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FINAL-Crowhurst Neighbourhood Plan
Steering Group
Consultation Process
Neighbourhood Plan Meetings
Task Groups
Data Protection
Young People and Schools Page
Community Gallery
Neighbourhood Plan Group Meeting
27th February 2016
Village Hall
In Attendance: 26 Residents
The meeting was facilitated by Gail Harley who thanked everyone for attending. The notes from the meeting held on 20 January 2016 were agreed.
Liaison with Parish Council
Councillor Alan Stainsby, Chairman of Crowhurst Parish Council, stated that he was impressed with the work the group had achieved so far. He stressed that he would not be attending on a regular basis to ensure clear separation between the Neighbourhood Plan Group and the Parish Council. Crowhurst is one of the smallest parishes to begin the process of developing a Neighbourhood Plan and it was important that the final plan passes Independent Examination the first time, particularly to avoid extra time and costs. Three basic conditions that must be met are the National Planning Policy Guidance, Rother District Council's Core Development Plan, and the Strategic Environment Assessment. It is also a requirement to follow Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) guidelines. Crowhurst Parish Council is the qualifying and relevant body and has overall responsibility for the Plan.
Councillor Alan Stainsby explained that it is vital to have clear Terms of Reference in place approved by the Parish Council. He confirmed that a Steering Group should be set up, using professional advice where necessary. The Parish Council needs to be assured that nothing is overlooked. A clear framework for everyone to work with was essential; and he suggested that the work of other councils towards a Neighbourhood Plan could be useful to the Group in deciding on a way forward.
Sonia Plato explained how the Neighbourhood Plan Group could be structured, i.e.
some Task Groups have already been set up and others will follow later as work progresses. These will report back to the Steering Group with one representative per Task Group being a member of the Steering Group. Steering Group members may change over time as new Task Groups are set up but it is necessary to have a strong framework with a clear structure that includes everyone's views. (See attached)
This will be a two year process and the guidelines for evidence must be followed , e.g. notes of all meetings, consultation with residents, photos of posters, etc., as clear proof of what has been done during the process. A grant of £8,000 is available from DCLG for beginning the process, administered by the Parish Council.
Tracy Hoad informed the meeting that any fundraising money needs to go through the Parish Council because the Group does not meet the necessary regulations to enable it to have its own bank account. Tracy Hoad agreed to meet with Keith Robertson, Clerk to the Parish Council, to discuss how this can be done.
Our Vision and Terms of Reference
Gail Harley opened the discussion on Our Vision and some ideas put forward were –
Protecting the identity of the village,
Promoting community spirit,
Consensual development,
Sustaining the character of the village,
Protecting the environment.
It was important to include what residents want and what we don't want.It was suggested that neighbouring parishes be contacted to check the plans they have for their village borders which may impact on Crowhurst.Concern was expressed about the possibility of development along the Hastings/Bexhill Link Road and the loss of the identity of Crowhurst as a village.
It was pointed out that there has been eight new buildings erected at Crowhurst Park and whether this would count towards the District Council's allocated development for Crowhurst.It was agreed that Keith Robertson be asked to contact Norman Kwan, Planning Officer, Rother District Council, to clarify the situation.
The meeting then went through the draft Terms of Reference drawn up by Graeme Quinnell, who was unable to attend this meeting.Gail Harley agreed to produce the amended document which would be submitted to Parish Council for approval.
In view of the length of the discussion on the draft Terms of Reference, it was agreed to defer the remainder of the agenda to the next meeting.
It was agreed to distribute a leaflet with a map of the Village boundary on the back showing the designated area for the Neighbourhood Plan and suggested that this could be distributed with the Parish Newsletter.
Gail Harley thanked everyone for their work at the meeting.
Date of Next Meeting – Thursday 24 March 2016 at 7.30pm in Crowhurst Village Hall.
The meeting closed at 9.30pm.
Stay informed about your Neighbourhood Plan. To receive updates and notifications about progress, meetings and events c
ontact us at:
[email protected]
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at any time
just send us an email with UNSUBSCRIBE in the title.
All contact information you provide will be held securely and will NOT be shared with any other third-party organisation for any purposes including marketing or promotion of goods and services. For your full data protection rights information please
click here
This site uses cookies. Most people know this term but don't really know what it means! So for a beautifully concise description of what cookies are and what they do, please click
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. (from the BBC website).
If you do not consent to cookies please
email us
when you have finished using the website ans we can tell you how to remove any cookies that the website may have used during your visit, Thank you.
A Neighbourhood Plan for Crowhurst
Click here to read about the background of the Crowhurst Plan and why we need it.
The Final Crowhurst Neighbourhood Development Plan. The referendum on this important document will take place in the summer.
Contains links to the archived Reg. 16 and Reg. 14 consultation and submission pages.
Archive-REG 14, 16
The Minutes from the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group meetings are very important working documents. They are a monthly record of the process and progress of our Neighbourhood Plan. They provide easily accessible updates on what each of the Task Groups have been doing and how the village surveys and public responses are all feeding back into the process. If you need to know where we are with our Neighbourhood Plan then these minutes are essential reading.
Here you will find information,
minutes and from all
Neighbourhood Plan Meetings plus dates and agendas for the future.
This page contains all documents relating to the Consultation Process including village survey results and longlisted and shortlisted sites feedback. It will be updated as the process continues.
There are several task groups in which Crowhurst resident volunteers work on issues like communications, land use, heritage and the environment These groups will make a huge contribution to the final Neighbourhood Plan document.
Towards the end of 2016 we met with staff and pupils at Crowhurst Primary School and Claverham. Their valuable and interesting views can be seen here on dedicated website page about our school visits.
This page contains the legal stuff! Our policies, data protection information, terms of reference and frequently asked questions about the Neighbourhood Planning Process
Your pictures of our village. Views, buildings, sheep, trees, dogs..... we want to see what makes you happy about Crowhurst.
Please send you photos to :
[email protected]
This blog is mostly to enable you to engage directly with feedback, comments and questions. If you are unable to attend the regular meetings in the village hall and need a place to comment then please do so here.
Useful links:
For more information on the Crowhurst Neighbourhood Plan application please see:
Rother District Council
For more information on our Neighbourhood Plan process and to access minutes of all previous meetings please see either of the links below:
Crowhurst Eye
Crowhurst Parish Council


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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Keith: Destruction, Creation & the Revolution, Part Five.
It's been an incredible week!
Special thanks to Pat Sloan and Aline Pulley of DDB Worldwide for helping coordinate the Last Man Man project. A loud shout-out of appreciation to John Cecil of Innovate Media for sponsoring our efforts to bring it to you.
Thank you as well to all of our readers who sent us their feedback on the series. One of those letters is below. It's from Steven Marrs, CEO of Branded Pictures.
And most of all, on behalf of everyone at the MadAve Journal, special thanks to the Last Mad Man himself, Mr. Keith Reinhard, for the support, interest and time he lent us to bring it to you!
From Steven Marrs: "If the current industry is built on jargon and handles, Keith is one of the truly extraordinary individuals who not only had a clear vision of what he thought the advertising world should look like, but a determined and disciplined way of inspiring other to join in his cause. He lives what he preaches and leads by example. His constant quest for knowledge and always wanting to understand what's next is a refreshing departure from a business that is more interested in its past than its future.
My favorite inspiration for how I conducted business at Tribal, and truthfully apply it in my current capacity, is Keith's Four Freedoms. But in particular, the Freedom to Fail stands out. In a creative business, failure is a given but providing a framework for risk taking is nothing short of genius. It is his unique insights, yearning for knowledge and firm grasp of the creative dynamic that makes Keith special. It is also his compassion and passion that is inspirational. He has had a profound impact on me both personally and professionally and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to apprentice in his shadow for a short period of time."
Tim: We've covered a lot. What seminal moments have you had in your life that you can talk to us about?
Keith: Well, I think growing up in a small, Midwestern, Mennonite community has been important. I'm no longer a Mennonite obviously, because Mennonites wouldn't let us watch television. We weren't allowed to watch television. (laughs). They do now.
Tim: Sure, times have changed.
Keith: Also from learning from the merchants. My grandfather was a great salesman and a county office holder when the Democrats were the majority. Usually they weren't in office, so he started selling Ford automobiles and then he sold farms and became an auctioneer, which was combination showbiz and salesman. I've learned so much from him. He knew every Chevy owner in the county, I think. He knew how old the cars were. So on a rainy day he'd take a new Ford out to some farmer and say "You know, I saw you going through town the other day and there are quite a few rattles in that old Chevy. I knew you'd be sitting here because it is too wet to plough today. Why don't you pop in this, we'll take it out on a two lane and see what you think." He knew how to create sales.
Tim: They trusted him too.
Keith: Right, but it was also about understanding what the customer needs, understanding what the customer wants, and knowing what the customer wants.
Tim: Right.
Keith: Stanley Marcus was also a mentor of mine. He was the genius behind Neiman Marcus. He's the one who turned a store catalog into a spectacular event. Every year everybody wondered what's going to be the big gift in the Neiman Marcus catalog. Things like "his and her giraffes", outrageous things that reinforced the one-of-a-kind nature of his company. He was a genius at marketing and he taught me so much about selling and about merchandising. Years ago I was reading his book called "Quest for the Best" and I found myself underlining so many parts, I decided to do something. I sent it to him, the underlined copy and I said, "I wonder if anybody has ever sent you what a reader thinks is important. But please send it back, because otherwise I've got to do it all again!" He called me and we got to be friends. He was very much around when we did the merger, to sort of help counsel and guide.
Tim: That's great!
Keith: There have been so many role models and so many teachers and tutors along the way, some living and some who have passed on.
Tim: Who for example?
Keith: What we learn from Picasso was directly applicable to creating DDB Worldwide.
Tim: How's that?
Keith: The first act of creation is destruction.
Tim: How did it apply to DDB?
Keith: We had to destroy two cultures, save the foundation, and build a new culture on that. As I mentioned, we also had to establish the leadership and the Bernbach principles.
Tim: I never thought of it that way. Here's a question. Is technology going to change human nature? Is that a stupid question?
Keith: Well... what I believe is that we need to be concentrating more on unchanging man, as Bill said, than on changing man. That since time began and as far out as we can imagine, basic human drives will continue to sustain. The obsession to succeed, however you define that, the drive to survive and the drive to be admired, the drive to take care of your own - whether it's your Chihuahua or your daughter or your job. I think there is a basic drive to be, if not happy, certainly satisfied. There's the drive for companionship and friendship, and so forth. Those don't change. Bill understood that and appealed to those in various ways with the tools he had available. But he understood and appreciated and respected people and their drives.
Tim: How about new media?
Keith: Engagement is not a new thing. It's just that we have tools now. Also consumer-created content is not new. People have been writing poems, writing songs and painting pictures, forever. It's just that all of a sudden now, today they are on our screens. What changes in terms of our business, we can also be pretty clear about. After having said that there are some things that don't change, like the power of an idea or a brand.
Tim: What do you think has changed?
Keith: There are all sorts of changes, some large and some small.
Tim: Give me an example.
Keith: Okay, we used to set the time of appointments. If you want to see 'Friends' (the TV show) you'd have to be there in front of your TV, and we'd be there with our commercials, of course. Now it's different. Now you set the time, the place, you decide when, where, how, whether to engage with a brand at all. That's a big change. Going with that though are some other changes which are difficult for traditional creative people to get. We grew up in a one-way mode--"Let me entertain you, let me make you smile, I'm very versatile." It was all about me to you. Then you either liked it, laughed, cried, whatever. Now it's what do we do together? You can invent Lara Croft but the engagement is not complete until someone plays Tomb Raider.
Tim: Interesting.
Keith: So it's a two-way thing and that is really tough. Another thing that is changing is - and this is related to technology - is that more and more brand decisions would be based not on what's in the product, but what the brand stands for, and that's influenced by the blogosphere, the transparency and the democratization of information.
Tim: Right.
Keith: If you misbehave in terms of environment or human rights or other social issues, I'll know about it and I won't buy your brand. As consumers become more educated and more knowledgeable about these things, and as parity becomes the norm in products and services, then the difference would be what a brand stands for. So it's up to us to make sure that we can communicate those values which are imported into a brand. We used to talk about what's in the brand. Secret ingredients make us different. No, not anymore. It's what we import and attach. And it better not be just cosmetic because the blogosphere will get you. It better be real. So those are some of the changes. Will it change people? That's a really good question.
Tim: Next question. Bill is from New York, right?
Keith: Yes.
Tim: He had a gift. Was he born with it? How did he get that gift? Did New York culture influence him?
Keith: He was street savvy.
Tim: Okay.
Keith: He was street savvy and a very philosophical person. All you have to do is read the "Bill said" quotes and you'll see what I mean. He was the creator of the first Jewish ad agency. He was very comfortable people working with people from a wide range of cultures and ethnic backgrounds, Greek copywriters, Italian Art Directors and all that whole mélange.
Tim: So he didn't look at the person's outside. He looked at what was inside.
Keith: One of his quotations about the kind of people we hire was, "You have to be talented and nice". We use that as a basis for DDB Worldwide too; we don't have room for superstars. One could argue that he made a few mistakes along the way, but that was a philosophy. I think it was that combination of being the street savvy New Yorker as well as a student of human nature and of philosophy. It was a rare combination. A friend of mine said, he was a visionary and a worrier And that's a tough combination. But I think most visionaries may be worriers.
Tim: How has this affected you?
Keith: I don't classify myself as a visionary, but I am a worrier. My board meetings were always praising what had been accomplished. But I learned from Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonalds who also had a great influence too. In his high-pitched voice he was always saying, "What we're doing, we can do better." There was always that.
Tim: There is a business factor.
Keith: In the context of Madison Avenue. If you go back to the film, "The Hucksters" with Sidney Greenstreet and Clark Gable, the message was, "Hit them over the head and repeat the message over and over. The high priests of advertising, in those days really believed in those rules.
Tim: Great film.
Keith: And then Bill came along and said, "That's not the way to do it." He said, "Wait a minute. We can engage people." Instead of doing that with Alka Seltzer, which was a big brand at the time, he came up with the "Spicy Meatball" campaign. Somebody who was putting together an advertising museum of the greatest ads and asked me to select what to me was the most important ad. You only had one." And I said, "No question. It was the Cat and a hat Ohrbach's ad." It was like one of the first things Doyle Dane Bernbach for them.
Tim: What was it?
Keith: The illustration is a cat with a long cigarette holder and a jaunty hat. The headline was "I found out about Joan." It is super catty and tells the story about how someone saw Joan, a mutual acquaintance walk out of Ohrbach's, a discount department store, dressed like a million bucks.
Tim: Gossip.
Keith: Right. And it was way before "Lemon." It was the first time where somebody actually branded the consumer as being super-smart, versus many other ads that branded the store or the merchandise. That was one of the reasons that I selected it.
Tim: What's the other one?
Keith: The other reason was that it was the ad that Volkswagen America saw when they were about to import the Beetle into this country. They saw the ad and said, "I want that agency to work on our business."
Tim: Wow, I didn't know that!
Keith: And that led to real revolution. (Laughs)
Tim: Full circle. Keith, thank you so much. This was great.
Keith: You are welcome, Tim.
More in The Last Mad Man


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My sister is a preschool teacher, and boy does she give me some of the best ideas for my little ones! For the fall, she gave her tiny students in her class Apple Pie Scented Play Dough……and I thought she was a nut. I have tons of the store bought Play-Doh, so why go through all of the trouble to make a homemade recipe. Turns out, I am the goofball, because this stuff is amazing!
Homemade play dough is the softest, most pliable, and best smelling dough ever, as long as it's made right…….who knew? The following recipe is sure to keep your little guys playing for hours. My kids love the store bought Play-Doh and will usually play with it for 30 minutes or so, but this fragrant goodness kept them entertained for almost 2 hours. Of course, be creative with the 'tools' you give them, such as plastic utensils, seasonal cookie cutters (which we have a ton of thanks to diligent thrift store shopping), alphabet and number cookie cutters, and oodles of kitchen utensils. If you have other great ideas for how to play with play dough, please leave them in the comments for others to enjoy!
First off, you have to make sure that you have apple pie spice, which I did not, so I got a recipe online. I usually make most of my own spice mixes because they are cheaper……..as long as you buy cheap spices to begin with (and yes, I know that your cooking will only taste as good as the spices that you buy, but we have too many mouths to feed and we think the food tastes pretty good, so hey). I buy Walmart brand or a really cheap spice line that I found at my grocery store (Food Lion) made by Bodia. The only spice blends that I do not make are fajita seasonings and taco seasonings, because they are so much cheaper pre-made.
I got this recipe off of a blog called Baking Bites. Not only does it have the Apple Pie Spice recipe, but a Pumpkin Pie Spice recipe as well…..you can check it our here: http://bakingbites.com/2007/10/make-your-own-apple-and-pumpkin-pie-spice-mixes/ If you love the apple pie scented play dough, then you will love pumpkin pie scented dough just as much!
1/4 cup ground cinnamon
1 tbsp allspice
2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cardamom (optional, and I did not use this in my recipe)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup salt
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 tbsp apple pie spice
Mix together in a big bowl with your hands, kneading it together until a soft dough forms in the consistency of a typical play dough. Add more flour if needed, but slowly.
Store in a ZipLock bag, with all of the air pushed out. We have had our play dough for over a month and it is still going strong. Enjoy!


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Create a platform for growth with the right hotel property-management system and point-of-sale system to manage your hotel and food and beverage operations. Integrated Oracle Hospitality hotel solutions increase operating efficiency and enable better guest experiences for independent hotels and hotel chains.
The timing was right for Dalata Hotel Group to move to OPERA Cloud with the consolidation of properties as they worked toward a seamless view of data with a platform that allows the hotel group to be agile, while maximizing revenue.
Hotel Julian uses Oracle Hospitality OPERA property management software to create a unique experience for guests.
Montage International invests in the point of sale of the future with Oracle Hospitality. The partnership they have with Oracle Hospitality and the migration to Simphony Cloud has transformed the way they operate in Food and Beverage.
Europa Park uses Oracle Hospitality solutions to manage its 5 hotels, 4500 beds, and 19 restaurants & bars.
For hoteliers, the need to create connections with guests through personalized service escalates daily. It's the key to delivering exceptional experiences and winning loyalty—essential in a world where choices abound. Oracle Hospitality assists businesses of all shapes and sizes—from a single property to a global chain—with comprehensive hotel property management solutions that cater to every phase of the guest's travel journey. Oracle's acclaimed property management system, OPERA, can be deployed either as a cloud-based or a conventional, on-premises solution. With the foundational hotel PMS platform, operators can tackle a full spectrum of tasks, including better managing housekeeping and maintenance, accelerating check-in and checkout, improving kitchen operations, and deploying mobile devices to enhance guest service anywhere, anytime. By taking a 360-degree view of the enterprise, OPERA optimizes operations across the board, yielding the speed, agility, and efficiency required to meet guests' ever-changing needs. And with unrivaled integration capabilities, OPERA can tap into powerful reporting and analytics, orchestrate revenue management, and maximize online booking. Contact Oracle Hospitality and let us help you accelerate innovation.
Oracle Hospitality's OPERA is the world's most popular hotel property management system. OPERA Cloud provides comprehensive hotel PMS capabilities. Mobile-enabled, OPERA Cloud provides a great foundation for a modern hotel operation.
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Exclusive Oracle Hospitality research on hotel loyalty addresses several key topics, including differences in generational behavior and technology's role in nurturing loyalty. Get insights into misconceptions on how consumers engage with loyalty programs and the role of technology in driving hotel loyalty in this new report.
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Discover how artificial intelligence enhances the hotel guest experience in this exclusive research report.
Take a look at the hotel of the future with exclusive industry research by Oracle.


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Nougat Update Rollout For the HTC One A9 Begins Tonight
Many of the HTC users here will be curious regarding the Nougat updates on the HTC devices. Last month, as you may know, HTC had rolled out a Nougat update for the HTC 10 and now the story continues for the HTC One A9 users. HTC USA's Vice President of Product Management Mo Versi took to Twitter to confirm the update rollout for the One A9.
The HTC One A9 is powered by the 1.5GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 SoC, and is one of only a handful of phones that have adopted this processor. Compared to its series predecessors, the 615 and 616, the 617 has been designed to offer better performance and battery life as well as higher LTE speeds, better Wi-Fi handling capabilities, and support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0.
The HTC One A9 supports Quick Charge 2.0 out-of-the-box, but unfortunately doesn't ship with a compatible charger and seems like a blatant case of cost cutting. However, we tried charging the one with a third-party Quick Charge 2.0-compatible charger, and charging is more quicker.
One A9 also has 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage (expandable by up to 200GB using a microSD card), Wi-Fi 802.11n as well as 802.11ac, and 4G connectivity on its single nano-SIM slot (FDD Band 3 and TDD Band 40 both supported). There's also a 2150mAh battery, Bluetooth 4.1 with apt-X, and HTC's Boomsound audio enhancement software built in.
Overall, it seems that the One A9 is going to run a smooth Nougat version of Android and we expect it to perform better at these specifications. The update is said to roll out tonight to the unlocked variants of the One A9 and we are really waiting for it inevitably. Currently there is no news as to when the carrier locked variants of the device will get the update, however as we had seen in the case of the HTC 10, we do hope that the carrier locked variants will get the update soon too. So let's see what's in account of the One A9 users.
Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter
Nougat Update Rollout For the HTC One A9 Begins Tonight Reviewed by Unknown on 1/16/2017 11:19:00 PM
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- Research article
- Open Access
The biogeographic origin of a radiation of trees in Madagascar: implications for the assembly of a tropical forest biome
© Federman et al. 2015
- Received: 25 April 2015
- Accepted: 14 September 2015
- Published: 5 October 2015
Madagascar's rain forests are characterized by extreme and uneven patterns of species richness and endemicity, the biogeographic and evolutionary origins of which are poorly understood.
Here we use a time-calibrated phylogeny of a dominant group of trees in Madagascar's eastern rain forests, Canarium, and related Burseraceae (Canarieae), to test biogeographic hypotheses regarding the origin and radiation of the flora of this unique biome.
Our findings strongly support the monophyly of Malagasy Canarium, suggesting that this clade represents a previously undocumented in situ radiation. Contrary to expectations of dispersal from Africa during the Oligocene, concurrent with the formation of Madagascar's rain forest biome, our analyses support a late Miocene origin for Malagasy Canarium, probably by long distance dispersal from Southeast Asia.
Our study illustrates the importance of considering long distance dispersal as a viable explanation for clades with pantropical distributions diversifying subsequent to the Oligocene, and it highlights the formation of the Indo-Australian Archipelago and associated fast-moving equatorial surface currents, suggesting an under-appreciated evolutionary link among tropical centers of endemism.
We postulate that the relatively recent establishment and radiation of Canarium in Madagascar may have been facilitated by the highly stochastic climates associated with these forest ecosystems.
- Tropical Cyclone
- Rain Forest
- Bayesian Posterior Probability
- High Posterior Density
- Much Recent Common Ancestor
While it is widely understood that Madagascar harbors extraordinary levels of endemic and highly threatened biodiversity, rather little is known about the genesis of this diversity [1–3]. What were the source areas for those lineages that radiated in Madagascar and now dominate its distinctive landscapes? How was the biota assembled over time? Answers to such questions are difficult, as Madagascar has been an isolated landmass for the past 88 Ma [3] and, due to continental drift, has experienced major climatic transitions. In the Cretaceous, Madagascar may have had a moist, temperate climate, but during the Paleocene and Eocene, the island passed through the 30° latitude subtropical arid zone and widespread arid environments likely predominated [4, 5]. Subsequently, as Madagascar drifted into the trade-wind belt, moister climates developed on its northern and eastern margins [4]. Under this scenario, the island's hyper-diverse rain forest biome post-dated dry-spiny forest conditions and likely developed during the Oligocene [4]. This transition to new climatic regimes would have created opportunities both for in situ diversification of existing lineages into novel biomes, and for colonization from tropical biomes elsewhere [6]. While many of Madagascar's endemic rain forest species have sister lineages within Madagascar, indicating high rates of in situ diversification [1, 3, 7], it is also clear that post-Eocene colonization events have contributed significantly to extant biodiversity [7–9].
During the early development of Madagascar's rain forests in the Oligocene, predominant marine currents were eastward, favoring colonization from Africa [7]. Yet, there are indications that colonists also arrived from both India and Southeast Asia [1, 3]. Movement by ocean current from Southeast Asia in particular probably became intermittently feasible from the Oligocene (34–23 Ma) [3, 7, 10, 11]. This was due to tectonic shifts in the positions of Indian and Southeast Asian landmasses, and gradual westward reconfiguration of the predominant current [10, 11]. By the early Miocene this reconfiguration was complete, and marine dispersal from Africa to Madagascar would be far less likely [7].
It is widely believed that early arrivers limit the establishment and diversification of subsequent colonizers [12]. This expectation implies that the dominant elements of Madagascar's tropical forests should be composed mainly of early-arriving African elements. However, Madagascar's rain forests are unusually stochastic in terms of rainfall, temperature, and exposure to cyclones [5], which may violate theoretical assumptions of relative stability by continually resetting the ecological stage. Could these stochastic forest systems facilitate successful colonization and in situ radiation by late-arriving lineages?
We focus here on Canarium, a dominant lineage of trees in Madagascar's tropical forests, and on related Burseraceae (Canarieae). These plants are widely distributed around the tropics, and Canarium species, in particular, often dominate Madagascar's eastern rain forests, sometimes comprising up to 30 % of the woody biomass at mid-elevation sites [13]. Additionally, Canarium fruits provide essential food resources for Strepsirrhine primates including the Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) and the critically endangered Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur (Varecia variegata). All previous ecological and evolutionary investigations of Canarium were predicated on the assumption that there were just two widespread and abundant species [14]. However, a recent taxonomic revision of Canarium in Madagascar has fundamentally altered our understanding of these dominant forest trees by positing the existence of 33 species on the island [13]. This new understanding requires a re-investigation of Canarium's ecological role and evolutionary history. Are these species the descendants of one colonist, or more? Did they arrive from Africa during the advent of Malagasy rain forests, as might be expected, or from elsewhere at some other time?
Morphological taxonomic treatments of Canarium place the Malagasy taxa within Southeast Asian species complexes [14], which casts doubt on the hypothesis of an Oligocene African origin. Previous phylogenetic studies imply the non-monophyly of Canarium, but sampling has been insufficient to address the biogeographic origins of Malagasy Canarium [15]. As Canarium may not be monophyletic, its evolutionary history must be considered in the context of the Canarieae, a pantropically distributed tropical forest clade of ca. 250 species.
To test competing hypotheses for the biogeographic source(s) of Malagasy Canarium, we here infer the most comprehensively sampled phylogeny of Canarieae to date, including 36 % of the clade's estimated species diversity. We specifically focus on the evolutionary history of Malagasy Canarium, providing strong evidence that this is indeed a previously undetected in situ radiation. Using our dated phylogenetic tree as a foundation for biogeographic analyses, we argue that Canarium arrived in Madagascar through geologically recent long distance dispersal from Southeast Asia, coincident with the formation of the Indo-Australian Archipelago (IAA). This suggests an under-appreciated evolutionary link among tropical centers of endemism.
Taxon sampling and DNA extraction and sequencing
The Canarieae contains roughly 250 species placed in 11 genera distributed throughout the tropics (Additional file 1: A1), the internal structure of which is currently being revised [16]. We sampled 90 of these species: 13 of Boswellia, 50 of Canarium, 13 of Dacryodes, one of Garuga, 11 species of Santiria, two of Trattinnickia, and the single species of Triomma (see Additional file 1: A1 for taxonomic sampling information, A2 for collection and voucher information, and A3 for sequence data obtained from GenBank). This sample encompasses the range of ecological and morphological variation in Canarieae, as well as the major biogeographic regions in which this variation occurs. The majority of the sampled species were collected by the authors (S. Federman, A. Downie, D. Daly), but sampling was also supplemented with previously published sequences available in GenBank (Additional file 1: A2 & A3). Outgroups included representatives of seven other Burseraceae genera and two species of Anacardiaceae used in previous phylogenetic studies of Burseraceae [15, 17, 18].
We sequenced four molecular markers used in previous phylogenetic analyses of Burseraceae [15, 17, 18]: the nuclear ribosomal external transcribed spacer (ETS) and the three chloroplast DNA markers, rbcL, rps16, and the trnL-F intergenic spacer. Plant tissues were ground using the MP Biomedicals FastPrep-24 instrument (Santa Ana, CA), and DNA was extracted using the Qiagen DNeasy plant kit (Valencia, CA) following the manufacturer's protocol. PCR amplification and sequencing conditions followed Weeks et al. [15]. Sequences were edited using Geneious R7 (http://www.geneious.com), and all new sequences were deposited in GenBank (Additional file 1: A2).
Sequence alignment and phylogenetic estimation of divergence times
Multiple sequence alignment for each locus was carried out using MUSCLE [19] in Geneious R7 (http://www.geneious.com; Kearse et al. 2012) with each alignment refined by eye. We used PartitionFinder [20] to simultaneously infer both the best-fitting nucleotide substitution models and partitioning scheme. The candidate pool of potential partitions ranged from a single partition per locus to partitions that divided the protein coding loci by codon position.
Bayesian phylogenetic analyses were performed using an uncorrelated lognormal relaxed clock in BEAST v1.7.5 [21] with two independent analyses, each run for 80 million generations (sampled every 8000 generations). Substitution and clock models were unlinked among partitions and a birth-death speciation process on branching times was specified as the tree prior for each analysis [22]. The alignment was partitioned based on the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) results inferred in PartitionFinder using the greedy algorithm [20]. The best-fit model contained one partition for ETS, one for the chloroplast coding region (rbcL), and one for the two non-coding chloroplast regions (rps16 and trnL-F). A GTR + I+ Γ model of sequence evolution was used for all three partitions [23]. Convergence between runs and adequacy of the burn-in period were both assessed using Tracer v1.5 [21]. Adequate sampling of the posterior distribution was diagnosed by quantification of effective sample size (ESS) values in TRACER, with ESS values above 200 indicating effective sampling [24]. We used Tree Annotator [21] to summarize the posterior probability distribution of trees using a maximum clade credibility tree (MCCT) with median branch lengths.
In order to time-calibrate the phylogeny, we used three fossil-based prior age calibrations and a secondary calibration based on previous divergence-time estimates [18]. These calibrations were explained in detail by Fine et al. [18], and their phylogenetic placements were determined based on morphological assessments of the fossils relative to living members of the Burseraceae by P. Fine and D. Daly [18]. Briefly, the youngest fossil-based calibration was based on endocarps attributed to Canarium from Czechoslovakian sediments with an estimated age of 23–29 Ma [25]. Because Canarium emerged as non-monophyletic, the Canarium fossil was placed with a lognormal probability prior at the least inclusive node containing all of the Canarium species sampled (node A), following Fine et al. [18]. The fossil Protocommiphora europea from the Bognor and Sheppey sediments of the London Clay, with an estimated age of 48.6 Ma, can be assigned to either Commiphora or Bursera subgenus Elaphrium [26] and was placed with a lognormal probability prior at the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of Commiphora and Bursera (node B). The fossil Bursericarpum aldwickense, also from the Bognor and Sheppey sediments of the London Clay [26, 27], was assigned with a lognormal probability prior to the MRCA of Protieae (node C). Following Fine et al. [18] and De Nova et al. [17], the age of the MRCA of all Burseraceae (Node D) was constrained using a secondary calibration to place a normally distributed prior age with a mean of 64.92 Ma and a standard deviation of 2.35.
We additionally tested how robust results of the dating analyses were to uncertainty in the phylogenetic placement of the Canarium fossils. In particular, we were concerned that fossil placements too deep in the phylogeny might provide false support for generally younger divergence times within the Canarieae [28]. First, we ran a set of analyses incorporating all calibrations except for the Canarium fossil as described by Fine et al. [29]. Second, since the signature of historical distributions is often eroded in extant taxa [30–33], we ran a further analysis in which we estimated divergence times using the Canarium endocarp fossil as a tip, keeping all other fossil calibrations the same. Since we had no additional morphological data to place this fossil more precisely, we allowed it to vary in position along the stem leading to the crown group at node A.
To account for the possibility of strong support for uncertain nodes in the Bayesian analyses [34, 35], we ran maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses on the concatenated dataset using 1000 rapid bootstraps in RAxML [36] using identical partitions as the Bayesian analysis and compared the maximum likelihood bootstraps to the Bayesian posterior probabilities as in [37].
Estimates of colonization pathways
We used two approaches to model dispersal based on the paleogeographic history of tropical climates from the Eocene onwards. First, we incorporated likely terrestrial and short distance (SD) marine pathways of dispersal through geologic time (hereafter, SD + terrestrial model) that roughly follows previously established models of Madagascar-centric historical biogeography as detailed by Yoder and Nowak [1] and Buerki et al. [3]. We compared this model to one that also takes into account paleoclimatic and paleogeographic information to incorporate possible avenues for long distance marine dispersal (LDD) (hereafter, the LDD + terrestrial model). An advantage to likelihood-based models of biogeography is the ability to partition the temporal history of the clade into time periods with constraints reflecting the climatic and geographic conditions during that time [40, 41]. We divided our models into three time slices-(1) 56–33.9 Ma; (2) 33.9–16 Ma; and (3) 16 Ma-present-and conditioned dispersal rates based on information detailed in the Additional file 1: A4. To account for uncertainty in topology and branch lengths, we chose our best-fitting DEC model, and conducted a statistical DEC model (S-DEC) with the RASP platform [40, 41, 43] using 1000 trees randomly sampled from the posterior distribution of our phylogeny after the burn-in.
Modeling marine currents
The Oligocene, beginning 34 Ma, corresponds with the earliest evidence of the accumulation of shallow coral diversity in the IAA, reflecting the northward drift of the Australian plate through the Miocene [11, 44, 45]. During this time, currents of the Indian Ocean began to take on their current speed and directionality [7, 10]. To infer the possible role of ocean currents in Canarieae dispersal from the Oligocene onwards, we compiled maps of cumulative mean annual current direction and velocity for El Niño, La Niña, and neutral years using NOAA's Ocean Surface Current Analyses Real Time (OSCAR) data from 1992 to the present (http://www.oscar.noaa.gov/index.html), and the Marine Geospatial Ecology Toolbox [46] in ArcGIS v10.1. All three cumulative mean annual current maps displayed the same pattern, so we have only included a map of the El Niño years for illustrative purposes (Fig. 3).
Phylogenetic analyses and divergence times
Among the three fossil calibration methodologies, divergence times estimated using a fossil-tip taxon were largely congruent with results based on fossil node calibrations both with and without the Canarieae fossil (Fig. 1, Additional file 1: A5 (A) & (B)). While the 95 % highest posterior density intervals (HPD) were largely overlapping between the three phylogenies, there was a shift of the upper bound by ca. 10 Ma, where the fossil-tip calibrated tree inferred older divergence times (Fig. 1, Additional file 1: A5 (A) & (B)). Regardless of the approach (fossil-tip versus fossil node calibrations), our divergence times were congruent with other studies in Burseraceae [17, 18]. Given the similarity between the analyses, we focused our discussion on fossil-tip calibrations, as they accommodated the phylogenetic uncertainty surrounding the placement of the Canarium fossil within a non-monophyletic group by allowing it to vary in position along the stem leading to the crown of the wet forest Canarieae (node A).
We found strong evidence for the monophyly of Canarieae with a Bayesian posterior probability (BPP) = 1.0 (Fig. 1). Fossil-tip calibrations estimated a mean crown age for Canarieae at 45.6 Ma with a 95 % HPD of 36.9–54.5. We inferred that sister to the Canarieae were the moist forest Protieae and the predominantly dry forest Bursereae (BPP = 1.0; 95 % HPD = 57.63–65.7). Within Canarieae, the monophyly of the dry forest African Boswellia was strongly supported (BPP = 1.0), while Dacryodes, Santiria, and Canarium were inferred as non-monophyletic (Fig. 1), though it is important to note that the Neotropical Dacryodes formed a strongly supported clade (BPP = 1.0) with the Neotropical Trattinnickia (Fig. 1), with their most recent common ancestor at 20.4 Ma (95 % HPD = 11.6–30.1). Sister to this Neotropical clade was a strongly supported (BPP = 0.99) clade of African Dacryodes that diverged ca. 19.0 Ma (95 % HPD = 9.6–30.5). Within Canarium, the sole African species (C. schweinfurthii) was strongly supported (BPP = 1.0) as being nested within a late Eocene clade of Southeast Asian Dacryodes and Santiria (mean = 38.11, 95 % HPD = 29.3, 46.7) (Fig. 1). Canarium schweinfurthii subtended a clade of Southeast Asian Santiria, which, however, was not strongly supported, with a BPP of 0.15 (95 % HPD = 18.9–37.0; Fig. 1).
There was strong support for monophyly of the Malagasy Canarium with a crown age of 8.41 Ma (95 % HPD 5.4–11.9). However, relationships within the Malagasy Canarium clade were mostly poorly resolved, and species with multiple accessions in the tree were not always monophyletic, possibly due to lineage sorting or hybridization (confident resolution of these relationships will require additional data). This clade was strongly supported as sister to the Southeast Asian C. ovatum (BPP = 0.99), with an estimated divergence of 10.9 Ma (95 % HPD = 7.1–16.1) (Fig. 1). All strongly supported clades were also supported in maximum likelihood-based inferences using RaXML (Additional file 1: A6).
Colonization pathways
Biogeographic model fits
SD + j (BAY)
LDD + j (BAY)
SD + j (DEC)
LDD + j (DEC)
− 110.503
Pantropical distributions through time
Madagascar and the Southeast Asian Indo-Australian Archipelago (IAA) are two centers of endemism common to many pantropically distributed lineages, Canarieae included [48]. Explanations for these patterns must take into account that these areas are of different ages. For instance, Madagascar has been an isolated landmass since the Cretaceous, while the IAA originated some 100 Ma later [1, 9, 49]. Additionally, as evidenced by Canarium in Madagascar (Fig. 1), the ages of many lineages represented in these areas do not correspond with the ages of the areas themselves [1, 3, 49, 50].
Historically, the existence of pantropical lineages was often attributed to Gondwanan vicariance [51, 52]. Under this scenario, lineages represented in multiple centers of endemism must have ancient divergences, and the areas have served as "museums" of biodiversity [53, 54]. However, many clades have proven far too young to owe their current distributions to Gondwanan fragmentation [52, 55–57]. More recently, habitat tracking from the boreotropics to the Southern Hemisphere during Oligocene cooling has become a popular alternative to vicariance biogeography [58–60]. Under this scenario, tropical centers of endemism such as Madagascar and the IAA would represent areas of lineage accumulation with the global contraction of tropical climates. While the tracking of tropical habitats may be a viable explanation for pantropical lineages diverging in the Eocene and early Oligocene, it is less likely for lineages that diverged in the middle Oligocene and Miocene, as these probably post-date the fragmentation and cooling of the boreotropics [47]. For these more recently diverging lineages, LDD may be the more likely explanation [50, 52, 61].
Our results are consistent with the possibility that early divergences in the Canarieae were caused by range fragmentation and tropical habitat tracking in a once cosmopolitan clade. This might apply to the Eocene arrivals in Southeast Asia, to Boswellia in Africa, and to the Neotropical Trattinnickia and Neotropical and African Dacryodes (Fig. 2). These inferences are in line with previous biogeographic studies of Burseraceae [29, 62]. By the late Eocene and early Oligocene, Canarieae had diversified in Southeast Asia, coinciding with rise of the roughly 20,000 landmasses of the IAA and the formation of modern tropical cyclone pathways and fast westward-moving equatorial surface currents (Figs. 2 and 3) that created opportunities for marine LDD [10, 47, 49]. These results are obtained even in the absence of the Canarieae fossil in the dating analysis (Additional file 1: A5B). Indeed, we see evidence in the Oligocene and Miocene that Canarieae moved from the IAA and South Pacific to New Caledonia, India, mainland Africa, and Madagascar (Fig. 2). Interestingly, recent investigations into the origin of Malagasy vertebrates suggest that no colonization events from Asia to Madagascar occurred after the Eocene [63], which highlights the importance of clade-by-clade approaches to understanding the assembly and maintenance of Madagascar's diverse biota. We suggest that more attention should be paid to the possibility that, in addition to the Canarieae, the formation of the IAA, with its associated fast-moving equatorial currents (Fig. 3) and heavily used migratory flyways [64], could have created a source area for generating the diversity and contemporary distributions of other recently diverged lineages distributed around the wet tropics today [52, 65].
The movement of Canarium to Madagascar
Our results strongly suggest that Canarium is too young for its existence in Madagascar to be explained by vicariance (Fig. 1); therefore movement to the island most likely occurred via dispersal. There are three plausible dispersal scenarios: (1) LDD via bird dispersal from Southeast Asia; (2) LDD via marine currents from Southeast Asia; and (3) short-distance dispersal, either via bird or water, across the Mozambique Channel, and extinction of African relatives.
As birds are the primary dispersers of Canarium in Southeast Asia [16], it is reasonable to suppose that they were responsible for moving Canarium to Madagascar. However, we believe that this scenario is less likely than LDD via marine currents. All Canarium species, and the majority of the Canarieae (with the exceptions of Boswellia and Garuga), are dioecious (with separate pollen- and seed-producing plants) [16], and the clade most closely related to Malagasy Canarium has relatively large fruits and seeds [14]. In the IAA and South Pacific, Canarium fruits are dispersed primarily by large-bodied, non-migratory, non-marine birds such as hornbills and fruit pigeons [16]. For the successful establishment of a dioecious plant, multiple birds, carrying seeds that would give rise to both male and female plants, would need to have made the long trip. Furthermore, although both Madagascar and Southeast Asia fall within important migratory flyways (the east African/west Asian and Asian flyways), these pathways run South and North, overlapping only in Siberia, with no direct pathway between Madagascar and Southeast Asia [64].
Under the marine dispersal scenario, a single fruiting branch (possibly on a natural floating island or tree raft) would be sufficient for male and female plants to become established in close proximity. Westward-moving monsoon pathways originated prior to the inferred movement of Canarium to Madagascar [5], as did contemporary warm westward moving currents [10, 11]. Oceanographic investigations show that the Indian Ocean south equatorial current moves at a relatively rapid rate with a phase speed ranging between 15 and 25 cm s−1 (Fig. 3). Even in the absence of monsoons, based on current speed alone, dispersal from Sumatra to Madagascar (~6200 Km) would be possible in under 30 days (Fig. 3) [66]. While bird LDD cannot be completely dismissed, we interpret the available evidence as more strongly supporting marine dispersal from the IAA for Malagasy Canarium.
An African origin of Malagasy Canarium would be feasible only under a scenario in which Canarium experienced middle to late Miocene extinctions in mainland Africa, a geologic era when tropical forests contracted with the expansion of the C4 grasslands [67] and tropical forest biodiversity was presumably lost. It is conceivable that a once species-rich clade of African Canarium dispersed to Madagascar, but that subsequent extinctions left only a single African species, C. schweinfurthii [67, 68]. We note, however, that marine currents during the Miocene were largely unsuitable for marine or animal-mediated dispersal from Africa to Madagascar [7]. In any case, in the absence of fossils such speculations on an African origin are difficult to evaluate, and we favor dispersal from the IAA as the best interpretation of present molecular phylogenetic and morphological evidence, which unequivocally links Malagasy Canarium directly with Southeast Asian taxa.
Development of Madagascar's rain forests
Our results indicate that Canarium, today a dominant element in the rain forests of Madagascar, arrived there possibly more that 25 Ma after the formation of the Malagasy rain forest biome (Figs. 1 and 2). This is at odds with the expectation that the diverse and dominant components of Madagascar's rain forests should be either early colonists from Africa or pre-existing lineages that adapted to changing conditions in situ during the formation of the biome [6, 12]. How can the success of such a late-arriving lineage be explained?
We speculate that Canarium's success could be due, in part, to the fact that Malagasy forests are unusually stochastic in terms of intra- or inter-annual precipitation and the frequency of tropical cyclones [5]. This climatic variability causes unpredictable patterns in floral phenology and has been hypothesized to play a significant role in shaping the evolutionary trajectory of faunal diversity on the island, including unusual life-history patterns, gigantism, and the paucity of mammalian clades [5]. In contrast, little attention has been paid to the impact of a hyper-variable climate on the evolution of plant communities on the island. It is possible that climatic stochasticity has resulted in lineage turnover in Madagascar's forests, and that a periodic resetting of the ecological stage has provided the opportunity for late (post-rain forest formation) arrivers to become established and radiate [12, 69]. Such a scenario has been invoked to explain adaptive radiations in other areas with unstable climatic regimes [70], and it would help to reconcile our findings with diversification patterns expected from evolutionary radiation into newly forming biomes [6, 12, 69]. If Malagasy plant communities have, in fact, experienced periodic high rates of lineage turnover, this could also help to explain aspects of the evolution of the associated animals, such as the limited number of frugivorous mammals [5].
Our findings help explain the origin of a previously undocumented radiation of rain forest trees in Madagascar. More broadly, our study highlights that, contrary to expectations under adaptive radiation theory [12], Malagasy Canarium did not arrive from Africa during the formation of the rain forest biome, but rather from the Indo-Australian Archipelago some 20 Ma later. This finding is consistent with the observation that Malagasy rain forests experience hyper-variable climates. Under these circumstances, high rates of local extinction might provide an opportunity for late-arriving lineages to successfully colonize and radiate. The arrival of Canarium in Madagascar from the IAA highlights the potential significance of long distance dispersal in establishing pantropical distributions since the Oligocene. Moreover, we suggest that the IAA may have served as a source area for multiple lineages now widespread in tropical forests, a topic deserving further investigation.
Availability of supporting data
The molecular data supporting the results of this article are available in Genbank (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/), with NCBI gi numbers detailed in Additional file 1: A2 and A3. The phylogenetic data sets are available in the Zenodo repository (https://zenodo.org/, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.31503 ).
We would like to thank the Madagascar National Parks and the Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments (ICTE) for help in obtaining research and export permits, and the Botany Division of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History for financial support. The New York Botanical Garden and the Harvard University Herbaria provided access to their collections for sample identification. Elizabeth Spriggs provided helpful comments and feedback. We are grateful to the Madagascar Flora & Fauna Group and the Missouri Botanical Garden for their field support in Madagascar, and to Karen Freeman, Sylvain Roli Jose, Georgin Ranandrasana, Fidy Ralainasolo, Jeannie Raharamiampionona, Simon Razafindramoana, Tsitohaina Andriamiarison, and Charles Rakotovao for invaluable assistance in the field.
This work was supported by Yale University's Ender's and Pierce Fellowships, Yale University's Institute for Biospheric Studies, the Division of Botany of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, and was based on work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-1122492.
Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
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Hotel Madurairesidency
Having won the hearts of many Indian and International guests, The Madurai Residency has earned a reputation providing the finest Quality of Hospitality in this region. Established in 1997, The Madurai Residency (formerly known as Classic Residency)
14-15,West Marret Street, Madurai
Tamil Nadu, India
Phone : +91 452 - 4380 000
Mail : firstname.lastname@example.com
Website : www.madurairesidency.com
Amsavalli Bhavan Hotel
One of the best hotels in Madurai. Amsavalli parota and Biriyani are too good. Here, food preparation is too good and traditional. This is the best place to enjoy good quality food.
42, Madurai Main Road, East Veli Street, Near Muthoot Finance
Tamil Nadu, India
Phone : 0452 262 1196
Mail : email@example.com
Website : plus.google.com/106242662032034398627/about?gl=in&hl=en
Hotel Kathir Palace
Hotel Kathir Palace is located in the heart of the vibrant city Madurai. Hotel Kathir Palace is the perfect destination for your stay at Madurai. Hotel K P is one of the best hotels near meenakshi Amman temple. It stands ahead of all the hotels.
Kathir Palace, No:14, Dhanappa Mudali Street
Tamil Nadu, India
Phone : 0452 - 2342040
Mail : firstname.lastname@example.com
Website : hotelkathirpalace.com/
Meenakshi Mission Hospital & Research Centre
General Medicine is a branch of medicine which deals with the diagnosis and treatment of the diseases of the internal organs, especially amongst adults. The treatment is non-surgical and the span of this specialty includes asthma, respiratory disease
Lake Area
melur Road
Tamil Nadu, India
Phone : 91-452-4263000 / 2543000
Fax : 91-452-2586353
Mail : email@example.com
Website : www.mmhrc.in/
Hotel Heritage Residency
Hotel Heritage Residency, Madurai was established in 2012 and located in the heart of the city. It's a Centralized air conditioned with 73 well appointed rooms., Nalabagam Multi-cuisine restaurant, Two Conference halls and a board room.
144/1A NH7 Byepass Road,
Opp to Theekathir office,K.Salaipudur,
Tamil Nadu, India
Phone : 0452 2665501 - 10
Mail : email@example.com
Website : www.heritageresidency.com
Palm Tree - Restaurants & Grill
Palm Tree Charcoal Grill & Restaurant will be a unique spot to begin your dining. Internationally creative food, and a manner of service that will make everyone feel welcome and special.
5F,Vinayaga Nagar
Tamil Nadu, India
Phone : 04524392229
Mail : firstname.lastname@example.com
Website : palmtreerestaurant.in/
Hotel The Carlton
in city-walk by Raman Carlton
Discover Paradise besides a lake amidst virgin hills…..at the only 5 star hotel in Kodaikanal – The Carltonis an epitome of beauty, serenity and the colonial charm
Lake Road, Kodaikanal
Tamil Nadu, India
Phone : +914542 - 248555
Mail : firstname.lastname@example.com
Website : carlton-kodaikanal.com
The Taj Gateway Hotel
in city-walk by Devraj Singh
Escape the din of city life. Perched atop the Pasumalai hill, amid 62 acres of peaceful, landscaped gardens, The Gateway Hotel is the epitome of colonial architecture.
Pasumalai Madurai 40 T P K Road Madurai
Tamil Nadu, India
Phone : +91 452 6633000
Mail : email@example.com
Website : www.thegatewayhotels.com/pasumalaimadurai/overview.aspx
Air India Madurai
A group of 12 Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu, along with members of Travel Club, have appealed to the Union Civil Aviation Minister, Ajit Singh, to make Air India the first airline to operate international flights from Madurai.
#7-A, West Veli Street, Madurai
Tamil Nadu, India
Phone : 09843131795
Mail : email@example.com
Website : www.airindia.in/
Bheema jewellery
Shri. K. Bhima Bhattar founded Bhima Jewellery at Alleppey in 1925, when jewellery retail was an innovative concept. Bhima, thus became the first jewellery retail showroom in Kerala.
W Masi St, Madurai Main
Tamil Nadu, India


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Flickr's details-on-hover map
by Till Nagel.
Back in June Flickr did a major redesign, with larger image displays, a cleaner interface, and lots of interaction improvements. One of the more subtle updates is the way the small map displays the location of a geo-tagged photo.
The closer the user moves the mouse to the marker, the more the map zooms in. First, a country-level map view is shown (1). As soon as the user hovers over the map it automatically zooms into a city-level view (2). When the mouse is moved over the marker the maps finally zooms to the neighborhood (3).
A simple and neat interaction pattern to display locations with overview and increasingly more details-on-demand.


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Indigenous residents of Acteal, Chiapas have brought a suit against former President of Mexico, Ernesto Zedillo, alleging that he is responsible for killings in the late 1990s in the town. The suit, which was brought in a Connecticut court, argues that the US court has jurisdiction under the Alien Tort Claims Act, the Torture Victim Protection Act, among others. Read the full story here.
Former President of Mexico, Ernesto Zedillo, Being Sued in US Court by Indigenous Residents of Chiapas
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MARGATE – Used car giant Florida Fine Cars has even more places to shop! In celebration of its 25th anniversary, the family owned used car dealer opened a huge new store in February to accommodate growing demand. The company now operates four dealerships in four cities.
The new dealership at 5300 W. Copans Road expands the used car chain's reach into North Broward. Florida Fine Cars already had stores in Miami, Hollywood and West Palm Beach. The conveniently located Margate store will make it easier than ever for residents in the Tri-County area to shop for quality used cars.
"It's a natural extension of the markets we're serving today," noted Florida Fine Cars marketing director Jamie Suid. "The property itself was an excellent opportunity. This location will also allow us to better serve our customers in Northern Broward and Southern Palm Beach counties."
West Palm Beach Manager Will Lead New Dealership
Torrey Lunn, an experienced car professional who is transferred from the chain's West Palm Beach location, is the new store's general manager. He
brings much experience, having worked 2 1/2 years as general sales manager in West Palm Beach and as sales manager and sales associate in Miami for a year.
"I'm very excited for the opportunity to lead another team in another community," Lunn said.
The family owned used car chain was founded in 1993 and has grown steadily ever since.
Florida Fine Cars Margate is located on 5.5 acres on the southwest corner of West Copans and Banks Roads. The site is expected to stock nearly 500 used cars but has capacity for as many as 700 used vehicles.
The acreage was previously home to another large pre-owned vehicle center.
Used Car Chain Focuses on Customer Service, Quality Cars
Success these days is NOT about high pressure, Lunn explained. In fact, it's the opposite.
"My dad used to always say you are not selling someone a car you are helping someone get a car," Lunn said.
Already, the new dealership is creating lots of buzz: More than 100 turned out for a recent job fair to staff the new facility.
"We had over 150 applicants at a recent job fair. We hired for everything from sales. BDC, cashiers and lot personnel," he said. Lunn said Florida Fine Cars Margate offers the same 5-star customer service and sells the same high quality used cars as Florida Fine Cars' three other stores.
"We're looking to the future and a new market share is a great way to grow," Lunn noted. "The prices and atmosphere we give to customers is second to none. These are values people are looking for when they buy a car. Growing with the community is how we achieve that."
Florida Fine Cars Makes Used Car Shopping Easy
Florida Fine Cars offers more than 1,400 quality used cars priced thousands below retail at its four locations combined. Florida Fine Cars dealerships are conveniently located in West Palm Beach just north of Palm Beach International Airport and just off Florida's Turnpike, and in Margate, Hollywood and Miami.
Used car shopping has never been so easy. Stop by Florida Fine Cars today and test drive the car of your dreams.
#FloridaFineCarsMargate #usedcars #coolrides #greatdeals


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Uganda-based journalism
Review of The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born by Ayi Kwei Armah (Heinemann, 1968).
This bleak Ghanaian classic evokes one man's resistance to the rot.
Some novels conjure images, others sounds. Proust famously unfurled the past on the taste of a madeleine. Ayi Kwei Armah, In The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, stirs his potion with smells – and not of the fragrant sort. He describes a city of sea salt and sweat, reeking of 'the dead smell of carbide lamps', 'the rich stench of menstrual blood', 'the vapour of a well-used wig'. Vomit slimes the streets; on the train tracks, 'the overwarm stench of despair' rises from 'the mixture of fallen ashes and stray lumps of engine coal and steamed grease'. Armah seeks poetry in the putrescence, as in his oddly lyrical description of the 'hot smell of caked shit split by afternoon's baking sun, now touched by still evaporating dew'.
In its fastidiousness, its horror at the Third World city, this could almost be a priggish colonial travelogue. But that is far from Armah's purpose. The stench that seeps from these pages is pungent pathetic fallacy, the smell of a society stewing in corruption and decay. Writing in 1968, just a decade after Ghana's independence, Armah already despairs for promises betrayed. When he takes two pages to detail a filthy banister, the rot 'imprison[ing] everything in its effortless embrace', it is not just the woodwork he is talking about. The question, as one of his characters later wonders, is: 'How could this have grown rotten with such obscene haste?'
The central hero is unnamed. Referred to only as 'the man', he wanders in a daze through a desiccated moral landscape, clutching quixotically to his principles against the scorn of colleagues, family, friends. His anonymity gives the air of a moral fable; his fierce, lonely conviction is reminiscent of nothing more than one of those Hollywood films of the fifties – High Noon or Twelve Angry Men in the Gulf of Guinea. He is less a character than an emblem: of the values the country has lost and, from a more universal viewpoint, of the proud refusal of the individual conscience.
The eviscerating force in this city is the lure of shininess, cleanliness, wealth, or – as Armah has it more intangibly – the lure of 'the gleam'. Armah shows us greed, but his critique encompasses more than mere acquisitiveness. Corruption thrives as much through love, through duty. The man's wife disdains his integrity, which has left them poor. 'Is there anything wrong with some entertainment now and then?' she asks accusingly. When the man refuses to take a bribe from a timber merchant it is he who feels 'dishonest'; elsewhere, he reflects on the 'ambiguous disturbing tumult' that the gleam awakens in him. In a corrupt society, to be honest is to fail, not just for oneself, but for loved ones. And 'in the end, was there anything done for the children's sake which could really be seen as a crime?'
It was not meant to be that way. Armah powerfully evokes the dreams of independence, embodied above all by Kwame Nkrumah, an icon of continental stature. By the time Armah was writing Nkrumah had already been deposed after establishing a de facto dictatorship. The hubristic arc is now familiar, but that early disillusionment was a shock to African intellectuals of Armah's generation. In tones that foreshadow much subsequent African writing, Armah castigates the revolutionaries who now wear the garb of the colonizers. 'This is what it had come to,' he writes, 'not that the whole thing might be overturned and ended, but that a few black men might be pushed closer to their masters, to eat some of the fat into their bellies too.'
The burden of politics weighs heavily on this novel. Armah, like his contemporaries on the continent, is simultaneously forging a national literature and addressing the state of a young nation. He can be forgiven, then, for the sometimes obvious moralizing, for not letting his story evolve in its own right without the obligation of meaning something. The bleak, suffocating style lends malodorous force to his narrative, though may not be to everyone's taste.
Has a finer novel of corruption been written? The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born offers a far richer opening on this world of compromise and kickbacks than the vapid pieties of the World Bank and its armies of consultants. Yet it survives as more than an insightful polemic. Armah has created a tortured, absurdist parable that recalls Camus in its protagonist's solitary tussle with existence. It is not the stench of the city that lingers, but the pervading hopelessness. A coup against Nkrumah will not change the country, for all the turmoil it brings to individuals. If cool analysis would find the pessimism overstated, the literary effect is overpowering:
There was so much that was heart-filling about the friendships and the hopes of the first days. So it should be easy to take the rot of the promise. It should be easy now to see there have never been people to save anybody but themselves, never in the past, never now, and there will never be any saviours if each will not save himself. No saviours. Only the hungry and the fed. Deceivers all.


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EdReady MT Usage MapHow to use the map:
- Zoom: Click on the +/- on the bottom left.
- Move: Click and drag.
- View map legend: Click on the arrow box on the top left.
- View full-screen: Click on the bracket box on the top right.
- View school info: Click on an icon.


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One of the many reasons folks visit Pontiac Cove on Bull Shoals Lake is for the privacy and seclusion it has to offer. However, we're only about 30 miles from a few other destinations we think you'll enjoy while you're staying with us. Check out these day trips.
Just Jackie's
North Fork River
Ozark County Mill Tour
Mountain Home, Arkansas
Just Jackie's is located within the park, just a short walk from the marina. Known for serving delicious homemade breakfasts, hot wings, thin-crust pizza, a variety of sandwiches and cold beer, Just Jackie's is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, from Memorial weekend through Labor Day weekend. (Kitchen closes at 9 p.m.) Off-season hours are 3 to 10 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday (kitchen closes at 5 p.m. Sunday.) Open Fridays only in December and January. Call 417-679-2593 for more information. Free boat parking at the marina!
Looking for a water adventure other than the lake? Pontiac is just 30 miles from the North Fork River, an acclaimed trout fishing stream that offers several float trip options, canoe rentals, lodging, dining and more. Take a day trip to one of the many outfitters along the river, where you can rent canoes, kayaks or rafts, grab lunch, catch a fish and enjoy the scenery and wildlife you're sure to encounter on a relaxing and fun float down the river.
Ozark County is home to five grist mills that make up a popular daytrip driving tour in our area. Maps are available at the marina store. Take a driving tour of Dawt Mill, Hodgson Mill, Zanoni Mill, Rockbridge Mill and Hammond Mill. Restaurants are located at both Dawt and Rockbridge, so plan to make one of those stops during lunchtime. Be sure to bring a camera, as the mills make great backdrops for photos.
Located just 30 miles from Pontiac, Mountain Home, Arkansas, offers shopping (larger stores such as TJ Maxx, Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, Lowe's and Wal-Mart, as well as local shops, boutiques and plenty of antique stores and flea markets), restaurants (local eateries as well as popular chains), miniature golf, a wonderful public library, movie theatres, farmers market, the Mountain Home Berry Farm (where you can pick your own blueberries or pumpkins when in season), Cooper Park, special events and a regional medical center/hospital. Click here for more information.
For more information, email us at firstname.lastname@example.com


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In the second league match of the day, Sporting Carlisle dropped a close and hard fought match against hosts IUP. Before the game started, IUP had the advantage of being fresh, and playing a tired Sporting team. IUP scored the first two goals of the game, and looked to be cruising towards a victory. However, Nicky Schwab converted a penalty in the closing minutes, and Sporting nearly scored in the final minute but it was not to be. It is the first loss for Sporting in 14 games. With the loss, Sporting drops into third place in the league behind IUP and Shippensburg.
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Thursday, November 18, 2010
Peter Pan
"I don't want to get big mama. I don't want to look different."
My four year old doesn't want to grow up.
He also has "Disappear friends" (imaginary friends). Both my son and his imagined friends have super powers. For example - they have three hands apiece not two, and they fight "mad guys". They also have awesome ninja moves. Believe me, I've seen them. His friends have names from the Thomas the Tank Engine series. "Lady" can drive a car and go places by herself even though she's only four. Apparently in her world there is no need for pullofficers (police officers), because Lady fights the mad guys herself.
Mr. four year old does not, I repeat does not like Macaroni and Cheese. Pretty much anything with yellow/orange cheese grosses him out.
My son will eat most vegetables. He likes ketchup on his chicken nuggets, NOT ranch. I have actually begun to eat ketchup on my chicken nuggets sometimes. It's not half bad!
He has never been prone to coloring. He usually only uses one color and just scribbles. He will however cut paper into miscellaneous shapes for an hour at a time.
He behaves, so well. We never had to baby proof our house. He didn't crawl until he was one years old and didn't walk until fourteen months. If I tell him not to do something he generally listens. He has spoiled me in that way. I'm probably in for it with numbers two and three!
I love his smile and I love his laugh - it is contagious. I adore his sense of humor. Odd, but so hilarious! I love how when he gets embarrassed his response is a loud and voracious growl.
I am so happy that he loves being a kid. His Peter Pan mentality is precious. For as much that I know he inevitably will grow up I hope he stays a kid for a long long time too.
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Suspension training might be a relatively new term to you, but it is also a powerful tool in your fitness arsenal. While it does require special equipment, it can deliver profound benefits. Of course, there's a lot that you should know about this type of training regimen.
Where Did It Come From?
Suspension training is just now making headway in the world of fitness, but it's actually been around for some time. It was originally developed for the Navy SEALs and it relies on a portable trainer (called a TRX Suspension Trainer or an Inkaflexx system). It also relies on your bodyweight, rather than on free weights or other types of external aids. Currently, TRX is the most common system on the market, and it's use in over 1,000 gyms across the US, with over 10,000 individual sets sold. Today, you can find suspension training at work in the MLB, the UFC, with Olympic athletes and more. So, what should you know about it?
It Requires Balance
Suspension training has been called "yoga on ropes" due to the significant need for balance during all types of exercises. It's really all about working your core muscles first, and then other muscle groups. Moreover, it works muscles at the same time, rather than one at a time in a linear fashion the way you do when you're lifting weights.
It Can Be Set Up Anywhere
If you choose to buy your own suspension training system, you can set it up just about anywhere, from inside your home to under a large tree in the backyard. However, it might be a good idea to get acquainted with it in a gym where you can learn the ropes with professional supervision, as the movements are completely different from what most people have ever experienced.
It May Not Be Ideal for Everyone
While suspension training offers low-impact workout options that can be a good fit for experienced athletes, everyday gym goers and even seniors, it may not be right for everyone, particularly if you intend to do it unsupervised. Correctly using a suspension training system requires that you have well developed core muscles to avoid instability and potential injury. If you don't, there is a chance for overextension injuries, instability injuries and others. Our advice is to always test the waters in a professional setting and to know your limits. With that being said, it can do a lot to improve flexibility for many people, so it can be a good option for most when taken slowly.
It's Short
Unlike many other conventional workout routines, suspension training doesn't take a lot of time. You can get in a full body workout in under an hour. Many people see results with as little as 20 minutes per day (with a full week's workout, of course). You also don't have to worry so much about working out different muscle groups each day.
It's Not about Bulking Up
Many people today want to get in better physical condition and burn fat, but they don't want to end up looking like a bodybuilder. The suspension training technique is a perfect fit here. Because it uses your own bodyweight, it lengthens muscles, rather than expanding them. You gain both strength and endurance without a corresponding increase in bulk. That's good news for just about anyone who doesn't want to become the next Mr. Universe.
If you're interested in exploring the benefits offered by suspension training, get in touch. We offer the TRX suspension system as well as professional trainers well versed in the use of this equipment and how to get the utmost benefits for different goals.


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January 1, 2015 – December 31, 2015
I created this challenge in 2014 as an encouragement for myself to read more Newbery Award winners and Newbery Honor books. It worked! So far this year, I've read eleven Newbery books, and I'm hoping to sneak a few more in before the end of the year.
I also discovered that there were people out there like me who wanted to read more Newbery books, so I've decided to host this challenge again in 2015. The rules are basically the same. Check it out below, and I hope you decide to join us!
Each book you read is worth points. You get:
- 3 points for a Newbery Medal Winner
- 2 points for a Newbery Honor Book
- 1 point for a Caldecott Medal Winner (Gotta give the picture books some love, too.)
In addition to that, you pick a level to aim for:
- L'Engle: 15 - 29 points
- Spinelli: 30 - 44 points
- Avi: 45 - 59 points
- Lowry: 60 - 74 points
- Konigsburg: 75+ points
You can get to this level with any combination of points you want. You can read all Newbery Medal winners. You can throw in a few Honor Books. If you want, you can even read 75 Caldecott Medal winners! How you get to your point level is totally up to you.
Also, anywhere is the point range for your level counts as completing that level. So for example, if you signed up for the Avi level and read 46 points' worth of books, then you have completed that level!
List of Newbery Medal Winners & Honor Books
List of Caldecott Medal Winners
Challenge Guidelines:
- Rereads count (because you were probably a kid when you read it last, and your perspective on the story just might have changed since then).
- Audiobooks and ebooks count.
- And paper books count, too. :)
- All books must be read between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2015. Books begun before January 1 don't count.
- Books can be used for other challenges as well.
- You don't have to have a blog to participate. You can link up reviews from Amazon, Goodreads, etc., or just hang out with us in the comments!
- Reviews are encouraged, but not necessary. There will be a headquarters page for you to link up your reviews if you want to share your thoughts.
- Choose your point level. You can always aim for a higher point level, but you can't move to a lower one.
This reading challenge is hosted by Smiling Shelves. For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.