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Clemson vs. Notre Dame: Tigers seek first victory against Irish
CLEMSON – In the Atlantic Coast Conference, there’s nothing like the home court.
Just ask Clemson coach Brad Brownell.
“Yeah, it’s nice to play at home,” Brownell said.
Littlejohn Coliseum certainly has been nice for the Tigers this season, who are 10-0 at home, including a 3-0 record in ACC play that includes victories against N.C. State, Louisville and Miami.
Clemson is off to its first 3-0 ACC start since 2007, but getting to 4-0 will prove quite the challenge Saturday when the Tigers (15-3, 4-2) play host to Notre Dame in a 4 p.m. game.
“Home teams are winning a lot of games, which is normal, but it doesn’t make it any easier in terms of once the ball’s tipped and you’re playing,” Brownell said. “But we hope to feed off a great crowd and build a little momentum through them.
“It’s going to take a lot to beat these guys.”
The Fighting Irish (13-6, 3-3), who are 5-0 against Clemson, are playing their sixth consecutive game without freshman D.J. Harvey, who has a bruised bone in his left knee, and senior forward Bonzie Colson, the ACC Preseason Player of the Year.
Colson has been sidelined by a broken foot suffered in practice in late December; he’s expected to miss eight weeks.
Senior forward Martinas Gebben has filled in admirably for Colson and senior guard Matt Farrell now leads the team in scoring.
“They’ve adjusted nicely since Bonzie’s injury,” Brownell said. “Gebben is a guy who has shown he can score – a double-double guy. He’s a handful, not only that he’s averaging almost five offensive rebounds a game. He’s strong, he’s older.
“Ferrell is an elite guy who can score and pass – one of the fastest guys in the league.”
Clemson, which is coming off an 87-79 loss at North Carolina, will focus on itself and correcting the turnovers that plagued the team in the defeat against the Tar Heels.
“We have to be careful because we play faster at times and we have guys that really try to make plays,” Brownell said. “That’s our itch, and that’s what’s a problem for us. We get careless or try to play too fast and get out of sorts and do things that cause us to waste possessions.”
A Clemson victory would give the program its 200th ACC win in Littlejohn and boost the Tigers’ all-time record in the facility is 199-157 for a winning percentage of .559.
A victory also would give Clemson its first 4-0 home start in league play since the 1996-97 season, but Brownell is well aware of the perils of the ACC.
“Our record’s better, we’ve had some quality wins, and our numbers are good, but the league is just hard for everybody,” Brownell said. “It’s hard to build momentum. It can get away from you.
“We’re not athletically dominating to where we’re getting a lot of putbacks and stealing the ball and making layups. We have to execute. We have to play well and be prepared and locked in, especially when we play really good teams.”
That said, Brownell is liking what he sees as his team continues to pursue its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2010-11, Brownell’s first season.
“I love where this team is,” he said. “I love how these guys are working, connecting with one another.”
No. 18 Clemson (15-3, 4-2) vs. Notre Dame (13-6, 3-3)
Tipoff: 4:05 p.m.
Radio: WCCP (105.5 FM), WORD (1330 AM)


What is SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) ?
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is a family of specifications of an XML-based file format for describing two-dimensional vector graphics, both static and dynamic (i.e. interactive or animated).
The SVG specification is an open standard that has been under development by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) since 1999.
SVG images and their behaviours are defined in XML text files. This means that they can be searched, indexed, scripted and, if required, compressed. Since they are XML files, SVG images can be created and edited with any text editor, but specialized SVG-based drawing programs are also available.
And here's SVG tutorials that available on the internet now :)
More tutorials :


text:
One who mediates; especially, one who interposes between parties at variance for the purpose of reconciling them; hence, an intercessor.
A neutral party who listens to all sides and then offers a solution to a conflict.
A neutral third party who helps to resolve disputes between employers and employees during mediation. A mediator typically does not issue a final decision, but rather facilitates negotiations among the opposing parties. Agreements reached among the parties are typically not legally binding, but rather depend on honesty and integrity to uphold them. Compare to Arbitrator.
A substance or structure that helps bring about a specific response in a bodily tissue.

domain: law


ONE NIGHT ONLY! Don’t miss out! September 27, 2014 from 4:00 PM to 2:00 AM Location: 1081 North Plum St. Lancaster, PA 17601 For anyone who hasn’t heard, there’s a big deal going on in Lancaster two weekends from now. The dudes over at Pure Sludge have teamed up with Biltwell and a cast of international artists to put on the sickest […]
I remember the first year I rode up to Brooklyn from Philadelphia for the NYC Vintage Motorcycle Show. It was 2010 and I just started riding with all the “Chin on the Tank” guys from Philly. Some were older and experienced and others just plain fearless. I’d say I was on the unexperienced and fearless kick, […]
This year I found myself comfortable behind the camera, shooting personal and commercial work. The photos I’ve been posting Chin On The Tank landed me a gig at the Adidas sneaker release party in Center City Philadelphia.


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Addicted to the Dead: Relapse Edition by Shane McKenzie
What if eating the walking dead was the only way to ensure you don’t become one? If you ingest the meat of the dead, you can avoid that fate. But if you consume too much, it becomes a highly addictive drug, transforming those who are addicted into meatheads—emaciated junkies only focused on getting their next fix.
Paco’s family is dead, and he is alone … until his dead little sister Sophia speaks. But the dead can’t talk, can’t think. Paco decides Sophia is special and takes her to the city to find a doctor who can help her and figure out what’s making her so … alive. But Paco and Sophia quickly find out the city isn’t safe … and they are the only children there.
Shane McKenzie steps out of retirement with the new RELAPSE edition of Addicted to the Dead, presented as a 3-course meal. For an appetizer, we have the prequel short story “Like a Brother.” Followed by the main course, a newly edited edition of Addicted to the Dead. And then the novella Knock His Teeth Out for Me, featuring Worm and the full costs of addiction, for dessert.
Forget Everything You Thought You Knew About The Dead
Horror Bookworm Reviews A father fights for his daughter’s freedom from the clutches of a disgusting evil entrepreneur that has no limits to his wrong doings. Meanwhile, a young boy seeks help for his sister’s mysterious transformation. These two desperate missions have one thing in common…to save their precious loved ones and to survive from those Addicted To The Dead. A new kind of drug has taken the population by its clicking rotted teeth. The addiction to dead meat regulates the laws that control and governs the consumption of flesh. Author Shane McKenzie has returned with an original approach to a desired substance that bridge the gap between the living and the dead. This full length novel provides the whole kit and carnaged caboodle that a splatter fan could want. Warning: Addicted To The Dead endures brutal acts of cringe worthy moments, demented corpse snuff films and shocking moments of storyline twists & turns. McKenzie’s approach to decomposing fictional flesh is like no other, and has that familiar flare of outstanding storytelling. Forget everything you thought you knew about the dead, “there is no cure for death”…or is there… As a fan for many years, I salute Madness Heart Press for resurrecting the “Executive of Extreme,”…the “Saint of Splatterpunk,”…the “Grand Master of Gross-Out Contest,”…Shane McKenzie! A five star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ must read Horror Bookworm Recommendation. Grab this one my fellow horror addicts.
Eat Zombie Meat, Or Else!
This book is a set of three stories all set in the same locale. Imagine a world where zombie flesh is a common meal, but can only be consumed in small amounts or you get addicted to it. It can’t be too fresh, or too old, but just right and one man has the monopoly on getting it out to the masses. The first story, “Like a Brother” is a short story that introduces the reader to one of the main characters of the book, Calico. Calico is a tough guy who takes care of whatever the boss man needs done. We get just a glimpse in this short story about how brutal this world really is. The second story, “Addicted to the Dead,” introduces us to Paco and his little sister, Sophia. They go on a harrowing adventure into the city to find Sophia a doctor to help her with her “illness.” Junkies are everywhere looking for their next fix, a zombie snack. Can they make it safely to their destination? The third story is a novella called “Knock His Teeth Out for Me.” Here we are introduced to Worm, an addict and former employee of the boss man. We are exposed to the tough life of an addict and how they will do anything to get what they need. This is my first book by Shane McKenzie that I’ve read. I finished it and immediately thought, WTF did I just read? I liked how McKenzie told the story from different perspectives, the addict, those alive and trying to survive, and through a child’s eyes. Each perspective offers a unique blend of fear of the unknown and the feeling of helplessness. The swinging pendulum of emotions kept me vested in the characters. I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It’s out now in electronic version on Godless, but will be released everywhere else on April 30th by Madness Heart Press! Go get it!

domain: library


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Thank you to Donna at MummyCentral for asking me to join in this Father’s Day meme on the theme of ‘Dear Dad…’ Be warned: it contains gushing sentimentality and excrutiatingly emotional anecdotes. But, hey, it’s only once a year – and he’ll never read it. Thank the Lord.
1) He worshipped my mum. I’d catch them kissing and cuddling in the kitchen when I was a teenager – which at the time, was utterly nauseating. But I really understood the depth of his feelings for her when she had to go into a nursing home because she had severe dementia. He visited her every day, sometimes getting a lift, often taking two buses there and back – and sometimes going twice a day. The tenderness with which he fed her, and rubbed emollient into her dry legs, moved me to tears. She died in December 2010 and pretty much every day since he has gone to the plot where her ashes have been interred.
2) He knows the price of a pint in every pub in town – and will only drink where it’s cheapest. At weekends, it’s the Jolly Carter where a pint of bitter coasts £2.10; but on a Monday, it’s the Queens, which has a ‘happy Monday’ offering of £1.82 a pint. This is up north, mind. When I tell him how much beer costs Darn Sarf (£3.85), he spits his pint out. Well, not quite – that spit would be worth 15p.
3) He literally cries laughing. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a chortle or a guffaw: the tears spill out of his ducts. Whenever he watches Tommy Cooper, I think he’s going to have an hilarity-induced heart attack.
4) He loves animals, especially dogs. I once saw him beat the crap out of four twenty-something yobs when he caught them throwing bricks at a mongrel and they refused to stop. He’s had two dogs in my lifetime – both called Sam. He was so upset when Sam 2 died that I named my youngest son after him.
5) He has never told me he loves me. A few years, while I was gong through a metrosexual phase, I wrote him a letter to tell him how much I respected, admired and, yes, loved him. He never replied, and he never, ever mentioned it. But my mum told me he was utterly mortified. ‘You don’t have to tell him you love him,’ she said. ‘He knows.’ And I know the reverse, too – he shows it all the time.
6) He has an astonishing ability to connect with people and make friends. When I was growing up, I used to think he knew everyone, and that everyone was called Jim, for that is what he called everyone (even the women) from bus drivers to pub regulars to shop assistants.
7) He has an incredible moral compass and a very defined sense of what is right and wrong. This was instilled in us from a very early age, and even though he and my three younger brothers are as hard as nails, they have never got on the wrong side of the law. And neither have I (without the hard as nails bit).
8) His obvious love and pride in his grandchildren. They don’t see him often enough, but when they do, the connection is instant, the trust immediate and unconditional. They are in thrall of him, and he them.
9) He’s also called Keith – a name that has become much-maligned over the years. But he is proof that Keiths can be cool. He wanted to call me Luke, but my mum insisted that the first-born son took the father’s name, just as her brother, Tom, had taken his dad’s (the man my own first-born son is named after).
10) The fact he lives 200 miles away. Because despite all of the above, the man drives me bananas. I can just about handle three nights staying with him because, at 74, he is very, very set in his ways. I won’t tell you about his infuriating relationship with the TV remote control…

domain: literature


I am new to this forum, but have read the posts related to the vortec head conversion. after experiencing wild temperature spike a couple years ago (and not knowing), I read about the external bypass from the intake to the water pump port and it fixed the problem. the question that i have yet to answer, is how exactly are the vortec heads cooled? my thermostat opens at 185-190 F and the intake never exceeds 195 F, but my valve covers get extremely hot and wonder if the heads are being propely cooled. I'm talking so hot, you can't even touch them. just doesn't seem right to me. any help would be much appreciated!


The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are planning on doing their part in helping British citizens who’ve been affected by the novel coronavirus!
38-year-old Kate Middleton and husband Prince William, 37, say that they “want to help” citizens who’ve been affected by temporarily suspending their royal schedules and focusing on the outbreak. They will be making more appearances at hospitals, shelters, and the like – with a source saying that they both want to help “the community and vulnerable people in society.”
Kate has presently been focusing her efforts on childhood development and William has been focused on wildlife conservation; but judging by the news they are both expected to shift focus to the coronavirus! Let us know: WILL APPEARANCES BY KATE MIDDLETON AND PRINCE WILLIAM HELP DEFEAT THE DEADLY VIRUS THAT HAS ALREADY CLAIMED 70 LIVES IN THE UK? WILL KATE AND WILLIAM’S PRESENCE HELP HEAL THE SICK?


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Molho GenoveseGenovese sauce
O molho genovês é um molho de cebola e carne cozido lentamente associado à região da Campânia , na Itália , especialmente Nápoles – normalmente servido com macarrão paccheri , ziti ou candele – e polvilhado com queijo ralado.
|Lugar de origem||Itália|
|Região ou estado||Campânia|
|Criado por||Imigrantes genoveses|
|Inventado||séculos 15 ou 16|
|Ingredientes geralmente usados||Carne de vaca, vitela ou porco|
Genovese pode ser preparado com cortes baratos de carne bovina, suína, vitela ou salsicha, mas normalmente compartilham e enfatizam as cebolas cozidas lentamente. Um molho Genovese é sempre sem tomate. [ citação necessária ] As receitas podem citar a ramata di Montoro, uma cebola amarela com casca cor de cobre.
Despite its name, which means "in the style of Genoa," Genovese sauce is a principal pasta sauce of Naples and an important part of its culinary history, having been introduced to the city in the 15th or 16th centuries. The sauce may have been brought by Genovese immigrants or merchants, at a time when Genoa and Naples were two of Italy's most important ports. It could also be referring to its inventor's name, since Genovese is a widespread surname in Campania. Genovese sauce is now unknown beyond Campania.
The recipe's onions may reflect a French influence, resembling Boeuf à la mode. During the mid 19th century, ‘Salmon in Hollandaise and Genovese sauce’ was served in the Grand Véfour restaurant of the Palais-Royal in Paris as a luxury dish.
Genovese sauce is not to be confused with Pesto from Genoa and Liguria, nor with Salsa Genovese, a red wine and vegetable condiment for fish, nor with the sauce génevoise from Lake Geneva, again served with fish.
The sauce is prepared by sautéing either beef or veal with onions, and slowly cooking for two to ten hours. The onions are typically accompanied by minced carrots and celery in what is known as a soffritto.
The slow cooking of the onions is especially important for the sauce's flavor, and is facilitated by incremental additions of white wine, stock, or both. The sauce and accompanying pasta can be served with the meat from the sauce or separately, garnished with tomatoes, and topped with pecorino. Genovese is typically served with the large, cylindrical pasta, Paccheri, but also rigatoni, ziti or candele — all favored because their shape can hold the sauce.
Ingredients for 4 servings
Meat 600 g, golden onions 1 kg, carrots 60 g, celery 60 g, olive oil.
- "La Genovese". The Grand Wine Tour. August 1, 2017.
- Seed, Diane (2012). The Top One Hundred Pasta Sauces. Random House. pp. 137–8.
- May, Tony (2005). Italian Cuisine: The New Essential Reference to the Riches of the Italian Table. Macmillan. pp. 31–32.
- Licino, Hal. "The Greatest Pasta Sauce You've Never Tasted". Hubpages. Retrieved 23 July 2013.[permanent dead link]
- Asimov, Eric (28 August 2002). "Restaurants: the cooking of Naples, pure and simple". The New York Times.
- Kingston, Ralph (2012). Bureaucrats and Bourgeois Society: Office Politics and Individual Credit in France 1789-1848. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 141.
- Plotkin, Fred (1997). Recipes from Paradise: Life & Food on the Italian Riviera. Little, Brown and Company. p. 86. ISBN 0316710717.
- Alberts, Bonnie. "Cooking with Giuseppe – Paccheri alla Genovese". Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- Schwartz, Arthur (1998). Naples at Table: Cooking in Campania. HarperCollins. p. 4.
- Rosentals, John (31 May 1990). "THE Sheraton Hobart has added more variety to the theme nights it has been running in the hotel's Gazebo Restaurant". Hobart Mercury.

domain: food


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An established palliative care organization is set to offer a new approach to bereavement services for people affected by the mass shooting in northern Nova Scotia nearly four years ago.
The non-profit Nova Scotia Hospice Palliative Care Association (NSHPCA) will work with community organizations and Nova Scotia Health to design and deliver care in Colchester County, East Hants and Cumberland County.
"We will never forget it. We will never be without it. However, there is the opportunity to do some really good work and help individuals learn how to deal with it as part of their lives," Alana Hirtle of the Rotary Club of Truro said Friday.
"Hopeful, is where we are."
In April 2020, a gunman driving a mock RCMP cruiser killed 22 people across northern Nova Scotia, including many of his neighbours in Portapique.
The Mass Casualty Commission that led the public inquiry into the shooting recommended that the federal and provincial governments fund a program to address residents' unmet needs for mental health, grief and bereavement support.
From left to right, commissioner Leanne Fitch, chair Michael MacDonald, and commissioner Kim Stanton deliver the final report of the Mass Casualty Commission inquiry into the mass murders in rural Nova Scotia in Truro, N.S. on March 30, 2023. (Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press)
The two-year, $2.3 million project will start in the northern region and then extend to the rest of Nova Scotia in 2025. It comes out of an $18-million fund from the provincial and federal governments announced last spring.
Hirtle said she's hopeful that besides grief and bereavement — which are vital — the services will approach mental health with trauma-based methods.
"There should be no cookie-cutter approach to this situation because grief and trauma are an individual experience and not everyone handles it the same way or processes it the same way," Hirtle said.
Group focusing on long-term impact
NSHPCA president Ann Cosgrove said that's exactly what her group plans to do. They will pull together both new and existing grief services, and listen to what else people need.
"The long term is what we're looking at, not the immediate Band-Aid piece," Cosgrove said.
The province said it has already made investments in the northern region, including 23 new positions at Nova Scotia Health in outreach, promotion, public engagement and specialists in grief and bereavement.
There are also mobile health clinics, featuring health professionals like nurses and an emotional wellness navigator. Eight community health boards also saw funding increased to provide suicide prevention training, grief workshops and rural internet access programs.
A new transportation pilot project offering free rides for people to get to non-urgent health and wellness appointments is also in place. The province said the program has received more than 1,000 requests since it launched in August.
That program which uses a combination of rural transit and taxi services is open to any resident of Colchester, Cumberland, and Pictou counties as well as the Municipality of East Hants.
Hirtle said while the investments are all a good start, they've been a "mixed bag" for residents.
She's heard people have had a hard time figuring out how to book the transportation program, while mobile clinics can have inconsistent services. A nurse might not always be present at the clinic, and the times and locations can change week to week, Hirtle said.
Alana Hirtle of the Rotary Club of Truro has worked with Portapique residents to build a new hall and playground in the community. (CBC)
Minister of Addictions and Mental Health Brian Comer said Friday that the province and health providers have been working hard to help break down mental-health stigma in the area, and get people to come out to talk about their issues in less formal settings.
"I think now that folks realize that we made significant investments, you know the model is really ready to take off with a very well-respected group," Comer said about the palliative association.
Hirtle said she was glad to hear the work will eventually spread across the province, because for Nova Scotians the events of April 2020 "shattered our concept of who we are," and support is needed everywhere.
In years to come, Hirtle said she hopes the new approach makes a difference — whether it's one family dealing with a tragedy, or the entire province.
"Death impacts all of us and grief is a reality. Grief is the price of love. And you know, we all could probably have more tools in our toolkit to deal with it when it happens to us," Hirtle said.
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domain: sociology


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ILLEGAL ALIEN MUSLIM INVADERS, who have been quarantined in a luxury beachfront Greek hotel after a COVID-19 outbreak, fight each other to get free stuff put out for them. A total of 148 Muslim illegals staying at the hotel and two staff members have tested positive, said Nikos Hardalias, deputy minister for civil protection.
When Youtube takes down this video, you can see it here:
VIDEO: Migrants, who have been quarantined in a Greek hotel after a COVID-19 outbreak, rush to get aid supplies pic.twitter.com/rutuN1UTOV
— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 22, 2020
[UPDATE] But wait, that’s not all.
Argolikeseidhseis (h/t from greece) This Greek hotel, the Galaxias” in Ermionida, is housing about 470 Muslim invaders, mostly Somalis, who, not surprisingly have trashed the hotel that is giving them free housing. Check out the photos below of what these Muslim pigs did: smashed furniture, broken computers, broken windows, doors and walls damaged, tables dismantled, and more.

domain: news


text:
pdf (6.6 MiB)
CFSI, Community and Family Services International,ChildFund Alliance,Council for the Welfare of Children,Plan International,Save the Children Philippines,UNICEF, United Nations Children's Fund,World Vision International
In 2007, the Philippines adopted the humanitarian cluster approach with the issuance of National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) Circular No. 05, s. 2007 (Institutionalization of the Cluster Approach in the Philippine Disaster Management System). Among these thematic structures is the Protection Cluster led by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Under the Protection Cluster, the National and Regional Child Protection Working Group were formally organized in 2009 following Typhoon Ondoy (International Name: Ketsana). With the enactment of Republic Act 10821 in 2016, the NCPWG and RCPWGs are mandated to ensure that child-centered initiatives are prioritized in disaster response.
In line with this overall goal, the National Child Protection Working Group (NCPWG) in the Philippines implemented several capacity building efforts for duty bearers, organizations, and institutions working along child protection at all administrative levels.
To harmonize these capacity building efforts and ensure its consistency with Republic Act 10821 and the global Child Protection Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Action alternatively called Child Protection Minimum Standards (CPMS), this training manual was developed by the NCPWG to capacitate and equip the individual members and teams of both the NCPWG and the 17 RCPWGs with adequate knowledge and skills to handle preparedness, mitigation and response in addressing child protection needs in times of emergency.


There's arguably no bigger chain than Starbucks when it comes to grabbing a coffee.
Love them or hate them, there's no denying that they've taken over high streets across the globe.
Even though most of their chains are still open and serving takeaway coffee during the lockdown, many have turned to trying to recreate their favourite coffee shop drinks at home at the moment.
The good news for Starbucks fans is that the coffee giant has a line of their own branded sachets available in supermarkets and all you need to do is add hot water to them - no fancy coffee machine or milk frother required.
Plenty of us rely on coffee to wake us up and get through the day, and with most of the country almost a year deep into working from home, the drink can feel essential now more than ever so the sachets have come at the right time.
As a self-confessed Starbucks addict, I had to give them a go and see just how well they lived up to the identical coffee order from one of their actual coffee shops.
Heading out to determine whether the supermarket sachets could match the real thing, I was slightly hesitant as I must admit my taste buds run on the childish side when it comes to a Starbucks coffee.
While I love the chain, I'm not the biggest fan of the actual taste of their coffee when it's alone and always have to opt for a flavoured syrup, a festive-themed drink or something else like a frappuccino or hot chocolate.
I was fearful that the sachet would just be a plain latte so it was nice to discover that, while they did have a plain café latte pack available in my local Sainsbury's, there was also a caramel flavour.
After securing the sachets, I ordered a takeaway coffee from my nearest Starbucks to exactly match the flavour for the most accurate comparison possible.
The real Starbucks coffee
Admittedly, I'm one of those really annoying people that has a long and obnoxious order at Starbucks.
If I'm not having one of their seasonal, one-off coffees, I always opt for a skinny latte with sugar-free vanilla syrup and the blonde blend of espresso, and I think my particular tastes ruined the experience of a plain old caramel latte.
The coffee itself didn't taste great for starters, the caramel syrup had a sickly sweet taste, and the two joined together to offer a disappointing experience.
It got easier to drink after a little while and it was still good enough to keep drinking, either that or I couldn't stop myself because it was just there looking at me, but it's one of the worst drinks I've ever ordered from Starbucks.
The Starbucks supermarket sachet coffee
This is a very conflicting one for two simple reasons - it tasted a lot nicer than the coffee from Starbucks itself but it didn't taste remotely similar to the one from Starbucks at all.
If you've ever had the Nescafe Gold brand sachets, something I used to be addicted to before I upgraded to an actual coffee machine, the Starbucks caramel latte sachets have an identical taste to the Nescafe Gold caramel latte sachets.
I preferred the taste of the sachet coffee to the actual Starbucks one, mostly because the caramel flavour was a lot more subtle which made the whole thing easier to drink.
Still, for something that is branded as Starbucks you'd expect to get your money's worth and actually come home with a sachet that tastes something like the blend available in their coffee shops, not a rip off of the Nescafe Gold sachets you can buy in the same supermarkets for 50p cheaper.
I'm very sorry to say that Starbucks has disappointed me greatly here.
The older I get, the more I'm realising that their actual coffee is disgusting and it's the extra flavours and gimmicks that make their drinks worth it.
This is why the Starbucks coffee shop caramel latte really let me down, syrups are meant to be their saving grace but this one was way too much and reminded me why I opt for the sugar-free versions.
As for the sachet coffee, I enjoyed it and will definitely get through the remaining four in the pack but if you're after something that actually tastes like a real Starbucks coffee from the comfort of your own home, this is a rip off.
With the sachets coming in at £2.50 for a five pack and the caramel latte alone costing me £3.20 for a tall size (that's Starbucks for small) then there's no doubt you're getting a lot more value for money with the sachets but not if you expect them to taste the same.
Still, if you're looking to save money and you don't care about them tasting different to real Starbucks you may as well get the £2 Nescafe Gold caramel latte, which also offers even more sachets with eight in the box.
Even though I didn't like the caramel latte from Starbucks itself, if the point of the sachets is for them to taste the same then I've been left feeling scammed.
If you want the taste of a Starbucks coffee then you're better off taking away or ordering delivery from your local branch, or at least trying the pods they make for Nescafe Dolce Gusto and Nespresso machines if you have one to see if they're closer to the real thing.
I still love you Starbucks, even if it's just for the Christmas and Valentine's drinks nowadays.


Updated: May 26, 2016 12:45:48 am
WITHIN A fortnight of his impassioned appeal to the prime minister on the paucity of judges, the chief justice publicly announced that the Indian legal system currently requires over 70,000 judges to clear the backlog of cases in the country. This figure is based on observations made in a 1987 Law Commission report, “Judicial Man Power Planning”, which had recommended raising the strength of the judiciary to 50 judges per million people.
The Law Commission had itself, however, admitted that this “judge-population ratio” reasoning it had adopted for the recommendation, was based on “a very poor substitute for sound scientific analysis”. The commission had lamented that even after four decades of independence, we had not been able to organise even the minimum level of information, which could be the basis for concrete proposals on judicial manpower planning. The situation, unfortunately, is no different almost three decades later, though present-day technology offers ways to collect real-time data.
It has been repeatedly emphasised that timely disposal of cases is essential for maintaining the rule of law and good governance. It is also true that unless sufficient judicial resources are provided, the system cannot deliver timely justice. However, our policy makers have failed to devise an acceptable method to calculate the location-wise requirement of additional courts.
According to governments at the Centre and in the states, the requirement of additional courts in a particular region should be based on the case-load of the existing courts there. For these reasons, the Supreme Court had in Imtiayaz Ahmad vs State of Uttar Pradesh (2012) directed the Law Commission to undertake another inquiry and submit recommendations regarding the immediate measures for the creation of additional courts.
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The commission, while once again expressing helplessness on the data front as it did in 1987, examined six different probable methodologies, including the “judge-population ratio basis”. It found that filing of cases per capita varied across states and was associated with economic and social conditions. It, therefore, concluded that while population might be an appropriate metric to measure the availability of services like healthcare and nutrition, it was not the apt standard to determine requirement of judicial services.
The commission, on the premise that it would be difficult to collect data for the “workload method”, also suggested an ad-hoc mechanism — “rate-of-disposal method” — for a rough and ready calculation, based on current efficiency levels of the subordinate judiciary, to ascertain adequate judge strength. This means a fall in judicial efficiency will create higher demand of judicial resources, which may, however, be counterproductive for the institution.
Ultimately, based on research in European and American courts, it was found that the “weighted caseload method” is the most appropriate measure for the purpose. Simply put, a weighted caseload system is used to convert the court caseload into the workload of the judge.
Cases vary in complexity, and each of them requires different amounts of time and attention from the judges. A mere headcount of cases pending with the judges can offer little help in distributing the workload equitably among them.
Workload in this context refers to the amount of a particular type of work, which a qualified person can handle within a determined time. The commission, though having felt that this is the most scientific method, still did not recommend its adoption on the ground that, “all information required to run this model for Indian courts is not available”.
Undeniably, the system in India does not, at present, have any information about the time required by the judges to resolve each type of case. But with the government having invested over Rs 1,000 crore (with another Rs 1,600 crore in the pipeline) to equip the Indian judiciary with current technology, there cannot be any difficulty in collecting any type of data on a real-time basis.
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The programmed events of this warm celebration tastefully combine a wide range of musical experiences in various genres that draw strength from unique concert venues in the rural milieu of Harjavalta and Kokemäki. Pride of place goes to chamber and wind instrument music, complemented by high standard light music and children’s concerts.
|Festival address||Kokemäki Festival on map|
|Phone||+358 40 488 6294|
|Office||Vanha Yhteiskoulu, Tulkkilantie 16 B, FI-32800 Kokemäki|
Leading chamber musicians will transfix the town of Kuhmo in Eastern Finland this July. A skilfully designed festival programme, inimitable concerts, beautiful surroundings and sunlit nights will open the senses to new and sublime delights.
This splendid festival focuses on song music performed at local venues, together with courses for singers and musicians, and the Kangasniemi singing competition. The Artistic Director of the festival is the distinguished conductor Mikko Franck.

domain: artistic


China’s Green Power Experiment: Whither the Environment?
Jonathan Watts with a Comment on China’s environment by Robert Marks
As it aims to reduce fossil-fuel use, the country is investing heavily in wind and solar energy. Gansu province, once known for dirty mines and oil wells, is being revitalised.
Dunhuang Solar Plant
“Ten years from now, I believe every home in Dunhuang will be powered by clean energy. The Gobi desert will be filled with blue photovoltaic panels. It will be a beautiful sight.”
The remote, wind-blasted desert of northwestern Gansu could be the most unloved, environmentally abused corner of China. It is home to the country’s first oilfield and several of the coalmines and steel factories that have contributed to China’s notoriety as the planet’s biggest polluter and carbon-dioxide (CO2) emitter.
But in the past few years, the landscape has started to undergo a transformation as Gansu has moved to the frontline of government efforts to reinvent China’s economy with a massive investment in renewable energy.
The change is evident soon after driving across the plains from Jiuquan, an ancient garrison town on the Silk Road that is now a base for more than 50 energy companies.
Wind turbines, which were almost unknown five years ago, stretch into the distance, competing only with far mountains and new pylons for space on the horizon. Jiuquan alone now has the capacity to generate six gigawatts (GW) of wind energy – roughly equivalent to that of the whole United Kingdom. The plan is to more than triple that by 2015, when this area could become the biggest wind farm in the world.
Wind turbines in Gansu
This is the other side of China’s development. Although it is the world’s biggest CO2 emitter and notorious for building the equivalent of a 400 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station every three days, it is also erecting 36 wind turbines a day and building a robust new electricity grid to send this power thousands of kilometres across the country from the deserts of the west to the cities of the east.
It is part of a long-term plan to supply 15% of the country’s energy from alternative and renewable sources by 2020. Most of that will come from nuclear and hydropower, but the government is also tapping the wind and solar potential of the deserts, mountain plateaus and coastlines
The scale of investment has led to hopes that China may emerge as the world’s first green superpower. This is premature. Breakneck economic growth has left much of the country enshrouded in murky grey smog. But the environmental crisis is so bad that it is a driver for change.
Carbon-dioxide emissions have more than doubled in the past 10 years, taking China past the United States as the world’s No 1 source of greenhouse gases. Dirty smokestacks and illegal discharge pipes contribute to the hundreds of thousands of annual premature deaths from pollution-related diseases. Environment ministry statistics suggest that 40% of river water can make people sick.
Four in five major cities are unlikely to reach the government’s relatively low standards for air quality. Biodiversity is declining, while consumer demand is rising for ever more rare – and expensive – flora, fauna and minerals. More than two dozen areas have been declared “resource depleted”. Droughts are becoming more prolonged and more widespread.
If environmental damage were fully factored into the state’s account books, China’s economic growth rate would probably be halved, Wang Yuqing – the former deputy director of the state environmental protection ministry – warned in March. He estimated environmental damage last year at about 2.5 trillion yuan (US400 billion), or 5 to 6% of China’s GDP.
Government plans to tackle these problems include increasingly ambitious pollution controls, afforestation targets and hydroengineering projects, But the focus of its efforts is the attempted switch from coal to renewable energy.
The campaign faces economic and technical obstacles. Coal and gas are far cheaper and abundant, which means it will be many years before China’s emissions start to fall.
But Jiuquan’s planners say their region is testimony to how quick change can come when staple fossil fuels run out. The output of the first local oilfields, which opened in Yumen county in 1939, has fallen by two-thirds since the 1980s. New fields are being explored, but officials say the era of “peak oil” in Jiuquan has already passed.
“This was the cradle of the Chinese oil industry,” said Wu Shengxue, director of Jiuquan’s reform and development department. “But we realise that fossil-fuel supplies are limited. They will run out one day. So we need to find other forms of energy. Jiuquan is leading the move to renewable energy in China.”
Investments in wind and solar are now more than 40 billion yuan (US$6.4 billion) a year in the region, he said, compared to about one billion yuan (US$160 million) for oil and coal combined.
The flood of money is transforming this previously poor area. Average urban incomes – once among China’s lowest – have almost tripled since 2000 and are forecast to be higher than the national average by 2015.
Other regions are following. National planners have earmarked seven regions for huge wind projects, each at least 10GW in size. The state grid has struggled to keep up. Two years ago, almost a third of the turbines were wastefully unconnected.
This has prompted unflattering comparisons with the Great Leap Forward of the late 1950s, when Mao Zedong urged China’s population to ramp up agricultural and steel production to unrealistic levels, with disastrous consequences.
There are echoes of that era in a banner on the street in Yumen New Town, which reads: “Make an effort to develop the economy in a fast leap!”
Yumen oil fields
Market forces are a secondary consideration. The state grid is legally obliged to pay 0.54 yuan (less than nine US cents) per kilowatt hour (kWh) of wind energy, even though it could get the same amount of coal-fired power for 0.3 yuan (less than five US cents).
The director of the town's energy department said the fact that the government controls prices rather than the market was good for the development of wind power.
Yumen used to be known as Oil City but people are now being moved from the old oilfields to a new town in half-completed tower blocks closer to the wind farms.
“Most people left because business was bad. The environment is much better here,” said Dong Suqin, 66, who relocated three years ago.
Business is also more promising. By 2020 Jiuquan plans to increase wind-power generation sixfold to 40GW. Wu predicts even faster growth between 2020 and 2030, when solar power starts starts to take off: “That’s when the technology will have matured and the generating costs will be lower. By 2030, I think China will get half its energy from renewable resources and Jiuquan will be famous around the world. People here are going to be rich.”
His optimism is shared in Dunhuang, a city of ancient Buddhist grottoes and ultramodern solar farms where China’s first 10MW demonstration photovoltaic plant waits to be connected to the state grid.
“We showed it can be done – this is very significant,” said Song Rongwu, assistant manager at the State Development and Investment Corporation (SDIC) facility. “Ten years from now, I believe every home in Dunhuang will be powered by clean energy. The Gobi desert will be filled with blue photovoltaic panels. It will be a beautiful sight.”
The Gobi desert, Asia’s largest desert
That is by no means certain. Coal’s rule looks stronger than ever. This year, China will – for the first time – account for half the coal burned globally, according to Yang Fuqiang of the World Resources Institute. Last year, this dirtiest of fuels increased its share of national energy supply to above 72%. Meanwhile, hydropower declined because of drought, and the wind industry had a year of consolidation.
Yang says incentives to boost the supply of clean energy are no longer enough. He wants the government to curb demand for fossil fuels by making them more expensive: “We need a cap on coal to send a strong signal to investors – ‘Don't put your money in coal. Move to cleaner energy.’?”
Environmentalists see glimmers of hope in places such as Jiuquan that this might one day change. But the pace is still too slow and there is too much focus on engineering projects in the desert and not enough on consumption habits in cities.
“We cannot yet say China has finished industrialisation and the dirty phase is finished. This will last quite some time," said Li Bo of Friends of Nature, China’s first green NGO. “We cannot rely solely on new technology to clean up our environment. We need to talk more about social responsibility and eco-civilisation.”
Additional research by Cecily Huang
(See link here to Jonathan Watts’s Guardian video from Gansu.)
Jonathan Watts is the Guardian’s Asian environment correspondent. His environmental blog is here
China’s Environment: A Comment
Reporting from China’s Gansu province, Jonathan Watts explores efforts of regional and local officials to wean that northwestern region from reliance on coal and steel industries, and instead to construct a “green” economy built around clean and renewable energy sources, in particular wind and solar. Those efforts may well be interesting and important, not just for China, but also for the whole world. On the other hand, the central Chinese state, which has surpassed the United States as the leading producer of greenhouse gases in 2012, continues to set energy prices, and to ensure that energy produced from coal powered plants remains cheap. Chinese industry thus remains dependent on an energy source that not only holds a dominant position, but continues to grow and to spew vast amounts of pollutants and global warming gases into the atmosphere. It’s almost as if there are two Chinas—one on the leading edge of developing energy from clean and renewable sources, and the other recklessly polluting land, air, and water in a break-neck race to industrialize as rapidly as possible, and maybe, after that task is accomplished, to clean up their environment. In response to Western environmental critics of these rapidly expanding emissions, Chinese officials have asserted that this was precisely the Western approach. But even that pattern is not so clear as the pressures for continued economic development in the world’s richest economies continues to drive our unsustainable dependence on fossil fuels.
Terraced rice fields
The relationship of Chinese to their natural environment is—and has been—filled with contradictions. Beginning over 3000 years ago, the Chinese state harnessed agricultural development to its strategic interests, and although the resulting processes were not without change or setbacks, the fact is that by the eighteenth century, most of the space we now call “China” had been brought under both the control of the Chinese state (at that time ruled by Manchus) and the plow. China was increasingly deforested, resources were being depleted, and it was moving inexorably into a deep environmental crisis that added to China’s political tumult in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
On the other hand, Chinese farmers, especially in core river valley regions such as the North China plain, the Yangzi River valley, and the Pearl River delta, developed various techniques to recycle critical nutrients back to the soil.
Despite the ravages of deforestation, land that was cleared for farming 1,000 or even 2,000 years ago is still being farmed, albeit with massive inputs of synthetic fertilizer. Historian Mark Elvin pointed to this contradiction with his argument that China has seen “3000 years of unsustainable development.” It is true that rice paddy production in particular, especially when paired with pisciculture and sericulture, creates more sustainable nutrient feedback loops that are less destructive of the land, and can support a dense human population. But those ecological relationships prevail mostly in China’s core economic and agricultural regions.
Another of China’s contradictions, therefore. is the relationship between core and periphery. The Chinese imperial state (roughly 500 BCE-1900 CE) was expansionist. From core regions in the north, the state extended its sway over new lands, environments, and peoples. Hundreds if not thousands of different peoples with their own ways of organizing themselves politically, socially, culturally, and environmentally confronted the powerful Chinese state. As James C. Scott points out in a recent book, many chose to flee to the highlands in a region he calls “Zomia” that includes much of upland Southeast Asia as well as parts of what is now south and southwest China. Others acculturated themselves to Chinese ways, and still others resisted as best they could. Mongols in the grasslands to the north of China’s Great Wall, Tibetans on their far western high plateau, and the Naxi in the southwestern mountains all had their own written languages, and were able to maintain some measure of cultural autonomy, but those appear to be more exceptional cases. The imperial Chinese state distinguished between two groups broadly as the “cooked” and the “raw” barbarians, and saw transforming those peoples’ exotic environments into Chinese farm landscapes as a means of bringing them the benefits of Chinese civilization. China’s central state has long tapped resources from peripheral regions for strategic and economic purposes.
One significant long-term outcome of the relationship of Chinese to their environment, therefore, has been not just the loss of biodiversity, but also the simplification of political, cultural, and socioeconomic systems into increasingly Chinese forms and the extension of Chinese power over the peoples on their periphery.
Added to these long-term historical processes in the twentieth century has been the establishment in 1949 of a Communist-led state committed to mobilization to assure the most rapid industrial growth possible. For the first 30 years inspired mostly by visions arising from Mao Zedong and conditioned by China’s isolation both from the capitalist world system and after 1960 from the Soviet world as well, China’s developmental strategies depended on extracting surpluses from agriculture to be used for industrialization. The Maoist emphasis on “self reliance” was a virtue made of necessity. Over the last 30 years, China’s developmental strategy has mostly followed principles first enunciated by Deng Xiaoping and his followers, emphasizing the privatization of productive resources and full engagement and integration with the capitalist world economy.
Regardless of the developmental approach, both the Maoist and Dengist policies have had devastating environmental impacts, from massive deforestation under Mao to extensive pollution of land, air, and water concurrent with the rapid industrial development and automobilization of the past two decades. Arguably, the environmental impacts of China’s industrial development have been more severe than experiences anywhere else in the world, with the possible exception of the Soviet Union. Where Mao called for “man to conquer nature,” with predictable environmental results, the contemporary modernist agenda insists that China needs to develop first and clean up its environment later. The result has been to intensify the pressures not just on China’s environment, but that of the whole world.
Polluted land, air, and water have dire consequences for the health and wellbeing of people down wind or down stream from the sources of that pollution, prompting thousands of “mass incidents” in which people in China protest at the gates of factories or in front of local government offices demanding that environmental clean up. A “green” movement thus arose in the 1990s (the first “green” NGO, the Friends of Nature, was formed in 1993), and it continues to work within the confines of the political system to press an environmentalist agenda.
Protesters in Dalian in China’s northeast demand closure of a polluting chemical plant
The Chinese central state established a national Environmental Protection Agency charged with developing and implementing environmental policies. Despite the commitment of the EPA officials, and their far-sighted efforts to get environmental legislation adopted at the national level, those regulations have to be implemented at the local level. And there, local officials more often support rapid (and polluting) industrialization over environmental protection: their advancement and promotion is dependent on economic growth, and it seems that most (but certainly not all) local officials pay little heed to cleaning up or preventing environmental messes.
The region reported on here—Gansu—is among China’s most peripheral and poorest regions, and the evidence provided by Watts is that it is being “developed” for the purpose of producing energy for export to industrial enterprises and urban centers of consumption much further to the east in and around Beijing and possibly as far away as Shanghai. China’s rulers have remade environments elsewhere—in particular the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangzi River, and the various dam projects in China’s southwestern Yunnan province—for the same purpose, and with enormously destructive environmental impacts. Is there reason to think the prospects for Gansu are much different, even though the renewable energy resources are wind and solar?
Whether the Gansu experience Watts reports on here will transform China’s economy and relationship to its environment, or recapitulate earlier patterns from either its imperial or communist past, remains to be seen. If past is prologue, the prognosis is not promising. I hope I’m wrong.
Robert B. Marks is Richard and Billie Deihl Professor of History at Whittier College. He is the author of China: Its Environment and History (2012), The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Ecological Narrative from the Fifteenth to the Twenty-first Century (2007), and Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China (1998).
Recommended citation: Jonathan Watts with a comment by Robert Marks, "China’s Green Power Experiment: Whither the Environment?," The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol 10, Issue 28, No. 3, July 9, 2012.


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Trey Crispin is a gentle giant! He is soft spoken and approaches our LifeClients with tenderness and compassion. His excellent reflective listening and motivational interviewing skills allow him to act as a mirror for our LifeClients. You will often hear him saying, “so what I hear you saying is….”. He cares greatly about others and has many talents that he brings to his work as a LifeCoach for LifeTutors.
While he is thoughtful and reserved, once you get to know him, he will tell you that he grew up in a dysfunctional family system and that in his early adulthood, he was angry and resentful most of the time. He said that often he would get singled out and profiled as an angry, scary, intimidating person.
How has Trey changed over the years from being angry and aggressive as a young man, to this person who most frequently exudes patience and concern for others?
He would tell you that one of the major life influences was his work to learn the art of Tai Chi and Chi Gong—ways to learn to discipline his body through movement. By becoming more aware of his breath, and the way his body holds stress, he has been able to calm his nervous system.
Also, in one of Trey’s many jobs/vocations, he has been a chef. He helps young adults understand the relationship between the food they put into their bodies and their mental health. He enjoys teaching young adults about things such as mindfulness, mind-body connections, healthy cooking and eating, and thriving while on a limited budget. Trey is very clear that he is on his own life journey and that his job as a LifeCoach is to support forward movement of his LifeClients, by supporting them, walking beside them, providing encouragement and inviting them into a relationship.
Trey has been working for LifeTutors for 2 years, and we appreciate the partnership we share with him in helping our young adults learn resiliency and to begin to build confidence in themselves through help and connection to our “gentle giant”!

domain: psychology


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Burner charges me $5 every month for its premium service, which allows people to make unlimited calls from a disposable phone number. I don't even remember why I signed up for it, and I think about canceling that subscription each month, but I always forget to do so before I get another email informing me that I've paid another $5 for a service I almost never use. These are the moments on which the subscription economy is built: small transactions that most people don't even notice, allowing companies to get paid each month without doing anything.
A cottage industry of subscription management services want to change that. Instead of letting these small transactions get lost in bank statements filled with small charges for cups of coffee, morning snacks, and two-for-one specials at a local dive bar, these services promise to give people the information they need to only pay for the services that they actually use. Now the question is whether these tools are the future of subscription management or just part of a fad.
Truebill chief executive Yahya Mokhtarzada thinks his company is here to stay. It asks people to provide access to their bank accounts so it can figure out what they're paying for every month. It then makes it easy to cancel unwanted subscriptions — whether they're for Netflix, Blue Apron, or some local fitness center — without any charge. Truebill will also let people know when the cost of a subscription rises, giving them a chance to rethink their decision to keep paying for it.
Mokhtarzada created Truebill because he personally needed a service like it. "I was looking at my credit card statement one day, which none of us do enough, realistically, and I saw a $40 charge for in-flight WiFi, which I thought was odd," he said. "I realized that I had been spending $40 per month for 14 months without realizing it, which is kind of shameful, but that's the way it was." So he and his brother partnered up on a service that gives people more control over their finances.
The hope is to eventually make Truebill a one-stop solution for subscriptions. People would be able to sign up for new services without having to retype all of their payment information, or put a monthly subscription like Birchbox on hold for a month, through one central interface. But for now the Mokhtarzadas are content to offer an easier way for people to see what they're paying for and nix any unwanted subscriptions without going through the cancellation process themselves.
Apps like Bobby and SubscriptMe offer similar monitoring tools. A service called AirPaper once promised to help people cancel their Comcast subscription for $5, but it has since shut down. Trim is the most comprehensive rival to Truebill. It charges $6 to cancel subscriptions that require sending a letter or making a call, though, while Truebill is free to use because it plans to make money by recommending new subscriptions based on its users' current interests. (Thereby guaranteeing people keep coming back to Truebill to manage their subscriptions. Clever!)
"We've seen that the average number of subscriptions per-person has doubled over the last 18 months," Mokhtarzada said. "Assuming that people continue getting more subscriptions and more businesses move toward a subscription model, I think it's a pretty safe bet that we're making."
The company has raised $1.75 million to give it time to grow while it tries to reach more users.
Not everyone is so enthusiastic about this category's prospects. "Without knowing the exact number and types of subscriptions these apps cater to and how easy they are to use, I can't answer this authoritatively," App Annie senior vice president of research Danielle Levitas said in an email. "That said, I don't see this as a category that will necessarily have broad adoption." App Annie's metrics show that these apps are dwarfed by established finance apps like BillMinder and HomeBudget.
Still, it's not hard to see how Bobby, Truebill, Trim, and others in this market could thrive. All of these apps have been popular on Product Hunt, the public message board where tech insiders share the latest-and-greatest stuff with each other, and Bobby is actually number 157 on the list of top grossing finance tools in the App Store even though it only offers a 99-cent in-app purchase. Call it a fad, call it a boom town. Either way, this industry is more necessary than ever before.

domain: finance


Fallout 3 by Bethesda Softworks boasts of a robust character development system inside addition to great graphics, a fantastic story and a fascinating menagerie of mutant monsters for you to bash, shoot and blast your way through. The streets of DC can be a mean location for unsuspecting warriors though. Let me put together some handy game tips that may be quite helpful.
Okay, i let my cousin shoot at the next one single. He was a Marine, and was an unbelievable shot, i absolutely knew he’d get the size of his. Once again, “There’s a pheasant!” brought me back a lot more. He shot it! Wait. he did shoot it, spot on? The bird dog ran around in circles and looked into us curiously wondering why there wasn’t a pet bird. How did my buddy miss that?
One way of getting there has been a sabot. This is a plastic insert, which allows the .50 caliber case to expel a much lighter bullet, think 250 grains. This bullet would now move at exceeding 5000 feet per secondly. This is also done with lesser rounds the same as the .308 and 30-06 here is an example. Forget anything but explosive armor stopping these high-speed fits. There is a lot of this 410 ammo floating around in usa. Another way is to use molybdenum metal in the bullet. This metal is tremendously hard and rips through obstacles like sheet metal, armor plating etc. The bullet weight can end up being the same a treadmill could make use of a sabot with all the molybdenum bullet and I doubt anything short of explosive armor on tanks would prevent it.
Another thing about airsoft spring guns is purchasing price. Because 30 carbine ammo for sale under $50, it could be afforded by a single. Aside from the purchase of a constant supply of BB pellets, there aren’t an extra expenses to consider when the purchase of a spring marker. It doesn’t require canisters of compressed gas to objective. Neither does it need battery replacements and upgrades.
Charles Daly youth shotguns are would be to on the market, for I am concerned. Their youth shotguns come in every sizes and colors, meaning black, camo or material. With all of the options are generally available, you must determine who you really are using it for and who is certainly it. The youth models CDGF 3689 — Field Hunting VR-MC, Youth as well as the CDGF 3744 — Field Hunting VR-MC, AP Youth are the two most popular. The 3689 is the standard black synthetic along with the 3744 is your AP Camo, either of which are tennis shoes in functionality. The camo is of course a better view on pace.
After you kill all of the covenant on this level, four more ODSTs will arrive to assist you, etc . enemies begin moving down from the ground above you. However, they will not move down to your level, so designed to a perfect opportunity to restock. Restock your health on the medical kit about the far right corner for this second level and restock your DMR ammo within the DMRs of fallen Bullfrogs. If an individual might be using an assault rifle or shotgun instead among the gravity hammer, there can be an assault rifle and shotgun crate on tunnel using green arrow on the first floor, the complete opposite of the tunnel you used before.
During the day to hold more ammo, the Flip Clip the rest. It retails for under $15. Each package along with 2 ammo clips, some Nerf darts, and keep in mind the connector piece.
These films will produce a fine distraction on those dreaded airsoft down days. More creative people may even find some inspiration for scenario competitions. Just remember to get up from the couch and try to get back to playing airsoft as soon as .


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Some landlords are applauding a Senate bill that, if approved by the Assembly, will wipe out nearly three decades' worth of tenants' rights in Madison. "You know how they say Texas is like its own country?" says Dede Birrenkott, owner of Birwood Property Management. "Madison is like that. It has strict rules that favor tenants, but property owners need to have the tools to turn away bad people."
Under the bill, landlords can, among other things, set higher income requirements and charge more than one month's rent for security deposits. They would no longer be required to use check-in or check-out sheets, and could deny tenancy for minor criminal infractions, like disorderly conduct. The Assembly's version of the bill - AB-155 - has been taken up by its housing committee.
Representatives from Madison Property Management, Steve Brown Apartments and Apex Properties - three of Madison's largest residential property management companies - declined to comment on how the bill might change how they do business.
But tenants' rights advocates say the bill is devastating for tenants, charging that it will unfairly target the poor and hurt communities as a whole. "It's going to be extremely difficult for low-income people with credit problems to find housing," says Brenda Konkel, executive director of the Tenant Resource Center. "It's going to force them into really crappy apartments and segregate the community more than it is."
Phil Ejercito, a citizen member on the city's housing committee, also takes a grim view. "This is going to make life difficult for a lot of people," he says. "It's unclear what the final impact will be. I don't think the authors understand what the impact will be, either."
Birrenkott shrugs off concerns that the bill might lead to more homelessness, as some have suggested. "There are lots of agencies that help people. And, frankly, a lot of people are homeless because they've made bad decisions," she says. "If you have bad credit, you would do something to fix that, wouldn't you?"
Konkel worries the bill paves the way for discriminatory practices, especially when it comes to criminal records. "They'll be able to use arrest and conviction records against some, but not others," she says.
Birrenkott says Madison's ordinances have forced her into a bad rental agreement "on occasion" but didn't give specifics. "Because of all the protected classes, it's hard to turn people away," she says. "We want to find people homes, but we need to protect our properties, too."


text: Ray and the guys at Today FM, never one to miss a beat, decided to pay a little tribute to the woman we featured earlier in the month having a great 'aul time dancing at the bus stop by herself with some Dad dancing of his very own. Except the only problem with Ray is that people very much know who he is. Hat-tip to the guy who says in a typical Irish manner, while looking at his watch, 'Shouldn't you be working?'. Brilliant. And you can't beat a bit of Chic on a sunny Friday morning.


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Smells Funny: Fish schools break up over body odor
By Susan Milius, 15:57 PM April 15, 2008
Just an hour's swim in water lightly contaminated with a common pollutant can turn fish into rejects with an odor that causes their untainted schoolmates to shun them, researchers say.
In a lab test, brief exposure to 4-nonylphenol (4-NP), a surfactant used in many soaps, detergents, and other products, disrupted the normal tendency of banded killifish (Fundulus diaphanus) to cluster in shoals, says Ashley J. W. Ward, now of the University of Sydney in Australia. Contaminant concentrations we...
Source URL: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/smells-funny-fish-schools-break-over-body-odor?mode=magazine&context=631

domain: chemistry


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15 May As a PMHNP, I would do a medical reconciliation first, to make sure that the patients comorbidities are being addressed because gabapentin is used
As a PMHNP, I would do a medical reconciliation first, to make sure that the patients comorbidities are being addressed because gabapentin is used adjunctively and is not FDA approved for bipolar disorder. Although gabapentin is mostly prescribed for patients who experience neuropathic pain. gabapentin is FDA approved for focal seizures, neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, and post herpetic neuralgia (Cafer, 2020). However, Gabapentin is also prescribed for off label uses such as generalized anxiety, social anxiety, alcohol dependence and alcohol or benzo withdrawal (Cafer, 2020). As mentioned in the scenario, Gabapentin is sometimes used adjunctively for bipolar disorder, research studies have shown that it has very little if any mood stabilizing efficacy but it does have anxiolytic properties. As a PMHNP, no I would not prescribe gabapentin because it has proven to have very little affect on mood. However, if the patient is experiencing chronic pain then I would refer them to their PCP or NP.
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domain: medical


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The stock fell from its listing price of INR 1,600 to INR 1,491 by the end of Friday’s trading
While a sharp sell-off hurt CarTrade shares on its listing day, there were also several bulk deals by major asset managers
The cold reception to a profitable tech startup like CarTrade may sow doubts in the minds of promoters and top management of other IPO-bound companies, according to market watchers
Auto marketplace platform CarTrade debuted on the bourses on Friday (August 20) at a discount of more than 1% against the issue price of INR 1,618. The stock further fell to INR 1,491 by the end of the day’s trading — down 6.8% from the opening price of INR 1,600 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and INR 1,599.80 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Astha Jain, a research analyst at brokerage firm Hem Securities, says that the listing was impacted by macro factors rather than the company’s own business fundamentals. “One reason would have been the risk of an imminent third wave of the Covid pandemic. Also, investors are sitting tight till the US Fed’s September meeting. They are waiting to see if the US Fed will decide to pare back the bond-buying programme,” she said.
The US central bank has been injecting cash into the country’s economy by buying $120 Bn of bonds per month — which has been responsible for a liquidity rush in global markets over the past year.
Jain also pointed out that many a time the ticket size of a stock also impacts the listing day performance — for instance, if a share is priced at around INR 100 like Zomato then the retail individual investor might be more comfortable in buying or holding as opposed to if a share is priced over INR 1,000. But this is more of a psychological observation rather than a market truth, she maintains.
Interestingly, while a sharp sell-off hurt the CarTrade stock price on its listing day, there were also several bulk deals by major asset managers. Goldman Sachs, Plutus Wealth Management and Jupiter India fund bought the company’s shares in bulk in the range of INR 1,563 to INR 1,575.
The cold reception to a profitable tech startup like CarTrade may sow doubts in the minds of promoters and top management of other IPO-bound companies like Paytm, Nykaa, Mobikwik, Fino Payments Bank, Ixigo, Tracxn, according to market watchers.
Several tech startups in the country have filed their IPO prospectuses with capital markets regulator SEBI in the past couple of months after the blockbuster reception to foodtech company Zomato’s public issue. While Zomato’s IPO was oversubscribed 38 times, it was listed at a premium of 53% above the issue price.
G Chokkalingam, Founder & MD, Equinomics Research & Advisory, said “It will be a good decision to postpone the IPOs at this point of time as there is a correction of 10-20% due in the short terms with regards to small cap companies and loss-making firms with bubble valuations. If they do not postpone, there might be problems.” In India, companies which have a market capitalisation of under INR 5,000 Cr are called small caps, whereas those in the INR 5,000 Cr – INR 20,000 Cr bracket are referred to as mid-caps. Those with larger market capitalisations are called large cap companies.
According to Chokkalingam, the small cap segment has historically outstripped the growth of large cap by a 2X multiple at most. However, currently the multiple stands at over 3X — which signals that a sharp correction is in the offing.


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At a neurobiological level, the facts and triggers for emotions in the human mind are complicated and diaphanous.
Machines, even intelligent machines, can’t rise any higher than their creators.
The emotions that we have as human beings are too complex to be codified into streams of code—with the results streaming out as observable, quantifiable data points.
Data comes about as a result of an action; emotions come about as the evolutionarily developed responses to external stimuli.
One is external (data) the other internal (emotions).
Jealousy, hatred, envy, wrath, lust, love, appreciation, gratitude, respect, duty, honor, sacrifice and on and on, come from the result of constant, human-on-human conflict and rigorous A/B testing, from birth to death.
How, exactly, are we planning on codifying that into mathematically based code, so that adaptive learning, long-term evolution and short-term development can happen?
-Peace Be With You All-
Jesan Sorrells, MA
Principal Conflict Engagement Consultant
Human Services Consulting and Training (HSCT)
Email HSCT: email@example.com


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In theory everything should work as before.
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(This is the English language version of this posting: EVF)
What is this all about? Many old video camera (VHS era) are equipped with tiny black and white CRT screens as viewfinders. It is exactly these this posting is about. Many of them can be hooked up to a BAS or FBAS (Yellow RCA connector). Such as CCTV cameras or a Raspberry Pi to be used as a tiny screen or with the magnifying viewfinder assembly you can put it close to your eye and have a much larger image.


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Going vegan is a great opportunity to learn more about nutrition and cooking, and improve your diet. Getting your nutrients from plant foods allows more room in your diet for health-promoting options like whole grains, fruit, nuts, seeds and vegetables, which are packed full of beneficial fibre, vitamins and minerals.
Are vegans healthier?
They found that people who eat vegan and vegetarian diets have a lower risk of heart disease, but a higher risk of stroke, possibly partly due to a lack of B12. The researchers found that those who didn’t eat meat had 10 fewer cases of heart disease and three more strokes per 1,000 people compared with the meat-eaters.
Is it better to go vegan?
Being vegan is great for your health! According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, vegans are less likely to develop heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure than meat-eaters are.
Why Being vegan is a bad idea?
Bottom line: Vegans are deficient in many important nutrients, including Vitamin B12 and Creatine. Studies show that vegans have much lower testosterone levels than their meat-eating counterparts.
What are the disadvantages of being vegan?
Going vegan side effects sometimes include anemia, disruptions in hormone production, vitamin B12 deficiencies, and depression from a lack of omega-3 fatty acids. That’s why it’s crucial to include plenty of proteins, vitamin B12, vitamin D, iron, calcium, iodine, zinc, and omega-3s in your diet.
How do vegans get B12?
The only reliable vegan sources of B12 are foods fortified with B12 (including some plant milks, some soy products and some breakfast cereals) and B12 supplements, such as our very own VEG 1. Vitamin B12, whether in supplements, fortified foods, or animal products, comes from micro-organisms.
What are the pros and cons of being vegan?
Vegan Diet Pros and Cons
|Useful diet for weight loss||Being a vegetarian can have common nutrient deficiencies|
|Increased feelings of satiety (high food volume, low energy intake)||Vegans have more trouble achieving protein needs without using protein supplements|
What happens to your body when you go vegan?
Eliminating animal products removes cholesterol from the diet, which could reduce your risk of heart disease. What’s more, a vegan diet tends to be lower in sodium than some other types of diets because most fruits and vegetables are low in sodium.
Do humans need meat?
There is no nutritional need for humans to eat any animal products; all of our dietary needs, even as infants and children, are best supplied by an animal-free diet. … The consumption of animal products has been conclusively linked to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and osteoporosis.
Why do vegans look old?
Genetics and age aside, the condition of your skin often comes down to nutrition. “Being a vegan can be aging,” says Vargas. “I see 27-year-old vegans who don’t have good elasticity. There’s no snap-back to their skin tone because they’re not getting enough protein.”


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At the dawn of this year’s election for Erie County executive, opponents of Mark C. Poloncarz wasted no time unveiling a key campaign strategy to unseat the Democratic incumbent – paint him as an “ultra-liberal” out of touch with local voters.
Now Lynne M. Dixon, the Republican challenger who is a member of the Independence Party, thinks Poloncarz is already paying attention to their efforts. She says the county executive’s new opposition to the state’s Green Light law granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants – in the face of most New York Democrats’ support for the concept – shows he is reacting.
“He finally came out,” Dixon said a few days ago. “He was hearing from the residents and acknowledging that a majority of them in Erie County don’t agree with that.
“He had to make a statement after dancing around it for so long,” she added. “People feel very strongly about it.”
After refusing for weeks to take a stand on the new state law raising passions on both sides of the issue, Poloncarz finally said earlier this month that he could not support a bill he views as flawed. It fails to prevent noncitizens from voting in elections, he said, and raises questions of constitutionality that he directed his county attorney to challenge in federal court.
“Ultimately I do not believe this law benefits the people of Erie County and I cannot support it,” he said then.
Even now, however, Poloncarz will not discuss the Green Light law and declined to speak with The Buffalo News for this story. His spokesman, Peter Anderson, said the county executive “is focusing on things that really affect county residents like economic development, jobs and workforce development, and environmental protections.”
“The County Executive is working to build a better Erie County, not tear it apart,” Anderson said in a statement.
Indeed, in a reaction that may underscore his sensitivity to the topic, Poloncarz recently berated a Channel 2 reporter for even asking about the Green Light law. It all prompted him to predict his victory in November.
“I’m gonna win,” Poloncarz told Channel 2. “I guarantee you I’m gonna win regardless of this issue or not.”
But opponents say Poloncarz has validated their contention that advocating progressive policies will not fly with some voters, especially the crucial conservative Democrats in first-ring suburbs who some observers think will determine the election’s outcome.
They point to the county executive’s long alliance with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (who often calls New York the nation’s “progressive capital”), as well as his self-proclaimed identification with the politics of Bill de Blasio, the left-leaning mayor of New York.
“He has embraced some very radical, left-wing positions,” the former Erie County Republican Chairman Nicholas A. Langworthy, who is now the head of the state Republican party, said earlier this year. “By his own admission, he’s more in line with New York City than the blue-collar Democrats of Western New York.”
Erie County Conservative Chairman Ralph C. Lorigo points to recent Poloncarz tweets advising undocumented immigrants how to handle federal raids, his efforts to ban plastic grocery bags, back the Paris Climate Accord or to end smoking in cars carrying youngsters.
This Sunday ICE is planning raids on immigrant communities across our nation. Buffalo is a welcoming community to immigrants so we may be a target. If you need help please call the NYS New Americans Hotline at 1-800-566-7636. #ICEraids #FamiliesBelongTogether #FamiliasUnidas pic.twitter.com/9vke4wuNrr
— Mark Poloncarz (@markpoloncarz) July 13, 2019
“On one hand, he’s against illegal immigrants getting driver’s licenses,” Lorigo said, “and on the other hand, he’s putting out tweets telling illegal immigrants how to protect themselves from the law. I certainly think it’s very telling.”
Poloncarz supporters say the Dixon camp must resort to the “social issues” argument because county government is functioning smoothly – the roads get plowed and libraries work. They also point to an improving local economy and thousands of new jobs created on the Poloncarz watch that rank as more important concerns for Erie County voters.
“He was just in Washington this week to advocate for a long-overdue federal infrastructure bill and for community revitalization programs,” Anderson said, “things that would directly impact county residents.”
But other area Democrats seem to also recognize the bill’s potential pitfalls, since all in the Erie County delegation to the State Legislature except Majority Leader Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes and State Sen. Timothy M. Kennedy voted against it.
Indeed, Dixon and her allies have so far proven silent on the issues that Poloncarz ranks as priorities. But it is expected they will continue to hammer away at the county executive’s politics as both sides woo the suburban Democrats who, in the past, have drifted to the GOP line.
“The great majority of Democrats in Erie County are not fans of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren,” Lorigo said, referring to national Democrats. “It’s my belief that the great majority of (local) Democrats are still not comfortable with that kind of rhetoric.”


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Before sharing this year’s resolutions, I’m going to reflect on the progress of last year’s.
Start a YouTube Channel
Last year my main goal was to start a YouTube channel. In this I have been partially successful. I have set up a YouTube channel and have filmed the first seven videos which will have gone out live this week. I am half way through a comprehensive course on how to run a YouTube channel (I received this for my birthday). When I made this resolution, I had hoped to be up and running by now. I am not quite. But I am moving towards that goal so, for me, that is as good as a success!
Only those close to me will understand how huge this is for me. I do not even like having my picture taken so talking to a video is awkward and embarrassing. I am however, enjoying the whole process of making a video in terms of editing and learning new skills the more videos I make.
That said, I don’t think I’m terribly good at it, but I feel brave and accomplished just publishing my first video! Yes, I know, I’m easily pleased! So here’s my first ever video:
Changing the Focus of my Blog
After a bit of faffing about for the past twelve months, I have finally taken the bull by the horns and stopped posting regular family stuff on my blog. For the last month I have completely changed the focus of my blog to simple home-schooling helps, concentrating mainly on history based unit studies. Having dragged my feet for so long over this, it is a relief to finally have made the decision. And it has not been nearly as upsetting as I thought it would be. This may have been helped along by the start of a new blog based on my Seasons of Joy posts. My new blog is called Seasons of Joy. It is here I will be posting, just once a week, blogs of a more personal kind. This is going to become my warm and fuzzy place, somewhere for me to gently come to terms with not being a mother of young children any more – a place for me to find the me underneath motherhood.
With this new blog also comes a new YouTube channel. I will post videos on an ad hoc basis, depending on if I have stuff to share. These videos are far more up my street than my school ones. No talking, no face, just me creating. Whilst I feel somewhat awkward about sharing my angelicscalliwags videos, I am looking forward to sharing these. The first will be out tomorrow alongside my first Seasons of Joy post.
Publish my Book
In this I have failed. Although I have finished writing my little romance novel, I do not have the courage to publish it. It is my baby which I have been nurturing for years. I have no clue whether or not I can write, and absolutely do not know if it is any good or not. I can’t bear the thought of it being ripped to pieces.
That said, I have begun writing my second book, which is an historical fiction (sort of…but not quite). I’m almost 20, 000 words in and am thoroughly enjoying writing it. Whether I’ll have the courage to publish it is another matter all together!
This ol’ chestnut. The bane of my life. Have I been successful? What do you think?!
No, not really.
However, I have joined Noom for ten months and I am learning an awful lots about me and why I am overweight. It is starting to show on the scales but only very very very slowly.
Things I have Achieved Without a New Year’s Resolution
I want to celebrate a few things which are important to me but which I didn’t purposely set out to do. The first is that I achieved 93% in the first year of my Master’s degree in Childhood and Youth. My goal was to pass. I simply had no idea I was capable of achieving such a high grade, having never in my life received any grade even close to that. It was a nice surprise.
I joined a community choir. I do not consider myself musical at all, and really don’t have a very tuneful voice. But I love to sing. It was incredibly hard. I am such an introvert. I cried week 1 and week 2. But after that I was fine. My two eldest daughters have now joined me, and we have so much fun each week! Joining the choir was probably, to me, the biggest challenge this year, but I’m so pleased I did it!
The last point is an unusual one, but something I discovered this year, which I thought I would share. This September, I bought myself a large, hardback spiral note book. I think it was £3 from the The Works. Usually I have copious notepages on the go at the same time. One for each ‘thing’ that I do. You know me….I do lots of ‘things’! However, there were always too many and they all felt a bit disjointed. This September I combined them all into one. It is a notebook with no rules…which of course suits me right down to the ground! I LOVE having everything I write in one place. I mean, it won’t surprise you to know that there is absolutely no organisation within the book! It skips from recipes to notes about Mesopotamia to blog post ideas, books I want to read…I could go on…and my note book does! This is the best thing for a disorganised person such as me. Everything is in the note book. Everything. Literally I can’t possibly lose anything. If I’m looking for something I know I’ve written down, it’s guaranteed to be in the note book. How cool is that? Each blank new page is like a whole new note pad. I can’t really explain, except this is the BEST thing since sliced bread. I’ve almost finished this one, and I know I will keep it which is the first time EVER! Usually I just chuck my notes in the recycling, but not this time!
This Year’s Resolutions
I’m gonna keep it simple. Here’s my list:
- Publish 52 posts on Angelicscalliwags Homeschool and Seasons of Joy
- Publish 52 videos on YouTube
- Finish writing the Mesopotamia Unit Study I am working on, along with all the printable and the book to go with it.
- Continue learning more about why I am overweight, whilst continuing to make small changes towards being a healthier weight.
- Redecorate the Living Room and Hallway and Bathroom in our little cottage
There you have. Either I will or I won’t. But I shall try.
I’ve been busy posting videos all this week. I shall include them all below. After today, they will be posted once a week, along with a blog post, each Thursday. Monday I posted my introduction which I’ve included at the top of this post.
Tuesday, I posted about Tips to start planning a History Unit Study:
Wednesday, I posted about creating an Adventure Box for a history unit study:
On Thursday, I posted about how we use quiet-time in our history unit studies:
And today, I posted about the general schedule we use when completing a history unit study:
Hopefully, they will improve over time 😬 🤨🤣


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May 28, 2007
Only 27 years ago Imjha Tse Valley was filled with glaciers but due to a rise in temperature, they have melted at an average rate of 10 metres a year and formed a huge lake containing 28 million cubic metres of water. The lake is 100m deep, 500m wide and 2km long. "The lake is absolute proof of the dangerous impact of global warming in this world, and the worst consequence is in the Himalayan region." In the past few decades, there have been several incidents of glacial lakes bursting, flooding villages, causing landslides, killing people and destroying farms and houses. Over 20 glacial lakes are at risk of bursting out of moraine dams. Of Nepal's 3,000 glacial lakes, over 2,000 have gradually melted and contain lakes, but up to now there has been little study of this phenomenon. Climate change experts are concerned that glaciers formed by over two million years of snowfall are now receding faster in the Himalayas than anywhere else in the world.

domain: geography


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When we think of stories, we immediately think of words weaving a new world that we can fall into and get lost in. Sean Grinsell is here to let us know that words aren’t needed at all to tell a story. Through the five tracks on R Is For Redemption, he uses instrumentation to tell a tale without any words which is as captivating as any epic.
With stylistic influences from Led Zeppelin to Deep Purple and Stevie Ray Vaughn, he moves from heavy and loud to melancholy and jazz. Through the different styles of the tracks, Grinsell not only draws you into the story, but also showcases his musical abilities. As each track is instrumental, the story that unfolds is largely up for interpretation by the listener.
The EP opens with the attention-grabbing ‘Rogue’ which brings a loud and heavy sound to your ears. The pounding beats of the opening line hook their talons into your brain before you are pulled into the intense movement of the guitar. The keys that cry out over the beats are a delightful trill of sound that adds texture to the tale. There are a few stylistic twists to the track that keep you engaged. Through the track, you can feel Grinsell’s personality shine through. While an excellent opening track, it also offers you an introduction to the man behind the music. The contrasts of the man shines in the lows and highs of the instrumentation.
‘Rush’ certainly lives up to its name even with the slower-paced opening. This opening builds in tension and gets your heart racing before you are swept in the rush of the piano line. With a soft rock edge, the track steady runs through your chest and makes you want to move around. The intense thrum of the song does let up to give you a chance to catch your breath before you are thrown back into the sonic race. There is an undertone of frantic energy to this single that makes you think of the fast pace of the world where you can’t get a moment to just relax. The depths of the track is amazing as the deep piano line accentuates the chiming cymbals and running pace.
After the pace of the last track ‘Rift’ has you floating in a river of melancholy. There is a sadness to the music that captures your brain from the first note. You can feel a sense of tragedy in the music as it moves around you in an almost funerary flow. The darker melodics has a touch of blues that is wonderful to hear. When the piano bangs against your ears it pulls at your heart like a wail of sadness before you are dropped into a floating sense of apathy. This is a rather heavy track that weighs on you in the best possible way while making you sway to its irresistible movement.
‘Reflection’ is another sombre track that slowly builds through a shimmer wash of synths. The electronic edging of the track creates a hazy feeling to the music like you are trying to reach out through water. The slow build of the melody is an interesting change compared to the more full-on tracks that preceded it. There is a lightness to the music through the piano line but this is tempered by a sombre feeling like a deathly silent summer day when you feel something building in the air. The building comes to a head with the breaking of a sonic storm packed with lightning guitars and rumbling thunder. This is the moment in the story when emotions are unleashed in an expressive outburst.
The EP comes to a close with ‘Refraction’ that takes a different turn from the sombre feelings of the last tracks. The jazzy vibes of the music bring a celebration to your ears and put a smile on your face. Through the music, you are filled with the good vibes of a party with friends and family. The sadness and darkness of the EP are left behind for a forward movement to something much brighter. Through the music, you can feel an affectionate arm slung over your shoulders and pulling you into a laughing good time. The organ has an amazing run that you can’t get enough of before joining the piano for a kaleidoscopic explosion of lights and happy vibes.
Sean Grinsell lets you know that you don’t need words to tell a story through the captivating instrumental sounds of R Is For Redemption. While each track is open to interpretation, the EP moves through sadness, despair and haziness to an end of good vibes and affection. It is a really captivating EP that you can easily listen to on repeat.


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Costa Rica will be reopening its borders on Sept. 1 to American travelers — but only those who are residents in a handful of states.
That includes travelers with proof of residence in New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and Connecticut, all of which have cut down their incidence of COVID-19 to a positivity level deemed acceptable by Costa Rican officials.
All travelers to Costa Rica must also present a negative COVID-19 test result within 48 hours of travel to Costa Rica, along with medical insurance and a health pass form (you can find all the information on entry requirements here).
A number of hotels in the Caribbean Basin destination known for its vibrant eco-tourism offering have reopened, including the Nayara Tented Camp and Nayara Spring, both of which are operating at a cap of 50 percent maximum occupancy.
For more, visit Nayara.