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Σάββατο, 28 Απριλίου 2012
marilena: Draw Something: Celebrity quiz
marilena: Draw Something: Celebrity quiz: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/27/tech/gaming-gadgets/draw-something-celebrity-quiz-ireport/index.html
Draw Something: Celebrity quiz
marilena: 'Heart shrinking' trial to combat heart failure to...
marilena: 'Heart shrinking' trial to combat heart failure to...: A trial using electricity to shrink the hearts of patients with heart failure is about to start in Liverpool. It will involve electr...
'Heart shrinking' trial to combat heart failure to begin By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News
A trial using electricity to shrink the hearts of patients with heart failure is about to start in Liverpool.
It will involve electrically stimulating one of the nerves leading to the heart, which it is hoped could shrink the heart and improve life expectancy.
This is the first trial of the technique in humans, after it was shown to keep rats and dogs alive for longer.
This first patient will be operated on in the next few days.
The heart pumps blood around the body, and when it fails to do this properly people can become tired and out of breath far more quickly. For some patients it feels like running a marathon when they are only sitting in an armchair.
Heart failure affects around 900,000 people in the UK and can be the result of high blood pressure, dead heart muscle after a heart attack, or a genetic condition.Bigger and bigger
As the heart loses its ability to pump, it fills with too much blood and becomes stretched over time. The more the heart enlarges, the worse the symptoms.
Surgeons at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital and The Royal Liverpool University Hospital hope to reverse the damage.
They will fit a device - similar to a pacemaker - to the vagus nerve which runs to the heart. Surgeons said the electrical stimulation should "protect the heart" from the effects of the hormone adrenaline.
Adrenaline makes the heart pump harder and faster; this is one of the body's responses to heart failure - but doctors say it becomes toxic over time and damages the heart further.
Dr Jay Wright, a consultant cardiologist at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, told the BBC: "We're hoping it will shrink the heart, but it might not be to normal size."
He said shrinkage "would lead to improvement in symptoms - we know that the bigger the heart the worse the symptoms".
Nearly 100 patients will take part in the trial at 30 hospitals around the world.
The first will be Carl Jordan, who used to be a paramedic. He has had several heart attacks which have damaged his heart, causing it to become enlarged.
He said: "Being the first person to have this device implanted in Liverpool was a huge decision.
"My quality of life at the moment is not great, because of the restrictions my condition has imposed on me, especially the breathing problem, as some days this is quite severe and getting worse.
"Another factor is I have a young family who, although I am the one with the illness, they too are living with it and see every day what it can do to me, so hopefully it will improve my quality of life as well as the lives of others."
bbc news
The idea is that by shielding the heart, it will stop enlarging and begin to shrink.
marilena: Strauss-Kahn claims French opponents 'orchestrated...
marilena: Strauss-Kahn claims French opponents 'orchestrated...: Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Khan has repeated claims that political opponents planned the fallout from a sex scandal to prevent...
Strauss-Kahn claims French opponents 'orchestrated scandal'
Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Khan has repeated claims that political opponents planned the fallout from a sex scandal to prevent him running for the French presidency.
He told Britain's Guardian newspaper that people linked to incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy's party also bugged his phone.
The claims come at a sensitive time for President Sarkozy as he seeks re-election in a second-round vote.
Mr Strauss-Kahn abandoned plans to run after he was accused of rape last year.
He did not claim in the interview that the sexual encounter with New York hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo was the result of a set-up.
But he did suggest that the subsequent handling of events was orchestrated to ensure he was publicly shamed.
"Perhaps I was politically naive, but I simply did not believe that they would go that far… I didn't think they could find anything that could stop me," he told The Guardian.
These claims were first put forward by US journalist Edward Jay Epstein in the New York Review of Books last November. Mr Epstein also conducted the interview.New allegations
The BBC's High Schofield in Paris says there will be some scepticism about what Mr Strauss-Kahn has to say, but with the second round of the French presidential election taking place in just over a week, the allegations come at a difficult time for Mr Sarkozy.
He is well behind his Socialist rival Francois Hollande in the polls.
Before the events of May 2011, Dominique Strauss-Kahn was the leading contender to be the Socialist party's candidate in the presidential election.
Although the criminal case against him was dropped, the affair sank his hopes of running for the French presidency and forced him to resign as head of the IMF.
In March of this year, Mr Strauss-Kahn was also placed under formal investigation in France over alleged involvement in a prostitution ring.
He has admitted attending parties where the authorities believe prostitutes were provided by a gang, but denies knowing that they were prostitutes.
Mr Sarkozy's UMP party has previously denied any allegations it was involved in a plot against Mr Strauss-Kahn.
BBC news
marilena: MA TI ΦΙΛΙΑ !!!! και ΆΛΛΑ...
marilena: MA TI ΦΙΛΙΑ !!!! και ΆΛΛΑ...: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-17871572
MA TI ΦΙΛΙΑ !!!! και ΆΛΛΑ...
marilena: We need to talk about porn
marilena: We need to talk about porn: The growth of internet sex sites is fuelling parental fears of children exposed to porn. So what's the real effect of an adolescence spent ...
We need to talk about porn
The growth of internet sex sites is fuelling parental fears of children exposed to porn. So what's the real effect of an adolescence spent watching sex online? Jerome Taylor and Jane Ryan speak to the teens who've been through it
Edward first discovered porn when he was 13-years-old at school. Every now and then his friends would come in with new videos and websites that they had dug up online the night before and share them around. Only a year earlier his contemporaries might have been swapping toys. Now they were trading porn.
"I started watching it more and more," the 19-year-old recalls. "It had a massive effect on the way I thought about sex and has been hugely detrimental to my perception of what a relationship is supposed to be like."
By the time he got together with his first girlfriend, three years later, he felt utterly confused. "It wasn't that I was expecting sex in real life to be like that in porn, or that women would be like those you see in the videos. But I had a very distorted view on relationships."
Alisha, who first watched erotica in her early teens at a friend's house, was also left perplexed. The east Londoner worried about her body image and whether boys would have unrealistic expectations of what sex could be.
"Every time I saw porn I thought that I wasn't sexual enough, that I wouldn't be able to act like that," the 21-year-old recalls. "It wasn't until I was much older that I realised it is not supposed to be that way all the time, that porn doesn't show a typical sexual encounter."
Debates on porn are often passionate. What was considered pornographic in the 1970s, when conservatives blamed Playboy magazine for a third of divorces in the United States, would barely raise an eyebrow now. And when the internet brought porn into our homes en masse in the late 1990s, doomsayers predicted society's moral collapse – even as rates of divorce, abortion, teen pregnancies and sexual violence fell across Western nations. Yet parental concerns remain entrenched and politicians are more than happy to tap into our fears that we risk sleepwalking towards a society addicted to silicone-enhanced sex. In the recent Republican primary debates, candidates virtually tripped up over themselves to be toughest on smut with Rick Santorum suggesting a complete ban on pornography.
The UK debate is less shrill but shows no signs of fading as parents fret about what children get up to online. The debate focuses on who is responsible for stopping children and teenagers from accessing porn. Should internet service providers force customers to "opt-in" to unrestricted access, or should the onus be on parents to keep an eye on what their children are up to online?
One of the few areas where both sides of the argument agree is the huge accessibility of porn compared to the days when top-shelf magazines, peep-shows and blackmarket videos were the only way teenagers could get visual titillation.
Around a third of all web traffic is now porn-related with various studies suggesting up to two-thirds of men and one- third of women under 50 regularly view erotica. There is little doubt teenagers can access porn like never before. Depending on the study you read, between 40 to 80 per cent of 10- to 17-year-olds have viewed porn, mainly through smartphones and home computers.
But there is far less consensus about the effect porn has on society and our children. Specialists and rehabilitation centres say the palpable increase in adults and teenagers seeking help for porn addiction cannot be ignored.
"Feedback from our counsellors shows that we are seeing more and more people for whom pornography is impacting on their relationship," says Kim Atkins, from the counselling charity Relate.
Successive studies have shown that violent or abusive porn makes up only a fraction of what is available on the internet and yet concerns abound that an entire generation of children are growing up to believe that anal sex, threesomes and bondage form part of an everyday physical relationship.
Yet research suggests we might not be giving teenagers the credit they deserve in being able to differentiate between fact and fantasy. A recent study of 73 middle-class Swedish teens in the Journal of Sex Research – one of only a few papers to explore teenage porn use in the age of smartphones – found most participants "had the ability to distinguish between pornographic fantasies on the one hand, and real sexual interactions and relationships on the other".
Paula Hall, a founder member of the Association for the Treatment of Sex Addiction and Compulsivity (Atsac), agrees. "To suggest that teenagers can't tell the difference is insulting their intelligence. They can watch violent DVDs and know that's not how you behave... Porn is cartoon sex and the vast majority of teens see that. But for those who have a predisposition to addictions, they have access to this drug, if you like, with no education or awareness that it can become a problem."
Rather than try to ban pornography or shut down the internet – both of which are all but impossible – many believe parents and schools must become more proactive at educating children about pornography and consensual sex. A recent survey by Psychologies magazine found only 25 per cent of parents talked to their children about porn.
Simon Blake, chief executive of Brook, a charity that provides sexual health advice to teenagers, says: "Parents should be talking to young people about pornography because they will always want to find out about sex."
Paula Hall says: "The internet has a darker side. But it can also be a very safe place to work out and understand your sexuality. Above all it's about education."
Πέμπτη, 26 Απριλίου 2012
marilena: A MILLION CARS A MONTH: TOP GERMAN BRANDS ALL REVV...
marilena: A MILLION CARS A MONTH: TOP GERMAN BRANDS ALL REVV...: Mercedes, BMW, Porsche and other top automakers know that the Chinese market is huge – and the potential is even bigger. All the best wares...
Mercedes, BMW, Porsche and other top automakers know that the Chinese market is huge – and the potential is even bigger. All the best wares are on display in Beijing.
Made for China? (Tim Wang)
By Peter Eck
DIE WELT/Worldcrunch
DIE WELT/Worldcrunch
BEIJING - Packed crowds, cars burnished to high sheen – at first glance, the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition may appear no different than other major auto shows in Detroit, Geneva and Frankfurt.
But the importance of this particular show to international automakers is unique, and can be measured by facts like this: in the huge country that is China, more than one million cars are registered every month. This means that winning or losing just 0.1% of the market can mean selling (or not selling) more than 10,000 additional vehicles per year.
So competition at "Auto China 2012" between the big fish with huge market share and the wannabes, both domestic and foreign, is fierce. And, as they do on the streets of central Beijing, the German brands play a particularly heady role – because the car models that widen the eyes of China's fast-multiplying, upwardly mobile middle class are to be found at the large and consummately professional-looking stands of the German manufacturers.
Volkswagen, Mercedes and Germany's other top automakers have long understood this, and accord the Chinese show a commensurate amount of importance. They even present special, made for China "stretch" models of familiar models that they don't show anywhere else. Audi, for example, is showing a slightly stretched A6 for the first time, and BMW offers the 3 Series with an additional 11 cm (4.3 in) on the wheelbase. The star feature of the Mercedes stand is its so-called "concept style coupé" – a sporty four-door model based on the new A-Class – that can be expected to be manufactured pretty much as presented, although the company is being cagey about whether the car will ultimately be baptized CLA or not.
By comparison to the CLA, the Denza (a Mercedes/BYD Chinese brand) electric car based on the old B-Class, looks austere, even boring, although that doesn't apply to what's under the hood. The car hits the market next year.
It's hardly a surprise that Porsche scheduled the world launch of the Cayenne GTS for the Beijing show: on the one hand, the timeframe was ideal in terms of the company's product planning, and for another the derivative of the luxury SUV is ideal for China – in no other market on the planet does Porsche sell so many Cayennes as it does here.
Other VW brands didn't offer any particular novelties, except for the Urus design produced by VW subsidiary Lamborghini. Also presented as a concept car, the Urus is sure to go into production and Lambo boss Stefan Winkelmann is already saying they're aiming to sell 3,000 of the SUV per year.
French cars weren't getting a lot of buzz at the show, and what attention they were getting was going to Citroen. Its futuristic Shooting Brake DS9 appeals to a market where expensive models cannot be big or conspicuous enough.
One of the big stars of the Beijing show was without a doubt the Jaguar F, presented in a coupé version. The F will presumably hit the market in 2013, at prices above 50,000 euros.
And the Chinese carmakers? They keep on learning, and this year markedly better quality and a much more professional finish characterized their new models. For Europeans, however, the problem with Chinese cars is the design -- particularly smaller models, where Chinese manufacturers tend to lean to forms and lines seen a decade ago in Korean cars. The larger the car, the more Baroque the lines – Chinese brands like BYD, Geely, Brillance, and Roewe really need to work on forging their own, authentic looks before they stand any kind of chance on the European market.
marilena: DALAI LAMA'S VIEW ON WOMEN.....
marilena: DALAI LAMA'S VIEW ON WOMEN.....: http://edition.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_mid#/video/bestoftv/2012/04/24/pmt-dalai-lama-on-women.cnn
marilena: Is Shigeru Miyamoto's game over at Nintendo?
marilena: Is Shigeru Miyamoto's game over at Nintendo?: Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto turns 60 this year, but the father of Mario and Zelda has no thoughts of retiring. Simon Parkin met up w...
Is Shigeru Miyamoto's game over at Nintendo?
Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto turns 60 this year, but the father of Mario and Zelda has no thoughts of retiring. Simon Parkin met up with him in Paris
"Why do you still play video games?"
Shigeru Miyamoto is tired. Jetlag is partly to blame – the 11-hour flight from his hometown Kyoto to Paris, combined with a day's worth of interviews with journalists eager to pull headlines from his lips, accentuating the bags under his eyes. But it's more than that.
This November, Super Mario's father turns 60. Having spent over half of his life working at Nintendo (his first and only job) on more than 100 games, a little vocational weariness is inevitable.
But it's more than that. The pause before he answers is borne from somewhere deeper than the fug of travel exhaustion or the fatigued plod toward retirement. While his face remains composed, there's an internal scrabbling for an acceptable answer to the question.
Eventually, a sharp intake of breath and a smile. "I still play video games because I still make video games, of course," he says, before adding: "Just playing the stuff I make myself keeps me very busy."
He looks down.
Miyamoto may not have fathered the video game medium, but perhaps more than anyone else, he has been responsible for raising it.
From his first unexpected success with Donkey Kong, a game designed to shift 2000 Radardscope arcade cabinets sitting unsold in Nintendo warehouses in 1981, through the creation of multiple multi-million selling series based around characters of his own design, Miyamoto has stayed abreast of every generational leap in technology in a way not one of his contemporaries has managed.
The iconography of Mario
For more than 20 years his most famous work, Super Mario Bros. remained the best-selling video game, selling more than 40m copies worldwide and popularising a character who, by the 1990s, had become more recognisable among American schoolchildren than Mickey Mouse.
Mario's iconography came to define the medium in popular culture: the red splash of his plumber's costume; the unfashionable cap and moustache; Koji Kondo's irrepressibly joyful theme tune; the squat, shifty-eyed Goombas; and the spike-backed kidnapper, Bowser. There was a rude surplus of ideas behind the pixels which, combined, continue to represent video-gameness to so much of the world.
Beyond the recurring play myths he originated – Donkey Kong, Zelda, Mario – Miyamoto was the first to master not only the technological transition from 2D to 3D graphics with his seminal titles Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but also the accompanying creative transition in game systems and mechanics this dimensional expansion brought with it.
Then, in more recent years, his hand on Nintendo's visionary tiller brought motion control to the masses by way of Wii Sports and Wii Fit, titles that broadened both the definition of games as well as the audience that consumes them.
Miyamoto was honoured as the first inductee in to the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 1998 and is the only video game designer to have been knighted into France's Order of Arts and Letters. If the esteem in which he is still held in was in any doubt, just four years ago he placed first in the Time Magazine reader choice of the world's 100 most influential people.
As such, to hear this visionary say that he only plays video games because he makes them is jarring. Surely his love for the medium he has spent a lifetime working to shape and define is more than just a job? Surely.
"Could it be that you might not play games if you didn't create them," I venture.
Again, the long pause; a quiet search for an answer already sat on his tongue:
"It could be that … I might not be playing games."
Could it be that Shigeru Miyamoto is tired with video games?
More spokesman than creative genius?
"The thing with Shigeru Miyamoto is that you think you're meeting Walt Disney when, in reality, you're meeting Mickey Mouse."
I had shrugged off my journalist friend's sharp warning that Mario's maker can be something of corporate mouthpiece in interviews these days. But now, sat opposite him in the plushest hotel room in Paris that yen can buy, this diminutive designer, producer and director appears more spokesman than creative genius.
It's partly understandable. He's here to promote Nintendo's latest project, an interactive guidebook on 3DS for visitors to the Louvre museum – an app, if you will, not a game.
Instead of a Walkman or iPod with spoken notes delivered as you strain to see the Mona Lisa, now visitors can rent Nintendo's latest handheld, offering 700 commentaries about the artworks and a real-time map to show your position in the museum.
It's a gimmicky idea but a well-executed one, designed to show off some of the 3DS's lesser-known features to the general public and, no doubt, help drive sales for a handheld whose sales have been generally underwhelming.
But my interest lies in Miyamoto's game work, not his promotional role in quirky tour guides. This doesn't stop him from working the Louvre guide into every other answer, with quietly cheeky stubbornness.
Miyamoto's dedication to remain unflinchingly on-message reflects his unusual position in the company. Fusajiro Yamauchi may have established the Marufuku Company in 1889, the company that would shortly thereafter become the Nintendo Playing Card Company, but without Miyamoto the Nintendo of today would not exist.
It's from his creative heart that Nintendo's brand, mascots and most valuable game series have sprouted. Miyamoto is inseparable from contemporary Nintendo and Nintendo is inseparable from contemporary Miyamoto.
And whenever a creative becomes synonymous with a corporation, there's a danger that creative pursuit slips into corporate concern, especially when business falls upon tough times. Indeed, it's easy to forget that Miyamoto's current job title is "general manager", a role that belies his expertise, inferring generalist, unspecified supervision.
A day in the life
So just how much input does the one-time artist and designer have in Nintendo's creative output? What does a day in the life of Miyamoto look like in 2012?
"My days all follow much the same pattern," he says. "They are structured and typical. Roughly half of my time I spend checking new games that Nintendo's directors are working on.
"I sit at my desk, play their games and create checklists of comments and amends that I then send out to the directors. Then, the rest of my time is spent attending various meetings, talking about management decisions for the general business direction of Nintendo."
This split of Miyamoto's time clearly reflects the split in his professional responsibility: half to the company's creative output and half to the company's corporate future. I wonder if he misses spending the majority of his time creating?
"Not at all; the decreased workload allows me to do new projects like the audio guide," he replies, with typical Japanese diplomacy. "But I am still very close to the game development. Although I am not a director myself I do check all of our games and discuss them over email. I visit Nintendo's Tokyo EAD team every few weeks too, so I don't really feel detached from the game side of the business."
Miyamoto's schedule may still be demanding, including a significant amount of foreign travel to promote Nintendo games as well as his monthly trips to Tokyo, but there is a sense that, as he approaches 60, he is winding down, stepping aside to allow others to carry the creative flame.
The most recent Super Mario and Zelda titles have credited him as "general producer" with direction and design duties falling to others, most notably Koichi Hayashida, director of Super Mario Galaxy 2 and, more recently, Super Mario 3D Land.
I ask him how he has been working to ensure that there are artists and designers to take his place when he retires, a question that is greeted with a gently frantic response.
"There have been numerous media reports that I am about to retire and I very much want to emphasise that this is not the case." This eagerness to dismiss his (inevitable) retirement plans is understandable.
When a video game blog recently claimed he was looking to retire soon, Nintendo's stock price fell the same day – a further indication of just how closely Nintendo's fortunes are perceived to be dependent on his involvement.
"I believe that if I remain in the same position as a leader of the development teams within Nintendo, then the entire structure will grow or revolve around me," Miyamoto says. "I've certainly seen there are other people within EAD that have the potential to be leaders.
"I wanted to give these people a chance to lead their respective teams. When I said in the press that I would step back a little I was just saying I want to support the company from the side, rather than being front and centre all of the time."
'We don't usually hire game designers'
Despite this eagerness to push others to the fore, Nintendo's recent unwillingness to stray far from characters and series first developed by Miyamoto is worrying.
Without risk-taking at a managerial level, surely there's little creative soil from which the next Miyamoto may emerge and flourish.
Nintendo EAD has always had the air of myth about it, a Chocolate Factory for games – the handful of journalists who have visited the Kyoto or Tokyo premises rarely see anything more than the lobby and a meeting room separate from the machinery of game development – with Miyamoto a subdued Willy Wonka.
With this in mind, I ask him how he spots new talent when hiring.
"We don't usually hire game designers," he says. "We almost exclusively hire artists or programmers; people who have learnt a technique and have a basis that we start with. Recently we have hired a few game designers, but generally they have already had careers in other companies and then joined us. But we hire a lot of people out of university. They bring basic knowledge and we start from there."
A love of discovery and adventure
This was certainly Miyamoto's own route into the industry. Born and raised in the 1950s in the rural town of Sonebe, near Japan's ancient capital, Kyoto, Miyamoto was a short, unassuming boy.
With no television in the family home he relied on the natural world outside for excitement, spending countless hours exploring the woods, caves and riverbanks near his house.
It was here he fostered the love of discovery and these childhood adventures inspired his games, a local chained-up barking dog making an appearance as the Chain Chomp enemy in Super Mario Brothers 3 and his beloved caves appearing throughout the Zelda series, myths that appear to grow in the retelling.
Graduating with a degree in industrial design in the mid-1970s, Miyamoto's father asked an old friend – Hiroshi Yamauchi, president of the toymaker Nintendo –whether he had any jobs available for his son.
Miyamoto's first task at the company was to design art for the outside panels of some arcade cabinets Nintendo was working on: Radarscope and Sheriff. Two years later Yamauchi called Miyamoto into his office and asked him if he'd like to design an arcade game.
Miyamoto jumped at the chance, drawing the game's characters on square paper, each block representing a single pixel on the screen, calling the resulting game Donkey Kong: "Donkey", as a synonym for "stubborn" and "Kong" for gorilla.
Is there a difference between the kind of designer that started in art, like Miyamoto (who is ambidextrous – both Mario and Link were designed with his left-hand), to one who started in programming, I wonder?
"I don't think there is a big difference," he says. "Obviously people from artist or programmer backgrounds have to work together soon enough. So I think there are two key characteristics: a positive attitude towards new things, and someone who doesn't easily give up in the face of problems or criticism. That's what I look for in a new hire."
In Part 2 tomorrow, Simon talks to Miyamoto about the troubled launch for the Nintendo 3DS and the future of the handheld market.
the guardian
marilena: Why Lucian Freud deserves his own gallery The popu...
marilena: Why Lucian Freud deserves his own gallery The popu...: Master of truth ... detail from Lucian Freud's Self Portrait, Reflection. Photograph: Matthew Fearn/PA As crowds continue to floc...
Why Lucian Freud deserves his own gallery The popularity of the Freud exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery confirms just how important it is to permanently preserve the work of this truly great artist for future generations
As crowds continue to flock to Lucian Freud's exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery it is time to consider how Britain can continue to do justice to this great artist when the show closes and the news moves on.Freud was never a deliberately attention-grabbing artist, but the warm public response to his art since his death offers heartening evidence that true quality transcends fashion, publicity, and the white noise of cultural chatter.
I believe Britain should open a museum in his honour. I really mean it. There needs to be a Freud gallery that permanently preserves his work and provides future generations with a repository of his achievements. There is an obvious problem – I'll come to that – but also an imperative to make this happen.
Freud is an artist you can fruitfully compare with the loftiest of masters. Here is a simple test. See his exhibition and then go next door to the National Gallery, where Titian's Diana and Callisto is on view after being bought for the nation. This short walk is an appropriate Freudian pilgrimage because he played a dramatic part in the campaign to purchase its pendant, Diana and Actaeon, breaking the media silence of a lifetime to champion it on television. How sweet that his NPG show coincides with the completion of this bid to keep two of the most marvellous paintings in the world in this country. And here's the thing: Freud's nudes, their physical presence so acutely real, can stand the comparison with Titian's. I am not saying that lightly.
When Freud was old, he was revered as a living master. That was not some fawning hyperbole. For once, it was true. But Freud by the same token is out of time, out of sync. He had no interest at all in ideas of artistic progress, social relevance, or contemporaneity. His portrait of a benefits supervisor asleep is not a comment on the benefits system. Hisportrayal of Leigh Bowery was not an attempt to engage with club culture. Freud stands apart, and there is a danger that his monumental genius will be sidelined in the story of modern art.
Besides Freud is a truth-teller and who likes the truth? His uneasy portrayal of the human condition is a slap in all our faces.
A Lucian Freud gallery would do more than preserve his name. It would keep his shocking revelations about the raw stuff of humanity in our eyes forever, and stop us turning away in discomfort. The problem, of course, is that Freud's paintings are very valuable and scattered in private collections and museums. A public-funded gallery of his work would have to rely on loans, bequests, and aim to build up its collection over time. Yet that works for Tate Modern. If a building with buzz were created, and government support was permanent enough, it could take off. AnAbramovich might enjoy making a long-term loan to such an enterprise. Anyway, it is the right thing to do.
Freud's landmark exhibition has cut through the illusions and affirmed the reality of who, in British art, is truly great. We need to do everything possible to preserve this moment of truth.
marilena: Καλά λόγια από Βερολίνο για τον διαφαινόμενο νέο π...
marilena: Καλά λόγια από Βερολίνο για τον διαφαινόμενο νέο π...: Το δίδυμο Μερκοζί πιθανότατα θα αποτελέσει παρελθόν από το βράδυ της Κυριακής 6ης Μαϊου, εφόσον επιβεβαιωθούν τα προγνωστικά που θέλου...
Καλά λόγια από Βερολίνο για τον διαφαινόμενο νέο πρόεδρο Μετά τους Μερκοζί, η Άνγκελα ονειρεύεται ...Μερκολάντ!
Το δίδυμο Μερκοζί πιθανότατα θα αποτελέσει παρελθόν από το βράδυ της Κυριακής 6ης Μαϊου, εφόσον επιβεβαιωθούν τα προγνωστικά που θέλουν τον σοσιαλιστή υποψήφιο Φρανσουά Ολάντ να κερδίζει την Προεδρία.
Ωστόσο, η σιδηρά καγκελάριος Άνγκελα Μέρκελ, η οποία έχει σαφώς εκφράσει την επιθυμία της για επανεκλογή του Γάλλου προέδρου, φαίνεται ότι διατηρεί τους σχεδιασμούς της για έναν ισχυρό γαλλογερμανικό άξονα στην Ευρώπη - πόσο μάλλον τώρα που Ιταλία και, κυρίως, Ισπανία δείχνουν να κλυδωνίζονται.
Έτσι, τα μηνύματα που περνά πλέον το Βερολίνο είναι πως η καγκελάριος θα συνεργασθεί με όποιον εκλεγεί πρόεδρος. Ονειρεύεται, ενδεχομένως, η κα Μέρκελ και ένα δίδυμο ...Μερκολάντ!
Σύμφωνα με το Γερμανό κυβερνητικό εκπρόσωπο, βάσει της εμπειρίας του παρελθόντος στην γαλλο-γερμανική συνεργασία, μέχρι στιγμής οι επικεφαλής των κυβερνήσεων των δύο χωρών, όποιοι και αν είναι, έχουν εργασθεί καλά μαζί...
Στην ίδια λογική, ο υπουργός Εξωτερικών της Γερμανίας Γκίντο Βεστερβέλε εξέφρασε την ικανοποίησή του για την παρουσία στον δεύτερο γύρο των γαλλικών προεδρικών εκλογών «δύο πιστοποιημένων δημοκρατών, που είναι προσηλωμένοι στην Ευρώπη και στη γαλλο-γερμανική φιλία».
Σε σχετική ανακοίνωση μάλιστα αναφέρει ότι «η γαλλο-γερμανική σύμπραξη είναι το ένα από τα δύο κλειδιά για το μέλλον της Ευρώπης...Η Γερμανία θα επιδιώξει καλή και στενή συνεργασία με όποιον εκλεγεί στην προεδρία από τον γαλλικό λαό»...
Το Βερολίνο, πάντως, εκφράζει ανησυχίες για την άνοδο της ακροδεξιάς στη Γαλλία.
Απαντώντας σε ερώτηση σχετικά με το ιστορικό 18% που κατέγραψε η Μαρίν Λε Πεν, ο εκπρόσωπος της γερμανικής κυβέρνησης είπε ότι αυτή η υψηλή επίδοση είναι ανησυχητική και πως θεωρεί ότι το ζήτημα θα διευθετηθεί στο δεύτερο γύρο..
Ωστόσο, η σιδηρά καγκελάριος Άνγκελα Μέρκελ, η οποία έχει σαφώς εκφράσει την επιθυμία της για επανεκλογή του Γάλλου προέδρου, φαίνεται ότι διατηρεί τους σχεδιασμούς της για έναν ισχυρό γαλλογερμανικό άξονα στην Ευρώπη - πόσο μάλλον τώρα που Ιταλία και, κυρίως, Ισπανία δείχνουν να κλυδωνίζονται.
Έτσι, τα μηνύματα που περνά πλέον το Βερολίνο είναι πως η καγκελάριος θα συνεργασθεί με όποιον εκλεγεί πρόεδρος. Ονειρεύεται, ενδεχομένως, η κα Μέρκελ και ένα δίδυμο ...Μερκολάντ!
Σύμφωνα με το Γερμανό κυβερνητικό εκπρόσωπο, βάσει της εμπειρίας του παρελθόντος στην γαλλο-γερμανική συνεργασία, μέχρι στιγμής οι επικεφαλής των κυβερνήσεων των δύο χωρών, όποιοι και αν είναι, έχουν εργασθεί καλά μαζί...
Στην ίδια λογική, ο υπουργός Εξωτερικών της Γερμανίας Γκίντο Βεστερβέλε εξέφρασε την ικανοποίησή του για την παρουσία στον δεύτερο γύρο των γαλλικών προεδρικών εκλογών «δύο πιστοποιημένων δημοκρατών, που είναι προσηλωμένοι στην Ευρώπη και στη γαλλο-γερμανική φιλία».
Σε σχετική ανακοίνωση μάλιστα αναφέρει ότι «η γαλλο-γερμανική σύμπραξη είναι το ένα από τα δύο κλειδιά για το μέλλον της Ευρώπης...Η Γερμανία θα επιδιώξει καλή και στενή συνεργασία με όποιον εκλεγεί στην προεδρία από τον γαλλικό λαό»...
Το Βερολίνο, πάντως, εκφράζει ανησυχίες για την άνοδο της ακροδεξιάς στη Γαλλία.
Απαντώντας σε ερώτηση σχετικά με το ιστορικό 18% που κατέγραψε η Μαρίν Λε Πεν, ο εκπρόσωπος της γερμανικής κυβέρνησης είπε ότι αυτή η υψηλή επίδοση είναι ανησυχητική και πως θεωρεί ότι το ζήτημα θα διευθετηθεί στο δεύτερο γύρο..
( Πρώτο θέμα)
marilena: Blek le Rat: Streetwriting man As an exhibition of...
marilena: Blek le Rat: Streetwriting man As an exhibition of...: Blek le Rat is known to many as the godfather of street art and to the French as its grandfather . But having hon...
Blek le Rat: Streetwriting man As an exhibition of work by Blek le Rat, the pioneering French street artist dubbed 'Banquesy', opens in London, Matilda Battersby meets the godfather of graffiti
Blek le Rat is known to many as the godfather of street art and to the French as its grandfather. But having honed his craft for more than 30 years, the spry 61-year-old, whose real name is Xavier Prou, has no intention of retiring. Despite being France's graffiti art pioneer (he says he was the second to make street art in Paris, after Zloty Kamien), he is most famous for being the artist whose style the pseudonymous Banksy "stole". Blek's spray-painted stencils of rats first appeared on the banks of Seine when Banksy, who is thought to be nearly 40, was still at primary school. In his unauthorised biography Banksy said: "Every time I think I've painted something slightly original, I find out that Blek le Rat has done it as well, only 20 years earlier."
For a while, Blek and Banksy were mutually appreciative of each other. But the graffiti world revels in minor spats between its giants and Banksy is not one to keep matey with his rivals for long. During an interview with Blek at his rather wonderful family home, an hour's drive east of Paris, he showed me emails from Banksy that accuse Blek of mocking him and in which the tone is less than friendly. "The last email he sent me said, "Blek, are you making fun of me? Stop saying that I take my ideas from you'." Blek, dubbed by the British press as "Banquesy", is frustrated by the email exchange and says he cannot reconcile how he feels about the rivalry.
That his signature style has been taken and made more recognisable, not to mention profitable, by another artist, is "very emotional", he says. In the past, he has publicly expressed his anger, both on Channel 4's Graffiti Wars documentary and in interviews. But these days, he is more resigned to the comparison and remarks, rather sadly, that whatever he says about Banksy it will be taken out of context and that he will be accused of jealousy.
"It's difficult because on the one hand I'm very happy: without Banksy I would not have the position I occupy in the street art movement. I'm recognised in the US, UK, Australia and around the world. It helps me make a living. It's great! But on the other hand, I [have] seen how he manipulates the art market. I can see that we probably needed someone who could do this for street art, like Damien Hirst did for conceptual art, so it's very interesting. But it does make me uncomfortable."
I'm in Blek's charming rural French house to discuss an exhibition charting his 30-year career curated by Jean-David Malat, which opens at the Opera Gallery in London on Friday. Blek is sitting at a long table in the dining room of the glamorously ramshackle property that was bought by his grandfather in the 1920s and is stuffed full of worn antique furniture. Traditional portraits on the walls contrast with a mad assortment of boldly colourful canvases and stencilled panels from the artist's own atelier, propped up against the walls or stuck on doors. It is très très chic.
The graffiti movement is often associated with artists from working-class backgrounds who are unlikely to have studied at art school but instead perfected their craft while avoiding arrest for vandalism. Blek, who grew up in the rather swanky 16th arrondissement of Paris and studied at the prestigious Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (first fine art, then architecture), is clearly not of this ilk. But that's not to say that introducing street art to Paris, or making a name for himself, has been easy,
"The first time I saw graffiti art was in New York. I was 21 and had been invited by an American friend who studied with me at university. I worked for three months to save the airfare and when I got there I was absolutely amazed. It was July 1971 so it was hippie time. The streets were full of art, music, and political protest against the Vietnam war." He found the contrast to France extraordinary. "You can't imagine what Paris was like then. It was 25 years after the war but it was like the 19th century. There was nothing for young people, no music, no art."
During his American adventure, the 20-year-old Blek was utterly confused by the tags he noticed in the New York Subway. "I asked my friend, 'Why are people doing this?' Writing their names? I couldn't understand what tag signs meant, or why people painted crowns of faces on them? Nobody understood, nobody knew. The images were very strong. I had seen political slogans painted on walls in Paris, of course, but this had no obvious purpose."
Returning to Paris with the kernel of an idea, Blek asked his art school friends if they'd be interested in trying out some graffiti. They weren't interested. It would take another decade for this first burst of inspiration to find form.
He spent the years between his lengthy architectural studies and his emergence as one of the most exciting graffiti artists working as a teacher. At Adventureland, a progressive after-school club where he worked in 1980, Blek watched children steal paint and brushes from a local supermarket and use them to decorate the walls of an old warehouse. "I suddenly knew I had to make graffiti because the kids were already doing it. Kids of seven years old gave me the idea."
His first attempt didn't go very well. "The first time I tried, in 1981, I tried to imitate American-style graffiti, but I found the technique very difficult. The result was absolutely terrible." He knew that rather than replicate the more expert daubings he'd seen in New York, he'd have to find some other way of doing it. He drew on his art school etching and printmaking training, as well as a more unorthodox inspiration.
"When I was a kid I made a trip with my parents to Padua, Italy, and I saw graffiti there made by the Fascists. Propaganda stencilled on walls. I remember asking my father about them. The faces of Mussolini stencilled in the street stayed with me." It was this combination of influences, the American and the Fascisti, that led him to develop his stencil-style.
He started with rat stencils to emphasise his new name, which was a play on well-known 1960s comic character Blek le Roc ("rat is also an anagram of art"), but also because there was something ratty about an artist who scuttles around under the cover of darkness. "Paris is full of rats, but you never see them. I wanted to say to Parisians, 'Your city is very beautiful, but don't forget that your basements are full of vermin'. I have heard that there are more rats than people living in the city.
He is glad of the position he holds as a pioneering street artist. But he is ashamed of the money-grabbing nature of modern artists. "The art world is a big mess," he says. "Nobody cares who is a real artist. It is all about cheating people out of money."
Blek predicts a major revolution in the art world in the next 20 years. "The street art movement started 40 years ago in the US, but we are still only at the beginning. Artists will find new ways to display and sell their work that will have nothing to do with galleries and investors." Until then? "I'll keep working. But only on public walls. I'm too old for illegal ones."
Blek le Rat, Opera Gallery, London W1 (020 7491 2999; operagallery.com) 27 April to 18 May
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subset: commoncrawl


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Sue Mengers, one of the last legendary Hollywood agents, died last week.
During my Ray Stark years, I spent a lot of time with Sue and Ray. What a pair of characters they were individually, and most hilariously, together. Sue and Ray had already been through "the wars" because Sue represented Barbra Streisand, whom Ray had made into a star through Funny Girl, The Way We Were, and several other films of hers that he produced. At one time or another, Sue also represented Candice Bergen, Peter Bogdanovich, Michael Caine, Dyan Cannon, Cher, Joan Collins, Brian De Palma, Faye Dunaway, Bob Fosse, Gene Hackman, Sidney Lumet, Ali McGraw, Steve McQueen, Mike Nichols, Nick Nolte, Tatum O'Neal, Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds, Cybill Shepherd, Gore Vidal, Tuesday Weld, and many others.
Ray's wife Fran was Fanny Brice's daughter and that's how Ray came up with the idea of making Funny Girl (first as a play in 1964 and then a film in 1968) about Fanny Brice herself.
As Ray often told me, the challenge to getting the project made properly was finding someone with the unique blend of charisma, humor, and talent of Fanny Brice who had been a huge, huge Broadway star for more than thirty years. Known for her wild and unpredictable wit, Fanny Brice was also a hugely popular singer who was known for songs like "My Man" and "Second Hand Rose" that became legendary standards.
Ray became aware of a young woman named Barbra Streisand who, at the tender age of nineteen, was making her Broadway debut in a musical named I Can Get It For You Wholesale. Ray went to see the play and was absolutely mesmerized by Ms. Streisand whom he saw as the quintessential Fanny Brice. On the spot, he decided that she would have to star in Funny Girl, even though it meant that he had to wait for Ms. Streisand to finish her run in the play.
I Can Get It For You Wholesale proved to be quite a bonanza in other ways for Ray as well. The play was written by Arthur Laurents who also many years later wrote The Way We Were which Ray produced and in which Ms. Streisand starred. In addition, the choreographer of the play was Herbert Ross, who later directed films such as The Goodbye Girl and California Suite, both of which Ray produced.
And that was the way it was in The Old Hollywood.
Those indeed were the days.


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Marianne Parham is board certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner from American Nurses Credentialing Center, ANCC. She began her nursing career as a registered nurse in 1993 and devoted eight years as a medic in the US Army. She received her Licensed Practical Nurse and an Associate Degree in Nursing before receiving her Bachelor of Science from Grand Canyon University. In 2014 she received her Masters of Science in Nursing with honors from the University of Phoenix. Her practice experience includes Family Medicine, Neurosurgery, Registered Nurse First Assist, and Pain Management.
Ms. Parham is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, American Nurses Association, and Association of Operating Room Nurses. She is inspired by foods from around the world. Her passion is cooking, sampling, and sharing culinary experiments with friends and family. Other interests include travel, spending time with family and friends, arts and crafts, gardening, and homemade projects.


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"Now that Internet Explorer has won the browser wars..." says the ASP.Net video tutor on my PC.
It may currently have the largest market share, but it sure as hell hasn't "defeated" the opposition. It's like claiming that because the United States is (okay, was for a short time) the only superpower that one can just ignore any cultural differences elsewhere in the world.
Proof that Microsoft really is an American company?
I'm on day one of my ASP.Net training. I'm trying to approach the language with an open mind, same as I would for any other language. However, so far I'm still struggling to get past that same "bulldog enthusiasm" I discussed in No fun Microsoft.
More to come over the next week...
Monday, February 27, 2012
Me vs ASP.Net Part 1
Posted by Andrew Wright at 11:05 pm
Labels: programming
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Hi Everyone,
I am sooo sorry that I have disappeared for the last 2 weeks. I actually have so much to share with you, but unfortunately, my computer malfunctioned 2 weeks ago, so I had to send it in for service and data recovery, which apparently will take another 2 weeks! It is most likely that you will not see any blog posts from me for a little while longer because I will have to redo several drawings for my current design project once I get my computer back and finish setting up cloud back ups and new back up computers etc. This means that I will not have time to blog until I finish backtracking on my day work.
Meanwhile, please follow my Instagram account @Happinessinmay for all updates on travel stories, food, fashion and everything else that you enjoy, until I am back on track. In case you're wondering where I have disappeared to, I am currently in Monaco… and weather + food here are fantastic by the way! If you don't believe me, check out the views below! More on this to follow very soon…
Ciao for now. Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday!
Best Wishes
May x


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|LabVIEW For Data Acquisition
|Bruce Mihura
|Pearson Education
|Pub Date
|Number of Page
|File Name
|Last Read
|2017-02-17 08:16:37
|Labview Data Acquisition Pdf, Labview Data Acquisition Program, Labview Data Acquisition Loop, Labview Tutorial Data Acquisition, Labview Data Acquisition Rate,
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The Acquisition of Logging Data
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The second edition of this highly successful text focuses on the major changes that have taken place in this field in recent times. Data Acquisition Techniques Using PCs, Second Edition, recognises that Data Acquisition is the core of most engineerin...
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A practical guide to programming for Data Acquisition and measurement - must-have info in just the right amount of depth for engineers who are not programming specialists. This book offers a complete guide to the programming and interfacing technique...
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This book describes the fundamentals of Data Acquisition systems, how they enable users to sample signals that measure real physical conditions and convert the resulting samples into digital, numeric values that can be analyzed by a computer. The aut...
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Whew – it's been awhile since I've entered one of Linda's fun Compendium of Curiosities challenges; been so busy with other projects and, ya know, life gets in the way sometimes even if all we really want to do is sit down and create! Every two weeks, a new challenge is issued as we work our way through Tim Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities III book. Anyone can join in at any time!
The challenge this time is sponsored by the Inspiration Emporium, who always generously offer a $50 gift certificate, which is so amazing! I love shopping with them and they have a BUNCH of Tim Holtz stuff, so check 'em out!
We are using Tim's Frameworks dies in our creations for Challenge #25 and what fun this turned out to be. I had to visit the Curiosity Crew and really study their work to get some ideas as I was fresh out of 'em at first! It's always so interesting to see how several different artists use a specific method or material. I had an idea when I started that turned out completely different at the end!
Here are the materials I used for coloring:
See those little hexagons at the bottom? I used the Honeycomb die, which looks like this:
The hexagons are the leftover pieces that pop out of the frame. I decided to make mine look metallic, so I adhered metal tape onto black cardstock and ran it through the Sizzix machine. Ohhh, shiny silver! It looked really cool, but I wanted some color. I used the alcohol inks to dye all the little hexagons that popped out as well as the frame. Then I dabbed the frame with Antiqued Bronze Distress Paint to give it an aged look. Still didn't know what I was going to do with it, and then I got to thinking, why not play around with the shape a little? I started cutting away some of the frame and ended up with a curvy shape that reminded me of a necklace. BOOM! A NECKLACE!
So I was off and running. I glued the frame to a piece of grungeboard to make it sturdy, then popped the colored hexagons into the spaces and added the Rusty Hinge Distress Glitter to each to tone down the metallic shine. I adhered a Tim Holtz Trinket Pin to each edge of the frame with E6000 glue in order to attach a chain. It looked all right at that point, but something was missing. Then I thought, why not make it Steampunk? I happened to have gears in two different designs that would fit in the hexagons exactly. That was just what it needed!
I colored a Tim Holtz wings charm with the Antiqued Bronze Distress Paint and rubbed on some permanent black ink to age it, then adhered that to the bottom of the frame, which really jazzed it up. I then added a metal corner brad and a Tim Holtz tiny paperclip below the wings so I could hang a jump ring to add a Steampunk gear charm I had in my stash. I used the Marvy Metallics and more Distress Stickles to color the charm to match the necklace.
The little wings on the Trinket Pins are brads that started out bright gold; I also colored them with the Distress Paint and now they match perfectly.
I had totally planned to make a paper project when I started. I am not a jewelry maker by any means (despite that I made earrings for one of the earlier Compendium challenges!) and I almost never wear jewelry myself. But I've really been into Steampunk themes lately and the necklace almost seemed to make itself!
Won't you join us at the Compendium Challenges? It's so much fun and you can hop in at any time! I'm so glad I was able to participate in the Frameworks challenge; it was a blast!


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1 Bareroot Jade Plant. Commonly known as jade plant, friendship tree, lucky plant or Money Plant. This hardy sun loving plant has few pests & is very drought tolerant.They grow with little to no care as long as they have plenty of sun & no frost. Frost kills succulents, do not plant outdoors if it freezes in your area.Their fleshy green leaves feature a beautiful magenta edging in the summer & produce small pink star-like flowers in early spring. New stem growth is the same color and texture as the leaves but as the plant ages the main stems become brown and woody.


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Obama Threatens Several Governors: 'I Do Not Trust You'
Published on Mar 6, 2014
Texas Governor Rick Perry presented a chilling summary of Obama's meeting with a group of governors at the White House on Monday.
Perry says Obama made it clear that he doesn't trust governors to make decisions about their respective states on a variety of issues.
Perry said, "I don't mind telling you I was a bit troubled today by the tone of the president. When you have governors, and we all compete against each other — we are the laboratories of innovation — and for the President of the United States to look Democrat and Republican governors in the eye and say, 'I do not trust you to make decisions in your state about issues of education, about transportation infrastructure,'…that is really troubling."
It's really not surprising because he is after all, the Imperial President.
This report comes after another report in 2010 that 14 State Governors were warned they will be arrested for treason for forming "State Defense Forces (also known as State Guards, State Military Reserves, State Militias) in the United States. Why does this action anger the President? Well, perhaps it's because State Military Reserves operate under the sole authority of a state government, which is out of Obama's control. It appears that at least 14 State Governors do not trust President Obama either.
Obama Serves 14-State Governors with Warnings of Arrest: And why is this not front page news?
Amazing article sweeping the the internet, and nothing yet mentioned on the news…
This may be bogus, but where there is smoke there is fire…
By Dr. Lyle J. Rapacki Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Barack Hussein Obama had served 14-State Governors in the United States, National Security Letters (NSLs) warning that the Governor's actions in attempting to form "State Defense Forces" needs to be halted "immediately" or they will face arrest for the crime of treason. The employment of NSLs was authorized by the Patriot Act introduced by George W. Bush. Contained within the section related to these letters, it is forbidden for anyone receiving a NSL warning to even acknowledge the existence of said communication.
Obama is angered by the several State Governors who have reestablished "State Defense Forces." These forces are described as: "State Defense Forces (also known as State Guards, State Military Reserves, State Militias) in the United States are military units that operate under the sole authority of a state government; they are not regulated by the National Guard Bureau nor are they part of the Army National Guard of the United States. State Defense Forces are authorized by state and federal law and are under the command of the governor of each state. State Defense Forces are distinct from their state's National Guard in that they cannot become federal entities."
Mr. Obama is fearful of these State Defense Forces, in that he does not have control of said forces, and with the U.S. Military stretched to near breaking from multiple deployments and theatre actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, these State military forces would be under the direct command and authority of the Governors in which states have said forces. In essence, the Governors would have "de facto control" of the United States.
The two Governors leading this move are: Tim Pawlenty, Governor of Minnesota; and Rick Perry, Governor of Texas. Both of these State Governors stated they have: "…deep fear the President is destroying their Nation." Governor Pawlenty's fear of Obama is that since Obama took office he has appeased America's enemies and has shunned some of America's strongest allies, especially Israel. Governor Perry has declared that Obama is punishing his State of Texas by dumping tens-of-thousands of illegal Mexican immigrants into the cities and small towns of Texas. Governor Perry further recently stated: "If Barack Obama's Washington doesn't stop being so oppressive, Texans might feel compelled to renounce their American citizenry and secede from the union."
Obama fearing a revolution against him by the states, has moved swiftly by nationalizing nearly all National Guard Forces in multiple states; Georgia, Alabama, Kansas, Minnesota, Tennessee, Virginia, Louisiana, South Carolina – to name a few. The Governors of the Great States of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia still have under their Command-and-Control the State Defense Forces to go against U.S. Federal forces should the need arise. Also important to note: There are NO U.S. laws prohibiting National Guard troops from also joining their State's Defense Forces. This dilemma occurred during the Civil War with many "citizen soldiers" choosing to serve their states instead of the Federal Government.
This is a fluid and still developing situation that warrants close attention.
Perhaps it's true that Republicans and President Obama hate each other, as reported in the following video, at least to the point that he feels he has to go around Congress and the Republicans? Is this ONE reason why Obama is telling governors that he doesn't trust them? Is the second reason he says he doesn't trust governors is because of the 14 Governors who are setting up State Defense Forces?
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The Nation turned ten this year! Can you believe it? We've been through a lot in the last ten years, and we're all stronger for it.
In honour of our 10th anniversary, we created this tee to celebrate the decade that was.
Please expect 10-14 days for delivery.
***All prices are listed in Canadian Dollars***


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Supreme Court Weighing Genetic Privacy• http://www.wired.com, By David Kravets
The case has wide-ranging implications, as at least 21 states and the federal government have regulations requiring suspects to give a DNA sample upon arrest. In all the states with such laws, DNA saliva samples are cataloged in state and federal crime-fighting databases.
The issue confronts the government's interest in solving crime, balanced against the constitutional rights of those arrested to be free from government intrusion.
The case before the justices concerns a decision in April of Maryland's top court, which said it was a breach of the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure to take DNA samples from suspects who have not been convicted.
The Maryland Court of Appeals, that state's highest court, said that arrestees have a "weighty and reasonable expectation of privacy against warrantless, suspicionless searches" and that expectation is not outweighed by the state's "purported interest in assuring proper identification" of a suspect.


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Partner: Pakistan Hemophilia Patients Welfare Society® (PHPWS)
Represented by: Masood Fareed Malik
Congratulations to Masood Fareed Malik and the entire Pakistan 5 Project team for winning the 2016 NNHF Project of the Year!
The Pakistan 5 Project has been a remarkable journey. It started with a unique and bold vision of uniting the patient association chapters throughout Pakistan. They knew that an energised, united, well-coordinated patient association could have tremendous impact. Their ability to register patients, raise awareness, and reach out to patients would be magnified exponentially.
Led by Mr Malik, a former President of the Pakistan Hemophilia Patients Welfare Society (PHPWS), this project has stood out as a shining example of a model NNHF project partner.
Mr Malik, project leader and a former President of the Pakistan Hemophilia Patients Welfare Society (PHPWS)
"Why was the Pakistan 5 Project selected as this year's winner? Four qualities stand out:
No one had ever seen Haemophilia Day Celebrations like the ones led by this team. They started by instituting high-energy brainstorms where the sky was the limit. This energised membership and brought community ownership and participation to a new level – which led to highly successful celebrations.
One of the most innovative ways they found to celebrate was to
produce The Positive Diaries. They presented profiles of real
people with haemophilia who were accountants, doctors, shop keepers
and more. These diaries showed patients that they could live normal
lives and showed Pakistani authorities that these people can be
productive and independent members of society when given proper
Transformational leadership
Mr Malik and the Pakistan 5 team took remarkable steps to transform the patient support landscape in Pakistan. They began with a dynamic 2-day planning session to lay out a long-tem strategic plan for the PHPWS. They established a National Haemophilia Youth Group, which brought together 10 youth leaders from five chapters. They established an executive committee that included people with haemophilia from each chapter to encourage empowerment and communication.
The focus on youth and young leaders was extremely important. This was a project designed to last. Not only have they put into place a strong leadership structure for today, but they are grooming the leaders of tomorrow as part of their succession planning.
A remarkable testament to the focus on sustainability was Mr Malik's deliberate choice NOT to run for PHPWS President. The goal was empowerment, and this was the ultimate example of that goal in action.
As an NNHF partner, all reports were on time and complete. The team took pains to provide accurate, detailed assessments of their activity, and worked to ensure transparency in everything they did. It was clear that this group had outstanding teamwork and they were a pleasure to work with from start to finish.
For all of these reasons and more, we are proud to have supported the Pakistan 5 Project. Congratulations on being named the NNHF Project of the Year!
About the award
The Project of the Year Award goes to the project partner and team who have demonstrated outstanding dedication, excellent project management, stakeholder involvement, and sustainable impact. The award recognises a particularly successful NNHF project that has demonstrated outstanding commitment, excellent project management, sustainable impact and stakeholder involvement.
For more information on this programme please contact us and we will refer you to the relevant project manager


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Coiste na nÓg U-12 Boys Spa U-12 boys played their 3rd group game of the county league on Sunday. Spa blues won with a score of 5-31 and Spa Gold won with a score of 5-16. Every one of the boys played to their full potential. These boys turn up to training every Wednesday evening and the results of their work and skills are shining through. The … [Read more...]
Match April 17th April 2017
U-14 Boys The final score in this tough fought game was St Michael's/Foilmore 5-13 Spa 2-6. Wind assisted in the first have Spa were unable to take advantage and were down 2 points at half time. HT score St Michael's 2-6 spa 2-4. St Michael's lead by 4 points when Eoghan Mulvaney hit the back of the net with a great goal. St Michael's extended their … [Read more...]
Match Report 10th April 2017
Senior Co League: Spa 4-18 Listowel Emmets 2-11 Played in Frank Sheehy Park in Listowel, Spa had the better start with opening scores from Evan Cronin (2), Michael Foley and Shane Cronin. Listowel shortly drew level before Craig Hickey had 1-1 on the board, the goal following on from a long pass in from Dara Moynihan. James Devane had two brilliant saves … [Read more...]
Match Report 27th March 2017
Senior Co League Rd Spa 2-18 Listry 1-11 Spa notched up their first points of the season with a home win against Listry on Saturday evening. Michael Foley opened the Spa tally, followed by his second and a point from the reliable sharpshooter Mike O'Donoghue. A super move by Liam Kearney and Craig Hickey set Michael McCarthy up for Spa's first goal as … [Read more...]
Match Report 20th March 2017
Minor Co League Spa 3-7 John Mitchell's 2-14. Spa Minors played John Mitchell's in a very entertaining game at home today. The boys in blue were missing a couple of regulars but inspired by Niall McCarthy in midfield turned in a great team performance in racing into a two point lead at half time. Playing against a strong breeze in the second half Spa … [Read more...]
Match Report 13th March 2017
East Kerry Super League Spa 2-19 Glenflesk 2-14 Played in a sunny Spa, the home side had a good start and after opening scores from Mike O'Donoghue and Craig Hickey, Craig goaled to give Spa a 1-2 to 0-2 advantage. Points from Ciaran Spillane, Evan Cronin (5), Mike O'Donoghue (2), Eoin Cronin and Michael Foley followed, and by half time we led 1-12 to … [Read more...]
Match Report 6th March 2017
Super League Spa 0-8 Fossa 0-9 Forfeited our home venue due to bad weather conditions. Low scoring game. 3pts a piece at half time. Fossa had a number of goal chances including a penalty. Evan Cronin, Ciaran Spillane and Mike Foley, Michael O'Donoghue played well for Spa. Spa Team with scorers: James Devane, Eric O'Donoghue, Matt, Shane Fenton, Aydan M, … [Read more...]
Match Report East Kerry U-12 Div 1 19th December 2016
U-21 East Kerry Championship Final Spa 1-11 Dr Crokes 2-10 A great game to finish the year but it was gut wrenching to lose in the last minute. A brilliant performance by both teams as the standard of football was superb throughout the field. Team: David Carroll, Eric O'Donoghie, Brian Lynch, Conor Kearney, Michael McCarthy, Dan O'Donoghue, Eoin … [Read more...]
Match Report 28th November 2016
East Kerry U-21 Championship semi-final: Spa 4-20 Glenflesk 0-10 Our U-21s had a comprehensive victory over neighbours Glenflesk on Sunday. Liam Kearney found the net in the opening moments and points from Shane Cronin, Dara Moynihan, David Spillane, Michael Foley and Evan Cronin followed to give Spa a 1-8 to 0-6 lead at the half time break. Spa … [Read more...]
Match Report 21st November 2016
O'Donoghue Cup Semi Final Spa 0-16 Rathmore 2-16 Spa bowed out on Sunday to Rathmore to the old cliche "goals win games. A close game throughout but just wasn't our day. Team: James Devane, David Spillane, Matt Mpynihan, Eoin Cronin (Capt), Mike McCarthy, Dan O'Donoghue, Shane Lynch, Liam Kearney, Shane Cronin, Cormac Cronin, Ciarán Spillane, Dara … [Read more...]
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Well, another great weekend here in Grapevine. The weather was nice (though getting hot) and we had an extra day to enjoy it. To kick off the holiday weekend as well as the summer, I ventured out with a few friends to Glass Cactus near the Gaylord Texan for some Friday night fun.
Early in the evening they had acoustic live music on the patio, followed by fireworks. Every Friday during the summer they will have fireworks over Lake Grapevine and this was the first of those events. The patio at Glass Cactus is a prime spot for watching the fireworks – I highly recommend it. The sunset was gorgeous and we watched the sun as well as the temperatures fall and then enjoyed the fireworks show at about 9:30.
After that was when the place really started hopping. The Spazmatics took the stage and took us back to the 1980's. This is a really fun group and if you are into 80's dance music, you will have a great time listening to them. There was a great crowd and they all seemed to be having a blast.
Our group reserved a table in the VIP section which I highly recommend. Not that we're some kind of high rollers or anything – but it's not that involved of a process. If you reserve a table then you have to commit to a minimum dollar amount of food and drink for the table. It's not an unreasonable amount (and I'm pretty frugal!) and totally worth it to have a reserved table for the night to come back to and relax, and not have to stand all evening or fight the crowds for a table. Call in advance for this, and sometimes they will also have tables available in the VIP area if you show up and ask, and they aren't all reserved.
Obviously this was towards the end of the evening:
I'll definitely be heading back to Glass Cactus. I think it would be a great place to take out of towners too. It's quite a hip, fun place for us suburbanites! 🙂


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We are KLIKKI
An agency passionate about maximizing online visibility at all relevant touch points.
Our focus is to provide always on services that maximize the total effect of our customer's marketing budgets and increase their sales. We maximize online visibility at all relevant points.
Providing the right paid and owned content at the right time and place in order to influence the target audience at all stages of the buying cycle. We believe marketing has undergone a revolution and old truths don't apply.
Based in the Nordic region
KliKKi is a fast growing Nordic Digital Marketing Agency with offices in Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo. With 60 specialists covering Data & insights. Marketing Technology. Paid and Owned Media Optimization handling some of the largest brands and advertisers in the Nordic region.
Our areas of speciality
These are our services
At KliKKi we believe in Always on Marketing. In order to create effective marketing with real impact you need to manage and optimize both your owned and paid channels, know your data and constantly improve and test new ideas.
It used to be all about technology and links. Today, it's a marketing discipline that is about securing maximum organic visibility for your brand via search engines by giving users the content they are looking for. Whatever the type of content our customers build their sites with, by approaching search engine optimization from a market-first perspective we put the end customer in focus and build sites that provide content that's relevant to each and every search in our portfolio of keywords.
KliKKi SEO services include Market Insights, Competitor benchmarking, Keywords mapping, Market driven site architecture, Content Audit & Strategy, Content promotion, Technical Audit & Strategy, Migration projects and more.
KliKKi Strategy & Planning services involve Online Purchase Process Analysis, Market and Consumer Insights, KPI definition, Business Case development, Channel Strategy, Attribution modeling and more.
I all starts with understanding your business targets and setting the strategy required to reach them in order to define the right strategy a combination of Market and Consumer Insights and broad experience of the digital landscape is required. In addition, developing the business case for upcoming investments in the digital space is a central part of our standard approach.
Our approach within Analytics & Insights is based around a clear definition of the numbers, reports and KPI's that are needed to drive out clients' businesses forward. We provide services to secure that the tracking system provides the correct information, and that this information is analyzed and presented in a way that can support management and business decisions.
At the core of our serviices is Google Analytics, for which the company is a qualified partner (Google Analytics Certified Partner) KliKKi was accredited with the GAAC status in 2008, as one of the first companies in the Nordics.
KliKKi employs a specialized SEM team that serves our customers in local languages throughout the whole Nordic region. Our services consist of complete management of our clients' paid search activities in multiple search channels, including keyword portfolio development product feed management optimization of ad-copy and implementation of bidding strategies.
Our SEM services are tightly integrated with other paid media services providing a foundation for highly efficient search retargeting and remarketing.
A crucial part of an always on paid media strategy is to utilize the most recent and efficient display solutions available and to combine the right content/creative with the right placement and channel.
In practice this means having the right banner, for the person at the right time and the right price. Using customer and other data is the key to success.
Social Media channels can be used for paid display advertising utilizing advanced targeting options and by gaining visibility from your customers engagement. The other options to build the Social Media presence with followers and fans.
This requires a clear reason for the user to engage with your brand and for you to provide engaging content at the right place, the right time and at the right frequency. KliKKi can guide you through the process of setting the right goals and KPIs and follow up on your targets.
The process of conversion optimization typically involves securing the websites tracking, conducting an audit of the website's or landing pages usability and design, identifying bottlenecks and quick wins and setting up hypotheses, implementing alternatives and testing the outcome.
This work is always on and continuous, meaning that agile work processes need to be developed in order to optimize conversion rates.
Meet the team
A group of passionate people.
Anders Nygren
Anders Nygren is an experienced sales and operations executive. In January 2011 Anders joined Klikki as Nordic Sales Director and was appointed Managing Director of the company's Swedish subsidiary KliKKi AB in September 2013. Anders has a Master of Science in Management and Engineering from Chalmers University in Gothenburg and ETH in Zurich.
Our Key People
Scott Roemermann
Head of Analytics & Owned Media
Jannis Hristofilopoulos
Head of Sales
Tobias Wallen
Head of Paid Media
Reza Mir Heidari
Head of Project Management
What we stand for
We aim to challenge and transform establish marketing to boost the business for our customers. KliKKi is always on. A real-time, technology & data driven business that's fully integrated, device independent and results based.


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Small Hours of the Night
Publication Date
September 1996
Page Count
228 pages
Trim Size
5.5 x 8.5
Small Hours of the Night
Selected Poems of Roque Dalton
"Finally and gloriously here are the poems of Roque Dalton, one of the most compelling Central American poets it has been my privilege to read." -- Ariel Dorfman
"He was brilliant. His presence alone gave off light." -- Juan Gelman
[Dalton's poetry illustrates] his profound conviction that the poet can and must, in his life as in his work, serve as the finely-honed scalpel of change, both in word and deed..." -- Claribel Alegria


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Worship: 3pm
Welcome to Culmstock Methodist Church
We meet on the second Sunday of each month at 3pm.
We are always delighted to welcome any visitors to any of our services. You can be assured that you will be warmly received into a loving Christian fellowship, often united with our friends at All Saints. We undertake a supportive, prayerful Christian outreach mission, to people who might be housebound or in hospital or in nursing homes. We look forward very much to meeting you.
Culmstock has an important place in the history of Methodism and still the Methodist people of the area continue that work of Christian witness today. Please use the link for more on the History of Culmstock Methodist Church. History
In modern times, often in conjunction with other churches in the area and the Tiverton and Wellington Methodist Circuit, Culmstock Methodists have gained a high reputation for regularly holding creative and special worship and celebrations of praise and thanksgiving to the glory of God. The small but dedicated congregation is inspired by the Spirit of God. Their Christian mission is therefore effective to very many more people than just themselves.
As well as the Christian worship activities undertaken by the membership, various village organisations find the present chapel building and schoolroom, a useful venue in which to hold their meetings and functions.
Here the Culmstock Pre School holds morning and afternoon sessions each week of term time. Other users of the premises include the "Beavers" and Gardening Club. We are also the local polling station.
Over the past years the small congregation have themselves, by the grace of God, by donation of their own time and through well-supported village functions, raised the funds, to cover the costs of new developments. This obviously in addition to the necessary other regular giving, required within a fellowship of a Christian, humanitarian and worldwide church.
So in this time the building has been totally redecorated externally. The chapel's sanctuary area has been repaired, re-carpeted and re-seated. In achieving this scheme we have also been able to create a larger area for modern worship with wheelchair access.
We have also had major works completed to the roof and electrics and have provided an enclosed rear playground, to allow the Pre-School children to play safely outside during the winter.
Our current work has improved the present toilet facilities, making them accessible for all. This is a token of the high regard for which the active Christian works and most useful Chapel facilities, provided by present day Culmstock Methodists, are held within the local community.


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Daniel R. McEwen, Sr., 42, of Fulton passed away after an extended illness on Saturday, November 4. Danny enjoyed being a mechanic and was the owner of D&M Taxi in Oswego. He was predeceased by his mother, Bonnie in 2014. Danny will be greatly missed by his children, Frederick Scoville, Daniel McEwen Jr., Christopher Seinoski, Amber McEwen and Alexander McEwen; father, Robert McEwen; siblings, Robert and Tammy-Jean McEwen; mothers of his children, Valerie Scoville, Lisa Perez and Stephanie McEwen. Calling hours are Friday, November 10 from 12 noon to 2 p.m. at Foster Funeral Home, 910 Fay St., Fulton.
910 Fay StreetFulton, New York 13069Phone: (315) 592-2313Fax: (315) 598-8364Email: Click Here
837 Cayuga StreetHannibal, New York 13074Phone: (315) 564-6288Fax: (315) 598-8364Email: Click Here


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Wednesday, 13 January 2016
A Baccus 6mm Phalanx or Three
22 comments:
Fantastic work. Good to see more and more people coming over to 6mm :)ReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks and indeed we do seem to be getting more people trying to paint 6mm and finding it easier than they thoughtDelete
Looking good Ian :)ReplyDelete
How long are the pikes/bristles? By my reckoning they should be about 20-25mm long, but the ones in your pics look a bit longer than that.Replies
Good question Tamsin, just measured some and they are around 22mm (they are not grounded so come down to the waste) so are about right. Though I would not worry if they were a bit oversize as it adds to the effect.Delete
Remember before I cut back the first lot? They were huge LOL
Wow they look great!!! I wish I could turn out that many 6mm in a weeks time. Great work!ReplyDeleteReplies
Well they were easy batch paints so not so difficult (I also had a full day run at them on my day off from work)Delete
Mad, that'd kill me cutting and sticking all the pikes on!! But you've done a grand job on them!!!ReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks Ray, helps when you play music as you work, kind of just get into a grove. Glad to finish them thoughDelete
They look so grand!ReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks PeterDelete
They look superb, now onto the Persian foe!ReplyDeleteReplies
I think you may be onto something there. Mind you I have but in 15mmDelete
That really was an awesome entry Ian - stunning work Sir!ReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks Michael, really pleased with the responseDelete
Look great to me.ReplyDelete
Cheers, RossReplies
Cheers RossDelete
Pike blocks look terrific and formidable.ReplyDeleteReplies
I am hoping it demoralises my opponents before we even start LOLDelete
These are without a doubt utterly eye-wateringly awesome! So impressed with these.ReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks Lee, fancy a game against your Romans LOLDelete
They may not be cheap - but they look like serious business.ReplyDeleteReplies
Well compared to 15mm block of 24 figures which costs double that of the 96 figure 6mm block it's not really too bad. That is until you accept you would never go with 20 blocks in 15mm LOLDelete


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Jason Anthony Boswell is kind of like the Udonis Haslem of the FIU Panthers.
No current player has been with the Heat longer than Haslem, and no current player has been with FIU longer than Boswell, which is something Panthers coach Anthony Evans appreciates.
"Jason was my first recruit," said Evans, who will begin his fourth season as FIU's men's basketball coach on Friday when Florida Memorial visits. "He believed in this program when other people didn't.
"We had an APR [graduation rate] penalty and we [weren't eligible] for the postseason the first year, but he decided to come here. He believed in me and the vision we talked about."
It helps that Boswell, who is a first cousin of NBA forward Lance Thomas of the New York Knicks, is from New York City, specifically the Bronx. Evans hails from Brooklyn.
"I give him a lot of credit," Evans said of Boswell. "A lot [of recruits] wouldn't have come because there was a chance we could have gone on penalty for two years. He is the foundation of this program. Whatever happens from this point forward, he helped build that."
Just what Evans is building remains to be seen. His first three teams have gone, in order, 15-16, 16-17 and 13-18.
Now he will have to replace 6-11 center Adrian Diaz, who was named Conference USA's Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 2.9 blocks last season. He also averaged 15.3 points and 7.8 rebounds, earning second-team all-league honors.
Another big graduation loss for FIU was Daviyon Draper, who averaged 15.9 points and 7.0 rebounds.
Those departures will put more pressure on an offense that finished 11th in scoring in the 14-team conference.
Evans could decide to draw up even more plays for his leading scorer, 6-3 shooting guard Donte McGill, a senior from Delaware who averaged 16.1 points last season after transferring from a junior college.
And even though FIU has qualified for just one NCAA Tournament in its history, back in 1995, that's exactly where McGill is setting his sights.
"[Evans] has given me the opportunity to be one of the main guys on this team," McGill said. "I just want to win, go down as champions. I want to win the league, go on to the [NCAA] Tournament and make noise there."
Besides McGill, FIU returns two other starters: Boswell, their foundational player who is a 6-6 wing; and Kimar Williams, a 6-1 sophomore point guard from Philadelphia. The two combined to average just 8.8 points last season but provide leadership.
"I have a lot of knowledge that Coach has given me," Boswell said. "I try to express that to my teammates."
Elmo Stephen, a 6-7 senior forward who averaged 7.7 points as a reserve last season, could battle to become a starter. Eric Nottage, a 6-2 senior guard who made 10 starts last season, averaged 4.3 points.
To add to that nucleus, Evans, perhaps sensing the urgency to win now, signed five newcomers — and none of them are freshmen.
Center Michael Kessens, a 6-9 graduate student from Switzerland, averaged 3.7 points and 3.5 rebounds last season for the University of Alabama.
Other newcomers to watch are Richard Bivens, a 6-9 junior forward who averaged 10.9 points and 8.2 rebounds at East Los Angeles JC; and Eric Lockett, a 6-5 sophomore guard who averaged 7.3 points and 6.2 assists at Chipola JC.
"We're way deeper than we were last year," McGill said. "I think guys just need to be ready to play their roles."


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Toddlers' sandals Bungee
14.98 € 29.95 €
Machine washable sandals for toddlers.
Available in sizes 22-35. Size guide
- Machine-washable
- Lightweight
- Reflecting details
Babies 0 - 18 months
Toddlers 9 months - 4 year
Kids 4 - 10 years
Juniors 8 - 14 years
Machine washable sandals for toddlers.
Please select a size first
Unfortunately this colour in not available online in this size. Please check for other colours, or check at a another Reima retailer.
Only 0 pcs left!
Available in sizes 22-35. Size guide
These toddlers' sandals are not afraid of the water, so these could be called as a beach sandals. Lycra lining feels comfortable against the skin and velcro fastening is easy to use, so help from mum or dad is not necessarily needed.
Care instructions


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Crow Researcher
Kaeli Swift is a PhD student at the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington. Her research interests are studying cooperative behaviors and relationship dynamics in crows and other social corvids. She is currently working on understanding the function of widely observed crow "funerals."


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Leather Cobra Bracelet - Black
- Made with genuine black Italian leather, this rhodium plated cobra bracelet is a unique and modern twist on a classical motif. In ancient times, animals and mythological creatures were often painted on ceramic vessels, fashioned into jewelry, and carved on sculptures. The snake is a recurring motif in art and mythology and often symbolizes female power, fertility, wisdom, rebirth, and rain.
- Leather conforms to your arm and softens as you wear it
- Length of strap: 7 inches
- Care Instructions: Do not expose to excessive sunlight or wear into water
- Keep in a dry and dark area
- Item #: CB010