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When it comes to selecting a school, parents and students can choose from a wide range of options. They can select from public schools, separate schools, Francophone schools, private schools, and charter schools. They can also access a number of unique and innovative programs - including home education, online/virtual schools, outreach programs and alternative programs. Parents can also opt to home school their children.
Choice is one of the important principles Alberta's education system is built on. Learn more about the following school options:
Public and Separate Schools
Every individual who at September 1 in a year is 6 years of age or older and younger than 19 years of age and is a Canadian citizen, admitted to Canada for permanent residence, child of a Canadian citizen, or child of an individual admitted to Canada for permanent or temporary residence is entitled to have access in that school year to an education program in accordance with the School Act.
Under the law, parents whose first language is French have a constitutional right to have their child educated in French where there are enough students to warrant it.
Parents may choose to educate their children outside the public education system, within the private school system. Private schools may charge tuition and other fees as required. There are two kinds of private schools in the province.
Charter schools are autonomous non-profit public schools designed to provide innovative or enhanced education programs that improve the acquisition of student skills, attitudes and knowledge in some measurable way.
Home Education / Blended Programs
Parents who choose to educate their children at home assume primary responsibility for delivering and supervising their child's courses of study and work as partners with a school board or accredited private school to ensure the child's educational goals are being met.
Private Early Childhood Services (ECS)
Early Childhood Services (ECS) assist children in achieving early academic success, and is widely thought to contribute positively throughout a child’s academic career. The Government of Alberta recognizes that parents may have a variety of reasons for choosing to place their children in a private ECS program, and provides funding and resources for more than 120 such programs throughout the province.
Online Learning Programs
Online Learning Programs are an educational program offered by a school authority and delivered electronically to a student at a school site or off-site, under the instruction and supervision of a certificated teacher of a board or accredited funded private school.
The Online Learning Programs offered by Alberta School Jurisdictions are unique in delivery formats, registration processes, and face to face requirements. Online learning is one of many learning environments that facilitates personalized learning and provides a flexible option for students to access Alberta courses and programs. For information about current Online Programs in Alberta, click here.
An Outreach program provides an educational alternative for students who, due to individual circumstances, find that the traditional school setting does not meet their needs. The Outreach Programs Handbook is a resource to help school jurisdictions (administrators, teachers, trustees), parents and community members understand the expectations and practices related to Outreach Programs.
An "alternative program" means an education program that (a) emphasizes a particular language, culture, religion or subject-matter, or (b) uses a particular teaching philosophy, but that is not (c) a special education program, (d) a program referred to in section 5, or (e) a program of religious education offered by a separate school board. The Alternative Programs Handbook (under revision) is a resource on section 21 of the School Act and outlines suggested procedures for establishing an Alternative Program. See http://www.qp.gov.ab.ca/index.cfm for a copy of the School Act.
Alternative School Year Calendars
To read more about roles and responsibilities for alternative programs, see: FAQs Alternative Programs.
The School Act delegates the responsibility for setting the school year to the local school board. Most school boards approve a traditional school year (September to June) but may also consider school years that vary from this traditional calendar. Recommendation #17 of Alberta’s Commission on Learning report (October 2003), encourages schools and school jurisdictions to explore alternatives to the current school year. In support of school boards, schools and school councils interested in an alternative school year, Alberta Education has produced the following documents:
- Basic Information on Alternative School Years
- Alternatives to the Traditional School Year Calendar: Information for Schools and School Jurisdictions
- Alternative School Year handbook (in development)
- Alternatives to the Current School Year: A Review

domain: sociology


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In celebration of the final weekend of this exhibition, Kara Walker: Cut to the Quick will be on view for free through January 16.
Learn About the Exhibition »
The Cincinnati Art Museum is looking for talented, young artists, grades 7–12, to display their work at our 10x10: Teen Art Expo. Just create a work of art on paper that measures 10 inches by 10 inches and is related to the theme: "My Culture." This theme is intentionally open-ended. How you choose to visually express your identity, community, or other aspects of your culture is up to you.
All works must be on paper. No frames or mats allowed. All artwork must be submitted through our online form to be considered. 100 works will be displayed in person, and all other qualifying works will be presented in a slideshow. Online submissions are due February 28. Please submit your artwork by clicking the link here.
The Cincinnati Art Museum seeks to be inclusive in this exhibition. We will display all qualifying submissions in a slideshow in the museum during the Teen Art Expo. We will also highlight a select number of artworks that will be displayed in person during the exhibition. These artworks will be selected by the 10x10 Team to showcase a variety of schools and ages. The 10x10 Team is a group of volunteer teen art enthusiasts from around the city, that is organizing this year’s Expo.
Final artwork selections will be announced on March 7 via email. Artwork drop off will be specified in the announcement. If you have any questions, or did not receive an email, please contact [email protected].
Artwork will be displayed from April 26–May 2 at the Cincinnati Art Museum.
Each fall, the museum recruits youth to help plan and organize the 10x10 Teen Art Expo. The 2021-2022 10x10 team has already been selected, please check back in Fall 2022 to be a part of the 2023 Teen Art Expo.
Supported by the generosity of tens of thousands of contributors to the ArtsWave Community Campaign.
General operating support provided by:

domain: artistic


Joe Biden has been making attacks on the ‘MAGA Party’ recently, using the term “ultra-MAGA” and calling Donald Trump the “Great MAGA King.” However, it has been revealed that Biden’s attempt at insulting the GOP took a lot more time and manpower to come up with than one might think.
Since Biden started using the term “MAGA”, the GOP has been embracing this label, producing a lot of related content on social media making fun of Biden’s new attempt at insulting Trump and his supporters.
Biden is now calling Trump “The Great MAGA King”
Seriously confused how this is supposed to be insulting. pic.twitter.com/8tx9IM6tOr
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) May 11, 2022
Joe Biden has anointed Donald Trump “MAGA KING” pic.twitter.com/NCH9O8LDlm
Trending: JUST BREAKING: As House Oversight Chair Prepares To File Contempt Charges Against Director Wray, FBI Makes Astonishing Statement [VIDEO]
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) May 12, 2022
President Trump just posted this @MidnightMitch meme on TRUTH Social after Biden referred to him as the “MAGA King.”
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) May 12, 2022
“My predecessor, The Great MAGA King” – Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/foeLw11m5z
— Drew Hernandez (@DrewHLive) May 11, 2022
What has become a source of comedy for the GOP reportedly took liberals six months of research to come up with. A research project led by Biden’s adviser Anita Dunn and a liberal group called the Center for American Progress Action Fund revealed that “MAGA” was viewed as a negative term by voters. The research also found that voters in battleground areas would be less likely to vote for someone called a “MAGA Republican.”
When asked at a press briefing about Biden using these new insults, Jen Psaki said, ” I would say that the president is not afraid to call out what he sees as extreme positions that are out of line with where the American people stand.”
However, in reality, Biden was just being told what to say (per usual) to further the political agenda of his party, not calling anyone out on his own accord. No, instead it took a whole team of researchers for dementia Joe to “call out” anything at all.
Rather than fighting the new label, Trump supporters have leaned into it, even creating “ultra MAGA” merchandise for purchase.
It appears that the Biden Regime just wasted six months… Which is not exactly surprising.
Get your ULTRA MAGA shirt here! https://t.co/24j913qGNA https://t.co/v8suwMKCAo pic.twitter.com/GlN7KrMaLC
— NRCC (@NRCC) May 13, 2022


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Farmer digs up mammoth, keeps it in his living room6/6/2012
It's the prehistoric version of finders, keepers: An Iowa farmer has dug up the bones of a 14,000-year-old woolly mammoth he found in his backyard. He's not, however, donating the bones to a museum. Instead, he's keeping them in his living room. "Sometimes I get tired of moving bones around from one spot to the other," he said. The farmer, who will identify himself only as John to preserve his anonymity, says he and his sons have been excavating the bones for the past two years, since they found them buried along a creek. He recruited a former paleontology professor to aid in the excavation, and they hope to recover the beast's skull in the coming weeks.
What would you do if you found a mammoth in your backyard?

domain: news


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Alane Varga Compares 1960s Activism to Today
Challenges to social justice under the Trump administration suggest America is headed toward more reactionary times. “These are not new issues,” explained Alane Varga, Dean of Diversity and Student Development at Utica College, emphasizing connections between social activism of the 1960s and today during a recent talk at Utica College hosted by the James Sherman Society.
The dynamics are similar too. “Activism pushes back against the voices not being heard,” said Varga. Many feel separated from the political process after the close and controversial election, helping to explain slogans like “not my president,” and “love trumps hate.”
A critical difference is the role of social media in promoting widespread activism in the digital age. People now have the ability to share mass amounts of information quickly, including signing electronic petitions, connecting via Facebook and Twitter, and organizing globally recognized events. Varga believes that without social media the Women’s March would not have been as large or successful.
Varga also believes there is much to be learned from the social movements of the 1960s, most importantly, embracing philosophical differences within and across social movements. To embrace the needs of others is to begin transitioning to social movements characterized by collectivistic qualities rather than individualistic.
Women’s social movements should include all women. The LGBT community should stand united. If activists can promote unity within and among social movements, more voices will be heard, making desired change more possible.
Chris Lauzon (firstname.lastname@example.org) is an intern for The Utica College Center of Public Affairs and Election Research.


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A Russian court has sentenced a woman to five days in jail for wearing rainbow earrings as the country’s absurd crackdown on the so-called “international LGBT movement” ramps up.
A court in Nizhny Novgorod, east of Moscow, sentenced a woman to five days of detention for reportedly wearing frog-shaped earrings with an image of a rainbow.
The woman was charged and found guilty of publicly displaying “the symbol of an extremist organization.” The judge explicitly cited the Supreme Court’s November ruling.
Remember that Russia’s Supreme Court banned what it called the “LGBT movement” last November, designating it as “extremist” and “banning its activities on the territory of Russia”.
In Putin's Russia, any and all queer expression is effectively against the law. The country passed its infamous laws banning “promotion of non-traditional sexual relations” in 2013 and expanded them in 2022.
Shame on you Putin!!!


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I'll Be headed back to Cali in June for some good old fun, to visit family, work, create, and of course ROCK A SHOW! I called up the big homey Dirty Birdy and we decided not only to knock out a song before I get there.....but throw a show for all of our friends fans and family....Better yet....we are going to do a FREE show. We are rocking at our good old local stomping ground (The Vibe) and yes we will have some amazing special guests as usual....make sure you take and Uber, Lyft or bring a designated driver AND some DRANK $$$ because we are Partying!!!!!!!
Emotional Rollercoaster: CD w/ free mp3 Download
Seefor Yourself's Debut Album "Emotional Rollercoaster"
- By My Side
- So Beautiful
- Emotional Rollercoaster
- Love 4 U
- Love Me Some Me
- U Must Love Me pt 2
- My Sun
Executive Producer: Seefor Yourself Produced by Evan Palmer & Amon Flanagan *The Avila Bros Mixed by Seefor Yourself & Matt Marrin Artwork by Milk


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Is Urgent Care the Same as a Walk-In Clinic?
Are you looking for an urgent care clinic or a walk-in clinic? Contact Pine Knob Urgent Care in Clarkston, Mi and get treated with our compassionate and kind providers. For more information, please contact us or schedule an appointment online.
Table of Contents:
While emergency rooms and primary care clinics are essential medical facilities, they are not always flexible enough to accommodate all medical concerns. Concerning emergency rooms, you have likely been in a scenario where you had an urgent medical problem that did not qualify as an emergency, resulting in hours upon hours spent in the waiting room wondering if you are ever going to see a doctor for your concern. Concerning primary care clinics, you may have experienced an injury or come down with something on a Friday evening that requires urgent medical care but cannot see your doctor until the following week. Urgent care clinics and walk-in clinics were created with the intent purpose of accommodating such medical concerns. However, there are some differences between urgent care and walk-in clinics! We go through the differences between walk-in and urgent care clinics below.
Walk-in clinics and urgent care clinics function similarly in several different ways. However, they are not the exact same type of medical facility. While both urgent care clinics and walk-in clinics accept walk-in appointments, which means you can see a doctor or medical professional when visiting either clinic without making a prior appointment, urgent care clinics generally have the capability to treat more serious medical concerns and conditions than walk-in clinics.
Urgent care clinics can treat any medical concern that is not a life-threatening emergency, for which only emergency rooms and intensive care units have the proper equipment and resources to care for. With that in mind, there is a broad range of medical conditions, illnesses, and injuries that an urgent clinic can treat, such as the following:
• Abdominal pain and stomach aches
• Abrasions, cuts, and lacerations that do not involve a lot of bleeding
• Animal or insect bites
• Burns and rashes
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Cold and flu
• Diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting
• Ear and eye infections
• Headaches and migraines
• Heartburn and indigestion
• Joint pain
• Minor fractures, sprains, and strains
• Sinus infections
• Urinary tract infections (UTIs)
• Women’s health issues
A walk-in clinic is a medical facility where patients can go to receive medical care without making an appointment prior to their arrival. As such, urgent care clinics and emergency rooms both function as walk-in clinics but are differentiated from walk-in clinics due to the nature and severity of the medical concerns they are able to address.
While costs vary depending on the clinic, location of the clinic, services rendered, and other factors, urgent care clinics are often slightly more expensive than walk-in clinics because they typically offer a broader range of services. However, the cost margin between walk-in clinics and urgent care clinics is minimal, and both options are inexpensive alternatives to the emergency room, which can be four to five times more expensive than urgent care and walk-in clinics. You may also find that walk-in clinics and urgent care clinics in your area have the same price ranges.
Please feel free to call us if you want to know our price ranges or other related information at Pine Knob Urgent Care in Clarkston, MI! A member of our friendly administrative team would be happy to answer any questions you have about our price ranges, payment plans, insurance policies, and more.
Our medical doctors and professionals at Pine Knob Urgent Care would be happy to see you for a walk-in appointment! For more information, contact us or come to our clinic at 6310 Sashabaw Rd, Suite C, in Clarkston, Michigan, for a walk-in appointment.

domain: medical


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The weekend’s fast approaching and I hope you've got something fun planned.
If your auto response is "I wish. Like I have time for that,” - along with a run through of all the things you have to do - then that, my friend, is a red flag the size of Texas that you sure as hell need some pleasure in your life – and quick!
Pleasure is simply a feeling of satisfaction and enjoyment. And pleasure is important to your overall health and well being.
Think about what you’d like to do that would make you feel sooooo good this weekend.
Do you want to sit and read the paper in peace and quiet for 20 minutes? Spend more time playing with your kids? Go to spin class? Get a blow out? Meet a friend for coffee? Watch some TV? Take a nap? Try out a new recipe? Go for a walk? Do a puzzle? Window shop? Browse the aisles of Bed, Bath & Beyond? (That can’t just be my guilty pleasure.)
Whatever you want to do, find a way to make it a priority and make it happen.
That’s an order. :) Because when you allow yourself to relax and enjoy – even if it’s just for a few moments throughout a rather stressful day – the way your day is flowing, will shift.
You can’t just read about this effect. You have to try it out for yourself. Take action.
If responding to this email by telling me what you’re going to do for fun will make you more likely to do it, by all means reply!
But if you want more happiness and won’t begin to fit it into your life, you’ve got to ask yourself what’s holding you back from doing that.
It may not be fun to sit alone and ponder the answer to that question, but taking a real good look at and getting to know a problem is the only way you can solve it.
Now, the reason pleasure’s been on my mind is because you told me it was on yours.
Remember the survey I sent on Monday? Well, you jumped on that as quickly as a paranoid person jumps to conclusions, so thank you!
And if you haven’t already responded, it’s not too late. You can do it right here.
I wanted information that would help as I tweak some of the topics I write about, the coaching I do and products I’ll offer.
And as I looked at the results, one thing really stood out. Get this – almost every person who responded wanted the same thing above anything else – more pleasure and fun in their life. Less stress and more calm consciousness.
That speaks volumes. It may not seem so surprising to you, but it’s very affirming and helpful to me.
I’m going to take that valuable insight and work to fulfill your desire for happiness because that is truly my pleasure.
Oh, and one more thing. If you did respond to the survey, please know that I will be in touch as promised!
Here’s to committing at least one small act of pleasure this weekend!

domain: psychology


Return to Transcripts main page
Fifth Service Member Dies from Wounds from Chattanooga Shooting; Wildfires Break out in California; GOP Candidates Gather in Iowa; Donald Trump Invited to Speak at Social Conservative Meeting; Investigation into Background of Chattanooga Shooter Continues; New York City Issues Financial Settlement with Eric Garner's Family; CNN Hero Provides Education and Housing for Troubled Youths. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired July 18, 2015 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:07] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. So grateful to have your company. I'm Christi Paul.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell.
This morning, we are beginning with the breaking news out of Chattanooga. Sadly, a fifth service member who was shot in Thursday's attack has now died.
PAUL: The Navy is now confirming a Navy petty officer has died of his wounds. That man was identified by his family as Randall Smith. This brings the total now to five service members who have been killed. Sara Ganim is live in Chattanooga. Sara, what else have we learned?
SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Christi and Victor. You can see behind me that this memorial has become very active this morning as people in the community are coming to pay their tributes, especially after we have learned this morning that that fifth service member has died.
His family earlier in the week while he was still fighting for his life talking to CNN about what happened. I want to read a little bit of what his grandmother said. She told us that he saw the shooter and tried to warn everyone around him but couldn't get away fast enough. He was shot three times, once in the stomach, once in the colon, and once in the liver. He had undergone surgery earlier in the week to try and repair those wounds. And the family was praying hard. He was fighting hard, but unfortunately around 4:00 a.m. this morning, he passed away. Some of that detail coming from his step-grandmother who talked to our CNN affiliate about what happened. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARLENE PROXMIRE, STEP-GRANDMOTHER TO RANDALL SMITH: You can think this will never happen to your family, but, by gum, it can. It can happen anywhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GANIM: Now as the memorial grows behind us, there is also an active investigation behind that at the Navy recruitment center where other shots were fired before the five service members were killed. We have seen FBI and other officials combing through the parking lot all week -- all day, all morning. They have been looking, even walking in through the bullet-ridden doors, presumably collecting evidence and examining the scene. Christi and Victor?
PAUL: Sara Ganim, we appreciate it. Thank you so much.
BLACKWELL: So how do you stop this from happening again? How do you protect America's military here at home? Let's go and talk now with CNN military analyst Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. Good to have you, Lieutenant Colonel, with us this morning.
LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning, Victor.
BLACKWELL: So let's talk about what happened yesterday in Oklahoma and in Louisiana where the governors there signed these executive orders to allow service members to carry weapons at recruitment centers and other facilities. Is that the right way to go? I mean, we have tried this gun-free zone stance for some time now. Should that be reconsidered?
FRANCONA: I think we have to look at each facility individually and determine what the best way to secure these are. I don't think a blanket approach of just saying let's arm everybody is the right thing.
The recruitment centers are a real problem because they are in malls. They are in public areas. They want to be accessible because we want people to come in and talk to the recruiters. So they have to be accessible, they have to be open. So I don't think arming everybody in these offices is a good idea. Maybe contract security guards or some other way.
But the Pentagon is going to look at this. They have a week to get some recommendations for the secretary of defense. The support center where most of the action took place in this incident, those could be secured a little better. The defense department raised its alert level in May. So I was little surprised that there wasn't more security around these facilities. So I think the Pentagon is going to have to take a hard look at all these facilities.
But going to the bigger problem is how do you stop these things from happening? That's the real issue. Identifying these lone wolf attackers, people that are operating below the radar, very, very difficult to detect, and as we're seeing, almost impossible to stop.
BLACKWELL: As it relates to arms at some of these facilities, let me push back to some of the people who came up to me over the past couple of days in Chattanooga. In that shopping center where the recruitment center is, on the left you've got a cellphone store, on the right you've got a pizza joint. They all have about the same level of security, which is virtually none. These are the men and women that we trust and train to use weapons and when to use them. Why not arm them, or have weapons with them? FRANCONA: That's a good point. No one is questioning their ability
to use the weapons. But remember, they are not trained in law enforcement or the escalation of the situations. They are trained how to shoot things, kill them, because when the soldiers, marines, airmen use weapons, they are generally trying to destroy what's out there, not really diffuse the situation.
[10:05:06] So, listen, I'm all for providing some better protection for our recruiters. These are the men that, all of the ones that were killed were combat veterans. It is just a sad thing when we can send young men and women overseas and they survive the combat zone, they come back and they are killed in their own communities because they don't have weapons. I'm not saying we shouldn't have weapons, but we have to look at each individual case and do this smartly.
BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about a moment that I witnessed earlier this week in which a man who was once in the Air Force came to that site and knelt and cried there. He said that the doors that he saw that were filled with bullets, those weren't just bullet holes in a door. That was a gateway to a better life to the man he is today. What does this mean to the military community?
FRANCONA: All of us grieve when this happens. This hits home, because those are our brothers and sisters in arms. It is a feeling of the brotherhood and sisterhood that we all share. And it angers us when this happens on our own territory.
We all signed up to go and fight, but we fight overseas. And now that the battle is being brought home, it really has an impact, a psychological impact. And I think many of us are angry that we are not doing more to stop the root cause of this. And we are not going to stop this in the streets of Chattanooga or Atlanta or Detroit. But we are going to stop this in the streets of Fallujah and Ramadi and Baghdad. So we need to concentrate on the groups that inspire these lone wolf gunmen.
BLACKWELL: All right, retired Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, thank you so much.
Coming up just a little later, we are going to dig into the travels of Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez, the shooter in this case. We are live in Jordan where federal agents right now are searching for potentially the motive, if it is there. Could these mysterious trips explain his change over the last several years?
PAUL: We want to turn to the breaking news out of California. We want to make a distinction to several wildfires that are burning in that state right now. First of all, take a look at the pine fire. This is happening right now in Wrightwood, an area that's home to several camp grounds. Hundreds of campers evacuating late last night, including 90 Girl Scouts. As to the second fire nearby, crews are battling some really intense flames in San Bernardino County, dubbed the north fire. That scene is still very active this morning. As the sun is rising crews are battling more than 3,500 acres of earth that is now smoldering, and only five percent of this fire is contained. But take a look at what was happening last night. What an astonishing
picture, people running from their cars and up the side of a mountain to get away from those flames.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDRA DUARTE, DRIVER: At first, he would take care of it, put out. But then as it started to get closer we just panicked.
VICKI BEGLARI, DRIVER: We couldn't get out. It started over at that end I believe and then it slowly started to move forward. And then it jumped a lane.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Paul Vercammen is in San Bernardino County this morning. I understand you have some new information for us, first of all, about those drones and a warning from officials regarding how those drones might have made this more difficult, this fight last night. What are you learning, Paul?
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christie, after sort of backing off on whether or not drones had an impact on fighting the fire that was on the freeway with those cars burning, San Bernardino County officials coming out right now and telling me that five drones were up in the air over these burning vehicles. And they have a derogatory term for these drones. They call them hobby drones, as in they are people just sort of toying around.
They said this prevented them from getting choppers up and dropping water on the fire for 15-20 minutes. They went on to say that this is so risky because if these drones somehow made contact with a chopper blade, you can have loss of life in both the helicopter crews and on the ground. And they are urging people to stop flying these drones over fires.
Over the last three days, this is about the fourth or fifth time I have heard from a fire official, including three captains, who say these drones are becoming a problem here in California. Now they are saying to us, 15-20 minutes, they couldn't drop water on those cars because of these drones, Christi.
PAUL: And those people, we saw them scrambling. As I understand, Paul, just to clarify me for me, I read that they -- I was wondering where they were running? There is nothing there. You said that they ran up a hill. Did they stay there for about three hours, as I had read?
[10:10:11] VERCAMMEN: They ran down the freeway and I honestly cannot tell you where every single one of these people went. It is hilly over here. And I am sure that they probably just sought some sort of refuge, including the place behind me right here. What had happened is if they had gone in that direction, the focus change of the fire itself had jumped over these hills and that's when it threatened the town of Feland (ph). And firefighters made a dramatic stand right there, and homeowners got involved too. We talked to one of them who was grabbing a hose and trying to keep his house from burning down and basically getting everything wet in the area.
PAUL: Well, it is just outstanding, really, that there were no major injuries in this. Paul Vercammen, we so appreciate all your hard work this morning. Thank you.
BLACKWELL: On the bath to the White House the first step is Iowa. Friday night it belonged to the Democrats. Today, it belongs to the GOP. How can they separate themselves, someone in this huge field kind of jump out ahead?
Plus, marching for justice, today the family of Eric Garner is rallying on the streets of New York. And you see there will be lots of supporters with them. Can justice be found? Their definition of justice one year after Garner's death.
BLACKWELL: Donald Trump, the new Republican frontrunner, is about to try to sell himself to a crowd of social conservatives. The billionaire businessman is joining nine other Republican candidates at the annual Family Leadership Summit meeting in Ames, Iowa. It kicks off in the next hour.
[10:15:03] And it comes on the heels of Friday night's battle for the Democrats. For the first time all five candidates attended the same event together. Bernie Sanders, who has been surging in the polls, really, kicked off his speech by calling for, quote, "a political revolution."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Given the reality of economics and politics in America today, no president, not the best, can bring about the changes we need in this country unless there is a political revolution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: All right, you heard it there. We have got CNN politics executive editor Mark Preston live in Iowa for us. He attended last night's big event. Chris Moody is in Phoenix where another big DNC event is kicking off.
And Mark, I want to start with you. With the Democrats rallying around health care and same-sex marriage, if it were a pendulum of rhetoric, today it is going to swing hard in the opposite direction.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: No question. And 100 miles to the west of where we were last night in Cedar Rapids, you saw there from Bernie Sanders talking for a political revolution. You will hear the same today except it will be for entirely different policy proposals. Today they are going to talk about making sure that same-sex marriage is outlawed. People here that will be attending this summit very frustrated by the Supreme Court's ruling. They will talk a lot about abortion and they will talk a lot about morals and their family values. Expect about 2,000 conservatives to come to listen to 10 Republican presidential candidates talk on those issues, Victor.
BLACKWELL: Chris, I understand that last night at that event in Iowa, about 1,300 people there mostly in favor of Clinton, Clinton supporters there. But in Phoenix, maybe not the case. Why?
CHRIS MOODY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not the case at all. Here in Phoenix is the annual Net Roots Nation conference. It's about 3,000 of the most liberal Democrats in the movement. These are the group of progressives, the true believers. And I talked to a number of them this week. And I have been hard-pressed to find a truly passionate Clinton supporter this early on in the race. The name of the game right now among the liberal Democrats is Bernie Sanders. He is sucking all the energy out of the room. He's speaking here today and then doing a rally where thousands more are coming. Hillary Clinton is somebody that they may end up supporting if she wins the nomination next year, but right now they are all in for Bernie.
BLACKWELL: Let's check in with the Republican frontrunner to hear what Donald Trump said in Arkansas last night.
OK, well, he criticized Jeb Bush. He does it every week, probably every day now. Is this type of rhetoric, Mark, going to work with social conservatives, with religious conservatives there in Iowa?
PRESTON: You know, Victor, it is working right now. We are in 2015, the summer of 2015, he is playing to a very specific part of the Republican base that are very frustrated with two terms of a Democratic president. Today he will have to talk to a different audience in the sense that he is going to have to talk about values and issues that are important to these voters here in Iowa. These are the voters that help you win the Iowa caucuses. Donald Trump has started doing that on the stump. He is against same-sex marriage right now. He is prolife. These are issues we expect for him to talk about today, but expect him also to consider his criticism of Jeb Bush and others in the field.
BLACKWELL: Mark, I just don't know if Donald Trump is the best spokesperson, maybe he would even admit this, for traditional values.
PRESTON: Well, he has been married three times, no question about that. But it is interesting. He seems to keep on getting invitations to events like this. There are social conservative events that are held across the country. Several of them are in Washington, D.C. Donald Trump always comes. He is always a draw. Let's not forget, he is a reality TV star. He is larger than life in many ways. People want to hear what he has to say.
BLACKWELL: And Chris, how does Clinton win over the wing of the party that we see is just clamoring for Bernie Sanders?
MOODY: For starters, she could show up and talk to them. And that's something she is not doing here. She declined an invitation to come speak to the group. Remember, this is about 3,000 of the most hardcore liberal activists. These are people that are going to be knocking on doors, going out and preaching your name and your word, and she is not coming to speak with them this year. So that is step number one.
Also, what they want to hear is somebody they feel comfortable is going to go to Washington and not get into necessarily compromising debates. They want someone to stand for the principles that they believe in. And they think that is Bernie Sanders. And they are a little nervous about Hillary Clinton, the possibility of here going on and doing that.
But also the Bernie support has another impact, and that is bringing Hillary Clinton to the left as much as they possibly can get her so that if she wins the nomination, she will be further to the left side, to the liberal side, than she would have been without Bernie Sanders' pressure.
[10:20:12] BLACKWELL: All right, a lot going on this weekend, Chris Moody there in Phoenix, Mark Preston in Ames, Iowa, thank you, both.
PAUL: British tabloids are known for publishing what some say questionable pictures and videos. Did they go too far, however, with a 72-year-old clip of the queen? The royal's think so. We are going to show you the video that a lot of people are talking about today.
Plus, it has been a week since a drug kingpin slipped out of his prison cell in Mexico. Now new information that might have motivated El Chapo to get out quick.
BLACKWELL: New numbers on that attack this morning in eastern Iraq. We are now learning that the terror attack killed at least 120 people, and now 140 others are wounded. Officials say a car bomb exploded at a busy market where hundreds of people were shopping. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack. This is a predominantly Shiite town. It is about 21 miles north of Baghdad, we understand. The attack comes as people were getting ready to celebrate the festival that marks the end of Ramadan.
[10:25:07] PAUL: We are getting word for the first time in almost a month, Greeks will finally be able to access their money. The country's finance ministry says the banks are set to reopen Monday. They will have daily withdrawal limits, however. Banks there were closed three weeks ago to avoid running out of cash.
BLACKWELL: A once popular mall in Kenya is reopening after it was brutally ravaged by Islamist militants. This was about two years ago. In all 67 people were killed during this 2013 massacre. This is Westgate Mall we're speaking of. Many of those who survived the attacks say they will not go back in this morning. But one store employee is vowing to stay back to work saying, if people stay away, Shabaab will win.
PAUL: Buckingham Palace is condemning the use of it video. Take a look at it here. It was recently published by the U.K. tabloid "The Sun." The short black and white clip shows the young Queen Elizabeth and her sister playing. Elizabeth then gives a Nazi salute. The video was taken around 1933. Elizabeth was six years old and Hitler was rising into power. In a statement the palace called the film disappointing, later chastising the tabloid, saying they used it for exploitation.
It has been a year and there are still questions. The family of Eric Garner remembering the man they loved who died in police custody. They received a multimillion-dollar settlement. But the family, they say, are still waiting for justice.
BLACKWELL: Plus five servicemen now dead in the shooting in Chattanooga. And the big question most people are asking is why? A look at whether the trip to the Middle East changed Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez in the last couple of years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do we want?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When do we want it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do we want?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When do we want it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[10:30:00] BLACKWELL: Shouts for justice at a rally in New York. Now one year after Eric Garner's death there is another rally planned for this afternoon. You might remember Garner died after being placed in a choke hold by New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo. New York City has reached a settlement with Garner's family for nearly $6 million. But the family says what they want is justice, their definition of justice here. CNN's Boris Sanchez has details.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The now infamous video taken outside a Staten Island strip mall captures a confrontation between Eric Garner and New York City police officers.
ERIC GARNER: I'm minding my business, officer. I'm minding my business. Please, just leave me alone. I told you the last time, please leave me alone.
SANCHEZ: They approach the 43-year-old for allegedly selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.
GARNER: I can't breathe. I can't breathe.
SANCHEZ: Moments later, the father of six was dead, killed at the hands of police. The New York City medical examiner's office ruled Garner's death a homicide by way of a chokehold, a move banned by the NYPD.
EMERALD GARNER, ERIC GARNER'S DAUGHTER: What happened plays back in my head. It's just overwhelming.
SANCHEZ: Emerald Garner says she has only watched the video once. She refuses to watch it again. Just a few days before the one year anniversary of her father's death, New York City officials announced a $5.9 million settlement with the Garner family.
GWEN CARR, ERIC GARNER'S MOTHER: This is not a victory. The victory will come when we get justice.
SANCHEZ: Garner's widow Esaw says the money is not enough.
ESAW GARNER, ERIC GARNER'S WIDOW: What would bring me real comfort is to see them officers gets arrested, lose their jobs, suffer the same type of loss. I am not saying that he should die, but you feel dead when you are in jail, because time stands still.
SANCHEZ: Esaw is pushing for Sergeant Daniel Pantaleo who restrained Garner in the alleged chokehold to be prosecuted. In December of last year, a grand jury declined to indict him.
ERIC HOLDER, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I am here to announce that the Justice Department will proceed with a federal civil rights investigation into Mr. Garner's death.
SANCHEZ: The results of that investigation still pending.
EMERALD GARNER: You know what that right thing is. You know that my father's death was ruled a homicide. And these officers deserve to be prosecuted.
SANCHEZ: In the meantime, Sergeant Pantaleo remains stripped of his badge and gun, off the streets, relegated to desk duty. CNN reached out to his attorney, Stuart London, at least half a dozen times, but we've not heard back.
What happened to Eric Garner here in Staten Island resonated much further away. His last words sparking a movement across the country to change the way police interact with the community.
EMERALD GARNER: My father's situation sparked a whole movement.
CROWD: I can't breathe! I can't breathe!
SANCHEZ: Those three words became the rallying cry in Ferguson, Baltimore, and several other cities nationwide, where alleged cases of police brutality emerged after Garner's death. EMERALD GARNER: My ultimate hope and my ultimate goal is that people
just don't forget who he was.
SANCHEZ: Now Emerald Garner has made the cause into her career. She works with the National Action Network, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing civil rights. And she created the Eric Garner Foundation, hoping her work creates a brighter future for the two grandchildren her father left behind.
EMERALD GARNER: His spirit is with us. He is in our hearts. I have memories to last a lifetime. I can tell millions of stories between my siblings, my father, and my parents. So that's what the main thing is, keeping the memories alive, making sure that the stories we have I can pass to my daughter.
SANCHEZ: Boris Sanchez, CNN, New York.
PAUL: Let's bring in Walter Madison. He's the attorney for Tamir Rice's father. Remember, Tamir, was 12 years old and he was killed in a Cleveland police shooting last year. Walter, we just heard Eric Garner's family saying that their justice will come when these police officers face charges. What is the possibility you think at all that that would happen at this point?
WALTER MADISON, ATTORNEY FOR TAMIR RICE'S FATHER: It's very difficult. Quite honestly I think there is a slim chance that that would occur. It would largely depend on the federal prosecution or federal violation of civil rights. And I just don't know if that role happened for the Garner family.
PAUL: The grand jury declined to indict the police officer as we know it. If the family, does the family have any other option of pursuing a criminal case at this point?
MADISON: In New York, you have that situation. Here in Cleveland, you had the Tamir Rice situation. And Mr. Garner's life was not in vain. I'll say it has really advanced the issue and awareness. Citizens in Ohio counseled them and they got together and filed affidavits with the judge. The people demanded the charges. New York, I'm not sure if they have a similar provision in their law to do that.
[10:35:08] But you eat an elephant one piece at a time, and you must continue to bring this issue to the forefront. America is not at ease socially. There is dis-ease there, disease. And we must look at this situation head-on and do our very best to force change.
PAUL: So other than charges, what kind of reform within police departments do you think will bring that change, not just to the departments themselves, the change that this family is looking for, but collectively within the communities?
MADISON: Well, community, I mean the entire nation. Culture eats policy for lunch. It doesn't matter how or what policies change. Until we get to this cultural issue of police officers, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, all these people died from minor interactions with the police. And it is just really unfair. It is over the top. It stems all from a culture. And until that is changed and there is more of a focus of humanity, that's where our efforts should be and that's where the focus ought to be.
Each of those situations, the officers have been reprimanded administratively, but that's nowhere near just for the families who have lost their loved once. And I think the social and public outcry represents that. So it's a very reflective moment for the country one year later.
PAUL: That's true. Walter Madison, we appreciate getting your perspective on this. Thanks for taking the time to be with us.
MADISON: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: Friends say when the Tennessee shooter returned home from a trip to Jordan last year, he was different. He had changed. He took several trips to the Middle East in recent years. Question -- who was he visiting? CNN is using its worldwide resources to track down Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez's trips overseas. We have a live report coming up from Jordan.
Plus, it's been a week since the drug kingpin slipped out of the prison cell in Mexico. Now new information that might have motivated El Chapo to get out quick.
[10:40:54] BLACKWELL: Two days after the deadly attack in Chattanooga another officer has now died. A family member confirms that Navy Petty Officer Randall Smith passed away this morning after being shot several times. The U.S. Navy earlier confirmed the sailor had died. This as the investigation into his killer intensifies. Clues in the case are leading the FBI all the way to Jordan. And federal agents are focusing on a number of mysterious trips made by Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez, trips his friends say turned him into a different person. CNN senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is in Jordan. Nick, these trips really could hold the key to this investigation.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Possibly. Although, sadly, in an often deranged world of a lone wolf, they may not. What we do know is he used his American passport to come here a number of times in the past years, most recently in 2014. There have been media reports that could have been as long as seven months.
We know from Jordanian officials he met his uncle while he was here. They will be looking along with U.S. investigators to look at who else he met and where specifically he went, because while Jordan itself is not really a hot bed of radicalism, there are individuals here, there are pockets of even ISIS sympathizers at times. This is a very heavily policed society where ISIS has little popular support.
So they may also be looking to see whether he left this country to the north perhaps, an uncommon route used by jihadists heading to Syria from Jordan. Don't see that that often. Potentially he could have headed east towards Iraq where there are plenty of ISIS extremists and sympathizers, or maybe he used Oman as a transit route to another country. The suggestions are maybe he ended up in Yemen which has been a hot bed of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, even ISIS recently.
Many questions still to be answered. The mystery being, do these trips hold the key to some pivotal moment of radicalization, or did that occur somewhere else? Investigators are going to be struggling with a complex narrative there, because whatever happened when he was abroad, that did radicalize him. He still came back and drank droves. He was caught drinking alcohol and being drunk behind the wheel. That's not the behavior of a devout Muslim. So a complex narrative we are trying to create. But behind it may lead to the motivation or perhaps the inspiration for that attack in Tennessee, Victor.
Nick, we know those are the questions investigators will be trying to ask. But who or what did Abdulazeez say he was going to Jordan to see or do?
WALSH: He never made it entirely clear the purpose of his goal. He had extended family in this region. He said to friends that he was headed to see his relatives. We don't know if there was a wider purpose. Tourism is entirely viable here. People like him with Palestinian heritage who find family in Jordan or the West Bank as well, maybe, they would naturally come to try and explore where the family came from. That is itself suspicious, even for those naturalized Americans to do.
The question is, did he go elsewhere? I think they will be looking very cleanly, investigators, at this Jordanian travel document that he appears to have had, effectively a Jordanian passport that may have been used for further travel or not at all. But all these different parts, they are wrestling with complex names. He had an original family name that later became Mohammad Youssuf Saeed Hajj Ali, which became Abdulazeez, the family name on their American passport. That's going to complicate matters too in terms of delving into records. But I think at the end of the day they have to work out if something key happened that put him on that path toward those Tennessee attacks.
BLACKWELL: Nick Paton Walsh in Ammon for us, Nick, thank you.
PAUL: New developments in the escape of Mexican drug lord, El Chapo. Workers from the prison he ran from now facing charges. Was it negligence or did they help him escape?
Also, what are the chances that he just walked out of prison, not through the homemade tunnel? We are talking to one man who thinks that tunnel is all a ruse.
[10:48:45] PAUL: New details in the prison escape of one of the world's most notorious drug travelers. Mexican officials have confirmed that the U.S. filed an extradition request for Joaquin El Chapo Guzman two weeks before his jailbreak. El Chapo faces U.S. charges of conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine.
In the meantime, seven people who worked in that prison that Guzman was being kept in have been charged now in connection with that escape. CNN's Polo Sandoval is on the ground in Mexico City with the latest. Are the arrests of these people because they think there was neglect or they think they may have aided the escape itself?
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christi, that is a key question that Mexican federal prosecutors are yet to answer. They released that information saying these southern individuals are truly the first to be charged in connection with this case. We do know that they were employees at the prison just outside of Toluca, Mexico, about an hour's drive from where we are here in Mexico City. And we do know that this could potentially answer the question of who may or may not have actually helped Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escape. Now, this is all coming as investigators continue to push forward and try to track down this very dangerous individual.
[10:50:00] At the same time we heard from the Mexican president yesterday addressing this escape for the first time here in Mexico City, saying Mexican forces and security forces as well, promising to move forward, to push forward in this investigation and to track him down. But I have to say, Christi, there is some serious doubt among the people of Mexico this morning. Many people that I spoke to really seem to think that this level of corruption that is in their words part of the fabric of Mexico is likely going to get in the way in order to track this man down. So, again, some major key questions right now still at this hour.
PAUL: Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.
BLACKWELL: We have with us bestselling author Don Winslow to talk about this. One of the main characters in his latest novel "The Cartel" is based on Joaquin Guzman. And he has researched El Chapo for several years. Good to have you with us this morning.
DON WINSLOW, AUTHOR, "THE CARTELS": Thanks for having me.
BLACKWELL: So according to a recent NPR interview, and I find this fascinating, you have serious questions about El Chapo escaping through this really advanced, sophisticated tunnel. You say this is about saving face. Why?
WINSLOW: Well, I do have serious doubts he went through that tunnel. He might have. He might not have. Let's remember this is not Mr. Guzman's first escape. It is his second escape. He escaped from a maximum security prison in 2001. At that time the story was, he went out hidden in a laundry cart. Now we know, we found out years later, he didn't go out in a laundry cart. He went out the front gate into either a vehicle or a helicopter. So if the past is prologue, this tunnel could very, very well be a diversion or face-saving device, to say he made this daring escape. We didn't let him out. This wasn't an escape. This was a departure.
BLACKWELL: Is that worth all that work and time and money for just saving face? WINSLOW: Well, it sure could be, absolutely. Listen, the first time
Mr. Guzman got out of prison, it cost him a $2.5 million bribe. Prices have probably risen since then and this one probably cost more.
Whether he went out the tunnel or not, though, let's not lose sight of the larger picture. He didn't do it alone. And so he had help from both inside the prison and outside the prison. If he went out this tunnel, that's a mile long tunnel. He is not sitting in this cell digging out with a rusty spoon. He was let out. I have had harder trouble checking out of a hotel than he had getting out of this prison.
BLACKWELL: So you said that the cartels, and this is a quote, "It is not like the cartels are like ISIS. ISIS is like the cartels." Explain that.
WINSLOW: Well, we have been very focused, and quite understandably, on these ISIS videos recently of these atrocities. They are horrible. But the Mexican cartels were doing this 10 years ago to intimidate, to terrorize people, and, sadly, to recruit people. So similarly when I saw Chapo's most recent escape, it felt like a rerun to me, something we've been looking at for 10 years. Similarly the ISIS videos feel like a rerun in their full horror because, again, the cartels started doing this a long time ago.
BLACKWELL: Don Winslow, thank you so much for being with us. The book is "The Cartels," a character based on Joaquin Guzman. Good to have you this morning.
WINSLOW: Thanks for having me.
BLACKWELL: And we want you at home to join the conversation as well on social media. Do you think El Chapo will be caught again? Go to Facebook.com/NewDay or use the hash-tag NewDayCNN on Twitter.
PAUL: Also we are watching very closely the developments out of southern California this morning. An out of control wild fire is still growing this hour. Dozens of cars abandoned on the freeway and charged. We are live in San Bernardino County at the top of the hour. Stay close.
BLACKWELL: Baltimore recently has seen an alarming spike in violence. The city's young men often are caught up both as victims and offenders.
PAUL: This weekend CNN hero is Richard Bienvenue, who is embracing troubled kids and trying to give them the tools to rebuild their lives.
RICHARD BIENVENUE, CNN HERO: When I was a Special Ed teacher I teacher, I taught carpentry to high-rent kids. During the day, you would see that spark. They would go home at nighttime and it would get erased. The tears I would see, the anguish they would go through, I saw a real need. That's when the idea hit me. Don't let them go home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The morning meal is now being served.
BIENVENUE: We provide residential setting for young men. During the day, they learn trades. At nighttime, they are getting high school education. We take on a lot of tough case from foster care to the court system. The emotional support that we give is critical.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I worked hard on it.
BIENVENUE: Good job.
The grounds are wide open, fields, trees, animals. It is not a lockup. This is so it becomes a home to many of them. When they leave, we try to help them find a job and a place to live. Anything they need, we make sure they have.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The program changed my life in every way. I am currently in Wharton College. I feel like I went from the bottom to the top. They gave me the tools to build my future. I decided to come back and work with youth just like other people worked with me.
BIENVENUE: I don't want to see any more kids fall through the cracks. If I can give them an opportunity to turn their lives around, to step forward, that's my life's work.
PAUL: That is just awesome. If you know someone who should be a CNN hero, let us know. We would love to know that at CNNHeroes.com. And we always appreciate you spending some time with us in the morning. Make some good memories here.
BLACKWELL: Much more ahead in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. We turn it over to Fredricka Whitfield now.
PAUL: Hey, Fred.
[11:00:00] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, hello. Good to see you guys.
PAUL: You too.
WHITFIELD: Have a great day.
PAUL: You too.
WHITFIELD: Maybe it will be a relaxing one for you, too.


Jeff Branscome writes about Spotsylvania County schools. You can email him at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Crisis counselors at Massaponax after teen’s death
RESOURCES: The following information is offered as a resource to parents, students and others in the community.
Anyone who is in crisis can call The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255) This number is manned 24 hours a day.
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention offers the following Warning Signs of Suicide.
Warning signs of suicide include:
- Observable signs of serious depression:
Unrelenting low mood
Anxiety, psychic pain and inner tension
- Increased alcohol and/or other drug use
- Recent impulsiveness and taking unnecessary risks
- Threatening suicide or expressing a strong wish to die
- Making a plan:
Giving away prized possessions
Sudden or impulsive purchase of a firearm
Obtaining other means of killing oneself such as poisons or medications
- Unexpected rage or anger
A Massaponax High School senior died early this morning on Interstate 95 in what Virginia State Police said was a suicide .
Crisis teams are at the school this morning to assist students and staff in dealing with their grief over the young man’s death, Spotsylvania County schools spokeswoman Rene Daniels said.
The 17-year-old died after being struck by a vehicle on the southbound lanes of -95, Virginia State Police Sgt. Les Tyler said.
He said the incident happened about 1:35 a.m. The teen apparently jumped off of the Route 208 bridge that crosses the interstate.
Traffic along I-95 got by the scene by traveling on the shoulder while police investigated. The scene was cleared just after 4:30 a.m., Tyler said.


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Contents | September 2003
More on books from The Atlantic Monthly.
More short stories by Charles Baxter:
"Flood Show" (June 1995)
"Connor's dreams these days have been invaded by water."
"Fenstad's Mother" (September 1988)
"Fenstad's mother was a lifelong social progressive who was amused by her son's churchgoing, and, wine or no wine, she could guess where he had been."
"Horace and Margaret's Fifty-Second" (July 1983)
"It was Tuesday, and their anniversary. He would forget, as usual."
From Atlantic Unbound:
Facts & Fiction: "Desire Rules" (August 7, 1997)
Charles Baxter reflects on a culture in which violence is chic and epiphany is cheap.
The Atlantic Monthly | September 2003
Books & Critics
Saul and Patsy
Charles Baxter's new novel brings back some old friends
by James Marcus
by Charles Baxter
[Click the title
to buy this book]
he stars of Charles Baxter's new novel, a wandering Jew and an infinitely adaptable Protestant, first appeared nearly twenty years ago, in the short story "Saul and Patsy Are Getting Comfortable in Michigan." Now the author has called back the couple for an encore, with marvelous results. As before, much of the comedic energy issues from Saul's end: this history teacher and "virtuoso of fretfulness" feels himself shipwrecked in the plainspoken, poker-faced Midwest. The décor at a neighbor's house "felt like a museum of earlier American feelings," he thinks. "Not a single ironic sentence had ever been spoken here. Everything in the room was sincere, everything except himself." Yet even a paragon of self-consciousness like Saul has his Achilles' heel. His love for Patsy, who truly has gotten comfortable in Michigan, brings him at least intermittently out of his shell. And when one of his students begins an anti-Semitic stalking campaign, Saul is stumped. His skeptical riffing, usually such an irresistible force, has finally met an immovable object.
Like its predecessor, The Feast of Love, Baxter's latest creation seems to be several different novels in one. There is a dry-eyed study of domestic life, which suggests that marriage is made neither in heaven nor in hell but in a kind of conjugal limbo, leaving it alternately ecstatic and unbearable. There is a valentine to the Midwest, whose terrain the author describes with almost luminarist ardor. A teenage girl takes a turn at the narrative helm, as do Saul's mother and his younger, obnoxious brother. From time to time, in fact, Saul and Patsy feels like too much of a portmanteau production, with multiple stories clamoring to be top dog. Yet Baxter's prose—trenchant, funny, and apt to turn on a metaphysical dime—remains one of the pure pleasures of American fiction, and he deserves a wide readership for this book, whose vision of embattled heartland Judaism might just as easily have been called Oy, Wilderness!
James Marcus is the author of Amazonia, a memoir of the Internet boom and bust, to be published next year.
Copyright © 2003 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
The Atlantic Monthly; September 2003; Encore; Volume 292, No. 2; 152.

domain: library


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Most bloggers, when creating a blog, tend to put off building their lists until such time as they have grown their audience. While it may seem like the logical thing to do, it may end up costing you – both in revenue and in lost opportunities.
Here’s why you have to start building your mailing list ASAP:
1. List building is a number game – or should I say it’s a numbers game with some math involved. Out of every say, 1,000 visitors to your blog, a certain average number of people will opt into your list, and a certain number of them will buy from you.
The exact numbers depend on many things, including your content, the optin offer, the offers presented via email, the quality of the emails, etc.
But the fact remains that, once you have the system in place, you can start feeding it visitors at the top, and it will capture email addresses (and generate sales) from that.
Now consider this:
Let’s say it takes you six months to get your blog to 100 visitors per day (and you don’t start building your list before that). In crude mathematical terms, that means you had an average of 50 people per day for a year (0 + 100, divided by 2). That translates into roughly 9,000 visitors. Now let’s say only one out of every one hundred would have opted into your list…
That’s 90 subscribers. That might not sound like much, but if you did things right, you could have made 2 sales from the one time offer just after optin, and you could have made roughly 3 more sales of back-end products.
That translates into – depending on what you were selling – roughly $90 per month at the end of the 6 months.
But let’s say you waited longer – you waited for a year, and until you reached 200 visitors per day. That quadruples all of the figures, causing you to have lost out on roughly $360 per month, and 360 subscribers.
Now – imagine if you took that money, and re-invested it into advertising? Where do you think your list would be if you buy more traffic every month, and keep re-investing the additional profit to build your list even more?
Go do the math – the figures are quite staggering.
Note: This is illustrative – real-world figures may be more or less.
2. Once your list gets to roughly 1,000 subscribers, new doors start opening – because from here on you can start doing ad swaps with other list owners. If you re-invested the profits you made from the start, you can easily be achieved within a year.
Regardless of whether you re-invest your profits or not, starting to build your list sooner means that you will be ready for ad swaps sooner.
By doing regular ad swaps, you can grow your list by leaps and bounds. While not everyone agrees with the strategy, it has been proven to work, and it’s a quick – and free – way to add lots of subscribers to your list. In addition to that, the larger your list becomes, the more you can approach owners of larger lists to exchange list mailings.
3. All of us make mistakes when we start out with something new – especially something as fluid as email marketing. Building your list from day one affords you the opportunity to experiment and test to see what works best for your blog – and what doesn’t.
In addition to that, your audience will determine what works for your blog or not. Two similar blogs can attract very different audiences – depending on how they were marketed – and the two audiences can have different expectations.
Starting small allows you to test new opt-in forms, opt-in offers, layouts, and even content types – without risking losing too many potential subscribers as you collect information.
4. You can use your small list as a sounding board to figure out what to sell them. While your list is still relatively small, you can connect with them and find out what they need help with, or which types of resources they need access to.
By the time your subscribers start accumulating more rapidly, you will already know what to sell them.
5. Getting your list set up sooner also means that you will have more time available to get your back end offers in place. Some people prefer to email their subscribers once a week, while others prefer to email them every day. But even at one email per week, that’s still 52 follow-up emails you need to get in place.
It takes time to find the right offers, and craft good promotional emails (even if the vendor supplies promo emails, you want to adapt them and make them unique). The sooner your list is set up, the sooner you can start working on getting everything into place.
When you start your blog, and you note the tiny trickle of traffic in your stats, it seems unlikely that it will be worth your while to start building a list ASAP. But in reality, not doing it is bound to cost you in the long run – in more ways than one.
And yes, it costs money to build a list (monthly autoresponder fees) – but the cost of NOT starting one as soon as possible is a lot more than that

domain: economics


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With Omega Force driving this game, I suspect that the action will be fast and furious in the upcoming Attack on Titan game.
KOEI TECMO America is happy to share a new trailer from Omega Force’s eagerly anticipated action title, based on the highly-acclaimed, world-renowned anime series, Attack on Titan!
This immersive new trailer serves as a reminder of the claustrophobic feel and dark atmosphere of the anime, offers a glimpse into the game’s exciting battle action and the player’s use of the famed 3D-maneuver gear, and encapsulates the overall feel of the yet-to-be-named title, currently planned for release in 2016 in the west.
More information on the title will be made public in the coming months.
And that trailer:
Article by Nick


CHILLED HOUSE - ELECTRONIC LOUNGE - ORIION "LIVE ANOTHER LIE" (STUDIO 106 EDIT)
The production quality of 2017 is ramped up with this Chilled House Studio 106
remix of Oriion'
s "Live Another Lie"
- delivered with extra sprinklings of electronic lounge just to perk up your interest as the mix travels its journey into your sets. After releasing debut single, ‘Live Another Lie’
on June 23rd, travelling soul ORIION
quickly gained support from Spotify’s Viral New Music Friday and reached a #9 spot on Viral Charts Germany, while simultaneously seeing tastemaker blog support from The Line Of Best Fit, Spindle Magazine and tmrw magazine. A big thumbs up from Kings


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Studies toward the total synthesis of salicylihalamide studies toward the total synthesis of salicylihalamide a: and a retro-ring-closing metathesis. In chapter one of the dissertation the development of ene-yne metathesis catalysts will be summarized the development and uses of the grubbs second generation. An intramolecular ene-yne metathesis reaction using a suitable catalyst such as, bis(tricyclohexylphosphine). Eneyne metathesis dissertation avoidance complex essay on demonstrating financial need epiphany in araby essays dissertation music film essay brain drain india. Accepted manuscript ruthenium carbenes as catalysts in stereoselective ene-yne metathesis/diels-alder and ene-yne metathesis/diels-alder/cross coupling multicomponent.
Item details abstract an ene-yne cross metathesis of silyl substituted alkynes and alkenes followed by a diels-alder reaction of the metathesis product 2-silyl-1,3. The tricyclic polar segment of fusarisetin a, hydroxyl group of the hemiacetal is crucial for efficient ring-closing eneyne metathesis in this particular. This sequence entails a ring-closing ene-yne metathesis for the synthesis of an np-inspired oxepane collection a ring-closing ene-yne metathesis (rc-eneyne. Vol van boom and co-workers utilized eneyne metathesis to access bicyclic phosphonate boranes in concert with their studies.
Olefin metathesis using ruthenium carbene complexes is a useful method in synthetic organic chemistry enyne metathesis is also catalyzed by these complexes and. Sunday, may 18, 2008 - 9:35 am science building, rm s-112 we have previously described a ring closing eneyne metathesis/intramolecular diels-alder,. Display omittedtransition-metal and ligand-free method for the hydroboration of terminal alkynes with b 2 pin 2 was reported in liot-bu/toluene/meoh system under room.Heterocycles via alkyl-heck-type reactions (heck chemistry, ring-closing metathesis, eneyne chemistry) but what if we want one partner to be an sp. Published online: 4 may 2006 strategiesforthesynthesisofmanzaminealkaloids and eneyne metathesis has been a shift toward the use of ring-closing metathesis. 18application of rcm reaction in the construction of abc ring of micrandilactone a y d zhang, y f tang, t p luo, j shen, j h chen, z yang. Enyne metathesis the enyne metathesis is a ruthenium-catalyzed bond reorganization reaction between alkynes and alkenes to produce 1,3-dienes. Synthesis and glycosidase inhibition study of 2-c-hydroxymethyl- and 6-c-hydroxymethyl-branched piperidines from d-glucose using ene-yne metathesis as a. Priit aimla sõidan liinibussis - liini number jääb salastatuks, isikuandmete kaitse seaduse põhjal aga andmeid kaitstakse tugevamini kui isikut ennast: siseneb. Posts about heck reaction written by will pearson the heterocyclist a blog about heterocyclic chemistry (heck chemistry, ring-closing metathesis, eneyne chemistry. Because of the highly unique structures of marine natural products, there are many examples of structures that were originally proposed based on spectral analyses but.
Improving sustainability in ene-yne cross-metathesis for transformation of unsaturated fatty esters le ravalec v(1), dupé a, fischmeister c, bruneau c. Metathesis and co metathesis reactions of fats and oils and their application in oleo oligo (eneyne)s, oligo(thiophene vinylene), oligo (thiphene ethynylene. Continuous advances in the field of olefin metathesis result in growing interest of chemists and chemical engineers directed toward applications of this powerfu.
Find the training resources you need for all your activities studyres contains millions of educational documents, questions and answers, notes about the course. 概要アルケン-アルキン間メタセシスにより1,3-ジエンを合成する反応。通常はgrubbs第一世代or第二世代触媒が用いられる. On may 2, 2014, steven t diver (and others) published the chapter: ene-yne metathesis in the book: olefin metathesis. Chapter 5 large-ring carbocycles 51 buchner reaction 52 de mayo reaction 53 ring-closing metathesis (rcm) 54 thorpe-ziegler reaction 423 424 451 489 578.
Previous work demonstrated the dimerization of an eneyne using an alkyne metathesis system of mo(co) 6, 4-chlorophenol, and 3-hexyne that resulted in about 80% yield. Efficient method for the synthesis of chiral pyrrolidine derivatives via ring-closing enyne metathesis reaction qian yang, howard alper and wen-jing xiao. Journal of organometallic chemistry 643–644 (2002) 527–535 subject index of volume 643–644 wwwelseviercom/locate/jorganchem ab initio calculations phosphorus.Download
2018. Education database.

domain: chemistry


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Things to Know
Governments continue to fail to hold traffickers criminally accountable for forced labor.
In the 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report, the U.S. State Department reported just 1,115 prosecutions in the entire world for forced labor. That is one prosecution for every 18,027 victims that the International Labour Organization estimates are held in forced labor.
The vast majority (77%) of civil human trafficking cases filed in federal courts have alleged forced labor.
For labor trafficking survivors, civil litigation may be the only path to justice.
The number of federal civil trafficking cases has risen steadily since 2003.
2003 marked the first year civil trafficking cases became possible to file in U.S. federal courts. Since then, trafficking survivors have brought more than 450 cases against their traffickers and those who financially benefit from their exploitation.
Trafficking survivors have won more than $255 million in civil damages and public settlements over the last 18 years. This number, a quarter of a billion dollars, represents a form of restorative justice for trafficking survivors.
A Form of Restorative Justice
When prosecution fails, as it so often does in forced labor cases, trafficking survivors have the right to file civil suits in federal courts. Filing a civil human trafficking case allows trafficking survivors to pursue justice on their own terms. Pro bono attorneys stand beside trafficking survivors as they assert their legal rights. The goal is for survivors to thrive and achieve economic independence.
Raising Risk & Creating Deterrents for Traffickers
Civil litigation provides a powerful tool to hold traffickers accountable. In one case referred to pro bono counsel by the Human Trafficking Legal Center, a victim recovered more than $400,000 in damages after the pro bono firm enforced a U.S. federal court decision in a foreign jurisdiction.

domain: law


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Investment.com | Editor Ambini Aishwarya
Published on 23/11/2023 at 09:40
Barclays (LON: BARC) has announced a further reduction in its physical presence with plans to close a further 16 UK branches by March 2024. The move forms part of the bank’s wider strategy to close nearly a third of its branches for next year due to a continuing decline in branch visits.
Customers are encouraged in areas affected by the closures, such as Eltham Cobham (LON:COB) and Liscard, to switch to electronic banking or use alternative branches. Barclays is committed to supporting customers during this transition period through local Barclays initiatives. These initiatives include flexible access to personal banking services at community centers and libraries.
To ensure customers continue to have access to basic banking services, there will be more than 200 offices across the country. These sites are designed to complement traditional post office services, which allow financial transactions such as depositing and withdrawing money.
In addition to offering alternative banking solutions, Barclays also focuses on helping customers adapt to digital platforms. The bank is expanding digital skills workshops and organizing scam and fraud awareness events. These efforts aim to educate customers on how to manage their financial needs safely in an increasingly digital world.
The latest announcement follows a report published today highlighting the planned closures by Barclays and their impact on communities. Customers in areas such as Farnham are advised to prepare for these changes by exploring online banking options or seeking in-person assistance at remaining branches or through local Barclays services.
Among the branches whose closures were mentioned above are those in Dereham and South Woodford. Although there is no official statement from Barclays regarding these specific closures, the bank has confirmed that services will remain available at post offices. The notable closure will be the Wallasey branch, which will close on 28 March 2024.
This article was created and translated with the power of artificial intelligence and reviewed by an editor. For more information, see our terms and conditions.
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written by: Investment.com
“Subtly charming bacon junkie. Infuriatingly humble beer trailblazer. Introvert. Evil reader. Hipster-friendly creator.”


Altaf Raja was amongst the 90’s era. He won million’s of hearts with his 1997 album ‘Tum Toh Thehre Pardesi’ but he sure does keep himself at a distance from the glamorous world of Bollywood – yet managed to maintain his craze amongst his UK and global audiences.
“If I continuously come up with my songs, the charm among the listeners would have been difficult to maintain,” said the singer in a recent interview with Bollywood Radio & Music.
“Basically, I am a private singer who received recognition through my albums. Bollywood has always been a second option for me. Legendary singers like Jagjit Singh and Anoop Jalota are known and loved for their albums first and its beauty will remain always’, said Altaf.
“I am a very simple person who stays away from pompous life and live with my mother in Mumbai, i will be touring in the UK, this August”.
The songster is soon going to come up with his two albums- Follow up of ‘Tum Toh Thehre Pardesi’ and ‘Mast Mast Teri Aankhein’.
Below is our top 5 Altaf Raja tunes:
Jaa Bewafa Jaa
Na baba Na
Dil Ka Haal
Tum To Thehre Pardesi
Pehle To Kabhi Kabhi Gham Tha
Catch Altaf Raja live in the UK on the following dates;


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NIGERIA – Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI), a premier life sciences research institution, has announced the appointment of Nigerian Dr. Sheila Ochugboju as the new Executive Director of the Alliance for Science (AfS) based at the institute, effective June 1st 2022.
The Alliance for Science at the Boyce Thompson Institute is a global communications initiative dedicated to promoting access to scientific innovation as a means of enhancing food security, improving environmental sustainability and raising the quality of life globally.
The Alliance plays a vital role in connecting a range of stakeholders with up-to-date and vital information about how scientific advances can contribute to the future of the planet’s health, an effort that aligns perfectly with BTI’s mission to advance and communicate scientific discovery in plant biology to improve agriculture, protect the environment and enhance human health
Dr. Sheila Ochugboju brings a wealth of knowledge, connections and vision in science communication to the Alliance for Science and has worked in research science and international development for over 15 years.
Prior to her new role, Sheila was the Head of Strategic Communications at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), supporting vaccine delivery communication across Africa and advocating for vaccine equity.
She is a founding member of the Network of African Women Environmentalists (NAWE), leading in the development of flagship initiatives and products such as the Earth Science Cafes and the Earth Reflections Podcast, which was rated amongst the leading environment podcasts in Africa in 2020.
Sheila trained as a research Scientist in the United Kingdom and a PHD holder in Biochemistry from London University followed by a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Oxford focused on genetically modified viruses.
She also received a WINGS WorldQuest Women of Discovery Award for developing and leading pioneering African science, technology and innovation projects in 2016.
In addition, Ochugboju was appointed as a Global Roving Ambassador for the county government of Kisumu, Kenya in charge of the portfolio for Transformative Science and Urban Resilience.
She is expected to lead the global communications initiative that seeks to counter misinformation about agricultural biotechnology, climate change, nuclear power, vaccines, COVID-19 and other contemporary science issues to greater heights.
Moreover, Dr Ochugboju has the knowledge and ability to broaden the horizon of the Alliance for Science and bring resources to counter misinformation across a more substantial expanse of scientific endeavor including climate change.
“I am excited to join the Boyce Thompson Institute, because together with the Alliance for Science we can offer new lenses, tools, and partnerships to transform how the world understands the role of science in addressing global challenges,” said the new Executive Director Sheila.
She explained that the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and current food security have exposed how good science communication can literally save lives and livelihoods.
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domain: agronomy


Every once in a while I get listening to a song when I start doing a new kind of programming and I just start associating the two together. For example, when I was taking C++ and I started getting into it, Ke$ha's Tik Tok had just came out and was playing all the time on the radio. Now I associate the two and every time Tik Tok comes on, I feel like programming some C++ and every time I do some C++ I HAVE to go to youtube and put that song on.
I know... the song isn't even that good.
This time around, I've started listening to a much better song, and I think I'll be able to live with having to put this on every time I do some server side java programming. It's got this big sexy hook I think you guys are going to dig.


Blaugranagram and FC Barcelona have once again reached an agreement over a collaboration on Barça Live Match Center and Barça TV+.
FC Barcelona and Sevilla will face off at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium on Saturday afternoon, as the two LaLiga Santander sides meet for the second time this league campaign; the first encounter was a 1-1 draw. Since then, the two teams met in the Copa del Rey semi-final, where Sevilla came away with a 2-0 victory in the first leg. The return fixture is set to be played this coming Wednesday.
Saturday afternoon, the two league teams face off at 16:15h local time, and the game will see Blaugranagram’s CEO, Omar Hawwash, guest the club’s Live Match Center and Barca TV+, following an agreement between Blaugranagram and FC Barcelona.
For the game, the Catalan club will as always have live coverage of the match on its live Match Center, streamed on all social media platforms, including YouTube. Moreover, post-game analysis will take place on the club’s exclusive online platform, Barça TV+.
Usually, Blaugranagram have video commentary coverage on Blaugranagram TV and its social media channels. That will not be the case for this encounter, which instead will be replaced by Hawwash’s cameos at the start of the game and at half-time on the Barça Live Match Center, and him joining the crew for the post-game analysis on Barça TV+.
This collaboration joins a lengthy list of collaborations between Blaugranagram and FC Barcelona, having worked together earlier in February, when the Catalan side took on Granada.


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We wen't on the 4 hours boat trip to swim with the dolphins.
It took quite a while before we've seen a pods of about 40 dolphins. There was no option to swim with the dolphins as they got young once. This is nothing to blame the crew for and it was said that is will not be possible to swim with the dolphins if they have young. At the end it was seen on the boat that the "swim" part would be holding on a bar which was attached on the end of the boat and you would be tracked through the water always hold on the bar.
Having said that we really enjoyed the day it was perfect weather condition and the crew was very friendly and helpful. They did there best to find another pod but we had no luck - this is nature. We had some very nice impression of the dolphins and we enjoyed the day.More

domain: hobby


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Adiba Jaigirdar is the critically-acclaimed and bestselling author of The Henna Wars and Hani & Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating. A Bangladeshi/Irish writer and teacher, she has an MA in Postcolonial Studies from the University of Kent, England and a BA in English and History from UCD, Ireland. All of her writing is aided by tea, and a healthy dose of Janelle Monáe and Hayley Kiyoko. When not writing, she is probably ranting about the ills of colonialism, playing video games, or expanding her overflowing lipstick collection. She can be found at @adiba_j on Twitter and @dibs_j on Instagram.
I had the opportunity to interview Adiba, which you can read below.
First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself?
Thank you so much for having me! I’m a Bangladeshi-Irish author and former ESL teacher. I was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, but have been living in Dublin, Ireland since the age of 10. I love reading and playing video games in my spare time.
When did you know you were first interested in writing, and what drew you specifically to young adult fiction?
I’ve always loved storytelling since before I could even read. So once I learned how to read and write, writing stories seemed only a natural progression of my love of storytelling. Some of the most memorable books I read are from when I was a teenager, many of them being Young Adult books. I think of them as formative to me, both as a person and as a writer. I think this is the case for a lot of people. The stories that we grow the most attached to, the ones that we remember and often go back to, are the ones that we read when we were teenagers. And so, I wanted to write those stories that hopefully help teens see themselves, and that I hope stay with kids for a long time.
How would you describe your writing process?
Chaotic. I don’t really have a single writing process. I try a bunch of different things with each book that I write and see what works and doesn’t work. I like to go where the story and characters take me.
As a queer Jewish person, can I say how cool it is that your books feature complex queer characters of faith. Would you mind speaking a bit about what that kind of representation, or what representation in general means to you?
Sadly, I think a lot of the world views faith and queerness as mutually exclusive. In my experience, when we have this quite narrow point of view, we drive people away from faith, and oftentimes we also make people feel uncomfortable with their own sexuality. I’ve always simply wanted to write stories that feel authentic to my experiences, or the experiences of people that I know, and that includes the representation of people from religious backgrounds who are also queer. And so that’s the representation I often end up writing, because it’s true to my experiences.
Did you draw on any specific sources of inspiration while writing your debut novel, The Henna Wars, and your more recent novel, Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating, i.e. books, movies, music, etc.? Where do you draw inspiration or creativity in general?
In general, I draw inspiration from anything and everything. For Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating, specifically I was inspired by the TV show Faking It. I was a little annoyed at the sapphic representation and the bisexual representation in it, and so I just wanted to write my own version of a sapphic fake dating story, where the representation was more authentic to my experiences, and the sapphic characters got to have a happy ending.
One of the notable things about your novels, is not only featuring Bangladeshi/Muslim characters but also queer characters from Ireland, something that is still rare (though getting less so) in YA. What do you think are some of the distinctions between US centric and Irish YA/cultures, in terms of queerness or in general?
This is a difficult question to answer because I’m not from the US, so I don’t actually know what US culture looks like in terms of queerness or really, in general. I know America is also hugely influenced by religion, but I do think a big part of queerness in Ireland comes with having to unlearn a lot of the harm that the Catholic church has perpetrated over the years. Most of our schools are single-sex and run by the church, and we often have nuns as teachers and principals, and if not that, then living on school campus. This is the kind of school I went to (and I graduated just a decade ago), and there were no out students during my school years. There was also quite a bit of homophobia which was probably both a result of the culture and the times. Ireland has come a long way in terms of this though, and we were the first country in the world to vote for marriage equality by way of popular vote.
Besides being a writer, what are some things you would want your readers to know about you?
My favourite way to unwind is by playing video games. My favourite video game franchise is probably Uncharted, closely followed by Assassin’s Creed. But I love any good action/adventure game that has a compelling storyline and enjoyable gameplay. I also like to read a lot of adult thrillers in my downtime, and find them very comforting to read when I’m feeling down.
What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but wish you were (and the answer to that question)?
What’s your favourite flavour of donut? I love coffee flavoured donuts.
Are there any projects you are working on or thinking about that you are able to discuss?
Later this year, my first YA historical will be released. It’s called A Million to One and it’s about four girls who board the Titanic in order to steal a rare jewel-encrusted book. Next year, I have another romcom coming out called Donut Fall In Love. It follows a Bangladeshi-Irish girl who joins a Great British Bake-Off style reality TV show, only to find that her ex is one of the competitors, along with another girl who she may be developing a crush on.
Finally, what LGBTQ+ books/authors would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?
There are so many I love. I would definitely recommend any book by Alechia Dow, who writes the most wonderful sci-fi books starring LGBTQ+ characters. I highly recommend Ace Of Spades by Faridah Abike-Iyimide, which is a brilliant thriller pitched as Get Out meets Gossip Girl. I am a huge Nina LaCour fan, so I would recommend absolutely anything she has ever written, because it’s all brilliant. In terms of romance, I love Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee, She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen, and Fifteen Hundred Miles From The Sun by Jonny Garza Villa.


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Shirt Factory to host readings
- When: Saturday, October 19, 2013, 2 p.m.
- Where: The Shirt Factory, Glens Falls
- Cost: Not available
- Age limit: Not available
- Categories: Community
GLENS FALLS — The Shirt Factory Gallery is launching a series of readings by local writers on select Saturday afternoons, and authors are now being sought to participate. Organized by author Maury Thompson, each session is to feature three writers reading from their works and then discussing aspects of them.
The free readings are scheduled for 2 p.m. April 20, July 20, Aug. 17 and Oct. 19. Call 761-1186 for more information.

domain: literature