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The Plot To Destroy ALL Transformers Has Begun!
This August, General Joe Colton, the original G.I. JOE, will take the fight directly to the TRANSFORMERS home world of Cybertron in the Hasbro Comic Book Event of 2017 – First Strike!
This six-part, bi-weekly series will feature the talents of writers Mairghread Scott (TRANSFORMERS) and David A. Rodriguez (SKYLANDERS), with art by Max Dunbar (DUNGEONS & DRAGONS), and colors by Ander Zarate (MICRONAUTS).
Earth’s heroes have united after the explosive events of last year’s REVOLUTION! Bringing together G.I. JOE, ROM, the MICRONAUTS, M.A.S.K.: MOBILE ARMORED STRIKE KOMMAND, ACTION MAN, and the TRANSFORMERS, Earth has never been more secure now that it has become a member of the Council of Worlds due to Optimus Prime’s leadership.
But oversight and control isn’t what everyone wants; especially when that control is in the hands of alien forces…
The premiere season of post-REVOLUTION titles are heading towards their natural conclusions to make room for First Strike so fans can enjoy the action in one place (and go easy on their wallets during the event)! In addition to the main series, six additional one-shots will set the stage for the second season of the Hasbro comic universe, where fans will witness their favorite characters forming new alliances, paving the way for exciting adventures to come.
Look for Micronauts: First Strike, by Christos Gage and Chris Panda, G.I. Joe: First Strike, by Aubrey Sitterson and Ilias Kyriazis, and Optimus Prime: First Strike by John Barber and Guido Guidi in September.
M.A.S.K.: MOBILE ARMORED STRIKE KOMMAND.: First Strike, by Aubrey Sitterson and Ilias Kyriazis, Rom: First Strike, by by Christos Gage and Chris Panda, and TRANSFORMERS: First Strike by John Barber and Guido Guidi will follow in October.
These one-shots will explore more corners of the event for completest readers who just can’t get enough, while also providing a glimpse into what the future will bring for our heroes when the dust settles on the scorched planet of Cybertron at the conclusion of First Strike.
IDW’s Editor-in-Chief, David Hedgecock says, “This is what REVOLUTION has been building towards over the past year. It’s been an exciting first season of action in the Hasbro shared universe which laid the foundation for all-new stories and adventures, but now with FIRST STRIKE, we’re shaking things up and, once again, disrupting the status quo forever. It’s a perfect time for readers, new and old, to jump on board and join us for one raucously fun ride!”
The event kicks off in First Strike #0, now available as a GIVEAWAY in comic shops (ask your local retailer) and online at idwpublishing.com/first-strike. Inside you’ll discover more of what Joe Colton is plotting against the TRANSFORMERS and what our Earth’s heroes are up against! (Available while supplies last.)
In the back of the #0 issue, you’ll find a handy checklist for the entire event running through October, as well as a couple new #1s scheduled for November and December titled G.I. JOE: UNMASKED and ROM & THE MICRONAUTS, respectively. Keep checking the IDW site, as well as following IDW on social media, as more info about these exciting new titles becomes available!
Comic Crusaders™ 2006- 2018 All/Any pictures, characters, videos, books displayed/discussed on this website are subject to copyright/trademark of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved . Comic Crusaders Mascots are EXCLUSIVE property of Comic Crusaders and are not to be used without the consent of Comic Crusaders! | {
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Exhaust System Replacement
1997 Saturn S-Series Exhaust System Replacement
1997 Saturn S-Series
How often does your exhaust system need service?
Depending upon the geographic location of your vehicle, exhaust systems may or may not need frequent attention. Typically, the exhaust system in a car does not need much attention until higher mileage or advanced years. Most cars do not need any exhaust work for upwards of 8 to 10 years due to the corrosion resistant, stainless steel used in exhaust systems installed in the factory. However, repairs will become more common and more expensive as components age and develop holes and leaks or when they fail completely.
What are the symptoms of a faulty exhaust system?
A louder sounding exhaust is the easiest symptom to identify, and a technician can easily point out where the leak exists when the car is on a lift. The prime culprits for leaking are the flexible weave near the front of the exhaust, and the union where two flanges are bolted together. The flexible weave allows for the exhaust system to move around when the car twists and turns. It is the weakest part of the exhaust in terms of thickness and it takes the most abuse. The flanges are made from anodized aluminum, which does not resist rust and oxidation as well as stainless steel, so they begin to rust sooner. Where these flanges meet is also a spot that tends to collect moisture. Sometimes, the system can be repaired with some new flanges and a new gasket to seal them. As the system ages and develops holes or more significant leaks, welding may be an option to repair through either patching a hole or cutting out rot and fitting in a new piece and welding the gap. At some point the system will need replacement in larger pieces.
How does the exhaust system work?
The exhaust system has three important functions.
The most obvious function is to reduce the sound of the exhaust. Mufflers and resonators, found near the end of the system, use a series of baffles to lessen the sound without impairing back pressure.
Exhaust system routes hot gases away from the engine, and allows these gases to safely exit the car away from potential passenger contact near the door areas. Usually, the exhaust will exit from the rear of the car, although a pipe that comes out from the side further down from the doors is not uncommon, especially in pickup trucks.
The exhaust system provides emission reduction with the use of a catalytic converter. Here, the exhaust gas actually rises in temperature as it passes through several screens made from precious metals (platinum,selenium) where a chemical reaction changes hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide into oxygen and water. The onboard computer monitors this chemical reaction through the use of oxygen sensors before and after the catalytic converter.
What can happen if this service neglected?
If not repaired when required, a neglected exhaust system will lead to higher repair costs, rejection of state inspection and inability to drive the car legally, and ultimately the severe impairment of engine performance.
Small holes in the exhaust system can usually be repaired with welding and patching, but if ignored will grow larger and require component replacement at higher expense. While the car may still be drivable with a loud exhaust, passing state inspection becomes doubtful with chances for tickets and fines becoming more likely. With no attention paid to the exhaust system, leaks especially before the catalytic converter will add unmetered oxygen to the exhaust mixture. The computer does not realize that a leak exists, instead this unmetered oxygen is understood as a poorly performing motor - that too much air is in the fuel air mixture.
The computer will attempt to correct this poor performance by adding fuel. This richening of mixture will cause misfire, carbonization of the valves and intake, and loss of performance in the engine. In addition, the unburnt hydrocarbons from this rich mixture will eventually overwhelm the catalytic converter causing it to fail and need replacement. Repairs at this point will be costly.
What are the average exhaust system replacement costs?
Estimated part cost (muffler) = $50-$120
Estimated part cost (catalytic converter) = $1,200-$1,500
Pricing will vary based on the exact type of repair that is needed. Either way you look at it, the replacement of catalytic converter is expensive. In some cases this repair will reach into the thousands of dollars range, and unquestionably, the type of car you drive will determine price. Fingers crossed it's just the muffler.
Most automotive service professionals can perform this service. Keep in mind, pricing will vary by location and your vehicle make and model. Save time and money by using Openbay to compare pricing and book an appointment with a service center in your area.
Service article written by an ASE Master Technician
If you want this service performed, Openbay can help get qualified automotive service professionals to perform the work for you. | {
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What did John Calhoun believe was the biggest danger posed by abolitionism?
Although John Calhoun was a staunch supporter of slavery, he also wanted the Union to remain intact. His biggest concern about abolitionism was that it would cause so much hatred between the North and the South that the country would inevitably come into conflict. In other words, Calhoun feared that abolitionism would bring on a civil war.
Calhoun believed that slavery was a positive good. He argued that it was a better system than the system in the North or anywhere else with free workers. He points out that such workers were not cared for while sick or old the way slaves were.
But Calhoun wanted the Union to stay together and he believed that abolitionism would prevent this from happening. He believed that it would cause the North and the South to come to hate one another. He says that abolitionists
... hate the people and institutions of nearly one-half of this Union, with a hatred more deadly than one hostile nation ever entertained towards another.
He believes that this hatred will cause a split between North and South. He says that unless abolitionism
... be speedily stopped, it will spread and work upwards till it brings the two great sections of the Union into deadly conflict.
This was his great fear. He feared that abolitionism would bring a civil war about. | {
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More on Post Workout Recovery
Many of us are beginning our training for fall races now, when the weather is hot and humid, and it is important to replace lost fluids and minerals after a run or workout. I recently wrote a post about what people are drinking after a workout (What is Best after a Workout…Water or a Sports Drink?). Drinking something with a good carb/protein balance within 60 minutes after exercise is key, especially if the workout was intense. Physical therapist Alan Tyson sent out the following information recently that pertains to this very thing. Here is the link: Post Workout Recovery
Follow Us
Meet Whitney
Whitney Hetzel is the mother of nine children and an exercise enthusiast. With more than 20 years of experience making fitness a priority in her busy life, she is excited to share her ideas about keeping it all in balance. To find out more read "About Whitney"! | {
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http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
NOW, more than ever, it is important for all Americans to know their chads. As a public service, here is a voter's guide:
THE PROPERLY PUSHED-THROUGH CHAD
This is the boring, all-too-familiar chad found in every election district, even in Florida. Since the pushed-through chad leaves so little room for interpretation, it is generally scorned by advanced chadologists, though most freely concede that it should be counted along with more challenging kinds of chad.
SWINGING CHAD, HANGING CHAD, TRI-CHAD
These are chads attached to the ballot by one corner (a hanging chad), two corners (a swinging chad) or three corners (a tri-chad). One striking phenomenon among cornered chads is that they tend to move up in class in the days following an election: a tri-chad may become a swinger, and a swinger may become a hanger.
THE FOUR-CORNER OR MORON'S CHAD
A chad attached by all four corners with no evidence of being marked or pushed is known as a moron's chad, one of the most perplexing kinds of chad to assign to a candidate. Only two chadologists in the world, both at work this week in Palm Beach, are able to properly interpret and assign the moron's chad.
THE SUNLIT CHAD
Whether attached by one, two, three or all four corners, chads may be readily counted if daylight can be spotted when the ballot is held up for inspection. Since holding the ballot up in the air while squinting at it is the only known photo opportunity in all chadology, the sunlit chad is the most familiar of all chads to TV viewers.
THE DIMPLED CHAD, THE PREGNANT CHAD
Many beginning chadologists confuse the dimpled chad with the pregnant chad, and some even argue that they are one and the same. But there's a world of difference between getting dimpled and getting pregnant.
A dimpled chad is created by a voter who unsuccessfully struggles with all of his or her might to push the stylus through a stubbornly resisting chad. The result of this stand-off between voter and chad is a sharp pinprick or dimple. A pregnant chad, on the other hand, maintains a rounded profile, of the sort that might be created by a coin, dentures or even the edge of an aluminum walker.
People who vote this way are telling us something. But what? Instead of being negative (criticizing the voter or even trying to disallow the ballot), we must discover the feelings embodied in the decision to produce a chad pregnancy.
THE MEANDERING DIMPLED CHAD
For whatever reason, perhaps fear of cuts in Social Security, many Florida voters apparently lack the strength to push the chad from their ballot. Most of these voters leave dimples on or near the chad that they attempt to dislodge. Even without a chadologist present, most recounters know how to create valid votes out of indentations made within an inch or two of their favorite candidate's name.
Indentations that are further away from the targeted chad are more of a problem. But when vigorously analyzed, they may yield useful meaning. For instance, a wandering dimple that seems to be angled slightly toward the name of a given candidate, say, Al Gore, might fairly be assigned to the Democratic column.
THE FOOD-MARKED CHAD
Many voters express their will or intention by marking ballots with coffee, snacks or gum. Overly judgmental people believe that these ballots should not be counted at all, but chadologists are more tolerant. They argue that the evidence of the voter's will is there in the stain to be read, if only we are dedicated enough to do the reading.
A word of caution here: Interpreting food-marked chads is not for the beginner. Some cases, however, are comparatively simple. For example, one chocolate smear, spread evenly over the intact chads of Gore and Bush on one voting card, was chemically analyzed and shown to be from a Moon Pie. Since Moon Pies are made in Tennessee, it was easy to see that the ballot was intended for Al Gore.
THE PALM BEACH KAMIKAZE CHAD
These are chads that gamely hang on to their ballots for a week or more, then, while being examined during recounts, decide to dive to the floor in large numbers. Though no one fully understands why chads tend to behave this way in the Palm Beach area, the advantage is that chad-diving kamikaze ballots require no interpretative skills and are quite easy to count. This frees busy chadologists for work on more baffling ballots.
Here's the best part: Objectivity is important during recounts, so it's a relief to know that chadology is a science. If the courts finally allow recounts, we won't have added votes by some kind of politicized foraging among rejected ballots. We will have depended on science, and that's always the way to
go.
11/13/00: The election rhetoric is running much too high11/07/00: How yesterday's hero becomes tomorrow's heel10/30/00: Would Bush's Supreme Court picks make a difference?10/24/00: Yankees, go home!10/17/00: Un-American activity?10/10/00: A tempest in an ink pot10/03/00: The Al Gore quiz09/26/00: The sleeper effect09/19/00: Baby-saving made easy09/12/00: Line between reporting and editorializing continues to blur09/05/00: In the key of F08/29/00: Hollywood connection08/22/00: Some friendly advice to the GOP08/15/00: You can't make this up 08/08/00: The niceness strategy08/01/00: When rules don't count07/25/00: Anti-male bias increasingly pervades our culture07/18/00: Banned in Boston07/12/00: What Jacoby had to deal with!07/11/00: Will boys be boys? 07/05/00: Partial-sense decision 06/27/00: Attitude toward death penalty gets in the way of facts 06/20/00: Double troubles06/13/00: Fools paradise06/06/00: Accidental conspirator05/30/00: Faking the hate05/23/00: Was it law or poetry?05/16/00: Here, there and everywhere, people have gone bonkers 05/09/00: Tufts evangelicals are punished for acting on their beliefs 05/02/00: Elian's opera isn't over until nearly everyone sings 04/25/00: All the news that fits: The media serve up many stories from a standard script04/19/00: Those darned readers: The gap between reporters and the general public is huge04/05/00: Census sense and nonsense03/29/00: Hollywood message films leave no room for other views03/22/00: The Vatican confesses, but is it enough? 03/14/00: Watch what you say: The left can no longer be counted on to defend free speech 03/07/00: McCain's malleable messages 03/01/00: Bush's appearance at Bob Jones U. will dog him all the way02/23/00: 'Multi-millionaire' show is new evidence we're insane | {
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November 17, 2015
PawsomeBox November 2015.
This is one of my favourite blog posts to type up, we have so much fun taking photographs. My dogs know this parcel is for them, they get so excited. We always sit together and open it, as I take each item out they try and see, smell and snatch it. Every month there is an amazing theme, I am loving the November box. So many useful, fun and edible products for the dogs. Bella and Juno enjoy all of the box every month.
Inside each box there is between 5-6 amazing products, we always use everything that comes in the box. This November box is filled with cosy,treats and fun products. The blanket will come in handy because our dogs love to snuggle up on the sofa. The plush toy is always an exciting one, this time they got a sausage dog, which I want to keep.
I love that you get a little paw notes booklet in each box, it explains the products and information on gorgeous dogs. In this months box we got wagg treats which are good for training. a pink treat ball, blanket, chicken meat balls and a cute plush toy.
Here is little Isabella, she enjoys having a snuggle on the Sofa in the Winter, she is loving the grey blanket. The pink treat ball will go down well with Juniper, she loves to explore and play. The sausage dog toy is the cutest thing ever, luckily they tend to keep most of their toys safe.
The price of the box is cheaper than all the items inside, all you have to do is tell them about your dog. Age, breed etc which helps them to send out the right products for you, it is super easy to order and it always arrives on time.
Look at Bella she is as snug as a bug in her blanket, it is super soft and she adores it. Bella loves to pose for the camera, Juno takes a bit of encouragement. Bella knows as soon as I have taken the pictures she can have the items, shes not daft. I really want to say a huge thank you to Pawsome Box for working with me, you guys are incredible. Each month I get to bond with my dogs, gain more knowledge about products and try out new things. My dogs adore the box, seeing them play with the new toys make me happy.
I have a special discount for you, 25% off your next order. All you have to do is put BLG14FTZ in the discount code section. This is a great way to bond with your dogs, it saves you money on buying lots of different products and its very exciting waiting for one to arrive. I love what they do and highly recommend them, even for a one off you can treat someone this Christmas.
I enjoy spoiling my pets and this is a great way to make it exciting for us all. They also do a box for cats called Purrfect Box. We are exciting to put all our treats in our treat tin, ready for training. | {
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Three women at a party at the Claremont Inn before the inn closed in 1968. They are pictured looking at a display of photographs of houses with the title: "Claremont's Pre-1900 houses you can still see." | {
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Firm to transform Nigeria, others through innovative technologies
Bunmi Akinyemiju, MD/CEO, Venture Garden Group (VGG) has expressed that their aim is to use innovative, data-driven, end-to-end technology platforms to address and reconcile inefficiencies in payment processes across multiple sectors of the African economy.
Akinyemiju, said this on Friday when he hosted William Stuart Symington, United States Ambassador to Nigeria and a delegation of US Consulate to a Pre-Launch event to unveil its new office space, dubbed Vibranium Valley which is housed on the grounds of the then renowned Concord Printing Press of Nigeria.
He noted that, since inception 6 years ago, Venture Garden Group has quietly grown 6 fully owned entities, that is focused on leveraging technology to create African solutions to African problems.
“In the last 2 years also, we have invested in 14 fintech-enabled companies across Nigeria and our early stage deployed capital has yielded over 5.6x portfolio returns and it is just getting started.
With the launch of this world-class office space, VGG have taken the first step into its next chapter, as together the Company works to grow an innovative and collaborative ecosystem that will transform Africa and the lives within it.”
He said that, Vibranium Valley which he referred to as the “Campus” will serve as a hub for Tech start ups which will build an entrepreneur ecosystem , where people can be inspired to create companies and ultimately be able to create employment.
Akinyemiju, added that Nigerian problems are not magical, they are not out of reach, with technology these problems will be solved.
He stated how EduTech the first company they started in 2011 has helped in breaching the educational gap between Nigeria and the United States, adding that Nigerian students do not have to travel abroad to get quality education. | {
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The City Charter of the City of Portland is amended by adding to Chapter 11, Article 1, Section 11-105, which shall read:
For each fiscal year the Council a Public Water Board, comprised of city residents elected from each State senate district that is situated, in some portion, within City of Portland boundaries, shall fix water rates which will provide an estimated income to equal expenses and debt service relating to water bonds. No charge shall be made for water used in extinguishing fires in the City.
The CouncilPublic Water Board may fix special charges for connections, disconnections, turn-ons, discontinuances of service, all special services or work, and other contingencies, situations or conditions, which it finds advantageous or appropriate from time to time. Charges and bills may be adjusted as found just and equitable. [New sec. Nov. 8, 1966.]" | {
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Monday, March 11, 2013
The difference a lane (or toll) makes
Stephen Smith has a great piece in the Observer showing how the Bloomberg administration has adapted its development strategy to avoid clashing with long-term residents, many of whom live near subway stations. The resulting disconnect between housing capacity and transit has encouraged high-rise towers near the Williamsburg waterfront, far from the overcrowded Bedford Avenue L station and even further from the Marcy Avenue J/M/Z station.
In the long term, NIMBY fears of "overdevelopment" are primarily based on fears of competition for scarce car space. To overcome it, we need to allow developers to build without encouraging people to keep cars, and we need to as convince the long-term residents that parking spillover is not as likely as they think, especially now when everyone is driving less.
In the short term, many of these highrises are already built, and more are in the works, so we need to improve their transit access to keep their residents driving as little as possible. Everyone wants to run ferries because hey, waterfront, but the ferries require large subsidies to compete with free bridges. It's hard to build subway stations right by the waterfront: the fabled South Fourth Street station is still five blocks from the river at Driggs Avenue. You could build an elevated subway or a streetcar, if you could convince people to build something that hasn't been built in this city in at least eighty years. You could also run buses.
Four years ago I mapped out some possible destinations that a Midtown Tunnel bus could get to from Penn Station in ten or fifteen minutes without traffic. The idea was that the tolls keep traffic from getting too congested in the Midtown Tunnel, and the 34th Street bus lane would give the buses priority. The way the 34th Street bus lanes have been executed leaves a lot to be desired, but the principle is sound.
But you could also run buses down Broadway to the waterfront. I agree with Jarrett Walker that loops are generally a bad idea, but Kent Avenue is now one-way, so you could have a South Kent Avenue loop going down to Flushing Avenue, and a North Kent loop going up to Greenpoint. In ten minutes (without traffic) from Grand Street in Manhattan, you could get to Morgan Avenue in East Williamsburg, either along the BQE or along Grand Street. You could go down Broadway to Flushing Avenue, or down Bedford and up Nostrand as far as Myrtle Avenue. And in fifteen minutes you could go further.
This is no longer serving existing high-rises, but rather improving service to long-established neighborhoods. That in turn could lead to people in those neighborhoods no longer thinking that cars are the only route out of poverty. But its usefulness lies in the dedicated lane for buses on the Wiliamsburg Bridge. That's what allows these buses to be competitive with driving. | {
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WelcomeMessage:Welcome to our fansite!
Welcome to Vikings Fan, a fansite for the History Channel's series "Vikings". The show is based on the tales of the legendary Vikings: Ragnar Lothbrok, Lagertha, Bjorn Ironside, Rollo, among others. Explore the site for the largest photo gallery on the web for the show and also our video gallery!
To keep updated with site additions, you can follow our Twitter or Tumblr Skål!!
RecentImages:Recent photos added
ET – WARNING: Spoiler Alert! Do not proceed if you have not watchedthe finale episode of Vikings.
After the death of Travis Fimmel’s Ragnar Lothbrok halfway through Vikings’ fourth season, the series’ successor seemed to anyone’s game. But after Wednesday night’s explosive season finale, the question wasn’t who will succeed Ragnar, but rather how far he will go, as Alex Høgh Andersen and his character, Ivar the Boneless, took charge.
ET hopped on the phone with 22-year-old Andersen ahead of the shocking finale, where he opened up about what he learned from Fimmel before the star’s series departure, the pressure of joining the History Channel show and his character’s “violent” future.
“You can’t really overthink the whole thing, because otherwise you will screw yourself up, because it is that big,” Andersen said of joining Vikings with only a few Danish TV credits to his name. “You just have to go with the flow, and rely on the people that are there to help you.”
“I am pretty new and green, and I didn’t quite know what I was getting into, and it has been such a learning experience and it still is,” he added. “Working with Travis, straight from the beginning, that made everything for me.”
Andersen only filmed a few episodes with Fimmel before Ragnar’s death, but says the short time they spent together was “advice in itself.”
“Working on the scenes on the day with him, some days the day before, just talking to each other over the phone about it was a game changer,” recalled Andersen, now filming season five of Vikings. “I really quickly picked up how everything was going down, how you work on the scenes and how you talk about them, what you could get through as an actor, having your own thoughts about the character and the scene and all that, because it is a creative process and you have to compromise with the director and [creator/writer] Michael Hirst.”
Fimmel’s creative process — which Hirst previously told ET included inventing scenes, discussing every line of dialogue with him before rehearsals, and even choosing to go a whole episode without saying anything at all — quickly rubbed off on Andersen, but perhaps not by coincidence.
“He’s a plain genius, and he taught me to believe in myself and my own ideas and keeping it logical and real. Especially for us to work together on episode 13, when we are alone in the forest in England, that was just awesome. We both agreed that we wanted to make it relatable and light and create a contract to all the other scenes in the show, just between a father and son, really.”
The actors exhibited clear chemistry throughout the show, though it wasn’t that connection that scored Andersen the part of Ivar. In fact, Hirst told ET that he cast the young actor, who came to audition for the parts of Ragnar’s other three sons, after he exhibited an expression in his eyes that reminded him of Fimmel. “Thanks Michael, no pressure at all,” Andersen cracked when he heard of Hirst’s comparison.
“I’ll never forget [my audition],” Andersen laughed, describing the 30 minutes he had in the hallway after Hirst requested he audition for the character. “I had no idea who Ivar was, and I had never read any of the scenes that he had… I was sweating. I had never sweat that much in my life.”
“It was a scene between Ivar and Ubbe (Jordan Patrick Smith, who coincidentally read with Andersen in the audition), and we rehearsed the scene without the cameras rolling, and I got through the scene. I was like, ‘OK, I got this. Just calm down, relax, breathe.’ And then of course when they press the little red button the camera, I forgot the first time, I forgot the second time!” he yelled. “But the third time was apparently the lucky one, and I can remember Michael clapping his hands while I’m walking out of the room. It was just a weird day.”
Though Andersen remembers clamming up in front of the camera, Hirst said that it was through the camera’s lens, observing the gentle pain of a crippled Ivar through his eyes, that showed him Andersen was the one.
“That’s interesting,” Andersen said, “because it may have helped that I didn’t know anything about Ivar. I was just going logically into the whole thing.”
“I walked into the room and asked, ‘What’s up with Ivar? Is he in constant pain?’ and [Hirst] said, ‘Yes, I would think so.’ So in my mind, I was like, ‘Well, if he has been suffering from this disease for his entire life, being in constant pain, he is used to it, so he wouldn’t act it,'” he recalled. “So I put my legs a little to the side, but I was acting in pain through the eye. That’s what I did and apparently that’s what they went with.”
Though Andersen says he’s now used to all the crawling around he does on the show as a result of his character being paralyzed, playing Ivar the Boneless didn’t excuse him from the cast’s intense training.
“They did get the four brothers a personal trainer, and he killed us for like six days a week for three weeks. My body has never been in that much pain before,” the Danish actor confessed, adding that he now has an exercise plan to keep up with on his own. “I have to be honest about this, I do skip leg day once in a while.”
“It’s tough, but every single time he’s crawling, it’s a signal to the audience that he is dealing with something that they probably won’t fully understand, and that he is different, so I prefer to have him crawl once in a while,” Andersen said. “I work a lot on keeping his disease in the minds of the audience.”
In the final few episodes of the season, however, Ivar finally gets to join in with his brothers, strategizing and leading the Great Heathen Army from a chariot in a battle sequence that included more extras than Braveheart.
“To be a part of it, personally, it was absolutely outstanding. The amount of extras, the amount of work put into this whole thing, it was a crazy experience. It was a great reminder of what you’re doing and how big it is, because you can forget that a little bit when you’re just standing in a studio. So it’s cool when you get outside with 300 extras and five cranes and six cameras and trucks everywhere,” Andersen mused. “It was just f**king mental.”
As for the more nuanced aspects of his character — notably the anger, arrogance, and confrontation with his brothers — he exhibits in the season’s final episodes, Andersen says it comes from struggle.
“Every single thing he does is a compensation for his disease, and him struggling all the time to prove himself,” he explained, noting that Ragnar verbalizes his faith in Ivar before he dies. “He is struggling with being crippled and not being the picture of someone who could lead an entire army, the fact that they won’t see his brilliant mind. It’s the most annoying thing, when you’ve got the answers, but you’re not heard.”
Of course, as viewers witnessed on Wednesday, Ivar’s frustrations get the best of him when he dives an axe through Sigurd’s (David Lindström) chest, killing him in front of the entire Great Heathen Army.
“It’s a major, major scene… he would be the absolute weapon if he could control his anger, and that’s something he will struggle with, even in season five. He hates it, because he lost control,” Andersen offered. “Despite all the experience he has gained, he has become more of a man, definitely, but still struggles with that little kid inside of him that is just so angry, so hurt.”
The audience will also see Ivar attempt revenge on Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) for killing his mother (Alyssa Sutherland) in season five. “He will never forget that,” Andersen stated. “She’s the one woman who ever loved him, so he will never, ever be able to settle down with Lagertha alive.”
As for how Andersen would describe the Ivar yet to come, he says, “Determined, still angry, violent, but also in love.”
“He’s completely out of touch with reality and his emotions,” he promised.
Season 5 Coming Soon!
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Main Characters
Ragnar †
A mighty Viking warrior who believes he is destined for greatness. Leading Vikings to sail west for the first time, he rose to power first by defeating Earl Haraldson in single combat, then King Horik after he attempts to murder Ragnar and his family.Family: Lagertha (first wife), Queen Aslaug † (second wife), Rollo (brother), Björn (son), Gyda † (daughter), Ubbe (son), Hvitserk (son), Sigurd † (son), Ivar (son), Siggy † (granddaughter) Actor: Travis Fimmel
Lagertha is the first wife of Ragnar Lothbrok. She is an Earl, a strong shield-maiden and a force to be reckoned with. She has always fought in the shield-wall alongside the men. Although fate has pulled her apart from Ragnar, it seems that the gods must have a plan to bring them back
together, where they belong.Family: Ragnar † (first husband), Sigvard † (late husband), Rollo (former brother-in-law), Björn (son), Gyda † (daughter), Siggy † (granddaughter), Kalf † (lover)Actor: Katheryn Winnick
Rollo, Ragnar’s brother, is impulsive, wild, care-free and compulsive. Rollo is a fierce fighter who is a fearsome berserker known to 'fight like a bear' but is often svershadowed by his brother. The relationship between Rollo and Ragnar is intense and always unpredictable. Rollo has become the Duke of Normandy after marrying Princess Gisla (the daughter of Emperor Charles) and is named defender of France from the Vikings.Family: Siggy † (lover), Ragnar † (brother), Björn (nephew), Gyda † (nephew), Ubbe (nephew), Hvitserk (nephew), Sigurd † (nephew), Ivar (nephew), Lagertha (former sister-in-law), Aslaug † (sister-in-law), Princess Gisla (wife)Actor: Clive Standen
Bjorn Lothbrok is the son of Ragnar and Lagertha and the oldest of Ragnar’s many sons. Intelligent and determined, Bjorn loves and admires his father above all men. Following in Ragnar’s footsteps, Bjorn desires to test himself as a fighter as well as an explorer. After fighting in battle without receiving one wound or scratch, he garnered the famous nickname “Bjorn Ironside.” Family: Torvi (wife), Siggy † (daughter), Lagertha (mother), Ragnar † (father), Rollo (uncle), Gyda † (sister), Ubbe (brother), Hvitserk (brother), Sigurd † (brother), Ivar (brother) Actor: Alexander Ludwig
Aslaug is the clever and beautiful daughter of the famed dragon slayer Sigurd and shield-maiden Brunhilde. Aslaug promised Ragnar that she would provide him with the sons which the ancient Seer prophesized for him – and she delivered. She is also a völva (a seeress).Family: Ragnar † (husband), Rollo (brother-in-law), Ubbe (son), Hvitserk (son), Sigurd † (son), Ivar (son), Björn (step-son) Actor: Alyssa Sutherland
The oldest son by Ragnar and Aslaug, he has a paternalistic attitude towards his younger brothers. Ubbe is a sensitive, thoughtful and attractive young man, in many ways the closest in outlook and instinct to his father RagnarFamily: Ragnar † (father), Aslaug † (mother), Rollo (uncle), Björn (half-brother), Hvitserk (brother), Sigurd † (brother), Ivar (brother) Actor: Jordan Smith
Son of Ragnar. Hvitserk and his older brother Ubbe have a special bond because when they were children they jumped together in an icy lake and had to be rescued by Siggy, who died in the attempt. Hvitserk is more complex and a darker character than his brother Ubbe, characteristics which become more pronounced in time and lead to a terrible denouement.Family: Ragnar † (father), Aslaug † (mother), Rollo (uncle), Björn (half-brother), Ubbe (brother), Sigurd † (brother), Ivar (brother) Actor: Marco Ilsø
Son of Ragnar. Sigurd was born with a astigmatism in one eye, in the shape of a snake or dragon. This flaw has a damaging psychological impact on him, making him feel different from his older brothers and more estranged from the family. He is a sensitive young man, growing up feeling that he has to provide himself.Family: Ragnar † (father), Aslaug † (mother), Rollo (uncle), Björn (half-brother), Ubbe (brother), Hvitserk (brother), Ivar (brother) Actor: David Lindstrom
Son of Ragnar. Perhaps the most famous Viking of all time, his pathological cruelty was notorious even during his own lifetime. Ivar is deeply ambitious and his ambitions will twist the legacy of his father out of shape, and create universal war. People are genuinely afraid of Ivar. Family: Ragnar † (father), Aslaug † (mother), Rollo (uncle), Björn (half-brother), Ubbe (brother), Hvitserk (brother), Sigurd † (brother) Actor: Alex Høgh Andersen
Floki is a genius ship builder and he designs and builds the prototype of the new generation of Viking ships which can sail across the open ocean but also up the shallowest of rivers. Without Floki, Ragnar would have never been able to fulfill his dreams of discovering new lands and new civilizations. Floki is a religious zealot who believes in the Gods above anything and everything, including Ragnar.Family: Helga † (wife), Angrboda † (daughter) Actor: Gustaf Skarsgård
First lover, then wife to Floki, Helga normally lives away from Kattegat with their daughter, but stays in the village when Floki is in Wessex, becoming close to Aslaug and Siggy. She travels to Paris but Floki's actions and behavior drives a wedge between them.Family: Floki (husband), Angrboda † (daughter) Actor: Maude Hirst
Vikings Fan is an unofficial fansite. We are NO WAY affiliated with Vikings, History Channel, the cast or their friends/family/management. Please don't send us fanmail. All graphics are made by vikings-fan.com unless stated, please do not copy or steal without permission given. This site is non-profit, and is in no way trying to infringe on copyrights. | {
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I had my first breast thermography scan done six months ago. I have no idea why it's taken me so long to finally do it. The key is to do it before anything suspicious happens (which I did!). And maintain scans annually to see changes in blood flow, lymphatic drainage and nodules to then catch something before it really becomes something. Thermography scans are in, mammograms are out. There is a ton of research out there in case you want to know specifics... you can literally spend all day reading studies.
The reasons why mammograms are no longer the golden standard are vast but here are two important ones:
1. They produce a high amount of false positives
2. They smash and stress some seriously fragile tissues, and if something is there, you absolutely do not want to compress it.
Anyways, I had a little reality check when my scans came back. I had quite a bit of lymphatic stagnation in my chest and lymph nodes leading into my breast tissue. Way more than I was comfortable with. So I decided to start doing something that I've been meaning to do for a long time, dry brushing.
Dry Brushing is a technique using a special, semi-firm natural bristled brush, to brush your skin in long strokes towards the heart to nudge that lymphatic system into getting it's shiz together. The lymphatic system is a network of tubes, vessels and glands throughout the body that (for simplicity's sake) removes toxins. The lymphatic system uses peristalsis (contractions) to move lymph fluid throughout the lymphatic system. Other ways to assist with that include: physical activity/exercises, massage, including rebounding, drinking plenty of fluids, and yes-dry brushing. Dry brushing is extremely easy to do, takes no time, and forces the lymphs to get pumpin'!
I recently went back for my follow up Thermography scan and the report came back with great improvements, limited to no lymphatic stagnations. Below is the dry brush that I've been using for the past six months.
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This website does not intend to provide diagnosis, treatment or medical advice. Products, services, information and other content provided on this website are provided for informational purposes only. Please consult with a physician or other healthcare professional regarding any medical or health related diagnosis or treatment options. Never disregard or delay medical advice based upon information you may have read on this website. This website is not liable for any information provided on this website with regard to recommendations regarding supplements for any health purposes. Consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, supplement or exercise program.
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A good night and a great savings await you at the Rodeway Inn hotel in Asheville, NC near Asheville Regional Airport. This pet-friendly hotel is near destinations like University of North Carolina Asheville, Basilica of St. Lawrence landmark, North Carolina Arboretum, Folk Art Center and U.S. Cellular Center. Enjoy amenities like free WiFi, business center, guest laundry services and access to copy, print and fax machines. Guest rooms include a refrigerator, microwave, TV, hair dryer and in-room coffee and tea. Also, earn rewards including free nights and gift cards with our Choice Privileges Rewards program. Pet Accommodation: 15.00 per pet per night. Pet limit: 2 pets per room under 50 pounds. | {
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Most recreational divers practice No-Stop Decompression diving. The No-Stop Decompression Limits represent the depths and maximum times divers can stay on the bottom and then surface. All recreational dive tables assume that divers will not exceed recommended ascent rates.
Recommended ascent rates vary between 20 and 60 feet per minute. Although it is generally acknowledged that ascent rates may significantly affect dive safety, there is not enough human data to suggest the correct rate.
The goal of the Ascent Rate Study was to provide data to describe the effects of ascent rate.
Methods
Experiments were conducted in the hyper/hypobaric chambers at the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology at Duke University Medical Center. All the dives were to 100 feet of seawater (fsw). The first profile had a bottom time of 15 minutes. When researchers accepted the dive profile, they increased the bottom time by three minutes. The tests involved single dives only.
Researchers tested ascent rates of 10 and 60 feet per minute. The objective of the study was to estimate if there is any difference in No-Decompression Limits, incidence of vascular bubbles, or decompression sickness between the ascent rates. Researchers accepted or rejected dive profiles based upon the number of DCS incidents and total exposures. They chose the acceptance and rejection rules to minimize the total number of DCS incidents, allowing for some mild cases but limiting more serious DCS. The Institutional Review Board of Duke University Medical Center approved these rules.
Subjects were dry and at rest throughout the dives. Subjects must have been certified recreational divers or have hyperbaric experience, be at least 18 years old, and their body composition must no exceed 40% of their ideal weight. Subjects could participate only once in each profile. Subjects were eligible for more than one study as the profile changes and they were encouraged to participate in each ascent rate profile. They under went a medical history review and a physical examination the day of the study by a DAN/Duke dive physician.
During the study, participantsí activity before, during, and after the 100 fsw dives were controlled and minimized. Except for essential activities such as medical examinations, clothing changes, Doppler monitoring, or trips to the bathroom, subjects remained seated for one hour before the dive and two hours after the dive. Climbing or descending stairs was strictly avoided for two hours before and three hours after diving. Subjects were compensated and participation was voluntary. | {
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What Happened When I Found Out My Daughter Was A Miracle
This week has been one of rejoicing over my daughter. Don't get me wrong. I believe all births are miraculous, but some new information has come to our attention regarding Sawyer's in utero viability.
I sought out a hormone specialist just before I got pregnant with Sawyer due to the fact that I had been suffering from an unknown illness the past several years and conventional medicine was not helping, in was in fact, making me worse.
Based on my symptoms the doctor was sure I was struggling with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) but before we could get blood drawn for a hormone panel, we found out I was 12 days pregnant. She advised against the panel at that point because my hormones would be astronomical as a pregnant woman. Or so she thought.
I know now that you don’t need blood testing to confirm a PCOS diagnosis. Sorting through the symptoms is a major piece of a very, very complicated puzzle.
I know now that the doctor should have prescribed Progesterone based on my symptoms alone.
I know now that 50% of pregnancies in women with PCOS result in miscarriage due to extreme progesterone deficiency.
50% chance of miscarriage. My daughter had a 1 in 2 chance of surviving and I didn’t know this during the pregnancy.
I also am a homozygous MTHFR gene mutation recipient, which carries a significant miscarriage risk on its own. So technically, I don't know the real numbers, but the odds were not in her favor to survive.
I was only able to breastfeed Sawyer for a couple months because I lost my milk due to…you guessed it: dangerously low progesterone. But by the time we discovered this, it was too late to get my milk back.
Much of your health and immunity is attributed to your gut. Breast milk is a huge contributor to starting an infant’s gut health; as is the vaginal flora obtained from a natural birth, but Sawyer had to be retrieved via an emergency C-section. These are a couple of the reasons I give my daughter probiotics and Cod Liver Oil every day!
But regardless of what I didn’t know, God knew. He provided what she needed to survive and thrive. I am convinced God used my PCOS-ignorance so He could later reveal his divine intervention knitting my daughter together. Fearfully. And oh-so wonderfully made. What a beautiful example of God getting the glory while we get the joy.
In addition to her survival, not long after my milk dried up, God provided again. Our dear friends welcomed their baby boy, and they were blessed with an abundance of milk. We had daily deliveries of fresh breast milk from them for a while which was a tremendous help to all of us. I had cried many, many tears while making Sawyer’s bottles of formula, partly because I hadn’t thoroughly researched the contents, but mostly because I felt inadequate; that I couldn’t provide my daughter with what she needed.
I look at my daughter through new eyes this week. I thought I would be the mom crying tears of joy when she crawled or took her first steps or said “Mama” but I was too excited for that.
But this…this is what gets me. I have trouble looking at Sawyer now without my heart feeling like it’s going to burst right out of my chest as I choke back my thankful tears.
Sometimes when we open our eyes, we can clearly see God’s intentional work in our lives and it takes our breath away.
Then I remembered Sawyer’s name.
During the pregnancy, I opened my Bible seeking inspiration for baby names. The binding of my Bible is ripped open in the beginning, so it falls open to the same spot often, and this was no exception. But this time I noticed a post-it that said “Read Ezekiel 37.” I vaguely remember writing it, but I don’t remember seeing it before. So I read the chapter. It’s strange because I was familiar with the passage, so I don’t know why I wrote myself a note like that.
Ezekiel 37 is a prophetic chapter titled The Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones. This is a symbolic passage essentially about Israel in their state of unbelief, and the restoration of the divided kingdom, represented by two sticks coming together as one.
After reading this a few times I thought it would be incredible to give our daughter a name that represented a biblical prophesy! So I searched for words in their original language trying to capture the essence of this story in my daughter’s name. I zeroed in on the sticks. What word meant sticks? What word meant two becoming one? The original Hebrew language that represents pretty much all of verse 17,"Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand," is contained in one single word: 'echad.
Seriously. It's pronounced with heavy emphasis on the phelgm (Strong's H259). I couldn't do that to her.
OK. Dead end.
I mean, we already had a list of our favorite names waiting anyway. We stockpiled several ever since we had settled on the name Aviella Sloane early in the pregnancy and later realized that her initials would spell A.S.S. The best/worst part about that is while I wanted to change the name immediately, Charlie wanted to keep it. He said “Boy named Sue, Girl named Ass”
No.
All that to say, “Sawyer” and “Emalyn” were already part of our name choices and we were just waiting to see her before we selected the final first and middle names.
“Emalyn” was added during my attempt to have a West Wing inspired name. Yes, people, the obsession is real, but The West Wing is how Charlie and I met, so it is sacred in this home!
I got ZERO name inspiration from the West Wing. “Emalyn” was finally created when I took two outstanding characters; Ainsley Hayes (played by Emily Proctor) and Evelyn Baker Lang (Glenn Close) and combined the names Emily and Evelyn. FYI, those characters are polar opposites of each other but we love them dearly and equally!
Do you know what Sawyer means? Someone who cuts wood. Wood. Sticks.
Emalyn? Two becoming one.
You might think that’s stretching it, but I don’t. What it all means, I don’t know. I am just more in love with my daughter in every way and I can’t help but see God’s intention all over her.
If you pray for anything for me, please pray I don’t ever lose this perspective on her. That I don’t stop seeing through eyes like this. That it spills over into all I see and do. That I don't stop trusting God in all He does and doesn't do; even if He doesn't reveal His purpose.
We are dedicating Sawyer Emalyn to the Lord at 5:00 Saturday night at Westgate’s Saratoga campus and we’d love to see you. For those of you already a part of our family’s life, loving on our baby girl and speaking into our lives as her parents, we thank you and appreciate you.
Number of West Wing References in this post: Half the article, duh.
Evelyn Baker Lang is vetted for the Supreme Court Justice
Ainsley Hayes discusses why she opposes an amendment giving women the same rights as men. | {
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Sometimes I don't understand.Feels like I'm living in a world gone mad.Look around, all around it's just the same.People just rush everywhere.No time to ever take the time to care.We're the ones.We're the losers in this game.So where is the tenderness we scarifice for progress.And where is the love we need.You know it makes me wonder.
What if everybody, what if everybody reached out with just one hand (reached with just one hand).What if everybody, what if everybody sang out with just one voice (sang with just one voice).Maybe we could change things.What if everybody, what if everybody cared with just one heart (cared with their own heart).What if everybody, what if everybody tried to light one spark (tried to light one spark).Maybe we could change things somehow.
Somehow it's all up to us.Gotta take this world, make it a world of love.Gotta do it now.Gotta find a way to make a change somehow.There's gotta be a way for us to make it better.
What if everybody, what if everybody reached out with just one hand (reached with just one hand).What if everybody, what if everybody sang out with just one voice (sang with just one voice).Maybe we could change things.What if everybody, what if everybody cared with just one heart (cared with their own heart).What if everybody, what if everybody tried to light one spark (tried to light one spark).Maybe we could change things somehow.
Here in our hearts.Oh the answer is there.If we only would look inside them.We can make it better, we can make it better... If we try together.
What if everybody, what if everybody reached out with just one hand (reached with just one hand).What if everybody, what if everybody sang out with just one voice (sang with just one voice).Maybe we could change things.What if everybody, what if everybody cared with just one heart (cared with their own heart).What if everybody, what if everybody tried to light one spark (tried to light one spark).Maybe we could change things somehow. | {
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Samuel L. Jackson’s just like everybody else: He has no idea what’s going on with the new “Star Wars” films.
Jackson was at Comic-Con on Saturday to promote his new film “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and held court on a number of subjects in an interview, including J.J. Abrams’ new installments in George Lucas’ cinema-changing franchise.
Unlike the tens of thousands of fans at the annual gathering of fans, though, Jackson has had the opportunity to ask what’s up. And he still doesn’t know.
Jackson played Jedi Master Mace Windu in the “Star Wars” prequels. He’d like more work for Windu and his purple light saber. But when he saw Abrams recently at Lucas’ wedding, he gleaned no information about what will come next as the franchise moves on to its seventh film in 2015.
“J.J. was there, I was there,” Jackson said in an interview at the Hard Rock Hotel. “I was like (raises eyebrows) and he was like (noncommittal shrug), and he just went about his business. I don’t know what that means. Harrison (Ford) was there too, and he was like (shrug). I just think it would be cool to have some of us that people relate to as being part of the ‘Star Wars’ franchise to give entre to the new characters that they’re going to bring to whatever the new thing is. It kind of makes it an easier entrance.”
Jackson also wonders why his Nick Fury character isn't part of the new “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” television series. Fury oversees the global security spy agency in Marvel’s cinematic universe, including “Marvel's The Avengers.” But so far he hasn’t been contacted about the show, which stars Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson and debuts on ABC in September.
“I don’t know how they’ve got the TV show without me, but they do,” Jackson said. “Maybe I could be like Charlie in ‘Charlie’s Angels.’ You just hear my voice. I send (the agents) out every week.” | {
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Monday, March 25, 2013
Smitten Polish Berrydrops Swatch and Review
Today I have three of the six Berrydrops from a recent Smitten Polish collection. I chose the three that stood out the most to me and I think you'll agree that these polishes are just amazing! The Berrydrop polishes are "A
collection of gumdrop themed polishes, with names inspired by berries -
some real, some imaginary. Crelly bases with subtle tiny flakies."
Bananaberry Gumdrop - Huckleberry Gumdrop - Gooseberry Gumdrop
The first polish up is Bananaberry Gumdrop. I'm totally a sucker for yellow polishes. This polish is a sheer, yellow jelly-like polish with white flakes that builds nicely. Yellows are typically a pain, but streakiness wasn't an issue here! Shown is four thin (super thin) coats. I have a pretty light hand with polish, so you could likely do 3 thicker coats. All swatches in this post are over Barielle Advanced Pro and sealed with Out the Door.
Next is Huckleberry Gumdrop, I think if I had to choose, this was my favorite. Shown here is three thin coats. Huckleberry Gumdrop is bluer than Snozzberry Gumdrop which leans more teal and is darker. I don't usually go crazy for blues but I am completely "Smitten" ;) with this one!
Lastly is Gooseberry Gumdrop which is a fun, light shade of green. This is another one which won over my heart as I don't go for green too often. Shown here is four thin coats, although I could have definitely stopped at three.
Overall, I was IMPRESSED with the formula, but Smitten Polish always has amazing formulas. These applied super smoothly, very easily. I love the effect of the white flakes, I don't have any colored polishes that look like these, so they're most certainly a unique addition to my collection. | {
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Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of random thought … the thrill of the buffet … and the agony of Monday morning … the human drama of cyber communication … This is Marty Rochlin's blog.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
It has snowed a bit recently - that's an understatement. Snow-Pacalypse Part 2 threw a wrench into lots of Super Bowl plans (nice job, Saints), and wiped out 2 days of school. Now, for good measure, there's another boat load of snow about to hit us, wiping out the rest of the school week ... and Spring Break.
I am grateful that I have job flexibility to work from home on days when administrators are scheduled to report. So, I can keep up on email while drinking coffee and lounging around in sweatpants.
I am also grateful for ibuprofen.
Back to the school topic for a minute ... without getting too deep, all of this snow is taking away instructional days that the kids and teachers need to get ready for the big MSA tests. The test results label a school as "failing" or "succeeding." If you are a school that struggles, any days lost for test prep are an issue. Complicating the issue, at least for our school, is the fact that we planned a two-week, after-school MSA test prep program for kids on the edge of pass / fail. The snow has wiped out the first few days of that. The test dates cannot be moved, as there are other vendors tied to test printing, shipping, scanning and scoring who are locked into many tests in many states. So, we cross our fingers and hope the kids and teachers can rise to the occasion.
It's snowing ... again ... ouch, I think my back is about to hurt.
(Blogger's note ... I wrote a bunch of clever stuff about this weekend being a festive one on account of my birthday, Lilly's birthday and Valentine's Day. I saved it, went to have dinner, and now it's gone. This is the second time my material has disappeared this week - I wrote about tee shirts and Chuck Norris last weekend, but that is gone too).
That's all for now - I'm off to find the person responsible for deleting my stuff. | {
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All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz
All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz (“Marginalised Muslim Front”) is an Indian Muslim social reform organization dedicated to the emancipation of the Dalit Muslims belonging to the “Arzal” class in the class system among Muslims. It was founded by Ali Anwar in Patna, Bihar. Anwar himself is an OBC Muslim.
Anwar founded the organization after observing Caste oppression by upper class “Ashraf” Muslims on low-class Muslim, causing him to become a leftist and associate with the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He assembled a loose coalition of social reform organizations bringing awareness towards the plight of the Dalit Muslims and their complete neglect and persecution by the upper-class “Ashraf” (supposedly “Arab-descended”) Muslims in India. The Mahaz is a broad front of a number of Dalit and Backward Class Muslim organisations from different states of India, particularly Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Delhi.
The position of the Mahaz reflects that of Anwar, who posits that lower class Muslims have been trying to marginalize the Dalit Muslims by slyly asking for quotas for “Backward-class Muslims” while excluding the Muslim Dalits from this label. They oppose religion-based reservations on the basis of their assertions regarding Ashrafs hijacking them for their own purposes and thus want socio-economic conditions and not religion to be the basis of reservation. Ali Anwar has said he has been networking with Muslim members across the political spectrum to raise the issue in the Parliament of India.
The Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz advocates for Dalit Muslims in relation to issues of personal law, reservation and electoral politics, as well as demands of legal action against officials who physically attack Dalit Muslims. They have also advocated for the rights of Dalit Muslims to bury their dead in conventional graveyards instead of segregated ones, as mandated in the Muslim Class System. | {
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WorldCat• http://www.worldcat.orgWorldCat is the world's largest network of library content and services. WorldCat libraries are dedicated to providing access to their resources on the web, where most people start their search for information.
The Pugin Society • http://www.thepuginsociety.co.ukThe Pugin society was formed in 1995, to celebrate the buildings, decorative designs and writings of the great nineteenth century architect, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin.
The Victoria and Albert Museum•http://www.vam.ac.uk The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design. Many of Pugin's works are on display along with a large gallery of products from the Great Exhibition.
The Artchive •http://www.artchive.com The Artchive offers browser access in HTML format to an archive of more than 2,000 scans from over 200 different artists.
The Scala Archives• http://www.scalarchives.com The Scala Archives is the largest and most prestigious source for professional digital images of fine art, culture and history. The archive features digital files of art works from around the world, covering every age and every artistic genre, are available for licensing to all media.
The Web Gallery of Art •http://www.wga.hu The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture of the Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassicism and Romanticism periods (1100-1850), currently containing over 20,300 reproductions.
R E S E A R C H A R C H I V E S
The A2A Database • http://www.a2a.org.uk The Access to Archives database contains catalogues describing archives held locally in England and Wales and dating from the eighth century to the present day.
Archives Hub • http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk The Archives Hub provides a single point of access to 22,407 descriptions of archives held in 167 UK repositories.
British History Online • http://www.british-history.ac.uk British History Online is the digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles.
The Institute of Historical Research • http://www.history.ac.uk/ The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) provides resources for historians. These resources include online articles, free event advertising, MA/PhD study, training courses, an open-access library and more.
The National Archives• http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk The National Archives is the UK government's official archive, containing 900 years of history with records ranging from parchment and paper scrolls through to digital files and archived websites. The National Archives makes open records available to all.
The Royal Institute of British Architects • http://www.architecture.com The Royal Institute of British Architects is the UK body for architecture and the architectural profession. We help the public to learn more about the built environment through information services, websites and a library that includes an unrivalled collection of books, photographs and manuscripts.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates. | {
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Camelia Suleiman
Camelia Suleiman is Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Languages at Michigan State University. Author of Language and Identity in the Israel-Palestine Conflict: The Politics of Self-Perception in the Middle East (2011). | {
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Sakari Famous competed at the 2019 Clemson Invitational at the Clemson University Indoor Complex.
Famous represented the University of Georgia in the Womenís High Jump.
Freshman Famous took two tries to clear 1.73m or 5 feet 8 inches and was the third collegiate finisher and fifth overall.
Famous would unfortunately miss all three attempts at the 1.78m height.
Saturday, January 19, 2019
Dill & Edwards Represent St Augustine's University
IslandStats.com
Shaquille Dill and Robert Edwards represented the University of St. Augustine's taking to the Track for the Keydet Invitational.
Edwards competed in his first Indoor Track Meet competed in Heat 1 of the Menís Mile, he would cross the line 7th in the Heat and 35th overall clocking a time of 5:08.30.
Dill won Heat 5 of the Menís 800m race and 4th overall crossing the line in a time of 1:55.40. Dill would also run the Second Leg for the University of St Augustineís Menís 4x400m Relay team that finished 4th in Heat 5 and 4th overall clocking a time of 3:16.82.
Bobb would record the win in the Womenís Varsity 200m Meters Dash a time of 26.50, Bobb would also win the Womenís Varsity 300 Meters Dash clocking 41.38.
With a time of 1:20.62, Bobb would win the Womenís Varsity 500 Meters. Bobb would lead off the Harford Techís Womenís Varsity 4x200 Relay team that clocked a winning time of 1:49.34.
Bobb would close out the Meet running the anchor leg for Harford Techís Womenís Varsity 4x800 Meters Relay winning team who was clocked at 4:20.34.
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Sports Minister Congatulates Famous
IslandStats.com
The Minister of Labour, Community Affairs and Sports Lovitta Foggo today congratulated Bermuda's Sakari Famous on breaking the National Indoor Womenís High Jump Record over the weekend.
Famousi, a multiple time Carifta medalist, was representing the University of Georgia at the UAB Blazer Invitational in the CrossPlex facility in Birmingham, Alabama when she cleared 1.77m on her second attempt, breaking the National Indoor Womenís High Jump Record that was previously held by Latroya Darrell at a height of 1.72m.
Minister Foggo said, "I would like to congratulate Sakari on her achievement over the weekend. She continues to shine on the international stage and make us all proud. I look forward to watching her progress and continue on her record-breaking streak!" | {
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Category: My Books
In putting together my chapter on the symbolic meaning of numbers in ancient myths for the new book, I was going to include this in the section on the number 17, but then changed my mind as I want Stories in the Stars to have a sort of timeless quality and not be pinned to current events. So I decided to share it with you here instead, because if you are one of my readers, you will likely have a more zoomed-out view of the psychological warfare currently being conducted against us by the Deep State and have noticed their use of the number 17 as a signal to each other that certain staged events – like false flag attacks which are often carried out on the 17th of the month – have been orchestrated to socially engineer the thinking of the masses.
My new book, Stories in the Stars will be published and available on Amazon by about 21st August. For the first two weeks, it will only cost around £10.00 ($14.00), so that the people on my mailing list, who I’ll email to let know as soon as they can buy it, will be able to get it cheaper. If you’d like your email address to be added to that mailing list, please do send me a message here. After that, the cost will go up to around £14.00 ($18.00).
In my experience, the Saturn Return is one of the most important features in the path of the zodiac hero, because metaphorically-speaking, Saturn is the planetary governor that represents the father who has to be redeemed by the son (Jupiter) in the Underworld, and the redemption of the ancestral line is a major part of the work for any initiate or shaman.
The character of Pinocchio steps straight out of the Italian travelling marionette theatre which developed from of an older tradition called the Commedia dell’Arte that featured the likes of the battling Harlequin and Pulcinella who were earlier prototypes for Punch and Judy. The Commedia dell’Arte had its roots in Roman and Greek “new comedy” that was, in itself, an evolution of the Mystery Plays of the medieval period. So we do not have to dig down too deeply to find the mythological blueprint underneath, and it is choc-full of magical clues and golden keys that will unlock many doors and build new pathways, bridges and crossings in the mind of the budding initiate.
It is important to understand about the wisdom and knowledge of our earliest ancestors to avoid falling foul of all sorts of misunderstandings about space aliens building the Pyramids and such like. No, our prehistoric forefathers were more than capable of great engineering feats because they had an inner wisdom that grew out of their perception of their holographic interconnectness with the universe – a perception that has been lost to most of us today.
As the Fire-Worshippers of the Southern Bu-Kongo said: “Man’s environment is the world as a whole, and the latter’s environment is our solar system. Man is part of the stars — and the stars, sun and moon are all part of man.”
This perception of the holographic interconnectedness of man was once widespread upon the Earth and it was told about in their stories – which we today call myths. The importance of this interconnectedness was given great value by our ancestors, much more than we are taught to value so-called folk tales today, because they totally understood how the right narrative, told correctly, moulds the individual into helping him find himself and his place in the cosmos.
As a shaman, I work alongside the spirits that govern the land of our ancestors; they are the spirits of Sovereignty that, on the energetic level, is a huge force that gushes forth from the Rivers of Blood or the DNA of the ancestors that are buried in the land. It reaches the emotional intelligence of the people through the portals of these spiritual conduits, an Elder race whose role it is to guide the spiritual evolution of human beings. They are known in the British Isles as the Fae, the Gentry, the Sidhe or the Faeries. Other cultures have their own names for these spirits that appear to inhabit the betwixt and between – like the aesir of the Norse and the devas of the Vedics.
This wonderful poem by Amara Bronwyn MacEachern Hollow Bones sums up, in a nutshell, everything about the specialised shamanic path that I write and teach about.
We locked up our wisdom into our bones
And swallowed the keys
They sank in our rivers of blood
And we forgot the maps
Because we had to forget the mysteries
To keep them safe.
We wove our hair into brooms
And swept over our paths
And then burned the earth with our rage
We didn’t teach our children
It was the only way to protect them,
we thought
But in them we planted seeds, seeds and keys
And told them stories and riddles and songs
With no roots, just tangled threads
That would take years to unwind
Just enough time
For the rains to fall again
and put out the fires
For the dams to break
For the rivers to flood
For the paths
to be walked again
For the soil to breathe
And as the old bones crumble
Deep beneath the rubble
We find we’ve always had the keys
Our stories and our maps
Our paths are revealed to some
And the seeds grow again
The threads are unspun
And woven again.
When I do Tarot readings, I say to the person I’m reading for: “You have the opportunity now to ask a question of God or the Higher Power, whatever that means to you – man, woman or unspecified something,” and they usually reply, “Well, I believe in something, but I’m not sure what.”
I’ve come to realise that that the “something, but not sure what,” seems to be the cognitive landmark that many have now reached since seeing through the false narratives of religions that were only ever designed to control us, not to spiritually empower us. It was a story that gave us a foothold on the path when we were but children in our spiritual progress but, now that we’re growing up, we realise that God is probably not an old man in the sky like this version by Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, who sends fire and brimstone in our direction whenever we displease him.
The Winter Solstice will fall just before dawn breaks over the British Isles after the longest night of the year on Thursday 21st December. To me, this is such a beautiful time when there are unique energies at play that heal the emotional despair and suffering accrued during the previous thirteen moons, and send rejuvenation and fresh hope and inspiration for the coming turn of the calendrical wheel. Continue reading →
The recent discovery about Stonehenge being used as the setting for a fertility cult with the standing stones casting phallic shadows at certain times of the year is causing a bit of a stir among dusty old academics. However, it will come as no surprise to my readers and particularly those who’ve read my book Reclaiming Sovereignty which goes into much detail about the sacred shamanic sex rites of our earliest ancestors that were fired up by the spirits of the land and how they were used, thousands of years ago, for the purposes of Sovereignty – to make kings.
Sometimes people use old myths about faeries, dwarves and wizards to build a cosy, walled cognitive space – in the same way that as children we used to construct camps from blankets and bedspreads in which to hide from the realities of the adult world.
However, the ancient myths were not meant for that purpose, and neither are my books, because these deeply rich allegorical tales contain wisdom keys that provide us with ways of meeting the seeming impossibly difficult challenges of the human condition. These challenges don’t change from generation to generation. The problems that we’re faced with today were also faced by our ancestors thousands of years ago. From the minute we give out that first scream at birth, we’re in a life-and-death struggle between good and evil, whether we realise it or not – and often our adversaries prefer us not to realise it, as they soften us up for the killing blow.
That’s why I chose the archetypal symbol of the sword to begin this series of lessons that make up these mystery teachings, which are based on the stories in my own books and particularly The Grail Mysteries. The last article, Lesson 2, was about the faery woman who raises the sword from beneath the frozen Hart Lake under the stars of Capricorn, and I’ve shown various ways of getting in touch with the faery gold buried within our own frozen emotional pain and forging it into our own Fragarach, the Sword of Truth. Continue reading →
If you have followed my guidance in Lesson 1, you will hopefully have begun the process of diving down deep into the frozen lake of your emotions and using the heat of concentration – through visualisation or shamanic journeying – in the alchemic crucible of your own inner space to release them and bring them to the surface in the form of a faery sword.
In this article, Lesson 2, I will be referencing the image in my book The Grail Mysteries where a woman’s sword arm appears from beneath the white, frozen Hart Lake under the stars of Capricorn at the Winter Solstice.
This article forms the beginning of a shamanic quest for my readers to help them understand and work with the imagery contained within my books that are based on Celtic magic. So if you’ve just stumbled into this Mystery Teachings class, you may want to go to the Introduction first, and then follow the links from there.
Before we start the shamanic or magical work for healing the Wounded Queens with the Thirteen Treasures of Britain, we need to get in touch with what needs healing within us because our power will come from what originally disempowered us. Continue reading →
Classic Grail literature, scribed by the Normans around the 12th century, concentrates on the Wounded King archetype – one which is immensely valuable for deep inner healing at the shamanic level. But I go back much further into the Celtic roots of these stories and so I will be describing, in a series of articles here, how to work magically with the Wounded Queen archetype because it is through Sovereignty rites that a Queen of the inner planes makes a wounded man into a King of Earth.
The doorways to the Enchanted Land of the Magical Queens is plain to see in my books and the keys to their locks are all there too for those who can recognise them. However, through lack of a proper education many today cannot recognise the keys or know what to do with them. So these articles will help you find them, and also teach you how to work magically with them yourself. This will enable you to develop your own connection to the spirit of Sovereignty of this land, which, in turn, will empower and enlighten you to realise your own inner Queen. Continue reading →
I hope you like the beautiful wrought gilded chalice gracing the cover of my new book The Grail Mysteries as much as I do. It was commissioned by Abbot Suger of St Denis, France, in the twelfth century, while its sardonyx cup was made in Alexandria in the second century BCE.
Abbot Suger’s chalice with kind permission of the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
Those who know about sacred sex magic will instantly recognise why Abbot Suger’s chalice makes a most appropriate cover for a mythic tale which explores that subject in depth. This chalice is symbolic of the Marriage of the Sun and the Moon, the alchemical operation that is at the heart of the ancient mysteries of the Grail which is about the shamanic form of sex that has always underpinned Sovereignty. Continue reading →
I sometimes feel like a story archaeologist. I have a mental image of myself, digging and digging and digging underneath all the rotting story mats of the wandering troubadors and tale-tellers of old. Some of those story mats are quite ragged by now; others have gone decidedly mouldy.
However, the deeper I dig, the closer to the original story I get. And then, if I’m lucky, I can find the shamanic themes that ran through what we now call ‘myths’ which show the wisdom of our earliest ancestors – a wisdom that is sadly lacking in much of today’s literary offerings. I then weave these myths into my own stories in a way that I think better reflects their true, multi-dimensional nature.
Most of the ancient myths that have survived and are available to us today were translated either by Christian monks or by PhD students and, as far as I know, none of them were translated by shamans, like me, and that’s why I keep on digging – and sometimes, I hit gold.
“HERE she comes,” muttered Cerridwen, through glinting black diamond teeth, as the dark silhouette of a woman came suddenly into view against the pinkening skies on the horizon, running across the top of an undulating field before vanishing again into the dew-laden deeps of the darkening gloaming.
Cerridwen’s wizened snake’s eyes had been scouring the horizon for hours, while she stirred her cauldron with a long silvery ash stick that was almost as gnarled and twisted as herself.
With one black eye firmly fixed on the ever-duskening fields in the distance as the setting sun began to cast its long creeping shadows, she watched from the corner of the other as the Scorpion goddess constellation slowly rose, glittering like an ice crystal palace against the lapis lazuli celestial vault. Continue reading →
We’ve been on such a wild helter skelter ride, lately – a virtual Apocalypse of political revelations – that it’s easy to get mesmerised watching the marionettes on the world stage as they try to cling on to power while the hurricane of the spirit of Sovereignty challenges their citadels.
That said, I want to tell you about my new book, The Bright World of the Gods, which is based on the stories of our own indigenous culture. That’s because, in my experience, geo-political events don’t just happen randomly in a vacuum. When they are an organic ‘populist’ expression, they are the end result of an impetus that springs forth from the hearts and minds of the people and that has its source in spirituality first, and then culture.
The Bright World of the Gods was gifted into my Dreamtime by the spirits of the land that inhabit the other dimensions that are found, shamanically, through the mists of Avalon, in Somerset, England. These spirits are known locally as the Gentle Folk, or the Fae, although you might know them better as faeries.
So this is a real faery story for enlightened adults that comes from a benevolent Elder race whose role it is to guide the steps of humanity. As such, it is perfect for curling up with by the fire when the white frost of the Sugar Plum Faery is crackling the grass underfoot, or to inspire dreaming on balmier days, under a gnarled old apple tree in an enchanted wood.
In this romantic magical mystery tour around the Glastonbury enchanted landscape, you will follow Bridie and Gwyn ap Nudd as they meet the challenges necessary for alchemical inner growth that leads to full spiritual realisation, along with other archetypal characters that have stepped out of Celtic myths such as Manawydan, Gwyddion, Creiddylad, Taliesen, Elen and Morgan the Fae.
You may just want to enjoy this epic tale on a superficial level as a beautiful love story that is full of intriguing escapades and interesting ideas – which is fine. But those looking for keys to unlock faery doorways into deeper cosmological teachings will also find them here along with the instructions on how to unlock them.
Either way, just relax and wander through the wonderous hills and dales of The Bright World of the Gods, and let it permeate into your own Dreamtime so that it can do its magic there and give you insights into your own destiny, and the meaning of your life. | {
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Why SEO Works Better On Linux
I am constantly turning down SEO jobs from customers on a Windows IIS server platform. Why do I turn done easy money? SEO has come along way with new technologies, but still remains the same after 10 years. That’s how long I have been doing this. Names might change, manners in which we obtain links have changed, but the premis is the same.
Build quality websites with unique content. Set up a deep link navigation that allows search engines to easily folow and spider your content and finally get inbound links with your keywords in the anchor text.
SO if these are the same systems run for a decade, why should it matter if you run it on Apache or IIS?
Google’s Webmaster GUidelines have alos changed little since its inception. Sure they’ve put the hammer done on spamming and link buying, but they still tell you what you need to do to achieve rankings. I find it curious that their top dogs that speak to us SEO people say the same party ines over and over again:
IP’s don’t matter
Operating Systems don’t matter
Duplicate content on-site won’t get you penalized
Subdomains or sub directories are seen the same way
Branding and discussion are the keys to high rankings.
So why do I continue to not want to deal with IIS. Google states that the best way for your server to comunicate with Googlebot is to use the if_modifiedsince http header. This is a function of Apache.
Matt Cutts says to use on page 301 redirects can be a problem with Googlebot, use .htaccess. Ever see a .htaccess on IIS? NO? That’s becasue it doesn’t exist. 301 redirects are a nightmare on IIS.
If you are starting out on a new website project, use Apache. If you have ever tried to run the Triad, which is Apache, PHP and MySQL on Windows Server OS, you can do it, but at the expense of killing your IIS, .NET apps and the entire framework which is why developers turn to IIS in the first place. IIS and Apache don’t play well together, in fact they don’t work at all together.
I will be addressing all the bullet points above over the next month in my server technology category. I just purchased a cloud package from Rackspace my hosting provider, who’s Cloud engineer referred to Google’s CTO’s 2 year old statement that IP’s don’t matter. BULLSHIT. We will see with our own eyes if this is true. I am running t domains on the same IP with the same topics, and 2 domains on different class C’s with 2 other very similar topics that have equal searches. There will be no chance for doubt over IP’s and the danger of a shared IP address with people you just don’t know. Don’t try and tell me that if jowblow.com who is sharing the same IP as me spams a thousand emails and they get blacklisted, that my site won’t as well. I know because it happened to me last year, not 5 years ago, less than 6 months ago.
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Michael is an experienced SEO Engineer who has worked in the field since 1996. In 2005 he devoted his energy to CMS systems and eventually WordPress. All Michael works on is the Genesis platform for WordPress. His custom solutions for WordPress have never been affected by Google updates or other acts of nature! | {
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Microsoft developed the original Xbox console in about 18 months — a rush job, executives said, that didn’t allow much second-guessing.
So when it came time to work on the next-generation console, code-named Xenon, the Xbox team nit-picked and analyzed every detail for three years. It asked the opinions of hundreds of consumer focus groups around the world. It hired dozens of consultants, seemingly sparing no expense.
“Everybody just had to run at full throttle to get the job done” with the first Xbox, said J Allard, a corporate vice president in the Xbox division. “With Xenon, what we were able to do is say, ‘Ready, aim, aim, correct the aim, OK, ready, fire.’ ”
Microsoft unveiled the console, called Xbox 360, in a 30-minute program yesterday on cable music channel MTV.
The console brings Microsoft to a critical point in home entertainment. Up to now it has been a minor player in the living room, its console often a second choice for gamers that already have Sony’s PlayStation 2.
Inside the 360
The Xbox 360 is the most powerful video-game system to date. Here’s a look at some of the machine’s features:
Now, four years after entering the video-game arena, the company is making a run for the top spot — a position that would finally make it a powerful force in consumer electronics.
That effort begins with an intense marketing push that would continue beyond the console’s November launch and could be as expansive as the $500 million campaign Microsoft created for the original Xbox console in 2001. The Xbox 360 will probably be the only next-generation system to hit the market before the holidays; Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Revolution console are expected to go on sale next year.
Microsoft is hoping its early entrance helps tip the video-game market in its favor after getting trounced by Sony in the current-generation battle. Sony has shipped 87.5 million units of its PlayStation 2 consoles worldwide, compared with 19.9 million Xbox consoles and 18 million Nintendo GameCube systems.
Microsoft hasn’t said how much the new console will cost. Analysts are expecting the machine to debut in the $300 range; the current Xbox sells for $150.
The Xbox 360 is white with green undertones, a color the company has named “chill,” and has wireless controllers and just the whisper of a logo. It will operate horizontally or standing on one end, and has slightly concave sides.
Whereas the first Xbox was Microsoft’s brash, in-your-face entrance into the video game industry, its successor is a more mature appeal beyond the hard-core gaming crowd.
Emphasis on ease
To emphasize that point, Microsoft said that a woman will bring the Xbox 360 on stage when it unveils the console next week at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).
The first generation
The first-generation Xbox and the Xbox 360 both have a DVD player, but that’s about where the similarities end.
Weight and dimensions:
8.8 pounds, 3.9 inches tall,
10.2 inches deep, 12.6 inches in length
Intel processing system: One 733 megahertz chip
nVidia graphics processor: 250 megahertz custom-developed chip
Memory: 64 megabytes
Storage: Attached 8 gigabyte hard drive. Uses 8 megabyte memory units
Ports: Up to four wired game controllers
Online capability: Built-in Ethernet port
Source: Microsoft
“We can’t lose the way that we’ve spoken cool and aspirationally to our consumer, but at the same time we need to broaden,” said Peter Moore, a corporate vice president in the Xbox division. “Otherwise we’re going to end up with 30 million (consoles) in the next generation. And that’s not good enough.”
Exactly how to broaden was a large focus of the three-year planning period for the Xbox 360. To please its base of hardcore gamers, Microsoft gave the Xbox 360 a powerful engine. For nongamers, the company enabled the console to play DVDs and music. Users can also listen to music and view photos from music players and digital cameras plugged into the console’s three USB ports.
Another focus for Microsoft was avoiding the mistakes the company made with the original Xbox.
The console’s design didn’t impress gamers in Japan, so it made a special effort to focus on that market. The Playstation 2 beat the original Xbox to retailers by a year, so Microsoft rushed to get its system out ahead of Sony’s next-generation console.
Microsoft lost money producing the original Xbox systems, so it is working with new chipmakers and has restructured its contracts to keep costs down.
Those tough lessons have come at a significant cost to Microsoft — its home and entertainment division has lost about $1.2 billion a year since the original Xbox launched.
Executives are banking on the Xbox 360 to generate a profit, and have forecast the home and entertainment division will start making money by 2007.
Microsoft advantage
It would have been nearly impossible for a standalone video-game company to survive with that kind of loss. But Microsoft makes billions a year from its other businesses, allowing it room for that kind of huge investment.
If successful, it would gain the company a presence in living rooms and ensure that Sony doesn’t usurp the personal computer’s role as the gateway to the Internet, said Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft.
“I think they were prepared in going into this to invest significant amounts of money, on the order of billions of dollars, he said.
Microsoft has also heavily invested in building up its Xbox Live online service, and now has about one subscriber for every 14 consoles it has shipped.
The company is revamping the service for the Xbox 360, with plans to give all users free access to basic features such as voice and video chat and messaging. It plans to charge a subscription fee to those who want to play others online.
Seeking an audience
The company’s goal is to get half of its Xbox 360 players connected to at least the free services in Xbox Live. From there, it can make money with advertising or through a micropayment system that lets players buy game levels or other virtual items for a small fee.
“There will only be so many people that want to play multiplayer online gaming,” Moore said. “But the audience that wants to connect their Xbox 360 is an audience that we cannot turn our backs on. It’s something that’s very important to us.” | {
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its everything you wanted ;)
What are some facts about India that Indians are generally unaware of?
Most Indians don’t know that the Russians actually sent a nuclear warship and two groups of nuclear submarines fitted with an array of ready to fire nuclear warheads, cruisers and destroyers to counter the U.S’s seventh fleet and a British warship during the 1971 war with Pakistan.
Before 1971 the state of Bangladesh never actually existed, it was called East Pakistan and was under the control of West Pakistan(Known as just pakistan today). To counter the rising political influence of Bengalis in East Pakistan the Pakistan army feared losing control and started killing Bengalis by thousands in the eastern front. This created a potential problem for India as lakhs of refugees wanted to come to India for shelter and food. It was then that India took upon herself the onerous task of liberating East Pakistan from Pakistan’s clutches. Alarmed at this threat the Pakistanis soon went to their most important ally(A nation which supposedly calls itself the champion of human rights and democracy).
The Soviet Union sympathised with the Bangladeshis, and supported the Indian Army and Mukti Bahini during the war, recognising that the independence of Bangladesh would weaken the position of its rivals—the United States and China. The USSR gave assurances to India that if a confrontation with the United States or China developed, it would take counter-measures. This assurance was enshrined in the Indo-Soviet friendship treaty signed in August 1971.
The United States supported Pakistan both politically and materially. President Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger feared Soviet expansion into South and Southeast Asia. Pakistan was a close ally of the People’s Republic of China, with whom Nixon had been negotiating arapprochement and where he intended to visit in February 1972. Nixon feared that an Indian invasion of West Pakistan would mean total Soviet domination of the region, and that it would seriously undermine the global position of the United States and the regional position of America’s new tacit ally, China. Nixon encouraged countries like Jordan and Iran to send military supplies to Pakistan while also encouraging China to increase its arms supplies to Pakistan.
The Nixon administration also ignored reports it received of the “genocidal” activities of the Pakistani Army in East Pakistan, most notably the Blood telegram. This prompted widespread criticism and condemnation both by the United States Congress and in the international press.
Then-US ambassador to the United Nations George H.W. Bush—later 41st President of the United States—introduced a resolution in the UN Security Council calling for a cease-fire and the withdrawal of armed forces by India and Pakistan. It was vetoed by the Soviet Union. The following days witnessed a great pressure on the Soviets from the Nixon-Kissinger duo to get India to withdraw, but to no avail.
It has been documented that President Nixon requested Iran and Jordan to send their F-86, F-104 and F-5 fighter jets in aid of Pakistan.
When Pakistan’s defeat in the eastern sector seemed certain, Nixon deployed Task Force 74 led by the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise into the Bay of Bengal. The Enterprise and its escort ships arrived on station on 11 December 1971. According to a Russian documentary, the United Kingdom deployed a carrier battle group led by the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle to the Bay of Bengal
It was then that India activated a secret pact of the Indo-Soviet union agreement, that the soviet union would unconditionally protect its allies from any harm.
On 6 and 13 December, the Soviet Navy dispatched two groups of cruisers and destroyers and a submarine armed with nuclear missiles from Vladivostok; they trailed US Task Force 74 into the Indian Ocean from 18 December 1971 until 7 January 1972. The Soviets also had a nuclear submarine to help ward off the threat posed by USS Enterprise task force in the Indian Ocean.
The British were shit scared by the Soviet aggression and even before entering the Arabian sea they diverted their warship towards the southern Mediterranean. The U.S.S Enterprise even though the largest warship in the world knew that it was literally surrounded by Soviet nuclear submarines and had to retreat. They couldn’t possibly risk a war with Soviets.( Remember the U.S.S.R was a superpower back then).
What is also less known is that the Soviets warned the Chinese that any provocation from their side in this issue would be dealt with appropriately.
This was one of the fundamental reasons why India was always a Pro-Russian country and always will be. Today, 68 years after independence India is not like what she was 4 decades ago, she can successfully defend herself against most naval and air threats.
However one shouldn’t get overly sentimental as Russians are no saints either, the reasons as to why they supported India to such an extent are unclear given the range of brutalities their army was capable of(esp during WWII and the Afghan war).
EDIT: Some people here may brand this answer a propaganda, its seriously not. Please do go through the sources. | {
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Sweden, USA play for gold
Inline semi-finals: Sweden-Canada 10-5, USA-Slovakia 11-4
The Swedish player made it to the gold medal game of the 2013 IIHF InLine Hockey World Championship.
DRESDEN – Sweden defeated Canada 10-5 and will be back in the gold medal game of the IIHF InLine Hockey World Championship after four years. They will face Team USA, which beat Slovakia 11-4, on Saturday. The Czech Republic and Germany won their placement games; Finland and Slovenia will play against relegation.
Slovakia upset Finland in the quarter-finals with the only win of the tournament but the Americans were out of their league. Team USA won the semi-final clash 11-4.
Matt White scored a hat trick in the lopsided victory while Junior Cadiz and Travis Noe accounted for two goals apiece.
“It feels good to be in the final,” White said. “Everyone played hard. We skated hard. We can’t complain there and now we have to stay focused for tomorrow.”
The game was virtually decided when the Americans scored two goals in the last minute of the first period for the 4-0 lead, and if not, then latest after the 8-1 halftime score.
Team USA opened the scoring after four minutes of play. Kyle Novak passed the puck from the left boards to the far right where Cody Kettler sent off a point shot straight into the net. Robert Alexander made it 2-0 with 66 seconds left. He came from behind the net with a semi-wraparound and beat Slovak goalkeeper Jozef Ondrejka with a backhand shot into the far corner.
To make things even worse for Slovakia, the Americans added two more goals in the last minute of the opening period. Cadiz ended a fast attack after a horizontal pass from Greg Thompson, and the latter scored the 4-0 goal with the buzzer with another semi-wraparound, this time from the left side.
White scored the fifth goal 57 seconds into the second period when he was given the opportunity to shoot from between the face-off circles.
At 3:12 Cadiz ended an odd-man rush after a pass from Thompson for the 6-0 goal.
With 2:57 left before halftime, Tomas Jasko became the first Slovak goal scorer on a breakaway. But White also netted the puck on a breakaway one-and-a-half minutes later with a shot through Ondrejka’s five-hole. With 28 seconds left in the period Noe followed suit with a similar goal for the 8-1 score.
The Slovaks changed goalkeepers as Vladimir Neumann came in for the third period and they also managed to change things in the offensive zone as they won the period 3-0.
Miroslav Preisinger battled through the defence and couldn’t be prevented from scoring by three Americans. Milan Siller was responsible for Slovakia’s third goal with a point shot from the right face-off circle and 40 seconds later Preisinger made it 8-4 by beating U.S. goalkeeper Jerry Kuhn III through the five-hole on a breakaway.
“Nothing is given to you,” White said. “Slovakia played really hard. It was 8-4 at one point. They had us on our heels.”
Despite the Slovak efforts in the third frame the Americans wouldn’t allow the Slovaks a comeback. Noe added the United States’ ninth goal at 2:31 of the fourth period for the 9-4 score and Pat Cannone scored the tenth goal. White completed his hat trick with the 11-4 goal late in the game.
Sweden will play in the gold medal game of the IIHF InLine Hockey World Championship for the first time since 2009 after eliminating defending champion Canada in an 10-5 semi-final win.
Two times Canada came back after a Swedish two-goal lead but Sweden turned the game in the last period.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Swedish forward Henrik Höglund said. “We played a good game. We were up to a two-goal lead and they came back and scored the 5-4 goal. But we didn’t panic and it worked out for us.”
Tre Kronor went up 2-0 in the first period. Daniel Brolin opened the scoring with a long shot deflected by Kristian Luukkonen that went in just under the crossbar.
Marcus Nilsson shovelled the puck around Canada’s Josh Foote and beat goalkeeper Brett Leggat with a shot in the top-right corner.
Sweden ran into penalty trouble at the end of the first and the beginning of the second frame. The Canadians converted two of the three straight power plays to tie the game at two.
At 2:24 of the second period Kirk French skated to the goal from his own end and Matt Garb converted his diagonal pass to the crease. Adam Ross tied it up 71 seconds later with a shot from the left face-off dot into the top-right corner.
The Swedes recovered and earned another two-goal lead late in the period.
At 10:09 Daniel Brodin came from the left side and sent the puck through traffic to the right where the tournament’s top goal scorer Höglund netted the puck.
31 seconds later Dick Axelsson and Carl Berglund put pressure on the Canadian defence with some nice double passing and Berglund eventually netted the puck to make it a two-goal lead for Sweden just before the halftime break.
The injury-plagued Swedes replaced goalkeeper Andreas Ollikainen during the break and brought in Dennis Karlsson. After five minutes he was beaten for the first time when Canada enjoyed a power play. Thomas Woods brought the maple leaf team back within one goal and in the next four minutes Chris Terry added two goals to turn things around.
At 6:52 he broke through on the right and lifted the puck over Karlsson’s pads in front of the crease. Two minutes later Terry brought Canada the lead with his second goal. He deked a Swede on a breakaway and scored with a low shot.
The pressure was on the Swedes now and early in the fourth frame the Scandinavians tied the game again. Brolin brought the puck to the crease from where it went in via Höglund, and at 3:53 Nilsson coming from the left side scored his second goal for the 6-5 lead.
The Canadians tried to rear up and played more aggressively but it was at no avail.
“It’s a semi-final. It should be a little physical. I love that,” Höglund said.
And the Swedes love to score goals too.
Carl Berglund got the puck to the crease from Axelsson in a counter-attack and made it a two-goal lead with less than five minutes left in regulation time.
Terry missed a big chance to score with three minutes left when the Swedes lost a puck and he got the opportunity for a breakaway but Swedish goalie Karlsson won this duel.
In the last minute the Swedes added three more goals for a high score that didn’t reflect the tight game anymore.
Alexander Olsson sealed the win when he scored the 8-5 goal into the empty net with 52 seconds left, and Luukkonen and Nilsson added two more goals in the last minute with the Canadian goalkeeper Leggat in the net for the final score of 10-5.
After losing four games straight host nation Germany was looking hard for a change in front of its vocal home crowd. With a 7-5 victory against favoured Finland the Germans managed to stay in the top division while Finland has to play the relegation game against Slovenia.
At 9:00 Sören Sturm opened the scoring with a shot from the left face-off dot on a power play.
Stefan Ortolf made it 2-0 after 23 seconds in the second period when he was fed with a puck from Steffen Tölzer in front of the crease.
Six minutes later Christian Wichert had a rush on the right side. He outplayed Finnish defenceman Lasse Lappalainen and made it a three-goal lead for the host nation.
With 1:52 left before the halftime break Finland’s Kim Strömberg cut the deficit after receiving a horizontal pass.
Coming back from the dressing room, Kim Strömberg brought Finland one goal closer but Germany replied with three unanswered goals.
At 6:00 Tölzer made it 4-2 after a pass from Stefan Ortolf. Two minutes later a breakaway goal from Florian Engel brought Germany a three-goal lead to the excitement of the fans at the EnergieVerbund Arena, and with 16 seconds left in the period Ortolf deflected a shot from Sturm for the 6-2 goal.
Finland changed goalkeepers for the last period. Petri Karhu was taken out, Juha Taponen came in and Jori Lehterä scored Finland’s third goal on a power play in the first minute.
With two more goals the Finns made the German crowd nervous. At 3:21 Jesse Saarinen added another Finnish marker with a perfect shot from the face-off circle into the far corner to shorten the gap to two goals and two minutes later German goalkeeper Maximilian Englbrecht let in a Lasse Lappalainen shot from an acute angle.
Suddenly it was just 6-5 for Germany and there were still almost six minutes to play. The Germans got hard work for the dying minutes and once the Finns had the opportunity they pulled the goalkeeper in the last minute. But Daniel Menge had a breakaway. The German outskated Finland’s Laaksonen, who held him from behind, but while falling down Menge managed to move the puck into the empty net for the 7-5 goal.
The Czech Republic won the placement game against Slovenia 7-2 and will finish the tournament in 5th or 6th place one year before hosting it in Pardubice. Slovenia will play tomorrow’s relegation game against the loser of tonight’s Finland-Germany game.
The Czechs dominated the game from the beginning and had an 11-1 shot-on-goal advantage after the first period, in which Jan Besser scored the only goal. At 7:25 he capitalized on a rebound after a Jaroslav Moucka shot.
Before the halftime break they added two more goals. At 3:19 of the second period Ludek Broz approached the goal from the right and sent off a slap shot just under the crossbar. Two minutes later it was 3-0 after a double-pass play with Patrik Sebek and Petr Tenkrat.
Sebek added a second goal three-and-a-half minutes after the intermission. He scored on a breakaway a few seconds after the Czechs had killed a penalty.
Ken Ograjensek scored the first Slovenian goal at 9:13 of the third period.
In the last frame Sebek completed the hat trick with a shorthanded goal. Tenkrat and Vladimir Kames also scored for the Czech Republic, Nejc Berlisk added a second marker for Slovenia on a power play with 21 seconds left in the game.
Japan also won its second game against Argentina, 5-2, and maintains in the Division I of the IIHF InLine Hockey World Championship while Argentina is relegated to the qualification.
The Asians again faced a determined team from South America that lacked of success in the scoring department.
Kentaro Nishinaga opened the scoring after 38 seconds. Miguel de Achaval tied it up at 9:55 but 18 seconds later Gentaro Tsuchimoto regained the lead for Japan.
The Japanese sealed the win with three unanswered goals from Nishinaga, Shuhei Kobayashi and Daisuke Ohto in the second half of the game. Nicolas Chiaravalloti scored the second Argentine goal late in the game. | {
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Been using mouse button 3 for years as my voice chat button, but the game doesn't support it for the in-game push-to-talk button. Been using ventrilo with my friends and now realizing that you can't unbind mouse 3 from being a camera move button. Anyone know if there's a way in console, or a fix to unbind it in any way?
Only thing you can do right now is remap your mouse3 button to a keypress (with something like autohotkey, some mouse drivers also support this) and then bind the new key that is now being send when you press mouse3 as the push-to-talk key.
I'm 5'11 so I have decently big hands and my Razer Deathadder seems to work just fine for this type of set up! 4/5 I used to certain twitch abilities (such as focus spells in WoW). They're not the lightest buttons to push down so it makes it more difficult for them to be push to talk keys for me.
I'm the same as everyone else here that uses M3 for VoIP, Medium sized hands (probably from playing console games from a young age) and quite a large mouse (RAT5). Using M3 does have it's disadvantages unfortunately for Dota2, for example: if you're tracking your hero (with F1) and try to talk to team mates it flicks between your hero and where your mouse was on the ground after you pressed it, it also causes the camera to sometimes lock onto heroes if you're tracking them by holding M1 on their portrait.
It sometimes means that my camera isn't optimally positioned right and I miss something happening next to me but I've used it as long as I've known what VoIP was so changing to another button just wouldn't feel right. Besides, every other button on my mouse is bound to something else :D
Good button because it allows you to still use your mouse and not have a finger on your keyboard tied up while talking. So you can still use your moves and coordinate with teammates at the same time. Used it in WoW for arena, really good.
But you can't use the RMB with your middle finger on M3. Or you can't use your LMB with your index finger on M3. M3 disables one half of your mouse. What good is movement if you can't click potentially necessary buttons?
Compare that to M4, M5, etc., which do not impact your ability to use the keyboard or your ability to use RMB, LMB, and M3. Alternatively, most of the buttons on the left side of the keyboard (even when depressed) allow you access to 1, 2, 3, 4, q, w, e, r, z, x, c, v, a, s, d, f, tab, ctrl, alt, shift, caps, tilde, etc. A keyboard button does disable some multi-key combos, but that's still preferable, in my opinion, to losing M1 or M2.
I see M3 as the worst of all possible evils. I'm just curious as to how it's a good choice under combat conditions.
But seriously, even after years of PC gaming, including a great deal of time in games that use the numpad for navigation, I don't think I have the strength or dexterity in my ring finger to properly operate M2 in stressful situations with a lot of mouse movement. (I also have big, broad hands with thick, medium-length fingers, so that might factor into it.)
No idea why they put it in there in the first place but you have to change the config. cfg to get rid of it.
Go to
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\dota 2 beta\dota\cfg
and open the config.cfg. Scroll down until you find
bind "MOUSE3" "+voicerecord"
Delete the line and it should be working now.
Are you sure about that? What about the config_default.cfg?
I had exactly the same problem as you and deleting the line in the cfg file solved it for me.
As a kind of bruteforce method you can type voice_enable 0 in the dota console. It will disable any game voicechat but you can use your mouse 3 button for talking. Might be a solution if you play with a premade team most of the times.
Searched in both config files to no avail. Mouse 3 isn't anywhere to be found in the document and I searched it pretty thoroughly. Might be under a command name, so going to try turning 1s to 0s on a few of em and see what happens | {
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Canucks Army’s 2017 Top 100 Draft Eligible Prospects: #80 – #76
We’re into day five of the Top 100 and dipping into the 70’s – the mid-third round if you will. We have players from all over the world in this group, including another goaltender. Let’s take a look.
#80: Ostap Safin (F – Czech)
By Jeremy Davis
Bio
Age: 18 – February 11th, 1999
Birthplace: Praha, CZE
Frame: 6’4″ / 198 lbs
Safin was overshadowed at some of the more recent tournaments by higher touted Czech eligibles like Martin Necas and Filip Chytil, but he made an impression regardless. A more imposing player that the other aforementioned Czechs, there’s a lot more physicality to Safin’s game.
Safin spent the lion’s share of his season in the Czech U20 league, with appearances in both the top tier Extraliga and second tier WSM Liga. In the former league, he managed a goal and an assist in just eight games, which isn’t bad production for a teenager at that level, especially when he was averaging just 6:53 per game. Though it’s a limited sample, his resulting points per 60 at that level were among the best for Under-20 players in the Extraliga, handily beating the point rates of admittedly more established players like Necas and Chytil.
His time in the Extraliga generated a few NHL matches, lesser known though they may be, including Milan Kraft and Michal Grosek.
Safin is a big Czech forward with the propensity for some dangles now and again, though sometimes it’s hard to tell if he’s deking through players or just fighting the puck – likely the answer lies somewhere in the middle. In any case, Safin certainly doesn’t shy away from handling the puck and attempting some fairly dazzling moves with it. His straightaway speed is also a noteworthy attribute. Combined with his 6-foot-4 frame and the physicality described earlier, Safin certainly offers an interesting package.
The creativity that Safin exhibits when trying to hold on to the puck doesn’t necessarily transfer to setting up teammates. As a result, he is more of a carrier and a straight line player, with somewhat limited playmaking ability. He projects as a middle six winger in the NHL, and spending time in a men’s league between now and then will only benefit him.
#79: Jarret Tyszka (D – WHL)
By J.D. Burke
Bio:
Age: 18-years-old, 1999-03-15
Birthplace: Langley, BC, Canada
Frame: 6’3″, 192 lbs.
One could hardly blame you if you had a hard time noticing Jarret Tyszka this season. The Seattle Thunderbirds were the WHL’s best team, and they did it with a veteran defence corps that includes WHL defenceman of the year, Ethan Bear. Talk about being insulated.
That’s a bit of a double-edged sword for Tyszka. On the one hand, it made it hard for him to show his mettle on most nights — there just wasn’t a tonne of ice-time left for Tyszka after the veterans got their slices of the pie. On the other, Tyszka’s defensive game needs work, and it’s likely that the excellent supporting cast and limited ice-time made those deficiencies less present.
Tyszka’s best attributes come from his skating. He’s an adept puck carrier who excels at transitioning play with the puck on his stick. Some of Tyszka’s best work came with the man advantage, where he consistently made quick decisions with the puck and never shied from using his cannon of a shot. If Tyszka can work on streamlining the release on his shot, it’ll become a real threat.
For Tyszka to make that next step, he’ll need to add muscle to his frame and be a more engaged defender in the defensive zone. Tyszka isn’t shy about throwing the odd open ice hit, but many are left wanting when the 6’3″ defender struggles to end the cycle or separate opposition players from the puck with regularity. You’d like more from a player with Tyszka’s frame at this level, certainly. He should have a physical advantage over his opposition that just isn’t there.
When we look at Tyszka’s statistical profile, there’s a lot to like. Considering he didn’t play a tonne of minutes at even strength, I find his 25 points (six goals and 19 assists) in 54 games encouraging. You combine that with NHL height and the fact that he’s putting up those numbers in a league that just churns out defenceman, and pGPS is a definite believer. Roughly 30% of the players in Tyszka’s cohort went on to become full-time NHL’ers, and they generally developed into second pair defencemen when they did. Players like Brayden McNabb and Travis Hamonic check out as current players with the highest degree of similarity to Tyszka among successful members of his cohort.
#78: Pavel Koltygin (LW/C – QMJHL)
By J.D. Burke
Bio:
Age: 18-years-old, 1999-02-17
Birthplace: Moskva, Russia
Frame: 6’0″, 192 lbs.
It’s hard to get too excited about a QMJHL forward scoring well under a point per game clip, so I can understand why Pavel Koltygin doesn’t generate much discussion as a top prospect. The list of players to produce like he has with his frame and make the NHL is a short one — there’s no hiding from that fact.
It’s just as hard to watch Koltygin play, though, and not find yourself fawning over his puck skills and ability to dictate pace in the offensive zone. Koltygin isn’t an explosive skater, but he has good enough edgework and gets around the ice well, all while defending the puck fearlessly. I tend to think better of Koltygin’s shot than most, too. His best traits are in his hands, though. He can work the puck in traffic and does a good job of setting his linemates up with passes in transition.
The Drummondville Voltigeurs are a team on the rise, but they’ve a ways to go still. With a little more talent around him, perhaps my perception of Koltygin’s skill set will be vindicated with an increase in production.
His defensive game is already in a good place, but as with most 18-year-olds, it could stand to benefit from some growth. Koltygin isn’t afraid to engage defensively, and he does a good job of using his body to separate the opposition from the puck, but his reads and positioning are often suspect.
Draft analytics never shine the fondest of lights on players from the QMJHL, and this is especially true when they don’t produce at a gaudy rate. Only 7.5% of the players in Koltygin’s cohort went on to play full-time NHL careers, though, they produced at an impressive 46 points per 82 game pace. Among current NHL’ers, he compares closest to Mike Hoffman and Matthieu Perreault through this lens.
#77: Ryan Hughes
By Jeremy Davis
Bio
Age: July 27th, 1999
Birthplace: Edmonton, AB, CAN
Frame: 5’8″ / 154 lbs
Ryan Hughes is yet another small, speedy player available in this year’s draft. At 5-foot-8 and 154 pounds, he has a major size disadvantage and a lot of room to bulk up before he even thinks about professional hockey. Which is probably why he’s absent from most prospect rankings.
That shouldn’t turn teams out to him entirely though, after all we are seeing more and more small plays succeed in the NHL as speed becomes a defining factor. A quick look through Hughes’ statistical comparables will provide examples of such players, including Tyler Johnson and Tyler Ennis, both of whom Hughes has outscored in the WHL at a similar age.
What he lacks in size, he makes up for in scoring. Hughes was in the top ten for 5-on-5 primary points among eligible WHL forwards, despite have a significantly lower estimated TOI than most of the names above him. With a late July birthday, Hughes is also one of the younger members of the draft class, making it easier for him to slip unnoticed by many scouts until recently.
Hughes’ creativity and puck skills are also listed as strengths, and his ability to create space is readily apparent in the video above. He’ll need to continue leaning on that aspect of his game as he progresses, while some physical growth wouldn’t hurt either. At this point though, he seems to be showing that he can get along just fine the way he is.
#76: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (G – Jr.A Liiga)
By Jeremy Davis
Bio
Age: 18 – March 9th, 1999
Birthplace: Espoo, FIN
Frame: 6’4″ / 196 lbs
When Luukkonen took over for the older Leevi Laakso at the 2016 World Under-18 Tournament in Grand Forks, North Dakota last year as a 16-year old, it seems clear that he was destined to be Finland’s International goaltender of the future. He put up a .917 save percentage that tournament, en route to a Gold Medal, backstopping a powerful Finnish team led by Jesse Puljujarvi and Eeli Tolvanen. He also posted a .924 save percentage in Finland’s top junior league, drawing plenty of attention as one of the top goaltending prospects for 2017.
Unfortunately, Luukkonen wasn’t able to replicate his international success during his draft year. Reports of his performances at the 2016 Ivan Hlinka tournament, the 2017 Five-Nations Tournament, and the 2017 U-18’s in Slovakia last month all bore a similar refrain: the talent is clearly there, but the numbers highly disappointing. In each tournament, Luukkonen posted save percentages under .900. Finland’s silver medal at the U-18’s came almost in spite of Luukkonen, rather than as a result of his play.
His domestic play was more appeasing, posting a .917 save percentage and a 1.78 goals against average in 35 games as a starter in the Junior Liiga, though his save rate still took a step back from the previous year.
At 6-foot-4, Luukkonen has the height that the current NHL covets. Those long limbs provide him with a wide butterfly stance that he gets into quickly and efficiently, and moves fluidly from one side of the crease to the other, making it extremely difficult to beat him down low. He does have a tendency to go down and little earlier than he needs to and can be exposed up high at some points.
His calm demeanor and mental game have been routinely praised. Perhaps underrated qualities, psychological aspects allow him to brush of goals and give an confidence boost to the teammates in front of him. Luukkonen excels in modern techniques of economy of movement, positioning, and puck tracking, while working in some inherent athleticism to boot. He should prove to be an NHL starting goaltending at some point in the future, and teams will have to hope the his tournament performances will be the exception, not the rule.
1 Comment |
I’m hoping Luukkonen is our 3rd round pick. I think the Canucks should get a goalie this year or next year. Luukkonen dropping back a bit in the draft this year he could be a good pick .
Plus being able to “Luuuuu” to another goalie in the future is appealing to me again! | {
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Abstract:
A mixing system and mixing method are provided. The mixing system
includes a tank assembly, a container positioned within the tank
assembly, a mixer disposed within a compartment of the container, a
linear motor, and a shaft having a first end secured to the mixer and an
opposing second end secured to the linear motor. The linear motor
provides a variable stroke length for the shaft. The mixing method
includes providing a tank assembly having a linear motor, positioning a
mixing assembly including a mixing bag in the tank assembly, combining
two or more components in a compartment of the mixing bag, attaching a
mixing shaft extending from a mixer disposed within the mixing bag to the
linear motor, and raising and lowering the mixing shaft to mix the two or
more components. A stroke length of the mixing shaft during the raising
and lowering is varied.
Claims:
1. A mixing method, comprising: positioning a mixing assembly in a tank
assembly, the mixing assembly including a mixing bag, a mixer disposed
within the mixing bag, and a mixing shaft attached to the mixer and
extending from the mixing bag; dispensing two or more components in a
compartment of the mixing bag; and mixing the two or more components by
repeatedly raising and lowering the mixing shaft a stroke length, wherein
the stroke length of the mixing shaft is changed during the step of
mixing.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising measuring a quality of at
least one of the two or more components in the compartment of the mixing
bag and changing the stroke length of the mixing shaft based on changes
in the measured quality.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising using a measurement device
to measure the quality of the at least one of the two or more components,
the measurement device being in electrical communication with an
actuation mechanism that controls movement of the mixing shaft.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the measured quality comprises a
thickness of a settlement of the at least one of the two or more
components within the mixing bag.
5. The method of claim 2, further comprising setting an initial stroke
length based on the measured quality.
6. The method of claim 2, wherein the quality is measured by an optical
sensor.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising measuring a thickness of a
settlement of the at least one of the two or more components within the
mixing bag at different times.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising varying the stroke length in
response to changes in the measured thickness of the settlement of the at
least one of the two or more components.
9. The method of claim 7, further comprising setting an initial stroke
length based on the measured thickness of the settlement of the at least
one of the two or more components.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising increasing the stroke
length as the thickness of the measured settlement decreases.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising changing the stroke length
during mixing according to a predetermined schedule.
12. The method of claim 1, further comprising adjusting the speed at
which the mixing shaft raises and lowers.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising attaching the mixing shaft
to a linear motor and using the liner motor to raise and lower the mixing
shaft.
Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.
14/338,573, filed Jul. 23, 2014, which claims the benefit of and priority
to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/953,987 filed Mar. 17,
2014, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention is directed to a mixing assembly and mixing
method. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a mixing
assembly having a variable stroke distance, and a mixing method including
a variable stroke distance.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Culture media, buffers, reagents and other biological materials
(hereinafter "base materials") are used extensively by biotech companies
in research and development, creating vaccines, producing and purifying
proteins, and developing other biologicals. Many base materials include
precise compositions and are often highly regulated. Additionally, to be
safe and effective for their intended use, these base materials must be
pure and sterile. As such, the manufacture of base materials is expensive
and often requires specialized equipment.
[0004] Due to the huge expense of creating, operating, and maintaining the
elaborate systems used in the manufacture of base materials, biotech
companies frequently purchase the base materials in their final solution
form. However, in the solution form, the base materials often consist
primarily of water, and as such, can be difficult and expensive to
transport. Additionally, the final liquid solutions frequently have a
significantly shorter shelf life as compared to powdered base materials,
and must typically be stored under refrigerated conditions, which
increases the storage cost.
[0005] To decrease costs, the base materials may be shipped and/or stored
in their powdered form and mixed later. During the initial mixing with
the liquid, the powdered base materials are usually concentrated or
settled at the bottom of the mixing container. When concentrated or
settled at the bottom the powdered base materials may be difficult to
break up, and can damage the mixing device. One method of breaking up the
concentrated powdered base materials includes shaking the entire mixing
container. However, shaking the mixing container creates a risk for
disposable tank liners, and also presents limitations on the size of the
mixing container.
[0006] A mixing assembly and mixing method that show one or more
improvements in comparison to the prior art would be desirable in the
art.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0007] In an embodiment, a mixing system includes a tank assembly, a
container positioned within the tank assembly, a mixer disposed within a
compartment of the container, a linear motor, and a shaft having a first
end secured to the mixer and an opposing second end secured to the linear
motor. The linear motor provides a variable stroke length for the shaft.
[0008] In another embodiment, a mixing system includes a tank assembly
including a side wall and a floor defining a chamber, a container
positioned within the chamber, a mixer disposed within a compartment of
the container, a servo motor, a shaft having a first end secured to the
mixer and an opposing second end extending from the container and secured
to the servo motor, and a sensor to measure a thickness of a settlement
within the container. A stroke length of the servo motor is configured to
vary in length in response to measurements from the sensor.
[0009] In another embodiment, a mixing method includes providing a tank
assembly having a linear motor; positioning a mixing assembly in the tank
assembly, the mixing assembly including a mixing bag, a mixer disposed
within the mixing bag, and a mixing shaft attached to the mixer and
extending from the mixing bag; combining two or more components in a
compartment of the mixing bag; attaching the mixing shaft to the linear
motor; and raising and lowering the mixing shaft to mix the two or more
components. A stroke length of the mixing shaft during the raising and
lowering is varied.
[0010] An advantage of the mixing assembly, according to the embodiments
disclosed herein, includes decreasing stress on the mixing assembly when
settlements are present on the bottom of a mixing tank.
[0011] Another advantage includes increasing efficiency of the mixing
assembly.
[0012] Further advantages include increasing a lifespan of the mixing
assembly, decreasing risk to disposable tank liners, decreasing
limitations on the size of the mixing container, and combinations
thereof.
[0013] Other features and advantages of the present invention will be
apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of
example, the principles of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mixing system.
[0015] FIG. 2 is a top view of a tank assembly.
[0016] FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of an adjustable floor in a
lowered position within a tank assembly according to an embodiment of the
disclosure.
[0017] FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of an adjustable floor in a
raised position within a tank assembly according to an embodiment of the
disclosure.
[0018] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a mixing bag assembly.
[0019] FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view of a mixer according to an
embodiment of the disclosure.
[0020] FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view of the mixer shown in FIG. 10
with the flaps thereof being downwardly flexed.
[0021] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a bottom end of a mixing bag
having a mixer disposed therein.
[0022] FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of a mixing assembly
having a solution disposed therein.
[0023] FIG. 9 is a top view of a mixing bag.
[0024] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a top end of a mixing bag.
[0025] FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a top end of a mixing bag
including a cover plate according to an embodiment of the disclosure.
[0026] FIG. 12 is a side view of a feed bag coupled with a top end of a
mixing bag.
[0027] FIG. 13 is a side view of a spray nozzle.
[0028] FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of a spray nozzle disposed within
a port of a mixing bag.
[0029] Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used
throughout the drawings to represent the same parts.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0030] Referring to FIG. 1, in one embodiment, a mixing system 10, such
as, but not limited to, an imPULSE Mixing System available from Advanced
Scientifics Incorporated in Millersburg, Pa., is provided for mixing two
or more components, at least one of the components being liquid, so as to
produce a homogenous solution. In addition to at least one of the
components being liquid, other components of the two or more components
include, but are not limited to, liquids, gels, dry materials, or
combinations thereof. For example, in one embodiment, each of the two or
more components is liquid. In an alternate embodiment, one of the two or
more components is a liquid, such as water, and another component is a
dry or substantially dry material, such as powder, grain, granule, or
other form of solid.
[0031] The mixing system 10 is used to produce any suitable form of
solution, such as, but not limited to a sterile solution or a non-sterile
solution. Suitable solutions include, for example, culture media,
buffers, reagents, and other biological materials that may or may not be
sterile. In one embodiment, the two or more components are combined in
the mixing system 10 and mixed to form the solution. In another
embodiment, the mixing system 10 is used to produce a homogenous or
substantially homogenous solution from a solution that has settled, such
as, for example, a stored solution. In a further embodiment, the mixing
system 10 is adjustable based upon a settling of the solution.
[0032] In one embodiment, the mixing system 10 includes at least one
disposable component, such as a structural component that directly
contacts the solution during manufacture. In another embodiment, any of
the structural components contaminated by contact with the solution are
replaced with new components prior to the manufacture of different
batches and/or types of solutions. Based upon the type of solution, the
new components are either sterile or non-sterile. The use of the
disposable components reduces manufacturing time, down time, and/or
expense by reducing or eliminating sterilization or cleaning of the
mixing system 10. Alternatively, some or all of the components are
designed for sterilization and reuse.
[0033] In one embodiment, the mixing system 10 includes at least one tank
assembly 20 mounted on a platform 12, a mixing assembly 200 at least
partially disposed within the tank assembly 20, an actuation mechanism
170 detachably secured to the mixing assembly 200, and a filtration
system 500 in fluid communication with the mixing assembly 200. In
another embodiment, the platform 12 is a movable platform, on which some
or all of the components of the mixing system 10 are mounted. In a
further embodiment, the mixing system 10 is formed as a modular unit to
provide portability and ease of assembly. Alternatively, the mixing
assembly 200 is permanently assembled on site without the platform 12.
[0034] The at least one tank assembly 20 includes any suitable number of
tank assemblies having the same or different sizes, shapes, and/or
properties, each of the at least one tank assemblies 20 being mounted on
or off of the platform 12. In one embodiment, the tank assembly 20
includes a plurality of legs 22 upstanding from the platform 12 and
supporting an annular side wall 24. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, in
one embodiment, the side wall 24 has an interior surface 26 and an
exterior surface 28 each extending between an upper end 30 and an
opposing lower end 32. The interior surface 26 at least partially bounds
a chamber 60. The side wall 24 has a tubular configuration so that the
upper end 30 and the lower end 32 are open.
[0035] In another embodiment, the side wall 24 includes a body portion 23
having a substantially C-shaped transverse cross section. Other
transverse cross section shapes include, but are not limited to,
circular, polygonal, or hexagonal. In another embodiment, the polygonal
transverse cross section shape increases turbulent flow to provide
increased mixing of the two or more components. The body portion 23
terminates at substantially opposing end plates 54 and 56 with a doorway
57 formed therebetween. In one embodiment, to increase a hoop strength of
the body portion 23, a support brace 58 rigidly extends between the end
plates 54 and 56 at the lower end 32. In a further embodiment, the body
portion 23 includes an outer wall 34, a concentrically disposed inner
wall 36 and a central wall 38 concentrically disposed between the outer
wall 34 and the inner wall 36. The outer wall 34, the inner wall 36 and
the central wall 38 each connect with the end plates 54 and 56, as well
as extend between and rigidly connect with a top plate 70 and an opposing
bottom plate 72.
[0036] Disposed between the outer wall 34 and the central wall 38 is an
insulation layer 40. In one embodiment, the insulation layer 40 includes
an insulating material, such as, but not limited to, a chloride free,
ceramic fiber capable of withstanding temperatures of up to at least
1,300° C. In another embodiment, a door 25 is disposed within a
doorway 57 between the end plates 54 and 56. In a further embodiment, the
door 25 includes the outer wall 34, the inner wall 36, and the layer of
insulation 40 disposed therebetween. Hinges 50 secure the door 25 to the
body portion 23 to permit opening of the door 25, thus providing access
to the chamber 60. In one embodiment, a viewing window 48 disposed in a
viewing slot 46 on the door 25 provides an unobstructed view of the
chamber 60 when the door 25 is closed. The door 25 is locked in a closed
position by any suitable locking means, such as, but not limited to,
locking flanges 106 and stops, dead bolts, other interlocking members, or
a combination thereof.
[0037] Extending between the central wall 38 and the inner wall 36 of the
body portion 23 and/or the door 25 are a plurality of spaced apart
spacers 42. The spacers 42 include, for example, discrete members or
formations projecting from the central wall 38 and/or the inner wall 36.
The spacers 42 provide structural stability for both the central wall 38
and the inner wall 36, while permitting fluid to flow between the central
wall 38 and the inner wall 36, and around the spacers 42. The fluid
flowing between the central wall 38 and the inner wall 36 may be heated
or cooled to heat or cool a solution held within the chamber 60 of the
tank assembly 20. Additionally, the mixing system 10 may include a
temperature probe for continuously measuring the temperature of the
solution within the mixing bag 202. For example, in one embodiment, the
temperature probe continuously measures the surface temperature of the
mixing bag 202 to determine the temperature of the solution therein.
[0038] A floor 112 of the tank assembly 20 provides support for the mixing
assembly 200 when positioned thereon. A plurality of open port holes 116
and/or a central port hole 117 extend through the floor 112. In one
embodiment, a plurality of screened spill holes 118 is formed on the
floor 112. The floor 112 is circular, polygonal, elliptical, irregular,
flat, substantially flat, frustoconical, curved, pyramidal, conical, any
other configuration for supporting a bag, or a combination thereof. For
example, in one embodiment, the floor 112 includes a flat or
substantially flat portion 114, which is circular, and a peripheral wall
120 that slopes upwardly and outwardly from the flat or substantially
flat portion 114 to a terminal edge 122. Outwardly projecting from the
terminal edge 122 is a lip 124 that is either biased directly against or
terminates directly adjacent to the interior surface 26 of the side wall
24. In another embodiment, the floor 112 and the side wall 24 are made of
a metal, such as, for example, stainless steel. In a further embodiment,
the lip 124 is polypropylene, rubber, silicone, moldable plastic, any
other resilient material, or a combination thereof.
[0039] In one embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS. 2-3B, the floor 112 is
an adjustable floor having a strut 136 extending between the peripheral
wall 120 and a collar 134. A level of the adjustable floor is raised or
lowered relative to the side wall 24. In another embodiment, the
adjustable floor is raised or lowered, for example, by simultaneous
rotating one or more threaded members 130 positioned outside of the side
wall 24. The rotating of the one or more threaded members 130 raises or
lowers one or more of the collars 134 engaged therewith to raise or lower
the floor 112. Alternate embodiments include, but are not limited to,
raising or lowering the adjustable floor with chain drives, belt drives,
gear drives, hydraulic lifts, pneumatic lifts, jacks, cranks, winches,
pulley systems, any other suitable mechanism for raising or lowering
struts 136 extending from the exterior surface 28 of side wall 24, or a
combination thereof. The raising or lowering of the adjustable floor
relative to the side wall 24 adjusts a size of the chamber 60 bound by
the side wall 24 and the floor 112. For example, raising the adjustable
floor decreases the size of the chamber 60, while lowering the adjustable
floor increases the size of the chamber 60. In an alternate embodiment,
the floor 112 is fixed and does not raise or lower, thus fixing the size
of the chamber 60. The size of the chamber 60 includes, but is not
limited to, 5 liters, 20 liters, 250 liters, 500 liters, 750 liters,
1,000 liters, 1,500 liters, 3,000 liters, 5,000 liters, 10,000 liters, or
any other suitable size.
[0040] Referring to FIG. 4, in one embodiment, the mixing assembly 200
includes a mixing bag 202, such as, but not limited to, those sold by
Advanced Scientifics Incorporated of Millersburg, Pa., for use in
combination with its imPULSE Mixing System. In another embodiment, the
mixing assembly 200 includes a mixer 204, an expandable tubular seal 206,
and/or a mixing shaft 208. The mixing bag 202 provides a compartment 220
for containing the solution therein prior to, during, and/or after the
mixing of the two or more components. For example, in one embodiment, the
mixing bag 202 includes an elongated body 203 having an exterior surface
212 and an interior surface 210 that bounds the compartment 220. In
another embodiment, the mixing bag 202 includes any suitable combination
of plies, materials, thicknesses, panels 228, and/or seams 230 for
containing the solution therein, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,923,567,
which issued on Aug. 2, 2005, and is hereby incorporated by specific
reference. For example, the body 203 of one mixing bag includes a
flexible, water impermeable, single ply material having a thickness of
between about 0.1 mm to about 5 mm, and being formed from three or more
of the panels 228.
[0041] The body 203 and/or the compartment 220 of the mixing bag 202
include any shape, size, and/or configuration for being positioned within
the chamber 60 of the mixing system 10. For example, in one embodiment,
the body 203 includes a side wall 213 that, when the body 203 is inflated
or filled, has a substantially circular or rounded polygonal transverse
cross section extending between an upper end 214 and an opposing lower
end 216. The upper end 214 terminates at a top end wall 215 while the
opposing lower end 216 terminates at a bottom end wall 217. In another
embodiment, the body 203 bounds the compartment 220 sized to hold fluid
amounts, such as, but not limited to, 5 liters, 20 liters, 250 liters,
500 liters, 750 liters, 1,000 liters, 1,500 liters, 3,000 liters, 5,000
liters, 10,000 liters, or any other suitable amount.
[0042] Referring to FIGS. 5-6, the mixer 204 includes any article for
providing agitation and/or swirling of the solution within the mixing bag
202. For example, in one embodiment, the mixer 204 includes a base 205
having a threaded recess 252 for receiving the mixing shaft 208 therein.
In another embodiment, the base 205 includes flaps 264 movably mounted
thereon. The flaps 264 pivoting, for example, to provide mixing when
moved in one direction and fluid flow through the base 205 when moved in
an opposite direction. Other embodiments of the mixer 204 include, but
are not limited to, those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,923,567.
[0043] Referring to FIG. 7, the mixing shaft 208 includes a first end for
being secured to a threaded recess 252 of the mixer 204 within the mixing
bag 202, and an opposing second end for extending through the body 203 of
the mixing bag 202. For example, the second end of the mixing shaft 208
extends through the top end wall 215, the bottom end wall 217, or any
other portion of the body 203. In one embodiment, the mixing shaft 208 is
integral with the mixer 204 and forms a portion of the mixing assembly
200. Alternatively, the mixing shaft 208 is detachably secured to the
mixer 204 to form a separate component from the mixing assembly 200. In
one embodiment, more than one of the mixers 204 is secured to the mixing
shaft 208.
[0044] In one embodiment, the mixing shaft 208 extends through the
expandable tubular seal 206, which is positioned over a mounting port 242
on the top end wall 215 or the bottom end wall 217. The tubular seal 206
includes, but is not limited to, a first end 284, an opposing second end
286, and an expandable bellow section 288 extending therebetween. When
the mixing shaft 208 moves relative to the mixing bag 202, the bellow
section 288 selectively expands and contracts to maintain a seal
communication between the mixer 204 and the mounting port 242. By
maintaining the seal communication between the mixer 204 and the mounting
port 242, the expandable tubular seal 206 provides a fluid sealed
connection between the mixing bag 202 and the mixer 204 to prevent
leaking of the solution from the compartment 220 during mixing. Other
arrangements are also possible to prevent leaking of the solution from
the compartment 220.
[0045] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 8, an actuation mechanism 170 is provided
to move the mixer 204 attached to the mixing shaft 208 in a reciprocating
fashion (i.e., axial). The actuation mechanism 170 is detachably secured
to the second end of the mixing shaft 208 either directly or through one
or more connecting portions. For example, in one embodiment, the
actuation mechanism 170 operates an actuation rod 172, which is
detachably secured to the mixing shaft 208 through a coupler 176. The
actuation mechanism 170 is positioned in any suitable position relative
to the tank assembly 20 and/or the mixing assembly 200, based upon an
orientation of the mixing assembly 200 in the chamber 60. Suitable
positions of the actuation mechanism 170 include, for example, mounted on
or adjacent to the upper end 30 or the lower end 32, or along the side
wall 24 of the tank assembly 20. In one embodiment, when the mixing shaft
208 extends through the bottom end wall 217 and/or the central port hole
117 of the floor 112, the actuation mechanism 170 is mounted to a frame
168 that is secured to and extends below the floor 112. When mounted to
the frame 168, the actuation mechanism raises and lowers with the floor
112. In an alternate embodiment, the actuation mechanism 170 is mounted
on the platform 12 or a ground surface, such as, for example, when the
floor 112 is fixed in the tank assembly 20. In one embodiment, when the
mixing shaft 208 extends through the top end wall 215 the actuation
mechanism 170 is mounted and/or positioned adjacent to the upper end 30.
For example, in another embodiment, the actuation mechanism 170 is
mounted on a lift 400. To provide horizontal reciprocation of the mixing
shaft 208, the actuation mechanism 170 is positioned in any suitable
location along the side wall 24.
[0046] The actuation mechanism 170 includes any mechanism for varying a
stroke length of the mixing shaft 208. For example, in one embodiment,
the actuation mechanism 170 includes a linear motor, such as, but not
limited to, a servo motor, a linear actuator, air cylinders, any other
motor capable of a rapid change in direction, or a combination thereof.
Preferably, a servo motor is employed that can provide an infinitely and
continuously variable stroke length. In another embodiment, the actuation
mechanism 170 varies the stroke length of the mixing shaft 208 during
mixing of the solution within the mixing bag 202. For example, variation
of the stroke length includes, but is not limited to, continuous,
stepwise, pre-determined, measured, or a combination thereof.
[0047] In one embodiment, a method 300 of mixing the solution includes
positioning the mixing assembly 200 in the tank assembly 20 (step 301),
combining the two or more components in the compartment 220 of the mixing
bag 202 (step 303), and mixing the two or more components with the
actuation mechanism 170 to form the solution (step 305). The positioning
of the mixing assembly 200 in the tank assembly 20 (step 301) includes
inserting the mixing bag 202 within the chamber 60. In one embodiment,
prior to inserting the mixing bag 202 within the chamber 60, the floor
112 is raised or lowered to adjust the size of the chamber 60 based upon
an amount of solution to be manufactured. In another embodiment,
inserting the mixing bag 202 within the chamber 60 includes, for example,
connecting the lift 400 to a harness 296 (FIG. 9) secured to the body 203
of the mixing assembly 200, raising the mixing assembly 200 with the lift
400, guiding the mixing assembly 200 through the doorway 57, and lowering
the bottom end wall 217 of the mixing assembly 200 onto the floor 112
within the chamber 60. In an alternate embodiment, the mixing bag 202 is
manually inserted into the chamber 60 of the tank assembly 20.
[0048] During the lowering of the bottom end wall 217 onto the floor 112,
the features extending from the bottom end wall 217 are aligned with the
port holes 116 in the floor 112. When the mixing shaft 208 extends from
the bottom end wall 217, the mixing shaft 208 is aligned with and passed
through the central port hole 117 in the floor 112 during the lowering of
the bottom end wall 217 onto the floor 112. After inserting the mixing
bag 202 with the chamber 60 the mixing shaft 208 is coupled to the
actuation mechanism 170. When the mixing shaft 208 extends from the top
end wall 215, the mixing shaft 208 is coupled to the actuation mechanism
170 at any time after the mixing assembly 200 is detachably secured to
the lift 400.
[0049] Next, one or more tubes are coupled to features extending from the
bottom end wall 217 and/or the top end wall 215 of the mixing assembly
200. Referring to FIGS. 7 and 10-11, in one embodiment, the features
extending through the top end wall 215 and/or the bottom end wall 217 of
the mixing bag 202 provide fluid communication between the compartment
220 and the exterior. For example, referring to FIG. 7, in another
embodiment, an inflation portion 236, an outlet port 238, an inlet port
240, and a mounting port 242 are mounted on the bottom end wall 217, each
having a channel 227 extending therethrough to provide the fluid
communication. Referring to FIGS. 10-11, in a further embodiment, the
mixing bag 202 includes a feeding port 222, a fluid port 224, and a
pressure port 226 mounted on the top end wall 215 of the body 203, each
having the channel 227 extending therethrough. The channel 227 of each
port mounted on either the top end wall 215 or the bottom end wall 217 is
closed by any suitable sealing member, such as, but not limited to, an
extension sleeve 239, a removable clamp 245, a tie 241, a cover plate
232, or a combination thereof.
[0050] The plurality of features, alone or in combination, facilitate
filling, draining, and/or mixing of the solution within the compartment
220. In one embodiment, the feeding port 22, the fluid port 224, the
pressure port 226, the inflation port 236, the outlet port 238, and/or
the inlet port may facilitate filling and/or draining of the solution,
while the mounting port 242 receives the mixing shaft 208 therethrough to
facilitate mixing of the solution with the mixer 204. For example, in
another embodiment, a delivery tube 420 is coupled with the outlet port
238, the delivery tube 420 passing through or coupling with a first valve
422, a pump 424, a second valve 426, and a filtration system 500. In
another example, a sample tube 428 is coupled with the first valve 422,
and a return tube 430 extends between the second valve 426 and the inlet
port 240. In one embodiment, an air tube 432 is coupled with the
inflation port 236 and a gas source. The gas source provides compressed
gas, such as air, through the inlet port 240 to inflate the mixing bag
202. Once the mixing bag 202 is inflated, a fluid line 440 is coupled
with the fluid port 224. Alternatively, the fluid line 440 is coupled to
the fluid port 224 without coupling the air tube 432 to the inflation
port 236 and/or inflating the mixing bag 202.
[0051] During the inflating of the mixing bag 202, the providing the
components, and/or the dispensing of the solution, a pressure regulator
442 (FIG. 12) selectively controls a pressure within the mixing bag 202.
The pressure regulator 442 is coupled with the pressure port 226 and
includes an air inlet line 444 and an air outlet line 446. The air inlet
line is coupled to a pump or pressurized gas source to deliver air or
other gases into the mixing bag 202, and the air outlet line 446 to
permit gas to escape from the mixing bag 202 while maintaining a feed
component 603 within the mixing bag 202.
[0052] Referring to FIG. 12, subsequent to inserting the mixing bag 202,
the combining of the two or more components (step 303) includes providing
at least one of the two or more components to the compartment 220. For
example, in one embodiment, at least a portion of a fluid component 601,
such as water, is selectively dispensed into the compartment 220 through
the fluid line 440 coupled to the fluid port 224. In another embodiment,
the feed component 603, such as, but not limited to, the dry or
substantially dry material (e.g., culture media, buffers, or reagents in
a powder form) is dispensed into the compartment 220 from a feed bag 450
coupled to the feeding port 222. The fluid component and the feed
component 603 are dispensed separately and/or concurrently into the
compartment 220. Referring to FIGS. 13-14, in one embodiment, the fluid
component is dispensed through a spray nozzle 413 removably mounted to
the fluid port 224. The spray nozzle 413 provides a radial outward
spraying of the fluid component 601 to facilitate movement of feed
component particles that may have collected the side walls of the mixing
bag 202 and submersion of the feed component particles that may be
suspended or floating within the mixing bag 202.
[0053] During and/or subsequent to the providing at least one of the two
or more component to the compartment 220, the actuation mechanism 170 is
activated to move the mixer 204 in a reciprocating fashion. The raising
and lowering of the mixer 204 mixes the components to generate a
homogenous solution. In an alternate embodiment, the feed component 603
and/or the fluid component 601 are stored in the mixing bag 202 prior to
the positioning of the mixing assembly 200 or the activation of the
actuation mechanism 170. In another embodiment, during the storing of the
feed component 603 and/or the fluid component 601, one or more
particulates settle in the mixing bag 202 to form a settlement 605 at the
bottom of the compartment 220. The one or more particulates include, but
are not limited to, the feed component 603.
[0054] In one embodiment, the stroke length and/or speed provided by the
actuation mechanism 170 is varied to reduce or eliminate stress on the
mixer 204, the mixing shaft 208, and/or the actuation mechanism 170, from
the mixer 204 contacting the settlement 605. For example, in another
embodiment, the stroke length is reduced from a full stroke length 607 to
a reduced stroke length 609 by a distance equal to a thickness 608 of the
settlement 605. When the actuation mechanism 170 is mounted and/or
positioned adjacent to the upper end 30, reducing the stroke length
includes reducing the extension of the mixing shaft 208 towards the
bottom end wall 217. Alternatively, when the actuation mechanism 170 is
mounted and/or positioned adjacent to the lower end 32, reducing the
stroke length includes reducing the retraction of the mixing shaft 208
towards the bottom end wall 217. In a further embodiment, as the
settlement 605 breaks up the actuation mechanism 170 adjusts the stroke
length and/or speed until the settlement 605 is dissipated or the full
stroke length 607 and/or speed is reached. Additionally, the stroke
length and/or speed may be adjusted by the actuation mechanism 170 to
reduce or eliminate cell shear in the solution. For example, the stroke
length and/or speed may be adjusted to reduce or eliminate the formation
of air bubbles as the solution is mixed, which reduces or eliminates
damage to cells in the solution from the popping of the air bubbles.
[0055] The stroke length and/or speed is adjusted in any suitable manner,
such as, but not limited to, continuously (e.g., in response to changes
in measurements of the solution), incrementally, according to a
pre-programmed protocol and/or schedule, or a combination thereof. For
example, in one embodiment, the thickness 608 of the settlement 605 is
continuously measured, and the stroke length and/or speed are increased
in response to decreases in the thickness 608. The thickness 608 of the
settlement 605 is measured by any suitable measurement device 610, such
as, but not limited to, an optical interface sensor. The measurement
device 610 forms a portion of the tank assembly 10 and/or the mixing
assembly 200, is coupled to the actuation mechanism 170, and/or either
directly or indirectly provides measurements to the actuation mechanism
170.
[0056] In another embodiment, the actuation mechanism 170 adjusts the
stroke length and/or speed according to a pre-programmed schedule, such
as, but not limited to, a protocol based upon expected dissolution of the
settlement 605 and/or inclusion of additional components. The
pre-programmed protocol includes providing at least a first stroke length
and a first stroke speed for a first duration, and a second stroke length
and a second stroke speed for a second duration. Additional stroke
lengths and speeds may be provided for additional durations based up
solution characteristics such as, but not limited to, volume of the
solution, the components in the solution, an amount of the settlement, or
a combination thereof. Any suitable combination of stroke lengths, stroke
speeds, and/or durations is provided to mix the solution within the
mixing bag and or all of which may be varied or held constant with
respect to one another. For example, a protocol may include providing a
first stroke length of 3 inches for a duration of 5 minutes, followed by
a second stroke length of 5 inches for a duration of 10 minutes, while
the stroke speed remains constant.
[0057] The protocol may be determined based upon a variety of factors,
including the size of the tank assembly, the size of the mixing bag, the
volume of the solution in the mixing bag, the components in the solution,
the thickness of any settlement, solution viscosity, etc. For example,
solutions having thicker settlement may include decreased initial stroke
length, while solutions having decreased viscosity may have increased
stroke speed.
[0058] By varying the stroke length with the actuation mechanism 170, the
mixing system 10 provides a varied stroke length without adjusting the
center of a fixed crank. Additionally, the variable stroke length
decreases stress and/or damage to the mixing assembly 200 and/or the
actuation mechanism 170 after the settlement 605 has formed. Furthermore,
the variable stroke length decreases stress and/or damage to cells that
may be present in the solution.
[0059] Once the feed component 603 and the fluid component 601 are mixed
to form, for example, a homogenous or substantially homogenous solution,
the solution is either stored in the mixing bag 202 or dispensed from the
compartment 220. Dispensing the solution includes, but is not limited to,
dispensing through the delivery tube 420, passing through a filtration
system 500, passing through any other tube or system to exit the
compartment 220, or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, after
dispensing, the mixing bag 202 is refilled, disposed of, or recycled.
Refilling the mixing bag 202 may include sterilizing the mixing assembly
200 and/or replacement of one or more components of the mixing assembly
200.
[0060] While the invention has been described with reference to one or
more embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that
various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for
elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In
addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation
or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the
essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not
be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode
contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will
include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.
Patent applications by Rudolf Pavlik, Millersburg, PA US
Patent applications in class WITH TEST, SIGNAL, OR INDICATOR MEANS
Patent applications in all subclasses WITH TEST, SIGNAL, OR INDICATOR MEANS | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
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This is a discussion forum for . . This page has had 163 visits In May 1878 Dostoevsky's novel was interrupted by the death of his threeyearold son Alyosha. As tragic as this would be under any circumstances, Alyosha's death was especially . Poems.Com.Hk Tarmans books | {
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The Iberian Ribbed Newt or Spanish Ribbed Newt (Pleurodeles waltl) is a newt endemic to the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco. It is known for its sharp ribs which can puncture through its sides, and as such is also called the Sharp-ribbed Newt.
In the wild it grows up to 30 cm, but usually only to a 20 cm in captivity. It has a long tail which is about half its body length.
The Iberian Ribbed Newt has tubercles running down each side. Through these, its sharp ribs can puncture. The ribs acts as a defense mechanism, causing little harm to the newt. Ejection of the ribs rarely occurs in captive animals.
Contents
Sex determination
Sex determination is regulated by sex chromosomes, but can be overridden by temperature. Females have both sex chromosomes (Z and W), while males have two copies of the Z chromosome (ZZ). However, when ZW larvae are reared at 32 °C (90 °F) during a particular stages of development (stage 42 to stage 54), they differentiate into functional neomales.
Hormones play an important role during the sex determination process, and the newts can be manipulated to change sex by adding hormones or hormone-inhibitors to the water they are reared in.
Aromatase, an estrogen-synthesizing enzyme which acts as a steroid hormone, plays a key role in sex determination in many non-mammalian vertebrates including the Iberian Ribbed Newt. [2] It is found in higher levels in the gonad–mesonephros complexes in ZW larvae than in their ZZ counterparts, although not in heat-treated ZW larvae. The increase occurs near the final stages of which their sex can be determined by temperature (stage 52).
Conservation
The IUCN listed the Iberian Ribbed Newt as Near Threatened in its 2006 Red List. It received this listing because its wild populations appear to be in significant decline due to widespread habitat loss and the effects of invasive species, thus making the species close to qualifying for Vulnerable. Previously, in 2004, the species had been listed as Least Concern, the lowest ranking. This species is generally threatened through loss of aquatic habitats through drainage, agrochemical pollution, the impacts of livestock (in North African dayas), eutrophication, domestic and industrial contamination, and infrastructure development. It has largely disappeared from coastal areas in Iberia and Morocco close to concentrations of tourism and highly populated areas (such as Madrid). Introduced fish and crayfish (Procambarus clarki) are known to prey on the eggs and larvae of this species, and are implicated in its decline. Mortality on roads has been reported to be a serious threat to some populations.
Space experiments
Pleurodeles waltl has been studied in space on at least six missions. The first Iberian Ribbed Newts in space may have been in 1985 on board Bion 7[3]. The ten newts shared their journey with two Rhesus Macaques and ten rats, in an otherwise crewless Soviet Cosmos satellite. In 1992, Bion 10[4][5] also carried the newts on board, as did Bion 11[6] in 1996.
P. waltl research was continued later in 1996 by French-led experiments on the Mir space station (Mir Cassiopée expedition [10]), with follow-up studies in 1998 (Mir Pégase expedition) and 1999 (Mir Perseus expedition). Foton-M2[7] also carried the Iberian Ribbed Newt in 2005.
The newts were chosen because they are a good model organism for the study of microgravity[8]. They are a good model organism because of the female's ability to retain live sperm in her cloaca for up to 5 months, allowing her to be inseminated on Earth, and later (in space) have fertilisation induced through hormonal stimulation. Another advantage to this species is that development is slow, so all the key stages of ontogenesis can be observed: from the oocyte to swimming tailbud embryos or larvae.
Studies looked at the newts' ability to regenerate (which was faster in space overall, and up to two times in early stages[9]), as well as the stages of development and reproduction in space[10].
On the ground, studies of hypergravity (up to 3g) on P. waltl fertilisation have also been conducted[11], as well as on the fertility of the space-born newts once they arrived back on Earth[12] (they were fertile, and without problems).
Other amphibian species to travel in space include the newt species Lissotriton vulgaris and Cynops pyrrhogaster, and frog species: African clawed frog, Japanese tree frog, and several frogs in the Rana genus: Rana pipiens, Rana calestiana and Rana temporaria. | {
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February 23, 2017 – An innovative collaboration between graduate and undergraduate students aims to leverage the engineering creative process to address educational challenges, from improving math instruction in high schools to easing anxiety among students transitioning to university.
“Engineers are fundamentally problem-solvers,” says Professor Chirag Variawa, (IndE 1T4) an expert on engineering education and the Faculty’s first Director, First-year Curriculum. “They look at the resources that are available and optimize them to come up with a solution. Education is, in many ways, just another context in which engineering can be performed.”
Variawa is a project manager for APS 112 Engineering Strategies and Practice II, a first-year course in which teams of undergraduate students from different disciplines work together on projects proposed by community partners. Past projects have included optimizing information management in hospitals and designing sustainability features for local buildings.
But Variawa realized that challenges in engineering education would also make good projects for the undergraduate teams to work on. For more input, he turned to students in another course he instructs: APS 1203/1204 Instructional Innovation in Engineering Education, which is aimed at graduate students who are part of the Prospective Professors in Training program or the Collaborative Program in Engineering Education.
“The graduate students see it as a mentoring/coaching enterprise where they get to apply what they are learning in class,” says Variawa. “The undergraduate students see it as an engineering design challenge, with the graduate students as the clients.”
Mechanical engineering PhD candidates Carmen Chui, Justin Boutilier and Bahar Memarian are working with a team of undergraduates to make mathematics instruction more stimulating and engaging for both students and teachers.
“I love math, and I want to change the negative associations that young people sometimes have, to show them how cool and interesting math can be,” says Boutilier.
How the undergraduate students might achieve their objective is still being discussed. “Their generation grew up with mobile technology, such as tablets and smartphones,” says Chui. “It would be interesting if they came up with an app, an electronic learning tool, or something activity-based such as a field trip.”
“It will be nice to see how bringing the real-world applications of mathematics into classrooms could impact student and teacher motivation,” add Memarian. “Students tend to enjoy working on projects and in labs. Mathematics could therefore be viewed and taught in a similar manner as other branches of sciences, such as physics.”
Other proposed challenges include a low-cost platform for teaching coding skills, addressing anxiety in the transition from high school to university and ensuring that students have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes.
“We’re leaving the design space open,” says Darlee Gerard, a PhD candidate in engineering education and the teaching assistant for APS 1203/4. “It could be an instructional intervention, an online learning tool, a training module or a reusable learning object.”
Though he admits it can be challenging to introduce a project like this for the first time, Variawa is optimistic about what the collaboration may spark. “A teacher is fundamentally a learner as well,” he says. “I love doing these kinds of experiments, and I wouldn’t be doing them if I didn’t think they could work.”
This story is the fourth in a five-part#RisingStarsseries on U of T Engineering News, highlighting the work of our early career professors. | {
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Gingrich: Sebelius 'Right to Resign' Over ACA 'Disaster'
Kathleen Sebelius' oversight of Obamacare was a "disaster," former House Speaker and 2012 GOP presidential contender Newt Gingrich said Friday.
In a biting opinion piece for CNN, Gingrich said the Health and Human Services Secretary was "right to resign" after "delivering a breakdown when a breakout was possible."
"Americans should be able to expect that people who enter high public office will see their job as a public duty and will view faithfully serving the public and administering the laws as their solemn obligation," he wrote.
What America got instead was an administrator who operated "in a secretive and extraordinarily partisan manner that frequently ignored, violated and changed the law at whim," he wrote.
Gingrich said it's one thing for the White House staff to be "arrogant, aloof, secretive and largely isolated from the Congress."
"That is the president's style," he said. "And that is his right."
Sebelius must meet a legal standard, Gingrich said.
"Her job is not defined by the president," he wrote. "It is defined by the law."
Gingrich charged there were "dozens of changes to policy" Sebelius made "without the authority to do so," including waiving welfare's work requirement and delays in the employer mandate.
"Her capricious redefinition of Obamacare will be studied for decades as a stunning betrayal of the rule of law," he wrote.
And she failed as an administrator too, he said.
"Sebelius may be the most incompetent major cabinet officer in modern times," he wrote.
"The Obamacare website disaster she oversaw is a historic case study in bureaucratic failure."
"Americans' lives, jobs and savings were at stake," he added. "... [F]rom a purely political perspective, the failure is all the more stunning because it was obvious from day one that the website would be the most public symbol of President Obama's entire presidency."
The digital mess was inexcusable, he wrote.
"The overwhelming majority of the tech community supported President Obama," he noted. "The level of expertise and experience Sebelius could have called on to help with the website was breathtaking.... But she and the president did not do that."
"Sebelius' final betrayal of the public trust ... was her fundamental dishonesty with the American people," Gingrich wrote. "She, and the administration she worked for, have done the American people a great disservice." | {
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But when she was bad she was horrid….
If you are a fan of LOST, let me just say that contrary to popular belief, I am not the black smoke. I am not spreading evil throughout the world. I am just spreading it to your thighs.
So many a person wrote that they wanted to know when would I be making a Cadbury Caramel Egg cupcake like I did with the Crème Egg. And though it was tempting, I just didn’t want to make the same kind of thing again.
One of my fellow Seattle area food bloggers, Lara of Cook and Eat, wrote a doughnut book. She was all happy that it was pre-listed on Amazon.com (as she should be) and it got me thinking about deep fried things. The British love to deep fry stuff. One of my favorite treats at the pub are things called Scotch Eggs. They are hard boiled eggs, wrapped in sausage meat, breaded and then deep fried. They may sound odd but boy are they good. And after a few pints, they are really good.
These deep fried Caramel Eggs are crossbreed between the idea of the doughnut and the Scotch Egg. There isn’t much too these. Just some funnel cake batter that I make with brown sugar and Lyle’s Golden Syrup instead of granulated sugar and well, some frozen Caramel Eggs. They held up quite nicely. Even the ones that didn’t get fully coated in the batter. I also experimented with the milk chocolate covered Peeps. Which sadly did not turn out as well.
These are about as good as you would expect. I mean, doughnut batter wrapped around oozy milk chocolate and caramel. Okay, on second thought, maybe I am the black smoke. Hmmm. Now that would be a LOST plot twist.
OMG!!!! I have been stalking your blog for a little while (great considering I am supposed to be following Weight Watchers!!) I am definitely going to try these egg donuts – Cadbury features heavily at Easter here in Australia. Thanks for the inspiration (as well as the key lime cupcakes, I just look at those and drool!)
I must say, you are my new hero! I like to fry just about anything, mac and cheese, brownies (ball up brownies around 60%cacao dark chocolate chunks… Yumm!) But these eggs look fantastic. Congrats for taking fried desserts to a new fabulous level!
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Hi I’m Peabody (yep, that’s my first name) and welcome to my site! Here you will find a whole lot of yummy recipes (mostly baking and dessert), positive body image promotion, telling it like it is, and the random things that make up my life. Thanks for stopping by! {More…} | {
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The London-based bank is conducting conference calls with investors in Hong Kong, Singapore and the U.K. Tuesday to gauge interest for such an issuance, according to a person familiar with the situation.
U.S. financial services firm Guggenheim Partners, which entered exclusive negotiations with the bank on the sale, has until the end of this week to make a detailed bid for the operations, which could be worth around EUR1.6 billion, below the previously s
Hedge funds are cutting back on the brokerage accounts they hold as the prime brokerage industry begins to consolidate more than four years after the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy blew the sector wide open.
ABN AMRO Insurance, part of Delta Lloyd Group, is taking over the intermediary activities in the commercial general insurance segment for the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise sector from ABN AMRO Bank.
The City of London Corporation, which commissioned the report, has been preparing and working on it closely with other interested parties, a spokeswoman for the City of London Corporation told Dow Jones Newswires. | {
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Specialized
Fuse Expert Carbon 6Fattie
2018
2018 Specialized Fuse Expert Carbon 6Fattie
Last year, Specialized's Fuse proved that more volume means more speed. And this year, they took a proven idea and made it even better with a carbon frame. Say hello to the Fuse Expert Carbon 6Fattie. The lightweight FACT 10m carbon fiber frame construction blends stiffness with low weight to form the pinnacle of efficiency, while internal routing and an integrated SWAT Door create a tidy aesthetic and zero-hassle storage. Up front, the Rhythm FLOAT 34 is the latest trail-taming fork from the masterminds at Fox, offering two-position sweep adjust and 120mm of plush travel. On top of a plush fork, the build features Specialized's 6Fattie Wheel System in order to put out more traction, more flotation, and better handling without sacrificing anything on climbs. The 6Fattie Purgatory and Ground Control tires feature a perfectly sized contact patch for life-changing levels of traction and control while cornering, all without sacrificing climbing efficiency or descending prowess. And with a GRID casing protecting the sidewalls, these tires will stand up to anything the trail can throw at them. To solidify itself as a proper trail machine, the Fuse places a focus on blending durability, performance, and utility. To do so, Specialized spec'd it with a bulletproof 1 x 11-speed SRAM drivetrain with plenty of hammering and climbing ability. Lastly, utility is finally covered for the first time in Fuse history with the addition of integrated storage at the down tube via the SWAT Door. | {
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The invite comes at a rather curious time, however, with current Chelsea boss Antonio Conte under increasing pressure amid rumours of a fallout.
Abramovich made a rare visit to the club’s training ground to talk with Conte last Sunday, while it has been reported that the Italian’s conduct over the summer erased any goodwill between him and Chelsea’s hierarchy.
Although Abramovich could just be looking to meet up with a manager who won him three Premier League titles in two separate spells, Mourinho has never painted their relationship in such a way. | {
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Extend the Story - Add a Room
“I think the princesses will enjoy this. Thank you!” Twilight says as she leaves the spa. Later at home, she wraps the present in colorful paper and ties a bow on top. “There. All finished!”
***
Later, at the party, Celestia and Luna unwrap their gift. “Aw, you didn’t have to do this for us,” Celestia blushes. “I am highly insulted!” Luna cries. “Destroy this ‘gift’!” Twilight gasps. She didn’t think this would offend the princesses. “I-I’m so sorry,” “Haha, thou art kidding,” Luna replies with a smile.
Choice
In the morning, Luna uses it
Room Description (what happens next)
Continuation Method
Choices
Variable Names & Values are required for a choice to show
Image
Up to 350px x 350px,
50,000 byte file size limit
Image Location
Room Nickname (useful or room linking)
The owner of this story will be reviewing your submission before publication.
Please confirm your spelling, punctuation, and adherence to any of the story owner's
guidelines before submitting. | {
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Enrique Jacob Rocha
Enrique Jacob Rocha
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Biography
Enrique Jacob Rocha is the head of President of Mexico’s Instituto Nacional del Emprendedor (INADEM). As president of the INADEM, the national entrepreneurial institute, Mr. Rocha focuses on developing frameworks and resources to benefit traditional and high impact entrepreneurs in Mexico. Mr. Rocha has served in a variety of capacities to promote entrepreneurship; during 2012-2013 he was Undersecretary of Economy for Medium and Small Enterprises, from 2009-2012 he served as a state Congressman and was head of the planning and budget commission, and also served as the Secretary of Economic Development for the State of Mexico from 2005-2009
Enrique Jacob Rocha
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Biography
Enrique Jacob Rocha is the head of President of Mexico’s Instituto Nacional del Emprendedor (INADEM). As president of the INADEM, the national entrepreneurial institute, Mr. Rocha focuses on developing frameworks and resources to benefit traditional and high impact entrepreneurs in Mexico. Mr. Rocha has served in a variety of capacities to promote entrepreneurship; during 2012-2013 he was Undersecretary of Economy for Medium and Small Enterprises, from 2009-2012 he served as a state Congressman and was head of the planning and budget commission, and also served as the Secretary of Economic Development for the State of Mexico from 2005-2009 | {
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Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Readolution #2
2. I will read all of this year's Reading Circle group reads, and reply to all of the discussion threads.
The Reading Circle is an online book discussion forum that I co-moderate with my friend Susan. (Click on the link in my sidebar to visit The Reading Circle.) Each month, we choose a group read, and we post a discussion thread to go along with it. There is rarely much discussion on these threads, but people sometimes do read the books and post their thoughts on our weekly "What are you reading?" threads. One of my goals this year was to get discussion going on these specific threads, too. I have not done well with this part of the goal; I've only truly posted about my reading on one of the threads this year. Let's see how many of them I have read:
January: The Soup Peddler's Slow & Difficult Soups: Recipes And Reveries by David AnselFebruary: Heart in the Right Place by Carolyn JourdanMarch: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane SetterfieldApril: The Girls by Lori LansensMay: Garden Spells by Sarah Addison AllenSummer reads: Hens Dancing by Raffaella Barker, If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? by Erma Bombeck, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn JacksonSeptember: The Lace Reader by Brunonia BarryOctober: Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
Hey, I've read all of them except the September and October reads, and I plan to get to both of them this month.
I think I should recommit to this goal, starting with The Lace Reader. I love looking up info about books/authors after I've read their work; maybe I'll set an evening or two aside after reading these books to do that and post on the discussion threads. (And I could post my thoughts about them here, too!)
I rarely read during the day. I do read almost every evening for at least a half hour. (Sometimes, it's hard to keep my eyes open, and I admit I have fallen asleep in the bed with a book in my hands more than once.)
Oh, and I forgot to add that I don't read quickly at all! I like to savor the words and sentences and themes of a book, and I often flip back to read parts I've already read. So, I really believe the key must be just making the time to do it every day.
I wish I had time to read more! One of my 2009 readolutions may be to make more time to read.
Yes, I was going to say, check out all of the YA lit that is padding my list! Reading with dd -- and reading things she's read and recommends -- makes my list look more impressive than it really is. I love reading a quick YA book in between longer reads.
About Me
In my leaning towers of books, you will find...
...middle grade and YA lit, some picture books, and grown-up fiction and nonfiction. As well as a lover of books, I am a mom of two (Skye, age 15 and Felix, age 10), a library volunteer and advocate, and a leader and/or member of several book clubs. You can contact me at: [email protected]. | {
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Microsoft to Host Hiring Events for Candidates with Autism
Microsoft, realizing that Autism Spectrum Disorder can come with many advantages to their industry, is hosting a hiring fair specifically for candidates who have autism. What a wonderful endorsement for the field!!!! | {
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Review: Lena Herzog/Maya Polsky Gallery
In a remarkable project that fuses Ripley’s Believe It or Not with hardcore existentialism, Lena Herzog undertakes an extensive black-and-white photographic series in which she documents strange and amazing human creations such as the curiosities that Europeans used to put on display in cabinets made for that purpose (“Lost Souls” series), a symphony orchestra composed of mouse skeletons (“Rhapsody in Death”), and the wind-powered “beach animals” constructed by Theo Jansen that roam around the shoreline in the Netherlands (“Deus ex Machina”). The aesthetic category of the grotesque was made for Herzog, and she deploys it in a deadpan manner with forays into blurry pictorialism—whatever suits her aim of visualizing the insight that “our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of night.” We might not be pleased with what the spark of consciousness illuminates, like infant Siamese twins—preserved for scores of years—clutching each other in an endless sleep. Herzog does not let us gawk as we might at a freak show; it is self-recognition that she’s after and she knows how to get it. (Michael Weinstein) | {
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Heating Services in Valley Cottage, NY
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Each day brings new challenges for all of our customers, employees, and the community. As an essential service business that our customers and others in need rely on, we remain open to handle your repair needs, installations, estimates, and other necessary services.
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Comfort Plastic Pants transparent with lace[S-11]
These are a pair of ultra soft plastic pants. They have a great cut with an extra wide crotch, and room for a diaper. Wider enclosed elastic is used on the waist and legs to provide even more comfort and protection. Staying dryer is easier because the elastic is inside the hem, and moisture is fully contained, helping to prevent leaks. | {
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} |
"They've got big signs up that says 'paid volunteer survey' and if they want to participate they pull over there and they ask them questions and if they are willing to give them a mouth swab they give them $10 and if they are willing to give them a blood sample they give them $50. And if they don't do anything they drive off," Turrentine explained
Roadblock doesn't work that way. But it helps with the Daily Caller's Government is Taking Your DNA at Gunpoint meme. | {
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chenier
beach ridge, usually composed of sand-sized material resting on clay or mud. Chenier is the Louisiana French term for the oak tree belts that mark the distribution of the ridges in the Mississippi Delta region. In that area there are several sets of cheniers, each separated from, and slightly unconformable to, the next. Some of the ridges have been reworked by waves, and several show a blanket of peat growth (indicating a regression of sea level) covered by marine sediments. The arrangement and composition of these cheniers are taken as evidence of a fluctuation in sea level and have been correlated in time with similar evidence in other areas of the world | {
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Why All Of America's New Crude Oil Still Won't Lower Gas Priceshttp://www.businessinsider.com/domestic-crude-production-and-gas-prices-2013-2/comments
en-usWed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 -0500Sun, 02 Aug 2015 17:21:36 -0400Rob Wilehttp://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124f5326bb3f7562a000002sharonsjWed, 20 Feb 2013 11:09:22 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124f5326bb3f7562a000002
Yeah and we'd get first dibs on the environmental destruction and the clean-up costs too. Keystone is a joke. The Repubs are selling it as "energy independence" and a job creator--which are total lies. The permanent jobs created are either 20 or 200 (nobody can agree on the precise number but it certainly isn't the 20,000 claimed).http://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124dc006bb3f75378000005Willie Wed, 20 Feb 2013 09:21:52 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124dc006bb3f75378000005
With the Fed printing more $ --oil is priced in $---the purchasing power of the $ goes down---the Banks get those new $ first --they buy commodites OIL stocks etc as there is no where else to go with these new $---the OBAMA uninformed voter gets screwed the most and the rest of us next---unintended FED stupidityhttp://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124c95069beddb13b000021tjnWed, 20 Feb 2013 08:02:08 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124c95069beddb13b000021
plenty of oil out there just costs more to pull it out of the ground.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124c906ecad04585e00005dtjnWed, 20 Feb 2013 08:00:54 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124c906ecad04585e00005d
The cost of production of oil from Canadian oil sand flowing through the proposed Keystone pipeline is some where around $80 a barrel. So You are going to be hard pressed to get oil below $80 a barrel from that source. Fracking cost a lot more than pumping traditional oil out of the ground, and newer traditional oil source a deep off shore which drive up extraction costs. Don't expect oil to ever drop below $70-80 a gallon no matter how bad the oversupply in the oil market is.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51247c156bb3f7203d00001bGary AndersonWed, 20 Feb 2013 02:32:37 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51247c156bb3f7203d00001b
At that point the bankers will be screwed.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51247bf0ecad04385300000bGary AndersonWed, 20 Feb 2013 02:32:00 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51247bf0ecad04385300000b
It is all about speculation. It has nothing to do with supply and demand, oh but in a way. It has to do with the supply and demand of oik contracts in an age of too much money chasing too few financials. Rob, you need to check that out. Lots of articles popping up about it.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124513cecad047005000002HistoryTue, 19 Feb 2013 23:29:48 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124513cecad047005000002
This is what peak oil looks like.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51244f89ecad04957b00002bblack swanTue, 19 Feb 2013 23:22:33 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51244f89ecad04957b00002b
"But all that production is never really going to lower Americans' gas prices — which recently screamed higher — because we are competing with the entire world for the oil that it comes from."
Nope, that's not why consumers are paying a high price for gasoline, now that the US is producing more oil than it has in decades, and using less oil than it has in years. Hint, it's not because of supply and demand. Some say it's because of the lower dollar, but how would that explain the low gasoline prices in countries whose currencies are pegged to the dollar, like Saudi Arabia? So how much less are the consumers in other oil producing countries paying for gas?
Venezuela- $0.18 per gallon
Saudi Arabia- $0.48 per gallon
Libya- $0.54 per gallon
Turkmenistan- $0.72 per gallon
Bahrain- $0.78 per gallon
Kuwait- $0.84 per gallon
Qatar- $0.90 per gallon
Egypt- $1.14 per gallon
Oman- $1.20 per gallon
Algeria- $1.20 per gallon
"International oil companies own the US Congress and the President, so big oil sets US prices. The governments of those other countries nationalized the oil, and they set the consumer prices."
Was it supply and demand that drove oil prices to $147 a barrel in July of 2008, and then drove the price down to $32 a barrel in December of the same year? Of course not, it was the leveraging and then the deleveraging of oil futures that did that? The price of oil doesn't drive the market, the market drives the price of oil.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/512445c26bb3f7bd5e000003I think you missed the author's pointTue, 19 Feb 2013 22:40:50 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/512445c26bb3f7bd5e000003
"But all that production is never really going to lower Americans' gas prices — which recently screamed higher — because we are competing with the entire world for the oil that it comes from."
It's demand driving prices. Not American demand - which has been declining pretty steadily since 2007. But we're a shrinking market segment and now account for less than 1/4 of the world market for oil. Asian markets now set the global price for crude.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/512444dc69bedd6a78000020Wing WongTue, 19 Feb 2013 22:37:00 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/512444dc69bedd6a78000020
Preeze to not birrrd keystone piperine. All canada oil are belong to China!!!
Your comment highlights just how ridiculous opposition to Keystone is. At least Texas refineries would get first dibs on Canadian oil before it ships overseas. If we don't build it, China will suck up every last drop of crude coming out of Alberta.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124265b6bb3f72222000003c smithTue, 19 Feb 2013 20:26:51 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124265b6bb3f72222000003
Yea...you tell 'em Steve...we'll show those filthy Canadians a thing or two! Not like they can build a different pipeline to the west coast and ship their oil to China or anything...http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51241e1d69bedd152300000asmartest oneTue, 19 Feb 2013 19:51:41 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51241e1d69bedd152300000a
ppl keep thumbing down my comments but it's me who has been right about almost everything , including not only that gas prices would keep going higher but that there would be zero negative impact to the economy. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/wef9hwswww" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" >http://tinyurl.com/wef9hwswww</a>
pain at the pump is here to stay, buy UGA
still not inflationary according to the bond market thohttp://www.businessinsider.com/c/512418926bb3f71d0a000005Steve in FlyoverTue, 19 Feb 2013 19:28:02 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/512418926bb3f71d0a000005
Wake up dude. Keystone isn't about helping the US, or it's citizens. It about getting Canadian oil into a place where it can be sold on the global market.
A few people will get a license to print money. The majority will "socialize the losses", when it comes to environmental damage, polluted groundwater, etc.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/512417876bb3f7490a000001Steve in FlyoverTue, 19 Feb 2013 19:23:35 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/512417876bb3f7490a000001
The good news.........when $5/gallon gas has trashed the Main Street economy AGAIN, that consumption number is going to go waaaay down.
That giant sucking sound is the bottom 80% swirling down the toilet bowl.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124175c6bb3f7be0700000bTalk Talk Talk -- Let's See Some ActionTue, 19 Feb 2013 19:22:52 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124175c6bb3f7be0700000b
Instead of speculating as to whether it will or won't --
let's approve the Keystone pipeline, and
clear the multi-years backlog of permit requests for drilling on federal lands in the west, and
open up Anwar, and
clear the backlog of coastal permit apps.
Then we don't have to speculate about this any longer.http://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124165b69bedd980f00000fSteve in FlyoverTue, 19 Feb 2013 19:18:35 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124165b69bedd980f00000f
So as suspected, the whole "energy independence" thing was BS.
Next up......"food and water independence"
So......what happens when everything people need for basic existence is "priced out" of their ability to pay?http://www.businessinsider.com/c/512414cfeab8ea844c00000dSaul SilverbergTue, 19 Feb 2013 19:11:59 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/512414cfeab8ea844c00000d
Yep all fixed by the cabal of Hebs on Wall Street!http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51240be86bb3f70a73000007i like bainTue, 19 Feb 2013 18:34:00 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/51240be86bb3f70a73000007
pain at the pump is here to stay and there is zero evidence is is hurting the economy
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/wef9he3wee" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" >http://tinyurl.com/wef9he3wee</a>http://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124099eecad04277c00000cAqua BuddhaTue, 19 Feb 2013 18:24:14 -0500http://www.businessinsider.com/c/5124099eecad04277c00000c
You guys are just now figuring out that prices have nothing to do with demand but as is with the silver Markets are all FIXED. Yes just like Libor the cost of oil is whatever the controllers want it to be! | {
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Two of the BJP's rivals in UP are now allies- Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, currently in power, and Rahul Gandhi's Congress, which was humiliated in the state in 2014, winning just two Lok Sabha seats. | {
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However, Fox later posted on her Facebook page that she had never said that, claiming that "the actual comment, the context and its intention are grossly distorted and misrepresented".
"I gave this interview in English, obviously," she said. "It was then translated to French and now back into English. I've never made vapid self-serving comments and in contradiction am uncontrollably self-deprecating."
Fox has now returned to her Facebook page to thank Jalouse for printing a retraction.
According to Fox, the magazine said: "In a Jalouse cover story featuring Ms Megan Fox, we unfortunately misquoted Ms Fox. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."
Fox is currently rumored to be pregnant but neither she nor her husband Brian Austin Green have confirmed the reports. | {
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I qualified as an architect in 1999. I worked professionally as architect and interior designer in London and in practices across Hampshire. My research interests include a multi-disciplinary approach to architecture at various scales, through understanding ideas of interior detail to urban concepts. I lead the Masters in Architecture Urban design studio, which has made mixed use and housing proposals for European sites in Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna, Venice, Rotterdam, London, Dublin and also locally on regional sites.
As an architect my own completed projects range from the interior fit-out of bars and restaurants and retail design through to individual house design, school design and public spaces. I have written books across a range of subjects from Representation and drawing, Urban investigation and analysis to Materials and Interior space.
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Our Commitment
The entire Company’s from Board of Directors, the Board of Commissioners, and employees are committed to implement corporate governance principals to the highest standards. The principles of transparency, accountability, responsibility, independence, and fairness are values that must be upheld by the Company.
The implementation of the entire values is expected to ensure the Company’s sustainability, providing high competitiveness, and also gain the trust of various stakeholders, ie. shareholders, employees, communities, and other stakeholders. In practice, the implementation of Good Corporate Governance, hereinafter referred to as GCG, the Company adopted the basic principles that can be seen from operating activities as follows:
1. Transparency
The Company disclose information in a timely, appropriate, clear, and accurate way through adequate communication lines so that it can be easily accessed by all stakeholders in accordance with their rights. The information includes, but not limited to matters relating to the vision, mission, business objectives, as well as corporate strategy, financial condition, management’s composition and compensation, the controlling shareholder, executive officer, organizational structure, risk management, internal control systems, and the system and implementation of GCG, and important events that may affect the Company. The adopted principle still not reduces the obligation to protect confidential information about the Company in accordance with the rules and legislations.
2. Accountability
The Company ‘s management system clarifies function, implementation and accountability of each part. The implementation is manifested through reports of operational and financial matters that will be reviewed by the Board of Commissioners and the Public Accounting as a form of accountability to shareholders in the General Meeting ofShareholders. The application of accountability principle is also reflected in the establishment of various Committees under the Boards, as well as the establishment of theInternal Audit Division.
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The Company continues to comply with the rulesand legislations by applying the principles of healthy corporate. The Company focuses to run its operationsby emphasizing the principle of reciprocity that isappropriate to bring benefits for all stakeholders. The Company also acts as a good corporate citizen by taking into account the aspects of our operations for the benefit of the community and the environment around the operational area.
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I'm kodiak and im new, my favorite pokes are dragonite and gengar, i dont watch the anime but i love the games, I also am looking at starting te tcg, i used to do it, then got out of it, but it looks cool.
pisces_beedrill
30th January 2006, 3:25 PM
welcome, you will enjoy it here. pm me if u ever need a friend!
Megg Lavender
30th January 2006, 3:25 PM
Hello, and welcome to the forums! Please read the rules (if you haven't), and enjoy your stay here. ^^
~Maseki~
Nny
30th January 2006, 4:26 PM
Hey and welcome to the forums. If you need help or a friend feel free to pm me. o.o;
Jokurata
30th January 2006, 4:48 PM
Hi and welcome, if you need a friend or some help, then PM me! My favourite Pokemon are Metagross and Tyranitar(Hence the avatar!)
Anyways, just read and abide by those all important rules, and have a good time!
Jok
kodiak
30th January 2006, 5:03 PM
Thanks everybody, and a quick question, what is a sprite?
Jokurata
30th January 2006, 5:08 PM
A sprite is one of the small pics of a Pokemon in your sig. They could move and they are not game creen shots. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
A Hi-Resolution Hydrologic Model Peers into the Future of Western Water
Inside the University of Wyoming’s 3-D visualization cave, winter is coming. Through special glasses, a viewer watches winter snow pile up in the Wind River Mountains. The simulation shifts. Spring comes, and the snowpack begins to melt, waning gradually with warmth. Underfoot, the ground becomes translucent. Water accumulates and moves around, resurfacing as it feeds tributaries of the Green River, at times evaporating and returning further down the mountains as rainfall.
Wearing special goggles, a man interacts with a model in UW’s 3-D visualization cave.
This holodeck-like experience of a year in water is just a glimpse into an incredibly detailed hydrologic model created by University of Wyoming engineering and environment and natural resources professor Fred Ogden. Called ADHydro, the model harnesses the power of supercomputing to create high-resolution, physics-based simulations of how water moves through very large watersheds. The project takes advantage of computing power at the new Cheyenne-based supercomputer facility the University of Wyoming shares with the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
“Right now we are simulating the Upper Green River basin in Wyoming,” said Ogden, who has been working on the project for the last two years.
As climate change alters the way water falls on and flows through western landscapes, Ogden hopes his model can help water managers better understand how those changes play out, despite the uncertainties the future holds.
Looking to the past to estimate the future
The importance of the Colorado River is often summed up with the following facts: The river’s basin touches seven Western states before reaching Mexico. It supplies life-giving water to 40 million people. It can generate 4,200 megawatts of hydroelectric power, and its water slakes the thirst of 5.5 million agricultural acres.
The Colorado is probably one of the most oft-studied and worried-over rivers in the country. Yet despite decades of efforts measuring and tracking the river’s flows, every year when mountain snowpack begins to roll off rocky slopes, water managers still wrestle with many unknowns: How fast will the snow will melt? How much will get used up by trees? How much will evaporate before it gets into a stream? Until fairly recently, managers looked to weather from the past hundred years to try and find analogs that would help them plan for how the snow would behave.
In the 2000s, though, as drought spread across the West, scientists and water managers realized they might need to look further back in time to understand was happening to the river. They turned to tree rings, which tell a story of bigger floods and longer droughts in centuries past.
“That allowed us to get a much broader picture of how hydrology may be changing in the future,” said Prairie. “What we have seen in the last 1,200 years is we could have higher and lower flows [than in the past 100].”
This knowledge gave water managers a better sense of what the snowpack, and the river, was capable of. Climate change, though, adds another wrinkle. The challenge, said Ken Nowak, the Bureau of Reclamation hydrologic engineer for the river’s lower half, is that climate change means the next 100 years may not look like the last 100, or even the last 1,200.
“The past is no longer indicative of the future,” said Nowak.
That’s where models come in. To start, water managers get results from a set of climate model projections called the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. These coupled models combine representations of the atmosphere and the oceans, as well as the ice sheets, sea ice, and the land surface, painting a fuller picture of the Earth’s climate. For the purposes of predicting the future of Western water supplies, such models produce two key pieces of information: projected future temperatures and precipitation.
Of the two, changes in future temperatures are more predictable. The physics underlying what happens when carbon dioxide concentrations increase, as they have been since the Industrial Age, are pretty simple: add more CO2, the atmosphere heats up. While the amount of warming won’t be the same everywhere, the models show that the Rocky Mountains of the future will be warmer than they are now.
Inside the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) WyomingSupercomputing Center.
Precipitation is more fickle. Scientists know a warmer earth will hold more moisture in its atmosphere. But since there is not a direct relationship between temperature, CO2, and precipitation, the question of where that moisture will go is more difficult to answer. Most researchers think wet areas, like the tropics, will tend to get wetter, and dry areas, like the desert Southwest, drier. The future of many places in between, like the Rocky Mountain region, is basically a toss-up at this point.
The coupled models run under a range of scenarios. One keeps the world on a high-emissions path, where carbon dioxide levels continue to increase rapidly. Others take a middle road. There is also a low-emissions option, to include the possibility of global action to drastically reduce emissions or capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Each scenario results in different futures, some a degree or two warmer, others many degrees warmer, with corresponding changes to rain and snowfall regimes.
To get to the localized impacts of these climate changes on water, researchers plug the results of the climate models into hydrologic models representing all kinds of natural physical processes: snowpack, how that water gets taken up by trees, whether it evaporates or soaks into soils, how fast it makes its way downstream.
Hi-resolution hydro
Ogden’s ADHydro effort represents a significant improvement over existing hydrologic models. Many past models, including one of Ogden’s now used by the Army Corps of Engineers, use what’s called a square mesh to represent a watershed. Essentially, the landscape and processes are divided up into small squares representing a given area. This gives you a standard resolution across the entire watershed.
That works well for smaller watersheds, said Ogden, but he’s trying to represent something much larger—first, the Green River watershed, and later the entire Colorado River basin. So ADHydro uses a different approach.
“We are using an unstructured mesh, triangles, and they can change size,” he said.
Since a whole lot of computing power is needed to run such models, this approach is more efficient. In the mountains, where a lot is going on in a small space, the model has tiny triangles, 50 meters on a side. It can represent processes like snowmelt, soil moisture, and groundwater recharge on a very detailed scale, where even subtle changes can have big effects downstream.
When a river gets to the plains, where not a lot is changing, that high resolution becomes superfluous. The ADHydro model then can bump its triangle mesh size up to 500 meters on a side, saving valuable computing resources for the areas that truly need it. Even with a supercomputer running the model, such high resolution uses a lot of processing power, so Ogden has tried to make it as efficient as possible. The model also represents processes in three dimensions, but saves resources by being “quasi-3-D,” said Ogden.
“The models that we are trying to improve upon … tend to run at lower resolution. And because of that they don’t really simulate feedbacks properly, particularly between groundwater and surface water,” he said.
In contrast, the ADHydro model includes real world processes such as the effect of wind on sublimation, or snow evaporation. Other models can’t represent this, so they do something called parameterization, “a fancy word for fudging it,” said Ogden. And, in addition to simulating water, air, and soil, the new model includes layers like tree cover. Since trees use a lot of water, whether they are alive or dead, growing or not, can have a big impact on water availability.
Kristi Hansen, a water economist at the University of Wyoming, has been working with Ogden to create a layer for his model that will represent decisions water managers make about storing and releasing water. Management scenarios could include information about a city’s rights to Colorado River diversions and its projections of future metropolitan growth. Such inputs allow researchers and policymakers to play around with different configurations of water use in the future. Say Las Vegas cuts its water use still further, but demand from a rapidly growing Phoenix jumps.
Hansen is excited about the model’s improved resolution over existing ones, saying when there are shortfalls on the Colorado River, “the finer scale has the potential to tell us more about who is affected and by how much…a better, more detailed understanding of the hydrology can help us to make good decisions in the future.”
Ogden imagines a case in Wyoming where the state might need to make a decision on a new pipeline to take water from the Green River to Colorado’s Front Range. The State Engineer’s Office could use his model to find out what granting approval for the withdrawal would mean.
“They [the engineers] could pull open the Web browser, say we are going to divert this amount under these rules, and then select a future climate scenario and maybe a future land use scenario, and then click ‘run.’ And then sometime later they would get an e-mail back with a report telling them what the effect of that was on, say, the water level of Lake Powell in the future.”
By summer 2015, the model will be running simulations on the National Center for Atmospheric Research supercomputer, using output from coupled global climate models to model water behavior in large western watersheds, said Ogden.
From models to action
No matter how good your model, moving from improvements in research models into improvements in the actual operation of a complex system of dams, diversions, and cities in the arid West is a monumental task. As a hydrologic model gets layered on different climate model outputs, each with its own assumptions, the view of the future actually becomes fuzzier, said Jeff Lukas, a senior research associate with the Western Water Assessment. That’s because whenever multiple modeling steps are used, the range of possible outcomes broadens.
“The uncertainty increases because you have made these choices along the way,” said Lukas.
Lukas points to local and regional efforts by utilities like Denver Water and others. With information from climate and hydrologic models, they are improving their flexibility to react to various circumstances, preparing for whatever the future brings.
Laurna Kaatz, the climate policy analyst for Denver Water, which serves a quarter of the state’s population, thinks a lot about the future. She said climate models and hydrologic models give managers insights into how the region might change.
“They help us play out ‘if’ scenarios. If this happens, in the future, then this is what it could mean to the water system.”
Even though models have uncertainty and do not predict the future, it’s still “really valuable information,” she said. “If we didn’t have these than we would just be making assumptions about what the future could be.”
Lukas agrees this is where models come in handy.
“Really, the important thing is not to be surprised,” he said. “To have at least some ability to prepare for an event you haven’t seen before.”
Ogden acknowledges that exactly predicting future flows “is almost impossible.” But he says ADHydro is an improvement over current options. He notes a 2012 effort from the Bureau of Reclamation looking at the future of the Colorado River that painted a “pretty dire picture” of future Colorado River water availability. ADHydro could be used in similar sorts of research.
“What we hope to do would to be able to improve on those because we are including more feedback processes because of our higher resolution,” Ogden said.
Denver Water’s Kaatz agrees.
“Advancements in modeling are really important. Because it helps us better understand the system that we are trying to manage.”
As snow coats mountaintops this winter, water users and water managers have begun their anxious watch, tallying inches and snow water equivalent, checking weather stations and SNOtel sites. No one knows what this winter, or the next, or the one 30 years from now, will bring. With models like ADHydro though, we may at least be better prepared for that uncertain future.
By Stephanie Paige Ogburn
Stephanie Paige Ogburn reports on science and environment in the West from Denver, Colorado. Find more of her work at stephaniepaigeogburn.com.
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From the editor
Here in the West, we ask a lot of our public lands. As the photo collage on the cover illustrates, we pile demands onto the federal and state lands that surround our communities. These places must provide habitat, sustain wildlife, and protect endangered species; support grazing; produce oil, gas, coal, minerals, and timber; house renewable energy infrastructure; keep watersheds flowing; give us scenic vistas to enjoy and photograph; help us connect with history; and, importantly, harbor the places we love to camp, hunt, hike, run, fish, drive ATVs, ride mountain bikes, rock climb, ski, snowmobile, watch birds, paddle canoes, and much more. Despite the huge extent of these lands, the desires we place on them frequently overlap, in sometimes messy and confusing ways... Read more | {
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After 25 years of marriage he only asked her for one thing to remove his last na
After 25 years of marriage he only asked her for one thing to remove his last name? Should she?
This couple have three children together two are adults and one is still in elementary school. She thinks this is his last attempt at controlling her. His thought is she wanted out, removing his name ensures she is completely out.
NO. It is a crude request on his part that puts massive amounts of work on her. And he's likely doing it on purpose. Name changes impact nearly every aspect of your life. Changing a last name alters your driver's license, social security card, professional certifications, legal documents, the name plate on her cubicle. His demand entails days of work for her because he wants to disassociate from her in one more way. That is aside from having to explain the name change to hundreds of people like coworkers, the hassle of explaining why last names don't match when she is with her children.
What is the silliest thing you have said (or asked) as a kid?I asked my mom if giving birth was difficult. She said yes. I asked her if it felt the same way as pooping. She didn't give it much thought and simply said...
With an increasing number of married couples ending in divorce - Do you think that divorce is a too easy way out and that a couple should work harder to make their relationship work?No marriage is perfect and couples... | {
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What "Happiness, Satisfaction and Self-sufficiency are just some of the things that we leave behind AFTER mining." ???
I PROTEST AGAINST this Hoarding:
This hoarding by Vedanta (Sesa Goa) in one of their mining areas is totally MISLEADING and inappropriate. It reads…
“Happiness, Satisfaction and Self-sufficiency are just some of the things that we leave behind AFTER mining.”
Yes, we all know that the NRI owned Vedanta is making crores of rupees at the cost of Goa and Goans. Now WHOSE happiness, satisfaction and self-sufficiency are they talking about ? STOP fooling us Vedanta. You’ll leave NOTHING behind except permanent DESTRUCTION of our environment and life-long health hazards for our citizens. GET LOST from Goa, and get rid of this BLOODY hoarding immediately.
This lecture was delivered at IIT Kharagpur by Ritesh Singh. It talks about the relevance of Gandhi today specifically in the Manufacturing Industry. After watching it, most people shouldn’t have any doubts about the relevance of Gandhism in today’s world
Sunita Journo posted this photo about how UN failed in a survey
FOOD SHORTAGE – WHAT IT MEANS TO THE WORLD “A worldwide survey was conducted by the UN. The only question asked was: ‘Would you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?’ The survey was a huge failure… In Africa they didn’t know what ‘food’ meant. In Eastern Europe they didn’t know what ‘honesty’ meant. In Western Europe they didn’t know what ‘shortage’ meant. In China they didn’t know what ‘opinion’ meant. In the Middle East they didn’t know what ‘solution’ meant. In South America they didn’t know what ‘please’ meant. In the USA they didn’t know what ‘the rest of the world’ meant. But in India they only knew what ‘corruption’ meant.”
Mini Mathew posted on her wall a picture about the only cause of Rape
Rape Cause: GLORIOUS PLACARDS OF 2011 - REVISITED FOR INSPIRATION
Anjali Manohar posted on her wall a picture of an Incredible Indian, U. Sagayam, District Collector, Madurai.
District collector, U. Sagayam of Madurai, Tamil Nadu - By refusing to take bribes, the Madurai collector has earned 18 transfers in 20 years, a modest house and bank balance and lots of respect.
”District collector, U. Sagayam of Madurai, Tamil Nadu – By refusing to take bribes, the Madurai collector has earned 18 transfers in 20 years, a modest house and bank balance and lots of respect”Three years ago, as district collector of Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, U. Sagayam voluntarily declared his assets: a bank balance of Rs 7,172 and a house in Madurai worth Rs 9 lakh. Once, when his baby daughter, Yalini, who had breathing problems, was suddenly taken ill, he did not have the Rs 5,000 needed for admitting her to a private hospital. At that time he was deputy commissioner (excise) in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and there were 650 liquor licences to be given out. The going bribe for each was rumoured to be Rs 10,000.(He needs a special mention here because the assets of an IAS officer-couple in Madhya Pradesh were valued at Rs 360 crore. They had 25 flats in three cities)’Reject bribes, hold your head high’, says a board hanging above Sagayam’s chair in his modest office. That’s the code he lives by, even if politicians are incensed they cannot bend him their way—he’s been transferred 18 times in the last 20 years—and has made enemies of both superiors and subordinates. “I know I sit under a dangerous slogan and probably alienate people,” he says. “But I have been the same Sagayam from Day 1. Standing up against corruption is not for a season. Nor is it a fad. It’s forever”, he says.
On a hot summer afternoon, on Madurai’s busy main road, the district collector, U. Sagayam, saw a young man talking on a cellphone while riding a motorbike. He asked his driver to wave the man down, got down from his car and meted out instant punishment: plant 10 saplings within 24 hours. Somewhat unconventional justice, some might say. But that’s how Sagayam works.
He also took on a mighty soft-drink mnc when a consumer showed him a bottle with dirt floating in it. He sealed the bottling unit and banned the sale of the soft drink in the city. In Chennai, he locked horns with a restaurant chain and recovered four acres valued at some Rs 200 crore.
Sagayam’s masters degrees in social work and law come in useful in his role as an administrator. He knows the rulebooks in detail and is not afraid of using them, however powerful the opponent. No wonder then that Sagayam’s career is marked with the scars of countless battles.
Sagayam’s wife Vimala has stood by him all these years but she was rattled by some of the threats during the elections. “He always says if you are right, nobody can hurt you,” she says. “But sometimes it becomes difficult.”
Hitler Didi of PORIBORTON: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s antics may have brought in higher central funds for the state, but her government’s performance has been below par in its first year.
A note prepared by the Planning Commission pointed out that the West Bengal government has been able to achieve just 6.5% of its target in agriculture, and provided only 14 days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) — the lowest among the poorer states of India.
The panel also noted that the overall economic growth also slowed down to around 8% in the state after Banerjee took over from the Left Front government.
Banerjee’s tirade against the Left, blaming it for its poor state of affairs, resulted in the central government allocating Rs 22,124 crore in 2011-12, an increase of about 20% as compared to the previous year.
The Centre also gave another Rs 3,500 crore as a special package after Banerjee met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier this year.
Mamata has not done anything so far to improve Bengal. Would she take only 5 years to destroy the state? Loud mouth nobody.
Mohan Chakravaishya’s posted this cartoon about India being on the 4th position of corrupt countries.
mahesh vijapurkar: Now I understand what all 'service' those bureaucrats are doing to us.
I became confused when I heard the word ‘service’ used with these agencies.
Indian Administrative ‘Service’
Indian Police ‘Service’
Civil ‘Service’
Indian Revenue ‘Service’
Indian Postal ‘Service’
Telephone ‘Service’
State, City, Public ‘Service’
This is not what I thought ‘service’ meant.
But when I overheard two farmers talking, and one of them said he had hired a bull to ‘service’ a few cows, everything came into focus. Now I understand what all those bureaucrats are doing to us. | {
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India's New Leaders May Demand Interest Rate Cuts
The voting in India’s national election ended on May 12. With exit polls showing opposition leader Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party winning a clear mandate over the incumbent Congress Party, the Sensex stock index hit an all-time high amid confidence the BJP would be able to form a pro-business government, but the good cheer may be misplaced.
India’s economy is still in the dumps. Consumer prices in April jumped 8.59 percent from a year earlier, the government announced on May 12. That’s up from 8.31 percent the previous month. The same day a separate survey showed industrial production fell 0.5 percent year over year in March, the fourth decline in the past six months. “The new government will be inheriting a stagflation-type situation,” says Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist at Bank of Baroda in Mumbai.
Thanks to that brutal mix of high inflation and low growth, the most contentious relationship in Indian politics could be between the new prime minister and India’s U.S.-educated central bank governor, Raghuram Rajan. The onetime chief economist at the International Monetary Fund who earned his doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rajan became governor of the Reserve Bank of India last September. Since then he has raised interest rates three times, helping reverse a steep slide in the value of the currency. The rupee, which plunged in the months before Rajan’s arrival at the RBI, has gained 12 percent since September. The benchmark interest rate is 8 percent.
Rajan’s hawkishness hasn’t yet translated into victory over inflation, which averaged 10 percent last year and is on the upswing again. His interest rate increases have made him a target for politicians frustrated by tepid growth. During the campaign, BJP Treasurer Piyush Goyal told the Economic Times, an Indian daily, that Rajan was “only aggravating the problems by increasing interest rates,” although he later said he had no agenda to remove Rajan. Arun Jaitley, who may become finance minister under Modi, has said high rates are hurting the economy, while senior BJP figure Subramanian Swamy has stated Rajan should go. Unlike the Federal Reserve, the RBI is not independent of the government.
Rajan has dismissed talk of a showdown with the BJP, but shortly before the voting ended, he told an audience in Switzerland that “I determine the monetary policy. I say what it is. Ultimately, the interest rate that is set is set by me.”
Under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Congress-led government made little headway in addressing structural problems such as infrastructure bottlenecks that fuel inflation. India’s fight against inflation still depends in large part on the monsoon, which provides the water farmers badly need. The government is forecasting a below-average monsoon this year, which could drive up food prices. The new government will also face pressure to cut costly energy subsidies that contributed to a budget deficit of 4.6 percent of gross domestic product in the fiscal year ended in March. Modi “has to consolidate the fiscal side, which means slower growth—which may then raise pressure on the central bank” to cut rates, says Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economics research at HSBC (HSBC).
Although relations between Rajan and Modi promise to be contentious, the BJP probably won’t oust the central banker. Firing one of the few widely admired Indian policymakers would send the wrong message. “The new government will gain a lot of heartburn if they end up messing around with him,” says Rajeev Malik, senior economist with CLSA. Still, with the inflation outlook darkening, the new leaders may be unable to resist picking a fight with the man who sets India’s rates. | {
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Posts on Jan 1970
While the van markets might be showing signs of heating up, flatbed has been hot all winter long, and getting hotter. The national average flatbed rate for April was $2.65/mile, the highest it’s ever been in DAT Trendlines.
And there are no signs of a slowdown. Last week, flatbed volumes surged 10% higher, led by Houston, Fort Worth and Cleveland. The national load-to-truck ratio for flatbed has now been above 100 loads per truck for 5 straight weeks.
Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there are literally more than 100 loads for every flatbed trailer. Brokers repost loads when they have trouble finding trucks, and flatbedders are often less likely than dry van and reefer truckers to post their equipment to the load board. For those reasons, flatbed load-to-truck ratios are often elevated. But we can still use the ratio as a way to measure pressure in the market – and when the ratio goes up or down, rates almost always follow.
As you can see, there’s a whole lot of dark green in the map above, meaning there’s a shortage in flatbed equipment across basically the whole country. That’s kept rates high, even though pricing was a little more mixed at the end of April.
Atlanta continues to set new records: Outbound rates there have climbed 10% in the past month
The oil industry has also fueled the Texas markets: Rates were higher last week out of Dallas and Fort Worth, while Houston held firm
Gains out of Las Vegas and Jacksonville, FL, suggest that construction equipment and material are on the move
A couple strong lanes last week:
Raleigh to Greenville, SC, jumped up to $2.94/mile
Roanoke to Baltimore soared to $3.58/mile
FALLING
The average outbound rate last week in Phoenix was just $1.79/mile, making it the only major flatbed market with sub-$2 rates. Even Tampa has crossed that mark.
A couple lanes with falling prices:
Reno to Seattle was down 98¢ to $2.41/mile, a sign that lumber shipments out of the Seattle area are balancing things out
Roanoke to Cleveland dropped to $2.55/mile – this lane had been up for about four weeks while Cleveland suffered through some nasty weather, but now the weather is better and volumes dropped, so the rates fell.
Saint George Insurance is proud to partner with DAT to offer a special 30 days free on the TruckersEdge Load Board! | {
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Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Green church paint and a time that is gone
The back stairwell of our church suffers from a water problem. A light layer of mildew fights to gain the upper hand over the paint, which is itself peeling in patches. This is a problem for the trustees. As I left the library a few weeks ago and skipped lightly down the stairs, I noticed that the original green paint now showed through in certain areas.
Ah, the green paint. Put on when the church was renovated in the 1950s, it is the church color of my childhood. Nor was our church the only one to use it. At times, it seemed as if half the conference had decided to embrace that pale, yet strangely vivid, shade of green.
This was the 50's, after all, the decade of pastels. There are still pink and blue tiled bathrooms dotting the landscape. (At the time, it must have seemed a delightful change after years of WWII army drab).
I go to the same church I attended as a child, and though the outside is still brick, almost everything else has changed. The entrances were even flipped around in the 1994 renovation.
1 comment:
Was the entrance flip another style? Apparently my church did that, too, thirty-odd years ago. And yes, the church of my childhood was the same green (Pious Pistachio?). I look forward to the continuation, and in the meantime, will try not to envy your light skipping down the steps! | {
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The past few days have seemed like an extended amateur hour in the White House as unforced error after unforced error has been made in the handling of the US Government’s message about the killing of bin Laden.
We should not forget the bottom line in this: bin Laden was justifiably and legally killed by brave and skilled US Navy SEALs. The operation was audacious and meticulous in its planning and execution. President Barack Obama made the call to carry out the raid and his decision was vindicated in spades.
Having said that, the messiness since then has taken much of the sheen off this success, temporarily at least. Here’s a summary of what went wrong once the most difficult bit had been achieved:
1. It took nearly three days to decide not to release the photographs. I think there was a case for not releasing the pictures, though on balance I think disclosure would have been best. But whichever way Obama went on this, the decision should have been made quickly, on Monday. By letting the world and his dog debate the issue for so long and then say no made the administration look indecisive and appear that it had something to hide. It will fuel the conspiracy theories. And the pictures will surely be leaked anyway.
2. To say that bin Laden was armed and hiding behind a wife being used as a human shield was an unforgiveable embellishment. The way it was expressed by John Brennan was to mock bin Laden as being unmanly and cowardly. It turned out to be incorrect and gave fuel, again, to conspiracy theories as well as accusations of cover-ups and illegality. Of all the mistakes of the week, this was by far the biggest.
3. It was a kill mission and no one should have been afraid to admit that. Bin Laden was a dead man as soon as the SEAL Team landed. There’s nothing wrong with that but the Obama administration should have been honest about it rather than spinning tales about bin Laden having a gun, reaching for a gun (the latest) and resisting (without saying how he resisted).
4. Too much information was released, too quickly and a lot of it was wrong. When it made the administration look good, the information flowed freely. When the tide turned, Jay Carney, Obama’s spokesman, clammed up completely. I’m a journalist; I like it when people talk about things. But from the administration’s perspective, it would have been much better to have given a very sparse, accurate description of what happened without going into too much detail, especially about the intelligence that led to the compound (an account which is necessarily suspect).
5. Obama tried to claim too much credit. Don’t get me wrong, he was entitled to a lot of credit. but sometimes less is more and it’s better to let facts speak for themselves. We didn’t need official after official to say how “gutsy” Obama was. Far better to have heaped praise on the CIA and SEALs (which, to be fair, was done most of the time) and talked less about Obama’s decision-making. And a nod to President George W. Bush would have been classy – and good politics for Obama.
6. Proof of death was needed. The whole point of the SEAL operation, rather than a B2 bombing that levelled the compound, was to achieve certainty. The administration has DNA evidence, facial recognition evidence and photographic evidence. Some combination of that evidence should have been collated and released swiftly. It’s not enough to say, effectively, “Trust me, I’m Obama” – especially given all the misinformation that was put out.
7. The mission should have been a ‘capture’ one. Notwithstanding 3. above and the legitimacy of killing bin Laden, I think a capture of bin Laden was probably possible and, in the long term, would have been better – not least because of the intelligence that could have been gleaned from interrogating him and the couriers. My hunch is that Obama didn’t want him alive because there would have been uncomfortable issues to address like whether he should be tried, where he should be held (it would have been Guantanamo – obviously) and the techniques for questioning him.
8. Obama’s rhetoric lurched from jingoistic to moralistic. During the initial announcement, Obama said that by killing bin Laden “we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to”. If Bush had said that, he would have been mocked and laughed at, with some justification. But by today Obama was all preachy and holier than thou saying: “It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence or as a propaganda tool. That’s not who we are. We don’t trot out this stuff as trophies.”
9. Triggering a torture debate was an avoidable own goal. Following on from 3. by discussing the intelligence, the administration walked into the issue of whether enhanced interrogation techniques yielded important information. That was certainly something they could have done without. Politically, it gave something for Republicans to use against Obama.
10. The muddle over Pakistan. Everyone I talk to with knowledge of these things tells me that Pakistan had to have given the green light for the raid in some form. But the Pakistanis, for good reasons, would not want this made public. Rather than say it would not comment on whether Pakistan had harboured bin Laden or was playing a double game, the White House poured petrol on the flames by encouraging criticism of Pakistan. That might have been deserved, but in terms of managing the region it was impolitic. The Pakistanis are clearly riled and the contradictions between the US and Pakistani accounts, again, fuel the conspiracy theories.
All this has meant that this week’s media story has become one about Obama and the White House more than one about the SEALs, the CIA and what killing bin Laden means. That’s exactly the wrong way round.
It’s not enough to say that Obama arrogantly and falsely took too much credit, or even that Obama didn’t give Bush and the programs Bush developed enough credit: Obama personally demonized programs that were essential to finally getting Osama bin Laden, and even launched a vendetta to destroy the professionals who gave us the vital information via his attorney general.
Asked by NBC-TV’s Brian Williams about the information obtained from detainees that led to the bin Laden takedown, Panetta replied: ‘We had multiple series of sources that provided information with regards to this situation. … Clearly some of it came from detainees [and] they used these enhanced interrogation techniques against some of those detainees.”
When Williams asked whether “waterboarding” was one of those techniques, Panetta replied: “That’s correct.”
General Michael Hayden, the career intelligence professional who had directed the CIA prior to Leon Panetta, speaking about the CIA program Obama terminated on his second day as president, had this to say:
Michael Hayden said there is no question the CIA program including waterboarding laid the foundation for bin Laden’s capture.
MICHAEL HAYDEN, FMR CIA DIRECTOR ON FOX NEWS RADIO (via telephone): That database was kind of like the home depot of intelligence analysis. You know, it was incredibly detailed stuff.
HERRIDGE: As for its role in identifying this compound in Pakistan —
HAYDEN: It would be very difficult for me to conceive of an operation like the one that took place on Sunday that did not include in its preparation information that came out of the CIA detention program.
It is a well-documented fact, confirmed by both the Republican- and Democrat-appointed Directors of Central Intelligence, that waterboarding led to the breakthrough that finally resulted in nailing Osama bin Laden.
Barack Obama wants to demonize the people and procedures that led to Osama bin Laden’s killing even as he takes credit for what could not possibly have happened without the people and procedures that he demonized. It is a disgrace.
Then there’s the fact that so many of the events surrounding Barack Obama were staged propaganda.
Of the famous photo supposedly showing Obama and his national security team monitoring and directing the SEAL Team that got Osama bin Laden, we now know that:
Leon Panetta, director of the CIA, revealed there was a 25 minute blackout during which the live feed from cameras mounted on the helmets of the US special forces was cut off.
A photograph released by the White House appeared to show the President and his aides in the situation room watching the action as it unfolded. In fact they had little knowledge of what was happening in the compound.
In an interview with PBS, Mr Panetta said: “Once those teams went into the compound I can tell you that there was a time period of almost 20 or 25 minutes where we really didn’t know just exactly what was going on. And there were some very tense moments as we were waiting for information.
“We had some observation of the approach there, but we did not have direct flow of information as to the actual conduct of the operation itself as they were going through the compound.”
Which is to say that much of the hubub of Obama as commanding figure was simply staged. It wasn’t real.
And while a liberal might argue that what Obama did has been done before, my response is that there are times when you’ve got to be real and not propaganda, and this was clearly one of those times.
In light of what George Bush did to create programs, build special operations capabilities capable of performing the Pakistan mission that got bin Laden, and even what Barack Obama said during his campaign for president, the decision to capture or kill Osama bin Laden was a no-brainer.
I mean, just imagine the fecal matter that would have struck the rotary oscillator had it emerged that Barack Obama had known for at least six months where Osama bin Laden was – and refused to get him????
That said, the man acted brainless before the decision to get Osama bin Laden, and he’s clearly returned to his brainless form since.
We’ll quickly be able to see the media bias, as people appearing on Obama’s infomercial – such as Roberta Johnston, Larry Stewart, and Mark and Melinda Dowell – either get their lives microscopically investigated the way Joe the Plumber did or not. The media witch hunt (a.k.a. “investigative journalism“) into the life of Joe the Plumber – who drew a vicious media backlash for merely asking Obama a simple question outside his own home – was an unprecedented intrusion into a private citizen by a media machine that was determined to dredge up dirt on him. If they go after Obama infomercial’s citizens the same way (can she really only afford to buy half a gallon of milk? Did that mother buy herself a pair of shoes rather than buy snacks for her children?) I’ll be very much surprised.
Still, every so often some reporter actually tries to be fair. And in the aftermath of Barack Obama’s $3 million infomercial spectacular, in a campaign in which Obama is outspending McCain 4-1 after Obama broke his promise to accept public financing, a little bit of objectivity is better than nothing at all. So it was refreshing that Associated Press writer Calvin Woodward finally took a critical look at claims that Obama has been making with virtually no media scrutiny for months:
WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was less than upfront in his half-hour commercial Wednesday night about the costs of his programs and the crushing budget pressures he would face in office.
Obama’s assertion that “I’ve offered spending cuts above and beyond” the expense of his promises is accepted only by his partisans. His vow to save money by “eliminating programs that don’t work” masks his failure throughout the campaign to specify what those programs are — beyond the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
A sampling of what voters heard in the ad, and what he didn’t tell them:
THE SPIN: “That’s why my health care plan includes improving information technology, requires coverage for preventive care and pre-existing conditions and lowers health care costs for the typical family by $2,500 a year.”
THE FACTS: His plan does not lower premiums by $2,500, or any set amount. Obama hopes that by spending $50 billion over five years on electronic medical records and by improving access to proven disease management programs, among other steps, consumers will end up saving money. He uses an optimistic analysis to suggest cost reductions in national health care spending could amount to the equivalent of $2,500 for a family of four. Many economists are skeptical those savings can be achieved, but even if they are, it’s not a certainty that every dollar would be passed on to consumers in the form of lower premiums.
THE SPIN: “I also believe every American has a right to affordable health care.”
THE FACTS: That belief should not be confused with a guarantee of health coverage for all. He makes no such promise. Obama hinted as much in the ad when he said about the problem of the uninsured: “I want to start doing something about it.” He would mandate coverage for children but not adults. His program is aimed at making insurance more affordable by offering the choice of government-subsidized coverage similar to that in a plan for federal employees and other steps, including requiring larger employers to share costs of insuring workers.
THE SPIN: “I’ve offered spending cuts above and beyond their cost.”
THE FACTS: Independent analysts say both Obama and Republican John McCain would deepen the deficit. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates Obama’s policy proposals would add a net $428 billion to the deficit over four years — and that analysis accepts the savings he claims from spending cuts. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, whose other findings have been quoted approvingly by the Obama campaign, says: “Both John McCain and Barack Obama have proposed tax plans that would substantially increase the national debt over the next 10 years.” The analysis goes on to say: “Neither candidate’s plan would significantly increase economic growth unless offset by spending cuts or tax increases that the campaigns have not specified.”
THE SPIN: “Here’s what I’ll do. Cut taxes for every working family making less than $200,000 a year. Give businesses a tax credit for every new employee that they hire right here in the U.S. over the next two years and eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. Help homeowners who are making a good faith effort to pay their mortgages, by freezing foreclosures for 90 days. And just like after 9-11, we’ll provide low-cost loans to help small businesses pay their workers and keep their doors open. ”
THE FACTS: His proposals — the tax cuts, the low-cost loans, the $15 billion a year he promises for alternative energy, and more — cost money, and the country could be facing a record $1 trillion deficit next year. Indeed, Obama recently acknowledged — although not in his commercial — that: “The next president will have to scale back his agenda and some of his proposals.”
There are some facts to consider about Barack Obama’s health care plan that he failed to tell you last night:
Barack Obama’s health care plan is estimated to cost $1.6 trillion in 10 years. But that doesn’t take into account the very sort of cost overruns and cost increases that are even now plaguing the very state that Obama is basing his own plan upon. What is going to happen to our economy given the extremely real likelihood that Obama’s massive national plan runs into similar issues? Do you believe our economy is strong enough to bear the brunt of these massive cost increases in this current climate?
In the aftermath of the unpopular $850 billion bailout of the economy, it is extremely relevant to question what Obama would do in light of a $1 trillion annual federal budget deficit and an over $10 trillion national debt. That said, you’d probably want to hear about Obama’s sponsering of an $845 billion Global Poverty Act:
Sen. Barack Obama, perhaps giving America a preview of priorities he would pursue if elected president, is rejoicing over the Senate committee passage of a plan that could end up costing taxpayers billions of dollars in an attempt to reduce poverty in other nations.
The bill, called the Global Poverty Act, is the type of legislation, “We can – and must – make … a priority,” said Obama, a co-sponsor. | {
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New York City’s Blood Blush have released their debut EP, “Trust,” a four-track offering of new-wave inspired post-punk with a gothic twist, coated with a generous helping of hazy, reverb-heavy ambiance. | {
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Ugg Boots
Treat your feet to comfort as well as style with this season's boots from Ugg Australia. Ugg Boots are the ultimate everyday footwear, guaranteed to go with any casual ensemble. The iconic original has never gone out of fashion, but there are also plenty of equally exciting new designs, with detailing like buckles, zips and tassels updating the wardrobe staple. Pair your heeled, fur-lined ankle boots with skinny jeans for a chic winter look, or go bright and bold with classic Ugg boots in vibrant pastel shades. | {
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} |
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Imola to mark 20th anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s death
Brazilian three-time F1 world champion lost his life in a crash at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994
Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 20:01
A man takes a picture of a poster of late Brazilian Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna at the Imola race track. Senna died on May 1st, 1994, when he crashed his Williams into a concrete wall at the Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit. He was 34 at the time. Photograph: Giorgio Benvenuti / EPA
The venue at which Ayrton Senna lost his life is set to be the focal point this week of commemorations marking the tragedy’s 20th anniversary.
Brazil’s three-time Formula One world champion Senna was killed in an accident during the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola on May 1st, 1994. The circuit is being opened to the public from the 20th anniversary on Thursday through to May 4th.
Roland Ratzenberger, the Austrian driver who died the day before Senna in a crash on the same track during qualifying, will also be remembered.
Past and current figures from F1 are set to be present for a series of events, from which a part of each day’s proceeds will go towards the Ayrton Senna Institute’s charitable works.
Around the Imola site - where the paddock and pits will be open and people will be able to either drive, cycle or travel on foot around the track - there will be a commemorative ceremony, as well as exhibitions and talks, including a presentation on safety in F1.
A lasting legacy of the deaths of Senna and Ratzenberger was the impact they had on the attitudes towards driver safety in the sport. It is testament to the measures implemented since, that Senna, who was 34, remains the last driver to die over the course of an F1 weekend.
The Sao Paulo native was truly a sporting superstar at the time of his death, and has attained almost demigod status in his home country. He made his F1 debut in 1984 with Toleman and, after moving to Lotus, secured two fourth-placed championship finishes and then third spot in 1987.
In 1988 he joined McLaren as team-mate to Alain Prost, and from there, one of the greatest rivalries in F1 history played out.
Senna pipped the Frenchman to the title that year, saw Prost take it ahead of him in 1989, and was then crowned champion in each of the following two seasons, becoming the then-youngest three-time champion in history in 1991 at the age of 31.
In 1992 he came fourth and was then second in 1993 as Prost, who had moved to Williams, claimed his fourth title.
Senna finally joined Williams himself for the 1994 campaign, with Prost deciding to retire as he refused to be his team-mate again. The Brazilian made his worst start to a season with two retirements in the opening two races. The third race, which proved to be his last, was at Imola.
Senna, who was leading at the time, crashed on lap seven, smashing into a wall at the Tamburello Curve and sustaining fatal head injuries.
Brazil’s president Itamar Franco ordered three days of national mourning, and when Senna’s body was flown back to his home city, an estimated three million people lined the streets to pay their respects as it made a 20-mile journey from the airport to the building where he lay in state.
Once there, the queue of those who wished to pay their last respects is understood to have stretched for three miles, some suggesting it was seven hours before the last of the 200,000 mourners shuffled past.
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Overview:Your credit union has finally made the decision to jump into the world of social networking and wants to start using Facebook. As the world’s number one social network, it’s certainly a good place to start. Over one billion people are part of this global community. Since "you never get a second chance to make a first impression,” how can your credit union prepare for the transition into the online social world?
What steps are needed to get started quickly, but also ensure you’ve dotted your "i”s and crossed your "t”s? This session is intended for the newer business user to Facebook. It will address the issues surrounding Facebook and how they impact a credit union’s participation and engagement strategy.
What You Will Learn:
Document the important conversations leading to your credit union’s involvement in social networking, including proper risk and readiness assessment tool strategies
Compliance risks: advertising, retention, and liability
Is Facebook the right place for your credit union? Setting accomplishment expectationsImportance of staff training so employees understand why your credit union is launching a Facebook page and how to communicate this to members
Whether to provide Facebook access to credit union employees and the pros and cons for giving them access
Basic elements of Facebook page layout: how to leverage the cover photo, applications, and timeline to ensure people are informed and keep coming back
Content-creation strategies: get your posts seen by understanding Facebook’s EdgeRank and what it means when you produce page content.
Who Should Attend?This informative session is designed for both senior management as well as the hands-on marketing manager. Anyone involved in, or responsible for, the marketing and promotion of your credit union will come away with good ideas that can be implemented. Attendance verification for CE credits provided upon request.
About the Presenter: Eric C. Cook, WSI Internet ConsultingEric Cook was the driving force behind many of his bank’s strategic technology initiatives, taking his community bank online in 1995 as one of the first "hometown” banks in the nation with a web presence. He brought customers real-time online banking capability and a variety of other online conveniences in his 15 years with the bank. Starting as a teller, and culminating his career as a as regional president for a Michigan-based, publicly-traded community bank, Eric left banking in 2007.Eric now owns his own consulting practice, focused on helping organizations (especially financial institutions) better understand and leverage the power of the Internet as a strategic business tool. He uses hands-on experience combined with state-of-the-art Internet solutions to help clients achieve online success through creative web development, online marketing, and social media strategies. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Developing a Tablet Application for Sales Force
Mobile access to data is becoming part of our lives. Not only in personal sphere, but especially in variety of industries can be seen a growing demand for mobile data access. Let’s find out what developers might use when developing tablet applications.
Editorial Note
This article is in the Product Showcase section for our sponsors at CodeProject. These reviews are intended to provide you with information on products and services that we consider useful and of value to developers. | {
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} |
Canterbury Children's Theatre
Home of quality live theatre for over 60 years.
The Amazing Race
Directed by Sammi van den Broek
Previous Shows
Canterbury Children’s Theatre
Canterbury Children’s Theatre (CCT) has a proud 60-year history of producing quality theatre for the children of Canterbury and is indeed the first company of its kind in New Zealand.
Following the ideals of our founder, Neta Neale OBE, we have consistently entertained and enchanted generations of Cantabrians. Live theatre offers a unique opportunity for children of all ages to be involved in an exciting and imaginative experience. This can be the start of a life long appreciation of the arts.
All shows are performed by adult volunteers who give their time and effort freely. CCT is in the unique position of utilising the wonderful historic Malthouse building by the Heathcote river on Colombo Street. Step inside the doors and enter our world of make believe. It is here that we stage our very popular Cushion Theatre productions. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
The marriage between petitioner, Christine Takata (Christine), formerly known as Christine Hafley, and respondent, Fred Hafley (Fred), was dissolved on January 9, 1990. Fred was ordered to pay child support and provide health insurance for the parties' two minor children. Several appeals arising from post-dissolution proceedings between the parties were consolidated for decision. In case No. 2--98--0344, previously consolidated with case No. 2--98--0622, Christine argues that (1) the trial court erred when it dismissed her petition for nunc pro tunc amendment of a six-year-old court order incorrectly calculating Fred's child support obligation; and (2) the court erred when it awarded her less than the full dollar amount of unpaid health insurance premiums pursuant to section 505.2(d) of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5/505.2(d) (West 1996)). In case No. 2--98-- 0886, Christine alleges that the trial court erred when it (1) failed to determine Fred's net income and set child support at 25% of what she asserted was Fred's net income; (2) allocated the cost of the children's health insurance and Fred's life insurance policy equally between the parties; and (3) failed to award her attorney fees and costs. In case No. 2--98--1156, Fred appeals the August 27, 1998, order awarding Christine $17,093.46 in child support arrearage due to Fred's unreported income, because he asserts the matter was barred by res judicata. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
Shortly after the dissolution of the marriage, Fred's support obligations became in arrears. On September 3, 1991, Judge Richard Baner of Woodford County held a hearing on Fred's motion to reduce his child support obligation. Judge Baner determined that Fred's weekly income as a bartender at "Schooner's" was $297.50. Fred produced a paycheck stub illustrating that he paid $57.50 biweekly toward health insurance for himself and the children. Including the $57.50 insurance premium, Judge Baner found that Fred's biweekly income deductions were $115.34. Judge Baner then deducted $115.34 from what he erroneously calculated as Fred's biweekly gross income, $395. Judge Baner applied 25% of Fred's net income to child support and determined Fred's modified child support obligation was $35.38 per week. Judge Baner again ordered Fred to provide health insurance for the children and further ordered Fred to report by affidavit within 30 days any income received from sources other than Schooner's.
After September 24, 1992, Fred did not pay child support or provide health insurance for the children. Christine became a public aid recipient and insured the children through Medicaid from the Illinois Department of Public Aid.
On November 26, 1997, Christine filed petitions in De Kalb County for enrollment and nunc pro tunc amendment of the September 3, 1991, child support order. The petition for nunc pro tunc amendment asked the court to correct Judge Baner's mathematical error in calculating Fred's child support and to apply retroactively the modified amount. On January 6, 1998, Judge Wiley Edmondson of De Kalb County granted Christine's petition for enrollment of the September 3, 1991, child support order but denied her petition for nunc pro tunc amendment.
On January 20, 1998, Christine filed two petitions for a rule to show cause. Christine's first petition alleged that Fred failed to make any child support payments since September 24, 1992, and sought immediate payment. The petition also alleged that Fred was not reporting income he was earning in the construction field and sought an order requiring Fred to inform Christine of the names and addresses of his employers.
Christine's second petition for a rule to show cause alleged that Fred failed to maintain health insurance for the children and sought an award of the dollar amount of the unpaid premiums. Based on the $57 biweekly premium to which Fred testified in September 1991, Christine alleged Fred was $12,894.03 in arrears. This petition also sought an order requiring Fred to inform Christine of the name and address of his employers.
The court held a hearing on the pending petitions on February 19, 1998. The Judge denied Christine's petition to reconsider the dismissal of her nunc pro tunc amendment. She timely filed her notice of appeal. The court also found Fred in civil contempt for failing to pay his outstanding child support arrearage and failing to provide health insurance for the children. Judge Edmondson ordered Fred to pay the full child support arrearage but ordered Fred to pay only 25% of the unpaid health insurance premiums, calculated to be $3,223.50. The court reasoned that 25% was appropriate because this was the amount of additional child support Christine would have received had the court not ordered Fred to provide insurance and deducted the premiums from his income to determine child support. Because Christine was provided health insurance at no cost to her, Judge Edmondson stated that to award the full amount of unpaid premiums would result in a "windfall" because she was not "out anything."
Judge Edmondson revisited this ruling on Christine's motion to reconsider, which he ultimately denied. Judge Edmondson admitted that the statutory language supported Christine's argument that she should be entitled to the full dollar amount of the premium arrearage, but he stressed that there was no evidence that she incurred medical costs for the children that were not covered by the Illinois Department of Public Aid. He acknowledged that the dilemma was such that, if he denied relief to Christine, then Fred would receive a windfall because he is excused from his health insurance obligation. On the other hand, if the court were to grant Christine's petition, she would receive an award from Fred that was covered at no cost to her by the Illinois Department of Public Aid.
In the end, the court found that because the health insurance premiums were deducted from Fred's income to determine child support, Christine was entitled to 25% of the unpaid premiums, which represented the amount that her child support would have been had the court not deducted the insurance premiums. Christine filed her timely notice of appeal from the insurance premium order and it was consolidated with her appeal from the order denying her petition for nunc pro tunc amendment.
On April 9, 1998, Christine filed a petition to modify Fred's child support obligation of $35.38 per week in which she sought (1) to increase Fred's child support obligation; (2) to obligate Fred to pay for the cost of the children's health insurance, which was now estimated to be $137.84 per month; and (3) to require Fred to obtain and pay for a life insurance policy to secure his future child support payments. Fred filed a countermotion to modify his child support, asking to be relieved of his obligation to provide health and hospitalization insurance for the children.
On May 11, 1998, at the hearing on the two motions, Fred admitted that he receives some income that he does not report to the IRS or to the court. Christine presented Fred's tax statements in which Fred admitted he earned close to $30,000 per year prior to the dissolution. Christine also presented evidence that almost $18,000, over and above Fred's current wife's income, was deposited in Fred's joint checking account.
Judge Edmondson found that there was a material change in circumstances subsequent to the last court order in September 1991 and that the child support awarded in 1991 was disproportionate to the actual costs of the children. He granted Fred's petition to stop paying health and medical insurance for the children and ordered Christine to cover the expense out of Fred's support obligation. Furthermore, the Judge ordered Christine to obtain life insurance on Fred's life at $43.41 per month.
The Judge found that there was no material change in circumstances since the time the parties lived together when Fred had an income close to $30,000 per year. The Judge stated:
"I found Mr. Hafley's testimony not to be credible. I find that his current income, gross or net, is difficult to ascertain and uncertain. Frankly, I don't know what it is. I believe that he earns at least $18,000 per year upon which he pays no taxes. The record shows that he has capacity to earn income greatly in excess of the sum he claims to earn now. The court finds that he has earned in the past as much as approximately $30,000 gross from self-employment. There's no evidence to indicate that he couldn't or indeed that he doesn't earn that now."
On May 13, 1998, Judge Edmondson entered his written order in which he memorialized his previous findings. The Judge also found that Fred had no reasonable explanation for the almost $18,000 in deposits. In figuring child support, Judge Edmondson stated that "in this case, the Court cannot determine guideline child support; but must look primarily to the reasonable needs of the children in setting support." Thus, the Judge ordered Fred to pay child support equal to approximately one-half of the reasonable expenses of the children, in the amount of $125.96 per week, and required Christine to use this money to obtain medical insurance for the children and life insurance to secure Fred's future child support payments.
Subsequently, Christine's motion to reconsider was denied. In response to Christine's argument that the child support was not set at 25% of what she asserted was Fred's income, Judge Edmondson stated:
"I wanted to set a child support award that would give due consideration to the expenses of the Petitioner and the income of the Respondent and frankly one of my concerns was that if I set an amount that was greater than what he'd be able to pay then I wouldn't be able to enforce it."
On June 2, 1998, Christine filed a third petition for a rule to show cause. This petition alleged that Fred was in contempt for violating the court's mandate to report any income from sources other than Schooner's. Christine asserted that unreported income resulted in an additional arrearage of $3,750 per child, per year, exclusive of interest.
On June 23, 1998, the court denied Fred's motion to dismiss the June 2 petition. On July 9, Fred filed an affidavit outlining the income he received from various employers from 1993 through 1995, of which he had not previously informed the court.
At a hearing on August 27, 1998, Christine stated that she brought this petition late because she wasn't able to discover the concealment of Fred's income until the February 19, 1998, hearing. Judge Edmondson found that Fred wilfully violated the court order to report any income received other than from his employment at Schooner's. The court concluded that because his income was unreported, Fred paid less than the statutory guideline child support. The court therefore entered a judgment against Fred and in favor of Christine in the amount of $17,093.46. Fred timely filed his notice of appeal.
I. CASE NOS. 2--98--0344 AND 2--98-0622
Christine first argues that Judge Edmondson erred when he denied her petition for nunc pro tunc amendment of the September 3, 1991, child support order. In her petition, Christine alleged that Judge Baner erroneously determined Fred's child support obligation because the Judge miscalculated Fred's net income. Christine now asks this court to grant her petition for nunc pro tunc amendment and, thus, retroactively increase Fred's child support.
In general, a trial court loses jurisdiction to vacate or modify its judgment 30 days after the entry of the judgment unless a timely postjudgment motion is filed. Beck v. Stepp, 144 Ill. 2d 232, 238 (1991). At any time, however, a court may modify its judgment nunc pro tunc to correct a clerical error or matter of form so that the record conforms to the judgment actually rendered by the court. Beck, 144 Ill. 2d at 239. Clerical errors or matters of form are those errors, mistakes, or omissions that are not the result of the judicial function. Dauderman v. Dauderman, 130 Ill. App. 2d 807, 810 (1970).
The main purpose of a nunc pro tunc order is to correct the record of judgment, not to alter the actual judgment of the court. Beck, 144 Ill. 2d at 239. A nunc pro tunc order may not be used to supply omitted judicial action, to correct judicial errors under the pretense of correcting clerical errors, or to cure a jurisdictional defect. Beck, 144 Ill. 2d at 239. For instance, a court may not properly issue a nunc pro tunc order to affix child support obligations where the original divorce decree merely reserved jurisdiction for child support. See Trosper v. Trosper, 82 Ill. App. 3d 1012 (1980).
In the present case, we note that the record unequivocally supports Christine's assertion that Judge Baner miscalculated Fred's net income. The Judge found that Fred earned $297.50 per week but then determined Fred's biweekly income to be $395, instead of $595. Because of this error, Judge Baner incorrectly set Fred's child support at around 15% of Fred's income. As such, Fred's weekly child support should have been set about $20 higher than what was awarded.
We find, however, that determining a spouse's net income for the purpose of setting child support is part of the judicial function. An error in this determination, thus, is a judicial error. When determining a spouse's net income for child support purposes, the Judge employs a certain amount of discretion in determining an appropriate and reasonable amount. Here, for instance, Judge Baner subtracted $115.34 from Fred's biweekly income when the record established that Fred only paid $57.50 for biweekly health insurance premiums. In other words, Judge Baner employed his judicial discretion and deducted more than just the health insurance premiums from Fred's income.
Consequently, a mathematical error in determining a spouse's income is not a clerical error; rather, as it is the product of the judicial function, it is a judicial error. We hold, therefore, that Judge Baner's judicial error in miscalculating Fred's net income is outside the power of a nunc pro tunc order.
Christine's second argument is that Judge Edmondson erred by not awarding her the full dollar amount of the unpaid health insurance when Fred failed to provide health insurance for the parties' minor children. Christine relies on section 505.2(d) of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (Act) (750 ILCS 5/505.2(d) (West 1996)), which provides that, when a parent owing a duty of support fails to provide health insurance pursuant to a court order, that parent is liable to the other party for premiums not paid. In re Parentage of Janssen, 292 Ill. App. 3d 219, 227 (1997).
Before we discuss the merits of Christine's second argument, we must address a pending motion. Fred filed a motion to strike this argument from Christine's reply brief because Fred asserts that Christine made false statements in her brief. Christine responded by claiming that it is Fred who made the false statements. Upon review, we perceive the alleged false statements as merely hair splitting by the parties. Therefore, we deny Fred's motion and turn to plaintiff's second argument.
Fred was ordered to provide and maintain health insurance for the children. At the September 3, 1991, hearing, Fred established that he obtained insurance by producing a pay stub denoting a biweekly premium payment of $57.50. Judge Baner deducted these premiums from Fred's income and then set child support at 25% of Fred's adjusted income. Shortly thereafter, Fred failed to maintain the health insurance.
On February 19, 1998, Judge Edmondson found Fred in contempt for failing to provide health insurance. Christine asserted that section 505.2(d) entitled her to the full amount of the unpaid insurance premiums, $12,894.03, calculated by using the $57.50 biweekly cost that Fred established. The Judge found that section 505.2(d) applied but only awarded Christine 25% of the premium arrearage, $3,223.50, reasoning that this was the additional amount of child support Christine would have received had Judge Baner not deducted the premiums from Fred's income before calculating support. Judge Edmondson was concerned that an award of the full amount of unpaid premiums would constitute a windfall because Christine insured the children through public aid at no cost to her. Judge Edmondson stated that he found nothing in the statute to indicate that the legislature intended "to create a kind of civil penalty that would compensate someone" for money they have not spent.
In In re Marriage of Self, 265 Ill. App. 3d 804 (1994), the court interpreted section 505.2(b) of the Act. The obligor, in this case, argued that he could not afford to maintain court-ordered health insurance. The court decided that the use of the word "shall" leaves no room for discretion and that the trial court was required to enforce the health insurance provision of section 505.2. Self, 265 Ill. App. 3d at 805. Parenthetically, the Self court discussed the adoption of 505.2 as an effort on the part of the General Assembly to comply with federally mandated child support contained in the federal " 'Family Support Act of 1988, Pub. L. No. 100--485, 102 Stat. 2343 (1988); 45 C.F.R. § 302 et seq. (1992)' and its regulations." Self, 265 Ill. App. 3d at 805.
Focusing on the federal mandates, Justice Cook, in his special concurrence, stated that these mandates on child support have generally been positive, but in many cases the flexibility to come up with a sensible solution on the basis of particular facts has been lost. Self, 265 Ill. App. 3d at 806 (Cook, J., Concurring). Judge Edmondson, in the present case, attempted to be flexible in his decision considering all of the known factors that could have occurred between 1991 and 1998.
As Judge Edmondson correctly emphasized, the issue presented before us is whether section 505.2(d) grants a parent who insures her children through public aid, at no cost, the right to collect the dollar value of the unpaid insurance premiums from a parent who was under a court order to provide health insurance. This is a question of first impression for this court. Therefore, without prior authority addressing this issue, the only available method for us to employ to discern the meaning behind this section is statutory interpretation.
The primary rule of statutory interpretation is that the court should ascertain and give effect to the legislative intent. People v. Bubolz, 288 Ill. App. 3d 46 (1997). To determine legislative intent, the court looks first to the language of the statute, giving it its plain and ordinary meaning. Bubolz, 288 Ill. App. 3d at 46. The court must also consider every part of the statute together and give every word or phrase some reasonable meaning. Bubolz, 288 Ill. App. 3d at 46- 47. When the statutory language is clear, no resort is necessary to other aids of construction. In re Marriage of Mitchell, 181 Ill. 2d 169, 173 (1998).
Section 505.2(d) of the Act provides:
"The dollar amount of the premiums for court-ordered health insurance *** shall be considered an additional child support obligation owed by the obligor. Whenever the obligor fails to provide or maintain health insurance pursuant to an order for support, the obligor shall be liable to the obligee for the dollar amount of the premiums which were not paid ***." (Emphasis added.) 750 ILCS 5/505.2(d) (West 1996).
Under the rules for statutory construction, the word "shall" ordinarily connotes a mandatory obligation, unless the context of the statute indicates otherwise. Self, 265 Ill. App. 3d at 805. In the above context, we see no other interpretation but that the use of "shall" creates a mandatory obligation. The plain and ordinary meaning of section 505.2(d), therefore, is that the dollar amount of court- ordered insurance premiums are considered as child support and that the obligor is liable to the obligee for the unpaid premiums. Significantly, the statute does not require the obligee to cover the cost of insurance in order to recover unpaid premiums from the obligor.
As the dollar amount of court-ordered health insurance premiums are considered child support, it can only be determined in this situation that Fred is liable for the entire amount of the health insurance premiums he avoided. In determining Fred's liability for the child support arrearage, the court did not discount his liability from the amount in arrears. The statute mandates that the court treat unpaid insurance premiums identically. As such, providing health insurance is a support obligation, and, mirroring child support, Christine is not required to spend money to collect support. Because insurance premiums are considered child support, they are for the benefit of the parties' children and cannot be considered a windfall if the court orders them to be paid directly to Christine.
Furthermore, to discount Fred's liability because Christine did not pay to provide insurance rewards Fred for shirking his parental court- ordered duties. Regardless of whether Fred pays an insurance company or Christine, he was ordered to provide insurance, not just 25% of insurance premiums. It is not a penalty to be required to pay the full amount because it does not increase the payment burden shouldered by Fred. The only difference for Fred is to whom the payment is made. Significantly, Fred took no action to modify the previous judgment when his employment changed and he was no longer provided with available health insurance.
Therefore, we decline to add to the statute the requirement that an obligee parent must purchase insurance in order to seek the dollar value of the premiums from the obligor parent who neglected to provide insurance. We reverse Judge Edmondson's decision awarding Christine $3,223.50 for unpaid insurance premiums and award Christine $12,894.03, the full amount of unpaid premiums including interest.
II. CASE NO. 2--98--0886
Christine argues that the trial court erred in its order entered May 13, 1998, by failing to determine Fred's net income and set child support at 25% of Fred's determined net income. Generally, section 505(a)(1) of the Act specifies a percentage of a non-custodial parent's income as representing an appropriate child support award. See 750 ILCS 5/505(a)(1) (West 1996) (requiring non-custodial parent to pay 25% of net income as support for two children). The amount of child support is within the sound discretion of the trial court and will not be set aside absent an abuse of discretion. In re Marriage of Severino, 298 Ill. App. 3d 224, 229 (1998). An abuse of discretion occurs where no reasonable person would take the view adopted by the trial court. Severino, 298 Ill. App. 3d at 229.
Christine erroneously believes that the trial court is required to determine the supporting parent's net income in all cases. Normally, the trial court is required to make a threshold determination of the party's net income before applying section 505. Villanueva v. O'Gara, 282 Ill. App. 3d 147, 150 (1996). In section 505(a)(5) of the Act, however, the legislature recognized that there may arise situations where the amount of the non-custodial parent's net income could not be accurately determined. Section 505(a)(5) provides:
"If the net income cannot be determined because of default or any other reason, the court shall order support in an amount considered reasonable in the particular case. The final order in all cases shall state the support level in dollar amounts." 750 ILCS 5/505(a)(5) (West 1996).
Here, the trial Judge found Fred's testimony was not credible. Fred admitted that he failed to report his income to the court for over six years, although he was under direct court order to report income from sources other than Schooner's. Fred claimed that his gross income was approximately $8,000 per year, yet when he was engaged in the same employment during the marriage, he earned close to $30,000. Christine established that Fred earned at least $18,000 in one year, and that was including only what Fred deposited into his joint bank account. There is no way for Christine to account for funds Fred earned and kept in his pocket. As such, Fred has not filed an accurate income tax statement in over six years. Without credible evidence of respondent's net income, the trial court was compelled to make the award of child support in an amount that was reasonable in the case.
This issue was discussed in detail in a case decided by this court, to which neither party cited, Severino, 298 Ill. App. 3d 224. In Severino, the respondent challenged the award of child support when the court did not make a specific finding as to his net income. Similar to the present case, we noted that the trial court found respondent's testimony concerning his net income to lack credibility. We stated that, "where the trial court is unable to determine the net income of the party, it is illogical to assert that the trial court must make an express finding for varying the child support award from a percentage recommended by the statute." Severino, 298 Ill. App. 3d at 231. We declined to hold that the trial court was required to determine the respondent's net income and set child support at the statutory level; instead, we interpreted section 505(a)(5) merely to require that, in situations where the net income of a party is difficult to determine, the trial court, "set child support in an amount reasonable in the particular case and express that award of support in a dollar amount." Severino, 298 Ill. App. 3d at 231.
Here, Judge Edmondson found Fred's net income to be difficult to determine. He articulated in no uncertain terms that, because he could not determine guideline child support, he "must look primarily to the reasonable needs of the children in setting support." Judge Edmondson then determined that $125.96 per week was a reasonable child support award. In accord with section 505(a)(5), because Judge Edmondson could not determine Fred's net income, he ordered support in an amount considered reasonable in this case and he stated that support level in a dollar amount.
Moreover, when extrapolated to annual income in the context of the guidelines, the weekly support level indicates that the trial court found Fred to be earning an annual net income of over $26,000, which is not against the manifest weight of the evidence. Therefore, we do not find that the court abused its discretion by failing to determine Fred's net income and setting Fred's child support obligation at $125.96 per week.
Christine further argues that the trial court erred because it allocated the cost of the children's health insurance and Fred's life insurance policy equally between the parties, instead of ordering Fred to bear the cost alone. Although the court required Christine to cover the expense of such items, the court also increased her award of child support to cover these items. Moreover, we know of no requirement that the supporting parent must pay for health and life insurance; rather, it was appropriate for the court to consider such items in determining Fred's child support obligation. Therefore, we find that the court did not abuse its discretion.
Finally, Christine argues that the trial court erred because it refused to award her costs incurred in the trial court. The award of attorney fees or costs is a matter within the sole discretion of the trial court and its discretion will not be disturbed absent a showing of an abuse of discretion. In re Marriage of Lehr, 217 Ill. App. 3d 929, 939-40 (1991). Considering the limited resources of both parties and the substantial awards Christine obtained from Fred within a short time period, we fail to see how the trial court abused its discretion by requiring the parties to bear their own costs.
III. CASE NO. 2--98--1156
We now turn to Fred's appeal, in which Fred argues that the court erred in its August 27, 1998, order that awarded Christine $17,093.46, which the court determined represented the amount of child support Fred would have paid had he followed the court's direction and reported his income. Fred alleges that the court erred because Christine's petition for a rule to show cause, filed on June 2, 1998, which alleged that Fred failed to report income, was barred by res judicata.
The doctrine of res judicata holds that a final judgment on the merits will bar an identical cause of action between the same parties or their privies. Housing Authority v. Young Men's Christian Ass'n, 101 Ill. 2d 246, 251 (1984). Under Supreme Court Rule 273, an involuntary dismissal of an action operates as an adjudication upon the merits. 134 Ill. 2d R. 273.
In the present case, Christine filed several petitions for a rule to show cause. Fred asserts that res judicata applies because Judge Edmondson dismissed Christine's two previous petitions for a rule to show cause. Indeed, Christine's January 20 petitions were dismissed by Judge Edmondson and represent a final judgment. Moreover, the issues are between the same parties. However, a finding of res judicata is not warranted because the subject matter of the petitions was not identical.
An element required for a finding of res judicata is identity of subject matter. Singer v. Brookman, 217 Ill. App. 3d 870, 876 (1991). Christine's January 20 petitions were primarily for the child support arrearage and the health insurance premiums arrearage, both pursuant to the 1991 order. The June 2 petition solely sought a finding that Fred's support level was below the statutory guideline because of unreported income. While Christine did allege in the earlier petitions that Fred was earning income as a carpenter and requested in the earlier petitions that Fred inform her of his employers, she did not allege that he was paying below the statutory level for support. Nor did she allege that Fred was in arrears because of unreported income. By contrast, the June 2 petition alleged that Fred failed to report income and specifically sought an award of the amount necessary to maintain the 25% child support level.
Not only does res judicata bar relitigating issues previously tried, but it also bars those issues that could have been tried. Singer, 217 Ill. App. 3d at 877. However, this principle does not apply to the present case because Christine could not prove Fred's income until he stated in court in February 1998 that he shared a bank account with his wife. Only then was Christine able to establish that Fred was earning more than he claimed. We find, therefore, that res judicata does not bar the June 2 petition for rule to show cause.
For the foregoing reasons, the decision of the circuit court of De Kalb County with respect to health insurance arrearage under section 505.2 is reversed. All other matters before this court are affirmed. Petitioner's request for costs incurred on appeal is denied.
Affirmed in part, and reversed in part.
BOWMAN, P.J., and McLAREN, J., concur.
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- 7-0 to honor Rice Mills and its employees for 60 years of service and commitment to Anderson County
- 7-0 to rezone nearly 24 acres on the west side of Old Williamston Road from R-12, which allows homes on lots as small as 12,000 square feet, to Planned Development, which would permit construction of 4.6 units per acre. Developer Baylis Maxwell is planning to construct town houses on the acreage. | {
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The Language of Exclusion
What to think of this story from today’s Irish Examiner, headlined ‘Judge: Roma raising kids to steal’? Colin has already blogged on the situation of Roma in the North. This story from the Republic turns on statements by two judges of the District Court; Judge Aingeal Ní Chonduin and Judge William Early about the case of a 16-year-old Roma girl. The girl had admitted theft of €320 worth of children’s shoes at Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, in Dublin, on June 11 last, possessing stolen underwear, taken from a shop in Dublin city centre, on a date last July and failing to attend her court case on another date. Her solicitor told the court that the girl had been brought to Ireland at the age of 13 by her partner, now aged 21, and his family. At age 15, she gave birth to their first child. The Health Service Executive had conducted a welfare assessment but had not deemed any action to be necessary.
Now to the judges’ statements. Yesterday, Judge Aingeal Ní Chonduin, passing sentence said: “That seems to be the culture, the family owns her that is the way the families function, unfortunately, to go about to steal…,” she said. “It is a different culture, it does not go with our ways and our shops are being robbed blind, I feel sorry for these children.” At an earlier stage in the case, Judge William Early had expressed concern about the age gap between the girl and her partner. He had said: “It seems we have a 15-year-old child who appears to be living with a 20-year-old gentleman…This is statutory rape if that man is responsible for the conception of the child.” The DPP had not recommended prosecution. In response, Judge Early remarked “Either there are two different laws for people in this country or there are not. If people are to be treated equally before the law they should be treated equally and there should be similar expectations of people…“I understand that some cultures are impenetrable to a certain extent but they should be treated equally before the law.”
This morning Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism and an advocate for Roma rights, asked for Judge Ní Chonduin’s resignation. I want to wait for further media and government reaction (if it comes) for a full post. But for now, two observations will do.
Both judges suggest that crime – theft and statutory rape – characterise the Roma by reason of ‘culture’. This is what Etienne Balibar would call ‘neo-racism’, a racism which does not identify itself as such but which distinguishes between in and out groups on the basis of notionally ‘impenetrable’ culture rather than ethnic origin. It depends for its effect on the sort of denial inherent in Judge Ni Chonduin’s rhetoric – in setting up a ‘billiard ball’ model of culture; untouched by other social forces.
The gendered aspect of this racism is evident in the interrogation of the girl’s sexuality, relationships and motherhood. This move recalls the Citizenship Referendum of 2004, which focused on the supposedly deviant motherhood of migrant women and their consequent unfitness to ‘belong’ in Ireland. Siobhan Mullally, Ronit Lentin and – outside the Irish context – Nira Yuval Davis have written about this. The portrayal of Roma as inadequate parents, raising their children for crime, illicitly taking from a vulnerable Irish public, echoes the ‘Roundabout Roma’ controversy of 2007.
Update: Responses from the Immigrant Council of Ireland and Pavee Point are reported here.
What to think? Firstly, it is of course unjust and racist to extrapolate from one instance of theft and under-age sex that they accurately manifest a monolithic Roma culture. On the other hand, the “interrogation” of the girl’s sexuality was brought about at the instigation of her own solicitor (as noted above), presumably in mitigation. The judge is well within her rights to express concern about the age gap between the girl and her partner and to mention the possibility of statutory rape, so I will wait until I see the judgment before I assume its representation of “supposedly deviant motherhood.” That the DPP and HSE saw little objectionable about it might make it all the more predictable and reasonable that a judge would raise it in public forum
What better representation of ‘deviant motherhood’ do you want than the accusation that Roma raise their children to steal? We don’t know why the DPP and HSE didn’t intervene and there won’t be a judgment – this is the joy of the District and the media discourse around a DC judgment is as valid a source as any. But there is a good range of scholarship on institutional reluctance to intervene in what are perceived as ‘cultural cases’ – I’ve written about it elsewhere. And that attitude, where it exists, isn’t helped by District Judges reinforcing the ‘cultural’ frame. As for the fact that ‘ the “interrogation” of the girl’s sexuality was brought about at the instigation of her own solicitor (as noted above), presumably in mitigation’ all that demonstrates is that Irish lawyers are also beginning to internalise this discourse of culture. Southall Black Sisters, for instance, have frequently spoken about how in cases such as that of Kiranjit Aluhwahlia, they narrated their client’s story according to distasteful cultural scripts because this was an effective tactic, even though they might have preferred to burst those scripts apart. The fact that these frames can be deployed strategically is besides the point. Finally, yes the judge should have mentioned the statutory rape point but the slippage from the point of law into a panic discourse of separate laws for separate groups is unnecessary, and does its own damage. I’m not making this analysis up as I go along.
Insofar as the point relates to the tendency of Roma to raise their children to steal, I agree with you. However, questions about of a mother giving birth at 15 being convicted of theft would have been raised by any solicitor regardless of the ethnicity of the defendant and may very well have occasioned comment by any judge – if it is a tactic,it is one any defence would use regardless of culture discourse. The case shows the danger of making generalisations about a culture on the basis of one case. There is, however, also a danger of generalising in the other direction by imputing cultural scripts to what are very run-of-the-mill legal tactics and reasonable judicial observations
How about the tendency of run-of-the mill legal tactics and reasonable judicial observations to play to the societal norm, so that they tend to catch cultural difference? I think it’s more than fair to work ‘in the other direction’ in this context. If the judges in question hadn’t engaged the question of culture, or had engaged it more with more nuance, I wouldn’t have a post. | {
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The current wave of entrepreneurship and innovation is unprecedented and has turned into a tide sweeping old structures away making way for a new generation ever ready to challenge any and all status quo. read more.... | {
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Thursday, August 16, 2007
Fortress of Solitude
A hundred miles southwest of Denver, the U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum houses a killer lineup of mobsters (Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano), gang leaders (Barry "The Baron" Mills), assassins (Colombian hit man Dandenis "La Quica" Muñoz Mosquera) and terrorists (John "American Taliban" Walker Lindh). But not to worry — despite some embarrassing security breaches and two inmate homicides in the past two years, ADX has never had anything close to a breakout. It's probably the most escape-proof prison in the world.
For almost six years, it's also been media-proof. High-security prisoners are locked away in the Florence supermax, out of sight and mind — and reporters can't get in to see them, no matter how hard they try.
According to documents obtained by Westword, ADX officials have denied every single media request for a face-to-face interview with supermax prisoners from January 2002 through May 2007. It doesn't matter if the request comes from a major news organization or a humble local TV station; it doesn't matter if the prisoner is a high-profile resident or an obscure career criminal. Contrary to bureau policy, prison brass have turned down every journalist, citing boilerplate "security concerns" if no handier excuse is available.
Blanket denial of access appears to have started after the September 11 attacks. When Westword sought an interview with inmate Thomas Silverstein last spring, ADX warden Ron Wiley refused. The BOP "makes every effort" to accommodate media requests, Wiley explained, but "granting your request at this time may disrupt the good order and security of this institution."
Silverstein hasn't been granted a face-to-face with any journalist for more than a decade. But further inquiry revealed that Wiley wasn't turning us down because of who the subject was; prison spokesman Isidro Garcia acknowledged that the cited security concerns applied to any interview with any prisoner.
So when was the last time ADX allowed a prisoner to be interviewed? Garcia said he wasn't authorized to release that information.
After months of Freedom of Information Act requests and side battles, the answer finally arrived. There have been exactly 100 media requests to visit ADX since 2002, and Wiley and his predecessors have denied every single one. In fact, one of the last interviews to be conducted inside the supermax before the total media ban was Westword's visit with La Quica in 2001, four months before the September 11 attacks ("The Hit Man Nobody Knows," May 17, 2001).
In 23 cases, the reason cited for the denial was that the inmate declined to be interviewed. Another eighteen were turned down because the inmate in question is subject to special administrative measures (SAMs), including a ban on all media contact. (The BOP blacked out the names of the inmates out of privacy concerns, but virtually all SAMs inmates are convicted terrorists.) Three were rejected because the requests came from academics or free-lancers who aren't considered legitimate journalists by the BOP. But more than 50 percent of the denials cited unspecified "security concerns" — because, well, any visit by any outsider could, in theory, disrupt the good order and security of the government's most insecure supermax.
CNN, the Washington Post, 60 Minutes, Newsday — they were all turned down flat. So was the tabloid press, both foreign and domestic, from America's Most Wanted to American Gangsters to some dubious offshoots of the BBC and the Tokyo Broadcasting System. Well-known authors of books on terrorism, including Peter Lance and Lawrence Wright, were barred from interviewing prisoners with ties to radical Islam. Even the Cañon City Record, practically the prison's hometown newspaper, couldn't get in the door.
Journalists who simply wanted a tour of the place, free of any contact with prisoners, fared no better. Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser, who's been working on a book about the American prison system for several years, sent a plaintive three-page letter to the warden in 2004, offering to let prison officials review "any physical description of the facility and its staff that I write" before publication. No dice.
"I think ADX Florence may be America's most important prison," Schlosser wrote. "Denying me access to ADX Florence will not prevent me from writing about the facility. It will only make it harder for me to give a fully accurate depiction of the facility's aims and practices."
Schlosser was seeking what all self-respecting journalists want — the ability to see the situation for themselves. Without any access to the country's most important prison, reporters have been reduced to repackaging accounts from the inmates themselves. Eric Rudolph, for example, has been a prolific correspondent for publications ranging from Time magazine to the Colorado Springs Gazette, giving his own take on life inside "Bomber's Row" at ADX. But the view from lockdown can be quite limited, and prisoners can be punished if they write too freely. They are not supposed to mention other prisoners or provide physical details that might mess with the good order and security of the institution.
BOP policy states that a warden can suspend all media visits during "an institutional emergency" but provides no other basis for an ongoing ban on inmate interviews. Warden Wiley refused a request for an interview about the five-year ban at ADX or when it might be lifted. | {
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The death of Iain Hamilton last year deprived the contemporary British music
scene of a distinguished composer whose style ranged widely from light music
to avant-garde, but whose scrupulous attention to detail, fine ear for colour
and keen understanding of musical structure informed all his works. His output
encompasses most genres from operas and symphonies to chamber and solo works.
Iain Ellis Hamilton was born in Glasgow on June 6th, 1922. Seven
years later, his family moved to London and he was educated at Mill Hill
School. Having become an apprentice engineer, he remained in that profession
for seven years until he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music
in 1947 and decided to devote himself to a life of composition. His years
as an engineer left their mark on his compositions, however: such multi-sectional
pieces as the Sinfonia for Two Orchestras (1958), the First Cello Sonata
(1958), the Third String Quartet (1984) and The Transit of Jupiter (1995)
are the result of a mind with a strong sense of design and structure.
At the Royal Academy, Iain Hamilton studied composition under William Alwyn
and the piano under Harold Craxton, graduating in 1951 and wining the Dove
Prize, the Academy's highest honour. He also studied at London University,
gaining a BMus in 1950.
Amongst his first compositions to be heard were the First String Quartet
(which won the Clements Memorial Prize in 1950) and the Nocturnes for clarinet
and piano awarded the Edwin Evans Prize in 1951. His early works concentrate
on the orchestra and convey a bracing virtuosity by means of an intensely
chromatic but essentially tonal harmony. In this period fall the Variations
for string orchestra of 1948 which has a late-Romantic style, the First (1949)
and Second (1951) Symphonies and the Clarinet Concerto, which won the prestigious
Royal Philharmonic Society Prize in 1951. With these works, the composer's
technical skill is contained by the use of traditional forms but there is
a powerful rhythmic drive reminiscent of Stravinsky and Bartók.
The Variations for strings is the composer's opus one. It has all the exuberance
of youth yet is in no way immature. The theme itself is an original one and
the variations which follow exhibit a wide range of character from Waltonesque
joie de vivre to Mahlerian intensity and Puckish humour. There is
a partly fugal Finale. It avoids empty rhetoric and, whilst not as ambitious
or technically demanding as Britten's 'Frank Bridge Variations', for example,
it demonstrates the young Iain Hamilton's early mastery of the string orchestra.
An intense expressiveness remained a characteristic of his orchestral string
writing.
The First Symphony was first performed by Trevor Harvey and the BBC Scottish
Symphony Orchestra in December 1952. Like the following three examples in
the genre it is essentially a tonal work, though adventurous in its use of
harmony and orchestral colour. It shares with the Variations for Strings
a vitality and energy which is coupled in the first movement by a Walton-like
jazziness. The slow movement has a hushed, otherworldly quality which is
recalled in his last symphony of 1981. Rubbra-like alternating chords and
a Baxian section for harp and cor anglais suggest Ian Hamilton was at least
aware of his fellow British symphonists. The third movement is part Finale,
part scherzo and has a mercurial wit, skittish at times, perhaps reflecting
the Symphony's subtitle: 'Cyrano de Bergarac'. It was played by Colin Davis
in Switzerland in 1953 but the work has since been neglected, at least in
comparison with the Second Symphony: it does not deserve this fate and a
modern recording could win it new friends.
The Second Symphony was honoured with an award by the Koussevitzky foundation
in 1951 and first performed two years later at Cheltenham Festival by the
Hallé orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. It has received numerous
performances since then and has become one of Iain Hamilton's most popular
orchestral works. It was last broadcast on Radio 3 in 1996 in a performance
by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Jerzy Maksymiuk. It is not hard
to see why the symphony has received so much attention: its powerful scoring
and architectural ingenuity make a strong impression. The Lento
introduction to the first movement is so extended that it almost becomes
a separate movement in itself and its use in varied form in the main
Allegro section and its return at the conclusion of the movement only
serves to confirm its importance. The following Presto starts off
as a conventional quicksilver scherzo but the contrasting Trio passage is
marked 'alla marcia fantastica' and has a Berlioz-like hallucinatory quality.
An Andante passage for lyrical woodwind lines over pulsating string
chords breaks up the conventional ABA scheme of the scherzo and provides
a central point of calm before the tempestuous conclusion. The Adagio
third movement is distinguished by a beautiful, broad theme spanning large
intervals in the manner of late Mahler. Its central climax is unerringly
placed before the hushed ending. The relaxed con moto Finale unleashes
rushing string semiquavers in its athletic first subject. They gather momentum
throughout the movement and eventually initiate the bravura coda. Despite
the wayward harmonies en route, the closing bars of the work are in a decisive
E major. Deservedly popular though the Second Symphony is, it is hard to
understand why the other three symphonies of Iain Hamilton have not enjoyed
similar acclaim and exposure: they are in many ways less intellectually rigorous
and more emotionally frank.
The First Violin Concerto (1952) has an Expressionist glow and its wide-arching
melodies recalling Alban Berg. Cast in three movements, with a lyrical Adagio
bordered by two Allegros, it was written in memory of the composer's father
who died the previous year. The material in all three movements undergoes
perpetual variation and growth. The Expressionism of the Violin Concerto
no 1 is also apparent in Iain Hamilton's Viola Sonata, also written in 1952.
The Symphonic Variations for orchestra of 1953 is a three-movement symphony
comprised of twelve variations. It was premièred at the Cheltenham
Festival in 1956 by Sir John Barbirolli.
From 1951 to 1961, Iain Hamilton contributed much to the musical life of
London as a composer and teacher, lecturing at Morley College (1952-1958)
and at London University. He was chairman of the Composer's Guild of Great
Britain in 1958 chairman and secretary of the Institute of Contemporary Arts
from 1958 to 1960 as well as a member of the BBC's Music Advisory Panel.
From 1955 serialism begins to play a part in Hamilton's compositions, beginning
with the Serenata for clarinet and piano and the Three Piano Pieces which
were written for an album of piano music by various composers intended for
the moderately accomplished pianist. The pieces constitute a serenade or
divertimento and are marked Allegro, Lento and Vivo.
His cantata 'The Bermudas', a partly serial work, was commissioned by the
BBC and performed during its 1957-1958 Festival Hall series. This was followed
by a series of lighter orchestral works including a concerto for jazz trumpet
(1957), a light overture '1912' (based on music hall songs and dedicated
to the memory of the Victorian comedian Dan Leno) and the Scottish Dances.
The Scottish Dances were commissioned for the BBC Light Music Festival and
received their first performance on St Andrew's Day 1956. Based on well-known
tunes to which Robert Burns set some of his poetry, the first dance is entitled
'Caller Herring'. Its main theme is a brisk Allegro molto in 5/8 time
but the contrasting central section is in 15/8 and contains swooning semitonal
clashes on the violins. This is followed by 'Duncan Grey', an Andante
comodo which has the added instruction 'slow bounce', an indication of
its jazzy, smoky atmosphere. The third dance employs two tunes: 'Whistle
and I'll come tae ye' and 'My love she's but a lassie yet'. The orchestral
colour is especially vibrant in this dance, which dashes through a variety
of keys and includes snare drum and bas drum rolls and trumpet flutter tonguing.
This is followed by 'The Lea Rig' (or The Grass Ridge), an evocatively scored
movement for strings and horn solo only. The set finishes with 'Gin I were
where Gaddie rins' (Would I were where the River Gaddie runs). The jazziness
of the second dance returns with the marking 'Bright swing tempo' and there
is more than a touch of Malcolm Arnold in the subsequent passage for impudent
piccolo pitted against burbling bassoon. The Dances are dedicated to the
composer's mother and five aunts. It was recently recorded in a spirited
and affectionate performance for ASV by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia under John
Wilson (CD WHL 2123).
After this, the composer began a period in which his music was serial and
atonal which lasted from 1958 to 1966. This period showed the influence of
much study of the music of Anton Webern. The first important work to emerge
from this stage in his career was the Sinfonia for Two Orchestras which was
first performed at the Edinburgh Festival in 1959 in celebration of the Burns
bicentenary. Despite the composer's warnings that the work was more an expression
of the composer's admiration of Burns' achievements than a piece directly
inspired by the poems themselves, its tough, acerbic nature shocked the audience,
who were probably expecting something less uncompromising along the lines
of the Scottish Dances. The President of the Burns Federation was equally
uncompromising in his response, describing it as "rotten and ghastly". Alexander
Gibson, who had premiered the Sinfonia, clearly believed in it and performed
it again in the Scottish National Orchestra's 1959-60 season and later recorded
it for EMI on a long-deleted LP (ALP 2279).
Other works of this period include the First Piano Concerto (1960), 'Threnos'
for organ and the First Cello Sonata of 1958 which was written for cellist
Joan Dickson and commissioned by the University Court of the University of
Glasgow. The Sonata was premiered by Joan Dickson accompanied by Iain Hamilton
at the piano. It contains certain echoes of the contemporaneous Sinfonia
for Two Orchestras: both works are made up of many short sections played
continuously. The Cello Sonata has seven sections, of which the first, third
and seventh are cadenzas and the other movements have an improvisatory quality.
The first and last cadenzas are for both instruments, whilst the second is
for solo cello and the third for piano alone. All sections are bound together
by the use of common intervals, rather than shared material.
In 1961 Iain Hamilton moved to America to teach at Duke University, North
Carolina where we was made Professor of Music for the year of 1966 to 1967.
He settled in New York City, taught as resident composer of Tanglewood in
1962 and was visiting composer at the University of Albania. His wide knowledge
of the Arts in the 19th and 20th Centuries made him
popular as a lecturer on radio and television and he held the Cramb lectureship
at Glasgow University in 1971, sharing the Duke University post with his
Glasgow University commitments. In 1974 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal
Academy and the Composers' Guild gave him the Ralph Vaughan Williams Award
as Composer of the Year.
A new exotic flavour permeated his music after 1966, perhaps the result of
several trips to the West Indies in the mid-1960s. This first manifests itself
in the String Quartet no 2 of 1965 and the Dialogues for soprano and ensemble,
settings of Chateaubriand (1965). His first Proms commission, 'Cantos' for
orchestra, came in 1965. A more dramatic style developed throughout the 1960s
led to two operas written in the late 1960s to his own libretti (the dramatic
narrative 'Agamemnon' and 'The Royal Hunt of the Sun', based on Peter Shaffer's
play and premiered at the London Colliseum in 1977). These works sewed the
seeds of the gradual abandonment of serialism as a governing principle in
his works.
The following period saw a series of pieces heavily influenced by their literary
inspirations. 'Voyage' for horn and orchestra (which utilises microtones
and aleatoricism) quotes lines from Baudelaire and Rimbaud in its score.
It is dedicated "to Mahler and those who died young". Both 'Circus', for
two trumpets and orchestra and 'Commedia' are associated with 'The Divine
Comedy' and 'Alastor' uses a title from Shelley. These works also employ
quotations from 19th Century music.
'Circus' is a virtuoso concerto for two trumpets and orchestra. It was premiered
in January 1970 by soloists Philip Jones and Elgar Howarth with the BBC Symphony
Orchestra under Sir John Pritchard. In two sections, the first is the more
substantial of the two with two cadenzas and much virtuosic writing for the
soloists presaging the brilliance of the trumpet parts in the Maxwell Davies
Symphonies. The short second section contains quotes from Liszt, Mahler,
Paganini and Berlioz, though these are subtly subsumed into the glittering
textures of a highly original and powerful twenty-minute work. 'Commedia'
(1973), a commission from the London Philharmonic for the orchestra's
40th anniversary, was premiered by the LPO under Bernard Haitink.
The two-act opera 'The Catiline Conspiracy', based on the Ben Jones tragedy,
which was premiered by Scottish Opera in 1974 and the Te Deum both show a
re-embracing of tonality further explored in his opera 'Anna Karenina' (1978).
This opera, Iain Hamilton's first tonal work since the early 1950s, was produced
in London in 1981.
His intensely dramatic scena, 'Cleopatra' (1977) was sung by Lois McDonall
with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under David Atherton at the 1978 Proms and
marked a further exploration of more conventional tonality. Exotically scored
with sensuous writing for the soloist, this work, with text by the composer,
is reminiscent of Strauss' s operas Elektra and Salomé in its
late-Romantic opulence. The soaring, Expressionistic 'stream of consciousness'
solo part also suggests links with another archetypal Expressionist work,
Schoenberg's 'Pierrot Lunaire' but 'Cleopatra' sounds less harmonically radical.
The piece is divided into a series of arias and orchestral interludes, all
ravishingly scored.
In the late 1970s, Iain Hamilton received commissions for two orchestral
works which he decided should both be symphonies. The Third Symphony was
completed in New York in late 1980 and continues the composer's more diatonic
style, being written in the key of G with both structure and material based
on tonal relationships. The Symphony is scored for just double woodwind,
2 horns and strings, creating an intimacy complemented by its predominantly
lyrical nature. There are four movements, an Allegretto which establishes
a Nordic sound to the woodwind writing frequently reminiscent of Sibelius,
a scurrying Scherzo in C with a central Trio in the form of an ironically
nostalgic waltz. The Andante third movement is marked 'tenderly and
sadly' and is characterised an intensity in the string writing recognisable
from his opus one and the First Symphony. The Andante's main theme
sounds like a Victorian ballad distorted by time and painful memory. The
Finale is very fast and ends with powerful tutti chords like those
at the conclusion of the first movement.
The Fourth Symphony (1981) was commissioned by the Scottish National Orchestra
and Sir Alexander Gibson who gave the first performance of the work in 1983.
It was started whilst the composer was still living in New York and finished
after he had returned to reside permanently in London in 1981. The Symphony
no 4 is one of his most personal works and he uses his most accessible tonal
idiom to express himself. It is dedicated to the memory of a close personal
friend, to whom the 'Requiem' of 1979 is also dedicated and there are quotations
from the Requiem in the Symphony. The first movement is subdued and grieving,
lacking the dynamism of Iain Hamilton's other orchestral works but making
up for this by its emotional honesty. Here, for once, the composer's considerable
structural and rhythmic achievements are subsumed beneath the melodic element
of the work, communicating a raw sense of loss. The second movement is a
Mahlerian threnody characterised by weaving strings and harp over timpani
taps. The gently rocking accompanying figure takes over at the climax, but
the work gradually subsides back to the opening material. The following Scherzo
is melancholic, more a Valse Triste than a musical joke. A lonely
solo trumpet adds to the feeling of inconsolable desolation. The Finale binds
many disparate elements together. It begins with a funeral march with tolling
timpani and muted brass which is then parodied by the following
Allegro passage with the same material played at a faster speed. This
is much more a 'scherzo' than the previous movement, albeit a malicious and
bitter one. This leads to an Adagio section which relates to the 'Lux
Aeteram' from the Requiem and material from the earlier movements of the
symphony returns but refracted and disturbed through grief. A very moving
work, this is all half-lights (in contradistinction to the usual brilliance
of Iain Hamilton's scoring) and it makes an appropriately valedictory last
symphony, though the quality of all four of Iain Hamilton's examples in the
genre makes one wish he had contributed more.
A series of major operas occupied much of the last twenty five years of his
life: 'Tamburlaine' (1976), a lyric drama, was commissioned and premiered
by the BBC, 'Anna Karenina' of 1978 was commissioned by the English National
Opera and received its first American performance in Los Angeles. 'Raleigh's
Dream' (1983) was commissioned by the North Carolina British-American Festival
at Duke University and 'Lancelot' was commissioned and premiered by the Arundel
Festival in 1985. He wrote a one act opera 'The Tragedy of Macbeth' in 1990
and 'London's Fair' in 1992.
Late a cappella works include the Requiem of 1979 and Mass in A (1980)
and prepared the way for a string of choral works, including the St Mark
Passion (1982), commissioned by the London Chorale and 'The Bright Heavens
Sounding' (1985), a setting of a text by Spenser.
The Octet for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone and
double bass (1983) was commissioned by the Paragon Ensemble. Cast in three
movements, it shares with the examples by Franz Schubert and Egon Wellesz
a good-humoured nature. The first movement treats each player as a soloist,
whilst the central slow movement weaves an intricate harmonic tapestry of
sound over which different solo instruments float their melodic lines. The
Finale restores the bluff banter of the opening movement with its garrulous
florid woodwind arabesques.
The Third String Quartet, written in 1984, was commissioned and premièred
by the Delmé Quartet. Its three movements are divided up into several
sections of varying tempi. This patchwork effect is a familiar device of
the composer who frequently thinks in terms of a sequence of varied passages
within his large- scale structures. The quartet is a fine example of Iain
Hamilton's achievements in the field of chamber music: lyrically intense
but emotionally tough, there is little of the "heart on sleeve" openness
of the Fourth Symphony to be found in this cleverly constructed and cogently
argued piece.
The Second Piano Concerto (1987) is a tough, Bartókian work, emphasising
the percussive nature of the solo instrument rather than its lyrical side.
The first and third movements are both virtuosic examples of motoric rhythmically
driven constructions in which the soloist is rarely silent. The central slow
movement provides welcome relief: mist-wreathed trance-like opening and closing
passages frame a spectral scherzando central section led by the piano. The
overall tone of the work, however, is one of dynamic power, underlined by
its bravura ending.
In 1995 his dramatic orchestral work 'The Transit of Jupiter' was given its
first performance by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Martyn Brabbins
at their 60th birthday celebrations in 1995. This brilliant and
vibrantly scored piece begins with an initial explosive signal and then consists
of a succession of massive chords which form the basis of the rest of the
sixteen-minute work, creating a satisfying passacaglia feel to the piece.
The one-movement work is divided into eighteen sections, each combining with
one another and self-generating organically. There is a satisfying inevitability
about the composition's progression born of a mind which thrives on structural
balance and craftsmanship. 'The Transit of Jupiter' was designed to show
off the skill and accuracy of the BBC Scottish Orchestra and, though not
based on astronomy or astrology, creates a vivid impression of both the
massiveness and the enigmatic quality of Jupiter, the biggest planet, in
motion as it hurtles through space.
Among his very last compositions are 'Bulgaria Invocation', an evocation
for orchestra and five pieces for clarinet and piano entitled 'The Wild Garden'.
In 2000 he wrote another orchestral work: 'London' for piano and orchestra.
Iain Hamilton died in London on July 28th 2000.
Despite the bewilderingly wide range of styles Iain Hamilton employed in
his many compositions, his works are all bound by a sensitive ear for timbre
and texture. His orchestral pieces are particularly colourful and full of
interesting effects without resorting to gimmickry or empty virtuosity. All
his compositions, no matter in what idiom he chose to express them, share
a strong sense of the dramatic from the chamber pieces to the large stage
works.
He was also a most erudite writer on musical matters and contributed articles
to 'Tempo', amongst other journals, and a chapter in Howard Hartog's Penguin
classic 'European Music in the 20th Century'.
I hope some of his compositions will now receive further performances in
the form of a major retrospective so that the full extent of his achievement
may be easier to quantify. His current under-representation on disc and in
concert programmes is a glaring example of unwarranted neglect of an important
figure in British music. | {
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1980 team of the tournament
GK: Dino Zoff (Italy) Twelve years after winning the UEFA European Championship on home soil, Zoff was still in goal for the hosts in 1980. Although Italy failed to reach the final this time, Zoff did not concede until a long-range missile from Czechoslovakia's Ladislav Jurkemík in the third-place play-off. Two years later, aged 40, he would make history by captaining the Azzurri to FIFA World Cup victory, becoming the oldest winner in the process. The custodian, whose 11-year spell at Juventus ended with defeat by Hamburger SV in the 1983 European Champion Clubs' Cup final, won 112 caps before moving into coaching, leading Italy to runners-up at UEFA EURO 2000.
DF: Claudio Gentile (Italy) An uncompromising defender who shackled Diego Maradona and Zico at the 1982 World Cup, Gentile warmed up for that triumphant tournament by helping Italy to clean sheets in all three group games at the 1980 UEFA European Championship. He snuffed out the threat of Ballon d'Or holder Kevin Keegan, among others. From 1973-84 Gentile, who for all his physical play was never sent off, made 283 Serie A appearances for Juventus and won six Serie A titles. Capped 71 times, he coached the Azzurrini to glory at the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
DF: Gaetano Scirea (Italy) A peerless defender of calm authority, Scirea was as brilliant for Italy at the 1980 UEFA European Championship as he would be two years later helping the Azzurri triumph at the 1982 World Cup. An ever-present at both finals, his elegant displays in the libero role recalled Franz Beckenbauer. Scirea, who ended his international career after winning his 78th cap in 1986 at his third World Cup, won all three major European club trophies plus seven Serie A titles during a 14-year career at Juventus. Tragically, he was killed in a car crash in Poland aged 36, while scouting for the Bianconeri.
DF: Karlheinz Förster (West Germany)The younger of two brothers in West Germany's winning squad, Karlheinz outshone sibling Bernd throughout a career that brought recognition as one of the world's most irrepressible central defenders. Aged 21, Förster neutralised Belgian dangerman Jan Ceulemans in the 1980 final to round off an exceptional championship. He accumulated 81 international caps, twice finishing a World Cup runner-up. A Bundesliga champion with VfB Stuttgart in 1984, Förster left for Olympique de Marseille in 1986 and retired in style after winning the French double in 1990.
DF: Hans-Peter Briegel (West Germany) The 1980 UEFA European Championship was the coming-of-age of this former decathlete, who went on to amass 72 caps and finish runner-up in two World Cups. Briegel played every game of the 1980 tournament and was badly missed after going off injured in the second half of the final. He returned to Italy four years later, when, after a decade at 1. FC Kaiserslautern, he helped Hellas-Verona FC win the Scudetto and became the first foreign-based player to be voted German Footballer of the Year. Briegel coached the Albania national team from 2002 to 2006.
MF: Marco Tardelli (Italy) The abiding image of Tardelli is his wild-eyed, head-shaking celebration after scoring Italy's second goal in their 1982 FIFA World Cup final victory. It was not the first big goal the dynamic midfielder had scored for the Azzurri. Two years earlier he plundered Italy's only goal in the UEFA European Championship group stage – the late winner against England. It came on Tardelli's home ground, Turin's Stadio Comunale, where he spent a decade winning silverware for Juventus, including the 1985 European Champion Clubs' Cup, before moving to FC Internazionale Milano. He later coached Inter and Italy Under-21s.
MF: Jan Ceulemans (Belgium) Ceulemans won a national record 96 caps between 1977 and 1990, scoring 23 goals. An attacking midfielder who could also play as a conventional striker, he filled the latter role at the 1980 UEFA European Championship and his muscular play caused problems for every defender he faced bar West Germany's Karlheinz Förster, who got the better of him in the final. Ceulemans scored one goal at the finals, against England, but was Belgium's standout performer throughout. Although the 1984 tournament was a disappointment, the Club Brugge KV stalwart played in three World Cups, captaining Belgium to the semi-finals in 1986.
MF: Bernd Schuster (West Germany)This prodigious 20-year-old played only two of West Germany's four matches in 1980, against the Netherlands and Belgium, but the dazzling blond midfielder shone in both. Schuster's exploits secured a move from 1. FC Köln to FC Barcelona and second place in the European Footballer of the Year poll. This was the only major international tournament in which he played, injury ruling him out of the 1982 World Cup before he retired from the international game at 24. Schuster won the 1985 Spanish title with Barcelona and clinched two championships at Real Madrid CF, where he briefly returned as coach in July 2007 after leading Getafe CF into Europe.
MF: Hansi Müller (West Germany)An elegant midfield playmaker with a sweet left foot, Müller was the rising star of the Bundesliga with VfB Stuttgart when he went to the 1980 European finals, aged 22. He had had a brief taste of action at the 1978 World Cup and fulfilled his potential at the tournament in Italy, starting all four games and decorating the team's play with his clever passing. EURO '80 would be Müller's international peak; he disappointed at the 1982 World Cup, and, after a stint at FC Internazionale Milano, won his 42nd and final cap the following year. An Indian summer to his career ensued with FC Tirol Innsbruck, and he was an ambassador for the city at UEFA EURO 2008.
FW: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany) Rummenigge went into the 1980 UEFA European Championship with a big reputation having topped the Bundesliga scoring charts with 26 goals to win the title with FC Bayern München. He lived up to it, punctuating a series of powerful performances with the decisive goal against Czechoslovakia and providing the corner for Horst Hrubesch's late winner in the final. Rummenigge was voted 1980 European Footballer of the Year and retained the Ballon d'Or in 1981 after another top-scoring, title-winning campaign with Bayern. He scored 45 goals in 95 internationals, the last of which came in the 1986 World Cup final and is now a senior football executive at Bayern.
FW: Horst Hrubesch (West Germany) West Germany's match-winner in the 1980 UEFA European Championship final against Belgium, Hrubesch scored twice in Rome, his second a trademark bullet header on 89 minutes. It brought glorious redemption for the Hamburger SV forward who weeks earlier had hobbled around the Santiago Bernabéu with an ankle injury as his side lost the European Cup final to Nottingham Forest FC. A latecomer to the international scene, the 'The Heading Monster' was only called up after Klaus Fischer broke his leg, and would win just 21 caps. A three-time Bundesliga champion, he captained Hamburg to European Cup success against Juventus in 1983.
The UEFA and EURO 2016 words, the UEFA EURO 2016 logo and slogans and the UEFA EURO trophy are protected by trade marks and/or copyright of UEFA. No use for commercial purposes may be made of such trade marks. Use of UEFA.com signifies your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. | {
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January 12, 2015
We just released a hotfix update to the Viira Outlook Add-In. The latest version 5.5.2 contains important performance and stability enhancements and will be noticed particularly by those running MS Outlook 2013 and/or those who have a large amount (e.g. 1000+) tasks in their Viira database.
We recommend anyone using the add-in to upgrade to the latest version. You can download the latest version from the downloads page.
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The Viira Outlook Suite for BlackBerry 10 combines the Viira Outlook Plugin, Viira for BlackBerry 10 and our cloud sync service to provide the first feature-rich, end-to-end solution for Getting Things Done for BlackBerry 10 and Microsoft Outlook.
A due caution: this is beta software so please proceed to download and install it only if you are comfortable with running beta software on your computer and mobile devices. As with all beta software, there may be defects, glitches etc.
We want to thank in advance to everyone who will be participating in the beta program and helping us make the Viira Cloud Sync better for everyone!
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September 9, 2012
The Viira Outlook Suite 2.1 is now available for download. The goal of this release is to provide support for more advanced aspects of GTD and personal organization like multiple contexts, next actions and an intuitive dashboard as well as to further refine the Outlook plugin to make it more intuitive, smart and effective.
We would have liked to make this release available earlier however intense work on our upcoming cloud sync service prevented us from doing so. To all of you counting on the Viira Outlook Suite in your day-to-day life and eagerly waiting for this update , thank you for your patience!
Without further ado, here is what’s new in version 2.1 of the Viira Outlook Suite:
Next Actions View. Next Actions are a core concept in Getting Things Done and you can now manage those with ease with the Viira Outlook Suite. The new Next Actions view (available on both the BlackBerry client and the Outlook Plugin) displays all tasks that have been marked as next actions. To help you focus on what is actionable first, next actions also appear specially marked and are automatically displayed at the top of any list.
Multiple contexs. Any task can now be tagged with multiple contexts from both the BlackBerry client and the Outlook plugin. You can assign as many contexts as you want! This powerful feature will allow you to file and organize a task in multiple filing “buckets” and make it easier to find the task when it’s time to find the next action that needs to be completed.
Dashboard. The new dashboard is your new organization control center and provides you with one-click access to the major areas from within the BlackBerry client. The dashboard is touch screen enabled making navigation on touchscreen models like the Bold 9900 or Torch 98xx series as easy as a tap on the screen.
Hide Completed. Focus only on the things that are left uncompleted. Hide Completed is now available on both the Outlook plugin and the BlackBerry client.
Enhanced Outlook plugin. We have made numerous improvements to the Outlook plugin to make it more intuitive, smarter and effective. We have added right-click menues to make performing common operations quicker and easier as well as improved the stability and overall performance.
You can download the latest version from the Viira Outlook Suite download page.
The Viira Outlook Suite 2.1 is a complimentary upgrade to all buyer of version 2.0. Buyers of the previous version of the Viira Outlook Suite or Viira (including older versions like the 2.0 and 3.0) are elligible to upgrade for a special low price.
July 31, 2012
We are very excited to share with you that our cloud sync service beta launch is just around the corner!
Months and months of work are starting to show some very promising results and the preliminary prototypes are looking good and holding up well under testing. If all goes well we will start rolling out the beta version of the service about a month or two from now - hopefully by the end of August/early September timeframe.
The goal of our cloud sync service is to enable a seamless, synchronized organizational experience across platforms so that you can access and interact with your GTD data with ease from all your devices. Each rich client, be it BlackBerry (Viira 4), Outlook, Android, Playbook, desktop, web and even iOS will provide the same capabilities, power and simplicity that you have grown accustomed to with Viira 4, and the cloud service will make sure you have uniform access to your data from wherever you are.
So if you haven’t done so already, make sure to sign up on our announcements form and we will let you know as soon as we start rolling out the sync service across the various platforms.
The launch of the sync service will be gradual. We will add platform support one by one, starting with BlackBerry, Outlook, Android and the Playbook (our current supported platforms) and continuing with a web client, a desktop client and iOS support over the coming months. It will be very exciting few months ahead and we look forward to bring you the most intuitive, powerful and cross-platform GTD experience out there!
We will also need the help of a lot of beta testers so if you would like to help and are comfortable with beta software please let us know either by dropping us a note at support _at_ kartamobile.com or by signing up on our announcements list.
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April 8, 2012
Viira 4.0 is ready and available for download. We always strive to provide a more powerful, effective and intuitive experience for Getting Things Done and we believe that the latest release will help you take your personal productivity to the next level.
The main theme within this release is two-fold: richer integration with your native BlackBerry applications like Contacts, Memos and Messages as well as support for advanced aspects of Getting Things Done like Next Actions.
Without further ado, here is what’s new in Viira 4.0:
Contact tasks. You can now organize your communications, tasks and commitments with your contacts - and add a touch of CRM to your GTD system. Creating a task based on a contact is easy - just select a contact in your Contacts application and select Create Viira Task from the menu. Contact tasks maintain a link to the original contact making it easy to call, email and follow-up.
Next Actions View. Next Actions are a core concept in Getting Things Done and Viira helps you manage those with ease. The new Next Actions view displays all tasks that have been marked as next actions. To help you focus on what is actionable first, next actions also appear specially marked and are automatically displayed at the top of any list.
Multiple contexs. Any Viira task can now be tagged with multiple contexts - as many as you want. This powerful feature will allow you to file and organize a task in multiple filing “buckets” and make it easier to find the task when it’s time to find the next action that needs to be completed.
Memo tasks. Incorporate existing notes to your GTD system by creating tasks based on your notes and memos. Once created, a memo task will hold a link to the original memo making it easy to view it by clicking on View Memo.
Dashboard. The Viira dashboard is your new organization control center and provides you with one-click access to the major areas within Viira.
Email Tasks integration. Email tasks created with Viira 4 maintain a link to the original email making it easy to view the email as well as to reply and forward it.
Two-way task sync. Viira now syncs with your native Tasks app: every task created in Viira gets added to your native tasks and any task entered in your Tasks app is added to your Viira In-Basket for further assignment. You can now sync your tasks to any cloud sync provider such as Google Tasks.
Data export/importto/from SD Card. We have made it easier to backup your Viira data or move it to a new or replacement BlackBerry device. Starting with Viira 4 you can importa and export all your Viira data to and from your SD Card. The new feature is accessible from the Settings screen.
And more! We have added a number of other productivity and convenience enhancements. For example, completed tasks now automatically get moved at the bottom of any task lists while task marked as next actions always go to the top.
As always, Viira 4 comes with a free trial so download the free trial and see for yourself what you can accomplish with Viira now! You can also download Viira Over-The-Air by pointing your BlackBerry’s browser to our mobile site www.kartamobile.com/bb.
Viira 4 is supported on BlackBerry OS 5 or better and buyers of older version can upgrade for a special low price.
Note to App World buyers: in order to take advantage of our special upgrade pricing you must register with the same email as App World.
Viira Outlook Suite Buyers
[UPDATE] For those of you currently using the Viira Outlook Suite, version 2.0 of the BlackBerry client already contains most of the new features introduced in Viira 4, such as contact tasks, memo tasks, email integration, two-way task sync, etc. So you don’t need to upgrade.
The remaining new features in Viira 4 like the dashboard and Next Actions view will be added to the BlackBerry client in version 2.1 which will be a complimentary upgrade to all buyers of the 2.0.
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February 16, 2011
The quickest way to launch the Viira Outlook Plugin is by clicking on the green checkmark button that you will see in your Outlook toolbar after installing the Outlook plugin. This will launch the plugin in a separate window that you can then minimize or keep open at all times. Clicking on the green checkmark with a red ‘+’ sign will open the New Task form so you can quickly enter a new task. The quick launch and quick add buttons are available in any area of Outlook, including Mail, Calendar, Contacts and Notes.
Things work slightly different in Outlook 2010 where you will see the Viira Outlook Plugin quick launch and quick add buttons appear in the Add-Ins tab.
You can also start The Viira Outlook plugin embedded mode. In embedded mode, the Outlook plugin will stay embedded inside Outlook. To do this open the “Tasks” view in Outlook (Go->Tasks) then click on the area saying “Folder View” in the center-left of your screen (see image below). You will see an option for the Viira Outlook Suite below - click on it and the Outlook plugin will launch inside Outlook.
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August 9, 2010
In our ongoing effort to continuously enhance the Viira Outlook Suite and solidify its position as the ultimate GTD solution for Outlook and BlackBerry, we have released another update to both the Outlook plugin and BlackBerry client.
Following up from the previous update, the new version 0.9.8 adds a few new capabilities to help you get things done:
Delegate. You can now delegate projects and contexts from the Outlook plugin as well as the BlackBerry client. Simply select “Delegate” from the BlackBerry context menu as well as from the “More Options” dropdown meny in the Outlook plugin.
Support for MS Outlook 2003. We are constantly striving to make the Viira Outlook Suite available on as many configurations as possible, and are happy to report that Outlook 2003 is now officially supported.
Feedback. We love hearing from you and your feedback is crucial in helping us decide what to build next. The Outlook plugin now offers a convenient way for you to send us your thoughts and suggestions for improvement - directly from the Viira Outlook Suite.
You can download the latest version of the Outlook plugin from the Viira Outlook Suite beta page, and you can grab the updated BlackBerry client by pointing your BlackBerry’s browser to www.kartamobile.com/bb/outlook.php
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August 4, 2010
Just a quick note to let you know that we have released an update to the Viira Outlook Suite.
The newly released beta version 0.9.7 contains several improvement and additions to both the Outlook plugin and the BlackBerry client such as enhanced stability, support for OS 4.5 andthe new Refresh button.
Stability improvments. We have made the Viira Outlook Suite more robust to eliminate Outlook error popups.
Refresh. Particularly useful in a BES+Exchange setup, the new Refresh button in the Outlook plugin lets you quickly reload all data and display any new tasks, projects or contexts that have been pushed over-the-air from the Viira Outlook Suite BlackBerry client.
Support for OS 4.5. We heard from a few of you still using (and loving) your trusted 8800- and 8300-series devices. So we pulled a few tricks and made the Viira Outlook Suite BlackBerry client work on OS 4.5.
Fixes to day tasks. We fixed an issue which prevented day tasks from synchronizing properly in the case where BES, Exchange or Outlook use non-default locale settings.
Delete All Completed. You can now delete all completed tasks from the Outlook plugin by selecting “Delete All Completed” available through the “More Options” menu.
The Viira Log. The Viira Outlook Suite plugin now has a log screen (available from the new “More Options” button) which traps all abnormal events for easy reporting back to our support team.
February 19, 2010
If you’re already using Getting Things Done with Viira on your BlackBerry, you’re well on your way to living a more organized, productive life.But if you still have lingering questions on how best to use GTD in certain situations, there are plenty of places to go online to get help.
We’ve compiled a list of the Internet’s leading authorities on Getting Things Done. From tips and tricks, to words of wisdom from David Allen himself, you’re sure to find the info you need in one of the links below.
Otherwise known as Mecca, DavidCo is the official website of the David Allen Company. Find information on all Allen’s books, upcoming appearances and more.
GTD Times is a division of David Allen’s network. The self-described ‘hub of all things GTD,’ this site includes a blog, newsletter signup, and links to many more GTD resources.
Another part of David Allen’s rapidly growing empire, GTD Connect is a subscription service that puts Getting Things Done practitioners in touch with each other and allows users to participate in online classes.
February 4, 2010
Ever since we launched Viira 1.0, one of the most frequent comments that we received was “Great app! Now, how do I make it work with Outlook?”. Understandably, many of you are relying on MS Outlook for implementing Getting Things Done, and a comprehensive solution that transcends the boundaries of a BlackBerry device is clearly called for.
You requested it, and we listened. Over the last little while we have been hard at work on a combined BlackBerry-Outlook solution called The Viira Outlook Suite. In fact, it is almost ready for a beta launch!
At this point I would like to tell you more about what it will do, as well as give you a glimpse of how it will take your personal productivity and GTD workflows to a whole new level. If you are interested in what a BlackBerry-Outlook GTD solution has to offer you can sign up for the Viira Outlook Suite updates - and maybe even help us a little by volunteering for our beta program.
Here is a summary of what our the Viira Outlook Suite will look like:
BlackBerry *and* Outlook. The Viira Outlook Suite will contain both a BlackBerry app (Viira) and an extension to your Outlook. The extension (called plugin) will make it possible for you to do all the things you are used to doing with Viira inside your Outlook.
Viira 2 functionality inside Outlook. The Viira Outlook plugin will provide the same features inside Outlook that Viira 2 currently offers, including projects, contexts and next actions.
Full data upgrade path from Viira 2. The Viira Outlook Suite will import all data from Viira 2 and people choosing to continue with the Viira Outlook Suite can do so effortlessly.
Full purchase credit. Buyers of the full version of Viira 2 will get full credit ($29.99) towards the purchase price of the Viira Outlook Suite. We haven’t decided on pricing yet, but if the Viira Outlook Suite is say $29.99, then buyers of Viira 2 will get it for free. If the Outlook Suite is $39.99, buyers of Viira will be able to get it for $10.00, etc. So if you are interested in our Viira Outlook Suite and are also considering buying Viira 2, you might as well make your purchase now and enjoy Viira for longer.
Same emphasis on GTD. Our Viira Outlook Suite will stay true to the principles of Getting Things Done, simplicity and ease of use.
So put down your name name and email address on our sign-up form and we will let you know as soon as the Viira Outlook Suite is available and ready for download. We all look forward to taking your productivity habbits and GTD workflows to a whole new level.
Bookmark. Share. Spread the word.These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | {
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As a young design student at California College of the Arts I had the wonderful opportunity of interning for ReadyMade magazine — way back in its hip Berkeley headquarters heyday.
It was a fantastically unique experience and my first in a bustling design office. Under the guidance of art director George McCalman, the office’s art department was a lively, collaborative, ambitious and (extremely) entertaining place to work — and home to the best design office music jams I have had the pleasure to groove to (courtesy of Mr. McCalman himself).
George is a magazine veteran, having art-directed Mother Jones, ReadyMade and Afar to name a few. He is responsible for relevant, thoughtful editorial design as well as some very compelling branding, packaging and identity work. Recently, I was able to catch up with George and find out about his past, present and future. And of course, his opinions regarding his favorite magazines.
I’m a big fan of Rilla Alexander’s work, so I was super excited to hear about her new book, Her Idea. Through beautiful illustrations and fun rhymes Rilla chronicles the journey of a little girl named Sozi who struggles to put her concepts into reality. Although the story is presented in a picture book format, I’m hesitant to call this a “children’s book” as I believe the message resonates with all of us. This tale is especially timely as many of us are seeking to change our procrastinating ways as part of our new year’s resolutions.
In this interview, Rilla shares the inspiration for the book and some of the challenges she faced along the way. Here we go!
Let’s travel to the boogie down borough of Brooklyn, New York — home to the colossal rides and hot dogs at Coney Island, the beautiful Central Library, and one of my favorite illustrators Jim Datz.
For those who are in the know, Jim goes by the moniker Neither Fish Nor Fowl. His work is reminiscent of olden times, with images of sailors, explorers, keystone cops, and mustached men in bowler caps.
In this interview, he discusses his transition from architecture to illustration, dapper gents and hippies, his creative process, and reveals something that most folks don’t know about him. | {
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Crowdfunding bill clears N.C. Senate Committee
Raleigh, N.C. — North Carolina residents would be able to invest small amounts in new in-state ventures through crowd funding under a bill that cleared the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday. A separate economic development bill also is attached.... | {
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Download Alignment
(Note: includes all positions in family; we filtered this alignment to remove sites that had > 75% gaps before running GREMLIN. )
Length:
73
Sequences:
409
Seq/Len:
5.6
HH_delta:
0.835 (20Jul13)
GREMLIN Results:
Residue pairs sorted by strength in covariance:Legend: The darker and larger the blue dots, the higher strength in covariance. Below we provide the list of the top [1.5 x length] gremlin predictions, sequence seperation > 3. The i and j are positions as given in the consensus sequence. Show Scaled Distribution
i
j
Raw Score
Scaled Score
22_D
25_Q
0.35519
2.634
48_C
51_C
0.27364
2.030
1_C
4_C
0.22806
1.691
61_C
66_C
0.22498
1.669
63_S
67_P
0.2181
1.618
39_R
43_E
0.21261
1.577
25_Q
29_N
0.20921
1.552
15_L
47_I
0.20896
1.550
45_W
49_Q
0.20292
1.505
48_C
66_C
0.20003
1.484
20_R
23_P
0.19682
1.460
63_S
66_C
0.19234
1.427
40_R
71_E
0.18972
1.407
41_F
49_Q
0.18723
1.389
10_E
33_R
0.18263
1.355
51_C
66_C
0.18045
1.338
15_L
35_R
0.17522
1.300
33_R
36_E
0.17401
1.291
69_F
72_R
0.17289
1.282
26_T
35_R
0.17093
1.268
22_D
34_L
0.16814
1.247
6_A
18_N
0.16376
1.215
8_T
15_L
0.15259
1.132
62_D
73_V
0.14506
1.076
51_C
61_C
0.1434
1.064
66_C
70_Y
0.14001
1.038
9_Q
17_S
0.13981
1.037
58_E
71_E
0.13906
1.031
23_P
26_T
0.13822
1.025
24_Q
28_Y
0.13803
1.024
49_Q
70_Y
0.13775
1.022
2_L
21_S
0.13759
1.020
51_C
65_D
0.13652
1.013
47_I
63_S
0.13598
1.009
35_R
39_R
0.13512
1.002
6_A
73_V
0.13501
1.001
48_C
63_S
0.13122
0.973
64_L
69_F
0.13096
0.971
20_R
36_E
0.13072
0.970
36_E
42_N
0.13037
0.967
28_Y
32_S
0.12904
0.957
64_L
71_E
0.12897
0.957
22_D
27_I
0.12851
0.953
21_S
25_Q
0.12849
0.953
20_R
40_R
0.12791
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43_E
71_E
0.12743
0.945
51_C
63_S
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5_G
8_T
0.12437
0.922
37_L
40_R
0.12198
0.905
48_C
65_D
0.12142
0.901
59_I
70_Y
0.1206
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3_V
31_L
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54_S
57_E
0.12029
0.892
21_S
27_I
0.11936
0.885
29_N
47_I
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0.883
17_S
20_R
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61_C
65_D
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50_S
65_D
0.11621
0.862
7_K
30_L
0.11609
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36_E
39_R
0.116
0.860
31_L
46_T
0.11458
0.850
53_G
59_I
0.1143
0.848
24_Q
34_L
0.11363
0.843
21_S
24_Q
0.11259
0.835
14_P
67_P
0.11216
0.832
24_Q
27_I
0.1117
0.828
35_R
53_G
0.11137
0.826
60_E
73_V
0.11113
0.824
8_T
69_F
0.11031
0.818
21_S
32_S
0.11025
0.818
29_N
36_E
0.10954
0.812
35_R
38_E
0.10927
0.810
2_L
30_L
0.10916
0.810
24_Q
33_R
0.1087
0.806
17_S
32_S
0.10859
0.805
66_C
72_R
0.1079
0.800
23_P
64_L
0.10789
0.800
2_L
10_E
0.10758
0.798
30_L
57_E
0.1074
0.797
37_L
43_E
0.10716
0.795
37_L
41_F
0.10653
0.790
6_A
39_R
0.10567
0.784
15_L
32_S
0.10405
0.772
48_C
67_P
0.10388
0.770
17_S
35_R
0.10321
0.765
45_W
59_I
0.10302
0.764
3_V
64_L
0.10265
0.761
5_G
43_E
0.10254
0.761
10_E
28_Y
0.10215
0.758
2_L
65_D
0.1021
0.757
44_L
63_S
0.10208
0.757
45_W
53_G
0.10205
0.757
30_L
40_R
0.10193
0.756
48_C
61_C
0.10171
0.754
7_K
33_R
0.10148
0.753
41_F
45_W
0.1009
0.748
17_S
38_E
0.10035
0.744
30_L
37_L
0.10029
0.744
29_N
34_L
0.09977
0.740
17_S
29_N
0.0993
0.736
18_N
31_L
0.0993
0.736
33_R
63_S
0.0992
0.736
52_S
59_I
0.09912
0.735
19_C
72_R
0.09903
0.734
10_E
21_S
0.09888
0.733
Legend: The value of the raw score is the function of the learning procedure, L2 normalization and APC (entropic) correction. These are to be used for relative ranking only.
HHsearch Results:
Top (length/2) GREMLIN results overlayed on top 10 PDB hits: Legend: The grey circles underneath are pdb residue contacts (min distance < 5 Angstroms). The coloring of these circles is based on HHsearch results which uses the overall probability, per-site alignment prob and agreement of top hits weighted by HHsearch score (Note we only consider monomeric contacts, there might be homo-oligomeric contacts in the pdb that are not shown.) | {
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Home
New York Outrigger hosted the 2015 Hawaiian Airlines Liberty Challenge on Saturday, June 20. One of the largest sporting events in New York Harbor and one of the premier outrigger canoe races in the world the day long competition hosts hundreds of paddlers and represents the best of the Aloha spirit. New York Outrigger would like to congratulate all See More
New York Outrigger is proud to announce Hoalen as a Iliahi Level Sponsor for the 2015 Hawaiian Airlines Liberty Challenge. About Hoalen We searched for a long time and eventually uncovered this word, originally from the French Brittany’s dialect, but with an almost universal pronunciation. Hoalen means “sea salt” in the old Breton language. This See More
The 2015 Hawaiian Airlines Liberty Challenge hosted by New York Outrigger will be held on Saturday, June 20, 2015 at Hudson River Park‘s Pier 26. Registration is now open for all local, national and international OC-6 crews. Race Heats: Women’s Race: Start Time: 7:30 AM; Course: 15 miles Men’s Race: Start Time: 11:00 AM; Course: See More
New York Outrigger is proud to announce its premier outrigger race, the Hawaiian Airlines Liberty Challenge, will take place on Saturday, June 20, 2015 at Hudson River Park’s Pier 26 in New York City. The origins of outrigger paddling date back thousands of years to the Polynesian Islands. The sport has quickly spread across the world as an exciting See More
New York Outrigger is excited to continue our partnership with Hudson River Park to showcase the 2015 Hawaiian Airlines Liberty Challenge on Saturday, June 20. Hudson River Park’s Pier 26 in Tribeca will be the launching point for the largest on-water sporting event in New York City, the largest outrigger regatta on the East Coast and one See More
We are saddened to report the passing of Captain John Doswell, Safety Boat Director of the Hawaiian Airlines Liberty Challenge since 2001. “Doswell,” as we called him, ensured the safety of thousands of paddlers who participated in the Liberty Challenge over the past 13 years. Any athlete who has ever paddled the Liberty Challenge has See More
The organizers of the Liberty Challenge have always looked to experiment with technology to enhance the viewership of the sport to levels previously unseen. We started tweeting live race updates at Liberty 2009. We launched a comprehensive race website for Liberty 2012. For the 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Liberty Challenge, we added GPS tracking to our technological See More
East Coast crews took seven of the nine top spots at the 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Liberty Challenge in New York City on Saturday, June 21. What was once a race consisting primarily of East Coast teams, the Liberty Challenge has since drawn crews of high caliber from around the world over the past few years. See More
The NAC/Makapo men’s crew consisting of three blind and three sighted paddlers compete to a respectable 4th place finish in the Men’s Open division and 6th place out of 19 crews overall in the 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Liberty Challenge on Saturday, June 21 in New York City. Even though they were just shy of reaching the podium, See More
New York Outrigger hosted the 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Liberty Challenge on Saturday, June 21. One of the largest sporting events in New York Harbor and one of the premier outrigger canoe races in the world the day long competition hosts hundreds of paddlers and represents the best of the Aloha spirit. New York Outrigger would like to congratulate all See More | {
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Download related software:
ReadWrite Kanji 1.1 READWRITE KANJI teaches the complete 1945 kanji characters. The program features a flashcard-like review, and a number of exercises to assess progress. Also included is stroke order animation and an interactive stroke order practice exercise.
SignTap Kanji ARM 3.0 SignTap Kanji lets you easily enter Japanese Kanji and Kana characters into your computer to look up words without having to know their pronunciation. Particularly helpful to students of Japanese, it can be used in combination with existing software.
Read smart reviews:
Input Director, Quit Driving - Start Working! If youve ever operated two, three or more computers at the same time, you will really appreciate this application. Remember getting tired of driving a chair through the room to reach another computer, fingers entangled because of jumping from one keyboard to another and feeling dizzy because of all that mess? Now imagine-the same two, three or more computers, same chair, same number of monitors, but Just one keyboard
2000 Kanji - an excellent educational tool for Japanese language students Japan is a country full of contrasts and surprises — and its language is not an exception. For most westerners, the hieroglyphic language of the Land of the Rising Sun is absolutely indecipherable and inscrutable. However, everything is possible and the most persistent and diligent gaijins study the language for years and become decent speakers. If you are just in the beginning of your journey to fluency, you must | {
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How To: Cooking Dried Beans
Cooking dried beans can be a little intimidating. The first time I tried to do it was just for fun, and I definitely had a few trial and error moments figuring it out. I now see it as a methodical, tranquil, everyday process. It’s cost-effective; you can get about four pints of beans from one cup dried. It’s convenient; you always have them on hand for a last-minute recipe. And it’s calming; the process of making them is simple, hands-off, and empowering.
1. Soaking. Soak 1 c dried beans with at least 1 c filtered water overnight. The beans will absorb the water and plump up, so make sure you put them in a container that is only half-full to start.
2. Rinsing. Before you cook the soaked beans, rinse them in a colander under cool water to remove all the dirt, grime, and gaseous sugars from that have leaked out.
3. Cooking. Place beans in a medium stockpot and fill the pot about halfway with fresh water. You want enough for the beans to be submerged by at least an inch or two. Then the weird step: add a small piece of dried kombu to the pot (about an inch or two in length). The kombu will soften and will help to alleviate the gassy factor commonly associated with cooked beans. Heat the beans to a simmer and let cook for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. You may need to add a little water if the beans absorb too much; you want them to be submerged at all times. Once beans are cooked, remove from heat and let cool in the stockpot. (Note: Most varieties of beans will cook fairly quickly; chickpeas, however, usually need up to double the amount of time to fully cook).
4. Storing. When the beans are cool enough to handle, remove the kombu and discard. Ladle spoonfuls into freezer-safe pint-sized mason jars until 2/3 full. Once all beans are evenly distributed among the jars (you will need 3-4), fill them until submerged with the cooking water. Let cool without the lids in the refrigerator until completely cold. Screw lids on tightly and store in freezer until use.
5. Eating. When you’re ready to use the beans, let thaw in refrigerator or run the jar under cool water until thawed. Rinse well to remove the cooking water and any leftover kombu pieces. Use just like you would canned beans.
Easy, peasy. Yes, there is a little bit of time involved, but it’s fairly hands off. You can also cook larger batches in the slow cooker if preferred. I like to keep a couple different varieties of beans on hand, and my freezer is only so big, so I usually cook smaller batches at a time and cook two types at once (in separate pots). I’ve never had any issues with a batch not cooking perfectly using this method, and I’ve not had any digestive issues either, especially since adding the kombu. Don’t skip it! | {
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David Rakoff was a mainstay on public radio's This American Life, and the best-selling author of Fraud, Don't Get Too Comfortable, and Half Empty. He died of cancer in 2012 at the age of 47, shortly after finishing Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish, a short novel in verse that jumps from decade to decade, tracking a panoply of American characters across the 20th century: 1920s slaughterhouse workers, 1950s office girls, AIDS victims and '80s yuppies. | {
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My Cart
Ice Cream & Crepes
Here at Spavens we have the best selection of the unhealthiest treats the world has to offer. Our pancakes and smoothies contain none of your 5 a day although be warned that some of our ice cream contains fruit in abundance.Spavens is the perfect place to pop in for a cuppa while the kids enjoy a desert or the perfect venue for you to treat yourself for a little indulgence.So save up your points, run it off in the morning or start again on Monday and pop in for a well deserved treat. | {
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Let’s get to it. We’re starting the total destruction of Mercy West. This pretty, young thing is sexy as hell and thinks she is ready for the kind of cruel corporal punishment that comes along with a Real Time Bondage Live Feed. She can barely handle the bondage we put her in.Mercy talks a good play. When we pull her arms behind her so far that her elbows are touching she says she could hold the position forever. That’s pleasant. If she thinks that breaking her will be a challenge then she is sorely mistaken. We’ve got more than enough mastery to accept Mercy further than she has ever gone before. It isn’t long before we’ve got her in tears. | {
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Posts Tagged ‘plan a romantic wedding’
A classic, romantic wedding celebrates your love story by combining time-honored traditions with the unique touches that make your relationship special. From fragrant bouquets to sparkling lanterns—read on for some ideas to plan a romantic wedding worthy of royalty. (more…) | {
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Blog
Not only am I home, but I have been swallowed up by my non-writing/internet life. I do have one. Oh, do I have one.
How is it possible to have a baby welcoming/shower, housewarming party, goodbye party, birthday, and Thanksgiving going on in the span of one week? I like to call it the frightening week of cake and glee. And pies. Thanksgiving is kind of a big thing, here at the Land, and a bunch of good friends are coming to celebrate with us, like they do each year. One year we took a picture of all the pies, and the table was literally weeping with the weight.
The housewarming party is for us. I'm pretty excited, especially since I got to register at Target for house gifts. I don't know whether you remember this post, but if you do you know that I've never registered for anything before, and really, I don't even so much care if I get any of the gifts, it was worth it just to aim that scanner thingy at bar codes. SO MUCH FUN! I think I'll just start creating registries, randomly, for the fun of it.
Anyways, I'll leave you to consider doing that yourself, because you know it sounds SO FUN! I've got to head out to my non-writing life again. | {
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Samantha McIntosh
Samantha comes from a show jumping family, with her mother Penny Stevenson an internationally known showjumping instructor. Sam has based and competed in Europe since she was 18 years old, and in her early years rode under the Bulgarian flag. During this period, Sam rode at Sydney Olympics and a World Cup final in Las Vegas, European Championships at Arnhem, Manheim, Hickstead, Donaueschingen and San Patrigano. She rode at the World Championships in Jerez and Aachen and after changing back to the kiwi banner, at Kentucky.
Sam changed back to NZ nationality and relocated back to her hometown of Cambridge, New Zealand. At Chestnut Glade, she spent three years building up her own sports horse stable, ran her team of showjumpers and became very involved in coaching. Sam utilised her extensive knowledge gained from her years in Europe and was coaching , mentoring a lot of the countries aspiring show jump riders from Junior to Grand Prix level. She was also an agent for importing and exporting showjumpers worldwide.
After 3 years back in New Zealand Sam headed back to Europe, still keen to make her mark in International showjumping, and she took her feisty little mare Estina with her, who had just won the World Cup Series in NZ.
She is now based in Arcachon, just south of Bordeaux at the beautiful property of showjumper Joelle and Philippe Dagut, where she is building up her team of showjumpers. Sam has a new stallion Check In and she is delighted with him, he is already putting in some very solid performances in 1.50 plus classes and is looking good future internationals. She has some exciting youngsters coming through, who with Estina are proving to be a formidable team.
Samantha joins the Shanghai Swans, making it the only all-female team on the League. | {
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Bernard Gabbott
Bernard grew up in a number of places, as the son of a ministry and missionary family. He completed his high-schooling in Sydney, an Arts degree at the University of New South Wales (1997), a PhD (Political Science) at the University of New England (2003), and a Bachelor of Theology at Moore Theological College (2007). In that time, he also worked at St Mark’s Chapel (UNE), on shearing teams and properties in the New England, in politics, and, after theological training, back on farms on the Liverpool Plains.
In 2010, he was ordained and took up an Assistant Vicar’s position in Wee Waa. Just after Easter 2012, he was inducted as Vicar of Wee Waa Anglican Church and remained there until moving to Narrabri in January 2019. In this time, he has served on the Diocesan Commission for Education and Discipleship, and as a member of Diocesan Council.
Bernard is married to Anita and they have four children. In his spare time, he tries to keep running, read books and he definitely enjoys his family and being outside.
Bernard can be contacted *protected email*.
Neil Hunt
Neil grew up in Tamworth where, during his teens, he finally realised that Christianity is not about ticking boxes, but about the God who saves sinners through Jesus Christ.
At 18, Neil moved to Sydney to become a uni drop-out, but at least got to meet and marry Steph. After the birth of their first two girls they realised they belonged back in the bush, so in 1994 moved to Armidale, where 2 more kids were born.
For the next two decades, Neil worked mainly as a game designer for educational software, but really just wanted to talk to people about Jesus. In 2015, Neil, Steph and Seamus (then aged 12) spent 6 months in Darwin volunteering at Nungalinya, a training college for Aboriginal church leaders. They then moved directly to Brisbane for their own studies at Queensland Theological College (QTC). Narrabri Anglican is Neil’s first position in full-time ministry, having moved here in January 2019. They’re loving the big sky country and the warmth of the Narrabri community.
Neil can be contacted *protected email*.
Ralph Wood
Ralph and Margaret are long term residents of Narrabri, both having taught in local schools for many years. After many years of being involved in ministry in this Church, Ralph took the step of being ordained as a minister which has given him further opportunities to serve God. He has a particular passion for teaching the Bible through small groups and preaching in Church. | {
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Yes! the guy's reaction is totally authentic. He had no idea we were coming, and he really got the order right (almost right). We couldn't believe it either, so we understand the questions....
LYRICS:Iʼll start with a taco, soft like a cloud I want mine crunchy, I like to eat loud. Iʼll choose a chalupa, Iʼll grab a gordita, and two taco salads for our senoritas. And a Burrito Supreme, with extra sour cream Itʼs a cylindrically shaped seasoned beef dream. A taquito. An enchirito. Some cinnamon twists. A chicken border bowl. Are you gettinʼ all this?
And you know that nothing beats a hmmm, mmmm...Mexican Pizza... Weʼll take two of those, but please hold the diced tomatoes. And I admit, Iʼve always felt, like Iʼm in love with the meximelt. Make mine with a little extra love, and think of me... as the cheese drops from your Taco Bell glove. and thatʼs it.
No! Iʼm not done...Iʼll also take a...
Double-decker taco cause Iʼm feeling wild And make my sauce Fire. Uh, heʼll take mild. and weʼll take two Mt. Dew Baja blasts for a chance at 25 dollars cash Iʼm told thereʼs a winner for every 5 minutes Iʼm stealing your online code if you win it. Why would you do that? You owe me 25 bones I owe you 5. Plus interest--it was a loan. And I think weʼll be satisfied, if we get some mexican rice on the side. And thatʼs it. | {
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I've been doing this "What I'm Listening To" page for some time now as I was asked by friends and students what were the drummers and bands I was listening to. I basically share clips of these drummers with a brief description. My latest entry is on Bill Stewart, a drummer I really enjoy listening to. | {
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Laatste uploads
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Mexico70 I think the answer to your poor sales ratio is to diversify, and get some different images in your portfolio. Please dont take offence at my critique, but many of your images are very similiar, you need to upload something different and relevant ... [Lees meer...]
Mexico70 I think the answer to your poor sales ratio is to diversify, and get some different images in your portfolio. Please dont take offence at my critique, but many of your images are very similiar, you need to upload something different and relevant to todays needs, then you will see your sales rise, good luck.[Verberg] | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Top Engineering colleges in Maharashtra
One of the biggest states in India, some of the best engineering colleges of India has been instituted in Maharashtra. Top ten engineering colleges in Maharashtra state has been provided here to check. All contenders who are going to give the entrance exam or also give the first preference for further studies colleges list are available in pdf file also. All participated candidates can visit our web page and download the pdf file.
Department of technical Education, Maharashtra conducted the engineering entrance exam to select the applicant for various courses such as B.Arch, B.tech and other. If you are one of them who want to set up their career as an engineer then you can check the list of top 50 engineering colleges in Maharashtra ranked on the basis of academic and overall growth of the colleges.
Earlier a latest notice has been declared by the department of technical education, Maharashtra regarding Engineering entrance exam which will be held soon. This test is necessary to get seat in various private & government colleges. Only qualified student will eligible to get admission into engineering programs offered by the Maharashtra board.
Before applying candidates are suggested to check the required the eligibility criteria. If you will fulfill the all eligibility condition, then you can fill the application form from the official website of Maharashtra technical education board. As soon as possible registration process will be started to become a part of entrance exam. After filling form candidates can start their preparation to give their best response in the examination.
Top Engineering institutes in Maharashtra State
Admission in the top colleges is possible only for high rankers in BITSAT, JEE main, VITEEE exam. While taking a decision between these colleges, keep in mind the ranking of top engineering colleges in Maharashtra. After checking rank wise colleges list candidates can take part in the engineering test. After qualifying test candidate will eligible to get admission into engineering program.
The list of colleges listed below offer almost all branches of engineering. Candidates can browse through the list and the official website to know about the specific branches offered by the colleges and universities listed here. Few branches offered chemical engineering, civil engineering, IT engineering, communications engineering, automobile engineering, mechanical engineering and other.
For checking more information about top engineering colleges in Maharashtra state you can login our web page continuously basis. If you need any help then you can share with us through the below box.
Vishal Manekar
Vishal Manekar is leading the team of writers and editors for Education God. He have good skills for supervising what's being written and published daily. He Joined Education God in April 2015. Follow him on Google Plus for more details about him. | {
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We noticed that you're using an unsupported browser. The TripAdvisor website may not display properly.We support the following browsers:Windows: Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome. Mac: Safari.
The cottage has 800 feet of shoreline with southern exposure ,the large lakeside deck leads to dual dock and scenic view on a secluded wooded private peninsula .This cottage is on 1.7 acres of wooded land. This cottage is on bass lake 100 feet from lake Joseph with nice bar and restaurant at the...
Clyffe House is a small, quiet cottage resort located on beautiful Mary Lake in the heart of Muskoka. Our private waterfront has a sandy beach for children and a shallow swimming area where even children can walk out 100 feet without it being over their head. (Lake bottom is firm-packed sand with...
Our cottage is a home away from home. It has all that is required for your stay to be comfortable, but comes with a touch of solitude. In winter enjoy snowshoeing and skiing at local conservation areas, or zip up to Algonquin Park for dog sledding or Huntsville for downhill skiing at Hidden...
On Lake Muskoka, Meticulous Four Season, Entertainer’s Heaven, 2800 sq. foot true Post & Beam home that is entirely custom. The finest craftsmanship has gone into both the architecture and the design. Open concept and very light and airy decor with Canadian themes throughout. Long and sweeping...
A lovely cottage, in the blissful village of Windermere on Lake Rosseau in Muskoka, Ontario.
A newly architect renovated intimate space, rustic architecture finished in a romantic contemporary style. You will feel right at home, right away. Steps from the golf course, the Windermere beach,...
The cottage has 800 feet of shoreline with southern exposure ,the large lakeside deck leads to dual dock and scenic view on a secluded wooded private peninsula .This cottage is on 1.7 acres of wooded land. This cottage is on bass lake 100 feet from lake Joseph with nice bar and restaurant at the...
Million Dollar Lake views from Every Level. . .7 Seater Hot tub. . .Sleeps 10...All In The Heart Of Muskoka!!
Looking for something unique and upscale. You may have found it right here. Granite Point is perched atop a ridge overlooking Three-Mile Lake just north of Bracebridge in the heart of the...
Welcome to this quaint 3 bedroom cottage, situated on peaceful Long's Lake just 20 minutes away from the historic town of Huntsville. Recently renovated, the cottage is neat, bright and compact with hardwood flooring throughout the main living areas complimented with open posts and beams giving it...
The cottage itself is well-appointed and suits your large or extended family. A central living/kitchen/dining area will be the hub of family activity here when you aren't out and about or enjoying the lake. The well-appointed kitchen will delight the family chef, with stainless steel appliances and...
Private spacious fully equipped home on 8 acre forest with deer & wild birds, year round includes wi-fi. In Dorset, by Paint Lake connected to Lake of Bays.
*** When inquiring, please verify your inbox, junk, spam or promotions box as our emails do not always land in your Inbox. We reply within...
Unique apartment on the main street in Huntsville, just blocks away from the downtown core. It has a huge deck overlooking the Muskoka River and Hunters Bay. Its a two storey apartment, fully furnished, with fully outfitted kitchen. There is a great deck overlooking Hunters Bay. All bedding and...
NEWLY RENOVATED COTTAGE & SHORE-SIDE KIDS GAMES ROOM!
Enjoy one of the most coveted views on Six Mile Lake in Muskoka from this very private estate sized property with over 350' of gentle windswept granite shoreline. The property features expansive Westerly views, with kid safe coves, weed free...
REDUCED Weekly RATES for the month of June and September 8th till end of October ($1100 Saturday-Saturday) This beautiful 3 bedroom private cottage is an attractive affordable solution to your family vacation! The large deck offers wonderful views of Fox Lake and beautiful sunrises. The cottage is...
**NOTES ABOUT LINENS**
Linens services are included in all future weekly reservations and are an optional add on for all stays less then 1 week. We have pictured certain rooms in both formats to best reflect this option.
6 Bedroom, 3 Bathroom, Sleeps 16
Newly Constructed in 2014 Executive...
The luxury villas at this five-star resort are a rare find on beautiful Lake Joseph. For those who prefer to enjoy their vacations in high style, with almost every amenity on site, the all-season Muskokan Club Resort offers you the perfect place to enjoy Ontario's magnificent Muskoka area at any...
Located 20 minutes north of Huntsville and 15 minutes to the Tim Lake entrance to Algonquin Park. Our spotlessly clean 3 bedroom, one full bath cottage is cozy but spacious enough to sleep 6 people comfortably. The recently remodelled kitchen is fully equipped. Living room has a flat screen TV with...
It is located in the Peninsula lake , HIDDEN VALLEY RESORT ,, you are able to use all the hotel installation like swimming pools , tennis court, beach , sky slope in winter and as well 15 minutes from Huntsville , which is a beautifull town to enjoy your holidays having bars, restaurants and a 365...
This Muskoka gem overlooks the beautiful and private Prospect Lake. Come and enjoy the cottage life with all the comforts of home. The cottages can accommodate 18 guests so it makes it a great place for a family reunion or a group of friends to get together. Fish, swim or relax on our docks or...
Cottage life at it's best!
Thinking of renting your own piece of paradise on a private Island? Whisk away to this quiet private island cottage with your own boat or float plane.
East Island has the spectacular views, and the tranquility and ambiance for a restful, fun filled and enjoyable...
Enjoy a memorable summer vacation right on Lake Muskoka in a beautiful cottage getaway. Family friendly secluded bay located minutes from all the amenities of Bracebridge Ontario. World class restaurants, large box retail and many other attractions to enjoy nearby.
Sandy beach with shallow packed...
Our Luxury Executive cottage is located within the Gravenhurst region of Muskoka. It has 5 bedrooms plus a den, a living room, beautiful retro-kitchen, dining room with original painted tin ceiling, 3 bathrooms, a screened-in wrap-around porch overlooking the lake.
Hidden Retreat is a newly renovated and furnished 2 bedroom Condo located on Peninsula Lake. It is 2 minutes to the ski hill, 20 minutes to Algonquin Park, 5 minutes to 4 golf courses and 10 minutes to downtown Huntsville. The perfect location and the perfect home away from home. Complete...
In search of privacy, stunning views, beautiful natural waterfront and outstanding accommodation? This impressive architect owned and designed cottage delivers. Watch heron fly into the wetlands or otter swim by. Relax ... you have found 'Serenity'.
On Otter Lake, we frown on the noise and...
This turnkey retreat-style cottage offers spectacular lake views, post & beam craftsmanship and modern amenities all in a beautiful 1200 square foot loft style space. If you are looking for a true cottage experience without compromising on style and convenience this is for you. Take in the...
Modern (newly renovated bath and flooring) Buck Lake-Huntsville-Muskoka cottage offers beautiful sunrise views across the lake. Fully outfitted cottage with a wood burning stove in the main living room to spoil you with warm comfort, after spending a day on the sandy beach, or a day out ATV-ing,...
Come and enjoy Cotton Co's luxurious and private Muskoka lakefront Luxury Camping, Glamping wilderness experience. Just outside the town of Bracebridge, this secluded and quiet oasis is truly paradise. Accommodations are fully furnished and equipped and have on-suite bathrooms with running hot and...
Four Gables is a large 970 SQ’ 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom cottage with a full-sized, fully equipped kitchen. It is located under 150’ from the sandy shore of Peninsula Lake. Both bedrooms include a double and single bed. The living room is equipped with a wood burning fireplace and satellite TV. The...
Special Features
Here is a bright and spacious 6 bedroom cottage for the whole family. Come and enjoy this cottage getaway. Your family will thank you for it. everything is ready for yo to enjoy and have a blast
Less than 2 hours drive from Toronto
Brand New Pool Table
New Central Air...
COTTAGE
A magnificent year-round holiday retreat on picturesque Skeleton Lake. As the name Hermitage suggests, this unique property on 3.5 acres and 540 feet of lake frontage offers complete privacy and the perfect getaway. This million dollar plus property features a quality, custom-built cottage...
Clyffe House is a small, quiet cottage resort located on beautiful Mary Lake in the heart of Muskoka. Our private waterfront has a sandy beach for children and a shallow swimming area where even children can walk out 100 feet without it being over their head. (Lake bottom is firm-packed sand with...
This spacious 3 bedroom cottage with a direct view of the water features a Muskoka Room (3 season room surrounded with glass) located in the Blue Water Acres Resort on Lake of Bays.
The resort is set on a very large lot with cottages quietly nestled among the trees overlooking open meadows, a...
This is your opportunity to enjoy your summer vacation on a gorgeous, 7 acre waterfront property in Muskoka! This collection of vacation cottages sits on 215 feet of waterfront on Peninsula Lake; one of Huntsville's largest lakes. Ease into the waterfront via the hard packed sand entry or take...
Clyffe House is a small, quiet cottage resort located on beautiful Mary Lake in the heart of Muskoka. Our private resort waterfront has a sandy beach for children and a shallow swimming area where even children can walk out 100 feet without it being over their head. (Lake bottom is firm-packed sand...
Welcome to this gorgeous and spacious year-round 3 bedroom cottage on one acre of land overlooking peaceful Fox Lake. We just recently purchased this newly built Viceroy and being new to cottage life we immediately embraced the joy and serenity of being on the lake where the entire family, from the...
Newly built, million $$$, 3,000 sq ft custom lakefront villa, is now approx 90% complete. Posted rates are at a 40% 'under construction discount', and will apply until completion, anticipated by July 2018. All amenities and comfort features are functional now; some drywall, trim and custom...
Located minutes from Port Carling, the hub of the lakes, where there are boutiques, art galleries, shops, plus several great local restaurants, this location is for those who want a value holiday in the hub of Muskoka! This is a classic 6 bedroom viceroy cottage with a massive stone fireplace that...
1 1/2 hour drive north of Toronto. This beautiful cottage is located on a year round road, plowed by the Township in the Winter to make driving an ease. No steep hills or dangerous curves. Parking for 3 cars.
ACCOMMODATION:
Situated in quiet Barefoot Bay on picturesque Six Mile Lake. This...
The cottage has 800 feet of shoreline with southern exposure ,the large lakeside deck leads to dual dock and scenic view on a secluded wooded private peninsula .This cottage is on 1.7 acres of wooded land. This cottage is on bass lake 100 feet from lake Joseph with nice bar and restaurant at the...
Clyffe House is a small, quiet cottage resort located on beautiful Mary Lake in the heart of Muskoka. Our private waterfront has a sandy beach for children and a shallow swimming area where even children can walk out 100 feet without it being over their head. (Lake bottom is firm-packed sand with...
bedrockmansion dot com
A true Muskoka paradise. Nestled in the heart of Gravenhurst. This town is bustling with activity of cafes, shops, the marina, Boston Pizza 5-10 min. walk to the terraces on the marina. The huge Bedrock mansion is like something from a fable, with 2 acres of beautiful...
Beautiful country home on quiet, clean Loon Lake 10 minutes from Gravenhurst. All the amenities of a modern home; satellite TV, WiFi, 6 appliances, garbage pickup. Fully renovated in 2015! On a gentle sloping grade to the lake for swimming/boating! Screened in porch & surround deck. Propane BBQ...
The Perfect Private Luxury Chalet/Cottage In Muskoka! * Over 3800 Sqft * Located In A Private Bay w/ A Private Sandy Beach! * Crystal Clear Water w/ Large Shallow Area Great For Swimming! * Large Stone Patio w/ New Gas Weber BBQ & Large Fire Pit w/ Lake Views! * Night Sky is Full Of Stars! * New 7...
Beautiful renovated Muskoka getaway on Brandy Lake, a small and quiet lake less than 2 km long nestled between Lake Rosseau to the North and Lake Muskoka to the South. This is a gorgeous spot for the perfect family lakeside retreat. There is a 4th bedroom in the boathouse with double bed. Lovely... | {
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Most offences related to online harassment have previously been charged through the ancient Penal Code and the NCIC Act.
Once Uhuru signs the Bill, sharing fake news and propagating hate speech will attract an Sh5 million fine or a two-year prison sentence, or both.
Sharing pornography through the various electronic means will attract a maximum fine of Sh300,000 or 30 years in prison or both if proven.
Those found guilty of spreading child pornography face a fine of Sh20 million or 25 years in prison or both.
Cyberterrorism, according to the Bill attracts a maximum of Sh5 million in fines or 10 years in prison or both.
The election period ahead of the 2017 polls was infiltrated with fake news spread mostly through social media and messaging Apps.
During the debate in Parliament, MPs raised concerns that they were being sent nude photos by some lady they did not know.
The new law will be a welcome relief to the corporate sectors with Kenyan firms losing billions of shillings annually.
In April, IT services firm Serianu released its annual cybercrime report indicating that in Kenyan lost Sh21.2 Billion to cybercriminals.
This was an increase from the previous years with a 2017 report by Deloitte put the loss at Sh17.7 billion for 2016 and Sh15 billion in 2015.
At least a five million shillings fine or a jail term not exceeding three years or both upon conviction awaits hackers who gain unauthorized access to computer system.
Hackers will also be liable to a Sh10 million fine or 10 years in jail, or both if they commit any other crimes defined in the Bill once they illegally gain access.
The Bill also says that anyone found to have caused unauthorized interference to a computer system, program or data upon conviction is also liable to a fine not exceeding Sh10m or imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or both. | {
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HIRN, ḗrn, Gustave Adolphe (1815-90). A French physicist, born at Logelbach, near Colmar. When he was nineteen he entered his grandfather's cotton factory as chemist; afterwards he acted as engineer, and began his valuable researches on mechanics, and especially on calorics. He was made a member of the French Academy of Science in 1867; in 1880 founded a meteorological observatory near Colmar; and later devoted himself to astronomy. Hirn was educated in the shop, and his works are marked by much practical criticism of mere academic theory. They include: Theorie mecanique de lachaleur (3d ed. 1875-76); Analyse de l'univers (1869); Mémoire sur les anneaux de Saturne (1872); Les paradynamometres (1870); Étudesur une classe particuliere de tourbillons (1878); Recherches experimentales sur les relations entrela resistance de l'air et sa temperature (1882); La vie future et la science moderne (1882); and Constitution de l'espace celeste (1889). | {
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Kazakhstan
Mayor to attend 'Global Silk Road' event in Kazakhstan
Mayors from various cities across the world will be attending a two-day international mayor's forum in Kazakhstan capital Astana on July 2 and 3.
This global forum will be inaugurated by the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and is being held to mark the fifth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and as part of the 20th anniversary of Astana becoming the capital of Kazakhstan.
Africa, India, Europe, and Asia will be represented at this 'Global Silk Road' forum by the Mayor. For India, Mayor of Pune, Tilak Mukta Shailesh. Apart from Shailesh, the organizers of the event confirmed that mayors of London, Bangkokand Sydneyare also expected to take part. They also said that they expect more than 2000 participants from more than 60 countries.
These include 70 mayors from Silk Road countries, 30 political leaders, representatives of 200 chambers of commerce and industry, and transnational companies and more than 150 foreign speakers and moderators.
The primary aim of this global interaction is to develop new mechanisms for promoting regional peace, sustainable development, economic partnerships and strengthening of cultural exchanges.
Providing details of the event, Kazakhstan's Ambassador to India Bulat Sarsenbayev told ANI in an interview that, "Based on the results of the forum, it is planned to establish a Club of Cities Mayors, the Association of Businessmen, Universities, Journalists, Poets of the Silk Road Countries, as well as a platform for women and youth organizations."
A release provided by the Kazakhstan embassy in New Delhi said that a special participant will be the "Sophia Gynoid" developed by Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics. This robot has skills to adapt to human behavior and communicate with people. The "Sophia Gynoid" is the first robot in the world to be granted citizenship - by Saudi Arabia.
There will also be a football match played between one team comprising of mayors and governors of Kazakhstan and international football veterans.
A key highlight of the two-day event is celebrated Chinese artist Shu Yong's architectural masterpiece called the "Golden Bridge of the Silk Road". Based on the ancient Zhaozhou Bridge in China's Hebei Province, this large installation work, stretching 28 meters in length, will convey a message of a united community with a common future. It is being promoted as a cultural symbol of the BRI.
This work was previously showcased at the Milan Expo 2015 and was selected for the Forum of International Cooperation "Belt and Way" held in Beijing. It has also been showcased at other important events. | {
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Ely
Ely, Cambridgeshire is best known for its majestic cathedral dubbed the 'Ship of the Fens' because it dominates the flat landscape. The city, which is the second smallest in England, is about 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about 80 miles by road from London. | {
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Photos of the Week // Kinda North – Part 2
Spending an entire month chasing where the winter north swells could hit better by picking the best spot out of 10 every time! Ain’t really a problem. We had a car (close to run out of gas..) and three of the best young European surfers as guides: Tim Bisso, Gatien Delahaye and Erwin Taupinard on an Island called Guadeloupe which they simply call home.
They all grew up here and it’s always a privilege for them to spend the post competitive season surfing together, along with their crew. So home time got to be « la destruction! « , as said every time we get to a spot full of ramp sections!
Going through these Photos you’ll understand why these kids rip. A variety of spots going from beach breaks to scary shallow ones that would make you shit’n your pants, a solid crew of funny and motivated as hell friends and a perfect weather even tho it’s winter..
ABOUT
PICK AN ISLAND, CHOOSE YOUR FLAVOR.
Caribbean offers so many places and spots and such an amazing variety of interpretation of the Caribbean spirit and culture !
Surfing these places comes along all these facts and this magazine is here to capture it ! | {
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