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The Tubes CB0024
This CD is made up of three compositions: Sevan, The Tubes, and Coimbra 4, Mundi Theatre.
Sevan is built from a recording of Armenian musician Parik Nazarian’s vocalizations in massive pipes near the shore of Lake Sevan, Armenia. It explores resonance, echoes, and voice properties.
The Tubes weaves together the breath-like sounds of the Atlantic Ocean as it strikes tubular volcanic rock formations on the Island of El Hierro (the westermost of the Canary Islands) with the breathy tones of Jon Hassell’s trumpet and Mark Atkin’s didgeridoo, creating a starkly beautiful study of breath patterns and the sounds of air in tubes. (The Tubes was mixed by composer/producer Michael Hoenig.)
Coimbra 4, Mundi Theatre is a bright, colorful soundscape of the Portuguese city Coimbra during a recent music festival/spectacle that involved most of the townspeople as participants.
Michael Fahres, who studied composition with Louis Andriessen and Ton de Leeuw, is a composer whose recent work has been devoted to electro-acoustic soundscapes. He also is an award-winning producer for Dutch radio and television—NPS, VPRO, NPS. He has been director of the CEM electronic studio, director of the “European Minimal Music Project,” festival programmer for “Soundscapes be(for)e 2000” and other international music events. Previous recordings of his music have been released on the ECM, Trikont, and Goethe Institute labels.
Mark Atkins is an Australian Aboriginal musician known for his skill on the didgeridoo, a traditional instrument. He is also a storyteller, songwriter, composer and painter. He descends from the Yamitji people of Western Australia. He was the 1990 winner of the Golden Didjeridu competition. He has worked with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Hothouse Flowers, Philip Glass, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, among others.
Jon Hassell, composer/trumpeter, is generally credited with creating “fourth world” music, a hybrid of Eastern and Western styles of composed and improvised music. Since 1977, he has recorded a dozen category-defying solo albums that have been so influential that many of their innovations have become woven anonymously into the texture of contemporary music, high and low. After collaborations with Hassell, such pop-based innovators as Brian Eno and Peter Gabriel steered the fourth world idea into the avant-pop sphere, where it has morphed into myriad forms. Hassell’s theatrical scores include Sulla Strada, created for the Venice Biennial, and Zangezi, directed by Peter Sellars. He has done dance works for Merce Cunningham and the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. The Kronos Quartet commissioned and recorded his Pano da Costa. A contributor of music to many film and TV projects, in Wim Wenders’ film The Million Dollar Hotel, Hassell played both onscreen and offscreen musical roles. Hassell has recorded for the ECM. Warner Bros., Capital, Elektra, Lovely, Tomato, Water Lily Acoustics, Edition E.G., Sub Rosa, Virgin, Intuition, and Materiali Sonori labels. He may also be heard on an earlier CD on the Cold Blue label, Rick Cox’s Maria Falling Away (CB0006).
Michael Hoenig, a former member of the group Tangerine Dream, is an Emmy-winning film and TV composer.
Parik Nazarian, is a popular singer of traditional Armenian music. In 2000, the U.S.-based Armenian Music Awards nominated her as Best Female Vocalist, and nominated her first album, The Cycle of Life, as Best Traditional Album.
“I was transfixed by the haunting sounds and the poetic pacing of Fahres’ music on this CD. Rather than the sound floating through the room, it was as if I was floating in the sound.” —Morton Subotnick
“Fahres is skillful in creating drama and blending the recorded materials into intriguing, musically satisfying soundscapes. The Tubes, which lasts over 30 minutes, is an especially impressive achievement.” —Stephen Edins, All-Music Guide
“The Tubes is an exceptionally well-composed album, comprising very well-thought out concepts that have been delivered in an utmost ingenious and abstract way.” —Unknown Public (where it was a “favorite releases of the week” pick)
“The Tubes will appeal to devotees of the more ‘environmental’ side of Ingram Marshall’s oeuvre (Alcatraz and Fog Tropes), though Fahres pushes the album’s material even further into electro-acoustic abstraction than does Marshall. The opener, Sevan, presents Parik Nazarian’s haunting vocalizations as recorded in massive pipes near the shore of Lake Sevan, Armenia. Heard over a pulsating hum, her singing resembles phantoms calling to one another, and consequently the piece is best heard with headphones in order to appreciate the voices’ spatial positioning. Sevan is bookended by Coimbra 4, Mundi Theatre, a vibrant soundscape of a citywide festival in Portugal, that weaves bright trumpet fanfares Tavener-styled choral singing, bells, and voices into a collage-styled work—Fahres calls it a ‘geophony’—that’s similar in style to recent works by Janek Schaefer. It’s the title piece, however, that’s most striking. At El Hierro, the westernmost Canary Island, Fahres recorded the sound of the ocean’s ‘breathing,’ an effect created when water pushes its way into underground tubes of volcanic rock and forces its way upward into fountains through holes and cracks; throughout the half-hour meditation, the ocean sounds do in fact suggest the amplified exhalations of a sleeping giant, though sometimes the waves’ roar violently escalates to a viscous lash. Fahres found the ideal interpreters in trumpeter Jon Hassell and didgeridoo player Mark Atkins as the two merge at times indissolubly with the ocean sounds. Hassell’s breathy smears and Atkins’ guttural tones alternate like primitive creatures’ mating calls. In essence, The Tubes unfolds as a remarkable three-way dialogue between the didgeridoo’s croak, the waves’ relentless surge, and Hassell’s explorations.… [A] compelling addition to Cold Blue’s catalogue.” —Ron Schepper, Signal to Noise magazine
“The three compositions on this disc form a little travelogue, beginning in Armenia and ending in Portugal.… This is the kind of recording that lets you get wondrously lost in someone else’s sound world.… Coimbra 4, Mundi Theatre…is absolutely compelling, and stands squarely with the best of musique concrète.… a wonderful counterpoint to the preceding material. It brings the disc to a stirring close and leaves the listener wanting much, much more.” —Joe Drew, Sequenza21
“The three pieces by composer Michael Fahres collected here are each constructed from sounds—and sound environments—unique to specific places. Such specificity of sonic geography, however, seems to lead both composer and listener on a far-reaching journey, from precise locus to something more imaginative and adventurous…. Two shorter pieces bookend the 30 minute-long title piece. Sevan features Armenian singer Parik Nazarian performing within the deep reverberant spaces of large, rusted and abandoned irrigation tubes designed to help clean and restore Armenia’s ecologically besieged Lake Sevan. The hollow echoes, and Fahre’s multi-tracking and processing, produce a cloud-like choir of saturated hues that seems rooted in the Armenian liturgical vocal tradition and blends mysteriously with the nearby sounds of industrial stone-cutting. In Coimbra 4, Mundi Theater, the most recent piece here, Fahres collages source tapes from a festival that took place within the ancient stone-walled Portuguese city of Coimbra, creating what he describes as “a non-location-specific sound map.” Again, the human voice, both choral and solo, is of central concern; and again, the way sound—voices, horns, percussion, pure noise—behaves to saturate enclosed-yet-large and reverberant space is crucial both to the composer’s expression and the way he manipulates his raw material…. Fahres has been at work on this disc’s central piece, The Tubes, since 1994, and it is a powerful work indeed. The generative sounds are of ocean water roaring through volcanic sea-caves in the Canary Islands. Hissing and foaming, the water-sounds are arranged to form rhythmic cycles of awe-inspiring white noise. The sense of in-take and out-flow suggests breath, and Fahres accentuates this with the addition of Mark Atkins’s pulsing didgeridoo and Jon Hassell’s slower-breathing, overtone-rich trumpet…. Faced with the larger scale of The Tubes, one can perhaps best appreciate Fahres’s depth as a composer: He works with motifs and patterns in ways that indicate a profound grasp of formal structure and a wonderfully subtle mastery of thematic development. (In this his approach harkens back quite clearly to that of the ‘classical’ electronic composer Vladimir Ussachevsky.) One can find pure sensory evocation of sonic spaces within Fahres’ music and be quite satisfied. Available to deeper apprehension however, and at least equally compelling, is the composer’s command of shape and proportion in the arranging of sound and its environment into art.” —Kevin Macneil Brown, Dusted magazine
“The three works on this CD are portraits of three different regions of the world–electro-acoustic landscapes, if you will…. [T]he longest of the three is The Tubes, which (I assume) refers to the tube-like rock formations created as lava spilled into the ocean surrounding El Hierro, the most western of the Canary Islands. The Tubes, pervaded by the sound of the ocean itself, is a figurative expedition in sound around El Hierro. Jon Hassell’s signature breathy trumpet and Mark Atkins’s didgeridoo, the Australian wind instrument developed by the aboriginal peoples of the northern part of that continent, both are, in essence, tubes, and so they serve as atmospheric metaphors for the lava formations on El Hierro. Hearing this work, one knows how the fish feel, never having to come up for air. Very nice. This version of The Tubes (from 2003) was mixed by Michael Hoenig, formerly of Tangerine Dream.… Sevan (2000/03) includes the haunting voice of Armenian singer Parik Nazarian, vocalizing in large empty pipes that were discarded around the shores of that eponymous lake after the Soviet Union relinquished control over Armenia. The work also includes the processed singing of an Armenian choir, and the sound of stone cutting and polishing. In this particular work, Fahres’s techniques and electroacoustic landscaping are reminiscent of earlier compositions by Paul Dresher and Ingram Marshall.… Coimbra 4, Music Theatre is based on a ‘sound spectacle’ that occurred in the Portuguese city of Coimbra in 2003. Together, Portuguese composer Carlos Alberto Augusto and Canadian composer R. Murray Schaefer mobilized some 1,700 musicians or sound-makers for a one-of-a-kind event, which was called ‘Coimbra Vibra!’ Fahres took sound documents from that event, and made his own work out of them, innocent of any first-hand experience of the event itself. ‘Coimbra’s “geophony,”‘ writes Fahres, ‘was projected onto a non-location-specific sound map. It no longer had anything to with Portugal. If it has any geographic connection, it is with my composing environment, Utrecht.’ Coimbra 4, Music Theatre is a sound-collage of events both large and small. It marks Fahres’s skill as a composer that the results sound neither haphazard nor lacking in context, but robust and inevitable, and quite viable outside of the milieu that produced the source materials.” —Raymond Tuttle, Classical.net
“On the title track of this fascinating album, Fahres recorded the acoustic effect of the rock tube formations on El Hierro: a breathing sound created by waves forcing air through the volcanic rocks. Mixed with Jon Hassell’s breathy trumpet playing and Mark Atkins’ haunting didgeridoo, this piece is an ode to the breath of life itself…” —Peter van Cooten, Sound Is Audible Time (The Netherlands)
“Dutch composer Michael Fahres presents three gorgeous examples of his compositional skill, illuminated by a responsive ear which allows him to translate a simple idea—or a few of them—into music that makes us dream at first, then also think hard about the gifts provided by life.… Armenian singer Parik Nazarian lends her voice in Sevan, a haunting piece.… Nazarian’s voice evokes ghosts of lost memories.… The long title track is mostly based on the breathing quality of the ocean water pressed into the underground caves of El Hierro (Canary Islands); the roaring hiss and the wash of the waters are complemented by didjeridoo and trumpet—by Mark Atkins and Jon Hassell—adding further hues of impressive power…putting us in touch with an essential force of nature that owns probably the most beautiful voice on the earth. Coimbra 4, Mundi Theatre…is a splendid specimen of modern ‘acousmatics,’ a grouping of field recordings, crying children, sacred choirs and what sounds like a funeral held in an underwater cathedral—possibly the very best moment of an already excellent album that establishes Fahres among the elects in the contemporary electroacoustic field. —Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes (Italy)
“Fahres’s The Tubes is a tremendously dense listening experience. The ear tends to become so fused to the environmental ambience created that only further listens can attempt to unravel the enormous nuance layered beneath the obvious sonic discourse. Unlike bedroom ambient dronecrones who must fictionalize their tableaux, Fahres draws his sounds from direct interaction between his chosen ‘scapes and their indigenous fauna. Sacred tones all, these recordings are poster children for how to design beauteous sonics that reflect the proper amount of stylized classical sheen without becoming blinded by the light. Both Sevan and Coimbra 4, Mundi Theatre juxtapose voices stretched tautly across timbral planes by gossamer-like strands of tube-blown wind and hushed magisterial cadences. But it is the mammoth, 30-minute title track that comprises the recording’s centerpiece. Awesome in its scope yet minimal in its undertaking, The Tubes reverberates along breathtaking gulfs of oceanic drift, augmented by trumpeter Jon Hassell’s singularities and Mark Atkin’s psychedelic didgeridoo palpitations. As an exercise in maintaining a lively, lovely, pristine soundspace that literally congeals and ovulates during its lifespan, this half-hour magnum opus has few parallels; for full-on, enveloping atmospherica, it’s positively riveting.” Darren Bergstein, e/i magazine
“For Sevan, Fahres utilized the voice of Parik Nazarian. Lake Sevan is actually a lake in Armenia where many metal pipes were left behind from the Soviet occupation. Fahres used one of these pipes as the basis for his piece. The sound it produces is hollow, yet full. It sounds industrial, yet retains a gentle, lulling quality about it. Nazarian’s voice is as tranquil as it is disturbing. As she sings a motif throughout the piece, you hear it not as one voice but a full choral section. Coimbra 4, Mundi Theatre was recorded in the Portuguese town of Coimbra. It’s centered around the Coimbra Vibra! which was a sound spectacle organized by Carlos Alberto Augusto and Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer. The event involved more than 1,700 musicians and sound-makers who performed throughout the town.… The composer basically listened to the tapes of the actual event, then took the most representative music and built his own interpretation.… The whole piece works quite well not so much as a documentary but as a collage of pure sound. The bulk of the CD is taken up by the title track. The Tubes features sounds of waves crashing on the rocky shores of the El Hierro in the Canary Islands, along with sounds of seagulls. You can hear the gusting winds and a gathering storm slowly building. The apex of the piece features [trumpeter] Jon Hassell doing some very translucent and soothing work, along with Mark Atkins playing the warbling didgeridoo. As the sounds build up, the waves intensify and the sound gets rather harsh, spelling danger ahead. After the climax, the piece falls back to its liquid state, with the didgeridoo growing ever so faint. An excellent release all around, if only to show the variety of talents of this often overlooked composer.—Tom Sekowski, Gaz-Eta (Poland)
“Jon Hassell is featured on The Tubes, the latest and quite inspired album by Michael Fahres, who has been a master of mixing since his first record Pianoharfe, released by ECM in 1985. On this Cold Blue Music release, he treats the voice of Armenian singer Parik Nazarian, lets Hassell’s instrument sound in harmony with the wind blowing over the Canary Islands, and recreates a magical ‘geophony’ (his term) from a colorful and slightly melancholy procession recorded in Coimbra, Portugal.” —Classica Repertoire (France)
“The sound sources for these fascinating works were recorded in exotic locations, then so electronically altered as to be almost unrecognizable.… Sevan is eerie and mournful and sounds something like Eastern-European choral folk singing accompanied by strange sound effects.… The sound of waves shooting through volcanic formations in the Canary Islands is the primary source material for The Tubes. Other sounds are contributed by trumpet player Jon Hassell and didgeridoo player Mark Atkins. As combined by the composer, this 31-minute work is mesmerizing.… The program ends with Coimbra 4, Mundi Theatre, a spectacular piece stemming from an event orchestrated by Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer in the Portugese town of Coimbra, where he had 1,700 men, women, and children singing, chanting, and playing various instruments. Into Fahres magic electronic engine—and into his imagination—goes the source material, and out comes yet another enthralling work.” —Barry Kilpatrick, American Record Guide
“Another Amazing CD from Cold Blue Music. Fahres’ recordings and manipulations of Parik Nazarian’s magical voice is almost transformative. Recorded with Nazarian singing into large abandoned pipes on the shore of Lake Sevan in Armenia, this is a stunning journey into a sonic feast of imagination. The second piece starts with the ominous distant roar of waves filtered through a maze of caves and tunnels in the Carary Islands, to which is added the gentle breath of Jon Hassell’s distinctive trumpet.… All in all, a beautiful and interesting approach to soundscape composition.” —Randy Raine-Reusch, Musicworks (Canada)
“Three airy pieces related to tubes and natural environments.… Sevan…here it is as if a voice is trapped in different focuses…. [A]n interesting piece with voice layers and lots of airy movements.… An impressive piece which describes in a composition something of the life of a certain place, a focus Michael Fahres describes as ‘geophony.’… The second site is the windy corner of the island El Hierro in the Canaries. Also here windy and rocky waterline shows tensions of windy pressure between the rocks, driven by the rhythms of the sea. This environment is the basis of an improvisation with the additions of trumpet by Jon Hassell and didgeridoo by Mark Atkins, both known for their instruments’ descriptive style with its own spaces, holes, and breathing winds. This piece is more simple…and it takes a bit time to develop further but it becomes something else in the end, an enriched space with three layers, ending in a more humanoid breathing.… Last piece is something different. Inspired by a spectacle in Portugal (Coimbra Vibra), Michael Fahres recreated accidental interactions between choir, sounds, trumpets, echoing sounds in the environment, children voices and the mixing process itself keeping a sound hanging electrically in the air. Also this one has a breathing depth, to a degree in a more frightening way.” —Gerald Van Waes, Psychefolk (Belgium)
“Cold Blue Music, a Californian record label that everyone enjoying contemporary ambient/electronic/minimalism should follow closely, is about to release a CD called The Tubes by Michael Fahres. On the title track of this fascinating album, Fahres recorded the acoustic effect of the rock tube formations on El Hierro: a breathing sound created by waves forcing air through the volcanic rocks. Mixed with Jon Hassell’s breathy trumpet playing and Mark Atkins’ haunting didgeridoo, this piece is an ode to the breath of life itself.… Stylistically, this is nothing like the more recent Jon Hassell releases (like Fascinoma or Maarifa Street). It’s even more abstract than the Fourth World music releases from the early eighties. If you múst compare it to earlier work, Vernal Equinox comes to mind—but without the rhythm instruments. But remember: this is not a ‘Jon Hassell’ CD—it’s a Michael Fahres CD. And an impressive one, too. The Tubes is produced by Michael Hoenig.”—Ambientblog
“Highly imaginative atmospheres, experimental.” —Aurelio Cianciotta, Neural (Italy)


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The time period Behavioral Overall health was coined pretty much 40 decades back. Having said that, over time, the that means of this term has advanced. Most individuals use behavioral well being as a synonym for mental health and fitness, whilst there is a difference concerning the two.
Mental health and fitness discounts with a person’s psychological state or psychology but behavioral well being bargains with the routines a individual possesses, such as feeding on patterns, sleeping styles, the life-style selections they make. and so on. If a particular person struggles with a mental overall health challenge, it can be comorbid with behavioral health difficulties and actual physical health issues. According to estimates, 70 per cent mental health difficulties exist in correlation with behavioral overall health problems. Thus behavioral wellbeing remedy facilities or expert services have turn into essential to overcome the sickness.
According to a examine, around 44 million men and women wrestle from mental wellbeing-related complications each year but only 40 per cent of these are ready to obtain therapy. There are quite a few good reasons that contribute to people not searching for help for psychological diseases. Whilst 60 p.c of the people today do not request remedy because of the associated social stigma, others do not seek out cure as they continue being undiagnosed, do not have the funds, deficiency the access to a reliable psychological overall health facility, or do not have credible behavioral wellbeing facilities in close proximity to them.
Behavioral Health Expert services
Behavioral overall health providers are not limited to mental well being treatment method programs. With its evolving scope, the vary of products and services available has only amplified. Some of these products and services involve:
- Psychological overall health counseling
- Household and relationship counseling
- Compound abuse therapy together with prevention, restoration and intervention
- Continual sickness administration
Being familiar with Behavioral Wellness
Behavioral overall health refers to the romance concerning everyday routines (superior and poor) and how they affect bodily and mental health and fitness. Preferably, superior practices (wholesome consuming, training, and sleep designs) lead to a balance between excellent bodily and mental health and fitness. On the opposite, lousy routines usually guide to bad actual physical and psychological wellbeing.
Based mostly on way of life decisions made, behavioral problems may possibly involve:
- Residing in unhygienic situations
- Ingesting condition
- Social isolation
- Snooze disorder (sleeping too less or much too significantly)
- Substance abuse together with drug, alcohol or chemical dependency
- Addictive actions this sort of as gambling, intercourse, compulsive shopping, and so on.
Why It Is So Challenging To Seek Procedure?
Most people today do not seek enable for behavioral diseases because they stay in denial. It is tough for them to accept that they have a problem. Some persons think that it is a option that they have created and thus it can’t be termed a problem. The reasons for not in search of cure can be myriad and diversified. Some of the other good reasons may perhaps consist of:
- Social Stigma and embarrassment
- Anxiety of having judged by culture
- Not currently being capable to recognize indicators proficiently
- Lack of trust and guidance
- Thoughts of loneliness and hopelessness
What Are The Rewards Of Searching for Therapy?
Behavioral overall health problems are elaborate and involve custom-made procedure, but it is difficult to persuade people to look for therapy. Nevertheless, understanding about the rewards of treatment can give the needed nudge to seek remedy. The advantages of searching for cure are as follows:
- Improves good quality of everyday living
- Combats mental ailment from its root
- Improves private and qualified relationships
- Lowers prospects of troubles primarily for habit-relevant difficulties
- Improves productivity
- Mitigates hazard of clinical concerns
What Are The Treatment Solutions Out there?
A treatment method prepare for behavioral well being ailment may possibly be a mix of the numerous therapies, the most crucial of which would be team remedy. Encouragement and assistance groups supply personal therapy that assists the affected individual realize by themselves and their objectives much better. Team remedy also presents sufferers with contacts of other folks who have or are going through related difficulties. Interacting with these people will help the affected person recognize that they are not by yourself. It also presents them with the required ethical assistance to get care of on their own and seek and keep on treatment method. On the other hand, the tailored treatment applications need an energy from multiple kinds of professionals. These experts may perhaps include things like:
Psychiatrists: These support vendors can deal with a huge vary of challenges. They offer with psychiatry on a variety of aspects these kinds of as adolescence challenges, childhood struggles, or material abuse. They prescribe medications to take care of behavioral wellbeing conditions.
Psychologists: These professionals have expertise in psychology consulting. This also consists of scientific psychology. They carry out diagnostic do the job and conduct psychotherapy to treat the patient’s situation.
Social workers: They support as a result of government run applications. They operate in a assortment of fields associated to young children psychological wellbeing, compound abuse, and mental overall health in the considerably less privileged modern society.
Licensed experienced counselors: These counselors usually specialize in managing patients with psychotherapy. These pros might concentration on unique parts of behavioral health, these types of as family members issues, compound abuse, and romance challenges.
Household procedure centers: These are inpatient treatment method facilities where by men and women are permitted to reside below 24/7 professional medical supervision. The people undergo a personalized procedure prepare as for every the severity and duration of the problem. These facilities supply a controlled atmosphere for the cure and combat relapse.
When To Seek Enable?
Behavioral health issues should really under no circumstances be undermined. They should be recognized at the earliest if not it will influence the patient’s partnership and productivity as they grow into grown ups. Behavioral abnormalities have impacted life. There are a lot of cure courses accessible to handle the condition.[ad_2]
Posting Source by Susan Navarez

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Hikes is a band from Austin TX that blends math-rock, prog, folk and jazz into a truly unique and bracing sound. Their songs are inspired by the outdoors, and each one is a soundscape on which they reflect their surroundings through pitter-patters of cascading guitar figures, rain-drop pick strokes, riverbed bass lines and the rushing rapids of drums.
Their songs are full of shifts in dynamic, from bombastic bursts of energy, to calming meditations and back, best exemplified by ‘Spring Forward’ and ‘Tinker Creek’ from their 2014 self-titled LP. On ‘Quilt’ from the same record, time-signatures and tempo change effortlessly as the song goes on, and the clean guitars morph into squalls of distortion and feedback as a chorus of “whoa-oh-oh’s” carry the song into a new dimension of bliss.
Their folk tendencies pop up in songs like ‘Shepherd’s Clock’ and ‘The River Song’ from 2013’s Friends, and as the years have gone on they’ve only improved at combining the different characteristics and aspects of their music into a greater, coalescing whole, like on ‘Onset’ from their most recent release, 2017’s Lilt EP, which also sees them cutting back on the 7-8 minute songs and streamlining their take on progressive math-rock and honing their sound into a razor-sharp point.
So if you like open-ended, technical, melodic, dynamic and most importantly, incredibly gorgeous music, give Hikes a listen. They’re not the first to take this approach to math-rock, but no one does it better than them, so for both fans of math-rock and potential converts to the genre, Hikes is the band for you.
Words: Ethan Schrupp | @ethanschrupp

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Kim Whitaker – Expert Advice to help your Business
I offer a range of services to help established businesses with their legal requirements. This can range from Commercial Contracts and Shareholder Agreements to Intellectual Property Licensing and Terms & Conditions. My services are broken down as follows and for more information on these areas please scroll down:
If you need to contact me to discuss the above please email or call me on 01763 246260.

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Many of us don’t give much thought to putting our PC or laptop into hibernate mode. After all, it’s an important capability of the machine, and Windows laptop manufacturers already include it as an integral spec. Hibernating was born out of the need to keep the computer on 24×7 without causing a drain on the battery or to ensure the system is immune to power failure, unlike the case with Sleep mode.
Questions do, however, arise. Does hibernation have a negative impact on the computer compared to a proper shutdown? How often should you be using the hibernate option? To answer these questions, there needs to be an understanding of how hibernation works, the kind of effect it has on PC performance, and whether it is unhealthy for your PC in the long run.
How Hibernate Mode Works
Hibernation refers to a power mode in your laptop or notebook (much less in the case of desktop PCs). This is designed to conserve power by saving any open contents to the storage disk, These are technically known as “non-volatile” storage media, as they are not prone to data loss.
The hibernate mode functions similar to a “shutdown/restart” because the laptop does not require constant power to restore data. Despite any potential power failure, you can be confident that the computing power will be recycled. Like a hibernating bear, this mode ensures the resources of the computer against unpredictable situations. Upon resumption, the device is in the exact same state you had left it before hibernating.
The hibernate mode can be understood in contrast to the “Sleep” mode where the laptop immediately switches to RAM and goes into low-power mode. As RAM is a “volatile” memory system, it can instantly power on the laptop or notebook without delay. The disadvantage is that it will continue to consume power because of RAM’s volatile nature. It cannot survive the data loss due to a power outage.
On the other hand, hibernating computers need more time to resume because they have to fetch the data from the hard drives (instead of RAM) and then write these values into RAM, making the whole process more time-consuming.
Enabling Hibernate Mode on Your PC or Laptop
The Hibernate mode is supported in all Windows versions. In Windows 10, it can easily be accessed from the Start menu followed by “Settings -> System -> Power & sleep -> Additional power settings.”
You can vary the Hibernate time in “Advanced Settings” from its default of 180 minutes on battery and 720 minutes in plug-in mode. A hybrid sleep mode can also be accessed from this menu.
The Mac Apple menu has only two options: sleep and shut down. You can find more details here on how to put your Mac’s display to sleep. A hibernate-like deep sleep option can be accessed from its
pmset settings in the Mac Terminal.
Ubuntu does not have Hibernate enabled as a default. However, a support for the feature can be tested using the
pm-hibernate command in the terminal and when power is critically low. It also has a hybrid suspend option which is similar to Hybrid sleep in Windows.
Impact of Hibernating Mode on PC Performance and System Health
Despite its energy-saving abilities, hibernate mode was previously believed to be damaging to hard disk performance over time. The verdict has somewhat changed in 2020, and today, you can use Hibernate mode much more casually without any negative impact.
But is it bad for the PC? The answer depends on what kind of hard disk you have. With a hard disk drive (HDD), It basically freezes all your PC actions and stores this state safely on your hard disk in a enormous hibernation file, called hiberfil.sys in Windows systems.
In HDD, that hiberfil.sys size can get close to your system’s RAM, as at least that much space has to be copied to the hard disk for your open files (75 percent of your RAM is allocated). Depending on how many apps you have running, the more RAM you have (16 GB), the more data that will be automatically copied to the hard disk.
However, the benefit is that less power of the laptop is consumed. Essentially, the decision to hibernate in HDD is a trade-off between power conservation and hard-disk performance drop over time.
For those who have a solid state drive (SSD) laptop, however, hibernate mode has little negative impact. As it has no moving parts like a traditional HDD, nothing breaks. Thus, due to the fact that SSD is known for its longevity, your system does not undergo the wear and tear you normally experience with HDD.
How Often Should You Hibernate Then?
We have discussed above that hibernating mode has much less impact with SSD compared to HDD computers. That said, even modern HDD systems are robust enough to withstand hibernation “occasionally.” It will not cause a noticeable performance drop if you do it once a week or so. With these systems, you should hibernate only based on need. For example, when you are away from your computer 12 to 24 hours and have to resume everything without shutdowns or restarts. At other times, it is always better to go for a complete and proper shutdown.
With SSD systems, you can afford to be more relaxed, as it just writes the last state to the drive and powers off smoothly. It won’t take as long to hibernate the PC and wake it up. There is one small disadvantage of hibernate mode, even with SSD, in that the PC’s settings don’t regularly get restored as they always do when a PC is shut down and restarted in a proper way.
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text:
On the heels of passing sweeping gun control legislation, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is pushing the envelope once again -- this time with a call for an abortion bill that opponents say would effectively allow late-term abortion "on demand."
Pro-life organizations and religious groups are beginning to rally against the proposal, after Cuomo declared in his Jan. 9 State of the State address that he wanted to enact a so-called "Reproductive Health Act" as part of a 10-point plan to advance "women's equality."
The governor did not dive into specifics in his address, but he is expected to push for provisions similar to those in a bill introduced by Democratic state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
That bill contains language that would allow abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy if it is "necessary to protect a woman's health" -- that exception is different from one protecting a woman's life and one critics say can be broadly interpreted.
Stewart-Cousins on Tuesday urged her colleagues to bring the "crucial legislation" to the floor "as soon as possible."
She said in a statement it would "ensure that regardless of what takes place on the national level, a woman's right to choose will always be protected in New York State."
But the New York State Catholic Conference earlier this month described the plan as "radical." Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, wrote in a letter to Cuomo that given New York state's high abortion rate, "I am hard pressed to think of a piece of legislation that is less needed or more harmful than this one."
The conference issued a breakdown of the bill that declared it would "permit unlimited late-term abortion on demand."
The group said the "health" exception has been "broadly interpreted by the courts to include age, economic, social and emotional factors."
"It is an exception that will allow more third-trimester abortions in New York state," the group said.
Further, the conference took issue with language that would allow a "licensed health care practitioner" to perform abortions, complaining it would allow non-doctors to do the procedure. And the bill includes language to establish a "fundamental right" of women to determine the course of pregnancy, "which includes the right to carry a pregnancy to term or to terminate a pregnancy" -- the conference claims this would "preclude" certain regulation in the future.
Pro-life Democrats have likewise raised concern. Democrats for Life of America called it "the most sweeping abortion legislation in the nation" and "out of touch with the views of most Americans."
But New York Senate Democratic officials argue that the bill merely treats abortion as a "public health" issue rather than a criminal matter. As for the claim that it lets "non-doctors" perform abortions, they note that the bill still requires practitioners to have the proper training to perform the procedure or else face criminal punishment under state law.
The debate comes as pro-life advocates prepare to head to Washington this Friday for the annual March for Life. Tuesday also marked the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court's historic Roe v. Wade decision -- an anniversary pro-life groups have used as a rallying point to press for stronger abortion restrictions.
Abortion rights supporters likewise marked the occasion.
The White House released a statement Tuesday saying: "On the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we reaffirm its historic commitment to protect the health and reproductive freedom of women across this country and stand by its guiding principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters, and women should be able to make their own choices about their bodies and their health care."
Cuomo had included the abortion bill as part of a broader 10-point plan he described as a "Women's Equality Act."
In his speech, he called for new laws addressing equal pay, human trafficking and domestic violence, among other issues. On abortion, he said: "Protect a woman's freedom of choice. Enact a Reproductive Health Act, because it is her body, it is her choice."
Kathleen Gallagher, director of pro-life activities for the New York State Catholic Conference, told FoxNews.com that while abortion remains controversial in the state, Cuomo could try to improve the odds of the bill passing by bundling it with the other nine provisions.

domain: sociology


text:
White Modern Desk SMILE V2
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You will love the modern SMILE V2 desk. Practical, made of painted, matte-finish plywood, it has three storage spaces for papes and other office supplies. Its minimalist, sleek lines make it the perfect desk for an office or a child's bedroom. No doubt our SMILE V2 modern desk will be great for all family members!
- Material: Painted birch, matte finish
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- Tabletop dimensions: W31.5" x D13.78" x H27.56"
- Compartment dimensions: Center: W11.61" x D5.51" x H6.3", Sides: W9.45" x D5.51" x H6.3"
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- Package dimensions: W39.37" x D22.05" x H11.42"
Simply use a soft cloth. Be careful not to use a rough or abrasive cloth or sponge, which might scratch the surface. Do not use corrosive household products.


text:
As the Games fade, questions linger
The torch has been extinguished, the mass exodus from Beijing has begun and all that remains of the 2008 Olympics are the memories, the DVDs and questions. Lots of questions:
Will we ever believe NBC again when we are told something is live?
With blockbuster Olympic ratings to bolster its case, will NBC extend its tape-delay policy to next year’s Super Bowl and show it at 8 p.m. on the West Coast?
If prime time is so important, why did NBC break its own rule and show the men’s basketball gold-medal game -- U.S. versus Spain -- live at 2:30 a.m. on the East Coast?
Given that tape delay isn’t going away, couldn’t NBC at least have made the order of events more user-friendly to those who have to go work in the morning and shown the women’s all-around gymnastics title first at 8 p.m. instead of last, stretching until almost 1 a.m.?
Debbie Phelps, Michael’s mother, we get, but do we really need to know about Herman, his dog?
NBC has signed deals to show the 2009 world swimming championships and the U.S. national championships for the next three years. Will anybody watch?
Since Kobe is so popular in China, why not build a 50-foot statue of him like the one of Shaq that towers over a Beijing park?
How long before an NBA owner circles Mike Krzyzewski with an armored car full of money?
How long before an NFL team tries to sign Usain Bolt as a wide receiver?
How come Jerry Colangelo could never do for the Phoenix Suns what he did for USA Basketball?
Is there any sport that leaves Bob Costas speechless?
Is there any athlete Cris Collinsworth doesn’t gush over?
Costas asked Mark Spitz everything except the one question most viewers were curious about. How did he feel about not being invited to the Olympics?
Can we finally retire the cliche, “They will win a medal -- they just don’t know which color”?
If softball was eliminated from the Games because of U.S. domination, does the defeat of the American squad provide an opening to bring it back?
If U.S. domination is the standard, will swimming now be banned?
IOC President Jacques Rogge told Costas softball was removed from the Games partly because of U.S. domination and partly because the sport suffered from being linked to baseball in the minds of some IOC officials in terms of steroid abuse. Rogge, however, then said the IOC would look more favorably on baseball if major league stars participated in the Olympics. Huh? Wouldn’t that increase the possibility of steroid abuse and the likelihood of U.S. domination?
Would beach volleyball be as popular if Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh were required to wear sweat suits?
Would fencing be more popular if the competitors were allowed to dress like the beach volleyballers?
Why didn’t U.S. baseball Coach Davey Johnson show the same fire for the game he demonstrated in Beijing when he was managing the Dodgers?
Shouldn’t Doug Collins’ performance as an analyst be required viewing for all future athletes yearning to get behind the mike?
Shouldn’t Bela Karolyi’s performance also be required viewing as a prime example of those who shouldn’t be allowed behind the mike?
Is there a better track analyst than Ato Boldon?
Will Olympic boxing -- the sport of Cassius Clay, Sugar Ray Leonard and Oscar De La Hoya -- ever battle its way back into prime time?
Isn’t it a relief to go back to reading the sports headlines across the bottom of the screen on ESPN and other non-Olympic stations during the day without worrying about ruining the tape-delayed, prime-time hours?
Is ESPN still in business?
How many days until Whistler?

domain: sports


SpeedNews Defense & Space
IACIT opened a maintenance facility in Brazil to maintain ELTA airborne radars in support of Brazilian army/navy. CASCADE AEROSPACE delivered the 100th CC-130 Hercules to Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), following scheduled maintenance. CAE booked new defense contracts to provide C-130J-training...
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On many levels people (scientists, experts, powerbrokers of many sorts) consider that economy is nothing more than “transformed energy”. One could agree indeed that any economic output has to be fuelled at some point by one kind of energy – whether this energy is carbon based, renewable or dispensed from a brain burning calories to function. However, perhaps, this adage reaches its full potential when put into perspective with what trains brought to the human civilization and what they allowed to accomplish in terms of economic development, communication, convenience etc. while simply burning coal and being propelled on tracks from this simple combustion. Writing, the wheel, the printing press, the lightbulb, nuclear fission, the internet… The train deserves its place in the hall of fame of the inventions that shaped the world into what it is today.
But what moves these trains? What put them into motion from behemoth like masses of metal into fast moving (yet comfortable!) objects of transportation? At this very moment where energy is perhaps the most discussed topic on the planet, in the forthcoming of potential shortages, very likely exponential speculations and inevitable rising demands facing unsecured supplies, let’s take a moment to go back in time, to take a closer look at what forms of energy have been fuelling trains all over the world, from this first and moving entrance in the town of Darlington in the year of our lord 1825 to today’s web of metropolitans and mysterious “sky trains”…
In the beginning was the elbow grease
We could realistically skip the first train energy ever used as it probably was not a “true” form of energy but just unlucky labourers pushing up and down these iconic and old west types of hand-lever draisine handcar. The reason why we mention them though is not to only to provide an exhaustive list of various energy used to power up trains (as one would argue and as we said it already, sweating is not a reliable source of energy) but because it made possible, partially at least, the next and real source of energy: in truth, these handcars were mostly used to carry coal out of mines – the very coal which would then be used to produce steam and move trains with a bit more pace than sweat allowed.
Before coal phase-out there was… coal!
It’s not a secret, the first trains were fuelled by the most widely used source of energy which was the quintessential fossil fuel that is coal. While it has become the enemy of modern civilizations, coal has been an essential asset in human development by providing heat, energy, enriching metal and alloys and taking many societies from the rural and agricultural world they were in into urban and industrial megacities. While there was undeniable collateral damages in the process (and as a matter of fact, still are), just because we don’t want to use coal anymore we shouldn’t ban it from history. Facts are stubborn! And coal was the dedicated train propellant from the very first piston engine invented by Scotsman James Watt [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Watt] until roughly the 1930’s. It is worth to note that the abandon of coal for another source of energy didn’t happen overnight and took a good 30 years. Also important to know: coal trains are trains assigned to carrying coal (typically in the American northwest) and can often reach 2 or even 3 kilometers long (with sometimes more than 150 wagons!) – the first trains powered by coal were actually set in motion by steam, produced by the combustion of coal.
The electrickery of energy you can’t see…
You can’t really see it unless you’re doing something with it you shouldn’t be doing. You can’t really smell it, hear it, touch it (and neither should you! by all means), store it, taste it… You can’t do much with it as it seems, but at the same you can’t do anything without it. This isn’t a treacherous enigma, it is electricity. And electricity can be considered the second energy in the history of trains and their power source. Although you don’t harvest or mine electricity like coal and you do need another type of energy to produce it (as for example… coal!), electricity produced one way or the other, was widely used, and still is, to propel trains. We owe the miracle of electrical trains (and not the kind you can see drive around your miniature landscape in your garage) to another Scotsman kown as Robert Davidson which he came up with in 1837. While it could be surprising to those who have a hard time believing that so early in trains’ history our ancestors were already doing it according to nowadays energy standards (except for the coal burning plants that produced that electricity), just think of every western capital tramway or “tram” network, which fed electricity to their many engines from all these overhead lines and wires. And it also explains why back in the days, everybody wore hats: so much static in the city air had a tendency to puff up everyone’s hair and made them look like moving disco balls – this last statement might lack scientific and historic evidence.
Before it became a perfume, Diesel used to smell real bad and also move trains…
Next on the list of the undesirable, right below coal and even above raw oil, is diesel. Rarely the son of a known mischievous father will surpass his elder as diesel has with oil – from which it is derived. Smelly, greasy, polluting, treacherous – and the list goes on, diesel was nevertheless the replacement of choice which stored all steam engines in the museum. We know, our ancestors had a tendency to sacrifice almost everything on the altar of efficiency, and whether pollution or war were a byproduct of it didn’t seem to stop them. And efficiency it was! Diesel, from the name of a particularly crafty German engineer (Rudolf by his first name) would allow a much higher output for trains and the distance they could cover without having to refuel. Cheaper, faster, longer, and it was definitely enough for the diesel trains to be widely adopted. Although, an no offense to Herr Diesel, the conception of the diesel engine is largely based on an initial “petroleum engine” from an English inventor named William Priestman. Yet again, it appears that the United Kingdom participation to science and train engineering is infinite. If the replacement of steam trains by diesel engines in the US (where it happened before spreading to the rest of the world) really began in 1930 and until the 1960’s, the world’s first diesel train to be used commercially ran in Switzerland in 1912.
Two centuries of smoke & back to the cleanliness of sweat
Undeniably, a lot of coal was burned, a lot of diesel pumped, and an incommensurable amount of smoke produced since 1825. Finally it was in 2018 that the first clean energy train was introduced: back to where it all began when coal covered bearded miners were moving handcars in full harmony with nature. It is this time in Germany, a country fascinated by engineering and dedicated to the preservation of the environment that the first hydrogen train was introduced as a commercial passenger train. The Alstom Coradia Lint can be taken in Lower Saxony, a German “Länder” previously known for its hearty food, its farming, rural and peaceful living, and now its “Hydrail”, the first train to be responsible for zero carbon dioxide emission. Niedersachsen, a land of traditions which has an obvious knack for progress.
Since the 1960’s the world saw the introduction of the “High-speed” rail system (with a world record for the French TGV set at 547km/h!) it is important to mention that nowadays, most countries rely on both diesel and electric trains. And while electric trains emit by far the lowest amount of carbon dioxide among all public means of transportation (80 times less by passenger compared to a non electric car!) we cannot exclude the way this electricity was produced in the equation as if some methods of production are clean(er), some still count coal among them and one can’t stop considering that running electric trains on electricity produced by coal factories is a conundrum crying out loud for a logical alternative.
And last but not least… Magic! Or something actually called “neodymium”
Although they never shied away from roaring coal factories to supply their massive electricity production needs, the Chinese have also demonstrated a true gift for cutting edge technology which can also help reduce their impact on the environment. This real talent for science plus the fact that they sit on the worlds largest reserve of rare earths has allowed them to create the “Red Rail”, a very unique type of magnetic “sky train”. Originally, engineers realized that having trains up in the air connected to a magnetic rail system had two major advantages: first it limited the property and real estate needs that usual tracks require (and which in megapolis is always an issue) and also, because the force of friction of wheels on tracks basically disappeared (also due to the magnetic rail system), less energy was needed to propel the trains. Until now, these giant electromagnets would require quite a lot of energy to operate – which as in clean electrical trains powered by smokey coal factories seems paradoxical. And then, the Nd element, with atomic number 60, got on stage and stole the show: this element called neodymium allows for the existence of just as gigantic magnets that are known as “permanent magnets”. These do not need any energy and therefore, the train can be moved with far less energy than it normally would require, thus solving this conflictual absurdity once and for all.
Now, without the coal used to produce this energy in the first place, it looks like we’d have a real and winning system. And, given how exponentially faster progress happens, we probably will not have to wait another 200 years to see this happen, like the time it took to go from steam to hydrogen engines. At least, one would hope.


Facing a daunting budget deficit, Metra's board on Friday heard a proposal to increase fares for their passengers by approximately 28 percent on average.
Though the board did not agree to any specific rate increases Friday, its members acknowledged that a rate hike is inevitable given the agency's financial struggles, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Under the proposal, one-way Metra tickets would be roughly 17 percent more expensive, while ten-ride passes and monthly passes would cost 32 percent and 30 percent more, respectively.
In reference to his agency's financial status, Metra CEO Alex Clifford said that "never before in our history have we been faced with a challenge of this magnitude," according to the Daily Herald. He added that the details of the rate hike are still being ironed out.
In one piece of good news for Metra riders, the rate hikes will likely come in lieu of service cuts -- a decision in line with a rider survey the agency conducted this year, which reported that 34 percent of responding commuters would accept a 20 percent fare hike as long as few service cuts occurred concurrently. Still, 35 percent of respondents strongly opposed the same option.
As part of its recent attempts to battle a deficit that's expected to grow to $100 million by 2013, the Metra, along with the CTA and RTA, has suspended its "free ride" program for most 65-and-older passengers. Now only senior passengers who qualify as low-income are permitted to ride free of charge. The agency has also hired so-called "observers" to discreetly ride train lines and make sure that conductors are collecting fares from all passengers.
The proposed rake hikes will next be discussed during public budget hearings during the fall.
Photo by Sugar Sweet Sunshine via Flickr.
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text: When we find stillness within the water of our own emotions, we won’t feel carried away by the emotional state of others. The subconscious is always going to come to the surface. If we don’t know ourselves well enough to find stillness in the midst of the storm of our own emotions, peace and balance will remain foreign to us. Once we align ourselves with who we are, and we let go of the romantic idea of who we think we are, we will find stillness, we will grow in consciousness and creativity and inspiration will naturally flow from us. We will become connected to our own natural state and to nature all around. We will feel drawn to it. We will start relating to the world around us and find its beauty, its harmony. We will find the beauty in all relationships.

domain: artistic


text:
Functional-structural plant models that include detailed mechanistic representation of underlying physiological processes can be expensive to construct and the resulting models can also be extremely complicated. On the other hand, purely empirical models are not able to simulate plant adaptability and response to different conditions. In this paper, we present an intermediate approach to modelling plant function that can simulate plant response without requiring detailed knowledge of underlying physiology.Plant function is modelled using a 'canonical' modelling approach, which uses compartment models with flux functions of a standard mathematical form, while plant structure is modelled using L-systems.Two modelling examples are used to demonstrate that canonical modelling can be used in conjunction with L-systems to create functional-structural plant models where function is represented either in an accurate and descriptive way, or in a more mechanistic and explanatory way.We conclude that canonical modelling provides a useful, flexible and relatively simple approach to modelling plant function at an intermediate level of abstraction.
Renton, M., Hanan, J., & Burrage, K. (2005). Using the canonical modelling approach to simplify the simulation of function in functional-structural plant models. New Phytologist, 166(3), 845-857. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2005.01330.x

domain: biology


Job ID 17085
Experience 8 Years +
Qualifications Degree Bachelor
Role : IDAM Business Analysis
Exp: 6+ Years
Type of service: Implementation
- The IAM/IDAM BA would need to have experience in requirement gathering & access management of information systems.
- The candidate will be working as part of the Identity & Access Management team, to ensure successful delivery of IAM projects to our customers.
- Extensive knowledge and skills in maintaining an Identity and Access Management (IAM)/SSO system in a large, complex organization.
- 6+ year Experience with any IDAM solution involving requirement gathering, documentation, configuration and technical analysis.
- Understanding of Advanced security technologies and concepts, including user access provisioning (mainframe/web based applications), reconciliation, single sign-on, directory services & Privileged Access Management.
- Designs and implements solutions into existing environments and design business workflows to ensure proper application mapping/flow.
- Collaborates with stakeholders at different levels – business owners, system/data analyst, Vendors, Consultants, Project Managers, Business Analysts, Solution Architects, Quality Assurance Analysts and other Developers in a DevOps model to extend the capabilities of the applications.
- Onboarding, offboarding and general maintenance of applications, fileshares, roles and bulk load relevant user access.
- Ability to effectively juggle high priority tasks and take ownership. Available for support/oncall during release/implementation activities.


text:
A few years ago, I remonstrated with a friend who purchased a health-branded product (herbal tea?) that included ginseng. “It’s an endangered plant! How come everyone wants to take care of endangered birds and ignores endangered plants?” I don’t remember my little rant having any impact.
Why is ginseng “hunted”? It can be farmed, but that is a slow and difficult process. Ginseng is thought to have positive medicinal properties, but it has never been approved as a drug in the United States. (Wikipedia)
Ginseng is featured in the title of this short, griping novel, but its possible endangered status is far from being the focus of the book.
This book is about North Korea and China and the border between them.
The ginseng hunter lives alone, but his memories include his father and uncle who taught him to harvest wild ginseng, and his mother who raised him. He lives in China but carries Korean blood and speaks both languages. He can see the river border between the two countries from his house.
This book takes place in the year 2000. I had to keep reminding myself of this, because so much about it (especially the atmosphere) seems medieval. Famine and oppression in adjacent North Korea are bad and getting worse, and the ginseng hunter begins to encounter starving, desperate refugees – a woman, several men, and a little girl. He gradually realizes that, despite his simple life and relative poverty, he has the power to help or destroy these sufferers.
The outcomes of these encounters vary as the ginseng hunter is drawn unwillingly from his isolation and into what the press now refers to as a “humanitarian crisis”.
The book ends with the planting of a vegetable garden, one larger than is needed by a man who lives alone.

domain: library


What are socks for planters? Gardening Socks are a pair of socks made specifically for gardening. They keep your feet warm and dry during long hours spent outside planting or harvesting. There are two types of gardening socks available today: cotton and bamboo.
Cotton gardening socks are more common because they are easier to wash than bamboo ones. However, bamboo gardening socks are better for your health since they don’t contain any chemicals like pesticides. This article will compare both types of gardening socks and tell you which type is best for you.
Why Socks for Planters Matter
The first thing that comes to mind when we think about gardening socks is the fact that they help us stay warm while working in cold weather. Gardening socks are designed with this purpose in mind.
These socks have been specially crafted to provide warmth without adding bulk to our feet. The material used to make these socks is usually cotton or wool. Wool is warmer than cotton but it can be scratchy on bare skin. Cotton is softer and less likely to cause irritation.
The second reason why socks matter is that they protect our feet from blisters. Blisters are caused by friction between our shoes and our feet. When we wear socks, the friction between our feet and the ground is reduced. This means that there is less chance of getting blisters.
The third reason why socks matter is because they prevent dirt from sticking to our feet. Dirt sticks to our feet because of sweat. Sweat contains salt and other substances that attract moisture. If we wear no socks, then these substances stick to our feet and create an unpleasant odor. Wearing socks prevents this problem.
Since you are interested in planters, we recommend the Flaminggrasshopper site for more information about planters.
How To Choose A Good Pair Of Garden Socks
There are many different types of garden socks available today. Some of them are made out of cotton and others are made out of bamboo. Both materials are good choices if you want to buy a pair of gardening socks. It all depends on what kind of work you do and how much time you spend outdoors.
Cotton gardening socks are great for people who spend most of their time outside doing yard work. Bamboo gardening socks are ideal for those who spend most of their days inside. Cotton gardening socks are easy to clean and maintain.
On the other hand, bamboo gardening socks require regular washing. You should only use soap and water to wash them. Do not use detergent as it may damage the fabric.
When choosing a pair of gardening socks, look at the size of the toe box. The toe box should be large enough so that your toes won’t get caught in it. Look for a pair of socks that has a wide-toe box. More on dress sock subscription.
When buying a pair of gardening socks for men, you need to consider the length of the sock. Most men prefer short-length socks. Longer socks tend to bunch up around your ankles. Short socks allow you to move freely.
If you plan to plant flowers or vegetables, choose a pair of gardening socks that has holes in the bottom. Holes in the bottom of the socks allow air to circulate underneath your feet. This helps keep your feet cool and comfortable.
How Often to Wash Socks
You should wash your gardening socks every week. Cotton socks can last for months before needing to be washed again. Bamboo gardening socks should be washed after every use. More on socks couple.
Bamboo gardening socks are harder to care for than cotton ones. They need to be washed regularly to avoid mold growth. You should also check the soles of the socks for signs of mildew. Mildew causes the surface of the socks to become discolored.
Choosing a pair of gardening socks is important. We recommend that you buy a pair of cotton gardening socks for outdoor activities. Bamboo gardening socks aren’t recommended unless you are spending most of your time indoors. More on men’s sock subscription box. Thanks for reading this article!


text: What we do Conservation Our reserves Norden Ownership: ARC Designation: SSSI, SAC, SPA, Ramsar Restrictions: Open Access Land, please keep dogs on a lead. Access: A351 Grid ref: SY 94351 83189 The Reserve The reserve consists of 22 hectares of a range of habitats including dry heath wet heath and acid bog. The combination of these habitats result in a reserve diverse in wildlife. Dry sandy heath dominates the north of the reserve, which is home to sand lizards and the rare hornet robber- fly. Grading down from the dry heath the site becomes a mix of wet heath and acid bog with a mire which runs through the centre of the reserve which is home to many dragonfly species including the southern damselfly. Across the mire the site becomes a mix of heath and deciduous woodland within which a large pond is located providing habitat for great crested newts. A Little History Norden was used for the extraction of ball clay from around the mid 1800’s. Clay from the area was exported by rail to the nearby coastal area of Arne to where it would be transported for use around the world. Species you might spot: Reptiles. Sand Lizard (Lacerta agilis) Common Lizard (Zootoca vivipara) Slow-worm (Anguis fragilis) Grass Snake (Natrix natrix) Adder (Vipera berus) Amphibians. Common Toad (Bufo bufo) Palmate Newt (Lissotriton helveticus) Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus) Common Frog (Rana temporaria) Birds. Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus) Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis) Hobby (Falco subbutteo) Dragonflies. Southern Hawker (Aeshna cynea) Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) Scarce Chaser (Libellula fulva) Southern damselfly (Coenagrion mercuriale) This is by no means a comprehensive list of species on the reserve.


text:
A festival of music and poetry in halls and backyards.
April 23, 2019
Describing itself as "A festival of music and poetry in halls and backyards," Slow Note is definitely something a bit different. It's an arts festival for all ages. With its emphasis on unity and inspiration over division and difference, it comes across as a welcome breath of positivity.
In an effort to create connection, the performances will be taking place in small, homely spaces across Wellington. The artists, as well, have been chosen for their ability to connect with their audiences. It's emotion that matters here, as well as social and political discourse.
Some of the highlights include i.e. crazy, Michael James Keane and milk. Rob Thorne, the incredible taonga puoro composer and performer, will also be playing.
Brand new and ambitious, Slow Note is not one to miss.
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Book unique getaways and adventures dreamed up by our editors


text:
Region, identity, and the Tredegar Iron Works
Thomas, Evan Shawn, Corcoran Department of History, University of Virginia
Ayers, Edward, Corcoran Department of History, University of Virginia
The Tredegar operated within this world of flexible regional identities up until the very moment that the necessities of war finally forced a perfect coincidence between economic region and political region, firming boundaries that had been fluid. The strong identification between the Tredegar Works and the southern nation may not have been as a Richmond newspaperman believed, "the result of a special direction, which the enthusiastic patriot may well be excluded from regarding as providential." The Tredegar's own operations during the antebellum period indicates that identification with the Southern nation, or "the idea of the Southern nation," served as just another tool available to the ironmaster, to be embraced when circumstances seemed to require and neglected when they did not. At certain points the two frames of reference existed simultaneously.
The Tredegar offers a useful case study to get a handle on the concept of region in practice, a clearer picture without the high gloss of ideology. The firm empirically demonstrates the flexibility of economic actors to pick and choose the range of their operations, without regard to political climate or political regions. More importantly, these economic actors' flexibility preserves a sense of flexibility in the concept of region itself. If such a significant enterprise could buy and sell across the boundaries of political regions, using slave labor to produced federal cannon, even as others are drawing battle lines, then there might be some value in re-examining how we conceptualize region in the antebellum United States and being wary of drawing rigid boundaries and firm dichotomies.
MA (Master of Arts)
Digitization of this thesis was made possible by a generous grant from the Jefferson Trust, 2015.
Thesis originally deposited on 2016-03-14 in version 1.28 of Libra. This thesis was migrated to Libra2 on 2017-03-23 16:35:26.
All rights reserved (no additional license for public reuse)

domain: geography


text:
yrs ago not knowing it was illegal it was for fioricet for headache anyways she said she has officers ready to come to my house and arrest me but she said she could call the dom rep to see if they could just "fine" me....$7000 less if I can cooperate I would have to wire it and then she could call her officers off is this possible? I said i want to talkwith a lawyer and have him call her she would not give me phone number and said the deal of paying now is off and hung up
THIS SOUNDS LIKE A SCAM! THE DEA DOES NOT CALL SUSPECTS AND ASK THEM TO WIRE MONEY.
Personal Injury Lawyer
I would venture to guess this is a scam.
The above answer is for information only; and does NOT constitute legal advice. This answer does not constitute, nor does it create, an attorney-client relationship between KaplunMarx, PLLC, Theodor Kapun and any receiver. The information provided on these pages is general only, and you should not act upon this information without consulting with a qualified attorney.
NOT LEGAL ADVICE. FOR EDUCATION AND INFORMATION ONLY. Mr. Rafter is licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the US Federal Courts in Virginia. His answers to any Avvo question are rooted in general legal principles--NOT your specific state laws. There is no implied or actual attorney-client relationship arising from this education exchange. You should speak with an attorney licensed in your state, to whom you have provided all the facts before you take steps that may impact your legal rights. Mr. Rafter is under no obligation to answer subsequent emails or phone calls related to this matter.


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Interestingly, the party is avoiding a direct conflict with ministry of human resource and development (MHRD) and rather blames IIT, Madras for the whole issue.
While Congress and other opposition parties have shouted themselves hoarse on the decision of IIT, Madras banning a student group — Ambedkar Periyar Student Circle — for allegedly spreading hatred against the prime minister and his government, Republican Party of India (A), an ally of the BJP, has now voiced its concern over the issue.RPI (A), an offshoot of RPI established by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, feels that the ban on the students’ body is an “infringement” of the “freedom of speech and expression” — a fundamental right given to every Indian citizen by the Constitution. To protest against the IIT-M move, the party has organised a press conference in Mumbai on Monday, said Mayur Borkar, party leader and public relations officer.<!– Dna_Article_Middle_300x250_BTF –>While Ramdas Athawale, chief of RPI (A), could not be reached for comments, party leader Uttam Khobragade said, “Is expressing one’s opinion illegal in India? Freedom of speech and expression is a fundamental right every Indian citizen is entitled to. Does IIT, Madras officials not know about this? Criticism is part of democracy.Derecognition of the students’ body for this reason is condemnable. Besides, Ambedkar Periyar Student Circle was propagating Ambedkar’s thoughts and raising voices against discrimination of Dalits.Interestingly, the party is avoiding a direct conflict with ministry of human resource and development (MHRD) and rather blames IIT, Madras for the whole issue. The MHRD had earlier sought to wash off its hands from the issue saying that they received an anonymous complaint against the students’ group and forwarded it to the institute.”That’s the beauty of the whole issue. The MHRD might have forwarded a letter, but was it IIT-M’s prerogative to take action on it? As a bureaucrat, I also used to forward complaints to various agencies. That didn’t mean that I demanded any action from them,” said Khobragade.
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domain: news


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The Blue Mountains Film Festival
2011 – 2013 – Blue Mountains, Australia
Running for three years between 2011 & 2013, The Blue Mountains Film Festival & Yowie Awards, set against the dramatic landscape of the Jamison Valley and Three Sisters, offered a jam packed long weekend of short films, family screenings, public programmes, workshops, feature films, awards and celebrations.
The festival showcased award-winning films by established and emerging filmmakers from Australia and around the world.
Throughout the three years, Tom planed, organized & promoted the festival as it’s Festival Director. Tom also created all of the visual branding for the festival.


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|Governor of the State Bank of Việt Nam Lê Minh Hưng speaks at the conference. Photo baochinhphu.vn
HÀ NỘI — The credit growth of Vietnamese banks in the first half of this year expanded by 7.33 per cent against the end of 2018, Governor of the State Bank of Việt Nam (SBV) Lê Minh Hưng said.
The rise was higher than that of the same period last year, when the credit rose by 6.14 per cent.
At a Government teleconference with leaders of all 63 cities and provinces nationwide on Thursday, Hưng attributed the rise to the contribution from the processing and manufacturing sector as well as exports.
“We see loans in these areas have increased quite well,” Hưng said, adding that the lending continually focused on production and business, and the Government’s prioritised sectors including agriculture and rural development, exports, parts-supply industry, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and high-tech firms, while the capital to risky sectors, such as real estate and securities, was further controlled.
Hưng also reported that the SBV managed interest rates in line with macroeconomic developments and the monetary markets, with credit institutions applying reasonable lending rates on the basis of deposit rates and the risks of loans.
The central bank had all necessary tools to effectively control the rate, Hưng said, adding since the beginning of the year, the four State-owned commercial banks – Vietcombank, Vietinbank, BIDV, and Agribank – had thoroughly followed the Government and SBV’s direction in reducing interest rates for prioritised sectors. The work helped businesses lower costs and the banking system keep a stable interest rate.
According to Hưng, bank loans met the capital demand for production, investment and business, with deposit and lending interest rates stable. Currently, short-term lending rates are at 6-9 per cent per year and 9-11 per cent for medium and long term. For customers with a healthy financial situation and high creditworthiness, lending rates for short-term loans are lower at some 4-5 per cent per year.
Regarding credit for animal husbandry, the Governor said the outstanding balance stood at VNĐ51 trillion (US$2.19 billion), of which VNĐ1.7 trillion resulted from damage caused by African swine fever.
As for the foreign exchange market, Hưng said the SBV bought a large amount of foreign currencies in the first half of 2019, pushing foreign exchange reserves recorded in the period to the highest level to date.
Hưng said fluctuations in the global market in the first six months were unpredictable but proactive and flexible measures had been taken to keep the domestic foreign exchange market stable.
During the period, the central bank’s reference exchange rate for the US dollar against the Vietnamese đồng was adjusted up by 1 per cent, while the rate listed at commercial banks and inter-bank rate were up by 0.3-0.4 per cent.
The SBV would continue to follow a pro-active, flexible and cautious monetary policy as well as working in close conjunction with fiscal and other policies to control inflation, sustain the macro-economy and support economic growth in the remaining months of this year, Hưng said. — VNS


Students taking part in the General Introduction Days (AID) can attend a workshop on waste-free cooking on Monday 21 August. The workshop is offered three times, and offers useful tips & tricks to cook delicious waste-free meals. That way, you not only save money but also make an important contribution to a sustainable food system.
The workshop is a collaboration between the AID, WUR, and the Samen tegen Voedselverspilling (United Against Food Waste) Foundation. Sanne Stroosnijder, Programme Manager of Food Loss and Waste Management at WUR, designed the workshop: “The goal is to inspire students to buy, cook, and store food waste-free.” They learn how to get the most out of their fridge and are offered tips on how to shop sustainably. Anton Rinsema, chef at Unilever, facilitates the culinary part of the workshop and gives the students a taste of how to turn leftovers into delicious dishes in a simple way. “After this workshop, you will really look at food differently.”
And it pays off, as apparent from a waste sorting analysis conducted by the Dutch Nutrition Centre. This survey is conducted every three years and measures household food waste. The latest analysis shows that we are wasting more than 33 kilos of food per person per year, amounting to €138 a year. Zoom out to the whole of the Netherlands, and you've got the equivalent of a traffic jam between Utrecht and Barcelona of trucks full of food. “It's a terrible shame,” Rinsema stresses. “Before it gets to your plate, food has grown on the land, it has had to be watered, and it has travelled a long way.”
Ultimately, it comes down to the fact that we need to change how we treat the food that is available to us. The AID is an excellent time to start working on this. Cas Huisman, PhD candidate at the Marketing and Consumer Behaviour chair group, investigates how students handle food and how waste can be effectively prevented. Huisman: “Because students share many facilities, they may find it hard at times to avoid wasting food. On the other hand, as a first-year student, you haven't formed habits yet.” Lolkje de Vries, spokesperson for the Dutch Nutrition Centre, agrees: “You're starting a new phase in your life. It's a perfect time to acquire new habits.”


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Study raises questions about possible link
WEDNESDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) -- New British research provides more evidence that the bits of gunk in the brain known as plaques and tangles don't necessarily lead to Alzheimer's disease, as many experts have long believed.
In fact, the study found that many people over the age of 75 had signs of significant clogging in their brains but still managed to avoid senility.
The findings don't have immediate ramifications for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, which remains incurable and only somewhat treatable. But in conjunction with other studies, they could redirect ongoing research, said Dr. Gary Kennedy, director of the division of geriatric psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.
"A lot of what is out there that's focusing on reducing the formation of amyloid plaques and tangles may just be off the mark," Kennedy said.
Amyloid plaques are globs of protein that form outside brain cells and stick together. Tangles are bits of protein that develop inside brain cells and create havoc of their own. Both have been linked to Alzheimer's disease.
In the new study, British researchers examined the brains of 456 people who had donated their bodies to science. The subjects were 69 to 103 years old when they died.
The findings appear in the May 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The team found a strong link between clogging in the brain and Alzheimer's in 75-year-olds, but the connection lessened by the time people were 95.
In other words, plaques and tangles developed in very old people just as in their younger counterparts, but the very old weren't as likely to develop Alzheimer's.
The picture is not perfectly clear, however. "At all ages, there are some people who don't become demented before they died -- despite having a lot of plaques and tangles," said study co-author
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The investigations at the accident site of the fatal train accident in Garmisch-Partenkirchen are dragging on. The repair work could not be started on Thursday either: “The accident site is still not released because assessments are still taking place,” said the press spokesman for the police headquarters in Upper Bavaria South, Stefan Sonntag.
The almost 50 employees Soko “Zug” continue to work at full speed. You have to wait “until at some point the experts say: We have now examined everything”.
E-mobility, transport policy and future mobility: the briefing on transport and smart mobility. For decision makers
According to reports, the work could last until after the G7 summit at the end of June. However, the railway does not provide any information on this. “DB is currently not working on site, the accident site has not yet been fully released,” said a railway spokesman.
The locomotive and a wagon are still on the tracks. Coming from the north, they would have to be recovered by rail after they were released. For this, however, the track had to be repaired so that a rail crane could reach the scene of the accident. The repair of the track section should begin in the course of the next few days.
After the train accident near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Thomas Strang, an expert in communication and navigation at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), warned to first look for the cause and only then for those responsible. He basically sees an error in the system.
“In other countries it is not so important who was to blame – but what happened and how can we systematically prevent it next time?” Strang told the German Press Agency. “Of course, in such accidents, some person usually contributed by overlooking something.”
However, the mistake of an individual should not lead to an accident. A system of multiple security measures is necessary. “We need redundancies that prevent a mistake from leading to an accident.” Every bicycle or e-scooter has two independent braking systems.
The ETCS safety system is to be introduced across the EU, with which, for example, compliance with the speed limit at slow-moving sections is monitored. “It’s a good thing – but it’s years, if not decades, away from coming.” It needs faster solutions – and more than one solution. Otherwise we are with the e-scooter with a brake.”
Various slow-moving sections show that there is a need for renovation of the DB Netz rails. “The number of slow-moving sections is a direct indicator of the condition of our network.” However, according to Strang’s assessment, there is a lack of qualified specialists who can design the corresponding work. In addition, the route network is so busy that every construction site severely impedes operations.


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Tuesday’s top stories
The Food and Drug Administration authorized three electronic cigarette products by Vuse Solo on Tuesday, citing benefits to adult smokers who are trying to quit tobacco.
Why it matters: It's the first such move by the agency in its effort to regulate new tobacco products. While e-cigarette manufacturers have touted the vape products as safer, the FDA has previously cracked down on them amid high rates of use among teens.
The House of Representatives followed the Senate on Tuesday, voting 219-206 along party lines to raise the federal debt ceiling and officially avert a potential default.
Why it matters: While Congress has pushed off the debt limit issue for now, the fight over a final resolution will be even uglier come December — when lawmakers need to address the problem once again.
1 🎧 thing
House Budget Chair John Yarmuth, the lone Democrat representative in Kentucky, announced on Tuesday he will not run for re-election in 2022.
Why it matters: Yarmuth, a senior Democrat who runs one of the House's most powerful committees, has been a key negotiator for President Biden's roughly $2 trillion social spending package and other economic priorities.
People 60 and older should not take low-dose aspirin daily to prevent a first heart attack or stroke, according to a working recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
Why it matters: It's a revision of the panel's 2016 recommendation that recommended some people take baby aspirin daily to prevent heart disease and colorectal cancer.
The campaign arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is launching an aggressive effort to recruit more Hispanic and Latino candidates to compete next year in swing districts with open seats or Republican incumbents.
Why it matters: U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who chairs the CHC BOLD PAC, told Axios he believes running more Hispanic Democratic candidates could increase Latino voter engagement and the prospects for a midterm blue wall keeping Democratic control of the House of Representatives.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday issued a memo ordering U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop mass worksite raids.
Driving the news: Mayorkas said the Biden administration would instead focus on pursuing employers who hire and take advantage of immigrants without work authorizations, rather than the employees.
After blocking the profiles of several U.S. journalists, including mine, from its China-based website, LinkedIn has repeatedly avoided answering key questions about the censorship.
Why it matters: LinkedIn has promised transparency to its users regarding its China operations.
Private equity firms are sitting on the sidelines when it comes to vaccine mandates for portfolio companies, despite often requiring shots for their own employees.
Why it matters: Private equity employs around 7% of all American workers, and is represented in almost every industry and geography, which means that PE vax mandates could have a significant impact on public health.
The phaseout of internet tracking cookies is fundamentally changing political campaigns, which have for years relied on them to narrowly target potential voters across the web.
Why it matters: Ad buyers expect the 2022 midterm elections to be the first campaign cycle where connected television (CTV) ads will take a meaningful market share of political spend, in part due to the fact that cookies are being scrapped.
The creator economy was supposed to democratize media, but it turns out that a small portion of creators still reap the most revenue for their work across multiple platforms.
Why it matters: New tipping and micropayments features will hopefully make it easier for smaller creators to get paid. But for now, much of the creator economy is still supported by pricier subscriptions, forcing consumers to be selective.
Youth sports in America have been put through the wringer amid the pandemic, and while accessibility and participation are starting to rebound, there's still work to be done.
State of play: 47% of kids have returned to their pre-pandemic level of play and 17% are more active than they were pre-pandemic, per the Aspen Institute's State of Play report, which surveys youth sports parents.
The messiness of international politics is on full display this week in Washington, D.C., at the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. That's inevitably going to make it harder for the storied institutions to help the world's poorest countries recover from the pandemic.
Why it matters: The IMF's leadership has never been weaker — managing director Kristalina Georgieva is weakened by scandal, while her #2, Trump nominee Geoffrey Okamoto, is generally regarded as inexperienced and otiose.
The Department of Justice asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Monday to suspend Texas' new law that bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, or roughly six weeks — before many people know they are pregnant.
Why it matters: Medical providers in the state briefly resumed performing abortions last week after a federal judge ruled that the law was unconstitutional, though it was temporarily reinstated by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Nations’ follow through — or lack thereof — on pledges made at the looming UN climate summit will help determine the long-term fate of tens of millions of people living in coastal megacities threatened by rising seas.
Why it matters: The delayed response of the climate system, with seas that warm and expand slowly and ice sheets that can take centuries to reach equilibrium — long after air temperatures have leveled off, means the stakes of COP26, and government decisions in coming years, are extraordinarily high.
A new global agreement to levy a near-universal 15% minimum tax on large corporations' profits could cost tech giants billions each year. Yet lobbies representing the companies have rallied behind the plan, largely because it phases out a different kind of tax that tech dislikes even more.
The big picture: The minimum tax passed a crucial hurdle last week when more than 130 nations reached agreement at an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) meeting. It still awaits final approval from many stakeholders, including the U.S. Congress.
The pace of the economic recovery hinges in part on workers returning to jobs that involve dealing with an unpredictable public. But many of those workers say increasingly combative customers — angry about everything from long wait times to mask mandates — have prompted them to quit.
Internet freedom around the world has dropped for the 11th consecutive year, according to an annual report from Freedom House, a non-profit focused on expanding freedom and democracy.
Why it matters: The findings suggest that a broader shift in power from tech companies to nation states over the past year has resulted in "a record-breaking crackdown" on freedom of expression online.
Americans' trust in President Biden has eroded as they've slowed their expectations for how quickly they can get back to their pre-pandemic lives, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.
Why it matters: Two trends we've been watching for a while — drawn-out timelines for returning to normal, and declining trust — are not a coincidence but cause-and-effect, these findings suggest. That's hurting Biden with Democrats as well as independents.
The toll of the coronavirus pandemic has spurred nurses, front-line technicians and other hospital employees to walk out or authorize strikes.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared while attending a weapons exhibition that the country had "invincible" defense capabilities as he accused the U.S. of being the source of regional tensions, state media reported Tuesday.
Why it matters: Kim said in a speech at Monday's event that the country was strengthening its weapons arsenal but didn't want a war, per the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Jon Gruden announced Monday that he had resigned as Las Vegas Raiders head coach.
Why it matters: The New York Times reported earlier Monday that Gruden used homophobic and misogynistic language in emails over a roughly seven-year period that ended in 2018 before he joined the Raiders, in addition to racist remarks that emerged last week.
Miami City Manager Art Noriega has suspended Police Chief Art Acevedo “with the intent to terminate his employment," Miami Herald reports.
The big picture: Noriega wrote that Acevedo's relationship with his department "has become untenable and needed to be resolved promptly. In particular, the relationship between the Chief and the Police Department he leads — as well as with the community — has deteriorated beyond repair."
A parent is suing a Wisconsin school district and its school board after their child contracted COVID-19 from a classmate, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Driving the news: The lawsuit alleges that Shannon Jensen's son contracted the virus because of the Waukesha School District's lack of mitigation measures. The district lifted its mask mandate and many other measures back in May.


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Arc Rise Fantasia is a turn-based RPG exclusive to the Wii, focusing on the story of a novice mercenary called Bright.
Rpgs Are My Life Blood.
~Nightcore/Gaming Youtuber ~Gamer ~Pianist ~Trumpet Player ~Graphic Designer
I've been gaming since 1990, starting with Super Mario Bros. All-time favourite game is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Lifelong Nintendo fan.


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Steve Harvey is still lauding praise at the feet of Donald Trump.
Steve Harvey is still drinking Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Largo Kool-Aid and says Trump is keeping his promises about affordable housing.
When the TMZ cameraman asked if he’s happy with Trump’s work, he laughed.
“I didn’t say that. All I said was he’s keeping his word to what he said he would so,” Harvey replied.
Welcome to Trump’s America.

domain: celebrity