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I think God has been putting a certain theme into my life this past week. Well, weeks I guess I should say. I went home for the holidays on the 23rd and spent some quality time with my Mom, Dad, cousins, Aunts, Uncles and my little brother (who is certainly not little -- apparently one of my ex boyfriend's saw me at the movie theater with him and thought he was my "date." Gag.).
Christmas was different this year because it was more about family than anything. Instead of Nick waking me up at 6:00 a.m. to open gifts, we slept in and Mom woke us all up for pancakes. We leisurely ate and watched A Christmas Story before deciding to gather in the living room. For me, this emphasis this year wasn't on the gifts. Don't get me wrong, I got some nice things (and cool stuff I can't wait to post about!), but it wasn't the cherry on top of everything. It was watching the Christmas parade on the couch and napping and spending time with the family all together.
After my birthday I headed back "home" to Los Angeles, a place that might have questionable morals, is 100% crazy and a little hectic at times, but is a place I truly do love being at my age. I returned here early because, as you all know, my precious Horned Frogs were going to be bringing home a true victory at the Rose Bowl, and God had planned it so that
Anyway, after everyone left I spent some time reflecting on last year and what opportunities may lie ahead this year. During the past three days, a consistent message has been implanted in my head. It revolves around love.
Granted, love is a big part of my life, but these past few days have had blinking signs that say, "LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED!" First off? My mom called me on Sunday and (per usual) we were discussing a myriad of topics, one being love. We got to chatting about how I cannot fathom what it feels like to be married, to have a husband, to be a Mom. That maybe I'm not cut out for those things? Aren't you supposed to at least envision what you'd look like in a wedding a dress as a woman? She assured me that at some point I will certainly know those feelings because it will be the right time. That I'll "just know." I then let her know that it's doubtful I'll find true love here in Los Angeles.
"You never know," she said. "God works in mysterious ways. Maybe you'll meet someone there who will change your life; maybe you'll meet someone across the country, across the world! An that person will be more important than anything else. I want you to accomplish your dreams and your career goals, but I want you to be able to have a true love in your life, Kirb. It's worth it."
So that was my first love-filled message. To be honest, when she said that I was kind of hesistant. Like, NO! I don't want to put a man before my dreams. But I guess that's the independant woman inside my head screaming for freedom. I know at some point there will be a human being that is more important than my career, but right now I can't picture it.
Then I was watching Millionaire Matchmaker (don't judge me). I was laying in bed and their client was the son of the man who founded the Cookie Diet. He seemed pretty bland and a little arrogant (stereotypical clients on this show) but one thing he said really stood out to me. They asked him why he was ready to find love -- he was in his 40s. And he goes, "I was watching Joan Rivers' documentary, and with tears streaming down her face, she said, 'I have nobody to say 'Remember when?' with.'" That hit me hard. Joan Rivers had a career, then it floundered for awhile, and now it's back. But she has no one to show for it. What's the point of having success when you don't have a person to share the details with?
Finally, this morning, I was listening to Joel Osteen before work. His message was about the journey of life, not the finish line. That many of us live for the big moments: graduating high school, graduating college, prom, getting our license, landing a big promotion, etc., but we don't enough those days in between. We need to be entertained 24/7 and feel the constant need to be busy. I know I suffer from this complex and not until recently did I start to enjoy my down time. He also talks about family and how you need to take time to enjoy them and the people in your life. Frankly, they won't be around forever.
He talks about Dion Sanders and how his life goal was to win The Superbowl. And he did. But Dion says that when he won, he got home and felt disappointed. "This is it?" He felt like he had accomplished all that he wanted. But there will always be new dreams after your accomplish old ones; there will always be new struggles as well. A majority of your life are those in-between times, so live your life! Enjoy the walk.
I've decided that God is foreshadowing in my life. That my career may take a big turn, but I need to keep my focus on things that matter most (family and friends); to keep my priorities straight. While I should work hard, be ambitious and be determined, I need to appreciate who and what is around me. The journey of life is worth looking forward to, not just those "main events."


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I'm not sure I can agree with Joe that the critique in my own head is the worse one I've ever received – I tend to think I'm pretty awesome, after all – but I can definitely get one board with the recommendation of Chaim Potok any day.
1. Tell me about your latest project.
Let's Write a Short Story! is a book for writers who want to start a career writing fiction but aren't sure where to start. Like most writers, I never worried about short stories. Novels are what make money, what make authors famous, and what I read, so I thought I would just focus on short stories.
But after failing to complete another novel, I scrapped it from 15,000 words of crap to 3,000 words of pretty decent writing and realized it would make a short story. With a lot of rewriting—and some wise feedback from readers like you, Andi—I was able to turn it into a short story I was proud of.
That's when I started to realize most of the best authors—Twain, Hemingway, Tolstoy, and even Stephen King—didn't start their writing career with novels but with short stories. I wanted to create something of a guidebook for authors who, like me, might want to write short stories, but weren't sure how to start. After a lot of research, Let's Write a Short Story! was born.
2. What role, if any, did books, writing, and reading play in your childhood?
Every year, for my birthday and for Christmas, my cousin (who's 80, and more like a grandfather), would give me two books. They were always classics: Dostoevsky, Dickens, Hugo, and Thoreau. I labored through them, sometimes taking months to finish. However, if it weren't for those books, I don't think I would be a writer today.
3. What is your writing practice, your writing routine?
It depends on what I'm working on. Right now, I'm writing as many blog posts as I can. However, in a week or so, I'll have to get back to the non-fiction book I'm ghostwriting. In the cracks of the day, though, I write short stories. I don't have routines as much as mad urges to run around and write something. But when I take on a project, I focus on that thing alone.
4. Who are you reading now?
I just finished My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok again, to prepare myself to see a theatrical adaptation in Atlanta. It's a beautiful story about the tension between religion and art, about a painting prodigy who grows up into a Hassidic Jewish community in Brooklyn in the 1940s and 50s. It's a must read for any artist or writer.
5. What are three of your all-time favorite books? Why do you love those?
I love Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses. I love the way his words feel on my tongue, the breathlessness of the whole book.
Honestly, I love Dune, and anything in the Dune series. Herbert creates a whole world, full of religion, philosophy, politics, technology. It's astounding.
I love anything by Hemingway, but The Old Man and the Sea is probably my favorite. I never read it in high school or college, which I'm grateful for, because everyone I know who has hates it. But the book is so simple, clear, and full of life. I actually named my computer after Santiago because I love him so much.
6. How do you balance "building a writing platform" and the actual writing to set on that platform?I don't balance mostly. I love The Write Practice and give it nearly everything I have. Someday, I know that I won't have to focus on building a platform as much, and I will be able to focus on my fiction. In the meantime, though, I'm learning new things every day. I also do my best to write beautifully on my blog whenever I can. When something strikes me, or when I feel the need for a new short story project, I go all in on that. But balance is not my strength.
7.What is a typical day like for you?
A frantic dash through Word documents, the internet, Scrivener, and back again, sometimes until midnight or later. It's a problem.
8. Describe your dream writing space?
A new coffee shop in a new city every month.
9. What is the hardest writing critique you ever received? How did you respond?
The hardest critiques are always in your head, the imagined critique, the pre-rejection. Once you actually get critiqued, it's not that big of a deal.
10. What is the best wisdom you have to share with other writers?
Don't let your imagination stop you from being critiqued. Be tenacious for rejection. If you get enough of it, you might just get published. At the very least, you'll learn something.
Joe Bunting is the founder of The Write Practice, a community workbook for writers. His new ebook, Let's Write a Short Story!, teaches people how to become better writers by writing and publishing short stories. Follow him on Twitter (@joebunting).

subset: commoncrawl


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For Students
Our clubs, competitions, makerspaces, and centers help bring your ideas to life by giving you the tools, support, and expert advice you need.
Even if you do your best thinking when you're alone, it still pays to hang out with others who are interested in creating a business. Working in a group, a club, or as part of a team can put you a step ahead for a number of reasons.
- It can be tough for one person to find a solution or make a decision on a complex project. Bouncing ideas off each other, especially when you have different skills and strengths, help you see a variety of alternatives. Exploring these options can lead to a winning solution.
- When you're under a time crunch, a group or team can wrap up tasks and meet goals more quickly than a single person who's responsible for everything. Sharing responsibilities among specialists increases a project's efficiency.
- If one person is sick or has to write a paper for a class, the project won't fall behind, because the rest of the team will continue to work.
- Push yourself to do your best in an atmosphere of friendly competition. When team members want to outdo or show off for each other, the result is work that's a cut above the rest.
- While you're competing, you're also forming a bond. When you're working together toward a single goal, friendships are usually the result.
- Team members learn from each other. Each person has his or her own set of skills and knowledge. Sharing what you know and teaching others how to do something raises the value of the unit as a whole.


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How to Protect your Assets with an Offshore Trust
Setting up a foreign trust is a sound asset protection strategy to add a layer of protection between your assets and anyone trying to seize your wealth. By using an offshore trust rather than a domestic trust, you can enjoy additional protections not available in your home country.
The difference is that with an offshore trust, also called a foreign trust, the trustee is a financial institution that is not in the same country as the settlor – a foreign country, a foreign trust. A number of these foreign countries are offshore, hence the use of the term 'offshore trust.'
Having an offshore trust just may be your best option when it comes to protecting your assets. You can work with an asset protection trust institution that is in a jurisdiction with advantageous laws around wealth, protection of wealth, and which has lower taxes.
This article is geared towards helping you understand the basics of offshore trusts. I'm sure that by the end of it you will see offshore trusts as a sure way to secure your financial future and protect your assets, all while still enjoying the benefits of your wealth.
Responsibilities of the parties involved in an offshore trust
There are three parties involved in an offshore trust: the Settlor, the Trustee and the Beneficiaries. Each are bound by a document known as the "Deed of Trust." This document is agreed upon by the Settlor and Trustee. It will dictate what is to be done with the property while it is being held by the Trustee, and how it is to be distributed to the Beneficiaries.
Some legal systems name this person the trustor, grantor or donor. Either way, this is the person who creates the offshore trust. In order to create a valid trust in most English common law countries they must:
- Establish a certainty of intention – clearly outline their desire to start a trust
- Establish the certainty of subject matter – clearly outline the property to be entered into the trust
- Establish the certainty of objects – clearly outline the beneficiaries
This term applies to the person or institution that is holding property in the offshore trust for someone else. It is the responsibility of the trustee to:
- Follow the terms expressed in the Deed of Trust
- Defend the trust against debtors – a key element of any asset protection trust
- Invest the trust appropriately
- Act impartially amongst the beneficiaries
- Be accountable to all beneficiaries, keep them informed and act in their best interest
- Not delegate duties, or profit themselves from transactions
The trustee in most offshore asset protection and offshore trust situations is a financial institution. They will typically be given a very narrow number of duties to perform in the Deed of Trust.
Natural persons are typically the beneficiaries of all asset protection trusts which are established. However, it is not unusual for a trust to list a company, commonly a charitable foundation, as the beneficiary.
Once the property from a trust is in the possession of adult beneficiaries they can do with it as they please. They can take the property gained from the trust and:
- Sell any property
- Assign property to someone else
- Release it
- Use it in a mortgage agreement
And can usually do most other things associated with the property as they see fit under the chose in action common law.
The basic types of offshore trusts
I'll first first look at revocable trusts and irrevocable trusts:
Revocable trusts are trusts which may be altered or terminated by the settlor either at any time, or after a certain date. Irrevocable trusts can not be changed or terminated at any time by the settlor.
The type of offshore trust set up by the settlor is dictated by the goals that they have for the offshore trust. Seeking expert advice is highly recommended when you make this basic decision about your offshore trust.
To break it down further, there are four common types of offshore trusts set up by settlors:
- Private trusts: Including discretionary offshore trusts, accumulation offshore trusts, maintenance trusts, life interest trusts, and fixed interest trusts.
- Corporate trusts: Including pensions and employee benefit trusts.
- Charitable trusts: Set up exclusively for the benefit of charitable organizations.
- Purpose trusts: Simply put, these are offshore trusts that are designed for a specific reason which doesn't meet the ones listed above. They do not have beneficiaries and are instead custom tailored to specific purposes.
There are three main types of offshore trusts that settlors turn to:
- Discretionary trusts: This is the type of asset protection trust used most often for wealth protection and tax planning purposes. This highly flexible trust will allow the settlor to provide the trustees with a 'Letter of Wishes.' This letter provides guidance to the trustees on how to manage the property, and how to administer the trust.
- Interest in possession trusts: These are different than discretionary trusts as they allow the beneficiaries to be entitled to receive income and capital from the offshore trust, so long as it is outlined in the Deed of Trust.
- Accumulation and maintenance trusts: These are almost always arranged for beneficiaries who are children. The Deed of Trust will typically lay out provisions for college tuition, maintenance funds for the child, and finally give the child a certain income once a specified age is reached.
What are the benefits of an offshore trust?
The first point in why people set up an offshore trust is to protect their assets in a completely confidential manner. The trustee is expected to properly manage assets, titles to property, and anything else placed in the trust, in a way which completely protects the original owner (settlor) from being discovered.
What sort of protection are you looking for when you enter into an offshore trust? Protection from your own government. In one example, this is in the form of protection from over-taxation. Secondly, a judge in your country can not compel a foreign trustee to release funds and assets to a creditor.
These two points protect the settlor's assets from:
- liability
- debt
- lawsuits
Even if a creditor was determined to pursue assets held in an offshore trust they would have to get involved in an expensive legal battle within the offshore trust's jurisdiction. This expense makes it highly unlikely for a creditor to pursue these assets, making an offshore trust an excellent asset protection trust.
Why would someone want to set up an offshore trust?
The main reason is because possessing something can be considered a liability. Taxes are charged on your property, creditors can be looking to get a piece of your assets, and your assets become vulnerable when suits are filed.
A foreign trust allows you to avoid these three negative aspects of owning a large amount of property while still:
- Allowing you access to the benefits of your property
- Securing your assets for future generations of your family to enjoy
- Allowing others (the trustee) to advise you on the best possible course of action to grow assets held in trust
Your foreign trust offers a buffer zone between you, your government, potential creditors and litigators. All while still making provisions for your continued enjoyment of your wealth.
When is the best time to set up an offshore trust?
Putting your assets into an offshore trust is generally done with the goal of protecting those assets from creditors, to establish a long term plan for retirement, or for the distribution of your assets when you pass on.
In the case of avoiding creditors, it is best to set up your offshore trust long before any legal action is taken against you. The closer that the formation of your offshore trust and legal proceeding against you take place, the greater the chance there is that creditors will succeed in securing your assets.
Your creditors will likely retrieve these assets indirectly by filing suit. If you're looking to protect yourself from creditors then the time to set up your offshore trust is now, not tomorrow or next week.
See our Passport to Freedom DVDs to expand your offshore knowledge. Or for the best advice, book a one on one consultation.
What can an offshore trust not do?
You can not think of a foreign trust as a bank account. You can not simply withdraw funds from it whenever you want to. This is done in accordance with the underlying principle of an offshore trust – it is meant to protect you, even from yourself!
Once you enter into a Deed of Trust with your offshore Trustee, it is no longer up to you as to how the funds are distributed – it is up to the agreement within the Deed of Trust. Without this crucial added layer of protection, an offshore trust is no more than an offshore bank. This link will help you learn more about offshore banking.
Tax implications of offshore trusts by country
One of the main uses of a foreign trust is to avoid unnecessary taxation by your home country. Who, believe it or not, want to tax you to death.
We'll look at what certain key countries are doing to try to curb the use of offshore trusts, what it means to you, and how you will still benefit from an offshore trust.
Offshore trust tax law in the USA
The US government does not want its citizens to use offshore trust institutions for either investment, or for asset protection purposes. The IRS and Congress have passed laws that are aimed specifically at limiting the tax benefits of a foreign trust, while increasing the requirements for reporting.
Under US offshore trust law, establishing an offshore trust does not typically grant any special relaxing on the taxation of the assets, nor does it do much in the way of offering increased confidentiality.
An offshore trust will, however, still offer all of the protection from liability and creditors, while still allowing for the establishment of how the assets are to be distributed to beneficiaries.
Offshore trust tax law in the UK
Despite the efforts of a number of anti-offshore trust legislators, having your assets in an offshore trust as a UK citizen still has a number of tax reducing benefits.
The amount of tax savings vary widely, depending on who established the trust, when the trust was established, and who the beneficiaries of the offshore trust are. A consultation with a trusted offshore advisor is highly recommended.
When a UK resident has their spouse, children/grandchildren, or the spouses of those children as beneficiaries of a foreign trust, the settlor will be taxed on gains as they arise. If the settlor has passed on, or if no close family members are benefitting, then the gains will be rolled up free of the Capital Gains Tax.
An offshore trust which is set up and excludes the settlor and their spouse from being beneficiaries, such as an offshore trust set up for their children, it will be exempt from UK income tax law.
Offshore trust law in France
Trust law originated in England. With this being the case, the French did not have established trust laws for many years. French courts would recognize the legality of foreign trusts, but largely ignored legislating these trusts themselves until recently.
The first legislation aimed at offshore trusts occurred when the Loi de Finances Rectificative pour 2011 came into effect on July 31, 2011. This law made offshore trusts liable to gift, inheritance and wealth taxes.
Under French offshore trust law, trustees must report:
- The market value of all assets held worldwide as of January 1 of each year
- All changes made to a trust
- When an offshore trust is wound up
- When a new offshore trust is set up
This is the case for all foreign trusts that have any French assets in them, regardless of whether or not French residents are the settlors of the foreign trust. This recent legislation change is an excellent example showing that you need the expert advice of offshore professionals, because dated information will fail to protect your assets.
Offshore trust tax law in Canada
The tax saving benefits of a foreign trust are limited under Canadian tax law. While this is the case, an offshore trust can help Canadian citizens both preserve and enhance their wealth. Foreign trusts are still an important aspect of financial and estate planning for all Canadians.
Those who will benefit the most from an offshore trust are Canadian residents who:
- Have assets in various countries under a 'Flag Planting' principle
- Wish to distribute assets to people who are not living in Canada
- Have recently immigrated to Canada
- Intend to move to another country, leaving Canada
The other situation where an offshore trust is beneficial is when you are not a Canadian resident, but you plan to:
- Include Canadian residents as beneficiaries of the offshore trust, either in your will or while you are alive
- Immigrate to Canada, a wise decision considering how easy it is to obtain a second passport
The six points above are all excellent examples of how an offshore trust can help Canadians. The last point, when immigrating to Canada, offers the most significant tax savings.
Canadian offshore trust reporting requirements
There are two people involved in an offshore trust that are compelled by Canadian law to file information with the Canada Revenue Agency – the settlor and the beneficiaries.
Beneficiaries – Residents of Canada who receive assets from offshore trusts are required to file an information return annually with the Canada Revenue Agency.
Settlors – Canadian residents who contribute to an offshore trust, or who own certain types of foreign property, are required to file information returns with the Canada Revenue Agency annually.
It is important for both parties to receive expert advice on the management of the offshore trust. This is due to the complexity of the laws involved, and the fact that they change on occasion.
What are the best countries for setting up an offshore trust in?
The country which you choose for your offshore trust will, of course, have the second biggest impact upon your offshore rust, next to your country of residence.
While it is difficult to answer the question 'What is the best country,' it is easier to look at a general list of popular locations for offshore trusts:
- The Cook Islands: The gold standard of asset protection trusts, the Cook Islands are tied in with New Zealand – which also offers good laws for protecting assets – but operate on their own. Far from some "banana republic", the Cook Islands are the only country that has repeatedly stood up to US courts in asset seizure cases.
- Jersey: Located just off the coast of France, this is considered the top offshore financial centre in the world (and 28th overall) in the most recent Global Financial Centres Index.
- The Cayman Islands: Boasts the highest value of foreign assets under management, this includes a large number of offshore trusts.
- British Virgin Islands: Has the largest number of offshore companies, and has been a trusted location for offshore financial institution for decades.
- Bermuda: The strongest presence they have in the global market is for offshore aircraft registration, but many also turn to them for offshore trusts.
- Anguilla: A British overseas territory in the Caribbean, Anguilla is an up-and-coming place to register an offshore trust.
- Mauritius: Heavily used by Asian, African and European countries for both inward and outward investment platforms, including offshore trusts.
Other popular locations for offshore trusts include: Barbados, Antigua, The Cook Islands (well known for asset protection trusts), Trinidad, Marshall Islands, Seychelles, Nevis, Cyprus (this was once very popular amongst Russians, but has since fallen out of favor), Isle of Mann and Marianas.
Two locations that are commonly used for offshore trusts, which aren't actually offshore, are Switzerland and Liechtenstein. These countries will more commonly be called locations for foreign trusts, but all of the underlying principles remain exactly the same.
Determining which location is going to be best for your offshore trust comes down to your individual situation, how you plan on using the offshore trust, the residency of the beneficiaries, and a number of other mitigating factors. It is best to seek the advice of a professional in all cases.
What factors help determine which location is best for your offshore trust?
Since trusts, and offshore trusts, are founded on English common law, it is better if the jurisdiction chosen uses English common law as the basis for their legal system. It is not an absolute requirement, but it is beneficial.
The input of the settlor is important, but the help of a professional is essential when it comes to taking this final step. Here are four key points that commonly come up as a settlor looks to choose a location for their foreign trust:
- The settlors own preferences: To put it simply, sometimes the settlor feels better about some countries than others. In the list above, I spoke about certain countries favoring a particular jurisdiction for their offshore asset protection needs. This trend is generally related to each country having particular illusions built up about the safety and trustworthiness of these countries. While the settlor is free to have feelings, facts are better.
- Maturity, and trustworthiness, of the jurisdiction: A younger nation is usually one with more problems than a mature one in terms of stability. However, a more mature nation may have problems related to expenses, excessive regulation, and over-lawyering.
- Settlors own bank account: If the settlor routinely banks with a certain bank, and their bank is also operating within the jurisdiction they're looking at for their offshore trust, they're more likely to choose the one which their bank operates in.
- Type of offshore trust being started: This is the aspect where it is the most crucial to seek a professional's guidance. Each jurisdiction will have particular strengths and weaknesses for each type of trust. Finding the one which is ideal for your trust is best left to someone with specialized knowledge.
Three out of the four criteria above come down heavily on the input of the settlor. However, as point four shows, they are all ultimately going to be determined by the advice given to the settlor by a professional offshore expert.
Learn more about offshore trusts and asset protection trusts
An offshore trust, or asset protection trust, is one of your surest ways to avoid the harsh penalties and taxes imposed by your country and control your wealth, and is a safe way to protect your assets from creditors.
By signing up for the intelligence report below, or purchasing any of our educational offshore products, you can receive some of the most current advice on which jurisdiction is the best choice for your foreign trust in any offshore area which interests you.
For the best possible advice, book yourself in for a one on one consultation. Our expert team will be able to properly assess your unique situation, and determine which is the best type of offshore trust to protect your assets, and find the best jurisdiction for it.


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Alien involvement in Great Pyramid a hoax?
- Details
- Parent Category: News
- Category: We Can't Explain It Published Date Xander Wolfe
For about five minutes I thought I had something ground breaking to report to you people about aliens and thier involvement in the construction of the Great Pyramids of Egypt...
But it turns out that it all might be a load of horseshit.
On Nov. 28, word came out of Cairo that a Dr. Ala Shaheen had told a conference audience that he "... couldn't confirm or deny it, but within the Great Pyramid there was a technology that was 'out of this world'."
Now I am not going to lie...
For about five minutes I was losing my mind; my fingers flying around the keyboard as an orgasm of the written word over the excitement of the news overtook me.
Thankfully though, after a quick session with the one hitter, calmer heads prevailed.
I did a little research interested to see what was the context that Dr. Shaheen said what I thought at the time was the phrase so many of us interested in UFOlogy and disclosure have been longing to hear and was kind of shocked at what I discovered.
Turns out that not only had Dr. Ala Shaheen had not said anything about alien technology within the bowels of the Great Pyramid, but it turns out that there was no such person named "Dr. Ala Shaheen at all working at Cairo University, let alone heading up the Archeology Department.
(The closest thing on the roster is a Dr. Alaeddin Abdul Mohsen Shaheen, head of Egyptian antiquities for Cairo University. But there has been no word anywhere else [other than the source site where I got the original story] which I found odd, considering that- if it is true- this would be world altering news.)
As of yet, there has been no reply to emailed requests to Cairo University as to whether or not a Dr. Ala Shaheen was currently on their staff.
A little research...
So it looks like it might be nothing more than a hoax intended to make us (cough, cough... me...) look like assholes doing back flips over the news only to find out that we were all celebrating a pile of bullshit.
I wish it was true...
Hell, for the five minutes that I did think it was true- no lie- I was sporting a little wood.
It was exciting news! Had it been true, this would have been the beginnings of disclosure.
But alas... it's a steaming pile.Of course, I am not going to say I am at all the final word on the subject and if anyone has any information at all please let us know.


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Assignment 03: Elements in the interior
I'm back with another assignment, which I got an A+ again. I'm on a roll here.
The purpose of this assignment was to draw a pan to scale 1:50 and showing all the elements that are occurring in the selected area. This time I choose our office space at home.
Part of the assignment was to draw a plan with all the electrical elements in the room. We've got 4 spotlights, 4 double electrical sockets of 127V (volt), 1 electrical socket of 220V, 1 light switch, 1 internet & TV connection point and the electricity meter cupboard is built-in the wall.
The first idea for this room was that it would be a TV-room. That was my husbands idea. My idea was for it to be a guestroom. So now we are not watching TV nor are we taking in guests, because the room is our office space.
My husband is also an electrician, so this plan was easy to do.
As you can see, drawing the location of the furniture was also part of the assignment. All of the furniture in this room was bought at IKEA. We did a bit of a hacking with the desks to get them they way we wanted them.
The last part of the assignment was to show the orientation in the room. From your entrance to your desks and windows. There shouldn't be any disturbance in your walking lines in the room.
So that is it. It was easy task actually, but it will let your mind work a little to plan everything down. Check out the other two assignments here and here.
P.s. the words in the images are dutch, as the assignments are in dutch and I didn't have the time to change everything in English (I'm sorry, but it's very easy to follow, right?!)


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TOKYO — Ten months after Japan's octogenarian emperor indicated he wanted to give up the throne while he was still alive, the cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved special legislation on Friday that would allow him to abdicate.
The bill, which will be considered soon by the full Parliament, makes a one-time provision for Emperor Akihito, 83, to retire from the throne and be succeeded by his elder son, Crown Prince Naruhito.
Emperor Akihito, a hugely popular figure in Japan who keeps up a grueling travel schedule, had asked to abdicate so that he could give Prince Naruhito, 57, time to rule. Emperor Akihito has reigned for 28 years, ever since his father, the wartime emperor Hirohito, died in 1989.
Once the bill — which is expected to pass in Parliament, where Mr. Abe's party has the majority — is enacted, the government would have three years to set a date for the emperor's abdication. Emperor Akihito would be the first living Japanese emperor to leave the throne in 200 years.
In remarks to reporters, Mr. Abe's chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, declined to comment on the timing of the abdication, although Kyodo News reported that December 2018 was a target.
Any decision regarding the emperor is freighted in Japan, where until World War II, he was seen as a god. The postwar Constitution, written by American occupiers, stripped the emperor of his status as a deity and set him up instead as a symbol of Japanese unity.
Emperor Akihito has also come to represent the pacifism enshrined in the Constitution and has acted as the country's emissary of historic reconciliation with surrounding Asian countries that suffered under Japan's aggression during the war. He has also visited regions in Japan that have been ravaged by disaster, most famously going on television to console the nation after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
While the Japanese public overwhelmingly supports allowing the emperor to retire, conservative supporters of Mr. Abe have made clear that they do not want the government to set a precedent by permanently altering the Imperial Household Law, which governs succession.
Conservatives are loath to open the law to a more sweeping overhaul because they fear that doing so would lead to a change to admit women as rightful heirs to the throne.
The bill approved by the cabinet on Friday makes no mention of female heirs to the throne. Prince Naruhito's only child is a daughter, Princess Aiko, 15, so his successor would be his brother, Prince Akishino, followed by Prince Akishino's son, Hisahito, 10.
Yet in repeated polls, a vast majority of Japanese have said they support a woman ascending to the throne. Without such a change, the royal family faces a looming succession crisis, as there are only five male heirs left in the family, and when women marry, they are forced to leave the imperial household.
The upcoming engagement of Princess Mako, 25, the emperor's eldest granddaughter, highlights the limitations of the Imperial Household Law. Because she plans to marry a commoner, she will have to leave the royal family, and even if she were to bear a son, he would not be in line to the throne. The imperial law not only bars women from reigning, but also insists that succession pass only through men of the royal family.
Critics say the law is outdated and should be changed to modernize Japan's royal family. The law is "anachronistic and ridiculous, in terms of gender and class," said Gill Steel, an associate professor at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. "Even the imperial family, and the politicians responsible for the law, need to move into the 21st century."
The opposition Democratic Party said that during the parliamentary debate on the bill, it would call for a supplementary clause allowing women to remain in the royal family even after marriage.
The legislation approved Friday would give the emperor and his wife, Empress Michiko, new titles upon abdication. They would be known as joko and jokogo. The bill would also switch the annual holiday commemorating the emperor's birthday from Emperor Akihito's birthday in December to his son's in February.


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Aldwinckle, Stella -- Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc.
Subject Source: Local sources
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Stella Aldwinckle Papers
Identifier: Wade-A-75 through A-84
Abstract This archive contains personal and professional papers relating to Stella Aldwinckle, the founder of the SocraticClub (which included C.S. Lewis) and member of the Oxford Pastorate staff at Oxford University.
Found in: Marion E. Wade Center / Stella Aldwinckle Papers


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Are you passionate about missions? Are you known for your self-motivation and initiative? Do you excel in and enjoy marketing & fundraising? Then this is the job for you!
EduDeo Ministries is looking for an energetic, driven individual with a background in marketing and a passion for sharing the Gospel to fill the position of Communications Coordinator.
This is a full-time, one-year maternity leave position. Please send your cover letter and resume to email@example.com by June 3, 2013. Only those applicants selected for interview will be contacted.
To initiate and lead marketing and fundraising strategies that promote and support the work of EduDeo Ministries.
To have a growing, active and aware supporting community that contributes to fulfilling our vision and mission.
Develop and maintain an intentional and engaging online presence (manage EduDeo website, utilize e-newsletters, communicate through social media, etc).
Develop and implement an effective marketing & fundraising plan for EduDeo (newsletters, major donor updates, program updates, fundraising appeals, event promotions, program brochures, proposals, videos, promotional items, etc).
Ensure that the donor database is being utilized properly by the Administrative Staff (targeting, segmenting, reporting) to track current/past activity to inform future planning.
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University degree in Business/Marketing or a related field
Experience in communications/marketing/fundraising is an asset
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Self-motivated and takes initiative
Works well within a team environment
Flexible and able to multitask
Understands web communication strategies (social media, HTML, analytics, SEO, etc)
Understands marketing/fundraising strategy and implementation
The Communications Coordinator will report to the Executive Director.


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…says every rung on the ladder of success is a new skill that is learnable
Brian Tracy, one of America's leading authorities on the development of the human potential and personal effectiveness, on Sunday highlighted what makes the difference between highly successful individuals and others to an elated audience in Nigeria.
Speaking at Daystar Christian Centre in Lagos, the author of best-selling books including 'Eat That Frog!' and 'Maximum Achievement' said he was born into a poor family and had to set out on the quest as to why some people are more successful than others. In his determined bid to unravel the secrets, he read 66 books on the subject.
"They are more productive; they get more result and they make contribution to the world," he said of people who are more successful. "If you want to get more from what you do, put more into it."
On the ladder of success, he said, every rung is a new skill that will help you get more results. "You have more potential than you can use up in your lifetime. You can learn any skill," he added.
With more skills, you get better, he said, adding that people who are more successful "keep getting better and climb the ladder of success."
Tracy said the most important quality for success is focus. "If you can focus, you can achieve anything."
Stating that technology is one of the greatest enemies of success today as it has huge capacity to distract, he said one of the greatest secret of success is to "leave things off; disconnect. Focus on the most important thing. You have to set priorities and focus on those things to get results."
Task completion – starting and finishing a task – is another quality of people who are more successful than others. "All success comes from task completion," he said.
Joy is as a result of doing something that improves your life, said Tracy. "Every time you complete a task it makes you happy."
Successful people are those who have the habit of starting and completing a task, he said, even as he stressed the need to pray to God about one's desires.
Speaking about the importance of clarity, he said: "If you are clear about what you want, you will start to attract all the resources and people you need to achieve it."
Writing down goals also set successful people apart from others. "When you write down a goal with your hand, it will be programmed in your subconscious mind." Quoting Henry Ford, he said any goal can be achieved if you break it down into small tasks.
"Be clear about what you want and focus on that one thing until you get result. What is your most important goal right now?" Tracy challenged the audience. "To achieve the goal you have not achieved before, you need a new skill. Ask yourself 'which one skill we help me most to achieve my goal?'"
He added: "Be clear about your goals; be clear about the most important skills you need and be clear about the most important tasks that you can do to achieve your goals."
'FEMI tweets @asufemi
If you think this piece can be useful to others, please consider sharing it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
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Every year, October appears. And every October, I fall in love all over again… with security and security awareness month.
National Cyber Security Awareness Month is not just a U.S. event anymore; it's a global effort, which makes October even more dear to all of us here at The Security Awareness Company.
This is the time when we can review the last 12 months with our global clients from 100 – 100,000, and reinforce key messages and plan for next year.
(Speaking of Next Year! DON'T FORGET TO ASK ABOUT THE "Great Security Song Contest" we are announcing in November. Prizes up to $25,000!)
This last year, phishing and phishing exercises certainly grabbed headlines. Our esteemd phishing partners, PhishMe, Security Mentem and Social-Engineer.Org have embraced our style of awareness: Marketing, Advertising, Interaction & Metrics …which means, for you, a completely coordinated awareness program from phishing to videos to courses to posters, newsletters and more. Work directly with us… or your preferred phishing phirm. ☺
The best thing we can do to maintain a high level of security is to just be Security Aware. Being aware doesn't require technical savvy nor should it feel overwhelming. It is really just about common sense. A security aware person is alert and involved every day, with every step, every action, BECAUSE: Security is the journey, not the final destination.
October also means a bit of repetition: A few mantras that help me, my company and our clients stay aware on their security journey. These include:
• Trust But Verify.
• When in doubt, Ask! None of us know everything about everything.
• Use your gut about what is 'right' and 'wrong'.
• Pretend your Aunt Libby is looking over your shoulder as you make choices.
On the CRAZY side, this year we saw one group promoting security awareness as "Behavior Modification". OUCH! While we all do want awareness to help guide smart, common sense behavior, even we feel there are limits. In my opinion, that's a pretty harsh and off-putting phrase: Behavior Modification. So, we will continue to do what has made us a leading security awareness company…some say, with the most complete programs and materials you can get today:
• Interaction
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• Engage family and kids
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• Private hosted LMS
We hope that this, our third annual "Best Of Security Awareness 2014" issue of our monthly newsletter, supporting National Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2014, will give you an idea of how we do things.
My incredible staff and I have had the chance to work on awareness issues in more than 20 countries with companies and government agencies of all sizes. I am personally involved in or approve the content of all of our clients' products and projects, especially for branding and customized programs – because I love it.
Winn Schwartau
Founder and CEO
The Security Awareness Company
Latest posts by The Security Awareness Company (see all)
- Venmo security: Peer-to-peer payment apps are riskier than you think - November 26, 2019
- Security Awareness: Get Management to Buy In - October 15, 2019
- The Ultimate Guide to a Successful Security Awareness Program (SAP) - October 10, 2019


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MV Agusta F4 ABS / F4 RR ABS
One of the preeminent makers of exotic bikes, Italy's MV Agusta has taken its flagship F4 superbike to a new level of technical sophistication. Since last year, the 195-hp inhne-4 has featured Motor & Vehicle Integrated Control System (MVICS), an advanced ride-by-wire electronics package. An electronically assisted shifter with an auto-blip function allows clutch-less downshifting. Also available: The up-rated F4 RR version boasts 201 hp, an electronically adjustable Ohlins NIX fork and TTX 36 shock, Brembo M50 calipers, and a lighter frame with an adjustable steering head and swingarm pivot.
Price: $19,498/$26,998
Engine type: dohc inline-4
Displacement: 998cc
Induction: EFI
Transmission speeds: 6
Final drive: chain
Front brake: dual disc
Rear brake: disc
Wheelhase: 56.3 in.
Seat height: 32.7 in.
Fuel capacity: 4.5 gal.
Claimed dry weight: 421/419 lb.
MV Agusta F4 RR ABS


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No matter how good your resume looks it may not be enough to land you a job at a new resort set to open in the exotic Maldives. A Lithuanian firm called Olialia (pronounced ooh-la-la) plans to open a resort on the island and employ exclusively blonde women to run it.
A recent report from CNN discusses Olialia's plans for the resort set to open in 2015 and the public's reaction. The firm has also stated that there will be an airline established to take tourists to the resort that will also be employed exclusively by blonde flight attendants and pilots.
One spokeswoman for the company, Giedre Pukiene, discusses some of the controversial plans for the luxury resort. Pukiene says, "There are plans to build a high-class blondes resort with hotels, entertainment, and spa centers on the island. Other important things - like and education (center) called ?Pretty Women' - will teach female guests to always be perfect and look great."
It has not yet been made clear whether women will have to be naturally blonde or dye their hair in order to work there. Pukiene has spoken to the BBC about her company which is run and staffed by blondes saying, "But we find that when women with dark hair work here, they are surrounded by all these beautiful blondes, so eventually they end up going blonde too."
So far, response to the plans for the resort have been mixed with some people arguing that having employees dye their hair blonde is not much different than asking them to be clean shaven while others find it both sexist and racist to staff an entire resort with one "type" of person.
What do you think of the plans to open a resort staffed with all blonde women?


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Tenleytown Trash is DC's only locally owned & operated, CBE waste management and recycling company offering regular and bulk pick up.
At Tenleytown Trash, our customers are our neighbors. As the only locally owned and operated, CBE certified, full-service waste management company in DC, we offer various services to various clientele. We invite you to review the list of our references and read what our customers are saying about us. You can also read more about our community service and the nonprofits with whom we partner.
Want to be one of our customers? Contact us today.


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Award-winning Texas Author JoAnn Wagner Having a Book-Signing of Her Latest Book at Mel's Diner in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee – Tuesday 3/5/2019 - PRWirePro
MESQUITE, TX, March 5, 2019 – JoAnn Wagner, award-winning author of the celebrated Sir Pigglesworth Adventure Series, will be at Mel's Diner, located at 119 Wears Valley Rd, Pigeon Forge, TN, on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 from 2 to 4 pm. She will be talking to customers and signing copies of her latest book in the series, Book 8 – Sir Pigglesworth's Adventures in Pigeon Forge. Sir Pigglesworth was invited by Dolly herself to participate in the finale of her show at the Dolly Parton Stampede Dinner Attraction® and while in Pigeon Forge, he makes a stop at the famous Mel's Diner where he discovers Mel's ultimate 6-scoop banana split. Being a mischievous little piglet, he dives snout first into a little girl's banana split. Come to JoAnn's book signing to find out what other mischief our little pink hoofed friend gets into! JoAnn Wagner says "You will have a 'pigalicous' time reading this fun book!" Sir Pigglesworth's Adventures in Pigeon Forge (Sir Pigglesworth


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mortgage myers internet ca mountain view/Security
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Wells Fargo is a provider of banking, mortgage, investing, credit card, insurance, and consumer and commercial financial services. . View Your Accounts .
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Find homes for sale, rentals, home values, mortgages, and more. Real estate info for . Search. 1963 Rock St APT 22, Mountain View, CA Home For Sale $652K .
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They currently lend in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington. Pinnacle Capital Mortgage Corp is absolutely comitted to their core values... TEAMWORK . 2012 Myers Internet All Rights Reserved .
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Being charged with assault and battery is something that you don't ever thing you will experience. When this is the reality you are facing, you have to make up your mind that you are going to do something to answer to these charges. Thinking about what you are facing isn't always easy; however, this is exactly what you have to do so that you can get your defense strategy moving before your trial date approaches.
We know that mistakes can happen. Some mistakes are more serious than others. If your assault and battery charge is due to you losing your temper in the heat of the moment, we might be able to use that information in your defense. Of course, we will take the time to look into the circumstances of the incident so that we can consider each option for your defense.
As you get started on your defense, you should be prepared to explore every possible option. Coming up with a defense strategy doesn't mean you only address one issue. Instead, we look for any aspect of the prosecution's case that we can question. This can help us to come up with a multifaceted defense strategy.
Remember, the goal of your defense isn't necessarily to prove that you are innocent. Instead, the goal is to poke enough holes in the prosecution's case that jurors find reasonable doubt in those claims. A conviction in criminal court has to be based on evidence that shows you did the crime beyond any reasonable doubt. This puts considerable pressure on the prosecution.


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Thursday, August 30, 2007
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The Artist David Tineo is part of the 60's art movement, the movement that created huge colorful murals in the barrios of U'S. cities with a strong message of social change and justice for Mexican Americans. Recipient of numerous distinguished awards, The Robert Rauschenberg, The Governors Award for the Arts, League of Latin American, and many more.


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Hello folks! Here we are again with another installment of my series of review of the Ashes preconstructed decks. With the analysis of the Cloudsea Siren, we finally covered all the Base Set decks, and can begin talking about expansions, beginning with Rin Northfell and his Frostdale Giants deck.
Battlefield 6, Spellboard 4 and a Life value of 17 make Rin a discrete Phoenixborn, with neither big perks nor flaws, at least stats-wise. His special ability, Ice Buff, is peculiar, as it can be activated without spending any dice, and allows Rin to increase the Life Value of one of his units by 1 with a simple Side Action, through the Ice Buff conjured alteration spell. It might not seem much, but in the overall economy of the game, it's a dice you saved to do something else, and it allows you to more easily play some units, like the Rose Fire Dancer for instance, that are economically disadvantageous due to their cost being higher than their Life value.
Each of the expansion decks that are currently available is exclusively focused around one of the magic types included in the base set, and employs 10 dice of that particular type: Nature Magic for the Frostdale Giant. By having access to plenty of Nature dice, you can easily assess battlefield supremacy by doing what this kind of magic can do better:
- Dealing damage to enemy unit
- Put into play tough and powerful units
- Alter such units with spells to make them even tougher and more powerful.
On the other hand, don't expect many elaborate tricks from Rin: befitting to Nature Magic's innate lack of subtlety, this deck is elegant as a sledgehammer, but that doesn't mean it can't get its job done well!
If Rin's ability allows us to essentially gain a slight dice advantage over the opponent, his unique card, Rin's Fury is yet another step towards economic efficiency: by spending 3 basic dice, this Action Spell makes you recover 4 dice from your exhausted pool (including any or all dice you spent to cast it – remember all the costs of an effect, including exhausting the dice, have to be completely paid before resolving that effect). What you lose in control and/or consistency against other dice recovery cards, like Hidden Power, Illusionary Cycle, or Expand Energy, you gain back in net dice efficiency, and the advantage you can get by playing 12 dice in a single round is undeniable.
Icing on the cake, you can also decide to spend any number of natural power symbols you just rolled to deal as many damage to a single target unit or Phoenixborn. This is definitely an interesting option, and rolling some frogs and dealing some direct damage to the opponent is satisfactory, but in the end, this is – IMHO, an useful "extra": 99% of the time you would use Rin's Fury to push on dice advantage. Also remember that, because of the effect resolution procedure, you need to (and are forced to) choose the target of the damaging effect before rolling the dice, then you are free to choose how many power symbols convert to damage, but the target must be chosen "blindly". Moreover, if the opponent uses a card such as Golden Veil or Vanish to cancel the effect, all the effects of the card – but not the costs – are cancelled, thus you spent 3 dice for nothing. For this reason, if you want to be sure Rin's Fury goes off, you'd better choose your own Phoenixborn or a creature you control as a target.
Ready Spells
Rin's spellboard provides us with beefy conjurations through which we can obtain battlefield supremacy, and a way to deal direct damage to the opponent's Phoenixborn.
Rin's deck comes with one of the most solid conjurations in the game, at least up to now: Summon Frostback Bear. It has a moderately heavy "casting tax" as it costs a Nature Power Die just to place on the board, making the first Frostback Bear you place on your battlefield cost 3 dice, but then, for a Nature and a basic dice, you can have a 2 attack / 3 life unit on the board.
You want more? You can have up to 4 of those at the same time! More? They come with abilities too!! Still not enough for you? Well… both abilities are awesome: either the Bear is becomes, the equivalent of a 3 attack unit when attacking a Phoenixborn, or it can, by spending a mere basic die, render an opponent's unit it is in battle with but it is unable to kill useless for one. Please note that due to how timing of attacks (currently) works, the Frostback Bear deals its damage, and is able to trigger its Freeze ability, before the damage and destruction resolution process starts, and thus before effects that trigger on receiving damage can be used. By that time, if the Bear used Freeze, the unit it is in battle with would be exhausted, and would not be able to trigger abilities such as Pain Link or Shadow Drain.
The second of Rin's conjured units, the Ice Golem is only in appearance more fragile than the Frostback Bear. 3 Attack and most importantly 2 Life can seem too few for a unit costing 3-dice, of which 2 class. The Skin Morph ability can fortunately compensate for its main disadvantage, granting it 2 extra Life as long as it has an alteration spell attached. Just a little alteration and immediately the vulnerable Ice Golem becomes a solid presence on your battlefield, with 3 Attack and 4 Life. Sure, it's pricy, and subject to effects like Ice Trap and Dispel, but if you manage to keep it altered, you'll have a pretty beefy unit in play. The synergy the Golem has with Rin's Ice Buff is blatant, making it a 3/5 with no really big effort on your part.
The Focus 2 effect of Summon Ice Golem is rather useful, though I don't think you'd need to rush and get it. I consider it one of those abilities that if are available, the better, but don't make the difference if not present. Regarding that, I remind you that if you can't put a Golem into play (either because your Battlefield is full, or because all 3 Ice Golems are in play), you still have the chance to activate the ready spell – appropriately focused – to exploit its Focus 2 effect, since abilities and effects you can't fully resolve will be resolved as much as possible.
The third and final Ready Spell Rin can play (note that, as it happens with Jessa, Rin's preconstructed deck doesn't use up all his Spellboard Slot), is Frost Bite, a spell costing a Main Action that allows you to convert a Main action and a Nature die (or a basic, if focused) in a damage on any target, unit or Phoenixborn. This spell allows you to slowly drain your opponent's Life without too much of an effort, or to remove, with the help of the Nature Die Power, enemy units from the board and allow your Bears and Golems to attack. In both cases, it can exploit well the synergy with the big units Rin can put into play.
The activation cost of a Main Action is not as bad as it could seem at first, as usually with the Nature Die only (assuming you have power die available) you can only deal 1 damage per turn to enemy units, while with Frost Bite you can, if needed, concentrate 2 damage in a single turn. Another tactical advantage granted by this spell lies with the fact that, often, as rounds go on, you could find yourself unable to spend all your dice in your active pool. In this situation, having a card that allows you to reduce the number of unspent dice greatly increases your efficiency.
Rin's one and only ally, Frost Fang is a cheap and deceptively weak support unit.
It may not be powerful as the conjurations in the deck, but Frost Fang is still a tougher unit than it might seem at first sight. Thanks to Battle Advantage, this 1/1 ally can destroy – supported by the Nature die power or by cards such as Frost Bite or Freezing Blast – much stronger units and survive. Her Rapid Healing ability allows her, as long as you have dice at your disposal, to counter your opponent's direct damage effects, and to keep her alive when Battle Advantage is not enough.
The big issue with this card lies with the fact that, in order to keep it in play, you'll probably need to spend a lot of dice, something that's probably not much worthwhile for a 1-attack unit, so be careful on how much resources you want to invest, lest you find yourself short of dice. Also remember that Frost Fang is extremely vulnerable to effects that directly place wounds, and therefore can't be prevented: while maybe Molten Gold might be overkill, units like Enchanted Violinist, Hammer Knight or Crimson Bomber can blow her away with ease.
Action Spells
What can an Action Spell in a mono-Nature deck do other than dealing damage to the opponent's units?
Dealing direct damage is one of the things Nature Magic can do better. As Frost Bite and Rin's Fury don't seem to be enough to supplement the die power, here's Freezing Blast, an Action Spell costing 2 Nature dice and a Main Action, which allows you to deal 2 damage on a unit and, if there are any, remove 2 status tokens from it.
Let's leave aside this secondary effect that, while useful against some units, it's extremely situational (at the present time it's devastating against Strange Copy, and can sensibly slow down the growth of Maeoni's Silver Snakes, but hasn't many more uses) and focus on the damaging effect. Theoretically, this card is useful, as it allows you to replicate the dice power by spending class dice, and to add up multiple direct damage on a single action (many direct damage effects only deal 1 damage). Its main cost can be seen as a disadvantage, as it doesn't allow you to exploit the breach you could create in the opponent's defences and attack in the same turn, but from another perspective it's convenient, as it leaves you with a Side Action free to deal another damage with a power die.
In general, while not being theoretically a bad card , it struggles to find place outside the preconstructed deck at the moment as there are much more flexible and/or advantageous alternatives, like Molten Gold or Sympathy Pain that can hurt the opponent more and hit a broader variety of targets, and Ice Trap that, while limited to small units, has a lower cost and makes you gain one turn.
Reaction Spells
More ways to deal with enemy units? Why not?
And since we mentioned it, let's talk about the only Reaction Spell in Rin's deck. Ice Trap costs 1 nature die and allows you to destroy a unit with life 2 or less after it entered play. From a merely numerical point of view, this card is extremely advantageous. It's basically the same of 1 die for 2 damage, and it ignores any prevention effects since it destroys its target directly. Being a Reaction Spell allows you to gain a tempo advantage, as it negates the opponent's action and basically lets you take 2 consecutive turns. It obviously has its rather evident limitations: it's ineffective against the most resilient units, and it has no utility whatsoever against anything that's already in play when you draw it. This said, it's strong against a wide array of units, especially in the First Five, to deal with those pesky Three-Eyed Owls, Blue Jaguars, Glow Finches and such.
A note about timing: since Ice Trap triggers "after" a unit has entered play, it can't prevent units with effects that trigger "when" they enter play (such as the Stormind Sniper or Fire Archer's Ambush) to resolve their abilities.
Alteration Spells
Rin's Alteration Spells offer more ways to secure the battlefield, either by empowering your own units or by limiting the effectiveness of your opponent's ones.
Nature magic provides various effects to make your units stronger and tougher, mostly through Alteration Spells, and Rin's deck offers a couple of interesting options on that front. The first is Crystal Shield, an alteration costing 1 Nature and 1 basic dice, that increase the life value of the altered unit by 2 and gives it Unit Guard. Rather useful if you want a stern defender for your main fighting units (on an Ice Golem the latter becomes a 3/6 with Unit Guard, not bad at all…), it unfortunately lacks a Respark cost, though, so once discarded it's virtually impossible to recover. Overal it's a pretty good card, despite alteration spells that are useful on your units sill struggle to find their place in the game.
Rin's second "helpful" alteration spell is Ice Crown. This card grants a unit a juicy +3 bonus to its attack value. Too bad it costs 3 dice and it's extremely taxing to play. True, Rin has ways to mitigate its cost through its unique card, and Ice Buff can provide for the lack of defensive bonus from Ice Crown. Still I feel it costs a bit too much for the benefit it brings, compared to the risks involved: as long as you manage to play it at the right time and exploit it to deal 3 extra damage to the opponent's Phoenixborn, then it would be probably worth the cost, but you should be careful, as the altered unit will immediately become a priority target for your opponent.
In contrast with the two previous cards, the purpose of the third and final of Rin's Alteration Spells is to mess with the opponent's plans. Costing a single Nature Die, Deep Freeze makes the unit it is attached to considered to be exhausted. With such a low cost there must definitely be a catch, and indeed Deep Freeze is not permanent: it enters play with 3 Status tokens, which can be removed by the attached unit's controller by spending a Side Action each, and when it's free from tokens it's discarded from play. Being a temporary effect makes it, in my opinion, quite underestimated, as it is seen not as an instrument to deal with problems, but just to delay them. I think however it is a rather interesting card: its cost is so low, and it ignores many cards that in the majority of situations can negate exhaustion effects: it can't be cancelled by Golden Veil and cards like Refresh or Change Psyche can't affect it in any way. In most cases the opponent will need to spend three turns to remove it, three turns in which they can't meditate, use dice powers, nor use a good chunk of spells and/or effects. This will allow you to have a "safe" window to plan your future moves. And should they ignore it and not spend any side action to remove status token, the better: there will be an occupied slot in their battlefield for a longer period.
And, as always, before saying goodbye, here's in short what I think are the strong and weak points of this deck.
- Quite strong and generally tough units. Frostback Bear in particular is a very strong unit with an excellent quality/cost ratio;
- Various ways to deal damage and remove enemy units;
- A single type of magic makes playing your own cards easier, and reduces the need for meditation;
- Some cards are relatively expensive: they need to be protected to avoid the loss of resources, and they slow down Rin's gameplay;
- Poor ability to react to the opponent's moves outside unit removal.
- Poor strategic flexibility, both due to cards belonging to a single magic type, and because Nature Magic doesn't lend itself to elaborate tactics.
And with that, I thank you and say goodbye, at least for now. As always, if you have any question, doubts or comments don't hesitate to write me. Next time we'll talk about Brennen Blackcloud's mono-Ceremonial deck: the Children of Blackcloud.


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Digital Humanities Sandbox Goes to the Congo, Part II
While Kurtz is the center of attention in Heart of Darkness, he doesn't appear until relatively late in the story. He isn't mentioned until about 8000 words into the 38000 word text nor do we know much about him until a long paragraph that starts roughly 23,000 words into the text. That paragraph, which I've called the nexus, is structurally central to the text, and is roughly 1500 words long.
I decided to investigated Kurtz's presence in the text by the simple expedient of noting where the name "Kurtz" occurs. The result, my colleague Tim Perper subsequently told me, is what's called a periodogram (PDF):
Figure 1: Periodicity in the appearance of "Kurtz"
What I Did (aka Method)
1) Working in MSWord, first counted the number of times "Kurtz" appeared in the text by doing a search and replace on "Kurtz," which told me how many items been replaced. Result: 122. I did not attempt to identify pronominal references to Kurtz or any more sophisticated reference to him.
2) I then searched for each occurrence of "Kurtz" and noted the word number in a spreadsheet. I found 122 occurrences, as expected.
3) I tried graphing the raw occurrences of Kurtz over the interval 0 – 38500. That gave me too many dots bunched together to see anything. So, I divided the interval into bins of 500 and counted the occurrences in each bin, and graphed the result as a column chart (red), which you see in Figure 1 above. I also added a trend line (black).
4) At Tim Perper's suggestion I made a minimal check on the possibility that my result had more to do with bin size than with any pattern in the occurrence of "Kurtz." Tim suggested that I pick the average paragraph length as a basic bin size, then double, triple, and so on. The average paragraph length is 198, alas, too small for my error-prone manual counting. So I chose a bin of roughly three times that, 600. Here's the result:
a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stc4blues/5972191962/" title="HoD600 by STC4blues, on Flickr">
Figure 2, Check on bin size
"Kurtz" appears in the text of Heart of Darkness at periodic intervals. There is a short cycle of roughly 2000 words and a longer one that divides the text into four sections: an initial section with no appearances, a second section with relatively low activity, and a third section with more activity. The last, rather short, section returns to a low level of activity; we must, however, be careful in interpreting this aspect of the results (see discussion).
Implicit in this investigation that is the notion that we can treat individual words as units of time, and that short words, medium, and long words all count the same. This assumption may not be sufficiently valid for the above results to hold. Still, reading is an activity that occurs in time. In the absence of an awkward laboratory procedure where one tracks a reader's eye movements as they read the text so that we know exactly what is being read, and when, it seems reasonable to use word occurrence as a proxy for time and attention.
With this caveat in mind, if I'd been graphing the appearance of a leitmotif in a Wagner opera, no one would be surprised that it exhibited periodic behavior. But this is a prose text. Why should a particular motif exhibit periodic behavior?
Because human life exhibits periodic behavior on various time scales?
The so-called nexus paragraph, which I've identified as being structurally central, starts at word 23,318 and runs for roughly 1500 words to 24,819. This is the first full discussion of Kurtz, and the biggest single "chunk" of information we have about him. Prior to this point in the text he was just some important but enigmatic fellow we'd being meeting sometime, maybe, in the future.
It is around and about the beginning of the nexus that the Kurtz-count first rises above 3 in Figure 1. The nexus seems to have shifted the 'baseline' of the K-factor, as I will call it, so that K-action is overall more frequent from here to just before the end. But cycling continues around that higher baseline.
The drop in apparent activity corresponds to the final discussion between Marlow and the Intended. That discussion, of course, is about Kurtz. The Kurtz-factor would thus be very high at that point despite the fact that his name occurs hardly at all. As the discussion is entirely about Kurtz his name need not be mentioned.
"Kurtz" first appears in the 7500-8000 interval (at 7986 and 7992). I am considering the possibility that the K-factor is active before that point, but it is not being expressed in the text by a mention of "Kurtz." This possibility is what prompts me to talk of a K-factor, as opposed to just occurrences of "Kurtz."
I've not yet attempted to verify this hypothesis. Any such attempt, obviously, is fraught with the danger that, having hypothesized that the K-factor will show itself in certain intervals, I will proceed to find it there, somehow, anyway, but not in-between those intervals.
Comparison with Paragraph Distribution
In a previous post in this series (and here as well) I looked at the distribution of paragraph lengths as a function of paragraph magnitude and of paragraph order in the text. I note that paragraph length is a purely formal matter and would not seem to have any deep dependence on what is said in the paragraph. By contrast, the appearance of a particular word in the text, in this case, a word that is central to the text in that it is the name of the central figure, is a matter of content. That this element recurs periodically, however, could be considered a formal element as well. Periodicity, after all, is central to the formal analysis of both lyric and dramatic poetry.
It is thus of no little interest that these two logically independent measures should 'mark' the same two regions of the text, the nexus and the concluding paragraph.
In the distribution of paragraphs by serial order, the nexus paragraph is the longest one in the text and, indeed, is the apex of a distribution whose envelope is crudely pyramidal in shape. That distribution also showed the concluding conversation between Marlow and the Intended to be the single longest string of short paragraphs in the text.
As discussed above, both of these regions are also marked in the analysis of K-factor periodicity. The nexus paragraph marks the transition to a higher level of activity (that is, Kurtz is mentioned more frequently from that point on), but the short cycle periodicity remains. The concluding conversation marks the return of "Kurtz" appearances to a lower level.
Close Reading
At this point the traditional literary critic might well observe that one doesn't need these two measures to ascertain that those two regions of the text are important. This critic is, of course, correct. I'd pointed out both regions in my initial post on Heart of Darkness, which I wrote well before I'd serendipitously made these two measurements, or observations if you will. I discussed the final conversation under the rubric of closure and the nexus paragraph under the rubric of temporal displacement. So, one does not need such observations to find such things.
But that's not the point. One makes measurements/ observations as a prelude to further intellectual activity, activity that may, in the long run, help us to explain why literary texts – or is it simply literary texts of this very high quality? – exhibit these features. Further, it would be a mistake to see the traditional qualitative methods of close analysis as being in competition with the emerging quantitative methods of the digital humanities. This is not a race to see who can be the first one to claim the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. This is an investigation into the structures and processes of the human mind and culture.
The subject is deep, but obscure. We need any and all sources of insight. How can the quantitative methods of the newer psychologies enhance and extend results obtained by close reading? How can close reading identify textual features that might bear fruit through quantitative investigation? We should think more about such questions and less about intellectual turf guarding.


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Although there are a handful of species that live in freshwater, we tend to think of sharks as being ocean dwellers. But there is also a very unique shark that can live in both ocean and fresh water estuaries and lakes: the Bull Shark.
Osmoregulation is the ability of an organism to maintain a constant concentration of water in its body even when its outside environment would normally cause it to lose or gain water. Freshwater and saltwater fish both osmoregulate.
In the organism, the external environment and the internal environment of the organism are separated by a membrane across which substances can move. This movement is on both the level of the cells, across the cell membranes, as well as on the level of the organism, across the skin. If the concentrations of water to solutes (substances that have been dissolved in the water) is unequal between the external and internal environments, water will tend to move from the area of its highest concentration to the area of lowest concentration until the concentrations are equal. This can cause organisms to either accumulate too much or too little water to maintain life. Marine animals must prevent dehydration as their environment has a high concentration of solute, while freshwater animals must conserve their salts - two opposing processes. The process of osmoregulation accomplishes this.
In sharks, the normal mechanism of osmoregulation in a marine (salt) environment is the high concentration of urea and other biological solvents in their blood and the removal of excess salt from their bloodstream through urine. The former allows them to absorb water from their marine surroundings, while the latter rids them of the salt they continually absorb. These tasks are primarily controlled by the kidneys.
In most sharks, these adaptations cannot be changed. If they are put into a freshwater environment, they will absorb too much water relative to their concentration of bodily solvents and loose too much salt to stay alive. In other words, most sharks cannot survive in fresh water because they are not capable of adapting to it.
Bull sharks are unusual because they can adapt readily to fresh water because they can adapt their process of osmogregulation. The kidneys of bull sharks, (and to a lesser extent several other types of sharks) can be gradually adjusted to suit the salinity of the water they are in. When moved gradually into freshwater (perhaps by migrating from the ocean, to an estuary, and then upriver), bull sharks' kidney's remove less salt and more urea from the bloodstream through urination, essentially reversing the normal marine shark method of osmoregulation. This adaptation allows bull sharks to live entirely in estuaries or freshwater.
They have also been seen in the Mississippi River up to St Louis, Lake Ponchartrain and the Illinois River (very rarely) up to Lake Michigan. Pretty amazing, isn't it?!
This is one of the reasons many of the shark incidents with humans (shark 'attacks') are associated with bull sharks. Bull sharks hang out in estuaries more than other sharks, which are often sites where people spend time in the water.


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Wednesday, May 22, 2013
DELTA FARCE -- movie review by porfle
(This review originally appeared online at Bumscorner.com in 2007)
"Who farted?"
And with that, my friends, you get the perfect indicator of the level of humor that's in store for you when you recklessly insert DELTA FARCE (2007) into your DVD player. If you adjust your expectations accordingly, you may enjoy yourself. Otherwise--"well, we warned you." Maybe this film should open with a prologue from Edward Van Sloan, like DRACULA.
This is the first time I've ever seen Larry the Cable Guy, and judging from this, he wasn't really worth David Cross getting all that worked up about. He's just a comic playing the character of a politically-incorrect moron based on a particular regional stereotype, same as Andrew "Dice" Clay. The film opens with Larry as an inept waiter in a greasy-spoon restaurant ("Don't mind the hair--I've been usin' a new conditioner") being informed by his skanky girlfriend that she's pregnant. The joyful Larry cranks up the P.A. system and announces the good news to everyone, then proposes. His girlfriend takes the mike to inform him that the baby isn't his. It's a mildly funny scene, but not "guffaw" funny, which pretty much describes the rest of the film.
Bill Engvall plays Bill, the henpecked married guy who would love to get a divorce but can't because his wife has incriminating pictures of him, and whose vision of paradise is a murder-suicide pact. I like Engvall's hangdog style and low-key delivery, and "Bill" is my favorite character. Rounding out the trio is 97-pound weakling Everett, played by THE CORE's D.J. Qualls. He's a bit of a pervert who lives in a storage facility and likes to expose himself while brandishing a samurai sword. These are our heroes, god help us.
As members of the Army Reserve, these three morons are "weekend warriors", so to speak, but the base that they report to is so lax that their monthly duty is spent getting drunk and eating junk food--until super-scary pitbull D.I. Sgt. Kilgore (our old pal Keith David of THE THING and ARMAGEDDON) shows up to chew their sorry butts out and announce that they're being shipped off to Iraq. At that point, the unsuspecting Everett blows in with a sack full of beer and whips out a long, tubular meat product with the greeting, "Hey, Sarge! Snap into a Slim Jim!" Okay, I laughed. But it wasn't technically a guffaw.
During their flight to Iraq, the plane runs into trouble and the pilot is forced to dump their cargo, including a jeep that Larry, Bill, and Everett have crawled into for some shut-eye. Sgt. Kilgore gets tangled up in some rope and is also ejected. Thus, our heroes parachute into danger and find themselves in the middle of the Iraqi desert, ready to engage the enemy. They find Sgt. Kilgore, declare him dead, and bury him. Trouble is, he isn't dead. And on top of that, they aren't in Iraq--they're in Mexico.
Eventually, the three warriors happen upon a small village that is being pillaged and terrorized by bandits. When they decide to use their superior military training and resources to help the villagers, DELTA FARCE surprisingly becomes a deft modern-day retelling of Akira Kurasawa's classic THE SEVEN SAMURAI as filtered through John Sturges' THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN.
Just kidding. It's more like a variation of THE THREE AMIGOS as filtered through the Three Stooges, sprinkled with leftover material from Jeff Foxworthy's act and shot on the Monogram backlot. Robert Rodriguez stock player Danny Trejo seems to be having a great time playing the bandit leader, Carlos Santana (people keep asking him, "Carlos Santana, the guitar player?" and he angrily retorts, "No! I'm the real Carlos Santana!") The grateful villagers fall in love with Larry, Bill, and Everett (well, maybe not Everett) and I enjoyed seeing them basking in the adoration. For sheer novelty value, I also enjoyed seeing Keith David in a red, see-through nightie, which actually happens in this movie. Really, I never thought I'd ever see that particular thing.
Other memorable moments: Danny Trejo belting out a karaoke version of "I Will Survive"; Keith David's torture by the bandits, which consists of him being forced to participate in a duet of "I Got You, Babe" with a fat guy in drag; a feel-good ending with "where are they now?" updates; and deleted shots, bloopers, and a cool version of "Oye Como Va" by Los Lonely Boys during the closing credits. And just when I thought the movie was starting to drag towards the end, it suddenly got its second wind and stayed pretty entertaining right up to the fade-out.
I realize that I'm supposed to hate this movie, and I could've hated it if I tried, but I didn't find it nearly as backward and objectionable as some tacky, painfully unfunny load of cheap smut like PORKY'S. (Doesn't mean I'm gonna go out and start buying "Larry the Cable Guy" DVDs, though.) It's just a long, good-naturedly dumb joke about some likably idiotic rednecks and their unlikely adventures in Mexico. As Douglas Adams might've said, it's "mostly harmless." I might even have guffawed a time or two if I'd been on drugs when I watched it.
Buy it at Amazon.com:
Posted by Porfle Popnecker at 3:30 PM
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