text:
Shakil Kazemi's funeral looks set to be full of emotion as the residents of Walford come together to say a final farewell to Shaheen Jafargholi's EastEnders character.
As everyone arrives, Bex Fowler and Keegan Baker share some words about Shakil as the service gets under way.
The East End borough was rocked by devastating news that the teen had died after being stabbed.
The aftermath saw Danny Dyer's character struggle to come to terms with his guilt after he wrongly assumed Shakil was drunk when he saw him stumble out of the alleyway by the pub.
Meanwhile, Shakil's mum Carmel began a campaign to stop knife crime.
The episode, which will air on Friday 6 July, will also break from the BBC One soap's tradition by featuring a real life element during the broadcast.
In a show first, viewers will hear true life accounts from those who have lost someone to knife crime.
Speaking about the decision to change the format during the special episode, John Yorke (Executive Consultant) said in a statement: “From the very beginning we were determined to treat the difficult subject of knife crime in a responsible, non-sensationalist way.
"We started out with detailed research, and the more stories we heard the more we felt other people should hear them too.
"The episode gradually evolved into something unique for EastEnders - real families telling their own devastating stories alongside our own characters," the Executive Consultant added.
"We’ve tried to find a way to do justice to an incredibly difficult, tragic and emotive subject, and with huge help from the families of real life victims and the support groups they work with, we hope we’ve come some way to getting that enormity across."
EastEnders continues on BBC One, Mondays and Fridays at 8pm and Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7.30pm.


5G to be backbone of digital economy: Huawei
Huawei announces opening up of commercial use of 4.5G and 5G broadband for digital economy
At this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the mobile industry heavyweights considered the wider commercial use of 4.5G and 5G broadband to be the backbone of today's digital economy.
Huawei's deputy chairman and rotating CEO Guo Ping noted that industry players must ensure they do not miss opportunities in the coming five years. He added, before 5G arrives, the industry must increase connectivity, enable verticals and redefine network capabilities. These factors will help address uncertainties caused by new technologies and new business models.
"Changes in the ICT industry are the main driving force behind business development in the digital era. As a key enabler in the ICT industry, Huawei is committed to helping the telecom industry and vertical industries digitise their infrastructure, operational systems and business models with state-of-the-art technology," said Zou Zhilei, president of Carrier Business Group, Huawei.
Huawei has extended global open partnerships on 5G technologies with more than 20 operators, including Etisalat, Vodafone, Telefonica and TeliaSonera.
On the regional level, Ooredoo has teamed up with Huawei to open an Innovations Lab in Qatar to pioneer broadband solutions and infrastructure. Saudi operator Mobily has also announced plans to optimise its network performance and investments through a network managed services agreement with Huawei over the next five years. Furthermore, Omnatel, based in Oman, is expanding its mobile broadband coverage by delivering Sultanate's smart street lamp-post together with Huawei.
To add, according to forecasts, by 2025 there will be four billion broadband users worldwide, more than 100 billion things will be digitally connected and individual data will increase more than 500-fold.
Huawei also unveiled its five ‘Big Initiatives' for the telecom industry to accelerate its digital transformation. These are; Big Video - Everywhere, Big IT - Enabling, Big Operation - Agile, Big Architecture - Elastic and Big Pipe - Ubiquitous.
The initiatives represent new opportunities for telecom operators in the Middle East and worldwide, foreseeing a potential $100bn video industry market, a $1tn enterprise cloud market, and the number of Internet of Things connections are expected to grow 10-fold.


text:
A study conducted by Mayo Clinic suggests artificial intelligence could potentially improve time efficiency and standardization for radiation therapy planning in patients with head and neck cancers. The validation study, published in Frontiers in Oncology, evaluated the efficiency of an algorithm trained by Mayo Clinic and developed in collaboration with Google Health.
Radiation therapy planning for head and neck cancers requires a heavy time investment from multiple specialty areas due to the many organs and structures in close proximity to each other and the anatomical variations of each patient. Experts from the Department of Radiation Oncology at Mayo Clinic investigated whether the algorithm could reduce the time it takes to plan treatment for head and neck cancers and improve the quality of radiation plans and patient outcomes.
In the study, radiation oncologists revised manually drawn head and neck contours, which outline organs at risk of radiation exposure, and contours automatically segmented by the deep-learning model. According to survey data collected after each review case, the deep-learning model produced contours that were ready for clinical use with minor to no revisions 90% of the time, compared to 53% of the time for manual contours, and reduced the overall contouring and process time by 76%.
"Head and neck radiation treatment planning is resource-intensive and cumbersome," says Samir Patel, M.D., a radiation oncologist at Mayo Clinic and co-principal investigator of the study. "This auto-contouring algorithm saved time in the cases we analyzed."
The model was trained using 445 de-identified CT scan contours from previously treated Mayo Clinic patients with head and neck cancer. To further refine the dataset, each contour was re-created by two Mayo Clinic head and neck radiation oncologists to meet the gold-standard criteria for radiation therapy.
This initiative is the first research collaboration in a broader initiative between Mayo Clinic and Google Health, announced in 2019, which aims to improve the delivery of care for serious and complex conditions. This strategic partnership harnesses knowledge and data to create digital tools available on innovative health care platforms that may reach patients worldwide.
"By leveraging the expertise of Mayo Clinic and Google Health, this algorithm has the potential to increase the reach of Mayo Clinic expert radiation oncologists to the global radiation oncology community," says Dr. Patel.
"This joint research demonstrates the power of Mayo Clinic and Google's collaboration, bringing together world-class radiation oncologists and medical physicists at Mayo Clinic with software engineers and researchers from Google to tackle an important issue for patients with cancer," says Cían Hughes, M.B., Ch.B., informatics lead at Google Health. "This is early-stage work, and further clinical research will be required to see how this can be safely integrated into practice."
The next phase of research will investigate the efficiency of the algorithm outside of Mayo Clinic.

domain: medical


text:
ERBOLOGY RECIPES ARE VEGAN
22 Aug 2018
Green walnut gazpacho recipe
This green walnut gazpacho recipe is a delicious cold soup packed with flavours and nutrients your body loves. Made with spinach, cucumber, lemon … Continued
14 Nov 2018
Spiced carrot bisque with hemp recipe
A luxurious vegetable bisque. As simple to make as it is satisfying to eat.

domain: food


text:
Models for a better future: Climate-smart agriculture is spreading
Lessons learned and opportunities for bringing climate-smart practices to scale were shared among the participants of a climate-smart agriculture event in My Loi village, Vietnam.
Farmers, community members and local leaders gathered in My Loi Climate-Smart Village (CSV) in Ha Tinh province, Vietnam, to share lessons learned and future opportunities for expanding climate-smart practices throughout the region and beyond. The knowledge-sharing session was one of the activities for the climate-smart agriculture (CSA) event in My Loi, which was supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) in Southeast Asia.
The main difficulties facing farmers in this region are related to soil erosion and degradation, as well as unpredictable seasonal weather patterns. Photographs taken by farmers were shared, many of which depicted images of flooding damage caused by severe storms in recent years. Le Cong Uan, a farmer from My Loi Village concerned about erosion stated, “Landslides will cause the area of cultivated land to shrink”. Hi Minh Hieu shared an image of how “the 2015 drown (sic) the bridge and people were unable to walk.”
These images highlighted the need for diversified production and environmental resilience. Mr. Tham, head of My Loi village, emphasized the importance of raising climate change awareness and its impacts at the local level, saying that “CSA practices can help reduce negative impacts on farmers’ livelihoods and agricultural production in particular.”
To devise climate-smart solutions to these challenges, twelve farmers divided into four groups, and built and presented 3D models for agroforestry systems. The models represent CSA practices which they believed to be promising for the area.
1. Native species and worms
The home garden model group suggested using native timber species as pillars for pepper crops, efficient resource cycling using livestock manure and crop residue in a vermiculture system, diverse vegetables fertilized with vermicompost, and agarwood windbreak along the edges.
“Utilizing wastes produced from agriculture and animal raising will help farmers save in the costs of production and reduce environmental pollution,” said Mr. Duong Thanh Hai, one of the designers of this model.
The group also presented the Mac tree as a suitable living pillar for pepper, thus reducing the need to harvest trees from the forest. The tree is also a better alternative to cement pillars.
This model involves native timber species as pillars for pepper crops, efficient resource cycling, and agarwood windbreak along the edges. This would save on costs for farmers. Photo: Abigail Smith (ICRAF)
2. Mixed food crops
The intercropping model showed combinations of sweet potato-maize and cassava-peanut. Livestock production was improved using effective microorganism (EM) products and vermiculture for composting, and energy was captured for household use through biogas. The blue represents the composting hole, vermiculture enclosure and livestock sties.
Beneficial EM cultures improve the efficiency of decomposing livestock wastes, thereby reducing the noxious smells and improving the hygiene in the sty.
“Intercropping cassava and peanut has been implemented for many years in our village, and it is very good one to maximize the outputs in one specific land area and the components provide complementary benefits to each other. Peanut, for example, can fix nitrogen in the soil, prevent soil moisture loss and its residue can be used as green manure to increase soil fertility,” said Van Thi Lai, who helped to build this model.
This model shows combinations of sweet potato-maize and cassava-peanut. As it has been implemented in the past, the farmers know the benefits of this system. Photo: Abigail Smith (ICRAF)
3. Trees on slopes
One agroforestry strategy for sloping land included orange and pomelo arranged in a spiral pattern with Arachis pintoi forage to prevent erosion. Other fruit trees were integrated into the landscape for production, such as durian and guava, and Dracontomelon duperranum as windbreaks. The spiral pattern improves water retention and prevents erosion on the sloping land, and also saves time and energy for farmers walking up the hill when tending the trees.
“I planted monoculture of cassava which required inputs every single year, caused soil erosion and degradation. Now, I have converted 1.2 ha of cassava to fruit trees in spiral pattern which is similar to contour planting, with Arachis pintoi and applied drip irrigation and pond to store water. I believe that this practice will provide higher income, adapt to drought and reduce soil erosion and soil moisture loss,” said Mr. Duong Duc Thai, a representative of agroforestry model group.
One agroforestry strategy for sloping land included orange and pomelo arranged in a spiral pattern with Arachis pintoi forage to prevent erosion. This model is similar to contour farming. Photo: Abigail Smith (ICRAF)
4. Spiraling tea
This agroforestry tea plantation model integrated fruit trees such as longan and lychee with forage grasses, medicinal plants including ginger, lemongrass and tangerine, and a pond as water source. While reducing erosion and maintaining water filtration on this sloping land, this system diversified the economic risk for the farmer.
“Planting native trees such as jackfruit and Tac (a local mandarine) on the top of the hills together with countour plantation of tea in one side and fruit (longan and lychee) trees in other side will maintain water source for the lower area,” said Mr. Pham Huy Hoang, spokesman for the fourth modeling group. He added annual crops will provide short-term benefits to farmers while waiting for income from tea or fruits.
This model integrates tea plantations with fruit trees with forage grasses, medicinal plants, and a pond as water source. This will maintain the water resources for the lower areas. Photo: Abigail Smith (ICRAF)
The farmers’ models highlight the importance of efficient resource cycling and integrating diverse crops and trees. These systems maximize beneficial outcomes such as microclimate regulation, erosion prevention, and improvement of soil moisture and fertility. The strategies of diversification, planting for erosion prevention, symbiotic crop pairings and resource cycling can be implemented in Ky Son or Ky Anh communes to improve productivity and resilience, or adapted for more general application in other areas based on topographical and climate factors.
The applicability and policy support for these models as well as CSA practices in general were discussed at the event. Over 160 individuals attended the CSA event, with television and print media coverage reaching many more. The provincial, district and commune leaders provided information on the potential of future scaling for CSA practices through integration of CSA into future socio-economic, agricultural, and rural development plants at various levels. Ms. Nguyen Anh Ngoc, leader of Ky Son Commune People committee, said: “There are potentials to integrate CSA approach into socio-economic and rural development plans of the commune because we can see some mutual benefits of these activities.”
Farmer-to-farmer networking appears promising based on preliminary feedback from the event, with many attendees citing opportunities for improving resilience and resource efficiency on their own farms. Training events and support groups will continue to support broader adoption of CSA practices through farmer social networks.
My Loi is one of the six CSVs in Southeast Asia supported by CCAFS, which aims to develop climate-smart farming techniques. Read more about the Climate-Smart Village project.
For more information about Photovoice methodology, click here.
For local media coverage from a Ha Tinh newspaper, click here.
- “Please share!” – Social learning leads to greater adoption of climate-smart agriculture
- Worms as nutrients for animals and soil
- Barren no more: farmers restore forest landscape
Abigail Smith is a Master of Environmental Management student at Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. She is currently working as a Research Communications Fellow at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF Vietnam).

domain: agronomy


text:
CrushGrind Lyon Salt and Pepper Spice Mill Ceramic Grinder Set of 2 Brown 10cm
Are you looking for salt and pepper mills that aren't an eyesore in the kitchen? Look no further than the CrushGrind Lyon salt and pepper mills. Lyon's beautiful beech wood design is inspired by French bistro mills with a touch of Nordic design and would look great in the kitchen, on the table, or in restaurants. The fully adjustable grinder allows you to switch between coarser and more fine spices based on your needs. The grinder has an easy fill feature, simply unscrew the top and fill spice into Mill. Please see below for more features & specifications.

domain: design


Singomakers has launched Trap & Twerk Vol. 2, a new 1.1 GB sample pack for Trap and Twerk music production.
Singomakers are VERY PROUD to present volume 2 of their bestselling sample pack which has held its position in the bestsellers charts at Loopmasters for 3 months – Welcome to “Trap & Twerk 2”!
Here you will find a booty shaking fusion of crazy Trap and ultrasonic Twerk music elements, which has been dominating the music scene across the globe for the last two years. All these samples now can be heard not only in Trap, but in EDM, House, Bass Music, D’N’B and a lot more!
In detail expect to find 1.2 GB of wav 24 bit samples at 95-100 bpm, including 190 Trap One Shots, 60 Bass Loops, 60 Synth & Melody Loops, 40 Trap Beats, 40 Top & Percussion Loops, 30 Vocal Loops, 30 Sound FX, 20 Snare Fills, 30 Vocal FX Loops, 30 NI Massive Patches and 210 Rex2 Files.
The sample pack costs £29.95 GBP, with parts also available separately.


text:
ASIA/SYRIA - Car bomb in front of a Syrian Orthodox church
Damascus (Agenzia Fides) - A car bomb exploded this morning in front of the only Syrian Orthodox Church in the town of Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, damaging it severely. According to local sources, the victims of the attack are five people who were in a restaurant near the church. The Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate in Damascus, led by His Beatitude Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, confirmed to Fides the attack, and was not able to provide further details because "it was not possible to establish a telephone link between Damascus and Deir Ezzor."
In September the same church dedicated to the Virgin Mary had been desecrated and vandalized by armed gangs. In the region of Deir Ezzor, currently under the control of the Free Syrian Army, Salafi groups have been reported. A month ago, some young Christians in the same region, in the ranks of the opposition wrote an open letter, also reported by the independent website "Now Lebanon", asking the military leaders of the Revolutionary Council respect for Christian and Muslim places of worship, a symbol of Syrian civilization and asserting that desecrating acts are "against the values of the revolution." The military replied it would have guaranteed the protection of sacred places. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 27/10/2012)
- 2014-10-13 - The five Christians of the Orontes Valley, who were still being held by jihadists, have been released
- 2014-10-10 - Five Christians of the Orontes Valley still held by Islamic jihadists
- 2014-10-09 - Father Jallouf Hanna has been released
- 2014-10-09 - ASIA/SYRIA – The four women abducted along with Father Hanna have been released; no message from the kidnappers
- 2014-10-08 - The Franciscan priest kidnapped after he had appealed to the Islamic Court
- 2014-10-07 - Custody of the Holy Land: Fr. Jallouf and other Christians kidnapped by the jihadists linked to al-Nusra
- 2014-10-07 - Bishop Khazen confirms: a priest and twenty Christians of the village of Knayeh have been kidnapped
- 2014-10-02 - Massacre of children in Homs; three Christians kidnapped in the province of Hassaké
- 2014-09-24 - Armenian Archbishop of Aleppo: for the people, the perpetrators of the raids are certainly not "liberators"
- 2014-09-22 - The jihadists of the Islamic State destroy the memorial church of the Armenian Genocide in Deir el-Zor

domain: news


What a dandy little weapon. Just the ticket for someone who doesn't need much down range bullet distance to deal with stripped gofers and other vermin in their own back yard. What a neat little revolver. Thanks for the Great posting. Appreciate it.
P. Script: Curious. A question please: How hard is it to find ammo for this little revolver? and who makes it? Thanks again,


text:
Move away from the booty, and ignore the trends, and you'll find music of quality, invention, and bravery still being made, even in the benighted year of 2014. While the music industry may continue to disintegrate, the 35 albums below prove that music itself continues to thrive.
TOP TEN ALBUMS OF 2014:
1) Lake Street Dive "Bad Self Portraits" (Signature Sounds): The breakout voice of the year belongs to Rachel Price. Her mouth opens so wide, it brings to mind a snake unhinging its jaw to swallow a prey whole. Price isn't just loud, she's also fleet, bending her voice around a melody with the grace of Beckham. And she's hardly a one-woman show. The three other members of New England's Lake Street Dive write songs fine in both melody and lyric. Their music draws from '30s jazz, '50s rockabilly and doo-wop, as well as '60s blues and soul. Think: Bonnie Raitt mixed with Etta James, with a jigger of the Pointer Sisters splashed in. It's a sound with guts and humor, theatricality and beauty.
2) Leyla McCalla "Vari-Colored Songs" (Music Maker Relief Foundation): The sometime cellist for Carolina Chocolate Drops stepped out with a solo jaunt this year that smartly mixed verse from Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes with Creole folk songs drawn from McCalla's Haitian heritage. Still, it's the interplay between her cello, banjo and acoustic guitar that clinch it. Together, they give the songs a uniquely bassy tone and piney texture.
3) Nicole Atkins "Slow Phaser" (Oh Mercy! Records): Atkins has a bullet-proof voice, gleaming in tone, piercing in volume, and unstoppable in attitude. Her latest album presents a super-catchy and danceable argument to see Atkins as one of the few swaggering women of modern rock.
4) Beck "Morning Phase" (Capitol): Conceived as a 12-year-removed sequel to his "Sea Change" CD, Beck latest offers a break-up album for the ages. Its soft arrangements, hazy vocals, and drowsy pace occupy some netherworld between waking life and sleep.
7) Sohn "Tremors" (4 AD Records): The British born musician known as Sohn (ne Christopher Taylor) forms his songs with synthesizers. But they feel like they were made of snow and ice. It's the cleanest, sharpest, frostiest sound around.
8) Syd Arthur "Sound Mirror" (Harvest Records): Taking their name from the Herman Hesse novel, the band Syd Arthur reinvent the prog-rock panache of the city that birthed them (Canterbury) at a 40 year remove. On the foursome's third album, they offer a savvy update of styles forged by bands like Soft Machine, Caravan, and Gong. More, in Raven Bush's violin work they kick the fusion of the Mahavishnu Orchestra into the present.
9) Liam Bailey "Definitely Now" (Flying Buddah Records/Sonymasterworks): While the U.K. spits out young soul singers by the hour these days, Liam Bailey gives the genre a twist. Everyone from Sam Smith to Adele draws on '60s soul, but Bailey emboldens it with raw rock. It's Motown/Stax stiffened, and abstracted, by the wails of Hendrix and Cream.
10) Sia "1000 Forms of Fear" (RCA Records): A woman of a certain age who writes hits for today's teens, Sia captures the melodrama of adolescence with all the lunatic exaggeration it deserves. The latest solo album by this Australian-born artist proves she's not just an ace pop writer. She can also out-sing any of the stars she ghosts for. Sia's voice pole-vaults over her grandiloquent melodies in a unique way. She doesn't just sing a note, she unfurls it like the flag of a besieged country whose citizens stand ready to fight to the death. It's demented in the best possible sense.
MORE ALBUMS LISTENED TO WITH LOVE:
- Sam Smith "In The Lonely Hour" (Capitol Records): Smith refigures British soul as an introverted flinch. More, his point of view does Adele one better: While her album addressed a love gone wrong, his deals with one that never even got off the ground.
- Sinead O'Connor "I'm Not Bossy, I'm The Boss" (Nettwork Records): At 47, O'Connor has finally created music that accurately mirrors her contrary character. It's the most angry, lustful, hard-rocking, and potentially commercial album of her career.
- Sean Rowe "Madman" (Anti Records): In a voice lower than Johnny Cash with a head cold, singer-songwriter Rowe delivers songs that bridge folk and soul. His third album displays a newly elaborate style. But the focus remains Rowe's voice. Like the best baritone singers, he can sound sinister or sexy, sage-like or sweet.
- First Aid Kit "Stay Gold" (Columbia Records): They may hail from Sweden, but these two sisters write and sing like they were born in an Appalachian holler. Thanks to producer Mike Mogis, their third album blows out their country-folk songs with a 13 piece orchestral section, recalling the Countrypolitan sound of '60s Nashville.
- Piers Facini & Vincent Segal "Songs of a Time Lost" (Six Degrees Records): On guitarist Faccini's new work, he collaborates with cellist Segal, to mix Neapolitan ballads, American blues, a Creole vamp and a Texas waltz. The music they create together has the tawny warmth of a dark red wine.
- Tame Impala "Live Versions" (Indie, for Record Store Day): Only in concert does the neo-psychedelic music of Australia's Kevin Parker achieve the rock intensity his studio work seeks.
- Whitney Houston "Her Greatest Performances" (RCA/Legacy): The late star's sole live album puts her stuffy studio recordings to shame. On-stage, Houston had the freedom to display the hairpin turns of phrase, last-second switches in key and playful improvisations that made her one of the greatest singers of her time.
- AC/DC "Rock or Bust" (Atlantic Records): They've lost rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young to dementia, and they'll likely soon lose drummer Phil Rudd to jail. But AC/DC came up with some of the best twists on their narrow sound in years for their latest work. It re-proves that, in the same way that Eskimos have a hundred words for snow, so AC/DC has countless ways to stagger its ruffs and stutter its beats.
- Rosanne Cash "The River & The Thread" (Blue Note): Here, the New York-based daughter of Johnny Cash makes peace with her southern roots, forging a considered, and literate, path home.
- Justin Currie "Lower Reaches" (Compass Records): One of our most hardened songwriters, Currie delivers another dose of bad news, and dark charm, on his third solo work. No one, outside of Morrissey, mixes self-regard and cynicism with more style.
- Iggy Azalea "The New Classic" (Def Jam Records): She's not a substantial rapper. But Iggy is a fun pop star, with catchy hits to burn.
- Michael Jackson "Xscape" (Epic Records): Surprise! The latest posthumous album from the King of Pop combs the catalogue for lost songs of the '80s and '90s which often outperform the music Jackson actually sanctioned in that period.
- Jack White "Lazaretto" (Third Man Records): On his second solo album, the gimlet-eyed guitarist returns to the wilder, harder sound of the White Stripes' prime.
- Ryan Adams "Ryan Adams" (Blue Note): Everything sounds hard and constricted on Adams' latest album. Of his 14 solo works, this one comes closest to the kick of classic-rock.
- St. Vincent "St. Vincent" (Loma Vista Republic Records): Annie Clarke dedicated her latest work to raw and agitated sounds. The result proves that self-conscious, even odd, grooves can move you as just surely as funky ones do.
- Joan Osborne "Love and Hate" (eOne Records): Osborne's smart concept album treats love and hate not as distinct forces but as evil allies, conspiring against we hapless humans. It's a song cycle with a newly prim and erudite sound, lending an astringent edge to a vision that couldn't be more humane.
- Paulo Nutini "Caustic Love" (Atlantic Records): The Scottish soul singer has a go-for-broke scream, recalling Terry Reid at his most apoplectic. Neo-soul never sounded more muscular.
- Various Artists "Song Reader" (Capitol Records): In this fascinating project, a wide swath of stars breathe life into songs Beck had created only as sheet music. They turn notations and words on a page into fully realized works of art.
- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers "Hypnotic Eye" (Reprise Records): The long-toothed rocker's 13th album with the Heartbreaks recaptures the formal song-structures, chiseled tunes, and hard-rocking momentum of the band's heyday.
- Various Artists "Map To The Treasure: Re-imagining Laura Nyro" (Sony Masterworks): While most tribute albums simply mimic their object of affection, Billy Child's all-star salute to Laura Nyro mirrors her flair for invention. Under the direction of pianist Childs, stars like Ricky Lee Jones, Wayne Shorter and even Rene Fleming expand the jazz and classical dimensions of Nyro's classics.
- D'Angelo "Black Messiah" (RCA Records): After 14 years away, D'Angelo unleashed a surprise album that startled. The new music lends Prince-like funk the ambient abstraction of Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On."
BEST REISSUES AND HISTORIC ALBUMS:
- Lucinda Williams "Lucinda Williams" (Thirty Tigers Records): For its 25th anniversary, Lucinda re-released her astonishing, self-titled Rough Trade debut. It's that rarest of beasts - a perfect work.
- Mike Bloomfield "From His Head to His Heart to His Hands" (Legacy/Columbia): Finally, the man who served as the first conduit between inner-city Chicago blues and the broader world of psychedelic rock gets his box set due.
- Miles Davis "Miles at the Fillmore: The Bootleg Series Vo. 3" (Legacy/Columbia): A sensationally disruptive, four record set, "Miles at the Fillmore" captures in full the jazz star's historic attempt in 1970 to give rock audiences a taste of their own (psychedelic) medicine. It's Miles at the apex of adventure, with a performance that managed to out-freak even the freaks.
- Led Zeppelin "Deluxe Editions" (Rhino Records): Ever-the-custodian of his own legacy, Jimmy Page painstakingly assembled alternate mixes of songs from the band's first five albums in this on-going series. The best tracks lived up to the originals by offering their own fascinating twists.

domain: artistic


text:
ABOUT THE BOOK
The Healing of Natalie Curtis by Jane Kirkpatrick
Classically trained pianist and singer Natalie Curtis isolated herself for five years after a breakdown just before she was to debut with the New York Philharmonic. Guilt-ridden and songless, Natalie can’t seem to recapture the joy music once brought her. In 1902, her brother invites her to join him in the West to search for healing. What she finds are songs she’d never before encountered–the haunting melodies, rhythms, and stories of Native Americans.
But their music is under attack. The US government’s Code of Offenses prohibits American’s indigenous people from singing, dancing, or speaking their own languages as the powers that be insist on assimilation. Natalie makes it her mission not only to document these songs before they disappear but to appeal to President Teddy Roosevelt himself, who is the only man with the power to repeal the unjust law. Will she succeed and step into a new song . . . and a new future?
Award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick weaves yet another lyrical tale based on a true story that will keep readers captivated to the very end.
Absolutely LOVE this cover (you know how they say to not judge a book by its cover? Well… I pick this one up just because of its cover!)
This story is one a history lover would go crazy over. Jane Kirkpatrick goes into extensive detail (AMAZING amount of research done) on the history surrounding Native Americans in the 1900s. As someone who’s from the area and a descendent of the Native Americans of that region, I genuinely appreciated how she dealt with some sensitive topics. She did not shy away from discussing how the Native American’s were treated, nor did she shy away from the political climate of the times.
I personally loved learning more about Natalie Curtis, her story and passion for the Native American people shine through. It is truly a remarkable story, and I am so glad I read it.
A couple of things I noticed, however, is that the storyline does drag in places and does not seem to read like a fiction book but more like a memoir/historical non-fiction. Which many people will not expect. Lastly, that there really is not a faith message in this book, unlike most of them I read from Revell. Rather this one centered on the historical accuracy of the story, which I did appreciate.
Overall, I give this story 4 out of 5 stars.
*I volunteered to read this book in return for my honest feedback. The thoughts and opinions expressed within are my own.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jane Kirkpatrick is the New York Times and CBA bestselling and award-winning author or contributor to thirty-nine books, including Something Worth Doing, One More River to Cross, A Name of Her Own, All Together in One Place, A Light in the Wilderness, The Memory Weaver, This Road We Traveled, and A Sweetness to the Soul, which won the prestigious Wrangler Award from the Western Heritage Center. Her works have won the WILLA Literary Award, the Carol Award for Historical Fiction, the 2016 Will Rogers Gold Medallion Award and 2021 Silver award. They have been short-listed for the Christy, Oregon Book Awards, and the Spur Awards. A clinical social worker and former consultant to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Early Childhood programs, Jane now divides her time between Bend, Oregon, and Rancho Mirage, California, with her husband, Jerry, and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Caesar. Learn more at www.jkbooks.com.

domain: library


About ten years ago I came across a completely dismantled Linn Axis TT...It had belonged to an audiophile who decided to replace the motor himself and found he was getting in too deep. He had obtained a good motor from a second Axis as well as a new LP12 motor and included these in the sale.
My questions regard proper connection of the motor wires, AC and the ribbon cable for the switch, all of which were disconnected. The schematic posted here doesn't reveal any color coding.
The ribbon cable has four conductors, one red and the others gray. Does the red face the outside or the center of the power supply PCB? There's a four-conductor screw terminal for the AC input (I assume) and I'm clueless regarding the location of the motor leads.
I build tube amps and am a competent service tech, but in this case I can't tell what I'm looking at...it's frustrating since all I need is a 10-second peek at a working Axis. I'm hoping someone can steer me towards a clear photo of an assembled Axis PS, or perhaps a sketch or a verbal description of how to plug things together.
The previous owner felt that he had ruined it but all seems good to my eyes...all parts are cosmetically good, the mechanism is simple and it's just a matter of careful re-assembly. Due to the age I plan to replace all the electrolytic caps on the PS PCB but otherwise it's straightforward. The LP12 motor will require some drilling to accommodate the spindle (there's a bearing cap on the backside) but I see no reason not to use it.
If someone out there has an Axis and would take a few clear JPEG's of the undercarriage or direct me towards some photos already posted I'd be eternally grateful.


Miffy First Light is the first shining friend of the Mr Maria family that is chargeable and can be taken with you around the world.
The Dutch DesignStudio Mr Maria is famous for its Miffy Lamps and introduces a new Miffy family member: Miffy First Light. This smallest version is made of soft silicon, is highly huggable and brings warm light into your home. The lamp is chargeable and your little ones can take her anywhere they want: in the car, to a sleepover, on holiday, ...
You can adjust the brightness by using the dimmer button on the bottom of the lamp. Miffy can shine up to 24 hours on the brightest setting when fully charged.
Dimensions in cm: 10 L x 10 W x 30 H cm
Dimensions in inch: 6 L x 6 W x 11.8 H inch
Weight: 0,6 kg / 21.2 oz
Miffy First Light containing LED module
The USB cable (adapter is not included)
User manual in English and Dutch
The device operates on extra low voltage which is less than 50 volts alternating current.
There are no reviews written yet about this product..


text:
To analyse the SLC22A12 (URAT1) gene in primary gout patients, first-grade relatives and healthy controls and the possible association of them with demographic and clinical data.Subjects and Methods
We included 69 consecutive patients with diagnosis of primary gout, as well as 29 first-grade relatives and 120 healthy volunteers. Demographic and clinical data were obtained from the patients and relatives. DNA was purified from peripheral blood and all 10 exons of the SLC22A12 (URAT1) gene were sequenced.Results
We found six different mutations in the SLC22A12 gene in 16 out of 69 (23%) patients with primary gout. Five mutations were in exon 5 and one in exon 4; five out of six mutations were heterozygous (one compound heterozygous) and one homozygous. The C850G mutation (exon 5) was found in 11 gout patients, these patients have lower levels of triglycerides than the rest of the group: 160 ± 56 vs 292 ± 203 mg/dl (P=0.038). In one family, we found SLC22A12 mutations in three relatives within exon 5. We did not find mutations in the other exons studied (1–3 and 6–10), nor in any of the 10 exons of the 120 healthy volunteers.Conclusions
We found several mutations in SLC22A12 gene associated with primary gout, the definite role of these mutations in URAT1 activity needs to be further studied.


text:
The hunt for marine life has inspired some of mankind’s greatest literature, from Melville’s Moby-Dick, to Hemingway’s The Old Man Vs. The Sea: An Autobiographical Thriller. Reel in a meal with this Groupon.
$19 for Beer Flights and Appetizers for Two (Up to $43.90 Value)
- Two beer flights (an $8 value each)
- Two appetizers (up to a $13.95 value each)<p>
Tucked inside the Chicago Mercantile Exchange just down the block from the historic Lyric Opera, Rivers Restaurant tempts theatergoers, after-work revelers, and appreciators of fine seafood alike. On the menu, which changes seasonally, seafood caught fresh daily takes a starring role, whether it’s sea scallops paired with asiago cheese, Lake Superior whitefish with smoked bacon, or Chilean sea bass with tiger shrimp. An extensive wine and craft beer list and selection of house-infused vodkas complement meals, and a spacious deck overlooking the river encourages al fresco dining.
86% of 334 customers recommend
“Good beer selection and food, great view if you can get a seat on the patio near the river”
“Difficult location for parking, but otherwise great food and nice ambience.”
“good appetizers, good selection for a beer flight, main entre Rivers burger was ok, no complaints and no raving review either, but the appetizers were great”


text:
Traditional sons of the desert diplomacy.
For the Left, if a Jew even looks cross eyed at a Muslim, all hell breaks loose, when Muslims murder Muslims, it’s ”pass the bong”.
The reasons for this are obvious to me, in the tribal ME, clans/tribes are of utmost importance, lacking that, they are easy pickings by their fellow Muslims. If they treat fellow Muslims that way, just think of what they are doing to Christians presently, let alone to Jews if they could.
“Here is the Yarmouk camp, or camp of death or starvation, the names mean the same thing. Here around 20,000 Palestinians have been under siege for more than 7 months. After the food ran out a couple of months ago, the weakest– children and the elderly– are paying the price, which is death by starvation in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp which lies in South Damascus.
“They’re eating leaves and grass amidst dozens of them dying from starvation, including women and children.
“Footage was able to break though the siege and show the magnitude of the tragedy that the inhabitants of Yarmouk are living through. One of the faces of the suffering is the little girl ‘Ala who is suffering from kidney failure and dehydration resulting from malnutrition and lack of medicine. However she’s not the only one going through this.

domain: sociology


text:
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday terminated oral arguments on three petitions seeking the disqualification of Sen. Grace Poe in next year’s presidential elections.
The cases filed by former senator Francisco Tatad, De La Salle University political science professor Antonio Contreras and former University of the East law school dean Amado Valdez are now deemed submitted for resolution after Commissioner Christian Robert Lim, chairman of the 1st Division, ordered them and Poe’s lawyers to submit their respective memoranda on December 3.
The 1st Division did resolve the Poe camp’s petition to consolidate all cases filed against the 47-year-old senator.
Lim said all three petitions should submit their separate memorandum but there would only be one decision.
A fourth disqualification case filed by lawyer Estrella Elamparo is with the Comelec 2nd Division.
At Wednesday’s oral arguments, Poe’s lawyer George Garcia argued that all three petitions were outright dismissible for lack of jurisdiction on the part of the Comelec.
“This commission is bereft of any jurisdiction. The Supreme Court [SC] is very emphatic that before the Comelec took cognizance of a case it should first determine as to whether the proceedings are proper under its rules,” Garcia told the 1st Division.
He explained that the petition for disqualification is government by Section 16 of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) and Rule 25 of the Comelec Rules of Procedures, which, Garcia pointed out, do not cover the points raised by the petitioners.
Garcia said under Section 16 of the OEC, one can be disqualified for vote-buying, terrorism, violation of statement of contribution and expenditure and even dual residency, while Rule 25 has been declared illegal by the SC.
“The SC said Rule 25 is illegal because Rule 25 confers a remedy…The Comelec by mere enactment of rules of procedures or remedy can’t remedy the situation because Comelec is not Congress and only Congress can create such remedy,” he added. “In this particular case, the Tatad petition should be dismissed outright.”
According to Garcia, all three petitions also did not say that there was malice or deliberate intention to commit lies or falsehood on the part of Poe.
He said the law is very specific on who should be disqualified and the question of not being a Filipino or non-compliance with the residency requirement was not among them.
The ssues raised by the petitioners, Gacia pointed out, can only be raised with the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) if Poe wins the presidential race.
“If she wins, they can question Poe in the PET. They can file a petition for quo warranto with the PET. They should first allowed her to run and file thereafter a petition for quo warranto with the PET,” Garcia explained.
The process, he said, is similar to that undergone by a petition of Rizalito David before the Senate Electoral Tribunal, which was filed after Poe won as senator.
Former law dean Valdez explained that Republic Act 9225 or the Dual Citizenship Law, which Poe used as basis for her reacquisition of Filipino citizenship, does not include the status of natural- born because “the natural-born status must be uninterrupted.”
Valdez said Poe interrupted her status when she renounced her Filipino citizenship in 2001, adding that the “problem was that when she reacquired her Filipino citizenship, she still maintained her American citizenship.”
“So from 2001 to 2006, she was an alien. From 2006 to 2010, she was both a Filipino and an alien,” he noted.
Tatad’s lawyer, Manuelito Luna, said it was clear based on evidence that Poe is not a natural-born Filipino citizen and did not meet the 10-year residency requirement even as he admitted that the senator can be considered a naturalized Filipino citizen.
Luna added that Poe cannot claim to be a natural- born Filipino because she failed to establish her blood ties with her biological Filipino parents.
He pointed out that the senator’s claim to Filipino citizenship anchored on international law is a violation of the Constitution, which determines citizenship by blood or “jus sanguinis.”
Luna said the UN Convention on the Rights of Children, which says a foundling has a citizenship, was signed only in 1990 and “cannot be retroactive” in the case of Poe.
Contreras argued that Poe’s residency, regardless of the date she reacquired her Filipino citizenship in July 2006 or renounce her American citizenship in October 2010, fell short of the 10-year residency requirement.
Contreras said “this is not the first time Poe misrepresented herself”, adding that when Poe bought a lot and a condominium in the Philippines in 2006, she claimed to be a Filipino when she was still an American citizen at the time.
During the arguments, Poe’s counsel admitted that Poe still used her US passport five times after reacquiring her Filipino citizenship in 2006, and only stop using it after she has renounced her American citizenship in 2010.
Garcia, however, said that there is no law prohibiting a dual citizen from using his or her foreign passport.

domain: law


I was going to reference this in the TN post, but with the officer's death it didn't seem appropriate.
This is more of the Barney Fife variety, at least at this point.
Inmate escapes from hospital
By George Jones
Sand Mountain Reporter
Published August 09, 2005
James Mark Hayes remains on the loose after he escaped from an officer’s custody in the parking lot of Marshall Medical Center South following treatment.
Hayes was taken to MMCS for treatment of “some type of kidney infection by Officer Michael Abercrombie,” Boaz Police Chief Terry Davis said.
At some point, Abercrombie was relieved by new jailor Josh Gaskin, whom Davis said, “was taken advantage of by Hayes, who has been in the system for some time.”
As Gaskin was escorting him out of the hospital in leg irons, Davis said, “he (Hayes) told Gaskin he was hurting real bad and asked him to let him sit down until he (Gaskin) pulled the patrol car up to the exit.”
Davis stated that “while Gaskin attempted to maintain visual contact with Hayes as he brought the patrol car around Hayes somehow managed to slip the leg irons off his legs.” The irons were later found in nearby bushes.
Davis added, “As he stood up as though he would enter the patrol car, instead Hayes turned and ran back inside the hospital.”
According to Davis, Hayes “was not handcuffed” and had “only leg irons on at the time.”
During his escape run through the hospital, Davis said Hayes began removing his jail clothing, and was so nonchalant he even took time to stop and speak with a hospital employee. Then he bolted and ran out and into the woods near the hospital.
During this time, Gaskin had immediately called BPD’s dispatch notifying them of what was taking place.
Because both of BPD’s K-9 dogs were unavailable. Albertville Police Department’s K-9 Officer John Siggers was asked to bring his dog, Recon, to the scene in an effort to locate the fleeing Hayes.
Davis said, Recon picked up Hayes’ scent around Henderson and (U.S. Highway) 431, but lost it.
Davis said he believed Hayes “might have been picked up by someone.”
Davis said he and “Boaz Investigator Gary Stanfield stayed out until 2-3 a.m. Saturday morning and went back out Saturday night checking out leads” in an effort to locate Hayes.
Davis strongly advises the public to avoid attempting to apprehend Hayes, a known drug user, if they should come into contact with him. Davis said while he doesn’t consider Hayes to be “armed and dangerous” he does consider him to be a “real desperate man who knows he will probably go back to prison for life.”
During the investigation following his escape, an acquaintance of Hayes said Hayes had stated he “was not going back to prison.”
Davis expected to obtain an additional felony warrant for escape in the second-degree on Monday.
This Davis re-emphasized, “Makes me think he is capable of anything.”
Hayes was arrested on Thursday at the Econ Lodge on U.S. Highway 431 South.
Upon arrival, officers Tony Frazier and Sgt. Ronald Quigley knocked on the door of the room believed occupied by Hayes. Repeated efforts to get Hayes to come out failed. Officers then forced their way into the room with the assistance of the Boaz Fire Department who pried the door open after management said there was no other way to open the door.”
In the meantime, Hayes was spotted trying to climb out a room window was subdued without further incident and arrested on seven failure to appear warrants and a warrant for resisting arrest in Boaz. He was taken to Boaz City Jail and placed on hold at the request of the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department that had two warrants on Hayes. One was a felony probation violation and a misdemeanor for resisting arrest.
Anyone having any information is asked to call the BPD at 593-5743 or 593-6812.


text:
How to Find the Best Online Slots
A slot is a narrow aperture or groove in an object. A slot can also refer to the position of a bolt or other hardware component in relation to its surrounding elements, or to an opening or hole in an airplane’s fuselage or tail surface. In a game of football, the term slot can also refer to an open spot for kicking a ball through the posts to score a goal.
A player inserts cash or, in “ticket-in, ticket-out” machines, a paper ticket with a barcode into a slot on the machine to activate it. Then, reels spin and stop to reveal symbols; if the player matches a winning combination, the machine awards credits based on a paytable. The symbols vary by machine, but classics include fruits, bells, and stylized lucky sevens.
Online slots often feature creative bonus rounds that complement the game’s theme. These can range from a mystery chase through the Crime Zone in NetEnt’s Cash Noire to outer-space cluster payoffs in ReelPlay’s Cosmic Convoy. These bonus events can be triggered in place of paylines or are an alternative way to win big prizes.
Despite their varied themes, most slot games have similar characteristics. A payout table will display the symbols used in a particular slot and their payout values, as well as any rules unique to that game. In addition, a payout table will clearly indicate how many pay lines a slot machine has and whether the player must bet a specific amount to unlock them all.
Another useful way to find the best online slots is to read reviews and ratings from other players. Forums such as TripAdvisor and Reddit can be good places to start, but you may want to visit comparison sites for more detailed information. These websites will typically provide independent reviews of all major slot games and will offer tips and advice for choosing the right ones to play.
Slot receivers are some of the most important members of a team’s offense. They normally line up in the middle of the field, a little closer to the quarterback than wide receivers do, and are responsible for receiving most of a team’s short passes. A slot receiver’s speed, route running, and quickness are vital to the success of the offense.
A slot receiver is usually shorter and stockier than a wide receiver, but they can still be very fast. They need to be able to break away from coverage quickly and make adjustments on the fly. They should also be able to run after the ball and catch it in traffic. Slot receivers that can play in both running and passing situations are highly valued by NFL coaches. Their versatility allows them to be used in a variety of formations and give the offense more options. They can help teams win by creating mismatches with opposing defenses. They also make for great deep threats when paired with an adequate running back or tight end.

domain: game


Vikings-Packers start time changed; playoff update
The Vikings-Packers game time Sunday has been changed to 3:25 p.m. by the NFL. If the Vikings win, they will make the NFC playoffs as a wild-card. They can also make the playoffs, if they lose, if Chicago, Dallas and the N.Y. Giants also lose.
The NFL also flexed the Dallas-Washington game, which will decide the NFC East title, to 7:20 p.m. and moved the New England-Miami game to 3:25 as well.
Here is the updated look at the playoffs.
NFL playoff picture
• Atlanta (13-2) has clinched the South title and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
• Green Bay (11-4) has clinched the North and can clinch a first-round bye with a victory over the Vikings or a loss by San Francisco.
• San Francisco (10-4-1) has clinched a playoff spot. Can clinch the West title with a victory over Arizona or a Seattle loss to St. Louis. Can clinch a first-round bye with a victory and a Green Bay loss to the Vikings.
• Washington (9-6) can win the East by beating Dallas.
• Seattle (10-5) has clinched a wild-card spot; can clinch the West with a victory over the Rams and a San Francisco loss.
• The Vikings (9-6) can clinch a wild-card spot by beating the Packers on Sunday. The Vikings also can make the playoffs, with a loss, if Dallas, Chicago and the N.Y. Giants lose.
• Chicago (9-6) can make the playoffs with a victory at Detroit and a Vikings loss.
• Dallas (8-7) can win the East by beating Washington.
• The New York Giants (8-7) can make the playoffs with a victory against Philadelphia and losses by the Vikings, Dallas and Chicago.
The six-team field is set but not the matchups.
• Houston (12-3) is the South champ and can clinch No. 1 seed with a victory over Indianapolis or a loss by Denver.
• Denver (12-3) is the West champ and can clinch first-round bye with a victory or a New England loss; can clinch No. 1 seed with a victory and a Houston loss.
• New England (11-4) is the East champ and can clinch a first-round bye with a victory and a Denver loss. New England also can clinch No. 1 seed with a victory and losses by both Houston and Denver.
• Baltimore (10-5) is the North champ.
• Indianapolis (10-5) will be the No. 5 seed as a wild card.
• Cincinnati (9-6) will be the No. 6 seed as a wild card.


text:
The first exhibit looks at the 1972 documentary "Elvis on Tour," which chronicles a multi-city concert tour. The exhibit, which opens Jan. 5, will include jewelry and clothing worn by Elvis during the shows.
"Elvis.Through His Daughter's Eyes," which opens Feb. 1, will highlight Elvis' relationship with his daughter, Lisa Marie Presley. It includes family photos and home movies that show her growing up at Graceland.
The third exhibit, opening March 1, is called "Icon: The Influence of Elvis Presley." It features clothing, musical instruments and other items used by performers who were influenced by Elvis.
Elvis Presley died Aug. 16, 1977.

domain: entertainment


text:
To determine the prevalence of physical abuse during late pregnancy and to investigate how abused and nonabused pregnant women differ in demographic characteristics, health habits, psychologic distress and attitudes about fetal health.Design
Survey of women attending for prenatal health care or admitted to hospital for delivery. The information was obtained on one occasion from self-report questionnaires, completed with the option of anonymity.Settings
Community-based prenatal clinic, private obstetricians' offices in a large city, private family physicians' offices in a large city, family physicians' offices in a small town, and a university teaching hospital.Patients
English-speaking women at 20 weeks' or more gestation attending or admitted consecutively.Interventions
Three self-report questionnaires: the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Fetal Health Locus of Control (FHLC) and the study questionnaire.Results
Thirteen women (2.4%) refused to participate in the survey. Of the 548 women who completed the questionnaires 36 (6.6%) reported physical abuse during the current pregnancy and 60 (10.9%) before it. There were no significant differences in rates of abuse between settings. Of the women abused during the pregnancy 23 (63.9%) reported increased abuse during the pregnancy, and 28 (77.8%) remained with the abuser. Twenty-four pregnant women (66.7%) received medical treatment for abuse, but only 1 (2.8%) told her prenatal care provider of the abuse. Factor analysis revealed three factors associated with physical abuse in pregnancy: "social instability" (comprising low age, unmarried status, lower level of education, unemployment and unplanned pregnancy), "unhealthy lifestyle" (comprising poor diet, alcohol use, illicit drug use and emotional problems) and "physical health problems" (comprising health problems and prescription drug use). The GHQ scores showed that the abused women were significantly more emotionally distressed than the nonabused women (p 0.001). The FHLC scores showed that the abused women believed they had little "internal control" over the health of their fetuses and that "chance" played the most important role in the outcome of their pregnancy (p 0.001).Conclusions
Abused pregnant patients are a frequently undetected high-risk group. Prenatal care should include a routine screening question about domestic violence, and identified patients should be appropriately counselled and referred.


text:
Murdoch’s 2011 record holds strong as a pillar of British folk music almost a decade later
Towards The Sun is Scottish folk artist Alexi Murdoch’s third project and second album that was released in 2011. He gained popularity in the UK in the 2000’s with his soft and delicate folk music accompanied by soft instrumental backdrops. This record was released following his first headlining tour in the United States.
- Towards The Sun
- At Your Door
- Some Day Soon
- Slow Revolution
- Through The Dark
- The Light (Her Hands Were Leaves)
- Crinan Wood
Don’t let its smaller-than-normal offering of songs fool you, Towards The Sun is a full LP. It just barely falls under 40 minutes in length, and is full of diverse lyrical stories and instrumental pallets. Starting things off is the mid-tempo and piano-accompanied title track that seems to touch upon a feeling of dismal self-reflection. Though the sun is often used as a lyrical reference towards life-giving light, it appears that what is moving “towards the sun” here is a group of clouds set to cast a shadow of confusion. “At Your Door” picks up the pace with cascading guitar chords and flickering ambient electric guitar. While the lyrics seem to be more focused, there is a sense of anxiety within Murdoch’s voice as he sings of a lover who appears to have given up.
“See, the clouds are creeping towards the sun // And I’m slipping away unseen by anyone // The light is turning gray; the day is done”Towards The Sun
“Some Day Soon” sees a somewhat significant instrumental change with added background vocals, muted electric guitar, and a faint beat. It appears to be a hopeful anthem about moving on past a father’s death despite the world moving on. It’s a heartbreaking tune with some of the record’s most moving lyrics. “Through The Dark” is an excellent musical painting of the night sky with its gentle ambient synthesizers and repetitive guitar chords. Once again, the lyrics at first appear to simply appear to be uplifting. Soon, it appears that the relationship is tragically one-sided despite the deep message of love expressed in the track.
“You need someone to hear you when you sigh // Someone to wipe away those tears you cry // Someone to hold you ‘neath the darkened sky // Someone to love you more than I”Through The Dark
The album finishes off with the ethereal “Crinan Wood” that adds what appears to be mandolin to a glittering backdrop of electric guitar and synthesizers. Murdoch sings of memories that could be associated with multiple moments in life, or maybe centered around a single person of memory. Regardless, it’s a beautiful way to cap off an emotionally revealing and intimate record.
“When I was younger, I heard angels on the roof // A thousand voices singing, each note was the truth”Crinan Wood
The record’s weaker moments are few, but they are present. “Slow Revolution” refuses to build or change in its almost six-minute run-time. “The Light (Her Hands Were Leaves)” also refuses to provide sonic variety to justify its length. Overall, I feel as if Murdoch could have expanded his vocal range and took the instrumental lineup in a more diverse direction. However, these shortcomings do not distract from what is a relaxing and emotionally poignant folk record that leaves much to be hoped from his next project.
If what you are looking for is a simple record that reminds you of the landscapes of Scotland with heartache and introspection, Alexi Murdoch’s Towards The Sun is an excellent listen.
Towards The Sun by Alexi Murdoch features tracks written and produced by Alexi Murdoch. It is now available on major streaming platforms and physical formats.


text:
A member of a multi-state scheme to supply illegal immigrants with driver’s licenses is to spend two years in prison.
U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman announced that Ho-Man Lee, who had previously plead guilty to unlawfully conspiring to produce identification documents before U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark III, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty in Newark to two years in prison and three years of supervised release.
According to the U.S. Attorney, Ho-Man Lee was the “Virginia broker” in ring leader Young-Kyu Park’s criminal enterprise to provide documents to illegal immigrants. The “Park Criminal Enterprise” operated in New Jersey, California, Nevada and Virginia.
To accomplish their ends, the Park Criminal Enterprise would illegally obtain real driver’s licenses from the states in which the scheme was operating.
“To do so, it obtained, created and counterfeited a variety of documents and sold them to customers. Conspirators also escorted customers to various state motor vehicle agencies and coached them on obtaining licenses. Customers typically paid the Park Criminal Enterprise $3,000 to $4,500 for the unlawful services,” the U.S. Attorney explained in a news release.
The U.S. Attorney noted that in addition to illegally obtaining drivers licenses, Park and his ring also engaged in counterfeiting passports and phony utility bills and banks statements to meet residency requirements.
Lee’s roll in the enterprise was to meet with customers and provide them with the fraudulent documents, including immigration forms Park was able to obtain from Martin Trejo a former U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employee.
Lee would then take the illegal immigrants paying for the ring’s service to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles where they would obtain their driver’s licenses.
According to the U.S. Attorney, Park was sentenced to six years in prison in January and Trego was sentenced to two years and two months in September.
Since the authorities first busted the ring in 2012, California and Nevada have both adopted policies allowing illegals to obtain driver’s licenses. The two states are among the 10 states and District of Columbia that issue driver’s licenses or similar certifications to illegal immigrants.


Police reported the Hyundai Tuscon was beforehand claimed stolen, so when the young people were being handled for their accidents and unveiled, they ended up every taken into custody.
ST. LOUIS — A few adolescents ended up taken into custody right after becoming handled at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital for gunshot wounds they sustained even though using in a stolen car or truck.
In an incident report, St. Louis police explained they have been known as to Cardinal Glennon at all around 11:50 Saturday evening. The 3 victims — a 19-yr-outdated man, an 18-calendar year-aged female and a 17-yr-aged female — advised police they were being in a white Hyundai Tuscon near Laclede Park in south St. Louis when people today begun capturing at them.
All 3 of the adolescents ended up struck and injured by gunfire.
Law enforcement mentioned the Hyundai Tuscon was beforehand reported stolen, so when the young adults were taken care of for their accidents and launched, they had been every taken into custody.
Law enforcement claimed the 19-calendar year-outdated man and 18-calendar year-outdated lady ended up arrested on suspicion of tampering with a motor vehicle. The 17-year-aged was referred to the juvenile court docket method.
None of the teenagers have been recognized.
Methods for crime victims:
If you have been a victim of a criminal offense or know another person who has been, 5 On Your Facet has compiled a list of resources.
Much better Household Everyday living is a nonprofit neighborhood progress group working to “stabilize interior-metropolis neighborhoods.” One component of its mission is a gun violence de-escalation method.
To master extra, get in touch with 314-381-8200 or go to https://www.betterfamilylife.org/
Everyday living Outside of Violence “helps those harmed by stabbing, gunshot or assault get the therapy, help and sources they have to have to find options to close the cycle of violence.”
To understand far more, get in touch with 314-327-6697 or email: [email protected]
The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis has an anti-crime software termed “Safety Net for Youth Initiative,” which is a joint partnership with Saint Louis General public Universities to offer products and services to at-threat youth.
To discover additional, check out https://www.ulstl.com/anti-criminal offense-initiative.html
Overcome Violence is an global organization that has not too long ago released in a handful of St. Louis neighborhoods. Violence interrupters are experienced to deescalate violent scenarios in just their personal communities. To master a lot more, go to https://cvg.org/
Source website link


text:
New home approvals in Australia fell to a five year low towards the end of last year with property experts blaming tightened lending from banks.
Asia is finally succumbing to the global property slowdown that’s jolted homeowners and investors from Vancouver to London, with markets in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia showing fresh signs of softening.
Property prices in Australia fell by 4.8% nationally in 2018 to a median value of $532,327, while the rate of decline worsened consistently over the year, the latest real estate index shows.
New homes sales increased in Australia in November, up by 3.6%, but are still some 12.2% below last year, the latest research shows.
As property prices and sales continue to fall in Australia, the number of homes for sale is rising and properties are taking longer to sell across most regions of the country, new research has found.
Prices for prime waterfront properties around the world are on average 40% higher than comparable properties inland, new research has found.
The credit squeeze in Australia is continuing to slow new home building and sales have fallen steadily throughout 2018, according to a new analysis.
Property prices in regional Australia, outside of the state capitals, have increased the most in the Geelong region but sales are slower, according to the latest analysis report.
Property consultant CoreLogic said on Thursday its index of home prices nationally sank for a 13th straight month in October, leading to an annual fall of 3.5 percent, the weakest since February 2012.
Two decades ago, Australian property developer Bill Gertos found a house sitting empty in Sydney. So he changed the locks, repaired the property - and began leasing it to tenants.
Opt in here

domain: geography


text:
Questions and answers on 'net neutrality'
Issued on: Modified:
US regulators are set to vote Thursday on a plan overhauling rules for internet services providers. The action by the Federal Communications Commission is likely to end so-called "net neutrality." Here are some questions and answers:
- What is net neutrality and why is it important? -
The concept dates back to the early days of the web, and requires internet service providers to treat all data equally -- prohibiting the blocking of sites or services for competitive reasons, and banning "fast" and "slow" lanes for different kinds of online traffic.
Backers of net neutrality argue that the handful of high-speed US internet service providers have incentives to block or degrade services that compete with their own offerings, in areas such as streaming video, calling or even web search.
FCC rollback backers argue that neutrality rules crimp broadband firms and prevent investment in new high-speed services such as video conferencing, telemedicine and connected vehicles that would need "fast lanes."
- How did we get here? -
The debate has been raging for over a decade with court and administrative challenges. Neutrality activists have staged street and online protests, backed by many major tech firms and Hollywood celebrities. The large broadband firms meanwhile have invested heavily in lobbying.
Tim Wu, the law professor who coined the term "net neutrality," said the concept dates back to the 1970s, when regulators sought to ensure that the telecom monopoly at the time, AT&T, did not block or discriminate against emerging data services over phone lines.
The FCC in the early 2000s sought to enshrine these concepts in rulemaking, but federal courts twice ruled the agency lacked authority because internet service providers (ISPs) were not "common carriers" like phone companies.
In 2015, the FCC got around the court rulings by declaring that broadband firms were in fact "common carriers" that may be regulated under a 1934 law. This angered ISPs and their backers who feared it would open the door to price controls and "heavy-handed" regulation.
Ajit Pai, appointed FCC chair by President Donald Trump, signaled his intent to roll back the 2015 rules, claiming it would restore a "light touch" regulatory approach, calling it the "Restore Internet Freedom" plan.
Critics contend the plan could kill the open internet as we know it. Activists say Pai is doing more than just rolling back the clock, pointing out that net neutrality has been largely enforced under both Republican and Democratic administrations, citing the "four internet freedoms" outlined in 2005 by then-chairman Michael Powell.
- Is net neutrality dead? -
It remains unclear how the big ISPs will respond. Their main trade group has pledged the firms would refrain from blocking, throttling or degrading any "lawful" content or application.
"There would be a great deal of resistance" to any type of discrimination, says Doug Brake, a policy analyst with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington think tank.
"And it's not just social pressure," Brake said, noting that any effort to block competing services could invite antitrust scrutiny and likely lead to strict neutrality rules in a new administration.
- What happens now? -
The large broadband firms -- including AT&T, Comcast and Verizon -- say nothing will change in how the internet operates, but that they will have a freer hand to innovate and invest in new technologies.
Instead of simply blocking rivals, the ISPs may step up special offers for customers, such as free access to sports from mobile devices.
However, the new measure is likely to face court challenges, "with advocates arguing that the conclusions made by the agency are inconsistent with how the internet functions," according to Ferris Vinh, policy counsel at the Center for Democracy & Technology, a digital rights organization.
Some activists fear ISPs will seek to extract higher fees from services which are heavy data users such as Netflix or other streaming services, with these costs passed on to consumers.
More likely to feel the pain would be new startups without the resources of Google or Facebook.
"What this fight is really about is whether the next generation of tech companies will have the space to innovate and spread new ideas," Vinh said.
The FCC says its new plan requires "transparency" from internet firms and that complaints would be investigated by another agency, the Federal Trade Commission, which deals with consumer protection and antitrust matters.
- What does this mean for the global internet? -
Many countries around the world look to the US to set standards, but each country has its own rules. The European Union has guidelines on net neutrality, but each country implements its own rules.
The US situation is unique because it relies on private carriers creating and investing in their own networks, while many other countries share network infrastructure from a current or former telecom monopoly.
The new rules, backers say, are adapted for the US systems.
"The hope is it incentivize companies to explore new technologies and develop new ways to compete in a high fixed-cost industry," Brake said.
© 2017 AFP


text:
WSU (3-0) completed a perfect sweep of non-conference foes, disposing of the Colorado State Rams last week, 38-7. The Cougars’ three wins, including the conference’s only road victory over a top-25 foe thus far, were enough to place WSU just outside of the AP top-25 on Sunday morning, with 62 receiving votes.
Oregon (2-1), meanwhile, stumbled out of the gate, getting rocked by perhaps the nation’s best team, Georgia, to open the year. The Ducks responded with back-to-back blowout wins over FCS Eastern Washington and top-25 BYU at home to reenter the top 15.
The Ducks will head into Pullman as 6.5-point favorites (-110) according to DraftKings. The over/under for the game is set at 56 and the Cougars are +200 on the moneyline. A $100 bet on a WSU win would cash $200.
Against Colorado State last week, WSU’s offense finally began to show the flashes we have been waiting to see. While CSU’s defense looked putrid, WSU did exactly what it needed to do early, scoring touchdowns on each of their first four possessions. The Cougar offense looked less than desirable in the second half, however, playing sloppy and unfocused football. But if WSU’s offense can hum to the first half beat it had last week, they’ll be a force to be reckoned with.
Oregon’s defense is no joke however. Despite facing heavy criticism and questions after the highly hyped defense was embarrassed by Georgia in week one, the unit is beginning to also come around to the hype. The Duck defense held Eastern Washington to less than 200 yards of total offense and held BYU to just a touchdown in the first three quarters. The Ducks held BYU to just 2.5 yards per carry on 24 total attempts.
Martin Stadium’s sea of crimson and gray has become a bit of a headache for the rival Ducks since 2016. The Cougars dropped 51 on the Ducks in 2016 for a dominant 51-33 victory, then WSU put on a show in the Ducks next trip to Pullman, defeating No. 12 Oregon in front of ESPN’s College Gameday, 34-20. The Ducks finally broke through in Pullman in 2020, beating the Cougs 43-29 in front of a crowd of zero. Oregon’s last win before that was in 2014 as the then-No. 2 Ducks barely survived WSU, escaping Pullman with a narrow 38-31 victory. In their last five road trips to Pullman, Oregon is 0-5 against the spread and 2-10 in their last 12 total meetings against Wazzu regardless of location. With another large crowd expected for Saturday afternoon, Martin Stadium should be rocking once again.
Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.

domain: sports


text:
Bionano Genomics, which has commercialized a genome evaluation platform utilized in laboratories the world over, is buying software program agency BioDiscovery in a $90 million deal supposed to broaden the attain of its expertise, the corporate introduced Tuesday.
The expertise of San Diego-based Bionano expertise provides what’s referred to as optical genome mapping, which is an evaluation of the genome that reveals structural variations within the DNA of 1 particular person in comparison with one other. These structural variations could cause illness. Scientists and clinicians use the expertise to search out and establish these variations as a approach of higher understanding a illness, or to search out targets for potential new medicine and diagnostics.
The Bionano platform, referred to as Saphyr, is comprised of an instrument, a consumable chip that holds a pattern, and software program that gives structural variation evaluation. The publicly traded firm reported whole international income of $8.5 million final yr.
The software program of El Segundo, California-based BioDiscovery collects varied items of genetic information, offering a full image that may be analyzed and interpreted. Like Bionano, BioDiscovery has clients the world over. In line with a Bionano investor presentation, BioDiscovery’s 2020 income was $3.6 million, and the 25-year-old firm is worthwhile.
Bionano stated within the presentation that it sees software program as the important thing to bringing its optical genome mapping providing to extra customers. Whereas Bionano makes a speciality of optical genome mapping, medical analysis labs need information analyses throughout platforms. BioDiscovery’s software program, referred to as NxClinical, can combine optical genome mapping with next-generation sequencing, in addition to information from arrays. The plan is to combine Bionano’s optical genome mapping information right into a commercially accessible model of NxClinical.
“Integration of all genomic information varieties into one software program answer could make [optical genome mapping] ubiquitous,” Bionano stated within the presentation.
The monetary phrases of the BioDiscovery acquisition break right down to $50 million in money and $40 million in Bionano inventory. An extra $10 million money is tied to the achievement of undisclosed business milestones. Vesting of a portion of the fairness a part of the transaction is tied to key staff of BioDiscovery staying with the corporate; a part of the money cost is tied to the achievement of full integration of optical genome mapping information into the BioDiscovery platform.
The businesses anticipate the transaction to shut by Oct. 22. When it does, Soheil Shams, BioDiscovery’s founder and CEO, will be a part of Bionano as chief informatics officer.
Photograph: iLexx, Getty Pictures

domain: finance


text:
Deputies investigating overnight shooting in Denham Springs subdivision
LIVINGSTON - Deputies are asking homeowners to check their surveillance systems after a reported shooting in a Denham Springs neighborhood overnight.
The Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to 4H Club Road near the Nickens Lake neighborhood around 8:30 p.m. over reports of gunfire. The sheriff's office said it's unclear how many shots were fired but that it did not appear residents in the subdivision were the "intended targets."
Investigators later found two vehicles likely tied to the shooting, one of which was broken down along 4H Club Road.
While there were no injuries reported at the scene, the sheriff's office said at least one person tied to the shooting was treated at a Baton Rouge hospital.
The East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office is also involved in the investigation.
Desktop NewsClick to open Continuous News in a sidebar that updates in real-time.
Holiday Express on schedule to arrive in Gonzales Thursday; road closures announced
Tenants ask apartment management to make significant changes, address mold
Lane shift on I-10 West pushed back to Friday; delayed by cold...
Attorney General elect orders in depth review of State Police
Landry names new head of Louisiana State Police


A lot of ladies both don’t have access or usually are not aware of the opportunities. Ten Indian women, the widows of Islamic State terrorists killed in combat within the mountains of Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, are now being held in Kabul’s Badam Bagh prison, extremely-placed government sources have told Network 18.
In 1971, Bengali nationalists from then East Pakistan gained a democratic election, leading to a “devastating crackdown” on Bengali Pakistanis by the nation’s navy. In a set of newly declassified tapes, former US President Richard Nixon allegedly known as Indian ladies ‘essentially the most unattractive women on the earth’, based on NYT op-ed. Seven Indians together with Asha Bhosle, Sania Mirza and Kamini Kaushal have made it to BBC’s listing of a hundred most aspirational girls. Crimes against women elevated 34 % during the last 4 years to 2015, with cruelty by husbands and family members being the most broadly reported crime, based on the latest data from the NCRB.
Reasons I Really Like Indian Girl
“Canada greatest G20 nation to be a woman, India worst – TrustLaw poll”. In rural areas, schools have been reported to have gained the improved sanitation facility. Given the present socio-cultural norms and state of affairs of sanitation in schools, woman students are compelled to not relieve themselves in the open unlike boys.
Women’s rights organizations have stood up againstluxury taxes being levied upon menstrual merchandise, industrial and documentary movies have tried to boost consciousness among the many masses. There is little doubt that consciousness is important, but the question of availability or affordability has usually been ignored. There is one other female indian examine that means that only 18% of Indian ladies have access to sanitary hygiene. Little do they notice that the dirty piece of material is adding to their troubles. One of them claims that over 70% of Indian girls nonetheless consider periods to be “dirty.” My grandmother was no exception.
Over the years Kidwai has established herself as one of India’s finest bankers, a shrewd negotiator with a expertise for anticipating new sectors of development. Kidwai was awarded the Padma Shri for her contribution to Indian trade and industry. In January 2013 she was appointed the first lady president of the $54 billion computer chip maker Intel Corp. in India. Srinivasan, who joined Intel in 1987, has spent greater than 25 years at the company, holding a number of business and information systems positions. Her present focus is to take India to the subsequent degree as a centre for innovation besides R&D and in addition realise its true price in terms of its market potential. Dhawan was among the first ladies to move a know-how firm in the country, when she was appointed India head of the world’s largest software firm, Microsoft in 2005. She took over the India operations of computer-maker Hewlett Packard in 2008, and has managed to navigate the firm through uneven waters to take on Lenovo and Dell.
About Indian Girl
A lady working at the development web site of a new meat-processing plant, breaking up bricks from demolished development. For generations in Peepli Khera, begging had been the primary supply of earnings for the Nat community. As the ladies approached the factories that morning, they pulled their scarves over their faces against the scent, a abdomen-turning odor that wafts off tallow-rendering vats and suggests rotting meat.


Monsoon set to hit Punjab, Haryana in 3 days: IMD
Latest News »
- Delhi court to pass order on plea against Ola, Uber on Monday
- Union minister Nitin Gadkari for concrete roads across India
- Jammu and Kashmir govt unable to utilize funds due to lower rank graft: PDP minister
- Astronomers discover first exomoon 4,000 light-years away from Earth
- Three-man crew reaches space station as US boosts research
Chandigarh: The South-West Monsoon is set to enter Punjab and Haryana including Chandigarh over the next three days, a senior meteorologist said on Tuesday.
Pre-monsoon showers have already lashed many parts of the two states. “Conditions are favourable for monsoon’s further advancement northwards approaching Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh in the next three days,” Director of the Chandigarh MeT Department, Surinder Pal told PTI in Chandigarh.
He said the monsoon will fully cover the two states including the Union Territory within the next few days once it hits the region. Last year, the monsoon had entered the two states on 2 July.
However, unlike last year when the rainfall was scanty, this year the monsoon is expected to bring good rains in this region. Punjab and Haryana, the grain bowl states of the country, had received scanty monsoon rains in the last two years.


text:
T-Boz announces lawsuit against Peoria Police Department for death of her cousin
“The police aren’t equipped to deal with mentally ill patients,” Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins said. She told TMZ that police shot and killed her cousin last week. Watkins also announced that her family would file suit against Peoria Police Department for her cousin Eddie Russell Jr.’s death. Russell, Watkins said, was mentally ill.
The Peoria Journal Star reported the family attorney’s remarks about the case.
“It was unjustified, it was excessive force, and the family demands answers and a full investigation,” attorney Andrew Stroth said Tuesday at a news conference in front of the Peoria Police Department.
“The family demands reform, and the family demands justice,” Stroth said. “We want to make sure that the city of Peoria and the Peoria Police Department and the Illinois State Police do a full and transparent investigation into what happened last week to Eddie Russell Jr.”
Peoria police landed 17-20 shots on Russell, who was 25 years old, and suspected of involvement in a same-day bank robbery. However, the Journal Star also reported inconsistent police statements. Inconsistencies raised questions about the officers’ veracity. Eddie Russell Jr.’s case, and public interest in it, follows pressure for improved police training. Disability justice advocates want officers trained better to work with populations that have disabilities and other vulnerabilities.
The call remains to bring about change between police officers and the often of-color, disabled communities the officers are employed to serve and protect. When police do not learn how to de-escalate encounters with Black people, and are not societally punished for de-escalation failure, danger increases. Police officers often make gut-instinct determinations about how to respond to people of racial, ethnic and ability minorities. As Christal Hayes wrote for Newsweek, “Police have become the de facto social workers in society, sometimes with disastrous results for the disabled.”
T-Boz told TMZ supporters can follow #JusticeforEddieRussellJr for more information.


text:
Scientists have each year become more confident in their forecasts of the consequences of climate change and global warming for us, for Homo sapiens, and many other species. Enlightened self-interest should lead us to address this threat to our existence. But it isn’t. Politicians are more concerned about bequeathing debt to the next generation than they are about greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, a far more dangerous inheritance.
Nevermind the patter watch the hands
George Monbiot has clinically, and with substantial evidence, laid bare the chasm between the rhetoric and extravagant PR commitments, “higher targets appear to be a substitute for action.” Having targets and policy objectives is not enough – we need to implement them. In the UK new homes are being built “which will either require a much more expensive refit or will lock in high emissions for the rest of their lives.” The UK has since the beginning of the industrial revolution been pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the polluting legacy of our prosperity. As we have deindustrialised we have offshored jobs and carbon emissions: “the greenhouse gases embedded in the stuff we buy, that account for some 46% of our emissions. Government ministers urge China to cut its greenhouse gases, but our economic model depends on us buying junk we don’t need with money we don’t have. Because the fossil fuels required to produce most of it are burnt overseas and don’t appear in our national accounts, the government can wash its hands of the problem.”!
The consequences of climate change are now a “real and present danger”. David Wallace-Wells writes regularly for New York Magazine on science. Last week an unprecedented and dangerous heatwave scorched the Pacific north-west of the USA. Jay Inslee, Washington’s governor, said on MSNBC, “This is the beginning of a permanent emergency… We have to tackle the source of this problem, which is climate change.” “More than 58.4 million people live in areas affected by the drought, according to the US Drought Monitor, and a record 49.7% of the west is now in the highest categories of “extreme” and “exceptional” drought levels.” In British Columbia, it was as hot as it was in Death Valley, California. They called it Death Valley for a reason. more
As David Wallace-Wells pointed out a few days ago
“Prophecies often come true as anticlimaxes, the predictions themselves having set the stage too well — serving to acculturate as well as alarm, introducing first and then effectively normalizing the possibility of events that would have seemed, not so long ago, unthinkable. Climate activists, often privately despondent themselves, have long worried about the costs of alarmism as a rhetorical strategy, warning it would end not in panicked action but fatalism and despair. What worries me more, as an avowed alarmist, is not that dire warnings inspire leaders and potential activists to give up but that, in shifting our expectations, they encourage us to count as successes any merely catastrophic outcomes that fall short of true apocalypse — and make us see what should be freakish showcases of climate horror nevertheless on a continuum with “normal” rather than as signs of profound ecological disjuncture. Adaptability is a virtue, or at least a tool, in a time of cascading environmental change like the one we are stepping into now. It is also a painkiller or a form of climate dementia.”
“Already, scientists have discovered that across Pakistan and throughout the Persian Gulf, regions have reached combinations of temperature and humidity that are literally beyond the human threshold of survivability. The term for this measure is “wet-bulb temperature… ” Raymond, Matthews & Horton revealed in May 2020 in Science Advances the health and morbidity consequences of extreme humid heat and that occurrences have ” more than doubled in frequency since 1979.”
As temperatures reached 49.6C (121.3F) in Lytton, British Columbia, with a “Heat Dome” over the Pacific northwest President Biden has understood that the heatwave is tied to climate change and has announced a plan to update the country’s infrastructure network. more
Juan Moreno-Cruz, Associate Professor SEED and Canada Research Chair in Energy Transitions, @jmorenocruz, tweeted on 30 June ” Climate alarmism is useless. The impacts of climate change are here. Let’s talk about climate realism.” And challenged us to “Stop dreaming up climate solutions, think of climate managing strategies. Managing climate change is not as sexy as solving climate change, but it’s what we need.” It is a real and present danger.
Despair and Denial paralyse us.
Clover Hogan in a 12 minute TEDxLondonWomen speaks powerfully about how young people are falling into despair while adults make sense of their situation through denial -someone else will fix it. With great responsibility comes great power?
David Saddington was 13 in June 2005 in North Yorkshire when rain caused extensive flooding, trapped by rising water, his initial excitement turned to fear. With that came the realisation that there would be more frequent and more damaging extreme weather events . David realises that we have come to see climate change as academic science. He argues that it isn’t about the science it is about the consequences. “We’ve oversold climate science so much that people switch off.” Watch his TEDxTeen talk “Why I Don’t Care About Climate Change” Watch on YouTube
The agenda for action is no longer only about mitigation, we have procrastinated for so long that we have now to mitigate and adapt. We should remind ourselves that we shall not destroy our Earth, we are just making it less hospitable for ourselves, and many other species. We are creating for our children and grandchildren a much less benign environment, our failure to take responsibility will impact negatively on the lives of our descendants for generations. There is nothing inevitable about progress, as we bump up against the limits of what our planet can sustain we can expect living standards to decline. As the Oxford academic, Kate Rawnforth has explained “Humanity’s 21st-century challenge is to meet the needs of all within the means of the planet. In other words, to ensure that no one falls short on life’s essentials (from food and housing to healthcare and political voice), while ensuring that collectively we do not overshoot our pressure on Earth’s life-supporting systems…”
More of us must take responsibility and act.


text:
There's no doubt in my mind that irresponsible and uncontrolled oil and gas exploration has done and can do great damage to the environment. At the same time, our nation needs hydrocarbon energy to fuel it's needs...certainly for some years to come until renewable energy sources are more economically feasible and widely available.
Horizontal drilling into shale beds and the subsequent fracturing of these deposits to release the oil and gas is a relatively new development and has the potential to generate enough hydrocarbon energy forms to significantly alleviate the annual outflow of billions of dollars to the OPEC nations that use those dollars to buy stuff to kill us with and to buy influence and take over our industry and farm lands.
The problem specifically in North Carolina seems to be that the DENR has little experience in permitting, monitoring and controlling such operations. This is new territory for them and, in my opinion, they need to go visit some places in the southwest...like Oklahoma and Texas...where this kind of activity has been underway for more than a century and where people are also very concerned about polluting water supplies. After all, water is scarce in those regions. NC legislators and appointed officials could learn a great deal and come away with a framework of laws and procedures to both expedite and properly manage the oil and gas resources in NC ...while protecting the environment.
I can't speak to how Pennsylvania manages this business (re the fracking video today) but the guy in the video needs to contact the appropriate controlling entities and report any problems he has. I do suspect Pennsylvania has a whole lot of restrictions on drilling, well spacing, proximity to lease boundaries, run-off, waste disposal, proximity to ground and other water resources and so on. Oklahoma certainly does...and they are rigorously enforced.
if the NCDENR can't get legislative help to stop Titan Cement and it's millions of lbs of pollutants, and intrusion into our water aquifer, we're pretty much SOL anyhow. It's the politicians...not the good and knowledgable people of this department...that are bringing this to us. Follow the money. Bet on it.

domain: economics


text:
With my success of the Chimera and the airbrushing, I decided to tackle a Valkyrie. I’ve wanted one since they first got released. And thanks to January’s sale at Maelstrom, my latest distraction arrived on Thursday. I’ve started with the interior and started planning the exterior paint job.
Having had a good look around online at some WWI and WWII aircraft, I found a few images that that caught my eye. I like the different nose details and the chequers are could be a addition.
I also have some delusions of doing some freehand details, like they had on some of the lager bombers. Time will tell if my delusions come true.


text:
Jane Campion 'thrilled' with The Power of the Dog success
Jane Campion is "thrilled" with the attention 'The Power of the Dog' has received.
The 67-year-old director has helmed the acclaimed Western, which leads the Oscar nominations with 12 nods, and believes that the movie marks her Hollywood "comeback".
Jane told the BBC: "I'm kind of thrilled. I feel like I've had kind of a comeback. I do feel really quite moved. People in the Academy have voted for so many categories."
Campion has made history by becoming the first woman to be nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Director (following her work on 'The Piano') and urged the film industry to give female directors more of a chance.
She said: "We just have to keep going this way. It can never go back to what it was. It was a really dark time when people didn't want to see what women thought or made films about but now there's a real appetite amongst audiences, men and women.
"Netflix are actively seeking to keep their ratio of material made by women up. It's acts like that that make a real difference."
The movie only received a limited cinema release before streaming across the globe on Netflix – something that star Benedict Cumberbatch bemoaned – but Jane was grateful for the support of the streamer in making the movie.
She explained: "I'd have loved it to have been out in the cinema for longer but that wasn't the plan that Netflix had. However, I would have to say that we wouldn't have made the film at all without Netflix.
"They were the only people that were willing to pay what this film cost to make and they are incredibly supportive."


text:
Observing a salmon in your dreamscape is a confluence of determination, strength, and wisdom, symbolizing your innate ability to navigate against the currents of adversity and reach the spawning grounds of success. This aquatic emissary could be swimming through your subconscious as a testament to your resilience and fortitude. Is the salmon a harbinger of your capability to face challenges with wisdom and achieve your goals, or does it symbolize your balanced relationship with your emotions?
Alternatively, the presence of a salmon may be reflective of your comfort and balance in expressing and dealing with emotions. It’s a symbol of equilibrium and emotional well-being, a reminder that you are adept at maintaining harmony within, even when swimming against the tides of life.
Dive into the currents of your dream world with us, exploring the wisdom and determination symbolized by the salmon. Navigate through the waters of self-discovery with our insightful guides and let the journey through your subconscious bring balance and understanding to your waking life.

domain: psychology