We use pure, chemical free products at home.
Make-up, cleaners, toothpaste, deodorant, diapers, lotions, shampoos, you name it.
Sure, every time I walk through the check stand after grocery shopping I cringe because, according to Parker, "Mommy spends too much money!" There most definitely is a heftier price tag on purchasing organic food and products, but is the extra cost as bad as so many people make it out to be?
It would be quite the challenge to put together an accurate number on exactly how much we spend each month on groceries. And not just food alone, but everything we use on a daily basis for the life we live. Or how much more we spend on homeopathic and natural remedies to add to our medicine cabinet, because, you guessed it! We go natural there too.
The average amount that people spend on medical bills because of illnesses that could be prevented by better food choices, is through the roof! Food alone, really can be what cures or kills you.
And in our 3 and 1/2 years of parenthood, we have been so blessed, and only had to worry about two times the children were sick. (ear infections, dang it.) I know people whose kids couldn't kick the cold this last winter. We have family members that always seem to be "getting a cold" or down with some sort of icky. I don't want to push our luck, but we've never had a child throwing up, which is HUGE! Chalk it all up, and it comes down to what you eat and what you put in or on your body, and the way you live your life.
Strictly talking about food here for a minute…read the studies that link genetically modified foods, as well as pesticides, and chemical sprays to obesity.
Obesity alone causes a handful of issues. There is diabetes, heart disease, risk of stroke, high blood pressure, cancer, gallbladder disease and gallstones, gout, osteoarthritis, asthma and breathing disorders, high cholesterol, and that's before even bringing up the problems and imbalances that arise because you cannot move your body the way it should. Mobility issues, joint issues, and overall function may be compromised and lead to more serious problems because of obesity.
In my opinion, why are people so obese today?
Processed foods. Chemicals in or on our foods. And the very sad side-note that people are overall generally unaware of what problems they are creating by consuming such products.
Sure there are other factors, don't get me wrong. But these are both big deals.
Do the research. There are countless articles, books, and documentaries that explain the connection between obesity (and all its glory) and eating foods that have been genetically modified, overly processed, and/or sprayed with multiple insecticides, pesticides, or other chemical "enhancements".
The average spent in one year per person with cardiovascular disease comes to $18,953. The US spends on average $450 BILLION a year on cardiovascular disease treatment, medication and lost productivity from disability.
Newly approved cancer drugs cost an average of $10,000 per month, with some therapies topping $30,000 per month. That comes to a whopping $120,000-$360,000 a year! That's an average of $240,000 a year. That's just on the drugs, not including doctors visits etc.
The estimated annual cost for treating asthma in children younger than 18 in the US is $3.2 billion. I could not find an accurate number for a yearly treatment cost, but these are your children we are talking about! There is NO PRICE that is acceptable when it comes to the life we give our children. Childhood obesity is linked directly to asthma and other breathing problems.
The moral of the story is, I in no way think our family is paying for an unnecessary way of life. I believe that after doctors' visits, pharmaceutical costs, and ongoing other therapies needed for whatever issues it might be, us eating clean and organic and visiting the doctor maybe once a year is worth it. And in the long run, we don't have any intentions of changing our routine, so for years to come, I pray we continue to have good health if we take care of ourselves.
I've learned to shop bargains, and even if it means going to multiple stores, farmers markets, and ordering online…I've found where we can get the best deals for the products we love and trust. AND, the best part of shopping around, is also noticing that more stores are broadening their organic horizons and the prices are actually coming down for certain things. So, there is maybe a light at the end of the tunnel. More and more people are realizing the many benefits (instead of the costs) of being organic and making the switch.
The fear of creating a life for my children that might leave them undernourished, unaware, and unhealthy…I can't live with that. What I can live with is the challenge of costly organics.
They have so many great products, and when it comes to gluten free (breads especially) they are the cheapest by far. We have also bought body wash, deodorant, diapers, spices, protein powder, essential oil diffusers, and other household items from Lucky Vitamin and have been pleased with what we get.
Believe it or not, we get most of our bulk organic items here. From canned foods, to quinoa, to juice boxes. They have an ever growing selection of organic and non-gmo products.
Again, we can buy a wide range of items, and being that we are prime members, they get shipped and delivered fast. Not always are the prices cheaper, so we always double check before purchasing.
I dare you to take a good look at what your grocery list most commonly looks like. What are the foods you most frequently buy? What foods do you keep at home on a daily basis?
What you eat speaks volumes for where your health is (or could be) and it's all too easy to fall into a poor routine because of convenience, lack of knowledge or habit.
I know for me personally, I have to keep healthy, fresh foods on hand at all times because my kids and I all snack and eat all day, and I will admit, I'm a control freak when it comes to making sure my babes eat a balanced diet. They see what mom eats. They want what mom eats. So mom better eat good. Also, I know I feel better when I eat better…..it's basic math. Or something.
It's taken a couple years of establishing our "go-to/must-have" list of foods. Possibly because we haven't been established in one location for long enough to fully move in anywhere. Maybe because we have had a number of life-changing events happen. Either way, we are here now.
We eat organic and non-gmo and promote clean eating as much as we can. However I also know how expensive it is and understand it is not something everyone can or wants to do. Regardless of being organic or not, I would say this is a decent list of must haves. A list I can be proud of.
Now, can you be proud of your list? Or is there room to improve?
Spring is the perfect time to start cleaning out what needs to go!
Such a horrible word, and a disease that has most definitely influenced almost everyone in one form or another. My Grandmother recently passed of it, as did my Uncle last year, and it's the swear word you hear all too often in bad news.
The truth is, not everyone can change everything about their lives in order to prevent cancer. But there are things you CAN do…choices you CAN make on your own.
So what can we do to prevent it? What's a good FIRST STEP for those who are not accustomed to living a natural life? If you're not sure how to cut out chemicals in your home and swap them for essential oils, or you can't quite kick smoking or your use of tobacco, or you're not able to make your diet organic and clean…there are a hand full of foods you can try to stay clear of to possibly help lower your chances of developing cancer.
White sugar is in my opinion the number one cancer promoter in the average person's diet. It is everywhere. (Candy is the obvious culprit, but soda, jams, and many prepared and prepackaged meals have added sugar in them) And when you add in the "sugar free" or "zero calorie" sweeteners, those are just as bad. I do not have a sweet tooth like my husband does, but when he indulges in sweets, they are homemade, with organic cane sugar, or coconut sugar, and we use the purest of ingredients we can find locally. If you are able to cut out white sugar from your diet, that is a big first step!
Anything with added nitrates and/or nitrites and meats that have been cured.
Pickled and smoked foods again, the preservatives and nitrites and nitrates…gross. Try home canning pickles, it's actually an easy process. We do purchase pickles now and then, but we are picky in choosing which ones.
Lucky for us, I am gluten free and don't use wheat flour to begin with, so our family doesn't eat much of it either. When they do, it is unbleached and fully organic and non-genetically modified. Without going into too much detail, wheat is not what it used to be.
Last but not least, farmed salmon…I am a big believer in no farmed fish for many reasons. Salmon are meant for ocean and river life. It is how they have always been. You take one of God's beautiful creations and decide to farm it for "production" (which in my mind means profit) and you modify it's genes to better suit your agenda and you all of a sudden don't have what once was a pure being. Not to mention farmed fish means they are treated with antibiotics, and the omegas and proteins found in farmed fish are not the same of those in the wild.
Small changes to begin with… but it means the beginning to a healthier life. Not only are you reducing your risk of cancer, but you are most likely going to FEEL better. Feeling better helps motivate you for making other healthy choices.


text:
St Herman, Elder & Wonderworker of Alaska
On August 9, 2016 August 9, 2016 By zosimasIn Monastic Saints, Spirituality
First Saint of the North American Thebaid
Saint Herman of Alaska, America's first canonized saint, was an Orthodox Christian monk of holy life who lived in Valaam Monastery in Russia.
In 1794, along with nine other monastics he was sent to Alaska to evangelize the natives there. In time St. Herman would become the sole survivor of the original missionaries.
Throughout his long life he cared for the natives of the Kodiak area, nursing them in their illnesses, educating them, and defending them from the abuse of the Russian fur-traders. By his meekness and firm faith he won the love and respect of all who came to know him, and inspired many to follow Christ. Eventually settling on nearby Spruce Island, he lived a mostly eremitic life, while also establishing an orphanage for the children of parents who had died during epidemics.
By the power of God, St. Herman was able to see into the hearts of others, as well as into the future. He worked miracles during his life, such as stopping a forest fire and a tsunami by his prayers. To this day he remains a wonderworker, healing the souls and bodies of those who ask for his intercessions before the throne of God.
The Importance of St Herman for Orthodox Christians in America Today
When we really stop to reflect upon what Blessed Father Herman accomplished in Alaska — and what his significance is for us today — we should be stunned by his humility, his selflessness, and his simple and pure dedication and obedience to his original mission to bring the Orthodox Faith to his new land.
The greater part of his forty-plus years in Alaska he lived alone, tirelessly caring for the native Alaskan peoples who, seeing the Love of Christ embodied in their beloved "Apa" (grandfather) became themselves pious and faithful Orthodox Christians. We should be similarly moved and converted in our hearts by Elder Herman's witness. As one monastic writer in North America has put it:
The first saints God raises up in a country contain a special message about what Orthodoxy must be like for that nation. Thus, Sts. Boris and Gleb for Russia—the passion bearers. And it is not a coincidence that Holy Russia begins with passion bearers and ends with passion bearers (the royal martyrs) and a whole host of New Martyrs!
So what is the lesson the Lord wants American Orthodox like us to learn from St. Herman? He was a meek and humble monk, not even a priest, but a strong witness against injustice and a confessor of the true Faith. These are the qualities, I believe, that Orthodoxy in America must emulate. But so far, we aren't. We are obsessed with jurisdictional administrative issues, while the inner life of the Church—which leads to repentance and deification through humility—is largely neglected at the official, organizational, level…
We need a 'revival' inspired by St. Herman!
— Schema-Hieromonk Ambrose (Young)
Therefore, let us persevere in our faith and in doing good, being inspired in the depths of our hearts by our beloved Elder and Wonderworker, St Herman of Alaska, that we may embody his teaching:
From this day, from this hour, from this minute, let us love God above all, and strive to fulfill His holy will!
VIDEO: 'The Relics of St. Herman of Alaska' in two parts
From the award winning documentary by Sean Bledsoe:
More Resources on St Herman:
For more on St. Herman, Elder and Wonderworker of Alaska, see this special page I created for my home parish in 2010, in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Glorification of St Herman by the OCA and ROCOR in 1970.
Filled with video, audio, articles, icons, suggested books, links for further reading, and much, much more, this is one of the most extensive resources on St Herman available on the internet.
St Herman of Alaska ~ Special Resource Page
Three Highlights:
OCA Resources on St Herman: Life, Chronology of Events in St Herman's Life, Liturgical Music Downloads, A Prayer to St Herman, Photos and Coverage of his Canonization in 1970, ecclesiastical messages from the OCA hierarchy surrounding St Herman's glorification. This significant collection rekindles the excitement and zeal sparked by the glorification of the first Saint of North America over forty years ago!
Akathist to St Herman: (PDF Format) Suitable for home use, this moving prayer service highlights events from St Herman's life, and helps one absorb his spirituality even while asking his intercessions. Pray a section each evening with your children!
Wikipedia Article on St Herman: Very useful, and condenses a wide range of information about St Herman's joint glorification by the OCA and ROCOR, his impact on the Orthodox Church, and his veneration. Features numerous links to other resources.
St. Herman of Alaska is commemorated in the Orthodox Church on August 9 (the anniversary of his glorification), and December 13 (the traditional date of his repose). May we have his blessing!
My hope is to make a pilgrimage to Alaska during the course of the North American Thebaid Project, and venerate St Herman's relics, visiting Spruce Island and other sites associated with his holy life, and photographing the sketes and monastics who continue to honor the Holy Elder's memory with their own ascetical struggles.
Holy Elder Herman, pray to God for us!
holinessmonastic liferepentanceSt Herman of Alaska
Doubt and the Monastic Journey
The Dormition, Holy Tradition, and St John Maximovitch
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Sensibility and practicality define the 2016 Chevrolet Colorado. This 4 door, 5 passenger truck still has fewer than 40,000 miles! Chevrolet infused the interior with top shelf amenities, such as: a trip computer, a rear step bumper, air conditioning, telescoping steering wheel, power door mirrors, an overhead console, and much more. Chevrolet also prioritized safety and security with features such as: dual front impact airbags with occupant sensing airbag, front side impact airbags, traction control, ignition disabling, onStar, and 4 wheel disc brakes with ABS. Electronic stability control ensures solid grip atop the road surface, no matter how challenging the driving conditions. We pride ourselves in consistently exceeding our customer's expectations. Stop by our dealership or give us a call for more information.


text:
Tyler is proud to boast of the invaluable partnerships which have been established with various local community organizations and businesses. Currently, Tyler has partnerships with the following groups:
Akin Gump;
Everybody Wins DC!;
Alliance for a Healthier Generation
Turning the Page
DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative.
The Kennedy Center's DC Partnership Schools Initiative.
Wolf Trap Early Learning through the Arts.
Washington Performing Arts Society.
The DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative.
The Corcoran Museum of Art.
Imagination Stage.
Teatro de la Luna.
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop
The Folger Shakespeare Library
Embassy Partnerships
DC Jazz Festival
USDA Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Akin Gump
Since 1997, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, a DC law firm has had an amazing partnership with Tyler Elementary. Akin Gump joined forces with Tyler as part of the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs' Public School Partnership Project, whose initiative was to improve public education in Washington , D.C. — school by school, child by child. Akin Gump's partnership with Tyler is rooted in a tutoring and mentoring program that pairs attorneys and staff with students in an effort to further academic achievement among the students. In addition, Akin has assisted Tyler in countless ways ranging from hosting teacher appreciation luncheons and providing food for families on Back to School Night, to providing legal consultation on various issues including organizing the Tyler PTA as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and arranging chartered bus transportation for Tyler students to attend various field trips throughout the DC Metro area. The firm was integrally involved in the renovation of the school's magnificent library, including a contribution of $50,000 and countless volunteers who helped set up and decorate.
DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative
In Spring 2005, the DC Collaborative launched the Arts Education Initiative (AEI), a multifaceted pilot project to establish a District-wide Arts Education Plan that includes arts experiences, arts learning, and arts integration. Through a comprehensive partnership with several DC public and chartered public schools, DC Collaborative has since developed, piloted, refined, and adopted a model process for collaboration in an urban school setting, to effect school change and enhance student learning. AEI enables collaborators, classroom teachers, school arts specialists, teaching artists, and cultural organizations' to plan, lead, and evaluate each partner school's arts education programming more effectively. As a result, all schools involved in the AEI have greater access to equitable, high-quality arts education opportunities that support local learning standards and curriculum objectives. In 2008, Tyler was selected to partner with the DC Arts Education Collaborative to take advantage of its innovative arts program integrating art across the curriculum and improving students' access to arts and culture.
This partnership truly flourished in the Spring of 2009 when Tyler had its first ever Arts Community Night. This evening was the culmination of a year-long partnership with the DC Arts and Humanities Collaborative. The audience enjoyed performances of poetry and dance by each class, musical and singing selections, an amazing visual arts exhibit, and Tyler's first ever silent auction.


text:
Journalism Lifetime Achievement Award for UFS' Zubeida Jaffer
30 November 2020 | Story Nonsidiso Qwabe | Photo Supplied
Acclaimed South African writer, author, and UFS research fellow Zubeida Jaffer was honoured with a lifetime achievement award for her career in journalism during the Standard Bank Sivukile Awards ceremony.
Passion for journalism spans decades
During the award ceremony on 15 October 2020, Jaffer received the prestigious Allan Kirkland Soga Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognises a sustained and extraordinary contribution to journalism. Jaffer said she never chose journalism, but journalism chose her. She said when she first stepped into a newsroom looking for a holiday job in the 1970s, she did not know she had stepped into her future in news reporting. Since then, Jaffer has earned many accolades in the journalism industry as well as in academia. She also became an acclaimed author, and wrote her third book, Beauty of the Heart: The Life and Times of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke, during her time as a writer-in-residence at the UFS. While at the UFS, she founded the online media platform, The Journalist, a platform that provides history and context for key issues facing South African journalists. This portal also links students with academics across the country and will soon be extended to the African continent and the diaspora.
Jaffer said she felt blessed to be recognised among the many journalism pioneers in South Africa.
"It's extremely wonderful because it came so out of the blue. This year, with COVID-19, I was digging deep, and trying my best to keep focus. I'm very thankful. It's made me pause, reflect, and realise that a lot of things I've done have been of value. When living your life, it's not that you're aware of that all the time. There are many people doing great things who don't always get this kind of recognition," Jaffer said.
Still a great need for journalists in South Africa
Talking about journalism today, Jaffer said: "I am often overwhelmed to witness the enthusiasm and determination of young journalists across the country who come from humble backgrounds and inspire those around them. Our country is gripped in a bipolar condition. It is not clear how the healing will come, but it will. The challenge is to keep our minds in balance so that we can be strong enough to root out corruption and gender-based violence, while at the same time fully understanding our blessings as a people."
UFS alumna Rising Star in Journalism
In another accolade for the UFS, the Upcoming/Rising Star of the Year award went to former UFS Journalism student Brümilda Swartbooi for her article titled 'Sy het hard vir ons gewerk'. The article highlighted the senseless killing of a woman outside her workplace, minutes after her husband dropped her off.
Brümilda Swartbooi. Photo: Supplied
State-of-the-art audio-visual studio up and running at UFS
The state-of-the-art audio-visual studio that was unveiled in the beginning of this year reaped its first crop during a historic moment. On Wednesday 28 October 2015, the eight pilot students in the Postgraduate Programme in Film and Visual Media, which was launched at the beginning of this year, had their first big screen experience. Eight films were premiered in one night at the University of the Free State (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus.
An intimate movie theatre was brimming with friends and family of the students, their lecturers, and judges who doubled as moderators. This was no ordinary motion picture viewing. The apprentice filmmakers' productions were undergoing formal external examination.
Judge by a legend
Katinka Heyns critiqued the student's final products. Heyns is a renowned filmmaker, actress, director, producer, and founder of the production company, Sonneblom Films. She has numerous awards to her name, including the Career Contribution and Innovation Award, Legendary Award for Woman in Film and Television, and Medal of Honour for Paljas, which were presented by the Absa Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK), International Crystal Award, and South African Academy for Science and Arts, respectively.
Johanet Kriel and Chris Vorster from the film school also assisted as moderators.
The cinema exam
Each student had 20 minutes to provide a synopsis for the viewers, and screen the movie. At the end, The Secret of the Golden Flower, written and directed by Rudiker Janse van Rensburg, and The Nexus Effect, written and directed by Gawie Myburgh were judged the best movies "Both films had had clear and creative story lines, a solid structure, and quality editing," said Chris Vorster.
Despite technical teething problems, all the students showed a great deal of talent and passion for filmmaking. "Given the time constraints and technical challenges, I'm very relieved that we actually got films on screen. They all impressed me with their creativity. Mission accomplished," added Vorster.
The films
• The Blood of Barbara (Yvonne Allwright)
• Diary of an Oreo (Nonsindiso Qwabe)
• GeFop! (Hendrik Cronje)
• The Nexus Effect (Gawie Myburgh)
• The Secret of the Golden Flower (Rudiker Janse van Rensburg)
• Well ain't that a Coinkydink?! (Rethabile Radebe)
• What Lurks in the Dark…(Rese Moore)
(Photo caption: Front row from left: Nonsindiso Qwabe, Suné van Heerden, Theresa Moore, Gawie Myburgh. Middle row: Rudiker Janse van Rensburg, Hendrik Cronjé, Yvonne Allwright, and Rethabile Radebe. Back: lecturer: Chris Vorster.)


text:
using autofill::PasswordForm;
using testing::AllOf;
using testing::Contains;

namespace password_manager {

TEST(PasswordCSVWriterTest, SerializePasswords_ZeroPasswords) {
  std::vector<std::unique_ptr<PasswordForm>> passwords;

  std::vector<std::string> column_names;
  std::vector<std::map<std::string, std::string>> records;
  ASSERT_TRUE(ReadCSV(PasswordCSVWriter::SerializePasswords(passwords),
                      &column_names, &records));

  EXPECT_THAT(column_names, AllOf(Contains("url"), Contains("username"),
                                  Contains("password")));
  EXPECT_EQ(0u, records.size());
}

TEST(PasswordCSVWriterTest, SerializePasswords_SinglePassword) {
  std::vector<std::unique_ptr<PasswordForm>> passwords;
  PasswordForm form;
  form.origin = GURL("http://example.com");
  form.username_value = base::UTF8ToUTF16("Someone");
  form.password_value = base::UTF8ToUTF16("Secret");
  passwords.push_back(base::MakeUnique<PasswordForm>(form));

  std::vector<std::string> column_names;
  std::vector<std::map<std::string, std::string>> records;
  ASSERT_TRUE(ReadCSV(PasswordCSVWriter::SerializePasswords(passwords),
                      &column_names, &records));

  EXPECT_THAT(column_names, AllOf(Contains("url"), Contains("username"),
                                  Contains("password")));
  EXPECT_EQ(1u, records.size());
  EXPECT_EQ(records[0]["url"], "http://example.com/");
  EXPECT_EQ(records[0]["username"], "Someone");
  EXPECT_EQ(records[0]["password"], "Secret");
}

TEST(PasswordCSVWriterTest, SerializePasswords_TwoPasswords) {
  std::vector<std::unique_ptr<PasswordForm>> passwords;
  PasswordForm form;
  form.origin = GURL("http://example.com");
  form.username_value = base::UTF8ToUTF16("Someone");
  form.password_value = base::UTF8ToUTF16("Secret");
  passwords.push_back(base::MakeUnique<PasswordForm>(form));
  form.origin = GURL("http://other.org");
  form.username_value = base::UTF8ToUTF16("Anyone");
  form.password_value = base::UTF8ToUTF16("None");
  passwords.push_back(base::MakeUnique<PasswordForm>(form));

  std::vector<std::string> column_names;
  std::vector<std::map<std::string, std::string>> records;
  ASSERT_TRUE(ReadCSV(PasswordCSVWriter::SerializePasswords(passwords),
                      &column_names, &records));

  EXPECT_THAT(column_names, AllOf(Contains("url"), Contains("username"),
                                  Contains("password")));
  EXPECT_EQ(2u, records.size());
  EXPECT_EQ(records[0]["url"], "http://example.com/");
  EXPECT_EQ(records[0]["username"], "Someone");
  EXPECT_EQ(records[0]["password"], "Secret");
  EXPECT_EQ(records[1]["url"], "http://other.org/");
  EXPECT_EQ(records[1]["username"], "Anyone");
  EXPECT_EQ(records[1]["password"], "None");
}

}  // namespace password_manager

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Dovoljenje GNU za rabo proste dokumentacije (angleško GNU Free Documentation License; kratica GFDL) je dovoljenje za razširjanje in rabo pisnih virov, ki ga uporabljajo pri projektu GNU za izdane učbenike in priročnike za rabo programov. Dovoljenje dovoljuje vsakomur, da dokument nadalje razširja ali spreminja ter razširja tako spremenjene različice pod pogojem, da so tudi vsa izpeljana dela dosegljiva pod istim pogojem. Splošno načelo, da morajo za vsa izvedena dela veljati iste pravice proste rabe, razširjanja in spreminjanja je znano kot načelo »copyleft«. Najbolj znana izvedba copylefta je splošno dovoljenje GNU za rabo prostega programja.

Glej tudi

 GPL - splošno dovoljenje GNU
 LGPL - manj splošno dovoljenje GNU

Zunanje povezave
 GNU Free Documentation License - izvirnik dovoljenja
 Neuradni slovenski prevod

GFDL
GNU Project
Avtorskopravne licence
Svobodna avtorska pravica

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Any critiques on the presentation would be much appreciated.
I'd try a fill light the color of the sky to blend it in.
Watch out, some clown will see it and want to build it in your neighborhood.
I'd love to have that building in my neighborhood!
Looks good. I think the image would look more dynamic w/ a lower camera view.
One of the most original building designs that I've seen.
That done it, you've fire off my imagination so off I go to build huge impossible things!
Cool building by the way.


text:
Charles Kolterman 1944-2019
Charles Christian Kolterman, 75, Onaga, died Wednesday, June 12, 2019, at Nemaha Valley Community Hospital in Seneca. He was born March 11, 1944, in Onaga, the son of Carl A. and Louise Eichem Kolterman. He attended local schools and in 1962 graduated from Onaga High School. He was a lifelong...
Cecile Myers 1918-2018
Cecile Mahree Burgat Myers, 100, formerly of Holton, died Aug. 12, 2018, in Redding, Calif. She was born June 16, 1918, in Holton, where she was raised. Mrs. Myers and her husband moved to California. She married John Quincy Myers of Holton in 1938. He preceded her in death, as did a daughter, Joy...
Dick DeVader 1936-2019
Richard J. "Dick" DeVader, 82, of Holton, went home to be with the Lord on Sunday, June 9, 2019, in Topeka. He was born Nov. 11, 1936, at Delia, the son of Henry and Ines Hladky DeVader. Dick was a farmer and a stockman and had owned and operated Dick's Service in Holton from 1977 to 1993. He was a...
Cathleen Reed 1941-2019
Catherine E. "Cathleen" Reed, 78, Soldier, died Saturday, June 8, 2019, at the Bryan West Medical Center in Lincoln, Neb. She was born April 3, 1941, at Holton, the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Beightel Kennedy. She graduated from Holton High School in 1959 and received her nursing degree from...
Ruth Ryan 1924-2019
Ruth Enid Ryan, 94, of rural Leavenworth County, died, Friday, June 7, 2019, at Lansing Care and Rehabilitation Center. She was born July 24, 1924, in rural Jefferson County, the daughter of Samuel and Esther (Rogers) Means. Ruth attended school in both McLouth and Lansing and graduated from...
John Dugan Jr. 1941-2019
John Dugan Jr., 77, of Topeka, passed away on June 5, 2019. He was born Oct. 4, 1941, in Holton, the son of John Thomas Dugan, Sr. and Lezetta May (Schultz) Dugan. He graduated from Circleville High School. John married Patricia Sullivan. She survives. Other survivors include children John Thomas...
Rose Ella Stelter 1925-2019
Rose Ella Stelter, 94, of Onaga, formerly of Blaine, died Friday, May 31, 2019, at the Onaga Health and Rehab. She was a long-time resident of the community. Rose Ella was born on March 3, 1925, in Holton, the daughter of Karl and Elizabeth Schillinger Schumacher. She attended local schools and...
Arthur Anderson Jr. 1939-2019
Arthur (Bud) Monroe Anderson Jr. passed away May 30, 2019. He was born June 12, 1939, the son of Arthur Monroe Anderson Sr. and Kathleen (Wingfield) Anderson. He graduated from Ozawkie High in 1956. He then joined the Marines and then later the Marine Corps League. After leaving the Marines he...
Cody Nozhackum 1978-2019
Cody Charles "Nek-ti" Nozhackum, 40, of Livermore, Colo., formerly of Mayetta, passed away Wednesday, May 22, 2019, as the result of a vehicle accident. He was born Oct. 22, 1978 in Holton, the son of LeRoy Jessepe and Linda Nozhackum Tecumseh. Cody graduated from Royal Valley High School in 1997....
Karren Hill 1967-2019
Karren Hill, 52, Cuba, Mo., died Saturday, May 18, 2019, at her home. She was born May 6, 1967, in Mexico, Mo., the daughter of James Kenneth and Lonnie Elsberry Heaton. Mrs. Hill worked at Poplar Bluff Hospital as a medical records technician for a few years, then moved to Cuba, Mo., in 2010. She...


Adnan Ahmad is an Indian singer who is currently performing in the singing reality show "The Voice" on Star Plus Channel. The show was broadcast from 2 February 2019. Adnan Sami, Kanika Kapoor, Harshdeep Kaur and Armaan are playing the role of main judge in this show and A.R. Rahman is super judge of this show.
Adnan Ahmad is born and brought up in New Delhi. Information about his family is not available, we will try to update it as soon as possible. He completed his schooling from Abhinav Public School and Delhi Public School. Adnan loves music since childhood. He completed graduation from IP University. During this time, he participated in several music programs. Adnan has also been the winner of "Sing Dil Se Season 2". At this time, he is seen as a participant in Star Plus's TV show "The Voice". This show includes artists such as Kanika Kapoor, Armaan Malik, Harshdeep Kaur and Adnan Sami. A.R. Rahman is Super Judge in this show. .
If you have more Details about Adnan Ahmad. Please comment below we will updated within a hour.


Milkweed grows all over the farm, and we let it. When we start to see caterpillars on them we make an effort to keep the livestock away, so that the conversion to butterfly can occur.
The Monarch butterfly, in it's egg/ caterpillar stage, must have milkweed. While the butterfly can feed from many different plants the caterpillar can only grow out on milkweed.
The theory is that no one Monarch makes the entire flight from here to Mexico. That there are spots along the way where the butterflies stop, rest, reproduce and pass away, and the next butterfly goes a bit further, or maybe a lot further. It shocks me to think this beautiful butterfly can make a flight like that, and the drive to get to Mexico for winter is that strong, that well programmed into their system...and that the butterflies return here every year. We have the pleasure of seeing them every year, of watching them soar around the farm, of knowing that with our messy farm habits we support their lives.
To walk the farm and see one of these caterpillars is such a joy! This one will shortly head into making the beautiful green chrysalis (and will be in there for about 2 weeks) before emerging as a big, beautiful orange and black butterfly. There are also theories that the ones who fly are a bit different colr, an even richer orange than usual.
It must be time for this one to head south when it emerges in September, and we sure hope there is some other spot in Missouri or somewhere west and south of here where a Monarch can land, find some tasty milkweed and reproduce, sending the next generation back here next summer! Every spring we are happy to see them and every late summer we wish them safe travels. And roll out the swamp weed welcome mat so they will return!


Reps. Jim Banks (R., Ind.) and Liz Cheney (R., Wyo.) introduced the "Ensuring a Secure Afghanistan Act." The bill would give Congress "oversight over talks between the United States and the Taliban" and ensure that an American withdrawal will only come once "certain conditions on the ground are fulfilled."
The legislation follows renewed conversations about an end to one of America's longest wars. In March, Sens. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) and Tom Udall (D., N.M.) introduced legislation to withdraw all troops within the year. Currently, the U.S. maintains a balance of 14,000 troops in Afghanistan.
For the last several months, the United States has been negotiating with Taliban officials (and former Guantánamo detainees) about terms of partial or complete withdrawal.
The bill warns that a "premature" or "hasty withdrawal" promises "increased instability, violence, and the loss of human rights." A sudden and destabilizing withdrawal, it says, would "impact the security of the United States" and "jeopardize the tremendous gains made in development and human rights for the citizens of Afghanistan."
To that end, Banks and Cheney would require any withdrawal that brings troop levels below 10,000 to meet a series of conditions.
First, the Taliban, both its leaders and members, must "reject … al Qaeda by name." The Taliban must also cut all ties with the organization, and cease accepting funding and "military support" from foreign organizations.
To that same end, the Taliban would need to "be an active participant" in future American-led "counterterrorism operations."
Banks and Cheney sit on the House Armed Services Committee.
"We don't win wars by leaving," Cheney said. Today, Afghanistan remains a "safe haven for terrorism." Currently, ISIS and al Qaeda have thousands of militants in the war-torn country. Given the circumstances, Cheney concluded, "U.S. troops must continue the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan."
Banks, a Navy veteran who served in Afghanistan, warned that, "[s]hould America not get this right the first time, ISIS-K and al Qaeda patiently wait to fill the void." In a statement, he explained that a withdrawal brought about by "political pressures" would introduce a "power vacuum" comparable to "President Obama's disastrous Iraq withdrawal."
This entry was posted in National Security and tagged Afghanistan, Liz Cheney, Taliban. Bookmark the permalink.


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Hannah Perry for Fatherly
Au Pairs: The Pros and Cons of Hiring One For Your Family
Au Pairs can seem like an elegant solution to the problem of child care — and, for some, they can be. But, as recent lawsuits illustrate, issues can arise if corners are cut.
By Adam Bulger
New Jersey mom of two Amanda was looking for a child care solution when she settled on hiring an au pair. An Italian-American who studied abroad in Italy, Amanda selected a woman from Milan as her first au pair in hopes of introducing Italian culture to her children.
Amanda says it was a great decision. Her au pair arrived with limited English skills but quickly picked up the language through daily interactions and immersion in an English-speaking culture. She watched Amanda's kids, driving them to and from school, and performed light housekeeping tasks. After 12 months with her, Amanda says she feels like the Milanese woman will be part of their family forever.
Au pairs can seem like an elegant solution to the thorny problem of child care — and often times they are. The cost of an au pair is relatively low: the minimum stipend is just under $200 a week, a bargain compared to the high cost of a full-time nanny or even most major metro area daycares. An au pair in America lives with the family, meaning they're available in the off-hours when parents need the help most. Families hosting au pairs are encouraged to include them in activities. It's defined as a cultural exchange, not a job, so it seems less like childcare and more like having a cousin on an extended visit from overseas helping out with your kids.
But as with everything that seems too good to be true, issues can arise with au pairs. News reports and nonprofit investigations that quote au pairs comparing their treatment to slavery drain a lot of warmth and fuzziness out of the job description. In 2013, Bernie Sanders denounced the au pair program as a "scam". Following a 2014 class action lawsuit from au pairs alleging wage theft, the Washington Post reported on an au pair whose host family forced her to work more than 60 hours a week. A 2017 Politico investigation found that host families refused to buy their au pairs staple foods like bread and that au pairs' complaints routinely disappeared into "a bureaucratic black hole." Shortchanged, a 2018 report authored by American University's International Human Rights Law Clinic and immigration and labor rights groups, found that structural deficiencies in the au pair program foster labor rights abuses.
Most recently, in December 2019, a federal court ruled that Massachusetts labor laws protect au pairs. With the state's $11 hourly minimum wage, host families had to pay about $17,000 more a year than before. Many opted to withdraw from the program.
Au pair supporters call the criticism overblown, saying it unfairly tarnishes a beneficial program. But civil rights advocates say the system can make even well-meaning families unwitting exploiters of vulnerable workers.
"I tried to be clear that they're here to do a job but also going to be part of our family and enjoy life and I want you to find that balance," Amanda says. "We're very humane with au pairs. Other moms asked me if I paid our au pair to do more hours than the 45. I said absolutely not. That's not part of the program. That's not how it works."
The American Au Pair System
The United States' au pair program was founded in 1986 as a cultural exchange program intended to promote diplomacy and friendly international relations. Because au pairs are classified as cultural exchanges, they fall under the State Department's J-1 Visa program. While the program issues hundreds of thousands of visas to temporary foreign workers each year, it only has 30 employees — far too few, critics say, to oversee the 18,000 people who travel to America each year to work as au pairs. Despite the general familiarity of the concept, the au pair program's relatively small in scale: the number of au pairs in America never exceed 20,000 and is largely clustered in New York, California, New Jersey, Virginia and Massachusetts.
Author and consultant Celia Harquail ran the blog and online resource Au Pair Mom for more than 10 years until stepping away from in October, 2019. Through the site, she connected with au pair host families and potential host families from across the country.
"I say as a person who had 11 over the course of my kids' childhood, having an Au pair can be really fun and joyful," she says.
Harquail says it's gratifying to see au pairs learn about America through cultural immersion. "We had these young adult women coming into our family with great enthusiasm about being in the United States and great excitement about learning English," she says.
According to State Dept. regulations, au pairs have to be between 18 and 26 years old. au pair placement agencies like Cultural Care have recruiting centers across the globe trying to entice people who are interested in new countries and new cultures. Harquil said that while they're away from their families and countries of origins, au pairs often find comfort in their connection to their host families.
"Generally, there's a lot of enthusiasm around making a connection with your kids as a big sister or a cousin and feeling part of your family," she says, adding that the family connection can make exploring a new country seem less daunting.
Amanda likens choosing an au pair from her service to using a car search or dating website. "You can choose whatever criteria you want," she says. "You say, 'I want this country, I want this language' or 'I want someone that's this age,' then you do all sorts of searches and search criteria and then you narrow down the field and you say, these few sound good."
When her au pair started, Amanda's kids were in school full-time. As Amanda and her husband were both working in jobs requiring regular travel, the flexibility offered by a live-in au pair was invaluable.
"Just having an adult there in my house is very helpful," she says. "But there's also the flexibility in terms of hours. For the first three years, we had a nanny who would come to the house each day, but then she had to leave and I had to rush home at a certain time."
The Au Pair Issue
Still, the program comes with its fair share of scrutiny. In early 2019, a federal court ordered 15 au pair agencies to pay $65 million to 100,000 former au pairs in a class action suit brought on by about a dozen former au pairs accusing agencies of colluding to suppress wages and prevent them from seeking better working conditions.
Harquail, however, questions the suit's findings, saying the case's central narrative doesn't accurately represent the au pair system.
"There are always going to be people who abuse the system and take advantage of people," she says. "But the idea that there are 17,000 families in the United States that are withholding food or not giving au pairs private bedrooms or not giving them time off or making them work 50 or 60 hours a week is to me almost absurd. Are there some people who do that? I'm sure there are. Are they the norm? Absolutely not."
Harquail says the case elides the bad behavior that au pairs can engage in.
"And what you don't hear about the au pairs who take the family car without permission and drive across state lines to go visit some guy that they met on Tinder," she says. "You don't hear about the au pair who leaves in the middle of the night and then you go clean out her room and her closets full of Jagermeister bottles. And what you don't hear about is the au pair who leaves the kid in daycare and simply disappears."
Harquail adds: "So I personally felt that the lawsuit was very ginned up and very, very unrepresentative of the program and how it works for au pairs or for host parents."
David Seligman, director of Towards Justice, a nonprofit Colorado-based law firm that represented the au pairs in the settlement, believes his clients' experience was more the rule than the exception. The lawsuit began in 2014 when an au pair approached Towards Justice with complaints about her employer.
"We investigated the issue and ended up determining that this really wasn't just about sort of this sort of one off mistreatment, but about broader systemic problems with the industry," Seligman says.
Seligman says the problems were driven principally by the sponsor agencies that place prospective au pairs with host families. Fifteen for-profit companies are designated as sponsor agencies by the State Dept. The sponsor agencies typically charge families for connecting them with au pairs and also collect a recruitment fee ranging from $500 to $3,000 from the au pairs.
The lawsuit accused the sponsor companies of working together to fix wages for au pairs they recruited. Host families are required to pay au pairs a minimum weekly stipend of $195.75 but, Seligman says, the stipend was often mischaracterized as a maximum.
au pairs can ask to be placed with different families but Seligman says the agencies make it difficult to be reassigned. As a result, they're deprived of one of the most important tools that workers have to protect themselves in the labor market: the threat to find work elsewhere. "And once you take that away, like you really like workers become, become quite vulnerable," Seligman says.
In several news stories, au pairs say agencies misled them about the responsibilities they'd have in their American jobs. They arrive believing they're cultural ambassadors who'd be able to travel and explore America and are shocked at the childcare expectations.
Sharon, a mother of two from Connecticut, hosted two au pairs and was disappointed by what she saw as a disconnection between the job what the agencies told families and prospective au pairs about the job. Both of her au pairs were frustrated that her central Connecticut town was much further from New York City than they expected.
"I imagine that the girls who are placed in cities do the recruiting and tell tales of wild weekends of fun," she says.
The Final Word on Au Pairs
Seligman says that many families inadvertently skirt laws regarding au pairs after being misled by au pair agencies. "Historically, they have been deceived into assuming that the stipend for au pair was actually the maximum allowable wage and that there wasn't a free market in which au pairs could shop for better wages or treatment," Seligman said.
Seligman says the collusion between the sponsor agencies led many host families to unwittingly short their au pair's wages.
"There are many stories of families who are seriously mistreating au pairs, but there are also families who are acting in good faith and are doing what their sponsor agencies tell them to do and think that they're complying with the law and that they're treating their au pair well," Seligman says.
The nature of the system, per Seligman, often obscures the employer-employee relationship between families and au pairs. "I think that some families are led to believe that this isn't really isn't a work program, that this is merely a cultural exchange and that this person becomes a member of your family," he says.
It's crucial for families to understand the agreement. For Seligman, the confusion over whether an au pair is an employee or temporary family member creates a dangerous situation for both families and the au pairs.
"I think the one key point is to recognize that this is a work program and that you're bringing someone into your home to work for you to be your employee, as a childcare worker," he says. "And just like any other employee, these workers are allowed to negotiate for higher wages or for better treatment."
au pair au pairs Child Care childcare Day Care nanny
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'The People's Joker' Director Vera Drew Opens Up About Battling Warner Bros., Landing Bob Odenkirk, Losing 'SNL' Star Sarah Sherman, And Her Controversial Movie's Future
Settling Scores: Ryan Miller Interviews Cliff Martinez About The Anachronistic Score He Wrote For 'The Knick'
By Ryan Miller Twitter @guster Dec 31, 2015 at 10:30am
Cliff Martinez is my hero. Well, not specifically my "only" hero, but Martinez and a handful of other Rock-Band-Dudes-Turned-Real-Deal-Composers —I'm looking at you, Danny Elfman, Mark Mothersbaugh, Jon Brion, Clint Mansell, and Hans Zimmer)— were the guys who indirectly gave me permission to put down the microphone, step off stage and start writing music to picture. Martinez is specifically inspiring in that he has created an immensely varied body of work—I mean, dude is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers!— that nonetheless is threaded with tones, textures and grooves that are singular and recognizable. By that I mean that you, as a listener, know when you are listening to "Cliff."
Tasked with leading a "composer to composer" chat, it was a joy to discuss some of the politics, dynamics, successes and frustrations of film composition with a true innovator. The Knick, Solaris, Traffic, Spring Breakers ("look at my shit!"), Contagion, Only God Forgives: those are just some of his great scores! (I could keep going, you know…) Way to go, Cliff. Let's talk about stuff!
RYAN MILLER: I started watching The Knick when it came out, and one of the first things I was told as a composer was that the music should never call attention to itself. That's why it felt like such a bold move to hear this anachronistic sound during a period piece. I was so impressed that the choice was made and also how it worked, that it actually functioned at supporting what was happening in the picture. I am wondering is that something you drove or were you nervous about that?
Cliff Martinez: It wasn't my idea. It came from Steven (Soderbergh, creator of The Knick). He sent me the first three episodes, it had temporary music in it—from Spring Breakers and Contagion—but that was the first time he has ever done that. Usually he does give me a temp score, but it had never been my music before. At first it seemed like a risky choice maybe it wouldn't work, but that was the only question I had for him. "Are you serious?" and he said, "Yes, I am serious."
At that point, are you excited by it, are you unnerved by it? What is the thought process going on? I can imagine it's such a range of emotions kind of making such a bold statement, it seems counterintuitive to everything you've done so far.
At first it seemed like an idea that might not work, but I think I warmed up to it pretty quickly. I was able to see the first three episodes and it had a strong possibility of working and also being a bold statement, as you call it, and once I started writing, the function of music remained the same. It's the style that changed.
Yeah, you still have to hit the emotional moments and then all your regular composer instincts probably kick in.
Once you see three episodes with that style of music in it, your brain accepts the sound of the show. So at first it was a possibility that it was not a good idea, but that went away pretty quickly.
Yeah, it's one of the more impressive things about the show that you end up accepting as a part of the vocabulary for the show. Would you say it was one of the most challenging things you had to do?
With The Knick, often times the challenge is conceptual, but sometimes it is simply the amount of hours you had to put in. I guess The Knick was an extra large challenge because it was essentially a 10 hour movie; at a certain point, I had to deliver music for a one hour show, once a week. That was a challenge I never had encountered in film. Films have deadlines too, but they never go on for five months.
So you've never scored a TV series before and had to work with those deadlines?
I scored one episode of Pee-Wee's Playhouse. This was my first time I had to do something every week, week after week.
Was that something you were actively pursuing for the challenge of it, or was it because it was a great project and an existing relationship with Steven?
The latter. I don't have the attention span to watch dramatic, episodic television, so I'm not a big fan of it. I never seem to find enough time. I don't like a story that never resolves, for stories always opening up rather than closing down. I don't have a big affinity for television, so I wasn't eagerly seeking television gigs, but since Steven was doing it, I got excited. I knew it was going to be interesting.
I've heard the thing with composing for TV is that the really hard work comes during the first three or four episodes, and after that you figure out the language and the texture of the score. Is it enjoyable? Are you still finding joy in doing it? I know it's an incredible volume of work.
I was a little nervous about the schedule and my agent told me, once you do the first three episodes it's like this template you refer to, like a music editing gig after that. I didn't find that true, at all. For episodic television, the challenge is you really need to develop your material to a greater extent than a feature film and I felt that took a lot of effort and a lot of skill just in the material and expanding on it. It's sometimes easier to write new thing, new thing, new thing. I thought that it didn't get that much easier until the second season. The second season began to reuse material and actually be more like music editing, with new material as well. I think if I did the third and fourth season it might be a little more like an assembly line endeavor. I found it to be pretty difficult.
There are some big name composers in LA that employ a staff who use their names as a rubber stamp, like "I can do 45 minutes of music in a week because i have five people working under me." It doesn't sound like you are using that method at all.
I have one method working at The Knick, I usually have two other people working on stuff. I have a small staff and, yeah, I wouldn't be able to get through a lot of big stuff. I'm not Hans Zimmer, I don't have that kind of help. It's not like I have a factory of minions.
So do you ever have moments when you are working and you get goosebumps? You know, when your work transcends the concept of it simply being a job, where you feel real artistry happening? Those moments where it feels electric?
The Knick was a special project to me, it felt like that was some of my best stuff or my best self. It usually happens to me a couple of times a project, where there's a couple pieces of music where you feel like it was being written automatically by some higher power. For almost everything I've done, there end up being a couple pieces that I actually enjoy listening to after having created every molecule, every measure, every note. Then there are projects where the whole project is like that. Solaris is one, The Knick is one. I'm not sure what causes it, but some stuff is better than others. Maybe it's the intensity of the coffee, I don't know (laughs).
It seems like there are those two kinds of composers in LA, the people that came up as music students and the people that feel like they came from the outside.
Yeah, I definitely feel the rock band vibe.
Does that feel like it served you well from the beginning? Have you sensed any resistance from the classically trained composer crowd?
No, I never felt unqualified. There are always people who have done that: Peter Gabriel, Stewart Copeland, Hans Zimmer. There was a precedent of people coming from not a European, Classical art-music background that were doing film, so I never felt like an oddball. Like Danny Elfman, he's another one. A lot of people I've looked up to and respected came from the rock world. No, I think if I really had a great demand, a great orchestral challenge, I'd be a very different composer. Sometimes I regret that I don't have that in my background.
One of the interesting things I've found in transitioning from being a composing artist to doing this film thing is, one, it's a much more lonely pursuit. The times I'm sure you are spending working on a tv show, the hours you are spending to get it done, it seems like there is no through line in between being a performer and being a composer slugging away in the studio. Do you miss performing live?
I don't miss it at all. That's what, in part, what drew me to film composing. I don't really like being out on stage, repeating the same material night after night. So no, I don't miss it at all. I certainly don't miss the messy interaction of band dynamics. I enjoy the social structure of film music much more, but sometimes you do get kind of isolated. That's why people work with me or collaborate with other people, from keeping it from becoming too inbred, but no I don't miss trying to be a rock star in the least.
Another challenge I'm learning during my transition is how your ego gets subsumed. You basically become a craftsman working on someone else's vision, usually the director. Was that a hard transition to make? Taking orders sounds very dramatic and I know that's not really how that works, but you are in charge of someone else's vision rather than your own. Is that also part of the dynamic that you enjoy?
Yeah, that's probably the one take away from life as a rock and roller I was able to use. And that is as a drummer, your job is to make the other guy look good. You are kind of in a subordinate position. It was hard to write music from the position of being a drummer, because that's not really a component of the band that is respected very much. You don't play a pitched instrument, it's hard to demonstrate your ideas. That is the key that a lot of people that come from singer/songwriters don't like taking orders or being subservient to a larger vision. No but with me that was fine, that's why I never really made a solo album. I'm about the picture, and the project, which dictates the structure and the direction. I feel kinda lost, so I like being part of a larger endeavor.
I think for me the thing was rather than making a great record the limitations felt kinda freeing for me. Having the box to work with felt like one of the most liberating things, because once everything is possible you can kinda get in it and do work.
I think you still have great freedom to approach it however you want, but I think its the broader parameters that are defined for you. Where the music goes, how long it lasts, where it leads, and its function. Within that, you still got plenty of room to screw it up, but I like that definition of that structure.
Have you ever found yourself to be in a position where you were taking notes that you didn't agree with or are constantly counterintuitive, where your instincts did not align with the director's?
Sure, of course. Yeah, not agreeing with director's ideas can happen often. There's so many different ways to score stuff. There's not a right way or wrong way, but the person that hired you you have to sort of see a way to get into their ideas, their vision and make it work. And also to make it seem like it was all their idea. (laughs) There's still lots of room for your own individual expression. Sometimes I come around, sometimes I understand the ideas that initially sound weird. Like Steven's ideas about all electronic score, from the first 48 hours felt like a pretty bad idea, but then I just saw the brilliance of it. Getting into somebody else's head is a job requirement, but it's usually just one other head as opposed to a band, where you might have to get into the heads of several people who aren't in agreement with one another.
But, is that even true? I've only done indie films where it does work that way. I've heard, though, once you get into these big budget things there an entire administrative staff and a studio and people justifying their positions so they want to constantly suggest that things get fixed. Has it been your experience that it is between you and your director, that you agree that it gets done that the score is not sort of politicized by executives?
No that's true, but choose to work on mostly low budget independent film where the directors have artistic control. Some of the bigger works that I've done, like when Soderbergh did Contagion, no studio mettles with his vision. So it depends. Usually, it's the larger studio projects where other people get involved in the musical direction and you have to satisfy other people. But I think that on the few studio films I've done, the directors have a lot of control. I've done commercials, too, and the commercials are probably the most challenging for that exact reason. You don't even get to meet some of the people, but you get these notes these criticisms from a third party and it's really a challenge because…
Yeah, I can image because they are not even living in the art world essentially. Even the people in the studios are creative people and trying to making a piece of art, where commercials that's not even remotely the case. Do you find yourself being proactive in terms of making things happen for you artistically?
Not very much. I emailed Chan-wook Park, the Korean director, once and he said "I've never heard of you, I don't have any money, leave me alone." Yeah, I haven't done it very much. I'm pretty lucky. I got a lot of offers to do things where I was in a position to be choosy, but potentially pass on certain things because I can't do everything I haven't been as proactive as I probably should, but I'm pretty happy. It seems like the auteur guys like Steven Soderbergh are the type of people I like to work with. I like the rugged, individual type of directors. I seem to get enough phone calls from guys like that to keep me pretty happy. If I start to slip into "I've been retired" mode, then maybe I'll pick up the phone again.
[You can watch Season 1 and Season 2 of The Knick on Cinemax or their MaxGo app]
Ryan Miller is the lead singer of the band Guster, composer on a slew of rad indie films (Safety Not Guaranteed, In A World, Kings Of Summer, Tig), bon vivant and Xiao Long Boa aficionado. He is also handsome in low light.
Stream It Or Skip It: 'Chillin' in My 30s after Getting Fired from the Demon King's Army' on Crunchyroll, A Western Fantasy Romp


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Ohio To Review Execution Case Over Double Jeopardy Claims
When you're charged with a crime and convicted, your sentence usually can only be adjusted with extra evidence or further investigations. What about something like the death penalty though? According to this article, one man has survived an execution attempt, and now people are arguing that if the state of Ohio tries to execute him again, it will be cruel and unusual punishment as well as double jeopardy.
The report states that the top court of Ohio will hear the arguments about this case, because the allegedly criminal survived a botched lethal injection. If the state attempts to put him to death again, it could mean that he would have gone through double jeopardy, which is illegal.
The 57-year-old man was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl that took place in 1984. He had allegedly abducted her after school in Cleveland. He was sentenced to death, and an execution was tried in 2009. At that time, the governor stopped the execution after the team looked for a suitable vein for over two hours. The man had been stuck with needles at least 18 times, claiming that the pain was severe enough to make him cry.
Shockingly, an hour into the execution, the Department of Rehabilitation had recruited a doctor with no experience in executions to try to find a vein. The doctor was unsuccessful, according to the report, but now the 57-year-old is still waiting on death row. No execution date has been set, according to the reports, but the state court will hear constitution arguments against the death penalty in this specific case. The 57-year-old man has also appealed to the federal courts, but that is on hold until the state reviews the arguments.
Source: Deseret News, "Ohio court to weigh repeat execution attempt" Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Jun. 03, 2014


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Bus hijacking in Brazil ends, hijacker dead, hostages freed
Jay Jackson
A hostage situation in Rio de Janeiro involving a bus and thirty seven hostages has ended ...
A man who described himself as a military police officer had earlier hijacked a bus on the Rio-Niteroi bridge
This according to Agencia Brasil, the government-run news agency in Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - A hostage situation in Rio de Janeiro involving a bus and thirty seven hostages has ended.
A man who described himself as a military police officer had earlier, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, hijacked a bus on the Rio-Niteroi bridge, a 9-mile causeway linking the Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro and Niteroi.
This according to Agencia Brasil, the government-run news agency in Brazil.
The man, later identified as Willian Augusto da Silva, aged 20, took charge of the bus around 6:00am local time Tuesday and threatened to douse it with gasoline and set it on fire.
He had taken a tank of gas on board.
Da Silva at first insisted that all on board the bus remain, however at one stage he agreed to release 6 of them.
The crisis came to an end when an elite squad military police sniper shot and killed the hijacker.
There were indications the man was mentally disturbed.
"The hostage situation on the Rio-Niteroi bridge has come to a close," the military police said in a statement. "The hostage-taker was neutralized by a sniper from the elite squad and all the hostages were freed."
All of the hostages were unharmed.
(Photo Credit: Agencia Brasil/Reuters - Pilar Olivares).
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You can truly be one who knows no failure only once you have given up identification with the mind and body for then you are the Divine Self the Master of the mind! So one way to use your ambition is to use it to fuel you towards this goal of becoming you'd divine higher self! Remind yourself that your goal to never fail can be achieved not through the method of struggle in the world but by first becoming Self Realized and channel your ambition into that space for you will have an unbeatable drive! The key thing is to use your ambitions, weakness, challenges and every situation to motivate you to know and become your divine real self which is the Master Mind of the cosmos!


text:
Intrepid travellers find Bangladesh a bargain
by AFP/Cat Barton, Jan 14, 2012 | Destinations: Bangladesh
From Argentinian heavy metal fans to Scottish retirees, Joyanta Howlader's couch has hosted the full spectrum of backpackers who arrive -- sometimes with mixed feelings -- in impoverished Bangladesh.
The south Asian country seems an unlikely stop on a budget traveller's itinerary, but foreign visitor arrivals are rising and Bangladesh's lack of tourist infrastructure is, ironically, proving an attraction.
"You have to be adventurous. There is no other way to travel in Bangladesh," said Howlader, a 38-year-old Dhaka-based television producer who has hosted dozens of tourists through Couch Surfing, a hospitality exchange network.
"One backpacker who stayed with me, he just hated it here, said he'd never come back. He was a real tourist, he just wanted an easy travel experience which Bangladesh is definitely not," Howlader told AFP.
With mod-cons now available in backpacker haunts in Thailand, Vietnam and India, where prices are shooting up, increasing numbers of budget tourists are seeking out alternative, low-cost travel experiences elsewhere in Asia.
From spending a night on a stranger's sofa for free, sampling Dhaka's best biryani for a dollar a plate, or checking into a midrange hotel for less than 10 dollars a night, Bangladesh is about as cheap and adventurous as it comes.
Even a four-day all-inclusive cruise through the world's largest mangrove forest on a traditional wooden boat will only cost around 150 dollars, far cheaper than a comparable trip in neighbouring India, experts say.
Bangladesh is one of only a few places left in the region that still offer the original pioneering travel experience, according to Lonely Planet's Bangladesh author Stuart Butler.
"It is very easy to get well off the beaten track and is a place in which you can make your own discoveries and travel for weeks without meeting another western tourist -- or any tourist for that matter," Butler told AFP.
The problems of getting around and finding accommodation, particularly for women, in the conservative, Muslim-majority nation are, for some travellers, Bangladesh's unique selling point, he said.
"For many travellers this lack of knowledge of the country and the lack of a tourist industry is the prime reason for visiting. Travelling in Bangladesh is a genuine adventure," he said.
Tourists are still something of a rarity in Bangladesh with just 267,107 foreign visitor arrivals in 2009, according to government figures which do not distinguish between tourist arrivals and Bangladeshis with foreign passports.
This is up from 2000, when 199,211 foreign visitors arrived in the south Asian nation of 160 million people, and local tourism industry figures say they anticipate further growth.
"Inbound tourism is growing more than 10 percent a year -- a few years ago, no one had heard of Bangladesh, they thought it was part of India," said Taufiquddin Ahmed, president of the Bangladesh Tour Operators Association.
"The average spend for package tourists is now around 500 dollars, which is less than they would spend in India or Nepal," he said. "And we get a lot of backpackers coming here and just travelling on their own."
Travelling in Bangladesh, while not for the faint-hearted, is extremely cheap, with the 27-hour trip from Dhaka to Khulna on The Rocket, the country's most famous river ferry, costing just 15 dollars for a first-class cabin.
From Khulna it is easy to access the Sunderbans mangrove forest, which is the country's most popular attraction, although northern Srimongal district's tea gardens are also attracting interest, he said.
The biggest problem for the local tourism industry is the lack of any concerted government effort to promote the country, such as the successful "Incredible India" and "Malaysia Truly Asia" campaigns, he said.
"Bangladesh suffers from a negative image, but slowly things are changing for the better," he said.
Bangladesh is one of travel bible Lonely Planet's "Best Value Destinations" for 2011.
And for Mickey Leung, author of the Bradt Guide book on Bangladesh, there is no point in trying to fight Bangladesh's international reputation -- instead, the industry should try to capitalise on it.
"We're not going to get away from that image. There is going to be another cyclone, people are going to keep talking about climate change damage... you can't just sit and hope it will go away," he told AFP.
"Everybody knows Bangladesh is a poor country, so let's take that image (and) make it like: your decision to travel to Bangladesh represents your decision to change the world," he said.
The government should focus on building up pro-poor, community based eco-friendly tourism, for example by providing loans for setting up guesthouses for backpackers, he said.
"I would like to see budget travellers come to Bangladesh with an open mind, and with a willingness to experience local hospitality. They have to leave luxury behind."
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