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THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END is yet another tear-filled treasure from Adam Silvera. This book is all about friendship and grief, but more than anything, this book is about life! THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END has been my most anticipated read of the year, and it was everything I'd hoped for and so much more.
About the Book
Title: They Both Die at the End
Author: Adam Silvera
Pub. Date: September 5, 2017
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 384
On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They're going to die today. Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they're both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There's an app for that. It's called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure and to live a lifetime in a single day.
Wine Pairing
I paired They Both Die at the End with this Passing Time Cabernet Sauvignon. If you knew you were going to die today, how would you pass the time? As you would expect from a Silvera novel, this one will certainly put you through the emotional ringer, and this wine nearly matches it in its intensity and richness.
*All wine recommendations are for those of legal drinking age only.*
My Review
They Both Die at the End is yet another tear-filled treasure from Adam Silvera. This book is all about friendship and grief, but more than anything, this book is about life! They Both Die at the End has been my most anticipated read of the year, and it was everything I'd hoped for and so much more.
I found the premise of this book to be absolutely fascinating. I'd categorize this as more speculative than contemporary, because of Death-Cast, which is this fascinating system that can predict a person's date of death. On their death day an employee from the Death-Cast call center phones the soon-to-be deceased to let them know of their impending doom. I love books that have this type of element that really gets readers thinking about what they would do in a similar situation. If you knew you were going to die today, what would you do? If it was possible, would you want a system like Death-Cast to exist?
As I would expect with any Silvera novel, I absolutely fell in love with the characters. Mateo and Rufus were the perfect characters for this story. For me, each of them represented a different type of regret a person would have when faced with their our own mortality. Mateo represents our regrets for the things that we haven't done, while Rufus represents the regrets we have for things that we have.
When the two of them come together to be Last Friends they have to try to live a lifetime in just one day. They each compliment the other's character so well and reading the story of the two of them together for that day was just everything. Be prepared to feel a very wide and powerful array of emotions with this one!
There is also a really wonderful message in this book about interconnectedness and how all our individual stories can affect one another's. We get to see glimpses of this day from the perspective of other outside characters, some who are "deckers" some who are not. The way that Silvera weaves all their stories together to reach the final conclusion of the overall story was really masterful plotting and one of my favorite elements in this book.
Even though the title of this book seems to be the ultimate spoiler, I found myself hoping the entire time I was reading that Mateo and Rufus would somehow outrun their fate. I won't say whether or not they were able to, that is something that you are definitely just going to have to read to find out!
About Adam Silvera
From Adam's Website
Adam Silvera was born and raised in the Bronx. He has worked in the publishing industry as a children's bookseller, marketing assistant at a literary development company, and book reviewer of children's and young adult novels. His debut novel, More Happy Than Not, received multiple starred reviews and is a New York Times bestseller. He is tall for no reason and writes in New York City.
Represented by Brooks Sherman of Janklow & Nesbit.
What is your favorite Adam Silvera novel that you've read so far? Will be reading They Both Die at the End when it hits shelves on 09/05? What is your most anticipated read of 2017?
Follow me online for more YA and Wine!


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Monday, August 29, 2011
Baptism Picture Hair
17 comments:
- Brooke said...
I love that style. Incidentally, MY daughter is getting baptized on Saturday also! I didn't know your princess is the same age as mine! I have been playing around with styles for the last week, too. I am REALLY wishing we hadn't cut her hair last spring. It grows sooooo slow! Hope the day is as special for your family as it is for ours!
- August 29, 2011 at 11:36 AM
Beautiful!! Have a very good day,I wish your princess all the best.
- August 29, 2011 at 12:51 PM
- Beth said...
Congratulations! That's SO exciting!
- August 29, 2011 at 1:31 PM
- Julie said...
oh how neat! Congratulations to your daughter as well Brooke!
- August 29, 2011 at 5:00 PM
- The Pingel Family said...
Wow that is gorgeous! I wish I had your talent. I am starting to figure out the basic french braid though. Lol.
- August 29, 2011 at 6:08 PM
- UntrainedHairMom said...
The hairstyle is gorgeous and those photos are breath taking..I am so glad I came across your blog, I am really enojying it!
- October 28, 2011 at 7:57 PM
This hairstyle is great. My daughter is going through her first holy communion this May and this will be the perfect hairstyle!! Where did you get the flowers for her hair though?? Thanks, Amanda
- January 20, 2013 at 10:25 PM
- Julie said...
I just bought the flowers at a fabric store in their notions aisle and then hot glued them to some hair pins. :) We have an instructional video on how that's done. :)
- March 10, 2013 at 3:16 PM
Hello Julie,
I'm from Holland and in may my daughter is doing her first communion.
I loved the way you did your daughters hair. Could you tell me were I can find the instructional video how to make the hair pins. I couldn't find them;
- April 6, 2014 at 6:07 AM
- Unknown said...
do you have video . I love it .THANKS
- June 6, 2014 at 10:23 AM
- Unknown said...
do you have time to explain the process to do it/ Or video ..thamnks
- June 6, 2014 at 11:00 AM
nice it looks realy good on her
- March 20, 2015 at 3:07 PM
- Unknown said...
- February 29, 2016 at 12:13 PM
- Unknown said...
I love it but I'm having a hard time figuring it out & I was a hairdresser for 10 years I'm more of a visual & hands on learner. Would love to see a video!! Always looking for a new do for my granddaughter.
- April 9, 2016 at 3:02 PM
- Unknown said...
I love it but I'm having a hard time figuring it out & I was a hairdresser for 10 years I'm more of a visual & hands on learner. Would love to see a video!! Always looking for a new do for my granddaughter.
- April 9, 2016 at 3:03 PM
It would look amazing if each of the pieces of hair were braids. (I think.) I think that would look beautiful, in fact, I'm going to try it...
- February 17, 2017 at 9:46 AM
- Unknown said...
- December 14, 2018 at 3:32 AM

subset: commoncrawl


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WLAN access points approved for use in explosive zones
Belden's Hirshmann WLAN Access Points and Clients are certified for use in potentially explosive environments such as those found in the oil, gas or mining industries.
Belden has announced that its Hirschmann BAT54-Rail and BAT300-Rail WLAN Access Points and Clients have both ISA 12.12.01 Class 1 Div 2 and ATEX IEC/EN 60079 Zone II certification. This now means that when they are equipped with suitable protective cases, they can be used anywhere in the world – even in potentially explosive environments such as those found in the oil, gas or mining industries, according to Belden. Mountable on top-hat rails, these devices are also flexible enough for a wide range of situations, such as installation in control cabinets or distribution boxes. What's more, in combination with BAT WLC Controllers, they can be centrally configured and managed.
BAT300-Rail Access Points comply with protection class IP40 and support the IEEE802.11n (300 Mbit/s) wireless communications standard and MIMO technology, ensuring a stable wireless connection even in the event of problems such as reflections. The BAT54-Rail devices have up to two radio modules, operating at either 5 GHz or 2.4 GHz. An economically-priced version with a single WLAN interface is also available.
Both device series support all standardized encryption procedures in accordance with IEEE 802.1x. Integrated firewalls and IP routers enable network segments to be isolated and reliably safeguarded. It is also possible to connect both analog and DSL modems for purposes such as WAN routing or remote maintenance. Additional features include comprehensive management and QoS functions, fast roaming functionality, and a high level of resistance to shock and vibrations.
All access points and clients have a robust metal case measuring 3.15 in. x 3.94 in. x 5.31 in (80 mm x 100 mm x 135 mm). The temperature range extends from -22 ºF to +122 ºF (-30 °C to +50 °C). Maximum operational reliability is further ensured through quintuple power supply redundancy (2 x 24 V dc, 48 V dc PoE and 1 x 12 V dc).
By acquiring the two new certifications, Belden further extends the range of potential WLAN applications. "The BAT product portfolio now offers a maximum level of safety, performance and flexibility for all applications in potentially explosive environments. This applies to extensive networks that are managed by controllers, as well as local installations," says Sven Burkhard, Belden's product manager for networking and connectivity products.
Belden Inc.
– Edited by Amanda McLeman, Control Engineering, www.controleng.com


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Professional illustrator Alan Corbett will be running a one-day picture book illustration workshop at 091 Labs on Saturday June 16th from 10AM to 6PM in collaboration with the Galway Pub Scrawl group.
Alan's illustration work includes the "Ghost of Shandon", "The Gruesome End of Baron Spolasco" (for the 6th annual Dragon of Shandon Samhain Parade in Cork City) and "Anna in the Little Match Girl".
The cost on the door will be €10 (€8 for students and 091 members) for the day. Handouts are included in the price.
This workshop will be served on a first-come first-served basis. A place can be reserved by joining the Facebook Event page or emailing donalfall [at] gmail [dot] com


text: I have a busy week in Europe next week, but I hope you can spare a few hours and join me for these free SQL Server seminars on performance tuning and consolidation/virtualization. I really hope I get to see you there! =- Copenhagen, Monday, September 15th at the SAS Radisson Falconer Hotel, Falkoner Allé 9, Frederiksberg, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. The topic is SQL Server 2008, performance diagnostics, and virtualization/consolidation. I'll be speaking with local SQL Server experts and MVPs including the Danish vice president of PASS; Kenn Schjødt among others. Register for the event and see the full day agenda at http://www.quest.com/events/ListDetails.aspx?ContentID=7845. =- Amsterdam, Wednesday, September 17th from 12:00 til 4:30 pm. Since I don't understand Dutch, I can't do much more than direct you to the website and encourage you to come. More details at http://www.quest.com/events/listdetails.aspx?contentid=7868&technology=&prod=&prodfamily=&loc=18. =- London, Thursday, September 18th at the PASS User Group Meeting, London Chapter, from 6:00 - 9:00 pm. I'll be speaking about SQL Server Performance and Availability along with Phil Newman of HP. Complimentary refreshments sponsored by HP. Location: NYSE Euronext Canon Bridge House 1 Cousin Lane London EC4R 3XX (Nearest Tube stations are Cannon or Bank.) The organizers recommend you plan to arrive 30 minutes before the scheduled start to ensure enough time to check in and get through Security. Unfortunately, due to building security unregistered guests will not be on the list and may not be allowed entry. To register and see the full agenda, please sign in at http://www.quest.com/sqlPASSUK


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Weekly Photo Challenge Serenity
Weekly Photo Challenge Serenity
The best steampunk news, reviews, interviews and techniques
An Online Literary Journal and Small Press
Woh kare baat toh har lafz se khushboo aaye, Aisi boli wohi bole jise Urdu aaye. -Poet Ahmed Wasi-
A glimpse into Thomas's world, where he talks about tea, music, and writing.
gothic literary magazine
Author of Sci Fi and Fantasy
Let the magic take you away!
The Literary (or Junk) Writings of Leslie Muzingo
Irreverence's Glittering New Low!
Matt Caprioli, writer in New York
The challenges of maintaining a professional writing career while being a good mother for two special needs sons.
speculative prose
a journal of poetry, flash fiction, and art
A collective of creatives bound by a single motto: There's nothing in the rulebook that says a giraffe can't play football!


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Security watchers have urged Wikileaks to stop hosting its material with a "bulletproof" Russian ISP believed to primarily cater to, or be controlled by, Russian cyber criminals.
Wikileaks.org now points to a mirror of the site, mirror.wikileaks.info, hosted by Webalta, a blackhat ISP linked to a company called Heihachi Ltd, according to Spamhaus. The .org URL has been WikiLeaks' main web address since its launch in 2006.
"Spamhaus regards the Russian Webalta (also known as Wahome) host as being "blackhat" - a known cybercrime host from whose IP space Spamhaus only sees spamming, malware/virus hosting, phishing and other cybercriminal activities," the anti-spam organisation said on Tuesday evening.
The warning follows similar concerns raised by Trend Micro, which also runs a spam-blocking list.
Both firms said that whatever political view one takes of the ongoing WikiLeaks saga, the site's administrators should take more care over the company it keeps.
Ironically, the judgment of an investigator that Vladimir Putin's Russia is a "virtual mafia state" has been one of the highest-profile disclosures from the US embassy cables so far released by Wikileaks.
"The fact that recently some unknown person or persons decided to put a Wikileaks mirror on IP address 220.127.116.11 should raise an alarm; how was it placed there and by whom," said Spamhaus.
"Our concern is that any Wikileaks archive posted on a site that is hosted in Webalta space might be infected with malware... Spamhaus takes no political stand on the Wikileaks affair."
Trend Micro said: "We don't know whether wikileaks.org has perhaps been compromised or whether WikiLeaks is knowingly getting services from a blackhat provider.
"To give you an idea, here are some illustrious neighbors: paypal-securitycenter.com, carders.kz, idchecking.ir (phishing), and postbank-sicherung.com."
The wikileaks.org domain was offline for a week after the plug was pulled by its DNS provider EVERYdns.net. It reappeared on Friday after being registered with another US DNS outfit, Dynadot. ®
Sponsored: Webcast: Simplify data protection on AWS


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Cigirex Electronic Cigarette
Description: Cigirex offers the best alternative to traditional cigarettes as there are no carcinogens, chemicals, tar or tobacco. Cigirex is the first electronic cigarette company to replace the controversial ingredient propylene glocol with the completely safe food ingredient vegetable glycerin. Cigirex is the only company in the world that uses real liquid Nicotine from tobacco extract. Cigirex is the first electronic cigarette company to successfully launch a patented 100% leak-resistant product for our refills. The Cigirex packages are products that consumers can relate to. They replicate the look, color and feel of a traditional cigarette. Cigirex offers the closest, most real, experience to smoking traditional cigarettes without the negative health effects and risks. Cigirex offers refillable electronic cigarettes as well as disposables. They come in Zero (Green Tea extract, no nicotine), Light, Regular and Menthol as well as our new Slim 100. Starter Kits are $29.95 (approx 70 cigarettes), Disposables start at $11.95 (approx 42 cigarettes).
Price: $11.95 to $29.95


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Archive for Monday, May 10, 2010
Second Basehor-Linwood teacher sentenced for inappropriate behavior with student
May 10, 2010
A former Basehor-Linwood High School teacher will see no jail time for inappropriate behavior with a student.
Kevin Vincent, who was a high school science teacher and boys soccer coach, received a six-month suspended sentence Monday morning in Leavenworth County District Court for one count of battery. Judge Michael Gibbens ordered Vincent be on probation for one year, during which he must complete sexual counseling. He will also register as a sex offender for one year and surrender his teaching license.
Vincent, a 30-year-old Shawnee resident, pleaded no contest Monday to one count of battery, or repeatedly and intentionally touching a 16-year-old female student in an offensive manner. The behavior took place from September 2007 to May 2008 at the school, according to County Attorney Todd Thompson. As part of Gibbens' ruling, Vincent may not have any contact with the student or her family.
Thompson said considering the facts available in the case, he was pleased with the outcome.
"The family's main concern was that he not be able to teach again and that he have to register as a sex offender, and we got that," Thompson said. "I'm satisfied with the facts we had and charges we could file. Sometimes we don't always have the most clean cut case or get exactly what the victim or victim's family wants, and in this case it was what we could do."
Information about the inappropriate behavior between Vincent and the student was uncovered during a Basehor Police Department investigation of a sexual relationship between former Basehor-Linwood High School history teacher and wrestling coach Scott Neil and the same female student. School officials first brought the student's case to the attention of law enforcement authorities on May 19, 2009, Basehor Police Chief Lloyd Martley said.
Vincent was suspended with pay July 15, 2009. On Aug. 10, 2009, the board continued the suspension without pay, and his resignation was accepted Sept. 14. He was making $45,695 at the time his resignation was approved for teaching and coaching, including a stipend for acting as the senior class sponsor.
Neil received a six-month suspended sentence April 14 for one count of unlawful sexual relations with the student. Judge Gunnar Sundby also ordered Neil spend 48 hours in jail with 12 months probation, during which he must complete a sex offender program and register as a sex offender.
Neil, a 44-year-old Tonganoxie resident, pleaded guilty Feb. 17 to the charge filed Feb. 15 for two incidents that took place with the female student, one around June 1, 2008, and the other Dec. 31, 2008.
The Basehor-Linwood Board of Education suspended Neil with pay on May 20, 2009. On Aug. 10, 2009, the board continued Neil's suspension without pay. Neil resigned shortly thereafter, and the board unanimously approved his resignation on Oct. 12, 2009.
Basehor-Linwood School District officials declined comment aside from a press release issued Monday in which Superintendent David Howard said, "This is a personnel matter, so confidentiality prohibits our school district from issuing further comment."
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Have you ever sat in the lunchroom during your child's lunch break at school? Whether preschool or elementary school, I have really noticed the "convenience" packaging offered by food manufacturers is a big hit with busy families. Individually bagged snacks, pre-packaged apple slices, juice boxes, water bottles....And then there's the ziploc baggies for everything else in between. Yes, those products make lunch-packing a bit quicker in the morning, but the waste that's generated in just one lunch is incredible!
There are MANY cute, colorful, cool options (or more sophisticated for older kids) available to have a completely waste free lunch. For us, it doesn't take too much time to put some chips in a container, grapes in a reusable bag, and wrap up a sandwich in a wrap-n-mat. My kids love having their own lunch packaging, and it has always come home (which is pretty impressive for a 6 and 4 year old).
Pin It
Check out reuseit.com for some great tips on packing a waste-free lunch. Also, there are many great Etsy sellers who sell reusable items. Here's a list of lunch items from Team EcoEtsy. Also search for things like: cloth napkins, reusable snack bag, lunch kit, etc. There are also many options if you are trying to avoid all plastics (even BPA free ones). (Try to stay away from things lined with PUL that would go next to food - they have not been tested for food safety, though a lot of sellers use them for their waterproof nature.)
Here's another idea: You can get pre-made name labels from places like Mabel's Labels or Name Bubbles which work great to identify snap top containers, sandwich wraps, reusable snack bags, thermoses, and drink containers.This ensures your investment doesn't get stuck in the lost and found bin! (See examples on my son's water bottle and wrap-n-mat above)
Here's to a great school year; and healthy, waste-free lunches!
Recent Posts
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Plan for waste-free lunches this school year!
Posted by Winkydinks
2 comments:
- Anonymous said...
Hi it is saying the code for the reuseit site is not valid? Thanks love your blog.
- July 16, 2013 at 1:59 AM
- Winkydinks said...
Thanks, I removed the link!
- November 17, 2013 at 12:55 PM


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Want the top vendors to contact YOU? Fill out our Contact Request Form
Security services are a smart addition to any large gathering. They can 'man' the door and ensure that only invited guests attend - no wedding crashers here! Search here for Security Services in Vancouver BC.
Copyrights PartyPOP, all rights reserved


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Hamilton Travel: Tips For Travelling Sustainably - Getting There & Transportation
Here are tips for Getting There & Local Tranportation on your sustainable and envionmentally concious vacation and business travel:
- Book With Airlines that Recycle
Book flights with airlines that recycle the waste created when serving food and beverages to passengers. British Airways, and Southwest Airlines recycle their cabin waste, and Southwest was the first to offer electronic ticketing systemwide.
- Choose On-Time Airlines
Airlines with the best on-time arrival and departure schedules contributing less to congestion, air pollution, and fuel waste. Less effective airlines burn more fuel on the tarmac. US airline performance is on the Bureau of Transportation Statistics website,
- Fly Nonstop
While jets are a fast and cost- efficient mode for moving large numbers of passenger long distances, they produce almost .4 tons of CO2 per passenger per flight, with highest fuel consumption at takeoff (first to accelerate all that weight to flying speed and then to lift it 8 miles above the earth's surface). Reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by choosing non-stop flights whenever possible.
- Go Car-Free
Choose destinations that do not require cars for getting around (like Boston versus Los Angeles). Consider using car alternatives for short trips including public transportation, hotel shuttles, and biking and walking paths.
- Go Public Transit
Public transportation is inexpensive, efficient, and available around the world. Try tip planning using Google Transit which cov ers about 100 cities around the world
- Share a Car
If you need a car, consider car-sharing services, which rent ultra-low emission vehicles or fuel-efficient hybrids that can be rented for just part of a day.
In the United States and Canada consider Zipcar or local independents like I-GO Car Sharing (Chicago), AutoShare (Toronto), VRTUCAR (Ottawa), CityCarShare (San Francisco), Cooperative Auto Network (Vancouver), HourCar (Minneapolis - St. Paul), and PhillyCar Share (Philadelphia)
- Rent a Hybrid
Major rental car companies are adding low-emission, fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles to their fleets, though still a small portion of total fleets. Hybrid rentals typically costs $5-10 more per day than other vehicles, which is earned back by cost savings at the pump. And in some states, renting a hybrid in many US states can give you access to restricted carpool or high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) freeway lanes.
- Maintain Your Car
If using your own vehicle, some simple, and cheap maintenance can significantly reduce fuel consumption and increasing gas mileage, and saving both the environment and money. Change your air filter� if its dirty or clogged, this can improve mileage by 10%. If you're driving, turn your motor off when idling (also, encourage tour/bus drivers to turn the motor off when idling).
- Check Your Tires
Check tire treads for any debris to reduce rolling resistance and improve fuel economy. Also check the tire pressure. Under-inflation can reduce mileage by 5-10%,
- Pack Light
Don't overpack with extra clothing "options" and extra gear & supplies for the trip. This takes up space, adds weight, and reduces your vehicle's gas mileage. Check for deadweight in the trunk (like sand bags, for a summer trip). Each 50 kilograms reduces gas mileage by roughly 2 percent.
Try to pack only what can fit inside your vehicle or trunk. Rooftop carriers add to carrying capacity but add aerodynamic drag and reduce fuel economy.
- Limit Left Turns
Avoiding left turns when driving can improve the environment, and reduce accidents. This practice was first implemented by UPS, which has a fleet of 120,000 vehicles. By avoiding left turns across traffic, the turning vehicle does not block traffic, which wastes gas for the cars behind, and you do not cross against oncoming traffic (reducing your risk of accidents)
More sustainable and envionmentally concious vacation and business travel suggestions.


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Move-in ready! First floor guest suite, covered patio, quartz counters, WOLF appliances.
The Dominion Park at Wyndham community features moderate-sized energy-efficient single family homes priced from the $490,000's. This community is nestled right across from our very successful community Ellington at Wyndham and down the street from our gorgeous Ellington Woods at Wyndham.
Dominion Park at Wyndham is not only in a great location, but it offers all of the amazing amenities that comes with living in Wyndham. Homeowners will enjoy a wide variety of amenities, including tennis courts, a soccer field, basketball court, tot lots, swimming pool, gazebo, amphitheater and other gathering spaces. Residents also have the option to join the exclusive Dominion Club, which will provide them with access to the community's 18-hole golf course, a driving range, tennis center, fitness center, swimming pool and the 28,000 square foot clubhouse, which is home to the Wyndham Grill and private dining and meeting rooms.
Dominion Park at Wyndham is located in Henrico County's best school district: Shady Grove Elementary, which is located within the Wyndham community, Short Pump Middle, and Deep Run High (recently rated the 8th best high school in Virginia).
To learn more about the Dominion Park at Wyndham community, call the community sales center at 804-708-5129 or stop by our beautifully decorated model home located at 6760 Donahue Drive, Glen Allen, Virginia. Please use the coordinates 37.704925, -77.629194 in your GPS when searching for Dominion Park at Wyndham.
Monday - Saturday 11am - 5pm, Sunday 1pm-5pm
From West Broad Street in Short Pump:
Dorothy Mitchell
Community Manager


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Xi'an 2014
After spending 3 days in Beijing, I flew to Xi'an to see the terra cotta soldiers and other wonderful sites in Xi'an (one of the olderst cities in China). The city was known as Chang'an before the Ming dynasty. Xi'an is the oldest of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, having held the position under several of the most important dynasties in Chinese history, including Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang. Xi'an is the starting point of the Silk Road and home to the terra cotta army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang.Read More


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By Teachers, For Teachers
A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways as they're capable of understanding ~ Steve Prefontaine
As educators, we often try to teach our students more than just facts and formulas. Being an avid female runner, there is a certain historical story which holds great meaning to me and teaches a lesson that cannot be graded through any test or quiz. Not only have I found personal inspiration from it, but I also found it has great ties to the classroom.
It wasn't that long ago that women were denied entry into distance running races. Despite records of women having completed marathons in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, prior to 1968 women were not allowed to compete. Many believed that females simply weren't fit for such athletic feats. And so, decade after decade, officials declared that women had no place in the race.
This didn't stop women from running, of course. There's an almost primal drive that compels some humans to move, to push, and to explore. Despite my love for my comfy chair, blankets, and lap dog, I feel that drive. I run to think, to quiet my thinking, to let out stress, to see the world, to appreciate nature, to feel alive. I race myself, I cheer on others, and I love going further than I've ever gone before. I simply can't fathom being told I'm not cut out for the challenge.
The Changed Race
Just nine years before I was born, a determined young woman decided to show the world that despite policy, her place was not on the sidelines. On April 19, 1967, Kathrine Switzer entered the all-male Boston Marathon, having signed up with just her initials. That cold, rainy morning, with three male friends at her side and significant training under her belt, she stepped onto the starting line. Off they went. Word spread quickly that a woman had infiltrated, and though fellow runners supported her effort, race director Jock Semple made it his goal to remove her.
Several miles into the race, having caught up on a truck, Semple lunged for Switzer, attempting to pull her off the course and yelling, "Get the hell out of my race and give me that race number." Fortunately, two things occurred: Switzer's friends sprang into action, and a photographer captured the scene. While one of Kathrine's friends struggled to loosen Semple's grip, Kathrine's 235-pound boyfriend, Tom, channeled his inner hockey player and cross-checked the old man. Semple went flying. Momentarily concerned for his well-being, Tom looked to Kathrine and said but three words: "Run like hell." And that she did.
Boston, April 19,1967, photo courtesy of AP/Wideworld Photo via www.katherineswitzer.com
Kathrine finished the Boston Marathon. She completed the distance in four hours and twenty minutes. And yet her finish was just the beginning. Her efforts, and the media attention from that race, helped compel the running community to officially recognize women as endurance athletes and welcome their participation. Kathrine went on to run 35 marathons, winning the women's division of New York in 1974, and achieving a personal best of 2:51 in Boston the following year. Two hours and fifty one minutes. Were I to quit my job, train full time, tie on roller skates and a jet pack, I couldn't touch that time. It's that good.
Thankfully, I've never experienced the kind of discrimination Switzer and her contemporaries did. Though a few years ago, I did encounter an older gentleman who saw me on the starting line of a long-distance winter trail race and asked me if I was in the wrong location. The short course began on the other side of the hill. I told him I was indeed in the right place and smiled quietly as I passed him at the halfway mark. He never caught up. I did applaud him as he crossed the finish line, though the hot chocolate I was holding made it difficult.
Connection to the Classroom
I share Switzer's story with my students each year, as there are too many life lessons from it not to. I ask them to ponder the courage it took Switzer and other pioneers to challenge the status quo. I ask them to think about what might have happened if the photographer had not captured the interaction between Semper, Switzer, and her peers. I ask them if such photos were captured and published today, how the Web would likely affect policy change. I ask them if anyone has ever conveyed to them, directly or indirectly, that for some event or activity, they were better suited for the sidelines.
I wish I could be there to cross-check anything that attempts to hold my students back. But I know I can't. So instead I hope to help them discover how determination, hard work, and a good team of supporters can get them through just about anything in life. And I hope they come to know that no matter what "race" their passion drives them to, nobody can tell them that they don't belong. I want every one of my students to know that from now on I've got her back, and I'll be that little voice in her heart telling her to run like hell.
What life lessons do you try to teach your students? How are your recognizing women's history month? Share in the comments section below!
Reprinted with permission from the author. Originally posted on author Sarah Edson's blog, Learning off the Beaten Path.


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In 1990, Ted Turner created the world's first eco-hero and named him Captain Planet. Learn how the series came to be.
"Captain Planet" is an animated series created by Ted Turner in the 1990s. MNN.com is the primary source for "Captain Planet" episodes on the Web.
Captain Planet is a superhero whose powers are implemented by a team of five Planeteers (as well as himself), each of whom helps combat environmental catastrophes like pollution, animal poaching, water scarcity and more. Each episode of "Captain Planet" involves the captain and his planeteers tackling different dilemmas and nefarious eco-villains.
Numerous celebrities contributed voice work to the show, including Meg Ryan, Jeff Goldblum, Whoopi Goldberg and many others. You can watch all the Captain Planet episodes on MNN and you can learn more about the series by going behind the scenes with the creators and major players.


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femto-TECH, INC. takes pride in the role it has in the field of radiation detection. Starting in the government arena, then moving to the commercial
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text:
Thread: 3 stooges!
Results 1 to 4 of 4
#1 3 stooges!02-10-2009, 03:15 PM
:Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.
I wondered why the rock was getting larger. Then it hit me.
Obama's face fits Moe eerily well.Romans 6:18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Differences between Obama and God: God's plan to save us is actually written down for people to read. Rush Limbaugh.
My blog: How Things Look From Here Politics, religion, random stuff, now on Wednesdays!
02-10-2009, 07:01 PMThe 21st century. The age of Smart phones and Stupid people.
It is said that branches draw their life from the vine. Each is separate yet all are one as they share one life giving stem . The Bible tells us we are called to a similar union in life, our lives with the life of God. We are incorporated into him; made sharers in his life. Apart from this union we can do nothing.
|« Previous Thread | Next Thread »


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ACE Appraisals, Consultations and Estate Services
... committed to giving you the highest level of expertise for your personal property/business property appraisal or liquidation needs. Our staff is qualified in appraising your personal or business property for insurance, division of property, divorce, charitable donations, bankruptcy, or just the fact that you want to know the value.
If you are in need of an on-site or off-site estate/business liquidation, our staff is qualified to set-up, advertise, and conduct your sale in a professional and timely manner. This includes antiques, fine furnishings, art, silver, jewelry, collectibles, books and all other fine household accessories. ACE can also identify items of higher quality and, if needed, sell them in the appropriate venue such as high end auctions, individual collectors or high end dealers to get the best prices for you.
Call us for a free consultation, we will be glad to visit with you regarding your questions or concerns about appraisals or the task of liquidating your estate.
There are several occasions when you may need appraisal services:
Everyone needs some kind of household insurance for day-to-day protection and if you move you will need additional coverage while your property is in transit.
A homeowner's insurance policy provides for payment if you list items of personal property through fire or theft; however, there are category limits as to how much you will be paid unless you have your valuables specifically listed and their values confirmed by means of a bona fide appraisal prior to the loss.
In the event of a loss, proof of ownership as well as of claimed value must be provided by the owner. For antiques, collectibles and art this is most easily accomplished by means of a professional appraisal. Most insurance companies require that appraisals be updated every few years.
In an effort to insure an equitable handling of the economic factors surrounding a divorce, the courts can make a monetary award to the disadvantaged spouse based on the determined value of all marital property. Such an award is often based on the professional testimony of a qualified appraiser.
Additionally, in other instances when valuable property is to be divided, an objective appraiser's services are necessary in assigning values on which the division will be based.
Texas tax regulations require that upon death property in the estate be inventoried and appraised to establish a basis for determining estate taxes. This appraisal also becomes useful when the estate must be divided equally among heirs or when donations from the estate to charitable organizations are to be made.
Federal regulations require that, if a Federal estate tax return must be filed, appraisals meeting strict criteria be performed by a qualified appraiser. Appraisals for estate purposes are conducted in accordance with the Federal Estate Tax Code.
The Internal Revenue Service requires that a donor obtain a qualified outside appraisal for any donation worth more than $5000. IRS publication 561 describes the charitable donation process, including a lengthy explanation of 'Fair Market Value." Changing legislation and strict IRS procedures make it essential that donors seek the assistance of a knowledgeable and qualified appraiser for all Federal related appraisal purposes.
Other occasions when an appraisal report may be required include gift tax and estate planning, loan collateral, liquidation and resale. Many times a client just wants to know the value of an item they have inherited or have owned for many years.
Frequently a descendent inherits and/or is given the task of liquidating of an accumulation of household property collected over several generations. More often, it is necessary to equitably divide property among heirs or, in the case of divorce, between husband and wife. In haste, there is often insufficient attention placed on identifying items of worth or of historical or collectible significance. In such cases, the advice and assistance from a knowledgeable and objective third party can be invaluable.
I offer consultation and inspection service to locate and identify items of value. At the same time I can make recommendations on the most lucrative means of liquidation.
The decision to liquidate one's personal property or estate can be necessitated by several circumstances such as receiving an inheritance, retirement, relocation, divorce, or death. I offer counsel in making the difficult decisions relating to estate disposition, e.g. what to keep, what to throw away or donate, what to sell, what's valuable and what is not.
I will act as your agent to coordinate the "cleaning" of estates and liquidating property. This is a particularly helpful in the case of an estate where the heir or personal representative will not or is not capable of performing the liquidation. In this case, I do not buy. I will only act as agent to assist in the liquidation.
The liquidation of property can be accomplished in several ways. Most frequently employed are on-site estate sales. Other options include on-site or gallery auctions. In this case, choices must be made whether a local, regional, or international auction house would be the best and most lucrative option.
In some cases items having special collector appeal, which would not do as well at a regular local auction, can be sold through a specialty auction or brokered directly to specialized dealers and/or collectors across the country. If required, our liquidation services include the complete liquidation of estates including the removal of refuse.


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Brian Pumper Getting At Lethal Lipps For 9 Minutes! "You Sloppy B*tch. I Aint Never Did No Gay Sh*t" + Shows His Entire DVD Collection His Company Sold
B Pumper response
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Debt Solutions
Debt Solutions
Debt Solutions
There are many reasons why people get into debt such as credit card or store card debt or even debt after a death in the family. Getting into debt can be caused by an unforeseen event such as debt arising from disability, debt from ill health or injury or even debt from redundancy or loss of work. Some people have debt arising from divorce, separation or single parenthood.
The key to solving your debt problems is to get good advice and to take action quickly and as there are so many debt solutions these days, there really is no excuse for not taking action.
Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)
An IVA or Individual Voluntary Arrangement is a Government approved scheme that allows you to turn your loans, credit cards, store cards and other debts into one affordable, single monthly payment so that you can pay off your debts and get on with your life.
It is a formal agreement between you and your creditors whereby you repay what you can afford, usually over 60 months. After which, the outstanding debt is written off. By accepting the IVA, creditors agree to accept lower payments, not to pursue any legal action against you and to write off any outstanding debt at the end of the IVA. You agree to pay as much as you can afford for the time agreed.


text:
2014 Archives
March 11, 2014
DALLAS (SMU) - SMU today announced it highly-anticipated 2014 football schedule. The slate is highlighted by six games on the SMU campus, including Ford Stadium match-ups with Texas A&M and TCU. Other 2014 visitors to Ford Stadium will be American Athletic Conference foes Cincinnati, Memphis, USF and Houston.
SMU Football team opens the season on Sunday, Aug. 31, at Baylor, where the two squads will open BU's McLane Stadium. The following Saturday, SMU will play at UNT in the Mean Green's home opener on Sept. 6.
After an off week, SMU's home slate kicks off with back-to-back games against Texas A&M and TCU on Sept. 20 and 27, respectively. The Mustangs' first AAC road game of the year is up next, with an Oct. 4 trip to East Carolina.
After a second off week, SMU will again host back-to-back games with an Oct. 18 game against Cincinnati and an Oct. 25 game versus Memphis. After a third and final off week, SMU closes the regular season with five games, alternating away and home - Nov. 8 at Tulsa; Nov. 15 vs. USF at home; Nov. 22 at UCF; Friday, Nov. 28 vs. Houston at Ford Stadium; and Dec. 6 at UConn.
Kickoff times and TV information will be announced at a later date.
For Mustang ticket information, call the Athletics Department Ticket Office at (214) SMU-GAME (768-4263).


text: I've always had troubles running evil an evil party for more than one session. They generally turn into one or more member trying to screw over the other members and the game usually ends in chaos. They're fun of course, but just never had one last for long at all.


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To some people, a crystal skull is simply an object carved from quartz crystal in the shape of a human skull. They can be clear or colored crystal, and they range from crudely carved to incredibly detailed. Some crystal skulls are just a few inches in diameter, while others are life-size. Whether you find them beautiful or creepy, many crystal skulls are representations of amazing craftsmanship. That's part of why some of them have been (and still are) exhibited in the Smithsonian, the British Museum and the Musee de l'Homme in Paris.
But according to believers in the supernatural and the occult, crystal skulls are more than just interesting artifacts. They may represent doom and destruction, or hope and healing. Some people think that crystal skulls can be used like crystal balls to see visions of the past, present and future. They claim that the skulls emit psychic energy, auras or even sounds. Believers point to Mayan creation myths that reference crystal skulls and a story that 13 crystal skulls were scattered by the Mayans thousands of years ago to be discovered and reunited in modern times.
The meaning of crystal skulls isn't the only thing up for debate; there's also a lot of mystery surrounding their history. Some think that they're thousands of years old and could have been placed by aliens, or are relics of lost civilizations like Atlantis or Lemuria. Others call them "fakes," carved within the last few hundred years and sold with phony stories so they could bring better prices at auction. The controversy dates back to the mid-1930s and continues today, despite the assertions of both New Age believers and skeptics.
In this article, we'll take a look at the stories behind the most well known crystal skulls. We'll also learn what both devotees of the supernatural and scientists have to say about their origins. Let's start with the Mitchell-Hedges skull, possibly the most discussed crystal skull of the past 70 years.
The Mitchell-Hedges Skull
Of all of the crystal skulls, the Mitchell-Hedges skull is probably the most infamous. The skull was allegedly discovered in the mid-1920s by Anna Mitchell-Hedges, the adopted daughter of a British adventurer and traveler named F.A. Mitchell-Hedges. Anna claims that she found the skull beneath the altar of a Mayan temple in Lubaantun, a ruined city in Belize, on her 17th birthday.
According to Anna, the Mayans told her that the skull was used to "will death" [source: "Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World"]. When a priest became too old to continue with his duties, he and his replacement would lie in front of the altar with the skull. After a ceremony, all of the elderly priest's knowledge would be transferred into the younger man. Then the old priest would die.
The Mitchell-Hedges skull is about 8 inches long, 5 inches wide and 5 inches high and made out of transparent quartz. It weighs around 12 pounds and has many of the details of a human skull, with ridges, cheekbones, a nose socket, a detached jawbone and deep eye sockets.
In 1936, a description of the skull appeared in the British journal "Man" (in comparison with another crystal skull owned by the British Museum), but its ownership was attributed to an art dealer named Sydney Burney. Anna explained that her father had actually left the skull in the keeping of Burney, who put it up for auction as payment for a debt in 1943. Mitchell-Hedges ended up paying Burney at Sotheby's auction house to get the skull back.
However, there's evidence that disputes Anna's claims and shows that Mitchell-Hedges bought the skull outright from Burney at Sotheby's. In "Secrets of the Supernatural," author Joe Nickell quotes a letter written by Burney to the American Museum of Natural History and dated 1933, which states "the rock-crystal skull was for several years in the possession of the collector from whom I bought it and he in his turn had it from an Englishman in whose collection it had been also for several years, but beyond that I have not been able to go" [source: Nickell].
Anna and the Skull
Strangely, F.A. Mitchell-Hedges only documented the skull once, in "Danger, My Ally," a book that he wrote describing his adventures. Near the end of the book, Mitchell-Hedges states that the crystal skull is a "skull of doom" that dates "back at least 3,600 years, and taking about 150 years to rub down with sand from a block of pure rock crystal." He also goes on to say that "several people who have cynically laughed at it have died, others have been stricken and become seriously ill [...] How it came into my possession, I have reason for not revealing" [source: Mitchell-Hedges]. Mitchell-Hedges doesn't make any mention of his daughter's presence at Lubaantun in the book, nor does he give her credit as the finder of the skull.
Two friends of Mitchell-Hedges who came along on the excavation of Lubaantum, Lady Richmond Brown and Dr. Thomas Gann, never spoke or wrote of the skull. Anna isn't present in the many photographs of the dig at Lubaantun, either. Mitchell-Hedges died in 1959, and Anna has kept the skull ever since. She toured with the skull and gave many talks and interviews. In many accounts, she gave the date of discovery as 1924 and 1927. These dates don't match her father's account of his time in Lubaantun, which he states "ended late in 1926" [source: Mitchell-Hedges].
Next, we'll look at the history of some other crystal skulls.
Other Crystal Skulls
The Mitchell-Hedges skull is arguably the most famous crystal skull, but several others have been discovered (or publicized, depending on what you believe). Most of them do not have the same storied history as the Mitchell-Hedges skull, but each is still unique.
The British Museum crystal skull has been around at least as long as the Mitchell-Hedges skull. In 1936, G.M. Morant compared this crystal skull with the Mitchell-Hedges skull (then owned by Sydney Burney). It's also life-size, but the British Museum skull isn't as detailed. It has rounder eye sockets and its jaw doesn't detach. It's also made of cloudy quartz. Morant believed that the skulls weren't made independently of each other, but had no proof of this.
This skull was purchased by the British Museum from Tiffany & Co. in 1898. It supposedly came from Mexico and became the property of Eugène Boban, a French art dealer, before Tiffany's acquired it. In 1990, the museum displayed the skull in an exhibit called "Fake? The Art of Deception." Its label reads "possible of Aztec origin - the Colonial period at the earliest." The British Museum also has a smaller, cruder crystal skull called the Aztec skull.
The Paris skull is kept in the Musée de l'Homme in Paris. It's cruder than the British Museum skull and has a hole cut into the top, supposedly to hold a cross. The Paris crystal skull is half the size of the Mitchell-Hedges and British Museum skulls. It weighs about 6 pounds and is about 4.5 inches high and 6 inches long [source: Henderson]. This skull was thought to be Aztec. Alphonse Pinart purchased it from Eugène Boban in 1878 and donated it to the museum. The museum also owns a very small crystal skull that's about 1.5 inches long.
In 1992, the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution received a crystal skull in the mail. This skull is bigger than life-size, weighing a little over 30 pounds at 9 inches high and about 8 inches long [Source: Henderson]. The anonymous note accompanying the skull stated that it was an "Aztec crystal skull" and "purchased in Mexico City in 1960" [Source: Henderson]. It's made of milky white crystal and is crudely carved compared to some of the other skulls. It's also hollow.
In the next section, we'll examine the supernatural claims about crystal skulls, as well as what scientists and researchers have determined.
Crystal Skull Myth vs. Reality
Believers in the power of crystal skulls have made some fantastic claims about their abilities. Anna Mitchell-Hedges claims that her skull was used for healing but has never been specific. The owner of "ET" believes that it helped to heal her brain tumor. Many people who have encountered the more well known crystal skulls describe them as giving off strong "psychic energy."
Mitchell-Hedges has only allowed her skull out of her possession once, in 1970. Art restorer Frank Dorland studied the skull for six years. He claimed that he heard ringing bells and the sound of a choir singing. Dorland also said that he saw an aura around the skull and could see images when gazing into it.
Some crystal skull devotees point to the piezoelectric properties of quartz crystal as evidence of the skulls' power. They say that the skulls might function like large computer chips that have recorded the history of the Earth, or even messages from aliens or lost civilizations. We just have to discover the right way to "read" them.
Frank Dorland also made many other, less dubious, observations about the Mitchell-Hedges skull. He claimed that the skull showed signs of "mechanical grinding on the faces of the teeth" [source: Garvin]. Norman Hammond, a Mayan expert who examined the skull while appearing on a TV show with Anna Mitchell-Hedges, stated that it also had holes that were obviously drilled using a metal drill.
Dorland also claims to have taken the Mitchell-Hedges skull to Hewlett-Packard Laboratories to learn more about its composition. It was lowered into a vat of benzyl alcohol, where it became nearly invisible. This proved that the skull was actually quartz crystal (alcohol and quartz have the same diffraction coefficient, they both bend light waves at the same angle). Dorland states that the Hewlett-Packard researchers also determined that it was carved from a single piece of crystal and that it was carved without taking its axes into consideration. However, Hewlett-Packard has no record of these tests.
While appearing with her on Arthur C. Clarke's 1980 TV show "Mysterious World," gem expert Allan Jobbins told Anna Mitchell-Hedges that he thought the skull comprised crystal that originated in Brazil (not known to have been inhabited by Mayans) and was probably worked after 1700.
Making Crystal Skulls
The British Museum skull and the Paris skull were also likely carved from Brazilian crystal. Researchers at the British Museum also believe that most crystal skulls were carved in Germany, where large quantities of Brazilian crystal was imported and worked in the late 19th century. Because Eugène Boban is known to have been involved in the sale of both skulls as well as other pre-Columbian artifacts, he's likely the source of most of these crystal skulls. Whether he knew that they were fakes or not is a matter of debate [source: Henderson].
As for how the skulls were made, the Department of Scientific Research at the British Museum concluded that its skull:
In 2005, Jane Walsh, an anthropologist at the Smithsonian, took the Smithsonian's crystal skull to be tested at the British Museum with an electron-scanning microscope. Rather than showing the uneven scratches that one would expect from an object carved with pre-Columbian tools, all of the crystal skulls showed clean rows in arcs that would have been made by modern wheeled tools. Walsh states, "all of the crystal skulls had been carved with modern coated lapidary wheels using industrial diamonds and polished with modern machinery" [source: Inside Smithsonian Research].
Attempts to test the Mitchell-Hedges skull further have been refused. Some crystal skull believers say that more skulls, including "Max" and "Sha-na-ra" were part of the British Museum test. They state that the museum didn't release their findings on these skulls, however. Some even say that the museum denies testing them at all.
Why would someone "fake" crystal skulls? In the 19th century, the "age of the museum," these types of artifacts were in high demand and could bring a lot of money. Because the origins of each skull can't be perfectly established, some still prefer to believe that they are ancient. Skulls figure prominently in Mexican and Central American culture, so it's possible that some crystal skulls truly are ancient artifacts. But the most well-known, perfectly smooth and detailed skulls must have been carved using modern techniques. Regardless of their origins, these skulls remain fascinating, even beautiful, works of art.
For lots more information on crystal skulls and related topics, check out the links on the next page.
Related HowStuffWorks Articles
More Great Links
- Adler, Shawn. ""Indy's 'Crystal Skull': What's the Title Mean?" MTV, September 12, 2007. http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1569493/20070911/story.jhtml
- "Crystal Skulls, Central America and Southern Mexico." Top Ten Places of Mystery, The Travel Channel, November 22, 2006.
- Digby, Adrian. "Comments on the Morphological Comparison of Two Crystal Skulls." Man, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, July 1936.
- "The Crystal Skull." Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World, Yorkshire Television, Trident Television, Inc, 1980.
- Garvin, Richard. "The Crystal Skull." Doubleday, 1973.
- Henderson, Amy and Adrienne L. Kaeppler. "Exhibiting Dilemmas: Issues of Representation at the Smithsonian." Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997.
- Mitchell-Hedges, F.A. "Danger My Ally." Elek Books, 1954.
- Morant, G.M. "A Morphological Comparison of Two Crystal Skulls." Man, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, July 1936.
- Nickell, Joe. "Secrets of the Supernatural." Prometheus Books, 1988.
- Rock Crystal Skull: The British Museum. http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aoa/r/rock_crystal_skull.aspx
- Shapiro, Joseph. "The Crystal Skulls," 1996.
- Smith, Donald. "With a high-tech microscope, scientist exposes hoax of 'ancient' crystal skulls." Inside Smithsonian Research, Summer 2005. http://www.si.edu/opa/insideresearch/articles/V9_CrystalSkulls.html
- The Skeptic's Dictionary: Crystal Skull. http://skepdic.com/crystalskull.html
- Welfare, Simon and John Fairley. "Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World," A&W Publishers, 1980.


text:
Model #NSN-83-MP
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NPS Folding Cafeteria Table - MDF Core, ProtectEdge
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A ideia desse projeto ambicioso é dar-nos uma nova visão do que seria a próxima natureza em todos os seus âmbitos. Fala-nos do fato de como modificamos a nós mesmos e nossa meio ambiente para um próximo passo da manipulação humana.
This project is about Nature's brand image. One might surmise that "Nature," being 100 percent all-natural, can't have any brand image. The facts suggest otherwise. Try it for yourself: tell a friend that something seemingly 100 percent natural is actually "96 percent natural." Not a great difference, apparently, yet a profound unease arises. That unease is the subject of the many provocative essays and remarkable graphics on NextNature.net
by BRUCE STERLING
The project is a study in why we feel uneasiness when the Nature brand is violated. It's also about the exciting new-and-improved varieties of unnatural unease that have come to exist quite recently. It explains why this sensibility is spreading, and what that implies for who we are, and how we live with Nature.
Now, when Nature is slightly artificialized — say, by installing a park bench under a tree — we rarely get any dark suspicious frisson about that. The uncanny can only strike us when our ideological constructs about Nature are dented. We're especially guarded about our most pious, sentimentalized notions of Nature. Nature as a nurturing entity that is harmonious, calm, peaceful, inherently rightful and all-around "good-for-you."
This vaguely politicized attitude about Nature never came from Nature. It was culturally generated. Nature didn't get her all-natural identity-branding until the Industrial Revolution broke out. Then poets and philosophers were allowed to live in dense, well-supplied cities, where they could recast Nature from some intellectual distance. Before that huge effusion of organized artifice, people lived much closer to the soil.
These farmers rarely spoke of "Nature" in the abstract. They were too deeply involved in a lifelong subsistence struggle with natural events, such as inclement weather, bad harvests, weeds, pests, and blights. They certainly never mistook their existing state of affairs for the Biblical Eden: their theological utopia in which Nature was always harmonious, calm, peaceful and good-for-you.
However, that was back then, and this is now. Under the emergent regime of Next Nature, the potential for Nature to behave in a sweet-tempered Mother Nature-ly fashion has been stripped away. The Dame is running an ever-mounting fever from climate change, and there are no humanly untouched landscapes anywhere on the surface of the planet. We've entered the Anthropocene Epoch, in which humanity and its instrumentalities are the most potent and influential geological force. Most available sunlight and soil goes for crops. The ever-increasing tonnage of human flesh outweighs all other wild mammals. Nature becomes a subset of culture, rather than vice versa.
We also have an exciting suite of new technical interventions – biochemical, genetic, roboticized, nanotechnological – which are poorly understood. They can all interfere radically in what we construe as the "natural order." They change Nature faster than our ideas about Nature can change. The result is Tofflerian Future Shock with a leafy green tinge.
It's unclear whether there is any tenable way, or even any further need, to separate "Nature" from "Culture" — on the surface of this planet, anyway. That commingled, hybridized, chimeric future is already here, and awaiting distribution — with operators standing by.
Next Nature is an investigative enterprise by a set of mostly Dutch researchers. Next Nature is haunted by Previous Nature, or rather, by the ghostly Gothic absences of a vanished Natural world. Next Nature also bears many premonitions about the seething, favela-like, feverish state of our planet tomorrow. Next Nature offers us few reassurances. It refuses to view Nature as a given, solid, static entity to be discovered, dissected and destroyed by human agency. Instead, Next Nature is a dynamic entity that is fated to change right along with us.
There is an ontological crisis involved in our ignorance of what the Earth was like before we humans altered it. It's hard for us to establish a comfortable sense of our place in the world when the world itself is so outworn and bedraggled by so many previous human efforts. It's degrading to work creatively on hand-me-downs: the writer whose page is a scraped-down palimpsest, the artist whose canvas is torn and worn, the architect engaged in endless renovations, the actress in thrift-shop clothes. That's what it's like for a civilization existing in a natural milieu that has been irretrievably damaged. And yes, that is our future.
Worse yet is to gaze with a fatuous satisfaction on a seemingly untouched sylvan scene, without realizing that the whole thing is a put-up job.
At its best, it can be a superb put-up job, such as Holland: a nation of artifice that still clings to a pretty myth of tulips, clogs and contented cows while, in some anxious corner of the Dutch psyche, the dykes leak endlessly and the laboring windmills creak in a fitful breeze. Next Nature is about the planet becoming Dutch: Nature made the world, but mankind made Holland.
At its worst, though, our ignorance of the human effect on Nature has Lovecraftian aspects. We become our own unnatural monsters, an eerie half-glimpsed force of archaic destruction. How many of the "primeval jungles" of Central and South America were cultivated places, once? How many alien species have been shipped around the planet by humanity, disrupting ecologies in ways we fail to see and don't suspect? How many seemingly pristine landscapes have been transformed by fire and overgrazing? What have antibiotics done to the unseen bacterial world, and dissolved plastics done to the seas?
Could it be true that our scattered ancestors, equipped with nothing more than fire and pointed sticks, briskly wiped out all the Pleistocene megafauna? Did we cause an abject collapse of the natural order before we were even literate?
We are clearly culpable in the massive wave of extinction today — but could it be that human beings actually evolved in a mass extinction? Has that been our role in the planet since our species took shape?
Our tainted atmosphere proves that we'll never see a pristine world again, but, in the meantime, we will also have to come to terms with the ever-lengthening human legacy. Our previous attitudes are no longer tenable; they are actively harmful to us and to Nature. We no longer have any way to leave a "Natural Reserve" alone, to be "reserved" and stay "Natural." These relict biomes have been chopped up into unsustainable island fragments, and are severely stressed by rising temperatures, water shortages, invasive weeds and admiring tourists.
Abandoned areas of the planet can no longer "revert to Nature" as they once supposedly did. Instead, they must revert to Next Nature, becoming weird "involuntary parks" such as the Cypriot Green Line, a long, human-free strip of flammable weeds and weed-trees, junkyards and landmines.
Nor can we trust our means of technical control – our systematic, bureaucratic, commercial and analytical artifices. These artificial systems are not natural. Yet they can all manifest organic forms of behavior within a technological matrix. Our technology commonly manifests feral, eruptive, untamable qualities.
In what sense is an abject surrender to mysterious "market forces" any different than an abject surrender to the Mayan rain gods? The market is often seen and described as stormy, witchy, inaccessible, overwhelming in power — in short, as primal, wild and fearsome, a force of Nature. Not because markets necessarily must have those natural attributes, but because we've trained ourselves to propitiate a feral market after freeing it from government control. It's common for Greens to boast that "Nature bats last,"and she does — but Technology bats as well.
When society is disrupted by a Chernobyl-scale event (leading to the world's largest involuntary park), we have the moral luxury of searching for a human scapegoat — in engineering, in design, in a political system, or in "human error." But technology is not merely about us: it's also about laws of Nature. Entropy requires no maintenance. All technological systems must age and decay. Extreme "black swan" events cannot possibly be outguessed even in principle. Some level of "normal failure" in technological systems is as "natural" as the sun rising.
"Next Nature" cannot be fathomed without a similar study of Next Artifice, which this website carries out. We blind ourselves to the nature of technology by segregating certain classes of systemic behavior as "natural." We also stigmatize technology by denying its "natural" aspects: its mortality, fragility, complex interactivity, and its utter dependence on sometimes fitful flows of energy and material sustenance. We rarely allow ourselves any tender, reverential, nurturing attitude toward technology. The mass extinctions of entire classes of objects and services go almost unnoticed. We can surely do better than that.
In conclusion, we may ask ourselves: in a world of Next Nature, what has become of "real" Nature? Where is the objective reality behind this clever study of natural imagery and social attitudes toward nature? Next Nature maven Koert van Mensvoort likes to quote Heraclitus — "Nature loves to hide." How hidden is Nature? Is it possible that we have never seen Nature, but only our notions of Nature?
Here, I think, we can take some cold comfort in lifting our gaze to the stars. Despite what we've done to the surface of this planet, we're still a speck on a rock. The planet has been repeatedly wrecked by asteroids — sudden mass extinctions that dwarf anything humanity has yet triggered. We have most of the lesser beings in our biosphere at our mercy (to the point where we know them better as corporate logos than as living entities), but we don't run Nature or even as yet grasp its, well, real nature.
Modern astrophysics suggests — more than "suggests," it asserts, with much painstaking accumulated evidence — that the Cosmos is mostly "dark energy" and "dark matter." These two rather ineffable substances are, presumably, the realest things in the universe. We human cannot manipulate, control, pollute or industrialize "dark energy" or "dark matter." They are Natural, and yet it seems that they will remain forever closed to any form of human intervention.
We can more or less get to terms with the edgy sensibility of "Next Nature." It's not beyond mankind to conceptualize ideas like the ones in this website, and even, eventually, domesticate them and even find them charming. Many of the ideas and images in NEXT NATURE are experimental probes, which may seem far-out right now, but which may some day seem as endearingly corny as the Sputnik.
However, Nature has never existed for our convenience. Our society is mentally light-years away from metabolizing the bizarre assertions of Dark Matter theory. A universe in which Nature is mostly Darkness is a Copernican-scale de-throning of everything we once thought was Natural. And that may be the objective truth. If so, then our notion of "Natural" is a foamlike four percent of a severely alien universe. In other words, Real True Cosmic Objective Nature is 96 percent Otherness, while we are, and always have been, the four percent adulterated whatever.
Quite an odd sensation, thinking that. We seem to lack an unease than can get any more profound.
So Nature clearly has her surprises in store. We have artificialized most everything we can grip, but there are still innumerable worlds well beyond our opposable thumbs. We can view some worlds other than the Earth, and we can measure them. Obedient to the Laws of Nature, they still remain serenely detached from us.
What we know of those worlds, we know by severely unnatural means. And only by unnatural means. There never was, and never could be, any entirely "natural" way to understand all of "real" Nature. There is no direct, intuitive, unmediated, "real and genuine" experience of the actually existing universe. As evolved beings produced by a biosphere, we're not capable of perceiving reality unassisted. There can only be our technical instrumentalities. Our weak, decaying, flawed, falsifiable, even pitiable instrumentalities. But that's how we learn what's natural and real — through the unnatural.
There is a mental world in which these seeming oxymorons make good sound brisk common sense. Adjusting to demonstrable reality, no matter how mind-stretching, is generally a praiseworthy effort. It would mean a lot of change in our ideas of the Natural. It would mean a more fully-humane mental world which was less notional, less delusional, less self-indulgent, and more attentive to the genuine otherness of Nature. We're not there – we may never get there, for we may lack the time, and the will. But we ought to go there, to the extent that we can.
This project will help.


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|Allows choice of brokerage services
|Allows brokers to offer rebates to consumers
The Department of Justice is committed to preserving competition in the real estate industry through its competition advocacy efforts. Given that California allows real estate brokers to provide rebates to consumers and to customize their real estate service offerings to meet their customers' needs, the Department of Justice has not advocated that California change any of its real estate laws or regulations.
If you have any concerns with the competitive landscape of the real estate industry in California or any other state, please contact the Department of Justice at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Learn more about:
Brokerage services: Discount Brokers Can Make Selling a Home Less Costly


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Retired Air Force Col. Kim Wintner has been named to head a tri-county committee that works to protect the military and the defense industry in Northwest Florida.
Retired Air Force Col. Kim Wintner has been named to head a tri-county committee that works to protect the military and the defense industry in Northwest Florida.
Wintner, who lives in Destin, has served on the Defense Support Initiative committee for about 10 years. The organization is spearheaded by Okaloosa County�s Economic Development Council.
The committee works to protect local military bases and their economic contributions to Okaloosa, Walton and Santa Rosa counties, and to maintain the relationship between the military and civilian communities.
Just before Wintner retired from the Air Force 13 years ago, he served first as a commander at Hurlburt Field and then immediately following as a vice commander at Eglin Air Force Base.
�That helped me get a viewpoint of the missions of both our major installations in our area,� Wintner said Tuesday. �Since I retired I�ve stayed close to the Air Force in many ways, working with committees and the commanders trying to keep my knowledge high on what their problems are.�
The Defense Support Initiative tries to make sure the bases� missions have all they need to try to protect them from relocation or closure, which would have a devastating impact on the local economy. Sixty-five percent of Okaloosa�s economy is defense-related, said EDC Chairman Jim Heald.
As director, one of Wintner�s priorities will be to help resolve any airspace issues between military and civilian or commercial aircraft.
Since the Air Force�s 33rd Fighter Wing started training F-35 pilots and the Army 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) arrived, airspace needs at Eglin have increased, he said.
Wintner owns Alliance Association Management Co., a real estate management business in Destin.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Lauren Sage Reinlie at 850-315-4443 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenRnwfdn.


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Pass this on to the eligible ones.Just saw this article in financial express.Last date is today.
,Do you dream about working with Google? Internet giant invites applications – from deadline to other details, check everything here
Google has invited applications from candidates. The US-based search engine giant has invited application form eligible candidates for Software Engineering Internship 2018 programme.
By:*FE Online*December 25, 2017* 10:48 PM
Google invites application for internship. (Reuters)
Google*has invited applications from candidates. The US-based search engine giant has invited application form eligible candidates for Software Engineering Internship 2018 programme. The internship is for all those candidates who are currently a B.Tech or M.Tech student in computer science or a related technical field. The candidates must be in their last year of study and will graduate in 2019. Students who are selected for the internship will be provided with a stipend by the company. The duration of the internship will be of eight to 12 weeks. The internship duration will be from April to July 2018. The deadline to apply for the internship is December 26, 2017. Students who will be selected by Google for the internship will be assigned specific responsibilities which would vary by project area.
Apart from the educational qualification, candidates need to be qualified in these areas as well:
The candidate must be currently enrolled in a full-time degree program and returning to the program after the completion of the internship
Experience in systems software or algorithms
Excellent implementation skills (C++, Java, Python)
Knowledge of Unix/Linux or Windows environments and APIs
Familiarity with TCP/IP and network programming
Candidates can fill the form by visiting Internshala. This past year AICTE and APSSDC have signed MoU with Internshala with an aim to provide internships to and training to college students.