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It's the week between Christmas and New Years. You may be still be overdosed on food, family, friends, and festivities. This week is kind of a fog in most offices. So what could we do that wouldn't require too much?
We shred. Make it rain paper! Take out those old personnel and recruitment files, and get the little delight as several sharp blades chew through now irrelevant information to make more room in your soon-to-be irrelevant file cabinets.
What could you get rid of? You can probably get rid of a lot. First, check your document retention policy. If HR does not have one, check with your Finance or Accounting group. They might have one that covers your files too. If you have a policy, follow that.
Second, if you don't have a policy, determine what record retention laws apply to you. If your organization is a federal or state contractor, your records are covered by different laws and regulations. For example, the EEOC regulations require employers to retain recruitment records for one year, but the OFCCP requires recruitment records to be retained for two years. State law may have additional requirements for you as well.
Third, prepare to shred. Put all the payroll records that are more than four years' old in one pile, the personnel files of employees long since departed from your organization, and the old copies of employee handbooks in separate piles.
Lastly, find your shredder and giant garbage bags. Order a pizza. Pretend you are a group of roadies preparing for a concert. Make the confetti. It's fun!


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Boquillas del Carmen for the New York Times
I scored a great assignment this month from the New York Times travel section to visit Boquillas del Carmen, a tiny Mexican village just across the border from Big Bend National Park.
The border crossing at the Rio Grande River was officially closed in 2002 after the events of 9/11. With tourism dollars dried up, two-thirds of the residents of Boquillas had to relocate. Families were separated, some unable to visit from the US side of the border.
Last year, the river crossing reopened with a new $3.2 million dollar US border and customs building. Tourism is coming back to the sleepy town of Boquillas, but it has a long way to go. You can read the article here.
Boquillas del Carmen - Images by Julia Robinson

subset: commoncrawl


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Wednesday 9 November 2016
GRAND MAGUS Announce UK/Ireland headline tour dates 2017
Swedish riff lords Grand Magus are very pleased to announce that they will be returning to our UK and Irish shores in March and April 2017 for a run of 8 headline shows. They follow their already-announced appearance at Hammerfest 2017 in Pwllheli, North Wales.
Their mighty frontman and Viking metal master Janne 'JB' Christoffersson commented: "By Odin's beard! The Magus will be returning to the British isles for a headline tour with all that it entails in 2017. We will bring the metal without compromise, forged in iron - crowned in steel!"
The eight day run will take the band from Dublin's Voodoo Lounge on 25th March, across our shores until 2nd April culminating with a grand finale at renowned London venue The Underworld.
Tickets go on sale Friday 11th November @ 10.00am. Tour dates as follows:
24th March – Hammerfest, Pwllheli 25th March – Dublin, Voodoo Lounge 26th March – Belfast, Limelight 2 28th March – Glasgow, Classic Grand 29th March – Manchester, Sound Control 30th March – Wolverhampton, Slade Rooms 31st March – Southampton, Talking Heads 1st April – Cardiff, The Globe 2nd April – London, Underworld
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The Ceres Blaze 11-year-old travel baseball team took third at the 2017 Pony Baseball West Zone-NorCal Northeast Bronco Regional Tournament earlier this month in Vacaville.
Ceres fell short of its goal.
"We were hoping to play in the championship game," head coach Jorge Guerrero said.
The Blaze advanced to Super Regionals by virtue of their top-four finish.
"We expected to qualify," Guerrero said. "We have a lot of talent on the team."
Ceres posted a 2-2 record at Regionals.
Eventual runner-up Golden Eagle Baseball knocked the Blaze out of the tournament.
Ceres suffered a 10-9 loss in extra innings on July 8.
"It was a tough way to lose," Guerrero said. "You expect errors to happen but not four or five in the same game."
The Blaze have compiled a 2-2 record against Golden Eagle this summer.
"We're very similar in talent," Guerrero said.
Ceres High lost 8-3 to eventual-champion Tara Hills during their semifinal matchup on July 8.
"Tara Hills is the best team in the area," Guerrero said. "They have really good chemistry. I believe we can beat them. It just wasn't our day. They didn't make any errors, offensively and defensively. We did."
The Blaze opened the Regional tournament with back-to-back victories.
Ceres beat El Cerrito 24-13 on July 6 and Golden Eagle 6-4 on July 3.
"We're tough to beat when all cylinders are clicking," Guerrero said.


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This mix tho: sunglasses, hoodies, a smile that invites death. It's sooty, fervid & off-kilter. Its crescents—afar & effulgent—skip a beat sometimes & the whole thing tilts. Suddenly inside a doorway. Suddenly the doorway's a room with a window looking over another room, one story below, where a minotaur sits in a chair reading Le Mythe de Sisyphe. & you've got a palm leaf in your hand & are wearing basketball shorts.
More about: Kane Ikin


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The IMage Energy Regional model, also referred to as TIMER, has been developed to explore scenarios for the energy system in the broader context of the IMAGE global environmental assessment framework (De Vries et al., 2001; Van Vuuren, 2007). TIMER describes 12 primary energy carriers in 26 world regions and is used to analyse long term trends in energy demand and supply in the context of the sustainable development challenges.The model simulates long-term trends in energy use, issues related to depletion, energy-related greenhouse gas and other air polluting emissions, together with land-use demand for energy crops. The focus is on dynamic relationships in the energy system, such as inertia and learning-by-doing in capital stocks, depletion of the resource base and trade between regions.
Similar to other IMAGE components, TIMER is a simulation model. The results obtained depend on a single set of deterministic algorithms, according to which the system state in any future year is derived entirely from previous system states. In this respect, TIMER differs from most macro-economic models, which let the system evolve on the basis of minimising cost or maximising utility under boundary conditions. As such, TIMER can be compared to energy simulation models, such as POLES (Criqui et al., 2003) and GCAM (Thomson et al., 2011).
Figure 3.1: TIMER, the energy demand and supply model in IMAGE 3.0 (from the IMAGE 3.0 documentation)
This Wiki covers the summer 2014 version of the IMAGE model. A dedicated description can be found on the IMAGE 3.0 webpage.


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Website : http://www.fishgeek.ca
Facebook : http://on.fb.me/1qU3F0W
Sequel to the excellent "Great Rod Race" this time around Matt Hayes and Mick Brown must trade in lbs of caught fish for miles to travel from the west coast of Ireland to the east coast of England.
The Greater Rod Race
Mick Brown and Matt Hayes return in a follow-up series to the 2004 smash hit The Great Rod Race.
The Greater Rod Race is a 15 part travel/adventure series in which they travel from the west coast of Ireland to the east coast of England visiting the very best fishing locations to be found along the way.
The challenge is to catch as many fish in weight as miles travelled. From Sea Fishing, River Fishing and Fishery locations they go through all kinds of weather and use every fishing trick in the book to complete the challenge.
Join them on their adventure and pick up all their top tips.


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Recommendations for How OSHA Can Improve Health and Safety for Temporary Workers
The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, the National Staffing Workers Alliance and the Occupational Health & Safety Section of the American Public Health Association are seeking to lend our support towards the goal of ensuring that temporary workers, who are among our most vulnerable of employees, achieve the full protections afforded under the OSH Act by providing to OSHA the recommendations below, and by requesting a directive from federal OSHA that incorporates these recommendations.
In addition to these recommendations, we are asking that federal OSHA facilitate the cross-training of compliance officers with COSH groups and Worker Centers to ensure that there is a clear, shared understanding of procedures and to promote collaborative efforts to protect temporary workers. Those individuals who contributed to and/or endorsed the recommendations are listed at the bottom of this memo.
Clarify Health and Safety Responsibilities in Dual Employer Settings
1. OSHA should set forth in its Field Operations Manual a clear articulation of the respective and joint responsibilities of host employers and temporary staffing agencies in complying with the OSH Act and its regulations, including responsibilities for training, provision of personal protective equipment, compliance with standards, control of hazards, injury and illness recordkeeping and compliance with anti-retaliation regulations. This information should be disseminated broadly to employers, temporary staffing agencies, workers, COSH groups, worker centers and others.
2. OSHA should create a written policy specifying health and safety training requirements for temporary staffing agencies, but at a minimum, each agency should educate workers about their rights under OSHA, the type of job site safety training the worksite employer must provide under OSHA and safety equipment needed
Targeting, Tracking, Data Collection
3. OSHA should initiate a National Emphasis Program in high-hazard industries that use temporary staffing agencies.
4. OSHA should identify the 20 largest temporary staffing agencies in the client high-hazard industries (construction, manufacturing, warehousing, healthcare, transportation, etc.) and repeat offenders, and put together a profile of these agencies so that compliance officers would learn to quickly recognize that they are dealing with a major employer, not just an agency isolated to the location inspected.
5. In many cases, worksite employers may not be aware of injuries and illnesses either because the employee may report the injury only to the temporary staffing agency or because the employee may report the injury after leaving the worksite job. In order to more accurately track injury/illness rates in companies that use temporary staffing agencies, such agencies should be included as part of OSHA´s data initiative.
Strengthen Internal OSHA Capacity
6. The policies and procedures recommended below should be incorporated into the OSHA Field Operations Manual.
7. OSHA needs to provide consistent training to compliance officers to improve their process for investigating joint employer status.
Inspection Process
8. In instances where OSHA has opened an investigation of a worksite employer that hires worker from one or more temp agencies, it should be standard practice to investigate whether each temporary staffing agency provided proper training in compliance with the hazard communication standard and is complying with recordkeeping requirements..
9. OSHA should request and be provided with the name of any and all temporary staffing agencies that have placed workers at the given facility, including all relevant contact information: address, phone, fax of the corporate main office, the specific office from where the workers were dispatched, the staffing agency supervisor/s at the client company, and the staffing agency supervisor/s at the dispatching office.
10. In states where temporary staffing agencies are required to provide an employment notice to workers with information about the training and protective equipment needed, employers should be compelled to share with OSHA the documents they are providing to workers to determine if the employer provided essential safety training and met PPE requirements.
11. OSHA should require employers to provide a roster of all workers employed the day of the investigation and their job title (both for full-time and temporary workers) so that OSHA can select people that they wish to interview.
12. OSHA should include as part of its investigation protocol an inquiry as to whether health and safety deficiencies are restricted to the one worksite branch or whether similar deficiencies may be identified in multiple branches, regional and/or national parent companies. In the event that OSHA learns of deficiencies beyond the individual branch, OSHA should proactively investigate, and seek enterprise-wide abatement.
In addition, OSHA should include as part of its investigation protocol, an inquiry as to whether health and safety deficiencies are restricted to one department or area of a third party client company or are applicable to multiple areas within that work-site. In the event that OSHA learns of deficiencies beyond the individual area or department, OSHA should proactively investigate, and seek enterprise-wide abatement. OSHA should coordinate, collaborate and promote mutual referrals among U.S. Department of Labor agencies to promote improved compliance by temporary staffing agencies with occupational safety and health, wage and hour and other labor laws.
Protecting workers under 11c and improving investigation procedures:
13. Upon OSHA´s initiation of worksite inspection, a notice should be issued to the temporary staffing agency informing them that retaliation and intimidation is prohibited.
14. In the course of an investigation at a worksite where temporary workers are employed, in light of their increased vulnerability, OSHA should distribute an information card in the languages of the workers informing them about OSHA´s role, the workers´ protection under 11c, and the rights of workers to contact a non-profit organization and to speak with OSHA offsite to ensure their confidentiality and safety.
15. OSHA should partner with non-profit organizations and invite them to discussions with temporary workers offsite, a practice that NIOSH has utilized.
Where partnerships have been established, include in the protocol language for investigators to proactively explain to workers that if they are not comfortable speaking directly to investigators at that time, a worker center or other organization has offered to meet offsite.
Carmen Martino, New Labor
Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, MassCOSH
Tom O'Connor, National COSH
Michael Munoz, National Staffing Workers AllianceLeone Jose Bicchieri, Chicago Worker Center
David Egelman, Brown University*
Rosemarie Molina, CLEAN Carwash Campaign/AFL-CIO/USW
Joann Lo, Food Chain Workers Alliance
Elvis Mendez, Immigrant Worker Center Collaborative
Maria Gutierez, Interfaith Worker Justice
Marién Casillas Pabellón, New Labor
Barbara Rahke, Philaposh
James Celenza, RICOSH
Joel Shufro, NYCOSH
Craig Slatin, UMass Lowell*
Robyn Robbins, UFCW
Michael Wright, USW
Gail Batesman, Worksafe
Germane Harnden, WNYCOSH
Linda Delp, UCLA-LOSH*
*For affiliation purposes
Note: To download a copy of these recommendations, see attachment below.
- 29574 reads


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This week Kelley and I demonstrate how easy it is to stay connected in our day and age. I am in Brazil and will stay connected with you, keeping you up-to-date on what is happening here. We've landed in Brazil and have a couple days before the fights start so I am going to do a little sight seeing and enjoy this beautiful weather and country.
If you find yourself thinking about someone this week it is really easy to reach out and connect with them. Let us know who you are going to connect with and how you will get connected.
We wanna kn–ooo–www! So leave a comment below.


text: On Sun, Jun 03, 2007 at 10:54:03PM +0200, Marc Weber wrote: > I can use ./setup copy --destdir to copy all hi files etc to some > directory. > > But how do I register it then? > Setting --prefix when using configure does'nt seem to adjust the > register.sh > using --gen-script I just can't add --destdir. > > What am I missing? The docs a bit terse on this point, but copy --destdir isn't intended for registering on the same machine. It's for building binary packages, where you want to build an image of part of the root filesystem of the target machine, but place it inside a subdirectory on the build machine. The idea is to tar up that subtree, ship it to the target machine, unpack it there at the root and run register.sh. The register.sh script is supposed to be ignorant of the destdir.


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Website Optimisation
Site speed is critical for returning the highest value from your website. We can provide a full 38 point health check with analysis and recommendations to improve your site's delivery and speed.
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A score of 90% is your target.
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Server tuning based upon your page metrics can improve campaign successes.
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A fully documented report is delivered as a health check of your site. We will make reccomendations which you should take up with your webmaster or with us. The report will stand as a performance benchmark by which you can maintain for future references as your site changes over time.
Your target is 90% across all categories and a 1 ~ 2 second page load conditional on the kind of website you are running.
Case Study: Dramatic Speed Reduction
Paddington Art Prize was performing badly. A load time of 26 seconds on the front page. Partially this was becasue a video was being pushed on every request. 96% of the sites audience was from Australia so there was no point maintaining the USA hosting.
We moved the site to Australia and re-arranged some of the content and added and new PerchCMS.
A comprehensive report and analyis of the key performance metrics of your website! 5 Categories of web performance are tested; Code, DNS, Server, Responsive and Stress Testing.
Book a Report Now


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Today only, August 4, you can subscribe to Lucky and Glamour magazines for under $5 each! That's a whole lot of fashion and beauty and advice for a super low price. Here are the deals:
Lucky Magazine for only $4.50 per year (62% off)
Glamour Magazine for only $4.99 per year (66% off)
To get these deals, just enter coupon code JINXY at checkout. You can also use coupon code JINXY to take 20% off the already discounted price of any other magazine from DiscountMagazines.com.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. See our complete disclosure policy here.


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Sometimes, dragged in the middle of dreary February when you can't even dream out the window to get you through class, it's hard to find the line between having it together and just pretending like you have it together. Sometimes, the best you can do is just pretend until the sun comes back out and you can face the world again.
During these kind of times, the best way to pretend you have everything together is by literally keeping your things together. Is that too confusing? Let's think simply: one of the best things you can do for yourself is get a great backpack, like a John Peters New York college student backpack.
Why is a backpack important? Simply put: it keeps your things where you need them, and where you can find them again. John Peters New York backpacks are especially well organized, so there's a place for everything, plus a few treats to get you through the day.
John Peters New York college student backpacks are large, but compact, so you can carry the world without feeling like you need to become Atlas. They're durable and made of tough Cordura Plus Nylon but also lightweight and water resistant, so an unexpected February shower or snowfall won't be the end of the world (or the end of your homework inside).
Have courage — March isn't so terribly far away. Head on over to the John Peters New York website at www.johnpetersnewyork.com and find a backpack that can help you shoulder February — if only just by handling your things.


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P Shaped conservatory roof replacement in Northampton
The Warm Conservatory Roof Company carried out this warm roof replacement in Grange Park, Northampton. Changing the old polycarbonate roof to a new energy efficient Tapco Tiled Warm Roof. Creating an all year round usable living space which was to be used as a play room.
From the start when we first visited the customers they mentioned how happy they were that we did not use sales people as the last 2 companies that had been out to see them were very pushy and they struggled to get them to leave !
We spoke about the process of replacing there existing conservatory roof giving them various options of tile colours to best match the existing house, extras such as electrics, roof windows and heating options.
Along with the warm roof replacement the customers also asked us to plaster all of the conservatory walls, supply and fit new window boards, skirting and flooring throughout which we were more than pleased to do.
After getting all of the information that was needed which is generally a 10 minute process, we went away worked out the quote which we had back to the customers within 5 working days.
As you can see from the pictures above and the thank you note and bottle of wine that was left for us the customers were over the moon with the finished room.


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Bus about Greece
Trikala's new driverless buses navigate through the city in designated bus lanes.
A mountain town in northern Greece is taking a page from Silicon Valley's book: Trikala has a new driverless bus buzzing around its downtown. It may only go a cool 12 mph—about as quickly as a golf cart—but the test route is a big jump for the mass transportation revolution in Europe. With the design of a pint-sized Disneyland tram, the bus recently started facing real road conditions and so far has successfully avoided pedestrians, impatient drivers, and bicyclists.
Guided by GPS, the driverless bus is French company CityMobil2's attempt to reduce the carbon emissions of EU public transportation. Trikala, a city of just 80, 000, will eventually have six of these battery-powered buses to make the 1.5-mile route in lanes created specifically for the test.
For now, the bus is free to ride and seats 10 as the road tests continue through February 2016. If you're wary of a robot bus, the vehicle's creators note that though the buses are completely automated with navigation and obstacle detection systems, a driver back in the control room watches each ride. There may be no hands on the wheel, but at least there's an extra set of eyes.
Related ContentCute Driverless Google Cars Now Roaming Austin, TX
- https://au.letsketo-capsules.com Let s KETO AU let KETO.
Greece - Art Print on Canvas (28x20 inches , unframed)
Home (Rock Bull)
Sandra Creative Design Stainless Steel Angel Wing with Rose Pendant w/ Necklace
Stickers Decals Bus Size: 4 X 1.6 Inches Vinyl color print
Automotive Parts and Accessories (DT-Stickers)
Decals Stickers School Bus Wall Art Decor Mobil Laptop I Phone Size: 5 X 4.9 Inches Vinyl color print
Automotive Parts and Accessories (DT-Stickers)
Greece - Art Print Wall Walnut Wood Framed Picture (12x8 inches)
Home (Rock Bull)


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The Low-Budget Canadian Film That Inspired 'Halloween' and Launched an Entire Horror Genre
Stop me if you've heard this slasher setup before: There's a large, creepy house with many dark shadows, perfect for jump scares and surprise attacks. The cast is mainly young, attractive women who are hunted by a crazed killer during the holiday season. And the killer himself is more metaphor than man, an unstoppable, unexplainable personification of masculine id with a singular purpose: to kill all the pretty women.
You could describe any number of horror films with these characteristics, but if you were trying to remember which film had them first, Halloween might come to mind. That would be wrong. Released four years before the more widely known John Carpenter classic, the 1974 low-budget Canadian horror film Black Christmas directed by Bob Clark -- who would go on to make A Christmas Story and Porky's -- was actually the first slasher that originated many of the elements we've come to associate with the genre.
The story details of Black Christmas are deceptively basic, with a psychosexual struggle bubbling just below the surface. A sorority house is being watched, with innovative POV shots of the killer, listed in the credits as 'The Prowler,' casing the house, taking advantage of the open front door and lax security to get a full view of the women. He eventually climbs into the attic, where he begins his killing spree while taunting the women with menacing phone calls.
Jess (Olivia Hussey) bears the worst of them, the killer taunting her for choosing to get an abortion. Hussey plays Jess with fascinating dignity. She chooses not to let an accidental pregnancy disrupt her ambitions, and in the process, angers her much more traditional boyfriend Peter (Keir Dullea). The narrative sides with Jess, though, and she quickly becomes the film's heroine.
Black Christmas creates a primer for many of the slasher victim archetypes -- the virgin, the bitch, the final girl -- but it maintains a sense of genuine empathy for its female characters, despite their flaws. A clear standout in the cast is Barb, played by a pre-fame Margot Kidder, the Lois Lane of the '70s and '80s. Barb's acidic tongue is only enhanced by her constant drinking. While den mother Mrs. MacHenry's (Marian Waldman) drinking is played for pity laughs, Barb's drinking seems to mask a deep-seated self-loathing that she deals with by lashing out. But her sorority sisters, especially the elegantly maternal Phyl (Andrea Martin), are emotionally intelligent enough to know it's a front. That is, except Clare (Lynne Griffin) -- the sorority's resident good-girl virgin and the first to die onscreen. After being taunted by Barb, Clare goes up the stairs, never to come down again.
The film seems to have much less empathy for its male characters. In a way, the unseen killer in Black Christmas, and Peter, the male villain we do see, are a biting critique of the more toxic forms of masculinity. The killer alternates between childish tantrums and extreme brutality, as if just being in the presence of women throws him into a mental frenzy. Once he kills Clare by suffocating her with plastic wrap, he puts her in a rocking chair, and later we see he's placed a baby doll in her lap. He hides from women until he kills them, and upon their death enjoys having full control of their bodies.
Similarly, Peter becomes increasingly possessive of Jess upon finding out she's pregnant, even calling her to cry and guilt her into marrying him. When Jess explains her boyfriend's behavior to the investigating detective of the murders (John Saxon), he doesn't hesitate naming Peter as a suspect. Within the eternal logic of Black Christmas, the desire to control women is readily seen as villainous.
Halloween, the spiritual successor to Black Christmas, has echoes of these same themes. Young Michael Myers picks up a kitchen knife in 1963 after watching his teenage sister Judith fool around with her boyfriend. When he sees her later, this time alone and topless, he stabs her to death. The camera lingers on her nearly nude body, blood spreading over her chest. At the end of the flashback, it's a shock for the killer to be revealed as a young boy in a clown costume. But it's even more shocking to arrive in 1978 to find that Michael Myers still acts upon his instincts with a child's impulsiveness. He returns to Haddonfield to hunt Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends. Like the killer in Black Christmas, Myers is clearly acting on a base desire to punish and control the bodies of women. He kills men as well, but they are treated as less valuable casualties in his single-minded pursuit.
While Black Christmas plays more like a gruesome fable about the ominous ugliness of male entitlement, Halloween leans more into the darkness haunting suburbia. In the town of Haddonfield, where there are pretty white houses all in a row and no one locks their doors, evil can still be born. But the film makes pains to cement Myers as an otherworldly evil. Much like the killer in Black Christmas, Myers remains obscured. We can see his body, but we don't get a clear view of his adult face. He's constantly referred to as "the boogeyman" and the films the characters are seen watching, such as The Thing and Forbidden Planet, seem to be reinforcing the notion that Myers is an alien, an intruder, an anomaly.
This fact weakens David Gordon Green's recent Halloween, which grapples exclusively with the events of the 1978 film. The 2018 reboot attempts to explore Laurie's trauma while simultaneously doubling down on Myers being an inhuman monster with no understandable motives. There is no recognition of the misogyny and psychosexual implications of his killings -- there is only the resolution that he is "not like us" and therefore, must die. It feels like an inadequate bookend to a saga inspired by a film that was unafraid to suggest any man is capable of monstrous gendered violence (though we suspect this isn't the last we'll see of Michael Myers on the big screen). And despite its haunting ending line ("Agnes, it's me, Billy…"), Black Christmas never tells us who the killer is. He's hardly anything more than a silhouette, a pair of eyes, and a voice on the other end of a telephone line, his virtual anonymity implicating the humanity and real-world possibility of his actions.
There's no doubting that Black Christmas had all the advantages of being first of its kind. The film stands as the mother of the modern slasher. It was able to make its own rules, and subsequently created a template for the films that came after, including the deliciously satirical Slumber Party Massacre films. Nowadays, we approach slasher films with full knowledge of their formulas, getting our thrills from imaginative kills and watching people fight for their lives. But when Black Christmas was released in 1974, these conventions were still new and fresh. Even now, the film endures -- with a legacy that includes a 1976 novelization, a predictable 2006 remake that misunderstands the original, and a strong cult following -- thanks to its fascinating character work, timeless scares, and chilling plausibility.
Sign up here for our daily Thrillist email and subscribe here for our YouTube channel to get your fix of the best in food/drink/fun.


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daniella store
Gucci Premiere by Gucci
Gucci Premiere by Gucci
Sale Sold out
Regular price $160.00
Regular priceUnit price per
Sale price
Indulge your senses in the blissful combination of notes that make up Gucci Premiere from the design house of Gucci. First introduced in 2012, this white floral scent is ideal for wearing every day, for work or just hanging out with friends. It features opening notes of citrusy orange blossom and bergamot with a middle heart of white flowers and musk.


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Mises Daily Articles
South Korea's Keynesian Experiment Goes Global
The Birth of Korean Cool, by Euny Hong, Picador Press, 2014
Those of us who have reached a certain age remember the late 80s and early 90s when we were told that the Japanese were taking over the world. We bought their cars. We played their video games. We used their technology for pretty much everything. The Japanese were destined for world domination, we were told. They were better team players. They put more emphasis on the group than on the individual. They worked harder. In 1992, a high-ranking Japanese politician, Yoshio Sakurauchi, declared that Americans are "too lazy" to compete with Japanese workers, and that a third of American workers "cannot even read." Michael Crichton's 1992 novel Rising Sun (and the 1993 movie adaptation) fueled these controversies further in the minds of many Americans.
Nobody thinks the Japanese are taking over the world anymore. It turned out that the supposedly ironclad Japanese economy was less reliant on team players and hard work than it was on central planning, easy money, corporate welfare, and trade barriers. Thus, the bust that followed the boom should have surprised no one.
Today, South Korea (which I'll simply call "Korea" in this article) appears to have, in many respects, taken up where Japan left off. Japan's Sony has gone into deep decline, but Korean brands Samsung and LG are now internationally respected brands. Hyundai, while still regarded as a low-quality by many, has nonetheless expanded massively in the past decade, with Hyundai building a billion-dollar factory in Alabama in 2005, and a second in Georgia in 2009.
Korea's Rise On the Global Stage
But Korea's attempt at global domination is different from Japan's. While Japanese pop music, film, and TV never attained much popularity outside Japan, Korean pop culture has become a global phenomenon. We drive their cars and use their mobile phones, but Koreans also want us to listen to their music and watch their movies.
Few in the US noticed the rise of Korean pop culture until 2012 when the music video for Korean rapper PSY's single "Gangnam Style" became one of the most-viewed YouTube videos of all time. Suddenly, almost everyone had heard of "K-pop."
Moreover, anyone who browses new releases on Netflix is likely to have noticed a sizable increase in the number of Korean-language films available, including internationally successful films such as 2003's action-thriller Old Boy and 2006's monster movie The Host.
The rise of Korean music, film and TV — and also video games — is not an accident of free markets, however. It's the result of Korean government policy that coordinates, subsidizes, and protects Korean pop-culture industries, among many others.
In her new book The Birth of Korean Cool, Euny Hong explores the origins and successes of this program, heavily supported and coordinated by Korean government agencies, and known as Hallyu, or "the Korean Wave." It's not just about economic power, but about international relations, and the Korean state uses Hallyu as part of a larger program designed to project Korean soft power.
They Do Things Differently In Korea
Hong, a journalist, approaches the topic through her own experiences as an American-born ethnic Korean who lived in Korea during her teen years. She recounts the rampant nationalism in Korean schools and society, the necessity of conformity, the general deference of Koreans toward the state and the nation, while "individualistic" behavior is regarded as a type of social pathology.
Hong relates many anecdotes illustrating these points with a sympathy for Korea and Koreans, although laissez-faire minded Westerners will likely view such experiences with bemusement and perhaps even dismay. That all-American personality type, the "bad boy," so prominent in American pop culture, is non-existent in Korea, Hong tells us.
This comes through in the country's popular culture. The closest thing the Korean pop-music scene has to a "bad boy" is the rapper PSY, who is regarded as rebellious because he didn't get straight-A's in school and occasionally disappointed his parents.
Not surprisingly, then, Hong tells us, popular culture in Korea is regimented, corporate, planned, and governed by an ethic of commitment to the group and the subversion of the individual artist.
Through a government agency called "The Ministry of Future Creation," the Korean government works with ostensibly private sector pop-culture enterprises to maximize the influence of Korean pop culture both domestically and abroad.
Historically, the Korean government has employed protectionism to encourage Korean pop culture. For example, Hong notes that in decades past, the Korean government required Korean movie theaters to show Korean-made movies a minimum of 146 days per year, and that "[f]ilm companies had to produce one Korean film for every non-Korean movie they imported. It's safe to say the Korean film industry benefited from this kind of protectionism. …The government also built and operated art house theaters."
Since the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, however, the Korean government has also taken to widespread assistance of Korean pop culture in international markets, using taxes to finance dubbing of Korean programs in foreign languages and using diplomats to negotiate scheduling of Korean programs on foreign television stations.
Government-Corporate "Cooperation"
This all fits well within Korea's established political practices.
Just as the Japanese economy has long been influenced and even dominated by major government-connected corporate entities known as keiretsu and zaibatsu, Korea has somewhat analogous corporations known as chaebols. The Korean version of "too-big-to-fail," but far more significant to the overall Korean economy, these entities have been key in executing Korean government policy through "government-chaebol cooperation."
Hong notes that the rise of government-promoted pop culture in Korea cannot be fully understood outside this context, and in the final chapters of her book, she examines this tradition of corporate-government cooperation by looking at the case of Samsung, LG, and other recently-successful Korean business enterprises that are nonetheless built on government favors and taxation.
Hong writes: "As with many of Korea's success stories discussed in this book, Samsung's rise to the world stage is attributable [to] … the direct intervention of the Korean government at crucial stages."
And lest anyone think that Samsung is just another corporation, Hong reminds us that "Samsung alone generates one-fifth of the country's GDP." It's not hard to see how the Korean state would see Samsung as essentially an adjunct of itself. "What's good for Samsung is good for Korea" is no doubt a sentiment in the halls of Korean government agencies.
Hong, being a journalist, simply accepts the economic policy of the Korean state at face value. Of course all this central planning of the Korean economy has been an enormous success. We can see it in how the Korean standard of living has grown by leaps and bounds since the 1960s when Korea was essentially a third world country.
It's yet another success story — we're told — of Keynesian neo-mercantilism in which government-owned or -subsidized corporations execute government plans for improving the economy based on the decisions of government agents.
For one with an understanding of classical or Austrian economics, however, you can only look at this economic set-up and wonder what is "the unseen" behind all the government favoritism and centralized decision-making. What would Koreans spend their money on if it weren't confiscated and given to the chaebols and spent on guaranteeing loans for government-favored enterprises? What innovations might occur if small enterprises and start-ups in Korea had the opportunity to actually compete against huge too-big-to-fail enterprises? We'll never know.
Cautionary Tales
What we do know, however, is that when a national government puts most of its eggs in one basket, as the Korean state has done, success can be fleeting, indeed. What happens when Samsung goes the way of Sony? Or Hyundai goes the way of General Motors? Will there just be more bailouts, more "stimulus," and as the Japanese and American experiences suggest, more tidal waves of easy money?
In a culture where leisure is regarded by many as suspect, and students are expected to study eighteen hours per day, it's possible to go on seemingly indefinitely while malinvestments pile up and government siphons off more and more wealth to prop up its favored corporations. But, in the end, as Japan — and increasingly the United States — have shown, such policies eventually lead to stagnation and capital consumption. Under such conditions, Japanese and American workers can work harder and longer hours to maintain a standard of living, but disposable income never seems to increase.
Japan, the once-future-ruler-of-the-world is a cautionary tale here, but so is the United States. True, the US economy is more diverse and entrepreneurial than either the Japanese of Korean economies, but how many more decades can the American economy endure its own devotion to propping up a financial sector and other corporate friends-of-government all at the expense of taxpayers and entrepreneurs? We may be experiencing the answer to that question already.
A reading of The Birth of Korean Cool tells us that Korea is still in the boom phase. But we've seen this movie before, albeit not in Korean.


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Ok so nearly 48 hours since I finished and finally starting to feel ok-ish. Two days of ???? but it was definitely all worth it. This is a big post be warned ?
The South Downs Way ?- my first 100 mile ultra. It's been a long time coming, exactly 5 years since my first ultra the Classic Quarter, and after Saturday I know I waited until the right time to go for it. As many of you know I very badly fractured my wrist into 3 pieces at Christmas, my 2019 journey has been a tough one. I've had so many knock on niggles mainly in my shoulders, thoracic spine and lower back, causing knee and calf niggles. Amazing how connected the human body is ?. The mileage has therefore been lower than I'd like and back to back runs didn't really happen either.
Still I was on the start line ?The wind and rain had been ferocious all night. We camped in the vdub at the start. I didn't sleep much at all ?. The rain held off for the actual start but the wind and rain built up gradually through the day and on the ridges it was hard to stay on the tracks at times. I'm so bloody small I just get blown around ?. For the most part it was kind of behind but of course the trail doesn't actually run in a straight line does it!! The South Downs Way 100 is a Centurion Running event of, you guessed it, 100 miles along the South Downs Way starting in Winchester and finishing in Eastbourne with 4,000m of lovely hills.
I settled into a relaxed pace early on. Stuck to my pre calculated plan but that didn't take into account mud and wind. I started in my Hoka Torrent for more grip but they started to hurt pretty quickly ? I stupidly followed a group early on and went the wrong way adding on about 1/2 mile. Always have to go wrong somewhere ?. I was back on track quickly though and settled running with a lovely chap Jack Galliway. I was in 3rd place around 12 miles which worried me a bit. I knew Ingrid was up front and Sarah just ahead and was convinced that Eddie would come past at any point. Jack and I talked about everything for 30 miles and the miles went by very quickly. The weather was very varied, super windy, big downpours followed by hot sunshine. Jacket on, jacket off weather! So fabulous to see Cat Simpson, David Harvey and Heather Neal in QE2P (22 miles). My amazing crew also on hand at every point they were allowed to crew. I changed my shoes at 49 miles and socks as they were soaked from the puddles. My pack was really starting to hurt my ribs from about 30 miles. I was using the wider lid bottles with straws and the lids have caused proper bruising. Very keen to get advice on this as it has never happened before in ultras. I used the same bottles in the CCC ?. I lost my running pal Jack just before Washington (54 miles) and he zoomed out of the CP with his pacer just as I arrived. I spent too long here. I was feeling very sick ?, tried a few things but decided I just needed to woman up. I've had a funny tummy all week pre race so I assume just a side affect of that. I often feel a bit bleurgh in ultras but this was proper ???. The CPs had very limited GF options so something for me to think about next time. I'd assumed from facebook posts that there would be more GF options.
So off up the next hill. My ribs were killing me and when I got to the Botolphs CP I was pretty much in tears from the pain. The amazing Dan Lawson was volunteering here and suggested I ran with a bottle in my hand and one in the back. That helped A LOT. He suggested I get some paracetamol into me at the next CP too.
I was feeling very low for the next 10 miles. There seemed to be no one around. It was so windy and exposed and I felt suddenly very lonely ?. Several times I wondered if I'd gone wrong, but then came across a runner or was overtaken. Then in the distance I spotted my fabulous twin boys and hubbie. They'd been for an adventure around Devils Dyke and this cheered me up no end ? I was smiling again and only 4 miles until I'd get my pacer, the fabulous James Warren.
James offered to pace me last year when he found out I'd entered the race. We ran together for much of the North Downs Way 50 in 2017. I love the ultra running community and the friendships it creates. Road running is definitely not the same.
I was feeling very rough again by the time James met me at 70 miles. I was running everything flat, downhill and even slight hills. But definitely walking all the big hills now. James, like my crew and all the staff and volunteers were absolutely critical to my race. James fed me 1/8 chunks of ginger biscuits, Tailwind, cola and ginger beer. I was starting to feel a bit better. He encouraged me to run everything, kept me updated on the front runners and kept watch while I had to use the outdoor ladies loo ?. Great to get hugs with Michelle Blower too, I think it was Housedean but to be honest I'm not sure! Southease station and those pesky steps. Oh how that Marshall must have chuckled ?. I put on more clothes at the Southease CP as I was feeling cold and knew we had several more ridges and windy conditions to deal with. Headtorches on too with darkness descending.
I was thinking about the winners finishing in the light and how nice that must be. I've never been a huge fan of running at night. The sunset however was amazing and definitely a highlight in a tricky part of the day. But with James constantly talking to me and feeding me with fluids we were soon at Bo Peep to see Chris and the boys again. A bit of a waste of their time as I was literally surviving on Tailwind and Cola by this point. Such a dark place up there ???? Loads of sheep eyes everywhere!
Down the hill from there and some pretty good running from my part we arrived in the pretty village of Alfriston just 9 miles to go ?. The crew team here were amazing. Clearly I was feeling rough. I must have looked rough. They had GF bread and a few bites of a GF sandwich I think saved my day from here. Literally only two bites but possibly enough to stop the next nausea tide wave. We marched on through some gnarly terrain towards Jevington. Up, up, up, down, down, down. I don't remember a lot from these sections apart from it looked pretty similar. I'm keen to run the SDW50 so I can see this section in the light. The wind had finally started to drop so we warmed up a bit but not enough to take my jacket off. We didn't go in the last CP just plodded on past as the finish was in reach. Just the trig point to get too and the gnarly descent from there into Eastbourne. This last climb went on forever. I was desperate for it to end so tried to run a few steps and walk a few steps to keep my pecker up. James was amazing at keeping me going, but he really does need to learn exactly how far "a couple of 100 metres" actually is ?. I might have sworn a few times at this point!!
Finally the Trig point and fabulous Marshall came into view. The section down from here was another low point. I literally lost my eyesight and couldn't see for a stretch of it. The undergrowth was so wet and the ground very rocky and rooty. My eyes hurt so much, but suddenly we popped out at the bottom, only to turn off the lovely bright tarmac onto more overgrown behind gardens trail ? My heart sank a tiny bit. I'd forgotten about this bit. It was over soon enough though and then the last section went pretty quickly. We were definitely running now and I was feeling excited to see the boys and Chris and that glorious finish line. Finally it came into view after another of James' 200m stints on the cycle track ? We were there. Just 400m of the track to go. Probably my slowest ever lap of a track!!
100 miles – 2nd lady – 19 hours and 31 minutes


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Beacon Falls Board of Selectmen
Age: 50
Occupation: Contract History Lecturer/Retired Commander, US Navy
Past political posts: Current Chairman, Board of Finance; Conservation Commissioner
Education: BS, Resource Management, US Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD; MS, Public Administration, US Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA
What do you think should be done with the Wolfe Avenue property and how will Beacon Falls pay for it?
"The Wolfe Avenue purchase occurred near the top of the market. To sell it now would result in a significant loss to the town, not just in dollars but in potential for future growth. We must take the long view and retain this property, even if it means waiting to begin development of the proposed community/media center. We should continue to seek out grant money for this purpose, and realize time is on our side. The small, immediate influx of revenue gained from its sale will not outweigh the regret future generations of our citizens are certain to feel if we lose control of this property."
What is your plan for economic development in Beacon Falls?
"Towns attract new business by creating a positive environment for growth. I believe the streetscape project currently underway on Main Street is a first step in creating an attractive downtown area that will show businesses we are serious about moving this town forward. Also, our current Economic Development Committee should continue its aggressive searching out of new leads, in order to populate the industrial park with high quality businesses."
Which issue do you believe is most important to voters, and where do you stand on that issue?
"The state of the economy is by far the most serious issue facing every voter, it impacts every potential decision and affects near and long term planning for maintaining and improving our services and infrastructure. As current Board of Finance chairman, I am committed to preserving the town's ability to provide established levels of service to our citizens in a sensible, cost-efficient manner."
If elected, what are your priorities and goals?
"My top priority is to build an effective working relationship among the entire Board of Selectmen. We need to work together to eliminate much of the misinformation that often spreads throughout town on many of our most important issues. Finding a way to better inform our citizens and answering their questions in a transparent manner will help to instill confidence in them that we are listening. Even if our opinions may differ on how to handle an issue, everyone will know my position and why I have taken it."


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Michael Phelp's achieved ultimate glory on the fourth day of the Olympics, but Day 5 isn't short of drama whatsoever. Phelps and Ryan Lochte will face off against each other in the men's 200-meter individual medley in what is the most anticipated swimming races of the day.
On the local front, Glendale product Brady Ellison will try and take home a medal for archery as he matches up with Javier Mark from the Phillipines. Diana Taurasi and the rest of the women's national team look to keep the win streak going to three games against Turkey, who are also 2-0.
There will be live coverage of every Olympic event if you are able to stream it online at NBCOlympics.com. Here is the TV coverage for all of Wednesday's events. As always, NBC will be showing events on tape delay at prime time.
1 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (NBCSN)
- Men's Field Hockey: Spain vs. Austria (1:00 a.m.)
- Women's Handball: Norway vs. South Korea (2:00 a.m.)
- Table Tennis (3:00 a.m.)
- Badminton (4:00 a.m.)
- Cycling (4:30 a.m.)
- Men's Soccer: Brazil vs. New Zealand (6:30 a.m.), Mexico vs. Switzerland (9:00 a.m.), Great Britain vs. Uruguay (11:45 a.m.)
- Women's Water Polo: Hungary vs. China (8:00 a.m.)
- Boxing (10:45 a.m.)
- Archery (11:15 a.m.)
- Women's Beach Volleyball (12:00 p.m.)
4:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (Bravo)
- Men's Singles (3rd Round), Women's Singles (3rd Round), Men's Doubles (2nd Round), Women's Doubles (Quarterfinals), Women's Doubles (2nd Round), Mixed Doubles (1st Round)
6:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (MSNBC)
- Fencing (6:00 a.m., 10:45 a.m.)
- Boxing (8:15 a.m.)
- Men's Soccer: Japan vs. Honduras (9:00 a.m.), Senegal vs. United Arab Emirates
- Women's Handball: Spain vs. Denmark (1:30 p.m.)
- Women's Beach Volleyball (2:00 p.m.)
- Table Tennis (4:00 p.m.)
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (NBC)
- Cycling (9:00 a.m.)
- Swimming (10:05 a.m., 11:30 a.m.)
- Men's Beach Volleyball (10:30 a.m.)
- Women's Water Polo: USA vs. Spain (12:20 p.m.)
- Canoeing (1:30 p.m.)
- Women's Volleyball: USA vs. China (2:00 p.m.)
- Rowing (3:45 p.m.)
12:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (CNBC)
- Boxing (12:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m.)
8:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. (NBC)
- Swimming and Diving finals
- Men's overall gymnastics
- Beach volleyball
Stick with this StoryStream for more coverage of local athletes at the 2012 Olympic Games. For more on the 2012 Olympic Games, make sure that you check out SB Nation'sdedicated Olympics hub.


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Then took they Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison.-.-.-.-And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire. —Jeremiah 38:6
Jeremiah was persecuted and imprisoned on several occasions, and finally left to die in a dank, wet cistern. After years of faithfully preaching the Word of God, he was tossed into a pit of mud from which there was no escape. But God used an unlikely method to rescue him—an Ethiopian eunuch and some rotten rags (Jeremiah 38:11).
God may not rescue you the way you plan. He may not act when you expect Him to act. But He is never early and never late. God always acts at the appointed time to deliver you. Stand firm and wait on Him. When you are at the end of your rope, hold on to His Word and cling to His promises.
When you feel like the enemy has overpowered you and the world is against you, always remember that God has not forgotten you. He has given us His Word that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6).
You may be up to your neck in problems and so deep in debt you cannot see the light of day, but get ready-.-.-.-your redemption draweth nigh.
Lord, I am holding on for You. Though I am stuck in the mud
and surrounded by difficulty, I know that You will never leave
nor forsake me. You alone are my salvation
and the lifter of my head. Amen.


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Detailed plat of the center of Harford, Rhode Island, with annotations reflecting what would appear to be the progress of lot sales.
The map shows the subdivision of the area which had for decades been the location of the Merino Mill and the Merino Village, the earliest development of the region in the early 19th Century.
In the early nineteenth century, the proximity of the Woonasquatucket River allowed the area to begin industrialization. In 1812, the Merino Mill became the second textile establishment in the general area, producing a soft material called "merino cloth". Built in an area which was then part of the Town of Johnston, the Merino Mill was complimented by Merino Village, consisting of stone houses, a general store, water supply, and was built by the company to support its workers.


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To join the Firstleaf club, go to our website to take the quiz! Just follow the steps to sign up for your special introductory offer.
Once you place the introductory order, we'll send you a welcome email with details of what's coming and more information about the club.
Note: By placing the introductory order you're enrolling in the club for future 6 bottles shipments of wine. But if you're unhappy with the club for any reason, you can cancel with no minimum commitments or cancellation fees.
If an order had already processed before the account was canceled, this would be the final club order sent to you.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at email@example.com. We're more than happy to help!


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Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, the Rt. Rev. Howard Gregory, says both the church and the nation must accept responsibility for the present moral, social, spiritual and economic tone in the society, and not blame some cruel fate. However, he offers the assurance that, within the providence of God, no individual or nation is written off.
Delivering his Charge at the Opening Service of 145th Synod of the Diocese at the St, James Parish Church in Montego Bay on April 7, Bishop Gregory stated that much of the prevailing ills in the Church and the society had existed for decades. However he said "we often opt for denial and self-deception and only act when external circumstances and forces dictate the course of action we must take."
The Bishop's message was based on Jeremiah 29:1, 4-14 in which the prophet assured the Israelites, who were exiled under Babylonian rule for 70 years, that the Lord would restore them to their homeland. He encouraged them to live their lives as they had before and to continue to worship and serve God in whatever location they found themselves.
Focusing on the Synod theme "Singing the Lord's Song in a Strange Land," Bishop Gregory noted that today, pastoral leaders were challenged to discern the Lord's message in a world in which the groundings that we have known "seem to be constantly shifting and we now live at a place that feels like an exile." He cited moral decline and depravity in Jamaica; high levels of crime and violence, especially against children; indiscipline; as well as the harsh economic environment; and for the Anglican Church, the declining membership and loss of status, as contributory factors. However, as Jeremiah told the Israelites in exile, the Lord Bishop urged the nation and the Church to acknowledge their mistakes, and to seek forgiveness and renewal.
He said the Visioning Process in which congregations throughout the Diocese were being engaged was a call to be realistic about our situation which resulted from our collective choices and failures; and he urged members to "seize the opportunities of the present historical moment for mission and ministry" in the church and the world. Please click here for the full text of the Charge.
The Service was attended by Clergy and Lay representatives from Churches across the Diocese, the Governor General, the Chief Justice and Chancellor of the Diocese, civic leaders and members of the Ecumenical Fraternity.


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In this blog Joomla template, we integrated both Content and K2 component into the core, allowing you to choose between simplicity and cleanliness of default Content component, OR sophistication and power of K2!
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Desertcreat (Adult)
Class information
1 Annual class or fixed length course (e.g. 10 weeks).
2 Most classes are weekly although some are fortnightly or monthly.
3Classes can be organised by an RSCDS branch, be affiliated to the RSCDS or be independent.
4Classes that are organised by RSCDS branches are normally also subject to a branch & RSCDS membership fee.
5Classes that are affiliated to the RSCDS may be subject to a RSCDS membership fee.
Follow us on facebook
Find a class or event on our Google Map.
©Copyright: Colin Barnes 2003 - 2019
This page was last updated on: 24th January 2019
This page was last updated on: 24th January 2019


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Thankfully though there are other things which help me identify them as my own...
- Our eldest son has my mannerism - he walks like me, talks like me, jokes like me, even likes to stay up as late as he can... like me.
- Our middle son - well, hold on, I'll come back to him...
- Our eldest daughter looks nothing like me, but thankfully a spitting image of her mother (although her mother denies that) and even acts like her mother... while we were all putting the lights on the Christmas Tree, she was sitting in the "cuddle chair" drinking hot chocolate telling us "That looks really nice, you're doing a good job. But you missed a spot there". Even the wife had to stop and laugh...
- Our currently youngest daughter FINALLY has my eyes, and my hair... so thankfully at least ONE of my children look like me... granted, shes a tiny Chinese girl and I'm a rough and rugged Flin Flonian... so the similar appearances end at the hair and eye colours. But even she is starting to act like a Berzenji. Yes sir, she is starting to track me down for kisses before I goto work in the morning, curl up in bed and then ask me to get her a glass of water... just like her Mom...
|K, Ping, G + D
Okay, but getting back to my middle child - our 'D'. He is a bit of the odd ball for me. He looks like his mother. He acts like his mother. He gets mad quick like his mother (he once had a knock down drag 'em out fist fight with a door which kept closing on him... he wouldn't move, or prop the door open, nope... just kept punching it open, only to have it close on him again). Now he IS very inclined technically... so there's maybe a little hope that there is some of me insid'a'him... but maybe there is more of me in him than I realize sometimes...
|Our 'D'
D: Hey Dad, is it true what K said about herbivores?
Me: I donno, what did he say?
D: He said that a herbivore eats like 500,000 plants in its life time!
Me: Well, that is what the sign said on the nature walk we took.
D: Wow. Thats a lot of plants.
Me: Yup.
D: Don't plants help our oxygen?
Me: Yup. The help filter out pollution and make the air cleaner to breath.
D: Hmmmm... OH! I know how we can help the environment then!
Me: Yea? Plant more trees?
D: Nope! Kill all the herbivores!
Me: Yes. Well, that is an option.
D: Cuz they eat all the plants which help the air. So if we kill them all, then the air will be better.
Me: Well, I'm having a hard time to argue with that.
D: Yea. I need a sniper rifle then! (he's 10... does it show?)
Me: A sniper rifle?
D: Yea! Then I can start shooting bunnies! In the head!
Me: Lets maybe continue this discussion later... not while we're eating.
D: And we can make a video game out of it! And you can see the bunny brains sliding down your screen when you shoot them in the head!
*siiiiiiigh* Yea. There are somethings, which make you a family... and it isn't the way you look. It might be the way you think alike... act alike... or want to shoot bunnies with sniper rifles.
I guess the point that I'm trying to avoid is... families are made by the love we share and the lives we live together. So even if your child doesn't look like you... you might be surprised to find out just HOW much they really are like you.
... now, if you don't mind excusing me, I have a very excited 10 year old in the garage looking for my shot gun.


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Intel's recently announced plans to acquire Fulcrum Microsystems, a privately held fabless Ethernet semiconductor company, may seem counterintuitive to some. Founded in 1999, Fulcrum develops integrated, standards-based 10- and 40-Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switch silicon designed to deliver low latency and workload-balancing capabilities, along with superior network speeds.
By way of explanation, Intel said that Fulcrum's silicon complements its processors and Ethernet controllers, thereby enhancing solution performance, energy efficiency and service delivery. Intel also noted that 10-GbE networks are one of today's fastest-growing data center market segments, and that they can also be used to support evolving cloud architectures and converged enterprise networks.
Good enough. But what does any of this have to do with Intel — a vendor that most associate with PCs and servers?
Change may be inevitable, but public understanding of IT vendor evolution is mostly apparent in its absence. Businesses typically succeed by creating quality products and brands, and establishing them in the public consciousness via clever marketing campaigns. Those memorable impressions tend to stick to businesses long after they have expanded into other markets or focused on other areas of interest.
Intel's Bigger Story
Why bring up Intel here? First, the company's "Intel Inside" campaign has long been recognized as one of the IT industry's signature advertising strategies, driving more fundamental value (both in brand recognition and revenues) than virtually any other IT vendor promotional effort. Intel Inside cemented the company's qualities in the minds of consumers and business owners, and helped its Pentium solutions literally dominate personal computing.
However, its value in other Intel efforts was less clear — or even questionable, as when the company shifted attention toward wireless connectivity and ultra-mobility solutions.
Moreover, it has had little impact on the server and other solutions developed by Intel's Data Center Group (DCG). Not that it did anything to hinder those efforts, either. Depending on which market research firm you talk with, sales of various Intel server CPUs have roughly doubled over the past decade and occupy some 90 percent (by volume) of servers sold worldwide.
That point is certainly well known in the IT industry, but the company is also a major, if less recognizable, leader in numerous other data center markets.
Data storage has been a key Intel success story over the past few years, with its Xeon and other silicon powering everything from home and small office solutions (often based on Intel reference architectures) to a large majority of leading enterprise-class storage systems and RAID controllers.
Similar Intel success stories exist for other DCG focus markets including virtualization, cloud and supercomputing.
Look for the Intel Lining
The company's market leadership position also casts light on the Fulcrum deal. Intel collaborates with numerous networking vendors, including Cisco and Brocade, and Fulcrum isn't the first networking technology company it has acquired. But the move reflects a pair of core Intel strategies.
The first is a bet on high bandwidth Ethernet — the architecture of choice for growing numbers of networking companies and enterprises. Fulcrum's no/low latency and workload-balancing capabilities should make the company's offerings attractive to a variety of 10-GbE and 40-GbE solution providers and their customers.
Still, the expanding role of 10 GbE in cloud computing environments is the bigger story here. Intel's Xeon CPUs play critical roles in the vast majority of cloud and hyper-scale computing infrastructures and are critically important to cloud service providers of every sort. The company is also working closely with cloud storage vendors to enhance performance and efficiency (its collaboration with EMC on Atmos is a good example).
With these and other points in mind, Fulcrum should provide Intel with many of the technologies required to develop and deliver a broad portfolio of highly integrated, optimized, end-to-end cloud silicon solutions. That, in turn, will be of interest to Intel's traditional server, storage and networking OEM partners, as well as cloud service providers that prefer "rolling their own" system components.
A generation ago, Intel Inside described the company's singular effort to enhance any user's personal computing experience. Today, the company's acquisition of Fulcrum Microsystems underscores Intel's ambitious goal of being inside every part of the cloud.


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The dense-core vesicle is an organelle that releases peptide hormones, growth factors, and biogenic amines from neurons and neuroendocrine cells in response to increases in calcium. Dense-core vesicle cargos regulate a variety of biological processes including neuronal survival and development, pain sensation, blood glucose homeostasis, and synaptic plasticity. As a consequence, numerous diseases such as mood disorders, obesity, and diabetes are caused by defects in neuropeptide and hormone secretion. Thus, it is important to determine the molecular machinery and mechanisms that orchestrate the biogenesis and release of these vesicular carriers. However, in comparison to other vesicular compartments such as synaptic vesicles, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of dense-core vesicle biogenesis, trafficking, and release. Dense-core vesicles are generated at the trans-Golgi and gain their compartmental identity in a poorly defined maturation process that occurs post-Golgi, but few molecules have been identified that function in these processes. Cargo sorting to dense-core vesicles remains a puzzle. The long-term goal of this project is to understand the molecular mechanisms by which dense-core vesicles are formed, sort cargos, and gain their compartmental identity. A first step towards this goal is to identify molecules required for dense-core vesicle biogenesis. We performed a genetic screen in the nematode C. elegans for mutants defective in dense-core vesicle function and identified a number of new proteins that act in dense-core vesicle biogenesis, including the small GTPase RAB-2 and CCCP-1, a RAB-2 effector, as well as the EARP endosomal trafficking complex. In this project, we will test how RAB-2 and its effectors interact with EARP to mediate cargo sorting to dense-core vesicles.
In Aims 1 and 2, we will use genetic, biochemical and cell biological approaches in C. elegans and in the mammalian insulin-secreting cell line INS-1 832/13 to determine how and where the RAB-2 and EARP complexes are localized, whether they physically and functionally interact, and determine their precise roles in the sorting, processing, and secretion of dense-core vesicle cargos.
In Aim 3, we will use a combination of in vitro biochemical approaches and in vivo functional assays to determine how the golgin-like coiled-coil protein CCCP-1 binds membranes and functions to mediate dense-core vesicle biogenesis. These studies will advance our understanding of how dense-core vesicles are generated and sort cargos, and provide general insights into mechanisms of membrane trafficking and cargo sorting controlled by multisubunit complexes that mediate trafficking between endosomal compartments and the trans-Golgi network.
Nerve and endocrine cells package chemical transmitters and hormones in a specialized compartment called the dense-core vesicle. Abnormalities in the packaging or release of these compounds can lead to a number of human mental and metabolic disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, eating disorders, obesity, and diabetes. By identifying the components required to make a normal dense-core vesicle and figuring out how they work, we hope to gain a better understanding of these diseases, paving the way for the development of new therapies.


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NOAA Teacher at Sea
Chris Murdock
Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
June 7 – June 20, 2017
Mission: SEAMAP Groundfish Survey
Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: June 9 – June 12, 2017
Weather Data from the Bridge
Latitude: 27.0532N
Longitude: 96.3602W
Sea wave height: 4-6 ft
Wind Direction: 17 degrees
Windspeed: 17.31 knots
Air Temperature: 28.2 C
Barometric Pressure: 1010.9 mbar
Sky: Overcast
Science and Technology Blog
The main focus of this research cruise is stock assessment in the Gulf. This is done using a trawl net. Trawl nets are large nets with the intention of collecting a wide variety of organisms. The specific type of system used aboard the Oregon II is called an otter trawl, which is the most common type of trawl used in the Gulf of Mexico to harvest shrimp. This enormous net forms a large cone shape once deployed. A trawling net has several main components: The first are two areas called the headrope (top line) and footrope. The headrope has floats attached to it that provide flotation to the top portion of the net. The footrope has long chains (often called tickler chains due to the fact that they "tickle" the bottom of the ocean to stir up sea life) on the bottom side of the net. Attached to the net itself are large wooden boards, called otter boards that are located on the main cable between the ship and the net. Water resistance forces the doors to spread and open the net. Inevitably, the organisms caught get held in the cod end of the net, which is the tip of the cone.
The types of organisms caught depends on both the depth of the net, as well as the mesh size (the spaces in between the net). All trawls on this cruise are done with the intention of collecting the three main commercial shrimp species of the Gulf, all under the genus Peneaus, which I will focus on in another blog post. The OOD (Officer Of the Deck) looks at the fathometer and electronic chart to determine how much scope to put out, and then relays pertinent water depth information to the deck crew, who then release the proper amount of tow line to bring the net to the desired depth. The net is carried behind the ship for 30 minutes at a speed of 2.5-2.8 knots. At that time, the dry lab relays to the deck to "haul up" the net. Depending on the depth the net is currently at, this can take almost a half hour!
Once the Otter boards have reached the surface, the net is then pulsed. This means that the ship returns to a speed of 6-8 knots with the intention of pushing the catch down into the cod end. At that time the ship slows again and the crew hauls the load onto the deck. This entire process is repeated at predetermined locations called stations. If all runs smoothly a typical 12 hour shift will run through 5-6 stations. I will focus about the actual process of sorting the catch in future blog posts.
Personal log:
The first few days of real work are in the books! I have genuinely loved every minute of my time here on the Oregon II so far. I am assigned the day shift, which is 12 noon to midnight. This is most similar to my normal schedule back in Iowa. Thankfully, I haven't had to adjust my sleep schedule as a result. It has allowed me to get into a fairly constant rhythm on board. My pre-work schedule typically consists of waking up around 8:30am, eating a light breakfast, working out, and doing work on this blog. I must say the amount of time I have to write meaningful posts is not nearly as much as I anticipated. I could very easily spend all of my waking hours dedicated to uploading photos and videos and writing. I have been keeping a journal on the cruise whenever I have free time so I can go back and elaborate. Besides sorting out time management issues, everything else has been fantastic!
One of the biggest unexpected aspects of the cruise so far has been the food. I was anticipating eating a relatively basic diet while onboard. Boy was I wrong! The food has been absolutely fantastic, above and beyond my wildest expectations. That is in no short part to the wonderful stewards onboard, Arlene and Valerie. They bend over backwards making sure the crew of over 30 people are well fed. Every day has different food, and they are all very accommodating to any dietary restrictions. Roasted Duck is on the menu tonight, and I for one cannot wait!
I don't know what I was expecting in terms of the type of work I would be doing, but this wasn't it. I mentally prepared myself to become an expert at shrimp, but in reality I need to become an expert in latin. I routinely make my students memorize certain scientific names to organisms, but never to this extent. The first day of sorting I will admit was very overwhelming. Andre DeBose (the FPC) kept rattling names off to me like Synodus foetens, or Lutjanus campechanus, and all I kept saying to myself is "how in the world am I going to remember this"!? The first name I memorized was the Mexican flounder, or Cyclopsetta chittendeni. The first time I heard that my immediate though was "cyclops chicken dinner"? And just like that, I memorized my first species. After that if felt like every haul I was learning more and more. I am nowhere close to having them down, but I am making serious progress.
It was so exciting sorting through our various hauls, and seeing dozens of organisms I have never heard of before. To me that is the best part of this whole experience so far. I get to see things that many people (and most of you back in Iowa!) never get the chance to see. How cool is that? I will do my best to post photos of every different species I encounter, but as you can imagine that will not be an easy task.
So far, the most memorable haul for me has been the one depicted below. I have always been a monumental shark fan and advocate, but the only experience I get with them is during Shark Week and when my biology class dissects Squalus acanthius (The atlantic dogfish shark). That all changed when we pulled up two Sphyrna tiburo (The bonnethead, which is a type of hammerhead) sharks. It was very difficult to contain my excitement, but I had to remain focused at the task at hand and get to work. I will speak more at length about the sorting process in my next post, but normally we do not get to save the animals as most are collected for further research back on land. Thankfully we got the sharks weighed and measured and successfully returned them to the sea unharmed. It was a moment I will never forget. Again, I cannot say enough how lucky I am to get the opportunity to experience this amazing field work. I wake up each day like a child on Christmas Day, wondering what amazing secrets the Gulf has in store for me. The link to the haul can be seen here!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8hm1tmtFyY
Fish Species Identified Today:


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Patrick Odey, Uyo
The parents of Don Davies, the 11-year-old victim of alleged sexual molestation in Uyo campus of the Deeper Life High School in Idoro, Akwa Ibom State, have demanded N100m compensation for the torture their son was allegedly subjected to in the school.
The parents, Mr and Mrs Archibong, made the demand in a letter they addressed to the principal of the school, entitled 'Gross child abuse, palpable molestation, serial bullying, criminal starvation, malicious oppression, and dubious maltreatment of Master Don-Davies Archibong (11 years old) by the Principal and Boarding Master, of Deeper Life Secondary School, Uyo.'
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent on Friday, was sent through their solicitors, Eagle-Eyes Network Chambers, and signed by David Okokon, dated December 22, 2020.
According to the letter, the school was given 21 days to pay the N100m compensation.
It read in part, "We are solicitors to Mr. and Mrs, Iniobong Archibong, resident in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State and herein after referred to as our client. We have the firm explicit and unequivocal instructions to write to you on the above subject matter.
"It is indeed provocatively heartbroken, morally suicidal and religiously hypocritical that our client's 11-year-old son was torrentially bombarded with physical and inhuman torture of debilitating dimension with resultant castration of his human person, dignity and childhood innocence.
"We respectfully demand the payment of N100,000,000 within 21 days of the receipt of this letter as compensation to assuage the dehumanising, horrendous torture and indignity our client's son was subjected to and for his medical checkup and medication.
"We demand that Deeper Life High School, Idoro, Uyo, publish an unreserved apology to our clients in two national Newspapers; PUNCH, THISDAY, and any other two local newspapers circulated within Akwa Ibom State and its environs."
Meanwhile, Akwa Ibom State Government has pulled out of the investigation into the alleged sexual molestation of the boy.
READ ALSO: 10 simple ways to relieve stress
The state government in a statement by its Information Commissioner, Mr. Ini Ememobong, on Thursday explained that it withdrew from the matter to allow the police carry on with its investigation.
Ememobong, however, said the government was committed to unraveling the truth and appealed to members of the public to exercise patience while the police carried out a thorough investigation.
He added, "The state government will upon receipt of the report take necessary actions thereto."
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: [email protected]


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One Person Just Can't Let Go Of McCourt…
The Dodgers are 24-11, and enjoying the best record in baseball. They lead the National League West by 6.0 games over the Giants and 9.5 games over the Diamondbacks.
New ownership officially took over on May 1st 2012. Fans are excited, crowds at the stadium are slowly increasing, oh and parking went from $15 to $10 immediately.
Things are good in Dodger Town…but not to one person.
Look deep into the crowd of happy Dodger fans around the world. Not too deep this person is right here in Los Angeles.
This person is angry with all of the success that surrounds the Dodgers. He envisions that it would hurt the well-being of the Dodgers and community if Frank McCourt had anything to do with parking revenue.
Find him?
It's T.J. Simers from the LA Times. Over the years this man was one of Frank McCourts's main enemies. He voiced everyone's frustration of the former Dodger owner, and even helped to show him the door. A real people's hero.
Fast forward to today and you would think he's in the middle of a divorce settlement with Frank and trying to find every dime he can squeeze out of him.
He obsesses about the parking lot revenue as if he contributes to it.
Coming from someone who actually does contribute, I don't care what portion of the revenue McCourt gets. I do care that I save $5 on parking per game, thanks to our new ownership group. I've gone to games and see that fans are happy and willing to come back.
Rather than drilling new ownership on McCourt, try embracing them show fans how pleasant Dodger Stadium is and how ticket prices and parking cost are down.
Someone needs to tap Simers on the shoulder and let him know Frank is gone.
Let him know that it's OK to let go. As much as it hurts just let go and say goodbye.
I have.


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Search through more than 50,000 user-created Webmixes to add to your account. You can get all updates from the original creator or you can claim the Webmix as your own!
Number of followers
No description
Research sites for space topics
A gallery based on Astronomy with a focus on middle school students.
Astronomy websites collected for kids to learn about the solar system, planets, and much more.
Somewebsites have cool facts and some are packed woth information like the Wikipedia sites. It also has some PDFs.


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In 2011 Risk Legacy changed board gaming forever. The brilliant adaptation of the classic strategy title created a new genre — the legacy genre — seemingly overnight. Now, a decade after its release, publisher Hasbro is developing Risk Shadow Forces, a spiritual successor created with the help of acclaimed designer Craig Van Ness. Polygon has the first details on what fans should expect when the finished game launches in fall 2022.
Risk Legacy was created and designed by Rob Daviau and Chris Dupuis, who asked a simple question: Why do board games throw away what happened the previous time you played, only to start over from the beginning like Groundhog Day? Thus, Risk Legacy was the first board game with a kind of memory, an experience that evolved over time by adding additional gameplay mechanics in response to in-game events. Players were asked to write on the board; to apply stickers to change cards, characters, and locations on the map; and to destroy elements of the game entirely.
The end result was an action-packed campaign in a box, and the reinvention of a classic first published in 1957. It would go on to inspire games like Gloomhaven, Pandemic Legacy, and even Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile.
Building a legacy
But the storyline of the original Risk Legacy? Well ... it was a little out there. Avatar-style mechs went toe-to-toe with barbarian berserkers while futuristic armored soldiers formed ranks to mow down mutants and alien invaders. By the end of 14 linked games, the world that players had created together was unique, but it was also largely unintelligible.
Chris Nadeau, senior director and product development lead on Hasbro's Avalon Hill team, tells Polygon that his objective this time around was to keep what worked from the original Risk Legacy, and then lean hard into more cohesive storytelling.
"One of those key goals of Shadow Forces," Nadeau said, "was to ensure that players weren't only going to have the technical playthrough — the emotional connection to the gameplay itself — but to also feel like they're telling their own story as they're going."
"Risk is an interesting game in that it's really never had a story," Nadeau continued. "The original game is essentially this kind of Napoleonic oil painting that belongs in your great uncle's smoking den. [...] We could put an IP onto Risk in a way we've never done before, or we could make it up. It can be new and original and different."
Nadeau's team took the second option, forgoing Hasbro's many existing universes in favor of something new.
"We needed enough of a timeline to play out, essentially, all our real world fears right now," Nadeau said. "Climate change. The kind of slow decay of society and government. These private firms and the uber-rich doing things like flying out in space. What happens if we just keep that pace and that acceleration for the next 29 years?"
The world map
Risk Shadow Forces takes place in the year 2050. Humanity has come together to exploit a new source of clean energy in order to colonize Mars. But, before the expedition can kick off in earnest, tragedy strikes. Militaries and corporations around the world turn their guns on each other. With traditional superpowers sidelined, powerful warlords take advantage and rush in to fill the vacuum.
Players will begin Risk Shadow Forces by choosing one of those warlords, and then keep playing that same warlord over 15 connected games. Each warlord will have its own backstory, which will help to define their unique set of thematic, evolving powers. Perhaps they are highly maneuverable, moving armies easily and quickly across the map. Or maybe they're highly defensive, with bonuses for holding territory and fighting back against aggressors. Those abilities will be represented by a small stack of cards, which can be used on a player's turn to impact the outcome of a given battle on the world map.
Next come the factions, which, unlike a traditional game of Risk, will each have their own abilities. Before each game players will draft a faction, not unlike drafting cards in a game of Magic: The Gathering, so that going into each game they never know what combination they're going to get. That synergy between a given player's chosen warlord and their semi-randomly assigned faction will require the development of new strategies on the fly.
The skirmish game
Nadeau and his team didn't stop there. Risk Shadow Forces includes the traditional game of global domination, and a secondary game as well. To make the action even more personal, in between battles on the world map individual warlords will take up arms and fight tactical skirmishes. Risk Shadow Forces will come with two double-sided battle boards where players will play out those firefights, and that's where Craig Van Ness comes in.
Van Ness is an industry veteran with decades of experience. His biggest claim to fame is as the co-designer of Heroscape, a lavish skirmish game first published in 2004. In it, players take on the role of characters from multiple disparate timelines duking it out with unique powers on top of modular terrain. He also co-designed Star Wars: Epic Duels. That's the title that inspired the hit board game Unmatched, a collaboration between Mondo and Restoration Games that also uses skirmish mechanics. Suffice it to say that when it comes to small-unit board game combat, Van Ness has the experience to make that style of gameplay sing.
"He sits there with this notebook open and not only does he write down the flaws of things he wants to look at, he writes down the possible solutions at the same time," Nadeau said. "He's playing the meta in his head from the moment he's introduced to the mechanic. In a way, it makes Craig kind of propel his process right past alpha testing. He's past that exploration discovery moment, and he's already debugging the moment he starts playing."
But Heroscape isn't Van Ness's only claim to fame. He's also known as the co-designer — alongside Daviau and the late Alan Roach — of Star Wars: The Queen's Gambit. It's an obscure, out-of-print board game based on the climactic final battle from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The Queen's Gambit isn't a single game, but three connected games taking place at the same time. In it players fight the space battle above the surface of Naboo, and also the assault on the queen's throne room — complete with a decoy Padme Amidala. At the same time they fight as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn against Darth Maul. The result is an incredibly tense, interconnected strategy game, the likes of which has never been attempted before or since.
It's just the kind of experience that will be required to pull off something like Risk Shadow Forces, and Van Ness is very excited about its prospects.
"You go from this sort of global world map, and then you go right into this skirmish game," Van Ness told Polygon. "Every skirmish game has a different objective. It plays differently. Likewise, the global games play differently. There's some real twists and turns that come out of that. Either the setup is different, or the objectives are different, or we introduce new things that you weren't anticipating, or new ways to play."
Because of the secrecy that surrounds legacy games, neither Van Ness nor Nadeau can say for sure what will be inside the box when it finally ships next fall. They can say that in addition to 5 unique warlords and over 200 additional miniatures, there will also be four sealed envelopes and one sealed container. What's inside those sealed packages is anyone's guess. The final product will have a suggested retail price of $68.99. Pre-orders begin Oct. 23, and those who put money down for a copy will be included in the ongoing design process — much in the same vein as a modern crowdfunded board game.
For more information on Risk Shadow Forces, head to the Hasbro Pulse community website.