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Tag: Jefferson Moore
The 3 [2019] (Movie Review)
After his daughter's tragic death in a school shooting, Jimmy Collins retreats to his cabin in the woods to sulk and drink alcohol. He wants to be left alone in his misery, but he keeps being visited by mysterious characters, some of which he's all too familiar with from the past. Nonetheless, each visitor keeps trying to steer him away from self-destruction and to the love of God that he's forsaken. Will Jimmy turn around before it's too late??
It's unclear why Chip Rossetti and his team continually put out very low quality productions even in the new era of Christian entertainment. The 3 exhibits poor audio quality via annoying sound effects that punctuate actions, a stock soundtrack, background echoes, and obvious overdubs. While the video quality is passable, this is really the only acceptable production element. Sets, locations, and props are also quite cheap and limited, and there's virtually no editing throughout the film. In the end, this level of production problems is simply unacceptable in our current market.
Essentially, The 3 is just a collection of very boring and brooding sequences that consistent either drawn-out scenes that lack dialogue or drab and meandering conversations that lack purpose or direction. Although the story explores some interesting psychological concepts centering around confronting family patterns, they are poorly executed and encased in horribly wooden and improperly constructed bouts of dialogue. When a narrative like this is so heavily character-based, conversations are all-important in crafting deep characters with strong motivations, but The 3 greatly drops the ball in this category. While there are some flashbacks throughout, they are improperly applied, and some darker issues, like suicide, are given too much screentime without being balanced by lighter concepts. As the storyline progresses, however, the psychological world that's created by the plot becomes more and more confusion and ends up getting lost in its own head, much like that of Turbulent. Therefore, this is an effort that lacks any potential or purpose.
Throughout The 3, the cast members exhibit extremely forced emotions and pushy line delivery that overall come off as very robotic and stilted. Other acting is simply bland and vanilla although some of the supporting cast members are slightly better than the principle cast members. However, it's simply not enough to register any life for this basically unnecessary film.
The era of Christian entertainment that once tolerated sub-par efforts like this movie is long over. Standards are higher now, so spitting out more low quality films that crowd the Christian market is unacceptable. Christian movie makers are being held to higher standards and can no longer simply make things just for the sake of making Christian creations. It's high time for us to offer better things for all audiences.
February 7, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie Reviews, PsychologicalTags: 1 point, 2019, Chip Rossetti, Cylk Cozart, Darryl Worley, Drama, Inspirational, Jeff Armstrong, Jefferson Moore, Jessica Bell, Jonathan Plowman, Kate Kilcoyne, Lisa M. Lewis, Matthew Ulm, Psychological, PureFlix, Rossetti Productions, Tina Wesson Leave a comment
An actual copyrighted screenshot
If you thought that Clancy ended where the title character died, you thought wrong (unless this head-scratching sequel is actually a long dream). After they appeared to be on the right track with Reading Kate, husband-and-wife film-making duo Jefferson and Kelly Worthington Moore have create an unnecessary follow-up to a film no one really remembers about characters the audience can't connect with. In this sequel, Nick Best and Clancy are back to…do things…like get involved in street fighting (see copyrighted photo above) and usurp the rule of law because they feel like it. Beyond that, it's hard to pinpoint what this movie's actually about.
As a fairly recent production, we should be seeing Moore more from Kelly's Filmworks than this. While they have a flair for some creative camera angles and establishing shots at times, there are too many dark scenes in this film as well as a lot of silent portions that lack adequate soundtrack support. While video quality is mostly fine, sets, locations, and props are somewhat limited in scope, which doesn't really hold the attention well. The most glaring problems that negatively affect the entire viewing experience relate to the high amount of long, drawn-out sequences that reflect lazy editing and a desperation to squeeze runtime from the thin amount of movie content. As a whole, while this production isn't glaringly bad, it's just not enough coming from a film outfit that's produced more than five movies, especially since the field has higher production standards these days.
The sole point given to this plot is only because of the hilarious exchange between the two main characters about Hallmark cards and Fakebook. Otherwise, there's nothing to offer here. After the riveting opening sequence about the previous movie's events, which appears to suggest Clancy Once Again is actually an alternate ending for the first one or some kind of dream sequence epilogue within the former film, this rendition of the uninteresting Clancy story is full of awkwardly useless conversations and complete with a cheesy villain return subplot. As it desperately grasps for content and purpose amidst a confused landscape and forced premise, unrealistic happenings move things along in order to create an unnecessary suspense feel. Full of coincidences and convenient turns, Clancy Once Again advocates for vigilante citizens taking matters into their own hands rather than trying to wait for the authorities. Obviously, there may be a time and place for this type of action, but the reasons behind it in this film are absurd. When all else fails to keep the runtime above ninety minutes, recycled footage from the first film everybody forgot about is right there to extend your viewing experience. In the end, there's little else to be said except that this is the most unnecessary sequel in the history of unnecessary sequels (and there's lots of those).
Jefferson Moore's unusual preoccupation with Christina Fougnie continues in Clancy Once Again, and her acting skills have not improved with age. In this film, she comes off as even more full of herself as her line delivery is shrill and her emotional expressions are off-putting. Other cast members are bland and vanilla with Moore taking on his usual persona, which wouldn't be all that bad if he actually had lines to work with. Most cast members seem to be phoning in their performances. One standout issue with this section is noticeably bad makeup throughout the whole cast (but most notably on Fougnie). In the end, this rounds out a subpar film lost in a growing sea of Christian movies that's leaving the old guard behind.
Jefferson and Kelly were on the right track with Reading Kate, but they've lost their way again with a useless sequel to a boring film no one cared about in the first place. Where are they headed as movie creators? It's hard to say, but they certainly won't accept dissent or any constructive criticism. They do have experience and some production\writing skills to bring to the table, but they will only find true success in a collaborative environment. However, we somehow doubt this will ever happen since they've been content to operate on their own all these years. Thus, whatever talent they have will likely continue to go to waste.
May 15, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2018, 3 points, Amberly Dunstan, Butkus, Chelsea Skalski, Christina Fougnie, Dathan Hooper, Drama, Inspirational, Jefferson Moore, Jonathan O'Brien, Keith McGill, Kelly Worthington Moore, Kelly's Filmworks, Kevin Rich, Kipp Bennett Moore, Matt Cappotelli, Nakia Barney, Pattie Crawford, Payton, Phillip Cherry, Regina Edwards, Rita Thomas, Rodney Cox, Shawn Taiwone Francis, Spike Western, Theo Edwards-Butler, Tim Kelty, Tom Luce, Tony Milder 29 Comments
Reading Kate (Movie Review)
Michael O'Neil is down on his luck and all alone, except for this daughter. But when he receives word that his estranged separated wife, Kate, is dying of a chronic disease, he jumps at the chance to discover how much money she has. Yet in meeting her again and reconnecting with her, he begins fulfilling her final wishes and discovers that the two of them still have something in common. As Michael reads Kate books to honor her, their conversations turn to eternal things and nature of the afterlife. They must both make significant decisions that will impact their lives forever.
After several years of struggling productions, the Kelly's Filmworks team has finally discovered a winning formula. Though this film is entirely black and white, it definitely adds to the experience and makes it a unique standout. Video quality and audio quality are majorly improved from past films. Camera work is still artistic at times, but Jefferson and Kelly Moore have finally embraced their true artistry. The original soundtrack is very interesting and creative. Sets and locations are somewhat limited in this film, but that is justified given the story. The biggest issue here is the editing, as there are one too many montages. Yet in the end, the production of Reading Kate demonstrates real improvement and gives great hope for the future.
After several years of dead-end plots, Jefferson and Kelly Moore have finally discovered who they truly are as film makers, and this is reflected in the characters they play. They have embraced their personalities and have let them flow into the dialogue of these characters. This dialogue builds them into realistic people that we can connect with and relate to. However, the overuse of montages keeps us from getting to know these characters at a deeper level, which is sometimes we would have liked to see happen in this film. Yet nonetheless, Reading Kate is an honest, character-driven story that draws on the true talents of Jefferson and Kelly Moore. There is some dry comedy throughout, yet some of it is funny. It offers a unique Christian message and intriguing psychological elements that make the viewer think. Though the ending is somewhat abrupt, yet also thought-provoking. In the end, while there is still a little work to do, we are excited about the direction the Moores have chosen to go with their plots.
Though this film utilizes many of the typical Kelly's Filmworks actors and actresses, there demonstrate significant improvement in their performances. This is actually the most improved category, as Jefferson Moore sheds his old personas and trades them for an embracing of his true self. Kelly Moore also finally demonstrates her acting talents that we never had a good chance to see before. Two-character conversation films are hard to effectively act in, but the two of them work well together. Though there are some minor line delivery issues that keep this section form being perfect, this is still something to be excited about.
Sometimes it takes film companies a little longer than others to find themselves and to find where they fit in the industry. Though we have been critical of the work of the Moores in the past, the good thing is that they did not give up and kept trying. The progression of 1 Message, Pieces of Easter, and now Reading Kate demonstrates concerted improvement, which is all we ask of film makers. Now that the older days of low-quality films are behind them, we can't wait to see what the Moores have in store next.
June 22, 2017 January 8, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie Reviews, RomanceTags: 2015, 5.5 points, Aiyanna Flowers, Anna Wallace, Betty Clements, Disease, Elizabeth Wallace, Inspirational, Jefferson Moore, Kelly Worthington Moore, Kelly's Filmworks, Megan Massie, Molly Cooley, Murphy Slone, Romance, Ron Aguiar, Tom Luce 5 Comments
Pieces of Easter {Backroads and Lillies} (Movie Review)
While high-power executive Alza Bennet is on her way to see her parents, her sister, and her niece and nephew for Easter, who car breaks down, which leads to a serious of disastrous events, including her being stuck with a reclusive country farmer as her only option for transport. Since she has not seen her family in over a year, Alza is desperate to get there on time, but things keep happening that delay their trip, not to mention the fact that she and her driver cannot get along at all. But slowly, Alza begins to see the joy of simplicity away from her fast-paced life, even though she hates to be inconvenienced.
Over the years, Kelly's Filmworks has certainly improved their production quality. In Pieces of Easter, video quality and audio quality are what they should be. There are still some trademark Jefferson Moore artistic camera angles, but that's his brand at this point. The soundtrack is also random and cheesy and is seemingly made up of free music. However, sets, locations, and props, are authentic and more diverse than usual. Finally, the poor editing mostly holds this production back from being better. Thus, it must be rated as average. Though this is an improvement from the past, we still feel that they can do better.
Pieces of Easter is a better version of the typical Jefferson Moore two-character conversation plot because things actually happen outside of the drawn-out conversations, and they are actually less drawn out than usual and are broken up by some attempts at comedy. However, not all of the comedy is funny and some of it is quite forced. Though this storyline is a stereotypical fish-out-of-water plot, it is presented better and is likely as good as this type of limited story is going to get. This is likely because attempts were made to develop the characters through dialogue, although they could be deeper. The biggest drawbacks to this plot are the overly-plentiful dead scenes and goofy montages. There are too many slow parts that don't hold the attention and too many references to off-screen content. Overall, though this is a nice try, it really doesn't make it far enough.
With some slightly different than usual cast members, the acting is the strongest portion of this film. However, some lines are still mumbled and some emotions are still over the top. However, most cast members are placed in appropriate roles. This overall rounds off a decent performance.
The Moores and the Kelly's Filmworks team certainly never gives up. They have been on a steady upward trend throughout their career. Pieces of Easter is a far cry from low-quality productions like The Perfect Stranger saga and Clancy. It demonstrates real effort to improve, which is encouraging. With just a little but more work done on production, some continued casting quality, and more creative plots, this team will finally make their mark on Christian entertainment.
June 21, 2017 January 8, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2013, 4 points, Aiyanna Flowers, Alicia Flowers, BJ Davis, Christina Marie Karis, Easter, Inspirational, Jefferson Moore, Keith McGill, Kelly Worthington Moore, Kelly's Filmworks, Matt Wallace, Melissa Combs, Nakia Barney, Pattie Crawford, Paul Kerr, Phillip Cherry, Shelly Johns, Tom Luce 2 Comments
1 Message (Movie Review)
Becca Norris had it all—money, success, and a boyfriend—until her doctor discovers that she has breast cancer and requires a major operation to save her life. However, the operation leaves her changed forever, thus causing her boyfriend to become uninterested in her. His departure sends Becca into a reclusive depression that no one, not even her family, can shake her out of. Yet when her brother gets interested in internet research, Becca meets a man online who is interested in her as a person and who makes her think twice about shutting herself off from the world.
1 Message falls into the typical mold of a Kelly's Filmworks production. With good video quality and overly artistic camera shots, this film is classic Jefferson Moore. Audio quality is fine, but the soundtrack is a bit off. There is basically only one set in this film, but the props are good. Though this production tends to improve as it goes on, there is little to no justification for it being two and a half hours long. There is a serious lack of editing in this movie that will cause many audiences to give up by the first hour. In the end, this is an average production that needs some more fleshing out and cutting down in order to make it more professional.
As previously mentioned, it is mind-boggling that this film is two and a half hours long when there is certainly not enough interesting content to sustain this runtime. The first hour or so of the film is incredibly boring and melodramatic as it confusingly conceals parts of the story for the second hour. The first half includes a fixation on breast cancer and 'genie-ologies', as well as weird attempts at humor. A majority of the 'dialogue' is people verbatim typing and reading stuff on the computer over and over again, which is incredibly boring and does nothing to build the characters, even though there are few of them. Time is also wasted and filled with activities of daily living, including the characters lying around and sulking, which further stunts character development. However, if you have the time and stamina, the story comes down to an interesting point if you can slog through two hours of useless content. Basically, this film needs a serious redo, because as it is, nobody is going to give a care.
With such a small cast, most errors stand out, unfortunately. Though there is some good to be found here, there is also a lot of bad, including some very boring and dry emotions, ridiculously over the top attempts to be dramatic, and very measure line delivery. Unfortunately, Kelly's Filmworks films seem to consistently struggle in this department.
With a movie this long, there should have been plenty of positive things to say. However, rather than making this a deep character exploration plot, time is filled with fluff and fake drama that ruins the good idea that is behind this plot. We can appreciate the work of Jefferson and Kelly Moore, but they often get too lost in the artistry of film making. They would do well to collaborate with different story writers so they can more effectively create films. We believe that they mean well—they just need to take that next step.
June 20, 2017 January 8, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2011, 3 points, Ashley Kate Adams, Christina Fougnie, Christopher Morrow, Disease, Inspirational, Janine Turner, Jefferson Moore, Juliana Allen, Kaleigh Moore, Kelly Worthington Moore, Kelly's Filmworks, Margaret McFadden, Mark Smeby, Mary T. Lennox, Matt Wallace, Melissa Combs, Ruby Lewis, Ryan King, Shelley Dedrick, Staley, Stella Davis, Tim Kelty 3 Comments
Clancy [2009] (Movie Review)
Nick Best is a down on his luck veteran of the military who has chosen to live on the streets due to his drinking habits and his emotional issues. But he is given a so-called second chance when the corrupt mayor of the city he hangs around tells the chief of police to offer a substantial amount of money to Nick for him to keep, Clancy, a runaway abused girl for a week so that the mayor, who is losing his reelection campaign, can have a media field day. Skeptical of this elaborate scheme, Nick decides to take the girl under his wing to protect her, but he soon finds that she is changing his outlook on life.
Why do Kelly's Filmworks productions always look so drab? It's like they were all filmed in cloudy weather. Though the video quality of Clancy is fine, the camera work is atrocious, including very tight shots and shaky camera work that looks like it was literally filmed in an alley with a camcorder. Thus, the lighting is very inconsistent and there are constant loud outside sounds. There is no soundtrack to speak of—just background silence. Sets and locations are very cheap—no thought was given to making them look interesting. Finally, there is absolutely no editing as all content is included—and we mean all content. Every Jefferson Moore silent staring scene is here. In short, the continual creation of Kelly's Filmworks productions is baffling to us. They obviously aren't spending much money on these, but what is the real point if it's going to look this bad?
Clancy includes perhaps the most trumped up scheme possible. Who really believes that a corrupt mayor (aka the most cheesy villain available besides Goliath from Timothy Chey's David and Goliath) would pay off a random homeless guy to keep an abused girl 'safe' for a week in order to boost reelection chances? In what universe would that work? Most importantly, why do we need a movie about this? Why do we need to be forced to see long sequences of characters (mostly Jefferson Moore) wandering around and staring into the distance? There is no way this is going to hold anyone's attention, especially when the dialogue is extremely void and lackadaisical. The story is based on far too many coincidences to keep it going and there is so little content here that we can hardly believe the runtime lasted as long as it did. All we can say is that we were glad when it was over.
Recycling the same old cast members from Kelly's Filmworks (they weren't that good in the first place), Clancy is much like the others from this company. Makeup is bad, costuming is laughable. The only emotions present are either deadpan or over the top. The line delivery is beyond lazy. One would think these cast members would get better with experience.
Jefferson Moore and company are experts at thinking up the most mundane movie ideas and then following through with them. How have they made so many feature length films? One thing you can say for them is that they save money—in all the wrong ways. These movies are definitely easy and cheap to make, but why do we need them? They are utterly pointless and contribute nothing. Maybe they won't make as many in the future. But wait…there's a sequel to this film????
Final Rating: .5 out of 10 points
June 2, 2017 January 8, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 1/2 point, 2009, BJ Davis, Butkus, Christina Fougnie, Christopher Morrow, Eli Muhammed, Ellie Mann, Inspirational, James Bailey, Jefferson Moore, Keith McGill, Kelly Worthington Moore, Kelly's Filmworks, Melissa Combs, Nakia Barney, Regina Edwards, Shalethea Spencer, staring scenes, Stephanie Vickers, Theo Edwards-Butler, Tom Luce 5 Comments
The Stranger [2007] (Series Review)
You never know where Jefferson Moore is going to pop up and solve all of your problems. Whether you're looking for hope, having trouble with a professor, need some interpersonal assistance, need a boost of faith, or any other issues, Jefferson Moore is there to fix the conflict in less than thirty minutes. If you look close, you might be able to see his robed cameos. In short, this is basically a series for the sake of having a series.
For the first of The Stranger, production quality is extremely poor, so much so that it barely warrants its creation. The typical soft light obsession is present and lighting is very poor throughout, especially in the indoor sets. Video quality is quite grainy, and audio quality is terrible, include a loud and clunky soundtrack. There are strange and awkward zooms throughout as well. Though the production improves in the middle of the series, it's far too little far too late that does nothing remedy the past offenses. Finally, there is no editing as all content is included. As we will see next, that's not saying much. But essentially, the production of this series is so bad to start with that there is no justification for its existence.
Must like its copycat series The Encounter, The Stranger follows a formulaic and predictable model for each of its episodes. Each one is full of meandering boring conversations and is based around a shallow story concept. Not much happens as Jefferson Moore shows up to fix stuff, so you know exactly what's going to happen just by reading the episode description. The characters are empty and stereotypical—the dialogue carries an annoying Christian message and is full of platitudes and trite sayings. As expected, there are also a lot of quick fixes to problems. It makes it all the more childish that things are fixed in less than thirty minutes apiece. In the end, there is little to no reason to write these juvenile and disconnected stories just for the sake of having a series in which everybody already knows what happens.
Much of this cast demonstrates forceful and annoying acting. They exhibit unrealistic emotions and lazy line delivery. While there is some good here, it is still overshadowed by unprofessionalism. Also, as we have mentioned before, Jefferson Moore is basically Bruce Marchiano's predecessor, and all that that entails. Basically, this is just another lazy effort.
When the same thing happens over and over again in a series of episodes, there is no hope for continuity. With such a long list of disjointed characters, there are no story arcs or character arcs present. This type of series may be easy to replicate, but it's certainly forgettable.
After The Perfect Stranger and Another Perfect Stranger, was there really a need for a series about Jefferson Moore doing the same things that are in these movies? As if the first two films were even interesting at all, now we get bonuses. Of all the movies that could have been made into series, this was the one that broke through and got the funding. For heaven's sake people, please demonstrate some originality.
March 31, 2017 January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Series ReviewsTags: 2007, Alexis Hughes, Amber Hurst, Amy Hess, Ashley Andereson-Monroe, Benjamin Hack, Butkus, Cassandra Symon, Chad Russell, Christina Marie Karis, Christopher Chiarot, Colleen Mooney Wright, Cory Lash, Elizabeth Wallace, Gina Hughes, Inspirational, Jefferson Moore, Jerry L. Wallace, Juliana Allen, Keith McGill, Kelly Worthington Moore, Kendall Rutledge, Lemuel Brad Jackson, Leslie Kyle Hudson, Matt Wallace, Melissa Combs, Molly Cebe, Neal McConochie, Pattie Crawford, Percy Metcalf, R.C. Jones, Shane Sooter, Stephanie Vickers, Terry Rutledge, Theo Edwards-Butler, Tom Luce, William McNulty 3 Comments
Nikki and the Perfect Stranger (Movie Review)
One night, while Nikki is on her way to Chicago, she has a second encounter with Jesus. She knows she desperately needs Him again, but isn't sure what to do. She's at a crossroads in her faith and needs Jesus to help her understand what to do. However, as usual, Jesus does so in a way that even she could have never expected. So the real question to ask here is can you sit through another film of Jefferson Moore sitting in a cheap set while monologuing?
One again, video quality is the only redeeming element of this very low-effort production. Camera work is also fine, but there's really nothing to it as the main sets are an SUV and a diner (lol). Besides there being awful lighting in these sets, Nikki and the Perfect Stranger includes the Kelly's Filmworks specialty of overdone soft lighting. In addition, there is a cheesy use of special effects throughout. Finally, even though this film is less than an hour long, there is tons of wasted time that is designed to make it longer. This movie barely had justification as a short film, much less a fifty-minute one. In short, this is just another pile of utterly wasted funding.
Again seriously? Why do we need a third installment in this already boring and barely justifiable series? And why name it such a stupid title? Didn't we do this already? Yes, we did, as we are reminded through heavy-handed narration and rehashing of The Perfect Stranger and Another Perfect Stranger. This third film is full of more silly, meandering dialogue designed to kill time. The ideas therein are quite simplistic and only exist because this film was forced to happen. Any issues raised seem very trite and manufactured. Though we now have a second movie of Jefferson Moore talking to this character for more than 30 minutes, we still don't get to know Nikki all that well—she is a distant and vague idea that never materializes into a real character. In the end, there is very little to note here since there is very little content to review. It's very easy to spit out fifty minute films about Jefferson Moore talking to people in close quarters, but what does it accomplish?
At this point in the saga, the acting has greatly digressed to where it seems like none of them are trying or they are trying too hard. Jefferson Moore is slowly morphing into Bruce Marchiano. The other cast members are very robotic and overly practiced. No emotions can be felt. This is really just another disappointing mess.
As it turns out, Nikki's Second Encounter (this movie's new title lol) is the worst one of them all. With hardly anything going for it, there was never any justification for its creation. Creating another saga installment for the sake of creating it is just the sort of thing Christian entertainment does not need. The ideas behind this saga are noble and interesting, but execution is everything. Even the best idea can be ruined by poor presentation and untapped potential.
March 29, 2017 January 10, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2013, David Gregory, Georgette Kleier, Inspirational, Jefferson Moore, Juliana Allen, Kelly Worthington Moore, Kelly's Filmworks, Matt Wallace, Nakia Barney, Tess Fiet, The Perfect Stranger saga, Tom Luce 1 Comment
Another Perfect Stranger (Movie Review)
After Nikki's original encounter with Jesus Christ, her daughter Sarah grew to resent her mother's new faith commitment. Now, over ten years later, Sarah plans to rebel against the faith of her parents by going to make her own life at a far off art school. As Sarah takes a trip to visit the school, she is 'coincidentally' sat beside a mysterious stranger on the plane (multiple times). The more she talks to Him, the more she begins to feel her heart soften. What will she learn before she reaches her destination?
Though the production of Another Perfect Stranger has improved from The Perfect Stranger, that's not really saying much. Video quality and camera work are the most marked improvements; audio quality also shows steps in the right direction. However, the soundtrack is quite stock. Sets are still severely limited, but the most is made of them. The Kelly's Filmworks team still has a weird obsession with soft lighting that becomes annoying. As for the editing, there are too many filler scenes and too much wasted time. Essentially, while things are progressing in the right direction, it's still difficult to see why productions this simplistic are so hard to nail.
For starters, this title is stupid. Naming a sequel movie 'another something' is so cheesy, but in this case, it's not even true, because it depicts the same Stranger from the first installment, not a different one. Anyways, Another Perfect Stranger begins with a useless recap of its predecessor, as if we missed something. Once again, this second installment is full of uninspiring dialogue that speaks of lots of off-screen content and creates convenient plot turns. Though this movie is again about two characters talking on a wide range of topics, we still don't really get to know them very well. With so few characters, these should be deep characters, but they only seem vague in the end. However, their conversations do improve throughout the film and there are some good points raised, even though there are a number of odd comments and asides that seem out of place. But what this plot really comes down to is the fact that there is simply not enough plot content to sustain it, as it is basically a stuck-on-a-plane plot that doesn't involved the Rapture. We want to like it, but just can't find many reasons to.
Jefferson Moore, like Bruce Marchiano, has a Jesus complex; however, Moore might be a better actor than Marchiano when all is said and done. Other cast members in Another Perfect Stranger are okay. There is some over-acting, but emotions are overall believable. Line delivery is mostly average. Overall, this is an average effort with a small cast.
The Perfect Stranger saga is the definition of untapped potential. The saga is based on a very simple idea that needs to be taken farther in order to have full effectiveness. As they are, these films are just cute little Christian movies that people might smile about and then completely forget about. Christian film makers need to strive to be dynamic and groundbreaking; we need to get out of our little bubble and go make a different with our movies. An encounter with Jesus should be a difference maker, not another pedestrian effort.
March 28, 2017 January 10, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2007, 3 points, all the movie stars are into scientology, Calcuttian, Chloe Allen, Christina Marie Karis, David Gregory, Gina Hughes, Inspirational, Jefferson Moore, Kelly Worthington Moore, Kelly's Filmworks, No physical descendants, Pamela Brumley, Pattie Crawford, Ruby Lewis, Shane Sooter, Stella Davis, The Perfect Stranger saga 4 Comments
The Perfect Stranger [2005] (Movie Review)
When Nikki, a lawyer living a fast-paced life, gets a strange invitation to go to dinner with a man who claims to be Jesus Christ, she decides to take him up on the offer, if only to prove him wrong. Throughout the course of the evening, as their conversation ranges on a wide variety of topics, including world religions and the nature God, Nikki begins to see this man for Who He really is, but will she let Him into her heart? By the time the last course comes around, who will she surrender to?
For 2005, this is a very poor production effort. Though the sets are very limited and the budget seems adequate for this small scale of a production, the Kelly's Filmworks team did not deliver. Video quality is grainy and there is a lot of poor lighting throughout, including some cheesy-looking soft light. Though most of the props are okay and audio quality is decent, the soundtrack is very cheap sounding. The editing is very basic, but there is not that much content to work with here anyway. In the end, this is a disappointing effort that should have been easy to execute.
As the original proprietor of the Encounter-style movie, Jefferson Moore was definitely on to something interesting in The Perfect Strange. This was an original idea that had a lot of potential, yet we feel like it did not reach its full potential. Though there are very few characters that have long monologuing dialogue, we don't really get to know them all that well. The portrayal of Jesus is pretty good, but Nikki just seems like a cardboard cutout. She talks a lot without every really saying anything substantial to build her character. There are some interesting issues raised in this plot, but the plotline is fairly linear and lacking in deep content. It's all very surface where it should be deep and concludes predictably. Basically, where The Perfect Stranger could have been truly dynamic, it only scratched the surface.
This small cast is mostly average, yet they are the brightest spot of this film. There are no real embarrassments or glaring errors, but they also seem like they're holding back. Jefferson Moore is fine as Jesus, but other cast members seem inhibited for some reason. Emotion doesn't really come through properly. But in the end, this section is just average.
The Perfect Stranger is a good concept that needs deepening and more creativity. Having two people talk over dinner about pertinent issues is not really the best way to present this otherwise good idea. Monologuing becomes old and wearing, thus boring the audience. Unfortunately, the entirety of this film doesn't hold the attention very well, so important points will be lost. Christian film makers need to make sure they are packaging their good ideas properly so that their messages can be properly conveyed. This is the biggest movie lesson one can learn from this film.
March 27, 2017 January 10, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2.5 points, 2005, Brian Sites, Cassandra Arza, David Gregory, Dennis Martin, Inspirational, Jefferson Moore, John Frazier, Kate Hodge, Kelly's Filmworks, Leslie Kyle Hudson, Mark Noderer, Matthew Chappell, Pamela Brumley, Shane Sooter, Stella Davis, The Perfect Stranger saga, Tom Luce, Vin Morreale Jr. 5 Comments
The Perfect Gift {The Perfect Christmas} [2009] (Movie Review)
Maxine is a spoiled girl who doesn't like the fact that everyone always does something else on her birthday, which happens to be on Christmas Day. Her mother is overworked and barely has time for her, so she takes Maxine help her struggling pastor neighbor at church. At the church, Maxine meets a mysterious but kind drifter who is helping the pastor fix things up for Christmas. As Maxine spends more time around him, she begins to change and have a new perspective in life. As people continue to attack Christmas, she becomes a strong defender of the day, even though it's also her birthday.
It's clear that not much care was given to this production. The video quality is quite poor and many camera shorts are very tight. Also, outside scenes are glaring and loud. Audio quality is equally poor, including a Christmas soundtrack that is blaringly loud in some parts. A lot of props look very cheap to the point that cast members can barely use them. Sets and locations are nothing wowing. As for editing, there are too many wasted uncut scenes. Yet there are also abrupt and awkward transitions between some scenes. Basically, this is an amateur effort that did not pay off.
The entire premise of The Perfect Gift is the typical 'war on Christmas' mantra, including tons of asides about characters being 'persecuted' for saying 'Merry Christmas' and such. The giant strawman is made of the so-called 'anti-Christmas agenda', including terms like 'winter tree' and 'winter gala'. Besides these juvenile false conflicts, nothing else really happens in this plot. It's very boring and does not hold the attention. Many occurrences are unrealistic and all the characters are quite childish. Odd and offbeat dialogue peppers the movie and makes it an unintentional comedy. Perhaps the most perplexing part of this film is the fact that the Jesus character—who is also the creator of the film—has an impassioned speech at the end that actually raises several good points regarding the alleged conflict between atheists and Christmas. Yet Jefferson Moore, the creator, does not seem to actually believe what he is saying, since he inserted so much red meat into the movie about people being anti-Christmas. Overall, The Perfect Gift is both low quality and confusing, an odd combination indeed.
Unfortunately, the story does not get any better here. The few cast members that there are come off as either very obnoxious or totally dead inside. Line delivery is awkward and emotions are childish. The makeup work is amateurish. Basically, there is not much good to say about this film.
Jefferson Moore seems to have a good heart and some slightly interesting ideas. He can probably be credited with writing the original plots that have characters encountering Jesus in everyday circumstances. But with such low production and acting quality, The Perfect Gift will have very little of the impact that it's intended to have. Fixing these two areas would be a good start to improving this film. It really seems like Moore needed some help with this film and it's a shame to see some of his ideas go to waste. Perhaps there will be better things in store for the future.
December 7, 2016 January 13, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Christmas, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 1/2 point, 2009, Amy Hess, Christina Fougnie, Christmas, Inspirational, Jefferson Moore, Jessica Kelley, just wetting down the old nails, Kelly Worthington Moore, Kelly's Filmworks, Marcia Miller, Mark Smeby, Matt Wallace, Pattie Crawford, Paul Kerr, Stella Davis, The Perfect Stranger saga, the whole school smells like potatoes, Tom Luce, vagabond cake maker, William McNulty, winter gala, winter tree 2 Comments


NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The majority of respondents are aware of Alzheimer's disease but have not taken steps to learn about their personal risk or to prepare for its associated financial burden, according to the results of a new WebMD and Shriver Media survey. The findings are part of the newly released WebMD and Shriver Report Snapshot: Insight into Alzheimer's Attitudes and Behaviors, a comprehensive look at our conflicted feelings about the only disease among the top 10 causes of death in America that cannot be prevented or cured. The survey also finds that most people do not understand who is at greatest risk for diagnosis - with just one-third correctly reporting that Alzheimer's afflicts more women than men, or that the disease more often strikes African-Americans and Hispanics than whites.
Despite a majority of respondents (78%) who said they know or have known someone with Alzheimer's - and nearly 1 in 5 (18%) who have cared for someone with Alzheimer's - many acknowledged that they have not taken steps to assess their own risk of getting the disease or to prepare for the financial implications of becoming a caregiver.
The results of the survey were disclosed last night in Los Angeles during Maria Shriver'sArchitects of Change conversation[http://mariashriver.com/blog/category/architects-of-change/] with Seth and Lauren Miller Rogen, founders of Hilarity for Charity, a movement to inspire change and raise awareness of Alzheimer's disease among the millennial generation.
Conducted between January 13 and February 1, 2016, the survey of 4,217 consumers offers an in-depth look at attitudes toward Alzheimer's, shedding new light on the significant gap that exists between awareness and action.
"It's incredibly tough to think about losing your mind or watching a loved one struggle with Alzheimer's," said Michael Smith, MD, WebMD chief medical editor. "There is great concern about the impact of this disease, but denial, fear or other unknown factors seem to be preventing us from taking the necessary steps to prepare. With her legacy of advocacy on behalf of this disease, Maria Shriver and Shriver Media were the perfect partners for us to embark on this exploration into Alzheimer's, and I couldn't be more pleased to be sharing these results together."
"I'm honored to partner with WebMD who provides great insight and actionable information that people trust to uncover these facts," says Maria Shriver. "Alzheimer's is not a natural part of aging. It claims a new person every 67 seconds, the majority of whom are women. This poll and the facts contained in it should shake us all out of denial. This is a disease that affects all of us. And it will take all of us to beat it. The WebMD-Shriver Report Snapshot: Insight into Alzheimer's Attitudes and Behaviors has the facts and I'm hopeful it will ignite the fight in all of us to find the cure. I've spent 13 years working on this issue, and I'm heartened that now more people than ever know about it, but enough awareness, we now need action."
To read the full WebMD and Shriver Report Snapshot: Insight into Alzheimer's Attitudes and Behaviors, providing additional data [and expert perspectives], visit: http://blogs.webmd.com/breaking-news/2016/02/survey-reveals-beliefs-behaviors-on-alzheimers.html.
While the majority of respondents (66%) acknowledge that Alzheimer's-related costs could cause their family great financial harm, 71% said their family is not financially equipped to deal with the disease.
Millennials in particular are in a precarious position. Two-thirds (66%) said they have never considered the financial implications of someone in their family being diagnosed. They were more likely than any other age group to describe themselves as "caregivers on deck," with 32% saying that the majority of caregiving would likely fall to them if a parent or grandparent were diagnosed with the disease. Half of millennials (51%) said they are not concerned about getting the disease, primarily because they believe they are years away from having to worry about it (44%).
The cost of caregiving is heavy across all age groups. More than 1 in 5 (22%) people have assumed caregiving responsibilities for someone with Alzheimer's, with almost half of these caregivers (47%) saying it is either a full- or part-time job. More than 1 in 4 caregivers (28%) provide hours of care each week that are the equivalent of a full-time job (40+ hours). Another 1 in 5 (19%) spend the equivalent hours of a part-time job (20+ hours).
Women were more likely than men to say they were or had been a caregiver (24% vs. 17%) and were more likely to quit a job than men (16% vs. 8%) in order to care for someone with Alzheimer's.
67% did not know Alzheimer's is more likely to strike African-Americans and Hispanics than whites.
49% did not know that a woman in her 60s was more likely to get Alzheimer's than breast cancer.
Further, 67% state that they want to better understand their risk for Alzheimer's. Yet when provided a list of steps they could take to assess their risk (e.g. reviewing their medical or family history with their doctor, genetic tests, etc.), 41% said they would not do any of them.
About 5.3 million Americans currently have Alzheimer's, and the number is expected to increase 40% by 2025. Approximately a third (34%) of survey respondents said they are concerned about getting the disease. Among those who are concerned, 69% cited being a burden to family and 60% cited the lack of a cure as the main reasons for their unease. Even with high awareness of the disease and its potential impact, only 11% of those surveyed said that they had talked to their doctors about ways to prevent it.
Among the respondents who did not identify as "concerned" (46% unconcerned, 20% neither concerned nor unconcerned), 40% said their rationale is that they take care of their health, while 36% said they cannot do anything about it anyway.
Physicians appear to share in concerns about available treatment options. According to a new Medscape survey titled Medscape Alzheimer Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Survey, also released today [http://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/public/alzheimer-disease-report], less than a third of doctors (29%) believe that anything can be done to prevent Alzheimer's. However, a significant majority (77%) are confident that it is possible to slow the disease's progression.
The complete report, including articles, graphics, and an op-ed penned by Ms. Shriver, are now available at WebMD.com[http://www.webmd.com/news/breaking-news/confronting-alzheimers/default.htm] and MariaShriver.com. On March 3, WebMD will also publish an exclusive video interview with Ms. Shriver, Seth and Lauren Miller Rogen, conducted by WebMD Chief Medical Editor Michael Smith on its website. Video clips from the February 24Architects of Change conversation are also available online at [http://www.shrivermedia.com/project/experiences/].
The WebMD and Shriver Media survey was completed by 4,217 random U.S.desktop and mobile WebMD site visitors from January 13 through February 1, 2016. All visitors had an equal probability of answering the survey. The sample represents the WebMD.com online population with a margin of error of ± 1.51% at a 95% confidence level, using a point estimate (a statistic) of 50%, given a binomial distribution.


While installing PTC MKS Toolkit Interoperability Products can be as simple as inserting the product CD, or running the self-extracting executable and following the instructions on the dialogs that appear, there are areas that can benefit from additional explanation. Besides the standard installation procedures for PTC MKS Toolkit, and PTC X/Server, there are two special types of installations: Silent installation and Administrative installation. This page and the others discussed below provide detailed instructions on performing all these types of installations.
While the standard PTC MKS Toolkit Interoperability Product installation is often straight-forward, some parts of the installation procedure can benefit from further explanation. Click the appropriate link below for a detailed description of the procedure.
It is also possible to perform what is known as a silent installation. Such an installation goes on in the background without any input from the user. For further instructions on implementing a silent installation, please contact PTC MKS Toolkit Customer Support (Log a case:https://support.ptc.com).
An administrative installation is designed for use in situations where a company has multiple licenses for installing PTC MKS Toolkit Interoperability Products. Since all installations for this company will often use the same Product Key, it is useful to have this information entered only once and then have it appear automatically for each individual installation.
Click here for a detailed description of how perform an administrative installation.
As with full installations, installing a patch for a PTC MKS Interoperability Product is often straight-forward; however, some aspects, such as patching an administrative installation, can benefit from further explanation. Click the appropriate link below for a detailed description of the procedure.
Click here for a detailed description of how to install PTC MKS Toolkit patches.
Click here for a detailed description of how to install PTC X/Server patches.


text:
Q: how to close a dialog without closing the mainwindow? whenever i try to go with sys.exit(app.exec_()) it closes the app entirely which im trying to prevent
im using pyqt5
class Ui_Dialog2(object):

    def setupUi(self, Dialog):

        def add(self):
            mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
              host="localhost",
              user="root",
              password="",
              database='shop'
            )
            mycursor = mydb.cursor()

            if self.lineEditName.text()!='' and self.comboBox.currentText()!='' and self.lineEditPrice.text()!='':
               x = self.lineEditName.text()
               y = int(self.lineEditPrice.text())
               z= self.comboBox.currentText()
               mycursor.execute(f'INSERT INTO `items` (`ID`, `Name`, `Price`, `Unit`) VALUES (NULL, "{x}", "{y}", "{z}");')
               self.lineEditName.setText('')
               self.lineEditPrice.setText('')

            else:
                dialog = QtWidgets.QDialog()
                newp =Error.Ui_Dialog1()
                newp.setupUi(dialog)

                dialog.exec_()

        Dialog.setObjectName("Dialog")
        Dialog.resize(400, 300)
        self.lineEditName = QtWidgets.QLineEdit(Dialog)
        self.lineEditName.setGeometry(QtCore.QRect(60, 50, 271, 20))
        self.lineEditName.setObjectName("lineEditName")
        self.lineEditPrice = QtWidgets.QLineEdit(Dialog)
        self.lineEditPrice.setGeometry(QtCore.QRect(60, 190, 271, 20))
        self.lineEditPrice.setObjectName("lineEditPrice")
        self.comboBox = QtWidgets.QComboBox(Dialog)
        self.comboBox.setGeometry(QtCore.QRect(120, 120, 151, 22))
        self.comboBox.setObjectName("comboBox")
        self.label = QtWidgets.QLabel(Dialog)
        self.label.setGeometry(QtCore.QRect(60, 30, 141, 16))
        self.label.setObjectName("label")
        self.label_2 = QtWidgets.QLabel(Dialog)
        self.label_2.setGeometry(QtCore.QRect(120, 100, 141, 16))
        self.label_2.setObjectName("label_2")
        self.label_3 = QtWidgets.QLabel(Dialog)
        self.label_3.setGeometry(QtCore.QRect(60, 170, 141, 16))
        self.label_3.setObjectName("label_3")
        self.pushButtonSave = QtWidgets.QPushButton(Dialog)
        self.pushButtonSave.setGeometry(QtCore.QRect(60, 250, 131, 23))
        self.pushButtonSave.setObjectName("pushButtonSave")
        self.pushButtonCancel = QtWidgets.QPushButton(Dialog)
        self.pushButtonCancel.setGeometry(QtCore.QRect(200, 250, 131, 23))
        self.pushButtonCancel.setObjectName("pushButtonCancel")

        self.retranslateUi(Dialog)
        QtCore.QMetaObject.connectSlotsByName(Dialog)
        self.comboBox.addItem('', '')
        self.comboBox.addItem('', '')
        self.comboBox.setItemText(1, 'Kilo Gram')
        self.comboBox.addItem('', '')
        self.comboBox.setItemText(2, 'Gram')
        self.comboBox.addItem('', '')
        self.comboBox.setItemText(3, 'No')

        self.pushButtonSave.clicked.connect(lambda: add(self))
        self.pushButtonCancel.clicked.connect(self.close())

    def retranslateUi(self, Dialog):
        _translate = QtCore.QCoreApplication.translate
        Dialog.setWindowTitle(_translate("Dialog", "Dialog"))
        self.label.setText(_translate("Dialog", "Name:"))
        self.label_2.setText(_translate("Dialog", "Unit:"))
        self.label_3.setText(_translate("Dialog", "Price:"))
        self.pushButtonSave.setText(_translate("Dialog", "Save"))
        self.pushButtonCancel.setText(_translate("Dialog", "Close"))

if __name__ == "__main__":

    app = QtWidgets.QApplication(sys.argv)
    Dialog = QtWidgets.QDialog()
    ui = Ui_Dialog2()
    ui.setupUi(Dialog)
    Dialog.show()
    sys.exit(app.exec_())

as you can see ive also tried self.close but it gives me this error:
AttributeError: 'Ui_Dialog2' object has no attribute 'close'
anyway i can go about this without closing the parent window?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Charities riding high from Team GB's success
Following the success of Team GB's cycling achievements in last year's Olympics, Mayfair Office members, Bell Ingram has decided to put its charity donations to three very different cycling events this year.
Firstly, the Corrieyairack Challenge, Scotland's toughest mountain duathlon where entrants follow in the footsteps of Bonnie Prince Charlie over Scotland's highest mountain road. Organised by Speyside Trust Badaguish Outdoor Centre, entrants will take to the mountainous Corrieyairack Pass which lies between Fort Augustus and Laggan in the Scottish Highlands to raise funds for the Trust which provides special services to people with disabilities.
Spinning the wheels second is Fiona MacKintosh and her daughter, Gillian, who are cycling across Cuba for Women V Cancer Cycle Challenges in memory of those friends and family they have lost to the disease. They are raising money for three British charities – Breast Cancer Care, Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust and Ovarian Cancer Action.
And finally Bell Ingram will be lead sponsor of the Oban Cycle Sportive which is dedicated to Chris Bell, a member of the organising committee who sadly lost his life at the age of 24 in an avalanche at Glencoe earlier this year. There will be two routes in the challenge for varying levels of fitness and the money raised will be used by the Oban Rotary Club to support local charities.
Bell Ingram and our staff members take great pleasure in participating in charitable fundraising activities and getting involved in the community spirit which these events promote so well.
Through these three events we also hope to support the cycling culture as a means of promoting ways we can reduce our impact on the environment as well as the positive health benefits derived from cycling.
For further information please contact :
Anne Marie McCloskey - Assistant Marketing Manager
Bell Ingram Limited, Durn, Isla Road, Perth PH2 7HF

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


It is generally agreed that a bird in the hand is worth two (or three, or more) in the bush. President Trump, however, does not see it that way.
It has been a busy week in Washington as first French President Emmanuel Macron and then German Chancellor Angela Merkel dropped in to try to persuade Trump not to pull out of the 2015 deal that prevented Iran from developing nuclear weapons for the next ten years. They failed.
This is the most dramatic split in the Western alliance since Germany and France refused to go along with the foolish and illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003 (but Britain went along with it to preserve its imaginary influence in Washington). Indeed, the only American allies that have been urging Trump to pull the plug on the nuclear deal are Israel and the conservative Arab states, which hope to draw the US into a war with Iran.
They are the exceptions because they are the only countries that actually feel threatened by Iranian nuclear weapons. Well, maybe Pakistan too, since that country's six nuclear explosions in 1998 were the catalyst that set Iran's nuclear weapons programme in motion. On the other hand, Israel already has hundreds of nuclear weapons and shouldn't worry so much. Deterrence works.
A nuclear-armed Iran would certainly pose no threat to any of the six countries that signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 deal that put Iran's nuclear weapons programme on hold. The US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China all have far more nuclear weapons than Iran would ever possess (or, in Germany's case, belongs to an alliance that does). Deterrence still works.
So why did they all bother? Probably because they prefer an Israeli monopoly on nuclear weapons in the Middle East. They don't all love Israel, but if more countries in the region had nukes, the Middle East's endless wars might one day lead to a local nuclear exchange. Maybe that could be contained in the region, but maybe not; some of the major regional powers have outside allies.
So there was general support on the United Nations Security Council for stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons, and UN economic sanctions were placed on Iran from 2006 onwards. US sanctions were far older, but the deal that was signed in 2015 ended all UN sanctions and the most severe US sanctions, which targeted Iranian banks and oil exports.
Unfortunately for Iran, the country remained largely excluded from the world banking system because banks feared the re-imposition of the sanctions, and so much of the economic relief Iran expected from the end of sanctions never arrived. There is therefore growing hostility in Iran to the JCPOA deal, but why is it even stronger in the White House?
He calls the deal "insane" and the "worst ever", complaining that it imposed only a ten-year ban on Iran's suspect nuclear activities, did not stop the country from testing ballistic missiles, and did not stop Iran from interfering in other countries. "They should have made a deal that covered Yemen, that covered Syria, that covered other parts of the Middle East," he said.
These are birds in the bush, and they were never within reach. It took two years of negotiation just to get a deal for 10 years of restrictions on the Iranian nuclear programme in return for an end to UN economic sanctions. There was no way that Iran was going to place its foreign, military and energy policies under UN supervision forever. The deal accepted by Obama in 2015 was realistic; Trump's preferred substitute is pure fantasy.
What really drives Trump's hatred of the deal, in all likelihood, is simply the fact that it was one of Obama's major successes – what Macron referred to as "domestic reasons". It fits a pattern: Trump's cancellation of the trans-Pacific trade deal, the US withdrawal from the climate pact, the largely unsuccessful assault on health care ('Obamacare'), and now the attack on the Iran nuclear deal.
So Trump will repudiate the Iran deal on 12 May, or maybe a little later. It will probably then die (although the other five countries will try to keep it going), because Iranians' pride will not let them stay in a deal whose benefits, in terms of access to world trade, have evaporated. And in Pyongyang, Kim Jong-un will draw his conclusions about the reliability of the United States as a negotiating partner.
Rex Tillerson did not suffer fools gladly. He called Donald Trump a "moron" in a private conversation after one meeting at the Pentagon, and did not take the opportunity to deny it when a journalist asked him in public. In meetings with the president, he would "roll his eyes and slouch" whenever Trump said something he thought was particularly stupid. It's amazing that he lasted as long as he did.
He wasn't a very good Secretary of State either. He gutted the State Department in the name of efficiency, and large numbers of experienced diplomats quit in despair as he 'downsized' the organisation. His only real achievement in his fourteen months in office was to restrain Trump from doing some truly dangerous things like starting a major confrontation with Iran. But we'll miss him now that he's gone.
Donald Trump used to enjoy dismissing people with a brutal 'You're fired!' when he was doing reality television, but he seems to have problems doing it face-to-face. Tweets addressed to the world at large are more his style, with his actual victims left to find out from the media. But he is getting rid of the people who question his judgement at an impressive rate: 35 senior people have been fired or quit in little more than a year.
The net effect of all this 'turmoil' in the White House, unsurprisingly, has been to remove most of the people whose ideas, values, or experience and knowledge of the world led them to disagree with Trump's obsessions, his policies (to the extent that he has any), or just his whims of the moment. What's left, for the most part, are the yes-men and women.
The most notable remaining exceptions are the three generals who hold high positions in the Trump administration: his chief of staff, John Kelly, the defence secretary, James Mattis, and the national security advisor, H.R. McMaster. But McMaster is widely rumoured to be next for the chopping block, and even Kelly's willingness to continue shouldering the role of senior grown-up indefinitely is to be doubted.
The Cabinet he wants is one that is entirely free from the constraints that were initially imposed on him by the Republican Party's establishment. He is a populist who cherry-picks ideas from anywhere, and no more a Republican than he is a Democrat. In fact, he once was a Democrat, and even considered trying to hijack the Democratic Party's presidential nomination before the 2008 election.
In the end he hijacked the Republican Party instead, but it did try to rein him in by putting orthodox Republicans in key positions in his administration. His struggle to be free began with the dismissal last July of the Republican Party's choice as his chief of staff, Reince Priebus. It has ended in total victory in the past two weeks with the resignation of his chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn, and the firing of Rex Tillerson.
So stand by for Trump to alienate all of America's main allies by sabotaging a treaty they worked very hard to achieve. Since he has swallowed Saudi Arabia's argument that Iran is an 'expansionist' power that must be stopped, even direct military clashes between the US and Iran, especially in Syria, become a lot more likely.
And what about the unprecedented meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that Trump agreed to last week (without consulting Tillerson)? In theory it's a good idea, because nuclear war in the Korean peninsula is a very bad idea. But there are few people left around Trump who can steer him away from disastrous decisions. They can't even make him read his briefing papers.
Ali Abdullah Saleh seized power in Yemen in 1978, when he was only 36 years old. He lost it in 2012, when the 'Arab spring' was in full spate, and had been trying to get it back ever since. Thirty-four years was not enough. But on Monday, his truly astonishing ability to switch sides got him killed.
Saleh was Saudi Arabia's man in Yemen for a long time, but when Riyadh turned against him in 2012 and put his vice-president, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, in power instead, Saleh went rogue. A lot of the army was still loyal to him, so he made an alliance with the powerful Houthi tribes in the north (exactly the same people whom he had attacked six times in the past), and started working his way back.
In 2014 the Houthi militia and Saleh's forces seized control of the capital, Sanaa, and Saudi Arabia's new placeman, President Hadi, fled south to Aden, the country's second city. Later Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia, and the Houthi-Saleh alliance took over most of the country.
Yemen matters a lot to the Saudis, because it is the other big country in the Arabian peninsula, with 27 million people (same as Saudi Arabia), but it is very poor and very unstable. The fact that almost half the Yemenis follow the Shia branch of Islam (in their own Zaidi variant) is of particular concern to the Saudi regime.
Such distinctions didn't stop the Houthis (who are Shia) from getting together with Saleh's people (who are mostly Sunnis), because Yemenis are not much troubled by such things. But the Saudi Arabian regime, all Sunnis, is obsessed by the 'Shia threat'. That mostly means Iran, their rival across the Gulf, but the Saudis sees Iranian plots everywhere, especially if there are Shias involved.
The current Yemeni civil war is about the twentieth such power struggle in the past thousand years, and little different from all the others. Iran no doubt enjoys the Saudi Arabian panic about it, but there is no evidence that it is sending the Houthis anything except good wishes. Whereas Riyadh and its allies are sending bombers.
In March 2015 Saudi Arabia and eight Arab allies launched a bombing campaign against the Houthis and Saleh's forces, with the United States and the United Kingdom both providing political, logistical and propaganda support to the operation. More than 8,000 Yemenis have been killed by the coalition's air strikes and around 50,000 wounded, but the lines on the ground have scarcely shifted in the past two years.
The air war has been very costly for Saudi Arabia both in money and in reputation, and it has been getting increasingly embarrassing for the man who started it, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. So Ali Abdullah Saleh calculated that this was the right time to change sides: he could get a good price for ratting on the Houthis, and maybe even recover the presidency he had held for so long.
The Houthis, however, had seen his treachery coming. They accused Saleh of staging a coup against "an alliance he never believed in," and Sanaa was engulfed by heavy artillery fire as the Houthis went to war against their former ally. Despite Saudi air strikes to help Saleh's forces, the Houthis had fought their way to within 200 metres of Saleh's house by Monday morning.
Reports differ about what happened next. Some say Saleh died in the wreckage of his house, which was blown up by Houthi fighters. Others say he made a run for it in his car, which was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. What the internet images show is a fatal wound in his head. The old fox is definitely dead, and the civil war within the civil war is probably over.
Bits of Saleh's army may fight on for a while, but without him to bind them together most of Saleh's soldiers will eventually either go over to the Houthis or go home. The Houthis will be a bit weaker without Saleh's support, but so long as the the coalition's members are not willing to put large numbers of their own troops in the ground in Yemen – and they are not – the Houthis will probably keep control of most of the country.
And the war will go on until Mohammed bin Salman gets tired of it, or the Saudis get tired of him.
Five months ago, during Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, he was invited to open the "Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology". (I'm not making that up.) The huge, darkened room they were in looked like a cross between a starship bridge and a television control room. And there was a photo op, as there always is at these events, but this one was different.
There was a glowing orb on a pedestal, with the continents in black and the seas in pale grey. Trump, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and Egyptian dictator General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi all put their hands on it as if they owned it – and held the pose for almost two minutes.
The radiant globe (and the illuminated floor) lit their faces from below. If you want to make somebody look evil, light the scene dramatically from underneath, and they did look evil in a comic-book sort of way. Like the three witches in Macbeth, suggested conservative commentator Bill Kristol. And everybody knew that their curses were aimed at Iran.
Now Trump has directed more curses at Iran, declaring that he will pull the United States out of the 2015 agreement that prevents Iran from developing nuclear weapons for the next ten years. Or rather, he has announced that Congress will do that – but the Republicans probably don't have enough votes in the Senate to make it happen.
Why didn't he do it himself? Maybe he just wanted to share the blame. Every one of Trump's senior officials and advisers has told him not to do it, and so have all of America's allies. Every other signatory to the treaty – Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union – also says it will continue to abide by it no matter what the United States does.
Trump says Iran is cheating on the deal, but Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Iran is implementing it faithfully, and all the other signatories agree. Trump doesn't like the fact that Iran tests ballistic missiles, or supports dictator Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and says they are against the "spirit" of the treaty, but those things were not part of the deal.
If there is one thing Trump understands, it's contracts. If the words are in the contract, then it's part of the deal. If they aren't, then it's not part of the deal. There is nothing in the treaty with Iran that says it has to do everything the US wants, and nothing either that says it must not do things that Washington does not like. It's strictly about Iran not working on nuclear weapons, and the other countries dropping their sanctions against Iran.
And why does Trump want to kill the treaty anyway? One reason is that he is pursuing a bizarre vendetta against ex-president Barack Obama, seeking to erase every one of his legislative and diplomatic achievements regardless of their value. But he has also fallen in with bad company.
Trump really is one of the three witches now: he has joined the alliance of conservative Arab states against Iran, although it doesn't serve any imaginable US interest to get involved in a war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. You can blame that choice on Trump's ignorance, perhaps, but Saudi Arabia and Israel are run by well-informed and intelligent people. Why do they want to cancel the nuclear deal?
On the face of it, it makes no sense. If your choice is between Iranian nuclear weapons some time after 2025 (if the treaty isn't renewed or extended before then), or Iranian nuclear weapons in one or two years' time (if it is abrogated now), why would they prefer the latter? Yet they do. Their unspoken calculation may be that if the nuclear agreement does get trashed, then there will eventually be a war – but the United States will be on their side.
There is no doubt that Trump can pull out of the treaty even if Congress will not do it for him. He just has to declare new sanctions against Iran, which is well within his power. And if he does, other Western companies trading in Iran will find themselves banned from the huge American market unless they go along with the ban, so they will probably comply no matter what their governments say now.
But even if all that comes to pass, Trump cannot stop Iran from making nuclear weapons once the treaty is gone. The United States would probably suffer no grave damage as a result, as it is a long way from Iran. The Arab states and Israel could suffer greatly, but turkeys vote for Christmas all the time.


On On Point NPR Boston (December 6, 2005), Tom Palaima discusses UT summer Greek alumnus Lt. Col. Ted Westhusing and his death in Iraq in the context of a general discussion of contractor corruption in Iraq, with LA Times journalist T. Christian Miller and U.S. Representative Steven Lynch.
Eric Dexheimer on UT Austin athletics financing and spending.
John Maher, Articles on Athletics and Academics at University of Texas at Austin, October 28-29, 2007.
Aleta Lutz, who is mentioned in Palaima's commentary of June 28, 2006 has given us permission to provide here a pdf file of her stories Que Paso? & Other Texas Stories (2003).


He focuses on macular degeneration and retina diseases.
Treatment can improve vision for one-third to about half of patients with wet macular degeneration, ophthalmologists interviewed said.
Early detection is helpful. Ophthalmologists recommend people get thorough eye exams by age 65 even if they're not having symptoms.
Anti-VEGF drugs, despite their effectiveness, don't cure wet macular degeneration. Ongoing treatment is needed.
Patients get the drug through injections in the eye, typically monthly or every 6-to-8 weeks.
Many patients wish medications for wet ARMD lasted longer and came in pill form.
"The current commercially available drugs have revolutionized our outcomes, but they don't come without a burden," said Dr. David Eichenbaum, vitreous-retinal specialist and active researcher at Retina Vitreous Associates of Florida.
Between 10 million and 15 million people in the United States have macular degeneration.
More than three-fourths have the dry type, in which parts of the macula get thinner and drusen, tiny pieces of protein, accumulate.
People with the dry type lose central vision at a slower rate than with the wet, but it can rob sight, Okun said. Dry can develop into wet.
"Wet is always preceded by some signs of dry" in people with ARMD, Eichenbaum said.
Standard treatment for dry ARMD is to take specified amounts of vitamins C and E, lutein, zeaxanthin, zinc and copper in the intermediate stages. The Age-Related Eye Disease Study found benefit from that vitamin-mineral formula.
Smoking is a major risk factor. Quitting reduces risk of vision loss and of ARMD advancing.
Retina centers in Polk County and nearby take part in ongoing clinical trials of treatments.
LADDER or Long Acting Delivery of Ranibizumab trial is testing the safety and effectiveness of giving recently diagnosed wet macular degeneration patients that anti-VEGF medicine through a refillable implant in the eye.
"It shows great promise," Eichenbaum said.
Patients enrolled in LADDER are treated through Retina Vitreous Associates, which has offices in Tampa and St. Petersburg, and through Retina Associates of Florida, which has an office in Lakeland but does trials in Tampa.
LADDER still is enrolling for a subset of the trial for patients on blood thinners, said Janet Traynom, clinical research coordinator for Retina Associates.
Another trial with local involvement is studying the drug OPT-302 in conjunction with ranibizumab/ Luctentis. OPT-302 is designed to block proteins that cause blood vessels to grow but aren't being targeted by existing anti-VEGF drugs.
Center for Retina and Macular Disease interviewed its first potential patient for the OPT-302 trial in November, Hamilton said.
Many trials focus on dry, age-related macular degeneration. The phrase ''geographic atrophy,'' meaning late or end stage, shows up often.
Oracea (doxycycline), approved to treat the skin condition rosacea, is being examined to see whether it can help advanced dry ARMD. It comes in pill form.
Retina Vitreous Associates is listed for the Oracea trial on www.clinicaltrials.gov, a go-to list for trials.
Ophthalmologists recommend patients consult with their eye doctors about their suitability for trials listed there.
At Sarasota Retina Institute, patients with end-stage AMD can take part in a trial letting them have a miniature telescope implanted in the eye even if they've already had cataract surgery. Outside the trial, it's only allowed in patients who haven't had cataract surgery.
Two examples of investigational drugs — Zimura and Lampalizumab — go after complement factors or complement proteins in the immune system.
The body uses these proteins as "a hand grenade" against invading cells, Hamilton said, but sometimes they attack good ones. The drugs are designed to inhibit the proteins.
Center for Retina and Macular Disease is enrolling patients for a Zimura study. Retina Vitreous will activate one this year.
High hopes for Lampalizumab were somewhat dimmed when its maker announced in September it hadn't met the goal in one study for treating geographic atrophy. Another remains in progress.
Despite setbacks, researchers remain optimistic.
"A lot of other drugs are in the pathway," Eichenbaum said.
Robin Williams Adams can be reached at robinwdams99@yahoo.com.


text:
1. The Multi-dimensional Poverty Index developed by Oxford Poverty
and Human Development Initiative with UNDP support covers which of
the following?
1. Deprivation of education, health, assets and services at household
2. Purchasing power parity at national level
3. Extent of budget deficit and GDP growth rate at national level
The multi-dimensional poverty index (MPI) bases its estimation on
education (years of schooling and attendance in schools), health (child
mortality and nutrition) and standard of living (electricity, sanitation,
drinking water, flooring of the house, cooking fuel and asset ownership).
Equal weights are assignments to the three lead factors such that the
weights are proportionately split among the sub-factors.
2. Consider the following specific stages of demographic transition
associated with economic development
1. Low birth rate with low death rate
2. High birth rate with high death rate
3. High birth rate with low death rate
Select the correct order of the above stages using the codes given below:
(a) 1, 2, 3
(b) 2, 1, 3
(c) 2, 3, 1
(d) 3, 2, 1
Countries are initially characterized with high birth rate and high death
rate as there are not enough health facilities available, the population is
unaware of the health and hygiene practices to be followed. As
development happens, improvements in hygiene, sanitation, food
availability reduces the death rate. This is the phase when population
growth quickens. With further development, education and literacy, the
population is apprised of family planning and contraception which checks
the birth rate as well.
3. Which of the following can aid in furthering the Government's
objective of inclusive growth?
1. Promoting Self-Help Groups
2. Promoting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
3. Implementing the Right to Education Act
The concept of inclusive growth is based on both economic and social
empowerment of ordinary and under privileged individuals. Thus all the
statements are correct.
4. With reference to the National Rural Health Mission, which of the
following are the jobs of 'ASHA', a trained community health worker?
1. Accompanying women to the health facility for antenatal care
2. Using pregnancy test kits for early detection of pregnancy
3. Providing information on nutrition and immunization
4. Conducting the delivery of baby
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
5. The endeavour of 'Janani Suraksha Yojana' Programme is
1. to promote institutional deliveries
2. to provide monetary assistance to the mother to meet the cost of
3. to provide for wage loss due to pregnancy and confinement
(c) 3 only
The endeavour of Janani Suraksha Yojana programme are : (i) to promote
institutional deliveries (ii) to provide monetary assistance to the mother
to meet the cost of delivery.
6. How does the National Rural Livelihood Mission seek to improve
livelihood options of rural poor?
1. By setting up a large number of new manufacturing industries and
agribusiness centres in rural areas
2. By strengthening 'self-help groups' and providing skill
3. By supplying seeds, fertilizers, diesel pump-sets and
micro-irrigation equipment free of cost to farmers
National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) is a poverty alleviation
project implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government
of India. This scheme is focused on promoting self-employment and
organization of rural poor. The basic idea behind this programme is to
organize the poor into SHG (Self Help Groups) groups and make them
capable of self-employment.
7. Consider the following:
1. Hotels and restaurants
2. Motor transport undertakings
3. Newspaper establishments
4. Private medical institutions
The employees of which of the above can have the `Social Security'
coverage under Employees' State Insurance Scheme?
In March 1943, B. P. Adarkar was appointed by Government of India to
create a report on health insurance scheme for industrial workers. The
report became the basis for the Employment State Insurance (ESI) Act of
The act was initially intended for factory workers but later became
applicable to all establishments having 10 or more workers. As on 31
March 2016, the total beneficiaries are 82.8 million.
8. How do District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) help in the
reduction of rural poverty in India?
1. DRDAs act as Panchayati Raj Institutions in certain Specified
backward regions of the country.
2. DRDAs undertake area-specific scientific study of the causes of
poverty and malnutrition and prepare detailed remedial measures.
3. DRDAs secure inter-sectoral and inter-departmental coordination
and cooperation for effective implementation of anti-poverty
4. DRDAs watch over and ensure effective utilization of the funds
intended for anti-poverty programmes
All the statements are self explanatory
9. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) acts as a bankers' bank.
This would imply which of the following?
1. Other banks retain their deposits with the RBI.
2. The RBI lends funds to the commercial banks in times of need.
3. The RBI advises the commercial banks on monetary matters.
(a) 2, and 3 only
The Reserve Bank of India acts as a lender of last resort and a bankers'
bank. It provides credit to banks in times of need and other banks retain
their deposits with the RBI. Although RBI time and again gives its views
on the health of the banking sector and takes measures to strengthen it, it
does not really advise the commercial banks on monetary matters.
10. Under which of the following circumstances may 'capital gains arise?
1. When there is an increase in the sales of a product
2. When there is a natural increase in the value of the property owned
3. When you purchase a painting and there is a growth in its value due
to increase in its popularity
Capital gains are profits from the sale of a capital asset, such as shares of
stock, a business, a parcel of land, or a work of art. A capital gain is
realized when a capital asset is sold or exchanged at a price higher than its
basis (an asset's purchase price, plus commissions and the cost of
improvements, minus depreciation). Similarly, a capital loss occurs when
an asset is sold for less than its basis. Gains and losses (like other forms
of capital income and expense) are all measured in nominal terms—that
is, not adjusted for inflation.
11. Which of the following measures would result in an increase in the
money supply in the economy?
1. Purchase of government securities from the public by the Central
2. Deposit of currency in commercial banks by the public
3. Borrowing by the government from the Central Bank
4. Sale of government securities to the public by the Central Bank
(c) 1 and 3
Money supply increases when money flows out of the RBI. Purchase of
Govt securities from the public by the Central bank leads to transfer of
money to the public thereby leading to increase in money supply in the
economy. Similarly, borrowing by the government from the Central bank
leads to increased money supply.
However, deposit of currency in commercial banks by the public doesn't
lead to increase in money supply as the money just gets transferred from
public to commercial banks.
12. Consider the following statements: The price of any currency in
international decided by the World Bank
1. Demand for goods/services provided by the country concerned
2. Stability of the government of the concerned country
3. Economic potential of the country in question
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1, 2, 3 and 4
(d) 1 and 4 only
Price of any currency in the international market is determined by the
demand for goods/services produced by the country. If the demand for the
product is high then the currency would be strong. The current
depreciation of the Indian Rupee is due to rising oil prices. The stability
of the government of the concerned country has no role to play in
determining the prices of a currency.
13. The basic aim of Lead Bank Scheme is that
(a) big banks should try to open offices in each district
(b) there should be stiff competition among the various nationalized banks
(c) individual banks should adopt particular districts for intensive
(d) all the banks should make intensive efforts to mobilize deposits
The basic aim of Lead Bank Scheme is that there should be stiff
competition among the various nationalized banks and big banks should
try to open offices in each district.
14. Which of the following can be said to be essentially the parts of
'Inclusive Governance"?
1. Permitting the Non-Banking Financial Companies to do banking
2. Establishing effective District Planning Committees in all the
3. Increasing the government spending on public health
4. Strengthening the Mid-day Meal Scheme
All the statements are self explanatory.
15. Which of the following would include Foreign Direct Investment in
India?
1. Subsidiaries of foreign companies in India
2. Majority foreign equity holding in Indian companies
3. Companies exclusively financed by foreign companies
(d) 1, 2 and 3 only
Portfolio investment doesn't mean direct investment. It refers to
investment in the security markets in India.
Subsidiaries of a company come under Direct Investment. Majority equity
holding and exclusively financing a company in India leads to getting
some control in management or taking part in operations and is thus
Direct Investment.
1. The price of any currency in the international market is decided by
the World Bank.
4. Economic potential of the country in question.
Select the correct answer using the codes below:
(a) 1, 2, 3 and 4 are correct
(b) 2 and 3 are correct
(c) 3 and 4 are correct
(d) 1 and 4 are correct
17. In India, in the overall Index of Industrial Production, the Indices of
Eight Core Industries have a combined weight of 37.90%. Which of the
following are among those Eight Core Industries?
1. Cement
2. Fertilizers
3. Natural Gas
4. Refinery products
5. Textiles
Select the correct answer using the codes given below
(c) 1, 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
The eight core industries included are- Coal, Crude oil, Natural Gas,
Petroleum refinery products, Fertilizer, Cement, Steel, and Electricity
generation. These eight industries comprise 40.27% of the weight of the
items included in the Index of Industrial Production.
18. What is/are the recent policy initiative(s) of Government of India to
promote the growth of the manufacturing sector?
1. Setting up of National Investment and Manufacturing Zones
2. Providing the benefit of 'single window clearance'
3. Establishing the Technology Acquisition and Development Fund.
The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), after its
recent push for Rs 6,000 crore (US$ 889 million) textile sector package,
aims to persuade the Government for similar support in the manufacturing
sectors with large-scale employment generation opportunities, such as
electrical and electronics engineering, footwear and light manufacturing
segments, which also have export potential.
Also Read: UPSC 2011 Economics Questions and Answers : A detailed explanation with Solutions
Get UPSC CSE Prelims 2012 Economics Questions and answers. This helps you to prepare UPSC prelims and understand the patterns of questions.
economics questions for upsc prelims, economics topic wise questions for upsc prelims, upsc economics question paper
UPSC 2011 Economics Questions and Answers : A detailed explanation with Solutions


Along with all things pastel, unicorns are also having a moment. The whimsical (not mythical because they're real, okay?) creature is associated with soft hues, rainbows, glitter and sparkles, and everything pretty—and who could resist any of those things?! If you love unicorns, we round up 10 magical things that will make your life more enchanting.
Nothing like a sparkly purse that can keep your small items or spare change!
Juice up your phone with this adorable unicorn-head powerbank!
Who says you can't adult with a unicorn on your shirt? This maroon sweatshirt lets you wear your love for unicorn in a subtle (but cute!) way.
Do we really have to explain why you absolutely need these fluffy bedroom slippers in your life?
Add a touch of whimsy to your office desk with this unicorn paperclip holder!
Stay magical under the pouring rain (or scorching sun) with this cute umbrella.
Say hello to your new summer bestie! This unicorn floater is definitely a beach essential.
You're never too old for a fluffy backpack especially if it's Agnes' so-fluffy-I'm-gonna-dieÂunicorn from Despicable Me!
Having a sparty at home with your gal pals? Of course you'll be the one wearing this unicorn onesie all night long!
Give your phone a magical touch when you dress it up with this irresistible unicorn case!


text:
Home » Orthodox Saints of the Pre-Schism See of Rome » 12th December
ABRA, little is known of St. Abra's life. She was the daughter of St. Hilary of Poitiers (13th January), and devoted her short life to good works amongst her fellow Christians in Poitiers. St. Abra reposed, apparently of natural causes, at the age of eighteen in 360.
AGATHA, a nun, and disciple of St. Lioba (28th September) at Wimborne Abbey, both of whom joined St. Boniface (5th June) in his mission to the Germans. St. Agatha reposed c. 790.
COLMAN of GLENDALOUGH, an Abbot of Glendalough Monastery in Glendalough, Co. Wicklow, Ireland. He reposed in 659, and aside from being listed in the various Irish Kalendars nothing further is known of his life.
COLUMBA, this St. Columba was a native of Leinster, Ireland who after receiving monastic tonsure became a disciple of St. Finnian of Clonard (vide infra). He later served as Abbot of Tyrdaglas in Munster, Ireland. St. Columba was known for his great sanctity, and when St. Finnian was dying, it was St. Columba who is said to have given him the Viaticum. St. Columba reposed 548 at Tyrdaglas.
CORENTINUS (CURY), a hermit at Plomodiern in Brittany who is said to have been consecrated first Bishop of Cornouaille (present-day Quimper France) by Saint Martin of Tours (11th November). St. Corentinus reposed circa 490.
CORMAC, little is known of the life of St. Cormac, beyond his listing on various calendars on this date, as a sixth century abbot of great holiness. According to some sources he was a friend of St. Columba of Iona (9th June). The calendar of the Moscow Patriarchate lists a St. Cormac of the Sea who reposed 590, and whose feast is kept on 21st June.
Magister Sanctorum Hiberniae Sui Temporis
FINNIAN (VENNIANUS) of CLONARD, an early sixth century Irish abbot, founder of churches and monasteries, teacher, and wonder-worker. The twelve Apostles of Ireland were amongst his disciples, and St. Finnian is considered one of the fathers of Irish monasticism.
Little is known about his early life, which has led to him being confused with St. Finnian of Moville (10th September) at times, and there have been those who have even argued that he is merely a local manifestation of the Ulster saint. However, various Irish annals and genealogies clearly differentiate between the two.
Icon of St. Finnian of Clonard
St. Finnian went to Wales and became a disciple of SS. David (1st March), Gildas (29th January), and Cadoc (24th January). It should be noted that one or two sources assert he may have spent time at the monastery of St. Martin in Tours before going to Wales, though the majority opinion does not concur. No one is certain how long St. Finnian stayed in Wales. What is known is once he returned to Ireland, St. Finnian set about preaching and founding churches. He first founded the monastery at Aghowle, Co. Wicklow, and aside from Clonard, his most notable foundation was the church cum monastery at Skellig Michael (12 km / 8 mi off the coast of Co. Kerry). However, his most important contribution to the Church in Ireland was Clonard monastery, where at least three thousand clerics, abbots, bishops, and laymen from all over the British Isles, and Europe took advantage of both its sanctity as well as outstanding scholarship. St. Finnian and Clonard's greatest claim to fame was training those great saints who went on to found important monasteries of their own.
St. Finnian reposed on 12th December, most likely a victim of plague. At the end, he is said to have been attended by his former pupil St. Columba of Tyrdaglas (vide supra) who gave him the Viaticum. The year of his repose has been the subject of some debate, the Four Masters list his repose as taking place in 548, though the Chronicon Scotorum lists him as one of the victims of the plague of 551. St. Finnian is the patron saint of Roman Catholic Diocese of Meath, of which some believe he was an early bishop. However, the Annals of the Four Masters , Martyrology of Donegal , as well as other Irish calendars all list him as only an abbot.
Troparion of St. Finnian of Clonard
Tone II
As one who laboured with zeal in the vineyard of God,
by ascetic struggles and toils thou didst ascend
from glory to glory, O God-bearing saint.
Wherefore, joining chorus now with all the venerable on high,
thou standest with boldness before the throne of the King of all,
Whom do thou beseech, O Finnian most wise,
that He have mercy and save our souls.
Kontakion of St. Finnian of Clonard
Tone VIII
Imitating the desert-dwellers of old, forsaking all the allurements of this world,
O venerable one, thou didst found houses for monastics throughout the Irish land,
filling its hills and vales with a host of noetic warriors who,
trained by thee, cut down the evil serpent with the sword of patience
and put his vile minions to flight through prayer.
Wherefore, we cry out to thee: Rejoice, O Finnian our father,
radiant beacon of the grace of God!
GREGORY of TERRACINA, a spiritual child of St. Benedict of Nursia (11th July) from whom he, and his brother St. Speciosus (15th March), received monastic tonsure. St. Gregory, later living at a monastery at Terracina, 55 km (35 mi) south-east of Rome. St. Gregory reposed circa 570.
MAXENTIUS, CONSTANTIUS, CRESCENTIUS, JUSTIN, and COMPANIONS, martyrs in Trier (circa 287), during the Diocletianic Persecution.
SYNESIUS, a young reader in Rome who, in 275, was martyred by beheading for preaching the Christian faith during the reign of the Emperor Aurelian (r. 270–275).


NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — In the days leading to Thursday's Rule 5 draft, which is the official end of the Winter Meetings, the Yankees believed Luis Torrens' history and performance this past season in the lower levels of the minor leagues would keep him from being selected.
Then, with the second pick, the Reds took the 20-year-old catcher. They are expected to trade Torrens to the Padres.
Torrens missed all of 2015 with a shoulder problem. He appeared in 52 games this past year for Staten Island (Short-Season A) and Charleston (Low-A), and batted .250. He was plucked off the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre roster for $100,000. If he doesn't stick in the big leagues with the Padres for the entire season and the Yankees want him back, they will have to pay $50,000.
In 135 career minor league games, Torrens has thrown out 41 percent of runners attempting to steal bases.
The Yankees also had right-handed reliever Tyler Jones (Arizona), lefty starter Caleb Smith (Milwaukee) and left-handed reliever Tyler Webb (Pittsburgh) taken in the first round.
In the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft, the Yankees lost right-hander Ty Hensley (Rays), who was the Yankees' first-round pick in the 2012 draft, righty Kevin Magallanes (Royals) and infielder Kevin Cornelius (Cubs).
The Yankees selected catcher Jorge Saez (Blue Jays) and right-hander Colton Brewer (Pirates) in the Triple-A draft.


Once again we are supporting Lord Taveners in their effort to collect unwanted football boots. They ensure they are donated to deserving causes both in the UK and developing countries.
I'm sure with the new season coming, and the boys growing all the time, new boots will be bought. Please donate your old ones. All sizes are welcome.
We just ask that they are in good condition and CLEAN please!!!
If you can do this BEFORE you disappear on holiday it would be really helpful but it should be no later that the end of July so we can meet The Lord Taveners deadline for collection. We have extended this into September.
You can drop them off at the following address on your travels. Please put them in the white cupboard in the side of the house.


text:
Q: Styling and CSS Recently i found an issue with the styling of a text-area. When i inserted the following code in the view file of a Yii Application and below given styling code in the CSS file, the border of the text area remained as it is when encountered an error, i.e. when i didn't enter any text into a the text-area.
View file code

        <?php echo $form->labelEx($model,'body'); ?>

        <?php echo $form->textArea($model,'body',array('style' => 'min-width:80%;max-width:80%;min- height:20%;max-height:200px;border:1px solid #666')); ?>
        <?php echo $form->error($model,'body'); ?>

CSS
.form .error label:first-child,.form .error {
color:#C00;
}
.form div.error textarea,div.form textarea.error{
background:#FEE;
border-color:#C00;
}

Now when i insert the inline CSS code inside the external stylesheet:
 array('style' => 'min-width:80%;max-width:80%;min- height:20%;max-height:200px')

The color of the border of the text-area changes as I wanted. I just wanted to know, whether this happens due to the higher priority of the inline style than that of the stylesheet or due to any other reason.

A: This sounds like a specificity issue, you can read about it here but the general gist is a sort of priority in CSS like so:

*

*!important

*Inline styles div style="color=red"

*Element ID's div id=""

*Classes, attributes and pseudo-classes class="", :focus

*Elements and pseudo-elements body, :before
The first thing you can do to test if it IS a specificity issue is to use !important after the declaration, if that works, it is, you are defining the style elsewhere and need to overwrite it with something more specific (probably requires an ID)