text:
I love this cartoon because I love the characters. I drew this months ago and it had different text and context. I don’t even remember what it started out as, but I changed it so many times over the past few months.
I didn’t change the drawing, I changed the wording. It reminded me of something someone said on social media about the New Yorker cartoon I wrote about the other day – that “they draw the images and then figure out what they are saying later,” which of course I don’t think that’s the case, but maybe it is, because this Wordle gag ended up that way.
One part of love about the cartoon is that the thought Steve is thinking “Ouch!” as a Wordle answer is not really an answer because it’s only four letters. But it almost makes it seem like his whole life is Wordle, including all his thoughts.
I find it silly that people post their Wordle scores on social media every day. The silly part is that you don’t see their answers or the way they got to the final word of the day, it shows blank boxes. It doesn’t show what the previous word tries are or even what the word is.
Maybe people just hit a “share” button on Wordle somewhere and it posts your final score without you even realizing what it looks like on Facebook or wherever.
It’s like saying, “I’m great!” everyday.
One friend of mine posted his score every morning and I actually appreciated it because it reminded me to play the game. But posting your score without any concept or content is like saying, “I won an award for something,” and not saying what the something is.
It’s annoying when people post this online, but then again, it gave me the idea for this cartoon, so it all worked out.
He kept telling me to do something with “intense” and “in tents.”
“Get it?” He asked. Yes, I got it, but I didn’t know how to put it together. It took a couple of weeks and a couple of different drawings, text and concepts until I came up with this. Lots of changes to come up with this.
This one is self explanatory. Not to put down New Yorker comics lovers, but I wonder if they just pretend to get most of the gags just to be part of the “in crowd” or whatever you call them.
Not being sour grapes here, it’s just a gag and I do admire the cartoonists a lot who do work for the New Yorker. I have interviewed many, I have gone to some of their talks and showings, went to a Roz Chast exhibit a few years back at the Museum of the City of New York.
I’ve submitted stuff to the New Yorker and I know it’s a numbers game to get your first cartoon published and then become “one of them.” But the thing is they take too long to respond to your submission – sometimes eight months! And they have first rights of refusal. So imagine me sending them my fresh work, unpublished, and then waiting months for a reply. The work I publish daily would be eight months old after getting the rejection from the New Yorker, and then is it work publishing “rejected” work?
I have two cartoon styles – one was designed to be a “New Yorker style” and the other is the one I have used all my life, I call a Hanna-Barbera style, or “Flintstones style.” So I have accommodated my work to fit in with the New Yorker, and I like it. I go back and forth, depending on the gag, to see which drawing fits.
Like this one here I call the New Yorker style.
And this caveman one is my “Flintstones/Hanna-Barbera style.”
By the way, this caveman one, speaking of Flintstones, has been one of the most shared, viewed and liked cartoon of all of mine, so who knows what style is best. I just go with my mood that day. Same with the borders. Sometimes there is a very think board, sometimes a wild fat freestyle border, other times no border.
I think the fat, freestyle border works with this chicken cartoon.
The U.S. Postal Service has announced some new 2022 stamps and you can see here that these new Peanuts stamps will be added to celebrate Charles Schulz’s 100th birthday.
There are 10 designs surrounding Charles Schulz’s image.
Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamps from original Peanuts artwork.
I’m going to buy them, and of course never use them. The release date has not been announced, but I’ll be checking the stamps on my snail mail to see who uses them first, it would be interesting to see who does! Schulz was born Nov. 26, 1922, so possibly November would be the date they are released.
This cartoon ran the other day and of course there was a lot of arguing over it. Most people felt that masks were not needed now or ever.
I don’t like to do political stuff because it’s not what the readers expect from me, but this really isn’t political. I’m not taking sides, I’m not saying wear a mask or don’t wear a mask. I’m just asking if a judge should be making medical decisions?
You may agree with the CDC or not, you may agree with a doctor or not, but why should we be having a judge make the decision on whether we should wear masks on airplanes and even Uber rides?
This snake/worm cartoon from last week has gone viral on Instagram. I’m not sure why, do people like snakes? Or is it worms?
You can see by the numbers below that over 2 million Instagram accounts have seen it, and by the time this story runs, the numbers will be even higher. Over 83,000 people so far have “liked” the image and over almost 8000 people have “saved” the image on Instagram and over 2800 have shared it. They don’t link back to me or tag me, which is the proper thing to do, so those many people shared the image without giving me, the artist, any credit, but that’s ok, my signature and copyright is on the cartoon.
But it’s interesting to see what goes viral on the internet and what doesn’t and this snake/worm cartoon has really taken a life of its own.
This cartoon got quite a few comments yesterday. It seems that everybody has a story on what they hated to eat as a kid. I think I didn’t like liver and possibly spinach. Spinach I like today. Liver never.
I don’t think my mom forced me to eat what I didn’t like, but I do remember her telling me to try it.
One thing I have almost daily is olive oil, I take a spoonful daily for the omega threes and to be in step with those blue zones around the world, and I also put it on things when eating. But I didn’t like it as a kid and my mom was telling me how good it is for your health, I remember. She said I would get used to the taste. I eventually did.
One lady mentioned spaghetti, in a comment. She didn’t like that and was forced to eat it as a kid. I can sort of understand that, as I am not a big fan of spaghetti, but I’ll eat it, I don’t have to be forced to eat it, but I wouldn’t order it in a restaurant.
I saw this meme or whatever it is, on Facebook the other day, and I was transported back to being high school age again. It was sort of like when you smell something and that smell instantly transports you back in time? Well this did it for me.
I was working at a department store after school many years ago and I was in the cafeteria with co-workers, there weren’t many of us there, a handful perhaps. I can picture it now – dark lighting, red leather seating, black tables. Right there in the cafeteria, I drew up a little cartoon on a napkin that said something like this meme above – something about the managers getting paid to stand around and do nothing. And I guess it was a picture of a manger with his or her arms folded.
Karen (her real name), one of the supervisors/managers, saw it and asked me to tear it up. I refused. She was really upset over it. I don’t know what happened next, but I don’t think I got in trouble, and I don’t think I tore it up either.
I was maybe 17 or 18 and Nancy, the boss, was maybe 25. It’s so funny to think about it now, we were kids. On that day, at that moment, it gave me the knowledge of how important and influential cartooning was. I’m sometimes a packrat but I don’t think I saved that cartoon. Wish I had. To think, this napkin drawing, which was never published and probably ended up crumpled up somewhere, had such a huge effect.
Almost five years ago, I interviewed Will Henry, the cartoonist who does the comic strip Wallace the Brave. The comic strip was new at the time, but I saw something I loved about it and reached out to Will for the interview. Today Wallace the Brave is syndicated in newspapers around the country and it’s just as charming as ever.
Wallace the Brave is reminiscent of Calvin and Hobbes, yet it’s unique.
PBS did a short interview here. with Will recently, right out in his muse – the Rhode Island waterfront (and his liquor store, where it all started)
I often ask people I interview, which comic strip they would like to crawl into and visit for the day. Wallace’s world in Rhode Island is where I think I would like to visit.


Foto: Frederic Boudin
Kristine Tjøgersen (*1982 in Oslo, Norway) studied composition with prof. Carola Bauckholt at the Anton Bruckner Universität in Linz, Austria, and clarinet with prof. Hans Christian Bræin at the Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo.
Her works have been performed by a.o. Arditti Quartet (UK), SWR Symphonieorchester, WDR Symphonieorchester, Ensemble Recherche (DE), Plus-Minus Ensemble (UK), BIT-20 Ensemble, Oslo Sinfonietta, Pinquins (N), Bruckner Orchester Linz (AT) and Mimitabu (SE) at festivals like ECLAT, Musik21 (DE), KLANG (DK), Borealis, Only Connect festival, Ultima festival (NO) and Nordic Music Days.
She was representing Norway at Rostrum for composers in Hungary in 2018, and at the World Music Days in Tallinn in 2019. In 2019/2020 she was a fellow at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin and in 2020 she was awarded the Arne Nordheim composer price. In 2020 she won the Pauline Hall prize for her orchestra piece “Bioluminescence”.
As a clarinettist she has performed at many of the major European new music festivals
with the award winning ensembles Ensemble neoN, Tøyen Fil og Klafferi and asamisimasa.
Tjøgersen has a special interest for music that combines sound and visuals, and investigates and explores how they interact with each other.


text:
We're determined not to waste a second in delivering our manifesto commitments.
So since the election, we have:
- Brought forward plans to help families who want to work hard and get on by giving 30 hours' free childcare to working parents of three- and four-year-olds,
- Announced new plans to turn all failing schools into Academies and to make sure all children study key academic subjects, so they get the skills they need,
- Carried on backing businesses so they can keep creating jobs - with 2 million more people in work since 2010,
- Announced important measures to cut down on waste in the NHS, so that every penny goes on getting patients the best possible treatments,
- Continued to help people secure a home of their own, with over 100,000 families now helped onto the housing ladder through our Help to Buy scheme,
- Introduced the Referendum Bill to Parliament to give everyone in Britain a say before the end of 2017.
We will keep working through our plan to create more security and opportunity in our country - and, with your help, we can secure a brighter future for everyone in Britain.
So please join the Conservative Party today – and together, we can build something special in this country.

domain: sociology


MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Gas prices in Minnesota just hit $3 a gallon – the highest they've been since 2014.
But it's not just gas that's rising. On Tuesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly consumer product index (CPI) report. It measured the rate of inflation and found prices rose 0.9% in June compared to May. Prices rose 5.4% year over year.
That's compared to the average of closer to 2% over the past 30 years.
The biggest increase came from gasoline (46%), used cars (45%) and airfares (25%). There were also smaller, but significant rises in food (2.4%), furniture (8.6%) and clothes (5%).
"Part of it is catch-up," says Ethan Struby, assistant professor of economics at Carleton College. "Some of it were that prices were so low a year ago."
But what's also playing a big role is supply and demand, according to economists.
"This could be driven by the fact that a lot people are buying a lot of goods and services," said Marcus Bansah, an assistant professor of economics and St. Olaf College.
With vaccination rates up, more people are venturing out. At the same time, stimulus money and more savings for some during the pandemic have left people with what Bansah calls "easy money." He says that's leading to more spending.
On the supply side, Struby says some businesses are showing a "constrained ability" to keep up with the demand.
For example, a shortage of microchips have meant fewer new cars. That's driven more people to the used car market, where prices have risen dramatically. According to Marketwatch, the jump in used-vehicle prices accounted for about one-third of the overall jump in the CPI in June.
In testimony before Congress on Thursday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the high inflation rates.
"We're experiencing a big uptick in inflation, bigger than many expected, bigger certainly than I expected, and we're trying to understand whether it's something that will pass through fairly quickly or whether, in fact, we need to act," Powell said.
Economists are divided on whether these higher prices will be temporary or more permanent. Powell has said he believes the prices will moderate over the next few months because the largest increases were tied to specific categories affected by the pandemic, like cars and hospitality.
Struby said he's started to be concerned if prices were still rising this much by Thanksgiving. Bansah said a 6% rate of inflation would be concerning.
"In the short-term, yes, it's affecting people's lives," Bansah said. "But one thing is for sure, if the Fed realizes that inflation is going to be a problem, they are going to put on the brakes."
for more features.


Looks like I spoke too soon with all my good news. That same day, right after I finished the post, I got two slamdunks. One, a massive forest fire is threatening my hometown of Los Alamos, New Mexico, and two, my brother (the one that’s not a geek, or rather, not quite as much of a geek. We’re all geeks because we were raised in Los Alamos) was in a car accident in Montana. Thankfully, he’s fine. But the fire is not. It has burned over 60,000 acres so far and as of last night, was zero percent contained. The town’s best kept secret, its awesome ski hill, is starting to burn. It’s horrible and dangerous and devastating.
UPDATE: as of 5 hours ago, it’s now 3% contained. Current info is available here.
This morning, I did the usual. Early morning chat with my newly-appointed CTO, aka my brother Dave.
Dave: Hey, Mary! Did you see Los Alamos made Drudge?
I go check it out. There have been a lot of forest fires in the southwest US this summer. What’s different about this one? Why is it on Drudge? The answer is in the red, all-caps title: NUKE LAB FIRE DANGER
It continues in the first paragraph from the AP release:
A wildfire near the desert birthplace of the atomic bomb advanced on the Los Alamos laboratory and thousands of outdoor drums of plutonium-contaminated waste Tuesday as authorities stepped up efforts to protect the site and monitor the air for radiation.
Got your attention yet? Good grief. Might as well just post a picture of a big, red PANIC button. Here’s a similar one from Reuters:
The fire’s leading edge burned to within a few miles (kilometres) of a dump site where some 20,000 barrels of plutonium-contaminated waste is stored at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, fire officials said.
Yes, there are drums containing low-level nuclear waste in Los Alamos. Nuclear weapons research does happen there. Plutonium, a by-product, exists. It’s radioactive. But a “dump site”? The immediate conclusion drawn by Joni Arends, executive director of the Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, is (drum roll, please) that “these drums will get so hot that they’ll burst .. and put the toxic material into the plume” strikes me as just a tad alarmist. Yes, I’m being sarcastic.
The DOE may be incompetent, that’s up for debate. But they’re not totally irresponsible. They’re not going to store this stuff in barrels that can explode. This area is known for its fire danger. After the 2000 Cerro Grande fire, which destroyed hundreds of houses in the town, “additional measures were taken” to ensure that things were safe in the event that history repeated itself. Los Alamos is many things, I’m not going to go into that, but I really don’t get the impression that they have a laxist attitude about radioactive material. Quite the contrary.
Joni goes on to worry about how the fire is going to “stir up contaminated soil” where experiments were conducted years ago. “Burrowing animals have brought that contamination to the surface,” she said.
So she’s not just an expert in nuclear waste containment vessels, but animal behavior as well! Way I look at it, if the fire does get to the lab, it’ll flush out all those burrowing varmints and solve that problem but good.
Despite the mandatory evacuation order, a few hardy souls stayed behind. When asked if he was worried about the flames reaching sensitive materials, chemical engineer Mark Smith said “the risk of exposure is so small. I wouldn’t sit here and inhale plutonium. I may be crazy, but I’m not dumb.” No, he’s not dumb. Nobody who works at Los Alamos is on the “dumb” end of the IQ scale, trust me.
For more information on the situation, I’d recommend reading this cnet post by fellow Los Alamos native Stephen Shankland. He actually knows what he’s talking about.
Like Stephen, I’m also thousands of miles away, but I’ve been able to keep track of what’s going on thanks to another crazy guy I went to high school with. Joe had experienced the Cerro Grande fire and decided not to evacuate this time, because his house was on the eastern edge of town, farthest from the flames, and close to several exit routes. He’s been taking advantage of his days off from work to riff on his guitar and bicycle around town taking pictures. He posts them along with useful updates on his Facebook page.
Place is a ghost town. So… I hooked up the Marshall stack, cranked the stereo to 11, and played along to Rush and Zeppelin at full volume, just cranking the tube amp on my guitars. No neighbors to annoy. I’ll not get to do this again in a long while.
Even the locals are turning to Joe for their updates, because – surprise, surprise — the media isn’t terribly informative. One significant thing I learned from his pictures is that Los Alamos now has a Starbucks. When I was growing up the big excitement was daylight donuts, the bowling alley and the Big Cheese Pizza. If there had been a decent coffee shop back then I might have considered staying. Heck, I might have settled in, written a young adult novel and made millions like J.K. Rowling. Damn.
Somebody asked Joe if anyone had harassed him for not evacuating. “Not a word,” he said. He watered his neighbors’ day-lilies and fed the birds. He’s established a phone warning system with other die-hards, so if things get dicey while he’s sleeping he’ll be warned in time to get out.
Rain isn’t imminent, and winds are picking up, he posts. On another Facebook thread, people suggest diverting the excessive Utah snowpack or the flooding Mississippi via pipeline. Civil engineering is slow, though. But wait a minute. What if we could crowdsource it? Get thousands of people to go to home depot, buy a length of pipeline, connect it with their neighbors… only problem is that, unlike Switzerland, the southwest is covered by vast expanses of nothing but sagebrush and jackrabbits.
I’ll be in Santa Fe, neighbor to “the desert birthplace of the atomic bomb” next week and can breathe the fumes in person. I can’t bear to see it burn. It’s such a beautiful landscape, and even though I haven’t lived there since I left for college in 1983, and my parents moved to Santa Fe in 1990, it’s still the place where all my childhood memories reside. Sailing balsa boats in the Bandelier creek. Jumping off the high dive at Barranca pool. Making the 2-mile trek down Barranca hill on my bike in the summertime to buy candy at the Piggly Wiggly on Conoco Hill. Bombing a ski slope with friends, poles tucked under my arms. Running across a rattlesnake while rooting around in the canyon behind my house. Making out with my boyfriend on the edge of the mesa, totally taking for granted the stunning 100-mile view in the background…
Meanwhile, nearer home, as I was taking Luc to the train station this morning I noticed a plume of black smoke rising from a nearby apartment building. When I got back, fire trucks were in place and three little girls in their nighties were cavorting on the lawn of the parish hall across the street. They turned the event into an opportunity, of sorts.


text:
A heartfelt thank you to our CARES Speakers who dedicate their time and talents to educating and spreading conservation awareness!
CARES is proud to present the following group of extraordinary speakers. This list is a representation of years of experience and a wealth of knowledge with unique insight on a wide range of subjects from cichlids to rainbowfish and all fish in between, conservation efforts in the tanks of hobbyists as well as in nature, and how to run a CARES program in your home club.
Please note that the host club is responsible for making arrangements directly with the speaker and paying for or reimbursing them for travel, accommodations and meals. Most speakers will gladly stay at a club member’s home, if that is an option. A polite gesture of $100 stipend is suggested, but that is at your club’s discretion. When possible, two or more clubs will go in together to host a speaker which is a great help to offset the costs.
Best wishes to all and enjoy your aquarium society evening with CARES!!!
Juan Miguel Artigas Azas
Anton Lamboj, Ph.D.
Paul V. Loiselle, Ph.D.

domain: hobby


text:
Enjoy a Three-Course Meal at Slipstream Neighborhood Nights
Looking for a fun excuse to get out of the house and mingle with your neighbors? Check out Slipstream Neighborhood Nights, a winter dinner series hosted by Slipstream coffee shop and cocktail bar.
Slipstream Neighborhood Nights aim to bring the Capitol Riverfront community together by giving visitors a delicious meal prepared by a local chef. You’ll enjoy a three-course meal of chef specials, as well as a cocktail or wine, all for $25. Remaining dates are November 20, November 27, December 4 and December 11. Purchase your tickets online at the Slipstream website.

domain: food


text:
Silver necklace with star anise pendant and cubic zirconia
Silver necklace with anise Star pendant.
Made with natural anise and zirconia.
Star pendant made with silver, a white cubic zirconia stone and star anise seed pod. Star necklace with nature elements.
A natural jewel where the star anise spice becomes the star of nature with a zirconia gem in the middle.
Star anise is an aromatic spice and has a beautiful and unique geometric shape.
Zirconia is a very beautiful stone of artificial origin, made synthetically and surprisingly similar to diamond.
The result is a harmonious and natural jewel that will make you feel the star of the party, the star of your day or the star of your life.
This is a unique jewel, handmade in my workshop with lots of love and absolute respect for nature.
There is only one piece available and it is the one you are seeing in the pictures.
You have more technical data in the "Product details" tab.
Such a special jewelry can only be made with very unique materials.
You can find more information and curiosities about these materials in “ZIRCONIA curiosities” and “ANISE curiosities” tabs.
As it is a handmade work, the measurements are approximate and there may be millimetric variations.
The fact of being handmade jewelry also allows us to change some of the settings.
If you want to make any variation in the necklace size or want a more specific and personal combination, please contact us.
We will be happy to create something unique for you.
You will receive your necklace in a carefully elaborated packaging designed especially for it, and for you.
Exceptional pieces require an equally exceptional packaging.
And if you order is a gift, you can tell us your special dedication and we will include it in the gift wrapped packaging.
Thank you for your visit, we hope you enjoy it.
- All our jewelry is 100% handmade
- Very lightweight
- Precious metal
- Sterling silver
- Natural element
- Star anise
- Cubic zirconia
- Precious stone measures
- 0.12 in (3 mm)
- Standard Collar Length
- 20 in (50 cm) approx.
- Pendant Size
- 1.4in. x 1.3in. (3,6 x 3,2 cm.)
- Bolt ring closed
EU: Shipping 10,99€ - FREE for orders +89€.
Free standard delivery on orders over 89€.
Delivery time: 5 to 12 business days.
US: Shipping 14,99€ - FREE for orders +99€.
Free standard delivery on orders over 99€.
Delivery time: 10 to 16 business days.
EU: Shipping 18,99€ - Delivery time: 3 to 6 business days.
US: Shipping 23,99€ - Delivery time: 5 to 9 business days.
All our shipments have a tracking number, provided by the shipping agency, of which we always inform you.
This makes it easy to know, almost instantly, where your order is and when you will receive it.
They also include an insurance that protects your purchase in case of loss or misplacement by the carrier, ensuring the refund of the amount if any of these circumstances occur.

domain: artistic


text:
Introducing Christianity. This resource is about Christianity from the perspective of its history, rather than about its rituals and belief system. There are three one-page reading passages:
1) Christianity: Early Believers;
2) Christianity: The First Fifteen Hundred Years; and
3) Christianity: The Last Five Hundred Years.
Preceding the informational texts is a page of vocabulary words, four from each of the passages. An answer key is included for the vocabulary words.
Each of the three passages includes a pre-reading question which can be used as a discussion point in class as well. Each passage has a separate page of questions that relate to the text. The final question on the page is an opinion question and would be perfect to generate discussion after students have read the passage. Answer keys are included for all objective student work.
This resource is included in my World Religions Bundles but the bundle version has one extra passage, one extra student question page, more vocabulary words, and an added four essay questions on a separate page.
Please have a look at my other World Religions resource which is perfect for students to organize information on the main religions of the world:
World Religions Graphic Organizers and Activities
These resources are also excellent for organizing information:
World Religions Founders and Leaders
Hinduism Graphic Organizers
Buddhism Graphic Organizers
I also have the following introductory resources:
Please have a look at my FREE student survey resource:
World Religions Student Survey Free Resource
I also have a bundle of five student survey resources:
World Religions Bundle of 5 Student Surveys Buddhism Christianity Hinduism Islam Judaism
Six of my world religions resources and the freebie are included in one discounted bundle:
World Religions Bundle of 6 Resources
Please note that the student survey bundle is not included in this resource.
I also have a Mega bundle of all ten of my resources and does include the student survey small bundle:
World Religions Mega Bundle 10 Resources

domain: library


Anyone who reads this blog with any level of consistency knows where I stand on the hot-button topics of race, religion, politics and anything else that can be devoured in the context of cultural criticism. Most people know, I self-identify as a Democratic socialist at the heart of my political being–meaning I support the idea of a government run by the citizenry, but I also support the notion that it is the responsibility of said government to take of the least of these. Most know that I skew rather far left on my theological and religious views, and at times I have at least one foot firmly planted outside of the realm of orthodox Christendom.
That being said, I’ve slowly turned into an avid listener of NPR.
I grew up with my parents listening to them and when I was a kid it was quite a bore and I didn’t like it. I got a bit older and I remember hearing Tavis Smiley’s hour long program and I remember when Juan Williams used to have his show on there as well. Then somehow, my family used to listen to Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keilor and then slowly Click and Clack and “Car Talk” along with “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” became staples of Saturday rituals.
When I finally started having to commute to work every morning, I really did try and listen to Steve Harvey or Tom Joyner in the mornings, but it just wasn’t doing it for me. One day I found myself programming the local NPR station in as the #1 preset and every morning I catch some tidbit of news that I usually don’t find covered in the rest of the news of the morning. NPR, indeed, has produced more “driveway moments” than any other radio station I’ve ever listened to; those moments where you choose to sit in your car to hear the end of the story. Without fail, NPR has produced more moments where I try and remember a name or a topic or something I just heard so that I can rush inside or grab my phone (against Oprah’s wishes) and Google something just to learn more about it.
And for this, NPR has been considered liberal.
Today’s show on “On The Media” brought up the direct question of “Does NPR have a liberal bias?” which my kneejerk reaction was yes. I never really said much about the assaults from last year by GOP members of Congress who were trying to yank federal funding from NPR because for the most part I agreed with the idea that NPR was, well, liberal.
So, I listened to the program today and I heard the fastidious Ira Glass take umbrage with this claim. And as I heard them parse this concept for a whole hour with only one major news break at the 30 minute mark, I realized why they have been considered liberal–more on that reason why later.
First however, we need address the fact that the right-wing political faction has finally made their argument stick. After all of this time, they finally have found traction with this argument that the media is mostly liberal. One only need turn to Fox News to see what latest tripe they’re peddling as legitimate journalism. Today, NPR played a clip of Bill O’Reilly referring to NPR as the “totalitarian outfit of the government.” Really? There needs to be another word stronger than hyperbole to describe a statement such as that.
With federal taxpayers dollars funding only about 2% for all of NPR’s national budget, the fact that this discussion blows up so large in the face of military spending and pork barrel and earmark spending is laughable. But here’s what this argument does that actually is pretty genius: it creates a cyclical argument that constantly supports the right-wing agenda. It’s akin to evangelical religious zealots saying “The Bible is right!” and then using a random scripture to support the argument while talking to someone who doesn’t even believe in the authority of biblical scriptures. If you can create a journalistic atmosphere where you can say “the liberal mainstream media” is everyone but yourself, then you’ve secured a viewing audience that listens to no one else but you.
What the hour long program discovered was that primarily, there is no real test or study that can say for a certifiable fact that NPR is a liberal media outlet. What Ira Glass, and I’m sure other journalists from NPR took exception was that while they may personally identify as a liberal, that such personal beliefs bled over into the esteemed profession of objective journalism. They even interviewed an avid listener who obviously had some conservative leanings who believed that NPR had a liberal bias. The listener specifically recalled an interview with Michele Norris where an executive was calling for a 5 year tax break incentive for his company to be located in the U.S. rather than overseas and Norris asked “Can the country afford it?” and this was seen as a liberal question.
Then I recalled the devolutionary moment just the night previous when I decided to watch Sean Hannity’s show because I must be a glutton for punishment. I actually laughed through much of the show especially when he trotted Sarah Palin out with that awful backdrop of some imaginary Alaskan scenery. But, he had some hack on discussing how the “liberal media” had ambushed Mitt Romney in a press conference following the comments Romney had made behind the killing of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Oddly enough, they were really criticizing the type of questions that Romney was asked and were suggesting if those types of questions were asked of Obama or better yet, what type of questions they should be asking. Here’s an example of the foolatry:
The guy who NPR chose to interview, his name is Sam Negus, actually said on two instances that his issue had to do with the tone of the questions being asked. When pressed about factual accuracy of what was reported or such, of course, he had to say he had no aught. Which led the NPR journalists included on this to come to their own conclusion–this had more to do with the pre-conceived perception than any empirical evidence. As the conclusion was that it was near impossible to answer whether or not a liberal bias could be pinned down. However, a Tom Rosenstiel, a media researcher with the PEW Foundation unearthed a study done on bias from the Philadelphia Inquirer concerning criticism they were receiving from pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli communities. The research discovered that they did have a bias: a pro-peace bias; they were interested in whichever side was best promoting a cease-fire agenda.
This got me to thinking.
What I discovered in my own personal progression in being an armchair cultural critic, the more and more I write, the more and more I read, the more and more I experience, it has taught me the art of understanding nuances and paying much more attention to detail. For me, I choose not to be the two year old with a hammer in their hand and thus the entire world becomes a nail worthy of being banged and hammered upon. Rather, I have made the conscious decision to, for lack of a better metaphor, dive into the deep end of the pool and experience the great depths that can be offered rather than stay in the safety of the shallow end.
Then I realized, NPR is considered a “totalitarian outfit of the government” because they have made the journalistic decision to go address nuances of the stories they decide to cover. When I listen to NPR, it’s usually a story about something I’ve never heard of before, and they cover a wider breadth of international topics. To compare them even to what pop-culture considers a liberal bastion of media with the opinion and personality journalism, let’s take MSNBC for instance, I still hear and learn more from NPR than even MSNBC. Usually the evening line-up from Rev. Al Sharpton, Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz, Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell rehashes the same general topics with their own personal spin. One would have to turn to the two-hour Saturday morning shows with Chris Hayes and Melissa Harris-Perry to get a differentiated topic of news. Still, those are opinion shows where we know where they stand on the issues. For NPR, these are journalists that are interested in getting the best story told and their personal opinions take a back seat.
Is mainstream media biased?
As I’ve said before, this is media, we’ve long since crossed the bridge where we had the integrity of journalism. The only bastions of journalism in its best form are local news stations, and of course that notion can be challenged as well since they are corporately owned as well. Certainly, the cable networks that dominate are interested in covering the sensationalized news stories and don’t give a good damn about discussing nuances. So yes, mainstream media is biased: they’re pro-sensationalism irrespective of political point of view.
Let’s be honest, from Chris Matthews having tingles go up and down his leg after an Obama speech in 2008 to having countless hacks paraded on Fox News (Sarah Palin included) amounts to biased reporting in my own opinion. What bothers me is the flat out lies. Biased reporting takes the facts, twists them to fit their worldview or omits some context that might shade some questions on the topic at hand. That’s not the absolute end of the world and I think given today’s society most of us who watch the news just take it as par for the course.
But instead what we get on Fox News are polls only from Rasmussen, and flat out lies such as Obama inviting members of the Muslim Brotherhood to the White House–in fact, reports are that Obama extended an invitation to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi who assumed power after the deposed Hosni Mubarak was forced out of office in the Egyptian revolution last year. The blatant lies is what’s promoting the bias; the ad hominem attacks are doing irreparable damage.
I close with this quote from CNN contributor John Avlon:
On the flip side were conservative populist luminaries like Sarah Palin, who took to Facebook, her only dependable perch these days, to write this: “We already know that President Obama likes to ‘speak softly’ to our enemies. If he doesn’t have a ‘big stick’ to carry, maybe it’s time for him to grow one.” Once again, Palin proved that she doesn’t have the temperament or the intellect to be within a thousand feet of the Oval Office.
This is the second time Palin has attacked Obama by taking a decisively making a remark about Obama’s manhood and specifically his private parts. Yet there are those who say NPR is biased, yet she’s a regular and outspoken contributor on the network.
Give me a break.
5 thoughts on “The Bias of Mainstream Media”
Good post, thanks!
Worth, IMO, 3 minutes of one’s time: Why Obama Now?
Just my two cents worth; and I don’t always hold the Talking Spoon.
Uppity love always.
Chris Rock’s advice to Caucasian voters:
OBAMA | BIDEN | 2012
After the 2012 reelection of President Barack Obama
Democracy Now – Amy Goodman interviews Dr. Cornell West and Tavis Smiley
Keeping in real (and uppity).
Listen for the phrase ‘prison industrial complex’ (mass incarceration is devastating poor communities).
Keeping it real…


Kia Telluride Concept has been introduced at the 2016 Detroit Auto Show two days ago, and by looking the footprint of the vehicle, the carmaker seems to work on its all-new full-size SUV. At the moment, Kia has no a true large SUV, except the Sorento, which is actually a class lower and can’t really make any damage any full-size SUV. On the other hand, the car manufacturer already announced the arrival of this kind car in the new luxury division, so as far as we know, this could become the 2018 Genesis SUV.
2018 Genesis SUV: Plugin-In Hybrid Powertrain
The 2018 Genesis SUV (or whatever will be named) will probably feature similar characteristic like the Kia Telluride Concept, which really sports plenty of production cues. Under the hood, the full-size SUV offers an interesting plug-in hybrid powertrain that combines a 3.5-liter direct-injected engine with 270 horsepower and electric motor that works on the rear axle. Together, the drivetrain produces 400 horsepower and delivers 30 mpg on the highway in all-wheel-drive setup of course.
2018 Genesis SUV: Design and Specs
The new flagship Genesis SUV actually uses Kia Sorento’s underpinnings, which is stretched for around 12 inches. However, the 2018 Genesis SUV will be 95.inches longer, 4.7 inches wider and taller for 4.4 inches. When it comes to the possible styling, we don’t expect too many differences from the Kia Telluride Concept. The production version will lose rear suicide doors, but all other detail could easily stay on the production version. The boxy, yet boxy aggressive stance makes the exterior design truly impressive, and the details like a large grille, stylish multiple-LED headlamps or 22-inch wheels are just some of the details that could stay untouched. Inside, the concept shows just second row of seating, yet the carmaker says a third row is folded away but usable.
The 2018 Genesis full-size SUV could easily become reality, and regardless the rumors that indicate this could be a successor of the Borrego, we are pretty convinced that the Kia Telluride Concept represents an early prototype of the Genesis luxury SUV, which may come in a year or two.


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Gramercy 1 Light Pendant in Oil Rubbed Bronze
The Gramercy collection embellishes attractive glass forms with impeccably detailed metalwork and elevates the design beyond a simple "glass pendant". This series has custom designed cast aluminum parts from top to bottom, joined together by an attractive clear glass shade.
Lantern Dimensions: 14" Across x 16" Tall
Finish: Oil Rubbed Bronze
Materials: Cast Aluminum/ Glass
Shade Glass Description: Clear
Pendant Cord Length: 80" which is Field-Cuttable to Desired Length
Lamps: Not Included (Requires 3)
Lamp Base: Candleabra
Manufacture Warranty: 1 Year
Enhance the look of your new lighting fixture with our vintage-style exposed-filament bulbs.
|60W Incandescent Bulb||4W LED Bulb|


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How A Funeral Helps With the Grief Process
Whether expected or sudden, the loss of a loved one can be one of the most challenging experiences of the human condition. Even if we try to prepare ourselves for an impending loss, there’s no way of knowing how we will react if or when it happens. Life without a loved one is unchartered territory because our bonds are special and unique—no two are alike. There are so many ways a loved one can impact our life. Some are obvious, while others can present themselves in unexpected ways. In turn, navigating the grief process can be an emotional rollercoaster. One of the most immediate ways to help the bereaved cope with grief is through a funeral service. But how does a funeral help in the grief process? Here are five uplifting benefits:
Honoring the Departed
Funeral services can offer countless ways to say goodbye to a loved one. Sometimes, the departed pre-plan the funeral, offering the family a unique insight into how they wish to be remembered best. When no direction is available, families can create their own send-off to honor their lost loved one. In any case, funerals allow the bereaved to celebrate the departed’s unique life and honor them with a moving tribute. From eulogies to music to shared stories and more, funerals highlight the legacy and lasting impact on the hearts of the bereaved. When we honor the departed, we express gratitude, love, and appreciation for our time with them. In doing so, we can acknowledge our grief and begin to process it healthily.
Acknowledging the Loss
When we first hear the news that a loved one has passed, a typical reaction is shock and denial. As the brain tries to manage the overwhelming feelings and possible stress associated with the news, it begins to deny the information as a way of coping and protecting itself. However, the feelings associated with loss and grief need to be addressed to heal. Funerals provide a way for the bereaved to face the loss of their loved one properly. Whether a casket or an urn, seeing the remains of a lost loved one can help to clarify the new reality. Participating in funeral rituals and committing the remains to a final resting place can help grief-stricken individuals acknowledge the loss.
Connection and Support
Funerals allow family, friends, colleagues, coworkers, and more to come together to pay respects and celebrate the legacy of the departed. In times of grief, connecting with others can provide incredible support. Funerals allow those in attendance to reflect on their relationships with the departed and the shared impact on their lives. As stories emerge among those in grief, we can learn more about our loved ones and ourselves. Connecting with others over the unified appreciation for the departed can create new relationships and fortify existing bonds. Knowing that your departed loved one has touched others can help comfort us in our grief. While each person’s grief process is personal, we are not alone.
Funerals can bring about a wide range of emotions—some expected, some surprising. Whether attendance is overwhelming or a smaller, intimate group, funerals provide a safe environment for those unified in grief to express any and all emotions. Families may feel overwhelming pride, joy, or gratitude for those who attend. The ritual of committing the body or remains to a final resting place may bring immense sadness. A shared story may bring cathartic release through laughter. From joy to despair and several shades in between and beyond, funerals support emotional expression.
Traditions and Rituals
Traditions and rituals are important in creating and solidifying our bonds in the human experience. Whether religious or cultural, traditions and rituals help us to express our feelings and honor our departed loved ones. Our chosen funeral traditions and rituals remind us of the significance of our brief time with the departed while giving us a beautiful opportunity to say goodbye. Exercising traditions and rituals in funerals, such as the burial of the body or reciting a special prayer or poem, can bring comfort and peace during a period of great emotional upheaval.
Agency in Grief
When we lose a loved one, the loss can make us feel powerless. There is nothing we can do to bring them back. As we begin to grapple with the shock of loss, our world can be turned upside down, leaving us emotionally untethered. Even though we can’t change what happened, we have the power to decide how we handle it. Planning or attending a funeral allows us to have agency in our grief. We can choose how to say goodbye to our departed loved one in a way that feels right. Whether an ash scattering service, a traditional burial, or a tree memorial service, there are several ways a funeral can help the bereaved find a sense of closure, which is an empowering thought.
While we never get over our grief, it is possible to find a way to minimize the pain and still lead a rich, fulfilling life. As the grief process begins, funerals create one of the first important touchstones in the journey. As we say goodbye to our loved ones through a funeral, we begin to redefine our lives. Even though they are gone from this Earth, their spirits and memories stay with us forever.
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Harvard University Graduate School of Design and AECOM bring the Southeast Asia Design Studio to Manila, spotlighting future habitations. The program examines new approaches to endemic problems by inspiring new ideas for better design for 21st century resiliency, sustainability and livability.
Over 300 participants, including senior Philippines government officials, business, media, civic and community stakeholders, attended the “Manila: Future Habitations” Public Forum on 6 February 2018.
The Forum is a key agenda in the Manila program which is the final part of the three-year series on Southeast Asian megacities, following Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. It is also the sixth year of collaboration between Harvard University Graduate School of Design and AECOM, aimed at providing some of the GSD’s top students with exposure to the urban design challenges and opportunities resulting from the hyper-growth across Asia’s cities.
The capacity-filled event kicked off with speeches delivered by Philippines Senator Sonny Angara, Senate of the Philippines; Mohsen Mostafavi, Dean and Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design, Harvard GSD; and Sean Chiao, APAC President, AECOM.
“We are truly moved by the passion that Manila residents have for their city; it will go far in carrying the Manila Studio 2018 over its six month journey. Asia is home to the world’s fastest urbanization and the world needs its future generations of design talent to understand this region’s global impact, as well as possibilities to make a meaningful difference. As the Studio offers top students with the real and complex challenge of researching and developing new design concepts for Manila, diverse stakeholders across the city are able to discover new ways of approaching old challenges through the fresh perspective of the students,” said Sean.
“This is the second time within a year that AECOM has had the opportunity to engage a diversity of stakeholders in Manila in imagining the city’s future, when in March 2017, Manila was the inaugural symposium of Imagine 2060: Delivering Tomorrow’s Cities Together, a new three year global conversation series launched by AECOM in collaboration with Asia Society.”
“Manila’s challenges may seem substantial, but the most critical building blocks of opportunity are present in the form of a strong economy which has been among the world’s highest performing for close to a decade; and the yearning that citizens share for a better quality of urban life. Our collaboration with Harvard Graduate School of Design to expose its top students and stakeholders in some of the region’s most dynamic cities to each other, is rooted in the belief that what we imagine together, we can deliver together,” said Sean.
An important research initiative in one of the most challenging urban environments in the world
“Contemporary Greater Metro Manila, with a population of more than 25 million, is by far the largest city in our three-year series on Southeast Asia, and arguably the most complex, with vast extremes of economic and social strata, and yet universal challenges for its citizens, such as mobility, improved ecology and connectivity,” said Mohsen Mostafavi.
“Manila’s fascinating history and unique characteristics have created an urban scenario among the most challenging, and yet promising, anywhere in the world. This makes for a truly fascinating and exciting study area.”
Panel speakers included Jose Ma. K. Lim, president and CEO of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC); Art Corpuz, former chief planner for Ayala Land, a unit of Ayala Corporation; Avelino Tolentino III, Deputy Secretary General of the Philippines’ Cabinet-level Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council; Mario de los Reyes, Dean, University of the Philippines School of Urban and Regional Planning; and Henry Yap, General Manager, Robinsons Land Corporation.
The focus area for the Manila Studio 2018 includes the Central Manila Port Areas; the adjacent neighborhood of BASECO, which is one of the most economically disadvantaged; the disconnected mercantile communities of Binondo and Tondo on the north side of the Pasig River; and on the south side of the river, Manila’s ancient historic heart, the Spanish walled citadel of Intramuros. Taken together, the study areas possess unique conditions that represent in microcosm, the extreme conditions faced throughout Greater Metro Manila. The Intramuros Administration, the Philippine government agency tasked with administering the historic district, also partnered with the Harvard Graduate School of Design and AECOM to sponsor the public forum and the Manila Studio research project.
The GSD students will return to Manila again at around Sep/Oct 2018 to present their recommendations in a public exhibition and forum. Details will be provided at a later date.
More photos and videos of the event can be viewed on the event’s Facebook page.

domain: geography


This is a Bluetooth speaker, but it’s more than a speaker. It’s an audio device, but it’s portable. It’s the Monster ClarityHD Precision Micro Bluetooth Speaker 100. With this speaker, you can listen to music or chat with your Bluetooth enabled PC without headphone and, it’s easy to bring to anywhere you go.
You can connect your Smartphone or PC with this Monster ClarityHD Speaker 100 via Bluetooth or 3.5 mm minijack cable, let your music fills your house. How about hands-free when you call on your Smartphone or even chat via Skype on your Bluetooth equipped PC? The Monster Bluetooth Speaker 100 can do that! Moreover, the advance noise-canceling microphone ensures the quality of calls either in the office or at home even in your car. Don’t think of some big speakers which are not easy to move. This Monster Speaker 100 is small enough to hold in your hand so that it can be stored easily in your laptop bag or your hand bag. Bring this Monster ClarityHD Bluetooth Speaker anywhere you go, hands-free calls and high quality sounding music will be just that easy! If you always travel, this is the first thing you need to pack in your luggage.
Let’s look at this Monster Clarity HD Speaker, portable, easy-to-use, noise-canceling technology, hands-free calls, sounding music, what else you need? Just go and get one, why hesitate?


Gov. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) signed a robust stand your ground bill into law today despite his disappointment that the conservative-dominated state legislature declined to implement his gun control proposals following the August 2019 Dayton mass shooting.
The stand your ground measure expands an individual’s stand your ground right from their residence or car to any place they have a legal right to be. It also doesn’t require the individual retreat before using deadly force.
Fox News reports:
“I have always believed that it is vital that law-abiding citizens have the right to legally protect themselves when confronted with a life-threatening situation. While campaigning for Governor, I expressed my support for removing the ambiguity in Ohio’s self-defense law … that is why I have signed this bill today,” he said in a statement shared Monday on Twitter.
Full statement on SB 175 ⬇ pic.twitter.com/tS9iwUbXc3
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) January 4, 2021
He added: “I am very disappointed, however, that the legislature did not include in this bill the essential provisions that I proposed to make it harder for dangerous criminals to illegally possess and use guns.”
For over a year, DeWine had called for measures that would toughen background checks and boost penalties for felons committing new crimes with guns.
The governor has pushed these proposals since the Aug. 4, 2019, Dayton massacre that killed nine and wounded more than two dozen.


PALM BEACH (AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (Dec 24) said he hoped that North Korea would not deliver a missile test as its threatened "Christmas gift" that could reignite global tensions over its nuclear programme.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has promised the unidentified "gift" - which could be a missile test - if the US does not make concessions in nuclear talks by the end of the year.
"We'll find out what the surprise is and we'll deal with it very successfully," Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
"Everybody's got surprises for me, but let's see what happens. I handle them as they come along."
"Maybe it's a nice present, maybe it's a present where he sends me a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test," the president joked.
Talks on denuclearisation as been largely deadlocked since a second summit between Trump and Kim in Hanoi collapsed at the start of this year.
Pyongyang has issued a series of increasingly assertive comments as its time limit approaches.
It has carried out a series of static tests at its Sohae rocket facility this month, after a number of weapons launches in recent weeks.


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Ben Kinsella family's fury after knife killer's 'down but not out' Facebook taunt
One of the knife thugs who murdered 16-year-old Ben Kinsella has used his Facebook page to taunt his victim’s family from behind bars.
Jade Braithwaite, 20 - one of three killers, all serving a life sentences - used the social networking site to boast that he is ‘down but not out’.
From his cell at a Buckinghamshire youth prison cell, he also wrote that he wants a remote control so he can ‘mute or delete people when I need to’.
Thug: Jade Braithwaite, who killed Ben Kinsella (right) used Facebook via a phone
For his profile picture he mocked up a T-shirt emblazoned with his face and the slogan ‘Free Jade Braithwaite’.
Ben’s sister, Brooke, 26, a former EastEnders actress, said the taunts were ‘appalling’ as the family struggle to get on with their lives.
She told The Sun: ‘My family and I are appalled that Jade Braithwaite is able to operate a Facebook page from inside prison - and to use the site to protest his innocence is really upsetting.
‘We are disgusted by the comments on the site and feel it is a real insult to Ben’s memory.’
Outrage: The Facebook page showing a 'Free Jade Braithwaite' T-shirt picture
Braithwaite is thought to have used a mobile phone to set up his page on the social networking website.
Ben was out celebrating the end of his GCSEs in Holloway, north London, when he was stabbed 11 times in June 2008.
Angry: Ben's sister Brooke Kinsella, a former EastEnders actress, said she was 'apalled' by Braithwaite's webpage
Braithwaite and two friends, Juress Kika and Michael Alleyne, chased and killed him after a petty squabble in a pub.
The trio were convicted at the Old Bailey of murder and jailed for life, with each expected to serve at least 19 years before being considered for parole.
The victim’s family have since campaigned against knife crime and were joined by hundreds of supporters for a march across the capital.
More than 46,000 people have joined a Facebook page in his memory and fresh comments were added today condemning Braithwaite’s actions.
Several other criminals have been exposed in recent weeks for using Facebook despite being behind bars.
Aaron Aymer, 20, who stabbed his girlfriend’s brother to death in 2007, uses a page to protest his innocence.
He superimposed a photograph of himself in a body-building pose over a jail cell and wrote he is ‘wrongly convicted’.
Bradley Tucker, 21, who shot Peter Woodhams dead in 2006, has apparently set up a page, but prison bosses said he is using friends on the outside to update it.
Burglar Craig Lynch, 28, attracted a following of more than 40,000 people after escaping from prison and using a Facebook page to mock police.
Other killers: Juress Kika (left) and Michael Alleyne helped Braithwaite kill Ben
Support: Ben's death in June 2008 provoked a massive outpouring of grief
He was arrested after more than three months on the run from Hollesley Bay Prison near Woodbridge, Suffolk, and handed a six-month prison sentence.
A Prison Service spokesperson said ‘robust search techniques’ are used to stop mobile phones and other contraband reaching prisoners.
He said: ‘We have strengthened the law by making it a specific criminal offence to convey contraband, including mobile phones, into or out of a prison.
‘Possession of a mobile phone within a prison without authorisation has also been made a criminal offence.’
Facebook today appeared to have closed Braithwaite’s webpage. The company’s terms and conditions state abusive pages will be deleted immediately.
Most watched News videos
- Shocking row erupts on the District Line near Plaistow in London
- Chris Watts filmed walking out of court in shackles
- Horrific crash sent two riders cartwheeling through the air in Ukraine
- Police at the scene where cyclist dies after collision with lorry
- 180 whales slaughtered as village in Faroe Islands prepares for winter
- Danny Cipriani's secret girlfriend shares video at the BAFTA TV Awards
- Timeline tracks Anthony Condron's last hours in Liverpool
- Students across the UK celebrate A-Level results: 'I'm so happy!'
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- Awkward moment Katie Price calls Kris by her ex's name by mistake
- BBC obtain recording where sermon calls for armed jihad

domain: news


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We have been to the Port Police in the South/Paphos and made the enquiry as to sailing a yacht from the Nth to the Sth.
If you do not have a stamp in your passport but have a clearance certificate from Turkey
or Greek Island, you can then check into the Sth
So if your boat
is in the North (TRNC) you have to check out and then check in at either a Greek Island or Turkey
and then you are free to sail to the South. BUT do not tell them that you have been to the North!
All above was told to us by the Port Police.


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Virginia State Delegate Marie March (R) has pre-filed House Bill 1395, a law that would define life as beginning at fertilization.
“Life begins at conception and each person is accorded the same rights and protections guaranteed to all persons by the Constitution of the United States,” the proposed bill states.
The proposed bill would effectively outlaw all abortions in the state and even endanger the use of Plan B (aka. “The morning-after pill”), a medication that prevents fertilized egg cells from attaching to a woman’s uterine wall.
The bill could also effectively criminalize in vitro fertilization, a method of inducing pregnancy that uses fertilized eggs and discards any unused ones.
Even though Republicans control the state’s House of Delegates, it’s unclear if the bill would have any chance of passing the state’s Democratic-led Senate. The legislature won’t reconvene until January 11, 2023.
Virginia currently allows a woman to get an abortion within roughly 26 weeks of pregnancy. Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has proposed passing a law that would reduce that window to 15 weeks, a period of time in which most women may not even realize they’re pregnant.
In response to March’s bill the Virginia Reproductive Equity Alliance said in a statement, “In the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and despite the vast majority of Virginians who oppose it, Virginia’s anti-abortion elected officials keep proving there are no limits to their extremism and true intentions to ban abortion for all Virginians.”
The post Virginia Republican Files Bill Defining a Fertilized Egg as a Human appeared first on The New Civil Rights Movement.


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The Department of Health (DOH) stood by its recommended 1-meter distance between commuters after the Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Monday, September 14, reduced physical distancing on public transport.
In an official statement, the DOH stressed that while the DOTr wanted to “optimize physical distancing in transportation,” Filipinos must practice minimum health standards like wearing of face masks and face shields to prevent transmitting the coronavirus.
“Given the recent decision of the DOTr to ‘optimize physical distancing in transportation’ and in the interest of public health, we enjoin all Filipinos to be extra vigilant in situations where distancing cannot be practiced,” the agency said.
“If possible, choose to participate in activities or use transport options that can afford at least 1-meter distancing,” the DOH said, even if the DOTr said its decision is safe and scientific.
Why this matters
The DOTr’s decision to reduce physical distancing measures is the latest flashpoint in the government’s struggle to balance reopening the economy while ensuring health standards are in place to keep the coronavirus at bay.
The transport department’s policy likewise disregards recommendations by the World Health Organization (WHO) and DOH. Evidence showed people are more protected against COVID-19 when they practice physical distancing, wearing of face masks and face shields, and handwashing all together.
Like the DOH, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, vice chair of the Philippines’ coronavirus task force, aired his own reservations against the DOTr’s policy – revealing yet again the discordant voices within the Duterte government in fighting the coronavirus.
On Monday, health workers also voiced their opposition to the measure as they warned it was still too early in the Philippines’ pandemic to institute such measures.
The medical workers’ group Healthcare Professionals Alliance for COVID-19 (HPAAC) said “it is too early” to relax physical distancing measures on public transport. “Cases will surely rise and hamper our recovery if we do this now,” said leading epidemiologist and HPAAC member Dr Antonio Dans.
The HPAAC is the Philippines’ largest group of health workers, and includes medical groups that called on the government to review its pandemic response. The group earlier warned the country was “losing the battle” against COVID-19.
Transportation Undersecretary Artemio Tuazon told GMA News on Monday, however, that their new measure is based on scientific studies, such as one by the International Union of Railways.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade earlier said the DOTr will begin with “optimizing” distancing measures to 0.75 meters from the standard 1 meter to increase the passenger load of all modes of public transportation.
Physical distancing will gradually be reduced further to 0.5 meters on September 28 and 0.3 meters on October 12. – Rappler.com

domain: medical


So that’s what Dave Grohl does when FF isn’t touring. Not a bad gig, really.
There goes my hero.
Watch him as he goes.
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Doutzen Kroes posing for a Victoria's Secret shoot in Miami. (September 13, 2012) -Photo: Fame/Flynet, Pacific Coast News, Splash News
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Welcome to HAITI, the heart of the Caribbean, a land so truly unique it will serve up an unforgettable cocktail as well as an array of rich, distinctive flavors. Haiti is set apart by its powerful personality—the product of its history, its culture, and its unparalleled artistic creativity joined together. Haiti’s tourism is also different from what its sister Caribbean countries offer because the industry here quietly traverses the gangway between Caribbean charm with a taste of its colonial past and a paradise manufactured under the Caribbean sun.
In the footprints of the past and the present, of the cities and the countryside, of the cultures and of their expressions, and of big hotels and small inns, we therefore welcome you to this website as an introduction to a more engaging tour of the country.
Haitians, come for a tour of your country. Visitors, explorers, and tourists from around the world, come and find exclusive discoveries. Haiti invites each and every one of you to come and find here the real sensations and colorful memories through people-to-people contacts and encounters with history and culture.
The Northern Department covers a 2,105.19 km2 area. It is projected that the department’s population will exceed 1,000,000 inhabitants by 2015. This department consists of a wet plain, the sprawling Plaine du Nord stretching from Baie de l’Acul to the Trou du Nord. This plain produces abundant food and fruit: mangos, oranges, and bananas.
Cap Haïtien – Capital of the Department
During pre-Columbian times, the town of Guarico–capital of the cacique province of Marien–stood roughly where present-day Cap Haïtien is located. In 1670, French filibusters left Île de la Tortue and settled in the present-day region of Haut du Cap, near the site of the former Taino village. This settlement, now a town, in 1711 it was officially declared a colonial town and given the name Cap Français. More...
When the French expeditionary army arrived in 1802 under the command of General Leclerc, Christophe set Cap on fire. Against the forces of oppression, war would rage on in several waves. Unable to repel the onslaught of the local army, Cap surrendered on November 19, 1803. With that victory came the independence of Saint-Domingue and the capital of the North was renamed Cap-Haïtien. From 1811 to 1820, Cap was promoted as the capital of the kingdom of Christophe, who renamed it Cap-Henri.
On 7 May 1842, a violent earthquake leveled the city, which was deserted by its inhabitants for over a year. It gradually became prosperous again, thanks to the significant trading that developed there beginning in the eighteenth century, and because of stable coffee prices.
Cap is a unique place. Physically, it is a piece of old France on Haitian soil. Its colonial architecture and narrow streets, albeit somewhat despoiled by an alarming demographic pressure, impart an authenticity that earned its designation as the historic site par excellence of the Republic of Haiti. The care put into preserving the original architectural appearance of the houses, however, has begun to ease. One example of restoration tailored to a building that dates back to 1865, undertaken by the French company Bouygues: the building that houses the BRH branch on Rue A, all of whose period architectural character has been preserved.
Cap boasts numerous points of interest, virtually all dating back to historical periods. Firstly, the Cathedral, unquestionably the oldest building in town.
On November 22, 1718 the first stonework church to be built in Cap was inaugurated. Some sixty years later, it was replaced with a new church, imposing in its proportions, dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption. Almost totally destroyed by the earthquake of May 7, 1842, it was rebuilt from its ruins in 1876 after being elevated in 1862 to the status of cathedral, following the establishment of the Diocese of Cap. It underwent major refurbishing starting in 1929 until the renovated cathedral was inaugurated in 1942. The finishing touches now complete, in 1944 Msgr. Jan conducted its solemn consecration.
Place d'Armes, or Notre-Dame Square, which faces the cathedral, was decorated with a colonial fountain that was demolished in 1944 and replaced with a statue of Dessalines. This spot was where the immolation of the runaway slave Makandal (1758) took place, as did the torture of the freed revolutionaries Lacombe (1789) and Ogé and Chavannes (1791). It was also from this spot that, in August 1793, Commissioner Sonthonax declared the general emancipation of slaves in the Northern Province. Christophe’s two palaces occupied, to west of the square, the sites of the Delegation’s buildings and the former Club Union buildings. A bridge connected them so as not to close off to the public the street that separated them. Notre-Dame Square was completely refurbished in 2002.
Montarcher (Henri Christophe) Square has a fountain that dates back to 1772. Another fountain, built in 1789, stands at Royale (Toussaint L’Ouverture) Square. Near the old Customs building on Rue 18 stands the d’Estaing (or Méridien) Fountain, erected in 1789 to supply ships with water. The Champs-de-Mars, a former parade ground for soldiers of the barracks, is the largest public square in Cap-Haïtien, with sports facilities put in.
The metal-structured Clugny market, built in 1896 and modeled on the grand Halles de Paris, is one of the city’s main attractions and one of its finest monuments.
Hôpital Justinien, built on the site of colonial barracks, was opened in 1890. One of the set of barracks buildings survived fires and earthquakes and now houses the hospital’s administrative services.
Clinging to Morne Lory, Notre-Dame du Perpétuel Secours College, founded in 1904, is the crown jewel of Cap. The first buildings were erected between 1925 and 1929. These gave way to new buildings erected by the fathers of Sainte-Croix in the 1960-1970 period.
The entrance to the roadstead in Cap is dangerous, but there is a good anchorage, although it is sometimes vulnerable to the strong northerly winds. A beautiful seafront boulevard, built in 1953, runs along the bay, from the out-of-use Hyppolite bridge at the foot of Fort Magny in the far north, passing through the residential district of Carénage. There is a whole line of hotels, bars, restaurants, and night clubs there.
The city boasts many important relics and historic sites including Vertières, just outside Cap, where the destiny of the future Republic of Haiti was played out; and Breda, birthplace of Toussaint L’Ouverture. Among the rather well-preserved forts are Fort Picolet, an observation post in the harbor of Cap, built in 1739; Fort Magny, formerly Fort Sainte-Catherine; the Gris Gris battery; and Fort Bel-Air, overlooking the entrance to the city. Pointe Picolet is the site of the ruins of the residence of Pauline Bonaparte.
Located some 16 kilometers from Cap and extending to the National Historical Park is the town of Milot, where Christophe built his Sans Souci palace that was completed in 1813. It overlooks the Plaine de Limonade and the Atlantic Ocean. On the grounds of this old 15.5 hectare residence he established the ministries of the kingdom, the King’s palace, the Queen’s palace, industries, schools, a hospital, barracks, and a beautifully crafted slate-covered circular chapel dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, all public facilities. The Sans-Souci Palace, which was severely damaged by the earthquake of 1842, was the first building erected in Haiti based on such a grandiose architectural plan.
Christophe commissioned architects Besse, Bare, and Baron Faraud – the latter being superintendent of buildings for the Crown – to build a massive citadel, a real bulwark of liberty, on the steep flank of a nearby mountain. It holds the richest collection of 18th century artillery in one single place.
For those interested in the voodoo cult, there is Bassin Saint-Jacques, a sacred voodoo site in the Plaine du Nord, not far from Cap, where they will discover the mysteries and peculiarities of some of its rituals.
Along the east coast are alluring beaches, among them Cormier beach and the famous Labadie resort, one of the most attractive in the Caribbean, some 30 minutes from Cap by car.
The entire Cap Haïtien region is blessed with fertile soil that produces most of Haiti’s citrus and oranges for export.
Cap is 281 kilometers from Port-au-Prince.
The Western Department, the country’s administrative nerve center together with the capital Port-au-Prince, is the most populous of the ten geographical departments of Haiti, with a population projected to reach about 4,438,337 inhabitants by 2015. Three plains form the breadbasket of the Department – Arcahaie plains with vast banana plantations; Cul-de-Sac plains; and Léognane plains with the sugar cane industries. Coffee and vegetables are grown in the Kenscoff and Furcy mountains of the Western Department.
The Northwestern Department forms a 2,175.14 km2 peninsula. This department has about 468,500 inhabitants, and produces coffee and food crops of all kinds. In the mountains, the soil contains iron, silver, tin, and zinc.
Capital of the Northwestern Department
Long before the French arrived, after leaving the Môle skirting the Northwest coastline Christopher Columbus was delighted to see a beautiful place nestled in the lush tropical vegetation. He named it Valparaiso or Paradise Valley. It was to this site in 1621 that the buccaneers of L’Île de la Tortue, pursued by the Spaniards and English, came to seek refuge. Port-de-Paix was the name they gave this enchanting place that brought them peace. Yielding to the wishes of the new settlers, interim governor Deschamps de la Place in 1662 established there a city that became the first permanent French settlement on the mainland. More...
The new city experienced such rapid progress that, in 1685, mindful of the strategic advantages provided by its natural barriers that made it difficult to access, governor de Cussy made it the capital of Saint-Domingue. It remained the capital until 1695, when it was destroyed by the Spaniards. Reconstruction began shortly thereafter.
Port-de-Paix prides itself in having been at the forefront of the anti-slavery struggle: this is in fact the city where in 1679 Padre Jean instigated the first slave rebellion, which the buccaneers put down in a bloody response. Like other battle exploits, all to the glory of the Chief Town of the Northwest, General Maurepas mounted a heroic resistance to the repeated attacks by the French expeditionary army in 1802 and to the capture of Port-de-Paix in 1803 by French troops, with General Cappoix commanding the valiant Ninth Demi-Brigade.
Viewed from the open sea, the city appears to emerge from the sea. As the crow flies, it looks like a semi-circle that follows the contours of the coastline. Across from it lies the mesmerizing and mysterious Île de la Tortue. Twenty-three unequal islets are set out in capricious checkerboard formation.
Avenue des Trois Rivières, a long, wide avenue lined with dwelling houses, leads to the city. It leads to the commercial district between Rue Dumarsais Estimé and Rue du Quai, which follows the coastline and was where the first inhabitants of the city settled. It is also boasts administrative offices, stores, and markets where coffee is sorted. It provides a short-cut to the wharf, the bus station, and the airport.
Rue Sténio Vincent and Rue Dumarsais Estimé run off Avenue des Trois Rivières, leading to the city center. Rue Sténio Vincent stretches from Rue Benito Sylvain where Hôtel de Ville is located, and ends at Cappoix-la-Mort Square. Rue Dumarsais Estimé is also called Rue du Marché because it has a big metal supply center, which was built under the Estimé presidency.
Rue Notre Dame is the only street to cross through the entire city from north to south, starting from the dock. A building that once housed the old fire station, seemingly dating back to the eighteenth century, stands where this street intersects with Rue Dubuisson or Rue Jean-Jacques Dessalines. This rather densely populated little town has countless bikes, affording the population a cheap and fast way of getting around.
Across from the cathedral stands Place de l’Eglise, formerly Place d'Armes, where an old market used to be. It recently underwent a major transformation and is now the site of a charming, harmoniously-designed public garden.
Rue Rebecca connects Place de l’Eglise to Place Cappoix-la-Mort, the French-era Place Louis XVI. Left in ruins, only in the early 1960s was it renovated, through the tireless efforts of the “Movement for the Regeneration of the Northwest” that decked it out with a bust of national hero and Port-de-Paix native Cappoix-la-Mort and restored the colonial fountain that was there.
Place de l’Evêché, or Place du Champ-de-Mars, which was always just a savannah, remained the largest in the city until the 1970s. It was a regular venue for school parades and sports competitions. Tertullian Guilbaud High School on Rue Bénito Sylvain fell into ruins and the site was chosen for a new school, an option Port-de-Paix residents still oppose. Construction of a real Episcopal palace is currently underway, spearheaded by the engineer Bélizaire. It will replace the old wooden and concrete Diocese building, which was destroyed in a fire and had its name changed to Champ-de-Mars.
The Port-de-Paix cathedral is one of the gems of the city. It is the eighth church to replace the first one, an austere wooden structure built around 1670. The engineer Reimer, who succeeded engineer Brunet, began work on the foundation in 1894, under Father Pierre Kersuzan. Under Father Paul Marie Le Bihain the building was practically completed in 1903. It beautification and finishing touches took a number of years. It was severely damaged by the 1924 earthquake. Repairs were made, but it was not until some seventy years later that major renovations were done, under Father Fracilus Petit-Homme, with the engineer Belizaire in charge. The building was expanded and crowned with a magnificent dome.
The cathedral is under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception in honor of Conception, the name Columbus gave the spot where Port-à-l’Ecu, which was dependent on Port-de-Paix, stands today.
The Petit Port-de-Paix suburb is home to a church that boasts a special architecture. Built in 1946, it is dedicated to Saint Louis Grignon de Montfort and was the first church to fall under his jurisdiction after he was canonized.
Trois Rivières, the main river in the Northwest, is named for the three waterways it comprises. From its head in the Chaîne de Plaisance it empties into La Tortue Channel, four kilometers from Port-de-Paix, after a 130 kilometer journey.
The suburbs of Port-de-Paix get their water supply from another body of water, the Port-de-Paix River, spanned by the Pont Saint-Louis where Rue Bénito Sylvain ends. It can be dangerous during heavy downpours.
In terms of freshwater bathing, swimmers find the banks of the Trois-Rivières very inviting. Even though it has lost some of its earlier charm, bathing there is still a very pleasant experience. The beautiful silver sand beach, Chalet, stretches to the foot of the Morne aux Pères. Although a bit polluted, it nonetheless has many spots where swimmers can in complete tranquility enjoy a swim while sipping on an invigorating sophina, a drink unique to the region. Some winters, certain Canadian migratory birds come to spend winter on the shores of the Coq and the Deroulin, ponds near Chalet. Water skiing and scuba diving are commonplace on the beach at the western tip of L’Île de la Tortue, one of the ten most beautiful beaches of the Caribbean.
The landscape surrounding around Port-de-Paix is varied. While the region that runs to the east “is mountainous, fertile, and densely-populated,” going westward it is flat, under-exploited, and almost deserted.
Although not much patronized by Port-de-Paix locals, the most sedentary people, the resorts cater to one’s every desire for a pleasant and relaxing holiday: Ti-Fond, Aubert, Balladay, Champsolline (on the way to Port-au-Prince), Lavaux, La Pointe, Trois Pavillons, Guichard, in the direction of Saint-Louis du Nord, not to mention the mild, salubrious climes of L’Île la Tortue. This beautiful big island, 77 km long by 7 wide, is home to a series of unrivaled lush tropical sites – Cayonne, Pointe aux Oiseaux, Mil Plantage, Ringot, and La Vallée. The ruins at Grand'Cases are interesting, as are the ruins of glacis, coffee plantations, tanks, remnants of fortresses, redoubts, and forts that tell the tales of battles they had witnessed. These can all be visited after crossing the Canal de la Tortue, some 10 kilometers wide, on one of the small brightly-colored sailboats coming and going, creating quite an exhilarating spectacle for tourists.
In the nearby suburb of Port-de-Paix, near the mouth of the Trois Rivières, the ruins of the Soubervie sugar factory can still be seen. It is famous for its channel that brought water to the sugarcane mill. West of the river, on the Cadet site, excavations have unearthed the remains of what is believed to be a pre-Columbian village.
Not far from Port-de-Paix, near Saint Louis, next to the Fort des Trois Pavillons, is the interesting Trou Bon Dieu cave, a huge cavern with a sort of vault roof and hard to enter. Near that cave is the Trou Diable, an excavation of the rock made “by the waters falling from the steep mountain.” Those into caving will be interested in visiting the little caves of Trou d’Enfer, La Galerie, and Basin, located on La Tortue.
Like all of Saint-Domingue’s coastal cities, when it was founded Port-de-Paix was outfitted with an effective defensive system. At both ends of the arc that defines the city’s coastline, rising to the North East, near the Morne aux Pères, is the Petit Fort and, to the North West, Grand Fort or Fort Nicolas, where General Moïse, nephew of Toussaint L’Ouverture, was shot. On the mountain overlooking the city and the canal were the Fort des Trois Pavillons, Fort Laveaux, and, a short distance from the sea, Fort Pageot. Some secondary structures, the dull Saint-Ouen battery and the Blockhaus, protected the approaches to the city. There is practically nothing left of those fortresses that saw their heyday during the struggle for independence. At the Grand Fort location stood the old army barracks building. On the Petit-Fort is the Notre Dame de Lourdes College. Saint-Joseph Chapel occupies the Trois Pavillons site. As regards Fort Pageot and Fort Laveaux, only bits of concrete remain, reflecting their former presence.
The North West enjoys a reputation as the Far West of Haiti. However, besides the very vibrant fishing industry, the area from Port-de-Paix to Saint-Louis grows a wide variety of fruit trees and crops, notably coffee, cocoa, vegetables, and food crops. Banana production, which for twenty years made Port-de-Paix the capital for that commodity, still holds that distinction, thanks to new outlets that were opened. In terms of mineral resources, according to Semexant Rouzier the soil there contains “silver, iron, copper, tin, sandstone, chalk, and alabaster” waiting to be exploited.
Very much integrated into the community, the Alliance Française is actively involved in the social, educational, and cultural life of the city. The town hall, which can accommodate 400 people, is a venue for shows, reunions, or meetings. All across the city there are bars, discos, and restaurants, for entertainment and relaxation. Port-de-Paix, which was the center of football expansion in Haiti, is still very much associated with this sport, and matches at Parc Capois-la-Mort on Avenue des Trois Rivières still draw a lot of fans.
The climate in Port-de-Paix is rather salubrious and, thanks to the constant land and sea breezes, the temperature remains pleasant. Accommodation is provided by cozy small hotels, Hotel Valparaiso on Rue du Quai, Holiday Beach Hotel on Rue du Chalet, and in the suburbs is the ocean-front Hotel Brise Marine, the biggest of them all.
Port-de-Paix is 258 kilometers from the Capital.
The Southeastern Department occupies the southern ridge from the central Massif de la Selle chain to the Caribbean Sea. The Southeast, 20,228 km² in area, will see a population of 552,812 inhabitants by 2015, according to projections. The Southeast Department sits in a very fertile valley, the Vallée de la Grande Rivière de Jacmel. Mostly vegetables and coffee are grown there. The Department’s economic boom is derived from coffee, among the country’s best Arabica beans, grown in the Thiotte region and in the Vallée Fond Melon. The Southeast Department has tremendous tourism assets.
Jacmel – Department capital
While in Jacmel in 1806, Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco de Miranda got a lot of encouragement from Dessalines for his struggle for the liberation of Spanish colonies in the Americas. On March 12, 1806 at Jacmel Port, he created the first flag of a free Spanish America. Simon Bolivar was accorded a similar welcome after his arrival in Jacmel in 1816, when he got all the equipment support President Pétion had promised him. At the corner of Rue de l’Eglise and Rue du Marché was Maison du Bel-Air where he stayed. In 1954 the Bolivarian Society placed a plaque bearing the inscription: Bolivar resided here in 1816. More...
Beginning in the 1860s, Jacmel saw remarkable economic development and became the top port for exports from the Republic. The tragic fire of September 19, 1896 devastated the city, bringing about a decline that would lead to a fall in the price of coffee and to the port’s gradual demise. Recovery has been taking place, however, and today major development projects are set to take off. The road to Jacmel, the mountainous and winding Route de l’Amitié, was built from 1975 to 1976 by the Colas-Dumez Company and financed through French cooperation. The city is spread out over a hillside sloping towards alluvial lands in Downtown. Bel-Air, or Uptown, is the hub of Jacmel, the Seaside or downtown, the business district.
The city is designed like an amphitheater. Albeit strategically well-protected by nature with mountains overlooking the bay and rendering Jacmel inaccessible from the uplands side, it was still outfitted with a network of forts that served primarily to seal off the area. Fort Ogé on Cap Rouge Plateau 12 kilometers from Jacmel, is the best preserved fort. Built in 1805, it was based on the fortification plan implemented by Dessalines after independence, to prevent any possible attack by an invading army.
Apart from certain arteries, the streets are narrow and wind around like spiral staircases. Place Toussaint L’Ouverture, formerly Place d’Armes, is undoubtedly the heart of Jacmel and its social life. Its recent renovation added a look nothing reminiscent of the fashionable public square it used to be, covered under century-old sandbox trees where hordes of birds frolicked. While not without appeal, the new-look square will take some time to win the hearts of all the people of Jacmel. Fortunately, its perimeter remains unchanged, still surrounded by Hotel de la Place, which replaced the Craft Boarding School, Inspectorate of Schools, Municipal Library, the legendary Alexandra Manor, City Hall with a prominent statue of a torch-bearer, and the School of Sisters, built in 1925.
balconies, Jacmel fully enjoys pride of place as the vanguard of national cultural and artistic creation ... Jacmel’s great uniqueness is in its metal-framed bourgeois houses, imported from Europe or America, decorated with wrought iron lace that reflects the city’s vanished opulence. These splendid houses include Manoir Alexandra, the old residence of Alexander Vital, built by German architect Andersen at the beginning of last century; Maison Narbal et Adrien Boucard, on Rue du Commerce; the two-storey Maison J.B.Vital, which dates back to 1888 and overlooks Rue du Commerce and Rue Sainte-Anne.
The steel and cast iron market was built in 1895. A fine specimen of steel architecture that saw its heyday during the second half of the nineteenth century.
Standing across from the market is the parish church, which was consecrated in 1877 and elevated to cathedral status in 1988, after Jacmel became a diocese. Placed under the invocation of the apostles Saint Philip and Saint James, its construction lasted from 1852 to 1864. Destroyed by the fire of 1896, its furnishings were immediately taken for restoration. From 1916 to 1940, Father Naël undertook a number of beautification and expansion works on the church: building the left wing, installing stained glass and mosaics, and constructing a pulpit, one of the most attractive in Catholic churches in Haiti.
Jacmel is in full-fledged expansion albeit, unfortunately, one that is not sufficiently controlled. Lamandou is one of the new neighborhoods undergoing rapid development. Located on a plateau facing a turquoise sea, it attracts the wealthy who build beautiful mansions, unlike what is found in areas where the less fortunate live. Construction of the Diocese in this neighborhood, on a large estate bequeathed to the Church, and construction of the Alcibiade de Pommayrac French School that was founded in 1976 by a wealthy French donor, Véronique Rossillon, were behind this irresistible attraction for Lamandou.
Jacmel enjoys bustling economic activity. Tourism and crafts today represent real engines of development in the short term ... Until 1880, Jacmel was the port of embarkation for all passengers traveling abroad. Although the city is not as important as it used to be, there is an overabundance of commercial activities even if they have changed direction somewhat. However, the coffee cultivation that has contributed to economic growth in the South East is still dominant.
Baie de Jacmel is a deep and turbulent bay, thus making its anchorage area perilous. Tidal waves are common during the rainy season.
Pleasant beaches invite swimmers for a delightful treat. The most prominent: Raymond-les-Bains, lined with coconut trees and almond trees and covering over two kilometers of white sand; Ti Mouillage and l’Anse de Kalic, where the sea is sometimes rough; Cyvadier, unobtrusive in its green surroundings; Congo-Plage stretching along the Jacmel coast. Some insist the latter is one of the best beaches of Haiti and La Saline, on the coast east of the bay.
Jacmel’s surroundings, serviced by beautiful paved roads, is very charming. Leaving the city, heading towards Marigot, is a priceless historical treasure: the Moulin Price, one of two models of this type of steam-powered mill registered in the world. Scenic sites are scattered around the Jacmel region: Etang Bossier, Cascade Pichon, Orangers, Bermudes, Grandin, Grottes de Séjourné, Lavanneau, and Meyer, a resort very popular with families because it has plenty of aquatic amenities. But the most breath-taking landscape is the Bassins Bleus, north of Jacmel. Very fresh and exceptionally clear, the water falls onto three tiers of stacked tubs or basins: Basin Clair, Basin Bleu, and Basin Palmiste. This wonderful showpiece is second to none as the most beautiful landscapes to be found anywhere.
Jacmel is renowned as the city of gifted poets, writers, and painters. Besides that coveted reputation, it also stakes its claim as the real “Haitian craft center” because of the contribution of its artists to the development of national crafts industry in its many forms. The papier-mâché mask parade during the colorful Jacmel carnivals bears testimony to this asset, in which Jacmel takes great pride.
Jacmel is 95 kilometers from Port-au-Prince.

domain: travel


Mark your calendar for the Visual and Performing Arts Walk & Music Festival on Friday, May 17th starting from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. Enjoy fabulous student art, piano and string recitals, and student performances including improv, poetry and instrumentals. Grade 7 students will be on-hand with concessions as they start to work their way to Boston next year. Learn more about Erie Day School's visual and performing arts at https://www.eriedayschool.com/about-us/visual-and-performing-arts. Also note our instrumental students will have a concert starting at 6:00 p.m. on May 30th.


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You look at the groups hanging out in rooms, going out together, sharing stories and hugs. And then you ask, who?
Who's going to hold cute parties in your room? Who's going to celebrate your birthday with you? Who will lie with you on the grass the whole night?
Who do you feel comfortable with? Who would you reject, and who would you like to see hanging out in your room?
You look at people you used to know and people you wished you knew and those you thought you knew. You look at the old faces and you know you just can't click like before anymore. You look at the ones you wish you could start a conversation with. How now? What can be done? This is an inhibition, a plug to the communicative part of my brain, and is it going to close me off forever?

domain: psychology


text:
Loose Kaynon, one of the true Hip-Hop kats in Nigeria drops an Internet video for his mixtape cut “Jack Bauer” where he spits unending bars to a slightly tweaked version of Kanye West’s “Power” instrumentals.
The track is a warm-up to the series of new projects he has lined up. The video is actually very good! Expect some more heat from Loose Kaynon soon.
Link for the download to the song can be found here

domain: entertainment


text:
One again, we felt so comfortable leaving Chrissy with our dog. She continues to send pictures and videos throughout her stay, which calms any nervousness. We are so grateful for her kindness and sweetness with our pup and us!
Chrissy was amazing with my 7 month old lab! He never wanted to leave her! She even did training exercises with him. She kept me up to date all day with adorable photos and updates. I would definitely ask Chrissy to sit again!
Chrissy was just wonderful with my dog Milo!
She made sure he had his daily walk and also played with him until he was tired out in the backyard !
I loved all the videos and pictures Chrissy sent me . She made Milo feel very comfortable and kept my mind at ease while she was there with him . I highly recommend Chrissy to anyone looking for a pet sitter, you will be very satisfied !
I'll love your dog like it's mine!
I have always loved dogs, but couldn’t have them growing up due to family allergies. I rescued my babies a few years ago and they are the best thing in my life (with my husband:)!). I’m comfortable giving oral medication to dogs and puppies. I work full time from home and have a fairly flexible schedule. I’m comfortable giving oral medication to cats also. I love walking and hiking with my dogs ...
What Chrissy would like to know about your dog
Are there any medical conditions or special quirks that I need to know to keep your dog safe, healthy, and happy? Does your dog travel well in the car? Will there be any problems should I need to transport them? Are they fully vaccinated and up to date? Is there a history of anxiety or aggression? What are their triggers for annoyance or frustration? What are signs to watch for if they’re feeling unwell or scared or angry?

domain: pet