text:
Beautiful Anyway–Happy Valentine's DayPosted by Melvin Bray on February 14th, 2005 filed in Village Half-Wit
Revelations 21:4b
One day, sitting on his park bench, Revelations' mind drifted back. It seemed like a lifetime ago that he was a pastor with a church and all. His thoughts settle upon a particular day. The day he found his true calling. They were both there that day. Both trying desperately to hide the hurt locked up inside.
She was 17. He was 14. Neither had known their fathers. Revelations had tried to do what he could to let them both know they were loved, but absent a father's early attention they didn't always know who to trust. They both craved love.
She sought it in the arms of the head elder's son because he told her he loved her brown skin. One day he had playfully asked, "Is there any more room for me in those jeans?†She gave him plenty. He "loved†her as best he knew how, but he had his own issues. She made room for him time and time again hoping, wishing… praying that at the same time he might somehow fill the void in her heart. Now she was pregnant trying to be strong by herself, struggling to remain focused on finishing school. Then, after that, what? She had no idea. He was away at college.
He—the 14-year-old—had kept his void to himself. He longed to know what it meant to be loved by a man, by a father. He had always been a quiet boy so few seemed to notice his growing insecurity, besides Revelations… and the predator. As he had started to come out of his shell, Revelations had noticed a growing effeminacy that hadn't been there before. It didn't take much investigation to uncover the impetus for this change in him. Revelations had confronted the predator and made sure that the evil he had inflicted would never happen by his hand again, but damage had already been done. Revelations had gotten the boy into counseling, and he was doing well. It had been about 2 years, but it would take time.
Before service began, Revelations found him and whispered in his ear, "Today's message is for you. I love you."
Then Revelations found her and whispered, "I know you had hoped that no one would notice yet. It's going to be alright. I'm glad you're here. When you're ready, just ask. I love you."
Then he went backstage to get into character to deliver the sermon for the day.
A man in a Tuxedo paces back and forth outside what is supposed to be a courtyard constructed as the backdrop for that day's sermon.
"What time is it?… Ah, man, it's almost time. I hope he makes it [sigh]… Let me leave him a note. That's what I'll do.â€
Taking out a sheet of paper he begins to scribble a note, but unable to get his thoughts together he stops and shakes his head. "Nah, that's not it.â€
Resigning himself to his inability to gather his thoughts, he begins to pace again. "Where is he?†he says in quiet exasperation as he looks at his watch. "He's going to be late. I hope he makes it.â€
He again returns to his note. Momentarily a thought comes to him, and he jots down a few words.
After his brief moment of inspiration, he returns to wondering about the arrival of his friend. It is then that he takes notice of those sitting in the audience, and greets them as if they were just a few passers-by.
"Hi. How are you? Are you here for the wedding too? Well, it's great to see you. I'm glad you passed by.
"I came out to see if a friend of mine, Joshua, had come by. I've been waiting on him. I don't want him to miss it. The bride would be disappointed (to say the least). But he'll be here. I'm sure.
"Do you know the bride or groom? No? Well, the groom, he's a nice enough guy, I guess—nothing bad to say about him really. I guess the best thing I could say about him is that Hadaus chose him to be her husband.
"Hadaus? She's the bride. Haduas… now that's a person worth knowing. She's one of the sweetest people I've ever met. I mean, she is just adorable… and kind… and loving… and she cares about people. It's a care that you can see in her eyes and hear in the way she talks to you and feel in the way she's so attentive. It's a wonderful thing, truly. And, man, is she beautiful. I snuck a peak at her a few minutes ago just before I came out.
"I remember the first time I met Hadaus. Well, actually, I saw her first from a distance. I was coming out of a wedding reception that was taking place downtown. As my friends and I walked out we saw this big crowd gathered in Centennial Park. None of us had heard about anything going on in the park that day. So before we gave our tickets to the valet, we decided we'd drift across the street right quick to see what was going on.
"We pressed our way through the crowd and got to a place where we could see. It was the strangest thing. JC, the guy I'm waiting on, (his real name is Joshua, but many of us just call him JC) was standing in the middle of the crowd. And there was this man standing opposite him, I guess he was the leader of the pack. And there was this woman.
"Now, I don't know if you know JC, but JC's the type of guy that you either love or hate. There's no in between. When he came to town, he pretty much turned the whole religious community on its head. At the time most preachers were preaching hell fire and brimstone. They were preaching that you gotta live right, you gotta do right, you gotta be right, and if not, you'e going to hell! Then JC comes along and says, 'I don't think you quite have it. In fact, it's really not about being "right". It's about being "righteous". Being righteous means that you're in proper relationship with God. Your own righteousness amounts to nothing more than a used tampon.' Yeah, that's the phrase he used. Poignant, isn't it? He went on to say, 'So unless you're in relationship with my Father, you have no rightness or righteousness to talk about.'
"That was powerful. His message of relationship—righteousness as opposed to rightness—and the importance of it. Be that as it may, people didn't seem to like him after that, at least not the religious leaders. They thought he was crass and dangerously misguided. A lot of the pastors in the city got together and denied him access to their churches. They wouldn't let him even visit anymore. They didn't want their congregations listening to him or being influenced by him.
"Well, this specific day out in the park I noticed a lot of the big time ministers from the city were there standing around. But there was one in particular (I won't call his name 'cause you might know him) who was talking really loud about the woman who was kneeling there crying. Supposedly they had caught her shacked-up with—" he paused, then continued, "I guess he wouldn't be her 'significant other'. Well, let me put it this way, she was a kept woman. Though she was just 19, she was a mistress. Her 'lover' was notably absent from the center of attention that day. From what I've heard he's a minister as well, so I guess his colleagues were extending to him a measure of quid pro quo. Each minister was looking out for himself and each other. So they hadn't called their colleague out, but they had dragged the woman out and were airing all her laundry in public.
"JC was standing there when the loud, leading minister shoved the woman to JC's feet and said, 'This woman is an adulteress. We caught her in the act. She's breaking up somebody's home.' What he didn't mention was that the woman had just the week before told her 'lover' that they were going to have to break it off. The whole performance was probably just an attempt to discredit her before she got any ideas of confessing to her boyfriend's wife.
The loud-mouthed minister went on, 'What do you have to say about that? You say that life isn't about right living. Do you mean to tell us God wants someone like her in his kingdom? She's going to hell!'
"If it were me, I would probably have gotten upset that someone called me out like that in public, but JC just stood there looking with compassion at her. Of course, she was crying. It seemed like an eternity before JC made his move. He looked them all in the eye, one by one, all of her accusers. Then it was like they slowly disappeared to him. He knelt down in the dirt beside the woman and started doodling. It wasn't scribble. He was actually writing something. I wasn't close enough to see it, but I know he was writing something because the ministers and people around him were watching his hands intently.
"Well, it didn't take long before one minister sidled away. And then another. One of the female ministers slipped away from the crowd. And another. Until, finally, the whole crowd had kinda dwindled down to just us onlookers. Left next to JC was this woman… in the dirt… tears streaming down her face… hair hanging in front of her eyes as she sobbed. I don't think see even noticed that the composition of the crowd had changed.
"JC then turns to Hadaus and asks, 'My dear, where are your accusers?'
"At this, she looks up and sees that all those who had condemned her are gone. Someone hands her a tissue, as she replies in shy astonishment, 'They're gone.'
"He said, 'Well, I'm not going to condemn you. Go and sin no more.'
Conscious of the time, Jacob becomes apologetic. "I'm so sorry. Am I keeping you from something? Are you sure? If so, please just let me know. Okay. I'll tell you what became of her.
"Now, by this time my friends and I had gravitated toward the front of the crowd. We were right there on the front row, and I don't know why it would surprise me, but I found my mother there as well.
"I was staring at the young lady as JC was talking to her, and I would have expected that he was looking at her too. But when I glanced at him, it was the weirdest thing. It appeared he was staring at me as he said, 'I don't condemn you. Go and sin no more.' That puzzled me for a while. I'll tell you what became of that a bit later.
"Just as JC said that the young lady kinda looked around like she didn't know what to do with herself. Taking her cue, my mom moved towards her, put something over her shoulders and said, 'Honey, I want you to come home with me tonight.'
"Hadaus came home with my mom that night and… she never left. She just kinda stayed. Mom couldn't have minded less really. It was no imposition. Mom runs a little bed and breakfast about twenty miles south of downtown, and Hadaus just started helping out around the place. In short order she began to fit right in. She started to cook a little bit. She cleaned a little bit. She helped mom with things. They became close.
"Now me, myself, I was somewhat embarrassed by her living there. I mean, yeah, it was nice. She is a good looking woman and all, but after that big incident in the park, her being in my mother's house (while I was there) wasn't a conversation I felt like having time and again with folks. You should have heard my friends, 'Yeah, that woman's staying at your house, isn't she? She's hot (wink, wink)!' Though few said anything, you could hear what they were thinking as you walked by them at church, yet really I couldn't complain. I was 22 at the time, had come home from college and probably should have been out on my own. Mom was doing me a favor as well. So I wasn't going to protest too much.
"Still I was embarrassed. To which my mom replied, 'Get over it.' This was why my mom was here. This was her purpose, and I understood that. Mom had done this for years. Because we had the house and it was big, mom just took in strays. Every animal that walked by found a home at our house. The word had gone out into the community. All kinds showed up at our house. I knew this, so I didn't stress it.
"Once I got over myself, I started trying to talk to Hadaus. I felt like I needed to at least give her a chance. For some reason she wasn't too interested in opening up to me. She seemed to have some trust issues. I guess that makes sense. Over time I've learned some things about her. She was abused as a child. Sadly, much like Jean Toomer's Karintha, Hadaus was so beautiful that men began to take an interest in her at an inappropriate age. She ended up being raped at age 12 by a man who was supposed to be like a father to her.
"The only reason I share this with you is because she's overcome that now, and she's decided that she's going to turn her hurt into healing to help others because these things happen more often than one might think.
"By time she was 16, she was dating a man who was 25. What she had discovered is that if she was willing to keep men company, they would take care of her as far as money was concerned. So why go to school?"
Shaking his head, Jacob sighed, "It's rough just to think about. Her stories hurt me. Just one man after another. Being kept. Being used. Looking for something that she couldn't quite find.
"So she didn't really trust men after that, understandably. She kept me at arm's length. Notwithstanding, there was one man she did seem to trust almost instinctively. It was JC. Every so often JC would come by. He'd show up at the house, and they'd go for walks or go out to dinner and talk. I'd hear them joking and laughing and having a great time together.
"I kinda resented him a little, to tell the truth, because I couldn't get in with her like that. But—" Jacob paused to reflect, "I think it was a good thing for her because she seemed to be lighter when he was there. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he didn't really care what her past was. It didn't much matter to him. She later told me that she felt really comfortable talking to him about it. With him she could unload a bunch of that mess, and as she unloaded it, she was freer, more whole.
"Still I don't think it was that that she loved so much. I think it was that when she was with him there were no expectations. She didn't have to pretend. She didn't have to be more sophisticated than she really was or more grown. She didn't have to put on airs or anything like that. Just any way you come—he's always open. I think it was that thing right there that allowed her to let go of her hurt.
"When JC use to come by, he would try to pull me to the side and talk to me too. We'd shoot the breeze a while. I thought he was a cool guy. He did good stuff in the community. He took care of people. He was healing people. He'd make sure people found housing. He was teaching people things that they never knew before. I thought he was a decent guy, but for some reason when I was with him I felt somehow like less of a person. It wasn't really his fault. It was that he was so good. He was… perfect. He was so everything you would want in a friend or a dad or a husband or whatever the case may be. He was just all that. It wasn't that he looked a certain way. He wasn't the best looking guy. He wasn't the most sophisticated guy or suave. I would compare myself to him. I can dress pretty well, but he didn't even seem to be concerned about that kind of stuff. Still something attracted you to him. It wasn't like he judged me, but I would judge myself in his presence and feel bad about myself. So I didn't much like dealing with him when he would come by.
"Well, all that changed about a year ago. Hadaus had come to stay with us in June. By about August-September she and I started to become friends. It seemed like the more she opened up with him, the more she was able to open up to me. So I started to appreciate JC's visiting: if for no other reason, he had given me a good friend. Then, I guess (that's August, September, October…) about the end of the year Hadaus and I began talking about birthdays coming up. We discovered that we share the same birthday—Emancipation Day, the 1st of the year. So we made plans to celebrate together. We were going to go out and do something, maybe throw a little party or something, we weren't sure. Nonetheless, I was looking forward to it.
"The day came. It was early evening. Hadaus and I were getting ready to go out. I had gone into the house for something (I can't remember what it was), but somehow mom and I got into this fight—again. It seemed like mom and I were always fighting of late. I know it was more me than mom because I had all this anger brewing inside of me. I hadn't even noticed it before then. I always thought I was the guy who couldn't hold a grudge, but recently I found myself just mad for no apparent reason. I don't really remember what mom said that set me off. I think she heard me being pig-headed about something. I think Hadaus wanted to do a particular thing, and my reaction was, 'No! We have to do this.' Mom said something to me like, 'You know, baby, I've never talked bad about your father. But I watched his anger be his undoing. He was addicted to that domineering behavior, and he didn't know how to behave any other way. It drove a wedge between us, and eventually he walked out the door. Son… Jacob, I don't want you to be like that. I want better things for you, your father would want better for you.'
"I don't know why, but that lit my fuse. I was hot like fire! I screamed at my mother, 'How dare you compare me to my father?! I'm nothing like my father! My father use to beat on you. You think I don't remember? I was just a little kid, but I remember. I'm nothing like him!' And I got madder and madder."
Jacob acknowledges remorsefully, "She was just trying to help me. That's all she was doing, but I was just upset. I was mad he'd left. I was mad I had gone through life without my dad. I wanted him there. I wanted him when I caught my first pop-fly in the big game. I wanted to turn around and see him there, but he wasn't. When that first girl hurt me—broke my heart—I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to at least call him, but he wasn't there.
"Sobbing, I continued directing my pain towards my mother, 'Just the fact, Mom, that you would try to compare me to him… I'm nothing like him. I try to be there for you. I try to be there for my friends. I try to be loyal because he couldn't be…'
"I ended up saying some pretty obnoxious and hurtful things to my mom that night. Then I stormed out the house.
Mindful of the time again, Jacob inquires, "Are you sure I'm not keeping you? Okay. This is where it all comes together."
"Hadaus was sitting there on the front porch. Quite honestly, there was no one else I would rather have spoken to at that moment. She was sitting there on the steps. I crossed the porch to make my way down. I don't think I greeted her. I don't think I even asked if she wanted to hear what was going on. She had probably overheard more than she wanted through the screen door already, but I start to share with her all the things I was feeling. The things I was feeling about my dad. The things I was feeling about my mom. The things I was feeling about life: and how I felt trapped: and how I just didn't feel like I had any direction and that I was going around in circles. Yes, I had a degree, and I had a decent paying job. That was better than some. My friends were happy with those things, but I really wasn't happy. It felt like I couldn't get out of this rut. It seemed like I was angry all the time and couldn't get over it.
"She listened to me quietly. She listened to me patiently. I wanted her to say something back to me. I wanted her—" he changes directions, "You know what it's like when you want someone who's close to you to say just the right thing that will make it better. She could have said it. But she didn't. In fact, she said exactly the wrong thing. She said, 'You know, Jacob, Joshua just arrived. He's down in the garden. You should probably talk to him.'
"'What?'" he chuckles sarcastically. Smiling he continues, "Then I was mad at her. So now I'm walking around mad at everybody I love.
"I walk away, and I go down towards the lake that's back behind the house, opposite the garden. I'm going to clear my head. I'm walking around screaming and shouting and kicking the air and 'Ahhhghgh!'" Jacob let's out a cry of remembered exasperation. "I think I even trip along the way and tear my pants and scrape up my leg which just makes me madder.
"I'm down there going through these internal and external convulsions when I come upon JC sitting on a rock. Before I can excuse myself or turn back the other way—I had been making so much noise it wasn't like he could have avoided noticing me—he says, 'You know I've been waiting for you to come by. What's going on, man? You sound like you're hurting.'
"Remember I told you how I felt when I was around him. Well, unfortunate for me at the time, what accompanied that feeling was this inability to resist talking to him. Those eyes are so gentle. They just pull the words out your mouth.
"So I start talking to him. I tell him everything. I share with him some things that I had never shared with another person before. Some really painful stuff. I just give it to him.
"It was kind of like I rolled up all my hurts and disappointments and fears into a big ball and threw them at him—BOW! And then I said, 'Now whatcha gonna do about that, Nosey?' because I really didn't want to talk to him.
"Pausing to fix his eyes on me, and he asks, 'How long are you going to hold on to that? How long?'
"'How long am I going to hold on to this? What's wrong with you, man? You don't even know me. How are you—'
"He interrupts me and says without the hint of arrogance, 'I probably know more than you think.'
"With that I stopped. I stopped attacking him for the moment. I asked, 'What do you mean holding on to it?'
"He responded with more tenderness than I know how to express, 'Jacob, you've been holding onto that all your life. Your daddy left you at 7. You're 22 now. What's that? 15 years. That's the better half of your life. When are you going to let that go so you can go on and get about the business of living? Because that's what life is about. You either "get busy living or get busy dying," and you've been dying for about 15 years now? When are you going to move on?'
"I said, 'Man, I don't know how! What do you mean move on? I don't know how. How do you move on?! How do you get over that?! How do you get over your father not being there at all the crucial times in your life? How do you get over that? How do you get over wanting to be something extraordinary, but not knowing how to get there? How do you get over that?'
"He replied, 'Well, let's talk about it for a second. Listen. You have to go back to that place where you can be dependent again. Where you can trust again. You know, it's almost like you have to be born again. You know? Because when a baby's born all that baby has is the person that's caring for him. He (or she) can't do anything for himself—can't do a thing. So all he can do is trust. That's it. All babies can do is wait and hope that they will be cared for. They don't pretend to know what's right or what's wrong. They don't pretend that they can even wipe their own behinds. That's where you've got to get. You've got to get to that place where you stop knowing right from wrong: where you stop acting like there's something more you should be doing. You have to get to that place where you can look your heavenly Father in the eye, or even me, look me in the eye and trust me to show you the way.'
"'What?' I skeptically thought to myself. 'What's that about?'
"It was like he knew what I was thinking. He said, 'Don't dismiss it, man. You see, apart from me your life hasn't amounted to much. You've had some success, but obviously it hasn't meant much because you're not fulfilled. You're not satisfied. Apart from me there's nothing: you can do nothing, and you are nothing. You are NO . . . THING. You don't even exist because in me there's life. Outside of me there's death. So until you're able to trust me and get in relationship with me, there's nothing. That's what I was trying to hint at you that day in the park The day you met Hadaus.
"That's why when people come to me, like Hadaus. When she finally came to me and started to talk to me and started to share with me, I didn't care about the things that happened in her past. They didn't matter. They were things that happen while she was apart from me: they were nothing. It took her a while to trust that. She was so use to being judged or to judging herself. But now she's beginning to trust, and you've experienced the difference that it's made in your own friendship with her. Get with me.
"'All this is why I can look at Hadaus, and I can see beauty. And it's not that beauty that you're thinking about. It's not that beauty that one sees in spite of or even glimpses of potential beauty. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm saying that because she's decided to be in real, dynamic relationship with me, when I look at her, I see beauty. Not qualified beauty. Beauty. Because she's connected to life now. There was nothing before that, and now there's something. And that something is relationship to me. So I see beauty. I don't see sins and mistakes and mess ups. I don't see that because it's not there. When you're truly connected to me, words like sins and blunders and mistakes are just words to denote what you haven't learned yet. What you don't know yet. What you're not mature enough to accomplish on your own yet. Think about it. Sensible adults don't despise children for not acting grown.
"'With me, you're always right where you're supposed to be. So the fact that you don't know how to love fully yet just means you haven't been with me long enough. The fact that you get all angry with your dad and with your mom and with life… In due time I'll show you how to handle all that stuff.
"'Now don't hear what I'm saying through the ears you always listen to things through. You know those ears. Those ears that make it not matter what's said to you, you turn it around so that it sits comfortably right in that place that allows you to think the way you've always thought so nothing changes. You know what I'm talking about. You've done it before. You know, someone will say something to you—something that's pregnant with life—and you'll say, 'Aw, man, that's deep… Thanks for that… I agree.' You'll say little stupid stuff like that, and, Jacob, you've been agreeing life away. Everything stays the same.
"'Jacob, you've been going to church for years. You have no excuse to be frustrated by life. You've known the Author of Life all your life. So what are you going to do, Jacob? What are you going to do?'
"What could I do? I said, 'Okay. I'll take it.'
"'"Love keeps no record of wrong." So what I want you to do, Jacob, is to forget all your mess, and get to know me.'
Turning his attention back to the audience, Jacob said, "I'm not going to lie to you. Life hasn't been perfect since, but it's been a lot more enjoyable. I made a decision that day that I was going to believe him when he said he'd cast all my mistakes into the bottom of the ocean and remember them no more. So I've been believing him for about a year now. And, you know, he comes by every once and a while to visit, and he doesn't just visit with Hadaus anymore. He visits with me too. The 3 of us have a great time together.
"I've gotten into this little habit. At times he'll show up and slip away before you really know he's been there. There'll just be a sweetness in the air. I figured I could prepare for that eventuality. So I started writing him these little notes and just leaving them in a basket at the front door so that if he came by and I missed him or he was hanging out with Hadaus, at least there'd be some communication going on between him and me. It's been a great thing.
"Today I wanted to write him something special. I was standing here when you passed by trying to figure out what to say. Nothing came to mind that seemed to express what was in my heart. I wanted to recount all the mistakes I'd made and all he had saved me from and all he had taught me. But every time I wrote it down it didn't feel right.
"Then I remembered. When he looks at me, he doesn't see all of that. He just sees a clean slate. He doesn't want me to recount my mess to him. He knows what I was before. So I just wrote, 'Thanks so much. Love always, Jacob.' I'm going to leave it over there in the basket. I've been waiting on him. Hopefully he'll make it. Prayerfully he'll be here.
"I have to go back inside now. I'm sorry I kept you so long. You're welcome to come in if you'd like. We'd love to have you.
"You don't have an invitation? We can take care of that. When you get to the door, tell them that the groom, Jacob, (Jacob's my name) invited you in to celebrate with us. Two beautiful, free people are getting married today."
Two women walked together out of service that day. One was indignant. The other reflective.
The first elder's wife did most of the talking. "I wish my son would tell me he was planning to marry some tramp we took in off the street. I'm all for being kind to one's neighbors, but there are limits. You know what I'm saying, Debra?"
"Hunh? Oh, of course."
"I mean just because you help someone out doesn't mean you have to make them a part of your family. Pastor St. Common goes a little overboard sometimes. Besides, all these little hot things running around here would just love to get their hooks into someone like my son—a handsome young thing who's going places. I just spoke to him last night. He's doing so well away in college."
"That's good," Debra responded from some place else. She was thinking about her own precious son. He had known such pain in his short 14 years. She hoped to heaven that he would find the courage to believe the truth Pastor St. Common had shared today.
"Take for example that little fresh thing over there. She started clinging to my Richard last summer, with her hot self. I told him she was good for nothing but the ruining of his future. I told him she definitely isn't marriage material. No harm intended, but she'll probably end up knocked up just like her mother."
She didn't know that she was soon to be a grandmother.


text:
weather modification
Our editors will review what you've submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
- Related Topics:
- cloud seeding fog dispersal cloud whitening rainmaking Schaefer-Langmuir experiments
weather modification, the deliberate or the inadvertent alternation of atmospheric conditions by human activity, sufficient to modify the weather on local or regional scales.
General considerations
Humans have long sought to purposefully alter such atmospheric phenomena as clouds, rain, snow, hail, lightning, thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and cyclones. The modern era of scientific weather modification began in 1946 with work by Vincent J. Schaefer and Irving Langmuir at the General Electric Research Laboratories in Schenectady, N.Y. Schaefer discovered that when dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) pellets were dropped into a cloud composed of water droplets in a deep-freeze box, the droplets were rapidly replaced by ice crystals, which increased in size and then fell to the bottom of the box.
The Schaefer-Langmuir experiments in the laboratory and the atmosphere demonstrated that so-called supercooled clouds—namely those composed of water droplets at temperatures below freezing—could be dissipated. When the supercooled clouds were seeded with grains of dry ice, ice crystals formed and grew large enough to fall out of the clouds.
Certain substances other than dry ice can be used to seed clouds. For example, when silver iodide and lead iodide are burned, they create a smoke of tiny particles. These particles produce ice crystals in supercooled clouds below temperatures of about −5° C as the supercooled cloud droplets evaporate. The water vapour is then free to deposit onto the silver iodide or lead iodide crystals. Although many other materials can cause ice crystals to form, the above-mentioned are the most widely used. For the most part, dry ice is dispersed from airplanes, but silver iodide nuclei may be generated on the ground and carried upward by air currents, introduced from airplanes, or produced by pyrotechnic devices such as rockets or exploding artillery shells.
A wide variety of scientific tests and operational weather modification projects have been performed in many countries. The largest programs have been in the United States, the former Soviet Union, Australia, and France.
Most weather modification programs in the United States have dealt with rain or snow. Although there is still considerable debate about the effectiveness of cloud seeding, the evidence indicates that under certain meteorological conditions, ice nuclei seeding may increase precipitation by amounts ranging up to some tens of percent. In other circumstances decreases may occur, and, in still others, seeding has no effect.
In Russia, various other former Soviet republics, and South Africa, the major programs of weather modification were aimed at reducing the fall of damaging hail. Experimentation in this area was apparently successful. Procedures involved introducing ice nuclei into potential hail clouds by means of artillery or rockets. Attempts to modify hailstorms in other countries have had mixed success.
A number of hurricanes were seeded with ice nuclei by American scientists. Although results have been inconclusive, some meteorologists believe it is possible to reduce hurricane intensities in some instances. Before asserting that hurricanes can be beneficially modified, however, more research is needed. Currently, there are no programs anywhere in the world attempting to seed hurricanes. Limited attempts to modify mid-latitude cyclones in the past have not been successful. In the case of tornadoes, knowledge of their dynamic structure remains limited, and no attempts have been made to control them.
There are many misunderstandings about the present status of weather modification. Present techniques are concerned mostly with the influence of existing cloud systems. There is no evidence and no reason for believing, at this stage, that cloud seeding may cause or end droughts. Such dry periods result from peculiarities in the general circulation of the atmosphere that lead to sinking air and cloud-free skies in areas accustomed to precipitation. When there are no clouds present, there can be no cloud seeding.
As meteorologists have developed schemes for changing the weather, the ecological, social, and legal problems have become more serious. Many U.S. states have laws governing weather modification activities. Lawsuits have been filed in which the parties have contested ownership of the clouds and the precipitation therein.
Methods of modifying atmospheric phenomena
Cloud seeding
Cloud droplets form when atmospheric water vapour condenses on small particles in the atmosphere called cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Typically, a cloud is composed of tiny spheres of water that range in diameter from a few micrometres to a few tens of micrometres. The number of cloud droplets per cubic centimetre ranges from less than 100 to more than 1,000; 200 droplets per cubic centimetre is approximately an average value. Clouds over the ocean typically have fewer cloud droplets per cubic centimetre than their counterparts over land, since fewer CCN are present in marine air.
An important characteristic of a cloud is its temperature. When it is everywhere above 0° C, the cloud is said to be warm. Often, clouds develop at altitudes where temperatures are below 0° C, but the droplets do not freeze because of the purity of the water. Such clouds are said to be supercooled. In the atmosphere, supercooling to temperatures of −10° C or even −20° C is not unusual. The lower the temperature, the greater the likelihood that the droplets will intercept so-called ice nuclei, which cause them to freeze. At temperatures below about −40° C, virtually all clouds are composed of ice crystals.
Many all-liquid clouds, whether warm or supercooled, are stable in the sense that the droplets are limited in size to a few tens of micrometres, and the clouds may last for some time without yielding rain or snow.
Sometimes nature is deficient in ice nuclei, and as a result supercooled clouds may persist for many hours. When this is the case, the addition of ice nuclei can upset the cloud stability by causing ice crystals to form; these can then grow and result in precipitation.
The introduction of any substance into clouds for the purpose of changing them is called cloud seeding. Warm clouds (above 0° C) have been seeded with materials such as sodium chloride or calcium chloride particles or by a water spray. The objective of these procedures is to produce giant cloud droplets that will grow by coalescence, fall, and sweep out smaller cloud droplets. Fogs over airports have been seeded in order to reduce the density of the cloud and to improve the visibility and ceiling conditions. Warm convective clouds have been seeded in an effort to increase rainfall.
Aircraft have been used to dispense a water spray or salt particles. In some cases, salt-water sprays have been dispersed. Unfortunately, such solutions tend to be corrosive to aircraft surfaces and have to be handled carefully. In some programs sodium chloride particles in powdered form have been blown up from the ground.
Most cloud-modification activities have been concerned with supercooled clouds and have involved seeding with ice nuclei. The first substance found to be effective as a cloud-seeding agent was dry ice. Its temperature is so low (about −78° C) that it causes ice crystals to form spontaneously from water vapour. It has been estimated that a gram of dry ice will produce at least 3 × 1010 ice crystals. The most common procedure for seeding with dry ice is to fly over a cloud and disperse crushed pellets, less than a millimetre to a few millimetres in diameter, along the path of flight. A typical seeding rate might be several kilograms of dry ice per kilometre of flight.
Dry ice is no longer widely employed as a cloud-seeding agent because it suffers from the disadvantage of having to be delivered to the supercooled regions of the cloud and from the fact that, once a pellet of dry ice has evaporated, it can no longer affect the cloud. Supercooled clouds are now most commonly seeded with tiny particles of silver iodide.
There are many techniques for seeding with silver iodide. All of them produce large numbers of minute particles that range in diameter from about 0.01 to 0.1 micrometre. A common procedure is to dissolve silver iodide in a solution of sodium iodide in acetone. The concentration of silver iodide may range from 1 to 10 percent. When the solution is burned in a well-ventilated chamber at a temperature of about 1,100° C, a very large number of ice nuclei are produced. The concentration increases rapidly as the temperature decreases. A typical quantity at −10° C is 1013 ice nuclei per gram of silver iodide. Exposure to ultraviolet light causes rapid deactivation of the silver iodide nuclei. The concentrations of nuclei may decrease by perhaps a factor of 10 for each hour of exposure.
In the United States, France, Switzerland, and Argentina, a great deal of the silver iodide seeding has been performed by means of ground generators. When this is the case, air currents are expected to transport the nuclei into the supercooled parts of the cloud.
Experimenters in the United States, Australia, Israel, and other countries have also used airplanes for dispersing silver iodide particles. For the most part, silver iodide in acetone has been burned in generators suspended from the wings of one or more airplanes. In some tests pyrotechnical devices have been employed for this purpose. When they are dropped from above into clouds, a solid mixture of silver iodide and an inflammable substance is ignited.
Soviet experimenters relied on rockets fired from the ground. This procedure was first employed in Italy, but the Soviets refined it by employing a superior rocket in which the pyrotechnic mixture could be ignited anywhere along the path of flight. Also in the Soviet experiments a great deal of ice-nuclei seeding was performed by means of 70-millimetre artillery guns that fired projectiles containing 100 to 200 grams of lead iodide or silver iodide. At a predetermined position the projectile exploded and dispersed the ice nuclei.
Most cloud-modification work has been concerned with changing the size of cloud particles or the buoyancy of the cloud air. A number of scientists have been interested in developing procedures for changing the electrical structure of clouds. One practical goal has been the reduction of the number of forest fires caused by lightning. Small clouds have been modified electrically by releasing large quantities of ions from a long piece of wire mounted near the ground.
Attempts to change the electrical nature of large thunderstorms have involved seeding with ice nuclei and, in another set of experiments, with large numbers of short metal strips. The object has been to prevent the electrical charge of clouds from becoming so concentrated that a lightning stroke would occur.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Tag: plasmid prep4
Probing Lexical Ambiguity: Word Vectors Encode Number and Relatedness of Senses
Lexical ambiguity-the phenomenon of a single phrase having a number of, distinguishable senses-is pervasive in language. Each the diploma of ambiguity of a phrase (roughly, its variety of senses) and the relatedness of these senses have been discovered to have widespread results on language acquisition and processing. Just lately, distributional approaches to semantics, through which…Read More
Extracellular vesicles as drug vectors for precise cancer treatment
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nano-sized vesicle buildings secreted from a wide range of cells, which carry quite a few organic macromolecules, take part in cell sign transduction and keep away from immune system clearance. EVs have a plethora of particular sign recognition elements, and plenty of research have proven that they'll play an necessary position…Read More


text:
The violent dismantling of Gdaim Izik protest camp in Western Sahara by the Moroccan police has become the last straw of the Saharawi people's patience. What began as a protest camp to ask for an improvement in their people's rights ended in a battle between Saharawi and the Moroccan police.In November the 8, Moroccan military and police personnel dismantled the Gdaim Izik (Dignity) camp, the biggest protest recorded in Western Sahara since Spain withdrew from the territory 35 years ago, with water cannons, tear gas and batons. It has resulted in, according to the Polisari Front, more than 10 dead Sahrawi, 723 wounded, 159 missing, as well as several reports of torture by the detainees and a new wave of violence in the streets of Laayoune, the capital of Western Sahara. Three Moroccan military also died during the dismantling, due to a clash with Saharawi, according to Moroccan official sources.
But what is the reason for this operation? Moroccan official sources say that the camp was a violation and alteration of the Moroccan identity of the area, that is, a place to claim the independence of Western Sahara, which is intolerable for the Moroccan government in Rabat and King Mohamed VI.
However, the fact is that Gdaim Izik was a place where a group of young people camped last month to demand decent jobs, housing and education. In other words, decent living conditions. It was a place to protest against the apartheid that the Saharawi population suffers in their own land.
Since the ninties the Western Sahara, the indigenous home of the Saharawi people, has been inundated with thousands of Moroccan settlers occupying the territory, receiving help from Morocco government. Today, jobs, business, taxi licenses and housing benefits are for the settlers.
Remarkably, what started as a spontaneous protest against the deterioration of living conditions in the area became the most popular dissent since the end of the war between the Polisario Front and Rabat in 1991. During the month more than 20,000 Saharawi joined the camp.
Therefore, the Moroccan police operation to dismantle the camp does not seem to be spontaneous, but well prepared. But why? The violent reaction of the police did not conclude at Gdaim Izik. Under the cover of nightfall, the police entered many Saharawi villages, burning televisions, carpets and even goats.
Later, the violence spread to the streets of Laayoune, the capital of Western Sahara, where the Moroccan Army imposed a curfew and according to the Ministry of Occupied Territories of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, encouraged the Moroccan settlers to enter the Saharawi districts of the city and provoke residents. Now, a tense calm prevails.
Surely, it is not coincidence that the violence came on the eve of talks between Morocco and the Polisario Front movement, which were taking place in New York, to resume the negotiation process on the sovereignty of Western Sahara. For many people, the attack is a symptom that Morocco wants to torpedo the process. The talks were sponsored by the United Nations, who did not condemn the violent response of the Moroccan police, but called for 'restraint.'
Meanwhile, what does Spain, the former colonial ruler, say? Spanish government officials discretely keep to the background to avoid any friction with Morocco in an area of particular sensitivity, and urges for the participation of the international community in the region. However, within Spanish society, the discussion of whether Spain would have to show more responsibility in Sahara's conflict is being argued once again.
Spain announced it would withdraw from, what was then known as, Spanish Sahara in 1974, following the creation of the Polisario Front, and committed itself to organize a referendum on self-determination for its decolonization of the area.
However, in 1975 Spain ceded administration of the former colony to Morocco and Mauritania under the illegal Madrid Agreement. Thereafter, Western Sahara was occupied by Morocco with a violent attack that caused the flight of many into exile in the desert. Most of those refugees now live in camps in Tindouf, in Algeria.
As a result, the Polisario Front proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and waged a war of liberation of the territory from Morocco.
In 1991, Morocco and the Polisario Front signed a cease-fire brokered by the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), with the intention to carry out a referendum. However, the territory is still under Morocco's occupation, and the government has never showed interest in promoting a peaceful transition into the independence of Western Sahara.
In recent years Rabat has intended to mislead both public opinion and the international community that the demands of decent live conditions or even the aspiration to self-determination made by Saharawi people are the patrimony of a few hotheaded.
But the Gdaim Izik camp protest exposed the true face of the reality in Western Sahara; an ugly reality that the Moroccan government has tried to hide for a long time. What it is clear is that with the assault on the Gdaim Izik camp and the subsequent attacks, the government of Morocco has started a spiral of violence that is not expected to stop.


text:
A robo-advisor is one of the best things to ever hit the financial planning industry. In today's high-tech world, it's clear that the fintech industry is on an upward trajectory to success. Robo-advising services are no different. These services are completely digital. They use a client's financial information, future goals, and risk tolerance to calculate the best possible financial planning advice and investment recommendations based on mathematical algorithms.
The best part is that these services are a fraction of the cost of more traditional (read: human) investment firms or wealth management companies. Of course, regardless of the benefits that may seem clear, it's important to do the research and weigh the pros and cons of any new service when it comes to dealing with your finances.
Robo advisors are highly popular in Canada and particularly among younger and savvier audience. The reason for its popularity lies in its simplicity combined with high level of trust. The leading Canadian robo advisors (which could be considered the best robo advisors in Canada) are: Wealthsimple, BMO Smartfolio, Nest Wealth, Justwealth and Modern Advisor.
Who is using robo-adivsor services in Canada?
Well, to put it simply, everyone is using robo-advisors. Robo-advisors make it easy to afford investing, which is a large part of their draw. Their upfront cost is low, their annual fees are often a quarter of traditional investment annual fees, and they have low or no account or net worth minimum for clients. This makes robo-advisors ideal for new investors who are looking to get started without committing to the incredibly high cost of traditional financial planners or wealth management firms.
Investing to save for retirement with robo-advisors or reach a long-term financial goal but doesn't have a ton of funds to invest now. However, even if you don't fit the "new investor" bill, robo-advisors can still be a good option. If you're a busy professional who doesn't want to spend the time and energy managing your portfolio, but you also don't' want to pay high fees and upfront costs, a robo-advisor is still a good option.
What are the negatives of using a robo-advisor for financial planning and investment management?
Although robo-advisors have many benefits (which we'll go over in just a second), they also have several drawbacks. First, it goes without saying that when you work with a robo-advisor, you're losing the personal touch of a human financial planner. A large part of money management, financial planning, and investing is emotional. A robo-advisor will not be able to help you manage your mental and emotional approach to your money. Only a trained financial advisor can help you overcome mental blocks, embrace risk-taking investments, and dig deeper to understand your spending and budgeting habits.
A robo-advisor is also not perfect all the time. Granted, neither is a human financial planner, so this is a problem that you'll run into regardless of what type of advising you choose to go with. The algorithms that robo-advisors use are generally mathematically sound. But market shifts and unexpected changes in your employment or ability to continue funding your retirement accounts are often unpredictable aspects of planning.
What are the positives of using a Canadian robo-advisor?
Of course, the low fees that many robo-advisors offer is the primary reason that people are drawn to them. While many professional financial advisors charge 1.0% or more to manage your assets annually, several robo-advisor services charge 0.25%. Additionally, the upfront cost is lower, as well. Robo-advising companies can offer such low fees and upfront costs because they have fewer costs themselves. They don't have salaries of advisors or wealth managers to pay – all of their services are automated. Some robo-advising services do have certified professionals you can speak with – but there are only a few of them and the robo-advisor service has the capability to take on way more clients than a traditional financial planner could.
The accessibility and ease of use is another big selling point. Robo advisors are set up to be simple to use. All of the original survey questions about your financial situation are done online. Investment can be completely automated after they run your information through their algorithms, as well, which means you're actively investing but you're entirely hands-off. In today's busy world, that is often worth it for people. Finally, robo-advisors are machines. They eliminate human error, and their algorithms are often award winning. For someone who has a simple, straightforward financial situation, it's likely that a robo-advisor will produce excellent investment results for them.
There will always be pros and cons to any investment service or financial planning firm you choose to work with – whether they're human or automated. However, robo-advisors have many benefits and are worth considering as an option. As you're making your decision, be honest with yourself about whether or not you'll prefer the involvement of an actual person in your investing experience. If that's not a concern, and you're not overly experienced in the investing world and will want to micromanage your portfolio, a robo-advisor might be for you.


text:
BlueHost Server Side Includes (SSI)
Although BlueHost is only offering a single package of hosting plan, they support SSI or Server Side Includes. However, users are required to have a shtml file extension in order for them to be able to use SSI. For pages using .htm or .html extensions, users may need to have the capacity to manage SSI within these types of files. By default, the hosting structure of BlueHost has been setup in order to enable users to utilize the SSI in pages using .shtml file extension. However, if the pages are using .htm or .html, these file extensions will not take effect with BlueHost's default setup.
On the other hand, BlueHost offers step by step instructions on how to allow SSI for non .shtml file extensions by adding a new HTML handler. By setting the handler the extension as .html and the handler is set to server – parsed, SSI can be allowed. This will instruct the server to process .html files in order for users to be able to utilize these directives.
Server Side Includes Security
SSIs are snippets or bits and pieces of code that helps not only on simplifying the aspect of maintaining a web site but also in making a web page more interactive for users. Because of this and its overall simplicity when it comes to implementation, a lot of web programmers and developers are attracted to it even if there are certain risks that must be recognized and avoided.
By using SSI in order to show environment variables as well as file statistics poses no risk for security as with utilizing the #include function as long as the directory where the included file is contained is not web accessible. Security risks may only manifest when the utilization of SSI is used for executing programs or related applications on the web server particularly when the #exec function is used. This may enable hackers to easily run commands so they can access or steal data, delete or totally corrupt the files. It is much safer to just disable the #exec function on the web server or users can limit its function to trusted users only. Obviously, this must only be used where it is absolutely necessary to avoid security risks while using SSI.
If it is totally unavoidable to run a program with SSI, it will be much safer to utilize the "virtual=" combined with #include instead of using the #exec directive. The parameter "virtual=" clearly specifies the target comparative with root directory of the server instead of the directory of the present file. In this manner, program files will not be included with web accessible files. But during situations wherein the web server has no root directory access, the directive #exec can be enabled or disabled in directories that have been specified by using appropriate parameters in htaccess file that is usually located in every directory. The file htaccess is the directory level counterpart of the root level configuration file. If the web page is hosted by external hosting providers like BlueHost or an ISP (internet service provider), access to the root directory of the web server is very unlikely and during these situations wherein htaccess files can be utilized.
Avoiding SSI Security Risks
One must know that the safest way is to have the minimum necessary functionality. Even if BlueHost is known for its secure web hosting services, SSI must only be activated on directories where it is highly needed. Parsing can be automatically disabled on certain directories especially on home directories of the user. Because the parameters for htaccess files also apply even to sub directories, SSI must only be activated on directories with HTML files that urgently need to be parsed for server side includes. In line with this, data that are considered as confidential must be kept in other directories that are not located in sub directories that have activated SSI parameters.
The same minimalist standard is also applicable to file permissions. Programs and applications that are called using SSI code must be located on directories with file permissions that are set to read, write, or execute for the user. For the group and other users, it must be set to read and execute only.
SSI offers simplicity of implementation and maintenance however; users must understand its full security risks and know how to avoid it. BlueHost is among the few web hosting providers that offer comprehensive web hosting features like SSI but it does not necessarily mean that users will rely their web security to BlueHost alone. There are other security features that are inclusive with BlueHost's basic hosting package and all these are available even for those who will avail the discount. With a Bluehost domain coupon, users now can lower the monthly cost to just $3.95 per month and still enjoy a whole range of features including SSI support.


text:
About Academic Central
The Academic Central program is for non-members who are involved in teaching actuarial science, mathematics, economics, business, or related courses, and who have an interest in the activities of the Casualty Actuarial Society. There is no membership fee.
Educators are welcome to register as Academic Central members by completing a brief online application.
Academic Central Benefits
CAS publications that are sent to members of Academic Central include: the Actuarial Review (a bi-monthly magazine), Future Fellows (a quarterly student newsletter) and Variance (a scientific journal).
Members of Academic Central may submit papers to Variance and the E-Forum. Variance is the semi-annual peer-reviewed publication of the CAS while the E-Forum is a non-refereed electronic journal that provides a means of immediate circulation of research papers. Papers published in the Forum may be submitted for further publication in Variance.
Members of Academic Central may attend up to three CAS national meetings or seminars per year with registration fees waived. (This does not include Regional Affiliate Meetings. Additionally, please see note regarding fee waivers for limited attendance seminars and workshops.)
The CAS will award a grant to a member of Academic Central's educational institution when the Academic Central member attains a CAS designation ($7,500 for Fellow and $5,000 for Associate).
A dedicated section of the CAS website has been established through the Academic Central Online Community with features including a blog, discussion forum, calendar, and file library with resources and information for academics.
- Members of Academic Central have access to the CAS Curriculum Guide, a series of five classroom ready CAS Case Studies, and a Property and Casualty Resource Library.
- Members of Academic Central are invited to receive complimentary CAS Examination Study Kits that relate to subjects they teach.
- Complimentary access to CAS Webinars.
- Access to portions of University of CAS content.
The CAS has established a University Liaison Program whereby CAS members are matched with Academic Central members to provide them an individual contact with a practicing actuary.
Academic Central members are sent notices of meetings, announcements of call paper programs, and other CAS correspondence.
Additional Information
If you are interested in learning more about the program, or have suggestions, questions, or comments, please contact Margaret Gaddy, University Engagement Manager, at the CAS Office (703-276-3100 or firstname.lastname@example.com).


text:
There's about a two week gap between my interview with Monica Flores Richart and my interview with today's candidate, Elizabeth Santos. In between, of course, Harvey happened, and among many other vastly more important things it affected how interested anyone was in thinking or talking about the 2017 elections as well as everyone's time and availability. As noted yesterday, with this interview and all others going forward I'll have asked questions that are different from those I thought I'd be asking about. I apologize for the confusion and trust everyone will understand.
Elizabeth Santos is graduate of public schools in HISD District I and of UH-Downtown, where she earned a BA in English Literature. She is now a teacher at Northside (formerly Jeff Davis) High School. Here's what we talked about:
I have one more interview to go in District I. Please let me know what you think of these.


text:
Search Party
Under certain circumstances we are all capable of murder. Perhaps. Or at least that's what TV wants us to believe about ourselves. TV shows Search Party, Big Little Lies and Black Mirror have all placed the unlikely, the circumstantial, and the accidental murder centre stage. And today's TV murderers are not suspicious Agatha Christie-style bachelors or a hardened criminal from a Law & Order episode, but instead they are fleshed-out, relatable characters who have jobs, deadlines, demanding children, and annoying friends – just like us.
It's this depiction that TV networks have seized on of late – morphing killers into paranoid, deer-in-the-headlights, everyday people. TV creators are keen to remind us that a potential murderer is nearby or even within all of us. According to official FBI statistics, in the US alone, around 65% of all homicides remain unsolved. Furthermore, 88% of all murders are likely to be by someone the victim knows. Taking these two statistics together shows us how murderers are hiding undiscovered in plain-sight: in our families, friendship groups or workplaces. TV previously taught us that killers were caught by the end of the episode. This is no longer the case.
When Ron Livingston's dodgy PI Keith begins to throttle wayward hipster Dory, played expertly by Arrested Development's Alia Shakat, Search Party suddenly changed tone from an urban hipster rom-com to what New York Times labelled "its own genre: the noir sitcom". Dory's DIY investigative search for her missing college alumni did not in fact unearth Chantal Witherbottom but rather it gave birth to Dory and her boyfriend Drew's murderous capabilities. To protect Dory, Drew impulsively kills Keith with a hugely ironic candlestick, but Drew and Dory aren't villains – they are hapless Brooklynites who chose to kill when faced with their own mortality. By proxy, their two friends Elliot and Portia become embroiled, foolishly advising them to bury the body rather than call the police. Suddenly audiences began switching on in their millions. America was interested.
Are these people naturally this horribly calculating? Or did the climactic season twist force them to become that? Or are viewers more galvanized by watching these self-entitled hipsters suffer? It's likely to be the latter two. No matter how annoying, its fairly obvious they're in way over their heads. Dory naively, or in a moment of clarity, confesses "I guess I just miss when my problems were about nothing". As the horror of the aftermath becomes all-too-consuming, there is no time for Instagram selfies, brunches, and vintage clothes shopping. At one point, she works herself up into such a frenzy that she ends up passing out in the middle of a Williamsburg Park, for all other hipsters to see.
The TBS network have yet to confirm a third instalment, even when the show's creators leave audiences on a cliff-edge with a shocking season finale of a second killing. Dory seemingly left with no option, pushes a black-mailing neighbour off a Staten Island ferry. Appearing not so unwilling anymore, fully embracing the darker depths of her personality; she realizes that if cornered, she will attack, and she will kill. Despite it being an improbable season conclusion, the transformation of these self-involved millennials into reluctant baby Walter Whites is a fascinating watch.
Mia Nolan, the protagonist of Black Mirror season four's 'Crocodile', is a more extreme example. Played by an unrecognisable Andrea Riseborough, Mia is plagued by a discrepancy in her youth: aiding and abetting her then boyfriend in dumping a body he accidentally run over. Things reach a crescendo in later life when the guilt-ridden ex-boyfriend threatens to turn himself in. In a moment of panic, Mia sloppily chokes him to death only for it to lead to a series of further killings in a desperate effort to cover her tracks. Her driving force is, understandably, a fear of losing everything she meticulously built: an award-winning career, a loving husband, a nine-year old son as well a stunningly large house, straight out of Architectural Digest.
Black Mirror
Charlie Brooker peppers Mia's behaviour with various warm touches in a bid for us to sympathize with her. The burden of guilt becomes emotionally exhausting, it was only a matter of time that the years of pent-up tension would be unleashed. Brooker also has Mia in a continual state of remorse, the more she kills the worse she feels; heavily weeping before each murder, even apologizing to one of her victims. But, does seeing Mia's trajectory from innocent car passenger to a fully-fledged murder make her more amenable? In some moments yes, as the circumstances did indeed coerce her to kill. However, in other moments, no. Appearing outside a victim's house wielding a hammer hints at an already predisposed cold-blooded killer.
In contrast to Riseborough's unhinged, rugged mother, a more empathetic deed is the single murder committed by five sophisticated suburban mothers in HBO's Big Little Lies. One of the mothers, Nicole Kidman's Celeste Wright, is beaten to a pulp repeatedly by physically abusive husband, Perry (Alexander Skarsgard), throughout the course of the mini-series. In the final episode, a heated altercation between an unrelenting Perry and the five women ends with them killing him. This is a dark but welcome conclusion to a deeply distressing story line. Both Kidman and her viewers are finally given some relief.
This murder, the discovery of which could easily transform their middle-class lives, doesn't haunt or tarnish them, but instead transforms them into powerful and just vigilantes. In the very final scene, a silent montage of all five women, murderers, embracing each other and looking out towards the tempestuous sea, seems to represent their shared vulnerability but also their new-found power, the knowledge of what they are capable of in the name of self-protection.
And the final scene of Big Little Lies sets the scene for how these accidental murderers may develop in future TV shows. Their narrative arcs are not aimed towards legal reprisals or punishment but rather the psychological effects of unpunished murder, guilt or self-appointed justice. Echoing Judith Butler's edict, "we are all capable of murder when we realise just how precarious life really is," murderers are no longer imprisoned or far removed from us. Instead, it could be anyone of us who is simply unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.


text:
Chris Cuomo was officially terminated by CNN after an investigation into his involvement with the misconduct case against his brother, former governor of New York Andrew Cuomo. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for WarnerMedia)
Chris Cuomo has been fired from CNN.
The journalist, who is the brother of Andrew Cuomo, was suspended indefinitely from the news network in November after it was uncovered that he had advised the former governor of New York following multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. The Department of Justice is currently investigating the sexual harrasment claims made against the former NY leader.
While Andrew stepped down from his public office in August, and was replaced by Kathy Hochul, Cuomo kept his job at CNN, and side-stepped coverage of Andrew's controversy due to the familial conflict of interest. However, after it came to light that Cuomo had close ties to his brother's defense, many employees at CNN were angry that he still maintained his role on the network.
In August, a CNN staffer told Buzzfeed News, "The fact that Chris Cuomo wasn't fired over his inappropriate conflict of interest in actively affecting a news story is not only irresponsible of CNN, but also a disgrace to journalism."
Now, CNN has terminated Cuomo's employment as they have determined that the longtime TV personality inappropriately used his influence and resources as a journalist to gather information about Andrew's accusers.
Get updates on the latest news sent straight to your inbox
Please enter a valid email addressSuccess! You have subscribed to Yahoo newsletter.
"Chris Cuomo was suspended earlier this week pending further evaluation of new information that came to light about his involvement with his brother's defense. We retained a respected law firm to conduct the review, and have terminated him, effective immediately," CNN shared in a statement on Saturday, Dec. 4. "While in the process of that review, additional information has come to light. Despite the termination, we will investigate as appropriate."
In his own statement, Cuomo said, "This is not how I want my time at CNN to end but I have already told you why and how I helped my brother. So let me now say as disappointing as this is, I could not be more proud of the team at Cuomo Prime Time and the work we did as CNN's #1 show in the most competitive time slot. I owe them all and will miss that group of special people who did really important work."
Cuomo made his CNN debut in 2013. Prior to his time on CNN, he was a correspondent for ABC News and a co-anchor of 20/20.
You can view the original article HERE.


text:
Meaning and definition of Yield
A yield refers to the income return on an investment. This indicates the dividends or interest received from a security and is generally expressed yearly as a percentage based on the cost of investment, as well as the face value or the current market value.
As explained by Investopedia. This ostensibly simple term, without a qualifier, can be, to a certain extent, confusing to the investors.
Explaining the term
In finance, the term delineates the amount in cash that returns to the owners of a security. Generally, it does not include the price variations, at the variation of the total return. Moreover, yield applies to various acknowledged return rates on stocks (convertible as well as common and preferred), fixed income instruments (notes, bonds, bills, zero coupon, strips) and some other investment type insurance products (like annuities).
Also, the term is use in distinctive situations to replicate different things. It can be evaluated as a ratio as well as an Internal Rate of Return (IRR). Moreover, it can be used to determine the total return of the owner, or even a portion, or exceed the income.
Evaluating the Yield
All financial instruments vie with each other in the market place. Yield is one of the parts of the total return of holding a security. A higher yield percentage enables the owner to regain his investment more rapidly thus reducing the risk. However, on the contrary, a high yield might be an outcome of the declining market value for the security as a consequence of higher risk.
The level of yields fluctuates largely with inflation expectations. Risk of high inflations in future indicates that investors are asking for high yield at present.
The development of the instrument is one of the elements that find out the risk. The rapport between the yields and the development of instruments of comparable credit worthiness is delineated by the yield curve. Long dated instruments generally feature a higher yield than the short dated instruments. Moreover, the yield of a debt instrument is usually linked to the credit worthiness and default prospect of the issuer. The higher the default risk, the higher would be the yield in many of the cases for issuers are required to offer investors some reimbursement for the risk.
See also
Start free ReadyRatios
start online
financial analysis now!
No registration required!
But once registered, additional features are available.
Most WantedFinancial Terms
- Most Important Financial Ratios
- Debt-to-Equity Ratio
- Current Ratio
- Interest Coverage Ratio (ICR)
- Financial Leverage
- Break-even Point


text:
You have probably felt overwhelmed or stressed out a couple of times. This is may be due to issues associated with work, family, friends, or your relationship. While others may be the culprit of your anxiety, know that you are not completely blameless. You may not realise it, but some of your daily habits do you more harm than good and make you feel bad.
Here are some of the daily things that can contribute to your stress and anxiety:
You Don't Smile or Laugh
Being busy with work or family is not a valid reason to forget how to smile. If you cannot remember the last time you had a real good laugh, you may want to change how you live your life. Laughter is indeed the best medicine, as research suggests that it can relax muscles, ease stress, and stimulate blood flow. Take a time to laugh every day; watch funny videos or a comedy movie.
You Don't Exercise
Doctors and chiropractors note that if you spend most of your days sitting, you may feel sluggish and tired all the time. You are also likely to suffer from neck and lower back pain. Squeeze in at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise in your daily activities to help you relieve stress. Studies suggest that physically active people have bodies that are equipped to deal with stress better.
You Don't Get Enough Sleep
With too many distractions like gadgets and binge watching, it is easy to take sleep for granted. This is one of the reasons most people sleep less than six hours a day and feel exhausted the next day. If you want to reduce stress and protect your heart against diseases, sleep for at least seven hours and stick to a consistent sleep schedule, including weekends. This can make you feel better and ready to take on new challenges.
Your House or Room is Cluttered
A disorganised and a cluttered room is a source of distraction and stress. If you let things pile up on the floor or on spaces where they shouldn't be, you are likely to be exhausted every day. Apart from making it hard for you to find the things you need, concentrating can also be a challenge as clutter demands attention. Tidy up you room to relieve or lower stress levels.
You Don't Put Down Your Phone
Studies suggest that being extremely attached to your gadget or feeling the pressure to respond to texts and emails can cause increased stress and anxiety. Obsession with technology, furthermore, can compromise family relationships, as individuals are less connected to their siblings or parents when an electronic gadget is present. This is why it is best to learn to stay offline or cut back on technology to avoid stress.
You Have Become a "Yes" Person
Saying "yes" all time may make you a likeable person and please others. This habit, however, can increase your personal responsibilities, contributing to more stress and pressure. Note that it is okay to say "no" if you don't really have enough time to accomplish a certain task. This can lower your anxiety and give you more time to focus on yourself and the things that matter most.
Adaptive Chiropractic is the name you can trust for wellbeing and preventative care. Apart from treating back and neck pain, muscular tension, and poor posture, we also offer stress management through chiropractic care. We can help you manage stress, allowing you to you deal with pressure and anxiety easier. This will then decrease your cortisol and inflammation levels. For more information about our stress management solutions, get in touch with us.
Adaptive Chiropractic Richmond
85 Erin St, Richmond VIC 3121, Australia
+61 3 9445 8975


text:
Rob Jones
Products Used: Clayton Standard Shape, 0.60mm Duraplex Picks and Clayton Inner Lock Straps.
"In order to make it through long sets of singing and playing, having a good pick makes all the difference. Picks that notch and sound dull will kill your show faster than almost anything. That's why I stick with Steve Clayton so I can focus on doing what I love."
Rob Jones is the vocalist, guitarist, and co-founder of the American Indie Rock band Beyond Beyond. Known for catchy rhythms on the guitar and dynamic vocal melodies, Rob has always been in love with music, from growing up in a household that appreciated good music, to installing car stereos, then all the way to being an on air DJ and playing and singing every weekend, music has always been around.
Website: http://www.beyondbeyond.us
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/beyondbeyondofficial
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/beyondbeyond_
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/beyondbeyondofficial
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/beyondbeyondofficial
Rob Jones on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BeyondBeyondRob


text:
Duplo DFC-102 10 Station SRA3 Friction Collator
- Back
Call for pricing
- : 0936
Call for pricing
- This product has no reviews yetAdd Review
Duplo DFC-102 10 Station SRA3 Friction-Fed Collator is a fast, reliable, quality vertical collating machine for NCR and uncoated paper up to SRA3 160gsm. With push button controls, offset stacking mode and connectability for multi-tower or bookletmaking systems. Duplo DFC100 10 station collator represents great value for money finishing.
Recently Viewed
Back to products


text:
Comedian/actor Nick Swardson shows some hometown pride as he poses for director Ruben Fleischer in a Twins t-shirt. Swardson - a Saint Paul native - has been seen in such hilar flicks as Don't Mess with the Zohan, Blades of Glory, and Malibu's Most Wanted and many more. He is currently in Grand Rapids, MI working with Fleischer (of Zombieland fame) on a comedy called 30 Minutes or Less.
Via rubenflesicher
Subitted by @marrina.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Swardson shows hometown pride!
Posted by l'étoile magazine at 1:55 PM
Labels: minnesota twins, nick swardson, twitter
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
An effective contingent workforce program requires close collaboration between the client, the MSP team, and the program's suppliers and service providers – and this makes Volt's continual focus on supplier success an integral part of our MSP strategy.
Because we are not filling roles directly for our MSP, we see suppliers as partners. We understand the challenges service providers face in a competitive MSP program and strive to ensure each supplier gets the return they need for the effort they invest. You can count on Volt to work with your team to understand your specialties and strengths and engage you for talent acquisition that falls within your wheelhouse and regional market.
For every delivery channel, supplier selection is driven by the specific talent acquisition needs of each client. Our goal is to ensure every client has rapid access to the professionals they need at every location, from suppliers with a proven history of quality, compliance, and accountability.
As a Volt supplier, we want you to thrive, so we've developed several effective processes for increasing communication and transparency in our programs:
Supplier Mentoring provides relevant, analytics-based feedback and industry best practices in order to enhance your delivery success and increase your program volume while providing the best talent quality to our clients.
Supplier Surveys allow you to give MSP feedback in an open environment, information that we use to make adjustments and improvements to our relationships and overall program performance.
Supplier Workshops give you an opportunity to discuss processes, strategies, and objectives with other suppliers in order to better align your delivery with program objectives.
Supplier Optimization, our process of making sure each client has the right suppliers and the right number of suppliers, ensures that even in competitive scenarios, you're bidding on requisitions you can win.
We work with the best suppliers in our industry – and with more than 120 active programs worldwide, partnering with Volt can be a great way to expand your business. If you're interested in becoming a supplier to a Volt MSP, please fill out the Supplier Interest Form to provide us your company details.
Supplier Interest Form
If you're a current supplier with a question, please fill out the form below to contact us.


text:
As if we hadn't had enough, here's another confessional governor:
Gov. Paterson admits to sex with other woman for years
Given the call-girl scandal that erupted last week and forced Spitzer's stunning resignation, Paterson conceded that top government officials are bound to come under closer scrutiny for their personal actions.
Here's a question: Did Paterson use public funds for his dalliances? Were any of the dalliances possibly connected to organized crime? Was he a staunch prosecutor of adulterers while indulging?
If the answer to any of the above is no, then I really don't care to hear it. His private life is none of my business.
But at least the Daily News respects his privacy and didn't mention at all his party affiliation.
How nice of them.
We're approaching a national Too Much Information crisis.
Across the river in NJ, the loathesome McGreevey has yet another of his lovers come forward during the divorce proceedings but now says he and his estranged wife need to move forward for the sake of their 6-year-old daughter.
Gina Cobb rips apart "The Myth of Morality"


text:
This course is based around a hypothetical case study. Dr Lai, a cardiothoracic surgery registrar, transects a patient's costochondral cartilages during surgery. The hospital receives a complaint from the 70 year old male patient. Dr Lai discusses the situation with the consultant surgeon and the Director of Clinical Governance but is unsure of how to respond. The hospital ultimately is delayed in providing a response and the patient issues a claim against all parties.
Upon completion you will receive:
80% Pass mark required for completion


text:
1.Thing That Is Bringing Me Joy: Milkweed. This spring Allison bought milkweed and monarch caterpillars for our garden. The garden is near our front door. The monarch butterflies bring my family joy as we come and go about our day.
2. New Skill – Trained my brain to listen to audio books at 2.5x. This will allow me to listen to 2.5x more books this year. I'll take it.
3. Life Philosophy – Everything changes when you stop playing for the next 30 days and start playing for the next 30 years.
4. Best Thing I've Bought In The Last 90 Days – These Adams Stackable Adirondack Chairs. They are cheap, comfortable, and easily portable. Our family got a lot of use out of them this summer.
5. Skill I'm Teaching – I'm teaching my 6 year old son to ride a bike. He has the physical ability to do it. Once he starts riding he goes. And then he realizes he is riding – thinks about it – and falls. In learning about riding a bike he's learning about life. So much of what we do or don't do is in our heads.


text:
Fuctastic Free #2
2nd Free Vector. Skull with a touch of mexican style! Comments are welcome. Maybe you like it and make a donate. Thx free to use it in personal projects. not for commercial use.
This file was created by FreeVectors.net and is distributed under the FreeVectors.net License license.
Free Download
You must credit the author.
Copy this link (right-click + 'copy') on your website
Premium License
Don't want to credit the author?
200,000+ Vectors
from $9.99 / month
Your free file will automatically download in .
While you wait, check out this offer!
Download Limit Reached
Join Premium for Unlimited Premium Downloads and More!