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Their church is the street
Kashi devotees feed inner-city homeless, dispute claims they're in cult
Inside VC/July 12, 2003
By Tom Kisken
Los Angeles -- A 1996 Subaru Outback swerves through Thai Town, Little Armenia and other inner-city recesses, making U-turns and street-side stops so its occupants can feed homeless outcasts with nicknames like Buddha Boy, the Toenail Man and Sinbad.
As they cruise their regular route, two devotees of controversial guru Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati search for people sitting in bus stops though they have no place to go, human wreckage hidden under layers of blankets beneath a bridge, and telltale grocery carts loaded with bedrolls, clothing and, in one case, a flute.
When a sighting is made and the car stops, a 69-year-old man wearing shorts fishes on the floor for a bottle of water and a paper sack filled with a brownie, banana and ham-and-cheese on a bagel. He bounds out and asks, "How about some lunch?"
Arnold Pomerantz was once a vice president and division director for Payless Shoesource. Now retired, he and about two dozen other core members of an interfaith community in West Hollywood devote themselves to the teachings of Bhagavati and explain to outsiders why they shouldn't be viewed as a cult.
Described by her students as a loud, effusive woman who comes from a Jewish family in Brooklyn, Bhagavati founded the community known as Kashi nearly 30 years ago. It melds Hinduism with other faiths, as illustrated by a prayer room filled with statues of gods like Ganesha but also represen-tations of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Known simply as Ma, Bhagavati leads more than 500 students and associates across the country from a Kashi ashram on Florida's Atlantic coast, making conference calls once a month.
Though she has been accused by former members of controlling her students' lives and abusing her authority psychologically and financially, Pomerantz and others say they are free to sever the connection at any time. They stay, in part, because of their teacher's emphasis on providing care for people with AIDS, giving food to people on the street and finding other ways to serve.
"I asked, 'How do I find God?' She (Bhagavati) said, 'Feed the homeless, take care of the sick and take care of the dying,' " Pomerantz said. "My purpose is to serve others and in that way I'm ultimately serving myself."
On the last Saturday of each month, the Los Angeles students split into groups of two and three and deliver about 800 meals to the homeless, sometimes dispensing toothpaste and condoms as well.
Pomerantz and Janice Engel, a documentary filmmaker and student of Bhagavati's, deliver meals on a shorter route every week. They once paid for the food themselves but now it is either donated or bought with money set aside for the program, called Under the Bridges and on the Streets.
Some of the homeless they feed seem to reside in another world. One man's jeans are drenched with an unknown liquid. Another is engaged in intense conversation with himself. Others wait weekly at the same street corners or camps for their lunches, showering their servers with thanks. One or two insist on a hug.
Pomerantz and Engel talk of how one regular seems to be losing teeth and another seems to have disappeared. Some weeks, they mark the lunch bags with hearts encircling the words "Ma loves you," in reference to their teacher.
But ask Louis, who wears a Domino's cap and on this day camps on a shady hillside, about the guru and his face registers a question mark. If he's heard of her, he doesn't remember. He'd rather talk about his recently stolen bicycle. And that's fine with Engel. "I'm not here to proselytize," she said. "I'm just here to feed people."
Engel has made films about everything from singer Jackson Browne to motorcycle women. She is a transplanted New Yorker who still drives and swears like one. Until meeting her first teacher, Guru Mayi, and then joining the Kashi community and Bhagavati about 11 years ago, Engel viewed such spiritual leaders with a leathery layer of cynicism.
"I was like, 'Guru shmuru. Give me a ... break,' " she said.
But she watched and helped Bhagavati care for people diagnosed with AIDS and other illnesses, moved by the leader's fearlessness and empathy.
"I think service is the path to God," said Engel, who donates about $2,500 a year to various Kashi causes. "If you don't reach out to help your fellow human beings, you're living in the dark."
About 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday in June, seven students practiced yoga in a tented back yard in a neighborly, almost suburban community a few blocks from Beverly Hills. This tiny ashram is Kashi's Los Angeles center.
Only two devotees live here, a swami and an acharya, or instructor, who are married and, for spiritual reasons, celibate. Others live throughout the area with one man coming from Santa Barbara. They drift in during a breakfast of scrambled eggs and soy sausage, later forming a backyard assembly line to piece together lunches for the homeless.
The Los Angeles students once concentrated largely on caregiving for AIDS patients. They're still involved but now also emphasize feeding the homeless.
Years ago, when the focus was squarely on AIDS, Bhagavati would visit the Los Angeles center every few months for intense gatherings of storytelling, mourning for people who had died and vegetarian feasts. Folk musician and Bhagavati student Arlo Guthrie would perform.
Now she comes once a year but also leads phone conferences and blessings called darshans every month. Many devotees visit her several times a year at the ashram in Roseland, Fla.
The bond is apparent in the photos of Bhagavati that along with her abstract paintings seem to anchor every wall. Students quote her often about how there is no such thing as throwaway people. She gives them Kashi names with translations like, "Always at the Feet of the Guru." An e-mail address incorporates the phrase "ma4me."
"It's the closest bond there is," explained David Nelson of Santa Barbara, who has two gurus. "It's closer than the biological bond between parent and child. This is a bond that is not even severed with one person's death."
Students say the connection mystifies some westerners who associate gurus with cults. They talk of lives and friends outside of Kashi. They say core members aren't forced to turn over their income, though some pay voluntary dues of about $25 a year and contribute several times that to a Kashi school, the Under the Bridges and on the Streets program, AIDS funds and other causes.
They say they balance absolute trust in their teacher with the free will to make their own choices. They quote Bhagavati saying that people should run away from any leader who claims his or her path is the only option.
"If I was suspicious in any way," said Engel, offering what is almost a mantra at the West Hollywood center, "I wouldn't waste my time. I wouldn't stick around."
But many of the accusations published in Florida newspapers come from former devotees who say Bhagavati controls her students' lives by brainwashing them. They say she has used nonprofit money to gamble and even condoned a beating at the Roseland ashram.
Some of the Los Angeles students follow the controversies closely. Others say they're weary of the battles. They all defend Bhagavati and refute any and all allegations.
"I would have nothing to do with her or the ashram if that was true," said Peter Nava, a real estate agent who has been a devotee for about 13 years and considered himself a close friend of Richard Rosenkranz, once a Bhagavati student and now her harshest critic. Nava said the controversies do have an impact.
"I think it affected everyone because it put them in shock," he said.
An ashram leader said the controversies may have scared away some people interested in Kashi. Others like Pomerantz talk about their trust in absolute terms.
He views himself as sort of a lamp connected by a cord to a divine sense of power. God provides the charge. Bhagavati is the conduit.
Pomerantz is openly gay, as are several people at the Los Angeles center, and he credits his guru for showing him that a person's soul has neither gender nor sexual orientation.
Though his corporate success led him to a position where he supervised 600 stores, Pomerantz said he feels more fulfilled tramping out to jerry-built tents and shelters to offer someone lunch.
"We go where they live without fear," he said. "When I get so many God-blesses from people, I feel protected."


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$50,000 Elder Scrolls basement created by comic artist
By TJ Dietsch 06.14.2015 :: 11:31AM EST 06.14.2015
Do you think you're a big time fan of The Elder Scrolls? You've got nothing on comic book artist Tyler Kirkham. Need proof? He spent $50,000 to turn his Kaysville, Utah-based home's 1,500 square-foot basement into a massive tribute to the fantasy role-playing game.
The artist is known for comics like Teen Titans, Action Comics, Earth 2: World's End, and various Green Lantern books, and had the support of his wife Jill and the know-how of his contractor dad to bring the dream to life. The project started off in 2012 and is now a fully functional ode to the series' setting of Tamriel, as you can see in this Barcroft TV video.
The whole set-up is impressive, but Kirkham and company really kicked the design process up a notch with the secret passage, shower waterfall, and dummies for weapons practice. Smaller touches like an Italian crossbow, eclectic bottles, and German animal horns really bring the space together.
"It felt amazing to turn our dream vision of what we wanted the space to be into a reality," Kirkham said. "I wanted to do something fun with the basement and I love the fantasy world of these games."
Kirkham plans to put the resulting $20,000 home theater to good use with the recent release of The Elder Scrolls: Tamriel Unlimited, the console-based version of the MMO. Earlier this year, the PC version dropped the basic subscription fee, but does still have a premium version available for $15 per month. Tamriel Unlimited launched without any kind of sub fee, except it might cause you to spend $50,000 when you want to play in deep within a basement decorated with a theme it inspired.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The standards-based visual arts curriculum provides a clear vision of the knowledge, skills and concepts all New Haven public schools students need to learn through the study of the visual arts. We view the arts as a rigorous subject area with its own content of knowledge, vital in developing educated citizens.
The goal of the curriculum is for students to develop visual literacy. Students are expected to think critically, learn the language of the visual arts and create artwork which reflects personal experience and imagination.
The structure of the curriculum is based on the language of the visual arts, composed of the elements of art and principles of design. The units of study introduce the elements of art; line, shape, color, space, form and texture as the building blocks artists use to create works of art. Students learn how these elements of art are organized using the principles of design; rhythm, balance, emphasis, variety, harmony and unity. The art vocabulary introduced with each unit is designed to gradually increase students' understanding of the art-making process throughout the grade levels.
The curriculum requires art teachers to plan and implement the lessons for each unit incorporating three significant tasks: Responding to Art, Creating Art, and Making Connections. It offers teachers the flexibility to choose the media, techniques, artists and resources to teach the concepts in each unit of study.
In Response to Art, students observe, describe, analyze, interpret, compare and contrast diverse art works which relate to the unit they will be studying. The curriculum provides a method for teaching response to art for all grade levels. Teachers are encouraged to use literature as a resource for subject matter.
In Creating Art, teachers are asked to guide students in experimenting with art materials and techniques to create artwork that is based on personal experience and imagination.
In Making Connections, the units of study integrate Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies. In the viewing and analysis of works of art, students develop oral language and practice skills which correlates to the method used in response to literature. Students discover that Math concepts such as developing shapes and forms, comparing, measurement, proportion, perspective, visual-spatial relationships and grids are part of the visual arts curriculum. The process of creating art is similar to the experimentation process in Science and students learn that works of art reflect the time and place in history in which they were created.


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Top media firm unable to recover costs because CFA did not cover much of its work
Posted by Neil Rose
Agreement: retainer should have been put in writing
A leading media law firm has lost the recovery of hundreds of thousands of pounds in costs after the High Court upheld a master's ruling that its conditional fee agreement (CFA) did not cover much of the work it did.
Taylor Hampton (TH) was acting for individual and corporate defendants in an action brought by Oscar-nominated film director Michael Radford over a project to make a Spanish film called La Mula.
In Radford & Anor v Frade & Ors [2016] EWHC 1600 (QB), Mr Justice Warby explained that Mr Radford was retained to direct the film but in time the parties fell out and the director left the shoot and was replaced.
In July 2010, Mr Radford and the partnership through which he traded started legal action and obtained injunctions, which included prohibiting the defendants from using or publishing film footage he had shot without his authority.
Taylor Hampton and Augustus Ullstein QC were instructed under CFAs to set aside the injunctions and also dispute the jurisdiction of the English court and service of the proceedings.
Warby J recounted: "The initial objective was substantially achieved by a consent order made by Tugendhat J on 23 May 2012… By this point the substantive proceedings against the individual defendants were over. But they continued against the corporate defendants."
TH successfully applied for summary judgment, and Sir David Eady dismissed an application for permission to appeal against it on 28 July 2014. The defendants became entitled to recover their costs.
Master Eyre made an order for payment of £120,000 on account of costs, which was upheld by Sir David.
In the detailed assessment proceedings TH submitted a bill in the sum of £805,500. This was on the basis that all the work carried out by the firm and Mr Ullstein was done pursuant to their CFAs, and they were entitled to recover success fees accordingly.
However, Master Haworth in the Senior Courts Costs Office ruled that the work done by TH between 23 May 2012 and 28 July 2014 was outside the scope of the CFA, and that the defendants were not liable to pay for it.
"It is said that the effect is to disallow most of the defendants' costs," Warby J noted.
Master Haworth ruled that the CFA – which was adapted from the Law Society model – was meant to cover only procedural issues such as service and jurisdiction.
He continued: "The consequence of my finding is that the defendants had obtained a win as defined by the agreement by 23 May 2012. By that date the scope of the agreement had come to an end and accordingly the defendants are unable to recover costs from the claimants under the terms of the CFA from that date."
Mr Justice Warby rejected criticism of the master's decision. "In the end, one comes back to the meaning of the words used, in their context," the High Court judge said. "The work for which the parties contracted under the CFA was limited to the pursuit of procedural points which had already been identified, on the basis of which the defendants were to seek to get rid of the claim and obtain damages under the cross-undertaking and possibly an anti-suit injunction.
"That work came to an end on the making of the consent order of 23 May 2012. It is common ground that the CFA did not extend to work on the defence of the claim, or the counterclaim. It did not, on its true construction, extend to work on the much later application to strike out or for summary judgment."
He also knocked back the argument that the original retainer had survived the creation of the CFA. And while the conduct of the parties indicated an unwritten retainer on a conditional fee basis for the period after 23 May 2012, the solicitors "failed to take the precaution of ensuring that this CFA was reduced to writing so as to satisfy section 58(3)(a) of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990".
Master Haworth had also ruled that the defendants could not recover any fees for work done by counsel after 23 May 2012, because his CFA was made with TH, and the clients had no liability to pay TH.
He further found that, in any event, no fees could be recovered for work done by counsel in respect of the corporate defendants, who were not identified as counsel's clients in his CFA with TH. There was an attempt to address this second problem with a deed of rectification in July 2015 during the assessment proceedings.
Warby J rejected appeals on these points too, ruling in relation to the attempted rectification: "The effect of a costs order is to create a liability to pay, subject to assessment, those costs which a party has paid or is liable to pay at the time the order is made. The liability to pay costs crystallises at that point and, although its quantum will remain to be worked out, that process must be governed by the liabilities of the receiving party as they stand at that time.
"To allow enforcement of a retrospective agreement which increases those liabilities would be to alter retrospectively the effect of the court's order."
Taylor Hampton has been approached for comment.


Educatext was created to bridge the communication gap that exists between schools and parents. This app is designed to help parents, teachers and educators teach their kids through technology. Send and share quotes, educational facts, homework reminders and more from our built-in student categories. Need to know the largest body of water or maybe the 44th President? It's all here at your fingertips.
Do Your Children Need Fresh Ideas?
Educatext is a motivational tool and a resource to help your child succeed. Start off by using this resource to motivate and challenge your child to achieve a greater knowledge and understanding of any subject matter.
Educatext is a game changer smartphone application that brings with it opportunities to not only open new inroads into the use of digital technology for the classroom of the future, but to also help improve student performance at the same time. The successful validation of this cutting edge technology will only serve to validate the potential of the smartphone as a vital component of the classroom of tomorrow.
Smartphones and tablets in conjunction with a variety of communication protocols serve to keep the community connected in many different ways. Communication is not only how people communicate and relate, but the term also can be used to characterize the process of information transfer.
Whether you have an Android tablet or the IPAD, Educatext will allow the users to communicate effectively not only on a broad range of grade levels, but through a wide range of subject matter. Educatext includes completely customizable categories that let the user control the study focus.
If a smartphone is not available, the computer can step right in as your conduit to Educatext. Simply go to Educatext.com and create your personal profile. Then, all you need is for your student to complete the task. With grading scales and progress reports, you can easily track the progress of any student.


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Awesome Replicas
Big Little Tikes
BBC takes a ride in John Bitmead's adult-sized toy car. Based on the classic Little Tikes coupe, Bitmead's car has a top speed of 70mph. It has an airbag, headlights and side mirrors, all of which make it roadworthy in the UK.
McLaren F1 Replica
Jacek Mazur builds replicas of exotic cars in his spare time. His masterpiece is a replica of the McLaren F1. It cost him only about $33,000 to make a poor man's version of the $8M car, although it did take him 8 years to build it.
BttF DeLorean Replica 2
Owned by Robert "Videobob" Moseley, Bob's Prop Shop specializes in building replicas of famous movie cars, including Doc Brown's iconic DeLorean DMC-12 time machine. You can also rent the car for $1,500 per day.
1:4 Scale Working V8 Engine
This working 1:4 scale model of a V8 engine was made by Home Model Engine Machinist forum member keith5700. It has an electronically-controlled fuel injector, a throttle position sensor and an ECU. It cost him about $2,200 to build.
Triforce Video Game Replicas
Videogame prop maker Triforce is obsessed with the quality and fidelity of their products. That has earned them the respect of game developers, so much so that they're now designing 3D models for games. See more of their work here.
Elysium TST Chemrail Rifle Replica
A perfect copy of the dual-stage linear motor rifle wielded by Matt Damon in Neill Blomkamp's Elysium. This prop is made from fiberglass by the talented craftspeople of Weta Workshop, who also made the original movie weapons.
Dumpsty
Tiny replicas of alley dumpsters: monuments of urban life and canvases for the street artist. Measuring 11″x10″x8″, Dumpsty can be used as a document holder or – yep – a trash bin. You can customize them with stickers or lids.
Epic Halo Needler Replica
Harrison Krix of Volpin Props shows off his incredible replica of the Needler from Halo 4, as it goes from concept to completion in this time-lapse. The gun measures 31 in. long, weighs 10 lbs. and is lit by 54 LEDs. Build log on Tested.
Knight Rider KITT Replica
Chris Palmer turned his 1991 Pontiac Trans Am into a replica of KITT from the '80s TV show Knight Rider. His car doesn't talk and has no weapons, but it does have KITT's dashboard, steering wheel and red scanner bar. More here.
Star Trek: I.D. Blu-ray Phaser Set
This limited edition 3D Combo Blu-ray box set of Star Trek: Into Darkness comes with a life-size phaser replica. Made by Quantum Mechanix, the phaser's barrel can be switched between stun and kill mode.
Ernie's Dwarf Cars
A promotional documentary about Ernie Adams and his collection of dwarf cars. The cars are street legal and modeled after classic cruisers. Ernie built all seven cars by hand and helped start a dwarf car racing scene.
Mammuth Rewarron 1:3 RC
For high-rolling RC car enthusiasts. The Mammuth Rewarron is a 1:3 scale 4-wheel drive trophy truck. It has a 4-stroke engine, oil-filled dampers, oil disc brakes and variable coil springs. It's basically a real truck, only smaller.
Goldeneye 007 Mine Replica
Thingiverse member ComradeQuiche has a guide on how to make a life-size replica of the remote mine from the N64 classic Goldeneye 007. It has magnets and blinking LEDs.
HAL 9000 Replica
ThinkGeek's aluminum replicas of the evil artificial intelligence are based on "actual studio blueprints." It recites 15 of its lines from 2001: A Space Odyssey in it's cold, cold voice.
Augmented Reality TARDIS
Greg Kumparak made his small scale model of Doctor Who's unique ride appear bigger on the inside. He made an augmented reality mobile app that shows a 3D model of the TARDIS' interior.
Porsche 917 Le Mans Raceway
A life-sized replica of the Porsche 917 used by Steve McQueen in his movie Le Mans. Inside is a 1:32 slot car replica of the Le Mans race track. It comes with 12 slot cars and analog controllers.
Miniature Portal Gun Replica
The 12″ officially licensed replica of the Portal gun is more portable and affordable than the 1:1 scale version. It has blue and orange LEDs, movable claws and a trigger that cues sound effects.
Portal Life-Size Turret Replica
And we thought this replica was impressive. Weta followed up the Sentry Gun replica with a model of the turret from Portal. It has a motion sensor, protracting guns and it doesn't hate you.
Iron Throne Replica
HBO is selling life-sized (7 ft. tall) replicas of the iconic Iron Throne from the Game of Thrones TV show. It's actually made of fiberglass and resin, not the swords of HBO's vanquished foes.
LEGO Land Rover Defender
Fernando aka Sheepo loves making replicas of vehicles using LEGO Technic. This is one of his latest creations, a replica of one of his favorite vehicles, the Land Rover Defender 110.
Johnson Arms
Brian Johnson makes custom Nerf guns "and other object-spitting devices." He can make both prop and working replicas and is great with steampunk, videogame-inspired and realistic designs.
Ghostbusters Proton Pack Replica
Something strange in your neighborhood? Call the cops. Seriously. But if you're looking for a heavy duty proton pack, VikingProps is your man. The replica lights up and has a weathered look.
Akira Bike Replica
Masashi Teshima spent 7 years and $121,000 making a replica of the iconic bike from Akira. He exhibited the bike all over Japan to raise funds to help victims of the 2011 earthquake. Videos here.
Mass Effect Omni Tool Prop
Designer Chris Myles made this kick-ass replica of the Omni Tool used by Shepard and the other characters in the Mass Effect universe. It's made of sheet acrylic and has a swing out Omni Blade.
Neca Portal Gun Replica
Wish you had a Portal gun? Wish no more. Neca is now taking pre-orders for their 1:1 scale Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device. We've seen better efforts, but then again those were not for sale.
Batmobile Tumbler 1:6 Replica
A replica of the Nolan Batmobile from Hot Toys. It measures 11″x 18.5″x29″. It has functioning headlights, movable brake flaps and roof panel. This video shows how huge this bad boy is.


Two men have been arrested in Co Down over damage to election posters. The men, aged 17 and 22, were arrested in the Lurgan Road area of Dromore on Wednesday. They were arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage.


I spend a lot of energy in this blog writing about knucklehead commercial landlords and real estate brokers of equal stature. In a recent conversation with a very accomplished landlord representative, someone who I respect greatly, I was lightly accused of landlord bashing. After reading more of my posts, and recognizing that I give equal time to bashing bad landlords and bad brokers, those who deserve a swift kick-in-the-pants, this landlord representative changed his statement to: "You're not anti-landlord…you're anti-idiot! I like that!" Except "idiot" wasn't quite the word he used.
Commercial landlords have it tough, especially these days. Many are running scared, and for good reason.
According to Andrew Florence, CEO of CoStar Group, a publicly held commercial real estate information company, "$1.4 trillion in commercial mortgages will expire in the next three to four years." Add to this the facts that supply (vacancy) is rising, demand is unstable and remains low in many markets, capital is tight, and credit still hasn't found its way back into the commercial real estate market.
So, yeah, landlords have it tough. But, like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, or in the Chinese way of life known as "Weji" where many believe that from Chaos comes opportunity, or even the writings of Nietzsche who wrote "You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star" many landlords, those who truly understand the industry they're really in, those who represent the majority of the commercial landlord industry, know how to be great landlords, and they work hard at it every day.
So, in the interest of giving equal time to good landlords, I thought I would jot down some of the attributes that, in my experience, make for great commercial landlords. Do you agree with this list? Can you add to it?
Understand that they're not in the real estate business, but rather, they are in the business of providing productive working environments to their tenants….tenants who are paying customers, companies that are run by people who provide landlords with monthly income streams, which permits landlords to pay their mortgages, generate profits, and achieve success.
Demonstrate more interest in existing tenants than in prospective tenants. They believe that the last deal is as important to them as the next one!
Is this the complete list? Are there other issues that make some landlords great? What experiences have you had with great landlords? Are you a great landlord? What's your secret? Let me know.


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Keiser University Home Page
While gathering to learn how Wall Street executive Jay Twyman was able to become one of the youngest senior managing directors for Bear Stearns,...
Flagship Campus Students Gain Inspiration, Career Path Insights from Financial Leader
Posted on December 21, 2015 on Seahawk Nation
While gathering to learn how Wall Street executive Jay Twyman was able to become one of the youngest senior managing directors for Bear Stearns, Keiser University Flagship Campus students received sound advice relating to the importance of building relationships, 'stepping up' when called upon, and treating adversity as an opportunity.
Twyman shared how his father Jack's dedication to a fellow teammate back in the late 1950's and 1960's has shaped him both personally and professionally, as he introduced the group to a former Cincinnati Royals player by the name of Maurice Stokes. Known as one of the best forwards in the country, Stokes, a 6-foot-7 and 240 pound athlete fell unconscious after a traumatic injury on the court and later went into a coma, becoming permanently paralyzed, as the blow had damaged the part of his brain that controls motor function.
In desperate need of support and with mounting medical bills, Twyman, a child at the time, recalled how his father stepped up to become Stokes' legal guardian, and how the former athlete became a part of the family. Jack Twyman eventually founded the Maurice Stokes Foundation to defray medical bills and advocated for his friend until his death in 1970.
In addition to sharing the personal lessons he'd learned, Twyman also shared financial insights and career advice as he discussed the benefits of compounding interest, the rule of seven for bonds, and potential for growth in the technology industry. He closed his presentation by reminding the group to 'never quit' whatever the obstacles.
For over 30 years, Jay Twyman has had a distinguished career working on Wall Street for Bears Stearns and Barclays Capital. He recently developed a start-up in the financial business where he applies his domestic and international business experience working in Europe and the Middle East.
LPGA Launches new 2020 Online Teacher Education Program in Partnership with Keiser University, Its Global Education Provider
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), the largest and longest-standing women's sports teaching organization in the world with more than...
Keiser University Teacher Has a Global Reach
One of Keiser University's clinical and academic faculty members is making a great impression upon students on the other side of the globe. Dr....
Graduate Spotlight
Motivated by Clerkship, Keiser University Doctor of Chiropractic Degree Graduate Aspires to Assist Veterans
Casey Rogers, a member of the first graduating class of Keiser University's College of Chiropractic Medicine, hopes to assist South Florida...


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Padmanabhapuram Palace is a bundle of surprises wrapped in wooden layers with intricate design carvings. To begin with, the palace is located in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu. But it is owned and maintained by the government of Kerala. Isn't it a little weird? On my South India sojourn, I did a pit stop at Padmanabhapuram Palace while I was on my way to Kanyakumari. The palace is worth every bit of the trouble that I took to reach there. Around 65 kilometres from Thiruvananthapuram, Padmanabhapuram Palace, with its indigenous Kerala architecture, royally transports you to the era of Travancore kingdom.
Padmanabhapuram Palace showcases the seat of all the erstwhile rulers of Travancore.
The palace easily manages to transfix your gaze to its grandeur. What's going to surprise you next is the fact that it is a complete wooden palace. Yes, you heard me right, it's a wooden palace. Wood, something which is susceptible to rain, mites, wind and possibly every other weather adversities. But here is Padmanabhapuram Palace, standing tall and beautiful without any major structural issues. At the entrance of the palace, there is a huge conch made of grass. As Lord Sree Padmanabha is the kingdom deity, a right swelled conch is the emblem of Travancore Kingdom. You can also see it on the flag of the kingdom.
As you set your foot inside the palace, you will find yourself standing in a different era.
Purely because I cannot imagine such a palace to be made in today's time. There is a specific trail that you have to follow when inside the palace. And there are people in every section to enlighten you with the trivia about it. So if you felt like clicking some pictures, stop and take it then and there. Because once the trail finishes you will be outside the palace. What took me to the other level of amazement was the squeaky clean and shiny black granite floors of the palace. If you gaze hard you could see your reflection on the floor. I understood why we were asked to enter the palace barefoot.
A walk into the palace will make you go through the main room, the kitchen, the Durban hall, the dining area (for guests as well as royalty), the performance hall, the bedrooms and many more then significant aspects of the palace.
It is beyond my imagination as to how the architects of that time could come up something so comprehensive.
A palace which has all the sections strategically places so as to help with daily chores. The dining hall is close to the kitchen so that carrying the food takes less time. The attention to details in the murals, the colours of the ceiling, the fish and rose carvings are impeccable. It is also believed that there is a secret underground tunnel which connects the palace to Vattakottai Fort. Vottakotai Fort in Kanyakumari was built by the Travancore kingdom for coastal defence purposes.
Although, the majority of the palace is empty, there are few items which are preserved very well.
For instance, the King's bedroom has a famous medicinal bed, a lot of pictures of Lord Krishna, musical bows, royal chairs etc. The palace broadly has five important sections. The King's Council Chamber, the Queen Mother's Palace, Nataksala; the Performance Hall, Central Mansion and Thekee Kottaram, also known as the Southern Palace.
The Council chamber easily stands out with its colourful mica windows, intricate latticework and shiny black floors. I was told that the floor is made of burnt coconut shells, egg white, jaggery, lime, charcoal and river sand. An interesting concoction that I had never heard before.
The Queen Mother's Palace showcases traditional Kerala architecture style. It has an inner courtyard with soloing roofs and pillars on all four corners to support the roof. Basically, all things screaming quintessential Kerala.
Nataksala is a relatively early addition to the palace, it wasn't there since the beginning. It was built by one of the Travancore kings with great interest in art, music and dance. The main hall has many pillars and shiny black floor. What makes this part interesting is a wooden chamber with peepholes. This chamber is for women of royalty to watch the performances. I find it a little depressing that, at that time also women were behind the doors. There could be reasons for such an arrangement but looking at the current scenario I feel women empowerment should have started a long time ago.
The Central Mansion is a four-storeyed building and true to its name it is located in the centre of the Padmanabhapuram Palace.
The ground floor is for the storage of royal treasury. The first floor houses the most interesting and most talked about medicinal bed of the king. The second floor has rooms for studying and relaxing purposes and the top floor is for worshipping the God and Goddesses. The Southern Palace is actually a heritage museum. It houses unique household articles, idols, scripts and other excavated items.
Padmanabhapuram Palace takes you on a joy ride and gives you a glimpse of the social and cultural life of Travancore kingdom. The palace embodies the lifestyle of the Travancore era and you cannot help but wide open your eyes with its architectural marvel. If not anything, the fact that the wooden palace still stands tall will amaze you beyond levels. If you are in Trivandrum, take a day out for this full of surprises tryst with the Travancore era.
The palace is open all days except Monday and national holidays from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Entry fee of Rs. 25 is applicable for Indian Citizen.
You will have to take off your footwear and there is a nominal fee for using the stand to keep your footwear.
If you are driving to Kanyakumari from Trivandrum then Padmanabhapuram Palace will fall right into your route. So keep an eye on the Google maps for the correct location.
There are no guides inside, however, there are people in every section of the palace telling titbits about the palace. If you wish for detailed information on the palace then you can hire a guide outside and take him along.
Women were quite empowered if you look at all the royal families of Kerala in those days. It was often the oldest woman in the house that would even choose the next king. Women had separate palaces where the men were not allowed inside. Such was the matriarchal power in the society even in those days. So to say women were behind doors is quite inappropriate. You should read about Sethu Lakshmi Bay to get more of an idea.
It's a palace from the north India palaces I have visited. Every palace I have visited till now had a beautiful architecture but I haven't visited anything like this. I am hoping to visit this soon.
When I Did Paragliding In Bir !


text:
"Feeling A Revolutionary Spirit": Moved By Donald Trump, David Duke Plots A Comeback
I see that David Duke hasn't moderated his views since he was an active politician in the early 1990's. That's unfortunate. Some people mature with time.
Instead, he's feeling "a revolutionary spirit," and is seriously considering making a challenge to House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. Duke has until June 22nd to qualify for the November ballot. Remember, Louisiana has those funky elections where the November election can serve as a primary of sorts if no one reaches 50% of the vote. In those cases, there is a subsequent runoff election.
I don't remember if Duke is/was a Grand Wizard or an Exalted Cyclops or what exact honorific he used in the Ku Klux Klan.
"There are millions of people across the country who would like to have me in the Congress. I'd be the only person in Congress openly defending the rights and the heritage of European Americans," he said. "We are on the offensive today. There's no more defenses."
He actually thinks he'd make a good running mate for Trump.
Duke compared himself to Donald Trump, who he endorsed for president.
"I've said everything that Donald Trump is saying and more," he said. "I think Trump is riding a wave of anti-establishment feeling that I've been nurturing for 25 years."
Yet, Duke is realistic enough to know that Trump is unlikely to put him on the ticket.
Trump won't reach out to him because the candidate fears "offending the oligarchs," a term Duke uses for the political establishment he said is controlled by Jewish, Hispanic and African American interests.
Aware of his checkered history, Duke said he welcomed the backlash that would come if he runs.
In most cases, it's a cheap shot to highlight a candidate's most unsavory supporters, particularly if that support is unsolicited and unrequited. But it's noteworthy to see Duke feeling this energized by Trump's success. He's moved by the spirit to stop playing defense and run for office because he sees in Trump the fruition of a quarter century of race hatred that he's been "nurturing."
Maybe Duke is just misinterpreting Trump or the political moment or basic reality, but there's little doubt about what Duke thinks he can accomplish under Trump's leadership.
Should Duke make it to the House, he said one of his first goals would be to repeal the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act, which liberalized immigration laws by eliminating race-based quotas.
Obviously, Duke thinks Trump is a fellow traveler, and he might have been bolstered in that impression back in February when Trump had tremendous difficulty finding one bad thing to say about the KKK.
When asked by CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday about David Duke and the KKK supporting his candidacy, Donald Trump passed on refuting them. "I don't know anything about what you're even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists," he said. "So I don't know. I don't know — did [David Duke] endorse me, or what's going on? Because I know nothing about David Duke; I know nothing about white supremacists." When Tapper said he was specifically talking about the KKK, Trump continued saying, "I have to look at the group. I mean, I don't know what group you're talking about." He then declared, "You wouldn't want me to condemn a group that I know nothing about. I'd have to look. If you would send me a list of the groups, I will do research on them and certainly I would disavow if I thought there was something wrong. You may have groups in there that are totally fine — it would be very unfair. So give me a list of the groups and I'll let you know."
But who, really, knows nothing about the Ku Klux Klan?
Trump did disavow the Klan's support, but so tepidly that Duke was obviously encouraged.
So encouraged, in fact, that he's ready to take on the House Majority Whip. And, in case you'd forgotten or just didn't know, Steve Scalise has in the past spoken to one of David Duke's little hate groups (the European-American Unity and Rights Organization) and once campaigned as "David Duke without the baggage."
If Duke does run, the people of Louisiana's First District will get to decide if they want their David Duke with or without the baggage.
In the meantime, Oklahoma's Republican governor, Mary Fallin, is telling people that Donald Trump is a racial healer.
I'm just not seeing that.
By: Martin Longman, Political Animal Blog, The Washington Monthly, July 13, 2016
July 14, 2016 Posted by raemd95 | David Duke, Donald Trump, Ku Klux Klan	| European Americans Unity and Rights Organization, GOP Establishment, Immigration and Naturalization Act, Mary Fallin, Racism, Steve Scalise, White Supremacists | 1 Comment


Brew It Up and Have Some Coffee with Dad!
We have two NEW terrific coffees in our warehouse this week and for sale online at rhoadsroastcoffees-com, Amazon, and Ebay...yes we sell there too...just in time for Father's Day on June 18, 2018.
Our new Costa Los Cerros Fancy E/p from the San Juanillo Valley is a Micro Lot in for a limited time...hopefully lasting through the holiday season! It has a good body, sharp acidity, with lemon, nuts and chocolate malt notes with cinnamon and caramel flavors and an acidity that cools to a sweet lemon-lime! This is an EXCELLENT coffee and even our tea drinkers love it!
We also have a new coffee from Kenya, our Kenya Peaberry Plus Rwaikamba Co-op Ngutu 100% Arabica Coffee Beans. Now, this is a remarkable peaberry and it has a wonderful medley of ripe tropical fruits, a tangy acidity and crisp, clean aftertaste; this is a lighter and more refreshing alternative to regular Kenyan coffee and best roasted at a light to medium roast to carefully preserve the delicate taste profile and lingering finish.
So...Remember...Coffee is always the heart of conversation, just like the kitchen is the heart of the home. Father's Day is Sunday, June 18. Get ready to brew up some coffee for your Dad and get to know him again!


:Reworked is a series of varied recitals with a common approach. Part of each concert contains one or more pre-existing pieces of music from the 20th or 21st century. For the remainder of the programme we invite emerging composers to take aspects or fragments of these works and use them as a starting point to create their own brand new pieces. Through this process those original fragments of melody, harmony, colour, texture and expression from the masters of the last hundred years, are captured and given an exciting new context. As these now familiar fragments reappear and develop a life of their own, they begin to feel like old friends, giving the original works a new dimension and poignancy to the listeners and performers alike.


A wide field for speculation or research on the part of local antiquaries has been opened by a discovery which was made in Cumberland street, Deansgate, a few days ago. While workmen were engaged in demolishing some dwelling-houses there they came across an under-ground passage. It has an arched roof, built of brick, and is wide and high enough to allow a horse and cart to travel along it. Penetrating the passage, the men found that it extended for about seventy yards before being closed by a brick wall. There is evidence, however, to show that this wall does not mark the end of this underground way.
To read more see Underground Manchester (Warrender, 2007:96).


Planner Girls (and Guys) Meet Up / Night OUT!
Hosted by Jamie Robison A.
From Getting Crafty with Paper and more!
This Planner Meet Up was MOVED to the Cisco's in Thousand Oaks. Come, Connect and Talk PLANNERS over dinner and drinks. This is a fun and FREE Event (when you purchase your dinner/drinks).
Cisco's Mexcian Restaurant 925 Westlake Blvd, Westlake Village, CA (805)[masked] - There is a MINIMUM of $150 due from all orders including alcohol to have this Private Room with MAX 15 People - RSVP's due and PLEASE ONLY RSVP HERE if you are attending. CISCO's in Westlake Village - RSVP's under MY Name (Jamie Albanese). I need a HEAD COUNT to know. There is a CAP on People so First Come, First Serve!
See all events from Getting Crafty with Paper and more!


text:
IT finishes with a strong bite
Breaking Bad: El Camino
Roundtable: Joker is no laughing matter
This weekend, the CultureGeek Roundtable pinned on the squirting flowers and went to see Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix and directed by Todd Phillips. Here's what our panel had to say.
Rahul Menon
When you hand him the Oscar, can you introduce him as Joker?
Joker is what you get when you have a mediocre, overbearing director standing on the shoulders of one of the greatest actors of our time.
I've heard the audience and few critics say that this movie does a bad job of making us sympathize with the devil, and I have to completely disagree with them, because I feel this is more of a piece that's showing us how or why that devil came to be.
The portrayal of violence has been a controversial topic of discussion, for months now, even before the movie released! My two cents? It doesn't have as much as violence as John Wick or Anna or Ready or Not or Liam Neeson's Cold Pursuit.
The film is a psychologically rich portrait of a mentally ill loner that just happens to take place in a world that will one day yield a cowl-wearing billionaire vigilante. It lays out this life in decline and dares us to watch how it turns out. It works much better as a singular character study than as a broader sociopolitical drama. And regardless of where you will personally sit in reaction to its material, the fact it's inspiring conversation is an achievement in itself, and is nothing less than admirable in my opinion. I feel that the less you think about Joker as a comic book movie, the more you'll like it. I would always prefer movies that make you want to have discussions over the disposable ones that come out every other month.
The movie definitely is a calculated risk on WB's part, and I really hope it works for them, as that would open doors for more R-rated "superhero" films from the studio. It would make them stand out from all the Marvel films, which will (hopefully) hit saturation soon, now that the grimace has turned into ashes. I imagine how the movie would've played out if there wasn't a commercial imposition that the main character has to become the Joker at the end, or may be. WB could've gone the M. Night Shyamalan Split route and kept the entire Joker thing under wraps, calling the movie Arthur or something.
If only Todd Phillips' movie had the depth or clarity of vision to match up to its star's performance. But even with all its negatives, Joker stands out as a formidable and twisted film, both primarily because of Joaquin Phoenix. He isn't so much an actor as a moral contortionist in this origin story that features too many overt nods to the Scorsese movies from the 70's and 80's. Phoenix has plumbed depths so deep and given us such a complex, brutal and physically transformative performance that it would be no surprise to see him take home a statuette or two come award season. Heath Ledger definitely would have been proud, if he was able to witness this.
And with that, we have the clown who fights Batman as the most coveted role in Hollywood.
Jim D. Gillentine
In the latest movie from Warner Brothers under the DC banner, director Todd Phillips tries to show one of the possible ways that a man might snap and become a villain.
In Joker we are introduced to Arthur Fleck, a party clown living with mental illness and a condition of uncontrollable laughter when he is stressed. He tries to care for his mother, hold down his job, and stay balanced in a city that is suffering from crime, corruption, and a nasty garbage workers strike. As one bad thing after another happens to him, he begins to slip into madness, and we see the results of his fall.
Is Arthur Fleck a victim of his environment? Is he a madman that should be feared and we hope gets killed in some way? I really don't know, to be honest. The movie has shown me one thing: Joaquin Phoenix's performance is powerful, frightening, and one of the best if not the best performances this year. He at least deserves to get an Oscar nomination, if not win the bloody thing.
This movie isn't your usual comic book movie. There are no crazy CGI special effects, no super powers, nothing magical. Just a gritty, dirty city and one man's journey to become a villain. There are a couple of Batman Easter eggs here and there if you look for them, but this isn't Batman's story. This is Arthur's story, so don't expect to see a superhero to show up to save the day.
Elizabeth Donald
If you removed the word Joker from this movie, and renamed the Waynes as the Jones family, this movie would probably be shed of many of the complaints about it. But it is not a movie that should be ignored.
It's not a superhero movie, nor the kind of film that one usually associates with comic books. That's partly because most people think of comic books as inherently fantasy, magic skills and funky devices and spandex costumes with awesome back spin kicks and flying - even from fans. That, of course, is only one level of comics, a medium that has illuminated depths and darkness far beyond the grittiest crime drama. I said when The Dark Knight premiered that if it were not a Batman movie and was billed as a mob drama, it would have taken home best picture. I had that same sense watching Joker, that this movie could have been billed as any crime drama outside of Gotham City, and it would be viewed very differently.
Joker is not best picture. It has many flaws, pacing among the worst of them - for a good portion of the film, I found myself hoping it would hurry up and get to the point. It has created an indescribably vicious urban hell that is basically the worst nightmare of the early 1980s brought to celluloid. As we walk the streets of Gotham with Arthur Fleck, we are uncomfortable watching the awful things that happen to him, because we know there can't be a happy ending for the bad guy - and he's the bad guy, right?
We should be uncomfortable. Joker is the most political movie I have seen in years, a movie centered not on spandex and fisticuffs, but on a deeply divided, inequitable society. The things happening to Arthur are the same things that happen in our actual society, on the abuse of the different, the harshness of the streets, the selfishness of many humans, the cruelty of those in power. It is disheartening to watch, because we know these problems and that they have no easy solutions.
But what exactly is the politic of Joker? From one perspective, one could view it as a mockery of the resistance movement, that the poor and angry 99 percent are sheep being manipulated by a madman into violence over nothing. "Those who oppose this unjust establishment aren't given a specific ideology, just explosively violent rage," writes Matthew Rozsa of Salon. "It offers no solutions beyond 'burn it all down.'"
From another perspective, it could be viewed as a warning to the 1 percent: the consolidation of power and money among the very few is enraging those who fight and die in the streets, and there will come a boiling point. Thomas Wayne is the walking personification of privilege here, spouting nonsense about how wealth just means you worked harder than the rabble, and speaks of the protests against him with such disgust and dismissiveness that in another decade, I would wonder how he could strive to be elected to anything. There is a sense that the wealthy of Gotham City live in a carefully protected bubble, and Arthur pierces that bubble in the most violent way possible.
Rozsa hit on another of the major concerns: that Joker could be seen as a dangerous manifesto that could compel those who struggle with violent tendencies to commit acts of violence. And I must admit, it struck my mind that as much as Joker was uncomfortably real and awful to me, to someone of a similar mindset as Arthur, it could be quite the inspiration.
Is it responsible to create works of art that feed the darkest of impulses? Conversely, is it responsible to whitewash such art to the point where we can simply pretend worlds like Arthur's do not exist? These are questions for far wiser minds than mine.
One of the major concerns many fans had going into this film was that the Joker has always been an enigma. Any attempt to codify an origin story for the Joker is met with disdain and/or backpedaled quickly out of existence. The Heath Ledger variation played on that very mystery, with Ledger's Joker giving a different tale to everyone he meets about the source of his scars.
Fortunately, this was one area that I felt Joker handled well. There are multiple possible backgrounds for Arthur, and we are never sure which is the real one. It makes a mastery of the unreliable narrator structure, with repeated instances where we are unsure if the events unfolding are real, or merely Arthur's imagination. Even the ending puts the film itself in an entirely new perspective and leads us to question everything we've seen. For some audiences, this will be enormously frustrating; for others, it makes the film complete. Therefore it's difficult to know whether to recommend this movie, as it will definitely be one of those "love it or hate it" films.
One thing no one can dispute: Joaquin Phoenix has turned in a career-level performance. His physical contortions are matched and surpassed only by the emotional gamut he runs as this deeply damaged human attempting, in his words, to find joy. Phoenix is acclaimed for his method acting, and one can only imagine the depths to which he had to reach to find this particular character. Joker is more of a character study than a story, with the wider background of the crime-ridden, disastrous dumpster fire that is Gotham City as mere background to illuminating Arthur.
Is the Joker a born psychopath who found his way to becoming the Clown Prince of Crime, or is he a troubled, damaged man pushed into horrible acts by the torment of the city? Joker has no answers for us, not even in the form of a bat.
Tags: elizabeth donald, jim gillentine, rahul menon


text:
IISES International Academic Conference, Barcelona
Conferece Tours
Program Committee and reviewers:
Dr. Farzaneh Hadafi, Islamic Azad University, Iran
Dr. Gregory Kivenzor, University of Connecticut, USA
Professor Pedro Moreira, Institute for Tourism Studies, Macau SAR, China
Professor Jesus Otoniel Sosa Ridrigues, University of Colima, Mexico
Dr. Anca Tamas, Bucharest University of Economics Studies, Romania
International Advisory Committee:
Professor Khalid Alsharif, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia
Dr. Omer Beyhan, Necmettin Erbakan University, Turkey
Dr. Carrie J.Boden-McGill, Texas State University, USA
Dr. Angelito Calma, University of Melbourne, Australia
Professor Mido Chang, Florida International University, USA
Dr. Barbara Ciccarelli, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands
Dr. E. Tylor Claggett, Salisbury University, USA
Dr. Jure Erjavec, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Professor Tzuhua Huang, University of Taipei, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Assistant Professor Merike Kaseorg, University of Tartu, Estonia
Dr. Paul Kingsley, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
Dr. Lillie Lum, York University, Canada
Dr. Kitt Lyngsnes, Nord-Trondelag University, Norway
Dr. Bruce Marlowe, Roger Williams University, USA
Dr. Cathi McMullen, Charles Sturt University, Australia
Professor Kylie O´Brien, Australian Institute of Applied Sciences, Australia
Assistant Professor Wojciech Rubis, Jagiellonian University, Poland
Dr. Hermann Sinz, MCI Management Center Innsbruck, Austria
Dr. Cornelis van Dorp, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Professor Ru-Jer Wang, National Taichung University of Education, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Dr. Bochun Zhu, Singapore Polytechnic, Singapore


text:
Q: Using JavaPlot/Gnuplot for 3D graphing I'm trying to do what the title says. Obviously gnuplot is capable of doing this but I want to use JavaPlot to call it. The Graph3D class in JavaPlot makes me think its possible but as I have found no 3D examples and there's almost no documentation on JavaPlot, I only have a rough idea how to go about this. If someone already knows how to do this and my efforts are going toward reinventing the wheel, please enlighten me, but for the moment I'll proceed as if no one has tried to do this before.
Looking at the GNUPlot class, there's a plot method, but the splot method is commented out and there's no corresponding method in the GNUPlotExec class. I've tried to add one but currently it still plots in 2D. In the interest of full disclosure, I did not make this from scratch, but instead modified the current plot method.
This is the GNUPlot.class splot method that was commented out
    public void splot() throws GNUPlotException {
    exec.splot(param, term);
}

and this is the GNUPlotExec.class splot method derived from the plot method
void splot(GNUPlotParameters par, GNUPlotTerminal terminal) throws GNUPlotException {
    try {
        final GNUPlotTerminal term = terminal;  // Use this thread-aware variable instead of "terminal"
        final String comms = getCommands(par, term); // Get the commands to send to gnuplot
        final Messages msg = new Messages();    // Where to store messages from output threads

        /* Display plot commands to send to gnuplot */
        GNUPlot.getDebugger().msg("** Start of splot commands **", Debug.INFO);
        GNUPlot.getDebugger().msg(comms, Debug.INFO);
        GNUPlot.getDebugger().msg("** End of splot commands **", Debug.INFO);

        /* It's time now to start the actual gnuplot application */
        String[] command;
        if (ispersist) {
            command = persistcommand;
        } else {
            command = nopersist;
        }
        command[0] = getGNUPlotPath();
        {
            String cmdStr = "";
            for (String cmd : command) {
                cmdStr += cmd + " ";
            }
            GNUPlot.getDebugger().msg("exec(" + cmdStr + ")", Debug.INFO);
        }
        final Process proc = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(command);

        /* Windows buffers DEMAND asynchronus read & write */

        /* Thread to process the STDERR of gnuplot */
        Thread err_thread = new Thread() {

            public void run() {
                BufferedReader err = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(proc.getErrorStream()));
                StringBuffer buf = new StringBuffer();
                String line;
                try {
                    while ((line = err.readLine()) != null) {
                        line = parseErrorLine(line, "gnuplot> splot");
                        line = line.replace("input data ('e' ends) >", "").trim();   // Remove entries having the "input data" prompt
                        if (line.equals("^")) {
                            line = "";
                        }  // Ignore line with error pointer
                        if (!line.equals("")) {     // Only take care of not empty lines
                            if (line.indexOf(GNUPlotParameters.ERRORTAG) >= 0) {
                                msg.error = "Error while parsing \'splot\' arguments.";    // Error was found in plot command
                                break;
                            }
                            buf.append(line).append('\n');
                        }
                    }
                    err.close();
                    msg.output = buf.toString(); // Store output stream
                } catch (IOException ex) {
                    ex.printStackTrace();
                }
            }
        };
        /* Thread to process the STDOUT of gnuplot */
        err_thread.start();
        Thread out_thread = new Thread() {

            public void run() {
                msg.process = term.processOutput(proc.getInputStream());    // Execute terminal specific output parsing
            }
        };
        out_thread.start();

        /* We utilize the current thread for gnuplot execution */
        OutputStreamWriter out = new OutputStreamWriter(proc.getOutputStream());
        out.write(comms);
        out.flush();
        out.close();

        try {
            proc.waitFor(); // wait for process to finish
            out_thread.join();  // wait for output (terminal related) thread to finish
            err_thread.join();  // wait for error (messages) output to finish
        } catch (InterruptedException ex) {
            throw new GNUPlotException("Interrupted execution of gnuplot");
        }

        /* Find the error message, if any, with precendence to the error thread */
        String message = null;
        if (msg.error != null) {
            message = msg.error;
        } else {
            message = msg.process;
        }

        /* Determine if error stream should be dumbed or not */
        int level = Debug.VERBOSE;
        if (message != null) {
            level = Debug.ERROR;
        }
        GNUPlot.getDebugger().msg("** Start of error stream **", level);
        GNUPlot.getDebugger().msg(msg.output, level);
        GNUPlot.getDebugger().msg("** End of error stream **", level);

        /* Throw an exception if an error occured */
        if (message != null) {
            throw new GNUPlotException(message);
        }

    } catch (IOException ex) {
        throw new GNUPlotException("IOException while executing \"" + getGNUPlotPath() + "\":" + ex.getLocalizedMessage());
    }

}

This is my test I'm trying to run
public static void main(String[] args) {

    GNUPlot p = new GNUPlot("path goes here");

    FunctionPlot myPlot = new FunctionPlot("tan(x)");

    p.addPlot(myPlot);

    p.splot();
}

I believe the commands that are getting executed by gnuplot are
gnuplot> _gnuplot_error = 1
gnuplot> plot tan(x) title 'tan(x)' ; _gnuplot_error = 0
gnuplot> if (_gnuplot_error == 1) print '_ERROR_'
gnuplot>          undefined function: if

and of course that should say splot, not plot

A: Figured it out. I needed to add
p.new3DGraph();

in main before p.addPlot(myPlot);
Hopefully this will help someone else cause man, there is nothing on JavaPlot out there

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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text:
Paris' renowned shops and monuments will plunge into darkness early amid 'energy sobriety' push
Paris, known for three centuries as "The City of Light," will look much darker this winter, with France pushing a policy of "energy sobriety" that will turn off the lights to city's top shops and historical attractions.
"We must stop believing that people are only attracted by light," Paris Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said of France's bid to save its energy consumption, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. "People are not mosquitoes."
People used to Paris being lit up late into the night will have to adjust to a new reality this winter and possibly longer, with French President Emmanuel Macron calling for a 10% reduction in energy consumption over the next two years.
Paris has responded by cutting the power to its renowned shops on the Avenue de Montaigne hours early, a practice that is being followed by government-owned buildings and some of the city's most famous attractions such as the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.
EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS, CITIZENS GEAR UP FOR WORSENING ENERGY CRISIS
The Eiffel Tower submerges into darkness as part of the Earth Hour switch-off on March 27, 2021.
(Photo by Pierre Suu/Getty Images)
The policy comes amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which has resulted in a halt to Russian imports of natural gas to European countries that previously relied heavily on to fill its energy needs. While France has typically been a net-exporter of energy in recent years, issues plaguing many of the country's nuclear plants have caused the country to increase imports this year.
Other European countries are implementing similar policies, with the Netherlands calling on residents to take shorter showers, Finland asking people to spend less time on electronic devices, and Germany cutting the lights to many of its monuments.
But seemingly no country has been as aggressive as France, which will cut off hot water in public buildings while capping heat at 64 degrees, and driving government vehicles more slowly in an effort to preserve fuel.
French President Emmanuel Macron.
(AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, Pool, File)
CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
French residents have also been encouraged to make changes at home, including guidance to only use electrical appliances such as dishwashers and washing machine outside of peak hours, unplugging computers and TVs when they are not in use, and taking shorter showers.
The Eiffel Tower lit up at night.
"We will publish our electricity and gas consumption every week," Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said. "Depending on this and the weather, we will see if we have made the necessary energy savings."
Michael Lee is a writer at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter @UAMichaelLee
Chelsea progressing with Mason Mount contract talks
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Different types of nodes have specific ultimate bonuses.
Divine node benefits are not known at this time.
Military nodes enable Bounty hunters and reduced duration of corruption.
Scientific metropolises offer fast travel to nodes within their zone of influence.
Each Node Type has a Unique Building associated with it that can be activated at Level 3, the Village Stage.
Some utilities can only be used by Citizens of the Node.
Nodes will experience atrophy and will require continued player activity in order to grow. If a node loses too much activity, then it may result in a PvE siege against that node.
Node governments decide the location and types of node buildings to be constructed within sectors of a node.
When the building types are determined, the community will then need to bring resources into the node (using caravans) and come together to construct the buildings (via quests and the like).
The government decides how to specialize their node. Once they choose certain things they won't be able to choose other things.
Different governments may change the buildings within a node.
And there could be regime change... If somebody doesn't like the fact that a market was built and they want to re-elect a new government next cycle, they can do so... and that market could be destroyed and a new building take its place.
Pre-defined parameters limit the number of buildings at in-node locations.
Player housing comes in the form of Static housing, Apartments and Freeholds.
Player housing grants the ability to claim citizenship of a node.
Citizenship tickets may also grant citizenship to certain node stages. This mechanic will be decided based on testing.
Citizenship can be claimed for Village (level 3) nodes or higher.
A player can only claim citizenship to one node at a time.
Only one citizenship may be declared per account, per server.
This may have changed to one citizenship per account.
Changing citizenship has a cooldown of two weeks.
Player housing ownership is not affected by citizenship changes.
A player does not need to declare citizenship of any node. These players won't need to pay taxes but will miss out on benefits of citizenship.
A successful siege will destroy the node.
There will be spoils from successfully sieging a node.
Nodes can be destroyed starting at level 3 (Village), and are destroyed through sieges.
Nodes can delevel based on node atrophy.
Nodes can delevel to stage 0 (wilderness) after a successful siege.
A node cannot delevel more than a single level at a time.
Different races becoming primary contributors.
Design elements determined by different governments.
Reactions and interactions with other nodes in the world.
Node governments are chosen from a node's citizenry when a node reaches stage 3 (Village). The method of choosing the government and its mayor depends on the node's type.
Divine node governments are chosen from citizens via service oriented quests that prove faith and dedication to the node.
Scientific node governments are elected democratically.
Government officials will have wide-ranging abilities to influence their node.
Mark foreign citizens of other nodes as enemies of the state.
Declare war on another node and rally citizens to the cause.
Governments may be able to choose a node name from a predetermined list.
The government has a lot of say in the direction of the nodes development. Directing assets, building projects, tax allocation, defensive ability etc. Players have the ability to not only create these cities, but they have the right of self-governance.
Guilds do not control nodes. Guild leaders will likely not be able to be mayors of nodes.
Guilds hold separate roles in the direction of the node than the roles held by private citizens.
Only a certain number of guilds may participate in these roles.
Separate guild roles are reserved for small, medium and large guilds.
Guild's also hold separate roles in the direction of the node, than the roles held by private citizens, and only a certain number of guilds may participate in these roles. Separate guild roles are reserved for Small size guilds, medium size guilds and large size guilds.
Mayors/Node governments allocate resources, taxes, and quests to help develop node defenses.
Tax money only goes toward funding node development.
Parent nodes take a cut of all taxes from the housing and any services that occur within their ZOI.
This tax doesn't necessarily impact the individual citizen, because citizen's tax levels are determined by their node, but the node's finances are affected by the taxation levied by its parent nodes.
There won't be a civil war mechanic within nodes but there will be scope for internal political conflicts; such as undermining the current leadership and disrupting trade.
↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 Node series part II – the Metropolis.
↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 A reactive world - Nodes.
↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 5.20 5.21 5.22 5.23 5.24 Blog - Know Your Nodes - The Basics.
↑ 7.0 7.1 Livestream, 4 May 2017 (15:15).
↑ 21.0 21.1 Livestream, 9 July 2018 (39:32).
↑ 22.00 22.01 22.02 22.03 22.04 22.05 22.06 22.07 22.08 22.09 22.10 22.11 22.12 22.13 Blog - Know Your Nodes - Advance and Destroy.
↑ 23.0 23.1 Livestream, 12 December 2018 (14:48).
↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Livestream, 16 October 2017 (50:20).
↑ 29.0 29.1 Livestream, 26 May 2017 (28:16).
↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 Interview, 20 October 2018 (2:36:25).
↑ 34.0 34.1 Podcast, 4 August 2018 (1:35:58).
↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 36.3 36.4 36.5 Livestream, 27 September 2018 (53:06).
↑ 37.0 37.1 Interview, 11 May 2018 (54:34).
↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 Interview, 11 May 2018 (47:27).
↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 Interview, 11 May 2018 (1:00:19).
↑ Livestream, 1 September 2018 (36:28).
↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 42.3 42.4 Livestream, 19 May 2017 (33:57).
↑ 43.0 43.1 Livestream, 20 January 2018 (38:17).
↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 Podcast, 23 April 2018 (29:56).
↑ Video, 25 May 2017 (1:07).
↑ 48.0 48.1 Interview, 11 May 2018 (50:47).
↑ 51.0 51.1 Livestream, 12 May 2017 (52:01).
↑ 57.0 57.1 Livestream, 9 July 2018 (27:12).
↑ Livestream, 19 May 2017 (53:24).
↑ 59.0 59.1 Interview, 11 May 2018 (50:05).
↑ Interview, 20 October 2018 (2:36).
↑ 62.0 62.1 Video, 5 April 2018 (41:48).
↑ Livestream, 26 May 2017 (44:52).
↑ Livestream, 24 May 2017 (52:39).
↑ Podcast, 11 May 2018 (52:20).
↑ 77.0 77.1 Livestream, 30 June 2017 (53:57).
↑ 79.0 79.1 79.2 City hall.
↑ Livestream, 19 May 2017 (36:05).
↑ Livestream, 19 May 2017 (36:09).
↑ 86.0 86.1 Interview, 11 May 2018 (57:02).
↑ 87.0 87.1 87.2 87.3 87.4 Podcast, 11 May 2018 (21:07).
↑ 93.0 93.1 93.2 Livestream, 8 April 2018 (PM) (1:01:28).
↑ 102.0 102.1 Livestream, 17 May 2017 (11:27).
↑ 104.0 104.1 Interview, 20 October 2018 (5:51).
↑ Livestream, 24 May 2017 (40:50).
This page's content was last modified on 21 April 2019, at 22:50.


Outstanding (1176 sq ft) 2 bedroom + den apartment unit featuring a spacious design. Custom designer colors, open concept kitchen, corner unit w/ample windows providing loads of natural light. Enjoy the peaceful courtyard view from your south facing balcony. Fabulous tile work, laminate flooring, 2 PARKING SPOTS, & 1 locker. Walk to all the amenities (pool, mall, library, transit). You don't want to miss this one. Open House Sunday July 6th, 2-4 pm.


What started as a blog to uncover truth behind "official news" of the world's governments, has grown into a platform, with writers from all around the world creating awareness and sharing information on physical health, emotional and spiritual growth, higher consciousness, and social and environmental sustainability. Wake up world inspires people to look beyond the lies of society, governments and mass media, and to embrace their true selves, find their path and work towards a better tomorrow.
© 2017 ALVIAM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.


Have you met our friend Ariana over at Viva Las DIY? If not, be sure to stop by and check out her great DIY projects including tutorials! We're particularly excited about her recent design: a Chevron Dining Table Build.
Ariana's dad just renovated his kitchen, but he couldn't find the perfect dining table to match the design. This is where Ariana came in. Her and her husband worked together to create this stunning Chevron Dining Table. The table features the Osborne Tapered Mission Dining Table Leg (Part #1119), used to support the intricate table top. The table legs were also a perfect match for the kitchen accents. Win win!
Not only did Ariana create a beautiful table for her dad, but she also created a step by step tutorial so you can make your own Chevron table! You can view the full tutorial on Viva Las DIY. And don't forget to pick up your table legs from Osborne!


I've got some awesome easy chicken casserole recipes...they are my favorites. I hope you and your family enjoy them.
You may substitute turkey with any one of these chicken hot dish recipes.
These casseroles are made in one dish and so easy to prepare. Serve any of these casseroles with my homemade bread.
These creamy easy chicken casserole recipes will soon become family favorites. From savory Swiss Chicken Casserole to Chicken, Chicken Biscuit Casserole and Dressing Deluxe Casserole; yum!
PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9x13 inch pan with vegetable oil.
In a heavy skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and canola oil until hot. Sauté the spinach and mushrooms and place in bottom of dish then placed the uncooked chicken on top.
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stirring constantly, mix in the garlic, lemon juice, cream of mushroom soup, Italian seasoning, cream and Parmesan cheese. Pour the sauce over the all and top it off with the crumbled bacon. Bake for 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven and top with cheese. Continue to bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cheese is light brown and bubbly.
Cut up chicken into chunks.
Cook chicken and minced garlic together in a pan with a few tablespoons of olive oil.
After chicken was cooked, add the soup, cream, 1 cup shredded mozzarella, and lemon juice.
Stir it all up on medium heat til creamy and then poured the entire mix on top of the spinach and mushroom layer as stated in the recipe. Then sprinkle crumbled bacon on the top and baked for 25 minutes. Eat this on top of buttered pasta.
Here's another one of my easy chicken casserole recipes that is a breeze to make and so good. Serve with a salad and homemade bread. Delicious.
PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9x13 pan.
Arrange the chicken pieces in the bottom of the prepared baking dish and top each pieces with Swiss cheese.
Combine the soup and milk; whisk well. Spoon this mixture over the chicken and cheese and then sprinkle with the stuffing mix. Drizzle with melted butter and bake for 50 minutes.
Spray the inside of the crock pot with vegetable oil and place the chicken breasts on the bottom. Then add the cheese on top of the chicken, top with milk and soup mixture - then sprinkle with dry stuffing and pour melted butter over stuffing.
Cover and cook 3-4 hours, longer if using frozen chicken breasts. It will NOT be dry so do not add anything more to this recipe.
Here's another easy chicken casserole recipe that is delicious.
Cut up chicken and cover with water. Add the salt and simmer until tender; do not boil. Let cool overnight in the refrigerator.
The next day, skim off the fat. Remove the skin and grind it up. Bone chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces; set aside.
Heat the fat in a pan and add the flour. Cook for a minute and add 1-1/2 quarts chicken stock. Stir until smooth. Add more salt if necessary.
Cook the dressing ingredients together for 10 minutes, then pour over 1 loaf of stale bread crumbs.
Spoon dressing into greased 9x15 pan, and arrange diced chicken over the dressing. Pour the gravy over all. Cover with buttered dry bread crumbs and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.


Perhaps taken for granted, the phrase, "just in the nick of time" is one with real meaning behind it. We regularly hear of rescues at sea – -but we don't typically hear about the timepieces behind those events. In 1997, the crew of the Mata-Rangi expedition, on a reed raft en route from Chile to Polynesia, met with disaster when they encountered a storm and their raft was sinking. Without radio contact for days, the crew was equipped with Breitling Emergency watches (with a transmitter built in that broadcasts a distress signal to rescuers) and all were saved thanks to this highly technical timepiece.
Today's maritime watches are functional, precise instruments that offer a lot more than the time and are meant to withstand the toughest elements. The first truly water-resistant watch came about in 1927 when Mercedes Gleitze swam the cold waters of the English Channel for more than 10 hours wearing a Rolex watch. She and the watch emerged functioning fine. That watch was named the Rolex Oyster. More than three decades later, another Rolex was strapped to the hull of the bathyscaphe Trieste, which ventured to the deepest point of the world ever visited – the Mariana Trench. The Trieste went down 35, 798 feet with the specially made Rolex attached to it. Again, the watch emerged working fine. Over the years, a host of top brands have built watches for elite corps. Panerai — Royal Italian Navy with watches; Tutima — NATO; Jaeger-LeCoultre — the Navy SEALs; etc.
photo by Kenji Toma Dive watches should be water resistant to at least a Diver's International Organization for Standardization (ISO) rating of 200 meters to 300 meters. Often dive watches are COSC-certified chronometers (watches that have undergone rigorous testing in various positions and under different conditions of pressure, temperature, depth and gravity, usually by the Controle Official Suisse des Chronometres (COSC) observatory over a period of time).


text:
32 Glowing Picture Books About Getting Lost
Top 10 Getting Lost Books
We Forgot Brock!
Written and illustrated by Carter Goodrich
Phillip and Brock are best friends, although everyone else thinks Brock is imaginary, so when Phillip gets tired out at the Big Fair while Brock is still having fun, they are separated and it will take a very special twosome to bring them back together again.
The Only Child
Written and illustrated by Guojing
Like Shaun Tan's The Arrival and Raymond Briggs's The Snowman, this gorgeous and imaginative 100-page graphic picture book is utterly transporting and original. A little girl—lost and alone—follows a mysterious stag deep into the woods, and, like Alice down the rabbit hole, she finds herself in a strange and wondrous world. But . . . home and family are very far away. How will she get back there? In this magnificently illustrated—and wordless—masterpiece, debut artist Guojing brilliantly captures the rich and deeply-felt emotional life of a child, filled with loneliness and longing as well as love and joy.
Written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
What is a boy to do when a lost penguin shows up at his door? Find out where it comes from, of course, and return it. But the journey to the South Pole is long and difficult in the boy's rowboat. There are storms to brave and deep, dark nights.To pass the time, the boy tells the penguin stories. Finally, they arrive. Yet instead of being happy, both are sad. That's when the boy realizes: The penguin hadn't been lost, it had merely been lonely. A poignant, funny, and child-friendly story about friendship lost . . . and then found again.
Findus Disappears!
Written and illustrated by Sven Nordqvist
Meet Findus—the adorable, clever little cat—and Pettson—the loving forgetful farmer—in this charming series of illustrated storybooks filled with humor and heart. Old man Pettson is lonely until his neighbor brings him a box that reads: "Findus Green Peas." But when Pettson opens the box he doesn't see peas . . . he sees a tiny kitten. Pettson's lonely days are over and he talks like he's never talked before—and soon Findus himself is talking. What a cat he has! But when the house is suddenly quiet and empty, Pettson knows something is wrong—Findus is missing!
Written and illustrated by Stacey Previn
Aberdeen never meant to leave the yard in the first place. BUT a balloon floated by and…. He is suddenly off on an unexpected adventure! Before long, Aberdeen follows his whims and fancy to unknown territory, a little too far away from home – and from mama. Who doesn't know the feeling of one thing leading to another leading to another – until you're not quite sure how you ended up where you did? Aberdeen's adorable antics will have readers excited to see where he lands next, and on the edges of their seats as he searches for a way back home.
Tallulah the Tooth Fairy CEO
Written by Tamara Pizzoli and illustrated by Federico Fabiani
In this clever, funny, and modern picture book, the tooth fairy is a high-powered black businesswoman named Tallulah. Meet Tallulah the Tooth Fairy CEO. She's a successful businesswoman, a well-rounded individual, and a fairy! Tallulah thinks she knows just about everything about running her company, Tooth Titans Inc. But then one day she comes upon a new challenge—a little boy hasn't only lost a tooth, he's really lost it. In that it's gone and he has nothing to leave under his pillow, which means there's nothing for Tallulah to take. What's a fairy to do? Luckily, Tallulah has a great team of advisors who help her solve the problem.
Where's My Mom?
Written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler
A butterfly tries to help a lost young monkey find its mother in the jungle, meeting many different animals along the way.
Skippyjon Jones-- Lost in Spice
Written and illustrated by Judy Schachner
The New York Times bestselling kitty boy blasts off into another hilarious adventure. Buckle up, amigos— everyone's favorite kitty boy is about to lift off. You'll want to be there when the brave Skippito gets lost in spice! That's right, spice. Skippy knows— from his big ears to his toes—that the planet Mars is red because it's covered in spicy red pepper. To prove it, he's off on a space jaunt replete with craters, crazies, and creatures from Mars. His new adventure is packed with witty wordplay, Spanish phrases, and Judy Schachner's trademark hilarity. This rollicking romp is simply out of this world.
Little Owl Lost
Written and illustrated by Chris Haughton
Uh-oh! Little Owl has fallen from his nest and landed with a whump on the ground. Now he is lost, and his mommy is nowhere to be seen! With the earnest help of his new friend Squirrel, Little Owl goes in search of animals that fit his description of Mommy Owl. But while some are big (like a bear) or have pointy ears (like a bunny) or prominent eyes (like a frog), none of them have all the features that make up his mommy. Where could she be? A cast of adorable forest critters in neon-bright hues will engage little readers right up to the story's comforting, gently wry conclusion.
Books About Adventure & Getting Lost
The Book in the Book in the Book
Written by Julien Baer and illustrated by Simon Bailly
A clever novelty book in which a book, found abandoned on the beach by a young boy, actually leads the boy and the reader inside a smaller printed book . . . then another. As Thomas's parents nap, he goes for a walk and gets lost--until he sees a worn and abandoned book lying on the ground. He picks it up and finds himself in a totally different scene--as is the reader, who has literally opened a different book inside the first. This happens one more time--another book within a book opened, another new world entered--until finally Thomas and his parents are reunited. But what will happen next?
Pony in the City - Otis wants to know about the kids who ride at his stables. Do they sleep in stalls? Do they also get brushed and braided? The older ponies ignore his questions, so Otis heads to the city to see for himself. And he finds answers, but he gets lost, too . . . until some of his favorite friends come to the rescue. Kids will relate to this sweet story about an adorable, inquisitive little pony.
The Littlest Train - In this endearing story of a tiny toy train, the creator of the hit series Dinotrux now breathes life into more than a half-dozen trains that climb, haul, chug, zip, and zoom. In a small room, down a short flight of stairs, there lives a little toy train...about to have a BIG adventure! There's an endless world to explore, and awe-inspiring new friends to meet. Mighty Max, Chloe Cogs, Sara Speedster, and Farley Freighter can reach all the best sights, lickety-split. But when the day is done and the sun goes down, will the littlest train find his way home? Calling all train lovers: All aboard!
Want to see even more books about getting lost and adventure?
How about books about adventure?
Books About Dogs & Getting Lost
Madame Martine
Written and illustrated by Sarah S Brannen
Madame Martine lives in Paris and follows the same routine every day. She takes for granted the beautiful things that exist all around her. She refuses to go to the Eiffel Tower because it's "just for tourists." One day Madame Martine finds a stray dog and decides to take him home. When she tries keeping her dog on the same schedule, he breaks free, leading Madame Martine on a wild chase up the Eiffel Tower! Upon reaching the top, she discovers how much beauty she has been missing all these years. From then on, the two friends try something different every week.
Ladybug Girl and Bingo - This hardcover picture book in the New York Times bestselling Ladybug Girl series explores the theme of responsibility for a pet and the fun of a first camping trip. Lulu and her dog Bingo the basset hound are best friends. Whenever they play outside, Bingo always stays close by Lulu's side. When they go camping for the first time, Lulu does her best to be responsible and hold tight to Bingo's leash. But what happens when Bingo wants to explore the forest on his own and runs off? This is a job for Ladybug Girl! She will find Bingo in time for toasting marshmallows at the campfire. For fans of Fancy Nancy and Toot and Puddle, the Ladybug Girl series honors a love of the outdoors, family, and creativity!
Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone? - An expanded version of the traditional rhyme, in which the little dog has an adventure.
Want to see even more books about getting lost and dogs?
How about books about dogs?
Books About Animals & Getting Lost
Annie and the Wild Animals
Written and illustrated by Jan Brett
A lively tale sure to be loved by fans of The Mitten Originally published in 1985, Annie and the Wild Animals is back in a large hardcover format with a striking new jacket that makes this new edition the perfect gift for young readers. Annie's cat, Taffy, disappears and she is lonely. She looks for a friendly, furry pet near the woods, but a giant moose, a grumpy bear and others show up to eat her corn cakes until they are all gone. They leave, and to Annie's surprise, out of the woods comes Taffy with her three new kittens.
Bobo the Sailor Man! - Willie finds all sorts of interesting things while he and Bobo the stuffed monkey are exploring, including a bucket that would be a perfect boat for Bobo, but before he knows it, Bobo and the "boat" have disappeared.
Mrs. Mole, I'm Home! - Poor Morris Mole has had a very long day, and all he wants is to get home to Mrs. Mole and their children. But Morris has misplaced his glasses! He starts burrowing his way home anyway, trusting in his memory to guide him. When Morris gets there he calls out, "Mrs. Mole, I'm hooome!" but he doesn't exactly get the response he expected. "I'm not your wife!" says Mrs. Bunny. Oh, dear! So Morris sets off again in the direction of home. He'll end up in the right spot eventually . . . won't he? Young readers will be rooting for Morris and giggling at every wrong turn — while taking comfort in the fact that, sooner or later, you'll always find your way home.
Zoe and the Fawn - Zoe and her father are delighted to come across a fawn in the forest. But the fawn is alone—where is its mother? Join Zoe on her quest for the deer, as she encounters animals and learns their syilx (Okanagan) names along the way. Repetition of phrased questions will enhance success for beginning readers while creating a playful rhythm for young listeners.
The Gingerbread Man Loose at the Zoo - Is there anything more fun than a class trip to the zoo? The Gingerbread Man and his classmates don't think so, and they get to solve riddles on a WILD scavenger hunt. They meet giraffes, monkeys, and even a fox (especially scary for a Gingerbread Man!). But a zoo full of critters is a tricky place for a tasty cookie—even a very fast one—and the Gingerbread Man ends up separated from his friends. He needs to solve all of the riddles to catch up with his class and help someone else who is lost. I'll be a detective. I know that I can! I'll solve all these clues. I'm the Gingerbread Man! Animals galore and a trail of clues make the Gingerbread Man's latest adventure his wildest one yet.
Want to see even more books about getting lost and animals?
How about books about animals?
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In recent years, conservatives have decried the poor for being poor. Poverty in America, according to this logic, is produced by faulty sub-cultures, by flawed work ethics, and by immoral, or amoral social codes. People are poor, the argument goes, because they don't have the drive to be anything else. In such an environment, talking about the struggling middle-classes is safe; but talking particularly about the poor, and about the conditions locking so many millions into poverty and near-poverty, becomes dangerous. Poverty is seen as somehow morally questionable; people in poverty as morally unsound.
Always a lazy argument, in recent years the "culture of poverty" theme has become simply untenable. In an era of mass unemployment, plummeting living standards for the working poor, collapsing pension systems, a stubbornly broken housing market, and frayed local, state and federal safety nets, blaming the poor for their poverty demonstrates a staggering moral blind spot.
Yes, at the bottom of the economy, much dysfunction exists – violence, addiction, mental illness; collapsed families, depression, sometimes criminality. But, as the stories chronicled on this website show, such behavior is more frequently the product of poverty rather than its initial cause. Of course, once entrenched, cultural dysfunction can serve to perpetuate poverty, to lock it in over generations, to keep already down-and-out communities prostrate. But, for policy makers and social workers looking to intervene against poverty, tackling the social dysfunction has to go hand in hand with pushing for social programs and economic policies that map a route out of poverty not just for individuals, but for tens of millions of Americans. Poverty has to be seen, in the aggregate, as a cause rather than a consequence of other ills.
Treating poverty as a disease, as something that somehow infects unfortunate or dissolute individuals, rather than as a product of deep political and economic inequities serves only to truncate our sense of the possible. Treat America's sprawling poverty as a sickness, an epidemiological singularity, and the response can only be piecemeal, charitable interventions that channel largesse to individuals or families; treat it as a symptom of systemic breakdown, of large-scale economic failings and a massive malfunctioning of the political system, and the responses by necessity become larger, more ambitious.
• Fifty million Americans living below the government-defined poverty line.
• More than forty million Americans reliant on food stamps to avoid going hungry.
• Fourteen million-plus Americans unemployed, and millions more either underemployed or so despondent about their job prospects that they have stopped looking for work.
• Three million homes foreclosed since 2006, with forecasters predicting another three million will be repossessed in the years to come.
• Fifty million Americans without any form of health insurance, at permanent risk of financial annihilation should they fall sick.
The Voices of Poverty tells the stories, in their own voices, of these men, women, and children. They are the voices of America's invisible poor.
Visitors to the site can listen to a growing audio archive of interviews. As you listen, visit our maps, and explore the changing poverty numbers around the country. You can also put your own stories of hardship onto the site. The site is linked to photographic archives documenting poverty, as well as to sites dealing with specific poverty-related policies and networks engaged in working on solutions to some of the country's deepest hardship-related problems.
Over the coming months and years, the site will grow to include stories from around the country.
In seeing the size of the challenge readers will be stimulated to place poverty back where it belongs: full-center in the American political debate. That fifty million Americans live in dire poverty, their economic security shattered, their prospects dim, ought to trigger both outrage and creativity: outrage that such a situation has been allowed to fester, to grow, for so long; creativity in that solutions to these problems have to emerge at every level of society – amongst the political classes, but also at the grassroots; amongst regulators and policy innovators, but also in classrooms, in community credit unions, in union halls and amongst the poor themselves.
Understanding modern poverty as a product of specific policies and specific failings of political will sets the stage for change; not the superficial changes embodied by soaring sound bites, but the kind of change that alters generations' aspirations, that shifts a nation's political priorities. That is the challenge, and the hope, embodied in these stories.