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An article on Tarthang Tulku's book ~
The Joy of Being
Advanced Kum Nye Practices for R
Integration & Concentration by Tarthang Tulku
Kum (sKu) refers to the body, in the sense of embodied being. Its significance goes beyond our physical form to encompass all aspects of our being and ways we can develop and nurture ourselves as embodiments of authentic existence. Nye (mNye) means massage, or exercise that heals, integrates, and invigorates. Together, the words Kum Nye refer to massage, postures, and exercises that enable us to be comfortable in our embodiment and inspired to awaken the full capacities of body and mind, senses and heart.
The physical exercises of Kum Nye are only the outward forms of a holistic vision of human being. Their true value lies in their ability to stimulate energy that joins body and mind in a continuum of joy and appreciation. In mastering Kum Nye, we learn how to benefit from all manner of experience; we gain confi dence that is grounded in self-knowledge and establish a foundation of joy that can sustain us throughout our lives. We learn what it means to be complete in ourselves: We discover what it means to BE.
Kum Nye was known in the time of the early disciples of the Buddha and was continued by later yogic practitioners. In Tibet, it was not always common. In the West, it is best known as a way of massage, but it also includes simple postures and stretches that are yogic in nature, with the main tuning taking place internally.
Exercises presented in the earlier Kum Nye books, Kum Nye Relaxation, Parts I and II (Berkeley: Dharma Publishing, 1978), focused on the physical aspects of our being, using massage, breathing exercises, postures, and movement to relax and energize our bodies. The Joy of Being goes more deeply into the inner aspects of our embodiment. It emphasizes the inner massage of feeling, using the senses to revitalize our capacities for seeing, hearing, sensing, touching, relishing, and cognizing and creates the basis for a satisfying and meaningful life. It is intended to help you feel at home in your embodiment, so you will appreciate your inner treasures and be inspired to cultivate them further.
Since anyone can begin to develop these treasures without much philosophy or theory, Kum Nye is an efi ective way to engage meditation. Relaxation that allows the heart to open and meditation to manifest naturally is especially helpful for Western practitioners. As you practice these exercises, senses, mind, and consciousness become more familiar with bliss-the rich nectar of energy fiowing unobstructed through a completely relaxed and balanced body. Bliss heals the heart beset by anxiety and pain and restores calm to the pressured and confiicted mind. When bliss becomes part of your being, mind and body will cooperate when you wish to meditate, and you will no longer have to struggle so much with physical and mental distractions. So before you meditate, relax deeply and use Kum Nye to touch blissful states. Once bliss has served its purpose, you can let it go and rest in the relaxed calmness of meditation. If you become attached to bliss and become reluctant to let it go, you will need to find a qualified teacher to help you move beyond it into the deeper current of samadhi.
Kum Nye's way of relaxing body, senses, and mind can introduce us to the power and beauty of the spiritual path. Abundance of joy inspires generosity of heart and the wish to bring joy to others. Joy builds on joy: Joyful in our own being, we take delight in the positive accomplishments of others and spontaneously feel their joy as our own. The sufiering of others hits the heart more directly, inspiring compassion and the wish for knowledge that heals and inspires. Love moves beyond self and obligation to manifest more broadly in our actions, and joy stabilizes into equanimity that removes fear and empowers commitment. In this way, the benefits of practicing Kum Nye can transcend the limits of our specific embodiment and generate merit that uplifts all beings.
The Need to BE
Generally, our inability to feel complete in ourselves, to simply BE, compels us to spend much of our time looking for something in a restless, hungry way-friends, distractions, comfort, entertainment-even knowledge. However we might rationalize our motivations, the cause of this restlessness can often be traced to a lack of satisfaction. Most of us eventually reach the point where we realize that something is missing in our lives.
Kum Nye can balance, integrate, and energize the whole of our being, opening clearer channels of communication between senses, body, and mind and inviting a sense of wholeness and calm that is deeply refreshing. When all aspects of our being coexist harmoniously, each supporting and complementing the other, our inner environment becomes happier; our feeling-tones are more generally light and joyful, and our interactions with others are more consistently pleasant. When body and mind are in perfect balance, we are whole and complete: nothing is missing. It is here we may respond to a new vision of human destiny and take the next steps on our spiritual path.
The body, the vehicle that supports and sustains our life, is our most intimate friend, and we need to do all we can to make it more healthy and happy. The mind is also our constant companion; whatever it feels, we feel also, so it is a special pleasure to nourish it with bliss. If you ask, "How is it possible for us to give bliss to our minds at willfi" The answer is as close to us as our own bodies, breath, and senses. We can act now to attune the eyes to beauty, the ears to the quality of sound, the nose and tongue to the subtleties of fragrance and taste, and the body to its own vital energy. Then the senses can bring light and joy to the mind dulled with boredom or bound up with negative thoughts and emotions. The mind becomes joyful, awareness expands, and negativity loses its hold. When the mind is content, even the ego becomes mellow; free of the need to protect, assert itself, and defend, it develops the beauty of humility.
Kum Nye can be your gift to yourself, your gesture of gratitude for your embodiment and all the cells and systems that enable you to experience the joy of being alive. Since everyone needs happiness and relief from the frustrations of a busy and often meaningless life, I hope you will make efiorts on the behalf of others and dedicate joy to them also. Doing this will greatly magnify the benefits of your efi orts.
If you integrate Kum Nye into your daily routine, you can do many of its postures and exercises as you go about your daily activities, during short breaks from work, and in morning and evening. Then, when you meet with dificult times, you will have knowledge and techniques that will help you cope more efi ectively.
Whatever your activities, you may someday learn that it is possible to have a more fiexible way of being. If you develop your sensory capacities, you may come to view your daily activities in a more aesthetic light. If you give joy to your mind, you may fi nd ways to transform your attitudes and apply new knowledge and techniques that bring ease to daily life and work. Whatever you do can become an exercise in Kum Nye, stimulating imagination and creativity.
This book is my way of sharing my thoughts with you. For a long time, I have been considering how to present the more advanced aspects of Kum Nye in a practical way that can benefi t individuals in their daily lives and also support those who wish to engage more profound meditative states. Recently, I worked with Elizabeth Cook to compile my ideas into this book, and added exercises designed to convey a sense of the physical, sensory, and mental experiences possible through Kum Nye.
While some orientation is helpful, words alone cannot connect you with Kum Nye: it is the practice that gives you the direct experience, and it is the experience that enables you to transform the quality of your life. Since the benefits of Kum Nye accumulate with regular practice, it is important that you select four to fi ve exercises from this volume about every three months and remind yourself to practice one or two of them at least twice daily. In all you do, remember that Kum Nye is your armament against negativity that scratches from within or afiects you through others. It is knowledge that you can master and sustain through mindfulness.
Eventually, when you are familiar with the Kum Nye way of intensifying feelings and sensations, you will not need any reminder-relaxation will come naturally, because you embody the knowledge and attitudes cultivated through Kum Nye. Whatever you are looking for-power, positive feelings, a companion, or love-these are nothing in comparison to the richness of spirit Kum Nye can provide. There is no need to renounce or to give up what you cherish. You can accommodate all manifestations of mind and make joy out of whatever you do.
Your body/mind embodiment is your personal treasure house, a source of beautiful feelings and profound satisfaction. If you appreciate its value and learn how to nurture it well, Kum Nye will show you how to enter the heart of your being and cultivate your inner riches more fully. Kum Nye will awaken the joy of being; Kum Nye will bring you home.
Over the past twenty years, those who have made Kum Nye a part of their lives have had positive experiences. Students who have learned Kum Nye at the Nyingma Institute in Berkeley have gone on to train as teachers and now ofier Kum Nye programs in Argentina, Brazil, Germany, and Holland. Some of these long-term practitioners have recently expressed their appreciation for Kum Nye in brief comments that have been included at the end of this volume.
Kum Nye Relaxation has been published around the world in fifteen languages and a photobook edition entitled Tibetan Relaxation has been issued in English, Dutch, French, German, and Portuguese.
I hope The Joy of Being inspires new practitioners and encourages experienced ones to allow Kum Nye to touch their hearts more directly. May these essays inspire your practice and ease your journey through life.
Tarthang Tulku Odiyan, August 1, 2005
The Working Basis
In all this world, there is nothing more important than appreciating the preciousness of our human embodiment and doing all we can to increase health and happiness for ourselves and others.
Those of us caught in the confusing currents of modern life may tend to set aside this priority until we become ill or exhausted. But here is where Kum Nye can be most helpful. Its exercises awaken the knowledge we need to enrich our lives and benefit all of humanity, yet they also fit easily into our daily routines. If you love yourself, if you love others, the rewards of practicing Kum Nye will be greater than you can imagine.
So it is important to make strong efiorts to develop this knowledge and apply it. You can do this by reminding yourself daily: There is beauty that you have not yet seen. There is sound that carries consciousness into heavenly spheres. There is fragrance more exquisite than the rarest incense. There is joy that expands beyond ecstasy and dissolves the seeds of sufiering. You deserve to experience all these treasures and manifest their significance to all humanity.
Kum Nye is Life
Kum Nye is a way to relax body and mind, to awaken the senses, to nurture ourselves with enjoyment and create a rich foundation for all life activities. While the exercises presented here begin simply, with a focus on the body, their benefits extend to all aspects of our lives. Whatever our interests, occupations, or personal situations, Kum Nye develops our ability to heal and energize the whole of our being. It refreshes the senses and cultivates their higher capacities, opening gateways to experience savored by yogic practitioners of ancient times. Experience accumulates and deepens, unfolding meaning that finds expression in happiness that improves the quality of our actions and our relationships with others. Developing from this foundation, meditation reveals new dimensions of bliss, far beyond what we may now be able to imagine. This kind of knowledge is missing in modern life, where people tend to equate happiness with having an
abundance of money, power, or material possessions, or a prestigious job, or work that one considers important or takes great personal pleasure in pursuing. They may have thought they were living the American Dream by working hard and striving after material goals, only to discover that these goals cannot in themselves produce satisfaction or meaning. Even with hard work, the road to success may be long and beset with problems.
Those who reach their material goals soon fi nd their time filled by job and family responsibilities, by the drive to acquire and maintain possessions, and by a complex array of social and personal obligations. However easy it becomes to possess the latest technology or luxuries unknown to previous generations, many people are not really happy or content.
Shortages are appearing in every area of modern life: shortages of funds, shortages of opportunity, shortages of joy and satisfaction. Day after day, our time is taken over; every moment seems pre-determined, every activity scheduled. Even our entertainments are governed by the pressure of time's constraints. Time seems to be ruling us, squeezing the juice out of every experience.
Simultaneously, distractions abound. Hunger for sensation, or perhaps for escape, leads many to abuse their bodies further by indulging in excesses that complicate their lives still more. However intense these pleasures may be, they tend to be short-lived, and may only increase the driving intensity of desire. At some point we may realize that we are not getting enough enjoyment in life.
Kum Nye awakens joy and helps us make life worth living. Its physical, breathing, massage, and mental exercises promote health of body, mind, and spirit, empowering us to create a positive and productive way of life. We learn how to stimulate the nerves and activate the body centers (cakras) through simple postures and movements. Blockages release and cakras open; vitalizing streams of energy fiow through them to and from the senses, supporting the vitality, creativity, and wholeness that expresses the abundance of the human spirit.
By developing the capacities of our senses, we can satisfy the eye hungry for beauty, the mind hungry for meaning, and the heart hungry for love that does not disappoint. We can experience the wealth of pleasures that our senses can provide, so we will never be anxious or lonely, dissatisfied or depressed, yearning and looking for something to fill the emptiness inside. Then it may be possible to manifest the abundance inherent in our nature: abundance of life, abundance of knowledge, and abundance of bliss. If we are inspired to give abundantly as well, we may experience the joy of generosity free from obligation and self-interest. In all these ways, physical, mental, and spiritual, practicing Kum Nye can help us to manifest the bright promise of human being.
The benefits of Kum Nye are fulfi lling and convincing; when you experience them for yourself, you will need no further motivation. The yoga of Kum Nye
unifies the difierent aspects of our being and makes us whole. Fully in touch with our own bodies and minds, we can rely on our own resources for happiness. Free of neediness, we can be a good friend to self and others. We will not be so concerned with ordinary problems, but will be sustained with joy in all we do.
Meditation can elevate the yogic practices of Kum Nye into sources of inconceivable bliss so rarifi ed that it goes beyond thought and beyond any sense of self or location in time and place. Since we can become attached to such rapturous experiences, they too will eventually have to be transcended, and accomplishing this will take the guidance of a qualifi ed master. But from where we are now, we need the pleasure that Kum Nye can give to relieve the shortages in our lives and break the patterns that bind us to frustration and pain.
For now, it is important to continue to build and strengthen the Kum Nye experience. These practices stimulate the subtle energies of body and mind. Sensations are likely to become more intense; they may well up spontaneously in ways that enrapture the mind and brighten perceptions, and they may manifest in dreams that communicate deep levels of signifi cance.
If you persist in your practice, you will find that mind and heart have more openness for joy and less and less room for pain and negativity. All these changes are signs that you have begun to embody Kum Nye. From there, you can connect more fully with the spiritual path and follow in the footsteps of the great Bodhisattvas.
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SOCHI, Russia — In the wake of disappointing results that have seen its speedskaters on the verge of their worst Olympic performance in three decades, U.S. Speedskating may change the one factor it controls — its race suit.
Under Armour heralded the Mach 39 — the much-hyped suit the apparel company developed with the help of defense contractor Lockheed Martin — as the fastest speedskating suit in production.
In Sochi, U.S. speedskaters have yet to win a medal.
On Thursday, U.S. Speedskating took steps to cover a meshed area on the back of the suit worn by Heather Richardson, the top-ranked women's skater in the world who finished seventh in the 1,000 meters. The mesh was designed to vent body by Under Armour, the Baltimore-based sports apparel brand, but some worried it was creating drag.
By Thursday evening in Sochi, officials with the U.S. national governing body were working to get approval to race in skin suits worn during World Cup competition. Six events remain on Sochi's speedskating calendar.
Like the Olympic suits, the World Cup suits also are produced by Under Armour. Some skaters brought their old suits with them to Sochi. The rest would have to be delivered.
"I know everyone's working around the clock to try and fix the problem," said athlete Brian Hansen, who already skated in the 500 and 1,000 meter races. "If the entire U.S. team is underperforming compared to our potential — literally everyone — you can only look at so many factors. Is it the suit? Is it our preparation?
"The suit's the easiest thing to fix."
Kevin Haley, a senior vice president with Under Armour, said in a statement: "We are committed to providing Team USA with the best possible gear, and Mach 39 is the most scientifically advanced and rigorously tested suit ever featured in Olympic competition. While a multitude of factors ultimately determine on-ice success, many skaters have posted personal-best sea-level heat times, split times or race times this week, and we're rooting for that to translate into medals over these next couple of days."
In a statement, Ted Morris, executive director of U.S. Speed Skating, said many factors determine Olympic success.
"The evidence does not suggest that the suits have contributed to the disappointing results to date," Morris said. "We're working with our athletes, coaches, trainers and Under Armour to figure out what we can do to produce better results for Team USA at these Winter Olympic Games."
But U.S. Speedskating president Mike Plant confirmed replacing suits is being considered. He downplayed the potential change, likening the situation to changing skiing equipment in the middle of competition.
"We have a lot of people asking a lot of questions about what the best combinations is for us now," Plant said. "No decision yet."
When asked if suits will be replaced, Hansen's coach Nancy Swider-Peltz — who is not part of the national team coaching staff — said, "there was working being done" for old suits to be used in Sochi.
After six events — three each for men and women — the best finish for the United States is Richardson's seventh place in the 1,000. On Wednesday, Shani Davis — the world's top-ranked men's skater — finished eighth, well off his world-record and ending his bid to become the first American man to win three consecutive golds in the same Olympic event.
Two days earlier, Tucker Fredricks, considered the top pure sprinter in the U.S., finished 26th in the 500.
"We're disappointed with the way we're performing," Plant said.
The suit unveiled for Sochi was not used in competition prior to the Games.
Working in partnership with Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin, Under Armour relied on computer modeling based on filming the athletes and hundreds of hours of wind tunnel testing to design the new skinsuit. The skaters tested versions of the suits over the past two years, but didn't see the finished product until after making the Olympic team in December's U.S. trials.
Under Armour claimed that its Mach 39 outperformed Nike's Swift Suit that debuted for the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. The company told skaters the new suits were designed specifically for conditions inside Adler Arena Skating Center, with features like dimples to make the suit slippery in the wind and a slick fabric inside the thighs to reduce friction.
In an email to The Baltimore Sun after the U.S. team landed in Sochi but before competition started, Richardson talked about the importance of having the right suit and called the Mach 39 "revolutionary."
"It's all about having the fastest suit," Richardson said. "You want the skin to fit as tight as possible but comfortable enough to move your arms and legs, of course."
One marketing expert said Thursday he didn't believe questions raised over the suit would hurt the Under Armour brand.
"It's not a type of clothing material that's purchased by the mainstream consumer, and I don't think most Olympics fans would associate Under Armour with the reason the athlete is not medaling," said Matt Saler, director of sports marketing for Baltimore advertising and marketing firm IMRE.
"I still think Under Armour associating themselves with the speedskaters makes a lot of sense from a global brand awareness perspective," he said. "Ultimately, it still comes down to the athletes to win."
The U.S. has won 85 medals in speedskating and short-track, the most in any Olympic sport for the country. The last time the U.S. failed to medal in speedskating? Sarajevo Winter games, 1984.
"With this skin suit we don't have any results from it — at least not any positive results," Hansen said.

subset: commoncrawl


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Yesterday a band of brothers from around London and Portsmouth gathered together at Finsbury Park mosque to hold a qiyamullail (literally 'waking/standing up at night', correct me if im wrong)
Because in our busy worldly schedule, we must remember that this world, and everything in it, was created by the Almighty. What better way to show gratefulness than to sacrifice our sleep (which is very very nice) and pray, but of course not many of us are capable of doing that.
And then in the morning we all had a breakfast of Nasi Lemak =) and teh tarik:
Which was quite spicy my tongue turned a brighter red (i was thinking of putting a photo here, but for the sake of humanity decided against it).
Makan sampai licin
Then after Zuhr i went back home but before that, stopped at the best place for eating grilled chicken, Griller's @ Finsbury Park.
This stuff is seriously good. You know places in KL where we can get really nice briyani like Insaf at Jalan TAR? That's like nasi goreng here. Exaggerations intended, but that's what Mr Ravi told me once, and i thought he was talking crap.
After Nasi Lemak and Grilled Chicken and probably thousands of calories (most of us went for basketball in the morning, but i stayed and slept, for i hadn't slept i'd have written nonsense in here), i finally went home sweet home.
Oh yeah, thank you to Hafidz for transferring ownership of these Clarks shoes for only 8 pounds (FACTORY OUTLET PRICE 20 pounds):
Now that i think of it, its kinda funny. We were in a factory outlet store the other day helping Akmal find shoes for his parents. I saw these shoes and i thought i wanted to buy them, but since Hafidz wanted them i said ok, go ahead and i didn't buy them cause that would make either of us un-unique.
But suddenly on Tuesday he asked me whether i wanted to buy the shoes (he only wore it what, 5 times?) for 10 pounds and i said '8 pounds, ko dsperate nk jual kn..hahaha' and that's how i got my new second-hand shoes ;) It still looks new to me, and i got it for less. Life has sometimes weird and unexpected ways of turning out. Praise the Almighty :))
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Realizations :)
Yesterday a band of brothers from around London and Portsmouth gathered together at Finsbury Park mosque to hold a qiyamullail (literally 'waking/standing up at night', correct me if im wrong)
Posted by The Author at 11:44 PM
1 comments:
- Anonymous said...
peh..terliur tngok nasi..
- January 24, 2010 at 2:13 AM


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Go Green with The Cascade Team - Homes with living roofs
Posted by The Cascade Team Real Estate on Wednesday, September 19th, 2012 at 5:04pm
By Marcelle Sussman Fischler | Forbes.com – Mon, Sep 17, 2012
The Meera Sky Garden House in Singapore (Photo: Guz Architects) Carpets of green have topped dwellings since ancient times. If you believe the legend, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon blanketed an entire palace in exotic greenery. And during the Viking days, sod roofs made of earth were all the rage.
Once a relic of earlier civilizations, living rooftops are blooming once more, albeit with modern technologies like irrigation and drainage systems — eco-friendly alternatives to materials like asphalt or tile.
"You have to have a bit of a green thumb," said Katy Brahler, who along with husband, Gary, "wanted to go as green as we could," when they hired Cleveland architect Robert Maschke to renovate their three-bedroom cottage near Lake Erie a little over two years ago.
The Brahlers aren't alone. The green roof market alone grew by 115% last year, according to Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, a not-for-profit organization touting the benefits of turf roofing.
And there are many: according to the EPA, green roofs insulate, filter pollution, reduce storm water run-off, and naturally cool the air, reducing what's known as the "heat island effect."
Here are four homes that put green roofs to spectacular use.
Meera Sky Garden House, Singapore
The top roof of this modern home on the island of Sentosa (adjacent to the main island Singapore) is slow growing and easy to maintain carpet grass but still keeps the residence cool, according to Guz Wilkinson of Guz Architects. Wilkinson designed the home in a new development where the plots are not large and homes are built close together.
A solid wall provides privacy to each side and the home's layered effect makes each story feel like a single-story dwelling with a private outdoor garden.
Contemporary Cottage, Bay Village, Ohio
Situated steps from Lake Erie, the owners of this three-bedroom cottage wanted to include as many green elements as possible when they renovated three years ago. Cleveland architect Robert Maschke used a steel roof on the original portion but suggested a sloped green roof and vertical wall for the exterior of a new master bedroom suite.
Pacific Heights Townhouse, San Francisco
Some green roofs aren't just for plants. In urban areas where outdoor space is limited and the views are best from the top, residents use them, too, says architect Jonathan Feldman. To get more greenery and less concrete in his clients' lives, Feldman placed living areas on the top floor of this 1906 stucco-clad Victorian (he also added skylights). A large portion of the rear space was removed to make space for a roof garden and outdoor lounge space. "It's not just the plants that get the view," Feldman says.
Natural Balance, Vancouver, Canada
Nick Kerchum, an owner of naturalbalancehomes.com, built himself a green home with a green roof in 2009. It has three living roofs blazing with pink and fuschia-toned plants, one on the garage, one on the top roof next to the roof next and one on the main level roof. The garden is completely self-sufficient. It doesn't need to be watered or pruned.


text: You are in Altstadt and search for an Spray Day nearby? Simply press the 'locate' symbol and you are instantly provided with the route and useful information of the Spray Day that is closest to you. The interactive map features familiar functions such as zooming and panning the map section. And with the optional location list you can easily browse through the surrounding Spray Days.


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When animals want to prove their reproductive fitness, they engage in some pretty fancy ornamental displays (things like peacock feathers and deer antlers). Few organisms pull this off as well as the male Japanese rhino beetle, however — an insect with a disproportionately massive horn on its head. And new research indicates that this horn is far from a cosmetic trick to lure mates, and is in fact a potent indicator of good health — one that cannot be faked.
Writing in his Not Exactly Rocket Science column at Discovery, Ed Yong, points us to a recent study conducted by Doug Emlen from the University of Montana. Emlen has discovered that the growth of the horns is closely tied to molecules that show how well-nourished the beetles are. In fact, it's a very special body part — one that can only respond to these particular molecules; no nourishment, no horn growth.
Specifically, the beetles are sensitive to insulin — or lack thereof. Emlen's study shows how rhino beetle horns are as much as eight times more sensitive to the disruption of this chemical than other parts of its body.
Consequently, Emlen has concluded that the ornament is a bona fide indicator of a beetle's health — it can't be faked. A weak and starving beetle cannot produce anything that remotely resembles the horns of a healthy rival. As Yong notes, "females can rely on the size of the horns to judge a potential partner's health."
Yong says that this is a bit different than some explanations that try to explain the prevalence of animal ornamentation, what's called the "handicap principle." He explains:
It states that low-quality individuals can't bear the cost of, say, a long tail or a magnificent set of antlers. They would be too conspicuous or heavy. They need strength and health to pull off. Cheats couldn't bear the burden.
You can understand how the handicap principle would work for a signal that's already exaggerated, but obviously, those signals didn't start off that way. They would have had much humbler and smaller origins, when the costs of bearing them would have been low. So, at this early stage of evolution, why didn't weak individuals cheat by producing larger ornaments?
Emlen's rhino beetles provide an answer. The signals can't be faked not because they're a drain, but because they're intimately tied into an individual's physical condition. It's not that cheaters can't carry the burden of big ornaments. It's that cheaters can't exist.
Read Yong's entire article here. You can also check out the entire study.
Image NH/Shutterstock.com.


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ANNOUNCEMENT: GeoWoodstock 2018 has been awarded Giga Status!
GeoWoodstock, the original Mega Event, has been built by the community for the community. As the founder JoGPS said it started as all about the numbers but continues as all about the number of new friends you make and smiles you share.
To get more information about the event check out the following links:
Event Listing: http://coord.info/GC5AX15
Facebook Community Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/GeoWoodstock2018/
Official Website: https://geowoodstock.us
Thank you to the amazing support from our key sponsors: Geocaching Clermont County Convention & Visitors Bureau Cachly - Geocaching for iOS GC Trackablesand to the GeoWoodstock 2018 Ambassador Crew whom has dedicated the last 4 months to this adventure. Most of all, Congratulations to the Global Geocaching Community!
GIVEAWAY: On November 1st 2017 we will draw 5 winners to gift a personalized set of 24k Gold plated "GeoWoodstock 2018 GC-Mini" tags. *** To be entered for this giveaway just click LIKE on this post!
#GWGIGA #GWS2018 #Geocaching


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Brad Bird, the guy who directed "Iron Giant" and "Ratatouille" has gotten himself a December 19, 2014 release date for his new flick "1952". No real word on what the alien encounter type film will be about but George Clooney is attached to star so honestly who really cares what it's about. George Clooney. The guy craps ladies underwear. I have no idea what that means.
I have no idea what "Smiley" is about but I've seen the damn slasher from the flick all over the place. Well I mean not like out walking around or anything but on sites and stuff. I'm not crazy. Well the flick is finally finding its way onto DVD on February 12th. If I did see him in public I think I'd tell him to take off his silly mask and maybe we could enjoy some lunch together. I think we would split some wings or something.
A new show titled "They Came Back" looks to be coming to the mighty US sometime in the near future. The show is based on a French movie and TV series and focuses on a group of people trying to find their way home who also happened to have been dead for 7 years. FremantleMedia Enterprises has picked up the rights to the project and I would say if they change one thing about the show it's the whole french thing. They should definitely make everyone speak English.
Good news every half naked girl on twitter who calls themselves "Penny Dreadful", you're about to get a crap load more followers. Sam Mendes and John Logan, the guys behind "Skyfall" are confirmed to be creating a new show for Showtime with that name. The series will place some of the literary world's most famous monsters in Victorian London. I don't know if it would happen but how fun would it be if they put them all in one apartment together? So you know Dr. Frankenstein uses all the toothpaste and Dr. Jekyll looses his shit over it.
I've never seen an episode of "Lost" but I know people are nutso for it and I know the final episode was crap. I think that's enough for me. But the rest of the interwebs might be excited to learn that Elizabeth Mitchell is once again teaming up with J.J. Abrams for a new show titled "Revolution." Mitchell will play a loving mother on the show that focuses on a family that must reunite in a post-apocalyptic world. Andrea Roth was originally set to play the role and she was on "Rescue Me" which is a show I did watch and no one hated the last episode of so I disagree with this move.
Olly Blackburn has replaced Gary Fleder in the director role in the upcoming Dimension Films slasher flick "Kristy." The film focuses on a young girl who stays in her college dorm over Thanksgiving break and finds herself stalked by 4 masked men. You might remember Olly Blackburn as the director of 2008's "Donkey Punch." I remember him as the guy who directed a movie I thought was a porn but actually turned out to be just a bunch of rich kids on a boat doing drugs and killing each other.
"Smiley" is a new horror film about a serial killer that can be summoned through the internet and actually looks not too shabby. Sort of. This isn't the news here though. The news is that the film will receive an October 11th release date via something called Tugg, Inc. which allows people to vote on what movies will be available at their local theaters. I don't know how that works so I'm not going to bother trying to explain. The film will also be available for viewing on the movie's website in both a PG-13 and R rated form. Later on it will also be available on VOD, DVD and Blu-Ray. Even later on though it will be available via interpretive dance performed by a local group of elderly tap dancers with hearts of gold.
If you saw "Shark night 3D" and thought "I really hope to see more of these actors sometime soon" then you're in luck because Chris Zylka, who was also on 2 episodes of "Hannah Montana", has been added to the cast of the second season of "American Horror Story". No word as to what role he'll be playing and honestly who cares. The guy fought sharks, in 3D, anything he does is gold baby. Gold!


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Common Health Questions
NHS website - What causes bleeding during pregnancy?
What causes bleeding during pregnancy?
Bleeding during pregnancy is relatively common, with around 1 in 10 women experiencing some bleeding.
However, always contact your GP or midwife immediately if you have bleeding at any stage during your pregnancy. It's not often caused by something serious, but it's important to make sure. Lie down and rest until you can see a healthcare professional and do not take any medication while you are waiting.
Early pregnancy
In early pregnancy, you might get some light bleeding, called "spotting", which is when the foetus plants itself into the wall of your womb. This is also known as implantation bleeding and often occurs around the time that your first period after conception would have been due.
During the first three months of pregnancy, vaginal bleeding can be a sign of miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy (when the foetus starts to grow inside your fallopian tubes, instead of your womb).
Most miscarriages occur during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and, sadly, most cannot be prevented. Ectopic pregnancies are much less common than miscarriages, affecting about 1 in 100 pregnancies.
Later stages of pregnancy
In the later stages of pregnancy, vaginal bleeding can have many different causes. Some of the more common causes are described below.
Cervical ectropion
Cervical ectropion is where there are harmless changes in the neck of the womb (cervix). It's the most common cause of bleeding during the later stages of pregnancy.
A 'show'
A "show" is where a plug of mucus from the cervix comes away just before labour. It can look like a lump of discharge and may be bloodstained. If it happens before you are due to give birth, it might be a sign of early labour.
Placental abruption
Placental abruption is a serious condition, where the placenta starts to come away from the inside of the womb wall. It usually causes stomach pain, even if there is no bleeding. If it happens close to your baby's due date, your baby may be delivered early.
Placenta praevia
Placenta praevia is where the placenta lies low in the womb, partially or completely blocking the baby's path to the cervix.
The placenta usually moves gradually upwards during pregnancy, but if it's still low when the baby is due to be born, you might need to have a caesarean section.
Vaginal bleeding in the later stages of pregnancy can also be a sign of a miscarriage. However, miscarriages are very rare after the third month of pregnancy.
Finding the cause of your bleeding
To work out what is causing your bleeding, you may need to have a vaginal or pelvic examination, an ultrasound scan, or blood tests to check your hormone levels. Your doctor will also ask you about other symptoms, such as cramp, pain and dizziness, and what foods, medication and exercise you've been taking recently.
If your symptoms are not severe and your baby is not due for a while, you will be monitored and, in some cases, kept in hospital for observation. You might have to stay in overnight or until the birth, depending on the cause of the bleeding and how far you are into your pregnancy. This will enable staff to keep an eye on you and your baby, so they can act quickly if there are any further problems.
Further information:


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Gardens and the Work of Environmental Memory
Professor Lawrence Buell (Harvard University)
Thursday, April 11, 5:30 pm
To register please contact Susannah Italiano.
Gardens and the practice of gardening offer rich and tangled combinations of remembrance and forgetting. These vary according to garden type – aesthetic or utilitarian, public or private, "wild" or "formal," secular or sacred – and according to the background and motives of the experiencer. Ranging through numerous examples of garden history and garden literature across times and cultures, Professor Buell will take note of some important ways in which gardens can embody or activate environmental memory in the different meanings of that term: personal, folk-collective, national, evolutionary, spiritual. But how closely does a passion for gardens or gardening correlate with environmental stewardship beyond those privileged garden spaces? To what extent does it nurture an "ecological conscience," a sense of connectedness and accountability to the natural world? To those larger questions of environmental ethics Professor Buell will also suggest some answers.
Lawrence Buell is a Visiting Scholar at Dumbarton Oaks from March 18 until April 18. At Harvard, he has taught courses on environmental(ist) literature, American Studies, and history in the nineteenth-century Anglophone world.
Professor Buell (AB, Princeton, PhD, Cornell, both in English), teaches courses in the history of American literature and culture, and has a particular interest in environmental(ist) literature, art, and history in the United States and the Anglophone world at large. The nineteenth century, particularly the antebellum era, is his period of greatest expertise.
He is the author of New England Literary Culture (1986), The Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, Nature Writing, and the Formation of American Culture (1995), Writing for an Endangered World: Literature, Culture, and Environment in the United States and Beyond (2001), Emerson (2003), The Future of Environmental Criticism (2005), and (forthcoming 2013) The Dream of the Great American Novel. He is co-editor, with Wai Chee Dimock, of Shades of the Planet: American Literature as World Literature (2007).
Writing for an Endangered World won the American Culture Association's Cawelti Prize for the best book of 2001 in the field of American Cultural Studies; and Emerson won the 2003 Christian Gauss Award for outstanding literary criticism. Professor Buell won the 2007 Modern Language Association Jay Hubbell Award for lifetime contributions to American literary studies.
At Dumbarton Oaks, Professor Buell will be researching how gardens have served in world history, particularly transatlantic history from the colonial era and beyond, as sites of personal and collective memory. This research is part of a book in progress on The Uses and Abuses of Environmental Memory. Professor Buell will give a public lecture on "Gardens and the Work of Environmental Memory" on Thursday, April 11, at 5:30 pm in the Music Room.
An interview with Lawrence Buell
Professor Buell sat down with John Beardsley, Director of Garden and Landscape Studies at Dumbarton Oaks, to answer a few questions.
You are known as a pioneer of ecocriticism. What is ecocriticism? How is it different from environmental criticism, or are the terms interchangeable?
"Ecocriticism" was coined in the mid-1990s at about the same time the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) was organized, as an umbrella term to designate the then-new movement to identify the distinctive, defining ways that works of literature and literary history have engaged environmental issues and concerns, not only in recent times but throughout history. "Ecocriticism" was and still aspires to be an inclusive project covering different and sometimes conflicting methods of inquiry, literary genres, and historical persuasions. In the early 2000s I proposed "environmental criticism" as a preferable master-term because the "eco" seemed too restrictive to me. It seemed to tie criticism too closely to the life-sciences and to imply a specious division between "built" and "natural" environments. But my general purpose was the same, in the sense of suggesting an inclusive field. In that sense, the two terms or concepts should be seen as synonymous. As a side note: although some have followed my lead, ecocriticism remains the preferred term; and I agree that it has a more catchy ring than the admittedly rather unglamorous-sounding "environmental criticism."
After what I've just said about the expansiveness of the ecocritical movement it should come as no surprise to learn that it is more a concourse than a doctrine, more an inter-discipline than an inquiry that has rested content within literature studies alone. Ecocritics have turned for inspiration to a host of other fields across the human and natural sciences from religion to anthropology to architecture to statistics. Different emphases or fashions have predominated at different points during the movement's twenty-year history. By the same token, ecocriticism has begun to spread beyond literature across the other expressive arts to theater, film, art history, and music. This scholarly expansion, of course, also attempts to reflect and respond to the work of creative practitioners in all these genres.
As a historian of American literature, how did you come to be involved in ecocriticism?
This story could be told in a way that makes my ecocritical turn (nearly two decades after finishing graduate school) seem either deeply purposeful or almost completely fortuitous. On the one hand, in retrospect I see myself as having been prepared for it from my college years, indeed from my exurban southern Pennsylvania boyhood, by my fondness for the Romantic poets, and for the American Transcendentalists and American nature writers—especially Henry David Thoreau—and by the enthusiasms of my parents, my mother for natural history and my father's activism in dealing with the threat of runaway suburbanization that he sought to combat as a stalwart for many years on the local planning commission. On the other hand, my research and teaching followed a more or less traditional path until the early 1980s, when I was invited to join the then-infant interdisciplinary environmental studies initiative at my then-venue of Oberlin College by developing a literature and environment course as one of its core offerings in the humanities. The excitement of being part of this new venture, in particular the chance to work closely with a much broader spectrum of students than before, including eager science majors otherwise humanities-averse, made me a permanent convert to ecocriticism first as teacher and then as scholar, all the more so because I realized that the state of literature studies in the early 80s was such as to make it necessary for me to invent a new analytical toolkit for this fledgling movement. Out of all that came The Environmental Imagination (1995) and my more recent ecocritical books.
What brings you to Dumbarton Oaks? In what ways do you find the community conducive to your research?
First and foremost, the opportunity to deepen my sincere but spottily-grounded enthusiasm for garden and landscape history amidst invitingly beautiful surroundings in the company of what I had been given to understand—and rightly!—would be a stimulating and companionable working collective of fellows with varied interests from whom I knew I could learn as well as, I hope, contributing in the process. Beyond that, I can't emphasize too strongly how refreshing and fruitful it has been for me to be able to find all the pertinent materials readily available in one place, rather than dispersed among a half-dozen branch libraries or squirreled away in an offshore depository as so much of the collection at Harvard is. Last but not least, both my wife Kim, who is here with me, and I are enthusiastic gardeners who relish the opportunity for daily contact with the wonderful gardens of Dumbarton Oaks as the spring comes in.
What role do you see for Dumbarton Oaks in sustaining the ecological values that are central to ecocriticism?
The pursuit of gardening and the experience of immersion in gardens as a visitor have long been crucial pathways for initiating and sustaining intimate contact with the natural world. (Of course the nature, depth, and durability of that contact varies hugely with the disposition of the gardener or gardener-visitor and with the type of garden—"gardens" being a highly elastic category that stretches from tiny vegetable plots to sculpture parks and beyond.). As the world continues to urbanize, the importance of such contact—relative to say, immersion in unspoiled "wilderness" tracts—will surely increase. That in itself ensures an important future for Dumbarton Oaks both as a research facility and as a site for visitors. Beyond that, I have found a number of Dumbarton Oaks' publications in the garden and landscape area valuable for expanding my own horizons, including and sometimes especially when I happen to disagree with an individual scholar's position; and I hope that this sector of the publication program will continue to be supported vigorously. But I don't mean to sound like a single-issue advocate here, of Garden and Landscape at the expense of Dumbarton Oaks' pre-Columbian and Byzantine commitments. On the contrary, I've found that one of the unexpected benefits of being here—one that might perhaps be pursued more systematically—is the challenge of stretching one's mind to bring into focus how those three disparate domains intersect as well as differ, as in one D.O. collection a dozen years or so ago on the history of Byzantine gardens.


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Today is Wednesday, April 2, the 92nd day of 2014. There are 273 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On April 2, 1914, British actor Sir Alec Guinness, whose roles in a 66-year career ranged from Hamlet to Obi-Wan Kenobi in "Star Wars," was born in London.
On this date:
In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon and his expedition landed in present-day Florida. (Some historians say the landing actually occurred the next day, on April 3.)
In 1792, Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized establishment of the U.S. Mint.
In 1863, during the Civil War, the Richmond Bread Riot erupted in the Confederate capital as a mob outraged over food shortages and rising prices attacked and looted stores.
In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany, saying, "The world must be made safe for democracy." (Congress declared war four days later.)
In 1932, aviator Charles A. Lindbergh and John F. Condon went to a cemetery in The Bronx, N.Y., where Condon turned over $50,000 to a man in exchange for Lindbergh's kidnapped son. (The child, who was not returned, was found dead the following month.)
In 1942, Glenn Miller and his orchestra recorded "American Patrol" at the RCA Victor studios in Hollywood.
In 1956, the soap operas "As the World Turns" and "The Edge of Night" premiered on CBS-TV.
In 1968, the science-fiction film "2001: A Space Odyssey," produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, had its world premiere in Washington, D.C.
In 1974, French President Georges Pompidou, 62, died in Paris.
In 1982, several thousand troops from Argentina seized the disputed Falkland Islands, located in the south Atlantic, from Britain. (Britain seized the islands back the following June.)
In 1994, former actress and consumer reporter Betty Furness died in New York at age 78.
In 2005, Pope John Paul II died in his Vatican apartment at age 84.
Ten years ago: A judge in New York declared a mistrial in the grand-larceny case against two former Tyco executives after a juror apparently received an intimidating letter and phone call for supposedly siding with the defense. (Former CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark H. Swartz were convicted in a retrial of looting Tyco of more than $600 million in corporate bonuses and loans; each was sentenced to 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison. Both were paroled in Jan. 2014.) Flags of seven new NATO members from former communist Europe rose at alliance headquarters in Brussels for the first time, marking the biggest expansion in NATO's 55-year history.
Five years ago: Leaders of the world's rich and major developing countries met at an emergency G-20 economic summit in London; afterward, President Barack Obama hailed agreements they had reached as a "turning point in our pursuit of global economic recovery," but cautioned, "there are no guarantees." The House and Senate passed companion budget plans, giving President Obama and his allies on Capitol Hill a key victory. A 19-count federal racketeering indictment was returned against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (blah-GOY'-uh-vich); the ousted Democrat denied doing anything illegal. Penn State beat Baylor 69-63 to win the NIT title.
One year ago: North Korea said it would restart its long-shuttered plutonium reactor and increase production of nuclear weapons material, in what outsiders saw as its latest attempt to extract U.S. concessions by raising fears of war. Pope Francis prayed before the tomb of Pope John Paul II on the eighth anniversary of the beloved pontiff's death. Irish character actor Milo O'Shea, 86, died in New York.


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There is no such thing as good painting about nothing.
— Mark Rothko
This chat took place on Facebook between Jaakko Pallasvuo and Sofia Leiby on February 7th, 2015. It appears here in edited form.
There is no such thing as good painting about nothing.
— Mark Rothko
This chat took place on Facebook between Jaakko Pallasvuo and Sofia Leiby on February 7th, 2015. It appears here in edited form.
In this online exhibition, six poets approach internet language as a bodily, social, and material process.
New poetry works will be published every Monday through April 6, 2015. Co-presented by Rhizome and the New Museum as part of the First Look exhibition series; curated by Harry Burke.
Ana Maria Uribe, Escalera 3 (1999).
Ana Maria Uribe (1951-2004) was an Argentine visual poet who made work online beginning in 1997 after working in other media for many years. When she passed away in 2004, Jim Andrews (who runs Visual Poetry website vispo.com) posted a moving tribute to her work on Rhizome's mailing list, including this quote in which she recounts her formative experiences as a poetry:
I started with visual poetry in the late 60's after seeing some of Apollinaire's poems and Morgenstern's "Night Song of the Fish". Shortly afterwards I met Edgardo Antonio Vigo, who was then editing a magazine called "Diagonal Cero", devoted to visual poetry and mail art, and other poets such as Luis Pazos and Jorge de Lujan Gutierrez. They all lived in La Plata, a town which is 50 km from Buenos Aires, where I live, and we communicated by ordinary mail, either because there was a shortage of telephones at that time or to save costs, I don't remember which. I still keep some of the letters...
At a moment when many artists are again considering the medial qualities of poetry, Uribe's work seems well worth revisiting, particularly because (as Andrews noted, of her CD-ROM works) it reflected an understanding of "the poem on the screen as a performance." In the works, text is generally used pictorially (as with the ladder made of capital H's in the Escalera series), and rotated or otherwise manipulated to introduce a sense of motion into the scene. In the Rebote series, for example, the dots of lowercase i's bounce around playfully:
On December 4 at Art Basel Miami Beach, I was part of a panel titled "Instagram as an artistic medium," along with Hans Ulrich Obrist, Klaus Biesenbach, Simon de Pury, and Kevin Systrom, the CEO of Instagram.
I gave a presentation about my project Excellences & Perfections [recently presented as part of the First Look online exhibition series], a carbon copy of a talk previously given at the ICA. After my presentation, the talk became pure propaganda and the words "genuinely," "self-expression," "creativity" and "community" were mentioned without further discussion. The panel ended with Systrom saying that the platform he had created was a tool for users to be authentic.
For several weeks before the panel, Rob Horning and I had been having the following conversation on Google Drive, which deals with many of these topics. —Amalia Ulman
Ed.: Perhaps it's a little backwards to make the artist start the interview, but I thought it might work this time. What do you think?
AU: I think Rob should start; he doesn't know me, so he might have a few questions…?
Ed.:I think that's a good idea.
R: I will do some more background reading today, and return with some questions. Also, I will be this serif font for the purposes of this conversation.
Okay, I will be using this blue one—also printing some of your writings today to read through/ take notes.
Trying to get it together but need more time. I have to finish a few other things today, then I can give this my full attention tomorrow! I think I want to talk about the sort of narcissism that makes it hard for me to conduct interviews, and what that has to do with performing the self on social media—an endless interview with no interviewers and competing interviewees projecting the questions they want to answer onto an audience that may already be largely preoccupied with questions they were wishing to be asked. What keeps interviews from being performances—what can define them outside that sphere, if anything? The tactical presentation of self in social media makes the genre conventions of the Q&A suspect; we don't presume we are getting straight answers, but instead "straight answers"—a calculated pose that evokes the reified sensation of sincerity. Yet the more aggressively one tries to convey sincerity, the more cartoonish one's behavior seems to become. All the old tropes of sincerity can't withstand the foregrounding of self-construction in social-media profiles, and the way these are increasingly used to mediate reputation. Maybe this is why sad earnest types are always pleading for "new sincerity" while seeming to epitomize the ultimate nadir of insincerity. Being boring no longer connotes sincerity (or the absence of irony, which is wrongly equated with sincerity). Danger is the new sincerity.
Can one write revealingly about narcissism in a narcissistic way, or is that like trying to convey the emotion of boredom by writing sentences so boring that no one can tolerate reading them and instead finds more interesting things to do? Is there an interesting way to be boring? Is that the ultimate goal on Facebook? Is that the end Facebook has been engineered to make users pursue, given that being boring is the safest way to protect oneself from accusations of being craven or narcissistic?
Amalia Ulman's social media performance Excellences & Perfections is presented as part of First Look, the ongoing series of digital projects co-curated and copresented by Rhizome and the New Museum. For this presentation, Rhizome's new social media archiving tool was used to capture the Instagram portion of the performance. View that capture here.
Amalia Ulman, Excellences & Perfections, 2014 (detail). Performance: Instagram. Courtesy the artist.
On April 19, 2014, Amalia Ulman uploaded an image to her Instagram account of the words "Part I" in black serifed lettering on a white background. The caption read, cryptically, "Excellences & Perfections." It received twenty-eight likes.
For the next several months, she conducted a scripted online performance via her Instagram and Facebook profiles. As part of this project, titled Excellences & Perfections, Ulman underwent an extreme, semi-fictionalized makeover.
She pretended to have a breast augmentation, posting images of herself in a hospital gown and with a bandaged chest, using a padded bra and Photoshop to manipulate her image. Other elements of the makeover were not feigned; she followed the Zao Dha Diet strictly, for example, and went to pole-dancing lessons often.
Opening the Kimono by David Kravitz and Frances Stark is now on view as part of First Look, the New Museum's ongoing series of digital projects, which will now be co-curated and co-presented by Rhizome. Click here to view work.
David Kravitz and Frances Stark, Opening the Kimono (2014). iMessage conversation.
In a recorded iMessage chat, David Kravitz and Frances Stark satirize Silicon Valley culture and sext about creative labor.
When artist Frances Stark and Snapchat developer David Kravitz discussed the idea of having sex on stage during a public presentation at the New Museum last spring, it wasn't entirely surprising.
This proposal came as part of Rhizome's Seven on Seven Conference, which pairs artists and technologists for a one-day collaboration with the prompt to "make something" and then present it to the public the following day. During their presentation, neither of their bodies was on view on stage (Kravitz came up alone for the Q&A). Instead, they appeared onscreen via a live iMessage conversation.
The latest in a series of interviews with artists who have a significant body of work that makes use of or responds to network culture and digital technologies.
Genevieve Belleveau on the hood of the mobile monastery, St. Vincent DePaul Cemetery, New Orleans, 2014. Photo: Miss Megan Trosclair.
I've always found your practice really interesting and sort of futuristic in how it seems to concern itself with the faith science of "connection" as and where we find it. With your internet broadcasted reality show-performance-rituals, it was like you were tying together the rituals of spirituality with the exalted new [visual] language of technology. In this way I always felt like you were kind of an ecstatic, but now it looks like you're becoming an ascetic…?
My foray into asceticism was sparked by peak ecstatic experiences: I've always tended to vacillate between extremes of solitude and sociability in my life/art, and one inevitably informs the other. I've now re-emerged from that deeply ascetic period during which I lived in my Mobile Monastery RV under a bridge in New Orleans. At that time I was curious about a personal ecstasy that I felt existed beyond the compulsive internet use and rave/club kid culture I had become entrenched in back in NYC. I was reading Thomas Merton and wanted to know more about his ideas of solitude and silence, so I logged off Facebook and Instagram and took a pause to reflect on how that felt for me. I was primarily alone for two months, sitting still in a cold, powerless RV all day, but I let myself use Twitter as a platform to share through language alone. I've always been a comfortably hermetic person by nature, only recently learning how to function in a social sphere in a way that feels truly authentic to me. This period of silence was really important as I was able to remember and reflect upon deeply personal experiences that I had never given myself the space and time to carefully examine. It was a bit like a crowd funded arts residency or sabbatical: an interesting alternative model for artists seeking to clear a sacred space for creation.
Thursday, 2:30 am, four drinks deep, at the old Night Gallery Space, some schmoe is coming around the crowd with a lockbox and deck of cards, telling us to hand over our cell phones. "None of this can be recorded, you guys." I get a pat down, give up nothing, phone tucked safely in my coat. Most get snagged with a grunt or a whine. The process is endless. My traveling companion is on his third cigarette. (If there is one redeeming quality of this VIP-themed performance series / curatorial-themed party called Top 40 that has smeared across my last few weeks, it's that you can smoke inside.)
We're recovering or repressing. We just watched Vishwam Velandy leave a series of messages for women he claimed to have slept with, informing them, between "uhhs.." and chuckles, that he had seen a doctor and they'd better too, because he'd just been diagnosed with HIV. Then, after endless minutes, I'm getting squashed with elbows and shoulders, alternately averting my eyes and craning for a view of the floor in front of the DJ booth, where, with frat party fanfare, Eugene Kotlyarenko's girlfriend is inserting a zucchini into his ass, and a curious, deeply unpleasant combination of boredom and offense is flowering in my insides like Giardia.
After completing her informal education in Berlin's underground club scene, artist and musician Holly Herndon relocated to the Bay Area to pursue an MFA at Mills College's esteemed music program. Now continuing her studies in computer-based music at Stanford, Herndon has an inquisitive approach to technology, finding common threads among often-divided disciplines and communities: electronic music, academia, the tech sector, and contemporary art. As a result, her work is not easily categorized, whether she's composing music for brass ensembles or working on robotic sculptures with artist Conrad Shawcross, touring festivals in Europe or making dance music with heavily processed recordings of the human voice. This week, she released a 12" entitled Chorus on RVNG Intl.
Ceci Moss: Your new 12" Chorus comes out this week. The title track recalls the experience of continuous partial attention in online browsing, using audio samples derived from your own daily browsing. Chorus begins chaotically, taking form with the addition of percussion. Could you discuss the ideas behind this composition? Also, what did you use to sample your browsing history, and how did you technically create the track?
This Thursday, the Rhizome community will come together in the New Museum Sky Room to re-imagine its future. A future less bound by the nitpicking criticism of the past, the hand-wringing, the self-doubt. This is our promise to you: a profound sense of human connection, an art that can bridge the cultural gaps in an interconnected world, an app for every social problem, a better wave, a more sustainable and democratic glass of champagne. Are you brave enough to come with us on this journey?
Tickets begin at $50 and are on sale here. Follow us on Instagram for continuing updates.


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BGS operate and maintain a wide range of state-of-the-art laboratories and other facilities. These facilities, managed under the Laboratory Facilities Programme, underpin virtually all of BGS's diverse range of core and commissioned research programmes.
In addition to information on capability, you will find examples of how our science facilities contribute to BGS's research efforts.
Fluid processes, Geochemistry, Geotechnics and geophysics, Mineralogy, petrology, microanalysis and imaging
National geological model, downloads, services, modelling systems, teaching and learning
Routine and specialist geophysical logging in both open and cased holes for a wide range of hydrogeological purposes
Information on the drilling capabilities of the BGS Drilling Facility which operates out of BGS Keyworth
BGS operates three magnetic observatories in the UK.
Coring and drilling operations, geophysical surveys, sea-bed sampling, Loch, lake and inshore surveys
NERC provides world-leading scientific facilities, research ships, aircraft, analytical facilities, satellite data processing, supercomputers and specialist equipment. This page lists the earth science facilities managed by BGS.
This team utilises a wide range of earth observation techniques across applications
For further information contact Enquiries


text: Editing Systems Alliance 1 The edit could not be undone due to conflicting intermediate edits. You are not logged in. The edit could not be undone due to conflicting intermediate edits. [[File:Codex ME - Systems Alliance.png|210px|right|The Systems Alliance seal]]The [[Systems Alliance]] is the representative body of [[Earth]] and all [[human]] colonies in [[Citadel]] space. Backed by Earth's most powerful nations, the Alliance has become humanity's military, exploratory, and economic spearhead. While the Alliance is relatively new to the galactic community, it has already made a name for itself, gaining humans an [[embassy]] on the [[Presidium]]. The Alliance is governed by a parliament based at [[Arcturus Station]], which also serves as the Alliance's capital. == History == === Establishment === In 2148, a mining team on [[Mars]] made perhaps humanity's greatest discovery. After investigating the "Bermuda Triangle-like" reputation of the southern pole, the team unearthed the subterranean ruins of an ancient [[Prothean|alien]] research station, revealing incontrovertible proof of the existence of alien life. Humanity was no longer alone in the universe. [[File:Earth gmap.png|right|290px|The surface of Earth in 2183]]The impact was profound in all areas of human culture, but nowhere more so than religion. New beliefs sprang up overnight such as the Interventionary Evolutionists, who zealously proclaimed the discovery as proof that all human history had been directed and controlled by [[wikipedia:Ancient astronauts|alien forces]]. Even established religions struggled to explain extraterrestrial life. Some tried to incorporate this new-found knowledge into their dogma, some remained silent, while a few tried to stubbornly deny the evidence found on Mars. The news of the discovery dominated the media and raised questions not only about the existence and purpose of humanity, but questions about the aliens themselves. Foremost, were they still out there? While these questions had served to fracture most religions they had a unifying effect in politics. Rather than nations fighting each other over their differences, it was now "us vs. them" and the foundations of a united human front were laid. Within a year of the discovery, Earth's eighteen largest nations had drafted and ratified the Systems Alliance charter, establishing a representative political body to expand and defend human territory. Shortly thereafter, the various nations of Earth pooled their military resources to create the Systems Alliance Military. The same year, 2149, the Alliance discovered the [[Sol]] system's [[mass relay]] orbiting [[Pluto]], previously thought to be a moon, [[Charon]]. The Charon Relay propelled them into space and the reach of humanity grew quickly. === First Contact War === [[File:Humansme.jpg|left|290px|Humans during the First Contact War]]The Alliance began a rapid campaign of expansion, establishing numerous colonies and constructing a large fleet, even though it had yet to encounter another species. Maintaining this expansion policy, the Alliance activated all the mass relays it could find to seek out new resources and possible colonies. But despite this success, the Systems Alliance was not considered a serious political body, as it was considered to lack the authority of individual nations. Eight years later, humanity made first contact with another alien species and everything changed. A scout fleet consisting of three [[frigate]]s and two cargo vessels, trying to activate a mass relay, encountered a [[turian]] patrol fleet. Activating a dormant mass relay without knowing where it led had been declared illegal by the Council, though the humans did not know this. Only one of the human ships made it back to [[Shanxi]] colony, which was subsequently discovered by the turians and invaded. While individual governments remained unsure on what action should be taken, the Alliance took control and attacked the turians. The resulting [[First Contact War]] was relatively short and bloodless, lasting only months and costing 623 human lives (with a slightly higher number of turian casualties). The [[Citadel Council]] intervened and negotiated a peace. With the discovery of the Citadel and the greater community, humanity leapt onto the galactic stage. The Alliance received a surge of popularity, which gave it the necessary political credibility to establish its own Parliament and speak for humanity as a whole. === Expansion === [[File:Council Chambers Udina Anderson.png|right|290px|Ambassador Udina and Captain Anderson]]Since then, the Alliance has continued its expansion, with the resource wealth of a dozen settled colonies and hundreds of industrial outposts flowing back to Earth. This expansion brought the Alliance into conflict with the [[batarians]] as both species rushed to settle the [[Skyllian Verge]], while maintaining a careful truce with the turians. The Alliance has also been granted an embassy on the Citadel. It has been speculated, given humanity's remarkably fast rise in terms of military, political, and economic power, that the Systems Alliance may soon be invited to join the Citadel Council. This has been a source of some concern to several other species. Humans have expanded rapidly from Earth in a very short period of time, becoming swiftly integrated into Citadel society and the [[#Economy|galactic economy]]. They have become less ethnically diverse in the twenty-second century, due to a more multicultural society and greater unity between nations. Improved medical advances and [[gene therapy]] have led to longer, healthier lifespans; the average citizen can now expect to live to around 150. Most humans retain their native tongue, but learn alien languages or trade pidgin for the sake of convenience or as a gesture of unity. One of the lasting consequences of the First Contact War was the interruption of a period of relative peace in the galaxy. Fairly or unfairly, humans are often thought of as aggressors, and are sometimes portrayed as a disruptive influence by non-human media. At the same time, other races recognise humans as an adaptable, intelligent and militarily capable race. {{Spoilers (Revelation)}} === Mass Effect: Revelation === In the 2160s, the Alliance's ambassador on the Citadel, [[Anita Goyle]], tried to induct a human into the [[Spectres]] as a first step toward a seat on the Council. Lieutenant [[David Anderson]] was selected as a candidate for the position due to his exemplary military service. Unfortunately, Anderson's observer, [[Saren Arterius]], sabotaged his mission and falsified a report to the Council on what happened, foiling Anderson's Spectre prospects. {{Spoilers (Mass Effect)}} === Mass Effect === The Alliance cooperated with the turians to create a new stealth frigate, the [[SSV Normandy]]. The Normandy was commissioned in 2183 with Anderson as her captain. A Spectre, [[Nihlus Kryik]], was assigned to the Normandy's shakedown run, supposedly to observe Spectre candidate Lieutenant [[Commander Shepard]] in action, though his true purpose was to recover a [[Prothean Beacon]] from [[Eden Prime]]. When Nihlus is killed by fellow Spectre Saren Arterius, Shepard investigates and exposes Saren as a rogue agent working with the [[geth]]. Since the Council cannot formally pursue Saren into the [[Terminus Systems]] without provoking a war, Shepard is made humanity's first Spectre, and the Alliance assigns the Commander control over the Normandy. Later, Saren's true plan comes to light when he brazenly attacks the Citadel. While the [[Reaper]] [[Sovereign]] besieges the station with the aid of a geth fleet, the Citadel Council attempts to evacuate aboard the [[Destiny Ascension]]. During the battle, Commander Shepard chooses whether to divert the Alliance's [[Fifth Fleet]] to protect the Destiny Ascension and save the Council, or focus on Sovereign, resulting in the loss of the Council. Once Sovereign is destroyed, humanity is judged to have shown itself worthy and receives a Council seat. If the Council did not survive, then the destruction of most of the [[Citadel Fleet]] during the battle places the Systems Alliance in a position of unexpected military superiority, giving them leverage over the other Citadel species. Regardless, the galaxy looks to humanity to lead them against the Reaper threat. Partly as a result of humanity's prominent new role in the politics of Citadel space, the Alliance headed a coalition force to systematically hunt down pockets of geth resistance. Political experts from all species have been debating what humanity's ascendancy means for Citadel space. The two candidates for human Council chairman, [[Donnel Udina]] and David Anderson, are still being selected. {{Spoilers (Mass Effect 2)}} === Mass Effect 2 === Sometime after the [[Battle of the Citadel]], the Normandy is destroyed by a [[Collector Cruiser|Collector cruiser]] and Shepard was declared dead. Because of this, the Alliance came hammering down on the Commander's talk about the [[Reaper]]s and tried covering it up. By 2185, the Alliance was still having trouble adjusting to its higher standing in interstellar policy, and was completely unaware of the Collectors abducting entire human colonies in remote locations. When the first vanishings were reported, the Alliance initially suspected that [[Cerberus]] was behind the abductions and began taking actions to prevent another attack, such as by installing anti-air turrets on colonies like [[Horizon]], officially to "improve" relations with independent colonies. If the Council survived the Battle of the Citadel, humanity earns the trust and respect of the rest of the galaxy, especially the turians. The Turian Hierarchy and Systems Alliance move closer to becoming peacekeeping partners and begin patrolling hostile territory cooperatively. If the Council is sacrificed in the battle, the rest of the galaxy deeply resents the Alliance's political clout with the new Council and desires to return to the former status quo. As tensions with the Alliance escalate, the Turian Hierarchy renounces the [[Treaty of Farixen]] and expresses its intent to increase dreadnought construction. In addition, the Alliance plans to provide the majority of ships for a proposed Allied Citadel Defense Unit, which would replace the decimated Citadel Fleet; the Asari Republics cede their share of responsibility for the Citadel's defense to the Hierarchy. {{Spoilers (Paragon Lost)}} === Mass Effect: Paragon Lost === The Systems Alliance dispatches a team of soldiers to [[Fehl Prime]] in 2183 in response to [[Blood Pack]] [[mercenaries]] laying siege to the colony. Most of the troops are killed, but thanks to the leadership qualities of Lieutenant [[James Vega]] the survivors manage to turn the tide and proceed to wipe out the mercs. [[Anderson]] and [[Admiral Hackett]] commend the Lieutenant for his actions, ordering [[Delta Squad|his squad]] to stay put in the colony for its continued safety because of its importance. [[File:Fehl prime - charging defense cannon.png|right|290px|A colony defense cannon sponsored by the Systems Alliance]]Two years later, Alliance Command provides military-grade [[kinetic barriers]] and a defense cannon for the colony's protection. This is due to a spate of human colony disappearances in the [[Terminus Systems]], where Fehl Prime is located. The official word they give to their subordinates when asked, however, is "no comment". Most people on Fehl Prime are happy with the Alliance help, with [[Treeya|a few exceptions]] because their work is repeatedly being interfered with. Soon enough, a massive [[Collector Cruiser|Collector vessel]] arrives on the colony and begins harvesting the human population. The kinetic barriers prove useless against the deployed [[Seeker Swarm]]s and the defense cannon ultimately gets destroyed, having been fired at the alien ship at half power out of concern for civilian casualties. Nevertheless, the surviving Alliance soldiers manage to obtain some good from the fiasco, salvaging intel about the invaders, dubbed [[Collector]]s, but at the cost of the colony itself. Anderson and Admiral Hackett promote Vega for this and bestow him an [[N7]] commendation. {{Spoilers (Mass Effect 3)}} === Mass Effect 3 === In 2186 CE, the Alliance became aware that the Reapers were making an incursion into their space. While [[Admiral Hackett]] began mobilizing the fleets, an emergency defense committee attempted to evaluate the threat and consulted [[Commander Shepard]], who had firsthand experience with the Reapers. Despite these preparations, they were too little, too late. [[File:Major coats - destroy.png|right|290px|Major Coats, Kenneth Donnelly and Gabriella Daniels overseeing reconstruction efforts in London]]The Reapers plowed through the Alliance's defenses, eliminating the Alliance's leadership by destroying Arcturus Station and conquering Earth in a matter of hours. The Alliance was forced to abandon Earth, but later returned with a fleet made up of a coalition of the galaxy's races in an all-or-nothing bid to defeat the Reapers using the [[Crucible]]. During the interim, strike teams composed of Alliance and alien allies were [[Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer|mobilized and deployed across the galaxy]] in an effort to counter the Reapers wherever they appear. The Alliance survives in varying degrees at the end of the Reaper war. Even if the Crucible unleashes energy that destroys every synthetic in the galaxy, enough personnel survive on various disabled spaceships across the void. In all other scenarios, Alliance forces help in rebuilding efforts. === Timeline === {{main|Codex/Humanity and the Systems Alliance#Timeline}} == Administration == === Government === The Alliance is responsible for the governance and defense of all extra-solar human colonies, and represents humanity on the galactic stage. It is a supranational government, and is based on a parliamentary system, with the Alliance Parliament based at [[Arcturus Station]]. It is unknown if the representation is based on the population of member nations on Earth and the colonies, or if all nations and colonies involved receive the same amount of parliamentary members. Several seats are elected by 'spacers' defined as citizens who spend a significant amount of their time in space and do not stay too long on any one colony or planet. The Alliance government is headed by a Prime Minister; as of 2186, this position was occupied by [[Amul Shastri]]. It is unknown whether the Prime Minister is an elected member of Parliament, or is appointed to the position. While the Alliance is a supranational government, the member nations retain their individual sovereignty back on Earth. Among the Citadel races, the Alliance is considered a sovereign nation and no other species has right of oversight into Alliance affairs. === Military Doctrine === {{See|Alliance Navy|Codex/Humanity and the Systems Alliance#Systems Alliance: Military Ranks{{!}}Codex: Alliance Military Ranks}} [[File:MassEffect 2008-08-13 12-37-22-09.png|right|300px|The Alliance Fifth Fleet]]The Alliance military is respected by the Citadel races for its novel tactics and technology. Their strength lies in fire support, flexibility, and speed. The Council regards the Alliance as a "sleeping giant" as only 3% of humans volunteer for military service. They make up for low numbers with sophisticated technical support in the form of [[VI]]s, [[drones]], artillery, and electronic warfare, and emphasis on mobility and individual initiative. Their military doctrine is not based on absorbing and dishing out heavy shocks like the turians and [[krogan]]. Rather, they bypass enemy strong points and launch deep into their rear, cutting supply lines and logistics, destroying headquarters and support units, leaving enemies to "wither on the vine". On defense, the Alliance military lives by Sun Tzu's maxim, "He who tries to defend everything defends nothing." Only token garrisons are placed on their colonies. These are intended for scouting rather than combat, avoiding engagement to observe and report on invaders using drones. However, the Alliance stations powerful fleets at mass relay nexuses so that in the event of an attack they respond with overwhelming force. The [[Hahne-Kedar]] company and [[Aldrin Labs]] are key suppliers of the military. All soldiers receive [[gene therapy]] for improved strength and stamina. The Alliance also recruits [[biotics]], who are trained using techniques developed at [[BAaT]]. The new L3 biotic implants are considered a significant step forward in [[Bio-amps|biotic amplification]]. At the time of the First Contact War in 2157 CE, the Alliance possessed a [[Alliance Navy|navy]] consisting of over 200 vessels ranging from small hundred-meter frigates to imposing kilometer-long dreadnoughts and carriers. By 2183 CE, it is recognized as one of the greater military forces in Citadel space. As a signatory of the [[Treaty of Farixen]], the Alliance is restricted to building and maintaining a smaller number of [[dreadnought]]s compared to the turians. The Alliance Navy has made up for this with the innovative design and deployment of carriers, which are as large as dreadnoughts, but are not constrained by the treaty because their primary armament consists of fighters instead of ship-length mass accelerator cannons. The Alliance Navy is headquartered at [[Arcturus Station]] in the strategically invaluable system of [[Arcturus]], which contains several primary mass relays that link to major human colonies, and the secondary mass relay that leads to [[Sol]] and the human homeworld of [[Earth]]. === Economy === The Alliance has quickly become a key player in the galactic economy, with several large human [[corporations]] taking their market share. The Alliance economy, though growing, does not yet come close to that of the [[asari]] or [[turians]] and is only approaching that of the [[elcor]]. The Alliance and the [[Turian Hierarchy]] have become large trade partners despite lingering animosity over the First Contact War. Although humans have claimed many systems in the [[Attican Traverse]] and the [[Skyllian Verge]], many of them contain rich resources which have not been fully surveyed, so the Alliance Geological Service (AGeS) offers [[UNC: Valuable Minerals|bounties]] to those willing to explore these frontiers. The Alliance's various national treasuries are linked to the Citadel's [[credit]] network. According to the VI [[Glyph]], the Alliance offers a number of benefits and a generous retirement package for its soldiers. After seven years of service, a sabbatical to a planet of choice can be arranged. == Diplomatic Relations == [[File:Council Hologram-Ambassador Meeting 5.png|320px|right|Ambassador Udina before the Citadel Council]]Overall, the Systems Alliance enjoys good relations with the [[Asari Republics]] and the [[Salarian Union]], and it maintains a cold, yet relatively friendly, relationship with the [[Turian Hierarchy]], though animosity over the [[First Contact War]] and the occupation of Shanxi remains. The fractured [[krogan]] rarely associate with the Alliance, and there is little, if any, dialogue with the [[quarians]] and their [[Flotilla]], though they are not on bad terms. Because of Earth's colonization of the Traverse and the Skyllian Verge, humans remain the natural rivals of the [[batarians]]. Practically, the Alliance has no other allies. In 2165 the Alliance was granted an embassy on the Citadel, electing [[Anita Goyle]] as the first human ambassador. The Alliance desires a bigger role in galactic politics, preferably even a Council seat. If they get a seat, they can use the Council's resources and political pull to protect their colonies and interests, as well as being acknowledged as one of the senior races in Citadel space. The galaxy knows it is only a matter of time before the Alliance gets a say but the ambassadors believe it should happen sooner rather than later. In 2183, the Alliance got its first human [[Spectre]], [[Commander Shepard]], bringing the Alliance one step closer to the Council. Despite Earth's relatively unblemished diplomatic record, however, the Alliance is still feared by many aliens because they hold the opinion that the Alliance is expanding too fast. The Alliance draws some distrust from humans as well. It was not taken seriously until the First Contact War proved how much humanity needed the Alliance; as [[Doctor Chakwas]] points out, the Alliance is now essential to human colonization and expansion in the [[Attican Traverse]]. [[File:Citadel docks alliance rep.png|left|320px|The Systems Alliance is important enough to have Citadel docking stations staffed by their own]]Currently, the Alliance's most notable human dissenters are supporters of [[Terra Firma]], a political party who opposes humanity's growing integration into the galactic community. Terra Firma believes humanity needs to stand alone if they are to remain strong. The party has been getting much negative attention from both humans and aliens. The [[Illusive Man]], on the other hand, believes that humanity should be ascendant over all other races. He sees the Alliance as nothing more than weak conformists who kneel before the Council. The Alliance is also sometimes criticized by colonists for its defensive tactics (see above). The fact colonial garrisons are meant for scouting rather than defense means that, in the event of trouble, the cavalry often only arrive once the damage has been done. The Alliance is open to helping [[biotics]] integrate into normal human society, particularly welcoming their enlistment in the military. They now provide funding to the [[Ascension Project]], a second-generation biotics training program, to allay any fears from the public that they are creating supersoldiers. However, some biotics, particularly L2s with severe health problems, oppose the Alliance, believing it is responsible for their suffering because of the failures in initial Alliance-sponsored biotic research. The issue of L2 reparations has created further anger and distrust. == Resources == === Equipment === The Alliance military has developed unique weapon and armor systems for its troops. Many of these were initially created for the exclusive use of [[N7]] Marines. The Alliance's Offensive Handgun Project has also produced several specialized pistols. *Weapons **[[Black Widow]] **[[M-5 Phalanx]] **[[M-11 Suppressor]] **[[M-37 Falcon]] **[[M-99 Saber]] **[[M-560 Hydra]] **[[N7 Crusader]] **[[N7 Eagle]] **[[N7 Hurricane]] **[[N7 Piranha]] **[[N7 Typhoon]] **[[N7 Valiant]] **[[N7 Valkyrie]] *Armor **[[N7 Armor]] **[[N7 Defender Armor]] === Facilities === *[[Arcturus Station]] - the massive and well-defended [[space station]] which serves as the capital of the Systems Alliance. *[[Amaterasu|Czarnobóg Fleet Depot]] - a base located a dozen light-years away from the colony of Amaterasu. *[[Saturn|Fort Charles Upham]] - a base on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan where Alliance soldiers undergo Hostile Environment Assault Training. *[[Gagarin Station]] - also known as "Jump Zero", a remote research facility on the outskirts of the [[Sol]] system. *[[Jon Grissom Academy]] - in orbit over [[Elysium]], this station serves as an educational facility for gifted children. *[[Luna|Luna Base]] *[[Reckoner Knight Armor|Unnamed Rhode Island base]] *[[Prologue: Earth|Unnamed United Kingdom base]] *[[Prologue: Earth|Unnamed Vancouver base]] <!--Interwiki links--> [[de:Allianz]] [[es:Alianza de Sistemas]] [[fi:Liittoutuma]] [[fr:Alliance interstellaire]] [[pl:Przymierze Systemów]] [[ru:Альянс Систем]] [[Category:Humans]] [[Category:Systems Alliance]] [[Category:Organizations]] Loading editor Below are some commonly used wiki markup codes. Simply click on what you want to use and it will appear in the edit box above. Insert: – — … ° ≈ ≠ ≤ ≥ ± − × ÷ ← → · § Sign your username: ~~~~ Wiki markup: {{}} | [] [[]] [[Category:]] #REDIRECT [[]] <s></s> <sup></sup> <sub></sub> <code></code> <blockquote></blockquote> <ref></ref> {{Reflist}} <references/> <includeonly></includeonly> <noinclude></noinclude> {{DEFAULTSORT:}} <nowiki></nowiki> <!-- --> <span class="plainlinks"></span> Symbols: ~ | ¡ ¿ † ‡ ↔ ↑ ↓ • ¶ # ¹ ² ³ ½ ⅓ ⅔ ¼ ¾ ⅛ ⅜ ⅝ ⅞ ∞ ' " ' " «» ¤ ₳ ฿ ₵ ¢ ₡ ₢ $ ₫ ₯ € ₠ ₣ ƒ ₴ ₭ ₤ ℳ ₥ ₦ № ₧ ₰ £ ៛ ₨ ₪ ৳ ₮ ₩ ¥ ♠ ♣ ♥ ♦ View this template This field is a spam trap. DO NOT fill it in! Retrieved from "https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Systems_Alliance" Edit summary Preview Mobile Desktop Show changes


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View of Austin Nevada from US-50.
"Austin is a small, unincorporated community located in Lander County, Nevada. As of 2004, its population is approximately 340. It is located on the western slopes of the Toiyabe Range at an elevation of 6,605 feet. U.S. Highway 50 passes through the town.
Named for Austin, Texas, Austin was founded in 1862, as part of a silver rush reputedly triggered by a Pony Express horse who kicked over a rock. By summer 1863, the Austin and the surrounding Reese River Mining District had a population of over 10,000, and it became the county seat of Lander County (the seat was shifted to Battle Mountain in 1979)."
For more information see: http://austinnevada.com/history.html


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The Württemberg Chamber Choir's reputation rests on its unusual, highly challenging repertoire. Time and again, on tour and at many festivals, it sets the benchmark for contemporary excellence in choral singing.
The Württemberg Chamber Choir was founded in Stuttgart in 1970. Despite describing itself as a semi-professional mixed choir, it is among the best in its field. Its repertoire begins with Schütz, Schein and Bach but there's also a bold emphasis on 19th and 20th century music including premieres of works by Isang Yun and Dieter Schnebel, Shostakovich's 13th Symphony (with male chorus) and a crossover project with Poulenc's cycle Figure humaine. The choir's interpretations of Hugo Wolf's choral works and lieder are also very highly regarded.
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다음 아이콘을 클릭하여 브라우저 공급자에서 기타 도움말을 받으십시오:


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Victoria Beckham and her kids flew LA to London on Wednesday night after David dropped them off at the airport. Click here to see yesterday's post. Apparently they went straight to Gordon Ramsay's because Posh is wearing the same outfit. After flying commercial!
I couldn't do it. I mean, I don't travel first class -- unless there's an upgrade which doesn't happen too often, but even still, there is no way you'll find me out with 4 kids, one a toddler, after a 10+ hour transatlantic flight. At least not after a shower! To wash off the plane dirt. And the moistness in all the foldy parts of your body. You know exactly what I mean. And if Posh HAD taken a shower, there would have definitely been a wardrobe change. H7 seems bewildered that she didn't get a wardrobe change.