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18 March, Durgapur, West Bengal — Bharata yatra 2010
Amma's program in Durgapur was after many years since the last program in 2004. The whole city seemed coloured with posters announcing Amma's arrival. Durgapur is one of the industrial cities of the Indian state of West Bengal known for its steel industries. Amma had driven for more than 2 days from Delhi before reaching Durgapur.
Amma was welcomed on the stage by ululation by devotees wearing traditional Bengali clothes. The public program started with the distribution of 50 Vidyamritam scholarships to poor students.
Amma's satsang was translated into Bengali, the local language. Some steps of the Manasapuja Amma did in Bengali. Many bhajans were sung in Bengali too.
Amrita Vidyalayam students performed several cultural programs including dances, yoga shows and musical performances.
The Darshan went on until 4 am in the morning. Just before Amma got up from her seat, she sang some bhajans leaving the excited crowd almost dancing on their feet.
– Das


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Mystical Union
Stuff they never told you about the finished work of the cross
by John Crowder
Sons of Thunder Publications
The gospel is a mystical message, based on an instant and effortless union with God achieved at Christ's cross.
When you think of the cross, do you think of fun?
If the answer is "no" then you have not been taught the cross aright.
There is a delicious feast prepared for the believer. Nothing is more satisfying than the revelation of what Christ has conclusively accomplished for you. This book threatens to turn your Christianity upside down. No longer a struggle to please God -- the Truth will plunge you into a celebration of what He has done for you.
With clear revelatory truths on the New Creation and the scandalous joys of the cross, Mystical Union promises to be one of John's most revolutionary, lifechanging works. The happy gospel of grace is about uninterrupted union with the Divine. This book lays out our most core beliefs. It promises to wreck your theology and cheer you up with undeniable Biblical truths on the free gift of perfection.
Also available in digital format on:

subset: commoncrawl


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Sight (also called eyesight or vision) is one of the senses. Having sight means to be able to see. Seeing gives animals knowledge of the world. Some simple animals can only tell light from dark, but with vertebrates, the visual system is able to form images.
The ability to interpret visible light information reaching the eyes is called visual perception. Sight is the resulting perception. The components that are necessary for vision are known as the visual system.
changeLight enters the animal's eyes, and a part of the eye called the lens sends information from the light to the back part of the eye called the retina. The retina is composed of light-sensitive cells which fire a signal down the optic nerve when light hits the cell. The optic nerve is a bundle of nerve fibres from all over the retina.
When the information from the light leaves the retina, it goes to the brain. It travels along the optic chiasma until it reaches the optic cortex at the rear of the brain. The information is then processed to find out the shapes and colours of objects. From that and from memory, it can tell of what kind the object is. For example, it can somehow tell a tree from a house. The path on which this kind of information flows is called ventral stream.
The brain can also tell where objects are. For example, it can tell how far away an object is (this is called depth perception). This is needed when catching a ball. The path on which this kind of information flows is called dorsal stream.
What is sense of sight
changeThe major problem in visual perception is that what people see is not simply a translation of an image on the retina. For one thing, we see the world right side up, even though the image on the retina is upside down (because it has passed through the lens). Therefore, it is difficult to explain what happens to create what we actually see. The key, which took centuries to be appreciated, is that the brain works on the data from the eyes, and marries it with memories and guesses, all at lightning speed. The result is an experience of the world which looks to each person as if it were simple reality. However, although based on reality, it is actually a mental construct, built by the brain.[1]
changeMany figures in the ancient world had ideas about vision. Plato, Aristotle, Euclid, Ptolemy and Galen all had their ideas, but most of these ideas were speculation. They were not based on any scientific method.
Alhazen (965–c. 1040) carried out investigations and experiments on visual perception. He extended the work of Ptolemy on binocular vision, and commented on the anatomical works of Galen.[2][3]
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) is believed to be the first to recognize the special optical qualities of the eye. He wrote "The function of the human eye ... was described by a large number of authors in a certain way. But I found it to be completely different". His main experimental finding was that there is only a distinct and clear vision at the line of sight, the optical line that ends at the fovea. Although he did not use these words literally he actually is the father of the modern distinction between foveal and peripheral vision.
Hermann von Helmholtz examined the human eye and concluded that it was, optically, rather poor. The poor-quality information gathered by the eye seemed to him to make vision impossible. So he thought vision could only be the result of some form of unconscious inferences. As well as information from the eyes, the brain used information from previous experiences. The world as experienced is built up from assumptions and conclusions from incomplete data, using prior experience of the world.
Examples of well-known assumptions, based on visual experience, are:
- light comes from above
- objects are normally not viewed from below
- faces are seen (and recognized) upright.[4]
- closer objects can block the view of more distant objects, but not vice versa
- figures (i.e., foreground objects) tend to have convex borders
The study of visual illusions (cases when the inference process goes wrong) has yielded much insight into what sort of assumptions the visual system makes.[5][6]
Related pages
change- ↑ Gregory R.L. 1966. Eye and Brain: the psychology of seeing. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson; 5th edition 1997, Oxford University Press/Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04837-1
- ↑ Howard, I (1996). "Alhazen's neglected discoveries of visual phenomena". Perception. 25 (10): 1203–1217. doi:10.1068/p251203. PMID 9027923. S2CID 20880413.
- ↑ Omar Khaleefa (1999). "Who is the founder of psychophysics and experimental psychology?" (PDF). American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences. 16 (2). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-05-09. Retrieved 2013-08-13.
- ↑ Hans-Werner Hunziker, (2006) Im Auge des Lesers: foveale und periphere Wahrnehmung - vom Buchstabieren zur Lesefreude [In the eye of the reader: foveal and peripheral perception - from letter recognition to the joy of reading] Transmedia Stäubli Verlag Zürich 2006 ISBN 978-3-7266-0068-6
- ↑ Gregory, Richard 1997. Knowledge in perception and illusion. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 352:1121-1128. (pdf)
- ↑ Gregory R.L. 1970. The intelligent eye. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London.
Other websites
change- Visual Perception 3 - Cultural and Environmental Factors
- Gestalt Laws
- The Organization of the Retina and Visual System
- Dr Trippy's Sensorium Archived 2007-05-29 at the Wayback Machine A website dedicated to the study of the human sensorium and organisational behaviour


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Printer Cleaning Swabs - ( 100 pcs )
Printer cleaning swabs are used to manually clean print heads, cap tops and wiper blades. Print head cleaning swabs are intended for use in all wide format inkjet printers Roland, Mimaki, Mutoh & DTG. There are 100 swabs included in this pack and each swab is 5 inches long.
- All bags are packed in a clean room.
- Excellent absorbency
- High quality durable sponge tips
Using Inkjet Parts printer cleaning swabs will help extend the life of your printer spare parts and will improve your printers automated cleaning process. Solvent inks and also water base inks can build up under the print head over time. Setup a schedule to clean your inkjet printers on a daily basis using cleaning solution and our high end cleaning swabs.


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As many of you know, I'm an avid time lapse videographer, and the original purpose of our Flicker Free filter was time lapse. I needed a way to deflicker all those night to day and day to night time lapses. I also love shooting long exposure photos.
As it turns out, this was pretty good experience to have when it came to capturing a VERY rare lightning storm that came through San Francisco late last year.
Living in San Francisco, you're lucky if you see more than a 3 or 4 lightning bolts a year. Very different from the lightning storms I saw in Florida when I lived there for a year. However, we were treated to a definitely Florida-esqe lightning storm last September. Something like 800 lightning strikes over a few hours. It was a real treat and gave me a chance to try and capture lightning! (in a camera)
The easiest way to capture lightning is just flip your phone's camera into video mode and point in the direction you hope the lightning is going to be at. Get the video and then pull out a good frame. This works… but video frames are usually heavily compressed and much lower resolution than a photo.
I wanted to use my 30mp Canon 5DmarkIV to get photos, not the iPhone's mediocre video camera.
Problems, Problems, Problems
To get the 5D to capture lightning, I needed at the very least: 1) a tripod and 2) an intervalometer.
Lightning happens fast. Like, speed of light fast. Until you try and take a picture of it, you don't realize exactly how fast. If you're shooting video (30fps), the bolt will happen over 2, maybe 3 frames. if you've got a fancy 4K (or 8K!) camera that will shoot 60 or 120fps, that's not a bad place to start.
However, if you're trying to take advantage of your 5D's 6720 × 4480 sensor… you're not going to get the shot handholding it and manually pressing the shutter. Not going to happen. Cloudy with a chance of boring-ass photos.
So set the camera up on a tripod and plugin in your intervalometer. You can use the built-in, but the external one gives you more options. You want the intervalometer firing as fast as possible but that means only once every second. During the day, that's not going to work.
Lightning And Daylight
The storm started probably about an hour before sunset. It was cloudy, but there was still a fair amount of light.
At first I thought, "once every second should be good enough". I was wrong. Basically, the lightning had to happen the exact moment the camera took the picture. Possible, but the odds are against you getting the shot.
As mentioned, I like shooting long exposures. Sometimes at night but often during the day. To achieve this, I have several neutral density filters which I stack on top of each other. They worked great for this. I stacked a couple .9 ND filters on the lens, bringing it down 6 stops. This was enough to let me have a 1/2 sec. shutter speed.
1/2 sec. shutter speed and 1 sec. intervals… I've now got a 50/50 chance of getting the shot… assuming the camera is pointed in the direction of the lightning. Luckily it was striking so often, that I could make a good guess as to the area it was going to be in. As you can see from the above shot, I got some great shots out of it.
Night Lightning
To the naked eye, it was basically night. So with a 2 second exposure and a 2 second interval… as long as the lightning happened where the camera was pointed, I was good to go. (it wasn't quite night, so with the long exposure you got the last bits of light from sunset) I did not need the neutral density filters as it was pretty dark.
By this point the storm had moved. The lightning was less consistent and a bit further away. So I had to zoom in a bit, reducing the odds of getting the shot. But luck was still with me and I got a few good shots in this direction as well.
I love trying to capture stuff you can't really see with the naked eye, whether it's using time lapse to see how clouds move or long exposure to see water flow patterns. Experimenting with capturing lightning was a blast. Just wish we saw more of it here in SF!
So hopefully this gave you some ideas about how to capture lightning, or anything else that moves fast, next time you have a chance!


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Wednesday June 20, 2012
Heirloom Meals Cookbook; RECIPES and STORIES needed!
Heirloom Meals is looking for people who would like their family recipes and stories to be included in the Thanksgiving section of the potential Heirloom Meals' Holiday cookbook. This is a great opportunity to document and share your family heritage but you must act quickly! We are working on the proposal and hope to have the Thanksgiving section finished by the end of July. We are looking for a diverse selection of stories and recipes that demonstrate how your family has created a personalized Thanksgiving meal. If you are interested and would like to be considered, contact us with a synopsis (can be mere bullet points) and include the following:
• Family photo(s)
• Recipes
• Stories
• Heirloom tabletop items
All items must relate to Thanksgiving and we need your synopsis by Monday, June 25, 2012. Please include your interest, the essence of your story and contact information.


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The PaperCept Conference Manuscript Management System is used by IFAC to manage paper submissions to all IFAC events. Every participant in a conference is served by the site. The system allows users to:
- submit their contributions to any event of their choice,
- inspect the reviews and final decision letter of the submission,
- resubmit the final version of a submission, and
- upload comments if the user acts as a reviewer.
For access to the IFAC PaperCept site, please click here.


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Free Fight
TICKETS FOR UFC® on FX: SOTIROPOULOS vs. PEARSON ON SALE FRIDAY, OCT. 19
The Ultimate Fighting Championship® announced today that tickets for UFC® on FX: SOTIROPOULOS vs. PEARSON will go on sale on Friday, Oct. 19 at 10 a.m. AEDT. The event will be held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday, Dec. 15 and is headlined by a five-round showdown between Australian George Sotiropoulos and British star Ross Pearson.
The two serve as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter: Australia vs. UK – The Smashes™, which airs Wednesday nights on FX at 7:30 p.m. AEDT.
In addition to Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson, lightweight and welterweight finalists of "The Smashes" will go head-to-head in search of an exclusive contract with the UFC and title of the next Ultimate Fighter™. With a pair of new Ultimate Fighter winners set to be crowned and a lightweight main event featuring bitter rivals, UFC® on FX: SOTIROPOULOS vs. PEARSON is shaping up to be a can't-miss card for fight fans worldwide.
"This has to have been the craziest season of TUF ever!" UFC President Dana White said. "There's no underestimating just how much is at stake now that these guys are fighting for their countries. Both coaches have hate in their eyes and I bet they can't wait to go at each other on December 15. I've never seen either of them this fired up. I think we're in for an explosive main event."
Tickets will be priced at $350, $285, $225 and $175. To purchase tickets or for more information visit the Gold Coast Box office or Ticketek.
UFC Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 10 a.m. AEDT via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Thursday, Oct. 18, starting at 10 a.m. AEDT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.
UFC® on FX: SOTIROPOULOS vs. PEARSON airs live on FX on Dec. 15 at 1 p.m. AEDT.


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Color makes me smile and since I spend so much time within the walls of my home, I try to incorporate cheerful colors in any way that I can. Throw pillows, rugs, accessories and through painted furniture and walls, the colors in our home make it feel like spring and summer year round!
However, I struggle a bit when it comes to adding art on our walls. Which is probably one of the most important and key ways to liven up your home and make it feel all warm and fuzzy... but I get nervous. Nervous to pull the trigger on a huge art investment. Nervous that what I pick won't make sense or jive with the rest of our home. Nervous that I will change my mind five minutes after I put something up.... so, I chicken out, toss a few pics of the kids on the wall, use mirrors as space fillers and call it good.
But it isn't good.
My home is asking for more. More life. More character. More color.
That is where my new favorite read comes in.
The authors behind one of my absolute favorite blogs, the Handmade Home, have created the happiest, most colorful and creative eBook I have seen. It gave me joyful goosebumps and is where I plan on gaining oodles of inspiration to give more life to the walls in our home.
It is quite fitting really. I mean, look at their home! Isn't it incredible?
Not to mention, they were the inspiration behind our first major art DIY project that I still hug daily, and have The Handmade Home to thank!
Sometimes I look at their projects and think there is absolutely no way I could create something as beautiful. I am no artist. I would totally screw it up. But their book gave me the confidence I needed to realize that art is imperfect and I totally can do it!
I downloaded the book on my iPad and it lit up the screen with joy. Seriously, this book is so darn colorful, whimsical and eye catching, I couldn't stop turning page after page!
I really love that they make it easy for DIYer's to understand how much they can tackle. Meaning, they have a great guide that estimates skill level, time and moolah needed for each project.
They also cover different types of love for your walls. Frames, artwork, mirrors and clocks, this book has it all! They even chat about different painting techniques and share their favorite beautiful colors!
I love that everything has a sense of life, of dimension and can be given a personal and unique twist. The book filled me with so many new ideas, I can't wait to whip something up for our entry, the playroom, Preston's room and our master bedroom! That's right, I now have newly inspired ideas for spaces all over our home!
I wish I could give the folks over at The Handmade Home a big sloppy kiss for being so awesome and putting so many wonderful ideas in one place! For now, virtual hugs and smooches will have to do. The walls of my home will benefit from their creativeness and ability to create masterpieces with paint and wood, and for that, I am eternally grateful!
Are you looking to bring more smiles, warmth and interest to the walls in your home? You can find The Handmade Walls eBook here and be well on your way to jazzing up your happy home as well!


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Flood & Masiuk LLC
Family business owners, farmers, ranchers and landowners face unique challenges surrounding how to preserve the family business or farms symbol of their heritage. Sadly, over 70 percent of all family businesses dont survive the transition to the next generation. Estate taxes play a significant role in that problem.
However, estate taxes arent the only costs chewing up assets passed from one generation to the next. Probate fees and other settlement expenses can significantly reduce an owners legacy. On top of that are the problems surrounding the fair distribution of those assets to heirs.
Land Rich, Cash Poor
The typical farm family is land rich, cash poor. With hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars locked up in equipment, livestock, structures and land, the net worth may be impressive. But when you look at the cash flow, its another story entirely.
Estate taxes will be based on the current market value of all your assets. If your heirs cant readily come up with the cash from other sources, they may have no recourse but to sell the farm just to pay estate taxes and other settlement costs.
Estate Planning Solutions
Your farm or business poses two estate planning challenges:
- How can you preserve it so that you can pass it on intact to the next generation
- How will you equitably distribute it among your heirs.
Achieving these two goals means planning in advance for such expenses as estate taxes, as well as implementing strategies that give you maximum control over how, when, and to whom ownership of your farm transfers. Contact our office for more information about your options.
Also be sure to read more about Business Planning and Asset Protection strategies here.


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Satire: Easy to confuse when used without context
by Tom Gayda
Aw, satire. So fun and entertaining when done well. How many times have I been taken aback for a second by an Onion headline? More than I care to share! Satire can be very powerful when done with purpose, but satire for the sake of satire often falls flat.
Model ethical guidelines for satire
Satire can make for entertaining writing, however two major points should be considered when discussing the inclusion of satire: 1: Will readers get "it?" and 2: Even if readers do get "it," are you walking a fine line with the type of content expected of your publication and that which isn't necessarily journalistic?
While there may be nothing inherently unethical about including satirical content in a student publication, is that the type of content the publication should be known for?
Consider this: does the nightly news ever take a segment for anchors to report on something that didn't really happen? The back page of the Washington Post run Onion-like stories? Certainly there is a place for satire, but is the legitimate news source the correct place?
Staff manual process
Discuss the need for policies and information about satire depending on the type of media you are. While satire might be appropriate for a literary magazine or humor magazine, does it have a place in the newspaper or on the website?
• Satire can be an effective tool when writing an opinion piece. Consider limiting satire to the opinion pages, where it is clearly labeled opinion.
- Satire online can create issues. Consider a former student searching for school news and comes upon a satirical piece that isn't obviously satirical by just Googling the school name. Is the desire to include satire in a legitimate news source worth the confusion? Is satire journalistic?
- Some schools produce special edition papers for April Fools Day. Imagine The New York Times doing the same. Hard to do, isn't it? Why sacrifice the integrity of the paper for fun? Perhaps if satire is so important, the staff should produce a separate humor publication that doesn't conflict with news. Staffs often think everyone will get the joke, but that's not always the case. Further, the next time you do try to cover hard-hitting news the readers might think back to how you took everything as a joke the last issue.
- Spend time discussing what your role as a journalist is. Are you a trained satirical writer? Just as we would advise against horoscopes and advice columns as teens often aren't qualified to provide such content, how does satire fit in with a serious journalistic program?
Introduction to Satire, JEA
Avoiding Libel in Satire, JEA
Ethics and Satire, JEA
Satire Writing Tips
How to Start Writing Satire
To find the rest of the Foundations ethical guidelines and more, go here and here.
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text: An invitation to change the energy that surrounds you, find the harmony that comes with self-acceptance, and, in the process, discover your life's purpose and the boundless possibilities that await you. Your soul signature is your spiritual DNA-it is who you are at your core, the most authentic part of you, your singular contribution to this world. And yet we reject our authentic selves. We allow our soul signature to become blocked by any number of emotional obstacles that life throws in our path: anger, fear, guilt, shame, sadness, despair. Any or all of these feelings overtake us and create a density, a heaviness that doesn't permit us to embrace who we truly are, deep inside. We are energetic beings, Panache Desai reminds us, and emotions are energy in motion. When we are blocked we feel unworthy, less than, unloved, incomplete. In Discovering Your Soul Signature, Panache invites us on a 33-day path of meditations-short passages to be read at morning, noon, and night that are designed to dismantle the emotional burden that holds us back and open us up to changing our lives. Through this distilled, poetic, practical, and inspiring course, he invites us to live a life of authenticity, to rediscover purpose and passion, and to believe from our soul in the possibility of all things.


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Welcome to The Smiles Studio
The Smiles Studio is a state of the art dental practice. Our mission is to provide world class affordable treatment. We offer treatments on both Private and NHS basis. Please click on one of the links above for the treatment of your choice.
The mission of our team is to treat our patients as we would treat a member of our own family.
As our patient, we promise you that we will leave no stone unturned to ensure your 100% satisfaction and create a healthy, pain free everlasting smile for you.
We have carefully compiled information about the team, dental treatment etc. and will be constantly updating this website.
However, if you have any question we may not have answered, please feel free to contact the practice and we will respond to your queries promptly.
- Modern state of art technology – We are one of the first dental practices in UK to introduce Cone Beam CT scanner in 2011. CBCT is an invaluable tool for planning and placement of dental implants.
- Free Implant, Braces and Cosmetic Consultation – We understand that for Dental implants and other complex treatment it can be a daunting task to choose the right clinician and you may have some queries to help make up your mind. We offer a service which allows you to have an informal chat with a qualified member of team to help you in decision making.
- Local Independent Business – Through our many years of experience, we've learnt to deliver the best possible care & service for our local community and afar. We are an Independent non-corporate dental practice owned by Dentists and we listen, respond and adapt to our patient's need swiftly.
- Online Booking – You can now go to the Patient area and sign up to our online booking system from the comfort of your home 24/7/365.
- Emergency Appointments Available – We understand there are times of urgent care needed and will do our best to see our registered patients at the soonest opportunity.
- Free Limited Onsite Parking – We are easy to find and we have on site limited parking spaces, however, there is nearby free off street parking available.
- Treatment Co-ordinator – We provide a single point contact for patients through their Private treatment journey with our friendly and knowledgeable treatment coordinator.
- 0% Finance – Dentistry is accessible and we are able to make it more so with our 0% Finance options and pay as you go option.
- NHS – We are also able to offer NHS dental treatments to fee-paying and non-fee paying patients. For further information about NHS charging system please follow this link.
Do you live closer to Lymington? We have a sister practice located at Coronation House, 2 Queen Street, Lymington, Hants, SO41 9NH. Vist the website here: www.smilesofnewforest.co.uk


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Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok—the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization—at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela.
But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger—the Incredible Hulk! Thor: Ragnarok is directed by Taika Waititi and returns Chris Hemsworth starring as Thor and Tom Hiddleston reprising his role as Loki.
They are joined by Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson and Karl Urban, with Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Hopkins.
Source : Marvel


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Websites |
Yahoo Group for the Shire |
Kingdom of the West |
Society for Creative Anachromism |
The Shire of Windymeads is a local chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Within the SCA, the shire is located in the Kingdom of the West, Principality of Cynagua. By modern world nomenclature, that's the Yolo County area, and the shire meets in Davis. Their patron is Saint Merrick.
The SCA is an organization dedicated to researching and recreating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe. Events are held around the local kingdom and throughout the world. Activities include martial arts, arts and sciences, crafts such as woodwork and textiles, feasts, workshops of various skills and many more. Members are recognized for their service and accomplishments by their peers and the crown.
The SCA is a non-profit group and all members are participatory. It is not like Ren Faires where people are entertained. All members at an event are actively recreating history and are each focusing on various aspects of history. Newcomers are welcome and garb (the period clothing) can be provided for your first few events until you have made your own.
As of October 2008, meetings were held in Central Park on Wednesdays, but the lack of light in evenings has stopped this. Check out the YahooGroup for announcements or e-mail the group to find out. Regular appearances are at Picnic Day and the Student Activities Faire.
Although written for a sad reason, the memories and stories written here give a very good and succinct insight to the Society and the activities and values it supports and upholds. The third story refers to the fact that the King (in this case, the fellow grousing) is chosen through combat.


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Wednesday 7 June 2023
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
The Wednesday Adults Workshop group aims to improve older people's access to the arts.
The group aims to promote independence, social confidence and creative skills through a supportive environment for old and new members. We offer practical skills, training and volunteer opportunities and a safe place to try new things.
Every Wednesday between 1pm – 3pm.
Age 55+
Booking essential. For more information contact firstname.lastname@example.com or ring 01792 516900.


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How do I know if the damage to my windshield can be repaired?
If your windshield damage is smaller than the size of a dollar bill, it may qualify for repair.
How long does it take to get my windshield repaired?
It's fast – 30 minutes or less. There's no waiting for an adhesive to cure. Once your repair is completed, your car is ready to drive.
Is a windshield repair safe/How does it work?
Windshield repair is safe and effective. The chip or crack will be filled with a special resin that is used to bond the damage. This helps prevent the damage from spreading. This process will also make the damage less noticeable.
Can you guarantee that the chip or crack will be invisible after the repair has been completed?
No. A windshield chip or crack repair is used to prevent further damage to your glass and to restore the structural integrity of the vehicle. While each incident of damage is unique, with most successful repairs, a slight blemish or imperfection where the impact occurred is normal. In most cases, you should expect the cosmetic appearance of the repair to show some improvement as compared to the damage prior to the repair.
How long will my repair or replacement take?
In many cases, windshield repairs can be performed in 30 minutes or less. Windshield replacements will often take 60 minutes or less, however, we recommend that you do not drive the vehicle for at least one hour after service is completed.
When I get my windshield replaced, what type of glass will I get?
IAS Auto Glass Solutions uses the highest quality OEM materials and current installation techniques available in today's auto glass market to ensure that your windshield replacement meets or exceeds auto glass industry standards.
How long will it be before I can safely drive my vehicle after I had the windshield replaced?
Our technicians use the best materials, including the industry's first adhesive with a one-hour drive-away time for windshield installations. The technician will advise you if any additional time is required.
Where do I need to go to get my windshield replaced?
As part of our continued commitment to quality customer service, we come to you for no extra charge. We will come to your home or workplace, whichever is more convenient for you.
Does my vehicle need to be in a covered or heated area?
Inclement weather makes installations difficult without cover. If possible, during inclement weather, we may request that you have shelter available.
Will you vacuum my vehicle when I get a door glass replaced?
Our technicians will vacuum any glass pieces found in your vehicle's doors as a result of glass breakage.
Does IAS Auto Glass Solutions just replace windshields?
Aside from windshields, we can also replace your door glass, vent glass, quarter glass and back glass on your vehicle.
What if my auto glass replacement need is not covered by insurance?
Contact us about competitive cash prices.
Do you offer window tinting service?
No, we do not offer window tinting service at this time. We partner with several local businesses that specialize in window tinting and we will help get you connected to a company near you.
What payment methods do you accept?
We accept cash, checks, master card, visa and discover card.
If I get a quote, what does my quote include?
Your quote includes the cost of the glass and labor and any required moldings. Local and state taxes are not included unless specified.
How soon can I get my auto glass work done?
In many instances, we can provide same day service or get you scheduled for service to be completed the very next day.


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Palantir Providing Technology to Enhance Safety and Reliability of Electric Grid in California
PALO ALTO, Calif.–January 19, 2021–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) is providing California's largest investor-owned utility with technology to help it streamline data management across the company to improve its electric operations and asset management, resulting in enhanced electric system safety and grid reliability.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has initiated deployment of Palantir's Foundry software to provide a single, integrated platform to give decision-makers a real-time, complete operational picture.
The use of this novel technology, in its early stages of deployment, has already enabled PG&E to make effective, timely, data-driven decisions related to its Public Safety Power Shutoff program and is intended to further inform its wildfire risk mitigation programs and initiatives in the future.
"Our engagement with California's largest investor-owned utility underlines our commitment to increasing safety and reliability for customers and communities across the region," said Olivier Farache, Palantir's Head of Utility Sector and Senior Advisor to the CEO. "It shows our Foundry software can power data-driven decisions that aim to improve service delivery."
This multi-year, multi-million-dollar contract marks the first time Palantir's Foundry software is being used by a major U.S. utility's operations. In the future, plans for Foundry include expanding to inform asset risk and outage investigation, eventually bringing in data from all aspects of the company's operations to enable enterprise analytics and process improvement.
About Palantir Technologies Inc.
Palantir Technologies is a software company that builds enterprise data platforms for use by organizations with complex and sensitive data environments. From building safer cars and planes, to discovering new drugs and combating terrorism, Palantir helps customers across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors transform the way they use their data. Additional information is available at https://www.palantir.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements may relate to, but are not limited to, Palantir's expectations regarding the amount and the terms of the contract and the expected benefits of its software platforms. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time those statements are made and were based on current expectations as well as the beliefs and assumptions of management as of that time with respect to future events. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond our control. These risks and uncertainties include our ability to meet the unique needs of our customer; the failure of our platforms to satisfy our customer or perform as desired; the frequency or severity of any software and implementation errors; our platforms' reliability; and our customer's ability to modify or terminate the contract or partnership. Additional information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is included in the filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Except as required by law, we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise.
SOURCE: Palantir


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These are the chaotic scenes at a branch of McDonald's after it abandoned packaging for the day - handing customers handfuls of fries instead
To help combat littering in the UK, customers in Weymouth were put on the spot this week with all packaging removed from their Drive-Thru.
Burgers, McNuggets and even fries were all served straight into the hands of unsuspecting public .
The litter-busting video was created after research of 2,000 adults found over half of the British public are unlikely to intervene when faced with other people littering.
Nearly six in 10 (58 per cent) describe it as a 'major problem' in their area, with 30 per cent stating common areas for the misdemeanour being outside fast food or takeaway outlets.
It also emerged seven in 10 adults believe sheer laziness to be a main reason for the litter on British streets.
Simon Jacobs, Lord of Litter at LitterLotto said: "We're so excited to be launching LitterLotto in the UK, and an exclusive partnership with McDonald's UK. We'll be working together to incentivise people to bin their litter responsibly and experience the joy of binning by winning prizes through the app. We're on a quest to reduce litter, protect wildlife, clear our rivers and oceans of waste material - and make more waste available for recycling."
To create an incentive for its customers to throw their rubbish in bins, rather than on the ground, McDonald's has partnered with LitterLotto, a free app that rewards responsible binning of any litter - with prizes from £5 to £10,000.
Customers can take a picture through the app as they bin litter for a chance to win discounts on McDonald's menu items and Instant Win prizes, as well as an entry into a monthly jackpot.


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The tainted; those who have the arachania flowing through their veins.
Average Height: | 5'6"–6'2" |
Average Weight: | 135–220 lb. |
Ability Scores: | +2 Strength, +2 Dexterity or +2 Charisma |
Size: | Medium |
Speed: | 6 squares, climb (spider climb) 3 squares |
Vision: | Normal, tremorsense 6 |
Languages: | Common, Spydric |
Skill Bonuses: | +2 Arachana, +2 Stealth |
Bonus Feat: | You gain a bonus feat at 1st level. |
Spydric Origin: | Your ancestors were tainted by the arachania, so you are considered a spiderkind creature for the purposes of effects that relate to creature origin in addition to being considered a natural creature. |
Human-Born: | You can take feats that have either human or spydric-one as a prerequisite, as long as you meet any other requirements. |
Spiderkind: | You can take spider feats, even though you are not a spider. You gain one of the following keywords at 1st level; araneidae, ctenizidae, lycosidae, salticidae, scytodidae or theraphosidae The choice remains throughout your character's life, and cannot be changed. |
Web: | You can use web as an encounter power. |
Web | Spydric-One Racial Power |
You call a web of silk as strong as steel into being that traps your foe. | |
Usage::Encounter | |
Action Type::Standard Action | Ranged 5 |
Target: One creature | |
Attack: Dexterity Vs. Reflex | |
Hit: The target is restrained until the end of your next turn. |
Spydric-ones are, or were, once humans. Rarely, the arachania may enter a human at a young age, tainting her. The result is a spydric-one; a being that is no longer human.
Play a spydric-one if you want...
- To be a mysterious hero who is not what she seems.
- To have the powers of spiderkind.
- To be a member of a race that favours the spider rider, arachnomancer, and warlock classes.
Physical Qualities[]
Spydric-ones were once human, and as a result of this many human qualities remain within them. Like humans they have a range of complexions, hair colors and eye colors. Spydric-ones may have physical traits that sets them apart from the humans they once were, such as a grayish tint to the skin, or strangely colored eyes or hair.
They are often shunned in their homes; they often have a baleful air and are naturally solitary. Spydric-ones often leave their homes to live among spider colonies, where they feel more at home due to their supernatural connection to spiderkind. As a result, they are often feral and wild, wearing simple clothes of spider's silk.
The taint can also change the biological nature of a spydric-one. Some spydric-ones have been known to have blue blood, similar in color to that of a spider (due to the presence of copper rather than iron in their blood, a presence made possible due to arachane mutations that immunise some spydric one from the toxic effects of copper), while others can secrete both poison and digestive enzymes through their salivary glands (allowing them to feed in a similar manner to a spider).
Spydric-ones mature at about the same rate as humans do, but then cease to age entirely, living for 300 years or more. This agelessness is possibly the result of the taint; a drow charicteristic passed on through the taint. The taint is, however, unreliable, so occasionally a spydric-one will age like a human, while others may be immortal.
Playing a Spydric-One[]
As former humans, spydric-ones share many human qualities. Unlike humans, however, due to their strong bond with the arachania they have a strange connection to spiders. Their ability to speak to spiders and their solitary and reclusive temperament causes them to find companionship among spiders rather than with humans.
Spydric-ones can be mysterious and sinister beings and so, like tieflings or drow, many are avoided in the streets for no apparent reason. In a way the more sinister and (some might say) baleful spydric-ones are more frightening for passers-by because they are not commonly recognized or understood.
Their feral behavior and connection to spiderkind can lead them to become spider-like; some spiderkind gain the ability to inject spider-poison with their teeth and hunt in a similar manner to spiders. The darkest of their kind degenerate into beasts, even feasting upon their own kind.
Spydric-ones tend to worship either Lolth or Arachne, as their connection to spiders leads them to reverence of the spider queen. Often, however, a spydric-one will reject Lolth in opposition to her teachings and either worship another deity or no deity at all, either in ignorance of Arachne or otherwise.
Rarely, spydric-ones may live life in ignorance of the taint that has transformed them. They therefore live to about fifty years of age believing themselves to be human before they realize that they are not human (due to the lack of the aging process).
Spydric-One Characteristics: Solitary, reclusive, adaptable, hardy, resourceful, territorial, lurking.
Male Names: Typical human or drow.
Female Names: Typical human or drow.
Spydric-One Adventurers[]
Three sample spydric-one adventurers are described below.
Vorn, a spydric-one spider rider, never belonged in the human society he was born into. From an early age, he found friendship among spiders, and he eventially ran away from home to live in a spider colony. There he learned many things; of the true nature of spiderkind and of the true nature of his existance. He was given spider mount within the colony and took up his place as spider rider. Now he leads his spiderkind allies against the church of Lolth.
Ana is a spydric-one arachnomancer. She didn't fit in amongst the humans of her home, but she didn't notice her spiderkind heritage until she was fifty-two years of age; but unluckily for her, others noticed her lack of aging first and in jealousy and spite drove her from her home. Homeless, she wandered for many months until she met another her kind. Feral and dangerous, he taught her about her true nature. Now, amongst others of her kind, she seeks more knowledge of spiderkind.
Xara, a spydric-one warlock was always facsinated by the mysteries of spiderkind. As she delved deeper and deeper into knowledge of arachane lore, she spoke to Lolth herself and made a pact for more knowledge and power. Now more powerful than ever, she seeks out yet more arachane power than before. Yet Lolth has not forgotten about the pact, and she soon seeks to take her Xara's payment, which will undoubtably be more than Xara anticipated paying.
Back to Main Page → 4e Homebrew → Races → User Races
Back to Main Page → 4e Homebrew → Sourcebooks → Arachonomicon; the Book of Spiderkind → Races.


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U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations
This report is an archived publication and may contain dated technical, contact, and link information |
Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-06-119 Date: October 2006 |
View PDF version (79 KB)
The Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) program is a 20-year study of inservice pavements designed to provide the data required to understand how and why pavements perform the way they do. The U.S. Congress mandated the LTPP program to "prepare products and deliver them to the appropriate customers in a rational, organized manner." To fulfill this mandate, the LTPP program developed the products listed below.
Rigid Pavement Design (RPD) Software
The LTPP RPD software was developed to facilitate the application of the 1998 Supplement to the Guide for Design of Pavement Structures. The guidelines in this publication were developed based on studies conducted during National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project No. 1-30. During this NCHRP project, researchers developed improved guidelines and performed field-verification tests using LTPP data to determine the practicality and appropriateness of applying the guidelines for concrete pavement design nationwide. The results of the NCHRP project represent a substantial improvement over the information provided in the 1993 version of the Supplement to the Guide for Design of Pavement Structures.
The RPD software automates the computations required to use the 1998 supplemental guidelines and includes separate tables for determining accumulated traffic loading, seasonally adjusted k-values, depth to rigid layer, and performing corner break and faulting checks. The magnitude of the cost savings from following the 1998 supplemental guidelines and using the software will vary with site conditions, with a 30 percent reduction being a reasonable average.
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion of Concrete
The potential for thermal expansion is an important consideration in the design of concrete pavements. Prior to the LTPP program, a standard test method did not exist for determining the coefficient of thermal expansion. Today, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) have adopted LTPP's test method as TP60-00, "Standard Test Method for Coefficient of Thermal Expansion of Hydraulic Cement Concrete." In addition, researchers use the test method at LTPP test sections.
LTPPBind 3.1
Based on an analysis of LTPP data and on the original binder selection software known as SHRPBind, LTPPBind is a Microsoft® Windows®-based program that can help highway agencies select the most suitable and cost-effective SuperpaveTM asphalt binder performance grade (PG) for a particular site. LTPPBind features a database of high and low air temperatures (minimum, mean, maximum, standard deviation, and number of years) for U.S. and Canadian weather stations, along with several modifications that provide users with the ability to (1) select PGs based on actual temperature conditions at their site and at the level of risk designated by their highway agency; (2) use either the original temperature models developed by the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) or LTPP's revised temperature models for determining a site's binder PG; and (3) adjust PG selection for different levels of traffic loading and speed.
Guide for Determining Design Resilient Modulus Values for Unbound Materials
This guide is in CD-ROM format and contains three major components: an interactive tutorial, a technology transfer module, and supplemental materials. The interactive tutorial covers Resilient Modulus (MR) startup and quality control test procedures for unbound materials. The technology transfer module contains overview presentations and videos that were developed in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (DOT). The supplemental materials section contains LTPP protocols, FHWA research reports, and many other supporting documents. The CD-ROM is designed for highway administrators, engineers, laboratory managers, and technicians to help them understand MR and addresses key questions that they might have about the test procedures. Videos featured on the CD-ROM include:
Verification of Dynamic Test System—Emphasis on MR
LTPP researchers have rewritten the startup procedure for MR that was featured in the 1996 report LTPP Materials Characterization Program: Resilient Modulus of Unbound Materials (LTPP Protocol P46) Laboratory Startup and Quality Control (FHWA-RD-96-176). The new report Long-Term Pavement Performance Materials Characterization Program: Verification of Dynamic Test Systems With an Emphasis on Resilient Modulus (FHWA-RD-02-034) is more comprehensive and provides the background and theory behind the procedure. In addition, the standard practice extracted from the new report has been submitted informally to the AASHTO Subcommittee on Materials.
Test Method for Determining the Creep Compliance, MR, and Strength of Asphalt Materials Using the Indirect Tensile Test Device
This LTPP program protocol describes three distinct procedures for determining the creep compliance, MR, and strength of hot-mix asphalt concrete (HMA) using indirect tensile test techniques. The protocol is partially based on test standards AASHTO TP9-94 (Edition 1B), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard D4123, and procedures outlined in section 4.4 of the protocol.
Maintenance and Rehabilitation
Pavement Maintenance and Repair Manuals
To provide highway managers and practitioners with the latest data on pavement maintenance and repair, researchers with the LTPP program revised and updated the original manuals generated from the SHRP H-106 maintenance experiment. The new manuals include additional pertinent long-term performance and cost-effectiveness information. The LTPP program generated this information through continued monitoring of the test sections. The following is a list of the updated manuals:
Pavement Management Systems
LTPP Distress Identification Manual
The LTPP program developed the Distress Identification Manual for the Long-Term Pavement Performance Program to provide a consistent, uniform basis for collecting distress data. The manual provides a common language for describing cracks, potholes, rutting, spalling, and other pavement distresses being monitored by the LTPP program. The manual is divided into three sections, each focusing on a particular type of pavement: (1) asphalt concrete (AC), (2) jointed portland cement concrete (PCC), and (3) continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP). The manual includes photographs and text that clearly label, describe, and illustrate each type of distress. Many States have adopted the procedures established in the manual.
The LTPP program developed five versions of the manual:
Created with the field technician in mind, the pocket editions are made of durable plasticized material.
Guidelines for Temperature Adjustment of FWD Results for AC Pavements
Because the stiffness of AC varies with temperature, results from tests of flexible pavements using falling weight deflectometers (FWD) must be adjusted for temperature if the data were obtained at different times and are intended to be used interchangeably. Data analyses conducted by LTPP researchers have yielded procedures for temperature prediction and adjustment factors for asphalt pavements. Adopted by AASHTO and ASTM, these procedures and a related spreadsheet are intended for use in the analysis and interpretation of FWD test results.
ProVAL 2.6
FHWA developed the Pavement Profile Viewer and Analyzer (ProVAL) software to conduct the work described in the report LTPP Profile Variability (FHWA-RD-00-113). Based on the ProQual software created for the LTPP program, ProVAL enables the user to easily compare longitudinal profile data that has been obtained from multiple profile data collection runs on the same or different dates. ProVAL provides users with the analytic capabilities to compute summary indices, such as the International Roughness Index (IRI) and power spectral density (PSD), and includes several display functions. The intent is to provide pavement engineers with a tool that will help them understand what is really going on in the pavement, to support sound decisions regarding rehabilitation and repair, and to promote effective quality control of pavement profile data.
Pavement Smoothness Index Relationships (FHWA-RD-02-057)
This report illustrates the relationship between IRI and the profilograph using zero blanking band procedures based on LTPP profile data. The research effort behind this report led to the development of a series of relationships between the IRI and the Profile Index that can help States transition to IRI or the "zero blanking" band smoothness specification for HMA and portland cement concrete pavements.
LTPP Seasonal Monitoring Program (SMP) CD-ROM
The LTPP SMP was an intensive monitoring effort undertaken on a subset of the LTPP test sections to obtain data that will improve our understanding of seasonal variations in pavement structures and the factors that cause those variations. The SMP CD-ROM set includes three disks that summarize the project and provide all of the information and supporting documentation needed to facilitate future application of the LTPP data. The CD-ROM includes two videos produced by the North Carolina and Colorado DOTs. The videos document the installation of the instrumentation of the LTPP SMP test sections in both States.
Standard Specification for Smoothness of Pavement at the Approaches to Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Scales, AASHTO Designation MP 14-05
The smoothness of the pavement surface at the approach to and departure from a WIM scale directly affects the scale's ability to accurately estimate static loads from measured dynamic forces. Lack of smoothness creates difficulties in calibrating WIM equipment and may cause poor results from subsequent efforts to collect vehicle weight data. To assist State and local agencies in their data collection efforts, the LTPP program, in conjunction with AASHTO, has promulgated specification MP 14-05. The specification requires field collection of profile information at a candidate WIM site and then uses specific software to calculate indices of long- and short-range pavement roughness. The specification includes a range of acceptable levels that provide a 95-percent level of confidence that the WIM approach roughness will not produce errors that exceed requirements. This helps ensure that calibration and validation of the site will be obtainable. This project is critical for the traffic data collection efforts that will feed directly into the new Guide for the Mechanistic-Empirical Design of New and Rehabilitated Pavement Structures.
DataPave Online
DataPave Online is a user-friendly Web application that provides access to the data contained in the LTPP Standard Data Release. These data include inventory, materials testing, pavement performance monitoring, climatic, traffic, maintenance, rehabilitation, and seasonal testing data from more than 2,500 pavement test sections throughout North America.
LTPP Standard Data Release
The Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) program makes the world's largest pavement performance database available annually to the public in Microsoft Access format and available as a 5 CD set or on a single DVD.
LTPP Customer Support Service Center
6300 Georgetown Pike, HRDI-13
McLean, VA 22101-2296
Tel: 202–493–3035
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
The Present
Right now, we're very much heads down getting ReSource ready for press, so I'm deeply engrossed in putting all the personal and business development articles together, honing with images and fine tuning.
Like most people, that can mean I don't take time to look up from the screen and take in what's around me to see what's happening (following on from yesterday's post, even what's changing, evolving or transforming…!) We can tend to take things (and people) for granted, and not notice how much they contribute to making our lives a more joyful, beautiful or easy place to be.
Last week the view from my study window was filled with green, albeit there were clusters of tight buds on the rhododendron bush which is now so large it fills the foreground. This week with the sunshine it's burst into full flower, transformed, even, and because I know it will be relatively short-lived, I made a point of going out and taking some photos to capture what's right under my nose that's giving me such a lovely outlook.
My thinking was that it might rain, that it was windy, and the flowers might therefore get battered and bruised more quickly, and I'd miss the moments of pristine beauty. So it was 'carpe diem' and off I went, results shared below.
Take just a minute to look around you, to think and consider –
what's or who's under your nose that you're not fully appreciating.
What can you capture from today as it is, in this moment,
and express your gratitude for the present of the present?


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Biography:Francisco Suárez
Francisco Suárez SJ | |
Born | 5 January 1548 Granada, Kingdom of Granada, Crown of Castille |
Died | 25 September 1617 | (aged 69)
Other names | Doctor Eximius |
Alma mater | University of Salamanca |
Era | Early modern philosophy
Region | Western philosophy
School | Scholasticism Medieval realism School of Salamanca |
Main interests | Theology, metaphysics |
Notable ideas | The object of metaphysics is being insofar as it is real being[1] |
Francisco Suárez, SJ (5 January 1548 – 25 September 1617) was a Spanish Jesuit priest, philosopher and theologian, one of the leading figures of the School of Salamanca movement. His work is considered a turning point in the history of second scholasticism, marking the transition from its Renaissance to its Baroque phases. According to Christopher Shields and Daniel Schwartz, "figures as distinct from one another in place, time, and philosophical orientation as Leibniz, Grotius, Pufendorf, Schopenhauer and Heidegger, all found reason to cite him as a source of inspiration and influence."[2]
Life and career
Francisco Suárez was born in Granada, Andalusia (southern Spain ), on 5 January 1548. He was the youngest son of a noble family who could have had Jewish (converso) ancestry formed by the lawyer Gaspar Suárez de Toledo and his wife Antonia Vázquez de Utiel.[3][4]
After 3 years of preliminary studies from age 10 onwards, in 1561 Suárez matriculated at the University of Salamanca, and studied law. In 1564, at age sixteen, Suárez entered the Society of Jesus in Salamanca and went through the two years of intense spiritual training under the guidance of Fr. Alonso Rodriguez. In August 1566, Suárez took his first vows as a Jesuit; he then began in October 1566 to study Theology at Salamanca. It seems he was not a promising student at first; in fact, he nearly gave up his matters of study after failing the entrance exam twice. After passing the exam at third attempt, though, things changed.
In 1570, with the completion of his course, Suárez began to teach Philosophy, first at Salamanca as a Scholastic tutor, and then as a professor in the Jesuit college at Segovia. He was ordained in March 1572 in Segovia. He continued to teach Philosophy in Segovia until, in September 1574, he moved to the Jesuit College in Valladolid to teach Theology, a subject he would then teach for the rest of his life. He taught in a succession of different places: Ávila (1575), Segovia (1575), Valladolid (1576) Rome (1580–85), Alcalá (1585–92) and Salamanca (1592–97). In 1597, he moved to Coimbra, some years after the accession of the Spanish (elder line) House of Habsburg to the Portuguese Throne, to take up the principal chair of Theology at the University of Coimbra. He remained there, aside from a brief time teaching at Rome, until his death in 1617.
He wrote on a wide variety of subjects, producing a vast amount of work (his complete works in Latin amount to twenty-six volumes). Suárez's writings include treatises on law, the relationship between Church and State, metaphysics, and theology. He is considered the godfather of International Law. His Disputationes metaphysicae (Metaphysical Disputations) were widely read in Europe during the 17th century and are considered by some scholars to be his most profound work.
Suárez was regarded during his lifetime as being the greatest living philosopher and theologian, and given the nickname Doctor Eximius et Pius ("Exceptional and Pious Doctor"); Pope Gregory XIII attended his first lecture in Rome. Pope Paul V invited him to refute the arguments of James I of England, and wished to retain him near his person, to profit by his knowledge. Philip II of Spain sent him to the University of Coimbra in order to give it prestige, and when Suárez visited the University of Barcelona, the doctors of the university went out to meet him wearing the insignia of their faculties.
After his death in Portugal (in either Lisbon or Coimbra) his reputation grew still greater, and he had a direct influence on such leading philosophers as Hugo Grotius, René Descartes, John Norris, and Gottfried Leibniz. He is buried in the Igreja de São Roque (formerly a Jesuit church) in Lisbon.
In 1679 Pope Innocent XI publicly condemned sixty-five casuist propositions, taken chiefly from the writings of Escobar, Suárez and others, mostly Jesuit, theologians as propositiones laxorum moralistarum and forbade anyone to teach them under penalty of excommunication.[5]
Philosophical thought
His most important philosophical achievements were in metaphysics and the philosophy of law. Suárez may be considered the last eminent representative of scholasticism. He adhered to a moderate form of Thomism and developed metaphysics as a systematic enquiry.
For Suárez, metaphysics was the science of real essences (and existence); it was mostly concerned with real being rather than conceptual being, and with immaterial rather than with material being. He held (along with earlier scholastics) that essence and existence are the same in the case of God (see ontological argument), but disagreed with Aquinas and others that the essence and existence of finite beings are really distinct. He argued that in fact they are merely conceptually distinct: rather than being really separable, they can only logically be conceived as separate.
On the vexed subject of universals, he endeavored to steer a middle course between the realism of Duns Scotus and the nominalism of William of Occam. His position is a little bit closer to nominalism than that of Thomas Aquinas.[6] Sometimes he is classified as a moderate nominalist, but his admitting of objective precision (praecisio obiectiva) ranks him with moderate realists. The only veritable and real unity in the world of existences is the individual; to assert that the universal exists separately ex parte rei would be to reduce individuals to mere accidents of one indivisible form. Suárez maintains that, though the humanity of Socrates does not differ from that of Plato, yet they do not constitute realiter one and the same humanity; there are as many "formal unities" (in this case, humanities) as there are individuals, and these individuals do not constitute a factual, but only an essential or ideal unity ("In such a way, that many individuals, which are said to be of the same nature, are so: only through the operation of the intellect, not through a substance or essence of things which unites them").[7] The formal unity, however, is not an arbitrary creation of the mind, but exists "in the nature of the thing, prior [ontologically] to any operation of the intellect".[8]
His metaphysical work, giving a remarkable effort of systematisation, is a real history of medieval thought, combining the three schools available at that time: Thomism, Scotism and Nominalism. He is also a deep commentator of Arabic or high medieval works. He enjoyed the reputation of being the greatest metaphysician of his time. He thus founded a school of his own, Suarism or Suarezianism, the chief characteristic principles of which are:
- the principle of individuation by the proper concrete entity of beings
- the rejection of pure potentiality of matter
- the singular as the object of direct intellectual cognition
- a distinctio rationis ratiocinatae between the essence and the existence of created beings
- the possibility of spiritual substance only numerically distinct from one another
- ambition for the hypostatic union as the sin of the fallen angels
- the Incarnation of the Word, even if Adam had not sinned
- the solemnity of the vow only in ecclesiastical law
- the system of Congruism that modifies Molinism by the introduction of subjective circumstances, as well as of place and of time, propitious to the action of efficacious grace, and with predestination ante praevisa merita
- the possibility of holding one and the same truth by both science and faith
- the belief in Divine authority contained in an act of faith
- the production of the body and blood of Christ by transubstantiation as constituting the Eucharistic sacrifice
- the final grace of the Blessed Virgin Mary superior to that of the angels and saints combined.[9]
Suárez made an important investigation of being, its properties and division in Disputationes Metaphysicae (1597), which influenced the further development of theology within Catholicism. In the second part of the book, disputations 28–53, Suárez fixes the distinction between ens infinitum (God) and ens finitum (created beings). The first division of being is that between ens infinitum and ens finitum. Instead of dividing being into infinite and finite, it can also be divided into ens a se and ens ab alio, i.e., being that is from itself and being that is from another. A second distinction corresponding to this one:ens necessarium and ens contingens, i.e., necessary being and contingent being. Still another formulation of the distinction is between ens per essentiam and ens per participationem, i.e., being that exists by reason of its essence and being that exists only by participation in a being that exists on its own (eigentlich). This distinction had just been formerly adopted by St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica.[10] A further distinction is between ens increatum and ens creatum, i.e., uncreated being and created, or creaturely, being. A final distinction is between being as actus purus and being as ens potentiale, i.e., being as pure actuality and being as potential being. Suárez decided in favor of the first classification of the being into ens infinitum and ens finitum as the most fundamental, in connection with which he accords the other classifications their due. In the last disputation 54 Suárez deals with entia rationis (beings of reason), which are impossible intentional objects, i.e. objects that are created by our minds but cannot exist in actual reality.[11]
In theology, Suárez attached himself to the doctrine of Luis Molina, the celebrated Jesuit professor of Évora. Molina tried to reconcile the doctrine of predestination with the freedom of the human will and the predestinarian teachings of the Dominicans by saying that the predestination is consequent upon God's foreknowledge of the free determination of man's will, which is therefore in no way affected by the fact of such predestination. Suárez endeavoured to reconcile this view with the more orthodox doctrines of the efficacy of grace and special election, maintaining that, though all share in an absolutely sufficient grace, there is granted to the elect a grace which is so adapted to their peculiar dispositions and circumstances that they infallibly, though at the same time quite freely, yield themselves to its influence. This mediatizing system was known by the name of "congruism."
Philosophy of law
Here, Suárez's main importance stems probably from his work on natural law, and from his arguments concerning positive law and the status of a monarch. In his massive work, Tractatus de legibus ac deo legislatore (1612), he is to some extent the precursor of Grotius and Pufendorf, in making an important distinction between natural law and international law, which he saw as based on custom. Though his method is throughout scholastic, he covers the same ground, and Grotius speaks of him with great respect. The fundamental position of the work is that all legislative as well as all paternal power is derived from God, and that the authority of every law stems ultimately from God's eternal law. Suárez denies the patriarchal theory of government and the divine right of kings founded upon it, doctrines popular at that time in England and to some extent on the Continent. He argued against the sort of social contract theory that became dominant among early-modern political philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, but some of his thinking, as transmitted by Grotius, found echoes in later liberal political theory.
He argued that human beings have a social nature bestowed upon them by God, and this includes the potential to make laws. However, when a political society is formed, the authority of the state is not of divine but of human origin; therefore, its nature is chosen by the people involved, and their natural legislative power is given to the ruler.[12] Because they gave this power, they have the right to take it back and to revolt against a ruler, only if the ruler behaves badly towards them, and they must act moderately and justly. In particular, the people must refrain from killing the ruler, no matter how tyrannical he may have become. If a government is imposed on people, on the other hand, they have the right to defend themselves by revolting against it and even kill the tyrannical ruler.[13]
Though Suárez was greatly influenced by Aquinas in his philosophy of law, there are some notable differences. Aquinas broadly defined "law" as "a rule and measure acts, whereby man is induced to act or is restrained from acting" (ST 1-11, qu. 90, art. 1). Suárez argues that this definition is too broad, since it applies to things that are not strictly laws, such as unjust ordinances and counsels of perfection.[14] Suárez also takes issue with Aquinas' more formal definition of "law" as "an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community, and promulgated" (ST 1-11, qu. 90, art. 4). This definition, he claims, fails to recognize that law is primarily an act of will rather than an act of reason, and would wrongly count orders to particular individuals as being laws.[15] Finally, Suárez disagrees with Aquinas's claim that God can change or suspend some of the secondary precepts of the natural law, such as the prohibitions on murder, theft, and adultery (ST 1-11, qu. 94, art. 5). Suárez argues that the natural law is immutable as long as human nature remains unchanged, and that what may appear to be divinely-made changes in the natural law are really just alterations of subject matter. For example, when God orders Hosea to take a "wife of fornications" (i.e., have sex with a prostitute), this is not an exemption from God's prohibition of adultery. "For God has power to transfer to a man dominium over a woman without her consent, and to effect such a bond between them that, by virtue of this bond, the union is no longer one of fornication."[16]
In 1613, at the instigation of Pope Paul V, Suárez wrote a treatise dedicated to the Christian princes of Europe, entitled Defensio catholicae fidei contra anglicanae sectae errores ("Defense of the Universal Catholic Faith Against the Errors of the Anglican Sect").[17] This was directed against the oath of allegiance which James I required from his subjects.
James (himself a talented scholar) caused it to be burned by the common hangman and forbade its perusal under the 'severest penalties, complaining bitterly to Philip III of Spain for harbouring in his dominions a declared enemy of the throne and majesty of kings.
The contributions of Suarez to metaphysics and theology exerted significant influence over 17th and 18th century scholastic theology among both Roman Catholics and Protestants.[18]
Thanks in part to the strength of Suárez's Jesuit order, his Disputationes Metaphysicae was widely taught in the Catholic schools of Spain, Portugal and Italy.
It also spread from these schools to many Lutheran universities in Germany, where the text was studied especially by those who favoured Melanchthon rather than Luther's attitude towards philosophy. In a number of seventeenth-century Lutheran universities the Disputationes served as a textbook in philosophy.
In a similar way, Suárez had major influence in the Reformed tradition of German and Dutch schools for both metaphysics and law, including international law. His work was highly praised, for example, by Hugo Grotius (1583-1645).
His influence is evident in the writings of Bartholomaeus Keckermann (1571–1609), Clemens Timpler (1563–1624), Gilbertus Jacchaeus (1578–1628), Johann Heinrich Alsted (1588–1638), Antonius Walaeus (1573–1639), and Johannes Maccovius (Jan Makowski; 1588–1644), among others.[19] This influence was so pervasive that by 1643 it provoked the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Revius to publish his book-length response: Suarez repurgatus.[20] Suárez's De legibus was cited as among the best books on law by the Puritan Richard Baxter,[21] and Baxter's friend Matthew Hale drew on it for his natural-law theory.[22]
The views of Suarez upon the human origin of political order, and his defense of tyrannicide emanating from popular dissent were heavily criticized by English philosopher Robert Filmer in his work Patriarcha, Or the Natural Power of Kings. Filmer believed Calvinists and Catholics like Suarez to be dangerous opponents of divine right monarchy, legitimized by the supremacy of fathers upon their offspring, which Filmer claimed could be traced back to Adam.[23]
Main work
- De Incarnatione (1590–1592)
- De sacramentis (1593–1603)
- Disputationes metaphysicae (1597)
- De divina substantia eiusque attributis (1606)
- De divina praedestinatione et reprobatione (1606)
- De sanctissimo Trinitatis mysterio (1606)
- De religione (1608–1625)
- De legibus (1612)
- Defensio fidei (1613)
- De gratia (1619)
- De angelis (1620)
- De opere sex dierum (1621)
- De anima (1621)
- De fide, spe et charitate (1622)
- De ultimo fine hominis (1628)
In the 18th century, the Venice edition of Opera Omnia in 23 volumes in folio (1740–1751) appeared, followed by the Parisian Vivès edition, 26 volumes + 2 volumes of indices (1856–1861); in 1965 the Vivés edition of the Disputationes Metaphysicae (vols. 25–26) was reprinted by Georg Olms, Hildesheim.
From 1597 to 1636 the Disputationes Metaphysicae were published in seventeen editions; no modern edition of Suárez's complete works is yet available and only few of Suárez's Disputations have been translated into English.
See also
- Giovanni Botero
- Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz
- Jurisprudence
- Alphonsus Liguori
- Juan de Mariana
- Political philosophy
- School of Salamanca
- Rule according to higher law
- ↑ "Francisco Suárez". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://www.iep.utm.edu/suarez/.
- ↑ Shields, Christopher and Daniel Schwartz, "Francisco Suárez" in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- ↑ Américo Castro, The Spaniards: An Introduction to Their History, University of California Press (1985), p. 572
- ↑ Daniel D. Novotný, Ens rationis from Su : A Study in Scholasticism of the Baroque Era, Fordham University Press (2013), p. 17
- ↑ Kelly, J.N.D., The Oxford History of the Popes, Oxford University Press, 1986. ISBN:0-19-282085-0
- ↑ See the translation of Suárez's De Unitate Formali et Universali James Francis Ross (Translator) On Formal and Universal Unity: De Unitate Formali et Universali by Francis Suarez,(Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1964)
- ↑ Original Latin: "ita ut plura individua, quae dicuntur esse ejusdem naturae, non sint unum quid vera entitate quae sit in rebus, sed solum fundamentaliter vel per intellectum"
- ↑ Original Latin: "in natura rei ante omnem operationem intellectus."
- ↑ Pérez Goyena, Antonio. "Francisco Suárez". The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14319a.htm. Retrieved September 20, 2012. [Pérez gives both "Suarism" and "Suarezianism" as alternative spellings.]
- ↑ "Brock Stephen L., The Philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas: A Sketch, Eugene, Oregon, 2015, pp. xix + 195.". http://www.actaphilosophica.it/en/bibliographical-resources-philosophy-saint-thomas-aquinas-sketch. "«Being caused does not belong to being as such, therefore it is possible for us to find a being which is uncaused» (I, 44, 1, ad 1)"
- ↑ Novotný, Daniel D. (22 April 2013). Ens rationis from Suárez to Caramuel. New York: Fordham University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0823244768.
- ↑ http://www.acton.org - Francisco Suarez (1548 - 1617) - The Acton Institute - Microsoft Internet Explorer
- ↑ John A. Mourant, "Suárez, Francisco," in The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Paul Edwards. New York: Macmillan and The Free Press, 1967, vol. 8, p. 32.
- ↑ Francisco Suárez, Selections from Three Works, trans. by Gwladys L. Williams, et al. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2015, p. 18.
- ↑ Selections from Three Works, p. 142.
- ↑ Selections from Three Works, p. 343.
- ↑ Jollain, Japeth S. "Francis Suarez: The Man and His History," The Ecclesiastical Review, Vol. LVII, 1917.
- ↑ Donnelly, John Patrick, Calvinism and Scholasticism in Vermigli's Doctrine of Man and Grace, Leiden: Brill, 1976, pp. 193-194.
- ↑ Muller, Richard, Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics: The Rise and Development of Reformed Orthodoxy, ca. 1520 to ca. 1725, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2003, volume 3, passim.
- ↑ Revius, Jacobus, Suarez repurgatus, sive, Syllabus Disputationum metaphysicarum Francisci Suarez Societatis Iesu theologi, Lugduni Batavorum, 1644.
- ↑ Baxter, Richard, Preface to Methodus Theologiae Christianae, London, 1681.
- ↑ Matthew Hale, Of the Law of Nature. CLP Academic. 2015.
- ↑ Johann P. Sommerville, Raymond Geuss, "Filmer: Patriarcha and Other Writings (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)" Cambridge University Press, 1991. ISBN:0521399033
Further reading
- Aertsen, Jan, Medieval Philosophy as Transcendental Thought. From Philip the Chancellor (Ca. 1225) to Francisco Suárez, Leiden: Brill.
- Aho, Tuomo, Suárez on Cognitive Intentions, in: Paul.J.J.M. Bakker and Johannes M.M.H. Thijssen, (eds.), Mind, Cognition and Representation. The Tradition of Commentaries on Aristotle's De anima, Ashgate Studies in Medieval Philosophy, 2007, pp. 179–203.
- Castellote, Salvador, Die Anthropologie des Suárez (Symposion 8) Freiburg/München: Karl Alber, 2. Ed. 1982, 207 pp.
- Castellote, Salvador, Die Kategorienlehre des Suárez: Relatio, actio, passio. Mit einer Einleitung über die Grundzüge seines metaphysischen Systems, Verona: Aeme Edizioni, 2011, 233 pp.
- Doyle John P. Collected Studies on Francisco Suárez S.J. (1548–1617), edited by Victor M. Salas, Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2010.
- Fichter, Joseph H. Man of Spain: Francis Suarez. New York: Macmillan, 1940.
- Goczał, Robert, Onto-Teo-Logia. Status bytu realnego i myślnego w metafizyce Francisco Suáreza / Onto-Teo-Logia. The Status of Real Being and Being of Reason in the Metaphysics by Francis Suárez, Warszawa (Warsaw): Warszawska Firma Wydawnicza, 2011, 543 pp.
- Gracia, Jorge J. E. Suárez on Individuation: Metaphysical Disputation V, Individual Unity and Its Principle, Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2000.
- Hill, Benjamin & Lagerlund Henrik, (eds.) The Philosophy of Francisco Suarez New York: Oxford University Press 2012.
- Marschler, Thomas, Die spekulative Trinitätslehre des Francisco Suárez SJ in ihrem philosophisch-theologischen Kontext, Münster: Aschendorff 2007.
- Mullaney, Thomas U. (1950), Suarez on Human Freedom, Baltimore: Carroll Press. [1]
- Novák, Lukáš (ed.), Suárez's Metaphysics in Its Historical and Systematic Context, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2014.
- Novotný, Daniel D., Ens rationis from Suárez to Caramuel A Study in Scholasticism of the Baroque Era, New York: Fordham University Press, 2013, 296 pp.
- Pereira, José, Suarez between Scholasticism and Modernity, Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2006.
- Renemann, Michael, Gedanken als Wirkursachen. Francisco Suárez zur geistigen Hervorbringung, Amsterdam/Philadelphia: B. R. Grüner, 2010, 173 pp.
- Ross, James F. "Translator's Introduction", in On Formal and Universal Unity: De Unitate Formali et Universali by Francis Suarez, Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1964, pp. 1–27.
- Salas, Victor & Fastiggi, Robert (eds.). A Companion to Francisco Suárez, Leiden: Brill, 2015.
- Sgarbi, Marco (ed.), Francisco Suárez and his Legacy. The Impact of Suárezian Metaphysics and Epistemology on Modern Philosophy, Milano: Vita e Pensiero, 2010, 294 pp.
- Shields, Christopher and Daniel Schwartz, "Francisco Suárez" in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Smith, Gerard (ed). Jesuit Thinkers of the Renaissance. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press 1939, pp. 1–62.
- Suárez, Francisco (1995), trans., Gwladys L. Williams, Ammi Brown, and John Waldron, Selections from Three Works by Francisco Suárez, S.J.: "De legibus, ac deo legislatore", 1612; "Defensio fidei catholicae, et apostolicae adversus anglicanae sectae errores", 1613; "De triplici virtute theologica, fide, spe, et charitate", 1621, Buffalo, NY: W. S. Hein.
- Wroblewski, Pawel P. Arystotelesowska nauka o nieskonczonosci w metafizycznej reinterpretacji Francisco Suareza. Zarys problematyki / Aristotelian doctrine of the Infinity in the metaphysical reinterpretation of Francisco Suarez. An Outline of Issues, in: Krzysztof Rzepkowski (ed.), Aemulatio & Imitatio. Powrot pisarzy starozytnych w epoce renesansu / Aemulatio & Imitatio. The Return of the Ancient Writers in the epoque of the Renaissance, Warszawa: Instytut Filologii Klasycznej Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego (Warsaw: Institute of Classical Philology, University of Warsaw), 2009, pp. 87–100.
External links
Library resources about Francisco Suárez |
By Francisco Suárez |
- "Francisco Suárez (1548—1617)". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://www.iep.utm.edu/suarez.
- Francisco Suárez, Disputationes Metaphysicae (in Latin; HTML format)
- Critical edition of several works of Francisco Suárez Several works of Francisco Suárez in a critical Edition by Prof. Salvador Castellote (in Latin; PDF format)
- Translations of three works by Prof. Alfredo Freddoso
- Suárez and Exceptionless Moral Norms
- Shields, Christopher; Schwartz, Daniel. "Francisco Suárez". in Zalta, Edward N.. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/suarez/.
- General bibliography (on the SCHOLASTICON site)
- Francisco Suarez on Metaphysics as the Science of Real Beings with an annotated bibliography on the Metaphysical Disputations
- English Translations of the Metaphysical Works of Francisco Suárez with abstracts of the content
- "Francisco Suárez". Catholic Encyclopedia. 1913.
- Information and links to online texts in Latin and in translation by Sydney Penner (including Opera omnia)
- The religious state: a digest of the doctrine of Suarez, contained in his treatise "De statu religionis"(1883) in 3 volumes
- Francisco Suárez in the Historical Archives of the Pontifical Gregorian University
Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco Suárez.
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text:
True Love
A Songbird Novel
By Melissa Pearl
Release Date: November 18, 2015
One night can change everything…Nessa Sloan has been in love with Jimmy Baker since the ninth grade when they started up a rock band together. Five years later they're about to hit the big time—Chaos wins a recording contract and nation-wide tour with Torrence Records. After their celebration party, the two best friends have a one-night stand that will tear their relationship apart.
On the run from Jimmy's rejection, Nessa takes off on her motorbike, but an accident brings her escape to a tragic end. Now trapped in a broken body, Nessa has to face a future stripped of the one thing that's gotten her through every past challenge—playing the drums.
Jimmy never meant to break his best friend's heart, and he will forever regret taking her to bed then treating her like one of his groupies. But once he'd crossed that line, he couldn't go back. Now Jimmy is on a mission to do something he's never done before—win a girl over.
Angry and confused by her new disability, Nessa doesn't want Jimmy's help. But she has nobody else to rely on…and his pigheaded ass won't leave her alone. Can these two stubborn hearts get past their own insecurities to figure out what true love really looks like? Or will they drive each other crazy before they finally see the truth?
It's infuriating, irresistable, and all-consuming…it's true love.
Buy Links
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About the Author
Melissa Pearl was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but has spent much of her life abroad, living in countries such as Jordan, Cyprus and Pakistan... not to mention a nine month road trip around North America with her husband. "Best. Year. Ever!!" She now lives in China with her husband and two sons. She is a trained elementary teacher, but writing is her passion. Since becoming a full time mother she has had the opportunity to pursue this dream and her debut novel hit the internet in November 2011. Since then she has continued to produce a steady stream of books, ranging in genres from Fantasy to Contemporary Romance. She loves the variety and is excited about the books she has coming up in 2015.
"I am passionate about writing. It stirs a fire in my soul that I never knew I had. I want to be the best writer I can possibly be and transport my readers into another world where they can laugh, cry and fall in love."


text:
STEVE and I are chatting away about something in the front seats of the car. In the back seat, JANE is looking out the window or something, keeping her own counsel. ABRUPTLY:
JANE: eysbrn
ME: What?
ME: What?
JANE: Ice. Burn.
ME: Ohhh, ice burn.*
STEVE: "Ice burn!" is what you say when someone says something mean but funny about you.
ME: Mean and funny and true!
JANE: Yes. Ice burn. When you have ice sometimes they burn.
US: Uh huhhh?
JANE: And then you can't see. Ice burn!
STEVE (light dawns): Oh! Like when you cut up onions? Because you're crying?
JANE (contentedly): Ice burn.
*This is, in fact, something we say around the house.


text:
Tag: Liquified
Cooktop Comparison: Gas, Electric and Induction
Recently while interacting with a Bijli Bachao reader, we came across a question: which cooktop should I buy Gas or Induction? And this made us realize: Hey! We didn't think about it! Cooking typically is a small component of the whole energy requirement in a house (especially in most middle and upper class urban homes), which some people typically ignore. Although rising LPG/PNG costs does cause a furore but rarely do we compare it with other form of energy: electricity.


text:
If you see a haze of condensation on your window, should you be concerned? Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on a number of factors.
First of all, an occasional build-up of condensation is normal and often the result of fluctuating humidity in the home. Usually, it's nothing to worry about. If you're using a humidifier, try adjusting the levels. If the humidity is being generated naturally, try placing a dehumidifier nearby. Also, remove any plants and firewood from the area, as they can release a surprising volume of moisture into the air.
Do you see moisture in between the panes of glass that make up the window? If so, that means the seal has failed and moisture has crept in. Double and triple pane windows often contain a gas (argon, for example) that boosts the insulating qualities of the window. When the seal fails, the gas disappears, making the glass colder and often allowing condensation to creep in. Eventually, you'll want to get it replaced.
If you see moisture build-up anywhere on the frame of the window, particularly at the joints, that could be a sign of water leaking through. That's an issue you should get checked out immediately by a window contractor.


text:
In Sweden 93% of all children aged 18 months-5 years attend day care, or preschool as it is called in Sweden. Daycare is not yet formally compulsory, but the tax system and the day care subsidies are designed to make home care very expensive and demanding large financial sacrifices. Also the Swedish Government propaganda about the blessings of day care, even for one-year olds, is very intense. Not having your child in day care after parental leave is considered strange and even weird by a large part of the general public.The use of highly subsidized early day care has steadily increased since its inception in 1985. The Swedish Government claims that research shows that children in day care develop and learn much better than home cared children. But the Swedish statistics tell another story. Psychosomatic symptoms such as regular headaches, tummy aches, worries and anxiety tripled for girls and doubled for boys during the years 1985-2005. A Government investigation quoted a study showing that Sweden has the worst development in psychological health among our youth in relation to eleven comparable European countries. The school results went down during the same period and are now, in some scholastic subjects, below the OECD average. The quality of parenthood has deteriorated, and adult sick leave is high, especially for women. As Sweden is materially rich with a wealth of public social insurances and good wealth distribution and low child poverty this is hardly the cause. The most realistic cause is the early separation of children and parents for too many hours per working day as strongly encouraged by our Government.I am often asked for a collected paper on these findings. I have written a book in Swedish, and I am working on a shorter version in English. However summaries of these facts can be found in a few written statements and a 60 minute speech recorded in Canada last year which is now on YouTube. Most of these written or video statements are listed on the web page of The Mireja Institute think-tank, http://www.mireja.org/
articles.lasso. Here is selection of some of the best ones in chronological order, oldest first:
"Secure children – Secure parents – The role of family in the 21st century" http://www.stratletter.com/
Statement given at a Swedish Parliament seminar on December 10, 2008. The first high-level speech based on my book.
"Are the Swedish state family policies delivering?"
http://www.mireja.org/Resources/himmelstrand_lisbon_ statement.pdf
Statement given on May 25, 2010 at the EU-sponsored FamilyPlatform conference in Lisbon. Gives a short overview.
"Busting the Myths of Swedish Family Policies"
YouTube recording of a 60 minute speech I gave in Ottawa on May 5, 2011. The most extensive presentation recorded or written.
"Work-Family Balance: The importance of Family Focused Solutions"
http://www.mireja.org/Resources/110603_UN_ presentation.pdf
Statement given at a United Nations Expert Group Meeting in New York on June 3, 2011. The shortest presentation, but has extensive references.
When my English book gets published, hopefully during 2013, there will be information about it on The Mireja Institute website.
Jonas Himmelstrand, founder and director
The Mireja Institute
Box 1454, 114 79 Stockholm, Sweden.
Related Links:
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- Media Release 12 – Early Childhood Education Brings Social Drawbacks, Uncertain Benefits
- New Zealand Law Society Submission
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- Presenting an oral submission to the Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill
- Social Services Select Committee members
- Barbara Smith's submission
- Media Release 11 – Parents Are Responsible for Education, Says HEF National Director
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- A Bit of Political Advice to Home Educators by Craig Smith
- Samuel Blight's submission
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- Media Release 8 – Social Security Bill Will Cause Real Hardship to Real People
- Family Integrity's submission
- Media Release 7 – Paula Bennett's One-Size-Fits-All Approach Leaves Parents With No Options
- 2nd letter from Paula Bennett to Barbara Smith
- Why should I put a submission into the Select Committee about the beneficiaries?
- Media Release 6 – Social Security Bill Will Punish Responsible Parents Who 'Can't Be Bought'
- Beneficiaries: Policy and Law
- 66 Submissions
- Submission: Trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, slavery and deception
- Media Release 5 – Beneficiary Parents "Not Able to Home School" Under Social Security Bill
- Media Release 4 – Social Security Bill Targets Responsible Parents for Toughest Penalties
- Letter from Paula Bennett to Samuel Blight
- Opinion Piece in Truth
- Possible timeline for Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill
- Media Release 3 – Social Security Bill's ECE Obligations Breach Human Rights
- Media Release 2 – Vulnerable Children Not Benefited By Social Security Bill
- Media Release 1 – Social Security Bill Coerces Parents, Removes Freedom
- Make a submission: Reject compulsory Early Education for 3 year olds
- Some of the main links
- Comment on Q+A: Social Development Minister Paula Bennett
- Human Rights in New Zealand Today: The right to education
- Raymond S. Moore on Early Childhood Centres
- Should preschool be compulsory?
- TVNZ One this morning Q&A with Paula Bennett
- Maxim Institute: What is best for children?
- HUGE Concerns over the Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill
- Letter from Paula Bennett concerning beneficaries and home education to Barbara Smith
- Toby Manhire on Benefit-slaying Nats starting to look plain nasty
- Linking welfare to preschool attendance a world first
- New Update on: How will the new Social obligations which will be required of all beneficiary parents effect home schoolers?
- How will the new Social obligations which will be required of all beneficiary parents effect home schoolers?
From the Smiths:
Updated 5 October 2012: One year on (Craig Smith's Health) page 7 click here
Needing help for your home schooling journey:
Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:
This link is motivational:
Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill
Make a submission: Reject compulsory Early Education for 3 year olds