching is such a different way of understanding yoga. I have a responsibility not just to myself but to my students, and I want them to learn more than just the "correct" physical movements of downward facing dog.
- I have a vast body of yoga knowledge somewhere in this person-shaped flesh-pod that identifies as me. Over ten years of meditation, yogic philosophy, asana practice and all the rest! To me, this represents only a beginning – I've decades of study ahead of me! But I can only genuinely share those teachings that I've embodied and taken on as my own. And drip-drip-drip feeding these things to my students because I will never forget how overwhelming it all was to me way back when. There's a lot to learn and it's all marvelous. So I slowly pass on the tiniest of moments.
- Somewhere in the middle of today I saw a re-tweet from the wonderful Cora Wen:
- Oh yes. So important. Be kind – to yourself and to others, in your yoga practice and your day-to-day life. This wee Twittered seed became the theme of my class this evening.
- Because it is not kind of me to be short with people I brand "idiots" for their behaviour. And it's definitely not kind to myself or others to hold grudges, no matter how few or how mild they might be.
- I also need to be kind to my body – gentle with it while it gets used to the idea that I'm no longer in the siege-mode of recent years.
I must re-learn to nourish it with good foods, and not just eat as a mindless function of being alive.
- And I need to reach out to my students who are no doubt giving themselves a hard time about their yoga practice: what they can/can't do; if the person next to them is better/worse than they are; straining to get into a pose; berating themselves for their busy mind or their injuries.
- I know they need to offer themselves this kindness because I have to remember to offer it to myself, too. Perhaps not in the same ways anymore, or to the same extent. But still, do I give myself the same latitude I would give to a beloved friend? Erm, sometimes…
- Kindness towards yourself and others is: honesty and acceptance of how things are; being aware of one's weaknesses and strengths; observing one's actions and thoughts without judging them harshly; and letting things be as they are.
- I tell my yoga students that nothing is wrong with the way they do their yoga. It isn't important if they can touch their toes or not. What's important is how connected they are to their breath and the movement. This is kindness and honesty in action.
- Just like last week, the words I say while teaching come out of a place that isn't connected to the self-conscious, trip-over-my-own-feet daggy part of my nature that gets tongue-tied in the spotlight.
- As I talk everyone through savasana at the beginning of the class I visualise my teachers floating above my head and tears in my eyes, I offer them gratitude and love for the wisdom they've passed on to me.
- The teachings of yoga – way beyond descriptions of alignment or form – have their own consciousness. And yes, they are teachings of kindness and honesty, too.


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§ 404.454. Good cause for failure to make required reports.
(a) General. The failure of an individual to make a timely report under the provisions described in §§ 404.450 and 404.452 will not result in a penalty deduction if the individual establishes to the satisfaction of the Administration that his failure to file a timely report was due to good cause. Before making any penalty determination as described in §§ 404.451 and 404.453, the individual shall be advised of the penalty and good cause provisions and afforded an opportunity to establish good cause for failure to report timely. The failure of the individual to submit evidence to establish good cause within a specified time may be considered a sufficient basis for a finding that good cause does not exist (see § 404.705). In determining whether good cause for failure to report timely has been established by the individual, consideration is given to whether the failure to report within the proper time limit was the result of untoward circumstances, misleading action of the Social Security Administration, confusion as to the requirements of the Act resulting from amendments to the Act or other legislation, or any physical, mental, educational, or linguistic limitations (including any lack of facility with the English language) the individual may have. For example, good cause may be found where failure to file a timely report was caused by:
(1) Serious illness of the individual, or death or serious illness in his immediate family;
(2) Inability of the individual to obtain, within the time required to file the report, earnings information from his employer because of death or serious illness of the employer or one in the employer's immediate family; or unavoidable absence of his employer; or destruction by fire or other damage of the employer's business records;
(3) Destruction by fire, or other damage, of the individual's business records;
(4) Transmittal of the required report within the time required to file the report, in good faith to another Government agency even though the report does not reach the Administration until after the period for reporting has expired;
(5) Unawareness of the statutory provision that an annual report of earnings is required for the taxable year in which the individual attained age 72 provided his earnings for such year exceeded the applicable amount, e.g., $1,680 for a 12-month taxable year ending after December 1967;
(6) Failure on the part of the Administration to furnish forms in sufficient time for an individual to complete and file the report on or before the date it was due, provided the individual made a timely request to the Administration for the forms;
(7) Belief that an extension of time for filing income tax returns granted by the Internal Revenue Service was also applicable to the annual report to be made to the Social Security Administration;
(8) Reliance upon a written report to the Social Security Administration made by, or on behalf of, the beneficiary before the close of the taxable year, if such report contained sufficient information about the beneficiary's earnings or work, to require suspension of his benefits (see § 404.456) and the report was not subsequently refuted or rescinded; or
(9) Failure of the individual to understand reporting responsibilities due to his or her physical, mental, educational, or linguistic limitation(s).
(b) Notice of determination. In every case in which it is determined that a penalty deduction should be imposed, the individual shall be advised of the penalty determination and of his reconsideration rights. If it is found that good cause for failure to file a timely report does not exist, the notice will include an explanation of the basis for this finding; the notice will also explain the right to partial adjustment of the overpayment, in accordance with the provisions of § 404.502(c).
(c) Good cause for subsequent failure. Where circumstances are similar and an individual fails on more than one occasion to make a timely report, good cause normally will not be found for the second or subsequent violation.
[38 FR 3597, Feb. 8, 1973, as amended at 43 FR 8133, Feb. 28, 1978; 59 FR 1634, Jan. 12, 1994]


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2. Jewish.
3. writing a PhD dissertation about Victorian magicians, special effects, and scientific demonstrations.
4. not doing that right now, though, but I probably should be. Oops.
5. super-excited to read "The End of the Line"!
6. usually the youngest person in my classes at school.
7. the owner of my own treasure-hunt planning company.
8. in Toronto.
9. sick today.
10. used to wandering around downtown wearing my Sherlock Holmes hat.
S. R.'s Website


text:
What to Know
- A fingerprint found on one of the unexploded devices was key in leading authorities to Ahmad Rahami as a suspect, an official said
- Law enforcement officials say surveillance video appears to show the suspect on 23rd and 27th streets before a bomb rocked Chelsea Saturday
- Rahami was taken into custody after a gun battle with police in Linden, New Jersey, Monday
Ahmad Rahami, the naturalized 28-year-old native of Afghanistan hunted in connection with a series of bombings in New York City and New Jersey over the weekend, has been charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer after a gun battle that left two officers wounded, officials said.
Rahami was taken into custody earlier Monday after the shootout that left officers Angel Padilla and Peter Hammer injured. Federal charges were still pending, and the U.S. attorneys in New York and New Jersey will likely charge him with terrorism in the coming days, FBI officials said on the scene in Linden Monday evening.
Padilla was shot in the torso during the takedown in Linden, New Jersey, but he was not seriously wounded because he was wearing a bulletproof vest. It wasn't clear where Hammer was hit, but both officers were expected to make full recoveries.
Rahami was shot 10 times, including once in the leg, according to FBI officials on the scene, and was taken to a hospital by ambulance. He is expected to survive, and video showed him alert and conscious. Photos from the scene showed the thickly bearded suspect on the rain-soaked sidewalk, his hands cuffed behind his back, his shirt rolled up revealing his bare chest as he lifted his head up off the ground.
Officials said he underwent surgery, but did not have additional updates on his condition.
Leaked video of the initial explosion in #Chelsea pic.twitter.com/nBMbh7iBCl— REGATED (@regated) September 18, 2016
In addition to the counts of attempted murder, Rahami is charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and second-degree possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced Monday evening.
Bail for Rahami in the Linden officer shootings has been set at $5.2 million. It wasn't clear if he'd retained an attorney as of Monday night.
Authorities had been looking for Rahami in connection with bombings that rocked a crowded Manhattan neighborhood and a Jersey shore town over the weekend. A senior law enforcement official says a fingerprint collected from an unexploded device led investigators to Rahami as a suspect in the bombings at a Marine 5K race in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and the blast in Chelsea.
It wasn't clear if the suspect was linked to five pipe bombs — one of which was inadvertently detonated by a robot — found at a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey, late Sunday, not far from where Rahami was later captured.
#BREAKING— Buffing Actions ® (@BuffingActions) September 19, 2016
Police have suspect in custody after opening fire on police #Elizabeth NJ#ChelseaExplosion #terrorist pic.twitter.com/g0SXKOm4AO
As a manhunt was underway for the suspect, a bar owner called police about a man sleeping in the doorway of his business, police said. When officers arrived, they tried to rouse him and the man lifted his head. They recognized him as the man pictured in an FBI wanted poster released hours earlier and told him to show his hands.
Instead, according to police, Rahami pulled out a gun and fired, hitting one of the cops. He then got up and started walking down the street, apparently randomly firing at passing vehicles, authorities said. Eventually, he was taken down.
[NATL-NY] Bombs in New Jersey, New York Spark Manhunt
The blast in Chelsea injured 29 people, though all have since been released from the hospital. The explosion left twisted metal and shrapnel scattered across 23rd Street. An unexploded pressure cooker with a cellphone attached and wires protruding was found four blocks away; it was taken to a firing range, where it was safely detonated.
The discovery of the Manhattan devices came hours after a pipe bomb exploded in a trash bin at the Marine 5K in Seaside Park. Authorities had said they believed the device had been timed to go off as participants were running by, but the race had been late. It was canceled and no one was hurt.
[NATL-NY] Bombs in New Jersey, New York Spark Manhunt
Old-fashioned flip phones were found on the devices in Manhattan and in Seaside Park, law enforcement officials close to the investigation told NBC 4 New York. A senior law enforcement official said information obtained from the phones connected to two unexploded devices also pointed to Rahami.
The investigation into the devices found in Elizabeth was ongoing, and authorities were raiding a fried chicken restaurant owned by Rahami's father and several other buildings in the area as part of the probe.
Rahami's father, Mohammed Sr., said little to an NBC News reporter near their home in Elizabeth Monday evening, beyond that he was not aware of any plot his son was engaged in.
"I'm not sure what's going on," he said in his car. "It's very hard right now to talk."
Meanwhile, five people believed to be relatives or associates of Rahami were taken into custody Saturday during a traffic stop on the Verrazano Bridge. No one was charged; the stop came as authorities pursued a "promising lead" into surveillance video obtained from two sites in Manhattan where explosive devices were found -- one on 23rd Street and one on 27th Street.
Rahami is believed to be the man seen on surveillance video at two locations where the explosive devices were recovered.
One video shows a man putting an object in a dumpster near 23rd Street and Sixth Avenue, followed by an explosion some time later. Another video from 27th Street shows a man leave a piece of luggage on the sidewalk; that piece of luggage contained a bag with a pressure cooker inside.
The series of incidents put the entire tri-state area on edge. Calls to police about suspicious packages skyrocketed amid heightened tensions. Police at Rutgers University urged students and faculty to clear an area near a parking garage at the New Brunswick campus as they investigated a report of a suspicious package, which was deemed safe an hour or so later. In Paterson, New Jersey, officials also responded to a report of a suspicious item, and social media chatter highlighted a dozen similar emergency responses in New York.
The Chelsea explosion left many rattled in a city that had marked the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks only a week earlier and that was schedule to hold a United Nations meeting Monday to address the refugee crisis in Syria.
Witnesses described a deafening blast that shattered storefront windows and injured bystanders with shrapnel in the mostly residential neighborhood on the city's west side.
It was new NYPD Commissioner Jimmy O'Neill's first full day on the job.
Former New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, who stepped down just last week, said Monday morning this was probably the first successful terrorist attack in the city since 9/11.
After hedging on any potential terror angle over the weekend, Mayor de Blasio said at a news briefing Monday that there is "every reason to believe" the bombings in the city and in New Jersey were "an act of terror."
Authorities said, though, that there was no indication of a terror cell in the area, and officials said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the attacks.
Two senior officials confirmed to NBC News that Rahami was not on a U.S. terrorist watchlist. One of the sources, a former senior intelligence official with the NYPD, says that the NYPD intelligence bureau does have its own list of individuals called the "persons of interest" list, but that source said "the NYPD did not have this guy on the radar" before Saturday. He also has no arrest record in New York City over the last five years, a source said.
At this point, federal officials do not believe there are any other active co-conspirators.
On Sunday, Gov. Cuomo deployed nearly 1,000 additional State Police and National Guard troops across the city to guard transit stations and area airports as a precaution. He called for an additional 1,000 troops Monday.
The White House said President Obama was briefed throughout the night and early Monday on the investigation into the bombs. At a briefing Monday, the president called the people of New York and New Jersey resilient, and lauded the efforts of counterterrorism officials working on the case.
"Folks around here, ya know, they don't get scared," the president said. "They are tough, they are resilient, they go about their business every single day. That's the kind of strength that makes me proud to be an American."
Cuomo said Monday he had spoken with the president about the evolving situation, and pledged that whoever was responsible would be brought to justice.
"The disruption is going to be to their lives, not our lives," Cuomo said. "We've been through a lot worse."


text:
It's a choice that heroines in teen dramas have had to grapple with for ages: the brooding and sensitive good boy versus the unrepentant and dangerous bad one.
And nowhere on television is that eternal question more fully explored than on the CW's The Vampire Diaries, where good can be bad . . .
. . . and bad can be deliciously GOOD!
Unlike in other shows, where the "good guy" is so bland and boring as to make the heroine's choice completely obvious, writers Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec actually make a startlingly good case for both the "straight-laced" Stefan Salvatore, and his "fun loving killer" brother Damon. Nonetheless, a choice HAS to be made . . .
Threesomes are fun, but they can't last forever . . .
. . . and I've made mine. In Stefan's defense, 9 times out of ten, when this sort of question is raised, I will throw MY lot in with the Bad Boy, without a second thought. But there is something about Damon's and Elena's relationship that makes it special.
Unlike most heroines in these type of dramas, Elena is NOT drawn to Damon out of any sort of need for rebellion against authority. After all, Elena's parents are dead, and Useless Aunt Jenna certainly isn't going to be "reigning her in" any time soon. As for Damon, well, sure, his attraction to Elena may have started because (1) he wanted to stick it to his baby brother; and (2) she looked SO MUCH like his ex . . .
. . . but that changed almost immediately after he met her.
Damon and Elena understand one another in a way no one else around them can. They know eachothers' vulnerabilities and weaknesses, as well as their respective strengths. This allows them to be at ease with one another, and let their guards down in conversation.
When Damon and Elena are in the same room together, the sexual tension between them crackles and pops like a sparkler on Independence Day. And even when they aren't saying anything, the pair can carry on entire conversations through eye contact and body language.
This is why what I am about to do here is so difficult. When EVERY interaction between two individuals is electrically charged with sexuality, emotion, and meaning, how can one POSSIBLY boil down their entire complex relationship into JUST 10 scenes? Nonetheless, I figured it was worth a try. What follows are ten Damon / Elena scenes from Season 1 of The Vampire Diaries. These scenes, in my opinion, really encapsulate the pair's relationship, and comprise the best of what this couple has to offer.
[Note: For whatever reason, The CW has always been a bit finicky about what videos it allows us fans to embed in our blog posts. Therefore, most of the below videos will require you to click on an internal link, that will redirect you to YouTube, before you can watch. That being said, when I tell you the slight inconvenience you must endure to see the videos will be entirely worth it, I promise, I am not lying . . .]
10) Damon and Elena get flirty in Elena's bedroom . . .
Nothing says "manly" like a boy in a pink bed, cuddling with a Teddy Bear.
Episode: "Under Control" – 1 X 18
Setting the scene: Elena invites Damon over for an emergency meeting to discuss Stefan, who has been acting strangely ever since he ingested Elena's blood, during the prior episode . . .
Potent quotables:
DAMON: "You ask, I come. I'm easy like that."
DAMON: (Calls out to a suspicious Jeremy, who is eating cereal in the next room) "No, Elena, I will NOT got to your bedroom with you!"
Why it made the list: I love how Damon challenges Elena's growing attraction to him here, by invading her personal space. Watch the glee Damon takes in laying on Elena's bed, hugging her teddy bear, fingering her photographs, and fondling her bras and delicates. Then, at the end of the scene, Damon invades Elena's person, as he moves in close, trapping her up against the vanity table. In that moment, without saying so, Damon is forcing Elena to confront her feelings for him, and how they differ from her feelings for Stefan.
9) Damon gives Elena a rose
Episode: "Under Control" – 1 X 18
Setting the scene: Damon and Elena are at a Founder's Day pre-party, where Stefan is drinking heavily, in an attempt to dull his hunger for human blood. Elena expresses her concerns to Damon as the two sit next to one another at the bar. But Damon is more concerned about Elena's brother, Jeremy, who has been asking questions about Vicki Donovan's death.
(Background: After Damon made Vicki into a vampire, she violently turned on Elena and Jeremy. Stefan killed Vicki to save them. Then, at Elena's request, Damon buried Vicki's body, and compelled Jeremy to forget what had happened.)
Potent quotables:
DAMON: (Mimicking Jeremy) "Oh, but sheriff, someone buried her. Who would do that?" (raises hand) "I know, I know! ME!"
And later . . .
DAMON: (Upon agreeing not to use any more compulsion on Jeremy) "OK. Don't say I didn't warn you."
Why it made the list: For me, this scene really illustrates the snap, crackle, and pop of Damon's and Elena's witty banter. These two are clearly at ease with one another. Check out the pair's body language, as they angle their chairs toward eachother, and repeatedly brush limbs. I also love the old-fashioned way Damon "courts" Elena, by selecting a rose from a nearby bouquet, sniffing it to make sure it is of top quality, and delicately placing it in her hand.
So often, we forget that Damon "grew up" in the mid 1800's. This scene gently reminds us of that. When Elena receives the rose, she can't help but be flattered and intrigued by Damon's gesture, even though she knows she shouldn't be.
8 ) Things "heat up," while Damon and Elena are in the kitchen together. . .
Episode: "Children of the Damned" – 1 X 13
Setting the scene: Damon has dropped by the Gilbert home for dinner, unannounced. After the meal, Damon and Elena wash dishes together. Things quickly evolve from fun and flirty, to serious and intense, when Damon inquires as to Stefan's true motives, in agreeing to help Damon free his long lost love, Vampire Katherine, from a nearby tomb. Elena initially shrugs off the question, but Damon confronts her directly, imploring her to be honest with him. She isn't . . .
Potent quotables:
ELENA: "Don't do that"
DAMON: "Do what?"
ELENA: "That move was deliberate."
DAMON: "Yeah, I was deliberately trying to get to the sink."
And later . . .
ELENA: "I'm wearing vervain, Damon. It's not going to work."
DAMON: "I'm not trying to compel you. I just want you to answer me . . . honestly"
Why it made the list: So many of Damon's and Elena's interactions revolve around the issue of trust. Can these two individuals trust one another? Well . . . that really depends on the episode.
For me, this scene can really be broken down into two parts. The first part of the scene is lighthearted and flirtatious. Notice Damon's highly sexualized "Ohhh . . . mmmm" when he "accidentally" bumps into Elena on the way to the sink. While Elena pretends to be annoyed by the grope, the sly grin on her face says otherwise.
The second scene is more intense. Damon can sense that Stefan and Elena are lying to him, but instinctively trusts Elena, and refuses to believe she could do anything so dishonest. When Elena accuses Damon of trying to compel her to tell him the truth, he appears to be truly offended that she would think he would do that to her, after all they had been through. When Damon asks Elena if he can trust Stefan, he is revealing to her a vulnerable side of him that she hasn't seen before. She feels guilty about lying to Damon, as evidenced by the way her eyes drift downward, refusing to meet his, at 1:18. Then again, she may just be mesmerized by those gorgeous lips of his . . .
7) Damon and Elena get wet (in the rain)
Episode: "Let the Right One in" – 1 X 17
Setting the scene: Stefan is being held captive by the Hidey Hole Vamps (a random plotline developed, and promptly discarded mid season). The Hidey Hole Vamps came from the tomb Damon opened during "Fool Me Once" (Episode 14). You know, the one that was SUPPOSED to contain Vampire Katherine, but didn't? So, understandably, Damon feels a bit responsible for his brother's kidnapping. Elena of course, is beside herself, and wants part in the rescue. But Damon fears that if Elena comes along, the responsibility will become too much for him. And he will lose both Stefan AND Elena, in the process.
Potent quotables:
DAMON: (Lovingly cupping Elena's wet face in his hands). "Elena, I know. But I don't know how to get him out."
Why it made the list: This short scene is intensely emotional for both Damon and Elena. Both characters have completely let their guard down. Elena, who is intensely strong willed, and usually highly adept at keeping her emotions in check, is near tears, at the thought of Stefan being killed by the Hidey Hole Vamps. She feels helpless, and has stored all her hopes in Damon.
As I mentioned earlier, Damon feels responsible for this whole situation. He desperately wants to protect Elena and Stefan, and fears he is about to let them both down. Damon, who has always been supernaturally strong, and can usually mask his feelings with bravado and snark, is completely stripped down and vulnerable here. And he hates it . . .
6) Damon watches Elena sleep
Episode: "Friday Night Bites" – 1 X 3
Setting the scene: Ummm, I think you all are smart enough to figure this one out on your own . . .
Potent quotables:
STEFAN: (in voiceover) "I felt there was hope. That somewhere deep inside, something inside Damon was human, normal."
Why it made the list: This scene, from the third Episode of The Vampire Diaries, is important, because it is truly the first time we see anything resembling humanity in Damon. Up until this point, all we have seen him do is kill and manipulate people. Every word spoken by him had an ulterior motive. Every gesture was made in malice. Here, we know, Damon's actions are completely uncalculated, BECAUSE no one else can see them. Not even Elena, herself, who is unconscious the entire time.
It's a short scene, only a few moments long, and (aside from the voiceover) dialogue free. But those few seconds speak volumes about Damon's complexity as a character, and his early feelings for Elena — feelings that would only grow stronger, as the series progressed . . .
5) Elena falls victim to Damon's "Eye Thing"
Episode: "Founder's Day" 1 X 22 (The Season 1 Finale)
Setting the scene: Elena has just changed out of her 1800's attire, following the Founder's Day parade, and a ride on the Miss Mystic Falls float. Ever since Elena's biological mother told Elena that Damon "loved her" ("Isobel" – Episode 1 X 21) things have gotten a bit awkward among our favorite Vampire Threesome. And Elena desperately wants to clear the air.
Speaking of clearing the air, things of become unusually chilly between Elena and her little brother, Jeremy, following Jeremy's discovery that Elena has been keeping information aboutVicki's vampiric demise from him. She also played a major part in having Jeremy's memory of the event wiped from his consciousness.
Potent quotables:
DAMON: "I like you better like this. The period look, it didn't suit you."
ELENA: "Is that an insult?"
DAMON: "Actually, Elena. It is a compliment, of the highest order."
And later . . .
ELENA: "So, I think you should stop with the flirty little comments, and that . . . Eye Thing . . . that you do."
DAMON: "What eye thing?" (Does Eye Thing . . .)
ELENA: "Don't make me regret being your friend."
Why it made the list: In this scene, we can truly see how far Damon has come, from seeing Elena as a conquest, and a doppelganger of his long lost love, to being a sexy, intelligent, and caring woman, in her own right. The fact that Damon prefers Elena wearing modern clothes, to Elena wearing Katherine's clothes, speaks volumes about how much his feelings for her have grown. Further evidence of that is found later in the scene, when Elena tells Damon not to make her regret being his friend.
Initially, of course, Damon's face, which has been playful and seductive, since the opening of the scene, falls. Here's a sexy popular playboy, one who has NEVER had any trouble with the ladies. And he has just been placed in the Friend Zone.
But what makes things really interesting, is what Damon does next. We watch as he takes a beat to ponder his relationship with Elena. Instantly, he comes to the conclusion that a friendship with Elena would be far better than no relationship at all. He nods sadly, but with a deep understanding and respect for Elena's strength, as she goes to talk to Jeremy. And don't even get me started on that "Eye Thing."
4) Damon tries to compel Elena to kiss him / gets slapped in the face
Episode: "Friday Night Bites: – 1 x 3
Setting the scene: Damon has basically been compelling Elena's friend Caroline to be his blood whore throughout the entire episode. But Caroline has started to bore and annoy Damon, so he sets his sights on greener pastures, Elena's. Never one to go about things the "hard way," Damon corners Elena, alone in the parking lot, during a high school football game. He plans to compel her to be his love slave, just as he has done with Caroline. Little does he know that Stefan has armed her with a vervain necklace, rendering her impervious to all mind control . . .
Potent quotables:
DAMON: "You're right, I do have other intentions. But so do you . . . I see them. You want me . . . I get to you. You find yourself drawn to me. You think about me, even when you don't want to think about me. I bet you've even dreamed about me . . . (Damon's eyes glow green, with the power of compulsion behind them). And right now, you want to kiss me."
And later . . .
ELENA: "I am NOT Katherine!"
Why it made the list: The acting in this scene between Ian Somerhalder (Damon) and Nina Dobrev (Elena) was positively brilliant. For starters, the sexual tension between these two is undeniable — even though, at this point, Elena is trying desperately to deny it, and Damon is trying to force it, for his own personal gain. When Damon first makes his speech about how "hot for him" Elena is, we, as viewers, know that a lot of what he is saying true. Elena DOES feel drawn to Damon. She DOES think about him, even when she doesn't want to. And she HAS dreamed about him.
But what's really interesting is to watch the scene from Elena's perspective. That dreamy, faraway, look in her eye. The way she keeps leaning closer and closer to him, as he speaks, unable to break eye contact. The first time I saw the scene, I wondered, for a moment, whether Damon had SUCCEEDED in compelling Elena to want to kiss him, in spite of the fact that she was wearing vervain.
Then I wondered whether Elena knew what Damon was trying to do. Based on that theory, she was just pretending to fall under his spell, only to catch him off guard, when she went in for the slap later. But here's the thing: at this point, Elena doesn't KNOW that Stefan and Damon are vampires. (Notice how Elena didn't catch on to Damon's ironic intimation, that he was MUCH older than Caroline.) So, she has no idea, they are capable of mind control. So, Elena's seemingly lovestruck initial reaction to Damon's words? It was REAL!
3) Damon and Elena do the "Mating Dance"
Episode: "Miss Mystic Falls" – 1 X 19
Setting the Scene: Elena has unwillingly agreed to take part in the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. Stefan has agreed to be her escort. But on the day of the pageant, Stefan mysteriously disappears. (Turns out he's gone all blood lusty, and has set out to eliminate Elena's competition, by eating it.) Unbeknownst to Elena, Damon has stepped in to fill Stefan's shoes, and, subsequently, save the day.
Potent quotables:
USELESS AUNT JENNA: "What is she doing with Damon?"
ALARIC: "I have NO IDEA!"
Why it made the list: Like the earlier referenced scene, where Damon watched Elena sleep, this scene is nearly silent, save for the music to which the contestants dance. I love the first part of the scene, where Elena has her "Oh so Teen Cliched" Staircase Moment, and we see Damon's eyes light up with love and sexual desire, as he sees her in that blue dress for the first time.
You can see the changes that take place in the couple, as the dance progresses. When it first starts, the two are wary of one another, stiff and business like. But then the music starts to take over. Smiles form on their faces. They are actually enjoying THIS!
Damon's a surprisingly good dancer (much better than his younger brother). The first part of the dance, during which the partners can't touch, is a mating ritual in every sense of the world. Damon and Elena circle one another like predator and prey.
But things really heat up when they are finally able to grab hold of one another. He grasps her body firmly, in a manner that is strong and protective. They both get a bit lost in the moment, wanting to move in closer, but unable to do so, based on the regimented nature of the dance. When the music stops, and the pair are forced to break from one another, they both seem a bit jarred by the intense emotions this experience has brought to the surface.
2) Damon kisses Elena Katherine
Episode: "Founder's Day" – 1 x 22 (Season 1 Finale)
Setting the scene: At the Founder's Day Carnival, Bonnie, at Elena's behest, used her magic to rescue Damon from death by fire. Filled with gratitude, Damon goes to Elena's house to set things right with Elena's brother, Jeremy, by explaining to him, what truly happened with Vampire Vicki. As he leaves the house, he runs into who he THINKS is Elena. (It isn't . . .)
Potent quotables:
DAMON: "I'm not a hero, Elena. I don't do good. It's not in my nature."
KATHERINE (as Elena): "Maybe it is."
And later . . .
DAMON: "She did it for you [saved me], which means that, somewhere along the way, you decided that I was worth saving. And I wanted to thank you for that."
KATHERINE (as Elena): "You're welcome."
Why it made the list: At first blush, it may seem like sacrilege to put a scene that didn't even INCLUDE Elena, in a list of the "Top Ten Best Damon and Elena" scenes. But the fact remains, that, from Damon's perspective, this WAS Elena, to whom he had bared his soul, and with whom, after an entire season of trying and failing, he had finally shared a kiss. All this time, us fans always assumed that Damon did "bad things" simply because he wanted to. Now, we realize, that he did them, because he thought himself to be completely incapable of goodness. He is confused by, and uncomfortable with, his growing humanity, but at the same time, excited by it.
And Damon is excited by Elena, who for the first time, seems truly open to his advances. He kisses her tentatively at first. And then, when she doesn't pull away, really lets himself get carried away in the moment. His hands cup her face, his fingers run through her hair. All thoughts of this awful day, escape from his head, and all that is left is love and passion.
In hindsight, we can see that "Elena" was different — that she seemed colder and more aloof, then she had in previous scenes. A few cocked eyebrows and vague responses here and there, betray Katherine's lack of knowledge, as to what has been going on in Mystic Falls this season. She notices the change in Damon immediately, and is bit intrigued by it, especially since, all this time, she thought SHE was the only woman who held any power over him. And when they finally kiss, Katherine shows none of the extreme guilt the ever-faithful Elena would experience had she just made the decision to cheat on her vampire boyfriend.
And it's this complexity, that makes the scene so compulsively watchable . . .
And finally . . . (drumroll please)
1) Damon returns Elena's necklace
Episode: "Fool Me Once" – 1X14
Setting the scene: Having recently learned that Stefan and Elena have stolen the spellbook that he needs to free his love Katherine from the tomb, Damon feels hurt and betrayed. After all, the couple had promised to help him get Katherine back, and Elena had given Damon his word that their intentions were genuine. Later, Elena comes to visit an uncharacteristically broody Damon at his home, waving the metaphorical "white flag" and carrying the proverbial "olive branch."
Potent quotables:
ELENA: "I was protecting the people I love, Damon. But so were you, in your own twisted way. As hard as it is to figure, we are all on the same side, after the same thing."
DAMON: "Fool me once, shame on you."
And later . . .
ELENA: "You and I, we have something. An understanding. And I know my betrayal hurt you — different than it was with Stefan. But I promise you, I will help you get Katherine back.
And still later . . .
DAMON: I didn't compel you in Atlanta, because we were having fun. I wanted it to be real. I'm trusting you. Don't make me regret it.
Why it TOPPED the list: This scene contains everything we LOVE about Damon and Elena, all rolled up into one beautiful and sexy package: the witty banter, the silent looks filled with meaning, the complex innuendos, the invasion of personal space, gentle caresses, and an admission, on both Damon's and Elena's parts, that their relationship is special. It travels far beyond the expected boundaries of friendship. The episode, begins with a betrayal of trust, and concludes with the ultimate exchange of trust. Elena, who has always secretly worried that Damon has been trying to compel her (how else could she explain her strong romantic feelings for him), really puts herself out there for Damon.
By taking off the vervain necklace that protects her from mind control, Elena is exposing herself completely to Damon. She might as well be standing naked before him. And Damon, who wonders whether he will ever be able to trust Elena again, has the perfect opportunity to exert ultimate power over her. And just like in Atlanta, he refuses to take that opportunity. He will not take advantage of Elena in that way. When Damon closes in on Elena, and reaches behind her to take the necklace, she is frightened and a bit aroused. All of this is evident, when, to her surprise, Damon gently clasps the necklace back around her neck.
A gentle brush of Damon's fingers across Elena's throat is enough to send her eyes rolling back in her head in pure ecstacy. But this scene isn't just about sex or power. It is about love, friendship, understanding, and a willingness to let someone see you at your most vulnerable. And THAT is why this scene made Number One on my list . . .
Season 2 of the Vampire Diaries premieres Thursday, September 9th at 8 p.m. on The CW, and we all know what THAT means — more juicy Damon and Elena scenes to gush over and explore. I for one, CAN'T WAIT! Can YOU?
Neither can HE! 😉


text:
Dear Little Man,
Thanksgiving was last week, but for the past three thanksgivings I enjoy my turkey, stuffing and apple pie with a little bit of reminiscence on Thanksgiving 2009.
I was in Alabama that year visiting my sister, your Aunt B. We always went to her place for Thanksgiving back then. She has two girls — my nieces — and I would hang out with them and relax as much as I could. We'd all spend the holidays sleeping in, reading books, watching movies, and occasionally walking to the local coffee shop for a caffeine jolt. Mostly, it was just enjoyable because we got to visit family and your Aunt B and her girls are as close as I get to family biologically.
On Thanksgiving Thursday 2009, we had finished our meal around mid-afternoon. It was delicious as always and we had spent the rest of the evening recovering from the food binge. However, it was nighttime now and we were all settling in to watch the Polar Express (one of my FAVORITE Christmas movies. I will make you watch it someday). I had worked up enough of an appetite to go in for seconds before we all settled in to turn on the TV. I got some leftovers out of the fridge, scooped them on to a plate and put them in the microwave to heat up.
I distinctly remember pulling myself up to sit on the counter as I waited for my food. As it heated, the smell of our Thanksgiving dinner filled the kitchen and inevitably reached my nose.
I thought I was going to vomit right there on the kitchen floor.
I pushed off the counter and headed for the bathroom that was just around the corner from the kitchen, if not to throw up then to get away from the smell at least. My first thought was that apparently, I wasn't as hungry as I thought. I must have still been full from dinner because mere hours earlier, that same smell had smelt heavenly.
But the nausea didn't let up. For the rest of the trip, the smell of food grossed me out. I think I ate a little more turkey, but I didn't heat anything up in the microwave anymore. I distinctly remember talking to Grandma M about it. I remember telling her how it was so weird how all of a sudden, I just couldn't stand the smell of food.
A little less than a month later after a particularly life changing doctor's appointment, everything made sense. After I found out about you (and recovered from the shock of it) I thought back to those microwaved leftovers and practically felt the light bulb clicking on in my head. It was one of those "ah-ha" moments that you never really forget.
And I haven't forgotten it. One year later, I was spending Thanksgiving 2010 with my four-month-old and The B's at their house in NC (and my definition of "visiting family" had extended quite a bit!). Last year, The B's came down the weekend after Thanksgiving and we went to see gingerbread houses together. And this Thanksgiving, of course, you spent with me, my family and The B's at The Boyfriend's (totally gorgeous) farm house. It seems to be quite the holiday for you and me :)
And even though I think about you every single day, I always think about that "first" Thanksgiving with you when the end of November rolls around.
Especially when I'm getting leftovers and I realize that this time, I can actually eat them.


text:
Newly leaked documentation accompanying the developer's kit for the successor to the Xbox 360, codenamed Durango, is rekindling rumors that the new system will require disc-based games to be installed to a hard drive before being played.
The "Hardware Overview" included in the Xbox Developer Kit help files was obtained and published by VGLeaks, and it matches up closely with rumors leaked last month by SuperDaE, a shadowy source who once tried to sell a Durango development kit on eBay. The document discusses how Durango games will be distributed via Blu-ray disc (an upgrade from the Xbox 360's DVDs) but says those games won't be playable directly from that optical media. Instead "all games will be installed on the hard drive... disc media will be used for distribution, but during gameplay, games will not use content from the optical disc."
This suggests that Microsoft would use some sort of online-activation code or other method to confirm that a single Blu-ray disc is not being installed to multiple systems (and thus place limits on the standard secondhand resale of used game discs). While the help file doesn't address this directly, it does mention that the system will "always maintain a network connection so the console software and games are always current." The document also suggests players will be able to start a game while installation to the hard drive is ongoing, a setup similar to the one announced recently for the PlayStation 4.
This kind of one-install-per-disc limit has been rumored in the past, but this is the most direct acknowledgement of mandatory installs from what is apparently a Microsoft-produced document. The Verge was able to get independent verification that the XDK file was genuine, but it also says that the information is from last year. The file itself warns that "this document is preliminary and subject to change," so there is plenty of time for Microsoft to alter course on this issue, especially after Sony's decision to back off its own used-game-blocking plans.
Elsewhere, the leaked overview discusses a new Kinect sensor that will be bundled with the Durango and which will be "required for the system to operate." The new 3D sensor will support a higher resolution and provide a depth map that is "less noisy" than the original Kinect, according to the document, and allow for a wider field of view that doesn't require a tilt motor in the hardware itself.
Other hardware tidbits discussed in the document include a "familiar x64 architecture and tools," built-in "move engines" that can handle common tasks like compression and decompression, and dedicated audio hardware that produces 7.1 digital sound output.


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BEIJING (AP) – Washington and Beijing agreed Friday that any North Korean nuclear test will lead to North Korea's further isolation and set back efforts to restart regional talks, a U.S. envoy said.
After talks in Beijing with senior Chinese officials, U.S. envoy for North Korea Glyn Davies said that both sides are opposed to North Korea's conducting a nuclear test and said ridding North Korea of nuclear weapons remained a condition for bringing stability to the region.
'We reached strong consensus that a nuclear test will be troubling and will set back efforts to de-nuclearize the Korean Peninsula. De-nuclearization is a necessary precondition to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula,' Davies told reporters.
He said that North Korea has a choice to test and further isolate itself or return to the regional talks that involve South Korea, Japan and Russia as well as the U.S. and China.
'We judge North Korea by its actions, not its words,' he said.
Davies' Beijing parlay comes amid visits to South Korea and Japan to discuss what to do about North Korea. His tour also comes as tensions are rising and China is showing signs it wants to rein in its North Korean ally. Beijing fell into rare agreement with Washington this week, allowing the U.N. to tighten sanctions against North Korea as punishment for last month's rocket launch.
In response, the North Korean Defense Commission, which commands the military, said it is prepared to conduct a nuclear test and made clear its missiles are capable of reaching the United States.
Another nuclear test by North Korea would pose a challenge to Beijing's newly installed Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, unsteadying South Korea, Japan and the United States. Relations between the three and Beijing are strained, and their trade and investment help to keep the buoyant Chinese economy growing.
Asked about Davies' visit, China's Foreign Ministry said that given the current tensions, all sides need to keep calm. 'The current situation of the peninsula is complicated and sensitive. We hope the relevant sides can stay calm, strengthen dialogue, avoid any acts that will escalate tension and jointly maintain peace and stability of the peninsula,' ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a routine daily media briefing.
China provides all of North Korea's fuel and a good deal of its food and accounts for an increasing share of trade and investment. But in more than a decade of recurring missile launches, two nuclear tests and other provocations by North Korea, China has been reluctant to use its economic leverage, fearing it could destabilize its neighbor.


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Online Resources
Colorado Department of Agriculture: colorado.gov/ag/animals and click on "Livestock Health"
Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment: colorado.gov/cdphe/rabies
US Department of Agriculture: http://aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/oral_rabies/
The Merck Veterinary Manual: http://merckmanuals.com/vet/nervous_system/rabies/overview_of_rabies.html?qt=rabies&alt=sh
Two Weld County horses have tested positive for rabies; the horses were on separate premises and their cases are unrelated. So far this year, three horses have been euthanized after showing severe clinical signs and subsequently tested positive for rabies. The first case was confirmed in Logan County in April. The Colorado Department of Agriculture is encouraging livestock and pet owners to discuss the need for rabies vaccination with their local veterinarian and to monitor their animals for behavioral changes.
"Animal owners need to primarily look for any dramatic nervous system changes such as muscle tremors, weakness, lameness, stumbling, or paralysis. Those are some of the hallmark signs that the animal may be suffering from rabies," said State Veterinarian, Dr. Keith Roehr.
Additional examples of unusual behavior include: wild mammals that show no fear of people and pets; nocturnal animals that are active in daylight; and bats found on the ground, in swimming pools or that have been caught by a pet. Rabid carnivores, such as skunks, foxes, bobcats, coyotes, dogs and cats, may become aggressive and may attempt to bite people, pets and livestock.
Livestock and pet owners are also encouraged to discuss vaccination with their veterinarian for animals that could be exposed to wildlife that carry and could transmit the rabies virus to dogs, cats, horses, small ruminants, llamas, alpacas, and petting zoo animals.
Rabies is a viral disease infecting the brain and central nervous system. The clinical appearance of rabies typically falls into two types: "aggressive" and "dumb." Aggressive rabies symptoms include combativeness and violent behavior and sensitivity to touch and other kinds of stimulation. There is also a "dumb" form of the disease in which the animal is lethargic, weak in one or more limbs, and unable to raise its head or make sounds because its throat and neck muscles are paralyzed.
Rabies can be passed from animals to humans. Rabies is spread primarily through the bite of rabid animals, resulting in the spread of the disease through their infected saliva. Rabies also can be spread when saliva from an infected animal gets into open wounds, cuts or enters through membranes of the eyes, nose or mouth. No cure exists for rabies once symptoms appear although there is a vaccine to prevent the infection.


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Wait a second, I got it! The four-door version of the 2015 Mini Cooper is something for people who have children, but want to pretend they don't. Poor kids.
The fattened Cooper will debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March, but a few pictures of it were leaked on a Dutch Mini forum, which seem to got snapped around the VDL Nedcar factory. As you can see, since it's based on the platform of the BMW 1 Series, the four-door Cooper will be roughly the same size as the 3-door BMW 2 Series Active Tourer. Which we have about as much love for...
The extended wheelbase means more legroom in this five-seater than what the larger Countryman has to offer, but the rest is pretty much standard 2015 Cooper stuff. The base model will have a 1.5 three-cylinder turbo engine, and while some of you might like cars of this kind, the four-door Cooper most likely won't make it to the States, since it's fate depends on the 1-Series.
Than again, I might be wrong. Keep your fingers crossed, and it might just appear there next spring.
Well, what could I say? It looks like the British have won. Sort of.
Photo credit: Newminiclub.nl via VDL Nedcar


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Open Offices are found everywhere and are hated by those stuck working in them and for very good reasons.
The Royal Society published a Research Article by Ethan S. Bernstein and Stephen Turban about research studies on Open Offices. The research found "Contrary to common belief, the volume of face-to-face interaction decreased significantly (approx. 70%) in both cases, with an associated increase in electronic interaction. In short, rather than prompting increasingly vibrant face-to-face collaboration, open architecture appeared to trigger a natural human response to socially withdraw from officemates and interact instead over email and IM (Instand Messaging)."
Click on this link to visit the Royal Society to read the Research Article titled "The impact of the 'open' workspace on human collaboration" written by Ethan S. Bernstein and Stephen Turban.
Open Offices are found everywhere and are hated by those stuck working in them and for good reasons. Open Offices are way overrated.
Open Offices can get extremely loud. If you are doing phone support in an open office it gets distracting because you get to hear all the other conversations going on around you. When a shift end arrives, the noise levels rise dramatically.
Because people are crammed side by side in an open office, colds and flu are readily spread.
Video is courtesy of the The Feed YouTube channel
Click on this link to visit the Fast Company website to read their article titled: "Everyone hates open offices. Here's why they still exist".
Video is courtesy of the Vox YouTube channel


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In Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy wrote "Spring is the time of plans and projects." Plans and projects keep children out of trouble–or at least involve them in safer, more manageable trouble.
What could be better than digging in the dirt and playing in a spray of water on a hot summer day? What more creative than an adventure in the wilds of your back yard? Add in sunshine, fresh air and exercise, and planting a garden becomes the springtime activity of choice.
One of the best ways to coax kids into eating what is good for them is to involve them in its preparation. They are far more likely to eat the lunch they prepared with their own two hands than one you slaved over. If they help you peel and cut up carrots for dinner they will try them, and brag about their contribution while chewing.
Extend this a bit and you reap the miracle of children eating their vegetables because they grew them in their very own garden. They planted the seeds, watched over them, watered them, and cared for them. They will proudly eat the fruits of their labor and proclaim their tastiness.
Children need a variety of vitamins and minerals in order to function and grow, and the best place to get those nutrients, along with carbs for energy and fiber for bowel function, is in fruits and vegetables. Some, like beans and peas, are even excellent sources of protein. Many of them can be grown in small plots or in containers on a porch.
Carrots can be grown easily from seeds bought in your local garden store, and are very high in Vitamin A. Vitamin A helps with eyesight–especially night vision–which is why your mom always told you to eat lots. Watermelon, peas, peppers, beans, and tomatoes also have bunches of Vitamin A.
Tomatoes, peppers, and beans are high in B complex vitamins. B vitamins like riboflavin, niacin, thiamine and folic acid are tiny machines that allow your body to function. They help with everything from making blood cells, to generating energy from carbohydrates, to scavenging free radicles and protecting you from cancer.
Strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries are high in Vitamin C, which is necessary for collagen synthesis and wound healing and is an effective antioxidant. Without Vitamin C, people get scurvy.
Minerals are also easily come by on the plant side of your plate.
Calcium to build strong bones can be found in beans.
Potatoes, beans, corn, and mushrooms are high in iron, which helps carry oxygen around your body.
Potassium, necessary for muscle contraction and to maintain your heart rhythm, is present in potatoes, berries, peas, beans, and peppers.
Essential minerals like magnesium, phosphorus, copper, and zinc are all available in fruits and vegetables.
I've never seen a child turn down a pea fresh from the pod, or a strawberry plucked from the plant. Find a plant catalogue, pour through it with your child, pay attention to what will grow in your area and how much room the plants need to grow, and choose. Consider what you have room for: will these be container plants on the porch, or can you spare a patch of yard? Do you have space for a tree, or are we looking at a mushroom kit in the closet?
Some of my favorite kid friendly plants are peas, beans, peppers, tomatoes, and the ever popular carrot. Melons, pumpkins, and cucumbers are great if you have a little more room. Berries come in all sizes, from tiny strawberry plants fit for containers with pockets down the side, to raspberry vines best grown on trellises, to fat thorny blackberry bushes. Tires can be stacked up and filled with dirt in a tower as potato plants grow, then harvested by taking off one tire at a time.
Growing a few plants allows you to spend time with your children, get some exercise, and build some vitamin D of your own from all that sunshine. Have a conversation about science and nutrition while you are digging in the dirt. Money can be earned and financial lessons taught by naming the watering and weeding of those plants "chores." Other lessons can be taught without any conversation: responsibility for life, the fruitfulness of hard work, and pride of accomplishment. Don't miss this opportunity for spring plans and projects!


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I'm surprised to see how much glitter is in my life. When out shopping, I find myself gravitating toward it. I want to share some with you.
This is my daughter's ornament for 2019.
You can shake it like a glitter globe.
Yesterday, I met a friend for coffee and conversation. It's funny how she messaged me wanting to meet, but as our time was coming to a close, I felt like I'd completed a therapy session.
We meet at least once a month, sometimes more.
I'm grateful how she loves me with no judgement.
After coffee, we stepped into our favorite shop.
Their after Christmas sale was still going on, and all of their shoes were half price. My friend tried on boots, but what did I gravitate toward?
Yes lovely. I came home with glitter shoes.
Life is a beautiful thing, but I believe we have to gravitate toward the sparkle of it.
This sign is hanging in my den.
When trying to decide where to hang it, I'd sit it down to hammer the nail into the wall. It fell over once and left a trail of glitter on the table. I'm pretty sure it's still there because why would I clean it up?
A trail of glitter is happiness in my life.
May you always gravitate toward glitter.


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My Facebook just pretty much exploded with photographs of Cecil, the GPS-collared male lion who was baited out of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe this month, shot, skinned, and beheaded so that a dentist from Minnesota could have something pretty on his wall.
Okay, it was terrible, it was stupid, let's all fantasize about hideous fates befalling the hunter and the horrible guides who helped him do it. Now, look past that for just a moment. Approximately 655 lion trophies, perhaps more — each one shot, skinned, and beheaded — are exported from Africa every year. The same tragedy which befell Cecil happens, on average, nearly twice a day. Why does only Cecil's death deserve global attention?
I'm not ripping on anyone supporting justice for Cecil; it's an honest question, and I feel that answering it could bring us closer to finding out what it is that makes people commit offenses like this one. Cecil appears to "matter more" than the other lion likely killed elsewhere for the same reason the same day, or the fourteen other lions killed that week, because he has a name. A beautiful adult male trackable via his collar and identifiable by a distinctive, dark mane, he was photographed often and was familiar with, and to, visitors. No doubt nameless when young, over time, with familiarity, he became Real, like the Velveteen Rabbit. The mechanism by which this happens — by which humans bond with an animal sufficiently to imbue it with a perceived personality*, most visibly manifested in a name — is the same mechanism which creates vegetarians, pet owners and animal shelter workers. I believe that failure of this mechanism is where we get people like the trophy-hunting dentist, who said:
"I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and [was] part of a study until the end of the hunt."
He was perfectly happy to "[pursue] an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally" until he found out the lion had a name. Likewise, most of us were much less interested in him and his hobby until we found out the lion had a name. Compare the reaction of people to the 19-year-old who posted photos of herself with unnamed trophy animals (including a lion) in 2014 to the backlash coming at Cecil's killer today. The 19-year-old blipped across my screen. The dentist has held top billing for several days.
Serial killers do not relate to their victims as other people; they must "depersonalize" them before committing atrocities upon them. Scientists do not name their laboratory animals. (Part of why Jane Goodall's research was considered so groundbreaking is that she did name the chimps, which was considered scandalously unprofessional at the time.) Likewise, while dairy cows (who can live with their humans for years) sometimes have names; beef cattle (eaten after 18 months) generally do not. Factory farmed animals do not have names. (These animals all get identification numbers, which is a practice we've seen elsewhere as well, and for remarkably similar reasons.) And hunters rarely name their targets (with some notable exceptions, such as "Old Three Toes").
Looking at it the other way, when did you last see a pet owner whose dogs were named 1, 2, and 3? Animal shelters name their animals, even if the animals also receive ID numbers. Show and race horses are named. Zoo animals (at least the "charismatic megafauna") are named. Animals on television are named. And individual wild animals which are somehow distinctive, like Cecil, can become named. This makes them Real.
We do not hold the same love for "tigers" that we do for Tigger; we do not hold the same love for "wolves" that we do for the Sawtooth Pack; we do not hold the same love for "lions" that we do for Cecil. German Shepherds and collies were generic until we met Rin Tin Tin and Lassie.
From Names and Personal Identity, by H. Edward Deluzain:
"[The] bestowal of name and identity is a kind of symbolic contract between the society and the individual. …by giving a name the society confirms the individual's existence and acknowledges its responsibilities toward that person."
There is something about becoming Real, being given a name, which changes the animal's perceived nature, often causing humans to treat it as a member of our extended family, rather than as a fashion statement, furniture, or food. I am hesitant to call the process making the animal a person, but that is a very close description. I am very interested in this mechanism, because it lies at the heart of what keeps us from becoming like that Minnesota dentist.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
*Please note that all animals have a personality, whether humans can perceive it or not.


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About Roanoke
Roanoke ( ROH-ə-nohk) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia.Roanoke is the largest municipality in Southwest Virginia, and is the principal municipality of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which had a 2020 population of 315,251. It is composed of the independent cities of Roanoke and Salem, and Botetourt, Craig, Franklin, and Roanoke counties. Bisected by the Roanoke River, Roanoke is the commercial and cultural hub of much of Southwest Virginia and portions of Southern West Virginia.
Neighborhoods in Roanoke, Virginia
Algoma Park, Belmont, Belmont-Fallon, Boxley Hill, Bratton Lawn, Cherry Hill Park, Dale Ave Community Mural, Downtown Roanoke, Edgehill Estates, Fairland, Fallon, Fishburn Park, Franklin-Colonial, Gainsboro, Garden City
Things to do in Roanoke, Virginia
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Sullivan County's Mark Ruffalo leads counter-event to Trump State of the Union
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Celebrities and activists have taken part in an evening of speeches and music in Manhattan billed as "The People's State of the Union."
Monday's event was planned in response to President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address on Tuesday.
It was held at The Town Hall, a historic venue founded as a meeting spot for suffragists more than 90 years ago.
Speakers included Mark Ruffalo, Kathy Najimy, John Leguizamo and Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Andra Day and Common sang their Grammy- and Oscar-nominated song "Stand Up for Something" from the film "Marshall."
Hosts of the event included unions, organizers of the Women's March and Planned Parenthood.


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Today's Workout: Hover move will challenge you
We've reached month two of our 2018 fitness journey. We are ready for anything, right? It's time to raise the bar and give ourselves a challenge.
Today's move is a reverse hover with alternating leg lifts. All you need is a flat surface and a yoga mat. This move is a total body toner, with a focus on the core and rear end.
Begin by sitting on your mat, with your legs extended straight in front of you. Prop your upper body onto your forearms by leaning back and pressing them into the mat. Hold your chest tall, engage your core and rotate your hips upward.
Proceed to lift your hips up off the floor, shifting your weight into your heels and your forearms. This may be a stopping point for some, as this is a difficult move. If you have more in you, begin alternating leg lifts.
Keeping your core strong,and your rear end lifted slightly off the mat, proceed to lift one leg off of the floor. Lifting and lowering. Shoot for four to five lifts on each leg while keeping your hips off the floor.
Take a short rest and position yourself for round two. Give yourself about three sets of eight to 10 lifts.
Variations of this move can be performed with your rear on the floor, emphasizing the abdominals and leg lifts.
This move is great on its own, and even better when you want to show off with a workout partner. Take it slow in the beginning, and work your way up to the full exercise.
— Marlo Alleva, an instructor at Gold's Gym and group fitness coordinator at Fontaine-Gills YMCA in Lakeland, Florida, can be reached at email@example.com.


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Alex Pietrowski, Staff Writer Waking Times To date, there are at least 53 known international scientific studies concluding that fluoride consumption is harmful to the development of intelligence in children, it impairs their learning and memory capacity. Children are commonly exposed to fluoride from municipal water supplies, dental treatments, environmental pollution, and in-utero. Municipal water fluoridation….Read more
via Read the Shocking Conclusions from 28 Medical Studies Linking Fluoride to Lower IQ in Children — Waking Times


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(Crushed marble sculptural installation 'Flying Dakini' 2014, by artist Agnes Arellano)
The other day I got sucked into a Facebook comment thread which got me thinking about the connection between translation strategies and the ways that practitioners think about and actually practice religious texts. To give you a little context, the thread was about spirit conjuration procedures and offering practices as found in Western magical traditions, and as the discussion unfolded I found myself reflecting upon the way that certain key technical terms often found in Tibetan sadhanas or tantric ritual manuals have been translated into English.
Translation is a double-edged process – to translate a thing involves both drawing it near and holding it apart. Depending on the circumstances, understanding can arise as much from domesticating a term in a target language as it can from choosing to hold onto a word's strangeness through a literal translation. What is lost and gained, for example, when we translate the Sanskrit Dakini/Tibetan Khandroma – a tantric goddess – with a loaded Judeo-Christian-Islamic term like angel, and what is obscured, what is illuminated when we opt for say, a literal translation of the Tibetan term (khandroma, mkha' 'gro ma) 'female sky-goer'? Continue reading


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Children's and Young Adult Literature Database
The Children's and Young Adult Literature Database contains children's and young adult trade books in a variety of genres found in the Centennial Library's Curriculum Materials Center. To begin your search, select genre(s), select reading level(s), and enter a publication date if desired. The genre column is an "AND" search, so it is generally better to select only one genre at a time. The reading level column is an "OR" search, so selecting multiple reading levels may prove helpful. Hint: Some books may be listed only by genre or only by reading level. Try a broader search if you are unable to find appropriate resources. Additional bibliographies are available at the CMC website.