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Watkins Glen State Park
This is one of the jewels of upstate New York. The stream has cut a deep chasm through the rock cliffs, creating numerous waterfalls and scenic vistas. The Gorge Trail winds through this beautiful place. Two other trails follow the tops of the cliffs. It's a moderately strenuous hike, OK for a fit hiker with good hiking shoes.
- Hiking and Walking
- National/State Park
Downtown Watkins Glen
Strolling about Watkins Glen, one can get plenty of information at the Visitors Center, have lunch or a cup of coffee, or just enjoy the views. This is a very picturesque town. Look for the plaques along the sidewalk, which are dedicated to some of the NASCAR drivers who have competed here.
Wine Tasting in the Finger Lakes
My wife and I have enjoyed wine for a number of years, however we are certainly not wine snobs. When we lived in California we made several visits to Napa and Sonoma Valley and enjoyed the wine tasting. When we retired to Florida and met many people in our retirement community that moved here from upstate New York kept telling us about wine in the Finger Lakes Area of New York. With Judy researching the area we decided that an addition to our first road trip of the year should include a couple days of wine tasting.
When we arrived in Watkins Glen we went to the local chamber of commerce and got some information but more importantly pointed us to the local wine association offices where we bought a Riesling pass ( for $12) which allows us to taste wine at 27 different wineries. Now I know we will not go to that many wineries but it will still be cheaper than paying for tasting at each one we visit.
We tasted wine at nine wineries. OK, So that is a lot, but we tasted normally only a couple at each winery and Judy being the designated driver was very careful. Of course we stopped for a long lunch overlooking Seneca Lake. First let me talk about the wine. The Riesling here are exceptional with most wineries specializing in that variety. We also found some nice chardonnays and some other sweet wines that were quite good. The people in the tasting rooms were well versed in wine and were extremely engaging and interesting. The wineries being smaller than the ones in California had us visiting with the owners of some of the wineries. Now about the area that we are visiting is outstanding. Seneca Lake is beautiful and of course being the spring of the year a lot of the plants are just blooming making the area even more interesting.- Road Trip
- Seniors
Finger Lakes Wineries
I didn't have time to visit the wineries in this beautiful part of New York. But it's a popular thing to do, so here's some information on it. The sight of so many vineyards beside the road made taking photos irresistable. Just to be safe, I recommend a tour with a driver; after a while, those small wine samples can add up.
- Wine Tasting
Cruise on Seneca Lake
This is the largest, deepest, and in my opinion most scenic of all the Finger Lakes. The cruises are from the waterfront in Watkins Glen. The one I took is the Stroller IV, which offers short, narrated cruises around the southern end of the lake. See the US Salt Works, towering cliffs along the eastern shore, 165-foot Hector Falls, and great views of the town.
- Sailing and Boating
- Cruise
Lake Cruise
Captain Bill's Seneca Cruises has both sightseeing cruises and meal cruises. For $8, you can take a 1 hour sightseeing cruise which takes you past Hector Falls, lots of wineries, etc. They give you a lot of historical information, too, which is really interesting. They run from May - October from 10-7. (I think weekdays in May and June might start at 11 or 12).
Another option is a lunch or dinner cruise. Lunch cruises are 2 hours long; dinners are 3.
Dinner Cruises run Tues. - Friday 7pm & Sunday 6pm and cost $32.95.
Saturday nights, they leave at 6pm and cost $36.95
Lunch Cruises run on Wednesday & Saturday at noon and cost $22.95
Call for availability on other days
Teen Cruise , Monday Nights 7 - 10 - ~ June - Labor Day
DJ playing your favorites and all you can handle Pizza and Soda
Moonlight Cocktail Cruise (2 hours), Saturday Nights 9:30 - $10 ~ July - Labor Day -
See the glen that give the town its name
Yes, there is an actual Watkins Glen. This is a state park and is a fantastic place to hike, to look at great rock formations, to wonder at the force of water as it wears down rocks . . . . The glen is actually a mile and a half long with 19 waterfalls, and cliffs reaching up to 300 feet. The people at the park say that the trail has over 800 steps, so definitely take your time! There are also over 300 campsites and a swimming pool.
The trail is open from May to October, and there is a fee to enter.- Camping
- Hiking and Walking
- National/State Park
A beautiful place for a picnic
The city is in a basin on the southern tip of the Lake. I know all about it because I cycled from Ithica in to Watkins Glen and cycling out the other side and kept going west. There are 1km vertical hills to get in and out of the city. The hills roll! It is a picture perfect place. Have a seat at the pier and watch the reflection of the moon on the water
FINGERLAKES WINE FESTIVAL This annual event is held every summer usually in the second week in July.I have attended it the past two years and it is really fun and classy too. There are more than a hundred wineries represented and you can try all their wines and buy them too! There is also live entertainment, food and arts and crafts.
- Wine Tasting
Wine Tasting
What a great place to hit the wineries. Bring a designated driver. There's about 40 around Seneca Lake alone.
- Romantic Travel and Honeymoons
- Wine Tasting
- Budget Travel
Watkins Glen State Park
You have got to take this trail through the Gorge. Simply breath-taking experience (in more ways than one)
- Hiking and Walking
- National/State Park
- Camping
- 1
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2 Comments The March to Pride Celebrations, protests, and community action in the 1970s that made Toronto's Pride possible. By Jamie Bradburn Jun. 20th, 1:00 pm
Robarts Library Is Getting a Giant New Pavillion Phase two of the iconic library's renewal will consist of a huge new study pavilion.
"Harbour Landing" Wins Ferry Terminal Design Competition Design features an extended green roof and undulating wood structure, but the City will have to find funding.
Cheers to Change: Ontario Beer Reform Announced A look at what this might mean for the brewing industry, consumers, and retailers.
Gardiner Debate Sheds Troubling Light on Infrastructure Investment Priorities Council's decision over the crumbling eastern Gardiner might prove a canary in the coal mine of the city's political leadership.
1 comments on Extra, Extra: CBC Releases Ghomeshi Report, Formerly Homeless Toronto Woman Crowdfunds Harvard Tuition, and a Bold Raccoon Climbs High

subset: commoncrawl


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Most of us have never learned how to recognize or express our anger in a healthy way so we overact to trivial situations or respond with inappropriate behaviors to show -- or hide -- our anger. We develop a dysfunctional style of expressing and responding to anger that we learned during childhood. As we grow older, we are likely to develop an adult version of one of the early inappropriate styles listed below. Look Familiar?
1. The Silent One - Withdraw when angry, leaving others wondering what went wrong. She may mope and not speak for days.
2. The Suffering One - She says she feels no anger, yet seethes underneath, accepts things in a martyr-like way.
3. The Shooter - She's quick to express anger and quick to forge it. She is impulsive, volatile, and does not realize the impact this behavior has on others.
4. The Sarcastic - She hides her hurt and anger by sarcastic and intellectual criticism.
5. The Guilty One - She hides her anger at others by telling herself she is responsible for everything that goes wrong. She often puts herself down and feels unworthy.
Anger is a normal human emotion. It tells us that something is wrong. It exists to deliver a message and to let others know how we feel. If we learn to recognize our anger, we will express it directly and openly at the time the feelings occur, or as close to the time as possible. There is resolution in the very act of expressing our feelings, even though we cannot change the circumstance or the person involved.
Anger that is not felt, expressed and managed gets suppressed and affects our health and our relationships. Unmanaged and suppressed anger contributes to depression, rebellious behavior and insomnia. We can get headaches, stomachaches, and want to go to the refrigerator every hour even though we are not hungry. We walk around stuffing it, misdirecting it, or escalating it, everything but expressing it appropriately and letting it go.
Try these steps to help you connect with and manage your anger in a healthy way:
1. Mop up old, unresolved anger from past circumstances and from those we feel have wronged us. Write a letter to everyone you are angry with. Give yourself permission to say anything and let your feelings out, but do not mail the letter. Your child can do this too through writing or drawing.
2. Learn to recognize physical or behavioral "cues" that signal you are angry. Where do you feel tight, tense or num? What do you do when anger occurs? How did the situation make you feel besides angry? As you learn about your behavior, you will be able to help your child identify hers or his.
3. Identify what you are angry about. Are you angry at others, angry at yourself or is it residual anger from the past? Ask yourself what about this situation, interaction or circumstances angers you the most? Replace any self-recrimination with self-acceptance.
4. Validate your feelings. Allow feelings to be there. Identify, accept and validate your feelings to manage your anger. Sometimes that is all we need to do. Validate your child's anger too. When she/he knows their feelings are being understood, they can let it go.
Once you have recognized that you are angry, deal with it constructively:
1. List the possible solutions. You may have decided to deal with it by talking to a friend, writing out your feelings, taking a walk and giving yourself a "time out." You may decide to express your feelings directly to the person who made you angry or not.
2. Think before you speak and always use "I" messages. This is not about winning an argument: it is about letting someone know how you feel and working out a resolution. Instead of "you never pay attention to me," state your feelings and follow it by a request: "I feel very left out when you don't pay attention to me. Would you be willing to set some time aside for us to connect? Learn this and model this way of communication for your children. Praise yourself for your efforts. Teach yourself and your children to identify, manage and ultimately let go of anger. Letting go of anger will help you to develop a more forgiving nature. As we forgive others we are more likely to forgive ourselves. It is here where we begin to connect with our spiritual essence and awaken our soul.
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The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians
is complex and yet its solution can be boiled
down to one word – compromise.
Throughout the history of negotiations,
first Zionists and later Israelis have accepted
this reality and repeatedly made and offered
compromises, but the conflict has persisted
because the Palestinians have never been
willing to do the same. In fact, if you look
at their negotiating position today, it is
as recalcitrant as it was nearly a century
sraeli Position Since the early 20th century, it has been clear that the only way to satisfy the competing demands of Jews and Arabs in Israel/Palestine was to divide the land. For more than 70 years, since Britain's Lord Peel first proposed partitioning Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state, the Jews have accepted a two-state solution to the conflict. Palestinian Position To this day, the Palestinians do not accept the legitimacy of a Jewish state in what they consider Palestine. Israeli Position When the United Nations voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, the Zionists accepted a compromise that left them with a national home in less than 20 percent of the area originally promised to them by the British. Palestinian Position The Palestinians rejected the offer of an Arab state and joined with Israel's neighbors in a war to exterminate the Jews. They lost. One consequence of their decision was that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians became refugees. Israeli Position After 1948, Israel offered to allow as many as 100,000 Palestinians to return in exchange for a peace agreement with the Arab states. Palestinian Position The Palestinians and Arab leaders rejected any offer that implied the recognition of Israel. Palestinian refugees were confined by their Arab brothers to refugee camps and prevented from becoming citizens (except in Jordan, which recently decided to strip them of their citizenship). Jordan and Egypt occupied territory now claimed by the Palestinians, but the Palestinians never demanded an end to the occupation or independence. Palestinians formed terror groups that have engaged in a violent campaign against Israelis and Jews around the world to the present day. Israeli Position After a series of provocations and an act of war (Egypt's blockade of Israeli shipping in the Gulf of Aqaba), Israel attacked Egypt, Syria and Jordan (after King Hussein ignored warnings to stay out of the fighting and shelled Jerusalem) and captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It immediately offered to return most of the territory in exchange for peace. Palestinian Position The Arabs responded to Israel's peace overture with three noes: "no peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel, no recognition of Israel." Israeli Position In 1979, Israel signed a peace treaty with Egypt, dismantled settlements and other Israeli installations in the Sinai and returned the territory to the Egyptians. The Palestinians were offered autonomy, a formula for limited self-determination in the short-run that inevitably would have led to statehood. Palestinian Position The Palestinians rejected the autonomy proposal and refused to participate in negotiations. Israeli Position In 1993 and 1995, Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo accords with the aim of creating a Palestinian state within five years. Israel agreed to gradually withdraw from most of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in exchange for peace. Israel withdrew from approximately 80 percent of Gaza and 40 percent of the West Bank and turned over most civil authority to the Palestinian Authority. Palestinian Position Terrorism continued unabated and escalated by the mid-90s. Israeli Position Israel agreed in 1998 to withdraw from another 13 percent of the West Bank in return for a Palestinian promise to outlaw and combat terrorist organizations, prohibit illegal weapons, stop weapon smuggling, and prevent incitement of violence and terrorism. Palestinian Position The Palestinians once again failed to fulfill their promise to end terror and sabotaged the plan for additional Israeli redeployments. Israeli Position In 2000, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered to withdraw from 97 percent of the West Bank and 100 percent of the Gaza Strip. In addition, he agreed to dismantle 63 isolated settlements. In exchange for the 3 percent annexation of the West Bank, Israel would increase the size of the Gaza territory by roughly a third. Barak also made previously unthinkable concessions on Jerusalem, agreeing that Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem would become the capital of the new state. The Palestinians would maintain control over their holy places and have "religious sovereignty" over the Temple Mount. The proposal also guaranteed Palestinian refugees the right of return to the Palestinian state and reparations from a $30 billion international fund that would be collected to compensate them. Palestinian Position Yasser Arafat rejected the proposal without even making a counter offer. Arafat, according to chief U.S. negotiator Dennis Ross, was not willing to end the conflict with Israel. The Palestinians subsequently instigated a five-year war of terror that claimed more than 1,000 Israeli lives. Israeli Position In 2005, Israel decided to evacuate every soldier and citizen from the Gaza Strip. This painful disengagement uprooted 9,000 Israelis from their homes. At the request of the Palestinians, Israel razed all the settlements to make room for what the Palestinians said would be high-rise apartments for refugees living in camps. American Jews bought greenhouses from the Israelis and gave them to the Palestinians so they would have a ready-made multimillion dollar export economy and businesses that could employ hundreds of Palestinian workers. By ending the "occupation" and removing the settlements, Israel was testing the oft-expressed view that these were the obstacles to peace. The expectation in Israel was that the Palestinians would take the opportunity to build the infrastructure of a state and, since they no longer had any justification for "resistance," they would have the chance to show they could coexist beside Israel and set the stage for future compromises on the West Bank. Palestinian Position The Palestinians objected to the disengagement and refused to cooperate with the Israeli plan to withdraw. Since the evacuation, the Palestinians have not laid a single brick in the former settlements to build housing for refugees. The greenhouses were vandalized and the chance for taking over Israeli exports was lost. The few greenhouses that remained intact were converted to Hamas terrorist training camps. Instead of building the infrastructure for a state, the Palestinians had a civil war that led to the takeover of Gaza by Hamas. Instead of getting peace in exchange for territory, Israel was bombarded over the next three years with 10,000 rockets and mortars. Israeli Position Despite what virtually all Israelis viewed as the failure of the disengagement experiment, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert restarted negotiations with the Palestinians and offered to withdraw from approximately 94 percent of the West Bank, with 4.5 percent of the remainder to be received in a swap for land now in Israel. Another 1.5 percent of the territory would be used for passages to a Mediterranean port and Gaza. Olmert reportedly proposed a form of international (Arab states plus Israel and Palestine) control of the Holy Basin (the Old City) and a joint committee to administer East Jerusalem until permanent arrangements were settled. Palestinian Position Abbas rejected the deal. Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said later, "First [the Israelis] said we would [only have the right to] run our own schools and hospitals. Then they consented to give us 66% [of the occupied territories]. At Camp David they offered 90% [actually 97%] and [recently] they offered 100%. So why should we hurry, after all the injustice we have suffered?" Echoing the three noes of 1967, Palestinians declared at the Fatah conference in Bethlehem in August 2009: no negotiations with Israel, no recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and no end to the armed struggle against Israel. Israeli Position Israel has offered compromises on all the final status issues: Borders – UN Security Council Resolution 242 called for Israel to withdraw from territory – not all territory – it captured in 1967 in exchange for secure and defensible borders and peace. Israel has already withdrawn from 94 percent of the territory it captured in 1967. It has given up 100 percent of the Gaza Strip and nearly half the West Bank. As noted above, as recently as 2008, Israel offered to withdraw from 94 percent of the remaining territory in the West Bank. Palestinian Position The Palestinians insist that Israel withdraw to the 1967 border. Israeli Position Refugees – Israel has allowed roughly 200,000 Palestinians into Israel since Oslo and has agreed to take in an additional number on a humanitarian basis. Israel also supports the return of refugees to an eventual Palestinian state and the payment of compensation to the refugees from an international fund. Israel also expects that the Jews forced to flee from Arab countries be compensated. Palestinian Position The Palestinians demand the right of all refugees to live in Palestine, including what is now the State of Israel. They do not acknowledge the claims of Jewish refugees. Israeli Position Settlements – Israel has already dismantled all the settlements it built in the Sinai and in Gaza. It has also dismantled four settlements in Samaria. Israel has in the past offered to dismantle most settlements in the West Bank and has, at various times, frozen settlement construction in the course of peace negotiations in the hope of reaching a final agreement. Prime Minister Netanyahu has also offered a temporary settlement freeze. Palestinian Position The Palestinians demand that all settlements be dismantled from the West Bank and Jerusalem. While they maintain that Arabs have the right to live in Israel, they deny the right of Jews to live in Judea and Samaria. Israeli Position Jerusalem – Israel maintains that Jerusalem is its eternal capital and has resisted Palestinian demands that the city be divided. Still, Barak offered to allow the Palestinians to establish their capital in Eastern Jerusalem and offered a compromise over control of the Temple Mount. Olmert also offered to compromise on Jerusalem. Palestinian Position The Palestinians have rejected all Israeli compromises on Jerusalem and insist that although there has never been an Arab capital in Jerusalem, they should be allowed to establish one there. Conclusion Israel has a long history of compromising and continues to offer concessions in the interest of peace. The Palestinian's have an equally long history of refusing to compromise. As President Obama seeks to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians it is clear where the emphasis must be placed if he hopes to succeed in ending the conflict. |


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Tuesday 30 December
Gather at George IV Bridge start position from 6.15pm
Torchlight Procession leaves George IV Bridge 7pm
Free Event to participate in Torchlight Procession
To carry a torch please book in advance:
Torch Vouchers – TORCHES SOLD-OUT
Procession from George IV Bridge to Waterloo Pl and Calton Hill
Finale Fireworks at 8.15pm approx.
A total sell-out each year, the Torchlight Procession is the official start of three-days of spectacular Edinburgh's Hogmanay events. Last year's event welcomed over 35,000 participants and spectators, joining the Up Helly Aa' Vikings, massed pipes & drums and thousands of torch carriers as they illuminate the city from our start position on George IV Bridge to the finale viewing areas at Waterloo Place and Calton Hill. The Torchlight Procession fireworks finale can be viewed across the city and beyond!
Please note:
- Torchlight Procession is an outdoor event using wax-based torches, please dress appropriately
- Wax from torches can blow onto clothing when windy, please dress appropriately
- You don't need to get on Calton Hill! Access to Calton Hill is limited and will be closed when full. Firework finale viewing position also from Waterloo Place.
Principle funding partner of Edinburgh's Hogmanay:
Supported By:
Edinburgh's Hogmanay is proud to support:
About Erskine
A charity founded in 1916 to care for servicemen injured on the front lines, Erskine remains dedicated to supporting veterans in Scotland. Providing a very special blend of compassion and understanding within our five homes, we not only care for our veterans - we care about them, with person-centred care tailored to the needs of the veterans or their spouse.


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Not just a prostate product
The study sheds a light on how SagaPro can help those with prostate enlargement which affects a majority of men over 60. As SagaPro affects the bladder it indirectly helps men with prostate enlargement whose main complaint tends to be increased urinary frequency. The presence of a bladder-relaxing flavonoid in SagaPro had previously suggested the product worked through a bladder-related mechanism. Successful use by women and young people with enuresis (bed-wetting) also hinted at this and now the clinical study confirms that SagaPro affects the bladder, thereby helping sufferers of frequent urination.
Helps international marketing
SagaPro is currently marketed in over 200 retail outlets in the US and Canada. Perla Bjork Egilsdottir is SagaMedica's marketing manager: "The positive outcome of the clinical study will no doubt help us in further marketing SagaPro internationally. We expect the results to greatly increase our sales since the brand "SagaPro" has now been clinically verified for both safety and efficacy; not just the product's individual ingredients," she says.
Further studies
The clinical study on SagaPro is preceded by SagaMedica's considerable research on the Angelica herb. This is the 6th peer-reviewed paper the company's research team publishes since it was founded in 2000. The paper is entitled: "A parallel, randomised, double blind, placebo controlled study to investigate the effect of SagaPro on nocturia in men". Authors are the MD's Gudmundur Geirsson and Hrefna Gudmundsdottir and the biochemists Steinthor Sigurdsson, Perla B. Egilsdottir and professor Sigmundur Gudbjarnason.
Previous studies published by the company research team looked at the herb's potential benefits ranging from effects on
SOURCE SagaMedica Copyright©2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved |


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Energy Sector Education and Training Authority (ESETA)
- Address
Old Mutual Building, 35 Pritchard Street
South Africa - Ads
- Phone:
- (011) 689 5300
- Fax:
- (011) 689 5340/1
- E-Mail:
- Email contact form
- Website:
- http://www.eseta.org.za
Energy Sector Education and Training Authority (ESETA) is one of 23 Sector Education & Training Authorities (SETAs) established in South Africa in terms of the Skills Development Act of 1998. In accordance with this Act, sector specific bodies (SETAs) have been set up to encourage skills development through the establishment of a system of levies and grants, the registration of new learners and the quality assurance of training providers and assessors.
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Useful Links Clough Bank Airport Parking | ||||
Manchester Airport : Official website Live flight info Official Manchester Airport website for live flight information, airport parking, booking flights & holidays. www.manchesterairport.co.uk/ |
Manchester Airport Guide - Manchester Airport, UK Guide to Manchester Airport. Includes flight arrivals & departures timetable. Plus cheap airport parking, ... www.manchester-airport-guide.co.uk/ |
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The Library
Electrospray ionization mass spectrometric study of oligomeric linear polysulfides: Characterization of repeat units, end groups and fragmentation pathways
UNSPECIFIED. (1997) Electrospray ionization mass spectrometric study of oligomeric linear polysulfides: Characterization of repeat units, end groups and fragmentation pathways. POLYMER, 38 (10). pp. 2337-2349. ISSN 0032-3861
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry is shown to offer excellent characterization of linear oligomeric polysulfides H(SC2H4OCH2OC2H4S)(n)H with n = 1-24. Analysis of the mass spectra reveals the presence of individual oligomers, the presence in certain oligomers of repeat units containing additional oxyalkylene groups (and in some cases a monosulfide link rather than disulfide) and the presence of end groups such as epoxy. The attachment of polyacrylates during cure can also be detected. Assignments of individual peaks can be confirmed by collision-induced decomposition and precursor ion experiments: the fragmentation pathways are relatively few except for linear polysulfides of complex structure. The best signal-to-noise conditions are achieved with low-to-medium cone voltages and a mobile phase of acetone containing 0.5% KI. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.
Item Type: | Journal Article |
Subjects: | Q Science > QD Chemistry |
Journal or Publication Title: | POLYMER |
Publisher: | ELSEVIER SCI LTD |
Official Date: | May 1997 |
Volume: | 38 |
Number: | 10 |
Number of Pages: | 13 |
Page Range: | pp. 2337-2349 |
Publication Status: | Published |
URI: | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/17801 |
Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge
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Hair»Medium Wavy Cut with Bangs Lookbook (Noomi Rapace)
Noomi Rapace Medium Wavy Cut with Bangs
Noomi Rapace looked edgy at the Lanvin fashion show with her bleached, barely-there waves and eye-skimming bangs.
Noomi Rapace Smoky Eyes
Heavily accented eyes added to the rocker-glam feel of Noomi Rapace's look.
Show Medium Wavy Cut with Bangs Looks With:
Noomi Rapace also wears:
more Noomi Rapace looks »


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This board has one term expiring April 30th. If you would like to apply for this position, you will find the application here.
Current Members | Term Ends |
Melanie Cross | 4/30/2015 |
Janet Clark | 4/30/2017 |
Margaret Lekander | 4/30/2015 |
Jon Fetveit | 4/30/2016 |
Pam Mower | 4/30/2018 |
Debbie Snyder | 4/30/2017 |
Tim Price | 4/30/2016 |
Resolution 4797 and Ordinance 1468.
MCA 7-12-1102 describes the purpose of a business improvement district (BID) "to serve a public use by promoting the health, safety, prosperity, security, and general welfare of the inhabitants thereof and of the people of this state; and to be of special benefit to the property within the boundaries of the district created." The appointed Board of Directors of the BID serve as the executive body to express the policy of the BID and to direct the administrative staff that may be hired to handle the day to day functions of the BID.
The board shall be composed of seven owners of property within the district or their designated agent.
Four-year terms to be staggered.
Members must own real property within the district.
Contact Pam Carbonari (406) 253-6923 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Of all the points raised by Daniel Cook in his naïvely provocative essay, "A blunt critique of game criticism", perhaps the most illustrative is his assumption that a critique can be playtested. After publishing his "long-boiling" critique of game criticism, Cook asked with apparent credulousness for feedback in order to perfect a second draft of his screed. Cook has embraced this feedback, which has generally been of differing levels of offence and anger (unsurprising when those who are asked for feedback are labelled 'parasites' and their work 'ignorant blather') with an act of innocent constructiveness. We're all in this together, this process of testing, and the anger of those who have given feedback will eventually result in a better critique. For science. Continue reading →
Jan 11
RKD on… 2010: Part 6 – Social constructs
What a beautiful day! The sun is shining, the barbecues are sizzling, and the local drunks are congregating for their annual meet. Meanwhile, the RKD 2010 retrospective would rather stay indoors and talk some more about games. Pfft, social judgement… who needs it?
Fraser: 2010 seemed to be the year that most people started to have an opinion about games
In the past, I found that any mention of videogames in the company of people who didn't identify as "gamers" would be met with a pained expression and a brief awkward silence. But in 2010, I met people right across the demographic map with at least partially formed ideas about how games are significant and where they might be going. Continue reading →
Jan 11
RKD on… 2010: Part 3 – There's something about Minecraft
With both the highs and lows of last year already (somewhat) covered, the next instalment of RKD's 2010 retrospective series tackles a game that needs no introduction. Seriously. It's right there in the title of the post.
Fraser: What will be remembered most from 2010? Perhaps Minecraft, although it has a ways to go before it becomes the kind of game that will interest a great number of people as a traditional game, rather than a generator of stories and funny videos.
Tristan: We could just as well fill this post with our favourite Minecraft-related YouTube clips, and it'd say a lot more than we'd ever muster. Continue reading →
Jan 11
RKD on… 2010: Part 1 – The "meh" year that was?
If annual videogame retrospectives were a party, RKD would be that fashionably late arrival who everyone pays attention to because they've already exhausted the conversation (and alcohol) for the night. Probably.
Fortunately, this is The Internet. For every day of the upcoming week, the whole RKD crew will be sharing bits of its sweeping generalisations and opinions stated as fact regarding the year that was 2010, along with its bold predictions for the 11.3 months to come. Let's get this party started… again!
Fraser: I don't really know where to start, as 2010 seemed like an oddly uneventful year in retrospect.
Harry: I feel 2010 was a bit of a "meh" year too. We need another 1998 or 2004, dangnabbit. Continue reading →
Jun 10
An ornithologist's guide to E3 2010
As we write, millions of ornithologists around the world prepare to observe the culmination of the world's largest seasonal migration of birds at the Los Angeles Convention Centre. The event has become a cultural touch-stone for bird-fanciers everywhere, and its importance in the ornithological calendar cannot be understated. The sheer variety of our winged friends on display can be overwhelming to even the most seasoned avian ecologist, let alone the enthusiastic amateur. So, this year, we've put together a brief guide to some of our more exciting plumed playmates that you'll be likely to encounter at E3 2010. Continue reading →
Jun 10
The Best Videogame Podcasts: a Primer
We at RedKingsDream are cursed with double lives. If there were twice as many hours in a day, we might devote half of them to playing and talking about games. But other duties call; with the demands of jobs, education and family, it can sometimes be hard to make time for games.
Lately my days have been divided unevenly between sleep, study, two jobs, meals and occasionally cleaning the house; the spaces between these are spent in monotonous and repetitive train journeys. It leaves little time for games, but I have one way to stay in touch with the culture: podcasts. Continue reading →
May 10
Hell is other players
Part of the reason games make such an interesting topic is because they are so multi-faceted. You can talk about a game as an abstract design, as an individual experience, as a part of a broader culture, as an economic product, as a technical showpiece and many other things besides.
Sometimes it's not about a game at all; it's about the people. Continue reading →


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Pomeranian Attack in Chicago -- Next Breed to Be Targeted for BSL?
The Chicago Sun-Times and Chicagoist reports that Chicago Pitbull Capone (seen to the left) was attacked by a 10-pound Pomeranian. Anti-BSL advocates may be asking if Poms should be added to a list of potentially banned breeds.
The owner of a 10-pound "toy" dog was cited over the weekend when her dog attacked an 80-pound pit bull. Garry Laffredi was walking his 2-year-old pit bull Capone near his apartment complex Thursday when a neighbor's Pomeranian came running at them and attacked the dog.
"[Capone's] not a bad guy. He's real friendly. He's people-friendly,'' Laffredi said. "He loves other dogs. [But] this little Pomeranian ran out and starts biting him on the foot."
So how did it end?
Eventually, Laffredi said, Capone "grabbed the dog and more or less set him off to the side" before the two dogs were separated.
It was not the first time Laffredi had a run-in with the 10-pound dog. He was bit in the hand two weeks ago by the Pomeranian but chose not to report it, he said.
This comes at a time when Elgin, Illinois dog lovers are fighting a ban on Pitbulls. As the Chicagoist notes;
Us? We think the breed-specific bans are pretty dumb, unless they plan to ban Pomeranians as well. As one reader pointed out last week: the problems with the people."
Can we get an AMEN to that?


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Jo lives in a small town in southern Japan. She lives with her two children and Japanese husband and is learning more everyday about the world of Japanese agriculture and culture.
It has been 16 days and still I wait for a blog..... your public awaits Jo!
You're one of the blogs I regularly visit so I've missed your posts. I loved visiting Japan as a tourist and I have enjoyed learning more about daily Japanese life from your blog. Hope all is well with you and your family.


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Vietnam Map
10 things not to miss
You are planning a trip to Vietnam and are having difficulties deciding where to go and what to do, what you cannot miss and what to skip. From the feedbacks of our customers, Vietnam Spirit Travel would like to recommend some activities considered by travellers as must-do's when you are in Vietnam....
read more
Hoi An Hotel
The two-storey Hoi An is 160-room, 3-wing, quiet hotel surrounded by a large 1.8ha tropical garden. It's conveniently located just outside the Ancient Town. The rooms are an average size and comfortable. Furnishings and decor are tasteful. The 250-seat restaurant serves a mixture of Asian and international meals and Hoi An specialities. It's large, rather institutional, and used mainly for weddings and banquets. However, as nearly all visitors to Hoi An take advantage of the wide range of good restaurants in the Ancient Town, you'll probably only use it for breakfast, which is apparently very good. Recently, the Hoi An Hotel has been upgraded to four-star standard.
Vietnam Travel facts
Travel Blog
Vietnam Spirit Travel Email:email@example.com Head Office: 173 - An Duong Vuong Street, Tay Ho District, Hanoi, Vietnam. Tel: (+84) 1633 420 834
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Waves on beaches (stupid question?)
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: HI
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Originally Posted by
I believe there was a calculation made which showed that a wave crashing into a mile of beach represents more energy than man has used since he first learned how to light a campfire. Can't find the right wording to locate it in Google.
Man I wish that were true, we could solve the energy crisis. Here is an equation to calculate wave energy:
CACR Wave Calculator
Also, this site is great for wind and wave prediction:
Sailing Weather - Marine Weather Forecasts for Sailors and Adventurers - PassageWeather
Use the animate button to make the waves move, you can see how they propagate around islands. Noice that if an island is surrounded by real deep water, the wave will not refract so much to the opposite side, if shallow water wave will refract around.
There are 3 basic types of waves, those generated far off shore from large storms that bring in a ground swell and when that hits the beach, very large waves. This happens in Hawaii when storms around Alaska generate swell. It can be a calm sunny day with no waves at the beach and within 1 hour you could have 20 foot wave faces breaking- a lot of people die this way. Then there is the local sea breeze- air heats up on land, rises, and creates a wind heading to the land which generates a wind chop. Then the tidal wave which is generated by earthquake or underwater land slide. Also you could have a local storm (low pressure area) that would generate waves, but generally it will also be stormy at the beach also (wind and or rain/couds).
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Garcilaso de la Vega
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Garcilaso de la Vega (or Garci Lasso de la Vega) may refer to:
- Garcilaso de la Vega (chronicler) (1539–1616), a Spanish Peruvian writer
- Garcilaso de la Vega (poet) (c. 1501–1536), a Spanish poet and soldier
- Garci Lasso de la Vega I (d. 1326), a Castilian noble
- Garci Lasso de la Vega II (d. 1351), a Castilian noble, son of Garci Lasso de la Vega I
See also[edit]
- Estadio Garcilaso, primary football stadium of Cuzco, Peru, named for Garcilaso de la Vega (chronicler)
This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. |


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July 19, 2002, Chandigarh, India |
Docs form panel to fight removal Amritsar, July 18 In a press note issued here yesterday, Dr Jagjit Singh Khalsa, Dr Jaswant Singh and Dr Manjeet Singh, president, vice-president and general secretary of the committee, respectively, urged the Chief Minister to clear his stand on the issue. The leaders said that at least 250 of the 872 doctors selected by the PPSC were postgraduates and most of them had cleared their exams conducted by the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences recently. |
Gold seized from
locker of
PSSSB members wife Batala, July 18 The locker was opened here today by a Vigilance Bureau team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Jagir Singh in Punjab National Bank at Prem Nagar. The team seized a box which contained the jewellery, Vigilance Bureau sources said. The sources said the locker in the name of Gurmail Kaur, wife of Randhawa and his daughter-in-law Harbir Kaur as per bank records had the address of Bholewal even though they actually resided in Guru Teg Bahadur Colony here. |
Book on SGPC may open Pandoras box Amritsar, July 18 Mr Kulwant Singh who was a close confidant of Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, the then SGPC chief, had switched over his loyalty to Mr Parkash Singh Badal, the then Chief Minister, when they (Tohra and Badal) were engaged in a tug-of-war. It was the time when the entire Sikh panth was preparing itself to celebrate the tercentenary of the birth of the Khalsa Panth. Mr Badal was told by his adviser that he could remove his friend -turned-foe. Mr Tohra, as SGPC chief and Bhai Ranjit Singh as Jathedar of Akal Takht if he could win over Mr Kulwant Singh who was well versed with the bylaws of the SGPC. The idea of Mr Badals advisers worked well and he was able to get rid of Mr Tohra and Bhai Ranjit Singh in the shortest possible time thanks to Mr Kulwant Singh. The loopholes in the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, and the Sikh Gurdwara Judicial Commission were exploited to the benefit of the ruling Akali Dal. Mr Kulwant Singhs book Misdeeds of the Leaders Which Eclipsed SGPC is under print and its release will open a Pandoras box. The book of the former SGPC secretary is a complete account of the events, the role of the Akali leaders, and the Sikh clergy and the misuse of government machinery to dislodge Mr Tohra and Bhai Ranjit Singh. It has also mentioned how Mr Badal succeeded in escaping the wrath of Bhai Ranjit Singh, who had summoned Prof Manjit Singh, Jathedar, Kesgarh Sahib, and Mr Barjinder Singh Hamdard at Akal Takht on February 11, 1999. The Jathedar of Akal Takht was also contemplating to summon Mr Badal. However, the timely suggestions of Mr Kulwant Singh helped in the removal of both Mr Tohra and Bhai Ranjit Singh on February 10 one day before the date for appearing of Prof Manjit Singh and Mr Hamdard at Akal Takht. In his memoirs the former SGPC secretary wrote that during his secret meetings with Mr Badal he always advised him to avoid having direct confrontation with Akal Takht. However, despite his suggestions Mr Badal and his coterie chose to have a confrontation with the Jathedar of Akal Takht to save himself and his confidants from appearing before Akal Takht. He also discusses the role of the Chairman of the Sikh Gurdwara Commission, Mr Manmohan Singh Brar, who would get direct instructions from Mr Badal. The two Sikh high priests, Prof Manjit Singh and Giani Kewal Singh, would also hold closed-door meetings with Mr Badal and senior Akali leaders without bothering about the high office they were holding. The author said that the appointment of Giani Puran Singh as acting Jathedar of Akal Takht in place of Bhai Ranjit Singh at the circuit house was not in accordance with Sikh traditions. In his book, Mr Kulwant Singh said that he was taken to Mr Badal by Mr Hardalbir Singh Shah, the then Executive Member of the SGPC. Mr Nirmal Singh Kahlon, the then Minister of Rural Development in the Badal Ministry, was also present. Mr Kahlon abruptly announced that the aim of the meeting was to oust Tohra as SGPC chief. Surprisingly, Mr Kahlon too remained a close confidant of Mr Tohra but shifted his loyalty when both (Mr Badal and Mr Tohra) parted company. Mr Kulwant Singh said that he suggested that while taking any action the honour and prestige of Akal Takht must be kept in mind. The prestige of Akal Takht should not be denigrated at all as doing so would have far-reaching consequences. However, in the coming days, Mr Badal and his colleagues in the Cabinet and party were misguided which had an adverse impact on Sikh institutions. Even as the legal advisers of Mr Badal failed to suggest any way of escaping from the action of Akal Takht, he (Mr Badal) asked Mr Kulwant Singh to reveal some way out. The author said that without scrapping of the Sikh Judicial Commission, the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) could not win the battle against Mr Tohra. All the legal advisers, including Mr H.S. Matewal, immediately agreed to the suggestions of Mr Kulwant Singh. Swiftly acting on the advice, the Badal Government rescinded the previous notification and appointed Mr Manmohan Singh Brar, Mr Ajwant Singh Mann and Mr Amrik Singh Randhawa as members of the Sikh Judicial Commission. Since Mr Tohra who was SGPC chief had refused to convene the Executive Meeting, it was the Sikh Judicial Commission which helped in calling the same. The Judicial Commission directed the SGPC to convene its Executive meeting on February 10, 1999. The meeting which was boycotted by the Tohra camp placed Bhai Ranjit Singh under suspension as Jathedar of Akal Takht. The meeting also constituted a three-member inquiry committee to probe the role of Prof Manjit Singh and Giani Kewal Singh Jathedars of Kesgarh Sahib and Damdama Sahib, respectively. However, the SGPC failed to take any action against them even as the inquiry was time-bound and was supposed to be completed within 30 days. Bhai Ranjit Singh was singled out and his suspension was implemented in toto. The meeting appointed Giani Mohan Singh, the then Head Granthi of the Golden Temple, as acting Jathedar in place of Bhai Ranjit Singh. However, Giani Mohan Singh who had earlier gave his consent in the morning, refused to take up the new assignment (as acting Jathedar) after receiving a telephone call from his Canada-based son. The author said that a senior officer of the intelligence bureau told him that Giani Mohan Singh had to take the decision as his son was under threat. Mr Kulwant Singh said that his advice to Mr Badal that if the SGPC wanted to remove Bhai Ranjit Singh then Prof Manjit Singh and Giani Kewal Singh should also be shown the door fell on deaf ears. The author also described the appointment of Giani Puran Singh as acting Jathedar of Akal Takht as illegal and anti-Panthic on two accounts The Sikh Judicial Commission had directed the SGPC to hold only one meeting and hence the second meeting held at the circuit house when Giani Mohan Singh refused to take up the new assignment was in violation of the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, and the directive of the Judicial Commission also. It may be mentioned here that at this meeting the Executive meeting decided to nominate Giani Puran Singh as acting Jathedar of Akal Takht. Also, this was for the first time after the enactment of Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, that a meeting was ever held at circuit house. The author said that the proceedings of the meeting of the SGPC Executive which constituted an inquiry committee against Prof Manjit Singh and Giani Kewal Singh were changed at the Chief Ministers house on February 11. All the pro-Badal Executive members were called to the CMs house to make the necessary changes in the proceedings. Both the high priests had urged Mr Badal to delete the word that their explanation had been sought. (To be concluded) |
Giani Kewal Singh trial shifted to another court Bathinda, July 18 Mr Jaspal Singh has fixed July 29 the next date for hearing the arguments of the prosecution and the defence in connection with the framing of charges. The dowry death case registered against Giani Kewal Singh and others, on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Talwandi Sabo police station after his (Jathedars) daughter-in-law Sharanjit Kaur was allegedly forced to commit suicide, was committed for trial by the sessions court by Mr Kurnesh Kumar Kakkar, Judicial Magistrate (first class), Talwandi Sabo on July 2. Mr Rajput, who took up the case on July 16, fixed todays date for further hearing today and he transferred the case to the Additional Sessions Judge, Mr Jaspal Singh. The case against Giani Kewal and others, took several turns, was registered when fed up with the apathetic attitude of then police authorities of Bathinda district, the borther of the deceased Mr Amarjit Singh approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court through a writ petition. After registering a case against these three, the police authorities moved an application before the Judicial Magistrate, Talwandi Sabo for the cancellation of the FIR against them on the pertext that in the inquiry conducted by DSP rank officer and subsequently endorsed by district police chief, they were found innocent. Instead of agreeing with the police report, the then judicial magistrate issued summons against the accused and when they failed to appear in his court, warrants were issued against them. Giani Kewal Singh surrendered into the court of Mr Kakkar on May 9, 2002 after he failed to secure a bail from Supreme Court while his son, Baljinder Singh had surrendered to the court of sub-divisonal judicial magistrate, Mr Harsh Mehta on March 7, 2002. The third accused had secured interim bail. Sharanjit Kaur, was married to Baljinder Singh, died under mysterious circumstances within one year of her marriage. Her body was found floating in the Likhan Sar Gurdwara located in front of the official residence of Giani Kewal Singh in the Takht Damdama Sahib complex. Giani Kewal Singh resigned from the post of Jathedar of Takht Damdama Sahib after arrest warrants were issued against him. |
meeting of clergy on July 24 Amritsar, July 18 The deputation, led by Mr Gurcharan Singh Grewal, president, SSF, and Mr Rajinder Singh Mehta, adviser to Shiromani Akali Dal also urged the Jathedar to reopen the Tohra-Nirankari case. It claimed that there was proof that Mr Tohra had visited Nirankari Bhavan, Patiala, to seek votes for his protege Prem Singh Chandumajra during the parliamentary elections in violation of the edict of Akal Takht. Meanwhile, senior leaders Manjit Singh Tarn Tarani and SHSA Pardeep Singh Walia alleged that the former Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar, Mr Sarbjeet Singh, had published his book, Black Thunder an eyewitness account of Militancy in Punjab under a deep-rooted conspiracy. They added that he played into the hands of anti-Panthic forces. Meanwhile, a joint meeting of Sikh clergy, SGPC and representatives of Sikh Missionary College is to be held here tomorrow. |
English from Class III in Punjab SAS Nagar, July 18 Stating this at a meeting of block and district-level education officials at the Punjab School Education Board here today, Mr Khushal Behal, Education Minister, said psychologists had given the opinion that a child must have grasp over his mother tongue in Classes I and II so that a proper perception is developed. The learning of English was important as without it students would be left behind in the technological race and march towards globalisation. The minister said under the new education policy being framed for Punjab it would be made compulsory to pass in English in school examinations. Mr Behal said the Central Government had planned to spend Rs 17,000 crore to bring about changes in the educational system in the country and Punjabs share under that scheme was Rs 1100 crore for the next five years. Though the central sponsored scheme had been there for the past two years but the former government had not availed of the benefit. The minister said there were 31 lakh students in schools at the primary level but as many as 17 lakh out of them had left studies at one level or the other. The attendance of teachers had also to be improved. To improve the working of schools, the government had proposed to come up with a mapping system. Under this system a 5 km area would be covered and a senior secondary school in that area would be linked with a middle school which in turn would be linked with a primary school. The principal in charge would have to take care of the quality of education and attendance. The attendance of teachers was also to be checked. This had to be done once in 15 days. Inspection was mandatory and visits in this regard would be recorded in a register. The quality of teaching also had to be improved. For this orientation programmes would have to be made compulsory. Earlier only some of the teachers were attending such programmes. He said the government was also planning to come up with rationalisation programmes. At some places there was overstaffing while at other places there was shortage of posts. At the elementary level there were more staff members as compared to students. At the primary level the position was just the opposite. Now relevant steps would be taken to sort out the problem. Mr Behal said village development committees would be set up comprising two members of the village panchayat, women and retired teachers. The committee would decide how the money was to be spent. Expenditure would have to be carried out on government lines and it would be audited. There was a plan to go in for universal education. No child would be left illiterate. slums, too, would be covered. The government had asked slum dwellers to make arrangements for a room where a teacher would provided. He said the government was planning to provide cooked meals to students. |
Overbridge project once again in the news Patiala, July 18 The project, envisaging building an overbridge at the railway crossing, could not be started during the reign of the last government though Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal laid its foundation stone during the fag-end of his tenure in October 2001. Now Deputy Commissioner Tejvir Singh has again taken up the necessity of starting work on the project with the government. Sources said the matter had also been discussed with the Chief Minister. The Deputy Commissioner has also had a round of talks with shopkeepers of the locality to convince them about the need of an overbridge at the site as well as entertain suggestions which could benefit them. The Deputy Commissioner when contacted said that the shopkeepers had made various suggestions, including the need to keep the railway crossing open even after the overbridge was constructed. He said this was a matter which would be decided by the rail authorities As regards other suggestions, he said shopkeepers had requested that no pillar of the overbridge should be constructed in front of artery streets opening into the main road. He said this suggestion had been accepted. Mr Tejvir Singh said some shopkeepers had requested that the overbridge be constructed at railway crossing number 21 but this was not deemed practical as traffic pressure was more on railway crossing number 22. He said shopkeepers were also told that they would benefit by the construction of the overbridge with more parking space being available to them. He said he had also recommended to the government to draw a time schedule for construction of the overbridge which he said should be completed within a period of one year after start of work. Building a consensus on the overbridge project has been an uphill task. Shopkeepers who are running shops on both sides of the Bhupindra Road which crosses the railway crossing have been against the project as they feel it would be detrimental to their business. Shopkeepers had recommended building of an underbridge but this proposal was shot down by technical experts during a study ordered by former Deputy Commissioner Jasbir Singh Bir. The experts felt that it would be difficult to drain out water from the underbridge during the monsoon season as it is a low lying area. Meanwhile, citizens of the city are livid at the delay in construction work. Vikram Goel, a resident of Model Town, said the people of the city were expecting work on the overbridge to start immediately after Capt Amarinder Singh took over the reigns of the state and were disappointed that the project was a non-starter till yet. Others said lack of funds could not be cited as an excuse in this case because the Railway authorities had cleared funds for the project. The Raghbir Marg Residents Association as well as various citizens forums have also demanded immediate start on work of the
overbridge. |
JCM to take up 14 issues Chandigarh, July 18 There are as many as 14 demands of employees listed on the agenda. Among them are the most burning issues of freezing of certain allowances which have led to the unrest among employees en masse for the past one month or so. In fact, all sections of the government employees, which is about 3.5 lakh, are up in arms against the government because some of its decisions are against the employees. As the government has got the feedback that its popularity graph among the employees have been adversely hit hard, it has decided to enter into a dialogue with them. Though employees organisations have prepared themselves for the meeting but they would formally meet on July 22 to chalk out their strategy to discuss the issues at the JCMs meeting, according to Mr Oma Kant Tewari, a spokesman of the Non-Gazetted Employees Organisation. The first item on the agenda is regarding the freezing of DA and LTC till July-end next year. Compared to other states, the state government is paying 49 per cent DA to its employees. Its freezing for one year has sent shock waves among employees. They want its restoration immediately. There is a feeling among the top government brass that the issue has been mishandled at the government level and because of that the government had got a lot of stick and adverse publicity. The second item on the agenda is regarding the withdrawal of certain pensionery benefits. At present there is a provision for the commutation of 18 months pension. Employees say that the government is going to reduce it to two months. The third item is regarding leave encashment. At present the government can encash leave for 300 days. Employees say it is being reduced to one month, which they have opposed. The fourth item pertains to medical allowance which is given Rs 250 in cash alongwith pay to employees. However, employees want that it should be increased to Rs 500 to fulfil the promise made by the ruling party in its election manifesto that was released before the assembly elections. However, there is a move on the part of the government to provide medical facilities to employees through insurance cover. The unions demand the removal of all those superannuated persons who have been re-employed by the government. The government says that it has a lot of surplus staff but it is also re-employing retired persons giving them full salary. The unions want the back-door channel by which the government favours certain persons to be removed. The employees oppose the enrolling of retired PCS and IAS officers by certain government boards, corporations and even government departments for holding various internal inquiries. Another item listed on the agenda is regarding promotional scale to remaining employees on their completion of four, nine and 14 years of service as has been done in the case of doctors, PCS officers and SDOs. Another item pertains to bonus. Employees wanted the payment of bonus of the past five years as promised in the election manifesto. They also want a proper policy for the recruitment and regularisation of services of those employed on contractual basis. |
Probe sought into blinding of man Bathinda, July 18 At a press conference held here today, where the victim and his family members were also present, the LHRI spokesman said it had also written to the Chief Justices of the Supreme Court and the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chief Minister and DGP of Punjab national and state Human Rights Commissions and the district police chief. Family members of Chhotu Ram said on July 11, 1992 acid was thrown on his face and body by their relative, who is now a judicial official, at his shop. The wife, a son and two daughters of Chhotu Ram were present at the time of the incident. Mr Balwant Singh Dhillon, senior vice-present of the LHRI, said as the children of Chhotu Ram were minor at that time, they were not able to pursue his case. His daughters Payal Rani (22) and Anu Rani (19) approached the LHRI in May this year regarding the case. Mr Dhillon said that as there was none in the family of Chhotu Ram, in 1992 who could pursue the case, they were advised against taking the legal recourse. The family members said they spent about Rs 10 lakh on treatment, but could not save the eyesight of Chhotu Ram. The judicial official could not be contacted despite repeated efforts. His father Madan Lal when contacted on phone said that his son was not responsible for the incident. he alleged that some militants had thrown acid on face of Chhotu Ram. |
PHRC posts to
be filled Chandigarh, July 18 Mr Y.S. Ratra, Chief Secretary, said the Home Department had been asked to prepare a case. The chairman of the commission is appointed by a three-member committee comprising the Chief Minister, Leader of the Opposition and the Speaker. After preparing a panel of names, a meeting of the committee would be called to finalise the name by consensus. |
Campaign against Bhaniara launched Anandpur Sahib (Ropar), July 18 Prof Manjit Singh said a mass awareness campaign would now be launched against Bhaniarawala by organising such gatherings. The gathering through a resolution asked the Punjab Government to put him behind bars. Among others who also addressed the gathering included Mr Gurinder Singh Gogi, a Youth Akali Dal leader; Giani Tarlochan Singh, Head Granthi of Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib; Mata Gurcharan Kaur, Chief of Anandpur Sahib Municipal Council; Thekedar Gurnam Singh, a Youth Akali leader; Principal Chanan Singh; and Comrade Devinder Singh
Sarthaliwale. |
Son-in-law of ex-VC being shielded: Dang Amritsar, July 18 This is evident from the fact that he was never arrested for his alleged involvement in fake admission recket despite being one of the accused. The very fact that he has not applied for bail raises apprehension that some high ups were trying to save him, Mr Dang said. He was appointed during the tenure of his father-in-law. The racket was exposed after the Vice-Chancellors retirement. Moreover, a large number of appointments made by the former Vice-Chancellor too are being probed by the Vigilance Bureau. However, Mr Dang said the head of the department had allegedly used some top political connections to evade arrest. |
Punjab forest cover cause of concern Fatehgarh Sahib, July 18 He said that JBIC a Japan-assisted Punjab Afforestation Project had been implemented in a successful manner and it would make the state green. He said that a delegation of experts from Japan would visit the state in a few days and the government would plead to get the scheme extended for four more years and Rs 300 crore be got sanctioned. He said that Protect Trees and Earn Money scheme had been introduced in the state by which the owners of the land adjoining roads would protect the trees growing along the road from theft, illicit felling, illicit grazing and fire and in return, they would get entitled to share the income generated from the sale of these trees. The farmers share in the case of link roads would be 100 per cent in case of national highways it would be five per cent, in case of state highways it would be 20 per cent and in case of other roads. It would be 50 per cent. He said that urban forestry was being promoted to provide clean and healthy environment in cities and towns. He added. shady, fruit-bearing, medicinal, religious and ornamental trees would be planted on 5700 acres of lands in the current year. |
Heatwave claims another life Bathinda, July 18 A 40-year-old person was found dead due to sunstroke on the outskirts of Goniana Mandi, 15 km from here, today by volunteers of the Sahara Jan Seva. The deceased could not be identified and the body was cremated by the volunteers. Besides a high mercury level, delay in the arrival of monsoons to this region have started adversely affecting the crops. In some areas farmers have started ploughing their standing paddy crop up, which started drying up due to paucity of water for irrigation. Earlier, a section of farmers had to resow their cotton crop as the crop sown by them in the beginning of May could not grow due to severe heatwave. In this district, a large number of cotton growers had shifted to paddy cultivation in a hope to earn more. However, due to acute shortage of water they had become doubly cursed as they had to plough their standing paddy crop up after spending about Rs 1,500 per acre on the same on an average. |
Father tortures minor sons Amritsar, July 18 Talking to newsmen here, Abhay Pal Singh, a student of Class VII, said on Monday around 10.30 p.m., he was woken up and brutally beaten up by his father and grandmother for not securing good marks at school. Showing marks of torture on his back, Abhay alleged he was regularly tortured by his father. His brother Udaipal said their father had been beating them regularly since 1996 when he divorced their mother and took their custody. The boys have filed a complaint with the police in this connection. Their maternal grandfather, Mr G.S. Randhawa, said after the couples divorce in 1996 and the court giving custody of the boys to their father, they had not been allowed to meet the children. |
Three-month premature
baby survives Bathinda, July 18 Born to Darshana, a local resident, and her husband, Harbans Singh, a factory worker in Abohar, the 7-week-old male baby weighed 1.25 kg when it came into this world on June 2. A normal baby weights about 2.5 kg. The babys weight further declined after birth, but began to register a slight growth later. The baby is still grossly underweight. There were a number of serious implications in this case to take care of said Dr B.K. Nagpal, a child specialist, in whose nursing home the baby was born. Preventing infection and respiratory problems are the prime concern in such cases. Feeding the baby is also difficult in such circumstances, he added. The baby, still to be christened, spent 22 days in the nursing home before doctors considered it safe to send him home. We also had to coach the mother on special ways to handle the child, specially on how to prevent infection, the doctor added. Dr Nagpal claimed that in 15 years of
practice at Bathinda, this was the first known case where a baby had been born so prematurely. About 10 per cent of births are premature, but cases where the gestation period had been only 30 weeks account for just about 2 per cent, he said. |
Recarpeting sought Patiala, July 18 The joint representation has been made because the patch falls both in the Patiala and Sangrur Lok Sabha constituencies. The representation said residents of the two constituencies were demanding the relaying of the road stretch because it was full of potholes and ditches. |
Lawyers go on strike Kapurthala, July 18 In a resolution passed at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Mr Raghbir Paul Singh Bajwa, president of the association, the members demanded withdrawal of the case against the lawyer and condemned the attack on him by industrialists and demanded strict action against them. |
Punjab not to allow infiltration
from J&K Mansa, July 18 |
Software to update land records Chandigarh, July 18 Kapurthala MLA, Rana Gurjit Singh, today dedicated to the public the first Integrated Land Information Management System (LIMS) developed by Ramtech Corporation Ltd for a trial run. He also launched the corresponding website www.patwari.net. This pilot project is part of the Chief Ministers vision of good, efficient and transparent governance, says the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Rakesh K. Verma. Mr Verma told TNS that despite advancement in technology, the preparation, maintenance and updating of land records has changed little in the last 200 years or so. Everything was still done manually. The proposed software would make available jamabandis, mussavis, and intkals at the click of a mouse, thereby, demystifying the system of land records. Mr Verma, himself a computer engineer from IIT, New Delhi, added that while work on the computerisaton of land records has been going on at various places in the country for quite some time, it was for the first time in the country that software would automatically generate new jamabandi after incorporating mutations, paving the way for an online computerised system. The key to the computerisation of land record is an integrated software incorporating registration of documents, mutations, jamabandis and maps. Ms Mahua Bhattacharya, Consultant, said considering the importance of land record documents, proper preservation and validation of the records had been accorded the highest priority. |
bans use of ACs Patiala, July 18 An official statement said here that air-conditioners would also not be used in offices of the Board. It said, however, essential services like hospitals, nursing homes, Post and Telegraph installations would be exempt from the ban. The Board had also appealed to the public to minimise the use of non-essential power appliances such as domestic air-conditioners and decorative lights. It had also issued directions to cut down on streetlighting in non-essential areas. Besides this Board has also decided to impose a minimum of six-hour power cut on industrial consumers in urban areas of the State and continue with the evening peak load restrictions of nine hours imposed with effect from July 15. The Board decided to give power supply in two groups to all Arc and Induction Furnace consumers fed from separate or mixed feeders as per following schedule. Group one would consist of the operation circles of Jalandhar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Amritsar (City) and Suburban), Patiala, Sangrur, Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Khanna and Ropar. Power would be supplied to this group on July 18, 19, 22 and 13. Power supply would be kept restricted to the extent of peak load exemption being available by them on July 20, 21, 24 and 25. Group two will consist of Operation Circles of Ludhiana (City East), Ludhiana (City West), Ludhiana (Suburban), Nawanshahr, Mohali, Kapurthala, Ferozepore, Faridkot and Muktsar. Power would be supplied to this group on July 20, 21, 24 and 25. Power supply would kept restricted to the extent of peak load exemption being available from them on July 18, 19, 22 and 23. The statement said the weekly day off restrictions already imposed by the Board would not be applicable to these industries for the schedules. It said extended peak load hour restrictions would not be applicable to these industries, adding normal peak load hour restrictions would remain operative during the schedules. |
Mandi Board, PUDA to give
110 cr to PSEB Chandigarh, July 18 Informed sources said the government had directed the Mandi Board to provide Rs 75 crore to the
PSEB. Since the Mandi Board did not have that much amount, it had been told to provide at least Rs 50 crore. Likewise, PUDA has been asked to provide Rs 60 crore. Confirming this, the Punjab Chief Secretary, Mr
Y.S. Ratra, said PSEB needed funds urgently to buy coal to keep its thermal plants in operation. |
Gang of fake lottery sellers busted Amritsar, July 18 The police suspects the involvement of at least 12 persons in this racket. At least five local persons are also actively working for Rajkumar. Mr Kuwar Vijay Partap Singh, SP, said the gang got duplicate tickets printed in Delhi as soon as the draw were declared using mobile phones for exchanging vital numbers of winning tickets. Thereafter, the accused used to decamp with prize money even before the real claimant could claim it. |
Miscreants ransack shops, loot goods Patiala, July 18 According to sources, the police had to resort to a lathi charge and firing in the air to disperse the irate mob which resorted to ransacking shops and running away with goods, including colour TV sets. Gift and stationery shops were also looted. The Kotwali police has arrested more than 12 persons in this connection The sources said the trouble started when a youth of a nearby locality tried to break the queue during the langar programme. The sources said following this the youth brought nearly 100 to 150 other persons to the locality who started breaking the windowpanes and counters of various shops, besides carting away the goods. |
Suicide by young lovers Jalandhar, July 18 The parents of Gurvinder (24) and Permila (20) resident of Maqsoodan lodged an FIR on July 13 in the Sadar police station regarding the missing of their children, police source said adding that when parents of both located them in the Model Town area today and were bringing them to the police station for an inquiry, the couple swallowed some poisonous substance and their condition started deteriorating.
Held for fraud Moga, July 18 |
6 Kale Kachhewale gangsters held Hoshiarpur, July 18 |
Selected ETT candidates unite to oppose charges Bathinda, July 18 Students of various elementary teachers training (ETT) institutes of the state held a meeting here today to counter the allegations of the ETT ACAC. They claimed that their selection was fair and on merit. Converging on this town from Faridkot, Mansa, Sangrur, Moga, Ferozepore, Jagraon and Muktsar, they decided to meet the Punjab Chief Minister and Education Minister regarding the matter. Mr Balbir Kammando, press secretary of the association, said that a meeting would be convened in Ludhiana where students from different ETT institutions would chalk out the course of action. |
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text:
Teach me...
Persephone's whispered words scalded Aidoneus. All he could think about was her body pressed to his, the thin layers of cloth the only barrier between them. He brought her harder against him with one arm and locked his lips to hers. With his left hand, he reached out, enveloping them in black smoke, ready to transport them through the ether to the world above. Her eyes closed and her tongue danced with his as the Underworld vanished around them.
Nysa, he thought.
She felt them being pulled through, the silver and crimson light of the ether whipping about them as they traveled together. Persephone broke away from their kiss. The black smoke that had lifted them out of the Underworld condensed under their feet to hold them aloft, solid against the infinite expanse of the void. All was quiet. Vertigo gripped her as it had the few times she transported with her mother. Persephone didn't know if the silver light and clouds were twisting about them, or if they were falling headlong through them. The journey took much longer this time. She looked down to see the rings on Aidon's hand glowing fiery red. She gripped his shoulders tighter, and he responded by pulling her closer to his chest. She felt safe and secure against him as she tried to blot out the very real fear of falling through this void forever, lost in the spaces between worlds.
"We're almost through," Aidoneus said, then braced himself, his legs apart, supporting her. She watched as the light gave way, threads of silver pulling back from them to be replaced with darkness. Stars appeared, the brighter ones with peculiar haloes around them. Silhouettes of wild cypress blocked out the midnight blue of the sky and the stars above. She knew this place...
The ethereal threads disappeared entirely and he almost reluctantly released his grip on her, watching as she slid down and away to stand on her own two feet and look around. Aidoneus could see his breath before he felt the cold. It was curious; foreign. He looked down and saw Persephone shivering, her arms held around her sleeveless shoulders. He quickly unclasped his himation and wrapped its folds around her, gritting his teeth against the bite of the cold air.
She felt the warmth of his body radiating from the soft wool, his fresh, masculine scent caught in the heavy folds of cloth. Persephone startled, realizing where they were. It was the grove; this was Hades' sacred grove at Nysa. She closed her eyes, remembering when she lay here in the dappled sunlight, his unseen fingers teasing and caressing her naked skin as she came for the first time, her back arching in the soft celery grasses of the clearing.
It seemed like a lifetime ago. She reached down to the ground. The wild celery had dried brown, their dead husks turning to dust in her hands. The asphodel showed no flowers, the black stems sticking up out of the ground. She saw her breath in front of her face and looked at Aidon. His teeth were chattering. "Aidon, you're freezing..."
"Don't worry about me," he said. Aidoneus felt her press her warm body against his as she wrapped the heavy fabric around both of them
"Why is it so cold?"
"I don't know." They looked up; the frost-haloed stars disappeared behind dark clouds. An infinitely tiny speck floated out of the sky and drifted between them, vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. Another followed, then another, then the air around them was full of gently falling cold flakes. They clumped together as they spun through the air cascading into one another. One tiny clump landed on Persephone's nose, melting instantly.
Persephone wiped the droplet and examined it on her hand. "This isn't possible; it only snows on the very highest mountain tops. Higher than Parnassus, even..."
Aidoneus looked around watching as snow fell about them in the field. It melted when it hit the ground, but the dead plants and tree branches held it aloft, their topsides slowly turning white. Demeter wouldn't do this; she couldn't, he thought. "We should go back."
"No; please Aidon. I want to try."
"Are you sure?"
"Well, I'm warm enough. Are you sure you're all right?"
He thought back to when Zeus, Poseidon and he carefully scaled the wind-whipped face of Mount Othrys all those aeons ago. "I've felt cold worse than this. At least there's no wind. Something here is off balance, though. If you don't mind, I'm going to skip ahead a bit in our lessons and have you send us back to the Other Side."
"Aidon, I'm not powerful enough to—"
"Yes you are." He stepped away from her warmth and lifted her chin to look into her eyes. He closed his hand around hers, her fingers lacing through his alongside the rings. "I wouldn't have asked you to do this unless I knew you could."
"H-how do I even start?"
"Close your eyes," he said as she did so without hesitation. "Breathe with me, now. In and out."
Persephone inhaled through her nose and exhaled slowly, following as he breathed with her. She could only feel his hand gripping hers and the ground beneath her feet.
"Whatever you may be thinking about, Persephone— any limitations, any feelings, anything at all— let them go. There is only you, the immortal goddess, and there is only the place you want to be. Concentrate."
Grow, she thought. Persephone felt her other hand raise almost on its own, her fingers bending toward the earth, her wrist curling upward. Aidoneus watched as a dark stalk sprouted out of the freezing earth, turning green and almost glowing as it lifted. One six-petal asphodel blossom opened along its length, then another. She could see it in her mind as the petals peeled back, their anthers unfurling, their stamen standing on end. She frowned, "I only made a flower, Aidon. I'm not—"
"Concentrate!" he said sharply. Aidoneus felt an echo of energy surge all the way through him from the earth itself and flow out to her through their joined hands. His rings smoldered like coals.
Upward through her feet, outward through her hands and pulsing like the touch of her husband through her core, she felt the raw earth and all that lay beneath it surge into her. With a turn of her wrist, she channeled it through her outstretched fingertips. The asphodel stalk grew faster, the top bursting with an impossible mass of buds.
In her mind she saw fire— Aidon's chariot in the bowels of the earth outside Erebus, just before he claimed her. She saw the wreath from her hair, in her betrothed husband's uplifted hand, the ashes flying away as the heat set it aflame. She remembered picking the asphodel to make that wreath from this very ground, how the red-orange anthers had ignited as they traveled through the fires of the earth.
As the buds opened in front of her outstretched hand, one ember emerged, then another, swirling, the flames increasing as more buds opened in orange flames. The fire itself became a blazing ring that stretched in front of them, flaring with heat, melting the snow that clung to the plants around them.
Through the ring of fire, Aidoneus saw the silver threads of the ether and smiled triumphantly. They pulled and tugged at the flames and latched themselves to a speck in the distance that grew wider, coming into focus and pulling their destination toward them. He could make out the garden of the palace, the stone walls, and the fields beyond. His mouth dropped open as a shiver crept up his spine in a mixture of arousal and astonishment. This was impossible— no one could bridge the ethereal reach this way. Except for his wife. Aidoneus had been wrong— intriguingly wrong about her— Persephone was a goddess beyond his reckoning.
She opened her eyes and shuddered out a long breath, staring into the fire, her arm outstretched toward its center. She felt her husband's wonder and admiration; she felt the earth's energy and the pull of the fire. "The Phlegethon," she breathed.
It was only when she whispered it that Aidoneus recognized the circle of flame. He opened his eyes wide and a very old emotion he hadn't allowed himself to feel in aeons came rushing through him. Fear. She was drawing the fires from Tartarus itself. He swallowed hard. "Persephone..."
Help me.
The voice was small— too small for him to notice. "I hear someone—"
"Persephone, don't listen to him! Close the gateway now! CLOSE IT!!!" he shouted at her.
"No," she replied calmly. Persephone felt his fear pulse into her hand and looked back to comfort him. "It's all right, my husband."
Aidoneus almost staggered back as she turned to him. Her eyes were rimmed in fire, glowing an orange that matched the circle before them. She calmly turned back to the ring of fire. For a moment he considered letting go of her hand, breaking the Key's connection to the ether and their home beyond, but feared that she would be pulled in and lost to either the Pit or the void. He had to try to reason with her. "Persephone; wife, do not listen to him. No matter what he—"
"She. It's a woman," she paused, listening, "Her name is Merope."
"Merope?" He had never sent anyone to Tartarus by that name. His brow knitted in confusion, and fear was slowly replaced by curiosity. He closed his eyes and connected with Tartarus all the way through her body toward her outstretched fingertips, focusing on the gateway she created. He listened for the voice.
Please help me, it said. I don't belong here.
"They all say that," he scoffed, withdrawing from it.
Aidoneus stopped. Now that was a name he recognized.
"Sorcerer king of Ephyra," Persephone continued. "Merope was his wife. He tricked them."
"Tricked who?"
"The brothers. Your judges, Minos and Rhadamanthys, with a glamour. They thought she was Sisyphus. They presented her as Sisyphus to you and you sent her to Tartarus."
"Impossible. No mortal could ever summon sorcery strong enough to fool—"
"Gods above..." Persephone cursed under her breath shaking her head in shock, "...the things he did to her. Listen, Aidon."
He closed his eyes and focused again on the crying voice.
...us both on the funeral pyre... imprinted his essence on me as I burned... calls himself a deathless god king in Ephyra, now... a kinslayer... blasphemer... sent me in his place. Please Lord Hades, Polydegmon, you are a just god...
"Aidon, please, we must help her," she echoed, looked back at him, her eyes rimmed in fire, her face pleading with him.
A pyre, he thought. Ephyra's people were Thessalonian. The people of Thessaly don't build pyres; they bury their dead. Unless... He nodded to Persephone. "All right. I'll speak to the Hundred Handed Ones."
"They hear us," she said. The fire told her everything. They were the guardians of the Titans and the wicked. The jailers of the Pit of Tartarus. The vision of their home faded from the center of the circle, replaced with the gaping maw of black flames from her nightmares last night. She shuddered.
This time, Persephone recoiled. A sound so deep and resonant it almost made her nauseous welled up in fifty voices speaking as one from the dark fires. Aidon could hear it too. He protectively tightened his grip on her hand. "I've got you," he whispered.
"Wh-who are you?" she said.
More importantly, the many-voiced one asked, who are you?
"Kottos," Aidoneus said to the Hundred Handed One, "you are addressing my wife."
Ahh, Kottos said, my brothers and I have waited aeons for you, my queen. Persephone Praxidike Chthonios. She Who Destroys the Light. Carrier of Curses. The Iron Queen of the Underworld.
"What am I?" she whispered to herself, trembling.
Aidon could feel her faltering. "Sweet one, it's all right."
We are yours to command, Praxidike.
She straightened, then looked back at Aidon who nodded to her. She spoke to the fire, "A woman is being held in Tartarus. A glamour has been cast over her. Her name is Merope, and she was sent there in place of Sisyphus of Ephyra. I command that you release her at once from the Pit."
And what should we do with her?
"See that she is brought to the Palace of Hades. We must learn all we can from her," she turned back to Aidoneus, her eyes flaring in anger. "The sorcerer king must be brought to judgment for what he did to her."
As you wish, Praxidike.
The fire flared once and the maw of black flames vanished back into the ring. The fires calmed and grew friendly. Their home once again stood on the other side. Persephone looked at Aidon, her eyes returned to normal and her hand shaking in his grip. The sun started to dawn in the east, nearly obscured by storm clouds whipping flurries of snow around them. "Can we go home now?"
"Yes," he said quietly with a nod. She gripped his hand. He took a step forward and held her at the small of her back. Aidon just watched her, his heart racing. This was not the screaming girl he dragged into his chariot from the field of Nysa. His wife was a darkly magnificent creature, stepping through the ring of fire she created with him at her side. Persephone— his Queen.
The journey home was quick; mere steps. When the threads of the ether closed the ring of fire behind them, they found themselves standing in the palace gardens. The blanket of misty clouds above was awash in the brilliant colors of dusk, reflecting the light from the river Styx. It was so much warmer here, and she realized that she still had her husband's robes wound around her shoulders. The cold from mere moments before still clung to him. Persephone took off Aidon's himation and draped the dark fabric around his shoulder once more. He closed his eyes and inhaled as she sweetly attended to him; it smelled like her now— lilies, ocean mist and warm earth. He watched her carefully pin the golden brooch at his shoulder.
Aidoneus wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned into his chest. He pulled her closer, his hands gripping at her skin. They breathed shakily, both trying to understand what happened, what it meant, what they saw, what she was able to do. The tension left his fingers and he flattened his hands against her back, soothing and holding her. She sighed and closed her eyes, listening to each slowing breath. Her ear pressed over his heart, she slowly opened her eyes.
Persephone blinked at what she saw. "Aidon, this is the garden, isn't it? I didn't accidentally take us somewhere else, did I?"
"No, sweet one; you brought us home."
"What is that, then?"
He followed her gaze and saw rough bark on a slender tree trunk. When he looked up through the canopy of branches, he saw vibrant green leaves unlike any he'd ever seen, the boughs winding through the branches of another similar tree. Aidoneus and Persephone turned in a circle to see that they were surrounded by six such trees that stood twice their height, each one spread out to touch the one next to it.
"My dreams," they whispered in near unison and looked at each other in shock.
"You've seen these too?!" Persephone said.
"I hardly sleep as it is, and I see them every time I shut my eyes," he said, stunned. "They started when I brought you here. What about you?"
"Same," she broke away from him and walked over to the tree, smoothing her hand over the rough bark. "Every night. Last night, when I woke up and you held me... I saw these trees; then fire."
He walked over to a different tree and reached up to run his hand along one of the waxy leaves. "This is impossible..." he said under his breath. "Persephone! Touch the leaves; they're warm. Like the sun has been shining on them all day. Do you have any idea what they are? I've never seen anything like them in my realm."
"Pomegranate, I think? ...Hard to tell when they're so young." She walked around one tree and stared up through its branches at the sky. "It's getting dark; I'll be able to see them better tomorrow."
They circled the small grove, touching the leaves and branches as they went, and met on the opposite side under one of the trees. Persephone almost ran into the wall of his chest, distracted by the winding branches. She saw the same astonishment she felt written across his face.. Aidon drew her close again and held her face in his hands. "In all the aeons I waited for you, I never dreamed—"
She cut him off with a kiss, interrupting him before he said something she wasn't ready to hear. Persephone kissed him hard on the lips, and felt Aidon surge against her. A familiar coil tightened in her stomach. His hands wandered down her waist and over her hips as her tongue played against his. She brought her hands around him, her fingernails raking over his clothed back. They broke away and watched the fading light of dusk frame the silhouette of the trees.
"Aidon, we have to tell Hecate."
"Yes," he said, "Though I have a feeling she already knows. If these are tied to our dreams I should also speak with Morpheus..."
She looked up at him for a long moment and swallowed. "In Nysa when I created the ring of fire, I... I never thought I could do anything like that. Not ever. Thank you for showing me," she said, running a hand along his cheek. He turned his head and kissed her palm.
"You were magnificent."
"Then, you're not... upset that I can create a gateway like that? That I have more control over the ether than I thought I did— than you thought I had, and possibly more than you, even?"
"What?" he said in amused bewilderment.
"I'm just worried," she said looking at the ground and fidgeted, tapping her fingers together, "that you don't want me, as your consort, to be able to just create something like that my first time out. That what I did would somehow make you feel... emasculated... and that you wouldn't want me afterward."
His lips curled into a half smile as he tilted her chin up to look into her eyes again. Aidon's face turned serious once more. He grabbed her wrist and stepped toward her, pressing her hand over the hardness quickening under his clothes. He smirked when her eyes grew wide, then circled his arm around her waist and pulled her even closer. His heat arched into her hand, and he sucked in air through his teeth as her fingers closed around him through the fabric. Her lips parted and she shuddered, warmth flooding into her and echoing his arousal.
"Tell me again, Persephone, how you think I could feel emasculated by you," he crooned in the deepest register of his voice.
Her voice cracked, "I—"
He stole a kiss from her then, drawing her figure into his arms and tipping her back as she clung to him. Aidon mated his tongue with hers, the depth of their kiss a portent for all he wanted to do to her that night. His voice was low and dangerous, his words whispered against her neck when he broke away from her lips. "On the contrary, sweet one, I've never desired you the way I desire you now."
She kissed him just in front of his ear, feeling light headed, her stomach fluttering at his words and the sway he held over her body. "Aidon..."
"Please Persephone," he said grinding into her once more, "do not deny me anything tonight. I need you..."
He felt her tense.
He let out a long breath before continuing. "I would never dream of taking you unwillingly," he said, "but if this is what you want—"
Persephone kissed him hard, her body quaking. She felt her thighs twitch and moaned into his mouth as his hand came up to her breast, roughly cupping and molding her clothed flesh in his palm. She pulled back and whispered hoarsely to him, "Take me inside."
That was all he needed to hear. Aidon grabbed her hand and marched them out of the garden. He took them through the portico toward the entrance to the palace, pushing her against one of the heavy doors and kissing her hard as he pulled the other open. She darted out of his grasp with a nervous titter as the door swung wide and ran along the hallways ahead of him, bidding him to chase her, stopping suddenly at the column base of the stairs and biting her lower lip. He stalked toward her and crushed her body between the stone column and his own, his lips moving over her neck, earlobe and jaw line before capturing hers.