It’s called Bertha, it’s a gigantic camera built out of a desire to find out what photography can reveal beyond certain limits.
From the first moment I started experimenting I sensed that there are still many ways to go, past and present can merge, just as old and new technologies, historical knowledge can find new contemporary interpretations.
This camera, which has a sensitive area of 1.10×1.10 meters, a bellows draft of about 4 meters and a 1000mm f6.3 lens, is capable of taking portrait photographs in macro mode.
In fact, at the maximum extension of the bellows, the magnification ratio reaches 3: 1, that is the subjects can be photographed with a final size up to three times greater than the real one, I studied this measure to obtain a close-up that could fill a well sensitive area of over one square meter.
The first tests turned out to be a surprise, I discovered that at the maximum draft of the bellows, the depth of field with a fully closed diaphragm is about 4 cm, a real challenge to manage a photoshoot of this type.
Bertha was designed and built almost entirely by the BRANCO OTTICO crew, with the exception of the part relating to the ground glass and film holder, for which we relied on a professional in aluminum frames.
The whole frame supporting the large camera is modular and completely made of heavy metal to support movements without losing stability, was designed by Donato Rizzo, expert in mechanical processing of the Branco Ottico crew.
The main idea is to use the gigantic camera to create unique works with the chemical process we have developed, the ROBA APPOSTA inversion kit, which is able to positively reverse all photographic papers and black and white films.
For the shots we will use both photographic paper and film in rolls of 1m width, we are equipped with a mobile darkroom that we also use for outdoor portraits, live performances and photographic events.
The first tests are scheduled for the next few days and we will perform them with a 50x60cm back reduction.
We will program the photographic shot on a slide of over one square meter for the first months of 2020, then we will take a tour to portray subjects “on the road” on direct photographic paper and mobile darkroom.
About the Author
Davide Rossi is a fine art photographer based in Italy. He has twenty years of photographic experimentation behind him, driving his passion. As well as working as a professional photographer, he runs courses and workshops in film photography including working in the darkroom and making wet prints. You can find out more about Davide on his website and follow his work on Facebook. This article was also published here and shared with permission.


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It’s been a little quiet for Nicole Millar fans since the release of her debut album Excuse Me, which dropped last year, but now she’s come roaring back with new track ‘Favours’.
Seeing Millar reunite with past collaborators Kilter and Muki, ‘Favours’ sees Millar embrace a stronger, more honest version of herself, as she hints at through a statement she gave about the track.
“I had a bit of a rough year with a lot of changes,” she said.
“’Favours’ is a song about how I’ve got no praise, or money left for this person.”
“[Muki and I] really hit it off and couldn’t stop talking about everything that had been going on in our lives,” she continues.
“It just became clear to write a song about this person that had made my life dull… but have a cheeky bounce to it.”
Listen to ‘Favours’ below.

domain: artistic


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Updated: Dec 13, 2020
It is no surprise that many people feel shy, preventing them from socializing or participating in conversations. However, shyness is not permanent and can be conquered by practicing a few skills to improve social presence.
The Magic of Hello!
Did you know the first step to overcoming your shyness is a simple greeting, "Hello!"? By doing this, you are ensuring to step away from the vicious cycle of shyness to making your presence felt. For a person drowning in shyness, this could be overwhelming. But you get past this in no time. Remember this will open the door to meeting with people, improving your social presence, and making friends.
The Biggest Pitfall
Interacting with big groups of people could be uncomfortable or nerve-wracking. You would want to resort to the "instant solution" in your hands; the phone! Digging your face into your phone may be a momentary escape route but it's one of the biggest pitfalls. The introduction of texting and social media is depriving you of the joy of verbal conversations. Start with a conversation with one person whom you know. This way, the pressure of having to fit into a group of people is off.
The Best Exercise
A great way to conquer your shyness is just to relax. Shyness is an outcome of your nervousness to speak up. Whenever you are nervous about something, you start breathing faster. Take a deep breath and smile! Consciously slowing down your breathing will help you cool down and relax and smiling eases your nervousness. The next time you meet someone or go to a party, you know what to do!
Share your success stories by commenting below. All the best!

domain: psychology


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Hagel, nominated by President Obama as secretary of Defense, has opposition from his own party, the Republicans, because of policy differences, and from LGBT activists because of past statements.
The new version of the Violence Against Women Act prohibits denial of services due to a victim's sexual orientation.
Sen. Tom Harkin promises to get a federal antidiscrimination bill through committee this year, while President Obama may sign an executive order banning discrimination by government contractors.
Two couples will be guests at the State of the Union, including one couple fighting to stay together in the U.S.
The Defense of Marriage Act still prevents some benefits from being extended to same-sex military families and couples.
Chief Warrant Officer Charlie Morgan died Sunday, after a long battle with cancer.
A senior Russian politician has threatened to shut down LGBT websites, claiming they "promote homosexuality."

domain: news


Nvidia is using AI to revolutionize the healthcare space.
The Santa Clara based company, which is renowned for its gaming graphics and more recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), unveiled a medical imaging supercomputer called Project Clara at its annual GPU Technology Conference (GTC), in Silicon Valley.
By speeding up and thus improving medical imaging, Project Clara takes advantage of advancements in computation to renew the capabilities of existing machines that are currently vital to the early detection of deadly conditions, such as cancer and heart disease.
"There are about three million medical imaging instruments installed around the world. With only a couple of hundred thousand new ones sold each year, it would take decades to update this install base," Nvidia's vice president of Healthcare, Kimberly Powell, told Forbes in an interview at GTC.
However, she explained that about a decade ago, researchers realized NVIDIA GPUs could provide a more efficient architecture for medical imaging applications and, therefore, could be used to help reduce radiation exposure, improve image quality and produce images in real time.
"The Project Clara virtual medical imaging supercomputer is a platform initiative, taking pieces of GPU containers that already exist, and all the CUDA libraries, meaning we can create imagine apps that rely on this technology," Powell said.
"It's [therefore] helping us reimagine medical imagining. We can now think about ‘super scaling' [because] it uses Kubernetes on GPUs to efficiently scale compute with demand."
Because Project Clara is virtual, it can run many computational instruments simultaneously. It's also remote, meaning it takes advantage of NVIDIA's vGPUs to enable multi-user access. Clara is universal, too, said Powell, so it can perform the computation for any instrument, whether CT, MRI, ultrasound, X-ray or mammography.
As part of the Project Clara announcement, Nvidia also unveiled it's working with a bunch of healthcare partners to push its AI tech in the medical imaging sphere.
One of these is AutoMap, from the MGH Martinos center. AutoMap can shorten acquisition time of MRI and boosts image quality. Then there's V-Net, a company that can automatically measure anatomy and assesses functionality.
"Cinematic rendering pioneered by Elliot Fishman at Johns Hopkins University brings a new level of quality, ultimately saving time for radiologists and improving patient outcomes," added Powell.
Another partner is Subtle Medical, who are working on dozens of applications in medical imaging, and recently won over more than a quarter of a million dollars in Nvidia's Inception program awards.
"New technologies are transforming healthcare," said the firm's founder, Dr Greg Zaharchuk, who is also a radiologist and associate professor in Radiology at Stanford.
"Nvidia's vision for a virtualized imaging supercomputer is an exciting new chapter that will revolutionize our ability to deliver AI-powered healthcare."
Because modern medical imaging applications demand new levels of computing, scale and accessibility, Nvidia believes Clara will help turn medical imaging on its head.


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|Authorities: Inmates’ scam targeted lotto winner, others|
PONTIAC, Mich. (WOOD) — Two Michigan prison inmates, one of whom is behind bars for sexually assaulting teens in Barry County, are in more trouble for a jailhouse scam that authorities say targeted an out-of-state lottery winner, online critics and a former prison pen pal.
Michael Terpening and his alleged partner, Steven Wilcox, each pleaded no contest to three counts of larceny by conversion in Oakland County for the scam.
Both were originally charged with five counts of conspiracy to commit false pretenses of $100,000 or more. They are scheduled to be sentenced April 12 in Oakland County.
According to police and prosecutors, Wilcox was trying to collect on a lawsuit he won against an attorney who later died. His argument, in short, was that because the lawyer owed him money, if he could find people who owe the lawyer money, then he could collect from them.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT


Those wondering what it's like to stay in a 1.8 million dollar hotel room are set to have the chance in the US, as Hyatt Hotels announce the investment of $375 million into the 210-room Park Hyatt New York.
French architect Christian de Portzamparc has been commissioned to design the hotel, which will feature views of New York's Central Park. Hyatt will become part owners of a new 90 storey mixed-use tower, which will also include luxury apartments and 450 square metres of shops.
The massive per-room investment made by Hyatt is being done in order to quality for the coveted 5-star rating from the American Automobile Association, which issues star ratings to hotels in North America.
There are only a handful of 5-star hotels currently in New York, with the Park Hyatt aiming to be the first built since 2003. High property, staff and maintenance costs make reaching the 5-star mark an unaffordable choice for many hotels, even high-end venues like the Manhattan Hilton.
The AAA conducts unannounced inspections into hotels seeking an evaluation, and must receive "an unmatched level of comfort" for five stars to be awarded.
The $375 million investment being made to achieve the five-star rating ensures the Park Hyatt will be the most expensive hotel in New York, no small feat for one of the worlds priciest cities.


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Fans wore T-shirts with Vichai's picture on it, underneath the words "The Boss".
Outside the temple on Saturday, Kiatisuk "Zico" Senamuang, a former Thai national soccer player and coach who was also at the Leicester match, told reporters that global soccer world had lost an important patron.
Most of Leicester City players plan to travel to Bangkok for the funeral after their match with Cardiff City on Saturday.
While Leicester manager Claude Puel claimed beforehand that the outcome of Saturday's trip to Wales was "irrelevant", the team were determined to honour their late owner and it was fitting that Leicester secured the three points in their first match since his death.
He said: 'That was a tough game, not just on the pitch, but mentally.
Gray struck a 55th-minute victor on an emotional afternoon in Cardiff and marked it by removing his top and revealing an undershirt with the words "For Khun Vichai" on it.
The club take on Welsh side Cardiff City today at 2pm GMT.
While Probert was correct to apply the law, I feel that in exceptional circumstances such as this referees should be able to manage situations and use some common sense.
Mayor Bowser Kicks Off DC Health Link's 2019 Open Enrollment Period
Consumers should contact licensed insurance agents or company representatives for assistance in considering 2019 plan coverage. There will be much less "sticker shock" this year because 2019 premiums did not increase much in CT or across the nation.
Oprah door-knocks for Democratic candidate in Georgia
As Winfrey was speaking, Vice President Mike Pence was in Dalton, about 70 miles north of Marietta, to add his support to Kemp. "Democracy is not just about our individual rights and concerns and our individual protections".
Arsenal Still Can't Defend - Former Liverpool Star Confident
The second, maybe also we can lose in one moment and in the 90 minutes we could also have won in the balance of the 90 minutes. A point certainly felt well deserved and Arsenal easily could have scored more if they had been sharper in front of goal.
The Leicester players were applauded on their arrival at the stadium, before both sets of fans observed a minute's silence ahead of kick-off. He used to come down at home games, have a joke and a laugh, always say, 'Want win and three points.' We did that today.
At the final whistle, Leicester's players came together to embrace.
"When we saw the flowers in front of the stadium - it is a family and the feeling that our chairman gave this club". They are in a good moment.
"You couldn't ask for a better chairman". "When Arsenal chase the game they throw everyone on the pitch, which is really cool, and we were not as compact as I wanted".
"I think all my staff and players are growing as people", he said.
They looked comfortable leading 3-0 at Molineux after quickfire goals from Erik Lamela and Lucas Moura and then a second-half strike from Harry Kane.
Manchester United fought back from one goal down to beat Bournemouth 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium as second-half substitute Marcus Rashford scored the victor in injury time.

domain: sports


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Plastic surgery is a broad genre of surgery. It caters almost to the entire human body. It is a field that demands constant creativity and diverse knowledge. From birth defects to auto-immune diseases, from cancer to degenerative ailments; plastic surgeon treats almost everything. Furthermore, professionals working in this field need to be excellent team-players. They have to collaborate with different specialists like gynecologists, neurosurgeons, ophthalmologists, oral surgeons; the list is endless. If you are exploring your options in plastic surgery in Abu Dhabi, the choices available are sure to overwhelm you. The area is hailed for reputed plastic surgeons whose performance often exceeds patients’ expectations. Even then, having a rough idea of the field will help you choose surgeon capable of fulfilling your requirements.
Plastic surgery falls into two broad categories:
Reconstructive plastic surgery is done to correct abnormalities on the face or on the body. Defects like cleft palate, injuries that caused disfigurement of any part of the body and ear-deformities fall in this category. It is also done to reconstruct tissues that got destroyed due to an accident or an ailment like cancer.
Cosmetic surgery alters the appearance of a body part that patient does not like. While reconstructive surgery repairs damages. A cosmetic surgery, on the other hand, only changes the look of a body part to make it appear more attractive. Rhinoplasty (nose-reshaping), augmentation mamoplasty (breast enlargement-reduction), liposuction (fat removal) fall in this category. Certain procedures don’t even require surgery. Treatments like LASER hair removal and dermabrasion belong to this group.
As mentioned above, plastic surgery is a vast field. And the procedure involved in a surgery depends on the condition being treated. Given below are the most common among them:
Skin Flap Surgery
Here, the surgeon transplants a living tissue from a healthy part of the body to a damaged part. The tissue gets attached to the blood vessels so as to sustain it. The tissue still remains partially attached to the body while being transplanted to another part. Thus it gets the name skin flap. This is done to treat wounds that are too large to heal on their own. This is also done when treating skin cancers.
This procedure involves the transplant of healthy skin from a part of the body to another. It is performed to treat deep or open wounds and burns.
During this procedure, the surgeon expands and stretches the tissues surrounding the damaged part of the body. This stimulates the growth of new cells helping it to repair damages. It is done mostly in reconstructive surgeries.
Plastic surgeons may use other techniques like vacuum closure as required by the condition being treated.
Preparing for the surgery
You decided to have a plastic surgery for a body part that appears damaged or out-of-shape. You also decided on a plastic surgery in Abu Dhabi clinic for the purpose. But that is only part of the things required for a successful surgery. You have to do the following things to ensure a smooth and fast process:
- Opt for it when you are in good health
Plastic surgery in Abu Dhabi offers the desired result when done in good health. An active infection or any other health issue may impede your recovery after the surgery. Be honest when informing your medical history. Present a list of all the medications and supplements you may be having.
- Obey the instructions you receive
As a patient, you are sure to feel tempted to request exemptions. You have to trust and submit to your surgeon to get the maximum from the surgery performed. Minimize the possibility of requesting any exemption from any formality.
- Make the required arrangements at home
Have a bed to rest comfortably, buy meals and have someone to support you during your recovery time. Doing this in advance eliminates unwanted stress before, during and after the procedure.
- Drink lots of water
Water is a must for the body to function at its best, especially during plastic surgery. It is a must for your body to speed up recovery after the surgery. You should keep a water bottle at hand during the process to have when required.
- Ask all your questions
You don’t want to have any unexpected thing to happen to you after the surgery. Do your own research and ask all the questions you have in mind before going under the knife. If your surgeon is a reputed professional, he will be happy to resolve all your queries.
- Quit smoking, at least for a few weeks
Smoke from a cigarette or any other tobacco product hinders your body’s ability to ensure a constant supply of blood to the site of the surgery. This will slow the process of healing. Plan to quit smoking at least eight or nine weeks before the surgery.
- Keep your expectations practical
What kind of change do you expect after the surgery. You need to keep your expectations practical to avoid unpleasant surprises upon completion of the procedure. If your surgeon claims to give results that too good to believe, run away from him.
- Be patient with yourself
Surgeries need time to heal and plastic surgery in Abu Dhabi is not an exception. Don’t expect yourself to look fresh and young immediately after the surgery.
You will experience swelling, bruising, pain and other discomforts after a while. Be patient with yourself; they will heal on their own. There are procedures that take up to one year to completely heal.
You should also approach a plastic surgery in Abu Dhabi clinic that you trust. Recovery from surgery is a process that involves both your mind and your body. You need to prepare mentally to face any untoward incident. For that, you need to trust your surgeon. You need to believe that the doctor will do his best to ensure your smooth and fast recovery. Do your own research, choose a well-experienced plastic surgery in Abu Dhabi doctor. Your body and your wallet will thank you for the effort.

domain: medical


Zoom News : Dec 20, 2020, 11:24 AM
Jaipur: Having earlier expressed his opposition to the new farm laws, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) chief and Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal, whose party is an NDA member, Saturday announced his resignation from three Lok Sabha committees and said he will march towards Delhi on December 26 with two lakh supporters, in protest against the three Acts.“The government in Delhi is in a mood to crush the farmer protests. After consultation with all office-bearers of the RLP, we have decided that on December 26, two lakh jawans and kisans will march towards Delhi through the Shahjahanpur border. This is a question of Rajasthan’s honour. We will not tolerate the attempts being made by governments to erase the existence of the farmer community,” Beniwal told reporters in Jaipur, adding that a decision on whether the RLP would continue in the NDA would be taken during the march.A prominent Jat leader, Beniwal enjoys considerable support among the youth and the community in districts such as Nagaur and Barmer in Rajasthan. “The government in Delhi shouldn’t take the farmer protests lightly. If the protests flare up countrywide, it will be difficult for the BJP to tackle them,” Beniwal said Saturday.The RLP’s demands were withdrawal of the three farm Acts and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report, he said. “In support of the farmer protests, I am resigning from three Lok Sabha committees — the Standing Committee on Industry, the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and the Committee on Petitions. I have sent an email in this regard to the Lok Sabha Speaker.”In his resignation letter from the committees, which he shared on Twitter, Beniwal also mentioned issues such as an FIR not being lodged over an “attack” on him in Barmer, non-spending of CSR funds, and environmental clearances obtained on the basis of ‘wrong facts’.While putting off a decision about staying in the NDA till December 26, saying he would do so “in the presence of lakhs of people”, Beniwal indicated his mind was made. “You must have understood today… when I have resigned from the committees… definitely Hanuman Beniwal’s road will be separate,” he said.He added that the RLP would not enter into any alliance for the by-elections to three Assembly seats and the 2023 Assembly elections in Rajasthan.Slamming the Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan government on issues such as law and order, Beniwal accused it of collusion with former CM Vasundhara Raje. Beniwal has long been a detractor of Raje, and had quit the BJP to form the RLP ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections due to this rift, winning three seats. However, the RLP and BJP had aligned for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, with the RLP winning only one seat, that contested by Beniwal.


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Du Beke wants to dance for pal Len
STRICTLY judge Anton Du Beke hopes to perform a special dance in memory of his friend Len Goodman when the show returns to TV later this year.
Anton, 56, will ask producers to allow him to dance in tribute to the legendary former Strictly head judge, 78, who died of cancer last month.
He said: “I know the whole company would like to do it, but I’d love to do something with maybe one of the girls and just do a dance as a sort of little nod for Len.
“I would like to do something for him with the ensemble. “He was a great guy.” Anton is keen to get out from behind the judges’ desk and onto the dance floor again for the next season.
He said: “I would like to have a go. I’d like to get somebody up – one of the pros – and do a number when somebody’s singing or something like that.”
Laughing, he said he is glad the public see him as a friend.
Anton added: “Well I prefer that than the other where they go ‘Oh not him again!’ and they give you a swerve. It’s much nicer when everyone’s so nice.
“I’m very lucky. I do a lovely thing with Strictly and everything else. So I think by definition it all brings people joy.
“I love people and that’s what it’s all about… So it doesn’t matter what I’m doing, everyone’s a pal.”
He stressed: “I love meeting people and I love people and that’s what it’s all about. I treat everybody like a friend.”
Away from Strictly, he expects to be handed another season of the BBCTV show Anton and Giovanni’s Adventures In Sicily.
He said of fellow dancer Giovanni Pernice: “We’ve been friends for a long, long time and it was a really lovely time we had. I think it was more a show about a relationship – about him and me together.”


Turkish prime minister congratulated on Monday Russian premier on his election as president, his office said.
Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Vladimir Putin and congratulated him on his success in presidential election.
During the phone talk, Putin expressed importance his country attached to Turkey, and said he would work to boost bilateral relations.
Vladimir Putin received 63.82 percent of votes in Sunday's election and was elected the new president of Russia.
Putin won the 2000 presidential election in the Russian Federation in 2004 he was re-elected for a second term lasting until May 7, 2008.
Because of constitutional mandate limits, Putin was ineligible to run for a third consecutive presidential term. After the victory of his successor, Dmitry Medvedev, in the 2008 presidential elections, Medvedev appointed Putin as the prime minister.
US Vice President Joe Biden has said Turkey is the only country which is expected to grow in the next decade in Europe
Gul dismisses as 'fallacious and unreal' remarks attributed to him by Iran's state-owned Press TV
Trouble flared up outside the Abdi Ikpeci Arena in Istanbul before the match when around 400 Red Star fans arrived but were banned from entering, according to RTS
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn says he supports Turkey's bid for EU accession
Turkish officials attempted to prevent the execution but failed.
Input from developing countries and small to medium-sized enterprises are themes for Turkey's G20 presidency next year
The ratings agency also issued a "negative" outlook for Turkey, predicting GDP growth will slowly return to above 3 percent.
Biden meets with Turkish Prime Minister Davutoglu during his Istanbul visit.
The summit is expected to evaluate and endorse the "Joint Implementation Plan of Africa-Turkey Partnership 2015-2018," featuring key areas of cooperation.
Ministerial candidates nominated by interim premier Ahmed Tuma will be voted on in the meeting
Prime Minister Davutoglu says Turkey regards security of Kurdish region as vital as its own.
Turkish President Erdogan announces Turkey has allocated an additional $5 million to help Africa's fight against Ebola during the Second Africa-Turkey Summit.
The country drilled 127 wells during the same period, 65 of which were exploration wells and 62 were production wells.
Turkish dailies on Friday covered Turkey and Iraq's agreement to act in concert against the ISIL threat, and Turkish president's official visit to Algeria, as well as the claims by opposition leader Kilicdaroglu that the government is spying on his party
Turkey stands as a guarantor for energy peace between Baghdad and Erbil, head of an international energy company says
Turkey’s EU minister is hopeful that the country will become a member of Schengen area after readmission agreement takes hold


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You probably have heard a lot about this book before. I personally have strange relationship with it. You want to know why? I will tell you.
It all started when I picked up a free postcard at the cinema. I used to do that every time. I also used to do a lot of Postcrossing (it’s a postcard exchange program, if you haven’t heard of it, you should check it out) and always needed more cards. So one time I picked up a pretty card with the dragon and a castle on it. It was the cover of Seraphina. Back then I thought that I should read this book, it looked very intriguing. So I put the postcards away and completely forgot about the book. Some time later I saw a book review on Goodreads, that’s when I added the book to my to-read list. And again, I forgot aubout it. Lately, I started watching YouTube videos with people doing book reviews and talking about books (it is also known as BookTube), and again – here it is in it’s glory – book that is praised and put in TBR piles by so many. So this time I thought, OK, I should probably get this book from the library and be done with procrastination. And so I did.
To be honest, that wasn’t the best start ever. When you have imagined what a book might turn out to be, it never is as you imagined. For the first 50 pages I thought I will quit. Seriously. But I have made a rule for myself – don’t judge a book by it’s beginning. By page 100 it started to get interesting and the second half of the book went very fast. By the end of the book I had decided that I definitely need to read the sequel, when it comes out.
What is this book really about? Well, it’s about Dragons (Duh!) but in a different perspective than in most other books about them. Usually dragons are lonesome giants living in the mountains and hoarding gold. This book talks about the possibility that dragons could learn how to become human. Not just take a human form but actually become like people – feel the emotions; see beauty in things; care for someone other than themselves. This book is very political. Dragons have lived in their human form among people for over 40 years and still there is mistrust and cunning plans form both sides. There are both people and dragons, who think that this is never going to work but there are also people and dragons, who think that it is working well for both parties. This book also talks about love, trust and friendship. Even though it is all taken only from one perspective (of Seraphina), it still shows a lot of things that are happening in the background.
SPOILER ALERT – if you don’t want any spoilers, skip the next paragraph.
There is one thing about Seraphina that makes her so special – she is a cross-breed. Her mother hid that she was a dragon from her father and he only found out after her death in giving birth to this impossible child or demon (as many might think). Seraphina is neither human nor dragon. She has a bit of both in her. The weirdest part is that her mother had preserved her memories, as dragons do, but Seraphina can’t control their appearance and it creates a lot of problems because she collapses every time she remembers fragments of her mother’s past. She has created a garden full of “grotesques” to cope with her dragon side. In addition to that, she can understand the language of dragons, play musical instruments with some special charm, and she has some physical markings. Life is hard for her as her father tries to hide who she really is but, as she starts to get out of the shed, she finds all this unexpected attention overwhelming and strange. Later on, she finds out that she is not alone born this way.
The plot evolves around the mysterious death of the crown-prince; it appears he has been killed by a dragon and that might put the human/dragon treaty under the question. To make things worse, there is supposed to be a huge festival devoted to the treaty soon after. Seraphina gets herself entangled in state affairs and wants to discover the truth. On her way she falls in love with the wrong person; gets abused in different ways; discovers lots more about the world of dragons; gains new friends and popularity among people; almost gets herself killed numerous times, etc. Lots of philosophical thoughts about human nature, how it is hard to be different and that life isn’t always fair.
This book starts slowly but gets faster and more exciting with every chapter. There are several characters I liked but I can’t say that Seraphina herself would fall into this category. She is very self-centred and most of the times egoistic. She gets lucky not to get killed but mostly because other people are there to save her. She pretends to be strong and fearless but most of the times she is a damsel in distress. I do not consent with her moral standards of life. I don’t like her decisions, I don’t like her obnoxious ways of dealing with problems, and, most of all, I don’t like how she treats others. Of course, she is only 16 years old but I believe the age is not the key factor here. I guess this shows her duality of being a human and a dragon, and at the same time not being either. Her logics don’t always work well with her emotions, and her human side is contradicting the dragon side. She doesn’t feel to belong to either worlds at the beginning but by the end of the book she understands, that being so special might be exactly what both worlds need at the time of political shifting.
Overall, I liked the way this book was written. There are not many characters to remember; language is rich enough not to fall into repetition of the same thoughts all over again; the world setting is clear and plausible (if one can make oneself believe in dragons). I did feel a lack of action in the first half of the book and unexpected depth of political influence in this book took me by surprise at firs but later on it made more and more sense. One might find a lot of symbolism and parallels with our world in this book but it will also work as an interesting story for others, who just want to find something interesting to read in the fantasy genre. Despite my personal struggles with this book, I rate it by 8 out of 10.


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Seriously, what special kind of a fool are you?
I hear people suggesting to ‘Move on’ ‘Learn to Ignore’ ‘I’m sorry’ on most of the harassment matters, funny how I’ve never heard the same comment passed for those robbed, mugged, killed, tell me, when was the last time you requested of the victim to be careful not to get robbed or killed. Just what I thought.
The hate we have for those who steal, break, kill, rape, varies on the extent of their crimes, it’s funny how Harassment is only considered ‘unethical’ and not ‘illegal’ save for some places, many of which account it as merely a document and less than an active practice.
I’m done trying to not be harassed. Educate your children better, specially your sons, teach them better, make them better. Please. Because when you don’t they raise up to become offenders of the worst kind, how is it worse you ask? Because unlike criminals they hardly get penalized, hardly learn from their mistakes, hardly given a chance at correction, because unfortunately, most of the offenders don’t even realize their major offense towards those harassed, unfortunately, again, its women.
I’m not okay with men being harassed either, not at the least, but within my social circle and online community, I’ve never come across a case where a man was harassed and then offended, also I’m not a man so I’d leave their fight to them. Today, I’m speaking for women, all women, of race, ethnicity and gender without borders and boundaries. I don’t ask you why? I don’t expect an answer or a reason, I urge you to stop! Stop the behavior and habit of publicly or privately being unkind to women, anywhere, anytime, anyone.
If you’re unsure of what counts as harassment, its saying anything to a stranger you wouldn’t say to your mom or your sister. Even when you want to flirt, it can be done ethically, restricting yourself to a manner that is respectful, kind, and compassionate. Don’t ever make her feel like an object, but that’s what you do, all those pickup lines out there, personifying women as some sort of object to enjoy is offensive too and throwing it to her at the most inappropriate of places at the most inconvenient of times, you must be seriously deranged. But no, you’re an average boy too smart for your own good, you feel its funny sometimes to comment on a girl like that, you think its daring to be able to sing a useless line to her, or whatever else goes on in your pea sized brain, its not. It’s not daring, smart, or funny. Not at the least. So please, stop.
I wouldn’t tell you how to approach someone you like, but I’m sure of one thing, you possibly can’t be in love with a stranger in a day so never ‘confess’ it to her in a day either, and never comment on her body and expect her to respect you in return, even when complimented, she’d never take you seriously if that’s what’s on your mind.
I wish people would stop commenting on girls to be careful and act better and start educating men around them, of all age, of all kind. There is no man too young, just like you put it ‘ there isn’t a girl too careful’. Although the latter seems to boil off my nerves, but I’d let it slide by just as most of you would request me to.
Before I end my post, this isn’t a rant, it’s not just some topic I chose to babble about today, it’s a matter we need to address every single day in a hope that it would reach the right people and save if not all, at least one victim from the humiliation.
I’ve been harassed online, in a game and on social media, on places where the only info displayed was my sex: female, what do I take from that?
I’ve been harassed offline, in hospitals and schools, at malls when with family, what kind of protection do you expect me to have in an educating institute or when with my father? Don’t suggest me ways to be careful, don’t dare say to another woman that it’s somehow her fault she got harassed, if that’s what you feel, I’m sorry you lack soul and dignity but I’m also glad, because only one who haven’t been harassed can go around saying that, expecting that.

domain: sociology


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Registered: March 15, 2012 Location: Alabama Posts: 10560
Wed, Jul 31, 2013 @ 10:34 AM
Just gorgeous Pol!!! Your embossing over that (still in love with...) Orchid color is so pretty! Love the feather too! Your combinations of colors and DPs really is so wonderful! Great use of die cuts too! Lovely card!!!
Registered: February 5, 2007 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 42505
Wed, Jul 31, 2013 @ 11:53 AM
Outstanding card, Polly...and combining all those challenges in a seamless way. Your colors are lovely in its unexpected combo of hues.....and your cards are ALWAYS rich in detail which make them a delight to view.


Reflections of a President
By: Connor Reardon
At the beginning of the most chaotic school year in a lifetime, the Student Council election was held. Many ambitious students ran for positions with unique ideas and innovative plans for the school going into 2021. After the extraordinary election, held at the beginning of the year and with voting opening on federal election day, two unprecedented circumstances, and several weeks of hard campaigning, Natalie Delacruz was elected President of the Student Council. For the entirety of the school year, with all of its shakeups and challenges, Student Council had to build itself from scratch in a way, as the institution had never operated under conditions such as there were just after the election. Following a year of organizing the Council, planning initiatives, and executing agendas, Natalie was kind enough to agree to an interview with the Courant to hear her reflections on the hectic months now behind us. The interview was conducted over the phone, with a wealth of fascinating answers.
Question 1: What first motivated you to run for president?
Answer: It was something I’d been wanting to do for a long time, and I eventually want to be a politician. I feel that the experience and skills I develop in student government will be very valuable later in life: representing people, working a campaign, etc.
Question 2: What were your thoughts when you got the news you’d been elected?
Answer: I was very excited because it was a really busy time of year, and I’d decided to graduate early and was busy with college applications, and hearing this good news was just invigorating. I was really excited to get started, and I had tons of ideas.
Question 3: What were your big goals for this term, and to what extent do you feel they were accomplished?
Answer: I wanted to make student council less of a planning committee and more of a representative body, and a lot of our initiatives this year were successful in doing that. We sent out forms to students and communicated on social media, and staying in touch with the student body was a success. Although we certainly had some failures. We tried to hold Q&A sessions, and we had hoped for further engagement, but considering the extraordinary circumstances of this year, I’m happy that we managed to set up the framework for more student involvement.
Question 4: What was it like serving as president in such a chaotic year, and how did you navigate the challenges presented by Covid?
Answer: It was really weird since the election was so rushed. It was held at the beginning rather than the end of the year, and there wasn’t much time to plan. It was all pretty sudden. But we used what we had, and created a Student Council account on Instagram to interact with people, and we used virtual meetings to engage with people as much as we could. It definitely wasn’t ordinary, but we made do with what we had.
Question 5: On the whole, how do you feel your term as president has gone? Was it a fun time? An educational experience? Successful or not?
Answer: It was definitely stressful adding the presidency to an already packed schedule. I hadn’t even planned on it this year but figured it was now or never since I’ll be graduating early. I think it was enjoyable despite whatever stresses there were, and I think it’s been a successful year considering how we worked within chaotic circumstances. We achieved a lot considering we had to operate in the middle of a pandemic.
Question 6: Do you think your experience campaigning and serving as president will be beneficial going into college and adulthood?
Answer: Yeah, it’s definitely shown me that I want to stay involved in student government. I think every school can improve its student government to make it more representative and to have it serve as a more vital organ of school communities. I didn’t think I’d have an interest in it after this year once I’d entered the presidency, but this past year had given me a lot of new perspective. Not to mention the experience can definitely be used going into an actual political career.
Question 7: What would you like to see out of future student councils and presidents?
Answer: As Covid becomes less of an issue, I’d really like to see town hall-esque meetings where everyone can show up to voice their opinions, ask questions, and seek advice. I also think Student Council should take a more philanthropic role, maybe doing at least one food, clothing, etc., drive per year. There are lots of people in our community who need support, and Student Council can definitely help them get what they need.
Question 8: Do you have any tips for future presidents and council members?
Answer: If you’re thinking about running for Student Council, definitely plan ahead and have concrete ideas. Ideas for your term, and the process during Council meetings, that is. Have plans for initiatives, know teachers you can talk to, and have a concrete idea for what you want your time in office to look like so when you get started, you can hit the ground running.
Following a most extraordinary term in office during a most extraordinary year, Natalie Delacruz will be graduating from Conard, having certainly left her mark in the halls of our school.


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The American Athletic Conference opened fan voting Monday for its fifth anniversary all-conference football team, which will be named during the celebration of the conference’s five-year anniversary at the annual summer kickoff and media day July 24 in Newport, R.I.
Three former UConn football players made the ballot — linebacker Yawin Smallwood, cornerback Jamar Summers and safety Obi Melifonwu.
Players on the ballot were nominated for being chosen all-conference first team at least once during their careers, or for making the all-conference second team multiple times. The American Athletic Conference asked fans to select players at each position, ranging from one kicker and punter to five defensive linemen and linebackers. In addition to the nominees on the ballot, the conference allows write-in selections.
Smallwood was a surefire tackler in his UConn days. The Worcester, Mass., native led the team in tackles his redshirt sophomore and junior seasons with 120 and 118 tackles, respectively. Smallwood was first-team All-Big East in 2012 and first-team All-American Athletic Conference in its first year, 2013.
The Atlanta Falcons selected Smallwood in the seventh round of the NFL draft in 2014, but was waived before ever seeing the field in a regular-season game.
Summers finished his UConn career in December 2017 with 12 career interceptions, including eight in his sophomore year. He was a first-team all-conference selection that year, helping the Huskies to the St. Petersburg Bowl. Summers earned 183 career tackles during his time in Storrs, and was picked up by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent.
Before Melifonwu wowed NFL scouts with his athleticism at the NFL scouting combine, he was regularly making an impact at safety for the Huskies. The London-born Melifonwu registered a team-high 128 tackles his final season, including a 24-tackle performance against Tulane on Nov. 26, 2016, earning himself first-team honors.
Melifonwu was selected in the second round of the 2017 NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders.
Notable non-Huskies to make the ballot include New York Jets quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, Seattle Seahawks linebacker Shaquem Griffin and Buffalo Bills wide receiver Zay Jones.


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Weaver: "Don't you think I won't."
At one point during this deathless dialog, Weaver boastfully predicted that in another decade or so, he'd be in the Hall of Fame.
Haller: "For bleeping up the World Series?"
Weaver: "I've won more than I've lost, kid."
For the record, it was the 78th time Weaver had been thrown out of a game in his career.
On March 31, 1931, Notre Dame Football Coach Knute Rockne was killed with seven other people in the crash of an airliner in Kansas. So why is Rockne's smiling face gracing a Piedmont Airlines ad running this season in football programs at more than 40 colleges? Well, it seems that Piedmont, which was founded in 1948, wanted to promote an association between itself and college football and came up with copy reading, "Football has come a long way. So have we...." Further, it seems that nobody at either the airline or its ad agency remembered the circumstances of Rockne's death when it was decided to use his picture. Mitch Lawrence, a sportswriter for the Syracuse Post-Standard, caught the gaffe ("I thought for a second I was reading National Lampoon") and called it to the attention of W.G. McGee, Piedmont's senior vice-president, who was properly embarrassed. Noting that Rockne had been included "because of his personality and not how he left this world," McGee said of the ad: "It was done in good faith and we hope people take it that way."
A JUMBO-SIZED TRIBUTE
During his 46 years as Villanova's track coach, Jumbo Elliott has turned out a host of world-class performers, including such notable middle-distance runners as Ron Delany, Eamonn Coghlan, Marty Liquori and Don Paige. Those athletes and others like them have helped Elliott's teams win eight NCAA (one outdoor, three indoor, four cross-country) and three AAU (2 indoor, one cross-country) championships. What makes these numbers all the more impressive is that the Wildcat trackmen train on an antiquated track at Villanova Stadium so slow that not even the most talented of them ever ran a sub-four-minute mile on it.
Now that may change. Last week Villanova dedicated a new eight-lane, Rubaturf track at the stadium that will not only facilitate faster clockings, but will also enable the school to play host to championship meets, something it couldn't very well do before. The dedication ceremonies were held at halftime of Villanova's 20-9 football victory over Boston College, and one old grad, Paul Drayton, seized the occasion to make a gift to the school—" Villanova did everything for me," he said—of the gold medal he won as a member of the U.S. 4 x 100-meter relay team in the 1964 Olympics. Drayton was one of 150 present and former Villanova trackmen (including Delany, Liquori and virtually all of the school's 20-odd other track Olympians) on hand for the festivities, and as the crowd of 13,300 cheered, the 65-year-old Elliott led his boys on a victory lap of what Villanova officials have named, fittingly enough, Jumbo Elliott Track.
SUPPORTING ALMA PATER


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Prosthetics and orthotics for persons with movement disabilities in India in the postpandemic milieu
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Prosthet Orthot Int
The SARS-CoV-2 disease had a severe impact on global socioeconomic growth, and its harmful effects continue with virus mutation. Over the past 3 years, the pandemic has caused isolation, mental trauma, stress, financial losses, and various health complications in individuals. Recent reports have stressed the sufferings of the physically abled population. However, we should not neglect the challenges faced by the disabled population, which were more severe in many ways due to their dependency on others at various levels. The strategies implemented to contain the virus have further aggravated their sufferings and made it even worse because health care priorities were skewed toward public-centered care. As a result, it is difficult to determine the extent of care the disabled population received during the pandemic. Moreover, a single-centered study reports that amputations in India increased by 54.1% compared with those during the prepandemic era. This indicates the need for special attention to the physically disabled community, especially persons with movement disabilities. These individuals are partially dependent and have the potential to make significant contributions to the gross domestic product if included in the human resources pool. The Indian government had launched various initiatives to improve their living status. But delays in policy implementation, reduction in budget allocation, and the ongoing pandemic have derailed the efforts. For these reasons, this article emphasizes several challenges in movement disability care. In addition, it makes recommendations for improving the quality of life of persons with movement disabilities. These include collaboration, creating start-up businesses, applying state-of-the-art logistics, establishing a technological ecosystem, raising public awareness, accessing high-quality care, and using contemporary medical devices.
Prajapati AK, Komath M, SubhashN N. Prosthetics and orthotics for persons with movement disabilities in India in the postpandemic milieu. Prosthet Orthot Int. 2023 Nov 7. doi: 10.1097/PXR.0000000000000276.


ATP Shirt, 2015 Collection
We designed ATP Shirt as a whole range of T-shirts enabling uncompromising individuality and elegance, curated into three distinct collections:
ATP Shirt Sport
ATP Shirt features premium-quality black and gray shirts in tri-blend (men's and women's) and cotton (women's). Cotton is both strong and beautiful, and has long been used to make fine T-shirts. Our tri-blend options combine cotton with polyester and rayon for increased resilience and innovative draping to make the softest, most comfortable T-shirts in the world.
ATP Shirt Edition
ATP Shirt Edition features two uniquely elegant expressions of ATP Shirt in red (women's) and black (men's), printed with gold-colored foil designed to be much softer than real 18-karat gold. With proper care (wash cold, inside-out, and hang to dry), this exquisitely designed shirt provides a striking complement.


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Note: You will need a Modified Grill for proper baking of this dough.
|Bakers' %||in grams||in ounces||Recommended|
|Flour||100%||631 g||22.3 oz||Caputo 00 Pizzeria|
|Water||61%||385 g||13.6 oz||Water|
|Yeast or Starter||1.0000%||6.315 g||0.223 oz||Natural Leaven|
|Salt||2.70%||17.05 g||0.60 oz||Sea Salt|
|Oil/Lards/Shortening||0.00%||0.0 g||0.0 oz||-No Oils Needed|
|Sugar||0.00%||0.000 g||0.0 oz||-No Sugar Needed|
|Other||0.00%||0.00 g||0.0 oz||-No Others Needed|
|Totals||1040 g||36.68 oz|
* The above ingredients will yeild 4 doughballs of 260 grams each.
Instructions from the forum thread:
Note: Target weight is 10 ounces for a 13" skin.
1 - Add salt & water in kneader bowl. Stir until salt completely dissolved
2 - Add starter then add approximately half the sifted flour
3 - Turn on kneader incorporating the dry ingredients completely
4 – Then add remaining flour by evenly sprinkling flour very slowly
5 - Mix until dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl
6 - Rest 15 minutes. Then turn kneader on for one full turn to achieve proper texture. This is 1st dough point
7 - Remove dough from bowl. Target dough temperature is 75 - 77F
8 - Punch & fold on bench until very springy. The famed double dough point
9 - Shape into bulk ball & place in covered bowl. Maintain a 64 – 68F temp for the 1st room temperature rise of 12 - 18 hours
10 - Divide into 10oz weights, shape into balls and cover. Maintain a 64 – 68F temp for 2nd rise of 4-6 hours
For more information on this dough, photos and insight, CLICK HERE to view the forum thread.

domain: food


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Along with my quest (now complete!) for the perfect wedding dress, I’ve also been much more conscious of what and how I eat. About a year ago, we started a conscious movement away from processed foods, and after several months, one of the lingering processed foods that remained in my diet was breakfast cereal. After some experimenting with my mother’s recipe, I finally settled on a homemade granola recipe that I can eat every morning (and alter when I get tired of it and need a change).
Fortunately, almost nine months of the year, I can get local, organic Greek Yogurt from our farmer’s market, and I always have homemade preserves kicking around in the basement. And given that I eat breakfast at 5 a.m., and it has to last until lunch at 12:30, it’s important that what I choose is both satisfying and healthy.
So what am I doing these days? 1/2 c. Greek Yogurt, 1/2 c. Homemade Granola, 1 T Homemade Strawberry Preserves.
The recipe is simple and keeps for about two weeks in a sealed container. It is a calorie-dense food, so I try to limit my intake to under 3/4 c. a day, though once you taste it, you’ll understand my struggle.
1 c. unsweetened, shredded coconut
4 c. old fashioned oats
1 – 2 c. nuts (I usually mix almonds and walnuts, but pecans are delicious, too)
1/2. c. ground flax seed
1/2 c. wheat bran (optional)
1 t. salt
1/4 c. oil (I typically use extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil)
2/3 c. maple syrup
1 T vanilla
- Preheat oven to 225 degrees.
- Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Combine wet ingredients in a 2 c. liquid measuring cup. If using coconut oil, melt the ingredients together in a saucepan.
- Mix liquid and dry ingredients until fully combined.
- Spread on 2 cookie sheets.
- Bake for one hour, stirring every fifteen minutes and rotating the cookie sheets between oven racks.
- After one hour, increase the oven temperature to 325 and bake until golden (checking every 5 minutes). Note: this will happen very quickly! Be cautious not to burn your granola.
- Cool completely and place in an airtight container.
The best part about this granola is how versatile the recipe is. Feel free to omit or add anything you like!


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My local County Fair is coming up this next week and I am so excited/nervous. I haven't entered anything since 2009. I did quite well considering I started the shawl a couple of days before the fair and finished it minutes before it had to be dropped off.
I'm also entering a shawl this year in a similar color scheme (What can I say? I love that color combo.). It's the South Bay Shawlette by Lion Brand. I did decide to make it larger because I already have a few shawlette/scarves that I wear when it's cool out. I am SOOOOO happy with how it turned out. I hope it will do well.
I also made a baby blanket (in a matter of a few days literally). It was fun. I wanted to finish a large project so bad I just couldn't put it down. I'll be curious to see what it gets at the fair.
On top of all of the projects I've been working on for the fair (the two above are the largest) I've also been trying to get over a cold. Started out of no where early Sunday (July 26th) morning and it's still going although it's not as bad as it was. I had a fever for a full day and for a few days I could hardly get myself off of the couch. So thankful I'm past that part of it.
Well, I need to get busy on one of the last things I want to enter into the fair so I will see you guys here again in the next week or so when I will be giving you an update on my fair entries.
Happy knitting and Crocheting!!
Julee (aka CroJulee on Ravelry and Instagram)


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- Kanwal Khosat
- Rukhsana Nigar
- Bol Entertainment
Timings & Days
Chakkar is a Pakistan one of the famous drama serials which are airing on BOL Entertainment every Tuesday at 9 pm. In this serial famous actress, Resham is playing the leading role with Irfan Khoosat. This emotional and family serial is produced by BOL entertainment under the direction of Kanwal Khoosat.
If you are looking for Chakkar drama actors names, timings, on-air days, photos, and OST title song then you can find these here. You can also find the public opinion and reviews about Chakkar drama here.


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Pasta & Imitation Crab Salad
8 ozpasta (l used radiatore nuggets)
About1-1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 cchopped broccoli
1/2 cthinly sliced baby carrots
2 Tbspdiced red onion
6 ozcolby-jack cheese, cut into small chunks
5 ozimitation crab meat, cut into chunks (about 1 c.)
1 chellmann's mayonnaise
1 clight ltalian salad dressing
2 Tbspkraft grated parmesan cheese
·freshly cracked black pepper, add according to taste
How to Make Pasta & Imitation Crab Salad
- In a large pot of boiling water, add the vegetable oil and salt. Add the pasta, and cook pasta for 8 minutes and 30 seconds.
- During the last 30 seconds of cooking time, add the broccoli. After the 30 seconds, immediately drain and rinse the pasta and broccoli under cold water in a colander.
- While the pasta and broccoli is draining in the colander, add the carrots, onion, cheese, and imitation crab meat to a large bowl.
- In another bowl mix together, the mayonnaise and Italian dressing. Use 1-cup of the dressing to mix into the salad, and reserve the other cup for later.
- Incorporate the 1-cup of dressing into the large bowl of vegetables, cheese, and meat. Add the pasta and broccoli to the bowl; stir gently to mix the salad.
- Season the salad with a bit of the freshly cracked black pepper. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the salad, and gently fold in the grape tomatoes. Cover the salad, and place it in the refrigerator to chill.
- After 2-3 hours of refrigeration, and before serving the salad; stir in a 3/4 cup to 1-cup of the mayonnaise/Italian dressing. The extra dressing will keep the salad creamy and moist, even up to a day or two later.


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It is natural and right to take reality as independently real, but every perception is the best guess of what reality is. We know a prediction, rather than a fact. This invites a freedom to shape our self and world towards an ethical liberation.
Most of us unconsciously identify as a separate, threatened, deficient self. This talk shines a light on this conditioning and explores the ways that mindfulness, compassion and self-inquiry reveal the freedom of our true nature.


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Dr. Paul Pannozzo of Summa Pain Care wrote in a July post via LinkedIn, “For years pain physicians offered treatments that would try to reduce symptoms but never really restored the function of the lumbar disc. Today we have ViaDisc that has proven to reduce back pain by adding back what the disc loses over time. Progress!”
ViaDisc is a treatment offering that Summa Pain Care provides to alleviate the pain and loss of function that arises from Lumbar Disc Degeneration or Degenerative Disc Disease. As Dr. Pannozzo alluded too, in earlier treatments no option existed to actually regenerate intradiscal tissue or reverse degeneration, until ViaDisc NP or nucleus pulposus was developed by VIVEX.
Degenerated discs are indicated by decreased disc height, dehydration and loss of nutrient content. These alterations over time create cracks and fissures in the disc(s), placing additional strain on nerves in the surrounding spinal column and placing focused pressure on the spine, causing significant pain.
According to Vivex Biologics, “VIA Disc NP® is an off-the-shelf processed human nucleus pulposus tissue allograft intended to supplement degenerated intervertebral discs.” The most amazing thing is that ViaDisk nucleus pulposus is derived from actual human donor tissue.
They explain, “In-vitro testing of nucleus pulposus tissue demonstrates ability of disc to absorb water similar to original nucleus pulposus tissue. Transplanted nucleus pulposus tissue may support biomechanical function of the supplemented disc.”
A few highlights from the VAST Clinical Trial: Safely Supplementing Tissue Lost to Degenerative Disc Disease available via PubMed and the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s National Library of Medicine truly demonstrate why Dr. Pannozzo finds the results so exciting.
He explained, “The VAST study was well designed with solid outcomes.”
According to the study, “Reduction in pain was evident in both of the active treatment groups in the study. Subjects who had been randomized to continue nonsurgical management (NSM) demonstrated no relief. “
“Functional improvement was evident in both of the active treatment groups in the study. Subjects who had been randomized to continue nonsurgical (NSM) demonstrated no improvement. “
Finally, in discussion, the study concluded “Meaningful clinical improvement was achieved in the cohort randomized to receive VIA Disc Matrix by 6 months and was maintained over the course of the study, attaining a 71% reduction at 6 months that reached 78% by 12 months.”
Dr. Douglas P. Beall wrote, “I am highly encouraged by the initial results and safety data from the VAST study. Implantation of disc tissue allograft can be done safely, and early evidence suggests greater than 70% improvements in VAS and ODI sustained at 12 months in the allograft groups,”
“Interventions like VIA Disc have the potential for treating mild-to-moderate degenerative discs that greatly advance an alternative to surgical intervention.”
Expectations for The Procedure
The VIA Disc NP treatment is performed under strictlysterile conditions.
The VIA Disc NP treatment can be performed under local anesthesia or moderate sedation might be recommended by a Summa Pain Care professional. A treatment including your pain-generating intervertebral disc can create initial discomfort though.
Throughout the treatment, your medical professional will use fluoroscopy (a computer system tomography scan that continues to take images throughout the treatment so that the medical professional can see where the needle is going).
Your doctor will position a needle through the skin and muscle into the center of the intervertebral disc. Via Disc NP will slowly be supplied into the center of the intervertebral disc.
You may experience pain and discomfort after the treatment, which is normal. This pain may be due to increased pressure within your intervertebral disc,
It is really crucial to follow your doctor’s instructions after the treatment. You might be ordered to keep your activity to the common activities of every day life and limit physical or challenging activity for 72 hours post-procedure.
Your physician may also suggest specific pain medications (e.g. analgesics, steroid dose pack, muscle relaxants). You may experience moderate to severe pain after injection into an intervertebral disc, and oral medications might be needed quickly to treat this post-injection pain and discomfort. An ice bag might be offered to put over the injection site in case of post-injection site discomfort. Your physician may even suggest a back brace or recommend physical therapy to make you feel more comfortable following your treatment.
Comments are closed.


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Mohamed Mustafa, the adviser to the Palestinian president for economic affairs, said on Monday that Egypt would help Palestine extract natural gas in the Mediterranean Sea and export it to other countries if needed. Mustafa’s remarks to the Voice of Palestine (VOP) come a day after Egypt and the Palestinian Authority signed a memorandum of understanding on developing the Gaza Marine natural gas field. The MoU was signed during a visit by Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla to Ramallah and Israel, during which he met with Mustafa and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Minister El-Molla also met with Israel's Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz in Jerusalem. The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) will work with the Palestinian Authority on a deal to extract natural gas from the Mediterranean Sea and transport it to Palestinian areas, Mustafa said. The natural gas surplus after extraction will be available for sale to the Egyptian side, he added. Mustafa said Egypt can help...read more...
SectorOil & Gas


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Clinical and Support Options Inc
Clinical and Support Options Inc is located in Athol, Massachusetts - (491 Main Street 1331). The center can be contacted at 978-249-9490.
Clinical and Support Options Inc allows Self-Payment, Insurance Through Medicaid, Medicare for Addiction Treatment, Private Insurance, Military Insurance Payment for the services that they provides, like Individual Addiction Counseling, Couples and Family Counseling, Group Addiction Therapy, Cognitive Behavior Therapy. It offers its services in various settings, including Outpatient Rehabilitation.
The facility provides all of their services for these care types: Treatment for Mental Health Disorders.
We can help you find the right treatment facility that best fits your overall needs and financial requirements.


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The Medallion of the Apostolate of the New Evangelization
The Great Crusade Of Love
My New City Constitutes the Salvation of Its People
When My reign comes, I shall extend My hand and rescue the rest of My people dispersed throughout the earth. The infidels will be united to them and will invoke My name. All will accept My Justice that will rule with honesty for the humble of the earth and strike down the tyrant, humbling him. To his follower Babel, jewel of the nations, to the proud ornament of the powerful, I will raze with the breadth of My ire… and never will it be inhabited nor populated through generations to come. Its hours are numbered and its days will not be prolonged. I will eradicate its name and roots, converting it into an immense marsh.
My new Zion will rejoice. My new city constitutes the salvation of its people. It will be the refuge of the chosen ones and the repentant that will trust in Me.
Among the people of the earth, the new Zion will rejoice. Every single inhabitant will been forgiven his iniquity. Those whom I help, the liberated ones, will reach this new Zion through a roadway and a road attained by Atonement and Penance, and their hearts will exalt with joy upon passing its doors, for all suffering will have passed.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Starting Monday, 05 March 2001, in the first week of Lent 2001, Scoop began publication of a series of daily reflections on spiritual matters from Bolivian author Katya Rivas. Rivas, has received an official imprimatur from the Catholic Church for several books she says she was instructed to write by Jesus Christ, Mary and various Angels. Scoop’s extract, above, comes from Rivas’s book “The Passion”. In 1999 Katya Rivas was the subject of a top-rating documentary show hosted by Mike Willessee (see Scoop TV review - Jesus Christ Tells FOXNews He Wants To Hug World and Scoop Images ). More recently Rivas says she was instructed by Jesus to have her books translated and published on the internet with the intention of having the books distributed to as wide an audience as possible. Several of the books can now be read online at http://www.greatcrusade.org/, and more are coming soon.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: “Copyright© 2000 by The Great Crusade of Love and Mercy. All rights reserved. This book is published in coordination with The Apostolate of the New Evangelization. Permission is granted to reproduce this book as a whole in its entirety with no changes or additions and as long as the reproduction and distribution is done solely on a non-profit basis. This document is available at no cost online and can be downloaded and printed from the following Web Sites: in English at: http://www.greatcrusade.org and Spanish at: http://www.grancruzada.org …Please copy and distribute this book”.

domain: literature


text:
The UK government plans to make it illegal for learned societies to spend public money to give it unbiased expert advice.The mission of the Royal Society, the UK's leading scientific body, is “to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity”. As a part of this mission one of its priorities is “Providing scientific advice for policy”. If the government has its way, that priority will bite the dust.
The government thinks that anyone who takes taxpayers' money should be banned from “lobbying” government and Parliament. You can read the bald facts here: Government announces new clause to be inserted into grant agreements. This says that “Organisations receiving government grants will be banned from using these taxpayer funds to lobby government and Parliament.” To this end:
“A new clause to be inserted into all new and renewed grant agreements will make sure that taxpayer funds are spent on improving people’s lives and good causes, rather than lobbying for new regulation or using taxpayers’ money to lobby for more government funding.”There is just one problem for the research community and the likes of the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE), another body with a remit to advise government, grants could include the money that they receive from government to do the work that is their raison d’etre.
As its website puts it:
“The Royal Society receives a grant from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). This supports work on scientific excellence and innovation, science and mathematics education, international activities and science communication activities.”In 2015/16, BIS gave the RS £47.101 million. The latest accounts for the RAE (pdf file), for the year ending 31 March 2015, show that it received £13.1 million from BIS.
Like the RS, the RAE, the RS's engineering equivalent, spends some of this money collecting and presenting advice to government. As the RAE puts it: “The Academy undertakes a range of activities to ensure that engineering is at the heart of policy-making, providing authoritative, impartial advice and expertise.”
All of this could well fall foul of the proposed wording in grants agreements issued under the new regime. This would rule out:
“Payments that support activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, government or political parties, or attempting to influence the awarding or renewal of contracts and grants, or attempting to influence legislative or regulatory action.”Bang goes all that work on impartial, advice.
The RS and RAE sometimes work together in their roles as advisors. For example, in July 2015 they put together their Response to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee inquiry into the environmental risks of fracking. What is the point of that study if its does not “influence or attempt to influence Parliament, government or political parties”.
Sometimes the government even asks these bodies for help. For example, in 2014, the then Minister for Universities, Science and Cities, Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, asked Dame Ann Dowling DBE FREng FRS, and now the President of the RAE, “to lead a review examining how government can support the development of more effective collaborations between businesses and university researchers in the UK”. Could a successor do the same if it meant urging the Academy to break the law?
In recent years, the RAE has also opined on:
- Innovate UK’s integration with Research UK
- Higher education: teaching excellence, social mobility and student choice
- Relationship between EU membership and UK science
- the Nurse Review of Research Councils
- Digital Communications Infrastructure Strategy
- Science and Innovation Strategy
- Emerging technologies
- EU regulation of the life sciences
- Innovate UK’s integration with Research UK
- The global humanitarian system
- Purpose and quality of education in England
It is hard to see how either body could have written on subjects like those without running the risk of being accused of trying to “lobby government and Parliament”. Isn’t that the whole point?
And what will the government’s lawyers say about the comments of the RS and RAE, along with the Academy of Medical Sciences and the British Academy, two further recipients of government grants, on party manifestos at election time? These bodies “urge the next government to strengthen public investment in research and innovation”.
Even though they even handedly say that they are “pleased to see that four of the five manifestos make commitments in this area”, that statement might well provoke a slap over the wrists under the proposed law. What are these bodies doing sticking their noses into our manifestos?
The research community itself fears that the same new law would hit anyone who receives a grant from a Research Council, which is government money after all, without also falling foul of the proposed new law. That is why some aggrieved researchers have promulgated one of those petitions to parliament.
This petition, which may itself to have benefited from government grants to pay the individuals who launched it, warns:
“The Cabinet Office has announced that a new ‘anti-lobbying’ clause will be included in all Government grants from May 2016. This is an attack on academic freedom as it would stop grants for university research being used to influence policy-makers. It is bad for the public interest and democracy.”The petition then points out that the proposed ‘no lobbying with our cash’ law “does not mention that Government grants for research in universities and research institutes would be covered by the new clause”. It then goes on to say that “The Government should ensure that grants from the higher education funding councils and research councils to support research are exempt from this new clause.”
The petition does not address the issue of organisations that hand out that money. But they also need protection from this asinine edict.
Corridors of powerlessness
Organisations like the RS and RAE don’t jump up and down in public or start petitions when dodgy legislation threatens their livelihood. That would look too much like lobbying. Instead they quietly go into ‘corridors of power mode’, as one president of the RS described it to me long ago. Sadly, it seems that those behind-the-scenes mutterings have fallen on deaf ears in Whitehall.
If anything, the explanation of how the new rules will work confirm the fears of the organisations involved. The notes pose the question: “Should the clause be included for all types of grant recipient – e.g. public sector organisations and individuals?” The answer is clear: “Yes, the presumption is that this clause is always included.”
The notes do go on to say “Grant recipients are still free to engage in lobbying but should not fund this sort of activity from government grants unless it is specifically part of the terms of the grant itself.” But that would eliminate much of the work of the national academies. Unlike the charities that raise money from the public, they don’t have chuggers with their clipboards accosting shoppers on the high streets, or call centres harassing charitable old people and urging them to hand over their savings.
There are, as yet, no plans to exempt researchers or the organisations that represent them from the new regime. So they will sit alongside what the government’s announcement, citing the Institute of Economic Affairs, calls “so-called ‘sock puppets’”.
At one stage there was much talk in Whitehall and Westminster of a need for ‘evidence based policy’. In other words, if you want to change the way in which the NHS works, for example, you first analyse the issue, gathering the evidence and then trying to devise policies that will bring about the desired effects. In its plans to make the NHS a “24-7” operation, the current government seems to have turned that on its head. It now prefers ‘policy based evidence’. "Here’s what we want to do, go and find the evidence to prove that it makes sense."
Perhaps this is why the government refuses to make an exception in the new grant wording for research and the bodies that promote it. It does not want those pesky national academies offering advice that could make policies look even more daft and ill considered than they now do. Who needs input from researchers and experts who actually know what they are talking about when you can listen to all those political think tanks that exist purely to tell you what to do?

domain: law


The Bryan Independent School District will have some new faces leading some of its schools, and some old faces in new places.
Monday, the school board approved five principal appointments for the 2012-2013 school year.
The moves include announcing a replacement for Bryan High School Principal Diana Werner, who is retiring at the end of the school year.
(currently an executive director in Chapel Hill ISD)
(currently Director of Student Services in Mexia ISD)
(currently Sam Houston Elementary's principal)
Sam Houston Elementary
(currently Sul Ross Elementary's principal)
Dr. Hugo Ibarra
(currently a Bryan High assistant principal)


text:
Central Banks Can’t Save the WorldMohamed El-Erian
Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- The three central bank meetings this week -- the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve -- made very good cases for additional stimulus measures, though they failed to specify what these would be.
Equities and certain bonds that had surged on the basis of last week’s verbal assurances by central bankers and political leaders sold off. There was no panic given central bankers’ promises to do more in the future should additional action be needed. This is what the standard narrative has been.
But it misses important context, and there is more at play here. The unfortunate reality is that, unlike during the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, central banks can’t be the saviors this time around for a struggling global economy. Other government entities, with better-suited policy tools, need to step up to the plate.
Why did central bankers disappoint so many this week? I suspect that they wish to keep pressure on other policy makers who demonstrate none of the necessary urgency. The bankers also realize that their policy tools are increasingly less effective. To quote Mario Draghi, president of the ECB, central banks “cannot replace governments.” There’s something else: Central bankers more than anyone are being careful to keep dry whatever ammunition they still have.
This week’s events also highlight how central banks’ operational flexibility is much less than what is commonly assumed. Here, the ECB is particularly important given the enormous risk that Europe’s crisis poses for the global economy, including the U.S.
Last week in London, Draghi left no doubt as to his commitment to do “whatever it takes” to safeguard the euro. He also introduced a shrewd sequence to bring sovereign spreads and yields within the mandate of the ECB and try to contain borrowing costs for struggling peripheral economies. He did this by suggesting that the “exceptionally high risk premia” are undermining countries like Italy and Spain, and that concerns about the robustness of the euro as a currency are contributing to the fragmentation of the financial system and clogging the monetary policy transmission mechanism -- and that, clearly, this needed to be addressed.
Yet Draghi felt compelled Thursday to make additional ECB measures conditional on countries being allowed to access Europe-wide rescue facilities that aren’t under the purview of the central bank. He questioned how his London speech was interpreted, suggesting that markets misread what he meant. He also had to deal with talk of divisions inside the ECB’s governing council.
All this speaks to the much bigger reality, which is of great relevance for individuals, companies, investors and governments around the world. Yes, central banks may be part of the solution, but increasingly they will play a smaller and smaller role. The tools they have available are losing their firepower. The burden is now on other policy makers and the political leadership. Only they have the tools that can address the fundamental problem of too little growth, too much debt in the wrong places, and too little private capital being channeled to investment and other productive activities.
To solve Europe’s crisis and the world’s intensifying economic malaise -- just witness the downturn in manufacturing - - policy makers and their political bosses need to address issues of competitiveness, fiscal reform, and the retooling and retraining of the labor force. The longer the delay, the more likely these problems will get embedded in the structure of the economies.
Of course, none of this will happen until political leaders abandon their tactical, incremental and partial approaches for issues that require strategic, coordinated and comprehensive responses. Unfortunately, in today’s polarized world, the prospects of this are far from reassuring.
(Mohamed El-Erian is Pacific Investment Management Co.’s chief executive officer and co-chief investment officer, and the author of the book “When Markets Collide.” The opinions expressed are his own.)
Read more opinion online from Bloomberg View. Subscribe to receive a daily e-mail highlighting new View editorials, columns and op-ed articles.
Today’s highlights: the editors on India’s power failures and on how Congress failed on cybersecurity; Stephen L. Carter on educational inequality; Ezra Klein on Mitt Romney’s exploding tax plan; William Pesek on higher food prices and Asia’s poor; Virginia Postrel on the historical lie behind “you didn’t build that”; Jonathan Weil on stopping wrongdoing by banks; Richard Cohen on the changing of the guard in Olympic fencing; Handel Reynolds on cancers we don’t need to know about; Anthony B. Sanders on why Edward DeMarco was right to block mortgage writedowns.
To contact the writer of this article: Mohamed El-Erian at email@example.com
To contact the editor responsible for this article: James Greiff at firstname.lastname@example.org.

domain: economics


text:
The Psychopath Test
Please search for the book "The Psychopath Test" Download or Read now. Sign up to get a free book "The Psychopath Test". If you want to find a book, type the title of the book in the search field, and get it.
The Psychopath Test Summary : They say one out of every hundred people is a psychopath. You probably passed one on the street today. These are people who have no empathy, who are manipulative, deceitful, charming, seductive, and delusional. The Psychopath Test is the New York Times bestselling exploration of their world and the madness industry. When Jon Ronson is drawn into an elaborate hoax played on some of the world's top scientists, his investigation leads him, unexpectedly, to psychopaths. He meets an influential psychologist who is convinced that many important business leaders and politicians are in fact high-flying, high-functioning psychopaths, and teaches Ronson how to spot them. Armed with these new abilities, Ronson meets a patient inside an asylum for the criminally insane who insists that he's sane, a mere run-of-the-mill troubled youth, not a psychopath—a claim that might be only manipulation, and a sign of his psychopathy. He spends time with a death-squad leader institutionalized for mortgage fraud, and with a legendary CEO who took joy in shutting down factories and firing people. He delves into the fascinating history of psychopathy diagnosis and treatments, from LSD-fueled days-long naked therapy sessions in prisons to attempts to understand serial killers. Along the way, Ronson discovers that relatively ordinary people are, more and more, defined by their most insane edges. The Psychopath Test is a fascinating adventure through the minds of madness.
The Psychopath Test Summary : In this madcap journey, a bestselling journalist investigates psychopaths and the industry of doctors, scientists, and everyone else who studies them. The Psychopath Test is a fascinating journey through the minds of madness. Jon Ronson's exploration of a potential hoax being played on the world's top neurologists takes him, unexpectedly, into the heart of the madness industry. An influential psychologist who is convinced that many important CEOs and politicians are, in fact, psychopaths teaches Ronson how to spot these high-flying individuals by looking out for little telltale verbal and nonverbal clues. And so Ronson, armed with his new psychopath-spotting abilities, enters the corridors of power. He spends time with a death-squad leader institutionalized for mortgage fraud in Coxsackie, New York; a legendary CEO whose psychopathy has been speculated about in the press; and a patient in an asylum for the criminally insane who insists he's sane and certainly not a psychopath. Ronson not only solves the mystery of the hoax but also discovers, disturbingly, that sometimes the personalities at the helm of the madness industry are, with their drives and obsessions, as mad in their own way as those they study. And that relatively ordinary people are, more and more, defined by their maddest edges.
The Psychopath Test Summary : What if society wasn't fundamentally rational, but was motivated by insanity? This thought sets Jon Ronson on an utterly compelling adventure into the world of madness. Along the way, Jon meets psychopaths, those whose lives have been touched by madness and those whose job it is to diagnose it, including the influential psychologist who developed the Psychopath Test, from whom Jon learns the art of psychopath-spotting. A skill which seemingly reveals that madness could indeed be at the heart of everything . . . Combining Jon Ronson's trademark humour, charm and investigative incision, The Psychopath Test is both entertaining and honest, unearthing dangerous truths and asking serious questions about how we define normality in a world where we are increasingly judged by our maddest edges.
📒The Men Who Stare At Goats by Jon Ronson
The Men Who Stare at Goats Summary : Bizarre military history: In 1979, a crack commando unit was established by the most gifted minds within the U.S. Army. Defying all known laws of physics and accepted military practice, they believed that a soldier could adopt the cloak of invisibility, pass cleanly through walls, and—perhaps most chillingly—kill goats just by staring at them. They were the First Earth Battalion, entrusted with defending America from all known adversaries. And they really weren’t joking. What’s more, they’re back—and they’re fighting the War on Terror. An uproarious exploration of American military paranoia: With investigations ranging from the mysterious “Goat Lab,” to Uri Geller’s covert psychic work with the CIA, to the increasingly bizarre role played by a succession of U.S. presidents, this might just be the funniest, most unsettling book you will ever read—if only because it is all true and is still happening today.
📒The Psychopath Whisperer by Kent A. Kiehl, PhD
The Psychopath Whisperer Summary : A compelling journey into the science and behavior of psychopaths, written by the leading scientist in the field of criminal psychopathy. We know of psychopaths from chilling headlines and stories in the news and movies—from Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy, to Hannibal Lecter and Dexter Morgan. As Dr. Kent Kiehl shows, psychopaths can be identified by a checklist of symptoms that includes pathological lying; lack of empathy, guilt, and remorse; grandiose sense of self-worth; manipulation; and failure to accept one’s actions. But why do psychopaths behave the way they do? Is it the result of their environment— how they were raised—or is there a genetic component to their lack of conscience? This is the question Kiehl, a protégé of famed psychopath researcher Dr. Robert Hare, was determined to answer as he began his career twenty years ago. To aid in his quest to unravel the psychopathic mind, Kiehl created the first mobile functional MRI scanner to study psychopaths in prison populations. The brains of more than five hundred psychopaths and three thousand other offenders have been scanned by Kiehl’s laboratory—the world’s largest forensic neuroscience repository of its kind. Over the course of The Psychopath Whisperer, we follow the scientific bread crumbs that Kiehl uncovered to show that the key brain structures that correspond with emotional engagement and reactions are diminished in psychopaths, offering new clues to how to predict and treat the disorder. In The Psychopath Whisperer, Kiehl describes in fascinating detail his years working with psychopaths and studying their thought processes— from the remorseless serial killers he meets with behind bars to children whose behavior and personality traits exhibit the early warning signs of psychopathy. Less than 1 percent of the general population meets the criteria for psychopathy. But psychopaths account for a vastly outsized proportion of violent crimes. And as Kiehl shows, many who aren’t psychopaths exhibit some of the behaviors and traits associated with the condition. What do you do if you discover your roommate, or boss, or the person you are dating has traits that define a psychopath? And what does having a diminished limbic region of the brain mean for how the legal system approaches crimes committed by psychopaths? A compelling narrative of cutting-edge science, The Psychopath Whisperer will open your eyes on a fascinating but little understood world, with startling implications for society, the law, and our personal lives. From the Hardcover edition.
📒The Psychopath Inside by James Fallon
The Psychopath Inside Summary : A compelling career memoir by an award-winning neuroscientist describes how while studying his own family's brain scans for research he made the disturbing discovery that his own reflected a pattern he recognized from those in the brains of serial killers, a finding that offered new insights into the role of biology in behavior.
📒Lost At Sea by Jon Ronson
Lost at Sea Summary : Profiles the eccentricities of contemporary culture and the strange things in which people believe, in an investigation of such topics as indigo children, the Insane Clown Posse's juggalo fans, and assisted suicide practitioners.
📒Pass The Pcl R by Abraham Gentry
Pass the PCL R Summary : The PCL-R is a test that is determining the fate of prison inmates worldwide. The stakes of not passing a standardized test have never been so great. Failing this test can mean spending additional decades in prison, possibly longer than your original sentence. Some states use the score to recommend the death penalty! This guide will take you step by step through the test. It will explain the questions asked, what traits the clinicians are looking for, how they will score your answers, and exercises to prepare. The PCL-R is unlike any other test. Many seemingly innocent traits are scored against you! If you, your friend or client have been convicted of a felony or are facing a parole hearing soon, it is very likely the PCL-R will be given. Know the rules of the game, arm yourself with the right knowledge, and rebuild your life! Pass the PCL-R contains everything you need to know to do well on the exam. It tells you how to answer the questions and how to talk to the prison psychologist to convince him that you are the one that should be let out! This is the best resource currently available. It also contains a primer to prepare you for other common prison psych tests. Rorschach, MMPI, and LCSF.
📒Them Adventures With Extremists by Jon Ronson
Them Adventures with Extremists Summary : With an introduction by Russell Brand. What if a tiny, shadow elite rule the world from a secret room? My worryingly paradoxical thought process could be summarized thus: Thank God I don't believe in the secret rulers of the world. Imagine what the secret rulers of the world might do to me if I did. What if a tiny, shadow elite rule the world from a secret room? In Them Jon Ronson sets out to find this room, with the help of the extremists – Islamic fundamentalists, neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klansmen – that believe in it. Along the way, he is chased by men in dark glasses, unmasked as a Jew in the middle of a Jihad training camp, and witnesses international CEOs and politicians participate in a bizarre pagan ritual in the forests of northern California. A Sunday Times bestseller and the book that launched Jon Ronson's inimitable career, Them is an eye-opening, outrageously funny exploration of extremism, which makes both author and reader think twice about the looking-glass world of 'us' and 'them' . . .
📒Almost A Psychopath by Ronald Schouten
Almost a Psychopath Summary : Do you know someone who is just a bit too manipulative and full of himself? Does someone you know charm the masses yet lack the ability to deeply connect with those around her? You might have an Almost Psychopath in your life. Do you know someone who is too manipulative and full of himself? Does someone you know charm the masses yet lack the ability to deeply connect with those around her?Grandiosity and exaggerated self-worth. Pathological lying. Manipulation. Lack of remorse. Shallowness. Exploitation for financial gain. These are the qualities of Almost Psychopaths. They are not the deranged criminals or serial killers that might be coined "psychopaths" in the movies or on TV. They are spouses, coworkers, bosses, neighbors, and people in the news who exhibit many of the same behaviors as a full-blown psychopath, but with less intensity and consistency.In Almost a Psychopath, Ronald Schouten, MD, JD, and James Silver, JD, draw on scientific research and their own experiences to help you identify if you are an Almost Psychopath and, if so, guide you to interventions and resources to change your behavior.If you think you have encountered an Almost Psychopath, they offer practical tools to help you:recognize the behavior, attitudes, and characteristics of the Almost Psychopath;make sense of interactions you've had with Almost Psychopaths;devise strategies for dealing with them in the present;make informed decisions about your next steps; andlearn ways to help an Almost Psychopath get better control of their behavior.The Almost Effect™ Series presents books written by Harvard Medical School faculty and other experts that offer guidance on common behavioral and physical problems falling in the spectrum between normal health and a full-blown medical condition. These are the first publications to help general readers recognize and address these problems.

domain: library