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300 Days of Sun
The Sea Garden
The Lantern
Songs of Blue and Gold
The Art of Falling
The structure of the novel, in a trio of novellas, is integral to the story. The three distinct parts each seem to be telling a separate story. Romance, intrigue, and mystery and eventually coalesce into a tale about the duplicities, sacrifices, heroics, and secrets of war - and the ghosts that linger in its aftermath.
What links these stories is the theme of communication, or the lack of it: coded wireless messages; torch signals; lighthouse beams; braille; the human senses, especially that of smell; information withheld; misinformation; differences in language; symbols; all play their part. The novel's structure mirrors the oblique connections between underground cells during wartime, where security is paramount and the best defence is limited knowledge of the activities of others in the organization. Different stories overlap but none are known to all those involved. It is only afterwards, sometimes many years later, that connections can be made.
There are many true stories within the pages of The Sea Garden, though all are filtered through the distorting mirror of fiction. The area of Provence I know well was a stronghold of the French Resistance during the Second World War. It's the kind of country place where people are proud of their past and stories are passed down in everyday conversation. The Resistance years are spoken about – to British, American and Canadian visitors in particular – with considerable pride and a sense of shared history.
I have long been intrigued by the stories of clandestine wartime airdrops of arms and agents by the RAF, and the secret landings of planes while France was under Nazi Occupation. When I began research into these air operations, I discovered a poignant detail in the memoir We Landed by Moonlight written by one of the RAF's finest Special Operations pilots, Group Captain Hugh Verity. On the makeshift landing strip known as "Spitfire", close to the great lavender fields of Sault, a Dakota was flown in carrying key French personnel just before the Allied landings on the south coast in August 1944. The plan was to land, drop the passengers and collect a group of escaping American airmen who had been on the run.
But the Dakota was too heavy, and the makeshift runway too short. On the run-up to take-off, the undercarriage snagged on a wide strip of lavender that had been planted to disguise the length of the field from the ever-vigilant occupying authorities. Before another attempt could be made, some of the US airmen had to disembark. Promises were made to come back for them the following night, but it was too late. The botched operation had taken too long, the Nazis and their Vichy enforcers, the Milice, were now aware of it and took brutal reprisals. The next night, the Dakota returned but there was no Resistance reception team waiting to signal it down.
That strip of lavender was the spark behind The Lavender Field, the first section to be written. It features the blind perfume maker Marthe Lincel, who appears in The Lantern, and tells the story of what really happened to her during the war when she began her apprenticeship with the perfume factory in Manosque.
The Resistance figure known as "the Poet" in this section is loosely based on the French surrealist René Char. In his secret wartime life, Char was a highly respected and successful Resistance leader, code-named Alexandre, based in the village of Céreste at the eastern end of the Luberon valley. The trustworthy local policeman Cabot in the story did exist in real life; he was instrumental in recovering some jewels which had been stolen on their way to being sold to buy food supplies, not only for Char and his host family, but for the army of resistants hiding out in the hills for whom "Capitaine Alexandre" was responsible.
In A Shadow Life, another young woman experiences a different aspect of the war. In bomb-blasted, monochrome London, Iris Nightingale works for the SOE, Churchill's Special Operations Executive, formed to sabotage and disrupt behind the lines in Occupied France. Iris works behind the scenes, recruiting and preparing the agents for their missions in France, and evaluating their wireless messages from enemy territory.
The starting point for Iris's story was the real-life figure of Vera Atkins, the senior woman officer at SOE's French Section in London (Mavis Acton, in this novel). A strong woman who provoked strong reactions, Vera Atkins proved her mettle by her resolute determination to discover what had happened to those SOE agents who did not return after the end of the war, especially the women she had personally recruited.
The character of Xavier Descours was suggested by the real Henri Déricourt, a pilot in civilian life and wartime flight liaison officer between the RAF and the French Resistance. After the war, there were many questions about his true motives, and whether he was a double-agent for the Nazis, or triple-agent working for the Allies. It is a question that remains unresolved.
The air museum at what was once RAF Tangmere in Sussex, was a fascinating source of information. The clandestine flights carrying passengers into and out of occupied France operated from this airfield, and there is a large collection of artefacts from the era. The idea of ghosts from the era may not be as far-fetched as it seems, either.
According to the staff and volunteers at Tangmere, there have been several ghostly sightings at quiet times, especially around the doomed Battle of Britain plane that has been reassembled from fragments dug out of its crash site. They also told me a tale of the disembodied arm clad in wartime RAF uniform that politely opens doors for the cleaners early in the morning…
The island of Porquerolles, off the southern French coast, is the setting for the first story, The Sea Garden. Early in the summer season, before the main crowds have arrived, the diving by the cliffs and calanques is spectacular, and there are shipwrecks on the seabed that are now home to fish and corals.
Some of the wrecks date from the Second World War, when the island was occupied first by the Italians and then by the Germans. The only Frenchmen allowed to remain were the lighthouse keeper, Monsieur Pellegrino and his assistant. In 1944, Pellegrino saved the lighthouse from destruction by the Germans, an act of heroism for which he earned the French Cross of the Legion of Honour. Although I proceeded to take liberties with the historical facts in this story, this was the starting point for this section.
The book opens with bright splashes of colour on Porquerolles, plunges into the sightless world of Marthe Lincel and moves to a stark black, white and grey London in the 1940s. Links between their different stories are deliberately subtle; but they are there, in the very different experiences of each of the three young women.
A few questions to ponder:
• What is the nature of the haunting at the Domaine de Fayols?
• What is the significance of the timing of Ellie's meetings with Gabriel?
• How does Marthe's lack of sight change the narrative perspective of The Lavender Field?
• If you have also read The Lantern, does knowing Marthe's story change the impact of her appearance in that novel now?
• Does Iris ever really know Xavier?
• What do all three stories have to say about truth and trust?
• Does the Sea Garden actually refer to the garden at the Domaine de Fayols, or is it to be found elsewhere?
The mystery of Penelope Kite's money>>
Lazy Sunday in Provence>>
New book! Death in Provence>>
Web Design and Website Management by Judith Barrett Tunbridge Wells
Images © 2007-16 Deborah Lawrenson unless otherwise indicated


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A woman scorned after her partner of 18 years left her for another woman damaged her ex's new girlfriend's car.
June Waite believed it was a car she had bought her ex when she scratched it with a key.
I'm a silly old woman
But the Vauxhall Corsa turned out to be a similar car her ex had bought his new girlfriend.
Waite, 50, of Melbourne Avenue, Cleveleys, pleaded guilty to causing damage.
She was given a 12 months conditional discharge and ordered to pay £75 compensation, a £150 court charge, £85 costs plus £15 victims' surcharge by Blackpool magistrates.
Prosecutor, Alison Quanbrough, said Waite's former partner was in the resort's Regal Hotel when she came up to him and poured a pint over his head on June 12.
Waite's ex then saw her go outside and scratch his new partner's car with a key.
When interviewed Waite told police she thought the car belonged to her ex and said: "I'm a silly old woman."
Andrew Nottingham, defending, said: "She had been in a relationship for 18 years and he finished that relationship to go out with another woman.
"She had bought her former partner a car, but he got rid of it. He then bought his new partner the same type of car. She believed the car she damaged was the car she had bought him and was surprised when told it was not his.
"She said she would not pay for the damage."

subset: commoncrawl


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This was one of my kindy frocks, worn with the lacey white socks, Clarke's black patent leather shoes and accessorised with a huge yellow ribbon tied in my pony tail. A rather structured play dress not quite the fit for showing off on the monkey bars but I loved it dearly. I remember it made me feel very important, I felt like a flight attendant with the high neckline and the hint of a flair at the hem and I called it my Charlotte frock, Charlotte sounding like a much more important name. She needs a new button but in my heart I don't want to change a thing about her.
So I created another one...and left out the frock
These little frocks are available at Rowantree Designs studio in sizes one, two and three if you wold love one leave me a comment and I will contact you


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Since 2004, I have campaigned to incorporate conflict resolution and nonviolent conflict skills in schools. I would like to say that it has been easy, but in reality, promoting these ideas in schools has met resistance from school administrators, teachers, and students. Why have these ideas met such resistance in schools? My theory is that peace educators have gone about promoting these concepts by using uninteresting, outdated, and abstract methods. My new approach in promoting nonviolent conflict skills is to use methods that are fun, interesting, practical, and experiential.
Practical Methods for Teaching Nonviolent Conflict Skills:
1. Mainstreaming-this is the idea that nonviolent conflict skills are not just for major conflicts used by specially trained individuals. However, these skills should be taught in students' everyday lives as a method to prevent violence and promote conflict transformation.
2. Experiential Learning-non violent conflict skills should be taught in a way that students can reflect on their experiences and translate those experiences into simple but effective actions.
3. Teach intercultural dialogue-miscommunication and bias is a source for many conflicts in schools. Teaching students simple, respectful conversations can reduce conflicts in the classroom, when working in groups, on the bus, and in the community can reduce conflicts.
4. Volunteering-when students volunteer they not only give to others, but they receive valuable knowledge, meet new friends, have fun, and breakdown cultural barriers.
5. Incorporate conflict coaching skills-teaching these skills can empower students and staff to deal with situations like bullying, bias, misunderstandings, harassment, and other conflict behaviors.
6. Make learning nonviolent conflict skills fun-use catchy slogans, fables, modules, simulations, and out of the box activities with students to get them interested in learning nonviolent conflict skills. One site that has great ideas is the Peace is Sexy website. This website offers fun ideas to promote nonviolent conflict skills and mediation to students and staff members.
|Purchase a Peace is Sexy t-shirt
Here are some other great ideas to promote peace and get students to thinking more on a community level:
Make Valentine Sexy-Valentine Peace Project
We tend to think about chocolates, flowers, and stones as symbols of Valentine's Day. However, some products have some pretty unsexy results: slave labor, exploitation, and war. Get students thinking about how the products they buy may contribute to conflict around the world and how they can make a difference by choosing socially conscious products.
|Blood Diamond Poster
Valentine Peace Project-check out this project as a new way to think about promoting peace and rethinking how we contribute to conflict in the world through our purchases.
Peace Superheroes Series-show students that they can be a superhero by helping others.
Peace Bag
Peace Bag is a toolkit developed by partnerships in Europe and Africa that feature tools, activities, case studies, key concepts, and practical activities to help youth workers incorporate nonviolent conflict skills in their everyday lives.
Activities from Peace Bag:
A Moment in My Shoes-show students how it feels to be a child slave.
Do you want slavery with that?-understanding of human rights and our "I want that now" attitude.
More Than a Label-expose how our bias impacts our school and how we treat others.
A Seat at the Table-simulations that helps students explore and compare how other cultures would react in similar situations.
Service learning lesson plans for changing the school community
Generation On-service learning projects in schools and communities.
ADL Antibias Study Guide for Secondary Skills-project based curriculum for teaching anti-bias education.
Teaching Tolerance Activities-The Southern Poverty Law creates free activities for schools from grades K-12 to teach non-bias.


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How Are You Taking A Summer Break from Your Tech?
Last week was the first day of summer and it got me thinking about doing a digital detox. However, Aliza Sherman and I were reviewing the final round of edits from our copy editor at Wiley for our forthcoming book, The Happy Healthy Nonprofit due out in October. … Read More


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torbjorn.vik wrote: The holes are 2.5 inches in diameter. I have a spare set of engine mountings, but no amount of measuring and drawing indicates that it is possible to enlarge the holes to fit a 3'' dynamo. There just is not enough metal?
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Plan Your Event
Section Navigation
Let us help you plan your event.
There a wide variety of venues and meeting spaces across the campus. If you're ready to reserve a space, please complete our online reservation form.
If you would like to explore a range of options, please click on Reserve A Space (left), and we will walk you through the process.
Not sure how or where your event fits? Give us a call at 509.527.5366 or email the team at email@example.com.


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Japan's whaling fleet returns to port after resuming Antarctic whaling in defiance of international law
Japan's whaling fleet returned to port today (Thur), after ignoring international law and global opposition to resume its illegal slaughter of whales in the Southern Ocean.
According to media reports, the Japanese government announced that the fleet arrived back in Shimonoseki, western Japan, earlier today. It had set out with plans to harpoon 333 minke whales. While there has so far been no official statement on the number of whales killed during this season's hunt, Japanese government sources suggest the full quota was taken.
Japan's previous self-allocated Antarctic quotas allowed for around 1,000 whales to be hunted but in reality far fewer were taken in the last few years - 252 minke whales in the 2013/14 season – so a full kill quota of 333 whales would represent a significant increase.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) continues to call on anti-whaling governments to bring international law to bear on Japan again in a bid to end its cruel practice once and for all.
Despite the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling in March 2014 that its so-called scientific whaling in the Antarctic was illegal and not for the purposes of science, Japan ignored pleas to leave its harpoons behind and pursue non-lethal research.
It also disregarded a 33-nation demarche whose signatories included the US, Australia, New Zealand and EU member countries united in their opposition to Japan's slaughter of whales in the Antarctic.
The ICJ judgment was strongly backed by the conservation body for whales, the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which recommended that the Japanese government should issue no further permits to kill whales before the IWC would be given a chance to examine Japan's proposal at its next full meeting in Slovenia this September. Although a member of the IWC, Japan has repeatedly ignored IWC decisions including the adoption in 1994 of the Southern Ocean as a whale sanctuary where no whaling should take place.
IFAW has long encouraged Japan to turn to benign research that does not involve killing whales. This generates results of far greater importance to the international community than the limited research from dead whales. IFAW welcomed an initial announcement by Japan in 2014 that it would abide by the ICJ ruling, but the pause in its Antarctic whaling was short-lived.
In November 2014 the Japanese government revealed details of its new Southern Ocean whaling proposal, called NEWREP-A, with the aim of harpooning almost 4,000 whales in total over the next 12 years in an expanded Antarctic killing zone. The fleet left port in early December.
Patrick Ramage, Global Whale Programme Director for IFAW, said: "It's weird science. According to their own proposal, Japanese fisheries scientists are specifically targeting juvenile and adult females to determine their age of sexual maturity. They are hunting for 150 fertile females, and treating the killing of males as collateral damage to get them.
"The scientific committee of the International Whaling Commission and independent experts reporting to that body have shown Japan's rationale for this so-called research and its method for calculating sample size are both spurious. This was a central issue identified by the ICJ when it ruled such whaling illegal.
"If our Japanese friends really care about science and international law, it's time to put down the harpoon and chopstick, stop cutting these creatures into bits in the name of science, and join Australia, New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries studying living whales in their ocean environment in the 21st Century."
An expert panel of scientists which examined the new whaling proposal in February 2015 concluded that the case for killing whales had not been made, and that certain prior analyses were needed. At its meeting in June 2015 the IWC's Scientific Committee found that the necessary work had not been carried out or was incomplete.
In October last year, in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Japan exempted itself from the jurisdiction of the ICJ for any future cases involving scientific whaling, or exploitation of other marine life. However, according to legal experts other avenues are still available to hold Japan to account under international law, such as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
IFAW opposes all commercial or so-called scientific whaling as there is no humane way to kill a whale.
For more information or to arrange interviews please contact Clare Sterling at IFAW on +44 (0)20 7587 6708, mobile +44 (0)7917 507717 or email email@example.com. Alternatively visit www.ifaw.org
Notes to Editors –
A reduced number of boats from the Japanese fleet headed to the Antarctic in January 2015 to carry out sighting surveys, biopsy work and photo identification of whales led by the country's Institute of Cetacean Research.
IFAW encourages Japan to join the 10-nation SORP (Southern Ocean Research Partnership) founded by Australia to coordinate non-lethal whale research.
In February 2013, IFAW launched a report, 'The Economics of Japanese Whaling', which showed that the failing whaling industry in Japan is propped up by millions of dollars a year in public money. Annual subsidies average around 782 million yen (US $9.78m).
The findings demonstrate that while whaling is unprofitable and catering to an increasingly shrinking and ageing market, whale watching is, by contrast, a growth industry.
Whale watching currently generates around US$2.1 billion annually for coastal communities across the world. In Japan alone, whale watching generated around US$22 million in 2008. There are currently about 30 whale watching operators working from a dozen locations around the Japanese coast.
Despite a global ban on commercial whaling, Japan continues to hunt whales under the loophole of 'scientific whaling', yet while the meat is put on sale in restaurants and supermarkets, little science has been produced from the slaughter of these animals.
About IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare)
Founded in 1969, IFAW saves animals in crisis around the world. With projects in more than 40 countries, IFAW rescues individual animals, works to prevent cruelty to animals and advocates


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Chimay Beer Family of Brands
Chimay is an authentic Trappist beer. That means that it is brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery under the control and responsibility of the community of monks, and whose revenue is devoted to social service. The "Authentic Trappist Product" logo is granted by the International Trappist Association. It guarantees the consumer the Trappist origin of the products according to
well-established principles.
Learn More: http://www.chimay.com


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This Sunday (30th April) sees the members of RAFA join with the Good Shepherd, Murrayfield congregation for their annual service. This year they will be joined by members of the RAF Cadet band and local ATC members as well. This is always an uplifting and enjoyable service when we remember all who served in the RAF and all who currently serve in the armed forces. All Welcome.
10am Sung Eucharist for the Edinburgh, Lothians & Borders RAFA
What's Happening >


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Good evening from the BDN Portland office on Congress Street. Today, the Tree Guy speaks; there have been some pretty great/horrible puns about the whole thing; and Troy Bennett is on the final stretch of his "permanent Portlanders" series.
What we're talking about
Jake Bleiberg today spoke with Asher Woodworth, the Portland artist who dressed as a tree and blocked traffic — and got arrested — becoming an international story.
Woodworth explained to Jake, in detail, his thought process behind what he considered to be performance art.
"I'm really glad I was able to execute an hour's worth of the performance before getting taken away," he told Jake. "My intention wasn't to create a spectacle or get arrested. It was really something more magical than that."
The whole post is worth reading. Here is an excerpt:
Q: Was the police intervening something you were thinking about going into your performance? Was that a concern?
A: Oh yeah, sure. That's another form of choreography. Maintaining the status quo is a really interesting really serious bit of social choreography and I was interested in interacting with that.
I don't disagree with the fact that I was arrested, necessarily. I guess I'm of two minds about it.
If I put on the mindset of utility and economy I can see yeah, we need to not obstruct public ways. We need to let people move and go about their daily business. This is part of what allows us to function as a "society." But then another part of me is not interested in choreographies of economy or utility and I'm interested in magic and nature.
I don't think I shouldn't have been arrested. I mean I fully understand why, but I also think it's interesting that, what was I doing other than moving very slowly across a crosswalk. And yeah, I was dressed as a tree, but that had nothing to do with why I was arrested.
I was arrested just because I was slowing down the pace of business as usual. Is it illegal to be slow?
I'm a tireless advocate [of] slowness and stillness and quiet in my life and I feel like we could use a lot more of that right now.
Related: BDN blogger Rob Korobkin argues that Woodworth is the hero that Portland needs right now.
In other news
Speaking of which — This story has led to some pretty great/awful puns. Tony Reaves collects a few of the best/worst ones.
How angry does Donald Trump make me? Angry enough to steal 40 Trump signs. — Betta Stothart of Falmouth writes in The Washington Post why she and two other women stole dozens of Trump signs along Route 1.
In retrospect, I realize I shouldn't be proud of my transgression. Hanging out with a bunch of moms, we started grousing about the proliferation of signs. Can you believe someone would put that many Trump signs so close together on our roads? It's so rude. Who is this jerk? We felt assaulted by the number of signs. The idea of "cleansing" our streets seemed like the fastest way to restore balance and alleviate our election stress — at least, that night it did. …
Reflecting back, I realize that I momentarily snapped. But there was a deeper reason for my anger than just the signs. Over the past several weeks, grasping the depth of Trump's predatory behavior toward women throughout his adult life (and even worse, his denial of it) has simply become unbearable. I became unhinged.
This Portland soldier's pants and shoes were stolen after he died — Troy continues documenting the lives of those buried around town:
Like his big brother, William, George Heard enlisted to fight for the Union during the Civil War.
He signed up with the 10th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment in October of 1861. Then he marched south as a private in Company C — the Portland Light Guards — under the command of Capt. Menzies Fessenden.
He'd been promoted to sergeant by the following summer when the 10th Maine entered the fray at the Battle of Cedar Mountain in Culpepper County Virginia on August 9th. …
When Heard's comrades were allowed back on the battlefield the next day to collect their dead, they found them stripped of their pants, shoes and valuables. The only things the rebels didn't take was their blue, Union uniforms.
George Heard's body eventually found its way back to Portland where it was laid here in the Western Cemetery. Two years later, his big brother William, an ensign in the Navy, joined him in the family plot after dying aboard a gunboat in Louisiana.
The Big Idea
'You'll Likely Be Reading One Of These 5 Articles The Day After The Election' — Wherein Five Thirty Eight predicts what the story could be on Nov. 9 — from five different angles.
Got any interesting story ideas, suggestions or links to share? Email Dan MacLeod at firstname.lastname@example.com, or tweet @dsmacleod.
As always, like BDN Portland on Facebook for more local coverage.


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A new group known as Transformation Sunnyside aims to transform the city through involving local government, schools and the business community.
Leroy Werkhoven presented Transformation Sunnyside's efforts to the Sunnyside Kiwanis Club Wednesday morning at the Sunny Spot Restaurant.
Transformation means change, he told club members, and Sunnyside is in need of change.
"We recognize that as people we have the ability to make things happen," he said.
But willpower alone won't get it done.
"Without God's guidance and help that transformation cannot take place," Werkhoven noted.
Though Transformation Sunnyside is a faith-based group, Werkhoven was quick to add that it is a community effort led by local businesses, not a movement of ministers or churches.
"The businesses are where we make a living that allow us to live here," he said.
At the same time, Werkhoven said the group wants to work with churches and church members to help relay the transformation message.
"We want to make sure we stay connected with churches," he noted.
The group's first meeting on April 25 drew 40 people and the second a month later drew 80.
Now Transformation Sunnyside wants to grow those numbers even more to make a difference through prayer and cooperation.
The group's next meeting is set for 7 to 7:40 a.m. on Thursday, June 14, at the Sunnyside High School auditorium. The goal is to have a crowd of at least 150 people fill the lower portion of the auditorium.
But they don't plan to stop there.
During the last week of October 2007, Transformation Sunnyside is planning for an audience of 2,000 to 3,000 people at the Sunnyside High School gym from an area stretching from Wapato to Prosser.
Featured at the October meeting will be national speaker Ed Silvoso, whose DVD Transformation in the Marketplace helped provide the inspiration for Transformation Sunnyside.
Werkhoven said the presence of a large group of people will provide an encouragement for individuals to act together in changing the community.
He added, "No one person alone can make a big change, but collectively we can do it."
Regarding a question raised about Sunnyside's gang issue, Werkhoven said, "If we just sit and complain about it nothing will change. We collectively have to figure out a way to heal this problem."
Transformation Sunnyside's goal is to pray and help the community's problems by transforming one person at a time. Werkhoven noted, "Our goal is to change the hearts of people."
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Medical facility administrators, from those running hospitals to those running smaller private practices, like longtime professional Debra Oselett, are faced with a new set of challenges, those they didn't haven't had to deal with before as part of the medical industry in the United States. Oselett has helped her practice adapt to the changing medical industry by working to overcome the following three challenges and more every day:
- Improve efficiency and patient care with technology. Debra Oselett looks for ways to upgrade her practice's facilities at all times. She has to be very careful about which technologies to invest in, however, because the most sophisticated technology in the world won't necessarily improve patient experience, care, and efficiency of the facility as a whole. Oselett has to ask herself how a new investment would greatly improve patient care quickly,
- Manage Medicaid and Medicare. President Barack Obama changed the way that the healthcare industry works with his massive overhaul of the healthcare insurance industry. Debra Oselett and administrators like her have been rushing to adapt to the new changes and the many challenges that millions of people with new healthcare insurance pose to their facilities.
- Compete for talent. Many young people looking for careers have heard about the healthcare industry's need to talented individuals, and have flooded educational institutions of all kinds to get the education they need for these jobs. The key for administrators of medical facilities today is to attract the best talent they can find to compete with other facilities over the long-term.


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Well... this very time a year ago I was riding east with about seventy-something miles to go to Rouen, my Rohloff stuck in its tenth gear, myself freezing cold and sleep deprived. It's strange to think that a year has passed, the 4th of each month has had a certain poignance ever since returning, I feel happy that I'm no longer so painfully aware as I once was that another month has crept by.
The world around seems to go on changing in the minutest of ways, ways that will only ever seem significant for the shortest imaginable periods of time. Sky News was this week screening high-definition images from a helicopter hovering in a snowstorm... that's right... a snowstorm in high definition... such progress would have been all-but inconceivable a year ago.
To recognise the anniversary I'm putting-up a recording of a talk that I gave last month at the University of Sussex. The talk forms a brief glance at the world of London that I left and returned to, and also aims to provide a political discussion of the nations and regions that I travelled through. Some of the above photos I have uploaded to previous posts, however, I am including them again as they were featured on a slide show during the talk.
I continue to write my book, and feel that things are progressing favourably with it. I'm arranging an exhibition of photography and writing that will appear in the cycling stronghold that is the Look Mum No Hands cafe in Clerkenwell, London. The exhibit will be up for two weeks or so from a launch on the evening of January 6th... more details closer the time, but needless to say that one and all will be welcome. The exhibit will be accompanied by a small publication of words and photos, a light-touch endeavour to chronicle the episodes of my trip as they appear to me now with the passing of time. Copies of the collection will be on-show in the cafe, and will soon be available online through Blurb publishing. A larger collection of photography is a plan I have for some way down the line, all depending on the reception this first offering receives.


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Fourteen years ago, VOA and several other news organizations profiled an amazing ten-year-old. Michael Kearney had just become the youngest person ever to graduate from an American college. The degree was in anthropology from South Alabama University.
When his mom had been pregnant with Michael, she was suffering from toxemia and anorexia. Doctors told her that her child would likely be developmentally slow. In other words, retarded.
It didn't quite work out that way. Michael began talking when he was ten months old, started reading a month later, mastered algebra at age three. Frenzied to learn, he drove his parents nuts asking questions about anything and everything. They gave him one rule for schooltime. When the teacher asked a question, he had to wait a couple of seconds before raising his hand, so other kids could have a chance to answer.
Michael was a prodigy, one of the rare child geniuses who typically excel in fields like music, chess or mathematics that are based on lots of facts or rules. Prodigies stand out, obviously. They're curiosities, and because they soon shoot past their age level in school, they often have trouble making friends.
But when we talked with Michael Kearney those 14 years ago as he prepared to graduate from college, he was a delight. Like any ten-year-old, Michael played video games, watched cartoons on TV, knocked a soccer ball around with other kids. "I'm not that special," he told us. "I'm not very good at a lot of things, like football. Everybody has strengths and weaknesses."
At age 14, Michael Kearney got a master's degree in biochemistry, producing a thesis on the growth of cancer cells. Now, at 23, he's studying for a doctorate and teaching college chemistry. But he's hardly what detractors call a geek, someone who's obsessed with schoolwork or computers. He's a big poker fan, has a steady girlfriend, and follows every detail of popular culture. So much so that in 2006 he was the first winner of an online reality game called Gold Rush, which involved answering rapid-fire questions about American celebrities.
His prize? One million dollars. So although Michael Kearney is no longer a child, he is still a prodigy. And a very rich one.


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July 31
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. cast would definitely rescue Jon Snow. You know they so would!
The Key to the Hellmouth: The Importance of Doors in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. "Have you ever stopped to think how often doors play a central role in Joss Whedon's cult show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Buffy kicked the door open when it comes to strong female-fronted genre shows (not to mention realistic portrayals of LGBT characters on TV) but that's because, as this video shows, she spent plenty of time kicking LITERAL doors wide open."
28 fantastic words and phrases from sci-fi and fantasy. Guess which Whedonesque word makes the cut?
Serenity Valley located. It's called "Serenity Chasma" and is just to the north of the Vulcan Planum on Pluto's moon, Charon. More...
July 30
Could the Firefly Universe Exist? "The chances of finding five stars each orbited by a brown dwarf would be about 1 in 3 million" (video) More...
Joss Whedon on his early film making years at Wesleyan University. This Hollywood Reporter article about the top US film schools contains the following fab Joss quote "I try to make science fiction, but I always end up making a Western."
Agents of SHIELD adds Constance Zimmer in season 3. That's a great casting decision.
July 29
Interview with Camden Toy: A Buffy retrospective. Camden Toy only made a handful of appearances on the massive cult television show Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, but each of those roles are ones that fans will probably never forget.
(SPOILER) Christos Gage previews new arc of Buffy Season 10. The second-to-last arc of the season includes a "contest of champions" organized by Harmony and the return of some other characters.
Felicia Day & Alan Tudyk team up to play Magic the Gathering. The latest episode of Geek & Sundry's Spellslingers features this Whedonverse duo. More...
(SPOILER) Preview for Buffy Season 10 #18. This issue will be out on August 19th.
July 28
Enver Gjokaj signs up for Zack Whedon's 'Come and Find Me' movie. The screenplay for the movie made the Black List back in '12.
The Dubsmash War continues, now for charity. There are no details yet but the challenge issued by the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. cast mentions fans deciding the winner over three rounds. Related, Hayley Atwell recaps the battle so far at London Film And Comic Con.
Jeph Loeb on Agents of SHIELD and the other Marvel TV shows. Wordballon podcast interviewed the head of Marvel Television during the weekend which includes his observations on the Netflix shows Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, plus a look back at ABC's Marvel Agents Of Shield, Agent Carter and what the future holds. More...
Firefly's costume designer Shawna Trpcic - origin story. A great insight into what it was like to design costumes for Firefly.
Twenty five films which will haunt you with only one viewing. The Cabin in the Woods features on this great Den of Geek list about films that get under your skin.
July 27
Watch "Hollywood Hitmen" - The Web Series. This stars Enver Gjokaj and Maximilian Osinski. Dichen Lachman also appears in it.
Andrew Howard joins Agents of SHIELD. He'll be playing a major recurring role in the third season of the show.
July 26
A look back at Agents of SHIELD Season 2. Marvel recaps the previous season in this YouTube video.
10 episodes of Angel that show how it was more than Buffy redux. The AV Club picks the episodes of Angel that help explain what the show was all about.
July 25
Felicia Day on Dr. Horrible - "I'm so grateful to be a part of it". She made the comments about the online musical yesterday at VidCon.
July 24
The 13 best Buffy monsters-of-the-week. A couple surprising inclusions and omissions.
July 23
Trailer for the Avengers: Age of Ultron Blu-ray. Catch a glimpse of deleted scenes and the gag reel. The Blu-ray will be out in the US on October 2nd. New clips from the movie can be found at MTV.com, EW.com and JoBlo.com.
Tiny Fences - A Weekly Buffy Podcast. A fun quirky podcast from Canada that's doing a full Buffy watch, at one episode a week. They are up to Season 2. More...
Happy birthday to Summer Glau. She turns 34 today. More...
James Marsters cast in LA Theatre Works' "As You Like It". James will perform the dual roles of Duke Senior and Duke Frederick, in Shakespeare's "As You Like It" in April 2016 at The James Bridges Theater, UCLA.
July 22
What the hell are you wearing: the science of tacky formal dresses. Featuring at least two examples with which you are most likely very familiar.
(SPOILER) Discuss Buffy Season 10 #17. It's the second part of the "Old Demons" arc.
July 21
Talking with Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk about fans, con and comic books. This is an enjoyable Con Man interview from Comic-Con. The Serenity comics come up for discussion as well.
(SPOILER) Preview pages for Angel & Faith #17. The issue is out on August 5th.
Malcolm Reynolds is one of Empire's '100 Greatest Movie Characters'. Captain America, Loki and Iron Man also make the list which was voted for by the magazine's readers.
Clea DuVall making directorial debut with film starring Cobie Smulders. Invisible girl Marcie Ross is directing Maria Hill. The untitled movie from a script written by Duvall herself will also feature Melanie Lynskey, Jason Ritter, Natasha Lyonne, Vincent Piazza, Ben Schwartz and Alia Shawkat.
July 20
Sean Maher and Morena Baccarin will reprise their roles for Batman: Bad Blood. Bad Blood continues the storyline running through Batman vs. Robin and Son of Batman, and it will see release in early 2016, direct to home media in the way of all DC's animated films. Maher voices Dick Grayson/Nightwing, and Baccarin voices Talia al Ghul.
Norwegian site lists Age of Ultron Blu-ray extras. No huge surprises but it's nice to see that Joss will be doing commentary for the movie and the deleted/extended scenes. More...
July 19
Jenny Mollen to host "After Paradise". Angel's Nina will join Chris Harrison for the "Bachelor in Paradise" aftershow.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. cast filmed themselves with Go Pros at Comic-Con. And here is the result. It's a pretty good behind the scenes about the scale of Comic-Con.
The WGA interviews Marti Noxon about 'Unreal'. Along with the show's co-creator they talk about how it was created, about their Writers Room and how writing for this show differs from writing for BtVS.
July 17
CSTS events in Albuquerque, Beeston UK, Miami Springs and Raleigh this weekend. Serenity, Dr. Horrible and Big Hero Six. More...
Bugs in the system. "From 'Ant-Man' to 'Thor,' why does Marvel clash with its directors?" An attempt to answer the question: "...why, in a world of friends and heroes, do Marvel directors so often walk?"
Happy Birthday, Jed Whedon! The J before the dash turns 40 as a father.
"Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase 2 Collection" Box Set to arrive this holiday season. The thirteen-disc box set will contain all of the movies from the MCU's Phase Two including 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' in BluRay and Bluray 3D, plus digital copy, and a top-secret bonus disc, all packaged in collectible, specially designed disc holders, filled with exclusive Marvel memorabilia. This set is already available for pre-order on Amazon. More...
Christophe Beck talks about the 'Ant-Man' score. The award winning composer talks mixing super-heroic flourishes with funky embellishments, and honoring Vince Guaraldi on 'The Peanuts Movie' score.
July 16
Anthony Head on Buffy's influence on Doctor Who. Promoting the return of Dominion, in a brief interview, he made a comparation of the shows.
Firefly on Ice. A fun little collection of short behind-the-scenes videos including alternate takes and joke-catwalk versions of familiar scenes from the filming of various episodes of Firefly.
Agents of SHIELD gets nominated for an Emmy. The episode 'The Dirty Half Dozen' got nominated in the Outstanding Special Visual Effects category.
July 15
Christina Hendricks cast in TV series Hap and Leonard. This 80's set drama will air on Sundance.
July 14
Tahmoh Penikett's web series Riftworld Chronicles now available in the US. The show is a fantasy/comedy about a wizard who lands in our world. Available in Canada on CBC and internationally on YouTube here. More...
(SPOILER) Dark Horse's Buffy Season 10 solicitations for October. Angel & Faith #19 and Buffy #20 are out that month.
Video of Joss Whedon's panel at Comic-Con 2015. It's been uploaded on youtube by Flicks And The City, Enjoy!
July 13
(SPOILER) Gregg and Bennett discuss AoS Season 3 storylines. Gregg and Bennett discuss how the comics and MCU will interact with Agents of SHIELD season 3.
Joss Whedon on why he'll never be finished with superheroes. Joss talks with io9 about Twist and the Black Widow controversy in Age of Ultron.
Whedon gives definitive comment about "Avengers: Age of Ultron" Director's Cut. During the NerdHQ Q&A, Joss explained why there wouldn't be a director's cut. More...
CBR interviews Joss about Twist. "The idea is six issues, but it definitely could continue. I want to build it, and then see if Dark Horse feels like bringing it further if I can." EW has additional comments from him. More...
TVLine interviews the (always increasing) cast of Agents of SHIELD. Some serious non-spoilery teasing for season 3. These people are a joy to watch even when they are not acting. Just sayin'.
July 12
Artist Stephen Byrne premieres an excellent new piece inspired by TWIST. Stephen has become popular for his work depicting Whedonverse characters and other pop culture icons.
SDCC: SHIELD Vs Carter in a Dubsmash Throwdown. Smiles may ensue.
Discuss NerdHQ's Conversations for a Cause panels. These will all be livestreamed in three places: IGN, the app (iTunes, Android), and YouTube. More...
July 11
Joss Whedon Just Explained The Meaning Of Life To Us. io9 gives a summary of Joss's answer to the meaning of life during his panel. More...
Nerdist discusses Con-Man and Comic-Con with Alan, Nathan and Felicia. Filmed at the 'Conival' offsite event in front of a crowd of fans. More...
Joss was presented with the Comic-Con Icon Award during his panel. "Comic-Con Internationals Icon Award is presented to individuals or organizations who have been instrumental in bringing comics and/or the popular arts to a wider audience." According to people in the room he was given a standing ovation and was quite moved. More...
"Twist" is Joss's new comic book about a female Victorian superhero. It will be six issues, probably published in 2016, with an artist yet to be determined.
Discuss Joss's Dark Horse panel at SDCC. It's 4:45 - 5:30 pm Pacific.
Joss speaks of the social importance of 'Another Period'. Whedon connects the social satire of the show to recent statements made by affluent celebrities.
July 10
Discuss the Marvel Television Presents panel at SDCC. The Marvel television panel starts at 3 pm Pacific. The showrunners and cast of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter will be there. Update: There's video on YouTube.
Agents of SHIELD S2 gets Blu-Ray/DVD release date, will be Amazon exclusive. They'll be out on September 18th.
July 09
New Con Man trailer, shown at SDCC. Lots of Whedon people in the trailer, including the man himself.
The Honorable Josh Something interviews Your Betters. The Bellacourts condescend to appear in San Diego and an eager admirer will excitedly spew queries upon them! O! That we live in such times! More...
Anthony Head talks about the new season of Syfy's 'Dominion'. The new season debuts tonight at 10/9c.
Amy Acker to guest on 'Suits'. She'll be playing a recurring character.
July 08
Joss Whedon will be interviewed in 'Raiders, Raptors and Rebels' ILM documentary. This will air on the Science Channel on July 19th at 10pm ET/PT.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. featured in TVLine's "What Happens Next" series. They speculate the results of Season 2's cliffhanger. Spoilers if you haven't finished Season 2.
July 07
Teaser trailer for Enver Gjokaj's 'Hollywood Hitmen'. Dichen Lachman is also in it.
(SPOILER) Preview pages for Buffy #17. The issue is out on July 22nd.
July 06
Marti Noxon's "Unreal" gets renewed for a second season. 10 additional episodes will be produced to air in 2016.
Felicia Day announces her Book Tour details. Our own Joss Whedon will be providing the foreword for Felicia's memoir (available Aug 11). More...
First look at the Agents of SHIELD Comic-Con poster. This is by artist Jim Cheung and colorist Romulo Fajardo Jr..
July 04
Fan Friction - an improvised live Whedon show. On July 14th, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina by self-professed super Whedon fans (including Whedonesque's own Kiba) at the Dirty South Comedy Theatre - dreaming up and performing an episode of Firefly you only wish you got to see. More...
July 03
What video game should Rocksteady Studios make next? EW suggests The Avengers or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
CSTS event at Montreal Comic-Con today. Jewel Staite a guest at the con. More...
July 02
Composer Brian Tyler of Age of Ultron analyzes the music accompanying the title card. "The title card for Avengers: Age of Ultron comes up twelve minutes into the movie. Against a black background, the Avengers logo takes up almost the entire screen. You might expect a triumphant, heroic piece of music, but the film called for something more complicated."
July 01
Joss Whedon will be doing a Conversations for a Cause panel at Nerd HQ. This will be on July 12th at 12pm in the New Children's Museum in downtown San Diego. Tickets go on sale tomorrow. If you can't make it, IGN will be streaming all the panels.
Watch 'Sidekicks', a fab sketch from 'HitRecord on TV'. This video features Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway, Brian & Nick from BriTANick and a very special Whedonverse cameo.
(SPOILER) Discuss Angel & Faith Season 10 #16. It's the first part of the "Those Who Can't Teach, Teach Gym" arc.


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13 Oct 2016
Lagoon mowing
Even when you're not in possession with the greenest thumb from the neighborhood, you are no doubt mindful spring is actually a vital time on your yard. Making certain you're effectively well prepared for that (gulp) mowing time is vital if you would like those people neighbors to invest the summer staring at your grass with envy.
Bank mowing
Listed here undoubtedly are a couple measures to soak up the impending months to make certain your grass is able to go.
Fertilizing: Dependent on local climate, time between February and April is amongst the essential situations you need to be "feeding" your garden every year. Spring fertilizing can help improve roots prior to the weighty escalating period that may be just all over the corner.
Attempt to figure out which kind of weeds (like crabgrass) you struggled while using the preceding year and locate a weed-and-feed that's very best suited for your desires.
Weeds: In the event the soil reaches 55F levels and stays there for the few days your aged pal crabgrass can commence to creep up.
You'll need to feel about a pre-emergent herbicide. You can find a number of choices - Tupersan, Dithopyr, and Pendimethalin - with each and every ranging when it comes to expense. Remember that a few of those will impact if you find yourself equipped to plant seed, if that is element of your respective system this period.
This is also time for attacking dandelions once they commence to reach. No matter if you spray or deal with them by hand, ensure to get them just take treatment of in advance of they make seeds.
Raking/Mowing: It sounds just like a no-brainer, but cleaning up your garden inside the spring is crucial to eliminate dead grass and various debris. Once your garden is both thawed and dry, commit some time possibly using your rake or your bagging mower. Set that mower right down to a lower location and have rid of many of the excess yards squander. For those who do an excellent work bagging now try to be able to mulch the remainder of the 12 months.
Seeding: Drop would be the most effective time for overseeding, but you may possibly now be noticing pets and/or young ones have made a number of unsightly bare spots.
Should you go this route, a single alternative is usually to apply a "starter" fertilizer to all those places. Per month or so afterwards you will desire to comply with that up having a nitrogen fertilizer. Consider, nevertheless, that you just will not likely receive the exact same outcomes when you will in the event you wait until finally the autumn.
Virtually all property tasks can be taken care of all by yourself without any exterior guidance. But when you may have bodily restrictions or discover you happen to be unable to have the desired outcomes, a very good strategy will be to search out a educated experienced.