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How to Detox for Spring
We don't know about you, but we're about ready for a thaw out over here. Winter has come, conquered and now our heart skips a beat when we see the local restaurants in Downtown Raleigh setting up tables for outdoor seating. Could the end of winter really be upon us?
"Ain't nobody dope as me, I'm just so fresh and so clean, clean." Outkast
Since last week marked the first official day of spring, it felt like it was time to shed all these extra layers. Bulky and completely unattractive puffy coat, you'll be retired until next year, snow boots and hats, it's time to run wild and free with our heads and toes exposed to the world. (Highlights and pedicures anyone?)
Except we noticed its hard to feel light on the outside, when the internal plumbing is heavy, slow and still stuck out on a snow day. A couple years ago we discovered the key to kick starting spring, giving the body a proper rinse, wash and shine to feel so fresh and so clean, it's called a detox.
How do you know if you need a detox?
Here are the main symptoms of overload in the internal systems:
- fatigue
- irritated skin or breakouts
- sluggish elimination
- poor sleeping patterns
- allergies
- bloating
- puffy or bags under the eyes
Basically being human right. If you don't have any of those coming out of winter, then you must be some kind of super hero.
No fear, the RR Detox Team is here, (it feels like we should have uniforms or capes right?) The way to begin the process is literally to remove the toxins from the body and flush it out with foods full of life, energy and badass nutrients.
Our top five favorite detoxes veto the following toxic triggers: processed sugar, caffeine, alcohol, gluten and dairy. These are the major offenders that tend to back the system up and cause the symptoms above to spread.
What is the best way to detox?
We hate to say 'I told you so', but the best way to detox is to give the digestion a break and give the body a new start by feeding it nutrient dense, easily digestible, high quality fuel, like fresh pressed organic juices, smoothies or soups.
We recommend a three day juice cleanse to kick it off, a five day cleanse for you over achievers or replacing one meal a day with a juice, all which allow the internal plumbing to take a siesta from breaking down food and use that time and energy to clear out the body for spring. You just might be sprouting daisies by time you're done.
How should you support any detox?
While the body is doing it's thing, you want to give it a little love. Here is what we recommend to make your cleanse or detox count.
- drink 1-2 gallons of water a day
- exercise
- sweat, either with hot yoga or sauna
- drink herbal tea: dandelion root tea (can be found at whole foods) or green tea help support the liver.
- dry brush the skin
- get extra vitamin C which helps the body produce glutathione, a liver compound that removes toxins.
- fiber up with lots of veggies
That's the detox download. It's been a long winter and the best time of year is on its way and really, we can't wait to see you out and about at the Farmers Market, strolling through downtown or at the neighbors BBQ spreading good vibes and sportin' that new glow, let's drink to spring.
Ali Van Putten lives in NYC and works in marketing and advertising while doubling as an obsessive compulsive juicer and health food hacker. She's a Jivamukti Yoga Teacher at the school in New York, a writer and a graduate of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.


text: A PRESS RELEASE BY THE FORUM OF SOUTHERN KADUNA PROFESSORS (FOSKAP) ON THE ORGANIZED KILLINGS IN SOUTHERN KADUNA Share on social Facebook0Twitter0Google+Pinterest00sharesA PRESS RELEASE BY THE FORUM OF SOUTHERN KADUNA PROFESSORS (FOSKAP) ON THE ORGANIZED KILLINGS IN SOUTHERN KADUNA Responsibility to right a wrong is never a favour, but a duty It has become very necessary for us to speak out against the systematic and organised killings going on in Southern Kaduna that are probably aimed at wiping out the Southern Kaduna people from the surface of this earthWe join the voices of reason to condemn the killings and to state unequivocally, that the killings in Southern Kaduna cannot be justified.We are appalled by the fact that the discussions on the matter have been reduced to arguments on the number of people killed or maimed and number of houses destroyed. We are worried that the beneficiaries of the crises are playing the Russian Roulettes with precious lives.There is no doubt that the Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai, has condemned the wave of attacks in Southern Kaduna, and we want to believe, contrary to public opinion, that the Governor has no hand in the crises. However, there is annoying discrepancy between the pronouncement of government in condemning the attacks and the advice by some government officials to the people of Southern Kaduna. It is rather curious that government officials seem to frown at calls for the people to defend themselves against such attacks.A forest that does not like baskets should not grow mushrooms. We appreciate the outcry and the condemnation of the killings by right thinking people the world over. We applaud the efforts and commitments of our representatives and our friends in the National Assembly, especially our Distinguished Senator Danjuma Laah, who has been very busy reaching out to stakeholders to ensure that peace prevails in his constituency.We all stand by him and with him in this very trying moment. Given the several supported and unsupported claims and counter claims on the senseless killings in Southern Kaduna and the apparent helplessness of the security architecture, we have resolved not to be part of the conspiracy of opinions that the killers are unknown or that what is happening is not ethnic cleansing.We can guess that there are some people out there who are happy with what is happening, but history has taught us that there are always repercussions to any wrong done to human beings. The herdsmen are not only confronting the Southern Kaduna people, they are confronting reality.It is not because we are overwhelmed that we do not respond; it is because we do not respond that is why we are overwhelmed. We are bold to state that the Southern Kaduna people are some of the most social and peace loving people in Nigeria. As peace loving people, our origin matters less than our destination. Several theories have been put across as to the genesis of the crisis. The most obvious one is the suggestion that the killings are reprisals for the post-election killings of April 2011.The ECWA Church in Kaduna State at its press conference held on Wednesday 16th November 2016, also alluded to this when it stated that "since the 2011 Presidential Election there have been increasing indications of the existence of a desperate, well-funded, organised and executed campaign not only to make life unbearable for the entire Southern Kaduna territory through threats, intimidation and psychological warfare, but also to occupy the land through what can only be described as ethno-religious cleansing by Fulani herdsmen militia".We do not think that the killings in Southern Kaduna are reprisals for the post-election crises of 2011 or the aftermath of the usual farmer-herders conflict or that it is due to the absence of grazing areas and routes. Although, there is no any vacant land in Southern Kaduna in the real sense of the word, there is however land in the area for all the herders in Nigeria to graze in. So we cannot understand why anyone will like to kill human beings for a grazing land.The question is, how many herds of cattle are in Southern Kaduna? Southern Kaduna already has one of the largest grazing reserves in Nigeria. The 71,000 hectares Ladugga Grazing Reserve was carved out of three LGAs, namely, Zango Kataf (70%), Kachia (20%) and Kajuru (10%).We have analysed satellite imageries and have seen that Ladugga Grazing Reserve is being converted to farmlands, indeed the problem of land racketeering within the grazing reserve will soon reach epidemic proportion. We agree that due to the diversity of the Nigerian society and its multi-ethnic and multi-religious nature, there have been numerous communal and ethno-religious conflicts in the country since independence.The killing of innocent souls in Southern Kaduna by herdsmen predated the APC government and would probably not stop with it. However, we are worried that the body language of these herdsmen suggests that they enjoy certain level of immunity now than before.What we are seeing today is a continuation of a lineage of domination and suppression of the Southern Kaduna people, which has been mutating depending on the time, season and disposition of those in government. In recent years, the strategy for the continuous suppression of our people has changed from outright denial of democratic rights through electoral manipulation and disenfranchisement, to phantom security reports that denied qualified sons and daughters of Southern Kaduna appointments in the State and Federal establishments and now to depopulation of the area through terror-like killings.Since the 1980s, Southern Kaduna has come under attacks, the modus operandi has been different but the goal is the same; to subjugate the Southern Kaduna people and ensure that the economic, social and political lives of the people are completely destroyed.The bad news is, a child that says its mother will not sleep must stay awake to ensure that the mother does not sleep. The human landscape of Southern Kaduna cannot be discussed without the mention of the Fulani people whom we have lived with in symbiotic relationship for over fifteen decades.We know that there are a number of cattle routes that transverse the area. Although, these cattle routes were created when the human population was less than 25% of what it is now and there may have been significant encroachments, the existence of these routes have never been in doubt. However, the cattle population in Southern Kaduna is currently less than 15% of what it was when the grazing routes were created in the first place.We accept the argument that we need each other, but we also recognise the fact that we can do without each other. We are alarmed that the sequence of killings in the last 30 years or so, show a clear pattern of intensity. We are baffled by the sheer coincidence that whenever a northerner is in the helm of affairs in this country, there are unexplained and irrational wave of terror-like killings against the Southern Kaduna people.The localization of the killings in Southern Kaduna to a few Local Government Areas (LGAs), namely; Jema'a, Kaura and Zango Kataf, is rather curious, because these are the LGAs with the least number of herders. There are more herders in Kachia LGA or Kagarko LGA than probably all the herders in the three LGAs put together. Yet, the killing is reserved for these LGAs with the least number of herders. We suspect that there are other motives other than the craze for grazing land.From our findings, four immediate factors have converged to lead to the escalation of the crises; (i) the desire to ensure the creation of a number of Fulani settlements in a veiled attempt of establishing grazing reserves (ii) the conscious neglect of the area by successive governments (iii) the discovery of the high grade Nickel mineral in Dangoma and (iv) the resolve by a few disgruntled elements to push for the relocation of the Campus of Kaduna State University from Kafanchan.The Southern Kaduna people are justifiably aggrieved with what is happening. We are usually told at any available opportunity that the herders do not forgive any wrong done to them, as any of such is a debt that must be paid one day. We would have thought that, that should have been the guiding principle in a hunting and gathering society and not in a modern society of ours where there are institutions to deal with grievances and injustices.If it is a cultural trait not to forgive, we cannot question that, we are only worried that our youths who have been very disciplined enough to hold firmly to the ecclesiastical injunction of turning the other cheek, are now being infected by the non-forgiving-stand of the herdsmen with monstrous consequences.So far, the youths have remained calm based on our outreaches, but we know that in the end, they will be persuaded not by what we say, but by what they understand. As the intellectual seers from the area, we are of the opinion that the herdsmen may win the battle for obvious reasons, but can never ever win the war, because, killing a rat that is holed up inside an earthen pot requires wisdom.We are aware that some people have made fortunes inciting hate, teaching their children the language of hate, and capitalising on the scenarios to achieve their political and economic goals, but we (the Southern Kaduna people) are opened to genuine reconciliation and development.As intellectuals, we have kicked against the notion that the only way to stop a herdsman with a gun is to have a Southern Kaduna man with a gun. To enable us understand the grievances of the herdsmen, we appeal to them to abandon the logic of violence and accept a political process of negotiation.It is foolhardy to climb two trees at the same time because one has two feet. We do not think that in this modern world that any group of people can be wiped out from the surface of the earth easily or that one group holds the monopoly of violence. Nigeria is a signatory to a number of global treaties, so, absolute authority may no longer begin and end with the government of the day in a wide range of issues.Therefore, we call on Governor Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai to be consistent and show genuine will to find a solution to the killings, because the responsibility to right a wrong is never a favour, but a duty. We appeal to the Governor that the methods he employed in fighting cattle rustling in the Birnin Gwari area should be used to control the killings in Southern Kaduna. After all, a tree that could give shade when the sun is hot should be able to give shade when it rains.On our part, we are ever ready to support any move that will bring peace in Southern Kaduna and Kaduna State in general. We will like to borrow the words of the United States of America boxing legend Muhammed Ali, to say that, living in peace with one another is the rent we pay here on earth.We believe in the Kaduna State project, that Kaduna State must be great again. In conclusion, we are delighted that our President Mohammadu Buhari is back from his sick leave. We are also happy that our Governor, Mallam Nasir Ahmed El Rufai is back and while we shall keep praying for God to give them the strength and wisdom to lead, we are looking forward to that day that we shall start sleeping with all our eyes closed.Even if a rat stinks, it has a family. To God be the glory.Thank you. Signed: Professor John Gambo LAAH Chairman email@example.com email@example.com 24th March 2017

subset: commoncrawl


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Cites & Insights 13:11 (November 2013) available
The November 2013 Cites & Insights (13:11) is now available for downloading at http://citesandinsights.info/civ13i11.pdf
The issue is 36 pages long. The "online version," designed for reading online or on a tablet or large-screen ereader, is 69 pages long.
This issue includes:
The issue is 36 pages long. The "online version," designed for reading online or on a tablet or large-screen ereader, is 69 pages long.
This issue includes:
The Front: Erehwon Community Library: A $4 to $1 Example pp. 1-4
An example of what a library could derive from $4 to $1: Public Library Benefits and Budgets, using a mythical "median library" that's the average of the two public libraries with precisely median service population. (This essay is very similar to a September 27, 2013 post at Walt at Random, except that the post misspells the library name.)
Words: The Ebook Marketplace pp. 4-30
It's been a while since I've looked at a range of ebook-related issues. This roundup covers up to four years--and it's really Part 1 (of at least two and maybe three or four parts). It includes items related to ebook devices, competition, collusion, DRM, stupidity, ebooks going beyond narrative text, "what's a book?" and miscellany. (Part 2 will include sales, pricing, software, history and future--and probably lots more.)
The Back pp. 30-36
Sixteen mostly-snarky little essays on a range of topics--including one that's really not snarky: What if a stereo magazine had three successive reviews of three different speaker systems, found all of them excellent--and the three were priced (per pair) at $106,800, $29,800 and $159.99 respectively? (Yes, that's a decimal point in the third price.) Oh, and what if the second and third were designed by the same designer--who added his signature to the nameplate of the $159.99 version?


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Gala Underwater Pelletizing Systems
LPU™ Laboratory Pelletizing System
Pellet Rates up to 100 kg/h
Gala's LPU™ Laboratory Pelletizing System is a small lab pelletizing system, specifically designed for laboratory developmental work, market sampling, and light pellet production. This laboratory pelletizing system is designed for pellet rates up to 100 kg/h. The LPU™ Laboratory Pelletizing System includes an underwater pelletizer, a tempered water system, and a new and simple pellet dryer — all mounted on a single chassis with swivel casters.
All necessary electrical controls are contained in a simple modular, free standing panel with a local HMI for operator convenience.BENEFITS:
- Easy to clean!
- Simple & easy to operate!
- Lightweight, portable!
- Designed to be affordable!
- Requires few inexpensive replacement parts!


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About You
You were never meant for the mundane. You prefer to decide your own self worth rather than allow an employer to put a price tag on your work. You light up from the thrill of deciding when to shift gears, challenge yourself, and kick it up a notch. You are a solopreneur. You're working toward what so many women only dream about, and you have no interest in looking back (ever).
The problem? Sometimes, you feel discouraged. Alone. Misunderstood. Sometimes you think you would give it all up to work with a team again. To catch up on weekend plans with coworkers in between catching up on emails. To make eye contact with another human being. Even if it means sitting in a cubicle (noooo).
Even the boldest women need a community – because you have bad days, weeks or even months. Your clients decide not to pay you. Your projects fall through. Your confidence takes a hit. You need something to fall back on. You need a safety net.
About Us
One Woman Shop is your safety net. We're part resource, part community and all heart. Here, you're surrounded by a community of freelancers, solopreneurs and businesswomen who are taking risks and changing their lives for the better- in business and beyond- day in and day out.
We're here to provide you with kick-ass inspiration, help you develop the business you want and deserve, and ensure that you never have another case of the Mondays- in short, we're helping you "mind your own business." So sit down, grab a cup of coffee, and get connected with One Woman Shop. Because going it alone doesn't have to be lonely.
Here are a few quick links to get you rolling on the site:
- Take a peek at our membership offerings
- Stock up on freebies
- Check out our list of must-have tools and resources for running a solo business
- Read all of our posts (interviews, tutorials, resource guides, and more)
- Look over the One Woman Shop calendar
About Cristina
I'm Cristina, the founder of One Woman Shop. I created this community to fill the void that all of us in the solopreneur world are a little too familiar with.
You might be wondering why I'm qualified to do what I'm doing. Well, for starters, I drink a lot of coffee -- seriously, a lot. So I fit right in with the entrepreneurial crowd.
But I also have been where you are: running my own business, sometimes from home and sometimes from a coworking space or coffee shop. So I know firsthand that going it alone can be lonely.
When I'm not working on One Woman Shop, I'm living life as an ex-pat in beautiful, colonial Antigua, Guatemala, cooking, working out, practicing my Spanish, or drinking coffee.
About Sara
Hey there! I'm Sara, content editor and co-conspirator over here at One Woman Shop. I joined Cristina during the summer of 2014 -- because, like our tagline says, going it alone doesn't have to be lonely.
I'm so happy to be here -- as a solopreneur myself, I know that creating a successful business can't happen in a silo. I was drawn to One Woman Shop and its amazing community for that reason.
When I'm not helping Cristina dream up the next bold move for One Woman Shop or keeping the editorial calendar moving (we want your posts!), I'm creating copy and crafting content for my clients over at Sara Frandina Strategies. And if I'm not busy at work playing with words, I'm likely outside biking, hiking, or snowboarding, or cozied up on the couch with a good book and a (very big) bowl of popcorn.
Thanks so much for being here!


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Review of The Panic Virus, by Seth Mnookin. Simon & Schuster Jan 2011 (Available at Amazon) [Disclosure: I got a free copy of the Panic Virus from a friend who has a friend that works at the publisher -- I wasn't given the copy specifically to write a review, but it's still probably better to disclose I didn't pay for the book.]
Seth Mnookin's The Panic Virus starts and ends with two stories of parents whose seemingly normal children come down with a serious illness. He describes their children before the episodes, and then their dread as they go downhill, are hospitalized, and fight for their lives. These stories intentionally parallel the narrative of the vaccines-cause-autism movement -- "our child was normal, then he got the vaccine, and then he got autism, so it must have been the vaccine." However, Mnookin's carefully chosen stories don't support the anti-vaccine movement; they do just the opposite and make you feel heartsick for the children affected by vaccine-preventable diseases.
Mnookin knows how to tug on heart strings, and how to get his readers riled up, so it's a good thing that he comes down strongly pro-vaccine. His case studies are selected for emotional value, and they illustrate how a thoughtfully written narrative can humanize statistics about disease outbreaks and the danger of the anti-vaccine movement. But I approve of Mnookin's tactics ultimately because his stories are true -- vaccines save lives, and much harm has been done by the spread of unfounded fear.
That said, Mnookin's book isn't at all a fearmongering tale of what will happen if you don't vaccinate your child -- the bookend stories are just that, and he could probably have included a few more narratives throughout without stretching it. For the most part his book is a sober narrative of a social movement that goes back to the earliest vaccines, but has only come to nationwide fruition with the rise of the Internet.
Mnookin chronicles the development of early vaccines, and, to his credit, spends a good deal of time on what was done badly by the scientists and advocates. The Cutter Incident is there, along with the 1976 swine flu vaccine. Mnookin doesn't mince words in describing injuries that have been caused by vaccines, and at many times I found myself cringing and thinking "why weren't better systems in place earlier?" and "they really should have done more".
This willingness to confront unpleasant truths is a strong point for the Panic Virus, and it also gives Mnookin an opportunity to introduce the safety innovations that stemmed from each incident, all while setting the stage for the anti-vaccine movement. Another strength is that The Panic Virus also offers compelling humanizations of many of the parents of autistic children who have been involved in the anti-vaccine movement. Their despair at seeing their children suffer, their ostracization in a society where autism is not accepted, their occasionally callous treatment by physicians who have no easy answers to offer -- all of this makes it impossible not to sympathize with them.
For the most part, Mnookin doesn't present parents as the villains of his story. That role is reserved for shoddy physicians, scientists and pseuodoscientists, and most of all for journalists. Andrew Wakefield, Mark and David Geier, and journalist/author David Kirby all come in for harsh reckonings, along with many other "expert witnesses" for anti-vaccine lawsuits. This book left me quite depressed regarding the role of journalists and TV personalities in the whole fiasco. There has been so much bad reporting, and so little good.
While reading The Panic Virus, I kept thinking that its major shortcoming is a lingering uncertainty about its target audience. Is Mnookin writing for the uninitiated who want an introduction to where the anti-vaccine movement? Or is he writing a broadside for those already staunchly in the pro-vaccine community? There are sections where the rhetoric made me think it was the latter, while the majority of the book seems to be for those with little outside knowledge of vaccine science. Since Mnookin cautions so much against being led astray by charlatans who peddle fear with a thin veneer of scientific-sounding verbiage, I wish he had done a bit more to explain the science done in recent years on vaccine safety, thiomersal, MMR, and autism. I understand why an author writing a popular narrative would avoid trying to describe these subjects: they are incredibly complicated and divert the reader from the narrative. [Note that I haven't read Paul Offit's Autism's False Prophets, which I understand might have a bit more of that.] And it's not like good science writing is entirely missing from The Panic Virus. Some things are explained well, but overall there's just a bit too much deference to the authority of science and scientists for my tastes, especially for a book intended for lay audiences. It's a good book, but not a great book.
I also wish Mnookin had provided a better counter-narrative in the second half of the book. Broadly speaking, the first half follows the development of vaccines and early vaccine injury scares (founded and unfounded), and the second half explores the rise of the anti-vaccine social movement. The second half is missing strong pro-vaccine characters, such as one or two scientists or policymakers who have been working to combat the anti-vaccine crowd. A lot of good research has been done to disprove fallacious claims, and to look for policy solutions aimed at decreasing opt-out rates on a state level, but none of that is here.
To date the anti-vaccine crowd has really won the narrative war: their message is simpler, and scarier, and has the added perk of being anti-establishment in appealing ways. The Panic Virus didn't give me much hope that that would change soon -- although the book itself is mostly a step in the right direction, combining a pro-science view with a few emotional narratives about vaccine-preventable diseases.
Our best hope is that eventually our scientific explanations of autism etiology will solidify a bit more, and coupled with much more demonstrably effective treatments, the snake oil appeal of the "cures" sold by the anti-vaccine movement will lose their charm. One theme of the Panic Virus is that the anti-vaccine movement arose because parents of autistic children weren't getting the sympathy, explanations, and help they needed. Many factors including a lack of understanding by doctors and communities, isolation, weak scientific explanations, and a lack of viable treatments all created a situation like a field of dry grass. When a powerful idea -- "vaccines cause autism" -- arose and was amplified by the echo chambers of Internet communities, it ripped through the dry field like a wildfire, sowing panic and fear. And the fire still hasn't been put out.


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There's few Olympic disciplines more unforgiving than slalom skiing. You can't hold back, everything must be on the edge and yet the slightest slip and it's all over with a four-year wait to get the chance again.
There's no repechages, no opportunities to be a lucky loser and fortunes favours the bold, it's sport at its most brutal. Anything can happen, especially when you throw in the lottery of the elements, and it usually does.
Dave Ryding has appeared at two Olympics, finishing 27th in Vancouver and 17th last year in Sochi, where he blamed a 'schoolboy error' for not finishing higher up the rankings.
This year he has established himself in the top 30 of the World Cup circuit and achieved Britain's best performances in an alpine skiing race in five years, with a top 20 finishes in Are and Madonna di Campiglio.
Ryding's journey from his Lancashire hometown - highest peak Beacon Fell, just 873ft above sea level - to the rarified air of the skiing circuit is hardly conventional, he first learned to ski on a dry slope in Pendle.
But he's brimming with confidence after his best season yet.
Last week he claimed another national title in Tignes, coming home nearly a second ahead of the rest of the field.
But it's against the best in the world that the 28-year old must really challenge himself.
"There are seven guys in top 30 who are 35 or older so I could have two more Olympics in me and plenty more World Cup campaigns," he told TeamGB.com.
"I've certainly not peaked yet because this sport is getting older for some reason, which is great news for me.
"I'm just going to hang in there, keep improving and keep climbing the rankings and see where that takes me. I've not lost any fight, I'm more determined than ever and there's no lack of self-belief.
"My body feels great, a lot of people have got aches and pains but I'm in great shape thanks to the physical training I've been doing. I've got plenty of years in me and plenty more years to improve."
Last season Ryding became the first British skier to win the overall slalom title on the second-tier Europa Cup circuit but this year's results, against higher quality opposition, represent a significant step up.
But there's a long way to go to match the four World Cup top tens achieved by Britain's most successful slalom skier, Alain Baxter, back in 2001.
"I'm 31st on the World Cup start list at the moment, but for next year I should start in the 20s with a few people retiring," added Ryding.
"Breaking into the top 30 and then establishing yourself there is massively important.
"When you do it you've got to make sure you come properly ready and kick on from there.
"Once you start solidifying yourself in there the pressure will hopefully get a bit less and then you can ski more loose. Top-15 results are definitely achievable and after that you are right in the mix."
Racing as a team under the GBR banner was a proud moment today, great signs for the future of GBR skiing!! #lovedit #whensthenextone
— Dave Ryding (@daveryding) February 10, 2015
Racing as a team under the GBR banner was a proud moment today, great signs for the future of GBR skiing!! #lovedit #whensthenextone
However, Ryding admits some disappointment that he couldn't translate his early season form into better results in the New Year, a feeling compounded by a bizarre injury that cost him at the World Championships.
"When the season's going and you have a 16th and 17th before Christmas, you think you can go on afterwards – but my best since was 24th and 25th," he added.
"I was a bit unfortunate before the World Championships, I got slightly injured – I hurt my shin which was a stupid one, I kicked my bed!
"So my head wasn't totally there I was trying to figure a way of how to ski properly while I was carrying the injury. Until then it was going really well and it was disappointing not to perform. But at the same time these things happen, that's sport. You've got to take the rough with the smooth."
From Chris Bailey, Sportsbeat, in Tignes
© Sportsbeat 2015


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Congratulations to Scholastica, graduating Catapult and moving into their own office space. When Scholastica joined Catapult in September 2013, they were a company of 4. Led by founders Brian Cody (CEO), Rob Walsh (Design), and Cory Schires (Technology), they are now 8 strong and growing - both their team and their business.
Founded in 2010, Scholastica has brought much needed innovation to academic publishing. They provide a publishing platform that makes it easy for scholars to manage manuscripts, find editors and reviewers, and publish journals online. They have streamlined the peer-reviewed journal management process by providing all the technology needed. In addition, the Scholastica team continues to be passionate about making research available to a wide audience, advocating for open access publishing.
During their tenure at Catapult, the Scholastica team has been an active part of our community - setting a positive example for all the new residents that have followed. As Scholastica looks to the future, we look back and remember their 18 months at Catapult:
Making History Accessible: SlaveryStories.org
Brian Cody on the tasty trade's Bootstrapping in America
Trying to disrupt the high price of academic publishing in Crain's
We wish Brian, Rob, Cory and their growing team the best of luck. We are thrilled for their success, but we will miss seeing them around the office every day!


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Why is Google hosting common Javascript/AJAX Libraries?
This post will be published to the public later today, with a unique URL (/google-ajax-api.html) and the above title.Thanks for reading and following.
I have a question I would like to try and answer, and I need some help. Why is Google hosting popular Javascript/AJAX libraries like jQuery, Prototype, script.aculo.us, MooTools, Dojo, SWFObjectNew!, and even user interface libraries like the Yahoo! User Interface Library (YUINew!) and jQuery UI?
My follow up question is why website developers are making use of those hosted services, but first I need to understand Google's intent.
Perhaps you didn't know (because you are an SEO and not a coder, or an owner and not a coder) that your website is loading its javascript libraries off of Google's servers, every single time they are needed. Google offers this seemingly benevolent service for free (read the offer here).
Perhaps you didn't realize that under this arrangement, Google can see the IP and referrer of every incoming visitor. Is this just another way that Google can see your web traffic, and where it is coming from? I need to understand this better.
You can tell if your coder is utilizing this service (and handing Google the keys to your business data) by inspecting the source code of your web page, looking for something like (the "XXX" partwill vary):
<script src="http://www.google.com/XXX"></script>
This is definitely a helpful thing for developers — it makes their job easier, and we know developers love things that make their jobs easier. Google presents it that way to developers:
The AJAX Libraries API takes the pain out of developing mashups in JavaScript while using a collection of libraries. We take the pain out of hosting the libraries, correctly setting cache headers, staying up to date with the most recent bug fixes, etc.
Google is indeed hosting the libraries, but Google is also helping the makers of those libraries, since having your library hosted and distributed (and promoted) by Google can't be a bad thing:
Google works directly with the key stake holders for each library effort and accepts the latest stable versions as they are released. Once we host a release of a given library, we are committed to hosting that release indefinitely.
This all sounds so… good. Google does try to suggest that this is also good for web publishers, when it states:
By using the Google AJAX API Loader's
google.load()method, your application has high speed, globaly available access to a growing list of the most popular, open source JavaScript libraries
I questioned the "load faster" part, because I prefer to rely on my own servers (thank-you-very-much). Alex noted below that load times can be reduced due to paralel loading of libraries from different servers, in addition to any benefits from Google's caching and data center performance.
I doubt many business decision makers are actually in tune with this at all. Is it an issue? Developers are making the call here. So why is Google being so benevolent?
Brian notes in a comment that Google can trust the js libraries since it hosts them… and doesn't need to crawl through them to know what's inside. Excellent point. What do you think?
Take a look at that SWFObject one, too. Wow.. why would Google want to host in real time the javascript library that is most commonly used for managing embedded Flash objects with alternative text annotations?
Does anyone know? Please comment.
Google's done covert things before. I recall when we learned, well after the fact, that Mozilla had taken nearly a hundred million of dollars from Google in exchange for exclusive access to its user base's activity data. Even while we Mozilla supporters were pitched on the benevolent, non-profit status of the open source Mozilla project, the managers of Mozilla were operating as a for-profit company in partnership with Google. They even had to put off filing their taxes, so they could restructure as a for-profit entity nearly 18 months back, to avoid IRS penalties.
What do you think? Is covert user tracking enough of a benefit for Google to offer this program? Is the knowledge Google gain about the relative usage of these libraries so valuable (e.g. how many sites are loading jQuery vs. how many use Prototype)" What am I missing? Please comment if you know.
Q: Could it be that Google is getting code inserted into the AJAX libraries it is hosting, much like it got access to Mozilla's userbase's activity stream?
That would see so evil, since user interface libraries can do just about anything with the page they load in (your page, by the way). They can manipulate the page, or even track mouse movements without waiting for the user to click. Google could know if you hover on ads and don't click, for example.
I'm not asking for anti-Google tin foil hat conspiracy theories… I just need helpful, honest analysis that will help answer the question – Why is Google hosting the common Javascript libraries (javascript APIs) for free?


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So we are almost ready to roll into the new space for good! Another long weekend, and then we move in all of the essentials. Tools, phones, computers...
So this is our last Saturday open in the old shop and boutique. I have very mixed feelings about this of course. I have spent so many hours in that first shop space, many of them it was just me and my dog Buda. The time has come for us to take a big step forward, and the new space is amazing. So I am also very excited to get everything up and running.
Change is inevitable, growth is intentional.
So come bid the old shop and the boutique a fond farewell today. As of Monday We will be closed temporarily while we make the final transition. The plan is to be up and running again in the new space by next weekend. Probably Thursday at the earliest, Saturday at the absolute latest. Check our progress here throughout the week.
Thank you all so much for your support, I can't wait to show you around the new and improved Bicycle Revolutions.


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Ep. 1 - Bon Voyage
Galactic News
We have yet to hear from the aliens, but fear not. We are hopeful. After all, this is only our first attempt to contact them. No one crushes it the first time, unless you're Lin-Manuel Miranda. We are not Lin-Manuel Miranda however much we wish we were.


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Immersion Method
Thus helping children instinctively learn to develop listening comprehension as well as English or German knowledge. Furthermore, the principle "one person – one language" helps grow childrens' capability and willingness to learn a new language.
In the Phorms nurseries and reception classes, children always have contact with one English-speaking and one German-speaking teacher on a day-to-day basis. At primary school, four subjects are taught in English and, at secondary school, the students can choose international qualifications in addition to the German Abitur. In addition, all Phorms schools cover regional differences in their curricula.


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LeBron James' season might very well end on Sunday night in Boston, the same as his second career with the Cavaliers might end.
The Celtics haven't lost at home in the 2018 playoffs and very well might not on Sunday night. They could win Game 7 and prevent James from making it to eight consecutive NBA Finals. And you have to know that eight straight would be an achievement for James that would stand with any the NBA has ever seen in the postseason, and that includes Bill Russell's Celtics winning 11 championships in 13 years in another pro basketball world, and Michael Jordan going 6-0 in the Finals in the 90s, even if Michael's Bulls never faced an opponent close to the Warriors team James has already gone up against in the last three NBA Finals.
But whatever happens in Boston, and in the '18 Finals if LeBron James does make it that far again, he has hopefully taken a sledgehammer to the mythology about greatness in professional sports only being defined by number of championships won. Now he has to try to beat the Celtics without Kevin Love, the Cavs' second-best player, who is out of Game 7 because of concussion symptoms. The only reason the sides still seem even is because of No. 23.
Do titles matter in evaluating the legends and immortals in sports? Absolutely they do. Are they the only marker? The notion that they are is ridiculous. Willie Mays' teams won one World Series and he is considered the best all-around player who ever lived. Hank Aaron won one. Jerry West won one. Dan Marino, one of the best quarterbacks who ever lived, won none.
LeBron James is the best all-around basketball player who ever lived, and has reminded us of that over the last six weeks or so, as he has scored 40 points in seven of his 17 playoff games and made a couple of the most memorable shots of his extraordinary career – the step-back buzzer beater against the Pacers in Game 4, that going-to-his-left H-O-R-S-E shot to beat the Raptors – along the way. If his season does end on Sunday night, as it sure could, the NBA is diminished, and gets less interesting. Whether you love LeBron or are among the Flat Earth Society people who still hate him and refuse to give him his due, you have to understand that.
We hear constantly that Kevin Durant or James Harden or somebody is the second-best player in the game. And you know what? One of them is. Harden will likely win the MVP this year. But neither of them is close to LeBron James, even though this is clearly the year when voters will decide it's somebody else's turn to win an MVP. It used to happen this way when Michael was MVP, every single year.
This is a time when there is almost as much young talent in pro basketball as there is in baseball. But the sport does become less compelling and less fun when James isn't in the game you are watching. Nothing against the Celtics, who have been the surprise of these playoffs without the guys who were supposed to be their two best players this season – Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving – and will likely be the favorites to win it all next season, no matter how this one ends. The Celtics have the best coach on the planet in Brad Stevens, and a team that their fans have embraced as much as any Celtics team ever as they've made their own run at the Finals. I would love to see these Boston kids in an NBA Finals. I just would rather see LeBron in one more, maybe for the road.
When it was all on the line Friday night, match point against, James scored 46 points in Game 6, eleven rebounds, nine assists. Once more he shows you he could make any bad team in his league into a playoff team just by his presence alone. The Cavs decided to change half their team, halfway through the season. He still might make it back to the Finals. "It would be," Jeff Van Gundy said Friday night, "remarkable."
For most of this current run, Love was Cleveland's primary secondary scorer. But only a handful of times did Love, who's also the team's primary rebounder, score 20 or more points. Love only played five minutes Friday night after his collision with Jayson Tatum. You still saw what LeBron James did without him. You saw how he played. Durant doesn't do that, Harden doesn't, Steph Curry doesn't. No one else does. This is sports being elevated to the highest possible place, no matter what happens tonight; even if Atlas shrugs in one more Game 7.
Kyle Korver said once again after Friday night's performance from LeBron James that "I'm just glad he's on my team." Always, comments like that make you remember something Brian Leetch said to me a long time ago, at the Rangers' practice facility. I asked Leetch what it was like to be a hockey kid, one who grew up into being a great player himself, and finally get to play with Wayne Gretzky. Leetch smiled and said it was more than just getting to play with The Great One.
"I'm just glad I lived in the same time as he did," Leetch said.
Tom Brady is the G.O.A.T in pro football. But as brilliant as he is, even at 40, and even though he has won more titles than James has, as much as he has done in the fourth quarters of memorable Super Bowl games, it is still not the same watching him throw a football as it is watching James play basketball the way he is playing it right now. We come to sports for a lot of reasons, mostly asking sports to be the memory-making business for us all. But we come for genius and magic, too; to see great athletes make the impossible seem possible.
So far in these playoffs, with Love and Korver and George Hill and Tristan Thompson and old friend J.R. Smith, not only has James made the impossible seem possible, he has made it predictable. He has made us come to expect it. So he gets one more game against the Celtics on Sunday night, on the road, with perhaps the thinnest team around him since he first took the Cavs to the Finals over a decade ago; without Kevin Love now. LeBron still has a chance at one more trip to the NBA Finals with the Cleveland Cavaliers. One more time in an extraordinary 15-year career, he is the main event. Might be the last game of his season. Might be his last in Cleveland. Not the way to root.
Cashman magic, Trout puts one out, the 'D' in D'Antoni and backwards NFL ....
— The beauty of the trade that brought Gleyber Torres to the Yankees – for Aroldis Chapman, to the Cubs, a rental in 2016 – is that on Friday night Torres won the Angels game with another home run and then Chapman closed it out.
That was some trade Brian Cashman made.
Like, maybe as great as he might ever make.
That kind of trade.
Put me down as somebody who doesn't want to see Shohei Ohtani anywhere near the Home Run Derby.
You sort of knew that a Jersey kid like Mike Trout was going to hit at least one ball out of Yankee Stadium Friday, right?
The shame of Trout playing Out There and the way the schedule is set up in Major League Baseball is that unless something happens in October, these are the only three games Trout will play in New York all year.
It's like when the Garden would only get to see Magic or Kobe Bryant once a year.
One of the remarkable sights – other than Quinn Cook somehow taking what felt like the biggest shot of the Warriors season at the time, forty-seconds left in Game 5 — of the NBA postseason was how panicked the defending champs of the world look with 6.7 seconds left at the very end of that game.
They weren't running a play; they were running a fire drill.
And playing scared.
— The Red Sox better be right about Hanley Ramirez.
Everybody involved said that it wasn't about the money, after the Sox DFA-ed Ramirez, a guy who had a vesting option for $22 million next season if he made 475 plate appearances this season.
But the wisdom on this always goes back to the great Giants general manager George Young, who once said, "When they say it's not about the money, it's always about the money."
—For a guy (and a really good guy) like Mike D'Antoni who's only supposed to be interested in coaching fast offense, his team sure has played some pretty fancy defense against the Golden State Warriors.
When Chris Paul gets hurt again, the way he got hurt in Game 5, you start to wonder if maybe he's playing out a star-crossed career after all
—It is amazing that NFL owners have clearly continued to buy into the cockeyed notion that ratings were down last season because of anthem protests.
Sure they were.
Had nothing to do with as much mediocre football as we saw Sunday after Sunday, and across the board.
Had nothing to do with big stars like Aaron Rodgers and Odell Beckham, Jr. getting hurt.
Had nothing to do with a lot of Sundays when if Brady and the Patriots weren't playing you wondered who you really, really wanted to watch.
It was the handful of guys the president of the United States called "SOBs" doing this kind of damage to that shield Roger Goodell is always saying he has to preserve and protect.
They did it.
I keep waiting for these same owners to blame all of this on Hillary Clinton, too.
Here is the real bottom line on what happened this week with an anthem policy for the league that seems to have been written out on a cocktail napkin:
Goodell and his owners took a bad situation and made it much, much worse.
By the way?
The NBA has its own policy, and it says that its players have to stand for the anthem.
But the NBA's policy was collectively bargained for.
It doesn't work that way in pro football, which got way more blowback – and properly so – than it ever bargained for this week.
— Every once in a while when Rudy Giuliani is on television I expect him to stop and ask what happened to the mariachi band.


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The Lady of the Lake (poem)
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The Lady of the Lake is a narrative poem by Sir Walter Scott, first published in 1810. Set in the Trossachs region of Scotland, it is composed of six cantos, each of which concerns the action of a single day.[1] The poem has three main plots: the contest among three men, Roderick Dhu, James Fitz-James, and Malcolm Graeme, to win the love of Ellen Douglas; the feud and reconciliation of King James V of Scotland and James Douglas; and a war between the lowland Scots (led by James V) and the highland clans (led by Roderick Dhu of Clan Alpine). The poem was tremendously influential in the nineteenth century, and inspired the Highland Revival.
By the late nineteenth century, however, the poem was much less popular. (It continued, however, to be a standard reading in elementary schools until the early twentieth century.[2]) Its influence is indirect: Schubert's Ellens Dritter Gesang (later adapted to use the full lyrics of the Latin Ave Maria), Rossini's La Donna del Lago (1819), the Ku Klux Klan custom of cross burning, the last name of U.S. abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and the song "Hail to the Chief", were all inspired by the poem.
It shares its name with the Arthurian character, the Lady of the Lake. Other allusions to the legend are scant.
- King James V of Scotland travelling incognito as James Fitz-James, the Knight of Snowdoun
- Ellen Douglas, daughter of James Douglas
- James Douglas, once the Earl of Bothwell, the mentor of the youthful King James, now exiled as an enemy
- Allan Bane, a bard
- Roderick Dhu, the chief of Clan Alpine, outlawed after committing a cold-blooded homicide at the Scottish court
- Lady Margaret, the mother of Roderick Dhu
- Malcolm Graeme, a young highland chief and former courtier of King James, loved by Ellen
- Brian the Hermit, a pagan prophet in the Druid tradition
- Duncan, a leading member of Clan Alpine who has just died
- Angus, the son of Duncan
- Norman, a bridegroom and member of Clan Alpine
- Mary, Norman's bride
- Blanche of Devan, a lowland Scottish woman, whose bridegroom was murdered on her wedding day by the men of Clan Alpine, causing Blanche to lose her reason
Canto I: The ChaseEdit
The poem begins with a rapid-moving hunt, chasing a stag in the forests of the Trossachs. The stag outruns the hunt, exhausting all its members until only one huntsman –- who, we later learn, is James Fitz-James –- follows it until his horse falls down dead of exhaustion.
The huntsman blows his horn to try to contact someone, and wanders to the shore of Loch Katrine where a young woman, Ellen Douglas, rows across and picks him up in a skiff. He is then taken to a house, which he suspects is a concealed hide-out of a Highland chief. There he is given dinner by Ellen, the bard Allan Bane, and Lady Margaret, and a bed for the night. That night he dreams of Ellen, only to see her face suddenly change to that of his exiled enemy, James Douglas – leading him to suspect that Ellen and James Douglas are related.
Canto II: The IslandEdit
Since the poem will only work if James Douglas and James Fitz-James do not encounter each other until the sixth canto, this canto has a number of comings and goings. James Fitz-James departs the island first thing in the morning. Ellen and Allan Bane discuss Roderick Dhu, Malcolm Graeme, and James Fitz-James, agreeing that the first is bloodthirsty and homicidal, but the only person who would defend James Douglas, and that James Fitz-James is an attractive person, but may be a secret foe of their kinspeople. Roderick Dhu, James Douglas, and Malcolm Graeme return to the island. As Clan Alpine escorts Roderick Dhu to the island, they sing the boat song, "Hail to the Chief". Roderick Dhu asks Douglas for Ellen's hand in marriage, to conclude an alliance between Douglas and Clan Alpine, which can be the basis of an uprising against King James. James Douglas refuses, partly because he will not force Ellen into a loveless marriage, partly also because he remains, despite all the injuries he has suffered, loyal to King James. Roderick Dhu and Malcolm Graeme quarrel over Ellen, and are about to draw their swords against each other, but James Douglas declares that the first to draw will be his foe. James Douglas also says that it is an insult for an exile for his daughter to be the spoil of a battle between two chiefs. Roderick Dhu tells Graeme to leave his territory, which Graeme does, refusing even to borrow a boat; Graeme instead swims across Loch Katrine to the shore.
Canto III: The GatheringEdit
Despite James Douglas' refusal to participate in the uprising, Roderick Dhu decides to commence the rebellion anyway. With a pagan prophet, Brian the Hermit, Roderick fashions and sets alight the fiery cross, and hands it to his henchman, Malise, to summon the members of the clan to war. The members of the clan drop everything they are doing to respond to the summons of their chief, whether it be a funeral (Angus at the funeral of his father, Duncan) or a wedding (Norman and Mary). Malise runs around the countryside, finally passing the burning cross on to Angus, the son of Duncan, a leading member of the clan who has just died; and Angus, in his turn, passes the summons on to Norman, a bridegroom, interrupting Norman's wedding. James Douglas flees the island for a hermit's cave so that he will not be associated with the Clan Alpine uprising. As Roderick Dhu is about to leave the island, he overhears Ellen praying to the Virgin, singing "Ave Maria." Roderick Dhu sadly realizes that this is the last time he will ever hear Ellen's voice, and then prepares to go off to battle.
Canto IV: The ProphecyEdit
Malise and Norman discuss the upcoming battle. Roderick Dhu has decided that the women and old men should take shelter on the island in the middle of Loch Katrine. When Norman asks why Roderick is staying apart from the main body of the troops, Malise says it is the result of a prophecy made by Brian the Hermit.
Roderick Dhu had consulted Brian as to what will be the outcome of the battle. To determine this, they sacrifice one of the finest animals that the clan had received from one of its cattle raids, a milk-white bull. Brian prophesied,
Which spills the foremost foeman's life, that party conquers in the strife— lines 2524–25
Rhoderick Dhu asks if any of the local friendly clans will fight on Clan Alpine's side; when he hears that none will, he sheds a tear, but at once masters himself and says that Clan Alpine shall fight in Trossachs glen. Ellen, meanwhile, is worrying about the fate of her father, who stated that they would meet in Heaven next if they met nowhere else. Allan Bane seeks to distract her by singing the ballad of Alice Brand. When the ballad ends, James Fitz-James appears. He has asked a guide, Murdoch, to bring him back to Loch Katrine. There he pleads with Ellen to leave the highlands and elope with him. Ellen says she cannot marry him; first, she is the daughter of an outlaw; second, her heart is promised to another. James Fitz-James is disappointed, but before he leaves he gives her a ring, saying that if she needs anything from the King of Scotland, she has but to present the ring and it will bring her to him and he will grant her wish. Murdoch guides James Fitz-James further, when they encounter Blanche of Devan. Blanche's bridegroom was slain by Clan Alpine on her wedding day, whereupon she lost her reason. Blanche sings a song of hunting, to warn James Fitz-James that Murdoch and the other Clan Alpine men plan to trap and murder him. James Fitz-James then draws his sword; Murdoch shoots off an arrow, which misses James Fitz-James, but hits Blanche, fatally wounding her. James Fitz-James then pursues Murdoch and stabs him to death. He returns to Blanche, who warns him of the ambush. Blanche has been wearing a lock of her bridegroom's hair ever since his murder. Blanche dies. James Fitz-James cuts off a lock of Blanche's hair, mingles it amidst the hair of her bridegroom, and imbrues it in her blood, promising to imbrue the lock in the blood of Roderick Dhu. He then plans to make his way out of the trap in the highlands by walking out by night. He succeeds in doing this until he turns a rock and suddenly comes upon a mountaineer sitting by a fire. The warrior challenges him, and James Fitz-James says he is not a friend to Roderick Dhu. However, the two men recognize each other as worthy warriors, the warrior shares his dinner with James Fitz-James, and the two go to sleep side by side.
Canto V: The CombatEdit
Dawn breaks, and the two men start off for the border. They begin to argue about the relations between Highlanders and Lowlanders; Fitz-James condemns the clans' thefts and feuds, while his guide responds by referring to the many appropriations and legalized crimes of the Lowlanders. Finally, James Fitz-James declares that if he ever encountered the chieftain he would revenge himself in full. On this, the mountaineer whistles, and five hundred men stand up from their hiding places; the mountaineer reveals that he is Roderick Dhu. Wishing to have this combat all to himself, he dismisses the men who were waiting to ambush.
On arriving at the border, they begin to fight, the chieftain scorning to settle their differences any other way. Though Roderick is stronger, he is less skilful, and is badly wounded; when Fitz-James stops to address him, the chieftain defiantly seizes him by the throat; but he has lost too much blood, and his strength fails him. Fitz-James wins after a long struggle, and with his bugle summons medical aid for Roderick Dhu before setting off for Stirling, where a festival is taking place.
As he approaches the castle, he sees Douglas in the distance. Douglas has come to surrender himself in order to save Roderick and Malcolm Graeme; but before doing so, he stops to participate in the games of the festival. He wins so many events that he is brought to meet the king, but the king, giving him the purse of prize-money, will not acknowledge him as an acquaintance. Provoked, Douglas names himself, and is immediately seized.
A messenger rushes up to announce that the Earl of Mar is about to begin battle against Roderick Dhu, and he is ordered to return with the news that both Roderick and Douglas have been captured and that no battle is needed.
Canto VI: The Guard-RoomEdit
The next morning, Ellen and Allan Bane enter the guard-room at Stirling Castle, hoping to visit Douglas in prison. Ellen is taken to a furnished room upstairs to wait; Allan Bane is shown to the cell of the gravely injured Roderick Dhu, who dies as Allan sings him one last song. Meanwhile, leaning out of the window, Ellen is startled and heartbroken to hear the voice of Malcolm Graeme, singing in one of the turrets. Soon afterwards Fitz-James arrives to tell her that it is time for her audience with the king.
Ellen enters the room and looks around for King James. To her surprise, every man has doffed his hat except for James Fitz-James, and she realises that James Fitz-James is the King himself.
Terrified, Ellen collapses, but the king lifts her up and reassures her that her father has been pardoned, and asks whom else she would like released. Her generous first thought is of Roderick Dhu, but James tells her that he has died. Ellen is about to ask for Malcolm, but cannot speak; divining her wish, the king jokingly orders that Malcolm be put in fetters, and after putting a gold chain around the man's neck, gives the clasp to Ellen.
The poem is not based upon specific historic events, but has certain elements that occurred in Scottish history:
- In myth, King James V of Scotland was reputed to travel anonymously among his subjects.
- Several kings of Scotland quarrelled with Clan Douglas.
- Clan Alpine is a very old Highland clan in re-establishment, whom many clans claim descendant from, e.g. the MacGregors. They represent the Highland people and their power-struggle with the Scots monarchy.
The influences of the poem, The Lady of the Lake, are both extensive and diverse, given that both the last name taken by the leading African-American abolitionist, Frederick Douglass,[3] and the Ku Klux Klan custom of cross burning derive from the influence of the poem (through the film Birth of a Nation.) But, the Fiery cross or Crann Tara was a device for rallying people in Scotland and did not carry racist connotations.
Rossini's La Donna del LagoEdit
Gioachino Rossini composed an opera, La Donna del Lago, based on the poem. The opera downplays the other plots in favor of the love story. In the opera, James Douglas tells Ellen that she must marry Roderick Dhu. Some of the characters' names are changed slightly: Roderick Dhu becomes Rodrigo, Ellen becomes Elena, and James Fitz-James becomes Uberto.
Schubert's Sieben Gesänge aus Walter Scotts "Fräulein am See"Edit
Walter Scott's poem, in the German translation by Adam Storck, was set to music by Franz Schubert in his work entitled Sieben Gesänge aus Walter Scotts "Fräulein am See" (Seven songs from Walter Scott's Lady of the Lake). This includes the three "Ellen songs": "Ellens Gesang I",[4] "Ellens Gesang II",[5] and "Ellens Gesang III."[6] Owing to its opening words, "Ave Maria", Ellens Gesang III is sometimes also referred to as "Schubert's Ave Maria". However, the music has become more famous in a later adaptation that replaced the Scott/Storck text with the Latin text of the Catholic "Ave Maria" ("Hail Mary") prayer. Other songs from the poem set by Schubert are "The Boat-Song" beginning with the famous lines "Hail to the Chief", a mourning song sung for Duncan,"Coronach","Normans Gesang", sung by Norman to Mary when he learns that he must join the Clan-Alpine Muster, and finally "Lied des gefangenen Jägers",(Lay of the imprisoned huntsman) sung by Malcolm Graeme, the betrothed of Ellen Douglas, while captive in Stirling Castle. "Boot Gesang" and "Coronach" are choral pieces, and as the other songs in the cycle are for solo voice, complete performances of the cycle are thus very rare.
Cross burningEdit
In the third canto of the poem, a burnt cross is used to summon Clan Alpine to rise against King James. This method of rallying supporters and publicizing their attacks was adapted by the second Ku Klux Klan in 1915 after the film, The Birth of a Nation. The Ku Klux Klan used cross burning for dramatic terror as a racist tactic.
And while the Fiery Cross glanced, like a meteor, round.Edit
The Chieftain killed a goat, made a cross of light wood, lit the four ends on fire, and extinguished the flames with the sacrifice of the goat's blood. The cross was carried to the first village by a messenger who spoke one word; the place to meet. The village would send a messenger with the cross to the next village and relay the same message.
Any man between the ages of 16 and 60 able to bear arms who failed to arrive at the appointed tryst in full battle gear met the same fate as the goat and cross - himself slain and his chattels burnt.[7]
The last name of Frederick DouglassEdit
Frederick Douglass took his last name from the poem. When Douglass escaped from slavery, he changed his last name to hide from his former master. A friend proposed a new one:
|I gave Mr. Johnson the privilege of choosing me a name, but told him he must not take from me the name of "Frederick." I must hold on to that, to preserve a sense of my identity. Mr. Johnson had just been reading the Lady of the Lake, and at once suggested that my name be "Douglass."
Ellen Douglas Birdseye WheatonEdit
Ellen Douglas Birdseye Wheaton (1816–1858), author of The Diary of Ellen Birdseye Wheaton (1923, privately printed, Boston), wife of the abolitionist Charles Augustus Wheaton (1809–1882), was named for the Scott heroine by her parents.
Classics Illustrated editionEdit
In September 1950, the comic-book publisher, Gilberton Company, Inc., of New York City, issued Classics Illustrated number 75, "The Lady of the Lake". It was illustrated by Henry C. Kiefer, one of Gilberton's best graphic artists for the comic-book genre. The editor was Helene Lecar, who transformed the cantos into a concise narrative that would be interesting to school-age children. It has 44 pages devoted to the story by Sir Walter Scott, plus one page of biography of Sir Walter. Classics Illustrated number 75 originally sold for 15 cents, and tens of thousands of copies were printed on cheap newsprint. It remains a collector's item more than six decades later, and is widely sold in used comic-book stores.
Film adaptationEdit
In 1928 the poem served as the basis for a silent film The Lady of the Lake directed by James A. FitzPatrick and starring Percy Marmont and Benita Hume. It was made at Islington Studios by Gainsborough Pictures.
- ^ Oliver, Susan (29 August 2005). "The Lady of the Lake". The Literary Dictionary Company. Retrieved 30 September 2007.
- ^ Ida E. Robbins "Reading and Literature" in James E. Russell (ed.) Teachers College Record: Elementary School Curriculum, Fourth and Fifth Year, Columbia University, 1907.
- ^ Frederick; Douglass (13 January 2015). Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave (Civil War Classics). Diversion Books. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-62681-687-9.
- ^ Ellens Gesang I Archived 2013-12-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ellens Gesang II Archived 2013-12-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ellens Gesang III
- ^ The Poems and Plays of Sir Walter Scott, Volume 2, JM Dent & Sons, Ltd, E.P. Dutton & Co., Everyman Flatback 1906-1920 p505
External linksEdit
|Wikisource has original text related to this article:
- e-text at Project Gutenberg
- The Lady of the Lake at Archive.org
- The Lady of the Lake public domain audiobook at LibriVox


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Winter To Spring: Less is More
Most fashion bloggers and editors will tell you to layer up in the winter. The philosophy is that when you have multiple layers, you can add or remove them as needed throughout the day and "better safe than sorry". My problem with layering in the winter is that it's generally uncomfortable. You may be warm but what happens when you get indoors? If you commute like I do, you are most likely going to be stuck wearing all your layers (i.e. sweater + hoodie + scarf + jacket + hat) until you get to school or work or wherever you can store your extra clothes. I believe that less is more, and that applies to winter fashion too. My advice is to stick with the basics and if you really need to stay warm, layer a thermal shirt under a merino wool sweater. Not only will you be more comfortable (because how long are you really going to be outside for) but you will have a look that is clean and polished!
Note: Gloves are a must in Canadian winters but because I'm a saint, I lent them to my photographer.
Photography by Noor Hasan!
Coat: Topman | Scarf: Calvin Klein | Sweater: H&M


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Shoppers and staff were evacuated from the Cancer Research UK shop in Milngavie this afternoon after a small fire broke out in the store.
Firefighters were called to the premises on Main Street at about 1.18pm today (Tuesday, August 30) by which time the fire had already been extinguished.
The fire appears to have been caused by an overheated light fixture but luckily there doesn't seem to have been any serious damage in the shop and no one was injured.
Staff were still standing outside the building several hours later (at 3pm) when The Herald contacted them.


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After nearly 25 years of selling consulting services, it surprises me to find so many clients that have no idea about whether or not they are paying appropriate fees.
The problem sometimes gets out of control when a client knows that they are making $70/hr in net salary while paying a consultant $200/hr. So the client always feels cheated.
I reality, this client may actually make more money than the consultant.
Here's how consultant's typically set their hourly rates. Artists and copywriters use a similar approach. In some cases, they simply charge what the market will bear. But they often under price their services due to a lack of understanding of how rates should be set.
If a consultant made $150,000/year on his last assignment, then he wants to at least break even when striking out on his own. In reality, anyone taking the leap to set up his or her own business should make more money.
One major feature to remember is that a $150,000 salary carries at least a 30% load on top of the $150,000 for benefits and other overhead costs. These include the employer's portion of the social security tax, group insurance, paid holidays, vacations, computers, other business support expenses, retirement and/or tax sheltered savings accounts such as 401K's with some employer matching and so forth.
All of a sudden that $150,000 was really worth $195,000 (150,000 X 1.30).
But let's assume that the consultant only needs to match the $150,000 in fees. What should his hourly rate be?
First of all, no consultant can sell, invoice his clients and implement projects 20 days each month. The best he can do if he is very successful is to invoice 10 days of his time each month. (See chart below)
Here's how it works.
Assuming 10 days of billable time each month, the consultant needs the following rates for his services to make a gross base of $150,000 WITHOUT BENFITS or reimbursement of business expense overhead.
Monthly rate: $150,000/12 months = $12,500
Daily Rate: $12,500/10 days = $ 1,250
Hourly rate: $1,250/8 hours = $ 156/hour
At $156/hour, this successful consultant is really netting far less than he made as a full time employee.
To truly match his salary and benefits for a gross of $195,000/year, the rate would total the following.
Monthly rate: $195,000/12 months = $16,250
Daily Rate: $16,250/10 days = $ 1,625
Hourly rate: $1,625/8 hours = $ 203/hour
At $203/hour, this consultant cannot afford to bill less than 120 days of his time each year. Few independent consultants manage to bill this many days.
The real challenge for any independent consultant is to figure out how to keep the work flowing on a regular basis so he will average that 10 days/month of billable time. He must also bill a fair hourly rate based on his skill and experience level.
Most capable consultants I know cannot project their income annually or even monthly. The peaks and valleys are deep and the hourly rate seems inadequate to make up for the valleys.
So what most of us in the consulting business end up doing is invoice by the project with guaranteed pricing hoping to keep our hours under control.
Have you sold your hourly rate using a different approach? If so, how do you calculate your rate? If you bought consulting services in the past, how did you evaluate the consultant's worth?


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Mediation is a way of helping people resolve issues relating to parenting, separation, and/or divorce including custody of or access to children, child and/or spousal support, and property division outside court. A family mediator can help people identify the issues that need to be resolved upon separation and work out solutions.
The following information is taken from the Legal Aid Ontario website at: http://www.legalaid.on.ca/en/getting/mediationservices.asp
Mediation helps people who have a dispute reach a settlement that fits their family's needs, while minimizing conflict and delay.
Legal Aid Ontario's (LAO) mediation services are free, so long as one of the persons meets LAO's financial eligibility requirements.
If you are interested in mediation but do not meet LAO's eligibility guidelines, LAO can connect you to other mediators who provide subsidized mediations on a sliding scale fee.
What is family mediation?
Family mediation is a process where a mediator helps disputing parties brainstorm together on workable solutions that focus on the best interests of their children.
The mediator supports each person so that his or her perspective is considered. The mediator doesn't take sides.
What issues can LAO mediation help us with?
LAO's mediators help clients with:
- custody
- access
- parenting arrangements
- travel/vacation plans
- parenting communication
- child support
Where you can get LAO's free mediation services
Contact LAO's toll-free number to see if you're eligible for LAO's free mediation services or to referred to subsidized mediation service.
Call 1-800-668-8258 from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
You may also qualify for free legal advice on your mediation agreement
If you're a mediation client, you can call LAO's toll-free line to learn if you'refinancially eligible for up to six hours with a lawyer, who can then help you before, during and after entering into any legal agreement based on the mediation.
You can receive advice from a lawyer about the mediation process, assistance in preparing for the mediation, or develop a better understanding of your options. The lawyer can also assist with obtaining a court order or binding agreement to enforce the terms of the mediation agreement.


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Respect Life Lesson Guide
Grades 3rd, 4th, and 5th
Help the children become aware that each child is unique in the sight of God and this uniqueness is best developed in the family. A child's abilities and talents will be enhanced in life if those who care for them are sensitive to the gifts that each child possesses.
- Explain that each child has a special family that they have been placed in on this earth. Ask them to name their family members. Ask them something particular about each person.
- Ask the children what makes them feel good about being in their families. Ask them why they feel this way.
- Ask children to tell about special experiences (birthday parties, picnics, visits with extended family or friends).
- Talk about how they have grown and matured in life. Discuss reversing the attention from themselves to helping others. Instead of visiting a relative to play, do they go over to help with a new baby or to visit a sick person?
- Ask the class to write down some important thoughts about themselves and family members or to compose prayers about how they are thankful for the gift of life.
- Stress that caring and loving others is a reflection of God's love. Ask if they can see this reflection in how they behave and how others behave toward them.
- Ask the children to share mementos of themselves and their families when they were babies. They can share pictures or a story from a family event.
Information on Life
From the moment of conception, God has made you unique. At a specific time, he placed you in a family and He has a plan that only you can fulfill. As you grow and mature, your gift of self, developed with the help of your parents will allow you to mature into the image of God himself. You will reflect God to others by helping those within your family and respecting yourself as His unique and sacred creation.


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Women employees at a private firm in the Special Economic Zone in Kochi were allegedly stripped after their lady supervisors wanted to know who had left a used sanitary napkin in toilet. Police have registered a case against two lady supervisors on charges of outraging the modesty of women. The state women's commission has intervened in the incident.
The incident was reported at Asma Rubber Private Limited, which is functioning at the Kochi SEZ. As per the complaint, the incident took place on December 10 when the lady supervisors found used sanitary napkin in the bathroom. As their grilling did not help find the woman who used the napkin, the supervisors decided to go for a strip search of women employees aged below 50. Thus, 45 women were subjected to the humiliating examination to find who was menstruating.
The complaint was moved four days back, but the police registered the case only on Saturday. Thrikkakara station house inspector T K Josy said the complaint was handed over to the women police cell. "We have got the case transferred from the local police on Sunday. We would begin the probe only on Monday after recording the statements of the workers and their supervisors,'' women police cell said.
Kerala women's commission member Lissy Jose said the commission has sought stern action against the supervisors in the humiliating incident. She said the panel would seek an explanation from the company management, although police said there was no complaint against the management.
Representative of Asma Rubber Private Limited was not available for comment.
Various women and social organisations have planned a march towards the Kochi SEZ on Monday demanding action against the culprits.


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My passion, my goal... to paint and travel for as much as I'm able and for as long as I'm able... I place part of my soul on every canvas...
Creative Canvas Gallery is the realization of my dreams..... I put my artistic career on hold for twenty years to raise my three amazing children. I started again ten years ago, in Ballito on the North Coast KZN, South Africa. I started teaching about 8 years ago, and have had many rewarding moments along the way. Many exhibitions and a few projects later, I find myself in the wonderful situation of being able to paint every day.
I have a very extensive and varied portfolio of work. I work in oils on canvas which I love the flow and movement of. I paint anything from landscapes, seascapes, portraits and wildlife to cultural work, from realism and Impressionism to contemporary art....
"So, this artist uses her brush to speak! It is very seldom that one can 'feel' an artwork, Michelle's artworks evoke emotions you never knew were there. Most people, if they tried, can learn to paint but its not about the technique and the 'know how', it's about the essence of the heart, the truthful no holds barred freedom of expression. You are all that and more Michelle. Rock on!!!!"
Eve Page
"I want to take a moment to thank you for your beautiful art work. The two pieces you created for us are stunning. Along with the beautiful pieces you've created, you carefully packaged and shipped them half way around the world. I greatly appreciate your work and your service. You allowed me to bring a piece of South Africa into our home for my wife, Gayle."
John Lippold
"This is to say that I Geraldine Wood, have been taking art lessons with Michelle Scott Prozesky for the duration of the year 2015, and found her not only a most capable art teacher but also a very encouraging human being who has an extreemly positive and cheerful nature. Were anyone wanting to begin art, or even further themselves in their present abilities, I would have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending her to them.
Should you wish to speak to me in person, I can be contacted on telephone number 031-7634189."
Mrs Geraldine Wood: 29/11/2015
"Michelle makes art practical and fun. She teaches in such a way that anyone (even someone like me with no artistic background or training) can master whatever they want to draw and paint. She has a unique ability to demystify art and to make it practical. Michelle also builds your confidence levels through the process of teaching and makes you believe you can do anything you want to. If it had not been for Michelle - I would never have picked up a pencil - let alone a paint brush.- Thank you Mich! You Started me on this amazing journey and for that I am grateful."
Jacqui Barnes
"This quote sums up Michelle and they way she teaches from the heart and soul... "Life beats down and crushes the soul, art reminds you that you have one." Stella Adler. Michelle is my friend and art teacher , she has this contagious positiveness that she shares so willingly. She is so encouraging and sees the best in me and my art, she has shown me how to trust myself. You come away from an art class with such energy and inspiration. Michelle as an artist is just simply amazing, her work is so effortless and soulful, she goes about her paintings with such ease and her love for the arts shine through."
Tanya Streak
"Wow what an amazing artist you are Michelle! So talented and so professional, from start to finish. I will definitely be getting you to do more artwork for us in time! Thank you!!"
Angela Fillis
Landscapes are like a walk in closet...one must be able to see right into the painting, many landscapes around the world bring out the best in most people, the beauty of a landscape is more often than not, unsurpassed by nothing.
From the moment you lay eyes on a seascape you should see the movement and almost hear the roar of the waves, the sound of the sea is music for my soul.
South African wildlife has a life all of it's own, for the majestic elephant to the fun filled wildebeest, to the lion... hunter and King of the beasts. I have been privileged to have been surrounded by all kinds of wonderful wildlife growing up, from there, comes my love to paint them.
My first love is Portraits, to create a soul filled painting for my clients by starting with eyes. "Eyes are the portal to a mans soul"


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I first saw Street Fighter IV about a year before it was released. Only a handful of characters were playable and if the room full of journos decided that a change was needed, we all had to leave the room while menus we weren't allowed to see were tampered with. I was initially quite sceptical. The look of the game was a throwback to Street Fighter II, and I had incorrectly assumed that Capcom would be relying on nostalgia to shift copies of a competent beat 'em up to lapsed fans of the SNES version who had picked up an Xbox to play Call of Duty with their mates.
Let's be honest, this was likely the case. Bringing back classic fighters in their iconic gear in this bold, colourful new engine was always going to catch the eye of anyone who grew up with Street Fighter II. Seeing Dhalsim, Zangief and E. Honda knocking each other about was always going to attract a bigger crowd than seeing Rolento, Dudley and Hugo do the same (although they've all ended up in Street Fighter IV eventually!).
It also looked like a much simpler game than Street Fighter's previous installments or its peers. A lot of special moves share the same input commands, gone was the parrying from Street Fighter III, no more custom combos from the Alpha series. Virtua Fighter was regarded as the hardcore fans fighting game, Tekken had a giant roster of characters and fast paced action, Soul Calibur had, well, some awful cameos and… loads of costumes, I guess? How would Street Fighter IV compete? What would it bring to the table?
These fears all seem quite stupid now. Street Fighter IV was released to near unanimous praise.
Fighting games are about fighting. Fighting other people. They're at the very best when you're locked in mortal combat (ahem) with another human player. Not only that, but all the practice modes in the world pale in comparison to actual battles with a live opponent. Sure, you know HOW to do that monstrous combo, but if you can't pull it off when under real pressure, it is useless. You'll also learn what moves other fighters and players can perform that cause you trouble, and adapt to them. Anyone who has played Street Fighter knows that this is where the game truly shines.
Thing is, no one was going to the arcades to play local multiplayer at this point. Hell, people were barely going to their mate's house to play local multiplayer. When it was released, fighting games were practically a relic - games from a time where people used to play competitive video games in the same room as one another. First person shooters ruled the roost, online play was the buzzword and the mere thought of a top end AAA beat 'em up was ridiculous.
If there was one thing that people were genuinely concerned about with Street Fighter IV, it was the online play. How would a game that relied on almost instantaneous reaction speed work once latency becomes an issue? The netcode that powers Street Fighter IV's online might actually be witchcraft. If you've got full green bars, it is pretty much spot on. It is so easy to get online and starting fighting your friends and the rest of the world, so more people played it. More people got into it and as a consequence, more people fancied playing it against other human players in person, in tournaments, in public. Fast forward to present day, where fighting games are as popular as they have ever been, with EVO (the world's leading tournament) attracting record numbers in attendance and watching on a livestream. The genre, no, the entire fighting game scene, is in rude health thanks to Street Fighter IV.
Every fighting game has its own systems. Some of them are vastly more complex than others. Street Fighter IV actually has quite a few, but they're all quite straightforward and compliment each other perfectly. THAT is the genius.
So, to start with you've got SUPER and ULTRA combo attacks. Both of which can be activated when their respective meters have been filled and, should they connect, are for the most part extremely damaging moves or combinations that can turn the tide of a fight. The SUPER bar is in four sections, which fill as you attack your opponent. The ULTRA meter is just one single bar that fills as you take damage, as well as dish it out. This means that even if you're absolutely belting someone, they will eventually be able to pull off an attack that could get them right back into the battle. Real experts will sit on them and use them as the final part of a combo, doing mega damage to whoever left themselves open for it.
EX Attacks are performed by pressing two punch or kick buttons when you perform a special move. The character flashes yellow, and the special move gains slightly different abilities. An EX attack might make a move hit twice, or pass through fireballs, or even give the fighter a short amount of invincibility. The trick here is to know not only what an EX version of a move will do, but also when to use them for maximum effect. To perform an EX attack, it will use one section of the SUPER combo meter, so do you use these effective and unique moves when you need them, or do you save for the big, hard hitting SUPER combo?
Finally, there's the Focus Attack. This chargeable, hard hitting move will, if fully charged, 'crumple' your opponent, leaving them vulnerable for pretty much whatever punishment you can pull off. When charging up a Focus Attack, you can take a hit, but multiple hits will knock you out of it, as well as a simple throw, so you have to make sure you've put thought into attempting to land one. Loads of strategies have been formed around the Focus Attack and the ability to double tap the stick and 'dash cancel' out of the end of the Focus Attack's animation, allowing for an quick follow up from a successful hit. A common one is to hit with a Focus Attack, follow up with a few hits of a combo and then cancel out of those into a Super or Ultra combo. Street Fightin' 101.
Street Fighter IV was location tested in the arcades of Tokyo. What this basically entails is dumping a single machine running the game out in some arcade, having the elite Street Fighter players come out to give it a go and then reporting back on what does/doesn't work or what is too weak or too powerful. Capcom realise that the community around their Street Fighter series likely knows more about what makes these games great than they do, so this is the best way to gain feedback from the best of the best.
It isn't just focused for tournament play, either. Street Fighter IV is quite a straightforward game. All the tools you require are handed to you immediately so even an absolute beginner can enjoy a few fights. This simplicity, a transparency between systems and characters also means that should you come up against another player who is besting you, it is fairly easy to see what exactly it is that they're doing that is causing you problems. It is then, of course, up to you to fix that hole in your game.
For instance, it might be frustrating when some scrub sits at the edge of the screen and throws countless fireballs at you, but the reality is that they're actually just doing a really, really predictable 'zoning' strategy. They're trying to keep you at range and prevent you from doing any meaningful damage to them. It is one of the oldest, cheesiest tactics in the book. Thing is, there's so many ways to solving this problem, if you're the one troubled by it, I'd say you're the bad player, not the one firing endless hadokens. In fact, I LOVE it when I'm matched up against some scrub Ken player. It's practically free Battle Points!
One of my favourite, personal stories from Street Fighter IV really shows off how well balanced the game is. For a while, I played as Vega. I played a very aggressive Vega, using throws and pressure from his strikes that have ridiculous range to keep players in the corner. I was having some decent success, until I came up against a mate of mine who played as Balrog. Balrog hits HARD and FAST. All of his attacks need to be charged up, but they had figured out punish me with big hits whenever I rushed in to hit them. A problem.
I soon found out that by using Vega's considerable speed, I could bait Balrog into using one of his big rushing punches and avoid them, leaving him open for counterattack. It soon became a battle of two counter fighters, waiting for each other to make the first mistake and then making them pay. Soon enough, the fights became competitive again and both of us got better as a result.
The fact that I beat Balrog (the bull) using Vega (the matador) by baiting him to attack, leaping over him then putting him to the sword is just a coincidence, right? Or is it another piece of Capcom genius?
What makes this balance all the more impressive is that the roster of characters is so varied. There's no Eddy Gordo/Christie Montenegro or Kuma/Panda pallette swap rubbish here. Every character has their own set of moves, their own unique Super and Ultra combos and their own styles of which they can be played. No character is better than any other. Only the player themselves can decide who is better.
Another side effect of Street Fighter IV being so good is that it has forced everyone else to up their game. Fighting games are fashionable again, and the hardcore 'EVO' crowd won't accept cheap, mediocre games like recent Soul Calibur efforts. Mortal Kombat, King of the Fighters and even Killer Instinct have all released strong installments in the years following Street Fighter IV's release. Mad Catz, once known for releasing crappy third-party control pads, was given the task of building the official fightstick and pads for this new Street Fighter. Again, fans of the series assumed the worst. Mad Catz was all too aware of this hardcore audience and released high-end products that are now considered market leading, and have gone on to release peripherals for many other fighting games since.
Street Fighter IV is a masterpiece. Not only does it represent the very best aspects of an entire genre, but it forced the entire genre to step up to match it, as well as having a huge effect on an entire community of gamers based around it. Much like Street Fighter II, many years before, it is one of the most influential games of all-time. Brilliantly, Street Fighter shares a lot of similarities with actual martial arts; if you dedicate time, energy and discipline to them, you'll get better, but can take a lifetime to truly master.
We will be playing Street Fighter IV for many years to come. 'Perfect' indeed.


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Section A: Objective Test
Read the following questions and pick the best option from the given alternatives.
1. The Ten Commandments was given to _____________ at Mount Sinai. (a) Jacob (b) Moses (c) James
2. ___________ became a prime minister in a foreign land. (a) Jesus (b) Joseph (c) Jonah
3. And God said, "let there be light" and the light was called ______________ (a) electricity (b) day (c) afternoon
4. Saul was blind for _________ days. (a) four (b) three (c) two
5. __________ supervised the killing of Stephen. (a) Peter (b) Saul (c) James
6. Saul persecuted the _______________. (a) Christians (b) Lagosians (c) Muslims
7. The first book .of the New Testament is ____________. (a) Matthew (b) Mark (c) Luke
8. ____________ is the last book of the New Testament. (a) Revelation (b) Exodus (c) Matthew
9. A person that is gifted to foretell an event before the event actually happens is called a ___________. (a) Preacher (b) Pastor (c) Prophet
10. King Saul was rejected as a king in Israel because of his __________. (a) integrity (b) honest (c) disobedience
11. Jonathan was a friend of ____________. (a) Saul (b) Abner (c) David
12. God rested on the _______ day. (a) first (b) second (c) seventh
13. Jesus was arrested in the garden of _________. (a) love (b) Golgotha (c) Gethsemane
14. Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and ________ fishes. (a) two (b) twelve (c) thirty
15. How many disciples did Jesus have? (a) eight (b) twelve (c) four
16. _________ is the desire to do evil or wrong. (a) Pride (b) Temptation (c) love
17. God visited the Egyptians with _________ plagues. (a) seven (b) ten (c) nine
18. God destroyed the world with ________ because of man's wickedness. (a) plague (b) famine (c) flood
19. Who gave names to all the living creatures on earth? (a) Jesus (b) Saul (c) Adam
20. From the story of Cain and Abel, the major cause of sin was ___________. (a) anger (b) envy (c) love
21. In biblical times, God spoke to the people through _________. (a) text messages (b) prophets and leaders (c) film show
22. When God speaks to us, we should respond with _________. (a) anger (b) respect (c) shame
23. Abraham's obedience gave him ___________. (a) blessing (b) curse (c) failure
24. Peter's net caught many __________. (a) serpents (b) crabs (c0 fishes
25. The _________ is the same as God's law. (a) Commandment (b) regulation (c) law
26. To forgive means to __________. (a) chat (b) pardon (c) forget
27. "Come out, loose him and let him go". This statement was said to ________ (a) Lazarus (b) Joshua (c) Judas
28. "Silver and Gold I have none, but what I have I give unto you". This statement was said to the _________ man. (a) blind (b) lame (c) poor
29. Evidence of New life in Christ is always shown in our _________. (a) food (b) character (c) name
30. __________ is communication with God. (a) Prayer (b) faithfulness (c) Humility
Section B: Theory
1. Mention the first four books of the New Testaments
2. Mention four disciples of Jesus Christ.
3. What is prayer?
b. What is forgiveness?
4. Write out the Lord's prayer.
5. Complete the table:
Christian Leaders Church or Denomination
i. W. F. Kumuyi _______________________
ii. D. K. Olukoya _______________________
iii. Ayodele Babalola _______________________
iv. E. A. Adeboye _______________________