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Wednesday Roundup: Poetry, Pictures, Pixpop Apps
Roses are Red, Bees Are… Not Blue..: Channel your inner Shakespeare to celebrate the arrival of the National Zoo's new honeybee colony. The Zoo is asking visitors to send in original honeybee poems and favorite honey recipes to display on the Zoo's Pollinarium website. And that's not all—the Zoo will randomly select one entrant from each category to win a tour of the Zoo's Pollinarium and Invertebrate Exhibit (with their family, of course) on the Zoo's Garden Day event on July 10. If you're looking for inspiration: Honeybees in the United states pollinate more than $10 billion worth of crops; and when the colony becomes too large, half of the hive will leave to search for a new home, with the queen in tow. You have until July 6 to enter. (Our working title is "My Queen Up And Left Me.")
Snap and Go: You can help digitize Smithsonian Institution buildings during the upcoming Folklife Festival (which starts tomorrow, June 24) with the new PhotoCity "Reconstruct the Mall" game. Visitors earn points for taking pictures of the museums with their cell phones or digital cameras and uploading them to the game's map. You can also compete against other teams of visitors to see who can reconstruct all the buildings on the mall first. At the end of the festival, on July 5, winners will receive prizes. Get your cameras ready! But please, don't try to run between buildings and upload your photos at the same time—crashing into Mariachi bands could get messy.
Pieces of the Puzzle: Do you have an eye for detail? Test it with the new PixPop Smithsonian Air & Space app, which brings users through a virtual tour of the National Air and Space museum one picture at a time. It's a cross between a puzzle and a matching game: The app provides users with select tiles from an image of a scene inside the museum, and users match the tile to where it appears in the larger picture. The game lets you choose how many tiles you have to match (from an easier 4 to a challenging 20) as well as the size of the tiles, making it both a child and adult-friendly game, even for those of us whose eyes aren't as sharp as we'd like them to be. You can purchase the app for $0.99 from the iTunes store. Let the matching begin.
Digitizing Art Stories: The Archives of American Art has more than 2,000 oral interviews. But what do you do when some of those interviews, which date back to the 1950s, begin to deteriorate, or their medium becomes obsolete (When was the last time you saw someone use a sound reel)? Over at Archives of American Art Blog, Jennifer Snyder walks us through what it takes to preserve oral stories. See how she keeps artists' voices alive.


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Perils of Grilling Go Far Beyond Charred Food
Her attempt to relight it created an explosive fireball that burned Storm's face, neck, chest and hands. She suffered first- and second-degree burns on her face and hands, according to CBS News, and has made sure to share her story so that other people might realize that they need to allow time for the gas to dissipate before relighting a grill.
Gas grills aren't the only type that can cause burns, however. Georgia resident Dave Bakke suffered a first-degree burn last summer while trying to get a charcoal grill ready.
"I doused the coals with lighter fluid, but instead of waiting, I immediately got out my lighter to light the fire," Bakke recalled. "I didn't know that you were supposed to wait a bit in order to give the vapors enough time to disperse. A flash of fire resulted when I used the lighter and I burnt my hand."
Bakke was lucky. He was treated at a local hospital with an aloe solution and a gauze bandage, as well as a minor pain reliever. He said he was told at the hospital that he should have run cool water over the damaged skin, instead of the ice he put on the burn.
His advice to other grillers? "Always allow the vapors to dissipate after spraying lighter fluid before lighting a charcoal grill," Bakke suggested.
This wasn't his only brush with a summer burn. Bakke also forgot to put sunscreen on during a summer vacation in Florida, landing him at a walk-in clinic seeking treatment for a severe sunburn. An aloe-based solution was prescribed then, too, along with the recommendation that he take cool showers often and stay out of the sun.
"My recommendation is that you never underestimate the damage the sun can cause," Bakke said, "and always use sunscreen with a minimum strength of 30 SPF."
More information
A companion article details other summertime burn risks.
Man charged in attack on sleeping parents ... Not-guility plea in deadly accident ... School cyberattacks on rise ... State wrestling championships
Man charged in attack on sleeping parents ... Not-guility plea in deadly accident ... School cyberattacks on rise ... State wrestling championships

subset: commoncrawl


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Nickel Sulfate Market 2019 Global Trend, Growth, Demand, Size, Segmentation and Opportunities Forecast To 2025
Nickel Sulfate Market study by "The KD Market Insights" provides details about the market dynamics affecting the market, Market scope, Market segmentation and overlays shadow upon the leading market players highlighting the favorable competitive landscape and trends prevailing over the years.
The research report provides deep insights into the global market revenue, parent market trends, macro-economic indicators, and governing factors, along with market attractiveness per market segment. The report provides an overview of the growth rate of the Nickel Sulfate market during the forecast period, i.e., 2021–2028. Most importantly, the report further identifies the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies. The research segments the market to offer more clarity regarding the industry, the report takes a closer look at the current status of various factors including but not limited to supply chain management, niche markets, distribution channel, trade, supply, and demand and production capability across different countries.
The report profiles the key players in the industry, along with a detailed analysis of their individual positions against the global landscape. The study conducts SWOT analysis to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of the key players in the Nickel Sulfate market. The researcher provides an extensive analysis of the Nickel Sulfate market size, share, trends, overall earnings, gross revenue, and profit margin to accurately draw a forecast and provide expert insights to investors to keep them updated with the trends in the market.
Get the inside scoop of the Sample report@ https://www.kdmarketinsights.com/sample/652
(*If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.)
Competitive scenario:
The study assesses factors such as segmentation, description, and applications of Nickel Sulfate industries. It derives accurate insights to give a holistic view of the dynamic features of the business, including shares, profit generation, thereby directing focus on the critical aspects of the business.
The final report will add the analysis of the Impact of Covid-19 in this report Nickel Sulfate Market.
Adapting to the recent novel COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global Nickel Sulfate Market is included in the present report. The influence of the novel coronavirus pandemic on the growth of the Nickel Sulfate Market is analyzed and depicted in the report.
Some of the companies competing in the Nickel Sulfate Market are
- Umicore
- Norilsk Nickel
- Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd.
- Green Eco-Manufacturer
- Huaze Cobalt & Nickel
- Jilin Jien Nickel Industry.
- Seido Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.
- Jinco Nonferrous
- Univertical
- Nicomet
- Zenith
- Coremax
- Others Major & Niche Key Players.
The Nickel Sulfate Market has been segmented on the basis of different aspects. The market is also segmented according to region. The Nickel Sulfate Market has been segmented into Latin America, North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East & Africa on the basis of region
Research Methodology
The report has its roots definitely set in thorough strategies provided by the proficient data analysts. The research methodology involves the collection of information by analysts only to have them studied and filtered thoroughly in an attempt to provide significant predictions about the market over the review period. The research process further includes interviews with leading market influencers, which makes the primary research relevant and practical. The secondary method gives a direct peek into the demand and supply connection. The market methodologies adopted in the report offer precise data analysis and provides a tour of the entire market. Both primary and secondary approaches to data collection have been used. In addition to these, publicly available sources such as SEC filings, annual reports, and white papers have been used by data analysts for an insightful understanding of the market. The research methodology clearly reflects an intent to extract a comprehensive view of the market by having it analyzed against many parameters. The valued inputs enhance the report and offer an edge over the peers.
Drivers & Constraints
The Nickel Sulfate Market rests united with the incidence of leading players who keep funding to the market's growth significantly every year. The report studies the value, volume trends, and the pricing structure of the market so that it could predict maximum growth in the future. Besides, various suppressed growth factors, restraints, and opportunities are also estimated for the advanced study and suggestions of the market over the assessment period.
Nickel Sulfate Market Segmented by Region/Country: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Central & South America
You can Browse Complete Reports In- Depth Here@ https://www.kdmarketinsights.com/product/652/nickel-sulfate-market-outlook-2018-2023
Thanks for reading this release; you can also customize this report to get select chapters or region-wise coverage with regions such as Asia, North America, and Europe.
About us
KD Market Insights offers a comprehensive database of syndicated research studies, customized reports, and consulting services. These reports are created to help in making smart, instant, and crucial decisions based on extensive and in-depth quantitative information, supported by extensive analysis and industry insights.
Our dedicated in-house team ensures the reports satisfy the requirement of the client. We aim at providing value service to our clients. Our reports are backed by extensive industry coverage and is made sure to give importance to the specific needs of our clients. The main idea is to enable our clients to make an informed decision, by keeping them and ourselves up to date with the latest trends in the market.
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Big inside, small on the outside.
Bolder, sportier and more fun.
Advanced styling inside and out.
A legend reborn.
Best of all worlds.
Performance and efficiency.
Return of recreation.
Sleek and muscular small SUV.
The SUV for every journey.
Tough to the task.
The ultimate family SUV.
Tough, durable and comfortable.
For the toughest challenges in style.
The legendary workhorse.
Professional and reliable.
Comfort and versatility.
Take performance to new heights with the HiLux range, including a 2.8L diesel engine and the latest in Toyota tech, safety and innovation.
Connectivity features like Apple CarPlay®[C12] and Android Auto™[C13] means you're always tuned in.
Toyota Safety Sense[S1] intelligent technology helps keep you safe.
Available as a Single, Extra and Double-Cab, you also have the choice of 4x2 or 4x4.
150kW & 500Nm. The HiLux's top of the line 2.8L diesel engine gets a muscle upgrade, power is up 20kW, while torque gets a 50Nm bump in automatic transmission variants.
Load up. Extra torque and sophisticated towing technology means 4x4 HiLux variants have a 3.5 tonne braked towing capacity[G6].
The HiLux SR 4x4 Double Cab Auto, SR5, Rogue and Rugged X feature rear diff lock, low range 4WD and Downhill Assist Control[S1].
The HiLux has toughened up, with a stepped-up design built around a sturdier grill. The SR5, Rogue and Rugged X also get a set of sharpened LED headlights.
The HiLux wasn't just designed to look tough. Its design was led by function, then tested in the rough and tumble of Australian conditions.
Double-Cab variants have room for 5, so everyone can pile in for every kind of journey, from a lunch run to a fishing expedition.
You wanted a safe place for all your tools, now thanks to extensive design and testing a motorised roller cover comes standard on Rogue. Locking away your load is as simple as pressing a button, while an auto jam feature means nothing gets stuck.
Technology & Interior
SR5, Rogue and Rugged X grade variants come with smart entry and smart start. No more searching for keys in pockets or bags, get in, push a button and you're away.
Whether you're on the worksite or the side of a mountain, you can stay connected to your phone thanks to Apple CarPlay®[C14] and Android Auto™[C14], all controllable by voice command or touch on the 8" colour touchscreen display.
Park and reverse with confidence. All pick-up variants come standard with reversing camera, while SR5 and Rogue grades also feature a 6-sensor front and rear parking sensors[S1].
Stay on the straight and narrow and tow safely. HiLux comes standard with Trailer Sway Control, an intelligent safety technology that corrects and helps minimise sway[S1].
Don't put a foot wrong. Standard on SR 4x4 Double Cab Auto, SR5 4x4, Rogue and Rugged X, this advanced technology steps in on slippery, steep and rocky downhill sections to help you avoid locking up[S1].
Front mounted smart cameras recognise certain Australian speed signs and alert you when it's time to change your speed[S1].
Using the HiLux's built-in camera and radar, the Pre-Collision Safety (PCS) system has been designed to alert you when a frontal collision is likely with another vehicle, pedestrian or Daytime Cyclist, and if required will help you apply the right amount of brake pressure[S1].
The HiLux will sound a buzzer and display a visual warning on the Multi-Information Display, if it senses you have veered out of your lane while travelling at more than 50km/h[S1].
Using its built-in camera and front-grille-mounted radar, HiLux keeps you at a pre-selected speed, automatically accelerating and decelerating with the traffic in front[S1].
Every new model HiLux is equipped with Toyota Connected Services, for a complimentary 3 years access giving you a suite of technology focused on safety and security, convenience and a better driving experience[CS1].
When you buy a new HiLux, you don't have to worry about your service costs. With the Toyota Service Advantage you'll pay the same low prices from one log book service to the next.
Every new HiLux at Kalamunda Toyota is entitled to up to 6 standard scheduled services (every 6 months) at $245* (petrol) / $290* (diesel) for the first 3 years or 60,000km whichever occurs first.
Toyota Service Advantage is available to eligible customers* for new current model vehicles sold. ^Price for petrol models only.
[C14] CarPlay® is a trademark of Apple, Inc. registered in the U.S. and other countries. Android Auto™ is a trademark of Google LLC. Requires compatible device, USB connection, mobile data, network reception & GPS signal. Mobile usage at user's cost. Apps subject to change. For details see toyota.com.au/connected
[G6] Towing capacity subject to regulatory requirements, towbar and vehicle design and towing equipment limitations. Ask your dealer for Toyota Genuine Towbar capacity and availability details.
[S1] Driver assist feature. Only operates under certain conditions. Check your Owner's Manual for explanation of limitations. Please drive safely.
Give the Kalamunda Toyota Sales Team a call at Kalamunda - 08 9257 9100 or Enquire Online.
Get the very latest brochure on the Toyota HiLux.
Experience the HiLux yourself, book a test drive online.
Speak with our team for finance and / or insurance advice.
Submit an enquiry online and we will get back to you quickly.


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Oxford Handbooks Online
Last spring Falvey Memorial Library acquired the digital versions of 25 books in the Oxford Handbook Online series. Each Handbook offers "thorough introductions to topics and a critical survey of the current state of scholarship in a particular field of study, creating an original conception of the field and setting the agenda for new research. The articles review the key issues and major debates, and provide an original argument for how those debates might evolve." Additionally, Oxford produces monthly updates to introduce articles in advance of and beyond what is available in its print editions. Thus, born-digital content ensures the most current, authoritative coverage available.
As e-books continue to increase in popularity, it is our job as librarians and information professionals to provide our users with the best possible resources we can. This means determining when to purchase e-books in addition to or instead of print editions. We consider a variety of criteria when making these decisions, but one of the most important is a given e-book format's ease of use. The Oxford Handbook series of e-books is extremely user friendly, with each chapter or section viewable online in continuous scrolling or downloadable in PDF format. Another important factor we consider is how a given book will be used. For materials such as the Oxford Handbooks, which consist of collections of scholarly essays on a given topic, having access to the e-book format makes them very useful to professors who wish to assign individuals essays from a given book. Students can easily access and download them for free through the library website.
You can view our collection of Oxford Handbooks here, or learn more about the Oxford Handbook Online series here.
Sarah Wingo is the team leader for the Humanities II team and the subject librarian for English, literature and theater.
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*Guest post by Michelle Massaro
Week THREE of COTT's Tournament of Champions saw four more authors compete and three more scavenger hunts played.
Here's a recap:
On Monday, players were sent to Elaine Cooper's Blog with a mission: Find the full name of the girl Nathaniel Stearns falls in love with in the book trailer video on her home page. Renee C won a $10 Amazon gift card from Marianne Evans, author of Hearts Crossing.
Tuesday, the hunt was on at Shellie Neumeier's Blog. The question: What is the name of the book Shellie co-wrote with Lisa Lickel? Tammy G won a $10 Amazon gift card from April Gardner, author of Wounded Spirits.
Wednesday we were led to Naomi Musch's Blog. The question: In her new release, The Red Fury, Colette's daughter Lainey is seeking solace from tragic loss and two searing rejections by doing what 2 things? B.J. Robinson won a $10 CBD gift card donated by Ann Gaylia O'Barr, author of Singing in Babylon.
Want your own spending spree? Be sure to play in this week's hunts. Check Clash of the Titles for game info.
And what about the competing books? Who won?
Karen Witemeyer's A Tailor-Made Bride and Lena Nelson Dooley's Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico battled on Monday. A Tailor-Made Bride came out the winner.Christine Lindsay's Shadowed in Silk and Naomi Musch's The Green Veil struck swords on Wednesday. The Green Veil took the top spot.
These two victorious titles competed together on Friday to determine which would move on to the finals for a chance to win the Laurel Award. And that finalist is...
Karen Witemeyer's A Tailor-Made Bride!
The Laurel will be awarded on November 4th, along with the 15-book grand prize that will be given to one lucky reader. Want a shot at it? You can enter by sharing links, putting up buttons and banners on your blog, becoming a follower of COTT, etc. Details on the prize basket and full instructions on how to enter can be found here. To make it easy to grab n go, here are the banner and button codes (just don't forget to let them know if you put them up!)
Here's the button code:
* Michelle Massaro is the Assistant Editor for COTT. Find her on twitter @MLMassaro, Facebook, and Adventures In Writing.


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Thumbs up! Okay, Kes, show us whatcha got (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
By Mike Mulhern
Brad Keselowski appears to have left his game on the north Texas plains, where his team was busted for that trick rear-end setup back in April.
Over the year's first seven races, including the Texas 500, Keselowski was solid and hot, with shots to win four of those, and averaging a seventh-place finish.
But since that bust, and the penalties, and appeals, the sport's defending champion has averaged a woeful 20th-place finish on average.
He hasn't won a Sprint Cup event since Dover last September. He's fallen to 13th in the standings. To make the playoffs Keselowski almost certainly needs to win a race by the Richmond September cut.
Time to turn things around, clearly.
And winning the pole for Sunday's New Hampshire 301 (301 laps) is a good start. Plus, Jimmie Johnson will start the 1 p.m. ET race dead last, after that 'too low' mistake in Friday qualifying. Plus, this flat one-mile is one of Matt Kenseth's worst tracks.
That sets up the early line for this race as Keselowski versus Kurt Busch versus Kyle Busch....with questions surrounding Denny Hamlin, typically a strong runner here but at the moment recouping from hard crashes at Kentucky and Daytona the last two weeks.
The track has shown odd 'weepers' in turn three, water seeping up through cracks in the asphalt. That's bothered drivers.
And teammates Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya have had surprising tire problems. Montoya crashed early Friday and went to a backup. McMurray crashed Saturday.
"I felt it pop, or go flat, really early, I just couldn't get slowed down," McMurray said. "Every time I got on the brakes it wheel-hopped. I felt like I was going to turn right.
"We cut a left-rear tire down. It's the exact same thing that happened to Juan Pablo the third lap of practice yesterday. It's weird, because we had just put new tires on, and actually added air to the left-rear, trying to make it better. We hadn't had a problem, but we were just trying to be safe.
"So it's a little puzzling that it blew out, when we were trying to be more conservative."
Crew chief Paul Wolfe (R) needs to get Brad Keselowski back in the championship game, and he's got eight races to do it (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
So early on in this three-hour event much of the focus will be on Johnson's charge from the rear, and whatever strategy tricks crew chief Chad Knaus can dream up, and on Keselowski's performance up front.
However Kes isn't known as a front runner here. In his seven previous Cup starts he's led a total of only 10 laps.
But remember races here frequently come down to fuel mileage gambits....and crew chief Paul Wolfe is one of the sport's wiliests.
Keselowski, whose refreshing personality and determined talking points have made him a media fav, has been good for the sport, in the brief two years since he came into his own.
It has been to the sport's detriment that NASCAR executives have seen fit to castigate and muzzle Keselowski so frequently for expressing his feelings.
Can Keselowski and Wolfe get back in the game? It's half-way through the season and they haven't really done much at all since early April.
Not that time is running out; there are still eight races till the playoff cut. And Keselowski and Wolfe have been streak players.
But they certainly need to start getting some momentum.
Sunday here, with Johnson in a hole, is opportunity.
"I think our team is ready," Keselowski says cautiously. "We have been close. We've had the speed the last few weeks to get the job done, but different scenarios have bitten us.
"This is our time.
"There is a sense of urgency but not a sense of panic. We are eager to get going, we are hungry and feel we can do it.
"But I don't feel a sense of panic. There are still two months of racing to get into the chase. We have fast race cars, and if we do our part, we don't need any help. If we do our part, we don't even need any luck."
Wolfe and Keselowski haven't done much lately, and haven't won since last September. Time to get cracking (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
However there is the nagging sense that something is missing here, the spark simply can't be seen. Keselowski has been key to the team's performance as much for his energetic work as cheerleader and point man as for his work at the wheel.
And Keselowski just hasn't been all that fired up lately....perhaps feeling the cumulative weight of all that NASCAR nitpicking.
The sport would be much better off with a refired Keselowski, and his team would be more of a threat, it seems, if Keselowski could once again feisty on up...and if NASCAR officials would just shut up and let 'em all race.
But Kes insists he's still got the fires burning, that the weight of being the sport's champion isn't weighing too heavily on him.
"I still have the same goal, and that is to continue to be a winner, and that is what fuels me inside.
"The competitive fire that burns inside of me is still there... whether I was a champion or not.
"I probably have it with a little bit more confidence, and I believe in myself and those around me a little stronger because of the championship. But as far as those core values, they remain the same.
"....and if we can get over this little hump we are fighting through right now, there is no reason both cars at Penske Racing can't make the chase."
The battleground: New Hampshire Motor Speedway, 90 minutes north of Boston (Photo: NHMS)
© 2010-2011 www.mikemulhern.net All rights reserved.
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Secure Hotspot is a Windows only feature that allows you to create a secure Wifi hotspot right on your computer (if you have a compatible wireless adapter). While Connected to Windscribe, you can allow others to connect to this hotspot and take advantage of your secured connection, without having them install Windscribe on their device.
You and a friend are on a restrictive network, but only you have Windscribe installed. Now you can share your connection with your friend and allow them to access the Internet with no restrictions. You can also connect other Internet-enabled devices like TVs, game consoles, etc, which are not supported by any of our applications.
Go into Windscribe Preferences -> Share and enable "Secure Hotspot".
Choose the network name and pick a password, and click OK.
Find the Wifi network on another device and connect with the password that you chose above.
All the activity on the 2nd device will now be proxied through one of Windscribe's servers.
Governments block content based on your location. Corporations track and sell your personal data. Get Windscribe and take back control of your privacy.
Protect your browsing history from your network administrator, ISP, or your mom. We don't keep any logs, so your private data stays with you.
Windscribe masks your IP address. This gives you unrestricted and private access to entertainment, news sites, and blocked content in over 50 different countries
Prevent hackers from stealing your data while you use public WIFI and block annoying advertisers from stalking you online.
Bảo vệ sự riêng tư toàn diện, sử dụng máy tính bàn của chúng tôi và trình duyệt combo (đều miễn phí).
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WASHINGTON — A high-level government review to learn whether the FBI, CIA, or other federal security agencies might have prevented the Boston Marathon bombings has been further delayed as a result of the government shutdown earlier this month, according to US intelligence officials.
The classified assessment, initiated by the inspectors general of four agencies after the deadly April 15 attacks, has bogged down because of "the recent lapse in appropriations" and a series of furloughs, the officials told the Globe last week.
Officials had already told Congress the probe was taking longer than expected and would not meet a September deadline. A a new date to have it done has not been set, said a spokesman for I. Charles McCullough, the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community.
The news drew negative reactions from Massachusetts officials who have raised questions about how authorities handled tips from Russia regarding the potential radicalization of one of the bombing suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and whether procedures need to be tightened.
"If that is not a priority I don't know what is," said Representative William Keating, a Bourne Democrat and member of the Homeland Security Committee. "The purpose is to see what could have been done differently to prevent [an attack] in the future."
The stymied efforts are the latest example of the ripple effects from the 17-day shuttering of many federal operations, which was the result of Congress' failure to reach a budget agreement before the new fiscal year began on Oct. 1.
Officials said the shutdown has hampered various agencies' ability to conduct interviews, undertake research, or pay support personnel who are responsible for reviewing the operations of the government's terrorism databases before the Marathon attack and determining whether information on the bombing suspects was properly handled.
Edward F. Davis, Boston's police commissioner, who has been critical of the level of cooperation between federal and local officials before the bombing, is among those eager to see the results of the inquiry.
"I think the after-action report is critical, and it should be prioritized," he said. "I don't think it is healthy for the nation to have this happen and not vet all the systems."
The holdup was explained as court filings in Boston revealed that a friend implicated Tamerlan Tsarnaev in an unsolved triple homicide in Waltham on Sept. 11, 2011 — half a year after the FBI, at the urging of the Russian government, first interviewed him for possible terrorist ties.
A key question for the inspectors general in the Marathon case is whether the FBI or Homeland Security should have more directly alerted local law enforcement of Tsarnaev's travels to the restive Russian province of Dagestan before the bombing or if they fully heeded warnings from Russian intelligence that he was being indoctrinated by radical Muslim websites.
The FBI has maintained that all relevant information on its 2011 inquiry of Tsarnaev — in which it said it found no reason to believe he posed a threat — was shared with the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Boston and was therefore available to local law enforcement officials who are members.
But Davis has complained repeatedly that inputting such information in a shared database without actively alerting local officials is not sufficient.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout in Watertown on April 19, while his brother and alleged accomplice, Dzhokhar, is being held at Fort Devens federal prison and faces 30 charges. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
The traditional role of inspectors general is to conduct independent investigations of the internal operations of government agencies. The Marathon review was ordered two weeks after the twin bombings in Copley Square killed three people and wounded more than 250 others.
Launched by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, it was designed to review "the US government's handling of intelligence information leading up the Boston Marathon bombings," according to his directive.
Among the agencies involved are the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the CIA, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Justice Department, which has authority over the FBI.
"They want to have an objective assessment and they want it to come from people inside their organizations so that they can fix things," said Kevin T. Ryan, a retired Army general who is now director of defense and intelligence projects at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. "Did we make mistakes before, during or after and how can we correct those mistakes?"
The shutdown, however, has compounded what was already proving to be a difficult exercise.
Last month congressional oversight communities were informed that while officials were "working diligently" to complete the review, the process of interviewing counter-terrorism officials and reviewing computer files had turned out to be more challenging than expected. McCullough, the intelligence community's inspector general, said at the time that "information relevant to the review is still being provided to the review teams."
A senior Senate staffer, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said briefings recently scheduled for intelligence officials to brief key congressional committees on the progress of the review were canceled.
As for Keating, any potential revelations from the review about the FBI's dealings with the Tsarnaev family and the Russian government could prove critical: The congressman has met with intelligence officials in Russia who had been monitoring the older brother's activities and said he still has not received an answer to a detailed letter he sent the bureau over the summer.
The FBI has also declined to testify publicly before congressional oversight committees, citing the ongoing criminal case against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
"I'm hopeful [the IG] review will tell us more than the FBI has," Keating said.
Bryan Bender can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeBender


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Italian Talmudist of the eighteenth century; born in Modena; died at Padua 1830. He was educated and first served as rabbi in his native place; he then became joint rabbi at Mantua with Jacob Cases, and, finally, rabbi of Padua, where he was the teacher of M. G. Ghirondi. He was the author of sermons, halakic decisions, and a short compendium on the laws contained in Shulḥan 'Aruk, Yoreh De'ah, 29-60, 98-110, which work Ghirondi possessed in manuscript. He wrote, besides, notes to Reggio's "Ha-Torah weha-Filosofia" (MS. Almanzi, 115), published anonymously in Modena in 1797, and "Il Luminario Ecclissato" (Parma, 1797),in answer to the "Luminario dei Ciechi" of the neophyte Maria Gazzoli.
- Nepi-Ghirondi, Toledot Gedole Yisrael, p. 42;
- Steinschneider, Hebr. Bibl. iv. 149, vi. 86;
- Il Vessillo Israelitico, xxvi. 15, 281;
- Monatsschrift, 1900, xliv. 87;
- Mortara, Indice, p. 47.


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Geert sent me this link: Slavoj Zizek,The Guardian.
When were you happiest?
A few times when I looked forward to a happy moment or remembered it - never when it was happening.
What is your greatest fear?
To awaken after death - that's why I want to be burned immediately.
What is your earliest memory?
My mother naked. Disgusting.
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the twice-deposed president of Haiti. He is a model of what can be done for the people even in a desperate situation.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Indifference to the plights of others.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Their sleazy readiness to offer me help when I don't need or want it.
What was your most embarrassing moment?
Standing naked in front of a woman before making love.
Aside from a property, what's the most expensive thing you've bought?
The new German edition of the collected works of Hegel.
What is your most treasured possession?
See the previous answer.
What makes you depressed?
Seeing stupid people happy.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
That it makes me appear the way I really am.
What is your most unappealing habit?
The ridiculously excessive tics of my hands while I talk.
What would be your fancy dress costume of choice?
A mask of myself on my face, so people would think I am not myself but someone pretending to be me.
What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Watching embarrassingly pathetic movies such as The Sound Of Music.
What do you owe your parents?
Nothing, I hope. I didn't spend a minute bemoaning their death.
To whom would you most like to say sorry, and why?
To my sons, for not being a good enough father.
What does love feel like?
Like a great misfortune, a monstrous parasite, a permanent state of emergency that ruins all small pleasures.
What or who is the love of your life?
Philosophy. I secretly think reality exists so we can speculate about it.
What is your favourite smell?
Nature in decay, like rotten trees.
Have you ever said 'I love you' and not meant it?
All the time. When I really love someone, I can only show it by making aggressive and bad-taste remarks.
Which living person do you most despise, and why?
Medical doctors who assist torturers.
What is the worst job you've done?
Teaching. I hate students, they are (as all people) mostly stupid and boring.
What has been your biggest disappointment?
What Alain Badiou calls the 'obscure disaster' of the 20th century: the catastrophic failure of communism.
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
My birth. I agree with Sophocles: the greatest luck is not to have been born - but, as the joke goes on, very few people succeed in it.
If you could go back in time, where would you go?
To Germany in the early 19th century, to follow a university course by Hegel.
How do you relax?
Listening again and again to Wagner.
How often do you have sex?
It depends what one means by sex. If it's the usual masturbation with a living partner, I try not to have it at all.
What is the closest you've come to death?
When I had a mild heart attack. I started to hate my body: it refused to do its duty to serve me blindly.
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
To avoid senility.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
The chapters where I develop what I think is a good interpretation of Hegel.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
That life is a stupid, meaningless thing that has nothing to teach you.
Tell us a secret.
Communism will win.
FYI: Zizek will give the plenary address for the Foundations of Political Theory at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association in Boston on August 29.


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This is a Wedgwood blue Jasperware 2000 Hebe & Eagle collector plate. It is 7-1/4" in diameter. It is in very nice condition with no chips, cracks or crazing. The bottom is marked Wedgwood Made in England. Original box
Vintage Wedgewood Jasperware green cache pot or flower pot in Greek Lion motif. This piece measures 4-½" tall and 5" diameter. No notable flaws, chips or cracks. Marked Wedgewood Made in England.
THis lovely Eastate find will be sure to impress. Made by Wedgewood in England. This delicate demitasse size set consists of the teapot, creamer, sugar and has 4 cups with matching saucers. The set is pale yellow and painted with delicate lavender flowers and has gold highlight trims. Every single piece is in pristine condition with no chips, cracks or wear. Each has the Wedgewood back stamp marked on the bottom with the artists initials...
Jasperware trinket box by Wedgwood. This beautiful box is jet black in color and is in the English Grape pattern, I believe. It measures about 4.5" in diameter and approx. 3.75" tall (including the lid.) It is in wonderful used condition with no chips or cracks or flaws. Stamped Wedgewood Made in England 74 (and some other little impressed letters ), GORGEOUS!!!
Vintage Wedgewood Jasperware Green Compote Dish RARE. Pretty grapes and leaves relief in white on green. Measures - 3 7/8" tall x 6" across the Top x 3 5/8" base diameter.
This item is in MINT condition with NO Chips, cracks, or repairs. The BAS Relief is in PERFECT condition.Marked MX Wedgewood, Made in England and has numbers also. All marks are pressed into the piece.
All Items : Children's Dishes : Pre 1970
item #1053434
(stock #safn-2005)
This little jasperware teapot with lid measures just 2" tall but is in PERFECT condition. Has white laurel trims and a coat of arms that says Felix Towe. Maybe this was a souvenir from the Felix Tower. There is markings imprinted into the bottom but I can't make them out. Perhaps this is a real Wedgewood piece, not sure.
Dated 1957 and Wedgewood marked. Light blue and white jasperware table lighter. Ronson refillable chrome lighter, Design is an angel driving a chariot and a Roman with an arrow in his hand. Perfect condition.
Wedgewood of Etruria & Barlaston, Patrician 2 handle soup bowl or mug. These are hard to find pieces to this set. Cream body with relief pattern of scrolls and flowers. Measures 5 1/4" in diameter plus the two handles. I have a pristine one for 16.50 and the other has a faint 1 3/4" hairline down one side for $10.00.
Pretty octagon shape dishes in the Wedgewood blue jasperware. I have two of these that are identical. Each has the center motif of Cowick Hall, and the laurel trim. They measure almost 5" in diameter. On the back is stamped, Wedgewood made in England. Each one is in pristine condition. Price is for each one.
Nice vintage wedgewood heart dish in green with the white laurel border. Not sure of the pattern name in the center. Appears to be a young couple and an elder. Measures approx 4 1/4" by 4 1/2". Perfect condition and stamped with the wedgewood markings.
Clearly stamped into the back, Wedgewood, Made in england. This green jasperware pin dish or mint dish measures about 4 1/4" in diameter. Center design is three dancing ladies. Perfect condition.
Pretty covered vanity box has the pegasis design on the top. Measures 3 1/2" across the top of the lid. 1 3/4" deep. This piece was aquired with other wedgewood jasperware pieces that were marked. This piece is not marked however. You will have to use your own judgement to its authenticity, as I do not have much experience with Wedgewood. It is however in pristine condition and I see no difference myself.
You're not gonna believe these are plastic!! Very finely detailed to look just like the real Wedgewood porcelain. These vintage shakers would be practical for your everyday use. It would look like you were using the real deal!! Measures 2 1/2" tall. Perfect condition and made in Hong Kong. Tops screw off for filling.
All Items : Collector Plates : Pre 1980
item #455790
(stock #safn-2352)
Collectors plate by Wedgewood from the "My memories" collection. A 1981 limited edition crafted in Queen's ware. Limited edition, hand numbered, and in perfect condition. Full size collector plate comes in original box with paperwork and certificate of authenticity.
Pretty pale mint green bowl measures 4 3/4" in diameter. It is 1 1/4" deep. White cameo bust in the center of the bowl. Pie crust edge. Perfect condition. There is a small bubble bust on the edge. You can tell it was from production. This piece is not marked, but the owner insists its wedgewood. Very pretty!
Indian tree pattern on this lovely Wedgewood England demitasse size cup and saucer. Saucer measures 4 3/4" diameter and cup is 2 1/2" tall. Pristine condition. Marked with the unicorn stamp
There are 6 of these sets available. Price is for 1 cup with a saucer. All are in perfect condition.Email fpr photo of back stamp.
All Items : Dinnerware : Pre 1950
item #343357
(stock #safn-866)
Three of the very hard to find pieces in the Wedgewood green leaf pattern (Queens shape) This shape was designed for Queen Charolette in 1765.Wedgewood Barlaston Made in England. Gravy boat with attatched liner..$60.00... 15 1/2" platter $82.50. And.. hardest to find.. the largest 17 1/2" platter $115.00. All pieces are in pristine condition! Please specify item when ordering.
Pure creamy white with raised fruit and floral patterns. Demitasse size. Cup is on a little foot and measures a little over 2 1/2" tall. Saucer is 5 1/4" wide. Actually I believe this is pottery. Excellent condition. Makers stamp says Wedgewood Wellesley ofetruria & Barlaston Made in England. I believe there are 4 sets availiable. Price is for cup and one saucer. Let me know quanity when ordering. Email me if you would like to view photo of the back stamp.


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
Yes. Your feedback is important and helps us ensure our customer service standards are being consistently met. To leave feedback, please email the Assessor's Office.
Show All Answers
Changes in the real estate market are the likely reason for your value change. Since the county assessor is required by law to assess all taxable property at market value, when the market changes significantly, assessed values follow suit.
Assessed value changes may also be due to physical changes to your property that affected its market value. Additions, renovations, demolition of existing structures, or physical deterioration are common examples.
The Assessor's office studies the real estate market for each property type using recent sale prices. Since sales are directly recorded in the Assessor/Register of Deed's office, the sale information is considered up-to-date and sales are individually verified by members of the assessment staff.
Sale prices are considered a strong indicator of market value, so our team compares the sale price to the last recorded assessed value. When the market trend in an area shows that sale prices have significantly increased or decreased since the last assessment, a revaluation is necessary to ensure assessments reflect market value as required by law.
The assessed values of residential homes are primarily determined using sale prices of comparable homes in the area. Commercial properties are valued using comparable sales, but also rely on more specific information, like rental rates, vacancy rates, or market capitalization, which are necessary to perform an income approach to estimate market value. Agricultural or horticultural land valuation is conducted using sales of agricultural or horticultural land and determining market value per acre based on the use of the land in primarily irrigated, dryland, or grassland uses.
Access your property information on our website and click the "Appeal" link. You may also schedule by calling our office at 402-441-7463.
You can start by creating a new user account on the Online Appeal site. Or, access your property information on our website, and click the "Online Appeal" tab. You may also schedule by calling our office at (402) 441-7463.
If you have information that shows the assessed value of your property is above its market value, you are encouraged to either schedule an informal hearing between January 15th and February 1st, or file a formal valuation protest with the County Clerk from June 1 to June 30.
Yes. Please call our office at 402-441-7463 to schedule.
Residential and Agricultural phone hearings are scheduled for 15 minutes.
Commercial and multifamily property telephone hearings are scheduled for 30 minutes.
Since the phone hearings can move quickly, it is best that you prepare and submit your information in advance. Any information that supports your opinion is helpful. Common examples include:
The information can be uploaded to your assigned appeal after logging into the Online Appeal site, and clicking the "Manage Documents" link .
Final values will be posted on the website by March 25th, and final valuation notices will be mailed to all owners whose value changed from 2022 to 2023 on or before June 1st.
Formal protests to the County Board of Equalization may be filed with the County Clerk from June 1st to June 30th. More information on the protest process can be found on the Clerk's Office Page.
Your property tax bill represents your share of the budgets approved by local taxing bodies for their operations. Property taxes are the primary source of funding for local governments and public education. The role of your assessor is to fairly and objectively establish market value estimates for all taxable property, as accurately as possible.
That valuation later determines the share of the budgets paid by each property owner. At this stage of the process, informal hearings are just that: an informal hearing to discuss your property valuation. Discussions on property taxes involve the taxing bodies, budgets, and tax rates that have not yet been established.
As the appraisers determine "market value" for properties they use recent sales of properties that are as comparable to your home as possible. However, rarely are two homes "identical". Therefore, the valuation model makes adjustments to sale prices to reflect those differences. If a house exactly like yours sold, but has a three car garage, and yours only has two… the sale price of the other home will be adjusted downward. This ensures sale prices of comparable homes are properly considered, and reflect an apples-to-apples comparison to your home.


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How many times has this happened to you? You're loaded up and headed out for a day on the shooting range. You've got your gear packed up and ready to go. You've got your AR-15, your optics, your ammo, and your magazines secured in your black tactical nylon rifle bag. Your bag is festooned with police patches, unit crests, your name and blood type and your favorite morale patches. You grab your car keys and head out the front door only to find your nosy neighbor outside watering his lawn. You duck back into the house, hoping to remain unseen rather than face your neighbor and endure the endless questions about what kind of rifle you've got in the fancy black rifle bag...
While the above scenario is a bit far-fetched, there are times when it is best to go unnoticed, especially when transporting a long gun and accompanying gear. I live in a rather nice neighbor but am always trying to be mindful of who is watching as I come and go. If I'm carrying a firearm or anything shooting related I'm extra cautious, not wishing to advertise what I might have in my house.
Along these lines, I've been to several carbine courses that required travel away from home and a night or two in a hotel. Not wishing to leave any firearms or related equipment in an unattended vehicle, I'm always a little uncomfortable carrying tactical rifle bags through the hotel lobby while coming and going.
Not Very Discreet
Many companies currently make "discreet" rifle bags that do a fairly decent job of protecting expensive gear while looking inconspicuous. But these bags have become more and more common and have now become a rather-recognized standard.
In short, these bags look like discreet rifle bags, thus defeating the purpose of the whole "discreet" concept.
Enter 5.11 Tactical
To solve this problem the folks over at 5.11 Tactical recently released their new COVRT M4 rifle bag. The COVRT M4 is a rifle bag at heart but takes the discreet concept to the next level. Currently only available in gray with black trim or gray with blue trim, the new COVRT M4 bag features a large rifle compartment that's sized to fit most M4-type firearms. At the bottom of this rifle compartment is a heavy duty pocket that secures the muzzle and protects the zipper and seams from getting torn by the flash hider.
At the top of the rifle compartment is a removable Velcro strap for securing the rifle's stock so that it doesn't flop around while in transport. The rifle compartment is wide enough to secure a carbine equipped with a small scope or red-dot optic and a 30-round
magazine. On the outside of the bag, there is a large secondary storage compartment that's nearly two feet long. It is suitable for hearing protection, cleaning equipment or even a light jacket. At the top of the bag is another small compartment that's sized for carrying a couple of 30-roudn magazines and a couple boxes of ammo.
The COVRT uses one large cross body strap but also has two carrying handles for ease of transport. The bag is constructed of heavy duty nylon and YKK zippers for durability. The large main compartment is padded to help protect the rifle from bumps and dings along the way.
As already mentioned, the COVRT M4 takes the covert rifle bag to a new level and does a good job of looking more like a sports bag rather than a rifle bag. Now you can pack for the range and step out of the house without drawing undue attention.
Well, maybe not. You'll still have to face your nosy neighbor while he asks, "Hey! What's in the nifty satchel?"


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John Barber
John Barber was born in London at the height of the UK Post War baby boom. The Education Act of 1944 saw great changes in the way the nation was taught; the main one being that all...view moreJohn Barber was born in London at the height of the UK Post War baby boom. The Education Act of 1944 saw great changes in the way the nation was taught; the main one being that all children stayed at school until the age of 15 (later increased to 16). For the first time working class children were able to reach higher levels of academic study and the opportunity to gain further educational qualifications at University.This explosion in education brought forth a new aspirational middle class; others remained true to their working class roots. The author belongs somewhere between the two. Many of the author's main characters have their genesis in this educational revolution. Their dialogue though idiosyncratic can normally be understood but like all working class speech it is liberally sprinkled with strange boyhood phrases and a passing nod to cockney rhyming slang.John Barber's novels are set in fictional English towns where sexual intrigue and political in-fighting is rife beneath a pleasant, small town veneer of respectability.They fall within the cozy, traditional British detective sections of mystery fiction.He has been writing professionally since 1996 when he began to contribute articles to magazines on social and local history. His first published book in 2002 was a non-fiction work entitled The Camden Town Murder which investigated a famous murder mystery of 1907 and names the killer. This is still available in softback and as an ebook, although not available from SmashwordsJohn Barber had careers in Advertising, International Banking and the Wine Industry before becoming Town Centre Manager in his home town of Hertford. He is now retired and lives with his wife and two cats on an island in the middle of Hertford and spends his time between local community projects and writing further novels.view less


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TechRadar Verdict
- +
Exceptionally versatile
- +
Good video performance
- +
Surprisingly good audio, too
- -
Annoying to use
- -
Fan and transport noise
- -
Poor default settings
Why you can trust TechRadar
The term 'universal', as applied to pretty much anything in home electronics, is generally only valid for a few minutes these days. No sooner is a 'universal' player on the market than some new format, specifi cation or system is launched which is beyond its ken.
That said, we can't actually think of anything this player won't do. The big news, the thing that makes it more universal than last year's crop, is 3D video support. Maybe that'll take off, maybe it won't: we're more interested in audio performance. But it does a very decent job of handling anything else you can throw at it.
Blu-ray audio and video discs, every flavour of DVD we can recall encountering, SACD, CD, photo discs, all the various data disc formats with all the various compressed file formats. Oh, OK, it won't play OGG or any losslessly compressed file formats, which isn't a huge blow since few (if any) competitors will.
It does support AAC, though, which isn't so common and gets a tick from us as we would love to see this superior system replace MP3.
Silver discs and more
On the other hand, it's not limited just to playing discs. It has a USB socket on the front (which handles uncompressed files, hurrah, as well as the usual compressed formats) and an Ethernet socket at the rear through which it can talk to your home network, allowing it to play files from on your computer or Network Attached Storage and also play files on YouTube.
There's no option to play internet radio, so that's something for the next generation to add, and we can't see any way to play wax cylinders...
Pardon? Ah, yes, thank you. When CD was launched it was a very simple system that stored audio in a fixed format. You put a disc in, it was recognised, you played it. Subsequent generations have added functionality because the boffins could and the marketing bods could sell it.
Functions are great, but they make things complex. You can't set this player up fully without a TV screen attached (fair enough, it is marketed as an AV unit first and foremost so it is likely to live near a screen in most applications) and even then it's a little bewildering.
The instruction manual is heavy enough to use as an offensive weapon and isn't the best we've seen by a long way – frankly some of it is as clear as mud, but the information's in there somewhere.
Knock twice for 'Play'
But in most situations you can still plonk a disc in the tray, press 'Play' and simply listen. Marantz has taken the issue of loading time seriously and it's down below 10s for all the disc types we tried, which is an improvement on the 12-15s we've seen from several recent machines.
But there are some bizarre operational details. Not the least of these is that pressing 'Play' doesn't necessarily make the machine play. If it's been idle for more than about a minute, the transport spins down (like most new-format transports, it keeps spinning for a while after one presses 'stop'), after which pressing any control button simply brings it back awake. One must then press the button again to make it actually do something useful. Annoying? Very much so!
Another detail which we bet most users will miss is that the downsampling applied by default to the digital output seems to affect the analogue output, too. It's understandable that the digital output is converted down to 48kHz when high-sampling sources are played, because if this is connected to a typical AV receiver the latter probably won't accept high sampling rates.
But surely the stereo audio output (at least) should derive the benefits of extended bandwidth? In practice, if the default settings are not changed, the analogue output is limited to 24kHz bandwidth – and the downsampling filter has rather poor performance, too, with deviations from a flat response (technically referred to as 'ripple') that are about the worst we can remember seeing from any digital equipment ever.
Inside the case are five stereo DAC chips, necessitated by the 7.1 channels of surround sound plus the stereo pair. The DAC in question is described as a '32-bit' part and indeed its manufacturer uses the same term in the data sheet. Yes, it accepts 32-bit data but in no meaningful sense does its performance approach 32 bits of genuine analogue precision – not even 24, indeed, though it is one of the closest to that.
Each DAC channel feeds a neatly laid-out array of analogue filter and buffer components, the whole 10 channels-worth taking up very little space.
Advantage audiophile?
Video processing stuff takes up even less space and is distinguished by an impressively large heatsink sitting on top of the main processing chip.
Between that, the rest of the circuits and the (switch-mode) power supply, quite a lot of heat is generated and it is dispersed by a fan, which runs at all times. It's fairly quiet but by no means silent, and simply adds to a growing list of reasons why we don't expect this machine to appeal to many audio purists.
The disc transport makes a moderate amount of noise, mostly an indistinct whooshing sound and we were rather disappointed to find that ours rattled like anything when playing Blu-ray discs. We soon shut it up with a judiciously placed cotton wool bud, but we really hope that doesn't affect more than this one sample.
Now that we've painted a slightly gloomy picture of this machine's audiophile potential, what does it actually sound like?
Thankfully, it's not half-bad. We spent quite a lot of time playing CD on it, simply because the vast majority of the world's digital music discs are CD. It's got a good sense of timing, good detail and plenty of extension in both bass and treble.
You can find a slightly more solid bass, perhaps, in a few mid-range CD players and the higher frequencies don't quite have the crystalline purity of that in some of the better dedicated players around, but we enjoyed our time with it nonetheless, once we had put it in a place where its fan and transport noise were (just about) inaudible.
Stereo still the best?
With SACD and DVD-A discs, once we had set things up correctly, we felt the sound was just a shade more open and detailed, with better depth and greater precision in stereo images.
The sample Blu-ray music disc we tried (hey, how many have you got?) was encouraging in some ways, with excellent definition, but was also somewhat frustrating in offering only a 48kHz sampling rate. 96/24 DVD-A recordings, including a couple of in-house productions, made more of an impression.
Of course, one of the big attractions of this player is the comprehensive multichannel output. 7.1-channel audio is rare going on non-existent, but some 5.1-channel productions sound impressive in a rather classy AV-based system.
But 'impressive' is rather the key word here: not many surround recordings seem to have been made with natural spatial qualities in mind and it's probably not an accident that most audiophile-oriented high-resolution players are stereo-only. Bluntly put, we had the most convincingly musical experiences exclusively from stereo discs, in any format.
We did appreciate some very fine video images, too! The USB input seems to match disc-sourced sound, given that its maximum sampling rate is 48kHz. Data-compressed (MP3 etc.) files from USB or disc sound about as good as they ever do, and in fact we admit that some AAC-encoded files at higher data rates had us fooled that we were listening to perfectly respectable CD sound.
From an audiophile perspective, there are plenty of disc players around which at least match the UD7006 for sound, but in a mixed audio/video playback environment, the UD7006 makes a lot of sense and is actually very good value.
Follow TechRadar Reviews on Twitter: http://twitter.com/techradarreview


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OxyElite Pro: Health Advisory – Acute Hepatitis Illness Cases Linked To Product Use (News Release)
ISSUE: The FDA, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Hawaii Department of Health (DOH), are investigating a growing number of reports of acute non-viral hepatitis in Hawaii. The Hawaii DOH has reported that 24 of these cases share a common link to a dietary supplement product labeled as OxyElite Pro.
BACKGROUND: OxyElite Pro is distributed by USPlabs LLC of Dallas, Texas, and is sold nation-wide through a wide range of distribution channels, including the internet and retail stores that sell dietary supplements. There have been 29 cases of acute non-viral hepatitis with an unknown cause identified in the state of Hawaii. Eleven of the 29 cases have been hospitalized with acute hepatitis, two cases have received liver transplants and one person has died. CDC is also looking at other cases of liver injury nationwide that may be related. Symptoms of all types of hepatitis are similar and can include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, clay or gray-colored bowel movements, joint pain, yellow eyes, and jaundice.
The epidemiological investigation is being conducted by the Hawaii DOH and the CDC. As part of FDA's associated investigation, the agency is reviewing the medical records and histories of patients identified by the Hawaii DOH. The FDA is also analyzing the composition of product samples that have been collected from some of these patients. Additionally, the FDA is inspecting the facilities involved in manufacturing the product and reviewing production and product distribution records. Because USPlabs LLC has informed FDA that it believes counterfeit versions of OxyElite Pro are being marketed in the US and have been on the US market for some time, FDA is also investigating whether counterfeit product is related to any of the cases of acute hepatitis.
RECOMMENDATION: The FDA advises consumers to stop using any dietary supplement product labeled as OxyElite Pro while the investigation continues. Consumers who believe they have been harmed by using a dietary supplement should contact their health care practitioner.
Healthcare professionals and patients are encouraged to report adverse events or side effects related to the use of these products to the FDA's MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program:
- Complete and submit the report Online: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm1Download form or call 1-800-332-1088 to request a reporting form, then complete and return to the address on the pre-addressed form, or submit by fax to 1-800-FDA-0178
Read the MedWatch Safety Alert, including links to the FDA Recalls, Outbreaks and Emergencies page at: http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm370857.htm


text: Continuing the chronicle of the Marvel Universe, starting with Spider-Man (from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #523 on), Iron Man (from INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #2 on) and the X-Men (from UNCANNY X-MEN #514 on). Follow the history of the Marvel universe as it unfolds month by month with the all-new Official Index to the Marvel Universe. Each issue provides synopses for dozens of individual comics, including back-up strips, introducing you to the characters, teams, places and equipment that appeared within, providing vital information about first appearances, where they last showed up and where they appeared next!


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This article is more than 1 year old
Ubuntu fluffs web file-synchronization service
Battles Microsoft off desktop
Ubuntu's commercial backer won't fluff its own cloud, but Canonical isn't eschewing online services in the battle against Microsoft.
Canonical has begun beta tests of a web-based service that'll let you store and synchronize files on your Jaunty Jackalope PC with other Jackalope-powered machines. Called Ubuntu One, it's designed to provide you with access to your files using a web interface when you're away from your main machine. The service also promises to let you share documents with others.
The fledgling service seems like an early attempt to diversify Canonical and offer fresh appeal to Linux on PCs, while outflanking Microsoft and Windows.
Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth told The Reg during a recent, separate interview that Canonical won't compete against Amazon by providing its own cloud - despite making Jackalope cloud friendly. Rather, the fight is against Microsoft, and the battleground is online services.
"We will not provide infrastructure. We will not compete with Amazon. We'd rather provide slick and leading services," Shuttleworth told us.
"I think the folks to beat are Microsoft - there's a tremendous amount of inertia in the market place. For the moment, the Windows versus something else is the big question in peoples' minds. Our focus is on delivering the best web experience."
The pressure on Ubuntu and other distros will increase in the lead up to, and aftermath of, Windows 7 this year - especially in the open market for netbooks. Services are seen as the ideal complement to this class of devices that are lacking in storage and processing power.
Microsoft has already deployed online services ahead of the Windows 7 launch. SkyDrive, part of Windows Live and the Hotmail family, comes with 25GB of storage for free and the ability to upload your documents and photos for online access from any device, not just a PC running Windows. SkyDrive also features collaboration and document sharing, while it's immediately available to one of Microsoft's best online assets: Hotmail, which serves up an audience of more than 270 million individual accounts.
Unlike SkyDrive, the Ubuntu One beta has its hurdles. But this is a beta. You need to download a piece of code to your machine. Storage space is limited: 2Gb for free and 10Gb for $10 per month. And it's only for machines running Jaunty Jackalope, Ubuntu 9.04. Also, this being a Web 2.0 beta, you can't get on Ubuntu One unless you receive an invitation. And there's already at least one non-Microsoft alternative: Dropbox, which works on Windows and Mac in addition to Linux.
It's not clear what Canonical's plans are for Ubuntu in terms of features of whether it will become something partners or Ubuntu users can re-brand and re-sell.
As far as Ubuntu goes, the idea is to add features that help other people build public and private clouds and online services that can compete with Microsoft and Windows on the PC. Jaunty Jackalope made Ubuntu more suited for use in an Amazon cloud, with the ability to run Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) and the Eucalyptus open-source framework to implement your own, hosted elastic computing cluster.
The next edition of Ubuntu, Karmic Koala, will build on this. There will be work in messaging, directory, web capabilities, and collaboration.
Canonical, meanwhile, is working with Oracle to certify the giant's database on Ubuntu. Oracle has been a strong backer for Linux where it can advance the company's database: Oracle became the first commercial database on Linux, back in 1998. Canonical, meanwhile, has already worked with Sun Microsystems, which is being acquired by Oracle, on making Java run properly on Ubuntu. ®


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MER Spirit landing site - Gusev Crater
The first of two Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) landed within Gusev Crater on Mars on January 3, 2004. The robotic rover, named Spirit, bounced to a halt within an 81 km by 12 km (50 by 7 miles) target landing ellipse inside the ancient crater. Once settled into its new "home", Spirit began its mission of exploring for geologic evidence of the presence of water in Gusev Crater's past.
The MER vehicles are robotic field geologists especially designed to detect rocks and soils that might indicate that liquid water was once present at their landing sites on Mars. Gusev Crater, formed by the impact of an asteroid three to four billion years ago, may have held a large lake in the distant past. A valley named Ma'adim Vallis, which is connected to the south side of the crater, looks like it may have been a river channel that poured water into the ancient lake. If that is the case, Gusev Crater should show signs of the former presence of water in its rock and soil formations.
MER mission scientists hope to find layered, sedimentary deposits indicating deposition of materials by flowing water. They are also looking for types of rocks and minerals called evaporites that form on Earth when water dries up, leaving the minerals it contains behind. For example, evaporation of salty water produces deposits of the mineral halite. Gypsum or calcium magnesian sulfate are other types of evaporites. MER is looking for carbonates (such as calcium carbonate), which also form in the presence of water and often indicate that living organisms were present. Wet environments are the best places to look for life, which is why scientists are so eager to track down places on Mars that were once wet.
Gusev Crater is about 145 km (90 miles) wide and covers an area roughly the size of the state of Connecticut. It is located at 14.6° South latitude and 175.3° East longitude on Mars. The other MER rover, Opportunity, is exploring an area on Mars named Meridiani Planum on the opposite side of the Red Planet.


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Midwinter Lunch
Fri, January 17, 2014
The Beard House
Member Price: $80
Public Price: $95
Phone: 212.627.1111
Cancellation and Food Allergy Policy
Good Stock, NYC
After rising through the ranks at Bouley and Per Se, David Santos gained his own cult following with his private supper club, Um Segredo, which he hosted from his apartment. Now at the helm of New York City's Louro, he serves up modern American cuisine that draws flavor from his Portuguese roots.
Event photos taken by Clay Williams.
Tickets to events held at the James Beard House cover the cost of food and a unique dining experience. Dinners are prepared by culinary masters from all regions of the United States and around the world. All alcoholic beverages are provided on a complimentary basis and are not included in the ticket price.


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This summer, a woman of Arab descent tried to enter a Paris swimming pool wearing a head-to-toe black swimsuit dubbed a "burqini" and was expelled. The episode rekindled the "veil controversy" of 2005, when the French Parliament, at President Jacques Chirac's urging, unanimously passed a law forbidding students to wear any "intrusive religious signs" in schools. The Jewish yarmulke and the Christian cross were tolerated, if kept small and discreet, but not the Islamic veil—which was the law's real focus. The veil law, a not-so-subtle attempt to prevent the Islamization of France, implied that French society had become besieged by its 4 or 5 million Muslims, and observers might draw the same conclusion from the burqini incident.
But the reality is quite different. Few Muslim women in France wear the veil, just as it is rare in their countries of origin. Algeria, the main source of Arab immigration to France, has been under French influence since the mid-nineteenth century and is a relatively secular society. Islam is not the defining element in life for French Arabs. They see themselves first as Arabs (or Reubeu, in slang)—a cultural identity more than a religious one.
The veil law did say a lot about the French, however. Chirac began advocating it after a dozen young veiled girls, mostly of Kurdish origin, were pushed into public schools by their fathers in a well-orchestrated attempt by a tiny group of Muslim radicals to attract media attention. Chirac saw a perfect political opportunity to reaffirm the secular values of the French Republic and to win political support not just from his own party but also from the opposing ones—Socialists, Communists, and Conservatives alike. Their unanimity underscored France's true common religion: laïcité. Laïcité—the word carries more ideological weight than does "secularism" in English—is a reminder of the French Republic's historical origin as an explicit ideological counterweight to the Catholic Church. No significant French groups, not even Muslims, oppose this secular ideology; Muslim leaders protested the veil law only softly.
Considering the French Arab population's size, the number of mosques is small. Muslims don't have the financial resources to build them, and the French Arabs really aren't all that interested. Arab constituents rarely urge mayors to build mosques; more often, they complain about run-down schools or police harassment. The existing mosques in Paris are usually empty, except on major holidays. Significantly, in Paris's most ethnically diverse area, the Goutte d'Or, there are two mosques—one Arab, the other African. The two Muslim populations do not mix; culture trumps religion. In France, secularism is a greater threat to Islam than Islamization is to the Republic. About half of French Arab women marry non-Arab, non-Muslim men (this is an anecdotal observation, however, since French law forbids even private groups from collecting statistics based on ethnicity or religion).
But a few months ago, laïcité suddenly appeared to be under siege. In addition to the burqini-wearing swimmer, there appeared on Paris streets a few burqas—the Afghan dress that covers its wearer from head to toe, hiding the face behind a woven grid. Some Conservative and Socialist members of Parliament immediately asked for a new law to ban the burqa on French soil. In a solemn address to Parliament, President Nicolas Sarkozy declared the burqa an offense to women's dignity, unacceptable in France. He then wisely held off on ordering a new law, awaiting a police inquiry into how widespread the burqa really was. The French police began counting, generally by observing women in city streets, and found a total of 80. The controversy died down soon afterward.
Looking beyond this latest incident, French sociologist Azouz Begag, who formerly served as Chirac's minister for integration, sees a permanent—and largely unwarranted—fear of Islam among the French. Politicians find it too tempting to exploit this fear, he believes. From the 1980s to the early 2000s, France's far-right leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, was able to carry 20 percent of the vote in national elections by playing the anti-Muslim card. Le Pen has aged, but others, says Begag, are ready to pick up where he left off. Begag doesn't deny that radical Islam is a serious threat. "Young Muslims who cannot find a decent school, a decent home, and a decent job are tempted by Islamic radicalism," he says. And Paris's police force, which works in close cooperation with New York's, is on constant alert, dismantling radical cells and deporting fiery Middle Eastern imams. But these radicals have more connection to global terrorism than to French society.
Paris is not being Islamized, then—and neither is it being Arabized in any profound sense. As traditional French couples keep having children—making France an anomaly on the European continent, with more than two children per couple and rising—demography and mixed marriages are not playing in the Arabs' favor. Immigration from Arab countries has come to a stop, now replaced by immigration from sub-Saharan Africa. Just as other immigrants have done, the Arabs brought new elements into the French cultural mix, influencing popular music, food, attitudes, and vocabulary. But the typical young French Arab returning to his ancestral land for a summer vacation is shocked to realize how French he has become. This self-discovery has been the theme of many movies directed by French Arabs, such as Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche's Bled Number One.
For Arabs, immigration to France remains a one-way ticket, even when the trip demands three generations. A burqini hides a lot, but even it can't hide this reality.


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Forget Engagement, You Need to Entangle Your Employees
Employee engagement is one key to a successful organization, but according to Ray Benedetto and Molly Meyer, simple engagement may not be enough for organizations going forward. Benedetto and Meyer suggest companies create an environment that "entangles" their workers.
"Our research revealed several companies where employees possess strong emotional attachments that have led to remarkable results and exceptional performance," said Benedetto, a marketing professional, and Meyer, his co-author of the new book "It's My Company Too! How Entangled Companies Move Beyond Employee Engagement for Remarkable Results" (Greenleaf Book Group Press)."Employees in these companies are more than engaged, they are entangled — where the drive for positive employee-company dedication and commitment run constantly at the deepest levels, resulting in a sustainable competitive advantage for each company."
To help improve engagement and foster entanglement within an organization, Benedetto and Meyer suggests following these examples from companies that already benefit from deep employee engagement:
- Having leaders who do extraordinary things: The primacy of senior visionary ―thetransformative leaders who shape a performance-excellence culture ―is evident in entangled cultures. Transformative leadership operates at all levels within these entangled cultures. Everyone has leadership responsibilities because of the ability to influence the actions of others through one's behaviors.
- Building an ethical organization: Entangled organizations have explicit core values such as respect, trust, ethical conduct, and caring that extend to all stakeholders. Daily actions reflect a meaningful pronouncement of what each organization holds dear. Trust between suppliers and customers grows each time an obligation is met and a promise is kept.
- Focusing all the human capital: Entangled employees create world-class organizations through shared visions requiring cross-functional teamwork and elevated thinking about potential solutions. Setting and holding to cascading performance metrics — linking individual actions plans with strategic and operational goals — is a critical element for achieving unit and company success.
- Using processes to guide performance: The first step for understanding any organization is defining the key processes that deliver value to customers. Entangled organizations manage and improve these processes constantly. Process improvement stems from the alignment of human capital within each process.
- Increasing individual self-efficacy: Leaders within entangled cultures focus first on the individual, building on a set of core values that respect the dignity of each person. Leaders must support the will to excel, which begins with building trust. Leaders must develop self-confidence and esteem through personal example and constant encouragement.
- Giving freedom and responsibilitywithin a culture of discipline: Freedom to operate begins with clear definitions of each employee's role and performance expectations, which help to define one's area of responsibility. Discipline relates to appropriate conduct in any situation, which relates to core values and desired behaviors. Freedom also means deciding how best to reach one's goals while helping one's organization excel.
- Hardwiring discretionary thinking and actions: Entangled companies create the structures and behaviors that result in high employee commitment. Readily identifying errors, conducting post-mortems after every event, and fostering open discussions that lead to continuous improvements reinforce and encourage discretionary thinking.
- Guiding the transformation process to remarkable results: Creating an entangled, world-class company requires progressive and continual improvement guided by management expert John Kotter's eight-step model for major change. Building self-efficacy and discretionary thinking requires pervasive trust rooted in relationships between and among stakeholders.
Follow David Mielach on Twitter @D_M89 or BusinessNewsDaily @bndarticles. We're also on Facebook & Google+.


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Venice Carnival 2014
As every year, the private events organizers add their events inside our web sites.
You can browse these events click on the events date.
The theme is announced "The wonderful and fantastic in nature. A carnival-The fantastic fairytale forest"
The dates of the carnival this year are: February 15, 2014 – March 4, 2014, with a foreword February 14th (Valentine's Day).
The guidelines for the 2014 edition of the Venice Carnival have been revealed
Today the Art Director gave a first glimpse of the 2014 edition of the Venice Carnival. This year is a follow-up of the ambitious project of the last three editions of structuring the event by characteristic and distinctive 'formats', focusing on one hand on the return to local historical tradition and on the other on the promotion of the great theme of the masked city.
This strategy, agreed upon by the Art Director, the City Administration and Vela spa, which takes over the management of the event from Venezia Marketing & Eventi spa, will continue for the next two editions of 2014 and 2015.
A fairy-tale and fantasy Carnival. A Carnival of fantasy and nature.
This year's Carnival is globalised because, from its origins, each culture has drawn from its heritage of fantasy and fairy tales as a narrative metaphor of life.
This year's is a modern Carnival because fairy tales and nature are the festive expression of deep themes linked to the relationship between humankind and the environment: the woods, the valleys, the seas, the mountains, the lagoons and the mysterious animal and vegetable creatures inhabiting them.
Humankind has always felt the need to narrate the mystery of nature through fairy tales. Global cultures, first in the shape of myths, then in an anthropomorphic shape in the world fairy-tale tradition, deploy an endless wealth of symbols and characters to describe the creation and the origin of life, the atmospheric elements, vegetable beings and animal creatures.
The East and the West, Asia and Oceania, the Americas and Europe, Africa: in this fairy-tale Carnival, masks will be inspired by traditional European fairy tales, Arabian and Middle-Eastern short stories, the votive symbols of African and Mesoamerican cultures, Indian, Mongolian and Cathay allegories.
The objective will be to encourage party goers to rediscover, through their costumes and through the masked city, the importance of fantasy, both popular and cultured, esoteric and didactic, and its relationship with humankind and the environment. Venice is a well-known fantasy miracle in itself. A fish in a lagoon, a crossroads of Alpine cultures on one hand; the endless water land that galleys used to cross back and forth from Egypt on the other. A gateway between the East and the West, where myths – and fears – of overseas monstrous and surprising creatures were translated into tales, paintings, decorations, to be exported to Europe along the canals and the roads scoured by merchants.
During the Venice Carnival, nature and its fruits can find a new interpretation in the mythological characters from classical cultures, in nymphs and Nereids, as well as in modern-time inventions, in which the newly thriving fantasy literature of these years documents the strong interest of contemporary authors.
During the 2014 Carnival, a huge fantasy dictionary will be represented in Venice: each mask will become a symbolic material trace of an alluring meeting of space and time, where in some place of our history one or more human beings have conceived a myth and turned it into image and narration. A timeless fantasy dictionary, a huge morphologic map of unbound human creativity, pleased to explore nature and its mysteries, to represent it with shapes, sounds and attitudes, freely travelling in the heads of our ancestors and in those of our children.
For the city of Venice, for its cultural institutions, this is the best time to put in the context of the Veneto and lagoon area a fantasy presence: from the Cansiglio woods to the Alps mountaintops, from the Garda vegetable and fruit gardens to the lagoon valleys, from the overseas Eastern islands to the Armenian, Turkish and Greek warehouses (Fondaci). A fairy-tale world is fostered by the fragrances and the flavours of foreigners, developed amidst the secret sounds of the languages that merchants brought from the East and from Northern Europe, documented by the idioms of the Princes and travellers who would take their long journey to Venice, master of civilization.
2014 Carnival highlights:
Friday 14th February: Prologue, Valentine's Day
Saturday 15th February: Opening of the Venetian Festival with a show, Cannaregio
Sunday 16th February: Boat pageant – Grand Canal – Cannaregio
Sunday 23rd February: Flight of the Angel
Saturday 1st March: Float parade, Marghera
Sunday 2nd March: Flight of the Eagle and Flight of the Donkey, Mestre
Monday 3rd March: Carnival Culture Night
Tuesday 4th March: Flight of the Lion, Silent Water Parade, the Great Fire
From 22nd February to 4th March: Best Masked Costume contest and musical evenings
Daily parades
Every day a company of multilingual comedians will liven up the two morning and afternoon parades, where the best masked costumes will defy each other to win the traditional Best Masked Costume contest. Contestants will be selected by spectators who will then vote and may take their favourites to victory. Every day two winners will be selected to go straight to the Sunday finale. The winning style will clearly be the one that pays homage to Fantasy Nature, a recurring theme in the comedians costumes which will be inspired by the animal and vegetable fantasy world.
Entertainment, Clowning and Street Theatre
During each parade up to three entertainment companies will perform in street theatre shows, clowning, music and dancing. The shows will be selected according to their consistence with the theme and their purpose will be to liven up the square and involve the spectators. The selected shows will target all audiences and they will also be viewable from afar.
Lunch-Time Music Entertainment
Between 1pm and 3pm the square will be animated by a music and dance performance inspired by the world of nature and fantasy tradition.
Musical Evenings
Each evening will focus on a fantasy animal or a mythological creature from the natural world. The selected artist shall perform a show that is a metaphor of the theme or a symbolic-ritual homage. The Art Director will evaluate the proposals for each evening by theme as well as by artist. The show themes will include fantasy metamorphoses like the Phoenix, Leda's Swan, Daphne's Laurel Tree; or fantasy animals like the White Lion, the Werewolf Night, the Red Dragon; or more ironic and snarky representations of Donkeys, Rabbits, Foxes, Roosters and any other animals which are featured in international popular culture anthropomorphic irony.
Literature, Image and Myth of fantasy nature: animals, monsters and metamorphoses.
The theme of fantasy nature, metamorphosis, fantasy creatures mixing human and animal features has always excited human imagination and has been narrated in poetry, prose and drama in countless shapes, by many authors. This year the cultural projects that will be developed and selected will be based on works focusing on these themes, whether in musical, staging, reading, dance, or film format. The theme of fantasy nature unites these shows and events which at the end of the festival will be published as texts in one book.
This year the main city campi, traditional settings of entertainment and performance projects, will be coordinated on the metaphor of Fantasy Nature, in music and design, creating a Forest Living in a city of Stone. The idea is to prepare actual plant/flower arrangements with the (temporary) planting of trees and other plants to decorate the traditional stages and recreational facilities.
A musical programme will be developed for a young audience and it will be possible to dress up as, put make up on or simply wear the mask of the symbolic animal that the campo will be named after: Campo of the Grouse, of the Donkey, of the Wolf and of the Fox. Each campo will feature an animal inhabiting the fantasy Carnival Forest.
Carnival isn't only photos but also videos! So we ask you to write us about your videos for Venice Carnival for add them directly inside our portal. We are migrating our contents inside YouTube so will be possible to generate a "playlist" that...


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"Big Red" provides the backdrop for the Metropolitan Tower
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For the last time ever, Western Australia executed a woman on this date in 1909. Her name was Martha Rendell, and she had allegedly murdered up to three of her partner's five* children.
Although they never got the legal document, we might as well call Rendell and Thomas Nicholls Morris man and wife: the two moved in after Morris's previous marriage failed, presented themselves as one another's spouses, and had the four kids call Rendell "mom". They lived together in a downscale district in east Perth, steps away from an open drain fed by industrial runoff.
And if what they charged her with is true — for Rendell would always deny it and her denials have had found traction with some from her time to ours — then nasty stepmothers of fairy tales might have sued Martha Rendell for defamation of character. Indeed, her step-motherliness clearly weighed against her in the public mind.
In 1907, four of the children took ill with diphtheria. After a relapse, seven-year-old Annie died; the death certificate would put it down to "epilepsy and cardiac weakness" (both diphtheria symptoms). Her little sister Olive, still weakened by her bout with diphtheria, contracted typhoid and bled and vomited to death in August of that same year. The doctors who treated these girls didn't suspect anything untoward but the following year when yet a third of the children (Arthur, 14) also died of apparent typhoid. Doctors on this occasion conducted an autopsy, curious to find evidence of poisoning — an autopsy that Rendell attended and ordered halted partway through, an action that would play very culpably at her eventual trial.**
Said trial was not to be triggered until the following spring, when another son, George, fled the house to the protection of his natural mother, and told a nightmare tale of the mean stepmother painting the children's throats with hydrochloric acid and serving them suspicious bitter tea that sent them to their sickbeds.
"In hindsight George's story seems highly implausible, the feverish imagining of a vengeful mother and stepson newly reunited," argues a Rendell defender who situates the Morris household's catastrophe amid a wider social panic over the corruption of Perth's feminine mores, embracing everything from prostitution to baby farming.
The horrific caustic action of hydrochloric acid was not the sort of stealthy killer chosen by poisoners nor did it fit with the gradual wasting noted by the children's doctor. And how could the woman have forced a youth of fifteen to submit to such cruelty? If Rendell had used diluted solutions of the acid (and it came to light after the trial that this was a home remedy used as a mild antiseptic and sometimes applied to the throat to treat diphtheria) then how had this uneducated woman calibrated the children's dosages to create symptoms to fool Perth's most respected doctors?
The strength of feeling bordering on mass hysteria that lay at the heart of public frenzy about this woman was exhibited in the shrill crowds of Perth women demanding her hanging and worse. Some women even invaded the Morris cottage when it was opened up to auction the contents and souvenired every household item, even the auctioneer's hat so that only ten pounds were raised for the couple's legal defence.
Little concrete evidence was ever produced against her — was it thanks to that aborted autopsy? — but neighbors grown prejudiced against the scarlet villainess would color remembrances of her conduct in testimony that also told on themselves as peeping toms: this time a failure to nurture and that time a glow of outright pleasure at a crying child.
Much subtext surfaced in text. The arresting officer noted her "delighted in seeing her victims writhe in agony, and from it derived sexual satisfaction." One appalling newspaper editorial reviled her as "a type that is seldom encountered in English speaking races … she represents a reversion to the primitive stage of humanity when destructive proclivities are uppermost. Like aboriginals, the Martha Rendells of this world must kill." It was scarcely a novel formula for anathematizing the female criminal.
It was only Arthur for whom she was formally condemned but after the five-day trial she was popularly understood as responsible for all three of her dead stepchildren. But not all the public, for a vigorous albeit unsuccessful clemency campaign specifically citing doubts about the case's evidence grew around her during her few short weeks awaiting the gallows. Those doubts have never since been categorically dispelled.
Legend holds that Martha Rendell still haunts Fremantle Prison where she hanged, in the form of a ghostly apparition of her face peering out from a stained-glass window.
* There were five children still in the house. Thomas Morris also had four older children, making nine total.
** Martha Rendell had also fallen ill during the course of treating her children. This of course was read by prosecutors as a feint to deflect suspicion.
On this day..
- 1960: Tibur Mikulich, Hungarian traitor - 2020
- 1750: Maria Pauer, the last witch executed in Austria - 2019
- 1884: Thomas Orrock and Thomas Harris - 2017
- 1893: Paulino Pallas, Spanish anarchist - 2016
- 1918: Private Harry James Knight, deserter - 2015
- 1573: Maeykens Wens, Antwerp Anabaptist - 2015
- 1922: Benny Swim, "dead as a door-nail" (or not) - 2014
- 1943: Yitskhok Rudahevski and family - 2013
- 1646: Zhu Yujian, the Prince of Tang - 2012
- 1999: Chen Chin-hsing, Taiwan's most notorious criminal - 2011
- 1553: Prince Mustafa, heir to Suleiman the Magnificent - 2010
- 1536: William Tyndale, English Bible translator - 2009
- 1849: Lajos Batthyány and the 13 Martyrs of Arad - 2008