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"Impaired" Caffeine User Gets a Break from California Authoriti
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Does caffeine really qualify as an intoxicating drug when it comes to driving and crashes? Ask most ...
Understanding Collateral Source Rule
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After being injured in an accident—whether a car crash or something else—you have the right to sue...
What Happens During an IME in an Injury Case?
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If you have been injured as a direct result of someone else's negligence and you opt to seek compensatio...
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A jury is made up of regular people, just like you. This means that they are going to do their best to come ...
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What Is California's Government Claims Program? If you have suffered a personal injury or property damage bec...
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The Green Bucket Brigade is the City of Norfolk's newest litter task force, uniting businesses, nonprofits, government, and all residents of Norfolk in the fight against litter. Through the Green Bucket Brigade, you can adopt your own litter kit including a green 5-gallon bucket, a litter grabber, trash bags, and KNB swag. Keep your corner clean and inspire others to do the same. Join the fight and keep Norfolk LITTER-FREE!
More information here: https://www.norfolk.gov/5068/Green-Bucket-Brigade
Filed under: Uncategorized |

subset: commoncrawl


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Since our last look a fortnight ago at the Swiss Re Cat Bond Performance Indices, to see how their performance reflected the mood and state of the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities market, both indices are now showing positive upwards growth. The price return index has reversed a four week decline and has recovered some ground to its highest point since late March.
There's still a long way for both indices to go to reach the highs that were seen before the Tohoko, Japan earthquake in March. The events in Japan saw both of the cat bond indices drop dramatically and recovery is taking time especially with the other unknown factor of the RMS risk model update which has helped to create uncertainty in the market.
Two more new catastrophe bonds have begun marketing since we last wrote, both offering great diversification opportunities for investors and as a result will be well received. Embarcadero Re Ltd. is a $150m California earthquake cat bond being issued on behalf of the California Earthquake Authority, it closes very soon. Pylon II Capital Ltd. is a European windstorm cat bond being issued directly by electricity firm EDF, a rare corporate cat bond and another great diversification opportunity.
Otherwise, the market has been behaving as would be expected. We suspect that the upward trend in the indices will continue unless a major hurricane threatens the U.S. coastline, the upward trend will also be encouraged by the removal of uncertainty regarding cat bonds which use the RMS hurricane model. That uncertainty has been removed thanks to S&P resolving all the outstanding CreditWatch statuses on the affected tranches of notes. The secondary market will be pleased that this uncertainty has been removed as pricing should stabilise on these tranches.
So, onto the indices. First we look at the Swiss Re Global Cat Bond Performance Price Return index, which tracks the price return for all outstanding USD denominated cat bonds (which you can quote and chart through Bloomberg here). This index as we said, has reversed a period of decline to bounce strongly in the last two weeks, closing at 94.15 on the 29th July.
Next we look at the Swiss Re Global Cat Bond Performance Total Return index, tracking the total return of the basket of natural catastrophe bonds (which you can quote and chart through Bloomberg here). This index continues its upwards trend and if we don't see anymore major losses over the next few months this could achieve an all time high later this summer, perhaps even as soon as in a fortnight's time when we analyse the indices again.
Register today for ILS Asia 2023, our next insurance-linked securities (ILS) market conference. Held in Singapore, July 13th, 2023.
Get a ticket soon to ensure you can attend. Secure your place at the event here!


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2014 MSGC Awardees Announced: Michigan Tech faculty, staff members and students received awards tallying $71,175 in funding through the Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC) sponsored by the NASA.
Undergraduates receiving $2,500 research fellowships are:
Laura Lynch (Biomed): "Prevention of Secondary Lymphedema with Biomaterial Hydrogels"
Roger Guillory (Biomed): "Characterization of the Biocompatibility of Zinc-Magnesium Alloys for Bioabsorable Coronary Stents"
NASA implemented the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program in 1989 to provide funding for research, education, and public outreach in space-related science and technology. The program has 52 university-based consortia in the United States and Puerto Rico. As an affiliate of the Michigan Consortium, Michigan Tech has been an active participant in MSGC for over fifteen years. For more information, please contact Robert Warrington or Paige Hackney in the Institute for Leadership and Innovation


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Sonos customers were left scratching their heads and double-checking their bank accounts after receiving more speakers than they ordered. Some users were reportedly charged for the extra speakers that they received but never ordered.
The Verge on Monday said it spoke to one Sonos customer who "placed an order for a single Sonos Move and received three." Another was "charged over $2,000 after ordering one Move speaker and receiving a total of seven."
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Reports of the accidental shipments first surfaced on Reddit, where customers have been discussing receiving and/or being charged for as many as five Sonos Ray, Sub, Arc, Move, or Roam speakers that they didn't order. One person claimed the extra speakers were rerouted before being received but after the charge went through.
It's unclear which Sonos products have been affected.
Ars Technica reached out to Sonos about The Verge and Reddit reports. The company didn't deny the accounts but said it had no additional details to share.
The Verge and a Reddit user both said that Sonos Chief Information Officer Ruth Sleeter sent a message to affected customers, saying that "a recent update to our systems resulted in some orders being processed multiple times."Advertisement
"Unfortunately, you were affected by this error and have been overcharged. You will also receive multiple shipments of your order," the statement given to The Verge continued.
Sleeter went on to apologize and tell customers they'll be refunded "within 10 business days."
Sleeter also said customers will be emailed prepaid return labels and can use Sonos' carrier to return the unwanted products. Receiving the products back may help Sonos reduce the financial burden of its mistake, but as pointed out by The Verge, the US Federal Trade Commission says that you "don't have to return unordered merchandise. You're legally entitled to keep it as a free gift."
"Again, we are truly sorry," Sleeter's statement said. "Thank you for being a valued customer and supporting Sonos. Issues like this are rare, and we will do everything we can to make it right."
Sleeter didn't provide further details on what caused the issue, how many people were affected, or what steps will be taken to ensure something like this doesn't happen again.
While Sonos said it will provide full refunds, some people don't have a budget that's flexible enough for hundreds of dollars to unexpectedly be made unavailable for at least 10 business days. Sonos also didn't mention accommodating customers who may have suffered consequences, such as credit card overages, following the company's error.


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Greta Lodienè, Hilde M. Kopperud, Dag Ørstavik and Ellen Bruzell | June 19th 2013
Abstract Root canal sealing materials may have toxic potential in vitro depending on the cell line, cytotoxicity assay, material chemistry, and degree of polymer curing. The aims of the present study were to detect leaching components from epoxy- or methacrylate-based root canal sealers and to investigate the degree of cytotoxicity after exposure to extracts from […]
Eystein Ruyter and Dag Ørstavik | February 11th 2008
To study the effect of the smear layer on the penetration of bacteria along different root canal filling materials and to examine the dentine/sealer and sealer/core material interfaces for the presence of bacteria.
Ayce Unverdi Eldeniz, Kamal Mustafa, Dag Ørstavik and Jon Einar Dahl | February 10th 2007
To assess ex vivo the cytotoxic effects of five new root canal sealers (RC Sealer, Epiphany, EndoREZ, GuttaFlow and Acroseal) and three existing products (AH Plus, RoekoSeal and Apexit) using primary human gingival fibroblasts (HGF) and a mouse fibroblast cell line, L929.


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Our children are being indoctrinated in the progressive agenda like never before.
They are subjected to learning immoral material in our public schools and are targeted in children's programming.
One cable television channel, however, is becoming the driving force behind forcing this agenda on vulnerable children, and they are pushing it further every day.
Nickelodeon has been a staple of children's programming for decades, and many of us have fond memories of favorite shows that contained nothing more offensive than a little potty humor.
But in the last decade, Nickelodeon has been slowly introducing elements of the liberal agenda to its young viewers.
We see a frightening pattern emerging.
The left-wing LGBT propaganda is rearing its ugly head at a faster pace every year.
And it's not just toward the 8 to 12 crowd who is the target audience of Nickelodeon.
They've slowly been on a mission to indoctrinate even our smallest children as the propaganda has spread to affiliate channel Nick Jr.
In 2015, an episode of the popular preschool show Bubble Guppies featured an apparently transgendered character named "RuPearl" voiced by notorious "drag queen" RuPaul.
The network saw nothing wrong with the episode about "a stylish sea snail and announcer for a 'dress up race' held during Fashion Week in the underwater city of Bubbletucky" that was voiced by a transvestite.
It appears they're trying to be subtle in exposing our preschoolers to their propaganda and are likely thinking up the next storyline that will incorporate their agenda into our little ones' favorite programs.
In fact, the beloved characters of Thomas the Tank Engine recently moved to Nick Jr. and are getting an overhaul in an attempt to be more "inclusive, meaningful and entertaining," the Thomas & Friends Global Brand Vice President told Variety.
While the changes are supposedly being made to introduce more female characters and those of different ethnic backgrounds, the word "inclusive" – a favorite phrase of the left – has us concerned.
Mommy Underground recently reported on the updated version of the series and what it may mean for the future of the program.
And they have kicked it into high gear in the last few years with blatant references to alternate lifestyles in an attempt to normalize them for future generations.
The cable channel has a history of adding subtle – and not-so-subtle – progressive propaganda into their children's programming.
From homosexuality to sexual innuendo, the network has become a forum of the left instead of providing wholesome entertainment for families – what was once a core mission.
In 2002, the cable channel ran a news program geared towards young children entitled, "My Family Is Different."
Hosted by notorious liberal anchor Linda Ellerbee, the program featured homosexual couples talking to children about the need for expanding rights for gay and lesbian parents.
Incidentally, another of Ellerbee's shows in the Nick News series explored the ideology of communism, something that Ellerbee has stated a "love" for in the past.
Back in 2010, author James Hirsen discussed Nickelodeon's blatant plan to indoctrinate American children in a Fox News interview.
"…It's a big deal. Here's why. Because there's millions of parents that trust this No. 1 children's brand. They trust their kids to watch it. And there's one thing where we should protect childhood innocence, it's in children's programming. Yet Nickelodeon, time after time, throws in political indoctrination. They have an agenda. They have proven it — they have proven in very controversial areas…and in the area of homosexual parenting."
Many Christian and family organizations expressed their opposition to the subject matter in the kids' news program, stating more than a decade ago that it was not appropriate for the target audience – kids 8 to 12.
In 2014, The Legend of Korra became the first children's television series in the western world to feature central characters who were homosexual.
The show's creators even stated that "Our intention with the last scene was to make it as clear as possible that yes, Korra and Asami have romantic feelings for each other."
Then followed The Loud House in 2016, in which the first bi-racial homosexual couple was featured. The creators said it received an "overwhelmingly positive response."
Not so from conservative parents and organizations like One Million Moms, who steadfastly opposed the episode.
Perhaps the best example of chronic indoctrination is the show Spongebob Squarepants. The content of the long-running program has run the gambit from sexual innuendo to references to pornography and homosexuality.
In 2016, blogger Matt Norcross wrote a piece for The American Spectator entitled Nickelodeon: Where Childhood Goes To Die, in which he talked about the network's move to be a political voice for the left, for example, how the popular Kids Pick the President program has been skewed so the results always support left-wing candidates like Barack Obama.
He wrote, "Nickelodeon has pretty much abandoned being a wholesome place that parents can trust their children to watch. Nickelodeon does not care about American children, they only care about indoctrinating young audiences, both socially and politically."
Like Disney, Nickelodeon is on the warpath to eradicate traditional values and Christianity from American homes.
They are introducing concepts like homosexuality in their programming like there is nothing wrong with it.
They expect us to accept it, agree with it, and make it the new normal.
It is up to parents to fight back. We must remain ever vigilant in what our children are watching on television. Even a program geared towards kids as young as two is no longer safe.
What do you think of Nickelodeon's normalization of the LGBT agenda and the fact that their propaganda seems to be moving towards Nick Jr.'s preschool programming? Will you boycott Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. in your home? Leave us your comments.


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Altova website: Diff tool
Altova DiffDog 2023 Enterprise Edition is a powerful differencing application that intelligently finds differences between pairs of directories and between pairs of files. Three-way comparisons of files are also supported. In addition, you can compare Microsoft Word documents, the structure of XML schemas or database schemas, as well as data from databases or CSV files. Comparisons between CSV files and databases, or between databases of different kinds, are also possible. Data can be compared on different bases and according to a variety of options that you can change quickly in the graphical user interface. In addition, DiffDog allows you to merge file differences, synchronize the content of two directories, generate XSLT stylesheets and MapForce® mappings for XML Schemas, merge the structure or data of database tables, and copy or delete changed files with a mouse click.
DiffDog is a 32/64-bit Windows application that runs on Windows 7 SP1 with Platform Update, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11, and on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 with Platform Update or newer, see also Support Notes.
Last updated: 29 March 2023


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We're looking to invite around 150 new people to our Tech team in 2021. We're growing fast and there are lots of exciting projects and product teams to consider joining.
I'm Louise and I work in the BA function. My blog is a breakdown of how we recruit BAs but there are lots of positions that we're hiring for at the moment and who knows, maybe one day we'll end up working together.
If you were thinking about applying to be a BA what could you expect? For a start we have our own internal recruitment team, they really know us and can answer those initial questions that you have. The answers they give really represent what we would say ourselves.
We get together before recruiting for a new role and talk about the sort of skills we need, what experience they should have and consider the other teams or people they would interact with. Obviously, it's important to get someone we all get along well with but we also want someone who is going to love working at AO. We always look for people who are excited about helping us grow aswell as someone who can do "insert name of technique here".
Step 1
You send in your CV and this is reviewed by our dedicated recruiter. They deal with all BA recruitment and will look after you throughout your journey. Whilst they pull together a shortlist of candidates, the BA team are preparing.
For every role we recruit, we pull together a group that will own the recruitment process and represent our BA community.
The BA community is really important to us and we apply the same community approach to recruitment as we do for our projects.
The group will review the CVs by getting together quickly and talking about who we want to move to the next stage and why.
Step 2
The next stage is the telephone interview. This is a chat with our dedicated recruiter. During this they'll talk about your experiences, what you want out of your next job and understand your long term career goals. You'll get the opportunity to get across all the information you want in order to sell yourself. The BA group will then review these interviews with the recruiter and decide who they want to see face to face.
Obviously face to face is a bit different at the moment. We've been remotely interviewing for nearly a year now and we completely understand how difficult it is for you at the other end. Not only do you have to sell yourself, you have to cross your fingers that all the technology works. Don't worry about it! We've had people who've lost connection, we've had kids join us and animals – All of which we love as we get to see the real you!
We have issues on our side too – people desperately rebooting their laptop, hoping that would fix their camera, people dashing out of the room to stop their dog running out of the house and lots of misbehaving microphones. We try to make it as relaxing as we can and if we ever get the chance to meet, you'll probably get to see some of our pets or families too.
Step 3
Before every Face to Face Interview, we set a task – We present you with a real-life BA scenario and ask you to tell us how you would approach it during the interview. We find that more useful to get a feel for how you work than just asking questions. After the task, we'll talk to you about our values and get a feel for how well AO is a fit for you. That is much more important to us than how many process maps you've created.
We really like to look at the recruitment process as a way of getting to know each other rather than a test and hopefully at the end of it you'll want to come and work with us and make us even better. We can't do this without our recruiter and they can't do it without you so why not take a look at our opportunities and let's have a chat!


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Ephesians 5:22-33
New International Version (NIV)
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her26 to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."[b] 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman. A Christian marriage is a covenant between a man, a woman and God.
When my husband and I got engaged, I began reading the book, "Power of a Praying Wife," by Stormie Omartin. The book gave me so much insight into the biblical, spiritual, physical and emotional role of a wife. It helped me understand why my role is so important to my husband. I truly believe that being a wife is a calling. I believe, with all my heart, that I was called to be my husband's wife.
There is also a book for the husbands entitled, "Power of a Praying Husband." The book is also written by Stormie, but her husband Michael wrote the Forward section of the book.
No matter where you are in your marital journey, I would recommend that you and your spouse, or spouse to be, read these books. Make it a time of daily or weekly devotion with each other. Allow the books to facilitate prayer, conversation, and learning. I also recommend that you each start a journal to document your journey together.
May God continue to bless your marriage and may you always keep each other first. Be vigilant in loving, respecting, honoring and protecting each other. Ask God to help you to continue to learn each other and grow. Nothing should come before your spouse, except for God.
I love you with an amazing and everlasting love.
Rev. Marcia Davis


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If you are looking to restock your souvenir pen inventory, then you should check out our planet pens selection. As a souvenir pen wholesaler, we have a vast selection to choose from but if you are looking for something a little more unique check out our planet pens collection. Here are a few of planet pens that are sure to stand out:
Our hand painted mermaid pens have a beautiful finish with bright, elegant colors that pop. These mermaid pens are sure to stand apart from the rest. These mermaid pens are guaranteed to make any mermaid fan happy. The mermaid pen is part of our ocean life collection. For our full selection of ocean life pens make sure to check out our catalog. Our souvenir mermaid pens are wholesale, so there is a minimum of six to order.
If you are looking for something a little more unique, well then the adjustable wrench might be for you. The adjustable wrench is hand painted, and it is one of our best sellers because of its unique design. The adjustable wrench looks just like a real wrench, and it is sure to stand out in stores. The wrench is also part of our planet pens wholesale collection and has a minimum of six to order.
If you are looking for something a little more fun and silly, our Surfing Santa might be for you. This is a fun pen that also has a beautiful design. The Surfing Santa pen is hand painted for a fantastic finish. This souvenir pen is also a bestseller that is sure to stand out amongst the rest. Surfing Santa is part of our planet pen beach collection. For more options make sure to check the rest of the collection.
So if you are looking for a souvenir pen wholesaler to help restock your pen inventory make sure to subscribe to our catalog. These are just some of our many planet pens we offer. For the full collection, check out our catalog and the other types of pens we have to offer.


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Book blurb
No. 36 Westeryk Road: an imposing flat-stone house on the outskirts of Edinburgh. A place of curving shadows and crumbling grandeur. But it's what lies under the house that is extraordinary – Mirrorland. A vivid make-believe world that twin sisters Cat and El created as children. A place of escape, but from what?
Now in her thirties, Cat has turned her back on her past. But when she receives news that one sunny morning, El left harbour in her sailboat and never came back, she is forced to return to Westeryk Road; to re-enter a forgotten world of lies, betrayal and danger.
Because El had a plan. She's left behind a treasure hunt that will unearth long-buried secrets. And to discover the truth, Cat must first confront the reality of her childhood – a childhood that wasn't nearly as idyllic as she remembers…
My thoughts
El and Cat are identical twins throughout their childhood and youth they are very close. Brought up by their mother and grandfather until one night when they go off to find their father.
Now, after many years of separation living in the U.S.A, Cat is told that El has disappeared after going out in her sailboat one morning. Although she vowed to stay away Cat returns to Scotland, to Edinburgh, to Westeryk Road, to Mirrorland.
Cat arrives to find El's husband distraught over her disappearance, the police are keeping in touch both by the investigating officers and the family liaison officer whilst the coastguard searches for El and her boat.
Cat knows that El is still alive – why would she be getting messages otherwise? Texts, emails and hand delivered ones. As she follows the clues being sent to her Cat begins to recall memories of their childhood.
As I fell into this fantastical world I thought I'd picked a fantasy or sci-fi book but this quickly moves into a fascinating exploration of what has happened to El, why Cat is being sent messages and what they are being sent for.
This book is a mystery wrapped in a heart wrenching conundrum and keeps you engrossed wanting to understand what happened in the past, how it is linked to El's disappearance and how everything will resolve. It shows the power that the close relationship of twins can have enabling Cat to understand after such a long separation what happened in El's life and what that meant with regard to their past.
Not necessarily the easiest of reads but, after my initial uncertainty, I'm glad I continued reading this extraordinary tale.
Thanks: to Rachel Quin at HarperFiction for the invite to read via NetGalley.
Publisher : The Borough Press (eBook: 1 April 2021; Hardback 15 April)
Buy: Local bookstore | AmazonSmileUK | Hive
Author: Carole Johnstone is an award-winning writer from Scotland, whose short stories have been published all over the world. Mirrorland, a psychological suspense with a gothic twist, is her debut novel.
Having grown up in Lanarkshire, she now lives in the beautiful Argyll & Bute, and is currently working on her second novel: a very unusual murder-mystery, set in the equally beautiful Outer Hebrides.
Looking for thoughtful discussions about books and beverages? Well, you've come to the right place.
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A Bollywood actor (Salman Khan) on a tour, luckily survives after his private jet crashes and meets a girl (Katrina Kaif). They interact and she decides to tell him a story of six friends, who all work in a call centre - Sam (Sharman Joshi), Priyanka (Gul Panag), Varun (Sohail Khan), Esha (Isha Koppikar), Radhika (Amrita Arora), Military uncle (Sharat Saxena) and their boss, Subhash Bakshi (Dalip Tahil). One night, while travelling together, they meet with an accident, and their car gets stuck at the edge of a cliff with their lives hanging by a thread. Trapped, one of them receives a phone call on his broken phone and the caller claims to be 'God', and offers them a chance to turn their lives around. How will they all react?
Sharman Joshi,Sohail Khan,Amrita Arora,Gul Panag,Eesha Koppikhar,Sharat Saxena,Dalip Tahil,Suresh Menon,Bharti Achrekar,Vandana Gupte,Katrina Kaif,Salman Khan
Atul Agnihotri


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As I write these words, the United States is six months into the COVID-19 era, with no obvious end in sight. In his article "Welcome to the New Regime," Marc Hopkins looks at how all the upheaval we've been living through has altered the world of jazz education. No teacher, student, or administrator is happy about it, but most of them appear to be learning to adapt to social distancing, online instruction, and other personal protective measures.
Of course, that isn't the whole story. When Marc and I first discussed the concept for this feature on the phone, he made an important point: that jazz education doesn't end when college does. It continues for years, for decades, in clubs and restaurants and hotel lounges. Which is why Marc's story has a sidebar about live venues. And the picture it paints isn't nearly as bright.
That a new virus, whose effects on humans are still being discovered and to which no one is immune, would have a negative impact on the performing arts is no surprise. But the often incomprehensible laws that authorities have put in place to regulate behavior aren't helping.
For example, in late August, a new rule appeared without warning on the New York State Liquor Authority website. It states that although live music is permitted in bars and restaurants, those establishments cannot advertise or charge admission for performances. In theory, this keeps the size of gatherings from getting out of hand. In practice, it means musicians make less money.
The main problem with the rule, as concert promoter Rick Rispoli told the Staten Island Advance, is that "[h]aving a cover charge doesn't say there will be 50 or 100 people in a bar. So this really doesn't make sense … With a ticketed event you can actually control the number of people in a venue because you can limit the number of tickets." But New York State doesn't see things that way.
Okay, no bar or restaurant gigs. How about livestreaming from home, like so many are doing? Not so fast. Facebook recently announced that a new "guideline" will take effect on its platform as of October 1: "If you use videos on our Products to create a music listening experience for yourself or for others, your videos will be blocked and your page, profile or group may be deleted. This includes Live." (A Facebook spokesperson later told the U.K.'s NME that this won't affect artists' abilities to share music via livestream. Let's hope so.)
Are people who make art entitled to a greater level of government support than others? I'm sure we could have a long debate about that. But when governments and corporations come up with rules that actually make it harder for artists to get by, in already historically tough times—well, that's when things really need to change. And soon.


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No sitting on the sideline Dad podcast episode#11
[et_pb_section admin_label="section"][et_pb_row admin_label="row"][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text"] Today on The no sitting on the sideline dad pod cast My guest Cole Johnson He author, Podcaster who loves to talk about sports. We talk about what it is like going through the process of divorce. The positive and the negative process of change and divorce. He has lots of good insights for people who are going through such a rough experience. Change in life is not always bad, but it is essential for growth. Links: http://www.colesportz.com/ 10 Scriptures on Divorce That Can Change Your Life [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]


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The new version of GovConTrack was just approved for the app store! I'll be updating the website tonight: www.saygoodnight.com/govcontrack
The big new feature is the ability to query USASpending.gov, for both detail searches and summary searches with graph & top 10 data. Of course you can also search FPDS-NG as well. For looking up government contract awards on iOS devices, there is no better app!


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The Next Generation of Pokemon?
We've attempted a podcast back a few years ago while studying and decided to revisit the format for our YouTube debut. We will hopefully be releasing weekly episodes, with this week focusing on the next generation of Pokemon games, recent rumours/potential leaks and Diamond & Pearl remakes.
Check out our discussion on this topic and more, featuring hosts Jimmy and Shaun. More episodes will follow in the coming weeks, alongside potential new series on this channel, so stay tuned. Watch episode 1 of the Reverbium Podcast here.
By Jimmy Ioannou


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I should have taken the I-5 freeway, I tell myself even as I commit to the onramp of I-84 East. Traffic is at a crawl as drivers jockey to merge into the three eastbound lanes. I choose the center lane. … Continue reading
Rush Hour Photo Opp
The Daily Press weekly photo challenge: Structure
Posted in Oregon, Photography, Washington, weekly photo challenge Tagged bridge, Columbia River bridge, rush hour, span, structure, traffic, weekly photo challenge 2 Comments
Breaking the Speed Limit?
Photo 101, Day Eighteen: Edge & Alignment
Posted in humor, Photo 101, Photography Tagged humor, photo101, photography, sign, speed limit, traffic 10 Comments
signal light turns green tells me it's time to move on to where I don't know Blogging U. Day Two: Street
Posted in Haiku, Photography, poetry Tagged haiku, photo101, photography, poetry, street, traffic Leave a comment


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In many cases in the Philippines, students have to drop out of school due to poverty but one student has been determined to not let it stop him from going to the school.
Aldreen Pelobello Siplon is truly inspired by the determination shown by one of his classmates who tries his best to pay for his school fees by selling coffee to the class.
Siplon later shared several photos of his hardworking classmate, Gulapa Paulo selling coffee to their classmate.
Paulo's business is really simple. All he needs is a big thermos filled with hot water, a couple of styrofoam cups and coffee sachets.
Whenever his classmates feel the need to freshen up after a long lesson, Paulo will make them a cup of hot coffee for a small profit.
Not only that Paulo is able to earn some money through his creative venture, he also somehow helps his classmates to stay awake and focus throughout the class!
Paulo also seems to be able to attract 'customers' from other classes as seen by the "Out of stock" sign he placed outside of his classroom.
Apparently, Siplon admires his classmate for thinking out of the box to help him pay the school fees.
He later shared the story and photos of Paulo on his Facebook account and when his post made rounds on the internet, many people praised Paulo for his effort to earn some money instead of giving up.
Some people also commented that Paulo will have a bright future given his determination and attitude to see the brighter side of his current situation.
Paulo may have to work a little harder to pay for his school fees at the moment but we believe that he will be successful in the future if he continues with this mindset!


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Digital Literacy Awareness Project
Why Digital Literacy?
My students are always asking for courses in 3D virtual spaces. It's a language they are already using in gaming. At the moment I believe that the potential of this tool is being under-utilised, and there is a general lack of awareness of its value and importance. The outcome of this will be students who lack the skills they will require in their digital futures. In order to produce students with the capabilities they need, there needs to be an increase in awareness.
The professional world in which today's children will find themselves, is very different to the workplace of today. Digital media is the new global language – imagination and creativity are essential to the job roles of this innovation driven workplace. This project will will support the development of students moving beyond the three R's – accelerating a generation literate in the rich language of multimedia – able to communicate complex ideas and information effectively through the scope that digital technology allows. They will be the creators of the virtual spaces of the future where communities, and even society as a whole will increasingly exist. This will ultimately be of benefit to society. And Australia could be at the forefront of digital literacy in education.
About Leah Robinson
Leah is a visual artist of both traditional art and digital media with a background in graphic design, video and photography, through individual projects, as a lecturer and through industry. Leah has taught web design, multimedia, digital photomedia, and new media theory and practice at a number of universities and TAFE colleges. Leah achieved a Master of Visual Arts focusing on interactive media, and is a qualified Workplace Trainer and Assessor. As Mind Creativity, Leah teaches digital media extra-curricular courses, school holiday workshops and provides in-class support and special teaching programs delivered as part of curriculum subjects. For more information visit www.mindcreativity.net
About Liz Aitken
Liz is recognised for training and implementation of Kahootz, curriculum. Liz was invited by Di Hansford from the University of New Engand to co-present a module on "New Literacies" at Wollongong University as part of the Commonwealth Summer School program. It was here she met Len Unsworth and heard a lecture he gave on digital learning. Liz presented some Kahootz work to academics at University of New England and also to teachers at Inverell Primary School.
What's next?
As the community of schools, parents and children – this project is for your community. Its an important opportunity for you to make a difference in the digital futures of your children, and beyond. I request that you forward this information to you own staff and school community through your distribution list. Those people that are interested please contact me as soon as possible on 0403 335 508 or firstname.lastname@example.com to discuss how you and your children can be involved in various ways.
For updates and more information see our facebook page at http://dlap.fbfollow.me
Or contact me at email@example.com or Liz at firstname.lastname@example.com


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As fuck.
We are a two-person team that enjoys planning, designing, and developing tools & products.
We create things that help, humor, & inspire.
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A chatty portfolio for a spacey chick.Look at this
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A growing collection of tacky tools built using Tachyons & Unsplash.Just look at it
We build products with three things in mind:
- Make it useful. Help scratch an itch.
- Make it human. The best experiences are honest ones, so don't shy away from that.
- Make something unique that grabs attention and teaches people something in the process.
Maxim email@example.com
Heather firstname.lastname@example.com
We created Blunt to build our own products.
We collaborate with designers, developers, or agencies that have great ideas.
We like to
Try new things, set our own limits, and see how far we go.
We have honest conversations and active imaginations.
We create things that matter.


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Child Endangerment Attorneys in Bakersfield, California
California law defines the criminal offense of "child endangerment" quite broadly. However, it does not change the fact that the implications of a child endangerment conviction can be severe. It is not uncommon for parents to face child endangerment charges when they are not actually violating the law.
If you or someone you know has been charged with or is being investigated for child endangerment, contact an experienced criminal defense attorney. At Underwood Law Firm, our knowledgeable attorneys can pursue a successful defense to child endangerment charges. If you are facing these charges in Bakersfield, California, or elsewhere in Kern County, reach out to our office to discuss your legal matter during a confidential consultation.
What Is Child Endangerment in California?
Child abuse, neglect, and endangerment are common occurrences in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least one in seven children experiences child abuse or neglect each year.
Not all situations in which children get hurt, however, may warrant child abuse, neglect, or endangerment charges. There are several circumstances that may amount to the crime of "child endangerment" in the state of California:
- Willful infliction of unjustifiable mental or physical suffering or pain upon a child;
- Willfully causing or permitting a child to experience unjustifiable mental or physical suffering or pain;
- Willfully causing or permitting harm to the child's person or health while having custody/care of the child; or
- Willfully causing or permitting a child to be in a situation where the child's health or person is in danger while having custody/care of the child
Under the California Penal Code, the prosecution must prove three elements to convict someone of child endangerment:
- The defendant did any of the above-mentioned;
- The defendant acted willfully and was criminally negligent; and
- The defendant, if they are the child's parent, was not reasonably disciplining their child
While certain forms of corporal punishment are legal in California (e.g., spanking), cruel and inhuman forms of punishment may amount to child abuse charges. If you do not understand the charges against you, reach out to a knowledgeable criminal defense attorney as soon as you can.
Possible Penalties for Child Endangerment
People convicted of child endangerment in California can face significant consequences and penalties. In the worst-case scenario, a parent convicted of child endangerment could lose custody of their children. There is also a risk of being sent to county jail or state prison and being ordered to pay hefty fines.
Child endangerment is a wobbler in California, which means it can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the facts of the offense. The severity of punishment also depends on whether or not the child endangerment case involves the infliction of great bodily injury.
Possible Defenses
Facing child endangerment charges can be a devastating and overwhelming experience not just for you but also for your children and other members of your family. Since the implications of a conviction are severe, it is vital to work on your defense strategy as soon as you find out about the ongoing Child Protective Services investigation or charges against you.
Some of the possible defenses that may help you get the child endangerment charges reduced or dropped include:
- You did not act willfully or intentionally
- Your actions did not amount to criminal negligence
- You were falsely accused of endangering your child
- You were disciplining your child and the manner in which you were disciplining your child was "reasonable"
- Your child reached the age of majority (18 years in the state of California)
Our criminal defense attorneys at Underwood Law Firm have extensive experience defending clients against child endangerment charges in Bakersfield and the rest of California.
The Importance of Skilled Advocacy
Child endangerment laws in California are quite broad, which is why it is not uncommon for law-abiding and innocent parents to face these child endangerment charges even when they did nothing wrong or illegal. That is why it is important to seek legal guidance from an experienced criminal defense attorney to help you defend against allegations of child endangerment, sexual abuse, child abuse, and more.
A skilled attorney will work through the facts of your unique case in order to find weaknesses in the prosecution's case and deploy a strong defense strategy to give you the best possible outcome.


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Longspell Point Farm
Appears in these categories: Meat and Poultry, Vegetables and Greens
245 Longspell Rd.
Click here to visit website.
Kings County1-902-582-3930
Click here to visit website.
About Us:
Featuring pasture-raised meat and delicious vegetables. Find us at the Wolfville Farmers' Market or give us a call.
Want to find more delicious Nova Scotian food? Click on one of the orange boxes to see more listings!


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Good Eyes, Evil Eyes
"Huge eyes means good!"
In many animated series, goodies and baddies are distinguished by the size of their eyes. The Hero, The Messiah, and the Wide-Eyed Idealist will all have big, open, happy, trustful eyes. On the other hand, the Magnificent Bastard, Evil Overlord, and Card-Carrying Villain will have narrow, shifty eyes. Might be because large eyes makes the face appear more baby-like. See also Beauty Equals Goodness.
However, this trope is slightly more complex than it used to be. Instead of one eye size for goodies and another for baddies, there is a continuum between the Friend to All Living Things and the Big Bad reflecting just how good or bad a character is. On the side of good, the Badass Anti-Hero willing to Shoot the Dog has eyes narrower than the hero's but wider than those of the villain. Villains with wider eyes tend to be of the Knight Templar, Well-Intentioned Extremist, or Anti-Villain types; either that, or they will Pet the Dog a few times.
Common Eye Colors are more useful to ascertain personality traits and temperament than moral alignment. Note that characters who have their Eyes Always Shut do not really fit anywhere on this continuum, as they tend to symbolize something else entirely, whether good or evil. Also, in a Slice of Life series without heroes or villains, narrow eyes are often used to indicate a cynical, skeptical character. See also Scary Shiny Glasses. When this trope is used with critters or monsters, it's Big Eyes, Little Eyes. Only tangentially related to Evil Eye.
Likely unrelated but interesting nonetheless is the fact that ancient cultures often portrayed spiritual people in their art with gigantic eyes. They apparently believed that wider eyes meant someone was more capable of communicating with their gods.
See also Tsurime Eyes, Animation Anatomy Aging, Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains, Color Coded for Your Convenience, Dress-Coded for Your Convenience.
- Played with in Code Geass:
- Lelouch Lamperouge, the resident Magnificent Bastard Anti-Hero, who is morally dubious at best, has very wide, beautiful, expressive eyes.
- Played straight with his older brother, Schneizel, who is unmistakeably a villain, and has narrow eyes.
- And again subverted with another Anti-Hero, Suzaku Kururugi, who is (like Lelouch) morally ambiguous, and yet still has wide, sparkling Green Eyes.
- Tenchi Muyo is almost a case study in the example of Innocence vs. Cynicism. Compare the eyes of Sasami, Washu, Ryoko, and Mihoshi.
- X 1999: Compare the eyes of Anti-Hero Kamui to those of Anti-Villain Fuuma. Or those of Blind Seer Hinoto to those of her evil sister, Kanoe. Or, indeed, any Dragon of Heaven to any Dragon of Earth.
- Another example: It's easy to tell that Hinoto has gone to the dark side when her eyes appear significantly narrower.
- Yu-Gi-Oh: Yami Yugi and Yami Bakura both have narrower eyes than their hosts. Malik already has narrow eyes, but his superpowered eviller side has even narrower ones.
- Used in, oddly enough, Saikano. Shuji's friend who joins the military, whose name escapes me is a Wide-Eyed Idealist, complete with literal wide eyes. On the other hand, the other soldiers, none of whom have any illusions about the state they'll return home in, all have extremely narrow eyes.
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Though Col. Mustang is eventually portrayed in a sympathetic and somewhat heroic light, he initially comes across as a nasty piece of work, and possesses the narrowest eyes of the regular military characters. Col. Archer has unrepentantly narrow eyes.
- This is especially apparent when Mustang finally found Envy, and was about to give in to his hatred. His eyes almost narrowed to a slit.
- Lampshaded by Ed "Take a good look at your face before you do anything! You think you can lead a country looking like that?!"
- Ling Yao (or Lin Yao), from the manga, is a subversion. He's at heart a decent guy with a moral code, but his eyes are very narrow and he himself admits they look "shifty". (He's also an Asian in a cast full of Caucasians, so take that how you will.) He tries to mitigate the effect by keeping his Eyes Always Shut.
- After Greed takes over Ling's body, the eyes signify who's in charge. In the manga if the iris is colored in, it's Greed. If the iris isn't colored in (or if his eyes are closed), then it's Ling. In the manga the direction his bangs are pointing also help distinguish the two. In the anime the two are mostly distinguished by their voices, but even then Ling usually keeps his "shifty eyes" shut when he's in control unless he's being serious.
- The heroic Hohenheim and the Big Bad Father look practically identical but for the fact that Hohenheim has much friendlier-looking eyes.
- Zolf Kimblee, a psychopathic Mad Bomber has eyes which are reptilian-looking pin pricks.
- The homunculus Pride when he drops the Selim Bradley persona, especially in [dead link] the animated adaptation [dead link].
- This is especially apparent when Mustang finally found Envy, and was about to give in to his hatred. His eyes almost narrowed to a slit.
- Beyblade: Tyson and Max have wide eyes. Ray and Kai, who both have degrees of Anti-Hero, have narrower ones.
- In Bleach, the heroes have generally big eyes, with Orihime's being the biggest. Among Soul Reapers, the greater the Knight Templar tendency, the narrower the eyes. Well, everyone except for Gin, whose eyes always seem to be closed for some reason.
- Also, Aizen. Starts out good, eyes are wide. Once he reveals that he's evil, his eyes narrow considerably.
- Death Note, both the anime and the manga, used this consciously. Light normally has squinty, narrow eyes, but when he temporarily has his memory erased and becomes a good guy, his eyes widen considerably.
- This happened in a cycle. In the beginning, his eyes were in the wider variety. Then, as time went by and he grew more conniving and duplicitous, they grew narrower (accompanied by an overall harshness to his features).
- It is even almost lampshaded; after losing his memory, Light asks L if his eyes look like those of a murderer. Maybe he thinks L is Genre Savvy?
- Sort of used in Haruhi Suzumiya. The series does not have any heroes or villains, but Kyon, being the most cynical character, has considerably narrower eyes than the rest of the cast.
- Gun X Sword subverts it - Van, the hero, has eyes half the size of his companions. It also plays the trope straight to a degree, however; his rival Ray has narrower eyes. This being a Goro Tanaguchi series, everyone's eyes double in width when they get pissed off, balancing things out.
- Parodied, perhaps inadvertently, in Project A-ko. A-Ko's eyes, while wide, do not approach the massive CLAMP-influenced orbs of C-Ko. Gadgeteer Genius Psycho Lesbian B-Ko, of course, has the classic villainess eyes.
- Naruto plays this trope to a T. Naruto either has his eyes shut or open wide, fitting with his personality. When his Super-Powered Evil Side takes over, his eyes narrow.
- The dark outlines around Gaara's eyes make them appear narrower when he is looking menacing, but wider when he is portrayed sympathetically.
- Averted with the first three Hokage. All three of them have very narrow eyes, but are calm and pretty much embody Lawful Good.
- Although Kazuo Kiriyama's eyes in the manga version of Battle Royale are not appreciably smaller than those of the major male protagonists, they do not reflect any light, giving them a flat, empty appearance illustrating the character's complete lack of emotion.
- The same applies to many characters in the Black Lagoon manga, most notably Revy.
- In Genshiken, while Ogiue is initially full of self-loathing and cynical, her eyes don't reflect light. Later, when she begins accepting herself for what she is and her cynicism starts to melt, her eyes begin to shine.
- Elfen Lied makes prolific use of this trope, specifically with Lucy/Nyu, who can either have large, bubbly, innocent eyes in her Nyu persona to signify her innocently ignorant mindset, or narrow, hateful, and tortured eyes (that are hidden most of the time) in her Lucy persona to signify her extremely dark, murderous, and tormented mindset. In fact, a key characteristic of a diclonius who's been pushed too far is a piercing, glazed over look in their eyes, signifying their descent into murderous misanthropy (basically every diclonius in the show goes through this at one point or another, given that Humans Are Bastards). For some of them this is essentially a permanent state.
- Subverted with Kaiji's titular lead character, whose tire-punching vandalism doesn't make him evil, just a loser.
- Trigun uses this quite a bit, especially with Vash, who either puts on his ominous Scary Shiny Glasses or gets a narrow (if not Glowing Eyes of Doom) look in his eyes, Knives, whose pupils dilate disturbingly whenever he's feeling particularly sadistic, and Legato, whose demonically evil eyes (or technically eye) are specifically focused on when he makes his opening entrance (in fact, this is one of the reasons why Vash is so terrified of him).
- Used in GetBackers especially in regard to Akabane whose eyes (which are already extremely narrow) dilate to the point that his pupils look like periods when he is feeling particularly unstable.
- Extremely noticeable in Rurouni Kenshin. Not only do all villains have narrow eyes and all the protagonists have wide ones (the wider the eyes, the more optimistic/naïve the character). Kenshin's own eyes go from wide to narrow as he gets closer to falling into his Battousai mode.
- However, it is also lampshaded and subverted once. When Anti-Hero rival Saito first appears, Sano, The Lancer, goes out of the way to point out his small, "squinty" eyes as a reason for concern. While Saito initially acts as an antagonist, he turns out to be even more tireless than Kenshin in fighting against the bad guys, living his life by the code of "Slay evil immediately". (Fans seemed to have noticed the trope too, as Kenshin's author made a note of how he received many letters from Shinsengumi fans upset at Saito's villainous look when first introducing him).
- Also subverted with Soujiro, who has big, innocent-looking eyes.
- The Genre Savvy Anji Yukyuzan not only has narrow eyes (unlike in his past, where he had wide idealist ones until being horrifyingly broken), but he applies ashes to his eyelids to make them look even smaller and squintier and have even more menacing looks.
- Cowboy Bebop: Just compare the eyes of Spike and Vicious, and then guess which is the Anti-Hero and which is the Evil Counterpart.
- While nearly identical in appearance, there's a single major physical disparity between Monster's Johan Liebert and his twin sister, Anna that tells you which one's the evil one. You have three seconds to get it right.
- Played with in Princess Tutu. Ahiru, the main heroine, has huge blue eyes, even when she's in her duck form, showing her innocent, sweet nature. Fakir, a dark, brooding character who's often a jerk, has extremely narrow green eyes. He's the villain, right? WRONG! Rue--whose eyes are narrower than Ahiru's, but not nearly like Fakir's--turns out to be the Dark Magical Girl, whose eyes look significantly more narrow when she transforms. Also messed with in the second season with Mytho. Normally his eyes are nearly as wide as Ahiru's, but when his heart is poisoned with Raven's blood and a selfish, evil personality takes him over, his eyes dramatically narrow before our very eyes.
- Also used often in One Piece. Notable is how when Boa Hancock was first introduced, she had narrower eyes, but after her Freudian Excuse was exposed and she fell for Luffy her eyes got bigger. Luffy falls into this trope as well. When he's in a normal state, he's got big, cute, childish eyes. When angered, his eyes narrow considerably, making him look much older. (to add to the effect, his body is drawn to be more defined and adult.)
- Not to mention, his irises are also drawn. The result gives him a gaze that makes this troper wonder, why anyone would dare to fight him...
- Also, while (male) One Piece characters generally has very narrow eyes compared to most mangas, the good guys are more likely to have big, round eyes than the bad guys.
- In Deadman Wonderland there is a Crazy Evil Eyes version of this trope. The good-hearted, wide-eyed, main protagonist meets another good-hearted, wide-eyed, sweet girl who desperately wants to escape DW. He falls for her and soon after is betrayed. She was faking the whole time in order to drop his guard. Once she shows her True Colors her eyes become beady and wide as opposed to small and narrow.
- In yet another example of eyes changing shape after a personality change, Nia Teppelin from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
- Subverted in Toradora!; Ryuuji has narrow eyes paired up with a creepy stare, which make everyone but his friends think he's a delinquent, while he's actually a very nice guy.
- Played straight and subverted in Anatolia Story: Il Vani, Prince Kail's adviser and close friend, has extremely narrow eyes that make him look evil-ish, at the very least. The evil queen, however, has appropriately narrow eyes.
- In Hellsing, Seras is pretty much the only good guy who has wide eyes (she doesn't have the Scary Shiny Glasses either). Curiously, the members of Millenium also tend to have wider eyes, though that's probably because they have so much fun with what they do.
- It's also worth remembering that her irises turn red when she goes ax crazy
- This trope is played with quite a bit in The Law of Ueki. Particularly noteworthy is the subversion of Ueki and Kobayashi. Both have heavily slanted eyes with very thin irises (or no irises at all), a style typically used for evil characters or hot-blooded anti-heroes. Yet, one is the justice-loving Technical Pacifist hero, and the other is his lazy, friendly, and (usually) nonviolent teacher/mentor.
- Subverted in the manga Leviathan; see here. That's the character with arguably the biggest eyes so far, going "There's not enough killing yet."
- Played with in the case of General Regius from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Striker S, whose small, beady eyes, fat frame, and general temperament rang a lot of "obvious villain" alarm bells. Then he turned out to be a Well-Intentioned Extremist who had the same goals as the heroes of protecting the little guys, only he had the misfortune of being manipulated like a puppet by the Omniscient Council of Vagueness.
- Black Lagoon - as time goes on, Rock's eyes gradually get narrower as he becomes more jaded and cynical.
- Mayo Mitama in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei has "mean-looking eyes," causing everyone to misjudge her . . . she really is mean, but everyone is so concerned with not judging by appearances that they think she must be nice.
- Both subverted and played straight in Code Geass. Both Anti-Hero Lelouch and Anti-Villain Suzaku have very big, expressive eyes. The former is one of the most manipulative and deceitful Magnificent Bastards in anime, the latter has a hidden death wish and a severe case of Chronic Backstabbing Disorder. However, the rest of the cast mostly obey this trope.
- Noir. The protagonists Mirielle and Kirika, despite both being ruthless hitwomen, have large round eyes, whereas Knife Nut Chloe has narrow eyes. Later when Kirika starts to come under the influence of Chloe, her Moe Moe eyes become noticeably narrower.
- Ken Ichijouji from Digimon Adventure 02 is a good example. As the evil Digimon Kaiser, he has narrow eyes and small pupils. After his Heel Face Turn, his eyes become larger and more expressive.
- Played straight with almost everyone in Angel Densetsu, to the point that the two Ax Crazy female leads have nicer eyes as they become nicer. Subverted to hell by the male lead of course.
- In Sailor Moon, the good Sailor Senshi have huge Moe eyes, and the more evil people from the Dark Kingdom/Black Moon Circus/insert latest antagonist group here have narrow eyes.
- This pattern only exists in the first arc. The second arc breaks it up with the narrow-eyed Sailor Pluto. Uranus and Neptune show up in the third arc, and when wide-eyed villains appear in the fourth arc, the pattern effectively dissolves.
- Mahou Sensei Negima generally does this; the villains have noticeably narrower eyes then the heroes, though there are exceptions; Chao's eyes are round, and Evangeline, while having narrow eyes, only thinks she's a villain.
- In addition, Setsuna has narrower eyes then the rest of the cast when she's introduced, as Negi briefly suspects her of being a bad guy. Later on in the series her eyes are wider.
- Although given recent events, Chao is likely more of a Hero Antagonist, playing this trope straight after all.
- The eye scale is pretty straight if based on "untroubled" and "uncomplicated", with the exceptions being the characters whose facade is good enough to be semi-real. Noteworthy is that even the twins can be usually identified by their eyes. (Switch it to "Dark Eyes Light Eyes", add in the series' unusual values for "Dark" and "Light", and everybody fits in about perfectly.)
- Played up heavily in Liar Game. The incredibly gullible (at first) and generous Nao Kanzaki has anime-standard, big googly eyes, whereas the current main antagonist Yokoya has slit eyes so narrow it's sometimes hard to see them at all.
- In Dragon Ball, good characters generally have big round eyes and bad ones have narrower ones. If a bad character turns good their eyes usually don't change. In an interesting twist, bad characters' eyes are fully outlined, while good characters only have the outside edges of the eyes outlined. Again, this generally sticks if the character switches sides. Continuing that, when Goku, Gohan or Goten first turn Super Saiyan their eyes adopt the "bad guy" look. Trunks has the bad guy eyes even in his normal state due to him being related to Vegeta.
- This is very noticeable in Fist of the North Star, especially when characters switch allegiances. For example, when Rei was originally drawn with beady eyes when he was first introduced, since his status as a hero or villain was still very dubious. Once his heroic credentials were established, he was drawn with rounder eyes.
- With the exception of Walker (whose eyes are always closed, Izaya Orihara has some of the narrowest eyes in Durarara!! (and are also noted to be very sharp-looking in the Light Novels). He is also a giant fricking asshole and is more or less the series' Big Bad.
- Umi No Yami Tsuki No Kage is about a pair of twins which acquire psychic powers. One of them turns evil. You can tell by the small, cat-like pupils she suddenly sports.
- In Sukeban Deka the main villainess pupils usually completely fill out her eyes (because, you know, she's beautiful and this is a shojo manga). But when her pupils narrow down to small little dots you know you should run for your life.
- A variation occurs in Wandering Son. The resident Deadpan Snarker, Chiba, changes between eye styles occasionally. In earlier volumes her default expression was wide-eyed like everyone else in the manga. After becoming increasingly more depressed and moody, her eye style changed to her apathetic look which both makes her look more mature and is more closed then her original look; it changed midway volume 4, one page she's her normal expression and the next she's the new one. She'll occasionally lap into the former, but typically only when she's really happy (at times even when she's happy it doesn't change though) or only for a panel or two.
- The eponymous Detective Conan applies this constantly. When he pretends to be a kid, he's Tareme Eyes—and would switch to Tsurime Eyes in Meitantei mode.
- Homura in Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Specifically, in the beginning, she was Tareme Eyes, fitting her original personality. The effect of the subsequent Groundhog Day Loop-sque Mental Time Travel culminated into her hiding all things she considered "weak"-- in addition to Letting Her Hair Down and curing her eyes with magic, her eyes turned to Tsurime Eyes.
- Kaede from Kämpfer usually has innocent looking eyes, but in episode 10, her eyes clearly shift to a more sinister look while trying to manipulate male Natsuru.
- Kamichama Karin plays the trope straight, although in this case it's at least partly due to the bad guys being a few years older than the good guys.
- In Avatar, the Na'vi have enormous eyes. The avatars' eyes are smaller, but still much larger than a human's.
- In The Good the Bad And The Ugly, everybody is squinting, all the time—but Lee Van Cleef squints harder than anybody else. He is, of course, the Bad.
- Van Cleef is supposed to have said, "Being born with a pair of beady eyes was the best thing that ever happened to me."
- Though to complicate matters, Tuco's (Eli Wallach's character) look ranges from the determined squint through to the wide eyed amazement, and he is by no means a saint.
- In The Lord of the Rings, Smeagol/Gollum's pupils dilate to show which personality is in control. Guess who has the narrower pupils.
- Harry Potter - Bellatrix Lestrange has "heavily lidded eyes". Her sister Andromeda Tonks looks a lot like her but has "wider, kinder eyes". Luna Lovegood has wide eyes.
- Likewise, while Hagrid has "bright, beetle-black eyes", Snape's are said to be black and unfathomable, like dark tunnels. And Ginny has big, bright brown eyes.
- In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei is introduced in the first chapter with a description that includes these, among other traits. Given how he ends up described, perhaps it's best not to take it all that literally.
Live Action TV
- Possibly subverted by Ben Linus on Lost, who has done all kinds of nasty things, up to and including murder, but who has big old bug eyes.
- As of season 6 it was revealed he was actually both, but due to many misfortunes, including watching his daughter gunned down, he's following his own agenda and has pulled a genuine Heel Face Turn.
- LazyTown's Sportacus has a pair of wide, friendly baby-blues that appear almost photoshopped in their blueness. On the other hand, Robbie not only has pale grey eyes, but also sports highly-arched eyebrows and heavy purple eye-shadow to emphasize the fact that he is indeed the villain.
- Inverted in Merlin. Morgause has huge Brown Eyes but she is a recurring villain.
- Subversion: In The Mighty Boosh, the completely non-evil Straight Man Howard Moon has narrow eyes, though is rather sensitive about them.
Newspaper Comics
- Gary Trudeau specifically mentions in a collection that he drew Barbara Ann "Boopsie" Boopstein's eyes wide and round—in an intentional contrast to the usual heavy-lidded, half-open [dead link] Doonesbury style—in order to convey her unique naivety and cheerfulness.
Real Life
- Our pupils dilate when we feel friendly and affectionate, and constrict when we feel wary and guarded. Consequently, we consider large pupils a sign of warm heartedness and small ones a sign of hostility.
- Pupil size is entirely controlled by the autonomic nervous system. The effect of mood is real, but much smaller than the far more basic accommodation for light level. It likewise is not as important as the function of the autonomic nervous system. Pupil dilation is a result of the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system, the part responsible for fight-or-flight. An aggressor will have dilated pupils, as will someone "wide-eyed with fright." Parasympathetic stimulation, the feed-and-breed side of the autonomic nervous system, causes constriction. Likewise, cocaine and amphetamines cause dilation, which heroin causes constriction. Take a look at the size of the pupil of this young Thai boxer here for illustration.
- 19th-century women used to put belladonna (aka deadly nightshade) extract in their eyes to dilate the pupils, so they would look prettier.
- This is less crazy than it sounds. The key here is that the poison is in the dose or, in this case, the route. The deadly in deadly nightshade comes from atropine (as it's scientific name Atropa belladona suggests). Atropine blocks pretty much the entire parasympathetic nervous system, which is the calm, feed-and-breed side of autonomic regulation. The PS system causes the pupils to constrict, so atropine (and deadly nightshade) would dilate the pupil. Used low dose topically in the eye, it doesn't really affect the rest of the body, and ophthalmologists used to use atropine for many years for some forms of glaucoma (rare today). Atropine has a few uses in emergencies (nerve gas and pesticide exposure, some heart conditions). Taken systemically, deadly nightshade can live up to its name, especially before we had drugs which could counter its effects.
Video Games
- Kingdom Hearts: Sora and Kairi have big, wide eyes (especially in the first game); Anti-Hero Riku's are narrower. And nearly all of Organization XIII have narrow eyes, even the goofball Demyx. Larxene, however, has eyes so big they rival Sora and Kairi's, and she's perhaps the scariest member of the Org. Ax Crazy Vanitas also has large eyes by virtue of being a Sora look alike
- In Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney, one of the most prominent differences between Phoenix and Edgeworth - apart from their clothing and hairstyles - is in their eyes, making the contrast between Phoenix's idealism and Edgeworth's cynicism that much more explicit.
- In Case 1-5, Angel Starr actually has one of each, always covering one with her hair to show if she's being sweet or bitter. However, this is because she wears colored contacts to deliberately invoking this trope to have people trust her or fear her accordingly.
- Same deal with Matt Engarde.
- April May, Anita Tiala
- In those times where he appears separately (namely Kagetsu Tohya and Melty Blood), Tohno Shiki's Nanaya personality has narrower eyes than normal...though it might just be due to his default expression.
- The first Jak and Daxter videogame gave the (then comparatively innocent) main character and his romantic interest eyes the size of soccer balls. The villains' eyes were substantially smaller. Then, over the sequels, this was expanded upon - when Jak Took a Level In Badass at the beginning of Jak II and turned into an antihero with anger issues, his eyes shrank by about 45%. And then there are the glowing white eyes of his Light Jak form and the black pits of Dark Jak...
- Merrill in Dragon Age II has larger eyes than anyone has got a right to. She's also the nicest person on your team.
- This is the main characteristic of all the elves in the game, along with pointy ears. Even the brooding Anti-Hero Fenris has wider eyes than the humans of the team, even though they are narrower than Merrill's.
- Inverted with Fubuki Shirou of Inazuma Eleven. Normally he has a sleepy look and gentle personality, so when he gets aggressive in his plays channeling his deceased twin brother his eyes widen and he's... suddenly a lot harder to approach.
- Played straight with Kariya Masaki in GO. Turns out he's not evil though--just a jerk whenever he feels like it. Plus he's mostly ditched his goody-two-shoes act.
- In Jack you can safely determine the status of a character by look of their pupils. Damned souls in Hell have tiny beady pupils, living furries, celestials and those of hell-denizen who became conscious of their sins and are eager to amend for them and escape damnation have normal eyes. Demons have glowing red eyes, Satan has pitch-black eyes and so does Jack when he gets mad.
- In Girl Genius, you can usually tell whether Agatha or Lucrezia is in control. I have yet to determine whether it is mostly by the shape of the eyes or whether it's that plus other mannerisms.
- When Lucrezia is in, she frequently ditches Agatha's glasses (for some reason).. Also, she's usually smirking, whereas Agatha alternates looking like a scared rabbit and looking like an Evil Overlord.
Western Animation
- Disney does this a lot. In most of the Disney Animated Canon, the villain's eyes are narrower than the hero's. They also tend not to reflect light, making them appear rather soulless.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender: Aang and Katara both have quite large eyes. Sokka and Toph have narrower eyes, but they are still wider than those of Azula. Zuko is an interesting case - his narrow eyes indicate a dark character; however, one is narrower than the other, indicating moral ambiguity right from the start.
- In book 1 Zuko is pissed off all the time, and his one good eye is contorted in frustration. Later, as his demeanor improves, his face relaxes and the eye looks bigger, whilst his scar becomes overgrown by hair. Also, young Zuko's eyes are larger than Teen Zuko, showing that he inherited more good from his mother than his father's evil.
- Ty Lee's colossal eyes seem to indicate that she isn't completely evil, which was finally confirmed in "The Boiling Rock, Part 2". Of course, Mai has eyes even narrower than Azula's, and she turned her coat moments earlier.
- In Teen Titans, the relatively naive and innocent Starfire has much larger eyes than her comparatively evil sister Blackfire.
- In The Simpsons, most characters have wide, bulging eyes - except for Mr. Burns and Sideshow Bob.
- Inverted in the DCAU where Superman has squinty little eyes of just an upper eyebrow and a pupil while Lex Luthor has more normal eyes with a white to them. Also ignored in most other cases as eye size seems gender based; all ladies get big eyes no matter how evil they are.
- The Boondocks plays an interesting variation: black people have narrow eyes, white people have wider eyes. Due to its Animesque style, this makes white girls look like your average anime girl.
- Early episodes of the first Transformers episodes had a robot version of it: The good Autobots had blue eyes, and the evil Decepticons had red eyes. Taking this even further, there was an episode where the good guys were brainwashed into evil. The visual cue? Their eyes turned red.
- Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil gives wide eyes to the titular Anti-Anti-Christ, but narrow eyes to her father. Jesus's eyes are wide, and the nun who tries to kill Lucy has narrow eyes.


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Metal Sales Manufacturing Corp. has expanded its production of metal roof and wall panels in its Temple, Texas, facility.
The products include Magna-Loc flat-pan, standing-seam roof panels, vertical-seam standing-seam snap-together roof panels, 7/8-inch corrugated exposed direct-fastened roof and wall panels, and concealed direct-fastened soffit panels for wall, soffit, fascia and liner use.
The company says the new equipment will provide customers in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas with additional products.
"We are excited to offer our customers in the south-central United States more solutions to grow their businesses," said marketing director Linda Kerechek. "Metal Sales continues its commitment to add resources to provide the widest selection of superior-quality roof and wall panels available today."


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Casa Verde
Young women´s care home for mental health problems San Miniato / Italy / 2017
The project aims to recover and integrate an old site already used as an orphanage, built on a portion of a hilly area next to the old historical centre of San Miniato.
The "CASA VERDE" project, so called because of his historically/social value (CASA / home / orphanage – VERDE / Green / built in a forest of holm oaks), is a search to find links:
1_with the woods, through the study of the various shades of the leaf color in different seasons;
2_with the "guests Girls" by editing their graphic works on the glass facade;
3_with the city by reusing "vicoli" (useful and necessary for the maintenance of the hillside);
4_ with the research of a dialog with the natural light (main staircase);
5_with the centuries-old cypress trees next to the structure;
6_with art through the artist MERCURIO-S17S71 who painting the faces of the "guests" has created a collection of contemporary artworks called "SHAMANS";
The project is part of a bigger site plan, which is now almost totally realised. Actually is only missing the basement laboratory part on the southwest side of the building, which will be built, according to the agreed program, from 2018.
The idea matrix is to protect, in materials and shapes, (as evidenced by the roof geometries) the original plan and emphasize the extension with shapes and materials close to contemporary culture.
In this elaborate design process the awareness to act inside a fragile landscape helped us; in fact we choose the inhomogeneous green color for the second level of the facade to investigates the ability to insert and mitigate the new volume in the context.
The ventilated façade has not only a color value, but it has different levels of reading: the double micro perforated panels gives diaphaneity when your point of view is too close to the building and massiveness when viewed from afar.
Finally, but not marginal element, the micro perforated filter and the openings facade on the main elevation exalt the relationship between indoor and outdoor space: natural light filtered by the micro-diaphragm creates inside, on the main stairs, a well-being and feeling space; the openings on the main elevation create two optical telescopes that project the user of the inside on the outside historical access of the old house in one case and, the old farmhouse (under renovation) in the other.
The indoor spaces, in their simplicity, wanted to recreate the feeling of being in a carded wool space (in view of neuropsychiatric disorders).
The basic color used is a light grey (code 7047) with colored lines (green, blue and orange) forming the three different zones where the girls lives according to the degree of their disease. Green, Blue and Orange are also in furniture details and in the icons on the walls/doors (pear/strawberry - dining room, TV - room TV, smile – living room, boy /girls - gym, patch - medical center, washing machine - dishwashing room, pot – kitchen, sofa-living room) to identify the various functions.
Technical aspects:
_ extreme lightness of the extensions of the existing building: steel structure and Knauf Acquapanel system. The aim was not to increase the weight at the top of the hill in order to maintain the slope stability;
_ the double micro perforated aluminum facade improves the summer energy performance building refreshing the most exposed sides to sunlight;
_ the thermal power centrals have been integrated into the landscape by building partially underground maintaining the continuity of the landscape;
_ the outside parking is built lowering the ground level creating a reinforced wall supporting lands.
The project aims to recover and integrate an old site already used as an orphanage, built on a portion of a hilly area next to the old historical centre of San Miniato.The "CASA VERDE" project, so called because of his historically/social value (CASA / home / orphanage – VERDE / Green / built in a forest of holm oaks), is a search to find links: 1_with the woods, through the study of the various shades of the leaf color in different seasons;2_with the "guests Girls" by editing their...
- Year 2017
- Work finished in 2017
- Main structure Steel
- Client IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris
- Status Completed works
- Type Hospitals, private clinics / Nursing homes, rehabilitation centres / Building Recovery and Renewal
- Websitehttps://www.ldaimda.com/Casa-Verde-architettura-contemporanea-disabili-toscana.htm
- Websitehttps://www.ldaimda.com/CASA-VERDE-ph-Simone-Bossi.htm


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Home | Discussion Forums | UFO Discussion and Tracking | Post
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Posted by Tracy/">Tracy on April 26, 1999 17:29:45 UTC
Last night (April 25) my friends and I saw something in the sky and were not sure what it was. It was about 12:00am and we were on our way home when we saw something in the sky that was blinking red, orange and white. At first, we thought it was a planet but it was too big and it was moving. We went were it looked like it was but when we got there it was somewhere else but we kept following it. We stopped eventually and just looked at it. It kept growing smaller and smaller as it moved away from us and down. After awhile we could no longer see it. It was a big ball in the sky that seemed to blink a really bright red, bright orange, and white. If anybody has any idea on what this could be, please tell me.
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On 30th June 1915, Thomas Bernard Barry from Cork (but born in Kerry) joined the British Army at Athlone and enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery, going on to serve with the 14th Battery in the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force and Egypt. Barry is better known for his subsequent exploits as Tom Barry, a leading I.R.A. figure and I.R.A. Chief of Staff in the 1930s. Barry didn't conceal his British Army training and his memoir, Guerrilla Days in Ireland, included details of his military service. His claims to insubordination, including at the time of the Easter Rising, are borne out by his own military service records (as Gunner Thomas Barry, Royal Field Artillery, Service Number 100399).
Tom Barry's service records including a list of offences (note 'Irregular Conduct' on 27th May 1916, during the Easter Rising).
Record of Barry's enlistment.
Details of Barry's military service.
Barry is probably the most prominent of those who fought during the first world war and subsequently fought in the I.R.A., but there were many others including the likes of Emmet Dalton and Erskine Childers and even a Victoria Cross winner, Martin Doyle.
The complex relationship between the Irish and service in the British Army is a recurrent theme in Irish history. In the post-famine era, Irish republicans frequently either specifically joined for, or later utilised, British Army military training for their own purposes. Individuals like William Harbinson, famously (if somewhat obscurely) James Connolly and more recently the likes of the Catholic Ex-Servicemen's Association in the 1970s have illustrated how Irishmen did what Connolly summarised as "…learn all he can and put his training to the best advantage…". The contribution of British military training to the capacity of Irish republicans to counter the physical control of Ireland by Britain is one obvious outworking of this relationship.
However, the traditional imperial practice of harvesting soldiers from the impoverished communities under it's control, both at home and abroad, is indelibly rooted in Irish communities (both Catholic and Protestant) for whom military service and the risk of death were often taken as the last refuge from starvation and utter poverty. In some contemporary politics, what was a crushingly brutal experience for many is once again pressed into service as some sort of parable of lost imperial greatness captured by an obsession with glorifying the brutal slaughter of millions by the European royal families to no apparent purpose between 1914 and 1918.
Given the extent to which poetry is seen as the voice of the first world war, here are a few lines from a poem by an independent Orangeman from Belfast, shipyard worker Thomas Carnduff, from his poem about his own experiences entitled 'Ypres, September 1917 (A Memory)':
Light breezes, scented with North Sea spray,
Breathe murmurs of remorse,
And leafless shell-scarred branches sway
Above each mangled corpse.


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Naturalist's Worksite News
2019 Monarch Report - Annapolis Valley
Published on Sep 17, 2019
by Larry and Alison Bogan
This year was an excellent year for the population of Monarchs although not as great as 2018 which was the best in our experience.
Our 2 ha field is full of Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and this year was sprouting by mid-May. It is a perennial and its roots over-winter. The damp spring helped growth and by the time the Monarchs arrived the plants were large. The Monarchs, however, prefer to lay eggs on the small, fresh growth so in late June, I mowed several patches in the field as well as some new pathways. These areas quickly came back in small milkweed plants and this is where we saw most of the eggs and caterpillars when we did our surveys.
Our first Monarch (female) of 2019 arrived on June 8th and other sites in Nova Scotia saw their first Monarchs about then. However, there were only scattered numbers and we were lucky to see that Monarch stay around for the next month. We found a couple of caterpillars (probably laid by her) in our field of milkweed; this pupated on the 17th of July and eclosed on July 30th and 31st. We found few eggs in this period and the first only on the 22nd of June.
The early June arrivals were not the main migrating population. Most Monarchs arrived between July 7th and 17th and by the end of that period we had 12 or more Monarchs residing in our field and the egg laying picked up dramatically.
Nova Scotia is at the far North-east limit of the Monarch migration and it takes two or three life cycles for the butterflies in the spring to reach us from their over-wintering area in Mexico. This year we had a cool, wet June along with the New England states through which they must pass. As a result most of the breeding population arrived later this year. (see http://monarchwatch.org/blog for more details)
The milkweed blossoming peaked in mid-July, just as most of those Monarchs arrived. There was lots of nectar for their activities. In the evening before sunset we would find 5 to 15 Monarchs frolicking over the sunny part of the field as if they had finished the work for the day and it was time to have some fun. We had more breeding Monarch arrive than we did last year but those last year arrived at the end of June.
In the past Alison and I have protected as many eggs or larvae as we could to help build the population. However, we have limits and there is some evidence that reared Monarchs are not as successful as wild ones at migrating back to Mexico. The latter fact has caused Monarch Watch (http://monarchwatch.org) to recommend preferentially tagging wild Monachs and only larger ones. Following these recommendation, we shifted our efforts from rearing indoors to monitoring the breeding in the field. Alison found chrysalis in the field and flagged them, She found so many she used up her 50 flags quickly.. She monitored them daily and rescued any that are in danger. I made regular counts of adults in the field using a standard walking path to measure numbers coming out of the field.
The chart below shows the number in the field during the summer. It appears that there was an influx during July which then died off in late July to be replaced with their children emerging from the field in mid-to-late August. By early September we saw a large number of Monarchs from the field with still many chrysalis present. The population in the field diminished thoughout September and all but a few were heading south by October. I should add that the numbers counted in the field were almost entirely emerging from the field because we very seldom saw a tagged Monarch in the field.
In 2018 the huge increase of Monarch butterflies in our field began in the first week of August while this year it was the third week. Monarchs stop breeding about mid-August and last year the new Monarchs stayed in the field and laid more eggs to create another generation. This year the Monarch population increased after they become sexually inactive and begin to migrate south so there were no second generation in 2019.
We reared Monarchs in the house but not the number we had last year. They were feed full milkweed plants kept in water for freshness and confined to the plant or a large screened in cage. They were allowed to pupate on the plant or cage. We released 299 Monarchs of which we tagged 99 of them. 142 of the releases were considered wild since they were from chrysalis rescued from the field and had spent all there caterpillar life in the wild. The sex distribution was more uneven this year since there were 162 males and 137 females released.
Again this year we measured the fore-wing length of all our Monarchs released and used this to tag the larger ones. There is the usual 'normal' spread of lengths with the mean being about 52 mm. We noticed that as the season progressed we had fewer large Monarchs and in the second graph below this is indicated by the negative slope of the line fit to the length data versus day of the season.
Mission Monarchs 2019
Mission Monarch (http://mision-monarch.org)., is run by the Space for Life Insectarium in Montreal, and is a continent-wide citizen science program documenting the monarch's reproductive success. The program is part of an international research and education effort aimed at saving the migratory populations of this endangered species. I have been participating for the last four years and encouraging other naturalists in Nova Scotia to get involved.
During the summer, we survey milkweed plots in our areas for the life stages of the Monarch butterflies. Each year, extra effort or a 'blitz' is scheduled at the end of July and that is when most observations are done. as part of a continent wide program
I surveyed 20 Common milkweed plots this year and found 1 or 2 Monarch butterflies at most of them with at least eggs and small caterpillars. This year because of the late arrival of the majority of the spring migration, Monarchs were mostly in the egg stage at tjat time. The results indicated a good year overall and not just at our field.
I have extracted Mission-Monarch data for all the surveys in Nova Scotia for this year (1 July to 3 September). The results are:
- 16 Observers
- 37 Milkweed Plots visited
- 52 visits
- 1938 plants inspected (1/3 Swamp, 2/3 Common Milkweed)
- 438 eggs found
- 345 caterpillars found
- 139 adult Monarchs seen
- 50 chysalis found (all in the Bogan milkweed field in August)
It is encouraging to see more observers visiting more sites this year and the success they had in finding Monarchs. Their results show that there was a widespread breeding of Monarchs in Nova Scotia in 2019. For news of the success of the Monarchs this year follow the reports of Monarch Watch (http://monachwatch.org).
Published on


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To kick off our Black History Month mini biography series, Verity Germon shares the life and achievements of the incredible Harriet Tubman.
Harriet Tubman's name is one that really is not spoken about enough… She was a real badass!
Harriet was born in 1822 and against all odds lived an incredible life. Harriet was born into slavery but managed to escape, and she did not stop there. Harriet was a significant member of the underground railroad and risked her life numerous times to free other enslaved people. She completed thirteen missions and saved 70 people from enslavement; this was extremely dangerous, and she could've been recaptured or killed easily during these missions. However, Harriet was smart and brave and was not about to let her family and friends be unjustly imprisoned whilst she had any kind of power to help them. Due to her unmatched bravery and her commitment to freeing as many enslaved people as possible Tubman was given the nickname 'Moses'.
Later in life Tubman served as scout, nurse and spy for the union army during the American civil war. Tubman led an armed raid on the Combahee river and helped to free 750 enslaved people. She also was a fierce supporter of the women's suffrage movement.
Tubman was the ultimate freedom fighter and role model. Everyone should know her name.
To find out more about her a highly recommend the film 'Harriet' (2019).
Artwork by Tessa Grimshaw.


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Alenia Aermacchi has unveiled the M-345 ground-based training demonstrator device (GDD) at the recent International Training and Education Conference (ITEC) in the Czech Republic.
The M-345 GDD consists of aircraft flight and systems simulators and computer-based training (CBT) devices. It replicates flight qualities of the company's M-345 high efficiency trainer (HET) aircraft, simulating the cockpit and the main flight controls of the aircraft.
The system features an e-learning component comprising the CBT and procedural training device (PTD) simulator, in addition to an operational flight trainer (OFT) that feature the same software as the PTD.
This OFT also has an additional 180° wide display and a life-like cockpit that enabled student pilots to use the same controls found on the actual aircraft.
The simulator is designed to facilitate the introduction to tactics that are completed in-flight. It can also generate the tracking of targets, friend or foe aircraft, threats and all the necessary elements needed to create an effective virtual operating scenario, on the multi-function displays.
The system serves as a key component of the new M-345 HET integrated training system, which represents the company's latest solution for the basic-advanced phase of training syllabus for military pilots with reduced acquisition and life-cycle costs compared to turboprop trainers
In particular, the trainer provides a value-for-money solution that benefits from jet performance and from the expanded flight envelope in terms of both speed and altitude, ensuring more training per flight hour and higher training download capability from the subsequent advanced / lead-in fighter training phase.
Using the M-345 system, the trainee can complete Phase II with a higher skill level, including the management of sensors and weapons and the air-to-air and air-to-ground engagement procedures.
Specifically, the system is expected to help air forces reduce the basic phase flight hours from 120 to 90 or maintain the 120 hours including the introduction to tactics, which in turn reduces Phase III on the advanced trainer from 70 to 50 hours, achieving greater economic savings.
Image: The M-345 GDD offers a replica of the cockpit and the main flight controls of the aircraft. Photo: © 2015 Alenia Aermacchi – A Finmeccanica Company.