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Mr Chairman,
I understand that Suffolk County Council's administration intends to introduce the Living Wage as a minimum for all its direct employees, and our party welcomes and supports that. The vast majority of council workers on less than the Living Wage in 2010 are now outsourced, which makes the decision a bit irrelevant, but nonetheless, for the handful of directly-employed staff who will see their pay rise as a result, this is an important step forward. And it shows that the Conservative administration recognises the validity of the concept of the Living Wage. I would like this motion to be seen firstly as an affirmation of that policy decision from the whole Council.
But secondly, and more importantly, we are calling on the administration to move towards accreditation with the Living Wage Foundation, and that depends on having a programme to require all our contractors to introduce the Living Wage too.
The Living Wage figure is not plucked out of the air. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Centre for Research in Social Policy – with the support of principal partners such as KPMG and Aviva – have interviewed low paid workers, established what elements are required for a reasonable life, and priced them.
The current figure for the UK outside London is £7.65 per hour. From the 1st October the Minimum Wage will be £6.50 per hour. So someone on the Living Wage will get £1.15 per hour more than they would on the Minimum Wage. Not an enormous difference you may think – but for someone earning less than £16,000 a year it is an enormous difference. It could be the difference between having a holiday or not. It could be the difference between buying the children new shoes or not. It could be the difference between having to claim housing benefit or not.
Apparently, the UK economy is now growing, but there are a very significant number of people who are not benefitting from that growth. They are the people who were most heavily penalised by the recession, and who were least responsible for causing it in the first place. Low paid workers now outsourced by this authority and employed by companies that depend on contracts with this authority have seen almost no significant pay rises since the start of the recession. A face-value freeze is in fact a cut. The lowest-paid worker has seen the value of their annual pay fall by £1,775 since 2010. We are still punishing the cleaners for the irresponsibility of the city bankers.
How can it possibly be right to say that we have a duty of care to a care worker who is employed by Suffolk County Council, and so will pay them enough to live on, but then say that because the name on their pay-slip has changed from SCC to Care UK we suddenly have no responsibility to care for them at all? They are the same person with the same needs. They are doing the same job. They are even being paid by the same people, ultimately.
We know full-well what the Conservatives will say, because they have been saying it over and over again whenever wages are mentioned. This authority could not afford to supply the same level of services if it had to pay more, and would have to employ less staff. And this is council-tax-payers' money and we have a duty to obtain the best possible value for the council-tax-payer.
These are the same arguments that were made against the introduction of the minimum wage. They are essentially the same arguments that were made against the Factory Acts in the 19th century, and against the abolition of slavery.
A contractor can't pay their staff a decent wage if the contracting party is willing to switch to another provider that pays less and charges less. If an individual buys the cheapest possible clothes they will be promoting indentured labour in appalling conditions. If you decide to buy the cheapest possible social care you are responsible for promoting subsistence pay in the care sector.
Mr Chairman, if someone is working they should be paid for that work. They should not have to claim benefits. They should feel that their work is rewarded. They should expect society to recognise their contribution. We cannot change the whole of society overnight. But we should want to be doing the right thing ourselves.


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Liberals cite COVID-19 for unchanged blood donation ban policy
A bag of blood is shown at a clinic in Montreal on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012. (Ryan Remiorz / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
OTTAWA -- While COVID-19 has prompted calls for blood donations due to a shortage, the pandemic is also putting off the Liberals' promise to open up donor eligibility to gay men and some other folks in the LGBTQ community, according to federal Diversity and Inclusion Minister Bardish Chagger.
It's now been more than 110 days since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that the long-promised blood donation ban policy would be changing "very soon."
On June 12, during a COVID-19 aid-related announcement, Trudeau said he was "very hopeful that we'll be able to announce the results and the change, very soon."
Asked what the holdup was, Chagger said on Thursday that "there has been some delays within research because of COVID-19, but we remain committed."
Chagger said that the government is continuing to work with Canadian Blood Services and Hema-Quebec "to ensure that our decisions are based on evidence, not ideology."
The research underway includes studying donors' eligibility criteria and alternative screening processes.
Earlier this week, the All Blood is Equal Coalition sent an open letter to Trudeau, Health Minister Patty Hajdu and the CEOs of Canadian Blood Services and Hema-Quebec urging quick action to end the ban given the future shortages the second wave of COVID-19 cases could lead to.
"Each year, thousands of willing blood donors in Canada are turned away because of their identity," reads the letter in part.
Both Canadian Blood Services and Hema-Quebec have been seeking blood donations given a shortage due to the pandemic as well as seeking out plasma donations from recovered COVID-19 patients for critical research and possible treatments. However, willing donors have been turned away due to the existing ban.
"Rather than eliminate an entire base of potential donors based on their sexuality, Canada must shift towards a gender-neutral screening process that examines behaviour and risk. By asking the same questions to everyone, we can keep our blood supply safe while allowing an entirely new pool of donors to contribute to the system," the advocates wrote in the letter.
Over the last several years governments have cited the need for more research before eliminating the ban. The Liberals funded that research during their last mandate and it was set to be completed last fall, with the new guidelines set to be presented to the government in early 2020.
However, as of late August the final report had not been completed, according to Health Canada.
"The research in question is ongoing," the agency told CTVNews.ca.
As the policies stand, gay and bisexual men who have sex with men, as well as trans women, have to wait three months after having sex with a man before being able to donate. The ban on some donors was implemented in 1992 as an outright prohibition following the tainted blood scandal that played out between the 1980s and 1990s and saw thousands of Canadians infected with HIV after receiving donor blood from across the donor pool, before testing was available to detect HIV.
The three-month time frame for blood donations came into effect in June 2019 after Health Canada approved a request from the Canadian Blood Services and Hema-Quebec to reduce the blood donation ban on men who have sex with men from one year to three months.
This reduction in the deferral period was the second update to the policy since the Liberals came to power. In 2016 the deferral period was brought down to one year, down from the previous five-year wait after the Liberals campaigned in 2015 on ending the ban altogether. At the time the party stated that the policy "ignores scientific evidence and must end."

subset: commoncrawl


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If you use Twitter, you may have noticed a change when it comes to retweeting. Twitter has now given users the ability to easily add their own commentary when retweeting others.
Before this feature was introduced, retweeting was a bit of an annoying process if you wanted to add in your own two-cents. You either had to manually copy and paste the link into a new tweet, or copy and paste a tweet's original text into a new tweet with your comment squeezed in — making sure to be within the 140 character limit.
This current feature lets you skip all that copy-pasting and allows you to easily insert your own comments before hitting the Retweet button. Your retweets will now show up on Twitter feeds as follows:
The new feature does have some drawbacks when it comes to mobile Twitter users though, as rewteeted vines or photos will appear much smaller on screen. But overall I think the feature is plus especially for users who want to easily "tag" others in tweets – a similar practice used in other social networks such as Instagram and Facebook.
So Twitter now allows you to retweet with comments. Love it? Hate it? Let me know!


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- Our Key Values:
- Ambition
- Respect
- Independence
- Confidence
- Reflectiveness
- Enjoyment
School Information
We wish you a very warm welcome to the Kobi Nazrul school website. I hope your visit to our site gives you a picture of the purposeful learning that takes place and that it reflects our school values which underpin everything we do.
We are a welcoming and inclusive community who share and celebrate our differences. We know we can all learn more together.
Our school is rapidly changing to ensure our children are successful and realise there are no limits to what they can achieve. There are many challenges ahead but our teamwork, commitment and relentless drive to raising standards will ensure OUR school serves the needs of OUR community and OUR children.
Together we make sure our children develop the skills and knowledge they need to be successful and happy – because they deserve it!
We hope you enjoy learning about Kobi Nazrul Primary School through our website.
If you would like further information, please contact our school office, we would be delighted to help.
Best wishes,
Belinda King


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Our I Do Crew Personalized Dinner Plates feature stylish gold dots and lettering against a black background. These I Do Crew Dinner Plates are the perfect size to serve your friends at your bachelorette party.
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text:
Jeff Rosenstock wants to apologize for dwelling on the dark stuff. "Sorry this is such a bummer of a conversation. I keep spiraling into it because I'm still trying to make sense of it." The specific issue Rosenstock is bummed about can change by the minute—election night, our country's subsequent swell in harassment and intimidation, and the president-elect's latest cabinet appointments have each filled in the blank at some point. There's a thread of unbridled panic tying it all together.
It's natural for our talk to assume this tone; after all, Rosenstock recently put out the year's best album about feeling powerless. Last month's WORRY., his third solo release since the dissolution of Bomb the Music Industry! in 2014, was originally meant to be a record about love. Newly married, the subject was at the forefront of his mind, but he ended up questioning how to love in a world that corners us with a barrage of targeted advertising, virulent message board trolls, and reports of new police killings by the week. You could call it A Loud Bash of Grown-Up Feelings.
Rosenstock is home in Brooklyn for the first time in three months, and has barely had a chance to recover from the biggest tour of his life, which included sold-out shows in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C. Unpacked boxes and bags line the small hallway in front of his apartment, nearly blocking the door. His friend and tour photographer, Hiro Tanaka, hangs around the apartment in a WORRY. shirt, passing time before his flight to Milan for a photo festival. Rosenstock tells me that this is basically the first time he's been able to reflect on the past few weeks, at home in relative peace and quiet.
He hasn't had time to fully react to the election results, either. When the news broke, he was onstage with his band in Waterloo, Iowa. Rosenstock remembers the excitement in the room slowly waning throughout the night—everyone was still singing along and dancing, but he could tell something was off. He half-wondered if the crowd was thinking, "We're in Iowa, and we've watched this dumb band play for 15 minutes, and I'm done now." But he walked over to the merch table right after the show, and Christine, his wife and tour manager, confirmed what the audience already knew: Donald Trump would be our next president.
According to Rosenstock, some kid approached him later that night and offered an unsolicited reality check: "You have to accept that he won. This just happened. You can't keep thinking about the 'what if'—you've got to accept the reality." Although they were far from comfortable with the reality, the bands on tour sought to make a difference the following night. Anika Pyle of openers Katie Ellen suggested that they collect donations at the door for Planned Parenthood before a free college show in Wisconsin. Their promoter told them it was illegal to do this in a state building, so they set up a donation-based protest button-maker. In each city, they would donate funds to a different local charity they deemed would take on a more important role during a Trump presidency (donations from their Brooklyn show went to the Ali Forney Center, a refuge for homeless LGBT youth in New York).
WORRY. was a revelation before the election; now, it sounds like something close to prophetic. None of his lyrics directly address the bitter race, but it works as a brilliant time capsule of the circumstances that led us here. During some of the first shows right after the election, Rosenstock also started hearing some of his own lyrics in a different light. "There were some lines that hurt a lot. Like the second verse of "Wave Goodnight to Me": Yeah, ignorance is bliss until the day / the things you ignored all come into focus."
"To Be A Ghost..." is a dejected call to arms against the social media hatred that so often surrounds high-profile cases of police brutality. And yet in the song's second verse, Rosenstock also takes hashtag activism to task, and wonders what good circling around online echo chambers really does in a time of crisis. Its side-B follow-up "...While You're Alive" is equally shattering and vital, as he vows to let someone know he loves them while they're here, rather than post-mortem—when everyone's quick to give phony diatribes about how much they cared. The idea of eulogizing someone while they're still around is powerful in any context. But in a time when so many female friends, queer friends, and friends of color feel like they matter less than last month, or that they have to accept crippling fear and unease as routine emotions, no song has packed a heavier punch.
WORRY. deliberately juggles so many ideas that seem to be in conflict: love and anxiety, joy and hopelessness, ska and indie rock. In 37 breathless minutes, Rosenstock makes the case that these poles don't switch on and off, but often coexist in the same messy, contradictory moment. And that complicated ethos has also carried him through the weeks that have passed since the election.
"It's not like your world stops. Even with Trump getting elected, your world is still going. Your family is still your family, the people you were friends with are still the people you were friends with. That doesn't stop," Rosenstock said. "Everything is just contextualized differently. It just amplifies the anxiety around the people you care about."
It's nearly an hour before Rosenstock takes the stage in Brooklyn, and some kids in front of me are getting down to a Radiohead song about the end of the world. "Ice age coming, ice age coming/ Throw it on the fire, throw it on the fire." They're not alone, either—most of Villain, the sparsely crowded warehouse, appears to be having a good enough time to the doomsday soundtrack. Despite what's playing over the PA, everyone, at least outwardly, seems unperturbed by the news cycle. I spot one "Not My President" shirt, but still can't tell if Rosenstock's final stop of the WORRY. tour will be more about escapism or urgency.
Before Rosenstock or either opener—Katie Ellen and Hard Girls—come onstage, the house music zips through one politically minded track after the next: Killer Mike's "Reagan," "New Slaves," "Fight the Power." A few days later in his apartment, Rosenstock tells me that the thematic house music was no coincidence. In the green room before their Detroit show, Rosenstock and his openers threw together a playlist of 49 songs that captured a dose of their post-November 8 anxiety (the thing's got "Fuck America," "Fuck the Border," and "Fuck tha Police" all in a row). "The vibe we were feeling was just, we all want to dance and run around and scream and be together, but we all need to keep in the back of our heads—there's work to be done here," he said.
By the time Rosenstock started playing, in front of a rainbow-streaked American flag with "666" where the stars usually go, there wasn't much left to say—both openers had already set an urgent enough tone through stage banter. Early in the set, he saluted everyone who protested outside Trump Tower on election night, and said he wished he could have been out there. He told the audience to vote in local elections, and donate their time and money to organizations that will need it.
Even so, joy seemed to win out that night. As expected, you had a room of young punks losing their fucking minds, who knew most of the words to a barely month-old album. Throughout the night, I kept tabs on this kid with a broken arm in front of me, much closer to the stage. There was something oddly hopeful about watching him fling his cast up to the sky, before jumping headlong back into the pit, one song after the next. All night, you sensed that the downtrodden will keep turning to punk for solidarity, as they always have.
"The message they're trying to send is that we can't do anything," said Rosenstock at one point between songs. "But fuck that—we're all here."
A few days after the show, Rosenstock tells me that the bands felt simultaneously obligated to acknowledge the political cyclone and offer a reprieve from it all. "None of us took for granted the fact that we made a lot of people happy in the last week. Specifically, for being able to get away from all the shit on Twitter and on the news and just being like, 'Oh my god, everything I thought was a fucking lie,'" he says.
Regardless of what was going on outside the venue, that sense of hope was infectious at his Brooklyn show—but at home, he's having trouble feeling it himself. When I ask the singer if he has become more hopeful since November 9, he says the opposite: "No. I think I've become less hopeful." It's the quickest Rosenstock's reacted to any of my questions.
"I don't like that," he adds. "I'm trying to find ways to be more hopeful. I'm trying to find ways to be active against this, but I don't know … I just don't know what we're gonna do."
Rosenstock went to a pair of rallies the day before our meeting that didn't help. The first was a well-attended rally at a Brooklyn park, named in honor of the late Beastie Boys rapper Adam Yauch, which had been vandalized with swastikas and pro-Trump graffiti. Rosenstock said the Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz and Kathleen Hanna were also there, along with plenty of news cameras to capture the rally.
The second protest was the one that got him feeling down—it was a smaller gathering in Washington Square Park, that Rosenstock estimates only drew 60 or 70 people. "We might be fucked. People might have already—in the era of, 'what's the next trending topic'—have already moved on from this," he says. "If I went to [the Adam Yauch] rally second, I'd probably feel a little differently."
This is about where our conversation ended: in a fairly downbeat place, with Rosenstock musing through laughter, "Either way, we all die." He's still struggling to stay positive, without ignoring his surroundings. If I only remembered this, the last part of our talk, it might be easy to get swallowed by the pessimism. But as Rosenstock realized with the two rallies, the story's in the sequencing.
A few minutes earlier, I had asked Rosenstock about "The Fuzz," WORRY.'s bracing police brutality song that turns into a love song somewhere near the halfway point. Although it's partly informed by scrolling through Twitter and feeling heartbroken for victims he's never met, the track also draws inspiration from a personal crisis.
Last November, Rosenstock's van was robbed in San Francisco. He and his bandmates lost instruments they'd been playing for more than a decade. All of their clothes from the tour were taken, including all that Rosenstock's wife brought along. He describes an eight-hour ordeal at the police station, which left him in disbelief. "They just did not care that $20,000 of our stuff was stolen—they just did not give a flying fuck," he told me. But as he looked around the station, Rosenstock noticed that they weren't the only people who seemed to be neglected. "We were just seeing people be like, 'OK, so guess I've got to go to work right now … guess I'll come back tomorrow and try to file this report for assault.'"
He wrote most of "The Fuzz" the following night, and wanted his empathy to extend in all directions—to his wife, to victims of police brutality, and to people who couldn't get their reports filed in a timely fashion. He describes his headspace at the time: "I'm so sorry that happened, and I'm so sorry that the people at the police precinct can't file their fucking police reports for [assault], and I'm so sorry that police kill unarmed African Americans and they don't get punished for it," Rosenstock said. "And I wish there's something I could do."
Later that night, they were in a northern California Target, replacing socks, underwear, and t-shirts for the remainder of the tour, and ran into a teenager who was also at the San Francisco show. He stopped Rosenstock while shopping with his mom, and after chatting, the mother offered the band a $50 Target gift card. Later on, Rosenstock's band would set up a GoFundMe with tempered expectations—and go on to raise over $19,000 in a single day. The streak of kindness helped to brighten his outlook, if only for a moment.
"It made me feel less like the world is totally fucked. Somebody robbed us because he lives in San Francisco, and San Francisco's an expensive city that does not look out for their non-wealthy residents. I don't forgive that person—they took my stuff, but what's the point in getting afraid about everything over that?"


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Hip hop invented shorty. Hip hop is responsible for changing its meaning. Let's look at its history, from the first "shorty" in '85 to the first "shawty" in the late 90s.
Shorty originally in the '80s could be used for a man, a woman or a child. It wasn't until the '90s that it resolved itself into referring to a good-looking woman or girlfriend.
Influential albums like Apocalypse 91 (Public Enemy), All Souled Out (Pete Rock), and The Low End Theory (Tribe Called Quest) each had a track with shorty, so it's possible that a handful of songs exposed the word to nearly every aspiring rapper.
What's fascinating is how hip hop culture took an unknown word and made it part of every rapper's flow.
Shorty is now in 7% of all hip hop songs (as of late '12) – as popular as words like sex, glock, rims, pussy, and drugs.
Crunk's Lil Jon invented "shawty" in '97.
I'm sorry, but I think this is kind of great.


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This January, EXANTE won the title of Best Investment Brokerage Company at the Global Banking and Finance Awards 2017. This prestigious award was established in 2011 to recognize the brightest achievements and significant changes in the global financial community.
"We constantly focus on providing the most comprehensive market coverage at competitive prices. Today we offer the greatest number of markets among brokers in Europe," stated Patrick J O'Brien, EXANTE Communication Director.
We are thankful to the organizers for highly praising our work and are aiming to do our best to justify our new prestigious title.
Read more about the Awards on Finance Malta.


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Search type: any match / exact term. Sort by: relevance / session.
Plenum Healer: offering metaphysical healing
* Affiliate links.
12.19 Questioner: Could you describe the robot?
Ra: I am Ra. The robot may look like any other being. It is a construct.
12.20 Questioner: Is the robot what is normally called "Men in Black?"
Ra: I am Ra. This is incorrect.
12.18 Questioner: Are there any Confederation or Orion individuals living on Earth visible to us and important in our society at this time? Walking among us?
Ra: I am Ra. There are no entities of either group walking among you at this time. However, the crusaders of Orion use two types of entities to do their bidding, shall we say. The first type is a thought-form; the second, a kind of robot.
Version (?): Lightly Edited, Ra Contact, Relistened, Original
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The original Law of One books are copyright ©1982, 1984, 1998 L/L Research. The Ra Contact books are copyright ©2018 L/L Research and Tobey Wheelock.
This site copyright ©2003–2020 Tobey Wheelock.
Questions? Comments? Email me: tw at law of one dot info.


text: French 19th Century Ebony and Brass Crucifix Sold Out Acquired in a large lot from France, these stunning crucifixes and fonts are original beauties. Each is significant in their own way, not just for the aesthetic each brings to the table, but for their significance. This particular crucifix is adorned in ebony with brass accents like the skull and cross bones at its base. This would have graced the interior of a Catholic church at some point in its 19th century life. - Size : 6.25 in x 3.25 in - Materials : ebony and brass - Provenance : 1880s-1900s - Sourced from : France - Made in : France - Notes : n/a *Out of stock *Please fill out the form below to be notified when this item is back in stock. (INSERT EMAIL FORM)


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After dinner at Leo's Sunday last gizmoek and I went to see Kill Bill. Oh. My. God. Blood. Lots of blood. (Apparently about 500 gallons of fake blood were used.) If you like Tarantino's other flicks you'll probably like this one, if you don't like his other films then you'll probably really hate this one. I'm sure I missed many of the references this film made (like the Game of Death cycle outfit) and the subtle jokes (the box of cereal is Kaboom! (which is a real cereal if you've never seen it)). I'm looking forward to part two.
After dinner this Sunday I went home, but was restless, so I went back out and saw The Rundown myself. Yes, it is a somewhat cheesy action movie - but it doesn't take itself seriously, and I think that redeems it. They had fun with it instead of trying to play it straight, and it made it enjoyable. And I think The Rock is pretty good as an action hero - I don't think I've seen any of his other movies, but I might have to check them out. But Christopher Walken really steals the scenes he's in - "That's a lot of cows."
Other than that, I'm a little depressed. I had the first real eye exam I can remember having last week. I mean, I've done that 'look at the chart' thing many times, and when I was actively flying i had my FAA physicals which included the colorblindness test, 'what note does the line pass through', and other things. But I don't think I've ever had the eye pressure test, the dilation drops, etc. So the end result is I'm nearsighted with a severe astigmatism, and my vision is apparently no longer 20/15 like I'd always tested. I'm carrying around a prescription for glasses, but it is my option to get them or not - since since 99.99% of my life is looking at things near to me, and I can still read roadsigns WAY down the road, I don't feel the need to get them. But for some reason knowing my vision is degraded really bothers me.
On the medical good news front, I went in for my follow-up visit for my blood pressure yesterday and it looks like the meds are working - it was 110/70. That's a significant improvement over 150/110. But my cholesterol levels were messed up. I don't remember the numbers - but my 'bad' is too high and my 'good' is too low. My doc suggested eating more seafood - but I loathe seafood, so then she suggested I try taking fish oil tablets. She also recommended flax seed powder. Of course, I need to start exercising regularly and adjust my diet overall. I go back in January for more blood work and if the levels haven't improved by then I'll probably start meds. I really like this doc, which is kind of a first for me. The docs I've had for years now I've either been kind of indifferent toward, or they just rubbed me the wrong way. But Dr. Bhandari seems really cool, like someone who could hang out with my group of friends. Lots of energy and I actually feel like she cares how I'm doing and that I'm not just a chart. She's going on maternity leave early next year, but I do hope she'll stick around for a while. I'd hate to have to change docs again.
Work has just kind of been going. Last Monday was a holiday, and my boss took Tuesday and Wednesday off. I ended up handling some tech support issues, and finding a bug in one of our systems, the days he was out, so I didn't get as much of my planned work done as I'd hoped. So I stayed late Tuesday to avoid having to explain why I was behind when he got back. Thursday was my eye exam, so a lot of the day was shot by the appointment and then not being able to see anything for a while. I ended up not staying too late because my eyes hurt even after the drops wore off. Friday I actually managed to crank out a good amount of work.
Yesterday was messed up. When I got up it was DAMN cold in my apartment, so I turned on the heat and dove back under the covers. But I kind of drifted off for a bit and ended up coming in later than I intended. My boss and I did a code review on the script framework (what I'd been updating) and he had to leave to get his car serviced. I bailed not long after to go to my doctor's appointment. This morning I'm a little pissy since we normally have a 09:00 engineering meeting on Tuesday. This sucks on general principles because i don't normally come in until 10:00 at best, and usually closer to 11:00. So one day a week I have to get up and hour or two early, and believe me it makes a difference to how I feel for the whole day. But today I'm pissy because I hauled my ass in for the meeting - and there is no meeting. Michael, the VP, is on a trip to visit our group in Russia so everyone decided to just blow off the meeting even though we're supposed to have it even when he isn't here. So I got up early for nothing.
Hmm, what else... Oh, the Thursday over a week ago we did a birthday lunch for one of the women in the office over at Ruby Tuesday's on Route 9 in Westborough. All through lunch the waitress and I were flirting with each other fairly strongly. Enough that the other folks I was with (2 guys, 2 women) were joking about it when she wasn't around. After a little prodding from them to pursue it, I went back last Thursday after my eye exam. Since I still couldn't see much there was no point in going to the office yet, so I had a long lunch. She was working the bar, so I sat there and we chatted for at least 90 minutes. I went back for dinner late Friday after work and ended up her last table so she sat down and we chatted some more then too. Not sure if anything will come of it as she's recently broken up and was planning to try to not date for a bit. But she seems really cool, so it be nice to just hang out with her if nothing else. We'll see - her name is Irene, so you can ask for her if you go. I believe she's working the To Go orders today. ;-)


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Fall in Love Like a Comic is published by Viz as part of the Shojo Beat line. Current price is $8.99 per volume.
Publication DatesEdit
Last IssueEdit
- Fall in Love Like a Comic, vol. 1: 10 Oct 2007
Current IssueEdit
- Fall in Love Like a Comic, vol. 2: 04 Jan 2008
Next IssueEdit
- none scheduled
Quarterly. Tankōbon.
Main CharactersEdit
- Rena Sakura - High school student and secretly a professional manga-ka.
- Tomoya Okita - Fellow student who discovers Rena's secret life and begins dating her.
Minor CharactersEdit
- Yun - Rean's best friend who was the first to know Rena was a mangaka
Other Characters/Places/ThingsEdit
Recent StorylinesEdit
Fall in Love Like a Comic, vol. 2 Edit
This is the current volume, and therefore no story information will be posted about this issue. Please check your local comic shop for copies of this issue.
Fall in Love Like a Comic, vol. 1 Edit
Past StorylinesEdit
Leftover Useful InformationEdit
Creative TeamEdit
Created, Written and Drawn by Chitose Yagami.
Publishing HistoryEdit
First published in Japan.
First English-language translation published by Viz in 2007.
Order CodesEdit
These are the order codes and prices as provided by Diamond Distribution. Your local comic shop should be able to order these for you.
Future Publication DatesEdit
Dates subject to change at the whims of the publisher or distributor. Please see the Diamond Shipping Lists for current information.
- Viz, LLC - Publisher's Website
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


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or make 4 interest-free payments of $4.23 fortnightly with More info
Bean Me Up
Wonderful Teacher Collection
Regular price $16.95
Give a unique gift that shows your true appreciation with Bean Me Up's Wonderful Teacher Collection. The Collection's four beans are laser engraved with the words Caring, Wonderful, Dedicated, Passionate, Patient, Nurturing and Thank you! As the beans grow the words will emerge letting the recipient know just how valued they are. The perfect gift to say thanks!
This premium tin option is a complete gift – comes with little bag of soil ready to plant directly in the tin!


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I've never been great at deadheading, it just slips my mind. Annuals aren't very common in my garden, I find myself mostly focusing on perennials, hardy annuals, and things that reseed easily but don't become invasive. There are still deadheading chores with this kind of gardening, but it's generally shearing off the entire plant rather than cutting off spent blossoms. This year I have more annual cutting flowers that I have ever had and I find that the deadheading part is something I haven't quite figured out how to work into my schedule. The good thing is that when I don't get around to deadheading I can save seed for some of my favorite varieties.
Deadheading is a great way to build the compost piles. Since I'm currently using them to build up one side of my main edible garden, I'm always looking for sources to make them grow larger and produce more compost. Earlier this week, I deadheaded my cosmos, dahlias, and a few others plants and ended up with a very large tubtrug filled with flowers. It also makes for a pretty compost pile, at least for a day or so.
The other evening, while I was in the garden cutting spent blossoms off the cosmos, I was thinking it might be a good idea to set a schedule. Maybe Sunday evenings are a good time to spend deadheading and cutting things back. This is how I work my fertilization into my system without having to keep track. Generally, I give the plants that need it a liquid kelp feed on the first and the fifteenth of each month. That way I know when it happens and don't have to try to remember or keep track.
How do you manage your time gardening to keep up with the weekly chores?Filed under Around the Garden | Comment (1)
One Comment to "Deadheading"
Susy, unfortunately my gardening depends on when I can fit it into the domestic Schedule so it suffers from time to time but still produces quite well in spite of the neglect. Gardening for me is a quiet time thing and is soothing to my soul even if I can't keep up with the weeds and harvesting.
Have a great day with seed saving.
to Nebraska Dave's comment


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Is it allergies or asthma?Thursday, May 15, 2014
Hi, I'm Jennifer Kozial Wozniak, MD, Allergy and Immunology, Hudson Hospital Specialty Clinics, welcome to my blog!
May is Allergy & Asthma awareness month. It's a peak season for asthma and allergy sufferers, and a perfect time to educate your patients, family, friends, co-workers and others about these diseases. Asthma is a disease of the lungs in which the small airways become inflamed or constricted causing breathing difficulty. This chronic disease affects 20 million Americans. Allergies are diseases of the immune system that cause an overreaction to substances called "allergens." Allergies can take several different forms: indoor and outdoor allergies (also called "hay fever," "seasonal," "perennial" or "nasal" allergies), other allergies include: food, latex, insect, skin and eye allergies. Learn about Allergy & Asthma tips from the Allergy & Asthma Foundation of America website: aafa.org.
Do you suffer from allergies or asthma? Make an appointment with Jennifer Koziol Wozniak, MD with our Allergy Clinic – call (715) 531-6700.
What are your allergy and asthma questions? Send me your comments at firstname.lastname@example.com or join the conversation on Facebook.
Hudson Hospital & Clinic website and social media does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional disclaimer information.
Categories: General


text:
The ultimate gift for true wine connoisseurs. This is a truly unique collection where our Winemaker selects nine of the best, highest quality barrels of the vintage to craft these spectacular wines. A beautiful pairing of our Nine Barrel Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in an elegant black gift box.
Nine Barrel Gift pack includes:


text:
Most questions are viewed by a few, say 10, people with close rights. If five of them vote to close, it gets closed, so that's around 50% agreement between close right persons.
For popular questions, say that 100 people with close rights look at them. Now the agreement percentage is down to 5%; in fact, a question with 90% approval and 5% disapproval will get closed.
Would it make sense to require a higher number of close votes for popular questions?
See for example https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4857544/why-do-we-have-postfix-increment


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The Scientology protesters Mark Bunker, also known as "Wise Beard," and Mark Lowell were arrested yesterday for picketing outside the cult's lavish Gold Base complex in Hemet, California. The arrests are described as "citizen's arrests" instigated by Scientology management, though the two men were taken in by sheriff's deputies. As it happens, if the local Board of Supervisors gets its way, soon anyone protesting closer than 30 feet from the main gate of the complex will be subject to arrest: they yesterday passed a 30-foot ordinance against picketing, largely at the urging of the Scientologists, and on the Board by Jeff Stone, who has received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the Church of Scientology's lawyer, Samuel Alhadeff. Photos via Why We Protest.
This article from the Village Voice Archive was posted on February 25, 2009


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Some little people just won't settle if their room is too dark. A Dream light night has four levels of brightness that can be adjusted to your personal preference. It also has 12 colour options to select from. Your child's favourite colour will be there to choose from, they can have a new colour each night just to make it more fun.
Features of these cool night Lights:
See the full range of My Dream Light here


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Arguing about whether your country is free or not is for the most part - academic. It may sound anethma to politically-conscious people such as ourselves, but for the majority of common people it really is the case and you can't blame them for that. This question is in any case, certainly secondary to the issue of how well your own and other citizen's personal, financial, political and other financial freedoms are secured.
If that's all good and well, then to most people it wouldn't really matter to whom their political elite bow to or whose bread they butter.
It's when those things aren't alright, or when your country starts losing economic stabiility from sanctions or manpower from wars - that people would start to question why their prosperity and freedoms aren't so great compared to those of other countries. Only then will the question of independence and so on become relevant.


text: Eveready Flashlight - Flashlight No. 1 Display Unit (20) (c. 1929) Home Search/Browse for Flashlights Contributors Collectors About Us Our Sponsors: Flashlights : Eveready Brand / Mini Style Eveready Flashlight No. 1 Display Unit (20) Value: $400.00 Manufacturer: Eveready Mfgr. Model #: N/A Circa: 1929 Battery: Custom 2AA Battery Pack Style: Mini Online Since: 4/22/2003 FM Reference #: EV00001 jeff hi i have an old mechanicl flashlight made in chicago niko nikoug mfg co. it worked when i took it apart and fixed it 30 years ago.very sensitive and complicated works. give me a holler i'd like to know more about!! Jan 2, 2010 - 11:31 AM Copyright 2003-2016 FlashlightMuseum.com The Flashlight Museum specializes in providing antique, vintage, classic and new high-tech flashlights. Some of the most popular flashlight brands include Eveready, Ever Ready, Surefire, Maglite, Pelican, Brinkmann, Streamlight, Delta, Garrity, Winchester, Ash Flash, Franco, Coleman, Rayovac, USA Lite and Duracell. We have such styles as LED, Candle, Art Deco, Tactical, Military, Standard 2 Cell, 3 Cell, safety lights, lanterns, rechargeable, fluorescent flashlights, keychain and novelty lights and much more. This website is a great resource for flashlight collectors and those who enjoy collecting batteries and accessories.


text:
Welcome to IHS Markit FieldDIRECT
Please enter your user name:
Forget password?
By clicking 'Submit', you are agreeing to the terms of the IHS Markit FieldDIRECT® License and Privacy Policy.
Are you able to monitor and report on your wells directly from the field in real time?
FieldDIRECT is a field-to-office service that securely and accurately captures and stores daily field production data, providing single-source access for staff, vendors and partners.


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Home > Jewelries & Watches > Jewelries > Rings > Emotion Feeling Mood Color Changeable Ring Alloy US Size 5
Product Details
Wear this alloy ring band and watch its color change to match your mood ! Very funny and amazing.
- Type: Ring
- Material: Alloy and color liquid crystal material
- Inner Diameter: 15.6mm
- US Size 5/ UK Size J 1/2
- Unisex ring
- With the ring to tell what mood you are in
Package Includes:
- 1 x Mood Ring
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Tobias S. Buckell
Tobias S. Buckell
Tobias S. Buckell
|1979 (age 40–41)
|Science fiction, speculative fiction
Tobias S. Buckell (born 1979) is a Grenadian science fiction writer. His 2008 novel, Halo: The Cole Protocol, made The New York Times Best Seller list. He currently lives in Bluffton, Ohio.
Buckell was born in 1979 in Grenada in the Caribbean. He was raised on a boat.
Buckell attended Clarion in 1999. Not long after that he made his first sale, "Fish Merchant", to Scott Edelman at Science Fiction Age. The story appeared in the March, 2000 issue. About the time of the sale, his story "In Orbite Medievali" won a quarterly contest for the Writers of the Future. Since then his stories have appeared in a variety of places, including the magazines Analog and Nature, and the anthologies New Voices in Science Fiction, Men Writing Science Fiction As Women, and So Long Been Dreaming.
His first novel, Crystal Rain, was published in February 2006 by Tor Books. His second novel, Ragamuffin was published in 2007,[1] and was nominated for the illustrious Nebula award for that year. Sly Mongoose, his third novel, was published in August 2008. His first short story collection, Tides from the New Worlds, was published as a signed limited edition hardcover by Wyrm Publishing in April 2009.
Buckell made a non-physical appearance on the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire game show as a "Phone-A-Friend" for his friend Heidi Ruby Miller.[citation needed]
In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.[2]
On June 16, 2008, Buckell was announced as the author for the sixth novel in the Halo book series titled Halo: The Cole Protocol, named after military procedures made to prevent the Covenant from obtaining crucial information, such as the location of Earth. The novel was published in November 2008.[3] In December, the novel debuted at #4 on the New York Times Best Seller list for paperback trade fiction.[4] Also he wrote the collaborative short story collection Halo Evolutions: Essential Tales of the Halo Universe along with Karen Traviss, Eric Nylund and many other authors, which was released in November 2009.
In July 2010 he published an audiobook, The Alchemist and The Executioness, with Paolo Bacigalupi. These two works were published as separate print books in January 2011.
As of September 2011, Buckell is working on a stand-alone novel titled Infringement, adapted from his short story "A Jar of Goodwill," which was originally published in Clarkesworld. The novel will be published by Tor, sometime after the independent release of Apocalypse Ocean.[5]
Xenowealth series[edit]
- Crystal Rain (2006), ISBN 0-7653-1227-1
- Ragamuffin (2007), ISBN 0-7653-1507-6
- Sly Mongoose (2008), ISBN 0-7653-1920-9
- Apocalypse Ocean (2012), e-book
- Halo: The Cole Protocol (2008), ISBN 0-7653-1570-X
- Arctic Rising (2012), ISBN 0-7653-1921-7
- Hurricane Fever (2014)[7]
- Halo: Envoy (2017)
- The Trove (2018)
- The Executioness (January 2011), ISBN 978-1-59606-354-9
- Tides from the New Worlds (2009), ISBN 978-1-890464-07-3
- Nascence (2011)
- Mitigated Futures (2012)
Short Stories[edit]
- "Pale Blue Memories" (2015) in Old Venus (anthology)[8]
- "Oasis" (2016) in Halo: Fractures (anthology)
As Editor[edit]
- The Stories We Tell: Bermuda Anthology of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror (2017), ISBN 978-0-947480-62-2
- ^ Kallam, Clay (2007-08-05). "An intriguingly dark look at the future". Mercury News.
- ^ Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Collection Archived 2012-06-03 at the Wayback Machine, Northern Illinois University
- ^ "Halo: The Cole Protocol". Macmillan. Archived from the original on 2008-12-04. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
- ^ "The New York Times". 2008-12-14. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
- ^ An Interview with Tobias S. Buckell Archived 2012-04-28 at the Wayback Machine, by Alex J. Kane; published September 26, 2011; retrieved April 13, 2012
- ^ Holding Out For A Sequel: In Praise of Vernor Vinge, by Tobias Buckell, at Tor.com; published October 10, 2011; retrieved April 12, 2012
- ^ Tobias Buckell - Hurricane Fever cover art and release date reveal Archived 2013-11-04 at the Wayback Machine, at Upcoming4.me; published November 2, 2013; retrieved November 4, 2013
- ^ Martin, George R. R. (June 19, 2014). "Not A Blog: Venus In March". GRRM.livejournal.com. Archived from the original on August 21, 2014. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
External links[edit]
- Official website
- Tobias S. Buckell at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Crystal Rain Website
- Interview with Tobias S. Buckell at SFFWorld.com
- Interview on wotmania.com
- Interview on the SciFiDimensions Podcast
- Interview at Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 30, March 2009
- Arctic Rising review at Upcoming4.me
- The Tobias Buckell Papers, 1994- 2009, at Northern Illinois University Libraries
- 1979 births
- Living people
- Grenadian male writers
- People from Bluffton, Ohio
- Grenadian emigrants to the United States
- Writers from Ohio
- Grenadian science fiction writers
- Grenadian novelists
- Grenadian short story writers
- United States Virgin Islands writers
- Male novelists
- Male short story writers
- 20th-century short story writers
- 21st-century novelists
- 21st-century short story writers
- 20th-century male writers
- 21st-century male writers


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By Barry Hatton
LISBON, Portugal –
Portugal's conservative president announced May 17 that he is ratifying a law allowing gay marriage in the predominantly Catholic country.
The head of state's decision to permit the enactment of a bill passed by Parliament in January makes Portugal the sixth European country allowing same-sex couples to wed.
President Anibal Cavaco Silva said in a nationally televised address he regretted that the country's political parties had failed to reach a compromise during days of heated debate in Parliament four months ago.
Vetoing the bill would only send it back to Parliament where lawmakers would overturn his decision, he said, adding that the country needed to focus on overcoming an economic crisis that has increased unemployment and deepened poverty.
The Socialist government's bill was backed by all of Portugal's left-of-center parties, who together have a majority in Parliament. Right-of-center parties opposed the measure and demanded a national referendum.
"Given that fact, I feel I should not contribute to a pointless extension of this debate, which would only serve to deepen the divisions between the Portuguese and divert the attention of politicians away from the grave problems affecting us," Cavaco Silva said.
He said that, in ratifying the law, he was setting aside "personal convictions."
Elsewhere in Europe, gay marriage is permitted in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Norway.
Five U.S. states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage, as have Canada and South Africa.
Portugal is nearly 90 percent Catholic. However, only around 2 million of its 10.6 million people describe themselves as practicing Catholics and, in recent times, Portugal has drifted away from the church's teachings.
The current Socialist government has defied the church before. It passed a law in 2007 allowing abortion. The following year, it introduced a law allowing divorce even if one of the spouses objected. It has argued that the legislation is part of Portugal's "modernization."
The new law removes the previous legal stipulation that marriage is between two people of different sexes.
Portugal's Constitutional Court validated the bill's legality last month.
Like neighboring Spain, which introduced same-sex marriages four years ago, previous efforts in Portugal to introduce gay marriage ran into strong resistance from religious groups and conservative lawmakers.
Gay rights advocates have said they will continue to fight for gay couples' parental rights, including adoption, which are not included in the law.
Portugal lifted a prohibition on homosexuality in the early 1980s. In 2001, it passed a law allowing "civil unions" between same-sex couples, which granted couples certain legal, tax and property rights. However, it did not allow couples to take a partner's name, nor inherit his or her possessions or state pension.


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April 4, 2019
They say that everybody has a doppelgänger—an unrelated individual whom they so closely resemble that he or she could be that person's twin. But now a Brandeis University mathematician, Jonathan Touboul, has taken that theory one step further, hypothesizing that all hipsters—those disaffected and unconventional young adults who see themselves as outliers—look so much alike that they cannot be differentiated at first glance.
And in fact, a stereotypical hipster already has unwillingly proven him correct.
According to a report by Live Science, this particular "can of worms" was opened about one month ago, when an irate reader threatened to sue the MIT Technology Review after he saw an article called "The hipster effect: Why anti-conformists always end up looking the same."
The man (a hipster, himself) claimed that the photo above the story— which depicted a bearded man in his twenties or thirties wearing a dark wool beanie and a flannel shirt— had been hijacked from his social media profile, used without his permission, and was tantamount to slander.
It turned out, however, that the reader was mistaken. The man in the photo wasn't him at all, it turned out, but rather a model dressed as a hipster. The two men just happened to look exactly alike.
The whole legal kerfuffle inadvertently confirmed Touboul's theory, as well as the original basis of his study, published February 21 to the preprint journal arXiv.org,
Touboul questioned what he called "the hipster paradox." If hipsters define their behavior as opposing mainstream culture, he wondered, why do so many of them end up looking, dressing and thinking alike?
Touboul wrote an equation to try to find out, Live Science reports. In his study, he decided to model the emergence of a trend — say, growing a beard — as it spread through a society made of two distinct groups: "mainstreams," whose decisions tend to follow the majority, and "hipsters," whose decisions tend to oppose the majority.
To better simulate the way that trends spread through an actual culture, individuals in Touboul's model learned about the trend little by little over time as the information trickled down through various sources — the way a trend might spread first to "influencers," then to blogs, mass media and word of mouth, reaching various audiences along the way.
When a trend first emerged in the model, Touboul wrote, individuals in the hipster set acted randomly—periodically switching from adopting or rejecting a trend as new individuals learned about it. Inevitably, though, as more and more mainstream conformists adopted the trend, the hipsters became synchronized in their behavior, suddenly deciding to oppose the majority en masse.
In the beard-growing example, the cycle might look like this:
"If a majority of individuals shave their beard, then most hipsters will want to grow a beard," Touboul wrote. "And if this trend propagates to a majority of the population, it will lead to new, synchronized switch to shaving."
"Despite (and actually, in response to) their constant efforts, at all times, anti-conformists fail being disaligned with the majority," Touboul concluded. "They actually create the trends they will soon try to escape."
Research contact: email@example.com


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Home > ILJ > Vol. 37 > Iss. 5 (2014)
Searching for a Modernized Voice: Economics, Institutions, and Predictability in European Competition Law
David J. Gerber
The Past, Present, and Future of EU Enlargement
Frank Emmert and Siniša Petrović
The Rule of Law in the Recent Jurisprudence of the ECJ
Thomas von Danwitz
How Can the Problem of the Liability of a Parent Company for Price Fixing by a Wholly-owned Subsidiary Be Resolved?
John Temple Lang
A Busted Flush: Regulation of Online Gambling in the European Union
Katherine A. Lovejoy
Multijurisdictional Practice and Alternative Legal Practice Structures: Learning from EU Liberalization to Implement Appropriate Legal Regulatory Reforms in the United States
Melissa Pender
Private Antitrust Enforcement and Tentative Steps Toward Collective Redress in Europe and the United Kingdom
Maria Teresa Vanikiotis


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All disputes are sensitive and stressful regardless of the circumstance, however, when it comes to family matters, the stress can seem overwhelming. Axia Litigation Lawyers works one to one with clients to understand their position and their preferred outcome before providing tailored strategies to quickly resolve estate disputes.
When dealing with an estate dispute we are sensitive to the fact that there may be extenuating circumstances. We are also mindful of the need to resolve the matter in a way that minimises both costs and delay. It is the Axia goal to reach a resolution so that litigation may be avoided, however if litigation is the only avenue, we will use our expert knowledge and experience to position you strongly through the court process.
We understand the unique emotional equation that comes with pursuing or defending an Estate Claim and we also know the relief that resolution can provide. We are dedicated to achieving a resolution as quickly and efficiently as possible so that you can move forward.
In providing legal services to our clients, we strongly believe that we must demonstrate both financial and ethical value.
To meet this commitment, we will always provide you with a detailed scope of work and a fee estimate before we commence work. In some instances, we can even provide a fixed fee option. Regardless, you will always have complete transparency concerning your financial commitment providing certainty and peace of mind.
We provide clients with complete transparency relative to their matter and uphold the moral, legal and ethical standards in all dealings.
Axia Litigation Lawyers service clients currently provide Litigation and Dispute Resolution services across Australia and abroad with our head office on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Thanks to technology, borders are no barrier and we have the ability to provide expert advice to clients no matter where they live and work.
Axia Litigation Lawyers are experts in dispute resolution and litigation.
Contact us today to understand how you can effectively and efficiently reach a resolution in your matter.
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After my initial consultation with Axia Litigation Lawyers, I felt the tension and stress fall away. They were both compassionate and understanding of my case and were diligent and thorough in their work ethic.
I found Jennifer and the team at Axia extremely thorough and knowledgeable with my recent copyright case. I only wish other legal firms acted with such integrity. We will definitely engage their services if required in the future.
Thank you for your outstanding help & I couldn't be happier with the help AXIA have given me.
We have used Axia Legal on two occasions over the last three years with great success and I am happy to recommend Adam Brown from Axia Legal
The team at Axia Litigation were first class, when guiding us through two consecutive legal matters. We received regular communication, with each of the legal steps explained in full.
Axia Lawyers are an excellent litigation firm that handle cases in a professional manner and pay attention to details. The customer service was outstanding, I would highly recommend this firm.
I have no hesitation in recommending them. They were always very informative and answered all of my questions and always kept me in the loop and well informed of my progress.
Axia were competent, diligent and excellent to work with.
After multiple attempts at trying to find reliable counsel in Australia to act on an advisory basis to our firm, we found ourselves feeling reassured and feel as though we have gained a solid ally with Axia Litigation.


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US$ 733.01 for 2 pers. for 2 pers.Add to cart
This e-Gift box includes the following for two people:
Find time to relax with this gift box for two! In the thermal baths or the thalassotherapy center, give your body the attention it deserves. Relax, this is 'you time'! Enjoy a one-night stay, a treatment for 2 people, use of the spa and dinner for two.
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Retirement, birthday...
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text:
A high surf advisory remains in effect for the Marianas until 5:00am (ChST) Monday morning.
- South facing reefs - Surf will be hazardous at 10 to 12 feet throughout tonight then fall slightly to 9 to 11 feet Saturday.
- West facing reefs – Surf will be hazardous at 8 to 10 feed today then build up to 9 to 11 feed tonight before falling back to 8 to 10 feet Saturday.
- Surf will remain hazardous on Sunday.
Avoid venturing near reef lines and beaches, especially those facing south and west.
A small craft advisory is in effect for the Marianas until 5:00am (ChST) Saturday morning.
- Strong winds and combined seas of 10 feet or more will produce hazardous conditions for operators of small craft today and tonight.
- South winds at 15 to 25 knots will gradually subside.
- Winds tonight will shift to southwest on Saturday.
Visit the following links for the latest advisory information:
- NWS Website: http://www.prh.noaa.
- NWS Facebook: https://www.
- GHS/OCD Website: https://ghs.guam.gov/
- GHS/OCD Facebook: https://www.


text:
419-841-2070 (Central Ave.)
419-321-4000 (Madison Ave.)
Lunch Monday - Friday, 11:30am - 2:00pm
Dinner Tuesday - Thursday, 4:30pm -9:30pm
Friday - Saturday 4:30pm - 10:30pm
Sunday closed.
Open on Sunday for special days
(Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve or Christmas Eve)
You'll get quick service with a smile so that no matter how brief your mid-day or evening visit is, you will feel rejuvenated. The generous portion sizes and delicious sauces ensure you'll leave satisfied.
Phone: 419-321-4000
Email: email@example.com
Address: Kyoto Ka,
300 Madison Ave, Toledo, OH 43604
Payment Methods:


text:
Hey ! We have big news! LocalGuddy and Triple are becoming ONE! Read now!
Local Guddy
*Tour guide in Spanish, English or Italian* I started my experience in this city as a tourist and I truly know what a tourist really wants. I create a tour through this amazing city and its incredible sites: starting with Plaza Cataluña and passing through the Rambla and the Boqueria Market, Gothic Quarter and its gothic churches, its ancient roman secrets and archeological sites, the exotic Raval, going to see the port to see the sea and in the Barceloneta, and finally walking in the fancy Born. If we have more time we could see the amazing Montjuic too. With my guide you'll know every typical touristic place and the unknown corners as well. I like to explain historical and funny anecdotes that usually people don't know and don't found in the touristic guide. You'll finish the tour knowing the incredible secrets of this city. I also like to show my favorite restaurants and bars to eat some typical spanish and catalan food.
Prefered Meeting Point: Plaza Cataluña
Prefered Meeting Time:
Is suitable for:
The price includes:
Transportation methods:
On foot, Bus/railway
TOUR: An unusual walk through Barcelona
I was particularly fortunate to have chosen Vincenzo as a tour guide. He was communicative before the event, ensuring that I got the most direct transportation to our meeting point and that my needs were met along the way. It just so happened that his taste for nature an mine coincided and so I was treated to the beautiful parks and gardens at Montjuic. It was my last day in Barcelona and I wanted to do many things. We managed to do all but one of what I wanted. I totally enjoyed our visit to Poblesec and my introduction to Pinchos. I returned later in the night, by myself (with directions from Vincenzo) to soak up the night time ambiance of the place. He didn't take too long on drawn out explanations and so we were able to cover a lot. I especially loved the Boqueria Market. I would highly recommend Vincenzo as a guide. He is knowledgeable, thorough and quiet amenable to the wishes of his clients
You won't be charged yet.
1. Book the tour for the date you request.
2. You'll be notified via e-mail once the local guide confirms the date.
3. Make the payment online to complete the booking.


text:
Star Trek fans have been waiting eagerly for this one, ever since it was announced back at 2016, but Star Trek Bridge Crew is finally here to give us a real dose of what it's like to be on the bridge of a federation starship. Virtual reality has done wonders in redefining the gaming experience for many titles, so it's undoubtedly going to do just the same here with the Star Trek universe. Fans are going to be absolutely enticed by this one, but can its reach extend to a broader audience?
In Star Trek Bridge Crew, players take the role of one of four positions on the bridge of the USS Aegis, taking place during the time of the original Star Trek series – the one with Captain Kirk and the crew. You're taken through introductory missions that help get you acquainted with the controls and duties of each crew member, but after that, they're taken into real missions consisting of rescue operations, combat missions, and even deep space exploration.
Even if you're not a fan of the series, you'll appreciate the kind of depth that the game delivers in really immersing you into the experience. And best of all, there's so much variety with the missions that you never know what to expect and encounter with each one. Due to its non-linear style in accomplishing missions, we're impressed that there are seriously a handful of ways to complete them – you don't have to necessarily follow a step-by-step process.
Visually, we wouldn't say we're totally blow away by the game. While it manages to do nicely in replicating the bridge of a federation starship, there's very little in the diversity department because we're constantly seeing the same panels over and over again. Sure, you can quickly switch to a third person view of the ship at any time, which adds some varying perspective during combat, but the graphics can be summed up as being middle of the road.
We've seen better visuals in other VR titles, but for a Star Trek game, we really can't complain a whole lot since it admirally delivers a convincing picture of what it looks like to be in the Star Trek universe.
What makes Bridge Crew so unique in comparison to the other Star Trek games before it, is that delivers an almost simulation/role playing style that can only be truly achieved with the aid of virtual reality. There are a total of four roles you can assume on the bridge, they include the captain, helm, tactical, and engineer – all of which are responsible for different duties. This, naturally, is what makes the game both complex and diverse all at the same time.
This is a great thing for die hard Trekkie fans, just because it gives them the feeling of actually being on the bridge. Teamwork is crucial to accomplishing missions, but when you're playing through the single player campaign, we're in control of the captain most of the time. You'd think that being captain is a fun job, but in actuality, it can become boring over time – mainly because you're predisposed to just really issuing orders to crew members.
In a way, you could argue that Bridge Crew is a simulation of sorts, especially when there are procedures in place that you need to adhere by – just like in the real Star Trek universe. And this is what makes this game unique in the Star Trek franchise, since each role has its purpose, and you have to form a cohesive trust in carrying out missions. For example, you can't just instantly warp with the push of a button, but rather, the helm has to first map a course, then the engineer needs to charge the warp coils, and when the helm finally has the starship positioned correctly, the ship can finally warp!
Like we said, the game follows very much to a simulator than anything else. Diehard fans will absolutely adore this kind of gameplay, but if you're more an action-oriented player, you'll find this game being more slow paced than to your liking. Speaking of action, we wish there was a bit more depth to the combat system in Bridge Crew. For the most part, taking down enemy vessels requires photo torpedos and phasers to charge – and then unleashed. But there's really no kind of strategy besides continuing to fire away and manage the ship's resources, seeing that aiming is on automatic.
The single player campaign will have you gaining experience with all the bridge roles, however, the dynamics really change when you jump into multi-player mode. You get to join three other friends to complete a mission. Now, the banter between players can be comedic at times, given when you're thrown into a mission with totally random strangers you might never meet in real life. Then again, once you get down and dirty with the missions, it's nice to see that teamwork is yet again crucial in carrying out these missions successfully.
So far in our experience, there have been some dropped connections during multi-player gameplay. We've had several drops during our time playing through the game, but we suppose that servers are working extra hard to keep up with the demand. What makes Bridge Crew especially unique amongst the VR space, is that you can multi-play with others using different systems. We've been checking out Bridge Crew with the Oculus Rift and Touch Controllers, but when it comes to multi-play, you can play with others using an HTC Vive or PlayStation VR.
VR Experience
Despite the high level of realism presented here with Star Trek Bridge Crew, the VR experience is what we regard to be more on the isolated side. Since the first person view has our player in a seated position in the game, it's best to play it while seated as well. Interaction with the holographic panels in front of us is reserved to tapping on buttons, pulling levers, and much more. In our seated position, we can see other officers that are nearby to us, but the VR experience is isolating because we can only interact within arms length to what's around us.
At no time did we find ourselves having to stand up to move around to another area, which is a real shame because it really limits the VR experience. And you know what? You can't stand up or even explore other areas of the ship. Ultimately, this is the one area where Bridge Crew can benefit in by offering more freedom with moving around.
Regardless of the lack of VR depth in the game, we're happy to report that the visuals, frame rates, and the overall responsiveness of the VR tracking makes for long term gameplay without any sickness. We've managed to play consecutively for over an hour without any issues.
Priced at $49.99, Star Trek Bridge Crew is an inventive experience that gives players a real dose of what it's like to be a bridge crewmember. There's a steep learning curve initially because you need to get acquainted with the duties of each role before being able to cohesively work as a team to complete missions. This isn't a game we'd recommend for someone who prefers more of that arcade-action pacing, since this game requires strategy and proactive thinking to complete missions.
Considering its non-linear gameplay, it's really fun knowing that missions don't have just one single way of completing successfully. Adding to that, the missions have decent diversity in the way that you're just not doing the same thing over and over again. And seeing that you can take the role of a different crew member, with each one having their own attributes and skills, it adds more depth to each mission if you want to replay them.
It boldly goes to where no other Star Trek game as gone before, but there's still room for improvement before we can firmly say it's the perfect Star Trek game. For $50, it's a solid buy if you're a longtime fan of the series.


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"Flying Irish Keep on Running" Grant
We love hearing about our member's races that they participate in every year. We love hearing about them so much so that we want to further encourage our member participation in endurance races and events whether they are close to home or all the way across the globe. One of the parts of the Club's mission is to the furthering of an active lifestyle through running. Well, we see no better way to make that happen by establishing the Flying Irish Running Club Grant!! With the Grant, we are able to provide our members the opportunity to further their active lifestyle through running and also provide for encouragement, fellowship, and camaraderie with members of the Flying Irish Running Club.
Each year* the Club will award a Grant to members of the Flying Irish Running Club who complete and return the Flying Irish Running Club Grant application, which can be downloaded below. The Grant is a monetary payment that does not need to be repaid** to the selected recipients for the purpose of helping the applicant pay for race/event registration and associated travel costs that the applicant plans on participating in by December 31st of next year. More than one Grant recipient may be selected. All of the details and criteria for receiving the Grant and the selection process can be found within the Application form.
For 2018 three Grants will be awarded for a grand total of up to $500.
We are excited about this great opportunity for our members and we hope that you are just as excited. Recipients of the Grant will be announced at the Annual Member's Meeting/End of Season Party that occurs on the first Thursday of December.
Completed Applications can be submitted in person to the Board Secretary OR mail the completed Application to:
Flying Irish Running Club
Att: Grant Application
Spokane, WA 99209
Deadline for submission of completed Applications is November 2, 2018.
*Based upon availability of funds
**Criteria for which repayment of the Grant is required is outline in the Flying Irish Grant


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Us usual, the arrangement with the syndicators means this column appears here a week after its newspaper release)
^(For use by New York Times News Service clients)
^By BOB FRANKEN
^C.2011 Hearst Newspapers
WASHINGTON _ They have a lot in common. It's a safe bet that when Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich pondered a presidential race they had no idea that they'd be racing backward.
Gingrich, when he's not hatefully base playing, occasionally wants to peddle some food for thought. So, on ``Meet the Press,just two days after his candidacy announcement, he decided to show he wasn't just a party hack, by hacking away at Republican gospel in the form of House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan's call to radically transform Medicare.
The Ryan plan _ which would provide eligible beneficiaries with vouchers to pay for their own private health insurance _ was ``right wing social engineering",Gingrich said.
Big mistake. Instantly, the clobbering began. His fellow Republicans began calling him every name but Newt. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley was typical. ``Here you have Rep. Ryan trying to bring common sense to this world of insanity and Newt absolutely cut him off from the knees",she complained.
It's more like Gingrich cut himself off at the knees. So he called Ryan to apologize for what he called ``inelegant" language.
Of course, he's reflexively blaming ``media minions" for all this controversy. That was a quote from Rick Tyler, his spokesman. Faulting the press, or what Gingrich himself has called the ``gotcha press", is the default conservative excuse for anything.
Gingrich preemptively also took on paid media, meaning the inevitable future commercials from his political opponents: After Gingrich retracted his words he announced: ``Any ad which quotes what I said on Sunday is a falsehood."
He had blurted the words, he explained, after an ambush question on ``Meet the Press". It was all a big surprise, he insisted. ``It didn't occur to me going in that you'd have a series of setups". Gingrich has been a guest on the program 35 times.
Disagreeing with himself is nothing new for Newt Gingrich. It was just a few weeks ago that he was dumping on President Obama for doing nothing about Libya and then when the U.S. joined in the NATO military action there, Gingrich did a 180-degree switch and complained about that, too. He's even come up with a spin on all his spinning, saying his ``ideas keep evolving"
His evolutions are revolting to some of the party faithful. In Iowa, on camera, a member of his audience called on Gingrich to pack it in ``before you make a bigger fool of yourself"and called him an ``embarrassment to our party". Now that's brutal. The only worse insult would be ``RINO".
For those who haven't read the Tea Party scrolls, RINO means ``Republican In Name Only"and, these days, it is the most contemptuous term imaginable, heaped upon anyone in the party who demonstrates a willingness to compromise with the other side.
To be fair, hard-core liberals also scorn their ``Democrats in Name Only", but the DINO brand doesn't compare to RINO's scarlet letters. They are a constant danger to comparative realists like Tim Pawlenty, Mitch Daniels and Jon Huntsman.
And certainly to Mitt Romney. He spends much of his time dodging his past policies. Gun control? Don't let his past support fool you. He's against it. Ditto abortion.
The biggie, though, is the GOP's hated ``Obamacare" Romney keeps telling us he is absolutely against it, even though it was largely modeled on the Massachusetts plan; you know, the one that Romney championed when he was that state's governor. Today's right-handed Mitt contends that this is no inconsistency since he has always believed the matter should be handled on the state level, not by the intrusive feds.
Furthermore, his thinking has ``evolved."
They are an interesting evolving pair, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, both frantically moon walking. Instead of running for president, maybe they should take up swimming, since it would be tempting to conclude they are both in over their heads.
(Email: bob(at)hearstdc.com. On the Web: www.bobfranken.tv)


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Keeps drinks hot for up to 10 hours.
Insulated Bottle has two flow options, and you can even drink straight out of the bottle. Insulated Bottle will maintain the temperature of your drink no matter what's inside.
Protective, leak-proof lid
The leak-proof lid has smooth threads, that make it easy to open or close.
Insulated Bottle' main body is made from high quality stainless steel. Strainer and lid made from PP plastic. BPA free.


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NOT your typical charcoal bar. In addition to the activated charcoal (which is incredible for the skin) It is also made with tomato powder which is great for toning- Also included are an amazing blend of essential oils that captivate your senses with its earthly tones. Nothing like an gentle, yet cleansing bar soap.
Consider combining with a Reciprocitee detox face mask & Argan oil (Bye Bye Blemish Trio.
Benefits: Made with natural, vegan ingredients that leave your skin soap scum free! Great for balancing problematic skin (face and body).
Ingredients: Olive Oil, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Shea Butter, Candelilla Wax, Tomato Powder, Bamboo Activated Charcoal, and Essential oils of Tea tree, Palmarosa, Rosemary, and Frankincense
*Avoid use due to sensitivity/allergies (Intended for face and body)
Suggested add ons:
Pre sale price is SRP


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Grace Lutheran School
Curriculum Overview/Educational Philosophy
The goal of Grace Lutheran School is to blend best educational practices from both Grenada and the United States. We use Language Arts and Math curriculum, methods, teaching tools, guides and textbooks brought in from the United States and the Caribbean. All standards and grade level objectives have been closely examined to ensure that all content taught reflects or surpasses the standards set by Grenada's Ministry of Education. The progressive approach in language arts and math teaching will serve to assist in the on-going teacher training that is an integral part of our entire school. Science and Social Studies will be taught with innovative methods using local books. All students will have daily experience working in cooperative groups, practicing critical thinking skills and using creativity to solve problems. Our focus is on the process of educating children using authentic, on-going assessment at every level and ultimately using the Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA) as required by the Grenadian Government at grade 6 to show individual growth and development.
Parents are welcome to request a copy of the complete curriculum for Grace Lutheran School which outlines subject by subject every learning objective at every grade level.
Social and Emotional Development
Grace Lutheran School believes that play should be an integral part of every child's overall learning experience. Allowing students the time and opportunity to play, nurtures their creativity and problem-solving abilities, builds their strength and coordination, and allows children to acquire competence and skills that help them feel good about themselves. Play provides the context in which caring adults teach children how to behave and how to treat others.
Behaviour Management
Grace Lutheran believes that children learn most effectively when they feel safe. Our goal is to provide a safe and fun learning environment to encourage their optimal overall development. It is our belief that when an interesting and challenging environment with a variety of activities is available, then discipline problems are at a minimum.
The staff members at Grace Lutheran strive to develop and maintain a positive relationship with each child. Through the training of "Conscious Discipline" (http://consciousdiscipline.com/) our staff members have a thorough understanding of children's early development and the relationship between brain function and behaviour. This is mandatory training for all teachers at Grace Lutheran School. Staff will, when appropriate, intervene to facilitate learning, and to provide necessary support and guidance. At no time will physical punishment or any other form of punishment (belittling or humiliating to a child) be used. If a significant discipline problem does arise, there will be direct communication between home and school to discuss the issue at hand.
Please see the below links on the "Affliations" sections of our website to read more details about our programs.
Language Arts Curriculum Scott Foresman's Reading Street
Math Curriculum Investigations in Number, Data and Space
Classroom Behaviour Management


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Whether lifting weights in a gym or just walking around the block, exercise has many benefits, such as helping people lose weight and build stronger muscles. Some studies suggest that it may reduce the risk of developing cancer and other diseases. Researchers now report in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research that moderate, long-term physical activity appears to improve cardiovascular health in mice by targeting the heart cells' powerhouses -- the mitochondria.
Eduard Sabidó, Francisco Amado and colleagues explain that despite the well-documented benefits of exercise, the exact way that it helps the heart is not well understood. Sure, it helps strengthen the heart muscle so it can pump more blood throughout the body more efficiently. And people who get off the couch and exercise regularly have a reduced risk of developing heart problems and cardiovascular disease. One estimate even claims that 250,000 deaths every year in the U.S. are at least partially due to a lack of exercise. But how this all happens in the body at the molecular level has perplexed researchers -- until now.
The team found that laboratory mice (stand-ins for humans) that exercised for 54 weeks on a treadmill-running regimen had higher levels of certain proteins in the mitochondria of their heart cells than mice that did not exercise. Mitochondria produce energy for the body's cells. In particular, they identified two proteins, kinases called RAF and p38, that "seem to trigger the beneficial cardiovascular effects of lifelong exercise training," they say.
The authors acknowledge funding from the 7th Framework Programme of the European Union, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, QREN, FEDER and COMPETE.
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 161,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact firstname.lastname@example.com.


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My mailbox is already too full. The best I seem to be able to get is about 120 emails behind. Each one of the little wriggling critters is a nagging cry for attention.
I know there are important appointments, deliverables, introductions, opportunities and pieces of wisdom nestled in the quagmire. Every time I look at the pile, I see obligation and responsibility. It's a time sink and a burden.
I remember when email was a source of joy and inspiration, now it's a ball and chain. Like Sisyphus, every time I push that damned rock up the hill, it rolls back down and I have to push it up again. It's overwhelming, frustrating, anxiety producing and guilt enhancing.
Meanwhile the tide of new product launches is accelerating. Shiny new toys are being rolled out for the great party in Las Vegas that is the SHRM conference. (Did anyone else notice the irony of the location?)
Today, my inbox started its own form of acceleration. I joined Monster's new BeKnown network last night to stay on top of the flow in social media products. Imagine Foursquare meets LinkedIn on the Facebook platform.
Professional networking with badges and accomplishments.
It's easy to dismiss the concept as derivative and unnecessary. After all, LinkedIn was there first and turning professional networking into a game could well have unintended consequences. And, who needs another social media time sink?
But that sort of misses the point.
Really, LinkedIn and Facebook are separate markets. Where LinkedIn is an amazing tool for seasoned players who know how to network and what to do when it works, Facebook is a more proletarian universe. Huge swaths of the Facebook audience build personal networks but really haven't figured out how to harness the process for work creation.
If you were building a business with an eye on the future, you'd certainly want to build lifetime customers rather that trying to convert the existing users of another system. Monster's play puts a stake in the ground in relatively virgin territory.
The functionality is interesting. Recruiters will have access to another target rich advertising environment with discrete company pages and focused job advertising opportunities. By building on the facebook audience, Monster is admitting that it lost its way in the audience acquisition game while making lemonade out of that lemon.
As you know, I'm deep in the middle of a comprehensive analysis of Social Media's impact on the HR and Recruiting industry and profession. I'm interviewing over 70 companies and drawing a map of the landscape. While BeKnown is splashy and important, there are a host of other alternatives.
Monster has depth and resources but, like any big company, is less agile than the little scrappy guys. The little guys, though, are more likely to find the magic bullet and execute on it. So, there's a race of sorts going on.
History does not suggest that big incumbents fare well at inflection points like this.
In Monster's favor are a deep technical bench and amazing social media brand expertise. Between the brilliant CIO and the high-rolling brand advocates (Eric, Kathy et all), Monster is launching a full on offense. It's really nice to see. The combination of energy and in-the-market experience offers some hope.
What Eric, Kathy and team have done is the powerful work of great evangelists. The Monster Social Media team has tirelessly worked the recruitosphere building solid relationships in advance of the launch. Monster, who generally get a serious trouncing when they launch new products, has converted the chattering classes into their own brand advocates.
While this is a story of technical features and functionality, it's also a branding triumph.
But, money is flowing like water into the niche. Well heeled competitors who don't have to shake off years of reputation and world view aren't going to sit still. The market is about to get very vibrant.
Meanwhile, my poor aching inbox is beginning to flood with BeKnown mail. I'm sure others will follow.
Here's some of the other coverage of the subject:
- Jason Buss offers a great deal of insight about why to restrain your enthusiasm on the topic.
- Josh Bersin does a solid Compare and Contrast between LinkedIn and BeKnown
- Fran Zuppan offers the clear thinking of a potential customer
- Irina Shamaeva notes that the real positive is that competition will improve quality


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A quick quiz to exercise your vision on patriotism and betrayal: let's say there's this RAW agent who is embedded in Pakistan, carrying out espionage on India's behalf. Completely dedicated to our country's cause, he's a thorough gentleman in every sense, a well-behaved citizen in Pakistan, but stealing information from there to pass on to our agents here. Would you call him a patriot? Hang on to that answer. Now, imagine his counterpart from Pakistan, operating in India, following the same decorum and dignity, and completely true to his country's cause. Would he meet your rigorous specifications of a patriot? Another sub-question – imagine both these agents get caught while carrying out service to their respective countries. How would you want Pakistan to deal with our RAW agent? And how would you want the agent from Pakistan to be handled? Would you wear the same lens for both situations? Or, is it myopia in one eye and hypermetropia in the other?
This is the blurring dilemma that director Steven Spielberg handles in his latest venture from behind the lens, "Bridge Of Spies". Based on the amazing true story of James B. Donovan (played by Tom Hanks) in 1957, and written by Matt Charman and the Coen brothers (Ethan and Joel), this is fine drama, handled with dignified maturity and finesse by the director and his band of high-class writers. Donovan is a successful insurance lawyer, a partner in a top insurance litigation firm. He's roped in to represent Rudolph Abel (Mark Rylance), a Russian spy operating in Brooklyn, to show the world that the United States gives a fair trial and chance to one and all, and to ensure that the USSR does not capitalize on this incident. Donovan, initially hesitant, is egged on by the senior partner in his firm, Thomas Watters Jr. (Alan Alda), to take on the case for the country's sake. Donovan plunges into the case in right earnest, meeting up with Abel, getting to know him, and even going to the judge for a mistrial because there wasn't a proper arrest warrant. As the case progresses, the American public, the judge, Donovan's wife, Mary (Amy Ryan), his children, partners, and the folks on the subway he travels on, all look at him in askance, at best questioning his trenchant pursuit for justice, at worst attacking his home and accusing him of betrayal.
In tandem unfolds the story of pilot Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell), who's one of four pilots picked for a secret mission to fly the U-2 aircraft from the American airbase in Islamabad over Russian skies, and take photographs. As luck and true story would have it, his plane is shot down, he's captured, and taken in for interrogation by the Russians. This sets in motion a mission kicked off by the CIA to exchange Abel and Powers, and Donovan is asked if he'd carry out the negotiations with the Russians. Donovan agrees, but the talks must take place in East Berlin (the wall is being built as the story progresses). Add to this mix some mysterious messages from Abel's family, the arrest of American student Frederic Pryor (Will Rogers) in East Berlin, and Donovan's insistence on getting back both Powers and Pryor for handing over Abel, and what you have a miasma of drama and engaging storytelling that keeps you hooked till the last frame.
Director Spielberg is in fine form, capturing the gloom and gloam of Brooklyn and Germany, even as he nuances out beautiful scenes in the movie. He bathes the movie with gentle humor and underplayed drama, even as he moves it along at a pace that's steady, firm, and gripping, shorn of any bathetic pretensions or jingoism. The film is nicely atmospheric, and Spielberg is helped by his keen and able editor Michael Kahn, who is in superb form as he places the Abel and Powers track side-by-side, beautifully seguing from one to the other in the most unaffected way. Note the scene where the judge comes into the courtroom and the bailiff announces "All rise", and Kahn and Spielberg show you children getting up in their classroom. This is classy stuff. Spielberg also makes the exchange scene an unforgettable one. This is the most humorous and moving exchange scenes I have ever seen. It makes you smile, laugh in relief, and fight back tears, all at the same time.
"Bridge of Spies" has a commendable star cast, right from the officer who arrests Abel in the beginning, Agent Blasco, played by the superb Domenick Lombardozzi (from the fantastic TV show, "The Wire"). Amy Ryan as Donovan's wife is quietly effective, not aiming to bamboozle, but conveying her worry and angst beautifully. And it is such an effusive pleasure to watch Alan Alda, as always. In the few scenes he is up there, he's smooth as single malt, happy to be supportive and critical of Donovan, as required. Dakin Mathews as Judge Byers is superb, stupefied by Donovan's persistence, and then delivering a judgment that makes the exchange possible at all.
But the movie belongs to Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance. They complement each other brilliantly, playing off each other in scenes with dialogues that are gentle word plays, yet agile and nimble footed, meaningful, yet humorous. As Donovan, Tom Hanks nails it deep and proper. He's superb, a submarine of assertiveness, while showing a calm and almost fastidious surface. His is a performance that comes along and simply guides you by the hand into beautiful cinema. As in the scene where he realizes he's being followed one rainy night; or the scene where his house is attacked; or when he tries to explain to his son why defending Abel isn't the wrong thing; his horror at the murders on the Berlin wall, and the beautiful moving end scene on the subway train. Tom Hanks makes you want shake his hand and say, "Well done, Donovan!" , even as you're worried you'll catch his cold and sniffles.
Mark Rylance is equally brilliant as the reticent, eyebrows-raised, poker-faced, soft-spoken Russian spy. He's so good, your heart goes out to him, as does Donovan's. Rylance conveys his story and his expressions softly, with a beautiful feather-like touch that moves you, makes you laugh, and go along with him for the exchange. There's this beautiful scene between Hanks and Rylance in the jail, when the latter's telling a story of his childhood, and talks of a man who he came to call "The standing man." That scene is so well directed and acted, it goes from humor to a gentle-tug-at-your-heart in a twirl.
And there's the background score by Thomas Newman that's as good as the lead actors. Newman rustles up his orchestra 20 minutes into the movie, and that's for the scene where Hanks is being followed. That's some beautiful horns, the piano tinkling like raindrops, and the violins halting and faltering, like Hanks himself. Also the "Standing Man" theme in the aforementioned scene in the jail – when the violins glide in gently into the scene, they bring with them a gentle gush of emotions that you simply flow into, such a beautiful piece that is. Then, there's the negotiation scene between the Russian official and Hanks. Thomas Newman ushers in male chorals that are haunting, unnerving, and make you shiver at the hostile environs you find Donovan in. Equally moving is the music for the climactic exchange, as Newman gets you engaged and into it. Or the beautiful violins and horns for the homecoming scene, the piano so lovely and gracefully moving with the violins.
As the credits roll, and Spielberg superbly rings out a comparison between the Berlin wall horror and schoolkids in the US jumping over a wall, playing, you know there's much that humanity has suffered in wars, cold or otherwise. And having the freedom for kids to play out in the open is just one of the privileges that you cannot and should not take for granted. It's a gift that you don't realize you're lucky to have even as wars continue to ravage countries, and you look for an exchange program in this madness that'll bring back a semblance of humane behavior. A tall order that, even for Donovan.
Watch the trailer of Bridge Of Spies here: