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The Wise Owl talks to Sudeep Sen, a prolific, award-winning poet, translator, and editor of influential anthologies. Sen is the editorial director of AARK ARTS and editor of Atlas. The Government of India awarded him the senior fellowship for “outstanding persons in the field of culture/literature.” Currently, he the international fellow and writer/artist-in-residence at the Nirox Foundation in South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind. Sen is the first Asian honoured to deliver the Derek Walcott Lecture and read his poetry at the Nobel Laureate Festival. His latest book Red (published by Nirox Foundation) will be released on 28th May 2023 at WORDS FESTIVAL.
The Interview : Sudeep Sen
(Rachna Singh, Editor, The Wise Owl in conversation with Sudeep Sen)
The Wise Owl talks to Sudeep Sen, a prolific, award-winning poet, translator, and editor of influential anthologies. Sudeep Sen’s prize-winning books include Postmarked India: New & Selected Poems (HarperCollins), Rain, Ladakh, Aria, The Harper Collins Book of English Poetry, Fractals: New & Selected Poems | Translations 1980-2015 (London Magazine Editions), EroText (Vintage: Penguin Random House), Kaifi Azmi: Poems | Nazms (Bloomsbury) and Anthropocene: Climate Change, Contagion, Consolation (Pippa Rann).
Sen’s works have been translated into over 30 languages. His words have appeared in the Times Literary Supplement, Newsweek, Guardian, Observer, Independent, Telegraph, Financial Times, Herald, Poetry Review, Literary Review, Harvard Review among others and broadcast on BBC, CNN, NDTV et al. The Whispering Anklets, Red and Blue Nude: Ekphrasis & New Poems (Jorge Zalamea International Poetry Prize) are forthcoming.
Sen is the editorial director of AARK ARTS and editor of Atlas. The Government of India awarded him the senior fellowship for “outstanding persons in the field of culture/literature.” Currently, he the international fellow and writer/artist-in-residence at the Nirox Foundation in South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind. Sen is the first Asian honoured to deliver the Derek Walcott Lecture and read his poetry at the Nobel Laureate Festival.
Thank you, Sudeep for taking time out to talk to The Wise Owl.
RS: You are a prolific poet with several poetry collections under your belt. Please tell us a little about your journey as a poet – your upbringing, your background and your early influence. What gives you the sense of rootedness?
SS: Let me answer the last question first. I think the reason why you don’t see any sense of displacement in my writing is because I’m actually a very rooted person. My rootedness comes from my family and the way I was brought up. I’m first and foremost a Bengali writer, who just happens to write in another Indian language that is English. So, my cultural and intellectual spaces are very much defined by the fact that I come from a thoroughly Bengali milieu.
I am also fortunate to have grown up in a tri-lingual situation — I spoke Bengali at home, Hindi on the streets, and English at school not by design but by circumstance. So, this wonderful tripartite situation was such that I could slip in and out of several mother-tongues and languages at the same time it certainly made it linguistically richer, and we as South Asians are very lucky because of that.
I also come from a typically liberal educated middle-class Bengali family who have always been an immense source of strength for me. So, that kind jargon-ridden ‘post-colonial’ displacement you are talking about is very alien as a concept to me, and even more difficult for a person with my background to rationally understand.
The other aspect of this is that I grew up in the capital city of Delhi which is a very cosmopolitan place it has a curious mix of the First and Third World atmosphere depending on where or what you are engaged in at any given moment. So wherever I have travelled subsequently, be it a cosmopolitan place or a rural one, I was in some manner or the other, somewhat familiar with that new place from before, at least I was never in a state of cultural shock, however remote.
We, in India, have been exposed to the western culture, along with our very own, from our early childhood so neither of them are unfamiliar to us. So, when one is actually inhabiting these so-called Western (and Eastern spaces), they are places one feels equally at home. In fact, I quite enjoy being in both worlds. I love the taste of singara, sandesh, kabab, and phuchka; and at the same time, I love blue cheese, smoked salmon, wine and single malt. I do not personally see any conflict in these two worlds, rather I feel lucky and infinitely richer in experience, since my taste-buds as well as my intellectual and emotional terrain, can accommodate all of that happily and simultaneously.
As regards my early influence, it is best to tell your story of my very first collection of poems, Leaning Against the Lamp-Post. The poems in this book were all written between 1980 and 1985, while I was still in high school and subsequently as an undergraduate in New Delhi. In 1983, relying on my incipient enthusiasm, I summoned up all my courage, typed out about fifty poems from a much larger batch I had written up until then, and with the aid of a modest donation from my grandfather, took it to a local printer. They were cyclostyled through one of those now-extinct, messy, gargantuan machines (photocopying was still quite expensive then) and hand-sewn at the bindery by an old man who until then had only bound thousands of legal manuals and commercial reports with ubiquitous red cloth or leather spines and with their titles stamped in gold. This was, however, the first time he had bound a collection of poetry, and he did it with genuine interest and with the care of a fine craftsman. He was a poet himself and wrote and recited in Urdu. He also knew Bengali (my mother tongue) fluently, having spent his early life in what is now known as Bangladesh. Perhaps it was propitious that my early poems were blessed by the tactile touch of a true poet. It would only be fair to say of my grandfather that his patronage made him my first publisher. And as it turns out, this limited hand-assembled first edition of poems was to be my first ‘unofficial’ book of verse.
I was always convinced that writing poetry was extremely difficult (even though I thoroughly enjoyed reading it) and was best left to the masters themselves. Then one day in 1980 (I was in Class 10 at the time), daydreaming through a boring lesson in school, I penned, quite unknowingly, in perfect rhyme and metre, my first poem. Then followed those first few years when I wrote sheaves and sheaves of, what sometimes seem embarrassingly ‘callow’, and sometimes naive poems. But then, looking back I feel that there was a sense of innocence, idealism, seriousness, and honesty about them.
I grew up in a liberal and educated family with a lot of poetry and music around me. Art, literature, philosophy, and the world of ideas in particular, had always been a part of my upbringing. I learnt that our forefathers belonged to the aristocracy and could be traced back to the enlightened Raja Raj Ballabh Rai, famous in the margins of Indian history during the times of Sirajudaullah, the Nawab of Bengal in the late eighteenth century. As a child, my mother and grandmother would recite children's verse and sing songs for me. I realise now that much of my interest in form, structure, sound pattern and rhyme scheme comes from hearing aloud the incantatory music of their prayers and songs, which I had obviously internalised over the years.
My parents and grandparents introduced me to the world of poetry. They would recite the great Bengali poets: Rabindranath Tagore, Jibanananda Das, and Kazi Nazrul Islam; also Shakespeare, Milton, the Romantics and the Victorians. I came to learn many of them by heart. In school and college, I explored Hindi and Urdu poetry, discovered the Russians, Latin Americans, as well as Japanese and Chinese verse. Some of my favourite poets included Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Irina Ratushinskaya, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Octavio Paz, Pablo Neruda, Basho, Li Bai, and many more. My uncle opened to me a wondrous window, a hitherto unsighted world of modern European poets: Vasko Popa, Guillaume Apollinaire, Eugenio Montale, Giuseppe Ungaretti, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Rainer Maria Rilke, Johannes Bobrowski, Horst Bienek, and so many others. Also, I became fascinated by the Metaphysical Poets and the French Symbolists, in particular John Donne, Baudelaire, Mallarme, and Verlaine. Of course, growing up in the seventies, one could not miss Ezra Pound and T S Eliot. The congregation grew and grew, and through quiet osmosis, I was seduced into the world of sound, rhythm, word-patterns, ideas, syllabics, music, and language itself.
RS: You use diverse poetic forms when you write verse (rubai, sonnet, creole, poetry chants, triptych, to name a few). Which form (if I may ask) do you feel most comfortable writing or do you prefer the challenge of experimenting with new forms of verse. Some of your poems seem to be inspired by the rhythm of dance, music and also replicates day-to-day life rhythms. I especially enjoyed your poems ‘Durga Puja’, ‘Bharatnatyam Dancer’, ‘Single Malt’ which reflect and follow these rhythms. Tell us a little about how these rhythms became a part of your poems.
SS: I am particularly interested in form and craft in poetry, poem’s rhythm and design, its construction and the way it appears on the page.
The architecture of a poem is also very important to me — partly because of my own inherent interest in architecture itself. During my days of apprenticeship, I consciously wrote using traditional strict forms, formal metre and rhyme schemes. Of course, I have also written in free verse, but due to my penchant for formal verse you are likely to encounter a pantoum next to an acrostic poem, a triolet juxtaposed against a ghazal, lyric narratives and prose poetry, Sapphic fragments, mosaic pastiché, ekphrastic verse, sonnet, rubai, poem songs, prayer chants, documentary feeds, rap, reggae, creole, canzone, tritina, sestina, ottava rima, rime royale and variations on waka: haiku, tanka, katauta, choka, bussokusekika, sedoka.
As I became more experienced and skilled, I started innovating and experimenting, creating and inventing new forms and poetic structures. I also believe that a poem should not only be linguistically challenging, but how it appears visually is an important factor as well. For me, typography and structure of a poem are just as vital as the inner spirit and content of any poem.
If I have to locate myself geographically or culturally — then I would say I am a Bengali poet who writes in English. My relationship with Bengali is umbilical and neonatal. My parents were Bengali, and I grew up in a home speaking Bangla in a Bengali neighbourhood in New Delhi. Hindi and English were my other mother tongues. So, the cultural, historical, linguistic and literary tradition of the Bengali tongue has had a very important effect of my poetic cadence, texture, rhythm and early rhyme-constructions. One very good example is my poem, ‘Durga Puja’ [re-published later in The Dhaka Tribune newspaper as part of a larger sequence, ‘Durga Sextet’]. During the lead-up to the puja celebrations, prayers are chanted from Chandipaath. In the poem, ‘Durga Puja’, I try to replicate its languorous baritone rhythm and its song-like cadence, as well as its long-lined couplet-structure.
In the poem ‘New York Times,’ I invented a rhyme-scheme — abxba cdxdc efxfe ... and so on ... — the middle line, i.e., the third ‘x’ line, in fact is the mirror-line which reflects the first and second lines with the fourth and fifth lines of each stanza. The other reason I used the five-line stanza-format in the poem is because the city of New York itself has five boroughs: Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, etc. The other aspect about this poem is if you turn the poem 90 degrees on its central axis, then a different kind of mirror line mimics the shape of the island of Manhattan itself and its reflection on the surrounding waters.
Another poem, a book-length sequence, Mount Vesuvius in Eight Frames (subsequently broadcast on BBC Radio as a verse-play, and premiered in London as a stage-play by Border Crossings directed by Michael Walling) is based on a series of eight etchings of a British artist, Peter Standen. The entire poem is set in rhymed couplets, reflecting the presence of two principal characters — man/woman, lover/other, life/death, and the other essential dualities. But they do not appear as obvious rhymes (like the translucent choral refrains in the poem) — they are wrap-around rhymes as opposed to endstopped rhymes. The four stanzas in each section reflect the four seasons, the four sides of a frame, the four corners of a visual space. I also use alternating line-indentation for each couplet and stanza with the idea that the entire poem works on a cyclical principle. So, if you join all the stanzas together using the left-justified margin as a reference plane, they in fact fit in a perfect dove-tail joint.
The poem ‘Single Malt’ (published in Wasafiri, UK) is one grammatical line, without any full-stops, mimicking the way whiskey, when poured gently into a crystal glass, caresses its sides and subsequently the tongue’s palette. Therefore, the slim verticality of this poem’s structure:
Another example is the poem, ‘Bharatanatyam Dancer’ (published on ‘The Poetry Foundation’, USA): In this poem, it might be interesting for readers keen on form to note that the line-end rhyme-scheme — abacca ... dbdeed ... fbfggf ... — maps and mirrors the actual classical dance step pattern and beat — ta dhin ta thaye thaye ta. Also, the left hand margin indentations match the same scheme and form.
There is also my book-length poem, Distracted Geography: An Archipelago of Intent (published by Peepal Tree (UK) & Wings Press (USA): It’s one long poem over 206 pages. The sparse elongated structure of the poem partly reflects the strength and surety of the human vertebra and spine, much like Neruda’s Odes that reflects the long, thin shape of Chile. The sections and subsections join together like synapses between bone and bone. The titles are translucent markers or breath pauses, not separators. The short two-line couplets echo the two-step footprints, a pathway mapped on the atlas. The 12 sections correspond to the 12 bones in a human ribcage, the 12 months in a year, the two 12-hour cycles in a day. There are 26 bones in the human vertebrae, and the 26 parts in the poem slowly assemble themselves and form a montage of tenuously strung lyrics. The 206 pages in this book match the exact number of bones in a human body.
I am constantly innovating with form and structure. This has allowed me to invent and introduce new forms (and structure) to the English poetry tradition, ones that did not exist before. Even as the voice and technique are in a constant state of flux and growth, there is always a distinct personal signature.
RS: You have also been editor and co-editor of several poetry collections. What has been your experience of editing such collections?
SS: Editing poetry and putting anthologies together are largely a labour of love. It is my way of showcasing the best of Indian poetry to people here and internationally. I have edited several important ones in the past, including The HarperCollins Book of English Poetry and Modern English Poetry by Younger Indians (Sahitya Akademi). But let me talk about the newest one, Converse.
Converse is authoritative, intellectually rigorous, judiciously representative ― a wide-ranging anthology ― an updated, international map of the best of English-language poetry by Indians. Commissioned to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, Converse showcases the best of the varied, vibrant, rich, and exciting 'living' poets from India and from the Indian diaspora who write in English.
Within this definitive anthology, you will find long-established writers as well as younger writers in a large room without walls, where both individual and collective echoes are equally eloquent and important. Converse erases hierarchies, making boundaries seamless and transparent, with the unifying factor being integrity of thought and language.
Diversity and multicultural perspectives allow the poets here to have an internal dialogue between themselves on one hand and, on the other hand, with the varied topographical and cultural spaces of their origin or influence. Bringing such a variety of poems together creates an inherent syntactical and historical tension, one that ultimately celebrates humanity, imagination, artistry, intellect, and the written word ― the result is in an original wordscape of the vastly multilingual, historic, and artistic terrain of India and the Indian diaspora. Meant equally for serious and lay readers of poetry and contemporary literature, this collection of work shares language that is poised, expansive, experimental, and centrifugal ― while the thought is stringent and cogent, maintaining a fine balance between emotion, ideas, and expression. Just as Holi’s gulal-smeared leaf (on the front cover) from a 75-year-old bargad tree radiates colour, celebration, and conviviality against a dark geopolitical and climate reality ― so is this anthology itself a Keatsian ‘Bright Star’, creatively voicing affirmation and optimism. Converse is a book to relish and cherish.”
RS: Your recent book ‘Anthropocene: Climate Change, Contagion, Consolation’ encompasses the entire gamut of response to the covid pandemic. I was especially touched by ‘Burning Ghats, Varanasi.’ What inspired you to write this collection? Did you innovate with structures of poetry to lend urgency to your concern about climate & pestilence?
SS: Thank you – I’m glad the poem ‘Burning Ghats’ touched you. The act of ‘burning’ is so much part of the process of ‘climate change’ and the ‘pandemic’, and in the idea of ‘anthropocene’.
My newest book, Anthropocene is a literary and artistic response to, and inspired by, the most urgent issues that face humanity now — climate change and the pandemic. Anthropocene tackles the complexities head-on with honesty and sensitivity, without any compromise. Simultaneously engaging multiple genres — creative non-fiction, essay, prose, poetry and photography — the book interrogates our lives against the backdrop of a dangerously fraught and ever-changing landscape, on the emotional, physical, micro and macro levels.
Amid all the negative noise in the world, here is a quiet artistic offering — a testament to our fervent times where the ever-increasing ravages of climate change scar humanity, where Fascist politics overrides the silence of introspection, where the cleaving schism between the rich and poor becomes ever-widening, where racism peaks at an all-time high, where toxicity among people proliferates, and fake news abounds.
Ultimately, the book is a plea for positivity and prayer — it urges us to slow down, to introspect, to consume less. It is time once again to learn how to love selflessly and embrace “Hope, heed, heal — our song, in present tense.”.
RS: Which are the contemporary voices (poets & writers) that echo and resound with you?
SS: There are so many — Derek Walcott, Seamus Heaney, Joseph Brodsky — Jibanananda Das, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ghalib — the list is endless.
RS: A lot of our readers are budding poets and writers. What advice would you give them about honing their poetic skills and craft?
SS: Read, read, and read more. Read your colleagues work with a critical eye. Read the classics and the contemporary poets in India (and worldwide). Practise writing formal verse, even though that might not be your thing. It is a good learning and apprenticeship.
RS: The Whispering Anklets, Blue Nude: Ekphrasis & New Poems, and Red are your forthcoming books. Tell us a little about them.
SS: The Whispering Anklets project has been many decades in the making — born out of my long-term engagement with dance, music and the arts. The poems in the book — simultaneously spontaneous and studied — are often a series of crafted ekphrastic responses to live performances. Dance and music for me, are about the silence and its unarticulated hymns; about light, shadow and the penumbra within; about word and wordlessness; about stasis and movement; about introspection and expression — and also the strict practised forms and invisible architecture that drive and prop up the artistic exoskeleton. Dance frees my soul — it makes me walk on air.
Among my friends and colleagues, I count some of the world’s leading dancers and musicians, theatre and film directors, photographers and artists, poets and writers — my world revolves around the ideas and creations of these hugely talented individuals. This book is a collaboration with the extraordinary dancer, Aditi Mangaldas, and Dinesh Khanna, the master of composition and colour photography.
So whether it is Aditi Mangaldas’s soul-searching kathak and high-octane modern-dance shows, the carefully articulated padams and javalis by Leela Samson, Madhavi Mudgal and Bharati Shivaji’s lasya-layered abhinaya, Malavika Sarukkai and Alarmel Valli’s sinuous gazelle-like leaps — or the deep-throated aalaap of Pandit Jasraj, the mature sonics of Shubha Mudgal, the haunting melodies of Kishori Amonkar — I invariably find myself scrambling for scraps of paper in the semi-darkness of an auditorium, to scribble my early thoughts, to tie down phrases that suggest themselves. Over time, these notes-texts-phrases, through various assemblages and revisions, slow-morph into finely-etched poems.
Dance has always been, for me, “the hidden language of the soul” (Martha Graham). The Whispering Anklets “murmur[ing] mnemonically / in … lucent luminescence” — is an act of individual obsession, of artistic collaboration, of communal creative sharing, of friendship and humanity.
As regards, the two other books-in-progress — Blue Nude, and Red — let them be a surprise!
RS: Thank you so much Sudeep for taking time out to talk to The Wise Owl. We wish you the best in all your creative endeavours and hope your poetic voice scales greater heights.
SS: My pleasure.


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Stan The Man
When the world is occupied by zombies, what should you do? You should hold your gun and shoot all of them! Stan The Man is a shooting game which needs some physical skills, shoot those zombies in the right angle, the bomb will boom in 3 seconds.
Bir önceki yazımız olan Angry Cat Shot başlıklı makalemizde Attack Games, Boy Games ve Kids Games hakkında bilgiler verilmektedir.

domain: game


Integrated surface water/groundwater modelling is a preferred approach for watershed management studies. Particularly critical to the development of integrated models is the balanced use of fluxes and potentiometric heads (flows and levels). Our experience suggests that the key to the integrated analysis of flows and levels begins with the construction of an integrated relational database. Finally, our experience suggests the most common mistake made in the development of an integrated model is spending too much time refining the sub-models prior to integration. While it may be widely recognized that the quality of the model depends on the underlying data, without an integrated approach even good data can be wasted.
The MacKay River Watershed, northwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, is a diverse oil sands development region with numerous steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) operations planned or in production. Earthfx developed an integrated surface water/groundwater model using the USGS GSFLOW code to assess the cumulative impacts of SAGD operations on the MacKay watershed. Multiple scenarios representing groundwater diversions and land alteration under pre-development, current and future development conditions were simulated on a daily basis over a representative 25-year climate period. The analysis indicated that projected water use in the study area is broadly sustainable on a watershed scale; however, ongoing efforts will be needed to mitigate effects.
One of the significant benefits of the tiered Ontario Source Water Protection water budget approach was the opportunity for significant improvement in numerical model analysis at each progressive level. Recognizing this challenge and opportunity, Earthfx strongly advocated to conducting fully-integrated surface water and groundwater modelling studies for all the Tier 3 studies. Perhaps the most significant conclusion is that practical, engineering-scale integrated analysis can be accomplished within a watershed context. In 2010, Refsgaard et al. predicted that by 2020 all modelling in Denmark would consist of fully-integrated analysis. Perhaps, due to the challenges and opportunities of the Tier 3 process, that future has arrived early in Ontario.
Mining of sand and gravel from below the water table typically involves removal of cover material and exposing the groundwater (in the form of a flooded pit or pond) to direct insolation. Earthfx developed a groundwater flow and heat transport model to assess potential off-site thermal migration at an aggregate operation in southern Ontario, Canada. Extraction of sand and gravel was underway when a thermal plume emanating from the on-site pond was identified, potentially impacting a nearby trout hatchery. This study illustrated how MODFLOW-NWT in conjunction with PRMS and the updated MT3D-USGS code can be used to successfully characterize the thermal regime surrounding sand and gravel operations, and evaluate potential impacts from thermal plume migration on nearby ecological receptors.
Long-term monitoring (LTM) networks, particularly in northern or remote locations such as the Alberta Oil Sands, are expensive to build and maintain. The need to characterize, understand and monitor cumulative effects in these watersheds remains high. Our recent experience demonstrates that the comprehensive approach inherent in the development of an integrated surface water and groundwater model can provide significant insight into the design and optimization of a LTM network. Examples from multiple integrated modelling projects demonstrate the benefits of a model-driven LTM network design. Finally, Earthfx is using Business Intelligence (BI) database concepts to integrate and manage the complex database storage and analysis needs of an integrated monitoring and modelling strategy.
The assessment of mine or quarry development requires a multi-disciplinary approach to address the range of water-related concerns. The fundamental issue is that many of the effects of development, and pit inflows in particular, cannot be accurately separated into surface and groundwater components. Integrated surface water and groundwater models can address the complete hydrologic cycle in a manner that rigorously addresses the processes, spatial and temporal interactions. The benefits of this approach include a comprehensive assessment within an integrated framework. While sensitivity analysis is difficult due to long simulation times, the transient comparison provides unique insight into system behaviour.


El Masry Group was founded by Ahmed El Masry in 1994, currently it is one of the most experienced in the construction field in Africa and MENA region. Over the past years, the company has grown progressively to become a benchmark in the steel fabrication sector.
Our company does all sort of construction project, steel design, fabrication & installation. From our factories in both Qalyoubia and Sadaat, in addition, to our offices in Giza we work to provide the highest quality productions. More than 34,000 m2 of factory allow us to offer customized and standardized products and services. All of our productions are produced in a personalized strategy, paying close attention to quality, throughout the whole process since importing the raw materials to designing, manufacturing and installing all until the moment of delivering.
The vast number of projects conducted by our team are our greatest success. We at El Masry Group focus on delivering value, the technical monitoring through the production process, reliability to deliver on time, post purchase care are our mottos on which we work.
Following these unprecedented standards, the organization has extended to various sectors including import & export of steel components, oil & gas and advertisement media screens. The organization constantly strives to be a leading player in the market, through improving our capabilities, providing updated technologies and continuous expansion.
El Masry Group is a certified organization
ISO 9001, ISO 45001, Inspection & Procedure testing, as well as, we have an established quality control plan. These certifications ensure the effectiveness of our production process and value of products produced.


Hunting Accident In Dodge County
A 43-year-old Mukwonago man suffered non-life threatening injuries when he was shot in the face while pheasant hunting in Dodge County Tuesday afternoon. Dodge County Sheriff’s officials say the man and a 58-year-old Richfield man were hunting on private property on Dairy Road in the Town of Leroy when the accident happened. The Richfield man shot at a flying pheasant and the bird shot from his shotgun struck the victim who was 40 to 50 yards away. An ambulance took the man to Aurora Medical Center in Hartford. Both hunters were wearing orange hats and vests. The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by Brownsville First Responders and Fire Department, Knowles Fire Department, Mayville EMS and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.


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I can’t believe another year has flown by. The end of year book survey is hosted by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner. I love doing this at the end of the year.
2014 Reading Stats
Number Of Books You Read: 200
Number of Re-Reads: 0. I love doing re-reads but didn’t do any this year. :/
Genre You Read The Most From: New Adult & Contemporary
Best in Books
1. Best Book You Read In 2014?
After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor
3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2014?
Unteachable by Leah Raeder
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2014?
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
5. Best series you started in 2014? Best Sequel of 2014? Best Series Ender of 2014?
Series Started: Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott
Sequel: Losing Track by Trisha Wolfe
Series Ender: Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi
6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2014?
Noelle August (sort of new since this duo includes Veronica Rossi)
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
Made For You by Melissa Marr
9. Book You Read In 2014 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
Ready To Wed by Cindi Madsen
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014?
Remember Me by Romily Bernard
11. Most memorable character of 2014?
Trent Maddox from Beautiful Oblivion by Jamie McGuire
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014?
Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour
13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2014?
After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Definitely makes you think about your own relationship.)
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read?
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2014?
It’s pretty much impossible to pick one because there are so many that I like.
16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013?
Longest: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Shortest: A Date of Godlike Proportions by Tellulah Darling
17. Book That Shocked You The Most
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)
Aria & Perry from Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi
19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
Alexia & Akeldama from The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger
20. Favorite Book You Read in 2014 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
Finding Fate Series by Chelsea Fine
21. Best Book You Read In 2014 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (the only book I read from recommendations)
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014?
Colt from Miles from Kara by Melissa West
23. Best 2014 debut you read?
Unteachable by Leah Raeder
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
Charlie Glass’s Slippers by Holly McQueen
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2014?
The Book Thief by Markus Suzak
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
A Risk Worth Taking by Heather Hildenbrand
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2014?
NIL by Lynne Matson
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
Blameless by Gail Carriger because Lord Maccon was a total ass.
Your Blogging/Bookish Life
1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2014?
2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2014?
Jackaby by William Ritter
3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?
Probably my Top Ten Tuesday posts
4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
Fresh Fiction Party in February. Had so much fun!
5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2014?
Having dinner with Kim Harrison
7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
Street Team Signups for Tracy Wolff
8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
Sing Along Saturday
9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?
10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
I completed the Review Pile Challenge and my goodreads challenge
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2014 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2015?
Ruin & Rising by Leigh Bardugo
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2015 (non-debut)?
3. 2015 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2015?
Rebound by Noelle August
5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2015?
Attend Romantic Times Book Lover’s Convention
6. A 2015 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:
Gone Too Far by Natalie D. Richards

domain: library


A big pothole on southbound Glebe Road, near S. 2nd Street, is causing a traffic hazard for drivers.
The pothole is forcing drivers in the left southbound lane to either swerve around it or slam on the brakes in order to avoid damage to their cars.
The hole appears to have formed in a recently-laid patch of asphalt.
A 3 BD/2.5 BA home located at 707 N. Ivy Street is Today’s Listing of the Day.
Maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there are similarities between being a judge in a courtroom and an actor on stage. “It’s all really about trying to understand…
With my final Modern Mobility column I’d like to look back at the last few years and look ahead to the next few.
This year saw major changes to how Arlington County and Arlington Public Schools run community swim classes, to the surprise of some locals. In July, Arlington Public Schools launched the…


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Kat and Dan got married ago five years ago this month at the summer camp they met at… during Hurricane Danny….in an outdoor ceremony. Kat, in all her artistic vision and commitment to great photography, refused a tent and had a ceremony in the woods in an outright deluge. It was absolutely amazing and we loved every second. We submitted our photos to PDN magazine (Photo District News) and we placed in their world wide ‘Top Knots’ contest for the photos we took at their ceremony. Here is a link to that blog post from five years ago so you can see the photos HERE
They asked Ben and I to come back and photograph them for their five year anniversary last week. We were stoked. This is what we saw. Thank you madly to both Kat and Dan. We wish you nothing but a lifetime of that love and laughter you two share. We adore you both. Peace.

domain: artistic


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WASHINGTON, D.C. — During a recent hearing, U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) questioned Chad F. Wolf, the Trump administration’s nominee to serve as under secretary for strategy, policy and plans at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), on the agency’s policies that repeatedly subject some travelers to obtrusive and time-consuming secondary security screenings.
Peters, the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, recounted complaints he has received from Michiganders who have regularly faced serious disruptions and challenges while traveling.
In response, Wolf expressed his shared concern that the agency’s policies could be repeatedly inconveniencing some travelers and expressed his willingness to investigate the existence of larger, systemic flaws in the traveler system.
Muslims and Arab Americans have especially reported frequent incidents of harassment, delays and poor treatment during flights in recent years.
“Time and time again, I have heard from my constituents who find themselves subject to lengthy and intrusive secondary screenings when they travel for business or to visit family,” Peters said. “We all agree that we must take appropriate measures to keep the traveling public safe, but these repeated, intrusive secondary screenings raise serious concerns for countless law-abiding Michiganders. I am glad that Acting Under Secretary Wolf shares my concern and is committed to addressing this serious issue, should he be confirmed to the position.”
Video of Peters’ questioning can be seen below:

domain: news


Big Sean Express His Opinion By Saying “Black Women Are The Closest Thing To God”
Big Sean Express His Opinion On Twitter As “Black Women Are The Closest Thing To God”.
Big Sean is currently getting roasted on Twitter, following his recent comments about black women.
The 33-year-old rapper had a sit with ESSENCE to discuss the BET comedy/drama series he stars in, called Twenties, ahead of its season 2 finale, and during the interview, discussed how he’s got a lot in common with his on-screen character, Tristan.
I can relate to the essence of him because there are times where I’m not on social media. There are times when I am on social media. There are times where I put my phone down and leave it somewhere so I can relate to wanting to disconnect from the grid and go offline.
Tristan is a photographer, so Sean, as a performer, can relate to his role’s natural creative side. I don’t agree with everything he does or how he acts or how he says [things] but I can see where he’s coming from, he explained to the outlet.
Big Sean, further in the interview opened up on his past relationships saying that he has ghosted and has been ghosted in the past. He also revealed what it feels like to work in an environment led by women on the set of Twenties, saying, women are magical. Black women are the closest thing to God. Via


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Yet another festival is returning to Epcot and, yes, it will be modified. The Taste of Epcot International Festival of the Arts begins on Jan. 8, 2021 and will run through Feb. 22, 2021.
- Over 15 Food Studios around World Showcase
- Purchase artwork from Disney and other artists that will be on display in marketplaces around World Showcase
- Special art-themed photo locations around the park
- A paint-by-number mural for all guests to participate
- Visiting artists will create art live for guests to enjoy
- Performances by Mariachi Cobre and the JAMMitors
- A fun scavenger hunt as you search for Figment around World Showcase
- The chance to purchase festival-exclusive merchandise
Seeing as both the Candlelight Processional and the Eat to the Beat Concert Series were canceled at Festival of the Holidays and Food and Wine, respectively, it doesn’t seem likely that the Disney on Broadway Concert Series will return either.
According to the Disney Parks Blog, more details will be released in the future, which we will of course keep you apprised of, so stay tuned for more Festival of the Arts news.
- Epcot’s Festival of the Arts Returns In 2022 With Disney On Broadway Concert Series
- 2022 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival Dates Announced
- The Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival Returns March 2022
- Disney On Broadway Concert Series Lineup Announced For 2022 Festival Of The Arts
- Tickets On Sale For 2022 Swan & Dolphin Food & Wine Classic
- Select Rooms at Caribbean Beach Receiving “Under the Sea” Theme - October 3, 2022
- Walt Disney World Temporarily Closing Due to Hurricane Ian - September 27, 2022
- 2022 Holiday Offer Available For Disneyland Resort Hotels - September 27, 2022


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Didn't think it was possible to get a taste of Africa in a long weekend? Think again.Read more...
The Gambia - Calendar
Bag a bargain
Christmas is over and budgets are depleted, meaning January is a good time to look for last-minute bargain packages at the height of the tourist season.
Dancing and drumming in Kartong
One of The Gambia's most prominent annual festivals, usually held over three days on the first full weekend in February, is dominated by exciting traditional music and dancing displays.
Chill out on the coast
March and April are among the best months to be at the coast – relatively cool at night, and towards the end of the dry season, which means mosquito and other insect activity is at its lowest.
Easter traditionally signals the end of the peak tourist season, which means that late April is often a very enjoyable time to be in The Gambia, with crowds thinning but facilities still operating in full seasonal mode.
The International Roots Festival, inaugurated in 1996 and now usually held biennially in late May (sometimes slipping into June) offers an opportunity for Europeans and Americans of African descent to explore their cultural roots.
(Photo: Traditional band at the Roots festival in Banjul © Ariadne Van Zandbergen, www.africaimagelibrary.com)
Take a backpack upriver
May and June are among the best months for independent travel, with pleasantly dry weather but falling outside the main tourist season, which means that the coastal resorts are relatively quiet.
The height of the rainy season, July isn't a great time to visit the Gambia.
Still heavy weather
Still in the height of the rainy season, August isn't a great time to visit the Gambia either.
Join the hustle at Abuko market
The livestock market in the small town of Abuko, close to Banjul, becomes a chaotic regional focal point during the build-up to Tobaski (a Gambian variant on the Islamic celebration of Eid-al-Adha), when it is customary for every home to slaughter a ram. Tobaski coincides with the end of the annual Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca, falling in September from 2015 to 2017.
A pre-season taster
Though it can be very hot in the interior, this is a great time to explore the coast, offering pleasantly dry weather prior to the abrupt start of the tourist season.
The early dry season, from late October to December, is the optimum time for ornithological trips to the Gambia. Wetland habitats are still moist and green, following the recently ended rainy season. November in particular sees plentiful passage migrants from Europe, while many resident species enter full breeding colours.
A Senegal thick-knee by the River Gambia © Ariadne Van Zandbergen, www.africaimagelibrary.com
Tourist season peaks
A great time of year to visit in most respects, December is also when the coastal resorts are most crowded with Europeans escaping the northern winter, which means resorts tend to be at their most crowded and room rates are highest and most inflexible.

domain: geography


text: Director, Information and Public Relations, Dr. M.P. Sood today released the souvenir of Press Club, Shimla on the occasion of 30th foundation year of the Club.Speaking on the occasion Dr. M.P. Sood congratulated the members on completion of 30 years of Shimla Press Club and organizing various social and constructive activities. He said the State Government was making every effort to facilitate the media persons around the State and recently the accreditation policy had been simplified and notified to provide accreditation facility to maximum journalists including photo journalists. Besides, the State Government was also working on on-line media concept with a view to provide accreditation and recognition to the journalists working with different news web portals etc.The Director said that the Himachal Pradesh Journalists Welfare Scheme announced by Chief Minister Shri Virbhadra Singh would go a long way in facilitating the media persons besides redressing their issues. He said the Chief Minister had also announced a sum of rupees one crore for construction of new building of Shimla Press Club and the Information & Public Relations Department was working on identifying some suitable land and as soon as the land was finalized, the work would be started immediately.On the demand raised by the members of the Press Club, Dr. M.P. Sood assured to provide two LED televisions, computer and CCTV cameras for the Club. Various other issues were also discussed during the interaction and the Director assured of every possible help to facilitate the media persons.He also suggested the Press Club Shimla to work as a forum for discussing various social agendas and issues relating to the development of the State.Earlier, President, Shimla Press Club Shri Gian Thakur raised various issues of the working journalists and also placed few demands to develop and renovate the club keeping in view the rising number of the media persons.Senior journalist Shri Ashwani Sharma presented vote of thanks.


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By Crina Anastasescu,Susana Mihaiu,Silviu Preda,Maria Zaharescu
This booklet provides rainy chemical sol-gel and hydrothermal tools for 1D oxide nanostructure education. those tools signify an enticing path to multifunctional nanomaterials synthesis, as they're flexible, low-cost and, hence, applicable for acquiring quite a lot of oxide fabrics with adapted morphology and homes. 3 particular oxides (SiO2, TiO2, ZnO) are mentioned intimately in an effort to illustrate the main of the sol-gel and hydrothermal training of 1D oxide nanostructures. different oxides synthesized through this system also are in short presented.
Throughout the publication, the correlation among the tubular constitution and the physico-chemical houses of those fabrics is highlighted. 1D oxide nanostructures convey fascinating optical and electric houses, because of their restrained morphology. additionally, a well-defined geometry should be linked to chemically lively species. for instance, the natural SiO2 nanotubes provided a mild photocatalytic job, whereas the Pt-doped SiO2 tubular fabrics act as microreactors in catalytic reactions. relating to titania and titanate nanotubes, huge particular floor region and pore quantity, ion-exchange skill, greater mild absorption, and quickly electron-transport potential have attracted major study curiosity. The chemical and actual ameliorations (microwave assisted hydrothermal methods) discussed the following enhance the formation kinetics of the nanotubes. The ZnO nanorods/tubes have been ready as random debris or as huge components of small, orientated 1D ZnO nanostructures on various substrates. within the latter case a sol-gel layer is deposited at the substrate sooner than the hydrothermal guidance. utilizing acceptable dopants, coatings of ZnO nanorods with managed electric habit might be obtained.
Read Online or Download 1D Oxide Nanostructures Obtained by Sol-Gel and Hydrothermal Methods (SpringerBriefs in Materials) PDF
Similar optical engineering books
For the prior seventy years, ferrites (magnetic ceramics) were prized for quite a number homes that has no similar within the present steel magnetic fabrics. they've got contributed to many very important advances in electronics and new high-performance items are showing forever. Ferrite know-how has produced larger growth long ago 15 years because the first variation used to be released.
Photonic Crystals are the latest varieties of optical fabric being constructed for advertisement functions in undefined. they're more likely to supply an exhilarating new software for the manipulations of photons and feature got the eye of either academia and undefined. Roadmap on Photonic Crystals offers a close clarification of the heritage of photonic crystals, the theories at the back of them, numerical simulations, crystal constructions, fabrication approaches, assessment tools and proposed purposes.
Photoelectron spectroscopy is now turning into increasingly more required to enquire digital constructions of varied strong fabrics within the bulk, on surfaces in addition to at buried interfaces. The power answer used to be a lot stronger within the final decade right down to 1 meV within the low photon strength quarter. Now this method is obtainable from a couple of eV as much as 10 keV via use of lasers, electron cyclotron resonance lamps as well as synchrotron radiation and X-ray tubes.
This choice of the chosen papers offered to the second one foreign convention on Photonics, Optics and laser expertise PHOTOPTICS 2014 covers the 3 major convention clinical components of “Optics”, “Photonics” and “Lasers”. the chosen papers, in periods complete and brief, outcome from a double blind evaluate conducted by means of convention application Committee contributors who're hugely certified specialists within the convention subject components.
- Glassy Disordered Systems:Glass Formation and Universal Anomalous Low-Energy Properties
- Introduction to Microsystem Design: 1 (RWTHedition)
- Fundamentals of Light Microscopy and Electronic Imaging
- Problems in Laser Physics
- WDM Mesh Networks: Management and Survivability
- Optical Fiber Telecommunications Volume VIB: Systems and Networks (Optics and Photonics)
Additional resources for 1D Oxide Nanostructures Obtained by Sol-Gel and Hydrothermal Methods (SpringerBriefs in Materials)
- Get Glimpses of Abhidharma: From a Seminar on Buddhist PDF
- Download PDF by António Teixeira,giorgio maria tosi beleffi: Optical Transmission: The FP7 BONE Project Experience

domain: chemistry


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Created by Jill Girling and Lori Mather-Welch, 2018-2020, Teen TV series, TVPG, recommended for ages 11+
When Lena Grisky, a Russian Princess and student at the Paris Opera Ballet School accidentally time travels to present day, she must quickly adapt if she hopes to keep her secret and hide from the dangerous Time Collectors.
Antarctica: Ice and Sky (La Glace et le ciel)
Directed by Luc Jacquet, 2015, 1h29, recommended for ages 10+
From the Oscar-winning director of March of the Penguins, Antarctica: Ice and Sky is an epic tale of scientific adventure and a stirring personal memoir that recounts the remarkable life's journey of Claude Lorius, the first scientist to discover conclusive evidence of man-made climate change deep beneath the Earth's surface.
Created by William Joyce, 1998-2001, French-Canada, animated TV series, recommended for ages 4+
Rolie Polie Olie's life and adventures center on his Robo-family which includes his loyal dog Spot, his little sister Zowie, his Mom and Dad, and his grandfather robot, Pappy. Every day is a surprise growing up on the fantastic planet of blue skies and robots who are happy, helpful machines. It's a warm and idealized world where literally everything comes to life.
Directed by Patrick Imbert, 2021, France-Luxembourg, 1h34, PG, recommended for ages 13+
Were George Mallory and his companion Andrew Irvine the first men to scale Everest on June 8th, 1924? Only the little Kodak VPK camera they took with them might reveal the truth. In Kathmandu, 70 years later, a young Japanese reporter named Fukamachi recognizes the camera in the hands of the mysterious Habu Jôji, an outcast climber believed missing for years. Fukamachi enters a world of obsessive mountaineers hungry for impossible conquests on a journey that leads him, step by step, towards the summit of the gods. Based on the Japanese manga series of the same name by Jiro Taniguchi.
Available on Netflix
Directed by Rémi Chayé, 2015, France-Denmark, 1h20, PG, recommended for ages 8+
1892, Saint Petersburg. Sasha, a young Russian aristocrat, has always been fascinated by her grandfather's life as an adventurer. A renowned explorer, he designed a magnificent arctic ship, but he hasn't returned from his last expedition to the North Pole. To save her family's honor, Sasha runs away. Headed towards the Great North, she follows her grandfather's trail in search of his famous ship.
MyFrenchFilmFestival (Until February 13, 2023)
MyFrenchFilmFestival is a worldwide French film festival presented by Unifrance whose goal is to shine a spotlight on a new generation of French-language filmmakers. Below are our selection for the younger audiences:
- The Crossing (La Traversée) by Florence Miailhe (recommended for ages 14+)
- A Story for Two Trumpets (Histoire pour deux trompettes) by Amandine Meyer
- Pests (Nuisibles) by Juliette Laboria
- Anxious Body by Yoriko Mizushiri
- Please don't touch by Capucine Gougelet
Available online here and in the United States, on TV5Monde Cinema, Film Movement, Amazon Prime, Vudu, and France Channel.

domain: entertainment


Conejo Valley Unified School District officials said they are rescinding their initial recommendation to allow the Bridges Charter School to open at the Horizon Hill campus in Thousand Oaks and will recommend three other options when the Conejo board meets Tuesday night.
The board voted unanimously in January to offer Bridges Charter the Horizon Hills campus on Greta Street, which also houses the district's adult education, preschool and parenting programs. Bridges supporters, however, are insisting on the former University School campus, which they said has plenty of available room.
In an 11-page letter, the charter board's attorney, Sarah J. Kollman, outlined various claims as to why Horizon Hills would not provide "reasonably equivalent contiguous school facilities" as required under state law. Under Proposition 39, a school district is required to provide facilities for a charter school if a certain number of district students plan to attend it.
Conejo Deputy Superintendent Jeff Baarstad said Friday the district's lawyers reviewed the charter's concerns and carefully weighed the factors of placing it at Horizon Hills, one of the older sites in the district.
"We have looked at their biggest concerns and we determined it is a valid concern," Baarstad said. "All of the other elementary schools have gone through a comprehensive modernization except Horizon Hills. Second, if they plan to expand and should they get bigger in the future, the charter would squeeze out the programs that are already there."
Baarstad said district staff Tuesday will recommend trustees instead consider University, Glenwood or Park Oaks schools. The board will not vote Tuesday but could provide staff with further instructions on the issue, Baarstad said.
If trustees and Bridges eventually agree on Glenwood or Park Oaks, the district would have to consider redrawing school boundaries, said Superintendent Mario Contini.
If Bridges is placed at Glenwood, about 100 of Glenwood's 360 students would have to be moved, Contini said.
If the charter goes to Park Oaks, about 50 existing students would be affected. Contini said parents would be given the choice to move to another campus.
"This would mean a displacement of students, but it would be a voluntary shrinkage of enrollment, so families would not feel displaced," Contini said.
At a previous meeting, Baarstad said opening the charter at Glenwood would cost the district $702,000. Glenwood has seven classrooms available for Bridges, but the charter would have to share common facilities like the lunch area and library with an established K-5 program at the school.
Baarstad said he will present updated cost and facilities information for University, Glenwood and Park Oaks at Tuesday's meeting.
Jon Baker, a Bridges spokesman and parent, said that while he is pleased with the district staff's decision to reconsider the charter's concerns, Bridges parents oppose redrawing school boundaries.
"As a parent, I am thinking about how I would feel if I can't attend my neighborhood school, and we don't want that to happen," Baker said. "To be told that I would need to relocate to accommodate a charter school wouldn't sit well with me. That would be very disruptive to those students, because of their relationships with their classmates and teachers."
Baker said Bridges supporters will continue to push for the University site.
Contini has said placing the charter at University would jeopardize district plans to expand a child development center and preschool program within two or three years.
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Providing EHR news and information to help physicians and practice administrators navigate the quickly changing world of health care. You are busy enough, let us do this for you … it’s the least we can do (really, it is the LEAST … there’s a lot more if you’ll let us!)
01/20/15 | SOURCE: Health Data Management
The majority of patients would like to have digital services such as online appointment scheduling, bill paying, and access to lab results, yet only about one primary care physician in three offers such customer service.
01/17/15 | SOURCE: Modern Healthcare
The healthcare sector of the U.S. economy will be hiring at a faster pace in 2015 , but the binge will be uneven.
01/16/15 | SOURCE: Modern Healthcare
CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner announced Friday that she will be leaving the CMS at the end of February; she was there for over 3 years.
01/10/15 | SOURCE: Modern Healthcare
The specter of the U.S. Supreme Court striking down premium subsidies for millions of Americans will loom over the healthcare policy debate in Washington during the first half of 2015, and its fallout could dominate the second half of the year.
01/09/15 | SOURCE: Tampa Bay Business Journal
Two of the largest hospital operators in Tampa Bay are kickstarting a joint venture designed, in part, to keep people out of the hospital
01/06/15 | SOURCE: Health News Florida
One of the top Medicare billers in the country, Central Florida cardiologist Asad Qamar, is the target of two lawsuits accusing him of systematic Medicare fraud, including padding bills and performing unnecessary procedures.


Is Romneycare a "government takeover" of healthcare?
Absolutely not. A true government takeover is where the government owns and controls the insurance companies and hospitals. Countries with socialized medicine, such as Canada, France, and Britain, have government-run insurance plans and hospitals. In countries with socialized medicine, where the government has "taken over" the healthcare industry, private companies play a very small role in the overall healthcare industry. The government is largest provider of healthcare services to its citizens.
Romneycare is nothing like socialized medicine or a government takeover. In fact, Romneycare empowers and strengthens the private market by requiring people to purchase health insurance plans from private insurance companies. It is significant to note that nearly all major private insurance companies and hospitals supported Gov. Romney's healthcare bill in 2006. Also, according to FactCheck.org, some of the most strident critics of Romney's plan are the groups that support socialized medicine.
A prominent surgeon and New York Times bestselling author, Atul Gawande, wrote a piece for The New Yorker magazine on Jan. 26, 2009 which states:
Massachusetts, where I live and work, recently became the first state to adopt a system of universal health coverage for its residents. It didn't organize a government takeover of the state's hospitals or insurance companies, or force people into a new system of state-run clinics. It built on what existed. Repeated surveys have found that at least two-thirds of the state's residents continue to support the reform.
Is Romneycare bankrupting the state of Massachusetts?
Not at all. Numerous unbiased organizations such as FactCheck.org and The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation - a think tank funded by business - determined after a 2009 study that the cost of Romneycare is "relatively modest" and "well within initial projections." They go on to say,
"Despite claims to the contrary, the Foundations recently released analyses of the cost to taxpayers of achieving near-universal access to healthcare showed that the average yearly increase was only $88 million, well within original estimates. Critics ignore the fact that the fundamental problem is not the costs of Romneycare but rather the unprecedented collapse of state tax revenues."(Fact check me here, here and here)
Another important note on the overall costs of Romneycare is that the Democratic legislature and the succeeding governor of MA modified Romneycare and added significant costs to the bill. This fact should not be overlooked. The following are some cost-containment items Romney tried to institute in Romneycare, but was overriden by the Democratic legislature:
1) Romney fought for a "higher deductible" option of health insurance that would pass the state's minimum-coverage guidelines - that idea was rejected by the legislature. Every healthcare purchaser knows that higher deductible plans are cheaper.
2) Romney didn't like that the states minimum coverage required expensive features that only a few people would use and some people would morally object to such as "unlimited in-vitro fertilization" and abortion. Romney believed that consumers should be free to choose a healthcare plan with the benefits they wanted, not be dictated by the government what features their healthcare plan must contain. Benefit-rich healthcare plans are expensive, and that is what the MA legislature required every citizen to purchase. (source - No Apology, paperback edition, pg. 194)
3) Romney tried to veto coverage for dental care, and optical care (much to my chagrin), all of which were overridden by the legislature.
4) A medicaid expansion for children was added to the bill by the Democratic legislature.
5) Romney wanted to control costs by having everyone, even the poorest of citizens, pay some portion of their premiums for their health insurance. But the succeeding governor decided to give it to the poor absolutely free. Romney also argues that giving healthcare absolutely free to poor citizens creates a strong incentive for people - particularly the unhealthy - to move into the state. Imagine the increased costs "free" healthcare creates for the government. (source - No Apology, paperback edition, pg. 194)
6) Governor Patrick also set the state's share of the premiums above a level Romney thought was affordable. Those who recieved subsidies on their health insurance, now could rely on the government to pay a bigger portion of their premiums. (source - No Apology, hardback edition, pg. 175)
7) Gov. Patrick also added an expensive prescription drug benefit after Romney had left the governorship.
All of these modifications to Romneycare had a major impact on costs. Romney can't be blamed fully for the costs of the program.
Did Mitt Romney Intend for RomneyCare to be Adopted Nationwide?
No. The best way to see if Romney intended for RomneyCare to be adopted nationwide is to read interviews of Gov. Romney right after the health care law was passed in 2006. One such early interview was on NPR on April 8, 2006 where he said this:
Q: Stepping back, what impact do you think this will have outside Massachusetts? Around the country, people are watching because they know this is big. Some on the far left don’t like it because it’s not a single-payer universal coverage program. Some on the far right don’t like it because they don’t like government telling people that they need to get insurance. But the great majority of people, both on the left and the right, believe that this is a step forward.
Q: Can this model be used in other states? My guess is a lot of states will choose to adopt one or another of the measures we’ve put in place here. But most will give it a little time and watch to see what our experience is. That’s the great thing about having 50 states and the principle of federalism. Let us experiment ourselves. Let us learn from one another.Note that Romney emphasizes that states will learn from one another and adopt whichever policies would work best for their state. States are free to accept or reject the policies passed in Massachusetts. Romney never intended there to be a federal mandate upon the states to implement RomneyCare. (Hat tip to Charles Mitchell at EFM)


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Unvaccinated First Responders Have Higher Risk, Incidence of COVID-19 Infection
Unvaccinated first responders were more likely to doubt the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines than vaccinated counterparts, reporting low trust in the government.
Unvaccinated first responders are more likely to develop COVID-19 infection than vaccinated first responders, according to a research letter published in JAMA Network Open.
Unvaccinated responders were also less likely to believe in the safety and efficacy of vaccines, demonstrating low trust in the government. Despite facing increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, vaccine uptake among first responders has remained relatively low, according to the study.
To assess attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination and illness burden among vaccinated and unvaccinated first responders, researchers used data from the Arizona Healthcare, Emergency Response, and Other Essential Workers Study (HEROES) and Research on the Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Essential Response Personnel (RECOVER) cohorts.
Eligible participants of the HEROES and RECOVER studies were enrolled in Florida, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Arizona. Participants were 18 to 85 years of age and worked at least 20 hours per week in occupations involving direct contact (< 3 feet) from others. Participant characteristics were collected upon enrollment, including self-reported information on race and ethnicity.
From January 1 to September 30, 2021, participants provided weekly nasal specimens using home-based kits and reported COVID-19-like symptoms via text message. Respiratory specimens were tested for SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19-related duration of illness and missed work were assessed at the beginning and end of each illness.
Quarterly follow-up surveys were used to assess vaccine knowledge, attitudes, and practices among participants, who were considered fully vaccinated 14 days after receipt of recommended primary vaccine doses. Sociodemographic characteristics and attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines were compared for unvaccinated and fully vaccinated participants. Incidence rates of COVID-19 were calculated from January through September 2021 and compared by first responder type.
Among 1415 participants, 79% were men and 21% were women. Self-reported race and ethnicity data showed that 29% of participants were Hispanic and 95% were White. The participants were identified by occupation: 68% were firefighters, 17% were law enforcement officers, and 15% were other first responders.
A total of 1163 participants completed an attitude survey, including 62% of 586 unvaccinated participants and 97% of 829 vaccinated participants. Of the fully vaccinated participants, 35% said they trusted the government regarding COVID-19 vaccine. Only 12% of the unvaccinated participants trusted the government.
Unvaccinated first responders were also less likely than vaccinated first responders to believe that COVID-19 vaccines are effective (61 [17%] vs 430 [54%], respectively) or safe (54 [15%] vs 435 [54%], respectively).
Among first responders, a total of 184 COVID-19 illnesses with assay-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were identified during the study period from January through September 2021. COVID-19 incidence per 1000 person-weeks was 11.9 (95% CI, 7.0-20.1) in unvaccinated and 0.6 (95% CI, 0.2-2.5) in vaccinated individuals.
Incidence was also higher among unvaccinated firefighters (9.0 [95% CI, 6.4-12.7]) compared to vaccinated firefighters (1.8 [95% CI, 1.1-2.8]).
Mean (SD) duration of illness for participants with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 was higher for unvaccinated individuals at 19.7 [16.9] days than for vaccinated individuals (15.3 [11.7] days). Mean (SD) duration of missed work was also higher for unvaccinated individuals compared to vaccinated individuals (85.2 [49.3] vs 67.6 [25.8] hours). However, differences were not statistically significant for either measure of duration.
Overall, unvaccinated first responders were more likely to develop COVID-19 and less likely to believe in the effectiveness and safety of vaccines than vaccinated first responders.
“Our findings suggest that state and local governments with large numbers of unvaccinated first responders may face major workforce disruptions due to COVID-19 illness,” the authors wrote.
The authors further suggest that governments consider vaccine mandates with regular testing and alternative work assignments for unvaccinated workers. They also note that there is a need to leverage trusted nongovernmental sources to increase vaccinate rates, considering the low trust in the government regarding vaccines among first responders.
The study had some limitations. The small number of COVID-19 illnesses observed among vaccinated individuals limited the precision of estimates and precluded adjustment for potential confounders. Additionally, the generalizability of the results is limited, given that most participants were White and from Florida and Arizona.
Caban-Martinez A J, Gaglani M, Olsho L E, et al. COVID-19 vaccination perspectives and illnesses among law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first responders in the US, January to September 2021. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(7):e2222640. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fulla rticle/2794346?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=071922. Published July 19, 2022. Accessed July 20, 2022.

domain: medical


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See a free screening of the documentary Freedom Riders tonight at the Varsity Theatre in Chapel Hill.
The film is described as "the powerful, harrowing, and ultimately inspirational story of six months in 1961 that changed America forever." It is a production of American Experience (WGBH/Boston) and is based on Raymond Arsenault’s book Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice. It is the winner of three 2011 Emmys.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with the film's producer Laurens Grant and playwright Mike Wiley. Wiley created the play The Parchman Hour: Songs and Stories of the ’61 Freedom Riders, which opens October 26 at PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill.
Many of the freedom riders were imprisoned in Mississippi’s notorious Parchman Farm Penitentiary, where they passed the time by created a nightly live variety show known The Parchman Hour. This show was the inspiration for the play.
The film starts at 6:30, and admission is free.
The play runs October 26-November 13, 2011.


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Portadown have been slapped with a 12 point deduction due to Peter McMahon's eligibility, but the points deduction will not take effect until the coming 2016/17 season.
The decision ensures that the club will not face relegation from this year's Irish Premiership, a larger issue which has yet to be decided due to a joint appeal from both Warrenpoint Town and Ballinamallard United against the punishment dished out to Carrick Rangers over manager Gary Haveron's breach of his touchline suspension.
McMahon was one of four Portadown players who's contract situation was brought to attention by an investigating committee into the payrolls of every top flight club. The Ports had already been handed a fine and banned from signing players on professional contract for twelve months due to being in breach of rules with regards to the contract of Gary Twigg, while the case against Tim Mouncey was overturned on appeal. The fourth player, Darren Murray - who has since joined Cliftonville - had his case unproven.
Portadown have confirmed they are considering an appeal against the decision, while rival clubs may wonder why the punishment applies to next season and not the current campaign - when the club broke the rules.
The 2015/16 Irish Premiership campaign ended over six weeks ago, but the dispute over relegation rumbles on.


On Saturday young ski jumpers from throughout the Midwest will travel to beautiful Timber Coulee to participate in the Snowflake Junior Ski Jump, on Saturday, Jan. 6.
The junior jump will host skiers from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois. There will be open training from 9-11 a.m., with registration ending at 11 a.m. Opening ceremonies are at noon, followed by the competition. Competitors skiing on the 65-meter will be qualifying for a spot on the Junior National Team to compete at the 2018 Junior National Ski Jumping Competition.
Snowflake Ski Club members are excited to see everything coming together for the junior jump, especially in light of all the time and money invested into hill renovations over the past couple of years for the safety of skiers and the future of the sport. The recent cold snap was also a ski club blessing allowing volunteers to make snow to pack the hills and scaffold.
The newly landscaped area provides jumpers with 5, 10, 20, 40, and 65-meter jumps, served by a single tow rope and lighting. The 5-meter hill was a new addition and will provide beginners with a great entry level jump. The 10 and 20-meter hills were re-profiled to match the flight curve for safer landings. The club also added all new lighting for evening practices, installed new tow rope support poles and re-contoured the tow rope path. Work was also completed on the scaffold in 2017.
Today, Westby’s Snowflake Junior Ski Club has approximately 15 kids involved ranging from ages 5 to 15 years old, with Matt Keuler overseeing the skiers as the Westby coach.
The 2018 Snowflake Ski Club royalty, Faith Gardner, Alexis Mahan and Rebecca Buckles, will meet and greet visitors throughout the day at the junior jump this weekend.
Admission to the junior jump is free. Souvenirs, food and beverages will be available at the Westby Rod & Gun building adjacent to the jumps and there will also be a bonfire after the competition. The public is encouraged to stop by and enjoy the event.
For more information go to www.snowflakeskiclub.com


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domain: design


Gary Holt insists his Livingston side will achieve an unbelievable achievement they defeat Hamilton to assure their Ladbrokes Premiership status for next season.
Tipped as relegation favourites prior to the campaign, the Lions have continually upset the odds and have never looked in danger of being dragged into a dogfight.
A victory on Wednesday would see them break the 40-point barrier and open up an insurmountable gap between themselves and 11th place given St Mirren and Hamilton are still to face each other twice.
And Holt is adamant securing safety so early would be a staggering achievement.
He beamed: “Not only could we be safe, but we could be on 41 points. To do what we’ve done has been tremendous.
“When you take a step back and consider it, that is unbelievable – a massive achievement for a promoted club.
“And it’s not like we are a yo-yo club, Livingston haven’t been at this level since 2006.”
Meanwhile, Holt insists he has no qualms about fielding Craig Halkett for the remainder of the campaign despite Livingston’s club captain agreeing on a pre-contract switch to Hearts.
Halkett will undergo a fitness test on Wednesday morning as he seeks to shake off the leg injury that kept him out of Livi’s 2-1 defeat against Hibernian last Friday.
Holt said: “Everyone that knows Craig or watches him will realise how committed he is. The first thing he said to us after the deal was done: ‘Don’t leave me out, I want to play every game’. That is the man he is.”
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Nebraska football will face Kansas State, which lost to the Cowboys, in Week 12 of the 2017 season.
The game will kick off at 6 p.m.
Nebraska (1-0) will take on Kansas (0-1), which beat Nebraska last week.
Nebraska will be without senior running back Jalen Hurts, who suffered a concussion against Iowa.
The Huskers also will be missing senior defensive end Darius Riley, who missed the game against Iowa with an injury.
Also out with a concussion will be wide receiver Dontay Davis, who will miss the game after being placed on injured reserve with a sprained ankle.
Quarterback Zach Smith and tight end Austin Hays will be out with injuries.
Sophomore linebacker DeAndre Nieves will miss Nebraska’s game against Kansas State with a neck injury.
Quarterbacks Dak Prescott (3-3) and Trevone Boykin (1:3) are also out.
Nebraska’s schedule is listed at 8 p.x.
The next two weeks are games against Baylor and Northwestern.

domain: sports


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- Three female fugitives wanted in New Jersey restaurant theft arrested in Illinois
- Man guilty in 2012 crash into home that injured 8-year-old
- McDonald’s: Federal complaint says company is joint employer
- T-Mobile settlement: $90M for cell phone bill cramming
- Shelter Care Ministries gets $30,000 grant
- Even more dead bees?
- Holiday travel: 98.6 million plan getaway, most on record
- Scam artists posing as utility reps, demanding payment
- Holiday mailing deadlines approach, Rockford Post Office warns
- Hispanics more than half of all renters, yet most are uninsured
State Rep. Cabello targets property taxes
Online Staff Report
With rapidly declining home values and property taxes on the rise across Illinois, State Rep. John Cabello, R-Machesney Park, filed legislation that would give homeowners much-needed relief.
“Illinois ranks among the 10 states with the highest property tax rates,” said Cabello. “Factor in the 67 percent tax income tax hike two years ago, and it is no surprise that Illinois families are struggling. We need to do our part to make sure they are not taxed out of their homes.”
As Cabello’s first bill filed in the Illinois General Assembly, House Bill 1521 would place a five-year freeze on raising property taxes by requiring that any increase or decrease in the taxpayer’s bill would only be founded on a change in the value of the property.
“When property values decrease, taxing bodies can increase rates to make up for the lost revenue, allowing them to try to squeeze every last nickel and dime out of homeowners. I want to put a stop to those unfair practices.”
For more about any issues related to state government, constituents can connect with Rep. Cabello by contacting his office at (815) 282-0083 or via e-mail at JohnCabello@aol.com.
Posted Feb. 15, 2013

domain: law


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I recently read this great article about Reagan's change in speech pattern. It raised the question if he had early onset dementia while in office.
Early onset dementia is usually defined as affecting people younger than age 65.
Reagan was three weeks from his 70th birthday when taking office. Reagan died aged 93.
Therefore, it is highly unlikely he had early onset dementia.
Various articles make the claim, however the original statement that the articles are based on seems to imply that it is a matter of predicting the future onset of Alzheimer's based on subtle differences in speech.
The findings, published in The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease by researchers at Arizona State University, do not prove that Mr. Reagan exhibited signs of dementia that would have adversely affected his judgment and ability to make decisions in office.
But the research does suggest that alterations in speech one day might be used to predict development of Alzheimer’s and other neurological conditions years before symptoms are clinically perceptible.

domain: health


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