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此條目缺少相關信息。你可以幫助核子百科 補充訊息。
The Palace of the Winding Path is a location in the Savage Divide region of Appalachia in 2102.
The palace was a spiritual retreat center founded by a cultist named Cyrus. Its architecture is based on Indian and Nepalese buildings, as it looks similar to a Buddhist temple. Cyrus, the founder of the temple, created a cult based on self-enlightenment, spirituality and willpower, and offered to everyone a path to enlightenment.
Simon Gladwell, a prior Cyrus disciple, saw an opportunity to make profit at cost of the cultists, and created a big marketing and business scheme while hiding his shady operations from Cyrus.[1]
After the Great War, the cultists took advantage of their isolated location and spiritual bond and survived in the temple. Later, when the Diehards established contact with them, both groups started making deals, as trading or making a copy of the Margie McClintock key holotape.
Apparently, the entire cult disappeared literally overnight, as the Diehards found the next day after visiting them, when they went back to the temple and it was empty.[2]
There is a back entrance to the palace that gives access through the basement. There are two chemistry stations, a tinker's workbench, an armor workbench, and a weapons workbench all in the basement and a cooking station in the kitchen.
- 小孩的筆記 - 池塘區最高的涼亭內。
- 賽勒斯的擔憂 - 地下室的辦公桌上。
- 線香投訴 - 靠近北邊入口的西側房間內桌上。
- 關於噪音 - 一樣北邊入口附近的桌上,旁邊有台電視。
- 瑪姬的告別字條 - 屋頂區瑪姬屍體旁的後背包內。
- 殿堂管理員密碼 - 回到過去之鑰任務期間從一樓的櫥櫃獲得。
- 超然之柱 - 一樣任務期間從全像卡帶複製終端機內取得。
- 死硬幫鑰匙碎片 - 同上。
- 沒寄出的信 - 在樓上的臥室區,床頭櫃那。
- Random Vault-Tec bobblehead - In the basement, same area as the fusion generator. Inside the shallow water below the machinery on the north-west side. The bobblehead is touching north-eastern "leg" of the machine.
- Random magazine - Below a red couch on the top floor, directly above the north entrance.
- Two fusion cores:
- In a generator in the basement.
- On the metal shelves next to the generator in the basement.
- Random recipe - In the kitchen area, next to the sink.
The Palace of the Winding Path appears only in Fallout 76.


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subset: commoncrawl


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This is a 3 part series of Deep Q-Learning, which is written such that undergrads with highschool maths should be able to understand and hit the ground running on their deep learning projects. This series is really just the literature review section of my final year report (which in on Deep Q-Learning) broken to 3 chunks:
- Part 1 – Convolutional Neural Networks
- Part 2 – Reinforcement Learning
- Part 3 – Deep Q-Learning
Prologue: A Brief History
In as early as 1954, scientists began to speculate that psychological principles in learning will become important to building artificial intelligent systems (Minsky, 1954). The science and study of teaching computers to learn from experience become eventually known as reinforcement learning (RL).
Successful implementations of RL algorithms began in 1959 when Arthur Samuel published his work on an AI that can master checkers simply by playing with itself (Samuel, 1959). In this seminal work, he pioneered various ideas on RL, one of which spawn to a class of learning techniques known as temporal difference (TD) learning. Later in 1992, Gerry Tesauro had similar success in the game backgammon with his program, TD-Gammon (Tesauro, 1995), which surpassed all previous computer programs in its ability to play backgammon. What is new in Tesauro's work is that TD-Gammon combines TD learning with another AI technique that is inspired by biological brains: a neural network.
However, in spite of these advances, in both Samuel's checker program and TD-Gammon, the input is distilled to what the computer can understand (board positions), and the rules are hard-coded to the machine. This no longer becomes the case when DeepMind publishes a novel technique known as Deep Q-Learning. It made its official debut by playing retro console games off an Atari 2600 emulator (Mnih et al., 2013), and in certain games the AI is even able to outmatch expert human players. What is significant about Deep Q-Learning is that the AI learns by seeing the same output on the game console as human players do, and figures out the rules of the game without supervision. As with TD-Gammon, Deep Q-Learning also used an artificial neural network, albeit a different architecture – convolutional neural network (CNN).
In all the hype about machine learning in this era, some people call reinforcement learning (RL) a hybrid between supervised and unsupervised learning. Some people place reinforcement learning in a different field altogether, because knowing supervised and unsupervised learning does not mean one would understand reinforcement learning, and vice versa.
The core idea of RL comes natural to us even as an infant. We are born in a world which we knew very little of, in a body which we do not choose, and with little supervision. We learn remedial tasks, such as walking and talking, by continuously trying until we get it right. An infant does not have an understanding of failure and success; he makes attempts, sees that some things work, and some don't, and focus more of what works. He does not get depressed or frustrated even if he keeps falling when he tries to walk. Really the only people getting emotional of his attempts are his parents. As we get older we derive more unnecessarily complex views of the concept of what should work and what is success, but that is besides the point here.
RL is the study of a computational approach to learning by trying. We teach a computer to learn as we do: by repeatedly interacting with the environment, and learning from prior experience. For example, a robot learns to find a path out of a maze by trying out different routes that it can see. To put it in more formal terms, we have an agent (robot) that starts in an initial state (robot's position and what it sees), take an action (movement in some direction) in an environment (the maze), which would then return a reward (some score to let the robot know how close it is to finishing the maze) and a new state.
Should we describe supervised learning in terms of this agent-environment interface, we could say that an action (input) comes together with the reward (target); we train a model with both the input and the expected answer. RL introduces the concept of delayed rewards, where the agent is only aware of the reward after the action is taken. This meant that during training, the agent attempts an action, but will not know if it is the best course of action (determined by a reward value) until after it has taken an action and after it has landed on a new state.
Markov Decision Process
Markov Decision Process (MDP) introduces a mathematical framework for describing decision making in a probabilistic environment. All RL algorithms in this series will be described using MDP.
Time in the real world is continuous; but in MDP, time is discrete, described in time steps in fixed intervals: , where increases with each action we take. In a given time step , an MDP is defined by:
- A set of states , where is the set of all possible states.
- A set of all actions , where is the set of all possible actions that can be taken in the state .
- A transition function which returns the probability that if at time we take an action in the state we would end up in new state in a next time step .
- A reward function , which is the consequence of the action and comes 1 time step later. This value is normally an integer, and can also be negative value (punishment).
Transition and reward functions are also written as and respectively; this is useful notation in cases where time is not a consideration. Reward also has a more succinct notation: .
In MDP, possible actions in a current state depends only on the current state. What happens in the past and what will happen in the future does not affect what actions an agent can take now.
MDPs are used to model non-deterministic (or stochastic) search problems. This is different from deterministic search because unlike deterministic problems, non-deterministic problems do not have a fixed sequence of actions from start to finish as a final answer. The fundamental problem of an MDP is to find a policy (this is not the same as the constant pi 3.142), where ; a policy returns an action given a state. The best solution is a policy that maximizes the sum of all rewards:
(gamma) here is called the discount rate, and is a float between 0 to 1 set by us to determine the present value of future rewards. The reward of the current state remains unchanged regardless of the discount rate (because anything to the power of 0 is 1), whereas future rewards will decay exponentially with each time step. If approaches 1, the agent becomes very farsighted and takes future rewards seriously; if approaches 0, the agent has tunnel vision and only values immediate rewards. In the DeepMind's Deep Q-Learning implementation, is set to 0.99. Discount rates are important, for without it our learning algorithm will not be able to converge (or finish running).
We now know that the goal of the agent is to decide on what actions to maximize the sum of rewards. But to decide on an action the agent needs to have an expectation of what reward it will get. This expected reward is known as the utility (or value). There are 2 ways we can compute a value (Marsland, 2015):
- State-value function, – We consider the current state, and average across all of the actions that can be taken.
- Action-value function, – We consider the current state and each possible action that can be taken separately. This is also known as a Q-value. A Q-state is when you were in a state and took an action.
In either case we are thinking about what the expected reward would be if we started in state s (where is the statistical expectation):
The utility starting in a state and acting optimally is defined as (optimal state-value function); the utility starting out having taken action from state and thereafter acting optimally as defined as (optimal state-action function) (Klein, 2014). If an agent knows all these or values, it will be able to navigate through the state space such that it attains the maximum reward; in other words, our agent will always be acting optimally.
This is illustrated in the grid world example in figure above. Here the agent navigates from one box (each box represents a state) to another until it reaches a terminal state: a box with double outlines. In each state the agent chooses between 4 different directions, each of which is a possible action. Notice that the highest utility in each Q-state box is the utility of a V-state box.
The Bellman Equations
How shall we characterize optimal utilities? We will use bellman equations. The intuition behind it is to take the correct first action, and from then onwards continue to be optimal. This is done in a recursive fashion:
In these equations, we find all possible consequent states that can result from from taking action from state . The utility of each of these consequent states () is the reward of the current state multiplied by future expected rewards of the consequent state; this is recursively denoted as . To prioritize the reward of the current state we apply a discount rate to future expected utilities. Because the utility of all consequent states are stochastic, we multiply the culminated utilities of each consequent state by the probability they would be executed ().
Value Iteration Algorithm
Now that we know what and are, the next step is to compute the these optimal utilities. To do this we use the value iteration algorithm.
We assume there will always exist an optimal Q-value for each Q-state. At first, all Q-states will be initialized to small random values. Then we will iterate through every possible state, evaluating its future states in the process. With a proper discount rate , an optimal Q-value will eventually converge in each Q-state.
The value iteration algorithm for finding and are given in Algorithm 1 and Algorithm 2 respectively.
Notice that in the value iteration algorithm, the probability of entering a state is known. This is not usually the case in most real world environments. Also when the state space is large (or infinite), value iteration will never finish running. To circumvent these limitations, we introduce Q-Learning.
Q-Learning (Watkins, 1989) belongs to a class of RL methods called temporal difference learning. It offers an online algorithm to iteratively approximate Q-values without knowing the transitions between states.
This is done with an update function that finds the temporal difference between learning experiences. Temporal difference simply means the difference between the reward at this current step and the estimated reward we got at the previous step. The Q-values are then determined by a running average. Naturally, the more we iterate, the closer we converge to optimal values.
To do this we break down how we find our Q-values: instead of recursively computing an infinite amount of time steps, we use a one-step value iteration update given by the Bellman equation, which is just depth-one expansion of the recursive definition of a Q-value:
This will be our estimated utility for the current state. Let us call this estimated utility and simplify to . The estimated utility then becomes:
The Q-Learning algorithm is given in Algorithm 3:
In the update function, is also called TDError or temporal difference error. can be describe as the learning rate, as it determines the weightage between current estimates and previous estimates. To show this more clearly, notice that these update functions are identical:
As time passes, it is usually the case that we incrementally reduce , to place priority to past estimates.
Note that in Q-learning we do not use the policy to find the value of , but instead choose the one that gives the highest value. This is known as an off-policy decision.
If you want to learn more about RL, I would recommend looking up the AI course (CS188) from the university of Berkeley. I didn't actually finish the course – just the lectures that involve RL, and attempted the corresponding programming assignments. The grid world example is taken from there; it is actually a programming assignment (python3) where you have to write the code to compute the Q values. Marsland's Machine Learning textbook only takes up a small part to talk about RL, but the material is relatively easier to understand, not to mention that it comes with python source code. The definitive guide to RL would definitely be Sutton's RL book, but I had a lot of difficulty understanding it, since it just teach concepts.
I understand if the material here is pretty esoteric; I took a long time to understand it myself. However, if you manage to make it thus far, you are ready to understand the Deep Q-Learning algorithm, which I will cover in the final part of this series.
- Sutton, R. S., & Barto, A. G. (1998). Reinforcement learning: An introduction (Vol. 1) (No. 1). MIT press Cambridge.
- Minsky, M. L. (1954). Theory of neural-analog reinforcement systems and its application to the brain model problem. Princeton University.
- Samuel, A. L. (1959). Some studies in machine learning using the game of checkers. IBM Journal of research and development, 3(3), 210–229.
- Tesauro, G. (1995). Temporal difference learning and td-gammon. Communications of the ACM , 38(3), 58–68.
- Mnih, V., Kavukcuoglu, K., Silver, D., Graves, A., Antonoglou, I., Wierstra, D., & Riedmiller, M. (2013). Playing atari with deep reinforcement learning. arXiv preprint arXiv:1312.5602.
- Marsland, S. (2015). Machine learning: an algorithmic perspective. CRC press.
- Klein, D. (2014). Cs 188: Artificial intelligence. University of California, Berkeley.
- Watkins, C. J. C. H. (1989). Learning from delayed rewards (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Cambridge England.


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'Empty nest syndrome' is a general feeling of grief and loneliness parents or guardians may feel when their children leave home to live on their own for the first time. Since a young adult moving out their parents' house is seen as a normal and healthy event, the symptoms of empty nest syndrome often go unrecognized ("Empty Nest Syndrome," 2010). For parents, this can result in depression, as well as a loss of purpose. When their children finally "leave the nest", parents must begin to adjust … [Read more...]
Empty Nest Syndrome – WOMEN in RECOVERY
November 11, 2012 by Team Celebration Leave a Comment
Filed Under: FEATURED, WOMEN & RECOVERY Tagged With: A Celebration of Women, adult children, boomerang generation, caregivers, crowded nest syndrome, Empty Nest Syndrome, Empty Nest Syndrome - WOMEN in RECOVERY, Fathers, grandmothers, men, Mothers, stop buying butter, university, women in recovery, women.


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Volkswagen VW Atlas in Fort Worth Dallas TX
2018 Volkswagen Atlas for Sale in Fort Worth Dallas TX Dealer
Principle Volkswagen is the Dealership near me to find the best deals on the 2018 VW Atlas for sale.
How much is a 2018 VW Atlas?
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If you are looking to buy a 7 passenger luxury SUV that offers competitive levels of technology and the spaciousness of a large luxury crossover, then you should check out the newest and one of the most prominent members of the Volkswagen lineup. The 2018 Volkswagen VW Atlas in Fort Worth Dallas TX Area located in Irving is a car that is unlike others. Its driving dynamics, luxurious features, consistency, and attention to detail makes it one of the most complete vehicles in the segment. It is offered with powerful engine choices that allow you to stay ahead of the competition. The interior is spacious and packs plenty of room for both passengers and cargo. In terms of versatility, the vehicle happily adapts to and accommodate whatever the occasion demands of it. It allows easy access to the third row even without you removing any child seats, as all you have to do is slide and tilt the second-row seats forward. To help guarantee your safety, the vehicle offers a host of driver assistance features such as a post-collision braking feature that is meant to help prevent a collision. This passive safety functionality automatically tightens the seatbelts and apply the vehicle's brakes to avoid further accidents soon after the airbag sensors have detected that a crash is occurring ahead of you.
The interior of the 2018 Volkswagen VW Atlas in Fort Worth Dallas TX Area located in Irving delivers the distinctive design and craftsmanship that cements its reputation as one of the most elegant, robust, and upmarket vehicles on the market today. It offers family-ready cargo and passenger volume and the everyday usability you would expect from an SUV. Advanced ambient lighting has been equipped to highlight the upscale character of the vehicle further. A lot of efforts have been made to deliver a high-end material class that helps to lift the ambiance of the cabin. And as with the very best of automobiles, you should always prepare for the ultimate in high-tech rides whenever you hop into this car. For maximum indulgence, an intuitive, customizable 12.3-inch digital display is provided as an option to display information that is tailored to your driving needs. Driver controls have been positioned such that they ensure optimal ergonomics and usability. The comfortable cushions help to enhance involvement behind the wheel. Everything, from the position of the seating to the shifter height and even the space between the pedals have been fine-tuned to help ensure your driving comfort. You will find that the premium leather seating surfaces as well as the heated outboard seats for the second-row help to provide more exceptional comfort.
The exterior design of the all-new 2018 Volkswagen VW Atlas in Fort Worth Dallas TX Area located in Irving builds on the Volkswagen's modern and muscular design DNA that is characterized by clean lines and dynamic proportions. It has been engineered from the manufacturer's Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) architecture which aims at extending both vehicular length and width to improve aerodynamics. Over at the top of the vehicle, you will find a large panoramic sunroof with a two-part glass opening system as well as powered sunshade that allows you to see more of the big blue sky and starlit night. Also, you can slide tilt open the feature with just the touch of a button to soak up the breeze of the open road. Even more, the vehicle is brighter, bolder, and is more energy efficient, thanks to its LED headlights with signature daytime running lights that are quick to turn heads. Also featured is a power tailgate with Easy Open functionality that allows you to pop open the liftgate with a kick of your boot. All you need do to pull off the trick is to have your key fob on you.
At first sight after popping the bonnet, then 2018 Volkswagen VW Atlas in Fort Worth Dallas TX Area located in Irving will give you two engines. – a 3.6 liter V6 engine with 276 horsepower and 266 pound feet of torque that is paired with an eight speed automatic transmission with either a front- or all-wheel drive. And EPA values of 18mpg city, 25mpg highway for the FWD, and 17mpg, 23mpg for its AWD version. The second debutant is a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline 4-cylinder engine which also makes use of an 8-speed automatic transmission. It also comes with an advantage of offering a decent fuel economy, as well as nearly much torque. It makes 235 horsepower and 258 pound feet of torque. It has EPA values at 22mpg city and 26mpg highway. With the all-wheel drive equipped, you will also get driving mode selections. Most prominent is the Off-road modes which lets you determine the ideal setup with respect to the type of terrain and weather you encounter.
Trim Lines
The new 2018 Volkswagen VW Atlas in Fort Worth Dallas TX Area located in Irving does not only distinguish itself with numbers, it also separates itself from the crowd with five amazing trims.
S Trim: Incorporates cloth seating, a rearview camera, a bench seat in the second row, dual zone manual climate control, power operated mirrors, LED headlights, and cruise control. It also features a 6.5-inch touchscreen interface offering Apple CarPlay, Bluetooth connectivity and Android Auto. There is also sub limited which will run on V6 engine and comes with additions such as the panoramic sunroof, an 8-inch touchscreen, Home Link programmable garage door opener and satellite radio.
SE Trim: upgrades to this trim to include simulated leather upholstery, a blind sport monitoring, automatic headlights, push button start, heated front seats, power driver seat, rear sunshades, a large 8-inch touchscreen interface and an optional captain's chairs located in the second row.
SE W/Technology Trim: This trim starts off from the SE's equipment and adds remote engine start, power rear liftgate, automatic three zone climate control, lane keeping assist, adaptive cruise control and an automatic emergency braking.
SEL Trim: Includes panoramic sunroof, park distance control as well as two available options – black 20-inch wheels, and the R-Line appearance package plus, power adjustable front passenger seats.
SEL Premium: This comes with most of the exclusive features such as Volkswagen Digital Cockpit (an interior display replacing the standard gauge cluster with an intuitive video screen that can be easily tweaked to display a wide range of information beyond speed, temperature readings and fuel). This trim is also adorned with LED taillights, an upgraded touchscreen, full leather seating, navigation, as well as a parking assist system and the R-Line appearance package as a standard feature.


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Living the Margins: Illegality, Politics of Removal and Statelessness
Feb 09, 2012 - Feb 11, 2012
Conference at the GHI | Conveners: Kathleen Canning und (University of Michigan), Barbara Lüthi, Jana Häberlein (Universität Basel), and Miriam Rürup (GHI)
In contemporary history, both stateless people and "illegal aliens" have been referred to as the "citizen's others" (Linda Kerber), whose lack of citizenship rights prevents them from participating in social and political life. Throughout the twentieth century, illegality, statelessness, and forced removals have represented political processes with roots in historical forms of inclusion and exclusion, definitions of citizenship and belonging, and different forms of deportation and expulsion. These phenomena are linked, first, by the affected people often being constituted as lacking subjectivity. Second, the people are physically removed from the social landscapes they inhabit and rendered nearly invisible. Third, these states of being are frequently "coerced" phenomena that involve (non-)spectacular violence, while they also generate resistance in non-state actors such as migrants or illegals, human rights organizations, and others.
In her keynote, Mae Ngai traced the origins of the US-specific topos of the "Nation of Immigrants." She pointed out the range of actors who influenced this concept of immigration, which moved from being normatively open to normatively closed, including scholars, politicians, and migrants themselves, shifting their self-definition over time from "emigrants" to "immigrants." Another important shift occurred in the classification of immigrants--in the early 1900s, it was racial but eventually moved to legal vs. illegal--so that "illegality today does the work of race" in defining inclusion and exclusion.
The first panel concentrated on the emergence of statelessness. Mira Siegelberg discussed the first mass of stateless people the international community helped by issuing an internationally accepted travel document called the "Nansen Passport." She contextualized the debate concerning stateless refugees in the interwar years with reference to the International Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1929, which conceived of statelessness as mankind's most salient problem. By linking these two discourses, Siegelberg highlighted the view of statelessness not as a humanitarianism but as a rights issue, which Russian émigré lawyers especially advocated.
Annemarie Sammartino then discussed three primary groups of vulnerable legal status in Weimar Germany whom the Nansen Passport helped: the Russians, Jews from Eastern Europe, and groups like the Baltendeutsche, whose citizen status was uncertain despite their ethnic Germanness. She introduced the aspect of an imaginary element of citizenship: The Nansen-Passport, she argued, could only succeed because it implied a promise to nation-states that its holders did not want to become citizens.
Tobias Brinkmann spoke of yet another apparent promise concerning the stateless territory of the port city of Danzig in the 1920s. It admitted people without asking for passports or visas, developing into both a seemingly safe haven for (Jewish) refugees and a neighboring territory where Poland could "dump" unwanted people. For Jews, Danzig proved to be a battleground for differing approaches to helping each other: Again, the dichotomy of the humanitarian approach (Western Jewish relief organizations) vs. the fight for Jewish rights (Eastern and Zionist support groups) came into play here.
The second panel addressed efforts to solve the problem of statelessness. Atina Grossmann remapped the landscape of survival and rescue of Jews during and after World War II by tracing refugee routes from Poland to Siberia and, after war's end back, to Poland and into the DP camps. She analyzed how aid groups such as the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), transnationally active in such seemingly remote theaters as Iran and India, suggested different solutions for Jewish refugees. Palestine proved to be more imaginary than real as a place of rescue. This was a controversial issue with the Jewish Agency, which promoted immigration to Palestine only. Here again, a fundamental difference emerged between humanitarian rescue and political solutions.
Kathrin Kollmeier looked at France as a place of rescue, examining how France turned from an international to a national protection regime in the 1950s. The OFPRA (French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons) was established after a long debate that led France to insist on the right of national sovereignty concerning statelessness in French territory. OFPRA then helped shape a new bureaucracy ("Knowledge Agency") and also gave new agency to the stateless people who registered with it.
The decade after World War II saw new supranational attempts to overcome statelessness. The 1954 UN Convention on the Status of Stateless Refugees was a first major achievement in the postwar world of newly shaped international politics. Linda Kerber showed how one of the major players at this convention, Louis Henkin, represented a nation that never ratified any of the postwar UN conventions on refugees: the United States. As Henkin was present at all the debates, the US left its "fingerprints" all over the convention. While statelessness was generated by nation-states, it clearly could only be solved supranationally. Yet national sovereignty proved to be key in preventing the international community from really solving the problem of statelessness.
The third panel dealt with the ongoing struggle over defining inclusion in citizenship. Statelessness first emerged primarily because of denaturalization and denationalization policies that many nation-states considered their national sovereign right. Daniela L. Caglioti showed how denaturalizing citizens in World War I was a radical yet ubiquitous means states utilized to push unwanted people to the margins and to thus be able to remove them more easily. Consequently, World War I generated a new system of populations management that reshaped the notion of citizenship by differentiating between aliens and citizens. Ilse Reiter-Zatloukal retraced how denationalization in the twentieth century became an instrument authoritarian and totalitarian regimes mainly used to punish "illoyal" citizens. Prime privileges of nation-states, the granting and revocation of citizenship were finally reluctantly banned after lengthy discussions in the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness in 1961 - in cases where denationalization would lead to statelessness.
Miriam Rürup then looked back at the first apparent course of action the UN took to solve the problem of statelessness: paving the way for the new state of Israel in 1948. Exploring the specific framing of Israeli citizenship as a possible reaction to the Jewish experience of statelessness, she argued that the Israeli Law of Return changed the concept of Jewish belonging: While having been defined in non-territorial terms in the Diaspora, after 1948 the previously utopian notion of "Zion" transformed into a trans-territorial idea of Israeli citizenship. Although based on an idea of supranational identity, this notion of citizenship was territorially grounded in the ethnically defined nation-state in the Land of Israel.
At this point, the focus shifted for the last three panels to groups of people actively and decisively left out of citizenship: the illegalized migrants and the state actions of removals. Marianne Pieper spoke about migrants' ability and strategies to actually "do borders" by permanently questioning them, for example, by violating border restrictions and being transnationally mobile. Her analysis of a variety of interviews with transnational migrants showed how border spaces were "contested terrains" with the migrants as active agents in this process and not merely victims of the ever changing means of controls in the European border regime. Aysen Ustubici then focused on two case studies of border migration in Turkey and Morocco. Her paper supported the idea of migrant agency, that is, their claim to being agents in the migration process. She highlighted how they change the character of the "receiving" countries, for example, by affecting legal discourse on defining the status and rights of citizens.
The fifth panel turned to expulsion and removals, beginning with Christoph Rass's paper on the removal of unwanted foreigners from Germany. He compared various policies of removal in Imperial Germany and in postwar West Germany, demonstrating that social arguments and policy have persistently been entangled in German citizenship policy. In Imperial Germany, it was people who might fall into the social network as dependents who were removed. From the 1950s onwards, the pattern of deportations in West Germany remained strikingly detached from shifts in migration policies, yet it seems likely that removals followed a sort of symbolic policy to appease public anger about changes in the social welfare state.
Friederike Kind-Kovacs analyzed another case of refugees of uncertain status becoming pawns in the game of national politics. She focused on ethnic Hungarians who had fled from Transsylvania to Budapest and become a symbol for the social decline of the middle class. They were regarded as the embodiment of the national disaster and loss of territory that had befallen the Hungarian Empire. The Hungarian refugees were in a state of legal limbo until the Treaty of Trianon provided them with a legal framework that included opting for the nationality of their state of residence. In Hungary, however, they were not instantly integrated but continued to live in broken-down railway coaches at railway stations. Thus, while unable to integrate these displaced families called "Vagonlakok," the Hungarian regime nonetheless instrumentalized them in an effort to revise its territorial loss.
The final panel turned to "Illegalizing Migrants." Serhat Karakayali began by stressing the problem with categorizations such as legal/illegal. He argued that different shades of legalization are important, just as differentiations between the interests of state, municipal, and individual actors are. In the guest worker recruitment regime in postwar Germany, he argued, the term "illegal" served as an argument in labor recruitment and policies of migration - sometimes even causing conflicts between companies that were becoming non-governmental transit stations for immigration and government agencies that were trying to control migration. The question of who the sovereign is in defining legal and illegal and determining citizenship again proved to be in flux if not contingent.
Insa Breyer compared different attitudes towards undocumented migrants in Germany and France, including the terminology: while the term "Sans Papiers" is not necessarily judgmental in France, it implies a criminalization in Germany. This corresponds to different legal approaches: in Germany illegalized migrants are perpetually in danger of being expelled, while in France they are constantly on the verge of becoming legalized. This sheds light on the nations' different understandings of society and belonging, as well as pathways to joining it.
Focusing on "gypsies" in postwar West Germany, Jens Röschlein turned to a group that could not be physically removed from German territory, since they long ago had settled in Germany and had obtained citizenship, but nevertheless remained "unwanted." German authorities in the 1950s and 1960s sometimes ignored Sinti's legal citizenship and refused to extend their German passports, provided them with alien passports, or even forced them into lengthy naturalization processes.
The final discussion pointed to contingency as a recurrent theme of the conference: the changing standards of passport controls as well as of passports themselves, for example, while unwelcome to state authorities for the fluidity they introduced, were welcome to migrants as they gave them agency to travel, say, with forged passports. The ambiguity of terms was another key issue: while it contributes to the ambiguity of the person's status, it also offers options for migrants to choose to be categorized as "stateless," "uncertain nationality" and thus protected from deportation, rather than as a "refugee" and thus often involuntarily "repatriable" to a country they chose to leave. It seems that non-state actors embraced contingency and liminality, especially in the early appearances of statelessness and illegality, as these qualities invited them to actively manufacture their stories and have a say in the overall power of the system of border regimes of the sovereign nation-state.
Miriam Rürup (GHI)


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What does it sound like?:
Disappointing, I'm sorry to say. I was hoping to be able to say it does exactly what it says on the tin, but that's only one-third right. There's country all right, ranging all the way from mid-paced country rock to maudlin country ballads; psychedelia and soul are conspicuous by their absence.
I was really looking forward to this album and it pains me to write this: it's dull. The fire that illuminated Looking For Lewis And Clark or I Had A Dream has gone out and it sounds like they don't really want to do it. It needn't be like this (cf. The Dream Syndicate's reunion album).
What does it all *mean*?
It means they needn't have bothered.
Goes well with…
Afternoon naps
Release Date:
Might suit people who like…
The Eagles


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Learn more about Member Benefits
Earlier this week, CUNA wrote to Senator Hatch in support of his recently introduced legislation - the Give Useful Information to Define Effective (GUIDE) Compliance Act. A House version of the bill was introduced by Representatives. Duffy and Perlmutter. The House version passed the House Financial Services Committee last week.
"Credit unions across the country continue to be frustrated with the sluggish issuance of guidance from the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP) which has created uncertainty and ambiguity not only for credit unions, but all industry stakeholders," the letter reads. "The GUIDE Compliance Act would alleviate this uncertainty by requiring the BCFP to standardize the process of providing guidance that can be relied upon by industry."
Specifically, the GUIDE Compliance Act would:
Champion for the Credit Union Movement
Credit Union National Association is the most influential financial services trade association and the only national association that advocates on behalf of all of America's credit unions. We work tirelessly to protect your best interests in Washington and all 50 states. We fuel your professional growth at every level and champion the credit union story at every turn.
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ADA Compliance / Terms & Conditions
© 2019 Credit Union National Association
ADA Compliance / Terms & Conditions


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About Tony Freitas
Tony Freitas read law at the University of Lincoln. He studied Bar Vocational Course at the Inns of Court School of Law in London and qualifyed as a Barrister. He subsequently completed the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test to be dual qualified as a Solicitor as well. Tony is a Duty Solicitor, qualifying under the Law Society's Criminal Litigation Accreditation Scheme. Tony has represented clients at Police Stations, Magistrates Courts and Crown Courts in a wide range of cases. Cases ranging from shoplifting to murder. His cases are regularly mentioned in the local press, and has had several cases featured in national newspapers and magazines. He has also appeared on BBC Look North twice to provide expert opinion on major developments in sentencing practice.
Tony enjoys court advocacy, from bail applications to trials, and is determined to always secure the best results for his clients. He has a particular interest in motoring law. Tony has appeared in various Courts up and down the country fighting to avoid driving disqualifications. He is able to advise on matters including speeding, no insurance and 'totting up' (amassing 12 penalty points or more), which cause people great fear and uncertainty. Often the loss of a person's driving license can have disastrous effects both on their job and home life. Tony is adept at fighting hard to retain them, and from the outset will give an honest evaluation of the chances of success.


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What better place to practice yoga than the Stone Barn, with nothing but the sounds of birds and nature serving as the backdrop to your practice? Taught by a certified instructor from School of Yoga New Bedford, this program is suitable for yogis of all levels.
Class Schedule for 2020:
Friday, Saturday and Sunday classes are from 9-10:30am
(90 minutes - $20 per session)
All are welcome, every class is for individuals new to yoga, practicing yogis and anyone wanting a unique workout.
Please bring your own yoga mat, water bottle and wear comfortable clothes suitable for yoga. Ample parking is available onsite at 786 Horseneck Road in South Dartmouth.
Classes are $20 each and can be paid at the start of class (cash or check only, payable to "School of Yoga New Bedford").


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- The BLF has registered as a viable party for the upcoming national elections
- However, the party has said that it will not be accepting white people as members
- Additionally, leader Andile Mngxitama says, if elected, the party will fight for land reform
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The controversial Black First Land First (BLF) has reportedly registered for the upcoming elections and submitted its finalised list of candidates to the IEC.
Speaking at a press conference, the party's leadership said that the efforts of "land thieves" to stop the party registering for the elections had failed.
Additionally, the party said that it would not be accepting white people as members of the party.
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BLF's registration came after weeks of financial problems within the party, which made it difficult for BLF to put together the R200 000 registration fee necessary to take party in the election.
Now that BLF has registered, however, party leader, Andile Mngxitama, said that, if it received seats in Parliament, the BLF would be pursuing an aggressive land reform agenda, according to IOL.
Additionally, Mngxitama was open about his party's policy of excluding white people.ite people took our land, there wasn't much talking," Mngxitama said.
Additionally, Mngxitama was open about his party's policy of exluding white people.
READ ALSO: Man throws surprise party for girlfriend, but her other bae proposes
"We don't accept white people. We are open about it, even when we submitted our registration, that we don't accept white people," he said.
Mngxitama also expressed confidence about the BLF's electoral changes, saying that the party represented the hopes of many South Africans.
Enjoyed reading our story? Download BRIEFLY's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major South African news!


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How to pay below:
Step 1
Open your Vipps app and select "Kjøp og betal"
If you dont have Vipps, please contact us.
Step 2
Search for "Drittunger" or "Armacon" or "545704".
Step 3
Selet "billetter".
Step 4
Select how many tickets you would like
Select if you would like dinner buffet at the hotel.
Select your gaming system.
Then "legg i handlekurv" and pay


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Open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm
Our Italian Lakes Hotels
Our hotels on this tour have been hand-picked for their quality and location
Hotel Villa Luisa, San Felice del Benaco, Lake Garda - 4 Star
Hotel Resort Villa Luisa & Spa lies among the Valtenesi Hills and Lake Garda, a short drive from Portese. Villa Luisa's rooms are elegant and offer air conditioning, satellite TV and minibar. Many have views of the surrounding olive groves and Lake Garda. The villa's new wellness centre includes an indoor swimming pool, sensory showers and relaxation area. You will also find a sauna, hot tub and Turkish bath. The sun terrace with loungers has panoramic countryside views. Villa Luisa's restaurant offers local cuisine and national dishes, meals are served outside in the summer months. There is an outdoor swimming pool and free private parking. Free Wi-Fi is available.
The Hotel Drago, Brenzone, Lake Garda - 3 Star
Hotel Drago is located on the lake shore in Assenza Di Brenzone. It offers a garden with swimming pool, free underground garage parking and, most importantly, panoramic views across Lake Garda.All of the hotels comfortable guest rooms feature satellite TV, a minibar, and safe. Wi-Fi access is available in the public areas.There are 2 bars, one poolside and one indoors, fitness centre, and a restaurant serving buffet breakfast and dinner. The towns of Brenzone and Malcesine are just a few minutes.
Lario Hotel, Mezzenegra, Lake Como - 3 Star
Overlooking Lake Como in the Tremezzina area, famous for its historic villas and gardens. All of the guest-rooms feature air conditioning, satellite TV and balcony with a view of the lake or Mount Crocione. The Lario offers traditional Italian cuisine, a garden with swimming pool and free Wi-Fi. The restaurant has a poolside veranda, breakfast is buffet style, while dinner is served at the table with a selection of dishes from the Lombardy region. The hotel also offers free underground parking.
FREE WiFi FREE Parking Restaurant/Bar/Lounge Pool/Gym
FREE WiFi FREE Parking Restaurant/Bar/Lounge Pool
FREE WiFi FREE Parking Restaurant/Bar/Lounge Pool
Hotel Lumin, Cremia, Lake Como - 3 Star Plus
Located in the quaint town of Cremia on Lake Como the hotel offers a beachside restaurant with sun terrace. All guest rooms are equipped with an LCD TV, a fridge. a hydromassage shower and a balcony (Lake view rooms are available at a supplement). The restaurant serves Mediterranean specialities including fresh fish from the lake, and homemade pizza which you can enjoy on the terrace, with panoramic views. Sun loungers are available to guests in the hotel gardens. The hotel is one hour's drive from the town of Como, along the lake's western shore. Parking at the hotel is free of charge. Free wifi is available in the public areas.
FREE WiFi FREE Parking Restaurant/Bar
Wellness Hotels Alexender-Gerbi, Weggis, Lake Lucerne - 4 Star
Comprising of 2 hotels next to each other, the Alexander and the Gerbi are located near the beach. The hotel is 1.2 mi (2 km) from Weggis Cable Car and within 6 mi (10 km) of Kuessnacht am Rigi Cable Car and Wissifluh Cable Car. Gersau Lakeside Terrace and Old Town Hall Museum of Local History are also within 9 mi (15 km). Along with 2 restaurants, this Wellness hotel has an indoor pool and an outdoor pool. Free buffet breakfast, free WiFi in public areas, and free valet parking are also provided. Additionally, a fitness center, a bar/lounge, and a sauna are onsite. All 75 rooms offer free WiFi, minibars, and TVs. Guests will also find room service, free bottled water, and hair dryers.
FREE WiFi FREE Parking Restaurant/Bar/Lounge Pool/Gym/Spa


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Pulsar is the open-source design system powering the user experience of the Jadu Continuum platform. Sounds fancy, but what does it really mean?
Jadu software is used in large organisations, it powers hundreds of local government/council sites as well as some in central government, higher education and commercial sectors. There are thousands of people who use our software every day to deliver sites and services used by millions.
The Jadu Continuum Platform currently consists of the following main products:
- CMS — Content Management System
- CXM — SAAS based Customer Experience Management
- XForms Professional — Secure Forms
Customers may have one, two or all the Continuum products, and some of their users may access one or more of them as part of their job. It's important to us that each product maintains a consistent, familiar experience even though their main features may differ. Simply put, you should be able to jump into a different product and know your way around.
Each product has a dedicated team of developers and testers, and each team has a Pulsar team member responsible for designing the user interfaces for new features as well as looking after the design and experience of their team's product as a whole.
We developed the Pulsar design system to provide a single framework that all products use to deliver consistent, stable and well designed experiences. Jadu engineers have well documented methods to create everything from a single button up to more complex components all coming together to make full user interfaces.
We design in the open as much as possible, publishing screenshots and wireframes on a Trello board with a rough idea of their progress from conception to delivery, we have public documentation and of course, all our code is on GitHub under the MIT license.
All of this is to engage more with our customers as a design team, giving them the opportunity to get involved in the early stages so that we can learn any particular requirements that we may not have thought of.


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Bangkok – Recently, Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited led by AM.Dechit Chareonwong, Flight Operations (4th form right) and Capt.Tipparat Pakpoomsin, Flight Operations (2nd form right) together with airline' pilots welcomed its two latest ATR72-600s at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
These 70-seater ATR72-600 aircraft are the last two from a total of nine Bangkok Airways from ATR Manufacturer in France. This brand new ATR72-600 is equipped with a new full-glass cockpit and features a high comfort layout with larger overhead compartments, offering extra comfort for passengers. These ATR72-600s will be serving both domestic and international routes of Bangkok Airways such as Phuket, Sukhothai, Trat, Lampang, Luang Prabang, Yangon (Myanmar), Mandaley and Siem Reap (Cambodia).
Currently, Bangkok Airways' fleet consists of 36 aircrafts; 6 ATR72-500s, 9 ATR72-600s, 12 A319s and 9 A320s. For more information or reservation, please visit www.bangkokair.com or call center at 1771 (24 hours).


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Do you have an upcoming trip that will necessitate you staying in a hotel? Do you need some great advice about how to find a wonderful hotel? Fortunately, you have discovered the best article. In this article, we share valuable information to help you get a great rate on a hotel.
It's important to make sure that your valuables are safe during a hotel stay, so make use of the room's safe. You can place your small, expensive items such as your iPad in the safe, so you can enjoy your day knowing they are safe and secure.
There are a number of things to consider when deciding which hotel to stay at. Price is one factor, however you may also need your hotel to be close to a particular destination. Amenities such as complimentary WiFi, free local calls, complimentary breakfast, a gym and pool and a convenient restaurant are also important considerations. Try locating a tip that checks off as much of your wish list as is realistic.
Check your room when you arrive. Is it clean and free of mold and mildew? Check the shower, toilet and sink to ensure they work properly. Are all the towels you'll need present in the room? Call the front desk if you find any issues; they can either fix the problem or give you a different room.
You should always start planning any serious trip months or weeks ahead of time. This will help you book early and get the best prices. A lot of hotel locations offer discounts for reservations a month or more in advance. Even some elite chains will offer discounts as much as half off.
If your pet is coming to a hotel with you, there are a few things you need to do in preparation. Be sure that this hotel will be friendly to pets. Also, take a good supply of plastic bags, such as grocery bags, to clean up after your pet. Ask for a corner room so that your pets' noise doesn't bother anyone else.
It may be wise to look into loyalty programs that your favorite hotels offer. These are exceptional benefits reserved for customers who frequently use a particular chain of hotels. Some of the useful things that you can earn are extra upgrades, free nights, and late check-outs.
If you often stay at the same hotel chain, check to see if they offer membership to frequent stay programs. These hotel programs give you points for each stay. They will get you discounts on the hotel restaurants, spa deals, and just a number of great stuff.
If you care about the environment, then you may be interested in taking a "green" vacation. Many hotels offer environmentally friendly standards today. Certain hotels provide green rooms, and in fact, some are even certified as green hotels. Other older hotels will just provide green options for you. Check online or ask a travel agent for help.
As you've seen, a little research is a v dry powerful thing when it comes to securing a great hotel room. These tips will help you get the job done right. Make sure you use the information provided or you'll miss out on a great opportunity.


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The Sims 3: Pets from Electronic Arts
The Sims 3: Pets from Electronic Arts
Please choose from the options above to see price and availability.
Description of The Sims 3: Pets from Electronic Arts
We are happy to stock the brilliant The Sims 3: Pets.
With so many on offer recently, it is great to have a brand you can trust. The The Sims 3: Pets is certainly that and will be a perfect buy.
For this reduced price, the The Sims 3: Pets is highly recommended and is always a popular choice with most people. Electronic Arts have included some excellent touches and this means good value.
Manufacturer Description
Create pets, from loyal dogs to daring kitties and determine their looks and personality traits. Then embark on adventures with your Sims and their pets, like uncovering relics and solving mysteries. With control of your pets, you can enjoy whole new ways to enrich or mess with your Sims' lives! In the Limited Edition you'll also get 10 exclusive, unique breeds, including tiger dogs and skunk cats.


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LISTEN: Peaking Lights Remix Smith Westerns
The Quietus
, September 23rd, 2011 04:43
Not Not Fun's dubbed out Peaking Lights have a go at deconstructing Smith Westerns' 'End Of The Night'
Of all Not Not Fun's artists in thrall to dub (and there's no shortage of those), Peaking Lights have attracted the most attention, thanks to their 936 album from earlier this year. Now they've remixed Smith Westerns' 'End Of The Night', again applying studio trickery to washed out effect. It's being given away for free via Smith Westerns' label, Domino, via the widget below.
If you love our features, news and reviews, please support what we do with a one-off or regular donation. Year-on-year, our corporate advertising is down by around 90% - a figure that threatens to sink The Quietus. Hit this link to find out more and keep on Black Sky Thinking.


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On the Black Panther album, the track that featured Saudi, Schoolboy Q, and 2 Chainz's titled 'X' is one of the tracks that made its way on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and its currently sitting at number 55. The Black Panther album has been number one, on Billboard 200 Chart for the past two weeks. This is a great achievement for Saudi from Ambitiouz Entertainment, making it the first time he appears on the Billboard Hot 100. Its also a great achievement for all the other South African artists that are part of the Black Panther album.
"Black Panther: The Album" sits at No. 1 for its second week on the Billboard 200 chart https://t.co/Pfzowp5Rwv pic.twitter.com/IXFY9GAWCB
— billboard (@billboard) February 27, 2018


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The best part of Roadkill is being able to call partially delivered results a success. As in: "The Rotsun runs (for a little while and then explodes)." Or "Stubby Bob made the greatest wheelstand of all time (but you didn't want us to do it safely, right?)." You know, that kind of stuff.
With that in mind, we've managed to pull together our MotorTrendOnDemand schedule for 2018. Well, part of 2018. OK, just January 2018 for now. Commenters do take notice: We listened to your suggestions about having shows bunched together and we think we've spread everything out much better. We're pretty excited about the variety and the spacing of shows coming out to begin the year.
We're still working on the logistics—a new thing for us, really—of planning, filming, and releasing so many episodes this year, so forgive the madness as we assemble the complete MTOD production schedule. We will, of course, continue to bring you new Roadkill Extras on MTOD as well as great motorsports coverage and features.
December 29 – Junkyard Gold, Episode 3
January 1 – Roadkill Garage, Episode 26
January 3 – Engine Masters, Episode 30
January 8 – Dirt Every Day, Episode 73
January 10 – Ignition, Episode 187
January 15 – Hot Rod Garage, Episode 61
January 17 – Head 2 Head, Episode 98
January 22 – Roadkill, Episode 74
January 24 – Junkyard Gold, Episode 4
January 29 – Roadkill Garage, Episode 27
January 31 – Engine Masters, Episode 31
Yep, we're starting the year off right with two Roadkill Garage and two Engine Masters episodes in January. We'll even give you some spoilers for the New Year:
Junkyard Gold, Episode 3 (12/29/2017): Steve Magnante finds things in northeast Pennsylvania that we know Roadkill Nation loves: a cab-forward Jeep, a '67 Fairlane GTA, and a Petty Blue '73 Road Runner.
Roadkill Garage, Episode 26 (1/1/2018): Freiburger and Dulcich dig into their four-door '40 Ford (the Forty Ford Fordor) and enjoy some rum-running, backroads bootleggin' style drivin'.
Engine Masters, Episode 30 (1/3/2018): Our resident experts Freiburger, Dulcich, and Steve Brule of Westech compare E85 ethanol from our friends at Rockett Brand with 118-octane race gas.
Also, we now have functional commenting on MotorTrendOnDemand now. That means you can tell us what you like (or hate) about an episode, ask us questions there, and interact with other fans right on the same page as the episode.
Subscribe to MotorTrendOnDemand right here with a free 14-day trial. That gets you access to hundreds of episodes of each of these shows plus daily content with the hosts of them.


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Über Boston Symphony Orchestra
Founded in1881 and by its first conductor, George Henschel, the Boston Symphony Orchestra ranks highly among American orchestras, even though its most familiar contribution is related off-season entity, the Boston Pops. Its first recordings were made with Karl Muck in 1917 and under conductor Serge Koussevitzky, who led the orchestra between 1924-'49. Under Koussevitzky, the Orchestra took over the Tanglewood Musical Festival and thus founded an internationally revered school for young musicians.
Ähnliche Künstler
London Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra


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Horrid Word of Death
By: Matt Rosengren
Type: Necromancy
Class & Level: Sorcerer/Wizard 9, Cleric 9
Game: Dungeons & Dragons (D&D)
Caster/Level: Sor/Wiz 9, Clr 9
Components: V,M,F
Focus: any evil-aligned item of non-negligible cost.
Material Component: 3 pounds of vampire dust and the skull of a Demon of at least CR 14. The combined value of these items must be 2275 gp or more.*
* [Editor's note: Buying rare items such as these may require some effort, e.g. searching for a seller and negotiating a deal. Alternatively, the caster could try to obtain the items himself/herself. As a reminder, it should be noted that summoned creatures do not leave body parts behind when they die. Game masters are advised to be cautious when using this powerful spell for adversaries.]
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Stanwood, Washington
Old Stilly floodgate drains water more quickly to prevent damage
Stanwood sits near the mouth of the Stillaguamish River, and parts of the city fall within a 1-percent annual chance floodplain. In 1996, severe floods hit Stanwood and other communities in Washington and the president declared a major disaster. After the flooding, the city invested in a drainage floodgate that replaced a 100-foot section of the Old Stillaguamish River Levee. The floodgate allows surface water to drain more quickly, preventing damage to local infrastructure, including a railroad and a busy commuter roadway.
Photo by FEMA
Community facts
Mitigation actions
The ten fiberglass-reinforced drainage gates on the Stillaguamish River levee can be easily opened during a heavy-rain event to allow floodwaters to drain rapidly off local properties and into the river. The improved drainage rate has allowed transportation infrastructure to return to normal more quickly. For example, the local railroad line, often affected by flooding, reopened around 12 hours after the end of rain from one flood event, compared with 3–4 days during previous floods. In addition, Marine Drive, which is frequented by roughly 10,000 commuters per day, was reopened in a day and a half, instead of four days. In prior floods, commuters had been forced to make a 15-mile detour until the floodwaters had cleared.
Benefits of mitigation
Project challenges
Quantifying the benefits of a drainage project was the first hurdle
The geography of the city lent itself to drainage projects that would lessen the extent and duration of flooding. Proving the benefit-cost ratio of a drainage system can be more complicated than for a flood prevention system, according to Vaughn Collins, principal engineer for Northwest Hydraulic Consultants, a contractor for the project. The Stillaguamish Flood Control District made its case based on the economic benefits of reducing flood-related closure times for the railroad and highway systems. "Being able to calibrate and/or validate the results of your hydraulic and flood damage models against actual floods is very important when you are going after grants," he says.
"When we looked at every hour [the road and railroad] were opened up sooner, it turned out the benefits were pretty substantial compared to the project cost"
Future considerations
The city is continuing to relocate its most valuable assets and to prepare its critical infrastructure for future floods
The entire downtown area of Stanwood sits in a Special Flood Hazard Area. Given the flood risks, in recent years the local government has discussed the idea of moving key public buildings, including City Hall and the police station, out of the floodplain. Renovating the buildings was ruled out owing to cost concerns as well as the risks that earthquakes pose to raised structures in the region. Moving key public services and vulnerable businesses out of the floodplain is a long-term plan for the city.
Elkader, Iowa
Flood mitigation investment delivers huge return on investment for small town
Population: 1,213
Riverine flooding, Flash flooding


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THIS BLOG HAS BEEN RETIRED. I'm still going to be keeping it up here, though-- there's some pretty cool old stuff on it. That said, if you want to keep up to date with me, please go to www.georgeoconnorbooks.com.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Journey Upstate
So I'm headed upstate to Mount saint Mary College later today to give a little presentation tomorrow morning, mostly about my book Journey into Mohawk Country. I must say, one of the nicest side benefits of this job of mine is the opportunity to speak at events like this. Mohawk Country in particular has been a very rewarding topic for talks, particularly in the upstate New York region, where the story takes place. I especially enjoy sharing some of the copious amounts of prep work and sketches I compiled while working on it.
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Practitioner Biography
Donald Hughes, Lac. received his Master's Degree in Traditonal Chinese Medicine from the Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences in Oakland, California. He specializes in classical Chinese medicine and tui na massage.
Donald Hughes has studied martial arts and qi gong for nearly twenty years. His martial arts training is in the Genbukan system, under Grandmaster Shoto Tanemura. He is currently under the direct teaching of Tyson Lutz, Genbukan Ohka Dojo.


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When the Samsung Galaxy S5 was launched earlier this year there was chatter that the company wasn't pleased with the response its flagship smartphone had received in the market. But according to new data published by Strategy Analytics, Samsung's 2014 flagship aided the company in selling more LTE capable smartphones than its arch rival Apple. The smartphone enabled Samsung to take over the spot of the largest LTE smartphone vendor in the world from Apple.
Data published by Strategy Analytics shows that Samsung sold 28.6 million LTE capable smartphones in Q2, 2014 which runs from April through June. This translates into a 32.2 percent share of the global LTE smartphone market.
In Q1 Apple had 40.5 percent of the entire market but it fell to 31.9 percent in Q2, 2014 partly due to the launch of the Galaxy S5 and largely because many customers held off on purchasing a new iPhone since the iPhone 6 is just around the corner.
Apple doesn't sell a "cheap" iPhone but Samsung's product lineup is filled with competitively priced smartphones that also feature LTE, look no further than the $300 Galaxy Core Lite. This also works in favor of the Korean company which has now crowned itself as the world's largest LTE smartphone vendor. Though in this particular quarter Galaxy S5 sales played a vital role in pushing it to the top.
Behind the two behemoths comes LG in third place which accounts for 5.2 percent of the global LTE market in Q2, 2014.
- 1920x1080
- Super AMOLED
- f/2.2 Aperture
- Removable
- No Wireless Charg.
- Snapdragon 801
- MicroSD
- 32
- 16


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Excellence Software solutions.
Excellence Solutions is a Custom Software Development Company, having the confidence in developing high-performance database applications and web based software solutions. We have experience with all leading software technologies to build entire web applications for managing technology-based business.
Working with a precision process, software development based on application solutions based on teamwork, we are able to yield qualitative web based custom solutions for different areas of business in a timely manner.
Our development services ensure flexible and scalable solutions for our customers,
to allow any future re-development.


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Lights switch-on event gets Christmas under way at the seaside
PUBLISHED: 05:30 29 November 2018
Harman H Hopkins (H3 Photography)
Christmas gets under way in Felixstowe this weekend when thousands of people are expected to pack the town centre for the switch-on of the resort's festive lights.
For the organisers, the Felixstowe Lions, it's the culmination of thousands of man hours given free to maintain the lighting display, and put up the twinkling garlands and other displays, and the tree on the Triangle in Hamilton Road.
Light-up day is on Saturday, December 1 and will feature a Christmas Craft Market, charity stalls and a full programme of entertainment.
Hamilton Road will be closed between York Road and Cobbold Road for the day, as will the shared space for the food and craft fair.
Stalls open from 10am and then at 12.45pm Santa and Rudolph leave Great Eastern Square with their helpers as they parade down Hamilton Road to the Triangle, where Father Christmas will be in his grotto from 1pm.
The afternoon's entertainment will include singers, belly dancers and the Felixstowe Schools Christmas Charity Music Project.
Then at 4.30pm, there will be a children's candlelight parade through Hamilton Road to the switch-on by the mayor Graham Newman at 5pm.
There are further events in the town next week when the Felixstowe Salvation Army presents its annual Charity Christmas Tree Festival from Tuesday, December 4 to Saturday, December 8 at its building in Cobbold Road, Felixstowe.
Once again the hall will be packed with a huge assortment of trees with exciting designs on different themes created by local organisations and charities.
Mayor Mr Newman will officially open the event on December 4 at 6pm at a short carol service.
The event will be open from Tuesday 10.30am to 7pm, then Wednesday to Friday from 10.30am to 5pm, and on Saturday 10.30am to 4pm.
Entry is free but donations can be made to charities taking part in the festival.
The Salvation Army will also be offering refreshments throughout the day and light lunches, and there will also be stalls selling homemade crafts.
Also on Tuesday, December 4, Father Christmas and Rudolph will start their nightly journeys around the town in aid of the Rotary Club of Felixstowe and the work of Save the Children.
If you value what this story gives you, please consider supporting the Ipswich Star. Click the link in the orange box above for details.


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Located at the junction of Highways 26, 89 and 191.
Meets scheduled flights if reservation is received during regular business hours.
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LOLA CRUZ Latchford White Leather Ankle Boots
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The 'Latchford' ankle boots from Lola Cruz are an elegant style that will take you from day to night with ease. This New Season style is crafted from premium leather with luxurious leather lining. The classic pointed toe and high stiletto heel make up the silhouette. Zip fastening to the back of the ankle creates an easy wear. Subtle elasticated gussets add detail. Signature Lola Cruz branding is seen to the foot-bed and sole.
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Orders take 2-4 working days from despatch date. Our delivery charge is £5.00, orders are sent by Hermes or UK Mail for Northern Ireland and DPD for Republic of Ireland.
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Yesterday, I went to Toulouse – a three hour round trip – to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D and, as a bonus, in English! As it is a multi-screen cinema, they were showing the orignal version and the French version (i.e. dubbed) at the same time but on different screens so one of my daughters went in to the dubbed version, as she had her French friend with her, and my other daughter and myself chickened out and went in to the English version. Bizarrely, I felt drawn to the French subtitles not only because they were in 3D so stood out more but because I was interested to see how they had translated some of the script.
I know 3D films have been around for a while now but, living in the back of beyond as I do, they haven't found their way into the cinema nearby yet. So, this was my first real experience of modern 3D technology and I must admit, I was blown away. Before the film started, there was an advertisement for Haribo sweets and I literally had to sit on my hands to stop myself reaching out for a marshmallow which was hovering, tantalisingly, just in front of my nose.
As far as the film itself went, I think if I had seen it in a non-3D version, I would have been less impressed. I didn't feel it did anything particularly innovative with the story and it lapsed into sentimentality towards the end, which I could have done without, but I forgive all this for the amazing costumes and scenery. I was enchanted with butterflies whizzing about my ears and the Cheshire Cat disappearing in a puff of smoke right beside me. I want to go and see everything in 3D now although I suppose the novelty will wear off and I'll start demanding a good plot again!
However, for now, I'll be grateful that I could feel a sense of enchantment and wonder in a cinema again, something that probably last happened when I was a child and went to see Mary Poppins!
And those costumes…………..


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Willow Friends,
One of my greatest joys in life is the people I get to walk through it with. My family, friends, coworkers, and mentors have shaped me and my relationship with God over the years. I can think back on both blessings and challenges and vividly remember the people who walked with me through them. I can also remember times in my life when life-giving relationships were hard to come by, and it makes me even more certain that we weren't created to live isolated from others.
Finding people to journey through life with can be a challenge at times, so we want to give you the opportunity to meet new people and learn how to foster life-giving community by joining a small group at GroupLaunch.
GroupLaunch is a 20-minute gathering hosted after each service on September 28/29, where you can meet others from your neighborhood or phase of life to form a group with. You can learn more here. I'm praying God builds us up through the relationships that we form this fall.


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This year, Maricopa Elementary School became just the fourth "Leader in Me" Lighthouse School in the state. Wednesday, its students helped explain the significance to the Maricopa Unified School District Governing Board.
"To achieve this recognition, we needed to demonstrate the elements of and meet the Lighthouse criteria," MES Principal Jennifer Robinson said.
Those criteria are core paradigms, leadership, academics, culture and measurable results. Core paradigms include potential, motivation, change and education.
The five-year process is a school transformation drawn from Franklin Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and other materials produced by the Covey organization.
The school's mission statement combines all of the classes' mission statements into a collection of important words. One class's mission statement reads: "We will be proactive and responsible. We will do our best to work hard and pay attention. We will help each other achieve our goals. We will be leaders in all we do."
Each student has a leadership binder to keep track of school, class and individual efforts. Some students target reading, others math or a behavior goal, and all can track their own progress.
"Motivation is important to me because not reacting and choosing kindness is important," fifth grader Amanda Childers said. "If I track my progress, I will be successful and move onto sixth grade… I think education is important to me because it is the start to our own future."
The program includes Wildly Important Goals, or WIGs. One of MES's WIGs was to achieve Lighthouse status by May. The school reached that goal in February.
The school also achieved another WIG this year, having 80 percent of is scholars making expected growth in math and English language arts. It is close to meeting another WIG, having a daily attendance rate of 95 percent.
Progress is displayed prominently for the students to see how the school is doing.
Robinson said MES followed two Tempe schools (Kyrene) and one in Gilbert in receiving the designation. Since then, Luke Elementary in Glendale became the fifth Arizona school to achieve Lighthouse status.
"This year we were one of 25 schools in the world that [were] given this distinction," she said. "There are 379 Lighthouse Schools in the world, and MES is one of them."
Leader in Me recently updated to show 383 Lighthouse Schools worldwide and 3,307 schools in the process.
[WPS_photo_gallery id="17″]


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Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans coverage is insurance provided by private companies that provide prescription drug coverage for people on Medicare. Part D became effective in 2006. Private plans like Cigna are approved to administer the plans by the U.S. Federal Government through CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services).
Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage is available for purchase to everyone entitled to Medicare Part A and/or enrolled in Part B. The Medicare drug benefit should help reduce prescription drug costs and help protect against higher (catastrophic) costs in the future. Once you have Medicare prescription drug coverage, you will pay some of the costs and Medicare will pay some of the costs. Your costs will vary depending on the plan you choose.
Anyone who is entitled to Medicare Part A and/or enrolled in Medicare Part B is eligible to enroll in a Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan, regardless of income. No physical exams are required. Nobody can be denied for health reasons.
You'll need to enroll in a Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan offered in your area when you turn 65 (you can enroll 3 months before or after your birthday), and you can switch plans annually during open enrollment. Medicare open enrollment occurs yearly from October 15 through December 7. This is typically the only time of year that you can change plans.
You can receive Medicare Part D Drug Coverage from a:
- Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans (PDP), which just provides drug coverage, or a
- Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug Plans (MAPD) plan, which provides medical and prescription drug coverage.
If you have prescription drug coverage through your employer, you should talk to your plan or benefits administrator before making any changes.
Medicare provides assistance, known as Extra Help, in paying for prescription drug costs for those with limited income and resources.
If you qualify, you will receive help paying for your Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan's monthly premium, annual deductible (if applicable), and prescription copays or coinsurance. This Extra Help will count towards your out-of-pocket expenses.
People who receive full Medicaid benefits are automatically eligible for Extra Help with their drug costs and do not need to apply separately for the Extra Help. Medicare will mail a letter to people who automatically qualify for this assistance.
People who receive any help from Medicaid paying their Medicare premiums or receive Supplemental Security Income automatically receive Extra Help and do not need to apply separately. However, these individuals will need to enroll in a Medicare prescription drug plan.
Those who do not receive assistance from Medicaid but have limited income and resources are encouraged to apply for Extra Help and enroll in a Medicare drug plan. To receive assistance with the Medicare drug benefit, you must complete the following steps:
- Apply for Extra Help based on your income and resources; and
- Sign up for a prescription drug plan to begin using the benefit.
No. There could be differences in monthly premium, deductible, covered drugs, copay, or coinsurance levels and the pharmacies that you can use (network). Some plans offer supplemental benefits, such as additional prescription drug coverage, in the coverage gap. To determine which plan is best for you, compare plans in your area to learn what your benefits and estimated costs will be.
Your plan provides prescription drug coverage for a calendar year, from January 1 through December 31.
Your plan benefits may change every year. This includes your premiums, deductibles, copays, pharmacy network, and drug list.
You will learn of any changes to your plan for the next year in the Annual Notice of Changes (ANOC) booklet. You will receive this package in the mail every September.
You have a limited time to enroll every year. Medicare open enrollment occurs yearly from October 15 through December 7. This is typically the only time of year that you can change plans.
You can decide to keep or change your plan for the next year. If you choose to stay in your Medicare drug plan for the next year, you don't need to do anything.
If you decide to switch to another Medicare drug plan, you will need to contact the new plan, or enroll at www.Medicare.gov.
The amount you pay for a medication depends on factors such as the drug tier, if you use a preferred network pharmacy or a standard pharmacy, and the benefit stage you have reached.
Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan coverage has 3 benefit stages. Not all customers will reach every stage. Medicare sets drug cost limits in each stage and they may change year to year.
- Deductible and Initial Coverage Stage–A deductible is the amount you need to pay out-of-pocket for your prescriptions before initial coverage begins. Not all plans have a deductible.
During the deductible stage, your cost at our network pharmacies will reflect the Cigna special negotiated rates. You will typically get the best pricing from preferred network pharmacies.
After you meet your deductible (if your plan has 1), you enter initial coverage, in which you pay a reduced cost sharing for prescription drugs up to a specific limit. For 2020, this limit is $4,020 and is based upon your total drug costs including what the plan has paid and what you have paid.
- Coverage Gap or "Donut Hole" Stage–After your yearly total drug costs (what the plan has paid and what you have paid) reach $4,020, you move into the coverage gap stage. Most Medicare drug plans have a coverage gap. Not everyone will enter the coverage gap. For 2020, you will pay 25% of brand-name drug costs and 25% of generic drug costs.
- Catastrophic Coverage Stage–If your total out-of-pocket costs reach $6,350, you will then move into the catastrophic stage for the remainder of the calendar year. You'll pay the higher of 5% of covered drug costs, or $3.60 for generic (including brand drugs treated as generic) and $8.95 for all other drugs.
No. Medicare requires each spouse to pay separate premiums, deductibles, copays, and coinsurance for prescription drug coverage. Each spouse will reach each level of coverage according to their own drug costs over each calendar year.
Most people will pay the standard monthly Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan premium. However, you may have to pay an extra amount because of your annual income. For 2020, single or married individuals filing separately whose income is $85,000 or above, and couples with an income of $170,000 will pay the extra amount.
If you are impacted, the Social Security Administration (not your Medicare Part D plan) will send you a letter telling you what the amount will be and how to pay it. This extra amount must be paid separately and cannot be paid with your monthly Part D premium.


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An 'out of standard' Poem for the Weekend
- Photos and Poem Copyright, Jimmiehov 2018, All Rights Reserved (Photos are my "Print Screen" of Wikipedia, Public Domain, illustory photos from the article, Goldilocks and the Three Bears [link].) Goldilocks, a Fairy Tale, was published in 1837 by Robert Southey .)
- I'm linked with Isadora Gruye in the Imaginary Garden at http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2018/07/out-of-standard-fear-into-farce.html?m=1
Labels: Personal-Challenge-2018, Poem, Real Toads, Story, Syllabic Form


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Whether you're an LCC, FSC, or hybrid carrier, AirXperience will bring together airline executives who are focused on providing a superior customer experience regardless of the structure of their airline.
Improving customer touch points and providing entertainment to the passenger in all facets of the traveler's journey are crucial themes. Improving the overall air experience requires collaboration, and for this reason we are gathering the heads of customer and passenger experience at AirXperience.
Make sure you're there with the leaders of passenger experience this year to attend sessions on:
Get involved
If you'd like to become an exhibitor or sponsor at the event, contact
Michael Ryan on tel: +1 646 619 1787 or email@example.com


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I really have no desire to review this film – there's nothing I could say that hasn't been said already a thousand times over. I feel the need, instead, to convey my personal experience while watching the movie, and what it meant to me.
My love affair with Marilyn Monroe began years and years ago, when I was in my teens. I'd read an article by an author who'd given a possible take on the star's final hours from her own point of view, and her story kind of got inside me and never went away. I feel fiercely protective of her and her image to this day, and it is for that reason that I hesitated to even see this film. I love Michelle Williams (I'd even cast her in the film adaptation of my first book, if I could), and I could tell from the trailers that she did a good job being Marilyn – but would she do as well portraying Norma Jeane? I knew the tale was told from yet another man's perspective on the icon, and I was not at all sure that I wanted to see what he had to say. I wasn't sure I even cared.
When I found out that the film would soon be released on DVD and Blu-Ray, I decided that it would make the perfect first order through Rogers On Demand for me. I could watch it in the privacy of my own home, and it would be cheaper than seeing it in a theatre, anyway, just in case I wasn't happy with what I saw. But then I started thinking: Marilyn died a decade before I was born. I've only seen a handful of her films, and none of them on the big screen. It occured to me that this might be my first opportunity to sit in a dark theatre and see her larger than life – the way people saw her at the height of her career. Even knowing it wasn't really her, I was suddenly consumed by the desire to fall in love with Marilyn the way the rest of the world had at the time; the way she'd created herself to be seen – on the silver screen.
So, on easily the nicest day we've seen so far this year, I made my way through the sunshine and crowded streets to the small theatre near my apartment that I knew was still screening the film. I settled in with my popcorn and soda in the dark with about 5 other people, and waited for my experience to begin.
I admit to being a bit nervous, but for the most part, I was game to take the ride. The text that introduces the film claims that what we are about to watch is Colin and Marilyn's true story. "According to HIM," I thought with some bitterness, which I then swept aside to just watch.
My first impression of Michelle as Marilyn was one of vague acceptance. I could tell she wasn't Marilyn, but she had the curves and the moves down, and I figured I could live with it. We didn't see her again for awhile after that first glimpse, as Colin watched her on the big screen. We were instead wrapped up in his story of trying to find his own way in the world, and his desire to work on an actual motion picture set. I enjoyed watching him navigate his way into a world dominated by arrogant men and the women who held them up (I'm looking at you, Sir Lawrence Olivier), and found my excitement also reaching a fever pitch with the other characters as we grew nearer and nearer to the arrival of Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller in England to shoot what would become The Prince and The Showgirl.
The moment she appeared in the doorway of the plane – a scarf tied around her platinum blond hair and large dark glasses covering her wide blue eyes, the on-screen press went wild, and my tears welled up. I knew in that moment that I was no longer watching Michelle Williams, nor any other modern day actor portraying characters from the past. I'd been transported back in time, and was being given a rare glimpse into the world of my beloved Marilyn Monroe.
And from that moment on, I was in. I was there – in London, on set, in her dressing room, in her bedroom. I was horrified by how she was treated, I was terrified watching crowds swarm her any time she was out in public. I danced through the leaves barefoot in the sun with her, I teared as we sat in her loneliness, and I felt awkward nervousness almost overwhelm me every time we were on set.
"All anyone ever sees is 'Marilyn Monroe'…"
I watched as everyone around her continued to talk into her ear, telling her what to do and what to think. And not a one of them was listening to her. They gave her pills to control her every emotion and action – it's a wonder the woman was able to hold on to any sense of self whatsoever. When she explains to Paula that she doesn't understand how her character could be so dumb as to not realize that the Prince had only invited her there to sleep with her, she's simply told that she's the greatest actress who ever was, and it's left at that. She's basically told to use her assets – instead of acting – by the same man who would later quietly admit that she could light up the screen like no other, and her with no training nor education to boot.
"When Marilyn gets it right, you don't even want to look at anyone else."
Ain't that the truth.
There's a scene in Windsor Castle when Marilyn is looking with child-like glee at an enormous dollhouse, complete with a mini-family inside, which she immediately fantasizes to be Colin and herself. "Look how pretty our daughter is," she muses wistfully. "A little girl should be told every day that she's pretty, and always know how much her mother loves her." She also tells Colin that she grew up mostly in "other people's homes". Those brief, quiet moments were some of the saddest I've ever seen. I felt them right along with her – my own eyes filling with tears to match hers.
In one of her more chaotic, alcohol and pill-infused times, I was hit with the sudden realization that I was watching a woman drown. She was trying to hold herself together, but it was, perhaps, an impossible task. I'd always thought I could go back in time and listen to her and make her laugh and talk to her – really see her – and that that would somehow be enough to save her. I thought that if someone – anyone – could have made her feel loved, instead of just saying the words to her – that maybe the broken girl would heal and grow into a whole and complete woman, somehow. But maybe Marilyn couldn't be saved. In a world that would stare at her and not see her, judge her and not listen to her, rule her and not know her – maybe in the world that created her, there was no place for her to actually exist. Maybe no amount of my truth – nor anyone else's – would have been enough to allow her to find her own. Thank you, Michelle Williams, for finding and letting us see tiny pieces of her truth, at least. It means more to me than I know how to express.
"Should I be her?"
Watching that film, my emotions were all over the place. Some moments, my heart would swell with a thrilling happy pride and I would laugh out loud from the sheer joy of it. Others saw my heart pounding and shattering from the fruitlessness of it all. I know how that story actually ends, you see, and yet I couldn't help but root for a different outcome. Seeing Marilyn walk onto the set one last time to apologize to the cast and crew, and express a wish for them to remember that she'd tried her best – that one scene alone about destroyed me. The truth is, I just never wanted to say goodbye. Not to her.
As a movie, The Prince and the Showgirl didn't leave much of an impression on me, but I don't think I would ever pass up the chance to see Marilyn up on the big screen sometime – the way she was meant to be seen. Viewing Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in a dark theatre would almost be a dream come true, really. It's my very favourite, after all.
But, as far as My Week With Marilyn goes, I can honestly say this: By the time the final credits started to roll and the lights came up, it was all I could do to walk out of there without sobbing my broken-hearted tears for one of the world's original Lost Girls.
For that, too, I will always be thankful.


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O'FALLON, Ill. – An O'Fallon, Illinois man was jailed for attempted murder following a reported domestic disturbance.
According to O'Fallon police, officers were called to a residence in the 1700 block of W. Highway 50 on Wednesday for attempted homicide. Officers learned things stemmed from a domestic incident.
Police took Eric Harrington into custody in connection with the investigation.
On Thursday, the St. Clair County State's Attorney's Office charged Harrington with attempted murder, aggravated domestic battery, and interfering with reporting domestic violence. He remains jailed on a $200,000 bond.
The victim was taken to a local hospital and released. That individual is expected to make a full recovery.


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*would require a discussion before shipping
Behind glass
Known for her abstract paintings and her freestyle mixed media works, this particular painting of Carmel Madigan's is just begging to be placed on a wide, bright, contemporary space where its vivid colours can truly bounce. 'Love is in the Air', is the title of this painting and with such incredible vibrant reds used throughout, you can see why. Its definitely one of those pieces that grew organically and free-styled as it was being painted; in many ways, mimicking relationships that grow in the same organic way – making their way, hopefully, to a happy and colourful conclusion.
Superb in a home – or would look very striking in an entrance / reception area.