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On Tuesday 16th January Susan and I went on our visit to Brugge, sent packing and paid for by our daughters and their partners as a Christmas present. They had booked us in to a Hotel just up the road/canal from Van Eyck square, a short walk to the Market Square.
Actually the whole of Brugge is not too far to walk and we had a wonderful couple of days exploring this beautiful city on a cold but sunny winter's day. The city is an architectural delight with much of it retaining its historic atmosphere, which in January, with the lack of crowds of tourists, we were able to delight in. There really are too many delightful spots to describe or illustrate in this short blog post and the humblest of back streets can produce 'domestic' gems to match the majesty of the public and ecclesiastical buildings.
One of the things that made Brugge so enjoyable was the way that sculpture is to be found in plentiful supply throughout the city, not only public monuments to the great and good but contemporary pieces in unexpected places both outside and in public buildings and churches. The fact that I saw no graffiti (of the mindless 'tagging' kind) to spoil the works or the environment of the city, made it all the more enjoyable. The enjoyment of a new city can be marred too often by the feeling of insecurity caused by seeming dereliction and violated spaces when explored for the first time.
Our first late morning and early afternoon was spent wandering the city spaces, discovering the beautiful squares, waterways, tucked away corners and grand squares. We ventured into churches and found contemporary art work, wonderful bridges over canals that seems as if they had not changed for 500 years! Sue and I already knew by then that we would return to this city - and we hadn't yet even sampled the beer.
Eventually we came to the periphery of the old city and found a restaurant for lunch and a drink of Zot. It was good to see local shop workers and local people in there with us - much nicer than eating in or close to the Market Square, where prices are extortionate and filled with visitors. It was a relaxed place and provided us with a rest for our feet before we set off toward the Cathedral and the Arentshuis museum to look at the Frank Brangwyn collection. It didn't disappoint. Brangwyn's work looked amazingly contemporary and for an artist who was very definitely from a privileged background he showed a great sense of compassion for the working class within his work. The social and political content of his work made it all the more contemporary - we don't seem to have learned a great deal in terms of equality of opportunity or a greater sense of compassion toward our fellow man!
Because the weather forecast was somewhat uncertain in terms of rain for the following day, we decided to leave the Groeninge Museum until then and took a wandering walk around the city took a few Zot beers in at a local bar and then headed back to the hotel to rest and change before dinner.
The evening meal was taken at a small Labanese Restaurant close to the hotel and despite there being few clients our meal was good and our host, the owner was delightful. He was extremely proud of his cultural heritage and of his home country, speaking freely of both and we engaged in conversations about our respective families and children. It was a lovely end to a wonderful day.
In the morning, after a night in the largest bed we had ever slept in, we took breakfast in the hotel and headed out toward the Groeninge Museum to look at the Flemish Art collection. Before going in I was able to take a look at the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse in the square outside. They were interesting pieces and enjoyed a great spot to be seen by the public.
Despite its relatively small size their are masterpieces in spades to be enjoyed. Quite how some of the works became known as Flemish Primitives I don't quite understand. I would recommend a visit by anyone who visits Brugge. Again the museum was quiet (though not quite as quiet as the Brangwyn collection) and this made the visit all the more enjoyable. The work is shown in spaces with beautiful coloured walls that served to enhance the jewel like quality of the colours in the works. The paIntings were sufficiently good for me not to worry about the lack of sculptural work within the collection.
As we only had a short time before having to leave we took the opportunity to visit a few more areas of the city around the Town Hall and came across the Absolute Gallery showing contemporary works of painting, mixed-media work and sculpture. A great little gallery who were very welcoming and were happy for visitors to take and share their photographs. Sue and I were both smitten by the work in rice paper and acrylic on canvas by Zhang Hong Yi. These were beautiful objects whose colour changed as they were passed. Whilst there were other works in the small show to enjoy, we both agreed that they stole the show.
Our experience from the moment we arrived was one of warmth in the people we met and a desire to be helpful and even on quiet streets at night we felt secure and were able to fully enjoy the ambiance of the city at night. Unfortunately though, we were not staying for another night so had to return to our hotel to collect our bag and meet our pre-booked taxi to take us to the station. Whilst the journey home was hassle free and quite relaxing, we were sad to be leaving.
Thanks to the J's and Adam and Jack for the wonderful present
UNTIL THE NEXT TIME!

domain: travel


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A group of Helsinki based artists manifest that sadly people have neither edge nor interest for being nice anymore.
QUESTIONING kindness is interesting. According to Aristotle’s book two in Rhetoric, kindness is one of the emotions which is defined as being “helpfulness toward someone in need, not in return of anything, not for the advantage of the helper himself, but for that of the person helped.”
The story behind the paintings
Tensions in traditionally Tibetan areas of what is now western China have captured the eye of Päivi Uljas. “Tibetan Monk is telling about a monk who has raised his hands to fight. Dalai Lama is against violence, but among monks patience is running out,” says Uljas describing her painting.
Uljas painting Nurse is a domestic subject. Last year, Finnish nurses were on strike. “People see nurses self-denying and always helpful. My nurse is saying: No more, not at this price!” says the artist.
For Johanna Sinkkonen, thoughts on kindness and love have been the inspiration for her artwork. She feels that people are more comfortable with superficial relationships, those that go well with their independent life-style rather than with a loving and caring relationship where true love is the protagonist. The kind of love that is difficult to meet.
“Those hot, seductive, dangerous, restless little butterflies are more tempting than just one big one. In this society nothing is ever enough. There is always a new view from the window. However, are we using binoculars instead of a magnifying glass? Are we doing that on purpose or accidentally? Do we choose to be blind to those big butterflies we so rarely meet?” Sinkkonen wonders.
Her works are full of bright joyful colours, butterflies, flowers and love. They scream what should have been rather than what it was. Sinkkonen chose names of men for her paintings.
Heli Vepsäläinen’s Series of dirty games are mixed media representing what people don’t see or don’t hear, telling people are simply not kind.
Minja Revonkorpi thinks people obey orders too much. Their trust in the society is blind and they don’t realise that every single person is of equal value, that his opinion is valid. “It doesn’t matter if you are a politician or unemployed, you have the right to speak out, and your opinion should matter. In my works the individual persons symbolise a significant attitude towards the society” Revonkorpi says.
Her acrylics and oil on canvas are expressions of the contradiction between kind and naughty, which Revonkorpi bases her works on. Her paintings are an expression of bright, vivid colours and her characters an invitation to a profound thinking.
We’re Not Nice Anymore! tells about sensitivities, a need to give and receive kindness and love as much as we need to breathe. It tells about simple needs and feelings from the soul and heart. It opens our eyes to see the wonderful world we would have if only we were willing to be kinder.
Other artists participating in the exhibition are Risto Laasimo, Ritva Larsson, Kristiina Parviainen.
The exhibition We’re not Nice Anymore! is at the ANT Gallery in Töölö until 24 October.
ANT Gallery, Topeliksenkatu 3B, Töölö, Helsinki
Tue – Fri 12 – 17, Sat – Sun 12 – 16
Susan Fourtane – HT

domain: artistic


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BERLIN, April 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Website Jep News has published an article commenting on the results of a new study by the largest non-profit organization in Germany, The Bertelsmann Foundation.
To read the full article, published April 13, click here: http://jepnews.de/english/107-germany-s-pro-migrant-sentiment-is-weakening
The Bertelsmann researchers have found that the general attitude among Germans to migration remains positive with 74% saying migrants are welcome and 59% stating the same about refugees. Nevertheless, the pro-migrant sentiment seems to be waning in the country. For the first time since the start of the refugee crisis and influx of migrants, the majority of German citizens believes that the country has reached its limit on newcomers - this figure has risen up to 54 percent. This rise from only 40 percent in 2015 shows an increasing skepticism among the citizens of Germany about accepting more newcomers, and threatens the continuing success of Angela Merkel's Willkommenspolitik.
Other figures show more uncertainty on the issue of immigration, with 65% regarding it as a positive process when taking into account Germany's aging population, 60% taking stance against anti-immigrant discrimination, yet 97% stating that they wish newcomers made more of an effort on their way to integration.
Jörg Dräger, Bertelsmann Foundation CEO, was quoted by Jep News as saying: "The people of Germany are looking back self-assuredly on having warmly received so many refugees. But they also say that other countries should step up to the plate".

domain: sociology


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A celebration surrounded by the lush vegetation of Guanacaste.
Do you want to to get married here from?
Tipos de ceremonias
RIU Bodas celebra 3 diferentes tipos de ceremonias Civil, Religiosa y Renovación de votos.
- Civil Ceremonies: They are performed by a judge and are legally recognized
- Important: Civil weddings are legally recognized in the country where they take place. As each country has specific requirements, we recommend contacting your respective Embassy or Consulate in order to obtain all the information about the procedures that will be followed to legalize the marriage certificate in your country.* Riu Hotels and Resorts is not responsible for this legal procedure.
- Religious ceremonies and Vow renewals: This are blessings ceremonies performed by a Non denominational Minister with no legal value
- • Garden: Maximum capacity 100 persons (*subject to change in case of bad weather or high tide)

domain: law


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Submarine canyons are prevalent in the world’s oceans and are instrumental in transporting sediment from coastal regions to deep-sea fans. Conventional sediment parameters such as mean grain size, sorting, and provenance have typically been used to characterize these deposits, but they provide little information on sediment source or the delivery processes involved. Fortunately, transported along with the mineral grains are the remains of organisms living within the sediment. Biological constituents have unique environmental signatures that are more precise proxies for source areas than are mineral grains alone. They may be used to identify a single biofacies deposit (SBD) due to local sediment transport or a displaced, multiple biofacies deposit (MBD) resulting from staged sediment transport or a full-canyon flushing event.
This Ascension-Monterey Canyon system study demonstrates that by using the biological constituents in marine deposits, the source areas and transport mechanisms may be identified. The 19,000 year record of core S3-15G captured hemipelagic mud interspersed with individual turbidites of sand and silt transported to the core site at lower bathyal depths (3491 m). The relative abundance of displaced benthic foraminifera was found to correlate positively with grain size, with 75% of the fauna being displaced in the cross-bedded turbiditic sand (Tc) units, 39% in the laminated turbiditic sand (Td) units, and 15% in the turbiditic mud (Tet) units. Nineteen samples were SBDs representing local canyon wall sloughing, bioerosion, or hemipelagic deposition at or near the core site. Sixty-five were MBDs, 31 of which were turbiditic sands originating in the estuarine to inner shelf, outer shelf, upper slope, or upper middle slope, and the remaining 34 were turbiditic muds with displacement initiated in the estuarine to inner shelf, outer shelf, and the upper slope. Commonly, the biological remains of several biofacies characterize these MBDs, reflecting staged sediment transport with storage occurring behind slumps that act as barriers to movement until finally released. Sediment bypassing, typically of the deeper biofacies, and full-canyon flushing, were also evident. Identifying and interpreting the distribution of allochthonous biological sediment constituents in marine deposits is a powerful tool in the investigation of sediment transport that can be applied to other submarine canyon systems.
Submarine canyons are found along the slopes of most continental margins and play an important role in transporting sediment to deep-sea fans (Garfield et al., 1994; Paull et al., 2002). Off central California, more than 400,000 m3 of sand and organic-rich material are carried from the littoral zone into Monterey Canyon each year (Paull et al., 2002). Sediment displacement may be localized (e.g., restricted to the upper portion of the canyon) and may occur several times annually when triggered by small events such as storm waves, increased terrigenous input from local rivers during peak discharge, breaking of internal waves along the continental margin, bioerosion, anthropogenic dumping of dredge material near the head of the canyon, and canyon wall slumping (Southard and Cacchione, 1972; Normark et al., 1980; Piper and Normark, 1983; Greene and Hicks, 1990; Xu et al., 2004; Johnson et al., 2006; Wain et al., 2013). At other times, deposits may be the result of “staged” transport because the sediment does not flow freely downslope, accumulating behind slumps until released by an external force that breaks the dam (Greene and Hicks, 1990; Greene et al., 2002). In rare instances, exceptionally large triggers such as earthquakes, intense storm disturbances, and catastrophic failure of canyon walls may result in complete canyon and fan channel flushing events that pass out of the upper canyon and extend across the fan (Normark and Gutmacher, 1988; Garfield et al., 1994; Johnson et al., 2001; Greene et al., 2002; Paull et al., 2002; Piper and Normark, 2009).
The trail of sand down the axis of Monterey Canyon, as well as the large crescent-shaped bedforms within it (Paull et al., 2010), suggests high energy conditions presently exist there and that the channel does, indeed, serve as the major conduit for sediment transport from the continental shelf to Monterey Fan (Greene and Hicks, 1990; Greene et al., 2002; Fildani and Normark, 2004; Paull et al., 2005). This sediment transport pathway has been documented by the movement of bottom-deployed acoustic transponders and instrument frames (Garfield et al., 1994; Paull et al., 2002, 2010). One such event impacted Monterey Canyon for at least 1000 m (from 290 m to 1297 m water depth), moving an instrument package 550 m vertically down-canyon in less than 10 min (Paull et al., 2002); another displaced a transponder 1.9 km horizontally down the canyon axis and 38 m vertically (Garfield et al., 1994). In situ measurements of sediment flows by instruments attached to moorings along the axis of the canyon recorded a maximum along-canyon velocity at 190 cm/s (Xu et al., 2004).
Off the central California coast and elsewhere around the world, turbidites are thought to be the primary mechanism responsible for sediment transport in submarine canyons and are known to occur frequently. In the northeastern Pacific, their estimated average recurrence interval is seven years in Eel Canyon (Paull et al., 2014), 34 years in Mendocino Channel (Goldfinger et al., 2012), and from 125 to 590 years in Klamath, Rougue, Smith, and Astoria Canyons (Adams, 1990; Goldfinger et al., 2012). In Monterey Canyon, they occur, on average, about every 230 years (Johnson et al., 2006).
It is often assumed that turbidity currents originate in the upper canyons on the slope below the shelf break where enough relief exists to set the sediment in motion when the continental shelf can no longer accommodate the sediment supply and the sediment must move down-canyon (Paull et al., 2005; Piper and Normark, 2009; Covault, 2011). However, the initiation sites can be highly variable, and it is difficult to locate the actual source with any degree of precision from lithology alone. Fortunately, the presence of microfaunal remains, specifically those of benthic foraminifera, among the mineral grains can aid in the identification of the source of the displaced sediments.
Benthic foraminifera are ubiquitous in the marine realm, and their distribution reflects the unique environmental conditions in which the species reside, including water mass characteristics (Zalesny, 1959; Bergen and O’Neil, 1979), sedimentology (Lankford and Phleger, 1973; Echols and Armentrout, 1980; Quinterno and Gardner, 1987; McGann, 2002), and availability of oxygen and organic matter flux (Altenbach and Sarnthein, 1989; Gooday and Turley, 1990; Jorissen, 1999). If the microfaunal distributional patterns (i.e., biofacies) of a region are known, it is possible to identify the source of displaced sediments in downslope deep-sea deposits by the character of their allochthonous fauna. Despite the simplicity of this method, few studies have investigated the distribution of foraminifera in submarine canyon and fan environments and related them to sediment transport pathways (Jorissen et al., 1994; Swallow and Culver, 1999; Schmiedl et al., 2000; Hess et al., 2005; Hess and Jorissen, 2009; Duros et al., 2011, 2013, 2014; Bolliet et al., 2014). Off central California, only Brunner and Normark (1985) and Brunner and Ledbetter (1987, 1989) have examined the foraminiferal assemblages of turbidite and hemipelagic sequences within the same cores. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to gain new insights into the delivery processes of terrigenous material to submarine fans using the biological component entrained in those sediments.
Bill Normark was one of only a handful of people responsible for much of the early work characterizing canyon systems throughout the world. He utilized seismic data, seafloor observations, and coring to investigate the morphology and development of submarine channels, as well as the transport of sediment to distal fans. Today, those who are curious about such marine structures are indebted to his painstaking effort to describe their features and the processes responsible for their formation.
One of the sites Bill investigated extensively during his career was the Ascension-Monterey Canyon system located off central California (Fig. 1). The Ascension Canyon system is the more northerly of the two and is composed of Ascension, Año Nuevo, and Cabrillo Canyons (Greene and Hicks, 1990). Initially, this canyon system was the main conduit for sediment transport to the fan (Normark and Hess, 1980; Normark et al., 1983). However, it is thought to be inactive during high stands of sea level because it heads on the upper slope. In contrast, the Monterey Canyon system, composed of Soquel, Monterey, and Carmel Canyons (Greene and Hicks, 1990), transects the entire continental shelf, enabling much of it to remain active despite changes in sea level, especially during the Holocene transgression and highstand (Normark and Hess, 1980; Normark et al., 1980; Greene and Hicks, 1990; Paull et al., 2005; Fildani et al., 2006; Piper and Normark, 2009).
The sands of Monterey Canyon are thought to be derived from the beach and shelf of Monterey Bay and are generally restricted to the channel except for rare overbank transport, whereas muds representing lower-energy conditions are found on the canyon flanks (Paull et al., 2005). The Monterey Canyon system, therefore, has the characteristics of a “Type 1” submarine canyon (Jobe et al., 2011), with a coarse-grained sediment supply, indented shelf edge, fill composed of sand, a large submarine fan downslope, and domination by mass wasting and sandy turbidity currents. Yet, it is unique among those canyon systems with slightly concave profiles in that it developed across the California transform margin (Covault et al., 2011). In contrast, the presence of fine-grained sediment in upper Soquel Canyon indicates that it, like Ascension Canyon, is inactive as a conduit for the transportation of coarse sediment except during times of lower sea level (Paull et al., 2005, 2011).
Monterey Fan is one of several submarine fans off central California resulting from the deposition of Miocene- to Holocene-aged hemipelagic and turbidity current-derived sediments at the base of one or more submarine canyons (Normark, 1970a, 1999; Normark and Hess, 1980; Normark et al., 1983; Fildani et al., 1999). Presently, Monterey Fan has an area of active fan growth that extends more than 300 km from the base of the central California continental slope (Normark and Hess, 1980). This deep-sea turbiditic deposit constitutes the largest submarine fan off California (Normark, 1970a, 1999; Hess and Normark, 1976; Normark et al., 1983; EEZ-SCAN 84 Scientific Staff, 1986) and is one of the largest found offshore of the contiguous United States (Greene and Hicks, 1990).
An interpretation of Monterey Fan morphology and evolution presented by Fildani et al. (1999), Normark (1999), and Fildani and Normark (2004) suggests that the upper (proximal) portion of the fan consists of a channel-levee complex (the Upper Turbidite Sequence or UTS; ca. 0.5 Ma in age), which is spread over a 104 km2 area and whose overbank deposits dominate the modern fan. Downslope of the UTS is another series of channel, overbank, and lobe deposits (the Lower Turbidite Sequence or LTS; Fildani et al., 1999; Fildani and Normark, 2004; ca. 25 Ma in age). Below this are two lower lobes (Oldest and Abandoned; Fildani et al., 1999).
In addition to the UTS channel-levee complex, the Monterey Fan Valley is characterized by a Holocene slump (Hess et al., 1979), large-scale scour features along the Monterey East Channel (Fildani et al., 2006), and an abrupt channel meander (Shepard, 1966). The latter marks the site of probable Late Pleistocene channel diversion resulting in the abandonment of the Monterey East Fan Valley, piracy of the lower end of the Ascension Fan Valley, and subsequent headward erosion of the Ascension Fan Valley into a hanging tributary of the Monterey Fan Valley (Normark, 1970a, 1970b). Consequently, the primary source of sediments for Monterey Fan in the Quaternary is Monterey Canyon (Normark et al., 1983; Paull et al., 2005).
Both the Monterey and Ascension Fan Valleys are characterized by extensive levee development (Normark, 1970a, 1970b; Hess and Normark, 1976; Normark et al., 1983). The western levee of the Monterey Fan Valley is the largest and joins that of the Ascension Fan Valley below their convergence at a depth of 3290 m (Normark, 1970b; Greene and Hicks, 1990). The backside of this levee, away from the channel floor, is marked by the presence of sediment waves trending subparallel to the levee crest (Normark et al., 1980, 1983). These sediment waves are considered depositional bedforms resulting from channel overflow of fine-grained material of large turbidity currents (Normark et al., 1980).
Gravity core S3-15G, 4.72 m in length, was recovered by the R/V Sea Sounder (U.S. Geological Survey [USGS] cruise S-3-78-SC) 18 km from the crest of the western levee of the Monterey Fan Valley (36°23.53′N, 123°20.52′W; Fig. 1). It was obtained at a depth of 3491 m, ∼200 m below the confluence of the Ascension Fan Valley and Monterey Fan Valley (Greene and Hicks, 1990), ∼135 km southwest of Santa Cruz. The core site is presently located below the local calcium carbonate compensation depth (CCD), as evidenced by the extensive dissolution of foraminifera in the core-top sediments of this and surrounding cores (Brunner and Normark, 1985).
S3-15G is a mud-dominated deep-sea core, consisting of hemipelagic mud (Tep; Bouma, 1962) interspersed with overbank turbiditic mud (Tet) and fine-grained sand deposits. The hemipelagic and turbiditic muds are easily distinguished based upon color, appearing lighter and darker, respectively, as is often seen in deep-sea deposits (Howell and Normark, 1982; Piper and Normark, 1983; Brunner and Normark, 1985; Normark et al., 1997). The turbiditic sands are typically deposited in laminated sequences comparable to Bouma’s (1962) Td depositional division; cross-bedded (Tc) turbiditic units occur only rarely. The basal members of the Bouma cycle (Tab) are missing.
The upper 215 cm of the core is composed primarily of hemipelagic muds with occasional turbiditic muds. Turbiditic muds are more common between 215 and 370 cm, especially below 280 cm. From 370 cm to the base of the core at 472 cm, silts and sand more commonly punctuate the hemipelagic and turbiditic mud deposits. The turbiditic fine-grained silts and sands are, for the most part, laterally continuous across the diameter of the core from 0 to 370 cm, becoming more fragmented with greater core depth.
Two techniques were used to provide a chronology for core S3-15G. The first was the temporal variation in the coiling ratio of the planktic foraminifer Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (Ehrenberg). The coiling ratio varies in relation to sea surface temperatures with right-coiling (dextral) forms dominating warm water assemblages and left-coiling (sinistral) morphotypes dominating assemblages in cool waters (Kennett, 1968; Keller, 1978; Kennett and Srinivasan, 1980, 1983), thereby providing a sensitive faunal indicator of climate in the eastern Pacific (Mix et al., 1999).
The second method used to determine the age of these hemipelagic and overbank deposits was the radiocarbon measurement of three samples of mixed planktic foraminiferal assemblages by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) performed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (CAMS) facility. Ages were calculated using the accepted half-life of 14C of 5568 years (Stuiver and Polach, 1977). The original radiocarbon ages were obtained by a 14C/12C ratio and then were converted to calibrated calendar ages (calibrated years; cal yr B.P.) using the CALIB 7.0.1 program (Stuiver and Reimer, 1993; Stuiver et al., 2005; http://calib.qub.ac.uk/calib/calib.html). A reservoir age of 800 years was used for the planktic foraminiferal sample with a radiocarbon age younger than 12,000 years (Southon et al., 1990; Kienast and McKay, 2001) and an 1100 year reservoir age for the two samples older than 12,100 years (Kovanen and Easterbrook, 2002).
Ninety-two samples from core S3-15G were analyzed for benthic foraminifera. Each sample, consisting of 10–20 cm3 of sediment, was acquired from discrete lithologic units (muds or sands) within the core. The bulk samples were immersed in a dilute solution of sodium hexametaphosphate buffered to a neutral pH with ammonium hydroxide and left overnight. Following disaggregation, the samples were sieved through nested 1.0 mm, 150 µm, and 63 µm screens and then air dried. Foraminifera were extracted from the sediment >150 µm. If the residue contained abundant foraminifera, it was split into an aliquot containing ∼300 foraminifera with the aid of a microsplitter before picking; if fewer than 300 were present, all specimens were picked. These benthic foraminifera were mounted on faunal slides and identified. The slides and residues are on file at the U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California.
Benthic foraminiferal faunal counts of only 84 of the 92 samples were used in this study because eight samples (six muds and two sands) were characterized by such depauperate faunas (<125 specimens) that they were not considered statistically valid (Douglas, 1973). Species richness was determined by counting the number of species per sample, and relative species abundances were computed using a sum of total benthic foraminifera. Once the species counts were converted to frequency data, a Q-mode cluster analysis was used to describe the relationship between the benthic foraminiferal assemblages. The samples were clustered by a square-root transformation of the data, a Bray-Curtis similarity coefficient, and were amalgamated by a group-averaged linkage strategy. These methods were chosen because they treat all species equally while providing the most realistic grouping of the samples by depth (Clarke and Gorley, 2006). Primer v. 6.1.6, a statistical software package created by Primer-E, Ltd., was used for the cluster analyses (Clarke and Gorley, 2006).
In order to determine the presence of allochthonous benthic foraminifera in core S3-15G and their source, the constituents of in situ faunas were tabulated from nearly 40 studies off central California (Fig. 2) spanning the intertidal to slope regions. The regional distributions in the intertidal and nearshore environments were conducted by Cooper (1961) and Lankford and Phleger (1973). North of San Francisco Bay, specific site studies include those in the vicinity of the Russian River (Quinterno and Gardner, 1987), Bolinas Lagoon (Hedman, 1975), Tomales Bay (Bush, 1930; Mauer, 1968; Erskian and Lipps, 1987; McCormick et al., 1994; and McGann, 2008a), Cordell Bank (McGann and Powell, 2011; McGann, 1990, personal observ.), the Farallon Islands (McGann, 1990, personal observ.), and near Mulberry Seamount (Morin, 1971). Within and outside of San Francisco Bay, the faunal distributions are based on the studies of Hanna and Church (1927), McDonald and Diediker (1930), Bandy (1953a), Means (1965), Slater (1965), Quinterno (1968), Locke (1971), Connor (1975), Wagner (1978), Arnal et al. (1980), Sloan (1995, personal commun.), McGann (2008b), and McGann et al. (2013). South of San Francisco Bay, the study areas include the intertidal (Martin, 1930, 1931, 1932) and shelf (Hanna and Church, 1928; Galliher, 1932; Hanna et al., 1945; Stinemeyer and Reiter, 1958; McGann, 2002) of Monterey Bay, Monterey Canyon (Bertics, 2004; McGann, 1994 and 1999, personal observ.), Monterey Fan (McGann, 1990), the oxygen-minimum zone off Monterey (Vercoutere, 1984; Mullins et al., 1985), and the Point Sur Pinnacles (McGann, 1997). Based on the compilation of benthic foraminiferal depth distributions from these studies, and supplemented by the landmark biofacies assignments of benthic foraminifera in the northeastern Pacific of Ingle (1980) that were applied when local (particularly deep-water) studies were lacking, the faunas off central California were assigned to six biofacies that can be used to identify the source of the displaced sediments (Fig. 3). Following Ingle (1980), these six biofacies are: inner shelf, outer shelf, upper bathyal, upper middle bathyal, lower middle bathyal, and lower bathyal.
The temporal variation in the coiling ratio of the planktic foraminifer Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (Ehrenberg) in core S3-15G suggests a few major climatic shifts have occurred off central California during the past several millennia (Fig. 4; McGann and Brunner, 1988; McGann, 1990). From 450 to 295 cm, dominance by left-coiling morphotypes is indicative of cool waters associated with the Pleistocene (Mix et al., 1999). A shift from predominantly left- to right-coiling forms beginning at 295 cm signals the onset of the Bølling-Allerød event (14,600–12,900 cal yr B.P.; Grootes and Stuvier, 1997). This is followed by a period of climatic deterioration (the Younger Dryas event, 12,900–11,600 cal yr B.P.; Grootes and Stuvier, 1997), as seen in the increase of left-coiling forms from 256 to 243 cm. A return to dominance of right-coiling forms signals the beginning of the climatic amelioration of the Holocene. The Pleistocene–Holocene boundary, dated at 11,600 cal yr B.P. (Grootes and Stuvier, 1997), lies between 241 and 212 cm in this core. For the purposes of this study, the midpoint of this interval (226.5 cm) is used as the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary in core S3-15G.
The age of the sediment recovered in core S3-15G was also determined by three radiocarbon measurements (Table 1). The sample at 450–448 cm provided a calibrated age of 19,333 cal yr B.P. for the deepest core sediments that had enough foraminifera for dating. The two additional 14C dates at 364–360 cm and 243.5–241.5 cm were calibrated at 16,405 and 12,333 cal yr B.P., respectively. All three of these ages were in stratigraphic order and corroborate the ages of the climatic events suggested by the variation in the Neogloboquadrina pachyderma coiling ratios.
Lithology and Benthic Foraminiferal Faunas
The sediments of deep-sea core S3-15G are hemipelagic muds separated by 65 turbidities of silt and sand. Twice as many of these turbidites occur in the Pleistocene sediments as in those deposited during the Holocene.
A total of 140 species of benthic foraminifera were identified in core S3-15G (McGann, 1990). Many of the taxa typically live in the deep ocean at lower bathyal depths (Ingle, 1980; Fig. 3), consistent with the depth of the core site. However, at least 19 are shallow-water species that live on the shelf or upper slope off central California (Bandy, 1953a; Quinterno and Gardner, 1987; McGann, 2002; McGann et al., 2013).
Benthic foraminiferal species richness and frequency abundance of the displaced species vary with lithology and age of the sediments (Table 2). The turbiditic sand deposits (Td + Tc) are characterized by an increase in species richness (mean = 41 specimens/sample) compared to that of the muds (Tep and Tet; mean = 34 specimens/sample), and an average of 38% of the benthic foraminifera of the turbiditic sand samples are displaced shallow-water species compared to an average of only 11% of the mud samples. In addition, the average benthic foraminiferal species richness is slightly higher in both the Holocene muds and sands (37 and 45 specimens/sample, respectively) than in the Pleistocene samples (32 and 40 specimens/mud and sand samples, respectively). The Pleistocene muds are characterized by an enrichment in allochthonous benthic foraminifera (13%) compared to their Holocene counterparts (8%), whereas the opposite is true of the sands (Pleistocene = 37%; Holocene = 41%).
The Q-mode cluster analysis of the samples segregated them into three groups (Fig. 5; Tables 3 and 4). Cluster A primarily combined Holocene muds, Cluster B grouped only Pleistocene muds, and Cluster C joined the Holocene and Pleistocene turbiditic sands.
The movement of organisms, especially microfauna, from where they originally lived to elsewhere is commonplace in marine sediments (Natland and Kuenen, 1951; Bandy and Arnal, 1960; Kheradpir, 1970; Sliter and Baker, 1972; Merrill and Guber, 1982; Jorissen et al., 1994; Swallow and Culver, 1999; Schmiedl et al., 2000; Hess et al., 2005), particularly in regions of substantial bathymetric relief such as in submarine canyons (Phleger, 1951; Bandy, 1953b; Phleger et al., 1953; Arnal, 1976; Garfield et al., 1994; Jorissen et al., 1995; Paull et al., 2002; Hess et al., 2005). Mixing of foraminiferal faunas most often results from downslope transport of sediments by slides, slumps, debris flows, or turbidity currents (Natland and Kuenen, 1951; Bandy, 1953b, 1964; Phleger et al., 1953; Middleton and Hampton, 1973; Douglas and Heitman, 1979; Bock, 1982; Almagor, 1986; Swallow and Culver, 1999).
Coarser-grained, sand-dominated turbidity flows are estimated to travel between 7 and 22 m/sec (Komar, 1969, 1970, 1977; Krause et al., 1970). Despite the fact that foraminifera are equivalent in size to sand-sized particles (Phleger et al., 1953; Sandifer, 1969), their traction and settling velocities are lower than those of mineral grains of the same size so they only move on the order of cm/sec (Berger and Piper, 1972; Brush and Brush, 1972; Pettijohn, 1975; Kontrovitz et al., 1978, 1979; Zhang et al., 1993). Consequently, foraminiferal tests entrained within these flows will have little bearing on the outcome of deposition. Instead, breakage of tests and preferential selection of the more robust morphotypes may become a factor in determining the character of these displaced foraminiferal assemblages (Duros et al., 2014). In contrast, fine-grained turbidity flows move at speeds of ∼10 cm/sec (Normark et al., 1980). Although these speeds are low enough that they are comparable to foraminiferal traction and settling velocities, foraminiferal tests will still behave differently than terrigenous particles during transport (Stow et al., 1983), being selectively entrained within turbidity flows and differentially deposited in the overbank deposits due to their size, weight, and shape-dependent hydraulic behaviors (Berger and Piper, 1972; Kontrovitz et al., 1978, 1979; Kontrovitz and Snyder, 1981; Brunner and Normark, 1985; Brunner and Ledbetter, 1987). As a result, microfaunal assemblages of turbiditic and hemipelagic deposits are distinct (Brunner and Normark, 1985; Brunner and Ledbetter, 1987, 1989), and faunal displacement is likely in turbiditic deposits whether they are coarse or fine grained, being discerned by high species richness and the presence of allochthonous foraminifera within a sample (Natland and Kuenen, 1951; Bandy, 1953b; Bandy and Arnal, 1960; Arnal, 1976; Brunner and Normark, 1985; Schmiedl et al., 2000).
Q-mode Cluster Analysis
In order to determine the variability, source, and ecological significance of the benthic foraminiferal faunas recovered in core S3-15G, a Q-mode cluster analysis was utilized. The samples were grouped into three clusters (A–C; Fig. 5), reflecting the prevalence of the autochthonous fauna, abundance and source of the displaced specimens in the sediments, and the benthic foraminiferal faunal adaptation to changing climatic conditions in the Quaternary that distinguishes Pleistocene from Holocene samples.
Cluster A combined 12 hemipelagic and 15 turbiditic muds of Holocene age, as well as four latest Pleistocene muds (three hemipelagic and one turbiditic) and two turbiditic sands, one Holocene and the other latest Pleistocene (Fig. 5; Table 3). The frequency abundance of displaced species in the Holocene hemipelagic muds is typically low, averaging 3%, and species richness is among the lowest of all samples, averaging 32 species/sample. These parameters reflect the fact that these samples represent the final deposition site, being characterized almost exclusively by an autochthonous fauna endemic to the lower bathyal zone (Fig. 3). All of the latest Pleistocene samples that also were grouped here have few displaced species as well (2%–6%) and may actually be Holocene in age. The age uncertainty is due to: (1) the paucity of radiocarbon-dated samples constraining the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary; and/or (2) possible asynchroneity of the assemblage variations in response to the climatic change at the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary between the surface-dwelling planktic assemblage used for dating and the deep-water benthic foraminifera (McGann and Brunner, 1987). In contrast, the turbiditic muds in Cluster A contain faunal elements from three or four biofacies (inner slope to the upper middle bathyal; Table 3), reflected in higher species richness (40 species/sample) and more common displaced species (14%; Table 2). Similarly, faunas representing three biofacies with 9%–13% displaced species occur in the two turbiditic sands that clustered here (Table 4).
Cluster B combined four hemipelagic and 18 turbiditic muds, as well as nine turbiditic sands, all of Pleistocene age (Fig. 5; Tables 3 and 4). The abundance of displaced species and species richness in these hemipelagic muds is still low (4% and 30 species/sample, respectively; Table 2), reflecting, like the Holocene hemipelagic muds, the prevalence of the autochthonous lower bathyal fauna. A significant shift occurs in the turbiditic muds, however, with a substantial increase in displaced species (21%) representing commonly three, and sometimes even four, biofacies (Table 3). Faunal elements from the outer slope, upper bathyal, and upper middle bathyal biofacies were recovered in these lower bathyal fine-grained Pleistocene sediments. Similarly, an average of 25% of the fauna in the nine laminated turbiditic sand deposits (Td) grouped in this cluster were displaced, with from three to five biofacies represented (Table 4). Some of these included faunal elements from as shallow as the shelf as well as the slope; others were only from the slope.
Cluster C combined 18 laminated (Td) and two cross-bedded (Tc) turbiditic sands (Fig. 5; Table 4). The laminated sands occur in both the Holocene and Pleistocene sediments and exhibit an increase in displaced fauna (39%) and species richness (42 species/sample; Table 2) compared to those recovered in the muds, with faunal elements from two to six biofacies present. In contrast, the two cross-bedded sands are only Pleistocene in age and are characterized by an assemblage with 75% allochthonous specimens. One has faunal elements from three biofacies (upper bathyal, upper middle bathyal, and lower bathyal), whereas the other has five biofacies represented (inner shelf to lower bathyal, excluding the lower middle bathyal).
Turbiditic deposits are far more abundant in the Pleistocene portion (472–226 cm) of the core than the Holocene portion (226–0 cm), and the Pleistocene mud deposits contain a greater relative abundance of displaced specimens than do their Holocene counterparts (Table 2). Studies of Quaternary deep-sea cores obtained in the southern California Bight have reported similar findings (Bandy, 1964; Kheradpir, 1970). This Pleistocene enrichment in allochthonous foraminifera may be attributable to heightened turbidity current activity during the Pleistocene due to deposition directly on the continental slope during times of lowered sea level (Kulm and Nelson, 1967; Gorsline et al., 1968; Hess and Normark, 1976; Nelson, 1976; Stow et al., 1983), or may be related to the disturbance of sediments by the transgression that followed.
In core S3-15G, the percentage of displaced foraminifera increases with progressively larger grain size (Table 2): hemipelagic muds averaged 3%, turbiditic muds 15%, laminated turbiditic sands 39%, and cross-bedded turbiditic sands 75%. Brunner and Normark (1985) also found a high percentage of displaced foraminifera in a study of ten turbidites from three cores from the western levee of Monterey Fan. In their study, basal Tcd layers contained more than 30% allochthonous shallow-water species, whereas they defined hemipelagic samples as having no displaced fauna and samples with 1%–19% displaced fauna as difficult to classify. Other studies have also shown that transported coarser-grained sediments are commonly characterized by higher relative abundance of displaced benthic foraminifera than are finer-grained deposits (Phleger, 1951; Bandy, 1964).
Foraminiferal species diversity generally increased with grain size in core S3-15G as well (Table 2), as the muds averaged 31 and 35 species/sample in the hemipelagic and turbiditic deposits, respectively, whereas the sands averaged 37 and 44 species/sample, with the cross-bedded sands slightly lower than the laminated sands. The higher diversity in the sands may result from one or more factors: particularly favorable ecological conditions for foraminifera at the source of the turbidity currents (Hessler and Sanders, 1967; Sanders and Hessler, 1969; Douglas and Woodruff, 1981), infaunal versus epifaunal habitat (Loubere, 1989; Loubere and Gary, 1990), a reduction in the effects of dissolution due to an increase in the speed of deposition, and/or the addition of displaced species to the endemic deep-water fauna at the final deposition site (Sliter and Baker, 1972; Ingle, 1980; Brunner and Normark, 1985; Brunner and Ledbetter, 1987). The latter is considered the most important factor in core S3-15G, illustrated by the large number of turbidites that incorporated faunal elements from several biofacies (Fig. 6).
Single and Multiple Biofacies Deposits and Mechanisms of Transport
The biological constituents entrained in sediment can provide information not only on where the sediment was derived but also possible mechanisms and the extent of transport. Sediment containing benthic foraminifera of only one biofacies, here defined as a single biofacies deposit (SBD), would be characteristic of very restricted transport near the sampling site resulting from small, localized events such as storm waves, peak river discharge, breaking of internal waves, bioerosion, canyon wall slumping, or simply the deposition of hemipelagic mud at a site (Fig. 7). The latter three processes could be responsible for the deposition of the 19 hemipelagic mud samples in S3-15G as they only contained a lower bathyal benthic fauna typical of the 3491 m core site (Fig. 6), whereas the others are more likely shelfal processes that would have introduced foraminifera characteristic of the continental margin. These local transport events are thought to occur on a subannual basis (Xu et al., 2004; Johnson et al., 2006), the timing of which is corroborated by the Stevens et al. (2013) study of coupled optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages of quartz sand deposits and benthic foraminiferal 14C ages in Monterey Canyon, which determined that sand is transported locally through the upper canyon on an order of tens of years and the lower canyon from 150 to 250 years. With such rapid recurrence intervals and limited spatial impact, the localized movement of sediment most likely involves SBDs with sediments of similar age.
In contrast, a multiple biofacies deposit (MBD) contains benthic microfauna of more than one biofacies, with the associated sediment potentially including a range of grain sizes. A MBD would result from staged sediment transport, with multiple episodes of this storage-and-release process occurring sequentially so as to move the sediment progressively down the channel (Fig. 7). The complexity of this staged sediment transport is evident in S3-15G, where 65 MBDs were deposited over a span of 19,000 years. Of the 34 turbiditic muds, origination sites varied from the estuarine to inner shelf down to the upper slope, whereas in the 31 turbiditic sands, displacement was initiated in the estuarine to inner shelf, outer shelf, upper slope, or upper middle slope (Fig. 6). There is also substantial evidence that the MBDs accumulated benthic foraminifera as they moved down the canyon. The turbiditic muds were characterized by microfauna of two to three biofacies upslope of the lower bathyal core site, and the turbiditic sands contained one to five upslope biofacies. Finally, sediment bypass is apparent in both the turbiditic muds and sands; many MBDs did not incorporate the deeper biofacies as they traveled to the core site (Fig. 6).
The biological evidence for staged sediment transport illustrated in core S3-15G is also supported by other studies nearby. The Monterey Canyon OSL study of Stevens et al. (2013) showed that sand typically moves down the canyon in multiple events instead of one large event and that the sand is temporarily stored in upper and middle canyons for 10s to 1000s of years. Similarly, differences in the age of foraminifera from three biofacies within a single turbidite recovered at lower bathyal depths (2658 m) farther north off central California in Eel Canyon most likely reflect staged sediment storage and transport: inner shelf and upper middle bathyal biofacies differ in age by ∼525 years, whereas those typically residing at the shelf break were ∼6300–6830 years older (see Supplementary Table 2 of Paull et al., 2014). Both of these examples demonstrate that caution should be used when dating turbidites because a MBD may contain biofacies of different ages.
In extreme events such as earthquakes, intense storms, or catastrophic canyon wall failures, complete canyon and fan channel flushing occurs. A MBD may be deposited as a result because sediment transport triggered by these major disturbances typically flows across many biofacies (Fig. 7). Despite the fact that these events are fairly rare compared to staged transport, some of the MBDs in S3-15G may represent full-canyon flushing events, especially those that captured all, or nearly all, of the biofacies as they traveled to the final deposition site (Fig. 6). Whereas in a recently deposited turbidite or even a sediment trap where the presence of living and dead foraminifera could relatively easily distinguish staged sediment transport versus a full-canyon flushing event, a historic sediment record such as that of S3-15G would require the costly technique of dating individual biofacies (e.g., Eel Canyon cited above) within a turbidite in order to distinguish the two. Clearly though, it is not difficult to determine the extent of transport (local versus widespread) from the biological constituents entrained in the sediment.
A gravity core obtained from the western levee of Monterey Fan contains hemipelagic muds interspersed with 65 Pleistocene and Holocene turbiditic overbank deposits. Twice as many of these turbidites occur in the Pleistocene portion of the core as in the Holocene section and are assumed to reflect greater turbidity current activity induced by low Pleistocene sea level and the subsequent transgression.
The hemipelagic and turbiditic muds are characterized by a small percentage of displaced foraminiferal tests and the lowest species richness of the core. The muds are dominated by a lower bathyal foraminiferal assemblage endemic to the core site. In contrast, the turbiditic sands originated on the shelf to the upper middle slope. They are distinguished by an extremely diverse benthic foraminiferal assemblage and a large proportion of allochthonous benthic foraminifera, resulting from the addition of the displaced shallow-water dwelling species to the deep-water fauna living at the deposition site and a possible reduction in dissolution due to rapid burial. Thus, the relative abundance of displaced foraminifera correlates positively with grain size and with greater sediment age.
Core S3-15G provides a 19,000 year record of local (SBD) deposition punctuated with MBD turbidites. The entrained benthic foraminifera can help identify the source of these turbidite flows and the delivery system, whether local, staged, or full-canyon flushing, responsible for transporting sediment down the canyon and eventually to the fan.
This study would not have been possible had the late William Normark (U.S. Geological Survey) not made core S3-15G available for study. He was always such a positive force and mentor to many, and he is sorely missed in the hallways of the USGS. I also wish to thank Charlotte Brunner (University of Southern Mississippi) for assisting in the design and supervision of this project. Both Charlotte and Christina Gutmacher (formerly USGS) are also acknowledged for aiding in the core description. Kristin McDougall-Reid (USGS) kindly shared her unpublished foraminiferal data off central California, and Krystle Anderson (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) generously provided the location map. Thanks to the captain and crew of the R/V Sea Sounder (USGS) for recovering the Monterey Fan core that was used in this study. Radiocarbon dates were provided by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry. This manuscript greatly benefited by the reviews of Charles Powell, II, John Barron (USGS), and two additional anonymous reviewers.

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The political world experienced a small earthquake this morning in response to multiple reports that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would soon part ways with the Trump administration, either by way of a resignation or a presidential firing. It now appears the uproar was premature: Rosenstein will meet with Donald Trump on Thursday.
But while the senior Justice Department official's fate remains unclear, the reason for this morning's tumult couldn't be more obvious: Rosenstein is, for all intents and purposes, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's superior in the investigation into the Russia scandal. Rosenstein's ouster would put the entire federal probe in jeopardy.
All of which renews interest in a familiar question: maybe Congress can take steps to protect Mueller? NBC News reported today:
As conflicting reports emerged concerning the fate of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Monday, Democrats sounded the alarm about what his potential departure from the Department of Justice could mean for the Russia probe."Saturday Night Massacres don't need to happen on a Saturday," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said on Twitter. "If President Trump fires DAG Rod Rosenstein or forces his resignation, he will come one giant leap closer to directly meddling with the Special Counsel's Russia investigation." [...]Leahy and other legislators on Monday called for the passage of bipartisan legislation designed to protect the special counsel's investigation. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., called for a vote to occur immediately. "We can no longer afford to wait," she wrote in a tweet.
A wide variety of House Democrats pushed a similar line.
It was five months ago when the Senate Judiciary Committee easily approved a bipartisan bill to protect Muller from White House interference. Soon after, Republican leaders ignored the proposal as if it didn't exist.
The typical response from GOP officials is that legislative protections for the special counsel are wholly unnecessary since there's so little chance of Trump taking steps to interfere with Mueller's probe.
Something Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in April continues to ring true: "Rather than waiting for a constitutional crisis, the full Senate should act now."
It's an important point. Republican leaders don't deny that it'd be a crisis for our legal system if Trump took aggressive steps to interfere with the Mueller probe, but they've convinced themselves that the president is unlikely to act, so legislative protections are unwarranted.
This morning's drama -- and the looming White House meeting on Thursday -- served as a reminder that the volatility level surrounding the Trump presidency remains alarmingly high. There's plenty of time for Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan to do the right thing. It's simply a matter of political will, which Republican leaders currently appear to lack.


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The heating’s on and you’re listening to Elise’s latest release… we can’t think of a better way to spend your day. Recorded just before lockdown hit, ‘Cowboy’ is the latest release from Independent artist Elise. Her first track of 2020, the reminiscent track is coated in folk-pop flavourings and a dream-like production.
A track that journeys through childhood memories, the track’s theme soars through regret and guilt from growing. ‘Cowboy’ details how time can heal our scars and reconnect us to our roots. Recorded with that in mind, the nostalgic arrangement feels close to home, especially during the world’s current state.
Elise is a songwriter that has been soaring the sky ever since her debut EP ‘These Thoughts’ was released back in 2019. Channeling a fierce singer-songwriter influence, ‘Cowboy’ is mainly based around a soft folk atmosphere. Gathering a slow momentum as the track builds, the track feels like it could have been even more captivating if there was an added guitar line or a solo. You can picture a gentle lap steel guitar line gliding through realms of passion.
Nevertheless, the overall soundscape is breathtaking and Elise’s vocals are sure to win over your heart.


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This is a high quality print of my artwork inspired by the song, 'God Called in Sick Today', by AFI. 8x6 on premium felt stock, which has a unique textured surface that replicates the look of the original painting on watercolor paper. Each print is signed and protected by a clear cello resealable bag.
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In the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, where summers span decades and winters can last a lifetime, the Great Houses (Stark, Baratheon, Targaryen, Lannister, Greyjoy, Arryn, Martell, Tully and Tyrell) fight among themselves for a right to rule the Iron Throne. Beyond the Wall and across the Narrow Sea bigger threats are rising until its a right moment to take a revenge. Based on R.R. Martin's novels.
Sophie Turner was born in Northampton in England and grew up in Warwick. She attended Kings High School ...
Lady Sansa Stark is the second child and elder daughter of Eddard and Catelyn Stark.
Sansa is introduced as a sweet, shallow eleven-year-old girl who is very beautiful and ladylike. She inherited her mother's thick auburn hair, blue eyes, and very fair complexion. Proficient in music, singing, dancing, and other feminine pursuits, she was betrothed to the Crown Prince Joffrey Baratheon when her father became Hand of the King. Her direwolf is named Lady, who takes after Sansa in her polite disposition. She describes her love for her betrothed and her distaste for her younger sister Arya, who has a reputation for being wild and a tomboy.
When Joffrey takes her on a walk by the Trident on their way to King's Landing, he hurts one of Arya's friends, a commoner named Mycah, and attempts to attack Arya before her direwolf, Nymeria, intervenes. When she is questioned by King Robert about the situation, Sansa lies and pretends she couldn't remember what happened, to Arya's disgust. Since Arya had sent Nymeria away after the attack, Queen Cersei proposes Sansa's wolf be killed instead. Ned kills Lady quickly to avoid a scene.
After they arrive in King's Landing, Sansa begins to dress and act like a southern lady, to the displeasure of her governess Septa Mordane. She argues frequently with Arya, whom she blames for Lady's death, and also strains her relationship with her father. She attends the jousts to celebrate Ned's new position and there develops an affection for Loras Tyrell, the Knight of the Flowers, who handed her the only red rose he had before he entered the lists. Later on Joffrey reassures her of his love for her and promises never to treat her badly again. (He had ignored her after Lady was killed.) When Ned's investigation of the death of John Arryn leads to the revelation that the King's offspring are actually the products of Jaime and Cersei's incest, he decides to send his daughters back to Winterfell. Devastated with the prospect of leaving King's Landing and Joffrey, Sansa (against her father's command to keep their departure a secret) unwittingly reveals to Joffrey and Cersei Ned's plan sparking the Lannisters to consolidate their power against Ned.
After the king's death and her father's arrest, Sansa is completely stunned and asks to see her father in his cell, and is rebuked by Cersei and Grand Maester Pycelle. She appeals to the newly crowned King Joffrey for mercy on her father, to send him into exile in Winterfell or make him join the Night's Watch. Joffrey promises her mercy—though at Ned's public confession at the Sept of Baelor, he is beheaded on Joffrey's orders. Sansa is inconsolable afterward (Arya had escaped the castle after Ned was arrested.) and refuses to see anyone, though she is forced to continue on with the advice of Sandor Clegane, Joffrey's head bodyguard who shows Sansa the occasional kindness despite his reputation as a heartless killer. When she is taken to see her father's head mounted on a spike, she tells Joffrey that maybe her brother Robb (who is still in Winterfell and declared the north a separate kingdom) will give her Joffrey's head, Joffrey begins using his Kingsguard to beat and humiliate her.
In her new life at King's Landing, Sansa learns to fake her love for Joffrey (who since her father's execution she has completely despised) and continues to be the perfect picture of feminine grace. At a tournament on Joffrey's name day, she earns the loyalty of Ser Dontos Hollard, a knight stripped of his title by Joffrey when he comes to fight in a joust intoxicated. She finds an unexpected defender in Tyrion Lannister, the king's uncle, who after his return from the east offered her his condolences. On one occasion when Joffrey had Sansa beaten and stripped before the entire court, Tyrion assisted her by offering to have her live in the Tower of the Hand for a short while—Sansa declines since she cannot bear to remember when her father had lived there. She begins "flowering" just before the Battle of Blackwater, and though she attempts to burn her mattress to hide it, one of her maids sees and tells Cersei. Cersei tells Sansa that since she is now a woman she should learn to love only her children, as she will become weaker with the more people she cares for. Sansa is forced to kiss Joffrey's new sword, Hearteater, before she takes over the queen's role as a comforter to the other noblewomen when they are taking shelter during the battle (as opposed to Cersei, who merely gets drunk and publicly expresses her contempt for the situation). In the midst of the battle, Sansa goes up to her room and finds Sandor Clegane (the Hound) there waiting for her. Although he offers to take her away with him to Winterfell, she refuses, having already made a getaway plan with Ser Dontos. After the battle (which the Lannisters won with help from House Tyrell's army) Sansa's betrothal to Joffrey is set aside in favor of Margaery Tyrell, Loras's sister. Sansa pretends to be upset about it while she is secretly overjoyed.
Sansa, now a teenager, quickly learns that she is still not out of the court's attention when Margaery and the other women in the Tyrell family invite her to tea, shortly after they arrive at court. Sansa takes a liking to Margaery and becomes friends with her in a sisterly way. It is the Tyrells' intention to let Sansa take a journey to the Highgarden, the seat of their House, when in fact they plan to marry her to the eldest Tyrell son, Willas. Sansa is informed of their intentions by Margaery's grandmother, Olenna, and is pleased with the idea of leaving King's Landing; however, she tells Dontos about the plan, who in turn tells Lord Petyr Baelish, who informs Lord Tywin Lannister and Cersei. Tywin immediately plans to marry Sansa to his youngest son, Tyrion Lannister. Cersei has Sansa fitted for a new gown, which is later revealed to be her wedding dress, and when it is finally finished, Cersei informs Sansa that she will marry Tyrion in a matter of minutes. Horrified, Sansa initially tries to run, but composes herself in time to arrive at the sept. In a private moment with Tyrion, he tells her she is free to marry someone else in his family, but Sansa promises to do her duty (and thinks that she doesn't want to marry any Lannister), and in tears recites her vows and kisses Tyrion at the wedding ceremony. Later that night, when they are finally alone, Tyrion promises not to consummate their marriage until she wants to, though to his annoyance, she suggests she may never want to.
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New Delhi: Devas Multimedia had pocketed the deal with Antrix within a month of its inception on the basis of an allegedly false claim that it has IPR of a new technology for delivering multimedia content which saw its share price skyrocket 12,5000 times, according to CBI.
In its charge sheet filed recently, CBI has claimed that the deal was bagged on the basis of false claims that Devas has Intellectual Property Rights to use a hybrid technology of satellite as well as terrestrial signals to deliver multimedia content to users.
The agency alleged that while the company was set up on December 17, 2004, it entered the deal with Antrix, commercial arm of ISRO, on January 28, 2005.
It alleged in the charge sheet that Antrix did not do due diligence to the claims made by the company and even concealed the deal with Devas Multimedia from Space Commission and other “competent authority” when it sought budgetary sanction for building the satellite.
The deal helped Devas Multimedia rake in the moolah with its share price surging from Rs. 10 per share at the time of inception to Rs. 1.25 lakh after the deal was signed, CBI alleged in the charge sheet.
It claimed that the company also managed to get a Foreign Direct Investment of Rs. 579 crore after the deal.
CBI alleged that Antrix was not competent to sign the deal with Devas as the claim was about a new technology which needed sanction from Department of Space, Space Commission and other functionaries of the Government.
The agency has alleged that according to SATCOM policy, the deal should have been executed by Department of Space instead of Antrix.
The case relates to leasing S-Band, restricted wavelength of the INSAT satellites to deliver video, multimedia and information services to mobile receivers in vehicle and mobile phones to a private company Devas Multimedia by Antrix, the commercial arm of ISRO.
It was alleged in the FIR that the lease was given in violation of rules causing undue gain of Rs. 578 crore to Devas Multimedia and corresponding loss to the exchequer.


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The Lower Mississippi River Water Trail
Estimate your Camp Height
How can you estimate your camp height above water level? Here are several methods: 1) Stand at the edge of the water looking back at your camp and slowly raise and lower your head by bending your knees until you feel that your eyes are level with camp. Estimate this height. That should be as good as you’ll need, but not everyone is comfortable with this method. If you need something more concrete, try this: 2) Add a string line, string level, and small tape measure to your expedition kit. Before setting up your potential campsite, attach one end of the string line to a stick, or stake, or something within your camp choice, and pull the string taught. Now run it out to the water’s edge and attach string level. Keep string tight. Once you have found level, measure the height of the string above the water. This will give you a fairly accurate measurement. (Hint: it helps to do this with two people, one holding string, the other measuring height). This method was suggested by paddler Ben Quaintance in 2015.
100.2 LBD Blue Hole Landing
Open space on bank for low/medium water camping & picnicking.
100.4 LBD Dead End Canal
100.4 RBD Bottom of Myette Point Island
101.8 Exxon Pipeline 8” lpg pipeline
102.4 Louisiana Intrastate Gas Corp 36” gas pipeline
102.5 Acadian Gas Pipeline System 20” gas pipeline
102.6 Union Carbide 8” ethylene pipeline
102.6 Promix LLC liquid hydrogen pipeline
102.6 United Gas 7” pipeline
102 RBD Sixmile Lake: Access to Wax Lake Outlet
There is a mile-wide opening on the right bank descending that will have some inward flow, and will lead paddlers to Sixmile Lake. At times 10% of the river flow goes this direction. Sixmile lake exits through the Wax Lake Outlet, which leads to the Wax Lake Delta, and could be a final Gulf Coast destination for long distance paddlers.
Wax Lake Outlet: Alternate Route to the Gulf
Most Paddlers will go through Morgan City to reach the Gulf, but please be aware that you could turn right at Myette Point 102 RBD and cross Sixmile Lake to access the Wax Lake Outlet. Check the route on Google Earth. Follow the Wax Lake Outlet to the Wax Lake Delta. This could be a final Gulf Coast destination for long distance paddlers. Your return route could be back up the same outlet, but a more interesting route would be to circle back up the Atchafalaya Delta and end in Morgan City (Intracoastal Waterway/Berwick Boat Ramp is the best location). Or you could paddle west into Bayou Sale Bay and pull out at Burns Point Park (As several expeditions have done in recent years. Hwy 317 South of Centerville, Centerville, LA, 70522, 337-836-9784).
Paradise Regained: The Wax Lake Delta
In appearance, the Calumet Cut (also called the Wax Lake Outlet or the Wax Lake Spillway) is not unlike the thousands of other man-made, straight-shot canals that crisscross southern Louisiana. When the channel was opened just west of Morgan City in 1941, it wasn’t intended to be anything but a large drainage canal. But over the years, it’s become something else. There’s a formidability about the canal that seemed to occupy Sauce. After seven decades receiving flow from the Atchafalaya, it has grown in width, depth, and current. According to a 2005 research paper authored by scientists from the ExxonMobile research department and LSU’s Coastal Studies Institute, the canal dug by Lloyd Sauce’s father was originally forty-four feet deep and forty feet wide. But Sauce pointed to a place upstream, just past a gray houseboat flying the American flag, and said, “They got one place up above the high lines up there, it’s got like about seventy, eighty, ninety foot of water.” It has also grown in width, measuring six hundred feet across in some places. “Every year, this water’s just more and more and more water, just coming through.” In the thirties, no one seemed to wonder what would happen to this water once it mixed with the brackish waters of the Atchafalaya Bay. The unwanted water wasn’t meant to go anywhere except for somewhere else: out of sight and away from the floodwalls and oil infrastructure of Morgan City. But Sauce described extreme changes at the canal’s terminus. “When I was probably about eight years old, the spillway—right out where it ends to the bay—it used to be just the coastline. But now you go down there, and there’s sandbars and trails, and everything’s just flushed out through there. All this water, sand …” In other words, unlike almost every other place along the Louisiana coast, land is growing, not disappearing, at the base of this old canal. He went to his truck, pulled out a map of the bay, and pointed to where the coastline used to be. Far beneath that line on his map, a delta fanned out, shaped like the canopy of a tree, off into the bay. “It used to be nothing but just straight, whoosh, coastline.” He motioned to chop the delta off the map. The new delta is called the Wax Lake Delta, and over the last forty years it has created twelve thousand acres of land, nearly three times the area of Morgan City. At lower tides, the acreage is even bigger. “We used to hunt coons and stuff on the beach,” said Sauce. “When the tide was out, the water was down, them coons would be out on the beach getting them clam shells, and we’d track ‘em down and shoot ‘em for the fur. And now it ain’t like that. Nothing like that. It looks like this.” He pointed to the forested banks across the channel. (by Wolf E. Staudinger for Country Roads Magazine. Go to Appendix for complete story)
103.8 LBD Narrow Bayou leading to East Grand Lake
This bayou is only accessible during higher water levels, although paddlers could portage over the shallow entrance that is dry at medium and low water levels. We mention this here because there is an interesting high ground on the inside of a tight bend approx. 500 feet down the bayou that would make an excellent out-of-the-way campsite or picnic place, and neat place to explore.
105 LBD Blue Point Chute: Shortcut to Cypress Wonderland
Blue Point Chute runs northeasterly off the main channel at LBD 105. This wide waterway flows at most levels down to low water, and provides an easy route for to follow out of the main channel Atchafalaya into the cypress swamp wonderland of the East Basin. Paddle down Blue Point Chute and fork right into Willow Cove. Willow Cove brings you to the spectacular Duck Lake, or you can continue down Bayou Boulee and access Flat Lake via Big Bayou Joe and Dog Island Pass. Or explore the cypress/tupelo gum wonderland found down Little Bayou Sorrel. Or you can return to Main Channel via the American Pass. So many choices here! Use your Louisiana Geological Survey Atchafalaya Basin Map for wayfinding the best route, and check latest details on Google Earth. Note: The Atchafalaya River is surprisingly connected, thanks to a series of satellite towers situated throughout the Basin.
107.1 Central Louisiana Electrical Company Aerial Crossing
107.9 Exxon Gas Transmission Company 20” gas pipeline
You can follow the canal carved through the cypress swampland by Exxon Gas Transmission Company left bank descending at mile 107.9 to reach Bayou Boulee and access Flat Lake via Big Bayou Joe. Or you can return to Main Channel via the American Pass.
108.2 Koch Gateway Pipeline Company 30” natural gas pipeline
108.3 RBD Shortcut to Sixmile Lake
Paddlers can enter the bayou at 108.3 right bank descending for an easy entrance to the bottom of Sixmile Lake and passage into the Wax Lake Outlet. At any water levels above low water there will be good flow through here, and you will enjoy the flow out of Sixmile Lake down to the Wax Lake Delta in the Gulf of Mexico.

domain: geography


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From the Pews in the Back is a book filled with questions about Catholic identity. How do young Catholic women see or define themselves? What is their relationship to the church? What are their struggles and joys? In a church that often consigns them to the pews in the back, what place are young women claiming? This collection of twenty-nine essays approaches these questions from a multitude of angles. These brief memoirs, together with the insights of editors Kate Dugan and Jennifer Owens, offer a glimpse into what it means to be young, Catholic, and female in today's church. These women wrestle with the Catholic faith and with the church. They ask hard questions of the institution and are not willing to take easy answers.
From the Pews in the Back is a new chapter in the dialogue about the role of women in the church. The voices of these women range from inspiring and energetic to challenging and wounded. Ultimately, though, these women are stubbornly hopeful. They are claiming a place in the church and are calling other Catholics to talk with them about this claim.
Kate Dugan was baptized, made First Reconciliation, received First Communion, was confirmed, and married in Immaculate Conception Parish in Watertown, South Dakota. She graduated from the College of St. Benedict and received her Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School. This fall, she will begin a PhD program in religion at Northwestern University.
Jennifer Owens has spent most of her academic life and all of her teaching career in Catholic schools in Southern California. She earned her bachelor's degree in sociology and a master's degree in teaching from Loyola Marymount University. Jennifer recently completed her Master of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School and will begin doctoral studies in systematic and philosophical theology at the Graduate Theological Union this fall.
Visit the book's website at: www.fromthepewsintheback.com.
Contact Kate and Jennifer at: email@example.com
This fine book opens the door for other voices to be heard and may be used effectively as a platform from which to begin much needed inter-generational conversations among Catholics in many places.
Dugan and Owens offer a contemporary Catholic apologetics in this collection of twenty-nine autobiographical essays that fervently refute the claim that young Catholic women tentatively, apathetically or impatiently dwell on the fringes of faith. On the contrary, a variety of women born in the 1970s and 1980s - single or married, lay and religious, student and professional, straight and gay, cradle and convert, white and of color reveal a resiliently passionate faith. . . .
American Catholic Studies
In a church that does not always listen to the voices of women, it is critical that we have pages in which to share our stories and gain strength from one another's journeys. It is in the sharing of stories that hearts are changed and transformation begins. Read these stories, be inspired to share your story and, together, we'll move the church one step closer to justice!
Nicole Sotelo, Author of Women Healing from Abuse: Meditations for Finding Peace (Paulist Press)
All students and teachers of theology will benefit from this timely volume, its website and its blog, as we engage in ever increasing circles of dialogue about Catholic identity, tradition, and a life-giving future for all in the pews.
This volume promises to provoke intergenerational conversations among Roman Catholic feminists and womanists regarding women's alternative ways of being Catholic in transitional times, or on the threshold of reinventing longstanding definitions of Catholic identity in embodied, sociopolitical, and eschatological ways.
Their collective voice presents a new facet in the dialogue about the role of women in the Church.
From the Pews in the Back would serve well for those looking to explore works in narrative theology, people who may find themselves struggling with their own Catholic faith, and also for those who struggle with other Catholics whose views they may glibly label as "disloyal" or "unorthodox" without ever considering their experience. Dugan and Owen's initial work in narrative theology challenges the reader to explore their own personal story of faith. The stories push the reader to engage in deeper theological reflection, further exploration of Catholic teaching and tradition, and a more experiential way of talking about Catholic identity.
More testimony and crie de coeur than complaint, Kate Dugan's and Jen Owens's eloquent, often poetic collection of memoirs from young Catholic women is deeply rooted in their Catholic identity. These young women are willing to raise difficult questions, but always with an appreciation of a church that for all its failings has nourished their faith and remains for them a home. They represent a significant part of the Catholic community; their story deserves a hearing.
Thomas P. Rausch, SJ, T. Marie Chilton Professor of Catholic Theology, Loyola Marymount University, Author of Being Catholic in a Culture of Choice (Liturgical Press)


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Rocko Removes Rick Ross’ Verse From “U.O.E.N.O.”
Amidst all the controversy surrounding Rick Ross' date rape lyric on "U.O.E.N.O.," Rocko has decided to remove the Bawse's verse from the song.
In a recent interview with Hot 97, Rocko revealed that he will be taking off Ross' verse from his controversial record given the outpouring of protest. He explained that he will be releasing a new official remixed version sometime soon, possibly with a verse from Ross' former sparring partner Young Jeezy.
“The record instantly became a smash over the All-Star Weekend and stuff like that. It just became a smash in the streets." he said. "With me, I feel like I’m a street artist so I feel like the record with Ross that will always be the original record. But because of the type of attraction the record has as far as like radio and all over the country and things of that nature it puts me in a position to where I have to change it.”
As for the new version, he added, “I have six different verses from all types of different, very talented, multi-faceted artists...I can't confirm that [Young Jeezy will appear on it], I know he did a verse [but] I haven't put the final record together yet. With all respect to the homie Ross, because it’s a catch-22. Cause it’s like I don’t want to take him off, but one thing about it, one thing's that set in stone he's t doesn’t matter who I put on the song that’s gonna always be the original version of it. It’s not like I can do another verse and be like, ‘Okay, this the original right here.’”
Most recently, Ross apologized for the lyric via Twitter, saying that he was sorry for the "#lyric interpreted as rape.”
Check out the full interview at the top.

domain: celebrity


The height that a model rocket launched from earth can reach can be estemated by assuming that the burn time is short compared to the total flight time, so for most of the flight the rocket is in free-fall. (This estimate neglects the burm time in calculations of both time and displacement. ) For a model rocket of specific impulse Isp = 100 s, mass ratio mo/mf = 1.2 , and initial thrust to weight ratio τ o = 5 . Estimate (a) the height the rocket can reach, and (b) the total flight time. (c) Justify the assumption used in the estimates by comparing the flight time from part (b) to the time it takes for the fuel to be spent. Some useful equations: The specific impulse of a rocket propellant is defined as Isp = Fth / (Rg) , where Fth is the thrust of propellant, g is the magnitude of free fall accelaration at the surface of earth, and R is the rate at which the propellant is burned. I have not shown any work because im lost as to how to start the problem. If more of an attempt is needed let me know and i'll post what I've done so far. Thankyou.


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It seems like electronic cigarettes have been on the market all around the world for some time, however I didn’t know about them until recently. It turns out that lately I see them everywhere, even in newsstands and Japanese supermarkets. It’s healthy!!
Notice how well designed is the package to conveniently recharge it.

domain: design


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- Download games
- Best playing value
Release date: 31 October 2013
This date is the release date for FunPass and FunTicket members. All games are released 2 weeks later for all other players. More info on FunPass!
Discover Slingo Ricochet! Keep an eye on the numbers and mark them quickly on your card. Play this addictive game right away!

domain: entertainment


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Y’all have heard me say the “Old North State” dozens of times over the last year. Of course, we all know it’s a popular nickname for North Carolina – but have you ever wondered where the moniker comes from?
To answer this question, we’ve got to look back at the history of North Carolina. It’s easy to forget that we’re technically the oldest of all the English settled states – because the Roanoke Colony of 1585 failed. But that failure doesn’t change the fact that Roanoke of North Carolina beat out Jamestown of Virginia by 22 years as the first American colony.
After the failure of Roanoke, North Carolina remained relatively untouched until 1629, when King Charles I granted the province of Carolina to Sir Robert Heath. This was a massive land grant. The original colony covered the lands from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, from the 36th parallel to the 31st. To put this in perspective, we’re talking about all the lands from just above Kill Devil Hills down to the FL/AL border extending west to California.
King Charles II granted a new charter to the Lords Proprietors and expanded the Carolina colony in the early 1660s. The expansion reached the current NC/VA border and went just below Daytona Beach, Florida. Around this time, Virginians began moving south into the Albemarle region of North Carolina.
The Charleston colony was established in present-day South Carolina in 1670. Those colonists slowly expanded northward, reaching Brunswick Town by 1726.
In 1710, the Carolina colony was divided by the Lords Proprietors, who appointed Edward Hyde the Governor of an independent northern Carolina colony. The Southern part of the Carolina colony became known as South Carolina. The older, northern settlement became North Carolina. Which is how North Carolina became known as the “Old North State.”

domain: history


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Over a million people turned out to see the spectacular procession of boats travel along the River Thames to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee despite the rain.
Around 1,000 boats and ships took part in the river pageant and crowds, including many staying at Montcalm London hotels over the Jubilee weekend, lined the banks to catch a glimpse of the royal family.
The Gloriana rowboat led the way for the lavishly-decorated Spirit of Chartwell, which carried the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, as well as other members of the family including Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and led the flotilla from Battersea to Tower Bridge.
It is the first time that a pageant of this size has been held on the River Thames since the time of King Charles II in 1662 and it is likely to be a world-record beating event.
According to Guinness World Records a total of 670 verified boats completed the pageant route, with many of the smaller craft battling the elements.
Ian Gilbert from Surrey and skipper of the Dunkirk little ship Papillon, told the Guardian: “When you’re at the helm you tend to miss a lot of what’s going on because you’re just so focused, but it was very enjoyable and it was all worth it.
“I don’t think anyone will put a show like this on again in our lifetime. We’re particularly proud because we had the biggest contingent of any association and I think that shows the importance of these little boats to the country and to the sovereign.”
A 41-gun salute was fired from the Tower of London and the royal family boarded HMS President to watch the flotilla pass by.


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For auction: A custom officials confiscated more than 500kg of salt on the night of November 14
FCB officials, who restricted grocery shops from selling more than three packets of salt to each customers reaffirmed this
Update: Food Corporation of Bhutan (FCB) officials with those of the trade yesterday directed all shopkeepers in Phuentsholing to sell only three packets of salt to customers to ensure which, trade inspectors kept strict vigilance of the shops.
To allay fears among public of grocery stores, including FCB running out of salt stock, FCB officials said [... Read More]
This is due to, what is known as, ‘out of pocket’ spending by visitors
Tourism: There is more than the hard currency that the country earns from its tourism sector. Foreign currency earning from the tourism sector was about USD 30M, as of August this year, but findings indicate that, in reality, the earnings could be much more.
For instance, last year, the government earned about USD 63M from the convertible currency paying tourists, of [... Read More]
Institutes and commercial establishments on govt. land will have to pay thus henceforth
Thromde: Institutions and individuals, who have leased government land in Thimphu thromde before 2009, will now have to pay the revised lease rate as per the land lease rules and regulations of 2009, according to Thimphu thromde officials.
The thromde will also collect the revised land lease rate in retrospect from 2009.
Thimphu thromde tshogde (committee), during a recent workshop on state land [... Read More]
Trashigang residents fail to heed to the rumours
Rumour: Despite media reports, local and Indian ones, clarifying possible hike in salt prices as rumours, Trashigang villagers and town residents yesterday swarmed the wholesale and retail shops in town to stock up salt.
Together they cleared about 4,000kg of salt worth more than Nu 15,000 within three hours from KC store in Trashigang town.
The salt was sold at existing price of Nu 10 and Nu 15 [... Read More]
The three-day conference has come up with some recommendations to boost the system
Children: Introducing probation officers in the country, implementation of plan of action for child protection, and capacity building, were some of the recommendations made following the three-day conference on national child justice, which ended yesterday.
Other recommendations include building a national framework for child protection, by translating the child care and protection Act into action, and ensuring free legal representation, and incorporation [... Read More]
Chundu pow makes an offering
Haa’s guardian deity will be appeased without this ancient bloodletting rite
Ritual: It was a fine beast. The pair of even sharp horns almost look implanted on its head, its jet-black fur appears oiled as it runs down to its belly, almost touching the ground.
But with a coarse rope running through its nostrils and its head tied to the trunk of a big pine tree (lha-shing), the yak appears subdued. As if it knew [... Read More]
Visiting cellist/researcher, based in the US, speaks on the benefits of music education
Talk: Associating with music helps a person become successful in life, according to Frances-Marie Uitti, who talked on the benefits of music education in the capital yesterday.
She said these impacts were supported by recent scientific findings, on how music can change the structure of the brain, enhance teamwork, discipline and concentration.
“A lot of research done demonstrates evidences relating to the positive [... Read More]
Rule of Law
Dicey’s rule of law encompasses both the material rule of law and the formal rule of law. The material rule of law requires the realization of a just legal order, and the formal rule of law requires the state activities to be based on laws that are consistent with the constitution. In his treatise, “Law of the Constitution”, he identified three principles, which together establish the rule of law:
(1) The absolute supremacy or [... Read More]
Last week the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation jointly released the 2014 Ease of Doing Business Index (EDBI), which compares the enabling environment for medium sized business to start up and operate in nearly 200 countries around the world. This year Bhutan ranked 141 out of 189 countries. This is an improvement of 7 positions from last year when we were ranked 148 out of 185 countries.
The EDBI ranking uses 10 indicators to [... Read More]
Tourism: About 20,160 regional and international or dollar paying tourists visited the country last month.
This was an increase of 27.98 percent from those who visited the country in October last year. Tourism council of Bhutan (TCB) recorded 15,752 regional and international tourists last year.
The month is also considered as the time of the year when tour operators, hoteliers, guides, and handicraft shops make more money. Drukair also deploys additional flights to accommodate the [... Read More]


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On the way out I wrapped myself in despair as thick and soft as a cashmere coat. I had the coat, too, a velvety job custom-tailored overseas in Hong Kong. It was like wearing a grey herringbone cloud. I couldn't afford it on what I made; and then again, maybe that was the whole point. Outside of the daily grind of my job, I took every effort to appear as elegant and refined as possible. If I had to subsist on bread and cheese for a week to afford a bespoke suit or a pair of English-made boots, I would do it.
But beneath the clothes I found myself drifting aimlessly. I once spent an hour sitting on a stone balcony staring vacantly out at nothing, not asleep but not awake, until I suddenly snapped out of my stasis. A dispassionate feeling of not caring about anything had crept over me and trapped me beneath it. Like a beetle in amber I could see myself struggling to move and slowly giving up.
I departed the bus and walked quickly through the stiff breeze, staring up at the Citgo sign, now glaring down at me. This part of Boston was grim and dirty, and I kept my head down and walked forward through the overpasses and the colonies of the homeless around the ATM booths. It had begun to rain now, and the drops fell in streams around me in the silver lamplight. My umbrella leaned on my shoulder without much conviction – I wasn't sure if umbrellas represented an elegant stylistic touch or a foppish, almost effete affectation. It was probably too much thought to put into such a minor detail anyways. So I waited with my umbrella, leaning against the doorway and trying to look inconspicuous.
To get into my girlfriend's dorm, I had to check through a security point run by bored, irritable campus police. It made me feel like a burglar or a rapist, as if I was a paroled felon who can't vote, drive, or visit his girl-friend. On an all-girls campus, I was the intruder, an alien element in the neatly paved, trimmed and tailored walkways of Simmons College. It couldn't have been more different from where I lived - all traditional Boston red-brick, old ivy and manicured lawns. This was what a college was supposed to look like.
I found myself wondering what sort of school the Finn had gone to. In my mind, European campuses all looked like Oxford or Cambridge or Hogwarts from Harry Potter: elegant and stately arches, bell-towers and grand halls and stuffy headmasters with antique studies. What would a Finnish college be like? Perpetually drenched in snow, surely – that was the only way I could envision the country. Perhaps they sleighed to class, or skied. I couldn't see a Scandinavian landscape that didn't involve those elements.
The academic paradises of Boston seemed blasé to me, with familiarity divorced from contempt. Harvard Yard was like comfort food – known, remembered, and somehow separate from the school that had rejected me. I could sit in the Yard and reminisce or philosophize without feeling envy towards those who the Yard really belonged to. Maybe the Finn had gone to Harvard. It would explain his presence in my slumbering little suburb.
She poked her head out from behind the door and nudged me, her hair falling like a damp picture frame around her face – from the rain or from a shower I didn't know. She was wearing a long white coat belted around the waist that made it look as if she was wearing nothing underneath.
“Hey, babe.” For such a short girl, her voice was always surprisingly deep and throaty.
“Hey,” I said, giving her a quick kiss and a glance sideways at the police. “Let's get inside, OK?”


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A source told Radar Online: “She seems absolutely miserable and would like nothing more than to turn this around, but at this point it seems like she is just hopeless.” “It is like Kanye has the mentality of a five year old and Kim is more like his mother than Continue Reading
Nicki Minaj ensured she was the centre of attention as she showcased her eye-popping curves in a racy latex outfit. Her look appeared to be inspired by Kim Karadashian who wore a similar cut latex dress in November 2014. Who wore it better?
Kim Kardashian, put her assets on display as she stepped out for dinner last night. The mom of two, rocking a bandeau top and high waisted skirt, showed off her busty chest and slim waist as she made her way out. More photos below:
Kim took to her website to share lovely photos from North’s 3rd birthday party.She wrote ‘North and P had a joint mermaid party over the weekend! They are obsessed with mermaids, so we gave the party a fun “Under the Sea” theme.’How cute is this mermaid costume North had on?! Continue Reading
She looks so much like Kim Kardashian in this photo.
Kim Kardashian suffered a wardrobe malfunction on Wednesday when she stepped out for lunch in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. Her nipple slipped off her corset.
Reality TV star, wife and mother of two, Kim Kardashian has moved to distance herself from reports making the rounds that racy scenes from a newly released footage are scenes from a new sëx tape. In the new footage a woman that looks like Kim can be seen in a racy Continue Reading
According to a new report by RadarOnline, rapper, Kanye West has pleaded with his wife and reality TV star Kim Kardashian West to stop undergoing plastic surgery procedures as the death of his mum, Donda West, while undergoing cosmetic procedures still lingers fresh in his memory. The report comes Continue Reading
Crime scene photos of Kim Kardashian’s harrowing Paris robbery tell a scary story. The images, released by France’s TF1 news channel, show Kardashian’s hotel bedroom and bathroom, as well as what appears to be the tape used to bind her hands and a gag. Kim Kardashian was bound and gagged Continue Reading
Kim Kardashian who has changed her hair colour to blonde, took to her Snapchat account to wish her former BFF, Paris Hilton a Happy Birthday.
Kim Kardashian was spotted without a brassiere as she stepped out in New York City with her pal Simon Huck and a bodyguard. The reality star is in NYC for Kanye’s New York Fashion Week show..
Kim Kardashian shared some photos of her looking gorgeous while on vacation in Costa Rica. The reality star rocked a two-piece swimsuit in a set of snapshots that were taken beneath a waterfall somewhere in paradise and shared them on her official website.
Kim Kardashian has revealed she’s keeping all of her clothes for North. The reality star revealed that despite telling her rapper husband she “cleaned out” her ever-growing closet, she actually keeps back the clothing she no longer wants to wear for the sake of “memories”. She revealed in a series Continue Reading
Business entrepreneur and mother of 2, Kim Kardashian, took to her website, www.kimkardashianwest.com to list 20 weird facts you didn’t know about her. 1. Kourtney and I were in the same Spanish class in high school. I was so smart I advanced a year! JK! She had to repeat a Continue Reading
When Kim Kardashian broke the internet with her Nood maternity selfie, most people slammed her calling her all sorts of names. Fast forward to two days ago, ‘their’ queen Bey did same and was applauded. continue to see Aduke’s comments below.


TacStar's Carbon Fiber Handguard is a rugged, highly functional addition to your AR. Its carbon fiber construction offers an unbeatable strength to weight ratio, durability and toughness. It is fully free-floating with an octagon shape and is equipped with multiple cooling slots and accessory mounting points. The mounting points will accept any M-Lok style mounting hardware. It also has a forward mounted Picatinny rail to attach sights. The handguard attaches to the rifle using an innovative aluminum mounting sleeve. The sleeve simply clamps over the existing barrel nut meaning no special tools are needed for installation.
This model is 12" long and has a black finish.
Determined at checkout.