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Believable world creation lends greater enjoyment to fantasy and science fiction stories. One need merely consider some of the classics like The Lord of the Rings or Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian to see how vital this is. Dune also comes to mind or Asimov’s Foundation series. In fantasy, Tolkien is the accepted master at world creation, having invented alphabets and entire new languages for his books.
Edgar Rice Burroughs added another trick to this in the Pellucidar and John Carter of Mars novels. Usually in the introduction, Burroughs went to great length to tell us how he received the various manuscripts from the hero of the tale. In this way, he helped create the illusion of reality. It was a powerful practice and was copied by such different authors as Lin Carter and John Norman, both ERB imitators.
It seems that the more one can attach the fantasy world to the real world, the greater becomes the reader’s ability to suspend his disbelief. This temporary suspension of disbelief is considered critical in order for the reader to enjoy a fantasy story.
Howard’s Hyborian Age chronicle helped give the impression that the Conan stories and the earlier Kull tales had taken place in man’s distant past. This feel of reality gives the story greater depth. Instead of feeling as if the hero walks on a cardboard stage, we feel as if he moves through a genuine world and thereby we enjoy the tale more.
In my earliest years as a writer, I yearned to create my own fantasy world. I wanted something a little different and something that was mine. My principle guide was a belief that one should gravitate toward his loves or interests. And I definitely had those.
As a youth, I loved reading about tyrannosauruses, mammoths and sabertooth tigers. That’s partly why I loved ERB’s Pellucidar novels.
I also loved Conan and particularly the author’s Hyborian Age chronicle of prehistory. Karl Wagner’s Kane was another favorite of mine, where a transmuted Cain of the Bible swung a sword in countless fantasy tales.
This set me to thinking. Tolkien used Celtic and Germanic myths to add power to his stories. He tapped into something mystic, I believe, into something central to the majority of his readers. Those ancient European myths had been critical to the peoples of those lands for a reason. It spoke to a core within them.
Transmuted by Tolkien, it also spoke to many of us. How could I do something similar yet different? Then it struck me. I could use the first eleven chapters of Genesis in the Bible.
Those eleven chapters told about Creation, man’s loss of paradise, an intense Antediluvian World and the catastrophic Flood of Noah. Particularly interesting to me were the Nephilim and the sons of God or bene elohim as it is written in Hebrew. Those Nephilim or giants had always caught my imagination. The first time they’re mentioned in Genesis, something incredible is going on.
Genesis 6:4—The Nephilim were on the earth in those days…when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
A little research showed me something interesting. Sons of God or bene elohim in the Old Testament always referred to angels. So Genesis 6:4 could have read: when the angels went to the daughters of men…. One would assume they were evil angels.
As an aside, I knew that the Titans of Greek myth had fought Zeus and company. The gods won that battle and locked most of the Titans into Tartarus. That word Tartarus was used in the Bible once to describe a place where certain evil angels were already locked away.
Perhaps as interesting, Greek myths — and other world myths — tell many stories about gods in the early days taking woman and having children by them. Those children were the heroes of old. One need only think about Hercules to see that.
I asked myself: Wouldn’t most people see angels as gods? Here then was the germ of my fantasy world, the Biblical worldview of prehistory or the Pre-Cataclysmic Age. The Greek myths I took to be garbled accounts of what had really happened as described in the first eleven chapters of Genesis.
This would have been a grim world for ordinary humans. Some of them would have resisted the bene elohim and the Nephilim.
One of the first heroes I wrote about who resisted was Lod. His origin’s story appears in Black Gate 15.
Now an amazing thing has happened to me as I’ve spent many years writing and developing my stories. It was and is the E-Book Revolution. “Indie” authors were allowed to upload books on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other sites. Even better, many of the indie titles sold well even against “pro” authors.
For me, my first books to do well were the Doom Star novels. The first book, Star Soldier, made it to number one in various categories. Now my Lost Civilizations novels have begun to climb the charts, particularly on Amazon.
I have six books in Lost Civilizations, in my Pre-Cataclysmic World. They are Giants, Leviathan, The Tree of Life, Gog, Behemoth and The Lod Saga. Lod is mentioned in the first three books and appears in the last three.
Also, because I use the Biblical model as my guide, Creation occurred not so long ago in the stories. In this way, pterodactyls wing onto certain scenes. Mammoths charge onto others, as do great sloths, sabertooths and other fantastic creatures, including the Behemoth.
Now I make no claim that Lost Civilizations is Biblical truth. It is a fantasy based upon certain verses as a starting point. I wrote a four-book series, however, called the Ark Chronicles. The first book is People of the Ark. In those stories, I heavily researched Biblical scholars and used many of their thoughts and ideas about the Antediluvian Word, Noah, the Flood and the world directly after the Flood.
One of my own thoughts concerned Noah. Given what he did, I could never envision him as a grandfatherly Santa Claus-type of man. That’s the only image we ever see of him these days, usually on a child’s coloring book. Instead, Noah would have been tough-minded and rugged, probably the last man you’d want to fight. Happily for me, these novels have also begun to sell.
As a parting thought, I’d like to suggest that this new era — of the E-Book Revolution — is going to be a golden age for novelists and readers alike. New York editors had their particular biases. I think we all do. Those editors chose storylines that they most enjoyed and they kept out those storylines that offended their particular biases. Now the game is wide open again, without the gatekeepers unconsciously or consciously throttling choice.
I believe that means we’re about to see a great flourishing of new material and new ideas. And that means that you as a writer should fire up your imagination and create the most interesting fantasy or science fiction world that you can. Write your passion. I have, and in this new era, it has brought me the success that I only used to dream about.
Good luck, and keep writing.


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Hey, Isn’t That The Xbox 360 Chopper Bike You Can Win?
To sign up for our daily newsletter covering the latest news, features and reviews, head HERE. For a running feed of all our stories, follow us on Twitter HERE. Or you can bookmark the Kotaku Australia homepage to visit whenever you need a news fix.
You guys remember when I confused a Chopper motorcycle with an actual helicopter right? Let’s just say it was a moment of weakness.
Well, to further weaken that moment, GAME has some photos up of the illustrious bike, that is indeed winnable by the population at large.
There’s another shot after the jump, along with a link to the page GAME has up that contains two more. We’ve also been told that a video will be making its way to the Grand Old Internets, which we’ll post when Microsoft has it ready.The Bike [GAME, thanks Microsoft]

domain: news


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Last year, Erick Canales was enjoying the fruits of his musical labors.
The vocalist-guitarist with the young, Mexican power-pop band Allison was basking in the success of the band’s self-titled debut CD and a recent Mexican tour.
But when Canales returned home to Mexico City, he was confronted with a double family crisis – his mom and dad, who had been married for Canales’ entire life, were getting a divorce and his younger sister, whom Canales considers his best friend, was sad about the breakup and had moved out of the house.
He felt numb.
“I get back from tour, my parents aren’t together and my sister wasn’t there. What the (expletive)?” Canales, 24, says, still angry and aching about the experience. “It felt like a punch in the face. I couldn’t do anything to fix it.”
Instead, the young musician channeled his sorrow into songwriting. Some of those efforts turned into songs on Allison’s new CD, “Memorama,” for example, “Algo Que Decir.”
Other songs, such as “Dejame Verte” and “No Sale de Ti,” focus on Canales’ dissolved relationship with an ex-girlfriend.
Canales says the writing experience was cathartic.
“It released the pain inside of me,” he says. “It’s a hard time in my life now.”
As Canales copes with his emotional pain and mental anguish, Allison might be on the verge of making it big.
The up-and-coming band headlines tonight at Vault 350 in Long Beach. That concert comes on the heels of a headlining concert at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood and three dates with the Vans Warped Tour in Texas.
Last week, the band (Canales, along with bassist Manolin Avila, 23; guitarist Abraham “Fear” Jarquim, 22; and drummer Diego Stommel, 20) stretched their musical muscles and performed acoustic in front of 50 invited guests in the Norwalk offices of Al Borde, the monthly Latin alternative magazine that focuses on music and film.
The audience at the private session relaxed on couches and beanbags as the musicians (with Stommel watching from the soundboard) played tracks from “Memorama.”
“We’re definitely not an acoustic band,” Avila says, during an interview before the acoustic performance. “We can do it, but Allison is about distortion and drums.”
Allison began in 2002, when Canales and Avila met in a Mexico City high school. The two shared similar backgrounds – playing in various bands and loving Rock en Espanol groups such as Molotov and Cafe Tacuba, as well as Def Leppard and ’80 s hair bands Poison, Ratt and Warrant.
The name Allison represents the band’s ideal girl, the one who’d be in the front row at all of their shows – if only they knew who she was.
In 2005, Jarquim joined the band. That same year, the group signed to Sony BMG.
The following year, the band released its self-titled debut, which has been certified gold, selling more than 100,000 copies, in Mexico. In 2006, Allison won an MTV Latin America award for best new group.
In late 2007 and early 2008, the band kept a low profile before re-emerging to introduce its new material from “Memorama” at the South By Southwest conference in Austin, Texas.
Some of those songs delve into Canales’ suffering and confusion following his parents’ divorce, he says. On “Olvidaste Decir Adios,” Canales laments the absence of his father, who Canales says abruptly left the family’s home for a month because he needed time to think.
In the end, Canales says it was important for him to write the revealing songs.
“It’s my life,” Canales says the day after the acoustic performance at Al Borde. “I like people to feel what I feel.”
Phillip Zonkel, (562) 499-1258
ALLISON WITH BYE SAMI, NEW REGIME, THREE FLIGHTS UP
When: 7 tonight.
Where: Vault 350, 350 Pine Ave., Long Beach.
Information: (562) 590-5566, www.vault350.com.

domain: artistic


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In Port Elgin on Friday, December 15, the Clinton Radars were once again greeted by Mother Nature’s fury as they travelled north to take on the Winterhawks. And just as you might expect, once the team all arrived safely, Highway 21 was closed! This however did not prevent the Radars from completing the task at hand, as they continued their winning ways, defeating the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks’ by a score of 4-2.
Goalie, Marc Nother turned in another brilliant game as he handled 25 shots for his 10th victory of the season. With this win, he lowered his goals against average to 2:34. The game had the atmosphere of last year’s playoff against one another as there were many good body-checks handed out and each team created excellent scoring opportunities. Both teams battled head to head, but it really turned in to goalie showdown, as both goalies were solid wall between the pipes, keeping this a low scoring affair.
The Radars dominated the first period action as they outshot the hometown Winterhawks 15-5. Sean Consitt gave the ‘Dars a 1-0 lead 90 seconds into the game as he finished off a tic-tac-toe play from Luke Vick and Tyler Doig.
In the middle frame, while on a power play, Tyler Doig with his first goal of the season gave the Radars 2-0 advantage. His cannonading slap shot from 30 feet out easily found the bottom right hand corner at 13:15. Sean Consitt picked up the helper on the play. That goal seemed to wake the Winterhawks up as they had back to back goals by Nick Gray at 16:29 and Sean McDermott with 4 seconds left in the period. With the score tied at 2-2 both teams headed to locker room for the second intermission.
In the third period the checking tightened up and both teams played disciplined hockey, similar to what you would expect from a playoff game. Nother was at his best as he made 2 spectacular saves to keep the score tied. However, at 4:48 Radar’s hard-hitting defenseman Kyle Flemington notched his first goal of the season with a blast from the point through a maze of traffic giving the Radars the lead. Stephen Sanza picked up the helper on the play. With time running down Vick tipped in a slap-shot from stellar Mike Jarmuth at 15:55. Jarmuth played a major role in this game as his solid performance on defence allowed the Radars forwards to continually pressure the Winterhawks’ net minder.
With the win, the Radars ran their winning streaks to 12 games without a loss and they now sit atop of the league standings.
This weekend the Radars continue their away-schedule when they travel to Petrolia on Friday, December 22, 8:30 p.m. start time, and on December 23, the battle of Highway 8 heats up as they challenge their closest rivals the Huron East Centennaries, 7:30 p.m. start time.
For exciting hockey follow the Radars both home and away throughout the season and cheer on the boys in Blue!
tap here to see other videos from our team.

domain: game


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Hawaii-based Times Supermarkets is being sold to the Don Quijote Group for an undisclosed price.
QSI Inc., the operator of Times, said today that the company has agreed to sell its 24-store Hawaii supermarket operation to the Don Quijote Holdings Co. affiliate, which has 354 discount retail and convenience stores, including three Don Quijote stores and two Marukai stores on Oahu.
The sale will include all 17 Times Supermarket stores, five Big Save Markets, Shima’s Supermarket, and Fujioka’s Wine Times.
“This is a huge step for our business and will be good for our customers,” John Quinn, president and chief executive officer of QSI, said in a statement. “Today we are combining two established kamaaina companies to create a powerful new brand in the local grocery industry.”
Times, founded in 1949, was acquired by QSI in 2002. QSI continued to operate all 12 Times markets on Oahu that it acquired and in 2009 acquired five Star Markets that it converted to Times, increasing the number of to stores under the Times brand to 17. In 2004, QSI also acquired Fujioka’s Wine Merchants, which it continues to operate under the name Fujioka’s Wine Times; bought Shima’s Supermarket in 2008; and in 2011 purchased five Big Save Markets on Kauai.
Don Quijote said its immediate plan is to continue to operate all of the acquired retail locations and keep all of the 1,600 workers currently employed by QSI. The deal is scheduled to close in late third quarter of 2017 and will not affect daily store operations.
“Hawaii is a very special place for our company and myself,” Koji Ohara, president and CEO of Don Quijote Holdings Co., said in a statement. “For more than a decade we have been committed to becoming a part of the community and establishing relationships through our Don Quijote and Marukai stores. We look forward to expanding our presence on Oahu, Maui and Kauai and will remain dedicated to providing outstanding goods and services for our loyal customers.”
Don Quijote entered the Hawaii market in 2006 when it acquired the former Daiei stores, and then later purchased Marukai in 2013. Don Quijote and Marukai employ about 950 workers in Hawaii.
“The opportunity to welcome the Times Supermarket family of stores and their employees to our ohana is exciting for us,” Edwin Sawai, president of Don Quijote (USA) Co. and Marukai Hawaii Co., said in a statement. “We are confident that we will successfully work together, share ideas and learn from each other’s combined experiences to best serve Hawaii.”

domain: economics


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Fans excited to see on stage the traditional outfits of this year's Binibining Pilipinas candidates filled the New Frontier Theater on July 16 for the much-awaited national costume fashion show.
The Binibinis showcased the intricate costumes created for them by their chosen designers. They also rocked the NFT stage as they modeled items from pageant sponsors SHEIN, Jag Jeans, and Moist Diane.
P-Pop groups ALAMAT and 4th Impact, singer Ana Ramsey, and rapper ACE$ also delivered energetic performances to make the event more exciting.
The Best in National Costume will be awarded at the Binibining Pilipinas Grand Coronation Night on July 31 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.


"The bickering Leave campaigns don't do their cause any good as the case for Brexit gets lost in the battle of egos"As we've said for .... THE LAST YEAR.
Excellent piece this, going into full detail of just some of the past and current infighting within the Brexit Camps that we've covered in the last year or so. Oh, it's brutal - and getting nastier by the day. Farage v Carswell, Banks v Cummings, Ukip vs ... Everybody Else. It's not pretty, or grown up.
And the ultimate quote from an undecided Tory:
"I'm going to wait until the egos have calmed down."
|Who has the key for this lock? Not Nigel.|
Nigel got the Referendum. But he'll never win it by leading.


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More often than not, I have read that people will come and go. Nobody will stay permanently in your life and just like the July winds don’t stay long enough to beat the heat, people won’t stay for long. I’ve always tried holding on to them because to me society dictated rules that we’re more individualistic. It has become a fashion to complain about the temporariness of things. Commitments are a drag and we move in a circle with a pace that gives us limited time.
Men and women around me joke about love being an illusion. People giggle at the word compromise and call it a weakness. If they can’t handle you at your worst then they don’t deserve you at your best-is a phrase my friends often repeat.
Why do we expect that someone will tolerate when we’re brought up on the ideals of being rigid?
I remember how he looked into my eyes and said that they we’re too big. About how my nose was too small and hands to thin. He told me that brewing poetry behind closed doors was insane. He had to leave because I’m too weak. During that moment I thought about Bukowski and Hunter.
“Your love killed you so let us drink to that.”, said Bukowski.
“The ticket was worth the ride but it is time to get off”, said Hunter.
I let the beliefs of the society settle in gradually. So they defined my ideals, that love is an illusion and compromise is weakness. Accommodation doesn’t mean that they can walk all over me. Now, I smile at people who were once close and don’t let them know that they killed my soul.

domain: literature


text: Print Email Facebook Twitter A hybrid linked data approach to support asset management Title A hybrid linked data approach to support asset management Author Luiten, G.T. Bohms, H.M. O'Keeffe, A. van Nederveen, S. Bakker, J. Wikstrom, L. Publication year 2016 Abstract This paper evaluates experiences with applying a linked data approach for coping with the many challenges for information management in asset management from the perspective of National Road Authorities (NRAs). As influential players, NRAs are often the initiators of innovation in the civil infrastruc-ture sector. In this paper we focus on specifying the information standards applied by NRAs, using a hybrid, semantically enhanced linked data approach. The linked data approach originates from the World Wide Web Consortium and can be used for modelling, storing, linking and retrieving road data; integrating existing asset management software applications and giving rise to new innovative software functionalities. It is called a ‘hybrid’ approach because it also incorporates and reuses existing non-linked data information standards orig-inating from the worlds of Building Information Modelling (BIM), Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) and Systems Engineering (SE). Subject Fluid & Solid MechanicsSR - Structural ReliabilityTS - Technical SciencesBuildings and InfrastructuresArchitecture and BuildingUrbanisation To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:7539f646-224e-47eb-b5be-6fdbe021fca6 TNO identifier 575003 Source Fifth International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering, `16-19 October 2016, Delft, The Netherlands, 1-7 Document type conference paper Files To receive the publication files, please send an e-mail request to TNO Library.


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|Percussionist Trần Xuân Hòa of Hà Nội will introduce his music at the show Mưa Nhiệt Đới (Tropical Rain) at HCM City’s Ngôi Nhà Áo Dài-Điểm Một Thời (House of Áo Dài - Once Famous Point) on Friday night. — Photo viennammoi.vn|Viet Nam News
HCM CITY — Percussionist Trần Xuân Hòa of Hà Nội will stage a solo performance at the Ngôi Nhà Áo Dài - Điểm Một Thời (House of Áo Dài - Once Famous Point) on Friday featuring Vietnamese folk music and other genres.
The show, titled Mưa Nhiệt Đới (Tropical Rain), will feature Hòa playing dozens of traditional and modern musical instruments, including instruments he has made from objects like canes, pots and hammers.
“I’ve had seven shows in Hà Nội. This time, I hope my music will win over the hearts of Saigonese,” said Hòa, who has more than 20 years of experience in the industry.
Hòa performed in the quartet Go Group, which plays with 100 percussion instruments including the marimba, xylophone, vibraphone, campana, gran casa and timpani.
As a member of the ASEAN Symphony Orchestra, he has toured 10 countries in the region and worked with Japanee conductor Yoshi Fukumura.
His show, Mưa Nhiệt Đới, begins at 7pm Friday night at 77 Nguyễn Huệ Street in District 1. — VNS

domain: entertainment


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Mwalimu George Ngwane
Of recent and for obvious reasons, Cameroon’s Reunification story has occupied prime space on our media with historians, political scientists and the man on the street especially of the former West Cameroon extraction outdoing each other on unearthing the historical fossils of our family saga.
1961 Prime Minister Foncha returns from the United Nations
The thrust of the discourse, in the main, has been the tragic flaws of the 1961 Southern Cameroon politicians, West Cameroon’s role that led to the 1972 referendum and the reasons why for the last fifty years we former West Cameroonians have failed to unscrew the 1972 nail that was driven in the coffin of our statehood.
History is only relevant if it is a signpost of where the rain began to beat us and a barometer of how we have refused to be drowned in its flood. Every generation, in the words of Frantz Fanon, has a mission which it either fulfils or betrays. Beyond trading mutual accusations and conjuring metaphors of treachery and conspiracy theories lies the greater and collective task of charting a new dispensation. For indeed the political sins of omission or commission of an earlier generation should not be a permanent feature on the agenda of its succeeding generation.
In a world where gun boat diplomacy is supposed to be an exception, even though the so called superpowers in collusion with the United Nations, NATO and the International Criminal Court continue to debunk this logic by transforming Libya and Ivory Coast into theatres of resource conflict and regime change, the onus of making amends within our volatile political bondings in Africa resides in constitutional engineering and people-based choices.
A few examples come to mind. Tanzania was founded on the shaky union between a German/British colonized Tanganyika and an Arab-influenced Zanzibar. On April 26 1964, both states merged to become the United Republic of Tanzania but with Zanzibar retaining extensive Independence. This confederal architecture has considerably minimized agitations between the two parties.
Ethiopia’s limited and intermittent contact with the outside world enabled the country to escape colonization until the Italian occupation of 1935-42. Yet Eritrea, a former Italian colony that the United Nations made part of Ethiopia by Federalisation in 1952 and which Ethiopia annexed in 1962 succeeded in opting out of Ethiopia in 1993,albeit after close to thirty years of war, through an Eritrea-centred referendum organised from 23-25 April 1993. Drawing lessons from Eritrea’s war of secession, Ethiopia set up a constitution in November 22 1994 that enshrines the right of any kilil (region) to secede as long as sixty-one percent of the Parliamentarians in the Regional Assembly of that region agree. According to Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi “the crux of the secession clause does not lie in how fast regions may want to break away but on how equitable the Central Administration will treat the various regions”.
Since Independence in 1956, Sudan’s development has been hamstrung by contradictory identity-based policies derived from a racial binary of a Christian South and an Arab North. Unable to contend with the increasing racial, resource and religious rift between the North and South, a South Sudan-centred referendum organised on 9th January 2011 has resulted in South Sudan becoming Africa’s newest nation on 9th July 2011.
Agitations for self-determination still attract the people of Western Sahara in Morocco, the people of Casamance in Senegal, the people of Barotseland in Zambia, the people of Quebec in Canada, the people of Basque in Spain and of course the people of West Cameroon in the Republic of Cameroon.
What these examples portray is the heavy artillery of constitutional models and pro-people peaceful democratic paradigms that abound and which can fashion coexistence or separate neighbourhood between contesting parties within any fragile union.
African countries in search of sustainable peace and democratic development can no longer ignore the dissenting voices of any segment of their community. That is why the internecine Anglophone bickering that led to yesterday’s liquidation of their statehood need to be reversed from today’s pitiful arguments of resignation and fatalism to tomorrow’s creative and forward looking constructs.
The future belongs to those who recreate not those who regret. That is why I have distanced myself from the discordant debate on which town should eventually host the Golden Reunification Jubilee ‘celebrations’. As far as I am concerned the Golden Reunification Jubilee commemoration began in January 2011 and will end in October 2011 and what I regret is that so far Governor Abakar Ahamat’s Jubilee travelogue in the North West region has not been matched by similar conferences, art performances, exhibitions of the West Cameroon political, economic, cultural portraiture in the South West region. It is not the two or three day whistle stop tour by President Biya in any town of his choice that will tell the full tale of the triumph and tragedy of our fifty years as a bilingual nation.
What we need, and this is something we often avoid, is frank, free and fair discussions on the merits of Ahmadou Ahidjo’s speech on 6th May 1972 in the Federal Assembly that rationalized his advocacy for a Cameroon-centred referendum dissolving the Federal structure. According to Ahidjo, the cumbersome federal structures of the Federal system affected development. The maintenance of resources of three governments and four assemblies involved considerable expenditure-solving which could have been used in the economic, social and cultural problems of the country. The change from a Federal to a Unitary state would according to Ahidjo, lead to a better definition and rational allocation of responsibilities, simplify and clarify administrative procedures, lead to a more rapid dispatch of public affairs, eliminate duplications, bottle necks and overlapping within administrative channels and finally result in substantial national savings. And so without a West Cameroon-centred referendum, the federal structure was abolished on 20 may 1972.
The agitations have not been stemmed. Instead West Cameroonians have in various associations and platforms voiced their demands for a new political architecture. From South West Elite Association’s ten region federation, through the All Anglophone Council’s two-tier federation to the Southern Cameroons People Organisation zero sum option.
If countries recovering from conflict choose the pattern of a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation commission as a recipe for nation building, then countries in the thick of internal agitations may choose a Truth, Justice and Renegotiation commission as an antidote to national polarization. 2011 is not just an election year in Cameroon. It is a year in which the fiftieth anniversary of Cameroon’s Reunification provides the present generation with opportunities to dare to invent the future rather than look back in anger.
If the present generation of former West Cameroonians especially organic intellectuals, erudite historians and the young Turks have nothing to offer towards a renegotiated discourse of the union, if they cannot provide a collegial leadership that sees beyond the unfortunate drama of yesterday’s actors,yes,if they cannot push their constitutional visions beyond the comfort zones of press releases, motions of support and media interventions, let them leave the souls of Foncha, Endeley, Muna, Jua, Kale,Mbile, Egbe, Abendong, Ajebe-Sone, Kemcha and Motomby Woleta to rest in perfect Peace.


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Before they pass away, an artistic and human project
During three years, the photojournalist Jimmy Nelson traveled around the World with the project of photographing different indigenous tribes. From the Huli in Papua New Guinea to the Chinchas in Peru, including the Chukchis in Russia and the Banna in Ethiopia, the photograph immortalized around 40 tribes in their traditional costumes.
The goal of this artistic project named Before they pass away is to capture, celebrate cultural diversity, but also to draw the attention of the World on these indigenous tribes whose are threatened, among other things, by the extension of our “modern” lifestyles.
The United Nations has issued a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This declaration allows promoting and defend the collective rights of indigenous people, such as culture, identity, language, and access to employment, health, education, and natural resources. Estimates put the total population of indigenous peoples from 220 million to 350 million
Worried about presenting these tribes in an “aesthetic, romantic, subjective and iconographic” way, Jimmy Nelson took some amazing pictures, real testimonial of the traditions and habits encountered. These pictures, full of emotion, deliver a strong message of tolerance, open-mindedness, and universalism. Find below some of the indigenous tribes met by Jimmy Nelson.
Ni Yakal villagers, Vanuatu
Huli Wigmen, Papua New Guinea
Goroka man, Papua New Guinea
Yali men and boys, Indonesia
Miao childs, China
Kazakh hunter, Mongolia
Chukchi woman and her daughter, Russia
Ladakhi girls, India
Samburu young men, Kenya
Banna young men, Ethiopia
Himba woman, Namibia
Chincha family, Peru
You can find more pictures and information about the Before they pass away exhibitions, on the website Before they pass away.
You can also contribute to this amazing project by supporting the Jimmy Nelson foundation. The foundation is also looking for projects that would help to celebrate indigenous tribes and culture. If you have some ideas, sharing them could be for you the opportunity to join this amazing human adventure.
Wow, this is so interesting and the pictures are amazing. He was privileged to be able to capture these. Thanks for drawing attention to such an underrepresented issue.
Fascinating pictures and a great project too. The tribes are a moment frozen in the history of the world and the world needs to know about them.Lovely connection, priceless.

domain: geography


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COAS Bajwa directs army to help civil administration fight COVID-19
RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa has directed all commanders to take maximum necessary measures to assist civil administration for safety and well-being of the people in wake of coronavirus, ISPR said in a statement.
According to Inter-Services Public Relations, all medical facilities of the Armed Forces are operationalized and geared up to meet any eventuality to deal with the pandemic.
COVID-19 testing labs have been established at major military hospitals across the country and central testing lab at Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, said ISPR.
COVID-19 help desks have also been established at each military hospital for fast track handling.
The statement said that the Armed Forces of Pakistan are fully involved in assisting the government and provincial administrations to tackle the situation since the outbreak and duly vigilant of the developing situation post-COVID-19.
PM Imran to address nation
Prime Minister Imran Khan will address the nation today (Tuesday) amid growing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
PM Imran would take the nation into confidence after the measures taken by the federal government to combat the spread of COVID-19, said sources.
The prime minister Imran Khan will advise the nation to take safety measures.
Pakistan’s tally reaches 193
It must be noted that 10 new cases of novel coronavirus have been emerged in Punjab and Sindh today, pushing the total number of cases in the country to 193.
Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmen Rashid said that overall 42 tests were conducted out of which five were reported positive.
She said that 736 patients have come from Taftan and has been kept in quarantine at a university in Dera Ghazi Khan. “There are currently six confirmed coronavirus cases in Punjab,” added Yasmin Rashid.
Sindh’s tally climbs to 155
Advisor to Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Law Murtaza Wahab, in a Tweet on Tuesday, said the Sindh’s COVID-19 count reached 155 after more people returning from Taftan tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Sindh has reported the highest number of 155 coronavirus cases thus far.
On Tuesday, Health Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Taimur Jhagra confirmed 15 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in the province for the first time.
He tweeted: “Just received news that 15 of 19 individuals received in KP from Taftan have tested positive for Corona Virus.


We welcome back Dr. Rick Rigsby in this week of the Driving Change Podcast. Rick is the President and CEO of Rick Rigsby Communications and an internationally acclaimed speaker that presents to top companies worldwide. Dr. Rick is also a favorite among professional and collegiate sports organizations. Rigsby—a former award-winning professor—spent over two decades teaching at various colleges, most of those years serving at Texas A&M University. In addition to academic duties, Dr. Rigsby was hired by legendary football icon R. C. Slocum as chaplain and Life Skills coach for the Aggies football team.
In this episode, Dr. Rick Rigsby talks about changing your perspective on uncertainty and using it as a place for growth. Additionally, he dives into how to effectively give others a reason to listen and the power of one’s hope.


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The process of meeting a mail purchase bride commences with a mental health screening, which is performed by a trained professional. The questionnaire will include information concerning the woman’s backdrop, personality, hobbies, and also other important information that will help the men decide if you should get married to them. The majority of mail order brides are divorced women who are looking for someone to provide psychological support for their family. They may be looking for a gentleman who will give them a better existence than what they currently have.
Mail buy marriages great those who want to enlarge all their horizons. Many young women would never get married to a man who had no ideas for children. Nevertheless , this does not imply that mail buy brides are improper for such a situation. Whilst mail purchase brides usually are for every circumstances, there are many benefits to this sort of relationship. First of all, they can travel and leisure the world using their new hubby.
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A mail-order star of the wedding is often happy to marry a north american and can compensate in another country. Usually, they may have the support of their husband. The idea in back of mail-order brides is that you are able to meet and marry a guy and then exchange letters. The partnership will be built-in a foreign country, but the woman may don’t have any choice inside the matter. The woman decision is not the sole factor influencing the method.

domain: sociology


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Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido on Tuesday called for a military uprising to oust President Nicolas Maduro and armed factions clashed at a protest outside a Caracas air base as the country hit a new crisis point.
Reuters witnesses said several dozen mostly young armed men in military uniform accompanying Guaido exchanged gunfire with soldiers acting in support of Maduro outside the La Carlota air base but the opposition did not appear to be about to take power by force.
BREAKING NEWS: Interim President of Venezuela Juan Guaido has started a military coup against Maduro. Heavily armed military forces are in various locations across the capital and other major cities pic.twitter.com/9jTC2BLQXR
— BNL NEWS (@BreakingNLive) April 30, 2019
Guaido, in a video posted on Twitter earlier on Tuesday morning, said he had begun the “final phase” of his campaign to topple Maduro, calling on Venezuelans and the military to back him to end Maduro’s “usurpation.”
A tidal wave of illegal immigration has now crippled America’s southern border.


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Maria Mansab is a Research Intern, Associated with the Iran Programme at the Institute of Regional studies, with an MPhil in IR from the School of Politics and International Relations, Quaid I Azam University, Islamabad. Area of Interest: Middle East and South Asian, International Law and Gender Issues.
Items by Maria Mansab
- September 13, 2023 Maria Mansab
Pakistan and Iran have many cultural, linguistic and historical ties, as well as geographical linkages and economic potential. They are in the same region and share a 909-kilometre border. They are both rich in natural resources with enormous economic potential, key geostrategic locations with the ports of Chahbahar and...
- August 2, 2023 Maria Mansab
Geopolitical events in the Middle East, as well as the recent visit of the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, to Iran for nuclear programme talks, contribute to how quickly the world is changing. With rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia brokered by China,...


At Nokia Connection Event, current held in Singapore, company has announced a new set of mobile breed running on –once Nokia’s future smartphone platform – MeeGo. Today company has introduced new Nokia N9 (also known as Lankku) running on MeeGo platform. Nokia N9 is a solid slab of AMOLED screen (854 x 480) without any button or keyboard of any kind – apart from volume button.
The phone will be available in two versions – 16 GB and 64 GB. Nokia N9 will also behaving 1 GB of RAM wrapped in polycarbonate shell colored all the way through, so dings and scratches won’t show unless its deep.
N9 is also equipped with NFC and GPS which give it an extra edge compare to other available models in market currently. For camera lovers, It has 8 megapixel wide-angle shooter rear camera with Carl Zeiss lenses which is capable of aperture F2.2 for low light picture taking and true 16:9 720p video recording.
In all-and-all Nokia N9 measures 116.45- x 61.2- x 7.6-12.1mm and weighs 135 grams, with a battery capable of lasting up to 50 hours (music), 4.5 hours (720p video), or between seven and 11 hours (GSM).
Here are a couple of official images of Nokia N9 released by the company and post to this an introductory video.[nggallery id=8]
The N9 has arrived. Functional units of Nokia’s long-awaited
MeeGo Smartphone have finally landed into our eager hands Check out http://bit.ly/kCbvMH
It’s great news for developers… The Nokia N9 Smartphone,
based on MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan, is an exciting addition to the range of
Qt-powered phones from Nokia.
The new Linux-based platform, called MeeGo, looks fantastic.
It’s fluid, smooth, and the “swipe” idea looks really interesting.


Smith & Wesson - Knife
- Swat 2
- 4.7" Plain Blade
- Stainless Steel
Smith & Wesson S.W.A.T. II 4.5" Folding Knife.
- Open Length (In): 7.750 Inch
- Closed Length (In): 4.500 Inch
- Belt Clip Included: Yes
- Blade Length (In): 3.250 Inch
- Folding: Yes
- Lock Type: Liner Lock
- Pouch Included: No
- Handle Material: Aluminum
- Color: Grey, Black
- Handle Finish: Brushed
- Width (In): 0.500 Inch
- Blade Material: Stainless Steel
- Handle Length (In): 4.500 Inch
- Number Of Blades: 1
- Serrated: No
Smith and Wesson single blade folding pocket knives. Includes stainless steel liner lock safety, aluminum handles and pocket/belt clips.
Smith & Wesson has stood for high quality and innovative products since 1853. All Smith & Wesson knives are designed and manufactured using the latest technology while capitalizing on the proven business experience of a company over 150 years old. Smith & Wesson knives are known for exceeding the customers' expectations and some facts about Smith & Wesson knives are:
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- Special features include belt/pocket clips, lanyard holes, liner lock or lock back safety, easy open thumb pins on the blade.
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Ruling says inmate waited too long to object to method of execution
effectiveness, it will heal this long-festering wound before it attempts to persuade the country that in resolving the other thorny issues to come it has acted the way a judicial body should,” said Eric M. Freedman, a law professor at Hofstra University.
The dispute among the justices Friday lasted long enough that Alabama officials postponed the execution of the inmate, Christopher L. Price, which had been scheduled for Thursday night. They said a new execution date would be set.
Late-night rulings on death penalty applications are not unheard-of, but they are seldom issued in the predawn hours. In his early morning dissent, almost certainly completed at home, Breyer wrote that the court’s treatment of the case was deeply distressing.
“To proceed in this way calls into question the basic principles of fairness that should underlie our criminal justice system,” Breyer wrote. “To proceed in this matter in the middle of the night without giving all members of the court the opportunity for discussion tomorrow morning is, I believe, unfortunate.”
The majority, in a brief unsigned opinion, said Price had waited too long to raise his claim that Alabama’s method of execution, a lethal injection of three chemicals, could subject him to excruciating pain. Price asked to be executed using nitrogen gas, a method allowed by Alabama law.
Price and an accomplice were convicted of using a sword and dagger to kill William Lynn, a minister, in 1991 in his home in Bazemore, Ala., while he was preparing Christmas presents for his grandchildren. The pastor’s wife, Bessie Lynn, was badly wounded in the attack but survived. Price admitted to participating in robbing the couple but claimed that only his accomplice had harmed them.
In June, Alabama gave death row inmates 30 days to choose nitrogen hypoxia, which deprives the body of oxygen, as the way they would be executed, and Price failed to meet the deadline. The majority said that was the end of the matter.
A U.S. District Court in Alabama halted the execution Thursday, citing new evidence. At around 9 p.m. Thursday, Alabama officials asked the Supreme Court to allow the execution to go forward. The court agreed about six hours later.
Earlier this month, in rejecting a challenge from a Missouri inmate about how he was to be put to death, Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for a five-justice majority, said “courts should police carefully against attempts to use such challenges as tools to interpose unjustified delay.”
That decision followed a 5-4 ruling in February to allow the execution of a Muslim inmate in Alabama after his request to have his imam be present was denied, with the majority saying he should have asked sooner. In dissent, Justice Elena Kagan wrote that the majority was “profoundly wrong.” In March, the court halted the execution of a Buddhist inmate in Texas in similar circumstances, over two noted dissents, with the majority apparently satisfied that the request had been timely.
In his dissent Friday, Breyer reviewed the proceedings in Price’s case and said undue haste had undermined justice. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Kagan joined his dissent in the case, Dunn v. Price.
“Should anyone doubt that death sentences in the United States can be carried out in an arbitrary way,” Breyer wrote, “let that person review the following circumstances as they have been presented to our court this evening.”
Alabama officials expressed outrage over the delay after the death warrant expired.
“Tonight, in the middle of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, the family of Pastor Bill Lynn was deprived of justice,” Attorney General Steven T. Marshall said. “They were, in effect, revictimized by a killer trying to evade his just punishment.”
Marshall complained that Price had long “dodged his death sentence for the better part of three decades by employing much the same strategy he has pursued tonight – desperately clinging to legal maneuverings to avoid facing the consequences of his heinous crime.” He vowed that Lynn’s “day of justice will come.”
In his dissent, Breyer wrote that there were substantial questions about whether Price had acted too slowly in choosing nitrogen gas.
“What is at stake in this case,” Breyer wrote, “is the right of a condemned inmate not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.”


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I feel like a prisoner wanting to find a way out
I feel like a light pole on a crowded street
It’s nauseating at times
The weight of the world seems to have dug me under the ground
And the truth scars me every night
Is this what depression feels like?


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TOKYO—A week after Japan's central bank started a huge bond-buying campaign to drive down yields in the country's quadrillion-yen government-bond market, yields instead have risen, a sign of the huge headwinds the bank faces in its push to end 15 years of deflation.
The rise is puzzling because it comes after the Bank of Japan pledged to double its Japanese government-bond holdings to ¥190 trillion ($1.93 trillion) in two years, the centerpiece of an aggressive new monetary-easing push aimed at stimulating investment, spending and prices. In theory, such a huge increase in purchases should cause bond prices to rise and yields to fall.
The rise in yields also puts the bond market out of sync with currency and stock markets, which have reacted enthusiastically to the bank's campaign. Shares have soared and the yen has weakened since the bank unveiled its plan on April 4, in what is seen as a vote of confidence that the easing will be effective.
But the Japanese government-bond market, where the easing plan calls for added purchases of 7.5 trillion yen per month—roughly 3.7 trillion yen more than before—is the one most directly affected by the campaign. Analysts say the rise in yields, along with other signs of turbulence, including a weak bond auction and sudden spikes or drops in prices, show investors are skittish about the effect of the BOJ's purchases.
"Some market participants wonder if the BOJ is able to purchase these JGBs in practice," BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said at a seminar on Friday. "I assure you that we will achieve our commitment."
Late Friday, yields on everything from two-year to 30-year government debt were higher than before the bank announced its easing plan. The two-year yield stood at 0.125%, compared with 0.060%; the 10-year yield was at 0.620%, versus 0.535%.
Investor concerns center on confusion over where bond rates and prices are likely to go. The BOJ's ultimate goal is to reverse Japan's chronic decline in consumer prices and induce inflation of 2% in two years. One way it hopes to do that is by first driving yields so low that banks and other big bond investors decide to put their money to better use elsewhere—investing in stocks or land, for instance, or lending to businesses.
But inflation won't come without a similar rise in interest rates and yields, which means that bond prices, which move in the opposite direction, should eventually fall. It doesn't make sense to buy long-term bonds at high prices now if the market is likely to reverse soon, some market participants say.
"The BOJ wants yields to be low, but at the same time the BOJ is talking about 2% inflation that it wants to achieve as soon as possible," says Le Ngoc Nhan, a strategist at Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co. "If you believe in that scenario, then there's very little reason for the 20-year yield to stay at something like 1.3%."
The rapidly fluctuating views on where bond yields would go caused such quick spikes and falls in the 10-year government-bond futures contract—a contract many investors buy to help protect their bond portfolios from losses—that it pushed prices past the Tokyo Stock Exchange's limit for the amount the contract could move.
The surges and plunges past the limit triggered five "circuit breaker" halts in trade during the past week. Previously, the circuit breaker had kicked in only four times since it was introduced in 2000, all of them during the credit-crisis turmoil of 2008.
The turbulence caused the BOJ to change the way it is dealing with the market, starting with a rare meeting with top-level bond investors on Thursday. "It is vital to have the cooperation of market participants," Mr. Kuroda said at the seminar. "The bank has decided to set forums for enhanced dialogue with those market participants."
The central bank is also giving out more information on its bond purchases than it used to, in order to give investors advance notice of its large orders.
Previously, the bank didn't announced its purchases until the morning of the day it planned to execute them. But last week, the Bank of Japan announced it would buy 6.2 trillion yen in April, in five separate operations, although it didn't give dates. On Thursday, the bank took the rare step of saying it would make its second and third purchases the next day.
Market participants and officials say they expect the sharp bond moves to calm down in coming weeks once the bank irons out the details of its buying program, and the market gets a taste of what investor demand is like under the new program at forthcoming bond auctions.
"It's a question of the BOJ showing that it is being considerate" to JGB market participants, said Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities strategist Katsutoshi Inadome. "The BOJ has to create a relationship of trust."
Write to Eleanor Warnock at email@example.com

domain: finance


20 JULY 2008: As discussed during the opening moments of The Roth Show this past Friday night, and in numerous reports in the blogosphere, the United States Department of State, in the most blatant act of dhimmitude seen to date, has intentionally, by design, embarked upon the official promotion of Islam as a political way-of-life in the form of a "2009 Mosques of America Wall Calendar: Limited Edition for Ramadan." According to the State Department website this calendar is "perfect for Muslim outreach efforts." Yes, "Muslim outreach efforts" designed to proselytize the same Islam and Qur'an that declared war on America and has slaughtered thousands of our fellow American citizens.
The fact is that Global Publishing Solutions (GPS) is a government contractor for the U.S. Department of State. GPS had placed its "2009 Mosques of America" advertisement and price quotes for bulk-purchases on an official U.S. Government website. Talk about impropriety. Talk about a Conflict of Interests. Talk about ethics in government. Talk about the so-called separation of church and state. Following Internet highlighting of this abomination the folks at GPS placed the ad and quotes behind a password protected login screen. Talk about attempting to sweep under the proverbial rug all the other "talk about" items above.
Curiosity more than mildly aroused, I began following the lines of interconnection in a block-diagram of the State Department bureaucratic hierarchy. It was not hard to discover that The Office of Global Publishing Solutions falls directly under the Bureau of Administration (Under Secretary Rajkumar CHELLARAJ, an India-born immigrant to the United States). Under Secretary CHELLARAJ was nominated by President George W. Bush on January 24, 2006 and confirmed by the Senate on May 26, 2006.
So where does the buck stop for this Islamic abomination - paid for by yours and mine tax dollars?


Denver Union Station Redevelopment
- Jul 29, 2013
In 2010, construction began at the Denver Union Station to transform it into a multimodal transportation hub for the Mountain West region. This $500 million design-build project covers a 40-acre site and involves the construction of an underground regional bus facility with 22 bays, an eight-track commuter rail hall with five platforms, relocation of an existing light rail station, laying track, significant landscaping and improvements to surrounding streets. $32 million is also being spent on public improvements including lighting, granite seating benches, lots of trees and planters shaped like teardrops that channel the flow of people from trains.
Kiewit Infrastructure Co. leads the transit component's design-build team, working with other corporate units, Kiewit Building Group and Mass. Electric Construction Co. Kiewit teamed up with architects/engineer Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). Contractors are pursuing LEED certification for the project, working with the U.S. Green Building Council to create a LEED designation for a transit complex.
The bus facility measures 1,100 feet long and 150 feet wide, and sits 23 feet below grade. The passenger concourse alone includes 44,000 square foot of space. Because the facility is below the Central Platte Valley water table, its exterior walls are 2 feet thick and its floor is 4 feet thick to keep them both watertight. The dirt that was excavated for the structure (roughly 150,000 cubic yards) was recycled as backfill. Epoxy-coated steel reinforcement was being used extensively in all levels of the structure.


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Cuban-Style Hot Dogs2014-08-28
- Prep Time : 0m
- Cook Time : 0m
- Ready In : 0m
During a recent trip to Miami I had the good fortune to stop at a small family run Cuban sandwich shop that offered something called a Cubano Dog or Cuban-style hot dog. The picture looked good so I gave it a try. It was delicious!
I don’t know if they actually serve hot dogs like this in Cuba, but the Cuban-style hot dog is based on the famous Cubano sandwich that is made with a combination of sliced roasted pork, ham, cheese and slices of dill pickle, grilled between two pieces of hearty Cuban bread.
To make your own Cubano or Cuban-style Hot Dog start by grilling your hot dogs over low to medium heat. Just before they are done, lay a slice or two of Swiss cheese on each of your open face hot dog buns and then top with a slice or two of ham. Next broil the buns in the oven until they are nice and toasty and the cheese is hot and bubbly. Then add a hot dog on top of the Swiss cheese and ham. Top with a dill pickle spear, thin slices of red onion, and a line of yellow mustard and enjoy! It’s a remarkably yummy hot dog!
4 beef hot dogs
8 slices of Swiss cheese
8 slices of deli ham
1/2 of a red onion, sliced thin
4 spears refrigerator dill pickles
To make your own Cuban-style hot dog, start by cooking your hot dogs on the grill or broil in the oven for about 5 minutes or until warm.
Lay hot dogs buns on a baking sheet, open, and lay two pieces of Swiss cheese and two slices of ham inside the bun.
Just before the hot dogs are done, place the buns in the oven and broil until the buns are toasted and the cheese is melted. Place the hot dogs in the buns and top with a pickle, sliced onions and mustard.

domain: food


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Check out our online selection of CBD oils, CBD creams, hemp lotions and more! 1.3 OZ, .08 lbs. Item # 188801. PlusCBD Oil Balm Extra Strength by CV Sciences, Inc. is incorporated with cannabidiol (CBD) from agricultural hemp. Shop the best PlusCBD Oil CBD Oil Balm - Extra Strength 1.3 oz Balm products at Swanson Health Products. Trusted since 1969, we offer trusted quality and great value on PlusCBD Oil CBD Oil Balm - Extra Strength 1.3 oz Balm products. Our Plus CBD Oil review is based on several weeks of personally testing the brand's products and thoroughly vetting their operations. This Plus CBD Oil Review shares what you need to know about Plus CBD Oil before you buy. Not all CBD oil is created equal. Find out why. On the forefront of new trends and discoveries. Hemp derived CBD oil works to "correct" imbalance with mood, sleep, appetite and more. TimesofCBD 2019 CBD user guide reviews the 30 best CBD oil products to buy and top 70 CBD-branded companies featuring a FAQ analysis and health benefits list. Check photos, videos and stories anonymously from PlusCBD Oil @youpluscbd Instagram profile. 18062 Followers, 817 Following, 499 Posts - Pioneering the hemp future as the world's leading producer of hemp-derived CBD products.

domain: health


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WITH THANKS TO IMAGESHACK.COM FOR USE OF THIS IMAGE http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/5195/monkeydrummer.gif I saw this image onStumbleupon and just could not resist the joke. No offense intended to any Michael Jackson fans, friends or family.
Well Michael Jackson has departed this life at the tender age of 50, and I am sure his music will live on with his fans for many years to come, but so too will all the bizarre elements of his life, including his many plastic surgeries, change of color from […]
Stevie Wonder is playing his first concert in Japan, and the auditorium at the concert hall in Tokyo is absolutely packed to the rafters. After playing a few of his greatest hits, and in a bid to break the ice with his new audience, he asks them if anyone would […]

domain: celebrity


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I love this poem! If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make . If you can meet. By Rudyard Kipling, 1895
Not a single Bengali kid has grown into adulthood without having to recite this poem at some elocution contest or another. A brilliant poem, to be read with thunder in your soul and steel in your mind.
Reading- This website has great ideas for writing and reading poetry for elementary students. You can learn how to write different types of poetry, read others poems and rate them, and even have a poetry readers theater.


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UND FOOTBALL: Northern Colorado tops UND 28-27
Published 11/17/2012, Grand Forks Herald
Northern Colorado stopped a late UND drive to take a 28-27 win against UND on Saturday. UND closed its season 3-5 in the Big Sky Conference and 5-6 overall.Word count: 532
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domain: sports


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Philippians 3:13&14, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this is one thing I do, I forget those things which are behind reaching unto those things which are before, I press towards the mark of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ Jesus”
I think that one of the greatest struggles for a Christian is trying to keep up with the Lord. Often times as we walk with the Lord, we get distracted on the way and we loose focus and it takes us time to get back to where we need to be. Also a few people get beaten by their own opinion about themselves especially being affected and infected by their past and so they cannot progress. We know for sure that there is nothing good in man except Christ and in as much as we have failed miserably and we ought to be thrown into the lake of fire, Christ in us cannot deny Himself by casting us away. The fact is we don’t deserve to live but the truth is He has called us His own. We are adopted to be sons and daughters of God.
In Romans 7, Paul talks much on the struggle with sin, how he learnt what sin is all is, he tells us of what sin does and then he concludes the chapter in Romans 7:24-25, “24 O wretched man that I am, who shall rescue me from this body of death? 25, “Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!. So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin”. He discovered how vulnerable to sin he was but he did not leave it there, he is transitioned from defeat to triumph in the next chapter where he writes, Romans 8:1, “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. It’s very easy to dwell on who you used to be instead of looking at what the Lord is doing right now. We can’t deny the fact that we all have histories, we are all from the past, good things and bad things happened. While trying to live in the past we concentrate on the bad things that happened. We keep on bringing to remembrance what the Lord forgave us of and forgot about. Instead progressing to the healing part of our growth, we keep falling back to the same things we thought we dealt with.
Have you ever assassinated victories in your life because you still dwelt on who you used to be? cried yourself to sleep, couldn’t reach level of trusting someone again with your life because of what they did to you, haunted by a memory, an incident, an accident and you can’t see clearly where you are going. I am terrified of becoming who I used to be, just the thought of it makes me sick but I cannot undo what’s been done, I cannot change where I have come from and I cannot waste my time trying to fix what has been broken. I am too wise for that, every time I bring to remembrance my past failures, I want them to remind me that they were the bridge the Lord would use to tailor me to become who I am today. If I don’t see my past as bridge, it’s time leave it in the sea of forgetfulness. As long as the past haunts you, ask the Lord for strength to put it behind you otherwise you will not move far in Christ. Paul tells us how wretched he was then he moves to the next verse and thanks the Lord for he is reminded that what he is not, he can be if Christ is in his life.
Philippians 3:13&14, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this is one thing I do, I forget those things which are behind reaching unto those things which are before, I press towards the mark of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ Jesus“. In NIV it says, “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it”. What an indication that the struggle continues, he knows where he’s come from, he used to persecute Christians and then he got saved and the struggle continues. “…But this is one thing I do, I forget those things which are behind reaching unto those things which are before…”. He knew that for him to progress, he had to put all the past failures behind otherwise his next move will be hindered. “…I press towards the mark of the high call calling of God in Christ Jesus”, meaning, I have a destiny and so I press on. The word press does not mean walk into it, but fight and pushing your way through, pressing also means applying some force and that is resisting the past that tries to assassinate your move. Mark how he puts it, pressing TOWARD (FORWARD), toward the mark, the goal Christ set for me from the beginning. I am looking at the end result while I am still moving towards it. Talk to God about who you used to be and who you are and He will talk to you about the mark of His high calling in your life. We as believers have received a calling and not just a calling but a HIGH CALLING and with that in mind, YOU CAN’T CHANGE WHERE YOU COME FROM, BUT YOU CAN CHANGE WHERE YOU ARE GOING BECAUSE OF THE HIGH CALLING. YOU CANNOT UNDO WHAT’S BEEN DONE, YOU CAN UNDO WHAT’S NOT BEEN DONE. Break out of what is putting you down and forget those things which are behind and begin to press on towards the mark of His high calling. Blessings Ev


BOYS TENNIS: Undefeated Warren sweeps Southwestern
LAKEWOOD, N.Y. – The wins just keep on coming.
Warren’s boys tennis team improved to 9-0 on the season with a convincing 5-0 victory over Southwestern (NY) Thursday in Lakewood, N.Y.
Warren’s top singles player Shane Burns had to work a little harder for his victory today, facing off with Southwestern’s Matt Johnson. Still, Burns emerged with a 6-1, 6-4 straight sets victory.
“This was a good match between two of the premiere players in the area,” said Warren coach Jeff Bartsch.
In another matchup of premiere players in the area, Warren’s Matt Sandberg defeated the Trojans’ Quinn White 6-4, 6-0. Nathan Sandberg completed the singles sweep with a tidy 6-0, 6-0 victory over Alex Bower.
“Todays’ playing conditions were cool with a lot of wind,” said Bartsch. “Southwestern is a good team. They have solid players in the top singles positions. This was an excellent opportunity for the Dragons and this was a very good win.”
In doubles play, Grayson Foley and Nick Tarpenning were efficient in their 6-1, 6-0 victory and Ylli Bakalli and Liam Boger completed the team sweep with a 6-1, 6-2 victory.
In exhibition play, Bryce Bauer and Phil Hachula and Tristan Boger and Sean McGuinness earned 8-3 victories. Also winning in exhibition play were the doubles team of Noah Colvin and Neil Morrison and Conner Clendenen in singles play.
Warren (9-0) returns to action Saturday at Titusville.
“Should the Dragons win that regional matchup, they will have locked-up the regional championship to put us into the team championships in two weeks,” added Bartsch.


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Deepshikha, S and Srinivasan, J (2010) Retrieval of dust aerosols during night: improved assessment of long wave dust radiative forcing over Afro-Asian regions. In: Annales Geophysicae (1988), 28 (8). pp. 1553-1557.
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Several investigators in the past have used the radiance depression (with respect to clear-sky infrared radiance), resulting from the presence of mineral dust aerosols in the atmosphere, as an index of dust aerosol load in the atmosphere during local noon. Here, we have used a modified approach to retrieve dust index during night since assessment of diurnal average infrared dust forcing essentially requires information on dust aerosols during night. For this purpose, we used infrared radiance (10.5-12.5 mu m), acquired from the METEOSAT-5 satellite (similar to 5 km resolution). We found that the `dust index' algorithm, valid for daytime, will no longer hold during the night because dust is then hotter than the theoretical dust-free reference. Hence we followed a `minimum reference' approach instead of a conventional `maximum reference' approach. A detailed analysis suggests that the maximum dust load occurs during the daytime. Over the desert regions of India and Africa, maximum change in dust load is as much as a factor of four between day and night and factor of two variations are commonly observed. By realizing the consequent impact on long wave dust forcing, sensitivity studies were carried out, which indicate that utilizing day time data for estimating the diurnally averaged long-wave dust radiative forcing results in significant errors (as much as 50 to 70%). Annually and regionally averaged long wave dust radiative forcing (which account for the diurnal variation of dust) at the top of the atmosphere over Afro-Asian region is 2.6 +/- 1.8 W m(-2), which is 30 to 50% lower than those reported earlier. Our studies indicate that neglecting diurnal variation of dust while assessing its radiative impact leads to an overestimation of dust radiative forcing, which in turn result in underestimation of the radiative impact of anthropogenic aerosols.
|Item Type:||Journal Article|
|Additional Information:||Copyright of this article belongs to Copernicus Group.|
|Keywords:||Atmospheric composition and structure; Aerosols and particles;Transmission and scattering of radiation; History of geophysics; Atmospheric sciences.|
|Department/Centre:||Division of Earth and Environmental Sciences > Divecha Centre for Climate Change
Division of Mechanical Sciences > Centre for Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
|Date Deposited:||20 Sep 2010 10:41|
|Last Modified:||10 Jun 2011 07:57|
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Overdoses from heroin, prescription drugs, and opioid pain relievers last year surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of injury-related death in America, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Deaths have reached their highest levels of the 21st century in 2014, the most recent year for which data is available, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Heroin overdoses have more than tripled in the last five years, an issue receiving outsize attention nationally but especially during the presidential campaign season as New Hampshire has been one of the hardest-hit states.
New legislation aims to tackle this epidemic. The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, S. 524 and H.R. 953, was introduced by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI5) and will receive a hearing on Thursday from the Senate Judiciary Committee.
This appears to be one of the few political issues with potential bipartisan agreement. The Senate version has 17 Democrat and eight Republican co-sponsors while the House version has 53 Democrats and 21 Republicans. Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton has proposed a $10 billion plan to combat the problem, while Republican candidates including Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Chris Christie, and Carly Fiorina have all shared personal stories about family and friend experiences with overdose.
As detailed in a press release by Whitehouse, the legislation would:
Expand the availability of naloxone — which can counter the effects of a heroin or opioid overdose — to law enforcement agencies and other first responders
Improve prescription drug monitoring programs to help states monitor and track prescription drug diversion “and to help at-risk individuals access services,” because inefficiencies and loopholes in the current programs allow many individuals to game the system and obtain more drugs than they should
Shift resources towards identifying and treating incarcerated people who are suffering from addiction, rather than just punishment as is often the case currently
Prohibit the Department of Education from including questions about the conviction of an applicant for the possession or sale of illegal drugs on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) financial aid form
Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) advocated the bill in last week’s Weekly Republican Address: ““This legislation is moving and that’s good. There is an urgency to this issue — Congress must act now to help repair our communities, our families and our country. CARA — this comprehensive approach — will help more Americans put their lives back together and help individuals achieve their God-given potential.”
No Member of Congress appears to have expressed outright opposition to this bill. It sits at the intersection of criminal justice reform and mental health legislation, two of the three policy areas which House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI1) claimed could pass both the Republican Congress and Democratic president this year. However, its chances of passage may lessen depending on political considerations such as the potential for bipartisan cooperation in an election year — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced last week that he may not take up any substantive legislation in 2016.
The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress, and was published on Feb 12, 2015.
Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2015
Directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to convene a Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force to develop: (1) best practices for pain management and prescribing pain medication, and (2) a strategy for disseminating such best practices.
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Attorney General to make grants to:
states (with priority to states that provide civil liability protection for first responders, health professionals, and family members administering naloxone to counteract opioid overdoses), local governments, and nonprofit organizations to expand educational efforts to prevent abuse of opioids, heroin, and other substances of abuse, understand addiction as a chronic disease, and promote treatment and recovery; organizations that have received a grant under the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997 to implement comprehensive community-wide strategies that address local drug crises; states (with priority to states that provide civil liability protection for administering naloxone), local governments, Indian tribes, and nonprofit organizations for treatment alternative to incarceration programs for individuals who have come into contact with the juvenile or criminal justice system or have been arrested or charged with an offense, who have a substance use disorder, mental illness, or both, and who have been approved for participation in such a program; state, local, or tribal law enforcement agencies to create a demonstration law enforcement program to prevent opioid and heroin overdose death; state, local, or tribal law enforcement agencies, manufacturers, distributors, or reverse distributor of prescription medications, retail pharmacies, registered narcotic treatment programs, hospitals or clinics with an on-site pharmacy, eligible long-term care facilities, or any other entity authorized by the Drug Enforcement Administration to dispose of prescription medications to expand or make available disposal sites for unwanted prescription medications; states (with priority to states that provide civil liability protection for administering naloxone), local governments, and Indian tribes to implement medication assisted treatment programs through their criminal justice agencies; states, local governments, nonprofit organizations, and Indian tribes for educational programs for incarcerated offenders; state substance abuse and criminal justice agencies, jointly, to address the use of opioids and heroin among pregnant and parenting female offenders in a state to promote public safety, public health, family permanence, and well-being; establish or expand veterans treatment court programs, peer to peer services or programs for qualified veterans, practices that identify and provide treatment, rehabilitation, legal, and transitional services to incarcerated veterans, and training programs to teach criminal justice, mental health, and substance abuse personnel how to identify and appropriately respond to incidents involving veterans; and states to prepare a comprehensive plan for and implement an integrated opioid abuse response initiative. Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to award grants to enable state substance abuse agencies, local governments, nonprofit organizations, and Indian tribes or tribal organizations that have a high rate of, or have had a rapid increase in, the use of heroin or other opioids to expand activities, including medication assisted treatment, for the treatment of addiction in the geographical areas affected.
Authorizes the Recovery Branch of the Office of National Drug Control Policy to award grants to: (1) enable high schools and colleges with substance abuse recovery programs and nonprofit organizations to provide substance abuse recovery support services to high school and college students, to help build communities of support for young people in recovery, and to encourage initiatives designed to help young people achieve and sustain recovery; and (2) enable recovery community organizations to develop, expand, and enhance recovery services.
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit the Department of Education from including any question about the conviction of an applicant for the possession or sale of illegal drugs on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form.
Directs HHS to establish a bipartisan Task Force on Recovery and Collateral Consequences to: (1) identify collateral consequences for individuals with drug convictions who are in recovery for a substance use disorder, and (2) determine whether such consequences unnecessarily delay such individuals from resuming their personal and professional activities.
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act to direct the Attorney General to report annually on how grants awarded under such Act are used for family-based substance abuse treatment programs that serve as alternatives to incarceration for custodial parents to receive treatment and services as a family.
Expresses the sense of Congress that the amounts expended to carry out this Act should be offset by a corresponding reduction in federal non-defense discretionary spending.
Directs the Comptroller General to report on the impact that the Medicaid Institutions for Mental Disease exclusion (defined as the prohibition on federal matching payments under Medicaid for patients who have attained age 22, but have not attained age 65, in an institution for mental diseases) has on access to treatment for individuals with a substance use disorder.


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Renewal uptake for the 2017/18 period was up for the larger protection and indemnity experts in the marine sector.
The London P&I Club reports that it is also true to say that for it the period generally saw rates come under pressure, but there was a notable reduction in the impact on income of mid-year churn. It saw an encouraging 2.5m gt, or 5.8% year-on-year increase in its mutual business, up to 45.4m gt.
“This renewal again underlined the high level of commitment to the club by its members. Overall, in addition to organic growth, it was pleasing to see the addition of a number of new fleet entries to the club’s mutual membership,” said Reto Toggwiler, the Club’s underwriting director. “At the same time there has also been good progress in the club’s fixed-income business, on which we will be reporting a little later in the year.”
Meanwhile, the North P&I Club has consolidated its position as one of the leading members of the International Group of P&I Clubs, with controlled growth in total entered tonnage to 195 million GT at the 20 February 2018 renewal. In addition, the number of members taking North’s FD&D cover has increased by 10% to just over 90 million GT.
In the European market, The Swedish Club has reported that the P&I gross tonnage has moved in excess of the 50 million GT milestone.
“We are pleased to see that our demonstrable financial stability, claims management expertise and commitment to service have attracted more tonnage from both existing members and new business,” said Lars Rhodin, managing director of The Swedish Club.
The Swedish Club said it will publish further details on its performance following its Board meeting at the end of March 2018.
By Anne-Marie Causer, maritimejournal.com


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Newspaper reports on previously sealed details of abusive former Boy Scout leader
ALFRED, Maine (AP) — Newly unsealed records show an assistant Scoutmaster with Troop 647 of Hallowell used his position to befriend and abuse a 12-year-old boy in 1977.
The Kennebec Journal says former Augusta resident Alfred J. Conrad was among eight Scout leaders in Maine identified in October in decades of files detailing sexual abuse allegations that were released after news organizations won a court case against the Boy Scouts of America.
The newspaper (http://bit.ly/YOyLqp) requested the previously confidential pre-sentence investigation, which indicated Conrad's victim began abusing alcohol and attempted suicide.
Conrad, now living in Lawrence, Mass., said his actions haunt him nearly 30 years after he was sentenced for gross sexual misconduct and unlawful sexual contact. The 67-year-old says he regrets what happened and has "kept away from youths" since then.
Information from: Kennebec Journal, http://www.kjonline.com/


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Sociology Colloquium Series, Location TBA
August 30, 2019
Dr. Kristin Halltiner
Talk Title: TBA
Dr. Kristin Haltinner received her PhD in sociology from the University of Minnesota and is an Associate Professor of Sociology, Director of the Academic Certificate in Diversity and Stratification, and Director of the Africana Studies Program at the University of Idaho. Her research focuses on social inequality, pedagogy, and political sociology. Her current projects are on climate change skepticism and traumatic birth experiences.
September 13, 2019
Dr. Stacy Hust
Talk Title: Scripting Adolescent Romance
Dr. Stacey Hust is an associate professor and chair in the Department of Strategic Communication in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University. She is nationally ranked by the Communication Institute for Online Scholarship for her health communication research focused on media and children, gender, conflict (sexual assault reduction), and substance abuse prevention. Her research identifies effective health communication messaging that can be used to reduce sexual assault and promote healthy sexual relationships among young people. Hust’s research has been published in the Journal of Sex Research, Journal of Health Communication, Health Communication, Mass Communication & Society, and others. Her research has been sponsored by the United States Department of Education, the Washington State Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, and the Washington State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program.
October 11, 2019
Dr. Alair MacLean
Talk Title: TBA
Dr. Alair MacLean earned her PhD in Sociology from University of Wisconsin, Madison and she is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Washington State University, Vancouver. Her research focuses broadly on social inequality. I am currently exploring the question of how wars affect people’s lives. In this research, I examine the life course trajectories of veterans who served in the U.S. armed forces, focusing on the effects of military service and combat exposure on work and health. In collaboration with Ryan Edwards, I am also exploring the impact of military service on later-life mortality.
October 25, 2019
Dr. Jodi O’Brein
Talk Title: TBA
Dr. O’Brein is a Professor of Sociology with an Associate Appointment in the Women and Gender Studies Program at Seattle University.
November 1, 2019
Dr. Robin Simon
Talk title: Gender, Emotions and Mental Health in the U.S.: Patterns, Explanations & New Directions
Dr. Simon is a Professor of Sociology at Wake Forest University. Her research examines the consequences of gender and other social inequalities for men’s and women’s roles and relationships, identities and emotions, and mental and physical health over the life course. Her scholarship analyzes the social determinants of emotions and health through a social psychological lens and is situated at the intersection of several substantive areas of sociology – including gender and families, culture and emotions, stress and mental health, and aging and the life course. She is involved in a few new studies that elucidate the importance of social context for adults’ well-being: One study, which is part of a larger collaborative NSF funded cross-national project of well-being in 22 economically advanced countries, investigates the extent to which supportive social welfare policies reduce marital status disparities in happiness. Another study focuses on gender and other social status variations in American’s attitudes about work-family policies. In a book on the culture of intensive parenting and middle-class mothers’ and fathers’ stress and mental health, she explores the hidden “costs” of intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic status advantage for parents in the U.S. In addition to having received numerous awards for her scholarship and chairing two ASA sections (Emotions and Mental Health), her work is widely covered in the media. Read her CV here.
November 8, 2019
Clair Huang, Winner of the 2019 James. F. Short, Jr. Research Award
Talk title: TBA
Clair (Xiaoqu) Huang earned her M.A. in American Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University, 2012 and is working on a Ph.D. in Sociology at Washington State University. Her past research has focused on aging experiences of the “young old” in China (people in their 50s and 60s in China). More specifically, how retirees in cities spend their time and engage in activities that help them redefine self-identity after retirement. She conducted an ethnographic study in 2014 in a large city in northern China on older people who participated in group dancing in public places and studied how participants of group dancing managed social stigma attached to this activity as well as how they interacted with each other within their dancing groups.