text:
Previously on RuPaul’s Drag U: WILLAM!
Hey, girl. HEE-EEY!
This week, Ru’s brought three nerds deep in the Lake Titicaca valley to get some well-earned (and needed) instruction on how to get out of their heads and into their body-ody-odies. They can still geek out over the randomest of things, just not use it as their calling cards. This should be fun.
Kristy is a theater geek who knows every single musical. She came to Drag U to regain the confidence to keep auditioning so she can give up being a flight attendant and be the Broadway Baby she was meant to be.
Dylan’s a 22-year-old zombie fan who was kicked out of her mother’s house when she dropped out of college two years earlier. She came to Drag U because she feels like her life’s a failure (SHE’S ONLY 22!) and wants a drag queen to kick her ass back into gear.
Shante is a comic book nerd and really tall. She also gained a lot of weight and doesn’t think she’s a hot mama anymore. (But those cheekbones.) She wants Drag U to teach her to accept the size she is and “embrace [her] lady lumps.” Well, a good start would be not to quote Fergie.
By the way, I just wanted to share this shot of Shante:
Rose tint my world.
It’s like she wandered into the Rocky Horror Picture Show and found her calling. And O.M.G. I hadn’t noticed on first viewing but in addition to her elastic suspenders Shante is wearing a belt with her high water jeans. Somewhere in LA Robert Carradine lets out a honk in solidarity.
Ru welcomes them and says some “meanies” may call them nerds (It’s a badge of honor now, Ru.) but he sees three beautiful women who are just passionate about their interests. They all smile and nod because it’s true then Ru tells them the rules of the competition and about their fabulous prizes, including a cash prize of $3,166.54. Ooh, where to spend that extra thirty-nine cents. So can he get a “Ru HA!”
They take the tour of the drag lab and Dylan’s tasked with summing it up, saying it looks like Cirque de Soleil threw up on Lady Gaga’s house and it’s time for Ru to bring in their professors.
Kristy’s working with Pandora Boxx who says she is UP! for this challenge. Dylan’s with Delta Work who thinks Dylan’s the prettiest and Ru assigned her to Delta because “birds of a feather” are all Heathers, but she left that last part out because she’s tired of being chased by rabid Shangela fans. Which leaves Shante for Jujubee. Boston-raised Jujubee goes all Southern Gran and says “It’s gonna take some work…but it’s gonna happen.” Has she always sounded like she carried around a pitcher of mint juleps?


text:
I’m in an Empire state of mind.
At least, I think that’s my issue.
Because I labeled every single one of these photos as “Empire State Building.”
Which is embarrassing, because they’re photos of the Chrysler Building.
Which, in case you didn’t know, is my favorite building in all of New York City.
There’s just something about the iconic feel to it that speaks to me.
And it fits so well into any conversation.
“Well, goodness gracious Chrysler Building, I guess we’re gonna have to hide that body!”
“Oh, Mary Margaret, Santa Claus is as real as the Chrysler Building.”
“Finally, I’ve solidified my plan to take over the world. Now all I need is the Chrysler Building…”
And my favorite, “when you wish upon the Chrysler Building.”
If I have any goal in life
It’s to impact the English language
(Well, second only to my aim of world domination),

domain: geography


text:
Export Import (Exim) Bank has forecast that India's merchandise exports will increase from 81.9 billion dollars to 84 billion dollars with an expected growth rate of 2.5 per cent during the first quarter (April to June) of 2019-20 over the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Of this, non-oil exports are likely to increase from 70.1 billion dollars to 73 billion dollars with an expected growth rate of 4.2 per cent.
The forecasts are based on Exim Bank's Export Leading Index (ELI). Forecast of growth in India's total merchandise exports and non-oil exports will continue to be released on a quarterly basis during the first week of June, September, December and March with continuous improvisation to the model.
For the year 2018-19, Exim Bank -- based on the ELI model -- had forecasted India's merchandise exports to amount to 331.8 billion dollars which compares well with the official estimates of 331.02 billion dollars.
The model and the forecast results have been reviewed by a standing technical committee of domain experts comprising Saikat Sinha Roy, Professor and Coordinator at the Centre for Advanced Studies at Jadavpur University in Kolkata, Sarat Dhal, Director of Department of Economic and Policy Research at the Reserve Bank of India, N R Bhanumurthy, Professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy and C Veeramani, Professor at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research.
As part of its continued research initiatives, Exim Bank has developed an in-house model to generate an Export Leading Index (ELI) for India to track and forecast the movement in exports on a quarterly basis. The ELI gauges the outlook for the country's exports and is essentially developed as a leading indicator to forecast growth in total merchandise and non-oil exports of the country on a quarterly basis based on several external and domestic factors that could impact exports of the country.
The next growth forecasts for India's exports for the quarter July to September 2019 will be released in first week of September, according to a statement.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

domain: news


text:
Texas congressman Hinojosa files for bankruptcy
An eight-term Texas congressman who serves on the House Financial Services Committee has filed for personal bankruptcy and is blaming his family meat company for his problems.
Join the discussion below, or Read more at Erie Times News.
#1 Feb 3, 2011
This is suppose to be news?
CONGRESSMEN AND WOMEN HAVE A HIGH RATE OF BANKRUPTSY AND BAD CREDIT ALONG WITH DUI ARRESTS AND DRUG ARRESTS FACT!!!!
HELL IN 2009 THEY BEAT OUT NFL ABL MBA PLAYERS IN DUI ARREST ALONE.
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text:
Based on a series of true stories posted by Ho-sik Kim on the Internet describing his relationship with his girlfriend. These were later transformed into a best-selling book and the movie ... See full summary »
Eun-joo moves out of her house "Il Mare", leaving behind a Christmas card for the eventual new owner of the house in 1999. In it she asks him/her to forward any mail of hers to her new ... See full summary »
After thirteen and half years in prison for kidnapping and murdering the boy Park Won-mo, Geum-ja Lee is released and tries to fix her life. She finds a job in a bakery; she orders the ... See full summary »
Shy Ji-hae's friend is having problems expressing her feelings to the boy she loves, so she asks Ji-hae to write e-mails to him in her name. As the boy falls in love with her letters, ... See full summary »
Set in Amsterdam, DAISY tells the story of a love triangle between a young girl and the two men in her life. Hye-young (Jeon Ji-hyun) is a painter in Amsterdam who looks after her ... See full summary »
if you haven't seen this movie, let this be the last review you read before you watch it. don't watch the trailers too; this movie is best seen when you have no idea what it's about. i must have gone "what???" at least four times in this movie. that's a good thing, since most movies nowadays don't have many surprises. one twist? two? try four, or five, depending on how well you can predict what'll happen.
the acting was pretty okay, and the art direction is pleasant. you will have no trouble at all keeping your eyes glued to the screen, except for the necessary dabs here and there. even with the cheesy factor, my sister and i still cried a lot while watching this movie. my brother cried a little, and my cousin who's hell bent on not crying didn't cry but with a lot of effort.
it's funny because i don't think anyone can truly relate to the characters in this movie, because the situation in lover's concerto is pretty unique. but the emotions are familiar and you'll have no trouble at all (crying along with the cast).
41 of 45 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?

domain: entertainment


text:
15 Feb 2017: Nordell CJ, Haché S, Bayne EM, Sólymos P, Foster KR, et al. (2017) Correction: Within-Site Variation in Feather Stable Hydrogen Isotope (δ2Hf) Values of Boreal Songbirds: Implications for Assignment to Molt Origin. PLOS ONE 12(2): e0172619. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0172619 View correction
Understanding bird migration and dispersal is important to inform full life-cycle conservation planning. Stable hydrogen isotope ratios from feathers (δ2Hf) can be linked to amount-weighted long-term, growing season precipitation δ2H (δ2Hp) surfaces to create δ2Hf isoscapes for assignment to molt origin. However, transfer functions linking δ2Hp with δ2Hf are influenced by physiological and environmental processes. A better understanding of the causes and consequences of variation in δ2Hf values among individuals and species will improve the predictive ability of geographic assignment tests. We tested for effects of species, land cover, forage substrate, nest substrate, diet composition, body mass, sex, and phylogenetic relatedness on δ2Hf from individuals at least two years old of 21 songbird species captured during the same breeding season at a site in northeastern Alberta, Canada. For four species, we also tested for a year × species interaction effect on δ2Hf. A model including species as single predictor received the most support (AIC weight = 0.74) in explaining variation in δ2Hf. A species-specific variance parameter was part of all best-ranked models, suggesting variation in δ2Hf was not consistent among species. The second best-ranked model included a forage substrate × diet interaction term (AIC weight = 0.16). There was a significant year × species interaction effect on δ2Hf suggesting that interspecific differences in δ2Hf can differ among years. Our results suggest that within- and among-year interspecific variation in δ2Hf is the most important source of variance typically not being explicitly quantified in geographic assignment tests using non-specific transfer functions to convert δ2Hp into δ2Hf. However, this source of variation is consistent with the range of variation from the transfer functions most commonly being propagated in assignment tests of geographic origins for passerines breeding in North America.
Citation: Nordell CJ, Haché S, Bayne EM, Sólymos P, Foster KR, Godwin CM, et al. (2016) Within-Site Variation in Feather Stable Hydrogen Isotope (δ2Hf) Values of Boreal Songbirds: Implications for Assignment to Molt Origin. PLoS ONE 11(11): e0163957. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0163957
Editor: Yan Ropert-Coudert, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, FRANCE
Received: May 14, 2016; Accepted: September 16, 2016; Published: November 2, 2016
Copyright: © 2016 Nordell et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Data Availability: Data are available from the figshare repository at the following DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.4059615
Funding: Owl Moon Environmental Inc. supported the salaries of K.F and C.G., but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.
Competing interests: The commercial affiliation with Owl Moon Environmental Inc. does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials (as detailed online in our guide for authors, http://www.PLOSone.org/static/editorial.action#competing).
Each year, billions of birds migrate between breeding and wintering areas . Migration and dispersal movements have been difficult to quantify for most of these species. Yet, this information is important to identify the spatial scale at which population dynamics are taking place and should be considered in conservation planning (e.g. [2, 3]). Recent studies have highlighted the importance of quantifying the level of migratory connectivity and extent of natal dispersal, i.e. straight-line distance moved by an individual from its natal area to its first breeding site, in full life-cycle assessments [4–6]. High migratory connectivity implies that the majority of individuals in a breeding population use the same wintering areas, whereas low migratory connectivity suggests sparsely distributed individuals from a breeding population across the species wintering grounds .
Intrinsic markers like naturally occurring stable isotopes of several elements can provide important information on where birds grow their feathers and have the advantage of not requiring individuals to be recaptured when assessing movement dynamics. Among stable isotopes that have been used in movement studies (i.e. C, N, H, O, and S; ), stable hydrogen isotope ratios (2H:1H; depicted as δ2H) are now the most commonly used marker . Predictable spatial variation resulting from amount-weighted, growing-season mean precipitation (δ2Hp) worldwide is well documented . The resulting patterns of spatial variation in δ2Hp (i.e. isoscapes) have been used in combination with δ2H from feathers (δ2Hf) to infer geographic origin of birds as the H in bird feathers is ultimately derived from environmental waters where the feather was grown [11, 12]. In the Nearctic-Neotropical migration system, feathers that are grown prior to fall migration (pre-basic molt; ) may provide information on natal or previous breeding origin in North America, whereas feathers that are grown prior to spring migration (pre-alternate molt) can be used to identify the wintering grounds of breeding individuals [14–16]. However, before assigning birds to geographic origins, δ2Hp values need to be adjusted to reflect the difference between local precipitation driving food webs (δ2Hp) and δ2Hf (generally from regression models; hereafter “transfer functions”; ). Clark et al.  provided transfer functions for waterfowl and songbirds sampled in North America. More recently, Hobson et al.  found that foraging and migratory strategies were an important source of variation that influenced the transfer function applied to migratory songbirds. They suggested that δ2Hf differences between ground and non-ground foragers may result from differences in ground-level evapotranspiration  or differences in trophic level .
While differences between groups of species in the transfer function between δ2Hf and δ2Hp have been documented, what causes this interspecific variation is not as well understood. Analytical approaches have been developed to deal with this uncertainty in Bayesian assignment tests to provide more accurate and less biased estimates of likely geographic origin . However, a better understanding of variation in δ2Hf among species with the same geographic origin should help in assessing those factors contributing to variation we see among various transfer functions. For example, evaporative processes in response to increased activity or ambient conditions may lead to higher δ2H in tissues . Thus, birds nesting in open areas (e.g. unforested and forest canopy) could have higher δ2Hf values relative to species associated with forest understory. Increased body water loss due to metabolic activity can result in enriched heavy isotopes in the body water pool, in turn leading to higher δ2Hf values, and this effect might be more important in smaller individuals/species [21, 22]. However, Betini et al.  reported the opposite pattern, where body mass of nestling Tree Swallows (Trachycineta bicolor) was positively correlated with δ2H from blood samples. Phylogenetically conserved life history traits [24, 25] and, potentially, conserved biochemical pathways controlling H isotope discrimination in tissues [26, 27] among closely related species suggest a potentially important phylogenetic component of δ2Hf that could explain important interspecific variation. Inter-annual variation in δ2Hf has been reported for a few songbird species [28, 29] and, all things being equal, this variation should be consistent across species nesting in the same region but, to our knowledge, no studies have tested this assumption by quantifying the species × year interaction effect on variation in δ2Hf of forest songbirds. Finally, different species may seek out different local microhabitats during the molt period and these might also account for differences in δ2Hf from the same general area but little is known about habitat use during this typically “secretive” period of the annual cycle (e.g. ).
In this study, we used tail feathers collected from different songbird species during the same breeding season and geographic area (within a ca. 130 km radius) to test various hypotheses that have been proposed to explain intraspecific and interspecific variation in δ2Hf. Specifically, we used a model selection approach to compare the relative importance of species, land cover type, forage substrate, nest substrate, diet composition, body mass, sex, and phylogenetic relatedness in explaining variation in δ2Hf among experienced breeders (after second-year; ASY) of 21 songbird species (7 families and 16 genera). We predicted that ground foragers and insectivores (i.e. species feeding almost exclusively on invertebrates during the breeding season) would have higher δ2Hf compared to non-ground foragers and omnivores (i.e. species feeding on seeds, fruits, and insects during the breeding season), respectively. Observed δ2Hf for ground and non-ground foragers were used to validate predicted values from the transfer functions provided by Hobson et al. . We also predicted that individuals nesting in open areas would have higher δ2Hf than those nesting in forest understory. Finally, we predicted that closely related species (i.e. within the same genera) would have more similar δ2Hf values than less related individuals. There were no a priori expectations regarding the direction of the effect (positive or negative) of body mass and sex (male or female having higher δ2Hf) on δ2Hf. Females are more likely to experience breeding dispersal movements, i.e. straight-line distance moved by an individual from a breeding territory to another in subsequent years, and over larger distances than males . Thus, we predicted that females would have similar mean δ2Hf values than males, but larger variation, assuming no bias in direction of dispersal movements. For four of our most common species, we also tested for a year × species interaction effect on δ2Hf to determine whether annual variations in δ2Hf are consistent among species.
Study area and feather samples
The study was conducted at bird banding stations in the Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park (Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory, LSLBO; 55°20' N, 114°40' W) and the lower Athabasca oil sands region (Owl Moon Environmental Inc.; 56°43' N, 111°22' W) in northeastern Alberta, Canada. The region is characterized by conifer (black spruce, Picea mariana; white spruce, Picea glauca; jack pine, Pinus banksiana), deciduous (trembling aspen, Populus tremuloides), and mixedwood stands typical of the western boreal forest. The banding stations in the oil sands region are similarly forested, but also occur in riparian areas and reclaimed mine sites.
Breeding birds have been captured at banding stations as part of the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program . In 2013, 32 MAPS stations were monitored in the oil sands region (Table 1). Each banding station operated from 8 to 14 mist nets (each net was 12 m × 2.6 m) and captured birds passively (i.e. no attempts were made to attract the birds). Starting at sunrise, birds were captured at each station for 6 hours every 10 days throughout the breeding season (mid-June–mid-August 2013; periods 5–10; ). The same year, LSLBO monitored 4 MAPS stations within a forested area of approximately 3 ha that bordered the eastern shore of Lesser Slave Lake (Table 1). In 2011, active netting was conducted within ca. 1 km of the closest MAPS station where males of four species (Ovenbird; Seiurus aurocapilla, Swainson's Thrush; Catharus ustulatus, American Redstart; Setophaga ruticilla, and Yellow-rumped Warbler; Setophaga coronata) were attracted to mist nets using conspecific song playback. Additional samples were also collected from these 4 MAPS stations. Two 3rd rectrices were plucked from as many captured individuals as possible and individual body mass was recorded at time of capture. All feathers were stored in paper envelopes at room temperature. In the oil sands region, birds were captured and feathers were collected by KF, CG (banders-in-charge), and their banding staff. At Slave Lake, birds were captured and feather samples were collected by RK (bander-in-charge), LSLBO banding staff, and volunteers.
Only feathers from males and females of at least two years old (i.e. after-second year individuals; ASY) were used for isotope analysis. These individuals were selected based on the higher site fidelity reported in adult songbirds compared to first-year breeders [31, 34]. Also, adult Neotropical migratory passerines generally undergo complete pre-basic molts, including the replacement of primaries and rectrices, at or near their breeding site . Thus, for most species, our feather samples should have reflected the isotopic signature incorporated at our study site in the previous breeding season. Individuals from LSLBO were aged and sexed by the banders-in-charge, while those from the oil sands region were aged and sexed by the banders-in-charge and photos were reviewed by P. Pyle (Institute for Bird Populations; http://www.birdpop.org/). We further determined age of some S. aurocapilla by quantifying the wear pattern of the 3rd rectrices . Feather samples were required from a minimum of nine individuals for a species to be considered. For each location, we also identified the dominant land cover type at the point level and in a 100 m radius (exposed land, wetland-shrub, wetland-treed, shrub-tall, broadleaf, coniferous and water), and wet area (ha) within a 100 m radius using the Earth Observation for Sustainable Development of Forests (EOSD; ). For each species, we assigned dietary categories (i.e. insectivore vs. omnivore), forage substrate (i.e. upper canopy, lower canopy/shrub, and ground), and nest substrate (i.e. agriculture, bogs, tree / shrub swamp, coniferous, deciduous, early successional, marsh, mixedwood, and open stands) using the Avian Life History Information Database (hereafter “ALHD”; http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/wildlife/wildspace/project.cfm; Table 2).
Fieldwork was conducted in accordance with the Canadian Council for Animal Care and the permit for this study was approved by the University of Alberta Animal Care Committee (permit # AUP00000100). Federal and provincial bird banding and feather collection permits for this study were approved by the Canadian Wildlife Service and Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, respectively.
Stable isotope analysis
Surface oils were removed from all feathers by using a 2:1 chloroform:methanol solution. The central vane of each feather was weighed (350 ± 20 μg) and samples were secured in silver capsules. Isotopic analysis was conducted at the Colorado Plateau Stable Isotope Laboratory at the Northern Arizona University for 2011 samples and the Stable Isotope Hydrology and Ecology Laboratory of Environment Canada for 2013 samples. Samples were exposed to high temperature (1350°C) flash pyrolysis and the separated H2 pulses were used to measure δ2Hf by continuous-flow isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (CF-IRMS). For both laboratories, we used the comparative equilibration approach with the same in-house keratin working standards (KHS [–54.1‰], SPK [–121.6‰], CBS [–197‰]) to account for exchangeable hydrogen in keratins where δ2H of nonexchangeable H was established . Thus we are confident that isotope results are comparable within measurement error between the two laboratories (see ). Results were expressed for non-exchangeable H delta notation (δ2Hf) in units of per mil (‰) and the analytical error, based on within-run replicates of keratin reference standards (n = 5 per run) was ±2‰. Results are reported relative to the Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water—Standard Light Antarctic Precipitation (VSMOW-SLAP) scale.
Linear mixed models were used to explore how δ2Hf values from individuals of the selected species captured in 2013 were influenced by species, individual, and land cover factors (fixed effects) and phylogenetic relationships across species (random effects). A Multivariate Normal distribution was specified for each model where fixed effects are part of the mean specification, while random effects are part of the covariance structure. The response variable (yij) was δ2Hf for individual i (i = 1…n) of species j (j = 1…s). We examined 15 different fixed effects as possible explanatory factors for δ2Hf and compared them to a (0) null (intercept only) model. The fixed effects included species (1—species, 2—forage substrate [ALHD], 3—diet [ALHD], and 4—nest substrate [ALHD]), banding station (5—land cover type at banding station [EOSD], 6—dominant land cover type [EOSD], 7—wetland area in 100 m radius of each banding station [EOSD], and 8—latitude), individual (9—linear and 10—quadratic individual mass, and 11—sex), and interactive effects (12—forage substrate × diet, 13—forage substrate × land cover, 14—nest substrate × diet, and 15—forage substrate × diet × nest substrate; Table 3). We used the Akaike Information Criterion corrected for small sample sizes (AICc; ) to select the most parsimonious model describing variation in δ2Hf among feather samples.
Residual variance (σ2) was included as a random effect in our 15 models and we divided each model into two subsets where variance in δ2Hf among species was estimated as homoscedastic (variation among species was assumed equal [σ2]; Hom1—Hom15) and heteroskedastic (the assumption of variance equality among species was relaxed [σ2j]; Het1 -Het15). To examine the phylogenetic correlation in δ2Hf, we estimated a multiplier of the off-diagonal elements in the Multivariate Normal covariance matrix defined as λ [38, 39]. A value of λ = 0 indicated evolution of traits independent of phylogeny, while value of λ = 1 indicated traits evolving according to Brownian motion. Values <1 indicated that phylogeny effect was weaker than expected under the Brownian model. The covariance between two observations (yij, yik) and corresponding Mutivariate Normal means (μij, μik) was defined as cov(yij, yij) = σj σk tjk λ, where tjk is proportional to the shared evolutionary path length between species j and k.
Shared evolutionary path lengths were estimated using 5000 pseudo-posterior trees based on genetic data . A phylogenetic correlation matrix  was constructed for each of the 5000 trees. Elements of the correlation matrix were defined as lengths of branches shared between species based on mean node heights [42, 43]. The different number of observations per species meant we could not apply existing phylogenetic mixed model software which uses only 1 observation per species. Therefore, we implemented a maximum likelihood estimating procedure for Multivariate Normal mixed models using Markov-chain Monte Carlo methods and a data cloning algorithm  using the ‘dclone’ R package  and JAGS .
A two-way ANOVA was used to test for a Year (2011 and 2013) × Species (Ovenbird, Swainson's Thrush, American Redstart and Yellow-rumped Warbler) interaction effect on δ2Hf. All analyses were conducted using R version 3.1.0 . Results are presented as mean δ2Hf ± standard deviation (SD) unless specified otherwise. We also extracted δ2Hp values for our study area from the isoscape provided by Bowen et al.  (see also IsoMap, isomap.org). Values were expressed as the annual mean growing season (i.e. months where mean monthly temp > 0°C) and used to estimate δ2Hf for omnivores and insectivores following Hobson et al. .
We analyzed δ2Hf from 278 ASY individuals of 21 songbird species captured in 2013 (Table 2). Mean values for most species (15 species) ranged from -127‰ (Swainson's Thrush) to -162‰ (Savannah Sparrow), while six species (Chipping Sparrow, Tree Swallow, Red-eyed Vireo, Least Flycatcher, Cedar Waxwing, Alder Flycatcher) had higher mean δ2Hf (-97‰ to -51‰; Fig 1). Combined with large variation around mean values for these six species, these results suggested that rectrices from these individuals were grown on the wintering ground or during migration. These results, at the exception of those for Cedar Waxwing, are consistent with previous accounts [13, 49] and these six species were removed from further analyses. The remaining samples included 192 ASYs (43 females and 149 males) from 15 species. We also report δ2Hf for 113 ASY of the 4 species captured in 2011 (Fig 2).
The dashed black and grey horizontal lines indicate the standard deviation of the residuals from Hobson et al. 's δ2Hf transfer functions for ground (Ground) and non-ground foraging (Non-ground) songbirds, respectively. The phylogenetic tree was derived from 5000 pseudo-posterior trees; shorter branch lengths occur between species that are more closely related with each other. Also indicated are the sample size for each species and the six species removed from further analyses because they were believed to have molted their tail feathers on the wintering grounds or during migration.
The black and grey horizontal lines indicate standard deviation of the residuals from Hobson et al. ’s δ2Hf transfer functions for ground (Ground) and non-ground foraging (Non-ground) songbirds, respectively. Sample size is indicated above each bar.
Standard deviations were smallest for Mourning Warbler (± 4‰) and largest for Song Sparrow (± 22‰; Fig 1). The 95% confidence intervals for species-specific mean δ2Hf overlapped with the predicted range of δ2Hf values from the transfer functions of Hobson et al.  for ground and non-ground foragers in our study area (Fig 1). Mean values of ground foragers and non-ground foragers (irrespective of species) were -143 ± 14‰ and -144 ± 15‰, respectively, both 95% confidence intervals overlap with the respective δ2Hf estimates from Hobson et al.  for our study area. Males and females had similar mean and standard deviation in δ2Hf (-143 ± 14‰ and -146 ± 11‰, respectively).
Models incorporating a species-specific variance parameter (heteroscedasticity) performed better than the homoscedastic model subsets (S1 and S2 Tables). Our top model, included species as predictor (Het1; wAICc = 0.74). The second-best ranked model included a nest substrate × diet interaction (Het14; ΔAICc = 3.02; wAICc = 0.16). The next two models including nest substrate x diet x forage substrate and nest substrate as a single effect received little support (Het15 and Het4; ΔAICc > 5), but were the only other models with a wAICc > 0.001. The four top-ranked models included only species-level predictors and provided little evidence for an important effect of phylogeny (λ ≤ 0.29), land cover (wAICc < 0.001), or individual (wAICc < 0.001) in explaining variation in δ2Hf (S1 and S2 Tables). Mean δ2Hf ranged from -135 ± 16‰ (mixedwood) to -162 ± 6‰; (agriculture) across nest substrate (Fig 3) and was -142 ± 17‰ and -145 ± 12‰ between omnivores and insectivores, respectively (Fig 3). Lastly, there was a significant species × year interaction effect (F7, 157 = 19.9, p < 0.001). Three of the four species had higher δ2Hf values in 2013 compared to 2011 (4‰, 9‰, and 12‰, respectively), while the Ovenbird had lower δ2Hf values in 2013 compared to 2011 (-6‰; Fig 2).
Individuals were captured in 2013 and assumed to have molted their feathers prior to fall migration the previous year. Means values are reported by diet and habitat association according to the Avian Life History Information Database (http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/wildlife/wildspace/project.cfm). The black and grey horizontal lines indicate standard deviation of the residuals from Hobson et al. ’s δ2Hf transfer functions for ground (Ground) and non-ground foraging (Non-ground) songbirds, respectively. Also indicated is the number of samples for each category and species in brackets.
This study demonstrates important interspecific differences in δ2Hf among songbird species breeding in the same region. Species was the strongest predictor of the variation in δ2Hf among individuals followed by a nesting substrate × diet composition interaction effect. Limited support was found for single effect models that included life history traits, individual (sex and body mass), or land cover predictors. Some studies have found support for these predictors [17, 23, 50], but they did not compare the relative importance of many predictors for different levels of organization. We also showed that differences in δ2Hf between years are not always consistent among species. Our results provide important insights regarding different sources of error being propagated in Bayesian assignment tests and suggest that the use of species- and year-specific δ2Hf isoscapes could improve the accuracy of assigned geographic origin of birds (see also , but see ).
Based on results from Hobson et al. , we predicted that ground foraging songbirds would have higher δ2Hf compared to those foraging in the upper- or lower-canopy. Mean δ2Hf values or corresponding 95% confidence intervals for the 15 focal species did indeed overlap with predicted values from the transfer functions of Hobson et al.  applied to our study area. However, models with foraging substrate as a single predictor received very little support (ΔAICc > 26.6). There was also no evidence that songbirds using open habitat or forest canopy during the nesting period had higher δ2Hf compared to those using forest understories. In temperate or boreal ecosystems, differences in ground temperature between closed and open habitats may not influence evapotranspiration rates and, ultimately, δ2Hf. For example, Hache et al.  found no difference in δ2Hf between nestlings from recent selection harvesting (open) vs unharvested stands (closed). However, most adult songbirds start molting during the post-fledgling period and some mature forest specialists have been shown to aggregate in open-canopy clearcuts for concealment from predators during this period [30, 53]. Thus, many focal species might have used similar microhabitat and experienced similar temperatures and sun exposure during the molting period irrespective of their nesting substrate. Species-specific variation in timing and location of molt (e.g. ) could also result in important spatio-temporal variation in δ2Hf of ASY songbirds from a given region, but it is unclear to what extent resources consumed during the nesting period can be integrated in tissues that have grown during the post-fledging period (e.g. [55, 56]).
Birds with larger body sizes could have lower δ2Hf than smaller birds because larger individuals or species lose proportionately less of their total body water to evaporative processes [21, 22]. However, there was no evidence in our study to suggest body size was important for δ2Hf in adult songbirds, but differences in body mass among individuals at the time of capture might not reflect differences during the molting period. Females also did not have different δ2Hf values than males  and variation around mean δ2Hf was only slightly lower for males than females. These results indicate that population level assignments can be generated irrespective of body size and sex of individuals.
Breeding dispersal distances appear to be species-specific [57, 58] and would often occur over relatively short distances. Variation in mean δ2Hf can be used as a proxy for breeding dispersal rate and distance, i.e. species with larger variation might have a higher proportion of individuals that experienced breeding dispersal movements and/or dispersed over larger spatial extents. The relatively small variation around mean δ2Hf reported for all focal species in this study suggests that most dispersal events would have occurred within the isocline corresponding to predicted δ2Hf for our study area. However, differences in mean δ2Hf among species could also reflect population-level post-breeding movements (i.e. within year dispersal movements prior to fall migration) and molt occurring elsewhere in the species breeding range (e.g. ).
The better performance of heteroscedastic compared to homoscedastic variance models suggests an important species-specific component for future songbird assignment of geographic origins using δ2Hf. Differences in variation around species-specific mean δ2Hf in a region might reflect interspecific differences in breeding dispersal rates, but also differences in niche breath. Habitat generalists use a broader range of land cover types which could result in greater variation in δ2Hf than habitat specialists. However, species-specific tolerance (i.e. the range of environmental conditions over which a species occurs; ) was not a good predictor of variation in δ2Hf for 13 of our focal species (R2 = 0.05; p = 0.46; S1 File). However, the interspecific variation in the range of environmental conditions used by forest songbirds might not be correlated with the range of δ2Hp values encountered by these species.
Studies have shown morphological traits to be more similar in closely related passerine species while for other traits, such as behavior and habitat associations, this might not be the case . In this study, closely related species did not have more similar δ2Hf values than less related species. Our 15 focal species represented only 3 families (i.e. Passeridae, Parulidae, and Turdidae) and may have been too closely related to detect phylogenetic effects. We also expected a consistent difference in δ2Hf between years (2011 vs 2013) for the 4 focal species, but this effect was not observed. If year effects on δ2Hf were exclusively driven by differences in δ2Hp across years, we would expect a proportionate year effect across species breeding in the same region. Future studies should aim to identify the underlying mechanisms explaining this interaction effect. This could potentially be achieved by quantifying differences in δ2Hf for a broader range of species and years. Nonetheless, along with species-specific variation in δ2Hf, this species × year interaction effect was another important factor and likely corresponds to a large proportion of the variance being propagated in Bayesian assignment tests .
We provided evidence suggesting that the most important source of error being propagated in assignment tests of geographic origin of birds is likely interspecific variation in δ2Hf. However, we had limited success identifying the underlying mechanisms. Future studies should determine whether missing variables or interaction terms could explain interspecific variation in δ2Hf or more precisely determine where birds undergo the prebasic molt relative to breeding territories. A better understanding of the variation in δ2Hf within and across years (i.e. across a larger number of species and years) should provide important information about sources of error being propagated in assignments of geographic origin. Transfer functions to explicitly account for these sources of error would likely help generate more precise and accurate assignments and provide better information on migratory bird movements to inform full-cycle conservation strategies. However, our ability to integrate these sources of variance in assignment tests will depend on the objectives. For example, it might be unrealistic to expect that species- and year-specific δ2Hf isoscapes would be available over large spatial extent. Alternatively, it would be possible to document regional dispersal movements [3, 4]. Results from Vander Zanden et al.  also suggest that the need to use year-specific δ2Hf isoscapes would depend on the study region because the degree of inter-annual variation in δ2Hp differs among regions. It is also likely that we are close to identifying the limit of accuracy of this single isotope approach, highlighting the importance of combining multiple markers in multivariate assignment tests [59, 61–63].
Finally, there are a number of caveats that need to be considered in our study and future research is encouraged to investigate further potential mechanisms contributing to within-site variance in δ2Hf values. For example, it is still unclear how local hydrology interacts with biology by influencing relationships between δ2H values of foodwebs used by birds during the molt period and their subsequent δ2Hf values. At interior continental sites, there are extreme seasonal effects in precipitation δ2H values  and northern sites will also have potential contributions from snowmelt as well as growing-season precipitation. These factors can strongly influence resulting assumed environmental δ2H values experienced by molting birds. In northern regions where H from snowmelt contributes to the overall foodweb leading to bird feathers, the use of an amount-weighted mean annual precipitation δ2H value or an average corresponding to those months where δ2H from precipitation has the strongest influence on the foodweb may be more appropriate. Nonetheless, our study provides encouraging evidence that once isotopic variance is understood and accounted for, current assignment isotopic models provide a valuable means of propagating such variance into the most parsimonious depiction of origins for North American passerines.
S1 File. Relationship between niche breadth and δ2Hf variation.
S1 Table. Candidate models ranked according to AICc weights (wAICc).
We are grateful to N. Waters and E. Chidambara-vasi for assisting in lab work and to Alberta Parks, Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory, and the C/N Elemental Analysis Laboratory (University of Alberta) for logistic support.
- Formal analysis: PS SH CJN EMB KAH.
- Methodology: CJN SH EMB KRF CMG RK PP KAH.
- Project administration: SH.
- Writing – original draft: CJN SH EMB KAH PS KRF CMG PP.
- Writing – review & editing: CJN SH EMB KAH PS KRF CMG PP.
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domain: literature


text:
Showing 1–16 of 33 results
Mario Super Star Tree Topper
Power up your Christmas decorations this year with everyone’s favorite invincible Super Star! This officially licensed Super Mario tree topper will make your home extra retro-friendly these holidays and will surely impress geeky house guests!
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domain: hobby


text:
That's why researchers at Georgia Tech and Emery University are collaborating on a more patient-friendly way to vaccinate.
"It's just a patch that gets applied to the skin and the fact that there are some microscopic needles on there is not evident to the patient," said Dr. Mark Prausnitz.
"They are so small that you cannot even feel them on the skin," said Dr. Ionna Skountzou.
The researchers say it's not only painless but, studies show, the patch is also more effective than a traditional shot because the vaccine goes in the skin, not muscle.
That's because the body recognizes it differently and the immune response that is made is a better response.
So far studies have focused on metal patches where the microneedles are "coated" in the flu vaccine. When you put it on, the vaccine dissolves into the skin. However, the ultimate goal is to make a polymer patch where the needles also dissolve.

domain: chemistry


text: Aylwin B. Lewis is President and Chief Executive Officer of Sears Holdings Corporation, a nationwide retailer. Prior to being named Chief Executive Officer of Sears in September 2005, Mr. Lewis was President of Sears Holdings and Chief Executive Officer of KMart and Sears Retail following Sears' acquisition of KMart Holding Corporation in March 2005. Prior to that acquisition, Mr. Lewis had been President and Chief Executive Officer of KMart since October 2004. Prior to that, Mr. Lewis was Chief Multibranding and Operating Officer of YUM! Brands, Inc., a franchisor and licensor of quick service restaurants including KFC, Long John Silvers, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and A&W, from 2003 until October 2004, Chief Operating Officer of YUM! Brands from 2000 until 2003 and Chief Operating Officer of Pizza Hut from 1996. Mr. Lewis is also a director of Sears Holdings Corporation. Mr. Lewis has been a Director of the Company since 2004. The Walt Disney Company Notice of 2008 Annual Meeting and Proxy Statement.

domain: economics


Whenever there is a bigger event occurring in a city, there will be a need to manage the security of the crowd. The attendance of a certain event may be difficult to predict and you may need to make adjustments as the visitor count deviates from what was predicted.
By having access to real-time analytics on the flow of people to any particular event, you will be able to make relevant decisions at an earlier point in time. This will increase the security and make the event more pleasurable for everyone. You may also want to limit the number of visitors for fire safety reasons.


text:
Sprunt are masterplanners, urban designers, architects and landscape architects with offices in London and Johannesburg. Our company has enjoyed 25 years experience of designing and implementing projects in the UK and internationally with an emphasis on Public Realm, Urban Regeneration, Education, Health and Residential.
In all Landscape and masterplanning work we believe in creating value through design. Our aim is to provide sustainable landscape architecture which contributes to the future of our communities and believe good design is created through collaboration, honesty, transparency, integrity and skill.
The input of the Landscape Architects has had a profound impact on the quality of design on all schemes and right from the start the team ensures they work collaboratively with other architects and consultants enhancing creativity and delivery of best practice by focusing their contribution to develop the best urban and environmental design strategy possible.
We require excellence in design and delivery and we enjoy taking on projects that can be seen right through to completion, ensuring design integrity and quality for clients and our design partners. This includes a particular expertise in green roofs and green decks.
Sprunt’s landscape team is growing from strength to strength. We are an award and competition winning team with extensive experience of working in the urban environment.
Recently we have won or been shortlisted for a number of competitions including Brampton Park, John Leigh Park, Sheffield Cooling Towers and Amelia Street and, most recently, Southend Pier.
Part of the Stonegrove regeneration , Academy Lane is a residential development with 136 flats and terrace housing with a central courtyard landscape. The landscape provides a quite retreat to the residents with their balconies facing this space. It provides variety of options of rest and play while creating an impression of the quintessential English meadow landscape.
The children’s play area sits within the heart of the scheme with informal seating opportunities. The rolling meadows become live in summer with wildflowers completely transforming the landscape. Semi mature tree planting provides interest and seasonal colour to the central courtyard.
Sprunt worked closely with the London Borough of Newham and the Heritage Lottery Fund to reinvigorate this popular Victorian park in East Ham. The vision for the park was based on the original design principles of adaptability, robustness, inclusiveness, wonder and celebration that made these places so successful. The team developed detailed designs for the park which balanced the important requirements for heritage conservation with the needs of a 21st century park in a busy urban area.
This led to a successful Stage 2 application for Heritage Lottery funding, and a continuing working relationship which saw the project taken through to completion in 2010. The historical elements in the park were carefully restored to strengthen the Victorian infrastructure of the park such as the grand metalwork gates, the system of paths, and the striking stone drinking fountain. The memorial has been given a respectful landscape setting, encouraging a sense of contemplation and calm.
Thought was put into an exciting and biodiverse planting strategy which enhanced the planted structure of Oaks and Planes defining the different spaces in the park. The restored Formal Garden peaks in summer with waves of ornamental grasses and a coordinated array of hot and cool colours from Mediterranean and native perennials. Spring in the park comes alive along the dry river bed as woodland flowers bloom among the ferns, cobbles and boulders. Landform, planting and stone recreate the sinuous patterns created by rivers as they form meanders, meadows and deltas.
Sprunt was commissioned by Peabody to improve the desirability of the Islington Estate by providing a high quality external environment to compliment the historically significant buildings.
The project aims to:
· Restore historically significant elements of the external environment and produce a scheme which is sensitive to the original design philosophy.
· Improve the environment for pedestrians by consolidating car parking, controlling vehicle access and improving paved surfaces.
· Develop capacity for community-building by involving residents in the design process and providing appropriate communal facilities.
· Ensure a net gain in biodiversity by introducing more planting on to the estate
· Provide a safe external environment for residents to meet, and for young children to play.
Maintenance managers were involved in all steering group meetings resulting in them championing SUD’s proposals, soft lighting and up-lighters as they could see the benefits, both in terms of maintenance and reducing vandalism. As part of the consultation process we worked with the client to run an open day which most residents attended. This involved a large scale interactive display:- rolling out artificial lawns over areas of tarmac and hiring natural play structures to physically demonstrate how the renovations would affect the central square. This gave residents a much clearer understanding of how the proposed shared space, natural play, parking, other hard landscape elements and arrangement of the square would look which they enthusiastically embraced.
This was the winning design in an international RIBA competition held to develop an original playground for this leafy park in the suburbs of Altrincham. Sprunt worked closely with Trafford Council, Urban Splash, TEP and Groundwork to provide a successful play space that sat naturally within the existing landscape setting and was accessible and safe for all children to use. This popular new playground is formed from a sinuous river-like loop which winds its way amongst the majestic trees and rolling landscape setting of John Leigh Park in a quiet neighbourhood of Altrincham. Play features inspired by natural forms are set along the loop encouraging children to use their imagination to create different games, journeys and stories. The river loop widens in places to form spinning eddies, and a series of boulders and logs for clambering, balancing and jumping. The team were inspired by the natural play opportunities found along the small rivers which run through the forests and hills of the Peak District.
Landform is used carefully to merge the playground with its surroundings, with new undulations creating hills to slide and roll down and bridges to cross. There are no boundaries as play becomes part of the landscape, and landscape part of the play. The play in the park revolves around the existing trees which give the playground a different character in every season. Trees inspire the timber play forest which encourages climbing, hanging and swinging from ropes and beams.
Lying at the heart of Sprunt’s £300m masterplan for 1,000 new homes around the new London Academy in Barnet, the recently completed church and Community Centre provides a vibrant focus for the new community. Extensive landscaping for both play and contemplation complementing the building and ensure it links seamlessly with the surrounding public realm. The landscape creates a cohesive scheme and helps bring the community centre to the heart of Stonegrove. The use of a variety of natural materials in the landscape compliment the internal spaces hence improving the legibility. Use of natural materials like stone gabions and timber helps to blend in with the surroundings. The strength of the landscape is the flexible external spaces catering to different functions at different times. The café spill over space and ‘the green’ encourage opportunities for informal interaction making it a successful community space.

domain: artistic


Defensive Shotguns vs rifles and handguns: The
shotgun, configured as below, is a "gun for
all occasions." It is the most intimidating
defensive firearm. Out to 40-60 meters, with #4 Buckshot
or even large birdshot, it is almost impossible to
miss a target. With a rifled slug, out to about 175
meters, it is an .87 caliber (well over 1oz. in weight),
rifle. It has unmatched stopping power, with #4 Buckshot
to a range of 25-35 meters and the same is true with
a rifled slug out to 175 meters. But, it can not
be concealed like a handgun and does not have the
long range of a rifle and both the semi-automatic
pistols and rifles hold many more bullets/shells.
The defensive scattergun is defined by 18" barrels
(the shortest legal length), rifle sights so as to
shoot slugs accurately, an open choke so as to have
the proper spread with birdshot or buckshot, and
an external shell holder for immediate ammo re-supply
(in the external shell holders there are two birdshot,
two #4 Buckshot, and two rifled slugs), all five
below also have after-market extra-cushion recoil
pads. All except #4 are Mossbergs. #4 is a
Norenco. The array below encompasses the three shotgun
actions: double-barrel, pump, and semi-automatic.
835, 3.5" ultra-magnum,
pump action, adjustable/light enhanced sights,
6-shot, with kevlar "thumb hole" stock.
930, 3" magnum, semi-automatic,
military-grade (all steel with adjustable military
sights), 8-shot, with kevlar stock.
590-A1, 3" magnum, pump-action, military-grade
(all steel with military sights), 7-shot, with
- Model 99 Norenco, Double-barrel,
all steel, "Coach Gun," 3" magnum,
exposed hammers (highly recommended
on a defensive double-barrel), after-market rifle sights, hardwood
- Model 500, 3" magnum, pump-action,
lightweight (steel/aluminum), with our choice
of an after-market top-folding stock (which also
adds adjustable rifle sights), 7-shot.


text:
Very excited that Bold Strokes Books has released my novel, Branded Ann, as part of a three-book pirate romance sampler in e-book format, just in time for Christmas! Also included are Colette Moody’s The Sublime and Spirited Voyage of Original Sin, and Catherine Friend’s award-winning A Pirate’s Heart (which, if you read carefully, dear friends, contains a wee reference to Branded Ann, because Catherine Friend is just THAT awesome.) Three swashbuckling lesbian pirate tales for a bargain — snap them up now n’ get yer yarrr on!!
Things have been quiet on the blogging/social media front this past month or so, mostly because I’ve been writing frantically.
The light at the end of the tunnel is beckoning, my friends. I am currently finishing up what I think is the second-to-last chapter of Prayer of the Handmaiden. The big battle is concluded, and there’s some sweet lovin’ going on at the moment. ^~ Then we just have to wrap things up, and Qiturah has to get in her last word, of course, and then the complete book draft will be finished at long last.
I plan to go back through it over the course of another month or so, especially the later chapters, for some deep-cleaning, and then it will be time to send it off for *gulp* judgement.
In the mean time, it seems like every possible kind of stress has been tossing me around the past month. Work. Family. Money. Everything. Trying to hang in there and just breathe and tackle one thing at a time, but it’s getting overwhelming. I’ll be glad when the tide goes back out again… till then, just gotta close my eyes and hang on, right? :P
This morning I stumbled across another really nice review of SotG, this time on the blog Queer People Doing Stuff:
“It did everything I wanted it to. I wanted the heroes to struggle but win in the end, I wanted the ladies to get together, and I wanted an awesome girl doing boy things. If you like those things too, then you’ll probably like this book. I know that for me it was one of the funnest reads I’ve had in a long time.”
The lesbian-historical-fiction bloggers over at Bosom Friends just posted such a nice review of Sword of the Guardian!
“Romantically speaking, Sword of the Guardian is one of the most alluring love stories I’ve ever read. The characters of Shasta and Talon are so lively, and their romance is so captivating, it truly broke my heart to see their story end. The fact that we have access to them as individuals from a young age (especially in Shasta’s case) allowed for a deeper connection to their characters that is hard to find nowadays. Seeing them grow as individuals alongside their growth as a couple was truly a treat…”
Thank you so much, ladies! <3
I compiled this list rather hastily in preparation for the Queer Monsters round table at Sirens this year, and I shared my list of round table discussion questions in a previous post, but I thought I would share the indie monster book list itself as a separate blog so that I could spend hours getting every book title linked to a page where you could research/purchase said book, if you were so inclined. ^~
I find it such a shame that so many book lists out there completely gloss over the existence of books published by independent presses and self-published authors, especially when it comes to seeking out queer fiction. I guess everyone assumes that queer fiction is bound to be amateurish erotica, and admittedly there is a lot of that out there… but there’s so much that’s truly great, too.
Anyway, this is a list of paranormal / monster themed books from independent publishers that feature a lesbian protagonist. This is by no means a comprehensive list as I know there are probably far more of these out there than even I’m aware of, so please do comment if you know of one that should be added!!
By Winter Pennington (Bold Strokes Books):
Witch Wolf, Raven Mask and the forthcoming Bloody Claws (vampires, werewolves, witches)
The Rosso Lussuria Series
Darkness Embraced and the forthcoming Summoning Shadows (vampires and some other interesting creatures)
By Ronnie Massey (Copperhill Media Corporation) – Crimson Dawn (vampires)
By Sarah E. Glenn (Pill Hill Press) – All This and Family, Too (vampires)
By Ali Vali (Bold Strokes Books) – Balance of Forces: Toujours Ici (vampires)
I’m sure there are many more to come, so if you know of one you’d like to add please leave it in the comments! :)
Well, 81%, really, if my word count estimation is correct. Which it might not be, since this story is turning out to be a lot bigger than I had originally imagined. It’s hard enough to weave a gripping romance, but when you do it against the backdrop of a very complex fantasy world with its own intricate religion that plays a major part in our heroines’ quest to be together, there’s just so much that needs to go on in order to keep the world accessible and real and free of logic-holes. Add to that an epic villain (because of course there has to be an epic villain) and some very frustrating hopping all over the kingdom in order to get people where they need to be for the key plot points to take place (fight! run! rest! fight more! run more! EPIC MOMENT OF GLORY! Another fight! More running!! MORE EPICNESS!!) it gets exhausting, as the writer, to keep up.
You also have to ask yourself questions like… how will so and so manage to travel from this point to this point before this other so-and-so catches up to them? What if all the starting moments have to occur on the same night, but then in order for the ending to work there has to be some drag time during which no one would, logically, be sitting around dragging? What to do, writer, what to do?!!
Don’t worry, friends, I *will* figure it out. :P And I drew a lot of inspiration from the conference this weekend. Though I was ashamed–utterly ashamed–to realize that in one month we are coming up on NaNoWriMo. And remember how last year I was oh-so-optimistic that I’d have this story finished during 2010’s NaNo? Yeah… Guess that didn’t work out so well. *hangs head in shame* I suppose it’s too much to hope that I’ll have it done before this year’s event?
Besides, the third Ithyria book is already insistently head-butting my imagination, wanting attention. Not to mention a couple of other novel ideas that have been simmering for a while… So come on, little priestess story, let’s get you written!!
The winner will receive one personally autographed copy of either Sword of the Guardian or Branded Ann (your choice!) I will even throw in one of my super-cool new magnetic bookmarks, and possibly a couple of other treats as well. ^~
To enter, just tweet me @merryshannon with the answer to this question: who was the first person in your life that you ever came out to? (And if you’re straight – who was the first gay person to ever come out to you?)
(Following me on Twitter is not a requisite to win the contest, but of course it’s always much appreciated, too! ^~)
I will run the contest until noon tomorrow, and then draw a winner randomly from the responses – good luck!!
EDIT:: And the winner, according to this random number generator, is… @krayzdreamr!! Congratulations — and thank you to everybody who entered! This was so much fun, you guys kept me seriously entertained for a good part of the day yesterday. I might just have to do this again someday soon… ^~
Had the most amazing time at the 2011 Sirens Conference over the weekend! I tried to keep my Twitter as updated as I could with the goings-on, but there was just so much that it wasn’t always easy to keep up with. The three guests of honor, Justine Larbalestier, Laini Taylor and Nnedi Okorafor, are such fantastic, creative women and it was so much fun listening to their keynote speeches and banter during the panels (and getting signed books, yay!!) I ran into other fantastic authors as well; Mette Ivie Harrison, Sarah Rees Brennan, Marie Brennan, and Clare Bell, just to name a few, and came away from the conference with a huge stack of new treats to read.
Things I loved about the conference: Women. Magic. Anime. Urban Fantasy. Epic Fantasy. Paranormal Fantasy. Feminism. Queerness. Monsters, especially monstrous women. Fairies. Vampires. Werewolves. Demons. Writers. Autographs. Costumes. YA.
Things I would have liked more of: Romance, and adult fiction. There was a strong emphasis on YA (and I love YA!!) and probably rightly so, since all three guests of honor were YA authors, and there are far more powerful female characters in YA fantasy than in adult fantasy right now. But I would love to see more of the adult stuff too – Charlaine Harris is a great example. And, of course, being a romance lover I can never get enough of the lovey-dovey stuff. *^^* My favorite panel of the entire weekend, in fact, was “Destructive Love Myths,” in which Laini Taylor, Mette Ivie Harrison, Justine Larbalestier and Dene Low discussed some of their most disliked romance tropes, and how to avoid using them poorly.
Since the conference theme this year was Monsters, I hosted a round table on the Monstrous Queer. SO many thanks to everyone who attended and contributed such thoughtful comments to the discussion!! For those who are interested I thought I’d post a recap of our discussion questions, which resulted in great conversation including such diverse materials as Charlaine Harris / True Blood, the X-Men, and the 1872 novella Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu:
1. In much recent popular monster-themed fiction, it seems authors increasingly assign a fluid sexual culture to their monstrous characters – vampires, werewolves, etc. – even if the protagonists of their story are strictly heterosexual. For example, in the Sookie Stackhouse novels, nearly all of the vampire characters demonstrate some degree of bisexuality. What is it about imagined monster culture that seems to lend itself so easily to sexual fluidity?
2. Do you think queer characters are more easily accepted by mainstream readers if they’re also portrayed as inhuman?
3. Does the increasing visibility of queer fantasy monsters in popular media contribute to the depiction of queerness, in and of itself, as a monstrosity? Do you think it reinforces the idea that non-straight sexuality is evil or unnatural?
4. Regardless of whether they’re being portrayed as heroes or villains, there is always a clear line of differentiation that sets monsters apart from “normal” people, often requiring them to hide their true identity from others. What parallels might be drawn between a fantasy monster’s isolation and the prejudice often encountered by GLBTQ people?
5. A key scene in any monster story is the moment when the monster’s true identity is revealed. How are these scenes usually handled? Does the monster “come out” themselves, or are they discovered and confronted? Does the way the revelation is made make a difference in how the information is handled by the other characters and ultimately, the reader? What consequences arise once the monster’s identity is known? Are there similarities to what queer people might experience when their sexuality is made public knowledge?
6. Can you think of examples of queer “monster” characters whose alternate sexuality is not depicted as contributing to (or arising from) their monstrousness?
7. The concept of lesbian vampires seems to hold particular erotic appeal for many readers, male and female alike. What makes the idea of a lesbian vampire so alluring? Are these characters usually portrayed as scary monsters, or romantic heroines? Who do you think the concept appeals to more, women or men?
8. Bonnie Zimmerman, in her essay entitled Daughters of Darkness: Lesbian Vampires, explains how the lesbian vampire poses a particular threat to men, thereby making herself the consummate villain. “When the lesbian is also a vampire,” she says, “[a man] has an added explanation for the attraction one woman might have for another. It is not he who is inadequate, he is competing with supernatural powers… He must destroy the vampire — the lesbian — who threatens male power through sexual attacks on women. For, in fact, whether the woman vampire is lesbian or heterosexual, her real object of attack is always the male.” She goes on to describe how many popular lesbian vampire movies of the 1970’s begin with a newly married couple on their honeymoon, who encounter a female vampire that seduces the young wife away from her (usually abusive) husband. So is it the vampire’s vampirism that makes her a monster in the man’s eyes, or her lesbianism? Do you think the woman she’s seduced sees her as a monster, or as her savior? Is the story a horror… or a romance?
9. Must lesbian monsters, when presented with a human love interest, always take on the traditionally masculine role of pursuer and seducer? Are straight female monsters usually assigned this role? What might this imply about the role of aggressor – is it truly based on gender, or is it more about who is in a greater position of power?
10. Bold Strokes Books currently publishes a line of Urban/Paranormal romances featuring lesbian “monster” protagonists. While a good number of these are about vampires, nearly half the books are about lesbian werewolves, and they are very popular among BSB’s queer readership. Is the concept of a lesbian werewolf as inherently sexual as that of a lesbian vampire? Does it carry the same feminist (or misogynist) overtones?
I also included a list of Indie GLBTQ Monster-themed books, which I’ll post up later as a separate blog. ^~
I had a great time signing books and programs at the Afternoon Tea sessions, and all the authors were so gracious and inclusive (especially Marie Brennan, who sat next to me at the signing table and was such a delight to talk with!)
What a wonderful weekend! And next year promises to be equally awesome, with the fabulous Malinda Lo as a guest of honor! I can’t WAIT…
So this is incredibly cool! Let’s say you own a copy of one of my books on Kindle. “How I wish I could have this wonderful novel autographed,” you sigh. “With something personal and written by the author just for me… but alas, my book is digital and has no paper to write on!”
Weep no more, dear readers, because the brilliant folks at KindleGraph have come up with a solution.
I can now create personalized digital autographs for any reader, near or far, who would like to have one! Just go to my page on KindleGraph and let me know you want it, and I’ll whip something up just for you. No expensive travel to see me (especially since I can so rarely travel to make appearances to begin with…) and no waiting in lines! KindleGraph turns the inscription into collectible file you can download onto your own e-reader.
And no, you don’t have to own a copy of the books to request a KindleGraph. You don’t even have to own a Kindle, for that matter. ^~ Go check it out. It’s pretty darned cool. :)
- Sign My eBook Please! (darayoungwrites.com)
- Video: Amazon’s new Kindle e-book readers promise value (news.consumerreports.org)
- To Kindle or not to Kindle (paperparcel.wordpress.com)
I have been waiting impatiently for what feels like forever (but was, in fact, just a little over a week) to get my new Moo Minicards in the mail. These things are SO AWESOME!! The print quality is amazing, you can see all the teeny tiny details of the images, and the cardstock is thicker than a regular business card. I’m in love. For the first set I decided to use a couple of my 3D renders, just to see what the results would look like. Now that I know what these cards are capable of I have all kinds of ideas for Moo cards… more 3D characters — maybe individual portraits? — and book covers too, of course. I’m also dying to make a few for Prayer of the Handmaiden even though it will likely be a good while before I have a print copy of that in my hands. *grins* And before I go too crazy with the card-ordering I really probably ought to make sure that I am finding plenty of readers to give them away to, yes?
Anyway, I decided to try a little crafty project by using a bit of grosgrain ribbon and some sticky-back magnet strips to make magnetic bookmarks; just connected two minicards with a bit of ribbon and used the sticky side of the magnet to stick the ribbon to the cards. They’re super cute, see?
I’ve never really used promotional items like these before — for a while I was making blue feather necklaces, skull-shaped pirate rings and character-themed perfume oils, but honestly, those were really more for my own fun and need to work on something crafty than they were for real promotional purposes. I think I’m slowly getting better at
shamelessly whoring myself promoting my books in regular conversations with folks, and every now and then I find myself scribbling down the name of my books or my website url on some cocktail napkin for somebody — these cards are a much cuter and more professional way of giving out my information. Not to mention, they’re so cute that it’s actually *tempting* to whip them out in the middle of a completely unrelated conversation just so I can show them off! “Hey, by the way, check these out, aren’t they cool? I write lesbian romance novels, you should look them up sometime!” I’m kind of kicking myself for not having done this ages ago.
Sirens is in just a couple weeks. I’m so excited, seriously… this is going to be SO MUCH FUN. I have a great list of discussion questions in regard to the topic of LGBTQ monsters, so I can’t wait for the round table discussion! Also, I’m finishing up reading books by the three guests of honor, and still contemplating which sessions I’m going to attend during the day in order to work up the ideal conference schedule. ^~ I’m trying to convince my wife to head up there with me as well. She’d be able to run around the mountains hiking or biking or reading or whatever else she wanted to do while I was at the conference during the day, and I think we’d have a really great time together…
- I Moo & You Can Too (theh2obaby.wordpress.com)
- MOO Helps Small Businesses Stand Out During Small Business Week –Online Stationer Announces Business Services Platform (prweb.com)
- Graphic minimalism : MOO cards by designers (moo.com)


The former Interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Bisi Akande, has blasted the party’s National Caretaker Committee headed by Yobe State Governor Mai Bala Buni over the ongoing fresh membership registration.
Saying that the committee is an abnormality, he warned the committee over the temptation to want to sit tight in office.
Akande, who is also former governor of Osun State, spoke when the caretaker committee visited his Ila-Orangun hometown in Osun to register him.
President Muhammadu Buhari had inaugurated the fresh registration exercise for the party when he registered on Tuesday in Daura, his hometown.
“In normal circumstances, a Caretaker Executive Committee for a political party is an abnormality. If not carefully controlled and expeditiously managed, most aberrant authorities end up in contempt and disgrace,” the former APC chairman said.
“For this reason, Chief Akande added, “I want to urge the present APC Caretaker Executive Committee to resist all temptations of sit-tight syndromes that usually characterised most hand-picked authorities in most underdeveloped countries of the world.”
He also criticised the fresh registration saying it’s a wasteful exercise when the party has a well-computerized register that could be updated to take advantage of new technology if the need arises.
Akande also questioned the wisdom in compiling a fresh register when the last one was not up to a decade, arguing that even the national census is not conducted that way.
“No population census is repeated within less than a decade and voters are not registered at every election. Within this context, I see the present APC membership registration within less than a decade after the original register as an indefensible aberration, leading to certain ugly perceptions,” Akande said.
There was an ominous silence as Akande was making his submissions. The caretaker committee members left Ila-Orangun with their tales in between their legs.


text:
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The history of Lord Street, Southport will be the topic for the latest monthly talk taking place at Formby Library on Wednesday March 2, 2016.
The mile long Victorian thoroughfare, said to have been the inspiration for the tree lined boulevards of Paris, has been a favourite shopping destination for over a century and has many fascinating stories to tell.
The guest speaker is Joanne Chamberlaine from The Atkinson, Southport.
The talk starts at 2pm on Wednesday, March 2 and places are free but booking is advised. To secure a place please phone Formby Library on 01704 874177 or emailFormby.Library@sefton.gov.uk.
For more information about Sefton Libraries, visit sefton.gov.uk/libraries
Submit News Contact us with your community, business or sport news. Phone 07581350321
Breaking local news as it happens, searchable archives with photographs, the ability to instantly comment on news articles – there are so many advantages to OTS (Onthespot) News.
If you want your news read locally online then send it to firstname.lastname@example.org – relying only on the newspaper is to restrict yourself to an ever reducing audience.


For script writers, error handling is an important consideration. Whether you are writing automation scripts in your favorite scripting language or constructing CLI scripts, it is important to know what is going to happen on error conditions so they can be handled appropriately. Each CLI client follows strict error handling protocol described in Atlassian CLI Error Handling.
The CLI goes further in implementing enablers to make it easier to ignore or handle various error situations and minimize scripting. This is where the continue parameter comes in.
Continue for Run Actions
The CLI provide common run actions like run, runFromCsv, runFromSql, and runFromList. More importantly, the are many client specific runFrom... actions. Each of these actions takes advantage of the continue parameter to cover 2 different use cases:
- Stop running actions as soon as the first one fails - this is the default behavior for run actions.
- Continue running actions even if there are failures and just report a failure summary at the end - this is covered by add --continue to the run action.
Continue for Specific Actions
There is also a case for some specific actions to deal nicely with certain error conditions. Usually, this fails in the category of ignoring errors that I don't care about. There are a class errors that are commonly ignored by script writers and the CLI wants to make it easy in those cases while, at the same time, making sure normal errors will surface for other use cases. For this reason, we have defined a protocol that certain action should implement. We continue to implement this protocol where it make sense and where historical support may not have followed the protocol. Only actions specifically stating they support the continue parameter have implemented the protocol.
The errors covered by this are:
- Trying to add or create an entity that already exists - for many scripting cases, the script only cares that the entity exists one way or the other
- Trying to remove or delete an entity that does not exist - many clean-up activities only care about things not being there
Other examples are add users to groups, removing users from groups, and similar.
In these cases, we only want those specific errors to be ignored but still want to be informed about more general (less common) errors that still need to be handled in a script or by manual intervention. By using the continue parameter on those actions we can easily ignore the errors and spend our time on other things .


Black Glam: Cross Colours co-founder TJ Walker on how he built his iconic brand
Cross Colours is enjoying a resurgence of sorts.
The designer is gearing up to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the brand that’s enjoying a bit of a pop-culture revival thanks in part to Cardi B and Bruno Mars’ hit, “Finesse.”
“It’s very exciting for us right now. We have some great things planned for that,” he said of the company’s anniversary next year.
Since the music video for the single was a reference to the hit nineties sketch comedy show, In Living Color, featuring Cross Colours clothing made total sense because Keenan Ivory Wayans and the rest of the crazy crew from the hit show were constantly wearing Walker’s designs.
“We didn’t really have any direct contact with that video other than our clothes were featured in the video. It was really organic,” he explained. “They actually were doing an In Living Color theme and they pulled Cross Colours clothing, which was appropriate because we styled and dressed them back in the day.”
Even though TJ Walker ended up launching a line that made a huge impact on the culture, he didn’t set out with that intention.
“I had a love of drawing. My intent was to be a fashion illustrator. I went to school in Mississippi and completed my master’s degree at Louisiana Tech University and then I moved to Los Angeles in hopes of being a fashion illustrator,” he explained.
When TJ Walker launched his clothing line with Carl Jones in 1989, it was almost unheard of for two Black men to achieve the success they did.
“I think we were more scared than anyone else because we didn’t know exactly what we were doing or what we were about to do, but we knew we had to address a certain demographic which was us…so we tried to figure out a way to do that.”
After their very first fashion show, the orders came pouring in and celebrities like Will Smith, TLC, Shaquille O’Neal, Magic Johnson, and Snoop Dogg were begging them for clothes. The colorful ensembles they created and signature inclusion of kinte cloth in their denim made their clothes instantly recognizable and coincided with the rise of Yo! MTV Raps.
Now that the nineties are back in such a big way, so is the beloved brand. Despite his success, TJ Walker remains humble and committed to giving back to the community.
“I think that’s what keeps me grounded…the give back part. Of course, my family keeps me grounded too.”
Check out the full interview above.