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Celebrating Diwali
The girls in Nursery C were very fortunate this week as Aria's mother paid them a visit to tell them all about Diwali. The girls listened attentively as she told the story of Rama and Sita and showed everyone a lovely diva lamp. The girls were fascinated!
Aria came to Nursery wearing a beautiful Indian dress and she also brought in some special biscuits for snack time which she and her mother had baked especially for Diwali.
To complete the celebrations, the girls in Nursery made their own clay divas which they decorated and then lit.
Categorised in: School News


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Another new adjuster hired recently by Claims Associates is Joe Jares. Joe looks forward to working with clients, and we wanted to take this opportunity for you to get to know Joe a bit.
Joe is a South Dakota native, having graduated from Washington High School in Sioux Falls, and then graduating from University of SD with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance.
While in college, Joe interned as a Risk Specialist for the City of Sioux Falls. This provided an opportunity for him to begin to see the risk side of commercial insurance.
After graduating from USD, Joe became a Financial Services Professional with New York Life for approximately 5 years, earning his license in Life & Health Insurance, as well as Securities.
Due in part to his interest for a wider range of challenges, as well as having practically grown up in the adjusting business, Joe has now joined Claims Associates as a multi-line adjuster, and has already obtained his license in Minnesota and Wyoming (South Dakota does not issue adjusting licenses). Joe has also attended a 3 week Vale Training Solutions course in Property Adjusting, which covered:
- Property Insurance coverage
- Property Claims Adjusting
- Scoping and estimating residential dwelling damage
- Understand and apply policy language
- Investigating Claims
- Electronic estimating systems
He also has attended a Rainbow Restoration Seminar, the South Dakota Claims Association Annual Conference, Fischer Rounds Annual Appreciation Days, and a Paul Davis seminar to earn his IICRC Water Damage Restoration Certification.
Joe just recently was married, congratulations Joe and Amber! They have a home in Sioux Falls. He and Amber are members of Ransom Church in Sioux Falls.
Joe likes to hunt, fish, golf, hike and spend time with family and friends.

subset: commoncrawl


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Ramblings, Reflections and Ruminations — November New Moon
By Daniel Giamario
Every year has two eclipse seasons, about six months apart. The second season of 2021 has a partial lunar eclipse and a total solar eclipse. I have always been fascinated by eclipses, even, at times, referring to myself as an "eclipse junkie." I have been fortunate to see two total solar eclipses, four annular solar eclipses, and have lost count of how many total lunar eclipses. I have always been fascinated by the ancient Sumerian view that your "age" was based on how many eclipse seasons you have experienced rather than solar years (therefore twice the number of solar years). Let's examine this eclipse season from November 19th through December 4th and the two eclipses.
Friday, November 19th at 12:57AM PST at 27Taurus14: Partial Lunar Eclipse. Although technically a partial, actually it's really close to a total, it's 97.4% total! It will be visible over North America and most of the Pacific Ocean regions. The whole show takes nearly six hours! This is a North Node eclipse and presages the, soon to be, entrance of the transiting North Node into Taurus on January 18, 2022. Although all eclipses counsel to always be aware of the "shadow," personally and collectively, North Node eclipses contain more of a sense of looking ahead and moving forward. And, lunar eclipses are "Super Full Moons" as our school uses the term. This eclipse also features Mars and Mercury in Scorpio together with the Sun, and will also presage the rise of Mars in Scorpio from out of the Underworld on November 22nd at the 15Scorpio, the cross-quarter degree.
Saturday, December 3rd at 11:43PM PST at 12Sagittarius22: Total Solar Eclipse. This eclipse occurs far South mainly over Antarctica and is a shorter one; one minute and 55 seconds of totality. This eclipse is with the South Node, placing a greater emphasis on the personal and collective past of global humanity. In the paradigm of the school this is a "Super New Moon" and a time for planting seeds of intention for at least the next six months. However, I think that this eclipse is presaging something far more important. During 2021 I have spent a lot of time researching the United States chart in light of the "Fourth Turning." I have also detailed the four eclipse paths that crisscross the US from 2012-2024. See my previous articles on this HERE. The New Moon/Eclipse degree is 12Sagittarius 22, almost exactly the degree of the US Ascendant of 13Sagittarius10, as rectified by Dane Rudhyar. I really get the sense that this South Node Super New Moon Solar Eclipse is putting a really bright cosmic spotlight on the Pluto return, the Chiron return, and the Neptune opposition to Neptune on the United States Chart. This will totally involve the upcoming eclipses over the US in 2023 and 2024, which also directly connect to the US chart. I think that this solar eclipse places lots of emphasis on the shadow and light of the Sagittarius Mystery School, certainly for the United States, but also for the entire world. The light of Sagittarius is the quest for meaning and purpose, a love of truth, and well-founded optimism for the future. The shadow is various forms of fundamentalism and the desire to impose a "belief" in a truth on everyone else. The deeper essence of Sagittarius, in my view, is the courage to not be attached to "a truth," as it's actually a moving target. I am reminded of a favorite William Blake poem.
"He who binds to himself a joy, does the winged Life destroy;
He who kisses the joy as it flies, lives in Eternity's sunrise."
I greatly appreciate the Sabian symbols of my first astrological mentor, Dane Rudhyar. What he writes about 13degrees of Sagittarius is quite amazing in light of what I have written here. Here it is:
KEYNOTE: The karma of past actions as it affects opportunities presented by a new cycle.
What the "widow's past" is remains obscure but the point is that even as a past cycle is closed — a phase of married life ends — the karma of whatever deeds or misdeeds this cycle witnessed will almost inevitably intrude into the new life period. Also, once a cycle of activity is concluded, much that was unclear or unconsciously motivated in the events it witnessed can now more easily come to the clear consciousness of the mind. It is possible to joyously herald the dawn from high above the actual stresses of existence (the preceding symbol), but the new day may be found loaded and darkened by the unfinished business of many a yesterday.
This is the third stage of the fifty-first five-fold sequence. Mankind is "the widow," because our soon-to-be-concluded Piscean Age has buried most of the ideals it once revered and proclaimed. Yet the New Age will have to deal with many oppressive ghosts. This is a symbol of RETRIBUTION
The Saturn/Uranus Waning Square Accelerates.
There is so much to unpack during this lunation. The most important global aspect of 2021 is the triple (waning) square of Saturn to Uranus. So far there have been two exact squares: February 17th at 7Aquarius13/7Taurus13, and June 14th at 13Aquarius07/13Taurus07. The third one happens December 24th at 11Aquarius05/11Taurus05. There is very nearly an exact fourth square in September-October of 2022! This is a truly significant transit. It is a process that began with the Saturn/Uranus conjunction of February 1988. The previous conjunction was in 1942.
I perceive these days surrounding, and following, the Scorpio New Moon, to be a pivotal turning point in the universal intent of this global planetary process. Here is why:
This past Saturday, October 30th, the Sun squared Saturn at 2:53AM PDT at 7Scorpio12/7Aquarius12. Notice how close these degrees are to the February square (almost exact!). Also on Saturday, October 30th, Mars, while still in the Underworld, entered into Scorpio.
The Scorpio New Moon happens at 2:15PM Wednesday November 4th, at 12Scorpio40. Certainly this New Moon signifies a turning point. (We will have additional posts about this New Moon). Amazingly, a few hours later, the Sun reaches its yearly opposition with Uranus at 4:58PM PDT at 12Scorpio48/12Taurus48. Again, notice the degrees, and especially if you have anything important on your natal chart near these degrees in the signs of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio or Aquarius.
Almost as footnotes, we can also add to the great cosmic drama of the clash of planets the following: Mercury enters Scorpio on Friday, November 5th. And, then on November 10th Mercury and Mars are conjunct, whilst Mars still in the Underworld at 7Scorpio22. In addition the exact Samhain cross quarter is on November 6th (15 Scorpio), the degree that Mars rises from the Underworld on November 22nd. Mars, now so very much a part of the Saturn square Uranus situation, will square Saturn on November 10th at about 7Scorpio40, and then will be in opposition to Uranus on November 17th at 12Scorpio15. Think of it as a long-lasting T-Square with Mars activating the already dynamic Saturn square to Uranus.
I see this as a full speed ahead to the intended result of the Saturn-Uranus triple square, just after the December Solstice. Every time that there is the Aries synodic overtone of Mars, he will rise from the Underworld in Scorpio (most recently 1910, 1942, 1989 and now). This happens November 22nd at the cross-quarter degree of 15Scorpio. A really great pressure has been building up and will certainly continue. Maybe you can see, why I do, that this is a great turning point.
My speculation involves the fate and/or destiny of the United States, and indeed, all of global humanity. So much of what is happening is not as it seems in the mainstream. I will not pretend to know what "Great Mystery" or Gaia, herself, has in mind at this time. Much depends on the Aries god, for both Men and Women. Will there be the capacity to surrender, change the game of 12,800 years, and to actually grieve, and see a new and different way forward? With so much emphasis growing from the Scorpio Mystery School now, much also depends on the willingness to own and then integrate the shadow and the "mistakes" of global humanity's recent history. I can also see this as a decision, on a personal and collective level, to either choose to fulfill human 1.0, that represents our water based organic destiny, or to align with human 2.0, an artificial intelligence, silicon based, hunger for an unearned immortality. I know well where I stand on this, but also totally advocate that every individual can have the freedom to choose their own course and to not impose their views on others. We stand always for personal sovereignty and honoring all places on the wheel. And always, to surrender to what Great Mystery is orchestrating. We can only play our part, as best we can. We must be awake, and remember what is at stake. Hopefully, this is helpful, to be aware of the cosmic players that are instructing us.


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The Repeat Time-on-The-Market Index
47 Pages Posted: 26 Mar 2015 Last revised: 17 Apr 2019
Date Written: February 2019
We propose two new indices that measure the evolution of housing market liquidity. The key features of both indices are a) their ability to control for unobserved heterogeneity exploiting repeat listings, b) their use of censored durations (listings that are expired and/or withdrawn from the market), and c) their computational simplicity. The first index computes proportional displacements in the home sale baseline hazard rate. The second estimates the relative change in median marketing time. The indices are computed using about 1.8 million listings in 15 US urban areas. Results suggest that both accounting for censoring and controlling for unobserved heterogeneity are key to measure housing market liquidity.
Keywords: Housing liquidity, non-parametric models, proportional hazard, repeat-sales
JEL Classification: C41, R31
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation


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Digest Max: HERBAL BITTERS FOR HEALTHY DIGESTION
Digestive bitters stimulate your bitter taste buds, signaling the initiation of different activities in the digestive system e.g., to make more saliva. This jumpstarts digestion and gives the gastrointestinal (GI) tract the boost it needs for optimum functioning – ultimately supporting overall wellness. The herbs that make up digestive bitters also aid in stimulating secretion of gastric juices, hormones, and enzymes like cholecystokinin (CCK), ghrelin, and motilin, which enhance efficient breakdown of food.


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Previously Published Book
Science Fiction
Jemma didn't know that her grandfather was the Supreme Ruler of the planet Anders Major, or that she is now his heir, until she encounters Frederick Pritchard in the rainforest, a place where she has always felt safe. As she unravels the truth that Pritchard murdered her grandfather, and then her parents, she realises, to her horror, that Pritchard, and his rebel organisation, will do anything to prevent her from claiming her heritage. With the help of military man, Sean Bellamy, she discovers a plot that runs not just to the highest levels of government on Earth, but beyond, to the Inter-Planetary League (IPL), a group of aliens who have worked with Earth's military for centuries but, while the IPL does all they can to help her, they have their own agenda. As Jemma is drawn in, she discovers that her future - and the future of the human race on Earth - still hangs in the balance.


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Hepta Tokenomics
All transactions to be made in HEPTAGON will be stored on the Blockchain, integrated with the BSC network. A total of 360,000,000 units of HEPTA TOKEN have been produced in the BSC network in BEP20 format and are in fixed supply. HEPTAs held as reserves will be burned and withdrawn from the market in the process. Thus, HEPTA TOKEN is not with an increasing supply in the market, but HEPTA TOKEN with a reduced supply and ultimately a constant supply was created. If Softcap is not available, the HEPTAGON team will cover HEPTAGON developments from its own budget. 40% of Softcap's budget will be dedicated to HEPTAGON developments and 60% to Marketing. SOFTCAP: 2M Hepta HARDCAP:5M Hepta
Last updated


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ODR is a game changer and Portable is a leader in developing tools for online dispute resolution that are user friendly and respond to a specific user problem. The cost of legal services is a barrier to many users, but ODR keeps costs to a minimum and has the potential to dramatically reduce the period required for conventional dispute resolution. It also reduces the burden on the legal system and improves efficiency.
Our online dispute resolution services
Portable's highly experienced design team, specialising in legal innovation, empathises with users to understand them and the problems they face. With real users and stakeholders we generate ideas to solve the problem, prototype solutions to test, and then learn and iterate. Our process includes a range of tools including user interviews, co-design workshops and user testing. We create user personas, map the experience of users and challenge established thinking. The quality of our research is enhanced by our extensive experience in interviewing people in hardship and dealing with stressful situations. We also work directly with legal professionals to understand the material and translate it into plain English.
Artificial intelligence
Portable is building an AI model for the next generation of online dispute resolution tools. It allows us to indicate the likely response of a judge or mediator based on published public case data. We augment this data with key principles from lawyers, registrars and decision-makers involved in the process. This intervention is a significant step towards reducing legal costs and the burden on the justice system.
We've developed an ODR tool called Settle that can be easily adapted to different contexts and disputes, including workplaces, tenancy and property. It can also serve as a case management platform for court and tribunal staff. Cases can be filtered based on priority or which staff members are involved.


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Displaying items by tag: Ndola Lime Company
Ndola Lime forced to suspend production
22 June 2011Zambia: The Zambian Environment Management Agency (ZEMA) has ordered Ndola Lime Company to shut down its plant, which has caused public outcry by releasing dust emissions higher than the lawful allowable limits. ZEMA's northern region manager Patson Zulu said that ZEMA had revoked the plant's license for its rotary kiln.
"The complaints from some Ndola residents about excessive dust emissions are justified." said Zulu. "At ZEMA, we have no option than to act accordingly. The onus is now on Ndola Lime to see to it that measures are put in place to comply with the country's environmental laws." Zulu warned other companies breaching the regulations, which are believed to include Lafarge operations, that they also risked being shut down. "People should be allowed to enjoy a good quality of life by having air which is not polluted. We shall no longer tolerate environmental mischief," he said.
Ndola Lime's acting general manager Abraham Witika confirmed that his company was failing to meet the lawful allowable dust emission standards because its kiln's dust abetment unit had developed a fault." Ndola Lime Company has already done an assessment on the damaged abatement unit that is responsible for regulating the levels of dust emission and the process to order the replacement has started," he said, adding that it was unfortunate that the plant had developed a fault despite having only having had the dust abetment unit replaced (at a cost of USD 3.5m) in August 2010.


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The Logan County Health Department confirmed another death associated with COVID-19 Thursday.
Health Department Director Steve Browning said a 79-year-old female has succumbed to the virus. The death is the thirteenth death in the county since the onset of the outbreak.
As of 2 o'clock Thursday afternoon, 13 new cases of the virus have been confirmed through laboratory testing.
Logan County has 214 active cases of the virus, 221 recoveries, and 13 fatalities for a cumulative total of 448 cases of coronavirus.
Thirty people are hospitalized.


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A staple of American-Chinese restaurants, spring rolls are a Chinese appetizer consisting of a thin dough filled with a vegetables and deep fried. Knowing nutrition information of a spring roll can help you adjust your diet to balance your intake. Here's a basic breakdown:
- Calories: 80 to 153
- Fat: 3.5 to 4 grams
- Carbohydrates: 8.5 to 13 grams
- Protein: 2 grams
- Sodium: 135 to 290 milligrams
Video of the Day
Video of the Day
Calories in spring rolls can vary, depending on the size and ingredients, but generally range from 80 to 110 calories. By comparison, one vegetable-filled egg roll contains about 153 calories.
Most vegetable spring rolls contain 3.5 to 4 grams of total fat and 0.5 to 1.0 grams of saturated fat. High intakes of fat and saturated fat can increase your risk of high cholesterol and heart disease.
The American Heart Association recommends you limit your daily fat intake to 25 to 35 percent of calories, and saturated fat to less than 7 percent of calories.
The amount of carbohydrates in one vegetable spring roll can range from 8.5 to 13 grams. Carbohydrates in food are your body's primary and preferred source of energy.
A balanced diet should contain 45 to 65 percent of its calories from carbohydrates. On a 2,000-calorie diet, your daily carbohydrate intake should range from 225 to 325 grams per day.
Vegetable spring rolls contain some fiber, approximately 1 to 3 grams per serving. Healthy people need 21 to 38 grams of fiber a day.
Vegetable spring rolls are not a significant source of protein. One spring roll contains 2 grams of protein. If you eat a balanced diet, you should be able to adequately meet your daily protein needs.
Most Americans get more than enough protein in their diets, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A balanced diet should contain 10 to 35 percent of its calories from protein.
The sodium content of one vegetable spring roll can range from 135 to 290 mg. High intakes of sodium increases your risk of high blood pressure.
The American Heart Association recommends you limit your daily sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams a day (ideally below 1,500 milligrams) to reduce your risk of heart disease and improve your heart health.
- P.F. Chang's: "Nutrition Information"
- Pei Wei: "Nutrition Information"
- Panda Express: "Nutrition Information"
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Nutrient Database: "Egg Rolls"
- American Heart Association: "Sodium"
- MayoClinic.com: "Dietary Fiber: Essential for a Healthy Diet"
- American Heart Association: "The Skinny on Fats"
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "FastFacts: Diet/Nutrition"


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In late March, Congress passed the CARES Act, opening up FSA, HRA and HSA accounts to allow over-the-counter drugs and medications as eligible expenses without a prescription for the first time since 2011. (Read more about the CARES Act here.) This means you have even more flexibility with how you can spend your pre-tax dollars!
This is wonderful news for plan participants, but many people are still unaware of the types of items that are now eligible. Here is a list of common OTC drugs and medications that you can now purchase with the swipe of your benefits card - without the hassle of getting a prescription first!
Pain and Fever Relievers (including creams and pads): Items such as Tylenol, Aspirin, baby and children's aspirin, and topical analgesics such as Aspercreme and Biofreeze.
Cold and Flu Remedies and Medications: Medications such as Theraflu, Robitussin, and Sudafed can be purchased for the treatment of cold or flu ailments
Allergy and Sinus Medications: Allegra, Claritin, and Flonase, Benadryl, Zyrtec are examples of common allergy relievers that are now eligible without a prescription.
Heartburn, Stomach and Digestive Aids: Including Zantac, Tums, and laxatives and other digestive aids
Menstrual Care Products: Including tampons, pads, and sponges
In addition to the items listed, thousands of items are now reimbursable without prescriptions. The passage of the CARES Act allows these items to be eligible, retroactively back to January 1, 2020. If you have your receipts from any OTC purchases made from January 1st and onward, you can submit these for reimbursement. Otherwise, you can simply swipe your NCA Benefits Card at your pharmacy to pay for these items.
There is no expiration date listed on this legislation. Keep in mind that you can use your pre-tax account funds for any OTC drugs or medications you might need when you are planning your annual election amount for 2021.


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The seventh partner meeting of the "Mosquito Control in Cross-border Area – MOS-Cross" project
The seventh project team meeting of the "Mosquito Control in Cross-border Area (MOS-Cross)" project was held on 17th June 2019.
The partners discussed the activities implemented until June. The partners also visited elementary schools in Osijek and Sombor, as well as health-care institutions for the elderly. On that occasion, info-workshops on the protection against mosquitoes were held and the educational promotional video about mosquitoes was promoted.
Moreover, the development of the database, which will be on the project website so that citizens could see when there is more or less need to protect themselves from mosquitoes, is about to be completed.
During the meeting, a general agreement on the date of the project closing conference was made, which was to be held at the end of September / beginning of October 2019.
The partners also discussed the continuation of the "Mosquito Control in Cross-border Area 2 (MOS-Cross 2)" project that should be signed and start being implementing during the summer.


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5 Bible Memory Verses for Kids About Love
When adults ask children, "What is love?" the answers are often comical, sometimes sweet, and occasionally leave the grownups pondering how a child can have such a deep and thoughtful understanding of this abstract idea.
As with all parenting topics, parents and caregivers can either teach our children what the Bible says is true, or we can allow the world to explain it. Scripture gives believers a clear understanding of love and how we are to demonstrate it to God and others.
Here are five verses to help your children understand God's love for us and how we can, in turn, love others.
5 Bible Memory Verses for Kids About Love
John 3:16 (NIV)
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
One of God's attributes is love. He is love. And to demonstrate that love to us, He gave His one and only Son to die on the cross for us, to take our place and allow for the forgiveness of our sin. To make this more personal for a child, read John 3:16 but insert your child's name in place of "the world." It might read, "For God so loved Sarah that…" How precious it is for all believers to hear that the God of the universe loves us!
1 John 4:19 (NIV)
We love because he first loved us.
When we understand God's love for us, we can understand how we can love those people who can be harder to love. No matter what, we are all sinners and God loves each of us. When we realize this, we can love people God has placed in our classroom, neighborhood, and family.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
To spell it out so there is no confusion, the author of 1 Corinthians, Paul, wanted us to understand what love is and what it isn't. On a large piece of paper, make two columns. Label the first "Love is…" and the second "Love is not…." For a family devotional, read these verses and fill in the chart. This chart could also be used in times of correction to help children understand their actions according to the definition of love.
1 John 4:7 (NIV)
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Sometimes it can be a struggle to love those who have different personalities than ourselves. This verse reminds us that we don't have to manufacture love for other people. "Love comes from God." And we show that we know God when we love others.
Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV)
Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
There have been multiple times when my children have expressed frustration because they didn't know what to do in a situation. I love how Jesus sums up His commandments with these two verses: Love God, Love others. Every decision we face can be sifted through these three verses.
To help your children learn these five verses on love, write each on a paper heart and hide the hearts around your home. Have fun playing hide-and-seek looking for the truths. Discuss each verse when found and pray that God will lay a solid foundation in your children's heart of what true love is.
Download a printable of these 5 Bible Memory Verses About Love
Want to keep digging into what God's Word says about LOVE with your kids?


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| Fun with coil projects! remember - you have three dimensions to design in - overall form (3-d shape) surface pattern & design - this includes negative space, size of coils and if they go in or out. and edge - how the projects ends. Breaking the plane always helps make the project more interesting. Advanced students you should be finishing your tall project this week - check out the video. remember - - start with a narrow base - pull up in phases - top, middle and base so you don't make the top heavy and cause the project to go off center. - choke each time after you pull up, this will keep it from getting wide. see the video below |
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Ms. HeidemanMaster of Fine Arts Archives
January 2018
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Is Providence Canyon anything but a good example of bad behavior?
Published 8:48 am Wednesday, November 18, 2020
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
Part 2: It is what it is, but how did it get that way?
By: Burt Carter
Long enough ago that the statute of limitations protects us from prosecution (remember to stay away from the canyon walls) I was taken to Providence Canyon by another geologist and led to a particular layer. We sampled the rock and split it along the contacts that separated the thin beds of sediment as they accumulated. Within the rock, completely enclosed by it, were fragmentary fossils of leaves. The volatile components of the living leaf (carbon dioxide and water mostly) were long rotted and gone and all that was left were black carbon films of the original leaves. The structure has been so well preserved that the veins within the leaves were still obvious.
The fossils were not worth collecting. They were only fragments, unidentifiable beyond "flowering plants". Furthermore, the rock crumbles as it dries without stabilization procedures that I do not know how to perform. Plant fossils from rocks of the same age in other places have been collected by people who knew how to do it, and we will come back to those later in this series of articles. For now though, the fact that there are fossils embedded within the rocks at Providence Canyon is important to note. So too is the fact that they look so much like plant leaves that I immediately recognized them as such. There are no other fossiliferous horizons in any of the rocks in Providence Canyon.
- Steno and the Sea Monster
In July of 1666, a little over 300 years before my only paleontological experience in Providence Canyon, a young Dane named Niels Steensen (aka Nicolai Stenonis in Latin, or Nicholas Steno in English) found his way into Florence, Italy to start a new job. He was widely known in Europe for his writings on human anatomy. Indeed, it was his expertise in anatomy that had gotten him a job at a new institution in Florence dedicated to scientific experimentation. The Accademia del Cimento was founded in 1657 by several of Galileo's colleagues and students in his memory and funded by Ferdinando II de' Medici and his brother Leopoldo.
In his travels and prior residences in Europe Steno had many opportunities to visit and study the "cabinets of curiosity" (small private museums) of wealthy people, and something he would certainly have seen in them would have been glossopetrae – "tonguestones". The name most likely comes from the overall shape – generally flattened, with one broad, knobby, rough-textured end, tapering to a smoother pointed opposite end – like a tongue dissected or butchered out of an animal's mouth. These were very common in rocks all over the continent, but the best examples are very large and come from Malta. Some people supposed them to be odd meteorites that fell out of an eclipsing Moon. Others proposed that they were petrified snakes' tongues (which they do not resemble at all, probably telling us a lot about how "theories" were formulated at the time). But like most objects in the cabinets they were most generally thought to be just pretty crystals. After all, real crystals are symmetrically shaped, so these things might have been crystals too. Steno proved that nicely shaped crystals cannot form within solid rocks, but in his younger days everyone thought they could, and many assumed that tonguestones grew within rocks and had to be dug out to be admired. The word "fossil" is from a Latin word that means "to dig up", and every such object was called a fossil then.
Steno had also seen places in the Alps and the Apennines in Italy where what appeared to be seashells were weathering out of the rocks. This was a source of great wonder to people of the day, but almost nobody thought enough about it to suggest that maybe they were, as a matter of fact, seashells. (Except Leonardo da Vinci, of course, but he never published anything about anything).
- It Is What It Is
One day Duke Fernandino heard of a great sea monster (a great white shark) that had been caught in the Adriatic and hauled ashore near Venice. He sent word that it should be sent to Florence for his anatomist to examine. The reply was that he should look again at the original communication, paying particular attention to the word "monster", and that, in addition to being too big for any of the local wagons to carry, it was beginning to stink.
There are different versions of what happened next. In one version he asked that the head be removed and sent, and in the other he sent Steno to Venice to see the shark for himself. The second version plays better with my intentions, so we will use that, recognizing that it might not be factually correct.
When Steno arrived in Venice he saw at first glance that the teeth, now beginning to fall loose from the rotting gums, looked exactly like glossopetrae. This was not some superficial similarity in shape, and Steno wrote extensively in his book about the details of the similarity. Today you or I would look at a tonguestone and see it immediately as a shark tooth; Steno felt he had to build an elaborate, convincing case. This led to one of the two basic geologic principles that Steno first applied and wrote extensively about: the principle of uniformitarianism. If it looks like a shark tooth embedded in a rock in Malta, then it is a shark tooth. If it looks like a seashell in the side of a mountain, it is one. If it looks like a plant leaf embedded in a rock in Providence Canyon, then it is a leaf. Modern people make the leap without thinking, but Steno had to think and to convince.
- But How Did It Get That Way?
Steno recognized an enigma: how did teeth get inside of rocks? I've included a picture of a spider embeded in a plastic block as another example of the problem. You probably know how it got there. Two liquid epoxy-like resins were mixed and poured over it, hardening around it. The spider was solid first, the plastic became solid later. Steno's principle, the principle of inclusions, says that if one solid object completely encloses another, the outer one must have solidified around the included one, and is therefore the younger of the two. A tooth, shell, or leaf was solid first, then covered by loose sediment that solidified around it later. The second picture is a tonguestone from Morocco, mostly excavated from the enclosing rock to make it visible.
The principle of uniformitarianism is a basic assumption of geology, and while Steno did not create it, he was among the first to apply it and to explain his reasoning rigorously. Steno did first lay out the logic of the principle of inclusions. It is the most fundamental of the "ordering principles" of geology, telling us which of two things happened earlier and which happened later.
In the next essay I will explain Steno's other ordering principles, all reasoned out as he considered the logical implications of a tooth within a rock. Most of them can be illustrated in Providence Canyon. There is another ordering principle that Steno did not establish. It post-dates him by more than a century, but he did speculate about it.
- Why do I have to take this class? I'm never going to use it.
I can't end this essay without drawing a moral from it. Steno was brilliant, but coming from a well-to-do family he never considered the workings of a farm, a workshop, or a fishery. He had his class; laborors and artisans had theirs. He studied Latin, geometry, chemistry, anatomy, and the like in universities. Artisans and laborers studied fishing, planting, pottery, and the like in the school of hard knocks. The two worlds never met.
So when Steno walked onto the beach where the "sea monster" lay, he knew what a tonguestone was, but he had no idea what a shark tooth looked like. The people around him were probably all too familiar with shark teeth, but they had no idea there were any such things as glossopetrae.
This story, or some modern version of it, would never happen in a liberal democracy like we have in this country and in Europe. Our educational systems teach a broad range of ideas to a wide and representative cross section of our citizenry. We have more familiarity, and broader familiarity, with both the natural and the social worlds than most of even the most brilliant thinkers of the Rennaisance. (Leonardo excepted, of course). We should make sure that we preserve both the depth and the breadth of what people learn within that system.


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If it's your child coming home late from school, your significant other, a new driver in the family, or a company asset, this GPS tracker gives you updates of location in real-time. The car/bike tracker can provide you with real-time updates every 5 seconds so you can see people or cars on the move! At a fraction of the price of an apple tag, with a better user experience!
The tracker has a strong magnetic hold that you can place on a car, pets collar, vehicle, valuable possessions, or even people! Giving you updates and putting your mind at ease.
Unlike an apple air tag, our GPS tracker is magnetic and equipped with a microphone that records high-quality audio. You just insert a SIM card into the tracker and record, even gets clear audio if you placed it on a motorcycle. Get updates through the app or SMS!
It is tiny, and only measures about 3.5cm so it won't get in the way of anything. This means it can be stored without being unthreaded when placed on a car, bike, or even people.
Accurate & Cost Effiencet - The tracker doesn't require a platform fee. This means free tracking all year round and even offers alarms, address information, and SMS updates!
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1. All you need is a working SIM card to insert into the device, then you can track and map (with Google Maps) in real-time with an internet connection over Wi-Fi/Mobile Data.
2. You'll need a memory card, the memory card will store audio recordings and is used in combination with the GPS tracking device.
3. Send an SMS message to the trailer tracker's SIM card number (details in the user manual), then you can receive the exact location and hear sound from the small tracking device, as silent as a ghost you can monitor & spy on what's going on, tracking silently & secretly through sound & location.
- Send 555 to start recording
- Send 666 to stop recording
- Send 777 to receive the location via a link to Google Map
- Send 445 to delete the recording
- Send 444 to reset phone number
Note: This product must have 2G network areas to use.
Input: AC 110 to 220V, 50/60HZ
Output: DC 5V, 300 to 500mA
Battery: 3.7V 400mAh Li-ion battery
Standby time: 12 days
Working days: 4 to 6 days
Continuing talking: 150 to 180 minutes
Storage temperature: -40 to 85
Working voltage: 3.4 to 4.2V


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Every so often, a book becomes a cultural phenomenon. "Sybil" was one such book. It was published in 1973, billed as the true story of a woman who suffered from multiple personality disorder. It was a huge bestseller and became a popular TV movie. Now a new book, called "Sybil Exposed," reveals an even stranger story of the real Sybil. NPR's Lynn Neary reports.
LYNN NEARY, BYLINE: When "Sybil" first came out, it not only shot to the top of the bestseller lists, it also spawned a psychiatric phenomenon. With a few years of its publication, reported cases of multiple personality disorder leapt from less than 100 to thousands. But, says writer Debbie Nathan, most of the story is based on a lie.
DEBBIE NATHAN: Shirley started acting like she had a lot of people inside her.
NEARY: Shirley is Shirley Mason, the real Sybil. She grew up in the Midwest in a strict Seventh Day Adventist family. An emotionally needy young woman, she decided to seek psychiatric help. Shirley became unusually attached to her psychiatrist, Dr. Connie Wilbur, and she knew that Dr. Wilbur had a special interest in multiple personality disorder.
NATHAN: And Shirley feels after a short time that she's not really getting the attention she needs from Dr. Wilbur. One day she walks into Dr. Wilbur's office and she says, I'm not Shirley, I'm Peggy - and she says this in a childish voice.
NEARY: Dr. Wilbur believed she had stumbled on a remarkable case. She began seeing Shirley frequently and eventually teamed up with the writer Flora Schreiber to work on a book about her patient. The two women taped a series of interviews. In this excerpt, Dr. Wilbur describes the moment that Peggy first appeared. She uses the pseudonym Sylvia to protect Shirley's identity.
NEARY: Shirley became increasingly dependent on Dr. Wilbur for emotional and even financial support. She was eager to give her psychiatrist what she wanted.
NATHAN: Once she got this diagnosis she started generating more and more personalities. She had babies, she had little boys, she had teenage girls. She wasn't faking. I think a better way to talk about what Shirley was doing was that she was acceding to a demand that she have this problem.
NEARY: Dr. Wilbur began injecting Shirley regularly with sodium pentothal, which was then being used to help people remember traumatic events that they had repressed. Under the influence of drugs and hypnosis, the very suggestible Shirley uncovered her many personalities. In this excerpt from a recording of one session, Dr. Wilbur talks to Shirley about a new personality who has surfaced.
NEARY: Reading through Flora Schreiber's papers, Nathan says, it becomes obvious that the writer knew that Shirley's story was not entirely true. Memories of a traumatic tonsillectomy, for instance, morphed into a lurid story of abuse. And Schreiber seemed eager to pump up or even create drama where none existed. If Schreiber had doubts, she suppressed them.
NATHAN: She already had a contract and she already had a deadline. She was in the middle of writing the book. So she had sort of the dilemma that, you know, all journalists have nightmares about - what if my thesis turns out to be wrong as I do my research but it's too late?
NEARY: At one point, Shirley tried to set things straight. She wrote a letter to Dr. Wilbur admitting that she had been lying. I do not really have multiple personalities, she wrote. I do not even have a double. I am all of them. Dr. Wilbur dismissed the letter as Shirley's attempt to avoid going deeper in her therapy. By now, says Nathan, Dr. Wilbur was too heavily invested in her patient to let her go.
NATHAN: She had already started giving presentations about this case. She was planning a book. She was very, very attached to the case emotionally and professionally and I don't think she could give it up.
NEARY: And what about Shirley?
NATHAN: She got the very, very strong impression when she went in and brought this letter of recantation to Dr. Wilbur that if she didn't go with the program, she was not going to have Dr. Wilbur anymore. And Dr. Wilbur was giving her 14, 18 hours of therapy a week. So how could you give up Dr. Wilbur?
NEARY: The book succeeded beyond anyone's expectations, selling some six million copies around the world, and was made into a TV movie starring Sally Field. As that movie draws to a close, Joanne Woodward as Dr. Wilbur describes a happy ending for Sybil.
NEARY: Shirley Mason almost had that life. But when "Sybil" came out and people began to suspect it was her, she fled, moving to a home near Dr. Wilbur, living in her shadow and dependent on her psychiatrist until the end of her life. Lynn Neary, NPR News, Washington.
Copyright © 2011 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio record.


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Bottled water dispensers are available on the market in two basic models, freestanding dispersers and the counter top dispensers. These bottled water dispensers are large and easy to use. They have push button faucets and removable drip trays for easy cleaning. Most of these dispensers have child resistant hot water faucet and come with a limited warranty.Freestanding bottle water dispensers are available in three varieties. The dispensers can be cold units, which can dispense only cold water; hot and cold units that can dispense both hot and cold water; and the latest variety of units that can dispense, hot water, cold water, water at room temperature.
They have separate faucets for each of these operations.Bottled water dispensers are an excellent choice for homeowners, who prefer to own and not rent a water dispenser. Currently available are also the terra cotta models, stone ware and mini coolers with hot and cold faucets. All the customer needs is to buy 5 gallon bottles or fill them up at home if a purifier is available. These dispensers are also available in the portable or counter top models.One major disadvantage with the bottled water dispenser is the maintenance.
In the event the water cooler is not in regular use, or during summer months when the temperatures are higher, the clear fresh taste of bottled water might be difficult to achieve. Proper care of the bottled water and of the dispensers has to be a priority.It is advised to store the full bottles at a constant temperature and, if possible, in a cool area.
This discourages the expansion and contraction of the bottles that can draw microscopic material into the bottles. This also helps in preventing the growth of algae. The person changing the bottle must wash the hands and wipe the top and neck of the new bottle with a clean sterile cloth.Bottled water dispensers must be cleaned at least once a month by removing the empty water bottle and adding 1 tablespoon of bleach to the water reservoir.
Add sufficient cold water from the tap to let the bleach fill the tubing between the reservoir and tap and let the bleach solution stand for 5-10 minutes. A small brush cloth or sponge can be used to clean the reservoir. Add several cups of fresh bottled water to flush out the bleach completely.
By: Elizabeth Morgan
Copyright 2024 Newtonthai.com All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication in part or whole strictly prohibited by international copyright law.


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Kvod V'Nuchim Honoring the End-of-Life: A Jewish Guide to Planning Ahead
Guided by Jewish values, we will explore
having important conversations with
loved ones, creating plans for end of life,
and learning about and writing our own
ethical wills. Join us for one or all three!
Part 1: The Conversation
Wednesday, 2/23
Part 2: The Plan
Wednesday, 3/9
Part 3: An Action
Jewish Ethical Wills
Wednesday, 3/23
Workshops on Zoom, offered
twice each day from 1-2p EST and
7:30-8:30p EST


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You have to look up to spot it, but while ambling along Fulton Street a sliver of a vintage sign can be glimpsed peeking out from amidst the surrounding storefronts.
Made visible by the removal of an awning, the bit of signage includes a "W" inside an apple and enough text to make it clear that a cafeteria once occupied the storefront at 447 Fulton St. The two-story commercial building at the corner of Jay Street dates to 1930 and the certificate of occupancy shows that one of the original first floor tenants was Waldorf System Inc. The circa 1940 tax photo provides a better view of the intact facade of the cafeteria, with entrances on Jay and Fulton streets each adorned with the company's apple logo.
The first Waldorf restaurant opened circa 1904 in Massachusetts and the company incorporated around 1919, spreading a chain of luncheonettes throughout the east coast. "Cleanliness and service" were the company watchwords, according to a 1920 "Financial World" profile of the company, with food displayed under glass and employees in "spick and span attire."
Photos in the collection of the Center for Brooklyn History show the Waldorf sign visible until at least 1960, but the 1980s tax photo shows a variety of new businesses in the commercial building and new signs blanketing the first floor.
Today the first floor of the building is occupied by an Ann Taylor Factory Store while the upper floor is vacant after the departure of a dental practice. In addition to the removal of the awning at street level, the large signs on the upper story were also removed, revealing a bit more of the streamlined Deco detailing at the top of the building. Architects John Bray and J. P. Heffernan are credited with the design on the 1930 certificate of occupancy.
This story first appeared on Brownstoner.com.


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out in the garden
It's never too late to start! I retired to homestead on the slopes of Mauna Loa, an active volcano. I relate snippets of my endeavor on my blog : www.kaufarmer.blogspot.com
C. West wrote:I was wondering if anyone is running some normal appliances on nothing but solar. By normal I mean fridge, freezer, dishwasher, computer. Is it even possible with current solar and battery tech to run a "normal" house?
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
Iterations are fine, we don't have to be perfect
My 2nd Location:Florida HardinessZone:10 AHS:10 GDD:8500 Rainfall:2in/mth winter, 8in/mth summer, Soil:Sand pH8 Flat
Living a life that requires no vacation.
For all your Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
You are welcome to check out my blog at http://www.theartisthomestead.com or my artwork at http://www.davidhuang.org
An important distinction: Permaculture is not the same kind of gardening as organic gardening.
Mediterranean climate hugel trenches, fabuluous clay soil high in nutrients, self-watering containers with hugel layers, keyhole composting with low hugel raised beds, thick Back to Eden Wood chips mulch (distinguished from Bark chips), using as many native plants as possible....all drought tolerant.
Cristo Balete wrote:C. West, "normal" depends on where you are. Solar is about location, location, location. There are a lot of threads here to look at, we've discussed this a lot. If you mean completely off grid, there's a lot to know beyond whether it's sunny or not.
Solar equipment is expensive, and it needs to be maintained. Deep cycle batteries are very expensive, and if you know what you are doing you might....might make the best ones, the most expensive ones last 8-10 years, then they have to be bought again, all at once, because one battery that isn't new will drag the others down to its level, that's a tragic waste of money. 10 years ago we spent $2500 on 8 batteries for a small system. We just replaced the same batteries for $3500. So that's $1,000 more than we paid the first time. It's an expense that won't be the same, and it's quite high for a repetitive household expense.
At some point everyone using battery power, including electric vehicles, will find out that nobody actually recycles batteries. Batteries have a few of the internal parts that can be recycled, but there are only a few places that do that, and it takes freight to get them there, which is expensive. The last time I looked there was only one company in Germany that dealt with the other, more toxic components of a dead battery, and shipping it there by dirty, diesel-spewing fuel doesn't seem very green, and I don't think other countries do that. Maybe this will change when the world has a lot more batteries to recycle, but as of now, when we hand off 8, 10, 12 old batteries, or large electric vehicle batteries for recycling, odds are the worst parts of them are just dumped somewhere very unfortunate.
It's very important to understand DC and AC electricity, the difference, and what to do when things go wrong. Birds cling to wires with their feet and damage the wire coating, or rodents eat wires coming from the panels if the wires aren't in something protective. If the panels are on your roof, you have to go up there and clean them, wash off pollen, leaves, pine needles, tip them at different seasonal times into the sun as it lowers and raises off the horizon. I prefer to have them on the ground, but they have to be in the sun for a minimum of 6-8 hours a day, no trees, no building shade during those hours at any time of year.
Knowing the difference between a 12 volt, 24 volt, 48 volt system is important. If it's just installed and they walk away, you will need to know how many circuits you have, how many appliances can be on at one time, and what to do if the alarm goes off on the inverter. We have yet to find an electric company that wants to work on a solar system that has a problem. We just had a really good inverter break down, and there's no one to fix it. I really, really don't want it to go into a landfill somewhere, so I'll probably end up shipping it, expensively, somewhere, if I can find a place.
It's very important to know the wattages of all appliances and how much they will use on a daily basis, including all of the high-wattage appliances like a vacuum, coffeemaker, dishwashers use heaters to dry, printers running for any length of time, hot water pots. An electrical hot water heater did not work for us in our situation, it just took the batteries down too much when it had been overcast. We had to have a backup system for hot water, and what's the point of two hot water systems? An electric dryer runs on 220 volts, instead of the regular 125 volts, and that's huge for a solar system with a special 220V circuit. I wouldn't even attempt it.
Most appliances these days look like they are off, or turn themselves off, but there is something called phantom power, they are taking trickles out of the system to be up and running sooner when you push a button. This is not good for a solar setup. Trickling power out of batteries when there's been overcast is just using up very expensive batteries. All of our appliances are on power strips and everything is off overnight, except the refrigerator. They also act as breakers and protection.
Companies that sell the panels want to tell you about your yearly solar number of hours, and that that somehow fits on a chart for what works. We live day by day in the real world. In the winter there are fewer hours that can have sun on panels, yet it's the time of year when we need more power, lights are on sooner, we cook more inside and for holidays. So the kinds of solar totals they try to sell you on may be questionable, unless you live in San Diego where it rains something like 3 days a year and is sunny the rest.
Two shed expenses... there has to be a shed for the batteries separate from a shed that has the controlling equipment in it because the batteries off-gas hydrogen and sulfur dioxide, which can eat the wires inside very expensive electrical components. The batteries need distilled water once every 1 month to 6 weeks, and should be added in a dry location, not with rain blowing into them, or snow or dust, blowing sand....a real shed you can stand up in to work on them, and several gallons of distilled water on hand. You'll need of storage space for corrosion spray, broom, paint brush for dusting them off, a funnel for the water, paper/pen to keep track on, manuals, tooth brush to clean off corrosion....
out in the garden
An important distinction: Permaculture is not the same kind of gardening as organic gardening.
Mediterranean climate hugel trenches, fabuluous clay soil high in nutrients, self-watering containers with hugel layers, keyhole composting with low hugel raised beds, thick Back to Eden Wood chips mulch (distinguished from Bark chips), using as many native plants as possible....all drought tolerant.
out in the garden
An important distinction: Permaculture is not the same kind of gardening as organic gardening.
Mediterranean climate hugel trenches, fabuluous clay soil high in nutrients, self-watering containers with hugel layers, keyhole composting with low hugel raised beds, thick Back to Eden Wood chips mulch (distinguished from Bark chips), using as many native plants as possible....all drought tolerant.
Cristo Balete wrote:The saltwater batteries are pretty new, and apparently the company is going bankrupt. From their website....
"Thanks for reaching out to Aquion Energy. As a former customer of the company we are sure that you read in the press release dated July 21, 2017 that Aquion has "emerged" from Chapter 11 restructuring and bankruptcy. We have prepared this short FAQ in hopes of providing a clearer picture to our former customers.
"When can I buy Aquion batteries again?
"Rebuilding after a chapter 11 filing can be difficult and time consuming. There will be a period of time needed in order to regroup, rehire, and requalify the manufacturing process, supply chain, and sales pipeline. There are also improvements to chemistry and form factor of the battery which will take time and effort. All of these efforts will result in a better product for a future market."
out in the garden
Cristo, if you stick to the name brand manufacturers of equipment there should be no compatibility problems with nicad or NiFe batteries or lithium for that matter. The problem comes when the cheaper equipment is used without the programmable set points for absorb, float and low voltage disconnect...Cristo Balete wrote:Sue, thanks for the info on the Nickel-Iron batteries.
The saltwater batteries, I'm glad they are working for you.
The only thing about storing batteries in a garage is if they are near a sparking type of device, like a gas heater with electronic ignition. the hydrogen gas (from lead-acid and Nickel-Iron batteries) is dangerous. It can cause an explosion. I can't imagine hydrogen gas does much good to a car paintjob.
Apparently there's some issue with compatibility with home solar equipment and nickel-iron batteries, as mentioned below.
Solar News
Disadvantages of Nickel Iron Batteries
22 November 2017
By Mario Santini
Nickel-Iron (Ni-Fe) batteries, also known as Nickel-Alkaline or Edison batteries are rechargeable batteries with a long life expectancy, high Depth of Discharge (DoD) and a reputation for durability. The battery can withstand overcharge, overdischarge and short-circuiting and yet last 20 years or more.
The disadvantages however outweigh the advantages.
The initial cost is at least 30% over a high-end Lead Acid battery of comparable size (considering usable energy) and also still a lot dearer than Lithium-ion batteries.
Nickel-Iron batteries have lower energy density and lower specific power compared to lead-acid batteries (or in layman's terms are less efficient). The cells take a charge slowly, and give it up slowly (cannot supply sudden large power spikes). This means one would need more batteries and more solar panels to achieve the output of a 'standard' lead-acid based power system. In addition, Ni-Fe batteries have a significant self-discharge rate of 1% per day.
They produce a lot of hydrogen, daily gassing is required to get the expected performance. Hydrogen gas is explosive, therefore good ventilation is imperative.
The characteristics of Ni-Fe batteries are not supported by most solar equipment. The voltage window is so wide that standard inverters are likely to shut themselves down well before the battery is fully discharged. Hence claims like "100% usable capacity" are exaggerated which will further add to cost, size and maintenance.
While not as bad as Ni-Cd batteries, RPC strongly advises against Nickel Iron batteries for home solar systems. The initial cost is unlikely to pay off unless maintenance is conducted meticulously - for decades. If you need high quality deep cycle batteries, take a look at these Lead Acid or Lithium-ion batteries.
An important distinction: Permaculture is not the same kind of gardening as organic gardening.
Mediterranean climate hugel trenches, fabuluous clay soil high in nutrients, self-watering containers with hugel layers, keyhole composting with low hugel raised beds, thick Back to Eden Wood chips mulch (distinguished from Bark chips), using as many native plants as possible....all drought tolerant.
Living a life that requires no vacation.
Stacy, what kind of ags system are you using? I.e. what triggers the generators? There is a lot of tricks that can be used to lower genny time. The Aquions have unconventional set points and the standard ags settings would not cut it you would have to tweak them a bit...Stacy Witscher wrote:I also have aquion batteries, and have a stack of replacement batteries as well. My main issue right now is finding someone able to help me with the battery systems should a need arise. The solar people that I had come inspect the system and walk me through some things have no experience with these batteries. My bigger issue is the backup generators, how to keep the main one from coming on so often. I don't like the amount of diesel that we use on that generator or the amount of propane that we use on the property in general, but given how difficult things have been lately, I don't want to harp on people's habits. It's been a painful, difficult thing, I don't want to make things worse.
out in the garden
Living a life that requires no vacation.
Sorry to hear about your loss... First off usually if its a xantrex inverter the AGS controls work through that. What model? green and white rectangle? the older SW? I know one of the problems we face in the solar industry is its growth rate. As it grows so fast the real "money" is in install. Tweaking and upgrading is finicky and time consuming. Then if you" fix" something on an older system and an equally old component fails you all of a sudden "own" the problem. It is so common the former company I consulted for stopped doing upgrades and concentrates only on full systems now. I like to tinker so its a good niche for me. If I were you I would carefully read over your Aquions manual especially about the absorb time required. Usually absorb time on the xantrex AGS has a default amount of hours that is set up for Lead acid. Lead acid requires several hours of absorb to get from say 75 percent to 90 percent"full" The Aquions do not. So right there a good solar company wanting you to get max life out of their gear sets up the generator to give maximum life to the batteries and damn the fuel usage... for lead acid, Aquions are new, not lots of experience out there so it would be easy to miss. Lots of savings there. Next comes the trigger points for the AGS. Dive in and see at what voltage it is set to turn on the generator and how long it waits to see if that voltage holds or bounces back. Aquions can take 80 percent discharge according to their literature with no problem but their max amperage draw is fairly low so something big comes on, the voltage drops fast, the Older Xantrex AGS triggers too soon and you have a wasted generator cycle. Once an AGS is triggered it runs through a full cycle it does not care if it triggered 2 minutes before the sun came out. Outback controllers are invisible to xantrex inverters and vice versa so a generator turning on 2 minutes before the solar array powers up is common since the AGS and the charge controller do not talk. The trick there is to program in a "quiet time" window in the AGS that matches the sunny parts of the day... AGS' are dumb and are a last resort failsafe that cannot match the smart human in the loop...Stacy Witscher wrote:The off-grid solar people that I have talked to just don't have any interest in dealing with my battery system, I'm not sure that I could convince them otherwise. And they are considered by many as the best off-grid solar people in southern Oregon. I need some time to gain enough knowledge to deal with things myself.
I was looking into what was triggering the generator, but then my grandbaby died, and life has been in standstill since. Some think it is a problem between the outback charge controllers and the xantrex inverters, but I don't know.
Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently patient fool!
I hate people who use big words just to make themselves look perspicacious.
snakes are really good at eating slugs. And you wouldn't think it, but so are tiny ads:
FREE Perma Veggies Book! - Learn how to grow the most delicious and nutritious food with the least amount of work.


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You know those customized Vans and Nike sneakers with Louis Vuitton Toile Monogram-accented bodies that have saturated online marketplaces, such as Etsy, and that periodically serve as the subject of articles on highly-trafficked streetwear sites? How about the baseball caps with a Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami logo-covered brim? Louis Vuitton is not a fan. And in a recent case, the notoriously protective brand successfully made its argument against the legality of these "custom" products.
On the heels of Louis Vuitton's May 2017 cruise collection show, which took place against the dramatic and densely-vegetated background of the Miho Museum just outside of Kyoto, and in light of the brand's strategic focus on Japan due to its status as an attractive shopping alternative to Hong Kong, the Paris-based brand has turned its attention to unauthorized uses of its uber-valuable trademarks in the region.
One common form of unauthorized use: customized products that incorporate its trademark-covered textiles.
In a recently-decided case, Louis Vuitton called these wares little more than glaring examples of unfair competition. And the court – the Japan Intellectual Property High Court – agreed. The win comes after Louis Vuitton filed suit against Junkmania, a popular Japan-based online seller of customized footwear and accessories, alleging that it was running afoul of the Japan Unfair Prevention Act, which outlaws the use of "another's famous indication of goods or business … for a purpose of acquiring an illicit gain."
By selling the Louis Vuitton monogram-adorned wares without its authorization, Louis Vuitton argued that Junkmania was engaging in unfair competition.
In its defense, Junkmania's counsel argued that the brand's significant following of Japanese consumers are well-acquainted with its brand and customized products, and that it is obvious to them that its products are not associated with Louis Vuitton even if they do make use of authentic Louis Vuitton materials derived from second-hand goods.
Some of the defendant's customized Louis Vuitton goods
Moreover, Junkmania claimed that Louis Vuitton's lawsuit should be tossed out because it was not using the Louis Vuitton monogram to identify Louis Vuitton as the maker of the customized products (i.e., not using the monogram as a trademark). Instead, it was merely using Louis Vuitton's trademark-protected print as a design – or decorative – element.
As a result, it told the court that the Unfair Competition Prevention Act should not apply.
The court was not persuaded by Junkmania's arguments, holding late last month that even if it was not intentionally using the Louis Vuitton print as an indicator of source (aka … as a trademark), the world-famous Louis Vuitton monogram still serves as a identifier of the Louis Vuitton brand. The court held, as noted by Tokyo-based Marks IP firm, "Even if the items are sold as custom-made remakes or with a description [about the nature of the products and their lack of association with the Louis Vuitton brand], such facts would not affect the [court's] decision."
Still yet, the court held that regardless of Junkmania's intent, "it can be easily presumed that average consumer [seeing] the items [will immediately think of] the Louis Vuitton brand." As a result, the court ordered that the seller immediately and permanently cease all sales of customized products bearing Louis Vuitton's trademarks and ordered it to pay nearly $15,000 to Louis Vuitton.
So, would Louis Vuitton be handed a similar ruling under U.S. law? The legally minded might point to the First Sale Doctrine and suggest that the design house lacks the ability to stop purchasers of authentic Louis Vuitton-branded goods from cutting them up and reselling them as accents on sneakers.
For the uninitiated, the First Sale Doctrine (in a trademark context) states that once a trademark holder, such as Louis Vuitton, releases its goods into the market, it cannot prevent the subsequent re-sale of those goods by their purchasers.
With the First Sale Doctrine in mind, a purchaser of an authentic Louis Vuitton Neverfull bag, for instance, can cut up that bag, take the Louis Vuitton logo-covered canvas, sew it onto sneakers, and sell them, right? Wrong.
Courts have added that even with the protections afforded to purchasers by the First Sale Doctrine, a subsequent sale is unlawful if "material differences" exist between the purchased goods (a legitimate Louis Vuitton bag, for instance) and the goods being "re-sold" (the Louis Vuitton-embellished Nike sneakers). The "material differences" exception would likely prevent any legally-permissible sales of any of the products at issue since the original Louis Vuitton product would have been altered in its entirely to make the sneakers.
This is precisely why Dapper Dan was, for the vast majority of his career, considered to be a fashion outlaw.


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European Economic and Social Committee
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is the voice of organised civil society in Europe.
Find out more about its role and structure at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/about
The EESC issues between 160 and 190 opinions and information reports a year.
It also organises several annual initiatives and events with a focus on civil society and citizens' participation such as the Civil Society Prize, the Civil Society Days, the Your Europe, Your Say youth plenary and the ECI Day.
Find the latest EESC opinions and publications at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/opinions-information-reports/opinions and http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/publications-other-work/publications respectively.
The EESC is active in a wide range of areas, from social affairs to economy, energy and sustainability.
Learn more about our policy areas and policy highlights at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/policies
The EESC holds nine plenary sessions per year. It also organises many conferences, public hearings and high-level debates related to its work.
Find out more about our upcoming events at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/agenda/our-events/upcoming-events
Here you can find news and information about the EESC'swork, including its social media accounts, the EESC Info newsletter, photo galleries and videos.
Read the latest EESC news http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-media/news and press releases http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-media/press-releases
The EESC brings together representatives from all areas of organised civil society, who give their independent advice on EU policies and legislation. The EESC's326 Members are organised into three groups: Employers, Workers and Various Interests.
Find out more about our Members and groups at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/members-groups
The EESC has six sections, specialising in concrete topics of relevance to the citizens of the European Union, ranging from social to economic affairs, energy, environment, external relations or the internal market.
Find out more at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/sections-other-bodies
SMEs face major uncertainties, supply constraints, labour shortages and unfair competition.
The EESC supports the development of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as an alternative to court proceedings when consumers seek redress for the damage traders may cause them, alongside accessible judicial proceedings and enforcement of consumer rights by national authorities. It considers enforcement by national authorities to be essential as a foundation of trust in consumer protection, while redress, whether through court or an ADR procedure, offers a way to restore trust when an incident occurs between consumer and trader.
Since the inception of the Single Market, the EU has prioritized open, rule-based trade and economic stability. Recent global challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and rising geopolitical tensions, underscored vulnerabilities in Europe's economic structure, compelling a strategic response.
The EESC calls for a strategy for civil dialogue, resulting in an action plan, and potentially an interinstitutional agreement for improved civil dialogue. It advocates for making Article 11 TEU effective by strengthening actors in the different EU institutions dealing with civil dialogue and create an annual civil dialogue scoreboard tracing the EU's engagement with civil society, and an accreditation mechanism for CSOs. It reiterates that the EESC should be at the centre of civil society consultation and civil dialogue and calls for a stronger role for the Committee in participatory democracy, including being a potential hub for citizen panels.
In this opinion, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) highlights the challenges hindering efficient cross-border access to social security services, including bureaucratic complexity and uneven progress in digitalisation across Member States. While supportive of the European Commission's efforts to simplify processes and enhance digitalisation, the EESC emphasises the need for accelerated progress and urges developing comprehensive action plans considering diverse stakeholder needs. Recognising the overall need for digitalisation, the EESC stresses the importance of inclusive solutions for digitally excluded individuals as well as robust IT systems to ensure data protection and cybersecurity. Additionally, the EESC calls for the finalisation of the revision of Regulation 883/2004 to address obstacles to free movement more effectively.
The European Union has close to 182 million hectares of forests covering 43% of its land area and these forest areas are one of Europe's most important renewable resources. EU forests are exceptionally diverse, with a large variety of forest types, characteristics and ownership structures. They provide multiple benefits for society and the economy whilst being a major source of biodiversity.
Microplastics are persistent, very mobile, and hard to remove from nature. Microplastics are widespread in the world and in the human body, and a cause of growing concerns. Plastic pellets are found in water and soil, including agricultural lands, and harm ecosystems and biodiversity. Plastic pellets are the one of the largest sources of unintentional microplastic pollution.
For the first time, the European Commission proposes measures to prevent microplastic pollution from the unintentional release of plastic pellets.


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Run the Bayou, Bay and Beach 2016!
If you rent a home in Destin then you are probably already aware of the incredible views available to you along our coast. But, sign up for the 2016 Bayou, Bay and Beach and you can join other runners for a half marathon, 10K or 5K on January 23, 2016!
This running event on the Emerald Coast is also ideal for those who rent a house in Fort Walton Beach, as the USA Track and Field Certified half marathon course actually takes you from Clement Taylor Park, along the Destin Harbor, down 98 and through 4 miles of undeveloped Okaloosa Island. That portion of the race begins at 7:30AM.
The 10K and 5K, which also enjoy scenic courses throughout Destin, kicks off at 8:30AM. Kids wishing to join their parents in the days' events can sign up for the 1 mile fun run. All entrance fees are currently discounted until the day of the race. The half marathon fee is $60, while the 10K and 5K courses are just $30.
As in previous years, the Bayou, Bay and Beach will benefit the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance, which works to restore and protect the Choctawhatchee Basin Watershed. The kick off party and packet pickup will take place at Fudpucker's, a local Emerald Coast restaurant, on January 22, 2016.
Oh, and don't forget to wear your best beach attire as this years' race is themed 'Beach Bums'. See you at the finish line!
Categories: News


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In his bestseller, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing (2018), Daniel Pink writes about the arbitrary days in the year that we imbue with meaning. These are dates that carry extra energy and power so we can begin again. There's power in these days.
These are the dates when we declare that we're going to start something — a diet or an exercise program. Behavioral scientists call these dates 'fresh start' dates. The classic example is January 1st.
In his book, Pink identifies 86 other possible fresh start dates: first day of school, first day of the month, the beginning of the week, your birthday, first day of a new job, day after a major holiday, an anniversary of some sort — any day of your choosing that carries some meaning for you.
Most of us start a new habit such as a diet or exercise program by picking a fresh start date to begin that 'new thing.'
With that bit of science in mind, I propose you pick a fresh start date and begin to read a big book with a goal to finish by the end of another fresh start date. Bookend your reading with fresh start dates.
As you think about a possible book, here are three things to ponder:
- What constitutes a (big) book?
- Why bother with a (big) book?
- How do I recommend you tackle a (big) book read?
1. What constitutes a (big) book?
If we start with a tiny bit of big book trivia, we might ask, what's the longest book ever written?
The answer: it depends on your criteria. What data are you going to use? Do you go by page count or word count? Do you include all books the world round? Or just books available in the English language? Do you include fiction and nonfiction? Do you include only the books from mainstream publishers or self-published books, too? And, what about Kindle books?
Artamène, or Cyrus the Great, is often considered one of the longest Western European novel. Published (1649-54) in French under the name Georges de Scudery, Its estimated 2,100,000 million words came in ten parts, each part consisting of three volumes.
The novel written by Madeleine de Scudéry (1607-1701) was published under her older brother's name. Madeleine defied the norms of her age, once again reminding us that our modern age is not as modern as we think.
Madeleine never married, died at age 93, had a long writing career, and was part of the first literary salon at the Hôtel de Rambouillet established by Catherine de Vivonne, Marquise de Rambouillet, whom I wrote about in a prior post.
Madeleine wrote several lengthy tomes and was an outspoken advocate of education for women as a means of social mobility rather than the use of beauty and cosmetics.
Her upbringing was modest without social rank or wealth. Her parents died when she was 6 or 7. She and her elder brother, Georges, were put in the care of an uncle. The uncle believed in education — for both his foundlings. Madeleine learned writing, spelling, drawing, dancing, painting, plus she studied agriculture, medicine, cooking, Spanish, and Italian.
Madeleine became an outspoken advocate of education for women as a means of social mobility rather than the use of beauty and cosmetics.
Left: Madeleine de Scudéry (1607-1701) by unidentified painter
Middle: Title Page, Artamène, ou le grand Cyrus (1649-1653) by Madeleine de Scudéry
Right: Georges de Scudéry (1601-1667) by author unknown
As an adult, Madeleine wrote several lengthy bestsellers. Often set in Ancient Greek and Roman times, her novels were littered with very thinly disguised 'celebrity' personages of her day, making her books instant bestsellers. Gossip is good for sales in any era.
Reportedly a skilled conversationalist, she established her own salon as her notoriety grew. Today, Scudery's tomes are rarely read (I have not) and largely forgotten — except as a footnote in literary history for her record-setting word counts.
However, she lives on in a fictional Madeleine Scudery by E.T.A. Hoffman (1776–1822). One of the first crime/detective fictions Mademoiselle de Scudéri. A Tale from the Times of Louis XIV is a novella (no, it's not a big book) published in 1819. Widely considered one of Hoffman's best, it continues to be read today by his large cult following.
But this is all trivia. You can decide how you define your big book. Eight hundred pages will be a big book for some; 300 pages will be a big read for others. It is up to you.
2. Why read a (big) book?
(Big) Reason #1:
Reading a (big) book will build your attention span and focus that will serve you well in other areas of your life.
These days we hear a lot about the deleterious effects of technology and digital distractions to our well-being.
Most of us nod energetically in agreement and tell ourselves;
"I'm just checking my email for a moment." "I'm only on two social media platforms." "I'm good at multi-tasking."
We disregard the mechanics of our brains and the price we pay for the constant pull on our focus and attention — even for a moment. There is no such thing as a slight glance or multi-tasking. "Switching cost" is a real thing — for everyone!
Read any of the books listed below, and you'll learn how profoundly our brains are disintegrating in this digital age.
1. The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World (2016) by Adam Gazzaley and Larry Rosen
2. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World (2016) by Cal Newport
3. Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World (2019) by Cal Newport
4. Stillness Is the Key (2019) by Ryan Holiday.
Simple things, like our ability to hold onto a thought, have rapidly decreased. Research suggests that in the early 2000s, most of us could hold a thought for about 12 seconds. In 2017 that ability dropped to around 8 seconds.
The advantages of cultivating focus and a longer attention span cannot be overstated. Reading books — long form content — will help you build your skills of focus and attention!
Isaac Newton (1642/43 – 1726/27) was famous for his ability to spend long periods focused on a problem. According to his assistant, Humphrey Newton (no relation,) Sir Isaac often worked — reading, note-taking, thinking, or running experiments — for 18 hours straight, day after day.
Left: Front Cover, Principia Mathematica, owned in the 18th century by French mathematician and natural philosopher Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan now held by Caltech
Middle Left: Sir Isaac Newton painted by Godfrey Kneller (1689) (public domain)
Middle Right: First page of Newton's "How to Draw Tangents to Mechanicall Lines" (November 8, 1665) from his "Waste Book" manuscript, Courtesy Library of Congress, (public domain)
Right: "Newton" imagined and painted by William Blake (1795) (public domain)
During his feverish study periods, Newton rarely went to bed before 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, and sometimes not until 5:00 or 6:00 a.m. — and yet, Humphrey says;
"In a morning he seem'd to be as much refresh'd with his few hours sleep, as though he had taken a whole night's rest."
He was also oblivious to hunger — often wholly forgetting to eat even when food was brought to him and sat at table in his study.
In his years of reading and study, Newton produced his most revolutionary thinking in optics, gravitation, Biblical studies, calculus, and alchemy — giving us foundations for modern science and new ways of understanding the Universe.
Newton spent hours reading. By the end of his life, he had amassed a library estimated to contain between 1600-1800 books and treatises.
Undoubtedly, reading many long books helped instill the discipline that Newton needed to remain committed to thinking about his scientific questions.
(Big) Reason #2:
Reading a (big) book feeds your brain with ideas providing more material to forge new connections resulting in more creative problem-solving.
To quote Shane Parrish, a former Canadian intelligence officer turned blogging entrepreneur, who has written extensively about the importance of reading on his website FS.blog otherwise known as Farnam Street;
"You can't get where you want to go if you're not learning all the time. One of the best ways to learn is to read."
Left: Shane Parrish by Dave Chan for The New York Times
Middle: Farnam Street logo. FS is Shane's homage to Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger of Berkshire Hathaway. It's the companies street address: 3555 Farnam Street
Right: The Great Mental Models Volume 1: General Thinking Concepts by Shane Parrish and Rhiannon Beaubien
He's put together some of his best thinking in a unique series of books called The Great Mental Models. With his co-author, Rhiannon Beaubien, he's gathered some of the best thinking in systems, mathematics, chemistry, biology, and general first-order creative concepts.
Shane has one of my favorite podcasts, The Knowledge Project, where he explores questions of science and culture, interviewing restauranteurs, authors, gamblers, writers, behavioral scientists — pretty much anyone who accomplished something interesting in the world. No surprise, Shane is a big reader.
Reading a (big) book will also give you a sense of satisfaction, especially if your book is well-chosen. You'll gain momentum as you plan for a better 2022.
3. How do I recommend you tackle a (big) book read?
Treat your reading like you treat your workout!
There's a lot to say about each of these four points. So, more to come in forthcoming blog posts and our newsletter.


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Serving a sentence in a prison in Mexico, Libertad González finds a clever way to pass the time with the weekly Library Club, reading to her fellow inmates from whatever books she can find in the prison's meager supply. The story that emerges, though, has nothing to do with the words printed on the pages. She tells of a former literature professor and fugitive of the Mexican government who reinvents himself as a trucker in the United States.
More Stories To Solve: Fifteen Folktales from Around the World
Fifteen brief folktales in which there is a mystery or problem that the reader is invited to solve before the resolution is presented.
Batty's efforts to impress visitors at the zoo fail, but he is determined to be popular like the other animals. First he goes to the penguin pool but the water is cold and he doesn't like fish. Then he tries the gorilla enclosure but he doesn't have any fleas for the gorillas to pick off him. He tries to laze in the sun with the lions but its far too bright for his sensitive eyes. When eventually he returns to his bat cave he finds that everyone else is trying to be like him, hanging upside down. This clever and witty story is brought to life with Batty's upside down view of his surroundings, involving the reader in turning the book upside down with him.
When Apples Grew Noses and White Horses Flew
In these three imaginative stories, Jan Andrews introduces us to Quebec's traditional folktale hero, Ti-Jean. He's an endearing character who is both wise and foolish, and though he does find himself in hard situations (often of his own making), in the end, he somehow manages to do what needs to be done. In "Ti-Jean and the Princess of Tomboso" he eventually outwits a greedy princess; in "Ti-Jean the Marble Player" he gets the best of a pint-sized scoundrel; and in "How Ti-Jean Became a Fiddler" he turns the tables on a too-clever-for-her-own-good seigneur's daughter, and finds true love in the process.
Rosa Raposa
A willy fox outwits Jaguar in three trickster tales set in the jungles of South America.
Jackal's Flying Lesson
With the help of a blue crane, a mother dove rescues her babies from a not-so-clever jackal.
Khoikhoi, Southern Africa
Inch by Inch
To keep from being eaten, an inchworm measures a robin's tail, a flamingo's neck, a toucan's beak, a heron's legs, and a nightingale's song.
Onions and Garlic
The youngest of a merchant's three sons proves that he is not as foolish as he was thought to be when he trades a sackful of onions for a fortune in diamonds.
The Crows of Pearblossom
Originally published: New York: Random House, 1967.
My Name Is Sangoel
As a refugee from Sudan to the United States, Sangoel is frustrated that no one can pronounce his name correctly until he finds a clever way to solve the problem.
Read more about My Name Is Sangoel in WOW Review.
This book has been included in WOW's Language and Learning: Children's and Young Adult Fiction Booklist. For our current list, visit our Booklist page under Resources in the green navigation bar.


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PubSCIENCE is a service that was developed by the DOE's Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) in 1999. It's made available to the American public in partnership with the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). PubSCIENCE provides free Web access to citations of scientific journal articles from over 1,300 journals; the service is made available through a public/private sector collaboration between DOE and 42 journal publishers.
The subcommittee recommends that the 2002 budget for the Technical Information Management program (which includes PubSCIENCE) be $7,870,000, a reduction of $1.1 million from the budget request and $730,000 from the enacted level for fiscal year 2001. The funding for program support is $1.4 million, while funding for program direction is $6,470,000. The $1.1 million cut exceeds the operating budget of PubSCIENCE. It's expected to be approved by the full appropriations committee.
The subcommittee states in the report that it "is concerned that the Department is duplicating technical information services that are already available from the private sector. The Department should carefully review its information services such as PubSCIENCE to be sure that such efforts remain focused on appropriate scientific journals and do not compete improperly with similar services available from the private sector."
The proposal to eliminate PubSCIENCE came after lobbying efforts by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA). In a June 28 article in Nature, David LeDuc, an SIIA official, said that PubSCIENCE provides a service similar to products offered by the association's members, and "makes it increasingly difficult for these private-sector companies to continue offering products." Walter Warnick, director of the OSTI, has reportedly said that he will take the guidance of the Congress seriously in deciding the fate of PubSCIENCE.
The 1,000-member Washington DC-based lobbying group identified the prevention of government competition with the private sector in "Government Affairs: 2001 Key Issues," a report that was released in January 2001. The report mentions SIIA's concern that "government initiatives to disseminate public information electronically should not result in expanding the role of government in providing commercial information services. Rather, government efforts to disseminate information should take full advantage of public/private partnerships of independent private services and products to efficiently and effectively provide the desired added value for the public."
It's expected that SIIA, which represents member companies such as Reed Elsevier and ISI, will next go after the National Library of Medicine's PubMed. Although it seems unlikely that the group could dismantle the widely supported PubMed, it could attempt to limit its growth.
Robin Peek was an associate professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College. She also wrote a monthly column called Focus on Publishing for Information Today.


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Shortcut H:NAV |
Every page on a MediaWiki site, like Bulbapedia, not only has information to show you but also allows you to move to other pages. This is called "navigation".
To help you navigate, every page on Bulbapedia has three main navigation elements:
- The sidebar gives you access to important pages in the wiki such as recent changes or upload file. MediaWiki requires you to log in before seeing all of the sidebar options.
- Links (often called tabs) which relate to the page currently displayed: its associated discussion page, the version history, and – most notably – the edit link.
- User links; as an anonymous user, you'll see a link to create an account or log in. As a logged-in user you have a collection of personal links, including ones to your user page and preferences.
In addition to the standard navigation elements that each page has, a page will have its own unique information which appears in the larger main area of the page. Generally within this information will be links to other pages.
This page mainly documents the MonoBook and Vector skins. Appearances may be different when using other skins.
The sidebar is displayed on the edge of the page below the site logo (if using the MonoBook or Vector skin). This sidebar gives you access to important pages in the wiki such as Recent Changes or Upload File.
Clicking on the Bulbapedia logo brings you back to the main page of the wiki. The links in the navigation section just below will take you to important pages of the wiki, as well as the Bulbawiki area of the Bulbagarden Forums.
- See: Help:Search
This section of the sidebar contains links to other parts of Bulbagarden, including the Archives, the Forums, our Discord server and our social media.
The tools section contains a selection of links which change depending on what type of page you are viewing.
- On all pages (except special pages)
- "What links here" takes you to a special page that lists the pages on that wiki which contain a link to the current page. This is helpful when you are looking for pages of related information. The "What links here" information can also be useful when you are refactoring wiki pages and need to check whether links to this page are still relevant after changes in the current page.
- The "Related changes" tool lists all recent changes in the pages linked to from the current page. Recent changes to all relevant template pages are included in the resulting page list. The "Hide minor edits" option that can be set in the user preferences applies, among other things, to "Related changes".
- "Permanent link" provides a link to the current revision of the page.
- "Page information" provides metadata about the current page.
- On all pages (including special pages)
- "Upload file" redirects to a special page on the Bulbagarden Archives that allows logged-in users to upload images and other files to the wiki. Uploaded files can be linked from or embedded in wiki pages. More information can be found at a:Help:Uploading images.
- The "Special pages" tool lists the MediaWiki special pages. In MediaWiki terminology, a special page is one that presents information about the Wiki and/or allows access to administration activities for the wiki. For example, a list of users registered with the wiki, statistics about the wiki such as the number of pages and number of page edits, system logs, a list of orphaned pages, and so on. The content of these special pages is generated automatically when the special page is loaded. The function and use of the default special pages can be found at Help:Special pages.
- "Printable version" automatically creates a printer-friendly version of the current page.
In other languages
On many pages, the sidebar includes links to articles on the same topic in different langauges. These articles are from other wikis that are members of Encyclopædiæ Pokémonis.
Page tabs
The page tabs are displayed at the top of the page to the right of the site logo (if using the MonoBook or Vector skin). These tabs allow you to perform actions or view pages that are related to the current page. The available default actions include: viewing, editing, and discussing the current page. The specific tabs displayed on your pages depend on whether or not you are logged into the wiki. On special pages, only the namespace tab is displayed.
- Default for all users
- "namespace" (page, help, special page, template, user page etc.)
- "discussion"
- "edit" (will read "view source" if logged-out, the page is in the MediaWiki: namespace, or the page is protected)
- "history"
- Extra tabs for logged-in users
- "move" (only autoconfirmed users can move pages)
- "watch"
User links
The user links are displayed at the top far right of the page (if using the MonoBook or Vector skin). These tabs allow the logged-in user to view and edit their user page and wiki preferences. Additionally, the user links allow the user to quickly access their contributions to the wiki and logout.
For anonymous users the user links are replaced by a link to the wiki login page.
- "Server time"
- This displays the current time in UTC. Clicking this allows you to purge the server cache, and force the most recent version of the page to appear. (Monobook skin only)
- "Username"
- This links to your user page which is where you can put information about yourself, store bits of information you want to remember or whatever else you fancy.
- "Talk"
- This links to your discussion page, where people can leave messages for you.
- "Preferences"
- Allows you to change your personal site preferences.
- "Watchlist"
- A list of all pages that you are watching. Pages can be added to this list by clicking "watch" at the top of the page.
- "Contributions"
- A list of all contributions you have made to the wiki.
- "Log out"
- Click this link to log out of the wiki.
Navigation | Navigation • Search • Tracking changes • Logging in • Watchlist |
Editing | Editing pages • VisualEditor • Wikicode (Images • Tables) • Talk pages • Categories • Subpages • Cheatsheet |
Advanced | Starting a new page • Moving (renaming) a page • Merging pages • Splitting pages • Deleting pages • References • Special pages |
Templates | Using templates (Link templates • Color templates) • Creating templates (Parser functions • TemplateData) • Lua (Crash course) |
Customization | Preferences • Skins • Custom CSS • User page • Signatures |
Archives | FAQ • Uploading images • Tagging images • Manual of style |
Introduction • FAQ • Editor's Hub |