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Focal point
The largest point is at the boundary of your moyo and the opponent's moyo
Points of this type are often called focal points.[1] The idea is that on the boundary of Black's framework and White's framework, a play by Black will improve Black's framework and at the same time reduce or threaten White's framework.
Therefore these points are big because they are double-purpose plays. They are often played in the opening as secondary big points (and are frequently the solution to whole-board problems with quiet positions).
See Strong Groups for an example and discussion.
Game played 1927-11-25: Go Seigen as Black played at 1 in reply to the marked white stone blocking off the side. This is considered both excellent timing, and a clear-sighted focal play (Black has no need to invade on the right).
Quite a move for a thirteen-year-old to come up with. Go Seigen was still in China at the time.
[1] Comment: That seems strange to me. There is nothing focal about such points. They are not at any focus, but at the frontier between moyos. I would call them frontier points or boundary points.
-- Bill
Charles Actually, as I now realise, such parts of the board should have many sector lines converging on them; in that sense they are focal or nodal.
Bill: (Much later.) I have found a term I like better, contact point (of two moyo). And I do not think that such points have sector lines converging on them. The example certainly does not.
Bruce Wilcox I prefer the term "pivot point" as they are a fulcrum, shifting the balance of growth and withering of two moyos.
Patrick Traill (2019-03-12): Perhaps the idea is that they are where conflict is focussed? Chambers Dictionary gives the point or region of greatest activity or interest for focus, and this seems to be closest to the Latin meaning of hearth. (This sense is lacking in Wiktionary.) Surprisingly an older, historically ordered edition of Chambers does not give this as the first sense and my OED is too deeply buried for now.
See also:


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- Did you mean
- wooster ag facilities consisted research farm
Search results
Farm Science Review 2020: Online and free
Alayna DeMartini COLUMBUS, Ohio—Farm Science Review will come to you on your laptop or smartphone ... this year, and for free, you can watch livestreamed talks and recorded videos featuring the latest farm ... equipment and research to pique your curiosity. From Sept. 22–24, people from across the Midwest and the ...
CFAES gains a big new partner for improving soil health and water quality
implement the practices, and are doing on-farm research on the practices' costs, effectiveness, and ... benefits. The goal is to boost soil health, improve Lake Erie's water quality, and keep the region's farms ... algal blooms are plaguing the lake, and because farm-field phosphorus runoff is the primary driver of ...
Alumni in the News August
-goodwill#!#transmision Lloyd Smith https://delphosherald.com/Content/Social/Social/Article/Ag ... https://www.urbanacitizen.com/news/76901/urbana-ffa-attends-ffa-camp-muskingum Meghann Winters https://www.ocj.com/2020/07/ohios-country-journal-ohio-ag-net-podcast-ep-163-matt ... Zachrich https://advertiser-tribune.com/news/267069/osu-farm-science-review-to-happen-virtually-this-year/ ...
Great Lakes Producers Network Podcast
Ivey, The Ohio State Universit-Wooster Campus and Dr. Amanda Deering, Purdue University. ...
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EXTERNAL customers For programming hosted by external clients who want to use our CFAES facilities (Wooster ... Campus conference center, Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, any of the agricultural research ... will be starting a new job as a graduate research associate for the Department of Agricultural ...
GAPs Training Webinar
GAPs. GAPs trainings provide growers with the knowledge and tools needed to implement on farm best management practices ... to reduce food safety hazards and the risk of on-farm produce contamination. Participants will ...
GAPs Training Webinar
GAPs. GAPs trainings provide growers with the knowledge and tools needed to implement on farm best management practices ... to reduce food safety hazards and the risk of on-farm produce contamination. Participants will ...
Farm Science Review to do what it's never done before
For the first time in its nearly 60-year history, CFAES' Farm Science Review trade show, ... vice president for agricultural administration and dean of CFAES. "Throughout its history, the Farm ...
Dean's Updates
Process July 20: Dean's Update July 14: Farm Science Review to be Held Virtually; July 14: ... ATTACHMENT-Farm Science Review Press Release-7/14/20; July 14: ATTACHMENT-FSRTalkingPoints7/14/2020 July 8: Dean's ... Update FAQs March March 30: Research Update March 27: Dean's Update March 25: Associate Dean for ...

subset: commoncrawl


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"It's a proof of principle," said Dr. Lawrence Chan, professor of medicine and molecular and cellular biology as well as chief of the division of diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism at the College. "The exciting part of it is that mice with diabetes are 'cured.' "
In the research, which is described in a report in Nature Medicine's online edition today, Chan and his colleagues used the NeuroD gene, a transcription factor that induces the liver to produce cells that make insulin and the three hormones associated with the pancreas' endocrine system.
The gene was attached to a so-called "gutless" adenovirus from which all toxic genes had been removed. This viral vector is a very efficient way to introduce genes into liver cells. Alone, NeuroD partially corrected the disease in the diabetic mice. Combined with a beta cell growth factor called Btc, the gene therapy complete cured the mice's diabetes for at least four months.
An added benefit is that the cells in the liver also produce glucagon, somostatin and pancreatic polypeptide, which may play a role in controlling insulin production and release.
"Until now it has not been possible to induce the formation of islets by any gene therapy approach," said Chan.
It does not mean that the treatment can be used in people immediately.
"It's farther from people than I would like," he said. He knows of no stumbling blocks to its effectiveness in people.
The main stumbling block is the vector or virus used to take the gene into the cells. Chan and his colleagues used the safest viral vector available today, but he expects even safer ones to be available within the decade.
"We want to use the safest vector possible," he said.
The treatment has advantages over transplant of islet cells, the insulin producers in the pancreas, because it avoids the lifelong use of powerful immunosuppressive drugs and eliminates the need to find a compatible donor.
Chan credits one of his postdoctoral students, Dr. Hideto Kojima, with much of the work in developing this protocol.


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To help kids understand what is happening with flooding in the Minot area, I am posting the following story from a booklet produced by FEMA. The story is titled "The River Rises." At the bottom of this post is a link to download the entire booklet, which includes information on tornados, blizzards and other natural disasters.
The River Rises
"Is it ever going to stop raining, Grandma?" she asked. It had been raining hard for three days. "This was supposed to be a vacation."
"I hope it ends soon," Grandma said. "I don't know if the Acorn River can take much more."
Grandma looked worried. Most of the time, the Acorn River was a nice, slow river, lazy as a cat in the sunshine. Now it was full and raging.
"But Grandma," Robbie said. "we're pretty far from the river."
"You're probably right," she said. She didn't want to seem worried in front of the children. "Are you ready for lunch?"
The twins went into the kitchen to help Grandma make tuna and grilled cheese sandwiches.
But still the rain fell, even past dinner.
That night the weatherman on the television was serious. Usually he wore a funny tie and made jokes. He didn't joke now.
"The river is approaching flood stage," he said. "The Army Corps of Engineers is sandbagging along the shore."
"Oh dear," said Grandma and she started to rub her hands together, which she did when she was really worried.
"Is that bad?" Julia asked. "What does sandbagging mean?"
"I know," shouted Robbie. He was always trying to prove he was smarter than his twin. "It means putting sand in bags!"
Julia scowled. "I knew that! But why?"
Robbie started to answer but no words came out of his mouth. Finally, he said, "I don't know why."
Both Grandma and Julia laughed because Robbie looked like a funny fish with his mouth opening and closing. When she stopped laughing, Grandma told them the sandbags would be stacked along the river to keep the water from flowing into the town.
"Then we'll be safe," said Julia hopefully.
"Probably," said Grandma. "But we need to be prepared. This area flooded many years ago, when I was a little girl."
"What should we do?" Julia asked.
Grandma said, "The water can rise very fast in a flash flood. We need to be ready to evacuate, just in case."
Julia and Robbie looked at each other. This was serious.
"We'll help," Julia said. She definitely didn't want to be swept away. The thought made her shiver.
"Pack a suitcase with things for a few days," said Grandma.
The twins went into their rooms and packed clothes and shoes. They didn't forget their toothbrushes.
"Can I bring some toys?" Julia asked.
"By all means," said Grandma.
Grandma packed a suitcase, too. In addition to clothes, she made sure she had important papers, jewelry and heirlooms like her wedding album and an antique quilt.
Soon they were done. Then Grandma instructed Julia and Robbie to gather flashlights, batteries, a first aid kit, a battery-powered radio, canned food and a can opener. Grandma also found the small cook stove in the camping gear, and then she did something funny.
"Grandma!" Julia shouted. "What are you doing?"
She was filling empty plastic soda bottles with water from the tap and putting them in a cooler.
"It's important that we have a supply of water," she said. "We don't know what may happen."
Their supplies formed a small pile in the living room. Grandma turned on the radio so they could hear important news.
"Now get some sleep," Grandma said.
Julia and Robbie thought they would have trouble sleeping, but they were so tired from gathering all the disaster supplies that they fell fast asleep. Grandma woke them up at dawn.
"It's time to go," Grandma said. "We're being asked to evacuate."
Julia and Robbie were scared and excited at the same time.
Grandma put their suitcases and disaster supplies in the car. She had the twins' dog, Skipper, on a leash and extra food for him. They all got in and Grandma drove out of the driveway. Other families were doing the same thing.
It was still raining.
"I don't see anything," said Julia. "Where's the water?"
"It's still far away, but it's spilling over the sandbags," Grandma said. "But not to worry. We evacuated in time. Sometimes people wait. That's not smart. Even six inches of water can sweep a car away."
Grandma had grown up along the river. She knew all about flood safety.
"We're going to go into the next town," she said. "There's a Red Cross shelter there. We'll stay there for a few days until the water recedes."
"And Skipper, too?" Julia asked.
"I've made arrangements for Skipper," said Grandma. "He can't stay at the shelter, but there's a nice kennel in Porterville where he can stay until we can take him home."
"But what about the house?" Julia asked. She was almost in tears. "What about your nice house?"
Grandma stopped at a red light.
"Don't cry, honey," she said. "I have all the important things with me – you two and Skipper and my heirlooms and papers. I don't keep important things in the basement because it might flood. And my utility box is upstairs, away from the water."
"You're great, Grandma," said Robbie. "You know everything."
"I even have flood insurance," she said, with a smile.
Grandma drove for a while, leaving the river far behind. Then she turned the car into the twin's favorite diner.
"Anybody ready for breakfast?" she asked.
The twins didn't have to be asked twice. They could almost taste the pancakes now. And then Julia realized something.
"It stopped raining," she said. "Finally!"
To download the booklet, click on the following link: http://legacy.grandforksherald.com/pdfs/FEMA%20juliarobbie2.pdf
For more information on the flooding in Minot, visit www.grandforksherald.com


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I promised I would show you what I did with the rest of that little, worn out sweater that once belonged to Miss H.
I don't normally decorate with a lot of blue. I wear it all of the time, so its not that I dislike the color. Its just not seen in my home decor much. I couldn't let the rest of that sweater go to waste. Waste not, want not. Here's what I started with...
The pillow had been given to me years ago. Another thing being stored in my laundry room cabinets. Hmmm, Pinterest seems to be helping me clean those guys out. Hip, hip, hurray for small miracles. Maybe I can talk Mr. Shawn into redoing it this weekend?
Teresa! Hello, you are getting side tracked. Who me? Okay
The sleeves were used for these little guys.
You can see how I did that here.
I'm liking these little projects. My frugal side has been very pleased. Let's break it down, shall we?
Cozy candle holders = $0
Pillow makeover = $0
0+0= happy me :)


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Putney's Joe Salisbury says he is looking forward to playing with his doubles partner Rajeev Ram at Wimbledon after an amazing week at the Queen's Club and Fever-Tree Championships in West Kensington, writes Ziad Chaudry.
Unfortunately the British-American pairing just fell short of claiming the ATP 500 classified doubles title losing to the stand out pairing of Feliciano López, who earlier bagged the singles title after overcoming Frenchman Gilles Simon, and former Wandsworth resident three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray 10-5 in a tie-break shoot out.
And Salisbury, who has won one doubles title this year and currently ranked 24 in the ATP World Doubles listings, admits it was no shame losing to López and comeback king Murray.
"To get to the final and play against Feli and Andy was an amazing experience," said the 27-year-old.
"They were a bit too good so congratulations to these guys."
In his first appearance at the prestigious Queen Club Wimbledon pre-warmer, Salisbury, who began playing tennis at The Roehampton Club nearby Rosslyn Park Rugby Club, and his partner in crime defeated multi-grand slam champions the Bryan brothers in getting into his 'dream' Queens Club final in which he regards as one of the best tournaments in the world.
"It's one of the best tournaments in the world'" he continued.
"So it's been an amazing week just to play here.
"We've had a great week here and played some really good tennis. Obviously we are a bit disappointed but we'll look back and realise that we played well. We are both looking forward to played at Wimbledon."


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Many people suffer from knee pain these days, and regardless if it is caused by an injury, arthritis, over-use, or the process of aging, it can be extremely excruciating, and traumatic.
The most common treatment for knee pain includes NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), but there are numerous highly effective natural ways to relieve it in a safe way.
These drugs, like Aleve, Advil, and Tylenol, have been linked to:
- Increased risk of stroke
- Heart disease, heart attacks, and coronary artery disease
- Ulcers, dyspepsia, and gastrointestinal complications
Therefore, these painkillers cause severe long-term risks, so make sure you avoid them as long as possible.
If your pain has become chronic, you should deal with it by exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, drinking plenty of water, and use some natural remedies.
These are six extremely effective natural knee pain remedies:
- White Willow Bark
This is a very old herbal remedy, used in ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, and by the Indians, and it miraculously soothes pain and inflammation. However, it should be avoided in the case of renal disorders, ulcers, and uncontrolled diabetes.
- 1 teaspoon white willow bark
- 1 cup of water
Boil the water and add the bark. Leave it for 10 minutes, and then strain the tea. Drink it while hot every day, but you should have no more than 240 mg daily.
- Turmeric and Ginger Tea
Ginger and turmeric have powerful anti-inflammatory properties, treat swellings due to joint injuries and arthritis, and soothe the pain.
- 1 1/2 tablespoons turmeric (fresh, grated)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of ginger (fresh, grated)
- 1 cup of water
- raw honey to taste
Add the ginger and turmeric to the water, and boil them. After 10 minutes, strain the mixture, add honey to sweeten it, and drink while hot every day.
- Cayenne Pepper Oil
The main ingredient in cayenne pepper oil is capsaicin, which has powerful analgesic effects that relieve pain. Researchers have found that the application of capsaicin in a cream form with 10% concentration relieved pain for up to 18 weeks!
You should combine it with some carrier oil or dissolve it to avoid irritations due to the hot sensation it creates.
- 5-10 drops cayenne pepper oil
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
Mix the oils, and rub the mixture on the knee, and leave it to act for 5 minutes. Then, wash it off and repeat daily.
- Ginger Oil
The findings of a 2007 study indicate that a ginger oil massage for seniors with knee pain treated their pain and reduces the stiffness.
- 5-10 drops ginger oil
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
Just combine the oils and massage the painful area. Leave the mixture to act for half an hour and wash it off. Repeat once a week.
- Eucalyptus and Peppermint Oils
Eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils are abundant in menthol, which activates "cool receptors" and thus soothes pain and creates a potent analgesic effect.
- 5 drops eucalyptus oil
- 5 drops peppermint oil
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
Mix the ingredients, and use the combination to massage the painful knee, Leave it to act for half an hour. To boost the effects, apply an ice pack while resting.
- Juniper Berry Tea
This herbal treatment has been commonly used as an effective remedy in the case of rheumatoid arthritis. Yet, note that it should be avoided during pregnancy.
- 1 tablespoon dried juniper berries
- 1 cup water
- honey
Boil the water and add the dried berries. Then, leave them to soak for 15 minutes, and strain the tea. Sweeten with honey, and drink while warm every day.
Furthermore, despite using these beneficial natural knee-healing herbs, to support the healthy function of your knees, make sure you always wear comfortable and supportive shoes, make knee exercises regularly, rest the painful knee, and keep the body properly hydrated.
Source: theheartysoul.com


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By David Ponce
Every now and then, we get a nice tip from one of our readers. In this case it comes from Bruce Perchman, Tech Reporter for Good Morning San Diego and owner of the MrBicep website. You should really pay it a visit to understand why it's a fitting name. Well, turns out Bruce recently went to the Global Pet Expo held this year in San Diego, and decided to give OhGizmo the exclusive on a few of the things there. This event was not open to the public, just buyers, manufacturers, and press.
Yeah, we're not talking high tech here. But, we all got some pet or other. If you don't… where's your heart, man? And a few of these things are worth at least a couple chuckles.
So, out here I'm telling you about one, and you can come inside for a bunch more.
The picture right here, below, as described by Bruce himself:
Buff out Buffy with ?Muscle Dog? supplement By TRM.
This low-tech natural feed supplement is used to promote optimum muscle development in dogs and is highly recommended by The Muscleman of Technology. HooRah!
Allright, so the next item.
Staywell Infra-Red Dog Door
Hey, you have a remote for your garage door. Why shouldn?t fluffy have access to his pet door the same way transmitted via a collar embedded with an IR digital code key!
iPod & Blackberry Chew Toy for dogs
If you hate these devices, here is your chance for revenge!
Flexi-Dog?the Posable Timer & Clock
Alarm-clock with time and date in dog & cat shape, with bendable legs and memory plastic.
Digi-Lab?s TSS Digital Handheld Aquarium Water Tester
Laboratory grade precision accuracy allows you to instantly test for temperature, salinity, & specific gravity of your aquarium water.
Aquatica Gallery Aquarium (Winner of Best In Show Award at GPE)
These finely crafted ?Living Picture Wall-Mounting Aquariums? are just beautiful and amazing to see in person?bet your flat screen TV can?t do this! Visit them at Aquaticgallery
Osama Stuff it Scoops
Feed Osama what he deserves?who says Osama isn?t eating Sh_T.
And finally, a picture of MrBicep himself, Bruce Perchman, Technology Reporter for Good Morning San Diego. Thanks Bruce!


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Alive is an animated short that released on the official PlayStation channel on April 3, 2016.
"Alive" weaves a tale of Widowmaker, the fearless Talon assassin who stalks her prey with deadly efficiency. In this episode, we spend a fateful night in London's King's Row—where you'll discover how one death can change everything.
Video Transcript
[Open on a shot of a black widow's web in a vent. King's Row can be seen out the vent behind it.]
Widowmaker: [voiceover] When I was a girl, I had a fear of spiders.
[Pan forward to outside the vent. A security guard walks past the camera.]
Widowmaker: [voiceover] I was told they felt no emotion..
[The security guard is knocked out, and falls in front of the camera.]
Widowmaker: [voiceover] ..that their hearts never beat.
[Widowmaker walks into frame, though only her legs are in frame. She pauses for a moment and continues walking.]
Widowmaker: [voiceover] But I know the truth.
[Cut to a mixed crowd of humans and Omnics. They are chanting Tekhartha Mondatta's name and holding signs in support of him. As the camera pans through the crowd, a little girl notices Tracer and tries to alert her mother. They are gathered around a podium with Shambali banners on either side.]
[Cut to behind the stage. An Omnic adjusts Mondatta's outfit and steps to the side. Mondatta's human escort checks his earpiece, then gestures to the crowd. Mondatta walks out to the podium, hands behind his back. The audience cheers, then falls silent. Tracer moves to get a better view of him.]
Mondatta: Human. Machine. We are all one within the Iris.
[The crowd cheers.]
Mondatta: Before me I see a future. Humans and Omnics standing together. United by compassion, by common hopes and dreams.
[As Mondatta speaks, Tracer notices Mondatta's escort getting a message on his earpiece, then surveying the rooftops. Suspicious, she leaves the crowd.]
[Cut to the rooftops. Several security guards patrol the area, armed with rifles. One stops to listen to his earpiece. Widowmaker distracts him by firing her Grappling Hook at a chimney, then runs at him and chokes him with the cord. As he's down, she hits him with the butt of her Widow's Kiss.]
[Widowmaker drops off the edge of the roof, suspending herself upside down with her hook's cord wrapped around one leg. She scopes in and aims at Mondatta, but notices blue flashes in her peripheral vision. Tracer appears, firing her Pulse Pistols. Widowmaker fires back, and crashes through a window. She stops to pull in her grappling hook. Tracer lands on a ledge opposite the window.]
Tracer: Trying to crash another party, love?
[Tracer begins firing and jumps into the window. Widowmaker grapples up the stairwell, kicking Tracer on her way up, then firing in all directions as she spins. Tracer Blinks up the stairs after her, chasing her onto the roof. She takes cover as Widowmaker stops to continue firing.]
Tracer: [into a microphone on her wrist] Mondatta's in danger! Shooter on the roof! I repeat, shooter on the roof!
[Cut to Mondatta's escort, listening to Tracer through his earpiece.]
Escort: This is a secured channel, no one's auth-
Tracer: Mondatta's in danger! Get him out of here!
Escort: Identify yourself, immediately.
[The muffled sound of gunshots echoes through the escort's earpiece.]
Escort: All rooftop teams: check and clear. Halo is leaving, I repeat, Halo is leaving.
[The escort approaches Mondatta mid-speech]
Escort: Sir, there's been a breach. We need to leave now. [into his earpiece] Chariot, this is Team 1. Halo is coming in hot. Over.
[Mondatta and his escort leave into the crowd. Cut back to Widowmaker, who fires at Tracer then jumps off the roof. Tracer leaps out from behind cover to find Widowmaker gone.]
Tracer: Huh?
[Cut to Widowmaker, using her grappling hook to land on top of security guard. She rolls into another and knocks him down with a kick to his feet. She sprints and jumps onto another guard on another rooftop, firing behind her the whole time. She shoots down another guard while kicking one in the teeth. She then turns to fire back at more guards.]
[Widowmaker turns on her Infra-Sight, locating Mondatta as he is ushered through the crowd. She jumps across more rooftops, now pursued by Tracer. She plants a Venom Mine behind a chimney, which Tracer slides past and activates. She gets caught in its fumes and falls to the ground, coughing. Widowmaker stands on top of her, pointing her rifle at her face.]
Widowmaker: Such a sweet, foolish girl.
[Tracer Recalls, making the jump again, this time blinking across.]
Tracer: What's that?
[Tracer fires at a pipe next to Widowmaker, spewing steam everywhere. Briefly cut to Mondatta, about to enter his limousine. Cut back to Tracer, who throws a Pulse Bomb at Widowmaker. She shoots it out of the air, knocking Tracer off the roof. Mondatta turns and sees Tracer in midair. The crowd gasps.]
[Widowmaker jumps after Tracer, aiming at her chronal accelerator in midair. She fires, and as the bullet approaches Tracer, she recalls. The bullet instead goes directly between Mondatta's eyes. The crowd is shocked as Mondatta's head lights go dim.]
[Widowmaker and Tracer land on a roof nearby. Tracer checks herself for wounds, and, finding none, looks at Widowmaker, dumbfounded.]
Widowmaker: Looks like the party is over.
[Tracer runs to the edge of the rooftop, looking down upon the panicking crowd and Mondatta's body. She says "no" repeatedly in disbelief. Now enraged, she blinks at Widowmaker, pinning her over the edge of a roof. Widowmaker fires a grappling hook to slow their roll.]
Tracer: Why?! Why would you do this?
[Widowmaker laughs condescendingly as a Talon ship lands behind Tracer. As she is distracted, Widowmaker grabs her by the collar.]
Widowmaker: Adieu, chérie. ("Goodbye, darling.")
[Widowmaker pulls Tracer off the edge, smashing Tracer against the building's wall with her feet. Tracer falls to the ground with a damaged chronal accelerator. Widowmaker pulls herself back up with her grappling hook, then picks up her rifle and walks into the ship.]
Widowmaker: [voiceover] When I was a girl, I had a fear of spiders. I was told that they felt no emotion..
[Cut to the ship flying away from King's Row. Widowmaker stares back at the city as the bay doors close.]
Widowmaker: ..that their hearts never beat. But I know the truth. At the moment of the kill...
[The bay doors close, leaving Widowmaker in complete darkness.]
Widowmaker: They are never more alive.
[Cut to the Overwatch logo.]
|Overwatch Animated Shorts and other videos
|Recall • Alive • Dragons • Hero • The Last Bastion • Infiltration • Rise and Shine • Honor and Glory • Shooting Star • Reunion
|Minor shorts
|Cinematic Trailer • We Are Overwatch • Are You With Us? • Junkertown: The Plan
|Origin Stories
|Soldier: 76 • Ana • Sombra • Orisa • King's Row Uprising • Doomfist • Moira • Brigitte • Wrecking Ball • Ashe • Baptiste • Sigma • Echo
|A Moment in Crime Special Report: "The Junkers"


text:
Art, August, Autumn, Cheap, Copy, Decor, Digital, DIY, Easy, Feature, Free, free printables, Freebie, Harvest, holiday, Inexpensive, Monthly, Paper Poppies And Paisleys, Pinterest, Printable, Printables, Re-Do, Spruce Up, Subway Art, Summer
YAY … no holidays this month. Let me know if you have something you'd like me to include.
If I featured your post, please grab an "I've Been Featured" button and display it proudly on your blog.

I am still looking for one more printable for August. If you have one that would work or know where I can find one, please leave the link in a comment. Thank you so much. 🙂
PLEASE TAKE ONE SECOND TO VOTE FOR ME!!! All you need to do is click on the banner in the sidebar to the right to register a vote for me! You can vote one time every 24 hours from every computer and cell phone! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! I really appreciate your support!
Don't forget to find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Until next time, this has been a real housewife in Houston moment.


text:
Gardening is no longer the same as it used to be. Today gardeners have an access to a wide range of out of the box designs to decorate their garden. No wonder, gardens are acquiring enchanting new looks by the day. Wall art is an exciting new concept which brings alive the walls of your garden as well as patios. Sculpted with perfection, these decorative items have creativity written all over them.
It sounds like a Pink Floyd album and just like it, is capable of creating a mesmerizing appeal in your garden. 'Circles' are a tribute to mother earth and adds a rustic charm to your walls. You have an option of hanging the wall art in any orientation you like which creates a panoramic effect in your garden. So, go ahead and create a circle of life for your walls!
It is a signature of success. Its unique design creates a surreal appeal for the yes. An amalgamation process lends it unique coloration and makes it soothing for the eyes. The natural curves of the wall art will blend perfectly with your walls and stamp its authority. So, lend a voice to your walls with this magnificent piece of art.
There are various other categories of wall art to choose from. These decorative items have managed to break the mould and are opening up new possibilities. Modern wall art and other garden accessories are available online and are delivered using safe shipping options. The careful use of glass, steel and other objects ensure a surreal appeal for the wall decorative items. Go ahead and embrace the change!


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WBDC Connect & Celebrate: Milwaukee
Name: WBDC Connect & Celebrate: Milwaukee
Date: July 31, 2018
Time: 1:30 PM - 6:30 PM CDT
Website: https://bit.ly/2K9HdhH
Event Description:
Please join the Women's Business Development Center for WBDC Connect & Celebrate: Milwaukee, this year's signature capacity building event in the greater Milwaukee area. Come to explore opportunities with procurement representatives, hear an insightful procurement panel, and network with other leading women entrepreneurs as well as WBDC corporate, government, and community partners! The WBDC provides WBE certification, capacity building, and procurement services in nine states in the Midwest, including Wisconsin. Women business owners throughout Wisconsin interested in learning more about these services are encouraged to attend.


text: Take one of our swivel stools for a spin in your home. With features like adjustable seats, metallic finishes and modern designs, they're a fun addition for office spaces, kitchens and more. In particular, we have a fantastic range of swivel bar stools from the likes of Machinist and Kokoon, some of which come complete with a matching high-top bar. We also have a huge selection of other stools ranging from café stools to kids stools which you may find use of too.


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Modular Behavior Tree Node Reference
This section contains reference information on modular behavior tree (MBT) node types. MBT node types are organized here based on the system they are defined into.
It is possible to expose MBT nodes from anywhere in Lumberyard code. A node can have
that configure the behavior of its execution. If an invalid value is passed to the
causing the node's parsing to fail, an error message is written to either
Editor.log or


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Words: 494
Time to read: ~ 3 minutes
A conversation…
…popped up in chat about
JOINs based on the following table samples.
The premise…
…was that you had to join both Table2 and Table3 to Table 1.
The catch…
…was you had to return all of Table1's contents but only the contents of Table2 and Table3 where they match.
This meant that a composite join, a
LEFT JOIN with multiple
ANDs wasn't going to cut it…
The Standards…
…were quickly brought out, with the use of a CTE and a derived table (which is kinda the same thing)
A Wild Right Join appeared…
…that worked as well which is strange since I've never seen a
RIGHT JOIN used in real life before apart from in Reporting.
That was it…
…until someone mentioned…
that'd be awesome if i can inner join two other tables instead of the table mentioned after FROM keyword
That sparked a memory from a random chapter in an Itzik Ben-Gan book I read about the use of parentheses in Joins to coerce the optimizer into which joins to evaluate first.
I couldn't find a mention of it online but the closest I could get to was this link. (Warning, the links in this article are broken so you can't see it in action)
However, now that it was in my head, I couldn't help but show off 🙂
Asker: that'd be awesome if i can inner join two other tables instead of the table mentioned after FROM keyword
Me: …wait, what?
A: He's asking
t1 left join t12
t1 left join t13
t12 inner join t13
M: em…it's possible but it's…iffy
A: i wanna learn it.
do your magic
As far as I can tell…
… it's a hybrid of a
FROM clause and a
Derived Table where we self contain it.
Instead of giving the derived table an alias, we just create an
ON clause that links it back to our original
FROM table and it works.
This makes the optimizer evaluate inside the brackets first and then join that result back to Table1.
Funnily enough, although the statistics are the exact same as the derived table and CTE, the plan is different. This plan is actually simpler than the derived table/CTE which seems to need a "compute scalar" to extract the
SELECT statement.
Black Magic…
I've never seen it used in the wild and I'm not sure when you would use it. It seems to suggest if you need it that there's something strange with your query. Still, it's nice to know that it's there.
Thanks Itzik, you made me seem smarter than I am. I appreciate that 😀


text:
Few people are unfamiliar with that scene in the Wizard of Oz where the Great and Powerful Oz finally leaves Oz in a hot air balloon, soaring over everyone's heads into the sky. Many a child has conjured up images in his mind of the sensation of lifting off into the air, the gentle but powerful feeling of being swept along with the wind, and of course, the amazing views sprawled out beneath.
What better place to experience all that and more than Far North Queensland, where the most amazing landscapes stretch as far as the eye can see? Embark on your hot air balloon adventure in Mareeba, a little town on the Atherton Tableland, part of the majestic Great Dividing Range.
As the balloon gently rises from the ground, lifts off, floats dreamily skyward and finally confidently takes flight, climbing over the undulating folds of the mountain range in the crisp morning air, drink in the sights with a heart full of wonder.
The Great Dividing Range, which stretches out beneath the hot air balloon, is a patchwork of mountain ranges, highlands, lowlands and plateaus such as the Atherton Tableland. The Great Dividing Range stretches from Queensland in the Northeast all the way to Victoria in the Southeast portion of Australia. Watch as coursing rivers turn into little rivulets from your vantage point up in the air, and wild mountain ranges lie silently below, the only witnesses to the brightly coloured balloon gliding serenely overhead.
Cairns Tours is your one stop shop for the best and most affordable Cairns day tours. We have the widest range of Rainforest tours, Kuranda day tours, Cape Tribulation tours and much, much, more!


text:
Research and its Application in Applied Behavioral Analysis
This content was COPIED from BrainMass.com - View the original, and get the already-completed solution here!
Discuss how research is an effective tool for the ABA professional working in a setting.
Describe the different types of data collection strategies that can be used to take data on behavior modification programs. Also discuss inter-observer and procedural reliability.© BrainMass Inc. brainmass.com June 4, 2020, 3:58 am ad1c9bdddf
Solution Preview
Dear Student,
Hi and thank you for using Brainmass. The solution below should get you started. In this particular task, you are being asked to explore the applicability of ABA (which I take to be Applied Behavioral Analysis due to the context of the problem you presented). I suggest using this simple outline to answer this problem:
1. ON ABA - overview
2. Application on research based on settings - 100 words
3. Types of data used on behavior modification - 100 words
4. Issues in reliability - 100 words
This outline should yield around 400 words which should cover what you need. Just let me know via the feedback section if you need further clarification. All the best with your studies.
AE 105878/Xenia Jones
On Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is the use of behavior analysis. This is the science of behavior observation and exploration in which experts like John Watson and BF Skinner proposed that to understand behavior - it is better to focus on behavior itself - what is observable and what can be seen instead of the unobservable - that is, postulating what is going in 'inside the mind'. Experts in this field focus on 2 key areas and concern themselves with specific elements as expressed by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (n.d.) -
"It has two main branches: experimental and applied behavior analysis...professionals in applied behavior analysis engage in the specific and comprehensive use of principles of learning, including operant and respondent conditioning, in order to address behavioral needs of widely varying individuals in diverse settings. Examples of these applications include: building the skills and achievements of children in school settings; enhancing the development, abilities, and choices of children and adults with different kinds of disabilities; and augmenting the performance and satisfaction of employees in organizations and ...
Solution Summary
The solution provides information, assistance and advise in tacking the task (see above) on the topic of the applicability of ABA in research and practice. An outline is suggested and resources are listed for further exploration of the topic.


text:
A spectacular uncommon pure white form of Cardinal flower, flowers August through September, basal rosette of 1-4 inch leaves all year, short-lived perennial that forms rosettes of new plants from the base, does well along ditches or streams, does not tolerate being completely covered by leaves or mulch all winter, will self sow in favorable conditions, clay tolerant, attracts butterflies and hummingbirds, a good rain garden plant. Gray's Manual of Botany refers to this as forma alba, but that name is no longer used.
2-5 foot tall
Plant Hardiness Zones: 2a-9b
Deer Resistant
Native range: NB, s. ON, MN, & NB, south to FL, TX, s. CA & into Mexico. Rare in FL & NY
Germination - Moderately Difficult: Cold Stratify 6 weeks. Tiny seed. Surface sow (note: seeds will produce some Red, some White flowers with Pink bases, but mostly Pure White flowers)
Review or Finalize Your Order


text:
Acharya Vinoba Bhave
| Help | Contact | "Maitri" Magazine |
Vinoba On The 'Talks On The Gita'
It was a period of intense agitation of 1932. Many patriots and saintly men were gathered together in the Dhule jail. The jail life is marked with excitement and uncertainty. Nobody would have thought then that these talks delivered in the jail would reach the whole nation through all of its languages. But, ultimately, what happens is what the Lord wills. I or Sane Guruji, who wrote down these talks could have been shifted to another jail, as some of the inmates were. But this did not happen, and the talks could be through.
'Talks on the Gita' should be carefully read and assimilated. Its style is not that of the scriptures; it is for the general public. There are instances of repetition also. Like a singer I have harped again and again on the tune that I like most. In fact, I had no idea that these talks could ever be published. Had a man of pure heart like Sane Guruji who could do 'short-hand' writing in long hand were not there, these talks could have remained confined to the speaker and the listeners. And for me, that was enough. It was for my own sake that I delivered these talks; for me, it was like reciting the sacred Name of the Lord. What actually happened was beyond imagination. That is why one feels that it was His will.
Bhagavad-Gita was told in the battlefield; and that is why it is something different and no other treatise can match her. The Lord Himself told the Gita again, which is known as the Anugita. But it is a pale shadow of the original. My writings and talks on the Gita elsewhere would not have the magic touch that these 'Talks' have, as these were delivered in jail, which, for us, was a battlefield, before the soldiers in the freedom struggle. Those who heard these talks can never forget those moments. The atmosphere of the jail at that time was charged with a spiritual élan.
It is a matter of satisfaction for me that, by the grace of God, these talks on the Gita are proving to be of great use to social workers and spiritual seekers in purifying their minds. There are individuals who have read them hundreds of times. When selfless workers derive inspiration from these talks, that enhances their potency. Thousands have thus derived strength from these talks and have, in turn, contributed to the enhancement of their potency.
As this book became a vehicle for the Bhoodan (land-gift) movement, it was translated into all the Indian languages and thousands of its copies reached the people. This book has brought about revolutionary changes. Wherever it has reached, it has been instrumental in removing the veil of ignorance and delusions.
I cannot describe in words the state of my being while delivering these talks. If it could be assumed that God does speak at times through human beings, then these are such words. While delivering these talks, I had no awareness that 'I am talking' and the listeners too did not feel that it was Vinoba who was talking. The individual delivering the talks was merely instrumental. Both the speaker and the listeners felt that some different power was speaking through his lips.
It was God's grace that I could have an opportunity to offer this humble service to the Gita. The place of the Gita in my life is unique. She is always there to help me in need. I have strived in these talks to explain the meaning of the Gita as I have understood it.
Here, I have not concerned myself with the literal meaning of the verses; rather, there is reflection on the essence of every Chapter. The use of scientific terminology has been kept to the minimum even while retaining the scientific approach. You will not find herein any academic discourse unrelated to life. I am confident that even ordinary labourers could find solace and peace herein.
Wherever these talks have reached, they have motivated people to purify their minds and transform their lives. I would like to see them being read, heard and reflected upon in every home.
The 'Talks on the Gita' is the story of my life, and it is also my message.
* Vinoba Bhave Janmasthan Pratishtan *
* Mumbai Sarvoday Mandal *
ADDRESS: Shantashram, 299, Javji Dadaji Rd, Nana Chowk, Mumbai 400 007. INDIA.
Please contact us


text:
As a social security retirement income specialist, one of the areas I end up having to address on a surprisingly regular basis is social security disability income (SSDI) benefits. I have blogged on this topic previously but with this October being "National Disability Employment Awareness Month" I thought it would be worthwhile to highlight some of the little known programs and benefits available through the social security disability system.
Before I begin I think it's important to state that the social security disability program is probably the most misunderstood program in the social security system. There is often a perception that SSDI recipients have never worked and are taking advantage of the system for minor impairments, if not by outright fraud. Certainly there have been issues regarding fraudulent benefits, similar to those experienced by commercial disability insurance carriers, but for the most part SSDI claims are being paid to worthy and eligible beneficiaries.
In order to even apply for SSDI benefits an applicant must have worked enough to have paid into the system and to be considered "insured" under the SSDI definition. If you have no work history then you will not qualify for any benefits.
In addition, social security has some of the strictest requirements in the world in order to qualify for benefits. These requirements are typically much more demanding as compared to commercial disability insurance programs. In general, to qualify for SSDI you must have an impairment that will last one year or more, or result in death, and you must also be unable to perform any substantial work.
As a result, approved recipients of SSDI are among the most severely impaired individuals in the country and greatly depend on their benefits. In many cases, their SSDI checks are a lifeline preventing them from slipping into poverty.
However, not all disabled recipients will remain on SSDI nor do they wish to do so. They would often prefer to recover enough to get back to work and perhaps earn more money doing meaningful and enjoyable work. As such, social security offers incentive programs to give those SSDI recipients who are able an opportunity to return to work. Some of these incentives include continued cash benefits for a period of time while they work, continued Medicare and Medicaid coverage, and assistance with education, training and rehabilitation to start a new line of work.
Through a program called "Ticket to Work", social security gives participants a "ticket" to go back to work while continuing to receive SSDI benefits. This program is both free and voluntary and gives access to an employment network, which offers assistance with job searches and placement, and vocational rehabilitation and training.
"Ticket to Work" has been a valuable and effective program at social security. It has provided a mechanism for recipients of SSDI to exit the SSDI program and return to meaningful work which not only provides for a higher income but also the dignity and emotional benefits derived from being employed and making a contribution to society.
SSDI is not simply just another entitlement program. It's sophisticated design and structure also provides for affordable and manageable exit strategies even after benefits commence. Although it is extremely difficult to qualify for benefits, once approved SSDI also offers mechanisms to leave the program and return to a more normal and productive life.
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Ash Ahluwalia, NSSA, CCSCA, MBA
January 2017


text:
Dave McGuire eBooks
eBooks found: 1
Beyond Stammering: The McGuire Programme for Getting Good at the Sport of Speaking
Dave McGuire
Souvenir Press, April 2008
Format: PDF
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text:
Willie Nelson : Legend: Best Of Willie Nelson
Your Price: $14.83
Rated 10 with 1 response
Availability: In Stock
Sell date: 6/2008
Label: Sony/Bmg Int'L
Mfg's Catalog#: 729283
CDC Part#: 1185787
Add to Basket
|For sound samples and details,
view this item at Amazon
|Notes & Reviews
|Low Stock
|Not Returnable, Not Cancellable.
2008, 20-track collection on Sony BMG. Highlights include, 'To All The Girls I've Loved Before (with Julio Iglesias)', 'Crazy', 'Good Hearted Woman (with Waylon Jennings), Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys (with Waylon Jennings), Always on My Mind, On the Road Again and many more.
|On the Road Again (2:33)
|To All the Girls I've Loved Before [With Julio Iglesias] (3:31)
|Crazy (2:51)
|City of New Orleans (4:50)
|Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain (2:18)
|Always on My Mind (3:33)
|Me & Paul (3:48)
|Good Hearted Woman [Waylon & Willie] (2:56)
|Night Life (2:30)
|Georgia on My Mind (4:18)
|My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (3:03)
|Pancho & Lefty [With Merle Haggard] (4:46)
|Funny How Time Slips Away (3:01)
|Hello Walls (2:23)
|Highwayman [With Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash & Kris Kristoffers
|Blue Skies (3:34)
|Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys [Waylon & Wil
|Whiskey River [Live] (3:32)
|Seven Spanish Angels [With Ray Charles] (3:49)
|Bloody Mary Morning (2:49)
People who buy willie nelson CDS may also enjoy, in order of descending probability, the works of Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, Band, Dolly Parton, George Jones.
© Copyright 1994-2020 CDconnection.com. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Allied Around Town
We have the Downtown Hoedown tonight from 5:00 p.m. until midnight and continuing all weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, the show will start at 2:00 p.m and end at midnight with performances on three separate stages. The event will be held in Detroit at Comerica Park.
This three day concert will be an amazing show with Uncle Kracker on Friday, Jake Owen on Saturday, Joe Nichols on Sunday, along with many other notable country artists performing throughout the weekend.
*Single day tickets are available for $20 at the door.
Another exciting event happening in the Metro Detroit Area is the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix. This event will also start on Friday and continue through Sunday. Featured events include IndyCar doubleheader races on both Saturday and Sunday and musical performances by Dwele, Bret Michaels and the Plain White T's. The event is free on Friday and tickets for the rest of the weekend range from $25 for a single day adult ticket ($15 for children) up to $155 for a full weekend pass with reserved seating and paddock passes.
Friday: 7:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Saturday: 7:30 a.m. – 7:20 p.m.
Sunday: 7:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
*For tickets and more information about the event
Have a Great Weekend!


text:
Image Remarks: Yazd, 1956. Photograph by Inge Morath/the Inge Morath Foundation/Magnum. Street leading to Amir Chaqmaq Mosque. A very nice shot of a man and his Indian bicycle in front of a woman in chador and three guys walking in suits and chapeau hats.
Tags :Yazd , Amir Chaqmaq Mosque , 1956 , Bicycle -Section :Place
Source/Contributor:: NEW YORKER


text:
Baby Planet
Maternal instinct is one of nature's strongest, it ensures that mothers bond with, care for and protect their babies. Without it, the world's breeding programmes for threatened species would face a very different future. In this captivating series, we discover how these breeding programmes are helping nature to ensure that endangered species are kept alive
Season 1
EP01 - Maternal Instinct
Female rhino protects her baby; kangaroo baby rejected by its mother.
EP02 - Human Intervention
Humans step in to save a mother flying fox and her babies.
EP03 - Saving Species
Birth of a baby giant panda; abandoned baby manatee; three big-cat cubs who can never be released.
EP04 - Diverting the Course of Nature
On Baby Planet, the best care in the world won't stop nature taking its course - whatever the outcome. However even the darkest cloud can have a silver lining.In this programme keepers struggle to save sixteen hunting dog puppies after their mother dies; sadly only six make it, but they have a bright future as part of a new pack. We go home with a rejected Barbary lion cub where she finds a new canine companion, and see how a baby White-cheeked gibbon keeps staff guessing about its gender. In South Africa abandoned Wattled crane eggs are put in an incubator - very few hatch out, but the efforts to save this threatened species must go on.
EP05 - On Nature's Maternity Ward
Amanda, a lowland gorilla, becomes pregnant at a late age; an aardvark is examined.
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text:
|Phillip Revealed
|Some background about Lt. Bradford is revealed in FAL.
|Related Logs:
|Phillip Paz Saint-Cloud Raine
Though a single space, the ship's lounge is divided into three sections by a pair of heavily tinted glass panes, painted with the logos of the six squadrons which serve aboard the Majestic. Blue carpeting runs through all three, and the only entrance and exit is located through the center section.
The center space sports a scattering of metal tables and matching chairs, all bare silver to contrast with blue carpet. A small bar is located along the aft bulkhead, with a wide selection of beverages located in the cabinets behind and a few barstools set in front. Flanking the bar are a pair of large vidscreens, to keep the crew up to date on the latest in news or entertainment.
The side rooms are configured identically, each with a small vidscreen mounted above a shelf that runs along the bulkhead, giving occupants a place to rest drinks or possessions. The room to port has been set up with a pool table, while the room to starboard sports a pair of poker tables.
Painted on the starboard-side glass partition is the squadron logo of the Minutemen. A copper-green image of an 18th century militiaman stands over a shield-shaped striped red and white background. Text above the logo reads '1087th Fighter Squadron' and below 'Don't Tread On Me'.
The room was empty save for the bartender who is cleaning some glassware at the bar in the back and 2nd Lt. Phillip "Iceblade" Bradford who is sitting over at the small table in the corner. On the table sits a beer bottle completely drained of its contents, a second bottle that remains unopened, and a third almost emptied bottle with which the pilot is currently engaged. Iceblade leaning into the table with his arms crossed on it. His eyes are fixed on the center of the table and he appears heavily troubled and deep in thought.
Midnight at FAL…Put your Pazes to bed…The young, raven haired Latina fighter jock ambles into First and Last with a distinctly unhappy look on her face as she dips into the first barstool she finds. "Beer me, Joe." she calls to the bartender. "You ever have one of those days?" she asks the man, and presumably anyone within ear shot, "When you wonder why you even bother getting out of your rack? I mean, even if it's just to chuck yourself out of the closest airlock?" she sighs.
Trees can be nocturnal too right? Raine yawns as she wanders in. There's a faintly sad aura to her, as if remembering something depressing. She keeps a bonsai with her, this one a small Rosemary tree. She wipes at her eyes, blinking fast and wanders up to the bar. "May I have some tea please?" She asks quietly. She pauses, noticing Paz and smiles. "Hello there." Though it doesn't seem quite so cheery, more subdued.
It is only a few moments later that probably the shortest officer most people have ever seen enters the Lounge with his duffle over his shoulder. He can only be, tops, five foot two but he is BROAD of shoulders with short squat legs and powerful arms that seem a little bit longer in ratio to the body then most people ending in massive hands. His rank designates him as a Lieutenant Commander and his division badge reads "ASTRO". The name tag? "SAINT-CLOUD". He runs a massive hand through his short buzzed red hair and peers about the room, slowly for a few moment. Cautiously he makes his way towards the bar.
Paz gives the newly arrived Doctor a wan smile of her own as she sips at her beer. "What's got you down, Doc?" she asks. "You get dragged into the Chief's office to get reamed out for messing up the sim pods?" she smirks cynically. The new arrival does not go unnoticed, turning her head, the young 1st LT turns to peer at him curiously. "Hey, Doc, who's the new guy?" she stage whispers.
"No, just miss a friend who was lost," Raine smiles back sadly. She takes a deep breath, "I shouldn't stew over it, but- he liked bonsai trees too and he was sort of like an older brother," She blinks fast and sets her tree down. She asks for some water for her tree too. Then a pause, "Who?" She turns just in time to notice the shortest officer about. She blinks owlishly a few times. "Haven't met him," Raine admits. She looks like she might greet him- hesitates. Blurts out, "Hello sir."
Saint-Cloud is thanking the tender for his glass of bourbon and ginger ale when he hears Raine speak to him. He looks over (and up) at the doctor.. and notes the rank and of course the white coat. "Good evening, lieutenant." he says, noting her nervousness since she did just blurt. "And at ease. I'm not even officially signed in.. yet." he looks to the pilot, again his sharp blue eyes studying her as he did Raine and smiles to her as well. "Nice to being relegated to the 'new guy' status," he quips, though in an easy and friendly manner. "I'm your new Astro." and that also means 2nd Officer of the ship.
As the several additional officers enter, each gives Iceblade a wave or a nod, which has gone unnoticed by Lt. Bradford. So deep he is downcast that even the loud crash of glass from a cup dropped into the bar's sink doesn't cause Iceblade to turn or even flinch.
"Oh-ho! A new Astrogator." Paz replies, surveying the man carefully before replying. "So, who'd you piss off to get sentenced to this boat, sir?" she inquires with a cynical smirk, sipping at her beer without seeming the slightest bit interested in coming to attention. "Don't tell me, lemme guess….You got caught porking the Admiral's secretary? Wife? Daughter?" she chuckles.
A pause. She smiles at him. She's shy. Poor fellow. "Really? That's pretty neat," Raine offers. And yes, she has a tree with her. People around her seem oddly used to it. She looks over to Phillip and blinks. She goes quiet, perhaps considering what to say. "All of our pilots seem really sad in here, I hope they're okay," she taps her chin thoughtfully and blinks at Paz. her eyes widen at the joke. "I'm sure he wouldn't do that, right?" Riiiiiiiiight? Raine hopes.
Saint-Cloud smirks and sips his Seven and Gin before setting the tumbler down. Every move he makes is careful, precise, as if he is afraid he might break something he touches. "I tend to choose my liaisons a little better than that. My wives drove that into me," he states. Yes. He said wives. "No, I had the honor of driving a light carrier into a Kilrathi dreadnought. It was on purpose, mind you. It even got me a promotion. But command decided to let me cool down a bit and sent me to the academy for a while to teach, but apparently your tactical crew here is… it is better left unsaid. So I got sent back out." He is about to respond to the doctor when he hears the glass fall and break. The short man raises a brow. "I see what you mean." he says, then to answer the question. "Would I? Oh yes. I would have. But as I said, I was informed to make better choices unless I want to sleep on the couch next time I am home."
Paz regards the little Astrogator for a long moment before giving a throaty laugh and extending her hand. "Ha! Welcome aboard, sir. First Lieutenant Paz Garcia of the 1087th," she says by way of introduction. "And I wouldn't blame you, by the way, for the wife or the daughter," she winks playfully. "I'm not bi, but I am open minded, sir," she chuckles again before she spots Phillip in a sad, sad state. "This here's Doc Raine, best CMO you could ask for. And be nice to her trees. They're like her totems," she adds. "Excuse me, sir, Doc, I need to see to my wingman," she says, snagging her bear and making for the downcast pilot.
After having nearly sat there with an emptied second bottle, Iceblade finally looks up as he begins to open his third and hopefully yet doubtful bottle of beer. He notices Paz, Raine, and a new face over at the bar. In fact, the appearance of this new individual is odd. It looks like a larger version of somebody with dwarfism, a long-removed genetic abnormality in humans. Seeing the approach of Paz, he decides to stand up, extend his arm for a handshake, and put on a more cheery expression, which almost works except for the distant, sorrowful look in his eyes.
Blink. Raine turns red at Paz's comments. "I'm the /acting/ CMO. I don't have the rank for it… I really hope someone takes it too, it's like herding cats. Except they can blissfully ignore me," Sadface. She smiles, amused at the wives and daughters commentary. "I'm Raine Winterson, Lieutenant JG. I just duct tape people back together," she waves a hand dismissively. It's nothing, really. "And yes, please do be nice to my trees." They seem as much a part of her as her herself. She peers at Phillip. "Hey… are you alright?" She's looking overwhelmed. She's been talking.
Saint-Cloud chuckles at Raine's comment then introduces himself to her and Paz (and anyone else who is within earshot). "Well, /Doctor/.. Lieutenant. I'm Lieutenant Commander Dorian Saint-Cloud. And It is a pleasure to meet you. And yes, I will be good to your tree's, Doctor. Plants are very special where I am from and well cared for.. Well.. not by me. I don't have a green thumb. One or two of my spouses work in agriculture, though, so I know enough not to kill them," he says. He isn't REALLY following Paz but the distance is close enough that all he really has to do is turn and face Phillip. He sees the hand and in return takes it.. Easily engulfing the pilots in his own huge one. "And a pleasure to meet you."
"Okay, Rookie, what's your malfunction du jour?" Paz asks simply, slipping into a seat across the table from young Phillip. "Your girlfriend take up with someone else?" she asks with just a hint of pitiless indifference. "Parents get divorced? Grandparent or parents die?" she asks, stretching out languidly in the seat and sipping her beer, rather pointedly ignoring the introductions going on around her.
"2nd Lt. Phillip Bradfor..dd…" Upon shaking the Lt. Cmdr.'s hand, Phillip finds himself nearly losing his balance. Under more sober conditions, the handshake would not been as drastic, but after downing a few bottles of beer in addition to a glass of wine from earlier, well let's just say Phillip is a little off. After catching himself and returning his arm to his side, he quickly adds "Callsign Iceblade." Phillip then turns to Paz, "Uh…well it's not really anything like that, just…wait girlfriend!?! Geez, I haven't even gone out with her yet and everybody on the ship knows."
Raine smiles at Saint-Cloud. "That's very kind of you. I am afraid the pleasure is all mine sir," she nods. "Really? They're good trees," she nods. She looks to Paz and Phillip now. "And yeah, she kind of works for me…" She rubs the back of her head, looking at Phillip. "I have to pay attention to what goes on in MedBay," she sighs. "It's not like most of the doctors will LISTEN so if I pay attention, then I can figure things out." She gets her tea and sips it quietly. She seems content to watch and listen as much as anything else. Existing is an energetic thing for Raine.
Saint-Cloud frowns slightly at Iceblade's… status. The swaying and the wobbling. He lets the two pilots speak since, really, he doesn't have a CLUE what is going on and the less he knows the better.. maybe. "How about I get him a coffee…" he tells Paz, then looks to Raine and smiles again. "Not so kind. Just truthful. And yes, trees are special back home. The natural plants back on Dusk are.. not like earth trees. The gravity is too high and the atmosphere and weather.. is not conducive to their growth. Though I think my wife or my husband said they were trying to introduce a genetically engineered species of pine.." he scratches his head. "But I don't remember fully. Life sciences always made my eyes glaze over…. But their always glazed when I spoke physics so.. it's all good."
"Coffee's a good idea, sir," Paz nods. "None for me, though," she interjects just as quickly. "Okay, Iceblade, start talking," she says firmly. The Commander and the CMO's banter falls away as she focuses on her comrade. "You're on a bender, that much is obvious, wanna tell me why?"
Phillip turns his head slightly towards Saint-Cloud as he waves off the coffee, "Nay, I'll be fine as long as I don't do anything that might throw my balance off." "Like flying," Iceblade adds with a chuckle and an eye roll as he turns his head back to Paz. "Recent events" is all Iceblade says before he returns to his former seat.
Raine looks a little worried seeing Iceblade's state. Her eyebrows furrow. She looks to Saint-Cloud and nods, "That sounds like a good idea. Just don't give him too much more booze," A frown. She tilts her head then looks to Saint-Cloud. Marriage must be different there. She looks confused a moment then nods. "I see. You'll have to stop by and see the bitty trees. I think you'd like them," she offers. She's shy, but friendly. "Physics isn't my forte, but I'm not too bad at it. I just - don't do it much. They keep me busy handing out Hello Kitty bandaids," She smiles.
Cole wanders his way along into First and Last, taking a little peek around at just which members of the Majestic's merry band of miscreants happen to be lurking here this evening.
Jim seeing, a bunch of people in the First and Last, decided to waltz right on in. He doesn't seem to recognize anyone there.
Late night on the TCS Majestic and all of the usual suspects are to be found, where else, in First and Last. There's a vertically challenged but physically strong Lt. Commander all but dancing attendance on our beloved Acting, but who are we kidding here, CMO. And yes, two of those damned Minuteman, Paz and Phillip, ensconced in a corner table deep into conversation.
Saint-Cloud nods to Raine as he grabs the coffee carefully in his massive hand, ignoring Phillip's refusal for the caffeinated goodness. "Well I would hope so. I wouldn't know what to do if a tree hated me," he admits. He turns around and sets the coffee down, daintily but still sloshing it a bit. He always seems to move with deliberation, as if his minute height coupled with his broadness makes him a bit clumsy. "Of course, I will probably be in your sickbay soon enough. We need to do my onboard physical.. and go over my requirements," he tells her. The Littlest Lt Cmdr smiles at Phillip. "I would /advise/ you sober up. I haven't had a chance to cull.. I mean restructure.. tactical yet so you never know when they will screw up and call you to the deck for a flight."
"Gonna give you a really simple choice, Iceblade." Paz drawls simply. "You can drink the coffee and sober up fairly easily…wake up tomorrow with a little hangover that a couple of aspirins'll knock out," she says, nodding to the coffee cup. "Or, you can play it my way, which is drink yourself stupid tonight, stagger down to med bay for alcohol neutralizers and spend fifteen minutes in the head taking the kind of shit you've only had nightmares about. Your call, kiddo…."
Phillip looks between the coffee and the open bottle of beer. He makes a go for the beer but his hand passes it and picks up one of the two empty ones. He stands up a bit and prepares to throw the beer bottle, "Unh…it probably wouldn't make a difference anyway." At the last second Ice turns and throws the beer bottle. It barely misses the nearby hole for the garbarge chute, crashing as it slams on the back wall. Iceblade then sits back down and looks at Paz.
Raine tilts her head, "I don't think they really hate anyone unless you try to use them for tinder." She offers a little smile. She nods, "That's fine. Just come down whenever you like," She offers to Saint-Cloud. Then a frown at what's going on with Phillip, "That's not true and you know it. I prefer not to have to herd drunken pilots then clean up the head after them," She frowns and folds her arms. She winces as the bottle hits the wall. There's a few glares. "I'll clean that up, don't worry," She waves a hand and goes to get a broom.
Saint-Cloud sighs and steps back, letting Paz deal with this.
"Stand fast, doc." Paz calls, motioning to Raine. "No need for that," she says firmly. "Okay, Second Lieutenant, you've got about ten seconds to explain to me what you're on about, and, heh, hey, guess what?" she grins malevolently. "Eight of them are gone. So, c'mon, give it up. What's the prob? How can I help?"
"Since I've been out of the Med-bay, I've taken on extra search patrols. As many as the CO will allow me, but there is not a sign of that Fralthi. It likes it escaped into an asteroid field or something." Iceblade looks down again then back up, "Other day when…when those destroyers….no…not those destroyers…those parents, those sisters, those BROTHERS…God where does all of this end…then I hear from my brother in Vega…." Iceblade just shakes his head and loses his voice.
Saint-Cloud suddenly frowns and makes a face of.. not pity but sympathy.
"Are you sure?" Raine looks concerned. Glass shards tend to make for more patients. She looks sympathetic once Iceman spills his story. "Oh… I'm sorry," She whispers. She lingers near Saint-Cloud for now, eyes wide.
Paz's reaction is simple, first, she gives Phillip a slap to the face that's like to leave a handprint, then she pulls him close to her shoulder, hugging him tightly. "I know, Ice, I know…..But we can't dwell on it, can we? Doesn't make it any better, does it? We gotta learn from it. We gotta learn from it and be stronger. It hurts, it always does…"
Phillip is totally shocked by the slap and the hug. In fact, he is right now totally dazed. When Paz lets go, he falls right back into his seat and looks practically unconscious but his eyes are open. A second later, he wakes from his near blackout and shakes his head.
Saint-Cloud doesn't know HOW to react to that. SO he doesn't. He just looks to Raine and shrugs. "I think.. it is better I didn't see that," he says. "So I think I will go find my little corner of officer's country and send off my correspondence before I hit my rack. The kids and spouses will want to know if I made it safely." He drains his drink and picks up his small duffle. "Tomorrow, then, doctor?"
Raine fails her will save and is stunned briefly. Her jaw falls open. "Um. I'll leave them some coffee, clean that glass and get back to my bonsai-cave…" She rubs the back of her head. A smile to Saint-Cloud. "Okay. Kids and spouses?" Her eyes widen a bit. "That sounds pretty tough. I think my family's happy when they don't get the 'Raine just proved natural selection works. PS- here's her stuff' letter," She notes. "That sounds fine. I'll be available. Welcome aboard sir." Nodnod.
"Look at me, Ice," Paz says, her coal-black eyes trying to meet his. "You can, and will, drive yourself crazy with 'woulda, coulda, shoulda.'" she says flatly. "We lost the other night, and we lost people. I know that. But you can't kick yourself over it, okay?" she adds. "It's just _war_. You can't control or predict it. All you can do is learn from it. So harden your heart, _Iceblade_," she says, giving the man's frigid call sign particular emphasis. "And buck up. It seems impossible, you should've seen me when Jolly bought it," she sighs, shaking her head a little at her own remembered sorrow. "But you can, and you have to. Otherwise, you're just setting yourself up to follow them, and they wouldn't want that."
Iceblade's eyes narrow and he turns his head and points through the window where the TCS Honour can be seen - the light carrier that was the barely saved the other day. The fear and uncertainty in Phillip's voice have now been replaced by unadulterated rage and sheer hatred and he begins speaking loudly so everybody else can hear, "My brother was serving onboard one of those in Vega a week ago. Now he's not cause it was blown to hell by a surprise Kilrathi strike." Iceblade drops his arm and turns back to Paz. "From what I've gathered, the colony they were trying to protect when this fleet attacked is now gone. Despite my brother's and other pilots' best efforts, the colony was destroyed. Now he and only a handful of almost 40 pilots are alive, rescued by the simple luck of reinforcements arriving when they did." A pause as Iceblade staggers a bit while standing up. He looks around as he speaks, "MORE LIVES FOR A WAR that will no doubt end in the COMPLETE GENOcide of one race over the other, and we are all..right..fucking..in the middle of it!!" When Iceblade finishes his expression betrays a clear urge to kill something…probably something with fur that goes meow, rarr, or Kilrathi-speak. Iceblade, though essentially correct given the known nature of Kilrathi, Iceblade has clearly lost all of his cool and probably needs to release it for him to regain the focus he had.
Saint-Cloud smirks over his shoulder as he moseys towards the door. "It isn't as tough as you may think. I have five kids, personally and 6 more creche-children. Three of /mine/ with my wives in our creche-marriage back on Dusk and two with two of my ex-wives off of Dusk. Well.. I think they are both my ex-wives.." he looks at his watch. "Yeah. The five year marriage contract on the last one ran out a week ago.. Thank the goddess." he shakes his head. "It may get tougher when they start going to college but not as hard as it was for MY parents. Their marriage group was larger than mine. And the number of relations OUTSIDE the group…?" he chuckles at the thought. Finally he looks at Paz and Phillip one last time… Then walks out.
Raine is watching, feeling the intensity of the moment. She offers quietly, "We do have a gym and a pool. I'd suggest working out a bit there or in the sims," she rubs the back of her head. "And being sure to rest as well, okay?" She offers to Iceblade and Paz. Raine scoops up her tree. She smiles at Saint-Cloud, "Really? That sounds really different. I've never heard of this sort off arrangement so maybe I'm just not well informed." But if you don't know better, well- it works out. "Interesting though. Be well then," She waves at the shorter man and will start away herself. "I am sure they will be just fine. They have good parents I think." Beam. She believes! Either way, tree and Raine have duties to do.
Paz lets Phillip go to roar at the heavens for all of their random injustice, sipping at her beer thoughtfully as she waits for him to boil down. "You finished?" she asks Phillip in a tone that seems carved out of ice. "You done? No, no, don't answer until you're certain," she adds almost mockingly. "Yes? Then sit the _fuck_ down and make like a soldier," she snarls, impatience coloring her tone. "I'm not mocking you, Bradford," she says with a little more warmth to her voice. "And I am deeply sorry for your loss," she adds sincerely. "But that's come and gone, now. And if you take that shit up into the cockpit with you, you will be _DEAD_ when the next fight is over," she says firmly. "Jettison your personal baggage, Bradford. All it can do is slow you down, futz up your thinking and make you combat ineffective. There's a time and a place for hatred….the time is on-mission, the place is on-target….past that, let it go…"
Phillip nods at Raine and looks at Paz. He picks the coffee and downs it without stopping. He then sits down clearly still in a bad way and just looks at the floor breathing through his mouth.
Raine nods back at Phillip, "I'll clean up the glass or get the support crew. You really should look into gym or talking to one of the chaplains/counselors, okay? We care about you," she smiles. "Even in your worst moments. But Miss Paz is right, you need to clear your head or you'll get hurt out there. Either way, thank you both. Am glad to see you." She smiles, waves and heads on out.
"Something on your mind, Iceblade?" Paz inquires, her tone cool and collected.
Phillip, still very much hyped up and ready to tear through some flesh, hears Raine's comment and latches onto it just like he latched onto a certain "meow" long ago. Phillip quietly whispers, almost under his breath, "gym." It is almost as if a tiny sliver of his being managed to clear from the fog of emotion to eek out the answer on how to cure this situation.
"Okay….let's go to the gym," Paz replies simply. "You looking for a workout or something else?" she asks as she stands.
Phillip stands up and leaves the room totally silent. As he does so, the bartender goes about cleaning up the broken glass. On the side of his neck is a scar that looks like it resulted from a beer bottle, probably tossed when the thrower was drunk and didn't realize the bartender was between him and the garbage chute. Obviously, he learned this lesson well, until the glass-throwing drunkard has left the room, do not go about cleaning up the glass. You might just find yourself in the crossfire.
Designed to fit a maximum of facilities in a minimum of space, the Fitness Center of the Majestic is an oddly crowded room. Entrance from the Crew Services deck actually leads to the second level of the facility, with ramps to left and right leading down to the floor. Ringing the sizeable room at the height of the second level is a four lane running track. Set under the running track around the perimeter of the room are a number of weight machines, exercise bikes, a set of punching bags, and numerous other types of stationary equipment. The center of the room is relatively more open, containing a boxing ring and a number of mats suitable for either gymnastics or martial arts. Locker rooms are set into the fore bulkhead, with a sign by the doors indicating that access to the facility's pool is through the lockers.
Paz follows Phillip to the gym in icy silence. If he's looking for a fight, a glance back at her expression will make it very clear he'll find one if he pushes things.
Phillip, upon entering the gym, heads down to the lower level towards a punching bag, which has a matt on the ground around it. The gym, which is actually empty, is currently fairly dark with a lighting level reminiscent of early dawn. The aforementioned bag has amusingly enough been painted with a full-sized picture of Kilrathi onto it. The paint, however, is crumbling off due to excessive abuse. No surprise there. Upon the sight of it, Iceblade races at it and begins to pummel the bag as hard, viscously and recklessly as possible.
Paz follows Phillip down, slowing her pace so that by the time Phillip's down there kicking the stuffing out of the faux Kilrathi, she's halfway down the stairs. "I heard you liked it rough, Iceblade," she comments acidly. "But I didn't know you beat yourself off."
Phillip ignores the comment from Paz and continues his assault. The bag is taking quite a pounding, but it was meant for this kind of abuse. As much force that is going into the bag, the mass of it prevents it from moving very far. Now, however, Iceblade is starting to throw in kicks with his punches and even he knees the Kilrathi a few times. Damn he is way pissed. Phillip's anger is becoming far more focused and as a result, the forces of his attack are starting to be directed more continuously in one general location. The bag is starting to get pushed backward more and more and thereby pushing towards Phillip more and more with ever increasing force. Iceblade's assault, though, continues unabated, so the bag is unable to complete its forward swing and never actually returns to the vertical position.
Paz watches for a long moment before she ambles down the stairs, stopping just after the last of them. "Wow, you're….really kicking some ass now," she comments, chuckling softly, though warily keeping her distance. Crazy people are unpredictable and Phillip is clearly starting to fall into said category.
Phillip keeps attacking but is starting to slow down. Punches start becoming fewer, but they are harder hitting. One very significant punch goes in, and the bag is forced backward to its greatest extent. Then as it returns to Phillip, he swings hard, but ends up missing with his body going forward. The bag pushes forth right into Iceblade's shoulder resulting in a rather hard hit that knocks Phillip to the mat several feet backward. Iceblade is now on his back and breathing hard. His face shows exhaustion from the exercise yet no anger.
Paz starts to move to help the man, but checks herself. Whatever battle he's fighting is clearly in his head, and unless she sees blood or evidence of real trauma, she's not about to make it hers. Not with a full schedule of CAPs to fly "You okay?" she asks, with something approaching compassion, without actually being it, in her tone.
Iceblade catches his breathe after a minute of heavy breathing. Upon which, he tilts his head up to look at the still swinging bag, which is almost returning to a steady state. Paint where Phillip was hitting the most and the hardest has been almost completely transferred to his hands, which he now looks at before returning his gaze at the faux-rathi. At the sight of the near-pelvisless Kilrathi, Phillip starts laughing, firstly mildly then hysterically. His head is now back on the matt.
The lunatic is on the mat…..The lunatic is on the mat… Paz advances towards Phillip warily, keeping her hands up and her feet poised to make a quick getaway should it be needed. Inhuman rage followed by disassociated laughter…..Yeah….That's a good sign. "Lieutenant Bradford?" she asks, just loud enough to be heard.
Phillip looks up at Paz and then points to the faux-rathi while saying through less hysterical laughter, "Look, I CAT-strated it."
"Eh….okay…" Paz replies, letting her 'okay' trail out just long enough to express her bewilderment and mounting alarm. "Is this the point when you tell me what the hell you're going on about, or am I supposed to guess?" she asks. "Note to self, never follow crazy drunks into the gym," she whispers.
Starting to calm now, he gets up into a half-sitted position with most of his weight on his right arm. He then says, "Woah, that was actually rather helpful. I really need to do this more often." He looks down for a second, then back up, "And a far better method to releasing my rage then what I did before."
"So, you're sane now?" Paz asks, taking a half step back as the man sits up and coming to something near a fighting stance she learned in Basic. "Or do I see if Doc Raine's got a spare rubber room?"
"Uh, sane…uh yeah…well was I ever not sane?" Iceblade says this with a rather quizzical look.
"About the time you started kicking the shit out of the stuffed animal, then started giggling your head off about it." Paz replies, arcing up an eyebrow quizzically. "I mean, me, I get that pissed off, I either pick a fight with somebody or just get drunk and listen to Black Sabbath."
"Ah oh that," Iceblade says before giving a quick chuckle. "Well, I guess you now know why I don't drink much…I kind of lose control and anything cat-like around me tends to die as a result."
"Yeah, I see," Paz replies simply, bobbing her head. "Do I need to worry about you?" she asks, colorlessly. "Because if I do, your ass is on the first thing smoking back to where ever you came from. I've got real pull with the WinCo," she states flatly. "We lost tonight, Iceblade. We're going to lose again," she continues with a sigh. "Not saying you oughta like it, but if it's going to drive you this crazy, you need to find another squadron. There's _crazy_, and there's _psychotic_. What you just showed me was more the latter."
Then Iceblade adds before responding, "Well, today was a little different than usual." Phillip's mood gets a little more somber. "The events of the last few days have really hit me too close to home. I was always very close to my brothers and finding out I nearly lost my other brother just pushed me to the edge. Getting drunk threw me off it." Iceblade concludes, "The war just got to me is all." Iceblade then perks up a bit with a slight grin and responds jokingly with a few sporadic chuckles, "I should be perfectly fine as long as you keep me from getting drunk."
"Okay…so, what's the deal here?" Paz asks simply. "I don't have time to draw some big story outta you bit by bit, so just tell me now," she adds firmly. "Because, right now, I'm not sure if I wanna be in the same airspace as you."
Iceblade sighs and looks down before responding in a more serious tone, "The near loss of one brother you know about, but I suppose you will want more. Well years ago, I had another brother who actually was killed by the Kilrathi." Iceblade now looks up at Paz, "Ah you might want to sit down for this, it's not a quick story." Iceblade then sits up fully and crosses his legs Indian-style.
Paz gives a little bob of her head and settles down opposite the man, assuming the same cross-legged position as he. "Okay….I'm listening."
"Well, about 6 years ago to the day almost, my older brother was serving in the TCN onboard an Exeter class destroyer. His first assignment, in fact, and he had just graduated from officer school." Iceblade gives a sigh and brings his hand to his head after tilting his head down a little. "It…well..it was dest.." another sigh.
"The Fuzzy Wuzzies destroyed it." Paz replies, frowning a little and nodding. "And your brother was….KIA?" she asks, again with a note of something approaching compassion in her tone. God knows, she's lost enough of her loved ones to the bastards.
Iceblade responds, "Yes, but the ship was actually patrolling an out of the way system in Vega when the Kilrathi attacked. It and the system didn't stand a chance from it. Shortly after we received news of the loss of the people there, we heard about Michael's fate. They…they..they said that the ship was destroyed with no escape pods detected or so the /official/ information goes."
"Ah…" Paz breathes, nodding faintly as the last pieces of the puzzle fall into place. "You thought Michael was aboard that ship." she says. "And if we could catch her, you could get him back."
Iceblade gives another sigh, "No, the actual events are far more definite and gruesome. I later found out that the ship was not destroyed but obliterated with all escape pods intact. However, what they found inside was…was.." Iceblade just looks down, unable to explain in words what was found there.
"Was?" Paz prompts gently, scooting a little closer to Phillip until she's able to reach her arm out and _almost_ touch his shoulder….or punch him square in his potentially psychotic, vengeance-driven jaw…..which ever…
Iceblade just whispers one word, "Butchered."
Paz doesn't reply audibly, not at first, just scoots closer until her hand finds Phillip's shoulder and gives it a very gentle squeeze.
"I…I found this last bit of information when my brother returned on leave. My parents still don't know this, but I probably took it worse than they would have. I just…I lost it. I mopped around and cried, it was just too much. Then I went out one night, got drunk, and when I was walking home, I heard somethi…" Iceblade stops unsure if he really should release this next piece of information.
Paz nods and squeezes again. "I'm listening." she replies quietly.
"I uh…well I heard a meow. It was cat…a dirty, flea-bitten cat in a side alley." Iceblade says with a slight tinge of rage towards the end. He pauses to calm himself. "I, well, was very drunk, but in that fog, my mind just latched on the sound. I followed it and found this cat, but it looked far meaner and far more Kilrathi like than it really was. I…well I…" Iceblade pauses to choice his words carefully. "Well I killed it."
"I see." Paz says, giving another squeeze to Phillip's shoulder. "I'm going to tell you something, and you're not gonna wanna listen to me because, well, you're still in mourning," she sighs, voice trailing off as her eyes start to well with a few unshed tears. "_Everybody_ in this squadron has lost somebody close to them," she says, giving another squeeze, but firmer, less reassuring and more informative. "Jolly…our last CO…he was like a father to me.." she continues, gulping down a sob before it can sound. "He died on a CAP and I didn't find out about it until eight hours after the fact," she continues, face settling into a grim mask. "I was the one who had to send word to his wife…" she adds, before catching her breath again, throat working convulsively. "She was like our dorm mother or something," she chuckles, shaking her head sadly. "And I got to tell her that her husband was _dead_," she finishes, voice taking on a flat, iron tone.
Iceblade nods and returns the squeeze. "I can't imagine what that must have been like. But for me, the loss was more profound, My…well my behavior changed after that night, I became more closed off. To most, it seemed as if I had moved on, or was just putting on a brave face. Always putting on a smile or just remaining emotionally balanced. Those that knew me, though, could tell I had erected a barrier. Biggest change came when I altered my career drastically." Iceblade looks to Paz, somewhat askance and a little less somber, "I bet you never realized that I wanted to be anything but a pilot, but I did. I was actually going to be a chemist. Do research and not even in biowarfare."
"Heh, you mean like passing out rubbers and shit?""
Iceblade looks a little confused, "huh? no from where I'm from Chemists are individuals who do work in the field of Chemistry from BSs to PhDs are all chemists." Iceblade then finishes up his life's story, "Anyway, in one year's time, I finished my degree, but I also prepared myself mentally and physically to join the TCSF to kill Kats. Before, I could care less about the Kilrathi, now my life's ambition to see Kilrah obliterated." Iceblade ends with some tinges of anger (though not rage) and it is more for effect than felt emotion.
"Hee, yeah I am really tired too… and I feel oddly sober, I think I sweated the rest of the alcohol." Iceblade then gets up and joins Paz out of the gym to return to the Powderkeg.


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Sprint's Motorola Photon 4G, one of our favorite devices on this network, is receiving a small over-the-air update that will bring it up to version 4.5.1A-1_SUN-154_6/45.2.7.MB855.Sprint.en.US. The only publicized fixes are related to Wi-Fi, with users over at Android Forums reporting improved performance.
As always, wait for the update to pop up or force the check by going to Settings > About phone > System updates.


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New commenter Kitten describes how to get up the nerve to attack a knitting project that looks daunting. You'll notice it isn't flawless, but does get you started.
BTW Kitten, my wife recommends Debbie Macomber novels, which apparently have knitting in them. She's a librarian and well-practiced in the art of advising, so take it seriously.
For the record, that bird was almost grumpy enough for me to link to.


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Little ones Finance Coach
So you are an artist, designer, or craftsperson and want to take your first measures into producing income from your talent and abilities? This lens is complete of suggestions for any person beginning a handmade company.
Beyond the point of supplying required financing for organizations and mortgages, monetary manoeuvrings – speculation in particular, and most especially so with sophisticated derivatives that nobody knows how to rationally evaluate – grow to be rent seeking. This is a massive misallocation of sources, diverting capital from genuine investment into totally non-value-added monetary tail chasing.
The wireless case study located that Litigation PAEs and companies behaved differently. Inside the study, Litigation PAEs brought far much more infringement lawsuits involving wireless patents—nearly two-and-a-half occasions as numerous as companies, NPEs, and Portfolio PAEs combined. Litigation PAE licenses involved simple lump-sum payments with handful of restrictions, if any, whereas the reported manufacturer licenses regularly included field-of-use restrictions, cross-licenses, and complex payment terms.
Managing a price range is not about just keeping the finance numbers appropriate, it is also about managing the men and women involved. For instance, the staff or group members. One needs to possess good management capabilities to manage budgets and authorise costs. The price range holder has the duty for the income allocated on for a distinct spending budget and hence they require to verify if expenditures are reputable and then authorise the spending budget. Authority to devote does not imply that a single can basically commit the allocated funds, just like that it implies funds wants to be spent responsibly and wisely. One particular can get into difficulty if there are failures in spending budget management and also get rewarded if they have been successful in spending budget management.
A two-judge majority of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled that the Consumer Economic Protection Bureau's single-director structure is unconstitutional for an independent agency. To remedy this defect, the court located that the President need to be deemed to have the authority to discharge the director at will and without cause. The court's remedy is certainly not to sit properly with critics of the CFPB that had sought to abolish the bureau.


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The recently published article "Is design thinking a failed experiment?" by John Coyle, resonated in my head as I revisited one of my latest projects. Last year I was collaborating in a 6 month project, as user experience designer to bring design thinking practice and service design awareness within a financial institution, for the wholesale bank teams.
As Coyle points out in his article the key item for a successful venture like this is in the mindset of our leaders.
Our corporations are misusing design thinking by looking at it as a process brought in by external resources, with specific knowledge and expertise on this subject. Instead of looking within the internal capability they have to change. By changing their own mindset, which in turn leads to an inclusive, and internal use of intelligence and resources. This implies a different perspective and skill set.
This change in the mindset is at the base of creativity. And creativity is the foundation of any project. It allows space for exploration onto new grounds to frame problems differently.
Back to my project, with each of the teams I collaborated with, I saw no support from the organisation itself. Leaders were absent and all team members were working double. They were both dedicated to developing their ideia for the next 6 months, and expected to keep up their regular work which they have been doing for most part of their professional life.
There was no setup to give these people, these creators, the room to be creative. There were no leaders standing behind them, facilitating the space and clearing up path for them to grow, and educate themselves in looking differently at the problems they identified.
The result was constant communication mismatch between designers, managers, and teams. We all had completely different expectations on the work methods and this influenced the way we co-worked.
It became a frustration for both sides when working on deliverables, and the resulting outcomes and strategies were a challenge.
I believe Coyle really nails it when he answers the question: "Why do companies get it wrong?"
"Despite this self-acknowledged deficit, where do companies put their investment into innovation? Into strategy, governance, and process. Most companies demand innovation from their leaders, and have NOTHING in their leadership development programs to teach creativity, design thinking or creative problem solving. They are solving the WRONG PROBLEM! Which brings us back to the core premise of design thinking – which is ensuring you are answering the right central question. In this case instead of "how do we institute an innovation process" in our firm, a better question might be "how do we create an innovation mindset in our leaders?"
I will stress out again:
"…where do companies put their investment into innovation? Into strategy, governance, and process. Most companies demand innovation from their leaders, and have NOTHING in their leadership development programs to teach creativity, design thinking or creative problem solving. "…how do we create an innovation mindset in our leaders?"
He then proceeds by referring to a source:
"Bruce (Nussbaum) argues much the same suggesting a new kind of intelligence quotient be developed: we had IQ, then EQ, he now suggests a "CQ" – a creative quotient of intelligence."
This is what I have missed. A chance to talk to leaders and understand their mindset, to understand what they see as innovation and creativity. Only then is there a truthful, meaningful conversation instead of endless days filled with missing opportunities.
A better working experience and environment could be changed by starting with that question, understanding what leaders see in projects as these, and get them involved in the process, continuously.
Perhaps, instead of overwhelming teams with days of heavy loaded workshops on tools and processes, organise creative days were teams are challenged and exposed to new ways of thinking. Leaders should also be involved in these creative sessions, to give support and trust, while being continuously assessed on their CQ in order to become ambassadors of creative thinking within the organisations.
In his conclusion Coyle points out the importance of the quotient of intelligence for the success of design thinking. I agree, and the leaders who develop, implement and spread it, will become the game changers that can transform organisations as we know them.
What other ideas do you have for applying creative thinking within organisations? What are your experiences and challenges?