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Almost two years ago now I wrote a blog post about Christopher Maloney, Naturopathic Doctor / Not a Doctor / Quack Extroadinairre who had used non-legal threats towards WordPress to shut down a science bloggers blog after the person dared write a post which rightfully called Christopher Maloney a quack.
At the time, Christopher Maloney was throwing out threats of lawsuits left right and centre, and twisting anything and everything he possibly could to make it falsely look like he was being persecuted. Not long after this, all news on him died off and this was the last the blogosphere heard. This wasn't the end of his actions though.
It has now become apparent that Christopher Maloney, Quack, N.D. had utilised his wife's legal services to sue the original blogger. A S.L.A.P.P. suit was filed against Mr Hawkins. Continue reading

subset: commoncrawl


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Weekend Birding: Fledgling Robin
Last week I posted photos of robin nestlings, baby birds still in the nest and being cared for by their parents. Once they have grown enough feathers to fly out of they nest they are called fledglings. At this point their wing and tail feathers are still short and they do not have their adult plumage yet but they are no longer fully dependent on their parents and are capable of some flight.
This little bird probably left the nest earlier in the day. He still had all his downy feathers, short wings and no tail. My husband had called to me and said that there was a little bird stuck to the fence peeping. Sure enough there he was, peep, peep, peep, looking terrified.
I took a few shots, told him his parents would be right back, and then hid in the garage to observe. I knew the parents had to be nearby but they will not return if they think there is danger. The little guy kept peeping and eventually an adult bird showed up with a worm. I was too far away to get a decent shot of the parents. After he ate it was time for a nap.
He stayed on the fence until dusk and probably would have stayed there all night but I relocated him to the shrubs for safety.
This is a dangerous time for baby birds. They don't know enough to fear predators and sitting on the fence all night would have made him a meal for some night time animal. The next morning I heard him peeping again calling his parents who resumed teaching him to be a bird.
I link up my bird photos on Saturday Snapshot hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.
30 CommentsLeave a Comment
Cathy / Jun 4 2011 1:05 am
You got some wonderful shots, Leslie!
Next Saturday I should have a post up about one of my birds here in Arizona– Wilbur the Verdin. Wilbur will test anyone's skill as a photographer and laugh all the way back to his nest. He's been teasing me for about three years now.
Beth F / Jun 4 2011 6:26 am
Awesome photos! And glad you saved the little guy from the night hawks.
bermudaonion (Kathy) / Jun 4 2011 6:46 am
Oh my gosh, he's so cute. I didn't know you could relocate them like that. As a kid, I was always told the parents would abandon baby birds if they smelled humans on them.
irene / Jun 4 2011 9:35 am
What amazing photos, so detailed you did very well at getting them so close up, you must have one bang up camera.
Alyce / Jun 4 2011 9:58 am
He's such a cute little guy! I was wondering why that baby starling hung around so close while I was taking photos last week. I had no idea it was just that the babies are very trusting.
Literary Feline / Jun 4 2011 10:39 am
Such detailed and gorgeous photos! Robins hold a special place in my heart.
dyane / Jun 4 2011 12:15 pm
precious shots and with the down still on him/her 🙂 thanks for saving him for the night in the shrubs….our bird nest came up empty so these are particularly wonderful for me to see what might have been !
Beth Lowe / Jun 4 2011 12:22 pm
Leslie, these shots are amazing…good enough to enter into a contest! That baby is so adorable. You are definitely a woman after my own heart, tucking it into a safe spot for overnight. I have no robin babies yet, as far as I can tell, but our season is late, late, late after our chilly spring. Of course, it did get up to almost 90 degrees last week, and we had tornadoes in western MA, which is almost unheard of here, but what are you doing to do? Thanks for making me smile!
Diane@BibliophileBytheSea / Jun 4 2011 12:56 pm
OMG…love these. Now what type of lens took these? You are amazing Leslie.
lee / wild mountain / Jun 4 2011 2:15 pm
Not only are your photos fantastic each week, I'm learning a lot about birds from you.
Bev@My Reader's Block / Jun 4 2011 8:28 pm
Love the fluff on his head! I always look forward to your bird pictures.
I'm a bit late (it's been a busy weekend so far), but here's mine: http://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2011/06/saturday-snapshot-graduation-weekend.html
TheBookGirl / Jun 5 2011 9:30 am
I so look forward to your photos every week Leslie 🙂
This little guy is so cute; how nice that you were able to help him avoid the night dangers!
avisannschild / Jun 7 2011 2:56 am
These are beautiful shots, Leslie! I always feel happy when I see robins — I feel a certain kinship with them since one of my sisters is named Robin!


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Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Cake – 17 and Baking turns 17
April 19, 2009 at 1:50 pm 212 comments
When I was little, I used to remember birthdays by party themes and presents.
There was my fabulous pink themed party, with hot magenta and bubble gum pink stuffed animals hanging from the ceiling. The birthday where all the kids swung eagerly at a pinata, unable to crack it, forcing Dad to come to the rescue. And who could forget the birthday I was presented with my own Barbie bicycle, complete with sparkles on the handlebars?
But these days, I remember birthdays by the people and the food we celebrated with. The year my Pubah carried out a hamburger cake to my utter delight. Or the birthday cake decorated with plastic dancing princesses, which I still have in a box under my bed. Even the famous family mashed potatoes I've requested for every single birthday dinner of my life, since I can remember.
Last year, I invited two of my closest friends over and we made dinner: 3 different kinds of pasta from scratch, mixing and rolling out the dough right on the table. It was the perfect low-key sweet 16, memorable and intimate and tasty.
Turning 17 was a little different. It seemed less important, less of a "big deal," and there were no balloons or real parties. The only celebratory thing I did was eat at Salty's, a pricey and stunning restaurant (more on that later.) In fact, it felt like an average April day. But little things made it special… from my friends singing happy birthday at lunch to my beautiful birthday dinner, it was made even sweeter.
Click to read about dinner at Salty's and how I assembled this showstopper chocolate cake of my dreams.
For my birthday meal, Salty's was amazing. The restaurant is nationally acclaimed, a valet took our car, and we sat with a postcard perfect view of the waterfront and downtown Seattle, but Salty's is unpretentious. I told them it was my birthday when I made reservations, so there were bright balloons waiting at our table.
When we arrived, the sun was just about to begin setting, and the whole skyline sparkled blue and silver. By the time we left, the sky had darkened, traces of gold were leaving the sky, and the whole city glittered.
Our appetizer, coconut tiger prawns with a spicy Thai chili sauce and a tangy citrus sauce, was probably the best thing we had. So light, it melted in our mouths… I ate every single shred of toasted coconut off my plate and refused to drink any water, savoring the flavor as long as I could.
My entree was also great. Cedar smoked wild Coho salmon with mashed potatoes, tomato beurre blanc, and spring pea greens with a bacon vinaigrette. I ended up having birthday potatoes after all! (Though I missed Dad's.) No photo of this – it's impossible to avoid blurriness in a restaurant, sorry.
Dessert was unforgettable too. White chocolate mousse cake that was lighter than air, their signature dessert, on the house because of my birthday. I don't usually like restaurant desserts because I bake myself, but of course, this was so good I asked the waiter for the recipe. Ha. (He laughed a little and politely said no.)
[Update: Reader Jan let me know that the recipe is, in fact, on the Salty's website! You'd think the waiter could have filled me in! (; Thanks Jan!]
But chocolate cake is my favorite. I don't find vanilla boring, and I do like lemon and carrot, but there's really nothing like a classic, mile-high chocolate cake. Like this one, made just for my birthday. It's so tall it doesn't fit in my cake carrier. It's incredibly moist, so intense it's nearly black. I've never had such soft, rich, dark chocolate cake before. It's rich, but the chocolate flavor isn't overwhelming. Good thing, because it's covered in melt-in-your-mouth ganache.
But what flavor to choose? It didn't take long before I settled on raspberry. Fresh berries are something I rarely have with because they're so expensive, but I made an exception for my birthday. Raspberry jam and raspberry ganache between the layers of my cake, and fresh raspberries on top. Delicious.
What a special cake. It's super rich. Eat it in teeny tiny, dark and aromatic slices, as it's truly death by chocolate. I'm submitting it into Poornima's "For the Love of Chocolate" event as well as my Mini Cocoa and Banana Pavlovas.
Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Cake
Including Sour Cream Chocolate Cake from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes
Makes a three layer 8″ cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup canola oil
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
Raspberry Ganache (recipe follows)
2/3 cup raspberry jam
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter three 8″ cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Butter again. [ I just buttered and dusted with cocoa. It was extremely hard to get the cakes out – don't skip the parchment paper.]
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and whisk to combine. Whisk in the oil and sour cream, then gradually beat in the water. Add the vinegar and vanilla and mix to combine, and finally beat in the eggs until the batter is well combined. Divide among the three cake pans.
Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out almost clean. Cool in the pans for 20 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and peel off the parchment paper, letting the cakes cool completely. These cakes are very soft, and it helps to freeze them for 15 minutes at this point. While the cakes cool, make the Raspberry Ganache.
If the cakes are not flat, use a serrated knife to even the tops. Place one layer onto a parchment-lined cardboard cut out and spread 1/3 cup raspberry jam. Cover the jam with a thin, 1/4″ thick layer of raspberry ganache. Top with the second layer and repeat. Then invert the final layer and place on top.
To frost the cake, start with a crumb coat: barely cover the entire cake with a thin, see through layer of ganache. This is to help create a smooth finish later. Chill the cake for 10 minutes.
Frost the cake with the remaining raspberry ganache and top with fresh raspberries. I would recommend leaving the cake at room temperature to prevent the ganache from becoming too brittle.
Raspberry Ganache
Makes just enough to fill and frost a three layer 8″ cake
15 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped *
1 2/3 cups frozen raspberries
8 oz (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
Bring an inch or two of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. As the water heats, microwave the raspberries in 1 minute intervals, stirring and mashing with a fork, until they become a smooth liquid. Pour through a strainer (should yield 1/3 cup raspberry juice) and set aside to cool.
Place the chopped chocolate and the butter in a large heatproof bowl and set over the saucepan. The bowl should not touch the water or fall more than halfway into the saucepan. Stir until the chocolate and butter melt, then gradually add in the slightly warm raspberry juice, whisking to combine.
Take the ganache off the heat and let cool until spreadable, stirring once in a while.
* The ganache was almost too sweet, but I used a combination of semisweet and bittersweet chocolate. Use the bitterest, darkest chocolate possible to counteract the sweetness of the berries.
Printer Friendly Version – Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Cake
That triangular crack is from the beautiful candle that I pulled out of my slice. I'll tell you when my wish comes true.
Miss 17 and Baking is 17 at last!
[An especially sweet thank you to all my friends – C, T, M, D, K, C, and J – who had a birthday dinner with me at a local sushi joint. We bought out the conveyor belt and played charades in the park. Thank you so much for the card, gift certificate, yellow striped apron & oven mitts, and the vanilla bean!]
Entry filed under: Cake/Cupcakes. Tags: cake, chocolate, Eating Out, layer cake, raspberries.
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AUSTIN, TEXAS (DPS) — The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) today received information that individuals planned to use a variety of items or props to disrupt legislative proceedings at the Texas Capitol.
Therefore for safety purposes, DPS recommended to the State Preservation Board that all bags be inspected prior to allowing individuals to enter the Senate gallery, which the State Preservation Board authorized.
During these inspections, DPS officers have thus far discovered one jar suspected to contain urine, 18 jars suspected to contain feces, and three bottles suspected to contain paint. All of these items – as well as significant quantities of feminine hygiene products, glitter and confetti possessed by individuals – were required to be discarded; otherwise those individuals were denied entry into the gallery.
In the interest of the safety and security of Texas legislators and the general public, these inspections will continue until the conclusion of Senate business.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Strange: Texas Pro-Abortion Protesters Caught With Jars of Feces and Urine...
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text:
It's hard not to doubt,
When inspiration takes a break
And creativity plays hide and seek
It's hard to stay focused
When the paper is full of strikes
With no word that makes sense
It's hard to gather courage
To think outside the box
And to get outside the comforts
It's demotivating, this self doubt
It's hard, not get crippled under this stress
As I feel empty
How to break this chain,
that strangles me from inside out?
I wonder with no clue!
Linking with Day 6 of Write Tribe Pro Blogger Challenge.


text:
"I live in my own little world. But its ok, they know me here." ― Lauren Myrac
This morning was the first Art Club of McKinney meeting after our summer break. I love the August meeting because it's Show and Tell day. Each member or guest introduces themselves, tells what art mediums they use, and brings some examples to talk about. A few of my favorite artist friends…
After our meeting, a large contingent from the meeting went over to The Pantry Restaurant On the square.for more food and socializing. There's always a little shopping on the way back to your car.
I always stop at the Visitor's Center to say hello to Miss Beth. She's such a sweetie and always has her finger on the pulse of McKinney. If Miss Beth doesn't know about it…it ain't happenin'.
This is not a natural stance. I make her pose this way…my open arms request. It's an inside joke.
My good friends at Sweet Spot Bakery are always baking up something sweet and special.
It's difficult for me to resist a quick stop at the Samaritan Inn Thrift Store on my way home. I generally find several treasures. A beautiful hand painted ceramic plate, two pale pastel purple wine glasses to paint, and a lovely glass candy dish. (My buddy, Miss Bella, looking on in admiration of my bargain hunting skills.)
I stopped to visit my neighbor, Diane, before rounding the corner home. My good friend, Karen, stopped by this evening to drop off her little fishy, Baby. I'm fishy sitting for her for a couple of days. I am the "Pet Whisperer" of McKinney. Dogs, cats, now fish. I'm amazing!
So many friends, so many things to do, this is my little town. I love it here!
"I live in my own little world. But its ok, they know me here."
― Lauren Myrac
Oh yes, it was pretty hot here today. It's Texas…it's summer…it's hotter than
H-E- double hockey sticks.


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Religion is blinding. Religion will tell you that 'God' wants you sick to teaching you character and patience. Religion will tell you that 'God' wants you poor, so that you will learn humility. It sounds noble, doesn't it? But these are LIES from the pit of hell! Let me tell you this: It is the devil who wants you sick and poor, but the God I know paid a heavy price to redeem you from the curse of sickness and poverty!
Unmerited Favor, 2009, 30


text:
10 February 2015
2015 marked the 15th anniversary of International Mother Language Day – this was also a turning point year for the international community, as the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals, when countries defined a new global sustainable development agenda.The focus for the post-2015 agenda fell on the priority of advancing quality education for all – widening access, ensuring equality and inclusiveness, and promoting education for global citizenship and sustainable development.
Education in the mother language is an essential part of achieving these goals – to facilitate learning and to bolster skills in reading, writing and mathematics.Taking this forward requires a sharper focus on teaching training, revisions of academic programmes and the creation of suitable learning environments.
UNESCO takes forward these goals across the world. In Latin America, with the United Nations Children's Fund, UNESCO is promoting inclusive education through bilingual intercultural approaches, in order to include both native and non-native cultures.
For the same reasons, the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in Asia and the Pacific, based in Bangkok, Thailand, is working to deepen understandings of multilingual education based on the mother tongue, across the region and further afield.
Mother tongue education is force for quality learning – it is also essential to bolster multilingualism and respect for linguistic and cultural diversity in societies that are transforming quickly. Since 2000, there has been tremendous progress to reach the goals of Education for All. Today, we must look ahead – to complete unfinished business and to tackle new challenges.
International Mother Language Day is a moment for all of us to raise the flag for the importance of mother tongue to all educational efforts, to enhance the quality of learning and to reach the unreached.
Every girl and boy, every woman and man must have the tools to participate fully in the lives of their societies – this is a basic human right and it is a force for the sustainability of all development.
Permanent link: http://en.unesco.kz/inclusive-education-through-and-with-language-language-matters-21-february-2015


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WASHINGTON (AP) ? We were one. Or so it seemed ? for a while, at least.
"America is united," President George W. Bush proclaimed a decade ago after the horror that terrorists wrought. And it felt that way.
Not Republicans. Not Democrats. Just Americans clinging to one another as we coped with the attacks on our freedom, on our security, on our way of life. We mourned together, raged together, resolved together.
But it wasn't long before the perception of a united America gave way to the reality of division. Political polarization became the norm. And partisanship, gridlock and a loss of faith in institutions returned in force.
As diverse as it is, is this country capable of being truly united? And if we were, would that really be a good thing?
Americans come together spontaneously or, perhaps, instinctively at times of tragedy and trauma. We always seem to be on the same page when it comes to our core principles. We want America to be free. We want America to be secure. And when those tenets are violated, watch out.
Consider the aftermath of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and WWII, perhaps the last time the nation was ? or, rather, felt ? truly unified. That is, until 60 years later when war came to America again. In the days after Sept. 11, 2001, there was almost unanimous support for going after al-Qaida, an anomaly for an American public that usually agrees on little.
We wanted to win, to make the bad guys lose. At the end of the day, al-Qaida was not targeting Republicans or Democrats. It was killing Americans. And Americans on the whole wanted to fight back.
But was that unity? Or was that simply a hunger, a yearning for it in a nation whose motto for nearly two centuries was the Latin "e pluribus unum" ? "Out of many, one"?
Whatever the answer, it was rare ? and fleeting. Ten years later, our politics are a lot like they were before 9/11. And, perhaps, worse. Americans, and the leaders we elect, struggle to find common ground, if they're trying at all. At a time when so many hunger for it, is unity anything more than a passing thought?
We face enormous, decades-old problems. Our willing work force can't find jobs. Our housing market is weighing down a fragile economy. We face mounting debt threatening to crush generations ahead. Our safety net ? Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid? is in critical condition. Our schools drastically lag behind those of other nations.
Conventional wisdom would say it's frustrating, maybe even sad, that our leaders can't seem to come together to fix these woes ? no matter which political party is in power. But it's also totally understandable. A diverse nation of people with vastly different ideas can never truly be unified. And here's something else: Maybe, just maybe, it shouldn't be.
Doesn't a healthy democracy depend on dissenting viewpoints? And don't controlled disagreements make us who we are? Wouldn't actual unity prevent growth in a nation whose best times have come with ? or come from ? great change?
Yet if unity is unattainable, disunity can be toxic. Just look at this summer's debt debate. It further soured an already surly American public on the ability of the federal government to work, much less solve the nation's problems.
Nevertheless, there are moments when we've spoken together as much as is possible. The period immediately after Sept. 11, 2001, was one of them.
"This will require our country to unite in steadfast determination and resolve," Bush said. It was a call to arms by a president who famously had called himself a "uniter, not a divider."
The following weeks saw Congress pass bipartisan measures to create a Department of Homeland Security and give law enforcement agencies sweeping search and surveillance powers over U.S. citizens. And Americans across the ideological spectrum supported their leaders.
But not indefinitely. That one-nation feeling started unraveling within months as the sense of unity gave way to our differences. Political polarization rose, not just on Capitol Hill but in communities across America. So did anger, particularly over the Bush White House's reasoning for pre-emptively attacking Iraq.
And although many expected it, we didn't get hit again. But we also didn't catch Osama bin Laden or crush al-Qaida quickly. So, predictably, Republicans and Democrats starting seizing on that reality to try to gain power.
"I have no ambition whatsoever to use this as a political issue," Bush said in January 2002.
That same month, White House political adviser Karl Rove urged Republicans to make the war on terrorism central to the fall congressional elections, saying: "We can go to the country on this issue."
Using that playbook, Republicans took control of Congress. In one remarkable race in Georgia, Republican Saxby Chambliss won a Senate seat after painting Democratic Sen. Max Cleland, who lost both his legs and an arm in Vietnam, as weak on national security in part by airing a much-maligned TV ad that included images of Saddam Hussein and bin Laden.
After the 2002 election, a Pew Research Center survey showed that partisan polarization had reached a new high as both Republicans and Democrats became more intense in their political beliefs. That helps explain why the 2004 presidential race so split the country. The campaign was centered on 9/11, national security and questions of character.
It was an aggressive campaign and a close election, underscoring how far from united the states of America had become.
The partisan polarization persisted well into Bush's second term. By January 2006, Rove was vowing to again make the "war on terror" a central campaign issue, saying: "Republicans have a post-9/11 view of the world. And Democrats have a pre-9/11 view of the world."
It didn't work. Democrats swept back into power, taking control of both the House and Senate. The country was divided, and bitterly so.
Then came Barack Obama. He stoked the notion of unity from Day One of his presidential campaign with these words: "In the face of a politics that's shut you out, that's told you to settle, that's divided us for too long, you believe we can be one people, reaching for what's possible, building that more perfect union."
Obama, a Democratic senator from Illinois, invoked the 9/11 attacks, spoke to our common principles and, perhaps, seized upon our yearning for unity, saying: "Politics doesn't have to divide us on this anymore ? we can work together to keep our country safe."
People flocked to him. His message resonated. And he won the presidency.
As Obama took office, the Pew Research Center found that public expectations for partisan cooperation were as great as they were in January 2002. But that feeling didn't last, either. As Americans mark a decade since Sept. 11, 2001, who among us thinks that the nation today is one of unity, of a single sense of purpose?
In May, as he announced that American forces had killed bin Laden, Obama re-summoned that spirit. "Tonight," he said, "let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today's achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people."
And, for a few hours, most of the United States of America again felt united ? even if we never really were, even if that's a notion that a seething, bubbling, contentious democracy of 300 million people can never really achieve.
EDITOR'S NOTE ? Liz Sidoti, the political editor for The Associated Press, has covered national politics for the AP since 2003. Tomorrow: New Yorkers and 9/11, and how they process it 10 years later.


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LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Rosie O'Donnell has announced that she married her fiancee, Michelle Rounds, in a private ceremony in June, just days before Rounds had surgery to treat desmoid tumors.
The 50-year-old TV personality also said Monday on her blog that she is selling original paintings on eBay to raise money for the Desmoid Tumor Research Foundation.
A spokeswoman for O'Donnell confirmed the nuptials and fundraising efforts.
Rounds was diagnosed with desmoid tumors in June. She and O'Donnell wed in New York on June 9, and Rounds underwent surgery June 14. Desmoid tumors occur rarely and can affect almost any area of the body. The tumors can be fatal.
O'Donnell has had health issues of her own. She said Aug. 20 that she recently suffered a heart attack.


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Matthew 19:30 reads, "But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first."
Years ago I was traveling with my mom and daughter along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. We were on our way to our family reunion which was being held in Philadelphia. At some point, we came to a stretch of road on the turnpike that was lined with dead trees. The strange thing about it, was that although the trees on the front row were all dead, immediately behind them, as far as the eye could see, were beautiful, vibrant, healthy green trees. However, these lifeless trees on the front row, stood very tall and erect almost as if they possessed an inner confidence. Because of the green background behind them created by the other trees, they appeared to stand out even more. Odd as it may seem, even though these trees were dead, they were still very much alive. They had a mysterious beauty radiating from them that drew attention to their presence.
As I continued to observe this peculiar scene, God brought to my mind these words, "The first will be last and the last will be first." I have no idea what natural events may have occurred that caused those trees to end up like they were. But to me they represent many people who may not measure up to the world's idea of beauty. But because they follow God's ways He has elevated them to a certain level. Like those trees, you may never know what someone has endured to get to where they are, but because they did endure, God has shown them favor. Never underestimate what God is doing in someone's life just because things appear a certain way on the outside. As Christians, we should have an inner beauty that radiates from our hearts and changes the world around us. People should be able to sense a distinct difference and want to know more about us and our lifestyles. Ultimately who we are should lead people to want to know more about the God we serve.
Those of us who call Jesus Savior, need to take a stand and be all that God has called us to be for the sake of the cross and the glory of the One who died there. 2 Corinthians 6:17 says, "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord, then I will receive you."
If those trees could speak, I know the stories about life on the "Penna" Turnpike would be unforgettable. The good news is that you and I can speak. We can speak life to those around us. Not only with our words, but through our actions. We must let the life we live speak for us. Ask God to show you how you can "come out from among them and be separate." When you are serving God, even if you think you are last, in God's eyes you are first. We need to make sure that wherever we are standing, is the place God really wants us to be. When we are where we should be, we can then be effective and make a true difference.
Please let the beauty we have in you through your Holy Spirit shine brightly so that those around us may be inspired and changed. Help us not to get caught up in things that do not matter but instead to focus on what matters most to you.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.


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Hindarium is currently on an extended hiatus. We are not working on new projects.
We are a small indie team that brought you Zombie Ball.
We also do apps: Weblock.
You can talk to us on Twitter or through email 🙂
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Hindarium are Nenad Kajgana, Ivan Vučica, Hrvoje Gradečak, Davor Cihlar


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27 October 2017
In 2017, the second report in the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report series continues its assessment of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal on education (SDG4) and its 10 targets, as well as other related education targets in the SDG agenda.It also investigates accountability in education, analyzing how all relevant stakeholders can provide education more effectively, efficiently and equitably. The report examines different accountability mechanisms that are used to hold governments, schools, teachers, parents, the international community, and the private sector accountable for inclusive, equitable and quality education.
By analysing which policies make accountability work or fail, and which external factors impact on their success, the 2017/8 GEM Report concludes with concrete recommendations that will help build stronger education systems.
Download the Full Report 505 pages.
Permanent link: http://en.unesco.kz/global-education-monitoring-gem-report-2017


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Given the scholastic background to attend a myriad of "top-notch" schools, I opted to stay close to home and attend Fairmont State, at least for a semester or two, on a full academic scholarship. I knew I wanted to be a medical researcher and, after all, how in the world could I be adequately prepared to do that with an education from Fairmont State? Very easily, as I found out, with much credit due to the learning environment and the outstanding faculty. During my undergraduate studies, I spent a summer working in the HIV vaccine lab at Johns Hopkins Medical School and was even chosen as the top national applicant to attend a semester study session at the National Institutes of Health. The best part…being surrounded by undergraduates from Ivy League institutions and knowing that even though I came from a school they had never heard of, I, the student from Fairmont State, was academically ranked above them. After completing my undergraduate studies in Biology and Chemistry at Fairmont State, I directly began my Ph.D. studies in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology at West Virginia University's Health Sciences Center. In July 2005 I defended my doctoral dissertation on the recovery and role of immune cells after human hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Upon completing my graduate work, I immediately began working as a scientist for the Institute for Scientific Research, Inc., in Fairmont, W.Va. My task is to promote the establishment of biotechnology as a core competency within the institute and to contribute to the establishment of biotechnology within our region, with much of this work being based upon patented work I completed while in graduate school.
First and foremost, never underestimate yourself or your abilities. Secondly, never discard the importance of even the most "trivial" -- everything in your environment, even what you perceive as a worthless course, contributes to the development of your mind and pathways of thinking. And finally, the investment you make in your education is something I believe you will never regret. Your education is one of the very few things in life that no one can take away from you.
Great things can be accomplished even at a small school.


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This past weekend I did one of my first official shoots of the summer. It was a "Poolside Pinup Shoot," where I donned my brand new "Tiki Zombie" style bathing suit with my matching hand fan, (Both by one of my favorite all time brands, "SourPuss Clothing," which I use the tiki monster fan very often to dry my makeup setting spray faster when I'm getting ready for the day.
Sunday was the day of the shoot after a "Father's Day celebration and I was fortunate enough to have a warm, but not too warm weather to shoot, beautiful lighting, and a perfectly blue pool. To match my tiki pinup pool outfit, I donned my new "Mother of Pearls" heels by "Iron Fist Clothing," a gorgeous purple sparkly rose clip, and my new "Purple Sunset," sunglasses. I also changed up a few shots with my cute pinup black and white polka dot "Cat Eye," sunglasses. Of course I had plenty of sunscreen on for my porcelain skin and my black cover up.
I'm very happy with these photos and glad this was one of my first photoshoots for the summer. I hope you enjoy them, and definitely leave me some comments to let me know what you think.
THANK YOU! xoxo Carlie
MY INSTAGRAM PAGE: CarlieMichelle66
MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL: CarlieMichelle
TWITTER: @CarlieSorat
FACEBOOK PAGE: Carlie Sorat
**photos taken by N. Sorat


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More than 120 years after the discovery of the electromagnetic character of radio waves by Heinrich Hertz, wireless data transmission dominates information technology. Higher and higher radio frequencies are applied to transmit more data within shorter periods of time. Some years ago, scientists found that light waves might also be used for radio transmission. So far, however, manufacture of the small antennas has required an enormous expenditure. KIT scientists have now succeeded for the first time in specifically and reproducibly manufacturing smallest optical nanoantennas from gold.
In 1887, Heinrich Hertz discovered the electromagnetic waves at the former Technical College of Karlsruhe, the predecessor of Universität Karlsruhe (TH). Specific and directed generation of electromagnetic radiation allows for the transmission of information from a place A to a remote location B. The key component in this transmission is a dipole antenna on the transmission side and on the reception side. Today, this technology is applied in many areas of everyday life, for instance, in mobile radio communication or satellite reception of broadcasting programs. Communication between the transmitter and receiver reaches highest efficiency, if the total length of the dipole antennas corresponds to about half of the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave.
Radio transmission by high-frequency electromagnetic light waves in the frequency range of several 100,000 gigahertz (500,000 GHz correspond to yellow light of 600 nm wavelength) requires minute antennas that are not longer than half the wavelength of light, i.e. 350 nm at the maximum (1 nm = 1 millionth of a millimeter). Controlled manufacture of such optical transmission antennas on the nanoscale so far has been very challenging worldwide, because such small structures cannot be produced easily by optical exposure methods for physical reasons, i.e. due to the wave character of the light. To reach the precision required for the manufacture of gold antennas that are smaller than 100 nm, the scientists working in the "Nanoscale Science" DFG-Heisenberg Group at the KIT Light Technology Institute (LTI) used an electron beam process, the so-called electron beam lithography. The results were published recently in the Nanotechnology journal (Nanotechnology 20 (2009) 425203).
They developed a method to manufacture minute nanoantennas close to the technical limits:
Dr. Hans-Jürgen Eisler and Matthias Wissert from the LTI. (Photo by: LTI, from right to left)
These gold antennas act physically like radio antennas. However, the latter are 10 million times as large, they have a length of about 1 m. Hence, the frequency received by nanoantennas is 1 million times higher than radio frequency, i.e. several 100,000 GHz rather than 100 MHz.
These nanoantennas shall transmit information at extremely high data rates, because the high frequency of the waves allows for an extremely rapid modulation of the signal. For the future of wireless data transmission, this means acceleration by a factor of 10,000 at reduced energy consumption. Hence, nanoantennas are considered a major basis of new optical high-speed data networks. The positive side-effect: Light in the range of 1000 to 400 nm is not hazardous for man, animals, and plants.
In the future, nanoantennas from Karlsruhe may not only be used for information transmission, but also as tools for optical microscopy: "With the help of these small nano light emitters, we can study individual biomolecules, which has not been established so far", says Dr. Hans-Jürgen Eisler, who heads the DFG Heisenberg group at the Light Technology Institute. Moreover, the nanoantennas may serve as tools to characterize nanostructures from semiconductors, sensor structures, and integrated circuits. The reason is the efficient capture of light by nanoantennas. Thereafter, they are turned into light emitters and emit light quantums (photons).
The LTI scientists are presently also working on the specific and efficient capture of visible light by means of these antennas and on focusing this light on a few 10 nm, the objective being e.g. the optimization of photovoltaic modules.
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is a public corporation and state institution of Baden-Württemberg. It fulfills the mission of a university and the mission of a national research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT focuses on a knowledge triangle that links the tasks of research, teaching, and innovation.


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Metallic Birds, Batting Buffalo and Feline Waves
The Aberdeen IronBirds must have been well-rested after the holiday weekend, because this morning they set (what I believe) is the record for the earliest new logo unveiling in the history of Minor League Baseball. Beginning at 6:15 a.m., noted baseball bros Cal and Bill Ripken (of IronBirds' ownership group Ripken Baseball) embarked on a whirlwind early morning tour of local television stations in order to debut the team's new logo for 2013 and beyond:
As any seasoned MiLB logo observer will be able to tell, the above mark is a Studio Simon creation. (The team relayed to me via Twitter that "the main design idea" came courtesy of Bill Ripken.) The bird seen above replaces the more overtly cartoonish anthropomorphic plane that previously served as the team's primary logo.
The IronBird featured in the primary logo is even more prominently featured on the hat:
In a press release put out by the team, Bill Ripken employed three verbs over a five-word stretch in an attempt to explain the reason for the new logo. That's no easy feat!
"The IronBirds are evolving to continue to remain on baseball's leading edge," said Bill Ripken, co-founder and executive vice president of Ripken Baseball. "This is why we wanted a fresh new look and feel to connect with families, and resonate with fans of all ages."
Another team to have recently jumped aboard the new logo train are the Buffalo Bisons. The team's previous blue-tinged logo made an overt attempt to highlight their affiliation with the New York Mets, but with the dissolution of that relationship the Bisons have instead chosen to assume an identity distinct of the parent club (which is now the Toronto Blue Jays).
This logo isn't "new" so much as it is a callback to a look employed by Buffalo during the years 1988-97. Sez the team:
"It was important for us to reestablish our own team identity with our new logo. Our fans have continued to express their fondness of the red, white and blue logo from the late '80s and early '90s at the ballpark. We feel this new logo not only pays tribute to that history but gives the team an exciting new look for the future," said Mike Buczkowski, Vice President/General Manager of the Bisons.
And far be it for me to gratuitously point out press release typos, but this one is really funny:
For the past four seasons, the Bisons adopted a blue and orange theme with a more atomically correct bison charging out of the city landscape.
And, finally, there are the West Michigan Whitecaps. The club has unveiled an array of supplemental looks in advance of their upcoming 20th anniversary campaign.
The "Olde English" logo will now serve as the team's official road cap. And, wow, that alternate logo on the far right is certainly one of the more ridiculous to come down the pike this offseason. It takes the team's long-standing primary logo and combines it with a tiger because, you know, the Detroit Tigers are the Whitecaps' parent club. Here's one more cut-and-paste job for you, before I end my blogging day:
"I'm excited about these new logos," said Whitecaps president Scott Lane. "They strengthen the Whitecaps' identity with the Detroit Tigers in a very literal way for our fans, who are also Tigers fans. I think the logos are a little more edgy and youthful and will appeal to the younger generation of fans."
Thanks, as always, for your Ben's Biz Blog patronage. I am evolving to continue to remain your #1 Minor League Baseball news source.


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The tension between them was visible and he was clearly not comfortable. My wife and I sat to the left of them for dinner on the first evening of the Second B'ney Yosef North America Summit in Mesa AZ. His somewhat pointed and at times combative conversation with the gentleman to his right was curious, particularly because he was aggressive towards the Messianic perspective, yet he was in attendance at a BYNA event!
I listened a few minutes and realized his wife was 'all in' and he, not understanding even basic Hebraic thought, was here to protect her. Later, I found out she was fervently praying for him and was happy that he had even come to dinner. His plan, as I understood it, was to not participate at all.
My passion is to compassionately and clearly explain what we believe, and why, from the Scriptures. I have a Masters of Divinity and ten years of experience in the pulpit of a Presbyterian church, yet the Father opened my eyes and showed me much more than the Reformed traditions I was reared with. When this gentleman we were providentially seated next to mentioned his Presbyterian background, I had my opening.
We talked about twenty minutes in a conversation that began tensely, but he quickly softened as I simply answered directly from the Scriptures with empathy. Where others may not have had answers or been able to deal compassionately, I could relate and speak from the unique position of having been an ordained minister who is thoroughly convinced of the veracity of the Hebrew roots message. We parted friends and I offered that if he had other questions during the Summit, to please find me. I encouraged the hard questions.
Minutes later, it occurred to me that I had copies of Repairing the Breach on a vendor table out in the lobby. Immediately, I went and retrieved a copy then searched for the gentleman. I did not find him, but I found his wife in conversation, so I autographed the book and asked her to give it to her husband in hopes he would take the time to read it and process the material.
Repairing the Breach is an ordered compilation of articles I wrote for this blog as a defense of what I was seeing in the Scriptures. My intent when assembling the book was to accurately and empathetically convey the Messianic message while challenging the reader to re-evaluate inherited traditions and doctrines. It is written for the seeker, but has sufficient 'meat' that the seasoned Messianic will come away both learning new things and being better equipped to defend his faith.
Well, the story of our couple in Mesa did not end with me giving away the book, though I did not hear anything else during the event. That was February 2017.
A member of our home fellowship group, Tom Lewis, travels to Israel for all of the pilgrim feasts. He has been doing so for about six years and had developed many contacts and connections throughout the Land.
This year he and his bride sat for Pesach with a group in Jerusalem. At the table was another mutual friend from Jordan and my name came up. As I understand it, another guest at the table heard the name and perked up. She explained that her husband supported her trip to Jerusalem for Pesach but was unable to come. Then, she related the above story about Mesa and revealed that her husband is the man to whom I gave Repairing the Breach. The book, and the Ruach, had turned things around in their marriage and her husband was growing in understanding!
Praise Yah!!
This is not the first such story I have heard. Repairing the Breach is making a difference and needs to be in the hands of many people like this husband! Because it is self published, getting the word out has been a challenge, however, right now we have a very special opportunity to make a HUGE impact in Christendom. As most of my readers know, World Ahead Press, the publishing arm of World Net Daily, the largest Christian news site on the internet, would like to republish the book and advertise it to hundreds of thousands of outlets. Understandably, they would like us to shoulder the risks, but I believe the rewards will be great!
I need your help. Together, we can change lives and accelerate the paradigm shift that is happening in Christendom by bringing this book to the mainstream!
Help bring Repairing the Breach to mainstream Christians!!
To order a copy of the book in self-published form for friends or family, go here.


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12-year-old Illinois girl sells steer for $100K
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A 12-year-old Morris girl needs a bigger piggy bank.
Shaelye (SHAY'-lee) Varner showed the grand champion steer at the Illinois State Fair, then sold it at auction for a whopping $100,000 — shattering last year's fair record of $62,000.
AT&T, Monsanto and DeKalb Asgrow combined to bid for Varner's crossbred steer.
Fair officials say $100,000 would have bought almost every animal in the sale of champions just four years ago. This year, the auction netted more than $260,000 for the kids who raised the animals, as well as the 4-H and Future Farmers of America programs, which each receive 10 percent of the proceeds.
Shaelye says she's been showing since she was 5 years old. She plans to save her money and use it for a future career in livestock.


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Tickets go on sale this week for the UFC's return to London.
UFC on FUEL TV 7 takes place Feb. 16 at historic Wembley Arena in the English city, though no fights have been announced for the card.
The event's main card airs on FUEL TV following prelims on Facebook.
"While we are working on finalizing the fight card, UFC and fight fans can rest assured that we will bring another compelling card," UFC Executive Vice President and Managing Director of EMEA Garry Cook stated. "You can bet that with us returning to London we will bring top fighters from the U.K. and around the world. There is always a high demand for UFC events and based on our last success in London, where we sold out 'UFC 120: Bisping vs. Akiyama,' I have no doubt this will be another big success."
Ticket for the event range from £50 to £200 ($81 to $322).
The general public can purchase tickets on Friday at 10:30 a.m. GMT (5:30 a.m. ET). However, UFC Fight Club members can buy tickets on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. GMT, and UFC.com e-newsletter subscribers can purchase tickets on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. GMT.
London most recently hosted a show in October 2010 with UFC 120, which featured a middleweight headliner between U.K. star Michael Bisping and Yoshihiro Akiyama. The event, which aired live on Spike TV, reportedly set a company record for attendance in Europe with 17,133 fans, who generated a live gate of approximately $2.56 million.
With a max seating capacity of 12,500, the 78-year-old Wembley Arena is unlikely to break that record. But the venue is no stranger to combat sports, including both boxing and MMA, as well as other entertainment and music events.
For more on UFC on FUEL TV 7, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.


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Yesterday Canadians were introduced to a relatively new phenomenon. One that is well known to anyone in the resource extraction industries or with right-of-center views but is much less well known elsewhere: the concept of crybullying and the existence of crybullies. You might not have ever heard the term so let's start with a definition. A "crybully" has been defined as:
Someone who uses the perceived righteousness of a social justice cause as a pretext to abuse others, and then plays the victim when confronted about that abuse.
We have all seen it but most have not known what to call it. For a classic example of crybullying (or crymobs in this case) watch this video where a reporter simply trying to take pictures of a demonstration in a public space is physically assaulted by protesters. The photographer, who is standing still, is repeatedly bumped by these protesters who then turn around and demand that he be arrested for assaulting them. These activists have a simple approach as Daniel Greenfield (who has written a lot on the topic) points out:
If you don't fight back, the crybully bullies you. If you fight back, the crybully cries and demands a safe space because you made him feel unsafe.
As for yesterday's event, the Canadian House of Commons was preparing for an important vote, but prior to the vote the members were milling about on the floor after a break. The House was being called to order and the Honourable Members were moving to their seats. At this point two members of the NDP caucus apparently decided that it would be funny to physically block the path of a senior member of the Conservative party: MP Gord Brown. The best video of the exchange is available here. As MP Brown tries to get to his seat, the NDP member in grey repeatedly moves to block MP Brown and the female MP in grey (MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau) joins him in doing so. MP Brown repeatedly tries to get by and is repeatedly blocked. At one point MP Ellen Brosseau is seen laughing about the activity to a fellow MP in red. Prime Minister Trudeau, clearly tiring of the antics, decides to intervene and in doing so brushes MP Ellen Brosseau.
Now remember here, MP Ellen Brosseau is a former bartender at a campus pub. I'm not sure about today, but in my days as a bartender getting a tray of drinks across a bar often involved a lot of pushing and physical contact. Unfortunately, while MP Ellen Brosseau can apparently handle a room full of drunken revelers she apparently cannot bear the trauma of brief physical contact with the Prime Minister. So instead of shrugging it off, she immediately recoils back like she has been hit by a charging bull. Her reaction is reminiscent of a classic by Christian Renaldo or one of his fellows trying to draw a yellow card in a soccer match. Like Renaldo she couldn't leave it there and felt the need to take the act to the next level. She later spoke in the House and reported that she was so traumatized that "she had to leave". Apparently she left the Chamber to sit outside where I'm guessing they probably sprayed her with the magic spray the trainers use on the sidelines of soccer games that allows the "injured" players to heal miraculously in time for the next whistle.
Now any teacher knows exactly what happened there. The two NDP MPs were bullying Mr. Brown. They repeatedly blocked his way and then laughed as they were doing it. MP Brown didn't know what to do as almost any response would get him in trouble. Should he push them aside and get called out for being violent or should he simply wait it out? Being a good Canadian he simply stands there and takes the abuse from his fellow members. The hall monitor (Mr. Trudeau) finally intervenes and the bullies immediately claim victim-hood and demand that the hall monitor be punished. Happily in schools they know how to handle these sorts of things but apparently not in the House of Commons.
Now if this was a one-time affair it would be nothing to talk about, but in our modern era the crybullies are gradually winning the battles and gaining in strength and the reason is simple. Being a crybully gets results. In the House case MP Ellen Brosseau got an apology out of the Prime Minister. On the street the crybullies are winning as well and they are winning because the government and the media have encouraged their behaviours.
When the protesters broke a court order on Burnaby Mountain were they thrown in jail and sent before a judge? No most were simply escorted down to the bottom of the mountain and were not charged. Only the repeat offenders were actually arrested and even then they acted outraged. I think the funniest thing I read during the protest was this:
Wiping away tears, protester Emily Cook said a friend, whom she did not identify, was arrested outside of the injunction zone just as he was telling an officer he didn't want to be arrested.
"They did not give him the option. They gave him no warning he would be arrested. They put him in zap straps," she said.
Here was a person breaking the law and he felt he shouldn't be arrested because "he didn't want to be arrested".
In his book "Uncivil Obedience: The Tactics and Tales of a Democratic Agitator" noted former civil rights activist A. Alan Borovoy made an important point. There are two ways to protest: you can protest within the confines of the law (uncivil obedience) or you can choose to break the law (civil disobedience). If you choose the latter then you must be willing to accept the consequences of your actions. What a lot of the current generation of protesters seem not to recognize is that there is no "right" to commit civil disobedience. I listen with decreasing interest to protesters who argue about their "rights" since most appear to have no clue what a "right" actually means under the law/constitution. Most activists these days appear to believe that they should be allowed to block roads and break the law with impunity.
The real problem with activists these days is that the government has trained them to believe that they can use the tactics of civil disobedience but that will not suffer the consequences of their actions. The government has enabled the protesters. In the case of Burnaby Mountain the police actually were asking the protesters which ones wanted to be arrested instead of simply arresting the lot.
The whole civil disobedience approach hearkens back to the days of the Clayoquot protests when the protesters blocked the logging roads. As I have written previously, the major difference between the civil disobedience of 1993 and that of 2016 is in the consequences of the protesters' actions. One feature of the protests in 1993 that has apparently been forgotten by our current generation of activists, was that back then the protesters did not simply get to walk away after being picked up by the police. These protesters were arrested, charged, and had to face the consequences of their actions in a court of law. As described in the Wikipedia article on the subject "of the 932 people arrested, 860 were prosecuted in eight trials with all those prosecuted for criminal intent found guilty". As recounted, many of protesters ended up spending a reasonable amount of time in jail. Can you imagine a modern environmentalist discovering that their actions would get them sent to jail? Moreover, this was not a Conservative or Liberal government that had them arrested and charged, the government of the day was NDP. Their allies put them in jail. You see the government of the day recognized that their role was to ensure that the law was obeyed.
The media, meanwhile, is also to blame for encouraging this type of behaviour. Credulous reporters breathlessly recount all the horrors rained down on these crybullies. Activists storm a building and demand the right to scream with loudspeakers at the people inside and the online report includes complaints that the security team was being "disproportionately violent". These activists force their way into a building and then the media reports that "no one was expecting such a rough reception". I'm guessing that if I forced my way into the Vancouver Observer's offices and started yelling into a megaphone into the editor's face her response would be less than cordial.
To conclude this piece I will quote Daniel Greenfield again. Now to be clear here, I normally disagree with almost everything the man has to say but on this topic he is bang on:
Crybullies are everything they claim to abhor. They are narcissists who complain about selfishness. Completely incapable of human empathy, they whine that no one cares about their feelings. They are prone to cowardly acts of violence, but demand safe spaces. They are bullies who say they're bullied.
As Canadians we have to nip this new form of protest in the bud. Instead of painting MP Ellen Brosseau as the victim we should make it clear that she was the bully and MP Brown was the victim. We have to point out the truth of the matter and call out the crybullies for what they are. Reporters need to report what is actually happening and not simply repeat the crying of the crybullies. We need to hear who was the actual aggressor even if (especially if?) that ruins the easy narrative. Put simply the media and our government need to stop being the crybullies' patsies and enablers. Canada works because we have one law for everyone, but that is changing because our current governments lack the courage of the NDP governments of the 1990's to simply enforce the law evenly and fairly for all.


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As a little girl growing up in Victoria, I remember regularly going to a "healthy" restaurant/bakery called Viteaway with my grandmother where she would buy me a "slug muffin". Though we called it a "slug muffin", no slugs were harmed in the making of these oversized treats. These were sweet bran muffins topped with half a date that looked, to my imagination, like a slug and so they were named (not my greatest marketing moment).
While I was aware that bran was "good for me", I enjoyed the crisp and crunchy top of the muffin, the dense, but fluffy, interior and the rich flavour of the molasses. The date (or "slug") was an extra treat that I often kept until the end to savour the sweetness.
Since then I've appreciated the delicate contradiction of an excellent bran muffin: healthy/tasty, sweet/savoury, light/moist, soft/crispy. My son also enjoys a bran muffin that is well balanced, especially if it's crammed full of blueberries.
This recipe serves up all the key elements and is easy to tweak with different combinations of spices and fruits. I've started with the version that takes advantage of fresh blueberries and and warms up the flavour with Chai Spice.
Blueberry Chai Bran Muffins
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 cup yogurt (or sour cream)
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup fresh blueberries (or frozen)
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup wheat bran
1 tsp Chai Spice
- Preheat oven to 400
- Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
- Beat in egg, yogurt and molasses
- Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then add to the wet ingredients
- Stir in blueberries (if they are frozen, rinse them first with cold water to remove any ice crystals)
- Spoon the batter into a Perfect Portion Muffin Pan
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until springy to the touch
- Cool on a rack and enjoy
Ginger Raisin Bran Muffins
Substitute raisins for blueberries and ground ginger for the Chai Spice
Cranberry Bran Muffins
Substitute dried cranberries for blueberries and Pumpkin Spice for the Chai Spice
Kitchen Hack: plump up dried fruit for baking by covering with cold water in a small pot, bringing it to a boil and then letting them soak while you assemble the other ingredients. Add a cinnamon stick to the pot to add a bit of spice. The sweetened spicy water can also be used to thin the batter, if needed.
What is your flavourite fruit to add to bran muffins?


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One of my friends asked me a month before Christmas (or maybe a bit before), if I would be willing to make some macarons for him to give as a Christmas and thank you gift for another person. That person happens to be a macaron fanatic (so I've heard) and she's been getting different macarons from different places every Christmas time. I couldn't commit at first since my December baking schedule is pretty full, leaving me no time left for just my personal baking. Besides, the thought of me making different batches of macarons scared me, and what would I do with so many leftovers? He persisted and tried to convince me every single day until I said yes (and it's not that hard really :D).
1. Pink macarons - rose buttercream, lychee, and raspberry gelee cube
2. Yellow macarons - cream cheese frosting with tropical fruit puree added
3. White macarons - dark chocolate and gianduja ganache with hazelnut praline
4. Orange macarons 1 - salted caramel buttercream with vanilla bean fleur de sel
5. Orange macarons 2 - milk chocolate passion fruit ganache
If you notice, I tried to make each one to have different characteristic, sweet and floral, a little tart note, bittersweet, salty, sweet and sour. I was so tempted to make another one with green color, but I had no more time and had to stop. It was hard to decide which one I like the most as each of them is so different and I love them all!
After this, I'm more excited to see what other flavor pair I can come up with and the possibilities are endless! So stay tuned to see what's next. How exciting!
Basic macaron recipe:
150 g almond powder
150 g confectioners' sugar
56 g fresh egg whites, room temperature
150 g granulated sugar
40 ml water
55 g old egg whites, room temperature
Sift the almond powder and confectioners' sugar together. Set aside.
Combine the granulated sugar and the water in a saucepan and cook until it reaches 245F. Don't stir the syrup as you will end up with crystallized mass.
Meanwhile, while the sugar is cooking, start whipping the aged egg white on medium speed until it forms a soft peak. When the sugar is ready, pour the cooked syrup in a steady stream over the meringue with the mixer running on slow. It will splatter, but don't try to scrape them into the meringue as you would get lumps. Increase the speed to high and continue beating until you have a stiff glossy meringue.
Mix the fresh egg white with the almond-sugar mixture and blend together. Fold in the meringue into this almond mixture in addition. Add about a third of the meringue and fold progressively, then proceed with another third of the meringue and fold it in. Don't overfold the batter as you would have a gloppy mess. Consistency is really important at this point, some people say that it should flow like a lava (I don't know how lava flows though). If you're not sure, try piping a little dollop and see if it leaves a peak that will not spread or if it spreads too fast. You should still see a little peak after you pipe, but the peak should disappear or almost disappear after you pipe a row of them.
Put the batter in a piping bag with round tip (I used a tip with approximately 9mm in diameter) and pipe the macaron batter on top of silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake at 325F for about 14-15 minutes. Once baked, slide the silpat or parchment paper onto a wire rack to cool slightly. Peel each macaron shell carefully.You can fill them with ganache or flavored buttercream. Keep it in an airtight container in the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften up before consuming.
Milk Chocolate Passion Fruit Ganache
adapted from here
100 grams milk chocolate
40 grams passion fruit puree
20 grams heavy cream
sugar to sweetened it slightly
15 grams butter
Chop the milk chocolate into small pieces. Boil the passion fruit, heavy cream, and sugar together and pour over chocolate. Stir until incorporated and the ganache forms. Wait a couple of minutes for the ganache to cool a bit and add the softened butter. Stir to create and emulsion. Let it harden a bit until it is pipeable and fill the macarons.
Rose Italian Meringue Buttercream:
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbs. sugar (115 g)
1/4 cup water (60 ml)
4 egg whites, at room temperature
4 sticks unsalted butter, cut in cubes and at room temperature
rose water, to taste
- Combine the water and the sugar in a small saucepan and boil on medium heat until the temperature reaches 235 F (softball stage)
- When the temperature reaches around 230 F, starts whipping the egg whites until it has somewhat a soft peak in a stand mixer
- When the sugar syrup has reached the desired temperature, turn off the heat and poor into the egg whites with the mixer still running on a medium-high speed (don't pour the syrup on the beater as it will splatter)
- Keep on whipping until the bowl has cooled down to about room temperature
- Add the cubes of butter a little at a time, waiting until the previous one is fully incorporated before adding another
- Whip until the buttercream is soft and creamy
- Add rose water to the taste and mix well.
Gianduja Ganache with Hazelnut Praline
no measurement was used when making this
dark chocolate
heavy cream
gianduja paste
hazelnut praline
100 g sugar
115 g heavy cream
15 g + 70 g salted butter
- Add some sugar in a saucepan, let this melt and add more sugar until you've used all of it
- Let it caramelized until it has a dark amber color
- Add 15 g of unsalted butter
- Add the heavy cream. Be careful when doing this as the mixture will bubble and splatter
- Continue cooking until it reaches 108 C
- Remove from the heat and let it cool to room temperature (putting it in an ice bath helps the process to be faster)
- Beat the remaining 70g of salted butter until creamy, then add the cooled caramel. Note: I didn't add all of them because I was afraid it's gonna be too sweet, but in the end, I should have added a little bit more because the end result was a bit on the salty side


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Our decisions as consumers in the global marketplace have very real effects on the lives of children, women and men
Anjan Sundaram is an award-winning journalist who has reported from Africa for the New York Times and the Associated Press. He is the author of Stringer: A Reporter's Journey in the Congo.
In a recent editorial for the New York Times you criticized the scarcity of means by which the American media cover a few hot spots in the world: what are the negative consequences of this?
It means that our understanding of the world today, and also of human history, is based on a narrative with significant holes in it. Great events like the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has killed 5 million people, are reduced to footnotes. Ultimately, this limits our understanding of ourselves.
Your book is a very powerful and moving report of an event that we would have otherwise little understood: When did you decide to write it?
I decided to write the book as I was leaving Congo. The idea was to convey some sense of what the crisis feels like, and how it is lived, rather than to come at it through statistics. I felt I needed to write something to convey the immensity of what I had experienced, and this became the anchor for the book.
You have been changed by the events that you describe in the book?
It is difficult to see the world in the same way after traveling through a place like Congo. You learn a great deal by watching people overcome catastrophic circumstances. Congo also supplies the world with elements used in jewelry, telephones, electric cables and circuit boards. Now when I see those things I'm reminded of their supply chains, of mines in Congo in which children would work. I remember a mass grave of children who had died of exhaustion from hauling minerals.
What are your relations with the Congolese?
I don't pride myself on any special relationship with the Congolese. I'm an observer. I am always keen to listen to what people have to say about my writing, or about anything else.
What can we learn from what's going on in the Congo?
There are places in the world we are intimately connected to but know very little about. Our decisions as consumers in the global marketplace have very real effects on the lives of children, women and men. The first step to taking some responsibility for how we affect those people is to learn about them.
International critics have greatly appreciated your talent in describing the places, people and feelings that the Congo has sent you: When you wrote the book were you aware of the power of your words?
I'm grateful when I hear that people were affected by what I've written. The world is full of people talking these days: television, radio, books, blogs, social media. My words are but a few in that conversation. More broadly, I was moved by many of the things I experienced in Congo, and I think it's only natural that the emotion came out when I described those things.
The purpose of our site is to promote a vibrant and active cultural and artistic life of many African countries because we believe that the cultural isolation is one of the main enemies of democracy. What do you think of this?
I absolutely support it. Through such exchange comes understanding of oneself and of 'the other'. I wish you the best.


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If you read my post last week you will recognise this autumnal view of Rossbrin Castle. I took the photo in November 2017 and looked it out after I watched the magic of a skein of wild geese flying over Nead an Iolair just a few days ago – at the end of August. There's something wistful about that spectacle – birds coming to winter on our west coasts – and Irish weather lore has to be heeded about these early advents:
It was generally believed that the early arrival of wild geese meant that a prolonged and severe winter was in store. This is a very old belief, as the ninth-century Irish work 'Cormac's Glossary' states that the brent goose usually arrived at the coasts of Erris and Umhall between 15 October and 15 November, and that when it appeared earlier, it brought storms and high winds. Similarly, in Counties Donegal and Galway, when the wild geese arrived, it was a sign that cold and frosty weather was on the way. In Donegal, a sign of an approaching wind was when a goose stuck its neck up into the air and beat its wings against its stomach. Fishermen would watch out for this and if they saw it would not go out, believing that a storm was on the way . . .
(Niall Mac Coitir – Ireland's Birds: Myths, Legends and Folklore, Collins Press 2015)
Today's post – while inspired by my sighting of the wild geese – is more connected to swans: these large and graceful birds are a constant down on Rossbrin Cove, and plentiful along our West Cork coastlines. Niall Mac Coitir also has much to say about them:
In Ireland it was generally believed to be very unlucky to kill a swan, and many tales were told of the dire consequences for those who did so. For example, the mysterious death of one of their farm animals often occurred soon afterwards. In County Mayo the whooper swan was never interfered with, on account of a tradition that the souls of virgins, who whilst living had been remarkable for the purity of their lives, were after death enshrined in the form of these birds . . . In Donegal it was believed that swans were people under enchantment, so that bad luck would come to anyone who interfered with them . . .
We know all about the tradition of people being turned into swans from the legendary Children of Lir – one of whom was Finola: you may remember the stained glass window we have in our house. A few years ago I found the above book in the wonderful Time Traveller's Bookshop in Skibbereen (which has now transformed itself into the Antiquity Bookshop Café, the first all-vegan Cafe in West Cork: it's well worth a visit – for books and food!). I was attracted initially by the cover and the illustrations, and then was delighted to find that the first story in the book was all about Finola and is a modern 'take' on the Irish legend. I had to buy the book, of course, for our Finola and I immediately thought of 'The Wild Swans' when I saw those wild geese. This post results from those wandering encounters.
Another of the illustrations from The Wild Swans – used on the cover: do you see the swans? The second picture above – of the four swans – is also from the book. The illustrator is Alex Jardine, about whom I have been able to find very little, other than he was British, lived from 1913 to 1987, wrote and illustrated books on angling, and designed a number of postage stamps. I was also keen to find out more about the author of this book – Ethel Mannin (shown above next to the book cover) – and initially came across scant information, until I discovered a connection with W B Yeats. Then, by dipping and diving through letters and articles specifically by and about Yeats, I was able to put together some often surprising details on her life.
Above left – Alex Jardine's illustration for The Wild Swans showing Finola – beautifully detailed and with intriguingly distorted perspective (suitable for a 'modern' legend?); above right – for comparison, an illustration from the same period (1950s) of wild geese by prolific British illustrator Charles Tunnicliffe: a scene which looks uncannily like a peninsula from the west coast of Ireland
Ethel Mannin was born in 1900 in London, and died in 1984. None of her writings is in print today and she is now little regarded, yet in her lifetime she wrote and had published well over a hundred volumes, half of which were novels and others which included short stories, children's books, travel books, autobiographies and works on literature, politics and her contemporary world. On the fly-leaf to The Wild Swans – published in 1952 – is the statement:
Her reputation as a writer is founded on her honesty and unorthodoxy. For some years past she has done most of her writing in retreat in a cottage in the remotest west of Ireland, the country of her ancestors . . .
Mannin traced her family background to the O'Mainnin owners of Melough Castle, Co Galway. In 1940 she settled close to Mannin Bay in Connemara, renting a cottage which she eventually bought in 1945. She spoke at public meetings against the Partition of Ireland – 'the imperialist problem nearest home' – and was elected Chairman of the West London Anti-Partition Committee. Her travels included India (where she attended a World Pacifist Conference and tore up her diary en route, throwing it overboard in the Indian Ocean, and found Hinduism repellent 'with its lingam cult'), Burma, Morocco, Sweden, the Soviet Union, Brittany, where she befriended Cartier-Bresson.
I found more wild swans in this illustration by Charles Tunnicliffe from the 1927 best-seller and Hawthornden Prize winner Tarka the Otter: His Joyful Water-Life and Death in the Country of the Two Rivers by nature writer Henry Williamson. Tarka captured the public imagination and has never been out of print, even though Williamson himself became unpopular following his support for Oswald Mosley and fascism
Ethel Mannin met W B Yeats in the 1930s and they became lovers. Their relationship was reported by Brenda Maddox in Yeats's Ghosts: The Secret Life of W B Yeats, Harper Collins 1999:
Ethel Mannin was a rationalist and skeptical, he mystical and credulous. Politics divided them too. She was left-wing, just short of being a Marxist, and had recently returned starry-eyed from the Soviet Union; his leanings were firmly the other way. But that hardly mattered when, as a companion, she was brilliant, fun, and full of the salty talk that Yeats adored. She was not worried about his cultural baggage: "Yeats full of Burgundy and racy reminiscence was Yeats released from the Celtic Twilight and treading the antic hay with abundant zest."
In 2014, to mark the 75th anniversary of Yeats' death, Jonathan deBurca Butler wrote in the Irish Independent newspaper an article titled The Many Women of W B Yeats. This is an extract:
In 1934, Yeats, who had been suffering from both sexual and artistic impotence for three years, had a Steinach operation, a type of vasectomy, which was said by its supporters to increase energy and sexual vigour in men. According to Yeats, the procedure worked and he claimed to go through what he called "a second puberty". Shortly after the operation, Ethel Mannin, a 34-year-old writer and member of the World League for Sexual Reform, was called on to "test the operation's efficacy". The test was by all accounts unsuccessful but it showed Yeats was still inclined towards trying his hand. If all else failed he could still arouse his mind . . .
This 'swans' illustration is almost exactly contemporary with Ethel Mannin's The Wild Swans. Robert Gibbings wrote and beautifully illustrated Sweet Cork Of Thee, which was published by J M Dent in 1951
Ethel Mannin married twice, and had one daughter, Jean, after which ' . . .she espoused the idea that a masculine mind better suited women writers than motherhood . . . ' Apart from W B Yeats she also had an affair with Bertrand Russell. In her later years, Ethel returned to England and lived out her life in Devon – also, incidentally, the home of Henry Williamson. I have been chasing the works of Ethel Mannin, and have succeeded in recently locating some very inexpensive used copies on the internet – including some of her biographical works. Once I have these I may have more to report on her connections with Ireland. Meanwhile, I can only recommend The Wild Swans for its romanticism and imagination – and its seductive illustrations. And, of course, for its connections with Finola!
Because of the Yeats connection, it seems appropriate to quote his poem The Wild Swans at Coole (1916):
The trees are in their autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky;
Upon the brimming water among the stones
Are nine-and-fifty swans.
The nineteenth autumn has come upon me
Since I first made my count;
I saw, before I had well finished,
All suddenly mount
And scatter wheeling in great broken rings
Upon their clamorous wings.
I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,
And now my heart is sore.
All's changed since I, hearing at twilight,
The first time on this shore,
The bell-beat of their wings above my head,
Trod with a lighter tread.
Unwearied still, lover by lover,
They paddle in the cold
Companionable streams or climb the air;
Their hearts have not grown old;
Passion or conquest, wander where they will,
Attend upon them still.
But now they drift on the still water,
Mysterious, beautiful;
Among what rushes will they build,
By what lake's edge or pool
Delight men's eyes when I awake some day
To find they have flown away?