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Antelope Valley Commerce Center | Elevate Your Work Experience
The Antelope Valley Commerce Center offers an unparalleled workplace experience close to where you live and play. The location is strategic, allowing quick access to the population of Southern California and the Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach. -
The Bluffs at Valencia
The Bluffs at Valencia represents a rare land development opportunity with flexible mixed-use zoning within the FivePoint Valencia master planned community. The site is stunning, nearly 35 net acres perched atop bluffs overlooking the Santa Clarita Valley -
Were Done | The Center at Needham Ranch is 100% Leased
CBRE, with Trammell Crow Company and Clarion Partners, is pleased to announce the Center at Needham Ranch is now 100% leased - ahead of delivery. Breaking ground in 2017, the award-winning 1.7msf industrial park stretches across 250 acres in Santa Clarita -
Prime Logistics Location Adjacent to Interstate 5
The I-5 Distribution Center at Tejon, sitting adjacent to Interstate 5 is 50 minutes from the San Fernando Valley and 35 minutes from Valencia, close to the geographic and population center of California. -
Commercial Real Estate Talk, Episode #1 - Bill Shopoff
In this first episode of Commercial Real Estate Talk with Steve and Arnie, our hosts interview Bill Shopoff, President and CEO of Shopoff Realty Investments, which is celebrating its 30th Anniversary. In this wide-ranging and very interesting conversation -
Phase 1 at the Center at Needham Ranch is completely leased and construction on Phase 2 is well underway. Needham Ranch is unmatched in commute, clear height, community, and cost-effectiveness. Watch the video to experience it!! -
Vista Canyon - A New Way to Work
Vista Canyon is ready when you are. Its first complete building is a stunning 57,000 square feet Gensler-designed creative building and it's ready to be contoured to your needs. The buildings design offers modern spaces for all types of businesses -
Vista Canyon - A New Way to Work
Vista Canyon is ready when you are. Its first complete building is a stunning 57,000 square feet Gensler-designed creative building and it's ready to be contoured to your needs. The buildings design offers modern spaces for all types of businesses. -
The Center at Needham Ranch | Ready for Occupancy
The Center at Needham Ranch is ready for occupancy with stunning architecture, soaring ceilings, modern offices, exceptional loading and a fast reverse commute 1 mile from L.A. Contact firstname.lastname@example.com for details. -
Vista Canyon offers an experience-focused workplace, providing tenants with an inspiring, collaborative work environment, engaging social spaces, high-end amenities and transportation. -
Ready for Occupancy | The Center at Needham Ranch
All Phase 1 buildings are up at the Center at Needham Ranch. A thoughtfully conceived and stunningly designed building project on a 135-acre site overlooking the 14 freeway, just 1 mile from the city of Los Angeles. -
The Center At Needham Ranch Advantage
The advantage is clear. The Center at Needham Ranch is unmatched in commute, clear height, community and cost effectiveness. This gorgeous, modern 135-acre business park overlooking the 14 Freeway is close to everything. Just 1 mile from the city of Los A -
Whole Foods Anchored Shopping Center Debuts in South Lake Tahoe
The newly constructed 40,000 SF shopping center is anchored by Whole Foods Market and 100% leased to leading national tenants including Chipotle, Verizon, Panda Express, Five Guys and Charter Communications. -
The Center at Needham Ranch Building 3 Comes Online
The Center at Needham Ranch welcomes its latest addition- a 212,236 SF (Divisible) state-of-the-art industrial building, featuring a 36 Clear Height Warehouse, ESFR Sprinklers and 21 Dock Positions. -
Introducing The Center at Needham Ranch
One mile from the city of Los Angeles. A world apart. This new 135-acre business campus defines what state-of-the-art industrial development is all about. -
Brandon Birtcher, CEO of Birtcher Development, LLC, Keynote Address at RENTV's South Bay/Long Beach Conference 10.18.17
Brandon Birtcher, CEO of Birtcher Development, LLC, gives an impassioned and forward-thinking presentation about his company, the market, the economy and the future titled "Conventional Thinking May Be Irrelevant." -
Yat-Pang Au, Founder & CEO of Veritas Investments - Keynote Address at RENTVs DT San Francisco Conference 7/20/17
Yat-Pang Au, Founder & CEO of Veritas Investments, the largest owner of apartments in the City of San Francisco, gives an energetic, insightful and informative presentation about his company and how it innovates to satisfy evolving demand from millenial r -
Metropolis Los Angeles, Presentation by Ryan Aubry. Director of Development, Greenland USA
Keynote Presentation by Ryan Aubry, Director of Development at Greenland USA about Metropolis Los Angeles at RENTV's Downtown Los Angeles State of the Market Conference on April 19, 2017 -
Westside Hotel Development and One Beverly Hills
Incredibly compelling conversation about Westside hotel development and One Beverly Hills with Bob Sonnenblick from Sonnenblick Development and Jay Newman from Athens Development at RENTV's Aug 18th Westside of LA State of the Market Conference -
Keynote Discussion by Carol Schatz, Pres & CEO of DCBID at RENTV's April 2016 Downtown LA State of the Market Conference
Ms. Schatz gives an extremely informative speech about the progress Downtown Los Angeles has made, as well as new game changers, and important issues still facing the area. -
Presentation by Chris Martin about Wilshire Grand at RENTV's 4.14.16 Downtown LA State of the Market Conference
Play this compelling video to watch Chris Martin, Chairman & CEO of A.C. Martin Partners, describe the design, construction and status of the skyline-defining project that is Wilshire Grand. -
Mayor Sam Liccardo Keynote at RENTV San Jose/Silicon Valley Conference
In this very informative speech, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo discusses his view of what is happening in this cutting edge city with a focus on companies scaling up operations in uncertain economic times and 4 things his government can do to help them -
Allen Matkins/UCLA Anderson Forecast California Commercial Real Estate Survey: California Market Booming Again
Commercial real estate experts Jerry Nickelsburg, John Tipton, Tony Natsis and Richard B. Hayes offer comments about California's booming commercial real estate market, as part of the Aug 2015, Allen Matkins/UCLA Anderson Forecast CA CRE Survey -
The Columbia Square Project in Hollywood, CA
This exciting show takes you to Sunset Blvd in Hollywood to show you the Columbia Square mixed use creative office project now underway by Kilroy Realty. The $420 mil plan entails renovating 3 historic buildings and building 3 new ones. -
The Developments at Playa Vista as of October 2014
This informative show takes you on a fast-paced tour through the various exciting projects being built in Playa Vista as of October 2014 -
One Santa Fe & the Arts District of Downtown LA
This fast-paced show takes a look at the booming Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles. We'll show you several of the major projects that have been completed, are underway or currently planned, including One Santa Fe and The Garey Building. -
RENTV Oakland State of the Market Conf James Kilpatrick Keynote Opening
NAI Northern California president James Kilpatrick discusses the good the bad and the ugly of Oakland real Estate at RENTV's Sept 25th 2015 conference -
RENTV Real Estate News Program
Allen Matkins - It's a Perfect Storm for California Commercial Real Estate Market -
RENTV Real Estate News Program
Allen Matkins View from the Top Overview - September 2014 -
RENTV Real Estate News Program
California's Tech Boom Drives New Demand For Office - from Allen Matkins -
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Major Recent San Diego Office Sales -
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RENTV Revisits Two San Fernando Valley Apartment Developments


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The Federal Reserve Bank of New York today released "Why Are Banks Holding So Many Excess Reserves?", the latest article in its series Current Issues in Economics and Finance.
Authors Todd Keister and James McAndrews show that while the high level of reserves in the U.S. banking system during the financial crisis reflects the large scale of the Federal Reserve's policy initiatives, it conveys no information about the effect of these initiatives on bank lending or on the level of economic activity.
Through a series of examples, Keister and McAndrews explain that the buildup of reserves in the banking system is a by-product of the liquidity facilities and other credit programs introduced by the Federal Reserve in response to the crisis. The majority of the newly created reserves necessarily end up being held as excess reserves and, therefore, the data on excess reserves provide no useful insight into the lending decisions and other activities of banks.
The authors also note the importance of paying interest on excess reserves, which allows a central bank to maintain its influence over market interest rates independent of the quantity of reserves in the banking system, particularly during the recovery from a financial crisis.
Todd Keister is an assistant vice president and James McAndrews a senior vice president in the Monetary and Payment Studies Function of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Research and Statistics Group.
Why Are Banks Holding So Many Excess Reserves? »
Media Relations

subset: commoncrawl


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It is important to teach your children about eye health and safety from a young age. This includes awareness about how your overall health habits affect your eyes and vision as well as how to keep your eyes safe from injury and infection. Starting off with good eye habits at a young age will help to create a lifestyle that will promote eye and vision health for a lifetime.
10 Eye Health Tips for All:
- Eat right. Eating a balanced diet full of fresh fruits and vegetables (especially green leafies such as kale, spinach and broccoli) as well as omega-3s found in fish, such as salmon, tuna and halibut, help your eyes get the proper nutrients they need to function at their best.
- Exercise. An active lifestyle has been shown to reduce the risk of developing a number of eye diseases as well as diabetes - a disease which which can result in blindness.
- Don't Smoke. Smoking has been linked to increased risk of a number of vision threatening eye diseases.
- Use Eye Protection. Protect your eyes when engaging in activities such as sports (especially those that are high impact or involve flying objects), using chemicals or power tools or gardening. Speak to your eye doctor about the best protection for your hobbies to prevent serious eye injuries.
- Wear Shades. Protect your eyes from the sun by wearing 100% UV blocking sunglasses and a hat with a brim when you go outside. Never look directly at the sun.
- Be Aware: If you notice any changes in your vision, always get it checked out. Tell a parent or teacher if your eyes hurt or if your vision is blurry, jumping, double or if you see spots or anything out of the ordinary. Parents, keep an eye on your child. Children don't always complain about problems seeing because they don't know when their vision is not normal vision. Signs of excessive linking, rubbing, unusual head tilt, or excessively close viewing distance are worth a visit to the eye doctor.
- Don't Rub! If you feel something in your eye, don't rub it - it could make it worse or scratch your eyeball. Ask an adult to help you wash the object out of your eye.
- Give Your Eyes a Break. With the digital age, a new concern is kids' posture when looking at screens such as tablets or mobile phones. Prevent your child from holding these digital devices too close to their eyes. The Harmon distance is a comfortable viewing distance and posture - it is the distance from your chin to your elbow. There is concern that poor postural habits may warp a child's growing body. Also, when looking at a tv, mobile or computer screen for long periods of time, follow the 20-20-20 rule; take a break every 20 minutes, for 20 seconds, by looking at something 20 feet away.
- Create Eye Safe Habits. Always carry pointed objects such as scissors, knives or pencils with the sharp end pointing down. Never shoot objects (including toys) or spray things at others, especially in the direction of the head. Be careful when using sprays that they are pointed away from the eyes.
- Keep Them Clean. Always wash your hands before you touch your eyes and follow your eye doctors instructions carefully for proper contact lens hygiene. If you wear makeup, make sure to throw away any old makeup and don't share with others.
By teaching your children basic eye care and safety habits you are instilling in them the importance of taking care of their precious eye sight. As a parent, always encourage and remind your children to follow these tips and set a good example by doing them yourself.
Of course don't forget the most important tip of all - get each member of your family's eyes checked regularly by a qualified eye doctor! Remember, school eye screenings and screenings at a pediatrician's office are NOT eye exams. They are only checking visual acuity but could miss health problems, focusing issues and binocularity issues that are causing health and vision problems.


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Archaeological excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the area of the Gihon Spring in the City of David, in the Walls around Jerusalem National Park, have unearthed a layer of rich finds including thousands of broken pottery shards, clay lamps and figurines. Most intriguing is the recent discovery of a ceramic bowl with a partially preserved inscription in ancient Hebrew. While not complete, the inscription presents us with the name of a seventh century BCE figure, which resembles other names known to us from both the Biblical and archaeological record (see examples below) and providing us with a connection to the people living in Jerusalem at the end of the First Temple period. This fascinating find will be presented at Megalim's Annual Archaeological Conference which will take place on Thursday, August 29th in the City of David.
The most similar name to our inscription is Zechariah the son of Benaiah, the father of the Prophet Jahaziel. The name Zechariah the son of Benaiah appears in 2 Chronicles 20:14 where it states that Jahaziel, son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, prophesized before the Biblical King Jehoshaphat before the nation went off to war against the ancient kingdoms of Ammon and Moab. Israel Antiquity Authority archaeologists Dr. Joe Uziel and Nahshon Zanton, who discovered the bowl while excavating remains associated with the First Temple period destruction, explained that the letters inscribed on the shard likely date to the 8-7th centuries BCE, placing the production of the bowl sometime between the reign of Hezekiah and the destruction of Jerusalem under King Zedekiah. The archaeologists also explained that the inscription was engraved on the bowl prior to firing, indicating that the inscription originally adorned the rim of the bowl in its entirety, and was not written on a shard after the vessel was broken. While the purpose of the inscription on the bowl is unclear, archaeologists have posited that the bowl may have contained an offering, likely given by the individual whose name was inscribed on the bowl, or alternatively given to him.
Inscription Analysis The first letter of the ceramic bowl's partially preserved inscription in ancient Hebrew script is broken and is therefore difficult to read, but appears to be the letter ר. The next three letters יהו constitute the theophoric suffix (the component in which the name of the deity appears as part of the first name, such as Yirme-yahu and Eli-yahu, etc). These letters are followed by בנ (the son of) after which appears the patronymic name composed of the three letters בנה. According to archaeologists Uziel and Zanton, "If we consider the possibility that we are dealing with an unvowelized or 'defective' spelling of the name בניה (Benaiah), then what we have before us is the name "...ריהו בן בניה" Many of the first names mentioned in the Bible contained the theophoric component יהו, as is the case of this inscription from the City of David. Besides the biblical references, other examples of this have also been found in archaeological excavations, written on a variety of objects such as seals, bullae, pottery vessels or even carved on rock. Noteworthy among the many names that end with the theophoric suffix יהו are several prominent examples that were previously discovered in City of David by Professor Yigal Shiloh, such as Gemar-yahu the son of Shaphan, Bena-yahu the son of Hoshayahu, etc. which were also found in the destruction layer and the ruins of the Babylonian conquest.


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11 Most Amazing Astronomy Stories of 2011
What a year it has been for science and astronomy.
From the discoveries of potentially habitable alien planets to the detection of a tiny new moon around Pluto and jaw-dropping lunar and solar eclipses, astronomical research in 2011 has not only made extraordinary strides but also raised new and tantalizing questions for the future.
"It has been an incredible year for science," Ralph McNutt, a planetary scientist at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, told SPACE.com. "All one can hope is that we will keep the appropriate institutions in place so the following years will be as incredible, if not more so."
McNutt is a project scientist for NASA's Messenger mission to Mercury. He is also a co-investigator on the New Horizons mission to Pluto, in addition to being involved in the Cassini mission at Saturn and the twin Voyager spacecraft at the edge of the solar system.
McNutt recently spoke with SPACE.com about some of the most significant astronomical events and findings of the year. In no particular order, here are the 11 best astronomy stories of 2011:
1. Alien Planets in the Habitable Zone
This year proved to be a bounty for exoplanet research. In its first 16 months of operation, NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft detected 2,326 potential alien worlds.
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"You can have all kinds of expectations and make all kinds of predictions, but making predictions versus actually finding stuff is a huge difference," McNutt said. "So, given the fact that they've been making these identifications and being able to confirm them, I think the team is just overjoyed and happy beyond their wildest dreams. Kepler has just been an incredibly good investment of research dollars for the United States of America."
Earlier this month, the observatory confirmed the discovery of its first alien planet in the habitable zone of its parent star. This so-called habitable zone is located at just the right distances away from the star so that conditions could allow liquid water to exist on a planet's surface.
"This is a huge advance," McNutt said. "The surprise has been that the solar system we live in is not necessarily a good template. We're seeing other systems that are all over the map, so that in itself is interesting. This is really a huge step for us to start to fill in what we know about the universe around us."
But Kepler is not alone in its hunt for alien worlds.
A telescope from the European Southern Observatory that searches for signs of exoplanets also made enticing finds this year. The High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher instrument, or HARPS, found more than 50 new alien planets, including one super-Earth that could potentially support life.
As researchers continue to sift through data from Kepler, HARPS and various other instruments, exoplanet research is not showing any sign of slowing down.
2. Scientists Closing in on the Higgs Boson Particle
Researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland, announced Dec. 13 they had made significant progress in their search for the Higgs boson particle.
Also known as the "God particle," the Higgs boson is thought to be tied to a field that is responsible for giving all other particles their mass. In a much-hyped announcement, scientists at CERN's Large Hadron Collider said they now are able to narrow down the Higgs' mass, which represents an important step in their hunt for the elusive particle. [Top 5 Implications of Finding the Higgs Boson]
"It's going to be very interesting to see what becomes of this," McNutt said. "It would be very surprising if, in the process, we don't come up with new questions. This is really a new chapter in a very interesting mystery novel."
3. Pluto's New Moon
In July, it was announced that a tiny new moon had been discovered around the dwarf planet Pluto. A survey conducted by the Hubble Space Telescope found the moon, which is the fourth and smallest one yet found circling Pluto.
"It's symptomatic of the fact that there's this huge world out there that we don't know yet," McNutt said. "When I was growing up, I was the ultimate geek and space cadet. I knew all the names of the planets and I knew how many moons they all had. At the time, Saturn had nine moons, Uranus had five, Neptune had two, and Pluto didn't have any. That's been rewritten multiple times now, and it gets back to the idea that part of science, and part of understanding the world we live in, is casting our net wider and looking at new things."
The moon, which has temporarily been named P4, is estimated to be 8-to-21-miles (13-to-34-kilometers) wide. Pluto's largest moon, Charon, is 648-miles (1,043-km) wide, and the two others, Nix and Hydra, range from 20-to-70-miles (32-to-113-km) across.
The New Horizons probe is currently journeying out into the solar system and is scheduled to fly through the Pluto system in 2015. The mission is designed to provide new insights about worlds at the edge of our solar system.
4. Messenger Probe Becomes First to Orbit Mercury
After six-and-a-half years of traveling in space, NASA's Messenger probe made history March 17 by becoming the first spacecraft to enter into orbit around Mercury.
"One of the things I like to say about Mercury is from one of the Star Trek episodes about 'the undiscovered country,'" McNutt said. "With Mercury, we certainly had our first tantalizing glimpses with Mariner 10. Now we've gone back and gone into orbit. We've really been able to map the planet and know what it looks like. We're seeing these incredible volcanic formations from a long time back in the history of the solar system. We're trying to figure out how to put together the pieces of the puzzle."
The Messenger mission (short for Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging) is designed to study and map Mercury's surface in unprecedented detail. The probe will also investigate the planet's composition, magnetic field, geologic history and its mysteriously thin and tenuous atmosphere.
"We've literally rewritten the book on the innermost planets of the solar system, and it's an important book to rewrite. It's been a question of having a highly motivated group of people and the right technology and the right kind of situation and the right program to pull all these pieces together so you can actually accomplish it. It really has been a tremendous accomplishment."
5. Dark Energy Physicists Win Nobel Prize
Three astrophysicists won the Nobel Prize in physics this year for their discovery that the universe is not only expanding, but accelerating as well.
Saul Perlmutter of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley; Brian Schmidt of the Australian National University and Adam Riess of Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute snagged the prestigious honor for their groundbreaking work that led to the enigmatic concept of dark energy.
To explain how the universe's expansion is accelerating, the scientists came up with a mysterious force, "dark energy," that is working against the gravitational forces that are pulling the universe inward. While dark energy has yet to be directly detected, it is thought to make up 73 percent of all mass and energy in the universe. [7 Surprising Things About the Universe]
6. The Sun Wakes Up
After a long quiescence, 2011 saw an increase in solar activity. In August, an extremely powerful solar flare was unleashed from the sun. In fact, the X-class flare was the largest one in over four years, scientists said.
Solar activity waxes and wanes on a roughly 11-year cycle. The current cycle began in 2008 and is expected to last until 2020. After a period of more subdued behavior, the sun is now ramping up toward a solar maximum in 2013.
Scientists are particularly interested in studying the sun and how space weather affects our planet. Solar flares and coronal mass ejections can trigger stunning auroras on Earth, but violent sun storms can also carry negative effects. Solar plasma that is ejected by powerful X-class eruptions has the potential to damage satellites in space and wreak havoc on power systems and other infrastructure on Earth. [Sun's Wrath: Worst Solar Storms in History]
7. Comet Elenin and the Great Nbiriu Hoax
When the icy comet Elenin swung through the inner solar system in September, it set off a firestorm among conspiracy theorists and doomsayers. NASA scientists repeatedly assured the public that the comet flyby posed no threat, but some people latched onto the idea that Elenin was a harbinger of doom.
The infamous object made waves on the Internet, when doomsayers claimed that comet Elenin's pass through the inner solar system would spell disaster for our planet. Some insisted the comet would disrupt Earth's gravity and trigger catastrophic earthquakes. Others proclaimed that Elenin was not a comet but a rogue planet called Nibiru that would destroy Earth.
In the end, comet Elenin broke apart when it flew near the sun in September, and NASA scientists officially pronounced it dead mid-October. Still, the sensation among die-hard doomsayers was enough to vault this relatively weak comet into infamy.
"This sort of thing with comets has gone on for a long time," McNutt said. "Every so often, there is this whole thing about comets as being purveyors of doom, and historically it goes back a long way. Halley's Comet was seen in England during the Battle of Hastings in 1066, when William the Conqueror conquered England. So, depending on which army you were on, I suppose it could have been a purveyor of success or a purveyor of defeat."
8. Fantastic Lunar and Solar Eclipses
This year, lucky skywatchers were treated to two lunar eclipses and four solar eclipses.
On June 15, the moon was tinted red during the longest total eclipse in 11 years. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes between the sun and the moon, casting the moon completely in shadow.
The second and final lunar eclipse of the year took place Dec. 10. Skywatchers in western Canada and the United States, as well as Alaska, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and central and eastern Asia caught glimpses of a stunning celestial show as the moon appeared inflated and bright red. The next total lunar eclipse will not occur until 2014.
Several weeks before, a partial solar eclipse darkened the sun over parts of the southern hemisphere, as the moon slid between Earth and the sun for the fourth and final time of the year. The Nov. 25 eclipse was visible in southern South Africa, Antarctica, Tasmania and most of New Zealand, according to scientists.
"I've actually seen several lunar eclipses and they're certainly interesting, but two things that everybody on the planet needs to have the chance to do is: see a total solar eclipse and see a rocket take off from one of the spaceports," McNutt said. "Trying to see this stuff on film and TV does not do it justice.
The next solar eclipse, May 20, 2012, is expected to be a stunning event, and will be visible from China, Japan and parts of the United States. During this so-called annular solar eclipse, the moon will cover a large portion (but not all) of the sun.
9. Asteroids, Oh My!
Asteroids have always been major astronomical players, but several found themselves sharing the spotlight this year.
After launching in 2007, NASA's Dawn spacecraft arrived at the asteroid Vesta in July to kick off a yearlong study of the giant space rock. Since its arrival, Dawn has already beamed back some of the clearest views yet of the huge, battered asteroid, including images of massive depressions and a huge mountain inside an expansive crater.
Vesta is the second-most-massive object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. After spending a year at Vesta, Dawn will travel to the asteroid Ceres, which is the largest body in the main asteroid belt.
But Vesta wasn't the only asteroid to make headlines in 2011.
An asteroid the size of a city block, called 2005 YU55, zipped past Earth in a rare flyby that marked the closest such a large asteroid has come to our planet in 35 years. The space rock passed within the orbit of the moon Nov. 8 before speeding off into deep space.
The asteroid was never in danger of hitting Earth, but it did provide researchers with an unprecedented opportunity to learn more about 2005 YU55 and its orbit.
10. Gains Made in Search for Killer Space Rocks
In September, a NASA study was released that found fewer potentially dangerous asteroids orbiting Earth than was previously thought. The discovery significantly lowered the number of medium-size asteroids near Earth to 19,500, which represented nearly a 50-percent drop from initial estimates.
The study's findings suggested that the threat to Earth by dangerous asteroids may also be somewhat less than previously thought. But scientists also said thousands more of these asteroids remain to be found. [Photos: Asteroids in Deep Space]
"There was a large asteroid impact that really rewrote the whole structure of life on this planet," McNutt said. "It happened once, it might happen again. Getting a close look at these objects is so important because there are a lot of pieces of that puzzle that we still haven't put together. By trying to find out their nature and where they've been, it will help us figure out how the solar system was put together."
11. Ongoing Search for Alien Life
In early March, a study published in the Journal of Cosmology ignited a controversy over the possible detection of alien life in meteorites.
Astrobiologist Richard Hoover of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsvilla, Ala., used scanning electron microscopes to analyze slices of carbonaceous meteorites that fell to Earth from space. In his study, Hoover claimed to have detected "filaments" and other features that resemble microbes in the meteorites.
The study was quickly criticized by other scientists, who discredited the research and said that the findings did not amount to convincing evidence.
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof," McNutt said. "In science, many extraordinary claims don't work out, but occasionally some of the extraordinary things are extraordinarily right. That's one of the reasons you go look. If we're looking at whether there was a second genesis in the solar system, something similar to what happened on Earth several billion years ago, Mars is a good place to look."
In fact, recent discoveries on Mars are helping to paint a clearer picture of whether conditions on the Red Planet are, or ever have been, suitable to support microbial life.
On Dec. 7, scientists presented findings from the Mars rover, Opportunity, that were the best evidence yet that water flowed on the planet long ago. Opportunity discovered a thin, bright mineral vein along the rim of the huge Endeavour crater. According to scientists, the mineral is almost certainly gypsum that was deposited by liquid water billions of years ago.
NASA launched its newest mission, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), to the Red Planet Nov. 26. When the car-size rover Curiosity touches down on Mars in August, it will likely help researchers gain a better understanding of the planet and its environment.
"There are a lot of question marks, but certainly MSL, when it gets down in August, will give us more insights into that," McNutt said.
You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: email@example.com.
Denise Chow is a former Space.com staff writer who then worked as assistant managing editor at Live Science before moving to NBC News as a science reporter, where she focuses on general science and climate change. She spent two years with Space.com, writing about rocket launches and covering NASA's final three space shuttle missions, before joining the Live Science team in 2013. A Canadian transplant, Denise has a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto, and a master's degree in journalism from New York University. At NBC News, Denise covers general science and climate change.


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Removing Rear Wheels Is Easy!
Afraid to take off your rear wheel to fit the bike in a trunk or fix a flat, because you think you'll mess up the chain or shifting? Relax. Anyone can remove a rear wheel and it won't affect shifting or the chain. Here's how:
1. Shift onto the small cog and small chainring
This creates slack in the chain, which makes wheel removal much easier. If you're riding, shift as you slow to a stop so that the chain is on the smallest rear cog and the smallest chainring in front. If you're not riding, shift the levers (one at a time), lift the bike by the seat and pedal by hand to shift the chain.
2. Open the brake
On most bikes with rim brakes (not disc brakes), when you try to remove the wheel, the tire bumps into the brake pads. To prevent this, open sidepull brakes by fully rotating the little lever on the brake upwards (photo a). For linear-pulls (also called "V-brakes") lift the end of the "noodle" out of its holder (photo b).
Some sidepulls are opened by pressing a button on the lever. Look for this if there's no lever on the brake.
Open cantilever brakes (these feature a cable that runs over the top of the tire) by lifting the cable end on one side out of its holder. And, again, if you have disc brakes, you can skip this step!
3. Pull the derailleur back and remove the wheel
Lastly: Pull back the derailleur with your hand to get it, and the chain, out of the way so the wheel won't hang up on anything when you open the quick release and remove the wheel. This is the secret to easy wheel removal. Good job!
Note: To clearly show the desired derailleur position, we locked it in place and didn't show the hand. You must pull it back by hand when removing wheels because it won't stay in place on its own.


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Due to a bunch of life circumstances, I have moved a lot in the past few years. (Each summer since 2009 - but we are breaking the trend this summer!) I have learned that the neighborhood is key to really liking your home. A couple more things that I learned:
1. With your school also check the reputation of the principal. Even if the district is great one bad principal can make or break a school and your experience.
2. Check out the schools PTA - you can learn a lot from there!
3. Drive around the neighborhood at different times of the day and week. Just because you see no kids the first time through does not mean the area is not full of them. Things such as school, and the weather can make the kids stay inside. Also, look for swing sets!
4. If the neighborhood has an association, check out what activities they offer. Often an active association means a good friendly area. No organization or activities and it can be harder to meet and interact with your neighbors.
Happy moving!


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Worlds first for learners of Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) NAVIS Japanese language textbook MANTEN Hindi Version released
The Ambassador of Japan to India, H.E. Mr. Satoshi Suzuki, Launched World's First Original Japanese language textbook Hindi Edition
August 31: NAVIS Human Resources Private Limited, a human resource development company in Bengaluru, India, released its original Japanese language textbooks, MANTEN Hindi Edition N5 and MANTEN Hindi Edition N4, for learners of Specified Skilled Worker (SSW). On the 24th of August 2022, H.E. Mr. Suzuki, The Ambassador of Japan to India, was invited to the MANTEN Text Book Hindi Version launch ceremony to dedicate the book to Hindi Speaking Learners around the World to Learn Japanese.
India's Hindi Speakers are 43.63% of the Indian Population and Rank third in the world language Rankings with 420 million Speakers. The number of Indian personnel wanting to work in Japan in the future will be accelerated to learn Japanese.
NAVIS has been a Japanese language training Centre in India for the past 20 years and has trained more than over 10,000 Indians in Japanese. We currently have 13 Japanese language instructors, all of whom are qualified, native Japanese language teachers.
With this know-how, NAVIS, on 25 February 2021, released the MANTEN Original English Edition, a Japanese language textbook for Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) and has now released the MANTEN Hindi Edition to make it easier for Learners whose mother tongue is Hindi. NAVIS has sent out a total of 69 Indian nurses as caregivers since March 2019.
The company is responsible for 70% of all caregiver placements in India. The company started in 2002 as a Japanese language training and recruitment company. Currently, as a human resources development company for blue-collar workers in India, it sends out personnel for nursing care, accommodation (hotels and Inns) and agriculture under the Technical Training system and Specified Skilled Worker. It provides a one-stop service from recruitment to Japanese language training, sending out personnel and finding recipients.
Group company NAVIS Co., Ltd, JAPAN, is a registered support organization for Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) and focuses on sending out personnel under the Specified Skilled Worker (SSW).
India is attracting attention as a major population power, and as of 2022, it has already reached a population that is close to that of China and is predicted to become the world's largest by 2023. In line with the Indian Government's 'Skill India' initiative, the development of human resources in the youth segment is a challenge for India.
NAVIS provides its own recruitment know-how and skills training to India's 1.41 billion abundant human resources and sends them to Japan. In Japan, where there is a shortage of manpower, NAVIS will provide skill development and career paths for Indian nurses, making them achieve Japanese level N3 in five months, thereby solving the problem of both countries.
To know more, visit: https://www.navis.in/
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Boxer Throws Punches at Referee [VIDEO]
Referee Manfred Küchle stopped a WBO super-middleweight title fight between Robert Stieglitz and Khoren Gevor in 10th round after he ruled that Gevor had intentionally head-butted Stieglitz, opening a gash above his right eye.
Gevor was disqualified for his illegal move, which didn't sit well the Armenian-German, who tracked Küchler down in the corner of the ring after the match was declared and began throwing punches at the referee.
As you can see from the the video below, this excites the crowd. Although we'd like to think they're cheering because the security guards were so quick to pounce on Gevor, not because he was wailing on the ref.


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I just finished tallying up the number of books I have read this year and am shocked with my total of 47! This number includes regular books as well as audio books. When I started blogging I thought I might read 20, so this blows me away. Here are the books I read this year with links to those that I did reviews for (in case you missed them!). I marked my favorite reads of the year with a star.
~*The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
~The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
~Rose Without A Thorn by Jean Plaidy (somehow I forgot to review this one - look for it in early 2010)
~The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
~Plain Jane by Laurien Gardner
~*Nefertiti by Michelle Moran
~The Dangerous Book For Demon Slayers by Angie Fox
~Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
~Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
~Madame Serpent by Jean Plaidy
~*The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn by Robin Maxwell
~1st to Die by James Patterson
~Eve by Elissa Elliott
~Rage by Jerry Langton
~*The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran
~Dancing with Ana by Nicole Barker
~2nd Chance by James Patterson
~Five Days in Paris by Danielle Steel
~The Merry Monarch's Wife by Jean Plaidy
~The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard
~Coraline by Neil Gaiman
~Tara Road by Maeve Binchy
~The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
~*The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
~The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
~Smitten by Janet Evanovich
~The Triumph of Deborah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy
~*Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran
~Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult
~Elizabeth's Women by Tracey Borman
~*Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
~Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
~*The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
~Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire
~The Golden Tulip by Rosalind Laker
~3rd Degree by James Patterson
~Going Bovine by Libba Bray
~4th of July by James Patterson
~*O, Juliet by Robin Maxwell - (Look for the review during the Historical Fiction Bloggers Round Table event in January)
~The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks
~The Shadow of the Pomegranate by Jean Plaidy
~*Thirsty by Kristin Bair-O'Keeffe
~The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
~The Accidental Demon Slayer by Angie Fox
~Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
~Notorious Royal Marriages by Leslie Carroll - (Look for the review during the Historical Fiction Bloggers Round Table event in January)
~My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler
Copyright © 2009-2011 by The Maiden's Court


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This is part two of a two-part series. The first part examined the mistakes that we Arabs made in our interactions with Israel.
There is much that we can do to improve our relationship with Israel -- if we want to -- and there is good reason to think that it would be in both our short- and long-term interest if we did. The most critical change is in approach. Changing that would start to repair the foundation of the relationship and would provide a basis for mutual respect and trust, without which any solution would remain fragile.
Understand Israel
We must see the real Israel rather than the monstrosity that Arabs have been brainwashed to see. We are so afraid to call Israel by its real name that we refer to it as the "Zionist entity". The name is "Israel"; as written in Haaretz, "Israel has been the name of an ethnic group in the Levant going back at least 3200 years".
The standard Arab narrative about Israel is that it is the result of Western colonialism. This language has also been adopted by many, who claim that "settler colonialism that began with the Nakba ... in 1948", implying that all of Israel is a colony. This claim is not true, and no healthy relationship can be built while one side keeps repeating lies about the other.
Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, a people with a long and complex history on that land. Attempts to kill them and exile them came from many sources over the centuries, including the Assyrians, Babylonians, Romans and the Crusaders. These are historical facts.
Israel's then Prime Minister Golda Meir said in 1973, "We Jews have a secret weapon in our struggle with the Arabs -- we have no place to go". No matter how much pressure Arabs put on Jews to leave, they are not going anywhere; in fact, that pressure only hardens their resolve. Israel is their home.
We must look at Israel not as foreign presence, which it is not, but as a unique and remarkable component of the Middle East that enriches the region.
Not our enemy
We must stop calling Israel our enemy. We deliberately chose to make Israel our enemy when we attacked it, rather than accept the existence of a tiny Jewish state in our midst.
Israel (including the annexed Golan Heights and East Jerusalem) is only 19% of British Mandate Palestine (which included Jordan), on which Britain promised in 1924 to build a "Jewish National Home". Israel is so small that it would have to be duplicated 595 times to cover the entire Arab world.
We made self-defeating decisions in our relationship with Israel, based on the belief that it is our enemy and that we can only deal with it though force -- but the tiny state of Israel is not a threat to the Arab world.
Every year, Palestinians hold rallies, often violent ones, to commemorate the Nakba ("catastrophe"), which is name they give to the Arab loss in the war of 1948/49. They carry keys, symbolizing the keys to homes that their ancestors fled during that war. This commemoration, like much of the Arab rhetoric about Israel, is a one-sided view that demonizes Israel while it absolves Arabs of all responsibility for starting and continuing a conflict that resulted in decades of violence as well as displacements of both Arabs and Jews.
This false narrative does not leave much room for peace with Israel. How can peace be acceptable to Arabs who are repeatedly fed the false narrative that everything is Israel's fault, when, in fact, "everything" is not "all Israel's fault"?
Admitting mistakes is never easy, but without admitting them, we are weaving a contrived narrative that contradicts historical facts. Building a positive future requires accepting that the past is gone and cannot be restored.
Despite the Holocaust, Germany is today one of Israel's closest friends, but this was possible only because Germany admitted its moral failure. Although our refusal to accept Israel is not morally equivalent to the Holocaust, it was undeniably a moral failure, and moving past it would allow us to establish constructive relations with Israel.
Resolving the Palestinian Question
For a successful resolution of the Palestinian question, we must understand the few fundamental issues on which Israel cannot compromise. At present, the Arab world, and particularly the Palestinians, shows so little understanding of Israel's fundamental issues that the Israeli public's faith in peace negotiations is low. As reported in the Jerusalem Post, "most Israelis (67.7%) do not believe that negotiations will bring peace in the coming years and less than a third (29.1%) think it will ever yield such a result".
Israel's ability to remain a Jewish state and a haven for Jews worldwide is its most basic existential necessity. Without it, Israel would be only a name. For this reason, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated unequivocally that there is "no room to maneuver" on the Palestinian claim of a "right of return" for the descendants of Palestinian refugees. It may be unreasonable to expect relatively small and weak countries like Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan to absorb all the refugees residing there, but rich Gulf countries have the ability to help. If Europe can absorb millions of Muslim refugees, why could we not do it too?
A second existential necessity for Israel is its need for defensible borders, as explained in an extensive report. Israel has been defending its very existence against Arab attacks for seven decades. It has been attacked from all sides using all methods imaginable, from missiles to suicide belts to tunnels. Israel does not see the pre-1967 armistice lines as defensible, as was explained as far back as 1977 by then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, widely considered a pro-peace moderate.
A third fundamental point is Jewish access to holy sites, starting with the most important one, the Old City in East Jerusalem. Jews see their win in East Jerusalem in the war of 1967 not as a conquest, but as the liberation and reunification of their historic home since the time of King David, ca. 1000 BCE. Although Israeli governments, both in 2000 and in 2008, offered to give up control over part of Jerusalem, one should not assume that a similar offer will be likely in the future. In June of this year, PM Netanyahu pledged that, "The idea of a divided, split, wounded city is one we will never return to." Other issues such as borders, compensation for refugees, removal of some settlements, and the level of Palestinian sovereignty appear to be negotiable. Netanyahu further stated, "Israel wants peace. I want peace. I want to renew the diplomatic process to achieve peace".
But we Arabs must understand that this can only be possible within the constraints of the three fundamental issues.
The Arab League's Peace Initiative
A peace initiative was endorsed by the Arab League in 2002 and again in 2007, but this initiative falls short in two ways, first in its substance and second in its form.
The initiative demands that Israel go back to the pre-1967 armistice lines. Not only does Israel not consider those borders defensible, but during the fifty years that elapsed since then, Israel has built large settlement blocks in the West Bank. We Arabs had previously expelled the Jews who were native to that land, and it is unrealistic to expect that Israel would agree to victimize its own Jewish citizens yet again.
The initiative declares that Arab states reject "all forms of Palestinian patriation which conflict with the special circumstances of the Arab host countries", implying that Israel and the new Palestinian state would be responsible for absorbing the descendants of all Palestinian refugees. For the new Palestinian state, it would be a huge burden to add to the task of building a new state, as it would mean an increase to its population from 6 million to 9 million. This would leave Israel to receive the refugees, which it will not do.
Equally unrealistic is the initiative's casual reference to "the establishment of a Sovereign Independent Palestinian State". The creation of such a state under today's conditions is likely to result in a Hamas-dominated state that is violently hostile towards Israel. The Palestinian Authority must be transitioned into a peaceful and stable entity before it can be expected to run a state.
The biggest problem with the Arab League's peace initiative, however, is the way that it was delivered. It was presented as a fait accompli and was thrown at Israel without discussion. The Arab League did not even respond to then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's offer to attend the 2002 Arab League summit. More recently, Netanyahu suggested an approach to make the peace initiative work, but Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi rejected it out of hand. This is not how harmonious relationships between nations are built, especially after decades of Arab animosity towards Israel.
There was no need to write this document at all. All that the Arab League had to do was to declare that Arab states are open to making peace with Israel, accept Sharon's offer to attend, then send a delegation to Israel as a sign of goodwill. There would be no commitment in such a gesture, but it would show that the Arab League is serious. This is how Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat approached peace with Israel.
Sadat in His Own Words
We should take inspiration from and follow the lead of Sadat, an Arab leader who took a bold step towards peace and achieved a peace agreement that even the Muslim Brotherhood government of Egypt felt compelled to respect 35 years later.
We should take inspiration from and follow the lead of Sadat, an Arab leader who took a bold step towards peace and achieved a peace agreement that even the Muslim Brotherhood government of Egypt felt compelled to respect. Pictured: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (right) acknowledge applause during a Joint Session of Congress in which U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced the results of the Camp David Accords, September 18, 1978. (Image source: Warren K. Leffler/Library of Congress) |
Sadat knew that taking steps towards peace requires more than simply writing documents and speaking from afar, which is why he went to Israel to present his vision. He said to the Israeli Knesset, "There are moments in the life of nations and peoples when it is incumbent on those known for their wisdom and clarity of vision to overlook the past, with all its complexities and weighing memories, in a bold drive towards new horizons".
Sadat demonstrated that he understood some of Israel's fundamental issues when he said, "What is peace for Israel? It means that Israel lives in the region with her Arab neighbors, in security and safety".
Sadat understood the benefit of peace to all people of the Middle East, including Arabs, and he understood the duty of leaders in making peace a reality. He said, "We owe it to this generation and the generations to come, not to leave a stone unturned in our pursuit of peace. ... Peace and prosperity in our area are closely linked and interrelated".
A New Page
The Arab world has an abysmal record on human rights, is mired in internal wars, and continues pointless hostility towards Israel, a neighbor that is far ahead of us scientifically and economically, and from which we could benefit greatly.
We must take ownership of our past actions towards Israel, and we must make the changes needed to turn the page. In the words of Sadat, "We must all rise above all forms of fanaticism, self-deception and obsolete theories of superiority". It is up to us.
Fred Maroun, a left-leaning Arab based in Canada, has authored op-eds for New Canadian Media, among other outlets. From 1961-1984, he lived in Lebanon.


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Last year, IBM released a report about the way marketing officials at major corporations are using the Internet. Though the gist of the study concluded that these high-paid administrators weren't using it very well, the October release actually hinged on a much more intriguing and intimidating fact: "Every day we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data—so much that 90 percent of the world's data today has been created in the last two years alone." We simply can't keep up. Whether it's the deluge of MP3s that flood the Internet daily, the information that companies collect about the purchases we make, or the photos of family pets and weekend meals our friends load onto social networks, the worldwide swell of data is best managed by supercomputers and servers, not the people who, in essence, manufacture and depend upon it. It's hard to resist the temptation of this ever-accelerating cycle—to create and release quickly, so that the world's bytes don't leave you behind. But Shields, the fourth and most fluid album by Grizzly Bear to date, slyly defies that trend. True, the quartet of Chris Bear, Ed Droste, Daniel Rossen and Chris Taylor have never made a quick follow-up; it took them three years to get from Horn of Plenty to Yellow House, three more to get from Yellow House to Veckatimest. Between those records, though, they'd not only toured but issued singles and splits, EPs and remixes. After long spans of shows for Veckatimest, however, Grizzly Bear went silent, or, to be more exact, its members lived their own lives. Trips were taken, and friendships were restored; families were visited, and solo projects were finished. The potential energy gathered in tour vans and busses, in studios and on stages for years was finally released, giving the individual band's pieces the chance to recover and, after a year, return to being Grizzly Bear.
Grizzly Bear – Listen and Wait
The quartet first reconvened last summer in Marfa, Texas, with the loose plan of rehearsing and demoing new material and seeing where potential songs for the next album stood. Almost nothing stuck, but that was fine. In Texas, they were reconnecting as friends and musicians, and the material would surely come. Against the inclination of the digital world, they took their time. "Clearly everyone had been in a very different space," says Rossen, "so most of the Marfa time was seeing each other again, trying things and feeling each other out. We all had to meet each other again." When they reconvened in January, again at the immortalized Yellow House in Cape Cod, they were anxious to return to Grizzly Bear. Indeed, Shields depends upon the urgency of a band whose members have opted back in. For the first time, they wrote more songs than they needed and scrupulously edited the ideas. For the first time, Rossen and Droste wrote songs together, taking each other's ideas and extending them and executing them with a new vitality. And for the first time, they tended to move forward only with the songs that were most open to true quartet collaboration. Asked which tunes on Shields belong to which songwriter, every member balks and explains that, for the first time, these are actually full-band numbers. Both in process and product, this is Grizzly Bear as they've never been. "Sun in Your Eyes," the seven-minute close to Shields, stemmed from a piano melody Droste wrote and discarded but that Rossen picked up as a pet project and spent weeks building, changing and rebuilding. The result is one of the most brilliant and audacious pieces of Grizzly Bear's oeuvre, dependent upon the same mix of drive and drift that shapes the bulk of Shields. Though soft at the edges, "Yet Again" pushes toward the status of rock anthem, with a bridge that refracts dance beats through a musical kaleidoscope; the slow creep of "What's Wrong" commands an answer, its antiphonal vocals and anxious strings giving voice to a frown and a sigh. Those open emotions are an integral part of Shields, the most cohesively written album of Grizzly Bear's career. The words come matched by a sound that is more passionate than proper, a quality earned by spending less time on the perfect take than on the proper feeling.
Grizzly Bear – On a Neck, On a Spit
"This has a different energy behind it," concludes Droste. "Veckatimest was a little more of a polite album; the desire to keep the vocals smooth might have kept a little distance between us and the audience. This one feels a bit more rough and exposed, so that on Shields, everything speaks for itself."
Grizzly Bear – Listen and Wait Lyrics:
A joker inside, a Jumbo be re-brought to life
and it's gone by the night,
the morning brings it back – gave back
Set towards the light imagine fades
the vision running wild
hiding the ?? a better face smiles shinning light
Listen and wait to the voice that calls you on
?? find your best way home
blinded, blind sided by self
bending from that home you always loved, so far
down on the clouds,
dreams nothing much
stay where you are,
no one could know
Set towards the light, imagine fades
vision running wild
hiding the ?? a better face, smiles shining light
Listen and wait to the voice that calls you on


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Whether you're looking for a restaurant for a nice meal, or catering for your event, you'll find what you're looking for.
Try old favorites like American, Barbecue, Pizza, Mexican, or Chicken restaurants. Or try a new Asian favorite, like Chinese, Japanese, Thai, or Indian/Pakistani cuisines.
Looking for something lighter? Try one of the Cafes, Diners, Bistros & Grills.
You can splurge at a Steak, Italian, or Seafood restaurant. Celebrate a special occasion at one of the Fine Dining Restaurants. Or if you're in a hurry? You'll find Family, Deli/Sandwich, Coffee Shop, Cafeteria/Buffet, Ice Cream, and Fast Food restaurants.


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Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Volunteer mystery squash
5 comments:
It looks kind of like a spaghetti squash, but not quite huh? I asked my neighbor about this once, he grows commercial pumpkins and other squashes, and I was wondering what things of his were volunteering in our fields that wash over in the floods or get carried by animals or whatever. He said who knows, as they hybridize easily on their own, so you can get funky crosses. I have noticed different looking ones even on the same vine. Our dog Maggie things they are vines of organic tennis balls, grown just for her! :)
- September 9, 2009 at 11:13 PM
Not sure what kind it is, but if you like it, maybe you could save some of those seeds and grow more next year? -Julie R
- September 10, 2009 at 6:35 AM
- Photobby said...
It's a FrankenPumpkin!
- September 10, 2009 at 8:58 AM
It looks like a cross between a pumpkin and a butternut squash.
- September 10, 2009 at 1:05 PM
- sheila said...
Pumpkin/Hubbard squash cross, or maybe with that nipple looking lump on the end it's a pumpkin/turban squash cross. Doesn't matter what it is if it tastes good. Or at least the pigs can enjoy it.
- September 12, 2009 at 3:14 PM


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Black Edition by ROMO Cushions from Closs & Hamblin. A luxurious velvet featuring an informal chevron, woven with a textural, metallic effect background, the Zola cushion creates a stunning statement. Please note that shade variation may occur due to differences in screen colour adjustments and manufacturer dye lots.
BLACK Edition Zola Storm Jacquard Velvet 50 x 50cm Feather Cushion RBC142/04
Original price was: £153.50.£138.15Current price is: £138.15.
-10%- Collection: New Cushions
- Dimensions: 50cm x 50cm
- Cover: Jacquard Velvet
- Piping: Satin
- Inner Feather Cushion
Additional information
Colour | Grey |
Cushion Style | Plain, Square |
Cushion Design | Geometric, Velvet |
Black Edition
Black Edition offers exclusively designed collections infused with rich, contemporary elegance.
Established in 1902, Black Edition is a family-run business, based in Nottinghamshire, UK. Created for the luxury interiors market the company blends sophisticated textures, innovative weaving techniques and artisan effects with a visionary colour palette. A culmination of ideas, inspiration and the original artwork has been the creative force behind the line. Origins derived from couture fashion, 20th Century Abstract art, folk embroidery and Byzantine glass mosaic are all re-imagined and integrated through stunning colour. With a hand-painted look, ombré shading and age-old artisan techniques, you'll love the rough luxury of this collection. Finding inspiration in a wealth of abstract forms, graceful silhouettes, and irregular shapes, blend softness and structure in an exciting modern range. Shop all our collections below to reimagine your home and dive into centuries of art influences all in one place.FREE DELIVERY to UK Mainland addresses for orders over £75 (see * EXCLUDED FROM FREE SHIPPING below)
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Audio Commentary: Psalm 121
Psalm 121
1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.


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On this fine Halloween Sunday morning, I have to ask: W(h)ither zombies? I've read about why pirates like parrots, but the undying love steampunkers hold for death-in-self-denial has always puzzled me. I guess it's part of the punk rather than the steam, and I've always been better at steam than punk. A recent blog post by Charles Stross has created enough noise in the blogosphere to wake the dead: Charlie is annoyed at the fact that steampunk has become a bandwagon, and he doesn't do bandwagons. (My overall reaction to the post is that Charlie protesteth too much, and by the end sounds like he's annoyed because he didn't jump on the bandwagon when it rolled past his house.)
One place where Charlie and I agree: zombies. They've been done to, well, you know. He's locked horns with Cherie Priest, a gung-ho Seattle steampunk writer who's had a lot to do with populating the steampunk universe with shambling horrors, which she very aptly calls "rotters."
The problem may be that steampunk as a subgenre is shattering, and parts of it are slithering across the floor and merging with paranormal costume fantasy. (I'll know when I grab and read one of Cherie's books.) Perhaps it's time to claim a subsubgenre as "hard steampunk," where we get to keep the pipe fittings but bury the dead. I could do that. I may already have. (See "Drumlin Boiler," which I'd rather see considered steampunk than weird western.)
Zombies are not a new thing. I was given a zombie story called "Impulse" to read aloud at a Boy Scout summer camp campfire gathering in 1964, and it was decent. (I wish I could find it again, but I don't remember the author. I think it goes back to the Fifties.) Unless I misrecall–and that was 46 years ago–it was about some sort of telepathic alien goo that tries to use a dead body as a disguise and finds it doesn't work well. Surprise! I saw plenty of zombie movies as a much younger man, and have read more than my share of zombie fiction. (The best? George R.R. Martin's "Override.") To my hard SF mind it's a difficult business. Biological systems are more resilient than mechanical ones, but after all, we call them "dead" when they don't work anymore. If they get up and start working again, I find it hard to still think of them as dead.
In truth, what I mostly think of them as these days is funny. I have a whimsical novel called Ten Gentle Opportunities on ice right now that turns De Camp's Harold Shea concept on its ear, and posits a sort of magic hacker from a universe where magic works as a consistent alternate physics (with spells a sort of immaterial software) who jumps universes to escape from an enraged magician and lands here on Earth. To escape pursuit while still in his own magical world, he makes his way into a zombie trap, where the zombies check in but can't check out. Alas, physics is a bitch, whether magical or not.
Getting the dead to stay dead was an increasingly serious problem. Formerly living material was powerfully endomagical: Once the Great Magic of life drained out of it, a corpse would soak up any uncommitted Third Eye magic in its immediate surroundings, and if enough were available would get up and start shambling around again, breaking things and getting into fights.
For most of history, magic had been rare and valuable, and the few magicians in the world tended to be well-bred and tidy. Unnecessary or broken spells were always frotted back to the primordial chaos from which they had been drawn. Alas, as the archipelago grew crowded, younger magicians lacking an inheritance increasingly turned to drink and careless spellmaking to obtain what they wanted. Few landless magicians studied hard enough to advance to Adamant Class. The spells blikked up by drunken Ruby-classers were complicated and fragile, and rapidly broke down into increasingly tiny fragments that nonetheless had to be individually frotted to be rid of them. No one would bother, especially the Amethyst and Adamant classes, who thought of spellfrotting as something one did only to one's own magic. So little by little, invisible grains of useless magic blew around the world on the very winds, ready to be absorbed by a corpse's hungry substance.
Most folk lacking the Third Eye grumbled that Global Enlivening was a conspiracy by magicians, who were the only ones who could unbreakably bind a corpse to its own etheric shell such that both would comfortably and permanently disintegrate. Within Styppkk's own lifetime, mean-time-to-shamble had fallen from a comfortable fortnight to only three days, and if a magician could not be found (and paid) to conduct a proper funeral and shellstaking by then, one's deceased relatives would wander off, though walls as easily as through doors.
The problem had grown acute enough two centuries earlier that the world's Adamant magicians had collaborated on the creation of the great lychfields, which were zombie traps: The bait was earth magic, which though powerful was not absorbed by dead flesh. The simple spell at the heart of every lychfield made earth magic smell like Third Eye magic, attracting zombies that were already ambulant. Once inside, they could not get out, and eventually exhausted the ambient magic they had absorbed and crumbled to bones and dust.
Styppkk had read it all in Wiccapedia, and as he got to his feet he felt around in his many pockets for the requisite spells. He knew how to command zombies and had done it a time or two, usually as a way of getting cheap if not especially skilled labor. This time what he wanted was a diversion. In only seconds, the shambling horrors in the lychfield would smell the magic he had in his pockets, and would turn in his direction. Then the real fun would begin.
Seconds passed, then minutes. Nothing. Styppkk looked around in the gloom. He saw no movement. There was no sound but the unnerving trickle of water down the granite walls enclosing the lychfield. He took a step forward, and crunched on ancient bones–then tripped over a motionless body that shuddered only slightly at the indignity.
Something was wrong, and Styppkk knew that in relatively short order, Jrikkjroggmugg would be over the wall and on his case again. He fished a clamshell phial from an inside pocket, snapped it open, and dipped his left pinkie in the dust it contained. Seconds later, his pinkie burst into brilliant but cold flame, and Styppkk could now see clearly to the far wall of the lychfield. There were plenty of zombies, but none were moving. In many places, they were stacked like cordwood or leaning against one another like tottering monoliths in a henge. Styppkk counted hundreds by eye.
On a hunch, Styppkk flipped down his helmet's crystal daggers again, so to see how strongly the magically animated zombies were glowing. Nothing was glowing very strongly…but every zombie in sight was glowing identically. Of course! Like water, uncommitted Third Eye magic sought its own level, and newly-arrived zombies confined in close proximity to older zombies lost some of their magic to the lychfield's older denizens, until at some point there was so little magic to go around that nothing was even twitching, much less shambling.
Styppkk fixes that, of course, and I get to make fun of the zombie fad on a large scale, while putting forth my own vision of magic-as-alternate-physics. (Want me to finish it? Then find me an agent. I'm not having much luck on my own.)
That's my take on zombies. They're kind of like reuben sandwiches or Drambuie: Not my thing on the consumption side, but as a bartender or deli owner I'd serve them up without a twitch to paying customers. (Hey, I sold lots of C++ books from Coriolis, right?) As for bandwagons, well, let's consider that bandwagons don't roll without customer demand to pull them. Sorry, Charlie. Zombies taste good, whether or not they're in good taste. People are buying Cherie Priest's books and those of many others who are plowing that same field, which means that zombies are now firmly planted in the fantasy landscape. I'm a starships guy by birth and I've been waiting for the elves'n'gnomes'n'dragons thing to die out for fifteen years or so, but by this time, them having taken over 80% of the SFF shelf space at Border's, I'd say it ain't gonna happen.
Which doesn't mean I'm going to start writing zombie stories, apart from (perhaps) Ten Gentle Opportunities, which treats zombies only in passing. I will only raise for my fellow writers the possibility that unless you're big enough to have your own wagon (as Charlie Stross certainly is) it probably makes sense to grab the first one past that you know you can ride–and if the other passengers' arms come off as they pull you aboard, so be it.


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Davvero un giocone. Molte missioni si decidono all'ultimo tiro di dado. Miniature e componenti molto immersive. Serve un master esperto per divertirsi e far divertire!
Star Wars: Imperial Assault is a strategy board game of tactical combat and missions for two to five players, offering two distinct games of battle and adventure in the Star Wars universe! Imperial Assault puts you in the midst of the Galactic Civil War between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire after the destruction of the Death Star over Yavin 4. In this game, you and your friends can participate in two separate games. The campaign game pits the limitless troops and resources of the Galactic Empire against a crack team of elite Rebel operatives as they strive to break the Empire's hold on the galaxy, while the skirmish game invites you and a friend to muster strike teams and battle head-to-head over conflicting objectives. In the campaign game, Imperial Assault invites you to play through a cinematic tale set in the Star Wars universe. One player commands the seemingly limitless armies of the Galactic Empire, threatening to extinguish the flame of the Rebellion forever. Up to four other players become heroes of the Rebel Alliance, engaging in covert operations to undermine the Empire's schemes. Over the course of the campaign, both the Imperial player and the Rebel heroes gain new experience and skills, allowing characters to evolve as the story unfolds. Imperial Assault offers a different game experience in the skirmish game. In skirmish missions, you and a friend compete in head-to-head, tactical combat. You'll gather your own strike force of Imperials, Rebels, and Mercenaries and build a deck of command cards to gain an unexpected advantage in the heat of battle. Whether you recover lost holocrons or battle to defeat a raiding party, you'll find danger and tactical choices in every skirmish. As an additional benefit, the Luke Skywalker Ally Pack and the Darth Vader Villain Pack are included within the Imperial Assault Core Set. These figure packs offer sculpted plastic figures alongside additional campaign and skirmish missions that highlight both Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader within Imperial Assault. With these Imperial Assault and other Figure Packs, you'll find even more missions that allow your heroes to fight alongside iconic characters from the Star Wars saga. Boxed expansions add more heroes, imperial and mercenary groups, and totally new campaigns (see IA Community Wiki for a list), and the free Star Wars: Imperial Assault â Legends of the Alliance app provides you with additional content to play in solo or co-op mode.
- Star Wars: Imperial Assault
- Star Wars: Assalto Imperiale
- Star Wars: Assaut sur l'Empire
- Star Wars: Imperium Atakuje
- 星際大戰:帝國突襲


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Glee's been in the news a lot lately, have you heard?
Basically, after a three week hiatus, the show came back last week, and wow, was there a lot of press about it. Not because of the show's performance, or the show's "diversity" award, but because of the controversy that has been suddenly generated by the show.
That's right, suddenly, with no history of protest whatsoever, people with disabilities were complaining about the show! Just days before it aired its Very Special Disability Episode, "Wheels"! Who would have imagined!
Or, more accurately, people with disabilities have been talking about issues with the show since the first trailers hit the internet, with incisive commentary after the first episode was aired, but this only became of interest just a few days before the show wanted everyone to see how "serious" they were. As I said in an angry comment elsewhere:
"Now we're listened to, when it will get people irritated at those uppity people with disabilities who should stop complaining and just enjoy the show.
We were here before. And I don't appreciate our concerns being used to generate hype for the show."
[Anna, you're so oversensitive. First you were angry because they didn't listen to your concerns, and now you're angry because you don't like when they chose to listen to your concerns? There's no pleasing you, is there?]
This is not listening to our concerns. This is giving our concerns very short attention so you can ask cast members about the "controversy", and so nice able-bodied people can say things like this in a spoiler-filled review of the show overall:
"Wheels" Doesn't Just Feel Good, It Does Good: Aside from what you may or may not have read from the Associated Press regarding the usage of wheelchairs and disabled actors in this week's episode, I think you'll discover that "Wheels" is all about empowering people with disabilities and sends out an uplifting message to the disabled community. It should also be noted that the series now has a recurring character with Down's Syndrome (who it is will surprise you), which I don't think has happened on network TV in a very long time.
Thanks, Nice Able-Bodied Lady! I will take your words to heart and just ignore what those silly people with disabilities are saying! It will be better that way!
[Before I go any further: I didn't feel "empowered" by Glee, nor did most of the women with disabilities that I know. That said, my goal here isn't to tell you or anyone you know how to feel about the show. My objection to the above is not only the condescending tone and dismissal of everything that people who actually work in the industry are saying about representations of disability and how that affects their work, but also being told how I should feel about the show.]
I pointed out my two biggest issues with this show at my Dreamwidth [in short: three different characters fake a disability in this episode, and we find out that Tina has been faking her stutter since sixth grade in order to get out of things she didn't want to do. As kaz points out in the comments, that's not how that actually works], and although I intend to talk about that more later, this post is going to be about the media and general response to people with disabilities discussing the show and their reactions to it.
From Fancast: TV Controversies, Protesting the Protests:
Disabled advocates vs. 'Glee'
The protest: Some disabled Hollywood actors protested last night's episode of 'Glee,' because it focused on Artie, the wheelchair bound member of the glee club, who is played by a non-disabled actor, Kevin McHale.
Protesting the protest: That anyone would call Ryan Murphy's series discriminatory fails the laugh-test almost immediately. Last night not only dealt with the trials that Artie must go through on a daily basis while being handicapped, but also the fallout from Kurt coming out of the closet. And did I mention that the episode featured not one, but two actresses affected with Down syndrome? We defy you to find another show airing in primetime that would deal with one of these issues, let alone all three in one episode. This is a show that prides itself on acceptance and understanding. That McHale isn't handicapped doesn't make it less so. What's next: Teen actors protesting that Cory Monteith is actually 27 years old and not 17?
Unlike the earlier post, this one doesn't even bother to link to what people with disabilities are actually saying, which makes it really easy for people to just shrug and agree with their edgy "protesting the protest". This, of course, means they can tell you that the whole of people's comments are that they didn't give the role to an actor with a disability.
Most of the people I know who think the show is poorly done crip-drag talk about not only McHale's ability-status, but also the way that his character, Artie, is treated by both the explicit text and implicit subtext of the show. To give an example, Artie's wheelchair is basically a prop that other members of the show push around whenever they want. To give another one, he's shown before "Wheels" as the only 'main' character who doesn't even get flirted with by a character who tries to flirt all the boys into accepting her into the Glee Club. Because teen boys with disabilities are non-sexual, I guess.
But, obviously the creators of the show have taken this all into account when discussing the controversy, right, because they are very respectful of the "disabled community".
Not according to the interview they had with PopEater:
'Glee' executive producer Brad Falchuk backs him up. "We brought in anyone: white, black, Asian, in a wheelchair," he told the AP when discussing the hubbub. "It was very hard to find people who could really sing, really act, and have that charisma you need on TV."
He too understands the concern and frustration expressed by the disabled community, he said. But McHale excels as an actor and singer and "it's hard to say no to someone that talented," Falchuk said.
Again, how nice it is of people to lump all criticisms together, and then give a nice happy answer about how they "understand" what people are complaining about, without actually addressing any of it. "Oh, there just weren't any people with disabilities who could really act and sing and be on t.v.!"
According to everyone associated with Glee, they didn't mention that Artie was going to be a full-time wheelchair user (or, as the folks in most of the articles I've read put it, "wheelchair bound") when they were casting for the show.
I wonder if any of their casting calls actually encouraged actors and singers with disabilities to apply, or if they just figured they didn't need to do that type of recruitment to get actors with disabilities – used to being overlooked for any role that isn't explicitly about disability – out. I guess I won't know until they tell us, and that's not the sort of question anyone in the press seems to want to ask.
Of course, as always, the fun is in the comment sections. On Thursday, melouhkia put a post up at Bitch magazine called Glee-ful Appropriation, about the issues she had with the episode. It was also mirrored at their Facebook Account.
Very first comment can be summed up as "Stop your whining."
It seems to me if you're going to have an issue with a non-disabled person playing the role of a disabled person, you cannot appreciate any level of acting because all acting is a lie. Maybe that's why it's called acting. Just sayin. So, you should also be up in arms about the actress who is portraying the pregnant teen because she's not pregnant in real life, and likewise, you should also feel your feathers ruffled by the cheerleading coach because she's not a coach in real life. See where I'm a-going with this?
Yes. Where you're going with this is ignoring the real concerns about presentation, appropriation, and the lack of job opportunities for actors with disabilities on television so that you can tell us that our feathers are ruffled. It would probably be easier if you told melouhkia to not critique pop culture on a pop-culture criticism blog.
Oh wait, someone else did that for you.
From the comments on Facebook:
I get that this is "responses to pop culture" and you can all have your moment of fit-throwing (I had one after seeing "Next to Normal" on Broadway). But so far your response hasn't opened up any useful political space…it's just tried to punish your political allies for not being as perfect as you are. So you know, go get your waders. You'll need them when you start digging yourself out of this claptrap.
Which I read as "I'll be your ally unless you start critiquing pop culture I actually like, and then you'll be sorry, because I will stop supporting you."
Other people may read it differently.
All of this, of course, is an awesome way of dismissing some very serious and real concerns about the way the show has chosen to portray disability. If you make the entire discussion about how those uppity people with disabilities should just shut up and stop complaining because their ideas are stupid and they should feel stupid, then of course it's easy to dismiss them out of hand. And who needs to discuss nuances in the presentation of disability, anyway? Everyone knows that there's no connection between how identifiable groups are portrayed on t.v. and how other people react to them, right?
In fact, I think the best way to sum up where my issue with McHale portraying Artie really comes into play is from this quote from McHale himself, from the NY Post's interview with him after the episode aired:
PW: Which was more shocking Tina's fake stutter or Artie's reaction?
Kevin: Well, we kind of figured her stutter would go away, but we never know what to think on that show. So I'm going to say Artie's reaction was more shocking. At first I couldn't figure out why he was being so dramatic. But I really think Artie fell for Tina because they were set apart by their disabilities. They're already kind of outcasts being in glee, but within that group they shared a connection. So he based their whole relationship on that and when it went away, Artie didn't know what to do.
You know, Kevin, I can think of some very good reasons why people with disabilities might be angry at someone saying they'd been faking their disability for years. Maybe if you spent any time dealing with people assuming you were faking, accusing you of trying to "game the system", telling you that you're just a whiner for wanting extra time on an exam, or not been able to get into half the shops in your town because of "just one step", you might get it a bit better.
Something that, had you even talked to someone with a disability about the issue, you might have understood.
I guess that's why we call it acting.