When you sit in the cable car to reach the slopes above Alagna, you are surprised by the mixture of styles in the architecture of this little village at the foot of the huge South side of the Monte Rosa. Beautiful traditional Walser houses and massive fin de siècle buildings, with the churchyard in the middle as a reminder of life's shortness, look like they never really melted together in a unity. They just do not communicate with each other, because they do not speak the same language.
The history of Alagna is of one of the most important for the Walser culture in the Alps. The Walser were the people who came from the North through the mountain passes in the Middle Age and colonized the high lands above 1500m. They built their typical villages of up to 6 houses where they used to live, pray and rule their own lows. At the end of the 18th century, with the unification of Italy under the kingdom of the Savoia, Alagna became one of the places for "society" to meet and have vacation.
Next step was taken in the 1960s when the hotel Cristallo was built together with the famous concrete cable car station of Punta Indren (3300m). It allowed alpinists from all over the world to easily reach the tops of the second biggest mountain in Europe, Monte Rosa! At the beginning of the1990s skiers and snowboarders from abroad joined the couple of local fans and discovered the incredible play ground of this area for off-piste lovers, making it reach the actual level of tone the most famous "freeride" resorts in the world.
How to get to Alagna?
Milan airport is the most convenient destination when you travel by plane. From Milan you can hire a car or even book a car transfer (some hotels has it in their offers), as well as take a train or bus. If you travel by train Varallo is the nearest railway station from where you catch a bus to Alagna. Check connections on the web site. There are also limited bus transport between Milan and Alagna, with changes in Novara or Varallo.
In Alagna the closest ski system is the one of Monterosa-Ski, which includes around 200km of piste, 88 slopes and reachable through 44 lifts. There is a range of difficulties on the slopes, with the majority of red slopes, which makes it perfect for the whole family. The mini systems of Antagnod, Estoul, Gressoney-Saint Jean and Brusson are also included in the system of Monterosa-ski when you buy a ski pass for more than one day.
From Alagna you have the possibility to ski past the village of Gressoney-La Trinité and all the way to the village of Champoluc. It makes a great day trip for the whole family, with a mix of blue, red and black slopes. It will take almost a whole day to go all the way to Champoluc valley with stop for lunch and coffee. On the Alagna side of the system there is only one pist going down to the village. So to get more variation you should go over to the other side to Gressoney were there are a loot of different slopes of all levels. On the way back home to Alagna you have the longest pist in the whole system with about 1800m vertical. See piste maps of Monterosa ski.
Sport Haus (+39 0163 91308) is perfectly set directly close to the lift station in the middle of the village. It has the best inventory of all what you need for skiing, apart from clothes. All kinds of skis, from carving to telemark and ski mountaineering, mixed with the last fashion in helmets, poles, glasses and security kits (transceivers). In summer you will also find bikes and climbing gears here.
Heli-skiing in Alagna brings you to completely unexploited areas, where the chance is big to make the first track in fresh powder. This is possible because the helicopter will land in the secluded valleys of the Parco Naturale Alta Valsesia, where there are no lift systems or towns or roads. Animals are often the only inhabitants of these places, and the freeriders that slide down in untouched snow in the Rizzetti area or the Cavallo valley, to name some of them. The helicopter will of course also bring you on the Monte Rosa passes and peaks too, and give you the experience of a long run from above 4000m, down to the village at 1200 m. The possibilities are limitless! Read our heli-skiing travel program.
Trekking, top tours to the 4000m peaks, and day hikes from the village are all valuable experiences for all ages, capability and wishes. The most desired and popular destination among alpinists is for sure the Capana Margherita the highest refuge in Europe on the Punta Gnifetti. Mountaineering goes easy if starting from the highest lift station at the 3300m of Punta Indren. Check our Capanna Margherita tour.
Alagna is surrounded by villages where you can see the long tradition of Walser culture and architecture. You can plan your trip by starting with Walser Eco-museum in Alagna which contains typical furniture and household objects, work tools and so on, testimonials to the culture and traditions of this people, as well as information about nature in the Monte Rosa region.
Fun'd Scotte cliff is well-known spot for all free climbers. This popular wall was discovered in the 1980s when the Mountain Rescue Service of the Guardia di Finanza of Alagna outfitted the first route. It becomes a training place for alpinists who then try to reach Monte Rosa peak. For last few years there has been a lot of work done to renew old routes, mark out new and prepare new lines.
Sesia Valley is a fantastic place for get know with nature on your two wheels. Try the most popular trail Alagna-Scopa that starts on the left bank of the river Sesia. Explore the network of cycling trails – check the bike map and go for a tour with us.
The river Sesia is a great destination for those who prefer water sports. From May until September you can enjoy rafting and kayaking as the adventurous experience. Although, several watersport center will make it safe and for everyone.
Fly-fishing is a true tradition along the banks in Valsesia.
AN Bacher is a cozy and homely wine bar where you can enjoy a glass of red wine from their big and planned selection. It is also a good place to go for an aperitivo, not so much a place for afterski. We recommend it warmly for all of you that like wine and a cozy surrounding.
The Walser were the people who came from the North through the mountain passes in the Middle Age and colonised the high lands above 1500m. They were independent from the rest of the country and self-sufficient. They built their typical villages of up to 6 houses where they did live, pray and rule their own laws. Their beautiful villages is a must see. Alagna has made one of their old houses into a museum were you can experience and see the amazing living situation of the Walser people.
Guide di Alagna (+39 0163 91310) will help you with the best excursions on the Monte Rosa East Side during summer and with heliski and freeride during winter.
Piemonte is one of the areas in Italy where you eat the most amazing meat and drink the strongest wines, as Nebbiolo. Alagna is located in Piemonte and the food and wines you can find here respond to the expectations. But the places to go are not so many, at least if you don't want to use your car to go to eat. Another interesting aspect is the Walser culture, that naturally involves food and drink too. Read what is on the very good guide of Alagna.
Ristorante Unione (+ 39 0163 922930) is surely the most well known, in the old theatre of Alagna, also a good bar and winery. Ask for "Miacce" (local warm bread with ham and salame) as an antipasto and continue with some other Walser speciality as Polenta and deer. The wine list includes most of the wines from Piemonte and from the valleys around Alagna, as Ghemme and Gattinara.
Enoteca is the other restaurant/bar of Alagna. Very good food for a "normal" price, and local specialities as the "Miaccia" on the table together with the best local wines of Piemonte.
There are few places on the slopes of Alagna, but on the other side you can easily reach Gressoney and Champoluc, with their delicate restaurants on piste. Grande Halte (+ 39 0163 91104) between the first and the second big lift at Pianalunga, is also a rifugio with rooms for the night. It is worth a stay for its very good and cozy atmosphere, with a small but inviting SPA. Wittine (+39 348 330 7292) is nicely located about two thirds of the way down in the last slope down to Alagna. Worth a stop on your way down for some afterski on their sunlit terrace. Or if you stop for lunch try their special risotto.
Not existing in Alagna, but some place can easily be reached by car down in the Valsesia. Half an hour drive to go to Varallo for example, for a disco pub.
Café delle Guide is a good meeting place for some afterski. The happy laughter from people with drinks in their hands and good music comes out from under Hotel Monterosa in a cosy stone cave. That is the closest you can get to "Night life" in the village.
Alagna is known not to be expensive, which makes it all worthwhile to make a winter or summer vacation here. There are few hotels, B&B, and guesthouses, but people who know the place, prefer often to rent private flats for a vacation.
Residence Mirella is a cult place for all the real connoisseurs, and it is as much for the bakery and chocolate atelier as for the delicate decorated rooms that you can rent for a very good price. Emanuela, the lady who runs the residence is always happy to see you, are you an old or a new guest of the house. Her husband, behind the desk, creates his chocolate pralines with the same love as he carves the tree of the beds in the rooms. At the bar you will not be surprised meeting all the "personalities" of Alagna, from the mountain guides to the police officer and the ski bums, all join the nice atmosphere of Mirella, around a grappa. Best of all it is at the cable car's station.
Hotel Montagna di Luce is housed in a beautiful Walser house from the 17th Century, the family home of the most famous mountain guide in Alagna, Sergio Gabbio. He was one of those whose love for his mountains made it possible for this place to become popular for an international elite of other mountain lovers in the 1990s. Through his guiding and story telling he still shows you where to have most fun here weather with the skis or not on your feet. The hotel is traditional wooden designed interior with a cozy and familiar atmosphere, a good restaurant, and a little sauna as well. A little longer walk from the lift.
To be created. There is some special Charme house in the village, but not the usual luxury.
Hotel Cristallo Alagna is very cozy and beautiful, but perhaps a little "wrong" for the "genius loci" of this town. Very kind service though!
The people who like trekking have some of the nicest huts to stay at, and do not need to bring any heavy foods or gears for the night; you will find small guest houses on the trails for resting and enjoying the quiet near the stars and off the road.
On the slopes you will also find refuges of good quality for lodging off the main road, with few rooms but for a feeling of being lost in the mountains far from cars and civilisation check Grande Halte (+39 348 8752203).
Grande Halte (+39 348 8752203), Rifugio Vigevano (+39 348 1415490), Col d'Olen (2880 m) are owned by the Italian Alpine Club section of Vigevano. Only some of the rooms have heating wintertime. From here you can see the whole chain of the Italian Alps, at the same time as you enjoy a good meal and wines from the extremely well sorted local cellar at 2880 m height! The rooms are simple but warmly equipped, and the down shines through your window as a pink light, reminding you that it is time to be the first out in the virgin powder today.
Rifugio Margherita (+39 0163 024610) on top of Punta Gnifetti, was built with the commission of Italy's Queen Margerita di Savoia at the end of the 18th century, when the queen was one of the most frequent visitors of the glaciers and the peaks of Monte Rosa. Its height does not make it possible for all to sleep here, if ever to reach by climbing the 1200m from the lift station of Punta Indren. But the panorama from this place is astounding and you will be amazed to sit on the rifugio's balcony and dingle with your legs above the 1000 meters abyss under your feet. The rifugio is built on the edge, making you wonder how the Holy Mary they did to make it when helicopters were only a fool's dream. You will enjoy half board or only good cakes and tea sorts for the ones who can, Capanna Margherita is a perfect goal for ski mountaineering as well as summer climbing.
This trek goes in the heart of the first Italian National Park, the Grand Paradiso dominated by peaks of the giant mountain by the same name.


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2010s Novels, Anne the defenestrated, Anne the haughty, Anne the poisoner, Anne the sexpot, First person narration, Jane Seymour, real woman weds fictional man, The maid's narrative, The many faces of Anne Boleyn
The Favored Queen by Carolly Erickson (2011)
Shy, virtuous Jane Seymour comes to court to attend Queen Catherine of Aragon, and is horrified when it becomes apparent that the king is intent on replacing her with Queen Anne. And well she might be, since Anne is an insane shrew with a strong line in murder for hire. While I don't usually include novels centered around one of Henry's other wives, I couldn't resist using this one, for two reasons (1) Anne was by far the most vivid, if also the most ridiculous, character in it (2) I will probably never have another chance to make an "Anne the defenestrated" tag.
Jane Seymour is newly attendant at court in 1522, when Queen Catherine experiences her final unsuccessful pregnancy, ending in the stillbirth of a boy. Henry VIII gives us a pretty good preview of his future behavior by striding into the bloodsoaked birthing chamber and bellowing to the convalescent Catherine that "You are useless! The one thing I ask of you, the only thing I have ever asked of you, ever since I married you – out of pity – and you have not been able to do it!" He ends by announcing that he's done trying to get sons by her and that he plans to name Henry Fitzroy Duke of Richmond – "Higher than your daughter, madam, higher even than the pompous Norfolk! Henry Fitzroy will be the next King of England, and there's an end to it!" Shortly afterwards, the sickly, perpetually coughing little Fitzroy is ennobled while the attendant lords and ladies all cast significant glances at each other, wondering if this one is even going to make it into double digits.
Jane has more immediate problems, though. Her betrothal to the chivalrous, handsome Will Dormer has been hanging fire for a while as his family thinks he should marry someone richer, and is finally ended when word gets out that her old goat of a father has seduced Dormer's fourteen-year-old sister, after which the engagement is, understandably, dismissed with prejudice. As it turns out, Jane has another romantic disaster to clean up; her brother Edward has repudiated his wife (and their two sons) for adultery – with his father. The wife is confined in a convent and Jane promises to look after her boys. But wait! Yet more adulterous trouble is on the horizon, for flirtatious, conscienceless Anne Boleyn, who passes the time by trying to seduce random gentlemen and stealing others' fiances, has managed to bag the King himself. How she managed to do this is – and remains – a mystery, since her chief attractions appears to be her willingness to stomp, smirk, and flounce. "My little puffball," Henry fondly addresses her, and gives her "pearls the size of pigeon's eggs and rubies larger than I had ever seen any woman wear." Within the space of a page, Henry has discovered that his marriage is invalid and is harassing Wolsey to get Rome on the case, and Anne is smugly walking around assuming that she's now Queen-elect.
Alas, Henry's devotion proves less than stable when the sweat arrives. Jane, Queen Catherine and several others have holed themselves up in a castle tower, with no one to be admitted, when Anne comes pounding on the door and demanding to be let in, while shrieking for the king. When it turns out that he isn't there:
"He ought to be with me!" Anne burst out. "He took me riding. Then he rode off on his own. He left me!" Her voice quivered, no longer the voice of a petulant woman, but an anxious child.
Henry took off because he received news of the sweat and didn't want to take even the risk of being around Anne, so after being turned away from various places she made her way to the castle. Soon enough it turns out that she has the sweat herself, and as she collapses in fever, Catherine's gentleman-usher Griffith Richards decides that the only thing for it is to throw her out the window before she infects them all. He's almost stuffed her through when Catherine shouts at him that "We are Christians, not savages!" and demands that Anne be released. Nobody is willing to take care of her, so Catherine does so herself. Anne, after her recovery, is about as grateful as one might expect.
The annulment drags on and Jane is appointed one of Anne's ladies-in-waiting, at which time she meets one Galyon, a French glazier who has a way with the ladies, and soon they're happily having a discreet affair, with romantic interludes taking place whenever Galyon has to show up and install a few more of Anne's badges. Anne, however, is showing a yet more sinister side. After a rumour gets around that her mother had an affair with the king, the maid of honour who passed it along is found mysteriously murdered by brigands. The young Duke of Richmond, already ill, is mysteriously poisoned by his French cook at Someone's behest and only just survives. Henry personally oversees the cook's execution by being forced to drink poisoned soup, but never quite twigs to the fact that Anne set it up. Soon enough, Catherine is ill and banished, Anne is pregnant, and marriage and coronation follow in short order – the last a singularly unsuccessful event. After a difficult delivery with Elizabeth, Anne realizes she's been slacking off on her murder spree and gets Henry to execute the Nun of Kent ("She has cursed me. She is evil. She is the Pope's familiar"), as the nun has prophesied that Anne will never bear a living son and Anne is convinced that the nun used "dark magic" to turn the fetal Elizabeth from a boy to a girl. Anne is anxious to become pregnant again as soon as possible, and as Henry is now flirting with Madge Shelton and declaring to all around him that he "never liked a woman with a shrill voice" she decides to bring in some ringers. Jane learns of this when Galyon reports to her that Anne had tried to entice him into her bed; naturally, he refused, but he's a little worried about what might result from snubbing the queen. He finds out soon afterwards, when he mysteriously is pushed to his death while on scaffolding, installing yet another badge. Jane is heartbroken, and Anne puts on a good show of annoyance at the "accident." "It will take weeks to find a replacement for him, and meanwhile we will not be able to show off this room to the French."
Anne will soon be burdened with her own troubles, when her next pregnancy is delivered premature and and deformed – with a huge head, flayed spine, and shortened limbs. The ladies-in-waiting panic, and after the baby dies they get rid of the corpse, sure that this must have been produced by witchcraft. After Anne returns to Henry, sans pregnancy, Henry asks Jane what happened and she reluctantly tells him. Henry is horrified, convinced of Anne's witchcraft, and begins the hunt for a new queen, as it's clear that Catherine of Aragon is very ill and once she's dead, Anne can be put away for good.
Madge Shelton is Henry's first choice, but she conveniently discovers that she's infertile (telling Jane later that it was a ruse to avoid him) and becomes engaged to an old man who already has five sons (not Henry Norris, though). When the royal eye lights on "Jane, who King Henry trusted," he asks her point-blank if she thinks she's fertile. She hasn't any reason to suppose that she isn't, so she tells him as much. "Do you love me a little bit? I find I have become quite fond of you," Henry asks her, and when she responds that "I have loved only two men in my life …. I would be untruthful if I told you I could love you as a husband," he takes it with surprising docility. Anne miscarries shortly thereafter, and when she's arrested, Jane tries to persuade Henry not to execute her – "This is a marriage that will be made in blood," but Henry isn't having it. He doesn't want any more ex-wives running around, so Anne disappears and her trial and execution are confined to a blank space between sections.
Jane soon discovers that being married to Henry can be problematic – he flirts with other women, cancels her coronation when she tries to persuade him to spare a convent, slaughters a huge percentage of the Pilgrimage of Grace, and commits similar other violations of etiquette – but mercifully, her torment – and the reader's – doesn't last long. Henry is much more solicitous once it's clear that she's pregnant, and after a long, hard labour she gives birth to Edward and dies, calling out Galyon's name.
SEX OR POLITICS? Sex, and lots of it — Jane with Galyon, Henry with mistresses, Anne with (it's implied) half the court, both French and English.
WHEN BORN? Roughly 1501 for Anne – the dates can be vague, but when her involvement with Henry begins, she is "still unmarried at nearly twenty-five years old. (Uncharitable critics said she was older)." Her siblings don't appear in person and their birthdays are unknown. Jane describes herself as twenty-six in September of 1532 and she's "nearly twenty-seven" at the time of Anne's coronation in June of 1533, so she was presumably born sometime in the summer of 1506.
THE EARLY LOVE: Jane has Will Dormer, the chaste first love, and Galyon, the handsome lowborn stud.
Anne is coupled in rumour with almost every man she meets and it's implied that she's been with several in fact; after her pregnancy with Elizabeth becomes known, Catherine of Aragon speculates as to the forthcoming baby's paternity. "Though from what I hear of her, the child could be anyone's. That handsome young musician Mark Smeaton, for instance. They say he is in love with her. Or the rascal Weston. Or her old love Wyatt. Bridget Wingfield used to be full of stories of Anne's seductions." About the only name we never hear in association with Anne's is that of Henry Percy – he's nowhere to be found here.
THE QUEEN'S BEES: A mix of fictional and real: Anne Cavecant is a sharp-face, sharp-tongued woman who isn't getting any younger, Lavinia Terling is friendlier but promptly dies of the sweat. Margery Horsman is mentioned, hooray! Alas, a mention is all she'll get, even though she was real. Bridget Wingfield is a one-note cheerful, incurable gossip, who gets along well with Anne but doesn't hesitate to be catty behind her back, as when she relays the story of how Anne tried to steal her fiance from her – even so, Bridget ultimately shrugs it off; it's just Anne being Anne, really. Maria de Salinas and a few other Spanish ladies appear briefly but they don't say very much except for a few pious denunciations of Anne. Jane Popincourt is briefly seen passing on the story about Henry having an affair with Anne's mother, after which she's sent back to France and then murdered. Madge Shelton appears as a pretty, flirtatious girl who catches Henry's eye circa 1534 but is smart enough to lie when he starts making pointed inquiries about her possible aptitude for producing a prince.
THE FAITHFUL SERVITOR: Without a doubt, Griffith Richards, attempted defenestrator of Anne. You don't get more devoted than that.
THE PROPHECY: The Nun of Kent makes quite a few about plagues of frogs, lice etc descending upon Anne and Henry should they continue in their affair. As a result, Anne panics at the first sight of boiled frogs at a feast thrown by the French in Calais. (Interestingly, after Anne's death, Jane takes one of her maids to visit the Nun's tomb and the maid is miraculously cured of a painful lump in her side). During Anne's tenure as queen, a visionary priest named Robins visits the court, and when Henry jokingly asks him to read Jane's hand and tell them her future, Robins does so and begins to stutter that his gift has failed him on this occasion. "Spare us your feeble gifts!" says Henry, while the priest scuttles off, grateful that he wasn't forced to tell.
IT'S A GIRL! Anne has a terrible birth, during which all the attendant ladies think she's going to die because the lice are jumping off of her to get away. When at last the baby comes, Henry dismisses the midwives and summons the astrologers. "Kill the whoreson villains, every last one of them! I'll have them racked! I'll have them thrown in the Tower and whipped!" However, the astrologers have prudently removed themselves from the scene in advance, so Henry is forced to eventually vent his spleen on some hapless Carthusians instead.
DO YOU HAVE SIX FINGERS ON YOUR RIGHT HAND? She has the nub of a sixth finger on the tip of her fifth, which so horrifies the general populace – including the midwife who's hastily summoned when she goes into premature labour with her second pregnancy – that they turn tail and run if they get too close to her. Jane notices that while Henry never says anything about the extra finger, he takes care never to hold that particular hand. She also has "a swarthy complexion marred by moles." No projecting tooth, though, and no special collars or hanging sleeves.
FAMILY AFFAIRS: We don't see any of them except Anne, and hear very little about them otherwise, perhaps one sentence apiece; Anne's father is mean and ambitious and happy to climb at court by standing on his daughters' backs. George is described by another character as "do[ing] anything she asks – he has been that way since they were children." We hear of Mary in her early days in France, joining Anne as they dressed in their lowest-cut gowns and sauntered around at feasts "displaying themselves more suggestively, walking among the men and bending down so that the youngest and most handsome of the diners could feed them morsels of sweet cakes and lumps of sugar." Mary, being the blonde and pretty one, was usually the one to get picked up first.
DID SHE OR DIDN'T SHE? There's a ton of innuendo, albeit no direct authorial statement that she did — however, there is Galyon's story of attempted seduction, and his subsequent fate. We'll call it a qualified yes.
WRITERS OF THE PURPLE PAGE: There's nothing that right or that wrong with the prose, but the characters are so flat and undeveloped that it seems worse than it is. You can only read about Anne "shrieking" or "spitting" something so many times.
ERRATA: Quite a lot, even for a novel that's overt fluff. First, and most basic; there's zero evidence that Anne ever poisoned or murdered anybody, real or fictional. Jane Popincourt left the English court in 1516 and never had anything to do with Anne. Henry Fitzroy's cook was never executed, that was John Fisher's cook, for a similar incident. It's highly unlikely that Griffith Richards ever tried to toss Anne out a window (or that he would have survived longer than a week if he had). Tower Bridge is referenced a number of times, although it didn't exist yet, and Madge Shelton becomes engaged to one Sir John Everthorpe, who appears to be yet another fictional fiance for her, instead of her actual intended, Sir Henry Norris. Catherine of Aragon's last delivery – of a stillborn daughter – took place in November of 1518, not 1522. Henry VIII did employ a glazier named Galyon (Hone) but he probably wasn't French, is unlikely to have slept with Jane Seymour, and certainly didn't get pushed off a scaffold by Anne; quite the contrary, he lived to make and install the badges of her four successors. Sir John Seymour was only said to have slept with his daughter-in-law a century after his death; whether the story is true or not is impossible to verify now, but there's no contemporary record of it and it must be treated with extreme caution. (Neither is there any record of his attitude towards fourteen-year-old neighbour girls). Jane's nephew John dies of the sweat as a child in 1528, when in fact he outlived her, dying in 1551. And while it's impossible to prove that Anne and her sister didn't pick up random men every evening while in France … it didn't sound likely. At all. Add that with her penchant for poisoning, and the story veers so far off track that it would be easier to list the number of verifiably accurate statements than inaccurate ones.
WORTH A READ? The book is "a historical entertainment, in which the authentic past and imaginative intervention entwine," the author cautions us, but in response I'll use a quote from the novel The Lyre Of Orpheus – "Imagination is not uncontrolled fantasy." Unlike The Other Boleyn Girl, which veers off-course from history in service of a tight and dramatic if shamelessly soapy plot, this book just lurches from bizarre episode to even more bizarre episode, in which all the characters remain static and the only thing we learn is that Anne is a murdering slut and Jane is infinitely and colourlessly patient. It's not even good melodrama, it's too slow and rambling. Leave it on the library shelves.
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text:
O Dia do Mestiço foi feito data oficial do município de Manaus pela Lei n.º 934, de 6 de janeiro de 2006, sancionada pelo prefeito Serafim Corrêa e de autoria do vereador Williams Tatá, além de idealização do jornalista Assis Pinho do Movimento Pardo-Mestiço Brasileiro (Nação Mestiça).

O Dia do Mestiço tem como patronos Gilberto Freyre e Darcy Ribeiro e é data oficial também nos estados do Amazonas, da Paraíba e de Roraima, bem como nas cidades de Boa Vista (RR) e Autazes (AM), onde é feriado. As leis do Dia do Mestiço reconhecem os mestiços como um grupo étnico-racial e cultural.

Antecedentes e oficialização

O dia 27 de junho, é uma referência aos 27 delegados eleitos durante a I Conferência Municipal de Políticas de Promoção da Igualdade Racial, ocorrida em Manaus, Amazonas, de 7 a 9 de abril de 2005, e também ao mês de junho, no qual, Helda de Sá, uma mestiça cabocla amazonense, após sistemática oposição de militantes do movimento negro e indígena, cadastrou-se como a única delegada mestiça a participar da primeira Conapir – Conferência Nacional de Promoção da Igualdade Racial, ocorrida em Brasília, Distrito Federal, de 30 de junho a 2 de julho de 2005.

Em 21 de março de 2006, no Dia Internacional pela Eliminação da Discriminação Racial, o governador Eduardo Braga sancionou a Lei n.º 3.044, de autoria do deputado Sabá Reis, com substitutivo do deputado Evilázio Nascimento e importante colaboração do deputado Belarmino Lins, tornando o Dia do Mestiço uma data oficial do Estado do Amazonas.

País em miscigenação
O Dia do Mestiço objetiva homenagear todos aqueles que possuem mais de uma origem racial no Brasil (mulatos, caboclos, cafuzos, ainocos, entre outros) e seu papel na formação da identidade nacional. A comemoração ocorre três dias após o Dia do Caboclo, que foi o primeiro mestiço brasileiro.

No livro Machado de Assis: Multiracial Identity and the Brazilian Novelist, o autor narra:

«O movimento multirracial faz campanha para que o IBGE mude o termo que designa cor ('pardo') pelo termo que designa etnia ('mestiço') na coleta de dados oficiais dos censos decenais.»

Já no artigo «Ainda sobre a farsa racialista», de 2007 na revista Veja, o articulista Reinaldo Azevedo discorre:

«A história do Brasil de maioria negra é uma farsa montada pelos racialistas. Aí fazem um truque: dividem a sociedade entre 'negros' e 'não-negros'. E chamam de negros os pretos os pardos e de não-negros os demais. É uma piada grotesca. Os militantes racialistas sequestraram os pardos, os mestiços. (...) A queda substancial de brancos, a enorme queda de pretos e a brutal elevação de pardos podem ter muitas explicações, mas uma é inescapável, inegável, escandalosamente óbvia: a vocação racial do Brasil é a miscigenação.»

No artigo «Pardos», veiculado na Folha de S.Paulo, o professor Demétrio Magnoli diz:

«Nesse Censo Escolar 2005, uma diretora de escola de Belo Horizonte 'corrigiu', por conta própria, todas as fichas de alunos que se declararam 'pardos', transformando-os em 'pretos'. A diretora trapaceou, mas o resultado que obteve é a meta de uma vertente significativa do movimento negro: a construção de uma raça negra no Brasil. Esse programa de reengenharia racial almeja "retificar" a obra do Império, passando uma borracha sobre a mestiçagem e suprimindo os 'pardos'.»

O fato é que no Censo de 2010 o IBGE divulgou que os brancos deixaram de ser maioria no país, se comparados ao total das outras classificações de cor/raça. Segundo tais dados, 47,73% dos brasileiros se declararam brancos, 43,13% pardos, 7,61% pretos e 1,53% indígenas e amarelos. E a população parda não para de crescer ano após ano.

Festivais do Brasil
Festas de junho
Amazonas
Paraíba
Roraima

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Individuals and families are relying more on food prepared outside the home as a source for at-home and away-from-home consumption. Restricting the estimation of fast-food access to fast-food restaurants alone may underestimate potential spatial access to fast food.
The study used data from the 2006 Brazos Valley Food Environment Project (BVFEP) and the 2000 U.S. Census Summary File 3 for six rural counties in the Texas Brazos Valley region. BVFEP ground-truthed data included identification and geocoding of all fast-food restaurants, convenience stores, supermarkets, and grocery stores in study area and on-site assessment of the availability and variety of fast-food lunch/dinner entrées and side dishes. Network distance was calculated from the population-weighted centroid of each census block group to all retail locations that marketed fast food (n = 205 fast-food opportunities).
Spatial access to fast-food opportunities (FFO) was significantly better than to traditional fast-food restaurants (FFR). The median distance to the nearest FFO was 2.7 miles, compared with 4.5 miles to the nearest FFR. Residents of high deprivation neighborhoods had better spatial access to a variety of healthier fast-food entrée and side dish options than residents of low deprivation neighborhoods.
Our analyses revealed that identifying fast-food restaurants as the sole source of fast-food entrées and side dishes underestimated neighborhood exposure to fast food, in terms of both neighborhood proximity and coverage. Potential interventions must consider all retail opportunities for fast food, and not just traditional FFR.


The East Border Region Committee were delighted to host a delegation from the Atlantic Canada Tourism Partnership and the newly appointed Canadian Ambassador, Mr Pat Binns to Ireland to an evening reception in Carlingford last night (Wednesday 10th October).
The Atlantic Canada Tourism Partnership (ACTP) is a nine-member pan Atlantic partnership comprised of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the four Atlantic Canada Tourism Industry Associations and the four Provincial departments responsible for tourism in Atlantic Canada. The fourteen strong delegation included Deputy Ministers of Tourism, high level Senior Officials and Private Sector leaders, including the C.E.O. of the Greater Moncton International Airport.
The purpose of the delegations visit to the East Border Region was part of a best practice mission aiming to expose the delegation to successful tourism partnerships, operators/entrepreneurs and outstanding products on the island of Ireland. The East Border Region Committee were delighted when the delegation informed them that when researching their mission the East Border Region Tourism Partnership showed up on an internet search as an example of best practice. Indeed this is testament to the success of our the East Border Region Tourism Partnership.
During the meal the delegation and the Ambassador were given a flavour what the East Border Region has to offer via informative video, navigational tour of the 'Enjoy EBR' website (www.enjoyebr.com) and the highly innovative East Border Region podcasts.
His Excellency Mr Pat Binns, Canadian Ambassador was delighted with the reception provided by EBR "I am delighted to be here tonight in the picturesque village of Carlingford at this my first engagement in the East Border Region as Canadian Ambassador. Your successful partnership model coupled with a similar product match to that of Atlantic Canada and similar challenges facing the regions' tourism industry made the East Border Region an ideal destination for a best practices mission for this group".
Councillor Michael Carr, Chairman of the East Border Region Committee thanked the delegation and the Ambassador for choosing to spend an evening with the EBR Tourism Partnership during their busy schedule and welcomed further such best practice meetings, "from reading your impressive Organisation profile we certainly hope to take advantage of this opportunity to learn from you and to build on our international links. Through working together collaboratively I have no doubt we can help strengthen the tourism potential in each others Regions and build on the many friendships we have developed here tonight".
The successful evening drew to a close with our Canadian visitors heading off to sample some of the delights Carlingford and the East Border Region had to offer before heading North on their best practice mission the next morning.


text:
<?php

namespace OpenClassrooms\Tests\UseCase\Application\Services\Proxy\UseCases;

use OpenClassrooms\Tests\UseCase\BusinessRules\Exceptions\UseCaseException;
use OpenClassrooms\Tests\UseCase\BusinessRules\Requestors\UseCaseRequestStub;
use OpenClassrooms\Tests\UseCase\BusinessRules\UseCases\Transaction\ExceptionTransactionUseCaseStub;
use OpenClassrooms\Tests\UseCase\BusinessRules\UseCases\Transaction\NestedTransactionUseCaseStub;
use OpenClassrooms\Tests\UseCase\BusinessRules\UseCases\Transaction\OnlyTransactionUseCaseStub;

/**
 * @author Romain Kuzniak <romain.kuzniak@turn-it-up.org>
 */
class TransactionUseCaseProxyTest extends AbstractUseCaseProxyTest
{
    /**
     * @test
     */
    public function Exception_Transaction_RollBack()
    {
        try {
            $this->useCaseProxy->setUseCase(new ExceptionTransactionUseCaseStub());
            $this->useCaseProxy->execute(new UseCaseRequestStub());
            $this->fail();
        } catch (UseCaseException $e) {
            $this->assertFalse($this->transaction->committed);
            $this->assertTrue($this->transaction->rollBacked);
        }
    }

    /**
     * @test
     */
    public function Transaction_Commit()
    {
        $this->useCaseProxy->setUseCase(new OnlyTransactionUseCaseStub());
        $this->useCaseProxy->execute(new UseCaseRequestStub());
        $this->assertTrue($this->transaction->committed);
        $this->assertFalse($this->transaction->rollBacked);
    }

    /**
     * @test
     */
    public function Exception_NestedTransaction_RollBack()
    {
        $useCase = new NestedTransactionUseCaseStub();
        $useCase->setNestedUseCase(new ExceptionTransactionUseCaseStub());
        try {
            $this->useCaseProxy->setUseCase($useCase);
            $this->useCaseProxy->execute(new UseCaseRequestStub());
            $this->fail();
        } catch (UseCaseException $e) {
            $this->assertFalse($this->transaction->committed);
            $this->assertTrue($this->transaction->rollBacked);
        }
    }

    /**
     * @test
     */
    public function NestedTransaction_Commit()
    {
        $nestedUseCaseProxy = clone $this->useCaseProxy;
        $nestedUseCaseProxy->setUseCase(new OnlyTransactionUseCaseStub());

        $useCase = new NestedTransactionUseCaseStub();
        $useCase->setNestedUseCase($nestedUseCaseProxy);
        $this->useCaseProxy->setUseCase($useCase);

        $this->useCaseProxy->execute(new UseCaseRequestStub());
        $this->assertTrue($this->transaction->committed);
        $this->assertFalse($this->transaction->rollBacked);
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Philadelphia school board unveils 'goals and guardrails' to focus on student achievement
By Dale Mezzacappa Dec 10, 2020, 10:04pm EST
Joyce Wilkerson, president of Philadelphia's Board of Education.
Bastiaan Slabbers / WHYY
The Philadelphia Board of Education is embarking on an ambitious effort to reframe its stewardship of the school district around improving student achievement, outlining a strategy that will require big changes in the way it has traditionally done business.
Superintendent William Hite called it a "game changer."
"It's time to move beyond 'system survival' mode and to focus on the success of all our students," Joyce Wilkerson, board president, said in unveiling the five-year strategic plan. The plan, she said, is the board's effort to "deliver on the promise of local control, and it starts with the most basic question, 'Why do our schools exist?' They exist to provide every student with the tools and experiences they need to be successful."
Board members said they spent two years on this project, consulting with the Council of Great City Schools and talking to their peers across the country. They also held town hall meetings with parents, teachers, and community members locally.
Part of that time was spent comparing Philadelphia's test scores to other cities' on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the "nation's report card," or NAEP. The test is given to a sample of students across the country and is widely viewed as one of the best benchmarks of student learning. It has no high stakes.
The bottom line for Philadelphia: When measured by national tests, the district scores far worse compared to other large urban districts with a large number of low-income students. Fewer than 20%of the city's fourth and eighth graders met national benchmarks in math and reading on the last NAEP test, which was administered in 2019. That performance put Philadelphia – the nation's poorest big city – behind 16 other districts in fourth-grade math and eighth-grade reading and math. In fourth-grade math, it was behind 19 other districts.
"Philadelphia is not keeping up with our peers," Wilkerson said. "It's sobering. It shows that as a whole, we are not doing what we need to for our students."
She added: "We know it's possible," based on what other cities have achieved and the pockets of individual school successes in Philadelphia.
Calling their new direction "goals and guardrails," board members plan to focus on making sure all students stay on grade level throughout their school careers and graduate high school with the "tools and experiences they need to succeed in the global economy."
"I'm not sure whether those who are listening realize how this is a paradigm shift," said board member Angela McIver.
The guardrails set "non-negotiable" conditions for schools, including a welcoming environment, access to "well rounded" experiences for all students, including arts and athletics, robust partnerships with students' families, and addressing systemic racism.\
It is both "obvious and revolutionary…to focus on student achievement," said board member Lee Huang.
The school board resumed control of the district in April 2018 after nearly two decades under the state-dominated School Reform Commission, an era that Wilkerson – who served briefly as the SRC chair – said paid little attention to student achievement, focusing instead on management tasks, such as approving vendor contracts.
"In one evaluation, the Council of Great City Schools estimates that the SRC spent just 10% of the time talking about student learning," she said. "Let's focus less on who gets what contract and more on the big picture."
Even so, some progress was made in the reform commission era, she said. Based on state tests, more schools moved into the high-performing category and many moved out of the lowest performing category. The graduation rate went up.
Board meetings will look different from now on, with more public engagement and discussion of data, members said. There will be monthly monitoring in public, using data. The vision will guide board self assessments and the annual evaluation of the superintendent.
The first specific goal is to grow the percentage of third through eighth graders who read on grade level according to state tests from 35.7% to 65% by 2026. The board will also compare the academic performance of different subgroups of students, including the economically disadvantaged, racial and ethnic categories, English learners and special education students.
"Systemic racism is alive in our district," Wilkerson said in a briefing for reporters on Wednesday.. "We'll be tracking suspension data carefully," she said. "We're taking a look at everything in the curriculum…retooling the way we spend money and developing more effective academic programs and getting more out of the resources we have."
The project is beginning in a time of crisis, when the district is looking at looming funding shortfalls due to the pandemic and still trying to determine how virtual schooling has further damaged students academically.
But Wilkerson and other board members said this is the right time to change direction.
"It's essential to do this at this moment," said Mallory Fix-Lopez.
Hite agreed. "It does provide us with a focused effort around student outcomes," he said. "This changes how we look at data…and changes the types of questions we should be asking."
Board member Julia Danzy said that this may be unsettling to teachers and others who work in the district. She said she understands that people are working hard and trying their best. But doing that and not getting the desired results "causes burnout," she said. "Our actions are not indictments against you but a critical examination of the system."
The board faces many obstacles trying to bring about dramatic change: It does not control its sources of revenue – it is dependent entirely on the city and state for funding — and, unlike other school boards in Pennsylvania, it has no taxing authority.
The teachers' contract also dictates how teachers are assigned to schools. Fix-Lopez said that one issue they know affects student learning is class size, but changing the way teachers are allotted to direct more to the neediest schools would require agreement from the union.
At the board meeting, some members of the public were skeptical about the plan and urged stronger actions.
Community member Horace Clouden said the board should replace Hite, crack down on what he said was poor teacher attendance, and dismiss principals whose schools are underachieving. "Start firing people and not relocating them," he said.
Cheri Micheau, who used to work in the district with English language learners and students who have immigrated, said she is not confident their concerns will be fully addressed, especially regarding their access to special admission schools.
"These failures are to be sure examples of racism, ethnic discrimination and linguicism. I urge you to mention these students specifically in this document since they are members of yet another group disadvantaged in their daily educational experiences in Philadelphia schools."
Parent Stephanie King said the board has a long way to go to rebuild trust with the community.
"The goals are aspirational, the guardrails would be a welcoming environment to achieve those goals," King said. "And I am here to tell you that you cannot achieve any of those things unless you repair the trust and relationship with the people in the schools. The students, the parents, and the teachers. You say you want every student at grade level for math and reading, but you refuse to listen when teachers tell you what they need."
Mayor James Kenney is in the process of naming three new members to the nine-member board. Activist groups want more input into the process. Two members, Chris McGinley and Ameen Akbar, resigned earlier this year. Huang announced his intention to step down as soon as a replacement is seated.
Johann Calhoun also contributed to this report.
from Chalkbeat New York 75% of NYC public schools enrolled fewer students this year. Here's a breakdown of every school.


It's already 6 months since we came back and content keeps piling up on my disk... My iMac broke and my travel schedule was craziest than ever (2x Bangkok, 2x Jakarta, Tokyo, Beijing, Taipei, Stockholm, Berlin and Delhi in a 6 month period) but still, here comes our mini-guide to the lovely little island of Puerto Rico - have you noticed? Their flag is just like Cuba's but with opposite colours!
While I have not travelled around the Caribbean as much as around Asia, Puerto Rico seems to offer an unusual excellent balance between unexplored nature (not as commercialised as e.g. Punta Cana) and safety (not as dangerous as Trinidad). I suppose this is partially thanks to being an unincorporated territory of the United States. If you are after days of chill in pristine empty beaches, a bit of history, hiking, surf and diving, wrapped up by a Piña Colada - Puerto Rico's National drink! This is the place for you.
Anytime but better avoid May - November it gets humid in May and then, it comes the hurricane season.
All of them have 4.5 in Tripadvisor and are also featured in Lonely Planet's Puerto Rico guide. Highly advisable. It's been a long time since we went on a trip as "shaky" without counting a single bad experience with the hotels, but hey! Magic happens. Make sure to book well in advance, specially in the smaller islands where the options are few and quickly sold out. One important thing to consider though is that Puerto Rico is not cheap - at least coming from Spain. None of these is a fancy spot, but they were all already around 120-150$/night.
We arrived from Miami by plane. During our stay in PR big island and Vieques, we rented a car. During our stay in Culebra, we rented a golf car - which was simultaneously fun and scary. Highly recommended to book all cars in advance, using SIXT or another major company in the big islands and the local operator (right in the airport) in Culebra. Uber also works well to move around San Juan.
- The morning after visiting the Goldeneye radio telescope which is located in Arecibo, driving back to San Juan on time for an afternoon flight to Miami.
We kissed goodbye 2016 with a dinner in Greengos Caribbean Cantina, a random Mexican restaurant that turned out to be pretty awesome and popular among the locals. Then we went for some dancing, following the people and spent January 1st exploring the Old San Juan. While the main historical sites - Fuerte de San Cristobal and El Morro - were closed we walked through the rest of it, all the way down to the lively square called "La Placita de Santurce", where all bars were packed so we opted for an Uber home and a quiet dinner in Mango's Ocean Park nearby our hotel, which was one of the few places open and packed with locals celebrating the New Year.
We started the day picking up our car from SIXT and driving all the way to El Yunque, a tropical rainforest that offers waterfalls and hiking opportunities for all levels. It was a bit hard to find a parking spot, but once we did we killed ourselves walking 3 trails - I almost passed out, the humidity and the heat are hard to bear. We drove back and enjoyed dinner in a lovely little restaurant hidden behind Mango's called Bagua, that served excellent fish.
After a great brunch a Pinky's and a walk all the way to Ocean Park beach, we squeezed a colada from Pirilo - a great spot facing the hotel, drove back to San Juan, returned the rental car and ubered ourselves to the airport where both our luggages and ourselves got weighted, so the 8 passenger plane would not get out of balance. After a rough landing in "the most difficult airport in the Caribbean" - according to a fellow passenger - we managed to get our large suitcases in the golf car and drove back to El Navegante, our home for the next two days. Culebra's restaurant choice is not very wide, so we spent both nights in Dinghy Dock - come when you are not yet hungry as the wait is long.
We drove all the way to Playa Flamenco at sunrise, to shoot some pictures and drone videos. Then we went back to the hotel area and waited for quite long to get breakfast in Pandeli, the only café opened at the time. Pandeli is great for wraps, sandwiches and donuts but extremely understaffed so you have to wait for very very long time. Then, we drove to the ethereal and empty Playa Zoni, missed the chance to check out Playa Carlos Rosario (as cleaning activities were ongoing) and wrapped up the day with some snorkelling at Playa Tamarindo. Dinner again, was on Dinghy Dock.
The last day started early with another long wait at Pandeli, a dive with Culebra Divers and the luck of catching the 13:00 ferry to Fajardo. Everything worked according to plan, except for the 4h delay on our ferry to Vieques, where we arrived at around 22, having eaten a total of 2.5 protein bars / each in the entire day. We dropped our stuff between the cute purple walls of Flamboyan Guest House and run to Lazy Hostel, the only place serving food at 11PM. Trust me, even I ATE PIZZA that day.
After a basic yet amazing breakfast in our balcony featuring local fruits, bread and all-you-can-drink coffee, we drove to one of the highlights of the trip. This 18000 acre refuge occupies the land formerly used by the US military. The 3100 acre segment at the west end was used mainly as storage area, so it is very quiet. However, the remaining 14700 acre eastern segment includes a former firing range is still off-limits, despite including some of the island's best beaches. We stopped at Pata Prieta, Playa Plata and some other I don't even remember... It was an amazing day by the beach. We took a shower and got ready for kayaking in the Bioluminiscent Bay, another highlight of Vieques. On New Moon days, you paddle and see the water microorganisms glitter. Dinner was this time in Duffy's the bar under our hotel, where we shared table and conversation with some cruise ship crew.
We spent our last day in Vieques hanging out with the wild horses of Sun bay as preparation for a dip into the wilderness of the West Point of the island, all the way to Punta Arenas. Another flight back to San Juan, followed by a drive all the way west, to Rincon - the surfing paradise of PR. We ended the day with a quick bite in the hotel restaurant.
Rincon ain't big but memorable. We started the day checking out the weekend market in Rincon's main square, then drove all the way to BONUS - the abandoned nuclear plant - and Punta Higüero Lighthouse. Then we walked along the beaches surfing spots, from Antonio's down to Sandy Beach. Then we went back and chilled at the bar of Hotel Villa Cofresí, where some locals had recommended us to try the speciality called Cocotazo which is like a humongous Colada inside a large coconut. I'll remember that sunset for the rest of my life.
We started our last day in Puerto Rico with a great breakfast at Cafe 473 followed by a visit to the largest radio telescope on Earth, located at Observatorio de Arecibo. We just dropped the car on time for the plane back to Miami, but thinking about it - was all well worth it, there aren't many who can claim to have visit the 007 Goldeneye radio telescope!.


text:
MELLOW BRAVO
Info and Booking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGRHYUi5HGc
Formed in 2009, Mellow Bravo has quickly built a reputation as one of Boston's premier rock and roll acts. Well known for their sold out crowds and energetic live performances, Mellow Bravo's twin guitar attack and hooky songwriting make them top-notch crowd pleasers. Led by soulful and charismatic lead singer Keith Pierce the band cuts a wide range of styles from hard rock and metal to country and blues and injects each song with its own brand of passionate urgency. Blending the classic party rock of Van Halen and Deep Purple along with the brooding modern approach of Black Mountain and QOTSA, the band is rounded out by a hard hitting rhythm section and the wildcard organ and vocal stylings of Jess Collins. Mellow Bravo is a must-see act that threatens to climb higher with the release of their self-titled second album on the debut of the brand new Mad Oak Recordings imprint later this spring.
"Awesome" ~ Jed Gottlieb, The Boston Herald
"The epitome of a good time band." ~ Shawn Sixx, CBS Radio/WZLX
"…The charismatic and inspired performance of a lifetime…This band is going places and fast!" ~ Ryan Spaulding, Ryan's Smashing Life Blog
"Mellow Bravo's debut album (Strut) is as burly and bravado filled as anything you will find passed out on the sidewalks of East Boston." ~ Peter Legasey, The Weekly Dig
"Mellow Bravo is one of Boston's best live acts" ~Joe Graham, Audio Floss/The Lowell Sun
For fans of: The J. Geils Band, Black Mountain, The Brought Low, Infernal Overdrive, James Gang, Shame Club, Cheap Trick, etc.
Agency: MELLOW BRAVO
Email: squidwitheaglewings@gmail.com
Nationality: U.S.A
Resident in: Boston, MA
Classic Rock / Dark / Stoner Rock
THE MIGHT COULD
Southern Rock / Stoner Metal
atmospheric / Classic Rock
WHITEY MORGAN AND THE 78'S
Country / Honky Tonk


I was stopped by police for suspicion of armed robbery.
Okay, it happened in 1987, but I first, I didn't do it, and second, I was the "victim" of profiling. Seems I was driving aggressively and at a high rate of speed, through a large parking lot, and subsequently past a gas station that was closed, then onto the Interstate at well above the posted limit. At least that's the Deputy's story.
I was pulled over, ordered to stick my hands out the window and keep them visible, and even made to drop the ice cream cone I was holding. Looking in the rear view mirror and seeing the Officer Friendly with his hand on his gun, appealed to my lowest need for survival, which is to not die by head shot.
The Deputy took my information, checked me out and then apologized and said that the gas station I drove by had just been robbed, and that while my car didn't exactly fit the description, my actions were very suspicious. Maybe I should have sued him for profiling. The man could have at least bought me another ice cream cone (see, I'd just gotten sort of fired from my job at the video store and I was upset, so I bought some ice cream, 'cause that makes you feel better, and . . . well, never mind).
About 8 years ago, I was pulled over again under suspicion of "cruising," which is now apparently illegal on the street I used to cruise on in high school. I should note that I was in my late 30s at this time and driving my very pregnant wife who was at the time in her late 20s. Boy, did we fit THAT cruiser profile – actually, we just happened to be on the road to our home from the movie theater. Other times in my life I've been in the wrong place or near the wrong people and have been questioned by police, asked for my ID, told to move along. I should probably have sued them all for profiling – that or I'm just a bad egg.
On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, three individuals were questioned after exhibiting what passengers felt was suspicious behavior on a Frontier Airlines flight. Click here for story. One of the individuals is now very upset and is blogging and talking to the ACLU about her options. I'm NOT saying she doesn't have cause. I have plenty of friends who have been pulled over on suspicion of DWB (Driving While Black, is the term they use) and I can understand that when people resemble the people who hijacked planes on 9/11, the hackles of others with different skin color can get rankled. Heck, I still don't like seeing red 2WD Toyota pickup trucks because I once had a neighbor that drove one and when he wasn't busy serving time, he was trying to crowbar his way into a townhome I lived in.
What I am saying is that regardless of the outcome of her case or complaint, people should NOT stop reporting what they feel is suspicious activity. It's not just the times we live in, it's our society. I've called on suspicious vehicles in my neighborhood about four times. Three times it was nothing – the fourth was a vehicle used in a string of burglaries in my neighborhood. Had I stopped after the third call, just due to embarrassment of what the local police would think about the guy "crying wolf" all the time, then perhaps the fourth call would not have happened and criminals would have gotten another free pass.
Several years ago, a group of Muslim musicians exhibited what passengers believed was suspicious behavior on a Northwest Airlines flight. They were detained, questioned and released – then they sued the airlines and the passengers. Was their real intent to prevent or make people think twice about reporting suspicious activity in the future so some future plot could be successful? Did they really feel they were singled out due to their race and deserved compensation for pain and suffering? Or was this a security test?
I know the answer to the last question.
Whether the musicians intended on conducting a test of airline security, they did anyway. Even innocent passengers are conducting "tests" when they are stopped for suspicious activity, because those that intend to attack us again, are always watching. They are watching to see how we will react – what the outcome and reaction will be. If they learn that passengers are not reporting suspicious activity anymore out of fear of reprisals, then that's valuable information for them. If they learn the types of activities that were reported as suspicious, then that's information for them. If they learn that we are still reporting, regardless of lawsuit threats or fears of being embarrassed, then that's good information we want them to know.
Frankly, I've exhibited suspicious behaviors on flights that should have gone reported. I've been into and out of my overhead bag several times – mainly because I have a six-second attention span and usually forget what I was trying to find by the time I get my seat belt off. I've spent plenty of time in the lavatory, on a flight back from Cancun once (you figure it out). And being middle aged now, I've made multiple trips to the restroom and even hung out doing some stretches near the flight attendant stations. Had I been pulled aside, I would have put down any ice cream I was carrying, politely answered questions from law enforcement, then went about my way. But that's just me. I don't want people to be afraid to report suspicious activity, even if I'm the one doing it.
Great article! I will be certain to report my observances in the future.


Located in the four corners area, merely an hour from the New Mexico border, Stealin' Blue Minis is a ranch of profound cuteness. The home of happy adult Miniature Australian Shepherds and Toy Australian Shepherds, Stealin' Blue Minis Ranch twinkles to the sound of sweet mini and toy Aussie puppy yips several times a year.
All Stealin' Blue Minis dogs have been genetically tests. Then SBM owners carefully and thoughtfully pair their adult dogs to prevent the genetic mutations that are unique to the Australian Shepherd breed.
Stealin' Blue Minis adult mini Aussies and toy dogs spend most seasons frolicking in the sun, chasing rainbows, herding mini and full size horses, splashing in irrigation ditches, and of course, supervising their humans. Our puppies get extensive outside time and engage in play with a variety of toys, people, and other animals. By the time our puppies are ready to go home, they have learned "come" commands, have met a variety of humans, have begun to build a "fetch" foundation, are accustomed to being cuddled and played with, and have known the joy of being absolutely adored. This means they are ready to be socialized into the unique lifestyle of their forever homes!
In New Mexico and across the United States, Stealin' Blue Minis Australian Shepherds live on ranches, in the suburbs and in condos in the city. Miniature Australian Shepherds are known for their ability to reside in a wide variety of dwellings and are flexible about their level of activity. Unlike some more high strung working dogs, Mini Aussies don't require a constant job and are content to lie with their human in sight. They are also an active breed and can keep up on a variety of activities including hiking, running, biking, and kayaking.
Stealin' Blue Minis toy and mini Aussies are loyal and loving. These dogs make excellent companions to humans of every age, from toddlers to the elderly.
Curious if there are any Mini Australian Shepherds for sale in New Mexico near you? Contact Stealin' Blue Minis by email, phone or our contact us page. We are happy to answer questions and will also ask our own questions to ensure each of our beloved puppies goes to the perfect forever home.


text:
Uzalendo News
Home Uncategorized African cities can raise more money. Kenya and South Africa offer useful...
African cities can raise more money. Kenya and South Africa offer useful lessons
Sarah Colenbrander, University of Leeds and Ian Palmer
African cities will gain a billion new residents by 2050. But local authorities across the continent don't have the resources, powers or skills set to meet the growing demand for housing and services.
Africa's rapid urbanisation is a huge opportunity for national governments.
It's cheaper to provide all kinds of services to people living in urban areas, from paved roads to health care. Urban growth can turbocharge economic development, since people working in industry and services tend to be more economically productive than those working in agriculture. And urban Africans typically live longer and have higher incomes than their counterparts in the countryside.
Yet across the continent, municipal authorities are often weak and their ability to raise taxes are constrained. This is primarily because of widespread poverty, which means that the tax base is very small. But it's often compounded by legislative constraints – for example, municipalities often don't have sufficient authority to collect taxes – and administrative incapacity – where they don't have the ability to collect taxes effectively.
The net result is that municipal budgets in sub-Saharan Africa are tiny. This severely constrains the ability of municipal authorities to raise investment for much-needed infrastructure.
Our newly published paper points to the catalytic role that national governments can play in raising finance for towns and cities.
In broad terms, the finance for infrastructure required for urban services can be raised in five ways: transfers from the national government; the use of the municipality's own revenues; debt finance raised by municipalities; financing provided by utilities and other service providers; and capturing a proportion of the increase in land prices that comes from infrastructure investment.
National governments have a key role to play in establishing enabling legislation and building the capacity of municipal authorities to use these financing options. This is evident from recent experiences in Kenya and South Africa.
Lessons from South Africa
In 2014, South Africa's economic capital, Johannesburg, became the first city in the global south to issue a green bond. Successfully issuing a bond allows a city to borrow money much more cheaply than just taking out a commercial loan – and by issuing a green bond, Johannesburg also showcased its environmental commitment.
The country's second largest city, Cape Town, followed three years later.
Both cities are rightly celebrated for this achievement. Issuing a bond requires sophisticated financial skills. The municipal authority must be able to identify bankable projects and package them in a way that attracts prospective investors.
Issuing a bond requires more than just financial know-how. Investors need to be convinced that the municipal authority has secured public support for their projects. That it's able to build and manage projects, whether bus networks or recycling facilities. And that it has transparent, accountable systems that protect against corruption.
Johannesburg and Cape Town had to tick a lot of boxes before they could issue their green bonds. But they didn't do it alone. The support from the national government played a critical role.
South Africa is the only country in the region that explicitly permits city governments to borrow money. Legislation clearly states that cities can use debt financing, including municipal bonds, to invest in infrastructure. This national legislation provided prospective investors with the confidence to purchase Johannesburg and Cape Town's municipal bonds.
Other African cities such as Dakar in Senegal and Kampala in Uganda, have also tried to issue municipal bonds, but were stymied at the last minute. Without explicit regulatory and political support at the national level, municipalities cannot use this financing option.
Lessons from Kenya
In Kenya, the utilities take on borrowing rather than municipalities. Kenya's water and sanitation utilities are owned by the county governments and have the legal right to borrow to fund new infrastructure.
But the legal right to borrow doesn't mean much if nobody wants to lend.
The Kenyan government (with support from the World Bank) has worked with the utilities to help them access loans from commercial banks. Utilities are encouraged to borrow to support new water or sewer connections, public toilets and public water supply points.
If the utilities successfully implement the project, they receive an additional grant by the government that they do not have to repay. By offering a grant under these conditions, the national government is incentivising utilities to build their credit history so that they can borrow more cheaply in the future.
With support from the Netherlands and US, the Kenyan government is also helping utilities collectively issue a bond to pay for new infrastructure. This pooled approach means that a prospective lender face much less financial risk if any one utility or project fails. The lenders are therefore willing to lend money at lower interest rates.
The first pooled bond should be issued this year. It is expected to finance services to around 400,000 Kenyans.
Pooled funds have been used in Colombia, India, Mexico and the Philippines, but have rarely achieved scale in sub-Saharan Africa. Other countries looking to replicate Kenya's success need to adopt comparably clear legal frameworks.
The need for national leadership
Many other towns and cities across sub-Saharan Africa face huge infrastructure deficits and rapid population growth. They can use the bond markets to raise a significant portion of the capital required to address the infrastructure development gaps.
But local governments will not be able to raise the necessary finance alone. As our paper shows, national governments across the region have a critical role to play in making sure the right laws are in place, and helping local government or utilities mobilise investment for sustainable urban infrastructure.
Sarah Colenbrander, Coalition for Urban Transitions, University of Leeds and Ian Palmer, Adjunct professor
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Learn why a diversified portfolio can help investors achieve their long-term goals.
Two harsh realities threaten to compromise most investment objectives: first, markets are unpredictable and, second, investors can sometimes be their own worst enemies.
A well-diversified portfolio seeks the highest potential return while striving to manage a given level of volatility.
Goals, markets, and circumstances are all fluid; even a well-diversified portfolio is only as good as it is current, so be sure to periodically rebalance your portfolio.
The U.S. stock market hit a then-record high in October 2007, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher than 14,000 points. This peak proved elusive as the market would soon begin a steep decline and, by the time the market bottomed in March of 2009, the Dow was down roughly 6,600 points—a 50% drop in a scant 17 months. Fast forward to the end of 2016 when the Dow finished at 19,762 points, up more than a staggering 200% from the 2009 lows. The recovery was indeed magnificent— as magnificent as the beginning of 2016 was daunting—showing us time and again that markets can be fraught with peril for investors who do not exercise the discipline needed to be successful. Let's take a closer look at what we mean by this.
Investors who try to time when to buy and sell merely create two opportunities to get it wrong. So those who sold investments when the markets began to dip as described above risk losing out on a portion of the markets' eventual rise, having been forced to also try and guess the right time to reinvest. While there is no approach that guarantees results, we believe the best solution for long-term investors is to have a well-diversified portfolio; without it, there are two harsh realities that may well compromise investors' objectives: Markets are unpredictable and investors can sometimes be their own worst enemies.
As the saying goes, "Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future." This is certainly true of the capital markets. Part of what makes markets so hard to predict has to do with an ongoing flow of complex data, such as earnings, economic growth, and central bank policy, combined with geopolitical factors that could impact currency valuations, government control, etc. These many influences make it very difficult to predict which investments will outperform from year to year.
Asset classes like stocks and bonds were traditionally not correlated, meaning one tended to perform well when the other did not. So there was a time when merely having a stock-bond mix could provide a good amount of diversification. For a variety of reasons, this has become much less the case in recent years. And even if investors can guess whether stocks or bonds will outperform, there's the far more challenging task of determining which type of stocks or bonds should do well. In 2010, for example small-cap stock were tops; in 2012, they were a dismal sixth out of twelve asset classes; in 2013, they were back in top; in 2014 and 15, they were ranking twelve and ten out of twelve asset classes, respectively; and once again by the end of 2016, they ranked first.
Essentially, the solution offered by diversification is to cover your bases. Consider the example of the shop owner who diversifies his business by selling umbrellas and sun block. He understands the sales of each are inversely correlated. When it rains, he sells many umbrellas, but no sun block. When the sun shines, the reverse occurs. While he may be able to sell more umbrellas when it's raining if he hadn't devoted shelf space to sun block, he knows the weather will turn and he needs to be ready for those sunny days. The lesson: Since we can predict neither the weather nor the markets, we should be prepared for all eventualities through robustly diversified portfolios that can see us through both sunny and rainy market cycles.
If market unpredictability isn't enough to vex investors, their own decision making can undermine their long-term investment success. Why do people behave in ways counter to their best interests and historical experience? What leads them to buy high and sell low when they should be doing the reverse? Emotions like fear and greed can move people to make irrational decisions. In a bull market, greed can push reason and common sense aside in the belief that prices will go higher irrespective of valuations (think the late 1990s' "dot-com" bubble). Alternatively, during a market downturn, the fear of losing money can result in a "flight" impulse when the best move may be to do nothing or perhaps even buy more of the asset that's declining quickly in price.


The rise to power of the liberal agenda has resulted from a particular meaning that government has come to have for people in western societies, namely, that the state is a proper source from which to gratify the longings of the people for various forms of parental care.
The modern state has taken on the role of an apparently benign, generous, omnipotent and god-like parent, who serves as custodian, manager, provider and caretaker, all to the detriment of the people. We have, in effect, parentified our governments in the belief that we will be better off if they take care of us than if we take care of ourselves. We have shifted our assumptions about the human condition from an ethical and religious conception that we must earn a good life through individual and cooperative hard work and responsibility, to a secular and collectivist conception of life as a manipulative competition for the bounty of the state. Rather than praying to a higher power to strengthen and guide us in our personal labors to serve others as we serve ourselves, we plead to our legislators for a place at the public trough and hope that they will do unto us at least as generously as they do unto others. Big government revenue has become in effect the income of a very large family whose many children vie for indulgence, while ready at any moment to protest in the name of egalitarianism if one sibling seems to be getting more than another.


What's the best place to hide?
Logic suggests that there are two possible answers to this question. The first is simple, the best place to hide is where you will not be found.
The second answer is 'in plain sight.' I think this is a better answer of the two because it suggests that sight is not absolute. It is often more difficult to see that which is right in front of the nose on your face than it is to see anything else.
Today I'm teaching about 'blindspots' in my critical analysis of news class. Rather than suggesting, as is probably important to suggest, that the news misses things and people, I'm going to also suggest a degree of obfuscation wherein that which is presented 'right before our eyes' contains blindspots. These spots act as masks or blinkers to other possibilities and act as 'enough' when they are, instead, beginnings rather than punctuated ends.
In this way invisibility is not just seeing/not seeing, but is also a combination of power/voice/affect informed by seeing and that inform how we see.
Take for instance the idea of 'revolution' in the Arab middle east that we see today. There are many more nuances to the various countries than can be accounted for in one general statement. Each country has its own historical reasons for upset and upheaval. Yet painting the whole region with one brush provides a series of enormous and profound blindspots that mush the whole thing into one. Seen but not heard, powerful but without agency, evocative without feeling.
I was speaking with a good friend today and she reminded me about the need to consider invisibility not just a multimodal process and state but as having degrees. She's described these as 'opacity' but I'd also like to think of them as the exercise of one or more of the variable of seeing, hearing, power, and affect being demonstrated more than the others.
Opacity is an interesting concept because so much of what we think about the world revolves around questions of opacity – or invisibility – insofar as we consider the realm of 'transparency' as preferred. In reality, there are things we simply don't want to know and are happy to defer to others. In her example, policy makers. The machinery of policy can and to a degree must be unseen. It is so often the upset that arises that bespeaks the gap between policy makers and those to whom policy is met out. A person I once met argues that contemporary failures of public policy are failures of public relations – the invisible massaging of power into affective salience.
Apparently on 60 minutes last night Lady Gaga spoke about her strategy to remain 'real' as a person in the face of her celebrity (as per my previous post). They called it The Art of Fame.
Must look that up and consider it more.
My son asked me an interesting question. What is this book about, he says. It's not really about Harry or Voldermort since Voldermort doesn't really make many live appearances in the book. But I say, yes it's about them, but both not one or the other. Actually, it's about the invisible space in between them. Actually, it's about….Well, it's about invisibility.
J.K. Rowling, if nothing else, is deeply at play in the realm of invisibility throughout all 7 books. She plays not only on the authors ability to conjure up images in your imagination (sadly disabused by the codification of film), but also in terms of not saying as much as she can. She paints a fantastic picture but one that is full of gaps, gaps of invisibility in which the story takes place in our minds.
Beyond the invisibility cloak that science (fiction) has been trying to replicate for years, J.K. Rowling is among the first of the world's billionaires whose fortunes were amassed almost solely, in my opinion, by playing in the field of invisibility.
I hold it to be true that we see what we believe more so than we believe what we see.
But what is the basis of belief? Belief, to my mind, is grounded not in 'knowledge' but in disposition. The tools we use to believe are founded in the space of invisibility insofar as what we are want to believe does not have to have basis in evidence but in repetition. Belief is the constant cultivation of disposition to the extent that we massage our circumstances to fit or to contrast with our expectations.
Seeing is often thought to be believing but I say that it is not. What we see is always filtered through a machinery of vision that transforms rather than accepts objects/subjects at face value. The context and not the product of sight is belief. Mixing up the two is ordinary and necessary but limiting.
If invisibility is part of a binary, it's opposite would not be visibility but disbelief. As I wrote yesterday about magic, we are asked to surrender our disbelief in order to enjoy the show. What this means is that magic works when we suspend our disbelief (that what we see couldn't be 'real') and delve into that other-worldly (invisible) realm of belief.
Tomorrow I have an argument to remember to write about belief versus seeing. Invisibility is belief and I'll argue why tomorrow.
A while ago after I asked for assistance in locating research on the concept of invisibility I was forwarded a forthcoming book chapter by Marisol Clark-Ibáñez, who is an Associate Professor in Sociology at Cal State San Marcos that addressed a very tangible example of the impact of multidimensional invisibility on people.
She discussed how 'seeable people' become 'invisible people' by virtue of the machinery of citizenship. This idea fascinates me and is related to my ideas on exile, 'passing', and 'authenticity.' Her research team demonstrated (as have others) that 'illegal' (im)migrants often get lost in a mire of structural invisibility by being allowed to do some things like go to school while having no rights or sense of legitimacy to say anything about the nature of how the institutions address them.
Recently there have been renewed (in my mind idiocy) in Arizona calling for a ban on so-called 'anchor babies.' The larger question, as related to invisibility, demonstrates how corporeal presence does not negate a more dynamic invisibility – control in and through the squashing of power, voice, and a sense of belonging.
It is incredibly ironic that on the one hand there are so many forces at play pushing a free and global world (read economy) while maintaining protectionist practices around the authenticity of people.
To my mind, citizenship ends up being an act of imposing and negating invisibility, not corporeally but otherwise. Not just of those who can be seen and those who must hide, but also in terms of who can be heard or exercise power, and how affect or feelings are used as an arena in which to engage in this struggle.
So much of the discussion coming out of Arizona uses a rhetoric of resource strain when, in reality, they use a strategy of manipulating the multidimensionality of invisibility – attaching to the sight of 'brown skinned people' a way to speak for and act on their behalf as played out in fear, loathing, and anger.
The work that goes on behind the scenes is important insofar as without it what we do see couldn't be seen, or else would be seen quite differently. There's ALWAYS something going on in the background, whether visually, infrastructurally, or otherwise.
What is the power of this work and what of the people who do it? There is much labour that occurs in the space of invisibility, some of which is valued and powerful, some of which is sweat and tears.
There is a fundamental difference between the labour carried on in the shadows of sweatshop factory workers than the same unseen labour of a PR company or artist.
On the web consider if you'd ever want or need to 'see' the webmaster in his/her domain of physical practice. Would that change how you viewed their pages?
In the case of a radio/audio practitioner it often does for me. Once exposed visually, I can't unsee the DJ that I normally just hear. But once I see him/her it's never the same again. Betrayed by vision, my minds eye enfolds their voices and subsumes them to the definite rather than abstract and poetic level of my imagination founded on their voice and their choice of what songs to play.
Inner struggle is an interesting thing because, though it can be seen in small behavioural clues, one can easily mask them.
Take, for instance, the ability for you to conduct yourself through your regular day with a 'secret' in your mind. It impacts you deeply, changes the way you float through the world, yet it is often 'unseen' by others. This makes working through secrets very evocative if unseeable.
Thinking about inner struggle must take into account the intersection of outward façades and inner turmoil. Keeping up appearances is a recognition of the multidimensionality of invisibility. We all do it; put on a brave face, act normal, feign interest.
Since we understand invisibility so deeply and intimately, it seems necessary to consider how we do it and not just that we do it. Hopefully this theory of invisibility upon which I have been working can help in this regard.


text:
/*
    Leola Programming Language
    Author: Tony Sparks
    See license.txt
*/
package leola.vm.compiler;

import leola.vm.Scope;
import leola.vm.util.ArrayUtil;

/**
 * Represents the {@link Outer}s that are stored in a particular {@link Scope}.
 *
 * @author Tony
 *
 */
public class Outers {

    private OuterDesc[] outers;
    private int size;

    /**
     * @param symbols
     */
    public Outers() {
        this.size = 0;
    }

    /**
     * This will allocate a new {@link OuterDesc} array if
     * one hasn't alread been allocated.
     *
     * @return the {@link OuterDesc} array
     */
    private OuterDesc[] lazyouters() {
        if ( this.outers == null ) {
            this.outers = ArrayUtil.newOuterDescArray();
        }

        return this.outers;
    }

    /**
     * Allocate storage for a pre-determined amount of {@link OuterDesc}s
     *
     * @param size the number of entries to allocate for
     */
    public void allocate(int size) {
        if ( this.outers == null ) {
            this.outers = new OuterDesc[size];
        }

        if ( size > this.outers.length ) {
            this.outers = ArrayUtil.resize(outers, size );
        }
    }

    /**
     * Get an {@link OuterDesc} by its stored index
     *
     * @param index
     * @return the {@link OuterDesc} stored in the index
     */
    public OuterDesc get(int index) {
        return this.outers[index];
    }

    /**
     * @return the number of outers
     */
    public int getNumberOfOuters() {
        return this.size;
    }

    /**
     * Store the {@link OuterDesc}
     * @param value
     * @return the index in which this is stored
     */
    public int store(OuterDesc value) {
        /* first check and see if this outer exists already */
        for(int i = 0; i < this.size; i++) {
            OuterDesc v = this.outers[i];
            if(v!=null) {
                if(v.getIndex()==value.getIndex() &&
                   v.getUp() == value.getUp()) {
                    return i;
                }
            }
        }

        if ( this.size >= lazyouters().length) {
            outers = ArrayUtil.resize(outers, outers.length << 1);
        }

        this.outers[this.size++] = value;
        return this.size-1;
    }
}


I like the effect that you have created here Carol . Well done.
You are, indeed, the fave fairy who's come by and sprinkled little fave gifts - THANKS!!!
LOL - You are my inspiration and I have SOOO much to learn! You are most generous with the praise (and I like it!), but next to your work I am still a beginner. That's okay - I am learning and it's so much fun:>). A lovely gift as well - the V/F!
It that dark mystery that haunts so many old places. You're so nice to visit and comment, and vote and make this a fave!
Evocative image, nice processing! I find abandoned homes, barns and cars so intriguing! You only wish they could talk. :) Fave!
Hi, Angela:>) It's true - we wish they had a voice because the stories could entertain us for years. Thank you very much for making this image a favorite - much appreciated!
This old, abandoned farm house/barn is gradually sinking into the landscape. The windows are all empty of glass and the doors are falling off. Moss makes itself at home on the roof. It reminds me of Hansel and Gretel; perhaps the bad old witch lives here! I lost track of everything I did here, but two textures were used, one was duplicated, I changed colors and transparencies, adjusted saturation levels, and worked with brightness. Thank you to Shadowhouse Creations and French Kiss Textures.


text:
Psychedelia at the Catalyst Summit
Sat, May 21, 2022 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
99 University Avenue
Kingston, Ontario K7L 3P5
Add To Calendar 2022-05-21 23:00 2022-05-22 1:00 UTC Psychedelia at the Catalyst Summit Join us for a Screening and Panel Discussion of the documentary, "Psychedelia" with filmmaker Pat Murphy and esteemed panelists Paul Stamets and Dr. Anthony Bossis Queen's University @ 99 University Avenue, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3P5 Hard Rain Films pat@hardrainfilms.com
Join us for a Screening and Panel Discussion of the documentary, "Psychedelia: The History and Science of Mystical Experience" at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. The screening will be followed by a discussion with filmmaker Pat Murphy and esteemed panelists Paul Stamets and Dr. Anthony Bossis.
The film takes viewers on a journey through the origins and resurgence of psychedelic research and explores how spiritual experiences are transforming mental health.
This is the Saturday evening event for the Catalyst Summit, so all conference pass holders will have access. A limited number of spots are being opened up to the public, which you can purchase here. All ticket sales will go directly towards supporting the filmmaker.
"My two favorite movies that are educational are 'Fantastic Fungi' and 'Psychedelia." There was footage I've never seen and it educated me on some things I did not know."
- Paul Stamets, Mycologist and Author
"I've seen many films on the 1960s and the psychedelic renaissance, but I have to say this is one of the best."
- Dennis McKenna, Ethnopharmacologist
"Absolutely terrific… this is an excellent film and one that should be seen widely. It's really a film whose time has come."
- Britt Bunyard, FUNGI Magazine
Stills from the Film (Left to Right): Maria Sabina giving mushrooms to Gordon Wasson, a 1960s LSD study, and Estalyn Walcoff, one of the participants in the NYU Psilocybin Study
EXPERTS FEATURED IN THE FILM
Rick Doblin, Founder of MAPS
Matthew Johnson, Johns Hopkins University
Charles S. Grob, UCLA
Anthony Bossis, NYU Psilocybin Research Team
Jeffrey Guss, NYU Psilocybin Research Team
Stephen Ross, NYU Psilocybin Research Team
Julie Holland, Psychiatrist and Author
Katherine MacLean, Research Scientist
Herbert Kleber, Psychiatrist
Ingmar Gorman, CEO of Fluence
POST-SCREENING PANELISTS
PAUL STAMETS, WORLD-RENOWNED MYCOLOGIST
Paul is the author of seven books. He is an Invention Ambassador for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and was inducted into The Explorer's Club in 2020. He has received numerous awards, including the National Mycologist Award (2014) from the North American Mycological Association (NAMA), and the Gordon & Tina Wasson Award (2015) from the Mycological Society of America (MSA). His work has entered the mainstream of popular culture. In the new Star Trek: Discovery series on CBS, the Science Officer is portrayed by an Astromycologist…. a Lt. Paul Stamets. Paul's work with mycelium became a central theme of this series.
ANTHONY P. BOSSIS, PhD, NYU CENTER FOR PSYCHEDELIC MEDICINE
Anthony P. Bossis, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Center for Psychedelic Medicine. Dr. Bossis was director of palliative care research and co-principal investigator on the 2016 psilocybin cancer anxiety clinical trial. He is study director and lead session guide on an FDA-approved clinical trial evaluating psilocybin-generated mystical experience upon religious leaders. Dr. Bossis is a training supervisor of psychotherapy at NYU-Bellevue Hospital Center and co-founder of the Bellevue Hospital Palliative Care Service. He is on the faculty for The Center for Psychedelic Therapies at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology and a guest editor for the journal's Special Series on Psychedelics. He has a long-standing interest in comparative religion and on the interface of psychology and spirituality. He maintains a private psychotherapy and consulting practice in NYC.
PAT MURPHY, DIRECTOR OF THE FILM
Pat Murphy is a documentary filmmaker and professional film editor, whose work includes programs for PBS, American Masters, and People magazine. He started making Psychedelia in 2011, upon learning about the NYU Psilocybin Cancer Anxiety Study. Aside from filmmaking, he is an enthusiast for the outdoors, American history, and roots music.
We'll be sending out an email reminder before the the event with final details. In the meantime, please send any questions to pat@hardrainfilms.com
Hard Rain Films
Find more Hard Rain Films Events


MMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm how sweet it is awesome job my friend as usual!
Re: Phantom 2 Vision + 8/7/14 - ANOTHER WORLD RECORD!!
In this world DB has always set the bar!
Nice going Chuck thought I seen a further one but cant remember where!
Topic: Canada rookie droner needs advice re: parts and mod.
Re: Canada rookie droner needs advice re: parts and mod.
Read and search my friend all the info you require is here!!!
That must be some good S**t he is smoking!!!
Nice appelm, thanks for sharing that with us!
So why are you leaving here no matter what you fly there is always a place for you here!
*****************Here he goes again**********Got to love it!!!


text:
import { forwardRef } from "react";

import { FontIcon, FontIconProps } from "@react-md/icon";

export const PauseFontIcon = forwardRef<HTMLElement, FontIconProps>(
  function PauseFontIcon(props, ref) {
    return (
      <FontIcon {...props} ref={ref}>
        pause
      </FontIcon>
    );
  }
);


Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, markup, and prose. You'll love the slick user interface, extraordinary features, and amazing performance.
These shortcuts can be combined, so tp@rf may take you to a function read_file within a file text_parser.py. Similarly, tp:100 would take you to line 100 of the same file.
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