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Ultracraft Cabinets Destiny Line Dealer Showroom in Scottsdale AZ Ultracraft Cabinets Destiny Line Dealer Showroom in Scottsdale AZ Posted by Tony Thomas on July 23, 2017 Scottsdale, AZ Ultracraft Destiny Cabinet Line Dealer Showroom Light neutrals used together create a feeling of spaciousness. Subtle patterns in counters and back splashes can spice up the room’s personality and here, under-cabinet lighting adds a flicker of life. If you or someone you know is looking to do some kitchen remodeling, stop in our showroom located at 14224 N. Scottsdale Rd, Suite 175 Scottsdale, AZ 85254. You can call us at 1-480-588-2213 or visit our website at http://kitchen.cabinetandstone.com

Dr. James Levine’s work on Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, or NEAT for short, sheds light on how modern offices are taking our bodies to their limits. Sitting for over 13 hours a day, sleeping for 8 more, and moving for just 3 isn’t exactly healthy or in your best interest as an individual. All the sitting we do is the cause of severe health conditions like obesity and increased blood pressure. Not to mention the fact that in the long-term these ailments and the time needed to treat them will adversely affect your productivity. So, employers need to be very concerned about this loss of productivity and perhaps swap out those comfy chairs and make room for a healthier and more productive alternative, standing desks. Why Employers Should Stand-up and Take Notice? A small group of employees working at the Draugiem Group decided to test the productivity theory for themselves. They invested in standing desks and measured how their performance improved by tracking time and productivity. The group tested both sitting vs. standing. The results were astounding. According to the figures, their productivity increased by 10% when standing. How is a 10% increase in productivity even possible by just switching sitting for standing? Well for starters when employees feel as though their employer cares about them, there is an estimated 38% engagement with working and producing results. Though there are other factors that also need to be considered, three of the most prominent are: Higher Energy levels: Those who worked while standing at a standing desk reported that their energy levels stabilized. What that did was allow for them to work for longer without experiencing afternoon sluggishness. Improvement in morale: Companies that provided standing work desks like Twitter, Facebook and Google reported having improved employee health and much better workplace productivity. Obviously healthy employees are more energetic and have high morale. Laser focus: When people stand they tend to avoid trying to multi-task. That, in turn, improves their concentration and there is an underlying sense of urgency to get things done. When employees sit, they are often and easily distracted by social media websites, checking their text messages or sending emails. American Society of Interior Designers Foundation’s Study Another study conducted by the American Society of Interior Designers Foundation, or ASIDF, with the objective of finding the impacts of using adjustable workstations on employee wellness, health and productivity, found a direct correlation between standing desks and higher productivity after a year. After just 12 months of implementing standing desks in an office, 88% of the participants reported that these were convenient. 65% said that it led to higher productivity and 65% indicated that it had a positive effect on their health. Participants also reported having better concentration when using standing or adjustable desks. Conclusion Productivity depends a great deal on an employee’s health and morale. So, any business that’s able to raise both moral and health standards will obviously benefit from higher productivity across the board making standing desk converters or electric standing desks a must have for any business.

Wally Sizer, Mathematics, had a paper “Period two solutions to some systems of rational difference equations” published in the book “Differential and Difference Equations with Applications,” edited by Sandra Pinelas, Michel Chipot, and Zuzana Dusla, and published by Springer Verlag.

If your looking for someone to go ALL IN on your music to make it the best possible quality, then Hit Me Up. I have over a decade of Audio Experience from Engineering and Mixing in Studios from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. Ive been blessed also to have produced from so many of the most talented artist from around the world. Peace & Blessings to YOU Harvest Media Company produces, mixes & masters remotely in all major genres. In addition, we clean up vocals, and tighten up arrangements. If you have an idea, but are unsure as to which direction you need to go, we have you covered. (query about our custom tracks, album cover design, sample clearance and distribution services). I am a Musician and Audio Engineer. I've been writing, producing music and mixing/mastering music for over 5 years. I began engineering for other artists a couple years ago. I'm a good guy and want the work I do to be professional, standard, and the best quality it can be. I would love to work with you and make your music sound fantastic. From overdub recording his own music as a child using two ghetto blasters with built-in mics, to mixing bands with dozens of inputs through line array PA systems and everything in between, Caley's 20+ years of passion in music and sound are an asset to all projects he works on. The Anarchy House is a full service music and entertainment collective founded in Los Angeles, CA. Our staff have worked with the likes of Britney Spears, Bruno Mars, Ke$ha, Lil' Wayne, Tyga, Bone Thugz N Harmony, Game, and many more. We have done work for labels such as Capitol Records, Universal Republic, RCA, Warner Bros. Using the latest technologies, we can offer our experience to every author, song writer and performer. We offer a variety of services starting from a simple "Studio Experience day" to a full blown production with access to internationally acclaimed producer and musicians. We also offer freelance Live Sound engineering and recordings on location. Received technical degree from the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences. Currently am working as an Audio Visual Specialist for Tropicana Entertainment in live sound for some of the hottest entertainers on the casino circuit. HELLO MY NAME IS JOE NASH IM THE ENGINEER FOR OUR LABEL CERTIFIED AND AUTHORIZED RECORDS.IF YOU LOOKING FOR THAT BETTER SOUND CONTACT ME HERE THANKS AND GOD BLESS.TEAM 101 CHECK US OUT AND LIKE OUR FAN PAGE AT http://www.facebook.com/CertifiedandAuthorizedRecords Hey guys! My name is Jesse Bergeron and I have been in the recording industry for over 10 years. I have worked with over 85 bands/musicians. I want to bring the best out of you and capture memorable moments. My name is Xenontix, I have been working with music production for a while now and have been producing music for myself but also for other labels and artists. I'm using AbletonLive and will create a track for you. It can be any genre in EDM. I can create something from scratch, if you have a acapella or just a chord progression. The mix & mastering in the box is our terrain. Our passion is audio, and our goal is to offer our customers the best quality / price ratio, putting at your disposal years of experience in music and audio, as well as the latest and most revolutionary technologies available in the market. Everything to take your productions to the highest possible. As a professional songwriter, producer and sound engineer I worked for many famous artists. I have more than 17 years experience into the musical industry and big record labels such as Sony or Universal music have released many singles created by myself. No matter the style, pop, pop-rock, latin, ballads,..I´m very versatile and I can adapt to you. Hi, my name is Lomar, I'm a "One Stop Shop" for all of your Music production needs. Let's create something magical together. I have several years of experience in vocal demoing, producing, mixing and mastering. I have been involved with several music projects from start to finish. I know the process you're going through, let me make things easier. One-stop service if you'd like an ethnic/world instrument in your music. I'm a producer based in Singapore and have an access to any ethnic/world music instrument. Other than being able to record & produce any instrument for you, I'm also able to arrange and write scores for the instrumentalist. The Lunchbox Studio is a recording/mixing and production facility located at the slopes of Majella mountain, central Italy. The small village position makes the workflow pacific and relaxing. Focused on electronic, pop, rock and hip hop productions and mixes. You and beauty of your music expression is interesting for me. To adjust to modify and improve your creation for best, is what i'm going to do with your tracks. So if you are looking for making a really crazy deep stuff, contact [email protected] I'm a Nashville bass player and producer. I play weekly on WSM Radio's Nashville Cowboy Church, hosted by Dr. Harry Yates and his wife Joanne Cash Yates (Johnny Cash's sister). I also produce tracks in my home studio, do sessions, play live in bands and as a single, and write songs. I've been in the music biz forever, making records, recording bands, producing, engineering, writing & playing in bands. I've learned from the best of the NW, LA and Nashville. Have innovated a few things and am now utilizing my newest 'The PJ stereo mic array' (mono approach to stereo) where everything is recorded in a stereo field & sounds real Wismandrace is a 17 years old mix/ Mastering engineer And is capable of making any tracks go from dry to wet, which means he does his best to make sure you get what you are looking for in a perfect mixing. Wismandrace/ Huncho work with many local rappers in his area such as " soulja creep, koly p, Tommy Gun , Mary B. , smoke purpp and many more". I am professional music producer specializing in producing, mixing and mastering hip hop and trap music genres. With over 9 years of experience I have had the honor of collaborating with many well known names in the hip hop and rap industry and it would be my pleasure to work on your music project and make it a SUCCESS! I am a freelance audio engineer specializing in Production, Composition, Recording, Editing, and Mixing. I studied at SAE Adelaide where I completed a Diploma in Sound Production. Owner Manager at THA. A dedicated professional with over 13 years combined experience in sound engineering and music production, with a proven track record as Producer/Composer and Sound Engineer, specializing in electronic music. Clients include Caracol, Netflix, Canon. I am a keyboardist, programmer, music director who tours the world and loves to create amazing music with others. I am the MD for John Legend and many others. credits including KanYe West, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Teddy Riley and more. Over 10 years of experience in audio production with a B.S. in audio production and course directors’ awards in mixing from Full Sail University. I own and operate a certified Pro Tools recording studio here in Kansas City Missouri and have mixed songs for popular artist such as Lil Scrappy, Mozzy, and many others. carlos (CA) is an award-nominated producer and programmer who's work has been featured in commercials, podcasts, films and much more. With heavy influences in Urban, R&B and Gospel, his style is quickly being known as one with a unique sound. CA is promised to be a chart-topping, multiplatinum-selling producer with catchy melodies, memorable b Songwriter, session musician, engineer, and producer working out of Florida working both live and studio gigs. Worked on everything from trap to pop to heavy metal to CCM. Fast work turnaround, quick and open communication on projects, quality guarantee. All music posted was played, produced, and engineered by me. I'm a Session Piano/Keys player and Music Producer. I've published 16 records of my own, and participated on more than 30 music records. I'm available as a Professional Session Musician, covering a wide variety of instruments and genres. Lazy Keys (aka Matthew Shaffner) is a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and engineer with a background in a wide array of genres including Indie/Alternative Rock, Hip Hop, RnB, Funk, Disco, and more. His vocal style is very powerful and was derived from such inspirations as Muse, Coldplay, New Politics, Cold War Kids, and Mutemath. I'm a musician/engineer in the Philadelphia area with an ear that is always pressed to the ground, looking for new artists to create with. Please check out some of my stuff and hit me up to talk about making music in the studio or on the stage, it's all the same to me!! More details to follow....

More Like This Preview Most Staphylococcus aureus infections are endogenously acquired, and treatment of nasal carriage is one potential strategy for prevention. We critically appraised the published evidence regarding the efficacy of intranasal mupirocin for eradication of S. aureus nasal carriage and for prophylaxis of infection. Sixteen randomized, controlled trials were appraised; 9 trials assessed eradication of colonization as a primary outcome measure, and 7 assessed the reduction in the rate of infection. Mupirocin was generally highly effective for eradication of nasal carriage in the short term.... Most Staphylococcus aureus infections are endogenously acquired, and treatment of nasal carriage is one potential strategy for prevention. We critically appraised the published evidence regarding the efficacy of intranasal mupirocin for eradication of S. aureus nasal carriage and for prophylaxis of infection. Sixteen randomized, controlled trials were appraised; 9 trials assessed eradication of colonization as a primary outcome measure, and 7 assessed the reduction in the rate of infection. Mupirocin was generally highly effective for eradication of nasal carriage in the short term. Prophylactic treatment of patients with intranasal mupirocin in large trials did not lead to a significant reduction in the overall rate of infections. However, subgroup analyses and several small studies revealed lower rates of S. aureus infection among selected populations of patients with nasal carriage treated with mupirocin. Although mupirocin is effective at reducing nasal carriage, routine use of topical intranasal mupirocin for infection prophylaxis is not supported by the currently available evidence.

FIFA will not replace Saudi World Cup ref banned for match-fixing [5/30/2018 5:43:10 PM] AMMONNEWS - The World Cup referee given a life ban in his homeland Saudi Arabia earlier this month for a match-fixing attempt will not be replaced at the tournament in Russia, global soccer body FIFA said on Wednesday. The Saudi Arabia Football Federation said two weeks ago that it had barred referee Fahad Al Mirdasi after he confessed to offering to fix the final of his country's domestic cup competition. FIFA confirmed in a statement to Reuters that Al Mirdasi’s World Cup selection had been “withdrawn with immediate effect.” “The FIFA Referees Committee has taken the decision not to directly replace Al Mirdasi,” it said, adding that the two assistant referees in his team, Mohammed Al Abakry and Abdulah Alshalwai, had also been dropped.

Job State Job is very simple, you have just to write the name of restaurant in the font as in sample, and you will get $10. Do not bid if budget does not suit your highness. Check font here. [login to view URL] or attached. You will be given Logo. start your proposal with GURU, or your big will be deleted. I'm looking for a custom font for my game and my website, plus a few other vector images for parameter button, loading image, etc, all in a same industrial/factory/war style. Please add an example on what you can do in order for me to make my choice. I'm looking for good work and people that I could recontact in the future if I'm happy with the So we are already satisfied with the overall logo. What we need is the Black American piece of the logo to be redone for it to look better on clothing. So focus on...are already satisfied with the overall logo. What we need is the Black American piece of the logo to be redone for it to look better on clothing. So focus on Black American font only. ...L with one vest sized to specific measurements, and finally make them. Included are photos of the vest we want to base this off of. This will be a small but likely ongoing project if it works out, the goal is to have these made at a reasonable cost to us so as to be able to offer them for sale at a fair cost. If this interests you please reach out to MeiSUN's missoion is to make people never get bored of their clothes. The principle of the company is to make each pieces wisely. We create variety different styles by using limited pieces. We do multi-functional women’s clothing boutique that priorty eco-friendly items. We are now creating our new collection, and need a fantastic pattern maker, who can work out Muti-fuctional pattern... We are a soon to be fashion brand, based in West Sussex. Who are in need of ...designer to complete our almost finished Brand logo. The final tweaks to our design consist of - reducing the size of the space between. - completing a smooth arc that our font has. It had been slightly adjusted before and has become out of symmetric line a little bit.

Mega Sale! Save 26% on the Religious Obsession Gold Filled Baby Badge with St. Victor of Marseilles Charm and Badge Pin with Cross by Religious Obsession at Wow In The Details. MPN: Jewels-9223GF/0731GF. Hurry! Limited time offer. Offer valid only while supplies last. We take great care in creating superior detail in our die-struck medals. This is a gold filled 2004 charm Product Description We take great care in creating superior detail in our die-struck medals. This is a gold filled 2004 charm pendant. Features & Highlights 30 Day Money Back Guarantee Gold Filled Baby Badge with St. Victor of Marseilles Charm and Badge Pin with Cross Have questions about this item, or would like to inquire about a custom or bulk order? If you have any questions about this product by Religious Obsession, contact us by completing and submitting the form below. If you are looking for a specif part number, please include it with your message. We take great care in creating superior detail in our die-struck medals. This is a gold filled 2004 charm pendant.30 Day Money Back Guarantee. Gold Filled Baby Badge with St. John Bosco Charm and Angel with Wings Badge Pin. Baby Badge. 1 1/8 X 1 1/8.... Julia is a Latin name which means "gentle" or "youthful". The same meaning applies to other forms of Julia such as Julie, Julianne, Juliet and Jules.Length: 4.25" - Width: 3". Reverse side of cross reads: "To A Very Special Child!" and From: (Mu...

NYPD spies on liberals After revealing that NYPD has been spying on New York Muslims for years since 9/11, the Associated Press reports that the Big Apple Police force has also been doing the same with the city's liberals. Undercover cops were sent to collect information at meetings of peaceful liberal activists and created a database on certain leaders who planned protests across America. This is according to NYPD documents obtained by the AP that show how lawful activities were at the center of law enforcement's counter-terrorism efforts. The NYPD is no stranger to using controversial tactics to start profiling individuals and the extensive history of penetrating political groups repeats the happenings of a case in 2004. Eight years ago, law enforcement spied on religious groups, environmental activists and anti-war organizations across the country leading up to the Republican National Convention. These procedures were kept secret until they were later revealed in a New York Times article three years later. The notorious practices sparked an ongoing federal civil rights lawsuit over how the police behaved toward convention activists. According to the police, the spying was essential in preparing for the massive crowds that were expected in the Big Apple. In a document recently obtained by the Associated Press, the spying continued way past the Republican Convention. The report includes cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and New Orleans as some of the places members of the police squad visited to gather intelligence. "There was no political surveillance," said David Cohen, the NYPD’s top intelligence officer to the AP. Cohen’s testimony is part of the ongoing lawsuit over NYPD's handling of protesters at the Republican Convention. "This was a program designed to determine in advance the likelihood of unlawful activity or acts of violence," Cohen added. One such individual who was caught up in Cohen’s task force was Jordan Flaherty. Flaherty’s name appeared in one of the police reports which were obtained by the AP. Flaherty, a writer for The Huffington Post, attended the People’s Summit in New Orleans back in 2008. The summit is known as a convention for liberal groups who oppose America’s stance on economic policy and the effect trade agreements have on the US, Mexico and Canada to come together. As Flaherty introduced a film, he was unaware that an undercover NYPD officer was in the crowd observing his every move and listening to every word. "One workshop was led by Jordan Flaherty, former member of the International Solidarity Movement Chapter in New York City," officers wrote in April 25, 2008. "Mr. Flaherty is an editor and journalist of the Left Turn Magazine and was one of the main organizers of the conference. Mr. Flaherty held a discussion calling for the increase of the divestment campaign of Israel and mentioned two events related to Palestine,” the report stated. According to Flaherty, the event in the report was a film festival in New Orleans that same week, but the journalist said the film he presented wasn’t related to the summit and believes that law enforcement isn’t being straight forward about the reach of their spying task force. "The only threat was the threat of ideas," Flaherty said. NYPD has been under fire recently for spying on Muslims students. In 2009 three NYPD officers went to speak to local authorities to investigate the students who were attending the University at Buffalo. According to the police, their mission was “to develop assets jointly in the Buffalo area, to act as listening posts within the ethnic Somali community.” NYPD in the past has defended its work, claiming the threat of terrorism means police cannot wait for a crime to happen in order for officers to open an investigation. Under the department's policy officers are allowed to go anywhere the public goes and can prepare reports for "operational planning." The NYPD’s tactics have been compared to the "pre-crime" unit in the film Minority Report, where people are arrested for crimes that they have not yet committed, but are expected to – which results in many people fearing their practices. "I think this idea of secret police following you around is terrifying. It really has an effect of spreading fear and quashing dissent."

White House rejects Boehner's claim Obama wants to control the Internet An administration official slammed House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday after he claimed President Obama wants to "control the Internet." "The administration wants the U.S. government to have less access to information not an unlimited amount as the House Republican leadership and backers of [the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act] propose," the official said in an emailed statement. CISPA, which passed the House on Thursday evening, would remove legal barriers that prevent companies from sharing information about cyber threats, but the White House has threatened to veto the bill. ADVERTISEMENT The administration said CISPA lacks adequate privacy protections and would encourage companies to hand over people's personal information to military spy agencies. They also criticized the measure for not including mandatory security standards for critical infrastructure systems, such as electrical grids, banks or chemical plants. But House Republicans argue that mandatory standards would impose unnecessary and burdensome regulations on businesses. “The White House believes the government ought to control the Internet, government ought to set standards and government ought to take care of everything that’s needed for cybersecurity," Boehner said during his weekly press conference Thursday. He said CISPA and other cybersecurity bills the House will vote on this week are "commonsense steps that will allow people to communicate with each other, to work together, to build the walls that are necessary in order to prevent cyber terrorism from occurring." But the administration official said, "CISPA would trample the privacy and consumer rights of our citizens while leaving our critical infrastructure vulnerable." "We need Congress to address this critical national and economic security challenge while respecting the values of freedom, privacy, openness, and innovation so fundamental to our nation," the official said.

Related Stories Topics: Israeli and Palestinian officials over the weekend again signaled how very far they are from reaching a compromise peace agreement, just days after Western leaders who apparently have their eyes tightly shut and their fingers firmly planted in their ears declared that the peace process was picking up pace. Israel and the Palestinian Authority "have been engaged now in 13 meetings - serious meetings," US Secretary of State John Kerry stated last week. "All the core issues are on the table. And they have been meeting with increased intensity." That assessment was echoed just days later by UN Under Secretary-General Jeffrey Feltman, who optimistically announced that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was "picking up pace." But a Palestinian official who spoke to Israel's Channel 2 News over the weekend revealed that the two sides remain as far apart as ever in their respective positions. The Palestinians are now insisting that any land swaps with Israel amount to a maximum of 1.9 percent of the so-called "West Bank," less than half the amount of land needed to incorporate all of the major Jewish settlement blocs inside Israel's recognized borders. The Palestinians also continue to demand control over half of Jerusalem, freedom for all jailed Palestinian terrorists, and the right for millions of "Palestinian refugees" to take up residence inside the Jewish state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the leaked demands at Sunday's cabinet meeting, explaining that Israel places great importance on the unity of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty, and will never allow its own demographic destruction by opening its gates to the bulk of Palestinian refugees. Want more news from Israel?Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates

Covers every aspect of Youth, Virtually. A voice that never ages... Phenomenal songs for over 3 decades... Soulful, youthful and romantic melodies... Backing a range of actors... Adding taste to ordinary characters... 5 Filmfares for the Best Playback Singer... He is non other than... Udit Narayan... The voice of the era...SILVER BELLS AT CH&FC GROUNDSBy Mandulee Mendis Harmonious melodies mingled with Indian beat filled the air of CH & FC grounds on 16 th night. The long awaited concert commenced at 7 p.m. with a fascinating dance performed to some Bollywood hits and the dancers included famous Sri Lankan stars Roshan Ranawana, Shalini Tharaka, Suraj Mapa, Akalanka Ganegama and Shashila. Glamour was sprinkled on the audience with the first song of the star of the night: Udit Narayan. It was a blast! The thrill sustained the same till the end until he came out with all his songs followed by few other stars specially including his wife Deepa Narayan. The stage gleamed more, with the splendor and the fascination of local dancers and Bollywood dances added glitter to it. The concert that prolonged till 11.30 p.m. was an obvious success and it was a tremendous work of 20 days which included complete preparation and swift promotion. Everyone could see with a sense of awe, the admirable work of the organizers :specifically Balcony 6 Entertainment, Sandaruwan Thenuwara, Carmen Thenuwara and Gayan Thenuwara ; the sound suppliers: Malinda Lowe (Universal Sounds), Stage lighting: MOS Pvt. Ltd and the promoters specially including MBC networks. On behalf of the organizers, Xtream youth thank each and everyone who did the duties to the best of their ability since 15th June morning when Udit Narayan stepped here in Sri Lanka, during the press conference at Taj Samudra hotel that evening, and during the climax: the magnificent concert which was an apparent success.

August 9, 2016 Happy Monday everyone! Not sure about you, but right now I’m loving all the blues and navy’s! It really feels like a neutral to me right now, I catch myself adding a bit of blue here and a bit of blue there. That includes fashion and decorative pieces for my home too! If you love whites and that airy aesthetic, then I think you might just like to add in some of those blues hues! And for that matter, it’s forever classic! -SHOP THE POST- JavaScript is currently disabled in this browser. Reactivate it to view this content.

An Introduction To Interior Paintings Designs And Paints This All About Interior Design information will guide you about the most appropriate options available in Interior Painting Designs, paints and colors, you should tutor yourself on the basics used in interior paints because the colors and paints used for interior are not the same used outside. The paints used to cover the exterior of the house have more resistant power against moisture and harsh climatic conditions. The paints used outside have more concentration of pigments to prevent an early fading of the shine and they can withstand weathering effects for a longer period. Paints used inside are diverse in nature and colors suiting different forms of surfaces, so it very crucial to put the right paints on the appropriate surface for everlasting finish. Interior Painting Designs and colors are selected on the basis of area and the function the paint is used for, as the options are many so both should complement each other. Paints rich in gloss and resin should be applied on surfaces where there are heavy movements like kitchen, passage ways, car parks and utility rooms. They become hard when dry and do not dress out easily. Such paints look good because of giving shine and gloss and make the space look fabulous even in dark tones. Latex paints are best for use on stones, rocks and brick walls as they are water base paints and can smash up wood walls and iron works. These paints give a very fine result when used on walls already painted with heavy gloss paints. For rustic and matte looks rubber paints can be used. They are very durable, easily cleaned and sustained. They are well-suited on bricks, stone and clay walls. For ceilings paints with low concentration of resin are used because ceilings are usually not touched and they do not undergo scratches. Interior paintings designs and patterns are made on walls and ceilings by special texture paints. Texture paints are of two types, alkyd and latex paints. To give walls different textures paints with sand particles are sprayed so that it gives embossed textures to the walls. Wood is a difficult material to paint and suits with oil based paints like alkyd paints. Alkyd paints can be used to cover all types of wood surface and walls layered with primers. Bathroom also needs special considerations and points to focus before painting and more important is the type you choose not the color. The inside of the bathroom has a high percentage of moisture and steam and provides home to many types of moulds and fungus. Therefore it is obvious to select the paint which is water repulsive and does allow the growth of moulds. The most excellent types easily available in the market are shades of “interior latex with mildew inhibitors.” The shade of color should depend on the size of bathroom, if the bathroom is small in size and to give it spacious look go for light pastels in the background and decorate it with darker color splashes or designs on it. If the bathroom is tiled than even the paint should also match with it. 0 comments: Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment. Several ways to have Tropical Living Room Do you just want to escape somewhere living in a typical past way? Do you want to get into the lives of traditional tribe where there would be the tropical climate? Sounds interesting, isn’t it? If it so then you should take care of many things. You should manage from kitchen to the type of house you are living in. It gets different when you are living in a place where you are making a new house as you can manage everything from a totally new way. You can also make several types of amendment of many rooms of the house. Like this, you can have various ways of making a tropical living room. You do not need to spend millions to do this. Making a New Home Matching Tropical Climate It just needs some tint of perseverance as well as courage to get into a new ways of living. First thing you should do before planning other things is that you should get a land. May be you would like to live in some spare land in midst of forest. May be you would like to live somewhere in the midst of country people. May be you would like to live somewhere where there are hills and waterfalls? You should first decide these things. After this, you can jump to other plans. Like this, you may also want to get a garden and the plants that live in the same climate. You can go for it! Maintenance of Garden for Tropical Climate As per the garden outside your house, you can manage different things. You can choose the plants that give various types of fruits that grow in various seasons. You should at least try to get the type of plants and the flowers so that your garden does not seem totally dull in some season. Let your garden design ideas show all the joy and the status of the nature as per the season it has got for tropical living room. You should also make the necessary types of the caring in time to time. Putting water to the roots and also using manure as necessary. You can also study about different plants of tropical climate. Normally, garden boxes can be used for the use of various types of plants there in the house. Then, you should also take care of the design. When you have a full garden design ideas but every plant and the flower is in every place without proper way to walk with, your garden design ideas looks all mess in spite of all the things you have managed with labor. After this, you should also make the kitchen managed as a part of your living room? You should buy various storage shelves that reflect nature. In an ideal kitchen that shows tropical climate for tropical living room, it is necessary that you should put several of the food items such as they have grown there themselves in the room. You should get the shelves so that you can also differentiate the different places for the foods like dry foods. It is also necessary for other things like equipment storage. Different types of equipments like knives, spoons, these things help the kitchen to be better and an ideal one fortropical themed living room Several Types of Kids Storage Ideas Is your kids’ room a mess? Do you always plan something good and suggest to them but in spite of this, is there no change in your kids’ room? Do not worry; it is the condition of most families. All you need to be is a little bit patients and try to figure out things for your kids’ room needed. May be your kid is a real nerd who is always fond of books and these are only problems for all the mess of your kids’ room. May be your kid is really distracted due to various things which does not allow time for him/her to manage the,things of the room. In these conditions, including your kids don’t obey!, you can plan forkids storage ideas so that there is always clean as well as proper sanitation there in your kids room. First of all, you should manage the shoes and slippers your kids use. You can get various shoes boxers so that your kids have a habit of putting off their shoes or slippers out there which will allow the mess of the room to be little less. Establishing this habit will surely make the kids advantageous in future too. Likewise, you can also make various types of shoes boxes and decorate them. Making the Shoe Boxes as Kids Storage Ideas First of all, you can use those shoe boxes for putting several of the materials too. There may be coins, marbles, puzzles, art blocks or small playing things that are acting as clutter in your kids’ room. You can put them in the shoe box you have just prepared. You should not mistake of putting the box as plain as it is. You should always entice the children with various colorful things so that your children get joyful and try to look the box every time they need. You can use several of the crayons and colors out there to make different types of arts there in the box. You can also write something interesting that fascinates the kids. After that, you can use various lockers for storing several things. The main advantage of having lockers is that your kids learn about the secrecy maintenance to be done there. Put the locker in a suitable place where there can be safety as well as it increases in the decoration of the room. You can also put different types of drawers in your kids’ room. You can suggest them for the things that need to be done. Normally, when there are lots of drawers in the room that makes the room hectic. Putting Various Types of Arts You need to make a routine as well as index type of thing so that they learn where to place the things. Similarly, other main thing that is to be done is that you should make your kids’ room really attractive. You can put various types of colorful arts, picturesque of landscapes as well as different photos of the anime that your children get fascinated with. With these things, you can have different kids storage ideas for kids’ room. You should also not forget to make it simple and plain so that your kids learn something from it. Making the House Ceiling Design Look Magnificent Do you want to increase the beauty of your room with several of the ideas? When it has come to the ceiling design there are several of the ways you can make your ceiling better. First you can choose variable colors. First, you can go with the virtual image in computer or in drafts. You can use various types of graphs to analyze different parts of your room. The crucial point is that it should be properly done. With these ways, you can also add different paintings or something that has poetry or some good art as for house ceiling design. Using of Famous House Ceiling Design for Decoration You could also make something if you have got the creative streak there. Embellishment is always better for such sorts for house ceiling design. You can also use famous designs that can provide great storage of the things of the room. The room contains surely various types of things. There may be small things that destroy the good imagery of the room itself. The small things can be used to put in the box so that it looks clean and good. You can also paint in the walls using various ideas. This is because it also affects for the ceiling’s designs too. You can use various types of shading and lighting as per the room’s lighting and shading. Then you also should check over the proper lighting. Color the walls if necessary. You should also use the proper curtains, colors and direction of the things of your room to make a proper effect to be seen in ceiling. Try to use colors that last long that are durable. It is not required that you should use the popular companies’ colors. First requirement is that you should choose one that is durable. Management of Other Parts of the Room After that, you can come to some decorative choices. This also should be done if your budget allows for it. After this, you should go for the design. Design is highly important in the decoration of ceiling as it is the thing that really defines it. It is the main thing that people’s eyes go to when they enter the room. It is probably the biggest furniture that is used in the room. Every small thing should be given a stylish touch. You also should buy other things to make the ceiling look better. Suppose you are designing for the elitist room with few elitist things. When you are thinking of buying various things for the room, you should not just get into the supermarkets aiming for expensive things. You should know you should spend the money wisely. You should choose required things and manage them as beautifully as you can as. This is the main reason. You should not blunder of going to expensive type of stores. Do you know you could also buy secondhand things for this purpose? You may be puzzled. But, there are several of the cases where students have maintained the decoration sophisticated as well as intimidating with some secondhand thrift too. You can also get online help from various designers. Therefore, in these ways, you can get interior design photos and make your room look better.

Hi all, if possible I'd like to work on three topic this year. (a) the cross-compilation for modular xorg (_except_ the server) (b) the refinement and integration of the new bulk build code (c) providing an interface for bulk build data from "official" builds similiar to pgksrc.se and pointyhat. Let me go somewhat in detail and I'm interested to hear your feedback. For a) This is an item from the main project list. Being able to compile modular Xorg from pkgsrc will basically allow us to get rid of xsrc, reducing maintaince and improving hardware support on many newer architectures. The Xorg server is not included for now, because it is one of the pieces which include a lot of platform specific magic and is therefore a lot more special. This is not such a big problem from the NetBSD perspective as many of the slower platforms have more special needs in that area anyway. From the pkgsrc perspective, I need to clean up the tool dependencies and verify the correctness of possible buildlink dependencies. The goal would be to make all native programs needed for cross-compilation use the tool framework and not depend on b3.mk. A side dependency for this is the DESTDIR support, but I have the missing pieces for proper working support mostly done in pre-commit state. The Xorg packages I've commited myself already support this anyway as should most, if not all of the dependencies. For b) This is also a long running item from the project list. The short answer is that the code is working and in active use for the DragonFly bulk builds. There's at least one other developer using it as well. The system needs quite a bit of hand-holding right now and doesn't support some of the features of the old infrastructure (e.g. limited bulk builds). The code is flexible enough that it should be possible to handle that, but I want to extend it in some areas anyway. Wish list items are welcome. The project would of course be to get it ready for full inclusion and as replacement of mk/bulk in all cases. For c) This is an area which interests me most. I want to establish something similiar to FreeBSD's automatic build system (http://pointyhat.freebsd.org) with the focus on the following items: (1) Which package is broken on which platforms? (2) How did that change over time? (3) Do I (as maintainer) want to be informed about changes automatically or not? This is meant to reduce the workload for wizd, but with some computation power in the backend this will help every user of pkgsrc. With the help of (b), it is possible for me to do a full (!) bulk build in around 4 days for DragonFly, at least the other AMD64 and IA32 systems should be similiar. That helps to catch a lot of common regressions fast, but catching them and fixing them is not the same. For the latter, you have to be know about the breakage :-) Joerg

Cook – Weekly Apprenticeship Training System (WATS) Develop a recipe for success Breadcrumb Contact us If you have an interest in preparing food, possess a keen sense of taste and smell, and are creatively-inclined, you have all the ingredients for a Red Seal designation – combine them in the Cook Apprenticeship. With the right combination of ingredients, training and skill, you can create magic in the kitchen. And your recipe for success can be found in the Cook – Weekly Apprenticeship Training System (WATS) program. From catering special banquets to preparing meals for large institutions to cooking up gourmet delights in an upscale restaurant, your Cook Apprenticeship prepares you for it all. This three-year apprenticeship takes place with your needs in mind. One day a week is spent here at the college, expanding your expertise and gaining technical training vital to your culinary future. For the rest of the week, you’ll be putting what you’ve learned into practice on the job. It’s the perfect blend that allows you to pursue your education while continuing to earn an income. Prepare for your Red Seal exam and apply to the Cook Apprenticeship program today! Career opportunities In just three short years, you’ll be ready to write the Red Seal exam and pursue your career in: restaurants clubs institutions hotels bases and camps At-a-Glance Starts In: August Duration: 3 years Credential: Certified 'Journeyman' Papers Courses Delivery Format Classroom Learning Environment Weekly Apprenticeship Training System (WATS) programs involve one day of training at Lethbridge College per week throughout the length of the program. The perfect blend Spend just one day a week on campus gaining technical training vital to your career. Many apprenticeships require you to be on campus and away from the job for periods of eight weeks at a time. But with the Weekly Apprenticeship Training System, you remain employed on a full-time basis. Just one day a week is spent here on campus gaining technical training vital to your career. It’s what we call the perfect blend. Hands-on, immersive training Students serving students Students serving students Unlike most culinary programs where, for cost-saving purposes, students learn by watching demos and are then expected to somehow survive in the industry, at Lethbridge College you’ll actually prepare food. In fact, you’ll be treated like an employee as you prepare all food on campus from scratch. That food is then used in upcoming menus for our Food Court and Garden Court dining room as well as banquets and special functions. Our Culinary Services experience truly is students serving students. With the exception of a required amount of theory (based on hours) in a traditional classroom, you’ll spend the majority of your time learning in kitchens and labs that emulate the restaurants, clubs and large scale operations like cruise ships and oil camps that will one day be your workplace. Culinary…sciences? Culinary…sciences? Though often referred to as the culinary arts, there is a whole other side to cooking: science. And in our culinary arts programs, we’re bringing that science into the classroom to improve your skills and expertise. Intrigued? You’ll have the opportunity to participate in ongoing organoleptic (sensory) testing led by Chef Rob Sonnenberg. It’s a test you can’t exactly prepare for. You’ll taste a variety of produce that could be from the aquaponics facilities a hundred metres away or from a store that’s a kilometer down the street. And your insights into things like preference, taste, look, smell and texture will help determine just how good the produce grown in our aquaponics facilities is. Skills Canada Skills Canada After a year or two here, you’ll have what it takes to compete with the best of the best in your field on the provincial and national stage at Skills Canada. The Skills Canada National Competition is the only national, multi-trade and technology competition for students and apprentices in the country. It’s an experience of lifetime, with the possibility of being named the nation’s best in your chosen field. That opportunity starts with the exceptional hands-on training you’ll receive at Lethbridge College. Red Seal designation The ultimate goal of your apprenticeship is to work towards obtaining a journeyman and Red Seal in Cooking at the end of three years. The Red Seal is the Canadian standard for excellence in skilled trades and is respected nationally and globally, opening up doors for your career. Our students can be found cooking in kitchens all over the world, competing in the World Culinary Olympics (and winning gold), supporting Culinary Team Alberta and Canada on the international stage, and opening up their own restaurants and establishments. Upon successful completion of your apprenticeships and exams, you’ll receive a Red Seal endorsement on your provincial trade certification. And with that designation, you’ll be able to go from here to wherever your career takes you. A taste of what's to come Around the world without leaving campus Our award-winning chefs will take you on a culinary expedition. A 100-metre meal? It’s possible with fresh ingredients from our Aquaculture Centre. A blast (of flavour) from the past It was part of the curriculum back in the '60s and it's still on the menu today. What’s for dessert? Pistachio and coconut lime gelato! From here to there: alumni updates Lethbridge College isn’t just a place to go to school – we’re a community that is here to support you from your initial interest in our program through to the moment you cross the stage at Convocation and beyond. Just take a look at where an LC education has taken some of our grads. Jennifer Cearns The Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training Board named Jennifer Cearns the 2016 Top Cooks Apprentice. “In addition to working full-time and taking care of her young family, Jennifer was a student in the Weekly Apprentice Training for Cooks program at the college,” says her instructor, Chef Rob Sonnenberg. “Jennifer was extremely hard-working. She would come to the college two hours before her class started to study (often encouraging others in the course to join her). She was driven to understand the science behind cooking and always wanted to know all the answers.” Cearns works for the Good Samaritans Society at Linden View in Taber. Debbie Johnson After graduation, Debbie worked in restaurants for a few years and then went to McGill University where she earned a B.Ed. degree. She has been teaching cooking for 22 years now and during that time, she earned a diploma in pastries and desserts and then went back to McGill where she received a Master’s degree in education. She says it’s “been a busy career, and loving it!”

Moonscoop Scores Four With MBC3 PARIS, 15 September 2010. Moonscoop, one of the leading worldwide distribution, brand management and entertainment companies, has expanded the presence of its animated shows in the Middle East by scoring a package deal with MBC3. The free tv channel has snapped up four new shows from Moonscoop’s distribution slate: Zevo-3 (26x30’), Gasp! (52x11’), The DaVincibles (52x11’) and Tara Duncan (26x30’). Marie Conge, Senior Vice President International Sales and CPG at Moonscoop said: “It’s fantastic to get such a strong response from a broadcaster to new programming. What makes these shows standout in the crowded animation market is the high mix of comedy and adventure, and also that they appeal equally to both boys and girls.” Zevo-3 is a new animated action/comedy series featuring three teens who develop super powers after being accidentally exposed to the Zevo compound, a dangerous genetic enhancer. Moonscoop is producing the show for Skechers Entertainment, and is also handling worldwide distribution. GASP is a “fin-slapping” funny animated comedy series based on the highly acclaimed comic book series by Australian author and illustrator Terry Denton. Told from the point of view of a friendly, lovable goldfish named Gasp, the series explores family relationships through the wacky adventures of pets left home alone. Gasp lives in a world where animals walk, talk and watch TV, guppies ride motorbikes, and goldfish surf the internet...that is when the humans aren't around. The series is produced by SLR Productions, in association with Screen Australia, Network Nine Australia, ABC Kids, Agogo and Moonscoop and targets kids 6-11 years. The DaVincibles (52x11) is a classic cartoon comedy adventure caper for 7-11 year olds which is co-created and co-produced by Moonscoop and Neo Network. Rai Fiction, SLR, Telegael and Big Animation are also on board as co-production partners, and broadcast deals have been signed with France’s Gulli and Seven in Australia. The series follows the comedic exploits of the modern-day DaVinci family, with Pablo and Zoe and friends balancing their day to day school assignments, social lives, and peer pressures, as they explore the world for rare artifacts to sell at Uncle Leo’s Kurios Kat antique shop. The series is filled with kid-relatable stories with over-the-top funny characters on madcap adventures to save the world, which lead them from the Arctic Circle to the Amazon Jungle to the pyramids of Egypt. Tara Duncan (26x22’) is new 2D animation for 8-12 year olds co-produced by Moonscoop and DQ Entertainment (DQE) with France’s M6 and Disney Channel France on board as broadcast partners. Moonscoop has worldwide distribution and licensing rights, with the exception of Asia which are handled by DQE. Moonscoop has already signed a raft of merchandising deals in stationery, back to school, charms and headwear categories. The animated show is based on the best-selling set of seven children’s fantasy books by Sophie Audouin-Mamikonian, which is already a publishing hit in France, Italy, Spain Portugal, Germany, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Romania and Bulgaria. Combining all the best elements of magic, comedy and action, the series follows the story of a beautiful teenage girl bestowed with magical powers who finds herself in a high stakes battle against evil forces from another world. Each episode starts with Tara finding herself in a quirky situation with the promise of a challenging adventure ahead. About MoonscoopMoonscoop is a leading worldwide kids production, distribution, brand management and entertainment company, focused on producing original projects and building brands with international appeal and longevity. Its rights library combines many of the most successful programs and best-loved animated creations in the global television market and includes over 3,000 half-hours of programming airing in more than 160 territories worldwide. Key brands include "Code Lyoko," "Fantastic Four," "Titeuf" (Tootuff), “Chloe’s Closet.” “Hero:108”, “Dive Olly Dive!” “Geronimo Stilton” and "Casper" which are licensed in markets around the world. Moonscoop’s production slate currently includes “Hero:108 2”, "Tara Duncan", “Geronimo Stilton season2”, “Casper season2”, "The Davincibles" and "Super Sportlets" and feature film of "Titeuf".

Kansas abortion-rights lobbyists Elise Higgins, left, and Holly Weatherford, watch the Senate's debate on anti-abortion legislation from the gallery on April 5. / John Hanna, AP by By John Hanna, Associated Press by By John Hanna, Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Kansas legislators gave final passage to a sweeping anti-abortion measure Friday night, sending Gov. Sam Brownback a bill that declares life begins "at fertilization" while blocking tax breaks for abortion providers and banning abortions performed solely because of the baby's sex. The House voted 90-30 for a compromise version of the bill reconciling differences between the two chambers, only hours after the Senate approved it, 28-10. The Republican governor is a strong abortion opponent, and supporters of the measure expect him to sign it into law so that the new restrictions take effect July 1. In addition to the bans on tax breaks and sex-selection abortions, the bill prohibits abortion providers from being involved in public school sex education classes and spells out in more detail what information doctors must provide to patients seeking abortions. The measure's language that life begins "at fertilization" had some abortion-rights supporters worrying that it could be used to legally harass providers. Abortion opponents call it a statement of principle and not an outright ban on terminating pregnancies. "The human is a magnificent piece of work at all stages of development, wondrous in every regard, from the microscopic until full development," said Sen. Steve Fitzgerald, a Leavenworth Republican who supported the bill. Abortion opponents argue the full measure lessens the state's entanglement with terminating pregnancies, but abortion-rights advocates say it threatens access to abortion services. The declaration that life begins at fertilization is embodied in "personhood" measures in other states. Such measures are aimed at revising their constitutions to ban all abortions, and none have been enacted, though North Dakota voters will have one on the ballot in 2014. But Kansas lawmakers aren't trying to change the state constitution, and the measure notes that any rights suggested by the language are limited by decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. It declared in its historic Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 that women have a right to obtain abortions in some circumstances, and has upheld that decision while allowing increasing restrictions by states. Thirteen states, including Missouri, have such language in their laws, according to the National Right to Life Committee. Sen. David Haley, a Kansas Democrat who opposed the bill, zeroed in on the statement, saying that supporters of the bill were pursuing a "Taliban-esque" course of letting religious views dictate policy limiting women's ability to make decisions about health care and whether they'll have children. And in the House, Rep. John Wilson, a Lawrence Democrat, complained that the bill was "about politics, not medicine." "It's the very definition of government intrusion in a woman's personal medical decisions," he said. Brownback has signed multiple anti-abortion measures into law, and the number of pregnancies terminated in the state has declined 11 percent since he took office in January 2011. The governor said he still has to review this year's bill thoroughly but added, "I am pro-life." This year's legislation is less restrictive than a new North Dakota law that bans abortions as early as the sixth week of pregnancy and a new Arkansas law prohibiting most abortions after the 12th week. But many abortion opponents still see it as a significant step. "There is a clear statement from Kansas with respect to the judgment on the inherent value of human life," said Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee Chairwoman Mary Pilcher-Cook, a Shawnee Republican and leading advocate for the measure. The bill passed despite any solid data on how many sex-selection abortions are performed in Kansas. A 2008 study by two Columbia University economists suggested the practice of aborting female fetuses - widespread in some nations where parents traditionally prefer sons - is done in the U.S. on a limited basis. But legislators on both sides of the issue said the practice should be banned, however frequent it is. The bill also would require physicians to give women information that addresses breast cancer as a potential risk of abortion. Advocates on both sides acknowledge there's medical evidence that carrying a fetus to term can lower a woman's risk for breast cancer, but doctors convened by the National Cancer Institute a decade ago concluded that abortion does not raise the risk for developing the disease. The provisions dealing with tax breaks are designed to prevent the state from subsidizing abortions, even indirectly. For example, health care providers don't have the pay the state sales tax on items they purchase, but the bill would deny that break to abortion providers. Also, a woman could not include abortion costs if she deducts medical expenses on her income taxes. "Every taxpayer will be able to know with certainty that their money is not being used for abortion," Pilcher-Cook said. But Jordan Goldberg, state advocacy counsel for the New York City-based Center for Reproductive Rights, called the tax provisions "appalling and discriminatory." "It's probably, if not definitely unconstitutional, and it's incredibly mean-spirited," she said. Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Celebrate Recovery Celebrate Recovery is not just for those who struggle with alcoholism, sexual addiction, and emotional dependence. It is also for the person who struggles with workaholism, the person who feels they are a slave to the approval of others, the leader who deals with issues of control. God is gracious, so you can be honest as well. Come experience a new level of His grace and truth at Celebrate Recovery! For more information or to sign-up for childcare go here.

How To Tell Your Boss ‘You Suck’ And Not Get Fired! Most of us don’t like our bosses. Getting a good boss is nothing short of a miracle. Your boss is like your family – you really don’t have a choice there. So, what do you do when you have a difficult boss? Of course, one part of you wants to storm into his cabin and give him a piece of your mind. But, what if he fires you after that? It is not what you say, but the way you say it matters. I know this sounds cliché, but it is true. Just a little bit of sugar coating never hurt anyone. So, how do you go about telling your boss that he is awful? It is not very difficult. You just have to be tactful. Here are a few tips that could help you. Know when to talk There is always a time for everything. Don’t rush into things. If you just barge into your boss’ cabin and demand an audience and then start berating him, you’ll be out of the office quicker than you can say ‘unfair’. You need to take a number of things into consideration before you decide to give your boss feedback, the most important being his mood. You never know if he has come to office after a huge argument with his wife. Gauge his mood. Even if he does enter in a foul mood, his mood will change for the better if he sees everything going on smoothly. When everything’s going fine, he’ll be open to suggestions and negative feedback. The lesser, the better One important thing about negative feedback is that it has to be short to be effective. Keep it as short as you can without missing out on getting the message across clearly. It’ll help to write down the points before you go and meet him. If you are giving feedback over an email, use bullet points. If you are talking over the phone, keep the written points handy. If you are giving the feedback in person, go carefully through your points before you go and face him. Don’t give a lot of details. If your boss cares enough, he will ask you for them. Then you can go ahead and give the details. Lessen the impact Whenever possible, intersperse you negative comments with positive ones. When you say, “You give me so much work that I can’t take it anymore”, you could also add something like “I love my work. I am happy doing what I am doing. But it does get too much most of the time”. But you don’t have to get overtly emotional about the positive points. You could add points about why you like working for the company and how you find the work challenging and riveting. He’ll like to hear things like that. Remember – It is not a blame game Well, in a manner it is. But, essentially, it is about you not liking certain aspects and finding certain aspects to be very daunting. State the problem you are facing, not what everyone else is also facing. If all of you are facing the same problems, then let them go and do the talking. You talk from your perspective and how the problem is affecting you. Also, don’t blame your boss. That does not display a good character. I am not being judgmental here, but that’s the way it is. Instead of saying, “You think I am competent enough to do challenging work”, say “I need work that is more challenging”. This is, of course, an example. Know what you are talking about If, by way of giving feedback, you wish to suggest some new methods of working, then you’ll have to first think of a lot of factors. You’ll have to consider whether the new method will actually work in that organization, and what changes will be required to maintain it. You’ll also have to take into account the fact that maybe this organization does not have systems that will adapt to the new method. Just because it worked somewhere else, does not mean it’ll work here. After all, what cures Martha may make Mario sick. Practice what you preach Before suggesting anything, try to do it yourself and see if it works. If you have a wonderful idea that’ll enhance productivity, do it yourself first. When your boss notices your increased productivity, he’ll ask you himself. If the idea is complex, chalk out a plan before you go and meet your boss. Your word is not etched in stone You might have some brilliant ideas and suggestions. But don’t expect them to be accepted like it’s the cure for cancer. Be ready for any rejections that your ideas may face. It is not a sure event (statistically speaking), but neither is it an impossible event. Being prepared will help you not feel extremely bad about rejections. Be a sport. You might come up with a better suggestion next time! You don’t have to take things lying down, but you also need to proceed with caution. Your relationship with your boss is always a very sensitive area. Do try out these tips and let us know! Sajan works for Jombay, a job site in India that helps job seekers find the right kind of employment opportunities. Like this: LikeLoading... Related About Leigh Langston I am the woman behind the Dangerous Lee Network and along with helping starving artists get fed I have published some of the best in DIY, How To and Top List content in 50+ categories as well as my short stories, poems, opinion essays and personal blogs. I am also the author of the safe sex erotica anthology, "Keep Your Panties Up and Your Skirt Down" and an eBook on the affects of colorism, The Half Series: When Black People Look White.

(Take them out of the folder they came zipped in and place in tools.) 5. Double-click and run doroot.bat 6. Let it run. 7. It will let you know if it has finished completely. 8. Reboot your phone and you are rooted! If these instructions don’t. Which version of Java is required to run Apache Ant? You will need Java installed on your system, version 1.8 or later required. Cannot run program "C:\Program Files\MPlayer for Windows": CreateProcess error=5, Access is denied

Pages Wednesday, February 27, 2013 On Raids and Handcuffs One Year Later One year ago today I was awakened to the crashing sound of my front door being battered in, screams of "Police, hands up" and dark figures in my bedroom with guns drawn. Just writing that sentence still takes my breath away. Never in my wildest imagination could I anticipate that this could or would happen to me. I sometimes thought of the possibility of the police executing a search warrant because of my ex-husband's online search for pornographic images of children. But to break down my door with an army of officers with guns drawn? This was preposterous to me then and still is. My ex-husband was not suspected as a terrorist, murderer or rapist. The use of extreme force in our situation stuns me still. I pulled my robe around my shaking body as I was escorted from my bedroom to my dining room table, where my daughter was already seated with an officer at her side. I waited while the "army" went to my husband's room and woke him up. He had slept through the melee that intruded on our home prior to the sun coming up. They brought him downstairs and sat him at the breakfast table where his interrogation began. A detective introduced himself and waived the search warrant at me but refused to allow me to read it. He began questioning my daughter and I about internet file sharing and when we asked him what that was, seemed satisfied that we were not participants in the crimes he was investigating. So we sat for hours, with at least one officer with us at all times. I had to ask for a glass of water, in my own home; I had to ask permission to go to the bathroom and then be escorted by an officer, in my own home. I had to ask for my glasses, still by my bedside, I could not just go and get them. I watched as hordes of officers tracked mud through my home--carting boxes in and out. I was not allowed to have my phone until it had been cleared by the computer forensic team so had no way of reaching out to anyone. This was America, was it not? How could this possibly be happening to me. It seems surreal still. The detectives returned the next day and placed my ex-husband under arrest. Standing beside my distraught daughter in our foyer, I watched as they placed handcuffs on him and listed the charges against him. I watched as they walked him out the front door and placed him in the squad car. I watched as the car sped away and knew the familiar route they would take to the county jail, a short ten minutes away. I watched, still in disbelief and shock. For all my fears and concern about his involvement in child pornography, I never imagined this day. The past year has been so difficult; his criminal case is still unfolding, our divorce, a nightmarish experience, has been finalized, and my kids and I have struggled to work through the devastation visited upon us. Not often, but sometimes, I find myself seeing the experience through my ex-husband's eyes. His career has been destroyed, his freedom is very much at stake, he is estranged from his children and he faces certain financial ruin. I feel tremendous empathy for him, which is better than the bitterness and anger I have been consumed by for far too many months. But today, I can't get the image of him being placed in handcuffs out of my mind; today the memories of the raid are so fresh and real and still traumatic. When I remember the sweet man I thought I knew, I grieve even more for the very sick man he has become. And I see the handcuffs as a symbol of the disease or obsession or compulsion of addiction that has bound him for most of his life. Today I will pause and remember and then be grateful. In the past twelve months, I have learned that gratitude has the power to demolish fear and anxiety and from a trauma perspective helps ground me in the present rather than in the memories of those traumatic moments. Today I am grateful that the knot I lived with in the pit of my stomach for over three decades has disintegrated. Today I am grateful for healing that is evident in my own life and in my children's lives. Today I am grateful for life and possibilities, for the warm breezes that blow through my window and through my life. Today I am alive and I am free, for that I give thanks. 2 comments: My heart breaks for you. I cant imagine how painful this must have been for you and your children. I would bet it would be even harder to say good bye to the life and a love you thought you had with a man who never let you know him. It is my hope that you will in time heal and that you will find the joy and happiness God truly wants you to have. Thank you so very much, Jennifer. Healing is occurring--it just takes time. I am learning that you cannot force or rush it but rather must allow it to unfold in at its own pace. But I appreciate your kind thoughts.

State of the ACT Evidence ACT is committed to a high standard of empirical evaluation. This includes not just controlled assessment and evaluations of outcomes but also the specification and evaluation moderations and of the putative processes of change. Furthermore, we also seek to understand the links between these processes of change and basic functional behavioral principles, including those drawn from RFT. One web page is unable to collect together the growing evidence for all of the above areas at one time point or to keep it up to date going forward. More modestly, the three sections below aim to provide information on: 1. Organizations that describe ACT, or areas of ACT, as evidence based 2. Links to peer reviewed assessments of the ACT evidence base 3. Snapshots of the ACT RCT evidence base (a list of actual randomized controlled trials can be found at another page: https://contextualscience.org/ACT_Randomized_Controlled_Trials; a list of mediational studies can be found at This page will be updated approximately once every six months. Date of late update: January 2019. If you are aware of missing data, please contact the ACBS staff: [email protected] 1. Organizations that describe ACT, or areas of ACT, as evidence based: A number of different organizations, external to ACBS, have stated that ACT is empirically supported in certain areas or as a whole according to their standards. These include: ii. SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices, ACT, last review July 2010. 2. Links to peer reviewed assessments of the ACT evidence base: Below is a list of meta-analyses, systematic or narrative reviews of the ACT evidence base, either overall or in specific areas. They are presented in reverse chronological order, by year of publication. The cummulative number of meta-analyses of the ACT literature is growing rapidly and will likely hit 50 by the end of 2019 (a graphic of the growth is attached as a JPEG file at the bottom of this page) In Press 45. Yıldız, E. (in press). The effects of acceptance and commitment therapy in psychosis treatment: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care. DOI: 10.1111/ppc.12396 Full Text: Available Through DOI 35. Collins, R. N., & Kishita, N. (2018). The effectiveness of mindfulness- and acceptance-based interventions for informal caregivers of people with dementia: A meta-analysis. The Gerontologist, gny024. DOI: 10.1093/geront/gny024 Full Text: Available Through DOI 3. Mediational analyses ACT is a process-oriented approach and the list of studies testing mediation or moderation is quite large. As of Spring 2016 we were aware of approximately 45 mediational studies. This list is rapidly growing. A partial list can be found here (a child page to this webpage). 4. Qualitative Research After the first three RCTs in the early 1980's ACT research turned toward transcript analysis and qualitative research. Examples are the first ACT dissertations done at the Univeristy of Nevada by Sue McCurry and Durriyah Khorakiwala. This work in turn lead to the first item set for the AAQ, and to the commonly used ACT adherence measures, in addition to the protocol described in the first ACT book in 1999. Qualitative work is hard to do but it has continued throughout the ACT research program. Examples can be found here (a child page to this webpage). If you find any more send them to ACBS staff to add to the list. 5. Snapshots of the ACT RCT evidence base: As of May 2019, there are 304 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of ACT published. Details of each of these studies, along with links to the original research articles, can be found here (a child page to this webpage). Below, we provide a snapshot of this ACT RCT evidence-base, summarizing clinical areas in order of the number of published RCTs. This list is current as of May 2019. It is, of course, acknowledged that evidence from RCTs is only one part of evidence-based practice, and for some questions and issues it is arguably not the most important. Mailing Address Socialise This website uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience, personalize content, and analyze site traffic. To learn more about our policies and how we use cookies please read our Privacy Policy and Use of Cookies. ✖ OK

Norma Yaeger shares her stories with Bill Black as she was the first woman stockbroker permitted to walk on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in 1962. We discuss how opportunities have opened up for women in the workforce since, and her book "Breaking Down the Walls". Questions Answered: 1.What opportunities do women have today that did not exit in 1962? 2. What traits should every successful woman have. 3. Tips for balancing family and career for working women. 4.What should every woman understand about their financial well-being. Exit Coach Bill Black interviews Top Advisors for Tips, Ideas & Precautions for Business Owners who want to grow and protect their company value and plan for a successful Business Sale or Transfer. Listen daily so you can be well-planned!

The Senate has today passed Labor amendments that will give the Australian Tax Office access to information about big companies’ financial affairs sooner, and improve public transparency. The Common Reporting Standard is an important global agreement for cracking down on multinational tax avoidance. It allows tax authorities to automatically exchange information about the contents of company and individual bank accounts. Until now, multinational companies and wealthy individuals have often been able to avoid paying tax in one country simply by sending their money offshore to another jurisdiction so that tax authorities cannot see it. Under Treasurer Joe Hockey, the Government dragged their feet in signing Australia up to the Common Reporting Standard and refused to join the Early Adopter Group that will begin exchanging information next year. When introducing the bill to implement the standard in Australia, Treasurer Scott Morrison then set a timetable which would have let big companies off the hook in having their accounts reported until the end of 2019. Labor’s amendments have brought forward the reporting date so that the Australian Tax Office can begin exchanging company information sooner. In addition, Labor’s amendments will also ensure the tax office publishes an aggregated report of Australian financial holdings by foreign residents from each individual tax jurisdiction. This will increase public transparency about Australia’s place in global money flows. Tax transparency groups have called for this to ensure Australia is not inadvertently playing a part in tax avoidance schemes originating in neighbouring countries throughout our region. Having criticised Labor in the House of Representatives for our efforts to amend the Common Reporting Standard Bill, the Government saw sense in the Senate and agreed to support these important changes. Just as with last year’s multinational tax bill and their recent changes to foreign investment rules, it takes pressure from Labor to make this Government take tax avoidance seriously. Our campaign to tighten Australia’s tax net and ensure everyone pays their fair share of tax does not end here. Next week I will table a Private Members Bill to increase penalties for companies that do not lodge country-by-country tax reports from $5,400 to $270,000. This will help ensure that companies obey the law, rather than merely choosing to pay the fine. The Coalition might redeem its poor record on multinational taxation by backing that bill, just as they belatedly chose to back Labor’s Common Reporting Standard amendments today. Only Labor is serious about making our tax system fairer, as our long-running battle against multinational tax avoidance shows.

At the University of Minnesota, just a slap shot away from Mariucci Arena and Williams Arena, there's a team that operates in the shadows of the nation's No. 1-ranked men's hockey team and two basketball programs riding roller-coaster seasons. Gophers women's hockey coach Brad Frost has called his team "the best-kept secret in town." They're rarely on TV, they have trouble filling seats at Ridder Arena, and their star players can float anonymously through campus. But now, a red-hot season and an assault on the national record book have fueled talk that this could be the best team in women's hockey history. During its NCAA-record 34-game winning streak, which began last February, Minnesota has trailed just twice. The first deficit lasted 39 seconds. The second one came Jan. 12 against North Dakota. That time -- gasp! -- it took 27 minutes for the Gophers to even the score, and it was still tied 1-1 after two periods. "Honestly, we went into our coaches room after that period and were like, 'This is fantastic,'" Frost said. "We needed it. Last year, the season was full of adversity. And this year, we just haven't faced a ton of it." The Gophers burst from their locker room and scored five third-period goals against UND, including two by the nation's leading scorer, Amanda Kessel. They haven't trailed since. After winning their final eight games last year to claim their first NCAA title since 2005, the Gophers are 26-0 heading into Friday night's game against Minnesota Duluth at Ridder Arena. Minnesota's home rink, which seats 3,400, will be the site of this year's WCHA's Final Face-off, along with the Frozen Four. So the Gophers could wind up playing all but four of their remaining games at home, and it's not hard to imagine them running the table. It's happened in several other college sports. The Baylor women's basketball team went 40-0 last season. The Cornell men's hockey team skated to a 29-0 finish in 1970. But nobody has done it in women's hockey, which began crowning an NCAA champion in 2001. "That would definitely be something special to go undefeated the whole year," Gophers goaltender Noora Raty said. "But if we lose one or two games and still win the national championship, it would be a perfect season for us." One game at a time Now in his 13th season with the program, and sixth as head coach, Frost said he learned long ago not to talk about national championships during a season. The focus, he said, always should be the next game. "I think their staff's doing a great job," said Harvard coach Katey Stone, who will coach Team USA at the 2014 Olympics. "They're attracting some tremendous talent, they're developing it, and they have some big-time players." Stone's Harvard squad, which is 17-2-1, is among the teams that hope to dethrone Minnesota in the NCAA tourney. One reason the Gophers shouldn't be overconfident is they haven't faced a team this year that's currently ranked higher than eighth. After Minnesota, the rest of top seven are six teams from the East -- Boston College, Harvard, Boston University, Cornell, Clarkson and Mercyhurst. GOPHERS WOMEN VS. MINN. DULUTH If the Gophers do indeed run the table, could they go down as the best women's college hockey team of all time? "It's a fair question," said Natalie Darwitz, a three-time Olympian who was part of NCAA title teams for the Gophers in 2004 and 2005. "If you're a numbers person, the numbers are there and speak for themselves. I do think it's hard to compare where they're at now versus past teams." Either way, Darwitz said, what the Gophers are doing is great for the sport. "The frustrating part," she said, "is it took a 34-game winning streak to start people talking about it." The Big Ten Network will broadcast Saturday afternoon's game against UMD, but that's Minnesota's only scheduled telecast this season. Last year's NCAA title game wasn't televised and this year's finale, on March 24, won't be either. Still, Frost has been pleased with his team's increased coverage of late. "I just don't want them to get complacent and think that they've arrived just because they've had a great first half of the season," said Frost, whose team has eight regular-season games left. "I've seen a lot of [Gophers] teams play really well in the first half and kind of fade in the second half." This team is showing no signs of fading. In fact, the spotlight is starting to shine bright. Attempting to reduce wear on its players, the NBA opened its season two weeks earlier this year, a change that reduced the number of back-to-back games and ensured teams now won't play four games in five nights.

Mac OS X 10.5.5 has been released and can be downloaded through software updater or Apple’s website. 10.5.5 is fairly extensive and the full release notes can be found here. While this update can be considered ‘safe’, its good to follow guides such this one to prevent AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext from breaking your install. AMD users can use the AMD Software Patcher for a safe installation. 10.5.5 Combo Update (601 MB)

Sue Halpern’s Labradoodle Finds Dream Job: Interview Sue Halpern, author of "A Dog Walks Into a Nursing Home: Lessons in the Good Life From an Unlikely Teacher." The book examines the compassion and patience of Halpern and Bill McKibben's labradoodle Pransky, as she does her rounds at a nursing home in Vermont every Tuesday. Photographer: Philip Lewis/Bloomberg Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Pransky stayed home in Vermont with her sitters, possibly listening to Bach while her two humans came to lunch at Bloomberg. Sue Halpern is the author of “A Dog Walks Into a Nursing Home.” Husband Bill McKibben, author and environmentalist, is the force behind 350.org, the grassroots movement to stop global warming. We talked about President Barack Obama’s coming decision on the Keystone XL pipeline -- a watershed moment in his administration -- but quickly focused on Pransky, their 11-year-old Labradoodle. Pransky, a very special dog who comforts the afflicted with her tender paws and searching eyes, trembles when it thunders. Hoelterhoff: So Bach helps? Halpern: I read a study of how dogs with anxiety issues related to music. They played heavy metal and then classical music. It turned out the dog’s anxiety levels came down the most when listening to Bach. Hoelterhoff: The Matthew Passion? Halpern: She’s really not into the masses but the fugues, she likes the fugues. Something about the repetition. Hoelterhoff: How could you tell Pransky wanted a job? You say you could tell she was bored. Pransky’s Job Halpern: Well, you know many dogs are careerists, we just don’t know it. At some point, it was basically the two of us in the house and every single time I would move from one place to another, she would just like -- whoosh -- be there. It became clear that she wanted to do something and I was a very dull person. I had to find people for her that were more interesting. And they turned out to be elderly people in wheelchairs in the nursing home. Hoelterhoff: How do you get to be a therapy dog? Halpern: I trained her for about four months and then we had to take a terrifying test. She had to prove she could handle chaos, for example. They had volunteers marching toward us banging on pots and pans and pushing wheelchairs. The dog had to walk through and not be fazed at all. Hoelterhoff: How was your first visit? Halpern: We walked in the door, and there’s this guy sitting there and he has no legs. His stumps are wrapped in what looked like ace bandages, and she just goes right to them. It’s like: Wow, this is pretty interesting, where are his legs? And she’s sniffing around, and I’m wondering what am I supposed to do? And then I realized, I’m not supposed to do anything. I’m just supposed to be there and let the dog do what the dog does because the man was really thrilled to have her there. One of the things that we all know but we don’t see is that diabetes is an epidemic. In the nursing home there are plenty of people who aren’t that old but who have this disease and it’s devastating. Alzheimer Patients Hoelterhoff: How does Pransky relate to Alzheimer’s patients? Halpern: There was a man who almost seemed to me mute. He wasn’t really functioning in a reactive way to anything that was going on. Pransky kind of put her head near his lap and he almost instinctively reached out and started to pet her. So I asked, “Did you have a dog when you were growing up?” -- not knowing whether he understood anything I said or whether he was listening even. And then he started talking about being a hunter and having hunting dogs. The dog can trigger long-term memories which are much more accessible to people with Alzheimer’s. Hoelterhoff: Do you foresee a day when care for the aged includes a residential dog or any other kind of animal? Halpern: All the studies show benefits. Stress levels go down, and not only for the people in the bed -- they go down for the people who are caring for the people in the bed, which means that you’re actually increasing the capacity of that facility to care for the people who are there and who are sick. One private place has something like 10 dogs and three cats and it sounded like a pet store. But they were finding that it was making everybody happy. There is this movement to try to bring some of that into public facilities, like ours with its cinder blocks and linoleum floors, which does have a resident cat in the memory-care unit. She is actually really interested in the fish tank and less interested in the patients than in the fish. Every Tuesday Hoelterhoff: Always narcissistic, cats! You visit the home every Tuesday. Does Pransky know when it’s Tuesday? Halpern: Yes, when I clip on her special collar with her hospital ID. She’s very proud, she knows what she’s doing. Hoelterhoff: How long is her workday? Halpern: About two hours and it’s very exhausting hours. We both lie down on the couch together afterwards. “A Dog Walks Into a Nursing Home: Lessons in the Good Life From an Unlikely Teacher” is published by Riverhead (312 pages, $26.95). To buy this book in North America, click here. (Manuela Hoelterhoff is executive editor of Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News.)

Bradley Manning, the US soldier charged with leaking confidential government and military documents to whistleblowing platform WikiLeaks, returned to court yesterday for the first day of a pretrial hearing as lawyers argued over what documents were relevant to his case. The 23-year-old has been in jail since May 2010. Manning’s attorney, David Coombs, is seeking documents that assess the impact of the WikiLeaks scandal on the American government but said he had hit “roadblock after roadblock” in his quest to obtain them, reported the American Armed Forces Press Service. Coombs accused the government of providing the requested records too slowly, in a piecemeal fashion or not at all. The prosecution, acting for the CIA, said that Coombs’ requests were “unreasonable” and irrelevant. Lead prosecutor, army Major Ashden Fein claimed that the defence was delaying the trial, and was attempting to “greymail” the government by demanding classified material that the government would be reluctant to release. Army Captain Joshua Tooman, one of Manning’s two military lawyers, asserted that this threatens the defence team’s strategy of proving that the leaks caused little or no damage. Manning faces 22 charges, and the defence team hopes to get 10 of them dismissed before the trial starts. Charges against the 23-year-old include: “aiding the enemy”; “wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the internet knowing that it is accessible to the enemy”, “theft of public property or records”; “transmitting defense information”; and “fraud and related activity in connection with computers”. The presiding judge at the military tribunal, Colonel Denise Lind, has allocated more days to pretrial hearings in an attempt to break through log-jams. The next pre-trial hearings have been set for 16 to 20 July, 27 to 31 August, and 19 to 20 September. Manning faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if found guilty of the charges.

With Elerts, Emergency Broadcasts Go Digital We've gotten used to experiencing disasters through the kaleidoscopic imagery of mobile devices—and increasingly, emergency responders are using the social media to gather intelligence and alert the public. These trends come together in Elerts, an app devised by a Massachusetts-based startup. Through free apps for Android and iOS, users post reports, broadcast their location, and receive action alerts, while municipal agencies can collect and filter information from eyewitnesses and shuttle them to relevant police, fire, and disaster services. It will be fascinating to see whether Elerts is effective. The company has deep expertise at its command; founder Chris Russo is a deputy fire chief in Massachusetts. But even as emergency services embrace the social media, safety officials struggle to hold the digital public sphere at bay. A spate of controversial arrests of citizens witnessing police incidents—most recently the arrest of Emily Good in Rochester, New York, who was detained while shooting video from her front lawn while police conducted a traffic stop—express the ambivalence public safety officers feel about scrutiny in the networked age. Elerts is reminiscent of the old Civil Defense system, the plane-spotters of World War II that gave way to the fallout shelters and duck-and-cover drills of the Cold War. These public-safety measures kept disaster in the public consciousness, though whether they would have been effective in the event of a nuclear exchange is very doubtful. Whether Elerts will prove to be a more practical way to involve the public in disaster response, or a kind of virtual, mobile air-raid shelter—a social placebo for emergency preparedness—we'll have remain vigilant.

Emory and the Confederacy, Part Three: The case of A. B. Longstreet Generations of students have lived in Longstreet–Means Hall without knowing much, if anything, about the Emory presidents for whom the building was named—Augustus Baldwin Longstreet and Alexander Means. Augustus Baldwin Longstreet Alexander Means Longstreet had practiced law and achieved fame and fortune as an author before entering the Methodist ministry and then becoming president of Emory (1840–48). Means was a minister and scientist as well as an educator. He served only one year as president (1854–55) because the trustees tired of his trying to juggle his job at Emory while teaching at Augusta Medical College and Atlanta Medical College. Both Means and Longstreet were slave owners and supporters of the Confederacy, but Longstreet was more prominent in defending the Old South. A native of Augusta, Longstreet attended a private school in South Carolina, where he boarded in the home of John C. Calhoun, the state-rightist and apologist for slavery. Following Calhoun’s example, Longstreet attended Yale, then practiced law back in Augusta, eventually becoming a judge. He also bought the Augusta Chronicle, a newspaper that he renamed the State Rights Sentinel, which advocated political positions in harmony with Calhoun’s anti-Federalist views. Longstreet’s lasting literary achievement, however, was a series of humorous stories about life in rural Georgia. He gathered some of these into a book, Georgia Scenes, which reviewers at the time universally praised and later critics viewed as a precursor to a genre perfected by Mark Twain. In 2000, Longstreet was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, largely on the basis of Georgia Scenes. The book’s financial success provided Longstreet the wherewithal to enjoy a comfortable life. Shortly after its publication in 1835, however, he entered the Methodist ministry. He was serving a church in Augusta in 1839 when the board of trustees of Emory College offered him the college presidency. Longstreet accepted and served until resigning in 1848 to become the president of Centenary College in Louisiana and later president of the University of Mississippi and the University of South Carolina. During the Civil War, he returned to Oxford, Mississippi, where Union soldiers used his personal papers to build a fire and burn down his house. When Longstreet stepped into the president’s office, Emory College had completed only three terms and was hanging tenuously to existence. A deep recession in 1837 had left the college nearly bankrupt. The trustees no doubt saw in Longstreet a person of intellect, energy, and renown who could lift the college out of its trouble. He traveled throughout the Southeast and as far as New York to garner support for the college. Longstreet also used personal funds to keep the college afloat. On leaving the presidency in 1848, he wrote off the $4,800 the college owed him in loans and back salary—about $149,000 in 2015. All of that totes up on the positive side of the Longstreet ledger. On the debit side, Longstreet twice became embroiled — and not in a positive way, by our modern lights — in controversy over slavery during his presidency. The first instance grew out of the ownership of slaves by Bishop James O. Andrew, president of the Emory College board of trustees. When the national conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church met in New York City in 1844, abolitionist sentiment in the church prompted a month-long debate about Bishop Andrew’s fitness for office in view of his ownership of slaves. The church divided over the issue. Longstreet was thick in the middle of this debate, firmly on the side of Bishop Andrew and the slave-owning South. Longstreet also became closely associated with slavery through A Voice from the South, a book he published in 1847 while president of Emory. Framed as ten letters from the state of Georgia to the state of Massachusetts, the volume is an extended argument not in defense of slavery but against the hypocrisy of the North. Longstreet points out that Georgia prohibited slavery until 1750, while New England profited handsomely from the slave trade. Now, with an industrial economy employing what Longstreet calls “white slaves,” the North has had a change of heart about slavery while not changing its heart about “negroes,” whom it excludes from Northern society in various ways. The book is a justification of increasingly popular Southern support for secession. Remembering Longstreet at Emory, then, requires a balancing of accounts. On one side of the ledger lies his defense of a Southern way of life that we now see as reprehensible. On the other side lies his nearly decade-long work to help the struggling college to survive and, indeed, begin to flourish. In the next post, more about the building named for Presidents Longstreet and Means. 2 thoughts on “Emory and the Confederacy, Part Three: The case of A. B. Longstreet” > emoryhistorian posted: “Generations of students have lived in > Longstreet–Means Hall without knowing much, if anything, about the Emory > presidents for whom the building was named—Augustus Baldwin Longstreet and > Alexander Means. Longstreet had practiced law an” >

9518 120 Avenue - Grande Prairie Property ID: L113764 $219,900 Great Starter or Revenue! Mother in Law Suite in the basement! Now vacant, and owner is right now doing all new dark laminate upstairs in living room and all throughout kitchen and hallways. All new paint up, new paint on trim, new trim. Huge yard and this home is situated in a very family oriented neighborhood across from a park in Crystal Ridge. Live free upstairs while your tenant downstairs pays your mortgage for you! Huge yard, fully fenced, ample room to build a garage if you so choose. Carpet in downstairs bedroom and upstairs living room only, all the rest is tile and laminate. Call your preferred realtor today for a viewing! Vacant, immediate possession! Book A Showing Name* Phone* Email* Property Booking Msg* Search Properties MLS® Property Type City Min. Price Max. Price Bedrooms Bathroom All Peace Realty Ltd Welcome to the All Peace Realty website. Please feel free to browse all we have to offer with our real estate listings and learn more about us. If you have any concerns with our website or any real estate listings please feel free to contact us.

(updated at 5:03 p.m. EST) Motorola Solutions announces the sale of its enterprise unit to Zebra Technologies for $3.45 billion cash, marking Motorola Solutions' exit from the enterprise space. Instead, the company will focus on mission-critical communications for the government and public-safety markets, according to Motorola Solutions Chairman and CEO Greg Brown. Motorola Solutions today announced an agreement to sell its enterprise unit to Zebra Technologies near the end of the year for $3.45 billion cash, which will allow the communications giant to focus on mission-critical communications for the government and public-safety markets. “Last year, we undertook a thorough review of our strategy and concluded that the synergies between our government and enterprise businesses were not as great as the value we could create by being singularly focused on our core government and public-safety business,” Motorola Solutions Chairman and CEO Greg Brown said during an investor conference call. “Going forward, we will have absolute clarity of purpose and mission, as we serve customers globally with our suite of mission-critical communications solutions. “ “From a FirstNet perspective, we continue to work closely with them,” Brown said. “The relationship is, quite frankly, as good as it’s ever been between Motorola Solutions and FirstNet. We’re very excited about embarking on the LA-RICS implementation, which will have to be concluded in 2015. “Obviously, [the FirstNet buildout] occurred a little bit later than we thought a year or two ago, but we still think it’s a fantastic global opportunity. We look forward to working with FirstNEt and the requisite authorities around the globe.” Motorola Solutions will retain its iDEN technology, as well its mission-critical portfolio, according to company spokesman Steve Gorecki. “Sales of MOTOTRBO and other solutions that are part of Motorola Solutions’ professional commercial radio business will continue without limitation as part of the company’s continued government business,” Gorecki said in a statement e-mailed to IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “Utilities and other critical-infrastructure customers around the world will continue to be able to select from a portfolio of mission-critical solutions from Motorola Solutions that includes ASTRO 25, TETRA and MOTOTRBO.” Websites are now required by law to gain your consent before applying cookies. We use cookies to improve your browsing experience. Parts of the website may not work as expected without them. By closing or ignoring this message, you are consenting to our use of cookies.

New HOWTO: Remote Serial Console HOWTO Setting up a Linux serial console Remote Serial Console HOWTO Mark F. Komarinski [email protected] Revision History Revision 0.1 2001-03-20 Revised by: mfk First revision Most UNIX-based systems have the concept of a serial console. Linux is no exception to this, and this document covers how to set up your hardware to use a serial console. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1.1. Copyright Information 1.2. Disclaimer 1.3. Credits 1.4. Feedback 2. Why use Serial Consoles? 3. Configuring Linux for Serial Consoles 3.1. Configuring LILO and the Linux Kernel 3.2. Configuring getty for use with serial ports 4. Serial Port Applications 4.1. Minicom 5. Cabling serial ports together 1. Introduction 1.1. Copyright Information This document is copyrighted (c) 2001 Mark F. Komarinski and is distributed under the terms of the Linux Documentation Project (LDP) license, stated below. Unless otherwise stated, Linux HOWTO documents are copyrighted by their respective authors. Linux HOWTO documents may be reproduced and distributed in whole or in part, in any medium physical or electronic, as long as this copyright notice is retained on all copies. Commercial redistribution is allowed and encouraged; however, the author would like to be notified of any such distributions. All translations, derivative works, or aggregate works incorporating any Linux HOWTO documents must be covered under this copyright notice. That is, you may not produce a derivative work from a HOWTO and impose additional restrictions on its distribution. Exceptions to these rules may be granted under certain conditions; please contact the Linux HOWTO coordinator at the address given below. In short, we wish to promote dissemination of this information through as many channels as possible. However, we do wish to retain copyright on the HOWTO documents, and would like to be notified of any plans to redistribute the HOWTOs. If you have any questions, please contact ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.2. Disclaimer No liability for the contents of this documents can be accepted. Use the concepts, examples and other content at your own risk. As this is a new edition of this document, there may be errors and inaccuracies, that may of course be damaging to your system. Proceed with caution, and although this is highly unlikely, the author(s) do not take any responsibility for that. All copyrights are held by their by their respective owners, unless specifically noted otherwise. Use of a term in this document should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. Naming of particular products or brands should not be seen as endorsements. You are strongly recommended to take a backup of your system before major installation and backups at regular intervals. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.3. Credits This HOWTO is based on /usr/src/linux/Documentation/serial-consold.txt, written by Miquel van Smoorenburg (). Many thanks to Miquel for the information in his document. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.4. Feedback Feedback is most certainly welcome for this document. Without your submissions and input, this document wouldn't exist. Please send your additions, comments and criticisms to the following email address : < mkomarinski AT valinux.com>. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Why use Serial Consoles? Serial consoles do not appear to have much going for them. They are slow, require special null-modem cables, and do not provide a graphical interface. But what is going for them is considerable. Serial cables are standard equipment and can run over RJ-45 cables, can run up to 200 ft (about 100m) at 9600bps. Serial concentrators can run the consoles of over 32 ports into a central box, so all the consoles in a cluster can be accessed from a single location. You will not require a crash cart, KVM switch, or keyboard, montior, or mouse. Because of the serial concentrator, you can access the console of a machine in a colocation cage from your desktop. The real limiting factor so far has been that even though you can access the Linux console via a serial port, most x86 hardware was not set to send its POST and BIOS information to the serial port. More and more "server" motherboards are starting to include full serial support in the BIOS, so you can access the BIOS and make boot changes via the serial port. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Configuring Linux for Serial Consoles There is two parts to getting a serial console set up under Linux. First, you must tell Linux to redirect its console output to the serial port. Second, you must set up mgetty to start a login process on the serial port once the kernel has completed booting. Some distributions use mingetty for the video console, but mingetty has no serial port support. You will instead want to use mgetty. A third (optional) configuration is to set the hardware BIOS to redirect its POST and BIOS information to the serial port. Check your motherboard documentation for more information about this. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.1. Configuring LILO and the Linux Kernel If you're using LILO as your bootloader, you can quickly test using serial console from Linux by entering: LILO: Linux console=ttyS0,9600n8 Assuming the LILO tag for your Linux kernel is called "Linux". Change this for the name of your kernel. The generic format for the console option is console=device,options. You can give multiple console statements, and kernel messages will go to all listed devices, but the last one listed will be used as /dev/console. +-------+-------------------------------------------------------------------+ |device |The device entry to use as the console without /dev/. You can use | | |tty0 to get normal behavior, ttyx to put the console on another | | |virtual console, or ttySx to put the console on a serial port. | +-------+-------------------------------------------------------------------+ |options|This is mostly used for passing options to the serial port. The | | |format for this is BPN, where B is speed in bps (so use 9600, | | |19200, 38400, etc.). The P is parity and is one of three letters: n| | |for no parity, e for even parity, and o for odd parity. The N is | | |the number of data bits, and is usually either 7 or 8. The default | | |is 9600n8. Most users will want to use the default, or increase the| | |speed to 19200 bps. | +-------+-------------------------------------------------------------------+ You should see the Linux kernel start through the decompression process then you will see no more on-screen information until the kernel has completed and mgetty starts up a login prompt on the screen. If you are monitoring the serial port, you'll see the Linux bootup information coming over the serial port. However, you probably will not see a login prompt on the serial port (yet). We'll cover that in Section 3.2. Once you are sure this is working, you can now edit LILO to pass this information to the kernel each time it boots. You can also configure LILO to send its prompt to the serial port. Fire up your favorite editor of choice and load up the /etc/lilo.conf file. You will want to add two lines, one to the general configuration and one to the specific kernels you want to use. serial=0,9600n8 append="console=tty0 console=ttyS0,9600n8" The append statement contains the statement we listed above, and tells Linux to send its output to the serial port. The serial command goes to LILO, and tells it to open port 0 (ttyS0, or COM1). The options for serial are the same as to the console statement. Note: Make sure the serial port settings for serial and console are the same. If they are different, you will need to change your serial port application between LILO and the kernel, which becomes very inconvenient. Re-run /sbin/lilo and reboot. You should now see everything except the login prompt on the serial port. Information should still be going to the monitor, just in case you have problems with the serial port. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.2. Configuring getty for use with serial ports Some distributions may ship with mingetty that does not support serial ports. The first thing you have to do is make sure the version of getty you are using supports serial ports. Both agetty and mgetty do this. So run off now using your favorite packaging system to make sure this is the case. Don't worry, this document will still be here when you get back. Back so soon? Great! Let's get that serial port configured. You will want to make sure that all your serial port settings are consistent. No sense in making getty run at 9600bps, while LILO and the kernel are talking 19200. To get login prompts to appear on the serial port, edit the /etc/inittab file and add a line similar to the following: s0:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty ttyS0 DT9600 The format for entries in inittab are covered in most basic Linux and UNIX books, but to repeat, each field is separated by a colon (:) and represent: * s0 - Arbitrary entry for inittab. As long as this entry doesn't appear anywhere else in inittab, you're okay. We named this entry s0 because it's for ttyS0. * 2345 - run levels where this entry gets called. If we switch to runlevel 1, this getty process will be shut down. * respawn - re-run the program if it dies. We want this to happen so that a new login prompt will appear when you log out of the console. * /sbin/getty ttyS0 DT9600 - the command to run. In this case, we're telling getty to connect to /dev/ttyS0 using the settings for DT9600 which exist in /etc/gettydefs. This entry represents a dumb terminal running at 9600bps. There are other entries that run at different speeds. The entries in /etc/inittab will be loaded into init when root sends a HUP signal. # kill -HUP 1 Note: Remember that init always has a PID of 1. Now that getty is set up, you will be able to go from powerup to login prompt all over the serial port ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Serial Port Applications This section covers applications and some configuration information that you can use to look at your serial console, now that your Linux boxes are talking to the serial port. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.1. Minicom Minicom is one of the easier serial port applications to use. It is curses based, so it's a full screen application with a status bar, menus, and an easy-to-use interface. It is installed on most distributions, and initially has to be run as the root user. In some cases, minicom will be installed suid root, so anyone will be able to access the configurations. Check the documentation for your particular distribution to see how it's configured. Security of minicom is set by the /etc/minicom.users file. Usernames can that are listed along with a configuration can use the listed configurations. This allows only authorized users to connect to the serial ports. Minicom creates individual configurations to separate files. Configure the serial port as needed, then save the configuration. Files are kept in /etc with a prefix of minirc. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Cabling serial ports together Since you will be connecting two DTEs together, you will need to have a null modem run between the two devices. A null modem crosses transmit and receive, and ties a few status lines together so the application can open the port. This null modem can be a dongle that connects to the cable, or can be built into the cable. A dongle will get expensive if you have a large number of cables, so it is usually easier to get cables with the null modem built in. Most PC hardware these days use DB-9 connectors, giving 9 pins for transmitting data and status, which is fine for us. Pre-built DB-9 cables can be had for a few dollars for a few feet of cable. More flexible is building a DB-9 to RJ-45 connector and building the null modem into that. The RJ-45 connector then accepts regular 10BaseT cables that can be custom-built, or with varying legths. This gives a lot of flexibiliy in arranging cables, since each cable can be the correct length to run between machines. Little extra cable is left lying around. DB-9 to RJ-45 connectors can be purchased unassembled since there are no real standards for making this conversion. So long as Tx and Rx cross and CTS RTS cross, you have a null modem connection. The cabling I have here comes from my own design, and works just fine. Note that there have to be two different DB-9 to RJ-45 connectors because of the way pins are switched. I labeled them as "1" and "2". They can be placed on either end of the cable. Table 1. DB9 to RJ-25 connector +-----------+-----------+ |Connector 1|Connector 2| +-----+-----+-----+-----+ |DB-9 |RJ-45|DB-9 |RJ-45| +-----+-----+-----+-----+ |1 |5 |1 |5 | +-----+-----+-----+-----+ |2 |6 |2 |4 | +-----+-----+-----+-----+ |3 |4 |3 |6 | +-----+-----+-----+-----+ |4 |7 |4 |7 | +-----+-----+-----+-----+ |5 |3 |5 |3 | +-----+-----+-----+-----+ |6 |2 |6 |2 | +-----+-----+-----+-----+ |7 |1 |7 |8 | +-----+-----+-----+-----+ |8 |8 |8 |1 | +-----+-----+-----+-----+ |9 |n/c |9 |n/c | +-----+-----+-----+-----+ Most Popular LinuxPlanet Stories Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which QuinStreet receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. QuinStreet does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

The Oxford Handbook of The History of Analytic Philosophy Why Rent from Knetbooks? Because Knetbooks knows college students. Our rental program is designed to save you time and money. Whether you need a textbook for a semester, quarter or even a summer session, we have an option for you. Simply select a rental period, enter your information and your book will be on its way! Michael Beaney is Professor of Philosophy at the University of York. He works on the history of analytic philosophy and on conceptions of analysis in the history of philosophy. He is the author of Frege: Making Sense (Duckworth, 1996), and editor of The Frege Reader (Blackwell, 1997), Gottlob Frege:Critical Assessments of Leading Philosophers (with Erich Reck; 4 vols., Routledge, 2005), and The Analytic Turn (Routledge, 2007). He is Editor of the British Journal for the History of Philosophy. Introduction: Analytic Philosophy and its Historiography1. What is analytic philosophy?, Michael Beaney2. The historiography of analytic philosophy, Michael Beaney3. Chronology of analytic philosophy and its historiography, Michael Beaney4. Bibliography of analytic philosophy and its historiography, Michael BeaneyPart One: The Origins of Analytic Philosophy 5. Bolzano's anti-Kantianism: from a priori cognitions to conceptual truths, Mark Textor6. Time, norms, and structure in nineteenth-century German philosophy of science, David Hyder7. Frege and the German background to analytic philosophy, Gottfried Gabriel8. Analytic philosophy, the Analytic school, and British philosophy, John Skorupski9. The mathematical and logical background to analytic philosophy, Jamie Tappenden10. Gottlob Frege: some forms of influence, Tyler Burge11. Russell and Moore's revolt against British idealism, Nicholas Griffin12. Russell's theory of descriptions and the idea of logical construction, Bernard Linsky13. G. E. Moore and the Cambridge School of Analysis, Thomas Baldwin14. The whole meaning of a book of nonsense: reading Wittgenstein's Tractatus, Michael KremerPart Two: The Development of Analytic Philosophy 15. Oxford realism, Charles Travis and Mark Kalderon16. Early logical empiricism and its reception: the case of the Vienna Circle, Thomas Uebel17. Developments in logic: Carnap, Godel and Tarski, Erich H. Reck18. Wittgenstein's later philosophy, Hans-Johann Glock19. Quine, Kripke, and Putnam, Maria Baghramian and Andrew Jorgensen20. The myth of logical behaviourism and the origins of the identity theory, Sean Crawford21. The development of theories of meaning: from Frege to McDowell and beyond, Alex Miller22. Reason, action and the will: the fall and rise of causalism, Stewart Candlish and Nic Damnjanovic23. Metaphysics in analytic philosophy, Peter Simons24. Meta-ethics in the twentieth century, Jonathan Dancy25. Normative ethical theory in the twentieth century, Julia Driver26. Analytic aesthetics, Peter Lamarque27. Analytic political philosophy, Jonathan WolffPart Three: Themes in the History of Analytic Philosophy 28. The function is unsaturated, Richard G. Heck, Jr., and Robert May29. When logical atomism met the Theaetetus: Ryle on Naming and Saying, Richard Gaskin30. Reading the Tractatus with G. E. M. Anscombe, Cora Diamond31. Ideas of a logically perfect language in analytic philosophy, Peter Hylton32. The linguistic turn in analytic philosophy, P. M. S. Hacker33. Perception and sense data, Gary Hatfield34. Scepticism and knowledge: Moore's proof of an external world, Annalisa Coliva35. The varieties of rigorous experience, Juliet Floyd36. Modality, Sanford Shieh37. Inferentialism and normativity, Jaroslav Peregrin38. Pragmatism and analytic philosophy, Cheryl Misak39. The role of phenomenology in analytic philosophy, David Woodruff Smith

The iCare tonometer is an excellent tool for monitoring IOP (eye pressure) at home, however it requires careful instruction and supervision...+ more info MIgraine and glaucoma Written by Administrator Monday, 21 September 2015 20:28 Migraine and glaucoma can sometimes be associated. Typically, most people who have experienced migraine are at a low risk of developing glaucoma. However, patients with normal pressure glaucoma, for example, quite commonly have a history of migraine. It is believed that in those cases that it is not just the eye pressure that can be associated with some of the changes in visual fields, but also somehow the circulation in the optic nerve can affect the onset and progression of glaucoma. Migraine has many trigger factors, but can particularly be triggered by red wine, and specific stronger rich cheeses. Image of some visual symptoms experienced by someone experiencing a migraine.

Netanyahu to visiting congressmen: Stopping Iran is not a Democrat or Republican issue Preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb is not a Republican or Democratic issue, but rather an Israeli, American and global issue, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told two visiting Republican congressman on Tuesday. “We believe that the current proposal before Iran, handed over by the P5+1, is very dangerous to Israel and dangerous to the region and the peace of the world,” he told North Carolina Congressman Robert Pittenger and Florida’s Dennis A. Ross.

Introduction to the Arabic Course We are very pleased to undertake writing the contents of a Course dealing with the "Language of the Angels" namely the Arabic Language. We hope we can have the way to solve the puzzle and to unlock the knots of this dulcet and eloquent tongue to pave the way towards mastering its secrets. This Course serves to familiarize Non-Native Speakers with such inspiring Language - the Language of the Holy Quran - the Holy Book of Islam. Not from the same route tracked by the Natives; yet from a route that takes the reader by hand to a trip amidst a Course that covers most needed steps to master the Arabic Language as an Elementary/ Intermediate Reader/ Learner. In other words, it addresses a fresh Arabic learner who is willing ambitiously to start either learning or writing Arabic, a traveler who is planning to visit or work in this bewitching region, or a teacher/ professor who wants to refresh his knowledge about it to avoid this ambiguity of facing the lesser-known with the obscure. We are - hopefully - trying to help the foreign Reader/ Learner in understanding fully and objectively this not-easy-to-be-learnt Language to know its finer points and wonderful potentials as we progress. This Course utilizes the English Language not to make a parallel with the English Grammar but to construct a bridge that connects the bricks of explaining the real Arabic Language with its functions and structures. It addresses not only the previously mentioned but also the Arabs themselves to water their Arabic garden with research-work and discussions in a way that serves the universality of such Language. Briefly, our Reader/ Learner can depend fully on it and ripe its fruits rapidly. Just be patient to use the - expectantly - clear, simple and to the point productive know-how steps to totally grip the lucidity and clarity of the Arabic Language whoever you are, and whenever you decide.

Our Retreats “I have been able to find a stronger center in myself to which I can return so that I am not shaken by the daily ups and downs of congregational life.” — Rabbi Rona Shapiro Preparing for Retreat Suggested Packing List Retreat Clothing Pack loose, comfortable, casual clothing (easy for sitting meditation and yoga). You may wish to bring extra clothing, enough to allow for a mid-day change of clothing on most days – after daily yoga, which can be a little shvitzy (sweaty), many people choose to change into something fresh. In the winter, our January California retreats are in the 50’s and 60’s during the day and cooler at night–rain is possible. For all retreats we advise bringing a variety of layers. Some people choose to dress a certain way for Shabbat services – we encourage you to wear whatever you will be most comfortable in on-retreat – just be sure that you are comfortable and prepared for sitting meditation and the local weather. Other items to pack alarm clock reusable water bottle insect repellent sunscreen hat and sunglasses journal hiking boots if you plan to go into the woods flashlight rain gear ritual items: Tallit, Kippah, Tefillin (these are not provided). Siddurim are provided whenever necessary, however you are invited to bring your own if you prefer. prescription medicines Items provided All of the retreat centers we use provide bedding, soap, and towels. Unless you are sensitive to scents, there’s no need to bring these items. Arrival & Departure Early Arrival Typically registration is between 3:30pm and 5:00pm (check your pre-retreat email for exact details, sent out 2 weeks before the start of the retreat). Often the Opening Session will begin directly after the end of the Registration window, so allowing yourself time to get settled before this session is recommended. We encourage you to arrive as much within or directly before the window as possible–often we can’t provide you with a key to your room before that window–but do know that if you have to arrive early there will be a place to put your things down until you are able to check into your room. Late Arrival or Early Departure If you will be arriving late to a retreat, or leaving early, it is important that we know this so we can plan ahead for meal counts and materials, as well as inform the retreat site. Please email Mara Bernstein at [email protected] with any questions or information regarding arrival/departure times. Departure Times and Checkout Our retreats either end after breakfast (around 10am) or after lunch (around 1pm). We will give you the exact time of the last session and meal in our pre-retreat email, sent out 2 weeks before the start of the retreat. Most of the retreat centers we use will ask that you check-out of your room by 9am on the morning you are leaving. There is always a place to store your bags after you’ve checked out. Checking out by the correct time allows the retreat center staff time to turn over the rooms for the next guests (often arriving the same day!). Your help and cooperation in this effort helps us maintain a positive working relationship with the retreat centers we use, and we appreciate your good-faith effort to accommodate the check-out time.

History History From the needs of the people. And the authorities will let the Northeast have irrigation schemes in the central and northern regions, so the government ordered the Royal Irrigation Department to open irrigation in this sector. The survey of water and terrain has been carried out for the project since 1934 and construction work has been carried out to solve the problem of the people's demands since 1939 onwards. Most of this irrigation works. Focusing on the construction of reservoir projects. And the transmission system to distribute water throughout the sector. The construction of seven large irrigation projects increased from 1963 to 1970, including Lam Ta Khong Lam Ta Khong Dam Project Nakhon Ratchasima Province Lam Pao Project Kalasin Province Nam Phong Project Khon Kaen Water Project Sakon nakonn Little dome project Ubon Ratchathani and Huay Luang, Udonthani Province, until 1975. There are 170 reservoirs and irrigation projects completed in this area, with a total area of approximately 1.5 million rai for irrigation and maintenance. It has begun to play an increasingly important role. The Irrigation User Association was established in the completed irrigation project. In order for farmers benefiting from irrigation projects to participate in the maintenance and sharing of water fairly. For the project Big construction After building the head and building. Some irrigation is finished. The Royal Irrigation Department has approved the establishment of a water supply and maintenance project for irrigation management and maintenance. In 1975, the Royal Irrigation Division was reconsidered. There are 3 offices in the Northeast, namely, Irrigation Office 4, 5 and 6, which are named as RIO4, RIO5 and RIO6. Heads of Irrigation Office (Later renamed Director of Irrigation Office). RIO4 is responsible for irrigation in the areas of Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Nong Khai, Loei and Mahasarakham. The five provinces are located in Amphoe Muang. Khon Kaen

Who should read this article: Anybody interested in applying to an Ivy League or U.C. school, oh yes, and Stanford. I also include my opening discussion for the class of 2021 on brand, status and the Tesla test. How many Teslas have you seen with college stickers on the back window? Me neither, and I drive the highways in the most Tesla-dense region in the country as I visit area clients. I’ll get back to that after we get to some data, below. So how bad was the application season? Depends on where you applied. Applications to the Ivies, Stanford, and some of their analogues and safety schools, which will be the topic of this post, were very, very difficult. Your leading example is Stanford, which dropped below a 5% admissions rate for the first time this year–and was the first university to do this. Applying to Stanford increasingly resembles playing the lottery for most applicants. Applications to hundreds of non-name brands and international options, not so much. Food for thought, and a topic I will discuss again soon. Not a very friendly collection of numbers, is it? The problem, as usual, is that classic supply and demand equation in market theory. Sure, there is a long-term structural problem in our economy, and yes, the elite universities offer superb educational opportunities, not to mention the prestige of an Ivy or Stanford sticker on the back windshield, and yes, your college friends can be part of a great network . . . . but the next Mark Zuckerberg is not going to come from a new social media platform at Harvard. Sure, if you are admitted, go to Harvard (as long as the financials work). But don’t go just to have the brand, especially if you know of a lesser place with a better deal for you, educationally and financially (is Harvard really the best place to go for software design/engineering?) One of the most important things I do with college advising clients is help them develop a wider list of options. My mantra on target schools is this: You should always have three tiers of schools in your application list, with the bottom tier being schools for whom your data puts you above the 75th percentile of admissions, the middle tier with schools for which your data makes you an “average” admit, and your reach schools making up the third tier–where your data is at 25% or below, though I add that if your data is below or near the bottom of a college’s admit data, it’s not likely to be worth the time to write the app essays, much less pay the app fee. The chances of admission always have to be weighed against the strength of your dream, of course, and maybe that fusion reactor you are constructing in your garage will do the trick . . . I have written about strategy and creating a good college list before, and will write about it again in relation to this year’s application season in the coming months, so look for that. Much of the overcrowding in the world of college apps is a result of what an economist would refer to as market distortion–in this case rooted in the growing fear many people have about their economic future and the chances for their children to have a life as prosperous as their own. This sense of decline in economic prospects is well-documented, as is the reality that fuels these fears, and along with a focus on a narrow range of well-known brands, you can see the problem with the information in this particular “market.” The brand advantage does have a real effect on income when you are first hired in a range of industries, but that effect fades quickly–mid-range income is an indicator of job performance, and job performance comes from an alloy of factors, including how good your education actually was, your motivation, and decision-making on the job. Which brings me back to that Tesla. I have not seen a college sticker on the back window of a Tesla. Well, okay, I have seen a couple, but those were on the back windows of Tesla 3’s Yep, we already have truckloads of those loose in my part of the world. The thing about a Tesla, and a college sticker, is two-fold: first both are a statement of status. Second, both affiliate you with a group of people. But a Tesla is a status symbol that speaks for itself, environmentally friendly, elegant in design, superb in execution and performance . . . and the one person I currently know who is driving a Tesla Model S went to Humboldt State University (not the Humboldt U in Germany–the Cal State in Northern California, an area more known for certain herbal products than tech). This person started as an art major, moved to graphic arts and from there focused more and more on Computers . . . and now runs his own medium-sized digital arts company now–a success story showing the power of education and curiosity. The car he owns because, a, he likes it, and b, he thinks that environmentalism can only succeed if it is not just moral but enjoyable. His mid-career income is excellent, he loves what he is doing, and he came out of a college that does not get much notice even as a regional school–ranked only 57th as a regional university (West) by U.S. News and World Report. Something to keep in mind as you churn through rankings and discard schools that are not getting brand recognition. This post has analysis and data on Ivy League applications for the last five years, as well as on the most popular U.C. campuses and a couple of interesting alternative schools (particularly for tech and engineering students). It may feel like reading War and Peace for those of you whose reading does not generally extend beyond Twitter and text messages. On the other hand, for the labor, you will get a good overview on the trends in elite Ivy and U.C. schools, as well as free advice for saving yourself a lot of application misery–which starts with looking at the data on schools and on yourself. For more, read on. For some things, the past is no longer such a great predictor of the future–the weather, for example. I just came back from ten days in the Sierra Nevada and the weather reminded me of the monsoon: thunder, lightning and rain daily, with green grass in the arid ghost town of Bodie–in July. Go figure. For other things, the past is still a good predictor of the future–take college applications as an example, in which the forecast is for admissions to be incrementally tougher every year–if you are going to the most competitive schools. If you are not, relax and enjoy the application process (As much as possible. Think about it as a challenge, as an opportunity for growth, as . . . a lot of work). Some Examples That Show the Trends (and Why Averages are not Necessarily for the Average Applicant) Turning to some specifics for this year, the tale is pretty much the same as it has been for over a decade: if you want to go to one of the super select colleges, the going is tough and tougher. Stanford, for example, came close to breaking into the 4% admit range this year, dropping to an all-time low of 5.05% of applicants admitted. Of course, they do have a relatively small undergraduate population and are a worldwide brand pretty much on par with Disneyland, which means that your average 4.0 GPA can expect to be rejected, but . . . it’s even worse when you look at their average GPA and test scores and realize that they have under 8,000 undergrads and a very full and vibrant athletic program, among other things, which means for the average student, the GPA and test scores listed are not really averages for the average applicant. Why? Because those average numbers are skewed by hundreds of athletes, many of whom (but not all, for sure) have somewhat lower GPA and test scores. And special categories for admits are not just for athletes. For those who are upset at this, I believe this is actually fair–for one simple reason: no money, no university. Universities need to build a happy alumni and athletics are a big part of brand and of donations, and these donations and the happy supporters with their fond memories of tailgating, et al, pay for all kinds of things, including new facilities, scholarships athletic and otherwise . . . and not only that, many kids who excel athletically but are somewhat underperforming academically for admission to the elite schools they get to attend will still go on to to exceptional work as adults. And special admits are not just for jocks. A math prodigy who is mediocre at other things (yep, they exist) may also jump past an accomplished generalist when it comes to admits. And a high performing kid from a rough neighborhood may also get a boost–which is okay by me. It’s fair play for universities to have special categories for everything from athletic branding to social justice. Their game, their rules. This is true in many areas of life. Your task is to decide whose game to play. So getting back go forecasting and data for this year, one easy prediction for your application experience is this: if you are less concerned with brand and just want a good education, you have no worries–last year I had multiple clients with C+ averages make it into multiple universities, and clients in the solid B range doing very well with multiple accepts to multiple well-known brands–not in the Ivies or Stanford of course, but getting accepted into a broad range of good schools, public and private. It’s all about finding a broad range of colleges that will allow you to fulfill your ultimate ends and settling on a good list for your final applications, then having good supplemental materials. Turning to one of the other popular options in California as a more sane option than Stanford, U.C. Berkeley had roughly a 17% acceptance rate for fall 2015 (still bad, but compared to the Cardinal, this looks very reasonable). Before I get to this year’s data but let me give you my takeaway for this whole post now: To avoid misery, create good goals and keep those goals in mind when planning for factors that you cannot control (like what the colleges are looking for to fill specific categories this year), without obsessing about fairness. And be sure that you do not focus only on getting into HYPSM. These are great schools and offer unique opportunities for their students, but so do most respectable colleges. And finally, use the CollegeAppJungle cushion formula when creating your college list: for every Stanford or top Ivy on your list, have one school for which you are average and one school for which you are above average. You then can reach for your dreams, with a safety net. Pretty Scary Data: Ivy League Results for the 2014-2015 application season (these students will be enrolling for fall semester, 2015-in a couple of months, in other words). Brown 30,397 applied; 8.5% admitted (2013-2014 data: 30,291 applications; 8.6% admitted–see what I mean by incrementally more difficult each year–this is pretty consistent throughout what follows.) Columbia 36,250 applied; 6.1% admitted (2013-2014: 32,952 applications; 6.94% admitted) Cornell 41,907 applied; 14.9% admitted (2013-2014 data: 43,041 applications; 15.2% admitted) Dartmouth 20,504 applied; 10.3% admitted (2013-2014 data: 19,235 applications; 11.5% admitted) Harvard 37,307 applied; 5.3% admitted (2013-2014 data: 34,295 applications; 5.9% admitted) Penn 37,267 applied; 9.9% admitted (2013-2014 data: 35,788 applications; 9.9% admitted) Princeton 27,290 applied; 6.99% admitted (2013-2014 data: 26,641 applications; 7.28% admitted) Yale 30,237 applied; 6.49% admitted–making Yale a bit of an outlier as their numbers softened slightly this year. (2013-2014 data: 30,932 applications; 6.25% admitted) And for you uber-STEMers, here is M.I.T: 18,306 applied; 8% admitted (2013-2014 data: 18,356 applied; 7.9% admitted) The numbers above could be described as ranging from tough to terrifying, if you are obsessed with the Ivy League and M.I.T. But keep in mind that there are up to a thousand decent to superb colleges in the Americas, particularly if you break them down by schools or majors (e.g. Colorado College of Mines, the University of Toronto and the University of Michigan, among others, Oh Engineers). Also be aware when assessing data that all colleges must estimate how many of their admits will actually choose to attend, which affects their admits–this is called yield, and I have written about this here: Why Yield Still Matters. Ivy League colleges have very high yield, relatively speaking, and so have an even lower level of admits compared to schools with lower yield. Of course, if you are not totally obsessed with the Ivy League, this data is merely interesting, and using it, along with, say, a scattergram from Naviance, you can do a cost-benefit analysis based on your chances of admission. I say, Go for it, given that your average app costs only 50-75 dollars, but have a healthy list of non-super-selective colleges, guided by a healthy perspective on why you want to go to college and what you expect to get from it. Compare the last two years’ data to a three year trend that takes us from 2013 back to 2011: M.I.T’s West Coast competitor, Cal Tech, had 11% admitted in 2013, 8% for 2014, for you STEMers who need another point of comparison. I will update with this year’s data for CT when I get it. The trend is clear: steadily down for the most competitive schools, and the seeming upward trend in a couple of cases may be due to the fact that they admit more because more students use them for a backup school, choosing to attend another school after admissions offers go out–universities have to calculate this into the admits, much like an airline figuring out how to slightly overbook flights–the difference being that, if a school misses their admit/yield target, they either lose money when they under enroll, or have to find a way to house and provide classes to their excess new students–U.C. Berkeley had a bit of a fiasco with yield some years back and had freshman students living off of cots in rec rooms and hallways of dorms for quite awhile. See my post on Yield, above, for more on yield. If the current trend continues, the top three Ivies will all be under a 5% admit rate a year or so before the next Winter Olympics roll around. Fear not, however, for I will conclude with some recommendations for dealing with this in a moment–but before I do . . . . let’s get to this: As I said, really close to that 4% barrier and really likely to break it this year, based on the trend. They could decide to forestall this by adjusting and making some space for a slightly larger freshman class, but nothing currently suggest this will happen. Stanford is the go-to destination for today’s Future Masters of the Universe, really–anybody who wants to launch a good STEM career has Stanford at or near the top of their college list. So expect yield at Stanford to stay high, and for the Cardinal to drop below 5% during your application season as Stanford turns down many students who look perfect in terms of numbers. Other factors, like essays and extracurriculars will play in important role in application results here. So will institutional needs. Inconsistent Admission Results I did have six of my clients be admitted to Stanford in 2013-2014, which was a new high for me, but two of them were outstanding female athletes as well as good students, and the others were nearly perfect, with outstanding essays and interesting backgrounds. This year, so far three have reported admissions, but I have only had formal reports back from about 70% of my clients as of July, so I hold out hope for those who may still be too giddy to respond to my June e-mail request for results and decisions. I also had other clients who did not get into Stanford, some of whom were admitted into places like Harvard and Yale, and of course those who had admits to both/and. My Stanford admits were not admitted to some of the Ivy League schools on their list while being admitted to others. The upshot on this is simple: you cannot count on admission to any specific school in the usual short list of top universities–so you should widen your application list. Do some deep breathing. Remember that life is not about what college sticker you put on your car. Have a Good Backup Plan Let’s start with what West Coast applicants applying to the Ivy League think of as “backup schools:” U.C. Berkeley and U.C.L.A. (Personally I find the idea that the U.C.’s are somehow second-rate to be hilarious. Berkeley has been ranked as the top school in the world overall by some ratings systems–not that I am all that impressed by ratings, which usually focus on incomes of graduates and a bunch of less clear metrics, none of which guarantee a good outcome for any individual. But back to our topic . . .) U. C. Berkeley–2011: 25.54%; 2012: 21.13%; 2013: 20.83%; 2014: 17.3% admit rate, with 12,795 admitted for fall 2014 out of 73,771 applicants; of these, 65.6% were California residents and 4,401 were out-of-state students; this year’s admits had a weighted average GPA of 4.18, ACT composite average of 31 and SAT reading of 677, Math of 703 and Writing of 691. Berkeley Update for fall 2015 enrollment: 78,918 freshman/1st year applicants, 13,321 admitted for a 16.9% admit rate, a new low. Yes, a large, “state” school with many applicants and an incrementally more difficult admissions rate, but a much better admit rate than in the Ivies. Llike the Ivies, the trend is toward tougher admissions, and the drop in admits at Berkeley is even steeper over recent years than at most other schools–a result of the Ivies, et al, having such low rates of admission that more and more students are dropping out of the Ivy League app race and going straight for the great public universities. The average unweighted GPA for these admits was 3.91 with an average ACT of 31 and an average SAT of 2093. For transfers, Berkeley had 17,239 applicants, 93% of whom came from California community/junior colleges; 3,763 or 21.8% were offered admissions this year; compare that to about 23% transfer admits last year and the theme of incrementally increasing difficulty reappears here as well. U. C. L. A.–2011: 25.28%; 2012: 21.27%; 2013: 21.10; 2014: 18.23% admit rate, with 15,778 admitted out of 86,537 applicants–4,110 of these admits coming from out-of-state. Weighted average GPA for U.C.L.A. in 2014 was 3.94. For a complete look at U.C.L.A.’s test average (SAT/ACT) and other data up through 2014, which is rendered in more detail than Berkeley, see this: U.C.L.A. Averages. U.C.L.A. Fall 2015 Update: 17.3% admitted, including 16,027 freshman admits out of 92,722 applicants. This is a pretty good jump downward in admits and upward in applicants for U.C.L.A. U.C.L. A. also admitted 4,905 out of 20,063 transfer students (mostly J.C. transfers). Again, you see a relatively easier admissions challenge relative to the Ivies, but also a relatively steep decline in admits in recent years. Some Other Schools to Look At This will be more focused on STEM majors, not because I think STEM is the only way to go (far from it), but rather because so many want a STEM major, and it provides an easy way to focus on a small selection of the thousands of colleges in North America and beyond. University of Washington Why not, STEMmers and others? For you STEM folks who think that Berkeley or Stanford are the only way to go to get a foot in the door of the West Coast Tech Industry, you might have heard of those guys at Amazon and Microsoft up there in the Seattle area (Of the latter, I know, I know, so Old School, but still–one of the biggest and most important tech companies in the world.) Not to mention those biotech companies and internet companies like Zillow, Expedia, et al and so forth. Specifically of interest to you computer science and programming folks, U.W.’s Comp Sci school has a truly fantastic new building and a large degree of protected funding dedicated to Computer disciplines–a good thing in today’s challenging world of educational finances. For more on that, look here: U Washington Computer Sciences. 2015 data is pending as of July, 2015–a relaxed approach from a university that is pretty relaxed compared to the Ivies and Berkeley. Looks doable, doesn’t it? Of course, some majors will be far more challenging to get into–like those in the computer disciplines–but still not even nearly as tough as the Ivies, Stanford, or the U.C.’s, especially Berkeley, if you are a STEMmer. Of course, there is some rain, but the good coffee and access to excellent salmon offset that . . . Harvey Mudd If you haven’t heard of this place, they know it well in Silicon Valley. And while it is tougher than Berkeley and far tougher than Washington, its data shows that it is a good alternative school for those convinced that the Ivies are the Cat’s Pajamas. Here some data: 2013: 3,539 applicants; 18% admitted; 2014: 3,678 applicants; 524 admitted (14.2% admit rate); as of July, I am still waiting for HM to report stats for fall, 2015 enrollment. One additional point–more than two men apply for every woman who applies to HM (2,588 men for fall 2014 vs. 1,090 women), but the number of women who were admitted in the last available class (fall 2014) was 255 vs. 269 for the men. So the advantage is to you ladies. Though the admit total is admittedly small in both cases. H.M is a beautiful, small school in a Southern California setting (807 undergraduate students last year), and while both private and expensive, has pretty generous financial aid (32,000 has been the average aid package in recent years, according to HM, apparently an upgrade from the old HM 25 k package). If you can pay for an out-of-state public school, you can likely afford HM. The steep recent decline in admits does suggest that HM has been discovered, with a rising rate of out-of-state applicants, but still: worth adding if you have some space on your target school list and are interested in a small school. Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo One of my favorite, small, public colleges and also a favorite of Silicon Valley employers, as well as companies like Bechtel, Webcor, Kiewit, et al. Look em’ up, if you are curious, Oh engineering types. The school is well-known for programs ranging from Architecture to Electrical Engineering, has a highly ranked business school and a number of very strong humanities programs. Here’s some CPSLO data: 2013: 40,402 applications, 13,939 accepted (35% accepted) with an average wieghted GPA of 3.96, ACT composite average of 29 and SAT 1 average of 1311. 2014: 51,707 applicants, 14,749 admitted (28%-this is a record low for CPSLO), with a weighted GPA of 3.97 on average and SAT Reading and Math of 1318–the ACT composite was 29. Fall 2015 Update: 46,799 applied; 14,386 admitted; 4.0 GPA average (weighted); ACT average of 30; SAT Reading and Math average of 1332. Cal Poly has (finally) started to offer more detailed information on student data by fields of study–click here for information by school: Cal Poly Data Breakdown. Your Takeaway: Diversity, Diversity, Diversity–and a somewhat longer list than the old “10 is the max” standard. As in recent years, the takeaway for this is to develop a longer list of target schools and add some diversity. I suggest 12-15 as a minimum on your target list, not the old ten maximum list. After all, it’s the 21st Century, Friends, and as you can see, the admit rates at my alternate schools are also declining, a trickle-down effect of both increased expenses at some of the more popular schools and the very low likelihood of admissions to the most competitive schools–students and parents are getting the message and are looking for the hidden gem or overlooked schools like the few I showed you in this post. So look for the overlooked, look across borders and over the sea, as well as in your backyard. Don’t limit your search to the United States. As in recent years, I strongly encourage students to look at Canada–the University of British Columbia, U of Toronto and McGill come immediately to mind, and are cheaper on average than going out of state within the U.S. A West-Coast flight to Vancouver, or an East Coast flight to Toronto is actually pretty affordable, so parents can visit with ease, if necessary, and Canada is on average a safer place to live than the U.S., even if they do have more guns per capita. Must be that relaxed and friendly attitude. And don’t take the various university rankings too seriously, even if you are a STEM person, which some of the best known university rankings weight over other factors (money being the other dominant metric). Nobody knows how to measure the real value of an education, and there is a degree to which the Ivies, particularly Yale, Harvard and Princeton, demonstrate a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy when it comes to income–income and some other stuff that is used to rank universities does not necessarily reflect the quality of your undergrad education. Having said that, you might want to check out international rankings for British and Irish universities, and check out some specialty programs, like the accelerated medical degree at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland–an example only if you want to be a surgeon, of course. Moving back to the role income plays in university rankings, a school from a western state, particularly if it has a smaller population, will obviously have folks with lower incomes–it’s cheaper to live there and more of the students from, say University of Washington or Oregon will be from those states and likely continue to live in the Northwest, which has a great standard of living, but lower average incomes than, say, New York or Mass. If you went to school in Seattle, but took a job in Cupertino, your income would reflect that. Keep that in mind and ask what you want from your college experience–a good job is huge, but a good experience is as well, and it starts with having a good list of backup schools to ease the stress of applications. Good luck and come back soon. For many years, yield was vital to college rankings. Universities tried not only to attract far more qualified applicants than they could possibly admit, they also tried to get a very high yield. From the point of view of applicants, this was, well, a bit devilish. The universities, of course, have a different point of view, and it’s worth considering their perspective as you begin the process of applying. For those of you who are not up on the inside game of college admissions and its terminology (yet), yield is the number of admitted students who then also actually enrollin the school instead of, say, turning down the school to enroll in their “other” first choice. Yield was for many years important due to the U.S. News and World Report’s use of yield in its rankings of colleges, a practice they gave up years back. But yield remains, as a kind of ghost hanging around the theatre of college applications, influencing the general perception about how in demand a college is. The psychology is not so dissimilar to that of the fashion industry in some ways, if you step back and squint your eyes a bit—or maybe not. Too scary to visualize. In any case, universities today still share their yield info with applicants; those universities with high yields share the information as a sales point (simply everybody, or at least a supermajority of our admits wants to go to our school, etc.) and the others share presumably either so they won’t seem like they have something to hide or because they really are perfectly fine accepting students who were ranked in a top decile but who were not in the tiny cohort of the top 1 to 3% of those who actually gain admissions to an elite Ivy or Stanford. As a side note, for those of you who are already feeling the butterflies as you consider the odds of getting into, say, Princeton or Stanford, look: You will find a surprising number of really excellent schools that accept the top 10-15% of students, and many people in fact get a great education for less debt at public schools with even “lower” standards. Some of these less competitive schools have specific programs that compete with anybody. Once you look beyond the same 10-15 schools that everybody else knows about and wants to apply to, you can find all kinds of hidden gems. So breathe deep and relax as I present the admissions facts as they are, and I will, in upcoming posts, also help you look outside the envelope everybody else is staring into, including looking at cheaper and less well-known but still excellent domestic options, as well as looking outside the country. If you can expand your horizon beyond the same 12-15 schools everyone else is applying to, you can find some real gems, colleges that may suit you and your needs better than many marquee universities. With this preamble, let’s first take a look at the data I gathered on some of the most competitive colleges in the United States—yes, these are some of the schools everybody has heard of: Yale—2013 (class of 2017): Yield not available as of 6/19; 2012: 68.4%; 2011: 65.2% Compare the yield rates for the elite schools, above, with the overall category averages below, which come from the most recent NACAC (National Association of College and Career Counselors) report, with data up through 2011; these are averages for the entire public/private categories: Yield Rates for Public and Private 4-Year Colleges Year Public Private 2002 51.4% 47.8% 2003 50.6% 45.7% 2004 49.1% 45.5% 2005 48.9% 44.2% 2006 47.5% 43.8% 2007 48.4% 44.2% 2008 46.2% 43.3% 2009 42.9% 38.4% 2010 42.9% 38.4% 2011 42.6% 36.4% The story that my data on the super selective schools and the data in this categorical chart tells is clear: the most elite schools have been pretty well sheltered from the big drop in yields in recent years, but many others have been, therefore, disproportionately affected. Why? Well, demand, largely. And the demand is driven by certain realities—the famous profs, the famous alums, the data they issue about how smart their applicants are, the data about how few of those applicants they let in, the data about how high their yield rate is of those they did admit . . . oh, wait, it looks like we are discussing, well, marketing, and therefore, Dear Applicant, we are discussing you. Or your perceptions both personally and aggregated with your peers across the country and world. Take your pick. As you consider your own perceptions, we should also consider the plight of that demonic realm known as the Admissions Department. You might want to cue some Rolling Stones (Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste) as you think about those dark empires into which all your personal information will disappear, leaving you to wait for months to find out if you are one of the blessed or one of the damned when the envelopes are mailed or the e-mails sent next spring. But here’s the thing: they have problems, too. You are in a race to be admitted; they are in a contest to improve their rankings, or if they are near the top, to maintain their position. Changes in college rankings mean big money and can make or break campuses and careers. In some cases, the suffering of admissions deans may even surpass that of those applying. A large part of a dean’s problem is hitting the sweet spot where most of those admitted actually attend. All heck can break loose if 400 extra freshmen admits appear who weren’t expected. Yes, screwing up on your yield can wreak some serious havoc, with 18-year olds sleeping on cots in hallways, irate parents calling, news vans prowling campus. Worse even than that is a big drop in yield, when dorm rooms are empty because the admissions people didn’t get enough new faces to show up. Instead of simply bad PR, which they can deal with, they lose real money and their prestige takes a hit. That’s a scary, nay a terrifying thing for university administrators, even with the economy appearing to recover. Have a little compassion for those admissions types who are not really devils anyhow. They are your fellows in the suffering created by our crazy college applications market. And here is one more thing to consider: You will do a better job at creating a strategy for college admissions if you better understand the problems facing your admissions officers, because you will also know more about your own challenges when you apply. And when you turn to writing your application essays, your audience should be one of your first considerations. Of course, in the long run, the more of you who do a better job understanding those problems, the (paradoxically) larger problems those same admissions officers will face, at least in the long run. For one thing, you will follow my advice and continue to apply to more schools, and you will also continue to demonstrate more interest in more schools, using persistence and discipline to evade their attempts to measure just how committed you are as they, for their part, try to get more apps, admit fewer people and have a higher yield. With that, let’s say the game is afoot, and may the best applicants win. Read my earlier post on how applications are evaluated while you start to plan your moves, and I will have more about all this strategy stuff in later posts. Speaking of which, some of these posts will be protected and you will need to pay me a very small subscription fee for full access to all my posts on my private blog. Contact me at [email protected] for more information. See you soon. In my last post, I took a look at trends in admissions–finding, most notably, that admission rates at the most competitive schools are continuing to trend downward in the single digits. This post will give three year results for all of the Ivy League universities, below, as well as results on other universities that were popular with my clients this year. (This data changes from early in the year until late spring; I update as I get new numbers but not necessarily immediately.) Some schools are holding steady, others are seeing decreasing rates of admissions, while a few saw a slight increase in admits. I also made some suggestions in the last post about looking outside the usual suspects, i.e, the 12 or so big names that always come up when constructing a college list, something I have been discussing for years. I will repost and link the relevant posts in the coming days and weeks. In addition to broadening your college search and making a longer target list, the supplementary work that you do in applying to college this year will be even more important for the selective schools. Essays are always the center of this effort, which is why I spend so much time addressing them in by blog posts, and essay development and editing is central to my business and my work with applicants. My first recommendation on essays is to get started now. It’s true that most new prompts will not be up until July or later, but this is a good time to find a small notebook and carry it around so you can jot down ideas when they come to you–I am serious about this; you will need a bit of focus for your thoughts, so have a look at my post on this year’s Common Application Prompts, then get that notebook, carry it with you, and take the time to scribble an idea down when it comes to you. You will find that good ideas can fade and be lost as quickly as you forget your dreams–if you don’t write them down. A notebook is best for this because it is really good only for making notes, and so tends to work better for this task than does that most distracting platform called a smart phone. Check the admissions trends below; but for a comparison, before you do check our trends in the U. S., here is the most recent data from the University of Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh 2012-2013 Total Number of Applications: 47,076; 18,155 offers; 5,457 accepted; Offer rate 38.6%. The offer rate does vary by “programme”. Note that a single applicant can make multiple applications to the university, to different programs, so the acceptance rate is a bit exaggerated–but still . . . compare this to the Ivy League three-year returns, below: Three Year Admissions Results, Ivy League (these numbers represent the total percent of applicants who were offered admission) As I said in the last post, apply to the university of your dreams, even if your stats make an admit unlikely, but then look around for more fallback and sure thing choices. And start thinking of yourself as an internationalist as well. There are many fine anglophone schools, abroad, and not just in Canada. The University of Edinburgh, for example . . . In this post, after an opening discussion on how to approach any supplement with both short answer and essay responses, including advice on dealing with electronic submissions, I will begin analyzing the individual prompts in Stanford’s supplement for 2012-2013. I will include all of the Stanford prompts, both for short responses and essays. Keep in mind that this post applies to this year’s prompts, since they are not changed, but some details in this and other linked posts are aimed at what was happening last year. My links to more in-depth discussions include protected material which is only available in full to my subscribers and clients. My client services include everything from a full range of college advising and application support to editing on a single essay. Contact me for more information at: [email protected]. I will book up rapidly from mid-August into September so don’t wait too long to contact me–I offer inspirational help to those dealing with writer’s block, as well as editorial help on existing app essays. The Stanford supplement requires a series of short answers–a couple of lines, in most cases–followed by a series of short essays. When I say short, the range will be from at least 250 words up to 2,000 characters. I would suggest writing rough drafts of 300 to 350 words. You could possibly fit in as many as 380-390 words and be under the 2,000 character limit, but I always advise having a safe margin–one of the most difficult editing tasks is to take a tightly written essay and knock fifty words off of it. There is a saying, attributed variously to Faulkner and other writers, that, In writing, you must kill your darlings. This applies to you insofar as you need to step back to look at each essay as a unit and to look at that unit as part of the larger package you will hand over to the application readers. Anything that doesn’t help the whole package needs to go. You have to be prepared to throw out even the greatest sentence you’ve ever written if it doesn’t fit the essay, or if it somehow contradicts something you’ve said elsewhere. And you may need to throw out even some great sentences that do fit the essay if you are over the word or character count. (Do what I do and write the poor, discarded sentence down in a notebook for possible use elsewhere before deleting it from your essay–limbo is better than annihilation and you may be able to reincarnate it in another essay.) I also advise–nay, remonstrate–that you should write, rewrite and further revise all of your responses to the questions ahead of time, not just the essays, and that, when you have typed in a response (typing from one of your already polished drafts) you then take the extra step of printing and reading a hard copy before submitting. If you have a problem with the preview function, simply copy the text into a new document, then print it and reread the hard copy carefully and make any necessary changes before submitting it. I ask my clients to do this with all responses, from a sentence in length to an essay. It is generally easier to see mistakes on a piece of paper than it is on a screen. Of course this also takes more time than simply sitting down and banging out your answers, which may seem awful given the amount of time you are going to be spending on college apps, but you will find that a response that seemed brilliant yesterday may seem ho-hum or even ill advised today. You should have spent days or weeks polishing your responses before finally you sit down to fill in those boxes and submit. Think of it as two years of English class compressed into a few months, and keep in mind the potential payoff if you feel like screaming. Need I say that you also need to check that all of your short answers and your essays present a consistent picture that coincides with everything else you present to the university? You may come up with something witty or interesting to say in a short answer, but it needs to be thrown away if it contradicts the rest of your material or otherwise may cause you trouble, by being offensive, for example, or simply. . . not fitting in well. When using humor, check yourself to see if you are coming off as flippant or sarcastic. If in doubt, show your answers to at least two other people you trust to get their opinions. Remind them to think like an admissions officer. Be sure at least one of them is an adult who is not afraid to be critical. And now, on to Stanford, beginning with the short answer responses: Stanford Short Answer Prompts for 2012-2013 Please respond to the following questions so we can get to know you better. Respond in two lines or less, and do not feel compelled to answer using complete sentences. 300 characters each. What five words best describe you? (My note: you have some characters left after the five words. Find a pithy way to elaborate. X because of y, for example. ——————————————————————————————————————————– Essay Responses Please respond to the following essay topics using at least 250 words, but not exceeding the space provided. (I would shoot for around 350 words here; this will put you under 2,000 characters, which is their limit.) Please print preview before submitting to make sure your responses fit into the space provided. Stanford students possess an intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development. Virtually all of Stanford’s undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate – and us – know you better. What matters to you, and why? Prompt Analysis and Advice I begin with caveats and advisories. As I pointed out in recent posts, Stanford, like many other schools, is using much of the same material they used last year. An overhaul of the Common Application site is planned for next year, which may explain why so many schools are using retread prompts this year–I assume that they are waiting to roll out a bunch of new stuff with the new app portal, or maybe they just think they’ve found the perfect prompts. I’ll know more about that next year, though you won’t have to worry about it, having already written brilliant essays and gained admissions to multiple excellent universities. What you do have to worry about is coming up with good ideas for your essays. And since there is all this material just lying around from last year, and in some cases from the last several years, it seems like a no-brainer to approach older friends or siblings who still have app essays, or to look online. And I do encourage looking around so long as you are simply picking up good ideas. If you do know people who applied in the last couple of years, surveying them for their opinions is a good idea. In particular, I would ask them what they would throw away or do differently as well as asking what ideas or essays they thought worked best for them. The caveat here is that you should be seeking inspiration rather than direct imitation. While there is a long and colorful history of authors “borrowing” from each other, directly copying or barely reshuffling somebody else’s app essay is a bad idea, in a number of ways. I would say that first among these is your own knowledge that somehow you cheated; within the exultation you might feel when you got that acceptance e-mail or envelope would be a grain of regret, a sense that somehow you are a phony. And that sense may never go away, may still pop into your mind years later. Who needs that? A second problem in relying on close imitation is what I would call the cul-de-sac problem. If you focus on specific examples, you can end up in a mental dead-end. If you are too specifically inspired by somebody else’s essay, you may find yourself stuck, unable to find a new direction when the idea–their idea–goes nowhere for you. So if you are going to look at examples, look at many examples before you start to write. And don’t look for ideas by simply searching for successful application essays to Stanford or to any other university you want to attend. Figure out how to create categories for different approaches to the questions and search–and think– along those lines. For example, when looking at the intellectual experience prompt, instead of starting by typing “intellectual experience, Stanford,” into a browser and spending hours going through page after page looking for examples online, switch off the machine for awhile and spend some time thinking of all the things you’ve read and done in school or elsewhere that represent an intellectual experience. And don’t limit yourself to experiences with teachers or books or experiments. Especially remember things that truly sparked your interest instead of things that simply seem stereotypically “intellectual.” I’ll get into this in more detail below, when I address the intellectual experience prompt directly. A third problem with imitating too closely is the fact that data won’t die until civilization collapses. That essay your friend Jimmy sent to Stanford last year is still out there somewhere, and electronic submissions have made it easy to check essays for plagiarism. So if you borrow an idea, reshape it so that you own it. Entire genres of literature and drama are based on loving mockery or sincere imitation that moves into new territory (and this isn’t limited to parody and burlesque). Write in that spirit. When imitating, you want to be like that artist who finds a bunch of junk and makes a brilliant new sculpture which incorporates old stuff made by others, but which is at the same time one-of-a-kind. If you cheat, Big Brother is likely to catch you. So let’s move on to the intellectual vitality prompt. As I pointed out last year, this overlaps with the Common App prompt about an intellectual experience. The possible range of topics here is wide, but whatever your choice, do not forget that you are the real topic and the hidden form of the essay is that of the argument–your argument being that you should be admitted to the university. Let’s start with classes, which could include anything from science and lab classes through your humanities and arts classes. But don’t limit your brainstorming to school or classes. Einstein found inspiration as a child by looking closely at the structure of individual leaves. Think broadly as you start brainstorming. Maybe you started studying strategy because of your interest in a team sport . . . or for a game . . . sounds intellectual to me. While an entire area of study may inspire you, you will want to identify a single experience or episode or unit in order to create a focus, a source of specific, descriptive detail. Being able to show the reader some of your experience through specific detail is almost always a good idea. But it is not enough simply to describe an experiment or a poem or a chapter on Gettysburg or a technique for moving up a level in a challenging game or for finding a weakness in an opposing defense. Imagine your reader constantly asking the question “Why is this important? And what does this show about this kid?” You need to show them that, which means you need to show your passion or show why the topic is more generally important. This means you need to give some thought to the whole idea of intellectual experience and growth. I would suggest that a sense of wonder, of excitement is necessary to all real intellectual growth and achievement. Maybe a particular moment in a chemistry class, watching the seemingly magical transformation of matter, gave you that sense of wonder. If it did, then show it. Maybe a biology or geography unit suddenly transformed your sense of time as you learned to look underfoot for that ocean that no longer exists. Maybe it was the time the fourth grade teacher gave different kids different objects from peas to marbles to a basketball and taught you about the vast distances in the solar system by having kids run further and further apart across the practice fields, Neptune or Pluto way out there across the campus, an invisible pea held up by an arm that seemed tiny from where you stood holding the basketball that was the sun . . . If you start with an early experience, go on to show how the experience amplified and echoed through your life, is still visible in your pursuits and interests. Also consider the examples offered by the greats in the sciences and the arts. Inspiration or growth which may seem sudden most often comes from long labor, repetition, tedium, failure. As you start thinking about this topic, don’t be afraid to consider the role of failure and the importance of determination and discipline. Fiddling with tubes and beakers or reading and rereading to figure out meaning are part of the deal and you should not be afraid to talk about these things. Your essay isn’t a movie trailer full of explosions and leaps from tall buildings, nor does it need to be about awards received and competitions won. Try to keep coming back to those things that made and make you feel wonder. It’s wonder and joy that kept Kepler, Newton, Einstein, Leonardo, Beethoven and Matisse going, the desire to capture what is seen, to know more deeply. The intellect isn’t some stuffy dude with patches on the elbows of his jackets. You are an embodied mind and anything requiring thought may be considered intellectual. I’ll come back to the intellectual experience essay again, but for now let’s cut to a few links. First, to get the synapses going and to help you broaden your thinking, here is a post I wrote earlier this year on an interesting intellectual experience essay that is on a topic that seems anything but intellectual: comic books. As you read this, look at how the author engages intellectually with the questions posed to him, how he works out his own way of seeing things. Whether it is in an experiment in biology or an argument if favor of graphic novels, you need to own the experience you describe. You need to be able to make and stand behind your own judgements. Next, have a look at my entry on Stanford for last year, where I discuss and link information on the essay topics: Then get out a piece of paper and start scribbling down times you were both learning and excited by what you were learning. Work from these to describe single incidents or experiences, including periods of trial and error. You can work out how to frame an essay and create a complete narration later. Start with topic ideas and scenes. I will return to the Stanford supplement and its essay prompts again soon. Check my site again in the next week. I also expect to post soon on some of the Ivies who have yet to put up their supplements. I guess they’ve extended their vacations over there at Dartmouth, et al. Stanford uses both the Common Application essays and what it calls The Stanford Supplement. If you are reading this, you probably already knew that. Bear with me while I establish the basic rules of the Stanford game for this year. I will then expand by analyzing the specifics of the prompts. When you have one or more drafts ready for feedback, you can send them to me at [email protected] for a sample edit; this is risk-free for you; in return I ask for only serious inquiries, please. Your work and information remain confidential. Update as of July 8th, 2015–Stanford has been using the same three short answer prompts since 2011, but this is no absolute guarantee that they will not change one or more of them this year. Feel free to read my posts on Stanford, but remember that until they go live officially ca. August 1st, with the opening of the Common App website for 2015-2016. Until then, or until I can confirm and post this year’s prompts separately, you should tread carefully. The Common App and other current prompts offer enough to do without risking wasted time in the event that, say, the Cardinal drops its letter to a roomate prompt. Okay, you have been warned–read on and click away to your heart’s content. Here are the prompts that Stanford adds to the Common App: The Stanford Supplement Short Essays Candidates respond to all three essay topics using at least 250 words, but not exceeding the space provided. Stanford students possess intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development. Virtually all of Stanford’s undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate—and us—know you better. What matters to you, and why? Let’s compare these to the Common App prompts Note: these are no longer the Common App prompts, but what I wrote about these and the Stanford prompts will still apply for the 2013-2014 app season; you will find, however, a some anachronisms along with my nuggets of wisdom. Read carefully, Thx.) 1. Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.2. Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.3. Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.4.Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you and describe that influence.5. A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.6. Topic of your choice. If you are thinking that there is a considerable overlap between Stanford’s prompts and the (old) Common App prompts, I agree. This is amplified by the fact that such a large percentage of young people share both the archetypal experiences of high school and a certain homogeneity that comes from growing up in suburbs and bedroom communities. This may not apply to you, but the majority of my clients are technically or effectively suburbanites. The prompts themselves further heighten the chances that students will write similar essays. Take a look at prompt 1 of the Common App–Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development. Given that so much of a young person’s intellectual development takes place at a school or in a relationship with a teacher figure outside of school, certain essay topics, such as how Coach Smith changed my life, or how my piano teacher inspired me, appear again and again. What to do. One approach is not to worry about it. If you care about your topic, it will show in your essay, so write about what you are passionate about, then polish, polish, polish. If your passions are very focused–on a particular intellectual pursuit, or on a sport, for example–consider how to write some related essays but have them touch edges, so to speak, rather than overlap. You could, for example, write about an English teacher who inspired you as you address either Common App prompt 3 or Stanford App prompt 1–the teacher would be the person who influenced you for the Common App, while in the Stanford prompt, the class is the intellectual experience. You could then, in a second essay, write about a character in a novel–say Tom Joad or Scout Finch–and turn the focus to a specific novel and individual in that novel, without mentioning the teacher. Or a novel could have inspired you to care about social issues (Stanford Prompt 3) and of course Common App Prompt 4 asks directly that you write about a fictional character or work of art (Keep in mind that a novel is a work of art). There are other ways the topics suggested by the different application prompts can overlap–in telling your roommate about yourself, for example, you might be discussing issues of local, national or international significance which you are passionate about. Most engaged and curious applicants to a place like Stanford are interested in politics and world events. So my most important advice to you is this: write what you know and care about. Try to write multiple essays for some of the prompts. Then choose the best from these; if they overlap, work on revising them to separate them as much as possible. If you are going to Stanford and you want to major in science, and you write one essay about scientific thinking as the thing that matters to you and you write a second essay on a specific science project as a significant experience . . . and its impact on you, the similarities of the essays may help you more than hinder you. How much you care and how hard you work at the essays will be more important than their similarities. I will be writing again to address issues raised by the Stanford App this year, but will end this post now by pointing out a specific problem with Stanford Supplemental Prompt 2: you are writing a note, not an e-mail or a tweet. The fact that this old-fashioned mode of communication–WTH? Paper?– is your model should caution you to avoid too many colloquialisms and–OMG!–watch the use of abbreviations and acronyms. You might work some in for humor, but use caution and consider your audience. We old geezers may not get it. Remember: always consider your audience and purpose. Your roommate is not the real audience for this essay/letter. An admissions officer is. See my Welcome to the Jungle post for links to general posts on addressing audience. Some early data is rolling in on this year’s college admissions, and all the news is up for those institutions known as “selective” universities–up meaning turned down for even more applicants this year. To wit: Stanford saw the number of applicants rise from 32,022 for 2010 to 34,000 in 2011, an increase of over 6%; across the Bay, U. C. Berkeley went from 50,312 to 52,920, an increase just north of 5%; and across the continent, Harvard saw an increase from 30,489 applicants last year to 35,000 this year The wide net cast by many–if not most–of the schools who have risen to the top of U.S. News and World Report’s heap of illusions is well known by now. This includes promos and invitations sent with more frequency than credit card offers to the homes of high school students, many of whom have a snowball’s chance in a pizza oven of being admitted. Also widely reported is the effect that these tens of thousands of what I call “prejects” have on the bottom line of these same selective universities. Thirty thousand admissions fees paid by kids (okay, parents of kids) who will under no circumstances ever tread the halls is a tidy sum reaped by a university for a very inexpensive data collections system. An admissions officer can screen dozens of applications a day, most electronic, and let’s face it, the first step is an algorithmic gate–at or below GPA x, no admit. At GPA y, maybe. If I were cynical, I would argue that the universities have found a way of making rejects pay for the system that screens their students. It is still true that the sweat and tears of applicants does matter, but only for those already near the top. So be realistic. If you don’t have a 4.0, or a 3.75 with a tremendous story to tell, don’t waste your time with the “selective” schools. If you do, go for it–and put plenty of time into your essay if you are going to be a Senior in September. In addition to working as an editor and college advisor, I have taught at the high school and college levels, including twenty years of experience in Advanced Placement English Literature, which was where I first began helping students with admissions to elite universities. After working with applications officials at multiple universities, ... Continue reading →

Amazon’s Kindle 2 – Is it an Interesting Gadget? Every tech savvy would have heard the news about Amazon’s Kindle 2.0 release recently. Let’s look into what the buzz is about. Let’s first talk about what is this gadget, in favor of non techies who are the beginners for this niche. “Amazon Kindle is an e-book reader, an embedded system for reading electronic books (e-books), launched in the United States by prominent online bookseller Amazon.com in November 2007. The Kindle was developed by Amazon’s Lab126.It uses an electronic paper display and downloads content over Amazon Whisper net using the Sprint EVDO network. The Kindle can be used without a computer, and Whisper net is accessible without any fee.” The newer version of Kindle 2 is an e-book reader has many improvements over its predecessor. It weighs only 10.2 ounces and fits perfectly in your hands. The ergonomics have been improved with change in page-turn button positioning and a new 5-way controller has been added. This device boasts a 25% longer battery life. Kindle is completely wireless and ready to use right out of the box and you can charge it with either wall charger or USB cable. It uses Amazon’s Whisper net technology plus Sprint’s national high-speed (3G) data network to wirelessly search, discover, and download content on the go and you don’t have to pay any wireless bills. Kindle 2 has enhanced library and holds over 1,500 Books, and best of all, a copy of every book you purchased is backed up online at Amazon.com for you to download anytime again if you want to. It also features black-and-white 6 inch screen with sharp and natural glare-free display. Has the new Text-to-Speech feature with both male and female voices in case you get lazy to read. Other improvements include 20% faster page turns, annotations to text bookmark your last place in the book, full image zoom, personal documents storage, The New Oxford American Dictionary look up, wireless access to Wikipedia, web search, along with some experimental features like a basic web browser and MP3 and pod cast player. Actually this kindle 2 sells for $400+ in Amazon. Some people who have confirmed shipping resell their Kindle 2s for profit in hopes that Amazon will not be able to satisfy the demand during the launch (as there are much greater expectations on this device).Something like that actually happened with Sony PRS-505 was released. Supply was much lower than demand and for months after the official launch it sold on eBay for double its retail price and the same the kindle2 is also planned. Now lets look into some complains on this device: The screen is too small and it will sell out due to hype with limited production. No touch screen, no wi-fi, they eliminated the SD card slot. Overall a laptop PC is cheaper and many times more versatile. But the fact is that excluding the price of this deal, it’s actually a great device, you can browse first chapters of tons of books free, get them delivered wirelessly in seconds, and the new kindles seems to have fixed the navigation and style flaws of the old one and has sped up refresh rate. But the device itself is a nice next step. They can’t make it color until eInk perfects the color screen and it’s affordable enough to mass produce. Saying things like just buy a laptop complete misses the point of its small size and simplicity, it’s supposed to replace a book and disappear in your hand like a book does, not an easy task. Some people don’t want to carry around a bunch of books. They don’t want the clutter of having a stack of books in their house. This device can store plenty of books and you can access them all at the touch of a button. No need to travel to the bookstore. The battery life on this is touted at days with wireless on and weeks with it turned off. Now that we have discussed about the pros and cons on this topic, you can decide for yourself whether it is an interesting device or not. Visit other blogs about tech gadgets and shopping tips at http://truehotdeals.com/blog

Would you like to read and discuss an interesting book each month? The book club meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. Copies of the books are available to borrow one month before the scheduled meeting at the l... Monthly readings of Shakespeare's works. Have fun reading Shakespeare aloud. To read or not to read...participants can volunteer to read a part or simply listen. For more information please call the branch at 416-393-7703. Do you love reading? Join our book club for kids! Read something new every month and meet fellow club members for fun activities, crafts and games! For ages 9 to 12. Registration required. Please note that this program runs o...

"The only hope for the world is to make sure there is not another United States. We can’t let other countries have the same number of cars, the amount of industrialization we have in the US. We have to stop these Third World countries right where they are.” —Michael Oppenheimer (Environmental Defense Fund) The reminders are put in front of us everyday. Poverty in the world. How horrible. Starving children. Unimaginable hardships. Hopelessness. SOMEONE MUST DO SOMETHING! Of course, the answer for the world leadership is to throw money at the problem, either through volunteer charity programs or mandatory taxation. The problem is, after subjecting us all to this redistribution of wealth in order to sentence the poor to a lifetime of breadlines, the only thing that changes is that we have more and more poor. What other way is there? How do we eliminate these horrible conditions and create jobs in these very poor countries? Well, in a recent article I argued that “Private Property Ownership is the Only Way to Eradicate Poverty.” It is. But there must also be an infrastructure of electricity, clean water, commerce and transportation in place as well. One must have these things to provide jobs, health, and an upgraded standard of living for the means to purchase private property, after all. So, it seems that a good place to start the process of eradicating world poverty and ending the bread lines would be for international companies to begin to invest in such an infrastructure. Building power plants and water treatment plants would lead to the development of housing, schools, shopping malls. Better roads would spring up as people would need to get to the newly created jobs. Farmers would need to employ new ways to increase their output to feed new mouths as people from other regions would arrive seeking the much needed jobs. Prosperity and hope would overtake poverty and hopelessness. It’s the very system that helped to make the United States the richest nation on earth with the highest standard of living. Finally, instead of depending on us for their daily ration of bread, these people would be able to help, not only themselves, but others in need as well. The entire world could begin to move toward a global prosperity, which our leaders say is their goal. There’s only one problem. Poverty is unacceptable only as long as it doesn’t hurt the environment! What? Say that again? Yes, you heard me. If such action to end poverty and improve people’s lives is somehow a threat to the world-wide plan for Sustainable Development, then such development is not to be considered. Believe it or not, there is a worldwide Sustainable Development policy to prohibit funding of development projects in Third World countries, if the projects don’t meet the political agenda. It’s called the Equator Principles. According to their own documents, the Equator Principles were established in association with the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation in 2003. They have been adopted by 73 financial institutions around the world, covering over 70% of international projects such as dams, mines and pipelines. Three American financial institutions are associates of the Equator Principles, including Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Citigroup. Citigroup is a major player in this process. It has used these “voluntary” green standards to turn down development loans for projects like shopping centers, power plants, and housing projects in Africa and other developing nations. Why would Citicorp want to turn away such huge sources of new business? Because dedicated Sustainablists believe it is environmentally correct to leave African natives untouched to live in their mud huts and walk five miles a day to get clean water. That, they believe, is environmentally sound. They deny these people electricity to light even a bulb in their huts. Of course there is no internet. There are few roads. There are fewer cars. Walk wherever you go, scratch out a living in the wild and be ignored by the rest of the world. That is Sustainable Development. The Equator Principles are applied to all project financing transactions. As the application is presented for funding, the project is carefully reviewed to determine if it meets “comprehensive international performance standards” on issues such as “labor and working conditions, natural resource management, pollution prevention, impacts on Indigenous people, community health and safety and cross-cutting themes such as gender and human rights.” Break it down: Natural resource management, for example, means no drilling of oil or minerals. Water use is restricted. Labor and working conditions? Ask America’s rust belt in Youngstown and Pittsburg how that worked for them. The same labor rules and environmental regulations detailed in the Equator Principles led to the destruction of industry and to empty American factories decades ago. Community health and safety? Sure. No clean water? No modern medical facilities? No reliable transportation? How are health and safety supposed to happen? And “gender” and “human rights?” What does gender have to do with building a power plant and how does a new dam affect women’s rights? All of these terms are social justice weapons used by self-appointed NGO/ Stakeholder groups to promote their own political agendas. The people who just want to improve their lives and have simple things like running water and heated homes, common utilities which you and I take for granted every day, are caught in the middle. Pawns and victims, sentenced to a life of poverty, sickness and neglect. Subscribe to the NewsWithViews Daily News Alerts! Enter Your E-Mail Address: It was the UN’s Brundtland Commission which defined Sustainable Development as, “development that meets the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” What’s wrong with that? The “needs” the Commission refers to are not human needs, but those of the “planet.” It concludes we can only meet them by eliminating or reducing “unsustainable” activities globally. These include property ownership, consumerism, high meat intake, use of fossil fuels, roadways, automobiles, dams, and so forth. These ideas, then, are on what the Equator Principles are based. But what about the basic human needs, the wants, the dreams of people in Third World nations where we’re reminded again and again that they are starving? Well, that’s what life long bread lines are for in a sustainable world. Ah, the compassion of “Progressives.” Tom DeWeese is one of the nation’s leading advocates of individual liberty, free enterprise, private property rights, personal privacy, back-to-basics education and American sovereignty and independence. A native of Ohio, he’s been a candidate for the Ohio Legislature, served as editor of two newspapers, and has owned several businesses since the age of 23. In 1989 Tom led the only privately-funded election-observation team to the Panamanian elections. In 2006 Tom was invited to Cambridge University to debate the issue of the United Nations before the Cambridge Union, a 200 year old debating society. Today he serves as Founder and President of the American Policy Center and editor of The DeWeese Report For 40 years Tom DeWeese has been a businessman, grassroots activist, writer and publisher. As such, he has always advocated a firm belief in man’s need to keep moving forward while protecting our Constitutionally-guaranteed rights.

Bullets, marijuana and other barriers to school reform in East Oakland Principal Daniel Hurst asks some direct questions of local law enforcement, school district officials, and city officials as Teacher Nidya Baez, left, and parent Elvia Lopez, right, listen closely at Fremont High School on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 in Oakland,Calif. during a meeting to discuss the growing problem of violence, drugs and an increasing drop out rate at their school that is transforming from three small schools back to one next school year. (Laura A. Oda/Staff) OAKLAND -- East Oakland's Fremont High School campus is undergoing a transformation this year -- the second major reform effort in a decade. Its three small schools, created in 2003 with millions of dollars from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are combining back into one: a "full-service community school" that promises to focus on students' overall health and well-being. In an attempt to shore up Fremont's teaching force and curb its 33 percent dropout rate, Oakland Superintendent Tony Smith created a new kind of teaching position for the school-in-the-making, with a longer work year and higher pay. Of the 53 teachers at Fremont this year, 43 applied for the job; 35 have been accepted. But parents, students and teachers say that for the school to truly turn around, something must be done about the violence on the streets outside the school, the fights on campus and the lack of student motivation -- as evidenced in groups of students who cut class to smoke marijuana and drink. More than 20 percent of students on the East Oakland campus missed 18 days of school or more in 2009-10. "Our students can't learn if the school isn't safe," Eneyda Melendez, a Fremont parent, told a panel of police officers and school and city officials Tuesday, speaking in Spanish. "Our students can't learn if they're intoxicated by alcohol and drugs." Advertisement In one recent shootout near campus, a bullet hit the side of a classroom, said Daniel Hurst, the school principal. In another incident, on April 17, a gunman who wasn't a student began shooting, apparently aiming at no one in particular, just as students poured out of school at the end of the day. "It is only crazy good luck that no one was hurt," Hurst said. "There were hundreds of kids on the streets at that time." Hurst spoke at a meeting convened by Oakland Community Organizations. For years, the group has used parent involvement to affect change in schools in the city's low-income and working-class neighborhoods. Azel Grasty, whose son is a sophomore, led the meeting. "Fremont is a great school," Grasty said, praising the dedication of many of its teachers and other employees. "The problem is we're not working together." On the stage of the Fremont High auditorium, parents, teachers and students sat at one table, sharing their perspectives and asking questions of the officials sitting a few feet away. Those officials included Oakland police Capt. Brian Medeiros, who oversees operations in much of East Oakland; Oakland schools police Chief James Williams; City Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente; and Oakland school board member and City Council candidate Noel Gallo. After the testimonials came the promises. When pressed, De La Fuente committed to installing more high-resolution cameras on the streets near the school, though he hedged on whether the city should pay the full cost. Williams said there was enough money in the overtime budget for an OUSD officer to police the periphery of the school from 4 to 6 p.m. -- at least through the end of the year. Gallo said the district's master plan would allocate $87 million to improve the school's decaying facilities; the school board will discuss the plan at a Wednesday night meeting. On May 15, the school advocates will meet again with city and school officials to discuss how to coordinate services and discipline for students who are caught drinking or doing drugs at school. Despite widespread agreement that action must be taken to improve the school, not everyone agrees on the remedy. Jameela Rougeau, a senior, said she thinks more police officers and tighter security are necessary. Dajanique White, a junior, said students need to be protected from adults who come onto the campus to start fights. But Roy Ramos, a junior, said a stronger police presence won't motivate students to learn or keep them in school if they don't find the curriculum relevant to their lives, or if they're treated with suspicion by the authorities. Most of the people who cause trouble in the community, he noted, are no longer in school at all. "Don't just fix cameras, fix books, fix classrooms," he said. "Bring what's needed for us to be successful, for us to have a middle-class life, to go to a four-year college."

Summary Poverty is prevalent among smallholder farmers in transition economies where market failures prevail and where the capacity of the public sector is limited. This study assesses the potential of organic contract farming as a private sector institutional arrangement to reduce rural poverty. Contract farming appears to facilitate market linkages for smallholder farmers to produce organic rice for export markets while providing necessary technical supports. Using an endogenous switching regression model to assess the profitability of organic contract farms and conventional farms in Lao PDR, it was found that organic farmers under contract earn significantly higher profit than conventional farms. The findings also showed that organic contract farming tends to provide the greatest increase in income to farmers with below average performance. These findings suggest that contract farming can be an effective mechanism to facilitate the development of organic agriculture and an effective tool to improve the profitability and raise incomes of small farmers, thereby reducing poverty in rural areas with limited market development. This paper is published in the conference proceedings: Neuhoff, Daniel; Halberg, Niels; Alfldi, Thomas; Lockeretz, William; Thommen, Andreas; Rasmussen, Ilse A.; Hermansen, John; Vaarst, Mette; Lck, Lorna; Carporali, Fabio; Jensen, Henning Hgh; Migliorini, Paola and Willer, Helga, Eds. (2008) .Cultivating the Future Based on Science. Proceedings of the Second Scientific Conference of the International Society of Organic Agriculture Research (ISOFAR), held at the 16th IFOAM Organic World Congress in Cooperation with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and the Consorzio ModenaBio, 18 . 20 June 2008 in Modena, Italy.. International Society of Organic Agriculture Research (ISOFAR), c/o IOL, DE-Bonn, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, CH-Frick. http://orgprints.org/13672 and http://orgprints.org/13674

adventures in compassionate eating Main menu Category Archives: Soups/Stews/Chili Post navigation I went through one my grandmother’s old cookbooks recently, looking for recipes I could veganize. This one was a chicken corn chowder that I thought sounded good. Nothing like warm, creamy chowder on a cold winter night! This is quick and easy, coming together in around 30 minutes, even with prep time. Saute the onion in the butter over medium heat for 6 minutes. Add the flour and spices and mix well, cooking for another minute. Add the rest of the ingredients and put a lid on the pot. Turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil, then turn down to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes, covered. Season with salt, if needed. Not the most photogenic recipe, but it’s oh so delicious! Comfort food for sure. Talk about an easy dinner! For this recipe, you dump everything in a high-powered blender, blend, pour straight into serving bowls, then run the blender with soap and water and rinse. Done. Dinner couldn’t be easier! If you have a Vitamix, you really don’t even have to chop the onion or ginger first. I made this last night and served it over cooked quinoa with some unsweetened coconut flakes on top and it was very tasty and filling. Toasted pumpkin seeds would also be a great garnish. I recently decided that I somehow needed yet another cookbook. I was strolling through Second & Charles, had a store credit burning a whole in my pocket, and I came across a crisp new copy of Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Kitchen. Along with the help of my shiny, new Vitamix 5200, I made the Coconut Red Lentil Soup (slightly modified) and have nothing but positive things to say about it. It’s hearty, healthy, and full of flavor! I suggest using lime zest and juice in place of lemon and I used dried cayenne pepper instead of the acutal fresh pepper. I personally love the flavor of the cumin and coriander seeds when I chew them whole, but if that bothers you, you can simply puree the soup completely for a creamy, smooth texture. Add the cumin and coriander seeds to a dry skillet and turn the heat to medium. Toast for about 2 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until you smell wonderfulness filling your kitchen. Then, add the onions and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the broth, coconut milk, lentils, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Refuse the urge to boil the mixture (the coconut milk will separate if you do). Turn the heat just slightly higher than “low” and put a lid on the pot. Leave it alone for 35 minutes. When you return, the lentils will have mostly “melted” into the soup. Remove from the heat, stir in the cilantro, lemon juice & lemon zest. Since winter has decided to give us an encore performance, I made one last stew to see the cold season on its way. I love tomato soup and grilled cheese, but tomato soup always leaves me unsatisfied. If it doesn’t require any chewing, I’m most likely going to feel hungry 20 minutes later. I call this a stew instead of a soup because if you puree half and leave half chunky, you get a rich, thick, hearty result that “sticks to your ribs” as folks say. I couldn’t even finish my grilled cheese I felt so full! I had some chickpeas in the freezer, but you could also use navy, cannellini, or any white bean would be nice. Saute the onion in olive oil over medium heat for 6 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute. Tear the tomatoes into chunks with your fingers (careful not to squirt yourself in the eye with tomato juice) and add them to the pot. Or if you’re civilized, you can chop them on a cutting board, but I like to hold them over the pot and tear them so I don’t miss any of the juice and because I like the more rustic chunks than unified pieces for this stew. Add the leftover juice from the tomatoes, chickpeas, broth, and a couple pinches of black pepper. Cover and bring just to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. While the soup is simmering, wash and chop the cilantro. After the 15 minutes is up, add the cilantro and salt to taste. At this point, the stew is done. You can enjoy as is, transfer to a blender (carefully!) and puree the whole thing, or use an immersion blender to puree half (which is my favorite method because you get a slightly creamy, mostly chunky result that doesn’t feel like you’re just drinking hot liquid.) Note: If the soup taste a little too acidic to you (this will depend on the tomatoes), add a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar or agave at a time until it balances out. I ended up adding about 1 teaspoon to mine to get it right. Cold, rainy winter days just make me SAD sometimes. By the time I get off work, it’s dark outside and it’s so cold all I want to do is eat hot food and take a warm bath. My motivation to work out, cook, or anything other than curl up on the couch under a blanket is almost entirely obliterated. Thank goodness for soup on days like this! It’s warm, you can make enough to last you a few days, and it’s easy. This recipe comes from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Appetite for Reduction. Every recipe I’ve made from that book has been packed with flavor and absolutely yummy, so this soup is no exception. Prepare for your tongue to be assaulted with flavor! Preheat a 4 quart pot over medium-high heat and saute the onions, jalapeños, and poblano in the oil for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt. Saute for another minute. Break up the tomatoes with your fingers, tearing them into small chunks, and add them to the pot, along with the juice, broth, and cumin. Crush 2 oz (a couple handfuls) of chips into small crumbs (you want them pretty crumb-like, very small pieces) and add to the soup. Cover and increase the heat to high to bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the beans, corn, and cilantro. Turn the heat down to low and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Squeeze in the lime juice and serve garnished with the extra chips and a sprinkle more of cilantro, if desired. I personally like to add a dollop vegan sour cream and a few slices of avocado. Over the Christmas holiday, I had my cousin and his wife (who are also dear friends) over for dinner. I decided to make a pot of chili and a pan of jalapeño cheddar cornbread as it was a very casual get together and I was wanted something pretty simple to prepare since I had been cooking and baking a lot for the holidays. I used a chili recipe called “Positively Pantry Chili” from Robin Robertson’s cookbook Vegan on the Cheap. The recipe falls under the slow cooker section, but it has alternate instructions for making it on the stove. You pretty much dump everything into a big pot and simmer it for half an hour. Can’t get any easier than that! The recipe calls for bulgar, which most people have never heard of. If I hadn’t had a stepfather from Lebanon who used it in tabbouleh (a Mediterranean salad, pronounced tah-boo-lee), I would probably still have no clue what it is. Bulgar is a form of wheat that has been parboiled, dried, and then ground. It’s used in a lot of Middle Eastern cuisine. The finished product is small granules, somewhat similar to couscous, and is a tan-ish color. Bulgar is low in fat and rich in B vitamins, iron, protein, and fiber. When my cousin’s wife looked at the chili, she asked what was in it that made it look like there was ground beef in it. Bulgar sort of resembles the crumbly texture of beef or sausage when cooked, especially in a dish that is somewhat brown-ish in color. She took a bite and was amazed that she couldn’t tell the difference. Both of them really seemed to enjoy it and my cousin’s wife said, “I’m going to have to look into this bulgar stuff.” I’m sure you can find it at a Mediterranean store, but you’re not going to see it on a shelf in most grocery stores. I buy mine from the bulk bin at Whole Foods, were you can purchase enough to fill your own container from home(have it weighed at customer service and then fill’er up!) or you can just get as much as you need for one recipe. Here is the chili recipe that I made and I will be posting 2 other recipes I use bulgar in shortly: Positively Pantry Chili (from Robin Robertson’s Vegan on the Cheap) 6-8 servings at less than $1.00 per serving Toss everything into a pot, stir, cover, and turn the heat to high. When everything start to bubble, turn down the heat to low and simmer for half an hour. I usually end up adding a 1/2 cup or so more water to mine as the bulgar absorbs the liquid to thin it out a bit and prevent it from burning. This is my variation of a broccoli cheddar soup that uses nutritional yeast for the creamy texture and salty/cheesy taste. You could use a cup or so of shredded vegan cheese instead, but in my opinion, the nutritional yeast does a much better job. The first time I made this soup, I actually made two batches, one with the nutritional yeast and one with real shredded white cheddar. I let someone else try both to do a comparison and I was told they could hardly tell the difference! This soup is great served with toasted bread for dipping. Side Note: You can find nutritional yeast it in specialty stores like Whole Foods, generally in the vitamin/supplement section. You can buy the Better Than Bullion pastes at Publix (in the Greenwise section – small jar with a black lid) or at Whole Foods. Don’t forget Amazon! Boil the 3 cups of water and dissolve the no-chicken base in it and set aside. If you’re using veg stock, skip this step and make note that you may want to season with salt later. Melt margarine in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté onion for about 5 minutes, or until soft. Add the flour to the pan and stir until absorbed. Add the water/no-chicken base mixture (or veg stock), creamer, milk, and pepper and slowly bring to a simmer. You don’t want to full on boil liquids with coconut milk or it may separate. Add the broccoli and cover with the lid slightly askew to release a small amount of steam. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Next, add in the nutritional yeast and stir well. At this point you can puree half of the soup (or all of it) in a blender, if you wish. I puree half as it makes the soup creamier, but I like to have some whole pieces of broccoli as well.

I spent a lot of time in airports and on planes this past week, during which I watched the first season of Scandal on ABC. I've heard such great things about this show that I felt compelled to jump in, albeit late. It certainly lives up to the billing. Kerry Washington is fantastic, as is her crew at Olivia Pope and Associates. The story lines get a bit trite and unrealistic, but the pace of the show is great and I am very much looking forward to digging in on season 2, especially after the cliffhangers thrown out at the conclusion of season 1. E! News is reporting that American Idolhas inked a deal with its first new judge for season 13: former contestant and Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson. The two remaining spots are, reportedly, intended for former Idol contestants, too. Namely, Kelly Clarkson and either Adam Lambert or Clay Aiken. Season 12's entire panel of Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson and Keith Urban, will not be returning for next season. Big news in the world of television executives hit on Friday as Mike Darnell, President of Alternative Entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Company, is leaving the network at the end of June. "I'm extremely grateful that FOX has offered me a new long term contract (and anyone who knows me won't believe I'm saying this), but I've decided it's time for a change, " said Darnell in a statement. "With my current deal ending in June, and having been here for 18 years (kind of a record in Hollywood), I had to make a decision: either stay (and basically admit to myself I was going to retire at FOX... not a terrible choice) or leave and try something new. I've been in 'Reality' since before it was even called that, and it has truly been an amazing ride. However, the world has changed drastically over the last few years and now with hundreds of channels and limitless ways to watch television, I've decided this was the perfect time to take advantage of the rapidly changing marketplace." Darnell, who joined FOX in 1994, has overseen the launch of such hit shows as American Idol, The X Factorand Hell's Kitchen. According to Deadline, "[a]s for the timing of his decision to leave Fox and likely the executive ranks, “my dream was to work on a big show that will go down in the history books,” he said. “I achieved that with American Idol, which may be the biggest show that ever was.” But Idol, as well as newbie The X Factor, had been taking up a lot of Darnell’s time over the last few seasons with a series of shakeups and attempts to keep Idol fresh and relevant after 10 years amid an inevitable ratings decline. “The last couple of years have been very intense, with me taking on duties of a current executive and line producer,” Darnell admitted. As for his legacy, “I’ve done good things, I’ve done bad things, I’ve done funny things, and I’ve done evil things,” said Darnell, whose stature in the business is far greater than his 5’2″ height. Fox’s search for Darnell’s successor won’t be easy. “They’ve got some some really small shoes to fill,” he quipped." The CNN Original series Inside Man, hosted and produced by Oscar®-nominated documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, premieres Sunday, June 23 at 10:00 p.m. ET. The one-hour weekly series will provide an intimate look into diverse sectors of American life and offer a deep-dive into pressing issues facing the U.S. that include migrant farm workers, the elder care industry, union workers, gun owners, education, bankruptcy and the drought. The premiere episode of Inside Man features Spurlock as a worker in a medial marijuana dispensary in California.

VP Biden to Colombia, Dominican Republic in June WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says Vice President Joe Biden will travel next month to Colombia and the Dominican Republic to discuss regional ties with leaders in those Latin American nations. Biden is adding the two stops on to a previously announced trip to Brazil for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He’ll be attending a June 16 game in Natal, Brazil, between the U.S. and Ghana before meeting with Brazil’s president in Brasilia. The White House says in Colombia, Biden will meet with President Juan Manuel Santos, where security and economic issues will be on the agenda. He’ll meet in the Dominican Republic with President Danilo Medina. Biden has emerged as the Obama administration’s frequent emissary to Latin America, visiting the region multiple times in the past few years. Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

‘Everybody loves moussakas’ says Demitris For the young Greek, new politics should be as simple as a traditional dish. This Monday was an important day for many Greeks. Through the news, we could see that most of the population are looking forward to the possibility of a stable future for the country. As many people consider, politics and food are closely related. A French politician once said that the destiny of nations depended on the manner in which they feed themselves. So, is there any better place than a good restaurant to get a feel for Greek culture? Corfu is a cozy restaurant situated on Parliament Street. With Greek music on in the background, bit by bit, we relax into the pleasant atmosphere. The narrow room consists of wooden tables and rustic style walls with exposed brick. Simple was the word used by the waiter Dimitris. For him, the new government should be worrying about giving hope to their citizens such as, “a decent salary and a good education”. Because of the absence of these “simple things” and the severe recession, he left his home. The friendly, 21-year-old Greek came from Athens and has lived in Ireland for three years. During this time, he has been working as a waiter in Corfu. Apart from the weather, living in Ireland was easy for him because he was able to make a few friends, including some from his home country. If Dimitris had a chance to be in Greece today, he would like to serve his customers one of the most popular dishes: mousakas. This dish consists in layers of aubergine and mince topped with tomato sauce. The likeable waiter compares this dish with politics. “Everybody loves moussakas when they try it, because this is a simple dish.” He adds, “if politicians were more simple like this dish, all Greeks would love them.” The way the country has been ruled, Dimitris does not have high expectation for the future of his nation. He points outs, “It will not be a big deal for many Greeks, all they [politicians] do is promise a good future for us.” For most of the citizens, Dimitris says, the future in Greece is bleak. Giving a broad smile, he points out, “This new government does not mean anything.”

The Imperative of Responsibility In Search of an Ethics for the Technological Age Hans Jonas here rethinks the foundations of ethics in light of the awesome transformations wrought by modern technology: the threat of nuclear war, ecological ravage, genetic engineering, and the like. Though informed by a deep reverence for human life, Jonas's ethics is grounded not in religion but in metaphysics, in a secular doctrine that makes explicit man's duties toward himself, his posterity, and the environment. Jonas offers an assessment of practical goals under present circumstances, ending with a critique of modern utopianism. Preface 1. The Altered Nature of Human ActionI. The Example of Antiquity II. Characteristics of Previous Ethics III. New Dimensions of Responsibility IV. Technology as the "Calling" of Mankind V. Old and New Imperatives VI. Earlier Forms of "Future-oriented" Ethics VII. Man as an Object of Technology VIII. The "Utopian" Dynamics of Technical Progress and the Excessive Magnitude of Responsibility IX. The Ethical Vacuum 2. On Principles and MethodI. Ideal and Real Knowledge in the "Ethic of the Future" II. Prevalence of the Bad over the Good Prognosis III. The Element of Wager in Human Action IV. The Duty to Ensure a Future V. Being and Ought-to-Be 3. Concerning Ends and Their Status in Reality I. The Hammer II. The Court of Law III. Walking IV. The Digestive Organ V. From Reality to Validity: From the Problem of Purpose to the Problem of Value 4. The Good, the "Ought," and Being: A Theory of ResponsibilityI. Being and Ought-to-Be II. Theory of Responsibility: First Distinctions III. Theory of Responsibility: Parent and Statesman as Eminent Paradigms IV. Theory of Responsibility: The Horizon of the Future V. How Far Does Political Responsibility Extend into the Future? VI. Why "Responsibility" Was Not Central in Former Ethical Theory VII. Parent-Child Relation: The Archetype of Responsibility 5. Responsibility Today: Endangered Future and the Idea of Progress I. The Future of Mankind and the Future of Nature II. The Ominous Side of the Baconian Ideal III. Is Marxism or Capitalism Better Fitted to Counter the Danger? IV. Examining the Abstract Chances in the Concrete V. The Utopia of the Coming "True Man" VI. Utopia and the Idea of Progress 6. A Critique of Utopia and the Ethic of Responsibility I. The Wretched of the Earth and World Revolution II. Critique of Marxist Utopianism III. From the Critique of Utopia to the Ethics of Responsibility Appendix: Impotence or Power of Subjectivity I. The Incompatibility Argument II. The Epiphenomenalist Argument III. "Epiphenomenalism" Voided by the Voiding of "Incompatibility" IV. Quantum-Mechanical Review of the Proposed Solution Notes Index For more information, or to order this book, please visit http://www.press.uchicago.edu

Marcel P. Black & Substantial Connect on “Where I Stay” “Where I Stay” is the first single from Baton Rouge emcee Marcel P. Black, with a 16 from veteran DMV lyricist Substantial of Hipnott Records. On “Where I Stay,” Marcel & Substantial tackle topics as heavy as the school to prison pipeline, as well as the recent acts of police violence against Blacks, all over a trunk rattling country rap tune complete with Pimp C & Farrakahn vocal samples. The views of our contributors are their own, and not necessarily those of Boi-1da.

@FR@NK_DADA,- yeah about that whole comment being longer than the blog.....lmbao im sorry..i guess i type as much i talk lolol Lord help me lol. But hey your welcome. I rather enjoy your blogs....(obviously) lol Thanks again for the comment...i can count on u for in depth discussions...ur response was longer than my blog lmaoooo! I agree 100% about how fox made him look ignorant...it was not right especially for his fans that find his material moving. No doubt, your welcome FR@NK_DADA. Im just sorry that my laptop is so slow that when i thought that the first message did not post, it actually did...after i'd posted a second one lol smdh.... Im praying for another computer though...Lord knows, its better than nothing lol.

Jay McGwire idolized his older brothers, became hooked on steroids, crashed, found God, and now… Read more Read more (Updated additional quote in bold) Lauren Brown contacted us exclusively to share some of the incidents she'd witnessed first hand while she was dating Mark's younger brother. She called off her engagement to Jay in 1996 due to his steroid use — specifically "roid rage" incidents. But, even though she has bad memories of their engagement and the person Jay was at that time, she claims he is absolutely telling the truth. "I know the truth. It needs to be told. And why shouldn't Jay tell the story instead of some random media person? He knows the truth," she told me on the phone. "Why shouldn't he be the one telling this story? What's being said about him, that he's a bad person, is awful. People don't want to believe that a superstar is fallen. That Mark lied. Mark made his own choices. So did Jay, but he's owned up to them. I tip my hat off to him for that." Brown says that she accompanied Jay to the 1996 Contra Costa Body Building Championship and, on the way there, they had to stop at Mark's house. "I remember asking why we didn't fly there — and why we had to drive." Now she assumes it was so Jay could transport the steroids. She says that while she was at Mark's house, she claims she saw steroids in Mark's refrigerator or actually "Several tubes of an injectible substance." She says that she knew well enough that Jay was Mark's supplier at the time and that he also tried to get her to take steroids as well as part of her own training regiment. She did not. Brown also says that the fact Mark so carelessly left his steroids in plain view makes her believe that "he didn't think what they [Mark and Jay] were doing was wrong." Brown also speculates that the steroids — and Jay's personal training of his big brother — were what forged a bond between them that wasn't there most of their lives. A bond that Jay longed for with his big brother, but could never seem to have for whatever reason. But she also said that their relationship was combustible. That the arguments between the two of them over the phone were extremely violent and were, she claims, total roid rage arguments. "I could hear Mark yelling at Jay over the phone from about 20 yards away." But why is Jay doing this now? Brown said, yes, there is a financial reason for him to do it, but that Jay's born again Christianity has changed him in so many ways that she doesn't think his intentions are malicious. "Jay should be the one to tell the truth about what transpired. He was a first hand witness. Jay's faith catapulted him to stop steroids and live an honest life. Mark could learn a lot from his baby brother. After all, he was a better athlete with an unfortunate handicap that prevented him from going pro, " Brown said. " I really think he has a burning desire to do what's right — it's not about trying to throw Mark under the bus. At least he was trying to do the right thing. I respect him for that. Mark, not so much." Brown said she has no ill-will toward the McGwire's at all — no motivation to speak up on this issue besides the fact that she's also "been questioned about all this stuff for years" by many people who knew how close she was to the McGwire family. "I'm just happy that Jay has gotten his life together and the truth about Mark will finally get out there. It's been too long."

The ipod nano is brand new. I've opened it out of the box and tested it for about 5 minutes to verify that everything is in perfect working order. I already own 1 and recieved this as a gift is the reason for selling.

Today’s WOD Announcements Please start checking into the class you are attending on the Wodify mobile app to track your results for the day! CrossFit Boone – CrossFit Metcon (AMRAP – Rounds and Reps) United in Movement WOD #4 Every 4 Minutes on the Minute (3 minutes of work + 1 minute of rest): 42 Jumping Lunges 15 Clapping Push-Ups (sc: regular push-ups) 9 Reverse Burpees In remaining time of the 3 minutes; max broad jumps – men 4ft, women 3ft. *Reverse Burpee 1. Begin standing with the arms extended overhead. 2. Bend the knees and, in a controlled motion, lower your tush all the way to the floor. 3. Roll onto your back, drawing your knees toward your face. 4. Use momentum to kick forward, landing on the feet. 5. Rise to stand, and do an explosive jump straight up, getting as much height as you can. Remember to keep your elbows bent and palms off the floor while you rise so you’re using your core muscles and not your hands to help you get up.

The Warlords of the Wasteland Battle Path has begun! The time has come – the Warlords of the Wasteland campaign is here and now it’s your turn to prove that you are the ultimate warlord out there by mastering all the main modes of Armored Warfare. Between December 14, 2018, and April 11, 2019, you will have the opportunity to participate in the greatest Armored Warfare campaign to date and win exclusive prizes, including the coveted Altay Tier 10 Premium Main Battle Tank and Commander Alisa Korhonen with her unique Mysterious Stranger ability! You can find more information about the Battle Path campaign in our dedicated article or by visiting the Battle Path tab that is now available in your Garage. In order to join the Battle Path campaign, please enter the game and click on the Warlords of the Wasteland icon on the upper bar. From there, you can simply purchase the Battle Path access (either for currency or for Gold). Important: starting early pays off – today and today only, the Battle Path access will be available with 10% discount! The following options are available: Wayfarer Pack, containing: Battle Path access Player title: “Explorer” Decal: “Power” Additionally, for the players who want to start with an extra boost, we have the following bundle available: Warrior Pack, containing: Battle Path access Player title: “Explorer” Decal: “Power” Battle Coins: 10.472 (enough to boost your progress to Level 15) Please note that there might be a delay of up to 10 minutes between the purchase and the access to the event. Two mission descriptions are incorrect: The mission that states you are required to destroy 8000 targets with a missile in reality only requires you to deal 8000 damage The mission that states you are required to hit 15 UAVs in reality requires you to destroy them These issues will be addressed in the near future. Frequently Asked Questions (Click to Open) How does it all work? Simply put, you earn Battle Coins by completing missions and then spend them to raise your Battle Path level while earning Wasteland Loot Crates, camouflages, player avatar, decals and other goodies, including an exclusive reward tank with Premium status, the Tier 10 Altay. You can also get other Premium vehicles as well as two Altay skins. What do I have to do? The Battle Path campaign is divided into four paths (mission chains), each with its set of many missions. By completing the missions, you will receive Battle Coins, which are used to increase your level. Other rewards for completing the missions include Gold, various Loot Crates and Credits. How many levels are there and why should I care? There are 100 levels in total. For reaching Level 50, you will an exclusive reward tank with Premium status, the Tier 10 Altay along with a “Bronze” skin for it. For reaching Level 100, you will receive another, “Gold” skin for the Altay. Along with these prizes, various other rewards await you for every level you reach. Their list can be found on the Battle Path progress bar in the game. How can I start a mission chain (path)? In order to start a mission chain, you need a Token. You will receive a free Token on Level 1, 7 and 13 – you decide which chain you wish to unlock and when. In order to unlock the access to the fourth chain (the “Dire Wolf” missions), you need to complete all the three previous chains first. What are the Battle Coins? The Battle Coins are a unique currency, required to advance through Battle Path levels. You can also spend Battle Coins on completing difficult missions without having to actually complete their requirements in the game. On the Battle Path screen, you can see your Battle Coin balance in the upper right corner. How can I obtain Battle Coins? There are several ways of obtaining them: By completing missions – each completed mission will award you with a certain amount of Battle Coins By purchasing them or winning them in an official Armored Warfare event By just playing Regarding the last point, for each minute you spend alive in battle (with the exclusion of downtime such as waiting for a respawn), you will receive 1 to 3 Battle Coins. Furthermore, winning increases this income by 25 percent in PvE (including Special Operations) and by 50 percent in PvP and GLOPS. Additionally, the best players of the team by Experience obtained will receive an additional bonus – extra 4 Battle Coins for being first in PvE or Spec Ops, extra 5 Battle Coins for ending up in Top 3 in PvP and, last but not least, extra 10 Battle Coins for ending up in Top 3 in GLOPS match. How long will the campaign be available? The Battle Path missions will be available between December 14, 2018, and March 14, 2019. The remaining time can be seen in the Battle Path window in the game. What unique prizes can I look forward to for completing the Battle Path missions? Apart from the Altay, the unique prizes include: T-55 Enigma Scorpion Kastet M1A1 Storm Commander Alisa Korhonen We have, of course, many other prizes for you as well. How do I unlock a mission chain (Path)? You can unlock it by using a Token. A Token can be obtained by reaching Level 1, 7 and 13 respectively. Can I complete the missions within a chain in any order? No. You need to complete them in the order specified by each chain, one after another. It is, however, possible to complete a mission by spending extra Battle Coins (the cost is 2.100 Battle Coins per one mission for the first three chains and 4.150 Battle Coins per one “Dire Wolf” mission). You can see which mission is currently active by visiting the Mission tab of the Battle Path window. The completed missions are marked with a green ticker and the missions that are yet to be unlocked are marked with a lock icon. Can I see the progress of my missions in the game? Yes, in the Battle Path window. Can I complete more missions at the same time, or the next one only starts after the previous one is finished? The next one only starts after the previous one is finished. You need to pick up your mission reward manually in the Battle Path window in order to activate the next mission. However, if you earn more than one Token and unlock multiple chains at the same time, it is theoretically possible to have two or even three missions active simultaneously and to complete them all in one battle (if their requirements do not prohibit you from doing so). How do I know what vehicles to use and what modes to enter when completing a mission? Mission requirements are stated in each mission’s description. They can be restricted by: Mode (for example, “Random Battles” - missions marked as PvP (any) can be completed in both GLOPS and Random Battles) Vehicle class (for example, “LT”) Vehicle tier The fourth chain “Dire Wolf” missions can only be completed in a Tier 9 or Tier 10 vehicle. Do I also need a Token for the Dire Wolf mission chain? No, it is unlocked automatically once you complete all three previous Paths (mission chains). When do I receive a prize that I win, for example by advancing by a level? You will receive it automatically, within 30 minutes of you receiving it. If I didn’t receive the reward I won fair and square, what do I do? Please contact our support service. Can you tell me more about the Wasteland Loot Crates? The Wasteland Loot Crates are obtainable for gaining levels and for purchasing. They are stored in the Inventory tab of your Garage, where you can open them. For more information about the Wasteland Loot Crates, please visit our dedicated article. I can see that some missions require acquiring a certain number of Commendations of various kinds. What are Commendations? Commendations are badges awarded directly in battle for accomplishing any of the following actions: Killing an Enemy (Slayer) Assisting a Kill (Wingman - awarded to the top 3 damage dealers and the active spotter) Damaging an Enemy (Bruiser) Assisting Damage (Facilitator) Designated Damage (Tactician - you designate a target with the AFV or LT ability and the damage to it will count towards this commendation) Spotting an Enemy (Scout) Spotting Damage (Instigator) Allies Hidden By Smoke Shells/Grenades (Blinder) Destroying Enemy Modules (Saboteur - it's worth mentioning that this only is awarded twice per battle) Base Defense (Defender - awarded on removing any amount of base capture progress from an enemy) Completing an Objective (Operative - this is for standard PvE mostly, awarded on completing primary or secondary objectives) The goal of these commendations is to provide real-time visual feedback to players in order to notify them whenever they've earn some rewards. Commendations themselves do not provide additional rewards. Please note that the commendations may be disabled in the UI. In order to make sure they are enabled, please follow these steps: Open the Settings window by pressing the Escape key in the Garage and clicking the Settings button

An Infiniti G37S Coupe has just joined our long-term test fleet and over the next 12 months, we'll put it through the ultimate test – everyday life. Associate editor Roger Stansfield picked up the car from Infiniti today. I have just become only the 10th person in Britain to take delivery of an Infiniti. Beat that for exclusivity. Perhaps I should point out that Infiniti, the posh division of Nissan, has only just started trading in the UK, and another 12 customers are signed up and simply waiting for their cars to arrive from Japan. Still, it's nice to be in on the ground floor. To be able to get our car so quickly, we've opted to take an ex-demonstrator with 1600 miles on the clock rather than order a bespoke car that would take three or four months to be built and shipped. With Infiniti, you're not just another customer to be put through the sausage machine. In fact, you're treated pretty much like royalty. When I arrived at the company's sole (for the moment) UK dealership in Reading (0118 907 1333), I was greeted by my 'personal consultant', Nigel Spragg, who will be my first point of contact for anything to do with the car. Coffee and formalities over, I was ushered into the delivery room, which sounds like something out of a maternity hospital, to be given a 185-point check sheet detailing everything that had been done to the car during the pre-delivery inspection. Then I was led through the door into the customer delivery bay, where my car emerged from under a Japanese imperial purple dust sheet. The next half-hour or so was taken up with an explanation of the car's controls and switches, although Nigel says customers are invited back for a second handover after a week or two to make sure there's nothing they're struggling with. Getting to know each otherFinally, I was away into the sort of weather that encouraged Noah to get into the boat-building business, to start getting to know my car. I'll spend the next few days prodding and pushing things and driving on different roads, and then I'll report back. First signs are that I'm going to be entertained equally as much as I've so far been pampered.

Real Music, Real Artists, Real Opinions Menu Category Archives: Reissue The songwriter stepped outside the Dream Syndicate mothership for his first two solo albums, originally released in the early ‘90s, which now get the expanded reissue treatment courtesy the archival maestros at Omnivore. (Watch a Wynn concert from 1992 following the text.) BY MICHAEL TOLAND In the late eighties, Steve Wynn was best known as leader of the mighty Dream Syndicate, and as such was associated with a certain sound. Though the band had begun to cross its own boundaries before its final record Ghost Stories, the Syndicate was still thought of as one thing: a semi-crazed guitar band that crossed the Velvet Underground with Crazy Horse. But Wynn was more ambitious in his vision, so it was only natural that he would put his latest batch of songs in different settings on Kerosene Man and Dazzling Display, his first solo albums. Originally released on Rhino Records in 1990, Kerosene Man opens up Wynn’s sound with colorful arrangements and thick, even lush instrumentation. Producer Joe Chiccarelli encouraged Wynn to look outside of his circle of friends and consider session cats. It’s a move that might be construed as an attempt to make Wynn’s songs commercial, but that’s not in and of itself a bad thing. Wynn’s writing has always been fairly straightforward – verses, choruses, melodies, hooks – and giving them production that, while hardly slick, wouldn’t sound out of place on the evolving Adult Album Alternative format would hopefully increase his audience. The single “Carolyn,” a tune that went back to the early Syndicate days, goes alt.country before alt.country was cool, while “Something to Remember Me By” enhances its dirty rock with female backup vocals (courtesy an overdubbed Julie Christensen of Divine Horsemen/Leonard Cohen infamy). “Conspiracy of the Heart” (a co-write and duet with Concrete Blonde’s Johnette Napolitano) and “Here On Earth As Well” essay gorgeous balladry with easy grace, unleashing a new facet of Wynn’s talent. With its jangling 12-string, crunchy solo and rousing chorus, opener “Tears Won’t Help” posits Wynn as the classic rocker that was always hiding under the Syndicate’s wall of feedback. None of that’s to say Wynn doesn’t work his more eccentric mojo. “The Blue Drifter” indulges in his Lou Reed side, complete with saxophone coda, “Under the Weather” waits under the streetlight at midnight for a cool slice of noir rock, and the title track rollicks like a great bar band trying to cover Bob Dylan and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” at the same time. The gnarled “Younger” – guest-starring Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb and future Continental Drifter Robert Mache duking it out on guitar – sounds more like an unused Dream Syndicate track than Nü-Steve. But the overall feel of Kerosene Man is smoother and more radio-ready than Wynn’s previous work, though it’s a sheen motivated more by a desire to get a set of strong songs in the vicinity of friendly ears than it is shifting units. The Omnivore edition comes with a half-dozen bonus tracks, all recorded either in clubs or on the radio with his band at the time. A mix of originals and covers, the bonus cuts boast aggressive takes on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Graveyard Train” and Bob Dylan’s “The Groom’s Still Waiting At the Altar” and an absolutely molten version of “Younger.” Wynn quickly followed up Kerosene Man with Dazzling Display, made with the same core team and originally issued in 1992. With a bigger budget, extra musicians and a year’s worth of experience on the road as a solo artist, Wynn was able to make what’s probably the most diverse and colorful record of his career. The first two cuts tell it: alongside the same studio band as on the last record, the bright, groovy pop of “Drag” features Three O’Clock/Mary’s Danish guitarist Louis Gutierrez, a horn section and a small army of backing vocalists, while the frisky folk/pop of “Tuesday” includes Gutierrez, Peter Buck, John Wesley Harding, string players and, on backing vocals, Flo & Eddie (the Turtles’ Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman) and the Psycho Sisters (the Bangles’ Vicki Peterson and the Cowsills’ Susan Cowsill – soon to join Wynn guitarist Robert Mache and bassist Mark Walton in the Continental Drifters). It looks excessive on the page, but by the grace of Wynn’s tasteful and efficient writing, his contagious enthusiasm for taking advantage of the studio environment and the skill of the players themselves, these top-heavy creations don’t fall on their faces. Though the number of musicians on the rest of the tracks rarely reaches the same levels, they’re still presented in busier arrangements and shinier production than even Kerosene Man. But that works like a charm, suiting this particular set of Wynn songs well. The glittery pop of “Dandy in Disguise” and “When She Comes Around,” propulsive psychedelia of “Grace” and angry rock of “405” and the title track find their melodies buttressed by the arrangements, rather than obscured, and Wynn sounds confident and engaged amidst all the industry. Above all, it sounds like a natural evolution from the debut. Hardcore fans of The Days of Wine and Roses might blanch at first, but anyone following the road from 1982 to 1992 will be satisfied. As with Kerosene Man, the Omnivore version includes six in-concert bonus cuts, recorded with Wynn’s touring band. The mini-set boasts a lovely “Conspiracy of the Heart,” with Johnette Napolitano reprising her studio role, and a hard-rocking version of Paul Simon’s “Boy in the Bubble” as highlights. Wynn continued exploring this pop-friendly direction in later records, but it’s on these long out-of-print gems that he truly signaled his desire to never be hemmed in by expectations, his own or others. Kerosene Man and Dazzling Display are well worth rediscovery. Album: Music Is the Answer: The Complete Collection Artist: God's Children Label: Minky The Upshot: Sweet sunshine pop, Latino rock, and psychedelic-tinged soul from the age of Aquarius. BY FRED MILLS You gotta love an archival project like this one, and not just because it is a true across-the-board labor of love. There’s a freshness and optimism suffusing the music, and while it is definitely “of a time”—specifically, late ‘60s/early ‘70s—the tunes have also stood the test of time, their seamless blend of sweet sunshine pop, Latino rock, and psychedelic-tinged soul as fine an ambassador to the era as you’ll find. The group was co-founded by Little Willie G and Lil’ Ray (that would be misters Garcia and Jimenez, respectively), late of East L.A. Chicano rockers Thee Midniters, and had a kind of streamlined Sly & the Family Stone-meets-Fifth Dimension sound thanks in no small part to three female vocalists joining the par at the mic, notably one Lydia Amescua (described as “a teenage girl with a big voice”) and an Aquarian-age vibe. As detailed in the exhaustive liner notes penned by author/journalist (and Blurt alumnus) Denise Sullivan, once the project got off the ground the musicians hooked up with local entrepreneur Eddie Davis, who helped them land a deal with the UNI label and put them in the studio with the legendary Wrecking Crew to up their studio game several notches. As these things often turn out, however, UNI wasn’t sure how to market and promote the band, and with other pressures coming to bear—the musical culture was rapidly changing as well, away from vocal groups and in the direction of rock bands and singer-songwriters—the group fell into disarray. Two singles for UNI, and that was that. The music they left behind, however, deserves to be heard. From the richly soulful midtempo ballad “Dream” (sung by Little Willie G) and the percolating, organ-powered garage pop of “It Don’t Make No Difference” (somewhat reminiscent of ? and the Mysterians, featuring Lil’ Ray on lead), to the lush, orchestral, almost Lee Hazelwood-esque “Hey, Does Somebody Care” (which was also the theme song to television series Matt Lincoln) and sinewy, wah-wah/congas-powered rocker “Music Is the Answer” (available here in both vocal and instrumental versions), there’s plenty to tuck into. A cover of pop schmaltzer “Put Your Head On My Shoulder” may inadvertently have telegraphed how the group was growing out of step with the times, but a gorgeous, inspiring version of Billy Preston’s “That’s the Way God Planned It” more than redeems matters. Incidentally, in addition to CD, Music Is the Answer also was released on limited edition brown vinyl for this year’s Record Store Day, and as of this writing you can still find reasonably priced copies at Discogs.com. Grab it while you can. DOWNLOAD: “That’s the Way God Planned It,” “It Don’t Make No Difference,” “Music Is the Answer” Album: Undertow + Before Ever After (2LP reissues) Artist: Blind Idiot God Label: Indivisible Music The Upshot: The monstrous Bill Laswell-approved NYC outfit embarks upon a tantalizing colored-vinyl reissue program, including 1989’s Undertow and 2015’s comeback album Before Ever After. The former now comes in a deluxe gatefold sleeve and is pressed on brilliant tan/copper wax, while the latter goes even further with a trifold sleeve and luminescent green vinyl. BY MICHAEL TOLAND & FRED MILLS As Dr. Toland pointed out in his “Throwing Horns” metal roundup recently, ”the New York trio’s second LP found its patented blend of thrashing doom and jazzy dub in almost bifurcated form, with neither side of the band’s coin rubbing up against the other. Undertow has the deep-dub hallmarks of a Bill Laswell production, and it also features a couple of the extended Laswell family intimates, Henry Rollins (vocals on two tracks) and John Zorn (sax on one of them). Yet guitarist Andy Hawkins, bassist Gabe Katz, and drummer Ted Epstein never surrender their stage in terms of their blistering jazz/skronk/hardcore approach to music making. Whether serving up a Bad Brains-worthy thrash epistle (“Atomic Whip”), a luminous meditation in the key of the aforementioned dub (“Watch Yer Step”), an improv-powered wall of noise (“Wailing Wall,” which justifies its title), or even a quick jazz-sax freakout (Zorn’s 2-minute appearance, “Purged Specimen,” may be brief, but it’s brutal), Blind Idiot God makes the most of its four vinyl sides. And if you’re looking for some good old fashioned late-period Black Flag-meets-Rollins-Band, uh, boogie (term used loosely), there’s a long and a short version of the appropriately titled “Freaked,” from the Alex Winter film. Hank, we love the spoken word, but seriously, your rock audience needs you, and Blind Idiot God would be the guys to help you deliver the goods once again. Sigh. 1989 was such a different time. At any rate, this 2017 remaster for double vinyl is essential uneasy listening. Grab it on sight. (—Fred Mills) *** A baker’s dozen years since its last platter Cyclotron, Blind Idiot God came stomping back in 2015 with Before Ever After, a double LP that displayed the NYC instrumental trio at its BIGgest. On the album, although joined by a new rhythm section, guitarist Andy Hawkins stays the course of the past three decades of his singular career, keeping one foot in amp-melting doom and the other in airplane-hangar dub. As Hawkins terrifies his amp and bass/drums bash and crash, “Earthmover,” “Strung” and the appropriately-titled “Under the Weight” rumble like a Brontosaurus across the rubble of a fallen city, crushing debris underfoot as its stomach growls. On the other side of the bent coin, “Ramshackle,” “Shutdown” and “High and Mighty” skank through the dust as it settles, letting a little sunlight echo through the destructive aftermath. Not everything is quite so direct, however. “Voice of the Structure” alternates between spacy swirl and heavy pound, while “Barrage” fractures its rhythm in a manner not dissimilar to postpunk. “Fub” takes the band to the next level of development, its light-on-its-feet feel full of jazzy lightning and improv thunder. Brandishing its weaponry with power and grace, Before Ever After both reclaims the legacy of Blind Idiot God and paves the way for its next epoch. (—Michael Toland) Album: U-Men Box (3LP) Artist: U-Men Label: Sub Pop The Upshot: Crucial pre-history of the Northwest alt-rock scene, and a fascinating snapshot of an underrated but powerful, noisy, charismatic band. Warning: no grunge here. BY FRED MILLS Before Sub Pop Records launched, before Nirvana made “grunge” a household word, before Eddie Vedder made flannel shirts and Doc Martens chic, before the major labels descended upon Seattle in a feeding frenzy, before silly national acts like Third Eye Blind and Matchbox 20 turned the term “alternative rock” into a punchline—there were the U-Men, whose tenure spanned the ‘80s and spawned one full-length and a handful of singles, EPs, and compilation appearances. And while one hesitates to label the noisily primal, skronk-powered Seattle quartet along lines of “wildly influential,” it’s likely that the proverbial Velvet Underground Effect, whereby people who happened to see the U-Men perform back in the day or bought their records (issued by labels both well-known, such as Homestead and Amphetamine Reptile, and justifiably obscure, like Bomb Shelter and Black Label) went on to eventually form their own bands, was operative at least to a small degree. (Go HERE to read a lengthy testimonial from Mudhoney’s Mark Arm, who calls them “the undisputed kings of the Seattle underground.) U-Men is a sprawling 3LP box set (or 2CD should you not be a wax fetishist) that collects everything the band released along with five unreleased tracks, and as an artifact from Before The Dawn Of Grunge, it’s absolutely essential. And I say that as a ground zero U-Men fan, so to speak, as I either purchased or was gifted with, promo copy-wise, the bulk of the group’s original output, duly reviewing them for some of the fanzines I was scribbling for at the time. They were an irresistible draw, from the Gun Club-goes-thrash rev-a-rama of “Clubs” (off the 1985 12” EP Stop Spinning), to the unbridled, possibly improvised, dissonance-rawk of the subsequent “Solid Action” / “Dig It A Hole” 45 (it sports two of unhinged singer John Bigley’s gruffest, most extemporaneous vocals ever), to the dark, swampy blooze of “Whistlin’ Pete” in which the U-Men solidified their rep as America’s answer to the Birthday Party (it appeared on the group’s lone album, 1988’s John Nelson-produced Step on a Bug, a collaboration that yielded a relatively expansive, dynamics-rich sound). The vinyl set is gorgeous, smartly graphically designed, with a thick outer box housing an inner slip-box that contains the three heavyweight LPs in their individual sleeves. Both the LP and CD versions have a thick booklet with full track annotations and interviews from the members—who would go on to bands like Gas Huffer, the Crows, and Love Battery—arranged oral history style, and it’s a colorful history, to say the least. Fun Fact #1: the group got its name from the bohemian section of Seattle the members came out of, the U-District. Fun Fact #2: for a short stretch, there was a U-Woman too, a female bassist named Robin. Fun Fact #3: the U-Men mounted three national tours, although we should use that term somewhat lightly; at least one of those tours consisted of something like five shows in three months plus a month-long sabbatical in Austin hanging out with fellow sonic discombobulators the Butthole Surfers. Ultimately, it’s a crucial pre-history of the Northwest alt-rock scene, and a fascinating snapshot of an underrated but powerful, charismatic band. Album: La Vie Electronique 1.0 (2LP) Artist: Klaus Schulze Label: One Way Static/Light In The Attic The Upshot: Electronica maven and godfather’s trawl through his early-‘70s archives now gets a vinyl rollout. Synth pioneer Klaus Schulze, one of the godfathers of modern electronic music and a major influence on the ambient artists who emerged during the ‘90s, first came to the public’s attention as the drummer for early Tangerine Dream. He only lasted for one year and one album before moving on to form Ash Ra Tempel with Manuel Gottsching, but that, too, would be short-lived, as the restless compower/multiinstrumentalist soon embarked upon a long, fruitful solo career that also included scoring a number of thriller and horror films. His 1972 debut Irrlicht remains a Krautrock touchstone, and he’s been consistently intriguing over the years, although his music can admittedly come across at times as a bit too new age-y for some tastes. (Fun fact: Schulze also was part of the early ‘70s ad hoc Krautrock “supergroup” the Cosmic Jokers. Look ‘em up.) La Vie Electronique compiles extremely rare and unreleased early material, some of which he and coproducer/archivist Klaus Mueller came across in musty old tape boxes that were so haphazardly labeled that they typically had to come up with songtitles after the fact. In 2009 the duo began releasing the material on CD, and since then they’ve delivered no less than 16 volumes (the 16th one, from 2015, was a whopping 5CD set). T The series is now being rolled out on vinyl, and part one of the original 3CD La Vie Electronique, here titled, 1.0 is both mesmerizing and meditative. The lengthy, three-part “I Was Dreaming I Was Awake And Then I Woke Up And Found Myself Asleep”—which is broken up into “I Was Dreaming I Was Awake,” “And Then I Woke Up,” and “And Found Myself Asleep”—in particular is rewarding, with waves of synths initially ebbing and flowing like ocean currents gently rocking the boat, then gradually growing more forceful and direct, ultimately culminating in a pulsing, throbbing, unsettling crescendo. The 14-minute “Dynamo” is also fascinating to absorb, an electronic approximation of piloting across the galaxy and being sucked slowly into a black hole. The album ends in a brief (24-seconds) Schulze interview which, since it’s in German, serves as a fittingly inscrutable coda. A must-own for Schulze fanatics. This set, then, is the first in the Schulze vinyl series that One Way Static/Light In The Attic has initiated; the second installment of the first volume, La Vie Electronique 1.1, arrived on March 23, and it will be interesting to see if they get to the 16th volume, particularly if you consider that a 5CD set would probably require between 10 and 15 LPs to cover all of the music. Each title is a pressing of 1000, with 700 on standard black vinyl and 300 on white. And as with most LITA productions, always a trademark of quality, you get a healthy dose of detailed liner notes along with an Obi strip wrapped around the album jacket—the latter a nice touch for folks browsing in a record store who want to know more about the release. Whenever a label goes the extra mile for collectors, it should be applauded. Originally released in 1991 by esteemed indie label Frontier (and distributed via RCA), the Cali outfit’s fifth studio album may not have sold bucketloads, but it was still filled to the brim with powerful, tuneful rock subversion and resilient emotional fortitude. With a key reissue program now underway for the guitar band, now is an apt time to examine what made Thin White Rope so special—and, for many of us out here in the Amerindie-rock hinterlands, so beloved. BY JONATHAN LEVITT In 1991 Thin White Rope set about to record their critically acclaimed album The Ruby Sea, which would subsequently be released on Frontier Records. Hailing from Davis, California, the band were able to hone their unique blend, of punk, country and rock into a deeply satisfying record that at times has a ferocious intensity, punctuated by a stark and lonely widescreen sentimentality. The album feels like the equivalent of driving all day, looking for accommodations in a tiny two-horse town and then hitting the local roadhouse for a cold beer. With a Miller in hand, you and the three other patrons witness a band play a show so devastating that you feel as if you’ve stumbled upon America’s best kept secret. I’ve spent the last quarter century evangelizing to friends about how they need to own a copy of The Ruby Sea. I’m gearing up for the next 25. I’m from the Southwest—the starry sky, the sunsets, and the panoramas ‘round each bend permeate my dreams and have worked their way into my DNA. What Thin White Rope accomplished on this album was to create an aural roadmap of their world. Guy Kyser’s vocals are part-crazed gold rush preacher, the other part a tortured balladeer. I’ll say this, though: No one conveys the American west quite like he does. Listening to the stormy swirls his voice creates, you can feel the sand stripping the enamel on your teeth, which makes for quite a harrowing journey. Meanwhile, Roger Kunkel’s deft guitar playing is both gritty and full of nuanced layers. The album had critical hosannas thrown at it from certain sectors of the British press as well as the likes of CMJ, not to mention the Amerindie fanzine underground. It proved to be an antidote of sorts to the laughable haircuts and poor song-smithery that plagued “alternative music” at the time. All one has to do is listen to opener “The Ruby Sea,” where the muscular drums and angular, aggression laced guitar work is cut with Kyser’s haunted vocals, to get a sense that you’re heading to a place riddled with emotional potholes. Cherry-picking my way through the album, “Puppet Dog” has the feeling of making several wrong turns in some rural backwater unable to find your way to civilization; the beginning of the song, with its childlike dreaminess, quickly turns troubled, the key then changes, and Kyser sings “Puppet dog, whoever made you years ago, knew how bad I’d needa friend. Puppet dog, your felt red mouth and bells for eyes, scare the devils off again.” It’s an amazing track that threads the listener through the needle into another person’s world. “The Lady Vanishes” is an evocative number that, in the space of two brief minutes, transports us deeper into Kyser’s haunted world. “Hunter’s Moon” is the album’s centerpiece, a story of longing, pursuit and ultimately redemption, that by its end of it will either have you stomping your foot or waving your fist in the air. “Christmas Skies” is a wistful country ballad that tells the story of a ghost who’s recalling Christmas as a child. I recall being drawn into the song’s orbit late one night in my Fudan University dorm room, where it transported me a million miles away from my Chinese reality to somewhere familiar and friendly, and it’s these distilled yet brief moments, punctuated throughout the record, that make it such an immense pleasure to listen to. Then there’s “The Fish Song,” which is hands down one of the most kickass songs ever laid down by the band. Its menacing vocals, stretched over a relentless pounding rhythm, is cinematic in scope and a one two punch to the cranium. Once you hear this song you feel like you can take on the world. “The Clown Song”, which closes the record, is another brief, yet very powerful, song. Kyser sings, “Seems I have been a clown more than a friend/ A clockwork response to tokens you spend/ And when you stop and when I run down/ I’m frozen and cannot escape from the clown.” The album takes the listener on a tense, turmoil-filled journey, its emotional heft being one of the reasons why it has never left my side. I find myself still unable to completely comprehend the power of The Ruby Sea—which is why I’m hooked. While I mourn the fact that the band no longer exists, I believe that their musical catalog will only continue to add new legions of fans as people discover their immense talent. I managed to hunt down lead singer/guitarist Guy Kyser and guitarist Roger Kunkel to give BLURT readers the skinny on the making of the album. Guy, in an email to me, said they answered my questions “Rashomon Style” (Kurosawa fans please take note). Roger has also offered BLURT an exclusive link to hear the band’s demo from November 21, 1982 which until now has never been released; the four songs on the demo, originally preserved on cassette and recorded by the late Scott Miller of Game Theory/Loud Family fame, are “Not Your Fault,” “Macy’s Window,” “Soundtrack,” and “Black Rose.” In my quest for extra archival material, I got in touch with Frontier Records head honcho Lisa Fancher, who offered up her own perspective on the album as well as an exclusive track for Blurt readers from the forthcoming remastered release of The Ruby Sea. So please check out the interviews that follow, and while you’re at it, chew on this bit of news: Frontier Records has announced that the band’s first five albums will be reissued on heavy-weight 180-gram colored vinyl. (Which should only worsen my editor’s very public vinyl porn addiction.) (Ya got that right, brutha. Just put in my orders, in fact. —Vinyl Ed.) The first two LPs, 1985’s Exploring the Axis and 1987’s Moonhead, are already out, with the rest to follow later this year. Click the link for details; note that ordering the vinyl—including special edition mail-order-only editions—also gets you an immediate digital download. Each title will also be available to order on CD or as a download. *** (Below: screen shots from a video of the band performing in 1992 at the Roskilde Fest) THIN WHITE ROPE—THE 2018 INTERVIEW, WITH GUY KYSER AND ROGER KUNKEL BLURT: Where and when was The Ruby Sea(TRS), recorded? Roger Kunkel: Fidelity Studios, Studio City, CA which is near Universal Studios, east end of Ventura Blvd. We’d worked in that area before at a different studio for the Moonhead and Spanish Cave records. Who produced and mixed the record? RK: The producer was Bill Noland of Wall of Voodoo and Human Hands. The engineer’s name was Dave Lopez. This was in May of 1991. Interesting side note: Originally, Butch Vig wanted to produce the record. It was before he was hired to produce Nirvana’s Nevermind. He wanted us to come to his studio in Madison, but we weren’t keen on spending a few weeks in Wisconsin, and we decided to do it in LA where we knew people and could have a good time while being there. By the time we were in LA, we’d heard that Butch was doing the Nirvana record in LA at the same time. Since they’d been signed to Geffen and had a big budget, they flew him out. It happened that we were friends with their manager, John Silva, so he introduced us and even suggested we make guest appearances on each other’s albums. That didn’t happen because neither group was excited about the idea. We did go out to a Butthole Surfers show and got quite drunk together. Remember, at this time they were just another indie band. Months later that changed quickly. What were you guys listening to back then? Any of those bands influence your direction on this record? Guy Kyser: I must’ve been listening to a lot of Wire. I don’t recall trying to sound like them but looking back I can really hear the influence. Roger introduced me to a lot of country music over time, so there’s that. And of course, we had that Velvet Underground trying to sneak in there. RK: We always had a wide breadth of influences largely older stuff from the blues, country worlds. Marty Robbins, Lefty Frizzell, Slim Harpo (One of Guy’s favorites). Also, the classic late 60’s rock stuff: Stooges, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Velvet Underground, Can, Sabbath. Newer bands: Pixies, the Fall, Wire. This record I think was focused on Guy’s poetic visions of landscapes and loss. The Country influence is fully uncloaked, at least on a couple of tracks, but mostly I feel the record was just twr without conscious outside influences. What do you recall about the recording sessions, was it a smooth process, or were there debates about the direction of some of the songs? GK: The songs were pretty much complete, but we hadn’t had a chance yet to listen to some of the details from the outside, so to speak… so sometimes during the recording we’d discover things that didn’t work. For example, there was one place in “Up To Midnight” where our guitars seemed to be in conflict, rhythmically, and we had to isolate the tracks and figure out who was throwing things off (it was me, hah!). RK: Most songs were pretty well worked out beforehand. We had our preferred methods of recording by this time. We knew we wanted a more polished end result this time around. There were some debates about drums. Matt wanted huge sounding drums. I like drums to sound natural and more 60’s where they sit in the mix instead of summon the ​Valkyries with thunder, so I wasn’t happy with that. What was the hardest song to nail for the record? GK: For me it was “Bartender’s Rag” or “Christmas Skies”. Those are simple country-style songs but very difficult to get an authentic feel out of them. I had trouble playing with just the right amount of swing. RK: Honestly, it’s hard to remember, but I think Hunter’s Moon took some time. It was one that wasn’t fully baked arrangement wise. The build of it started to become apparent and we worked from there to create a steady build that, I think imparts the idea of inevitability. Can you guys speak to how you went about recording the record, were things worked out in the studio or did you have skeletons of ideas ready? GK: We always had limited studio time when recording, so we did most of the arranging beforehand. Depending on what instruments and effects the studio might have available, we would add things just for the hell of it. Like, there’s a piano here – let’s use it on the break in “The Fish Song”. Or the producer knows where to rent a guitarrón – might be a good sound for “Christmas Skies”. RK: Guy reserved a few tunes to do in a way that would set them apart. Christmas Skies and Dinosaur. I don’t think we’d worked on them much as a band before the recording. And The Clown Song he did solo. Guy, did you have lyrics worked out in advance or was this something you altered as the song took shape in the studio? Where were you pulling from emotionally when you created some of these songs? GK: The lyrics were all written beforehand, except “The Clown Song” which was composed during the recording session. I wrote several of the songs & lyrics during a short road trip I took to get away from work, the band, and everything. I got good and lonesome, wandered the hills by night, and somehow got poison oak on my privates. But came home with songs. How many songs were recorded for the album and if any were left off what became of them? GK: All the songs we recorded for the album went onto the album. We may have recorded a couple extras for a later EP, but there were also a couple of EP-only recording sessions around that time and I don’t remember which track came out of which session. RK: We did a couple other tracks in this studio with Bill Noland, but I think it was a separate session. One was “Burn the Flames” for a Roky Erickson tribute album. And two tracks for a Byrds tribute album. Was there a concept for the album before you all started to record it? GK: Not really, except that “The Ruby Sea” and “The Fish Song” were both kind of water-related… we did joke around that this might help counteract our desert image. There’s a wonderful western vibe that permeates the record, can you guys talk about how where you’re from has influenced the music on TRS? GK: For me, a lot of it comes down to movies. Geography predisposed me to like Westerns, so I got infatuated with Morricone’s scores. [I] also was a big fan of Marty Robbins’ Outlaw Ballads. Onearlier albums, not so much on Ruby Sea, we went through phases of trying to create the ultimate Western Tune. This was fun, but we got a reputation as a ‘desert band’ which came to seem like a millstone sometimes. RK: That was pretty much always part of the band’s DNA. It didn’t always show up, but Guy, our original bassist, Steve Tesluk, and myself were all classic country and blues fans. Were all of the songs written specifically for the record or had some been around during other records and you decided to finally include them on this album? GK: All the songs were written just for this album. Except, kind of, “Tina and Glen”… that song was an idea I’d been kicking around for about 10 years, but I could never make it work until I decided to throw out most of the lyrics and make it an instrumental. What’s the oldest song in terms of when it was written that was on the record? GK: See [previous question]. “Tina and Glen” was based on a time when my motorcycle broke down on Highway 99 in central California and I had to spend the night in a farm shed. The host family had two kids whose names were… wait for it… Who came up with the running order for the album? GK:I remember that as a collaborative effort. I did want to have “Fish” & “Clown” last, though. How long did the recording of the album take? GK: I think it was 4 or 5 days recording, maybe 3 days mixing. RK: I believe it was two weeks, which was typical for us. When the album was finally in the can, what was the feeling when you guys finally heard the finished work? GK: Hard to describe. I had a deep feeling of accomplishment and was very happy with the album, but there was some sadness mixed in because it felt like an ending. I also had a dawning realization that neither this album nor any other we were likely to make was going to see enough success to make us a self-sustaining band. Maybe that is partly hindsight. RK: A little mixed. It’s also hard to accept that a work is done and is what it’s going to be. When you’re working in a high-end studio and your listening off of two-inch tape through the world’s greatest monitors, things sound so impressive that you can lose a little perspective. Did you hold a record release party to celebrate? GK: I think we all went home and slept for a week. RK: Nothing real formal that I remember. We just started a long tour, as usual. Who created the cover art? GK: Our friend Clay Babcock, an artist who lives in LA. He grew up in the same desert town I did, and I’ve known him since second grade or so. The album was released on LP, cassette and CD on Frontier Records. What about in Europe? Was the album licensed to any labels and did they press up their own editions? Was there a special mix done for the Frontier LP edition? RK: I don’t think any special mixes or masters were made. Frontier had a distribution deal with BMG at that time, so I think the European product was the same as the US. Earlier records were produced by Demon Records (UK) and distributed by Rough Trade in Europe. How did the album sell in the US and in Europe? RK: I don’t know the numbers. I know it wasn’t enough to get us into the black and making money. Did you record any of the shows you did touring the record? GK: I don’t remember recording any shows during the official Ruby Sea tour, but we did a final tour the following year and recorded & released the entire final show (The One That Got Away). I was really proud of that recording, a 2-hour-show, it sounded pretty tight. RK: Of course, there’s the final concert which became The One that Got Away. That was a very good multitrack recording of our last ever show in Ghent, Belgium. It may actually be my favorite twr recording. Set-list ise, did you play all of the songs at one point or another live or were there some that you never played at all in a live setting? GK: I don’t think we ever performed “Bartender’s Rag” or “Christmas Skies”. “Dinosaur” was too quiet and too dependent on sound processing. We might have done “The Lady Vanishes” and “Up to Midnight” once or twice, when we could get a guest vocalist. RK: Some were never played (I think): Dinosaur, Christmas Skies (maybe). What were the core songs from this album that were played in almost every set at the time? I recall reading a glowing review in Melody Maker at the time and wondered given that this was at the height of the Manchester movement, how did audiences react to your music? GK: I don’t think anyone was comparing us with the Smiths… I think we were considered rustic headbangers from an uncivilized part of the world, not particularly stylish or trendy. But most of our shows in north-central English cities were well-attended and enthusiastic. RK: We had a steadily growing following in England, I really enjoyed touring there. We played the Reading Festival on our last trip. On a blog written by Michael Compton he mentions that, “One of the three weekly music newspapers in England, Melody Maker, took a strong liking to us, but because of that, the other two, Sounds and New Musical Express, decided that we weren’t to be bothered with.” What was it like being in that situation for the band, and how did it affect Demon records ability to promote you guys? Any anecdotes you wish to add regarding the petulant British press? GK: I don’t know how it affected Demon, but it was kind of a roller coaster for us. The British scene had a lot of infighting, a lot of bands currying favor with this or that fanzine. And we’d get an interview with someone from one of the “other” papers, the interview would go great, and then the piece would be printed with a negative slant. One guy in particular, who was kind of a trendsetter, would mention us only so that he could go on to talk about bands he liked better. Usually American Music Club. For which I bear them no ill will. RK: I guess on the first couple of trips there we were a kind of secret cool band that MM would write about. We had a few packed shows in small venues that were a lot of fun. NME did a spread with a picture at Stonehenge, so they didn’t ignore us. I don’t recall any bad reviews, but maybe I was oblivious to them. Who did you guys tour with in Europe for TRS shows? GK: I’m fuzzy on the timelines – may have been for earlier albums – but we did several shows with the Pixies (mostly Netherlands), the Walkabouts (Germany), and Babes in Toyland (Austria). On our last two tours we played festivals (Reading 1991, Roskilde 1992) with lineups including Iggy Pop, Nirvana, and lots of other acts. RK: We seldom did shows in support of another band, at least not a string of shows. We had a great show with the Pixies in Rotterdam. We play the Reading and the Roskilde festivals, with so many great bands: Nirvana, Blur, Sonic Youth, American Music Club, even Townes Van Zandt. Tell me how “Hunter’s Moon” came about. I can only imagine that this song must’ve detonated the room when it was played live. Was this song a fixture of your sets back then? GK: Yes, this was one of our standards. This song is a very literal transcript from my road trip. I like how simple it is, and there’s something sort of backwards about the chord sequence. The “Fish Song” hits hard with a biblical one-two punch to the gut. What was the genesis (no pun intended) of this song? GK: TFS is based on a short, near-miss relationship. I turned it into a kind of Moby Dick story, minus the wooden leg. Since Thin White Rope, what have the two of you been doing musically? GK: After TWR I was in a band called Mummydogs with my wife and other Davis musicians. We made one album but didn’t tour. One track was used in the Las Vegas campaign for “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”. Then I played banjo in bluegrass bands with Roger and others, doing the farmers market circuit. RK: In the 90s I had an eclectic instrumental band called the Acme Rocket Quartet. We made 3 CDs but didn’t tour. (Own those records as wel! -Archival Ed.) I sometimes still hear it as transition music on NPR. I got into bluegrass and old time playing mandolin, fiddle and guitar. Guy and I had a gigging bluegrass band going for a while called Doc Holler. I studied computer science in college. Currently, I play telecaster in a honkytonk, classic country band called Mike Blanchard and the Californios. I’m also occasionally in a band called Toadmortons. We are currently working on a new album. I have a casual acoustic duo called the Smoke Shovelers. I’m interested in solo guitar lately and I’m hoping to record that and make my first solo album this year. What do you guys do for day jobs? GK: During the day I am a specialist with UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, doing research on management of invasive plants in rangeland and natural areas. GK: I haven’t thought too much about the back catalog, but I’m glad to see Moonhead rereleased because for some reason I didn’t have a copy. The oldest songs sound pretty adolescent to me – I’m glad they’re out there but it’s like they were written by a different person. RK : My favorite TWR recordings have been Moonhead, Sackful, and the covers we did. However, they all have their endearing qualities. I went a long time not listening to any. I’m hearing that the remasters are really good, so I’m looking forward to getting reacquainted with them. What place does The Ruby Sea hold for you guys when considering your whole discography? GK: The best songs on Ruby Sea are my favorites from the whole band’s career, but there are some weak spots too. Any possibility that you guys would ever pull the band back together for some one-off shows or even a new record? GK: I would feel pretty uncomfortable trying to revisit stuff I was doing in my twenties… Lisa Fancher: I founded Frontier Records in 1980 and I still own the label and run it with the indispensable Julie Masi. How did The Ruby Sea sell? LF: Not terribly well, none of their records sold particularly well compared to the Frontier punk titles, but TWR is my legacy band and I’m desperately interested in the entire world discovering their greatness. How many pressings have there been of the vinyl? LF: The LP was pressed once when I was with BMG, I never made more. Were there differences between the Frontier edition and European pressings? LF: There were no differences between US and UK editions, no. What’s your opinion of the record in relation to their entire catalog? LF: I can find no fault in anything that TWR ever did, so I can’t really be objective where it stands. It was the further evolution of Guy’s songwriting, trying to branch out more musically, and also signaling the end of his desire to be in band, and to live a life in one place with Johanna. That’s what I get from it… I’m just sad because it’s TWR last studio album! Did Frontier finance the recording? LF: Yes. The only record paid not paid for by me was Sack Full of Silver, I did a licensing deal with RCA Records. What was your reaction the first time you heard the finished recording? LF: I was there most of the time while they recorded [The] Ruby Sea and much of the time when Noland mixed it. I was giddy with awe, still am. What’s your favorite and least favorite track on the record? LF: I have no least favorite track, but “The Fish Song” is probably my favorite. When the album came out what was the general reaction you were getting? LF: It’s hard to remember if there was a negative reaction, I don’t think so. TWR had their fervent journalist fans but had a hard time taking it to the next level of “success”, whatever that is. Decades later the critics all jerk off to the Black Angels and Floorian etc., [who] owe so much to TWR sonically. I think the response would have been more shrill in terms of SUPPORT THIS BAND, DAMN YOU if writers knew that it was their last album, TWR’s greatness was very much taken fo granted. Was there a difference between how the British press reacted to the album versus the US music press? LF: The US press was not terribly enthusiastic overall though the band did have strong support in the fanzine and Alternative Press-size magazine world. SPIN was an early backer, but then when it got super corporate, they turned their backs. I could have spent a billion advertising dollars but writers either got the band or they didn’t. In the UK, there’s not this pressure for pay to play, so there was always unabashed raves in Melody Maker and Sounds and large, crazed audiences. When Guy appeared on the cover of Melody Maker, I thought I would die from pride! NME didn’t have much time for TWR because the other two papers loved them, but that’s okay. They never did a Peel session either, it’s time I got over these things. I know that a remastered edition is slated to come out; who’s doing the remastering? Will there be any expanded liner notes and or art used on the remastered release? LF: Exploring the Axis and Moonhead were re-released on 3/9/18 and the other three studio records will come out in the coming months. If these reissues do okay, then I’ll consider a definitive odd and ends record and remastering the double live LP. Paul duGré does all my remastering, he’s an absolute shaman with guitar-based rock. When you hear the re-releases, you’ll know what I’m talking about, it’s possible to hear things on these versions that were inaudible on the previous versions. No, they are not expanded versions in terms of art or notes because I tried to keep them at the original price, so people would buy them without hesitation. Changing packaging and added booklets, etc., make the price go up by many dollars. We did put Guy’s lyrics in the LPs, they were previously only available as a booklet to fan club members. Is the band involved with the remastering? LF: They were not. (Below, original 1991 Frontier press release for the album.) Any anecdotes good or bad related to this record that you care to share? LF: I will save those memories for when I write my book. All of [them] drank excessively after the sessions but they were total pros in [the] studio, no matter how hungover. I tried to get Kurt Cobain to play guitar on a song or sing on “The Fish Song” as the band was making Nevermind in the valley, but it was vetoed by his people even though he was a big fan. I think perhaps a few more people would have bought [The]Ruby Sea if it was sanctioned by Kurt! Any future TWR projects slated for release on Frontier? LF: I’ll have to wait and see how the reissues go as I need funds to do more, but I certainly hope so– now or anywhere in the future. Guy knows that I’d have a stroke if he ever wrote a new TWR song and/or if he formed a new band of any kind. (He briefly had a bluegrass band with Roger and I drove up to SF alone the instant that I heard they were playing!) My most fervent dream in life is that Guy will return to music, but mostly I want him to be happy in life whether it includes writing or playing music. It’s just that I’d like for Guy and Roger to finally get their due, something Guy could care less about, I’m sure! Album: Calm Before... Artist: Rising Storm Label: Sundazed The Upshot: Incalculably rare, this mid 1960s album by a bunch of upper class northeastern schoolboys is better than you might think. Ace covers and surprisingly sturdy original tunes, now available on back-to-vinyl. BY BILL KOPP A bunch of prep school boys put together a rock band in 1965. Big deal, right? American teens (mostly but not exclusively males) did that all over the USA in the mid-sixties. The influences of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds was widespread, and American affluence (for some, at least) meant that instruments and amps were within the budget of many teenagers. And sometimes they made good – even great – music. Crate diggers have made a fetish of discovering some of those rare recordings. Calling themselves Green Fuz, a band from near Fort Worth Texas cut a song of the same name, often described as a no-fi classic. Copies of that 45 go for top dollar these days. Even rarer is the sole LP from those Andover Academy teens. They called themselves the Rising Storm, and their album Calm Before… is one of the most sought-after obscure LPs of the rock era. Acclaimed music journalist Richie Unterberger wrote about the Rising Storm and their record in his essential tome, Unknown Legends of Rock ‘n’ Roll. And the record got a legitimate CD reissue in the 1990s. Now in 2018, Sundazed Records has reissued the album again, this time returning it to its native format of vinyl LP. The most remarkable quality about the album is the band’s impeccable taste in material The songs they chose the record are a fascinating assortment of well-chosen covers and surprisingly strong original material. The record opens with a cover of the Remains’ “Don’t Look Back.” The vocals are a bit smoother than Barry Tashian’s original, but the harmonies are tight, and the instrumentation is pretty top-notch, especially for a bunch of teens. And they play the damn thing fast. Even the title “To L.N. / Who Doesn’t Know” betrays a kind of coffee-house sophistication, and the moody, folk rock original is musically appealing. “I’m Coming Home” is a simple enough garage rocker, but the arrangement is ambitious by garage-rock standard. And keyboardist Charlie Rockwell is fleet-fingered on his combo organ. Arthur Lee’s “A Message to Pretty” wasn’t especially well-known on the east coast in 1967, but these students discovered it. The Rising Storm’s reading of the Love classic is a bit subdued and fragile, but perhaps that’s the vibe they were going for. The harmonica solo is pretty solid in a folky way. We’ll excuse the inclusion of “In the Midnight Hour,” because every band did it back then. To be fair, the Rising Storm does better than average on the Wilson Pickett chestnut. By far the weirdest tune on Calm Before… is “Frozen Laughter.” Unterberger spends a good bit of time discussing the track in his book. It really has to be heard to be believed. If it sounds like anything else, it’s perhaps a bit reminiscent of early Velvet Underground. The haunting spoken-word clip that opens the track adds a deeply unsettling air, as does the faraway, funereal organ. (Listen to it at the provided link, below.) Another original, “She Loved Me” shows that the Rising Storm could fuzz-rock as well as any. The vocals on the chorus of “Mr. Wind” are wince-inducing; it’s the weakest track here, but it’s still not a total disaster. “Big Boss Man” opens as a slow blues but shifts gears into what sounds like an upper-class white boy’s rethink of Northern soul…an uncharacteristically good one. “Bright Lit Blue Skies” is a strong original number with some sunny harmonies applied to a melancholy melody and lyric. And like all of the tunes here, it’s performed with great attention to detail, and admirable musical skill. The last original on the record, “The Rain Falls Down” is a shimmering, moody and contemplative number with reasonably mature lyrics. The record closes with another well-worn tune, “Baby Please Don’t Go.” The band plays it at breakneck speed, as if they were just told that there was two minutes and 48 seconds left on the tape. They make the most of it, and seem to be having a great deal of fun in the process. The 2018 Sundazed reissue features the recording in glorious mono, housed in a lovely gatefold sleeve (with rare photos inside). And the translucent yellow vinyl is a nice added touch. Jamaican pianist Alexander has a bright, flowing and lyrical approach to his instrument. Originally released in 1971, Here Comes the Sun was Alexander’s sixth album. Working with three other musicians (bass, drums and percussion), the pianist is at the center of the arrangements on all seven of the album’s tracks. His style often sounds like it’s the result of overdubs; his left hand plays rhythm, as expected, but his right hand is so busy that it sounds like two hands in and of itself. But yet the approach never feels busy. There’s a lively and exuberant to Alexander’s playing that can leave the listener nearly breathless. He and his sidemen sound as if they’re having the time of their lives here; the opening cut “Montevideo” is quite uptempo, but Here Comes the Sun explores a variety of textures; you’re not likely to mistake any one of these tunes for another; such is the level of originality on display here. Be warned, however, that the titular Beatles classic is transformed beyond recognition. MPS does its by now expected top-flight job of repackaging and reissuing another timeless classic from nearly a half century ago. Richie “Dick” Garcia – A Message from Garcia (Modern Harmonic) Though he doesn’t receive prominent billing on this 1956 album from jazz guitarist Dick Garcia, pianist Bill Evans is all over this album. Garcia is out front, but it’s Evans’ crystalline and meditative piano that holds things together. The band explores a variety of tempos and textures, but at its heart, A Message From Garcia is fairly consistent in its musical approach: the guitarist plays single-note melodic runs while the band provides subtle support. Garcia does engage in the occasional musical dialogue with Evans on cuts like “Ev’ry Night About This Time,” but there’s little doubt whose show this is. When he does take the spotlight, Bill Evans sounds as if he’s enjoying himself. The Modern Harmonic reissue of this relative rarity features top-notch sleeve reproduction and colored vinyl. Barney Kessel – Live at the Jazz Mill 1954, Vol. 2 (Modern Harmonic) Acclaimed jazz guitarist Barney Kessel only began his career as a band leader around 1953. By that time he had made quite a name for himself thanks to his work on recordings featuring Billie Holiday, Benny Carter and others. And he’d continue to provide supple six-string support to some of the biggest names in jazz and pop, including Sonny Rollins, Sam Cooke and Chet Baker. Those who don’t know better could easily mistake Live at the Jazz Mill 1954, Vol. 2 for a reissue of a record from years past. In fact it’s not: a young fan taped Kessel (backed by the Jazz Millers), and the tapes were only recently discovered. This second volume (the first was released a couple of years ago) features surprisingly good audio quality. And everything about the package – the cover art, the jacket’s liner notes – is note-perfect. Volker Kriegel – Spectrum (MPS) I first – and quite belatedly – discovered the work of Volker Kriegel via a 2014 archival release from the now more-or-less defunct SWR/Jazzhaus label. The German guitarist worked in a number of musical idioms including soul jazz and jazz-rock fusion. This 1971 album – Kriegel’s second – is (in places) much closer to rock than anything else I’ve heard from him. With a nasty fuzztone, percussion that may remind some of Low Spark of High Heeled Boys-era Traffic and a kinetic bottom end (featuring acoustic and electric bass as well as cello), Spectrum is a scorcher. John Taylor plays what’s noted as “electra-piano.” The rest of us would know it as a Hohner Pianet or maybe (but probably not) a Fender Rhodes. The opening track “Zoom” finds Kriegel doubling his fuzztone leads on sitar, and it’s not even a little gimmicky. Two years later Kriegel would form a band named after this LP. A tasty treat for those who dig the most accessibly tuneful end of jazz rock, Spectrum is adventurous, too: “More About D” is almost Zappaesque in its weirdness, albeit still rooted in jazz traditions. The album is newly reissued from MPS and is enthusiastically recommended. Herbie Mann – It’s a Funky Thing: The Very Best of Herbie Mann (Varese Sarabande) One could say that Herbie Mann was the Rodney Dangerfield of jazz: he got no respect. Part of that was his own doing; he resolutely refused to be boxed in with regard to what is and is not jazz. His work is wonderfully accessible and irresistibly catchy. It’s also, on occasion, a bit schlocky, and some of his work has a distinct air of bandwagon jumping (or at least musical dilettantism) about it. How else to explain disco outings like “Hijack,” a big hit in the disco era? But for listeners who can put all that baggage aside and simply dig, Herbie Mann’s music is supremely diggable. Truth be known, he was at the forefront of the world music movement, though few will afford him the credit he deserves for it. And anybody hip enough to hire Larry Coryell and Sonny Sharrock is okay by me. This collection – annotated by my pal, the esteemed author and esteemed music journalist Pat Thomas – is a lot of fun. The tracks here are featured in their single edits, most making their first appearance on digital media of any kind. Jay Saunders – Nice!: Jay Saunders Best of the Two (North Texas Jazz) The University of North Texas has a storied and vibrant Division of Jazz Studies, one that goes back some 70 years. And its North Texas Jazz label has released a sizable catalog of music, featuring instructors, students and alumni. Trumpeter and band leader Jay Saunders recently retired from his position at UNT, where he taught classes and directed bands. This new 2CD collection is subtitled Best of the Two, as in the Two O’Clock Lab. It draws from six earlier releases by the ever-shifting ensemble. The big-band music is a nice mix of standards, ambitious pieces and jazz readings of pop tunes; it’s classic and modern all at once, deliberately all over the map in a way that shows the timeless nature of jazz when it’s done right. “I 8 Da Whole Half Thing” sounds like Lalo Schifrin-style 1970s movie music, and that’s meant in the best possible way. Various Artists – Jazz for Hi-Fi Lovers (Modern Harmonic) This time capsule in the form of a colored vinyl LP is a true delight. Originally released in 1958 on the Dawn label, Jazz for Hi-Fi Lovers is a various artists collection presented in wonderful hi-fi (read: monaural). Zoot Sims is among the biggest names featured here, and he’s performing Thelonious Monk’s “Bye Ya.” Paul Quinichette provides the opening cut, the aptly named “Start Here.” Paulette Girard’s original liner notes are presented intact, and they too are a kind of trip back in time: they include three lengthy paragraphs under the heading “about the sound and the equipment,” full of info to satisfy the keen high fidelity enthusiast in your mid-century modern household. The cover art is a gas, too. Come for the packaging, and stay for the music. On March 23rd, keeper-of-the-krautrock-flame Groenland will be releasing Cinema, an overview of Holger Czukay’s solo work and collaboration. Included will be Canaxis 5 (1969), Movies (1979), On The Way To The Peak Of Normal (1981), Full Circle (1982), Der Osten Ist Rot (1984), Rome Remains Rome (1987) and Radio Wave Surfer (1991). This five-LP set features a 36-page booklet, DVD of a movie starring Czukay for which he also made the soundtrack as well as a “vinyl video.” It ain’t cheap – $135. (Peak of Normal was reissued on vinyl not long ago, incidentally.) But to have all of this under one cover isn’t a bad way to get your springtime record collecting off to a nice start…. Time to go fishin’ for the Blues with BLURT, along with our sister retail business, Schoolkids Records of Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill. Herewith, find some shopping and collecting tips for aficionados and newbies alike—many of the titles mentioned below (and others as well) are available at the Schoolkids site. And tune in next month for our next installment of our new series, “Build Your Record Collection.” BY FRED MILLS True story: One afternoon, not all that long ago, I was behind the counter of my job at the time, Schoolkids Records in Raleigh, North Carolina, when a father and son strode purposefully into the store. The father was probably in his late forties or early fifties, the son in his mid-teens. They asked me where our Blues section was, and I duly steered them over to the new vinyl, additionally telling the kid that we also had a lot of new indie rock on the front rack. Because, you know, teenagers. “I’m just looking for some Blues,” he replied, adding, “I’ve been listening to a lot of my dad’s old vinyl and really getting into the Blues.” I had the strangest feeling that, right before my eyes, I was witnessing a torch being passed from one generation to the next. I sneaked a glance over at the father, and he had a knowing, proud smile on his face. A little later, when they brought their purchases up to the counter, he and I easily slipped into an earnest conversation about mutual favorite Blues albums—classic titles like Muddy Waters’ Electric Mud, Taj Mahal’s The Natch’l Blues, Albert King’s Live Wire/Blues Power, Howlin’ Wolf’s Moanin’ In the Moonlight (he was pretty impressed that I had met Wolf’s guitarist, Hubert Sumlin, one time and shared a flask of whiskey with him), pretty much everything by John Mayall, along with a very special personal hero of mine, Rory Gallagher. The kid soaked it all in, tentatively throwing out a few titles of his own. When I told the father that his son had good taste, he just grinned, then explained that, thanks to the younger man pulling his battered turntable out from the basement along with several boxes of his old record collection, his own passion for vinyl had been rekindled. Who’s passing who the torch here, I thought to myself, grinning back at him. The Blues is like that—it brings people together, bridges economic, social, and generational gaps, and in general just makes you feel good because what’s being expressed in the sounds and the words are universal emotions. When someone is singing about having lost their one true love, you can feel it in their voice—hell, you can feel it in the weeping guitar lines as well. It’s like having a friend there in front of you, opening up, feeling vulnerable, and just needing to have someone listen to them and understand them. Patti Smith once told me that a key role artists play is that they offer us a shoulder to lean on when we need the support, and while she wasn’t specifically referring to the Blues, I can’t think of a better description of what the Blues brings to the table. *** As I mentioned, that was a couple of years ago when I was working at Schoolkids, which now has stores in Durham and Chapel Hill in addition to Raleigh. There’s a 40+ years Schoolkids legacy that I’m proud to be a part of—BLURT is also the indie retail chain’s sister business, as we are owned by the same guy, so even though I no longer live in Raleigh I’m in touch with the crew there on a weekly basis—and I have no doubt that a lot of torches similar to the scenario I just outlined have been passed along in the Schoolkids aisles. This month they’re emphasizing the stores’ selections of classic Blues titles, both on LP and CD, so it should prove an excellent opportunity to either discover some of those classics, if you are a relative newbie, or rediscover them, particularly if you’re someone like the father above. And since I’ve frequently gone on the record as being increasingly militant about people supporting brick-and-mortar stores and not the impersonal likes of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Target, I’m not reluctant here to suggest you pop into a Schoolkids or your own local indie store, and if poor proximity makes that not an option, you can search for the titles on Schoolkidsrecords.com and then link to purchase. My old employer also has a web sales fulfillment deal arranged with national indie distributor AEC, so even if a title you’re looking for isn’t in stock at one of the stores, AEC will ship it to you if they have it—digital downloads as well. *** In 2018, building a Blues collection is not a difficult task because there are enough universally acknowledged classics to give you a solid foundation, even if you’re on a limited budget. In addition, the Blues is remarkably stable and consistent; unlike some genres, EDM for example, you’re not going to have someone reinventing how it’s constructed and/or performed every other week. There will always be intriguing new wrinkles from time to time in the Blues, but even younger artists looking to make a name for themselves tend to approach the genre with respect and reverence while still trying to keep their music fresh-sounding. (Think, for example, of a jam band, which one moment is flying off on a Phish-inspired cosmic tangent, and the next plowing into a down ‘n’ dirty Blues groove as taught to them by the Allman Brothers.) I could go on for hours about my favorite Blues records, but for the sake of sanity, here’s just a select few. Don’t think I’m offering my version of Blues For Dummies, however—there are plenty of well-documented reasons for why all of these are considered timeless classics. *** Howlin’ Wolf is probably my favorite old-school Blues artist, having been a constant presence on the scene starting in the late ‘50s until his death in 1976, and his impact upon the artform continues to be felt to the present day. His 1966 album The Real Folk Blues was originally issued by legendary Chicago label Chess Records as part of their album series of the same name, which also featured Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Memphis Slim, and Sonny Boy Williamson II. Everything in the series is essential, with Wolf’s contributions (including More Real Folk Blues) musical templates for Chicago-style Blues at its most primal—it’s downright hypnotic when Wolf and his band, which included the brilliant guitarist Hubert Sumlin mentioned above, slip into one of their signature low-slung grooves. Wolf’s vocals should be singled out as well, a raspy-yet-tuneful growl/moan that is impossible to mistake; put into a larger cultural context, there would be no Captain Beefheart and no Tom Waits had Wolf not come before them. Hold that thought: Without Robert Johnson, the most important bluesman ever, the Blues would not have unfolded and evolved the way it did. All paths lead back to Johnson. Born in 1911, he’s the guy from whom all those stories about bluesmen going down to the crossroads in Mississippi (to sell their soul to the devil in exchange for success, natch) are derived. Relatively speaking, he only recorded a handful of sides, but those sides, the core songs originally collected in 1961 long after his death as King of the Delta Blues Singers, exerted an outsized influence on pretty much every serious Blues artist who came after him. You can still hear echoes of “Cross Road Blues,” “32-20 Blues,” “Walkin’ Blues,” and “If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day” in contemporary Blues songs, both acoustic (which was how Johnson performed) and electric. God help the archivist who attempts to list every cover version of a Johnson song. And in the feral, keening howl that is Johnson’s vocal style, one hears the existential agony consistently coursing through all classic Blues music. King… has been reissued countless times over the years, both on vinyl and on CD, including in the mid/late ‘80s as an expanded CD box set that not only introduced Johnson to a broader (and younger) audience, it also played a key role in making box sets commercially viable for the record industry. Everybody has heard of Muddy Waters, arguably the second most important bluesman ever. There’s not a Blues band on the planet that doesn’t have at least one or two of McKinley Morganfield’s—Muddy’s—songs in their repertoire. My first direct exposure to him came with 1968’s Electric Mud, most likely because it was billed as his “psychedelic album” and at that point a teenage me was soaking in a near-100% diet of psychedelia. It was kind of an experiment on the part of Chess Records to try to get Muddy’s music into the hands of kids like me, with his regular backing band temporarily replaced by the younger musicians of Rotary Connection, and for good measure they even did a kind of electric gospel/soul/psych cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Let’s Spend the Night Together.” And with more traditional Muddy fare like “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” “Hoochie Coochie Man,” and “Mannish Boy” semi-reworked for then-contemporary times, the album is wildly accessible without compromising Muddy’s core vision. While the artist himself was reportedly not enamored of the record, and purist American music critics didn’t take much of a shine to it either, it became the first Muddy album to land on both the Billboard and Cashbox album charts. Further proof of Electric Mud’s staying power? It has been sampled by Cypress Hill, Natas, and Gorillaz, and as Wikipedia informs us, Martin Scorcese’s documentary series The Blues contains scenes of the recording band for Electric Mud performing with Public Enemy’s Chuck D and members of The Roots. Meanwhile, since we’ve been talking about torches being passed, consider John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, white men from England whose deep appreciation of black American legends led them to bring the Blues to the British marketplace. That singer/harp player Mayall recruited high-profile sidemen like John McVie and Peter Green (who would go on to Fleetwood Mac after their Mayall tenure) and Some Guy Named Eric Clapton, fresh from the Yardbirds, was testimony to his artistic prescience. The 1966 album BluesbreakersWith Eric Clapton, which not so coincidentally gave that same Some Guy near-co-billing with Mayall on the cover, has seven of its 12 tracks written by earlier Blues artists—among them, Robert Johnson, Mose Allison, Otis Rush, and Freddie King. The latter’s “Hideaway” is a textbook example of a Texas-Chicago Blues hybrid, and Clapton’s signature riffing is instantly identifiable to anyone even remotely familiar with his work in Cream and as a solo artist. The album as a whole is a perfect example of how British musicians were able to adapt the Americans’ music and carve out a unique piece of turf in the Blues for themselves. Which brings us to Rory Gallagher. The fiery Irish guitarist, who passed away, sadly, in 1995, at the age of 47, earned an early rep fronting power trio Taste, which put its own unique spin on electric blues much as Clapton and Cream were doing at the same time in England. Following the group’s breakup in 1970, Gallagher embarked upon a prolific solo career, soon adding a keyboard player to round out the guitar-bass-drums ensemble. Yours truly was fortunate enough to see him several times during his heyday, most notably as an unannounced early-a.m. act at the Peachtree Celebration festival in tiny Rockingham, NC, in 1972. Coming on after headliner Alice Cooper had finished, the flannel-shirted guitarist seemed oblivious to the fact that much of the audience had already begun streaming out, and put forth a hi-nrg set that left those of us who stuck around scraping our jaws from the festival grounds. Check out 1974’s Irish Tour ’74, whose setlist draws extensively from his superb Blueprint and Tattoo studio albums, additionally serving up classic Blues standards from Muddy Waters (“I Wonder Who”), J.B. Hutto (“Too Much Alcohol”), and, on the 40th anniversary box set, Junior Wells (“Messin’ With the Kid”) and Big Bill Broonzy (“Banker’s Blues”). Part of Gallagher’s genius was the way his original material was clearly derived from the Blues but also injected with strong doses of irresistible pop melodies and outright anthemism. Plus, he could play slide guitar like nobody’s business. At least two of the album’s tracks should be on any self-respecting rock ‘n’ roll playlist, “Tattoo’d Lady” and “A Million Miles Away” —the latter a 10-minute tour de force in concert, rife with dynamic shifts and myriad tonal textures all jostling amid a fairly straightforward 12-bar blues chord progression. Irish Tour ’74 makes for a stellar introduction to Gallagher’s oeuvre while also serving as a tutorial on how a lot of white electric bluesmen in the late ‘60s and ‘70s were able to adapt the Blues and make them commercially viable. (Below: Check out a choice live version of “Million Miles Away” from the Rockpalast German TV show in 1979.) As I already indicated, I could keep going, but maybe I’ll save that for another column. I will, however, leave you with a list of artists well-worth checking out, whether you’re in student mode or simply revisiting old favorites—names like Albert King, BB King, Freddie King (what, no Queens? no Aces?), Elmore James, John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal, Leadbelly, Lightning Hopkins, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robert Cray, KoKo Taylor, Willie Dixon, Albert Collins… True Story: Albert King passed away in 1992, but I was fortunate enough to interview him in the early ’90s when I was the music editor of an alternative weekly paper. He was scheduled to be headlining a local all-day Blues festival, and for some reason we were able to pull enough strings to land a quickie (like, 12 minutes) phone interview with him for a preview piece in the paper. After some perfunctory comments about The Blues And Its Significance, King and I somehow shifted/devolved into a conversation about, of all things, fishing. I’d heard he was an avid fisher and figured that was a fair topic to broach, so I mentioned to him that I knew a couple of choice spots in the area where one could drop a line, including a pond owned by my family. I harbor no illusions that King eagerly scribbled down my suggestions, but he was gracious enough to take the ball and run with it, talking briefly about why he loved fishing so much. We subsequently turned back to the upcoming event, and soon, sensing my time was about up, I decided to close out with the stock “So, what’s next for you after this?” question. THE BLURT JAZZ DESK ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAZZ FANS! Join Bill “Musoscribe” Kopp for a look at the jazz world – past, present, and yet-to-come, via interviews, essays, and reviews of new releases and archival titles.GO HEREfor full details, along with direct links to this exclusive content. Most recently: #12, five late ’18 and early ’19 releases, including Jeff Goldblum, Tony Bennett/Diana Krall, & more. MUSIC FOR THE EARS / MOVIES FOR THE EYES MOVIE THOUGHTSJoin our man in the balcony, Daniel Matti, who knows of what he views.Go HEREto read the latest reviews and updates. Most recently: Top 10 Films of 2017, including The Disaster Artist, Good Time, and The Killing of a Sacred Deer.

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Yet Another Paypal Block For Indian Users As you may have noticed, apart from Amit and me, some other authors are currently contributing content for this site. Some being from India, some are also from outside India as well. The problem I am going to talk about here is what I noticed a few weeks back when I was trying to post a reply to a tweet. The story goes like this. Some guy posted a tweet about how happy he was with that day’s (USD=INR) PayPal conversion rate. I was hoping to post my frustration with a reply stating the credit card withdrawal rate which is always higher the other way i.e when you withdraw (say) USD100 to your bank, you’ll receive somewhat around INR 4400 to INR 4450. Whereas when you need to add the same amount (USD100) to your Paypal account using your credit card you’ll have to add almost INR 4550 to INR 4670. And so with the new rule that you (if Indian) cannot buy online using any amount received via Paypal, you have to withdraw the money to your bank and then again use the same with higher rates to spend online. So as I went to PayPal looking for the day’s conversion rate (INR=USD), I simply tried sending a small amount to my other PayPal account. And bang, I was suddenly seeing a message that I need to confirm my credit card first. I was totally surprised as my card was already verified and I had already used it on several occasions to pay online with PayPal. I tried contacting PayPal and then in turn some of my blogger buddies. All but one was experiencing the same problem while paying his Indian authors. All the others were either not using Paypal to pay or simply haven’t faced such problems yet. Then came the long awaited reply from PayPal. Here is what is says, Now as it is clear from their statement that the problem was due to some temporary internal error. I waited for the problem to get solved as I was requested. Days passed and nothing changed and the payment day for all our authors as well our hosting provider was getting closer. Last night I was again checking if the problem got sorted out and it still persisted. So I tried looking out for some alternate ways to make the payment. I generated an invoice from the Amit’s PayPal account and sent it to our blog’s primary PayPal. Next what I did was eventually try to pay the invoice with my credit card linked to the blog’s primary Paypal account. And now came the moment of truth. I got the following message, So as it seems, domestic payments using credit card (from within PayPal) isn’t possible for Indian users. In easy English, you cannot make a payment from one PayPal account to another if both of them are owned by Indian users using credit card. Why I didn’t realize this earlier? Since now we were using our PayPal funds (that we received from other sources) to make any payment. After the PayPal ban (that you can’t use your received amount) effective from March 1, 2011, we started making payments with credit card. But we pay all our Indian authors by NEFT (National Electronic Fund Transfer) or via online banking portals. And as I faced the problem and was going through it, all the time I was trying to send a payment to my and then Amit’s PayPal account, both of which are Indian accounts. Now that I had figured it out, I tried sending a payment to one of our writers from outside India and it did work fine. I think this issue has been there for quite long, apparently without getting noticed. What really pissed me off was the negligence from PayPal end. After almost a series of emails and even a pretty long survey (that I completed in desperation to solve this issue) no one even bothered to look into the matter and work it out. So once again, PayPal found a way to screw Indian users. What’s next?

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There have been a lot of disappointing news recently revolving around Dreamworks' animation division. First, PDI in Redwood City has been completely shut down with many artists having to find new jobs and more recently is the Glendale campus having to sell off part of their location and then leaseback. Thus it is imperative that their next movie, Home, does well. Luckily I was able to go see an early screening of Home! Home was.....nice. It wasn't a bad movie but it would be hard for me to say it was a spectacular stand out movie. It was a good movie but it felt that it was playing very safe. I hope that I haven't grown cynical from watching and analyzing too many movies. What made the movie felt very safe was that it followed many tropes ,and with an expected / supposed target demographic, the plot felt predictable and there weren't many surprises. There were still good story elements and the ones that were intentionally made to tug on heartstrings worked and many tears were shed. One thing that I found surprising was the small cast. There was Jim Parsons (Oh), Rihanna (Tip), Steve Martin (Captain Smeck), Jennifer Lopez (Lucy), and Matt Jones (Kyle), followed by an equally short list of additional cast. That was it. The movie meanwhile was beautifully populated with thousands of characters that I did not suspect was largely handled by a mere nine people. The animation was delightful, particularly of the Boov aliens with their tentacle horn things and their many feet. A particular favorite is how the Boov change colors depending on their emotions. I found the art style very simplistic and to the point, and thus very effective but also leaving me with a desire for a bit more. The art returns back to the basics of shape language with circle, squares, and triangles. Circles are safe and nice; squares and sturdy and strong; triangles are sharp and scary. The Boov function largely with circles and spirals from their horn tentacles normally being a spiral to all their technology being spheres. The only Boov that was different is Captain Smeck who has his tentacle horns pointed up and out thus foreshadowing his less than positive contribution to the plot. The humans, Tip and Lucy all have very round heads and features, further hammering in that they are the protagonists. On the other side is the Gorg and it is clearly just made out of triangles to emphasize it as the big scary antagonist that the protagonists must resolve by the end of the movie. In front of Home, Dreamworks has included another short. This time hailing from the Kung Fu Panda franchise is Panda Paws. Again, it was......nice. The short was fun and funny but it largely read as a commercial for the upcoming planned Kung Fu Panda 3 movie. I suppose that's what Dreamworks wants to do though since they had a Home short in front of Mr. Peabody and Sherman. My issues is just that it blatantly read as a commercial. Honestly, I hope the film does well as Dreamworks is in dire need of some good news. Advertising does need to step up though as I knew the movie was being released sometime this year but I hadn't even known it was this soon. I was only notified about the screening a few days before through e-mail and otherwise I had seen no news about Home. This is way long overdue. I originally watched Big Hero 6 back when it first came out but life was hectic and I never got to talk about it. Today I was planning on going to see Selma since I got an early screening pass but the theater filled up before I could get in. I wasn't too bummed out since I saw that Big Hero 6 was still playing at the theater and I was way more excited to see that again. I had almost forgotten that Feast played in front of Big Hero 6 so I got really excited when it came on. I had already seen a rough cut prior to the full release and then once again the first time I saw Big Hero 6. When I saw it in front of the movie, for some reason I had felt that Feast played somewhat faster, as in a shot or two might have been cut, than what I originally saw. It was mainly in the beginning when the man and the woman gradually fall out of their relationship. Now that I saw it again I didn't feel that as much, particularly as I was able to focus on what was going on in the background instead of Winston, the dog, and his food. Other things that I really enjoyed was the visual storytelling. The color green was used so well as it being associated the woman and unwanted foods, but then turns around at the end with the baby on a green chair. I loved the shot with Winston opening his mouth wide and we get a shot down his throat during the football game and is then mimicked again when the baby drops the meatball. Big Hero 6. I loved it the first time. It was hilarious and also so sad. All the feels! I felt them all again watching it this second time around. During the scene where Hiro is first introduced to Baymax and had to say "I am satisfied with my care" I already lost it and was crying. I am also currently obsessed with finding a San Fransokyo hat like the one that Tadashi has. If anyone knows where I can get one, let me know! The skin texture/shading/material is so interesting that I kept looking at it throughout the movie. They're stylized and simplistic and different than what I'm used to doing. The skin is smooth and there's some beautiful color variations with blush and lights and darks which makes it interesting to look at but not overly detailed. Generally for skin I've always had to use a speckle in the specular map and a noise in the bump to give it that skin texture with pores look. Lighting. Disney has their new Hyperion render engine and I've read a few articles about it and it sounds awesome. More importantly though is that some seem to claim that with Hyperion only a primary light source is needed to light the entire scene of Big Hero 6 and then everything else is left to the render engine to calculate global illumination. I'm not quite sure how true that is as there were a lot of light sources in each scene in and there were clearly primary and secondary lights; otherwise it wouldn't be possible to have both a specular highlight in the eye and a rim light coming from behind. It would probably be more accurate to say that the amount of lights necessary to light a shot has dramatically been decreased and more calculations are handled by the render engine which in turn also decreases some inconsistency of light and color between shots. Generally I cringe at the thought of sequels but I really want to see a sequel to Big Hero 6! Coming all the way from Texas, Reel FX brings us a new movie after Free Birds. The general consensus that I got about the movie was that the movie was good, can be a bit corny, but a good movie. Hearing that I was looking forward to Book of Life, especially seeing how pretty the Land of the Remembered is from trailers. The movie starts off as triangle love story where two boys/men fall in love with a girl and vie for her attention and hand in marriage. The catch is that the gods of the afterlife, La Muerte and Xibalba, have a wager going on of who wins the girl, and the prize being the one who gets to rule over the Land of the Remembered, which is far more appealing than the Land of the Forgotten. The story quickly becomes a whole lot more of growing up, becoming who you are, and creating your own life. The movie itself is told through an interesting way as the main plot is told as a story to a group of kids by a museum tour guide. I find it an odd choice as I did not feel the "present" world contributed a lot significantly to the plot and the movie could have probably just been told through the main story alone. The method does explain the artistic direction and stylized approach to why everything looks like wood figures but an art director could have just as easily said "I want the film to look this way and this is how it will be" without the whole preamble of being a story within a story. I don't know a lot about the holiday Dia de la Muerte other than it is a Mexican holiday to celebrate/remember the dead. I took the characters and the representation of culture at face value. Now that I have the time to do some research, I've found that La Muerte is actually the figure Catrina popular in modern Dia de la Muerte and Xibalba is actually a place from Mayan mythology and not a figure at all. I haven't heard anyone become horribly offended and cry bloody murder for misappropriation of culture so all seems to be fine. La Muerte was beautiful and my favorite character. Xibalba was interesting with his skull eyes however I found him to be slightly too comedic for my tastes. I prefer my villains to be cold and haughty, like Maleficient, but Xibalba read more like Hades from Hercules. I am extremely iffy about the Candlemaker. I love the textures and shading on him as he looks amazing but there is already a large cast of characters and the Candlemaker character doesn't feel like he contributes anything significant. His character could have been cut out and the movie would have moved along fine without him. During the movie I had assumed that it might be because the Candlemaker was a central figure to the holiday but I could not seem to find anything about such a mythological figure. The animation and humor involved a lot of slapstick. I generally enjoy a good pun but some of the comedy got me laughing. However what was somewhat disappointing though was that the only ones laughing seemed mainly to be the older audience, such as those who I went with. There were quite a number of children in the audience but they seemed to be generally silent through the movie. Maybe it's the Sunday morning crowd but most of the time I didn't hear them laughing and usually kids love slapstick. Pixar had a Dia de la Muerte movie in the works but any news of it seems to have fallen silent. I don't know if it's still in the works or not as Inside Out and Good Dinosaur seems to be their current main focus or if it has fallen to the wayside and may end up similar to Newt that was ultimately cut and then got taken by Blue Sky to be remade into Rio. This was going to be about the Animation Show of Shows since I was planning on going to that but I had a last minute invitation to see The Boxtrolls, hosted by ASIFA, and there was a great Q&A with the directors, Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi, and producer/animator Travis Knight after. Loved it! The animation was ridiculously amazing and the movie itself was deep yet with all the right elements of comedy. The Boxtrolls is a heartfelt story about finding out who you are and making yourself to be who you are. Amid all that is an adventure of Egg saving his family and stopping the villain, Snatcher, from obtaining power all for the sake of cheese. From the trailer, the original beginning seemed to be about The Boxtrolls finding an unwanted child in the trash but that's changed somewhat and I really like the change as it gives the characters more association and relation with each other. The animation is ridiculous. In stop motion, everything that moves have to be manually moved frame by frame by an animator. There were a lot of little inflection in the face and auxiliary acting choices which just means more frames that the animator would have to animate through. Just as impressive is that animators are assigned to scenes instead of characters so there is a whole ballroom dance sequence that was done by a single animator. There is a giant robot with detailed pistons and cogs that all had to be animated on top of having a character giving a full performance. Loved the artistic style of the film. It was interesting to hear that various oil painting artists such as Lucian Freud. They really liked the various contrasting colors that would be used on skin. One thing that I would be interested in if Laika could develop is accurate specular highlights on eyes. Currently the eyes are doll-like with everything painted on instead of having an actual cornea to catch the highlight on. It may be strange, as the shape of a cornea and the iris may look strange in certain angles and unlike in CG a bump map can't just be used to cheat the effect. The Q&A after was great. There was getting to know about the behind the scenes process which was neat but I loved hearing about how Laika is evolving their workflow and keeping up with the current technology. Rapid prototyping has been used since Coraline but the way it's used has evolved. First of all, rapid prototyping is typically used for quick concepts that someone can print out, look at, and throw away; however, Laika is using it to print their thousands of faces to create the facial replacement animation. Back in Coraline, the faces were printed to be plain gray and an artist would have to go and paint each one. In Paranorman, Laika was able to get color into the prints. Now in Boxtrolls, not only were they able to advance the colors but they found out, through an accident, that they could print on top of prints and create what would look like a classic 2D animated smear frame. Also, make sure to keep a close eye on the ballroom sequence as Laika was able to get a capillary system under the face so the characters actually blush! Make sure to stay through the credits. As per usual, there's a small sequence at the end as the movie makes a nod towards animators and stop motion animation. It really gives an idea to how stop motion is "an obscene way to make a film" as every little movement has to be created manually from hand gestures to a single blink and since the movie was shot in stereoscope the vfx artists would have to paint out rigs and facial seams twice. Thanks to Gofobo I got tickets to an early screening of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! This wasn't a movie that I was particularly excited for or was planning to go see in the theaters but hey, if I'm getting free tickets why not. I don't have any real attachment to TMNT as I've never read the comics, watched the TV show, or seen any of the previous movies. I only know of them through popular culture and I watched the very first episode of the new Nickelodeon version once as I was curious to what the CG style looks like. Which is good in a way, I suppose, as I can go into the movie with no preconception and can judge this movie by in itself. The movie starts and I immediately cringe. It starts off with a shaky cam which I felt was unmotivated and looked terrible. Additionally, maybe because I had just put on my 3D glasses so my eyes haven't adjusted, but the stereoscope also felt off and it was really difficult to focus on anything on screen along with the shaky cam. I know people like to hate on Megan Fox ever since Transformers, and were all up in a rage when she was cast as April O'Neil but I didn't really mind her in the role. What I did have a problem with is the blatant female objectification sexism repeated throughout the movie and Vernon (Will Arnett) continuously being a creeper. It felt really tiring. Another thing that people like to hate on in this movie are those turtle faces. I don't like them much either as I find them unappealing. There's a flashback in the movie to the turtles when they were children but unfortunately I don't find those appealing either and just as creepy. What I do enjoy though is that their head shapes are all different and reflect quite well upon their personalities, such as Donatello having a larger forehead and Mikey with a wider face. In the above image, their face masks are quite bright and colorful but in the movie they were a bit more darker and dirtier, which makes sense since they live in a sewer, but I would have still liked the colors to be a bit more vibrant for easier differentiation, particularly in the battle scenes. I don't particularly care for the Chinese characters/Kanji that shows up on their headbands though as it reminds me of bad tattoos that people get thinking that it looks cool but instead reads "idiot" or "chicken noodle soup". There was some extremely blatant product placement in the movie which made me roll my eyes. From the very beginning we have a video call and a Skype logo branded across the phone's screen. Then there's Mikey's very specific Orange Crush Soda and I believe I saw some Dre Beats headphones on Donatello. The plot though. At first I thought the movie wasn't too bad but then I just felt it slipping as the movie went on as there were various discrepancies. I felt that there was a lot of pointless dialogue that happens throughout the movie. They were probably inserted to get a laugh out of the audience but at least half the time the theater was indifferent with no reaction. One of the main ones that I didn't understand is how Splinter knew of the entire history between Sachs and Shredder when he has been a rat living in the sewers all the years. In this storyline, Splinter is a rat who mutated and not a human who mutated into a rat so it makes no sense of how he would have this knowledge. I found it extremely confusing as to the relationship between characters, such as Sachs and Shredder. Shredder is Sachs sensei so they would have a pretty close relationship but it felt extremely odd that Shredder would speak in Japanese but Sachs would reply back in English; being fluently bilingual if someone speaks to me in Chinese I would reply back in kind and not in a different language. Young April's actions were extremely confusing. First, why was she in her father's lab all the time? April's father works in a top security research lab on a private project and I doubt one would just bring your daughter to work repeatedly. The fire that happened was just as confusing. Why was April even at the company at that time to be able to save the animals? She was in the lab with the fire, did she not see her father at all as he was supposedly there and killed? Then, April's action of dumping the animals into a sewer was just as baffling. I assume Splinter was also injected with the Mutant-Gen same as the turtles although it was never explicitly mentioned. However, if that's the case why does Shredder go so far as to nearly killing Splinter and not attempting to capture him? Instead, the Foot Clan only takes the turtles. If that's not the case then how did Splinter even mutate in the first place? Do they have to be alive for the Mutant-Gen to be extracted? The Foot Clan assumed Raphael died so they just leave him even though he still has perfectly good blood but they just leave him behind. The Foot Clan captures the turtles and begins extracting the Mutant-Gen. What gets me is that they then immediately begin their plan to poison the entire city. They haven't even finished extracting the Mutant-Gen yet and they are jumping the gun. They don't know if they have enough, if the Mutant-Gen is the antidote in it's raw form are has to be further processed, or if they are able to successfully duplicated it. Not to mention, the Foot Clan didn't even inoculate themselves first. While I was watching the movie I saw the characters 家門 which is explained to mean family in Japanese and it struck me as very odd. First, to me the characters read "house door" and the term I'm familiar with is "kazoku" or 家族. According to Google Translate the characters can mean family or clan and is more probably to be "kamon" which means house crest or emblem. Still odd and especially strange that the turtles would leave behind evidence that they've been somewhere since they are trying to keep themselves as a secret, and even more so since there was no explanation as to why they would tag with those characters. So many cliches in the movie. For example, there is the "no I'm not crying, it's just dusty", awkward elevator scene, or April shouting for no apparent reason other than to notify Shredder that she's in the vicinity. Some people laughed but I more or less just rolled my eyes. Maybe it's from watching to much CinemaSins. I don't know too much about medical technology but I don't think blood transfusion machines have an option to inject adrenaline. Even more ridiculous is not only do the turtles know that the machine they are hooked up to is able to inject them with adrenaline but also that there is also a giant button on the screen on the machine for April to push. When this scene happened with the button the theater erupted in laughter at how ridiculous it was. Also, it does not seem safe to inject adrenaline to get their blood pumping while being hooked up to a machine which is drawing out their blood. While on the topic of blood drawing, it also makes no sense that Sachs wants to drain the turtles dry in one go. To me it would make more sense to draw as much as possible without killing the turtles, let them recover, and repeat. That way Sachs would have an unlimited supply of Mutant-Gen and not a one time deal. I did not understand how the turtles survived the fall towards the end. They fell from the top of a building and tumbled all the way down. The camera does a closeup on the turtles and they just somehow magically survived the fall. Yay mutant powers and being main characters I guess? CG and VFX wise were great. I loved the details on the turtles with their dirt and grim and the various nicks and cuts. The lighting and rendering were beautiful and spot-on. While I didn't particularly care for the scene with the turtles waiting awkwardly in an elevator, I did enjoy it visually as the turtles are all shown in light and there were some nice reflections going on in the elevator's metal walls. Shredder's suit was badass. The snow was amazing. The animation was really well done, particularly liked the fighting scenes and how Splinter used his tail. I do find it curious though as to why Leonardo has a separate cast for the character and voice actor while all the other turtles had just a single actor. I wish that the movie would have referenced the Ninja Turtles opening song somewhere in the movie, such as towards the end when the turtles pull up in their new car, or at least in the credits. Unfortunately not. I went into the movie with no real attachment to TMNT and left the theater still feeling the same. It wasn't a waste though since I got to see some nice CG and VFX work. In order to promote the movie, Guardians of the Galaxy was giving out free tickets to a special 17 minute preview on their Facebook page and I was able to snag one. I was slightly hesitant about going to see a preview since I didn't want to ruin the movie but I really want the special poster. I was not disappointed in what I saw and it was beautiful in 3D IMAX. The 17 minute preview consisted of a small foreward, a section of the movie, and a new extended trailer. What was really great of watching the preview was that we get to see characters other than Peter Quill/Starlord (Chris Pratt) talk and we really got a sense of their characters as they never had any dialogue in the trailer (at least the first one which is the only one that I watched). Rocket Racoon (Bradley Cooper) is hilarious and I can't wait to watch the full movie to see more of him. Rocket Racoon looks amazing; great job to Tippett Studios, but most amazing is Groot (Vin Diesel). Groot doesn't say much but there was a nice fight scene in the preview and we see why he is Rocket's muscle. Groot is able to change/grow his body like a real tree either creating a massive shield of vines and branches or extending his arms out to whip at his foes. Interestingly we don't see much of Drax (Dave Bautista). He doesn't show up until later in the preview during the fight scene unlike the trailer where we see the four main characters all lined up together. He doesn't talk much and if I hadn't watched the initial trailer at all I would not know his backstory at all. I wish Gamora (Zoe Saldana) was more visually interesting as she mainly just looks like a green person. She does have some silver markings on her face but they tend to be unnoticeable from a distance and especially when her hair is down and loose. I do love the green tone, particularly how light and shadow falls across it and interacts to sculpt her face. I was initially apathetic towards this movie as just another Marvel superhero movie (come on DC, time to step up!) and after X-Men the only other movie that I was really looking forward to anytime soon was Laika's Boxtrolls in September but I will most likely be putting on Guardians of the Galaxy on my to watch list! It's always great to see what other countries are producing in the animated feature film department and while they don't tend to become a huge blockbuster in the US, they tend to garner moderate success and respectable recognition in the animation industry, such as Zambezia and Monster in Paris. Hailing from Belgium and France, House of Magic has been on my to watch list for awhile and I finally got my hands on an English copy of the movie. House of Magic is about an abandoned cat named Thunder who wanders his way into the house of a magician and befriends the inhabitants, with the exceptions of Jack the rabbit and Maggie the mouse. The magician is well on into his years and the magician's nephew, a real estate agent, seeks to take the house to be sold for a profit. While the magician is incapacitated from an accident, the nephew makes his move and so Thunder and the other inhabitants of the house must work together and learn to get along to save the house. Plot-wise, the story doesn't do anything extremely innovative or evokes deep provocative thoughts, reminds me somewhat of Home Alone or Night at the Museum, but otherwise is decently solid, funny, and I found the movie as a whole was quite enjoyable. There were only two parts that I felt were somewhat off and the first was at the very beginning of the film. While it does set up some backstory of Thunder being abandoned by his previous owners in the middle of a move, the first ten minutes of the movie was a bunch of running and racing around with yells and yelps and the Thunder was never given an identity until the magician finds him and bestows a new one on him. The second part is towards the end of the film when Jack was stuck in the doggy door. We get an change in Maggie when she is saved by Thunder and thinks of him differently but Jack never experiences any event with Thunder that would make him decide to change his mind and like the cat. What drew me to this movie was the character designs, particularly that of Thunder. I like cats and he is adorable. I wonder if more movies could make appealing animal characters with animalistic eyes instead of humanizing them with all the eyewhite. Animals don't tend to show eyewhite. The few movies that do animalistic eyes unfortunately aren't consistent with it either, such as Puss has nice eyes but Donkey from Shrek has humanized eyes and some of the characters in Rango also go humanized, too. I felt that the animation was quite strong. The only part that had me questioning was when Thunder walks. I watch documentaries on tigers for fun and the most recent one that I saw was Tigers About the House and I noticed that when tigers walk they turn their front paws inward before planting on the ground. I had already known that animals plant their toes first than their heels, which is what allows them to move so quietly, but not the part of turning the paw inward. Curious to see if domestic cats also have this behaviour I turned to Youtube. Unfortunately the videos were inconclusive as the cats seemed to turn the paws inward sometimes but sometimes not, and when they do it was very slight. The movie had various scenes made specifically for stereoscope and is apparent with camera moves and action happening directly at the screen but as I didn't watch it in stereoscope it just felt somewhat awkward to me. As stated previously, I like stereoscope but particularly when it is used to create atmosphere and environment, but not as a gimmick to pretend that the audience is on a rollercoaster or have things coming out of the screen. Even though I watched this movie dubbed in English, I didn't have any real issues with the facial animation. The words seem to match up decently well with the mouthshapes and the voice acting fit so I wasn't cringing as if I would when watching dubbed Japanese anime. The textures were all really pretty and detailed but I loved Thunder's fur, particularly how well it responds to animation. Thunder can look soft, smooth, and cuddly or when he hunches up his back you can see the hair standing up just like on an actual cat. The backscattering on the animal ears were really nice. Somewhat awkward that it always seems to be there as if there's a light shinning through their ears all the time, but really pretty. When I first learned storytelling I learned it through Brandon Clements' 6 step Pixar prompt. Now we have Emma Coats tweeting 22 rules of storytelling that further builds and polishes a story in the midst of creation. Thanks to Tea Time Animation, I got some passes to see an early screening of How To Train Your Dragon 2! This may have been my number one anticipated movie this year and I was not disappointed. The movie was a lot of fun and perfect in time for Father's Day. Spoilers ahead! I'm personally one of those people who don't mind spoilers and sometimes even likes them as they give me something to look forward to. Instead of thinking that the movie is completely ruined, I go "hey, that's awesome, I really want to see such and such part for myself!" There seems to be quite a few main plot points going on around this sequel. One of them that I picked out is that the movie is about Hiccup growing up and becoming an adult and learning about the responsibilities that he will have to shoulder, namely being an adult and a leader means that he must protect those he holds dear. Another is that you win friends and their loyalty through trust and respect, not fear and domination. The third one I would say is that everyone, although different and in this case dragons and humans, can live in harmony and peace. The main selling point of this movie would be the dragons and they were magnificent. We get the ones from the first movie along with some great new ones such as Valka's Stormcutter dragon, Cloudjumper, and the alpha Bewilderbeast dragons. Loved the animation on them and how they heavily referenced real animals and really showcases well Toothless and Cloudjumper's personalities. Toothless was interesting in that it feels that his personality changed. In the first movie he was more panther and cat like as he's more wary and just getting to know Hiccup but now Toothless is more doglike and playful. Meanwhile Cloudjumper seems to be referencing cats and owls and is a lot more regal and is not having any of Toothless' shenanigans. The human characters I'm not quite as sure of. There are times where I felt they were a bit over animated with lots of gesturing and head movements while talking. What made it very interesting though is that the movie points it out itself and makes fun of it through Astrid's teasing of Hiccup on how he talks. Since we already have an established romance aspect of Hiccup and Astrid from the first movie, this time around we have a more comedic approach to it through Snotlout and Fishlegs fighting over Ruffnut who then in turn crushes on Eret. The dynamic between the crazy four way romancing was hilarious and had the entire theater laughing, particularly the parts where Ruffnut attempts to flirt with Eret and we get closeups of Eret's bulging biceps. There were some plot points that didn't quite make as much sense. Toothless has an entire contraption on him to make the tail work so that he could fly properly and in the first movie we see Hiccup going through a lot of experimentation and training to get it right. Hiccup even makes the claim that Toothless can't fly properly without a rider so when Drago decides to commandeer Toothless I would think that it would not work since Dragon wouldn't know how to make all the mechanisms function correctly. Nope, Drago somehow flies Toothless perfectly and gets to Berk without any issues. Drago has a dragon hiding underwater and through Fishleg we are set up to expect some amazing dragon such as a Leviathorgan. Unfortunately when the dragon is revealed, it is just another Bewilderbeast. At least since it was able to survive submerged deep underwater I would have expected it to look slightly different other than coloring and have different abilities but unfortunately no, it was just a dark version of the while Bewilderbeast with the same ice breath powers. While on the subject of the Bewilderbeasts, I wish that there would have been more to the Bewilderbeasts' battle. Instead there were just a lot of bashing up against each other as if they were two rhinos. I expected at least a couple of ice breathes to the face! Toothless getting a second set of dorsal fins was somewhat interesting but slightly weird that Toothless seems to have never known about them. They're on his body and seemingly an integral part of how he moves and flies. It would be like a person never knowing that he/she has knees and walked around back and forth without ever bending them. Loved the texture work. The dragons' scales were especially spectacular with all the little nuances of different amounts here and there, more prominent ones in certain areas, the coloring, and spikes in all the right areas. The hair work is amazing once again and I especially liked Stoic's beard with all the different layers and striations. I didn't know until the credits but Eret is voiced by Kit Harrington, or more popularly known as Jon Snow from Game of Thrones. If I were to watch the movie again, all that would go through my mind when Eret argues with Hiccup over dragons now would be "You know nothing Eret son of Eret". It'll be interesting to see what DreamWorks comes up after this as I expect more sequels to come. I really hope that the series doesn't get overworked and leads to its death. It is quite unfortunately that DreamWorks has apparently decided not only to ceased to create original works but has also cut funding in their animation division with focus on putting out sequels that they can depend on to sell well. Personally I don't want to see any sequels past three and a series shouldn't have more than two spinoffs. Once its at that point then its overkill and when I see another title that comes out trying to milk that series I just roll my eyes and put it in a corner to be further considered at a later time. Here's to hope for the next few originals that DreamWorks had already planned and in development to do well to show that people do want and like new things so that more can come our way!.

Black Lives Matter Attempts to Ban Ohio Open Carry from Public Protest Beavercreek, OH (TFC) — The truth is that this story is not some satirical take on true events. It is in fact true, and it should outrage any supporter of open carry in this country. It saddens me to even write it because, as a journalist, I have been deeply involved in supporting the black community through reporting on police brutality and racially motivated police abuse. However, the bigotry of the organization Black Lives Matter, and specifically its Ohio chapter, has prompted me to rethink my support for them. A number of events have taken place in the last few months that have prompted me to question the sanity of the Black Lives Matter organizers, and the level of disconnect they are experiencing from the general public. First was an event organized by some of the Greene County Black Lives Matter group, which was scheduled in downtown Dayton, Ohio. It’s unfortunate that I did not take screenshots of the flyers and announcements posted on Facebook by the organizers, but in essence there were posts made on Facebook which basically stated in no uncertain terms, “whites not allowed.” Now you may think this is a joke or some perverted sense of payback or justice, but it was not, especially since the posts were removed shortly after public outcry, and white supporters pointing out the bigotry of such statements. Then there is the video shot at a Black Lives Matter event that allegedly took place in Cleveland, where a white journalist, who showed up in support of BLM, was assaulted, cursed at and forced to virtually run away simply due to his skin color alone! You can watch the video here and make up your own mind. This kind of bigoted and outright racist behavior is completely unacceptable and as a journalist I cannot tolerate it or ignore it. In the video, an individual, who appears to be a BLM organizer, is heard stating that the meeting is only for people of African descent. As the white journalist is making his way out of the crowd, many people are heard screaming, “stop filming,” proceed to surround him, grab his camera, push him and assault him. When asked about the racist and bigoted remarks, the organizers defended the behavior by claiming this was a “private” meeting, however the meeting is clearly out in public on what appears to be public property. Not only that, but the journalist was clearly in the process of leaving, as he was asked to do, when he was assaulted and threatened. To top it all off, now we have Black Lives Matter attempting to ban Americans from carrying firearms on public property! BLM is organizing a protest at the Beavercreek Walmart on August 5, 2015, on the same day and time as Ohio Open Carry’s open carry demonstration, and is ludicrously attempting to intimidate OOC attendees into not bringing firearms or open carrying on public property! In what cannot be called anything other that ridiculous, Cheryl Smith, one of the organizers of the event made the following post on Facebook stating, The August 5th Action at Walmart is a weapons free demonstration. Please read the Rules of conduct on the BLM FB page so that we are in united solidarity. We are requesting that 1) Everyone Wear Black 2) Bring a flower of your choice. This demonstration will take on a Silent Reverence to commemorate John Crawford III. Outside of the fact that “weapons free” does not mean what Cheryl thinks it means, note that she is not kindly and politely asking people what to do on public property. She is in fact telling people what to do, how to behave, and what to wear…and especially that no guns are allowed! The discourse under this post quickly descended into name-calling and further demands from the organizers claiming that white people, in essence, owe obedience to the organizers. Essentially, anything else short of meeting these demands is disrespectful, in spite of the fact that Ohio Open Carry has participated in numerous open carry walks and demonstrations in the exact same location, and has planned on doing so on the one year anniversary of the shooting, namely on Wednesday, August 5. Again, let me remind you one last time that these demonstrations and protests are taking place on public property and sidewalks surrounding the Walmart property. These sidewalks have been used at least once a month by members of the Ohio Open Carry and Cop Block since August 2014 for protests against Beavercreek police policies, which have allowed a peaceful man open carrying a toy rifle to be shot and killed. In fact, Ohio Open Carry was the very first organization to schedule and participate in an open carry walk after the shooting in order to show solidarity and support for the Crawford family. The Beavercreek PD has a history of harassing open carriers, which is why the issue of open carry in this instance is so critical to the discourse and indeed, why this shooting is, in fact, as much an open carry issue as it is a racial and police brutality issue. It is clear that Black Lives Matter is attempting to hijack the discourse, and the actual narrative of the incident and the shooting of John Crawford, in order to further their anti-gun political agenda, with no concern to the actual facts behind the shooting and the history of Beavercreek PD. Unfortunately, due to the political posturing, the blatant racism and bigoted attitude against white people, and anti-gun agenda, I can no longer support Black Lives Matter in any way shape or form, and I call on the black community to condemn their behavior, statements and attitude in clear an unequivocal terms. As a last reminder, Ohio Open Carry will be there, regardless of what color our skin is, carrying our pistols, rifles and arms to remind the public that open carry is legal and that the killing of John Crawford was senseless and criminal. Virgil Vaduva is a Libertarian security professional, journalist, photographer and overall liberty freak. He spent most of his life in Communist Romania and participated in the 1989 street protests which led to the collapse of the Ceausescu regime. He can be reached at vvaduva at truthvoice.com. Search The Fifth Column Get updates on Facebook Sections This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRejectRead More Privacy & Cookies Policy The Fifth Column is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Learn about this topic in these articles: Portuguese literature His Dispersão (1914; “Dispersion”) features exuberant images, an obsession with verbal constructions and metaphors, and experimentation with graphic design and fonts. The most versatile figure of Portuguese Modernism is José de Almada Negreiros, a poet, novelist, caricaturist, dancer, and actor who provoked scandal with his Manifesto…

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Destination Salvador: Tourists Explore the Local Cultures A city of rich folklore, Salvador has maintained an ambience of archaic mystery that lures many a marveling visitor. The state of Bahia has kept a firm grip on its strong African, Brazilian, and European roots it has acquired throughout 500 years of existence. It is with such African and indigenous background that Salvador is provided with the authentic, mythical appeal it holds today. Through its ability to successfully balance tradition with modernity, Salvador has been able to produce some of the richest Brazilian art forms: capoeira, samba de roda, and afoxe – an African rhythm that influenced many Carnaval groups. The city has been crowned "the land of happiness," and not without reason. Thirty miles of gorgeous beach area and an immeasurable amount of partying radiate from the city. Salvador was the first capital of Brazil, and is currently the capital of the state of Bahia. Amerigo Vespucci – the same man who discovered America – arrived here on November 1st, 1501, sailing under the Portuguese flag. With November 1st being the day of all saints, Vespucci decided to name the place of arrival the Bay of All Saints. The Portuguese crown soon came to profit immensely from the "white gold" that thrived in the Northeast: sugar. Salvador became the center of the immense slave market that provided the labor demanded to upkeep the sugar cane field plantations. The 5 million West African slaves that arrived at the edges of the city provided much more than just labor – they helped form the culture that is now known as Bahian. The African Candomble religion has its strongest roots and its active followers here. Bahian cuisine is known for its distinct and delicious flavor that emerged from the use of such African cooking products as dende oil and coconut milk. Salvador actually ended up dividing into two planes of existence as a result of its topography. As it sits on the Bay of All Saints, the city becomes a series of hills and valleys. The upper city, Cidade Alta, and lower city, Cidade Baixa, are connected through the famous Elevador Lacerda. Before this elevator, the only connection between the "two cities" were steep and jagged streets. The main neighborhoods tend to sit on top of the heights, providing magnificent views. While at sea level, a wide variety of Brazilian arts and crafts can be found at the Mercado Modelo Market, along with traditional Bahian acarajes and sweets being served by the Bahiana women in traditional white. Lodging options are divided by area as well: the Barra district along the coast offers new, hip luxury hotels, while Pelourinho holds the more antiquated hotels and pousadas, with wooden interiors and decorated facades. Pelourinho (Pelo, by the locals) is the historic, colonial area that has been nominated a UNESCO World Heritage site for its large collection of Baroque colonial architecture – the largest in Latin America. Restored in the early 1990's, Pelo has become a famous attraction for visitors and locals alike, with its history, beauty, famous Baroque churches, and a thriving nightlife that divides itself between the many restaurants, bars, clubs and music venues. Due to the dips and turns of the city streets, first-time visitors can easily become confused as streets end abruptly and often change names seemingly without warning. Good maps of Salvador are available at the Bahiatursa Tourist Office in Pelourinho. Many tours of the city are offered as well, of the historic Pelourinho, important museums, the history of Capoeira and practices, and many more! These will help you penetrate the Salvador and the Bahian culture much more deeply. And last, though definitely not least, there is the magnificent Carnaval in Salvador. This celebration has become quite the sensation, as well as a competitor to the original in Rio. The essential difference between the two is that in Salvador everyone participates. Salvador's Carnival has people dancing and singing right alongside the many parading blocos, while in Rio the activities are more observational. There are also many distinctly Salvadorian festivals held throughout the year, helping to form the opinion that in Bahia, even the smallest religious ceremony can be turned into a day-and-night-long celebration! Which, with the food and the laughter and the merriment, isn't anything to complain about.

VeriME Gets a Boost By Becoming Official Identity Verification Method for Maritime Bank One of the more useful applications of blockchain technology is its potential ability to help realize decentralized identity authenticators. This application would be a huge benefit to many businesses, especially those in in the financial sector that are subject to burdensome and expensive KYC and anti-money laundering laws. Civic is a big name in this regard, as it has made a name for itself in the cryptosphere as one of the more interesting projects for leveraging blockchain tech to create a platform that allows for smooth and seamless identity verification. VeriME Partners with Vietnam-Based Bank Now, another name is looking to throw its hat into the blockchain-based verification ring (so to speak): VeriME. The Singapore-based startup already has a lot to brag about as it just recently partnered with Maritime Bank -- one of the largest banks in all of Vietnam. The bank plans to leverage VeriME’s D-KYC (KYC) & D-SECURE (Payment Authentication) services in order to enhance its digital banking and checkout experience for customers. Furthermore, Maritime Bank isn’t even the first bank to partner with VeriME. Indeed, Maritime Bank is the 3rd financial institution to form a partnership with the blockchain startup -- demonstrating a unique appeal to banks within the country. VeriME: Securing Identity with Blockchain Tech Sanjeev Kumar, co-founder of VeriME comments on the original motivations for creating VeriME. “The rising KYC challenges and its costs, which companies as well as customers were facing made us think of a better solution. A solution which will not only automate the whole process but will also make the complete KYC and due diligence process faster, seamless and efficient, and that’s when the idea of VeriME was conceptualised.” VeriME was launched in the beginning of 2017 in Singapore as Verification-as-a-Service (VaaS) blockchain platform. It was created mostly with the financial sector in mind, as the team behind VeriME hoped to streamline identity authentication in order alleviate the cost of complying to KYC laws and the like. It’s also hoping to provide a transparent way of complying with KYC laws using blockchain, given its nature as a publicly accessible ledger. Additionally, VeriME is partnered with 30+ partners globally encompassing more than 300,000 online merchants and their consumers. VeriME’s Products: D-SECURE and D-KYC VeriME has two main products that it offers to its enterprise customers: D-SECURE and D-KYC. Both fundamentally have to do with identity verification, with the differences being in what aspects of authentication they deal with and what specific problems they solve. D-KYC is a feature of the VeriME platform that fulfills the function of ensuring KYC identity requirements -- in seconds. This makes its more cost effective than the current way of doing KYC, there’s natural privacy protections through encryption, no face-to-face interaction, and no third party dependency. There’s also D-SECURE, which is another feature of the platform that gives merchants payment authentication abilities via a blockchain-based platform. The benefits would include 100% chargeback protection, quick authentication (within milliseconds), and incentives for each transaction made. Disclaimer. This article is paid and provided by a third-party source and should not be viewed as an endorsement by CoinIdol. Readers should do their own research before investing funds in any company. CoinIdol shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any such content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Related Stories Forks can be of great importance to the crypto industry if they add desired qualities to the underlying cryptos. But in most cases, these forks don't cause anything good, they just create conflicts and worsen the situation. Cryptos that involve themselves in fighting should be discriminated against while those that mind their business but with small market caps have to be amassed. In this case, it's necessary to sell off both Bitcoin Cash (BCH) forks, and YOYO gets much attention. Some analysts from Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) anticipate that Bitcoin (BTC) will "fall further," as reported by Bloomberg. Various crypto sector pundits have already started calling this the cryptocurrency winter. Popular blockchain and crypto enthusiast hasn’t lost faith in financial technology and digital currencies, such as bitcoin, ripple, and ethereum. He is confident in the suggestion that cryptos will replace fiat currency in its primary position during 2020-2030.

Pages out of my life and adventures, narrated and captioned by yours truly. Tag Archives: Neon Hitch Alright, I hate running. But being in the military- it’s kind of essential. Especially since the way the military is now, you fail a PT test and you’re probably getting discharged. So it’s pretty imperative to stay in shape, and be able to run- since 50% of your PT score is your run. In Basic Training I got a 90% on my PT test by a hair. I think if I had run a few seconds slower it would’ve dropped my score. So lucky me, that meant I only had to PT test once a year, so my next one isn’t until the end of March. Since there’s a giant ass gym at my disposal, I decided it would probably be smart to use it- because I definitely don’t want to be a PT fail, but I also want to get back in shape. Trust me, Tech School will kill your weight and PT scores. I promise. So last night while sitting in the community room someone came up to me and recognized me as “that girl that’s always in the gym” hah. But yes, we happened to run into each other at the gym almost every day. Their compliment? I always looked like I was working my ass off. Ok. Sometimes I cut my run a little short, and sometimes I’m too lazy to do that extra rep. But that got me thinking, other people are noticing- they think I’m giving 100%. So why aren’t I? Oh motivation, how rare you are. So this morning, despite being a Saturday, I woke up got breakfast, got dressed, and headed to the gym. While sitting in the parking lot doing my mental prep of – you’re already here so just go work out you lazy ass – I made a workout playlist on my phone. Holy shit. I mean, I always listen to music when I work out, but this playlist was pretty much perfect. I ran two miles, maxed out on situps, then lifted for around 20 minutes. And I ws pumped the whole time. Music really is the key to motivation. So in honor of my new found go-to playlist, I’ll post the songs that kept me running and giving it my all. 1. Alone Together- Fall Out Boy 2. Bugatti – Ace Hoods 3. Hello – Karmin 4. I Need Your Love – Calvin Harris Ft. Ellie Goulding 5. Radioactive – Imagine Dragons 6. Rat a Tat – Fall Out Boy 7. Ritual – Ellie Goulding 8. Runnin’ – Adam Lambert 9. Sexy Back – Justin Timberlake 10. Low – Flo Rida 11. Sugar – Kerli 12. Supermassive Black Hole – Muse 13. Sweet Nothing – Calvin Harris ft. Florence Welch 14. Fuck You Betta – Neon Hitch 15. I’m Gonna Getcha Good – Shania Twain There we go. But if anyone has any other songs they jam out to while they’re working out- post them and let me know!

Amir Williams had 12 points, nine rebounds and six blocks in Ohio State's 86-48 pounding of the Bryant Bulldogs. After the game, Williams was asked to tell viewers what's been most responsible for his great play of late and he almost said "coach Matta, he's been on my dick." What he actually said was "coach Matta, he's been on my di—on my uhhhhhhh, back every day in practice uhhhh..." His face, when he catches himself, oh man. Priceless. But he did catch it and actually composed himself so that he could finish the thought without just cascading into a string of shit, I just said dick. Shit, I said shit, too expletives. Good on Williams for being just a little bit more mature than the rest of us.

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She triumphed in the U15 girls 800m at the England Athletics U15 / U17 / U20 Indoor Championships, held at the NIA in Birmingham. Fresh from her victory in January at the Northern Indoor Championships, she became yet another athlete from the club’s middle distance training group to medal at a major championships. With no obvious hot favourite within the race, based on personal best times, it was clearly going to be a close one. Niamh again ran an intelligent race over the four laps, letting others take the pace for the first two laps and running just wide enough to keep out of trouble. Sitting on the shoulder of the leader during the second half, she made her move with 150m to go, taking the lead, and then, as others challenged she found enough to kick again to win by a clear margin. Another major medal success was Alexandra Turner, 21, who was successful in winning bronze in the women’s 800m at the British Universities and College’s (BUCS) athletic championships in Sheffield. Alex is a student at Nottingham Trent University. Trending 85-year-old woman dies in horror market place crash REVEALED: The most expensive streets to buy a house in Derbyshire Mum 'shamed' for using disabled Meadowhall toilets with her baby and pram

There Is A Gundam, Ultraman, And Kamen Rider Crossover Game For PSP Too PSP owners, don’t feel left out because Lost Heroes is for the 3DS. Namco Bandai is making a crossover game with Gundam, Ultraman, and Kamen Rider for PSP too. Great Battle Full Blast is a different kind of game, though; it’s an action game. You start by picking three heroes out of this list: Freedom Gundam, Gundam, Kamen Rider Decade, Kamen Rider #1, Ultraman or Ultra Mebius. Then… you pick background music. Great Battle Full Blast lets players select character, stage, and boss songs. And then, it’s time to fight! Each hero in Great Battle Full Blast has a different moves and you can change characters at any time by pressing L or R. In addition to six main characters, there are 36 assist character (12 from each series), which you can call during stages. Great Battle Full Blast comes out on March 1. Pick up the limited edition and you’ll get Battle Dodgeball 3 as a bonus. It’s dodgeball with the characters from Great Battle Full Blast. As of now, Namco Bandai have not announced any plans to sell Battle Dodgeball 3 outside of the two game bundle.

From Give and Take to Give and Get: A CFO’s Journey “The best way to Get is by Giving. God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with. The more the hand that gives is busy, the more will you be blessed and will get in abundance.”- My Dad's last message to me hours before he passed away Warmth. This is the sensation that fills your heart with immense joy when you decide to do something for the larger good. Such is the joy of giving. It is the feeling you get when you are the reason behind someone’s smile, the sentiment you experience when what you did relieves or reduces someone’s misery and the notion that your action somewhat has given one a renewed perspective towards one’s life. And it gives you as much as it gives the receiver, if not more. My own journey of giving found its roots in my life as a CFO. Money doing good The key question I ask on anything that is brought in front of me for approval is: What is the ROI for this? It is the most critical question to ask whenever you are spending—or indeed, not spending. If it is spending, is that the best way to spend it? If I refrain from spending, then is that saving just there for security or is it way more than what is needed for security and can be spent on something more worthwhile. In a nutshell: is that money doing good? This forms the core philosophy I follow—not just in my professional capacity but also as an individual. Whatever you spend, wherever you invest, it should be the best use of that money, whether it is for you, your company, your people or the community. So when I look at spending, these are the four parameters I look at—I look for whether there is a balance in my spending among them and whether I am getting the best ROI. And the best ROI for money is money doing good. For me personally, Life is precious and precedes everything and no child should die due to lack of funds for treatment and there can be no better ROI supporting these children in need and giving life a chance. Where the heart beats In my personal and professional journeys, I have realised that life is not about wealth accumulation. It’s about living a good life. In my experience, a good life is about maintaining a balance—in everything, including spending and saving. When you spend, choose carefully where you spend. There are needs and wants to be addressed. Beyond that, what is it that you care about—a cause that matters to you, a way that you want to make a difference to society. Be associated with that cause, so that you can go beyond chequebook philanthropy. Often those who are inclined to do good get stuck at trying to figure out which charity to contribute towards- time or money. I believe it has to be something close to your heart, where you think you can make the maximum impact- maximise ROI. And if you still can’t make up your mind, look at your role models and peers and see where they are putting in their efforts. That way you can add your muscle to their work. That is what I did. I saw Prema Sagar and the tireless work she is doing at Genesis Foundation (GF) and decided to add might, energy and legs to her efforts. For those who don’t know, Genesis Foundation supports the treatment of critically ill under-privileged children with Congenital Heart Defects (CHD). It’s mission is simple—Save Little Hearts. GF believes that life is precious, and no child should die due to lack of funds or medical treatment. We envision an India devoid of deaths caused due to CHD because of lack of awareness, diagnosis or resources. Touching the lives of children from tribal areas to metro cities, GF has supported over 1650 children till date. I volunteer with GF to support in fund raising for child surgery, whether it is in the form of CSR partnerships or in terms of getting sponsors for its fund-raising events. Getting more than giving What started as a way of supporting Prema’s work became something far more personal—it became my own cause, my purpose of life, my own journey, my own source of immense satisfaction. The shift happened when I realised that the beneficiaries of the Foundation and their families were not the only ones getting something out of this. I was getting a lot too. An individual is rich in his or her truest sense when they participate in the act of giving. To support others makes you look beyond yourself. It dawns upon you the trivial nature of your problems and gives you a glimpse of the bigger picture. This is how the act of giving begins—by keeping your worries at bay and empathising with the outside world and identifying who needs your aid. This was really brought home to me recently after my father passed away. In the depths of my grief, I happened to visit one of the children GF supports. Interacting with the child, who was cheerful and smiling even though she had just gone through surgery and must have been in pain, I was reminded that there is a lot to be thankful for in my life and that there is a lot to be done. It gave me both, a reason to smile and a purpose to channel my energies towards. To all those reading this, I urge you to give ‘giving’ a chance. Identify a cause, and if that’s confusing, why not support something where you know the people involved—like Prema in the communications industry. Or find something close to your heart. No matter how big or small, no matter whether it’s in monetary form or your time and expertise, your contribution matters. And when you see the impact of your actions without expecting anything in return, you will realize what you have missed so far and the sheer contentment your soul gets by a single act of kindness. My dad a great influence in my life and my mentor always said, "The purpose of life is to serve, to give, to be useful, to be honourable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” I agree with dad and urge all to Save Little Hearts, Spread Joy, Make a difference, that's a life lived well!

New customer not impressed! on ‎03-04-201722:07 I have recently joined virgin from sky and I have to say I am not impressed. In the last few days I have had to restart my TiVo box everyday sometimes twice as I keep getting either error 319 or c501 when I want to watch on demand services! Re: New customer not impressed! Sorry...but get use to it... Tivo is crap in comparison to Sky. Just start counting the days till you can leave. I have to disagree, moved to Sky last year and currently counting down the days till I can move back, the SkyQ box is missing so many features that the TiVo has. Would you mind highlighting the features TiVo has which are missing on the SkyQ box. This is a genuine question... I have been with Virgin Media and its predecessors for almost 25 years... but I am so fed up with the faults, glitches and service I have been experiencing the last 6 months or so, that I am starting to look at other options (not just Sky). Re: New customer not impressed! Sorry...but get use to it... Tivo is crap in comparison to Sky. Just start counting the days till you can leave. I have to disagree, moved to Sky last year and currently counting down the days till I can move back, the SkyQ box is missing so many features that the TiVo has. Would you mind highlighting the features TiVo has which are missing on the SkyQ box. This is a genuine question... I have been with Virgin Media and its predecessors for almost 25 years... but I am so fed up with the faults, glitches and service I have been experiencing the last 6 months or so, that I am starting to look at other options (not just Sky). So any info/feedback would be appreciated. Many thanks.... The biggest annoyance is that Sky does not remember series links when a series ends, which is incredibly annoying as it means you have to keep scanning the schedules for re-starting series (bad enough for the main channels and even worse if it's a program that's tucked away on an obscure channel). Beyond that; Wishlists, Suggestions, multi-channel buffering, auto-scheduling of recordings, very limited control over series links (basically you just pick a showing and it will record that one each week\day, but it won't pick up other showings), the TV guide only goes one week into the future and you also can't check scheduled and recorded shows from the app (unless you pay for multi-screen, for some reason) You also don't get the Series Link+ functionality that pulls stuff in from Netflix etc. (if that's of interest). Only thing I've found better about it is the speed, but that's in comparison to the old TiVo not the V6. edit - Oh, and it's got an annoying thing that to exit a recording you press the "Back" button, which takes you back to that program within the menu but then to get back from there to the main menu you have to use the "Left" button, if you press back again it just drops you out into live TV and you have to then navigate back to the menu. Re: New customer not impressed! Sorry...but get use to it... Tivo is crap in comparison to Sky. Just start counting the days till you can leave. I have to disagree, moved to Sky last year and currently counting down the days till I can move back, the SkyQ box is missing so many features that the TiVo has. Would you mind highlighting the features TiVo has which are missing on the SkyQ box. This is a genuine question... I have been with Virgin Media and its predecessors for almost 25 years... but I am so fed up with the faults, glitches and service I have been experiencing the last 6 months or so, that I am starting to look at other options (not just Sky). So any info/feedback would be appreciated. Many thanks.... The biggest annoyance is that Sky does not remember series links when a series ends, which is incredibly annoying as it means you have to keep scanning the schedules for re-starting series (bad enough for the main channels and even worse if it's a program that's tucked away on an obscure channel). Beyond that; Wishlists, Suggestions, multi-channel buffering, auto-scheduling of recordings, very limited control over series links (basically you just pick a showing and it will record that one each week\day, but it won't pick up other showings), the TV guide only goes one week into the future and you also can't check scheduled and recorded shows from the app (unless you pay for multi-screen, for some reason) You also don't get the Series Link+ functionality that pulls stuff in from Netflix etc. (if that's of interest). Only thing I've found better about it is the speed, but that's in comparison to the old TiVo not the V6. edit - Oh, and it's got an annoying thing that to exit a recording you press the "Back" button, which takes you back to that program within the menu but then to get back from there to the main menu you have to use the "Left" button, if you press back again it just drops you out into live TV and you have to then navigate back to the menu. That's really useful... thank you. It's amazing that what seems like little things, can be a real pain when you'd think this kind of functionality should be simple and just work! As I mentioned in my original post, I've had cable TV for yonks... so it would be a big change for me to move elsewhere. I think I will wait for an upgrade to the V6 and see how that all goes. Thanks again... Re: New customer not impressed! on ‎05-04-201717:41 I really hope you havent recently been given a TIVO box? they are too old and can't seem to keep up with the graphics and data demands of the system, I have two of them and they have ground to a virtual halt over the last 2 years. Re: New customer not impressed! on ‎07-04-201700:51 Understand it is a personal preference ultimately, but can't think of any Tivo feature I would miss. I hate ...and I mean hate using the user interface, waiting 30sec+ for the user guide to load. Slow and clunky menus, pixelation on programs frequently. Navigation of box sets or movies is horrendous. Randomly recording programs that I have no interest in. I could go on...but think you get the message. The current Tivo box (not the V6 which they want to charge me 100quid plus to get something that almost works) is just crap. I've had Tivo for a few months, so my initial disappointment has mellowed into just plain loathing. I watch far less TV than I ever have. I now use my smart TV features - BBC Iplayer or Netflix - trying to use that on the Tivo box is a complete joke...it takes minutes to load...and I mean several minutes!

Maniac Films Covid-19 Virus UpdateManiac Films are still operating our camera hire service and will continue to do so until advised otherwise by the Government. As a precaution we have increased our hygeine practises including the careful cleaning of any equipment returned to us Our next day courier APC are still delivering, although drivers are taking precautions such as minimal contact with recipients Please note: Due to courier restictions we are unable to ship out any orders on the same day as your order is placed. All orders will need to be completed by 4:30pm on the day before shipping. Thank you for your understanding. Miscellaneous These are articles that do not fall into a specific category. They cover work that we have carried out for our clients that are outside of our usual projects, or are extras that we have carried out as part of a larger project. If you require photography or web services as part of your project, just let us know and we will do our best to accommodate your needs. We have been busy editing a range of new product photos taken for www.genesissurfshop.com. We were photographing a new line of t-shirts from popular mens brand 'Old Guys Rule' which will be sold on the Genesis online store. The t-shirts were modelled by Robin, the owner of the s... Over the weekend of the 20-22nd April 2018, North Devon played host to the glitz & glamour of the 2018 Ilfracombe Film Festival. The festival played host to a wide range of both blockbuster and indie films and even saw the town being invaded by zombies on Friday night! As part of t... We have been working with local store Lambland in Ilfracombe, photographing the spring/summer product ranges for their online store. The products have ranged from leather handbags & holdalls, to sheepskin mocassins and sheepskin rugs. We photographed most of the products in our s... On Saturday, Stu met up with local celebrity dog Ragamuffin Lewis at the re-launch launch event for the Larkstone Cafe in Ilfracombe. Already the star of his own YouTube TV series - The Adventures Of Ragamuffin Lewis, Ragamuffin had been asked to attend the event, to meet the customers ... We have delivered photos to Genesis Surf shop for their summer clothing & accessories rage - which will appear on www.genesissurfshop.com. The products ranged from t-shirts to wallets and all were photographed in our studio. Smaller items were photographed in our light tent. M... Today our studio took on a new, hollywood feel as we welcomed back our canine model with a number of costumes to wear. Stu was conducting another photo shoot with Ragamuffin Lewis in the lead up to the launch of his new YouTube TV series - The Adventures Of Ragamuffin Lewis. The aim of ... Our studio became a doggy paradise today, as it was full of bones, dog toys, sausages, bacon, dog biscuits and more! Stu was conducting a photo shoot with Ragamuffin Lewis in the lead up to the launch of his new YouTube TV series - The Adventures Of Ragamuffin Lewis. The aim of the shoo... Something a little different today. Stu has just finished a studio photoshoot with Ragamuffin Lewis. Ragamuffin the faithful canine companion of Fiona Lewis, and she has set-up Facebook & Twitter accounts where people can follow Ragamuffins adventures. The photoshoot, which was set ... It's been a busy month for website design at Maniac. Today the brand new Abbeymead Safety Training has gone live to the public. The new site replaces an older one, which was very basic and out of date. Abbeymead Safety Training specialise in workplace safety training courses... We have been working hard to bring the Genesis Surf Shop online store to mobile devices and the site is now live. This has meant a lot of work to modify the heavily customised online store in order to optimise it for mobile phones - adding a responsive feel that changes for mobile phone... Today the new responsive mobile website for Cozy Comforts went live to the public. We have been developing this web site alongside a new mobile friendly website for local surf shop Genesis which should go live later this week. We plan to gradually add extra features to the site over ... Stu has spent the morning photographing at a health & safety training session with Abbeymead Safety Training. The photos will form part of a complete re-design and relaunch of their current website, which is quite outdated and was inherited from the previous business owner. The ... We have been working to build a brand new online store for new company CozyComforts.co.uk, a website which offers quality sheepskin and leather clothing and household goods. The website is still being updated, with new products being added all of the time. We were under a deadline as the ... Stu has been taking photographs down at the new North Devon Wake Park based at The Milky Way near Clovelly with some of their top riders which will be used alongside a new promo film we are filming. Stu really enjoyed the shoot, it was a beautiful day and he got to spend most of it wadi... Over the last couple of months we have been completely re-designing and re-vamping the website for ECombat, worldwide suppliers of laser tag gaming equipment. The website had to reflect their brand, stepping away from the old design which was cluttered and difficult to navigate. A ... Our IT apprentice Barnaby has been working on a major update to the Trail Ferret website that he designed and built earlier this year. Having been pleased with the original website, owner Ben came up with some new ideas that he would like to incorporate - adding new features to the exitin... We have just completed a major website facelift for Ilfracombe based online surf store Genesis Surf Shop. The site was looking dated and cluttered so the owners asked us to create a new layout. Users should instantly find the site easier. The old layout used side columns full of adverts... Our IT apprentice Barnaby has completed his first full project since starting work with us in February! Trail Ferret is a website for local man Ben, who arranges training and trail running events in the local area. Ben asked us to build him a site to promote his business, a site that al...

La Revolution Part 1 So Rhyd’s got the third part of his “death of liberal democracies” part out and we’re going to address some of it. I’m going to do like I did with the second one, and narrow it down a bit so we don’t end up with a massive train wreck like the first one. Because sure, that would give me more material to publish, I don’t think anyone wants to read more Rhyd than they have to. So let’s go over: Social Justice…or Revolution? Or as it could also be titled: “Capitulate or we murder you all.” Because our understanding of violence is always subjective, whether or not the State killing of Black men is ‘justified’ depends on whether or not we identify more with the victims of that violence, or with the State (and its values, and its agents). A Capitalist is more likely to defend the State’s actions than will those whom they exploit, because police don’t exist to keep Capitalists (most of them white) in line. So…the killings are either just or unjust depending on whether or not we identify more with the victims of that violence (black people, and believe they should be given special treatment not given to other races when it comes to law enforcement), or with the State (and its values, and its agents) (I.e. that the law be enforced equally and that those who violate the law with persistent resistance/violence may face the consequences of their illegal actions). And apparently, by Rhyd’s logic, if you are not a racist who identifies with people based on their skin color….you’re a “Racist” for insisting everyone be held to the laws equally when black people are killed by cops in situations the black person could have avoided. I would like to draw everyone’s attention to the “Nigga Movement” theory. Which…from my research…is about how most of these “police killings of black men” tend to go down. Nigga be Nigga, Nigga have Nigga Moment, and at the end…cops respond the only way they can in the face of African American Violence. With more violence. Think I’m lying, well, how about some facts about the latest two guys, the ones whose deaths were being protested in Dallas when the Cops got murdered: Is it right? Meh, can’t really say. But one of the moral revelations I had long ago is that when you walk the road of violence, you will find it. And no matter how strong you are, eventually you will find something strong enough to kill you. That’s just how violence works. In such events, the veneer of Liberal Democracy cracks and fall off, showing something much darker—and much more violent—underneath. And like any other disillusionment, we experience the apparent short-circuit of the mythic and the real of Liberal Democracy as a kind of trauma, one our minds scramble furiously to repair. Actually, Rhyd isn’t wrong here. Liberal Democracies are thin veneers we put over our world in order to believe that we can live in a realm of equality, liberty, and safety. In reality, Rhyd is right about how the “killing of young black men” cracks that veneer and reveals it to be a lie. The problem is that Rhyd thinks of this veneeric falsehood as a violently enforced projection of the State. In reality, it’s no such thing. It is the hopeful projections of the populace…who dream of living with safety and freedom. The problem is that the world…really doesn’t work that way. People can live by violence, take what they have the power to take, and as a general rule “might makes right.” As a rule, ever since the animal kingdom, the biggest guy in the room gets to rule over everyone else. Governments, especially liberal democracies, are the vain and glorious attempt to prevent that by getting all the little people to band together to stave off the big violent guys as one. And typically that veneer cracks whenever some big guy throws his weight around to the point of running into the collective armed forces of the little guy who attempts to stop him Now, this may seem odd. After all, the Cops are the enforcers of the State, the ultimate “Big Guy,” right? Well…not really. A cop, or even group of cops, have no inherent power themselves. But they are invested with power by the populace…the shop keepers, the home owners, the little people just trying to live their lives. The “Big Guys” in history and today are the people who because of their size or will, take by force what they please. Cops are just a physical manifestation of the metaphorical collection of little guys who run out to stop the big guys from crushing them. It’s just that there are a shit ton of “little guys” out there to gang up on the Big Guys, at least these days. And so it looks unfair to some people, because the little people do in numbers what the big guy can’t do with just his raw strength. Religion is a good parallel. When we experience a crisis of faith, particularly related to the Divine, we have two options. The first is to stare deeply into the sudden Abyss which has opened up, the chasm between what we believed was true—what we shaped our lives around—and what we now see as true. But that’s really hard, so many opt for the second option: dig in our heels, insist that what we thought was true still is and cling harder to the external rituals of that belief until the doubts and questions go away. They don’t, of course. And that trauma re-asserts itself in bizarre behaviour, and can produce both fanaticism and fundamentalism. Wow, not only is Rhyd finally talking about religion, he’s actually detailing his own experiences with crises of faith and how he dug in his heels and fell into both fanaticism and fundamentalism! In each case, both choices are very, very human. No forsaken lover can really be blamed for their denial. No true believer can be faulted for their desire to return to a more innocent belief. And none of us should feel shame that we’ve clung so long to the myths of Liberal Democracy, even as we learn how violent and destructive it is. Tfw: you can see the symptoms, but misidentify the sickness. Liberal Democracies are not, by their nature, “violent and destructive.” At least, no more than any other system of governance and quite a bit less than most, if we’re honest. But what Rhyd sees as the violent and destructive nature of “liberal democracies” is in fact merely the violence and destructive nature of…humans. Particularly, humans who feel they have more to gain by forsaking the “social contract” of peace and respect between people and taking up the proverbial sword against their fellow man. It is not the Democracy that is violent, but people who are violent. And people are violent no matter what. Meaning that sometimes the only way to stop violent people is with more violence. It’s just that in a liberal democracy we tend to tell ourselves that by fully investing everyone in our system of governance and providing them equal treatment under the law, hopefully we can convince as many people as we can that violence is not the answer…that there is a more peaceful way. Unfortunately, you can’t convince everyone. Rhyd then goes on to talk about the usual Marxism and how Marx didn’t just have a problem with Capitalism, he also had a problem with Socialism. At which point I’m just sipping my gatorade and looking bemused. But thankfully, Rhyd is actually addressing the problems of the glorious Socialist Utopia he’s been championing and for once actually seems to have done a paltry amount of research into the subject. Utopian Socialists criticized many of the same problems as Communists and Anarchists in the 18th and 19th century. But rather than advocate an overthrow of the State and a seizure of the factories from their owners (‘the means of production’), they thought that Liberal Democratic governments could be reformed through education and enlightenment. With enough time and effort, they reasoned, Capital would become less violent, wealth would become more equitably shared, and class and race divisions would eventually just fade away. To get to such a point, Utopian Socialists tried to educate the masses on right behaviour. They reasoned that most of the problems of society came from ignorance, and if people only understood how their actions hurt others (including the actions of rulers and Capitalists), humanity would eventually become free and peaceful. In essence, once enough people changed their morals—replacing hate with tolerance, altruism for greed, solidarity for individualism—we would finally become equal. And if anyone is thinking “Hey, this sounds familiar to some of the stuff on G&R, Patheos, and other places, well you are right. And even Rhyd admits “you are right.” If Utopian Socialism sounds a little familiar, it should. It never actually went away, but has taken many new names for itself. In the United States, for example, it’s been known as Progressivism. In many European countries, it’s called Democratic Socialism. And in most English-speaking countries in the world now, it’s called Social Justice. And it’s failed. Oh dear. Rhyd has just abandoned the Social Justice. You know what, I am almost convinced that my work here is done. Because Rhyd is about to lose everything he has ever built in his life. Shit son, Dybing and Bones and Thompson and everyone else in that whole circle are Social Justice True Believers. Rhyd just spoke the words of Heresy. Shit, I hope everyone is paid up on their insurance. Like Utopian Socialism, Social Justice attempts to educate the masses on the causes and results of inequality in order to eradicate it. They believe that, once people understand that they are being racist, sexist, homophobic, fat-phobic, trans-phobic, misogynist, privileged, ableist, colonialist, white, classist, xenophobic, nationalist, and elitist, they will eventually stop. Uh oh. Why do I suddenly have a very bad feeling about this… By educating the masses about these things, Social Justice then aims to transform society into something more fair and just. If enough people understand these problems and seek to fix them, they can then transform the institutions (including the State) that benefit from these ills into something that will uphold equality. There is a problem, of course: for as many people who embrace Social Justice and attempt to adjust their actions, there are more people who answer such complaints with, “no. I’m not.” That bad feeling… It’s getting worse guys. More so, those who wish to continue their behavior have all sorts of arguments in their defense. A person who does not want to be around trans people, for instance, may invoke religion (be it Christian Fundamentalism or Dianic Witchcraft), or safety, or the right to choose whom they associate with. An institution that believes same-sex relationships are immoral might likewise invoke ‘religious freedom’ as a defense. In fact, Social Justice is a double-edged blade. New Right Heathen and polytheist theorists invoke the same arguments used to defend indigenous, First Nations, and other oppressed peoples to defend their own oppressive ideologies. Stephen McNallen and his fellow racists, for instance, insist that their ‘indigenous European culture’ deserves the same protections as others, and thus they should be able to exclude people of non-European descent from their groups. While this may seem like a mere cynical attempt to hijack Social Justice language, it isn’t. The morality inherent to Social Justice is subjective and not actually part of its framework; people with opposing moral views can easily use the same framework. Oh fucking Hela…I know where he’s going with this… Not only has Rhyd spoken the words of heresy…he’s leading down the logical path that has turned every Marxist society into a blood drenched authoritarian dictatorship with body counts in the hundreds of millions. See, with Social Justice…not unlike Classical Liberalism, there is the insistence that peoples’ rights be respected. With Classical Liberalism, the argument is “everyone’s right have to be respected.” With Social Justice the augment is “because I am ‘oppressed’ society needs to respect my rights even more than they already do to make up for that oppression.” So for example, in Classical Liberalism, no one shall be denied a job based on race, sex, religion, etc. But the job can go to the most meritocratic individual…regardless of race, sex, religion, etc. In Social Justice, again, no one should be “denied” a job based on race, sex, religion, etc. But, because in some jobs there are more…..straight white men, those who hire people for jobs should give preferences to then hiring say…trans black women…because by not having an equal representation of all people in each type of job, the “group” with a higher population is in a position of “privilege” and thus is not in a state of “equality.” (So don’t think of it as “denying” straight white men jobs based on their race, gender, and orientation…just think of it as “Giving Jobs” to the “less fortunate” instead of allowing the other group to try for the position based on skill). But as Rhyd points out, the reasoning used can work both ways. If say, you have a minority “White” religion who does meet the definitions of “being oppressed” then it can use the argument for its rights to be respected the same as any other oppressed group. This can be labeled “appropriation” in an attempt to forestall recognizing said group’s rights…but it only works so long as one can blind oneself to the oppression one is then enacting against that minority group. Because the logic and the argument can and do work for anyone in the appropriate situation. Exactly like it does for McNallen and his Heathens, who merely insist that their minority, indigenous religion must have the exact same rights as every other minority, indigenous religion. It’s an argument that works under the logic of both Classical Liberalism and Social Justice. Which is exactly Rhyd’s problem. Under either system he has to respect the rights of other cultures with other beliefs to exist and practice. And he doesn’t want to do that. Neither Utopian Socialism nor Social Justice rely on education as the sole means of affecting social change. Instead, both attempt to increase the rights recognised and granted by the State in order to increase equality and enshrine a more just morality. Protections for disabled people, ethnic, religious, and racial minorities, anti-discrimination laws, hate-crime legislation and social welfare programs are all strategies used to correct inequalities within Liberal Democracy and move towards a more just and equal society. The problem? This strategy requires a violent and powerful State. Well, at least Rhyd has finally decided to just be an anarchist…rather than that oddly hybridized anarchist-statist that he was being. I suppose that’s something at least. He talks about capitalist violence, again, so I’m mostly going to skip over that and focus on his new heresy stuff towards social justice because…well at least it’s not the same thing he’s said 200 times. Social Justice doesn’t question State power. Instead, when moral arguments regarding tolerance and acceptance fail to correct oppression, Social Justice demands that the State intervene. This State intervention does work, as least for a little while (as in desegregation in the American South, hate-crime laws in most Liberal Democracies, etc.). Unfortunately, by demanding these guarantees of rights (and the punishment of those who violate them), Social Justice empowers the State to enact more violence. You know, I’m curious as to when Rhyd came to this conclusion. Honestly, he’s starting to sound like all us Classical Liberals and the Alt-Right guys when we talk about Social Justice. At least with Classical Liberalism, the argument is to minimize the state’s ability to do violence, even as we recognize the necessity of state violence. But apparently Rhyd has reached the point where any state violence is unacceptable (so, hooray for finally becoming an anarchist). Of course I do wonder when he’s going to realize that when and why we created state violence to begin with… Thus, the police who arrest perpetrators of hate crimes are also police who kill Black men during traffic stops, the same courts which try cases of discrimination also prosecute homeless people for vagrancy. The State becomes more powerful through our reliance on it, and we find ourselves in a tug-of-war over control of State violence. We can’t win, because the State cannot exist without the Capitalists who fund it. As Audre Lorde pointed out: …the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us to temporarily beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change. Well, he might be running down the logical highway to mass murder and dictatorships…but we can’t say that Rhyd ain’t getting Woke, son. But without attacking Capital, Social Justice can only rely on the same State as the Capitalist in order to repair the damage Capitalism causes. Welfare, affirmative action, housing assistance, education grants—all these exist to lessen the damage of Capitalism, but none of them ever succeed in create equality precisely because Capitalism always requires inequality to function. Also, everything the State does (including welfare, etc.) is paid for by taxation. The only way for the State to derive enough taxes to fund these programs is to have a thriving economy, with Capitalists reaping enough profits to bear the burden of taxation. Thus, the State is used both to fix the problems caused by Capitalism while also encouraging more Capitalism, with one hand repairing only some of the damage that it causes with the other hand. Unfortunately, Social Justice enables this process. Is it bad I’m actually laughing my ass off and having a good time with this for once? I’m sure it’s all gonna implode, but seriously. So much heresy and waking up against the Socialism. At this rate, Rhyd might actually turn into a Capitalist or something. The United States Military recently joined the rest of the ‘civilized world’ (that is, Liberal Democracies) by allowing homosexuals to ‘serve’ openly and women to ‘serve’ in combat. It was hailed as a victory for Social Justice and equality by many gays and Feminists, seen as progress and the victory of tolerance over inequality. Well, right up until the Feminists realized that they could be drafted, and then cried sweet salty tears about the need to abolish the draft…despite men having been subject to it for centuries and that being the primary reason men were originally allowed to vote. Equality. An Arab woman who loses her children and husband to the bullets of an American lesbian soldier probably won’t see this as a victory of equality. Well then that Arab woman just needs to get woke and smell the equality, rather than being kept barefoot and pregnant in her now dead husband’s kitchen. Doesn’t she know she’s letting down all women with her misogynistic subservience to her husband, rather than being a strong independent woman who don’t need no man and goes out to the workforce to support her sisters and fight against the patriarchal glass ceiling. I know, I know. I’m a horrible person. But that is how many a feminist talks to a stay at home mom in the West, so I figured that’s what they would say to any woman who dared protest a Lesbian Soldier going out and killing a privileged member of the Patriarchy. During the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, many gay men and feminists called for support of these military actions on behalf of the gays and women in those countries, employing a narrative of Liberal Democracy versus the uncivilized (i.e.; Muslim) world. That same narrative repeats today—calls for stricter policies against immigrants to protect gays and women (especially after the Orlando massacre), relentlessly recycled news stories on the slaughter of gays by Daesh, calls by polytheists for the US military to send more troops to the Iraq to support Yezidis and stop the destruction of ancient sacred sites. Okay, wow. Not only is Rhyd completely going Heretic on Social Justice…he literally just threw Women and Gays under the bus as well. He’s saying that “State Violence is Bad, Always,” even when that violence is used ostensibly to protect people facing oppression, suppression, and even Death for what they are. In simple terms, if a Muslim Immigrant raped a Lesbian, and a cop killed the Muslim in order to stop the rape….both the Cop and the Lesbian are morally in the wrong because they used state violence to stop the rape. Like this: Related Post navigation 2 thoughts on “La Revolution Part 1” Take a lot of violence (more The bloody, the better), + evil – insert – system, capital, democracy, liberal, polytheism + evil fascist infiltrator + I know the one true answer which involved a lot of violence. He switches up the one true answer to keep people off kilter to question themselves if they are the evil blah, blah, blah. Standard stuff to keep people following you and adhering to your every word. You could just set an automatic response blog. Save yourself and your brain power.

Summary Limits, we all have them and Izuku Midoriya is no exception. The well-trained homicide detective has limits on how involved he’ll get with his cases that is until corpses are being found left and right with every ounce of their blood drained start turning up in Tokyo. They’re just in time for the detective’s old partner to trade him in so Bakugo can work with his soon to be husband so Midoriya finds himself with a mysterious new partner. Shouto Todoroki is cold and distant for the most part but that isn’t what bothers Midoriya about him. Its his obsession with the newest string of copycat murders that take over the city of Tokyo that sends waring signs off in the young detective’s mind. So Midoriya quickly limits himself on how curious he’s allowed to be about Todoroki that is until he finds himself developing feelings for his ever-evasive partner. After all some limits are meant to be broken, aren’t they? Crossposted to wattpad! Don't repost without my permission//// I'm bad at descriptions but I love detective shows and couldn't get a homicide detective Midoriya and a Vampire Todoroki falling in love out of mind so just read lol! Updates every Saturday!!! Tags Summary After hearing about the newly reconstructed Haddonfield, you decide to bite the bullet and move in. With the super-low rates, and a City begging for students to help boost their ever-falling population; it seems like a win-win deal. That is until Halloween. When you end up finding a wounded Michael Myers, you swoop in and help, finding that he not only is the real Myers of legend; but that he needs your help... As a heads up, this work revolves around the H20/Resurrection Timeline. But in this slight AU our boy Michael actually dies. But don't worry, it isn't for long! Read on and find out how our boi makes a triumphant return. Tags Summary When the Volkrod spoke of ‘Wolfsbane’, it was with triumph. They spoke of the day when the treacherous Samuel Campbell died and their Alpha heir was rescued. Wolfsbane was where the war had been finally won. But twelve years after that fateful day, Castiel, now the American Alpha of All, was still haunted by the events at Wolfsbane, by a blood-oath broken to a pup his pack insists could only have been a fever dream. Castiel’s mind agrees. Yet his heart, for all it has grown bitter and cold, hardened by his role and responsibilities and the scars of his time at Wolfsbane, still yearns for the boy who saved his life and his wolf still howls in mourning every full moon. Castiel still dreams of white fur, green eyes and the scent of magnolia. Summary The Cat's Paw is a special type of cafe. This a normal day in the lives of those who work there. A NCTV UrbanFantasy AU where Ten runs a cafe that sells coffee, tea, and potions, Lucas and Hendery are human baristas, Xiaojun is an herbalist who drops by with supplies, and YangYang is a ghost stuck in the building. Summary Hanamura Yosuke is a Tokyo detective working for a special, unknown department within the police force. He always works night shift and one thing he doesn't have time for is relationships. That is until he finally meets his mysterious downstairs neighbor Narukami Yu who just happens to be drop dead gorgeous. Summary In a world plagued with dark energy, because of the destruction of the Ying/Yan balance, Clans are the only salvation to the common people. Once every generation, all Clans youths gather in the Cloud Recesses to learn from the strongest, to keep their people safe from the ever present threat of the undead. Wei Wuxian, along with the Wen siblings are from the lowest small Clans, yet they are determined to prove the cultivator world that they can surpass those overconfident idiots of the main Clans and even save their world. A completely AU version of the drama The Untamed. I don't own the novel, nor the drama or any other version. BAD English, but interesting read. Summary On a cool night in summer Jeongguk kills seven people. He doesn't mean to, has never wanted to harm another living person, but he needs to. His fangs sit heavy in his mouth, his heart pounding as he watches the blood spill from the woman's throat. On a cool night in summer Jeongguk kills seven people and he lives with the guilt of the dozens of others that have died in his urge to feed. He stumbles through the hospital hazy and unsteady until he finds a room in the basement, until he hears a voice echo in his head that is not his own. The voice belongs to a man with dark eyes and pitch black hair and the voice of an angel. A man that holds his salvation.

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There will be no cessation of fire, which the US and Russia had agreed upon, on multiple fronts, noting that the agreements' time frame had passed this past week, it is expected that intense battles will continue in Idlib and its countryside, as well as in eastern Aleppo where ISIS' hold sways in the midst of all this chatter about Turkeys intent to play a bigger role in the ongoing war in Syria, within a coalition that consists of the US and Saudi Arabia to stop the Kurds from reaching the Syrian/Turkish border. Al-Rai has come to know “The Turkish-Saudi intervention in Syria has been welcomed by Damascus and its allies, even though it's unlikely to happen”. High ranking sources within the joints operation room in Aleppo, consisting of Syria, Russia, Iran, Hezbollah have confirmed to Al-Rai “ The joint military intervention of Turkey/Saudi Arabia and its allies, under the pretext of fighting ISIS is welcomed, in this way we rid ourselves from this bloody, and takfiri group, ISIS is a conglomerate of armed militias that can’t be fought as easily as classical armies. It requires an immense military effort and will come at a high price of personnel loss, the guerrilla warfare that has now been perfected by SAA/NDF and their allies, will be a nightmare for Western/Arab armies if they decide to intervene in Syria, though it may be improbable, but not impossible”. The source adds “Russia will not accept Arab armies entering Syria under US cover, they will veto any proposal in the UNSC, moreover it will be impossible for these forces to enter Syria without previous coordination with Russia, since it has full control over Syria’s air space and will attack any force that is not coordinating with it, which makes an intervention impossible unless it is okayed by the super powers”. As for the ceasefire, the sources confirmed to Al-Rai, “The ceasefire agreement does not include Al-Nusra and ISIS. Principally, we welcome cease fires in areas not controlled by terrorists because we would have more time on our hands to deal with Northern Aleppo, and ISIS controlled areas in the eastern part of Aleppo, and to further our advance into Al-Raqqah”. The source continues, “In Aleppo and its surrounding countryside, the battles are ongoing with groups that are not included in the ceasefire, especially that many Free Syrian army brigades and others that are supported by Turkey, such as the Nour al-Din al-Zenki movement, and Sultan Murad brigade, have pledged allegiance to Ahrar Al-Sham’s leader Hisham Al-Sheikh a.k.a Abi-Jabir Al-Sheikh, he has set his sights on establishing an Islamic State, and had sent his condolences when the leader of the Taliban Mullah Omar died, both hold on to the same dogma. He is also fighting alongside Jund Al-Aqsa, and Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar that pledged allegiance to the Al-Qaeda leader Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani, and other such groups consisting of Moroccans, Egyptians, and Palestinians and others from different nationalities, that operate in and around Aleppo, and in Idlib and its countryside. The war in Idlib will not stop because these groups are not included in the cease fire agreement”. The source ends,“Damascus can benefit from the cease fire, others in the south of Syria can benefit as well, if all the takfiris are forced to retreat and agree not to intervene in the international decision making, this will help the regime, except that both Russia and the US need to coordinate between each other, to establish joint military committees, and also agree to identify the terrorist groups, which has not happened as of yet”.

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Christian Couple Die in Tragic Accident One Day After Getting Married: 'They Wanted to be The Hands and Feet of Jesus' Austin Wesson, 19, and Rebekah Bouma, also 19, were killed just one day after getting married. Facebook The family of a young Christian couple who died in a tragic car accident one day after getting married have said that while they are grieving, they are confident the two are in Heaven. Austin Wesson, 19, and Rebekah Bouma, also 19, were married on Friday - and just one day later, their truck struck an embankment and crashed into a tree about two miles east of Clearwater, Kansas, according to the Wichita Eagle. Wesson was pronounced dead at the scene, while Bouma was transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition. She died Monday. In a Facebook post, Bouma's mother, Rachel Byker Bouma, asked for prayers for her and Wesson's families and reflected on her daughter's faith. "It is with an unbearably shattered heart that we inform you that our darling daughter, Rebekah Christina, went peacefully into the arms of her loving Savior at 12:32 am, Monday, August 7. She is with the Lord that she loved so deeply and so joyfully and she is with her husband of just one day, Austin Wesson, whom she loved with all her heart. We thank God that they are together while grieving their loss so very deeply. Please keep both our families in your prayers and especially that Austin's family would be able to be here quickly." Earlier, Rachel asked for prayers for her family as they "walk through the "valley of the shadow of death." She later shared a link to the Keith and Kristyn Getty hymn, "He Will Hold Me Fast." "They were very much in love," Bouma's father, John Bouma said. "There was no doubt whatsoever that their love was the real thing. They both loved the Lord - they wanted to be the hands and feet of Jesus." "I think her greatest love in life was to serve other people and invest in them," Rachel Bouma said. "Bekah was selfless. She loved to get close to people and help with whatever they needed." According to the Daily Mail, the couple were planning to do more mission trips together after moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan where Rebekah was due to attend college. A GoFundMe page was set up to raise money to help Austin's family travel to the U.S. for his funeral. As of Wednesday morning, the campaign had raised nearly $10,000.

Web Retailer Zulily Joins a Billion-Dollar Club By Matthew Lynley And Greg Bensinger Nov. 15, 2012 5:53 p.m. ET Zulily Inc. raised $85 million in a deal that values the children's accoutrements Internet retailer at $1 billion, vaulting it into the billion-dollar club of privately held companies amid the mixed success of the online "flash sales" industry. Seattle-based Zulily, founded in 2009, last raised money in August 2011, a round in which the company was valued at more than $700 million. Zulily said it currently has 10 million members, up from five million in October 2011, and added that it is approaching annual...

Irina Falconi swings hard, laughs hard WASHINGTON — Third-year pro Irina Falconi and I sit down at a bar. It’s open mic night for comedians and Falconi is ready to take the stage. Actually, that’s a lie. We’ve never been to a bar together. The sum total of our relationship is the time I spent watching her compete in the last two Citi Open tournaments and the interview we did earlier this month. The reason I wanted to chat with the Ecuador-born New Yorker currently ranked No. 111 in singles is because I had to see if she was as hilarious and honest in person as she is in the blog posts she writes for the WTA and World Team Tennis. Turns out that the 22-year-old really is that funny. She made me laugh so hard on and off camera that I’d be afraid to have dinner with her for fear I’d spit my beverage all over her. Ask Falconi about her next goal in life and she doesn’t even mention tennis. “My goal is to reach Lady Gaga status of 25 million Twitter followers,” she deadpans during our “The Changeover” video interview. She’s at about 2,100 now. Follow her immediately @irinafalconi. If you help her reach 2,500, she’ll be off and running. No doubt she’ll appreciate it. Maybe she’ll even come up with a name for her fans. I’m sure it would be better than “Little Monsters.” How did she make the agonizing decision to play college tennis instead of turning pro? She didn’t agonize. “I had a tournament that went 0-6, 6-0, 0-6,” she remembers. “I lost. I said, ‘Mom, I’m going to college.’” Oblivious to how college recruiting works, Falconi reached out to Georgia Tech women’s coach Bryan Shelton. She had met him briefly but hadn’t communicated with him in nine months. There’s nothing college coaches love more than thinking they’ve been given up for dead. “I asked if he had a spot,” she says. “He said, ‘Yeah, but we’ve got to hurry.’ A month later I was in school. It was ridiculous. He had only seen me play once so I just kind of showed up. I hadn’t seen the campus and didn’t know what I wanted to study.” She quickly ruled out Georgia Tech’s traditional engineering route. She chose history. “There was no English major at Georgia Tech so that’s the reason why I did it,” she says. “I wasn’t into the whole math and science thing. I was pretty sure I’d live without having AP physics in my degree — pretty sure I’d be OK.” Besides, Falconi can do things the nerds can’t — like crush a ball with various spins and speeds. And when is the last time a math club member beat a No. 14 seed in the second round of the U.S. Open? Falconi did that in 2011, taking out Dominika Cibulkova in a dramatic, come-from-behind victory. She has reached a career-high of No. 73 and looks to best that ASAP. She also won four ITF titles from 2007 to 2010 and broke all kinds of school records in the two years she spent with the Yellow Jackets. Has there been a part of WTA life that was harder than she expected? “Losing sucks,” she says. “Last year, I was in Asia and I lost four first rounds in a row, and I was alone. For four weeks, I was alone. I came back to visit a friend in L.A. for 12 hours. The next week, I won the gold at the Pan Am Games. You just never know, but losing definitely is not fun.” Blogging is, and she excels at that, too. Falconi blogs from all over the place – planes, trains, automobiles, tournaments, World Team Tennis matches, and hotels. She shares her new life as a pro the way the rest of us would if we suddenly made the tour and began having all kinds of amazing experiences: She writes with excitement and joy. She also plays loose with grammar, not because she’s incapable of producing perfect prose but because she’s in touch with her inner Snoop Dogg. Take the time she first met John Isner. “So, I went up to him,” she wrote, “stopped him in his tracks, and asked him ‘Hey man, look I gotta ask you, how tall are you?’ And he answers “Eh, about 6’9, 6’10.’ So me, being the unfiltered little teenager that I was, looks at him in astonishment and says ‘Dang, you’re a TREE!’ And I walked off.” She pulls no punches on babies screaming on airplanes, self-absorbed folks that won’t put their cell phones on mute even when stuck in claustrophobic quarters, or a Boston Lobsters’ teammate drawing on her arm while she was busy signing autographs after a World Team Tennis match. “REEEEEEEL mature,” she wrote, sending Vanna White into a frenzy. Falconi also likes to invent words. My favorite Falcon-ism is “anywhoozer.” That’s the transition she uses to start a new paragraph that loops back to her previous point – but only after she has gone for a long stroll down tangent lane. (Maybe that’s a name for her fans: the “Anywhoozers.” I want royalties if she puts it on t-shirts!) Blogging helps Falconi relax. It also happens to be an excellent way to interact with fans. She even answers questions in the blog from the Anywhoozers. (That does have a ring to it, doesn’t it? I know Falconi will let me know if it doesn’t. She didn’t hesitate to crack on my penmanship when she saw me scribbling away during the interview. “Are you a doctor as well? You’ve got the handwriting down. That’s all you need.”) Falconi hits the target when she adds that so many fans “are bored with the mundane. Oh, I hit cross-courts today and I hit down-the-lines today. I figured I’d spice it up a little bit. It’s fun to throw in a little joke here and there. People want to know what tennis players are about, not just on the court.” She put a particularly interesting twist on a night of getting gussied after a match with her WTT Boston Lobster teammates. “After that, we got to dress up and join our friends for a wonderful dinner at this fantastic venue,” she wrote.” Ya know, tennis players probably feel like Superman sometimes. Cuz Lois Lane would always just see him in his regular clothing — which to us is tennis clothing. And when he put his cape on, he would become Superman — yet we become normal when we put on regular nice girly clothing … bah, you know what I mean.” I do, actually. I’ll spend a week covering a women’s tournament and interviewing a player multiple times – then struggle to recognize her when she walks right past me in street clothes two hours later. When Falconi is in her normal-person disguise, she likes to read voraciously. She’s also into music. She tells me that her favorite artist right now is Usher. I decide to see if I can turn the table on Falconi and make her chuckle by telling her about my near encounter with the guy many years ago. I don’t know anything about music and had no idea why burger flippers at an Atlanta Wendy’s were going nuts about a man picking up a bite at a drive-through one night. They tell me that was “Usher”. I asked them what was so exciting about meeting a guy who shows you to your seat in a theater. Our conversation turns serious for a moment, the video camera having stopped rolling long ago. I mention that I recognize that life on the pro tour is not necessarily as easy and glorious as fans might think. I see the brutally long days of intense physical work, career-determining stress that comes with each match and brutal travel schedules. I ask her if she’s having a good time – if she really enjoys her career on the courts. “At the end of the day, I have one of the best lives you could possibly ask for,” she tells me. “I travel the world and get to play competitively and make money. How many people would love to do that?” Great point. I thank her for her time and wish her well in the tournaments to come. Falconi heads to the nearest phone booth for a quick change and a flight to Montreal. One Response to “Irina Falconi swings hard, laughs hard” That was so enjoyable! It makes me want to watch her play now and see what all the comedy is. How refreshing to see the “off court” personality. Mr. Lancette is really good on camera. You should call ESPN.

Siege of Boston Author Website Name History.com Year Published 2009 Title Siege of Boston URL http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/siege-of-boston Access Date August 14, 2018 Publisher A+E Networks Introduction From April 1775 to March 1776, in the opening stage of the American Revolutionary War (1775-83), colonial militiamen, who later became part of the Continental army, successfully laid siege to British-held Boston, Massachusetts. The siege included the June 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill, in which the British defeated an inexperienced colonial force that nevertheless managed to inflict heavy casualties. In July 1775, General George Washington arrived in the Boston area to take charge of the newly established Continental army. In early March 1776, Washington’s men fortified Dorchester Heights, an elevated position just outside of Boston. Realizing Boston was indefensible to the American positions, the British evacuated the town on March 17 and the siege came to an end. Siege of Boston: Background For more than a decade before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, tensions had been building between American colonists and the British authorities. Attempts by the British government to raise revenue by taxing the colonies met with heated protest among many colonists, who resented their lack of representation in Parliament and demanded the same rights as other British subjects. Colonial resistance led to violence in 1770, when British soldiers opened fire on a mob of colonists, killing five men in what was known as the Boston Massacre. Did You Know? Since 1901, Bostonians have celebrated the end of the Siege of Boston with an official holiday known as Evacuation Day, observed every March 17th. After December 1773, when a band of Bostonians dressed as Indians boarded British ships and dumped hundreds of chests of tea into Boston Harbor, an outraged Parliament passed a series of measures designed to reassert imperial authority in Massachusetts. In response, a group of colonial delegates (including George Washington of Virginia, John and Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, Patrick Henry of Virginia and John Jay of New York) met in Philadelphia in September 1774 to give voice to their grievances against the British crown. This First Continental Congress did not go so far as to demand independence from Britain, but it denounced taxation without representation, as well as the maintenance of the British army in the colonies without their consent, and issued a declaration of the rights due every citizen, including life, liberty, property, assembly and trial by jury. The Continental Congress voted to meet again in May 1775 to consider further action, but by that time violence had already broken out. On April 19, local militiamen clashed with British soldiers in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, marking the first shots fired in the Revolutionary War. Siege of Boston and Battle of Bunker Hill Following the battles of Lexington and Concord, colonial militiamen surrounded Boston in an effort to contain the British troops there. However, because the British maintained control of Boston Harbor, they were able to receive additional soldiers and supplies. On June 16, 1775, having learned that the British were planning to send troops from Boston to occupy the hills surrounding the town (Boston was incorporated as a city in 1822), colonial militiamen under Colonel William Prescott (1726-95) built fortifications on top of Breed’s Hill, overlooking Boston and located on the Charlestown Peninsula. (The men originally had been ordered to construct their fortifications atop Bunker Hill but instead chose the smaller Breed’s Hill, closer to Boston.) The next day, British troops under Major General William Howe (1729-1814) and Brigadier General Robert Pigot (1720-96) attacked the Americans at Breed’s Hill. The British went on to win the so-called Battle of Bunker Hill, and Breed’s Hill and the Charlestown Peninsula fell firmly under their control. Despite their loss, the inexperienced and outnumbered colonial forces inflicted significant casualties against the enemy, and the battle provided the Patriots with an important confidence boost. After the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Siege of Boston turned into a stalemate for a number of months. Siege of Boston and Fortification of Dorchester Heights In early July 1775, General George Washington (1732-99) arrived in the Boston area to take command of the newly established Continental army. Washington’s goal was to drive the British from Boston, and in order to do this, his army required weapons. That winter, Colonel Henry Knox (1750-1806) oversaw an expedition to transport more than 60 tons of captured military supplies from New York’s Fort Ticonderoga back to Boston. In May 1775, the British-held Ticonderoga and nearby Fort Crown Point had been seized by colonial forces under Benedict Arnold (1741-1801) and Ethan Allen (1738-89). After a challenging journey across snowy terrain, the armaments, including more than 50 cannon, reached the Boston area in late January 1776. Some of the cannon were placed in fortifications around Boston, and beginning on March 2 used to bombard the British for two days straight. On the night of March 4, several thousand of Washington’s men and more of the Ticonderoga cannon were moved into position at Dorchester Heights, overlooking Boston and its harbor. British General William Howe (1729-1814) realized his troops could not defend the town against the Continental army’s elevated position at Dorchester Heights, and soon decided to leave. On March 17, the eight-year British occupation of Boston ended when British troops evacuated the town and sailed to the safety of Nova Scotia, a British colony in Canada. Siege of Boston: Aftermath After the Siege of Boston, the Revolutionary War continued for seven more years. The Battle of Yorktown, which ended in October 1781 with the surrender of British forces under Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis (1738-1805) to a combined American and French force, was the last major land battle of the war. However, the Revolutionary War did not officially end until the September 1783 signing of the Treaty of Paris, in which Britain recognized the independence of the United States. Oops, there's a problem. At this time we are unable to complete your subscription.This email address has been previously opted out from receiving any emails from A+E Networks. If you changed your mind, please contact us and indicate that you would like to subscribe to HISTORY emails. You have already subscribed to this list. If you completed your subscription and still have not received an email, please contact us. Oops, there's a problem. 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Search The old Muskegon Union Depot was built in 1895 and remained as a passenger station until its closure in 1970. Fortunately, the building was saved but left vacant for a couple decades until it was finally converted into a visitor and convention center, a museum and a bus stop. Apart from retaining the many traditional Michigan rustic-style stone details, the most successful aspect of this adaptive reuse is keeping the original function of the building as a place for everyone who comes to visit Muskegon, the city in which its lumber was used to build the old Chicago before the great fire. Secondly, keeping the the old circular drop-off drive-way and the front lawn, helped visitors in understanding how travelers used to arrive at this station. The beauty of this adaptive reuse is that nothing major was altered. If the train has a comeback in the future which it may, this place can be converted back to a railroad station one day easily! 5 Responses to “From Railroad Station to Visitors Welcoming Center at Muskegon” I love the Richardsonian Romanesque stone arch on the entrance. In fact, this is a very interesting blog. So much that I see on issues surrounding preservation and urbanism focuses on major cities, so it’s refreshing to get some perspectives in smaller cities like Ann Arbor. Keep up the good blogging. If interested, please also check out my blog http://americantourismbook.com. How beautiful old building. I appreciate highly that it serves yet today people, teach to people old architecture and that everything can be changed for new purpose in an excellent way, not to destroy. That an old train model we had same kind at Helsinki Railway Station many decencies ago. It worked by putting a coin inside it. Our railway stations on country side are mainly from wood, not all of course. The state has sold some of them and private people have “modernized” them into houses. I am very glad that I had a possibility to see Your photos and to “visit” there thru Your photos. Thx so much for the “visit”! I wish I have photographed all churches in Detroit before I left. Train from the old time has always been fascinating for me. Their station, the trains, the experience of the old travel… I even found an old picture of the train station in my home town. It had beautiful arched and great waiting hall. Oh wow, of course it was torn down for something more “efficient” or so it was called. Wish too the old Penn Station in NYC were still around. The magnificent of the past somehow is never surpassed by the new,… at least for me!

Ford’s New Mustang Gets Treatment From Power-Hungry Tuners As it prepares to be distributed out to the company’s extensive dealer network both domestically and internationally, Ford’s Mustang has been making the rounds at the various tuning houses that make their living by turning a great car into an arguably better one. Since the last fully redesigned Mustang was released nearly ten years ago (though it recieved a substantial refresh in 2010), these companies have been salivating for the 2015 model year Mustang, which promises to be the best-handling, and perhaps all around best-driving Mustang yet. It’s all new from the ground up, and engineered for a new global audience; this means new engine options, different suspension setup, and a more sports car-like demeanor. Tuners will have a pretty sturdy foundation to work from, too. The new Mustang produces a minimum of 300 horsepower (that’s the 3.7 liter V6 engine that comes standard), and goes up from there. The new 2.3 liter turbocharged, EcoBoost-branded Mustang manages 310 horsepower (which is paired with 320 pound-feet of twist), and the range is topped off with Ford’s beloved and ubiquitous 5.0 liter V8, which now produces 435 horsepower and 400 pound-feet, up from 420 in the previous generation. As they say, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Over the last few weeks, three of the most prolific American tuners have smelled the smoke and have gone in search of the blaze on the belief that no matter how good a car is, it can always be better. Source: Saleen Saleen Automotive Having built its reputation on race-ready Mustangs, Saleen (OTC:SLNN) has offered its latest take on the new Mustang, albeit through renders only. However, the car — known as the S302 — is available with as much as 640 horsepower, and a quick glance at the illustrations imply that nearly every inch of the car has been gone over. The S302 rides lower (and on new rims), boasts an aggressive and mean-looking body kit that — pending official testing — presumably helps improve airflow and keep the car more grounded. There’s a signature Saleen spoiler mounted on the rear deck lid, a new sway bar, and suspension bushings have been put in to help the car stay rigid through the turns. Source: Saleen Under the hood is none other than Ford’s 5.0 liter V8, and in its most basic Saleen form, is tuned for 450 horsepower (15 horses more than the stock Mustang). Mosey on up to Saleen’s menu and you can have the S302 Black Label with 640 horsepower and 565 pound-feet of torque, adding roughly the equivalent of a Volkswagen GTI’s worth of power to the already potent Mustang GT. This is done with Saleen’s proprietary supercharger, which is available on the Black Label and the middle-ground Yellow Label, which shares its power specs with the range-topping Black, but lacks such features like a static brake cooling system and that aggressive front fascia. “This is a very exciting time for the Mustang community as this is the first all-new model since 2005,” CEO, founder, and namesake Steve Saleen said in the company’s press release. Source: Hennessey Performance Hennessey Performance In a world where one can buy 707 horsepower for under $70,000, the Saleen S302’s 640 horsepower may not be enough for the discerning Mustang performance enthusiast. For people like them, tuning firm Hennessey — renowned for its Venom GT hyper-car — has the answer. An answer, anyways. Hennessey ups the ante with as much as 717 horsepower on tap, outpacing the Saleen as far as sheer horsepower is concerned and even blowing by the 2014 Shelby GT500, which comes from Ford’s factory with a resounding 662 horsepower on tap. Hennessey’s model — titled the HPE700 — is paired with 632 pound-feet of torque, and the company surmises that zero-60 will be dealt with in a scant 3.6 seconds. Source: Hennessey Performance New carbon fiber aerodynamic components all around give the HPE700 a far more aggressive and track-ready look (it also actually helps with downforce, too), and the exhaust has been swapped out for a higher performance setup to help vent out the extra air moved through Hennessey’s 2.9 liter Supercharger addition. If 717 horsepower feels to ambitious and 600 horsepower is more up your alley, then Hennessey offers an option there, too, with the HPE600, which offers many of the same amenities but with 620 horsepower under the hood instead. It might be friendlier on your wallet, too, and in real-world driving, it’s not likely that you’ll find yourself lacking. Source: Roush Performance Roush Performance Like the OEMs themselves, aftermarket tuners each boast its respective base of fans and enthusiasts who prefer one package over the others. Sporting one of the larger fan bases in the industry (when it comes to Mustangs, at least) is Roush, which as also revealed its contender that will compete for your aftermarket pony car dollars. Unfortunately, the Roush kits are only skin-deep for the time being. We do know that there will be three kits available for the 2015 model year Mustang, and unlike Saleen and Hennessey, they include the smaller, lower displacement engines among the options. The Mustang RS starts at just under $5,000 (in addition to the cost of the car, naturally) and is based on the 300 horsepower 3.7 liter V6. The Stage 1 model is based on the 2.3 liter EcoBoost, and the Stage 2 is based on the V8. While no power upgrades have yet been announced, Roush is easing the floodgates open with some new body work and tinkering elsewhere on the car. Source: Roush Performance Buyers are treated to Roush’s muscular bodykit, which eschews the more sleek appearance of the new Mustang for a brash, no-apologies approach to design. There’s a quad-tipped exhaust protruding from the back of each model, and improved rims and suspension are optional across the board. Styling-wise, there’s the meaty front fascia up front, a new aero valence in the back, and many vents and scoops that imply that the Roush Mustang has more to come in the near future. But as far as solid performance numbers, we’ll have to wait and see how it stacks up, though it’s worth mentioning that the current Stage 3 Mustang from Roush achieves 575 horsepower — so expect it to exceed that.

Playing It Straight "Full House" is the Whitney Museum's smartly speculative, occasionally revelatory, but ultimately predictable attempt to pry itself open and represent the story of American art. The highs in this building-filling experiment are tantalizing enough to make you wish the institution had been more willing to lay its cards on the table, raise the stakes, and really go for it. "Full House" actually has a much stronger, more interesting hand of art and artists than it chooses to play. Rather than trying to break the game open by venturing beyond the orthodoxy, "Full House" hedges its bet and plays it straight, sticking too close to the conventional story of American art history. That said, there is one marvelous wild card in play. Because of the maverick feel that Donna De Salvo, chief curator and associate director for programs, has for space and for juxtaposing works of art, attentive viewers will get a fresh, even electric understanding not only of some of the art in the Whitney's collection but even the Whitney itself. As she (and co-curator Linda Norden) did so spectacularly in the innovative, open cone-shaped installation they devised for last season's Edward Ruscha show, De Salvo and a team of capable curators have opened up, unbridled, and unfurled Marcel Breuer's 1966 building, allowing you to grasp that space handled sensitively means deeper perception. "Full House" proceeds in floor-by-floor themes like popular culture and appropriation, the transcendent and the spiritual, and materiality and conceptualism. Edward Hopper, often called "the Whitney's Picasso," gets the fifth floor to himself. "Full House" is an attempt to split the difference between the Tate Modern's overly literal thematic installation and MOMA's almost lockstep march through modernism. De Salvo, previously a curator at the Tate Modern, deftly avoids the Tate's oversimplified installation. Despite her efforts, "Full House" is still mostly art history by the book, the Whitney now looks almost as conservative and canonical as the Modern. This is too bad because the game was wide open. Nevertheless, several juxtapositions sizzle. My favorite is the kinky combo of the hard oversize bed of Claes Oldenburg across from the vulval void of Lee Bontecou, which is next to Barry Le Va's s/m installation of shattered glass and strewn felt. There's also the corner with Mary Kelly's pregnant belly as a Sol LeWitt–like grid with implications of the birth canal delivered via Nauman's nearby narrow-corridor video; and the abject-meets-the-Apollonian alcove of Louise Bourgeois, Sue Williams, Carroll Dunham, and Paul McCarthy. Yet, despite these inspired groupings, the Whitney blinked. The 130 Hoppers on the fifth floor are proof. The overrating of Hopper's greatness is confirmed here. Except for one riveting room of alternately sun-drenched and overcast scenes of the Seine that positively radiate light and solidity—and establish that except for several iconic later works Hopper was far stronger early on—the show is prosaic. The famous brooding scenes of people alone with one another or by themselves, and the depictions of solitary city streets and parks, are emotionally wooden, ultimately formulaic ersatz existentialism for an almost exclusively American audience. Whitney ticket buyers expect the museum to exhibit its most known and loved works. But "most known and loved" doesn't mean best. "Full House" was a chance to place some long-shot bets and reshuffle the cards. Then again, perhaps De Salvo and co. slyly overstacked the deck in order to prove once and for all that Hopper is not the "Whitney's Picasso"; he is the people's Picasso. The Whitney's—and maybe America's—real pre-war Picasso is a less crowd-pleasing, more difficult, visually jarring, intellectually edgy artist: Stuart Davis. Davis the modern; Hopper the anti-modern. If not Davis, even a few Alex Katzs would have established that American solitude has a bleached-out cinematic side. Charles Burchfield would have shown this solitude turn visionary. Diane Arbus, Maya Deren, Henry Darger, Peter Saul, H.C. Westermann, Rube Goldberg, Ivan Albright, Ed Paschke, William Copley, Louis Eilshemius, or Jim Nutt—none of whom are included—would have shown the schizophrenia and pleasure in this separateness. A Whistler would show it in a dandy light; a Homer would indicate some of its origins; Frank Lloyd Wright's anti-modern modernism could have demonstrated what happens when solitariness becomes individualism. But perhaps the greatest ommission, the Artist Most Missing in "Full House" is the most intense, mystically physical, magically structured painter America ever produced, a man who looked like a seagull and who was so high-strung that he never lived in one place for more than a few years, the inimitably strange and great Marsden Hartley. Still and all, "Full House's" brilliant installation reveals something about Hopper that I had never gotten before: Not only is he a wellspring for artists like Robert Bechtle and flatfooted 1970s photorealism, he is a founding father of American photography. On the captivating mezzanine you'll see that Philip-Lorca diCorcia, William Eggleston, Merry Alpern, Laurie Simmons, and Larry Sultan, among others, flow directly from Hopper's introspection, skepticism, yearning, and ambivalence. "Full House" extends this melancholy line to Nan Goldin's masterpiece The Ballad of Sexual Dependency. Revelations like these make you wish that "Full House" would have really upped the ante and gone for broke. Ready or Not It's ba-a-ack. The week after Labor Day means the New York art world is flipping from its summer sleep mode into what many dealers hope will be another season of full-tilt feeding frenzy. Chelsea, the neighborhood of more than 300 slick, wanton, wonderful, or whatever galleries—the boomtown or Babylon everyone loves to hate but goes to anyway—is being jazzed up as well. That strip of Niketown-like galleries on West 24th Street—where behemoth gallery-palaces account for more square footage of exhibition space than probably exists in the Copenhagen, Lisbon, and Oslo art worlds combined—has a new look. Marianne Boesky has built herself a snazzy building next to Barbara Gladstone, and down the block Andrea Rosen and Luhring Augustine are reopening in totally redone digs. The sight of dual cement trucks inside these two spaces this summer while girders were hoisted atop Boesky's building was only further proof, if any were necessary, that money is plentiful and ambition is in overdrive in Gomorrah-on-the-Hudson. Meanwhile, mega-players like David Zwirner and Larry Gagosian, who rent and own galleries in the district, haven't been idle. The former just opened not one but two new spaces on either side of his already large 19th Street gallery; the latter is not only building a large structure on land he leases on 21st Street, he's becoming an ecosphere unto himself—an empire that operates in more cities than the Guggenheim and that emits a honey-money scent enterprising artists apparently can't resist. At the rate he's growing, it sometimes seems like Gagosian might be the only gallery of contemporary art anywhere in ten years. Elsewhere in the food chain, Michele Maccarone is moving from Chinatown to a new ground floor space a few doors north of Gavin Brown in the West Village, and Reena Spaulings is relocating from its storefront on the Lower East Side to a larger space nearby. Whatever you think of an art world that operates on appetite, acumen, and ruthlessness as much as vision, whimsy, and good timing—to say nothing of money, clout, vanity, and insanity—it's here, it's queer, get used to it.

Wanted: A Plausible, Post-Genomic Biblical Adam and Eve Becoming reasonably conversant with contemporary developments and bringing biblical teaching to bear on commonplace assumptions is a perennial challenge for thoughtful Christians. One of the more pressing questions the church now confronts is a perceived conflict between the findings of the Human Genome Project and the Christian tradition regarding the common origin of humanity in a singular historical pair, Adam and Eve. Dennis Venema and Scot McKnight’s new book, Adam and the Genome, is a provocative interdisciplinary effort by two evangelicals—one a biologist, the other a New Testament scholar—proposing acceptance of the HGP claims and loosening the tie between the idea of a “historical Adam and Eve” and the presumed clear teaching of Scripture. Much can be said about this book. Being neither a scientist nor an exegete, I’d like to focus my reflections on some of the broader contours of the argument, specifically the way the two parts of the book hold together, and some of the unexpected inconsistencies the authors express. Genetics Research and Scripture: Weighing Claims, Evidence, and Conclusions In the first half of the book, Venema provides an overview of data leading to the current consensus view in evolutionary biology. His presentation is fascinating, detailed, and blessedly lucid for non-specialists. The bottom-line regarding human origins is this: “the population genetics data … indicate we descend from a population of about 10,000 individuals” (44). Baker Academic (2017) McKnight’s section proceeds on this assumption. What are we to make of the claim that we descend from a population of approximately 10,000 individuals, and that there were pre-Adamite humans? “What about those two humans in Genesis 1-3? And what about the eight that survived Noah’s flood?” McKnight asks. “Which are we to believe, the Bible or science?” (93). We can set aside for the moment McKnight’s belief in the Bible. As for his belief in science, that is clear enough: “[I]f the Human Genome Project has any weight in our worldview, to insist that our DNA comes from two humans, Adam and Eve, is intentionally to run contrary to what science now teaches with considerable evidence” (145). While such claims recur throughout the book, on closer inspection, Venema makes several important qualifications. Take, for example, the following comments: [W]e cannot be certain that any of these [hominin] species is in fact a direct ancestor of present-day humans. What these species … show us … is the probable path of our actual lineage, since these species are at least close relatives of our ancestral line. … [H]umans are, biologically speaking, not new—we are the modified descendants of similar species that lived in the past (59, emphasis added). Or, again, Venema writes: Science can tell us a few things—we descend from a population rather than a pair; our ancestors likely passed through these sorts of forms; and so on—but it is simply unable to weigh in on the historicity of Adam and Eve as individuals. . . . [I]f they were in fact historical, they were not the sole parents of all humanity but part of a larger population. Beyond this, science cannot say (59, emphasis added). Notably, McKnight claims more: the “What follows in Adam and the Genome, then, is a basic introduction to the science of evolution and genetics and how it impinges on the basic claim of many Christians: that you and I, and the rest of humans for all time come from two solitary individuals, Adam and Eve. Genetics makes that claim impossible–as I understand it.” (xi, emphasis added). Similarly: “What if one concludes with the scientists that … the DNA of humans on earth today could not have derived from two solitary hominins, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden?” (147-48, emphasis added). These strong claims actually contrast with Venema’s own specific statements. He writes, the baseline expectation should be that if humans are the product of an evolutionary process, we arrived at our current state as a population. Now it is technically possible that a species could be founded by a single ancestral breeding pair, just as it is technically possible that a new language could be founded by two speakers. This is not what one would usually expect, however—in fact, it would be highly unusual (46, emphasis added). [McKnight’s] strong claims actually contrast with Venema’s own specific statements.Relatedly, an excerpt from a Christianity Today article covering his work reads: “‘Had humanity begun with only two individuals, without millions of years for development, says an ASA paper, it would have required God’s miraculous intervention to increase the genetic diversity to what is observable today’” (44, emphasis added). Thus, Venema and McKnight draw divergent conclusions about the implications of the present state of scientific knowledge. On one hand, this shows the difficulty of interdisciplinary work in general. On the other, I think the problems, tensions, and mild incongruity in the book also can be traced to a significant issue: their ambiguity and ambivalence regarding concordism. As such, it may also show what can arise in light of the widespread assumption among evangelicals that all we need is biblical exegesis—banish the systematicians to the sidelines! “Concordism”: A Reassessment McKnight defines “concordism” as “a way of reading/interpreting Genesis that is in concord with science as we know it now, thereby granting to the Bible knowledge of science transcending its historical context” (215, n. 76, emphasis added). Of course, a harmonizing approach isn’t exclusive to biblicists; it’s also employed by Christian thinkers holding to an evolutionary paradigm. N.T. Wright, for example, proposes that Adam and Eve might have been elected from among the 10,000 hominins, had representative authority as God’s image conferred upon them, and subsequently failed to fulfill that responsibility. But McKnight will have none of this: “Instead of fighting that concordist approach to the ‘historical Adam (and Eve),’ I prefer to read Genesis in context to see what light it sheds on humans and human history” (145). Or, again, responding to interpreters suggesting that the Flood occurred but not on a global scale, McKnight’s chief objection is that it “permits a concordist reading of Genesis”; while not denying that such views are possible, he is concerned that they are “determined more by concordism than by historical readings of Genesis in context” (215, n. 75). While I appreciate McKnight’s focus on historical exegesis, this definition construes concordism as essentially anachronistic. But concordist interpretations need not entail ascribing modern scientific knowledge to the premodern human writers; the object of theological understanding is not what the ancients understood, but the matter to which they point with their own cultural resources. The compatibility of biblical teaching with the extratextual referents of which it speaks is possible because Scripture is ultimately divine authorial discourse. While I appreciate McKnight’s focus on historical exegesis, this definition construes concordism as essentially anachronistic.The congruence between the Word and the world to which it points is expressed in the Augustinian axiom: “a good and true Christian should realize that truth belongs to his Lord, wherever it is found, gathering and acknowledging it even in pagan literature” (On Christian Teaching, II.18). It’s proper to seek concord, I maintain, not in exegesis or biblical theology, but at the level of systematic-theological interpretation. Alvin Plantinga, recipient of this year’s Templeton Prize, exemplifies the best of Christian concordism in his treatment of the Christianity-science relation. He asserts: “There is superficial conflict but deep concord between science and theistic religion, but superficial concord and deep conflict between science and naturalism.”Alvin Plantinga, Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism. Oxford University Press, 2011, ix. Contrary to McKnight’s cursory dismissal of concordism, Plantinga incisively demonstrates that special divine action (including miracles) is not incompatible with the so-called laws of nature. We can “think of the laws of nature as describing what happens when the universe is causally closed (when God isn’t acting specially in the world)”Alvin Plantinga, Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism. Oxford University Press, 2011, 80. says Plantinga, but such “laws don’t tell us how things always go” in a cosmos open to divine influence from beyond the natural realm.Alvin Plantinga, Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism. Oxford University Press, 2011, 90. My purpose in citing Plantinga here is twofold: (i) he shows why concordism is important and how it’s done well. Additionally, (ii) his account shows that there is a way of theorizing about scientific data that is in “deep conflict” with Christian theism—namely, one that attributes all processes and events to exclusively natural or material means within a cosmos posited as closed (i.e., metaphysical naturalism, not methodological atheism as such). For Christian theists, then, the regular processes by which the world ordinarily operates do not rule out special divine action. In this way, Venema’s qualified conclusions—e.g., “it is technically possible that a species could be founded by a single ancestral breeding pair,” albeit exceptionally—still leaves room for the constitution of the first male and female divine image-bearing human beings (in part or in whole) as a special divine act. But note again that McKnight’s claims are far stronger: he says that the genetic data “negates” and renders “impossible” the biblical portrayal. Despite his good intentions to make room for young believers who are budding scientists, his statements here are at best incautious, approximating metaphysical naturalism. Now I’m sure this is inadvertent; he believes in the bodily resurrection of Jesus as well as God’s freedom to enact miracles in the world. But since this is the case, why is his position on the historical Adam stated so strongly? Conclusion: Assessing the Book’s Material Contribution As a general reader in matters of science, I find Venema’s tutorial very informative and valuable. As a systematic theologian, I conclude that his more measured statements about what is inferable from current biological research effectively admit that in a cosmos not causally closed, special divine acts remain a perpetual possibility. If I correctly understand the entailments of his presentation of genetics research at present, the processes and patterns he sets forth represent not invariable necessities, but statistical probabilities to a very high degree. Hence this data does not—and for a Christian theist,Many of their scientific and exegetical insights are instructive and suggestive, but the lack of a specific concordist proposal is something of a missed opportunity. in principle it cannot—finally exclude the possibility that by a special act, God created two historical individuals as the first divine image-bearing human beings who are the direct biological ancestors of their kind (whatever view one takes of their genetic makeup). Many will find much to appreciate in McKnight’s interaction with the biblical texts informed by recent work in comparative studies. But relative to the logical and ontological entailments of the canonical presentation of Adam and Eve, I find his account (disjoining the “historical” from “literary,” “genealogical,” and “archetypal” figure) truncated. And because (for the reasons indicated above) I think he overstates the force for the genetic evidence, I don’t find his argument relative to the HGP thesis as persuasive as Daniel Harrell–the author of the afterword–thinks it is (196, 198). Venema and McKnight implicitly recognize that concordism as I’ve outlined it is valid: why else engage in dialogue about a perceived interdisciplinary conflict? Many of their scientific and exegetical insights are instructive and suggestive (and accessible—no small feat), but the lack of a specific concordist proposal is something of a missed opportunity. Here’s hoping that their work, along with the kinds of questions it has raised, will stimulate others of all persuasions to build on and refine what’s presented in the book, for the sake of greater clarity in our common project: the search for the most plausible view(s) of the biblical Adam consistent with the biological evidence, interpreted within a Christian theistic framework. Elizabeth “Lisa” Sung (PhD Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is the Chester and Margaret Paluch Professor of Theology at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. She was formerly Associate Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Her current research focuses on theological anthropology and the theology of race.

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Was I right not to lend him money? There's a neighbour who helps everyone fix stuff around the house and he does it for free (he gets offended when someone offers to pay him). He helped me put up a shelf and fixed my door. One day he came and asked me to lend him 60$ and I said no because I'd lent him a game and he never returned it. Anyway, he said "What kind of person are you? I helped you out around the house and you won't lend me money" then he just ran away from my house without saying bye or anything. He doesn't come by anymore (he'd used to come and chat with my mom) and my mom called him to fix the faucet (I told her not to) and he said he will but he never did.Was I right not to lend him money? Most Helpful Guy You were in the right not to lend him money. I made the mistake of lending my female friend money and she never repaid me. Lesson learnt don't lend people money unless they are family. I know my family would always pay me back. People that come back with the kind of response "What kind of person are you? I helped you..." are trying to guilt you into what they want. They are very annoying and selfish, these types of people actually show you that they are not a nice as you think they once were. Sorry I am not trying to be mean but it is the truth. Most Helpful Girl What Guys Said 3 Not enough info... There are some very friendly people who are always willing to help others and simply expect others to help them in return. Farming communities are like that. Everyone help everyone else. That may be what he is used to. On the other hand, you get people who are manipulative. I have an uncle like that. He always help when it suites him and when it does not cost him much, but guilt trips people when he wants something in return. No one trusts him anymore.

Teeth and Claws blog VirginWorlds MMO News Thursday, June 11, 2009 I recently got to the cinema for the first time in ages and watched 'Drag me to Hell', the latest horror flick from director Sam Raimi. The advertising boasted his recent Spiderman hits but I, like most I imagine, associated this more with the Evil Dead franchise and as it turns out fans of this series should be right at home with this movie. It's time to strap on a pair of protective goggles, keep your mouth firmly shut and checkout the trailer for Drag me to Hell before I go on. So, what did you make of that? Looks like a straight forward horror film right, plenty of creepy things going on and enough to make you think this is a serious film. This was certainly what I was expecting having seen the trailer and heard some guys at work talking about the movie. 'You'll need a strong stomach' I was told...right! Drag me to Hell is a blast, not at all a serious attempt at horror but rather a true return to his roots for Sam Raimi who must've had a whole lot of fun filming 'Evil Dead' and wanted to revisit this style of 'casual' filming after a bout of high budget movie making. I'm surprised the cast weren't all suffering whiplash with the amount of nods to the Evil Dead series, from possessed people being made to jive in the air to the cheesy one liners that made Bruce Campbell's career! 'I'm gonna get me some' ring a bell to anyone? Not quite 'Come get some' but you see what I mean! There was even a reference to a visit to a log cabin out in the woods part way through the film, though unfortunately the film didn't go there the mention was loud and clear! The cast play their part reasonably enough, this film isn't going to grab any oscars but then it would be absurd to think they were ever going to try! Alison Lohman plays the main lead, Christine Brown, in the film as a young, career focused woman who inherits a gypsy curse from the hair grabbing Mrs. Ganush played by Lorna Raver. It's a surprise Christine has any hair left by the end of the movie as Mrs. Ganush certainly makes a good effort to yank it all out in pretty much every scene she's in! From the moment Mrs. Ganush is removed from the bank the film begins its trek down the absurd, with a crazed old woman 'gumming' her victim as she desperately tries to bite her victim; and later a talking goat that is very reminiscent of the famed 'Dead by dawn' mounted deer. I know I keep harping on about the similarities here but they jumped out at me so many times that they have to be acknowledged. It would be easy to sum this review up by saying that if you enjoyed Evil Dead then there's no doubt you'll enjoy this movie but should there be any of you that have taken up residence under a rather large rock I feel I should wrap up my thoughts on this with a little more detail. Drag me to Hell is a fine twist of horror and comedy, which if you get behind then you'll love but if you're after a proper fright then this isn't the film for you. There's eye-balls popping, embalming fluid gushing and demons jigging, what more could you ask for!?!

Tertium Organum, Chapter 3 (Space) Looking at the pattern among the first three dimensions, a higher dimension manifests new properties that are inconceivable in the absence of that dimension. So in our 3D space it is impossible to imagine the body having more than three dimensions, and impossible to understand the laws of the existence of such a body. Therefore, Ouspensky starts out his investigation by considering what cannot be in four-dimensional space. He hopes that this will permit him to set forth what can be there. By analogy, a “four-dimensional body” could be a tracing of the movement of a three-dimensional body in a direction that cannot be projected from the other three dimensions. For example, time is a direction that cannot be projected from the three spatial dimensions. It is independent of those three spatial dimensions. Therefore, the tracing of the movement of a three-dimensional body in time shall produce a “history,” which may be called a “four-dimensional body.” NOTE: The fourth dimension of ‘higher space’ does not have to be a geometrical dimension. Again, by analogy, we may regard a 4D body as an infinite number of 3D bodies. A body with all its “history” shall satisfy that requirement. It would be limited, or outlined, by 3D bodies. Or, it would form the distance between two 3D bodies. Or, it would separate several 3D bodies one from another. A 4D body, such as, a “historical body,” would bind several 3D bodies into a certain whole. The 4D space shall contain distances between a group of 3D solids. By analogy, it is possible to regard the 3D solid as a section of a 4D body, and our entire 3D space as a section of a 4D space. Ouspensky says, If every three-dimensional body is the section of a four-dimensional one, then every point of a three-dimensional body is the section of a four-dimensional line. It is possible to regard an “atom” of a physical body, not as something material, but as an intersection of a four-dimensional line by the plane of our consciousness. In other words, the “plane of our consciousness” is three-dimensional. That would be a moment in time. It is possible then, that a number of 3D bodies that appear to be separate, are parts of the same 4D body. In our example, the 3D bodies that appear to be separate in a moment in time, may not be separate and be part of the same 4D “historical body,” such as, a family tree. Just like it is possible to represent a 3D body upon a plane, It may be possible to represent a 4D body in 3D space. I think this is done in a museum, where the growth of a life form over time is shown in the same model. Based on the above, the following is my firm belief. The fourth-dimension of ‘higher space’ does not have to be geometrical. It can be time, which is perceived mentally. Therefore, all higher dimensions of space are, more likely, going to be perceived mentally.

Dedicated to establishing the Windham region as a preeminent four season destination and bettering the lives of its residents and visitors through the enhancement of trail-based recreation opportunities. The Windham Path is located just off State Route 23. The Path winds in and out of wooded areas. Several custom made benches line the path, and provide a great place to take a break and take the view in. Five bridges span streams and tributaries of the Batavia Kill on the Windham Path.

Holmqvist Points in Linkopings Defeat Linkopings lost to Vastra Frolunda today 3-2 in overtime. Defenseman Andreas Holmqvist[3] had a power play assist in the game. Goaltender Fredrik Norrena[4] remains out of the lineup with a groin injury for the club.

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