Archive for August 2012
by B.B. Pelletier
This report was requested by blog reader Wulfraed in one of his comments.
For the benefit of those who shoot airsoft guns, the BB I am addressing today is the steel BB that historical BB guns shoot — not the 6mm plastic ball that Asian-made airsoft guns started using in the 1970s.
The first BB used in an air rifle was BB-sized lead shot used by shotgunners. In the day when it was popular (the 1880s), shot was sold in bags in hardware stores and came in various numerical and letter sizes, including sizes B, BB and BBB. BB shot was supposed to be 0.180 inches in diameter and weigh more than nine grains.
At the turn of the 20th century, Daisy reduced the size of what they always called air rifle shot to a lead ball 0.175 inches in diameter. That saved them lead and also went faster because it was a lighter ball.
In the 1920s Daisy discovered that some boys in Minneapolis were using steel ball bearings that they were salvaging from a reject pile behind the American Ball Company. They checked the sizes of the balls they wanted to shoot by dropping them through the bores of their shot tubes. If they passed through, they were fired. If they stuck, well, a huge influx of stuck steel balls in shots tubes was what got Daisy’s attention in the first place.
Long story short, Daisy bought American Ball and started making their own steel air rifle shot. It was sized 0.171-0.173 inches, nominally. They had to change the size and design of their shot tubes to accommodate the new shot, and some time late in the 1920s BB began rebounding from hard targets with great force — something the soft lead balls had not done. This started the mothers of American warning against shooting your eye out.
So, how do they make a perfectly round sphere of steel? You can’t afford to cast steel into balls, nor can you afford to forge or swage the balls — again, because of economy.
So, how is it done? Pretty simply when you understand how it works.
Ever roll a piece of clay into a ball? You hold it between your palms and rotate each hand in the opposite direction. Has anyone not done this as a child?
So, short of being Superman, how do you roll a piece of steel into a ball? Well, it helps to have hands of steel, and that’s exactly how they do it.
The first step is to get a piece of steel that’s close to the right size, which means the same mass as the ball (BB) you wish to make. An easy way to do this is to take a spool of steel wire and cut it into precise chunks, then feed them between two hardened steel plates that have spiral grooves cut in their mating faces. Each plate is several feel across.
Each large spool of steel wire weighs about a ton (2,000 lbs.). These are fed into a precision wire cutter that slices off exact chunks the right size to make one steel BB. You can see by the amount of wire on hand that they intend making millions!
This wire-slicing process is called heading; and if it isn’t done precisely, the finished BB may be spherical, but have one or more small flat spots in its surface. This defect comes from improper heading and is very difficult to sort out during the manufacturing process.
The plates are smooth on their surfaces, except for the spiral grooves. The chunks fall into the grooves as the two plates rotate in opposite directions — like your hands rolling a piece of clay into a ball. The spiral grooves catch the sharp edges of the cut steel pieces and roll them around as the plates turn. Once the pieces fall into a spiral, they cannot get back out, so they remain in the groove, tumbling and rolling around.
The spirals also become more shallow as they spiral in the plates, so the balls can’t stop tumbling and rolling, and they cannot back out. As the steel plates turn, the balls are forced in the same direction, which makes them smaller and rounder as they go. In the end, most of them roll into near-perfect spheres — just like the clay balls you rolled in your hands.
I would like to show you these steel plates; but this part of the BB-making process is considered proprietary, and I was not allowed to photograph it.
These balls are not yet BBs. But back to this rolling process a minute. The manufacturer feeds thousands of chunks of steel each hour into each set of plates they have working, and when the chunks are rolled into near-perfect balls, they then drop out of the plates. Some kinds of imperfect balls will also drop out, but they’ll be caught later on.
So, thousands of round balls per hour come from each set of rotating steel plates. The balls that exit each set of plates are carried by conveyor to a metal-plating machine where they receive a very thin coating of rust-inhibiting metal. As raw steel balls, they would start to rust almost immediately; but when uniformly plated with copper or zinc, the steel is sealed from the air and the BBs can last for years without oxidizing.
Once they’re plated, they’re sorted by several processes. One process rolls them down a spiral channel where the smooth BBs pick up speed and roll up on the sides of the channel from centrifugal force — much like a bobsled going downhill, while those that have some rough spots roll slower and more bumpily, staying in the center of the slide where they eventually drop through holes and are eliminated. What passes this test are finished BBs.
They may be graded by size at this point, by passing over holes of different sizes and then being sent to different places for packaging into different products. If any are too small or too large, or if they have any flashing or other imperfections, they’ll usually be caught in this last test.
Start to finish, the process takes some time, measured in hours because of queing and transit time. The actual manufacturing time is much less. Crosman runs three shifts a day and cranks out 4 million finished BBs every 24 hours.
Daisy used to make its BBs this way, or by a process that was very similar, but they have now moved the manufacture of their BBs offshore. They receive 55-gallon drums of finished BBs from their foreign manufacturer, which they then sort before packaging. Their BBs are extremely uniform, so the process works regardless of where the BBs are made.
by B.B. Pelletier
This is the second part in our series of bending airgun barrels.
Settle in, boys and girls, for this report will be long and involved. Today, I’ll begin the quest to bend or straighten an airgun barrel to fix many problems.
I’ve waited to do this report until I could give you a barrel bending (straightening) fixture that anyone could build for very little money. I’ve not built mine yet, but the design is so simple that I have complete faith it will work. And if it doesn’t, there’s always the crotch of a tree or the joint in a picnic table that’s currently being used by many people to do the same thing. I think my fixture gives you a lot more control over the process, so let’s see if it works.
First, we need a bent barrel. I intentionally bent an airgun barrel for you. I bent a breakbarrel by firing the gun with the barrel broken open, as in the common excuse –”My hands slipped while I was cocking the gun!” (everyone who ever did this uses that excuse).
The gun I’m working with is already marked for destruction. I thought that before it goes away, it might serve one last honorable duty. It’s a .22-caliber rifle and I selected .22-caliber RWS Hobby pellets for this test. We don’t care about accuracy in this test — just where the pellets are landing with respect to the scope setting. Don’t ask what kind of gun it is — the model is unimportant. I removed the anti-beartrap device so the barrel would close when the trigger was pulled, so this rifle was initially safe as it was designed and built, but I circumvented it.
I first photographed the gun with an obsolete CenterPoint Optics 3-9×40 AO scope mounted. CenterPoint scopes are no longer made by Leapers, so this scope is now unavailable, but it has a mil-dot reticle that became important in today’s test.
Here’s the test rifle with its scope mounted. This is before the first shooting test.
The first thing was to establish that the rifle could hit the target using the test scope. I chose to use 10 meters for the test distance; because at 25 yards, with the way the pellet would rise after the barrel was bent, I could wind up with more holes in the walls of the house. Edith tells me that’s a bad thing!
The first shot was from 15 feet. I shot in the standing position and supported my hand with the door jamb of the garage door. Because I’ve rearranged my garage, I have to sight-in at 15 feet instead of the old 10 feet. I shot at the upper bull on the target, and the pellet hit just below the lower bull. The rifle was striking the target about 3-1/4 inches below the point of aim at 15 feet. Then, I backed up to 10 meters and shot again.
At the 10-meter bench with the same scope setting, I shot at the top bull again. A three-shot group was low and to the left of the aim point. It was not as low as it was at 15 feet, which is to be expected. So, I adjusted the scope up and to the right to correct it.
The first shot after the scope was adjusted was at the lower bull. The pellet landed a half-inch low and a quarter-inch to the left of the aim point. A second scope adjustment put the next pellet into the center of the targeted bull. Four more shots completed a 5-shot group.
The picture that follows documents everything you’ve just read.
I then took the scope off the rifle before bending the barrel. This is a very stressful procedure, and there’s no reason to subject the scope to this kind of punishment. However, this is a place where bias can enter my test, because taking the scope off the gun and remounting it again will definitely cause the aim point to shift some. I hope to show, however, that it moves so far upward that it cannot be blamed on just removing and remounting the scope, alone.
Bending the barrel
What I am about to describe is a way of definitely bending an airgun barrel. Don’t do it, because it can also break the stock. If your fingers are in the way when this is done, it’ll cut them off. I broke open the barrel until the gun was cocked, then pulled the trigger with the barrel in the open position. Remember that I had already removed the anti-beartrap mechanism, so now the gun would fire with the barrel in the open position.
The piston moving forward acts on the cocking link to slam the barrel shut so violently when the gun fires that the barrel bends upward every time. This is a classic abuse of an airgun. If I’m ever called as an expert witness in a liability case, I will say that this was done intentionally — because in every instance I’ve investigated, it was.
Now you can see the results of doing what I just described. The barrel is bent upward, starting at the end of the baseblock — a classic case of a slam-fire in a breakbarrel.
You can clearly see that the barrel has been bent upward in this photo.
The stock was not broken this time, but one of the two stock screws was pulled deeper into the wood on one side of the forearm. I can see the barrel is bent without looking for it, so I’m now very concerned that the gun will shoot above the target when I remount the scope.
Once the scope is back on the rifle, I return to 15 feet from the target — and this time, I drew a new aim point below the target at the bottom of the cardboard target backer. The same aim point was used for all shots in this part of the test.
Then I took that first shot. The pellet struck the target 4-3/4 inches above the aim point. I was on paper, so I cranked in all the down elevation adjustment the scope had, and the second pellet dropped about 2 inches below the first. It was still 2-3/4 inches high at 15 feet. I felt safe, so I backed up to 10 meters and shot off the bench.
The first shot from the bench landed 7-1/2 inches high at 10 meters. It was perilously close to the target clip that holds the target to the backstop, so I used the mil-dot above the crosshairs for the next 5 shots. I now had a group on paper at 10 meters, but it was so far above the aim point of the scope that it was completely useless. At 25 yards it would be many inches higher than it was here. So, the barrel is definitely bent upward and has to be dealt with before the gun can be used again.
This target documents how the same rifle shot after the barrel was bent. The aim point at the bottom proved not to be low enough when I backed up to 10 meters, so I had to use the first mil-dot above the crosshair intersection to hold on the aim point. I was aiming about 9 inches low at 10 meters — and was still almost off the top of the target!
Now, I have an airgun with a documented bent barrel on my hands. You absolutely cannot see the bend by looking through the barrel, as I’ve been told. At least I don’t see it. But the results on paper and even just looking at the gun tells me the barrel is definitely bent.
I have to straighten this barrel, obviously. My next step will be to build a barrel bending and straightening fixture that’s cheap and easy to make. I’ll use the fixture to straighten this barrel and show you the results of the job after I’m done.
After that, I have a BSF S70 rifle that currently shoots too high with the aftermarket peep sight that’s installed. If my barrel bending/straightening fixture works as expected, I will apply it to that gun and show the results.
The bottom line of this report will be a way for you guys to bend your barrels as required, with complete control and little risk of damage. I’m as new to this as are many of you, which is why I’m doing it for all of us.
by B.B. Pelletier
Last week, our new reader, Cantec, mentioned that several gentlemen were advising the use of corn oil for lubricating the compression chambers of spring-piston airguns. I know exactly where this recommendation came from and how it should be viewed, and I wanted to share this with you today.
Yes, I’m talking about common corn-based cooking oil. Wesson oil is the most popular brand here in the U.S. Why would anyone recommend using corn oil in a spring-piston airgun? I want you to know the entire truth so you don’t make any serious mistakes with your guns.
Good old corn oil that’s most often used for cooking has also been used to lubricate some spring-piston airguns.
In my role as a firearms enthusiast, I used to put WD-40 on all my guns. It smells so good and guns always look so nice after they have been wiped down with it. So, when the Army sent me to Germany for four years, I sprayed WD-40 on all my guns before storing them in my mother’s attic, thinking I was protecting them against the ravages of time. What happened, instead, was that the WD-40 dried out and left every gun covered with a thick coating of yellowish residue that proved nearly impossible to remove. Only more WD-40 would dissolve it, and in one case the silver plating on my collectible second generation Colt 1851 Navy cap and ball revolver was destroyed! Each gun took weeks to clean, because the residue had gotten into all the cracks and tight places and had to be scraped out with tools.
Several years after that experience, I joined an horology club and attended their meetings for about a year. These are guys who fix watches and clocks, and they had one thing to say about WD-40. Don’t ever use it on a clock! They knew all about the yellow coating it leaves, and several members had horror stories about removing it from clock gears. Apparently, not even ultrasound tanks can remove all of it.
Before you rise up to defend WD-40, know that I use it, too. For certain jobs, it can’t be beat. But not for protecting the finish of a gun. Use Ballistol for that.
What does WD-40 have to do with corn oil? Everything. Like WD-40, corn oil dries and leaves a waxy film on anything it comes in contact with. And that’s why it was originally recommended for spring-piston airguns. Not all spring-piston guns, you understand. Just the ones from China.
Duane Sorenson, who used to work at Compasseco in the 1990s, recommended corn oil for all his Chinese guns because of the waxy buildup. He reasoned that the wax filled in the rough machining marks left inside the cheap Chinese compression chambers, eventually building up to the point that compression increased. He was an active proponent of corn oil in spring guns, and I think many thousands of shooters were told by him to use it.
Duane also said the flashpoint of corn oil was very high, so using it would stop dangerous detonations. As far as I was able to test for that, it did seem to work. But — and this is the point of today’s report — corn oil is not recommended for a sophisticated spring-piston airgun powerplant. The current crop of Tech Force guns do not have compression chambers rough enough to benefit from its use.
Time is the criterion
Duane was advising corn oil for airguns like the B3 underlever and the TS45 sidelever. Those guns really did have rough compression chambers that could benefit from a product that infilled their machining marks. But at the same time he was recommending corn oil, Sorenson was also pushing their Chinese manufacturing partner to better finish the insides of their compression chambers. The result was the Tech Force 36 underlever, which was very smooth inside, and later the Tech Force 99, which was even better.
But while this improvement was happening, Duane was still selling lots of the older and less expensive Chinese spring guns that were still very rough. So, he continued advocating corn oil, even as the many of the guns he sold were getting better and had less need for it.
I tested it
Duane was so insistent on corn oil being a miracle-product that I bought a quart of the stuff and began experimenting with it. That was how I learned that it doesn’t detonate. While I was testing it, I was unaware of why corn oil was being recommended and the fact that many of the more modern chinese airguns didn’t need it.
I conducted several tests using corn oil for The Airgun Letter, but frankly I never got the kind of results Duane told me to expect. Part of that was because I was probably testing it on the wrong guns and part was because I wasn’t using it as much as Duane did. I never saw the long-term effects he told me about.
I expected to see an increase in velocity and a decrease in the total velocity variance. The velocity never increased as much as I had thought, but the shot-to-shot variation did decrease somewhat.
What about corn oil today?
This is the reason I wrote today’s report. Do not use corn oil in any modern spring-piston airgun! Corn oil is meant to solve a level of manufacturing crudeness no longer seen in modern airguns. Like many other things, time has changed the game. We no longer put oatmeal in our car radiators to patch small leaks, and we certainly no longer lubricate spring-piston compression chamber with corn oil.
Just as you don’t want a buildup of hard yellow film on the outside of your airguns from dried WD-40, you also don’t want the waxy buildup from corn oil on the inside. Use the products that are recommended for the job, like a proper grade of silicone chamber oil for the compression chamber of your airguns.
by B.B. Pelletier
Blog reader Kevin inspired this report with a comment he made on Friday’s blog. He wondered whether my exposure to nearly all the airguns in the world, both past and present, has inspired me to own any one gun in particular. But it also comes from my visit to Leapers this past week (which I will be sharing with you very soon), because that thrust me into the world of manufacturing, again. I still remember a lot from my time at AirForce Airguns, but visiting Leapers and speaking with all their product developers brought technical things back into sharp focus, again.
There was also a comment last week from someone who stated outright that a spring gun is far simpler than a precharged pneumatic. When I read that, it didn’t sit quite right with me, so I thought about it for awhile until I had worked it out. And this report is the result.
So, today’s question is this: Which is simpler — a PCP or a springer? The answer may surprise you.
A spring-piston gun is far less cumbersome for a shooter to operate — I think we can all agree about that. All you do is cock it, load a pellet and you’re ready to go. With a precharged gun, there’s the complexity of the gun, itself, which is pretty much on par with the springer in most cases. Only the repeaters are more complex because of how their magazines or clips are loaded with pellets and then how they’re loaded into the guns.
But a precharged gun brings with it the need to put air into the gun at some point. And this is where things can get very complex. Sometimes, they’re not as bad as shooters realize or imagine. The part about filling the gun can be no more involved than it would be to take the pumping function that all multi-pump pneumatics have…such as the Sheridan Blue Streak…and separate it from the gun. That was what was behind the Benjamin Discovery precharged air rifle, and it’s the reason the Discovery is an order of magnitude less complex than all other PCPs on the market.
The Benjamin Discovery is simpler than other precharged airguns because of its lower fill pressure. One version comes with a hand pump that can easily fill the gun with little effort on the shooter’s part. Think of it as a more powerful and more accurate Sheridan Blue Streak with a separate pump.
The common perception among airgunners is that a PCP is more complex than a springer because of the need for special fill devices. Actually, the Benjamin Discovery and all other guns that use a Foster quick-disconnect air fill coupling have fixed this problem, but there are still a lot of PCP makers who aren’t yet using this type of fitting. So, their rifles are, in fact, more complex and prone to equipment compatibility problems for the buyer. But all Benjamin PCPs, all Daystate PCPs, the USFT rifles and all Quackenbush PCPs now come with the common Foster fitting. So, if informed users shop for a gun that has solved the filling problem in this way, they won’t have to deal with that issue.
AirForce Airguns recognized this fact also and created a Foster fill device for all the AirForce Airgun sporting air rifles (Talon, Talon SS and Condor), adding that company to the growing list.
And the perception problem continues, as new shooters believe that they need to own a chronograph with their PCPs, to somehow manage them. The truth is that you can manage the shots in a PCP just fine by shooting the gun at great distance and stopping whenever the shots start to scatter. That tells you the maximum number of shots you get per fill if you’re shooting at that distance. If you shoot closer, there are more shots per fill before the groups enlarge. But that isn’t how the articles and reports read, and people are blinded by the perceived need for additional expensive technology. I recommend owning a chronograph because it helps you know your gun better, it isn’t absolutely required.
Spring guns, on the other hand, are perceived as being simple and easy to understand. The only complexity that most shooters know about is the need for some skill in holding the gun when it fires. A PCP shoots accurately regardless of how it’s held, but a spring gun can be very sensitive to slight changes in the hold. Other than that, though, the springer is thought to be dirt-simple.
Manufacturers see the spring gun/PCP world exactly in reverse. It’s the PCP that’s simple and straightforward to make, and the spring gun that requires a lot more machining operations and special tooling to complete. The PCP is a reservoir connected to a barrel, with a valve in between. It’s a simple, straightforward arrangement.
A springer has the barrel that must be held in a baseblock to withstand the shock of the firing cycle as well as deliver the small puff of compressed air generated by the piston to the rear of the pellet. While a PCP valve is about as complex as an entire spring-piston powerplant, nothing in it is under anywhere near the stress from an overly powerful mainspring or the heavy hammer-blows of the piston. Where the trigger in a PCP holds back 6-10 lbs. of striker-spring force, the spring-piston trigger might hold back 150 lbs.
A spring-piston gun needs a lot of very strong components to withstand the hammering of the piston. A PCP can be made of lighter components. There are heavy PCPs on the market, but I invite you to examine the Benjamin Discovery and all the AirForce Airgun sporting rifles to compare the power that lightweight PCPs deliver, as opposed to what super-heavyweight springers can do. And I’m saying nothing about accuracy, where the PCP wins every time.
We’re discussing an airgun manufacturer’s perspective of the two types of powerplants, and there’s one weak spot in the PCP’s design. It has to be built to hold air under high pressure for a long time, and air under pressure is hard to hold. Some companies find this to be a very daunting challenge, because they don’t understand the need for absolute cleanliness in the manufacturing area, or they select materials that are known to have porosity issues, or they use dull tooling (not changing it often enough) or they’re just sloppy in their assembly. I worked for three years at AirForce Airguns and was intimately familiar with every step they took to protect the long-term integrity of their compressed-air reservoirs.
I own three AirForce guns, and all are stored at full pressure all the time. In the past 12 years, I’ve never had a single issue of leaking. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, because it sometimes does. But compared to the PCPs from certain other manufacturers that have some or all of the problems I just mentioned, AirForce Airguns has none of them.
I watched Crosman build their first Benjamin Discoveries, and they had the good sense to do a 100 percent testing of their guns holding air before shipment. They continued doing this until they knew they had a positive handle on the build process. That’s how a good company enters the PCP market! In contrast, there have been more than a few boutique PCP builders who learned as they went and let their customers be the quality control. I won’t name any names, but this practice is what gave PCPs a black eye.
Do spring guns have similar weaknesses? Yes, they do, but because of how they work, they can often still function when the manufacturing is flawed. Guns full of metal shavings make it to market, and their new owners are none the wiser. That would kill a PCP, but a springer will still shoot when the compression chamber is filled with metal shavings and the piston is embedded with nails! Comparing a springer to a PCP is like comparing a longbow to a top-of-the-line crossbow. The longbow is simpler and will work under less favorable circumstances, but the crossbow will outshoot it every time and in every way.
The next time you hear someone say that a springer is simpler than a PCP, ask yourself what they’re really saying. Because you may not want all the shortcomings that accompany the “simpler” design.
That concludes this report, but I have more to say. I wrote today’s report because I felt that it would be good to explain the full ramifications of an issue that we airgunners often assume to be an open-and-closed case. I sometimes delve deep into the technical aspects of airgun performance in my reports, and I think it can lead readers astray. My comment above about not needing a chronograph for the enjoyment and operation of a PCP was an attempt to bring this out.
I am soon going to start another test that will be both long and technically involved. The results should prove interesting, no matter what they are, but I’ve had to choose only one of several possible ways to conduct the test. We’ll learn some things, but the possibility exists that bias will also be present, because I cannot test everything. I’m using today’s report to get your minds into an analytical mode, but I don’t want to leave any of the new readers behind.
The object of today’s report is that every question should be viewed from several different perspectives, because sometimes the things we think are obvious are not really what is happening.
by B.B. Pelletier
Tune is slang for tuneup, and in airguns a tuneup can range from a quick lubrication all the way to a major overhaul of the powerplant and trigger. Everything in between these two extremes is also fair game. So, lesson one is that a tune can be anything that changes and hopefully improves the airgun’s performance.
I’m going to address a breakbarrel spring gun in today’s report. Other powerplants can also be tuned; but the steps are different, and the results will differ from what you get with a spring gun tune. Since the majority of airgun tunes are performed on springers, it’s appropriate to look at them first. And the breakbarrel is the No. 1 type of spring gun.
Victor asked what was meant by a tune, but I suspect that others would like to know what’s involved, as well, so today we’ll look at airgun tuning in all its complexity. Let’s begin with a brand-new spring gun and see why we would tune it and what might be done.
Smoothing the edges
Most new spring guns have sharp edges on all the mating powerplant parts. Sometimes, these edges interfere with the movement of the parts. These edges are worn down during a long break-in period, which is why a gun gains velocity as it wears in. But you can also remove these edges and burrs with small files, and that is one thing that a tuneup can do.
Key places to look are the cocking slot, the piston slot, the cocking linkage and, if there’s an interface between the linkage and the piston, that’s a prime place to look for burrs and sharp edges. The forward edge of the cocking slot is especially important, because it can slice a new piston seal when it’s installed…and that will ruin the seal. The end cap and sides of the trigger mechanism should also be checked.
The action forks that the pivot bolt passes through is another place to look for burrs and sharp edges, as well as the sides of the baseblock that the barrel is pressed into.
There are also burrs and sharp edges that don’t affect the operation of the powerplant. These do not go away with use and they can be left alone if you like. However, if you plan to take the powerplant apart in the future, these edges and burrs will be waiting to cut you.
Probably the most common thing done during a tune is lubrication. New guns can have either too much grease or not enough. And most of them have the wrong kind of grease. The factories use a general machine grease, but there are much better greases that can be used.
For metal-to-metal contact, nothing is better than grease that contains a high concentration of molybdenum disulfide. Moly isn’t a grease — it’s a solid particle that’s ground very fine and mixed with grease for application. When it comes in contact with metal under some pressure, the particles bond with the metal on the surface, forming a layer of extreme low friction. That layer is durable and allows other metal to slide across the surface it’s on.
We don’t appreciate how low-friction moly is, because the grease it’s in raises the coefficient of friction. But custom tuners are known to burnish certain parts of a gun — like the inside of the compression tube — with dry moly particles. This process takes a long time, as the moly doesn’t want to cooperate; but once it’s, done you have a surface with very low friction. Jim Maccari and I split a pound of moly powder, and my half was in several large bottles. It’s a lifetime supply for a full-time tuner!
Another place where moly powder comes into play is on the mating trigger sear surfaces. I’ll have more to say about this in a moment, but this is a custom tuner’s trick. The action fork and baseblock can also benefit from a burnish of moly.
I don’t burnish anymore, though. Moly grease, such as Air Venturi Moly Paste, will do the same thing over time as it gets worked into the action through the process of shooting.
But not every springer needs moly grease. The older guns with leather piston seals actually do better with a white lithium grease. The grease serves as fuel for the constant dieseling of all spring-piston guns, and leather seals burn more fuel than synthetic seals do. For this same reason, I lube the mainsprings of the lower-powered springers like a Diana 27 with the same white lithium grease.
Does it bother you that I said all spring piston guns diesel? Well, they do. Don’t confuse dieseling, which is normal and even good, with detonation — which is when you here a low bang. That’s too large an explosion for your gun, and you don’t want to do very much of it.
The barrel pivot and the forks through which it passes is another place to grease. The right grease (moly) applied here reduces the cocking effort by 10 pounds!
The mainspring is the other place that gets lubed, and often it’s to stop the vibration, though I’m going to tell you in a moment a better way to do. For this, people use black tar, or what Jim Maccari calls Velocity Tar. It’s just a very viscous grease with a high adhesion that feels tacky to the touch. Farmers and heavy equipment operators know it as open gear lubricant. Most of the different greases like this will slow your gun to some extent, but there are products like Velocity Tar which, if used sparingly, seem to not phase the velocity at all.
Remove all the play
Okay, lubricating a gun to smooth the firing cycle is a redneck approach. Many people, including me, do it that way. But there’s a more elegant way if you’re willing to work. That way is to remove all the play in the various moving parts. The piston and mainspring are the primary parts involved.
The piston in a factory gun fits well inside the spring tube, but there’s a looseness to allow for manufacturing tolerances. The piston seal takes up a lot of the slack, but it’s located just at the front of the piston. The rear is free to move in all directions. While the space is small, this is where some of the vibration comes from.
To tighten the piston, it’s possible to put small bearings at the front and rear of the piston. These are usually small, round spots of synthetic material such as Teflon or nylon. Typically, three are placed at the front and three more at the rear. They are spaced evenly around the piston body, and the front ones are offset from those in the rear. If they fit the spring tube exactly, the piston rides on them, and then a moly coating really does its work.
The next critical fit is the mainspring, and here it’s sometimes possible to buy a spring that fits the spring guide in the rear and the piston rod in the front very tightly. Tuners call this close fit being “nailed on.” When you have a close fit like this, good moly lubrication is essential, or the close fit of steel on steel will cause galling, which is a form of burnishing that causes friction, vibration and excess heat.
If you can’t find a spring that fits this tight, you can always have a custom spring guide made that does fit the spring you have. Then, inside the piston, you can put a steel shim that fits between the mainspring and the inner walls of the piston. It’ll look shoddy; but once the powerplant is together, it’ll stay in place. And moly is essential here for the mainspring and the guide. This is called a “beer can” tune, because people often use cans to make the shim.
Another trick people use is to put shims behind the mainspring on the spring guide end. This puts the mainspring under more tension and gives more power. You have to make sure there’s enough room to cock the rifle when doing this, because it’s possible to shim the spring too much.
New airgunners assume that the stronger the mainspring, the more powerful the airgun. That isn’t always the case. Piston stroke has more to do with power than the spring rating. I always look for a weaker spring because I know it won’t subtract that much power from the gun. A coating of tar will do more to slow down a gun than a weak spring, as long as the spring fits well.
A final word on the mainspring is to notice that each end is usually a different size. Try to match the end with the spring guide or piston rod that fits best.
Piston seals used to be a real big reason for tuning a spring gun, because they wore out or melted from friction. Today’s seals are pretty well made, though there will always be some cheapies that come to market from time to time. The thing about the piston seal is to ensure that it fits the bore of the compression tube without adding too much additional friction. Some is unavoidable, but it’s easy to go overboard. The modern parachute piston seal that expands as it compresses air is very sophisticated, and shouldn’t be too difficult to size correctly. To reduce the diameter, put the seal on the piston and rotate the piston against sandpaper. Be careful to keep the sides of the seal parallel to the compression chamber bore while doing this. It usually only takes a minute or two for this job.
The trigger can be adjusted and lubricated during a tuneup. I lubricate with moly grease, because a trigger is not a part that works by friction. No matter how low you get the friction, the trigger should always be safe…but this is a place where home tuners often have problems. They either stone or file the mating sear surfaces and put a dangerous angle on them. Then, they lubricate them with moly. These are the triggers that slip when cocked.
People are also known to adjust a trigger to have too fine mating surfaces, and once more, they’ll slip when cocked. My advice is to lube first, then let the trigger work for several hundred shots before you adjust it. I would keep stones and files away from triggers unless you’re certain that you know what you’re doing.
This part is often overlooked and can sometimes give you a large boost in power. The breech seal doesn’t have to stand proud of the breech to work well. It all depends on how the gun is designed. But don’t overlook the possibility of improving performance by raising the breech seal a few hundredths of an inch.
I hope this report answers most of the questions you have regarding tuning an airgun. As I said at the start, a tune can be any of these things, or all of them. A professional tune is usually all, but you should discuss the specifics with your airgunsmith before letting him start the work.
by B.B. Pelletier
Today, we’ll look at the accuracy of my Beeman R1 air rifle, and I must say that I remembered the rifle exactly as it is. It is very sensitive to hold, but also very heavy, at 11 lbs. in the test configuration, which stabilizes the gun to a great degree. Compared to the twitchy over-bore spring guns of today, shooting my detuned R1 is like driving an old family car!
I sighted-in with 15.9-grain JSB Exact domes because I thought they would turn out to be the best pellets. Even though they fit the breech loose, I felt they would surpass all other pellets. Let’s see how they did.
The distance is 25 yards, and I’m shooting from a rest, using a classic artillery hold where the back of my off hand touches the front of the triggerguard. I did try a group with a different hold, but it opened right away, reminding me that I know this rifle quite well.
The first group of JSBs contains a nice 8-shot group at the center of two shots that appear to be fliers. They aren’t fliers, though, because I held the rifle the same for every shot. It’s possible I didn’t relax enough for those two shots, which is why I say the R1 is sensitive to hold. As a powerful breakbarrel, you expect it to be hold-sensitive.
The first group gave me some confidence in this pellet, so I adjusted the scope, shot a couple rounds to settle things and fired a second 10-shot group of JSB Exacts. This time, all 10 shots landed in a group measuring 0.642 inches between centers. My hold while shooting this group was more relaxed than the first.
Next, I decided to try some Crosman Premiers. When this rifle was new in 1994, they were the best pellet on the market. Ten shots gave a very round group that measures 0.683 inches between centers. That’s ever-so-slightly larger than the second JSB group, so I feel these two pellets shoot about the same.
I then tried the H&N Baracuda Match pellet that I don’t remember ever trying in my gun. I know they’re going slower — I can hear the amount of time the pellet takes to get to the trap. I didn’t know what to expect, but boy does my rifle like this pellet! The first 8 went into a very small group, then I rushed shot 9 and got a pellet outside the group. It wasn’t a flier, it was a mistake in technique, pure and simple. Shot 10 went into the tight group, and I ended with a group that measures 0.684 inches between centers, with 9 of those pellets in 0.54 inches.
I feel the H&N Baracuda Match pellets turned in the best performance overall. So much so, that after the session ended I adjusted the scope so this pellet hits the point of aim at 25 yards.
The light, crisp Rekord trigger contributed a lot to the success of this rifle. It releases so well that the rifle isn’t affected by anticipation. Before I can hope for the gun to shoot, it already has.
The R1 recoils forward a lot. That’s due to the heavy piston. But most of the vibration has been eliminated. That’s something I wish the rest of you could experience. It’s so satisfying to shoot an air rifle like this because if feels so RIGHT.
What’s the bottom line, here? Well the R1 is still a fine spring air rifle with many classic features in its favor. Being a springer, it’s difficult to shoot well, but it’s capable if you do your part. It has one of the finest triggers on the market, and there’s nothing more I can say about that. But the R1 is also a very large rifle, and often I want something a little smaller so I can shoot all day without straining.
The tune that’s on the gun now is very light and easy to deal with. It makes the R1 feel like an R9 in all ways except size and weight. Now that the test is finished, this one will go back to the closet…but I know it’s sighted-in. If I call upon it in the future, it’ll do the job.


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This past weekend, Kylian Mbappé continued his goal-scoring abilities, helping Paris Saint-Germain erase a 1-0 deficit to AS Saint-Étienne scoring a brace against Les Verts. Furthermore, the 23-year-old assisted on the third goal, so he had a hand in all three strikes in the 3-1 win.
Former PSG youth product Adil Aouchiche spoke with Le Parisien, where he made his opinion known that Mbappé is the best player in the world; there’s no question about it in the midfielder’s mind.
“We must not hide it; Kylian is the best player in the world,” Aouchiche said. “He proves it again today with his club, as he also does in the France team.”
“I’m very happy for him because he’s a worker, a guy who really doesn’t want to let go of anything, who wants to have everything. And if he continues like this, he will become even stronger than he is today.”
Over the past few weeks, Mbappé has seen many sing his praises after scoring the game-winning goal in the first leg against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.
The France international is hitting another stratosphere, which is why the French giants are doing everything in their power to extend him. The forward’s contract expires in June, and there are plenty of discussions if he plans to leave for Real Madrid in a couple of months.

domain: news


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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Parents in Kansas and Missouri are taking on the new role of being a teacher since most schools have switched to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Yeah, there is this sense of freaking out, and what is this going to look like," said Tonya Blythe, when talking about every parent having to teach their children.
Blythe, though, has been homeschooling for six years. She is used to teaching just three of her children, but now she is teaching all six.
She has these three tips for parents who might be overwhelmed.
Her first tip, "Giving yourself grace, giving your kids grace knowing we all trying to figure this out as we go."
The second tip is about adjusting to this new day to day routine.
"Know your family," she said. "If your kids thrive on that routine and stuff like that, prioritize that morning routine, bed times, try to keep those parts of your days consistent as you can."
Lastly, Blythe said to make time for play and down time.
"Some of our kids are really struggling understand what is going on around them," Blythe said. "I think the more time that they [have] to play and process through that on their own, then that keeps their minds fresh for when they do have to sit down and learn."
But there is one mistake she said she has already seen parents make.
"I would caution people to not try and recreate their school day at home," Blythe said. "Your home is obviously very different than a classroom."
There is, however, a light at the end of the tunnel for parents, according to Blythe.
"I am freaking out too," she said. "I would just say to keep your chin up and kind of just do the best that you can."
Blythe has more tips for parents:
- This is going to be hard, so stay positive when you can.
- Make a schedule. Allow rest periods and fun activities to do. But, don't try to recreate your child's actual school day.
- Consider doing one block of the day with no technology. Go outside and have some fun!
For more tips on homeschooling, visit Blythe's blog.

domain: sociology


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Event: THE JAPANESE WIFE cast and crew attend the premiere of the film held at Cinemax, Andheri, Mumbai.
Guest List: Konkona Sen Sharma, Raima Sen, Rahul Bose, Anjana Sukhani, Shabana Azmi, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Sandhya Mridul, Aparna Sen, Maria Goretti, Ranvir Shorey, Moushumi Chatterjee, Megha Chatterjee, Claudia Ciesla
Venue: Cinemax, Andheri, Mumbai.
Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma was snapped at the airport.
Bollywood actress Kriti Sanon was spotted outside her residence.
Bollywood's 'HASEENA' Shraddha Kapoor was spotted at Hakkasan.


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Oscars Isn't Changing Eligibility Rule for Streaming Services in a Big Netflix Win
Netflix scored a big victory at the Oscars.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will keep its current eligibility rules for the Oscars, despite calls to crack down on streaming services over their theatrical release windows.
The Academy's board of governors voted to maintain the rule that a feature-length film must run for one week in an Los Angeles County theater to qualify for Best Picture.
Netflix has seen major success at the Oscars recently, landing its first Best Picture nomination with Alfonso Cuarón's "Roma." But some influential Hollywood insiders began to grumble that Netflix and other streamers were taking away from the cinematic experience.
Steven Spielberg, who sits on the board of governors, was one of those critics. He has previously said, "Once you commit to a television format, you're a TV movie. You certainly, if it's a good show, deserve an Emmy, but not an Oscar. I don't believe films that are just given token qualifications in a couple of theaters for less than a week should qualify for the Academy Award nomination."
Other filmmakers who have worked with Netflix, including Cuarón and Ava DuVernay, came out in support of streamers' broad distribution power.
In a statement, Academy President John Bailey said, "We support the theatrical experience as integral to the art of motion pictures, and this weighed heavily in our discussions,”
“Our rules currently require theatrical exhibition, and also allow for a broad selection of films to be submitted for Oscars consideration. We plan to further study the profound changes occurring in our industry and continue discussions with our members about these issues.”

domain: entertainment


text:
Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy Drax Holiday Special Funko Pop! Vinyl
Deck the galaxy this holiday season with Pop! Drax from Marvel Studios’ The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Pop! Drax, armed with a toy elf, looks ready for festive heroic fun. Join him for action-packed, holiday-themed adventures through the cosmos. Vinyl bobblehead is approximately 9.3cm tall.
This Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy Drax Funko Pop! Vinyl Figure comes packaged in a window display box and measures approximately 3-3/4 inches tall.

domain: hobby


text:
URGENT PETITION: 100,000 SIGNATURES NEEDED
The US Postal Service has issued a dire warning: without emergency funding they'll be forced to shut down in just a few weeks.
Will you sign the petition and demand Congress act to fund the US Postal Service?
Yes, I'll add my name now!
[STEP TWO] Before you go, this is important:
We're investing massive amounts of money to damage Donald Trump while he's at his weakest. We can defeat Trump and give the next Democratic President a massive Majority in Congress.
A $3 donation is all we're asking from you to help us Defeat Donald Trump, flip the Senate Blue, and destroy the Republicans.
[12 HOURS LEFT] Top Democrats are now 300%-Matching donations on our ActBlue page. Will you finish the survey and donate on the next page?
Yes, I'll donate $3 >> (worth $9)
Yes, I'll donate $15 >> (worth $45!)
Yes, I'll donate another 3X-Matched amount >>
Please leave this field blank:
denotes required field

domain: politics


Open Position: Senior Data Scientist
CircleUp is an online marketplace for private investing. Our mission is to help entrepreneurs thrive by giving them the resources and capital they need. We also provide investors access to a highly-curated set of investment opportunities and help those investors connect with the companies that meet their investment goals.
We are working on challenging problems in information retrieval and being able to develop an in-depth knowledge graph of all private companies. We are mining vast amounts of data to successfully rewrite the rules on how private companies are evaluated. You can find more information on what we are building in the blog post below
We are looking for a data scientist who will be responsible for a variety of different projects, including data collection, data analysis, and algorithm development. You will be working closely with engineers, product managers, and business development to move our data infrastructure forward. Prior experience with economic research is a big plus.
- Collect structured and unstructured data on private companies
- Be able to build, clean and analyze new and existing data pipelines
- Build end to end algorithms for assessing early stage consumer companies for growth equity investments
- Build causal and interpretable models
- Build reproducible backtests for proposed models / algorithms
- Work cross functionally with key stakeholders in engineering, product, and business development to help decide & prioritize what to build
- Come up with creative ways to find and use data that significantly impacts our key business metrics
- Degree (B.S/ M.S./Phd) preferably in statistics, computer science, engineering, physical sciences, economics or related technical field
- Strong background in Economics or economic research is a big plus
- Prior experience as a quantitate researcher at a quantitative investment firm/hedge fund is a big plus
- Excellent communication skills – Must be able to articulate their analysis and methodologies clearly and communicate insights in an easily accessible way to the team
- Must be excited about working in a fast and changing environment where solutions have not been already defined
- Ability to write code in at least one scripting language, preferably Python
- Experience with machine learning
- Passion to have an impact outside of Silicon Valley on the world around us
- Unassailable integrity
- Huge horsepower and ability to solve difficult problems
- Strong work ethic and courage to overcome meaningful obstacles
We are looking for a data scientist who will be responsible for a variety of different projects, including data collection, data analysis, and algorithm development. Prior experience with economic research is a big plus.
Our Business Operations team provides the connective tissue in the organization – bridging between our product, data science and engineering leadership and the business units that use our technology to build the future of private market investing. At CircleUp, we are using technology to redefine the investing process for Private Equity & Credit markets. By both understanding this technology deeply and working hand-in-hand with our businesses, Business Operations plays a critical role in designing, implementing and improving how our businesses operate and succeed. ...
Position Available: CircleUp (www.circleup.com) is seeking to add one General Partner to be a senior leader of the CircleUp Growth Partners discretionary investment fund team in San Francisco, CA. CircleUp Growth Partners is a $125 million fund that is backed by several top tier institutional limited partners and employs a strategy to invest in emerging CPG and Retail companies by leveraging CircleUp’s proprietary data science and machine learning technology, Helio.
With a background in both software development and machine learning, you will collaborate with software engineers, data scientists, PMs, and domain experts in consumer investing to develop & ship predictive data products in support of CircleUp's mission - helping entrepreneurs thrive by connecting them with the capital & resources they need.
We are looking for a senior data engineer who can help us scale a complex machine learning data pipeline. We currently lean heavily on technologies like Python, Spark, Dask, and Airflow. We're looking for passionate software engineers who are comfortable working across the full stack & lifecycle of predictive data products.
We are looking for a Software Engineer with strong business acumen to be the primary technical arm of our internal business teams (Credit, Fund, and Marketplace). You’ll be responsible for scoping and building the tools that allow our teams to succeed on a day-to-day basis. You will have ownership over a large portion of our tooling, and the ability to influence the roadmap of what we’re building.
CircleUp finds and collect data from various sources and in various formats (both structured and unstructured). We are looking for a Software Engineer to help us build the tooling necessary to collect the data that powers the “Helio” platform.
We are seeking an Operations Analyst to help drive CircleUp Credit’s lending product. We are looking for a detail-oriented individual who excels in a fast-paced environment with the creativity and resiliency to deliver results and solve ambiguous problems. The ideal candidate will be excited at the prospect of being part of a growing team focused on using data-driven technology to help entrepreneurs thrive.


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A message from Anthony Browne, one of the UK's most brilliant and respected Picture Book Illustrators, who was Children's Laureate 2009-11:
"Picture books are special – they're not like anything else. Sometimes I hear parents encouraging their children to read what they call proper books, books without pictures, at an earlier and earlier age. This makes me sad, as picture books are perfect for sharing, and not just with the youngest children. As a father, I understand the importance of the bond that develops through reading picture books with your child. We have in Britain some of the best picture book makers in the world, and I want to see their books appreciated for what they are – works of art." Picture books, he said, are "perfect for any age".
The books in this genre will have more story than those books featured in the Baby and Toddler genre but still with lots of stunning imagery to share with your child and for them to enjoy alone.
As children begin to communicate more readily and are a little more dextrous then you’ll find they want to occupy their mind with books that are a little more challenging, perhaps even with more pages and more of a storyline.
The picture books in this section with a greater range of text to accompany some absolutely stunning imagery provide a terrific next stage.
Titles in this section will be refreshed each month with a range of new and older titles that we feel should not to be missed by any young child.
Click here to read some helpful tips from top childrens' publisher Egmont.

domain: library


text:
Despite ample data on cytokine secretion in the uteroplacental interface, the influence of microenvironment cells, in particular, trophoblast cells on angiogenesis and the role of cytokines in this process remain poorly studied. We studied the influence of cytokines on the formation of tube-like structures by endothelial cells in the presence of trophoblast cells and showed that trophoblast cells suppressed the angiogenic potential of endothelial cells. Antiangiogenic cytokines IFN-gamma, IL-10, TNF-alpha, and TGF beta via modulation of trophoblast cells stimulated the formation of tube-like structures by endothelial cells. In the co-culture of endothelial and trophoblast cells, the effects of cytokines changed and they gained additional regulatory functions.
Предметные области Scopus
- Биохимия, генетика и молекулярная биология (все)

domain: medical


text:
"On average, women earn 80 cents for every dollar men earn. That translates into $418,800 over a 40-year career, meaning a woman would have to work TEN more years to equal a man’s pay, on average. In the last decade the wage gap has barely moved.
From January 1st-April 4th is how much longer women need to work into this year to equal what men earned last year. Last year it was on April 12th. This is totally UNACCEPTABLE. During my career I held two positions where I knew the men who reported to me made more than I did. I'd like to believe that this type of blatant discrimination has disappeared, but I know that it is still happening today and we know we must continue to speak up and demand equal pay and elect legislators that see this as a priority. What's more, pay discrimination is even worse for women of color. African-American women earn only 63 cents on the dollar, and Latinas earn only 54 cents on the dollar. Again, this is totally UNACCEPTABLE."


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MANILA - Three healthcare workers of San Lazaro Hospital in Manila have tested positive for COVID-19, its chief for adult infectious diseases said Sunday.
Dr. Rontgene Solante, the hospital's adult infectious diseases chief, said all healthcare workers assigned in wards handling COVID-19 patients were tested after 1 or 2 showed symptoms of the virus.
The hospital had already conducted contact tracing and none who were exposed to the infected personnel are showing symptoms, he said.
Solante said he will recommend to the hospital's management to test its personnel every 2 weeks.
"When you are dealing with this infection, when you regularly talk with health workers, there’s always this fear and uncertainty they may be having the infection... the fear they cannot go back to their homes and see their families," he told ANC.
"These are the parameters why I gave this recommendation to alleviate that fear. With that alleviation, somehow, they are encouraged to work and be part of the management of these patients."
The hospital, which specializes in infectious diseases, might already reach its full capacity in accepting COVID-19 patients as 27 or 28 out of 36 beds are currently occupied, Solante said.
"Just yesterday, we had new eight admissions. Probably today, we’ll be in full capacity already... If the wards are already full, that's the time that we cannot really accept patients," he said.
"Our PPEs (personal protective equipment) are only allocated in this number of rooms. We also have to factor in our health workers... We cannot compromise safety of our healthcare workers while taking care of these patients."
Meanwhile, Solante notes that some of those confirmed to have acquired the disease manifested symptoms before Luzon went on lockdown two weeks ago.
"The incubation period by which a particular individual will manifest is within 14 (days)... Probably, we can add another week and look at the trend," he said.
"After that week, we’ll evaluate and see if the trend of the infection is going down. But up to now, we have observed it is still going up."
Solante said that the imposition of a community quarantine should not only entail the locking down of that community, but the need to be proactive, "going house to house," to survey who are symptomatic.
"(Who are showing) the mildest symptoms? Then, you have to give instruction. Are they being strictly quarantined? Are they in a separate room? Are they wearing face mask? If you cannot do these things, and they are still within that confine of the room together with the other members of the family, then you continue to transmit the virus," he said.
"And when they go out, like they go to the market to buy something or to buy their necessity, then that can be an area also that some of them that can be mildly symptomatic, they don't know they are already symptomatic, can transmit the infection still in the community."
As of Saturday, the Philippines has recorded 1,075 cases of COVID-19, with 68 deaths and 35 recoveries, according to the DOH.


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Sunset In The Mountains
By Joseph J. Mazzella • October 21, 2013
After enjoying a glorious day of Autumn sunshine here in the hills and forests surrounding my home I decided to take a seat on my back porch and watch its final act. Sunsets here in the mountains are a beauty to behold. They are not as sudden as the ocean or desert sunsets where nightfall follows so quickly after Sol drops over the horizon.
Here it is much more gradual. This evening it started when the sun dropped low enough in the sky to be partially blocked by the towering oaks a hundred yards behind my house. The ground below them grew shaded and the shadows slowly started to creep down the wood line surrounding the meadow and old graveyard behind my porch. Yet, while all this was happening beams of sunlight were still peeking through the branches and lighting up parts of the forest on the other side of my home. The red and golden maple leaves seemed to delight in this last kiss of sunshine and glowed even brighter than usual. I watched peacefully while this dance of light and dark, sunbeams and shadows continued on while the evening air cooled in the growing twilight. Last of all the sky itself began to change slowly going from blue and yellow to red, pink, and purple and finally to black.
As this Heavenly show ended the night settled in and the stars began to appear in the sky. I pulled my coat closer around me for warmth and smiled. I was sorry that it was over, but I knew that tomorrow the sun would rise again to warm and brighten the Earth once more.
Each morning we too are given the chance to let the sun rise in our souls. We are given the choice to live in God's love and light. We are given the opportunity to share our love and make this world a warmer, brighter, and better place. And when the sun finally sets on our lives here we are also given a home to go to where the light is eternal and the love never ends.
Her 92-Year-Old Grandpa Called Crying, Invited Her Over For A Sleepover
A Mom Called PBS Asking For Mr. Rogers' Autograph. Instead, He Flew Out To See Her Daughter With His Puppets
The Sound Of A Black Hole, Recorded By NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory
A Westie In A Wheelchair Guides A Blind Rescue Fox On Their Daily Walks
This Woman Bought A 2,000-Year-Old Roman Bust At Goodwill For $34.99
'It Was JUST Them Two': Daughter Takes Photos Of Dad On Graduation Day
Physics Teacher Demonstrates The Bernoulli Principle
Dog Says 'Ice Cream' And Runs To Truck
Hedgehog Keeps Bear Awake All Night
When You Get Older And Realize That A Magical Childhood Is The Result Of Your Parent's Effort
Woman Successfully Crosses Stream On A Log, But Still Loses

domain: literature


The parking area at the Kalk Bay harbour has received a much-needed facelift. Apart from the newly surfaced parking layout, the City’s Transport and Urban Development Authority (TDA) has added paved walkways to the rocky shoreline along with benches, streetlights, and a recreational area for markets, fairs, and exhibitions during community events.
"It is said that we shape our cities, and thereafter our cities shape us.This morning I was briefed on the outcome of the City’s appointed Bid Evaluation Committee evaluation of the first stage of a bid evaluation process. The outcome of this innovative and ground-breaking approach to partnering with the private sector to achieve public infrastructure is enormously exciting and has the potential to radically transform Cape Town’s spatial reality within the next decade or so."
The appointed Bid Evaluation Committee, having now completed the Stage 1 bid evaluation process, has announced that the qualifying bidder in respect of the Request for Proposals for the Development of the Foreshore Freeway Precinct is Mitchell Du Plessis Projects (Pty) Ltd, trading as Mitchell Du Plessis Associates (MDA). The City has notified the bidders of the outcome of the evaluation process.
"The City of Cape Town condemns in the strongest possible terms the orchestrated attacks on public transport services across Cape Town. Two MyCiTi stations will be closed for several months after protesters nearly destroyed the infrastructure with bricks, stones, and burning tyres."
The City of Cape Town, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), and the Western Cape Government this morning agreed to establish a dedicated enforcement unit to focus on the safety and security of Metrorail commuters and infrastructure.
Local skateboarders took to the air to perform rad tricks at today’s sod-turning celebration, which officially got the wheels turning on the construction of the Woodstock skateboard park.
A resolution passed by the City of Cape Town’s Council yesterday, 31 January 2018, paved the way for the development of seven housing projects that will provide more than 15 600 housing opportunities across the city.
The City of Cape Town’s Transport and Urban Development Authority is set to commence with the reconstruction of a section of Langverwacht Road between Amandel and Zevenwacht Link roads in Kuils River. A section covering a distance of approximately 1,3 km will be turned into a dual carriageway
Eight MyCiTi buses were attacked in Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain over the past weekend. The spike in stoning incidents along the N2 Express routes is in all likelihood related to our efforts to assist rail commuters who are left stranded due to the service disruptions on the Metrorail Central Line.
Mr Gershwin Fortune, Portfolio Manager for Integrated Transport, has been appointed as acting commissioner for the City’s Transport and Urban Development Authority (TDA) with immediate effect.


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After my review of WHAT WE DO FOR LOVE, I was very eager to talk to the author and know more about her. I liked her book and the story was very entertaining and engaging. PRE-ORDER your copy NOW! Let's dive into more about the amazing Award-winning author ANNE PFEFFER. Anne Pfeffer grew up in Phoenix, … Continue reading IN CONVERSATION WITH “ANNE PFEFFER” AUTHOR OF “WHAT WE DO FOR LOVE” 💕 #AUTHORINTERVIEW
The best way for me to end any discussion has always been a nice, pertinent quote from some book and truly speaking book quotes have every time helped me out in impressing people after I end speaking. Not just that these quotations have saved me a clap after my extempore or my debate competitions but … Continue reading 10 Quotes from Books that will exhort you for Life!!


Looking for Buy All New Purple Mattress…
Lots of consumers are drawn to mattresses made with natural, natural, and sustainable materials but are worried about cost. Eco Terra set out to build a natural, inexpensive mattress and the result is the Eco Terra mattress The business solely offers this latex hybrid mattress, which is made with natural cotton, natural wool, Talalay latex, and upcycled steel coils.
The Eco Terra mattress is readily available in 2 firmness alternatives: medium (5) and medium firm (6 ). Having 2 offered firmness levels ensures there is an alternative for nearly every sleeping position and physique. Resilient latex and responsive coils ease pressure points while keeping the spinal column aligned.
The breathable building and construction of the Eco Terra mattress prevents sleeping hot. Considering that the mattress is made without synthetic materials or harsh chemicals, it is demanded by eco-conscious shoppers. The mattress is handcrafted in California.
Excellent sleep depends upon a comfortable mattress. We all understand it. We’ve all slept on a less than outstanding mattress that woke us up throughout the night and left us feeling unpleasant and exhausted in the morning. Fortunately, we now reside in the age of the high-end mattress. There are so many remarkable bed mattress readily available for anybody seeking a perfect night’s rest. Eco Terra is an organic hybrid mattress that wants to fill the high-end mattress sized whole in your heart. Will it perform and provide the sleep that you’ve desperately sought for your entire adult life? There’s only one method to learn, so keep reading …
Mattress Prices and Sizing
The Eco Terra mattress is made with sustainable bed mattress natural materials.
It is likewise affordable for a natural latex hybrid. While a lot of designs cost near to $2,000 or more, a queen size Eco Terra mattress is frequently available for much less. The company keeps its prices cost effective by making its bed mattress in-house and selling straight to consumers. This makes it an appealing option for value-minded consumers.
The Eco Terra is readily available in all 6 standard mattress sizes.
|Twin||38″ x 75″||11″||59 lbs.||$849|
|Twin XL||38″ x 80″||11″||63 lbs.||$949|
|Full||54″ x 75″||11″||84 lbs.||$1049|
|Queen||60″ x 80″||11″||100 lbs.||$1149|
|King||76″ x 80″||11″||127 lbs.||$1349|
|California King||72″ x 84″||11″||126 lbs.||$1349|
Comfort and Feel
As the name recommends, Eco Terra is 100% natural latex that is really ‘green’. There are a handful of natural latex bed mattress on the market at this moment, but Eco Terra is one of the very best. The mattress is readily available in two firmness alternatives to fit your sleeping choice: medium and medium-firm. Both live up to their labels. Neither is too soft nor too difficult, however one is a little firmer for sleepers who need it. Regardless of which firmness you pick, there’s no denying that Eco Terra bed mattress are a comfy combination of the pressure relief and contouring of latex foam with the springiness of small coils. The top layers are made from latex and will flex to follow the curve of your body. Below that layer resides the reassuring pushback of little fabric-encased coils. Together, the layers of this mattress supply the comfort and assistance that will have you sleeping like a child.
• Motion Isolation
The Eco Terra mattress uses premium supportive fabric-encased coils that offer little movement transfer and an exceptionally buoyant sleep. While latex foam is known for its bounce and responsiveness, the bounce is balanced out when when paired with Eco Terra’s fabric framed coils. This mix leads to very little movement transfer. If you are a sleeper who chooses an “in the mattress” feel, memory foam may be a much better option. But if you choose a small hug from your bed with restricted movement transfer, then this simply might be the bed you are searching for.
• Edge Support Buy All New Purple Mattress
You will not have to stress about that with an Eco Terra mattress. The coils do an outstanding job of providing assistance from the centre of the mattress all the method to the edges. In general, hybrid mattresses tend to use much better edge assistance than innerspring beds due to their pairing of springs and foam.
Almost all brand-new mattresses produce a faint odor when opened, but those smells are nothing to be worried about. This off-gassing prevails in almost all brand-new items (brand-new car smell, and so on). Most natural latex mattresses do not give off a pungent off-gas like synthetic mattresses. Eco Terra has a scent instead of an odor. It produces a faint vanilla scent that’s actually rather enjoyable. Like any other type off-gassing, the scent will be gone within a few days.
Considering that latex foam does not keep heat like memory foam, the mattress will maintain a neutral temperature level whether it is hot or cold. Ontop of that, the organic cotton cover also helps to manage the circulation of air in and out of the mattress and the encased coils press out excess body heat. Eco Terra went out of their method to develop a mattress that will not trap heat.
Who Should Buy the Eco Terra Mattress?
- Someone who desires a cooler sleeping mattress.
- You desire less chemicals and more natural materials because of ethics, level of sensitivity or a more green lifestyleYou like a medium or company feel and a faster response when you or someone you sleep with move on the bed
- Likes the idea of a mattress with less chemicals and that’s not made in China with less expensive materials. Eco Terra is made in the USA, in California and they produce along with sell the bed. Buy All New Purple Mattress


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Paysafe wins ‘Best Omni-Channel Payment Solution’ 2021 MPE Award
Feb 26, 2021
Solution combining in-person, online and mobile payments for ISVs and merchants recognized at virtual edition of Merchant Payments Ecosystem Awards
Houston, Texas – Paysafe, a leading integrated payments platform, today announced that it won in the ‘Best Omni-Channel or Multi-Rail Payment Solution’ category at the Merchant Payments Ecosystem (MPE) Awards. Presented at a virtual ceremony yesterday, Paysafe’s award recognized its omni-channel payment offering that seamlessly combines in-person, online, and mobile payments for independent software vendors (ISVs) and merchant partners.
Held on the final day of the 14th annual MPE Conference, the MPE Awards 2021 honored Paysafe for its innovative approach to omni-channel payments over the last 12 months. The company’s solution allows ISVs and their merchant partners to offer consumers a cohesive payment experience across all channels, whether they are paying in person, online or via their smart phone or other mobile device. Integrated merchants only require one account to manage and optimize all Ecommerce, mobile and in-store transactions.
Through its long-lasting partnership with Handpoint, a pioneer in integrated payments, Paysafe has integrated its omni-channel offering with Handpoint’s scalable platform that includes sophisticated tokenization without compromising on security, control or the customer journey.
The partnered solution provides a seamless experience for both in-person and online payments from a single portal, while supporting merchants internationally with multi-vertical and vertical-specific integrated point of sales (POS) terminals. This has opened up the possibility for frictionless, omni-channel checkout solutions with ISV systems across a range of platforms, including Paysafe’s offering of Handpoint Cloud Payments for cloud-based POS solutions, integrated in Q1 2020.
The MPE Award recognizes the uniqueness of Paysafe’s omni-channel solution, which gives platforms and ISVs flexibility and choice with their integration. It can be integrated via the cloud or a Bluetooth connection using a comprehensive suite of robust APIs. Merchants have the option to choose from multiple card-present payment devices, including Handpoint’s smartPOS suite.
Carla Erlick, Senior Vice President of ISV channel at Paysafe, said: “We’re honored to see our omni-channel offering for ISVs, platform providers, and merchants, recognized at the prestigious MPE Awards. The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented demand from consumers for a frictionless payment experience across in-store, online and especially mobile channels, and our solution has played a key role in helping ISVs and merchants better serve their customers amidst our ‘new normal’.”
About Merchant Payments Ecosystem (MPE) & MPE Awards
The Merchant Payments Ecosystem is the biggest payment acceptance event in Europe, connecting the whole payment value chain: merchants, bank acquirers, PSPs, card schemes, regulators, fintechs, start-ups, blockchains and everyone in between.
The MPE Awards is the only European Awards recognizing top European merchant payments acceptance companies and their achievements. MPE Awards history started in 2010 as the first European awards to recognize the outstanding role of card acquirers, processors, PSP’s, POS and payment solution providers and to honor companies and individuals who helped move the industry forward. The Awards Gala and Ceremony is part of the conference. See more about Awards here: https://www.merchantpaymentsecosystem.com/awards
Paysafe Group (Paysafe) is a leading integrated payments platform. Its core purpose is to enable businesses and consumers to connect and transact seamlessly through industry-leading capabilities in payment processing, digital wallet, and online cash solutions. With over 20 years of online payment experience, an annualized transactional volume of over US $98 billion in 2019, and approximately 3,000 employees located in 12+ global locations, Paysafe connects businesses and consumers across 70 payment types in over 40 currencies around the world. Delivered through an integrated platform, Paysafe solutions are geared toward mobile-initiated transactions, real-time analytics and the convergence between brick-and-mortar and online payments.
Further information is available at www.paysafe.com .
Handpoint has been a pioneer in defining integrated payments and next-generation POS, from advancing the checkout experience with mobile technology to launching open payment integrations for all emerging POS platforms on 3 continents. Handpoint provides solutions for software developers, merchants, acquirers, and ISOs who are delivering the cutting edge of payments: where customer experience and management matter, where payments are embedded seamlessly, and where mobile technology fuels growth. Handpoint’s software terminal, international gateway, and terminal management system enable the future of payments, from mPOS and integrated POS to a future without terminals.
Visit us at www.handpoint.com.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Nick Say, Manager, Corporate Communications, North America, Paysafe
Tel. +1-514-452-8747; email: Nick.Say@Paysafe.com


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If you’ve been following Sweet Potato Soul for a while you’ll know I love salads. I eat at least one a day! Of course they’re the perfect light and cool meal for summer, but I’m really the Salad Queen for the nutrition. Raw greens are full of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that will keep you well and energized all summer. Throughout the year I switch up my salads based on what vegetables are available at the farmer’s market, and right now I’ve been loving this simple roasted beet and potato salad with crunchy romaine, bibb, and frisee lettuce and lemon vinaigrette.
Yes, I know. It’s crazy to turn on your oven to roast beets in the dead of summer. Luckily I’ve got a toaster oven that doesn’t warm up the house. And since I’m breastfeeding, I find that roasted beets and potatoes make my salad feel extra nourishing and substantial. But if I had an outdoor grill, I would totally use that!
This salad is simple, and for that reason I wanted to share the recipe. All of the ingredients can be found at your local grocery store or farmer’s market, and you can whip it up easily any day of the week, and any time of day. Always keep roasted (or grilled) beets and potatoes, and cooked beans, in the fridge so you don’t have to worry about preparing these ingredients when you whip up this salad. I don’t usually add grains to my summer salads, but if you’d like to bulk it up I’d recommend adding cooked & cooled farro, quinoa, wheat berries, or sourdough croutons. Also feel free to swap out the beans for another kind of bean, or lentils. If you need more guidance on making the perfect salad, check out my How to Make Salad Amazing blog post.
Roasted Beet & Potato Salad
- 2 medium-large beets peeled & cubed
- 2 medium yukon gold potatoes cubed
- 1 tbsp grapeseed oil
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2-3 small heads of lettuce I used romaine, frisee, and bibb, chopped
- 2 cups cooked white beans or 1 14-oz can, drained & rinsed
- 1/4 cup toasted pepitas
- 2 lemons
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Preheat oven to 375° and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Toss the cubed potatoes and beets with the oil, then spread them evenly onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle the oregano, salt, and pepper over them.
- Roast for 35 minutes.
- Place the lettuce into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the roasted vegetables (as much as you'd like to add), and beans.
- Drizzle on about half of the dressing and toss well.
- Season to taste with more dressing and salt.
- Garnish with pepitas before serving
- Place ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Or place ingredients into a jar with a lid, and shake until creamy.

domain: food


The House on Tuesday passed Senate-approved legislation to increase security for Supreme Court justices’ families, in the wake of an alleged attempt on the life of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.
The legislation, known as the Supreme Court Police Parity Act of 2022, passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 396-27.
“By passing this bill as is, we are sending a clear message to the left-wing radicals: You cannot intimidate the Supreme Court justice, and hopefully all take that message to heart,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, California Republican, said on the floor before the bill’s passage.
He said the measure should not have taken as long as it did, about a month, to pass the House.
“And it should not have taken a threat against Justice Kavanaugh to force an action that even Speaker Pelosi dismissed in a press conference,” Mr. McCarthy said.
The Senate unanimously passed its bill on May 10 to protect high court justices’ families, security that’s similar to protections currently in place for family members of certain officials of the executive and legislative branches.
The Senate action occurred after demonstrators protested in front of conservative Supreme Court justices’ residences, following the unprecedented anonymous leak of a draft opinion that would overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion decision.
GOP leadership in both chambers became angered with House Democrats’ delay in taking up the Senate-passed bill.
They pointed fingers at Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York for inciting danger against the court‘s conservative justices, after 26-year-old Nicholas Roske was arrested near the Maryland residence of Justice Kavanaugh last Wednesday. He was charged with attempting to kill or kidnap a U.S. judge.
“Now, I don’t know if that young man who came all the way from California to kill a justice. If that’s what he thought Schumer was saying. What was it he said? ‘You will pay the price,’” Mr. McCarthy said. “I’m not sure Schumer understands that these words have consequences, and I believe he should apologize for contributing to this heated crime.”
Mr. Roske called a 911 dispatcher, and indicated he had suicidal feelings and planned to kill Justice Kavanaugh. He was found to be carrying a handgun, two loaded magazines, pistol light, tactical knife, pepper spray, hammer, screwdriver, nail punch, crowbar, duct tape and soft-soled boots.
The story gave more urgency to Republicans to demand that House Democrats bring the Senate bill to the floor after Mr. Roske’s arrest.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, told Mr. McCarthy last week that Democrats wanted to expand the scope of the Senate bill to include court staff and their families. But Mr. McCarthy refused, saying the lawmakers should pass the Senate bill as is before Congress recessed, and pass the remaining measures that Democrats wanted in separate legislation when they return.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted that court justices were safe, despite protesters assembling in front of justices’ residences, including Justice Kavanaugh‘s home, even a day after authorities arrested Mr. Roske last week.
By Monday evening, House Democratic leadership relented and agreed to bring for a vote a clean bill that would provide around-the-clock security detail exclusively to Supreme Court justices and their immediate family members.
The bill is expected now to go to the White House for the president’s signature.
Correction: Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh‘s name was misspelled on one reference in an earlier version of this story.


For 70 of the 80 minutes they wrangled, the Bryant Hornets and the Van Buren Pointers went scoreless.
But, in a late flurry, Van Buren got on the board.
"They scored on a long chip into the corner of the goal," recounted Bryant coach Jason Hay. "A few minutes later, Van Buren was attacking and one of our defenders was called for a foul. They got a PK and made it 2-0."
It stayed that way until the Hornets mounted an attack with about four minutes to go. Kyle Nossman got a shot to go, trimming the lead to 2-1.
"After that goal, we came back to life and had a few chances toward the end but could not get one in the goal," Hay said.
Much of the early minutes of the game had been spent with Bryant on offense in front of the Van Buren goal, but the Hornets just couldn't get a shot in.[more]
"Van Buren controlled the middle of the game," Hay said. "But it was a pretty even game, I thought, much closer than the score indicates. You want to be in the game until the end and we did that. We just didn't finish.
In the final minute with the Hornets pushing up in hopes of tying the game, a Van Buren player got loose on a one-on-one breakaway, adding a goal to set the final at 3-1.
"We played well for all but about five minutes of the game," Hay related. "Mental breakdowns really cost us in those five minutes."
The loss dropped the Hornets to 5-2 overall, 0-2 in the rugged 7A-Central Conference but Hay saw improvement over the team's play in their previous loss against Little Rock Catholic.
"In order for us to be in the mix for the playoffs down the stretch, we must continue to improve on our mental mistakes," he emphasized.
In a JV game, the two teams tied 2-2. Bryant's goals came from Nossaman, who just recently joined the team after playing basketball, and Ryan Watson.
"We had the lead, 2-0, in the second half but Van Buren came back and tied it up," Hay said. "The JV guys were much improved over last week's game."


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HuGE Literature Finder
Records 1 - 2
| A STAT6 gene polymorphism is associated with high infection levels in urinary schistosomiasis.
Genes and immunity 2008 Apr 9 (3): 195-206.
He H, Isnard A, Kouriba B, Cabantous S, Dessein A, Doumbo O, Chevillard
| A common haplotype of interleukin-4 gene IL4 is associated with severe respiratory syncytial virus disease in Korean children.
The Journal of infectious diseases 2002 Nov 186 (9): 1207-11.
Choi Eun Hwa, Lee Hoan Jong, Yoo Taiwoo, Chanock Stephen
- Page last reviewed:Feb 1, 2023
- Page last updated:Mar 30, 2023
- Content source:


Spring Budget Date Announced
The Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has announced that the Spring Budget 2023 will take place on Wednesday 15 March.
In his statement, he said:
I can inform the House that I have asked the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to prepare a forecast for 15 March 2023 to accompany a Spring Budget.
This forecast, in addition to the forecast that took place in November 2022, will fulfil the obligation for the OBR to produce at least two forecasts in a financial year, as is required by legislation.


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The idea of Lamborghini, known for extreme performance cars, making an SUV may seem off the wall. But don't be too shocked. This actually isn't Lamborghini's first SUV. The LM002, a much chunkier vehicle that looked as if it had been built out of shoeboxes, was available from 1985 to 1992. Only about 300 of those were ever built.
Lamborghini decided it's time to try again. For now, the new, sleeker-looking Urus SUV is just a concept vehicle. But it's clear that Lamborghini fully intends to produce this vehicle or something very much like it. In fact, it could produce as many as 3,000 per year, which would make it the largest-selling Lamborghini model by far.
The Urus, just unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show, is a 600 horsepower "crossover" with huge 24-inch wheels and a 600 horsepower engine. Like most of Lamborghini's cars, the Urus has full-time all-wheel-drive with a focus on on-road performance.
This car is much more fun than the tiny sum of its parts.
|Beaten-down Apple stock has best day in 2 years|
|Inside Tesla's ginormous battery factory|
|Big McDonald's comeback runs into trouble|
|When to say yes to an annuity -- and when to pass|
|Bill O'Reilly criticized for White House slavery comments|


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Asheville, NC (PRWEB) September 12, 2012
Teen summer camps and adventure travel are a great way for young people to experience fun and adventure while achieving personal growth. Summer trips provide teens with a chance to learn firsthand about exotic local cultures and participate in activities that will develop leadership and problem-solving skills. Moondance Adventures is thrilled to announce two new outdoor adventure destinations for 2013 that will offer teens unparalleled opportunities for excitement, exploration and personal development.
The Costa Rica/Belize community service program is open to youths who are eighth- or ninth-graders in 2012. This is the first time Moondance Adventures has offered a community service adventure for students of this age. Teens will join their group leaders in San Jose, Costa Rica before making their way to Belize City, Belize. During the 14-day adventure camp, teens will:
*Work in a local school or community center in Costa Rica
*Explore the rich ecosystems of Central America through whitewater rafting
*Experience a high-flying zip line in Costa Rica
*Surf the Pacific shoreline
*Earn SCUBA certification in Belize
The Costa Rica/Belize community service program is offered June 19, 2013, through July 2, 2013. A second session is offered July 6, 2013, through July 19, 2013. The cost is $3,495, airfare not included.
The Thailand community service trip begins in Bangkok, Thailand. For 23 days, teens will explore places of interest in Thailand and challenge themselves to reach heights never before achieved. Highlights of the trip include:
*A trek to visit the Hill People of Thailand
*Teaching English to local children
*An up-close and personal visit with elephants
*Earning SCUBA certification
*Rock climbing at Krabi Beach
The Thailand summer camp is offered for teens in10th grade and up and will be held July 7, 2013 through July 29, 2013. The cost is $4,995, airfare not included.
Parents or guardians are encouraged to contact Moondance Adventures and visit their website at moondanceadventures.com to learn more about these and other exciting adventure destinations for their teens.
About Moondance Adventures:
Founded by Hayes Hitchens in 1996, Moondance Adventures is a teen adventure travel program offering a wide variety of 13-23 day experiences including community service and wilderness-based leadership opportunities. Headquartered in Asheville, NC, Moondance offers 17 co-ed, non competitive teen summer adventure camps/programs for teenagers ages 12-18. Moondance provides fun, education and character-building with each program’s curriculum. Moondance has been conducting unique teen summer adventures in many of the finest teen adventure travel areas in the world with courses offered in Africa, Central America, Europe, North America and South America.

domain: travel


When the 2010s come to a close at the end of December, Indians can look back on the second decade of the new millennium with fond memories and a sense of pride. Never before did India haul in such a significant barrow of medals nor did its athletes garner such widespread acclaim.
We look back at some of the standout achievements of Indian athletes in the last ten years that had far-reaching effects in the further popularisation of sporting interest in the country.
PV Sindhu conquers the world
Two years after she was denied gold at the 2017 Badminton World Championship by Nozomi Okuhara in Glasgow — a 110-minute slugfest that is widely regarded as one of the greatest battles in badminton history — Indian badminton player PV Sindhu turned the tables with a decisive victory over her Japanese rival in Basel in 2019.
While it may not have been as riveting or intense a match as the one from 2017, given that Sindhu's effortless 21-7, 21-7 victory only took 38 minutes to clinch, the significance of the achievement was immense nonetheless. Apart from being the ultimate validation of Sindhu's proficiency in badminton, it was the first time a player from India had ever clinched gold at the prestigious tournament.
Kumar and Dutt’s glorious grapple
The 2012 edition of the Olympic Games in London was a pivotal one for India, for her athletes brought home a record haul of six medals. Among those were Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar's silver, after having bagged bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games, in Beijing.
To add to his achievement, Kumar’s close friend and fellow Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt bagged bronze to round out a defining moment for Indian wrestling.
At the time, they became the only two Indian wrestlers to have won medals for at the Olympic Games since the pioneering KD Jadhav bagged independent India’s very first Olympic medal in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, leading to a revival in popularity of the sport in the country and inspiring the likes of 2016 Summer Olympic bronze-medallist Sakshi Malik.
The future of Indian wrestling continues to look bright, with Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat expected to lead from the front at Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Nicknamed ‘Magnificent Mary’ and also having roads named after her, wrestler Mary Kom is one of the most prolific sportspersons India has ever produced.
Her achievements in boxing are too numerous to list down but her bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London — where women’s boxing was featured as an Olympic sport for the first time ever — was a landmark achievement that made her a household name, and even inspired the Priyanka Chopra-starrer bearing her namesake.
What further ingrained Kom’s popularity and influence into the fabric of Indian society, especially among women, was the relatability to the fact that she was a mother who was successfully juggling her family and sporting career at the same time.
While she missed out on the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Kom is training hard for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Shuttling to success
Also part of the Indian success story at the 2012 Olympic Games in London was Saina Nehwal winning bronze, making her the first Indian badminton player to win an Olympic medal.
Until then, despite having some ace badminton players like Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand in its arsenal, India had failed to make any significant strides in badminton, particularly where the Olympics were concerned.
Her achievement infused a renewed popularity into Indian badminton, which continues to bubble to this day to where we might even see a new star emerge as we head into the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
A new hope for India
India's fortunes in track and field had left something to be desired for the longest time. Not since the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, after a mere 1/100ths of a second denied the legendary PT Usha bronze in the women's 400m hurdles, had India had a contender that was truly worthy.
That's the void Haryana's Neeraj Chopra seems destined to fill, after the then 19-year-old's 86.48m javelin throw at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships in Poland set a junior world record.
To understand the magnitude of his effort, his throw would have netted him a bronze at the Rio Olympics that year, given that Keshorn Walcott's bronze-clinching throw at the 2016 Olympic Games was 85.38m.
Currently recuperating from a shoulder injury, the 21-year-old remains one of the top medal hopefuls for India at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
As we look ahead to the next decade, the achievements of these athletes promises to spur on exponential growth of interest and influence to hopefully bring even more world-class athletes to the fore and contending for medals on the world stage.
There's certainly a lot to look forward to when it comes to the sporting scene in India. The groundwork laid down by these stellar athletes will be no doubt be carried onward and upward by the stars that will emerge over the next 10 years, inspired by the likes of Nehwal, Kom, et all.


for the First time since the end of the aid program for Greece, the Finance Ministers of the Euro-zone concrete Debt have approved relief for the Mediterranean country. Firstly, the Transfer of the interest of the European win Central Bank (ECB) and national Central banks from Greek bonds. In addition, the creditors want to dispense with previously planned increases of interest rates for the loans from the second bailout package.
Greece is Relieved, therefore, to the amount of 640 million euros from interest-rate win with Greek state bonds and by avoiding increases in interest rates for current loans in the amount of 330 million euros, as Euro group chief Mário Centeno said after a Meeting in Bucharest.
This relief, the Euro countries had committed to the country for the time after the auxiliary program. The Euro partners and the International monetary Fund (IMF) had not saved the debt-stricken Greece in 2010, loans of a total of almost 257 billion euros multiple times before the state is bankrupt because the country was credit worthy. In August 2018, the third credit program ended, the state budget is now stable again. In March, the government in Athens was for the first time in a ten-year government bond – a long-running credit.
The payments were supposed to start months ago. But this was delayed by the lack of reforms that Greece had until the end of the year 2018.