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Many people leave their mantels empty until the holiday season, thinking that decorating the fireplace is only for the wintertime. We’re here to tell you that, in fact, the opposite is true. Decorating the mantel can be a year-round source of joy in your home — here are some game-changing fireplace decor ideas to prove it.
Ever since Polaroid cameras made a comeback, stringing or clipping small photos to a hanging thread or string has become a big trend. It may seem a little college “dorm-esque,” but with the backdrop of a stone or brick fireplace, it can actually be a nice feature. Plus, you don’t have to use Polaroid pictures, as wallet-size, 4-by-6-inch, and 5-by-7-inch photos can all work for this DIY trick, and you can hang them horizontally or vertically.
You have all that space on the top of your mantel — why not place some hanging indoor plants there? If you were thinking about hanging plants in your house or apartment, having a fireplace is a game changer because it eliminates the need to buy a hanging planter. Instead, the plant’s leaves or vines will drape right over the mantel in front of your fireplace. Some hanging indoor plants we recommend are a string of pearls, burro’s tail, Boston fern, ivy, or spider plant.
Here’s another huge trend that works surprisingly well in the home when placed on the fireplace: crystals. While some may find this trend played out, these majestic rocks look great either on the bottom or top ledge of a fireplace. Large crystals look best, although this also depends on the size of your mantel. Just don’t place any crystals that are too tiny for people to see from across the room. Some crystals we recommend are amethyst, rose quartz, jade, and tiger’s eye.
Repurpose your wine bottles and place them on the top of your mantel. Once you have a collection going, place some battery-powered string lights inside each one. This simple hack is a great way to brighten up your mantel even when the holidays are over.
Make your fireplace a cozy corner by laying down some blankets and pillows along the bottom — or even the top. Honestly, this is a great excuse to buy some really cute or fancy decorative pillows. Another fun thing you can do if your mantel is the right size (especially if you have kids), is to secure the top of a large sheet to the top of your mantel. Then, get a heavy pillow and secure the bottom of the sheet on the floor as far from the fireplace as it can go. Voila! Now you have a blanket fort.
Decorating the mantel doesn’t have to end when December does. The fireplace is actually a perfect spot for some fun decor projects. Consider any one of our fireplace decor ideas the next time you’re staring at a blank mantel.
- These coffee table Christmas decor ideas put a modern spin on old favorites
- Indulge in a little nostalgia and decorate for Christmas like a grandmillennial
- 10 stunning rustic Christmas decor ideas that actually feel fresh and modern
- Don’t fall into these 6 trendy decor traps this fall
- 7 Instagram fall decor trends people are going crazy over


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domain: entertainment


text:
GRAND RAPIDS -- A woman who was possibly drunk, according to police, drove her car into a building this morning and left a local locksmith with a damaged business and thousands of keys strewn on the floor.
"Speed and alcohol are factors," a Grand Rapids traffic investigator said this morning.
The crash left a mess behind for locksmith Rick DeHaan, whose family opened the business in 1969.
"I have 10,000 key blanks on the ground," DeHaan said early this morning.
"The counters are knocked off wall, and the key machine is knocked off the wall."
Even so, he hopes to be open for business today.
The woman is hospitalized in serious condition, a Grand Rapids police traffic investigator said.

domain: news


text:
After we woke up on the sixth day and made our way out of our rooms, we compared notes and discovered that most rooms in the hotel were falling apart. Luckily I did not have to deal with the broken sinks or dirty rooms that most others did. To mitigate our discontentment we stepped outside, where we were treated to an unbroken vista of the Mediterranean, sparkling right outside of our hotel. Sadly I slept late, and could only rush through breakfast before packing up my belongings and boarding the bus; there was no time to enjoy the view.
On the bus we sat through about an hour of stop and go traffic, evidently everywhere near Tel Aviv is like this, before reaching the city proper. We stopped along the side of one street and filed off the bus, only holding up traffic for a few minutes. We had arrived near Rabin Square, at the spot where Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. At the monument Shimi spoke to us about the assassination, and the life of Rabin.
Afterwards we went over to the square and did an activity that had us speak to Israelis that we ran into. I ventured out with a few other people, and we ended up talking to a group of soldiers about their hopes for Israel. After reconvening and sharing our findings we got back on the bus for a quick drive over to Independence Hall. At Independence Hall, the site of the signing of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, we attended an excellent lecture on the events surrounding the signing, and listened to the radio broadcasts from that day. The building had been transformed into a museum commemorating both the signing and the history of the city of Tel Aviv. Following the lecture we watched a short film about the founding of the city, and it was engaging enough that only a handful of people napped.
Now, to the great disappointment of all, we had to say goodbye to the soldiers who had been traveling with us for the past five days. We gathered in a circle and as each soldier said goodbye we shared how we had connected, and how they had helped show us a more personal side of the country. Of course once this was done we all left to get lunch, with the soldiers in tow, so it wasn’t a true goodbye, yet. We walked through the garment district, past shopfront after shopfront filled with hundreds of bolts of unique fabrics spanning every color under the sun. What shops that weren’t filled with fabrics held clothes, and wedding dresses in every style imaginable seemed to fill most of these windows.
At this point we split up to eat lunch and do some shopping, with instructions to meet back up in two hours. I ended up getting a burger, I was slightly worried about the lack of cheese going in, but found that guacamole with fried peppers makes an excellent substitute. I also got some wings, which were some of the best I’ve ever had, no matter what country I was in. Afterwards I walked around the garment district and through the open air market; it was just a smaller version of the market in Jerusalem. As our time wound down, and the sky started to open up, I grabbed a coffee and waited for the bus under a tree. Here we finally said goodbye to the soldiers, and started our long trip down to Arad.
Again, we sat through traffic as we left Tel Aviv, and then again as we passed by Jerusalem. Throughout the trip we did a lot of backtracking; evidently efficiency wasn’t a priority for our planners. The only thing to note on this trip was the strip mall where we stopped to stretch our legs a half hour out from the hotel. The strip mall itself wasn’t remarkable, but next to it was a playground. While walking around two of us stumbled on it, and to our delight it was nothing like playgrounds back home. The playground itself was huge, probably the size of a softball field, and dominating it was a huge jungle gym, reaching three stories into the sky and sporting three slides. One of these, a long corkscrew, started at the top of a three story tower, which I was able to summit by climbing up a rope ladder and a spiral staircase. Then, with not a little trepidation about its weight limit, I launched myself into the corkscrew slide. I bounced off the sides, and let my feet drag one too many times, but emerged from the bottom dizzy, and ready to run back to do it all over again.
We spent the entirety of the half hour we had at the playground, rode all the slides, climbed every tower, and swung every swing. By the end there were ten of us there, acting like kids again and loving every minute. Thinking back, it’s depressing that no kid in the US will ever get to play on a playground like that, it was possible to fall, and on slides that big someone could get hurt. But does eliminating every chance of injury really help anyone grow? I’ve never known anyone who’s been irreversibly scarred by breaking an arm as a kid.
Far too soon our time at the playground, and brief relapse into childhood, was at an end. We climbed back on the bus and dozed through the last hour of our trip to the hotel. Here we got settled in our rooms, ate, and and gathered for an activity called “Where the Wind Blows.” The activity was similar to “Never Have I Ever,” though adapted for a larger group. Quickly this became as perverted as every other game of “Never Have I Ever” I’ve played. After everyone had been thoroughly embarrassed, and some rather personal questions asked, we split up for the night. While the other groups in the hotel were getting up at four to do the sunrise hike of Masada, Shimi decided we would wait until a more reasonable hour. The next morning was supposed to be overcast anyway.
With a few more hours of sleep to waste, a bunch of us gathered at the bar to play cards. We past an hour like this, but unfortunately met a young kid on another trip dealing with a serious bout of homesickness. I say unfortunate because it was quickly apparent he was having some serious mental issues and we were left to shepherd him through them. This eventually led to the front desk waking up Shimi, thinking that this kid was in our group, and then his group leader. Eventually we were all able to get some to fitful sleep, though several hours later than we had originally planned.

domain: travel


EEOC Definition: Everything You Need to Know
The definition of EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), is a federal agency which administers and enforces federal laws regarding workplace discrimination in the United States. 8 min read updated on February 01, 2023
What Is the Definition of EEOC?
The definition of EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), is a federal agency which administers and enforces federal laws regarding workplace discrimination in the United States. It is a federal enforcement agency charged with ensuring that employers abide by and follow laws set out in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
What Is the EEOC?
Enforcing federal laws which make workplace discrimination illegal in the United States is the responsibility of the EEOC. This commission was formed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) as an organization within the federal government. The function of this agency is to enforce and interpret laws regarding workplace discrimination. In order to meet its objectives, the EEOC issues regulations interpreting the law, administers EEO laws for employees of the federal government, litigates cases of discrimination, and holds hearings. In addition, the EEOC receives discrimination charges from employees, researches these charges, and then tries to negotiate settlements between employers and employees.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) requires employers to ensure that promotions and employment cannot be based on someone’s religion, race, sex or national origin. Claims of discrimination in the workforce are investigated and any violators prosecuted by the EEOC. Anti-discrimination laws that protect employees from discrimination are also implemented by the agency. Many states (and even companies) have agencies that are similar to the EEOC to handle charges of discrimination at the local level.
Federal Laws Enforced by the EEOC
The EEOC is in charge of enforcing and interpreting most federal laws that make employment discrimination illegal (but not all of them). Title VII makes illegal discrimination in the workplace because of color, race, sex, national origin and religion. Courts have gone on to also interpret Title VII to make illegal “harassment” based on these same traits. In addition, Title VII keeps employers from retaliating against employees who make charges of discrimination or in any other way ask that their rights be observed.
A Supreme Court case in 1976 found that showing prejudice against women who are pregnant does not necessarily defy Title VII, Congress modified the law to ensure that it reflected the view that pregnancy discrimination is a form of sex discrimination.
Federal Laws Enforced by the EEOC
- The Equal Pay Act. This act demands that employers pay women and men equally for doing the same work. The Equal Pay Act was adopted before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it was initially administered by the Department of Labor.
- The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA protects applicants and employees with disabilities from bias and inequity. Applicants and Employees are safeguarded if they have a record of disability, have a disability, or are thought by the employer as having a disability (even if this assumption is wrong). Reasonable accommodations are required by the ADA to allow employees with disabilities to do their jobs.
- The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). Age discrimination against employees and applicants who are at least 40 is made illegal by the ADEA. The ADEA also demands employers to provide additional information to these protected older employees when they are asked to waive their right to sue for age discrimination and equal benefits for older employees.
- The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). Discrimination on the basis of genetic information is made illegal by GINA. This act also makes illegal employers collecting genetic information from or about employees and requires them to keep any genetic information they pick up confidential.
The EEOC’s Role
The EEOC’s role includes:
- Regulations and guidance. Laws passed that make discrimination illegal often require the EEOC to supply regulations that interpret and clarify the law. The EEOC also may issue regulations when important Supreme Court cases clarify the law or when a law is amended.
- Federal employee rights. Compliance in the federal government for EEOC regulations is the responsibility of the EEOC. If a government employee complains about harassment, discrimination, or retaliation, the employee must first file a complaint with the EEOC within the agency which the employee works, which processes and investigates the charge.
Charge processing. The charge-handling function is the primary way most employees encounter the EEOC. The EEOC takes complaints from employees and applicants of discrimination. A legal prerequisite to filing a lawsuit is filing a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; employees who don’t complain to the EEOC first (and therefore give it an opportunity to process the charge) won't be allowed to sue in court.
- The charge is received. The EEOC evaluates the employee’s claim. It then decides how it may proceed. If the agency concludes that it has no jurisdiction, it may dismiss the charge (because of a missed deadline to file a charge or the claims don’t violate the law).
- The charge is investigated. The EEOC may ask the employer and employee to provide information, interview witnesses, gather documents, ask the employer and employee to provide information and even visit the place where the charges took place.
- A settlement of the case may be mediated by the EEOC. Mediation is the process of getting the employee and employer together with a third party to resolve the problem. If employee and employer agree, the negotiated settlement will decide the case. The agency may also issue a conclusion that either no cause exists to believe that a regulation was violated or cause exists to believe discrimination took place.
- The EEOC may litigate the charge on behalf of the employee. Usually, the EEOC takes a case on only if it presents important or novel topics that the EEOC wants to bring to court. The employee may want to go ahead with a lawsuit while the EEOC is still processing the charge. In this case, the employee may ask for a right to sue letter. This document affirms that the employee has met the requirement of filing a charge and may go on to court.
Complaints Against the Federal Government
Within 45 days of the alleged discriminatory action, a federal job applicant or employee must file a complaint of discrimination based on color, race, sex, national origin, age, religion, or mental or physical disability to an EEOC counselor with the applicants’ or employees’ agency. The applicant or employee may file a formal complaint within 15 days of getting notice of the right to file a complaint if that complaint cannot be solved informally.
Under 1967’s Age Discrimination in Employment Act, a complaint against federal agencies or departments are required to be filed with the director of equal employment opportunity, head of that agency, head of an EEOC field office, or other official (designated by the agency). This requirement may be skipped by federal employees if they notify the EEOC within 180 days of the discrimination, and then wait 30 days before filing a suit.
Data on the employment status of members of minority groups and women are published by the EEOC. The EEOC collects information through six employment surveys. The surveys cover apprenticeship programs, private employers, state and local governments, labor unions, secondary and elementary schools, and Colleges and Universities. The agency then tabulates data on employees' racial, ethnic, and gender statistics. The product is then distributed to federal agencies who, in turn, make it available to the community.
EEOC Cracks Down on Retaliation
Due to the stifling nature of retaliation on employees who may not want to come forward and disclose their knowledge during investigations if they think it will cost them something, the EEOC has cracked down on this phenomenon. Retaliation can vary from unlawful discharge (for example a Human Resources professional who is performing EEO functions, terminated for it) to other adverse actions. If proven, these charges can result in both financial and disciplinary damages against the employer. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance takes an assertive attitude against retaliation, using a broad interpretation of this frequently encountered type of discrimination.
Retaliation charges have greatly outnumbered race discrimination since 2009. Now the most common basis for filing a discrimination charge is retaliation. Nearly 43 percent of all private-sector complaints filed in 2014 involved retaliation claims. That is two times as many as 1998, which was when the EEOC last issued retaliation guidance.
The EEOC has since explained in proposed updated guidelines that a retaliation claim must include:
- Employee engagement in protected activity (can be participation in EEO activity or the individual’s own opposition to discrimination)
- Adverse action taken by the employer
- A causal connection between the protected activity and the adverse action
Employees do not have to be in opposition to any employer behavior to be engaged in protected activity. Employees who willingly participate in employer inquiries into EEO complaints, or even give pro-employer or neutral information about an employer violation, or employees who ask religious practices or accommodation of disability, can be involved in protected activity.
The EEOC has disagreed with past courts’ findings holding that participation in EEO activity applies to in-house company investigations only when conducted in combination with a formal EEOC complaint. The EEOC guidance stated that the agency views “participation” as including in-house complaints to human resources, company management, or else made within the employer’s in-house complaint practice before any discrimination charge is filed with the EEOC (or a state or local Fair Employment Practices Agency).
Participation in either a formal EEOC complaint or an internal investigation does not keep workers from performance evaluation. The EEOC has acknowledged that employers can continue to discipline employees who have raised an EEO complaint. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t liabilities to be considered. Some managers think that they can take a negative action against an employee if they have made a groundless complaint, but even if the complaint is groundless, the employee may still have a retaliation claim if the employment action is adverse, unless the complaint was made for some illegitimate reason or made in bad faith. Current employees may think they are protected by simply raising any employment-related concern, and then any action taken against them can be called “retaliation” even if it isn’t termination.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines state that opposition safeguards all employees, including managers and those in Human Resources. Protected opposition examples include
- Complaining about discrimination against others or themselves.
- Counseling an employer on EEO compliance, such as Human Resources reporting violations to leadership, or threatening to complain.
- Reporting evidence in an employer’s internal inquiry of an EEO matter.
- Repelling sexual advances or interceding on behalf of others.
- Declining to comply with an order reasonably understood to be discriminatory.
- Passive resistance, for example, if a supervisor decides to not carry out a manager’s direction to put a damper on subordinates filing complaints about discrimination.
- Asking for reasonable accommodations for religious reasons or a disability.
Punishment for discussing pay may fall under EEO laws and the NLRA (National Labor Relations Act). That issue may not be on employer’s radar. Some of the guideline’s examples of protected opposition reflect newer EEOC positions. For example, if an employee believes she is being hassled by colleagues based on her sexual orientation and files a complaint with HR or her manager and human resources. Another example, if an employee believes she is being harassed by colleagues based on her gender and complains to her HR department or her manager and human resources. Protected opposition applies because Title VII (of the Civil Rights Act of 1964). Because the EEOC’s stated position and prosecution efforts, individuals may have a reasonable belief that this type of sexual orientation discrimination is illegal as a form of sex discrimination under Title VII. In protecting itself from any number of types of retaliation claims, it’s vital for an employer to show consistent enforcement of rules and for any discipline to be well-documented. It’s important that an employer has a handbook that reflects this.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Culture
The National Organization for Women (NOW) was organized in the 1960s when the EEOC failed to act upon the Civil Rights Act's sexual discrimination clause.
If you need help understanding the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or have any other legal concern, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel’s marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law School and Yale Law School and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.


Neil was a dark green tank engine with an unusual box shape and a Scottish accent. He is a simple but kind engine who befriended Skarloey when he was young.
Built at the Neilson and Company Works in Glasgow, Scotland in the 1860s, Neil was part of the Sodor and Mainland Railway and helped to ferry Skarloey from the port of Kirk Ronan to his home at the Skarloey Railway terminus of Crovan's Gate. Very little is known about Neil, or what happened to him following the amalgamation of the S&M with the other railways on Sodor to become the North Western Railway. Undoubtedly, he was most likely scrapped when deemed to be outdated or incapable of dealing with the more modern day workloads.
Skarloey said Neil was ugly but kind, and they soon became friends.
Neil was painted dark green with "S&M 2" written on his tank sides in yellow.
In Sodor: Reading Between the Lines, Christopher Awdry states that Neil's class is unknown. However, he strikingly resembles a Neilson 0-4-0 box tank, a simple and robust class of engine built in Glasgow and sold all over the world. This would explain both his name and his accent.
|Other Sudrian railways|
|Neil • Sodor and Mainland Railway Numbers 1 and 3 • "Coffee Pots" • Wellsworth and Suddery Railway Tank Engines • Midland Railway Engines • The Little Blue Tank Engine • The Dark Green Tank Engine|


text:
CAN INDOMITABLE LIONS ROAR BACK?
By: Lungelo Ngcamu
After a disastrous World Cup in South Africa, Cameroon head to Brazil next month hoping to salvage their pride.
The West Central African nation had an early exit in 2010 after losing all of their three games. In fact, out of six World Cup appearances, they have managed to advance to knockout stages once, in 1990. Since then, they have not been able to find their rhythm.
The four-time African Cup of Nation champions made their World Cup debut in 1982. The Indomitable Lions was 1 of the 10 CAF countries to play the continental play-offs last year. They booked a ticket to the World Cup after seeing off Tunisia 4-1on aggregate.
Cameroon striking sensation Samuel Eto’o, Barcelona’s Alexandre Song and Stephane Mbia from Sevilla have work on their shoulders to ensure their nation restore their pride.
Their chances to make it to the next round look slim. It won’t be an easy tournament as they are housed with the hosts Brazil, Mexico and Croatia in Group A.
Speaking to Reuters news agency, coach Volker Finke said, “I’m working on the team spirit and to find a solid unit where all have to provide each other spirit and the team. I support everyone, I encourage individuals but it must be to serve the collective. You can be individualistic but not selfish.”
Cameroon has set three friendly games to prepare themselves for the most coveted football tournament. Finke’s men will play Macedonia and Paraguay in friendlies on May 26 and 29, and before meet Germany on June 1.
They will kick-off their World Cup campaign against Mexico on June 13 where they have to collect maximum points to boost their confidence.
“Against Mexico, it is clear that we want to win, so we have to master a way to be very offensive against them without allowing them the opportunity to play us on the counter attack. We must know how to control the pace of the game,” Finke was quoted as saying on Reuters.
They have a tough task ahead of them, although many of their players have experience and are playing in major leagues.
It’s very difficult to predict the position where Finke’s boys can finish but nevertheless with their experienced squad, they can make a big surprise.


text:
If you love Lesley Pearse, you're sure to fall for Tamara McKinley.
Miriam Strong has been looking forward to her family arriving at Bellbird Station to celebrate her seventy-fifth birthday, and she can't imagine how anything could go wrong. But then questions are raised about a stolen inheritance, and everyone is surprised to discover that Miriam has hidden the existence of a dangerous personal enemy. Miriam's granddaughters are drawn into the conflict, and a hero emerges in the person of Jake Connor, a high-minded lawyer determined to discover the truth. Summer Lightning is a feel-good family epic with a dark heart.

domain: library


text:
Monitoring of rivers in the UK has not been updated since the 1970s and only provides a snapshot of the state of water quality, making restoration efforts difficult.
The four British nations have similar methods when it comes to policing rivers. In England, for example, the Environment Agency (EA) takes water samples once a month to measure levels of pollutants such as phosphates and nitrates. These can lead to a lack of oxygen in the water, leading to suffocation of aquatic animals and plants.
Of the UK’s nearly 1,500 rivers, samples are collected from more than 1,000 fixed locations, usually in the middle of the week between 9am and 4pm, says Pete Lloyd, a former EA official. This does not give an accurate picture and may “reflect the state of the river for just a few minutes,” he says.
Most pollutants enter rivers after rainfall, either by runoff from farmland or when raw sewage is diverted from sewers so it doesn’t overfill and flow back into homes, Lloyd says. With current sampling methods, in use since the 1970s, when data collection occurs after a rainfall, it is a coincidence.
“I understand why we monitored rivers this way 50 years ago – we didn’t know what was actually causing problems for rivers, so sampling sounds like a good idea,” he says lloyd “But now that we know the issues, why not be more selective in our surveillance? The system has been outdated for decades.”
According to Penny Johnes of the University of Bristol, UK, this under-sampling means there are “absolutely colossal” uncertainties in our knowledge of UK rivers. In 2007, she examined 39 years of daily data on total river phosphorus concentrations, defined as a measure of the pollutant in all forms. High levels of total phosphorus can lead to algal blooms, which can reduce oxygen levels in the water, block sunlight and release harmful toxins.
To mimic the EA’s sampling, Johnes analyzed data collected from different rivers on the same day each month and compared it to the original data set. She found that looking at water quality just once a month is missing important information about when phosphorus levels are changing. “The way we monitor rivers varies greatly in time and space,” says Johnes. “It’s not useful and hasn’t been for a long time.”
While Johnes examined total phosphorus levels, UK regulators do not routinely monitor it in rivers, although the government aims to reduce runoff from farms into water bodies by at least 40 per cent by 2038. Only the EA monitors rivers for reactive phosphorus, a soluble form that a spokesman says is the type most easily taken up by plants and algae. But Johnes says undissolved phosphorus runoff from farms accounts for two-thirds of the pollutant in UK rivers.
Authorities also don’t regularly monitor the rivers for chemicals in consumer goods and pharmaceuticals, Johnes says. The EA spokesman says more than 1,600 chemicals are being searched for, but Johnes says thousands of newly synthesized chemicals could still be entering rivers unchecked.
Speaking on behalf of all UK regulators, the EA spokesman said they are working with the pharmaceutical industry and research bodies to set up a working group to look for medicines in sewage discharges.
According to Johnes and Lloyd, the solution to the uncertainties in river monitoring is to introduce tighter controls on water quality and be more selective in sampling. “If you want to find out how farming affects a river, you need to collect samples after it rains,” says Lloyd. “If you want to find out how wastewater affects a river, you need to collect samples near a wastewater overflow after it has rained,” he says.
Much of this could be done via electronic sensors that fit into riverbanks and automatically record pollutant levels, Johnes says. Some of these already exist, but more is needed with a more thorough analysis of their data, she says.
The recent uproar over UK river sanitation, a problem that probably existed for years before becoming a popular issue, is a good example of how poor water quality monitoring has disappointed the public, says Lloyd.
That changed when Peter Hammond, a former mathematics professor, submitted a request for information, which found that untreated sewage had been dumped into England’s Windrush River 240 times in the past three years. He then sent dozens of similar requests to water companies across the country, revealing the scale of the problem. “Our surveillance system never detected it,” says Lloyd. “If so, maybe we could have done something about it by now.”
- Save Britain’s rivers

domain: chemistry


text:
Grants and Contracts Details
Despite remarkable efforts to defeat Alzheimer’s disease (AD), existing research has not realized an effective treatment because of the disease’s complexity. Researchers have, however, identified ~30 AD risk loci, allowing molecular researchers to begin establishing the underlying biology. Understanding how top AD risk genes drive disease is vital, yet few AD risk genes have a known functional mutation, and AD gene RNA isoforms are poorly characterized in diseased brains. For approximately 27 loci, it is not even clear which gene is involved (e.g., PICALM locus). We are missing most specific mutations initiating disease. Large short-read sequencing efforts are underway to identify small functional variants involved in AD, but structural DNA mutations also cause neurodegenerative disease. In fact, researchers discovered an ABCA7 repeat expansion associated with AD (OR=4.5). Similarly, most RNASeq studies ignore individual isoforms. We hypothesize that undiscovered structural mutations and aberrant RNA isoforms play a direct role in AD, and a thorough study targeting top AD loci in diseased brain with long-read DNA and RNA sequencing will complement current short-read efforts, providing important disease insights. Given the impending healthcare crisis from an aging population, identifying functional mutations and aberrant RNA isoforms in the diseased tissue is critical. Our central hypothesis is that structural DNA mutations and aberrant RNA expression in the brain cause, or increase risk for AD, and we seek to identify these mutations by targeting the diseased brain. Our aims are a focused approach to interrogate AD within the diseased tissue, which will ultimately be the fastest, most efficient path to reveal the underlying biology and facilitate diagnostics and effective therapeutics.
|Effective start/end date
|11/1/19 → 10/31/23
- Alzheimers Association: $37,967.00
Explore the research topics touched on by this project. These labels are generated based on the underlying awards/grants. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

domain: biology


text:
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I'm new to DayZ and im just curious, how many of you guys play solo? (self.dayz)
submitted 4 years ago by bad_bass
Is it realistically possible to walk the roads alone? Any advice for a new solo player?
[–]TwoFingerDiscount 12 points13 points14 points 4 years ago (2 children)
Trust no one, stock up on meat, always carry 2 morphines, and smoke grenades are your best friend,
[–]Spoonicus 2 points3 points4 points 4 years ago (0 children)
Bandages.. dont forget the bandages!
[–]MilStd 4 points5 points6 points 4 years ago (0 children)
Nice to finally find someone else that appreciates smoke 'nades.
Great zombie distraction. Anyone else use cans to break windows and distract zombies?
[–]Borne 13 points14 points15 points 4 years ago (4 children)
I play alone when I don't have friends online to play with.
My advice is to try to avoid groups of other people and stock up on meat since you have no-one to give you bloodbags, and don't run into a big city looking for trouble
[–]DemetriMartinrocket pls boxing gloves O=('-'Q) 5 points6 points7 points 4 years ago (1 child)
I've made a few steam friends over the last couple months that play in a similar schedule to me. Now we're like a squad going around town looting and pillaging.
Just be friendly to people you meet and once and while you'll find someone cool.
[–]Knuckledustr༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ GIVE HUGS 2 points3 points4 points 4 years ago (0 children)
This right here. I often play with up to 8 people, but solo is a good way to get around unnoticed. The more of you there are, the more likely shit is going to go down.
[–]Fultjack 2 points3 points4 points 4 years ago (0 children)
Also don't shoot zombies if you can avoid it. It will give away your position to hostile players. The hatchet is your friend.
[–][deleted] 17 points18 points19 points 4 years ago (5 children)
I play mostly solo (until next year) and I will tell you this:
-Get lots and lots of meat
-Trust absolutely NO ONE
-Limit your time near the coast as much as possible
-Carry at least 2 of every medical item
-Try to join servers with a low population of players
After all of this, go to a pub in Cherno, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of this to blow over...
[–]Cameron121Flashlight Jedi 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (4 children)
You forgot to go to the Winchester silly you.
[–][deleted] 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (3 children)
Unfourtunately, the Chernarussians don't have a pub named the Winchester. Only in the UK, I guess.
[–]Cameron121Flashlight Jedi 1 point2 points3 points 4 years ago (2 children)
Well go to the enfield !
[–][deleted] 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (1 child)
[–]Cameron121Flashlight Jedi 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (0 children)
I know I'm a horrible person.
[–]PotentialNinja 9 points10 points11 points 4 years ago (1 child)
Yeah plenty of people play alone. Just always try to be aware of your surroundings. Scout places out for a while. Be patient. Don't get attached to gear. It gets a little boring, i'll be honest. But I enjoy the freedom of it. When I joined up with some people it always seemed to turn into "Let's go to cherno." I prefer to see how long I can stay alive, not throw my stuff and time spent on that character away because of boredom.
I also seem to be much more patient than the people I group up with. I'll gladly go the long way around a town or the airfield if I feel I can get a better vantage point elsewhere or end up with some sort of advantage. Groups usually seem to just charge in. I was with one group that threw a damn smoke grenade every time a zed got mad. facepalm. So much for the element of surprise.
[–]NoigelArcane 5 points6 points7 points 4 years ago (0 children)
Well said! I can keep a character alive for a good long while, barring hackers, if I'm alone... but if I team up with someone we usually end up dying pretty quickly. I think it is lack of patience.
I've found that most teammates want to take on "low-survivability" fights where if I was solo I could wait until the odds turn it into my favor or I could choose to avoid it all together.
Also it's hard for a group to remain stealth and move at a smart pace. Big props to Oshi, Sacriel, Ngotie, the whole crew for doing this... I want to approach DayZ like that... it's more common for two guys to bumble straight to the same loot spot... the one in back thinking about how much of a bad idea it is... the one in front completely ignorant.
So Perks of loner-ism:
- Choices are not a democracy
- No miscommunication
- Increased patience and strategy
- Much, much, much, more stealth
- Sole ownership of bounty!
- If someone is shooting in your direction... it is at you. No Star Trek red-shirts to absorb bullets
- Useless blood bags, forced to become excellent campfire grill-master
- You have to cover all sectors
- Much more difficult to flank enemy players
- One man search party for vehicle repair
- Solo heli-use is difficult, almost not worth trying
[–]LineNoiseIt's grim up north 7 points8 points9 points 4 years ago (0 children)
Learn to track players. I think it's probably the single most important skill for a few reasons.
First, the same tell tales that allow you to track are also the tell tales that allow you to avoid encounters where you're not in a position or mood for them.
Secondly, so long as you're not after exceptionally high tier gear tailing other players or squads can actually be a very viable strategy. People tend to loot and move on and by following a player into location you get the advantage of having zombies spread distant from buildings, loot already spawned and you don't give away your position by popping peripheral dots up on the screens of those nearby.
Tailing also gives you a warning about dangers ahead. If anyone is going to stumble into the ambush, the bandit squad or the line of sight of a sniper it's probably going to be muggins up front. Snipers who get a clean kill against a seemingly solo player often won't relocate giving you an opportunity to flank around behind their position. Also, even the scraps from an encounter between two geared up squads can be pretty impressive.
Finally, if you intend to kill your target but can reliably follow them over long distance you get to wait for an opportune moment to pick them off quietly. This also means you can wait for a moment that suits your current armament.
Just bear in mind that tracking doesn't necessarily (and normally shouldn't) mean always having eyes on your target. You want to be a couple of minutes behind them, ideally with the ability to get eyes on quickly and as needed from good vantage. At other times you need to work from peripheral dots, sound and knowledge of the map.
[–]CheckPlease 5 points6 points7 points 4 years ago (10 children)
I try to play with a friend but we can never find each other so we usually spend hours running to each other just to die on the way lol.
[–]simiancanadianHatchet that ghillie 6 points7 points8 points 4 years ago (0 children)
How tragicly romantic!
[–]Duckstiff 3 points4 points5 points 4 years ago (8 children)
Yeh, to me it would make stand alone 2x as good if I could just spawn with my friend.... group spawning.
Not realistic? Bullshit, if I survived the initial out break with a bandage, painkillers and flashlight surely I would of been able to do that with a friend. Sure it would break balance when 6/7 people spawn together but if you just put a 2/3 player cap on group spawning then it wouldnt be too bad at the moment specifically with Chenarus (since they removed respawn) I can spend over an hour trying to meet my mate. On a private hive it isnt so bad as the characters load fast after suicide but on DayZ Hive it takes 1/2 minutes per go at character just to load and hten you have to find somewhere to die.
[–]moranger 1 point2 points3 points 4 years ago (2 children)
I agree, I think the game would be a lot more fun with group-spawning. Most people who play DayZ disagree so it's nice to see someone with a similar opinion.
[–]komichi1168 1 point2 points3 points 4 years ago (1 child)
group spawning would be nice if you are both dead and restarting, however being able to spawn on your buddy right at your dead corpse kind of removes the risk factor.
[–]moranger 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (0 children)
Oh yeah, totally. Everyone should be dead to group spawn. And It's not like the two or more people who newly spawn together would be at any sort of advantage against 1 person with a makarov.
[–]ffilps -2 points-1 points0 points 4 years ago (4 children)
it would take a lot of fun out of the game if you could spawn a group of 10 people in the same spot. if you can't "read" your surroundings and navigate in the world, you will never meet each other. this is great.
[–]Duckstiff 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago* (3 children)
it would take a lot of fun out of the game if you could spawn a group of 10 people in the same spot.
it would take a lot of fun out of the game if you could spawn a group of 10 people in the same spot.
Like I said put a hard cap on the group spawn to prevent 10 people drop squading Kamenka, when you say fun? How exactly do you mean that? I've never really once enjoyed having to jam a fork in my W key so I can sprint 7KM down the coast to meet my friend only to be killed on the way... Oh fun? Yeh I'm sure it is. This is why the other maps are so much better at the moment, Panthera is much easier to meet up on due to the spawns and vehicles, Namalsk is at such a size meeting up isn't much of a problem. Though Chenarus requires you to either run the coast and risk being sniped or run through forests from top to bottom so me and my friend can embrace but hold up... we've ran so far we've spent 30 minutes running non stop and now we need food and drink.
if you can't "read" your surroundings and navigate in the world, you will never meet each other.
if you can't "read" your surroundings and navigate in the world, you will never meet each other.
No, I don't even need to read the map I know it well back from playing Arma 2 but also by knowing the map I know that when my friend spawns in Kamenka and I spawn up by Solnichny we're not going to meet each other in our lives unless we go for a nice long run... which isn't a lot of fun when by the time I get there I've probably been blasted by an AS50 or M107.
this is great.
this is great.
No, its just annoying because all people do including myself is suicide until we both spawn near each other.
I'm not suggesting I can squad spawn onto someone when they're up at the NWAF but all I'm saying is we need a way so we can spawn on the coast at the same time with one or two friends. In its current form its not fun for those who are just starting or aren't playing in large groups, sure its fine if you have 2 ATVs a Huey, Ural, Motorbikes etc but not everyone has that and not everyone wants to run for 30 minutes down the coast being killed by "Bandits" in the hope that I can meet up with my friend. It is realistic in this setting to think my survivor would have got this far with a companion.
I just don't see how it would be game breaking to allow 2-3 people to spawn in with standard weapons on the coast together.
[–][deleted] 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (0 children)
I enjoy the different spawns. Whenever I play with friends we set a rally point (e.g devils castle or NWA) then before we play together, we each have to get to the rally point. Playing alone is scary as fuck and getting to the rally can be just as intense and a lot of fun.
Edit: just wanted to add, that having group spawns would be like the Taxi cab system in GTAIV. Granted it made things easier, but i felt like it ruined the immersion aspect of the game.
[–]Trolltrollrolllol -1 points0 points1 point 4 years ago (1 child)
Left4Dead lets you spawn with your friends.
[–]Duckstiff 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (0 children)
Cool, avoiding the point
[–]blackthunder365 4 points5 points6 points 4 years ago (0 children)
Make sure you have a primary weapon, pistol, hatchet, matches, hunting knife, morphine, painkillers, and bandages. Always move as if you're in the crosshairs of a sniper, and always scan bigger towns before going in them. For Starry and NWAF watch for like 10-15 minutes before entering, and even then never stay longer than you must.
[–]TelstarGlitchI'm Always Friendly 3 points4 points5 points 4 years ago (0 children)
Solo play is very viable, you just have to be smart, stay on low-pop servers, and avoid traffic areas. Without a squad to back you up, countering bandits in the north is nearly impossible. I die nearly every time I come under fire because it's usually coming from a treeline or other concealed location, and I can't find the sniper because I don't have a second set of eyes.
So if you do solo, stick to the trees, don't go poking your head out in a major town during prime-time, and avoid other players at all costs, unless you've been stalking them and know they're alone. If so, you can attempt to friendly up, but honestly up north you're probably just going to get shot.
GET. A. MICROPHONE. If you bump into a squad or even another player at close range, screaming "FRIENDLY FRIENDLY FRIENDLY!" will on occasion save your skin from getting turned into swiss cheese. If it's another solo player and they respond, try to negotiate a cease-fire by putting your guns down and talking. If its a group, it's pretty much up to them whether you live or die. Good luck.
[–][deleted] 2 points3 points4 points 4 years ago (0 children)
It's possible, but more difficult and lonely. I like having a friend or two to play with, rolling around in a vehicle. As for advice, stick to the small villages and towns. Don't pretend to be intimidating. Run from threats if possible.
[–]Duckstiff 4 points5 points6 points 4 years ago (8 children)
I play alone a lot, not by choice but by game design.
Me and my friends are nomads and don't usually stick around on the same server unless we find a real gem of one. Though even 3/4 of us can join the same server it tends to be impossible for the 4 of us to link up on Chenarus in an hour due to random spawning and being killed by bandits.
Standalone really needs some form of group spawn otherwise its just going to be another ball ache to play with friends.
[–]RockjobLoner 2 points3 points4 points 4 years ago (5 children)
Yes. I hope Rocket sees this squad spawn idea.
[–]ffilps 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (4 children)
i hope it too. and i hope he will say "this is a bad idea and i will not do this carebear-change".
[–]Duckstiff 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (3 children)
It just makes sense... it would be logical for me to have survived the outbreak with a friend rather than completely on my own with only a flashlight, bandage and painkillers.
[–]Trolltrollrolllol 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (2 children)
Allowing people to dictate where they spawn as a group completely goes against what makes this game great. It would have to be some kind of random squad spawn or something, in either case I don't think it will work.
[–]Duckstiff 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (1 child)
They only choose who they spawn with, I log onto a server and my friends join me. We've never been on it and we have no gear, we "squad up" before we press join. We go in, both of us spawn at Kamenka. We have no option where we spawn but only that we spawn together and we can only do it when we are both dead.
The game isn't hard/difficult because I can't spawn with my friends, its just inconvenient that I have to spend 30+ minutes of gameplay I don't particularly enjoy just to link up with and probably be sniped on the run to him. It is in no way game breaking, if we both spawn in Kamenka we both have to loot the same town and thus we have to share the loot... we're not getting it any quicker and we're not a threat to begin with as we spawn with the standard stuff.
I like a game being difficult but I don't like games and players that pretend believe those games are difficult by having inconvenience. It would be like saying World of Warcraft is difficult over Guild Wars 2 because I have to go to the bank to deposit my inventory... its not difficulty just convenience.
[–]RockjobLoner 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (0 children)
You could balance it by making group spawns further away from the high value towns and vice versa, single spawns being just outside cherno.
Another semi-related point: Have the saved player location to be server specific. Stops people server hopping to farm high value sites and using a 2nd server to flank people. If you a join a new server, despite your epic loadout, you spawn on the beach.
Whilst some love the hardcore aspect of the game and the punishment of 30mins travel to meet up with your squad after getting killed, perhaps there is a way to cater for the people who only have 20mins to spare for the game.
[–]ffilps 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (1 child)
standalone really does not need such a feature.
For what reasons?
If it doesn't need such a feature, it doesn't need high end military gear under any circumstances.
[–]sturmblast 1 point2 points3 points 4 years ago (0 children)
I used to play with some people but grew tired of them so I'm back to solo again. I would say I miss it. It's kinda a whole different thing on your own.
[–]dancebeats 1 point2 points3 points 4 years ago (0 children)
ive been solo for the most part. if you are still on public servers, expect to die, a lot. once you make a jump to private servers, its easier for people to recognize you and you can tell whos doing the killing after a while making it easier for solo survival. the good thing is that you can get by with the basics like a lee and a revolver or makarov and theres always plenty if ammo for either of those. and if you want military loot, you can always hop from one deer stand to the next. matches, a map and a good backpack however are essential. once you get used to the basics of solo survival, then you can become more active and choose to engage or venture into the larger towns.
[–]TheNextLiamNeeson 1 point2 points3 points 4 years ago (0 children)
Well I wouldn't advise walking on the roads... But yes if you gear up in low(er) population areas like Berezino compared to Cherno, and are vigilant to avoid dying unnecessarily in the open it can be just as exciting and rewarding. IMO it's like two very different games playing on your own or with people, I don't know which is my favourite yet.
[–]Kobra_Kai 1 point2 points3 points 4 years ago (0 children)
My best advice would be to find a "Non-pvp" server to practice getting around, and looting while avoiding zombies. Most of the players and admins on the ones I've played are friendly and will help you out.
Then, when you feel confident enough, head into the shit.
[–]FrostyXylophoneChristian 1 point2 points3 points 4 years ago (0 children)
On a regular night, I play with a couple buddies of mine, but occasionally I don't send out that mass text inviting them to come play. I find it easier sometimes to play alone. You never have to worry about their actions or where they are and how things might play out for them. You don't have to share gear, everything you find is yours. It's much easier to stay hidden, I find it unnecessary to try to get by large groups of zombies while playing with friends since it is almost certain that we will be spotted, but by myself i am able to slip straight passed them.
[–]justsayingguy 2 points3 points4 points 4 years ago* (0 children)
I play solo because i have no friends who play, i also have only limited experience.
But here are some good tips i learned from guides,videos,play time.
1.Trust no one.
2.Read up on Dayz Wiki - Weapons and there damege
3.Use this map to show where you can find loot and vehicles. Chernarus map
4.Find a private hive. Public servers are riddled with hackers and unpleasant players.
5.Too find North without a compass all you need to do is look up and watch the clouds. The clouds move east.
6.It's a good idea to make a camp deep in the woods to store your items. You can pitch a tent,Witch you have to find, and use it as a storage for your gear, It also saves the gear if the server is restarted, just make sure to save the tent. Watch out tho, players can take items out of there.
7.Guns and ammo make different noise levels. The louder the gun/ammo the farther away players can here you, including the zombies
[–]Tovervlagwww.youtube.com/barelyinfected 3 points4 points5 points 4 years ago (2 children)
I play alone too. When I meet up with someone ingame it's a 50% chance they betray you.
[–]blackthunder365 11 points12 points13 points 4 years ago (1 child)
More like 90%.
[–]plastslev༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ GIVE SA 1 point2 points3 points 4 years ago (0 children)
97,3% to be exact, I did the math.
[–]magenta_placenta 1 point2 points3 points 4 years ago (0 children)
I play mostly alone...Don't listen to the "trust no one" people. You can't team up with someone if you don't interact with them. Try interacting with people to see if they want to team up. Note: If someone has the bandit skin (head scarf), stay away.
There are lots of other lone wolves out there.
[–]notsolurkinglurkerJackass Tactics 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (0 children)
Stay vigilant and aware of your surroundings. Get as much food, water, and medical supplies when you spawn. Kill bandits on sigt (you can identify bandits by the white turban wrapped around their head). Talk with other survivors, but also dont be off guard and never turn your back to someone who claims them selves as "friendly". If you can get 1-2 friends to play with you, things will be much easier.
[–]MrScraxScrax 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (0 children)
Only way to play is solo. Everyone else is slowing you down. Only tip you'll ever need is:
You're never safe, so don't play like it.
[–]StarSythMABU 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (0 children)
two kinds of people play dayz both complain about each other yet could not play without the other.
Bandits and Friendlies
Bandits tend to kill on sight, either because of paranoia, greed or bloodlust. Treat them like you would a shark, if you act like pray they will treat you as such.
Friendlies on the other hand are people who try not to shoot everyone they encounter. This is normally down to them wanting to be a "good" guy and gaining the hero skin attached to that status or because they are bad at pvp.
Lastly, most long time players look forward to dying. Respawning and starting again is actually rather fun compaired to the paraniod world of the well geared player has to live. When your a new spawn you have nothing to lose and everything to gain, remember that next time it takes 10 new spawns to kill that 1 sniper in electro, who actually lost somthing?
[–]TheBrakeMan 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (0 children)
My friends and I usually play solo at the beginning of a life, trying to gear ourselves up a little on our own. After that we meet up to go after more important stuff like large quantities of medical supplies or military gear. If I have a lot of good gear I tend to be extremely cautious when playing solo.
Are you playing alone on preference? I personally played alone one day and was just friendly until I found a group to team up with and boom I now have a group to play with pretty much whenever. It's one of those lucky things but solo doesn't necessarily mean you have to go bandit.
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In her filed lawsuit with the Santa Clara County Superior Court, Lee alleges she was groped, slapped and sexually harassed by coworkers, according to The Mercury News.
The suit follows the tech outlet facing a series of claims of sexual misconducts and gender discrimination.
The company fired James Damore, former engineer for Google, after he circulated a memo stating there was a biological explanation to why woman were paid less.
Last Wednesday, another former Google engineer Tim Chevalier sued the company for firing him over posting what he described as politically liberal content on internal message boards.
And in September 2017, three former women employees, Kelly Ellis, Holly Pease and Kelli Wisuri filed a class-action lawsuit, alleging they were paid less than their male counterparts who had similar roles.
Loretta Lee Google sexual harassment suit insinuates bro culture and the failure to take corrective action.
In her suit, Lee alleges male employees groping and slapping her before she was let go in 2016. She claims the company was notified by the continuous sexual harassment while declining to do anything to prevent it.
The suit described an incident where a co-worker popped up from underneath Lee’s desk one night and told her ‘she’d never know what he’d been doing down there’.
She reportedly was afraid he had left a camera or device installed underneath her desk.
The suit said ‘Google’s bro culture’ contributed to (Lee’s) suffering frequent sexual harassment and gender discrimination, for which Google failed to take corrective action.
Lee was first hired for the company in 2008 at their Los Angeles campus before she was moved to the main location in Mountain View.
She claims the environment she experienced at the company for eight years was ‘severe and pervasive’ daily.
The lawsuit said she also experienced lewd comments, male colleagues spiking her drinks with whiskey, and males shoot her with Nerf balls.
One male colleague allegedly sent Lee a text message asking for a ‘horizontal hug’ and another showed up at her apartment unannounced with alcohol.
In one incident, the female engineer accused a male colleague having grazed his hand across her breasts.
Lee was told by superiors to file an official complaint regarding the man who groped her, but she said she was afraid of being an ‘informer’.
She was then written up for being uncooperative, which forced her to file her complaint
But then human resources said it found her claims ‘unsubstantial’ and did nothing, according to the lawsuit.
A Google spokesperson responded via the dailymail over the weekend saying, ‘We have strong policies against harassment in the workplace and review every complaint we receive.
‘We take action when we find violations, including termination of employment.’
Lee is seeking an undisclosed amount from Google on top of $25,000 for failure to prevent sexual harassment, disability discrimination, wrongful termination and retaliation.
And then there were these comments on the web that caught this author’s eye, see what you think?
‘Eight years is a long time to be employed for poor performance. Google has the same misogynist culture that Hollywood has. The good old boy atmosphere doesn’t cut it anymore. Other colleagues have come forth to verify her story.’
‘….. it sounds like a frat boy culture.’
‘Isn’t Google supposed to be a “progressive” workplace?’

domain: sociology


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Mount Hagen Adventure Tours
Mount Hagen is third largest city in Papua New Guinea. I t is the capital of the Western Highlands Province and is located in the large fertile Wahgi Valley in central mainland Papua New Guinea. The Highlands Highway is the main route to connect Mount Hagen with the coastal cities of Lae and Madang. In 1933 Mick Leahy, his brother Dan Leahy, and government officer Jim Taylor conducted an aerial reconnaissance of the highlands and discovered the huge and heavily populated Wahgi Valley. A short time later they walked in with a well-supplied patrol and became the first white people to come in to contact with the tribes that are now inhabiting the Mount Hagen area. The first patrol built an airstrip at Kelua, a short distance from modern Mount Hagen. From 1934, a new airstrip, the “Mogei drome,” was located on a site where the future town was formed. Before WWII, Mount Hagen was just a patrol station, but over the last 20-30 years, it has grown to be a full-blown city. Mount Hagen hosts the hugely popular Mount Hagen Show in August of each year. The Mount Hagen Show is a well-attended sing-sing in which many different tribes of Papua New Guinea gather to share the traditions of their own distinct cultures, by means of music and dance.

domain: geography


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Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring – Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps, Lesley Manville
THE PLOT – Set in the glamour of 1950s post-war London, renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Lewis) and his sister Cyril (Manville) are at the center of British fashion, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debutants, and dames with the distinct style of The House of Woodcock. Women come and go through Woodcock’s life, providing the confirmed bachelor with inspiration and companionship, until he comes across a young, strong-willed woman, Alma (Krieps), who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover. Once controlled and planned, he finds his carefully tailored life disrupted by love.
Rated R for adult language
– Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood with another truly mesmerizing musical score for his friend, Anderson. Greenwood always feels like he has his hands on the pulse of the films he accompanies, but it sounds like his piano-dominant numbers breathe life and narration into the picture, following along our group of characters through their rocky tribulations that heighten our experience. He’s simply needed more here than ever before.
– The trio of performances by Lewis, Krieps, and Manville that all bring their best game to the forefront. If this is Lewis’s rumored final film, then he goes out on top, breathing life into the workaholic Woodcock that depicts a man burdened by his passion. Together with Krieps, the film’s couple feels like the most honest depiction of love on the screen that we have seen in a long time, channeling a kind of childish bickering between them that gives the audience plenty of innocent giggles. Krieps herself has such rendering facial expressions that she could play her part without ever vocalizing a single word.
– Anderson is impeccable as a triple threat, commanding the camera, screenplay, and helming the luxurious cinematography for the first time. On the latter, Paul uses soft, dreamy backdrops to accentuate the vibrancy that the fashions that adorn. This makes the work of Woodcock pop that much more to the naked eye, and blossoms what I feel is Anderson’s best feature of the irreplaceable work that he takes on.
– Costume designer Mark Bridges and his elegant styles that immerse the film with such first class tastes. Bridges uses layers to sell his gifts to the audience, and if there’s any film that appreciates his artistic vision, it’s one that values and depicts what goes into the perfect dress.
– The screenplay hints that every beautiful gift that is bestowed upon someone can in turn be a curse that renders them lost in their work. This gives our protagonist a kind of man-becomes-monster kind of feel, in that it’s great to see him work, but we know it’s a cancer of sorts to his own well-being.
– I greatly appreciated that this film never took the low hanging fruit that was quietly hinted at especially during the second act. There are enough twists and turns that keep this sometimes redundant screenplay infused with the spark needed to get through the dry spots, and it gave the film enough momentum to carry over into hour two.
– There’s a kind of awkwardness in the idiosyncrasies that surround Woodcock’s lifestyle and routines that value this as anything BUT a casual 20th century love tale. Once we delve deeper, we come to understand the reasons behind this abstract man that stands before us.
– One of the messages that I took away from the film was when you’re in love with someone, you must tailor yourselves to each other. There’s further argument that opposites may attract, but those opposites must learn how to merge together to create something beautiful for all to adore. Sounds like one of Woodcock’s creations, eh?
– Because of so many seamless tonal shifts, there’s more uncertainty as to where this film is headed. There are times of laughter, sadness, and even horror that spring to life, and all of it feels like the necessary ingredients needed for the mental game of chess in the finale that will leave you frozen in your seat.
– It’s a small problem, but I almost wish that the film would’ve explored the secrets that Woodcock stitches in every creation a bit more. I just feel like to bring it up and use it very little for the remainder of the film makes it either a lost opportunity or a pointless conversation piece.


Learn how to backup your Bitcoin wallet by following these simple steps.
Checkout this video:
A Bitcoin wallet is as important as a real wallet because it stores your private keys. Private keys are needed to spend your Bitcoins. If you lose your private keys, you lose access to your Bitcoins. That’s why it’s important to backup your Bitcoin wallet regularly.
What is a Bitcoin Wallet?
A Bitcoin wallet is a digital wallet that stores your Bitcoin balance. You can use your Bitcoin wallet to send, receive, and store Bitcoin. There are many types of Bitcoin wallets, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.
To find the best Bitcoin wallet for you, compare the features and security of different wallets. Make sure the wallet you choose is compatible with the device you’re using to store your bitcoins. Some wallets are only available as desktop software, while others are only available as mobile apps.
Types of Bitcoin Wallets
When it comes to Bitcoin, there are two primary types of wallets: cold storage wallets and hot wallets. Cold storage wallets are typically used for long-term investments because they offer a high level of security. On the other hand, hot wallets are designed for frequent trading and provide convenience at the expense of security.
Below, we will go into more detail about each type of wallet so that you can choose the option that is right for you.
Cold Storage Wallets
A cold storage wallet is a bitcoin wallet that is not connected to the internet. This means that it is much more difficult for hackers to compromise your funds because they would need physical access to the wallet in order to do so. The most popular type of cold storage wallet is a hardware wallet, which looks like a USB drive. Another option is to create a paper wallet, which involves printing out your private and public keys on a piece of paper.
A hot wallet is a bitcoin wallet that is connected to the internet. This means that it is much easier to use but also much less secure. The most popular type of hot wallet is a web-based wallet, which allows you to send and receive bitcoins without having to download any software. Other options include mobile wallets, which are apps that you can download onto your smartphone, and desktop wallets, which are installed on your computer.
How to Backup a Bitcoin Wallet
A Bitcoin wallet is a collection of private keys but may also refer to client software used to manage those keys and to make transactions on the Bitcoin network. Protecting your bitcoin wallet is critical because it holds your private keys. Private keys are what you use to access your Bitcoin and they are very important. If you lose your private keys, you will lose access to your bitcoin. There are two main ways to create a backup of your Bitcoin wallet: a full wallet backup or a seed phrase backup.
A full wallet backup stores the complete set ofmaster keysthat can be used to generate all the derived private and public keys used for receiving and spending bitcoins. A seed phrase, on the other hand, only stores a subset of those keys which are enough to recover all funds associated with addresses produced from that seed. Deciding whether to create a full wallet backup or just a seed phrase backup depends on how much trust you have in the person/entity who will be storing the backup and how frequently you plan on accessing your Bitcoin.
Creating a Full Wallet Backup
If you choose to create a full wallet backup, you will need to store the following information in a safe place:
-Your master public key (m)
-Your master private key (M) or derivation scheme (i.e., if using BIP32)
-The creation time of the wallet
-Any additional descriptors required for spending from specific addresses in thewallet(for example, if using P2SH or multi-signature addresses)
-The encryption salt and password used (if applicable)
Once you have all of this information, you will need to generate a checksum of it and then store it in two separate locations. The first location should be physical (e.g., safe deposit box, home safe) and the second location should be digital (e.g., USB drive, ftp server). Make sure that both copies are well hidden and that only you know where they are located. It is also important that both copies be encrypted so that if one is lost or stolen, the data cannot be accessed without the encryption key/password.
Creating a Seed Phrase Backup
If you choose to createa seed phrase backup instead offull wallaby ride,you will only needto storethe following information:
-Your seed phrase(also known as mnemonic phrase)
Onceyou havethisinformation,youwillneedtocreatethechecksumof itand then storeinitinasecure location . Thelocation canbe eitherphysical(e . g . , safedeposit box , homesafe ) ordigital(e . g . , USBdrive , ftpserver ) . Makesurethatthislocationis well hiddenandthatonlyyouknowwhereitis located . It isalsoimportantthattheseeddatabe encrypted sothatifitis lostorstolen , themnemonicphrasecannotbe accessedwithouttheencryptionkey / password
It’s important to remember that your Bitcoin wallet is only as secure as the backup you use to protect it. If you don’t have a backup, there is no way to recover your wallet if it is lost or stolen. In other words, a backup is your only line of defense against losing your Bitcoins.
There are multiple ways to backup your Bitcoin wallet, but the most important thing is to make sure you do it regularly. The frequency of your backups will depend on how often you use your wallet and how much money you have stored in it. Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to create a new backup at least once per month.
If you follow the steps outlined in this guide, you should have no problem creating a secure backup of your Bitcoin wallet.


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DanceSafe has recently discovered that the BTNX fentanyl strip batch ending in 196 produces false positives with MDMA and meth unless diluted more.
Kink/BDSM can teach us a lot about mutual consent, especially basic things like "what IS mutual consent?". This ain't your grandma's consent class. Unless she's into this.
A round light blue pill with “A” over “215” separated by a break line was sold in Philadelphia, PA as oxycodone A 215; contains fentanyl, analogues, gabapentin.


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Katy Perry has launched one more music video, this time for her song ‘Small Talk,’ which was released as a single earlier this month. This video has her visiting a Mutt Ball, a gala where people gather with dogs that look just like them. The video arrives amidst startling allegations about sexual misconduct that were levelled against her by at least two male artists who have worked with her in the past. There has still been no statement on the matter from Katy’s side.
Coming back to the song, ‘Small Talk’ is about the awkwardness of a breakup. The lyrics “We went from strangers to lovers to strangers in a lifetime,” beautifully capture this sentiment. Other lines that catch your attention are, “Isn’t it weird that you’ve seen me naked. We had conversations about forever. Now, it’s about the weather, OK.”
The music video of ‘Small Talk’ follows Katy Perry arriving at the Mutt Ball with her poodle. There, she falls for a handsome man who is with his Weimaraner. This leads to sparks beginning to fly, and the tension really keeps you hooked throughout the video.
In news that will thrill Katy Perry fans in India, she is all set to perform in the country later this year. She will be coming down for the OnePlus Music Festival that will take place at the DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai on November 16. Dua Lipa will be a part of this gig as well.
Carl Pei, Co-Founder, OnePlus, said, “We are super excited that Katy Perry will be starring in our first-ever OnePlus Music Festival in India! We decided to host this festival to share our passion for music with our community, who are at the heart of everything we do. With Katy on board, this is sure to be a one of a kind experience.”
You can watch Katy Perry’s new ‘Small Talk’ music video in the space above.


Getafe sporting director, Ruben Reyes has come out to explain why the club decided to sign Mason Greenwood on loan from Manchester United. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, since those who charged him have decided to drop the case, there is no need for anyone else to be judge on how his career should pan out.
Ruben added that the club believes Greenwood is a good signing that will complete the current squad.
His words, “He has been sentenced by whoever had to do it, who is a judge. That is the absolute highest authority, isn’t it?”
“We, as I always say, have only signed players with the possibility of being signed. Both Mason, [Diego] Rico, and Oscar [Rodriguez] we consider that they were good signings for Getafe to complete our squad. A squad with players you know, who have our DNA and who are the house brand for this club to be maintained every year. It is very important. Being able to add these pieces for these colleagues who have given performance in recent years is a joy for us.”
Mason Will John Greenwood (born 1 October 2001) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Getafe, on loan from Premier League club Manchester United.
A graduate of United’s youth system, Greenwood scored in a UEFA Europa League match against Astana in September 2019, to become the club’s youngest ever goalscorer in European competition at the age of 17 years, 353 days. His senior international debut for England came in September 2020, in a UEFA Nations League game against Iceland.
Greenwood joined Manchester United at the age of six, playing at the club’s development school in Halifax. After progressing through the academy ranks, he joined up with the Under-18 squad for the 2017–18 season, despite being eligible for the Under-16s, and finished as top scorer of the U18 Premier League North with 17 goals in 21 games.
In May 2018, Greenwood was named Player of the Tournament as the youth side won the ICGT Trophy, an international youth football tournament, in the Netherlands.
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text: I am in the middle of it: chaos and poetry; poetry and love and again, complete chaos. Pain, disorder, occasional clarity; and at the bottom of it all: only love; poetry. Sheer enchantment, fear, humiliation. It all comes with love. — Anna Akhmatova, The Akhmatova Journals, Volume I: 1938-1941 (Farrar Straus & Giroux (T); 1st American ed edition March 1994) Originally published December 1st 1980.


Time is eternal but the clock keeps ticking and memories do fade. On September 11, 2001 (9/11), America and Americans experienced the most horrific terrorist attack carried out in a highly coordinated manner. By all accounts, it was done by a group of Muslims of Jihadi philosophy to terrorize the world. India had been the victim of many such acts of terrorism, big and small, by the Jihadis from across the border. Regrettably, however, the leftist-leaning media and the leaders in the West often characterized those Jihadis as freedom fighters. How can anyone forget the major terrorist attack in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 (11/26) and many other large-scale attacks around the globe? This article is to reflect on 9/11 and how America’s total lack of exit policy meant handing back Afghanistan to the Taliban on a gold platter.
America went to war in Afghanistan under the Taliban in 2001 for “tit for tat” retaliation but came back full circle but empty-handed in 2021 only with the TAT outcome. How shameful that we inherited the Taliban’s Afghanistan in 2001 in a very devastating state and twenty years later, America walked away leaving Afghanistan in a state of total confusion, anarchy, and chaos with significant potential to return back to terrorism and no human rights, particularly, for girls and women.
Back then, I was 20 years younger and more energetic like many readers. On that fateful Tuesday, as Assistant Provost at the College of Staten Island, I got to my office at the usual time not knowing what was to come. Our office was inundated with phone calls and campus staff kept flocking without a clear understanding of the ground reality. It was quite chaotic and confusing until the news about coordinated terrorist attacks beginning to emerge.
I was not at the epicenter but not too far either to feel the devastation, deaths, destruction, and despair. Many hundred students were already on campus before the downing of the World Trade Center’s twin towers and the unforgettable chaos that followed. The College tried to keep the classes going, the safest place for the students, in the midst of abundant distractions not knowing the whereabouts and safety of their family and friends. Our biggest challenge was to get the commuter students and staff to New York City. Thankfully, special buses were arranged for their safe return and a few stayed locally. In fact, I hosted one student in my apartment for the night.
What followed in the days and weeks after 9/11 can’t be erased from my memory either? The campus was on the highest alert for too long. One day someone noticed a suspect garbage bag which led to a scare and we had to call the bomb squad but found nothing. There was a kind of standoff between the well-meaning library staff feeling threatened and Muslim students who always held their usual Friday prayers in a library corner. It was abundantly clear that Islamophobia was already taking roots. It became a highly sensitive matter and took months for finding an amicable solution.
On a personal level, my wife and one daughter were in Fargo, ND, and another daughter studying in Philadelphia. My nephew from India had reached Staten Island just two days earlier on Sunday, September 9. Everyone everywhere was worried and scared about unfolding events for weeks. I had a flood of phone calls and emails with worried family and friends around the globe. The choked and temporarily blocked telecommunication lines made things worse.
To the best of my recollection, I flew to Fargo on September 19 from a barren and deserted Newark airport under extremely tight security. The traffic on the roads was unusually minimal. The plane to Minneapolis had only a handful of traveling souls. This was an unprecedented experience with mixed emotions- a bit frightening but happy going to see the family. My frequent travels between Fargo and Newark were chilling and emotional with increasing security and people staring with suspicion, particularly, an immigrant like me. Everyone looking different (non-White) was a suspect and assumed terrorist for months after 9/11. The plain-clothed security personnel was on every flight watching passengers like me with suspicion.
Those days the most saving grace for people like me was a Hindu name unlike for a person with a name like Ahmed or Mohammad. Apparently, America in 2001 suddenly became aware of the fundamental differences between tolerant Hinduism and violent Jihadism. One of the obvious reminiscences of 9/11 is the emergence of the Department of Homeland Security and the permanent presence of TSA at the airports in the U.S. and the heightened security globally. I wonder why the U.S. did not hold the Islamic nations, supporting and giving refuge to terrorists, responsible for the financial consequences, emotional trauma to the families of 9/11 victims, and 2o years of cumulative losses of human lives and financial resources on account of terrorism?
In the context of a majority Hindu populated India, with improved security against the acts of terrorism and the efforts to bring back Kashmir under one India, another type of terrorism has been taking roots in the U.S. This 9/11, not only Jihadis but many Hindu phobic individuals, the so-called intellectuals with suspect scholarship, are organizing a conference on “Dismantling Hindutva Globally.” These academically bankrupt professors are doing it to discredit, defame, and demonize Hinduism, Hindutva, and Hindus (HHH). It is abhorrent that the academic institutions are allowing their name without insuring an inhibited discourse, debate, and discussion about Hindutva, the core essence of academic freedom. The leaders of these institutions are failing in their moral and academic responsibilities by using academic freedom as a cover to sponsor the dismantling of HHH. Why not dismantle terrorism globally and White supremacy in the U.S. which exists even 20 years later?
Let us ask what did the United States achieve in 20 years with four Presidents (Bush, Obama, Trump, and now Biden), two trillion dollars spent for the war against global terrorism, and unaccountable loss of lives? In one statement- Taliban’s Afghanistan returned back to the Taliban on a gold platter with about $95 Billion worth of military and tactical hardware. Today’s Afghanistan leadership includes many with established terrorism, jihadi, and/or Islamic State background in key positions running the government. Taliban have the resources at their command and those in power cannot be trusted. Reportedly, the American weapons and other military gears are already available in the Taliban’s co-brother Pakistan’s markets. It is not a question if but how soon Taliban’s Afghanistan will start terrorizing the world again. Taliban’s legacy since 9/11 in the most basic form is a permanent fixture of the TSA-like security apparatus at the airports globally. It is not just the added expense and bureaucracy but the inherent assumption that everyone is a security risk making things very unpleasant. Did we not travel safely pre- 9/11 which is now unimaginable because of the increasing terrorist threats once again due to TAT?
As we close 20 years with the longest U.S.-led war ended, let it be a stark reminder that Operation Enduring Freedom initiated by the then President Bush has failed with thousands of innocent lives lost on the war-front and through acts of global terrorism. The current President Biden has used no wisdom or lacked it to pull out of Afghanistan so hurriedly. President Biden, in fact, is one constant on the American political landscape before, during, and now 20 years since 9/11. Is it the total failure of intelligence agencies and/or is the U.S. really at the brink of financial bankruptcy that a delayed and better managed pull out from Afghanistan was ruled out?
India must be wary that the terroristic and Jihadi attacks on India’s borders from the Taliban are about to get intensified. India and Hindus globally must remain vigilant against the attempts to dismantle their religious beliefs and values. When President Bush went to Afghanistan in 2001, he said it was a war against global terrorism and not against the Afghans and Afghanistan. Twenty years later, the Hindu phobic and jihadi elements are waging a war against the Hindu majority country of India and Hindus globally. It is not about the hindsight being 20/20 but the U.S. not having foresight 20 years ago when the wars were waged against Afghanistan and Iraq except a triumphant moment when Bin Ladin was killed in 2011.
In recent years, India has shown wisdom and gradual progress in containing terroristic activities inland and on the border but America showed little or no wisdom in bringing democracy and enduring freedom to Afghanistan. One must ask if we were to hand over the Taliban’s Afghanistan back to the Taliban why did we even try it in the first place? My advice to the U.S. is to get wiser not to get involved in offshore conflicts without a very robust strategy or simply focus on domestic issues? In twenty years, the U.S. and India are in a strategic alliance with their eyes on the rapidly emerging threat due to TAT in India and globally. Let us hope that the upcoming Modi’s visit will include both TAT and emerging threats to dismantling HHH on U.S. soil among other topics of mutual interest.