text:
[Awakened Worlds]
» Awakened Worlds Forums
Log in to check your private messages
Member List
Who's Online
Connect to Awake
The Simsense Rig
Character Backgrounds
Goto page
Topic: Character Backgrounds
: Neophyte
Posts: 1
Joined: 25 Jul 2010
Date Posted:
Wed Jul 28, 2010 2:16 pm
Shokunin - 'Mechanic'
December the 24th 2011 Shokunin's grandfather was travelling on the world famous Bullet train toward his home city of Tokyo. He was returning from a misogi ceremony held in one of the temples in the sacred city of Kyoto. Suddenly excited and shocked remarks were emanating from the passengers and some of them were pointing, through the train's window, into the sky. Everyone looked and could not believe their eyes, a great dragon flew over the train - later the dragon was identified as Ryumyo. Three days later the earthquake hit Tokyo city with the epicenter very near the Imperial Palace. And to make matters worse there were rumours that a strange disease was causing some deformed births among the population.
VITAS continued to cause further devastation on the population inside quake-damaged Tokyo and so many families suffered and came close to extinction. Those who could afford it fled the earthquake zone, including the Imperial Family and the JIS Government. Shokunin's grandmother was pregnant with Shokunin's father and trapped in the city the family remained extremely worried. When Shokunin's father was born the whole experience killed the mother, not least because the child was born with the dreaded birth defect disease currently baffling the scientific world. The baby's father was devastated, the dragon must have been a messenger of ill-omen; first the earthquake, then the VITAS crisis and now this. His son was stunted and small and covered in hair. His wife had died in childbirth. It was too much for the sanity of the man. He walked out of the hospital and went on the hunt for this dragon of ill-omen to kill it, he was never seen or heard of again.
The hospital authorities had to decide what to do with the stunted baby, children with this particular defect were termed koborokuru, oriental dwarves of myth and legend. Koborokuru were slightly shorter than the western dwarves and like them had broadness of girth, especially in the shoulders, but only averaged around 1.2 meters in height and a weight of around 54 kilos. Like elves the koborokuru had pointed ears but also had an exuberant amount of body hair with an olive brown tanned skin color. Their infants remain in the suckling period for 15 months and the infant dwarve was almost two years old until he could be passed on to someone else. Within the ruins of the city were many refugee and support centers to try to alleviate the suffering. Political wrangling coupled with corporation greed made most of the relief efforts a farce, but there was a group of orphanages. One in particular had been set up my some Buddhist monks, in 2013, and they accepted the 'mutated' children being born into the world. The hospital authorities decided to send the baby to these Buddhists. The monks found it challenging to acquire enough food and equipment for the orphanage, especially after the JIS posted two full divisions of the army in the Kanto Plains surrounding the city of Tokyo, effectively closing it to any trying to enter or leave, requiring that all persons acquired a pass to do so.
In 2018 the JIS governement issued a decree that all elves and dwarves were to be sent to Hokkaido in the far north for 'rest'. This was the island of Hokkaido, the traditional homeland of the Ainu, the non-Japanese and quiet evidently the JIS government regarded elves and dwarves just as alien. To be fair, it did have a positive result as it stopped the random racial violence that occurred all over the mainland. Over the next couple of years population exchanges occurred, metahumans going to Hokkaido and the 'nornal' humans leaving for the mainland.
No one was prepared for the 'goblinization' epidemic that struck in the year 2021, but the appearance of orks and trolls brought a public cry throughtout the JIS that these beings should commit suicide. The semi-autonomous government of Hokkaido was in negotiation with the JIS to decide whether to allow these new brand of metahumans to migrate north to the island. No decision was reached as an armed uprising against the government quickly turned into the Donan War! Shokunin's father, although a mere boy of 10-11 years old, fought in this war along with the Ainu guerillas and other metahumans. His work was mainly to do with keeping the miltech vehicles in working order and he became his units mechanic. For sure on more than one occasion he was called upon to fight for his life as enemy units attacked the camp were he was working. He became quite adept with an axe and a hammer as melee weapons when it came to hand-to-hand fighting. The rest of the time, in combat, he used a variety of SMG's - whatever he could get ammo clips for.
In 2022 the Donan War ground to a standstill as all of the protagonists suffered from stretched resources and an intransigent, determined enemy. The rebel groups, the Hokkaido Republic and the JIS were able to negotiate a peace that created the totally independent nation - the Ainu-Moshiri Republic. The Ainu rulers were openly friendly and accepting of the small metahuman groups, especially out of gratitude for their efforts in the Donan War, which subsequently ended. Then in 2024 the JIS classified all metahumans as status equal to illegal resident foreigners and withdrew any protection from them. This decided the majority of the remaining metahuman communities in the JIS to migrate to the island of Hokkaido. Shokunin's mother and her family moved to the korobokuru community on Hokkaido and within a year a relationship was developing between Shokunin's parents. On hearing about incidents in the Donan War, Shokunin's mother and her family regarded Shokunin's father as a hero and this cemented their relationship and gained the blessing of the parents to allow an engagement. Both of Shokunin's parents started a garage and they were the communities mechanics - although many others from the surrounding area heard of their skill and so brought their vehicles to Nobuyama and his fiance'.
The couple married in 2031 on Nobuyama's 20th birthday and the couple settled down to a modest, but comfortable, life. They were hard working and the business bloomed and in the summer of 2036 Shokunin's mother found herself pregnant. The child, Shokunin, was born on Sunday March 15th 2037, a mere eight months later - common for dwarves. Shokunin grew quickly, certainly not in height, but he was a healthy child and was nurtured by his parents with great care and a sense of responsibility. Among his earliest recollections, he always had a spanner in his hand and loved nothing more than helping his parents in the garage. Many would have described the Nobuyama families existence as idyllic and so it was, for over two decades, until disaster struck. It was the year 2061 and earthquakes once more struck to mess up the life of the Nobuyama family. A number of earthquakes struck along the eastern coast of the JIS mainlamd and a small one struck near the dwarven community where the Nobuyama family lived, but that was not the problem. Earthquakes out at sea caused tsunami to hit the northern coasts on the JIS mainland and also the south-eastern edge of Hokkaido island.
With little, or no, warning the tsunami struck the island just 1 mile from the dwarven community and it swept inland with a ferocity and speed that left little hope for the majority of members of the urban area. When it was over many thousands had lost their lives, this included both of Shokunin's parents. He was devastated and after their funeral he spoke with family friends who had decided to leave the island and seek a more secure place elsewhere. Shokunin was fully aware of the anti-metahuman attitude of the Japanese and so he felt he could not go to the mainland. There was nothing left of the small community, the tsunami had washed it clean off the land. He decided to emigrate and there was only one place he could think of - America. At the capital of the Ainu-Moshiri Republic he visited the library and studied until he had found what he hoped was to become a perfect place for him to go. - Seattle Sprawl.
Shokunin's father had taught him many useful things. Not only was Shokunin a very skilled mechanic but he was an advanced one as he was a rigger. His father had also made sure that he could use weapons, he reasoned that his son may one day need to defend his home against racists, or even take part in a war as he had done. Subsequently, Shokunin was skilled with the dwarven axe as well as the Japanese weapon par excellence, the katana, plus he was very good with SMG's of many types and had some average skill in using assault rifles, especially the one his father was able to acquire, a European model that he obtained during the Donan War. So packed and eager to leave behind his grief he went off to the airport with excitement, wondering if they have real cowboys in Seattle Sprawl, he already knew they had Amerindians all around the city. He quickly graduated from the training guild and went out into the sprawl to find work. He found that mechanic work was rare and that there were many mechanics, so he turned to taking more 'shadowy' jobs but he seemed to enjoy the work. And so he works on...... with a spanner in his hands.
Post Reply
Private Message
: Member
Posts: 376
Joined: 01 Nov 2006
Date Posted:
Wed Aug 04, 2010 7:49 am
I was born in Tokyo. No, wait. I think it might have been in the Deep South. Europe is in the deep south, right? Uh... scratch that, just say Japan. Anyway, I hated it there. I killed my parents. Then I was abused by their corpses, so I had to kill them again, but not before they taught me how to do illegal stuff... while abusing me. Then they goblinized and so did I, but I escaped... somehow. But they packaged me off to Assassin School while being stabbed by Indian Medicine Men. That's why I have my scar here. And my bad attitude.
So I had to stay out on the mean streets while working for THE MAN, usually Aztech, but Aztech is filled with a bunch of border hoppers, so they fired me and tore my throat out with a jaguar. I laid in the street, choking on my own gore, when a runner saved my life. Then she shoved me into cryo, the ungrateful bitch. But my life of crime was still good after that. Then I worked for the UCAS, so everything worked out, too. Or something.
One thing's for certain though: I LOOOVEEEEE TO KILL IN FACT IT'S THE ONLY THING I KNOW AND AM GOOD AT PLUS KILLING PEOPLE MAKES ME HOT
"Those that live by the sword get shot by those that don't."
Post Reply
Private Message
: Neophyte
Posts: 1
Joined: 16 Aug 2010
Date Posted:
Fri Aug 27, 2010 6:40 pm
'Donk' Robeirt Stiubhard
Born to the most famous Scottish Highland Clan namely Clann Stiubhard (Stuart), Donk Robeirt Stuart (Stewart) is a direct and legitimate descendant of the infamous 'Wolf of Badenoch'. The Wolf of Badenoch, is one of the most memorable historical characters of Strathspey. . . . . . .
Srath Spè (Strathspey) is the area around the strath - the wide shallow valley of the River Spey in Scotland, in both the Moray area and the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area of the Highlands of Scotland. It is also one of the main centres of the Scotch whisky industry, with a high concentration of single malt distilleries in the region, including the most famous Glenfiddich distillery and the Balvenie distillery.
Alexander Stewart the son of King Robert II, was one of the most blackest, most evil characters in Scotland's history. He was born in 1343 the fourth and illegitimate son of King Robert II. But bastard son or not, his Royal parentage meant that he was granted lands. Alexander Stewart, Alisdair Mor mac an Righ, was better know as Big Alexander, or the Wolf of Badenoch. The times in which he lived were barbarous, but even by their standards he stood out, and was feared over a considerable distance. Throughout his life he was Lord of Badenoch - around 1371, Earl of Buchanan and was also his brother's royal deputy in the north of Scotland. Later, after he married Euphemia, Countess of Ross in 1382, he also became Earl of Ross and Earl of Buchan and was given the lands that came with these titles. He also became Justiciar (chief law officer) North of the Forth for a period of time. All of this meant that he found himself in a position of enormous authority and influence over people across great tracts of land. The Wolf ruled the lands of Badenoch in a cruel way, burning the homes of those who crossed or displeased him. Taking labour and goods way beyond any sense of right or reason.
His castles are themselves worthy of some notice. Throughout his reign he extended and reinforced his castles at Loch-an-Eilein and Lochindorb, and yet hardly changed Castle Roy at Nethy Bridge. Lochindorb castle now stands ruined on a tiny island in the middle of Lochindorb. It can be found on the wild and desolate Dava Moor, a cold and bleak place yet stunningly breathtaking. The castle itself could only be reached by means of a boat, and was little more than a heavily reinforced keep. But it did boast a dark and sordid torture device the water pit vault. Victims were lowered in to the water pit vault by a rope. Too deep to sit down, the hapless victims would stand shivering waist deep in the freezing water of Lochindorb. Such was life in Scotland in the turbulent times of the 14th century. Loch-an-Eilein castle now also stands ruined in the middle of the loch of the same name on the Rothiemurchus Estate. To look at it when the sun is setting on a perfect, still summers evening, you could not imagine the brutal history of its previous occupants. Smaller than Lochindorb castle, it could be reached by means of a zigzagging causeway hidden below the surface of the loch. It is very difficult to locate this causeway though it is still there if you look hard.
Of course, back in the 14th century, these lands were wild, lawless and barbarous. But Alexander Stewart was not the kind of person who looked to improve the lot of the ordinary people far from it. Based in castles at Lochindorb and Loch-an-Eilein (he was also associated with a number of other castles, it should be noted), he would set out with bands of up to a hundred of his followers on wild, drunken raids - pillaging, raping and burning towns and villages with seeming impunity as the King turned a blind eye to the behaviour of his son. Alexander Stewart had a fondness for women so much so that it is reckoned that he spawned upwards of 40 illegitimate children. He didnt seem so keen on his wife (Euphemia), however, and he sent her away to make room for his mistress, a lady called Mariota Athyn. So his wife, the Countess of Ross, was deserted by him and she therefore had the right to appeal to the Bishop of Moray, who unfortunately for him, gave judgement in the Countesses favour in 1390.
The Wolf was outraged. The Bishop had no choice but to excommunicate Alexander Stewart from the Church, and sent a monk to Lochindorb castle to pass the message on. Legend has it that the monk was promptly thrown straight in to the water pit vault. With vengeance burning in his dark soul he came down from his stronghold, the castle of Lochindorb, and ransacked and burned Forres and Elgin including Elgin Cathedral. Elgin of course, being the ecclesiastical centre of the Bishopric of Moray. Setting off fires, mainly in the College, the Canon's houses and the Hospital of the Maison Dieu, he terrified the people of Elgin, forcing them to flee with their families into the countryside then he went and turned similar attention to the town of Forres by way of revenge against the Bishops stance.
He went too far when he burned Elgin Cathedral, destroying many of its records including family, legal and monastic records - all irreplaceable. A terrible loss. The King had to take notice this time and called upon his son, the 'Wolf', to do penance for his terrible heinous crimes. This he did under the watchful eye of his father the King, nobles and many dignitaries of the church. The King, believing that his son had learnt his lesson, finally pardoned him, and he was received back into the Church. Unfortunately, his repentance was superficial.
Legend has it that The Wolf of Badenoch died in 1394, although others maintain is was in 1406, when it is believed that he played chess with the devil. He had been visited at Ruthven Castle by a man, who was tall, and dressed in black. The man wished to play a game of chess with the Wolf. The game went on for several hours until the tall, darkly dressed man moved one of the chess pieces and called 'check' and then 'checkmate'. The man rose from the table. On calling these words there was a terrible storm of thunder, hail and lightning. The storm continued through the night until silence befell the castle in the morning. In that morning silence, it was then that the Wolf's men were discovered outside the castle walls, dead and blackened as if they had all been struck by the lightning. The Wolf was found in the banqueting hall, and although his body appeared unmarked, the nails in his boots had all been torn out. The funeral procession was held two days later, led by the Wolf's coffin. Terrible storms started over and over again as the coffins were added to the procession. It was only after the Wolf's coffin was carried to the back of the procession did the storms cease. The storms did not return.
Ironically enough for someone who had such little regard for the church, Alexander Stewarts body was buried in a tomb at Dunkeld Cathedral, some distance from Badenoch.
Scotland was still in its infancy and it was only in 1326, some few decades earlier, that saw the Declaration of Arbroath which established Scotland as a sovereign nation once and for all. Donk's ancestor, the 'Wolf's' great-grandfather, was one of the co-signers of the declaration of independence for Scotland. Many centuries later the colonists in America plagiarized the Arbroath declaration for their own Declaration of Independence. This is not very surprising as 22 of the signers of the American Declaration of Independence were in fact Scots.
[Aside: Did you know that the song 'The Star Spangled Banner' was written by a Scot]
When the Stewarts ascendancy came it was at the expense of another preeminent clan - the Campbells. The rivalry and betrayal began. The Campbells wanted a Campbell on the throne and this they attempted to bring about for centuries. They even became covenanters and protestants, Presbyterian Scots, to thwart the Stewarts who were and always have been predominantly Catholic. The Union of the Crowns in 1603 when James VI of Scotland also became James I of England led the King away from the courts of Scotland and took him to England. This left the Campbells a free hand to try to undermine the Royal Clan in Scotland. In the main it was unsuccessful as the Clans knew first hand about the treachery of the Campbells. With the execution of Charles I and the overthrowing of the government in Edinburgh by the Campbell led Covenanters leaving the Duke of Argyll, the Campbell chief, as master of Scotland. Although they did not win the throne they gained the power to rule Scotland with treachery and bribery. The final great treachery was perpetrated in March 1707 with the Union of the Parliaments when the United Kingdom was formed and the Jacobites sang, disgustedly, "FAREWELL TO ALL OUR SCOTTISH TRADES ... WE ARE BOUGHT AND SOLD FOR ENGLISH GOLD" by the Campbells.
1715 and then in 1745 saw the great Jacobite attempts at legitimate restoration of the true royal line. Unfortunately the promised French support, easily promised, impossible to receive, failed them. But the Highland clans - minus the Campbells and their paid for lackeys successfully moved into England - but in sight of the goal they were forced to return to the Highlands due to the apathy of the English who were too idle and comfortable to help oust the German 'House of Hanover' who had by spurious maternal bloodlines claimed the vacant royal line of Britain. The first Hanoverian King couldn't even speak English??? The result of this failure was the defeat at the Battle of Culloden which brought an end to the Jacobite cause at that time and also the Campbell Army (who fought for the German crown with English troops) swept through the Highlands massacring all in their path. They slaughtered thousands of Highlanders. It became illegal to speak Gaelic, to wear Tartan and/or the Kilt and the Clan system was disbanded, forcefully and ruthlessly.
The Highland clearance - the first attempt at ethnic cleansing, forced many Highlanders to leave the shores of beautiful Scotland and seek a new life in the Australias and the Americas - especially Canada. Up to the 1850's the Highland clearances continued - some clans rebelled and were crushed and burned out. The majority left and found new lives in the Scottish Lowlands, England and abroad. Then the natural warrior status of the Highlanders brought about the creation of all the famous Highland regiments that fought around the world for the 'British Empire'. A popular song of the mid-twentieth century sang of 'there always being an England' to which the Highlanders added the words - 'as long as Scotsmen fight for them'. The cries for Scottish independence began late in the 20th century and as an act of capitulation the English returned the 'Stone of Destiny' to Scotland in 1996.
When in 2005 the U.K. Conservative Government established the regional parliaments in Scotland and Wales they must have known the incredible changes that were to take place in the following couple of decades. Many in Scotland believe that the awakening of 2011 and even the 'goblinization' of 2021 was a genetic aberration caused directly by the effects of the 2011 accident at the Dounreay 'fast breeder' nuclear power plant which created the Scottish Irradiated Zone. Coupled with the massive earthquake in the same year, which destroyed much of the property in the central region and added to the effects of the major oil-spill that penetrated inland for more than 20 miles creating yet another poisonous and hazardous area in the Scottish Fringe Toxic Zone. The oil-spill had been caused by the actions of an unknown terrorist group.
Firstly in 2011 and onward many families that had produced elves and dwarves felt compelled to seclude themselves in communities secreted in various isolated areas of the Highlands. Then 2021 saw the 'emergence' of Trolls and Orks when 10% of the population of the world metamorphosize into bizarre humanoid shapes - termed 'goblinization' by the media - these new forms were labelled Trolls or Orks with quite a few variations occurring depending upon geographical location. Donk's father Robert transformed into a Troll at this time causing a major crisis within the family.
After the suspicious death of King George VII, rumours abound that he 'goblinized' and was ordered eliminated by the English Aristocracy and military leaders, the Stewarts called for a revival of the Jacobite throne - ignoring the problems of England and taking advantage of the independence granted to Scotland the highland clan system was quickly re-established and the old Celtic religion was renewed with the advent of the Druidic power returning to the Celtic Shamans. The Stewarts took their rightful place as the Royal Clan with the ascension to the throne of Seamus Malcolm Stewart who became James VIII. This restoration of the Stewart Monarchy was probably the thing that saved Robert Stewarts life. As a son of the King he was of royal blood. He was told to go and find himself an area he would like to live - away from the rest of the family. He chose Loch Ness and took up abode in the old castle on the shores of the lake after he renovated it. He did not go alone, Eileen, one of the daughters of Malcolm MacGregor, whose clan were great supporters of the Stewarts, had also transformed into a Troll and with others in the Highland community that had a similar transformation they followed Robert Stewart and built a small community on the shore of Loch Ness.
Within a year in 2022, saw the Clan Law of the Highlands come back into force and within the borders of the Highland Laws influence Ghaelig (Gaelic) returned to being the official language. This return to Clan Law emboldened William MacDonald of the Macdonald's of Glencoe to massacre 14 members of the rival Campbell clan - the most hated highland clan in Scotland. No one but the Campbells complained as it was felt justice had finally prevailed after the centuries of betrayal.
Shortly after, in 2024 Pope John XXV, the Roman Catholic pontiff, issued his historic encyclical, In Imago Dei ("In the Image of God"). In this document, the Pope sets forth the following statements as official church doctrine: Metahumans are possessed of souls and therefore capable of salvation. Discrimination against Metahumans is not Christian. Magical abilities are not, by nature, evil. Rather, like any other human ability, they may be used for good or evil ends. Spirits are living manifestations of nature. Thus, conjuring is not in itself evil. This allayed any worries the growing Highland Society had about their decision with regard to Robert Stewart and the other metahumans. But the King refused to visit his son, or to allow Robert to visit his father, he did, however, make him Laird of Loch Ness and gave him the Glen and title to the Loch.
Shortly after Robert Stewart married Eileen MacGregor and they soon had a son given the name Robeirt Stiubhard (Robert Stewart) after his father. He was born on the 26th of September 2028 and he was the first Troll to be born into the family. His grandfather was unsure how to react and so he chose to ignore the event apart from the fact that he assured his son that Donk would be able to inherit the Laird-ship but NOT be any kind of heir to the throne. This did not bother the King's son as he was a fifth son of the King anyway so it really did not matter. Trid-videos were being pirated in England and then transported north into Scotland and sold at flea markets set up as stalls in the traditional village fetes. Robert and Eileen bought a few and they were of pre-awakened movies. It was in one of the Crocodile Dundee movies that he saw a character called Donk who was huge, strong, a bit dim, but extremely loyal to his friends. In a scene of this movie a small guy confronted one of the armed bad guys. The small guy only had with him a six-pack of beers. He offered one to the bag-guy and asked him to return the man the bad-guys had kidnapped. The bad guy mockingly laughed and told the small guy he should have brought a gun - not a beer. The small guy replied - I do not need a gun, I've got a Donk. At which point this huge Donk chap comes out and flattens the bad-guy with one punch. Robert found this hilarious and when he saw many of the characteristics of the huge movie character in his rapidly developing son he called him 'Donk' and from then on everyone called him Donk.
Donk was sent to school but it didn't really do much good. Donk is an example of a genetic throwback - not just on his metahuman status. He showed he had the same character and personality as his ancestor 'the Wolf of Badenoch'. Donk's mother insisted that he be sent to Church and so he began to attend Sunday School. The human children were scared of him and stayed away, the Canon (a senior parish priest) was not convinced about the suitability of Donk's presence in the class. He took it upon himself to extract the obvious evil influence from his soul and so he frequently beat the child with his leather strap that he used to tie around his waist. He justified this to himself with the conviction that the evil within Donk was mainly due to the fact that he was not a human. He saw Donk as a manifestation of the Devil and he was determined to beat the 'Hell' out of him. After all Donk had purply-red blotchy skin, ginger hair, a huge nose and white horns - a manifestation of the Devil if ever there was one - so the Canon thought.
In the Highlands druidic magic was used to transform acres of economically unsuitable pine forests into deciduous forests, marking the creation of the Scottish Wild Lands. Donk began to wander into these wild lands and sometimes dissappeared for days at a time, all he took with him were his bagpipes and sometimes when the wind blew in the right direction the community members could here drifting on the wind the sound of Donk's pipes. Soon they were commenting on how he was actually improving his playing and then they looked forward to hearing the music. But when he returned he was sent off to Sunday School where the abuse continued. Soon after timber wolves and bears, long extinct in the Scottish Wild Lands, are spotted once again. Donk enjoyed studying the animals and spends more and more time in the wilds. But periodically he would return to his home and promptly sent back to Sunday School.
This abuse was quietly tolerated by Donk for many years, when he needed a break he would dissappear into the wilds, but the abuse continued and it even developed into a perversion on the part of the Canon, he began to enjoy beating the creature and other things too shameful to mention occurred. Donk bore it all in silence. He never told anyone. Then at the age of 10 years old, by which time he was bigger than most human males, when the Canon took of his belt to beat Donk, Donk simply, swiftly and very easily picked him up and broke his back by bending him backwards - forcefully. He threw the broken body of the Canon on the floor and stamped a hole in his chest. He swore to himself that never again would anyone beat him.
Fearing the anger and reprisals of the people, especially the humans, he fled to Glasgow sprawl and took whatever work he could. He was used as a garbage man, collecting and disposing of garbage for restaurants. He worked as cheap labour at fruit and vegetable markets. The job he had for the longest was that of streetsweeper and he began to really hate the job and then to hate himself for having such a menial job. He longed for the Highlands of home and to see his parents again and so he decided to return and to see what consequences he would have to face.
To his surprise after being away for 10 years he was not particularly missed. His father feigned happiness to see him, his mother was a bit more convincing and his grandfather refused to acknowledge his existence. His crime was basically shelved but no-one killed the fatted-calf for his return. Of course, the Church had excommunicated him in his absence - but Donk had expected this and couldn't care less. In fact his hatred of the Church and the priests was even stronger. Donk decided to frequently dissappear into the wilds as he used to do when he was a child and of course he took his pipes. He learned of the extraordinary discovery that had been made in 2046 when researchers, funded by his grandfather, discovered a freshwater serpent living in Loch Ness. Donk immediately set out to try to see this marvel for himself and he kept away from his home for weeks looking for signs of the world famous 'Nessie'. His excitement felt like a heart attack when he eventually saw the beastie for himself. Contentedly he returned home.
He was soon bored and began drinking too much whisky and developed a taste for Glenfiddich blended malt whisky. He soon became notorious for his womanizing and it was rumoured he had made quite a number of females pregnant. Both his father AND his grandfather decided this behaviour had to stop. But his father failed to control Donk and subsequently Donk more or less did what he wanted and his father reminded the family of the old stories about the 'Wolf'. Some members of the family began to secretly refer to him as 'Wolf'. Donk has a strong taste for women, of course Trollish or Orkish women but any women irrelevant of family or class - except Campbell's and their lackey's. Some women made complaints to Donk's parents as he promised them marriage then had his way with them and then moved on to the next. His mother felt ashamed of him and starting to cool toward him. His father just got angry and when he returned home, as infequent as that may have been, there was always a huge row. But Donk was not to be controlled or to be bullied - never again. By this time he was well over 11 feet high and extremely muscular. He received lessons in using the famous Highland weapon the Claidheamh Mor' ('Great Sword') - the Claymore and used to take his sword with him wherever he went. He went trekking through the wilds and climbed the mountains. When in the community he used to get into drunken fist fights, usually with the male relatives of the women he had 'fun' with. He often had a dishevelled drunken appearance with a black eye and a grin as broad as the Loch itself, marching through the area playing his pipes - LOUDLY
But sinister things had already begun to happen in Scotland, it was 2044 that saw men of the MacGregor clan, relatives of Donk - through his mother, killed when their boat was sank whilst on Loch Arkaig. It was suspected that the British were responsible as a British Army submarine was known to be in the area. Exactly one week after the MacGregor incident, the military base that housed the submarine was attacked by a bean sidhe (a Banshee) of the Macgregor clan. She killed one man a week for nearly a year. Then in 2047 a series of killings at the Inverness naval base was identified to be the work of a Each-Uisge, literally meaning "water horse" and pronounced ek-ooshkya. It is a Scottish water spirit similar to the kelpie but far more dangerous. The Each-Uisge carried its victim into the water and then tore the victim apart and devour the entire body except for the liver. The creature could assume human or horse shape. In human form it woos maidens and can only be recognized by the water weeds in his hair. The animal escapes one attempt from the military to kill it before it is destroyed by a local shadowrunner.
The tales of the actions of the shadowrunner fascinated Donk and so he decides to once again leave his highland home, where he didn't feel very welcome anyway, and return to Glasgow Metroplex. His plan was to learn how to become a shadowrunner. Initially his efforts met with total failure and all it managed to acheive was to bring him to the attention of some Glasgow agents of the Campbell Clan. In an incident which occurred in 2053, fourteen members of the MacDonald clan and their servants, including Alexander and Rory MacDonald, twin nephews of clan leader Sir Iain Macdonald and Sir Iain's daughter Morag, are killed in what appears to be a massacre initiated by the rival Campbell clan. At the same time a bomb was planted in Donk's motel room and the explosion mangled Donk's body. He was about to be left to die as he obviously did not have the money for very expensive surgical reconstruction when some Highland security personnel who insisted on remaining anonymous turned up at the hospital and had Donk transferred to the best cybernetics hospital in Scotland. At considerable cost Donk was reassembled. He needed replacements for his skeletal structure as well as muscle and many other kinds of restructuring. He had lost both eyes in the explosion and so cyber replacements were implanted for them. With additional cyber enhancements he began the long process of recovery.
After a full-recovery Donk returned once more to his Highland home on the shores of Loch Ness. What he found broke his heart and filled him with a rage and hatred that he thought would make him explode. Both of his parents were dead and the little metahuman community had been decimated. Some said it was human racist terrorists, but the most popular consensus was that it was the Campbell's causing yet another massacre. The survivors were less than happy to see Donk and so he decided to go to his human relatives and try to see his grandfather. Donk's grandfather refused to see him but instead sent an intermediary to give Donk a message. He told Donk that his grandfather felt there was no future in the Highlands for him. He advised Donk to go away and to dissappear - to keep away from the grasp of the Campbell's. He further explained that his grandfather's 'gift' to him was the reconstructive cyberware and bioware. He gave Donk a one way ticket and started to leave, then he paused turned back and as a last remark told Donk that to keep the King's promise to Donk's father Donk is and always will be until his death the Laird of Ness. The King's flunky smiled wryly and left.
Rejected by the human members of the clan he left as soon as he was able. He took with him a few momentos off his mother and father and on inspection the plane ticket was for U.C.A.S., for the airport of Seattle Metroplex. The flight was uneventful - he was avoided by even the air stewardesses so by the time he arrived at the SeaTac Airport he was ravenous. He wandered aimlessly around the airport making sure to avoid security areas that were manned and protected not only by security personnel but with autolasers and autocannons. He followed a large human African American woman along for a while as he had noticed that she had left her purse exposed on the top of her shopping bag. He picked his moment to strike and then something stopped him. This surpised Donk as he was really very hungry but after a while he realised he could not attack an innocent women in such a random manner - even though his cause was desperate. He went into the men's room and waited for a suitable target. After what seemed ages he was able to choose a target. He only hit him once - not meaning to geek him, just to knock him unconscious, but the cyberware had enormously increased his strength above his normal and that was a lot as he is a Troll. He quickly took all of the victim's belongings and left. As soon as possible he checked what he had gained. A credstick he couldn't use, a briefcase full of useless papers and a mere 205 nuYen. He had just committed murder for just over 200 nuYen. He immediately went to get away - even ingnoring the increasing urgency of his growling stomach. He hailed a cab and asked to be taken to the centre of the Sprawl. The cabbie took him to the Seattle Needle and that is where Donk discovered the Training Guild. He went in there and bought some food, ate and then enrolled for training.
Maybe this time his efforts to be a real shadowrunner will be successful. Donk is a typical Highlander type - with added Umph! Noisy - especially when playing his bagpipes and singing in Ghaelig (after too many whiskeys) and the only thing he really, really hates is getting kicked out of the pub for being too drunk. Mind you he really hates with a burning cold anger all priests; all menial workers (it reminds him of the years of shame as a streetsweeper), all of those who prey on the young by turning them into drug addicts or prostitutes or the like. He had experienced some bad times in that department when he was in exile in Glasgow Sprawl. He remembers well the night when he was in his squat in the ghetto's of the city when he held a young female troll in his arms as she died because of a drug overdose, he had never felt so helpless in his entire life and as she gave out her final breaths, as tears coursed down his face, he swore that one day he would be strong enough and skilled enough to destroy them all. Of course we must not forget his utter contempt and hatred for ALL CAMPBELL'S. When going into battle he is heard to cry the Clan Battle Cry - "Fauch a Ballauch!", Ghaelig for "Clear the way!" When playing the pipes he plays Bratach Bhan nan Stiubhartach (The white banner of the Stewarts) sunrise and sunset. He is quite an accomplished piper and he intends to introduce some Highland Culture into the Seattle Sprawl. The main driving force in his life is to 'SURVIVE' and try to enjoy it a bit. He is forever on the lookout for decent whisky - especially blended malt and of course women!
Gratitude to
for the original SR3 timeline information
Post Reply
Private Message
: Neophyte
Posts: 1
Joined: 16 Sep 2010
Date Posted:
Sun Sep 19, 2010 1:27 am
At twenty-nine, Hrotzig was already a six-tour veteran of the Desert Wars when he returned home to Seattle. Born a troll in the Ork Underground, Hrotzig was raised by a single mother in the Clooney Apartments. Large, even by troll-standards, Hrotzig was encouraged to exploit his natural physicality. His first taste of the seedy underworld of Seattle came as a bouncer for the Big Rhino, then as an enforcer with the Trogs. His mother, rebelling at what she saw as a dangerous, degenerate lifestyle, had Hrotzig sent to participate in the Desert Wars of southern Libya in 2057. They would never speak again. Enlisted by the Fuchitech corporate military, was trained as a shock troop and deployed several times before Fuchitech was purchased by Shiawase three years later.
Anti-metahuman sentiment among Shiawase executives led to increasingly discriminatory policies, culminating in a series of suicide missions widely seen to disproportionately single-out orks and trolls for the butcher's bill. With several friends dead or dying, Hrotzig's dissatisfaction culminated in a wave from an old neighbor from the Underground, informing him of his mother's death. It was not long after that Hrotzig broke his contract with the Shiawise corporate military and returned home to Seattle. Without family, without friends, Hrotzig has fallen to the shadows, his future uncertain.
[I appreciate all the help I've gotten in-game, and any advice or suggestions on the background are welcome.]
Post Reply
Private Message
Lady Nehemah
: Neophyte
Posts: 1
Joined: 16 Jan 2010
Date Posted:
Tue Sep 28, 2010 6:30 pm
Lauren Loxton had a rather wealthy, if somewhat strict and difficult childhood. While she wanted for nothing, being born into a rather affluent noble family on the British Isles, she was raised to exacting standards, trained to fullfill not only her position as a proper lady of a noble house, but for fullfilling her family's longtime tradition of serving in the Royal Army. For centuries her family had been a small, relatively insignificant branch of the royal, easily pushing a hundred heads in line for the crown. They had always been known as one of the more fair and socially concious familes, even when the Awakening happened, they were one of the few noble families to openly accept meta-variants of different types. They were responsible for setting up many charities and other programs for social betterment, as well as lobbying the government to intervene in affairs to better the greater good of all people, not just the upper class, such as themselves. Just about every memeber that could serve in Great Britain's armed forces had done so in some shape or form, from pilots to ship captain's to soldiers and everything in between. They had always considered themselves leaders amongst the people, and believed in leading through example. Their family was the epitome of 'Service to God and Country', which even lent to a few jokes about them in some social circles.
Lauren's education in this manner was no different. She was raised in advanced prepatory schools all her life, trained both physically and mentally. While quite socially adept and confident, she had few close friends, as her attention on her studies and training consumed her at all times. However, she never quite fully trusted anyone, as the loss of her father struck a deep cord that has still not healed inside of her. Her father was a captain in the Royal Navy of a guided missile cruiser, and was operating in support of a military operation trying to drive out an eco-terrorist settlement that was operating out of the Scottish Fringe Toxic Zone, though there was a horrible leak in military intelligence, and the entire taskforce was ambushed, reportedly by a massive sea creature summoned by the Eco-Terrorists Shamans, though as there were no survivors, it is not known if this is true intel, rumor, or information seeded by the terrorists themselves to intimidate the rest of the royal navy. Since then, Lauren has never allowed herself to grow overly close to anyone, keeping this as strictly buisiness as she can. This focus caused her to stand out in every way in her schools growing up. In middle-school, she skipped several grades, showing a particular skill in both fencing and mathematics. Her exceptional preformance and family standing quickly earned her admittance to Oxford University, where she was noted for leading the fencing team to several outsanding victories, as well as again showing an exceptional skill in mathematics. She graduated with Honors, receiving an advanced degree in Mathematics and minoring in Russian studies. After graduating from Oxford, she joined the British Royal Army Officer Corp, and once graduating again with honors from their Officer Candidacy School, she joined the SAS. She served one term with them, operating primarily in Siberia and other isolated areas of Russia, earning several awards, the nature of which are classified, at best. After her tour there, she was ordered to flight school to be a helocopter gunship operator, and that was when her whole world was turned upside down.
On the flight back to Britain from Siberia, she heard news another royal family had decided to lay claim to her own family's fortune. Secretly, they had assasinated every member of her family, destroyed their estate, and then publically made it look like it was all teh family's fault for antagonizing the local populace. Even though her family had taken care of the local village, the townsfolk had been terrified into submission by the firebombing of the large estate, and agreed to say in court they were treated harshly, with fabricated evidence by the new family. Her family's name was discredited, and stripped of their noble title. As she was hearing this, a privately contracted assassin shot down the plane she was flying home in, leaving it a smoldering wreckage on the mountside. Though mortally wounded, she was the only survivor, and was resuced by some shamans living nearby in an isolated mountain village. Even though the other family believed her dead from the accident, her body was never recovered, and so they decided to hunt for her still, just to make sure. She found this out when a hit team descended upon the village, and killed several of the villagers before she managed to take down all of the hit team. In order to keep her identity secret, she managed to get back to Moscow, and undergo some rather drastic identity changing surgery, leaving her appearing vastly different than her previous life would suggest, and then secretly fled to Seattle, set on recreating her life there, power and prestige and wealth in all.
Though always polite and friendly, her past has left Lauren a rather quiet, introverted person. She is slow to trust anyone, and views almost every person she meets as a resource, rather than a person. Mostly this is to preserve her own identity, as no one can know who she truly is, as she never knows who will sell her out, as she knows her disguise and retreat to the metropolitan sprawl of Seattle will only hide her for so long. She used to pride herself on her trim, athletic figure, and so is rather vain now, insecure in her new appearance, and has developed the flaw of seeking out ways to gain the approval of others; while she would never stoop so low as to debase herself by being a whore, she certainly flirts with the slippery slope of seeking out compliments, though again, she never truly drops her guard. She is highly materialistic, looking to always further her own coffers as it were, in both money and material wealth, and as such it is a quick way to get close to her. Her previous sense of morality has been beaten into almost total absence from her experiences, seeing how her family was never rewarded for its following of ethics, and for now, she sees nothing wrong with doing the same, trampling over anyone she needs to get ahead in life, though secretly, she is yearning for some excuse for that morality to resurface, some sort of redeeming moral quest, though she does not know it herself, as for know, she is just trying to regain her previous lifestyle of power and prestige, this time through an underground criminal empire in the sprawl of seattle, as opposed to her life back in Britain.
Go Binky!
Post Reply
Private Message
: Neophyte
Posts: 3
Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Date Posted:
Sun Apr 17, 2011 2:57 am
All you need to know about the twins Adagea and Adamos
(Adagea being mine)
Young children with exceptional talents. This well describes both of the Morozov twins. Born in Russia but very soon afterwards sent to the US, the Morozov children were given to a pair of poor foster parents who took care of the twins for the first few years of their lives. Upon their awakening on their 10th birthday however they became enraged with their foster parents, who until then they had believed to be their true parents. Something in them snapped that day and they killed both foster parents, then soon after set out on their own journey together, seeking divine power which they believe will grant them immortality and ultimate power. Both detest weakness, and as their foster parents were low level wage slaves, they also have a sort of special hatred towards megacorps.
Post Reply
Private Message
: Neophyte
Posts: 1
Joined: 01 Mar 2012
Date Posted:
Sat May 10, 2014 12:27 pm
Bobby's father was born in the year 2022 to parents who were trying to survive in a metahuman community in the north east of Scotland. He was born as a european elven type called night-ones and although he survived the following years of famine and strife, neither of his parents did. The main struggles were caused by Dounreay nuclear plants meltdown in 2011 which created the Scottish Irradiated Zone, the central Highlands also suffered a massive earthquake in the same year that devastated the area towards the south and west. Then to top it off a psychotic terrorist band of recreational killers caused a major North Sea oil-spill in the year 2016 that penetrated dozens of miles in land creating the Scottish Fringe Toxic Zone. The regional government had been given autonomy back in 2005 and with the events of the 2011 UGE outbreaks, the 2010 VITAS outbreaks and then the 'goblinizations', a sort of UGE II, of 2021 the government could not cope and many public facilities and resources were not avialable in many areas. In 2038, escaping the poverty and the racism Bobby's father emigrated to America and went to the free City of Seattle. He took whatever work he could find including waiter, refuse collector, pizza delivery as well as many others.
In 2029 the Salish-Sidhe council had opened its borders to all metashumans not just Native americans and so Bobby's father was able to find work in the NAN territories as well. Also in 2029, the Sinsearach elf tribe was founded in the southern region followed in 2035 with the Ceneste branch of the Sinsearach elves establish the elven nation of Tir Tairngire. Bobby's father met Bobby's mother in Tir Tairngire where they were both working in a hotel there. Love blossomed, marriage followed and soon after, in 2044, they had a son, Robert MacTavish-Stuart. He was given the nickname of Bobby and the babe's parents immediately sent for the Clan Shaman responsible for performing the rite of introducing the child to the Cosmos. The priest came to the scruffy apartment where the new infant lay and stood just outside of the door facing toward the east. Raising his right hand, palm outward, to the sky he began the traditional ritual chant. Bobby was known as Shon'-ge-zhin-ga 'Little Wolf' before he went on his manhood quest. This name was given to him because he was born with a unique blemish on his left thigh which looks like the head of a Timber Wolf. His manhood quest involved hunting for a wolf and to return with its pelt and from them on he was known to the tribe as Shon'-ge (Wolf). Living in Tir Tairngire he grew up in mild poverty. His father taking whatever service jobs he could and his mother, who was a beautiful and talented AmerIndian dancer, worked in hotels or casinos entertaining tourists.
When Bobby started school he was luckily recognized as highly intelligent and although he was a metahuman and he suffered much racism because of it he eventually attended Seattle University. During puberty he had some slightly frightening events occur but he soon came to recognize these abilities he had and use them to avoid trouble. He left university many years later with five advanced degrees including a Ph.D. but no one offered him a job he felt he would enjoy and no one offered a home either. He returned to Tir Tairngire to live in his parents home and he worked for a small corporation as a matrix wageslave but the boredom was chronic, he drifted into recreational drugs use and then he ended up jobless and poor so he started stealing data from illegal access points into the matrix and selling the paydata just to survive. Although he was living in Tir Tairngire, just outside Portland, he ended up drifting closer and closer to Seattle Sprawl where he took shelter anywhere he could. He is on the streets of the sprawl now and hopes to merely survive doing whatever he can.
How many Mips is that?
Post Reply
Private Message
Awakened Worlds Forum Index
The Simsense Rig
All times are GMT
Goto page
post new topics in this forum
reply to topics in this forum
edit your posts in this forum
delete your posts in this forum
vote in polls in this forum
attach files in this forum
download files in this forum
The time now is Thu Dec 12, 2019 5:19 am
powered by
v.1.2.0 ©2006 SPIRE / [based on


text:
Luminous textile
Kvadrat textile collection
The panels are finished with Kvadrat textiles, using the Kvadrat Soft Cells patented technology to maintain constant tension on the fabric within the aluminium frame. With a choice of rich colours and high quality textiles the panels continue to enhance a space even when the dynamic content has been switched off.
Architectural freedom
Luminous textile panels come both in standard and custom sizes and can be arranged in numerous ways to bring each space alive.
From dramatic mood walls to staggered panels on a staircase, or scattered individual panels across a wall. The options are endless.
Content Freedom
Use our standard content portfolio to add decorative effects, produce natural ambiences or reinforce a brand identity with your luminous textile panel.
Content Manager
This software application helps you set up the luminous textile panel configuration. You can also use it to create, edit and upload your own videos to the luminous textile panels.
Soften sound
Easy installation
A wall or ceiling, one or more panels and two cables per panel. It's all you need for bringing your space alive.
The luminous textile panel is delivered as an integrated solution. Simply mount the panel to the wall or ceiling using the included brackets or magnets.
Once installed plug in the power and use the ethernet connection to link the panels. With the Content Manager software you can upload the video content. Control the ambience of your interior with the provided remote control or with our DiscoverMe LTP app.
Support we offer
At Philips we're committed to making life easier for the people who work with our products. We provide:
- technical support
- content management tools
- a standard content portfolio
- a selection of certified media designers to create customized content
We also give advice and information on maintaining your luminous textile installation.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Alas, the actual segment wasn't as juicy as I'd hoped--the guest's verboten topics were the things you could probably guess if you've ever been to a cocktail party: Don't talk about your golf game (no one cares, even other golfers), wine (unless you're sure the other person is a oenophile), what route you took to the party (ZZZZ), kids (no one cares, even other parents), dreams (unless you want to be flagged as a flake), and stocks (you're probably either bragging or whining). The signal faded out before the final one, but I'm guessing it was religion, politics or sex.
But it did strike me that there's an analogy for freelancers headed into a meeting with a prospective client, when the inevitable lull in conversation comes around but the sale hasn't closed. The nervousness and excitement can cause us to blurt, blab or otherwise inject nonsense in ways that can be every bit as deadly as the items above:
- Talking about how slow business has been (smells like eau de desperation)
- Talking about being super busy (it's a fine line between being highly sought and overwhelmed)
- Recounting a tale of bad or unruly clients (risky, though you might be able to get away with something that's funny and has a happy ending)
- Penalty fees/rules/restrictions (e.g., number of rounds of revisions)
- Talking too much, period (even if it's positive and upbeat stuff)


text:
I'm on my third Motorola Milestone.
First one had to be sent in for repair because wifi didn't work and it started spontaneously rebooting about once per hour, among other issues.
Motorola sent it back with software issues fixed but physically damaged, so I sent it back for the hardware to be fixed. I was warned that the type of damage it had was not covered under warranty, but since it the damaged was caused by Motorola themselves I sent it back anyway.
They returned it without anything fixed and without comment. They didn't even offer to fix it for a price. I had several heated calls with both Motorola and Telus about it at this point, and eventually sent it back again. (Telus had also been charging me handset replacement fees for using a loaner phone while my regular one was away from repair, even though it was under warranty.)
Received a new phone back. Probably refurbished? Worked fine for about 24 hours, then spontaneously shut down and would get stuck on the Motorola logo while booting up for as long as it had power. Sent away for repair for a fourth time. This is now a several months from when I originally went in.
Received phone back. Worked again for about a day. Went to a movie and turned off the phone. It wouldn't turn back on again, even when plugged in, and would not charge. Sent away for a fifth time.
They returned another new phone back. Again, probably refurbished. This one seems to be working ok, but in the last few weeks (after having it less than two months) it has spontaneously rebooted about half a dozen times. One or two of those times I was using it pretty heavily so, fine, things crash. But most of the time I wasn't doing much at all, and it's always been different apps.
So I know this phone is a piece of crap. But I wonder how much of it is because of Android itself being unreliable and how much of it is the fault of Motorola. Have other people had similar issues with Android in general?
Regardless, my experience with this phone has been bad enough that I am not going to buy a Motorola product again. I will stick with Android, though, because I prefer the open model and as slick as iOS seems, Apple refuses to make a version of iTunes for Linux, so I couldn't use it if I wanted to. I'm thinking Samsung next time. Both for phone and tablet.


text:
Original SOLD: 16 x 12" Acrylic paints on canvas. Limited Edition Giclée prints are available in Print Shop.
Giclée Print Options
8in x 10in (*matted size: 11in x 14in) $4511in x14in (*matted size: 16in x 20in) $95*acid-free cream (Off-white) colored matting These are signed and numbered limited edition of giclée prints accompanied with certificate of authenticity.
Your Name:
Your Email/URL (Optional):
Your Comment:
Comment Guidelines: No HTML is allowed. Off-topic or inappropriate comments will be edited or deleted. Thanks.
© Rayhart. All rights reserved. | ON2


text:
Hello buildy friends! Things are getting serious now that we're past Thanksgiving and the countdown is really on. Ana White and I have teamed up to bring you gift plans every Friday until Christmas as part of our Handbuilt Holiday series and today we have a fabulous bucket shelving system.
So far for this year's series we've shared 8 awesome gift builds with free plans and today is another gift idea that's sure to please.
Ana has the plans for this bucket shelving system here. I choose to fill my buckets with toys but this would also be great in a mudroom space for hats, gloves, scarves, shoes, etc.
The buckets are removable for easy toy transport. If you don't like the shiny galvanized metal of the buckets another option would be baskets.
Ana designed the shelving support system so the bottom of the bucket rests on the back support and the top front edge rests on the front support. Genius I tell you!
To build this bucket shelving system follow Ana's plans here.
I suggest using a scrap piece of 1×3 cut at a 45 degree angle to mark the legs where the cross supports will attach:
I choose to finish this piece using The Real Milk Paint Co. milk paint in flag red:
It's got great coverage, I only used one coat then sanded to distress and sealed with clear wax.
Hope you enjoyed this fun bucket shelving project. It's definitely a quick build you could have ready in time for Christmas!
Be sure to click here to see all the previous gift build ideas if you're looking to make a handbuilt holiday gift. See you next Friday for another project.


text:
January's theme is aptly detox so the box includes products to rejuvenate us for the new year.
28 Jan 2013
January Glossy Box
January's theme is aptly detox so the box includes products to rejuvenate us for the new year.
6 comments
I got the lip balm & toner but a clay mask by Monu which is nice! I'd be interested to see what the gel one is like :)ReplyDelete
I love that Vichy product (reviewed it last week if you're interested!), it's surprisingly nice to use as a mask. Your skin feels lovely and smooth afterwards :) xxReplies
Not tried the mask yet but will do and thanks for the great Vichy tip xxDelete
I've not seen this variation yet, kind of jealous I love Vichy!ReplyDelete
I only started trying products from them recently and already one has become a staple - blogging about that soon!Delete
i'm so jealous you got the sanctuary spa =[ReplyDelete
i dont sub to any beauty boxes, but i love what u got!ReplyDelete
especially that mask!
BreezeyBee Blog
Let me know what you think, and feel free to leave your blog link! I really appreciate every comment and always reply to questions x


text:
'We Have Their Backs': School Board in Florida Promises to Protect Students From Immigration Raids
Broward County schools will become a safe zone of sorts for immigrant students and their families under a resolution passed on Tuesday by the school board.
By Kyra Gurney
Broward County schools will become a safe zone of sorts for immigrant students and their families under a resolution passed on Tuesday by the school board.
In what supporters called a first-of-its kind action in Florida, the School Board of Broward County took several steps intended to protect the children of undocumented immigrants who face increasing fears of deportation under more aggressive immigration enforcement policies implemented by the Trump administration.
Immigrant families "wanted to know that we had their backs, and now with this resolution we have their backs," said Robin Bartleman, the school board member who proposed the measure. "We weren't afraid to stand up and say we're going to protect our children."
The resolution came in response to concerns voiced by residents, who told board members that many immigrants have started taking extra precautions to get children to school. Some now walk children to school, instead of driving, to avoid any infractions that could get them pulled over and deported. Others have begun sending their children to school with copies of immigration paperwork tucked in backpacks.
[Immigrant families] wanted to know that we had their backs, and now with this resolution we have their backs. Robin Bartleman, school board member in Broward County
The resolution states that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents cannot enter schools or the sites of school-related activities like sports games and field trips without a warrant, and that any requests to access a school or get information about a student will be directed to the school district attorney's office.
Although Palm Beach County has similar policies, Broward became the first school district in South Florida to solidify those policies in a resolution. The nine-member board voted unanimously to pass the resolution. The board is nonpartisan, but Broward is a heavily Democratic county.
It's a move supporters say will make immigrant families feel safer and prevent the fear of deportation from keeping kids away from school.
"Going through high school I never got the support from either the teachers or the counselors, probably not because they didn't want to, but it was because they didn't know how to help me," said Julio Calderon, an undocumented immigrant and youth organizer for the Florida Immigrant Coalition. "The position we're taking is saying yes we're here for all of you and that we're not going to allow you to be in fear."
The Broward school board also voted to have schools work with parents and community organizations to come up with a plan in case a student's parents are deported. The so-called "Safe Place Plan" will also provide teachers with resources to support immigrant students, said Victoria Saldala, director of the district's English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program.
The provision was inspired by a Broward high school senior who was recently left alone in the U.S. after both of his parents were deported. "That's when it hit home for me," Bartleman said. "I can watch it on the news, I can see what's happening, but when I spoke to that principal and I spoke with the employees who dealt with that student, it made it real. All too real."
The Miami-Dade school board will vote on a similar policy at its March 15 meeting. If passed, the board item would direct the superintendent to review current immigration policies and determine what actions the district can take to protect undocumented students. The information would then be distributed to teachers and families.
(c)2017 Miami Herald


text:
One of the most common questions which one is the best Nepali typing font. Most popular Nepali font is hard to find. We understand the curiosity. However, there are a number of fonts which perform the excellent job. If you are searching the most popular Nepali fonts, this post will help you to find out. Yep, without any difficulty, you can use it for your regular Nepali typing or design purpose.
- 3 How to install Nepali Fonts?
Preeti font download
Preeti font is one of the most popular Nepali fonts. Preeti is like the Times New Roman of Nepali font so that We can say it's a default Nepali font. It a simple and clear to typing as well as easy to understand. It is the mostly used nepali font whole over the country, people choose this font in compare to other Nepali fonts found.
Sagarmatha font download
Sagarmatha font is another best for Nepali typing. It's also simple and beautiful font. It attracts the user that's why you can use this font for Nepali text in Bold. It makes the word attractive to look.
Mangal font download
Mangal is an another popular font. It is very important for offical use. It's also called Devanagari font. Mangal font is a little bit hard to typing then Preeti or other Nepali fonts. You can use this font for social media to express own thought and feeling.
Kantipur font download
Kantipur font is another one popular font. While writing lots of page or paragraph, you can use it. It quite looks like similar to the Preeti font, but is not exactly the preeti font.
Kanchan font download
Kanchan is very simple and similar to Preeti font. After typing a page or paragraph its gives you happiness on your face. We can say its most of the slim font on the list of fonts. It is used when we have to write a lot of letters in least amount of pages.
Ananda 1 Hv font download
We suggest you, use Ananda 1 Hv font for design purpose. It's very awesome and you will love it after choosing this font on your computer. It helps to make your design attractive to use and as well as it is eye catching.
Ganess font download
Ganess font is also the popular font for those who want to be a designer. Most of the designer love this font because it's very bold and excellent, which is attractive to see and also tries to make design eye catching.
Amrit Kuruti font download
Amrit Kuruti is another good looking font. It also the popular for design purpose. It is bold and attractive. Amrit Kuruti is one step best glamorous font than others. It helps to make the words fabulous and attractive, we can use this fonts without hesitation.
Shrinagar font download
Shrinagar font is another popular Nepali font. This font is thinner in size when compared to other design fonts. Download this font to get the different test on your design.
Suryodaya font download
This is an another popular Nepali design font with a bit of weight. It looks like similar to Amrit Kuruti and simple and quite popular as well. This is used to make the pages full with least words.
Nepali Fonts has been added over here so that users can download font as per requirement. We have collected lots of Nepali Fonts over here which include famous Nepali fonts like preeti, everest and more. Around 100 nepali fonts are added in this package, so you can choose any font as per your requirement. You can install these all fonts on your computer by going to control panel and after that fonts and just paste all fonts over there. This let you have all fonts installed on your computer.
How to install Nepali Fonts?
Here are the tips you may need while installing font.
Extract the file that you downloaded. While Extracting, it asks for a password.
Enter password as wapnepal.com.np
Extracting will extract all the fonts.
Copy all the fonts
Open Control panel
Go to fonts and paste all fonts there.


text:
Every two years the Textile Exhibition by The Hindolveston
Textile Group at Brancaster Staithe
Village hall is spectacular with lots to inspire.
Kathy Bach was on hand to show me some of the work
and we had a catch up too!
I was so busy taking it all in forgot to take photos!!!
So see previous exhibition


text:
The idea of mystical essences imbued into nature isn't a hard sell to New Agers. After all, the New Age mindset already embraces a panentheistic worldview, which means that they believe some form of Divinity is "in" all things........in the stars, the galaxies, the planets, in zebras, rocks, mountains, oceans, snakes, plants, humans, etc. This concept of "Divinity," however, is far from the Christian understanding of the God of the Bible, and can mean that this animating force comes from a monotheistic god (somewhat similar to the biblical God) or from multiple gods (polytheism), or it can also simply serve to describe some kind of vague force often nebulously described as an "energy," "vibration" or "essence."
With this worldview in mind (a worldview, that is, that developed in the east outside of the scientific method that was developing in Christian nations in Europe and America in the west), it's not hard to see that eastern methods of health treatment (which I hesitate to call medicine, as they don't employ scientific methodology) would develop along distinctly different lines. The overarching view in eastern medicine, which stems from their panentheistic belief that "God" (or some concept of "Divinity") is "in" all things, is that the human body is born into a state of perfect alignment, wholeness and health, and that illness is just a result of some element no longer being in alignment. This is obviously in distinct contrast to the Christian worldview, which is that illness is a result of humans living in a broken, fallen world, and that until Christ returns to institute his kingdom, there will be suffering, illness and disease in this life. By saying this, I don't mean to imply that people shouldn't care for their bodies to the best of their ability (they should). But, Christians should not resort to using pagan medicine that has occultic spirituality at its core when their bodies begin to break down. Until we are in heaven, ALL of us are inhabiting bodies that, at some point or another, are going to begin to break down. Out of the eastern mindset and worldview, we have many alternative forms of treatment, but here are just a few:
- AromatherapyWhich brings us to Homeopathic, an alternative treatment that was not strictly speaking developed in the east, but was created with the underlying beliefs and philosophies of the eastern mindset. Homeopathy was created by a Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, who began his life's work as a formally trained doctor in Europe. At one point in his life, Hahnemann began to eschew the western methodology of testing and observing data for more eastern ideas of treating the human body. Hahnemann wrote a series of medical journals entitled The Organen of the Healing Art, and it was in the fifth volume of these journals that Hahnemann began to introduce metaphysical concepts outside of the western scientific method construct. He also began to write in terms of "vital energy," a concept better associated with the eastern world, Panentheism and Taoism.
- Yoga
- Reiki
- Acupuncture
- Acupressure
- Cranial sacral massage
- Rolfing
- Chakra therapy
- Cupping
- Iridology
For Christians desiring to learn more about the background of homeopathic remedies, and how they were developed, please consider reading the free, online e-book Alternative Medicine: A Mind Blowing Magical Mystery Tour by Steven Ransom. (** Please note that if you click the preceding link to the book, the book will automatically begin downloading **)
Magical Mystery Tour documents the beginnings of homeopathy, a very popular alternative treatment that once only existed on the fringes of the culture, within the New Age movement, but has now become mainstreamed, and is sadly even being embraced by Christians today. (As noted above, while Samuel Hahnemann was the developer of the homeopathic theory, a man by the name of Edward Bach came along later and systematized Hahnemann's theory into what is known today as the Bach flower remedies, pictured above.)
While homeopathic cures are often discussed and treated as if they are medicine, they are not. They're quackery, plain and simple. Sugar pills and water. It's modern day snake oil. And yet, because this area is not regulated by the FDA, all kinds of outlandish claims can be made of the asserted (but non-existent) curative properties of homeopathy.
Since I have been observing many in the Christian community accepting and embracing the claims of homeopathy, and since the focus of the Sola Sisters ministry is primarily to warn about false teachings coming into the church, I am therefore making a warning to the church at large about the unscientific, untested claims associated with Homeopathy. I am also warning about the unbiblical belief system out of which Homeopathy was developed. To begin with, I think it might be prudent to simply consider the scientific method, and why it is so valuable. According to the article The Foundation of Modern Science Is The Biblical Worldview by R. Totten, Christian writers Nancy Pearcey and Charles Thaxton have written an excellent book entitled The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy, which explains in detail that the scientific method for study has its origins in Christianity. Does this not make sense to us as Christians? That our good and loving God gave us minds, which He obviously desired for us to employ as we navigate our lives? We are not animals, who navigate by instinct; we have minds with which we are able to critically evaluate and assess data.
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30, my emphasis)From the article by Totten:
Human Minds can Discover and Understand the Natural Order - The Bible teaches that man is made "in the image of God," which means (among other things) that man is personal, creative and imaginative, and able to "step back" (transcend) and rationally analyze and develop knowledge about many realities of nature and existence.
But in contrast, in his book, The Grand Tradition ('69), J. Needham --an expert on Chinese culture-- maintains that the Chinese (who developed most of the 'alternative treatment' methods popular today) never developed modern analytical science, because they did not think there existed either a definite understandable order in nature, nor the human ability to figure it out. To the Chinese, whatever order did exist in nature "was not an order ordained by a rational personal being, and hence there was no guarantee that other rational personal beings would be able to spell out ...laws which he had previously formulated" (p.327).
On the other hand, in Christian Europe, scientists did have such a guarantee, because they believed that a rational and orderly Creator had made everything --including man as a rational personal being. The resultant outcome is that, to a meaningful extent, man can "think God's thoughts after Him", and thus understand much of the rationally logical order of nature......We are never, at any place in Scripture, exhorted by God to turn our minds off and live by impulse or instinct. In fact, just the opposite is true: God gave human beings minds with which to assess and evaluate data via proven scientific methods, thus setting us apart from the animals. Have we all forgotten our 9th grade science lessons on "the gold standard"? (Please see the attached article, The Scientific Method and Why It Matters, if you would like to be refreshed on your high school basics of the scientific method for testing hypotheses.)
The scientific method is something that should not be disdained by Christians. The scientific method employs reason, facts and quantifiable data. And yet, so much of the alternative medicine realm eschews the scientific methods by which we are able to evaluate information in an orderly, repeatable fashion in favor of hunches, impulses and even mystical feelings. So when you hear claims by the alternative medicine community that this or that treatment is scientific, check it out for yourself, using the gold standard, to see if that is in fact, true. But I can assure you right now that the "science" associated with homeopathy (and a great deal of alternative medicine in general), is not really science, but is based almost entirely upon anecdotal accounts or upon studies funded by alternative treatment advocacy groups. The "scientific" studies that are pointed to as "proof" of claims made by alternative practitioners are rarely, if ever, long-term, placebo-controlled trials done on humans. And let's not forget that the human body is not a controlled environment in the same way that a petri dish is. By that, I mean to say that a substance that works in a petri dish to kill cancer cells (gasoline, antifreeze, etc.) might not do so well in the human body.
Below is an excerpt about Edward Bach and how he came up with his flower remedies:
Bach came to the conclusion that humanity could be divided into twelve main emotional groups or 'world types' and he listed them as follows:
Edward Bach (1886-1936),
creator of Bach flower remedies
- Feelings of inner torture and restlessness
- Impatience with others
- Feelings of discouragement
- Known fears
- Extreme fear
- Highly-strung and unable to relax
- Desiring isolation
- Weak, easily dominated personality
- Lack of confidence in own judgment
- A possessive and selfish attitude
- Daydreams who have little interest in life
- Indecision and mood swings
Bach's spurious 12 point hypothesis was the turning point in his life. He gave up his London practice and spent the next four years wandering the countryside, searching out the special flowers and plants he believed would be the positive correspondents to these twelves negative emotional types. But the manner in which Bach carried out his 'field work' was far from orthodox and revealed the complete eccentricity, even the madness of the man and his methods.
The process of identifying a 'healing' flower would being with Bach first of all working himself into an absolute frenzy of whatever one of the twelves 'types' he was seeking to heal. In a state of inner torture or extreme fear, he would then wander the countryside, approaching various flowers and shrubs until he 'sensed' a particular plant was helping his frenzy subside. (Writer and Bach Remedy proponent) Nora Weeks notes the following:
"Through his finely developed sense of touch he was able to feel the vibrations and power emitted by any plant he wished to test.... Some would have a strengthening, vitalizing effect on mind and body; others would give him pains, vomiting, fevers, rashes and the like."
That Bach could induce vomiting, fevers and rashes by merely touching the petals of the mimulus or marigold mirrors the extreme behavior of (homeopathic theory developer Samuel Hahnemann) who was able to record a staggering 174 physical and mental symptoms just through eating a single sliver of green pepper. And now here was Bach building his own castle in the sky and doing so by the same, quite extraordinary powers of imagination.
Bach led a nomadic life during (the years he was formulating his remedies) and he would often stay in different places across the UK for weeks at a time, returning to his lodgings quite late in the evening, dishevelled, muddied, bloodied and completely exhausted from the day's manic 'field experiments'. With twelves emotional states to heal, Bach eventually arrived at twelves different flowers known as the 'twelve healers'.......Bach's methods of preparing his medicines (from the twelve healing flowers flowers he had isolated as the 'healers') was equally bizarre. Nora Weeks again on her master's next flash of inspiration:
"The thought flashed into his mind that each dewdrop must contain some of the properties of the plant upon which it rested and that the heat of the sun would serve to draw out these properties until each drop was magnetised with power. The resulting remedies would contain the full, perfect and uncontaminated power of the plants."
Bach experimented by floating various flower petals in a glass bowl filled with clear stream water, leaving these concoctions in direct sunlight. The sun's rays would 'charge' this flower-water mixture and after roughly four hours, the resulting potion was deemed to be 'impregnated with magnetic power.'
Like Hahnemann, Bach believed his medicines were being powerfully spiritualized by (his preparation) methods.
(SOURCE: Alternative Medicine: A Mind Blowing Magical Mystery Tour, Steven Ransom)My questions for Christians, after reading the above account are these: are Bach's theories, methods and preparations scientific? Do they seem compatible with the Christian worldview? Let's remember, again, that God gave us minds with which to reason things out, and that includes the use of the scientific method for testing substances, as opposed to going by mystical feelings, hunches, guesses, or impressions (which was how Bach developed his remedies).
Also, when I look at the list of 12 emotional types that Bach came up with, I can think of lots of Scripture that addresses those weaknesses in humans, none of which involve floating flowers in stream water and allowing the sun to spiritually imbue the essence of those flowers into the water in order to magically free the affected individual from those weaknesses. Christians should call sin "sin," and should address their areas of weakness biblically: through accountability, Scripture memorization, Bible study, prayer, etc. That takes relying upon the Lord and the power of the Holy spirit for wisdom, strength and diligence. There are no magical remedies for sin, but thankfully the Bible does gives us all that we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).
"(Satan) was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44)
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10)Big Pharma has its problems, and I get that, but I just want to caution all the Christians I'm observing jumping on the hate-big-Pharma bandwagon (which originated in the New Age among quack practitioners with snake oil to sell, by the way) that Big Pharma has its uses. I'm sure that all of us can think of family members of ours whose lives have been saved by Big Pharma. My husband is currently under long-term treatment with medicine developed through scientific methods. The treatment is saving his life. I had an illness in my 20s that would have killed me if I had not had access to antibiotics. But above and beyond even that, what I'm really wanting to caution against is an embracing of supposed medicinal items that have been developed through mystical or even demonic means. When I read about Edward Bach, I'm sorry, but it seems to me that at a bare minimum he was mentally unbalanced, and at worst, perhaps demonically possessed. Why would any Christian want to use a treatment that came from a man who was mentally unstable and/or possessed by a demon? A deeper question to ponder is this: what does the Bible have to say about Satan and his demon deceptions? does he have our best interests at heart? or is he out to steal, kill and destroy, whatever that looks like?
Personal Accounts of Problems With Homeopathy
After recently posting on the unscientific nature of homeopathy, I received an email from a friend who wrote about a close family friends of hers who had been very negatively affected by a homeopathic doctor. This doctor had received a Doctorate in Homeopathy from Hahnemann University, a school named after the founder of the homeopathic movement, Samuel Hahnemann. This doctor, who has been so heavily influenced by the homeopathic principles developed by Hahnemann, claims on his website to have had positive results in treating AIDS, cancer, Multiple Sclerosis and arthritis. And yet in reality, my friend attested to me that this doctor had unsuccessfully treated a woman for cancer of the femur (she died a very painful death within the year), as well as a young wife and mother of 4 who had breast cancer, and who also died within a short period of time. I was also told that this doctor had treated numerous other people who have not done well despite his public claims, and that the doctor had been put out of fellowship for errant doctrine and fraudulent business practices.
Please understand that I am NOT saying that all who go into homeopathy have evil intent or wrong motives. Not at all. This doctor in question might have the best of motives. But these homeopathic practices that these doctors are basing their practices upon are based on unscientific methods.
I think it should also be noted that, according to Walter Isaacson (author of a biography on Apple founder Steve Jobs), Jobs had regrets about pursuing alternative treatments for his cancer for such a lengthy period of time before making the decision to have surgery. Jobs, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in late 2003, died in 2011. (online source)
Marcia Montenegro of Christian Answers For The New Age (CANA), a friend and former New Ager (and frequent contributor here), has also written an excellent article on the occultic roots of homeopathic medicine, linked here: Homeopathy, The Occult and Beyond.
photo credit: salimfadhley via photopin cc
Additional Resources
Alternative Medicine: A Mind Blowing Magical Mystery Tour (Free, online e-book exposing the unsubstantiated claims [both currently and historically] made about many "natural" remedies)
Wellness: The New Age Trojan Horse In Healthcare (Sola Sisters/Marcia Montenegro)
Update: Ingrid Schlueter Interviews Marcia Montenegro and Christine Pack (Crosstalk at VCY America 4/26/11) to Discuss This Show- you may listen here
The Christian and Essential Oils: A Few Thoughts [UPDATED]
Essential Oils Revisited
Herbal Supplements Are Often Not What They Seem (New York Times 11-3-13)
Apple founder Steve Jobs 'regretted trying to beat cancer with alternative medicine for so long' (The Telegraph, 10-21-11)
True Spirituality, Health and Science: Where Do We Draw The Lines? (Marcia Montenegro)
Tapping: The Next Big Thing in Alternative Medicine (Sola Sisters)
No Scientific Evidence For "Chi" or "Qi" (NYU Langone Medical Center)
Problems with Alternative Medicine (CANA)
What's New With the New Age? Why Christians Need To Remain On Guard Against the New Age Spirituality (Phil Johnson, GTY)
Should A Christian Eat Their Placenta? (Mennoknight)
Evaluating Applied Kinesiology (Mennoknight)
Food Pharisees (Fred Butler, Hip and Thigh)
How Neo-Paganism Deceives The World and the Church (Bob DeWaay, CIC)
What's New With the New Age? Why Christians Need To Remain On Guard Against the New Age Spirituality (Phil Johnson, GTY)
Should A Christian Eat Their Placenta? (Mennoknight)
Evaluating Applied Kinesiology (Mennoknight)
How Neo-Paganism Deceives The World and the Church (Bob DeWaay, CIC)
The Biblical Worldview Is The Foundation of Modern Science
Sola Sisters ministry-Facebook wall discussion - 1-4-14
Steve Godwin Resources and Articles
Energy Medicine: An Overview
Energy Medicine: Part 1, The Science
Energy Medicine Part 2, The Theology
Evaluating Acupuncture
Steve Godwin Resources and Articles
Energy Medicine: An Overview
Energy Medicine: Part 1, The Science
Energy Medicine Part 2, The Theology
Evaluating Acupuncture
John Ankerberg Resources and Articles


text:
Reaching for the Center: Realists Take Charge
The election whupping marked the end of George W. Bush's radical experiment in partisan government and a plea for politicians to get serious about solving problems
"We Have To Start From A Level Of Trust" (Interview)
Three days after the elections, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi spoke to TIME's Perry Bacon Jr.
Karl Rove: A Passing Thing (Karl Rove)
Bush's strategist says Republicans can still maintain a long-term majority
The New Congress: Can the Democrats Get Anything Done? (Governing)
It depends on how well the new leaders in the House and Senate can maneuver through a set of tricky challenges
Places For Progress (The Agenda)
My Mother, My President (Viewpoint)
So they've called each other names. These two are pros. And they get along fine
Searching for an Iraq Exit Strategy
A new team, made up of some old Bush family friends, will try to help the President find a way out of the Iraq mess. Will this family intervention succeed?
The Return of the Realists (Viewpoint)
Ahead Of Their Time (Health)
How doctors are rethinking the growing problem of preterm births--by focusing on the moms, not the babies
Today's Nun Has A Veil--And A Blog
More young women are entering convents. How they are changing the sisterhood
What's Next: Nov. 20, 2006 (Notebook)
Low-Carb Really Can Be Heart Healthy (Notebook)
The Ana Log: Nov. 20, 2006 (Notebook)
America's Feeling Blue (Notebook)
Verbatim: Nov. 20, 2006 (Notebook)
Numbers: Nov. 20, 2006 (Numbers)
Does This Look Like The Face Of A Killer? (Notebook)
Milestones Nov. 20, 2006 (Notebook)
Punchlines: Nov. 20, 2006 (Punchlines)
Going For Guinness (Notebook)
The Secrets of Iraq's Death Row (Middle East)
With Saddam the latest to face the gallows, critics accuse Baghdad of hiding the real number of prisoners who are executed
Ortega's Encore (Profile)
How anti-U.S. cold warrior Daniel Ortega made his way back to power in Nicaragua
The Things They Carry (Middle East / Middle East)
Photographer Yuri Kozyrev captures the tokens of faith that help Marines face battle in Iraq
Portrait of a Bull Market
What the latest record-setting prices for modern art say about the health of the U.S. economy
Hooray For Holy-wood (Movies)
Movie studios, usually pegged as disciples of Mammon, are now trying to reach the faithful
Movies: Um, Is That You, Bond? (Movies)
The new model of the British secret agent is neither suave nor funny. But he has his charms
How Pedro Rescued Penelope (Film)
The director, his muse, her fake bottom and one triumphant role
Books: Pynchon vs. the Toaster (Books)
The literary master's dazzling, dizzying 1,085-page new novel is not for those looking for a snack
5 Sports Books That Deserve Big Cheers (Worth Your Time)
The next best thing to actually doing something athletic? Reading about it
When To Sell The Empty Nest (Money)
How to calculate the risks of downsizing in an uncertain housing market
6 Great Albums From 6 Decades
Travel: Savvy Travelers (Travel)
10 Questions For Gore Vidal (Interview)
People: Nov. 20, 2006
Letters: Nov. 20, 2006
My Person Of The Year (Forum)
To help us make this year's selection, TIME asked people who were chosen in previous years for their 2006 nominations. The first installment:
When Oops Isn't Enough
Would it really kill the neocons to apologize for the Iraq war?
Mexico's Paradox (Time Bonus Section December 2006: Global Business / Flash Point)
Moneyed Monterrey can't mask an economy that needs a million new jobs a year
Felipe Calderon (Time Bonus Section December 2006: Global Business� / Q&A)
Mexico's President-elect tells TIME about his plans for economic reform Felipe Calderon
The NBA's Play for India (Time Bonus Section December 2006: Global Business / Strategies)
Having won over China, the league eyes a huge, cricket-mad country with little hoops history
Empires: India's Tiger (Time Bonus Section December 2006: Global Business / Empires)
Ratan Tata turned a sleepy firm into a global power by targeting the low end of the market
Entrepreneurs: The Cell Islands (Time Bonus Section December 2006: Global Business / Entrepreneurs)
Phone upstart Digicel has taken the Caribbean by storm. The company plans to make landfall on the U.S. next year
CEO Speaks: Ferruccio Ferragamo (Time Bonus Section December 2006: Global Business / CEO Speaks)
Still faithful to its Italian roots, a business moves from family hands as it flourishes in Asia
Travel: Rooms to Grow (Time Bonus Section December 2006: Global Business / Travel)
Service can't be knocked off, one reason Western hotels are betting big on China
Very Rapid Response (Time Bonus Section December 2006: Global Business / Technology)
What can business learn from auto racing? Split-second decision making, says a British tech firm


text:
The National Honor Society is a prestigious organization known throughout the country. We hold our members to the academic expectation of maintaining at least a 3.3 unweighted cumulative GPA and maintaining at least 10 hours of in school community and 10 hours of out of school service. Each member's grades are reviewed on a semester basis. Active members are expected to maintain a high level of service to the school and community, attend all meetings, and to maintain high ethical standards.
Point Sheets are due May 1, 2018. You must have 10 hours of in-school service and 10 hours of out of school service.
NHS Applications for eligible Sophomores and Juniors will be available starting October 4, 2017 in
rooms M-223 and M-211. They will be due on February 1, 2018. The Induction Ceremony will be on March 14, 2018 at 7 pm in the Auditorium.
Below is a sample application. This application does not include every possibility for leadership positions, community service, school involvement, or awards and recognitions. If you have specific questions see Ms. Haacke or Ms. Jones.
Example NHS Application 16-17.pdf
If you have any further questions please email Ms. Haacke at email@example.com or Ms. Jones at firstname.lastname@example.com


text: Having a Spanish or Mediterranean dinner party? Look no further for suitable music. Pablo Alboran is a singer songwriter from Málaga, Spain, and his unplugged tunes is just what you need. More than 1,5 hour of his great music to listen to, and it will get you instantly in summer mode.


text:
CE Hanna is now a peanut-free school. We ask that you not send items with peanuts, peanut butter, or items cooked in peanut oil. This policy applies to all students, teachers, staff, and visitors. We understand that this may be difficult at first, but the safety of our students is our number one priority. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Copyright © 2019 C. E. Hanna Elementary School


text:
Escarole and Bean Soup
Create a Recipe Makeover
Nutritional Info
- Servings Per Recipe: 12
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories: 113.7
- Total Fat: 3.9 g
- Cholesterol: 8.5 mg
- Sodium: 290.2 mg
- Total Carbs: 14.4 g
- Dietary Fiber: 4.9 g
- Protein: 6.1 g
View full nutritional breakdown of Escarole and Bean Soup calories by ingredient
Submitted by: CADES54
Number of Servings: 12
turkey sausage
cannellini beans
large can diced tomatoes
olive oil
In a pot add olive oil, garlic and onion and chopped up turkey sausage.cook until soft(about 3 minutes) then add washed and chopped escarole (if your using frozen, make sure to thaw it first). As the escarole cooks down add the cannellini beans and diced tomatoes. Then add salt, pepper, and any other spices you want to your desired flavor level. This is a great recipe to use with spinach or any kind of leafy greens, and any kind of beans. experiment!
Number of Servings: 12
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user CADES54.
Number of Servings: 12
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user CADES54.
Rate This Recipe
Member Ratings For This Recipe
Recipe CollectionsHere are user created Recipe Collection which have this recipe:
- by: RIVER0 For 25 years I've cooked for my man but it hasn't been the healthiest foods. You can see where it has...