A new coronavirus contact tracing app will begin trials today - two months after the first one had to be ditched in a government fiasco.
Public trials will begin on the Isle of Wight, three months after Matt Hancock claimed an app for the NHS Test and Trace programme would be ready.
The island is the same place the first app was trialled in early May. But that app was ditched in June because it only picked up contacts with iPhones 4% of the time.
The NHSX app was replaced in favour of developing a system offered by Apple and Google.
The new app will ask users to scan QR codes to "check in" at pubs, cafes and restaurants to provide a 'virtual diary' of their recent movements. And they will be given a personalised risk score based on the number of contacts the app records.
The app will include alerts based on postcode, QR check-in at venues, a symptom checker and a way to book tests, using Google and Apple-developed technology.
Trials start from today on the Isle of Wight and with NHS volunteer responders across England, followed shortly by Newham residents.
This is different from the original app which was designed around using bluetooth connections to monitor when people came close to each other. However, the new app will also use Bluetooth technology.
It will log the time and distance a user has spent near to anyone, even if they don't know them, so it can alert them if necessary if that person later tests positive for Covid-19.
It comes amid turmoil over the NHS Test and Trace programme after 6,000 out of 18,000 privately-employed contact tracers were ditched.
NHS Test and Trace is meant to reach Covid sufferers' close contacts to tell them to isolate for 14 days.
How do you think the Government should be dealing with tracing and testing? Have your say in the comments below.
But the national programme is failing to reach more than a quarter of them - amid claims the work is so quiet, some contact tracers are "paid to watch Netflix ".
More of the work will now be carried out by local public health teams who can go door to door.
Yet despite outsourcing giants Serco and Sitel being scaled back, the firms are to have their contracts extended when the changes happen on August 24.
Serco was allocated £108m and Sitel £84m of taxpayer cash for the opening months of the programme.
And campaign group We Own It says £528m has been allocated for extensions for the two firms. The exact value of the extension is yet to be confirmed.
The app is intended to support the NHS Test and Trace effort by keeping a log of others who come into close contact but the plans have been marred by constant delays and privacy concerns.
The Government has since moved on to technology designed by Apple and Google - already used in several countries across the world - which handles data in a more privacy-friendly manner and does not suffer the same type of accuracy error.
However, this method is said to struggle with a problem of its own, measuring distance between people correctly.
According to the BBC, the Isle of Wight will be part of the trial once again, as well as one other area in England and a volunteer group.
"We need the app to help stop transmission by tracing close-proximity contacts as quickly and as comprehensively as possible, capturing those contacts we don't know or don't remember meeting," Professor Christophe Fraser, a scientific adviser to the Department of Health from Oxford University, told the broadcaster.
"The app should enable us to return to more normal daily activities with the reassurance that our contacts can be rapidly and anonymously notified if we get infected."
Northern Ireland has already launched its Covid-19 contact tracing app, while Scotland is expected to have its own by autumn.
The Apple/Google approach works by carrying out the contact matching process on a user's smartphone itself, making it more secure and harder for any potential hackers to access and de-anonymise any data for nefarious means.
Their system also bars authorities from using the technology to collect any location data from users.


Melrose scores a try with Superfast Broadband
The town of Melrose has scored a try in the shape of Superfast Broadband - thanks to the roll-out of the £410 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme.
Players from Melrose rugby club proved that they too were superfast when they joined Scottish Borders Council Leader David Parker and Executive Member for Economic Development Stuart Bell, along with BT’s fibre programme director Liz Mallinson, to launch the service in the town.
The installation of the new infrastructure is part of the roll out of the programme across Scotland, as BT engineers deploy the technology. Its arrival in the town means that many local businesses and residents will be able to benefit from fibre broadband.
The Melrose premises are among more than 56,500 across 14 local authority areas in Scotland which are due to see fibre broadband services offering speeds of up to 80Mbps rolling out in the autumn.
Fibre broadband enables multiple users in a home or business to access the internet, download and share large files at the same time and more quickly than ever before. Any resident who wants to receive fibre broadband should contact their service provider.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “Today marks an important milestone for the people of the Scottish Borders as well as for the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband partnership.
“This programme will lay the foundations of a world class digital Scotland by extending fibre broadband access to parts of Scotland that wouldn’t otherwise be served commercially, which is vitally important in communities such as Melrose.
“The scale of the challenge of delivering fibre broadband into rural Scotland outstrips any other part of the UK and will generate significant economic benefits, including new jobs and increased productivity.
“This is an important step towards ensuring that Scotland has world-class digital connectivity by 2020. Our investment, and that of our partners in the project, will extend access to superfast broadband across Scotland. This will be a key factor in ensuring Scotland’s long-term economic prosperity.”
The fibre connection at Melrose is one of the first of a programme of installations throughout Scottish Borders from the £410 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband partnership. Scottish Borders Council has contributed £8.4 million towards the project.
Councillor Stuart Bell, Executive Member for Economic Development at Scottish Borders Council said : “It is vital that homes and businesses in rural parts of Scotland such as the Scottish Borders get a communications infrastructure that matches the offer in our cities. That is why Scottish Borders Council has put £8.4m of local funding into the Superfast Broadband rollout.
“Our beautiful scenery, and great towns and communities like Melrose, attract visitors and businesses and new residents to come to the Borders; but they need and deserve the best communications capability. The citizens of Melrose will be able to subscribe to these services from today and it can't come soon enough for the rest of the Scottish Borders."
The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband initiative consists of two projects – one covering the Highlands and Islands area and the other covering the rest of Scotland. Both projects are being delivered on the ground by BT, which is investing £126m in the programme.
BT Scotland fibre programme director Liz Mallinson said: “This is a big day for Melrose as fibre broadband arrives in the town, bringing with it so much opportunity for local folk and businesses. Through our partnership with BT Murrayfield and the Scottish Rugby Union, BT is making significant investments in grass roots rugby in Scotland and our commitment to the nation doesn’t stop there. We’re proud to be a partner in the Digital Scotland programme, delivering real results for local communities all across the country.”
In total, more than three quarters of a million homes and business premises are expected to benefit from the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband initiative. Funding partners include the Scottish Government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the UK Government through Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), local authorities and the European Development Fund as well as BT.
Westminster Communications Minister Ed Vaizey said: “This fantastic news marks the next stage of a remarkable transformation of broadband in the Scottish Borders and beyond, which will see around 95 per cent of premises in Scotland connected to fibre broadband infrastructure by 2017/18. We understand how important access to superfast broadband is, which is why the UK Government is investing more than £100m in broadband for Scotland. The widespread access to superfast broadband that our rollout will deliver will provide a tremendous boost to the Scottish economy.”
Alongside the commercial roll-out of superfast broadband, the Digital Scotland programme will see around 95 per cent of premises in Scotland able to connect to fibre broadband infrastructure by the end of 2017. Locations will be announced quarterly for the life of the projects as the fibre network rolls out.
The Rest of Scotland project is being supported through £157.6million public funding including £50 million from BDUK and BT’s private investment of £106.7million. The public funding includes funding from all 27 local authorities in the project area and additional funding from 14 local authorities who are investing around £51 million to increase coverage, meet local priorities and address the digital divide in their areas. Coupled with the investment in the Highlands and Islands region announced earlier in the year, it brings the total investment in fibre broadband in Scotland to more than £410 million.
The Rest of Scotland project area includes the following local authority areas: Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, parts of Argyll & Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Dundee City, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, Midlothian, North Ayrshire (apart from the Islands), North Lanarkshire, Perth & Kinross, Renfrewshire, Scottish Borders, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire, West Lothian.
The Highlands and Islands broadband project is being led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and includes the following local authority areas: Highland, Moray, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, Eilean Siar (Western Isles), parts of Argyll and Bute and part of North Ayrshire (Islands).
Superfast Britain is a UK Government programme of investment in broadband and communication infrastructure across the UK. Run by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, this investment helps businesses to grow, creates jobs and will make Britain more competitive in the global race. The portfolio is comprised of three elements:
- £780m to extend superfast broadband to 95% of the UK by 2017
• £150m to provide high speed broadband to businesses in 22 cities
• £150m to improve quality and coverage of mobile phone and basic data network services
Administered on behalf of Government by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), Superfast Britain is transforming Britain by promoting growth, enabling skills and learning, and improving quality of life.
For further information: https://www.gov.uk/broadband-delivery-uk


Musings on Mazria, Lstiburek and Gifford: Part Three
I just want to set the record straight on one point: I have not imbibed the USGBC Koolaid. I do like its mission, goals, and products, and the organization has the best start of any rating system out there. As I have stated many times before, I’m a biologist by training and I am way into evolutionary biology. That’s all that needs to happen here. There are aspects of LEED that need improvement, so the USGBC simply needs to evolve in order to adapt to the changing environment: building science knowledge and feedback loops. It’s a lot like natural selection in a way. Survival of the fittest and change over time are important to businesses and businesspeople that are interested in the survival of their species.
Like I have stated before, I’m no PhD, engineer, or architect. I’d like to think that I will always be a humble student of the natural world. In that role, I’m trying to let the dissonance that exists in our industry soak in. Here’s my take on one of the bones of contention. When building, I subscribe to the mantra, “Build tight and ventilate right”. AIR SEALING!!!!! The tighter, the better, in my opinion. One hundred years ago, heating was cheap. Wood, coal, whatever—it was cheap. Not so cheap anymore. The tighter the home, the less conditioned air you lose. That’s a good thing. Not allowing for fresh-air ventilation or letting in so much unconditioned air that energy efficiency and humidity levels are compromised is a bad a bad thing. It’s a must to let in fresh air when building a supertight shell.
Let me tie this into my current thread on the banter between Lstiburek/Gifford and the USGBC. In Lstiburek’s paper, “Prioritizing Green: It’s The Energy, Stupid”, Dr. Lstiburek takes great offense to the aforementioned NBI study on energy efficiency in LEED NC buildings. I’d like to comment on one specific point that he makes in the paper:
… don’t overventilate. This idea of getting green points by increasing the rates above those specified by ASHRAE Standard 62 is just madness. Whatever happened to source control? If you don’t build stupid materials into the building, don’t do stupid things in the building, and don’t connect the interior to exterior via the parking garage, 62 works very well.
Lstiburek, an ASHRAE Fellow, is referring to LEED NC Environmental Quality Credit 2, “Increased Ventilation,” which is obtained by increasing ventilation rates by 30% over those prescribed by ASHRAE 62. Another ASHRAE Fellow, Steven Taylor, stated this in a report:
It is acknowledged that increasing ventilation rates will, in most applications and climates, increase energy use. However, the impact is relatively small, and it can be mitigated using heat recovery and other technologies. . . .The benefits of these credits are deemed to outweigh the energy impacts. Similarly, it is argued that the energy impact of increased ventilation is more than offset by the health and productivity benefits. EQ Credit 2 has been completely revised to require an increase in ventilation rates of 30% above Standard 62.1-2004 rates. The increase (and even higher rates) can be justified by recent research showing higher outdoor air rates improve occupant productivity and reduce sick building syndrome symptoms.
So how much is too much? I don’t have the answer to that. In the residential realm, in 99% of the houses that I have built, I have installed either a Venmar Constructo or a Venmar HEPA 4000, which probably provides more air changes than necessary for a home that size. Almost all of those houses are under 3,000 square feet. I know by following them over the years that the energy bills are quite low and the indoor air quality (IAQ) is quite good. A family from New Jersey moved into one of our homes with their 9-year-old son, who suffered from chronic, severe asthma. Within two months, all of his symptoms were gone. Another instance involved a family from New Mexico. The wife was chemically sensitive and wanted to seriously vet the home before they moved in. She had a variety of tests run on the IAQ of the home (including mold, VOCs and radon), and it passed all of them with flying colors. This is a tiny data set, but I know (especially since I live in one of them) that our houses work: low energy bills and good IAQ.
Unfortunately, I agree with a lot of what Gifford and Lstiburek say in their papers. What I classify as unfortunate is that you have to sift through so many condescending statements, epithets, and sardonic wit that the points get buried. In a world where (in my opinion) so many of us can’t wait for good news, can you guys try to stay constructive and positive?
I agree that we need to base the “greenness” of buildings on performance or extremely accurate models (which don’t seem to exist for all cases). I agree that overventilation can be detrimental. I agree that overglazing can negatively affect energy efficiency and comfort. I recently visited an organization’s national headquarters in Washington, D.C., a very big organization at that. It was LEED Silver—certified, but, as the tour guide admitted, the building has huge utility bills and is not performing as modeled. That part of the system needs to be fixed.
All of these things need attention, so let’s bring it to the attention of the necessary individuals. I do suggest that when you present information or make constructive suggestions that you don’t refer to the recipient as stupid. You may get a bit further that way. Definitely, a rose IS a rose, but talking nicely even to plants can help them grow.
Next post, I’ll spout a bit about what I think the key is to the success of the green market shift in light of the new administration and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
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DHS's cybersecurity office is a presidential signature away from a new name
The National Protection and Programs Directorate will become the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
DHS's top cyber office is about to get a name that reflects its mission
The CISA act would rebrand NPPD, giving it a more cyber-relevant name and cementing the office into law.
Do we need a 'cyber 911?' A former FBI cyber agent thinks so.
A former FBI cyber special agent argues that the average person or business needs a quick way to get in touch with authorities to respond to cyberthreats.
DHS vulnerability scanning program offline after Virginia office loses power
A number of high-priority DHS programs focused on cybersecurity are operating at backup locations or have been knocked completely offline, multiple sources tell CyberScoop.
Lawmakers, tech vendors fight over election cybersecurity efforts
Lawmakers ratcheted up the pressure on election technology vendors to be more responsive to federal officials. The companies said they're being as transparent as possible.


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It seems like it is taking forever for my book babies to be born and though I am chomping at the bit, I am trying to be patient. Mumbet (A Free Woman On God's Earth) is being typeset right now, with all the amazing illustrations placed lovingly on their pages. It will be worth the wait, I know. Children and adults alike will pore over the black and white drawings, wanting to see every detail of the life of this amazing woman.
The Adventures of Charlie & Moon is also at the final stage, its cover hopefully completed today and ready to be placed upon the book, which kids (big and small) are gonna go WILD over!
Ann-Elizabeth, Jackie, Martin and I are so excited we can hardly contain ourselves!

domain: artistic


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This probably was asked in the past, but I’m wondering why the interface wouldn’t allow for a ‘normal’ note staff, yet using the coloring features of the current one.
Just because for musicians who know how to sightread, this is a very common way to write and read music.
Keep up the good work!
@KleineMerel, it’s a good question!
As a sheet-music-reading musician myself, I agree that sometimes the best way to see music is on a conventional staff. That being said, writing music on a “piano roll”-type interface like Hookpad has some distinct advantages. Chords, for instance, are much easier to input. Durations can be changed without too much trouble. And of course, features like the melody guides can help you orient your melody quickly with your chord progression. These things can all be done in a scorewriter like Finale or Sibelius, but it is MUCH more challenging and time consuming.
We designed and conceived Hookpad to be a “musical sketchpad”: it’s a place where you can get an idea from your head (or fingers) onto the page as quickly and simply as possible. This required some tradeoffs but ultimately we’re happy with the space that it exists in. And remember that if you ever want to see your music on the staff, you can always export the score.
@Ryan, thanks for the quick reply.
You are right about the speed of the current system and also the use of colors brings much advantages.
Thing is that for music students you’d want to combine both, meaning “forcing” them to learn the staff still, while still having the many excellent supporting features around too.
I hadn’t really looked into the export function yet.
Completely agree, for students of music who are accustomed to sheet music, being able to read their compositions on a staff is important. All projects in Hookpad can be converted to conventional sheet music using the Export->Score, or Export->Lead Sheet options.


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Bear is content to spend his days singing to himself and wading playfully through the water in his cave by the sea. Then one day, he hears the noises of the city traveling on the wind, and his curiosity to experience big city life compels him to visit. At first, the sights and smells are new and exciting. But when the hustle and bustle of the people, the markets, and the traffic all become too much for Bear, it will take a little bit of kindness from strangers to get him back home again. Michael Rosen's rhythmic text and Adrian Reynolds's lively illustrations make this a perfect read-aloud for story time.
The book, Bear's Day Out [Bulk, Wholesale, Quantity] ISBN# 9781599900070 in Picture Book by Rosen, Michael may be ordered in bulk quantities. Minimum starts at 25 copies. Availability based on publisher status and quantity being ordered.

domain: library


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Minecraft is a game that is in a constant state of flux, thanks to the sequence of free updates it receives. Looking back through its history of over a decade of updates, there are countless features that have been implemented.
While many additions to the game have been heralded, others have seemingly fallen by the wayside. For one reason or another, these features are often overlooked and aren't used all that often.
Be that as it may, just because these parts of Minecraft are sometimes ignored doesn't mean they're useless.
When it comes to features that may have been forgotten but still have plenty to offer players, a few top contenders come to mind.
Note: This list is subjective and solely reflects the opinions of the writer
Top Forgotten Minecraft Features Still Worth Using
5) Crossbred Crop Rows
For a while, Minecraft players got used to creating crop farms that use one crop type at a time. If they use multiple crops on the same farm, they might do so in a way that doesn't exactly have much structure to it. However, it's important to note that if players organize their planted crops into rows, all of the crops will receive a boost to growth speed.
This feature was implemented by Mojang to emulate the real-world process of crossbreeding different crops, which improves their overall growth and quality. The genes of certain crops intermingle with their counterparts, allowing them to be more resilient, fruitful, and nourishing. This only boosts the speed of the growth process, but more harvests mean more productivity.
4) Renaming Chests
Organization is incredibly helpful in Minecraft once a player has an abundance of blocks, tools, items, and gear. It's one thing to place certain items in a chest and sort them by type and another to use an item frame to visually mark what a chest contains. However, a third option exists that is constantly overlooked: placing a chest on an anvil block and renaming it.
This tactic changes the name of a given chest when it is opened. Normally, after a chest is opened, the name simply reads "chest" in its UI. However, if players use an anvil to change the storage block's name, they can make note of what the chest is for or who it belongs to without ever crafting an item frame.
3) Quick Clicking
Sorting through a player's inventory or storage in Minecraft can be a real pain if the items and blocks inside aren't sorted. Players can spend too much time searching for each necessary stack of items or blocks in a jumbled mess of a storage container. However, a feature allows players to pick up a stack of specific items or blocks and immediately transfer all items/blocks of the same type.
For example, if a player was looking for multiple stacks of paper in their storage chest to place in their inventory, it might be annoying to search for all of the stacks if the chest isn't well-sorted. Instead, the player can pick up one stack of paper and then Shift-Click another stack of paper to instantly deposit all of the paper stacks in the chest into their inventory.
For players who aren't the most organized, this quick shortcut can be a huge time-saver.
2) Furnace Minecarts
Nothing screams "efficiency" like a well-constructed minecart system. However, minecart rails can get pretty expensive resource-wise in Minecraft, especially when powered rails are involved. These rails require gold and redstone to craft, but an alternative presents itself: the oft-ignored minecart with furnace block.
This block may not seem ideal because it can't carry cargo, but that isn't exactly the point. If placed behind a line of other minecarts, a furnace minecart can push the ones in front of it simply by fueling the furnace.
For players who want to save their gold and redstone for other projects, a furnace minecart can be a huge help. Plus, it's much easier to find fuel for a furnace than to find gold or redstone.
1) Chorus Fruit Teleportation
When players find their way to the End in Minecraft, they may snag a few chorus fruits as they venture through the dimension. While this fruit restores four hunger points, it serves a much better purpose than simply being a tasty snack.
Eating a chorus fruit has a chance to teleport the player eight blocks ahead in a given direction, even through solid blocks. This makes chorus fruits great for infiltrating structures without a trace.
Furthermore, if players are in freefall or are levitating in the air, they can munch down on a chorus fruit to teleport themselves down to the ground safely.

domain: game


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All of us are chasing Baldwin–even if we don't know it.
— Ta-Nehisi Coates (@tanehisicoates) January 25, 2015
Lauded by his contemporaries and widely hailed as one of the most profound social critics of all time, James Baldwin is a literary icon. Born in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance, the writing of the American novelist, essayist, playwright and poet has endured the test of time. His books are a staple on best-seller's lists, recordings of his talks and speeches continue to rack up YouTube views by the thousands and the 2016 release of the documentary, "I Am Not Your Negro" based on his unfinished manuscript, Remember This House, was a box office success receiving a People's Choice Award at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival and an Academy Award nomination.
Now a personal archive of Baldwin's creative works is returning home to Harlem. On Wednesday, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at The New York Public Library, announced its acquisition of nearly 30 linear feet of Baldwin's published and unpublished works. The comprehensive collection includes handwritten letters and manuscripts; handwritten and typed drafts of essays, novels and short stories; galleys and screenplays with handwritten notes and fragments; interviews, telegrams, personal photographs, correspondence and audio recordings.
“We are more than excited to have James Baldwin return home to Harlem,” says Kevin Young, Director of the Schomburg Center. “Baldwin’s amazing collection adds to our ever-growing holdings of writers, political figures, artists, and cultural icons across the African diaspora. With the current resurgence of interest in Baldwin’s works and words, and renovation of our own spaces from the main gallery to the Schomburg Shop, the timing couldn’t be better for Baldwin to join us at the Schomburg Center.”
Acquired through the Ford Foundation, Katharine J. Rayner, James and Morag Anderson, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and New York Life, items from the Baldwin Archive will be on limited public display from April 13-17 as part of the exhibition The Evidence of Things Seen: Selections from the James Baldwin Papers.

domain: literature


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Sightseeing Tour of Dubai which includes a visit to the Palm Island, the Burj Al Arab Hotel (designed in the form of a ship sail) and the best tourist attractions - Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, Madinat Fujairah, dancing fountains, etc.
Deep Sea Fishing Tour in Dubai and the UAE on boat equipped all the necessary fishing tackle.
VIP helicopter transfer from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.
A sightseeing tour of the richest island of the UAE - Abu Dhabi, the capital of the country of the same name.
There are forty attractions in the park, five of which are unique.
Waterpark and Aquarium on the Palm Jumeirah island in Dubai.
The concept of the park combines four themes: Legoland and Legoland water park, Bollywood and Hollywood parks.
Fans of Hollywood films should definitely visit Motion Park Dubai. There are family rides, extreme and water slides, theater shows and playgrounds.
Millions of children dream to get to the wonderful world of Lego and get a lot of impressions!
In the super-tech park Ferrari World you will discover the coolest attractions in the world.
Bollywood theme park Dubai is the only amusement park in the style of Indian films in the world.
Enjoy sightseeing tour around Abu Dhabi and neighboring islands on the bright Yellow Boats.
Would you like to see fifty million flowers and feel wonderful dizzying aromas?
Cheap sharing fishing trip and private tour for VIP fishing. Trolling, casting, jigging and ground fishing.
From Dubai Marina • 2 hours • at 11:00, 13:30, 16:00
Sightseeing Tour of Dubai which includes a visit to the best tourist attractions: the Palm Island, the Burj Al Arab Hotel, Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, Madinat Fujairah, dancing fountains, etc.
The unique Legoland Waterpark in Dubai Parks & Resorts offers exciting attractions for children aged 2-12 and their parents!
Amazing sightseeing tour of the richest island of the UAE - Abu Dhabi.

domain: entertainment


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Browse Results For:
The Spiritual Quest of the Post-Boomer Generation
Despite the masses still lining up to enter mega-churches with warehouse-like architecture, casually dressed clergy, and pop Christian music, the "Post-Boomer" generation-those ranging in age from twenty to forty-is having second thoughts. In this perceptive look at the evolving face of Christianity in contemporary culture, sociologists Richard Flory and Donald E. Miller argue that we are on the verge of another potential revolution in how Christians worship and associate with one another. Just as the formative experiences of Baby Boomers were colored by such things as the war in Vietnam, the 1960s, and a dramatic increase in their opportunities for individual expression, so Post-Boomers have grown up in less structured households with working (often divorced) parents. These childhood experiences leave them craving authentic spiritual experience, rather than entertainment, and also cause them to question institutions. Flory and Miller develop a typology that captures four current approaches to the Christian faith and argue that this generation represents a new religious orientation of "expressive communalism," in which they seek spiritual experience and fulfillment in community and through various expressive forms of spirituality, both private and public.
Meanings of the Spirit in the U.S. South
Flashes of a Southern Spirit explores meanings of the spirit in the American South, including religious ecstasy and celebrations of regional character and distinctiveness.
Charles Reagan Wilson sees ideas of the spirit as central to understanding southern identity. The South nurtured a patriotic spirit expressed in the high emotions of Confederates going off to war, but the region also was the setting for a spiritual outpouring of prayer and song during the civil rights movement. Arguing for a spiritual grounding to southern identity, Wilson shows how identifications of the spirit are crucial to understanding what makes southerners invest so much meaning in their regional identity.
From the late nineteenth-century invention of southern tradition to early twenty-first-century folk artistic creativity, Wilson examines a wide range of cultural expression, including music, literature, folk art, media representations, and religious imagery. He finds new meanings in the works of such creative giants as William Faulkner, Richard Wright, and Elvis Presley, while at the same time closely examining little-studied figures such as the artist/revivalist McKendree Long. Wilson proposes that southern spirituality is a neglected category of analysis in the recent flourishing of interdisciplinary studies on the South—one that opens up the cultural interaction of blacks and whites in the region.
This state-of-the-field overview of Pentecostalism around the world focuses on cultural developments among second- and third-generation adherents in regions with large Pentecostal communities, considering the impact of these developments on political participation, citizenship, gender relations, and economic morality. Leading scholars from anthropology, sociology, religious studies, and history present useful introductions to global issues and country-specific studies drawn from Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the former USSR.
America in Red and Blue
Americans increasingly think in terms of red and blue. God and Country examines the religious roots of these cultural divisions in American political life. But instead of pitting a people of faith against a secular humanist elite, God and Country helps Americans understand the religious differences that divide, appreciate the public agreements that allow us to live with religious differences, evaluate how existing democratic processes alleviate divisions, and identify ways Americans can agree to disagree.
Korean American Evangelicals on Campus
In the past twenty years, many traditionally white campus religious groups have become Asian American. Today there are more than fifty evangelical Christian groups at UC Berkeley and UCLA alone, and 80% of their members are Asian American. At Harvard, Asian Americans constitute 70% of the Harvard Radcliffe Christian Fellowship, while at Yale, Campus Crusade for Christ is now 90% Asian. Stanford's Intervarsity Christian Fellowship has become almost entirely Asian.
There has been little research, or even acknowledgment, of this striking development.
God’s New Whiz Kids? focuses on second-generation Korean Americans, who make up the majority of Asian American evangelicals, and explores the factors that lead college-bound Korean American evangelicals—from integrated, mixed race neighborhoods—to create racially segregated religious communities on campus. Kim illuminates an emergent “made in the U.S.A.” ethnicity to help explain this trend, and to shed light on a group that may be changing the face of American evangelicalism.
Media, Religion, and Celebrity Culture
From Britney and Brangelina to Tiger Woods and Michael Jackson, Western society is obsessed with its American idols and gods of the red carpet. We worship their triumphs, judge their sins, and maintain vigil at their deaths. Can our fixation on and devotion to celebrity culture itself be considered a religion? If not, why do we use religious terminology to describe these stars and our actions towards them?
Gods Behaving Badly examines the blurred boundary between popular culture and religion—one that has given way to an often confounding fusion of the sacred and the profane. Flipping through pages of tabloid media and looking underneath the veil of Hollywood’s glamour, Pete Ward exposes how, in its consumer life, Western society elevates celebrity to the theological and, in so doing, creates a new para-religion. Inevitably, whether despised or extolled, individual celebrities evoke public moral judgment, creating fertile ground for theological innovation.
Plucked straight from the headlines, the narratives in Gods Behaving Badly give concrete evidence of how the religious themes of incarnation, revelation, sin, judgment, and redemption are all woven into narratives we construct about our most cherished—and most villainized—personalities.
Labor's Southern Prophets in New Deal America
In this exceptional dual biography and cultural history, Erik S. Gellman and Jarod Roll trace the influence of two southern activist preachers, one black and one white, who used their ministry to organize the working class in the 1930s and 1940s across lines of gender, race, and geography. Owen Whitfield and Claude Williams, along with their wives, Zella Whitfield and Joyce Williams, drew on their bedrock religious beliefs to stir ordinary men and women to demand social and economic justice in the eras of the Great Depression, New Deal, and Second World War._x000B__x000B_In chronicling the shifting contexts of the actions of Whitfield and Williams, The Gospel of the Working Class situates Christian theology within the struggles of some of America's most downtrodden workers, transforming the dominant narratives of the era and offering a fresh view of the promise and instability of religion and civil rights unionism.
South Asian Religion in a Cosmopolitan Language
Guru English is a bold reconceptualization of the scope and meaning of cosmopolitanism, examining the language of South Asian religiosity as it has flourished both inside and outside of its original context for the past two hundred years. The book surveys a specific set of religious vocabularies from South Asia that, Aravamudan argues, launches a different kind of cosmopolitanism into global use.
Using "Guru English" as a tagline for the globalizing idiom that has grown up around these religions, Aravamudan traces the diffusion and transformation of South Asian religious discourses as they shuttled between East and West through English-language use. The book demonstrates that cosmopolitanism is not just a secular Western "discourse that results from a disenchantment with religion, but something that can also be refashioned from South Asian religion when these materials are put into dialogue with contemporary social move-ments and literary texts. Aravamudan looks at "religious forms of neoclassicism, nationalism, Romanticism, postmodernism, and nuclear millenarianism, bringing together figures such as Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Mahatma Gandhi, and Deepak Chopra with Rudyard Kipling, James Joyce, Robert Oppenheimer, and Salman Rushdie.
Guru English analyzes writers and gurus, literary texts and religious movements, and the political uses of religion alongside the literary expressions of religious teachers, showing the cosmopolitan interconnections between the Indian subcontinent, the British Empire, and the American New Age.
How Religion Shaped Commerce in Puritan America
Heavenly Merchandize offers a critical reexamination of religion's role in the creation of a market economy in early America. Focusing on the economic culture of New England, it views commerce through the eyes of four generations of Boston merchants, drawing upon their personal letters, diaries, business records, and sermon notes to reveal how merchants built a modern form of exchange out of profound transitions in the puritan understanding of discipline, providence, and the meaning of New England.
Mark Valeri traces the careers of men like Robert Keayne, a London immigrant punished by his church for aggressive business practices; John Hull, a silversmith-turned-trader who helped to establish commercial networks in the West Indies; and Hugh Hall, one of New England's first slave traders. He explores how Boston ministers reconstituted their moral languages over the course of a century, from a scriptural discourse against many market practices to a providential worldview that justified England's commercial hegemony and legitimated the market as a divine construct. Valeri moves beyond simplistic readings that reduce commercial activity to secular mind-sets, and refutes the popular notion of an inherent affinity between puritanism and capitalism. He shows how changing ideas about what it meant to be pious and puritan informed the business practices of Boston's merchants, who filled their private notebooks with meditations on scripture and the natural order, founded and led churches, and inscribed spiritual reflections in their letters and diaries.
Unprecedented in scope and rich with insights, Heavenly Merchandize illuminates the history behind the continuing American dilemma over morality and the marketplace.


Check out our ever evolving and growing Kenzington Vibes playlist on Pandora! A blend of all of our favorites that we groove to in store.
Some artists that we especially dig:
-Lana Del Rey
(to name a few)
Kenzington Vibe on Pandora


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One of Chicago's most slept own artist Legit is gearing up for the release of his next project, Surprise. Today he gives us "Figure 8" produced by up and coming producer Dee Lilly. Surprise is expected to drop in October.
This is AEMMP Records Hip-Hop Divisions third release in the past three years and they only continue to get better. This new project features brand new music from ShowYouSuck, theWHOevers, St. Millie, and more.


President Biden has announced that his administration will be limiting the number of immigration arrests that take place at courthouses. According to the new policy, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will no longer have the authorization to carry out routine arrests at courthouses.
ICE agents will still be able to arrest individuals in cases in which matters of national security are at risk or the individual poses a threat to public safety. They will also be able to arrest an individual who is the subject of an active pursuit or if there is suspicion the individual may destroy evidence.
Addressing Fears of Law Enforcement
The policy of immigration arrests at courthouses was put in place by the Trump administration and allowed ICE agents to make routine immigration arrests at federal, state, and local courthouses. The practice is believed to have caused many people to avoid cooperating with law enforcement or attending court hearings. Many undocumented immigrants were fearful of confronting domestic abusers or testifying at trials because they feared being arrested by ICE agents and then facing deportation charges.
In announcing the new policy, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the Trump administration-era policy had a “chilling effect on individuals’ willingness to come to court or work cooperatively with law enforcement.”
In one case that made national headlines, ICE agents arrested a domestic violence victim in El Paso, TX, immediately after she had been granted a protective order. According to witnesses of the incident, there was an ICE agent inside the courtroom where the victim’s hearing took place. There were also agents guarding the courtroom’s exit doors and staked out on the courthouse floor the courtroom was located on, all waiting to arrest the woman.
Reasons for Deportation
While President Biden has taken steps to remove many of the immigration policies put in place by his predecessor, there are still many situations in which documented and undocumented immigrants can face deportation. Some of the more common reasons why the government moves forward with deportation include:
The individual’s visa has expired.
The individual entered the United States illegally.
The individual has been convicted of a crime since entering the country.
Contact a DuPage County Immigration Attorney for Assistance
If you or a loved one have been arrested by ICE and are facing deportation, you need a dedicated Itasca deportation defense lawyer advocating for you. Call Ana M. Mencini & Associates, P.C. today at 630-875-1700 to schedule a confidential consultation. Time is of the essence in these situations, so do not delay contacting our office.


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Welcome to our new web site!
To give our readers a chance to experience all that our new website has to offer, we have made all content freely avaiable, through October 1, 2018.
During this time, print and digital subscribers will not need to log in to view our stories or e-editions.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is another in The Bulletin staff’s series of reviews of movies available on various streaming services.
Put in one part Marlon Brando, one part Johnny Depp, one part Faye Dunaway and a dash of Selena, then mix it all together. What emerges is a lovely little 1994 film about the world’s greatest lover.
“Don Juan deMarco” stars Depp as the title character, often masked and caped, possessed of a Castilian accent and sweeping women off their collective feet in restaurants, hotels, harems and anywhere else he can use his charm and unique powers of seduction.
That’s how he sees himself, at least. To the rest of the world, he’s bat-guano crazy, as evidenced by a critical scene early in the film during which Don Juan stands on the ledge of a billboard, threatening to jump and end it all.
The cops can’t talk him down, so they employ a scissor lift to elevate Dr. Jack Mickler (Brando) to the edge of the billboard, where he convinces Don Juan to join him. Don Juan immediately recognizes his new friend as Don Octavio de Flores, and he creates a back story for him that cements their odd relationship going forward.
Dr. Mickler/Don Octavio is the psychiatrist into whose care Don Juan is entrusted for a dose of reality and some strong medication. Mickler is given 10 days to stabilize the handsome and delusional young patient.
During their sessions, Don Juan recounts the tale of his parents – Don Antonio (Franc Luz) and Doña Inez (Rachel Ticotin), as well as his own travels and adventures. The lengthy flashback scenes are engaging, frequently hysterical and consistently romantic.
During one of the flashbacks, the filmgoer is treated to the voice and performing skills of Selena as the Ranchera Singer, performing “El Toro Relajo.” It’s jaw-dropping.
Between sessions with Dr. Mickler, Don Juan enamors himself to the staff of the psychiatric facility. The women are mesmerized by him, and the men want little more than to emulate his free spirit and skills of romantic conquest.
After each session, Dr. Mickler finds himself further and further drawn into Don Juan’s story, to the point that he begins romancing his own wife, Marilyn (Dunaway), although it takes a while to sway her, because their marriage has been for so very long stagnant.
The good doctor eventually elicits Don Juan’s true name and backstory, and it is – of course – not nearly as fabulous as that of his alter ego. It is, in fact, just sad.
But the truth is used ultimately only as a tool to allow Don Juan to return to the world, bringing Don Octavio and his suddenly blushing bride along for the ride.
The final scene takes place on the white, sandy beach of an island in St. Somewhere where additional magic ensues. No spoilers here.
As the scene fades out, the voice of Bryan Adams rolls in like a wave with “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” The song did well on the pop charts and is the perfect summary of the preceding 97 minutes of gorgeous cinematography and enough love stories to light a fire in the coldest, most cynical of hearts.
Jeremy Leven directs his own screenplay. Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Fuchs and Patrick Palmer produce.


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Five potential destinations for Man Utd’s Mata after Mourinho arrival
Lee Gormley | July 3, 2016
Five potential clubs for Mata
Spanish playmaker Juan Mata has become a fan favourite with Manchester United fans since arriving at Old Trafford from Chelsea in January 2014, having been former Red Devils boss David Moyes’ main signing during a disastrous reign.
The 28-year-old departed Stamford Bridge after falling out with then coach Jose Mourinho, with the Portuguese tactician claiming Mata was reluctant to adapt to his style of play in London, as he became Man Utd’s previous club record capture for £37.1m.
Although, following two-and-a-half seasons in red, Mata’s stay at Old Trafford is under threat after Mourinho arrived on the scene, with reports also suggesting new signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic will inherit his number eight jersey.
So, with the talented Spaniard’s future shrouded in doubt, here are five clubs from around Europe that could be potential destinations for the seemingly unwanted attacking midfielder…
Mata, who has earned 40 caps for his country so far in his career, is 4/1 to still be a Man Utd player when the summer transfer window slams shut on Wednesday, August 31st, but it’s Merseyside club Everton that are leading the race for his signature.
The Toffees recently appointed former Southampton manager Ronald Koeman as their new boss at Goodison Park and the Dutchman has been handed plenty of funds to splash out this summer, having already snapped up Maarten Stekelenburg and is reportedly closing in on Axel Witsel.
Everton are the odds-on 4/9 favourites to land Mata in this transfer window, with the Merseyside outfit set to offer Man Utd £21m for his services – a move which would represent a genuine coup for Koeman and co.
The Red Devils midfield creator would bring a great deal of freshness to the Everton attack, with Ross Barkley, Gerard Deulofeu and Aaron Lennon having struggled somewhat in the past term under former boss Roberto Martinez.
Although, either of those three could be in danger of losing their places, while it could also spell the end for Belgian forward Kevin Mirallas ahead of the 2016/17 top-flight campaign.
Mata spent four seasons in his homeland with Valencia between 2007 and 2011, helping Los Che earn a Copa del Rey victory in 2008, before leaving for Chelsea and eventually joining the Red Devils.
With his future shrouded in doubt this summer, a sensational return to the Mestalla could yet be on the cards, after the Bats have suffered a troublesome season in La Liga. Outgoing England assistant coach Gary Neville saw his time as Valencia boss come to an early end this year, as they ended the campaign in an underwhelming 12th position.
Mata’s possible return to Valencia, which is 16/1 to occur this summer, would undoubtedly boost morale among supporters and bolster Los Che’s attacking ranks for next term, when they will attempt to return to a the more promising heights of the Spanish top-flight table.
Andre Gomes has long been tipped for a move away from the club, while Sofiane Feghouli recently joined West Ham United, and Mata could yet bring back further attacking prowess to help out star man Paco Alcacer.
Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund are 14/1 to land Mata in the coming weeks, a signing which would see the Spaniard fill the void left by recently departed attacker Henrikh Mkhitaryan and swap places with the newest Old Trafford recruit.
The 27-year-old will become the first-ever Armenian to play Premier League football and, with the dynamic forward set to go straight into Mourinho’s side, the places are limited, leaving the door open for Mata to make the opposite move to Germany.
Business has been rife between the two clubs in recent years, with Mkhitaryan being the latest to move from Dortmund to Man Utd after Shinji Kagawa did so in 2014, and ultimately returning to the Westfalenstadion.
Belgian youngster Adnan Januzaj earlier had a loan spell with Dortmund too, so could Mata be the next player to trade red for black and yellow this year?
Another Spanish side set to be on the lookout for new recruits is Sevilla, with the Europa League champions now in need of rejuvenating following high-profile exits from the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
The Bathtubs made history by clinching a third successive European crown in the campaign gone by, but they are now in need of a boost after star midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak joined French champions PSG, with his Poland performances at Euro 2016 catching the eye, and previous boss Unai Emery joining him in Paris.
Fans are in need of a marquee signing to bolster morale and Mata fits the bill perfectly, boasting plenty of experience in both La Liga and Europe, and he is 14/1 to return to Spain with Sevilla this summer.
Such a switch offers a lot to both parties, with Champions League football on offer at Sevilla for Man Utd’s out-of-favour playmaker, while the Red Devils will have to settle for the Europa League next term.
AC Milan have endured a harrowing decline in recent seasons, dropping well out of European place contention and seeing any Serie A title success go well beyond their grasp, as well as a revolving door policy on managers.
Having already tested himself in both Spain and England, Mata may see Italy as his next stomping ground, and Serie A is a division which could arguably suit his technical abilities and decisive forward.
The Rossoneri have plenty of stuttering forwards currently in their ranks, including the likes of Keisuke Honda, Jeremy Menez and Luiz Adriano, but they are 18/1 to secure Mata’s acquisition and add some much-needed creative quality to their squad.
Mata’s quality in unlocking defences would massively boost Milan’s forward threat and Brazilian frontman Carlos Bacca would surely relish having such an astute playmaker in behind him, as the former Sevilla striker looks to become a new goalscoring hero at the San Siro.

domain: sports


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No means of communication is more universal than music. Across nearly all cultures, languages, and lifestyles, the common denominator seems to be music.
It is evident that style and music go hand in hand - NOT because the everyone in the music industry is interested in the fashion industry, but because the everyone in the music industry is invested in truly expressing themselves. Though every musician's style may not be mainstream (quite the opposite), and you may not like it - they are who they are and most of them don't give a damn what others think.
I feel like that's when you make strides towards finding yourself (your style, your personality, your identity as a whole) - when you don't give a damn about all the judgments of others and you are committed to being 100% your innate self.
Here are a few shots I took of bands and a few friends at Pilgrimage - a wide array of styles!
Special shout to Avett Brothers, Colony House, Esther Rose, Mike Wolf (American Pickers), Shovels & Rope, Texas Gentlemen, The Sisterhood, Trombone Shorty, and Walk The Moon!
What are some of your favorite bands? What bands best display your style? Comment below!


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The innovation systems approach, which has taken a prominent position in the academic literature, has also influenced policy-makers around the globe. Most research analyses innovation systems taking a national, regional or sectoral perspective, following a ‘technological imperative’. Yet changes in institutional conditions and the importance of non-technological innovation question the accuracy and the relevance of the existing boundaries of innovation systems. These developments ask for a better understanding of how innovation systems integrate within and across different levels. Drawing on a novel combination of configurational and econometric analysis, we analyse 384 Swiss firms and identify five co-existing innovation systems: two generic innovation systems, the autarkic and the knowledge-internalisation; one regional innovation system, the protected hierarchy; and two sectoral innovation systems, the public sciences and the organised learning. The generic innovation systems entail the ‘Science, Technology and Innovation’ (STI) and the ‘Doing, Interacting and Using’ (DUI) learning modes. These systems are structurally distinct and do not integrate. In contrast, all regional and sectoral innovation systems integrate the learning modes of the generic innovation systems and complement them with idiosyncratic elements. The perspective on co-existing innovation systems that we develop here indicates the existence of two layers of innovation systems: a ‘central’ layer that hosts generic innovation systems and that constitutes the foundation for a second ‘surface' layer that hosts regional and sectoral innovation systems. We discuss the implications of layers of co-existing innovation systems for policy-makers and future research.
|Early online date||02 Mar 2015|
|Publication status||Published - May 2015|


By Jayme Taylor, Communication Manager
In an effort to thank Clover Park High School students and staff for their support of servicemen and women, Captain Tammy Childs—daughter of school nurse Sue Biles—presented Principal John Seaton with a flag flown in Afghanistan.
Students from the school’s Air Force JROTC classes and school staff members sent 150 homemade stockings filled with gadgets and treats to members of the 31st Combat Support Hospital (CHS), who distributed the stockings to wounded Marines being treated at Camp Dwyer in Afghanistan.
The stockings were made by the Washington State Internet Quilters and Runaway Quilters with support from the Evergreen Quilt Shop. The school’s Life Skills classes made 300 candy cane ornaments to accompany the stockings.
Childs explained how the gifts lifted the spirits of the recuperating soldiers and Marines and helped them to better enjoy the holiday season away from home.
Following the presentation of the flag, the AFJROTC Color Guard raised the U.S. and Washington state flags for the school day.
Photo 1: Captain Tammy Childs (left, holding flag) thanks the Clover Park High School Air Force JROTC color guard and staff for their support of deployed servicemen and women.
Photo 2: From left: Lt. Col. Gary Roberts, AFJROTC instructor; Sue Biles, school nurse; Captain Tammy Childs; CPHS Principal John Seaton and Senior Master Sgt. Maureen Arroyo, AFJROTC instructor.


The Jeep Compass compact SUV gets a light refresh for 2014, and is bowing Monday at the Detroit auto show.
The most notable change with the 2014 Compass is a switch from a CVT to a new six-speed automatic as the main transmission option. PowerTech independently developed the fully electronic transmission, designing it to improve fuel efficiency and performance.
The six-speed features a closely aligned 5.46-gear spread, which provides, according to Jeep, “nearly imperceptible shifting.” Fuel-economy numbers are not yet available.
Jeep also claims the transmission will reduce maintenance costs because it features a “fill for life” design. There is neither transmission dipstick nor transmission filter, and fluid changes are not required under normal driving conditions. Low-viscosity fluid is used to improve fuel economy by enabling quicker operating temperatures on the transmission to reduce drag on internal components.
The 2014 Jeep Compass lineup carries over from previous years with three configurations: Sport, Latitude and Limited. All are available with front-wheel drive, the Freedom Drive I full-time active 4x4 system or the Freedom Drive II off-road full-time active 4x4 system with low-range capability.
Jeep Freedom Drive I 4x4 is a full-time, active four-wheel-drive system that can be used daily for low-traction, slick conditions. The system can also be locked in four-wheel drive for deep snow, sand and other low-traction surfaces. The Jeep Freedom Drive II 4x4 Off-Road package is an available four-wheel drive system that includes 17-inch all-terrain tires with aluminum wheels, a 1-inch raised ride height, a full-size spare tire, skid plates, tow hooks, fog lamps and manual seat-height adjuster. A CVT can be mated to Freedom Drive II, returning 20 mpg city, 23 highway.
The standard powertrain option is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that provides 158 hp and 141 lb-ft of torque. It is paired with a five-speed manual transmission or the optional (new) six-speed automatic transmission. It achieves 23 mpg city and 30 highway when mated to the five-speed manual.
The 2.4-liter four-cylinder produces 172 hp and 165 lb-ft of torque. It is available on all models and standard on the top Limited model. The engine features dual variable-valve timing on both intake and exhaust camshafts to optimize torque and produce more power, achieving better fuel economy and a smoother engine operation. This setup with a five-speed manual in two-wheel and four-wheel-drive achieves 23 mpg city and 28 highway.
Exterior upgrades are minor, but keep the Compass looking modern. The grille -- on the Latitude and Limited -- is enhanced with plated upper-grille trim and mold-in-color billet silver grille texture. Halogen headlamps now have a black inner bezel on the base Sport and Latitude models, and the Limited models have projector halogen headlamps with a black inner bezel and chrome fog lamp bezels.
The Compass features painted mirror caps, tail lamps with a new “smoked” inner bezel, a plated chrome insert on the tailgate trim, new available 18-inch aluminum wheels on Limited models and a new, chrome-plated insert with recessed “Jeep” badge on the tailgate trim for models equipped with the available rear backup camera.
Inside, the instrument cluster graphics have been updated and accents are finished in satin chrome. The top-of-the-line Limited model has a new interior trim option: Saddle brown perforated leather seating with accent stitching. The Latitude gets a new sport mesh and vinyl seat with light gray accent stitching. A Light Pebble beige trim features a new tangerine accent stitch on the seats.
The annual North American International Auto Show, better known as the Detroit auto show, has maintained its place as a barometer for the entire industry. For 2013, NAIAS takes place Jan. 14-27 and will host concept cars, green cars and supercars from all the major automakers, including what's expected to be a highlight this year: the new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette. Check out Autoweek's complete coverage of the Detroit auto show here.


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Catch up on the first five days of the SPYR road trip Vlog.
By using cauliflower to make your crust, you can turn your paleo pizza into a nutrient-dense meal that is vegetarian & easily nut- and nightshade free.
Relax in this surf-themed burger joint as you devour the grass-fed beef burgers. Mahalo!
A neighborhood coffee shop and cafe serving single-origin coffee and a delicious Paleo breakfast.
You can’t get much more nutritious than a burrito stuffed with liver and veggies!
Public school lunches suck. This place does not.
You can’t fit an entire cow into a slow cooker. But you can get a start on eating the whole animal with this Slow Cooked Beef Neck Bones recipe.
Make this Cantaloupe Paleo Smoothie to help cool off in the warm summer months!
A Paleo ice cream shop serving vegan and raw treats to customers near Venice Beach.
Now you can have a healthy, crowd-pleasing meal ready in minutes!
Sourcing produce & meat from a local CSA is your best option. If you’re in the Western Chicago suburbs you can now pickup from our house! Keep reading for details.
This salad recipe is proof that eating healthy doesn’t have to be hard or time-consuming.

domain: food


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Eiji Aonuma Wants to Lessen Tutorials in The Legend of Zelda Wii U Game
Series creator Eiji Aonuma has stated that he wants to lessen the amount of tutorials in the upcoming new The Legend of Zelda game for the Wii U.
Speaking with Kotaku in a recent interview, the developer said that he felt the tutorials in Skyward Sword were a bit too much for players, seeing that they lasted for around 4 hours before players could actually start playing the game for real.
Aonuma expressed that all he wanted was for everyone to understand the game from the beginning. However, his intentions backfired and having learned from that, he will be toning it down in the new Zelda title.
“In a game, it’s when you get stuck, when you want that help,” said Aonuma. “It doesn’t really help to get that information when you don’t know what to do with it.”
“That was a real learning experience for me,” he continued. “So I’m going to be careful not to do that.”
The Legend of Zelda for the Wii U was revealed at E3 this year to be a beautiful open world title. Aonuma is trying his best to revive the franchise and tweaking a lot of variables that might have gone stale in the series’ previous installments.


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WASHINGTON — Shirley Sherrod, ousted from the Agriculture Department during a racial firestorm that embarrassed the Obama administration, rejected on Tuesday an offer to return to the USDA. But at a cordial news conference with the man who asked her to leave — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack — she said she may do consulting work for him on racial issues.
She was asked to leave her job as Georgia's director of rural development in July after comments she made in March were misconstrued as racist. She has since received numerous apologies from the administration, including from President Obama himself, and Vilsack asked her to return. But she said at the news conference with a clearly disappointed Vilsack that she did not think she could say yes to a job "at this point, with all that has happened."
Vilsack said she may work with the department in a consulting capacity in the future to help improve outreach to minorities.
"I look forward to some type of relationship with the department in the future," said Sherrod. "We do need to work on the issues of discrimination and race in this country."
Vilsack had asked her to become the deputy director of the Office of Advocacy and Outreach, a new position designed to bolster the department's shaky record on civil rights. He had also given her a chance to return to her former job. Both of them said Tuesday that Sherrod may return to the department as a consultant once an ongoing review of the department's efforts on race issues is completed.

domain: news


Beneath that impressive bodywork with its flares and vents, hides the most extreme
Its old 6-seater model Fiatfound itself in the right hands to experience a second youth with truly extreme looks and performance to match.
The special Italian Italian model was chosen by the French Youtubers, Sylvain LEve and Pierre Chabrier, to take their repressed things out on him. The car that will be revealed to the public for the first time in Paris Motor Showis according to the statement of the people who are responsible for it projectthe strongest and fastest Multiple ever built, as it is fitted with an engine V8 and produces over 1,000 horsepower.
The idea for it project started in 2019, which included an online “participation” process of people who would like to contribute financially to the construction. After three years of work, the most special Multiple we’ve ever seen, it’s finally ready to conquer the race tracks. Having her undivided support crankshaft which for some reason sponsors the venture, the Multiple he has had every kind of operation on him.
In principle, it has been converted from a five-door to three door and its bodywork has been cut into the fenders and bumpers to make room for the new one body kit. The highlight is the add-ons that have been used front and rear, which greatly increase the car’s already wide width. This really extreme body kit created by W-Autosport and is combined with a unique set of Work rims, equipped with extra wide Michelin tires – which is also among the major sponsors of the project.
The interior is strippedwith two only seats for the driver and front passenger, who between them have the large tunnel for the transmission. In order to achieve the performance of 1,014 horsepower, the car’s engine is from a Chevrolet Corvette Z06. After the necessary interventions on this one as well, the desired performance has been achieved, while in order for the driver to take advantage of it, they have been correspondingly extensive operations in the frame and suspension of the car.
We will learn more about the wildest Multiple which exists in Paris Motor Show, which opens its doors to the public on October 17. After its official debut at the Exhibition, we expect to see it in action inside motor racing tracks, as both its principals projecthave made promises of many… crazy situations with the car.
See ALL the latestthe moment they occur at


SuperLotto Makeover Means More Winners
Published 4:00 am, Saturday, April 29, 2000
2000-04-29 04:00:00 PDT Sacramento -- The state Lottery Commission unanimously approved revamping the SuperLotto game yesterday, making it more like the Powerball game found in 20 other states.
Lottery officials are counting on attracting more players by offering bigger jackpots and more chances to win smaller amounts.
The new SuperLotto Plus will begin sometime in June, although lottery officials are not sure exactly when the rollout will occur.
"This new generation of Lotto will be more attractive to current players and generate more revenue for schools," said Dave Rosenberg, chairman of the Lottery Commission.
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Under the new SuperLotto Plus, players will still pick six numbers in twice weekly games on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Lotto players currently choose six numbers between 1 and 51. There are four ways to win: matching three, four, five or all six of the numbers.
Starting in June, players will still pick six numbers, but five of the numbers are between 1 and 47, whereas the final one -- what the Lottery calls the "Mega Number" -- will be chosen from a second field between 1 and 27.
There will be nine ways to win instead of the current four, so that a player could match five, four, three or two of the regular numbers or the same combinations along with the Mega Number.
A selection of five of the numbers in addition to the Mega Number wins the jackpot. Picking five numbers correctly without the Mega Number would net a prize in the $10,000 to $25,000 range.
In addition, the new game will offer more prizes of $1 to $10, so that 1 out of every 23 tickets would win something. At present, the odds are 1 in 60.
The changes raise minimum SuperLotto jackpots from $4 million to $7 million and increase a player's overall chances of winning on each $1 ticket purchased.
While overall Lottery revenues have increased each year since 1997, SuperLotto revenues have declined from $1.1 billion in the 1995 fiscal year to around the $975 million anticipated in the current fiscal year.
Thirty-four percent of the Lottery's revenues are allocated to public education in California, with 52.5 percent going to prizes and the remainder to retailer commissions, game costs and administrative expenses.


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We hiked Mt. Philo on June 11 in memory of Chris Desjardin of Colchester. About 35 of his friends and family attended. We took photos with the chair that is in his name, and we had a picnic while toasting his favorite Stella Artois at the top. There were so many smiles, and people came together to show their love for him. We talked and shared memories while making new ones.
One of our most important goals is to get the growing Trails of Resilience community to set up its own hikes and reach out to others. Whether it’s a memorial hike or a hike to battle a bad day, we want everyone to be involved. And we are here to help plan anything out. What we do is raise awareness of addiction, depression, anxiety and PTSD. We want to let others know they are not alone.
Trails of Resilience originally started with the idea of raising awareness for opiate abuse until I realized that it was much more personal for me than that and that there were many more people out there who could benefit. Laura Stull has been my biggest help through this entire project. There is so much I never would have been able to do without her help and support.
In June 2010 I married Chris Desjardin, a man who was funny, outgoing, energetic and who loved his family. He absolutely loved to be outdoors, especially hiking. And let me tell you, I hated it. The only way he could get me to go was to make a deal with me. If I went on 10 hikes, we could try for a baby! I got about three hikes in before my depression and his addictions ran their course on our relationship and we were apart within the year. The friendship we had never died, though. The love was always there.
In March 2014 we lost him to his battle with addiction, and I lost myself deeper into depression. With every loss it seems my depression would get harder, but with the loss of Chris, it was just too overwhelming. So I decided that I needed to grieve in a way that worked for me, and that was to do something that he loved. Hike. And so it began. I started hiking all the places we hiked and then some.
This is how Trails of Resilience came alive. If you’re feeling sad, reach out to someone in the community. Plan a hike! Get to the top of that mountain and conquer the day, those feelings, that loss. If you know someone is suffering, ask them to go on a hike. I know with every hike, Chris is with me. And even if it is only one day, it’s better at the top with a friend and a view than at your bottom, home alone.
For more information send an email.

domain: psychology


text:
Leaders representing the ethnic Asian churches of the Los Angeles area will convene this spring following the centennial anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival.
The “Together…beyond Azusa Street Revival” conference, planned for April 30, will bring together the representatives of Korean, Asian Indian, Chinese, Indonesian and Vietnamese churches in prayer for the revival of the Holy Spirit in Christian communities worldwide.
“The emphasis is on prayer,” says Nakules Veran, spokesman for the Agape Renewal Center. “If you look at history, prayer has to supersede the movement of God in order for there to be a revival. You are looking at a group of churches of different ethnicities who will come together in prayer.”
The upcoming conference succeeds the ‘Together…..Igniting the Fire’ Prayer Day, which was held Feb. 5 at the Vineyard of Harvest Church in Walnut, CA in Los Angeles County. Over 120 pastors and intercessors attended the gathering.
“The mission of this movement is to catalyze and maintain spiritual revival among Asian churches in the Los Angeles region through the development of united worship, fellowship, prayer and mission together, until God’s blessings permeate the Asian communities with the good news of Jesus Christ and the strengthening and multiplication of local churches,” a ministry press-release stated.
According to the 2000 U.S. census, Asians make up 10.9 percent of the total population in Los Angeles. As of 1997, 6 in 10 Asians residing in the city were born abroad.
“For Asians, you are looking at a representation of well over half of the world’s population. We have trained leaders from there, offering them master and doctorate courses in theology and sending them back,” Veran explained. “Many of those we trained have brought the gospel back to their home countries. A lot of leaders believe Asia will be the key to the end-time harvest.”
The Agape Renewal Center has worked extensively with the international Asian Christian community starting with Chinese churches for the past 19 years. In its lifetime, the ministry has offered seminary education for Chinese church leaders in centers in North America, Europe and Asia.
The centennial anniversary of the Pentecostal/Charismatic Azusa Street Revival is expected to draw in 100,000 Christians worldwide, including those from Asia and overseas Asian communities. The five-day event will be held on April 25-29 at the LA convention center.
The celebrations will honor a mass spiritual revival that started in Azusa Street, in 1906 Los Angeles. Many historians have pointed out that the revival was unique in its diversity as many of those gathered included African Americans and Caucasians. Since then, churches representing all major ethnic groups in the city meet every year in commemoration of the revival.


text:
Within minutes of President Jacob Zuma’s Sunday evening announcement that he had made a second change to the finance ministry in a week, social media exploded with jokes.
On Wednesday evening, Zuma fired finance minister Nhlanhla Nene, in a move that shocked local and international observers, and sent the Rand into free-fall.
Nene was to be replaced by an unknown ANC backbencher in Parliament, Des Van Rooyen, further shocking the markets. But on Sunday, Zuma said he had received numerous submissions about his decision, and had decided to move Van Rooyen to the minister of local government, and replace Nene with former finance minister, Pravin Gordhan.
The sentiment on social media could perhaps be summed up as, if we don’t laugh, we will surely cry. We round up the funniest reactions to Zuma’s decisions:
This picture of former finance minister Trevor Manuel did the rounds, illustrating the unpredictability of Zuma’s deployment decisions:
— Magdél Steyn (@MagdelSteyn) December 13, 2015
Van Rooyen especially was the butt of many jokes, ranging from speculation about his reaction to his abrupt firing as finance minister, to questions about his personal life.
Like this tweet, speculating that Zuma would have been preparing himself for his first day as finance minister, without realizing that that day would not happen at all:
Duh-dhlus Van Rooyen was somewhere in a Spa preparing for his first meeting at Treasury tomorrow, then the statement pic.twitter.com/YECcTUc13T
— Niqusha Abazala Nina (@Mkhu28) December 13, 2015
This picture of Van Rooyen and Zuma shaking hands, which seemed to have been posted initially by eNCA’s Lester Kiewit, went viral on Twitter with 1800 retweets.
“Just for the weekend, ne.” pic.twitter.com/xMWSjqtTQ6
— Lester Kiewit (@lesterkk) December 13, 2015
The move had some wondering what this would mean for Van Rooyen’s marriage:
Now David van Rooyen will have to deal with “that’s why you were finance min for 2 days” from his wife every time he over spends.
— Bokang Maragelo (@NerdstaM) December 13, 2015
A Twitter account pretending to be the voice of the Rand, which took a battering after the announcement that Nene had been fired, @The_SA_Rand, had this to say:
if you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. pic.twitter.com/hEtamX6YlE
— The Rand (@The_SA_Rand) December 13, 2015
And this, before Zuma announced that Van Rooyen had been removed:
hey guys what do you think of my new look? pic.twitter.com/JDrhz5Qfma
— The Rand (@The_SA_Rand) December 12, 2015
Perhaps the strongest sentiment underlying the reaction on social media was the call for Zuma to be removed as president of the country. This was subtly illustrated by this post on Facebook by political analyst Eusebius McKaiser, in a meme which also took a light jab at Zuma and former president Thabo Mbeki’s relationship:
Funny but of course… too soon