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Te Anga Mua – Whānau Ora Research Seminar
Whānau OraTe Raukura – Te Wharewaka o Poneke – Wellington
"Working together to give a voice to whānau experiences"
E nga mana, e nga reo, e nga iwi o te motu tena koutou katoa.
I want to thank Community Research and in particular the tangata whenua committee, for inviting me to this special event today, to launch the Whanau Ora Research Website.
This is the third of three fabulous days that I have had, in which we have been immersed in the spirit of transformation we know to be Whanau Ora.
It has been a time of great sunshine, of laughter; of tears; of challenge; of conversation; food for the soul and some pretty good kai for the puku as well! And through it all the kōrero has been rich and grounded in the everyday experience of whanau.
One of the ideas that came up in talking about Whanau Ora as an integrated model of development spread experienced in economic, social and cultural dimensions was the need to ensure that environmental dimensions were also integral to our progress.
And so I've been looking at this venue – which is actually an ideal environment for considering the relevance of context to our sense of wellbeing. We have the perfect collusion of three central elements of te ao Maori – the whare; the waka; and the raukura.
Thirty years ago this year - Professor Sir Mason Durie first gifted the nation, the model of Te Whare Tapa Wha. Te taha hinengaro (psychological health); te taha wairua (spiritual health); te taha tinana (physical health); and te taha whānau (family health). These four dimensions are represented by the four walls of a house - each wall necessary to the strength and symmetry of the building.
With the waka – I have been thinking of Ngā Vaka o Kainga Tapu - a conceptual framework for addressing family violence in seven Pacific communities; informed by, and aligned with, seven ethnic specific conceptual frameworks.
And when I think of Te Raukura, I think of the interpretation Tuwhakairiora Williams shared with the health sector that Te Raukura means the feather or plume traditionally worn by people of rank and mana. People of rank and mana reflect leadership, hope, aspiration and the achievement of a common vision for all. Te Raukura also symbolises pride and inner strength.
And in this instance, it connects us to Te Maunga Titohea, Taranaki and to Parihaka and Te Whiti-o-Rongomai and Tohu Kakahi.
All of these three concepts combine to make an ideal environment for change, a framework for the future driven by our worldviews.
Each of us could share our own unique stories of what the whare, the waka and the raukura mean to us – we would have tribal interpretations; ancestral histories that arise every time those symbols are highlighted in our lives.
These stories will have their origins in Te Moana nui a Kiwa; as much as in Aotearoa. They will tell us of a common and shared history; and of specialised, distinctive histories known to our own. We will have experiences of collective effort - the bringing together of expertise across the community to carve the waka; to build the house.
These symbols connect us to a time when our navigational talents were tested to the fore – when we were guided by the constellations of the stars; when our planting and our harvesting was determined by our ability to read our environment.
In those days we weren't risk averse – we took risks; guided by our faith; our belief in ourselves. And guess what – we landed on firm shores; and we are still here – surviving and thriving.
This is what today is about: the stories that are the springboards for our success? How do we as agencies, providers, researchers give voice to these experiences and build on the strengths, resources and skills that we develop along the way?
This form of collaboration is important to me. It is what Whanau Ora is all about: agencies, providers, researchers, communities and the whanau coming together to advance their own aspirations, their own values and cultural contexts, and ways of doing and being.
It is about working with whanau to enable them to be self-determining. Whanau Ora must place whanau at the centre – ensuring whanau can make the best, informed decisions and lead their own journey in the way they best determine for themselves. Sometimes that is not easy to allow to happen but it is the way it has to happen.
This is not about funding streams; it is not about structures – what it is about is survival on our terms. It is about real outcomes that have been driven by whanau.
I want to acknowledge the Whanau Ora Taskforce - Professor Sir Mason Durie; Rob Cooper; Suzanne Snivelly, Di Grennell and Nancy Tuaine. The vision in the 2010 report set a strong foundation for Whanau Ora to be driven by whānau outcomes.
And I want to refresh our memories with a statement the Taskforce made in the foreword that launched that report.
That statement was:
"if there is a single conclusion to our deliberations it is that the potential within whanau has never been greater and unleashing that potential will not only bring benefits to Maori but will add greatly to the nation and to the prospects of future generations".
I believe that one of the most exciting elements in the last few days has been hearing the statement over and over again – that whānau are a source of strength for the New Zealand economy.
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait made a statement that resonated with me. In one of her korero with whanau she told them that they were absolutely important to the future of our nation. One of the women replied – Me? But I'm on the benefit – how can that be?
Merepeka's answer was – we are focussed on potential – this is about investing in our nationhood – and your contribution is equally important as mine. And she talked about the lights coming on – that self-belief, that desire that they can indeed contribute and shape our collective future.
I think it's really important to remind ourselves that Whanau Ora starts from a position of strength. It was never envisaged to be a checklist to fix the problems of the world. Its intentions were to do all that we can, to ensure whanau can be the best that they can be, to be orientated towards a productive and constructive future.
I have no appetite for the self-defeating pessimism of press releases alleging that Whanau Ora is hurting New Zealanders or a waste of taxpayer funding.
But you know what - whanau are taxpayers too – and what we know is that all New Zealanders benefit from the relationships, the connections and the capability which help our whanau to flourish.
I am reminded of the lyrics of that Kora waiata:
Poly poly poly politician
Can you make a right decision for all of us
You can talk the talk - But will you walk the walk
Will you bring us comfort?
Politicians sitting on the side-lines and throwing stones don't bring comfort, they don't bring security, they don't bring care to the people.
And I include myself in that category as a politician. Too often we focus on what is political instead of what we know is right.
As far as I'm concerned, whanau are the best ones to tell us whether Whanau Ora is working for them – because their stories count.
And your stories are showing us that Whanau Ora is all about the outcomes - outcomes related to whanau capability.
Whanau becoming self-managing, whānau living healthy lifestyles, whānau participating fully in society, whānau confidently participating in te ao Maori, whanau becoming financially secure and successfully involved in wealth creation, and whanau who are cohesive, resilient and nurturing.
And actually that's the majority of us. Sometimes we are in danger of thinking we are like the stories that the media are feeding us.
I want to acknowledge all of you here today, as members of the research community, for remaining committed and focused on promoting a Whanau Ora approach.
I want to also thank Professor Sir Mason Durie for remaining vigilant in his roles and reminding us that measurement is not just about counting interventions, or service changes.
We need to be constantly asking ourselves whether the changes have made a difference for whanau and whether as a result of their planning; we have families who are equipped with a wide range of capabilities necessary to sustain and stimulate Maori and Pasifika communities into the future.
But it is more than just about plans. It is about having faith; having self-belief; knowing we can; and having the courage to act.
As many of the action researchers working with providers and whanau are here today, I commend you on your ability to share technical and best practice support with each other. This gives whānau the opportunity to talk about their experiences in a safe way, sharing their strengths, dreams and achievements.
And may I say what you have to share is tremendously important.
Early findings paint a positive picture of whanau-led development and most importantly, whanau outcomes. But it is still early days, and there is much more work is required to broaden and deepen the evidence base in support of Whanau Ora.
We mustn't be fazed by the disproportionate scrutiny that certain sectors want to treat Whanau Ora to – we have been underneath the microscope before – and no doubt we will be again. But we have to know that everything we are doing is right and believe in that.
Deep change processes take time and there are ups and downs for every whanau. Whanau stories are often moving and exciting, but it is important that the sharing of these stories does not open up whanau to public scrutiny and criticism as we have seen.
I believe it is incumbent upon both politicians and the media alike, to use their power of persuasion responsibly. A breaking news story might be great for the political ego – but what are the impacts upon the whanau affiliated to the person who has been put under the spotlight?
A big challenge for you, as researchers, is communicating the good stories of whānau change without breaching the privacy of the whanau concerned.
A very real fear of whanau out there is the damage that the political clobbering machine can do to these whānau whose greatest crime is trying to make a difference in their lives.
In my maiden speech to Parliament I said that if Maori are the problem then we are also the solution. I believed that then as I do today. That we can and we will create our own future, filled with the promise our ancestors left for us.
I have no hesitation in saying that I am pleased with the progress that the various Whanau Ora provider collectives are making in transforming their services from a focus on individuals to the collective aspirations of whanau.
The approach of using navigators to support whanau as a group to set goals, and plan ways to get the help they need to achieve those goals, has been in many cases innovative and exciting.
It is also great to know that as whanau grow, plan, and act there is a sense of future-focused development. No programme, no service "fixes" whanau. But whanau can be supported and facilitated to be future focused; to be the best that they can be.
A recent and exciting development is a project that collected data from a number of Whanau Ora providers. The data reveals concrete evidence of positive whanau transformation.
This data from Whanau Ora providers shows that participating whānau had high levels of satisfaction with the support that they received. The research concludes that whānau planning is an effective mechanism for engaging whānau and strengthening their capacity, and that whānau aspirations are inter-related. But there are often complex and multi-dimensional barriers to achieving aspirations.
It is as if we've come a full circle, from setting the kaupapa of Whanau Ora, to researchers working alongside providers and whanau to give feedback on progress. We now need to use this rich information from whanau to guide the approach even wider.
So, just as it is important to capture and research whanau experiences in an appropriate way, access to their stories, tools, resources and information is equally as important.
And that is why I'm delighted to be able to launch the Whanau Ora research website.As community researchers you have an established and well-used website and networks with providers and whanau.
This provides the perfect platform to develop and manage tools, methodologies and good practices for whanau-centred research. The website will enable the full range of Whanau Ora stakeholders to access best practice examples, stories and experiences about how to recognise, facilitate and lead whanau in a safe environment that allows growth, development and healing.
I hope that researchers will use this website to share information, plans, toolkits, resources, reports, and lessons learnt. And as the action researchers working alongside providers and whanau begin reporting on outcomes, the website will be a good place to share, discuss and debate findings.
But what I am most excited about is the opportunities for whānau to share their experiences, if they wish to do so.
Finally, I'd like to commend and launch the Whanau Ora research website and wish the guardians of this website Community Research all the best in leading this exciting phase of Whanau Ora I'm confident that through working together, the voices of whānau will be heard and that this will lead to a better future for our families. It will, indeed, create and shape our new future, our new dawn, Puao Te Ata Tu.


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Even if RSA decided to cancel the Factoring Challenge, it seems that some teams keep working on it. According to Wikipedia, RSA-768 has been factored in late 2009.
What are the current large integer factorization algorithms and what the mathematical principles behind them? What are the ways for improvement (faster algorithms, better implementations...)?

subset: commoncrawl


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Dir: Arnaud Desplechin. France. 2013. 114mins
An impressively nuanced and intriguingly un-showy drama, Arnaud Desplechin's Jimmy P. Psychotherapy Of A Plains Indian is a film of subtle understatement, resisting the temptation to engage in overly dramatic flourishes and providing a solid platform for the charismatic talents of Benicio Del Toro and Mathieu Amalric, who deliver memorably mannered performances.
The issues in their characters' background are touched on but never exploited, with Desplechin letting the gently developing relationship drive the story rather than any obvious dramatic devices.
Between them, Del Toro and Amalric could have reduced the film to a series of showy acting moments, but Desplechin seems to have been able to harness their considerable talents (for much of its time the film is a virtual two-hander, and could work just as well as a theatre production) to bring out the strength of this relatively simple story of a World War II veteran getting psychiatric help after the end of the war.
Inspired by a true story, and adapted from Georges Devereux's 1951 book Reality And Dream, the film opens in 1948, with Native American Blackfoot Jimmy Piccard suffering from numerous symptoms, including temporary blindness, hearing loss and dizzy spells. He is admitted to the Topeka Military Hospital in Kansas, an institution specialising in mental illness for war veterans.
The doctors there appreciate his serious psychological problems, but dismiss schizophrenia, and decide to call in anthropologist, psychoanalyst and specialist in Native American culture Georges Devereaux, a Hungarian who relocated to French, changed his name and specialised in the study of the Mojave Native Americans.
The pair start to spend an hour together each day, with Devereux gently probing into Jimmy's past and allowing him to gradually talk about his attitude towards women (and his mother and sister in particular), incidents of his past and what happened to him during the war. Jimmy still veers between mental blackouts and moments of lucidity, while at the same time the relationship provides Devereux with a solid project and a much-needed sense of place.
Each is escaping aspects of their past, and the relationship turns out to be therapeutic for both men. Jimmy comes to terms with the issues that lie at the core of his problems, while Devereux relaxes into the environment, and finds a brief bit of happiness when his is visited by his married lover Madeleine (a delightful performance by Gina McKee).
Arnaud Desplechin, whose film A Christmas Tale screened in Cannes in 2008, makes great use of the locations, costumes and design, and shoots simply and elegantly, often ending scenes quickly and unsensationally and moving quickly onto the scene through fast edits. Benicio De Toro makes for a gentle yet physically striking Jimmy, his sad eyes and browbeaten expression perfect for a man bearing great internal pain, while Mathieu Amalric is a bundle of energy, ticks and mannerisms.
The issues in their characters' background are touched on but never exploited (racism around Jimmy's Native American ancestry or Devereux's Hungarian Jewish background), with Desplechin letting the gently developing relationship drive the story rather than any obvious dramatic devices.
Production companies: Why Not Productions, Wild Bunch, Orange Studio, France 2 Cinema, Herodiade, Le Pacte
International sales: Wild Bunch, www.wildbunch.biz
Screenplay: Arnaud Desplechin, Julie Peyer, Kent Jones, adapted from the book Reality And Dream by Georges Deveruex
Cinematography: Stephane Fontaine
Production designer: Dina Goldman
Music: Howard Shore
Main cast: Benicio Del Toro, Mathieu Amalric, Gina McKee, Larry Pine, Joseph Cross, Elya Baskin, Gary Farmer, Michelle Thrush, Misty Upham, Jennifer Podemski, Michael Greyeyes


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Man it is HOT here in Los Angeles. Thankfully I had lots of tennis to keep me indoors…
Ball bounce: Here are some CBS Sports stats from today's Venus/Ivanovic match: average number of times Venus bounces the ball before a serve = a little over three times. Ivanovic = a little over nine. (And of course, Bartoli doesn't bounce the ball at all, and Isner bounces the ball between his legs).
Beyond the Baseline: A "Beyond the Baseline" segment from CBS had Federer commenting on his GOAT status. He said we'd be better off if no one person was given this distinction. He'd be happy enough just to have his name among the greats. Good answer.
From the New York Times: The chair ump told Serena she couldn't read notes during changeovers (even though rules allow it). And this quip from Novak Djokovic after his marathon five-setter against Radek Stepanek: "'I am totally exhausted; no energy… I smell my shoes — they are so stinky."
(OT) Fanning the flames: I caught a glimpse of the new Chanel boutique on Rodeo earlier today (I went suit shopping with my friend Alexis).
The store recently opened after a ten-month redesign by architect Peter Marino. Chanel's creative director, Karl Lagerfeld, has travelled to L.A. for the store's grand re-opening, and Genlux magazine got a chance to ask Karl his thoughts about the City of Angels. He is amazing.
On swimming pools: "I don't think L.A. people realize how deprived people in other cities are of pools."
On hiking: He doesn't. "I like to walk city streets. Hiking trails are not good with Dior Homme jackets, yes? I wouldn't know what to wear on a hike."
On his travel wardrobe: "My look does not change. I don't have 'casual' and 'evening'. I don't believe in that."
On what New York has that L.A. lacks: "Theater, delis that are walkable, and the occasional rainy day — it's good for the soul."


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Home | Reviews | Extras | Forums |
Air TVSynopsisKunisaki Yukito is searching for a girl. A girl with wings. On his travels, he ends up in a town where he meets Kamio Misuzu, a girl who experiences strange dreams. And the town itself seems to be quite the melting pot for strange events. ReviewThe fact that AIR is a game-based anime was the main reason for us to choose this title for THEM's own brand of MST-ing, the synchro sessions. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this series, though I was sure it wouldn't be pretty. Speaking of "not pretty", the character designs took some time getting used to. While not being downright ugly, I don't think I've ever seen anime characters where their facial features have been so oddly placed, the girls' eyes in particular. In fact, the girls' eyes were so far apart, I immediately started wondering what kind of alien species this was. The backgrounds were notably atmospheric and beautiful, though. It was only after the first episode was done that we noticed that something was missing. For one thing, we couldn't come up with a single reason why we didn't like the show. Sure, it was silly and weird, with lots of oddness to point out and comment on, but given the fact that we were devouring and ripping apart crap like W Wish and Final Approach at the time, I was wondering just what it was about this show that didn't set off any warning bells with us, despite the cast making up a single adult male in a town full of dating game subjects; young girls. First and foremost we have Misuzu. She was almost unbearable silly and rather unrealistically clumsy. The girl could hardly walk ten steps without falling flat on her face, and she was also prone to cutesy talk at times. ("Gao~~~~~~") Unsurprisingly, she attended school in the same town, but seemed strangely short on friends. Yukito, our travelling puppet master and entertainer, presented us with one of the very, very few males in this title. Upon entering the town, he quickly meets up with Misuzu, who promptly takes him home with her. Much to my surprise (you're gonna see me say this a lot, so bear with me here) there was no romantic pressure to be had from this -- which seems to be the staple of a lot of game based or dating based anime shows. And while Misuzu, as noted, may very well be the clumsiest girl to ever appear in any anime title, there was no accidental panty shots, breast grabs or ANYTHING of naughtier nature. Even the introduction of a few more characters in this show changed little of the general dating game impact we expected, and by the time the first episode finished, we noticed that -- much to our surprise -- we found the show rather intriguing. The show had broken too many standard dating game/hentai anime rules. Hell, even the dog was downright hilarious during every second of its screen time. As the episodes flew by, the plot thickened. Even now, I'm at a loss for how to explain AIR in suitable terms. The show seemed to go for more of a mystical angle, with just about every of the main characters having issues of some sort loosely based on the element of supernatural divinity hanging over the seaside town itself, which occationally returned the topic of conversation to the angel rumored to be flying above the clouds in a constant state of sadness. (Or so the legend went.) New angles were presented via the various women around the city. The token "brat" of the show even had a bit of a surprise in store for me in the episode centering around her, and by that time, I was really getting into the show. Dating games, hentai games or whatever be damned, I was enjoying this. By the forces above, I was damn well GONNA enjoy this. Even when the flashback episodes came by, introducing us to a new set of characters for a couple of episodes, I was adamant towards liking this show. And I did. Sadly, as soon as the plot moved back to the present, that's when AIR started putting too much on its plate. The... er... transformation I could deal with, but later on, the show started putting odd twists to the story. Right out of nowhere, we get amnesia with some added parental issues thrown in for what I felt was no good reason -- no reason at all, in fact. Also, things got so metaphorically out of hand towards the end, I couldn't help but feel cheated about the whole thing. Not because I couldn't catch what was going on, but it was more because of the roundabout way they were ending the show. It's hard to put to words, but the ending ruined a lot of the impact of the show itself. And that's a crying shame too. I really, really enjoyed the show up until the last few episodes. It broke a lot of rules usually pertaining to shows like these, and the show just.... worked on a visceral level. NONE of the characters were annoying or wore out their welcome in any way, but actually played their parts for the benefit of the story. The show is absolutely worth your time, and I actually hope it gets liscensed and released. It's just.... ARGH! That ending! So CLOSE to a four star. If they had ended the show a lot better, this would be a SOLID title. It still is in a sense, but you're most likely gonna feel a lot of dissatisfaction about how they chose to end the show) — Stig Høgset Recommended Audience: During the flashback/historical episodes, there's some pretty bad violence. People get hurt and die in rather bloody ways. Outside of that, the show isn't all that bad. Slapsticky violence, little to no fanservice.... it's suitable for most people, though the plot will go over the heads of the younger ones. Version(s) Viewed: R1 DVD, bilingual Review Status: Full (13/13) Air TV © 2005 TBS / Mubik / Pony Canyon / Kyoto Animation |
© 1996-2015 THEM Anime Reviews. All rights reserved. |


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TechRadar Verdict
The TomTom Go 920 T is pretty much state of the art. It packs in some genuinely innovative features, but nothing here feels like a must-have upgrade for existing satnav owners
- +
Big, widescreen display
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excellent directions
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Penny-pinching on accessories
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subscription charges
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poor Points Of Interest
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too many frivolous add-ons
Why you can trust TechRadar
It's hard to get away from the TomTom Go. It's by far the most popular satnav device in the UK and is in hi-tech shouting distance of Apple's ubiquitous iPod. Everyone seems to have one. But therein lies the rub.
For part of the reason TomTom posted an 83 per cent drop in profits this week is that most people who want a satnav probably have gone and bought one, and around half of them have plumped for a TomTom Go.
All TomTom can do now is defend itself against a growing number of rivals by dropping prices (it looks pretty secure on that score) and then keep adding features to persuade people who own older satnav devices to upgrade to the new one - features like music and photo playback that nearly every PND maker seems to have, but can't adequately explain why.
Of the new 'must-haves' in the TomTom Go 920 T, MapShare sounds more interesting that most. It enables you to log any road layout of other changes on your device and then share them with other drivers via the TomTom Home 2.0 software you install your a PC or Mac.
Of course MapShare enables you to download changes logged by other drivers too, helping you ensure your maps are up-to-date while you wait for a major update from TomTom's map supplier TeleAtlas.
Voice recognition
The other 'big' new features are more of a mixed bag. Like the TomTo Go 720 T, the 920 T also includes voice recognition software that enables you to bark commands at your TomTom, rather than enter them by hand.
It would be great if it worked as well as advertised but, like every other voice recognition system ever invented, the reality is it's a lot less certain to recognise your well-rounded vowels, forcing you to eventually abandon the idea. Like the 720 T, the 920 T also includes text-to-speech so you can hear text messages sent to your mobile phone, without having to pull over and read them.
Luckily TomTom's strengths continue to shine through - it's beautifully made with a large wide, touchscreen display and a body that's finished in rubberised plastic. Navigating (ahem) your way around the interface is generally a breeze - something's that always marked TomTom's Go series out when compared to its rivals. All you have to do to set off on your way is hit the Navigate To soft-button, pick your Home address, recent destination, postcode or a point of interest and you're off.
On the road, the TomTom Go 920 T gives beautifully clear instructions (bestowed on your ears by the silky-voiced default Kate) with a real-time map showing where you're at, how fast you're travelling, and how far you need to go.
The display proved just about bright enough for us to make out the maps in the spring sun (with the brightest setting turned to the max), although we hope next-gen TomTom's will include LED backlighting to make the experience an even better one in future. Maps for the whole of Europe, the USA, Canada and many other countries are included for the price.
Points of Interest?
Delve into the TomTom Go 920 T's menus and things can get a lot more involved than that, of course. You can set your own itineraries, plot alternative routes - handy if the one you originally picked is closed or blocked by traffic - and find your way to designated Points of Interest (POI).
Now we have to say that POIs have never been TomTom's strong suit. It's far too reliant on fast food chains when it comes to finding restaurants in your vicinity for example, and isn't great at finding tourist destinations. For instance a search for zoos in the Bristol area says the nearest one is 22.5 miles away when a) there's one in the city centre suburb of Clifton, and b) there's another just a couple of miles away from that. Searching for the POI by name reveals that our non-existent city centre zoo has a car park.
Going someway to make amends is a new Help Me! function in the TomTom which automatically directs you to your nearest police station, fire station, doctors, hospital, etc - handy in the event of an emergency. You can also use the TomTom Home software to download POIs submitted by other drivers. Want to take your date out for dinner in Derby? Someone will probably have recommended a place you can go see. It would be nice if this functionality was included by default however.
The cost of ownership
The other downer, of course, is that forking out over £290 for a TomTom Go 920 T isn't the last time you'll be called on to fetch your wallet from your pocket for the device. You'll also have to take out annual subscriptions for speed camera updates, traffic, weather... the list goes on. TomTom isn't alone in this, of course - rivals like Garmin also charge for extra services and updated maps too.
We're also less than enamoured by another Apple-esque trait - making you pay for accessories that used to be included by default in the box. You'd expect that for £350 the 920 T would also come with some kind of case to protect your investment when it's away from the car. Not so. You do get a USB docking station, for synchronising with your PC however - something older models never had.
Another thing we'd definitely change is the TomTom Go 920 T's windscreen mount. Users on the web complain that the mount often falls off - something we experienced at least three times during our test. Thankfully the 920 T escaped unscathed - but it didn't do much for our concentration.
One solution is to clean the inside of your windscreen thoroughly every time you attach the mount, but that's not very practical; we prefer the mounts TomTom used to ship for devices, like the TomTom Go 700. These were more substantial affairs that locked solidly onto the screen - although even these were prone to leaving the plastic sucker on your car window when trying to prise it off at the end of your journey.
So should you buy the TomTom Go 920 T? Well that depends on a) how often you plan to drive to California, and b) whether you've lost, broken or got bored of your existing satnav already. For most of us the answer is likely to be a) never and b) no. For the rest, the TomTom Go 920 T builds incrementally on what has gone before - and that is a good thing if getting from A to B is your top priority - all of TomTom's Go products deliver very good results.
We feel that features like MapShare and text-to-speech are genuine must-haves, and fill neat gaps in the TomTom's largely flawless delivery.
If the company can solve the other minor issues we've raised here, then its next-gen products (available this summer) could prove unassailable. From what we've seen from the 920 T, TomTom is very nearly there.


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We've hit 0.50! Maia's latest update brings stability and some serious bug fixes. We've been working hard to eradicate as many issues as possible. We've also managed to squeeze in new features that improve gameplay such as custom maps, expanded research and a brand new robot.
New Features:
Climate Change
The option to change the climate of your map has been added. Players can choose from Megathermal, Mesothermal and Polar as well as choosing map sizes, flora and fauna population sizes, and whether the map is on an earthquake hotspot. With these new climates, come the introduction of new trees.
Aye, Robot!
The utility robot has been added! At the moment this robot is equipped with a repair arm. This arm allows the robot to travel around the base repairing items. This frees up colonists to get on with other tasks like staying alive.
New Research Upgrades
The research system has been overhauled. One example of this is players can now add lithium to the colonist's water if they choose to. This stabilizes colonist's moods, however, it may cause… unwanted side effects. There is also the ability to research the new trees.
The Necropsy Table in the Research Lab can now be used to gain research data. Once the Colonists have killed the Megacephalalgia creature they can study a sample they collect.
Email System Scroll
Mail can now be scrolled through using arrows that appear after you receive 6 emails. This means players can control how they manage their emails. There are also new email icons to more easily show whether the email has been read.
The Only Good Bug Is A Dead Bug:
The largest part of this update is the amount of bugs that have been fixed. Here's an extensive list of fixes and changes we have made to existing features in Maia.
IMP Robot Bug Fixes
- IMP Robots now remember their correct orders when the game has been saved and loaded.
- Robots will not become fixated on tasks that can not be completed.
- Dig orders that were removed will no longer revert on loading.
- Removing the last IMP Robot and using the IMP search button will no longer cause a crash.
- Removed IMP Robot's ghosts no longer count towards the robot safety limit.
- IMP Robots will now take body bags to storage meaning a less cluttered base.
- Thankfully, IMP Robots no longer deposit dead colonists (or building materials) in the rubble hopper.
- IMP Robots now have an idle wander behaviour, They will not wait around to get encased in walls.
- IMP Robots will store water barrels in more sensible positions.
- IMP Robot turn speed has been slightly increased to speed up their productivity.
- IMP Robot self awareness added.
- Although quite rare, colonists and IMP robots may have conversations.
Power Bug Fixes
- Flywheel and Super conductors now accurately display the amount of energy stored instead of defaulting to yellow.
- Power capacity is also now tracked and sent in power report emails.
- It will no longer be possible for underpowered objects to burst into flames. Items will also turn off if they are on fire.
Explosive Bug Fixes
- Bounding Mines have been added and rebalanced for better effectiveness against large creatures.
- The distance effected by a bounding mine has been tweaked.
- When building a mine, there will no longer be an unwanted explosive mark decal.
- Explosives exterior tile bug fixed.
Loading Game Bug Fixes
Maia had a few bugs caused by saving and loading the game. A lot of these bugs have been solved. These include:
- Meteorites are now loading correctly and maintain their fossil type.
- 3D Nanoprinters now remember that they are printing on loading.
- Hydroponic trees now maintain how much they have grown rather than resetting to their mid point.
- Water Barrel's now maintain their count on loading.
- Locked doors save on load and doors will no longer appear inside the walls.
- Fossils retain type on load and will be placed in stands correctly.
- Plant sample containers now save the transferred KB.
- Turrets save number of rounds remaining.
Colonist Bug Fixes and AI Improvement.
- Limping colonists will not get stuck in a looping animation when they are dead. (No more zombies.)
- Food energy intake has been rebalanced due to the colonists often starving to death.
- Colonists are no longer standing inside each other.
- If there are less than 3 available living people in the base, colonists will not wait in the airlock for a guard.
- Colonists will now take care not to let the chickens go extinct.
- More death reports have been added to inform the player of death from cave ins and explosives.
- The hygiene need has been turned on and colonists will use toilets. Toilets animations have been synced up.
- Colonists can now destroy unwanted glow sticks.
- Medical beds are now much more effective at healing colonists.
Other AI Bugs
- AI will now go towards the nearest interaction point on an object rather than a random one.
- Creatures no longer stand in the same place as others.
- Pets and Uberhuhns will no longer go outside into the dangerous atmopshere.
- Players will now randomly get one of two different dogs when starting a new game.
Flora Bugs Fixes
- The shadows from the flora around Maia have been refined to look more realistic.
Fauna Bugs and Changes
- Megacephalalgia creatures may now trash your wind turbines out of spite!
- Megacephalalgia will now destroy seismic stations.
- Molerat and Megacephalalgia destruction will now leave debris both large and small when destroying things.
- More interaction points have been added to the creatures for their destruction.
- Creatures no longer spawn on edges of maps. Beforehand this would increase frame rate, especially in "Ample" size custom maps.
- Megacephalalgia's grooming themselves no longer make inside tiles outside tiles.
- Molerat tunnels have stopped effecting colonist build lists.[/list]
Door Bug Fixes
- Bulkhead door physics have been tweaked for loading and saving.
- Colonists will no longer experience doorway syndrome and forget what they were doing when walking through.
- Bulkhead doors will no longer strip away big chunks of the colonist's paths.
- The Reinforced bulkhead door physics mesh has been redone.
- Door locking information has been fixed.
Workshop table Bugs Fixed
- Nukes can no longer be built out of crate paper and PVA, Colonists will have to use the workbench to create superconductors, fission reactors and fusion reactors.
- Outside items will not be listed as Airlock when colonists create them on the workbench.
UI Bug Fixes
- The bug that causes Maia's UI to become warped and disappear has been worked on.
- The lander and save buttons should now appear for all players.
- Buttons no longer flash when they are not meant to.
Mail Bug Fixes
- Screen effect for open mail has been corrected.
- Players will now receive the correct failure message when all their colonists are dead.
- Players should no longer receive mail spam for building materials.
- Read emails now show a different icon to make it clearer for players.
- New email system! Scroll buttons will appear after 6 emails making it easier for players to open and manage emails.
Research Changes
- The research terminal has been improved.
- The flicker bug has been reduced. The flicker bug was caused by not having enough storage or raw data.
- Research rebalanced and improved, research raw data is now better distributed (64mb per job) and is used up by researching.
- Two new needs for research equipment for better prioritisation.
- There is now different levels of research equipment.
- Necropsy table now has name text when placing the object in object building mode.
- All research interaction points have been corrected.
Lander placement
- Improvements have been made to stop the lander from falling on top of or too close to another one.
World Events
- World events are now generated for 8 hours for all types of events. This was between 2-8 and some events had become too infrequent.
Light Rendering Improved.
- The engine's screen light tiles can now render up to 32 lights. This will reduce visual glitches and improve performance.
- Light distance tweaked to fix hard edges.
GPU Usage
- Many texture assets in Maia have been optimised, which has led to a large reduction of GPU memory usage and will improve graphics performance.
Tutorial Changes
- Tutorial seed has changed. The way the Imp orders are counted has changed.
Other Bug Fixes
- All known crash bugs fixed.
- Fix for rubble appearing in random rooms bug
- Scrolling around screen when players have used Alt Tab has been stopped.
- Black world tiles.
- Full balance pass.
Here's some gameplay:
We hope you enjoyed Maia's Stardystopia Update, give us your feedback on the Steam Forum, on the Maia Forum or by mentioning #MaiaGame on twitter.
-Maia Team


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Lolo Man Gets Three Days in Jail for School Threats [AUDIO]
19 year-old Erik Wengren will spend three days in the Missoula County Jail for making threats over the internet to attack a Wyoming school, such as what occurred in Newtown, Connecticut.
Wengren pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct, and will also undergo psychiatric evaluation.
Missoula County Sheriff's spokesman Jason Johnson says Wengren told authorities he was only joking when he made the threats, although he repeated them several times after being questioned by friends on-line. Wengren will also pay a fine to the court.
Missoula Sheriff Spokesman Jason Johnson


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A Matter of Life and Death
On the DVD for A Matter of Life and Death, Martin Scorsese tells a story about how, when he was growing up, the filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger sort of felt like some mythical, lost duo of directors whose work was massively overlooked and re-edited, only to be fully appreciated in the '80s once Scorsese had the power to do so. Watching their films now makes that story seem almost under-exaggerated as every film that comes out on DVD is confoundingly innovative, as if it will be made ten years into the future. And this is no exception to the film, A Matter of Life and Death, a rich, complicated fantasy that leaves so many similar films of the time in its dust.
David Niven plays WWII fighter pilot, Peter Carter, who makes one last radio call to a female soldier, June, as his plane is crashing. Coming to terms with his death, Niven uses the call to calm his nerves and over the course of the conversation the two fall in love, having never met.
Continue ReadingThe Red Shoes
The tale of a prima ballerina's struggle to stay on top was recently given a fresh face in terms of Darren Aronofsky's newest feature, Black Swan. Several critics made direct references to The Red Shoes because it features a very similar story: a young and beautiful ballerina gets a chance to work for a company of great prestige, ultimately being driven to insanity under the pressure. While this film is similar on a few levels, I venture to say that it does surpass Black Swan on a visual level and has held up nicely in modern tastes. I'd even like to note that the film's surrealism was paid homage to in Black Swan, especially one scene in particular, but I'll explain that in the review of the movie.
This film is perhaps one of the most erotic and sinister pieces of art that I have seen, which is a bold statement when one compares that to present-day cinema. The claim is made simply because of the way love, greed, and desire is executed throughout the story. The saturated and vivid colors remind you of a living creature, and the imagery and techniques will not soon be forgotten by any audience. Comparatively, it is also unique because it not only focuses on the tribulations of the ballerina, but of the composer who is also trying to make his mark.
Continue Reading


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Qualcomm/Quectel Modem reverse engineering project launched
One week ago at the 33C3 conference, Osmocom core developers Holger and Harald first publicly presented about a new Osmocom project to analyze and reverse engineer a series of Qualcomm-based Cellular modems that run a version of GNU/Linux inside the modem itself. Feel free to see the video recording and/or the slides for more information
At the time the talk was presented, all related information that was gathered by them has been released inside the wiki of a new Osmocom project called Qualcomm Linux Modems by Quectel & Co
We're looking forward to grow this resource further and further - hopefully with your help. Osmocom is a collaborative, community based project, after all.


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The first time I heard about Temerloh had nothing to do with food. I remember hearing that the town in Central Pahang was badly flooded, and a few of my friends organized trips in relief efforts. Some of us helped out a little financially to the cause as well.
Well, thankfully other than flood, Temerloh is also famous for its ikan patin (freshwater catfish), so much so that they are now really getting popular here in Klang Valley.
Restoran Temerloh Catering, Wangsa Walk
A couple weeks ago, one of our colleagues brought us to get a taste of what central Pahang has to offer right here at Restoran Temerloh Catering, Wangsa Maju.
The restaurant is located right next to Wangsa Walk and directly adjacent to the open air paid parking lot, quite a convenient location if you get there by a car.
ulam & other lauk, choose your patin cuts
Like many Malay restaurants, the set up here is very straight forward. Pick from the choice of pre-cooked dishes, get rice, and be on your way. You can choose to have this all on the same plate, or in individual dishes for sharing.
We were of course, here for the patin tempoyak. To properly enjoy this delicacy, it is best to order one portion for each person. The beauty here is that you can pick your favorite part – head (for advanced appreciator, I guess), body, or tail.
balanced meal, with proper patin tempoyak
The catfish is positively smooth and fatty, with the tempoyak sauce properly pungent, just the way the dish is supposed to be. One of my colleagues who has a habit of traveling to Temerloh said that this is about 80-90% as good as the original version, which is plenty fine by me.
Other dishes we had here were pretty decent, if unremarkable, though I really enjoyed the fried lady's finger and ikan masin. The tempoyak (for ulam) was rather good as well.
bill came up to be just over RM 20 per pax including drinks
Total bill came up to be about RM 20+ per pax, which I think is within expectations. Give it a try if you're a patin fan. There's also branches at Shah Alam and Bangi
Restoran Temerloh Catering
35-G, Kedai D'Wangsa,
Jalan Wangsa Delima 12
Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur
Tel:Â 03-4141 5044


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In the Laurel & Hardy movie (or episode, if you will) Blotto (1930), in the first scene, Stan is reading a hebrew newspaper.
So I was wondering, why a hebrew newspaper? Is there any reason and purpose for this, or has it got any meaning? I couldn't spot anything in the movie that this is a reference to or anything... I can guess it's some sort of a 'random' joke that really doesn't have a special meaning or purpose, yet I'm eager to find out if this is the case.


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Tuesday, November 30, 2010
I made this on Xtranormal.com
Have you ever been in this situation??? It's always awkward. It would be flattering if these people knew my work but most don't. Anyway, I had fun typing this in on xtranormal.com. You can waste a lot of time there - I better get back to work.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Happy Holidays!
I couldn't wait to do a Seasonal piece this year. I finished this one (created in photoshop) last month but figured I'd wait till after Thanksgiving to post it. I'm sending this out as a post card so if you're an art buyer and want to be on my list send me your contact info and I'll shoot you one pronto!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Find time to work on Hansel and Gretel
If you've already started working on a Hansel and Gretel piece congratulations! If you don't know what I'm talking about check a few posts down - I'm going to post image creations from anyone who wants to take on this challenge. I've already received a really nice piece from Von Brimhall - Way to go man!
Here is a cute piece from Carl Offterdinger way back in the 1800's.
To my class: In between turkey naps find time to work on your assignments - you'll thank yourself later.
Project due date: Dec 8th when I'll post all of the images I receive in jpeg form right here on my blog with a short critique.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
My first acrylic painting in 7 months
This is a demo I did for my picturebook class at UVU. I was happy that I was still able to do it. I have to admit that I was a little nervous but I couldn't let my students know it.
Also - we're starting our Hansel and Gretel assignment tomorrow - Monday the 15th. Several people are going to do the project but do not want me to post the results online. That's absolutlely fine - I'll only post the images that you want me to post.
Good luck on it - My hope is that you can add another great image to your portfolio!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Want to do this assignment?
This is an illustration from Hansel and Gretel by scott gustafson. (Scott I hope you don't mind that I used your image.) We are going to be illustrating one scene from this story next week in my picturebook class at UVU. My students will begin this assignment on November 16 and their due date is Dec 8th. I've always wanted to try this so here goes:
I'm planning to post my students work right here on my blog and I'd like to post work from anyone out there who would like to participate along with us. The goal is to motivate my students as well as anyone who wants to roll up their sleeves and get busy with us. I'll also give a short critique on these pieces and any of you can weigh in with your opinions as well. I think this will be a blast!
So here are the rules:
Original work only of course
size is 8.5" x 11" wide or horizontal (work larger if you like)
color or black and white
any medium
email me a jpeg of your finished piece - I'll only post jpegs
You may choose any scene from the story. It can be dark and scary if you want - the original Brothers Grimm tale is quite ominous. You may also choose to lighten it up - fracture it if you want - this is your chance to do something really fun! The only content rule is that it must contain at least one character from the story. I often advise my students to pick a scene that is easily identifiable (as a Hansel and Gretel image) so they can get an editor or art director emotionally involved with their work.
So that's it - you have an extra week to get going on it!
Saturday, November 6, 2010
I just wasn't satisfied with the last finish on this piece - It felt over rendered in some ways and I think it lacked texture and the silhouette from the original sketch. I'm still finding myself in photoshop. I like the second version much better because you can still see some of the under-painting - a look I had in my traditional work.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
A new book project
This is a sample image for a book I just finished writing and illustrating. I don't have a publisher yet but will be sending it out soon. I was so happy with how this image turned out and I had to share it on my blog. The rest of the book is in full dummy mode (PDF) and hopefully I can get someone interested in putting some money behind it. I love telling stories through fun visuals and text - watching kids as they listen and look at my pictures is where it's at. So far I've gotten a good response on this one....fingers crossed!
Oh, also this is the first image that I started and finished in photoshop - prior to this piece I had always scanned my pencil sketches and then finished in photoshop. It has taken about 7 - 8 months to become familiar enough with my wacom tablet to pull this off. It still feels a little foreign but it's getting much easier.
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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Evangel University's Department of Undergraduate Admissions will host approximately 80 prospective students and their families for a visit day on Friday, Nov. 15.
EU Visits give prospective students a chance to preview campus life. The day includes a guided tour of the campus and opportunities for prospective students to meet with admissions counselors and faculty members.
"We are pleased to welcome prospective students onto our campus," said Brittney Grantham, interim director of undergraduate admissions. "The students always appreciate an opportunity to talk directly with faculty members, and being on campus allows them to envision themselves as Evangel students."
"We look forward to answering their questions and helping them navigate the admissions process," she said.
The schedule for this event is as follows:
- 8:30 a.m. – Welcome
- 9 a.m. – Campus tour
- 10 a.m. – Chapel service
- 11 a.m. – Classroom visit/parent panel
- 12 noon – Lunch
- 1 p.m. – Department visit/admissions session
- 2 p.m. – Department visit/admissions session
- 3 p.m. – Closing
Additional EU Visit days are scheduled for the remainder of the fall 2013 semester for anyone wishing to attend Evangel:
- November 22, 2013
- December 6, 2013
To register for any of the remaining fall visit dates, please follow this link: http://www.evangel.edu/admissions/campus-visits/
For additional information, contact Lacey Mussetter at (417) 865-2815, ext. 7432.


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We use a process called 'vitrification' to freeze sperm, eggs and embryos. Vitrification involves much more rapid cooling than other less advanced methods of freezing, and it prevents ice crystals from forming. This preserves the quality of the cells and improves the chances of success when they are thawed.
Embryo vitrification is now a well-established procedure. It allows us to freeze any good quality embryos that remain after embryo transfer or if transfer needs to be delayed. Embryos can be frozen at various stages, depending on how they develop. The decision to store embryos will depend on when embryo transfer takes place, and the number of good quality embryos available in the cycle.
Vitrification has improved the outcomes of embryo freezing. It's now a very reliable practice, yielding success rates as high as those achieved with fresh embryos.
Occasionally, it may be decided to vitrify all the embryos in a cycle and postpone embryo transfer. We do this to help prevent ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). If this is the best course of action for the individual being treated, the embryos are thawed and replaced in a subsequent cycle.
We can use vitrification to successfully freeze eggs immediately after the collection procedure. This is important for women who would like to store eggs before undergoing chemo- or radiotherapy, or other treatments that might affect their fertility in the future.
We also store eggs for women who are not ready to start a family now, but who recognise the importance of storing eggs while they are younger. Eggs collected and stored earlier in life are of a better quality than those women produce later on. Patients who choose to freeze eggs when they are under 35 tend to have higher success rates.
You may need to store sperm for fertility preservation before certain medical procedures or in the course of a fertility treatment cycle:
Prior to chemo- or radiotherapy
Prior to vasectomy
Prior to any surgery that may result in impaired fertility
Prior to a fertility treatment cycle and after sperm has been retrieved via surgery
Prior to a fertility treatment cycle as a 'back-up' sample for the day of treatment
Sperm that is donated for other couples or individuals to use also has to be vitrified and quarantined while all the appropriate donor screening tests are conducted. The sperm is not released for use until all test results come back and are clear.


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The Editors hope that you will enjoy Earth & Mind, and find insights that you can use in your profession or daily life. If you do use an idea from Earth & Mind in your work, you must cite it. For most publications, the citation for an online reference should include the author, publication date, title of the post, title of the site, and the URL. Some publications also require the date that you viewed the site. In APA format, a citation of one of our posts would look like:
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Wet & Wild: Winter Riding
December is definitely here and I don't know about the rest of you, but it's bloomin' cold over her in the good old U of K. When I checked out LovingTheBike.com yesterday morning (as I do every day, like a good 'employee') I was filled with a sense of wonder tinged with a massive amount of jealousy!
I'm sure you have noticed that Darryl has made the family move of a lifetime and set up camp on the wonderful island of Grenada, and posted this about an idyllic morning ride. Well 'D Dawg' you might have the glorious beaches and crystal blue waters, but I have wet roads and bitter winds…the making of a strong spring rider.
Winter is a hard time to get on the bike and get the legs rolling. You may have chosen to have a little time off the bike as I did and have to get back into the routine, but winter is a great time to ride. You'll feel super strong in the spring after putting in the hard miles and those fresh, sunny roads in a few months time seem to just roll so much smoother than those presently.
Winter also gives you the added enjoyment of getting all of that expensive, lovely winter kit out of the cupboard and strutting your stuff. I have a real thing for kits, as many of you do too I'm sure, and there is nothing finer than showing off your style with a matching winter kit right from the cap down to the pedals. The cold weather just means there is more lovely kit to wear! In the summer we can select the Euro-cool white kits but for now, it's understated and hard working clothing which takes centre stage.
There is also a real sense of camaraderie built up through the winter within the various chain gangs. It can be a hard time to ride through harsh weather and sometimes the only thing that gets you through is wanting to not lose face in front of your riding pals. But when those sunny months come around and you look around the bunch you'll know the faces that struggled through the winter with you and seek those wheels over others.
Those are the riders you follow because the trust has been built up through the wet months and there is an unspoken pact between you. The ones that have put in the effort and dedication to mean that when the weather is fine and you can sit outside the mid ride cafe, you can be proud you put in the tough miles and enjoy smashing all of your lazy friends for the whole summer!
Get out there and ride this winter. Don't let weather stop you, there is kit, tyres and equipment to make it all possible. Make December the month to change, and don't wait for those useless New Year's resolutions. Do it now. Get wet and wild!


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Todos os dias oferecemos software com licenças GRATUITAS que do contrário você teria que comprar!
This giveaway offer has been expired. The Happy App is now available on the regular basis.
The happy app reminds you about things that go well.
Not too long ago, I was struggling to stay positive and get on top of things.
So, I forced myself to think about something that went well during the day before I tried to sleep.
Sometimes I had to dig deep, but it worked and I soon started writing down the happiest moment of every day.
I tried a handful of existing gratitude journals and diary apps, but needed something simple - so I built the happy app and use it every day.
I hope it works for you too :)
Kevin Brown
Customer Feedback:
"Great app! Just what I was looking for. Wish I'd invented it :)"
"Brilliant. At 9pm each day the Happy App reminds me to be grateful for my amazing life."
"Great idea, so simple and really seems to lift your mood . Great to have such easy access to good memories."
"Really nice to actively think of and capture a 'gone well' for the day and to be able to see all these over a period of time"
"It's funny how such a simple thing can make you really stop and think about your happiness :-)"
"I love this app! I find myself thinking throughout the day of things that I will be able to write down when my Happy App reminder asks me each night.
"I've been using the happy app for a couple of weeks. Really makes you think more positively and when you're having a bad day - you have a whole collection of good memories at your fingertips."
Configurable reminder to write down one thing that went well during your day
Beautiful, simple user experience. Browse your happy moments and photos.
Take the #100happydays challenge and share with your friends.
In App Purchase prints all your happy things to a file that can be emailed, shared or printed - never lose your happy moments!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can anyone else see my happy things?
A. No, your happy things are stored locally, unless you share them on Facebook.
Q. How do I use the happy app to do the 100 happy days challenge?
A. Enter your happy moment, then press the Facebook Icon - add your current day, i.e. #Day23 and the happy app will post your moment to be shared with your friends.
Kevin Brown
Health & Fitness
iPhone, iPad, iPod touch


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Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has once more reiterated his desire to return to the Premier League at some point in the future.
The 49-year-old enjoyed success in England at Chelsea from 2004 until 2007, and he has nothing but fond memories of his time in the English top flight.
"My memories from English football could not be better," Mourinho said ahead of the FA150 launch.
"In England you feel the real passion for the game. It's not just about passion for clubs, it's mainly about passion for football – and you feel it. I loved it from the first to the last day.
"But I know that one day I will come back because English football means a lot to myself."
Mourinho has an ongoing contract with Madrid, but a number of recent reports have suggested that he could leave the club at the end of the 2012-13 season.


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Find Me For Food!
fun exercise for dogs and humans!
Find me for food sets up the basic "leader" command post of the owner/hander, beginning recall training, and patience!
And all this in one simple exercise.
This is a great way for a newly adoptive puppy or dog to find his way into the pack and to bond with his or her new family.
Set up.
Doggy on leash (if new dog-graduate to no leash)
Yummy soft small treat tid bits (cut up hot dogs do great, something different then usual treats)
Let's give this example in a living room,
All people are sitting on chairs/couches thru out the room. Dog is on leash long enough to reach all people or just drop the leash and step on it if need be. We begin on leash so the dog does not "jump" on people. Correct by the leash and ignore the behavior (negative attention is still attention..let the leash do the correction, you can say one command "off" and that's it.)
Load each person with a handful of yummy soft treats (soft less time to chew) , bring the dog in leashed, and have a person call dog to them
"Bowser- come!" when doggy comes over, he must be calm and if he know SIT tell him to "sit" then he gets treat.
Next person !
"Bowser – come!" doggy will be happy to run over to next person, patience! patience! When dog is calm all feet on floor or in a "sit!" pop in another treat!
You see how this goes now.
Each person around the room continues to call doggy to him, and inserts a treat.
This is teaching a lot! As I said, patience (must wait for treat! ) NILF (must sit or be calm to get treat), Come (recall very important with dogs!), and also installs that these new humans are all "food dispensers" and also (big also!) LEADERS/"alpha" over the dog.
This same exercise is easily done with one person by doing a box step..
Slide one step over "come" - ..insert treat when dog sits,
Slide one step back "come" etc.
* NOTE- in a new dog (in the two week process or a dog you don't know) DO NOT STEP INTO THE DOG. This is an challenging move, and dogs who don't know you yet will see this as a slight challenge or threat. We must establish ourselves first with the dog, then we have the right to step into the dog, he should stay sitting or scoot back , even if you bump him/her. If the dog jumps/ pushes , chomps, attempts to snap the food out of your hand he is telling you "you are NOT the king of me "! And we just simply close our hand. - No treat.
Then as you imagine we keep reinforcing our 'nothing in life is for free' and working with the dog. Many new dogs challenge this at first. So we must be fair and teach the dog where he belongs to avoid conflict in a fun exercise such as "Find me for Food!"
Dogs that gobble food, or are slightly food aggressive you can do this exercise with their dinner kibble/food. If they get snappy, pushy, etc.. just calmly take the dog and put him away, without any further food for the moment. Let him think and realize why he went back to his crate or quiet room hungry. We don't have to "correct" yell or do anything, they challenged the hand that is feeding them? ..well then , skip dinner for awhile. Most if not all dogs I have worked with quickly realize that its no fun to miss dinner and humble up .
*disclaimer – I would not withhold dinner from a sick dog or seriously underweight dog, most of our dogs are healthy enough to miss a dinner, or at least wait a bit before getting it. Never give in and hand the dog the dish of food though. At least make them wait a bit. Your new adopted dog might be underweight we only hold dinners from healthy weight dogs. Please contact me and set up a Drop In Service if there is any question on feeding dinners to your new dog.
If a dog is overweight we can eliminate the treats from this exercise and use only their kibble /dinner food as the reward.
Do not give a free dinner to your dog and then expect to be receptive to this game, this of course wont have nearly the effect if your dogs tummy is full from dinner. :0 )
This is a great exercise for kids, for it teaches the kids and dogs that jumping is a no no or allowing the jumping as well as teaching the dog that kids are leaders and not to be jumped on for treats!
For small kids, have an adult sit behind them, wrap their arms around the kid to support the arm and close the hand if the dog gets pushy.
Also a GREAT way to introduce friends and visiting family. Bring the dog out after all are seated , load everyone with some treats and then go get the dog. Again we are installing no jumping, patience and the dog gets yummy treats, what is better?
As you advance in this game, and the dog is sitting, being patient, you can go a step further and begin the "leave it" command, and make the dog wait a second before taking the treat. Treat in hand-when dog goes to take the treat, close the hand, say "leave it" …some dogs will paw or nudge or even bark your hand that is now closed, when they sit back and look at you or not at the food, open your hand and allow the dog to have treat!
Waaa la!
All this training in one fun filled exercise.. who would of thought!?
* Schedule a Drop In Visit to show this in person. A 30 minute session should cover this excercise and dinner feeding !
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(CNN) -- Military supporters descended on Berkeley early Tuesday, demanding the famously liberal California college town rescind its vote that says Marine recruiters are "not welcome in this city."
Military supporters and anti-war demonstrators began gathering in Berkeley early Tuesday.
The pro-military demonstrators were met by anti-war protesters who had camped out overnight, setting the stage for a dramatic showdown late in the day when the City Council is to discuss whether to revoke its previous vote.
"Their treasonous action, especially at this time of war right now, is not acceptable," said Mary Pearson, a spokeswoman for the group Move America Forward.
"It's very, very important for everyone to stand united ... to give our Marines and all of our military the greatest respect and honor that they deserve."
Before the sun was even up, about 300 demonstrators -- both pro-military and anti-war -- were already standing toe-to-toe in downtown. Many traded jeers and sneers.
"Code Pink doesn't stand for us," one sign said, held by a man in military fatigues. Signs held by anti-war activists read, "End the War" and "Bring the troops home now."
The City Council is to meet at 7 p.m. PT on whether to take back its previous measure urging the Marine recruiters to leave town.
"If recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders," the measure says.
It went on to say the council applauds residents and organizations that "volunteer to impede, passively or actively, by nonviolent means, the work of any military recruiting office located in the City of Berkeley."
Ever since the council measure, protesters with the anti-war group Code Pink have camped outside the Marine recruiting office on Shattuck Avenue, singing peace songs and chanting slogans for an end to the Iraq war. See photos of Code Pink protesters outside Marine office »
Republican lawmakers in Washington fired back last week, threatening to recall more than $2 million of federal funding to the city as well as money designated for the University of California-Berkeley, the campus that became a bastion of liberalism during the Vietnam War.
The Marine Corps has said it has no plans to move its office, which is located about a block from the college campus.
Whether the City Council reverses course remains to be seen.
Max Anderson, a Vietnam war veteran who serves on the council, said he fully supports the measure to get Marine recruiters out of town -- despite receiving more than 8,000 e-mails, most of them harsh in tone, on the matter.
"If the aim was to shut us down, get us to back up, get us to eat our words, get us to retreat from our position with the war, they can forget that," he told CNN Monday.
He said he was recruited by Marines after he graduated from high school in 1963 and was promised that he and his friends would serve together. But once they enlisted, he said, they were separated and shipped off to Vietnam.
"We're not against the Marines per se," he said. "We're against this war. We're against the mechanisms that support this war and send our young people over there."
Kriss Worthington, a progressive Berkeley activist and council member for 11 years, believes the council overreached.
"The inflammatory language in the City Council item is really outrageous -- not just to right-wing people, but to mainstream liberal people and even to some peace activists who have said they're insulted that the city would have such language," Worthington said.
He said Berkeley owes an apology to the military and to the peace movement "for having such embarrassing language allegedly trying to promote peace."
"When you make a colossal blunder, you can't just sort of ignore the mistake and go about your way. You have to do something to fix it," Worthington said. E-mail to a friend
CNN's Chuck Afflerbach contributed to this report.
All About War and Conflict • Iraq War • Iraq


text: The popular ROECK-Grip glove, exclusive to Roeckl, is the latest in riding fashion. This classic is not only the epitome of chic, it is also made from a lightweight, flexible material that really gets the job done. This glove fits like a second skin, giving you exactly what you need: a real feel of the reins. And although a joy to wear, the ROECK-Grip does not lose sight of the practicalities of riding: simply put them in the washing machine and they will come out almost dry and in the very best condition.


text:
After my experiment on Spain, I decided to carry out a similar experiment in China, for which there is a large number of regional/ethnic sub-populations.15 clusters were inferred with 22 MDS dimensions.
The Uygur are the clear outlier population, doubtlessly due to their substantial Caucasoid admixture and geographical position in Central Asia, a region that was traditionally at the outskirts of Chinese civilization. Other Altaic speakers (both Mongolic and Tungusic) are also divergent, as are the Dai/Lahu people from the China/Thailand/Laos area.
Interestingly, the Tujia people from Central China seem to be the ones most like the Han overall, with Hmongic Miaozu/She more like the southern Han.
December 28, 2011
2 comments:
- terryt said...
"Interestingly, the Tujia people from Central China seem to be the ones most like the Han overall"
Very interesting. Has any work been done specifically on their haplogroups? The link claims:
"Tujia is clearly a Tibeto-Burman language, but its position within that family is unclear, due to massive borrowing from other Tibeto-Burman languages. It has been placed with Loloish and Qiangic, but many leave it unclassified".
Perhaps they are survivors from the 'original' Neolithic of the Yangtze River valley. - Thursday, December 29, 2011 4:11:00 am
- Andrew Oh-Willeke said...
Massive borrowing from other languages is suggestive of the likelihood of massive admixture as well. As melting pot that creates a statistical average seems more plausible than a truly basal position.
- Thursday, December 29, 2011 11:26:00 pm
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Restaurant Review - Taconic on Bedford
I admit it, I was not looking forward to Taconic on Bedford. I mean really, in our precious world of hipster Brooklyn dining, this place is the very hippest, the most precious of all. But you know what - Taconic on Bedford pulls it off, and I highly recommend that you try it.
Taconic, as the locals call it, is named after New York State Route 987G, the Taconic State Parkway. Owners Abraham and Fenton Percival moved from 1870's Wyoming to Williamsburg in early 2010. Fenton worked for a while as Bee-Keeper at Egg Restaurant, and Abraham was Director of Body Art at Cafe Grumpy. One spring weekend in 2011, the brothers attended the chemical-free soap and candle making conference and expo in the town of Ghent, NY. They fell in love with the Hudson Valley and decided to bring the rustic vibe and food back to Williamsburg. And so, we have Taconic on Bedford.
The Percivals found a wonderful spot for their restaurant. Set just off the street on a lovely corner of Bedford Avenue, the place feels like it is of the woods.
And the view from the main dining room is utterly gorgeous, emphasizing the bucolic beauty that can still be found in the part of Williamsburg near Newtown Creek.
There are a few problems with Taconic on Bedford, and I'm going to get those out of the way first. Taconic does not take reservations. If you or someone in your party can present a valid hunting or fishing license you will get priority for a table. Otherwise, go for a stroll in Williamsburg and Fenton will send a telegram when your table is ready. Secondly, it can take a long time to be noticed by the staff at Taconic, even after being seated. I felt so grateful to be there, though, that I didn't mind the fact that 45 minutes went by before someone came to take a drink order. That said, the servers, most of whom are former rodeo clowns, are not entirely adverse to being interrupted as they socialize, and will take your order if you are a little pushy about it.
These are minor problems, though, and there is a lot to love at Taconic on Bedford. All of the wood that went into building Taconic was reclaimed from Home Depot, and the place looks great.
Taconic offers a convenient and enviro-friendly valet service, and your car will be parked in a bed of local dried leaves while you dine.
And the wait for food is made more palatable as you sip mixologist Lleyton Pembrickson III 's signature hand-made cocktails. Lleyton came to Taconic from Dow Chemicals and she has since created many delicious libations for the Taconic crowd. My current favorite is the Irish Spring, a captivating blend of Tullamore Dew, rendered duck fat, house-made quinoa syrup, and hand-shaved green soap.
Wine is served in deerskin pouches, and there is an innovative hydration program, offering diners a variety of hand-poured waters. I usually go with the over-sized watering can, and the water is fresh and cold, very impressive indeed. You can enjoy it plain or with house-pickled ice cubes - I find both to be very satisfying.
And how about the food at Taconic? I cannot profess to have tried everything, but what I've had is excellent. Most of the vegetables and grains served at Taconic are locally foraged, and in a truly innovative touch, foraging is outsourced to a small team of Siberian Husky pups. The above photo shows Amaranth, the current leader of the pack.
Taconic adheres to strict nose-to-tail vegetable practices, and every part of the plant is used. Pictured above is the Cabbage, Celery, and Carrot ($17), a delicious melange of the whole vegetables, sliced and served with a light and tangy "mayo-vinegar jus."
Moss salad ($23) is served on the rock it grew on, and is woodsy and redolent of chlorophyll. It is pleasantly textured, but I felt that a dressing of some sort might have improved the dish.
There are a variety of meat dishes made from locally sourced animals, but if you order these dishes you must be willing to actually butcher the meat before the kitchen staff will prepare it. I was initially put off by this, as I don't know how to butcher, but in the end its a nice opportunity to learn. The butchering station is next to the bar and the first-aid area so diners can watch and learn from each others' mistakes.
After one lunchtime visit Abraham Percival took me into his office so we could chat. He is a lovely guy, his brother too. I asked about future plans and he said that the Percivals just opened a general store next to Taconic.
He gave me a quick tour and so far it seems to hold a wide array of soda. Abraham said that there will soon be a variety of very expensive pickles and candles, and also Hellman's mayonnaise.
5 and 1/2 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn


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A COMPLEXION CHANGE Vision II THE COLLEGIUM - Forum & Television Program Berlin in co-operation with Offener Kanal Berlin Production & Direction Prof. Donald Muldrow Griffith, (co-founder/producer/director) Fountainhead® Tanz Theatre Black International Cinema Berlin Cultural Zephyr e.V. via Television, Internet, Radio in English, German, French, Spanish, Arabic present/präsentieren A COMPLEXION CHANGE - Vision II Intercultural Dialogue within a Migratory Society The future is with us, how do we respond to the inevitabilities of population change, clash or cooperation? Partial Portrait / Past, Present, Future? A relationship of Europe to the world and the human contributions to a developing Europe, at the dawn of the 21st century. PROGRAM ************************************************** Introduction Moderator: Prof. Donald Muldrow Griffith Co-Founder/Producer/Director Fountainhead® Tanz Theatre / Black International Cinema Berlin / THE COLLEGIUM - Forum & Television Program Berlin / Cultural Zephyr e.V. Oral Presentation "Our World Between Diversity and Coming Together" / "Unsere Welt zwischen Nähe und Distanz und zwischen Dialog und Monolog" Mahgoub Eltayeb, Sudan/Berlin Director, Sudanese Association Betriebsrat, Phoenix Pharmacutical Intermission Visual Presentation Sonjah Prinz, Germany und Esterina Petrauschke "One World Children's Musical" Kinderperformance / Part I Oral Presentation "Diverse & Together" / "Vielfältig & Gemeinsam" Sonjah Prinz Visual Presentation Sonjah Prinz, Germany und Esterina Petrauschke "One World Children's Musical" Kinderperformance / Part II
Intermission Cinema Festival Impressions - XXIII. Black International Cinema Berlin 2008 Oral Presentation "Reflections" / "Überlegungen" Gary Wiggins, USA/Berlin Program Director, Music as Cultural Diplomacy Institute for Cultural Diplomacy Oral Presentation "Questions about Identity" / "Fragen zu Identität" Mark C. Donfried, USA/Berlin Director, Institute for Cultural Diplomacy Intermission Oral Presentation " Un Changement d'image à la française: le multicultarisme français et le cas des banlieues" / " A Complexion Change à la francaise: French multiculturalism and the case of the suburbs" Harry Louiserre, Gaudeloupe/France/Berlin Managing Director, Classic In Black Intermission Oral Presentation "YES, WE CAN - The International Impact of Barack Obama" / "JA, WIR KÖNNEN - Barack Obama Und Sein Internationaler Einfluss" John Matip Eichler, Germany Manager, Swiss Bank Berlin Intermission Cinema "Paloma" Script & Direction: Simon Jaikiriuma Paetau, Colombia/Germany 2006 Intermission Music and Spoken Word Presentation A Complexion Change Orchestra "A Complexion Change" (An Original Composition & Oral Presentation) Fuasi Abdul-Khaliq, USA/Berlin Saxophonist/Composer & Conductor "As Long (there's a Soul there's Hope)" Jumaa Alexander Prvulovic, Germany Vocals/co-composer for "A Complexion Change" "Gather Your Men And Prepare Your Women" Yamil Borges, USA/Berlin Spoken Word Jeremy Green, UK/Berlin Piano Ramani Krishna, India/Berlin Bass Rico McClaren, USA/Berlin Drums Guitar Crusher, USA/Berlin Guitar & Vocals Translations Simon Jaikiriuma Paetau, Colombia/Berlin Mahgoub Eltayeb, Sudan/Berlin Lola Zuckermann, France/Berlin Anke Broszio, Berlin Radio Rolf Gänsrich, Berlin Catering Saltmann & Company Barbara Saltmann, Jamaica/Berlin Editors Prof. Donald Muldrow Griffith/The Collegium, U.S.A./Berlin Angela Kramer/The Collegium, Berlin Marion Kramer/The Collegium, Berlin Technicians Cordula Alkert/The Collegium, Berlin Thomas M. Wendt/The Collegium, Berlin Martin Kersten/The Collegium, Berlin Tom Penman/The Collegium, Scotland/Berlin
• The annual, intercultural and interdisciplinary film/video festival BLACK INTERNATIONAL CINEMA BERLIN, founded 1986 • THE COLLEGIUM - Forum & Television Program Berlin,Magdeburg, Wolfsburg, Dessau, founded 1995, a weekly television magazine
1988 Best Picture of 1988 The films produced by Fountainhead "A Man Without Limits" and "I Dream A World" were awarded best picture of 1988 by the Polish Commission for Film Arts. 1989 Berlin Appreciation Day in Chicago U.S.A. "The citizens of Berlin are hereby declared as honorary citizens of Chicago III." The mayor also expressed appreciation to Fountainhead and the citizens of Berlin for providing opportunities for Chicago artists to perform abroad, declared November 13, 1989 as Berlin Appreciation Day in Chicago, III. 1989 Certificate of Appreciation "The Chicago Moving Company", presented two awards to Gayle and Donald. A Certificate of Appreciation to Gayle McKinney Griffith for recognition of outstanding contributions in the field of dance and to Donald a Certificate of Appreciation for promoting world unity through international artistic presentations. 1989 Artistic Award for Excellence & Special Judge's Award An Award for Artistic Excellence was presented for "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf". In November of the same year, Fountainhead was awarded the "Special Judge's Award" for best choreography in the European-wide tournament of plays by the U.S. Army for their unique creation. 2000 The Fountainhead® Tanz Theatre website, http://www.fountainhead-tanz-theatre.de, was presented an award for "A Highly Recommended Cultural Website. 2001 Fountainhead® Tanz Theatre / Black International Cinema was granted the official status of "Associated Projects to the UNESCO Slave Route Project." 2003 CERTIFICATE For Exemplary Social Engagement "For Effective Representation of Democracy and Tolerance" 2003 for Fountainhead® Tanz Theatre presented by Bündnis für Demokratie und Toleranz
Prof. Donald Muldrow Griffith, co-founder/director of the Fountainhead® Tanz Theatre, Berlin/Germany, Black International Cinema Berlin (1986), The Collegium – Forum & Television Program Berlin and other cities (1995) and Cultural Zephyr e.V. (1990). Fountainhead® Tanz Theatre was founded 1980 in Berlin/Germany by the Professors Donald Muldrow Griffith and Gayle McKinney Griffith together with three other artists. Since then both are co-producers and directors of the Fountainhead® Tanz Theatre. Fountainhead® is a production, performing and teaching unit. People with different national, cultural, ethnic, social-economic and religious backgrounds, of both genders and different sexual orientations are working together in different artistic and cultural fields with the intention to create, promote and bring about an intercultural exchange with the projects available. The philosophical premise upon which these organizations are based is: Increasing international and intercultural understanding and cooperation between individuals and groups in support of democratic procedures and the elimination of violence, religious, ethnic and gender persecution, youth exploitation, homophobia and racial hatred through the process of art, education, culture and dialogue. Professor Donald Muldrow Griffith completed his studies in Psychology and Pedagogics at the University of Loyola, Chicago Illinois, U.S.A.. After considerable time as a practicing Group Therapist, Elementary School teacher and Probation Officer for Juvenile Offenders, he began his training in acting, voice, speech and diction and also studied a variety of dance techniques, including ballet, modern, jazz and African dance. His stage, choreographic and production career began in the U.S.A. as an actor, singer, dancer, fashion model and choreographer and he performed featured roles in musicals, theater, television commercials and film productions. Prof. Griffith played the starring roles in the Broadway Musicals "Pippin," "Stop The World, I Want To Get Off," "Lyrics Of Sunshine And Shadows," where he portrayed the poet, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and was awarded "Most Promising Off Broadway Actor," by the Broadway Critics for his featured roles in "Contributions," a three act drama in which Donald Muldrow Griffith appeared in two of the three segments. He also staged fashion shows for major clothing manufacturers and fashion houses at venues such as, Lincoln Center, Waldorf Astoria, Regines and other New York City locales. Prof. Griffith narrated industrial shows in the U.S.A. for a number of years for clients such as Ford Motor Company, Buick, Metropolitan Life Insurance, Western Electric, Trans World Airlines, Detroit Diesel and other major companies in the U.S.A.. He also danced with the Rondo Dance Theater and Fred Benjamin Dance Company. In addition, he managed the careers of artists, such as Oscar Brown Jr., in Chicago, Illinois and New York City. Prof. Griffith's quest for further creative and educational opportunities was enhanced by an invitation to Berlin/Germany for performing, teaching and choreographing at Theater des Westens. As a result, Fountainhead® Tanz Theatre was established in Berlin/Germany by Prof. Donald Muldrow Griffith, Prof. Gayle McKinney Griffith, Lynnda Curry, Ricky Powell and Detlef Bäcker and has become a source of creative and educational endeavors in Berlin, elsewhere in Europe and the U.S.A.. Prof. Griffith´s direction and choreography of "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf" was awarded "Special Judge´s Award" for Choreography and Music in the European-wide Tournament of Plays by the US. Army. As a result of their educational and artistic backgrounds in the U.S.A./Europe and after an international university search, he and his wife, Prof. Gayle McKinney Griffith were selected and invited to Indiana University South Bend, U.S.A., to establish a dance theater department. Prof. Griffith´s talent, creativity and experience as a singer, actor, dancer, narrator, writer, producer, director and choreographer are characteristic of FOUNTAINHEAD's undertakings and productions today. In his capacity as festival producer/director and film and publication distributor, Prof. Donald Muldrow Griffith was invited to the IV. Cultural Mercado Festival in Salvador/Bahia, Brazil (December 2002) and to the Global Cinema and Urban Entertainment Conference in Los Angeles/California, U.S.A. (August 2003), to serve as a panelist. An arrangement has led to a distribution agreement between Fountainhead® Tanz Theatre Distribution and Freunde der Deutschen Kinemathek e.V., Berlin/Germany (Friends Of The German Film Archive), for selected participating films from the annual intercultural Black International Cinema Berlin. Besides a variety of activities in the fields of dance, theatre, music, film/video, publication and television, the production, direction and realization of the annual intercultural, interdisciplinary film/video festival Black International Cinema and the television program The Collegium, weekly broadcast on Sundays at 9 p.m. and once a month live, belong to the focal point of work by the Fountainhead® Tanz Theatre. In 1990, Fountainhead® founded Cultural Zephyr e.V. as a non-profit organization. FILMOGRAPHY 1986 Black Cultural Festival Berlin, Germany From March 3 - March 23 Fountainhead® organized, directed and produced Europe's first Black Cultural Festival: 40 years of music and dance. The participants were primarily black artists and intellectuals from Africa and the African Diaspora. They presented a spectrum of Black art, thought and life. The festival offered a musical retrospective based on the life story of one of the great tap dancers, Carnell Lyons. The festival also included films by filmmakers from Africa and the African Diaspora. Seminars were held, and a variety of political, social and cultural experiences of the people from the African Diaspora were exchanged. In co-production with Polish television, Fountainhead® filmed a documentary about this event entitled, "A Man Without Limits". In August 1986, Gayle and Donald were invited to participate in a dance workshop in Arezzo, Italy. 1987 I Dream A World Arrezo, Italy Along with the Association for Culture (Associazione Culturale Attaverso II Casentino) and the city administration of Arezzo, Fountainhead® conceived and presented a dance, theatre and sports festival from July 12 to July 26 of 1987. The fruits of the workshops were performed during the finale at the Arezzo Amphitheater. Accompanied by a documentary film in co-operation with Polish television capturing this festival in a film entitled, "I Dream A World" (based upon a poem by Langston Hughes). 1990 Crossroads Hebbel Theatre, Berlin A collaborative film between Fountainhead® and Michael Andre based on the dance theatre production "Crossroads" by Fountainhead®. 1993 People, Places Neighbors & Things Television Production/South Bend, Indiana U.S.A. The television production for W.N.D.U. T.V., entitled "People, Places, Neighbors & Things" was directed and choreographed by Fountainhead® and featured an international cast of dancers and interviewees. 1994 BLACK PEOPLE, BLACK BERLIN Producer & Director: Fountainhead® Tanz Theatre Documentary, Color, 60 min. Germany 1994 English This documentary was created prior to the fall of the Berlin wall. Interviews were conducted with members of the Berlin African Diaspora: Black Germans, Black Americans and Black Africans, regarding issues of social, political, economic, cultural, intercultural marriage, refugee status and their hopes and dreams for the future. The interviewees: Johnetta Page/U.S.A., Mona Agbaje/Swaziland, Robert Harrel/U.S.A., Magumba/St. Kitts, Dr. Mahoma Mwaungulu/Malawi, Alycia Jones/U.S.A., Mai Opitz Ayim/Germany and Ifatayo Ifayemi/Germany. 1996 THE COLLEGIUM "An international, intercultural group of persons in pursuit of increased co-operation between individuals and groups through the process of art, education, culture, and dialogue. " Founded by Donald Muldrow Griffith and Gayle McKinney Griffith, Fountainhead® Tanz Theatre, Mark Headley and Calvann Cole in 1995. THE COLLEGIUM has since November 1996, under the direction of Fountainhead® Tanz Theatre, produced a monthly television program featuring cinema, state of affairs and arts calendar. Contact and additional Information: Fountainhead® Tanz Theatre Black International Cinema Berlin The Collegium - Forum & Television Program Berlin Cultural Zephyr e.V. Tempelhofer Damm 52 12101 Berlin/Germany Tel.: 0049(0)30 - 7821621 / 75460946 Fax: 0049(0)30 - 7863466 e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com www.fountainhead-tanz-theatre.de www.black-international-cinema.com www.blackinternationalcinema.de "Mankind will either find a way or make one." C.P. Snow "I may not make it if I try, but I damn sure won´t if I don´t..." Oscar Brown Jr. "Whatever you do..., be cool!" Joseph Louis Turner "Yes, I can…!" Sammy Davis Jr. "Yes, We can…!" Barack Obama
Two Greek filmmakers will come to this year's Passport Controll - Summer Art Workshops and Community Gathering, to lead film workshop for students. Film director Karina Logothetis and sound designer Vasilis Zlatanos won the award for the Most Original Short Film at the 33rd edition of the Mediawave Film Festival this year, with their short fiction Pebble.


text: Seventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the name is uncertain. In sound the letter is a sonant sibilant, its phonetic value corresponding to the English "z." It interchanges with the surd sibilant ("s"), and occurs only as a radical, never as a formative element. In the later period it has the numerical value 7.


text:
In celebration of our blog's seventh anniversary day after tomorrow, December 12, we proudly republish our very first post ever, "The tidings that dare not speak their name." It features our Christmas Card of that year, an image of the homestead festooned with the lights fantastic, and a fearless, politically incorrect challenge to those who would wilfully misrepresent the Establishment Clause of our Constitution's First Amendment. An early stirring of the Tea Party spirit that would rise up to disintermediate the powers that be via the internet?
"Chelsea-by-the-Sea at Christmastime"
We wish you a Merry Christmas!
That was it, a blogpost of exactly 68 characters that could hold its own today in the fast-moving, 140-or-fewer-characters world of the Twittersphere. We were delighted to note that Glenn Reynolds has more or less declared victory in the war this Army of Davids was waging back then:
I GUESS THE "WAR AGAINST CHRISTMAS" HAS BEEN LOST, THEN: Obama lights the National Christmas Tree, says 'Merry Christmas' three times.
Not that there aren't still some air-headed holdouts.
Update: Michelle Malkin Buzzworthy link!
Crossposted at Riehl World View and Liberty Pundits.


text: GLOBE TREKKER transports viewers to unforgettable destinations through its stunning photography, rhythmic indigenous music and spirit of adventure. In each episode, one vibrant young traveler ventures off the beaten path to soak up the local culture, sample the cuisine and revel in breathtaking vistas. In keeping with their aim of "living as the locals do," charismatic hosts Ian Wright, Justine Shapiro, Zay Harding, Megan McCormick and others explore everything from big-city landmarks to exotic sights in remote villages.