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One of the things I love most about this season is that you get to spend a lot of time outside. Which means you need a Summer Bag.
Last week I found an old piece of canvas in a chest at my grandparents house. I'm betting it's at least 50 years old and shouted SUMMER! at me the first time my eyes landed on it.
It reminds me of those old beach chairs (and probably belonged to one). Anyway, I brought it home with me and decided to make a bag out of it. I took some pictures of the process (not many, and not very good quality either, sorry about that) and decided to create a small tutorial in case anyone wants to make one too.
The original fabric was 68 cm wide by 128 cm long. This size is enough for a small bag (small meaning it can carry a wallet, sunglasses, keys, sunscreen, phone, Ipad, camera, and a book to read. It may even carry a small beach towel, I haven't tried, but it is not exactly a beach bag, especially if you have kids).
Anyway, I cut a 42 x 92 cm piece for the bag and a 42 x 76 cm piece of lining (simple white fabric I had in my stash). In addition to this, you will also a piece of elastic (I didn't measure it but if you scroll down there is a picture of the elastic I used and it will give you an idea of size).
First things first: add pockets. I keep losing stuff inside my bags, so pockets are a must to keep minimal organization. I wanted a large one on one side and two smaller ones on the other (and I guarantee they are evenly placed, even if the picture seems to show otherwise)
Sew the lining right sides together (just the sides, not the top) and then sew a triangle at the bottom, on each side (this will make a "straight" bottom and create more space inside the bag). Cut excess fabric.
Do the same with the exterior fabric: sew sides (right sides together) and then triangles at the bottom. Turn everything inside out, press and then tuck lining inside the exterior fabric, wrong sides together. Fold exterior fabric inside (this is why the lining piece is smaller) and pin.
Now you will be sewing two parallel lines around the top of the bag, to create the elastic casing (which means that you can sew the top one all around but you need to leave an opening in the bottom one to thread the elastic through). In the end, you should have something like this:
Now get your elastic, insert it in the casing and close the opening.
Use the rest of your fabric to make a strap. I sewed it right sides together then turned it inside out. This is the part of bag-making I hate the most, so feel free to use whichever method suits you better. I also used the metal pieces (see below) to get a removable strap (sewing small fabric loops on either side for them to attach). I'm not sure why I need a summer bag with a removable strap, but I'll think of something. Anyway, you can sew the strap directly onto the bag and save yourself the trouble (and probably a broken sewing machine needle).
And it's done. You now have a summer bag.
Load it with all you need...
See you around,


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Although I have written two books: Children and Chess (A Guide for Educators) and Science, Math, Checkmate , I have never had a blog before. I am excited about the prospect of quick feedback from MonRoi Web site visitors. I look forward to providing fun and helpful chess information to you. As you can tell from my book titles, I am primarily interested in how chess might be used as an educational tool.
I have taught chess in a variety of contexts. This summer I will be teaching at three camps: T. H. Rogers (Houston area), Klein (Houston area), and MOSAIC (a camp in Coppell, North Texas). Currently, I volunteer teaching chess three times a week at Strickland Middle School in Denton, TX. I will now describe how Strickland set up chess as an academic enrichment during the school day, in case you would like to propose a similar plan for your local school.
About three weeks into the academic year 2007-2008, advisory became an enrichment period for students who maintained passing grades and had previously passed all sections of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. During an assembly on September 12th, those students chose from advisory options offered by fifteen teachers. For those approximately 250 students, Mondays and Wednesdays of advisory were now study skills and character education. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays were devoted to each student's chosen enrichment. Most students got their first choice of advisory, though some got their second or third choices instead.
The choices offered were:
6th grade girls' sports
6th grade boys' sports
7-8 grade boys' sports
7-8 grade girls' sports (The PE teachers said students in athletics would benefit from signing up for any of these sports clubs).
Art club
Chess club
Future Business Leaders of America
Shop/Hobby Club
Journalism (school newspaper)
Library Club
Spanish Culture, Crafts, and Projects Club
Study Hall (which is the forced option for those not passing, but students passing who want to sit quietly and do homework can choose it too)
Theater Club
TV news (filming, editing, and then showing one TV spot a week on the internal TVs in the middle school)
Among the teachers offering these enrichments, I was the only volunteer. Other teachers were regular employees. Most seem excited to offer a class about something they loved to interested students. We all made two-minute speeches to the assembled students, and then they wrote down their choices. My chess advisory was limited to 24 students because of the number of seats in the room that I was assigned. And 24 signed up! (Some other advisory options ended up under capacity).
Question of the day: Out of the 24 that signed up, how many were boys?

subset: commoncrawl


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A new Republican ad appears to suggest that Barack Obama has all but won the presidential race, an argument several vulnerable Senate Republicans may have to reluctantly embrace with only days until Election Day, an expert in campaign advertising said.
Aimed at Kay Hagan, Sen. Elizabeth Dole's surprisingly strong Democratic challenger in North Carolina, the 30-second spot from the National Republican Senatorial Committee warns voters against Democrats holding the White House and Congress, and flatly states that if Hagan wins, the party will "get a blank check", CNN reported.
"These liberals want complete control of government in a time of crisis, all branches of government," the ad's narrator states. "No check and balances, no debate, no independence. That's the truth behind Kay Hagan. If she wins, they get a blank check."
Committee Online Communications Director John Randall denied that the ad is suggesting that GOP nominee John McCain will lose out on the White House.
"The NRSC is not conceding a Barack Obama presidency," he said. "Fiscally irresponsible liberals like Kay Hagan are not the answer in these tough economic times and would only make things worse. Our ad was intended to highlight Hagan's many failings in light of the Democrats' promise to close debate should they control the executive and legislative branches of the federal government."
But with polls warning of a GOP bloodbath November 4, vulnerable senators in red states may have no other option but to suggest that Obama will capture the White House and warn that the Illinois senator needs to be checked by Senate Republicans.
"They are basically painting the picture that the presidential race is over," said Evan Tracey of Campaign Media Analysis Group, CNN's consultant on ad spending. "Overall, people prefer divided government. This is that divided government argument: 'Don't hand sole control over to one party.' "
The GOP isn't aiming to regain control of the evenly split Senate but to ensure that Democrats don't reach 60 seats in the chamber -- the "magic number" that seemed unthinkable only a few months ago.
Should Democrats reach that number, the party could prevent Republicans from filibustering bills they oppose, and the GOP would be unable to block legislation they are against from going through.
The last time either party held such an edge was in 1977, when Democrats held 61 Senate seats and Jimmy Carter was president. It seems increasingly likely this year, with the economy flailing, the Republican brand in tatters and a Democratic presidential nominee who is causing extraordinary voter enthusiasm.
Vulnerable Senate Republicans in red states are hoping the doomsday scenario will cause enough independent-leaning voters to stick with them, even if they largely blame the GOP for the country's current conditions.
"You're going to see it in a lot of places these last 10 days, where you have vulnerable Republicans, because ultimately survival instincts are going to take over here," Tracey said. "It's going to be less about whoever else is running and more about, 'How do I save myself?' "
Dole, once among the most popular figures in the GOP and head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2006, has become perhaps the most vulnerable of the red state Senate Republicans in what might be the clearest sign of the GOP's woes this election season.
But several other red state Republicans are under unexpected pressure as well, including Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss, Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens and even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
But the divided government argument may only further highlight McCain as a candidate who has already lost, even as the Arizona senator and his running mate head to a string of red states to convince voters that the race isn't over.
"There's risk for the party in this argument," Tracey said, "but people have specific mandates above the party mandates, and survival instincts are going to take over at some point."


text:
Fri, Sep 27th, 2019 @ 9:35 pm
About This Movie
Directed by Gary Dauberman and originally released in the US on June 20th, 2019
Determined to keep Annabelle from wreaking more havoc, demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren bring the possessed doll to the locked artifacts room in their home, placing her "safely" behind sacred glass and enlisting a priest's holy blessing. But an unholy night of horror awaits as Annabelle awakens the evil spirits in the room, who all set their sights on a new target—the Warrens' ten-year-old daughter, Judy, and her friends.
Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, Katie Sarife, Michael Cimino, Samara Lee, Paul Dean, Luca Luhan, Alison White, and Emily Brobst


text:
By Jason Alderman
Talk about good news wrapped in bad: In the midst of grieving the loss of a loved one, you learn that you were named beneficiary of their 401(k) plan. Chances are you've got too much on your mind to make any sudden decisions about what to do with the money.
However, don't procrastinate too long. The IRS has ironclad rules, deadlines and penalties concerning inherited retirement accounts, which vary depending on what type of account it is. This column discusses inherited 401(k) and similar employer-provided plans.
Under federal law, surviving spouses automatically inherit their spouse's 401(k) plan unless someone else was named beneficiary and the surviving spouse signed a written waiver. If someone is single at death, their plan's assets go to their designated beneficiary.
The IRS has basic tax and distribution rules and timetables for inherited 401(k) plans. However, the plans themselves are allowed to set more restrictive guidelines if they choose, so read the plan documents carefully. Basically:
You must pay income tax on distributions (except for Roth accounts, which have already been taxed), although you may be able to spread out withdrawals and tax payments over a number of years, depending on how you structure it.
Many 401(k) plans require beneficiaries to withdraw the money in either a lump sum or separate payments extending no longer than five years after the person's death; however, some will allow you to keep the money in the plan indefinitely, so check their rules.
Note that distributions will be added to your taxable income for the year, which can greatly increase your tax bite. Thus, many people prefer to spread the payments out as long as possible. Plus, the longer funds remain in the account, the longer they accrue earnings, tax-free.
If the original account holder had already reached the mandatory withdrawal age of 70 ½, you may be allowed to continue withdrawing funds according to his or her withdrawal schedule. Your minimum annual withdrawal amount is based on your own life expectancy, according to IRS tables (see Appendix C in IRS Publication 590 at www.irs.gov). Alternatively, you could speed up the payment schedule or take a lump sum.
You may also be able to transfer your balance into an "inherited IRA," which must be named and maintained separately from your other IRAs. With an inherited IRA, you must withdraw a certain amount each year, based on your life expectancy. Distributions must begin the year following the donor's death, regardless of whether or not you're retired.
Make sure the 401(k) trustee transfers funds directly to the inherited IRA's trustee so you never touch the money; otherwise the transfer may be voided and you'll have to pay taxes on the entire sum that year.
Surviving spouses have an additional option: Instead of opening an inherited IRA, they're also allowed to do a "spousal rollover," which means rolling over the balance into an existing or new IRA in their own name. The key advantage of a spousal rollover is that you don't have to begin taking mandatory withdrawals until you reach 70 ½, unlike inherited IRAs where you must begin withdrawals the year after the donor's death.
One last point: Always withdraw at least the required minimum distribution (RMD) amount each year, if one is specified. If not, you'll pay a penalty equal to 50 percent of the difference between the RMD and what you actually withdrew.
Bottom line: Talk to a financial or legal expert before taking any action on your inheritance.
Jason Alderman directs Visa's financial education programs. To Follow Jason Alderman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PracticalMoney.


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Cryptography/Frequency analysis
In the field of cryptanalysis, frequency analysis is a methodology for "breaking" simple substitution ciphers, not just the Caesar cipher but all monoalphabetic substitution ciphers. These ciphers replace one letter of the plaintext with another to produce the cyphertext, and any particular letter in the plaintext will always, in the simplest and most easily breakable of these cyphers, turn into the same letter in the cypher. For instance, all E's will turn into X's.
Frequency analysis is based on the fact that certain letters, and combinations of letters, appear with characteristic frequency in essentially all texts in a particular language. For instance, in the English language E is very common, while X is not. Likewise, ST, NG, TH, and QU are common combinations, while XT, NZ, and QJ are exceedingly uncommon, or "impossible". Given our example of all E's turning into X's, a cyphertext message containing lots of X's already seems to suggest one pair in the substitution mapping.
In practice the use of frequency analysis consists of first counting the frequency of cypher text letters and then assigning "guessed" plaintext letters to them. Many letters will occur with roughly the same frequency, so a cypher with X's may indeed map X onto R, but could also map X onto G or M. But some letters in every language using letters will occur more frequently; if there are more X's in the cyphertext than anything else, it's a good guess for English plaintext that X stands for E. But T and A are also very common in English text, so X might be either of them. It's very unlikely to be a Z or Q which aren't common in English. Thus the cryptanalyst may need to try several combinations of mappings between cyphertext and plaintext letters. Once the common letters are 'solved', the technique typically moves on to pairs and other patterns. These often have the advantage of linking less commonly used letters in many cases, filling in the gaps in the candidate mapping table being built. For instance, Q and U nearly always travel together in that order in English, but Q is rare.
Frequency analysis is extremely effective against the simpler substitution cyphers and will break astonishingly short ciphertexts with ease. This fact was the basis of Edgar Allan Poe's claim, in his famous newspaper cryptanalysis demonstrations in the middle 1800's, that no cypher devised by man could defeat him. Poe was overconfident in his proclamation, however, for polyalphabetic substitution cyphers (invented by Alberti around 1467) defy simple frequency analysis attacks. The electro-mechanical cypher machines of the first half of the 20th century (e.g., the Hebern? machine, the Enigma, the Japanese Purple machine, the SIGABA, the Typex, ...) were, if properly used, essentially immune to straightforward frequency analysis attack, being fundamentally polyalphabetic cyphers. They were broken using other attacks.
Frequency analysis was first discovered in the Arab world, and is known to have been in use by about 1000 CE. It is thought that close textual study of the Koran first brought to light that Arabic has a characteristic letter frequency which can be used in cryptoanalysis. Its use spread, and was so widely used by European states by the Renaissance that several schemes were invented by cryptographers to defeat it. These included use of several alternatives to the most common letters in otherwise monoalphabetic substitution cyphers (i.e., for English, both X and Y cyphertext might mean plaintext E), use of several alphabets—chosen in assorted, more or less, devious ways (Leon Alberti seems to have been the first to propose this), culminating in such schemes as using only pairs or triplets of plaintext letters as the 'mapping index' to cyphertext letters (e.g., the Playfair cipher invented by Charles Wheatstone in the mid 1800s). The disadvantage of all these attempts to defeat frequency counting attacks is that it increases complication of both encyphering and decyphering, leading to mistakes. Famously, a British Foreign Secretary is said to have rejected the Playfair cipher because, even if school boys could learn it as Wheatstone and Playfair had shown, 'our attaches could never learn it!'.
Frequency analysis requires a basic understanding of the language of the plaintext, as well as tenacity, some problem solving skills, and considerable tolerance for extensive letter bookkeeping. Neat handwriting also helps. During WWII, both the British and Americans recruited codebreakers by placing crossword puzzles in major newspapers and running contests for who could solve them the fastest. Several of the cyphers used by the Axis were breakable using frequency analysis (e.g., the 'consular' cyphers used by the Japanese). Mechanical methods of letter counting and statistical analysis (generally IBM card machinery) were first used in WWII. Today, the hard work of letter counting and analysis has been replaced by the tireless speed of the computer, which can carry out this analysis in seconds. No mere substitution cypher can be thought credibly safe in modern times.
The frequency analysis method is neither necessary nor sufficient to solve ciphers. Historically, cryptanalysts solved substitution ciphers using a variety of other analysis methods long before and after the frequency analysis method became well known. Some people even question why the frequency analysis method was considered useful for such a long time.[1] However, modern cyphers are not simple substitution cyphers in any guise. They are much more complex than WWII cyphers, and are immune to simple frequency analysis, and even to advanced statistical methods. The best of them must be attacked using fundamental mathematical methods not based on the peculiarities of the underlying plaintext language. See Cryptography/Differential cryptanalysis or Cryptography/Linear cryptanalysis as examples of such techniques.
References edit
- ↑ Bernard Ycart. "Letter counting: a stem cell for Cryptology, Quantitative Linguistics, and Statistics". p. 8.


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I have an Asus r1f laptop. For some reason, hibernate/sleep isn't working properly at all. Are there any other packages I can use or tweaks I can implement to get this working?
I've googled around and this appears to be an issue with some laptops and their need for proprietary drivers. Is this true? Is there anything I can do?


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Today, a look back at some of my personal favorites from the blog from each month last year.
January's was a story about misrepresenting price and points on the shelves.
February's was a Focus Report on Kiona Winery and Vineyards.
March's was a look at Betz Family Winery.
April's was a post about 10 myths about wineries, social media, and their interactions.
May's was a story on the experience of six Washington wineries using alternative closures.
July's was a post about Fielding Hills Winery.
August's was a Focus Report on Grand Rêve.
September's was an interview with Greg Harrington of Gramercy Cellars.
October's was a look at Saviah Cellars.
November's was the last of the weekly harvest reports.
December's was a story about Soos Creek.
Here's to 2011! Happy New Year!


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I have a site which performs different search services. For example, some of my different searches are weather, events, and business search.
What's the best way to give the user a way to switch between these searches? Some companies that already do this are Google and the black bar on the top that directs to other Google search forms or services, Diapers.com which has different sites displayed in a way similar to Google, with navigation on the top. A different look for this is Google experiment with hidden navigation or the countless others that have probably tried differently.


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The hours passed, and the situation did not change. The steersman returned on deck, and the captain, descending, watched the movement of the engines. Even when our speed increased, these engines continued working without noise, and with remarkable smoothness There was never one of those inevitable breaks, with which in most motors the pistons sometimes miss a stroke. I concluded that the "Terror," in each of its transformations must be worked by rotary engines. But I could not assure myself of this.
For the rest, our direction did not change. Always we headed toward the northeast end of the lake, and hence toward Buffalo.
Why, I wondered, did the captain persist in following this route? He could not intend to stop at Buffalo, in the midst of a crowd of boats and shipping of every kind. If he meant to leave the lake by water, there was only the Niagara River to follow; and its Falls would be impassable, even to such a machine as this. The only escape was by the Detroit River, and the "Terror" was constantly leaving that farther behind.
Then another idea occurred to me. Perhaps the captain was only waiting for night to return to the shore of the lake. There, the boat, changed to an automobile, would quickly cross the neighboring States. If I did not succeed in making my escape, during this passage across the land, all hope of regaining my liberty would be gone.
True, I might learn where this Master of the World hid himself. I might learn what no one had yet been able to discover, assuming always that he did not dispose of me at one time or another--and what I expected his "disposal" would be, is easily comprehended.
I knew the northeast end of Lake Erie well, having often visited that section of New York State which extends westward from Albany to Buffalo. Three years before, a police mission had led me to explore carefully the shores of the Niagara River, both above and below the cataract and its Suspension Bridge. I had visited the two principal islands between Buffalo and the little city of Niagara Falls, I had explored Navy Island and also Goat Island, which separates the American falls from those of the Canadian side.
Thus if an opportunity for flight presented itself, I should not find myself in an unknown district. But would this chance offer? And at heart, did I desire it, or would I seize upon it? What secrets still remained in this affair in which good fortune or was it evil fortune--had so closely entangled me!
On the other hand, I saw no real reason to suppose that there was any chance of my reaching the shores of the Niagara River. The "Terror" would surely not venture into this trap which had no exit. Probably she would not even go to the extremity of the lake.
Such were the thoughts that spun through my excited brain, while my eyes remained fixed upon the empty horizon.
And always one persistent question remained insolvable. Why had the captain written to me personally that threatening letter? Why had he spied upon me in Washington? What bond attached him to the Great Eyrie? There might indeed be subterranean canals which gave him passage to Lake Kirdall, but could he pierce the impenetrable fortress of the Eyrie? No! That was beyond him!
Toward four o'clock in the afternoon, reckoning by the speed of the "Terror" and her direction, I knew we must be approaching Buffalo; and indeed, its outlines began to show some fifteen miles ahead. During our passage, a few boats had been seen, but we had passed them at a long distance, a distance which our captain could easily keep as great as he pleased. Moreover, the "Terror" lay so low upon the water, that at even a mile away it would have been difficult to discover her.
Now, however, the hills encircling the end of Lake Erie, came within vision, beyond Buffalo, forming the sort of funnel by which Lake Erie pours its waters into the channel of the Niagara river. Some dunes rose on the right, groups of trees stood out here and there. In the distance, several freight steamers and fishing smacks appeared. The sky became spotted with trails of smoke, which were swept along by a light eastern breeze.
What was our captain thinking of in still heading toward the port of Buffalo! Did not prudence forbid him to venture further? At each moment, I expected that he would give a sweep of the helm and turn away toward the western shore of the lake. Or else, I thought, he would prepare to plunge beneath the surface. But this persistence in holding our bow toward Buffalo was impossible to understand!
At length the helmsman, whose eyes were watching the northeastern shore, made a sign to his companion. The latter, leaving the bow, went to the central hatchway, and descended into the engine room. Almost immediately the captain came on deck, and joining the helmsman, spoke with him in a low voice.
The latter, extending his hand toward Buffalo, pointed out two black spots, which showed five or six miles distant on the starboard side. The captain studied them attentively. Then shrugging his shoulders, he seated himself at the stern without altering the course of the "Terror."
A quarter of an hour later, I could see plainly that there were two smoke clouds at the point they had studied so carefully. Little by little the black spots beneath these became more defined. They were two long, low steamers, which, coming from the port of Buffalo, were approaching rapidly.
Suddenly it struck me that these were the two torpedo destroyers of which Mr. Ward had spoken, and which I had been told to summon in case of need.
These destroyers were of the newest type, the swiftest boats yet constructed in the country. Driven by powerful engines of the latest make, they had covered almost thirty miles an hour. It is true, the "Terror" commanded an even greater speed, and always, if she were surrounded so that flight was impossible, she could submerge herself out of reach of all pursuit. In truth, the destroyers would have had to be submarines to attack the "Terror" with any chance of success. And I know not, if even in that case, the contest would have been equal.
Meanwhile, it seemed to me evident that the commanders of the two ships had been warned, perhaps by Mr. Wells who, returning swiftly to Toledo, might have telegraphed to them the news of our defeat. It appeared, moreover, that they had seen the "Terror," for they were headed at full speed toward her. Yet our captain, seemingly giving them no thought whatever, continued his course toward the Niagara River.
What would the torpedo destroyers do? Presumably, they would maneuver so as to seek to shut the "Terror" within the narrowing end of the lake where the Niagara offered her no passage.
Our captain now took the helm. One of the men was at the bow, the other in the engine room. Would the order be given for me to go down into the cabin?
It was not, to my extreme satisfaction. To speak frankly, no one paid any attention to me. It was as if I had not been on board. I watched, therefore, not without mixed emotions, the approach of the destroyers. Less than two miles distant now they separated in such a way as to hold the "Terror" between their fires.
As to the Master of the World, his manner indicated only the most profound disdain. He seemed sure that these destroyers were powerless against him. With a touch to his machinery he could distance them, no matter what their speed! With a few turns of her engine, the "Terror" would dart beyond their cannon shots! Or, in the depths of the lake, what projectiles could find the submarine?
Five minutes later, scarcely a mile separated us from the two powerful fighters which pursued us. Our captain permitted them to approach still closer. Then he pressed upon a handle. The "Terror," doubling the action of her propellers, leaped across the surface of the lake. She played with the destroyers! Instead of turning in flight, she continued her forward course. Who knew if she would not even have the audacity to pass between her two enemies, to coax them after her, until the hour when, as night closed in, they would be forced to abandon the useless pursuit!
The city of Buffalo was now in plain view on the border of the lake. I saw its huge buildings, its church towers, its grain elevators. Only four or five miles ahead, Niagara river opened to the northward.
Under these new conditions which way should I turn? When we passed in front of the destroyers, or perhaps between them, should I not throw myself into the waters I was a good swimmer, and such a chance might never occur again. The captain could not stop to recapture me. By diving could I not easily escape, even from a bullet? I should surely be seen by one or other of the pursuers. Perhaps, even, their commanders had been warned of my presence on board the "Terror." Would not a boat be sent to rescue me?
Evidently my chance of success would be even greater, if the "Terror" entered the narrow waters of Niagara River. At Navy Island I would be able to set foot on territory that I knew well. But to suppose that our captain would rush into this river where he might be swept over the great cataract! That seemed impossible! I resolved to await the destroyers' closest approach and at the last moment I would decide.
Yet my resolution to escape was but half-hearted. I could not resign myself thus to lose all chance of following up this mystery. My instincts as a police official revolted. I had but to reach out my hand in order to seize this man who had been outlawed! Should I let him escape me! No! I would not save myself! Yet, on the other hand, what fate awaited me, and where would I be carried by the "Terror," if I remained on board?
It was a quarter past six. The destroyers, quivering and trembling under the strain of their speed, gained on us perceptibly. They were now directly astern, leaving between them a distance of twelve or fifteen cable lengths. The "Terror," without increasing her speed, saw one of them approach on the port side, the other to starboard.
I did not leave my place. The man at the bow was close by me. Immovable at the helm, his eyes burning beneath his contracted brows, the captain waited. He meant, perhaps, to finish the chase by one last maneuver.
Suddenly, a puff of smoke rose from the destroyer on our left. A projectile, brushing the surface of the water, passed in front of the "Terror," and sped beyond the destroyer on our right.
I glanced around anxiously. Standing by my side, the lookout seemed to await a sign from the captain. As for him, he did not even turn his head; and I shall never forget the expression of disdain imprinted on his visage.
At this moment, I was pushed suddenly toward the hatchway of my cabin, which was fastened above me. At the same instant the other hatchways were closed; the deck became watertight. I heard a single throb of the machinery, and the plunge was made, the submarine disappeared beneath the waters of the lake.
Cannon shot still boomed above us. Their heavy echo reached my ear; then everything was peace. Only a faint light penetrated through the porthole into my cabin. The submarine, without the least rolling or pitching, sped silently through the deeps.
I had seen with what rapidity, and also with what ease the transformation of the "Terror" had been made. No less easy and rapid, perhaps, would be her change to an automobile.
And now what would this Master of the World do? Presumably he would change his course, unless, indeed, he preferred to speed to land, and there continue his route along the roads. It still seemed more probable, however, that he would turn back toward the west, and after distancing the destroyers, regain the Detroit River. Our submersion would probably only last long enough to escape out of cannon range, or until night forbade pursuit.
Fate, however, had decreed a different ending to this exciting chase. Scarce ten minutes had passed when there seemed some confusion on board. I heard rapid words exchanged in the engine room. The steadily moving machinery became noisy and irregular. At once I suspected that some accident compelled the submarine to reascend.
I was not mistaken. In a moment, the semi-obscurity of my cabin was pierced by sunshine. The "Terror" had risen above water. I heard steps on the deck, and the hatchways were re-opened, including mine. I sprang up the ladder.
The captain had resumed his place at the helm, while the two men were busy below. I looked to see if the destroyers were still in view. Yes! Only a quarter of a mile away! The "Terror" had already been seen, and the powerful vessels which enforced the mandates of our government were swinging into position to give chase. Once more the "Terror" sped in the direction of Niagara River.
I must confess, I could make nothing of this maneuver. Plunging into a cul-de-sac, no longer able to seek the depths because of the accident, the "Terror" might, indeed, temporarily distance her pursuers; but she must find her path barred by them when she attempted to return. Did she intend to land, and if so, could she hope to outrun the telegrams which would warn every police agency of her approach?
We were now not half a mile ahead. The destroyers pursued us at top speed, though being now directly behind, they were in poor position for using their guns. Our captain seemed content to keep this distance; though it would have been easy for him to increase it, and then at nightfall, to dodge back behind the enemy.
Already Buffalo had disappeared on our right, and a little after seven o'clock the opening of the Niagara River appeared ahead. If he entered there, knowing that he could not return, our captain must have lost his mind! And in truth was he not insane, this man who proclaimed himself, who believed himself, Master of the World?
I watched him there, calm, impassive not even turning his head to note the progress of the destroyers and I wondered at him.
This end of the lake was absolutely deserted. Freight steamers bound for the towns on the banks of the upper Niagara are not numerous, as its navigation is dangerous. Not one was in sight. Not even a fishing-boat crossed the path of the "Terror." Even the two destroyers would soon be obliged to pause in their pursuit, if we continued our mad rush through these dangerous waters.
I have said that the Niagara River flows between New York and Canada. Its width, of about three quarters of a mile, narrows as it approaches the falls. Its length, from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, is about fifteen leagues. It flows in a northerly direction, until it empties the waters of Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie into Ontario, the last lake of this mighty chain. The celebrated falls, which occur in the midst of this great river have a height of over a hundred and fifty feet. They are called sometimes the Horse-shoe Falls, because they curve inward like the iron shoe. The Indians have given them the name of "Thunder of Waters," and in truth a mighty thunder roars from them without cessation, and with a tumult which is heard for several miles away.
Between Lake Erie, and the little city of Niagara Falls, two islands divide the current of the river, Navy Island, a league above the cataract, and Goat Island, which separates the American and the Canadian Falls. Indeed, on the lower point of this latter isle stood once that "Terrapin Tower" so daringly built in the midst of the plunging waters on the very edge of the abyss. It has been destroyed; for the constant wearing away of the stone beneath the cataract makes the ledge move with the ages slowly up the river, and the tower has been drawn into the gulf.
The town of Fort Erie stands on the Canadian shore at the entrance of the river. Two other towns are set along the banks above the falls, Schlosser on the right bank, and Chippewa on the left, located on either side of Navy Island. It is at this point that the current, bound within a narrower channel, begins to move at tremendous speed, to become two miles further on, the celebrated cataract.
The "Terror" had already passed Fort Erie. The sun in the west touched the edge of the Canadian horizon, and the moon, faintly seen, rose above the mists of the south. Darkness would not envelop us for another hour.
The destroyers, with huge clouds of smoke streaming from their funnels, followed us a mile behind. They sped between banks green with shade trees and dotted with cottages which lay among lovely gardens.
Obviously the "Terror" could no longer turn back. The destroyers shut her in completely. It is true their commanders did not know, as I did, that an accident to her machinery had forced her to the surface, and that it was impossible for her to escape them by another plunge. Nevertheless, they continued to follow, and would assuredly maintain their pursuit to the very last.
I marveled at the intrepidity of their chase through these dangerous waters. I marveled still more at the conduct of our captain. Within a half hour now, his course would be barred by the cataract. No matter how perfect his machine, it could not escape the power of the great falls. If the current once mastered our engines, we should inevitably disappear in the gulf nearly two hundred feet deep which the waters have dug at the base of the falls! Perhaps, however, our captain had still power to turn to one of the shores and flee by the automobile routes.
In the midst of this excitement, what action should I take personally? Should I attempt to gain the shores of Navy Island, if we indeed advanced that far? If I did not seize this chance, never after what I had learned of his secrets, never would the Master of the World restore me to liberty.
I suspected, however, that my flight was no longer possible. If I was not confined within my cabin, I no longer remained unwatched. While the captain retained his place at the helm, his assistant by my side never removed his eyes from me. At the first movement, I should be seized and locked within my room. For the present, my fate was evidently bound up with that of the "Terror."
The distance which separated us from the two destroyers was now growing rapidly less. Soon they were but a few cable-lengths away. Could the motor of the "Terror," since the accident, no longer hold its speeds? Yet the captain showed not the least anxiety, and made no effort to reach land!
We could hear the hissing of the steam which escaped from the valves of the destroyers, to mingle with the streamers of black smoke. But we heard, even more plainly, the roar of the cataract, now less than three miles away.
The "Terror" took the left branch of the river in passing Navy Island. At this point, she was within easy reach of the shore, yet she shot ahead. Five minutes later, we could see the first trees of Goat Island. The current became more and more irresistible. If the "Terror" did not stop, the destroyers could not much longer follow her. If it pleased our accursed captain to plunge us into the vortex of the falls, surely they did not mean to follow into the abyss!
Indeed, at this moment they signaled each other, and stopped the pursuit. They were scarce more than six hundred feet from the cataract. Then their thunders burst on the air and several cannon shot swept over the "Terror" without hitting its low-lying deck.
The sun had set, and through the twilight the moon's rays shone upon us from the south. The speed of our craft, doubled by the speed of the current, was prodigious! In another moment, we should plunge into that black hollow which forms the very center of the Canadian Falls.
With an eye of horror, I saw the shores of Goat Island flashed by, then came the Isles of the Three Sisters, drowned in the spray from the abyss.
I sprang up; I started to throw myself into the water, in the desperate hope of gaining this last refuge. One of the men seized me from behind.
Suddenly a sharp noise was heard from the mechanism which throbbed within our craft. The long gangways folded back on the sides of the machine, spread out like wings, and at the moment when the "Terror" reached the very edge of the falls, she arose into space, escaping from the thundering cataract in the center of a lunar rainbow.
Return to the Master of the World Summary Return to the Jules Verne Library


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Still surfing the Web with Internet Explorer 7? You'll probably want to update before shopping at Kogan, as the Australian electronics retailer has announced that it will penalize folks using Microsoft's obsolete browser. Customers who visit Kogan's site will see a warning page informing them that their software is outdated along with recommending that they install an alternative browser such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Opera.
If the user refuses to upgrade, they'll be forced to pay a 6.8% "Internet Explorer 7 tax" on their order. The 6.8% surcharge amounts to 0.1% for every month IE7 has been available, though it's unclear if the tax will increase each month or if it will remain at 6.8%. The company explains that it has kept its prices low by using technology to improve the efficiency of its business and Microsoft's six-year-old browser makes that tough.
"Our web team having to spend a lot of time making our new website look normal on IE7," Kogan wrote on its blog Wednesday. "It's not only costing us a huge amount, it's affecting any business with an online presence, and costing the Internet economy millions. Customers who enter our site using [IE7] can avoid the impost by simply downloading an up-to-date browser," including a more recent version of Internet Explorer.
"As Internet citizens, we all have a responsibility to make the Internet a better place. By taking these measures, we are doing our bit. This will help us increase our efficiency, help keep prices for all smart shoppers down, and hopefully help eradicate the world of the pain in the rear that is IE7," the company said. As of May 2012, IE7's global market share is estimated between 1.5% and 5%, depending on the researcher.
Update: Neowin tested the checkout process and the fee is reportedly removed at the last moment. Thanks for the heads up, madboyv1.


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Claremont Forget Me Not Navy Coat Hook (HK201)
£9.95 £8.29 Ex VAT
- Silver coloured iron coat hook
- Hand painted ceramic finials
- Height approx 16cm
- Projection approx 8cm
- Supplied with 2 screws
Out of stock
This lovely coat hook is unique to These Please. We were inspired to develop a coat hook which is both beautiful and practical to hang clothing on. The ceramic balls are all hand painted. We specified the size of the ceramic ball to allow the fabric loop on coats to pass over it. As a result, you can still see the pattern after you hang your coat on it!
Consequently, you can use the hooks in all sorts of places around your home. A mixed group of them look stunning, lined up in a row in a hallway. Similarly, a single hook looks fabulous on the back of a door in a bedroom, kitchen or bathroom. There's a wide range, so you can choose plain designs for a contemporary look, or mix intricate designs to highlight your colour scheme.
Our coat hooks come in two finishes. This hook is part of our Claremont range and is 16cm tall. We sell smaller silver 10cm hooks, and also ones with a brass patina finish.
All the hooks offer a stylish solution for your storage needs and are a beautiful way to declutter coats, bags and scarves.
Quality in everything we do is extremely important to us. So that the hooks arrive in pristine condition, we check the quality of each item before we carefully pack it. We dispatch all orders promptly, using fully tracked services for most items.
Above all, these are very pretty coat hooks, and a beautiful way to enhance your home. We hope you enjoy browsing our ranges and please take a look at our door knobs too.
If you'd like to follow us on Facebook here is the link.
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Clean Pro Franklin
Best Gutter Cleaning Service in Franklin TN !
Clean Pro Franklin is the premier provider of affordable and professional gutter cleaning in Franklin, TN. Years of experience, timely service, attention to detail, respect for your property, and concern for safety are the qualities that separate us from the competition. We offer gutter cleaning services that are affordable near you.
Franklin is a city in and county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About 21 miles (34 km) south of Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020, its population was 83,454. It is the seventh-largest city in Tennessee.The city developed on both sides of the Harpeth River, a tributary of the Cumberland River. In the 19th century, Franklin (as the county seat) was the trading and judicial center for primarily rural Williamson County and remained so well into the 20th century as the county remained rural and agricultural in nature.
Allen's Green, Barclay Place Park, Battlewood Estates, Benchmark Realty: Larry Brewer, Berrys Chapel, Boyd Mill Estates, Bradford Hills, Brentwood South, Buckingham Park, Carnton, Carondelet, Crockett Springs, Dallas Downs Neighborhood Swimming Pool, Daventry by Pulte Homes, Downtown Franklin Association


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Things have been crazy busy here in the last two months, and without going into too much detail or jinxing ourselves, I'm just going to suggest that you check back in a couple of weeks for the possibility of an exciting announcement (no, I'm not pregnant).
In the meantime, I wanted to share some photos of our very first Christmas tree in our 6 years as a couple. 'Bout time!
I know what you're thinking. "Is that a top hat on your tree?" Why yes. Yes it is.
I followed this tutorial for making the hat. Feathers were added later after I finally found some fun ones.Costco has some really pretty ornaments. Who knew?
Merry belated Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!


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Feb 21, 2024
Feb 21, 2024
by V. Sundaram
A nexus of enveloping evil - 6
Though books, as John Milton says, may be the embalming of mighty spirits, they are also the resurrection of rebellious and boisterous spirits! And just because books are the repository of all the redemptions and damnations, all the sanities and insanities, of the Divine anarchy of the soul, they are still, as they have always been, an object of suspicion to every kind of ruling authority. A great book sets the prophet against the priest, the prisoner against society, the has-nothing against the has-all, the individual against the universe! Books are more than a second Nature. They are an-under Nature and over-nature. They are Nature in her appalling universality, strained through the divine diabolic sieves of every type of human imagination. It seems as if there is darkness and light, evil and good, in any great human book; yes, and clarity and obscurity too. Sometimes I am tempted to think that a supreme work of polemic narration cannot exist without an element of appalling obscenity. Even the most idealistic of great books often dips deep down into the mud, deep down into that abysmal silt at the bottom of the ocean without which reality would not be reality. The over-sweetness of pious optimism comes at last to smack of death, till the bitter antidote of desperate pessimism galvanizes it back into life. The great books are the books that create a world, a world to which, with its atmosphere, its situations, its characters, you can compare the haphazard chances and casual impressions of real life as they cross your path.
These boiling intellectual and emotional reactions besieged my soul when I was reading the recently published book titled 'NGOs, Activists and Foreign Funds: Anti-Nation Industry' edited by Radha Rajan and Krishen Kak. In this gun-powder book Krishen Kak has written a brilliant article Scoring Against Paganism: Untangling the Manderweb in which he describes the anti-national activities of some unscrupulous individuals of global fame in the NGOs Industry in India. In this context, he has coined an exciting word called Manderweb which would smoothly slide into the slot of any cyber-space concerned with international fraud, both as a cause and effect of NGOs Industry in India.
Who are the leading players in the revolutionary firmament of The Manderweb? Of course the unquestioned leader with a tremendous clout here, there and everywhere, now and always, is Harsh Mander, the former Chief of Action Aid India. He functioned as a paid Intelligence Agent of the British Government in India. He has arrogated to himself the role of Lady Katherine Mayo who in her scandalous book called 'Miss India' blasphemed India and her people in the middle 1920s. Mahatma Gandhi dismissed her report as a Drain Inspector's Report. Harsh Mander has done the same in regard to Narendra Modi and the Hindus of Gujarat and India in all his perorations abroad during the last five years. Krishen Kak brings out the fact that Harsh Mander and the Times of India violated almost every instruction of the Press Councils' Guidelines on the reporting of Communal violence.
Harsh Mander was condemned by the Press Council of India (decision 14/106/02-03 dated 30 JUNE 2003, Dr Krishen Kak v/s TIMES OF INDIA) for spreading false rumors about alleged Hindu atrocities in his famous column 'Hindustan hamara' in TIMES OF INDIA dated 20 March 2003; incidentally a title borrowed from a poem by Mohammed Iqbal, who claimed 'Our India' for ISLAM and became the spiritual father of Pakistan.
To quote the most appropriate words of Dr. Koenraad Elst in this context: 'Distortive or even totally false reporting on communally sensitive issues is a well entrenched feature of Indian journalism. There is no self-corrective mechanism in place to remedy this endemic culture of disinformation. 'These days, much acclaimed characters like John Dayal, Harsh Mander and Arundhati Roy lie in waiting for communal riots and elatedly jump at them when and where they erupt. They exploit the anti-Hindu propaganda value of riots to the hilt, making up fictional stories as they go along to compensate for any defects in the true account.'
After exposing the gigantic fraud underlying Action Aid India and its secular non-saffronized cosmopolitan and globe-trotting plenipotentiary acting in the manner of a KARMA YOGI, Krishen Kak directs his highly 'communal' laser beam to Aruna Roy's NGO which goes by the grandiloquent name of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS). He does it with unique pungency and poignancy. It is clear from Krishen Kak's mathematical analysis that Aruna Roy, as a matter of NGO right, expects integrity and public accountability from everyone excepting herself. As a Gandhian, she would not take any foreign help in cash but would not mind accepting free air-tickets for her frequent travels around the world. In this respect Aruna Roy and Harsh Mander supplement each other and not supplant each other. Like Harsh Mander, she also once belonged to the IAS and what was an irreparable loss to the IAS became an indispensable gain to the secular anti-Hindu NGOs Industry in India. Krishen Kak graphically brings out how she became an irreplaceable asset to the international forces of fraud and deceit in India, Global Islam, Global Christianity and Evangelism, Marxism and overtopping them all Nehruvian Secularism.
An American Body called Association for India's Development (AID), hosted Aruna Roy and her colleague Sankar Singh as the key-note Speakers to America. Arunaji and Sankarji gave their heartfelt testimonials to Narendra Modi and the Hindus of Gujarat as the joint sponsors of State organized violence against the compassionate and innocent Muslims of Gujarat. The Hindu men, women and children who were burnt alive in a railway carriage at Godhra were not even mentioned once in their public speeches.
Aruna Roy's duplicity was exposed by a fellow-participant at the World Social Forum (WSF) in Mumbai. There Aruna Roy said 'When we say another world is possible, we are saying that we want development and globalization that is people-centric, that puts people first rather than Corporations or profits' . No doubt even in her own NGO industry MKSS, she puts 'people' first, and so she tells the world. But her air tickets to the USA and all her travel costs and hospitality abroad are eventually paid for by her American sponsors' earnings from 'Corporations and Profits'. As Beena Adhik observes : ' The NGOs who are flocking to WSF, have no ideology and are themselves totally dependent on foreign funding which in turn comes from multi nationals.'
What is the conclusion of all this NGOs tamasha – sordid, sinister, sadistic and showy? Krishen Kak delivers his somber and condign verdict : 'But then, as the Volcker Report, the Mitrokhin and Benediktov papers, and the Quattrocchi saga reveal, Aruna Roy and her kind are aligned to a political lineage that flatters itself on it's 'crystalline honesty' even as it grovels and fattens itself on anti-national foreign largesse'.
Aruna Roy assets with pious pomposity that 'we cannot stand by and watch the failure of Government and civil society, the breakdown of law and order, of democratic human values. It is a question of whether Indian democracy will survive at all'. As a known Marxist, she will not talk about West Bengal where the communists systematically rig the elections so much so that 'Democracy and Bengal' are two mutually exclusive concepts. She will not talk about the Hindu genocide in Kashmir systematically carried out with the help of Islamic J & K Government by the saints and sages of compassionate Islam !. She will not talk about parts of Bihar which became a 'Pakistan Mohalla' during the Chief Ministership of Lallu Yadav and his redoubtable Rabri Devi, both of whom functioned as Nehruvian secular Commission Agents of global terrorist Islam !. She will not talk about Kishenganj district in Bihar which has become a mini-Pakistan area thanks to 'tainted minister' Taslim Ahmed in Dr Manmohan Singh's Cabinet. She can go all the way to America to cry to Americans about Hindus who are not compassionate etc etc, but she hasn't the guts to go to the Jammu refugee camps that are described as hell-on-earth and tell the Hindu refugees there of vicious and wicked Muslim terrorists who are not so compassionate etc etc. For her, Government of Gujarat is always more culpable than the Government of Jammu and Kashmir. This is Congress sponsored, Sonia-supported and sustained Nehruvian secularism at its noblest, truest, sublimest best !
Like Aruna Roy, Shabnam Hashmi of the Nehruvian-secular Sahmat lied about foreign help in cash but not in kind, nor about the Islamic interests that, for the same purpose as Aruna Roy's, paid for her travel to and in America for Hindu-baiting and Narendra Modi-baiting in America!. The other great actors on the international stage of machinating , mendacious and malicious Manderweb, apart from Harsh Mander and Aruna Roy, are K N Panikkar, Shuba Mudgal, Arudathi Roy, Shekar Singh and N C Saxena.
These Nehruvian Secularists are appeasers. They preach compassion, understanding and tolerance to the Hindus. But they dare not preach to Christian missionaries or Muslim Mullahs values of compassion, understanding and tolerance towards the pagan Hindus.
These unscrupulous pseudo-secular deceivers are the most dangerous members of our society. They trifle with the best affections of our nature and violate the most sacred obligations with pan-Islamic, pan-Christian and pan-Marxist contempt, solidly supported by the mafia of mass media in India. Hindus of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but the chains of these deceivers!!
More by : V. Sundaram


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Aly Raisman Helps U.S. Gymnastics Win Gold
Alexandra Raisman and the United States women stormed to the Olympic women's gymnastics team gold on Tuesday. Jordyn Wieber sparkled and Gabby Douglas dazzled as the United States won by a massive 5-point margin.
Two days after an inconsolable Wieber fled the North Greenwich Arena in tears having missed out on a spot in the all-around final, her smile was back as she and her team mates gave the U.S. their first Olympic team title since 1996.
So strong were they on all four apparatus, that they won the title by a huge margin of 5.066 with a total of 183.596 points.
Russia's quintet had been snapping at the Americans' heels throughout the competition but were left sobbing after they imploded on their final apparatus, the floor.
Ksenia Afanaseva completed her floor routine on her head and knees, summing up their miserable finish as they ended with 178.530.
Romania, champions in 2004, rallied from a poor start to claim bronze but 2008 gold medallists China were empty-handed in fourth after a succession of errors.
Wieber had come to London as the favourite to win the Olympic all-around gold to go with the world title she took last October.
Though she finished fourth in all-around qualifying, she was behind compatriots Aly Raisman and Douglas and the rules dictate that no country can have more than two gymnasts in Thursday's individual final.
The 17-year-old Wieber came back fighting on Tuesday, opening the day's proceedings with a confident vault. The apparatus, which traditionally produces high scores, gave the Americans a head start on their rivals.
Vault specialist and world champion McKayla Maroney danced off the podium with delight into the waiting arms of her coach, knowing she had landed a superb jump and the team went into the second rotation 1.733 points ahead of China and never relinquished the lead.
Russia overtook the Chinese and closed the gap at the top to 0.399 halfway through the four rotations but dropped back after Victoria Komova, the top all-around qualifier here, came off the landing mat on the beam and Aliya Mustafina nearly fell off the apparatus.
The floor wiped out all Russian hope of gold when a stumbling Anastasia Grishina picked up a low score of 12.466 and Afanaseva missed her final landing.
By the time Raisman took to the floor, where she won bronze at the last world championships, as the final performer of the evening, all the Russian gymnasts were in tears as they watched.
A confident routine delivered, Raisman joined her team mates and the five stood holding hands and gazing up at the giant results screen.
A score of 15.300 flashed up to confirm the magnitude of their win and American fans in the arena erupted into cheers.
"It's an incredible feeling; just in this moment you realise every single effort and every single sacrifice and so-called suffering through the years with the ups and downs it was worth it," U.S. team co-ordinator Marta Karolyi told reporters.
Wieber, who glowed with satisfaction through a dynamic floor routine, said she had been determined to get over Sunday's qualifying setback.
"I was pretty disappointed but I knew I had to pull it together mentally for this team and I knew that getting this gold medal was a goal of mine so I really had to pull myself together and move on," she told reporters.
Douglas added: "After Jordyn went (on the floor), I went: "Yes, we have this in the bag, we have it". I was so confident I knew it right then and there. Even in training I had a feeling like we are the best in the world. I'm not being cocky or anything but I just had that feeling."
China had problems on the beam, where 2009 world champion Deng Linlin fell off and Huang Qiushuang doubled over as she fought to keep her balance, scoring only 13.800.
Huang's woes continued on the floor when she skidded from the landing on her first pass, overstepping the boundary and incurring a 0.3-point penalty.
Romania's bronze owed much to the return of Catalina Ponor, a triple gold-medallist from the 2004 Athens Games, at the age of 24 after an eight-year Olympic break from the sport.
Ponor, looking unfeasibly tall at 1.60 metres in a line-up that includes the 1.40-metre Diana Laura Bulimar, collected the competition's highest score on the beam, 15.416, and also had 15.100 on the vault.
Home team Britain had no ambition of repeating the feat of their male gymnasts who took bronze on Monday but former world champion Beth Tweddle, the mother hen of the team at 27 and appearing in her final Games, had the satisfaction of the day's highest mark in the asymmetric bars, boding well for next Monday's individual final.


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Disclaimer: The following documents list all open warrants issued by the City of Garland. This list is updated twice monthly. The information contained on these pages is true and accurate to the best of our knowledge.
Warrant payments can be made in person at the Brad Neighbor Municipal Court. The night drop box is located to the right of the building entrance at 1791 West Avenue B Garland. It's available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Digestion is the process by which the gastrointestinal system retrieves important nutrients for the body and chemically changes the unused food into waste.
Mastication, or the chewing of food in the mouth, is the first step of digestion. Saliva initiates digestion and changes the chewed food into a soft mass, or bolus. Saliva makes the bolus slippery, making it easier to be swallowed and slide down the back of the throat and esophagus. The bolus passes through the esophageal sphincter before it enters the stomach. Inside the stomach, hydrochloric acid is released, breaking down large food molecules into smaller ones and liquefying the bolus. The liquefied bolus, now called chyme, then passes through the pyloric sphincter and enters the duodenum, the first section of the small intestine. It is here that enzymes released from the pancreas, liver, and gallbladder further breakdown chyme into elements that can be easily absorbed and used by the body.
The small intestine is lined with a heavily folded inner mucosa and small fingerlike projections called villi. The villi enable digested food to enter the bloodstream. It is here, in the small intestine, where all nutrients and vitamins are absorbed.
Chyme can travel through up to 20 feet of small intestine before it passes through the ileocecal valve to enter the large intestine. Very little digestion occurs in the large intestine. Undigested chyme that enters the large intestine is considered waste. The waste becomes more and more solid as it passes through the large intestine because water is continuously being reabsorbed from the waste. Waste collects in the rectum, or end of the large intestine, until the brain signals for it to be expelled from the body.


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Magic: The Gathering/Booster Draft
Booster Drafting is a method of constructing decks in Magic: The Gathering
This format is sanctioned by DCI and occurs at almost every prerelease. Many stores also make the last Friday Night Magic Tournament of the month a booster draft.
The Process[edit | edit source]
Each player is given three booster packs.
Each player opens one pack and removes one card for themselves.
They then take the remaining cards and pass them to the player on their left.
They subsequently receive cards from the player on their right.
They remove a card from the new set of cards and pass it to their left.
This process continues until there are no more cards.
Players then open their second booster pack.
They repeat the process, this time passing cards to their right.
When there are no more cards, they open their final booster pack.
They repeat the process, this time passing cards to their left again.
After exhausting all three booster packs, each player should have selected and obtained 45 cards.
They combine as many or as few cards from the ones they just selected with any amount of basic lands they desire. This becomes their deck. This deck must have a minimum of 40 cards.
Players then compete tournament style to win a prize of some sort (normally additional packs).
At informal/casual drafts, a rule can be set in place that forces players to return all of the rares they drafted into one center pile after the tournament is over. The player who came in first selects a rare to keep, then the player who came in second, and so on. After the last player picks a rare, it starts over again with the player who came in first. Playing a match like this does two things, it gives the winner a prize without having the players to spend money on additional packs, and it prevents rare drafting to make the matches more competitive and fun.
Sometimes the rule is adjusted to make players return all rares and uncommons. This makes the tournament more competitive, but the cards-to-keep selection process afterwards is much longer.
Strategy[edit | edit source]
Deck Building Strategy
Because the decks are only 40 cards and most of the cards in a booster pack are small creatures or spells with small mana costs, it is a generally good idea to build a fast deck. Also, because you will rarely get more than one or two of a good card, it is not a good idea to build the deck around it, featuring complex combos and whatnot. If a combo requires 3 cards, and you only have one of each, you cannot rely on drawing it every game.
Card Picking Strategy
Often it is difficult to decide what tribe and/or colors to run. At first you only see 7 of the 84 cards you can choose from. It is normal to begin thinking you want to play one color and then switch to another color part way into drafting. This normally happens when you see a particular good card in another color or notice that many players are not drafting cards from a particular color. If you notice that most of the cards passed to you are blue and there are never any good white cards, chances are a large number of people are running mono white, white/green, etc. This a good sign you should switch from white to blue. The fewer people who want blue cards, the better chance you have of getting good blue cards.
Rare drafting
In this act, players select a rare card from the set of cards handed to them, not because it will benefit their deck, but because the card is worth a large amount or because the card would go well in another deck of theirs at a later date.
Hate drafting
In this act, players select a powerful card from the set of cards handed to them, not because it will benefit their deck, but because the card is exceptionally powerful and they don't want anyone to use it against them. Even if the card is worthless to them, making sure no one else has it could mean the difference between winning or losing the tournament.


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This giveaway has ended and I'll announce the winner shortly!
I'm back for our final Home for the Holidays giveaway! We've enjoyed 15 giveaways across the entire network this week—all great gift ideas, just in time for the holidays.
I'm excited about my last giveaway today because of all the imaginative play it's going to inspire in my little people and in the home of one lucky winner.
It's a $100 gift certificate to Sarah's Silks–a store full of dress up inspiration for kids.
Whether you have toddlers, preschoolers, or elementary-aged children, you'll find something in this shop to add to your Christmas list.
Find out how you can win!
I first discovered Sarah's Silks a few years ago, and last Christmas I asked a family member to buy Trishna, Jonathan, and Elijah these sweet crowns.
So I was thrilled to welcome this shop as a vendor for our holiday week. For my review items, I chose a knight's costume and two of the dress up capes Sarah carries in her store.
The capes come in a wide variety of colors and feel soft and smooth against your skin. I love that the colors are reversible, giving more choices to the child as they play. These capes have an elastic neck band with satin ties and should easily fit ages 3-8.
With all the pretend sword playing between two boys in my home I'm pretty sure this knight's costume is going to see a lot of action after being opened on Christmas Day!
It's a one-piece slip-on tunic, with a belt and cape attached. These costumes also match the crowns and play swords in the store and make the perfect outfit for pretending to be kings, princes, knights, and more.
Owner Sarah Lee discovered the power of silk in make-believe after becoming a mother herself. One day she tossed her young son an old silk scarf to use for dressing up–that was over 17 years ago and the rest is history!
The dyes used on the fabrics are non-toxic and the silks themselves can easily be hand-washed. As someone passionate about ethical spending, I appreciate this "family-made" policy from the company:
"Sarah's Silks hires Chinese seamstresses who work in their homes, often sitting in doorways, as their children play nearby. Sarah's Silks offers the seamstresses incentives beyond prevailing wages as well as access to supplemental health insurance as part of their efforts to support the healthy families of their partners across the world."
On top of their popular dress-up collection, other items the store carries include hand-dyed playsilks, bed canopies, and a range of toys. Look no further to find a great gift for the creative child in your life.
One Simple Homeschool reader will win a $100 gift certificate to Sarah's Silks!
How to win
Everyone has two chances to win. Here's how:
1. Comment on this post, answering this question: What does your child currently use most often in his/her dress up play?
2. For an extra entry, 'Like' Simple Homeschool and Sarah's Silks on Facebook. Then come back and leave another comment here, telling me you did so.
This giveaway has ended and I'll announce the winner shortly!


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As the Nimbasa Battle Tournament rages on, Cilan is up against Trip, who once defeated Cilan's brother Chili at the Striaton City Gym. Burgundy, Cilan's rival, wants him to lose in the worst way, and Trip and his Gurdurr battle with power and excellent timing. But Cilan prevails, delivering a tasty smackdown. Wrapping up the first-round battles, Stephan's Zebstrika makes short work of Bianca's Minccino, and Luke and Iris both win their matches. Then it's on to round two!
Ash is paired against the confident "Dragon Buster" Georgia, and the match begins with his Snivy against Georgia's Pawniard. Georgia backs up her cocky attitude by proving to be a formidable opponent. As the back-and-forth battle continues, Iris, Cilan, and Stephan cheer Ash on from the sidelines (though Stephan really just wants Ash to win so they can battle in the next round). Finally, with a powerful Guillotine move, it appears Georgia and her Pawniard may have gotten the upper hand...but we'll have to find out next time!


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