A Food and Drug Administration committee was considering whether to recommend approval of MedImmune Inc.'s FluMist, a nasal spray.
The big issue is just how safe MedImmune Inc.'s FluMist is, because the nasal vaccine is made with live flu virus instead of the killed virus in today's flu shots.
In July 2001, the Food and Drug Administration's advisers said FluMist hadn't proved safe enough to sell yet.
Tuesday, MedImmune argued its case again, this time withdrawing its initial attempt to sell the spray vaccine for toddlers — the age most likely to benefit from a pain-free option — to settle one of those safety questions. Instead, if FluMist is allowed to sell, MedImmune said it would be for children 5 and older, because in younger children the spray seems to increase the risk of an asthma attack.
Another complication: No one yet knows if FluMist is safe for anyone over 65 and people with asthma or other illnesses, those most at risk from the flu, because studies in those people haven't yet been done.
"In a way, that makes the safety bar go higher," noted Dr. Martin Myers of the University of Texas, Galveston, one of the FDA advisers debating FluMist's fate Tuesday.
And because it's made with a live virus, there is some concern that vaccinated children might spread flu to unvaccinated people, including other children in day care or their elderly grandparents.
Flu experts have longed for a painless vaccine as a way to persuade more people to seek the annual protection. About 70 million people get today's flu shots each year. Yet tens of millions of Americans get the flu each year, it kills 20,000 of them and hospitalizes about 100,000.
The nasal vaccine works by stimulating the immune system through the same nose tissue where the flu virus attacks. But no direct comparison of nasal versus injected vaccines has been done to prove if one type is any better than the other.
FluMist does offer protection, MedImmune scientists told the FDA advisers Tuesday.
In one study, 1,600 healthy children — ages 15 months to 6 years — got either FluMist or a dummy nasal spray squirted up each nostril. Children who later got sick were tested for influenza. FluMist proved 93 percent effective in preventing the flu.
Side effects primarily included runny nose, muscle aches and fever.
But children under age 5 occasionally suffered asthma attacks or asthma-like wheezing, a fairly rare side effect that FDA estimated could occur in up to 1.5 percent of the youngsters.
So MedImmune responded that FluMist would be for use only by children over 5, who didn't seem to have that asthma risk.
In adults, the vaccine wasn't quite as promising. Some 4,561 healthy, working adults ages 18 to 64 were given either FluMist or a dummy spray, and then reported any symptoms to researchers.
FluMist recipients were just as likely as the nonvaccinated to experience a flulike illness, although MedImmune said vaccination did cut severe illness by about 17 percent, as well as cutting lost days of work and doctor visits.
But the FDA argued that people age 50 to 64 may not experience that benefit.
The FDA's advisers will weigh those studies before voting late Tuesday on whether FluMist is safe and effective enough for sale to certain people. The FDA is not bound by its advisers' recommendations but typically follows them. It's unlikely a decision would come in time for the tail end of this winter's flu season.


text:
We are not under the Law, we are under the period of Grace! BECAUSE........Jesus Christ died for all our sins! AND asked for one simple little thing from us and that is to BELIEVE IN HIM! You pitch out all these bible verses and don't have a clue what anything means.<quoted text>
Perhaps the Bible never changes -- although I have shows you many examples of the Bible changing -- but customs and laws and human behavior changes. As an example, would YOU follow these laws of the Bible:
Deuteronomy 21 (KJV):(18) If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and [that], when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:(19) Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; (20) And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son [is] stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; [he is] a glutton, and a drunkard.(21) And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
Wiseup, "Norton"! You know that you would not have your own son put to death for being "stubborn and rebellious." (However, feel free to tell us that you would.)

domain: literature


text:
Steady rise in invasions by alien pests and outbreak of new plant diseases induced by global warming over the last two decades made the researchers as well as the Department of Agricultural Extension officials and researchers worried.
Researchers as well as DAE officials agree that minor pests that could be easily controlled in the past became strong plant attackers now that are proving difficult to keep under check.
At times these pests and plant diseases get highly difficult to control for which the authorities slashed the acreage of vulnerable crops and limited export of some other crops.
‘Never before in the past did Bangladesh encounter such a big threat from pests and plant diseases,’ Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute’s principal scientific officer Mohammad Shahadat Hossain told New Age.
Shahadat said, ‘we identified at least a dozen invasive alien pests and plant diseases that entered Bangladesh after 2000.
Some of the alien invasive pests and plant diseases remained unidentified despite their strong presence in parts of Bangladesh, he said.
‘Due to limited capacity, we prioritise dealing with invasive alien pests and plant diseases with the potential to cause large-scale damage,’ he said.
Between 1970 and 2000, major pests and diseases in Bangladesh were known to the farmers as well as the researchers , said Shahadat whose career as a researcher began in 1995.
‘Influx of alien invasive pests or these plant diseases were unknown to Bangladesh between 1970 and 2000,’ he said.
The situation is changing fast, he said for rice, wheat, corn, potato, mango, papaya, coconut, tomato, brinjal, tea and other major crops as they are increasingly coming under attack from the invasive alien pests and plant diseases.
Razzab Ali, professor of Entomology at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, said that increased pest attacks and plant diseases were occurring mainly due to global warming.
‘Insects are ectotherms, dependent on outside temperature for physiological activities, which means physiologically they become more active in warmer conditions,’ said Razab.
High humidity also an influencing factor for the growth of insects, he said.
‘Humidity is higher in warm air,’ said Razzab.
Dhaka University zoology professor Murshida Begum said that increased physiological activities means shorter life cycles.
‘The shorter the lifecycle the greater the generation of insects,’ she said.
Murshida said that it was almost universal knowledge that low temperature slowed down insect growth for which blue flies are seen in Bangladesh in large number in the summer.
She said that in a summer month blue flies complete four lifecycles but in a winter month they cannot complete even two lifecycles.
Global warming, she said, made winters shorter and longer summers facilitating faster growths in insect populations.
Similar conditions are applicable for many of the crops diseases caused by fungus, bacteria or virus.
The 5th assessment report of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirmed the links between global warming and increased pest and disease attacks.
The first ever research quantifying crop losses caused by increased pest attacks linked to climate change was done in August 2018 by US-based scientists.
According to them, even if climate change is restricted to the target 2C, increased pest attacks would still destroy 50 per cent more of the wheat crop than they do today, 30 per cent more corn and 20 per cent more rice.
The researchers said that warmer temperature increases insect reproduction rates and more insects mean a rise in their food demand.
It is predicted that the need for more food may force insects to change their food habit or make them travel far and wide. Warmer temperature would only expand their territory of migration.
Former BARI director Syed Nurul Alam said that the most dangerous of the new alien invasive pests that arrived in Bangladesh was identified as Fall Army Worm, a native in the Americas.
First detected in November last year, the pest was already spread across Bangladesh, infesting at least one per cent of the corn crop, he said.
The pest was first seen outside its native continent in Africa in 2016. In just two years it became pervasive in 44 of the 54 African countries, causing famine in five of them, destroying almost entire production of their staple crop corn.
Able to travel hundreds of kilometres overnight in favourable winds, the pest already invaded India, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka Nepal and also possibly China.
Although it prefers to feed on corn primarily, the voracious pest could survive on 80 other crops, including rice, said Nurul Alam.
Wheat and Maize Research Institute director Naresh Chandra Deb Barma said that outbreak of a fungal disease, blast, forced them to reduce the crop acreage over last four years.
Blast was restricted to the rice crop cultivated in South America only for centuries until it started infecting wheat in 1985.
In Asia, wheat blast, considered the most fearsome and intractable of the diseases that appeared in recent decades, was first detected in Bangladesh in 2016.
Wheat was cultivated in 4.45 lakh hectares the year the disease first broke out. This year wheat was cultivated in 3.30 lakh hectare.
‘We were looking for a cure to the disease before expanding wheat production,’ said Naresh.
In 2014, bug scare at Eden Women’s college in the capital made headlines, bringing leading entomologists in the country together to investigate into it.
The bug was identified as giant mealy bug, a mango pest which is believed to have come from Africa.
Entomologists believed that the pest entered Bangladesh through army peacekeepers who served UN missions in Africa.
They were not sure when the pest arrived in Bangladesh, but after they were seen at the Eden College they drew the attention of the scientists.
Now, mealy bug pest is seen throughout Bangladesh, especially at mango plantations.
Another major threat to mango cultivation comes from Mango Fruit Borer, believed to have entered Bangladesh in 2008.
Another major pest, coconut mite was first detected in Bangladesh in 2012, forcing the authorities to introduce coconut varieties resistant to the disease.
Initially a threat in the coastal district, the pest is spread all over Bangladesh, said BARI’s principal scientific officer Shahadat.
According to the DAE estimates, coconut cultivation was reduced to 46,384 hectares last year from 50,971 hectares in 2012.
Entomologists in Bangladesh are also worried over the infestation of pests like Papaya Mealy Bug, American Tomato Leaf Miner, Root Aphid, and Codding Moth.
Vegetable export to UK and the Middle East was limited since 2009 following detection of Thrits, a pest, in several vegetable crops, said Shahadat.
The pest is attacking brinjal, tomato, chilli and many other vegetable crops besides causing large-scale damage in tea plantations.
‘We have known Thrits for long but never before did we find it so devastating,’ said Bangladesh Tea Research Institute’s senior scientific office Shameem Al Mamun.
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domain: agronomy


text:
Righting Her-Story: Caribbean Women Encounter the Bible Story (Patricia Sheerattan-Bisnauth, editor), is the most recent text on women, theology and biblical interpretation and application in the Caribbean.
Billed by its publisher, World Communion of Reformed Churches, as a bible study training guide which also advises on worship services and liturgy, the text comprises a wide range of social issues reflected in bible stories, stories of Caribbean women, women’s leadership in church and society, issues of women’s sexuality, relevant songs and poems and even resources for a campaign on violence against women.
The studies were written by lay and ordained women from Baptist, Congregational, Evangelical, Presbyterian, Reformed, Roman Catholic and United traditions. Writers are mostly from within the Caribbean region, and include two women from the Caribbean Diaspora in North America, one Asian woman from India and one African American woman from the U.S.A.
By pulling together Church, doctrine, theology and society, the text further roots the ‘woman question’ in the articulation of Caribbean Theology which, itself, is anchored in the principles, philosophy, morals and practice of social justice.
The text gives life to the bible and women of the bible by grounding them in the everyday life of Caribbeanwomen and at the same time, grounding Caribbean women in the life experiences of the women of the bible.
It therefore, alerts us to the fact that women’s experiences bear similarities, regardless of time, space and socio-culture. In so doing, Righting Her-Story undermines the patriarchal interpretation of biblical doctrine and with that the tendency of some Caribbean theologians to spiritualise biblical interpretation and to de-contextualise the life experiences of their adherents.
Worse yet, such theologians have tended to avoid the social teachings of New Testament narrative and so have not always paid sufficient attention to marginalised social groups, in this case women. Righting Her-Story, objectively, distances itself from interpretations which have disregarded women in the social teachings of the church.
What the text does, at one and the same time, is to spiritualise and de-spiritualise women and theology, indicating that while there can be ‘pure theology’, of social import is the contextualisation of theology, an applied contextual theology which means understanding one’s own context and through theological reflection link it into a wider understanding of the gospel message.
This makes it possible to create a link between theological interpretations and socio-political analysis and to bring theological categories in line with the context of specific situations. But while context underlies all presentations, the text itself should be understood in the context of an ‘applied contextual theology’, which enables it to address and, perhaps, even solve social and personal problems.
At the same time, Righting Her-Story recognises the dual ideological manifestations of biblical doctrine. That is to say, while religion is understood, by some, as a conservative and repressive force for all women, it is embraced by others as a source of liberation and social justice.
For example, the Rev Gillian Wilson, of the United Theological College of the West Indies, in her chapter, “Womanhood: A Bible Study on Proverbs 31” interrogates the bible and the book of Proverbs in terms of the dual representation of women and notes:
“The women we glimpse in Proverbs 31 differ significantly from the women referred to throughout the book. On the whole, the women outside of Proverbs 31 are seen as inconsequential, disreputable untrustworthy and fatal to the well-being of men.” (p. 115).
However, when she decides to situate the text in the context of the Caribbean reality, she concludes:
“When we read the text at the face value we find the qualities that the Israelite society might have expected from a woman which would qualify as a good or wise woman. When we read the text from a Caribbean woman’s perspective of a single woman who heads a household and who enters the fray every day competing in an androcentric society as well as competing with members of her own sex, we find aspects of liberation and oppression.” (pp.115-116).
This is not unusual because if we examine the history of Caribbean society, we can conclude that Christianity in all epochs has had both liberating and conservative moments. That is to say, as ideology, Christianity is at the same time a critique of an oppressive social order and an instrument of domination subject to varying interpretations by different classes and social groups and subject to varying historical conditions.
Wilson, therefore, has provided a relevant context for understanding the contradictory nature of Christian thought, advocating at the same time, the liberating dimension of biblical doctrine. This is a theme which runs through the text. Righting Her-Story, then, comes at a time when more and more the liberating message of the Gospel needs to be centred in both church and society.
Righting Her-Story is much more than a pedagogical tool. It is a call to action and a critical way of doing theology. Like other works which focus on articulating a ‘woman’s theology’, Righting Her-Story is calling on the Caribbean Church to embrace a “specific option for women” and begin the process of transformation in its own ecclesial structure as well as that of society.
By interpreting and reinterpreting the Scriptures through the eyes of women, the authors of this text have distinguished themselves by contributing to writing Caribbean theology which envisages a just and inclusive society.
Judith Soares, PhD, is tutor coordinator of the Women and Development Unit of the University of the West Indies.
About Judith Soares
Judith Soares, PhD, is the head of the University of the West Indies' Women and Development Unit.

domain: library


After the movie Brüno was released in 2009, Sacha Baron Cohen made a vow, both to himself and to his wife, actress Isla Fisher. “I vowed never to make this kind of comedy again,” he tells me. “Because it had become so dangerous.”
By “this kind of comedy,” Baron Cohen is referring to the type of outrageous, reality-based stunts he pioneered on Da Ali G Show and perfected in the Oscar-nominated film version of Borat. On this week’s episode of The Last Laugh podcast, he explains what prompted him to break his vow for Showtime’s Who Is America?, which premiered last summer and managed to dominate the headlines for weeks.
“There were a bunch of scenes where I was lucky to get away without getting really badly injured,” Baron Cohen says of his experience on Brüno. “And you get addicted to it at the time but at the end it seemed like an idiotic way to make a living. So I vowed never to do that type of comedy again.”
“And then something happened,” he continues. “A guy called Donald Trump—I don’t know if you’ve heard of him—got into office.”
As he explains, it was actually the Muslim travel ban Trump attempted to institute just one week after his inauguration that made Baron Cohen jump into action. “I was like, OK, I am very, very angry and I have to do something about this,” he said. “And the only thing I knew how to do was to go undercover again.”
During our wide-ranging and lively interview as part of the SAG Conversations series, Baron Cohen opened up about the painstaking process of creating six brand-new characters and shared some truly insane stories from filming both Who Is America? and Borat. You’ll want to keep listening for his harrowing and hilarious tale involving Ben Carson and dozens of Secret Service officers.
What ‘Who Is America?’ reveals about ‘complicit’ politicians
“What we wanted to show was there’s a choice. So you can stay in the room and listen to a conspiracy theorist talk nonsense or you can get up and say, I’m not putting up with this, I’m leaving. There’s a choice to say, yeah, I’m going to agree with this disgraceful scheme or you can say, you know what? That’s absurd. And I think that’s what we all have to remember, which is this idea of complicity. We’re all complicit until we say no. That was an important thing, to say Republicans do have a choice. Even people who fully support the Second Amendment have a choice of how far they’ll push it.”
Getting ‘cocky’ about trying to make O.J. Simpson confess
“So the idea with O.J. Simpson was, I’d got a little cocky. This was the last thing I’d done on the show. I was like, you know, I’d got a guy to get his buttocks out, I’d interviewed a vice president, can I get O.J. Simpson to confess to murder? And so I thought, firstly, can I even get him in a room? And it turned out it was quite easy to get him in a room. He can’t leave Vegas and we lured him with the promise of a meeting with an Arab sheikh. We said this Arab sheikh is going to give you this deal that will be worth a lot of money. I ended up training with one of the main FBI interrogators. And they have a technique for breaking down criminals and getting them to confess. So within the interview, and it was quite nerve-wracking, I asked him about 45 times whether he had murdered anyone and he was getting increasingly frustrated.”
The truth about interviewing Donald Trump as Ali G in 2003
“I’d interviewed academics, Nobel Prize winners, heads of the United Nations, nobody had ever kept us waiting before. He kept us waiting for an hour and a half. And then I remember just before the interview, he shouts, ‘Get me the mayor!’ And I think it was [Rudy] Giuliani at the time. He starts screaming [into the phone] and I was really intimidated. I mean, since I’ve realized it was actually probably a complete ruse and he was just trying to intimidate us. And then he comes into the room and there was this very Oxford-educated blond director we had. He thought he was the guy interviewing him. And then I got introduced [as Ali G.] and he looked at me and he did not want to sit down with me. And he immediately said, ‘Let’s make this quick.’ So he stayed about eight minutes, which was pretty good, because I was talking complete nonsense to him. Later on he came out and said, I was the one person who saw through this, you know, I got out immediately. My question is, if he saw that it was fake, why would he have claimed, as he did, that human beings have been trading in rocks for millions of years?”
How he almost died while filming the naked fight scene in ‘Borat’
“I wrote it with me sitting on his face. And then we got into the room and the director Larry Charles said, actually it’s funnier if he sits on your face. And I go, no, no, no, no, read the script, Larry, in the script I sit on his face. Ken Davitian, a brilliant actor, is a big guy. And so I was scared that I would not be able to breathe underneath, because his buttocks is so big. It’s like when you kill someone with a pillow. His buttocks were enough to cover my entire face and create a seal around—so I had a certain amount of seconds. So I said to Larry Charles, here’s the code. If I tap the mattress three times, that means I’m out of oxygen and you shout ‘cut!’ and you rip him off. When you see the actual scene, you see me banging three times and they do nothing! And at that point, I realized I had two choices: either I could die or I could suck the air that had been stuck up my co-star. And in that moment, I chose to die.”
Subscribe to The Last Laugh podcast to hear our full conversation. New episodes released every Tuesday.


text: CycleBar is where you belong. It’s a community in which to escape and find comfort. To support and grow, to make better. It’s our responsibility to fuel our riders inside our studio, so that they can be empowered to make a difference outside our studio. You belong here.

domain: sociology


text:
Nickelodeon's TMNT Summer Shorts series has been inconsistent, but I appreciate the variety of content. Kinda reminds me of the Mirage TMNT Vol. 1 Guest Era. This one, though, "We Strike Hard", has to be my favorite of the ones they've done. Oddly, Nickelodeon hasn't done an official upload of it, yet (there's supposed to be a new short every Sunday, but they missed a week), so enjoy this Russian release.
Anyway, have a Happy 4th of July!

domain: entertainment


text:
At San Diego Comic-Con’s panel for The Vampire Diaries, series creator Julie Plec tearfully announced that Season 8 will be the final season of the beloved CW program. The assembled crowd gasped and whined, but she reassured them that there will be plenty of great content in the coming season to wrap things up.
“The greatest honor you have as a storyteller in the business of television is to make those decisions (about when to end a series). This is it, you guys are here for our final Comic-Con. This is the final season of The Vampire Diaries,” she said. “It’s bittersweet and emotional but we wanted to be the ones to tell you guys first and it’s been a beautiful run.”
After concerns about cancellation last season, Plec and co. were careful to make sure the season 7 finale wrapped things up in case they didn’t get a chance to tell the rest of the story.
“For us it was (about) being able to resolve relationships and tee up a hint of a new villain and a new problem. We really got to start really fresh this year,” she said. She noted that the new season is really about homecoming and that the first episode begins back in Mystic Falls, where it all began.
A New Evil
The creators were careful not to spill too much information about the new villain for Season 8, but the teaser clip showed her bloody hand rising from a tomb with the caption “this season, get ready to meet evil herself.”
“It’s a new take on villains for us,” Plec said. “It’s something that’s rooted all the way back into ancient times.”
“It’s a really great mythology, I’m actually very excited about it,” agreed Kevin Williamson, who has returned to the The Vampire Diaries as a writer and executive producer. “Now at Season 8, what has yet to happen in Mystic Falls and we’re all up here trying not to spoil it and there’s this great thing that’s going to happen. There’s this final bad. When Julie pitched it I was like “oh that’s really cool”. I kinda knew a bit about this mythology that they’re utilizing and to infuse Mystic Falls with this ultimate evil is this little cherry on top.”
The new villain apparently has some sort of mind control powers, as stars Ian Somerhalder and Michael Malarkey pointed out.
“There’s mysterious elements of mind control going on which we really haven’t done before,” Malarkey, who plays vampire Enzo.
“You’re used to seeing Damon or Enzo, you’re used to seeing them use that power (mind control) on other people,” said Somerhalder, who plays Damon. “(They’re) very in their minds, they’re still them, so it’s that conflict, that struggle, it’s a gem for an actor to play.”
A great deal of the conflict on The Vampire Diaries revolves around the complex relationships between the Salvatore brothers and everyone they interact with. Last season saw a number of relationships begin and end, and each cast member was anxious to talk about where their characters are starting the new season.
“A lot of last season was about the development of the relationship Bonnie had with Enzo, and Bonnie and Damon. You see the crumbling in the season finale of her and she also doesn’t have her magic so the thing that made her feel like herself and also her best friends are not there,” said Kat Graham, who plays witch Bonnie. “You start the new season and that’s not there. She’s literally at ground zero.”
Damon and Enzo, two of the central forces in The Vampire Diaries, are missing and forcing the other characters to go on a hunt for them, including new mother Caroline.
“She’s very busy splitting family life and trying to track down Damon and Enzo. I think she has a wonderful outlet, a whole new department in her life to be incredible neurotic. I think motherhood suits her,” said Candice King, who plays Caroline. “She wants to be safer in her adventures, she now has children to watch out for, she’s very protective which is a quality she’s had for a while but now it’s more important to her.”
Paul Wesley, who plays Damon’s brother Stefan, was glad to get to go back to the uniquely complex relationship between the vampire brothers.
“It’s back to the original dynamic of the brothers, it was always Damon getting in trouble and Stefan trying to save him. We’ll see how long that lasts, but at the current time he has a broken heart over his uh, bro,” he said.
Somerhalder and Wesley had fun discussing a scene from season seven where the brothers had a tense phone conversation while Stefan was trapped in the snow.
“The snow is fake and you know the snow is fake and yet you’re still freezing. I had come off of directing my episode so I was a total wackadoodle, and I’m watching (Wesley) crawl through the snow and do this emotional journey, it was cool,” Somerhalder recalled.
“For some reason, that scene, we both just cared about it so much,” Wesley said.
“It was a payoff for these brothers. It was a cool moment,” Somerhalder agreed.
The relationship between Bonnie and Enzo also had a payoff in season seven, much to the delight of the actors who play them.
“I love how beautifully intense both of these characters are. They’ve both gone to the edge and back and they can both be really good and can both be really evil and they both have these redeeming qualities. I love how passionate they both are and it’s really sexy,” Graham said.
“Giggity,” Malarkey joked. “I always thought that Enzo brought the fire out in Bonnie and Bonnie brought the goodness out in Enzo and it brought this great dynamic and groundedness to these two characters who didn’t have those roots before. Enzo never had a family at all so falling in love with somebody was the best thing that could happen to him, but now it’s all been ripped away from him.”
Fun With Fans
“We’re so lucky to have the most incredible fandom,” Somerhalder gushed to the assembled crowd before fielding questions from the audience.
Question One: If your characters had a theme song what would it be and why?
King: “Caroline’s would be ‘I’m a Barbie Girl!'”
Wesley: “Stefan’s would be ‘When a Man Loves a Woman.’ Is that Michael Bolton? I think that’s Michael Bolton. That’s Stefan’s song.”
Graham: “Writing’s on the Wall.”
Somerhalder: “Damon’s would be ‘Eye of the Tiger,’ see Damon in his Camaro going to the blood bank all pissed off because Stefan won’t let him eat people.”
(To Somerhalder) How do you do that signature smoldering look?
“When I conceived this character I wanted him to be Mick Jagger by way of Marlon Brando by way of Cary Grant,” Somerhalder said.
“It’s a sandstorm, it’s sand in your eyes,” Wesley interrupted. “It’s an actor trick.”
“It’s not a sandstorm, it’s just wind,” Somerhalder replied, then mugged it up for the attendees.
What kind of projects do you want to do next and how do you feel about the end?
Graham: “Vampire Diaries is like the ultimate boot camp, we’ve learned how to do anything.”
Somerhalder: “We’ve been doing this for so long now and we’ve learned so much and our passions and skill sets have been altering. My wife and I just started a production company.”
King: “Not only have we become a family, but Caroline feels like a sense of home. To play her feels like home. It’s hard to say goodbye to these characters who you have become a part of and who have become a part of you.”
Season 8 of the The Vampire Diaries premieres October 21 at 8 p.m. EST on the CW.

domain: artistic


text:
Poverty’s Devastating Effect On Education As The Great Equalizer
April V. Taylor
January 24, 2015
One of the major foundational aspects of the American Dream being accessible to all, no matter what their circumstances are, is the idea that education is the great equalizer. However, the equalizing effect of education is more myth than reality based on several statistics that reveal that poverty negates the equalizing impact of education. The achievement gap between the poor and non-poor is twice as large as the racial achievement gap between Black and white students. This gap contributes significantly to the stagnation of upward mobility with the cognitive performance of students from pre-k through college showing substantial stratification based on poverty status. Poverty has a profound effect on life outcomes, and the recent revelation that the majority of students in public schools in the United States live at or below the poverty level implies that the real crisis in the American education system is not about unqualified teachers but rather the extreme concentration of poverty. The fact that 51 percent of public school students live in poverty indicates that the US is no longer a middle class society; the US ranks second highest in child poverty among the world’s 35 “richest” countries; this has major implications on the educational future and evaporation of the American Dream for a new generation of Americans.
For those who question this assertion, take into account the fact that Finland, the highest scoring country in the world in terms of education, has less than 4 percent of its students living in poverty. To make this relevant to how poverty is affecting students in the United States, consider the fact that, according to the Huffington Post, US schools with fewer than 25 percent of students living in poverty perform as well as Finland, and students at schools where fewer than 10 percent of the population lives in poverty, they outperform Finland.
It is also important to consider how race and income intersect to negatively impact education outcomes. Black and Hispanic students are already 2 years behind grade level when they reach 4th grade. By the time these same students reach 12th grade, they are 4 grade levels behind. In terms of higher education, less than 30 percent of students in the bottom quarter of incomes access higher education, and of those who do, less than half complete a college degree.
The impact of these factors on upward mobility means that despite increased access to education, upward mobility has remained largely stagnant over the last 20 years, and the gap between high and low income families consistently continues to expand. Combine these factors with the fact that American schools are embarrassingly segregated along racial and economic lines, with 38 percent of Black students attending schools where minorities make up 90 to 100 percent of the student population. Forty – three percent of Hispanics attend schools with the same intense racial segregation.
To say that poverty is dealing a crushing blow to educational achievement is perhaps an understatement. Educational policy and practices must evolve to meet the needs of students. Some of the things experts recommend are increasing awareness about the incidence of poverty and the consequences of poverty, equitably funding schools, increasing access to preschool education, and reducing racial and economic segregation and isolation.
CONSUMER REPORT SHOWS BLACK AMERICA HAS A STRONG INTEREST IN BLACK ECONOMIC UNITY
Reported by Ashley Naples
Nielsen, an American global information and measurement company, partnered with Essence for its 2014 African American Consumer report which provides extensive research about African-American spending and culture.
Despite the negative stereotypes about Black America’s inability to unite economically, the study shows African-Americans are more likely to support or purchase products and services that are represented or owned by people of the same ethnicity. Forty-four percent of Black survey participants said they are more likely to purchase or support products that are owned or supported by African-Americans or other diverse groups, and 43 percent are more likely to patronize a business if it is a minority-owned entity.
This is a step in the right direction towards the next wave of the Civil Rights movement which social commentators, scholars, and activists such as Dr. Boyce Watkins, Ryan Mack, and many others believe will be a financial one. Since the report shows that Black-owned businesses have grown over 60% between 2002-2007, this creates a diverse marketplace in Black America and strong potential to truly create generational wealth.
Debunking yet another negative stereotype about the Black family, the report shows that African-Americans are adopting healthier habits including greater participation in exercise and athletics, eating healthier organic foods, and cutting back on riskier habits like smoking and drinking alcohol.
The report also reveals that 87 percent of those surveyed for the study feel ethnic recognition is important, compared to 59 percent of the general population. One area in which Black Americans are most connected is the Black church. According to the study, 56 percent of African-Americans say they attend church regularly and depend on it for community news, support services, trusted leadership, and to mobilize for community activism.
When it comes to finances, there’s still some work to be done in this area. Only 29 percent of African-Americans between the ages of 18-54, with a household income of $50,000 or more, are retirement conscious. By comparison, 40 percent of the general market is retirement conscious. Also, 49 percent of African-Americans surveyed said they are in control of their debt, while 55 percent of the general market reported being in control of their debt.
“Signed…An Educated Brother!”

domain: news


As we all know now a Golf ball with Dimples will fly further than a Golf ball without. What most of us don’t know is why?
There are two main reasons:
- The Dimpled Surface reduces drag.
- The Dimpled Surface improves lift.
First a quick lesson in Hydrodynamics (Aerodynamics).
There are two types of flow around an object: laminar and turbulent.
Laminar flow has less drag, but it is also prone to a phenomenon called "separation." Once separation of a laminar boundary layer occurs, drag rises dramatically because of eddies that form in the gap. Turbulent flow has more drag initially but also better adhesion, and therefore is less prone to separation. Therefore,
If the shape of an object is such that separation occurs easily, it is better to turbulate the boundary layer in order to increase adhesion and reduce eddies (which means a significant reduction in drag). Dimples on golf balls turbulate the boundary layer.
So we at 3DFINScience decided to test these principles and apply them to a Surfboard fin.
With advanced Computer Flow Dynamic testing 3DFINScience compared two exactly the same fins, the Dimpled fin and the same fin design without Dimples.
The tests were conducted by flow dynamics expert Darrin Stephens (formally of CSIRO) and the results were surprising.
A Surfboard Fin with a smooth surface is much like a golf ball with a smooth surface, it has a Lamina flow over the surface. This works quiet well when going straight and at lower speeds, but when you start to turn and reach higher speeds the fluid starts to separate from the foil or fins surface. What this does is creates a separation bubble on the surface of the fin, this occurs when the fluid detaches from the surface of the Fin, resulting in increased drag, reducing the lift and ultimately stalling of the fin.
The smooth surface fin also has known phenomena occur called wing tip vortices.
The pressure imbalance that produces lift creates a problem at the Fins tips. The higher-pressure below a fin spills up over the fin tip into the area of lower-pressure above. The fin’s forward motion spins this upward spill of air into a long spiral, like a small tornado, that trails off the wing tip. These wing tip vortices create a form of pressure drag called vortex drag.
A Surfboard Fin with Dimples much like a golf Ball creates a Turbulent Flow.
Turbulent flow has more adhesion so when you start to turn the Dimpled foil surface delays the flow separation, reducing cavitations (separation bubble) allowing the foil to maintain performance. When the Surfer is turning at high speeds the turbulent boundary layer helps the flow overcome an adverse pressure gradient and allows the flow to remain attached to the surface longer than it would otherwise. This reduces drag, increases lift and improves overall performance of the fin design.
The Dimples also reduce and almost eliminate the wing tip vortices, by reducing the separation of flow at the tip this also increases the lift and overall performance of the fin.
In a broad form, such a Surfboard fin having a foiled surface with Dimples can maximize the known effects Dimples have on flow dynamics.
The 3DFINS Dimple Fin design with Dimples located on the fins curved surfaces, utilizes the turbulent flow created by the Dimples, this turbulent flow draws the fluid back over the foil surface, reducing cavitations and drag during extreme changes of direction (high angles of attack) or when subject to high speeds. The improved performance of a foil with Dimples allows the surfer to increase the lift which in turn creates more drive, allows the surfer to maintain speed and hold through turns, overall increasing performance of the Surfboard.
CFD test have shown the Dimpled Fin Design improves Lift and Drag by up to 15%, which translates to More Drive, More Speed, More Hold, More Fun.


text: At present, although there have been many epidemiological studies of risk factors for low back pain, there are few risk factors established in prospective studies; and our understanding of them remains relatively crude. Individuals in jobs requiring manual materials handling, particularly repeated heavy lifting and lifting while twisting, are at increased risk of back pain leading to work absence. In addition, exposure to whole-body vibration and job requirements for static postures are associated with back pain. Individual trunk strength has not been consistently demonstrated as associated with back pain; although there is some suggestion that when work requirements for heavy lifting exceed individual capacities, back pain is more likely to occur. The pattern of peak age at onset in the 20's is consistent with back pain development early in working life. Among other individual characteristics, only cigarette smoking has consistently been associated with back pain; and the biological mechanism for this finding is not understood. Evidence with respect to spinal flexibility, aerobic capacity, educational attainment and other variables is suggestive but not consistent. There is some evidence that the individual's relation to work, expressed as job satisfaction or supervisor rating, is also related to work absence due to back pain. While it is possible to describe, however crudely, the characteristics placing people at risk for back pain leading to work absence and/or medical attention, the problem of predicting chronicity and thus identifying patients for more intensive clinical intervention remains unresolved. At this time, only age of the patient and certain clinical features of the back pain such as the presence of sciatic symptoms, duration of the current episode, and history of prior episodes are consistently demonstrated predictors. In chronic patients, there is suggestive evidence that spinal flexibility, trunk strength, and certain psychological characteristics such as coping skills, fear and avoidance of pain or movement, job satisfaction, attribution of fault and hysterical or hypochondriacal features are associated with treatment failure. In addition, there is suggestive evidence that the availability of alternative work placement may allow for earlier return to work than otherwise. While the availability of disability compensation in excess of usual wages may serve as a disincentive to return to work. The latter-cited remain to be verified, while findings in chronic patients remain to be tested in acute. Further, the role of physical demands of work in duration of back pain episodes has not been well studied.


ATLANTA - A bill to allow certain school personnel to carry guns during the school day is one step closer to a vote by the full House. A revised version of the measure by Rep. Paul Battles (R-Cartersville) easily passed out of the House Public Safety and Homeland Security committee.
It would allow local school boards to make the decision whether to arm school personnel, who would then carry concealed firearms once they have undergone a certified training course approved by the board.
Under the old version of the bill, only principals or school administrators would have been allowed to carry weapons.
Boards could not force any school official to participate.
The bill also protects the identity of the school personnel who will carry the guns in order to protect their safety, much like sky marshals on airplanes.
Battles says he sponsoring the bill to add an extra layer of protection for those school systems that do not have school resource officers.
“So many systems do not have any coverage, especially in their primary and elementary schools,” he tells WSB.
But Decatur resident Laura Bordeaux does not think more guns is the answer.
“I’ve never had firearms training, I will admit that, but logically I just don’t see how that can work,” she says.
Bordeaux, who sat in on the committee meeting with a group of women opposed to the measure, is also concerned it will be an extra burden for school officials.
“I’m very concerned about the idea of teacher and administrators having more than one job to do,” she says.
Only two committee members opposed the bill which now heads to the House Rules Committee before going on to the full House for a vote.


text: I had the opportunity to share my passion for policy and government with guest pages from St. Michael’s in Greenville. Jude Yurisic and his dad, Mike, chaperone Jennifer Petrucci, Sarah Gonzalez, Halle Murcko, and Julianne Johnson sat in on constituent meetings and voting committee meetings with me, took tours of different sections of the Capitol Complex, and were introduced on the Senate floor. It was a fast-paced, (blister-inducing!) day, but I hope they enjoyed their two days in Harrisburg as much as I did. (guest cameo by Lt. Gov. Mike Stack).

domain: politics


text:
January 28th, 2021
By Ahmed Saeed & Rehan Piracha
Mohammad Zubair Siddiqui, a Pushtun student leader who headed the protest against a private university in Lahore has been picked up by police officials along with four other activists, the wife of one of the ‘detained’ activists claimed on Thursday.
According to Sidra Iqbal, wife of ‘detained’ activist Sana Ullah, police raided their residence on Thursday at early hours of the morning and arrested her activist husband Sana Ullah as well as Zubair Siddiqui, the student of NUML who had led a protest on Tuesday against the University of Central Punjab (UCP) over in-person examinations. Police officials also arrested three other activists Salman Sikandar, Ali Ashraf, and Haris Khan said Sidra Iqbal who was in her house during the police raid. However, when told Voicepk.net contacted the police stations in Allama Iqbal Town and other police stations in the city, police officials denied that they had taken the above-named individuals in their custody.
The University of Central Punjab lodged a first investigation report with Nawab Town police following a clash between university guards and protesting students on January 26. According to the FIR, Zubair Siddiqui had been accused of leading the violent student protest along with 500 other unidentified persons. Sidra Iqbal claimed that except Zubair Siddiqui, none of the arrested activists including her husband had been nominated in the FIR, adding that Zubair Siddiqui was on pre-arrest bail in the case.
The FIR filed against the students claims that a mob of students led by Zubair Siddiqui attacked UCP’s main campus ransacking the place and setting the gate on fire. The charges include section 16 of the maintanence of public order and charges for tresspassing.
Earlier, the provincial government distanced itself from the clash between the university administration and students.
Speaking to anchorperson Munizae Jahangir on Aaj TV’s Spotlight news show, PTI’s minister for Higher Education Raja Yasir Humayun said the provincial government has remained neutral in the dispute, adding that the protesting students could lodge a counter FIR against the university guards. Responding to the minister’s suggestion, Professor Dr Ammar Ali Jan questioned whether any student could think of going to a police station in such an environment of fear and threat. On the show, Zubar Siddiqui also pointed out that the government had slapped around 500 students with Maintenance of Public Order in FIRs lodged against them, and therefore could not wash their hands off the incident.
Representatives from civil society have moved a petition in the Lahore High Court over the alleged arrest of the students. Students have called for a protest at Charing Cross in Lahore at 2 pm on Friday.


text:
Comicsgirl is mostly functional now. There’s still some time that needs to be spent on making everything pretty and uniform, but except for the store, all the permanent content is now here. I’m still building the links in the Amazon.com Associates store and trying to decide how to best organize it all. To me, it’s the part of the site I care the least about.
I’m going to be hitting Small Press Expo on Saturday, more than likely. I’m planning on attending the 11 a.m. (that’s early!) “Comics and Journalism” panel, along with the 3:30 p.m. “Terry Moore: 10th Anniversary of Strangers in Paradise” talk. I suppose the in between time will be spent wandering around. This is all subject to change, depending on my mood on Friday into Saturday, of course.

domain: hobby


text:
By Katabella Roberts
Hiring difficulties may be on the horizon for U.S. firms amid a weak labor supply, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s latest jobs report.
The bureau’s October jobs report, released Nov. 5 showed employers added over half a million jobs in October, beating market expectations and painting a more positive picture of labor market recovery compared to the previous month.
However, the labor force participation rate—a measure of how many people work or are actively looking for jobs—was unchanged at 61.6 percent in October and has remained within narrow range of 61.4 percent to 61.7 percent since June 2020.
The participation rate is 1.7 percent lower than in February 2020, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, for workers aged 25 to 54, the labor force participation rate has been gradually ticking up to 81.7 percent in October from 81.6 percent in September, which, while above the historic pandemic lows, is still far below pre-pandemic levels, according to Bloomberg.
In February 2020, 82.9 percent of those 25 to 54 years old were in the labor force.
The reason for the lagging labor force participation rate is not immediately clear but economists have cited growing fears among employees returning to the office amid the recent wave of the Delta variant, government assistance programs and policies, and the stress of the pandemic prompting a spike in retirements and resignations as factors contributing to the rate.
A lack of access to affordable childcare is another factor that may be adding to the stalled participation rate.
A study released last month by the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) Republicans found that the government’s huge assistance programs, such as the stimulus handouts designed to help Americans through the pandemic, have “likely made work less attractive for these Americans.”
The study found that the United States has experienced an unprecedented rise in disconnected prime-age workers over time.
For men, this trend dates back half a century, with their labor force participation rate falling from over 97 percent in 1955 to 89 percent before the pandemic. For women, receding workforce participation began in the last two decades.
This is in spite of employers across the United States raising wages and implementing attractive bonus schemes and competitive compensation in an effort to pull in new workers after the pandemic.
Starbucks, Costco, Walmart, Target, CVS Health, and Walgreens Boots Alliance are just a handful of companies that have all said they are boosting starting wages to $15 an hour, in line with President Joe Biden’s push to raise the minimum wage to the same amount and in an effort to recruit more workers amid a nationwide labor shortage.
According to the ADP Research Institute Workforce Vitality Report (WVR) released Oct. 27, third-quarter wages in the United States increased 3.3 percent, in line with growth in the months before the pandemic, while job switchers’ pay is up 6.6 percent since September 2020.
“We know from other recent data that the rate and number of individuals quitting their jobs have been at record levels,” Bankrate Senior Economic Analyst Mark Hamrick said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times.
“A key question of the day is whether or when will these workers return, helping to address worker supply challenges,” he added.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it will begin trimming its $120 billion in monthly purchases of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities in November, with plans to end them in 2022, citing “substantial further progress” in the economy.
“Economic activity and employment have continued to strengthen,” the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee said in the statement.
However, Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, noted in a news conference last week that, “there is still ground to cover to reach maximum employment, both in terms of employment and in terms of participation.”
“We thought that schools reopening and elapsing unemployment benefits would produce some sort of additional labor supply. That doesn’t seem to have been the case interestingly. So I think there’s room for a whole lot of humility here as we try to think about what maximum employment would be. We’re going to have to see some time post-COVID so that we know, or post-Delta anyway, to see what is possible,” he added.
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Idaho High School Baseball - Sandpoint tipped by MoscowMay 3, 2022: Moscow, ID 83843
The Moscow Bears baseball team scored 12 runs and limited the visiting Sandpoint Bulldogs to 10 in the Bears league victory on Tuesday.
The Bears (9-11) will now prepare for their match against Orofino (Orofino, ID). The Maniacs go into the non-league match with a 12-5 record. In their last match, Orofino by St. Maries (St. Maries, ID), 18-8, in a non-league match.
The Bulldogs (6-12) will now prepare for their match against Lakeland (Rathdrum, ID). The Hawks go into the 4A Inland Empire match with a 4-13 record. In their last match, Lakeland by Lake City (Coeur d'Alene, ID), 11-1, in a league match.


Elegant and precise, solid and stable. The flowing movement of the arms and the turning of the light head around 360° makes possible the orienteering of the light point with the smallest space requirement and maximum manageability. The glass reflector supplies a directed light mass which demands concentration. Electronic transformer.
|Designer||Alberto Meda, Paolo Rizzatto|
|Shipping method||Normal parcel shipment|
|Energieeffizienzklasse Leuchtmittel||Suitable for lamps energy class B, C, D, E.|
Questions about the product? We are happy to help.
- Personal contact person
- trained product experts with love for designer pieces
- Material advice
- 20 years of experience


text:
When it comes to the bedroom, the bed is usually the main point of attraction, but the nightstands are not to be neglected either. If in the beginning their main purpose was a functional one, usually being a storage space covered by one or more doors, nowadays the visual element has become increasingly more important when decorating a bedroom.
Therefore, below are a few styles of decorating a nightstand:
- Minimal with a touch of gold
Having a white nightstand can bring many benefits like making the bedroom look more spacious and cleaner, but it can also get quite boring at times. Adding elements like a golden lamp, a succulent, a retro camera and some books can break the mould.
2. Rustic accents
Cottage bedrooms have their charm and so do the farmhouse nightstands. Nature elements like cotton flowers, small plants or inspirational quotes written on wood bring the perfect contribution to this fairy tale decor.
3. Modern ensemble
This sleek nightstand is the perfect combination between modern and stylish. Because it is made from transparent acrylic, it gives the illusion of object floating in air. This is why, the decor elements are the key part, so a golden alarm clock and a jewelry box create this wow effect.
4. Eclectical deco
Another way to highlight a white nightstand is by layering different styles of artwork. From watercolor paintings to pencil sketches or even a bust decorative figure, put together they can create an outstanding effect. It can be balanced out by a white and golden lamp and a matching tray.
5. Balanced delicacy
Even if we still have a minimal nightstand, this time, having the gold element combined with the white-washed wood, elevates the design. Adding golden elements like vases, frames or leaf-shaped tray and pastel touches can bring balance to the entire ensemble.


text:
We’re experts at finding and matching you with the world’s finest travel agents and boutique tour companies. Each travel specialist on Zicasso is personally and meticulously screened by us. You’ll only be matched with specialists who are true experts at customizing your specific trip.
Our travel partners excel at handcrafting and coordinating complex international luxury itineraries. Their expertise and connections cover all logistics, transportation, accommodation, guides, and insider access to unique experiences as well as 24X7 support throughout your trip.
Our approach is different. We match you with 2 or 3 travel specialists who are the most qualified to make your dream trip happen. They then compete to design your ideal itinerary.
Zicasso, 1580 W. El Camino Real, #12, Mountain View, United States.

domain: geography


text:
Joe Biden says middle class 'has been buried' past 4 years. Oops.(Read article summary)
While lambasting the Romney tax plan, Vice President Joe Biden decried raising taxes on an American middle class that 'has been buried' during the Obama years. Will his gaffe matter?
Jeff Siner/The Charlotte Observer/AP
Joe Biden on Tuesday said the middle class “has been buried the last four years,” words Republicans trumpeted as evidence that even President Obama’s veep doesn’t believe the incumbent administration has been good for the country.
“Of course the middle class has been buried. They’re being buried by regulations, they’re being buried by taxes, they’re being buried by borrowing,” said Mr. Ryan. “They’re being buried by the Obama administration’s economic failures.”
Will this gaffe matter in the end? We have our doubts, though we’ve been wrong before.
First let’s look at the full context of Biden’s statement. Speaking to a crowd in North Carolina, Veep Joe repeated the administration’s claim that if elected Mr. Romney will have to raise taxes on the middle class in order to make the math of his tax proposals work.
“This is deadly earnest. How they can justify, how they can justify raising taxes on the middle class that has been buried the last four years? How in the Lord’s name can they justify raising their taxes? We’ve seen this movie before....“
Yes, Biden stepped in it, in the sense that he produced a phrase the Romney folks can snip out and use in attack ads. The reality is the US economy isn’t great, and his boss is going to be very unhappy with Biden for pointing that out. Republicans will certainly use this to try to counter Democratic attacks on Romney for his comments at a fundraiser that depicted 47 percent of America as self-perceived victims hooked on government aid.


text:
I must be the only Mom of a little girl that has not seen Frozen. I have a general idea of what happens, and I have seen pictures, quotes and clips. I can even sing some of the song lyrics. Yet, I have no real idea how the movie goes. Of course my daughter wants a Frozen birthday, and as the awesome Mom that I strive to be, I will deliver. I guess I need to start figuring that out. Pinterest here I come!
The point of this post other than to admit that I have not seen the movie is that I don’t remember being crazy over a movie when I was little. I know I watched all of the Disney movies and owned many of them. I know that I had a couple themed birthday parties to go with it. I just truly don’t think that I got into a movie at such a young age like the 5-10 year old girls are now. My daughter C constantly plays that she is Elsa. The little girls in my class play Frozen all of the time. I mean ALL of the time.
Am I that old now, that I don’t remember what it was like to be that little or is this a craze that I don’t get since I haven’t see the movie? Only time and watching the movie will tell.


After years of teases and rumors, BMW has still yet to showcase a finalized version of its i4 electric vehicle, which is set to arrive in 2021. However, that didn’t stop the German automaker from revealing a new concept version of the long-anticipated ride at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show, offering up the best look to date at the i4.
The vehicle is a big move for BMW as it introduces its fifth-generation electric powertrain, which will be used on the iX3, iNEXT, and i4. Within the new i4 concept, BMW claims that drivers will be able to travel 600 kilometers (~370 miles) on a full charge. The biggest takeaway is the efficiency of its 80kWh battery pack, which when compared to the likes of Porsche’s Taycan Turbo (94.3kWh rated for ~200 miles) or Hyundai’s Kona (64kWh rated for ~260 miles), makes for an interesting squeeze in terms of how many miles it can pinch out.
BMW has decided to stick with a single motor, which produces roughly 530 horsepower. On par with much of BMW’s sport-focused V8 engines, the i4 doesn’t slack on its 0-62mph sprint, rated to go from 0 to 100 kilometers in just 4 seconds.
As evident in pictures, the updated version of the i4 features an evolved take on its iconic kidney grille design. More on-brand characteristics include a long and slim L-shaped rear that allows for increased aerodynamic performance. The interior, like many concept cars, fast forwards into the future, with BMW exercising clean and sleek principles, minimalistic controls, and a massive widescreen at the front.
Head of BMW Design Domagoj Dukec shared a bit behind the i4 concept:
The design of the BMW Concept i4 shows fantastic proportions, a powerfully expressive character and, of course, a lot of attention to detail. With the BMW Curved Display, we have redefined BMW’s signature driver focus in an extremely elegant way. At the same time, the BMW Concept i4 transports a feeling of sustainable driving pleasure.
Other unique details that BMW has introduced with the i4 concept is a redesigned take on its iconic 1997 logo. Ditching the black ring for a transparent circle, and changing the typeface to a flatter profile, offering an evolutionary take on the brand’s iconography. Jans Thiemer, BMW’s Senior Vice President of customer and brand, shared that the logo is meant to “radiate more pennons and clarity.” He also noted that the redesign exemplifies “significance and relevance for mobility and driving pleasure in the future.” BMW, however, does not have plans to utilize the logo on production vehicles.
Take a detailed look at BMW’s i4 concept vehicle above.
For more automotive news, take a look at Koenigsegg’s new 1700BHP Gemera hybrid.


text: our physics class has built cars powered by mousetraps. Our car has small wheels in the front and big wheels at the back. (Cd's at front, records at back) It seems to work well. What is the physics behind this? I need to know for the report we have to do. Also, we have a coat hanger which is attached to the mouse trap. Why is tis important?

domain: design


text:
The dust has long settled since the Michelin red guide’s sophomore edition. It’s time to sit down and re-evaluate our dining options before the debut of its third.
We love the Michelin guide, yes we do: we applaud the restaurants that were rightfully awarded their Michelin stars and read with empathy about the stars that a particular chef wishes to return. But, most of all, we are puzzled at Michelin’s continued and blatant omission of some of the city’s greatest eateries that have contributed one way or another to making Singapore the great dining destination that it is today.
There were things that could have been done better for the guide, not least going over the city’s hawker landscape with a fine-tooth comb before flashing forth a lacklustre list of street food options. But that’s been dealt with, quite gently, in my article for Fine Dining Lovers.
For now, we merely want to pay tribute to those Michelin star/(s)-worthy restaurants that the anonymous inspectors might have overlooked.
For the purpose of this story, we will focus on restaurants that opened more than two years ago.
Ranked No. 12 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2018, this bijou modern Australian BBQ restaurant at Keong Saik Road serves a daily-updated menu centred on foods cooked in a custom-built brick kiln and a trio of open grills. You may come for just a pork sanger in homemade brioche with chipotle aioli or splurge on a full meal complete with stunners like grilled leeks with crushed hazelnuts in burnt butter sauce and fork-tender Jacob’s Ladder steak washed down with an array of bio-dynamic wines from Australia. Reservations are only allowed for lunch and at 6pm and 6.30pm for dinner and the restaurant is generally booked out for two to three months. Advance planning required.
20 Teck Lim Road, Singapore 088 391; +65-6224 3933; burntends.com.sg
Avant garde cuisine is not uncommon in Singapore but for years, Tipping Club has remained at the vanguard with playful yet tasty dishes by chef-owner, Ryan Clift, who pioneered the then never-before-heard-of concept of cocktails paired tasting menu. Razor clams in a sublime milk-braised Brittany purple garlic broth, a long-time signature, is in a class of its own and the dish of Toriyama beef with Hokkaido burata-infused horseradish, Japanese fruit tomato and kombu-cured wagyu is in itself worthy of a detour to Tanjong Pagar. Of course, no one should miss the scents-driven cocktails menu.
38 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088 461; +65 6475 2217 ; tipplingclub.com
Chef-owner Willin Low single-handedly coined “Modern Singapore Cuisine” that aptly defines his cuisine that draws inspirations from the food that Singaporeans grow up with, be it at home or cooked food from the streets. Hawker fare like laksa influences many of his creations, a highlight being spanner crab ravioli paired with laksa pesto ravioli in laksa broth. But Low is also a lover of all things Japanese and his creation of chopped negitoro (tuna belly with spring onions) in a Thai-inspired dressing of lime and chillies, served with a topping of caviar on scallion oil-fragranced deep-fried roti prata taco marries the two to delicious effect. Low is a sake lover and a qualified Professional Sake Sommelier, the clutch of sakes available on the menu go very well with his food indeed.
10A Upper Wilkie Rd, Singapore 228119; +65-6339 9448; wildrocket.com.sg
Ola Cocina Del Mar
Located on the ground floor of Marina Bay Financial Centre, this eatery by chef-owner Daniel Chavez, the former executive chef of the now-defunct Santi, serves, arguably, the city’s best Spanish fare and is not difficult to see why. A native of Peru, Chavez seeks out the best ingredients that money can buy and creates thoughtfully-cooked dishes with a taste of rusticity like arroz caldoso, a thick and aromatic sofrito-based seafood broth teeming with arroz rice and seafood cooked on the a la plancha. Also, don’t leave without trying Chavez’s dish of fideua, a traditional noodle-based paella served with a la plancha Spanish red gambas, crab sofrito and piquillo aioli. Chavez’s sharing plates tapas are out of this world too, try the tosta ramona – anchovy, dried figs and cherry tomato on warm toast – if it’s on the menu.
Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 3, 12 Marina Blvd, #01-06, Singapore 018 981; +65 6604 7050 ; olarestaurant.sg
When Michelin crowned a number of alumi of Tetsuya Wakuda with a star, they completely left out one standout chef who chose to pursue Japanese culinary art instead of modern Australian. This alum of Waku Ghin is now the resident chef of Ki-sho. Named Kazuhiro Hamamoto, the Kyoto native goes back to his roots where he creates exquisitely crafted dishes with highly seasonal Japanese ingredients like the spring delicacy of firefly squid served raw with nothing but shoyu and a hint of sugar. Another highlight from his omakase is the signature opening signature dish of uni caviar (bafun uni, dashi jelly and caviar pearls with edamame).
29 Scotts Road, Singapore 228 224; +65-6733 5251; ki-sho.com.sg
In its excitement to showcase modern Australian cuisine by younger chefs in Singapore, Michelin has conveniently left out a middle-aged Australian chef who is nevertheless a strong contender in the comtemporary Australian space. Chef Christopher Millar, culinary director of Stellar at One Altitude, is just as fastidious about his ingredients, buying Tajima Wagyu cuts like tri-tip for a dish that he serves with black radish, truffle mascarpone and olive soil and sustainably farmed Australian jade abalone for another excellent dish that he serves with foie gras and morel mushrooms. Thankfully, a meal here – complete with a panorama of the city – will not cost you an arm and a leg.
Level 62, 1 Raffles Place, Singapore 048 616; +65-6438 0410 ; 1altitude.com/
No one is as passionate about its seafood as Naked Finn, and we all have Ken Loon, the restaurant’s founder and co-owner to thank. A seafood “nerd”, Loon goes to great lengths to explore seafood varietals and once he’s found what he wants, he puts these seafood through a battery of tests before they appear on his menu. If you come at lunch, try his take on prawn mee but the restaurant’s raison d’tree is its highly-curated array of seafood best savoured via the dinner sets. Think cast iron pan-grilled wild caught baby Indian squid and pan-fried locally farmed barramundi paired with a light but piquant rice vermicelli “bee hoon” topped with sakura ebi.
39 Malan Road Gillman Barracks, Singapore 109 44; +65-6694 0807; nakedfinn.com
Tasty small plates built around prime ingredients matched with a Wine Spectator-approved wine list are the cornerstones of this eatery at Club Street. While the style of service used to be a la carte only, the bevy of food-loving owners introduced a seasonally changing tasting menu last fall that showcases the restaurant’s signature dish of uni on squid ink custard in a spoon against newer creations like fresh lasagna sheets tossed in seafood stock with Parmigiana Reggiano and tomato confit. Head chef, Saiful Aziz, may be relatively new but you know he is in his element by the quality of the dishes he fields.
22 Ann Siang Road, Singapore 069 702; +65-6423 1228; lolla.com.sg
Tapas may be out of fashion in Singapore but Esquina, which is often mentioned in the same breath with great Spanish tapas fare in the city, is not and the packed room tells its own story. Executive chef Carlos Montobbio hails from Barcelona and, naturally, he brings a slice of Spain and Catalan to diners via the sharing plates like 5J iberico ham on toasted crystal bread rubbed with a wedge of Spanish tomato and grilled Spanish sucrine lettuce served alongsidea puddle of herbed yoghurt with crunchy macadamia nuts. Since early this year, Montobbio has also added a tasting menu, great for foodies savouring the eatery for the first time.
16 Jiak Chuan Road, Singapore 089 267; +65-6222 1616; esquina.com.sg
No one knew why the red guide withdrew its star for this Tokyo-Italian restaurant at Tras Street in its sophomore’s edition. Notwithstanding that, this is one restaurant you need to put on your list. Chef-owner, Seita Nakahara, takes pristine Japanese ingredients and serves them in a most unusual style best described as Tokyo-meets-Italy. Bruschetta arrives topped with mountainous tongues of sea urchin while oodles of chilled capellini are served locked in tight embrace with sea urchin and basking ever so lightly in an invigorating elixir of olive oil, yuzu and fermented lemon. Instead of caviar, Nakahara tops the mound of pasta with tonburi pearls (also called mountain caviar in Japan). An omakase here is a study in Japanese seasonality showcased by the Italy-trained Japanese chef with utmost flair.
54 Tras Street | Tel: +65 6221 5159 | terraseita.com

domain: food


text:
|Titles||Realm of Wrath|
|Ruler||Alaznist, Runelord of Wrath|
Source: Burnt Offerings, pg(s). 74
At the time of its destruction caused by the impact of the Starstone, Bakrakhan was ruled by the runelord Alaznist. The eastern border of Bakrakhan was a mountain range known as the Rasp, which today forms the western coast of Varisia. Most of the kingdom sunk beneath the sea during Thassilon's destruction and now lies at the bottom of the Varisian Gulf. Bakrakhan was at constant war with neighboring Shalast and its ruler Karzoug, and to this day, remnants of their feud can be seen along the coast in the form of ruined towers which were once called hellstorm flumes.† Other ruins of Alaznist's kingdom are the Irespan in Magnimar and the mysterious Hollow Mountain, which was once her capital city of Xin-Bakrakhan.
For additional resources, see the Meta page.
- Erik Mona et al. (2008). Campaign Setting, p. 246. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-112-1
- Wolfgang Baur. (2007). The History of Thassilon. Burnt Offerings, p. 76. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-035-3
- James Jacobs. (2007). Sandpoint. Burnt Offerings, p. 59. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-035-3
- F. Wesley Schneider. (2007). Magnimar. The Skinsaw Murders, p. 61. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-037-7

domain: history


Although they received a boost in popularity when actor/banjo player Steve Martin joined their ranks in 2009, the Steep Canyon Rangers had already earned an audience with their progressive bluegrass sound. Graham Sharp (banjo, harmony vocals) met future bandmates Woody Platt (guitar, lead vocals) and Charles R. Humphrey III (bass, harmony vocals) in 1999, while all three were attending the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Drawn together by their love of acoustic music, they began playing impromptu jam sessions. As things progressed, they were drawn more and more to bluegrass and started learning the genre's classic tunes. The main impetus to "go bluegrass" was the input of mandolin player Mike Guggino, an old friend of Platt's. He also owned a cabin in the mountains near the school, and the quartet used that as its rehearsal space.


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Winter is the time to start planning for the epic trip of a lifetime!
While most of us are sitting in front of the fireplace with hot chocolate and flipping through our phones, looking at pictures of our last camping trips of the season, some die-hards are out there in the snow, donning long johns and drowning out the hypothermia with alcohol… Huge respect to those guys!
Sure, there are no bugs in winter, and fewer deer and bears and people crowding the camps… But if you, like me, want to avoid unexpected hypothermia, or simply respect your body too much to allow it to chill to the bone, you’d be better off using the colder months to better prepare for a more epic spring camping trip.
Last year, we wrote about Paddling Separation Anxiety and the symptoms of longing back to paddling trips. Many of those symptoms are similar to what you’re feeling now about camping. So let’s give you a few constructive ways to prepare for your first spring camping trip.
Connect with nature - When you can’t be at Hartley Bay Marina, find some ways to surround yourself with nature, whether it is by taking a stroll through your neighbourhood park, or making s’mores by the fire pit in your backyard. Sunshine provides vitamin D that chases the low emotions away.
Keep your body fit and strong - That first day of paddling in spring can take its toll on your body, so be sure to keep fit throughout winter by biking (if you have fat tires – if not go buy them, you can actually bike in winter!), hiking, visiting the gym and doing yoga throughout the winter. This will ensure that you’re not in pain after Day 1 and you can enjoy the rest of your trip to the fullest.
Prepare your gear - Winter is a great time to get your gear in order. Take time to fix any holes in your tent, kayak, canoe, jacket, shoes etc. now, allowing them to settle properly during your down time. If you are like me or any outdoor adventurer at Hartley Bay Marina, you can relate to the “Oh Doh” when you forgot to fix something from last year in the first spring trip out of the docks.
Buy new gear - The one good thing about winter is that there are many sales on summer gear. Take advantage of it now and go into summer with all-new gear. The excitement should keep you going.
Check out good camping spots - Things can become busy when the camping season rolls around, so use this time to look for good spots. Keep your eye on the Hartley Bay Marina website for announcements so that you’re the first person to know when it’s officially spring camping season.
We’re looking forward to welcoming you back for your first spring camping trip of the year! Don’t forget to get packed and be ready May 1, 2019 (weather permitting we are open). See you then!
Image C/O Alan Calder - Lake Wanapitei


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Industry body, the GSMA, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Manchester to set up an Innovation Centre devoted towards health on the move. The Manchester m-Health Innovation Centre will focus on "using mobile technology to enable people to play a more active role in determining their own health". The …
In the drink.
The day my bloody mobile starts on at me about drinking too much is the day said mobile takes an assisted dive into the drink!
Costs a lot of money every month, nags you about your health, does nothing but talk at you....we finally made an electronic replacement for wives!
- +Comment Trips to Mars may be OFF: The SUN has changed in a way we've NEVER SEEN
- Vid Google opens Inbox – email for people too stupid to use email
- Pic Forget the $2499 5K iMac – today we reveal Apple's most expensive computer to date
- RUMPY PUMPY: Bone says humans BONED Neanderthals 50,000 years B.C.
- Is your home or office internet gateway one of '1.2 MILLION' wide open to hijacking?


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Net Entertainment has released a YouTube video preview of their upcoming Lost Island video slot – watch it below and find out what the new game will entail.
Lost Island is due for release in July 2014 but Net Entertainment has added a preview of the game on their YouTube channel. It will have 5 reels and 20 paylines and playable from just 20p a spin. The mystical-themed game is quite soothing and soft and is set in a forgotten island with rich vegetation and ancient monuments.
You will see from the preview that is has a Wild Multiplier meter which is situated in the top right of the reels. 1 wild symbol will trigger a 1x multiplier meaning that if you had 5 wilds for example and have a winning combination, the wins will be multiplier by 5!
You will also come across a Free Spins feature which you can play when you get 3 or more scatter symbols. You can get between 10 and 30 free spins initially with more free spins available for 3 or more scatters. A wild symbol will remain permanently throughout the feature in the middle row of the middle reels. Wilds also appear as stacks of 2 and 3 too for bigger wins.
Lost Island will be live in July sometime but Mr Green Casino did launch the game exclusively a couple of weeks ago as a test. I did play it and quite liked it. Anyway, to see Lost Island in action, watch the official YouTube video preview below:
Until the game is released, you have over 300 titles to play at Mr Green – their instant play casino has slots from NetEnt, Microgaming, IGT and NextGen Gaming amongst others. I particularly recommend the Microgaming-powered Terminator 2 (review coming soon), IGT’s Cats and NetEnt’s Lights.
If you’re from the UK, you can deposit and withdraw using a wide variety of payment options such as PayPal, NETeller, Skrill and debit/credit cards. With 24 hour cashouts, CasinoManual.co.uk readers can benefit from an exclusive £5 no deposit bonus – just sign up via the £5 free page and follow the simple instructions to get £5 completely free. There’s also a 100% match bonus on your first deposit up to £200.


The Lenovo Legion Glasses and TCL NXTWEAR G Smart Glasses stand out as fierce competitors among the variety of cutting-edge choices available, each delivering a particular combination of features and abilities. These smart glasses have the power to completely change the way you interact with the digital world, whether you’re looking for a seamless fusion of design and usefulness or demand an unmatched immersive entertainment experience.
In this article, we set out on a quest to investigate and contrast these two cutting-edge gadgets, illuminating their benefits and shortcomings as well as the many opportunities they open up for wearable technology.
Display Quality and Immersion
Lenovo Legion Glasses include a tiny OLED display with a 1920×1080 resolution for each eye that is intended to provide an immersive visual experience. The graphics they provide are very clear and detailed because of this setup. TCL NXTWEAR G Smart Glasses, on the other hand, promises to provide an impressive, panoramic picture comparable to a big 140-inch screen set 4 meters away.
The two 1080p Sony FHD Micro OLED panels used to do this promise a pixel density of 47 pixels per degree, resulting in a sensation of crispness and clarity similar to that of a movie theater. Both gadgets seem to thrive in terms of visual immersion, providing to users with various tastes.
Lenovo Legion Glasses include two speakers for audio, offering good sound quality for a variety of content categories, including gaming and entertainment. TCL NXTWEAR G Smart Glasses, on the other hand, place a lot of emphasis on its dual speakers and claim that they offer ultra-rich sound. For consumers who value audio quality in addition to images, this improved audio experience might make a substantial contribution to the entire entertainment immersion.
Form Factor and Design
Lenovo Legion Glasses keep a stylish, discrete appearance that is quite similar to that of everyday eyeglasses. Comfort and the capacity to fit in with casual clothing are given top priority in their design strategy. In contrast, because of their major emphasis on obtaining a broad field of vision, TCL NXTWEAR G Smart Glasses can adopt a unique look. Users-to-be should think about the design element that fits their preferences and sense of style.
Compatibility and Connectivity
Lenovo Legion Glasses work with a variety of gadgets, including the majority of Windows, Android, and macOS gadgets having a USB-C connector. The dependence of these glasses on a companion device increases their adaptability. When selecting the gadget that best fits your current digital environment, TCL NXTWEAR G Smart Glasses may have their own connection choices and compatibility criteria.
The world of wearable technology is enhanced by the fascinating features and immersive experiences offered by both the Lenovo Legion Glasses and the TCL NXTWEAR G Smart Glasses. The emphasis of Lenovo’s solution is on excellent aesthetics and wide compatibility, making it appropriate for a variety of use scenarios. TCL’s NXTWEAR G Smart Glasses, in comparison, is aimed at consumers who desire cinematic immersion on the move and highlight a very immersive visual experience with a large virtual screen size and outstanding pixel density. Your final decision over which of these two cutting-edge smart glasses to purchase will be based on your own tastes and intended use since each product provides distinct benefits in the realm of portable entertainment.


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With total PE investments seeing a close to 27% yearly jump in H1 FY2022, investor confidence in Indian real estate is seen to be increasing. Foreign investors continued to remain major contributors with an approx. 63% share of the total inflows of USD 1790 Mn.
At least 67% (or approx. USD 67 bn) of the total loan advances (USD 100 bn) to Indian real estate by banks, NBFCs and HFCs is currently completely stress-free, reveals the latest study by ANAROCK Capital. Another 15% (approx. USD 15 bn) is under some pressure but has scope for resolution with certainty on at least the principal amount.

domain: finance


text:
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Gregg Allman Welcomes a Preteen Guitar Wiz
The 10-year-old guitar prodigy Brandon Niederauer sat in with Gregg Allman and his solo band on two Allman Brothers classics at Daytona Beach, FL’s Peabody Auditorium on Friday. The emerging guitar wiz was originally slated to only sit in on “Hot ‘Lanta.” However, during his soundcheck with Allman, he was asked to rejoin the band for an a-minor version of “Whipping Post” at the end of the night (a song Niederauer famously played with The Revivalists in November as well as with Allman Brothers Band members Butch Trucks and Oteil Burbridge at the Roots Rock Revival Camp last summer).
In addition to his string of sit ins, Niederauer also recently appeared on Ellen. The young guitarist is currently aboard Jam Cruise.

domain: celebrity


text:
Democracy in Afghanistan is wishful thinking
Johnson, Thomas H.
Mason, M. Chris
MetadataShow full item record
As the world watches today's presidential election in Afghanistan, Americans would do well to ponder the lessons of Vietnam.
The article of record may be found at:http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2009/0820/p09s01-coop.html


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Mary M. Munly
Mary M. Munly, American community health nurse, healthcare administrator. Recipient Outstanding Service award Navajo Tribe, 1988, Appreciation of ADPHN Role certified, 1989.
Munly, Mary M. was born on May 7, 1955 in Portland, Oregon, United States. Daughter of Robert N. Junior and Jane (Campbell) Munly.
Bachelor of science in nursing, Oregon Health Science University, 1978.
Assistant head nurse St. Vincent's Medical Center, Portland. Staff Registered Nurse intensive care unit Providence Medical Center. Acting director Kayenta (Arizona) CHN Program, Navajo Tribe.

domain: health


text:
The model 1777 rifle, which is the culmination of all the modifications made to the rifle since 1717, is the work of the gunner Gribeauval. Developed at the end of the Ancien Régime, this rifle was used during the long period of the wars of the Revolution and the First Empire. It is generally considered the pinnacle of the flintlock system in France.
The Object Itself…The 1777 Infantry Rifle is a single-shot, muzzle-loading, smooth-bore (no internal rifling) flintlock rifle. It measures 1.52 m (1.14 m for the barrel) and weighs 4.6 kg. Extended by its socket bayonet, it reaches the impressive length of 1.92 m, theoretically sufficient to allow the infantryman to defend himself against a cavalry charge after having fired. Like all French regulation rifles of the 18th century, its caliber is 17.5 mm. Its bassinet is made of copper, a metal less sensitive to corrosion than iron; tilted forward, this bassinet allows the infantryman to prime more quickly, without putting the gun horizontally. The rifle of 1777 underwent slight modifications in 1801, among other things the removal of the mouthpiece screw: we then speak of rifle year IX or "1777 corrected year IX". The rifle of 1777 is characterized by its great resistance, in particular at the level of the barrel (tests showed that this model could fire 25,000 rounds without being put out of service). Designed to practice shooting in three ranges, its accuracy is relatively good for a smoothbore weapon (the shot is accurate up to 150 m, effective up to 200 or 250 m and very inaccurate beyond these distances). The lock of this rifle is nevertheless prone to misfires (1 shot out of fifteen on average).
If the design of the 1777 rifle remains very classic, its manufacture is subject to rigorous controls which make it the first weapon produced in a standardized way. This rifle was developed shortly before France entered the war alongside the American Insurgents , under the control of Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval (1715-1789), inspector general of artillery and reformer of this weapon. In the 1760s, Gribeauval standardized the royal artillery by inventing and then using the "mobile star", a device used to measure the exact interior dimensions of a cannon. Wishing to extend this standardization to infantry weapons, the inspector then lieutenant general, assisted by controller Honoré Blanc (1736-1801), developed a new model of rifle in 1777. The two men agreed on the need to facilitate repairs, which presupposes a standardized weapon, with interchangeable parts, that is to say identical from one rifle to another (of the same model of course). The regulations of February 26, 1777 thus specify the dimensions of all parts of the rifle. Specially designed verification instruments also allow factory inspectors to ensure the uniformity of the pieces produced: they are presented by the museum in the verification box bearing the inventory number: 88057/P108. These verification instruments usefully supplement the regulation, which is always subject, like any text, to different interpretations. Thanks to the quality of its execution, unequaled at the time, the rifle of 1777 is an overall reliable weapon, of good technicality, which is evidenced by its robustness. Despite the progress introduced by Gribeauval and Honoré Blanc, the production of the rifle of 1777 cannot be described as industrial, in the sense of mechanical and grouped together: until the 1850s, the manufacture of weapons for military use remained essentially manual and the factories were more akin to a set of scattered workshops than to a single place of production. The first truly industrial rifle was the Chassepot model of 1866. As for the total interchangeability of parts, it was only really achieved with the Lebel model of 1886. a "system of weapons", which means that from the model intended for the infantry, different versions are available for the use of officers, cadetsgentilhommes, dragoons, artillerymen, cavalrymen and marine troops . This system is complete in 1786. The 1777 rifle is characterized by its exceptional longevity. Gradually equipping the troops at the end of the Ancien Régime, it remained in service without major modifications until the July Monarchy. It underwent more significant transformations in the 1840s and 1850s: conversion of the flintlock into a percussion system, introduction of rifling inside the barrel (allowing greater precision and increased range). After these transformations, some examples were still in use in the French army until the Franco-Prussian conflict of 1870-1871.
Rare infantry rifle from the consulate revolutionary period with its bayonet.
Year IX of the Republican calendar, corresponds to the years 1800 and 1801 of the Gregorian calendar. This year began on September 23, 1800 and ended on September 22, 1801. failed in the "infernal machine" against the First Consul Napoleon rue Saint-Nicaise in Paris. 20 Pluviôse (February 9, 1801): Treaty of Lunéville between France and Austria concerning Italy. 1801), end of the Egyptian expedition, the French withdraw, following the landing of the British-Ottomans
Height : 191 cms
Category : Miscellaneous
Style : Empire
Period : 19th century
Price : 1800 €