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Chapter 25 : Forgiven Yet Not Forgotten
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Dear Reader[s],
Chapter 25 is the really, really final chapter of Harry Gets Even Part I. It is also longer than average length, to satiate the voracious appetites of you ravenous fic munchers!
Just in case people don't like the ending, I have packed up my belongings and such, prepared to go into the "Ficness Protection Programme."
I have already placed an afterward on at the end, so without further ado, I present…The Final Chapdown…(cheesy 80s theme ensues here.) I hope you love the ending as much as you've loved the rest of the story, Delia. And...there was no need to apologise for noticing Jamie's level of suffering. Compassion and forgiveness is the key to all in this story. =) That means, in a similar situation, you would not have had Harry's own knee-jerk reaction to what happened. Ah, but what does that mean? Read on!
Lurve and Enjoy, Rae
How can a person be a Portkey? was the irrational thought that sprang to Harry's mind, before realising the sensations he currently felt were nothing of the sort. Something big was happening, though he could scarcely discern what. It was clear that Madam Adonna was somehow caught up in the midst of it, too.
"Give me your other hand," she said with utmost urgency, "and be quick! Do it now!" It was practically an order, and her tone was such that Harry reached out for Donnie's free hand before full thought for the act even registered.
The healer made a heart-wrenching noise between a sob and a gasp as they completed the action. Before Harry could ask what was going on, he saw Madam throw her head forward, so that it was buried in the back of Jamie's shoulder. Her long raven hair spilled over her face and for a time, the only indicator that Donnie was still conscious was her laboured breathing.
Astonishedly, Harry watched her hair change to a deep of shade chocolate, shorten slightly and curl as he also felt Donnie drawing something out from him. Madam's hands had also begun shifting in appearance; the fingers grew longer and more slender, the nails more sculpted, and her skin softer and more rosy. Harry was equally sure the rest of the healer's body was undergoing a similar transformation, as he finally grasped the full realisation of what she was doing. Madam Adonna had found her transfiguration ability again.
She didn't stop at gathering her morphing ability, however. Adonna had also started to draw Jamie's physical pain away from him. Having barely recovered from the Veritaserum, Harry knew that the healer's already overtaxed systems could hardly handle this type of thing, but she was doing it anyway. Harry tried telling her to please stop, she was only hurting herself needlessly, but something prevented him from speaking.
The entirety of the combination transfiguration-transference lasted perhaps a minute; Adonna slouched lower and lower to the dias as it was completed. Finally, she just collapsed fully. Harry crawled over to her across the stage as Jamie extricated himself from Madam's arms.
Harry and his other half were so caught up in their situation, they both failed to notice that everyone else around them had become completely still; their ecliptical gateway had become partially opened. The two boys and Adonna were the only ones able to move in this otherwise frozen moment in time.
As Harry bent around Donnie, he saw she again had a woman's profile, a woman's face.… Harry attempted to speak to the healer again, to ask if she was all right, but still found himself unable to do so.
"Be good to him," Donnie smiled weakly and told Harry, "he doesn't understand yet." Then she blacked out altogether. Still it was good to hear her speak in her own contralto once more…it fit her so well.
An amazed Harry looked up at an amazed Jamie. Jamie had actually managed to pull himself off the platform and stand up without assistance at all. Regardless, the novelty quickly wore off as Jamie remembered who was with him.
Harry watched the requisite loathing and hatred contort his twin's features, as he got good and angry with Harry yet again. Jamie's fists contracted and he commenced shaking in fury over a kneeling Harry; it didn't take a telepath or a genius to guess what was going to happen next. Harry shut his eyes tight and braced for impact.
WHAM. With strength worthy of a pile driver, Harry felt Jamie's backhand fist strike him fully across the face. Harry spun sideways and his glasses snapped only to fly off his nose. Fireworks blossomed behind his vision and as the taste of copper filled his mouth, it was only Quidditch-ingrained reflex which prevented him from hitting ground. Ginny was right—he did pack quite a punch. Big-time ouch.
Harry would've laughed at the irony; all of his missing mortal senses were at last returning to him again, and he had happily welcomed any and all lost sensation. This still held true even if his own counterpart chose to inflict physical pain. It was almost funny, having made it this far only to fail at the hands of his doppelganger. Although Jamie didn't know it, this was one time Harry knew he dared not fight back. Again he would have laughed, but Harry could make no sound come out of his throat. His voice had simply left him completely.
Carefully, Harry pushed himself back to kneeling position and threw his hair from his eyes. Jamie's eyes sparked with chartreuse flame and blind rage. Harry prepared himself for another blow.
"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO LEAVE!" Jamie screamed excruciatingly to a shocked Harry. Leave? thought Harry. Leave what? Leave whom, where? he wanted to ask.Now he knew where his voice had gone; Adonna must have somehow transferred it to Jamie, and he was making full use of the switch.
Rather than hitting him again, Jamie whipped around so his back was toward Harry. The angry boy appeared to be struggling greatly with his emotions. Harry watched the taught fury ease from his shoulders to be replaced with disparaging weariness.
"No," Jamie said to himself, "I will not hit—no. I'm not like them." Harry had a mental picture of the Dursleys flash across his mind as Jamie personally resolved to not strike him anymore.
He turned back around and said to Harry sorrowfully, "I already know why you left me, you know. He told me why—Snake Eyes did. He told me it was because you hated my weakness." Jamie got a catch in his throat and nearly broke down, "He told me how you got mad and were better off without me. And he was right. I mean, look at you now." Tears glistened in Jamie's pain-filled eyes. "No wonder you rejected me," he whispered disconsolately, wiping his nose across his sleeve.
No, I didn't! I would never do that! Harry eyes widened as he tried desperately to yell aloud. He hadn't wanted to leave, anyway…it just sort of happened. And Jamie used the term 'Snake Eyes'. With only Voldemort for company, Jamie's unbeguiled, simplistic mind had been exploited and filled with utter lies. Harry gritted his teeth. What else had the serpentine man been telling him?
"I'm sorry. For disappointing you," choked out Jamie. "Snake Eyes hurt me bad after you left. Real bad, in here."
Jamie held a hand up to the lighting bolt scar on his forehead. For Harry, observing him speak was like listening to a 5-year-old version of himself. "And I already missed you so much," Jamie's face twisted with the memory, "but I knew you wouldn't want to come back. Not to me, not ever. That's why I started trying to…not…live… anymore."
Jamie peeled back his sleeves and looked down at his arms, swathed in Remus's bandaging. It was over the agony of being forced to live without your soul…
Harry's facial expression now mirrored Jamie's. Finally, he was beginning to comprehend why Jamie had done what he'd done. The worst part of it was that he essentially had no way of conveying reception of the message to his double. It was flat out cruel. Harry felt his own eyes start to fill with tears at the unfairness of it all. To be so close, and yet so far…
"Why won't you talk to me? Do you still hate me that much, even now?" Jamie asked him devastatingly. He managed to look even more crushed, as if that were possible.
Briefly throwing his arms outward in supplication, Harry shook his head vehemently. All of these new gifts Harry had at his disposal, yet he would trade them all in an instant if he could just find the means to…speak to himself. Tears of pure frustration began leaking from Harry's eyes and he buried his face in his hands. You didn't fail me, he thought at Jamie as loudly as he could, it's just the opposite.
Subtle nuances of body language and facial expression may have escaped Jamie's level of comprehension, but he did understand one thing. He knew that Harry's tears were bad, and that he was hurting inside. As a result, Harry found comfort and reassurance in the most unimaginable place possible.
"What's wrong?" Harry's twin inquired, concernedly. "Is it that you can't speak?"
Yes! Harry mouthed the word to Jamie. He scarcely believed his twin had managed to figure out his dilemma.
"So then, you do wish to talk to me?"
The tone of hopefulness in Jamie's voice sliced Harry to the quick. Only more than anything. Not knowing how else to express himself, Harry nodded up at Jamie, and mouthed the word, "please."
Indeed, the word seemed to carry a magical connotation as Jamie knelt on the platform in front of Harry, carefully making sure he was level with him.
"We can do this, then!" A completely unanticipated streak of enthusiasm lit up Jamie's face as he smiled blindingly. "It's okay, you don't have to be sad. You don't only just talk from here, you know," he said, pointing to Harry's throat. "You can talk like I do," then he pointed to the centre of his chest, "from here. I'll show you how."
Harry paid rapt attention as his twin astoundingly taught him a thing or two about nonverbal communication.
"First," began Jamie, "you have to listen and know who you're speaking to inside."
Reaching out for Harry's hand, Jamie placed it palm flat, against his own sternum. "You don't have to do this, but it usually helps you concentrate. Close your eyes, 'cause it helps you hear the beat."
Harry shut his eyes and just focussed on Jamie's heartbeat, as his double began to tap the rhythm against the back of his hand. Harry concentrated fully and lost himself within Jamie's internal percussion. As he did, a voice seemed to spring up from this carnal quasi-music; it sounded like a cross between the roaring of a lion and…Buckbeak's cry in flight.
Harry's eyes snapped open and he found Jamie staring at him attentively. "Did you hear it?" Harry's twin asked him excitedly. Harry nodded with equal enthusiasm as Jamie inquired, "And do you know what it was?" Harry shook his head.
"A griffin," answered Jamie, and struggled to find another term, "Griffin…Pride…Pride Master—protector."
If Harry had ever wanted unshakable evidence that he was indeed a Gryffindor, the proof had just been presented to him. He'd take the title of "Pride Master" over "Prime Minister" any day.
"This is how I spoke to the Pack Master," Jamie elabourated as a picture of Remus blazed through Harry's mind. "I was afraid when he was touching my cuts, so his—he called himself 'Alpha'—Alpha told me it was okay, because he'd hurt himself before too, and that he was only trying to help." Harry vividly recalled Jamie's tracing of Lupin's scars in the chamber.
"He considers me—well, you—" Jamie's face showed confusion at trying to figure it all out, "—he considers us to be his cub—cubs. He's a protector, too." As fascinating as it was to listen to Jamie explain his means of communication, Harry was just as eager for his lesson to continue.
"I'll let you just listen now," continued Jamie, still holding Harry's hand to his chest.
Closing his eyes once more, Harry again let himself sink into shared rhythm. As he did, a series of images opened itself to him. It was literally like switching channels on a television remote, as he could flip through and focus on that which he chose…
Jamie wanting to walk out of the chamber and show Harry that he was still strong and worthy, to make him proud…Voldemort repeatedly scouring his twin with a psychic Cruciatus Curse, even when he was too weak to stand…being lied to by the snake-eyed man over and over…shivering because of the surroundings and dementors…cold, so cold…Wormtail choking off Jamie's throat and throwing him to the ground—Jamie had fractured his ankle and recracked two ribs upon impact—it made Harry wince…and Jamie's crying, weeping in utter despair, certain that his soul would never come back…such intense pain, not coming back…Jamie's meaning for life and all reason for living it had simply evapourated by the necessity of Harry's temporary departure. How could Harry have ever thought him weak? Tears of remorse threatened to spill from his eyes.
And yet how had he treated Jamie when they found him in the chamber? Harry had rejected him outright, just as Voldemort had intended. Jamie was many things, but stupid was definitely not one of them. Considering the source, it made perfect sense Harry's opposite knew implied abandonment when he saw it. It was no mystery Jamie couldn't stand to hear his own name and later struck Harry out of sheer hatred. Harry would've been furious beyond all reason, too.
Something gave him even greater pause than this, however. In times of greatest agony, the times when Jamie had attempted suicide—and consequently times Harry had originally mistaken for insanity—somebody else had been with him in his prison. Voldemort would push Jamie to the edge again and again, not only revengefully but in attempt to lure Jamie's soul back to him…for without Harry, Jamie had no real means of self-defence. But when Harry's double found his only action was to let go and plunge for darkness, someone had caught and held on for him. Harry zeroed in on one incident in particular…
"YOU! NOT AGAIN! YOU MEDDLESOME GIRL, STAND ASIDE!" loudly shrieked an ethereal image of the Dark Lord in the chamber.
"NO!" answered back a very real, very solid Lily Potter.
Harry's mother was the very vision of angelic personified. She was on the floor cradling and covering a bleeding Jamie within the folds of her voluminous glowing robes.
"That only worked the first time, Tom! I cannot, and I will not leave him anymore! It's you who must do as I command! Now depart, and leave my Jamie alone!"
It was only then that Harry learned the true value of blood protection, for Voldemort had no choice but to obey Lily. His apparition fumed, lingered for a few seconds and finally vapourised.
Looking down into Jamie's face, Lily soothingly told him, "It's okay Jamie. He's gone for now. Look into mum's eyes, just keep looking—that's it…and I can help you hold on…just hang on and look at me.…"
Harry wept with the knowledge that somebody had been there to protect him in the chamber, even if for small amounts of time. He should have guessed his mother would never abandon him in his darkest hour…he should have known. And what was it she'd called Harry? She addressed him as Jamie, because she knew being associated with his spirit had been too painful to bear.
The connection slowly ebbed as Jamie disengaged Harry's hand from against his chest.
"I think that's enough listening for now," he told Harry seriously and patted his hands as a small child would. "Sometimes this hurts people more than others. You need a break, I think," and he nodded knowingly.
It surprised Harry to see Jamie acting almost…parental towards him. Harry had come to the cemetery tonight fully expecting to be the educator, not the educated. On the other hand, just as Harry considered Jamie the more needy half of him, Jamie had considered Harry the lost one; wayward spirit who needed the most help or assistance. The Prodigal Soul, Harry thought to himself, ironically.
After Harry was able to compose himself, Jamie proclaimed it was Harry's turn to try and "talk" his way. To better facilitate this, he had placed his hand against Harry's chest as well as placing Harry's hand on his.
Ever the instructor, his double still personally held Harry's hand up to his sternum, as he said, "Okay, now this will make it easier since I'm going to be listening to you. Please tell me everything, I'm quite good at it."
Harry smiled at him. Of course Jamie was good at it—it had been his sole means of communicating until…just how much time had elapsed since they'd started, anyway?
Concentrating fully once more, Harry felt his innermost being read by his twin. Rather than feeling invasive, it was calming, reassuring…it felt good, as if he'd come up from going far too long without air. Jamie wasn't kidding when he said he was good at this. He was practised enough at it to punctuate the experience with pointed comments as well as continuously keep listening to Harry.
Within the first five seconds, Jamie's eyes opened wide and he sucked in a breath through his teeth. "Shadow phoenix," he diagnosed about what he sensed within Harry, "hissing phoenix," then he concluded his sentence by saying, "wounded phoenix," in Parseltongue.
Instead of being alarming, the hissing words were as a healing salve to Harry as Jamie closed his eyes again and continued in snake language, "He hurt you, too. In here. I'm sorry."
He and Harry recommenced their sharing, and just as Jamie said, Harry told him everything. Harry told him about the Fright Bus, about his leaving it, and how he didn't know he was dead, finding people hurting and mourning for him in the graveyard. Jamie tensed a lot during this.
Harry then sensed his twin's inward smile as his teenage friends had summoned him in the graveyard, dashed through London, and came to St. Mungo's. He practically fainted with joy as he watched Harry blast the chamber door open, and he exclaimed, "You did that for me!" Harry grinned and nodded affirmation.
As he watched the memory of the dementors according to Harry's recollection, something about Jamie's character changed entirely. He watched the soulless creatures fight with Harry's friends, how Harry hadn't even been able to defend himself… Harry couldn't describe Jamie's reaction anymore accurately than saying it was a mental click of a missing piece slide into place.
"You couldn't stop them, just like me!" Jamie dropped his hands and cried out in utter horror. "If I was with you then, we couldn't have stopped them! That's why you had to leave! The dementors were going to get you!"
Jamie leaned forward and seized him in a fierce embrace as Harry nodded to him once more.
"I'm sorry, I should have known you'd never leave me on purpose," sobbed Jamie, holding him as closely as possible, echoing certain thoughts Harry had about Lily earlier.
"To think those dementors would have got you, and you'd be gone forever…what would I do then?" Jamie then buried his head into Harry's shoulder and cried as if he would never stop.
Trepidaciously, Harry hugged Jamie in return, half-sure he was going mad. Jamie had been overcome by what he had seen, and responded to the situation just as someone ten years younger than Harry would have. It was appropriate, considering Harry felt to have aged a good decade in the past two weeks.
So the twins held each other in the balance, neither alive nor dead, mortal nor immortal, yet unable to heal or progress without the other. Be good to him, Adonna had said.
As a last-ditch effort, Harry tried speaking aloud once more. "It's all right," he reassured Jamie softly, "I'm here now.…"
Suddenly, their memories began to blend into one…sweet phoenix song swirled around them…
He tried to kill Harry Potter and me!…It's all right, I heard you and I'm listening…He left you because he hates your weakness, you know…Harry, Ministry says you wanted to kill the Dursleys…Wantittohappen!…Maybe you're not really dead…Harry James Potter!…Stand aside, girl!…NO!…Who's your friend?…That's where the Imperius Curse comes in...TEN DAYS you made us feel this way!…EXPECTO PATRONUM!…Dear lord, is he…Why won't he die? How can you stand there and profess that you should feel nothing?…Just do it! Go!…I can see where you end and he begins…What is wrong with her?…You're a Psychromancer now Harry, the most powerful one ever known…you're a true changeling, due to your godfather's defence of you…the ones who love us never truly leave us…the romance part Harry, she knows it too…the memories you've held within you have no place in the flesh…but I don't want to forget!…you are stronger than you can possibly imagine...So, now we're even…Kill him…back down, I beg you…Harry Potter is not dead!…we don't want you nor your intolerance…prove your quest for truth does not end here, it starts here!..Long live Harry Potter, long live Harry's friends!…Lumen naturale et spiritu de veritate…Never forget.…
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Slowly Harry came around, only to find he was face-down and clutching a piece of shimmery white fabric. He also felt very, very tired…almost sick in a way, but it was still good somehow. It was akin to the feeling he got after playing freezing cold Quidditch match in the rain proceeded by thawing out in front of the Gryffindor common room fireplace. The pins and needles feeling hurt like crazy, but the warm flame, squashy armchairs, and hot chocolate helped that horrible sensation ease away quickly.
Harry had just been in the middle of a very bittersweet dream, but the scenes seemed to be fading away more quickly than he could grasp them. Achingly, he rolled himself over.
Staring above him, he saw beautiful rainbow patterns of light. The ribbons of energy almost rivalled aurora borealis. The sight of them stirred something within his mind.… But his vision wouldn't seem to clear up, annoyingly. Several familiar faces swam into focus, hovering into his field of view. A calm, yet concerned voice inquired, "Harry, are you all right? How do you feel?"
Shading his face with a hand, Harry replied wearily, "Almost like I've fallen off a broom at a thousand metres," and a few chuckles answered him. "Why? How should I feel? What happened…R-Remus?"
Woah, that felt…strange. Since when had Harry started addressing Professor Lupin by his first name? Fortunately, the man didn't seem to mind; it made him smile, in fact. Harry gradually sat up, circle of his friends still gazing at him with faces full of deep concern.
"What happened?" he repeated, getting a titch unnerved by all the attention. "You guys all look like somebody just died or something," said Harry lightly, attempting to improve the rather sombre mood that seemed to have eclipsed them all. Nobody laughed that time. It made him feel quite uneasy.
"Harry, we can't explain everything now. I hate to rush you, but time is really of the essence," Remus—no, Professor Lupin told him.
He held out his hands and assisted Harry to his feet. Without thinking, Harry went to take a step, but as he did, pain shot through his right ankle and he nearly crumpled back to—what was he standing on, anyway?
"Been walking long, Potter?" he muttered abashedly as Fred and George caught him before he could fall all over himself. "Thanks," he said sheepishly as the twins nodded and stepped back from him again.
When they had, Harry noticed throngs and throngs of people surrounding them on…a stage? Harry and his friends were on a stage? He was sure he'd dreamt the whole thing.… What were all these people doing here watching them? Slipping into near panic mode, Harry demanded, "What is going on? It was a…dream…just dreams, wasn't it?" He held a hand to his forehead in effort to stave his racing memories and heart.
Harry was hopelessly confused. Had his death, his sentencing to Azkaban, torture...not been a nightmare after all? Everybody kept soothing him and offering reassurance—especially Remus, Dumbledore, and Mrs. Weasley. It didn't seem to be helping, however. Seeing the crowds had violently awakened something inside of Harry that just wouldn't be abated.
Suddenly, in the midst of all the voices…he discerned one that he knew should be there, but wasn't. He turned around, motioned Dumbledore aside, and finally figured out who it was.
Ginny Weasley was standing alone on a corner of the vast platform, her back toward him. Harry gritted his teeth and painfully limped in her direction, stopping about two metres away. Something about the dark red stain on the back of her hair screamed the word catalyst! at him but he hadn't the faintest idea why. He also didn't know the reason he said to her gently, "Tiger lily."
She froze at the sound of his voice so close to her, and turned around to look at him with luminous pain-filled eyes. The expression on her face made Harry go all mooshy inside and he inched still closer to her. Then another phrase came to Harry and he said transfixedly, "Never forget."
Ginny blinked back tears and nodded at him. Struggling for means to ease the girl's suffering, Harry was filled with an overwhelming need to just…kiss it better.
Therefore, he proceeded to do just that. Harry cupped Ginny's chin in his hand, closed his eyes, and tenderly kissed Ginerva Molly Weasley full on the lips in front of Godric and everyone. Twice.
Each time, more memories of what had happened about the last two weeks returned to his mind. Amazing what can happen all with a simple little kiss. Hmmm. All right, maybe the second one wasn't so little. Okay, nor was the first.
"Now we're even," he smiled and told her softly.
Ginny sniffled. Harry's eyelids flew open as he said in total dismay, "Oh no. Not you, too! I must be Georgie Porgie incarnate! What happened? Did I do it all wrong?"
The wide-eyed girl looked at him and stuttered, "Georgie w-who? W-what?"
"Georgie—oh, never mind. It's a Muggle thing. Just tell me, do they have monasteries in the wizard world? Because the next time I kiss a girl and she cries, I swear by all that's Harry that I'm booking a spot—"
Unexpectedly, she threw herself around Harry's neck and pulled him into another kiss. Finally she drew away, eyes twinkling, "Shut up, Potter," Ginny said through clenched teeth, trying not to smile, "you're embarrassing yourself."
Then Harry suddenly remembered exactly where he was, and exactly what he had just done in front of them all. Harry was certain he'd never blushed such a spectacular shade of red in his whole life. Thankfully, nobody said anything sarcastic though. Not even Ron or the twins. Each person on the dias and in the audience seemed content to just let he and Ginny be happy, if more than a bit humiliated. Harry had never seen such a collection of people smiling at him before.
"I think it's time for you to go," reminded Ginny reluctantly after a short time. "Donnie's waiting."
"Right," said Harry, turning and looking at the healer curled up on the platform. He didn't want to go, but he needed to, seeing as how he was currently on borrowed strength from someone else to begin with. Somehow Adonna had known the only way for Harry to rejoin his body was to force he and Jamie into seeing things from the other's point of view. It was no secret to Harry the best thing to help him look past his own pain was by seeing somebody else that was hurting more, and Jamie had reacted precisely the same way.
Harry and Donnie had also only completed stage one of their manoeuver. There was still no telling how much he and Madam might be able to remember, but the latest happenings gave him a new spark of hope. Harry had, with Jamie's help, managed to keep most of it together and beat the odds yet again. With hand to his heart, Harry reverently saluted the child inside him.
Haltingly, he walked back over, knelt down and carefully leaned Donnie against him the same way she had leaned Jamie against her own chest. "Thank you," he told the sleeping healer.
Heart starting to race again, Harry held his and Donnie's arms up together, wands raised to the sky. It was ultimate irony that he was using Voldemort's wand, ultimate irony that he was still alive because of it. After all, it had been one of the biggest keys to finding the clues…
"Ready?" asked Dumbledore eagerly.
"Yes, all set."
"Priori Incantatem!" the headmaster said, even more loudly as it was two wands that needed his influencing this time.
The two wands sprayed forth their phantom spells, but instead of ending shortly after the tips, the power was drawn upward.
Twin bolts of magical power spiralled together and pierced the centre of the aurora-dome, and a colossal column of light erupted from within and poured upward to the stars. Harry chanted to himself over and over, "Never forget, wantittohappen…"
Quite fittingly, he and Adonna disappeared from sight in a blazing flare of light.
Anybody who looked outside and happened to have a view overlooking that section of London that night would have seen what looked like a combination of several multi-thousand candlewatt search beacons in the distance, pointing straight into the sky.
Had the wandlighting ceremony not been a success, Dumbledore still had ready the precise manufactured excuse he would not-so-humbly have urged Cornelius Fudge to tell the Muggles…
The 'strange light' any of you claim to have seen last night is actually quite explainable. Atmospheric build up of gases combined with the heat of summer consequently ignited an extremely unusual concentration of highly combustible smog particles.
Amusingly enough, Friday the 13th of July was the also clearest night infamously smog-filled London saw all summer.
Okay well, that's it. Done, completed. Harry Gets Even Part I is finite! But how much does Harry remember? Does he remember anything? Do he and Donnie actually make it back to the past? Do any of you even give a crap about my posting more story?
It might be interesting to note that this story was begun a full year before and completed two months prior to Half-Blood Prince being released. Yes, you read that correctly--Half-Blood Prince. It took me just over 9 months to complete it--from Aug. 04 to May 05. OMG! It's a bouncing baby ebook! (passes out firewhisky and cigars all around.)
It still fascinates me about how much I was able to predict about the following two novels in the series. Yes, there were some plot lines that were clearly off...but as of the time the book was written and conceptuatlised, everything within its pages was entirely possible within the Potter realm. And one must admit, I can do canonical characters eerily well. I accurately predicted the character arcs of Neville, Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Harry and Ginny---down to their very public smooching session!
My initial writing streak started with something Jo Rowling tells all authors, and that's to "write for yourself." That's what I kept doing, and 100,000 words later, due to inspiration by her story, a book is indeed what you all have read here. As a comparison, that's roughly the same size of Prisoner of Azkaban.
I have met hundreds of people by my passion for Harry Potter, his universe and the gift of writing within it. Every single one of them has touched me in some way, and I hoped to convey their wonderful friendships through this work.
Beka, Cris, Lisha, Slythy, CHAN, shady, Mike, Jackie, Ashley, Alisa, Firencita, Stephaz, Banneh, Quellie, Emma, Taty, Kitteh, Shaggy, Emrys, Nicceh, Sorcceh, Queeny, Allie, and anybody else whom I pestered about theories, consultation, and the British landscape, lingo, and way of life, I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. I appreciate each of your constant ego boosts and encouragement, AND I COULD NEVER THANK YOU ENOUGH! I dedicate this story to you, as I could never have completed it without you putting up with my incessant complaints, and prodding to read my fic…XD I go by the old adage, "What ego? I'm a writer, I was born without one."
Love Always and Forever,
Raebeth "Jo" Carson ;)
"I'll see ya next time." –LeVar Burton, Reading Rainbow.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Norwichtown Mall developer buys R.I. Mall
The developer who is renovating the Norwichtown Mall is part of a partnership that has purchased the Rhode Island Mall in Warwick, R.I.
In May, more than 50 people gathered inside what used to be the main entrance of the Caldor department store to hear Adam Winstanley of Winstanley Enterprises LLC describe the $7.5 million project to tear down the center portion of the Norwichtown Mall and replace it with a smaller plaza with stores that will each have their own entrances.
On Thursday, Winstanley Enterprises, of Concord, Mass., and Surrey Equities, of New York, announced that they have purchased the 450,000-square-foot property in Warwick from a Florida company for $38 million.
Winstanley said in a statement that it is putting together a plan to position the mall as a vibrant part of Warwick's retail hub.
The company plans to redesign the mall's interior to create larger spaces for anchor tenants. Standalone space on the property is occupied by Sears, Walmart and Kohls. The mall opened in 1967 as the Midland Mall.
The project will create 225 construction jobs and about 150 part-time jobs when it reopens, according to the Providence Journal.
The Norwich project will bring about 350 construction jobs to the city and about 75 permanent jobs once the stores open, according to Winstanley.
Concord, Mass.-based Winstanley purchased the mostly vacant mall from Edens & Avant Investment Limited Partnership for $15.75 million last July and received permit approval a month later for the reconstruction plan.
Winstanley Enterprises owns 43 properties in New England and is building a new headquarters for Alexion Pharmaceuticals in New Haven.
Surrey Equities is based in New York and owns real estate across the country, including in Connecticut.


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Organizers of a proposed new charter school presented a full application to the Ketchikan School Board this week.
The Tongass School of Arts and Sciences plans to provide an integrated and theme-based curriculum for its students, and would rely on art and science to help teach concepts. According to the charter application presented at a board workshop Tuesday, the school would incorporate world languages, music, fine and performing arts, physical and health education, and social skills in addition to reading, writing and mathematics.
The school's organizers said Tuesday that parents of more than 100 students have expressed interest in enrolling their children in the school, and that more than enough teachers have said they want to work there.
A second work session is planned for Sept. 25, according to board President Earlene Brown.
© 2018. All Rights Reserved. | Contact Us


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Free, Family-Friendly, Fun: FAST
Hobbies for Your Health
Hobbies for Gifts"A." gives away some of the things she makes. "Recipients like them and often keep them always. I once made scrapbooks and gave pages to my friends. Now, each year I give additional pages. One year I was a little late and they all moaned. I think they look forward to them. I think handmade gifts are special because you took the time to make them yourself and they are personalized. I like receiving handmade gifts myself. My mother, also a crafter, has made quilts and Christmas ornaments for me and other members of the family, sometimes for memorable events like graduations. They are things I will treasure forever."
What We DoFAST members do a variety of crafts. "A." enjoys making scrapbooks, using digital photography and prints. "I once made scrapbooks and gave pages to my friends. Now each year I give additional pages." She enjoys making wedding cakes as well. "I call it a legend cake. Each layer has a legend or tradition with the stuff to go with it such as bridesmaid charms and a sixpence."
Don't Get DiscouragedDoing crafts may result in becoming discouraged, especially when first starting out, but there are ways to counter this.
Special ConsiderationsDon't jump into doing a craft without considering your food allergies carefully. Many craft supplies unfortunately do contain common allergens. One example of this is children's clay doughs. Candle kits and crayons may be made from soy. These are, sadly, only a few examples.
Family Crafts and ProjectsCrafts are often an individual pursuit, but you shouldn't rule out trying them with your family or friends. Doing crafts together can provide time to talk and a sense of family togetherness. Craft stores are capitalizing on this and offering tutorial sessions to those who sign up, usually for a fee.
BeginningGetting started can be overwhelming; there are so many options to choose from! One idea is to set aside an hour or more to walk into a craft store and go down the rows, looking for things that might interest you. Most, if not all, craft stores carry free project sheets. These are mixed throughout the store, near the supplies they will require. Best of all, these are often projects meant for beginners.
Paper Projects/Scrapbooking
Polymer Clay
In ClosingWe hope you will discover the magic of being a "crafter." "Recently," says Anna Marie, "I found something I made about 10 years ago. It was funny the memories it brought back, such as making it and remembering my son wearing it. Crafting is such a part of me. I'd go crazy without it."
This article was contributed to by "A.," Anna Marie, and Melissa Taylor.
Image credits: Anna Marie (stocking (Candamar), scissors fob, knitted blanket); Melissa Taylor (art dolls).


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Elica's Calabria Wall Mount Ventilation Hood
For homeowners who are passionate about the culinary arts, the seamless welded corner craftsmanship, traditional styling and gleaming stainless steel of Calabria provides the look and performance you expect from a professional-grade range hood. Plus, it comes unbranded for easy coordination with other appliances. Calabria is available in 30", 36", 42", and 48" widths and equipped with a 600 CFM (30") or a 1,200 CFM blower (36", 42", 48") to support all cooking needs. Calabria is designed for standard ducted ventilation only.
About Elica
Since the 1970's, Elica has stood for efficiency, innovation and design. The quality of Elica kitchen range hoods are a breath of fresh air, rendering the brand and its creations truly unique in the market. From its Fabriano headquarters, Elica gained global fame thanks also to its spirit of collaboration and harmony that has characterized the mood of the world leader in the kitchen hood industry. The values of the brand and those of sharing are what gives life to the company and its people.


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Republican and Democratic lawmakers are again at each other over having the public vote on changing the county charter.
In the latest partisan barb, GOP legislators are accusing Democrats, particularly John Nonna of Pleasantville, of trying to strip the public of its right to vote on changes to the county's laws. It's a charge that Nonna, who chairs the board's legislation committee, rejects.
"We think that a mandatory referendum should stay in the charter," said Minority Leader Jim Maisano, R-New Rochelle, who this week said Nonna's proposal to repeal a section of the county's charter mandating a public vote is undemocratic.
Without a mandatory vote, the public wouldn't be able to chime in on matters like eliminating certain offices or positions, changing the form of government or tweaking certain provisions, Maisano said.
"It's critically important," he said.
The issue is being discussed in the board's legislation committee. (The particular section they're talking about is 209.161).
Republicans are calling on Dems to "slow-down the process of repealing" any public voting provisions, though there are some people who believe the GOP is making this a political issue because it's an election year and Nonna lives in County Executive Rob Astorino's largely Republican district. (Republicans are also trying to take back the board in November, or at least eliminate the veto-proof 12-5 advantage.)
For his part, Nonna says two sections of the charter contradict each other and that not all changes require a mandatory public vote. It's mostly a policy debate, not a political one, he said.
"We've got to reconcile the two," Nonna said. "We should look at it more closely. Some sections of the charter are not controversial to change.
"Honestly, we're not trying to put anything over on anyone."
The issue came up in the context of reforms being proposed to the county's Board of Acquisition and Contracts, which Nonna said had bi-partisan support. He also said there have been two public hearings on those changes and no one showed up.
"These are legal and policy issues — no one's trying to hide anything," Nonna said.


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The requested URL /list.php was not found on this server.
Additionally, a 404 Not Found
error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
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U-M's Camp KinoMaage: Native American middle schoolers engage in exploration of science, culture, tradition
- Contact Helki Jackson, (734) 647-1402 (office), (734) 730-7770 (cell), email@example.com
ANN ARBOR—Eighteen Native American middle school students from seven Michigan tribes soon will go to summer camp, a uniquely multifaceted and productive program at the University of Michigan Biological Station at Douglas Lake near Pellston.
The students will travel to the Bio-Station from Michigan reservations, small towns and big cities to engage in an immersive week of scientific and cultural exploration.
Guided by U-M faculty, staff and students, and by Michigan tribal elders, the campers will dig into science, literally, as they study the science of soil. They will explore the Bio-Station's Native American Late Woodland cache pits and other archaeological elements like fire cracked rock. They will dive into water ecology, taking and analyzing samples at "The Gorge," and more.
The Bio-Station campers also will learn cultural arts, including black ash crafts, and play freeze tag and board games in Anishinaabemowin, to complement daily lessons in the Ojibwe language. In Medicine Wheel Reflections each afternoon, they will explore the correlation of words to history and language, and delve into topics like the relationship of college to culture and identity, and language to science.
"Camp KinoMaage is unique because it incorporates the Ojibwe language taught by fluent-speaking elders who stay with the youth for the entirety of the residential program," said KinoMaage coordinator Helki Jackson. Additionally, "a local guest drum and head dancers conduct workshops with the youth. And the camp invites local Native artists to facilitate workshops during the week and give campers the opportunity to learn how to create their own black ash baskets, dream catchers and other Native jewelry."
The campers' science work also converges with important cultural touchstones. "The curriculum focuses on connections between science and Native history and culture through hands-on learning, such as field- and water-based experiments," Jackson said.
This year's KinoMaage campers represent the Sault Ste. Marie Band of Chippewa Indians/Bay Mills Indian Community; Pokagon Band of Potawatomi; Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians/Sault Ste Marie; Little River Band of Ottawa Indians; Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians /Detroit; Saginaw Chippewa Tribe; and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community of the Lake Superior Band of Chippewa Indians.
Established in 2011, Camp KinoMaage participants are recruited through close collaboration with tribal education directors throughout the state. Along with UMBS, KinoMaage is sponsored by the U-M Center for Educational Outreach, which seeks to encourage Michigan youth to go to college, whether at U-M or elsewhere; the U-M Government Relations office; and the Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.


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Julia Louis Dreyfus!!!!!
Clay Aitken and Ruben Studdard
Julia Louis Dreyfus!!!!!
Clay Aitken and Ruben Studdard
All things beautiful do not have to be full of color to be noticed; in
life that which is unnoticed has the most power.
Ron Popeil, of Ronco spray on hair and Chicken roaster fame.
" I look like Nigella Lawson with a $#*!ing hangover."
Sick of Bennifer, MJ, The Kobe Bryant Case, Beyonce, Entertainment Tonight - Same stories every night with the same people.
I'd say all of them.
Let's have only reality TV
"They can only edit what you give them. They cannot manufacture a fictional character out of thin air." (Bill Rancic - 4/04)
Regarding editing reality TV: "You can't edit IN a bad personality." ("Cali"-11/02)
BB8 - A "conveyor belt of human garbage." ("Pono" - 9/07)
Clay Aiken, Bennifer, Britney Spears, Madonna, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson, Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, P Diddy,Pamela Anderson, Martha Stewart. And I don't think its nationwide but here in Georgia we hear way too much about Elton John. (That's probably true of Whitney and Bobby Brown, too; he's always in trouble with the law here.)
I forgot...Jonny Dorkplay
He who laughs last thinks slowest
#oldmanbeatdown - Donny BB16
I forgot Coldplay. I don't get what people like about them at all.
"You better shut your mouth when you're talkin' to me!"
Paris Hilton!
And please no more American Idol!
Less Beyoncé and mnore Destiny's Child!
Siso. Destiny's Child rocks ! Bennifer has to go...


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Take Control of iWork!
Save 30% and become an iWork expert when you buy with Take Control of Pages and Take Control of Numbers for $38.50!
- Price
- $15.00
- Pages
- 168
- Formats
- PDF EPUB Mobi
- Version
- 1.0
- Published
- Jul 23, 2015
Take Control of Keynote
Give better presentations with this handy guide covering Keynote for the Mac!
Drawing on years of speaking experience, Joe suggests you start by figuring out what you want to say — and he explains exactly how to accomplish this task, even though you won't do it in Keynote. You'll then find advice on how to pick the right Keynote theme and learn how to create slides by filling in placeholders, adding objects, and inserting and styling text. You'll also discover how to add build effects to slides and create transitions between slides, as well as how to make self-playing presentations designed for kiosks, and presentations with recorded narration or a soundtrack.
Finally, Joe offers real-world advice about delivering presentations, including tips on what to bring, making presenter notes and customizing the presenter display, setting up your display, and controlling your presentation.
As someone whose life (and income) is doing training presentations, this ebook is the most useful I have ever bought. I know Keynote well and have used it since its first release; however, Joe's ebook has both challenged me to think about the way I structure my presentations and has taught me stuff about Keynote I didn't know. –Michael Durrant, Psychologist … mental health & corporate trainer (Sydney, Australia)
- More Info
You'll learn how to use the features that go into making a great slide deck:
- Making master slides with carefully positioned placeholders
- Adjusting the slide order
- Viewing more than one slide at once
- Using fancy layout features to position objects (images, movies, sounds, tables, and charts) on a slide
- Applying cool visual effects to photos, such as masking and Instant Alpha
- Sorting out builds gone wild with the Build Order palette
- Hiding particular slides from an audience without deleting them
- Taking control of text boxes and Keynote's many text styling options
- Creating a presentation that requires clicks in specific places to advance
- Commenting on slides while collaborating on your presentation
Additional advice helps you prep for a successful delivery and avoid technical glitches:
- What to consider in advance, with respect to the screen(s) you'll be using
- Practicing the mechanics of delivering from Keynote
- Viewing presenter notes while you speak
- Playing a sound or movie from a slide during your presentation
- Evaluating the many options for remote control instead of a mouse or trackpad
- Packing your bag with the right set of cables and gadgets
- Setting up once you're at the speaking venue
You'll find even more assistance with answers to questions like:
- Should I store my presentation on iCloud Drive?
- What are my options if I want to print my presentation?
- What's the best way to turn my slide deck into a PDF?
The bulk of the book documents Keynote for the Mac, but an appendix explains what's similar and different about Keynote for iOS and Keynote for iCloud.
What version of Keynote does this book cover?
This book is about Keynote 6 on the Mac. Keynote also runs in iOS and as a Web app on iCloud.com, so the book includes an appendix explaining how those versions compare to the Mac version. It also talks about how to use iCloud Drive to access Keynote files on any device that's signed in to the same iCloud account, or from the Web app version of Keynote.
What are Keynote 6's OS requirements?
Keynote 6 runs on OS X 10.9 Mavericks, 10.10 Yosemite, and later.
- Update Plans
December 7, 2016 – Joe tells me he would like to update this book at some point during 2017. The update will most likely include information about Real-time collaboration support (as with all the iWork apps) and Keynote Live (which lets participants follow along with a presentation on their own devices). Even without information about these things, the book will still be very useful for people using the current version of Keynote.
Posted by Lauri Reinhardt


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Editorial: Sharing the past with the future
Published 5:43 pm, Saturday, January 17, 2015
We're glad to see the Town of Greenwich is not neglecting its own history.
In the months to come, special events will mark the town's 375th anniversary of its origins in 1640, when the land was purchased for 25 English coats. Sure, the odd number may not draw as much attention as the 400th anniversary, but we believe every generation deserves a chance to learn more about the community around them.
The first event, slated for Feb. 22, will draw more attention to the traditional re-enactment of Gen. Israel Putnam's 1779 escape from the British regiment during the Revolutionary War. Events slated for subsequent months include neighborhood history tours, a Founders Day Celebration on July 18 and an anniversary parade on Sept. 27. The Greenwich Historical Society will host an innovative oral time capsule of the town from April 22 to Aug. 30.
One of our favorite events is the planned re-telling of local history using 50 objects from the past. The concept itself is hardly original, but we appreciate that the text to accompany the objects will be written by Greenwich High School students instead of historians.
The students will surely learn about the town's history as they do a little teaching of their own. With that in mind, we encourage town officials to seek and seize opportunities to engage students throughout town to learn more about the past 375 years in the months to come. The future of Greenwich should be grounded in its past.
The town itself can be a rich classroom. There are countless lessons in environment and commerce related to Long Island Sound. The arrival of the railroad in 1848 transformed a country town into a center for shipping, as Greenwich cornered the market in New York for potatoes. The image of modern Greenwich began to emerge with the passenger train, as schedules in 1854 were not all that different from today, with departures heading to New York at 6:36 a.m., 7:21 a.m., 8:49 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Flip the time machine to 1929 and consider that Indian Harbor Yacht Club's membership dwindled from 345 to 167 after the Stock Market Crash. For many residents, children and otherwise, it would be a surprise to learn of the days Greenwich Avenue traffic moved in both directions.
Educators will have to move pretty quickly to bring history lessons about the town into classrooms. The school of the future, meanwhile, already seems to have a sense of history. The plans for the new building for New Lebanon School call for 21 classrooms to house, yes, 375 students.


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[UPDATE: The competition has been concluded. You can read about the winners here.]
The mission of the open think tank atlantic-community.org is to broaden the foreign policy debate, give a voice to a new generation of thinkers and to contribute to a more diverse transatlantic strategic community. Since women are still underrepresented in positions of power and political leadership, a key part of this mission is providing publishing and networking opportunities to encourage more young women to share their own ideas on international security issues with senior experts. This coincides with the goals of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which calls for increasing the influence of women in all aspects of peace and security and was passed on October 30, 2000.
To mark the 10th anniversary of this landmark UN Resolution and help realize its aims, we are launching the op-ed competition "Women on Transatlantic Security," which is sponsored by the NATO Public Diplomacy Division and the United States Mission to NATO.
This competition brings together young aspiring female leaders and voices their perspectives and valuable experience on major issues concerning global security. We wish to support young women who are in the early stages of their careers by prominently featuring their analyses and policy recommendations as well as increase the overall visibility of women in the international security debate. Moreover, by leveling the playing field, this competition will further the prospect of future employment of young women in the security sphere.
The first prize is 900,- EUR. Second prize is 600,- EUR and third prize is 300,-EUR.
Your op-ed should be 500-1000 words long on an issue broadly related to transatlantic security, e.g. the new NATO Strategic Concept, NATO-Russia relations, the Afghanistan mission, piracy, cyber security, energy security, missile defense, terrorism, proliferation, the security implications of climate change, relevance of gender issues in conflict dynamics, or any other security issue that is of importance to both Europe and North America, including less traditional ones. We have a broad understanding of transatlantic relations and security and are open to your thematic suggestions. We appreciate strong theses, bold ideas and new arguments as well as a solution-oriented approach with specific policy recommendations. The op-ed should also be comprehensible to members of the general public and not include dense scientific or technical jargon.
Please submit your original, non-published op-ed in English and through this website. Simply register to create an account for free and then click on the "submit article" button on the front page. Mention in the headline field that the submission is for this competition. You can also email your op-ed to firstname.lastname@example.com
Submissions will be edited only for language and clarity, in order to highlight arguments and to level the playing field between English native speakers and participants with other language backgrounds.
Please submit your article by March 13, 2011. We encourage early submissions as we will begin publishing all articles that meet the guidelines on a rolling basis from February 2011.
The contest is open to women from NATO Member and Partner States under 40 years of age. Participants must be registered on atlantic-community.org. Each profile must include a personal picture (as all articles on the website are published with an author portrait).
The competition will be judged by an independent jury from international think tanks, media and governments:
Mr. Spencer P. Boyer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, US Department of State,
Dr. Chantal de Jonge Oudraat, Associate Vice President of the Jennings Randolph Fellowship Program at the United States Institute of Peace,
Dr. Ulrike Guérot, Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Berlin Office of the European Council on Foreign Relations,
Dr. James Joyner, Managing Editor of the Atlantic Council and founder of the popular weblog Outside The Beltway,
Dr. Bente Aika Scheller, Director of the Boell Foundation's Kabul Office.
Articles will be judged on the construction of arguments and policy recommendations as well as on the quality of writing, not on the opinions expressed therein.
About us
Atlantic-community.org is the first online think tank and social community for international relations, with more than 5,300 members from all over the world analyzing and debating global affairs online. Membership is entirely free and registration only takes seconds.
In addition to a daily round up-up of top press commentary, the website features summaries of think tank analyses as well as original opinion articles from members, and information on job/internship opportunities, calls for papers, and events. Atlantic-community.org is a project conducted by the Atlantic Initiative, a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Berlin, with a sister organization in Washington DC, and an international advisory board. We are dedicated to support and advance future leaders through publishing and networking opportunities that link students and young professionals with senior decision-makers and experts.
Contact us
If you would like to receive updates on the contest, please contact Mr. Joerg Wolf at firstname.lastname@example.com or by phone on +49-30-206 337 88. Moreover, if you have any queries regarding the competition or the open think tank in general, please do not hesitate to contact us.
This competition is sponsored by the
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke on the 10th Anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 at United Nations Headquarters. Read her remarks or watch her speech.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has addressed the anniversary in this video message.
Dr. Colette Mazzucelli, WFI Fellow, Citizens for Global Solutions and Center for Global Affairs at New York University. She is presenting the competition at the panel discussion "Broadening the Security Debate: Transatlantic Issues" organized by Women in International Security's New York Chapter (WIIS-NY) and the World Policy Institute.
If your organization is interested in promoting the competition, please contact us and we will feature your logo too.
Photo: NATO Youth Forum (c) NATO


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Motorize the Wilderness Act
April 2012 Update: The Motorize our Wilderness Areas Act was combined with other bills to comprise H.R. 4089 in the House of Representatives. It passed with minimal amendments, including an anti-Antiquities Act amendment that was modeled after H.R. 302. Characterized by proponents as expanding sportsmen's access, the bill includes a Trojan Horse provision which will lead to motorized access in wilderness areas, threatening some of the nation's best remaining hunting and fishing experiences in America. This bill has been sent to the Senate for consideration.
This benign-sounding proposal, "Sportsmen's Heritage Act (H.R. 4089)," would more appropriately be titled the Motorize Our Wilderness Areas Bill. Originally introduced by Rep. Dan Benishek (R-MI), the bill contains within it a provision that would effectively destroy the Wilderness Act with wording that would allow motorized use in designated Wilderness Areas. Allowing motor vehicles in designated Wilderness Areas would would harm the very recreational fishing and hunting opportunities the bill is intended to protect.
Fishing and hunting are important activities on our public lands and forests, and a major contributor to local economies. And Wilderness Areas are especially attractive areas for hunting and fishing due to the high quality habitat in such areas, and for the unique outdoor experience they afford hunters and anglers. But H.R. 4089 has some "Trojan Horse" language in it which would result in the destruction of the very wilderness values that millions of American hunters and anglers cherish. To ensure protection of wilderness values, the Wilderness Act generally prohibits the use of motorized vehicles, motorized equipment and other forms of mechanical transport. However, a provision buried in H.R. 4089 would undermine the Act by opening designated Wilderness Areas to all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, motorbikes, motorboats and other motorized vehicles as long as they are used for hunting, fishing or shooting.
In addition to undermining the Wilderness Act, another part of the bill undermines the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which is vital for environmental review and public disclosure for all federal action. Recreational fishing and hunting are important and vital recreational activities on our federal public lands. But the anti-Wilderness provisions of H.R. 2834 should not be allowed to become law.


text: David Howells wrote:> > One of the problems I have to deal with is namespaces. This means I can't just> have an automounter running in userspace that's passed requests to mount> things as it might not be able to access the target namespace.> Doing it this way means that I don't need to care which namespace the> automount needs to take effect in. I can just return a vfsmount to the VFS (as> acquired from do_kern_mount()) and let that paste it into the right place.> > Furthermore, for AFS at least, it's a lot less excessive than, say, calling> back into userspace.>Namespaces have all kinds of problems anyway when mixed withautomounting (it's not at all clear what the semantics should be, andI'm pretty sure that the semantics the current namespaces give areoverall undersirable), but when I discussed this issue with Al Viro heindicated that you can always access all namespaces via procfs; if not,you *should* be able to...> >>At least #2 can be done with existing means using follow_link.> > How? I want to be able to mount on the location in question (so it has to be a> directory), but I don't want "ls -l" to cause it to mount (otherwise> accidentally doing that or tab expansion if /afs, say, will take ages).> > Maybe you mean construct a symlink that points to somewhere I can actually> mount the filesystem? If so, that too can suffer from namespace problems.> > Whatever happens, stat() must _not_ cause the automount point to mount.> That's actually not true. It's lstat() that mustn't cause the automountpoint to mount -- stat() only comes into play if lstat() resolves to asymlink. However, lstat() never invokes follow_link, so creating adentry with a follow_link method resolving to itself, and an associateddummy directory inode, does what's required.> >>I think using a revalidation pointer like dentries might be a better>>way to do #4/#5, although using the existing one in the dentries is>>probably better.> > Do you mean dispose of the expired mount point when it's next revalidated? If> so, surely you _don't_ want to do it then, as that's normally a prelude to> reusing it.> > Or do you mean do it actually inside dentry->d_op->d_revalidate()? But you> can't do it there because you don't know what vfsmount you are dealing with.> I mean inside d_revalidate().> >>#1 isn't really clear to me what you're going for, but it seems to be>>to duplicate bookkeeping.>> Duplicate of what bookkeeping?> > The fact that the operation is provided indicates that a dentry is an> automount point, and as such should be handled specially by path-walk. All the> logic to link the new vfsmount into the filesystem topology can be handled> easily by the VFS at that point because all the details are to hand.> I don't see that it should be handed specially.> >>I also don't see how this solves the biggest problems with complex>>automounts, which are:>>>>a) how to guarantee that a large mount tree can be safely destroyed;> > What do you mean by safely? I check that the usage count on vfsmount> structures is 1 under lock just before unlinking it - thereby making sure that> no one has a file open on it, no process has it as its root or cwd, and that> nothing is mounted upon it.Not good enough. You need to be able to tell that atomically for a full*tree*, that can contain multiple mounts, some of which have othermounts on top of them, not just for a single superblock.> Also, I do the actual unmounting from process context by walking the> namespace's extant mount list, rather than directly nominating a vfsmount for> removal.> > One drawback is that - taking AFS as an example - doing a umount of /afs won't> work until all the subtrees have either been manually unmounted or have> expired (though I can make umount capable of handling this).See above.>>b) how to detect partial unmounts. > > What do you mean by a partial unmount?/foo/bar is an automounted filesystem, which has /foo/bar/baz mounted ontop of it. Now the user manually umounts /foo/bar/baz (because ofstaleness, or whatever.) Now the automount system needs to detectaccesses to /foo/bar/baz and remount... effectively, /foo/bar/baz needsto atomically turn into an automounter point. -hpa-To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" inthe body of a message to firstname.lastname@example.com majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.htmlPlease read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/


text: re the recent increase in unwanted threads in bionet.general, I know that there is always tension between the lumpers and splitters among USENET hierarchies but perhaps bionet.general is too broad a title, encompassing -topics of _general_ interest to biologists -topics that don't fit in any of the existing groups and - random observations on vaguely biological topics by analogy with other parts of USENET, maybe a these should be handled by bionet.general bionet.misc and soc.culture.bionet or bionet.chat respectively. Just a thought. robin


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If you're looking for events to fill your days out in Shrewsbury, then look no further, there's a calendar packed with something for everyone – from the sell-out Shrewsbury Folk Festival to Charles Darwin's School Days, the Shrewsbury Children's Bookfest to the Cartoon Festival - did you know Shrewsbury is the unofficial home of the British comics industry?
This summer you'll also see Shrewsbury Food Festival packing out the Quarry Park with local food and drink, the world's oldest floral festival, the Shrewsbury Flower Show, bringing in 3 million blooms and on the River Severn, dragon boats, world championship coracles, canoes and crafts will compete in races and festivals.
When the school holidays come around, keep the kids entertained with Junior Jesters at Theatre Severn, take part in a workshop at the Hive or join in the Snapper Jaxx kids clubs in the Darwin and Pride Hill shopping centres.
With an independent cinema in an old market hall, the 29-acre Quarry Park and an impressive theatre sitting upon the river, Shrewsbury is at the heart of cultural activities in Shropshire. Look out for big name artists on screen and stage and budding performers looking to breakthrough at more intimate live venues.


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Hi! Where did you purchase the OOT bags? What did you think about the quality? Did the guests like them?
Wedding Post Sale
Posted 19 November 2012 - 06:09 PM
Posted 19 November 2012 - 08:32 PM
Originally Posted by nbateman
Hi! Where did you purchase the OOT bags? What did you think about the quality? Did the guests like them?
Hi! Believe it or not, I bought these OOT bags at the Dollar Store. I don't know if they still carry them, it's been almost two years since I bought them. The quality is surprisingly good (for coming from the dollar store). I've actually been using one for myself since I bought them, and have taken it to the beach, the lake, everywhere and still lasted through our vacation. My guests LOVED them, and they took them everywhere. I know some people don't think they will get used, but everyone took theirs everywhere every day. Looking back, I think that was probably the best part of the whole OOT bag!
Posted 20 November 2012 - 08:39 AM
Oh wow! I will have to keep an eye out for them closer to summer! Thanks so much for the details!!!
Posted 13 January 2013 - 10:15 AM
Are the OOT Bags still available? Do you have any pictures of them?
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0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users


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Doncaster Date Already Set
Little time was wasted in organising a new date for Carlisle's trip to Doncaster, which had to be postponed earlier today.
Due to the cold weather conditions the Keepmoat pitch was frozen in places so the game was called off at midday today, however by early evening today a new date of Tuesday 9th April with a 7.45pm kick off time was set.
April will start in frantic fashion with trips to Sheffield United and Oldham ahead of this new date with Doncaster.
Carlisle's next fixture will be the trip to Leyton Orient this weekend.


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|Excerpts from
A High With Your Fries?
Even If Fast Food Is Not As Additive As Tobacco
It Still Merits A Health Warning
But what if some obese people are actually victims of the type of food sold in fast-food outlets? Absurd as it may sound, there is a growing body of evidence pointing in this direction.
Fats and simple sugars can act on the brain in the same way as nicotine and heroin.
Even if fast food is not addictive, the lawyers will point out that it is so bad for people's health that fast-food outlets are in effect selling a hazardous product without providing the health warnings you might reasonably expect such goods to carry. A restauramt that poisons people by selling food laced with salmonella is quickly brought to book. Is it less blameworthy to sell food loaed with calories that give people chronic disease.?
Like it or not, it's [legal action against obesity] a struggle that looks necessary if we are to halt the obesity epidemic. Admonitions from nutritionalists, politicians, and health educators seems to have little effect. And history suggests that without the sustained pressure of a legal attack, the food industry is unlikely to mend its ways. New Scientist
Barber's class-action lawsuit was the first volley in a long-awaited legal assault against the fast-food industry and its role in the obesity epidemic that is swamping the US health-care system. Inspired by the success of Big Tobacco, the lawyers behind it believe they can force fast-food chains to meet their fair share of the enormous cost of caring for obesity. Pulling the strings is John Banzhaf, of George Washington University Law School in Washington DC, who masterminded the Big Tobacco crusade.
New and potentially explosive findings on the biological effects of fast food suggest that eating yourself into obesity isn't simply down to a lack of self-control. Some scientists are starting to believe that bingeing on foods that are excessively high in fat and sugar can cause changes to your brain and body that make it hard to say no. A few even believe that the foods can trigger changes that are similar to full-blown addiction.
Banzhaf maintains that he can win regardless. He points out that he doesn't have to prove that the fast-food chains are entirely responsible for obesity. All he has to do is convince a jury that his clients' health problems were not entirely their own fault -- that the fast-food companies share the blame. Perhaps, for example, they should have labelled the food to inform customers of its high calorific value. Any hint that the food is addictive, though, would make Banzhaf's job a great deal easier. And he knows it. Banzhaf already says he believes that fast food has "addictive-like" properties. "We might even discover that it's possible to become addicted to the all-American meal of burgers and fries," he says.
But how can something you need for survival be addictive? The answer could be in the food itself. The difference between a fast-food meal and a home-cooked one is the sheer quantity of calories and fat it delivers in one go. The US Department of Agriculture's recommended daily intake for a normal adult male is 2800 kilocalories (11,723 kilojoules) and a maximum of 93 grams of fat. A meal at a fast-food outlet -- burger, fries, drink and dessert -- can deliver almost all of that in a single sitting. Biologists are now starting to realise that a binge of these proportions can trigger physiological changes which mute the hormonal signals that normally tell you to put down the fork.
The problem is, people who gain weight develop resistance to leptin's power, explains Michael Schwartz, an endocrinologist at the University of Washington in Seattle. "Their brain loses its ability to respond to these hormones as body fat increases," he says. The fatter they get, and the more leptin they make, the more insensitive the hypothalamus becomes. Eventually the hypothalamus interprets the elevated level as normal -- and forever after misreads the drops in leptin caused by weight loss as a starvation warning.
But you don't need to become overweight to perturb your leptin system. The latest research suggests that it only takes a few fatty meals. In a study published in December, physiologist Luciano Rossetti of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City fed rats a high-fat diet and found that after just 72 hours the animals had already lost almost all of their ability to respond to leptin (Diabetes, vol 50, p 2786). The good news, says Rossetti, is that these changes are reversible. "But the fatter a person becomes the more resistant they will be to the effects of leptin and the harder it is to reverse those effects."
Sarah Leibowitz, a neurobiologist at Rockefeller University in New York City, has more evidence that eating fast food is self-reinforcing. Her experiments show that exposure to fatty foods may quickly reconfigure the body's hormonal system to want yet more fat. She has shown that levels of galanin, a brain peptide that stimulates eating and slows down energy expenditure, increase in rats when they eat a high-fat diet. In fact, Leibowitz has found that it only takes one high-fat meal to stimulate galanin expression in the hypothalamus. When the effects of galanin are blocked, the animals eat much less fat. "The peptide is itself responsive to the consumption of fat, which then creates the basis for a vicious cycle," she says.
What's more, early exposure to fatty food could reconfigure children's bodies so that they always choose fatty foods. Leibowitz found that when she fed young rats a high-fat diet, they invariably became obese later in life. She is still investigating what's going on, but her theory is that an elevated level of fats called triglycerides in the bloodstream turns on genes for neuropeptides such as galanin that promote overeating. This suggests that children fed kids' meals at fast-food restaurants are more likely to grow up to be burger-scoffing adults.
Rossetti's most recent studies have also found a connection between triglycerides and food intake. Using a catheter implanted in the brain, Rossetti delivered lipids directly into the arcuate nucleus -- a region of the hypothalamus -- to either normally fed rats or overfed rats, and then measured their food intake for three days. In the normally fed group the excess fats curbed food intake by up to 60 per cent. But the overfed rats just carried on scoffing. What's more, Rossetti discovered that this effect is not dependent on the composition of the diet, whether high-fat or high-sugar, but instead depends on the total amount of calories.
Hormonal changes may remove some element of free will, but on its own that hardly means that fast food is addictive. However, there is another strand of research that suggests gorging on fat and sugar causes brain changes normally associated with addictive drugs such as heroin. Repeated use of addictive substances is thought to alter the circuitry in as yet unknown ways.
John Hoebel, a psychologist at Princeton University in New Jersey, is interested in whether it is possible to become dependent on the natural opioids released when you eat a large amount of sugar. Along with a team of physiologists from the University of the Andes in Merida, Venezuela, Hoebel recently showed that rats fed a diet containing 25 per cent sugar are thrown into a state of anxiety when the sugar is removed. Their symptoms included chattering teeth and the shakes -- similar, he says, to those seen in people withdrawing from nicotine or morphine. What's more, when Hoebel gave the rats naloxone, a drug that blocks opioid receptors, he saw a drop in dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens, plus an increase in acetylcholine release. This is the same neurochemical pattern shown by heroin addicts as they go into opioid withdrawal (Obesity Research, vol 10, p 478). "The implication is that some animals -- and by extension some people -- can become overly dependent on sweet food," says Hoebel. "The brain is getting addicted to its own opioids as it would morphine or heroin. Drugs give a bigger effect, but it's essentially the same process."
As yet no one knows how a big hit of fat and sugar compares with a dose of, say, heroin. But Hoebel says: "Highly palatable foods and highly potent sexual stimuli are the only stimuli capable of activating the dopamine system with anywhere near the potency of addictive drugs."
Ann Kelley, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison, has uncovered more evidence that the release of opioids in the nucleus accumbens tells your brain to keep eating. She found that if rats' opioid receptors are overstimulated with a synthetic enkephalin, the rats eat up to six times the amount of fat they normally consume. They also raise their intake of sweet, salty and alcohol-containing solutions, even when they are not hungry. Kelley has also discovered that rats that overindulge in tasty foods show marked, long-lasting changes in their brain chemistry similar to those caused by extended use of morphine or heroin. When she looked at the brains of rats that received highly palatable food for two weeks, she saw a decrease in gene expression for enkephalin in the nucleus accumbens. "This says that mere exposure to pleasurable, tasty foods is enough to change gene expression, and that suggests that you could be addicted to food," says Kelley.


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Muscovites and residents of suburbs to save on food more than others
Russians are tightening the belt: at the end of the last month of summer, according to another research holding, the population has reduced its costs by 2%. Tendency, to put it mildly, unpleasant. The annual ratio growth expenditure amounted to 0.7%. It would seem that we are still in the black. But only if you do not draw a parallel with the accumulated inflation, which reached almost 7%. That is, "cleaned" from inflation the cost today is even below the value for 2012.
photo: Gennady Cherkasov
Then without any statistics it is clear that we have to live worse. Not helped by the zero calculated by Rosstat in August, the inflation that occurred amid falling prices for seasonal vegetables and fruits. Food commodities over the past month fell by 0.6 percent, non-food price increased by 0.4%, services rose in price by 0.3%.
According to sociologists, in previous years was also observed summer decline in consumer activity — a in this period is traditionally supplied by their own crops. Usually, however, reaching a bottom in June and July, in August was zero correction. This year this has not happened, the Russians continued to cut the family budget. The average check for seven months in a row saves the minimum value: 498 rubles for one trip to the store. Against the background of spending cuts this suggests that consumers are now less likely to go to the shops.
The most economical was the residents of the Moscow region and the surrounding areas. In August compared with July, they reduced their spending on average by almost 10%. Residents of St. Petersburg shrank by 5%.
So what saves the average Russian? First and foremost, on food. Instead of beef we started to eat pork and chicken, stored cereals and lean on high-calorie bread. Also, our compatriots began to drink less coffee and eat chocolate. Less now bought new clothes and shoes.
What's next? Whether the Russians are preparing for even greater savings on their own needs? On this reasoning economists.
Natalya Milchakova, Director of the analytical Department of Alpari:
"A dismal time to prepare it is not necessary, as the bottom of the economic crisis we, apparently, took place in late 2015 and the beginning of the current. Starting in 2016, the ruble strengthened along with the growth of oil prices (the strengthening of the ruble in the current year amounted to 13.5%), and annual inflation is at a level not exceeding 6% (in 2015, annual inflation amounted to almost 13%), hence an increase in real disposable income next year, already have the prerequisites.
However, excessive optimism, too, there is no. Despite the strengthening of the ruble and reduction of inflation, recession still continues: GDP and industrial production falls, unemployment by Russian standards, is also still high, many employers cut wages or freeze its growth. For some businesses, the problem is the months-long delays in payments of salaries to employees, and it is almost a form of hidden unemployment. All these factors do inhibit the growth of nominal incomes of the population, thus negating the positive effects of strengthening of the ruble and lower inflation.
It can be assumed that the economy will resume growth next year. According to our estimates, Russian GDP will grow by 1.2%, approximately the same amount will increase and the volume of industrial production that will contribute to the further strengthening of the ruble and reduction of inflation. According to our estimates, the nominal wage growth in Russia will resume when the annual rate of inflation in Russia will reach the level of 4-5%, and the ruble will return to the levels of 60 to 62 rubles per dollar. Then we can talk about return to growth in real disposable incomes.
However, if the government after the elections did take a decision to increase the personal income tax rate, it will be able to significantly prevent the growth of real disposable income. Although this scenario is unlikely."