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President Enyedi Welcomes Faculty, Staff for Fall Semester
SUNY Plattsburgh President Alexander Enyedi hosted a non-traditional welcome back to campus for faculty and staff Friday, Aug. 21.
The dedicated time via Zoom enabled the first-year leader to share his deep appreciation to the campus community, reflect on where the college has been over the spring and summer, recognize several award recipients and look ahead to the fall semester and beyond.
"As these days challenge us and bring anxiety, I want to give us all perspective on just how far we have come," Enyedi said. "It is why I know we will succeed in the coming year and beyond."
The college resumes classes Monday, Aug. 24. About half of the course offerings for the semester will be in remote modes and about one-third will be fully face-to-face in modified classrooms. With the shift to more distance education, residence hall occupancy is expected to be around 1,700, down from 2,200 in a typical fall.
About 1,000 first-year students are enrolled this fall, and nearly 400 students have transferred to SUNY Plattsburgh from community and other colleges.
To prepare for the fall, the campus completed a restart plan that was approved by the state and SUNY and reviewed by local authorities, including the Clinton County Health Department. The college also created return-to-on-campus-work approaches, social-distancing and face-covering policies, added a daily health screening form, altered the student code of conduct and launched the Cardinal Pledge to focus all of campus on safe practices.
"Many people went without summer vacations," he said. "The number of answers given to parents, students and staff were outpaced at times only by the questions. This work, as with everything we do, ultimately serves our students."
Enyedi emphasized that being on campus provides the best support for students, many of whom are first-generation. They are more likely to stay in college with the college's direct help and make a difference in the life they choose.
Also this year the college is welcoming nearly 50 new international students, who will join close to 200 returning international students who are studying on campus as well as remotely.
Classrooms were evaluated this summer for density, and furniture was moved and adjusted. Signage, retrofitting with Plexiglas and other physical changes were made across campus. Added personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, and high-quality MERV-13 filters were also part of the process.
The president also recognized six award recipients:
Dr. Curt Gervich, associate professor of earth and environmental science, Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Faculty Service
Karen Glushko, adjunct lecturer, psychology, Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching
Dr. Jeff Hornibrook, professor of history, Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching
Janet Manor, administrative assistant 1, biological sciences/Lake Champlain Research Institute, Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Classified Service
Ms. Sara Richman G'87, retired Educational Opportunity Program counselor, Faculty or Staff Impact Award
Dr. Rajesh Sunasee, associate professor of chemistry, Faculty or Staff Impact Award
"A college is not a president, not an administration and not even a faculty," Enyedi said. "It is each of us and all of us."
"We know much of the fall will not be normal – our Cardinal Athletics teams are sadly on pause – but we are all pointing forward and all longing for the day this campus is more of we know it to be. Until it is, we will each do our part."


The Pinelands Creative Workshop (PCW) serves the Pinelands public housing district, developing self-awareness and personal growth, promoting a positive community image, and educating and uplifting this community and other disadvantaged communities throughout Barbados.
The Pinelands Creative Workshop was established in 1978 as a cultural education program serving youth in one of Barbados' most economically disadvantaged communities on the island – the public housing community at Pinelands (known locally as "The Pine"). Beginning with organizing Afro-Caribbean performing arts activities – dance, song, drumming – among at-risk young people, PCW expanded into skills training, job placement, anti-drug education, micro-credit, and even Meals on Wheels serving the community's elderly shut-ins. In 1995, PCW added the import, reconditoning, and sale of used bicycles, working with the NJ-based Pedals for Progress, to meet the transportation needs of local youth, foster mechanical skills and employment, and generate funds to continue its overall program work in the community.
In 2005, Bikes for the World became the principal supplier of the Pinelands bicycle initiative. Over the next seven years, BfW donated 8,158 bikes to this program--more than ten percent of BfW's total production over that period. Besides providing affordable transportation for recreational, educational, and employment use, the Bicycle Project generates revenue through bicycle sales to help subsidize core administrative expenses and other programs within PCW.
One such program is Meals on Wheels, started in 1997, which provides meals to elderly, shut-ins, and disable individuals in and around the Pine. With funds generated by bicycle sales, PCW is able to pay cooks, purchase disposable food containers, and contribute to the overall cost of running the vehicles to collect and provide food.
Our experience is that the introduction of used bicycles generates increased sales of new spare parts, and eventually new bikes, by private sellers. However, not all sellers see it this way at first. PCW initially encountered oppostion from the major local bike importer in Barbados, who saw the sale of inexpensive used bikes as a competitive threat to its near-monopoly. Complaints to government lengthened the time a BfW container took to clear the port and delayed availability of bikes for distribution--particularly significant at Christmastime when the community had bonuses available for purchases. PCW eventually overcame this obstacle, securing government approval, and continue to provide affordable used bikes to persons who could not otherwise purchase one.
These robust, dependable, affordable bicycles donated by Bikes for the World and reconditioned by the Pinelands Creative Workshop provide recreation, rehabilitation, transportation, and income for their new owners. Bikes are often modified by the PCW lead mechanic, a paid position created through the Bicycle Project, who often changes out the road bike handlebars and brakes for more desirable flat handlebar components. Children are also given the opportunity to ride bikes during the PCW community outreach sessions every weekend.
Dennis is a bit of a bike messenger in his community in Barbados. He uses his bicycle to help transport goods and services for residents of his community, Howell Road. The money he earns through this messenger work helps supplement money he receives from welfare.
Dennis collects medicine for eldery persons from the town clinic. Shopkeepers send him for more stock for their stores. He assists farmers by purchasing feed for their chicken and rabbit stock and transporting it by bicycle. He also delivers newspapers and gas to members of the community.


Excellent security systems protect your home, assets, resources and loved ones. With the level of risk faced in our everyday society especially in businesses, it advisable that an excellent electronic/electrical security service should be provided.
Why Is A Security System Needed?
Statistics have shown that nine in every ten burglars avoid burgling houses or institutions with security systems. Ultimately, this demonstrates the level of safety these devices offer. Also according to insurance companies, the home security system may help you save about 20% on your monthly homeowner's insurance, therefore serving as an investment that will pay off in the long run.
Business owners and companies also need security systems as this will go a long way to ensure discipline, safety, and professionalism in the business environment. Its benefits are overwhelming.
Help inform emergency response team immediately an issue is noted.
A company can be protected from liability claims, more especially if a customer accuses the company of a subject that took place in the business environment. With the help of the security camera, the libel claim can be resolved after a video evidence is provided.
How can customers be served using integrated security solutions?
The services provided by integrated security solutions can help as the best security need any individual/customer would want irrespective of size. The solutions provided by ISS includes; video and access systems, scalable intruder, wide-enterprise systems regarding video coverage and access that can integrate with different business. This solution is made for your business, home, and financial institutions.
Expanding beyond conventional alarm monitoring system, the solutions provided includes; providing a central database management that helps to analyze issues efficiently, overseeing transactions, system reports, maps, system configuration and panel programming.
For your home: integrated system solution provide quality security service for your home, with alarm and access control system integrated into the web, you can monitor the activities in your home from anywhere. With HD and 4k surveillance camera and an efficient database management, the security of your valuables is top notch.
For financial institution: integrated system solutions offer quality service when it comes to keeping your money safe. Banks and other financial institutions can rely on the solutions offered by integrated system solutions. With excellent technologies like drive up systems, custom safes, vaults, safe deposit boxes, under counter steel any financial institution is assured of maximum safety.
In excellence in work-flow is assured knowing fully well that your teller pedestals, cash and coin locker unit, double wide cabinet, knee space unit, cash tray and coin scoops are designed with the toughest of material and exceptional technological know-how.
Integrated system solutions offer one of the best solutions regarding security. With the intelligent video solutions and CCTV system it provides, you can monitor and control business losses, company safety, and location access. These solutions are offered with the single and multi-camera system, video and audio surveillance, remote monitoring, and intervention functionality.
Integrated system solutions also offer adequate access control through their access control systems, code entry controls, proximity readers bio metric identification and screening. Their fire alarm system protects your personal safety and assets with sensor detecting smoke, excessive heating, water flow, and gas.
With 24-hour central station monitor, you can supervise every security details. The intrusion system guards your property against burglary and also provides motion detectors, door contacts, automation and all round station monitoring.
The nurse call system satisfies alerting and communication needs of any health care facility. It offers a wireless solution that provides position and notifications, real-time locating system over wireless architecture, distributed architecture, and a 24-hour station monitoring.
The integrated system is the solution to the security system and monitoring. With an integration of modern design and technology quality is always what you stand to get.


I love this set! It has 5 images that coordinate with the new Artiste Cricut Cartridge plus 4 great sentiments. I made 3 cards and 2 gift boxes with our Pear & Partridge Paper (X7162B).
For details and close up views on each item, continue reading below.
Artiste Cricut Cartridge. (Keys: "q" Card and "Q" Shift Card) It is a postcard with a removable band wrapped around it. The card is 4 1/2". There was no guessing on the band measurement because I used the same measurement as the card and it cut just the size I needed to wrap around! I used one of the zip strips from the paper pack for the center of my decorative band. Slip off the band, and the sentiment is revealed.
For this card I used Sketch #26 from the Make It From Your Heart book (9035). Our Colonial White Rosette Ribbon (Z1800) adds a nice soft touch. Bitty Opaques Pearls Adhesive Gems (Z1707) decorate the ornament and the Cranberry Twine (Z1751) wraps is all up!
I love these mittens and couldn't wait to add them to a card. The Artiste Cricut Cartridge cuts the perfect size! I stamped the mittens in Olive ink and adorned them with Mocha Opaque Adhesive Gems. A piece of Natural Hemp keeps the mittens together. This card is Sketch #25 in the Make it From Your Heart book.
This little gift box is perfect for hiding a gift card! I set the measurement at 4" and used the <Noel> Card key to cut. It makes a nice interlocking wreath in the center. I cut a tag using the <3> 3D Object Shift key. After addting Bronze Glitz Glitter Gel (Z1483) for sparkle I tied the tag around the wreath with Cranberry Twine (Z1751).
I hope you enjoyed all my festive creations!
Remember! This is available ONLY during the month of October! You can purchase it for just $5 when you purchase $50 in Close To My Heart products!
Now, hop on over to Annette Green's blog and see what she has created for you!
Here is a quick card I made. Well, actually it took me a while to finish, I had a creative block this past week. It seemed I had all sorts of ideas in my head but I had a difficult time getting it onto paper. After coloring and trimming my cornstalk a few days ago, everything just stalled and I left it sitting on my table. Today I was determined to finish so I put away everything I had previously pulled out and started fresh with only the cornstalk.
Here is my finished project - FINALLY!
I found a 6x6 Die Cut Kraft card (Z1474) that was another unfinished project from another time of creative block. I used a piece of green B&T paper from the Flirty paper packet (X7160B) to cover up some stamping that was on the card. I trimmed off the scallop edge of the card and used it as a border under my Burlap ribbon (Z1760). The cornstalk stamp is from the set Abundance (D1519) and was colored with watercolor pencils and a blending pen.
I cut <Shape2> from the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge for my Sentiment. One at 1 3/4" and the layer at 2". My sentiment is stamped in New England Ivy Ink. Durable Round Studs finish off my card.
October is JUST around the corner. Create some fun potion bottles to add to your Halloween decorations this year! I had fun with the Magic Potions (C1509) Stamp Set when I was creating items for this year's Extravaganza. I went to Hobby Lobby and found these cute apothecary bottles at 50% off! Each of the stamped labels have a perfectly matching image on the new Artiste Cricut Cartridge. The carrier sheet for the stamp tells which page the image is on in the Artiste booklet and also what size to cut so that the stamp will fit it perfectly!
I stamped each image ink with either Goldrush, Smokey Plum or Black ink and then stamped again with Versa Mark ink. I embossed them with our Clear Detail embossing powder.
I used Moonlight paper pack (X7161B) along with Black and Natural Hemp to accent my labels. The little owls on the bottle to the left are cut from the Moonlight paper.
When I finished, I had to add my own little magic medicines! Reeces Pieces, Candy Corn and Chocolate Covered Raisins! YUM!
A Belated Birthday Greeting with Pun Fun!
Yesterday I held an all day crop for my StampinHeaven Hostess Club Members. Just another benefit I provide to my hostess clubs! I appreciate my Hostess Clubs and like to provide a space and free lunch for my Hostess Club Members to catch up on projects. We had a wonderful day yesterday and I used the time to work on upcoming projects. I took a break after a while to do something for fun. I had brought along some challenges in case I got a chance to try one out. This card was fun and a bit different from my usual 'style'.
I used the colors from The Playdate Cafe and the sketch from Unscripted Sketches to create my card.
I used Ruby, Cocoa and Goldrush cardstock. Usually I have some type of pattern paper on my cards. I didn't like the plain cardstock so I added 5/8" punched circles to the card. The layered flower and scalloped strip is cut with Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge. My little turtle is from the PUN FUN (C1505) stamp set. I stamped the turtle on Goldrush and Cocoa cardstock and pieced him together. Red sparkles from the Sparkles - Red, Pink & Purple Assortment (Z1326) add the final touch.
Create quick fun little greetings with this Pun Fun stamp set!
Website Sale at Close to My Heart!
I just LOVE it when they add additional products to our While Supplies Last sections of our websites! You sure can't beat these deals!
One of my most favorite paper packs from the past was the Elemental Paper pack. I loved it because it was SO versatile. You could mix and match it with almost ANY other paper! Where else can you can awesome cardstock quality paper (6 sheets of B&T and 6 sheet of cardstock) for only $2.50!!
And that's not all! Check out some of these other awesome deals!
Coordinating Dimensional Elements only $1.50!
And how about these Canvas Badge Buttons (Z1397) for $2.00! You can dye them or stamp on them! They add so much fun to you layouts!
OR these Tulip Mini Medley Accents (Z1320) just $1.00!!! Buttons, Ribbons, brads and more! This 'red' color will go great with your Christmas cards and layouts!
Did I say Christmas?? Check out the Dimensional Element Ornaments (Z1337) only $1.00!!
These are just a FEW of my favorite things on the While Supplies Last section of my website. Check out ALL the great deals and stock up!!
This special 2-stamp set is available ONLY until September 30th!!
Today is part two of my Family Heritage Spotlight on Art that was featured on Jeanette Lynton's blog. On Friday, I shared the one page layout I created of my Great Grandparents. If you missed it, you can see it HERE.
Today I'm sharing the 6x6 Memory Showcase Album I created featuring my Mother's parents and grandparents and great grandparents! I used the Avonlea paper pack (X7155B) for the pages in my book. I love the 6x6 Memory Showcase Albums. Creating beautiful pages are quick and easy especially when you have compliments such as the Velvet Parlor Rub-ons (Z1742).
For the front of my book I used the stamp set "Family Tree" (D1526). I stamped the tree with Chocolate ink onto a 4 1/2" doily in Avonlea White Cardstock. I used Artiste Cartridge "1" <Accent3> Key. Next, I cut simple circle in the Chocolate cardstock at 5".
Here is a close up the doily. A paper piercer and small 'pokes' around the inside edge of the doily give a faux stitching look.
"My Family Tree" is stamped on an image cut from the Artiste Cricut Cartridge and adorned with one of the adhesive backed Brocade Assortment accents (Z1748).
Before adhering my paper to the front and back of the book, I glued a 12" piece of Slate Satin Polka Dot Ribbon (Z1802) across the front and back. Then I glued the paper on top of the ribbon. This makes a nice tie closure for the book.
Page 1 and 2. This is a picture of my Mother's Great Grandparents on her Mother's side. I used a journaling pocket on page one. This is a great place to add all the names of the family members along with the date. Another brocade accent adds a nice touch to the pocket. On Page 2, I used a Parlor Velvet Rub-on to accent the page and picture adding a few Mocha Adhesive Gems.
Page 3 & 4. These are pictures of my Mother's Grandparents (page 3) and my Mother and her family (Page 4). I used more Velvet Parlor Rub-ons on these pages. I rubbed the velvet flowers right onto the Avonlea Teal cardstock and cut them out. Again, I added Mocha Adhesive Gems to accent the flowers. Then I stamped the borders on the name plates with stamps from the Family Tree set. Coordinating shapes were cut from the Artiste Cricut Cartridge.
Page 5 & 6. My Mother's grandparents on her Father's side (Left page). On the right, is a picture of her parents when they were first married. These old photographs had a yellowish tint to them and I thought they looked great with this piece of paper from the Avonlea paper pack. The border at the top of the pages is one of the zip strips centered on Slate Cardstock. My banners are more Velvet Parlor Rub-ons.
I left the back of the book fairly simple so that it could lay flat. I really like the sentiment that comes with the Family Tree stamp set - "Families fill our lives with happiness and laughter, leaving us memories to treasure today and forever after". The words on the left and right sides of the page are cut from one of the zip strips. They are PERFECT for the theme of my book.
These 6x6 Memory Showcase Albums (Z1195) make a lovely gift that is very quick and easy to put together. These little albums are only $3.95! Add a paper pack, compliments and just a few accents and you will have a nice gift for under $20 or less! One paper pack goes a long way with these little books so you could easily create 2 Memory Showcase Albums!
Thanks for stopping by!! HAPPY CREATING!
This week's Friday Mashup has a technique I haven't tried before - Starburst Technique. I thought it made a really pretty design so I wanted to give it a try. My card is going to a friend who is going through tough times right now. I wanted to send her words of encouragement and the starburst design to me says "Things will be brighter". I hope the colors of the card will brighten her day and cheer her up.
I used Flirty paper (X7160B) for my card and accented it with Color Ready Wooden Arbor Shapes (Z1765) and a flower from Just Blooms Floret Paper Shapes (Z1764). The Olive ribbon is from the Mini Medley Accents - Olive Collection (Z1489). The sentiment is from the Words of Comfort stamp set (C1524).
The instructions for creating the starburst can be found here. I altered mine just a bit because the card I was making was a little bit larger (4 1/4 x 5 1/2) than the one is the demonstration. I cut my triangles for the starburst at 2" x 4" and then cut each triangle in half.
My card needed more triangles to fill the 2 1/2" x 5 1/4 piece of rectangle cardstock that I used.
I was so excited and thrilled today to get an email from Close To My Heart's Corporate office notifying me that my art was being featured on Jeanette Lynton's blog! It is such an honor to be recognized! I'm am always so in awe by the creativity of my fellow consultants and Close To My Heart's very own Art Department, that being spotlighted by Jeanette just blows me away. It has been an exciting year for me and my art.
This is a picture of my Great Grandparents, Anna Katherine and Fred Schneider. So many memories came back to me as I worked on this layout. I never knew my Great Grandfather. He died at a fairly young age even before my own father was born. I did have the pleasure of knowing my Great Grandma though! She lived to the ripe old age of 105. I can remember going to visit her as a little girl. She had moved from the family farm in Newburgh, Indiana to a little house in town. She lived there in that little house well into her ninety's. I remember she had a little vegetable garden out back along with flowers - Day Lilies I believe. Sometimes when we got to her house she would just be coming in from the garden. I remember the old wooden rocking chair in her front parlor with carving on the back, and the patchwork quilt across the back of the sofa. Grandma Schneider, as all the great grand kids called her to distinguish between other grandmas, loved to quilt. She made a quilt for each of my sisters and I still have that quilt today. I loved going to her house because in town, the ice cream truck would always come by her house. We'd hear the tinkling of the bell and she'd get out our her little change purse and give us some coins so we could get some ice cream. I remember sitting around her kitchen table eating her special Springerle cookies listening to stories of yesteryear. Springerle are an old fashioned German cookies flavored with Anise. I remember Grandma's hearty laugh and how her smile that would light up the room. Those were special times with my Grandma and memories that I will always hold close to my heart.
I used the two keys that come with the Brocade Assortment (Z1748) to tie around my ribbon. The ribbon is our Color Ready Seam Binding Ribbon (Z1732). Olive ink, blended with just a little bit of Chocolate ink colored my ribbon to coordinate with the special trendy Avonlea Green in the Avonlea Paper pack (X7155B).
The flowers were cut from the Artiste Cricut Cartridge using the Avonlea Teal cardstock. I layered the flowers on the Avonlea Canvas Compliments (X7155C) using the vines, flower and leaves. In the center of the flower is an Opaque Mocha Adhesive gem (Z1333).
I displayed this layout at my open house recently and my Grandma was in town visiting my parents. My Grandma is one of four children by my Great Grandma. My mother brought her by and she was very touched to see the photograph put together on special layout. My Grandma is 95 years young and still lives on that old family homestead in Newburgh, Indiana. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!!
Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to come back and I will detail the 6x6 My Creations Memory Showcase album that features my Mother's grandparents and parents!
I have tried several different ways to organize my every increasing inventory of ribbon. First, I put my ribbon in one of those organizer boxes from Wally World but I quickly outgrew that. Next I had my husband put a ribbon rod on the wall behind my work desk. But then it became a pain to take 4, 5, 6 rolls off to get the ONE roll that I needed to take with me when going to a workshop or crop. PLUS, there were several rolls that constantly unwound on their own. I'd turn around and half the roll would be spilling onto the floor. One day, not too long ago, I accidently knocked the entire thing onto the floor. That was the last straw. I was busy and didn't want to fool with winding all the ribbon and re-spooling them onto the rod so I threw them all in a small plastic box near my desk. So, there they sat for weeks, jumbled together and I could no longer tell what I had.
Today, my solution came! I'm so excited! I ordered the new Medium Organizer from Close To My Heart. I could just hear the jubilation from the poor little ribbon rounds when I took the organizer out of the box. The great thing about this organizer is that it is see-through! I can see exactly what ribbons I have without even opening the box!
The other great thing about this organizer is that each divider can be removed! Remove one, two, three or all! This box has lots of potential! It measures 14 1/2" x 10 1/2" x 5". The height is great because my larger rounds (upper right) are taller than the dividers but there is enough head room they fit with room to spare!
Now I'm inspired to go create something with some ribbon!
Happy Organizing!! Thanks for stopping by!
Close to My Heart on My Craft Channel!


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CBCB Seminar Series
UPDATE (Jan. 17, 2023): For Spring 2023, the CBCB Seminar Series will be held weekly during the academic year, with the goal of bringing the CBCB community together to learn about the research being done at the Center, at UMD, and at other institutions. To this end, the seminar features invited speakers from academia and industry as well as talks by faculty and graduate students in the Center. Talks by invited speakers are 40-50 minutes followed by questions. Talks by graduate students are 20 minutes followed by questions. If you are interested in speaking, please contact Erin Molloy. The CBCB Seminar Series will be held on Thursdays from 2-3pm at the Iribe Center in room 4105 unless otherwise noted. If you're unable to attend in person, please contact us for a Zoom link.
Other seminars you may be interested in attending can be found HERE
CBCB Seminar Series Schedule for Spring Semester 2023
Presenter(s)
Institution or Advisor/Lab
Topic & Abstract
Location or Zoom Only
Stephanie Hicks
Johns Hopkins University, Biostatistics
Scalable statistical methods and software for single-cell and spatial data science
Abtract: Single-cell RNA-Seq (scRNA-seq) is the most widely used high-throughput technology to measure genome-wide gene expression at the single-cell level. However, single-cell data present unique challenges that have required the development of specialized methods and software infrastructure to successfully derive biological insights. Compared to bulk RNA-seq, there is an increased scale of the number of observations (or cells) that are measured and there is increased sparsity of the data, or fraction of observed zeros. Furthermore, as single-cell technologies mature, the increasing complexity and volume of data require fundamental changes in data access, management, and infrastructure alongside specialized methods to facilitate scalable analyses. I will discuss some challenges in the analysis of scRNA-seq and spatially-resolved transcriptomics data and present some solutions that we have made towards addressing these challenges.
Iribe #3137
James Zou
Stanford University, Biomedical Data Science
Generative AI for Biomedicine
Abstract: I will explore how generative AI can improve biomedicine. I first show how generative models can augment human creativity by discussing a project discovering new antibiotics. We used a generative model to create structurally novel molecules for drug-resistant bacteria. A benefit of our approach is that the molecules are designed to be easy to synthesize, and we experimentally tested and validated our antibiotics. Then I will discuss how to use generative AI to uplevel cheap biomedical data into expensive and difficult-to-collect data. Finally, I will give an example of using generative model to design complex protocols with multiple tradeoffs–clinical trials.
MG Hirsch
Przytycka & Molloy Labs
RIPS - TBD
Dongze He
Patro Lab
Richa Agarwala
Yana Safonova
Johns Hopkins University, Computer Science
Johns Hopkins University, Biology
Successful F31 proposals + research
Yuelin Liu
Sahinalp & Pop Labs
Single-cell methylation sequencing data reveal succinct metastatic migration histories and tumor progression models
Abstract: Recent studies exploring the impact of methylation in tumor evolution suggest that while the methylation status of many of the CpG sites are preserved across distinct lineages, others are altered as the cancer progresses. Since changes in methylation status of a CpG site may be retained in mitosis, they could be used to infer the progression history of a tumor via single-cell lineage tree reconstruction. In this work, we introduce the first principled distance-based computational method, Sgootr, for inferring a tumor's single-cell methylation lineage tree and jointly identifying lineage-informative CpG sites which harbor changes in methylation status that are retained along the lineage. We apply Sgootr on the single-cell bisulfite-treated whole genome sequencing data of multiregionally-sampled tumor cells from 9 metastatic colorectal cancer patients made available by Bian et al., as well as multiregionally-sampled single-cell reduced-representation bisulfite sequencing data from a glioblastoma patient made available by Chaligne et al.. We demonstrate that the tumor lineages constructed reveal a simple model underlying colorectal tumor progression and metastatic seeding. A comparison of Sgootr against alternative approaches shows that Sgootr can construct lineage trees with fewer migration events and more in concordance with the sequential-progression model of tumor evolution, in time a fraction of that used in prior studies. Interestingly, lineage-informative CpG sites identified by Sgootr are in inter-CpG island (CGI) regions, as opposed to CGI's, which have been the main regions of interest in genomic methylation-related analyses. Sgootr is implemented as a Snakemake workflow, available at https://github.com/algo-cancer/Sgootr.
Noor Pratap Singh
TreeTerminus - Creating transcript trees using inferential replicate counts
Abstract: The accuracy and robustness of many types of analyses performed using RNA-seq data are directly impacted by the quality of the transcript and gene abundance estimates inferred from this data. However, a certain degree of uncertainty is always associated with the transcript abundance estimates. This uncertainty may make many downstream analyses, such as differential testing, difficult for certain transcripts. Conversely, gene-level analysis, though less ambiguous, is often too coarse-grained. To circumvent this problem, methods have proposed grouping transcripts together into distinct inferential units that should be used as a base unit for analysis. However, these methods don't take downstream analysis into account. We introduce TreeTerminus, a data-driven approach for grouping transcripts into a tree structure where leaves represent individual transcripts and internal nodes represent an aggregation of a transcript set. TreeTerminus constructs trees such that, on average, the inferential uncertainty decreases as we ascend the tree topology. The tree provides the flexibility to analyze data at nodes that are at different levels of resolution in the tree and can be tuned depending on the analysis of interest. To obtain fixed groups for the downstream analysis, we provide a dynamic programming (DP) approach that can be used to find a cut through the tree that optimizes one of several different objectives. We evaluated TreeTerminus on two simulated and two experimental datasets, and observed an improved performance compared to transcripts (leaves) and other methods under several different metrics.
Kolmogorov & Pop Labs
Jason Fan
Spectrum preserving tilings enable sparse and modular reference indexing
Abstract: The reference indexing problem for k-mers is to pre-process a collection of reference genomic sequences ℛ so that the position of all occurrences of any queried k-mer can be rapidly identified. An efficient and scalable solution to this problem is fundamental for many tasks in bioinformatics.
In this work, we introduce the spectrum preserving tiling (SPT), a general representation of R that specifies how a set of tiles repeatedly occur to spell out the constituent reference sequences in R. By encoding the order and positions where tiles occur, SPTs enable the implementation and analysis of a general class of modular indexes. An index over an SPT decomposes the reference indexing problem for k-mers into: (1) a k-mer-to-tile mapping; and (2) a tile-to-occurrence mapping. Recently introduced work to construct and compactly index k-mer sets can be used to efficiently implement the k-mer-to-tile mapping. However, implementing the tile-to-occurrence mapping remains prohibitively costly in terms of space. As reference collections become large, the space requirements of the tile-to-occurrence mapping dominates that of the k-mer-to-tile mapping since the former depends on the amount of total sequence while the latter depends on the number of unique k-mers in R. To address this, we introduce a class of sampling schemes for SPTs that trade off speed to reduce the size of the tile-to-reference mapping. We implement a practical index with these sampling schemes in the tool pufferfish2. When indexing over 30,000 bacterial genomes, pufferfish2 reduces the size of the tile-to-occurrence mapping from 86.3GB to 34.6GB while incurring only a 3.6× slowdown when querying k-mers from a sequenced readset.
Yunheng Han
Molloy Lab
TREE-QMC: Improving quartet graph construction for scalable and accurate species tree estimation from gene trees
Abstract: Summary methods are one of the dominant approaches for estimating species trees from genome-scale data. However, they can fail to produce accurate species trees when the input gene trees are highly discordant due to gene tree estimation error as well as biological processes, like incomplete lineage sorting. Here, we introduce a new summary method TREE-QMC that offers improved accuracy and scalability under these challenging scenarios. TREE-QMC builds upon the algorithmic framework of QMC (Snir and Rao 2010) and its weighted version wQMC (Avni et al. 2014). Their approach takes weighted quartets (four-leaf trees) as input and builds a species tree in a divide-and-conquer fashion, at each step constructing a graph and seeking its max cut. We improve upon this methodology in two ways. First, we address scalability by providing an algorithm to construct the graph directly from the input gene trees. By skipping the quartet weighting step, TREE-QMC has a time complexity of O(n3k) with some assumptions on subproblem sizes, where n is the number of species and k is the number of gene trees. Second, we address accuracy by normalizing the quartet weights to account for "artificial taxa," which are introduced during the divide phase so that solutions on subproblems can be combined during the conquer phase. Together, these contributions enable TREE-QMC to outperform the leading methods (ASTRAL-III, FASTRAL, wQFM) in an extensive simulation study. We also present the application of these methods to several phylogenomics data sets. Note: preliminary results for this project were presented in RIPS 2022. This talk includes many new results, including methodological changes to improve robustness to missing data.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Kaily Schuette hit a grand slam as the Delaware Hayes softball team's 13th game of the season ended pretty much the same way the other 12 did: with a dominant win.
The Pacers (13-0, 6-0 OCC) plated a pair of first-inning runs and never looked back, scoring in all four trips to the plate on the way to a 13-1, five-inning win over visiting Olentangy Monday in Delaware.
Hayes scored four times in the second, courtesy of Schuette's slam to center, to make it a 6-0 spread before adding three in the third and four in the fourth to smooth out the scoring summary.
Chloe Barton started the big second by being hit by a pitch before Laxi Mattix reached on a fielder's choice. Amaia Daniel then singled to third to load the bases for Schuette, who took care of the rest.
The Braves (4-3, 2-3 OCC) scored their lone run in the fourth.
Mackenzie Stonebraker also had a big game for the Pacers, finishing 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI, while Madi Huck had a home run and Audrey Hannahs had a pair of hits to go with two runs scored and an RBI.
Huck, meanwhile, was her typical self in the circle, allowing a run on just two hits while striking out seven and walking one in her five innings of work.
Ashley Post and Sydney Hall had hits for the Braves while Logan Sutton took the loss in the circle.
Liz Sullivan finished a perfect 4-for-4 with seven RBI and Skylin Martin was 4-for-4 with four RBI and four runs scored to lead the Eagles to a lopsided five-inning win Monday in Gahanna.
Madison Wallace, Emily Perrish and Madie Morgan finished with three hits apiece for DCS, which connected for 20 hits in the win.
Kara Haskins didn't need anywhere close to all the support she got, allowing just a run on three hits while striking out 11 in the complete-game win.
The Barons won in extras Monday, scoring in the eighth to notch a thrilling MOAC win over visiting Marion Harding.
Paige Milhon, Kasey Morris and Logan Hatcher all had two hits in the win. Milhon had a single to go with a triple while Morris and Hatcher had a double and a single apiece.
Morris picked up the win in the circle, striking out nine and walking three in her eight innings of work.
Kate Petty was dominant Monday, allowing just a run on two hits to lead the Golden Eagles to a 9-1 OCC-Capital Division win over visiting Franklin Heights.
Big Walnut used a three-run third to set the tone. It added four runs in the fourth and two in the fifth to seal the deal.
Also: Worthington Kilbourne 7, Orange 6.
Delaware Hayes picked up a convincing win Monday, sweeping away host Harding in Marion.
Singles winners included Brandon Becker (6-0, 6-1), Ben Teitelbaum (6-0, 6-0) and Logan Byerly (6-2, 6-1).
Hayes' doubles wins belonged to Eric Ullom and Craig Klumpp (6-1, 6-2) and Ryan Williams and Noah Shoreman (6-2, 6-1).
The Golden Eagles were sharp in Monday's non-league win over visiting Reynoldsburg, winning on all five courts.
Nick Schulz won 6-2, 6-2 at first singles, Stephen Pushkin won 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 at second singles and DJ Werner notched a 6-1, 6-2 win at third singles.
Lane Davis and Jared Deel teamed up to secure a 6-0, 6-0 win at first doubles while Grant Bartlett and Mitchell Cholley won 6-0, 6-1 at second doubles to smooth out the scoring summary.


A relaxing day in the National Forest exploring a creek on the last day of winter. Shot on a Panasonic GH5 camera and the following lenses: Panasonic 12-60, 45-175, and Olympus 60mm macro as well as 75-300. Other equipment used was a Benro S-6 tripod, Tascam DR-40 audio recorder. Edited with Edius 8 Work Group. Music "The Morning After" by Ali Goldstein. License purchased from Music Vine invoice number 90xxx. Best viewed in 2K or 4K.
Great stuff, as always Mark. You've certainly got that camera dialed-in nicely. I notice that some of the white water looks a little clipped. Is it clipped before you upload or does it become clipped at Vimeo? I've had that problem on Vimeo as well, where video looks great before I upload it and then some things looked clipped online. Is that your experience? Lately I've been trying to keep almost everything below 100 IRE just to play it safe, but it feels so limiting. Your thoughts?
Thanks Doug. It was a little clipped when I shot it. I usually shoot on overcast days but sometimes you just got to make the best you can with what you are given.
Nice video, could you please explain "clipped?
Beautiful as usual Mark. Shame you did not have that completed earlier, would have walked the last UWOL challenge by a country mile.
In this case the clipped scenes are the water shots that were in bright sunlight and not properly exposed to preserve detail.
Last edited by Mark Williams; March 29th, 2019 at 05:29 PM.
Thanks Mick. Bob, lots of cool places in N. GA. Sadly the old knees are limiting how far I can venture.
As Mark already said, "clipped" is when the brightest parts of the image exceed a certain threshold and there are no more details left in them. That threshold could be anywhere from 100 IRE to 109 IRE depending on where and how the video is being viewed. Sometimes clipping occurs at the time of shooting due to overexposure and there is no way to undo the damage. Sometimes clipping occurs during editing if someone is careless with their levels when they grade the footage. And sometimes clipping can occur when the footage is technically okay but is displayed somewhere that can't handle levels above 100 IRE. You can see clipping in this video in some of the bright white waterfalls shots.
Always nice and relaxing to watch your work, Mark. I miss seeing the squirrels outside our dining room in Canada, such friendly chaps.
Thanks Tim, glad that you enjoyed it.


text:
Light for Schools
Mission statement: Solar powered light for a better education in Burkina Faso!
Education is of great importance for the independent development of any nation. In more and more small villages in Burkina Faso primary schools have been established an increasing number of parents are sending their children to school, as the opportunities that a good education offer are being increasingly appreciated. Nevertheless illiteracy in Burkina Faso still stands at approximately 75%, a very high proportion. There are quite clearly a host of reasons why only a small propertion of children in villages achieve a primary school education: for many families their nearest school is simply too far away; many parents are not able to finance their children's education or require them to stay at home to help out in the fields.
For the more fortunate children who are able to attend school, preparing for lessons and exams is difficult. It gets dark by six pm every evening. From then on Kerosene lamps are the only source of light. These lamps are expensive, and the weak light and soot they produce can be harmful to health. As well as this, teachers are not able to plan the following day's teaching the evening before, which affects the quality of teaching. These problems contribute to the low percentage of children that graduate from school.
Programme Idea
Just one simple solar power system can provide enough energy to light one or two classrooms for up to six hours every evening. This can transform the village school into a place of learning in the evening hours, where pupils can get on with their homework and teachers can plan lessons properly for the day ahead. The inhabitants of the village can also benefit from their community's newly-lit facility, which can offer literacy courses for adults in the evenings. Furthermore the school can be used for village community events, such as elections, meetings and celebrations.
Having light in the evenings is a clear indication and symbol of development in rural regions. People are proud of this progress and consequently more parents are sensitised to the importance of education and as a result more send their children to school. A solar power system in a school makes learning more accessible to children, improves the quality of teaching and increases access to education.
Pupils at schools in Germany can also benefit from the project by signing up for a partnership with a school in Burkina Faso. Each project is extensively documented and informative literature is individually compiled. In many cases, a letter exchange has also been set up between pupils at both schools. All of this allows the pupils to relate to something accessible and real within the subject field of development cooperation. Lessons on the topic of the 'third world' are therefore made much more engaging and personal.
Objectives of the Programme
To improve educational opportunites in Burkina Faso
To improve the quality of school education in Burkina Faso
To promote the school as the political and cultural centre of a village
To promote communication between schools in Germany and Burkina Faso
To enable German schools to play their part in an accessible project in the field of development cooperation and to deal with existing problems in the so-called 'third world'.
History of the Programme
SEWA provided electricty to the first school in Burkina Faso in 2000. Over the subsequent years SEWA has acquired vast experience from its projects. For example having learnt from previous experience, the expensive solar panels were welded firmly to the roofs in order to protect them from theft. SEWA attaches great importance to extensive project monitoring and learning. Each school involved in the project is visited once before installing the solar power system as well as after electrification at least three times at regular intervals. To date SEWA and its partners in Germany and Burkina Faso have helped to provide 55 schools in Burkina Faso with solar power systems. Our projects have proved successful with a significant increase in the number of pupils graduating from schools in Burkina Faso.
Conducting the Programme
SEWA always works with a German partner, such as a school, an organisation or a company, when conducting a project electrifying a school in Burkina Faso. SEWA looks for a suitable school in Burkina Faso, comes up with a project proposal, looks after the sensitisation of those who will be responsible on the ground and finally organises the installation of the solar power system. The technical work is carried out by our partner, the electronics company Microsow. This ensures that local jobs are created in the field of solar energy in the long-term too. SEWA's team in Burkina Faso is involved in the project throughout its duration, including regular monitoring visits. Through these visits, we are personally assured of the success of the project in each and every school. The project outputs are extensively documented. The German project partner looks after the project's financing. To electrify one school, the entire project costs approximately €3,000. After electrification, the school in Burkina Faso assumes responsibility for the solar power system and commits itself to saving money for maintenance and repairs such as replacing broken lamps.
Become a project partner and help supply electricity to a school in Burkina Faso! As an example, a primary school in the village of Saya is currently waiting for a solar power system to be fitted. We document our project extensively with reports, photos and a project film. All of this material is made available to you to allow you as sponsors to communicate your commitment to the project should you so wish. We also provide information material on request to German schools in partnership with schools in Burkina Faso, and this can also be used in classes, giving pupils a vivid and realistic educational reference within developing countries. We also encourage schools to make direct and personal contact with their partner school in Burkina Faso.
Nils Goldbeck (Projectmanager)
E-Mail: nils.goldbeck@solar-afrika.de


text:
RaychelSays / January 18, 2012
Lady Gaga Becomes First To Reach 18 Million Twitter Followers!
Lady Gaga has become the very first person to reach 18 million Twitter followers. This is less than a year after she became the first person to score 10 million followers on the social networking site.
She tweeted on her Twitter page:
Can't believe I have 18,000,000 TwitterMonsters, really rad, was just a few years ago I had barely any.
….I have a lot to catch up on HA!!! Go to www.twitter.com/loveraychel after you finish with this post!!
….Seriously.
RaychelSays / March 21, 2011
Happy Birthday Twitter!!
Biz Stone, founder of Twitter, covers Billboard Magazine for Twitter's 5th birthday!!	View Post


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Ayatollah: Kill all Jews, annihilate Israel
America's Party Endorsed Independent Projects -> The Peace Through Strength Institute
By Reza Kahlili
The Iranian government, through a website proxy, has laid out the legal and religious justification for the destruction of Israel and the slaughter of its people.
The doctrine includes wiping out Israeli assets and Jewish people worldwide.
Calling Israel a danger to Islam, the conservative website Alef, with ties to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the opportunity must not be lost to remove "this corrupting material. It is a "'jurisprudential justification" to kill all the Jews and annihilate Israel, and in that, the Islamic government of Iran must take the helm."
The article, written by Alireza Forghani, an analyst and a strategy specialist in Khamenei's camp, now is being run on most state-owned sites, including the Revolutionary Guards' Fars News Agency, showing that the regime endorses this doctrine.
Read this story at wnd.com ...
Ronald Reagan: the real issue in the Middle East
"The real issue in the Middle East has to do with the Arab refusal to
recognize that Israel has a right to exist as a nation. To give up
the buffer zones Israel took in the 6 day war would be to put cannon
on her front walk aimed at her front door by those who have said she
must be destroyed."
Ronald Reagan, radio address, April 13, 1977
Report: Syrian rebels foil Assad family's escape
__America's Principles In Public Policy -> The Peace through Strength Institute
Roi Kais
Sources within the Syrian opposition said that the Free Syrian Army forces managed to prevent the escape of the first lady of Syria and additional relatives through Damascus airport. ...
The sources claimed that Asma Assad, her children, Bashar Assad's mother and his cousin were all in a convoy on the way to the airport when rebel forces under the command of a former senior officer in the Syrian army blocked their path.
Read this story at times247.com ...
Read the original article at Ynet News ...
Wash. Post funnels Palestinian lies to readers
_America's Principles In Public Policy -> The Peace through Strength Institute
Leo Rennert
After a series of meetings between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Jordan, Palestinian President Mahdoud Abbas has called a time out so he can consult with the Arab League on next steps. In the meantime, the Washington Post is quick to report that the talks have been "foundering" and that diplomacy has reached a crisis stage. It also, predictably, blames mainly Israel for lack of progress, while uncritically purveying a slew of Palestinian propaganda lies ("Efforts under way to try to save Mideast negotiations - Israel, Palestinians at standstill over borders and security" by Joel Greenberg, Jan. 27, page A12).
The headline, of course, is misleading. There haven't been any "negotiations" that need saving. The Jordanian-sponsored meetings amounted to preliminary contacts to find a way toward negotiations -- so far without discernible success.
However flawed the headline may be, the article by Greenberg, the Post's Jerusalem correspondent, deviates even more from straight reporting, as he relies primarily on Hanan Ashrawi, a veteran Palestinian propagandist, for commentary about the current lull. Ashrawi, who served brilliantly in that capacity during the second intifada when Western reporters could rely on her for snappy sound bites, is not part of the Amman discussions. Reporting from Jerusalem, Greenberg goes out of his way to reach her by telephone from Ramallah to feast on her anti-Israel diatribes.
"There has been no progress whatsoever," she tells Greenberg. "There are no talks anymore. We don't want to be complicit in this game of deception. We see a public relations exercise, an attempt to create the impression that they want to talk while grabbing more land and destroying the substance of the talks. They just want talks for their own sake. This could go on forever while they go on building settlements and annexing Jerusalem and finally laying to rest the two-state solution."
To underscore her comments, Greenberg then paraphrases Ashrawi, telling readers that "the Palestinians have said that they will not resume negotiations unless Israel halts settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, activity they say is swallowing up land they seek for a future state."
There's no shortage of notable Israelis -- in and out of government -- who could easily cite chapter and verse to demolish these Palestinian canards. But Greenberg doesn't pick up the phone to get any substantive rebuttals to Ashrawi's propaganda. He just mentions very briefly in the last paragraph that Israel is "urging talks without preconditions to resolve all issues." Where is an Israeli counterpart to Ashrawi? Not in Greenberg's dispatch.
Greenberg simply lets Ashrawi's lies go unrebutted. He doesn't deign inform Post readers that Israel has not been "grabbing more land" and has not been "building settlements" in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Under Netanyahu and under Ehud Olmert before him, Israel has not added any settlements or expanded the contours of existing settlements.
Read this story at americanthinker.com ...
Caroline Glick: The Zionist imperative
carolineglick.com
By CAROLINE B. GLICK
We must hope that world Jewry will recognize today that the fate of the Jewish people in Israel and throughout the world is indivisible.
__European and American perfidy in dealing with Iran's nuclear weapons program apparently has no end. This week we were subject to banner headlines announcing that the EU has decided to place an oil embargo on Iran. It was only when we got past the bombast that we discovered that the embargo is only set to come into force on July 1.
Following its European colleagues, the Obama administration announced it is also ratcheting up its sanctions against Iran... in two months. Sometime in late March, the US will begin sanctioning Iran's third largest bank.
At the same time as the Europeans and the Americans announced their phony sanctions, they reportedly dispatched their Turkish colleagues to Tehran to set up a new round of nuclear talks with the ayatollahs. If the past is any guide, we can expect for the Iranians to agree to sit down and talk just before the oil embargo is scheduled to be enforced. And the Europeans – with US support – will use the existence of talks to postpone indefinitely the implementation of the embargo.
There is nothing new in this game of fake sanctions. And what it shows more than anything is that the Europeans and the Americans are more concerned with pressuring Israel not to attack Iran's nuclear installations than they are in preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power.
Obama has a second target audience – American Jews. He is using his fake sanctions as a means of convincing American Jews that he is a pro-Israel president and that in the current election season, not only should they cast their votes in his favor, they should sign their checks for his campaign.
Both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak were quick this week to make clear that these moves are insufficient. They will not force Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons program. More is needed.
As to American Jewry, the jury is still out.
In truth, American Jewry's diffidence towards taking a stand on Iran, or recognizing Obama's dishonesty on this issue specifically and his dishonesty regarding his position on US-Israel ties generally is not rooted primarily in American Jews' devotion to Obama. It isn't even specifically related to American Jewry's devotion to the political Left. Rather it has to do with American Jewish ambivalence to Israel.
The roots of that ambivalence – which is shared by other Western Jewish communities to varying degrees – predate Obama's presidency.
Indeed, they predate the establishment of the State of Israel. And now, as the US and the EU have given Iran at least another six months to a year to develop its nuclear bombs unchecked, it is worth considering the nature and influence of this ambivalence.
Read this important article at carolineglick.com ...
Obama, Netanyahu & the Iranian Bomb
_ America's Principles In Public Policy -> The Peace through Strength Institute
RightSideNews.com
Roger Cohen's January 16th column in The New York Times, "Don't Do It, Bibi" is only the latest in the Obama election campaign's efforts to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to take a serious risk at Israel's being nuked by a nuclear Iran rather than cause any ripples in [Alleged] President Obama campaign for re-election to a second term.
Mr. Cohen begins his rant by quoting the purported advice of an unnamed American ambassador in Europe declaring Mr. Netanyahu to be an ingrate for all that the Obama administration has done for Israel, and strongly suggests the Israeli Prime Minister should "above all stay out of our election-year politics."
According to Mr. Cohen, President Obama's is justifiably furious with the Mr. Netanyahu because he had the audacity to "go over his head" by speaking "to a Republican-dominated Congress" even though it was Congress that invited him; again "ingratitude for solid U.S. support", including in the UN; and the Netanyahu government's refusal to declare a second freeze on building houses for Jews over the 1949 armistice lines "for the sake of peace negotiations" even though the first unprecedented freeze failed to bring the Palestinians back to the negotiations table. But for Mr. Cohen, Obama can do no wrong, and Netanyahu can do no right.
Should anyone think the existential threat to Israel is more serious than Mr. Obama's re-election next November, Roger Cohen disabuses of this notion. "I would add a further piece of advice to Netanyahu if he cares about his dysfunctional relationship with Obama — and he should because Israelis know the United States matters…," opines Mr. Cohen. "That advice is: Do not attack Iran this spring or summer."
Read this story at rightsidenews.com ...
A Tragedy Shrouded in Silence: The Destruction of the Arab World's Jewry
AzureOnline
By Adi Schwartz
A vast diaspora was utterly annihilated, but Israelis rarely talk about it.
The pages are yellowing, nearly disintegrated. For decades they have lain forgotten, stuffed into crates piled high in the archives of Israel's Ministry of Justice. No one reads them; no one even shows interest. Even now, nearly sixty years after the painful experiences of loss and flight they recount, they still wait for their stories to be told.
In one, a Jewish woman from Alexandria describes her youth in Egypt:
"After the [1948] war broke out, my mother was arrested in her ninth month of pregnancy, and they wanted to slaughter her; they threatened her with bayonets and abused her…. One evening a mob came to kill our family with sticks and anything they could lay their hands on, because they heard we were Jews. The gatekeeper swore to them that we were Italian, and so they only cursed us, surrounding my parents, my brothers, and myself, only a small baby. The next day my parents ran away, leaving everything—pension, work, and home—behind."1
On another page, Mordechai Karo, also Egyptian-born, testifies about an explosive device planted in a Jewish neighborhood in Cairo in the summer of 1948:
"The tremendous explosion killed and injured scores of Jews in the neighborhood. One of these casualties was my young daughter Aliza."2
Thousands of pages of similar testimony have been collecting dust in various government offices since the 1950s. Under the bureaucratic heading "Registry of the Claims of Jews from Arab Lands," they tell of lives cut short, of individuals and entire families who found themselves suddenly homeless, persecuted, humiliated. Together they relate a tragic chapter in the history of modern Jewry, a chain of traumatic events that signaled the end of a once-glorious diaspora.
Yet for all its historical import, this chapter has been largely repressed, scarcely leaving a mark on Israel's collective memory. The media seldom mentioned it then, and rarely do so today.3 Schools do not devote comprehensive curricula to it, and academia pays it little attention. Indeed, in the past decade only one doctoral dissertation was written on the devastation of Jewish communities in Arab countries.4 Furthermore, of all the parties represented in Israel's Knesset, not one has included in its platform an explicit demand for the restitution of these Jews' property, or the recognition of their violated rights.5
This dismissive attitude toward one of the greatest tragedies in the history of the Jewish people should be cause for astonishment. After all, the heritage of Jews from Muslim lands is enjoying something of a renaissance today, both in academic circles and within the general public. Yet not even the outspoken proponents of this heritage are particularly eager to discuss the historical circumstances under which their deep roots in the Arab world were severed.6
This prolonged silence becomes even more incomprehensible when we take into account the centrality of the refugee problem to the Arab-Israeli conflict. While Palestinians and their advocates repeatedly emphasize the need to correct the historic injustice done to the hundreds of thousands of Arabs who left or were expelled from their lands and dispossessed of their properties in the 1948 Nakba ("catastrophe"), Israel's international representatives and spokespeople have refrained from highlighting the plight of the hundreds of thousands of Jews who fell victim to systematic persecution and attacks throughout the Middle East and Maghreb at the same time.
How to explain this omission? The answer, as we will see, is neither simple nor easy to digest. It involves a number of motives, some of them pragmatic and some ideological, all of which deserve close scrutiny. Our investigation will raise difficult questions, concerning not only various Israeli governments' policies in both the past and the present, but also the conceptual foundations of the Jewish state itself. And yet, before we can address these sensitive topics, we must recall certain facts that have been buried for too long in dusty ministerial archives.
Read this story at azure.org ...
Palestinians Attack With Rockets, Guns and Axe
_The Peace through Strength Institute
Air force kills rocket squad, but shooters flee in West Bank ambush
Soldiers shot an axe-wielding Palestinian man at an army roadblock outside Kalandiya, in the West Bank, on Sunday morning. When the man pulled the weapon from his bag and started advancing toward the soldiers, they ordered him to stop and drop the axe. When he didn't, they shot him in the leg. The man was taken to hospital in Jerusalem for treatment.
A similar attack took place the night before, when a Palestinian teen stabbed a border policeman at a roadblock north of Jerusalem and ran away.
On Saturday morning, two terrorists who had launched a rocket at Israel from Rafiah, in the southern Gaza Strip, were killed seconds later when an Israeli jet fired on them. The Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the rocket launching squad.
It was the fourth attack from Gaza in three days – a sharp rise in violence after a three-month lull in fighting – that included more rockets and an infiltration attempt at the border with Israel.
In another attack on Saturday, in the West Bank, gunmen fired on an army convoy during a routine patrol near Ramallah. Soldiers were unharmed, but were also unable to apprehend their assailants, the IDF Spokesman's Office said.
Read this story at jewishpress.com ...
The Three Rules of Western Discourse and Why The Media Must Always Blame Israel
__The Peace through Strength Institute
Rubin Reports
It is truly astonishing how, it often seems, Western media coverage must blame Israel for everything that "goes wrong" in the Middle East, including murderous hostility to Israel.
Sentences often seem carefully formulated to push this claim and exclude any possibility of balance, much less accuracy. And no matter what the subject, it seems, this message must be snuck in.
Consider these two paragraphs in a Washington Post story about the Egyptian government's cancellation of a Jewish pilgrimage to a site in Egypt...
Read this story at pjmedia.com ....


Each year on April 7, the world celebrates World Health Day. I am excited that the 2003 theme is "Shape the Future of Life: Healthy Environments for Children". Often, children's homes (and the homes of their friends and relatives), their schools, and their communities are sources of love and nurture. But these same places can also be the sources of the biggest threats to children's health – and these threats can be invisible.
The risks take many forms. In one way or another, unsafe water, unsafe food, and unsafe toileting hygiene have put some children at risk for untold generations. During the last few generations, new threats have emerged from the unsafe use of dangerous chemicals.
These might be found in food, water, or air. They also might be found in common household or yard products, or even in children's toys.
I'm glad that World Health Day 2003 underlines that healthy environments are central to having healthy children. Amidst the clamor of urgent news, it's easy for important information of long-term consequences to go unnoticed. It is my hope that the World Health Day will remind us all to pay attention to stories about Healthy Environments for Children, not just on April 7, but throughout the year ahead.


text:
Top 10 Screenplays| New Listings |	Browse| Submit/Edit Script Listings| Reports| Discounts| Subscribe|
WinningScripts: Browse/Search Scripts
All Formats Screenplay TV Movie TV Pilot TV Episode Short Screenplay Novel Short Story Stageplay All Genres Drama Comedy Romantic Comedy Thriller Action-Adventure Sci-Fi Fantasy Horror Family Historical Romance Sports Urban Biography Supernatural Animation LGBTQ Sort by Rank Sort by Date
Any budget Micro (Less than $1M) Low ($1M - $5M) Modest ($5M - $15M) Mid ($15 - $50M) Big (more than $50M)
(1 thru 1 of 1 records)
Rick Head
SURVIVOR meets GILLIGAN'S ISLAND. After an embarrassing sex toy recall, a head shot model becomes a marked man by angry, infected women. He flees the country incognito and ends up deported (along with other suspected terrorists) to a remote island overrun by man-eating pygmy headhunters and a mythical, flatulent wilderbeast.
Written by: Robert Heske
Format: Screenplay
Budget: Low
Starring Roles For: Adam Sandler
In the Vein Of: Dodge Ball
There's Something About Mary
Bob Heske is a multi-award-winning filmmaker, screenwriter and published graphic novelist. His indie feature BLESSID won many awards (including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography) and was an official selection at 10 film festivals worldwide. The film is currently being distributed by Global Genesis Group and can be seen on digital streaming platforms everywhere.
Bob's short scripts have won or been a finalist in numerous contests, and his produced short films ALIBI and WAITING have received critical praise at festivals.
A prolific writer whose actor-friendly scripts push the envelope, Bob has mastered many genres including animation, comedy, drama, documentary, fantasy, horror and thriller. His most recent film is an experimental documentary called AFRAID OF NOTHING which will hit the festival circuit in early 2019.


text:
<?php

namespace Amap\MainBundle\Entity;

use Doctrine\ORM\Mapping as ORM;
use Gedmo\Mapping\Annotation as Gedmo;
use Symfony\Bridge\Doctrine\Validator\Constraints\UniqueEntity;

/**
 * ProductVegetable
 *
 * @ORM\Table(name="product_vegetable")
 * @ORM\Entity(repositoryClass="Amap\MainBundle\Entity\Repository\ProductVegetableRepository")
 *
 * @UniqueEntity(fields={"title"})
 */
class ProductVegetable
{
    /**
     * @var integer
     *
     * @ORM\Column(name="id", type="integer", nullable=false)
     * @ORM\Id
     * @ORM\GeneratedValue(strategy="IDENTITY")
     */
    private $id;

    /**
     * @var string
     *
     * @ORM\Column(name="title", type="string", length=100, nullable=false, unique=true)
     */
    private $title;

    /**
     * @var string
     *
     * @ORM\Column(name="description", type="string", length=500, nullable=true)
     */
    private $description;

    /**
     * @var \DateTime
     *
     * @ORM\Column(name="created_at", type="datetime", nullable=true)
	 * @Gedmo\Timestampable(on="create")
     */
    private $createdAt;

    /**
     * @var \DateTime
     *
     * @ORM\Column(name="updatetd_at", type="datetime", nullable=true)
	 * @Gedmo\Timestampable(on="update")
     */
    private $updatetdAt;

	/**
	 * @ORM\OneToMany(targetEntity="Product", mappedBy="productVegetable")
	 */
	protected $products;

    /**
     * @var \Doctrine\Common\Collections\Collection
     *
     * @ORM\ManyToMany(targetEntity="Image", inversedBy="productVegetable")
     * @ORM\JoinTable(name="product_vegetable_has_image",
     *   joinColumns={
     *     @ORM\JoinColumn(name="product_vegetable_id", referencedColumnName="id")
     *   },
     *   inverseJoinColumns={
     *     @ORM\JoinColumn(name="image_id", referencedColumnName="id")
     *   }
     * )
     */
    private $image;

    /**
     * Constructor
     */
    public function __construct()
    {

    }

	public function __toString() {
		return (string) $this->title;
	}

	public function getAvgPrices()
	{
		$pricesByQuantity = array();

		if(!$this->products) {
			return $pricesByQuantity;
		}

		foreach ($this->products as $key => $product)
		{
			$price = $product->getPrice();
			$quantityLab = $product->getQuantityType()->getTitle();
			$quantityVal = $product->getQuantity();

			// On convertit en Kg les grammes :
			if(strtolower($quantityLab) == 'g') {
				$quantityVal = $quantityVal /1000;
				$quantityLab = 'Kg';
			}

			$pricesByQuantity[ $quantityLab ][] = $price / $quantityVal;
		}

		foreach ($pricesByQuantity as $quantity => $prices)
		{
			$count = count($prices);
			$sum = array_sum($prices);
			$avg = $sum / $count;

			$pricesByQuantity[$quantity]['avg'] = $avg;
		}

		return $pricesByQuantity;
	}

    /**
     * Get id
     *
     * @return integer
     */
    public function getId()
    {
        return $this->id;
    }

    /**
     * Set title
     *
     * @param string $title
     * @return Product
     */
    public function setTitle($title)
    {
        $this->title = $title;

        return $this;
    }

    /**
     * Get title
     *
     * @return string
     */
    public function getTitle()
    {
        return $this->title;
    }

    /**
     * Set description
     *
     * @param string $description
     * @return Product
     */
    public function setDescription($description)
    {
        $this->description = $description;

        return $this;
    }

    /**
     * Get description
     *
     * @return string
     */
    public function getDescription()
    {
        return $this->description;
    }

    /**
     * Set createdAt
     *
     * @param \DateTime $createdAt
     * @return Product
     */
    public function setCreatedAt($createdAt)
    {
        $this->createdAt = $createdAt;

        return $this;
    }

    /**
     * Get createdAt
     *
     * @return \DateTime
     */
    public function getCreatedAt()
    {
        return $this->createdAt;
    }

    /**
     * Set updatetdAt
     *
     * @param \DateTime $updatetdAt
     * @return Product
     */
    public function setUpdatetdAt($updatetdAt)
    {
        $this->updatetdAt = $updatetdAt;

        return $this;
    }

    /**
     * Get updatetdAt
     *
     * @return \DateTime
     */
    public function getUpdatetdAt()
    {
        return $this->updatetdAt;
    }

    /**
     * Add products
     *
     * @param \Amap\MainBundle\Entity\Product $products
     * @return ProductVegetable
     */
    public function addProduct(\Amap\MainBundle\Entity\Product $products)
    {
        $this->products[] = $products;

        return $this;
    }

    /**
     * Remove products
     *
     * @param \Amap\MainBundle\Entity\Product $products
     */
    public function removeProduct(\Amap\MainBundle\Entity\Product $products)
    {
        $this->products->removeElement($products);
    }

    /**
     * Get products
     *
     * @return \Doctrine\Common\Collections\Collection
     */
    public function getProducts()
    {
        return $this->products;
    }

    /**
     * Add image
     *
     * @param \Amap\MainBundle\Entity\Image $image
     * @return ProductVegetable
     */
    public function addImage(\Amap\MainBundle\Entity\Image $image)
    {
        $this->image[] = $image;

        return $this;
    }

    /**
     * Remove image
     *
     * @param \Amap\MainBundle\Entity\Image $image
     */
    public function removeImage(\Amap\MainBundle\Entity\Image $image)
    {
        $this->image->removeElement($image);
    }

    /**
     * Get image
     *
     * @return \Doctrine\Common\Collections\Collection
     */
    public function getImage()
    {
        return $this->image;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Say I wanted to have a group of companies on my .tel directory. Say these companies had coupons for deals. Say people could register their phone numbers on the .tel. Then when their phones were within say 50 metres of the company, the coupons would be automatically sent to their phones. How would I do this - GPS and all that stuff? Appreciate any ideas; especially those of Expert!
You have to implement a web NFC AFI on your website.
Because of the restrictions for the Telnames template, you have to host your own website on your .tel (or any other domain extension).
Costs for businesses that wants to deliver coupons start at $79 per month.
If you don't want to pay a monthly fee, you can create a web NFC API for your website yourself.
Thank you very much Expert for this information and it is much appreciated! I will look into the links you have provided and once again thank you so much.


There are few finer pieces of clothing than the long sleeve t-shirt. These are perfect for emblazing a custom company logo on, and there are plenty of top brands and styles to choose from. Whether it is Gildan cotton, Champion baseball three-quarter sleeves, Dickies heavyweight work t-shirt, or any other type, they are available for you.


As I was browsing the new book section at my local library I was attracted to a beautiful book, which happened to be as beautiful as the cover. The book is "The Joy of Less" by Francine Joy. She is a minimalist that shares her and the minimalist philosophy, her "STREAMLINE" method, room by room how-to, and lifestyle. It is similar yet different than "Spark Joy" by Marie Kondo which is another lovely book on the point of minimalism.
I found the book refreshing, beneficial, and recommend it to anyone who is on the search for a peaceful home and on the search for a method to declutter and minimalize.
Both times I started running postpartum (after the doctor approved it of course) I ended up getting injured. Both times I thought I can do this, but my body disagreed. So I was not only in the search of quick healing but also a good injury prevention book.
My favorite running injury prevention book I found hands down is "Running Strong" by Dr. Jordan Metzl. Not only does it cover a variety of types of injuries, but also ways to help avoiding them. It is filled with photographs and illustrated anatomy to better show injury and prevention.
Whether you are a runner or lover of physical fitness, this is a must have book in your home library!
Depending on how closely you follow me (on Instagram for example) you may or may not know that I started training for my very first half marathon. One name that I have heard over and over when it comes to running guru's is Hal Higdon. I've specifically heard that his training plans and tips are the way to go. So when I saw that he recently published a book in April 2016 focusing on half marathons, I immediately got it from my local library!
"Hal Higdon's Half Marathon Training" book can be as detailed or basic as you need it to be, meaning you can skim to exactly what you need to know or you can read the entire book and learn the history of half marathons, other runner experiences, training program examples, running tips, etc.
It assured me that the plan I had come up for myself was a good one to work with, and even better I was able to improve it based on some of his suggestions (which are beneficial for both beginner and novice runners).
As for running books I think it was a great one to start with and highly recommend it when you're beginning to plan for your first or looking to improve your second, third, or even twentieth!


text:
package net.ymate.platform.module.wechat.message;

import com.alibaba.fastjson.JSONObject;
import com.thoughtworks.xstream.annotations.XStreamAlias;

/**
 *

 * OutMessage
 *

 *

 *
 *

 *
 * @author 刘镇(suninformation@163.com)
 * @version 0.0.0
 *

 *

 *          版本号	动作	修改人	修改时间
 *

 *
 *

 *          0.0.0
 *          创建类
 *          刘镇
 *          2014年3月15日下午2:45:46
 *

 *

 */
public abstract class OutMessage extends AbstractMessage {

	/**
	 *
	 */
	private static final long serialVersionUID = 2030629509962007932L;

	/**
	 * 星标刚收到的消息
	 */
	@XStreamAlias("FuncFlag")
	private int funcFlag = 0;

	/**
	 * 构造器
	 *
	 * @param toUserName
	 * @param msgType
	 */
	public OutMessage(String toUserName, String msgType) {
		this.setToUserName(toUserName);
		this.SetMsgType(msgType);
	}

	public int getFuncFlag() {
		return funcFlag;
	}

	public void setFuncFlag(int funcFlag) {
		this.funcFlag = funcFlag;
	}

	public String toJSON() throws Exception {
		JSONObject _json = new JSONObject();
		_json.put("touser", this.getToUserName());
		_json.put("msgtype", this.getMsgType());
		__doSetJsonContent(_json);
		return _json.toString();
	}

	protected abstract void __doSetJsonContent(JSONObject parent) throws Exception;

}


Tressa Bush travels to Mt. Pleasant to explore a beautiful pre-Civil War Antebellum home.
There are many adventures to experience and beautiful sights to behold at Tennessee's largest state park: South Cumberland in Monteagle.
Joe Elmore goes to Scott county where a teacher's dream and dedication led to an amazing living history project, created solely by students.


Help us with your donation to educate more young people in Central America!
We provide our Introduction to Food Sovereignty Course to all of our participants in Guatemala and El Salvador for free as they are financially disadvantaged and unable to pay for this education.
In 2019, our dedicated educators are donating their time, energy and personal finances to run these much needed courses. We hope you consider contributing to our cause!
Thanks to individuals like you, we can put more effort towards creating impact rather than raising money. We have many ways you can help us continue transforming lives and communities across Mesoamerica. Read below for more information.
Your support will go to fund the training courses for young community leaders of Guatemala and El Salvador.
By joining our Monthly Giving Circle you allow us to focus on creating IMPACT rather than raising money.
food, lodging, facilitation and materials (didactic and farming implements) for 1 participant during the 8 days of the training course.
Help us to reach 90 young community leaders from Guatemala and El Salvador in 2019!
We are a project of SERES, a registered 501-c-3 nonprofit. We are delighted to accept donations through our website and would also encourage you to "pay a friend" through your own PayPal account, saving the 2.9% service charge. You can donate to our account under reisaguate@gmail.com.


This Instant-Access Self-Assessment Excel Dashboard and accompanying eBook is for managers, advisors, consultants, specialists, professionals and anyone interested in Analytic Applications assessment.
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Excluding hired consultants and advisors from top management consulting firms, internal Analytic Applications Self-Assessment work is typically undertaken by senior level positions with titles such as Enterprise Architect, Business Process Architects, Business Process Re-engineering Specialists and Business Architects.


text:
« A Book of Biblical Proportions: Part 5, Prophets, "The End and the Beginning."
Chester Loomis' "Journey on Horseback through the Great West in 1825," part 2. »
Chester Loomis' "Journey on Horseback through the Great West in 1825," part 1.
February 1, 2011 by Paul Stroble
I'm always interested in the themes of "the journey," the open road, and travel. Here is a very different take on those themes: a Jacksonian-era diary!
This is A Journey on Horseback through the Great West in 1825 by Chester A. Loomis, (1789-1873). The book is subtitled "Visiting Allegany Towns, Olean, Warren, Franklin, Pittsburg, New Lisbon, Elyria, Norfolk, Columbus, Zanesville, Vermillion, Kaskaskia, Vandalia, Sandusky, and many other places." Loomis had business in Illinois so on June 1, 1825 he set out and recorded his observations as he rode through "the "great west," that is, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. He returned home on August 24. The book is not dated but was apparently printed soon after Loomis' trip, by Plaindealer Press of Bath, NY.
I first learned of this work from Joseph Burtschi's 1954 Documentary History of Vandalia, Illinois, 1819-1839. Burtschi preserved important documents concerning Vandalia when the town was state capital, including excerpts from travel books of the 1820s and 1830s. Loomis' disparaging comments are among the negative assessments of the frontier capital. I collect books related to Vandalia, my hometown, and a few years ago I saw Loomis' book for sale online by Noushin Books & Co. of New Haven, CT. After debating the cost, I ordered it. The book–a pamphlet, really–is just 27 pages long, with double columns of text, and was published without a cover, only a title page on the same paper as the text. My copy has a later, hard cover. The pages are "poor wood pulp paper" according to Noushin Books and are brown and very brittle. I carefully scanned the 180-year-old pages before transcribing them.
A bookseller friend tells me that 34 libraries have copies of Loomis' book and that it was reprinted in 1890. In ten years of intermittent browsing on abebooks.com, I've only seen one original copy for sale and none at all of the reprint, although now there are "print on demand" copies that you can order at that site. So until recently, the book has been available only if you travel to a facility like the Newberry Library in Chicago.
But Loomis' descriptions of 1820s life are interesting and as keenly observed as other writers of the period. To me, the portrayals of settlers—especially their isolation and abject poverty—are quite haunting, as are Loomis' own experiences of hunger, thirst, isolation, and lack of shelter. I thought the pages of Springhouse magazine, to which I've contributed for many years, would be an excellent place for Loomis' observations finally to appear for modern readers! These introductions and transcriptions first appeared in that magazine in 2010.
The Notes of a Journey to the Great West in 1825
By Chester Loomis, of Rushville, Ontario CO., N. Y.
The Start – Allegany County – Olean – The Indian Reservation – Warren – Oil Creek – Franklin, PA – Militia Drill
A spirit of emigration to the western states and territories which has for many years extensively prevailed in most of the eastern states, and in some degree in the immediate vicinity where I have resided, together with the various and contradictory accounts published or written, relative to the western country, and excited an ardent desire to ascertain from personal observation, the general character, and prospects of that extensive section falconry, embraced within the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
In the summer of 1825 an opportunity was presented of engaging in the transaction of some business in the state of Illinois, and I determined to avail myself of it, in exploring such portions of the country as circumstances might enable me to visit. Accordingly, on the first day of June, I commenced my journey from Rushville, N.Y., and reached Olean, on the Allegany, on the third, without meeting with anything particularly worthy of observation. A general appearance of improvement is apparent in most of the towns through which I passed. And although the soil of the land is cold and moist, it seems to be productive, Olean, Almond, Alfred, Angelica and Friendship are gradually becoming settled with industrious emigrants. In Friendship, particularly, is seen a spirit of enterprise and improvement which must render that place the seat of business and commerce for a considerable district of country. Olean, on the Allegany river, is apparently on the decay. This village appears desolate and lonely. Its numerous empty tenements are falling to ruin, and unless the current of emigration from the eastern states should again take this course to the western country, the anticipation of many well informed persons, relative to the future importance of this place will never be realized.
The road from Olean down the Allegany river is impassable with wagons as far as Big Valley Creek; it being most of the way a mere Indian path, blocked up with fallen trees, and is entirely uninhabited except by Indians. The whole distance is a continued forest of valuable pin timber, generally of large size. The undergrowth of timber is hemlock, and left to the course of nature undisturbed by the hand of man, a forest of hemlock will succeed that of pine, which now covers the country. I have found it difficult to assign any satisfactory cause for this change. The present growth is exclusively pine–the next will be exclusively hemlock. Does this prove any change in the seasons from their former state? Or is the change of timber produced by other causes?
Big Valley Creek is a small stream barely sufficient for mills, and is at this time very loc. A man named Howe, formerly of Phelps, Ontario county, now resides here. Several drunken Indians were at his house, in which they appeared to be as familiar as in their own wigwams. Howe has a handsome and interesting daughter, about 16 or 17 years of age, who was talking, joking, laughing and dallying with some of the young Indians in the true and genuine spirit and style of coquetry.
The Indians are settled along side sides of the Allegany river to the distance of fifty miles below Olean. They own a reservation of forty miles in length and one mile in width, the river being the center. Many of them now devote their attention to agricultural pursuits, and the squaws are seen in industriously engaged at labor, while the Indians spend their time in idleness and dissipation. Their houses or cabins exhibit in a considerable degree of appearance of civilized life. They are mostly constructed of hewed pine logs, have well-built stone chimneys, glass windows, have good floors, and roofs covered with pine shingles
About thirty miles below Olean I observed several thousand acres of land in one body, perfectly flat and level, smooth upon its surface, without a hillock or stone, and covered with a thick growth of shrubby, knotty, crotched low pines, all of about equal size–say two feet in diameter. The land appears to be allured, but is of such elevation that the river cannot have formed it by depositing the sediment of its floods. I can conceive of but one rational method of accounting for its appearance and singular growth of timber, so different from all the surrounding country, and that is by supposing that at some former period this land must have been cleared and cultivated and that from some unknown cause its cultivation was discontinued, and the forms of shrubby pines which now cover this tract spontaneously commenced its growth.
On the 5th, I crossed the state line into Pennsylvania, 40 miles below Olean. In the course of the same day I ascended a high, barren, and rocky mountain on the summit of which I found ripe strawberries of a large size of a large size. Upon the highest and most elevated point is a huge flat rock from which under which a fine spring of clear cold water issues. On this rock is inscribed the names of some hundred travels who have at different times been refreshed by the waters which flow from beneath it.
This whole mountain seems to be composed or rock, excepting in spots, a rich, but shallow layer of soil. And its rocks and stones, with few exceptions, are composed of small pebble stones of every kind of color, cemented together by the hand of nature, resembling those pebbles which may be found at the shores of most of the large lakes of this country, where they have been washed and worn by the waves of a thousand year. Can it be possible at that some distance point this entire mountain as a mass of small pebble stones, loose, unconnected, promiscuously mixed, of all sorts, and subjected to the continued action of water for centuries?
On the western side of this mountain flows the Connewango river. It is here several rods in width and so deep as to be forded with difficulty.
The village of Warren, Pa., is situation on its western bank. Warren is the capital of a county of the same name, and contains 50 or 60 ordinary houses.
June 6th, I cross the Brokenstraw river. This stream is smaller than the Connewango. About 30 miles from the Brokenstraw is Oil Creek, so named on account of certain springs upon its margin, from which arises the genuine Seneca Oil. This oil is collected by the inhabitants in considerable quantities. Much of the country in this quarter is broken and mountainous. The hills are rocky and barren, with shrubby oaks and laurel, thinly scattered over their sides. Innumerable springs of fine water flow from the hills, and in the valleys which separate the highlands are some flourishing settlements.
The village of Franklin at the junction of French Creek with the Allegany, is handsomely situated, and is the capital of Nernango [i.e., Venango] county, Pa,. It is an ancient settlement; has a stone Court House and jail, 60 or 70 houses, four taverns and as many stores. It is apparently however, that very little industry prevails here. Extensive fields of fine land are open continuous, and there are few indications of enterprise or active business in the place. A toll bridge is erected here over French Creek.
On the day of my arrival at Franklin, four companies of militia had assembled at that place for exercise, commanded by Col. Mags, who is an active officer and a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature. He was, in fact, the only officer uniformed, or who had a good military appearance, on the ground. The soldiers were awkward and undisciplined, ragged and dirty. About one fifth part were armed with rifles; the remainder carried sticks, canes, umbrellas, or cornstalks. In the afternoon soon after whiskey had been circulated freely, and the men were dismissed from parade, a battle royal was commenced in the street among these redoubtable heroes and for near a quarter of an hour twenty or thirty men were boxing and as many more were clinched, choking, biting; gouging, and tearing off each other's clothes. At length the spirit of the fight subsided, the storm ceased, order was restored, and the mob dispersed.
Posted in Highways and Travel, History, Landscape | Leave a Comment


The Agilent 8564EC portable, color display millimeter wave spectrum analyzer offers the measurement capability and performance previously found in larger, more expensive benchtop analyzers. You can measure signals from 30 Hz to 40 GHz (preselected above 2.75 GHz) with a single coaxial connection.
The 8564EC combines outstanding phase noise, sensitivity, 1 Hz resolution bandwidths, synthesized tuning and wide dynamic range in a package built to withstand environmental conditions. It offers a complete solution for adjacent-channel power (ACP) testing of burst carrier signals using digital modulation, and the ability to measure occupied bandwidth percentage.


The Apostolic Penitentiary, or "tribunal of conscience", has been shrouded in secrecy ever since it was established by Pope Alexander III in 1179 and until now has never provided details of the cases it scrutinises.
"Even though it's the oldest department of the Holy See, it's very little known – specifically because by its nature it deals with secret things," said Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, the tribunal's second most senior official.
A third type of case that comes before the tribunal involves a man who directly participates in an abortion – even by paying for it – who then seeks to become a priest or deacon.
"That is an irregularity and it means he should not receive the ordination without a dispensation from the Pope," said Cardinal James Francis Stafford, the American who heads the Apostolic Penitentiary.
A study by Italy's Sacred Heart University found that 47 per cent of Italians either never go to confession or last did so a long time ago.
Spaghetti Sightings	God Made My Plane Crash – THANK GOD!
Then it proceeds to the case of P.Z. Myers, who is NOT a satanist, and who in his widely publicized actions, did NOT perform any rituals, satanic or otherwise.
Would Cardinal Stafford care to document some actual example of the sort of thing he mentions? I doubt it. The truth is,charges of satanism usually either involve delusional and disturbed people, or they are completely imaginary (i.e. a lie). The church has been pulling this sort of stunt for centuries.
I was raised to think of Cardinals as "princes of the church"; I was taught that they are some of the most highly educated men in the world. Yet they continually stoop to such childish tactics as these.
Such as defiling the communion wafer. Are we seeing where the priorities are, people?