External Affairs Minister SM Krishna resigned on Friday ahead of the reshuffle of the Union Cabinet scheduled on Sunday.
The Muslim fishermen are all victims of the LTTE and they have suffered a lot and even in their rehabilitation they have suffered a lot. Instead of punishing them we must help them in their rehabilitation said Mannar Additional R.S.A. Dissanayake while granting bail to 19 fishermen in the Case No: 403/ 2012.
Kalanithi Maran-led SUN TV, the South India-based media conglomerate, on Thursday, successfully won the bid to own and run the Hyderabad Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise team, replacing the debt-ridden Deccan Chargers which was terminated by the Indian cricket board.
After Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Income Tax department too has launched a probe to trace the source of funding of various firms that invested in BJP president Nitin Gadkari's company Purti Power and Sugar Limited ( PPSL).
Sri Lanka exports will not remain passive in the face of global downturn, vows Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce. "We are not going to remain passive at a time when our export markets around the world turn more challenging due to the decline in leading segments and the downward revision of GDP projections for India and China.
The 26-day deadlock in Kingfisher Airlines was resolved on Thursday with the management agreeing to pay four months salary dues by December end to the striking employees who decided to resume work with immediate effect.
The Royal Court confirmed on Thursday that Sweden's Princess Madeleine is engaged to her long-time US banker boyfriend Chris O'Neill.
With diabetes largely associated with over-consumption of sugar by many Zimbabweans, it is hardly surprising that its link to tuberculosis (TB) is hardly a public health matter. TB kills more than 3,500 people each day worldwide, leading to approximately 1.4 million deaths every year. One-third of the world's population is currently infected with the causative agent of TB, and 8.8 million new cases of active TB are estimated to occur around the world each year.
In a new twist to its case against Zee News, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) on Thursday showed tapes purportedly recorded in a sting operation alleging that the channel tried to blackmail the company and extort Rs. 100 crore for not airing stories against it on coal block allocation.
U.S. Ambassador Michele J. Sison paid a visit on October 23, 2012, to view the historic Dutch Fort and see the completion of the $52,000 grant made under the 2011 Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP). The 26 year Sri Lankan conflict and effects of the 2004 tsunami had long prevented much needed conservation work to the area, but thanks to the AFCP grant, local partners have begun to rescue this national treasure, while simultaneously assisting to promote greater economic development through cultural preservation.
Popular comedian and film director Jaspal Bhatti, who touched a chord with the masses with his humorous take on problems plaguing the common man, died when his car rammed into a roadside tree on Thursday night.
One of Sri Lanka's most dynamic recycling companies is exploring avenues for using foreign expertise to reuse recycled waste materials within the country itself. Kalhari Group which has won export awards since its inception in 2007 for the export of recycled materials received a Merit Award at the recently held 20th Annual NCE Export Awards in the Agriculture Value Added – Medium Category.
Milan court convicts Former Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi of tax evasion, and sentenced him for 4-year imprisonment.
Anyone of course has a right to advocate 'abolishing the 13th Amendment' or anything else for that matter. Sri Lanka should be a free country for peaceful political expression. But what is worrying is the almost 'fanatical' advocacy of the 'abolition of devolution' with the 13th Amendment by the Defense Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. What is apparent is his 'anti-Tamil' crusade.


Razor made her first appearance on the most recent episode of AXS TV's WOW Women of Wrestling with an ominous promo. She later appeared at ringside to support Fury, her associate in the Psycho Sisters, a goth-punk girl gang straight out of an '80s movie, and get involved with her match with EDM-personified wrestler Chantilly Chella. So far WOW viewers have only briefly seen Razor in action, but independent wrestling fans might already be familiar with her work various promotions as Sarah Wolfe, manager to Tyler Bateman, or know her as one of the hosts of the Women Wrestling Friends Podcast.
With Spandex talked to Razor about her lifelong wrestling fandom, the WOW training school, and more. The conversation is below and has been edited for length and clarity.


Add weight to your bench or size to your chest with these challenges.
You love the Bench Press. I love the Bench Press. Everyone loves the Bench Press.
Few things are more satisfying than lifting hundreds of pounds over your chest and setting a new personal record. It's even better when that PR happens to coincide with adding another 45-pound plate to the bar and joining the two-, three- or (gasp!) four-plate club.
However, if you have any experience with the Bench Press, you know all too well that progress can grind to a halt. Or sometimes you work hard on your bench but your chest remains small and feeble. And both of these problems can be mind-numbingly frustrating.
To help alleviate those problems, we've compiled Bench Press challenges and unique variations that will help you add strength to your bench and size to your chest.
Joe DeFranco, renown strength coach, recently challenged his followers to time how long it takes to perform 100 reps on the Bench Press using a weight equivalent to their body weight.
This isn't like Push-Ups where you might be able to knock out 100 reps in a row. It will take time and multiple breaks and there's some strategy involved. You could try to knock out as many reps as possible toward the beginning or spread it out so you don't fatigue too quickly.
DeFranco's time was 16 minutes, 10 seconds.
Channel your inner NFL prospect and try the 225-pound Bench Press test. This challenge is simple. Perform as many reps as possible with 225 pounds.
The record at the NFL Scouting Combine is a whopping 51 reps. Football players train specifically for this test and have many years under their belts lifting heavy weights in a collegiate strength training program, so don't be too upset if you come nowhere near the record.
In fact, you may not even be able to bench press 225 pounds. That's OK. Back off the weight to a load you think you can lift for 15 to 20 reps, and perform as many reps as possible.
PREP stands for Power Rack Eccentric Potentiation. Sound complicated? Fear not, it's a simple technique, which, according to Dr. Joel Seedman, strength coach and owner of Advanced Human Performance, is one of the fastest ways to build strength in the Bench Press.
To perform PREP reps, use a weight that's up to 120 percent of your max. So if your max is 250, you can use up to 300 pounds. This may seem incredibly heavy, but your muscles are capable of handling more weight on the lowering (eccentric) phase of the rep.
Lower the weight over 3-5 seconds until the bar reaches the rack's safety pins set a few inches above your chest. Now slide out from under the bar and take about 30 percent of the weight off the bar—usually removing a 45-pound plate from each side is sufficient.
Now slide back under the bar, press the weight up and rack it. Reset to your starting weight and repeat for up to 4 reps. You can do this for 3-5 sets.
Having trouble building a bigger chest with the Bench Press? Add the Squeeze Press to your workouts.
"Many people have a hard time activating their pecs on the Bench Press, thus limiting their ability to build muscle and strength through this region simultaneously," explains Dr. John Rusin, strength coach, physical therapist and owner of John Rusin Fitness Systems.
The Squeeze Press is essentially Neutral-Grip Dumbbell Press (palms facing each other), but instead you squeeze the dumbbells together as hard as you can. This forces your pecs to engage and creates an incredible chest pump.
"The golden rule is this: In order to elicit a response from a muscle, you must feel it," Rusin says. "That's exactly why I love the Dumbbell Squeeze Press for activating the pecs while training the shoulders and chest in a very safe and effective position."
Rusin recommends performing sets of 8-15 reps. Use a weight that's challenging but allows you to focus on the squeeze throughout the rep—especially at the bottom and top positions.
21s are an old-school bodybuilding method typically used for building bigger arms. But according to Nick Tumminello, strength coach and owner of Performance U, 21s are an easy and effective way to build muscle with many other exercises, including the Bench Press.
Do 7 reps lowering the barbell only halfway.
Do 7 reps from the bottom position pressing the weight halfway up.
Finish with 7 complete reps for a total of 21 reps.
21s create a great pump and place your muscles under tension for a high number of reps—two keys to building muscle. The first seven reps will be relatively easy, but your muscles will be screaming for mercy by the end of the set. Perform a total of 1 to 3 sets.
Perform as many reps as possible on the Bench Press with a weight you can lift for about 10 reps.
Perform as many Pull-Ups as possible.
Repeat 3-5 times taking no rest.
This is a great way to cram as many reps in as possible to add some strength, muscular endurance and work capacity at the same time.


text:
Room is Canada's oldest feminist literary journal, and has published fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, art, interviews, and book reviews for forty years. Published quarterly by the West Coast Feminist Literary Magazine Society, also known as the Growing Room Collective, Room showcases writing and art by women (cisgender and transgender), transgender men, Two-Spirit and nonbinary people. We believe in publishing emerging writers alongside established authors, and because of this, approximately 90% of the work we publish comes from unsolicited submissions or contest entries.
Works that originally appeared in Room have been anthologized in The Journey Prize Anthology, Best Canadian Poetry, Best Canadian Stories, and Best Canadian Essays, and have been nominated for National Magazine Awards.
The Growing Room Collective
The Growing Room Collective is based out of Vancouver, and includes all staff and editorial board members of Room. We have a unique editorial model, and each issue of the magazine is edited by a different team from our editorial board. Check out our submissions page for more information.
If you would like to volunteer with Room, please complete our application form. (Note we are not always recruiting, but we do keep applications on file for when we do.) The current collective includes:
Jessica Johns
managingeditor [at] roommagazine [dot] com
Meghan Bell
circulation [at] roommagazine [dot] com
publisher [at] roommagazine [dot] com
marketing [at] roommagazine [dot] com
Productions Coordinator
production [at] roommagazine [dot] com
Outreach and Education Coordinator
jessicajohns [at] roommagazine [dot] com
Book Reviews Editor
Leah Golob
reviews [at] roommagazine [dot] com
Advertising Coordinator
Navneet Nagra
partners [at] roommagazine [dot] com
Monica Calderon
Toronto Events Coordinator
Rachel Thompson and Mica Lemiski
Indigenous Brilliance Hosts
Jessica Johns, jaye simpson, Emily Dundas Oke, Patricia Massy
Submissions Coordinator
Isabella Wang
intern [at] roommagazine [dot] com
Meghan Bell, Candace Fertile, Leah Golob, Jessica Johns, Chelene Knight, Alissa McArthur, Rose Morris, Navneet Nagra, Rebecca Russell, Geffen Semach, Arielle Spence, Rachel Thompson, Isabella Wang, Yilin Wang, Kayi Wong, Amber Dawn, Nafiza Azad, Nancy Jo Cullen, Stacy Gardner, Sierra Skye Gemma, Tamara Jong, Mica Lemiski, Annick MacAskill, Mridula Morgan, Natalie North, Yvonne Robertson, Sylvia Symons
Growing Room Festival Staff
Programming Director
For bios and contact information for the current staff of the Growing Room festival visit festival.roommagazine.com.
Juliane Okot Bitek, Poet
Jane Hope, Marketing & Communications Manager, Lunapads International
Jessica Somers, Accountant, Cordova Street Consulting
Kristin Cheung, Grants & Foundations Manager, VIFF & Vancity Theatre
Room Collective Members
Nafiza Azad
Nafiza Azad is a self-identified island girl. She has hurricanes in her blood and dreams of a time she can exist solely on mangoes and pineapple. Born in Lautoka, Fiji, she currently resides in BC, Canada where she reads too many books, watches too many Kdramas and writes stories about girls taking over the world. Her debut YA fantasy, THE CANDLE AND THE FLAME, was released by Scholastic in 2019.
Meghan Bell's writing has appeared in over a dozen literary magazines and publications across Canada, including Joyland, Grain, The Puritan, The New Quarterly, Carousel, Prairie Fire, and the anthology Tesseracts 21. Meghan has worked in marketing and as a grant writer for multiple arts organizations in the Lower Mainland, including the Vancouver International Film Festival, Just For Laughs NorthWest, and BrandLive (Skookum Festival, Honda Celebration of Light). She has two degrees from the University of Victoria, and is currently completing her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. Her first collection of short stories will be published by Book*hug in 2021. meghanbell.com / @meghanlbell. Photo credit: Erin Flegg.
Monica was born in the Philippines and moved to Canada in 2008. After graduating from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila with a BFA, she worked in animation, publishing and editing, and as a graphic designer and trainer. Currently she is working for a financial technology company and has a side hustle as a graphic designer and web developer. She also dabbles in photography. Check out her portfolio at http://monicadesigns.ca/ .
Nancy Cullen
Nancy Jo Cullen is a Calgary transplant who now lives in Kingston, ON. She's the fourth recipient of the Writers' Trust Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBT Emerging Writer. Her fiction and poems have appeared in The Journey Prize, The Puritan, Grain, filling Station, Plenitude, Prairie Fire, This Magazine, Room and Arc Poetry Magazine. She has published three collections of poetry with Calgary's Frontenac House Press. Her short story collection, Canary, was published in 2013 by Biblioasis. Her novel, The Western Alienation Merit Badge is forthcoming in 2019 with Wolsak and Wynn. She is mid-way through her fourth collection of poetry.
Amber Dawn is a writer and creative facilitator living on unceded Coast Salish Territories. She is the author of four books and the editor of three anthologies. All of her books are published with Arsenal Pulp Press. She currently teaches creative writing Douglas College, as well as guest mentors at several drop-in, community-driven spaces in the Downtown Eastside, an area impacted by poverty-related issues and beloved for its tenacity and creativity.
Emily Dundas Oke
Emily Dundas Oke is an emerging artist and curator. A 2018 graduate of Philosophy and Visual Art (BA) from Thompson Rivers University, she has been the recipient of numerous awards and is an alumni of the TRU Indigenous Knowledge Makers program. Emily has exhibited nationally and internationally and has been an artist in residence at Nida Art Colony (Lithuania), Ideas Block (Lithuania) and the Kamloops Printmakers Society (Canada). She is currently the organizer and co-curator of the Indigenous Brilliance reading and performance series and holds a FPCC funded Indigenous Curatorial Assistant position at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver.
Candace Fertile
Candace Fertile has a PhD in English literature from the University of Alberta. She teaches English at Camosun College in Victoria, B.C. and writes book reviews for several Canadian publications. She joined the collective in 2004.
Stacy Gardner
Stacy Gardner is a member of the Writers Guild of Canada and Playwrights Guild of Canada, recipient of Columbia's Scholastic Press Association Award in NYC for non-fiction, and a Toronto Arts Council Grant for Playwriting to support her staged production of Worms for Sale at Toronto's longest running feminist theatre: Alumnae Theatre. Stacy has published poems with Room, Black Moss Press, and Discord & Din; essays for WANL'sWORD, and creative non-fiction for Gailey Road. Stacy's play, After the Sirens, premiered at the St. John's Short Play Festival in September 2018, and she is currently producing and curating a youth-engaged play for the same festival in September 2019; and slowly but surely working on a full-length play Not My Circus, Not My Monkey - an exploration into trauma and attachment of children in foster care. A background in social work and journalism, Stacy's life and work has always revolved around 'story' she currently holds the position of Local Immigration Partnership Coordinator in St. John's, NL, where she lives with her young son, and facilitates creating writing workshops in her house. http://www.stacygardner.ca/
Sierra Skye Gemma
Sierra Skye Gemma is essayist, memoirist, and journalist. She has been published in The Globe and Mail, The New Quarterly, The Vancouver Sun, WestCoast Families, the Best Canadian Essays 2013 anthology, and elsewhere. Sierra's work has won the Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest, a National Magazine Award for Best New Magazine Writer, and a National Newspaper Award in Long Feature. Find her online at sierraskyegemma.com and as @sierraskyegemma.
Leah Golob is a full-time journalist and freelance book critic. Her writing has appeared in The Globe and Mail, The Georgia Straight, Vancouver Magazine, Vancouver Observer, and trade publications. She joined the Room collective in 2013 and now serves as the book reviews editor and on the editorial board. She has an MA in English literature from Brock University. Connect with her on Twitter @LeahGolob.
Jessica Johns is a nehiyaw aunty and a member of Sucker Creek First Nation in Treaty 8 territory of Northern Alberta. She is the managing editor of Room magazine and a co-organizer of the Indigenous Brilliance reading series, a collaborative series between Room and Massy Books celebrating Indigenous women/2SQ storytellers. She has been published in Cosmonauts Avenue, Glass Buffalo, CV2, SAD Magazine, Red Rising Magazine, The Rusty Toque, Poetry is Dead, and Bad Nudes, among others. Her short story, "The Bull of the Cromdale" was nominated for a 2019 National Magazine Award in fiction and her debut poetry chapbook, How Not to Spill, is out now with Rahila's Ghost Press.
Tamara Jong
Tamara Jong is a Montreal-born mixed-race writer of Chinese and European ancestry. Her work has appeared in Ricepaper, Room, Carte Blanche, The New Quarterly, Invisible Publishing and Body & Soul; Stories for Skeptics and Seekers. She is a graduate of The Writer's Studio (Simon Fraser University). You can find her on Twitter @bokchoygurl.
Nailah King is a lover of pop culture, gifs, and literature, of course! She is an alumna from UBC in English Literature and moved to Toronto last year to chase those publishing dreams. She is currently working on a web series, a novel, and retaining her sanity.
Chelene Knight
Chelene Knight is the author of the poetry collection Braided Skin and the memoir Dear Current Occupant, winner of the 2018 Vancouver Book Award. Her essays have appeared in multiple Canadian and American literary journals, plus the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. Her work is anthologized in Making Room, Love Me True, Sustenance, The Summer Book, and Black Writers Matter. The Toronto Star called Knight, "one of the storytellers we need most right now." In addition to her work as a writer, Knight was the previous managing editor at Room (2016- June 2019), and programming director for the Growing Room Festival (2018, 2019), and now CEO of #LearnWritingEssentials and Breathing Space Creative. Knight is currently working on Junie, a novel set in Vancouver's Hogan's Alley, forthcoming in 2020. She was selected as a 2019 Writers' Trust Rising Star by David Chariandy. cheleneknight.com @LWEstudio
Photo credit: Katherine Holland.
Mica is an MFA student at UBC and contributor to Room ("Tiny Parts," Issue 39.2). Her thesis project is a combination of comedic personal essays and original music, which is being developed into a podcast series. She is also the host of "Fainting Couch Feminists," a new podcast with Room. She is originally from Vernon, B.C. but is currently based in Vancouver.
Annick MacAskill
Annick MacAskill's poems have appeared in journals and anthologies across Canada and abroad, including Room, Plenitude, Prism, Canadian Notes & Queries, Arc, The Fiddlehead, Best Canadian Poetry, and The Stinging Fly. Her debut collection, No Meeting Without Body (Gaspereau Press, 2018), was nominated for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award and shortlisted for the Atlantic Book Awards' J.M. Abraham Poetry Award. Her second collection is due to be published by Gaspereau in the spring of 2020. She currently lives and writes in Kjipuktuk (Halifax) on the traditional and unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq.
Brigid MacAulay
Brigid MacAulay is a freelance writer, editor and dance artist. Originally from Ottawa, she received her Hon. BA (English and Religion majors; minor in Art History) from the University of Toronto, came to Vancouver the very next day, and has made the city home ever since. As a professional dancer, she has studied and performed in Toronto, New York City, Guelph and Vancouver.
Alissa is a former Vancouverite now based in Toronto. Her work has appeared in Ricepaper Magazine, canlit.ca, 24 Hours Vancouver, and Room 37.3. She worked at Canadian Literature, a quarterly academic journal, where she helped research, write, edit, and code HTML for CanLit Guides, an online teaching resource for literature instructors.
Mridula Morgan
Mridula Morgan has an MA in Education and has worked in the area of social services within the Lower Mainland for over thirty years. She identifies as an immigrant woman of colour and is committed to social justice through an anti-oppression lens. She is a wanna-be writer with a personal blog and is currently working on a family memoir.
Rose Morris
Rose Morris has been a member of Room's editorial collective since 2013. She holds a Masters degree in literature from the University of Victoria. In addition to her role at Room, Rose is a content writer for a marketing agency, a volunteer for The Malahat Review, and occasionally a poet.
Navneet Nagra is a writer, reader and knitter. Currently she is working on two books of poetry and will be featured in Lemon Hound's New Vancouver Poets Folio. You can follow her @stelladalle and penpencilpoison.weebly.com.
Natalie North
Natalie North worked in journalism for a decade, both in British Columbia and South Korea, before she moved into charity marketing and communications in 2017. She studied creative writing at the University of Victoria and loves nothing more than reading a nuanced profile and writing down everything her grandmother says.
Yvonne Robertson
After completing a Master of Journalism at UBC, Yvonne Robertson worked as a journalist and editor in Vancouver, writing and editing long-form feature pieces as well as short news stories. She's since switched gears slightly, returning to Toronto and taking a position as a public affairs officer at a non-profit. An avid reader, passionate about arts and culture, arts activism, and social justice, Yvonne looks to find ways to expose and subvert systemic injustices, particularly through writing and artistic expression. She also love dancing and cats.
Rebecca Russell
Rebecca Russell is a freelance editor, teacher, and arts administrator. She has held various positions in publishing, ESL education, and film and theatre and, apart from a year spent abroad, has lived in Toronto for the past several years. She holds a BA in English and women & gender studies from the University of Toronto.
Geffen Semach
Geffen Semach lives in London, England, where she works a Literary Agent's Assistant to Clare Alexander at Aitken Alexander. Geffen has also worked at Profile Books and in foreign rights at Andrew Nurnberg Associates in London. She has also been an online editor for Momentum magazine, a creative copywriter at the marketing agency Y5 Creative, as well as held an editorial assistant position with The Nabokov Online Journal. Geffen has a Bachelors from Dalhousie and completed the Columbia Publishing Course at Oxford University in 2018.
jaye simpson
jaye is a libra sun, sagittarius rising, scorpio moon. jaye is a displaced indigenous person living, creating & occupying on xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-waututh), and sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) First Nations territories. they are a co-organizer of the Indigenous Brilliance reading series, a collaborative series between Room Magazine and Massy Books celebrating Indigenous women/2SQ storytellers. you can find them and their hot takes on twitter at @jayesimpson94.
Arielle Spence
Arielle Spence is a literary arts enthusiast who grew up in Coldstream, B.C. (unceded Syilx Territory). After receiving a BA from UBC in 2015, they have spent the last 4 years working for arts and education non-profits, most recently Pain BC. They were the founding Festival Director for Growing Room in 2017, and were honoured to edit Issue 42.1 of Room, "Magic."
Sylvia Symons
Sylvia Symons grew up in northern B.C. and currently lives with her family in Vancouver, where she teaches ESL at a community college. Her work appears in lit-mags and anthologies including EVENT, Geist, Best Canadian Poetry 2016, Room, CV2, and Prairie Fire. Walking up or down a non-moving escalator requires all her focus and courage.
Rachel Thompson's collection of poetry, Galaxy, was published by Anvil Press and won SFU's First Book Competition in 2011. The contest judge, Gregory Scofield, wrote in his comments that the book had "Wonderful and clear imagery as well as a 'real' and 'true' sense of place, love, longing, family, and the constant struggle and re-negotiation of self and experience."
Rachel has edited four issues with Room, Mythologies of Loss, Murder, Lust, and Larceny, In Translation, and Family Secrets. She was formerly Room's Managing Editor and is currently our Poetry Coordinator. Rachel hosts the Lit Mag Love Podcast. Find her at rachelthompson.co.
Isabella Wang is a young, emerging Chinese-Canadian writer from Vancouver, B.C. Her poetry is published in Room Magazine, The /tEmz/ Review, Train Journal, and Looseleaf Magazine. Her essays are published in carte blanche, Invisible Blog, and The New Quarterly. At 18, she is a two-time finalist and the youngest writer shortlisted for The New Quarterly's Edna Staebler Essay Contest. She is studying English at SFU, co-ordinating the Dead Poets Reading series, volunteering as the youth advocate for the Federation of BC Writers, working with Books on the Radio, and interning at Room.
Yilin Wang
Yilin Wang is a writer, poet, editor, and Chinese-to-English translator who has lived in China, the U.S., Scotland, and Canada. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Clarkesworld, The Malahat Review, Grain, carte blanche, Contemporary Verse 2, Arc Poetry Magazine, LooseLeaf Magazine, Matador Network, The Tyee, The Toronto Star, Business Insider, and the anthology Best of Abyss & Apex Vol.2. Her work has been shortlisted for The University of East Anglia's David T.K Wong Fellowship, a finalist for the Far Horizons Award for Short Fiction, and longlisted for the Peter Hinchcliffe Short Fiction Award. Yilin is a Creative Writing MFA candidate at UBC and has served as an assistant editor for Room issues 40.4 (Let's Make Contact) and 42.1 (Magic). Find her online at www.yilinwang.com and on Twitter @yilinwriter.
Kayi Wong graduated from UBC in 2014 with a BA in English literature. She has worked at a children's library, an independent bookstore, interned at the Vancouver International Film Festival, coordinated a non-profit women's rights campaign, and worked as a writing tutor. After living in Hong Kong and Singapore for many years, she is currently writing, editing, and doing graphic design in Vancouver, B.C. Follow her on twitter @kayitypes.
Where to Buy Room
Magazine Association of BC
BC Writers' Federation
Magazines Canada
The League of Canadian Poets
Friends of Room
Massy Books
Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies
Feminist Art Conference
MIXED Art Toronto
South of Fraser Inter-Arts Collective
Intrepid Pens
Pages on Fire
Queer of Gender
The Closet Feminist
Poetry Markets
Magazine Awards's Guide to Canadian Literary Magazines & Journals

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Whether you are an experienced scooterist, or a newbie, why not check out the latest and greatest scooter models at your local South Dakota scooter dealer? Or Better yet, schedule a test drive!
Distance: If you're going to buy one then you're going to have to transport it. Transporting a scooter costs money, especially if you have to rent a trailer. Make sure you calculate this cost into the overall cost of the scooter. On the other hand if you have your M class license and you go to a local South Dakota scooter dealer, you could drive it off the lot and straight home.
Parts Availability: If you buy from a local South Dakota scooter shop then you can call them at any time to have parts serviced or replaced. If you purchased your scooter elsewhere then it's going to be a bit more of a hassle. Local scooter dealers will have the parts you need because they sell the scooter you bought. Usually a company will be more likely to keep parts in stock, or be able to order them for you on short notice.
Support Your Local Economy: Did you know that your local shop is likely owned by a small business? If you want to support your local economy, put money back into your area and improve your area then purchasing local is the way to go.Expertise: Last but not least, a dealer will be someone that you can visit or call at any time for help with your scooter. Whether you want to know where to get modifications, how to get your M class license or just know more about the industry, benefits and lifestyle, chances are you can find the information at a local shop.


friends or this puppy would be homeless.
or until no moisture forms on a mirror held over the top of the stack.
Hope you get feeling better real quick.
kiln, I think you want to have air be able to get all around them.
There was a guy that visited Mashiko that has a really fine collection of early American pottery. He showed me a magazine article about his collection. He decided to start collecting what he called "American Mingei" after seeing work at the Mingeikan in Tokyo.
If money were no object, I would focus my collecting on Korean Yi and Early American pottery.


Netflix has released the first photos for their upcoming comedy series Turn Up Charlie, starring Golden Globe winner Idris Elba (Luther) as the titular character. The series will debut on March 15.
Elba and Gary Reich co-created Turn Up Charlie and will serve as executive producers along with Tristram Shapeero. Shapeero will also direct the series with Matt Lipsey.Martin Joyce and Ana Garanito are co-executive producers. The series is co-produced by Reich's Brown Eyed Boy Productions and Elba's Green Door Pictures.
Turn Up Charlie centers on the titular Charlie (Idris Elba), a struggling DJ and eternal bachelor, who is given a final chance at success when he reluctantly becomes a 'manny' to his famous best friend's problem-child daughter, Gabby (Frankie Hervey). Piper Perabo and JJ Feild co-star.


We're always looking for ways to add value to your AAA membership.
AAA provides the most commonly used services relating to Pennsylvania vehicle titles and registration, and we offer exclusive pricing for AAA members.
Your local AAA store has a staff of experts to guide you through the confusion of License and Title work. They can help you with services like vehicle registration renewals, title transfers and tag services, and driver's license renewals.
Please call or visit your local AAA Southern Pennsylvania store for more details on what services may be available to you.
Note:*Not a photo center. Services are available to both members and non-members. AAA members receive a discount on club processing fees. Club processing fees are in addition to state and service fees.


text:
Costas procesales, en Derecho procesal, son los gastos en que debe incurrir cada una de las partes involucradas en un juicio. Dentro de las mismas se incluyen los gastos inherentes al proceso: notificaciones, tasas y demás, así como, en ciertos casos, los gastos de asistencia letrada (coste del abogado y procurador).

En algunos ordenamientos, los honorarios de los abogados y demás personas que han intervenido en el juicio (por ejemplo, procuradores y peritos), se denominan costas personales, en oposición a los gastos causados en la tramitación del proceso, llamadas costas procesales. Aunque ambos conceptos se engloban bajo el término general de costas.

Las costas procesales también son conocidas como los honorarios de los bufetes de abogados en procesos penales civiles y administrativos.

Condena en costas
Es habitual que en muchos pleitos se solicite al juez que se condene a la contraparte a pagar las costas del juicio. A ello se le denomina técnicamente condena en costas.

Normalmente, esto se concede en caso de que se aprecie que se litigó sin tener fundamento alguno o que incluso se inició el juicio de mala fe (con ánimo de causar un perjuicio, por el simple hecho de tener que ir a juicio, o por dilatar el procedimiento todo lo posible). Con ello, se pretende resarcir a la parte que actuó de buena fe, haciendo a la otra parte pagar todos los gastos de un proceso innecesario.

La tasación de costas es practicada por el Letrado de la Administración de Justicia (antes, Secretario Judicial), funcionario público de un Cuerpo Superior Jurídico. Éste valora los honorarios y las partidas o derechos que deben de ser incluidas en la tasación, realizando de forma "soberana" la misma, excluyendo todas aquellas actuaciones que sean superfluas y por las que no se deba repercutir al condenado en costas. Debe realizarse una vez que la resolución final del proceso (sentencia o auto) sea firme. La tasación de costas practicada por el Letrado de la Administración de Justicia (antes, Secretario Judicial), después de un exhaustivo examen del proceso, puede ser impugnada por haberse incluido honorarios, partidas y derechos "excesivos" o "indebidos", resolviendo finalmente el Juez.

Lo elemental en cuanto a la imposición de las costas procesales, es que se debe distinguir que las mismas no se refieren única y exclusivamente a los honorarios de abogados, por cuanto que las costas son el conjunto de los gastos judiciales suscitados en el proceso. Además no se debe obviar que esta imposición se da cuando la resolución que se dictare causa estado.-

Es decir, en el amplio sentido, costas son los gastos del juicio y eventualmente los honorarios que se fijaren por parte del magistrado interviniente.

Véase también

 Proceso judicial

Derecho procesal

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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| Flash Fiction | Suspense | The Red Rose
Laurence Sullivan || Alankrita Amaya
H.M.S Honour emblazoned across the bow — a siren's call to any covetous pirate. Victory against a foe like that would entail a tale to regale any adventurous ear with, enough rum to fuel a crew for months, and the possibility of a glut of gold to sail away with. A rose may be beautiful, but its thorns could surely pierce the hull of His Majesty's ship — even if it were twice its size.
A simple speech was all it took for pirate captain Leopold to whip his crew into a frenzy. For most, to laugh in the face of death would seem a symptom of madness, but for the captain's crew — it was the highest of virtues. The Red Rose was a fast ship, a small sloop easily capable of out-manoeuvring the Great British frigate. This, however, was its sole advantage, for Rose's crew stood at little more than seventy compared to the floating army of at least three hundred. These stacked odds simply served to make the payoff greater — at least in the lunacy of Leopold's mind.
Facing toward his men, the captain bellowed his orders to follow the hulking vessel. After a dramatic flourish with his right hand high into the air, it lightly came down again and delicately covered the banister of his beloved vessel. A short caress followed, as if he were calming her before the coming battle, letting his precious Rose know that she would sail away unharmed. That her beauty would remain unscarred by warfare.
As The Red Rose turned hard to port, it lay in perfect position for a full volley — with a mere ten cannons on her starboard side. Still, like many of his allies, Leopold flew the Union Jack high above The Red Rose, to fool British ships into a false sense of security. It worked extremely well for smaller vessels carrying tea and other precious cargo, though they didn't hold the bragging rights of a war vessel like H.M.S Honour. The element of surprise was firmly on Leopold's side and so with a quick command to 'fire' — his rival ship was already looking worse for wear. The captain could not help but let his lips curl into a smirk, while his hand gripped tighter around Rose's wooden frame.
A brief moment of panic took hold of the enemy ship as crewmen ran about the deck, scrambling into their designated battle positions. Within seconds though, the great vessel groaned towards The Red Rose and Leopold immediately responded with an order to turn about.
It was too late. Never before had any of the pirates seen a British vessel move with such speed and finesse. The mighty beast now lay parallel to The Red Rose and unleashed the fury of hell upon her. Leopold watched helplessly as huge gashes were opened up alongside his beloved's hull, while his crewmen struggled to gain their footing. Rose was violently rocking from side to side as each cannon ball plunged deep into her bowels, only Leopold remained upright — his hand still firmly entrenched around Rose's elegant frame.
With the upmost discipline and grace, His Majesty's soldiers had lined up alongside the balustrade of the H.M.S Honour, which had drawn ever closer to Leopold's once beautiful vessel. Worse still, the soldiers' red uniforms completely masked the fledgling flames of their muskets. Each gun produced an elegant plume of smoke that resulted in a series of bloody injuries for Leopold's men. As a musket ball shot past his face, Leopold instinctively let go of the banister and fell to the deck in a state of shock.
Far more devastating than the shower of musket balls was the continuous volley of cannon fire — which The Red Rose could never match. At first, His Majesty's vessel fired small grapeshot, to thin out Leopold's forces but it also continued to slice through Rose's hull. As if the tide had turned against the pirates, the ocean became greedy, lapping into every hole and gnawing away at any crevice.
As precious moments passed, the waves grew more frenzied, maliciously biting into the hull of the vessel. Leopold winced, keenly aware of the pain his precious ship was feeling. Each blast of the cannon seemed to strike through his own skin like a sharpened needle. The heat worsened this agony, as fire spread insidiously throughout the woodwork and consumed the captain's crewmen. Unwilling to suffer anymore, he slowly closed his eyes and lunged forwards, gripping the staircase banister and using it to stand — the wood furiously hot against his palm. Leopold knew every contour of his lover, able to traverse the staircase completely blind — ignorant now of any pain.
Standing outside his cabin, he reopened his eyes to be greeted by smoke and assaulted by the screams of his crew, who were begging for orders and aid. Shutting out the suffering, he grasped the scorching metal door handle and strode into his space, slamming the door behind him — before falling to the floor. Water began to seep in under the door, making it seem as if Rose were weeping. Leopold followed suit, his tears flowing freely and mingling with his lover's. There was no decision to be made. Leopold lay down and allowed the ocean to slowly consume him — along with his beloved.
About Laurence Sullivan
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The View From Tehran: Iran's Militia Doctrine
Saeid Golkar
Kasra Aarabi
Global Challenges Counter-extremism
Posted on: 11th February 2021
Senior Fellow at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change
Iran Programme Lead
Published at https://institute.global/policy/view-tehran-irans-militia-doctrine
on February 11 2021
On 10 October 2020, days before a 13-year United Nations (UN) arms embargo on Iran was due to be lifted, a senior commander in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) boasted of the country's network of loyalist militias. Mohammad Reza Naghdi declared that "the force we have organised and the people [we have recruited worldwide] are much more dangerous than having an alliance with any army as . . . these people are scattered and unrecognisable". He added that when this unrecognisable force strikes, "the enemy will not know who has hit it".1"Sardar Naqdi: A large and unrecognisable army is working with us around the world" (in Persian), Tasnim News Agency, 10 October 2020, https://bit.ly/2JzKWda.
Naghdi's words underscored the Islamic Republic's greatest asset against nations in the region and the West as well as the root of the problem of so-called Iranian-backed proxies: plausible deniability.
Naghdi was championing Iran's network of trained fighters whom the IRGC – the clerical regime's ideological army – has used for over four decades to advance the Islamic Republic's strategic and ideological objectives. Those objectives have remained centred on three pillars: exporting the Islamic Revolution, supporting Muslim and anti-US movements and eradicating the state of Israel. In pursuit of these goals, the IRGC's role in nurturing militancy has ranged from manufacturing its own ideologically compliant militias – such as Hizbullah in Lebanon – to supporting grassroots groups with shared or tactical interests, from Hamas to the Taliban.
Yet, despite the rising threat posed by Iran's support for militant groups, governments and policymakers have been unable to determine exactly how aligned these nonstate actors are with Tehran and the extent of the IRGC's control over their actions. This knowledge gap has produced significant policy consequences, enabling Iran's leaders to use such militias to target governments in the region and attack Western positions – and with enough plausible deniability to prevent an international response.
The known unknowns when it comes to the extent of Iran's extraterritorial reach complicate any risk calculus attached to conflict with the regime. Estimates of the extent of Iran's so-called proxies range dramatically and, in all cases, are either exaggerated or too conservative.
When the West and its regional allies have sought to contain Iranian-backed militias, they have done so primarily through economic sanctions on Tehran, on the premise that the Islamic Republic's lack of funds will eventually curb its support of militant groups. But while economic sanctions have significantly weakened Iran's already ailing economy, they have not altered the regime's priorities. The number of Iranian-backed militias has increased, and their attacks on US military bases have continued.
Mapping the IRGC's Global Activity, 1979–present
Click to view our interactive map and timeline of IRGC activity
Crucially, the one-size-fits-all sanctions approach overlooks the fact that while the relationships between Iran's regime and some of the groups it works with are based on material benefit and convergences of interests, other groups have much deeper connections with the Islamic Republic, rooted in a shared ideology, culture and worldview. Groups in the latter category have not only been manufactured by the Guard but have also embraced Tehran's narrow interpretation of the Shia Islamist concept of velayat-e faqih, the principle that gives Iran's supreme leader authority over Shia Muslims. To varying degrees, these groups accept ideological subordination to the supreme leader and the IRGC.
Understanding the roots of the relationships between Iran and its network of militias, and the nature of those relationships today, can highlight the limitations of an approach that relies on economic sanctions alone. The West and its regional partners will need greater and more concerted efforts to try to unravel or disrupt the links between Iran and those local militias that go beyond material self-interest.
The assassination in January 2020 of Qassem Suleimani, the commander of the IRGC's Quds Force, which is responsible for Tehran's network of militias, has not resulted in a scaling back of Iranian-sponsored militancy. For more than two decades, Suleimani was regarded as the operational mastermind behind Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's ambition to paramilitarise the Middle East and create a pan-Shia state under his leadership as the supreme leader of all Shia Muslims. In doing so, he nurtured Shia militancy throughout the region and farther afield, creating and supporting militant nonstate actors.
Since Suleimani's death, commentators have suggested that the Islamic Republic and Iranian-backed militias have become significantly weaker and are in retreat across the Middle East, attributing the earlier expansion of Iran's militia network almost solely to Suleimani. But while Suleimani's leadership was instrumental in allowing the Quds Force to enter deeply contested terrain from Afghanistan and Iraq to Syria and Yemen, it is Iran's long-evolving militia doctrine that has guided the force's activities – and continues to do so. Irrespective of Suleimani's death and the strategic hit it dealt to Tehran, delivering this doctrine remains Iran's primary modus operandi abroad. There are no signs of the regime shifting focus, despite increasing domestic pressures.
Unpacking Iran's Militia Doctrine
An effective policy that attempts to contain the threat of Iranian-backed militias, either by weakening the Iranian regime or by scaling back the IRGC's militia assets, needs to consider two factors. The first is the privileged status of the IRGC and its Quds Force within Iran's foreign policy and security apparatus, and the extent of direct support they receive from Tehran's soft- and hard-power actors in pursuit of Iran's militia doctrine. The second factor consists of the relationships between the IRGC and the militias themselves and the nature of its influence over their actions.
To address these two factors, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change has launched a programme of work on the IRGC and Shia militias, entitled Recruit, Radicalise, Deploy: The IRGC and the Hizbullahisation of the Middle East. This programme reveals how the Guard has expanded its reach across multiple territories and how it prioritises and provides support for different militias. Drawing on original primary sources, this programme will determine the nature of the IRGC's relationships with the plethora of militias it sponsors. Uniquely, this programme analyses Iranian-backed Shia militias through the lens of the IRGC to understand Iran's objectives in the past, present and into the near future.
This first report in the series unpacks Iran's militia doctrine – the foundation of the Islamic Republic's foreign policy by which Tehran has sought to expand its reach, influence and military capabilities. The doctrine has evolved through a process of trial and error since 1979 and been shaped by geopolitical realities and the experiences of various military commanders. The militia doctrine encapsulates Tehran's long-standing commitment to the paramilitarisation of the Middle East as a means to destabilise the region in pursuit of its ideological foreign policy objectives. The doctrine includes the policies, strategies, tactics and implementing infrastructure that the IRGC has developed to extend Iranian influence, radicalise support and advance its revolutionary cause through a network of militias, cells and operatives.
Understanding the genesis of this doctrine enables analysts and policymakers to identify its trends and draw out its procedural patterns. Fundamentally, though, the doctrine is a commitment that is bound to the existence of the Islamic Republic and has endured four decades and countless crises, political events and conflicts.
The militia doctrine is not restricted to hard-power actors but also uses Tehran's soft-power organisations and activities alongside militancy to achieve the regime's objectives. This includes intentional collaboration with – or the instrumentalisation of – Tehran's educational, cultural, humanitarian and diplomatic agencies where they play key roles in helping to recruit and radicalise militants and support covert operations. This doctrine has positioned Tehran to take advantage of vacuums and conflicts and provided a network in places where Iran would not otherwise have a presence. Crucially, embedding the militia doctrine as a central pillar of the Islamic Republic's foreign and security policy has enabled the regime to use the paramilitary groups it sponsors to simultaneously advance its ideological ambitions and bolster its state deterrence.
A militia doctrine guides Iran's use of paramilitary groups and is designed to outlive the Islamic Republic. The Islamic Republic's existence is based on an expansionist ideology that seeks to establish a pan-Shia Islamist state grounded in the authority of Iran's supreme leader. Through the militia doctrine, the clerical regime has a long-standing commitment to use militancy to achieve this ideological ambition, rooted in the Shia Islamist concept of the Imam and Shia Ummah. The doctrine is underpinned by the principle of velayat-e faqih, which provides the supreme leader with a mandate from God to rule with absolute authority over the ummah (the global Muslim community), extending his authority beyond Iran's borders. The network and infrastructure the IRGC has created in pursuit of this doctrine are designed to outlive the Islamic Republic. This means that if the clerical regime collapses, the IRGC could continue to advance the militia doctrine, albeit in an insurgency mode.
The IRGC – specifically, its Quds Force – is the main implementer of Iran's militia doctrine. The IRGC and its extraterritorial Quds Force were founded with a constitutional mandate to enforce Iran's Islamic Revolution at home and abroad. An expert in insurgent warfare, the IRGC uses radicalisation and indoctrination to nurture a network of paramilitary cells and militias throughout the region. The IRGC is supported by the full foreign policy apparatus of the Iranian state.
The militia doctrine and the IRGC are fully supported by Iran's soft-power institutions and government agencies. Tehran's soft-power organisations – its educational, cultural, humanitarian and diplomatic agencies – play critical roles in supporting the recruitment and radicalisation of militants, extending the IRGC's reach. Tehran's cultural, educational and religious centres are essential both for maintaining a presence overseas and for disseminating approved messages. These messages form a corpus of readily available propaganda that is both pro-regime and anti-American, anti-Israeli or both. The Quds Force has also embedded personnel in these organisations on whom it can draw, including for covert operations and the transportation of munitions and personnel.
Iran's militia network is not a homogeneous bloc, and only some groups are proxies. Iranian-backed militias are made up of a combination of independently formed grassroots militias and IRGC-manufactured groups. Their objectives and priorities range widely, and their loyalty towards the regime can be complex, depending on their roots, leadership and commitment to velayat-e faqih. The spectrum of ideological alignment between independent grassroots groups and those that the Quds Force has manufactured heavily influences the allegiances and power dynamics between the IRGC and the militias it supports. The IRGC privileges groups that have sworn allegiance to velayat-e faqih and Iran's supreme leader as the ultimate authority over Shia Muslims.
IRGC-manufactured groups are the fastest-growing category of Iranian-backed militias and the greatest threat to regional stability. These militias have embraced Iran's state-sanctioned Shia Islamist ideology as a matter of existence, have approved leaderships and have proven instrumental to Iran's military response in, for example, Syria. Lebanese Hizbullah is the gold standard of the IRGC's manufactured groups and represents the most dangerous of Iran's proxies: fully aligned with the Islamic Republic's vision of a pan-Shia state and Khamenei's absolute authority over the Shia world and in perpetual opposition to Israel, the West and their Gulf allies. These manufactured groups are the IRGC's most valuable militia assets and constitute Iranian proxies.
The IRGC Quds Force has repeatedly supported groups such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda with which it has a conflicting worldview where it sees a tactical necessity. Support of these groups forms one pillar of Iran's militia doctrine and is grounded in the transactional supply of weapons, training and logistical support to gain a tactical advantage. These groups do not constitute Iranian proxies, and the IRGC does not have control over their decisions. As US-Iranian tensions increased after 2003, the Quds Force supported local Iraqi and Afghan militant groups, including those aligned to al-Qaeda and the Taliban, based on the shared goal of repelling US coalition forces. While support of these groups is the Quds Force's least favoured approach, the IRGC has kept – and will continue to keep – the option of working with movements that are otherwise its enemies in pursuit of its overarching goals.
The 2015 nuclear agreement and the easing of sanctions on Iran did not curb or moderate Iranian-backed militancy or result in the disbanding of the militia doctrine. The premise that Iran would moderate its commitment to creating and sponsoring militias due to the thaw in US-Iranian relations after the 2015 nuclear deal and sanctions relief for Tehran was false. The number of militias created by the IRGC surged after this period, and the Guard's presence abroad peaked, with the Quds Force expanding its operations in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. The common mischaracterisation of Iran's use of militias as part of its deterrence strategy ignores the reality that the regime's militia doctrine existed long before international sanctions and the escalation of tensions between the US, Israel and Iran.
The formal militias that make up Iran's network of militias and proxies are only the tip of the iceberg. The life source of the militia network is composed of the soft-power organisations that ensure the long-term survival of the ideas and worldview that underpin the militia doctrine and velayat-e faqih. The network of soft-power levers at the Islamic Republic's disposal has been developing its capability for decades. The threat is now far more than the regime itself.
Without understanding the foundations of Tehran's militia doctrine, there is a risk of viewing the corpus of Iranian proxies and Shia militias as a uniform bloc and of failing to recognise the spectrum of allegiances and the power dynamics between the regime and its militia network. This has led to the terms 'proxy' and 'Shia militia' being used interchangeably and has significantly handicapped policies to counter their attacks and destabilising activities.
This report puts forward a model to distinguish between Iran's militia assets in terms of their ideological alignment with the regime and the characteristics of their formation. This model exposes the limitations of Tehran's militia doctrine and, importantly, demystifies the so-called resistance axis. By distinguishing those groups that subscribe fully to Iran's Shia Islamist worldview, policymakers can better understand the extent of the IRGC's influence over different groups. That will allow governments to identify where a counterterrorism, counterextremism and counterinsurgency approach is needed alongside traditional sanctions to counter Shia militancy in the Middle East.
To dismantle the threat of Shia militancy in the region, a full-scale hearts-and-minds counterinsurgency effort is necessary. This requires, among other measures, a coalition of alliances that understand the complex local dynamics through which the Iranian regime has won local allegiances. It also means sustaining a campaign to gain popular support in Iran's sphere of influence alongside a concerted effort to disrupt the institutions through which the regime permeates societies on a day-to-day basis.
Beyond the Middle East, this will require governments and policymakers to monitor and potentially sanction organisations like Al-Mustafa International University and the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation, which Iran uses to support its militancy. These soft-power outfits not only play critical roles in recruiting and radicalising foreign fighters but also enable the Quds Force to have a presence abroad under a supposedly legitimate guise for its covert operations, including assassinations and terrorist plots.
Download the full report here
^ "Sardar Naqdi: A large and unrecognisable army is working with us around the world" (in Persian), Tasnim News Agency, 10 October 2020, https://bit.ly/2JzKWda.
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Thanks to Amy Sampson for inspiring me with her Project 365 today.
This is awesome! I love that my photo inspired this! The timing of this post is kinda perfect too. I'm doing The Daily Post's Writing 101 over on my (other) blog. Today's "assignment" is a collaboration. We were given a heads up a week or more ago, to plan one for today, but, of course, I didn't. Thanks to you, a "collaboration" just happened to fall into my lap on the same day I needed one. LOL. I will be linking back to this post later today from my "assignment" post.
Fantastic Amy! It was obviously meant to be 🙂 I look forward to reading your "assignment" post later today. Thanks again for sharing your great photos. Best wishes.


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The ANNIE Poster and the GOOD KILL Poster Have One Thing in Common
by Evan Dickson September 9, 2014
The color red. Sony Pictures has released a new Annie poster that features the film's cast (after a teaser poster a few months back that only displayed the tagline). The film stars Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) in the title role as a young, happy, street-tough foster kid living with the mean Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz) who is taken in by New York mayoral candidate Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx) in a thinly veiled campaign move. The film also stars Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and David Zayas. Annie opens on December 19th
You can also check out the teaser poster for Good Kill, the new film from writer/director Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, Lord of War) starring Ethan Hawke. I didn't love Niccol's last film In Time, but I'm a fan of most of his other work so I'm really pulling for this one. Good Kill premieres tonight at the Toronto International Film Festival. Hit the jump for the posters.
Annie poster via Fandango:
Here's the official synopsis for Good Kill:
The film tells the story of a Las Vegas fighter-pilot turned drone-pilot (Ethan Hawke), who fights the Taliban via remote control for half of his day, then goes home to his wife (January Jones) and kids in the suburbs for the other half. But the pilot is starting to question the mission. Is he creating more terrorists than he's killing? Is he fighting a war without end? One soldier's tale with epic implications.
GOOD KILL is a visually stunning exploration of how a man's psychological, emotional and moral boundaries are challenged by the realities of 21st century warfare. The film initiates an important dialogue about the current techniques used in modern war, and in the same vein as THE HURT LOCKER and FULL METAL JACKET, illustrates how war is constantly being redefined according to the technologies and methods in play.
Annie Poster Good Kill Poster
23 JUMP STREET Moving Forward with Rodney Rothman Penning the Script
Oscar Beat TIFF 2014: Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones Shine in THE…
• 2014 Toronto International Film Festival • Andrew Niccol • Annie • Ethan Hawke • Good Kill • Jamie Foxx • Posters • Quvenzhané Wallis • Rose Byrne


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Home Space Ceres: The Smallest and the Closest Dwarf Planet
Ceres: The Smallest and the Closest Dwarf Planet
Ever imagined where in our universe could we possibly find a place that could harbor life? The answer might lie well within our solar system and too on a small dwarf planet.
Ceres, a dwarf planet located in the inner reaches of our solar system (discovered by Sicilian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi on January 1, 1801), is the closest to our sun and is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Various observations made from earth and planetary exploration by NASA's Dawn spacecraft have unearthed many vital information about this tiny celestial body.
An artist's illustration of Ceres based on mapping and observations from NASA's Dawn spacecraft currently orbiting the dwarf planet in the Asteroid Belt.
Most of the surface of Ceres is dull gray which according to spectral observations is due to presence of a form of graphite known as graphitized carbon.
Many bright spots of varying brightness have been observed on its surface which according to early speculations point towards the presence of ice volcanoes. However, only a single "lonely mountain" rises from its surfacewith no evidence of volcanic or other geologic activity to suggest its puzzling origin.
The most intriguing findings amongst all have been the tracesof an ocean in the crust, with signs of a muddy mantle below the surface. Signs of carbonates have similarly been found, making Ceres one of the only bodies in the solar system known to contain these minerals, the other two being Earth and Mars.
In 2014, the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory detected plumes of water vapor escaping from the dwarf planet at a rate of 13 lbs. (6 kilograms) per second (the first definitive observation of water vapor on Ceres and in the asteroid belt in general).
Further exploration will reveal more relevant information about this dwarf planet which may someday in the near future serve as a potential site for manned landings and a launching point for manned deep space missions.
Post Written By - Manash Hazarika
Ceres: The Smallest and the Closest Dwarf Planet Reviewed by Addatoday on July 02, 2018 Rating: 5
Tags : Space


On this day a year ago, both family and friends said goodbye to one very gracious lady…Anne G. Broady, our Mom. She was born on September 11, 1925. Therefore, 9/11 meant something very special to our family long before the Twin Towers were hit by terrorists.
She was both old school at the same time very contemporary. She loved Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday and was up with James Brown, Michael Jackson, and even Whitney Houston.
She moved along with the times but never forgot or lost her values, principles, or faith. She could be a friend to anyone and gathered and kept many friends over the years. She was a friend to all and a stranger to none.
Faith and family would be the two most important anchors in her life. She grew up in the church, sang in the choir, and made certain Patty, Johnny, and me were in church each Sunday. There was never a day when she was without her faith and belief in God.
Mom married Dad in the mid 40's and said goodbye to him far too soon when he passed away in 1976. She "never" showed any interest in another man after Dad and this was a fun topic of conversation we would often have with her.
In the mid 80's, Mom relocated to Washington State to live near me and shortly thereafter, both Patty and then Johnny also moved to Washington from the east coast. The family being close together again, she would become a daily part of our lives for the next 30 years. There is not enough space to share all that took place over these 30 years.
So, the past year has been very challenging for Patty and Jim (Patty's husband) and me. Johnny passed away in 2011. Mom was part of our lives each day and we miss her telling family tales and sharing old memories. We miss her enthusiasm for sports especially the Seattle Mariners, Seattle Seahawks, Earnhardt, Jr., and Tiger. We miss marveling at her ability to do difficult crossword puzzles or talking about soap operas. We miss sitting at the dinner table with her and watching her laugh until she cried while listening to our crazy stories about people and events.
Truly, a day does not go by without feeling her touch or hearing her voice. We miss all this and sometimes it just hurts and there is very little that can be done about it. However, there are many more times when our memories causes us to laugh and reflect on how special it was to have her in our lives.
Mom's final days were nothing short of being days full of blessings. Not having to say goodbye to Mom suddenly and being able to say all you wanted or needed to say was a Blessing. We were Blessed to be there for her as we attended to her needs each day. We were blessed because we all shared the same faith, same God, and belief in the life after. Personally witnessing Mom's Christian convictions to the very end was a Blessing to behold. For all of us to be spiritually in agreement was a Blessing. Those final days felt like one of Mom's great Thanksgiving Dinners. Her home cooking was always the very best. We shamelessly ate all we could and left the table full of love and food. It was always a Blessing. On August 27, she left us full of love, richer from the experience, and Blessed.
"And then we will always remember when the two sisters spent their final evening together. We really dreaded to see this time come because we knew the final goodbyes between our mothers would be very emotional. Mom and Aunt Pat were now facing that moment. Aunt Pat leaned over closely to Mom at her bedside and informed her she would be leaving in the early morning. Mom was expecting this. She heard, understood, and acknowledged what Aunt Pat was saying. This would be their last night together. With their hands together, their faces touching, they whispered their final goodbyes to one another. They held each other close. I felt God's arms around us and none of us would forget this moment as we witnessed two loved ones saying goodbye and leaving each other for the final time.
Aunt Pat's departure was just as spiritually moving as her arrival a few days earlier. In the face of this ending, there would never be two more classy ladies and devoted sisters. These were our mothers and we grieved deeply for both of them." Mom passed away four days later.
Aunt Pat sharing a quiet moment of reflection.
Following Mom's memorial service, several family members suggested I consider writing a Blog to share news about the Copey Learning Center, an educational project in Costa Rica. Mom was fully aware of my interest in Copey and we would often talk about the project. It was amusing to her that I could go to an unfamiliar country on vacation and return home with another job to do. She heard all the news about Copey and began to feel my passion for the young children living there. Another suggestion inspired by family included setting up a scholarship fund to help the young children in Copey attend the Learning Center. As a result, today this Blog is showing great signs of success and the Anne G. Broady Scholarship Fund has paid for about 20 students to attend the Learning Center.
The "Friends of Copey" is our living tribute to Mom and her love for family and church. The initial "friends" of Copey, where mostly family and friends honoring Mom's life. Aunt Pat, Dr. Lin Church, Carol, and Bob along with so many others have helped Patty, Jim, and me experience this year without Mom in a very positive and productive fashion with our work with the Learning Center. We now face our next year without Mom and we expect we will continue having our sad moments. The precious memories will bring us joy and we will always "remember when".
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Art, what a gift your tribute to your mother is. A gift to her, to her friends and family, and to those of us who never had the chance to meet her but see her spirit reflected in her son. Thank you for sharing a part of her–and you–with us.
Joe, Thank you for the kind words and I only regret you and she never had the chance to meet. You might have ended up being my adopted brother.
Beautiful post Art 🙂 I hope you are doing well!