text:
Staging the Slut: Hyper-Sexuality in Performance
Issue #20, April 1995
slutkiss girl won't you promise her smack
dead moon girl molasses rot black strap
is she rotten on the inside
ugly from the back?
my pretty power
my pretty power,power,prayer
is she UGLYUGLYUGLYUGLYUGLY
— Courtney Love (Hole)
Is there a place for a sexualized female with integrity, strength, and respect in American culture? If not in reality, then how about in a comic book character-turned-Hollywood movie icon? How about Tank Girl? Tank Girl kicks ass without ever letting her audience and rivals forget that she's a damn good piece-of-ass. Tank Girl is a survivor; she's tortured, beaten, spat upon, and degraded but comes back fighting at every turn with her most intimidating and powerful weapon — her sexuality. Most social circles would call Tank Girl a slut. She cusses like a sailor, shows way too much flesh, and comes off as a real mindless hussy. But Tank Girl's slut-identity keeps her alive; men cannot penetrate her. When Malcolm McDowell says he's going to torture her, she practically purrs with pleasure. She can't wait. She disarms Malcolm McDowell's weapon — the threat of physical violation and pain — and throws it back at him. She does not bow down and play virtuous victim. She throws her sex in the face of all her perpetrators, and she comes out on top. The slut wins.
Or does she? Sure, in the end Tank Girl ends up in a relationship with a person who does not see her as a sexual plaything, but appreciates her as a whole person (how romantic). But, that person is a canine-male, a mandog! Is that the prize at the end of her struggles? Did this comic slut hero really conquer? Not according to box office returns and critics responses. The film was simply not a success, and apparently America is not quite ready for a larger than life, hyper-sexualized female comic book hero. But why should it be?
...all I know is I'm clean as a whistle baby...
— Liz Phair
All girls are supposed to want to be popular. That is the girl-dream: to be liked, loved, respected, and popular among one's peers. Well, if you want to be popular in the 90's; if you want to be accepted and respected, there are two sure ways to do it: 1. be the Good Girl and live quietly and complacently in the heterosexual matrix; 2. be the Good Feminist and show your strength by not perpetuating those horrible, dehumanizing, and disempowering malecreated images of female sexuality. Either way you have to be a 'clean' girl, hide your sloppy female sexuality, keep your physical desires under cover, and play by the prescribed rules of behavior, communication, and fashion that Good Girl Patriarchy and Good Feminist Matriarchy enforce. The Good Girls and Good Feminists wear their 'acquired' gender roles well; they have integrated the system into their bodies and lives and fit quietly with the other pieces in their social clique.
If you're not a Good Girl or a Good Feminist then theres a Good Chance that you are the Other Girl, the one whos supposed to be kept undercover. You know, the one 'they're' always talking about — The Slut. She's always been around — the bad girl on campus, the one that will give anyone a blow-job for a beer, the one who wears her insides out, flaunts her sexuality, and seems to have a real good time doing it. She's dismissed by men, scorned by women, but necessary for both. The men need her to fulfill their fantasies and satisfy their libidos; they need her for the blow-jobs and for the affirmation of their power over women. The women need her to affirm their own purity and rightness, to secure their place in the Good Girl/Good Feminist communities. The problem with sluts, however, is that they talk back. In practice the Slut shamelessly rants, is in your face at every turn, and refuses to slink away after the dirty deeds have been done.
The Slut has recently taken center stage in all forms of media. She comes in a flurry of controversy and hype. But what happens when one adopts the persona of the whore, takes the insides of female sexuality and wears them on the outside? Performance sluts take all the mess of female sex and throw it into the public eye. Ultimately, they help empower women by forcing people to question their own attitudes toward female sexuality. However, this degree of empowerment does not come without complex implications.
Erotic Noise
The sex industry has always been an arena in which women perform their sexuality for the consuming pleasure of the male gaze. The prostitute, the erotic dancer, and the porn queen consciously mold their personalities and physically manipulate their bodies into sexual objects created to fill the male appetite for that tantalizing yet forbidden raw female flesh. However, performing hyper-sexuality is no longer confined to slippery stages in red light districts, 16mm porn flicks, or faux-velvet motel rooms. It has become a standard act for female performers of all types. From rock stars to art-robots to comic book heroines, women are adopting the vocabulary of the locker room and applying it to their own bodies and work; they dig out the unglamorous, unseemly, and unacceptable dregs of female sex and construct pop icons out of them. They are taking control of their bodies by losing control of their bodies and forcing people, male and female, to question their sexual values/attitudes and to reconsider what it means to be female.
The slut leaks out of a bed of noise, equipped with electric guitar, apocalyptic machinery, and a dirty, dirty mouth. She spews her sex on major record labels, in movies, and in art galleries. She wont shut up. But it is not the pure porno-queen sex object that emerges here. She denies her audience the satisfaction of a pure pornographic/erotic moment by disrupting its sexual pleasure with a bunch of ugly noise. Courtney Love and Hole provide the perfect 'erotic noise' balance as Courtney's songs oscillate between orgasmic sex-kitten pants and violent witch-like howls; she is the perfect little baby-doll broken into shards of screeching guitar and ear piercing wails. Throughout history, women's sexuality has tended to become a 'thing.' A thing, after all, is more manageable than a person. However, for a thing to be formed, it must be de-formed, robbed of its original shape. Female sexuality has always been forced to conform to a social mold — either locked behind closed doors or exploited for the pleasure of the male consumer. We expect women to conform to one form or the other, but Courtney gives us both — the glistening sex doll and the screeching life buried under the pink plastic. In the process, she forces us to question our need to place women in fixed sexual identities.
I witnessed the complexities of the 'erotic noise' audience/performance slut dynamic on an intimate level at a recent art opening featuring apocalyptic industrial robots. 'Humper,' a mechanized street walker whose dialogue I scripted and performed, roamed the gallery confronting the viewers with an onslaught of obscenities and unglamorous details of her sexual exploits. Her body was as messy as her life — a bunch of rusty metal blades, broken machinery, and ugly apparatus, yet she spoke in a seductive, enticing voice full of juice and sex. The audience members visibly struggled with their reactions to Humper's ugly sexuality. Should they be attracted? Repulsed? Horrified? Aroused? As they struggled with their feelings, their reactions ultimately revealed how reactionary contemporary perceptions of female sexuality really are, even in the supposedly avantgarde art scene. The men alternated between disgusted looks of dismissal and rapt gazes of excited curiosity and coy wonder. The women at one moment clung to their male partners, averted their eyes, and turned and walked away, and at the next moment stood mesmerized and agape at the mechanical display of female sex, at their hidden insides so graphically exposed. Upon realizing that they were engaging so intimately with their own sex, the women quickly turned away, embarrassed for engaging with 'themselves' in this pornographic way.
As long as men are so easily seduced by the whore, even when she's as ugly as Humper, and as long as women are embarrassed and mortified by her and by their own sexuality, then the whore needs to continue to perform. She needs to confront her adversaries with her open sexuality and force them to re-examine their imprisoning standards and attitudes toward female sexuality.
slut me open and touch my stars
slit me open and suck my scars
— Courtney Love (Hole)
In all her raucous noise and sexual exploits, alternative slut/diva Courtney Love has become the whore we all love to hate. She has appropriated the identity of the whore and plastered it and herself all over the American media — tabloids, MTV, Newsweek, etc. With Courtney, the complexities of performing hyper-sexuality are constantly at play. Why does the world love to hate Courtney? Because she is a slut; because she is totally fucked up; because shell fuck anything; because she is out of control. Or is she? Because of Courtney's teenage and young adult years in the sex industry, and because of her current and quite convincing stage slut persona, the division between imitation and original becomes murky. Is she really a slut, or is she just manipulating the image of a slut? How much of Courtney's out-of-control-sex-slut shtick is self-created? My guess is a lot more than people tend to believe.
One can read Courtney's appropriation of the whore identity as a survival tool, as a way of taking an active role in the formation of her own identity. She creates her own identity before the outside world creates it for her. '[I was a] Teenage whore/Because I wanted that shirt & I wanted those pants,' wails Courtney on 'Pretty on the Inside.' Sure, one can read this as empty material desire or as ironic commentary on capitalism, which it is in part. More significantly, however, it suggests that by becoming a 'teenage whore,' Courtney found the means with which to take control of her own life. She wanted something; she used the tools she had to get it on her own. She created her own path, rather than following the one prescribed for her. Similarly, as long as she turns herself into/out as a whore, then no one else will have the power to do that to her first. She creates her own destiny; although her destiny is to be a 'whore.'
Like Tank Girl, Courtney uses her sexuality as a tool to disempower the men in her life. In the song 'Violet,' she sings, 'Go on take everything, take everything I want you to.' By telling 'him' (whoever the male may be in this context) to take everything, she deprives him of his agency and power. Somehow, if the woman strips, lays down naked with her legs spread, and says, 'Go ahead. Fuck me any way you want,' rape just doesn't seem quite the same. If a woman tells a man to take everything from her, then he has no power to 'rob' her. Likewise, if she strips away her own 'dignity' and adopts the identity of the slut, then no one has the power to take her dignity from her.
Needless to say, this kind of sexual performance has its problems. How many people are able to see through the surface of Courtney's sexual identity and understand the pro-feminist context in which it takes shape? Not many. In both her concerts and videos, Courtney returns the male gaze and toys with traditional female pornographic representation by ripping away the romance from sex and her body and by objectifying a barrage of men in her life — from rock stars and talk show hosts to audience members, etc. One of the most extreme cases was when Courtney dry-humped professional boxer George Foreman on _Saturday Night Live_. (However, few men are aware of the performance slut's conscious manipulation of male desire and objectification of female sexuality).
I recently had a chance to see Courtney in action and sort through the ramifications of her performance. At her 1994 concert at San Franciscos Fillmore Auditorium, Courtney alternated between tearing loose into gut wrenching, high-intensity female rants punctuated by her driving electric guitar and performing a sort of stand-up comic, slapstick burlesque in which she flung out retorts to all the guys she's fucked and blown, told us who's a bad fuck, who's a good fuck, and who she wants to fuck. She punctuated each burlesque slut spiel by ripping into another song with a fierce intensity that would be hard for anyone to equal, regardless of gender.
Her 'fuck me/don't fuck with me' dialogue between herself and her audience had two effects. One was to create an attraction/repulsion dynamic similar to Humper and typical in the performance slut genre, in which the audience members, both male and female, are lured into the seductive diatribe of the performer only to find themselves disgusted and repulsed by their participation in this pornographic and tasteless act, and by their realization that it is their attitude towards female sex that creates this pornographic object in the first place. This 'dangerous object,' this broken/possessed/ugly doll that so repulses the audience is a direct manifestation of the audience's own desires and limited views of female sexuality. She would not exist or have any meaning or impact without the audiences participation in her creation. This is a positive effect of the performance slut/audience relationship as it forces the audience members to question their own preconceptions of and attitudes toward female sexuality.
The second effect is not so positive. Unfortunately, as gender roles exist and are understood today, the majority of people, male and female, do not have the capacity to understand Courtney's self-conscious parody of female sex roles; they only see the 'slut' without the critique of the system that creates categories like 'slut.' The majority of responses I read and heard about Courtney's performance focused on their perception that Courtney was 'all fucked up,' that all she did was talk about the 'guys she fucked.' Most of them left out the fact that she gave one 'fucking 'great musical performance. But the fact that a woman is a good musician and songwriter is not important here; the fact that she is fucked up and a slut is. After all, once she has been classified as the Other Girl, it is time to dismiss her.
But Courtney refuses to be dismissed. People take her apart, try to pull her down, but she keeps coming up fighting. Keep putting the ugly insides in their face and eventually people are going to have to deal with it. Maybe they'll see that the ugly insides aren't so bad. After all, any number of prime-time TV shows are spattered with douche, tampon, and feminine ointment commercials, a constant reminder that women do have insides.
The Good Girl Who Says the F-Word,
or the Trouble With Liz
Everyone loves to love Liz Phair. Blow-Job Queen or no, she is rock's little darling. Why is little Liz so successful, so *popular*? Liz seems to have struck the perfect balance to please all — the perfect virgin-whore, the dirty-mouthed girl next door. She has the ability to sing lyrics like, 'I'll fuck you and your minions too' and 'I wanna be your blow-job queen' and still come off as coy, innocent, and *nice*. She plays back and forth between good girl/bad girl. I mean, we have to sympathize with someone who longs to 'be Six-foot-one instead of five-foot-two and loved [her] life and hated you.' While Liz could be criticized for playing the Good Girl/Bad Slut balance so perfectly, I think that the reasons why Liz has been able to maintain 'respectability' do not necessarily point to any problem with Liz personally, but to the gender system that she is trying to confront and tear apart.
Liz Phair doesn't appear to mind taking on the slut identity in the studio. And she apparently has the reputation of being something of an exhibitionist in her personal life, making out with her boyfriend in public spaces. But being sexual when you're with a man and being sexual when you're alone among strangers are not the same thing. When Liz is on stage, she is confronted with hundreds of anonymous males who wouldn't mind having her fuck them 'till their dicks are blue' — and at those times she seems less comfortable performing the slut identity. The sexual content of her lyrics and the role she occupies within them seem to embarass her. While on the one hand her songs seem liberating and confrontational, the fact of the matter is that Liz is still confined by the very gender system which she is trying to escape. She is most comfortable with her sexuality offstage; she really is a Good Girl. And there's nothing that a man loves more than a Good Girl who wants to be his Blow-Job Queen.
This is not to say that Liz's songs lack any positive value towards advancing respect for female sexuality. In fact, the songs are quite powerful and effective. But in order to successfully adopt the slut identity, a girl also has to adopt the armor and detachment that goes with it. If you are going to use your body and sex as a puppet, then you have to be able to pull back and play with it.
— Courtney Love (Hole)
The trouble with Liz points to a serious problem with performative identities. If one adopts the identity of the slut for performance, how much of one's real identity becomes colonized by the slut? Take Courtney Love for example. With her history in the sex industry and the physical and psychological transformation necessary to perform her slut identity, the boundary between original identity and performance identity is almost absent. As much as Courtney theorizes about her sexual exploits in her songs and parodies gender 'sex' roles in her performances, she cannot erase her own personal history. Every time she enters the persona of the stage slut and enters the 'pump and grind inside [her] head,' she re-lives her past in the present and may well believe she's a slut in the present. Needless to say, this can have some unhealthy ramifications on one's psyche, emotional well-being, and sense of self. Hence, we hear tales of Courtney drunk and out of control riding the Fillmore Street bus in raucous sexual display and cavorting with the street dregs as her performance persona pushes her over the edge and into a deeper layer of her past 'slut' identity.
Likewise, as the performance slut puts out again and again on stage, the audience swarms back for more, like any good trick to his favorite whore. While some of the audience members are there to appreciate the theoretical value of the performance slut's sex act and to support her pro-feminist stance, much of the audience is there to partake in the forbidden, to experience the next new thing, to indulge his/her fantasies through the performance slut's sexual rants, and to experience the thrill of being face to face with that which they fear — female sex.
Ultimately, however, as long as female sexuality is feared and condemned, the performance 'whore' is necessary. She trespasses into the land of the locker room, excavates the slut from behind closed doors, and parades her for all to see. But is seeing enough? If responses to the slut figure exemplified in the performances of Courtney Love and Tank Girl are any indication, this is a difficult question to answer. We would like to believe that if people are forced to look at and listen to the slut, perhaps someday they will adapt to all her messy, unseemly sexuality, that they will be comfortable with women less deformed by convention. But unfortunately a slut is still easy to dismiss. To the less conscious, she is still an object to be purchased, scorned, and discarded when she ceases to satisfy desire. In this context, the slut herself risks believing that she is no more than the act she is performing. Until we reach a time when female sexuality is understood in a different context, the Other Girl will continue to be a problem. Where do we keep her besides on CD, video, and the stage?
Kim Nicolini was a teenage whore and wouldn't mind a book or record deal herself. Until she gets one, she will continue to write and perform hyper-sexualized poetry and deconstruct her body in art. She can be reached via e-mail at the following address: <email@example.com>
Last modified 2004-09-12 04:15 PM


text:
Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of ourUser AgreementandPrivacy Policy
© 2019 Cleveland.com. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cleveland.com.
Community Rulesapply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.
Ad Choices

subset: commoncrawl


text: By: SurviveAL Guest Blogger 01/08/2016 January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month! According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, the incidence of cervical cancer in Alabama is 8.7 women out of every 100,000 (which is higher than the national average of 8.1). This means that more than 200 women each year are diagnosed with cervical cancer in Alabama each year. Here are some quick facts about cervical cancer prevention and early detection.


text:
Demetra George Astrology News
Super Saturn Renewal - A Saturnalia Solstice Message
Sending you all the very best wishes for the turning of year on this Winter Solstice. In the Northern hemisphere, the rebirth and increase of the Sun's light signals the promise of the restoration of life, new beginnings, and renewal of hope. This Winter Solstice of 2107 might be said to be an especially potent and positive Super Saturn Renewal.
The ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia, dedicated to the god Saturn, was celebrated during several days around the Winter Solstice when the Sun entered Capricorn. The Hellenistic astrological term loosing of the bond, which is used in the Zodiacal Releasing time lord technique, often indicates dramatic reversals in the direction of one's life. This term is intimately connected with aspects of Saturn's festival.
For most of the year, the cult statue of Saturn housed in his temple in the Roman Forum had woolen bands tied around its feet. At the opening ritual of the festival, the bonds were loosened and untied. This act gave permission for people to likewise cast off the burdens, restrictions and obligations that bound them for most the year.
It was a festive and often raucous street event when slaves and laborers were released from work, businesses closed, and moral restrictions and rules eased or lifted. A time of the reversal of the customary hierarchical order, slaves became masters and masters became slaves. Saturnalia was an interspace between the changing of the old year into the new year. A brief moment of time when freedom from constrictions reigned, the normal rules of behavior were suspended, and the Dour Old Man told his people to throw off their shackles and simply have fun.
This Winter Solstice of 2017 is an especially potent turning of the wheel because Saturn is in his glory. On December 19th Saturn enters his own sign of Capricorn where he reigns supreme. During the next two and one-half years, Saturn is positioned to give forth the best of its significations: hard work, focus, and self-discipline pay off in terms of advancement, wealth, and credibility. Two days later on Dec 21st, the Solstice, the Sun joins Saturn in the first degree of Capricorn. While a Sun/Saturn conjunction occurs once every year in some zodiacal sign, this year is a rare phenomenon. Saturn conjoins the Sun in its own sign of Capricorn on the day of Winter Solstice, setting the tone for its entire transit of its home sign.
The forceful energy released at the turning of the seasonal cycle announces Saturn's dynamic Saturnalia message to liberate ourselves from the old oppressive ties that bind us, at least for a few days, and experience what it might be like to live with freedom and joy. Saturn's feet soon will be bound once again and heeding the call of duty and honor. We likewise pick up and resume our commitments. For the ancient Romans, honor was defined as the fulfillment of one's duty.
But in this liminal interspace occurring right now, think about how you could celebrate the Solstice in order to restore joy to your soul and better take advantage of the blessings that this year's Saturn is bestowing. Free yourself from the constricting limiting beliefs and ingrained patterns that no longer serve you and focus your intentions to create new structures that ground and anchor you in the positive visions of your future.
Speaking Event News
In January, I return to Australia for the seventh time to teach at the 2018 FAA Conference that takes place in Melbourne. My first Australian journey was in 1990, following the publication of Asteroid Goddesses. One of the great joys of a life in astrology has been the fun and heartfelt fellowship of all my Ozzie friends and colleagues, where I remember laughing so hard that my cheeks hurt for days. This year I will present a day-long workshop on Hellenistic Time Lords, as well as a number of other lectures. www.faainc.org.au/2018-faa-international-astrology-conference
In March, I travel to the East Coast where I will be the guest speaker for the Baltimore Astrological Society. There I will give an evening lecture on The 9th House and Dream Interpretation and day-long workshop Journey Through the Houses, a comprehensive day on the core principles that underlie the meanings of each of the twelve houses as well as a comprehensive structure for interpreting the outcomes of the main topics of life. http://basastrology.org/
In May, I join the international astrological community in a pilgrimage to Chicago to attend UAC, the United Astrology Conference and gathering of the tribes. On Wednesday May 23, I facilitate a group of experts in research for an AFA sponsored event, Research Approaches for Astrology Projects, where everyone who has an inquiring mind wanting to learn how to better conduct research is warmly invited to attend https://www.uacastrology.com/schedule/org-day-workshops . I will also give two main conference presentations on the Traditional Techniques track, Hellenistic Aspects and Trauma and The Good and Evil Daimons: A traditional Approach to the Eleventh and Twelfth Houses. https://www.uacastrology.com
Then in the Fall of 2018, September or October (dates and topic to be announced) we will host the Third Annual Hellenistic Astrology Retreat in Portland, Oregon.
Stay tuned for two more sacred site tours to Greece in 2019 and 2020.


text:
This was our shop before we moved in...just a little on the gross side. I'm pretty sure it was used as a workshop and then just as storage. It definitely needed some work to become a glammed up crafting studio.
My husband started cleaning it up. He painted all the walls a fresh clean white, cleaned the floors and painted them gray. Bless his heart, he bought the wrong kind of paint. DIY is not my husband's strong suit. The paint quickly began to scratch and scuff.
Taking up the existing linoleum tiles and replacing them with new flooring was not an option at this time due to both time and money constraints. Therefore, I decided to use this as an opportunity to do something fun and creative with the floors. Something involving lots of Glitter!
I decided to make stripes on the floor alternating between silver glitter stripes and white stripes. The first step was to spray paint the silver stripes on the floor using silver metallic spray paint. I used the lines on the tile as a guide. I did not do any taping off for this first step. I then let it dry 24 hours. BE SURE TO USE A MASK! THE FUMES WERE STRONG!
The next step was to paint on the glitter. I poured an entire container of silver glitter into a gallon of clear floor paint. I did not tape off any lines for this step either. I just stayed in the lines the best I could. Then, I brushed it onto the silver stripes. Be sure to keep it stirred frequently. Allow to dry according to directions on the clear paint.
Next, I taped off the stripes on the inside lines of the silver stripes to prepare for painting the white stripes.
It was then time to roll on the white paint. I used gloss white garage floor paint. I rolled on 2 thick coats and it seemed to be enough in most places. Three coats probably would have been ideal, but I stopped at two. Then allow to dry according to the directions on the paint. Then you can begin to pull up the tape.
I absolutely love the finished product and it is the first thing everyone comments on when they enter the shop! The floors have been done for over a month now and have also proved very durable. I could not be more pleased! If you are looking for a quick, easy, cost effective and glamorous flooring solution, then this is the solution for you!


text:
BattleLine Games LLC.
Morisson, Colorado USA
Press Kit Downloads:
Press Kit Images
Promotional Videos
Founded by:
Rick Battagline in April 2006
Press Contact:
Rick Battagline
Twitter: @battagline
Youtube Channel
Tilelicious is available April 16th, 2015 for purchase on the Wii U eShop. For more information, please visit http://www.tilelicious.com/. Learn more about BattleLine Games at http://battlelinegames.com/ or contact Rick Battagline at firstname.lastname@example.com; Twitter: @battagline; Youtube: http://www.battlelinegames.com/youtube.php


text:
You will need to provide your Login credentials to access the Employee Self Service (ESS) portal.
The Employee Self Service portal helps you to connect to the online resources your organisation has made available to you. Using ESS, you can browse and search those resources, perform your day-to-day activities, and manage your account details.
To prevent navigation issues, you should have cookies "enabled".
To help ensure security and privacy, please ensure that you log out of the system using the "Sign Out" menu option. Also, please remember to close down your browser window(s), especially if you are using a shared computer/device, to prevent unauthorised access of your information. If the service you are using is integrated within your enterprise portal as an integrated service, then, ESS will not offer you a logout button, and you will have to logout of your system to achieve the same.
For your privacy and safety ESS uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) integrated within your browser. This ensures that your information cannot be intercepted, manipulated or misused by anyone during transmission. All recent browsers support SSL. For more information you can refer to our Security Section.
If this is the first time you log in, you will be presented with the Terms and Conditions of ESS use. You will need to accept these before you can continue.
To access protected services using the ESS portal, your browser MUST be setup to use SSL and should accept Cookies.
The ESS portal session cookies contain tokens and other information needed to facilitate access all the protected resources which you are entitled to access in the ESS portal. Neither your login credentials nor the token contain any personal information. These cookies remain in the cookie file of your system for a maximum of 20 minutes after they are initially created and are automatically removed when you browser session is terminated or when you log-out.


text:
Father's Day is June 17th. Here's six alternatives to the cliché dad-gift. Feel free to get something for yourself, particularly if you also are a dad.
Soccer Dads
To mark the 2018 FIFA World Cup (which kicks off June 14), Louis Vuitton created a series of commemorative leather goods, including carryalls, wallets and luggage tags. The pieces are cut in hexagonal shapes that evoke a soccer ball.
Louis Vuitton 2018 FIFA World Cup Collection, $325 (luggage tag) to $4,300 (carryall), at louisvuitton.com.
Grill This
American Dad
Shinola, the Detroit-based company that champions high-quality American-made goods, makes a backyard statement with a set of handsome barbecue tools. Handcrafted from stainless steel and walnut, it features a two-tine fork, slotted turner and tongs.
Shinola Grill Tools Set with Wrap, $145, at shinola.com.
Gratefully Not Dead
Aging Rock Dad
Jacques Marie Mage, a boutique eyewear brand from Hollywood, offers classic frames inspired by Dennis Hopper and Bob Dylan. "Both Bob and Dennis are iconic artists that wore iconic glasses," said Jerome Mage, the company's founder. "By reinterpreting those designs, we offer a slice of their soul, lifestyle and some of their iconic character."
Jacques Marie Mage sunglasses, $525 to $850, at jacquesmariemage.com.
The Thirst
Big Hand Dad
Workaday Handmade, a ceramic studio in Brooklyn, offers an artisanal spin on the humdrum mug. "I chose to mess around with the proportion of the handle, giving the object a little sense of humor," said Forrest Lewinger, the founder of the studio.
Workaday Handmade mug, $44, at workadayhandmade.com.
Chet's Mix
DJ Jazzy Dad
A fascination with Chet Baker has led Kurt Narmore, the designer behind Noon Goons, a Southern California streetwear brand, to create a collection of T-shirts, sweatshirts and baseball caps inspired by the jazz musician. "Chet Baker was a creative genius," Mr. Narmore said.
Noon Goons & Chet Baker, $49 (for hat) and $59 (for T-shirt), at noongoons.com.
on your toes
Dad Who Wears Socks
You can never have enough black socks. CDLP, an eco-friendly underwear maker from Stockholm, makes a pair from bamboo yarn, which claims to be softer than silk and smoother than cotton.
CDLP Bamboo socks, $20 (single pack) and $85 (pack of 5), at cdlp.com.


text:
Robot ethics largely focuses on two main categories of issues:
- How humans should design, construct, deploy, and interact with robots or other artificial moral agents (AMAs)
- The moral status of AMAs.
Each of these can be thought about in relation to the main types of robots: industrial robots, military robots, social robots, and caregiving robots. The first category of issues raises such questions as:
- How do humans react to robots?
- What designs are more or less favored by humans?
- What are the responsibilities of those who create robots?
- Under what circumstances – or in what contexts – should robots be used?
- What are the risks of robots being hacked?
- How can these risks be mitigated?
The second category deals with the behavior of robots if and when they achieve independent decision-making abilities and status as moral agents. It remains unclear whether robots will ever be able to achieve full autonomy. Other questions include:
- If robots achieve moral status, how should they be instructed, rewarded, and punished?
- What does it mean to instruct, reward, and punish a robot?
- What implications would robots as moral agents have for human beings?


text:
is why I am feeling thoroughly depressed. (The numbering is entirely arbitrary, but they are in top-down date sequence.) The odd rogue result I can ignore. This… isn't a rogue result.
And also this, which would neatly account for small-for-dates.
And the fact that I no longer feel sick.
Filed under: Parenting | 32 Comments »


text:
Christos is a leadership training program where you have the chance to guide others on the best ways to share and live out your faith. Christos Leaders are involved in creating, developing and executing events and activities for the student body, and are instrumental in running trips such as the Mountward Bound Pre-Orientation trip "Encounter."
Contact Campus Ministry to get involved with Christos!LEARN MORE
Everyone is welcome to participate in this Student Organization which plans, implements, and institutes all campus ministry activities. This program can give you leadership experience with positions like the Christos President, Vice President, Engaging the Wider Student Body Leader, Marketing & Social Media Leader, and Spiritual Formation Leader.
Click here to learn more about Campus Ministry as a whole.Campus Ministry


text:
Animation can turn a blah, boring website into a work of art which draws visitors back again and again. That's rare because animation is generally not used very well. Most webmasters go through several phases with animation. Their site contains ...Read More »
Home » Tag Archives: Graphics
Bad Graphics
I know you like to put graphics on your page. There is little better than a site which has been done by a professional graphics designer. The perfect balance between graphics, color, fonts, photos and layout is rare and a ...Read More »


text:
You can show your solidarity with Academics for Peace e.V. by becoming a member or by financial support.
There are also various other ways by which you can stand together with Academics for Peace.
- Sign the petition to support the targeted boycott on complicit universities in Turkey;
- Inform your professional organizations and university senators to take action against complicit institutions, such as The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK
- Contact firstname.lastname@example.com if you want to attend the trials as an observer, or write to a human rights organization to send a delegate;
- Support dismissed scholars financially through Academics for Peace – Germany or to the main crowdfunding campaign the funds of which is sent to the progressive education union in Turkey.
- Share and spread this call for solidarity; show your solidarity by following up on the trials, commenting on them in your blogs, social media and/or writing a news article. For more info on the latest attacks on academics in Turkey, please visit Academics for Peace main page or see this report.


text:
Flan Cheesecake
If you're a big fan of flan, then this cheesecake is just what you've been waiting for! Berries or whipped cream would make a great garnish for this elegant dessert.
Recipe Ingredients:
12 tablespoons granulated sugar - divided use
5 large egg yolks
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
2/3 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
Cooking Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
- In a heavy skillet, melt 10 tablespoons of the sugar over medium heat to a light brown syrup, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir or shake saucepan repeatedly. Pour immediately into a 9-inch baking dish or a flan pan; set aside.
- In a small bowl slightly beat egg yolks; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually add egg yolks. Stir in sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, water, remaining 2 tablespoons of the sugar, vanilla and salt.
- Pour cream mixture over the melted sugar and set the baking dish in a larger pan filled with hot water to 1/2-inch from the top. Bake 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours. Cool completely before serving.
Makes 8 servings.


text:
from Monday to Friday from 9.00am to 12.00pm and from 2.00pm to 4.00pm; Saturday and festivities from 9.00am to 12.00pm. The opening times can be differnet for the activities of the schools.
Booking is mandatory for groups from 20 people. For further information call them directly.
nothing remains of the structure established in 1285 by the Carthusian Order where they lived for 483 years.
Abolished in 1769, the original building has been radically changed and the Charterhouse once even housed a cigarette factory and an education institute. It is now used as a training school for prison warders. The church was rebuilt in 1722 as a votive temple with a high, cylindrical drum. The interior is a majestic example of illusionistic decoration and scenic effects by Alessandro Baratta and G.B. Natali. The sacristy and main cloister date back to 16th century, while the smaller cloister with octagonal pillars was built a century before.
Since 1975 the Charterhouse hosts the training school of Prison Guard.
located in the north-east of the city, by car follow the SS 62 street direction Mantova. Bus n° 21, Via Mantova bus stop athen walking for 800 meters.


text:
The BranderApp adware is a web browser addon that displays advertisements in your web browser. As you are seeing "Ads by BranderApp" as underlined advertisements in your browser? Most likely, your computer is probably infected with adware. As adware is not a real threat to your security, it can however be very annoying as well as a privacy issue since it tracks your online behavior.
The adware will display all different kind of advertisements in your browser. Advertisements from BranderApp will vary as "Ads by BranderApp", "Ad by BranderApp" or "Brought by BranderApp" and are often shown as boxes containing large blocks, video or sound advertising, coupons and additional pop-ups. These advertisements are often based on keywords found in the content of the underlying website your are visiting. These ads can be very annoying as advertisements are promoted by implanting an ad-block in the middle off the page or slide-in ads from the bottom or right side in your browser. Clicking in the middle of the page will trigger a pop-up window, redirecting your browser to unwanted advertisements or social engineering scams as Flash Player, Browser or Media Player upgrades. These upgrades contain more adware, and installing them might cause a high-risk of privacy or identity theft.
This adware is promoted as a tool that enhances search results. It presents other tools like quick access to relevant image, video and so on. BranderApp gets installed on the computer through third-party apps coming from various sources such as pay-per-install programs or download portals. Programs where this adware is packed is similarly hosted on various reputable websites, thus you must take extra caution when installing freeware or shareware. Once inside computer, BranderApp adware alters settings on the browser which will lower your overall security. It drops add-ons and extensions that may result in the manipulation of search results.
How to Remove "BranderApp" (Removal Guide)
This page is a comprehensive guide, which will remove "BranderApp" malware from your computer, and any other adware program that may have been installed during the setup process.Please perform all the steps in the correct order. If you have any questions or doubt at any point, STOP and ask for our assistance.
STEP 2: Remove BranderApp malware with Reason Core Security Free
STEP 3: Remove "Ads by BranderApp" malware with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free
(Optional) STEP 4: Reset Internet Explorer, Firefox or Google Chrome settings to remove "BranderApp" Ads
STEP 1: Uninstall BranderApp from Windows
In this first step, we will try to identify and remove any malicious, adware or unwanted programs that might be installed on your computer.
- To uninstall the BranderApp program from Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7, click the "Start" button, then click on the "Control Panel" menu option. If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel". Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control Panel from there. If you are using Windows 10, click the "Start" button, then click "Control Panel" menu button found above it or, in the "Search the web and Windows" box, type in "Control Panel" and select the "Control Panel Desktop App" from the list.
- When the "Control Panel" window opens, select the "Uninstall a program" option under the "Programs" category. If you are using the "Classic View" of the Control Panel, then double-click on "Programs and Features" instead.
- When the "Programs and Features" or the "Uninstall a Program" screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and Uninstall BranderApp as well as any other adware or PUP you might see. To view the most recently installed programs, you can click on the "Installed On" column to sort your program by the installation date. Scroll through the list, and uninstall any unwanted or unknown programs.
Another great option is to download the Should I Remove It? software which will quickly help you find and remove unwanted adware and bloatware.
STEP 2: Remove BranderApp malware with Reason Core Security Free
Reason Core Security uses industry-leading technology to detect and remove all traces of malware, adware, PUPs and more. It is important to note that Reason Core Security works hand-in-hand with your existing anti-virus software without any conflict and should be run together. If you already have an anti-virus installed and it is not detecting this adware you can safely run Reason Core Security side-by-side without having to uninstall anything.
You can download Reason Core Security from the below link, its free.
DOWNLOAD REASON CORE SECURITY (This link will open a new web page)
Once downloaded run it directly from your web browser or by double-clicking on the icon on your desktop or your downloads folder named "reason-core-security-setup.exe" to start the installation of Reason Core Security.
When the installation begins, you will see the Reason Core Security Setup which will guide you through the installation process.
Once installed, Reason Core Security will automatically start a quick "welcome" process. When this completes it will run an initial scan which should find this and all additional adware threats on your computer. When it finds it and the scan completes, you will be asked to run a quick or full scan, which we recommend as other malware might be hiding on your computer too.
After the scan you will see BranderApp and other malware, adware and PUPs Reason Core Security has detected. Check all items you want to remove and click the "Remove Checked" button. (Please note that the infections found may be different than what is shown in the image above.)
Reason Core Security will now quarantine all the malicious malware it has found. When removing these threats, Reason Core Security may require a reboot in order to remove some of them. If it displays a message stating that it needs to reboot your computer, please allow it to do so.
- Once your computer has rebooted (only if required), you should be free of all adware and malware. After your computer restarts, you should open Reason Core Security and perform another quick scan to verify that there are no remaining malware. In addition if your web browser was hijacked, Reason Core Security should have fixed and removed the threat as well. Should you have any questions, they offer great customer support as well as an online forum to help remove tricky malware at fourm.reasoncoresecurity.com
STEP 3: Remove "Ads by BranderApp" malware with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free uses industry-leading technology to detect and remove all traces of malware, including worms, Trojans, rootkits, rogues, dialers, spyware, and more.
- You can download download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware from the below link.
DOWNLOAD MALWAREBYTES ANTI-MALWARE (This link will open a new web page from where you can download "Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free")
- Once downloaded, close all programs, then double-click on the icon on your desktop or your downloads folder named "mbam-setup-consumer-x.xx.xx" to start the installation of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.
- When the installation begins, you will see the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Setup Wizard which will guide you through the installation process. To install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware on your machine, keep following the prompts by clicking the "Next" button.
- Once installed, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will automatically start and you will see a message stating that you should update the program, and that a scan has never been run on your system. To start a system scan you can click on the "Scan Now" button.
- Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will now start scanning your computer for the BranderApp malware.
- When the scan has completed, you will now be presented with a screen showing you the malware infections that Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware has detected. To remove the malicious programs that Malwarebytes Anti-malware has found, click on the "Quarantine All" button, and then click on the "Apply Now" button. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will now quarantine all the malicious files it has found. When removing the files, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware may require a reboot in order to remove some of them. If it displays a message stating that it needs to reboot your computer, please allow it to do so.
- After your computer will restart, you should open Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and perform another "Scan" scan to verify that there are no remaining threats
(Optional) STEP 4: Reset Internet Explorer, Firefox or Google Chrome settings to remove "BranderApp" Ads
If you are still experiencing issues with the "BranderApp" ads in Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome, we will need to reset your browser to its default settings. This step needs to be performed only if your issues have not been solved by the previous steps.
Reset Internet Explorer homepage and search
You can reset Internet Explorer settings to return them to the state they were in when Internet Explorer was first installed on your computer.
- Open Internet Explore.
- Click "Tools", "Internet Options",Open "Internet Options" panel.
- Click "General" tab.
- Delete the homepage link and set a new homepage link,or click "Use blank".
- Click "Settings" button in the "Search" area,open "Manage Add-ons" panel.
- Choose the search url and click "Remove",then close "Manage Add-ons" panel.
- Click "Apply" or "OK" on "Internet Opens" panel to save the changes.
- Close and restart Internet Explorer.
Reset Chrome homepage and search
- Open Chrome.
- Click "Customize and control Google Chrome" in the right-top of the page and click "Setting".
- Click "Set pages" link of "On startup" ->delete the homepage link and click "OK".
- Delete the homepage link and set a new homepage link. Or click "Restore to Default".
- Click "OK".
- Click "Change" link of "Appearance" and delete the homepage link for Groovorio and click "OK".
- Click "Manage search engines" and delete the url, then click "OK".
- Close and restart Chrome.
Reset Firefox homepage and search
If you're having problems with Firefox, resetting it can help. The reset feature fixes many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information like bookmarks, passwords, web form auto-fill information, browsing history and open tabs.
- Open Firefox.
- Click "Open Menu" on the right-top and click "Options" open "Options" panel.
- Click "General" tab.
- Delete the homepage link and set a new homepage link. Or click "Restore to Default".
- Click "OK".
- Choose "Manage Search Engines" in the search list.
- Choose the url or "Groovorio" and click "Remove",then click "OK".
- Close and restart Firefox.
Your computer should now be free of the BranderApp adware infection. If you are still experiencing problems while trying to remove BranderApp adware from your computer, please contact us.
It's Your Turn to Help
If we have managed to help with your computer issues, then please let other people know that this information will help them! You can share this on Facebook by using the button below.


text:
There are questions I wish I didn't have to ask myself.
One of them arrived in my inbox yesterday, from Rachel Nussbaum, the rabbi of Kavana, a Jewish cooperative community that our family belongs to. Social justice is an important part of Kavana's mission, and the group that focuses on it has been learning about slavery and child labor in the African cocoa trade.
Now I'm guessing that you are well aware that conditions for workers throughout the Third World are often miserable. Low pay, brutally long hours, and dangerous conditions are commonplace. I certainly know this, but in truth I don't pay as much attention as I know I should when I make purchases. When it comes to produce, I buy as much local and organic as possible, but with plenty of other goods I try to remain in my bubble of blissful ignorance.
The information that the social justice group shared with me about cocoa exploded that bubble. In summary, much of the cocoa from West Africa, most particularly the Ivory Coast, is harvested by child slaves. These children are trafficked into the cocoa plantations and kept there to work without pay, with brutal reprisals and even murder awaiting them if they try to escape.
The US has been part of a decade long effort to end these practices, but the legislation was watered down to begin with and the results have been spotty at best.
Rather than lay out all of the details, let me refer you to two excellent articles at the CNN Freedom Project, and the Huffington Post. One thing is obvious – this industry isn't going to change by itself. Consumers can make all of the difference. If we vote with our dollars and demand products that are slavery free, producers will find the motivation to change.
So I'm asking myself: Do I want to be handing out candy made by slave child labor on Halloween, to other innocent kids? Would it really be in line with the values of Judaism to give them Hannukah gelt made with this chocolate? Would I want to express my love for my wife on Valentine's day that way? And obviously the answer is no. I don't ever want to be cooking with or eating a product with this kind of cruelty involved, and especially not for something that is a luxury.
So how do you know if your chocolate is safe? Well, the first and best answer is to buy products that are Fair Trade certified or Fair For Life certified (which Theo uses). These products have the greatest assurance that high human rights standards are in place, and furthermore that farmers are being paid a price that allows them to have a better life. There are apps for Facebook, Iphone and Android that can help you find these products.
Without a fair trade certification, you'll have to talk to indvidual producers to find out what standards they have in place. Local producers should be able to answer you directly, and larger companies often have information on their websites. If they don't want to answer these questions, you might infer something about their practices.
Finally, if those options don't work for you, you could also try to purchase chocolate that is harvested in other parts of the world besides West Africa and especially Ivory Coast.
I'm making the commitment right now. If you feel the same way, leave a comment below.
This content was originally published here.


text:
Monday through Friday
8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
1703 North Beauregard St.
Alexandria, VA 22311-1714
Complete Customer Service Details
Patricia W. Newhall
Table of Contents
About the Author | Comments
Researchers generally agree that the term "executive function" describes the brain's ability to manage goal-oriented behavior: setting goals, developing and following plans to achieve them, evaluating progress toward them, and adjusting attitudes and behaviors to meet the goal. When the cognitive and psychological processes coordinated by executive function are disrupted, or the coordination itself is weakened, the result is typically learning difficulties and poor academic performance.
In this book, you'll find
This book does not advocate changing what works in your classroom. Instead, it offers a lens through which readers might understand some roadblocks to student success, and suggestions for approaches to get around them.
See the book's table of contents and read excerpts.
Visit www.landmarkoutreach.org/ef-resources.
Username (all lowercase): foundations
Password (all capital): OUTREACH
Share This Page
Product No:
April 2015
Examination & Desk Copies
This is not a member book.
PATRICIA W. NEWHALL, M.A., M.S.Ed., is Associate Director of the Landmark School Outreach Program. A teacher of literature, writing, and study skills since 1987, she has taught at the middle school, high school, college and post-graduate levels, and has worked in public and independent schools. In her publications, lectures, and graduate courses, she shares research about learning disabilities and differences, and the teaching strategies essential to building the skills and confidence of struggling learners. Newhall's books include Executive Function: Foundations for Learning and Teaching; Language-Based Learning Disabilities; Study Skills: Research-Based Teaching Strategies; and Teaching Independent Minds.
Read More
content area: literacy | struggling students | instructional strategies | brain and learning
Subscribe to ASCD Express, our free e-mail newsletter, to have practical, actionable strategies and information delivered to your e-mail inbox twice a month.
ASCD respects intellectual property rights and adheres to the laws governing them. Learn more about our permissions policy and submit your request online.


text:
Our Security Team is a trained workforce specifically selected to our Client's requirements.
We are committed to a multi-skilled workforce. This not only delivers best practice but also adds value to our Client's demands by eradicating the need for multiple functions.
This is best illustrated by the fact that many of our Guards are traffic marshal trained and therefore, can not only complete their security duties but can also safely bank vehicles entering and leaving premises.
Our Officers also undergo fire marshal and hoist driver training, which is crucial to the successful completion of their patrols.


text:
26 minutes ago
there are some things that are just better left unsaid. things in the past that belong in the past. my hubby knows every thing and i mean e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. about my past (somewhat colored but i'm reformed!) and it's not always a positive that he knows it all.
ella: hello! i think we all have some sort of secret or grey area where you just can't be black and white. that's good that your husband knows everything about your past. maybe true, it may not always positive, but i would like to have that kind of relationship with my husband :) thanks for your comment!


text:
Looking for a pet friendly holiday?
Check out these featured properties!
Beautifully refurbished pet friendly holiday caravan in Gwynedd, set in its own private enclosed garden, with a private drive. Sited on a 4 acre small holding here in Dinas/Pen Llyn. Looking out towards Garnfadryn, Rhiw & Hell's Mouth/Port...View More Details
We found 9 pet friendly holiday properties - Gwynedd
2 bedroom dog friendly holiday cottage Bwthyn Ael Y Bryn, Gywnedd. Sleeps 4. dogs welcome. On the fringes of Snowdonia National Park, this charming and comfortably furnished little cottage is bursting with character. Adjoining the owners' home...View More Details
2 bedroom Dog Friendly holiday Cottage Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd. Sleeps 3. dogs welcome (3). Woodburner in lounge, Hot tub & Suana. Bursting with character, this cosy and beautifully furnished quarryman's cottage sits on the fringes of ...View More Details
With wonderful views of the coast. 3 bed Dog friendly holiday cottage in Pontllyfni, Nr. Caernarfon, Gwynedd. sleeps 6. dogs welcome (2). Views of Snowdonia and Anglesey, and access to 8 acres, this very comfortable and well equipped property is i...View More Details
3 bedroom dog friendly holiday cottage in Porthmadog, Gwynedd. Sleeps 6. Dogs welcome (3). Beautifully renovated and Grade II listed, this traditional seafarer's cottage gloriously overlooks the harbour in pretty Porthmadog. Ffestiniog railway...View More Details
Lovelly views from this dog friendly holiday cottage in Harlech, Gwynedd. sleeps 6. Dogs welcome (2). Commanding spectacular countryside, mountain and coastal views, this recently renovated former farmhouse and its adjoining cottage are ideally si...View More Details
3 bedroom pet friendly holiday rental Llandwrog, Nr. Caernarfon, Gwynedd, 3 dogs allowed. Enjoying its own private hot tub and delightful panoramic views over meadowland and hills, this comfortable and spacious property makes an ideal base from wh...View More Details
Dog friendly cottage just 2 minutes walk from sandy beach. This cottage is located in the village of Fairbourne. Fairlawns has a large lawned garden with great views of the mountains, is only a couple of minutes walk from the lovely, quiet, two-mi...View More Details
A holiday cottage ideally situated for exploring Snowdonia. We offer a 3 bedroom dog friendly Self-catering cottage near Caernarfon, Gwynedd. Sleeping 5View More Details
Three holiday cottages near Fairbourne that welcomes dogs. The properties occupy a great central touring position that is close to the beautiful Mawddach Estuary, Mawddach trail and cycle path; once on the trail, a public footpath runs alongside a...View More Details


text:
I was born in London, in a country called England, in a union called the United Kingdom, in a landmass known as Europe. Yet despite this preponderance of possible identities, the first 30 years of my life were characterised by affinity with none of them. Sure, there were moments I cheered England on in the football, or sang the anthem to tease my parents. But they were teenage experiments with identity. I spoke a humanist, internationalist, multicultural language that was uneasy with the notion of nationhood. Nationality felt a dangerous allegiance that could be manipulated for nefarious means and offered only a means of controlling populations.
The songs I loved as an impressionable teenager were those that ridiculed nationality: With God On Our Side among many by Bob Dylan, and Imagine by John Lennon particularly. When I got to university it was the theories of Benedict Anderson that struck a closest chord. In his seminal work, 'Imagined Communities', he argued that nations were best explained not as geographies where people shared a natural affinity, but communities socially constructed, imagined by the people who perceive themselves as part of that group. The problem, I started to realise, was not nationalism per se, but that the stories that my country told about itself were not ones that I valued or identified with. Monarchy, tradition, military, green rolling fields, progress, and all those other tales wrapped up in Empire. None of this struck a chime with me and never will. The United Kingdom is not a homogeneous community, and these aren't the only stories that have been told by people who live here. But these are the stories that generally receive national sanction.
Yet this Olympic and Paralympic summer I have, for the first time, started to hear stories told on a mass scale about the country I live in, with which I feel affinity. The sport was always going to be amazing. Put great athletes together and sport will provide drama and human tales of courage and determination that you can barely believe are possible. Sport is objective in a way little else in life is, but in the pursuit of those objectives it is full of narrative and characterisation and space for the viewer to imagine how things might turn out.
What I didn't expect was for art to provide pitch-perfect context for these sporting stories to be told in. Inclusion, human rights, equality, trust in each other, belief in the inherent goodness of people, the National Health Service, libraries, knowledge, self-criticism. These stories and more have been told through the opening and closing ceremonies. Similarly, Channel Four's Paralympics adverts and shows have presented a fresh view of disability as enabling.
In the Paralympic Opening Ceremony, Sir Ian McKellen described books as "the engines of change, windows on the world, lighthouses erected in the sea of time. They are companions, teachers, magicians, guardians of the treasures of the mind." I agree. But more than this, I believe it is stories that are the engines of change and windows on the world.
I haven't changed my feelings about nationalism or internationalism. I still value humans over nations. But I have learnt that imagining our communities can be an act of creation and idealism. I've loved this Olympic summer for many reasons, and I hope the legacies last long.
You may say I'm a dreamer. But this summer, I've learnt for the first time, that I'm not the only one.


text:
The perfect fit bra. You will forget you even have this bra on, with medium support and maximum comfort. Sweat wicking and four way stretch to fulfill all of your needs!
fit + function
wear it : studio, gym, run, sup, surf, here-to-there
support: medium support
double lined: for extra support and coverage
model size : small


text:
We seek to keep you literally "updated" on movement in terms of truth and justice in the Middle East in general with a particular eye on Palestine. The links below will take you to various articles and websites that offer the perspective of leaders in the religious, NGO, and human rights communities. Additionally, Al-Bushra, ever vigilant, provides links to regular reporting as well as opinion pieces by journalists. The dates given here indicate when the link was posted; the most recent posting is at the top. Check the article itself for the date the information was released by the source.
Friday, November 28, 2014
St Louis : what example for the Holy Land ?
Despite the goodwill of those who launched the Crusades, anxious to defend Christians access to the Holy Places, these campaigns have seriously hurt and hampered, across the ages, the relationship between West and East, between Christians and Moslems. Absence of dialogue, creation of ghettos and mutual mistrust were the direct results of the Crusades. However, time has allowed for the two sides to meet and to learn to live together.
Mgr Shomali, present at the closing ceremony of St Louis Year on Sunday 23 November in Versailles, stated in his speech that this episode of History "does not harm the image of Louis IX who was truly a man of conscience, honest, sympathizing with poor people". The King of France led the 7th and 8th Crusades. He arrived in Acre, but never saw Jerusalem. "It is thanks to him that the thorn crown is in Paris. Thanks to him the coastal towns of Palestine were reinforced to prevent the crumbling of what remained of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. And thanks to him that we are here today", has further stated the Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem before the assembly.
New way to protect the Holy Places
Since the last Crusade taking arms is out of question. Other means were used to protect Christian of the Holy Land, namely through the revival of certain Orders of Chivalry, including those of Malta and of the Holy Sepulchre, to bring support, both material and spiritual, to the communities who live in the vicinity of Christianity's Holy Places. Many members of both Orders were present at the Cathedral of Versailles.
However, the Christian World of the Middle East is now facing a new Islamic offensive which threatens the life of faithful and of places they worship in every day since 2000 years. They need relief, without repeating the image of the past.
As a foremost support, the Bishop of Versailles, Mgr Aumonier, co-signed with other bishops, including the Apostolic Nuncio in France and Mgr Shomali, a message. The signatories evoke their proximity to Christians living in persecution while placing full trust in their prayers so that in the West Christians may "clearly confirm their own faith, both in their words and in their actions". The message was concluded by these words: "May we able to receive, as we ought to, Christians of the East obliged to fly into exile and to implement everything possible in order for you to live peacefully over your Land".
The example of St Louis, holy for all the Church, should serve as an impulse for every Christian to come to Jerusalem and to the Holy Land. Not only for the sake of pilgrimage, but also to bear witness of a Christian presence which requires a protection of the Holy Places, facing those who seem willing to scrap them out. When that cannot be done through weapons, all means used to ensure this protection are justified".
Pierre Loup de Raucourt
Source: http://en.lpj.org/2014/11/27/st-louis-what-example-for-the-holy-land/
Posted by Al-Bushra Watch at 12:12 PM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
For the successful low-to-mid market business owner, life is complex. Money, family, business, employees, wealth, personal health, values – they are interwoven.
To be effective, a transition solution (be it scale, sale, or succession) must meet the long-term goals of the owner while remaining flexible to meet the immediate needs of the business.
Our M3 transition framework for business owners is built around three core components:
My Business + My Money + My Self = Transition Success
Download white paper
M3 Framework
Drop Us A Note
Contact Us
Email Newsletter


text:
Chapter Snapshots
The places you will go. The people you'll meet.
Poison Heartbeats Author's Notes:
Poison Heartbeats is the second novel in the author's Heartbeats Series, which will eventually include six books. The first novel was the award-winning Wrinkled Heartbeats.
They are stand-alone works of fiction. You don't have to read one to enjoy another. Before publication, Poison Heartbeats was awarded five stars by Reader's Favorites. It has also received the Awesome Indies Medallion.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claims more territory in the Middle East than the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Both organizations follow the same path of chaos, terror, and destruction, often with shared leadership.
Homeland Security sticks to its name and operates within the borders of the United States. Poison Heartbeats, a work of fiction, gives Homeland Security an international mandate that may not exist in reality. Perhaps it should.
For more information, or to ask a question, please email
©2017 -- Templeworks Properties LLC. This site produced and
administered by Templeworks Properties LLC. All rights reserved.
Copyright violation will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.


text:
Elite 7s tournaments have been a fixture for the men for years going back several years ago to the Elite City 7s. This last weekend in Hanover, New Hampshire it was the women's turn. Top teams from around the country, including the Northeast Academy, Tiger Rugby, Atavus, Armed Forces, and the Stars all participated. In the end it was the Northeast Academy that defeated the Tiger Cubs 19-7 in the final. For the Northeast the victory was a rebound after a tight 29-26 loss to Tiger Rugby in pool play. Tiger Rugby went unbeaten in pool play blanking the Stars, beating the Armed Forces, and Atavus. The loss to Tiger Rugby was the only loss for the Northeast in the tournament.
To make the semi-finals the Northeast Academy had to beat Atavus 17-10 while Tiger Rugby beat the Armed Forces 22-5. The Armed Forces had previously played a play-in match against the Stars to get the right to play in the semi-finals. Atavus would eventually finish in third place after they beat the Armed Forces 12-5.


text:
Your blog has two main options for publishing: posts and pages.
We know. It's a little confusing. They can both have comments at the end, you can add images or video, and they fit into similar templates. They even look the same on your dashboard when you're writing them. So let's explore how they're used.
You've been posting on your blog throughout this course; that is, publishing news updates. Use posts for material where:
- You plan lots of them, like regular entries
- Information changes often, like news updates
- You want people to subscribe.
Posts can be read in a chronological sequence, and as you add a new post the older ones slip down the page and eventually slide right off into an archive. They can still be searched or browsed in a number of ways if you add tags to them or sort them into categories. Then they become like a database of entries accumulated over time.
They are what is known as dynamic web content – quick updates, changing often. When you subscribe to a blog in your Feedly, you subscribe to the new posts.
They are usually date- and time-stamped, and tell the reader who posted that update, just like in news media. You can then add widgets to your blog which help people find old posts by tag or date.
Posts usually appear on the Home page of a blog, with the most recent at the top (but you can change that, if you want to, under Settings in your dashboard.)
Pages are for information that:
- Won't be updated much, if at all
- Provides contextual information, like an About us page
- Needs to fit into the navigation or menu of your blog/website.
This thing you're reading now is a page – so are all the different tasks and information presented to you on this blog. We use pages rather than posts because we want them to stay in the same place. We connect them to one another in the menu.
People who subscribe to blogs through services like Feedly don't get notified of new pages or updates to existing pages.
So if, for example, you were building a class or library blog, you might have a couple of pages explaining what the blog is for and who is writing it, or what services the library offers. If you have information about library opening hours, say, you'd want to make sure people can easily find that information on your blog. You don't want it to slide down the page as other things get posted.
Then you'd use posts to present updates like news for parents, kids' projects, book reviews, photos from excursions, or interesting resources.


text:
Wyfold Vineyard
See Decanter experts' rating, tasting notes and drinking window for Wyfold Vineyard 2009.
Decanter average score:
Individual judges' scores: Richard Hemming 16.5, Justin Howard-Sneyd MW 17, Stephen Skelton MW 15.5.
Attractive soy and brine character on the nose and crunchy apple skin. Quite a pithy mouthfeel – this is a simple but attractive style with fresh currant fruits.
Price: £24.99 Laithwaite's Wine
Drink: 2013–2016
Alc: 12.5%


text:
What might I see while using the site?
Since JumpInChat allows anyone to broadcast, you may not be directly able to control what you see. This can involve people broadcasting what you may consider distressing or otherwise unpleasent.
While it is never fully possible to prevent this, you can reduce the risk by using rooms that only allow registered users or enforce a password. If you are room owner, you can enable these settings in your room settings.
Should you ever see a user broadcasting something that is against the terms and conditions, you should report it immediately.
It should be noted, JumpInChat is not intended for use by those under the age of 16, as explained in the terms and conditions. If you are a parent or guardian of a minor and are aware someone under your care is using the site, please inform us via the contact form.


text:
So Mr Cookie showed his true devotion to me this Christmas by presenting me with a….reptile lamp! Well actually (before you gasp in horror) it…Read More
Living In The Moment…
Playing with Christmas ideas..back in July!! What does that mean anyway? Apparently children are experts at the whole thing..clearly the person who came up with…Read More
The Advent of Advent…
I know it's only a whisker into advent but now I figure I can happily post some Christmas designs now that our 'Tree That Taste…Read More
Completely Crackers..
So I asked Schoolie what she was looking forwards to most about Thanksgiving.. The answer was a little more random than I expected..it was crackers..the…Read More
Ford Model T..
Or how you can have any colour as long as it's black..well so goes the story of Henry Ford's automobile. Now I do realise that…Read More


text:
To experience Peninsula Papagayo is to become powerless under its spell. Infusing this North Pacific corner of Guanacaste is a community of natural wonders, cultural richness and only-here experiences to explore. It's your gateway to a country that harbors 12 major life zones, 500,000 species and 5% of the life forms found on the planet. It's peaceful, happy people who teach the language of pura vida, pure life—the gift of grace that's all about living in the moment. Your journey begins here.
Welcome To
A World Apart
Discover the Wonder of a 1,400-Acre Private Peninsula
Beyond the Reach of Imagination
"There are places which exist in this world beyond the reach of imagination."
Peninsula Papagayo is Latin America's ultimate coastal retreat offering an unparalleled closeness to nature and a lifetime of adventure in one of the most peaceful and bio-diverse countries in the world. Home of four World Heritage sites certified by UNESCO, and a kind, welcoming people eager to share their rich culture. Part sophisticated resort, part primitive playground, this private paradise possesses one of the most extraordinary landscapes and biological corridors on the planet: a dreamlike 1,400-acre canvas of towering bluff tops, tropical forests and miles of uncrowded beaches tumbling out to the sea—all teeming with rare and magical wildlife.
Experience a world apart.
Two Ways
to Experience Paradise
Stimulate your senses and revitalize your spirits. Inspired by the local flora and fauna, Andaz Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo reflects the indigenous nature of Costa Rica with the uncomplicated and personalized service associated with the Andaz experience.
The resort that introduced the wonders of Costa Rica's Guanacaste Province to an international audience of luxury travellers landed Peninsula Papagayo on numerous "best of" lists—where it still reigns. Newly transformed with a unique fusion of barefoot luxury.
A new era of locally inspired, globally considered modern luxury has arrived at the first Forbes Five-Star Resort in Central and South America.
The first new residential offering at Peninsula Papagayo in over a decade, this new edition of wholly owned Four Seasons Private Residences on beloved Prieta Bay is the ultimate home away for those who know and appreciate the best.
For a fortunate few, Peninsula Papagayo's secluded promontories, mesas, bluffs and hillsides present passage to a way of life that exists nowhere else. Secluded amongst some of the peninsula's most prized locales, you'll discover an extraordinary collection of private homes offering unparalleled views and serenity. All surrounded by a protected 1,400-acre basecamp unrivaled anywhere in Central or South America. And quite possibly the globe.
Planning paradise
for the modern age
Integrating People and Nature
Foster health, happiness and personal growth
Honoring People
& Place
Integrate local culture into daily life
Nurture a strong and cohesive community
The Art
of Hospitality
Deliver a seamless experience across the peninsula
Experience the evolution of Peninsula Papagayo—a world apart.
Interact with the master plan for a tour of current and future resort amenities.
Four Seasons Private Residences Prieta Bay at Peninsula Papagayo are not owned, developed or sold by Four Seasons Hotels Limited or its affiliates (Four Seasons). The developer, Residencial PLV, Limitada, uses the Four Seasons trademarks and tradenames under a license from Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts B.V. The marks "FOUR SEASONS," "FOUR SEASONS HOTELS AND RESORTS," any combination thereof and the Tree Design are registered trademarks of Four Seasons Hotels Limited in Canada and U.S.A. and of Four Seasons Hotels (Barbados) Ltd. elsewhere. Floor plans, drawings, images, renderings and other material presented herein are for illustrative purposes only, are not to scale and should not be relied upon as a basis for purchasing. Dimensions and square footage are approximate and may vary with actual construction. The developer reserves the right to make modifications or substitutions should they be necessary.
One or more images on this page originally appeared in the book "Voices of Guanacaste," and are presented here courtesy of photographer Tony Arruzza.


text:
Christmas has always been my favorite holiday and I'm excited to really be able to introduce James to it this year.
We've been spending Christmas in Park City with my in-laws for as long as Andrew and I have been dating. And i can't wait to head there tomorrow. It really hasn't felt like Christmas that much this year – we are going out early this year, so we decided to skip the trees, cookies, presents and Santa trauma until we get there so other than the occasional holiday party, I almost forgot Christmas was less than a week away.
When we get there, I can't wait to trim the tree, attempt to make my moms famous Christmas cookies, take some pics with Santa who always stops by Deer Valley on Christmas Eve, and of course, open presents, go to lots of fun holiday parties and ski and sled. We're hoping we'll get a white Christmas so James can play in the snow and maybe try skies on for the first time (or at least sled).
Growing up, we always celebrated Christmas Eve with my dad's parents and my parents and then spent Christmas Day opening santa presents and celebrating with my moms family, so I want to make Christmas Eve special for James too that can be our Utah tradition: baking cookies to leave out for Santa, some sledding (night skiing or skating when he's older)and fireside dining (a super fun experience at our favorite ski resort) with his grandparents. Oh yeah, and of course, we'll be wearing our matching pajamas and taking pictures by the tree, a tradition I plan to force my family to participate in for endless years to come.
On Christmas morning, we love to have a big breakfast, ski and then help my in-laws set up for a huge dinner with family and friends. I love helping to decorate the table and plan the seating chart and get dressed up for the festivities. There's always lots of good food, wine and fun conversation and even after dinner games. Every year, my in laws get a giant Smithfield ham from Virginia that gets devoured over Christmas and is a fun staple I love seeing out with the appetizer spread (even if I don't eat ham).
There are other traditions I love like hot chocolate and cookies after skiing, meeting up for lunch on the ski slopes with all our friends, an annual movie outing (which has become Star Wars) with our good friends, shopping on Main Street, and hitting up some annual parties that are always sure to be way too much fun.
In case you're trying to think of holiday traditions or Christmas activities to do with your family, here's my list of faves from my own family or that I've been introduced to by other families:
1. Matching Pajamas
2. Christmas Day family ski
3. Sledding
4. Ice Skating
5. Go see the big movie of the holiday season
6. Caroling (fun fact: we love going to the same caroling Christmas party on the Upper East Side each year and yes, everyone gathers around and sings and it's delightful)
7. Visiting Santa
8. Baking Christmas cookies
9. Volunteering at a shelter or soup kitchen or toy drive
10. Family holiday photos (for the holiday card or just to have — you really never regret spending this money or time)
11. Writing Christmas letters to Santa
12. Elf on a Shelf (I actually don't get this tradition yet, but I'm told I will)
13. Opening Santa gifts Christmas morning
14. After-Christmas Dinner Games (We love Apples to Apples but anything from Scrabble and Charades to Monopoly could be fun)
15. Polar Bear Swim (or I supposed just a swim if you celebrate someplace warm)
16. Christmas morning hike or run (I like to do this on Thanksgiving too and get some exercise in before the gluttony)
17. Smithfield Ham (a favorite of my husband's family and prepping and carving it is half the fun)
18. Advent Calendar
19. Reading Christmas stories
20. Drive around to look at Christmas lights
21. Decorating the tree
22. Shop for toys to donate to families in need for the holidays
25. Hot chocolate and Christmas movies in pajamas (favorites of mine are Elf, Home Alone, The Polar Express, Charlie Brown Christmas and The Family Man)
26. Stockings
27. Hot cocoa bar
28. Pick out the tree
29. Decorate gingerbread houses (a blogger I love has an annual gingerbread house decorating party, which I plan to try next year because doesn't that sound like so much fun?)
30. Make your own Frosty the snowman


text:
Curator of Classical and Byzantine Studies
JOB: The British Library is recruiting a Curator of Classical and Byzantine Studies on a 3 year fixed term contract. Salary scale: £31,076 to £35,202 per annum. Hours: Full time, 36 hours per week.
The British Library holds an outstanding collection of Classical and Byzantine manuscripts, including highlights such as Codex Alexandrinus, the Theodore Psalter, and the Aratea. More than 550 Greek manuscripts have already been published in full on the British Library's Digitised Manuscripts site, thanks to the generosity of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. By digitising these manuscripts, and by providing enhanced descriptions, the library has revolutionised access to this hugely important resource, making them freely available on-line for researchers and interested non-specialists to examine and research.
The British Library wishes to build on these achievements and is therefore currently advertising for the new post of Curator of Classical & Byzantine Studies (3 year, fixed-term contract). The successful candidate will join the Medieval and Earlier Manuscripts Section within the History and Classics Department and will have responsibility for interpreting and actively promoting the Classical & Byzantine collections (both Greek and Latin) for researchers and the public to increase their use and appreciation more widely. They will also project-manage the digitisation and online presentation of the rest of the Library's Greek manuscripts, so that the entire corpus is freely available to all anywhere in the world.
The BL is looking to appoint someone with a post-graduate degree, or equivalent, in a relevant subject, and with extensive experience of research in Classical and/or Byzantine Studies. Strong knowledge of Ancient Greek and Latin, excellent written and oral communication skills in English, and the ability to promote the collections to a wide range of audiences are essential.
To see a copy of the job profile and information about how to apply, please click here.
Application deadline: 7 April 2013. Interviews will be held on 22 April 2013.