text:
@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @@@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
04/17/15 -- Vol. 33, No. 42, Whole Number 1854
Table of Contents
Hugo Nominations Changes/Corrections:
Sasquan has issued the following five changes/corrections to the Hugo ballot this year [notes in brackets by ecl]:
In the "Best Novel" category, Marko Kloos has withdrawn his novel LINES OF DEPARTURE. It has been replaced by THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM by Cixin Liu (translated by Ken Liu).
In the "Best Novelette" category, "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" by John C. Wright (THE BOOK OF FEASTS & SEASONS, Castalia House) was originally published online in 2013 prior to its appearance in that collection. It has been replaced by "The Day the World Turned Upside Down" by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Lightspeed Magazine, April 2014).
In the "Best Short Story" category, Annie Bellet has withdrawn her short story "Goodnight Stars". It has been replaced by "A Single Samurai" by Steven Diamond (The Baen Big Book of Monsters, Baen Books).
In the "Best Professional Artist" category, Jon Eno was replaced by Kirk DouPonce. [Eno had no eligible work in 2014.]
[Sasquan] also misnamed "Adventures in SciFi Publishing" [in "Best Fancast"].
There is now a Twitter hashtag "#newHugocategories":
A couple of my favorites:
My contribution:
Best New Hugo Category
Acceleration (comments by Mark R. Leeper):
When I was a kid and someone would say "the day will come when ..." and they followed it with an accomplishment like having a man walk on the moon, they would have the prediction fulfilled in the thirty or forty years. What happened? Now when someone says the day will come when ..." what they mean is sometime maybe late August. [-mrl]
Baird Searles Discovers Home Video (comments by Mark R. Leeper):
I used to be an avid reader of the film review column of the late Baird Searles in THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION (a.k.a. F&SF). His taste in films seemed fairly well aligned with mine. More than once I would see a film I liked and for years never find someone else who had seen the film, and then years later see Baird Searles recommending it in his column. One such film was CARNIVAL OF SOULS.
But that is a digression. I am reading his column in the September 1979 issue of F&SF. He is reviewing the film SUPERMAN THE MOVIE. This is a column like I have never seen him write at any other time. Other than an implication that the film has good special effects, he has nothing good to say about the film (which he mis- titles simply SUPERMAN). He says the plot is primitive stuff. But he writes only one paragraph about the film itself. He is clearly distracted by what he really wants to talk about.
What he wants to talk about is a new (in 1979) technical advance. It is a device that he sees will profoundly impact the future, for everyone but perhaps especially for science fiction fans. The device is the VCR. It is the videocassette recorder.
In the 21st century the world is in the process of phasing out VCRs, but I thought it was of some interest to see the old VCRs from the point of view of a science fiction fan from the long-ago time of thirty-five years ago. I was fascinated by his exaltation at the use of this wonderful device and at the same time marveling at how much has changed in the intervening years. Science fiction fans who until now could collect little other than books will soon be COLLECTING FILMS! What a concept! He sees this in a scenario like this: a fan will be watching TV and there is nothing good on. Then the fan thinks of his VCR. Instead of watching bad new television he could be watching a good old movie that he has on tape. Somehow that does not seem like a common scenario these days.
The 1979 Searles says that you can buy pre-recorded movies on cassette or you can buy a videotape and record off television. A tape will cost you less than $20. [The going price today is under $3 if you are still using VHS tapes.] Films pre-recorded on tape will cost you between $45 and $75 with a pornographic tape costing about $100.
If you watch a program on a pre-recorded VHS tape the picture quality is always "superb." [These days watching a VHS tape gives people headaches. Searles had never seen high-definition TV.] The problem is that there is still too little selection at stores selling pre-recorded movies on VHS. There are only about five good science fiction films available on tape and Searles has bought only one. He now can watch THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD any time he wants.
If you want to record something off television, you are at the mercy of your television reception. It is better if you have cable, but Searles does not have cable. He mentions that one of these $20 tapes will store four hours--not really long enough to get two good late night movies unless you sit there and edit out commercials as they are broadcast. That is not the social event that Searles craves. And the good movies all seem to run at 2 AM. So Searles usually records at 2 AM and does not watch while he is recording. He later watches the film commercials and all.
And with all the effort it requires to record a movie, will you REALLY ever want to see the film again a year or more in the future? Some films it may be better to watch just once or twice and then wait for them to be rescheduled by the TV stations, random though that process is.
I think that Searles did not quite understand the user interface to his VCR. He says that one problem with putting the VCR on timer recording is that if you want to record a 2 AM movie, the TV has to be on and might wake you up in the middle of the night. To the best of my knowledge VCRs never needed the TV to be on. Searles lost sleep unnecessarily.
Searles then turns philosophical and asks what will the VCR do to the entertainment industry? If everybody has access to old movies, does this mean they will not be broadcast any more? [Bless you, TCM.] He says to tune in in five or ten years to find out what the VCR is going to do to the entertainment industry. I have a pretty good idea what it will do, but I have thirty-five years to look back on. [-mrl]
Little Round Top, Bastogne, and the Kobayashi Maru (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper):
There has been much discussion of the "Kobayashi Maru" test in STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN and in STAR TREK (THE REBOOT). When STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN came out, people complained about the test. One complaint, addressed (or at least explicitly stated) in STAR TREK (THE REBOOT), was that the test purported to give the student the feeling of being unable to save her crew. However, since it was only a test, it is not going to have that effect, and what's more, the fact that all the students know that it is rigged to be unwinnable, it is meaningless.
But another complaint, perhaps more serious, is not mentioned. The purpose of the test is to prove to the students that they may find themselves in a "no-win" scenario. Now, I'm not a military genius, but it seems to me that the last thing you want to convince officers of is that there is a "no-win" scenario, because once they believe there is such a thing, they may well decide they are in one, and give up.
What brought this to mind was watching STAR TREK (THE REBOOT) one night and the "Bastogne" episode of BAND OF BROTHERS the next. The situation in Bastogne certainly looked hopeless, but luckily for all of us, the officers and the troops refused to give up. (One can argue that they did have the option of surrendering, so it was not as "no-win" as the Kobayashi Maru, but that is not much improvement.)
Similarly, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain on Little Round Top could have decided there was nothing he could do when they ran out of ammunition. Again, luckily he did not.
But if they had all taken the Kobayashi Maru test, then they might well have decided that they must be in one of those "no-win" situations--and it would have become a self-fulfilling prophecy. [-ecl]
REAPER MAN by Terry Pratchett (copyright 1991, Harper Fiction, $9.99, 353pp, ISBN 978-0-06-102062-9) (excerpt from the Duel Fish Codices: a book review by Gwendolyn Karpierz):
I've always wanted to read more Pratchett.
As it turns out, REAPER MAN was a really relevant choice in the wake of the author's death.
In the first few pages of REAPER MAN, Death gets fired--for having a personality. Some conglomeration of Neutral Beings decides that Death is not neutral enough, and they give him ... a deadline. He gets his own little hourglass; when the sand runs out, Death will be replaced.
Far from being upset about this, he is thrilled. Instead of hanging around to do his job until his replacement shows up, he departs posthaste to experience some of that life dying people are always so keen on clinging to.
Albert backed away nervously.
"And now that you have it, what are you going to do with it?" he said.
Death mounted his horse.
*** You might think that a temporary absence of Death would benefit the rest of the world, which is always bemoaning its losses. As it turns out, there are consequences when things don't die. In REAPER MAN, the consequences come in the form of too much life energy floating about, which wreaks havoc in the city of Ankh-Morpork. The novel primarily follows a handful of wizards in the city trying to deal with this havoc, including one Windle Poons, recently deceased and returned because nobody showed up to guide him down the road of being dead properly.
Now, we all know that Terry Pratchett is hilarious, and here we hit the roadblock that has previously kept me from reading too much of the endless Discworld novels. I dipped my toes into them a couple years ago with THE COLOUR OF MAGIC, THE LIGHT FANTASTIC, and MORT, but I will quietly admit that I wasn't terribly impressed. (A few people did assure me that these were not his best works.) Honestly, I just don't love writing that is primarily funny. I need well- rounded tragedy to balance out the humor.
REAPER MAN surprised me.
It started out feeling just about as my previous Pratchett experiences: comedic, but with little other substance. In addition to series of random events that appeared to exist solely for the purpose of making the reader laugh, the storyline just jumped around /too much/. Three or four main plot threads were introduced, as well as a handful more minor characters and events; with the points-of-view hopping between Windle Poons, the Bursar, the Archchancellor, Mrs. Cake, the sergeant, Modo, the other wizards, and--/very occasionally Death-on-holiday--REAPER MAN gave me nothing to hold onto: no characters I could come to care about, only silly names and unexplained events that would eventually become plot.
All I wanted to read about was Death.
Death meant to go have grand experiences, I expect. Instead he found himself integrating into a tiny farming community, where he promised to stay until he could help the old Miss Flitworth reap the harvest.
And gradually, the novel filled itself out. Sections became longer and longer, giving the reader something to really sink their teeth into. While some of them were still unabashedly silly, the characters--much like Death--developed into people. To my great surprise, one-hundred-and-thirty-year-old Windle Poons became deep and sympathetic as he learned some things about being alive. Or ... un-alive.
And Death did some truly remarkable things for a little farming community.
When the drama struck, it became the blend of funny and majestic that I truly love, the sort of thing that makes me laugh while I'm trying not to cry. The second half of the novel was one downhill tumble into adoration; I started off barely wanting to continue, and ended up loving every second of it. I do think that the beginning of the novel could have used a bit more structure and a bit less randomness; everything happened so quickly as to make everything /really slow/, because I didn't care about any of it. But once Death really got to work, the harvest he reaped was completely worth the wait.
Wherever Sir Pratchett is now, he's in good hands.
I do want to note that one of the off-putting things about diving into the Discworld novels is that there are /so many/ of them that it's a bit of a challenge to know where to start. In that respect: If you wanted to start with REAPER MAN, you theoretically could. I read my previous Discworld novels, as I said, a couple years ago, and I barely remember them at all; this did not affect my reading of REAPER MAN in the slightest. However, I would recommend you read MORT first, as it sets up Death as a personality, and there are a few events from it to which REAPER MAN occasionally alludes. If you've never touched a Discworld novel, REAPER MAN is still enjoyable, but I suspect it will be /more/ enjoyable if you have a little more background.
I did recently find an extraordinarily helpful reading guide for Discworld, which denotes all the "entry novels" to the series, as well as which books relate to which other books, making it much easier to follow a single plotline or start somewhere besides the very first book--THE COLOUR OF MAGIC--which, I have been told, is not actually the best place to start.
You can find it here [on lspace.org]: http://tinyurl.com/void-discworld-reading-order
24 DAYS (24 JOURS: LA VERITE SUR L'AFFAIRE ILAN HALIMI) (film review by Mark R. Leeper):
Warning: For those not already familiar with the Halimi Affair, there will be spoilers and graphic descriptions in this review.
CAPSULE: This is a docudrama about the kidnapping of Parisian Jew Ilan Halimi, who in January, 2006 was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered largely because he was Jewish. The film follows the Halimi family, the police, and the criminals, all the time sticking fairly accurately to what is known about the case. The Halimi family and the police race to find and save the hostage. The film looks at many connected issues including immigration policies, anti-Semitism, class, and police competency and prejudice. Not all the issues are fully discussed, nor would we expect them to be in a single film, but the viewer is aware of them. 24 DAYS is directed and co-written by Alexandre Arcady, perhaps in the United States best known for the horror thriller HIGH TENSION. Also writing the script were Emilie Freche and Antoine Lacomblez. Rating: low +3 (-4 to +4) or 8/10
The French Government has tried over the previous century to support a policy of ethnic tolerance and inclusiveness. Unfortunately, that system has the drawback that there are intercultural hatreds that they are only exacerbating by inviting in immigrants trained in hatred. France has had a large influx of Anti-Jewish Muslims into their population and at the same time a great increase in domestic anti-Semitism. Ilan Halimi was a young Jew who worked in a Paris cell phone store. He was 23 years old when he was targeted, kidnapped, and taken to Bagneux, a commune in the suburbs of Paris. There his treatment was shockingly barbaric. 24 DAYS is a docudrama of the incident as seen from many sides.
On January 20, 2006, Ilan Halimi had Sabbath dinner with his family and then went out for a late-night date with an attractive woman he had met while he worked in a cell phone store. She was the bait. He was set upon by a gang of thugs and taken to an apartment in the Bagneux section of Paris. There he was trussed in duct tape and viciously tortured. For three weeks he was tortured and starved, held in barbaric conditions. Meanwhile the kidnappers demanded a ransom that Ilan's parents could not pay. A staccato of phone calls from the kidnappers to the Halimi family made unrealistic and inconsistent demands.
The extent of Ilan's condition is described as "horrific." Still, it must have been considerably but understandably toned down for the camera. The real Ilan Halimi was burned over 80 per cent of his body. And after the first week his captors never even fed him. His condition probably could not be accurately depicted for the camera.
Central to the story is Ilan's mother Ruth Halimi (played by Zabou Breitman) who wrote the book on which the film script was based. We see the story through her eyes. She is speaking directly to the viewer in the first and last scenes of the film. Other people are filmed with a more literal camera. But the camera frequently focuses in on her and the action slows to dwell on her emotion. That way the story's treatment becomes very personal to her. Otherwise the story moves fast because there is a lot of detail of the story to cover. It documents tensions in the family, between the family and the police, and within the police. Supporting her character is Pascal Elbe who plays Ilan's estranged father. Jacques Gamblin plays Police Commander Delcour who is handling the case. Tony Harrisson plays the formidable Youssouf Fofana who leads the kidnappers and who cannot settle on a single ransom amount.
We see the police investigation including some smart moves and some obvious errors. There is, for example, controversy over whether the crime can be classified as being anti-Semitic or not. Arcady manages to put into this 108-minute film a lot of action but the issues he manages to make very personal. I rate 24 DAYS a low +3 on the -4 to +4 scale or 08/10.
Film Credits: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3600588/combined
What others are saying: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/24_days/?search=24%20days
BECAUSE I WAS A PAINTER (film review by Mark R. Leeper):
CAPSULE: During the Holocaust prisoners who were artists secretly made and hid drawings that recorded the experience of being held in the camps and murdered. Christophe Cognet writes and directs (the first time for either) this documentary talking to the artists and showing the art that was created under these horrendous circumstances. The purpose of the documentary is important, but the film fails in execution due to technical problems that were not sufficiently considered in the making. Rating: high 0 (-4 to +4) or 5/10
During the Holocaust, when millions of people were being murdered, a few artists wanted to bear witness and preserve the experience for those who came after. It was impossible for those in the camps to get a camera and photograph the unthinkable going on all around. But it was just barely possible for some artists to scrounge paper and writing implements and draw what people who were not there could not imagine.
Writer and director Christophe Cognet interviews several of the artists who recorded their lives at a time when art was a capital crime. Artists participating include Yehuda Bacon, José Fosty, Walter Spitzer, Samuel Willenberg, and Krystyna Zaorska. The artists occasionally disagree on what their experience was. One finds that there can be no beauty in all of this bloodshed, but another says that in the way that the bodies so thoroughly show the suffering of the dying person that that is a beauty in the same way that Picasso's "Guernica" is beautiful. We do see a variety of different styles and subjects in the samples of their artwork. Different expressions of life in the camps and the artists tell us why they chose the different approaches.
We never get a good idea how these artists managed to maintain large portfolios of their art work and not have them fall into the hands of their captors. We would like little more understanding of the mechanics of successfully documenting life in the camps and preserving that art so that others would see it.
The film suffers (badly) from technical problems; most of which are reparable, but at this point have not been fixed. This is definitely a film that needs to be narrated and dubbed rather than subtitled. Why? Much of the film is looking at drawings in black on a white background. The current subtitles are white letters with black edge trimming. The lack of contrast makes the subtitles a real struggle to read. On top of which the subtitles are printed for just a moment and then quickly whisked away. Even given full concentration, reading the subtitles is fully consuming. But the subtitles are not where the viewer should be looking when there is art on the screen. One can read the subtitles or see the art, but not both.
The drawings frequently have great detail and need to be studied to realize what is being portrayed. But there just would not be time for the viewer to appreciate what is being expressed in the art even if the subtitles were ignored. We see some art at a distance and then moved up to the camera lens, but it would be better to see the art visible from the very first we see it. Of understanding the drawings and reading the subtitles, there is not enough time to do either well, much less do both. Narrating the film in the intended viewer's language, pointing out important details of the drawing, would go a long way toward making the artwork more comprehensible and appreciated.
This could have been an important documentary and it very nearly is already, but much of the viewing experience needs to be rethought and alterations need to be made. As it stands the film has serious flaws. Because of the subject of the documentary we need to have more time looking at the art and less panning the camera over the countryside. As it stands I rate BECAUSE I WAS A PAINTER a high 0 on the -4 to +4 scale or 5/10.
Film Credits: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3342998/combined
What others are saying: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/because_i_was_a_painter/
As a side note: I have a particular interest in the artist Yahuda Bacon who credits my uncle, Stanley Leeper, with saving his life after Bacon was liberated from Auschwitz. Details are available at http://tinyurl.com/mrl-bacon.
Rights (letters of comment by Gwendolyn Karpierz, Kevin R, Keith F. Lynch, and Jim Susky):
[This section was accidentally omitted from last week's MT VOID even though it was listed in the contents.]
In response to Mark's comments on rights in the 04/03/15 issue of the MT VOID, Gwendolyn Karpierz writes:
Sorry, Mark, I'm going to have to take some serious issue with some of your assumptions on the swimming pool incident, namely "If her swimsuit is attractive, she is anxious to attract the attention of the opposite sex."
Unless you have some hitherto unshared powers, you weren't inside the woman's head, so you can't possibly know that's why she's wearing an "attractive" swimsuit; there are countless other reasons for it. Bikinis are pretty much the standard now (you said skimpy, so I'm guessing bikini); it's entirely possible that she just couldn't find a one-piece in a color, style, or size that she liked. Maybe she hates the feel of swimsuit fabric (I know I do), but recognizes that she certainly can't go to the public pool naked, so wears as little suit as possible. (There--that would make swimming more convenient for her.) Heck, maybe she's trying to attract the attention of the /same/ gender, and not the opposite one at all!
Or maybe she just likes the way it looks to /her/.
To speak from personal experience: I'm the kind of person who wears corsets. All the time. To conventions with accompanying costumes, sure, but also in my everyday life. Sometimes just when I'm hanging around at my house without expecting to see /anyone/ that day. And /whenever/ I put on my corset, it's for myself. Now, plenty of people might--and I imagine they do--look at the shape of a corset (and often the clothes that go with it, which range from low-cut to eye-catchingly colorful to /noticeably/ old-fashioned) and think, "She's wearing that to attract attention."
I will fight anyone who says this to me.
I wear my corsets because /I/ like the way they look, /I/ like the colors and shapes--and, yes, I like the way they feel. There's a pervasive myth that corsets are instruments of torture--and for some people they are--but to me it's a combination of the comfort of being hugged /all the time/ and the safety of wearing body armor. I don't put on corsets to attract anybody's attention--and in fact, being stared at makes me extremely uncomfortable. Furthermore, I hate having my photo taken, but I love making and wearing costumes (including corsets) to cons (and sometimes just around town), where people often want to take my photo (and occasionally do so without asking). Does that mean I should stop wearing the things that make me happy, just because someone didn't adequately learn that it's rude to stare? No! And neither should that woman at the swimming pool. Saying that she "should accept that her dressing that way has consequences" is uncomfortably close to saying that rape victims "were asking for it" because of the clothes they were wearing. I won't go so far as to agree that the incident at the pool was "stare rape" (which is kind of a ridiculous term), but it's not a big leap.
Now, does someone have the "right" not to be stared at? No, I don't think that's a thing you can claim. But I /do/ think that woman has the right to wear what she wants, and society sort of has a responsibility to not punish her for it. [-gmk]
Mark replies:
Okay. I will go with you on that I cannot put myself into the woman's mind and know exactly why she would be wearing skimpy swim wear. I was just playing the odds. If I see someone with a fishing pole and line in the water I will jump to the conclusion that he is fishing. If I would see into his mind it may well be that he just is there drowning worms.
But let me go to your conclusion. We agree that the woman does not have any sort of right not to be stared at. And one does not have a right to look inside private property as a Peeping Tom does. But in a public place one can look at anything that is in plain sight. Then you say you think "that woman has the right to wear what she wants, and society sort of has a responsibility to not punish her for it."
No, there are limits to what one can wear as free expression. If she wants to wear only nail polish and nothing else, society still arguably can say that behavior is not allowed. And you would have to make a case that society sort of has a responsibility to not punish her for it. [-mrl]
Kevin responds:
Distinguish between "rights" and "privileges." For example, people frequently speak of "rights" they have due to an agreement (contract) they made. That's a different meaning of "right" than my right to be free of someone else initiating force. The latter is contingent upon the private agreement. The former is mine by the fact of my existence.
Regarding "creepy pool guy": is the pool privately owned? Is he a member of the organization that owns it? Was he charged admission? Did he agree to abide by a code of conduct by entering the pool area or paying admission? If the pool is owned by the state or municipality, is his staring legal as he doesn't cross some harassment line: trying to interact with someone who doesn't want the attention, to the extent that we'd consider it stalking. If one is going to strip to what are effectively one's skivvies, and bathe or sun bathe in public view, how can one claim an expectation of privacy? I think that would depend on "house rules."
I'd say, if he were on public property, and there was no rule against giving unwanted, silent, non-physical visual attention to someone, it is, however creepy, allowable conduct. I was raised to NOT act like that. "Be a gentleman" probably doesn't mesh with this kind of rights-talk. I also came of age as the old mores against folks wearing what were then called "skimpy" bathing costumes (bikinis for women, Speedo-style banana hammocks for men) were crumbling. Fixating on one person like that doesn't feel right. Your common variety harmless pool or beach lech would probably make some attempt to be surreptitious, and check out more than one flesh morsel. Still low behavior, but conceivably legal.
I'd be interested to know if "creepy guy" had any other problems: is he on meds that cause him to "zone out?" Is that stare actually seeing anything? Is he really viewing what the "target" thinks he is looking at? Maybe his vision is such that he isn't actually focused on her the way she seems. [-kr]
To which Keith Lynch replies:
No meds needed. When I'm thinking hard about something, I'm not paying any attention to what I'm facing. Should I close my eyes? Or wear dark glasses like a Secret Service agent so that people can't tell where my eyes are pointed? If someone thinks someone is staring at her, before she makes an accusation she should try moving around and seeing if his eyes follow her. And if they do, she should politely and privately ask him to stop, and only mention it to others if he doesn't stop. [-kfl]
Kevin responds:
I was also thinking about people who, especially if their glasses are off, or they are wearing the wrong pair, have poor distance vision. [-kr]
And Jim Susky writes:
I think you thoroughly (and compactly) wrung out the issues in Ad Hoc Rights [in the 04/10/15 issue of the MT VOID].
By now I know it's not all about me, but I'll take this as an extended response to my polemic regarding property rights in general and their violation as specifically embodied in laws that ban smoking in private (privately-owned) spaces. First, I'll reply to your introductory statement to my letter on smoking bans in private spaces:
"I do not believe that a property right protects the practice of putting a harmful substance like cigarette smoke into the air of a non-smoker." This surprises me, coming from a thoughtful observer who often addresses secondary effects.
Environmental regulations do not, a priori, violate property rights. Generally, no one owns the air--no consideration of an individual's property pertains. The walls of a bar or restaurant unambiguously separate the collective air from that within the owner's private space. That air is not the air of anyone (whether or not they smoke) who freely associates by walking in.
Is it not plain that a patron may walk out for any reason at all?
A corollary to natural property rights is that an owner may regulate behavior within his establishment (this of course bears on the scenario in Ad Hoc Rights last week). Waiters, cooks, bartenders, and other bar employees also freely associate with the owner. Their interests are served by the same prerogatives that patrons exert (and don't let the door hit you one the way out).
(moving on to the swimming pool)
You stated: "(the ogled woman in skimpy swimsuit) goes a little too far when she claims that she has a right not to be stared at."
The non-verbal conflict leading up to her appeal for arbitration reminds me of a classic child's conflict. Joanie and Johnny are riding in the back seat with Mom. The elder Joanie discovers that she can irritate younger brother with certain persistent looks. Johnny's countermeasures do not dissuade his elder, wily, and more experienced sister. Finally Johnny wails:
"Maaahhhhm! Joannie's LOOKING AT ME!"
At first blush I'd say that the principles that inform such interaction do not "rise" to the "level" of rights. I'm not so sure that it's a matter of degree so much as a difference in kind.
When considering the justice of a law or moral action, I like to first consider the "non-aggression principle" which state in brief:
'Thou shalt not initiate force or fraud against others'
(By the way, a juror's decision is a moral action with lasting consequence. I believe that a fellow citizen's duty is to consider the justice of a law before ruling "on the facts". For instance mere possession of a weapon does not justify a state's aggression. Enforcing a gun possession law is the State's initiation of force. The juror's right action is to acquit in such cases.)
The problem, of course, is to define or apply aggression to actions.
I agree that (as you wrote) "one should not be able to just invent a right when it is convenient" ... (should not invent "stare rape") " on an Ad Hoc basis. Many believe "there oughta be a law" for every contingency--but then some never completely cut momma's apron strings.
I'll close by saying that if this were a hotel, the pool manager's prerogative would to be to throw the bum out or at minimum demand that he stop ogling (request such). A further prerogative would be to call security, or lacking that, the police. The police should remove the ogler (or convince him to stop) on grounds that he is trespassing--or whatever other reason. I do not assert that the manager must throw the creep out.
At a public facility the manager having public regulations in reserve is entirely appropriate--to be exerted according to her judgement--which recalls another favorite aphorism (with updated pronouns):
"Rules are for the guidance of wise (wo)men and the obedience of fools" [-js]
Politics and Smoking (letter of comment by Kip Williams):
In response to comments on smoking in the 04/10/15 issue of the MT VOID, Kip Williams writes:
Here's my tired old anecdote about an accommodating restaurant with a smoking area. The Cinema Cafe in Phoebus, back before smoking was routinely disallowed in places that served food, was a movie house (formerly the New American Theater) with tables as well as theater seats. It was set up so that the front seats (about 3/4 of them) were 'smoking,' and the rear seats and the tables behind the seats were 'non-smoking.' Because smoke stays where it's told, obviously.
Cathy and I seated ourselves at a table. Like all the tables, it was in the smaller, non-smoking, area. So a guy came in, sat at another table, and started smoking. The waitress took our order, then went to his table, where she said something quietly that we couldn't hear. "I THOUGHT THIS WAS -AMERICA-!" boomed the voice of the smoker, whose lungs seemed pretty healthy from where we were. Then he looked over at us and deduced (wrongly) that we had complained about him. "I GUESS I'LL JUST SIT IN BACK OF THE SMOKING AREA AND BLOW MY SMOKE ON BACK!", he added, apparently for our benefit.
There the story ends. I don't recall what happened next, except that it was nothing much. Maybe the waitress talked to him some more, or maybe he put his cigarette out, or maybe he did what he said he was going to do, though I don't think that was it. I've been telling this story for enough years that I remember it now as a story more than as an event. I can still remember the shape of the room, and the existence of stairs to an upper level, so it's not entirely barren, but the incident ends on his proud display of personality.
(The fact that the memory does actually lead to more memories makes it what I call a mnemory. Some day, everyone will call it that.)
Oh, and VOTE FOR STEVE STILES FOR FAN ARTIST HUGO, DAMN IT! [-kw]
Retro Hugos (letters of comment by Paul Dormer, Bill Higgins, Ben Yalow, Kevin R, Keith F. Lynch, and Sandra Bond):
In response to Evelyn's pointer in the 04/10/15 issue of the MT VOID to "The Hugo nominations and Retro Hugo nominations", Paul Dormer writes:
The Retro Hugo nominations are so last year. [-pd]
Evelyn responds:
Ooops--that's what happens when you cut and paste... [-ecl]
Bill Higgins asks:
Why is there no Retro Hugo this year, 75 years after 1940? [-wh]
Ben Yalow responds:
The 75 years later Worldcon has the right to run Retro Hugos, but is not required to. Sasquan chose not to run them. [-by]
Bill responds:
Simple enough. Thanks.
I have mixed emotions about Retro Hugos; the idea is still kind of cool, but the award is inevitably messy and flawed. Were I in charge of deciding whether or not to award them, I'm not sure which way I'd go.
There were some pretty good works of SF published in calendar 1939, though. [-wh]
Kevin R adds:
Anybody know why [no Retro Hugos this year]?*
*[sp3 on]
Obviously, 1940 had a lack of potential nominees friendly to the LGBTQWERTYUIP community, and too many stories inflicted with the patriarchal straightjacket of "plot."
[/sp3 off]
Should have been some commie-friendly stuff available, though. :-) [-kr]
Kevin later adds:
Okay, so I was JK, then I got curious, and found this:
So, there was an effort made to get womyn nomynated, or to at least alert people to which eligible.
[quote] Retro Hugo Women is a discussion group for Retro Hugo-eligible works by women creators. Because how will we know what is worthy of nomination if we never read it in the first place? [/quote]
Absolutely nothing wrong in letting people know what was out there back then. There was no ideological blocking on their lists, else, explain Ayn Rand's ANTHEM, which along with C L Moore's "Werewoman" was nominated.
As for LGBTetcetc, Arthur Clarke won for "How We Went to Mars," though he won a Hugo long before most fen knew anything about his (alleged?) atypical sexuality. [-kr]
Keith Lynch suggests:
I think it should be extended, opened not just to works published 50, 75, or 100 years ago, but also 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, and 6400 years ago.
"There were some pretty good works of SF published in calendar 1939, though."
Indeed, including two short stories by a promising new author named Robert Heinlein. But Ayn Rand's "Anthem" is not eligible, as it was published in 1938. [-kfl]
Re "Anthem", Ben notes:
And was nominated last year, when there were Retro Hugos. [-by]
Evelyn observes:
Of course, the requirement that there was a Worldcon in the target year might throw a monkey wrench (or spanner) into your plan. [- ecl]
Never daunted, Keith writes:
They could also hold RetroWorldcons. Remember, that city must have existed at the time. Here's my slate:
1915: New York 1815: DC 1615: London 1215: Constantinople 415: Alexandria 1186 BC: Jerusalem 4386 BC: Jericho 10786 BC: Atlantis
Kevin makes the following observations:
1915: You might regret that, due to Metro-like subway problems.
1815: Hard to find a non-smoking hotel. Hard to find a hotel, as some British visitors were a bit hard on the town the previous year. Left it smoking.
10786 BC (Atlantis): Poseidonis, Tritonis or a joint bid?
Raising money for the T2FF and the UTSFF will be tough.*
* Trans-Temporal Fan Fund and Under The Sea Fan Fund. A souvenir book, "Thera and Back Again", might be a nice premium.
But Sandra Bond warns:
I don't want to see the sad puppies whining that that left-wing social justice warrior Lucian of Samosata has had the retro-Hugos wrapped up for years... [-sb]
This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper):
The movie-and-book discussion group watched THE EUROPA REPORT and read RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA by Arthur C. Clarke (ISBN 978-0-553- 28789-9). No, the movie was not based on the book, but they have similar themes.
I realize that if you read enough books, weird coincidences will arise, but I still found it interesting that the "disaster asteroid" hit on 9/11 (2077, though, not 2001). Eunomia is actually the 8th- to 12th-largest asteroid, not the 5th. According to Wikipedia, the largest asteroids (in decreasing size by mass) are 1 Ceres, 4 Vesta, 2 Pallas, 10 Hygiea, 21 Euphrosyne, 704 Interamnia, 511 Davida, 532 Herculina, 15 Eunomia. (The numbers indicate the order in which they were found.) The last four are all reasonably close to each other in size. I presume in 1973 the masses were not as accurately known, since it seems like a mistake Clarke would never make. Persephone had been proposed as a name for a trans-Neptunian (formerly trans-Plutonian) planet, but given that there already was an asteroid 399 Persephone, this seems like it would have been a lost cause. So far, the major trans-Neptunian bodies have been named Pluto, Eris, Sedna, Makemake, Quaoar, Varuna, and Haumea.
Apparently in this book's 2130 there is still considerable argument over the "Big Bang" theory. Since the most important evidence for it was discovered after Clarke wrote RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA in 1973, this is not too surprising.
Norton is concerned about the total annihilation of ten thousand tons when Endeavour lands if Rama is anti-matter. But you would get the total annihilation of only the mass of the spaceship. (If you got the mass of Rama, the same would have been true of the test of a few milligrams of vapor, which would sort of defeat the purpose of even doing the test.)
"After a century of determined effort, Earth had still failed to get its population below the target of one billion..." In 1973, the world population was about four billion; it is currently about seven billion. Any attempt to get it below one billion would have to have been fairly drastic even if it started in 1973, let alone in 2030 (when earth is projected to have a population of well over eight billion). China's "one-child" policy, for example, seems to have been much stronger than whatever Earth was implementing in RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA, yet even that did not do more that slow the growth of China's population, not decrease it.
Of the superchimps (which seems like an unnecessary addition to an already full enough plot), Clarke writes, "Being cloned, they were also sexless..." Earlier he describes them as having "family trees whose branches included the most intelligent of the Old and New World monkeys, plus synthetic genes that had never existed in nature." This is not cloning, although one can argue that all the rest were cloned from the first "genetically-engineered" one. But it would have been the genetic engineering that made them sexless, not the cloning. (Indeed, animals that have been cloned in the last few decades are fertile and have had offspring.) In any case, the superchimps strike a negative note in the book--it seems as though humanity had decided to create a race of intelligent slaves: they are "docile, obedient, and uninquisitive," had an IQ of sixty, and "were quite happy to work fifteen hours a day." Would we decide that humans with an IQ of sixty should be used as menial labor for fifteen hours a day, especially if there was a good chance that there would be some situation in their workplace where they would have to be euthanized?
Clarke seems to have felt he needed something with drama and tension near the end of the novel, but frankly, that too seems slapped on. The concept of Rama itself is drama enough.
[I know he was Sir Arthur C. Clarke, but not when he wrote this. Somehow listing the author as Sir Arthur C. Clarke seems wrong, even though listing the author of the "Sherlock Holmes" stories as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle seems right.] [-ecl]
Mark Leeper email@example.com Quote of the Week: Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true. --Bertrand RussellTweet
Go to our home page


text:
Your browser is not supported. Please upgrade your browser to one of our supported browsers. You can try viewing the page, but expect functionality to be broken.
Use drag-drop blocks and JavaScript.
English only | Modern browsers | Ages 11+
Use drag-drop blocks.
Many languages | Modern browsers, smartphones, tablets | Ages 6-106
Don't have Internet? Download the offline version.
Are you a teacher? Review the lesson plan and other teacher resources.
Speak another language? Help us translate.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I bet you'd get fooled.
Recipe inspired by almonds and Giallo Zafferano
time: 20 min preparation + 30 min inactive + 1 hr baking + 2hrs minimum cooling time
for crust
- 250 g (1 2/3 cup) regular flour OR
- 100 g (2/3 cup) regular flour
- 120 g (1 cup) whole spelt flour
- 100 g (1/2 cup) sugar
- 125 g (1 stick) cold butter, diced
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
for filling
- 600 g (21 oz) ricotta OR
- 600 g (21 oz) almond pulp
- 200 ml (5/6 cup) almond milk
- 225 g (1 1/2 cup) sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tablespoon Amaretto liqueur
- zest from 1 small lemon (grated)
butter for the form, chocolate pieces for decoration
- In a food processor, pulse cold butter with flour(s) about 10 times. Transfer it onto a rolling board. With your hands, quickly combine it with eggs, sugar and vanilla. Wrap it with a plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 30 min.
- Meanwhile...In a large food processor, blend all the ingredients for the filling till creamy. Transfer into a pot. Bring to boil over medium heat and cook for 2 minutes.
- Turn your oven on 180C/350F (fan forced). Butter and line with parchment paper your baking form.
- Roll the chilled dough to fit your baking form and a 1inch(2.5cm) -high boarder around (leave a piece in the fridge for some design on top). Place it in the hot oven for 20-25 min.
- Take it out, spread the filling on top, arrange some decoration with dough and chocolate pieces. Place it back in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove and let it cool for a couple of hours.
- well, it's like a cheesecake; less creamy than a New York style, but still very pleasant;
- like a cheesecake that has flour or potatoes in the filling;
- not too sweet, with a delicate flavor of Amaretto and lemon zest;
- 2/3 of my pulp I defrosted; 1/3 had fresh from the morning milk;
- I used a 26cm/10inch spring baking form;
- the original recipe did call for ricotta;
- how much money am I saving? I used to throw away all that pulp.


text:
Avian Influenza: Sterilization Through High-Shear Dry Extrusion
The recent avian influenza outbreak in Iowa and Minnesota has raised public and industry concerns around facility bio-security and the proper care and disposal of animal carcasses. In this week's blog, I will discuss the challenges these operations face to properly sterilize and dispose of the carcasses and why the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine issued no objection letters to using high-shear dry extrusion as a method to properly sterilize and process them into reusable ingredients.
Many operations in the Midwest are currently faced with the increased need to depopulate their infected flock by incinerating, burying and landfill application of the carcasses as their primary means of disposal. Financially speaking, they are experiencing a loss in revenues from the value of the depopulation and total cost of disposal.
Over 20 years ago, we were challenged by the question "Can Insta-Pro extruders kill viruses in mortalities and by-products to provide a cost-efficient alternative method to current practices?" Through a collaboration with Dr. Don Reynolds from the Iowa State University Veterinary Medicine Research Institute trials carried out were to showcase that high shear dry extrusion kills viruses. The trial was conducted by extruding turkey carcasses that had a "cocktail of pathogens" added to them. Included in this "cocktail" were resilient viruses, salmonella and coccidia. Dr. Reynolds aseptically collected the pre & post extruded material for the determination of its microbiological quality. Subsquently, he conducted feeding trials. Results showed high shear extrusion is an effective alternative method to the outdated disposal methods that unfortunately, are still being used today.
Based off of this scientific research and the executed trials conducted by Dr Reynolds, in 1996 the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine provided no objection letters for sterilization by high shear dry extrusion for swine and poultry. Since then, I have presented a summary of trials conducted by other universities where several feeding trials using the extruded by-products, including mortality, were fed safely to animals without incident. Those extruded by-products performed better than conventionally rendered by-products. The trials left no doubt about the effectiveness of high shear dry extrusion in situations such as the current outbreak of the avian influenza.
The extrusion of by-products is not limited to the poultry industry; it can be used in the food and the feed industry to process plate residual food from restaurants, recycle feed or to process fish by-products into high quality feed ingredients that are safe to feed. This reduces environmental concern and adds revenues from otherwise under-utilized secondary resources. We have not seen many companies in the United States adopting such a technology while other countries have had it for years.
Isn't it time to include high shear dry extrusion recycling as an environmental and nutritional solution?
Contact us to learn more about by-product processing and high-shear dry extrusion.


text:
It's no secret that the twin flame chaser suffers from the separation, but have you ever wondered about how the twin flame runner feels about it all?
Believe it or not, but the runner often faces immense regret and pain upon separation from their twin.
Let's take a look at 11 aspects of the twin flame runner regret you might not have thought of!
1) They regret their own pain
I know, you're probably thinking "wow, that's no surprise". And trust me, I'm with you 100%, this is definitely the most selfish aspect of their regret.
It might not be what you want to hear. However, that doesn't make their pain any less valid.
Think about it: how terrible does it feel for you to be separated from them?
They feel pretty much the same way, just that on top of that, they are in denial of their feelings.
All that pent-up emotion is eating away at them and they will regret causing themselves so much pain.
Chances are, they are relatively aware of their energy and frequencies, so they will notice how low they are on those fronts.
Nobody likes to have such low-vibe energy, especially not someone aware of its consequences, so all of that combined will lead them to regret the pain they caused for themselves.
2) They regret causing pain for their twin flame
The twin flame runner can come off as a little selfish.
But wait, let me tell you something: more often than not, the twin flame runner regrets all the pain they caused for their twin flame.
In most cases, hurting their twin is the last thing they want to do.
Now, before you hit me with the "then why did they leave in the first place?", it is incredibly hard to muster empathy and compassion when you feel like your heart got broken, I get it.
But if you truly believe in twin flames, you know that this bond is deeply rooted in both twins' souls.
You are connected through unconditional love and just because your twin is running doesn't change the way they feel about you.
Nothing can break that bond and so your twin genuinely does not want to cause you pain.
Because they can't avoid it, however, they are feeling immense regret.
It's like being torn apart. Their soul calls for you and doesn't want to hurt you, while their life path calls for a period of separation.
As hard as it may be, cut your twin some slack and console yourself in the fact that they care about you deeply.
3) A gifted spiritual advisor confirms it
The signs above and below in this article will give you a good idea of twin flame runner regret.
Even so, it can be very worthwhile to speak to a spiritual advisor and get guidance from them. They can answer all sorts of relationship questions, including those related to your twin flame.
I recently spoke to someone from Psychic Source after going through a tumultuous twin flame relationship. After being lost in my thoughts for so long, they gave me a unique insight into where my relationship is supposed to be going.
I was actually blown away by how understanding, compassionate and knowledgeable they were.
Click here to get your own love reading.
In a love reading, a gifted advisor can tell you what you need to know about twin flame runner regret. Most importantly, it can empower you to make the right decisions when it comes to your relationship.
4) They regret the limitations on the twin flame journey
Contrary to popular belief, the running twin is not always initiating the separation voluntarily.
In fact, the cause for the sudden separation could be:
- They aren't at the right frequency yet
- They have unprocessed karma
- They need to do more shadow work
- They are stagnating in their spiritual work
- They are plateauing in their personal development
The thing all of these have in common is that they lie out of the runner's control.
Sometimes, the running twin might even be more frustrated than their counterpart!
It's true – when you know you are causing a halt in this wonderful journey but you can't control it, it's a terrible feeling.
In these cases, the running twin may feel immense regret.
Although the initial causes for the separation lie out of their control, they have the chance to make things right again now.
In order to do that, they could:
- Focus on shadow work
- Process unresolved trauma
- Go to therapy
- Focus on themselves physically, spiritually, and emotionally
Unfortunately, as the chaser twin, you have no influence over how, when, or if they will work on themselves.
This is always the case, by the way, no matter in what kind of relationship you are.
The only thing you can influence is how you show up to the world and hopefully, that will inspire those around you to do the same.
5) They regret being the runner
In case you might be asking yourself if it's fun being the runner – it's not.
After all, you are the "a**hole" of the story, leaving your other half behind.
As much as we like to blame the runner for causing all that pain, they often don't choose their role and are left feeling terrible for being the reason for all this suffering.
Nobody likes being the bad guy, and in the case of twin flame runners, they often know that they are the ones preventing happiness for both themselves and their twin.
That's not a great feeling at all and often leads to tons of regret on the runner's side.
6) They are terrified
If there is one thing that every twin flame runner feels when going into separation, it is fear.
Fear is the reason they run in the first place. This could be:
- Fear of being seen
- Fear of being rejected
- Fear of seeing themselves
- Fear of letting their guard down
- Fear of an intense connection
- Fear of being vulnerable
- Fear of getting hurt
- Fear of abandonment
…and many more.
Understanding that fear is the root cause of the runner's choice to separate will help you, as the chaser, in coping with this difficult situation.
Fear is an incredibly strong emotion, causing people to act in ways they never would otherwise.
Remember that you and your twin are a mirror for each other. Seeing yourself reflected back to you can be a painful and often very scary experience.
The runner often regrets separating out of fear, but usually, they aren't even aware that that's the reason they felt like fleeing the relationship.
You see, oftentimes a twin flame union causes feelings of unworthiness and self-rejection to flare up.
The mere divinity of your bond can make your twin feel unworthy of such love.
In other words, they feel like the connection is too good to be true, and that scares them.
If your twin flame is scared and ignoring you because of it, then the below video might help you out:
7) They are scared of the work
By now, you should know that twin flame runners run out of fear.
What you might not know, however, is that during the separation, they are often terrified of doing "the work".
Everyone knows the twin flame separation stage is meant to be a time of self-development and self-reflection.
As beautiful as that may sound, "doing the work" is anything but pretty.
Self-care is not just bubble baths and face masks, it's crying until no more tears seem to flow on your bathroom floor.
It's having to call yourself out for all the unhealthy coping mechanisms you have developed over the years.
It's holding yourself accountable to meet your own needs and show up for yourself.
None of that is easy. In fact, it's one of the hardest things you'll ever do in your life.
And thus, many twin flame runners are terrified of doing the work.
Life was so much easier before they were met with this divine connection, and now that their eyes are opened to all that needs to be worked on, they are scared.
It's no wonder, after all, it is a confusing time.
Resistance to change plays a big part in that, as well. Humans don't like change in general, it is scary and unpredictable.
When the change involves work and pain, they want to do it even less.
Your twin flame runner is most probably going through a time of inner conflict right now, scared of doing the work while simultaneously aware of how they can't avoid it.
8) They feel disoriented
You would think that after the separation, the runner twin would feel free and happy, right?
That's not usually the case. No matter if your twin flame is aware of the soul connection you share or not, when you're in separation, they will feel disoriented.
This is because, as I already mentioned, their role as the runner is not a conscious choice, causing them to feel confused.
Think about it: their soul connection with you keeps pulling them towards you even though they are the ones running.
It's a situation incomprehensible to the brain.
The good news, however, is a spiritual advisor can help you 'comprehend' this.
See, you could analyze the signs until you reach the conclusion you want. But if you want honest guidance, then a gifted person can help you achieve it.
I know from experience how helpful this 'guidance' can be. When I was going through a similar problem to you, a spiritual advisor helped me reach the right decision.
Click here to get your own love reading.
9) They feel anxious and overwhelmed
When the twin flame runner is not aware of the twin flame journey they're on, this whole cocktail of emotions is likely causing them tons of anxiety.
The truth is, as troublesome as your connection might be at times, it also acts as an anchor and a safe place.
When your twin flame is running from all that, they are probably encountering many triggering situations that leave them feeling anxious.
Triggers aren't necessarily bad, though, they ultimately push both of you to do your shadow work and evolve.
Nevertheless, all of this turbulence can make the runner feel incredibly overwhelmed.
The constant pull towards their twin flame mixed with their resistance to the connection breeds misery.
The more they resist, the more they crave this connection. If that's not overwhelming, I don't know what is.
10) They feel lonely
Even though the runner is the one cutting off the connection to their twin, the energy bond never dies.
It constantly connects you two with unconditional love and the need to be together doesn't cease to exist.
That being the case, the runner can't diminish the love they feel for their twin.
Think about this: how does someone feel when they are separated from the person they love (regardless of whether or not they're happy about that connection)?
You're right – lonely.
The yearning to be with their twin never stops, and while the runner is trying to reject the connection to their twin, in reality, they are only rejecting themselves.
For this reason, the runner often encounters a phase of pain and loneliness when separated from their twin.
11) They feel hurt
Now, before you say "THEY feel hurt? I am hurt!!", yes, I am not invalidating your feelings in this regard by any means.
As counterintuitive as it may feel to you, the runner goes through lots of pain, as well.
Turns out, the runner sometimes experiences even more pain than the chaser!
How you may ask?
Well, as the chaser, chances are that you have already made more progress on your path to ascension.
You know how to process your feelings, you worked on your coping mechanisms.
All those things are something the runner has yet to do.
As a consequence, the running twin will encounter many triggering and painful situations in order to push them towards working on themselves.
It's not an easy time for them, and sometimes, it's not as simple as a matter of choice. All that pain will cause them to regret being the runner.
Can the chaser help the runner?
Now that you've learned so much about the twin flame runner regret, you might be asking yourself if there is anything you can do for them.
Directly, there is nothing you can do, unfortunately. They are on their own path and will evolve at their own pace.
As much as you'd want to, you can't push them to grow any faster.
The only thing you can do for them right now is to shift your focus on yourself.
You can try:
- Learning a new skill
- Trying out a new hobby
- Moving to a new place
- Traveling to a new country or city
- Meeting new people
- Working on your career goals
- Working on personal goals
… and much more.
Do the things you didn't do while in a relationship.
Most importantly, take care of yourself! That means:
- Eating nourishing foods
- Drinking plenty of water
- Moving your body every day
- Getting plenty of rest when you need it
- Getting sunshine and fresh air every day
- Having a meditation practice
- Journaling about your feelings
- Taking care of your hygiene
All of these things will make you feel better about yourself so that you're not only working towards a better version of yourself, but you will also feel more confident.
Trust in the fact that if that person is truly your twin flame, you will find your way to one another again, and if not, these steps will help you move on alone.
Remember that no matter what you believe in, you are whole all on your own and you don't need anyone to complete you.
Good luck on your journey and don't forget to put yourself first.
Discover the truth about your twin flame connection
Are you on the twin flame journey and looking for answers?
We understand that it can be a challenging and confusing path to navigate.
That's why we've created the Twin Flame Psychic Robot, using the latest advancements in AI to provide you with insight and understanding about your journey.
Our robot is designed to help you on your twin flame journey, by answering all your questions and providing you with personalized insights. It's easy to use and accessible 24/7, so you can get answers whenever you need them.
Don't wait any longer to uncover the secrets of your twin flame journey. Try our Twin Flame Psychic Robot now and gain a deeper understanding of your journey.


text:
American and European consumers continue to seek out hot and spicy foods and beverages, according to recent postings by the U.S. and EU HeatSync Heat Indexes. The Kalsec HeatSync Heat Indexes are measurement tools that follow usage of more than 30 different peppers. In collaboration with market data from Mintel's Menu Insights and the Global New Products Database (GNPD), the U.S. index evaluates more than 2,400 restaurant food and drink menus, while the EU index measures retail product introductions in Europe.
In the first six months of 2013, the Kalsec U.S. and EU HeatSync Heat Indexes both posted strong increases, with the U.S. index up 38% and the EU index increasing 26% over the previous six months. In the European market, sweet chili, piquillo and cayenne peppers showed the strongest increases. The European index has continued its growth climb since 2007. The popular jalapeno and cayenne peppers led the strong growth in the U.S. for the first half of 2013. The banana and pepperoncini peppers also contributed to the increased U.S. demand. "The significant increase in demand and diversity of pepper types supports a global trend toward the consumer's desire for a more complex and flavorful heat experience," says Karen Buczek, product director of Kalsec natural spice and herb flavor extracts.
The index is named after the Kalsec HeatSync Systems, designed to control the timing, intensity and location on the palate of heat (pungency) to be delivered for specific application requirements. The Kalsec HeatSync Heat Indexes will be updated and reported every six months and are available for viewing at www.kalsec.com.
Additional Kalsec heat management innovations include Szechuan pepper extract, ClearCap Super Soluble capsicum, encapsulated extracts and a complete line of specialty peppers.
Kalsec is the leading global producer of natural spice and herb flavor extracts, natural colors, natural antioxidants, and advanced hop products for the food and beverage industry. For more than 50 years, Kalsec has consistently delivered high-quality, innovative ingredient solutions that make products look better, taste better and last longer. Kalsec is headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with facilities in the United States, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.kalsec.com.


text:
Earlier this year, it was widely reported that chimpanzees could modify their calls to fit in with new groups. This research was centered around the relocation of a group of chimps from a Dutch zoo to one in Scotland, and claimed that over three years the continental apes learned a Scottish brogue. But now a different group of researchers has raised their doubts over this initial study, sparking a debate within the world of primatology.
The original piece of research followed incoming chimps from the Netherlands, and tracked changes in their calls as they integrated with a group of Scottish chimps, specifically looking at their grunt in reference to apples provided by keepers. They concluded that over time, the new chimps gave up their "Dutch" call for apples and instead started using the "Scottish" one. The implication, and what was then reported by the media, was that this shed light on the evolution of language, as the apes were able to pick up "accents" and new "words."
But in a letter to Current Biology, another group of primatologists claims that these conclusions were overstated and that the calls from the Dutch chimps were actually not that different from the Scottish ones from the outset. They also report that the original study did not take into account the fact that the new chimps could simply have been "over aroused" when they first moved to Scotland, and that the change in their call could be in response to them settling in.
"Closer inspection of the data reveals that both groups largely overlapped in the range of calls they were originally giving in response to the apples," Dr. Brandon Wheeler, one of the co-authors of the criticism of the original study, told BBC News. "There is a lot of variation in the data; there are clearly some individuals who are changing more than others." In fact, he and his colleagues took the original data and worked it to show that there was only weak evidence for changes in vocalizations.
In light of these criticisms, the scientists who penned the first study have responded. They retort that if indeed the chimps were subject to high levels of arousal or excitement from being in a new and different environment, these differences would be seen in other behaviors aside from just their vocalizations. They also claim that the Scottish apes were exposed to other changes with the addition of 11 unknown chimps, but their vocalizations didn't alter in this instance. Finally, they too took their original data again and reanalyzed it to show that it did indeed indicate a shift towards similar calls across the three years.
"We think that we've addressed the points that they bring up," explained Dr. Simon Townsend, who co-authored the original study, to BBC News. "It's an interesting critique of our research – and this is exactly how science works." In fact, if anything, this debate works well to highlight how two different groups can take the same set of data and yet draw two different conclusions, something which we could do well to bear in mind when looking at other scientific work.
[H/T: BBC News]


text:
Announcing Studio1: The first-ever solution to automate screencast videos
Update July 2019: Studio1 has now been renamed to Userflow and has pivoted to offering a platform for building onboarding guides and product tours.
Today I'm super excited to launch Studio1, a product that aims to automate production of screencast videos for customer support, marketing and sales.
I've been working on Studio1 non-stop the last 6 months, and we're finally ready to go live to the world.
Studio1 helps software companies better train their customers/users/employees by providing them with high-quality, always up-to-date screencast videos.
As a founder of multiple software products, I know the struggle of creating screencast videos. Moving the mouse smoothly and avoiding typos is nearly impossible. The video is never as well-paced as you'd like. Adding voice-over sucks - few people like their own voice, you need a good microphone and room to record in, or you pay a ton of money for professional voice. Videos are extremely difficult to change after they've been made, and often stay outdated for years leading to a poor customer experience.
Studio1 solves all this.
Instead of recording your own screen, you build a manuscript in Studio1. A manuscript consists of actions such as "Go to", "Click" and "Type" - it tells Studio1 how to navigate and control form input in a browser. You fill in a voice-over using simple text, which Studio1 synthesizes to almost-human-sounding speech. Finally you click a button, and Studio1 renders a full video for you, which you can embed on your website. You can make small adjustments to the manuscript and re-render as many times as you want.
A final video looks like this:
I hope that you'd like to try out Studio1. Questions/feedback will be much appreciated.


text:
After years of legal battle, the Supreme Court of India recently ruled in favor of the government which meant that telecom operators in India need to pay thousands of crore in taxes because of adjusted gross revenue, fines, and interest.
Today, Bharti Airtel made its first AGR payment to the Department of Telecom (DoT) of ₹10,000 crore of its outstanding dues. It is reported that it paid ₹9,500 crore on behalf of Bharti Airtel and Telecom which is merged with the parent entity. The remaining ₹500 crore is for its subsidiary Bharti Hexacom.
It further added that the company is in the process of self assessment of accounts and will make the balance payments before the next date of hearing, i.e. March 17th. This first leg of payment comes as the company had said last week that it would deposit ₹10,000 crore by 20th February.
On the other hand, Vodafone India said that it is currently assessing its AGR dues and will start paying the same in the next few days. Bharti Airtel owed around ₹35,586 crore before today's payments, while Vodafone Idea is yet to pay its dues worth ₹50,000 crore. Tata Teleservices, which has already exited the wireless sector, has outstanding dues of ₹14,000 crore.
In October 2019, Supreme Court ruled that statutory dues need to be calculated by including non-telecom revenues in adjusted gross revenues (AGR) of telcos. Last month, the Supreme Court dismissed review petitions from Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Tata Teleservices seeking review of its earlier which asked them to pay ₹1.47 lakh crore in past statutory dues by January 23.


text:
Lamb Burgers with Shallot Jam
Thank you to Kosher Cave Girl for developing and sharing this recipe! We love when KOL customers share their recipes with us.
For the jam:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 large shallots, roughly chopped
- ¾ cup of balsamic vinegar
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar
- salt
For the burgers:
- 1 ½ pounds of grass-fed Ground Lamb
- 2 cloves garlic, finely smashed
- 1 teaspoon rosemary flakes
- zest of ½ lemon
- ¼ cup water
- kosher salt
- 1 package grass-fed Beef Bacon
1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the shallots and cook until they have softened – about 10 minutes.
2. Add the vinegar and the sugar and cook over medium heat until a jam like consistency is reached – about 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and place to the side.
3. Preheat the oven to 500 on the broil setting and move the oven rack to the top of the oven.
4. Place 8 strips of KOL Foods beef bacon on a baking sheet covered in foil and place the sheet in the oven. Let broil 7 minutes, flipping once. Remove from oven and let cool.
5. In a large bowl, combine the lamb, garlic, rosemary, and lemon zest and water. Sprinkle with about a ½ teaspoon of salt and combine well.
6. Preheat the grill.
7. Form the lamb mixture into 4 equal patties and sprinkle with salt. Place them directly on the grill and cook until your desired doneness is reached – about 5-10 minutes for medium. Remove from the grill and place the burgers on a plate to rest.
8. Assemble the burgers by topping each lamb patty with a smear of shallot jam and two strips of beef bacon. Insert a toothpick to hold everything together. Grab a fork and knife or use your fingers and enjoy!


text:
SA Pride - Posted by
Colder nights and cooler days, harvest has been good with good fruit quality through modified picking strategy.This week we experienced cold nights with temperatures between 10 to 13 degrees, and mild temperatures during the day ranging between 18 to 26 degrees.
Harvesting condition were good for the last week of the season.
Quality is good we are managing by modifying our picking strategy to deliver perfect tomatoes.
Being the last week of picking we are preparing for the next season.


text:
This is your chance to stock up on free iSolo S Kit with GX Tank
This is our vaping giveaways and contests page. You can win yourself an Eleaf iSolo S Kit with GX Tank by entering our vape giveaways.
The giveaway will have multiple entry methods and the more methods you use, the more chances you will have of winning! Please use an email address you check often, as the winners will receive an email to these addresses if they win.
One winner will be picked by random.org, on September 15th,2021.
Click the link to enter<<<https://www.sourcemore.com/eleaf-isolo-s-kit-with-gx-tank.html
NOTE: Please scroll down the page and you can see the giveaway.
Eleaf iSolo S 80W Kit Details:
- 1. Made of all-metal construction, super sleek and solid
- 2. Combines iSOLO S 80W mod with GX Pod Tank
- 3. Features built-in1800mAh battery with 80W max output
- 4. Adopts 5v/2A type-C fast charging, fully charged in about an hour
- 5. Multiple protection guarantee: Over-charge/Over-discharge/Over-current/Over-time/Short Circuit Protection
- 6. GX Pod Tank with 5ML e-liquid capacity, easy side filling system
- 7. Simple and versatile airflow system and magnetic connection
- 8. GX Coils to satisfy your need to the extreme
- 9. Innovative AST-steel inside GX coil to produce denser cloud and better flavor
- 10. The chip-set inside iSOLO S to guarantee the smart coil protection
Good luck to all of you!


text:
Town and School leaders joined together on Thursday, October 13 to move some dirt and mark a major milestone - the official groundbreaking for Wellesley's new Hunnewell Elementary School.
Even a slight drizzle didn't dampen the celebratory mood of the event that included past and present School Committee members, Select Board members, School Building Committee members, Wellesley Public Schools administrators, and current Hunnewell School families.
Addressing the group, WPS Superintendent of Schools Dr. David Lussier referred to the groundbreaking as his "version of a barn raising," sharing memories from Hunnewell alumni and highlighting the many years of work, extensive study, public input and community support for the project.
The old Hunnewell building, which dated back to 1938, was torn down in late summer. The foundation for the new 18-classroom building is already visible on the site, mapping out the two-story, modern design with state-of-the-art technology that is "purpose-built for 21st century learning," according to School Committee member Catherine Mirick.
While Hunnewell is under construction, students and staff are divided up among other Wellesley elementary host schools.
Permanent Building Committee Chair Michael Tauer thanked taxpayers, the Facilities Management Department, and the Town's professional partners including Compass Project Management, SMMA, and W.T. Rich and Company for their commitment to the project, calling it "an act of love and an act of optimism" for kids of the future.
The new Hunnewell School is slated to open in February 2024. Project updates are regularly posted on the Wellesley HHU website.
Hunnewell is one of two major construction projects for Wellesley; the Town also has plans to rebuild Hardy Elementary School, although that project is not scheduled to begin for at least another year.


text:
Need questions answered on Sterling Gutter Guards
- How thick is the building material used for seamless gutters around Sterling, Virginia?
- Can your company give a bid for seamless gutters amounts near Sterling?
- Exactly how do I get a estimate for seamless gutters close to Sterling?
- Are there various dimensions and styles of gutters you install within Sterling Virginia?
- Do I need to do anything at all to get ready for the new seamless gutters on our Sterling, Virginia home?
- Reasons why are seamless rain gutters very important for my home in Sterling Virginia?
- Precisely how often should seamless rain gutters be replaced near Sterling Virginia?
Searching for Seamless Gutters in Sterling
- Who is the best gutters company within Sterling Virginia Sterling Seamless Gutters is one of the best local company.
- Get a price quote now for seamless gutters with a nearby company that services Sterling VA Seamless Gutters.
- Sterling Seamless Gutters is looking to solve your gutter issues near Sterling Virginia, just contact our team they will answer your seamless gutters questions.
- Sterling VA Seamless Gutters know a lot about seamless gutters, contact for a estimate today.
- If you have questions on seamless gutters with regard to your Sterling property, call us we can to help today!
- We called for a price bid for a seamless gutters cost close to Sterling.
- Knowing the best ways to mount gutters is an art and we understand how to finish the job properly the first time.
- Looking for an estimate on seamless gutters, phone the leading contractor around Sterling Virginia today for a meeting.
- If you are asking yourself who you should contact for seamless gutters or seamless rain gutters in Sterling VA, just call Sterling Seamless Gutters.
- If you are wondering who you should talk to for seamless gutters or seamless rain gutters call Sterling Seamless Gutters for a price estimate now.
Do you need new gutters in the following zip codes: 20164, 20165, 20166 and 20598.
For more information on Gutters Click Below
[forecast location="39.052709,-77.38412″ caption="Weather for Sterling" measurement='F' todaylabel="Today" datelabel="date('m/d/Y')" highlow='%%high%%°/%%low%%°' numdays="5″ iconset="Contemporary" class="css_table_class" cache="true" width="100%"]


text:
Harare introduces health scheme
Innocent Ruwende Senior Reporter
Harare City Council is set to introduce a community based health insurance scheme, which will cover primary and maternal health care provided at city clinics, plus the cost of referral to Harare's two central hospitals. The scheme would also cover on-site referral to doctors, basic medicines and diagnostics services.
Council recently approved the implementation of a pilot scheme in Mabvuku with possible collaboration with Harare Municipal Medical Aid Society.
According to the recent minutes of the Education, Health, Housing and Community Services and Licensing Committee all residents in the ward would be eligible and enrolment would be throughout the year.
"Premiums would be paid monthly and based on the actuarial analysis and would be at least $2,29 per member," reads the council minutes.
"The scheme would be managed by a committee selected from residents. The scheme proposed two alternative benefit packages.
"Benefit Package A would cover primary and maternal health care provided at city clinics plus the cost of referral at two central hospitals, on site referral to doctors, basic medicines and diagnostics services."
Benefit Package B entails cover at Primary Care Clinic plus a cash payment to cover referral care and the scheme would have co-payments, co-insurance, deductible benefit ceilings for covered services and an annual ceiling per individual member of $2 000.
The scheme planned to include other value added services like wellness clubs, while reinsurance would be provided from the pooled reserves and reimbursement of the services.
Health Services director Dr Prosper Chonzi reported that the World Bank, as part of its technical assistance to the country, and specifically the Ministry of Health and Child Care, agreed to fund a feasibility study for the introduction of prepayment scheme for health in Harare Community Based Health Insurance.


text: St. Francis Hospital for Animals was founded in 1996 with the idea that bigger is NOT always better. We prefer a smaller, more personal practice atmosphere where we take the time to get to know you and your pet and their individual personalities and health needs. You will experience the continuity of having a doctor take care of your animal who already knows them.


text:
What is Prem Nikethan?
Prem Nikethan literally means "House of love". It is the name of a structure built in 1994 and managed by the Sister of Saint Anne in Ibrahimpatnam, at the gates of Vijayawada in southern India.
Here, they are taking care of 25 abandoned or orphan children or young people with disability, providing them a house for as long as they need.
Why do we support Prem Nikethan?
Supporting Prem Nikethan means no longer abandoning these children and guaranteeing them care, love and a decent life.
For years we have supported some of the 25 children inside by our sponsorship program. However, the structure now needs urgent maintenance, since the building is becoming unsafe and inhospitable.
What are we going to do?
We carry out renovations and support the management of the Center with the supply of materials and the payment of part of the salaries of external employees. Almost all children are in the Care to Action Sponsorship Program. At the moment the surrounding wall is dilapidated and in some parts completely collapsed. Thieves and dangerous animals have free access to the children's play areas and internal spaces. Children affected by mental illness could leave at any time, exposing themselves to very serious risks. Other planned interventions are the renovation of the physiotherapy room with the related equipment and the refurbishment of the recreation room.
How can you help us?
If you want to assure to the poor children of Prem Nikethan a dignified life, care, assistance and guaranteed rights, support this project. Through a donation you will allow each of them to live peacefully, surrounded by people who take care of them.


text:
Sporobolus is a nearly cosmopolitan genus of plants in the grass family.[5][3][6][7][8] The name Sporobolus means "seed-thrower", and is derived from Ancient Greek word σπόρος (spóros), meaning "seed", and the root of βάλλειν (bállein) "to throw", referring to the dispersion of seeds.[9] Members of the genus are usually called dropseeds[10] or sacaton grasses. They are typical prairie and savanna plants, occurring in other types of open habitat in warmer climates. At least one species (S. caespitosus from Saint Helena) is threatened with extinction, and another (S. durus from Ascension Island) is extinct.
Sporobolus | |
Sporobolus virginicus | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Subfamily: | Chloridoideae |
Tribe: | Zoysieae |
Subtribe: | Sporobolinae |
Genus: | Sporobolus R.Br.[1] |
Type species | |
Sporobolus indicus | |
Synonyms[4] | |
Uses edit
While some dropseeds, such as prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis), make nice gardening plants,[11] they are generally considered[who?] to make inferior pastures,[citation needed] but seeds of at least some species are edible and nutritious; they were used as food, for example, by the Chiricahua Apaches. Other species are reported to be used as famine foods, such as Sporobolus indicus in parts of the Oromia Region of Ethiopia, where it is known as muriy in Oromiffa.[12]
Known as popote de cambray, Sporobolus grasses are used in popotillo art or straw mosaics, a Mexican folk art with pre-Columbian origins.[13]
The 1889 book The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that Sporobolus actinocladus is a "Perennial; seeds in October and November. A much esteemed pasture grass of the back country, common on rich loamy soil; stock of all kinds are very fond of it."[14]
Ecology edit
Caterpillars of the small moth Bucculatrix sporobolella have only been found on alkali sacaton (Sporobolus airoides). The Laysan dropseed noctuid moth (Hypena laysanensis) on Laysan Island apparently became extinct with the local eradication of S. virginicus by feral rabbits. Seed-eating birds including American sparrows (genus Aimophila) feed on sacaton seeds. S. wrightii is a critical resource for Botteri's sparrow (Aimophila botterii) which at one time was extirpated from Arizona.
Selected species edit
About 160 species are placed in the genus, including:[15][4]
- Sporobolus airoides (Torr.) Torr. – alkali sacaton
- Sporobolus caespitosus Kunth
- Sporobolus caroli Mez – fairy grass, yakka grass
- Sporobolus compositus (Poir.) Merr. – composite dropseed, tall dropseed
- Sporobolus contractus Hitchc. – spike dropseed
- Sporobolus cryptandrus (Torr.) A.Gray – sand dropseed
- †Sporobolus durus Brongn. (extinct)
- Sporobolus fertilis (Steud.) Clayton
- Sporobolus flexuosus (Thurb. ex Vasey) Rydb. – mesa dropseed
- Sporobolus heterolepis (A.Gray) A.Gray – prairie dropseed
- Sporobolus indicus (L.) R.Br. – smut grass
- Sporobolus jacquemontii Kunth
- Sporobolus junceus (P. Beauv.) Kunth – pineywoods dropseed
- Sporobolus pyramidalis P.Beauv. – giant rat's-tail grass
- Sporobolus spicatus Kunth – salt grass
- Sporobolus texanus Vasey – Texas dropseed
- Sporobolus vaginiflorus (Torr. ex A.Gray) Alph.Wood – poverty dropseed, poverty grass, sheathed dropseed
- Sporobolus virginicus (L.) Kunth. – seashore dropseed, beach dropseed
- Sporobolus wrightii Munro ex Scribn. – big sacaton, giant sacaton
This list does not include numerous species moved from other genera to Sporobolus after a 2014 taxonomic revision, including species in Crypsis, Eragrostis, Thellungia, Calamovilfa, and Spartina.[16]
Numerous species have been moved from Sporobolus to other genera: Agrostis, Arctagrostis, Eragrostis, Mosdenia, Muhlenbergia, Poa, Sacciolepis, Thysanolaena, and Urochondra.[4]
References edit
- ^ "Genus Sporobolus R. Br". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
- ^ lectotype designated by L.K.G. Pfeiffer, Nom. Bot. 2:1274 (1874)
- ^ a b "Sporobolus R. Br.". Tropicos. Missouri Botanical Garden.
- ^ a b c "Sporobolus". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- ^ Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum [Forerunner of the Flora of New Holland and the Island of Van Diemen, showing the characteristics of its plants] (in Latin). Vol. 1. London: Richard Taylor. pp. 169-170. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.3678.
- ^ Wu, Zhen-lan; Phillips, Sylvia M. "Sporobolus". Flora of China. Vol. 22 – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
- ^ "Genere Sporobolus". Altervista Flora Italiana. Includes photos and distribution maps for several species.
- ^ "Sporobolus". County-level distribution maps from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
- ^ Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology. Vol. IV R-Z. Taylor & Francis US. p. 2542. ISBN 978-0-8493-2678-3.
- ^ "Sporobolus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
- ^ "Sporobolus heterolepis". Plant Finder. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
- ^ Lemessa, Dechassa (November 1999). "Prosperity Fades: Jimma and Illubabor Zones of Oromiya Region" (Field Report). UN Emergency Unit for Ethiopia. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
- ^ "Papel Picado, Papel Amate, and Popotillo". Festival of Mexico. Retrieved 2010-01-09.
- ^ J. H. Maiden (1889). The useful native plants of Australia (including Tasmania). Sydney: Turner and Henderson. p. 108. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.12190.
- ^ Wu, Zhen-lan; Sylvia M., Phillips. "Sporobolus". Flora of China. Vol. 22 – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
- ^ Peterson, Paul M.; Romaschenko, Konstantin; Herrera Arrieta, Y.; Saarela, J. M. (2014). "A molecular phylogeny and new subgeneric classification of Sporobolus (Poaceae: Chloridoideae: Sporobolinae)". Taxon. 63 (6): 1212–1243. doi:10.12705/636.19.


text:
One of the authors in the ORWA group asked for a test reader for her new historical novel. I offered and she accepted.
I'm quite excited about this but also a little nervous.
I'm a fairly demanding reader. I expect a lot from the authors that I buy and I can get very detail oriented when it comes to language.
My concern is, how much detail should I go into? There's a fine line between providing editing critiques and expecting the author to write it the way you would have. This is a little different than working on a friend's story. There's a good relationship underneath to help smooth over any professional pinches. I don't know this person except professionally. I want to do a good job but also don't want to overstep my boundaries.
I think I'll start with a chapter by chapter analysis. I'll send the first chapter and ask her if it's too much detail or if she wants more. If I've gone too far, then she can let me know and I'll scale back.
Hopefully the fine art of diplomacy can allow me to still be effective without hurting feelings.


text:
Ajani Unyielding
Out Of Stock
Extra Info
- Color: Multi-Color
- Card Text: [+2]: Reveal the top three cards of your library. Put all nonland permanent cards revealed this way into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.[-2]: Exile target creature. Its controller gains life equal to its power.[-9]: Put five +1/+1 counters on each creature you control and five loyalty counters on each other planeswalker you control.
- Rarity: M
- Cost: 4GW
- Pow/Tgh: 4
- Card Type: Legendary Planeswalker - Ajani
- Artist: Kieran Yanner
- Name: Ajani Unyielding
- Finish: Regular
- Card Number: 201/322
- Set Name: Commander 2020


text:
The Best of 2017
A yearly review of the best things that I did, read, or discovered in 2017. You might also find the posts from 2016, 2015, and 2014 to be interesting.
Great blog posts
How I Got My Attention Back
- I continue to believe that the way people's attention is being stolen by apps and games tuned to extract ad revenue is one of the greatest problems of this decade. This post discusses one person's attempt to break out of that trap - if only for a month.
Unhappy Meals
- Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. I originally read this a few years ago, but 2017 saw me re-reading it and enjoying it again. This advice about how to create meals continues to be relevant after 11 years as fad diets come and go.
The Data that Turned the World Upside Down
- To me, one of the most interesting pieces of news that came out of the American election last year was the report that a little-known data mining firm, Cambridge Analytica, may have been using Facebook data to develop highly specific targeted advertisements to influence the results of the election.
Will Democracy Survive Big Data and Artificial Intelligence?
- If Cambridge Analytica could mobilize Facebook data to influence the results of an election, what happens when governments start using this data to influence the behaviours of its citizens?
Zebras Hate You For No Reason: Why Amdahl's Law is Misleading in a World of Cats (And Maybe in Ours Too)
- The obtuse title from a blog about writing code for embedded devices hides a lengthy, comprehensive, and pragmatic bit of writing about the trade-offs of making performance optimizations in code and their impact on software, businesses, and the world.
Luddites have been getting a bad rap for 200 years. But, turns out, they were right
- The word "Luddite" is synonymous with a person who is afraid of technology. But what's been lost over time is that they were fighting for workers rights in an age of increased automation at the start of the 19th century. It's a message we should re-examine as AI threatens to automate jobs away from millions.
How I got to 200 productive hours a month
- I'm not sure how I feel about all the recommendations in this post, but it's interesting to read about what approaches other people are using to deal with attention bankruptcy, and acts as a good resource for things I can try.
'Our minds can be hijacked': the tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia
- I suppose I had a bit of a theme this year with my favourites. This one is an interview in The Guardian with a number of designers and developers from the valley discussing their views on the addictive feedback loops that permeate apps and games in 2017.
Choose The Right Language To Save The Planet
- Short and sweet. How much carbon dioxide is your computer program responsible for producing? I haven't verified the math, but I think the idea is important for the future of the industry.
Something is wrong on the internet
- As 2017 drew to a close, this post combined several of my 2017 concerns to paint a dismal picture of the future. AI-assisted content generation, designed to be addictive to generate ad revenue, targeted at children. This post was alarming enough to make Google take notice and change some of their policies towards uploaded content on YouTube.
Introduction to Contract Programming
- Contracts in programs are a powerful idea. I've been writing code with this idea for a while but never really had the correct terminology to describe or think about the idea before.
The Merge
- One of the smartest minds in the valley has this to say about the future of AI and humanity: "We will be the first species ever to design our own descendants. My guess is that we can either be the biological bootloader for digital intelligence and then fade into an evolutionary tree branch, or we can figure out what a successful merge looks like."
Make Stronger Offers to Engineering Candidates and Boost Your Closes
- It's getting harder to hire candidates for software engineering positions. This article summarizes a number of strategies for making sure you understand a candidates motivations, and creating a job offer that speaks to them.
Favourite books read
Earth in Human Hands
- Whether we realize it or not, and whether we want it or not, humans are now sitting in the driver's seat when it comes to the future of the planet and life on it. This book starts at the very beginning with an overview of how life has affected the planet in dramatic ways over millions of years, then looks to the future with what this means to our own future, and even the threats and potential in the search for extra-terrestrial life.
What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming
- One of the greatest barriers to action in stabilizing global climate isn't the technology, or even economics - it's psychology. This book is important for people who want to see action on global climate because it has a wealth of ideas about what individuals can do, and what they should not do, to inspire others to action.
Favourite musicians discovered
Courtney Barnett
- Her style is difficult to pin down. It's like alternative rock, but simple, unrefined, and at times bitterly funny.
John Butler Trio
- I've heard music from the John Butler Trio off and on - most likely via the now silenced "The Signal" program on CBC Radio 2 - but this year was the first time I spent some time really listening to this folk/blues/roots group.
Tim Pierce
- You won't find a CD under his name, but you've almost certainly heard his playing on Michael Jackson's Black or White, The Goo Goo Dolls' Iris, or anything by Rick Springfield. I love the instructional videos he's been putting up on his YouTube channel to help out guitar players.
Favourite games played
Tomb Raider
- Originally released in 2013, I finally took the time to play through it this year. I loved the story and gameplay, and it's great to see Laura Croft reborn as a strong female lead character.
Mirror's Edge Catalyst
- Another reboot with another strong female lead. It features a compelling story, refined art style, and smooth free-running gameplay.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- At times quite frustrating with some instant "you lose" situations, Breath of the Wild successfully throws out some established conventions from classic Zelda games and introduces a truly open, living world with lots of secrets to find and places to explore.
Online courses completed
None again this year
Favourite papers read
No favourites this year. I did read a number of papers on optimization of SAT solvers but nothing worth sharing here.
Open-source projects I contributed to
- a Chrome browser extension that removes the "Hot Network Questions" from StackOverflow to prevent some potential for distraction while coding.
Programming languages I'd still like to try next year
State of plans from 2017
Write 3 blog posts about climate change and technology
- Ha. Nope.
Read 20 books
- Books read: 5. I'll chalk part of that up to returning to school over the summer.
Write and record an original piece of music
- I didn't do this either.
Plans for 2018
- Write 3 blog posts about climate change and technology. Let's try this again!
- Read 5000 pages. Measuring books read has been motivating me to avoid large books like Godel, Escher, Bach, so this year I'll try measuring the number of pages read instead
- Write and record two original pieces of music. One to make up for 2017 and a new one for 2018.


text:
FORT MCMURRAY, AB, June 14, 2016 /CNW/ - The Service Canada Centre in Fort McMurray, located at 8530 Manning Avenue, reopened yesterday, June 13. The Centre resumes its regular business hours: Monday to Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Service Canada Centre is ready to provide area residents with access to federal government programs and services, including Employment Insurance, Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security and Social Insurance Numbers.
Quick Fact
- The Service Canada Centre in Fort McMurray has been closed since May 5 due to wildfires.
Associated Link
Fort McMurray: Important Notice
SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada
For further information: Media Relations Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, 819-994-5559, [email protected]