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Project acronym ANAMMOX
Project Anaerobic ammonium oxidizing bacteria: unique prokayotes with exceptional properties
Researcher (PI) Michael Silvester Maria Jetten
Host Institution (HI) STICHTING KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT
Summary For over a century it was believed that ammonium could only be oxidized by microbes in the presence of oxygen. The possibility of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) was considered impossible. However, about 10 years ago the microbes responsible for the anammox reaction were discovered in a wastewater plant. This was followed by the identification of the responsible bacteria. Recently, the widespread environmental occurrence of the anammox bacteria was demonstrated leading to the realization that anammox bacteria may play a major role in biological nitrogen cycling. The anammox bacteria are unique microbes with many unusual properties. These include the biological turn-over of hydrazine, a well known rocket fuel, the biological synthesis of ladderane lipids, and the presence of a prokaryotic organelle in the cytoplasma of anammox bacteria. The aim of this project is to obtain a fundamental understanding of the metabolism and ecological importance of the anammox bacteria. Such understanding contributes directly to our environment and economy because the anammox bacteria form a new opportunity for nitrogen removal from wastewater, cheaper, with lower carbon dioxide emissions than existing technology. Scientifically the results will contribute to the understanding how hydrazine and dinitrogen gas are made by the anammox bacteria. The research will show which gene products are responsible for the anammox reaction, and how their expression is regulated. Furthermore, the experiments proposed will show if the prokaryotic organelle in anammox bacteria is involved in energy generation. Together the environmental and metabolic data will help to understand why anammox bacteria are so successful in the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle and thus shape our planets atmosphere. The different research lines will employ state of the art microbial and molecular methods to unravel the exceptional properties of these highly unusual and important anammox bacteria.
For over a century it was believed that ammonium could only be oxidized by microbes in the presence of oxygen. The possibility of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) was considered impossible. However, about 10 years ago the microbes responsible for the anammox reaction were discovered in a wastewater plant. This was followed by the identification of the responsible bacteria. Recently, the widespread environmental occurrence of the anammox bacteria was demonstrated leading to the realization that anammox bacteria may play a major role in biological nitrogen cycling. The anammox bacteria are unique microbes with many unusual properties. These include the biological turn-over of hydrazine, a well known rocket fuel, the biological synthesis of ladderane lipids, and the presence of a prokaryotic organelle in the cytoplasma of anammox bacteria. The aim of this project is to obtain a fundamental understanding of the metabolism and ecological importance of the anammox bacteria. Such understanding contributes directly to our environment and economy because the anammox bacteria form a new opportunity for nitrogen removal from wastewater, cheaper, with lower carbon dioxide emissions than existing technology. Scientifically the results will contribute to the understanding how hydrazine and dinitrogen gas are made by the anammox bacteria. The research will show which gene products are responsible for the anammox reaction, and how their expression is regulated. Furthermore, the experiments proposed will show if the prokaryotic organelle in anammox bacteria is involved in energy generation. Together the environmental and metabolic data will help to understand why anammox bacteria are so successful in the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle and thus shape our planets atmosphere. The different research lines will employ state of the art microbial and molecular methods to unravel the exceptional properties of these highly unusual and important anammox bacteria.
Project acronym BONE SCAN
Project Traces in the bones: reconstructing the lost soft anatomy of the earliest vertebrates through ultra-high resolution synchrotron scanning
Researcher (PI) Per Erik Ahlberg
Host Institution (HI) Uppsala University
Summary Early vertebrate evolution involved a series of drastic structural reorganisations as new features were added and elaborated. The fossil record illuminates this evolutionary history more directly than inferences from the diversity of living forms, but the fossils usually consist only of bones whereas many of the most important and interesting changes occurred in the soft anatomy. Traditional approaches to reconstructing the musculature and other soft tissues of fossil vertebrates rely on subjective tools, like the visual identification of rough bone textures thought to indicate muscle attachments, and generally leave a lot to be desired. Here I propose a wholly novel and radically more objective approach to the identification of soft-tissue contacts, using holotomographic synchrotron CT at sub-micron resolutions to identify these contacts by the three-dimensional micro-architecture of the bone. A pilot study has already shown that such scans (performed at the ESRF synchrotron facility in Grenoble) are capable of imaging key features such as arrested growth surfaces and probable Sharpey s fibres in 380 million year old fossils. We will undertake a systematic review of the three-dimensional bone micro-architectures associated with different soft-tissue contacts in living vertebrates, and the use this as a key to reconstruct the soft-tissue contacts on fossil bones with unprecedented accuracy. This will permit us to produce far more reliable reconstructions of the soft anatomy than has hitherto been possible. Our findings will inform other areas of palaentology, particularly functional morphology, and will also be of great importance to evolutionary developmental biology.
Early vertebrate evolution involved a series of drastic structural reorganisations as new features were added and elaborated. The fossil record illuminates this evolutionary history more directly than inferences from the diversity of living forms, but the fossils usually consist only of bones whereas many of the most important and interesting changes occurred in the soft anatomy. Traditional approaches to reconstructing the musculature and other soft tissues of fossil vertebrates rely on subjective tools, like the visual identification of rough bone textures thought to indicate muscle attachments, and generally leave a lot to be desired. Here I propose a wholly novel and radically more objective approach to the identification of soft-tissue contacts, using holotomographic synchrotron CT at sub-micron resolutions to identify these contacts by the three-dimensional micro-architecture of the bone. A pilot study has already shown that such scans (performed at the ESRF synchrotron facility in Grenoble) are capable of imaging key features such as arrested growth surfaces and probable Sharpey s fibres in 380 million year old fossils. We will undertake a systematic review of the three-dimensional bone micro-architectures associated with different soft-tissue contacts in living vertebrates, and the use this as a key to reconstruct the soft-tissue contacts on fossil bones with unprecedented accuracy. This will permit us to produce far more reliable reconstructions of the soft anatomy than has hitherto been possible. Our findings will inform other areas of palaentology, particularly functional morphology, and will also be of great importance to evolutionary developmental biology.
Project acronym COOPERATION
Project Evolutionary explanations for cooperation: microbes to humans
Researcher (PI) Stuart West
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
Summary Cooperation poses a problem to evolutionary theory because it can be exploited by selfish individuals. Evolutionary biologists have developed a detailed theoretical overview of possible solutions to the problem of cooperation. In contrast to our theoretical understanding of potential solutions, however,, we have been relatively unsuccessful at applying theory to understand observations of cooperative behaviour nature. We present a novel and interdisciplinary programme of research to address this problem by empirically testing assumptions and predictions of several leading explanations for cooperation. We will develop theory to make explicit testable predictions for specific systems. We will exploit the advantage offered by different study systems: experiments with bacteria, comparative studies on cooperative breeding vertebrates, and experiments on humans. In addition to addressing specific hypotheses, we will show how evolutionary theory links and differentiates explanations for cooperation across various taxa and levels of biological organization.
Cooperation poses a problem to evolutionary theory because it can be exploited by selfish individuals. Evolutionary biologists have developed a detailed theoretical overview of possible solutions to the problem of cooperation. In contrast to our theoretical understanding of potential solutions, however,, we have been relatively unsuccessful at applying theory to understand observations of cooperative behaviour nature. We present a novel and interdisciplinary programme of research to address this problem by empirically testing assumptions and predictions of several leading explanations for cooperation. We will develop theory to make explicit testable predictions for specific systems. We will exploit the advantage offered by different study systems: experiments with bacteria, comparative studies on cooperative breeding vertebrates, and experiments on humans. In addition to addressing specific hypotheses, we will show how evolutionary theory links and differentiates explanations for cooperation across various taxa and levels of biological organization.
Project acronym EVOCULTURE
Project The Evolution of Culture
Researcher (PI) Kevin Neville Laland
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS
Summary The capacity for culture is clearly a critical factor underlying the success of our species, but how and why did it evolve? What are the selection pressures that favoured the evolution of cultural capabilities (e.g. social learning, innovation, teaching), and how has selection fashioned these to operate efficiently? The study of such abilities is central to a broad range of disciplines, and significant progress in the scientific understanding of their origin and operation will ripple out to exert considerable influence, both within and outside academia. This project utilises a broad but integrated package of highly innovative empirical and theoretical techniques, including the development of novel analytical tools that allow behavioural researchers to identify social learning and predict the diffusion of innovations, application of potentially revolutionary statistical methods for inferring causal influences on the evolution of brain and culture from correlational data, and a new empirical system providing an unparalleled opportunity to investigate the evolution and biological basis of social learning. I will also organize international competitions to identify effective social learning rules ( tournaments ), in which entrants each propose learning strategies that are pitted against each other in computer simulation, and the most effective wins a prize. Collectively, the projects offer a major step forward in our understanding of human evolution, adaptation and culture and will stimulate considerable interdisciplinary exchange.
The capacity for culture is clearly a critical factor underlying the success of our species, but how and why did it evolve? What are the selection pressures that favoured the evolution of cultural capabilities (e.g. social learning, innovation, teaching), and how has selection fashioned these to operate efficiently? The study of such abilities is central to a broad range of disciplines, and significant progress in the scientific understanding of their origin and operation will ripple out to exert considerable influence, both within and outside academia. This project utilises a broad but integrated package of highly innovative empirical and theoretical techniques, including the development of novel analytical tools that allow behavioural researchers to identify social learning and predict the diffusion of innovations, application of potentially revolutionary statistical methods for inferring causal influences on the evolution of brain and culture from correlational data, and a new empirical system providing an unparalleled opportunity to investigate the evolution and biological basis of social learning. I will also organize international competitions to identify effective social learning rules ( tournaments ), in which entrants each propose learning strategies that are pitted against each other in computer simulation, and the most effective wins a prize. Collectively, the projects offer a major step forward in our understanding of human evolution, adaptation and culture and will stimulate considerable interdisciplinary exchange.
Project acronym NETWORKORIGINS
Project A biological network approach to the study of biochemical origins, early cellular evolution, and gene distributions across genomes
Researcher (PI) William Martin
Host Institution (HI) HEINRICH-HEINE-UNIVERSITAET DUESSELDORF
Summary The further back we look in time, the less we know about the course of life's history. Genomics, through phylogenomics, will eventually resolve the evolution of macroscopic life, whose phylogeny can be properly modeled in the mathematical image of a bifurcating tree; where the evolutionary process is fundamentally tree-like in nature, we only have to collect enough data to bring the structure of the tree into focus. But when we look back into the evolution of microscopic life and early evolution that is, prokaryotic evolution, the prokaryote-to-eukaryote transition, and the origin of life genome sequences are only of limited help. That is because neither the evolutionary process linking the evolution of genes across prokaryotic genomes nor the process linking prokaryotes to eukaryotes is strictly tree-like in nature. In prokaryote genome evolution, lateral gene transfer (LGT) is an important mechanism of natural variation, while the prokaryote-to-eukaryote transition involved the wholesale merger of prokaryotic genomes via endosymbiosis. This proposal aims to deliver a quantum advance in our understanding of early evolution. Prokaryotic genome evolution and the prokaryote-to-eukaryote transition will be investigated with mathematical tools that better approximate the process as it occurs in nature, by using the graph theoretical tools of networks rather than that of trees. For understanding the origin of life, genome data is inapplicable, because genes cannot be compared to inorganic compounds from which life ultimately arose. When it comes to linking microbial life to geochemical processes, the comparison of chemical reaction sequences in living things to those geochemistry is all with which we have to work. Some forms of hydrothermal vents harbour newly discovered chemical reaction sequences with striking overall similarity to that used by methanogens and acetogens, findings that bear upon the nature of the deepest evolutionary divide among modern microbes.
The further back we look in time, the less we know about the course of life's history. Genomics, through phylogenomics, will eventually resolve the evolution of macroscopic life, whose phylogeny can be properly modeled in the mathematical image of a bifurcating tree; where the evolutionary process is fundamentally tree-like in nature, we only have to collect enough data to bring the structure of the tree into focus. But when we look back into the evolution of microscopic life and early evolution that is, prokaryotic evolution, the prokaryote-to-eukaryote transition, and the origin of life genome sequences are only of limited help. That is because neither the evolutionary process linking the evolution of genes across prokaryotic genomes nor the process linking prokaryotes to eukaryotes is strictly tree-like in nature. In prokaryote genome evolution, lateral gene transfer (LGT) is an important mechanism of natural variation, while the prokaryote-to-eukaryote transition involved the wholesale merger of prokaryotic genomes via endosymbiosis. This proposal aims to deliver a quantum advance in our understanding of early evolution. Prokaryotic genome evolution and the prokaryote-to-eukaryote transition will be investigated with mathematical tools that better approximate the process as it occurs in nature, by using the graph theoretical tools of networks rather than that of trees. For understanding the origin of life, genome data is inapplicable, because genes cannot be compared to inorganic compounds from which life ultimately arose. When it comes to linking microbial life to geochemical processes, the comparison of chemical reaction sequences in living things to those geochemistry is all with which we have to work. Some forms of hydrothermal vents harbour newly discovered chemical reaction sequences with striking overall similarity to that used by methanogens and acetogens, findings that bear upon the nature of the deepest evolutionary divide among modern microbes.
Project acronym ORIGENE
Project Understanding the Origin of Species: Ecological Genomics and Transcriptomics on Oceanic Islands
Researcher (PI) Vincent Savolainen
Host Institution (HI) IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE
Summary The origin of species diversity has challenged biologists for more than two centuries, but despite the large amount of literature on the subject, pivotal questions about speciation remain unanswered. For example, we know that the origin of species must involve genetic separation, most often followed by phenotypic differentiation. Geographic isolation and subsequent genetic separation gives rise to the uncontroversial allopatric mode of speciation. But in theory, populations can become genetically separated without geographical isolation, resulting in the more disputed sympatric mode of speciation. Recently, Savolainen (the applicant of this proposal) and colleagues provided strong evidence for sympatric speciation in a case study of two species of Howea palms on Lord Howe Island, Australia. Here, we will take our research to a much deeper level and tackle novel themes. Innovative approaches will be developed, combining field ecology and genetic modelling, and taking advantage of the most recent advances in genomic technologies such as ultra-high throughput sequencing provided by the Roche 454 and Illumina Solexa platforms. Using Howea as a model system, sequences of their transcriptomes, scans of their genomes and genes expression profiles, we will test the theoretical predictions that only a few genetic loci controlling key traits are necessary for rapid ecological speciation. Extending this study to other taxa and islands, we will ask what combinations of ecological conditions and genomic architectures lead to the evolution of new species? Particularly, how can species originate in the face of gene flow, for example when confined to a minute oceanic island? The project will provide one of the most comprehensive studies of speciation and has the potential to provide a drastically new perspective on this process. It will also shed light on the wide-ranging link between genotype and phenotype, as well as help to manage biodiversity in a sustainable manner.
The origin of species diversity has challenged biologists for more than two centuries, but despite the large amount of literature on the subject, pivotal questions about speciation remain unanswered. For example, we know that the origin of species must involve genetic separation, most often followed by phenotypic differentiation. Geographic isolation and subsequent genetic separation gives rise to the uncontroversial allopatric mode of speciation. But in theory, populations can become genetically separated without geographical isolation, resulting in the more disputed sympatric mode of speciation. Recently, Savolainen (the applicant of this proposal) and colleagues provided strong evidence for sympatric speciation in a case study of two species of Howea palms on Lord Howe Island, Australia. Here, we will take our research to a much deeper level and tackle novel themes. Innovative approaches will be developed, combining field ecology and genetic modelling, and taking advantage of the most recent advances in genomic technologies such as ultra-high throughput sequencing provided by the Roche 454 and Illumina Solexa platforms. Using Howea as a model system, sequences of their transcriptomes, scans of their genomes and genes expression profiles, we will test the theoretical predictions that only a few genetic loci controlling key traits are necessary for rapid ecological speciation. Extending this study to other taxa and islands, we will ask what combinations of ecological conditions and genomic architectures lead to the evolution of new species? Particularly, how can species originate in the face of gene flow, for example when confined to a minute oceanic island? The project will provide one of the most comprehensive studies of speciation and has the potential to provide a drastically new perspective on this process. It will also shed light on the wide-ranging link between genotype and phenotype, as well as help to manage biodiversity in a sustainable manner.
Project acronym POPPHYL
Project Population phylogenomics: linking molecular evolution to species biology
Researcher (PI) Nicolas Galtier
Host Institution (HI) CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Summary The aim of the PopPhyl project is to characterize the population genetic environment of many representative plant and animal species, in order to elucidate which biological and ecological factors determine molecular evolutionary processes - we want to know why genomes evolve the way they evolve. We will establish predictions about the influence of ecological (population size, varying environment) and genetical (mating systems, life cycle, mutation rate) variables on comparative genomic patterns thanks to improved molecular evolutionary theory relying on Fisher's geometric model. Predictions will be checked empirically by collecting extensive data sets of within-species and between-species genomic diversity in a large number of well-chosen taxa, with monitored life history traits. Massive gene sequences will be obtained from the extraction and analysis of abundant mRNA's, ensuring comparability between even distant taxa. These data will allow us to assess, and compare across species, the population genetic parameters relevant to molecular evolution: effective population size, mutation rate, strength of positive and negative selection. The main focus of the project is on the influence of population size, mating systems and life-span on molecular evolutionary rates. Are abundant species genetically more diverse? Do they adapt more efficiently? Is self-fertilization the evolutionary dead-end it is said to be? Why are fast-evolving proteomes fast: higher mutation rate, or prominent adaptive evolution ? PopPhyl is an ambitious, long-term multi-disciplinary project lying at the boundary of phylogenetics and population genetics, and requiring intensive theoretical and bioinformatic developments. We want to explore a new dimension of evolutionary biology by making population genetics comparative, and by injecting species ecology into genomic analyses.
The aim of the PopPhyl project is to characterize the population genetic environment of many representative plant and animal species, in order to elucidate which biological and ecological factors determine molecular evolutionary processes - we want to know why genomes evolve the way they evolve. We will establish predictions about the influence of ecological (population size, varying environment) and genetical (mating systems, life cycle, mutation rate) variables on comparative genomic patterns thanks to improved molecular evolutionary theory relying on Fisher's geometric model. Predictions will be checked empirically by collecting extensive data sets of within-species and between-species genomic diversity in a large number of well-chosen taxa, with monitored life history traits. Massive gene sequences will be obtained from the extraction and analysis of abundant mRNA's, ensuring comparability between even distant taxa. These data will allow us to assess, and compare across species, the population genetic parameters relevant to molecular evolution: effective population size, mutation rate, strength of positive and negative selection. The main focus of the project is on the influence of population size, mating systems and life-span on molecular evolutionary rates. Are abundant species genetically more diverse? Do they adapt more efficiently? Is self-fertilization the evolutionary dead-end it is said to be? Why are fast-evolving proteomes fast: higher mutation rate, or prominent adaptive evolution ? PopPhyl is an ambitious, long-term multi-disciplinary project lying at the boundary of phylogenetics and population genetics, and requiring intensive theoretical and bioinformatic developments. We want to explore a new dimension of evolutionary biology by making population genetics comparative, and by injecting species ecology into genomic analyses.
Project acronym SENSORYEVOLUTION
Project Using Sensory Biology and Environmental Conditions to Predict the direction of Evolution
Researcher (PI) John Endler
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Summary When a species invades a new habitat, or its existing environment changes, its perception of the world is likely to change because environments differ in the physical properties on which the senses depend. This has profound implications because senses determine how animals find and discriminate between mates or prey, avoid potential predators, and locate better microhabitats. For example, changed visual environments will cause predictable evolutionary changes in visual contrast to predator and prey, in turn causing evolutionary changes in visually based mate and prey choice, evolution in microhabitat selection (which affects the light environment and hence visual contrast) and evolution in the visual system. I propose to test a series of predictions about evolution of these four suites of traits by (1) experimental evolution experiments over 15 generations in laboratory guppy populations under three different light environments to test predictions about changes in male colour patterns, female preferences for male patterns, and changes in the guppy colour vision system and (2) 15 generation guppy evolution experiments to test for co-option of prey-search cues as mate choice cues and evolution of the other trait suites The EU has 80% of the world's Sensory Ecologists and I will consolidate and make the EU lead obvious by encouraging collaborations between disparate groups and encouraging young scientists.
When a species invades a new habitat, or its existing environment changes, its perception of the world is likely to change because environments differ in the physical properties on which the senses depend. This has profound implications because senses determine how animals find and discriminate between mates or prey, avoid potential predators, and locate better microhabitats. For example, changed visual environments will cause predictable evolutionary changes in visual contrast to predator and prey, in turn causing evolutionary changes in visually based mate and prey choice, evolution in microhabitat selection (which affects the light environment and hence visual contrast) and evolution in the visual system. I propose to test a series of predictions about evolution of these four suites of traits by (1) experimental evolution experiments over 15 generations in laboratory guppy populations under three different light environments to test predictions about changes in male colour patterns, female preferences for male patterns, and changes in the guppy colour vision system and (2) 15 generation guppy evolution experiments to test for co-option of prey-search cues as mate choice cues and evolution of the other trait suites The EU has 80% of the world's Sensory Ecologists and I will consolidate and make the EU lead obvious by encouraging collaborations between disparate groups and encouraging young scientists.
Project acronym SPATIALDYNAMICS
Project Ecological, molecular, and evolutionary spatial dynamics
Researcher (PI) Ilkka Aulis Hanski
Summary The study of wild populations will benefit of increasing integration of ecological, molecular, genetic, and evolutionary approaches. The Glanville fritillary butterfly has a classic metapopulation in a network of 4,000 habitat patches in the Åland Islands, Finland, within an area of 50 by 70 km, across which population surveys have been conducted since 1993. Taking advantage of the opportunity to sample a few larvae from full-sib groups of gregarious larvae in hundreds of local populations, this project involves large-scale phenotyping and genotyping of individuals across the large metapopulation. The aim is to advance our general understanding of the genetic basis of variation in individual performance and life-time reproductive success (fitness), and the role of ongoing natural selection in population dynamics of species living in fragmented landscapes. For genotyping, we select ~1,000 SNPs from annotated genes in the recently sequenced transcriptome of this species. The same SNPs will be used to construct a pedigree for the entire metapopulation for 4 years. Two broad questions will be addressed: (1) Genetic basis of variation in dispersal, related life-history traits, and life-time reproductive success. This will be studied with association analyses, correlating individual phenotypes and genotypes to identify molecular variation with consequences for individual performance and fitness; and with pedigree analyses of natural populations, relating life-time reproductive success of individual larval groups to their phenotypic and genotypic composition. (2) Spatio-temporal population dynamics, the role of ongoing natural selection and consequences for regional adaptation. The purpose is to investigate the causes and consequences of spatio-temporal variation in population dynamics, including the role of ongoing natural selection. Mathematical modelling will be used to investigate the coupling of ecological and evolutionary dynamics in the spatial context.
The study of wild populations will benefit of increasing integration of ecological, molecular, genetic, and evolutionary approaches. The Glanville fritillary butterfly has a classic metapopulation in a network of 4,000 habitat patches in the Åland Islands, Finland, within an area of 50 by 70 km, across which population surveys have been conducted since 1993. Taking advantage of the opportunity to sample a few larvae from full-sib groups of gregarious larvae in hundreds of local populations, this project involves large-scale phenotyping and genotyping of individuals across the large metapopulation. The aim is to advance our general understanding of the genetic basis of variation in individual performance and life-time reproductive success (fitness), and the role of ongoing natural selection in population dynamics of species living in fragmented landscapes. For genotyping, we select ~1,000 SNPs from annotated genes in the recently sequenced transcriptome of this species. The same SNPs will be used to construct a pedigree for the entire metapopulation for 4 years. Two broad questions will be addressed: (1) Genetic basis of variation in dispersal, related life-history traits, and life-time reproductive success. This will be studied with association analyses, correlating individual phenotypes and genotypes to identify molecular variation with consequences for individual performance and fitness; and with pedigree analyses of natural populations, relating life-time reproductive success of individual larval groups to their phenotypic and genotypic composition. (2) Spatio-temporal population dynamics, the role of ongoing natural selection and consequences for regional adaptation. The purpose is to investigate the causes and consequences of spatio-temporal variation in population dynamics, including the role of ongoing natural selection. Mathematical modelling will be used to investigate the coupling of ecological and evolutionary dynamics in the spatial context.
Project acronym SPATIODIVERSITY
Project Towards a Unified Spatial Theory of Biodiversity
Researcher (PI) Thorsten Wiegand
Host Institution (HI) HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM FUR UMWELTFORSCHUNG GMBH - UFZ
Summary One of the biggest and most persistent challenges in contemporary ecology is to explain the high diversity in ecological communities such as tropical forests, grasslands, coral reefs, or plankton ecosystems. The broad objective of our project is to understand the relative importance of processes and factors that govern the composition and dynamics of species-rich communities. Advances in this issue have important implications for efforts to protect terrestrial biodiversity from climate and land use change. Surprisingly, although most processes which are thought to contribute to species coexistence have a strong spatial component, the rich source of information on spatial patterns has not been used. To accomplish our goal, we take a radically different approach than previous attempts and adopt a spatially explicit perspective that will allow us to take significant steps towards a Unified Spatial Theory of Biodiversity. We use the best data sets available, i.e., 25-50 ha mega-plots of tropical forests each comprising several hundred of species and >100000 trees that are monitored and censuses every 5 years. We proceed in three steps. (1) We quantify the highly complex spatial structures found in these forests using state-of-the-art techniques in spatial pattern analysis. (2) We build a range of individual-based spatially-explicit simulation models ranging from pure neutral models to detailed process-based models of tropical forest, such as FORMIND. (3) We use pattern-oriented modelling to confront these simulation models with the set of patterns identified in (1) to identify the most parsimonious models that account simultaneously for all (spatial) patterns. We anticipate that the new spatial perspective and innovative computer modelling techniques will allow for a major break through in this important challenge at the frontier of ecological research, and open up new horizons for understanding and conservation of biodiversity.
One of the biggest and most persistent challenges in contemporary ecology is to explain the high diversity in ecological communities such as tropical forests, grasslands, coral reefs, or plankton ecosystems. The broad objective of our project is to understand the relative importance of processes and factors that govern the composition and dynamics of species-rich communities. Advances in this issue have important implications for efforts to protect terrestrial biodiversity from climate and land use change. Surprisingly, although most processes which are thought to contribute to species coexistence have a strong spatial component, the rich source of information on spatial patterns has not been used. To accomplish our goal, we take a radically different approach than previous attempts and adopt a spatially explicit perspective that will allow us to take significant steps towards a Unified Spatial Theory of Biodiversity. We use the best data sets available, i.e., 25-50 ha mega-plots of tropical forests each comprising several hundred of species and >100000 trees that are monitored and censuses every 5 years. We proceed in three steps. (1) We quantify the highly complex spatial structures found in these forests using state-of-the-art techniques in spatial pattern analysis. (2) We build a range of individual-based spatially-explicit simulation models ranging from pure neutral models to detailed process-based models of tropical forest, such as FORMIND. (3) We use pattern-oriented modelling to confront these simulation models with the set of patterns identified in (1) to identify the most parsimonious models that account simultaneously for all (spatial) patterns. We anticipate that the new spatial perspective and innovative computer modelling techniques will allow for a major break through in this important challenge at the frontier of ecological research, and open up new horizons for understanding and conservation of biodiversity.


Anyone who wishes to appeal their property bill needs to first of all carefully read their real estate assessment. You can actually reduce your property tax bill and the best way to do that is to appeal the value that your home was assigned by the taxman. It's this value that's used for calculating the amount of tax you owe.
If you want to reduce your property tax, then you first of all need to show that your home's value is lower than the value assessed by the taxman. To do the initial research, you can call your real estate agent or do some quick online research. If you do indeed find out that your property's value was assessed to be higher than it actually is, then the appeal process can take months.
The real estate tax is regularly assessed by the local government. When you receive the letter about it in the mail, it will contain info about your property, such as its assessed value (including that of your land), legal description, but also lot size.
To calculate your property tax bill, you need to multiply your local tax rate with your property's assessed value.
If you discover that the value of your home is higher than it should be, be sure to challenge it right away. The process should take thirty days or less.
The stakes are what determine the amount of effort you want to put into a challenge.
If you can lower your property's assessed value by fifteen percent then your tax bill should go down approximately 15% as well.
In Suffolk County NY, the tax rates are about four percent of a property's assessed value, in Nassau County rates are about eleven percent meaning that the savings potential is higher. The same goes for communities where property prices are above median.
Check the data for your home and make sure it's correct. This includes the size of the lot, number of fireplaces, bathrooms, etc. If you find anything wrong, challenge it right away.
Speak to a realtor to learn more about 3 to 5 properties that were recently sold. You may also want to head over to realtor.com to check the value of similar properties to yours in terms of location, condition, style, and size. If you want, you can spend anywhere between three hundred and fifty to six hundred dollars to hire an appraiser and receive a professional opinion about your property's value.
Once you find comps, verify their assessments. If your local government has no data on them, hire a real estate agent to help you learn more about this. If you discover that the assessments on your comp are lower, you can then argue that yours is higher than it should be.
You can have a case for relief based on equity if you can prove that the comparable properties are better than yours. For instance, it could be that while you were trying to clean up water damage, your neighbor added an addition to their home. In this case, the properties aren't comparable anymore.
Ring your local assessor's office and see what they have to say about your case. If you're not happy with their answer, you may request a formal review. Fill out any necessary forms and pay attention to procedures and deadlines. A review may take between 30 and 90 days and usually does not require you to appear in person. Once a decision is taken, you'll receive it in writing.
The decision can be appealed to NYS Supreme Court, Small Claims Assessment Review Division, SCAR for short, and you don't have to actually hire a tax grievance company to do so. A filing fee may have to be paid (Thirty dollars). Keep in mind that this process may take up to one and a half years. Luckily, homeowners win (more than 50% of the tax appeals in Nassau and Suffolk Counties).
Only your real estate assessment can be reduced and not the rate you're taxed at.
Under NYS law your assessment can not be raised.
The sale price (if you plan on selling your home) may be negatively impacted if your assessment is reduced before putting your home up for sale.
If you want to save money, then you should learn more about whether you qualify for property tax exemptions based on factors such as military service, disability, age, etc. Your local assessor can handle these type of requests as well.


text:
// Copyright 2020 The Chromium Authors. All rights reserved.
// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
// found in the LICENSE file.

import './diagnostics_fonts_css.js';
import './diagnostics_shared_css.js';

import {html, Polymer} from 'chrome://resources/polymer/v3_0/polymer/polymer_bundled.min.js';

/**
 * Badge style class type.
 * @enum {string}
 */
export const BadgeType = {
  ERROR: 'error',
  QUEUED: 'queued',
  RUNNING: 'running',
  STOPPED: 'stopped',
  SUCCESS: 'success',
  SKIPPED: 'skipped',
  WARNING: 'warning',
};

/**
 * @fileoverview
 * 'text-badge' displays a text-based rounded badge.
 */
Polymer({
  is: 'text-badge',

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A family business in Pleasant Hill is back on track Monday night after their children's carnival train was stolen over the weekend.
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (KGO) -- A family business in Pleasant Hill is back on track Monday night after their children's carnival train was stolen over the weekend.
Electric moments on the kids train charge the Sossamon family. They run an amusement rental company.
"We do this because we love it," said Amanda Sossamon. "We love watching kids have fun."
So when someone stole a trailer from their Pleasant Hill shop this past weekend it was devastating.
"I take it personally -- you know, the kids not being able to ride the train this weekend was not okay with me," Sossamon's husband Eric added.
"He goes, 'You know I really have no hope. I don't think it's coming back. It's gone Amanda' and I go, 'Nope,'" said Sossamon's.
She posted about the theft on Facebook. News spread quickly.
"I was just scrolling real quick and I just saw it and thought, oh just share," said Laura McCollum-Perkins of Danville.
Then, McCollum-Perkins went to yoga in Walnut Creek. "And it was just sitting there in the driveway at the yoga studio and it was just crazy. I'm like, 'That can't be it,'" she added.
Stealing the trailer damaged the tires, so the thieves didn't get far.
"I'm a believer in social media now. If you would have asked me last Saturday, I would have said, 'Facebook is kind of a waste of time. Why do you guys do that?' I get it now," Eric told ABC7 News.
He also gets to honor upcoming bookings. "From kids to big kids alike, this train is so popular it's booked from now until Halloween," Eric said.
"Later when he was talking about it, he had tears in his eyes so I know it meant a lot to him," said McCollum-Perkins.
Pleasant Hill police are following leads. Sossamon installed security cameras, which captured a ride into the sunset Monday.


text:
AP/Mohammed Shoaib Amin
Afghan women chant and hold signs of protest during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 26, 2022. Afghanistan's Taliban rulers refused to allow dozens of women to board several flights, including some overseas, because they were traveling without a male guardian, two Afghan airline officials said.
Analysis & Opinions - World Politics Review
The U.S. Can Do More for Afghan Women Than Shame the Taliban
Charli Carpenter
| Apr. 22, 2022
A month ago, when all eyes were on the war in Ukraine, the Taliban quietly reneged on their promise to put school-age girls back in classrooms. This followed a six-month period in which women faced crippling restrictions on their employment, freedom of movement, dress, access to healthcare and participation in sports, plus gender-based violence, torture and arrest if they protested. But the international community's initial response—to pull humanitarian aid, for instance—threatens to make matters even worse.
Since the U.S. withdrawal in August 2021, U.S. government agencies and representatives, like the wider international donor community, have been struggling to determine how best to support women's human rights in Afghanistan against the Taliban's repression. Dilemmas abound. For instance, should the U.S. insist on improved conditions for women in return for lifting sanctions, even if the sanctions themselves are hurting women? And should the U.S. support contenders against Taliban rule even if renewed civil war puts women at risk?
In a new report released this week, Human Security Lab, a research project at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, took on these dilemmas, and found that U.S. efforts to influence the Taliban through sanctions, aid conditionality and shaming are not likely to be effective, and could in fact backfire. Based on consultations with 16 academic experts, numerous international practitioners and a wide variety of Afghan civil society representatives, the report argues that Washington should instead focus on mitigating the consequences of its withdrawal on women using whatever mechanisms remain within its control.
Simply put, even if the U.S. can't force the Taliban to respect human rights in the short term, some women's rights are largely within the United States' power to implement if it makes important course corrections in its own human rights policy....
The full text of this publication is available via World Politics Review.
For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: Carpenter, Charli."The U.S. Can Do More for Afghan Women Than Shame the Taliban." World Politics Review, April 22, 2022.
Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2021–2022
Intrastate conflict
@charlicarpenter
AP/Hussein Malla
Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Policy
A Better Use of Frozen Afghan Funds
| Feb 18, 2022
AP/Felipe Dana
How Not to Lose the Peace in Afghanistan
Lise Morjé Howard
| Sep 21, 2021
Senior Airman Taylor Crul/U.S. Air Force via AP
Analysis & Opinions - The Washington Post
The U.S. Couldn't Build Afghanistan a Democracy. That Rarely Works.
Jacqueline L. Hazelton
AP Photo/Daniel Cole
Russia and Ukraine Are Not Ready for Talks
James K. Sebenius
Michael Singh
James Sebenius and Michael Singh argue that even calling for talks today between Ukraine and Russia risks benefiting Moscow - but that impasse is not permanent.
AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili
The Ukraine War and Its Repercussions on East Asia Security and Stability
Francesca Giovannini
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, inevitably and inexorably, will bear immense consequences for what once was a rule-based global order, writes Francesca Giovannini.
Shawn Harper, University of Alaska Fairbanks
The Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Moratorium: A Rare Example of the Precautionary Principle
Fran Ulmer
Cayla Calderwood
These arctic experts examine how a vital, new international agreement was achieved and what it can teach us for other resource management.
Journal Article - Research Policy
The Relationship Between Science and Technology
Harvey Brooks
Paper - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Ideal Qualities of a Successful Diplomat
Presidential Press Service via AP, Pool
Journal Article - Contemporary Security Policy
Coercive Disclosure: The Weaponization of Public Intelligence Revelation in International Relations
Ofek Riemer
Daniel Sobelman
Rogue/Repressive States

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Loteria Mexicana Mexican Bingo
Loteria Mexicana - Mexican Bingo
The Loteria is game of chance, Loteria is something like Bingo, using pictures instead of numbers. But Loteria is much more than that. The beautiful artwork associated with Loteria has long captivated consumers from all nationalities and walks of life. Some say that the Loteria artwork has truly captured the joy, as well as the sadness, of the Mexican history. Loteria images may be used anywhere from tapestries to blankets, to wall hangings and artwork. You are limited only by your imagination. There are Loteria contests and tournaments. Loteria devotees recite poems created for the game, and talented artists create new card images. King Charles III of Spain established la loteria nacional in 1769. The contest quickly spread across the Atlantic and profits from the national pastime helped to fund schools and hospitals.
Differences between Bingo and Loteria
In Bingo, a number/letter is randomly drawn, usually from a rotating drum. But in Loteria, a card with a colorful image is drawn from a special deck.
The board (or tabla in Spanish) is decorated with a random pattern of the images found on the cards.The announcer recites a short poem or familiar phrase which hints of the image on the card. Many times this event becomes quite colorful, as the announcer improvises using satire, witty sayings, or referring to current events. In this respect, the game can even become a social commentary.
Loteria Workshop presents a wonderful opportunity to share in the Mexican culture and tradition.
More than a game, Loteria is a form of art. Now you can get create your own Loteria games with
Loteria Workshop!
Rules to play Loteria (Mexican Bingo)
The traditional Lotería is a game of chance, words and images. A deck of 36 or 54 cards and 10 playing boards make a Lotería game set, Lotería workshop lets you create unlimited cards and playing boards. Lotería can be played with 3 player, the announcer who calls the cards name and riddles, verses or poems, while the other players mark their playing boards with beans or any small object. The first player completing the game will shout: Lotería! or Buenas! Popular rules are:
Full 4 Corners
Diagonal Line
4 inside and 4 corners
4 by the corner
Doubles playingboard
To play Doubles it's necessary to make a custom playing board with 2
images of the same character in the center of the playing board.
© 1996-2018 MaravillaSoftware.Com


text:
Swimming Pools DailyAll About Swimming Pools Daily
NewsPlaces We ServicePool DesignsPool MaintenancePool ServicesSwimming Pools
Samantha Kucher, Broadway Junction, Brooklyn Personal Injury Attorney, Receives Another Favorable Customer Review
Broadway Junction, Brooklyn -- Personal injury rules have evolved to protect victims who have been hurt by another party. Under personal injury rules, a victim can submit a personal injury lawsuit or civil claim against the at-fault individual. These kinds of lawsuits entitle a victim to be compensated for the harm done to them after it can be proven that negligence was involved. personal injury attorneys direct and guide their clients through the process, negotiating on their behalf and prosecuting these claims, when necessary.
Samantha Kucher, Esq., a founding lawyer at the Kucher Law Group, has dedicated both her career and her education to accident law. After law school, she was seriously engaged in pro bono work, offering assistance to those with minimal resources. Ever since, she has committed herself to fight for victims' rights, particularly those who have been injured due to the carelessness and recklessness of others.
Due to Ms. Kucher's dedicated advocacy for victims, Ms. Kucher's law firm has gotten distinctions from organizations and customers alike. Members of her company have been ranked a "Rising Star" by Super Lawyers in 2020 and also named among Thomson Reuters "Super Lawyers 2020." They were likewise named a "Top 40 Under 40" civil plaintiff trial legal representative in New York by the National Trial Lawyers Association. Her clients continue to offer positive reviews and testimonials in regards to their work together.
Joe Kori from Broadway Junction, Brooklyn states, "My personal thanks to Samantha and all her office staff for the fact that they did a fantastic job with my malpractice case. I really appreciate them for their effort and work ethic. I will send all my friends and family to this law office."
Ms. Kucher and the Kucher Law Group are devoted to helping their personal injury clients get justice. As a personal injury attorney, she also represents victims of
truck accidents, car accidents, slip and fall injuries, construction accidents, nursing house negligence, wrongful death, and other personal injury matters. The Kucher Law Group makes use of aggressive and knowledgeable advocacy for their clients. Personal injury law isn't simply a profession. It is a passion, and Ms. Kucher takes the trust of her clients seriously, helping to make sure that they get the most devoted and focused representation possible.
"Here at Kucher Law, we understand how challenging and frustrating this process can be for the majority of accident victims. We attempt to take the tension out of injury claims and the subsequent litigation and try to make the process as simple and clear as possible. By taking the burden off our clients, they can recover and proceed with their lives much faster," Ms. Kucher said. "During our representation, we make sure to understand what the client's needs and goals are. Then we thoroughly talk about all their legal choices and alternatives and help them each step of the way. By doing this, we can best help them progress with the comfort that they have a strong advocate on their side. Our organization is always client-directed, so we are all in the exact same group. I believe our effective results demonstrate that."
As an experienced New York accident lawyer, Samantha Kucher, Esq. and her firm, Kucher Law, have dedicated their careers to innocent victims of neglect so as to help make sure that they get fairly compensated for their injuries and damages. To find out more about her and her firm, go to her site on their website.
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In all sports, greatness is defined in many different ways, often with championships. With the Breeders' Cup World Championships just a mere three months away, this is the time of year where horse racing's most talented horses begin to emerge on the road to the year-end Championships.
When I think of a champion, I think of versatility and character: Versatility being the ability to adapt to different situations and character being the ability to overcome adversity. One filly who is well on her way to being a champion is Monomoy Girl.
Monomoy Girl has been nothing but spectacular since she set foot on the Indiana Grand Turf Course last September. She romped while going six-wide around the Indiana Grand lawn. She's continued to improve with every single race and every single challenge.
The daughter of Tapizar has shown her versatility with closing scores on the turf, front running wins on the dirt, as well as closing wins on the dirt. The Brad Cox-charge has shown she literally can do anything jockey Florent Geroux ask of her. Her character was displayed in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) when she broke from the far outside post, looked a challenge in the eye from Wonder Gadot in the stretch, and fought back to score in the biggest race in the country for three year old fillies.


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Thanks to our main partners with more than 20 years of experience, we are able to set up today as a specialist in driving experience for private/individuals and for companies.
GP Conducir also supports you on major projects and exports its know-how to other continents (America, Asia ...), whether in professional or personal, depending on your needs and requirements. Thanks to the years of experience gained until now and to our network of experts, we can accompany you in all your projects.
Through our partners, we had the honor of accompanying birthdays, retirements, professional promotions, team building, ranging from the Christmas gift to that of Father's Day, through the Saint Valentine ... We have been the gift of thousands of people and we are proud of it.
GP Conducir is one of the few in the world to offer the driving of authentic Formula 1 through its driving experience, and has as an imperative the will to give itself the image of a dream maker.
But that's not all! Discover, with GP Conducir, the LR3S, the fabulous Formula 1 three seater that allows you to experience a Formula 1 without driving it, and feel all the sensations of a real F1 driver. The unavoidable of our catalog.
For the unconditional lovers of the single seater, or for a first introduction to it, we propose in our catalog, training experiences in Formula Renault 2.0, commonly called "Baby F1".


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Felbenbach is a small river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It flows into the Tiefenbach near Schwäbisch Gmünd.

See also
List of rivers of Baden-Württemberg

Rivers of Baden-Württemberg
Rivers of Germany

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Immigration Lawyer And Retired Lt. Colonel Gets Genius Grant Margaret Stock is an immigration lawyer whose work focuses on military personnel and their families. She is one of 24 winners of the 2013 MacArthur Fellowship. She talks to Melissa Block about her work.
Immigration Lawyer And Retired Lt. Colonel Gets Genius Grant
Immigration Lawyer And Retired Lt. Colonel Gets Genius Grant 4:41
September 25, 20135:03 PM ET
Margaret Stock is an immigration lawyer whose work focuses on military personnel and their families. She is one of 24 winners of the 2013 MacArthur Fellowship. She talks to Melissa Block about her work.
And now to a second winner, an immigration lawyer whose work focuses on military personnel and their families. She is Margaret Stock and she joins me from Anchorage, Alaska where she practices law.
Welcome to the program.
MARGARET STOCK: Thank you. Thank you for inviting me.
BLOCK: And we should mention you also have a military background. You're a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve. Is that right?
STOCK: That's correct.
BLOCK: And one aspect of your work that is really interesting here is a program that you developed to recruit legal immigrants to the military, to expedite their path to citizenship. Talk about that and why you think it's important.
STOCK: Well, this program grew out of the fact that in all prior wars, the United States military has been open to recruiting immigrants. And that dates back to 1775. In prior wars, we had essentially open-recruiting. And in exchange for people joining the military they were able to get their citizenship immediately. And then after the Vietnam War, we'd sort of forgotten all that history.
So after 9/11, we still had peacetime recruiting rules in effect. And this was hampering the military's ability to draw on the talents of many people who wanted to join the military, but were being turned away.
BLOCK: And why do you think it was important that they be allowed to join the military?
STOCK: Well, we had a dire shortage of people in critical skills. And we needed people who spoke foreign languages. We also had a dire shortage of healthcare professionals. But ironically we had lots of foreign-born people living in the country who are perfectly legal and had these skills. So the idea that I came up with was basically pointing out to people that we already had the legal authority, because there was a war going on, to just bring these people into the military.
You didn't need to go to Congress and get any laws changed. Congress had passed the law back in World War I, it still existed. You just had to dust it off and start using it.
BLOCK: So you started a pilot program. You convinced the Army to let you do this. How did it go?
STOCK: Well, it was wildly successful. We had more than 15,000 people on the Army side applying for 890 positions.
BLOCK: Have you gotten pushback? Are there critics of the programs that you've gotten underway?
STOCK: Oh, sure. You got the standard or response from some people that: Oh, well, only U.S. citizens should be allowed to join the military. And I thought that was interesting because that's never been the case. Because the military is serving globally, it's very important to have the expertise of folks from other cultures who speak other languages. We just can't be an effective military force without the contributions of our foreign-born soldiers.
BLOCK: Do you hear from people though who raise national security concerns about that?
STOCK: Well, they do but their national security concerns with native-born Americans, as I think anyone who reads the news can tell, but the fact that you just happened to be born in a foreign country doesn't automatically make you a security concern. In fact, it can make you quite an asset to security issues.
You're going to understand what the security threats are from a foreign culture. You're going to understand tactics, techniques, and procedures that a foreign adversary might use in a way that a native-born American might not.
BLOCK: How many people now have gone through this program, have been expedited on the path to citizenship through the military?
STOCK: It's a little over our 2,500 people who have come in, primarily into the Army through the program, and they've been for the most part superstars. I don't think anybody would question their loyalty to America. They've just been terrific. Lots of people with PhD's and master degrees and bachelors degrees who we usually don't get in the enlisted ranks.
BLOCK: Well, Margaret Stock, congratulations on the MacArthur.
STOCK: Thank you.
BLOCK: That's immigration lawyer Margaret Stock with Cascadia Cross Border Law in Anchorage, Alaska. She's one of 24 winners of this year's MacArthur Awards.


text:
Rhett Miller
In Music Reviews
The Interpreter: Live at Largo
Maximum Sunshine Records
I've always wanted to make it to Largo, the L.A. nightclub that throughout much of the '90s and early aughts regularly played host to singer-songwriters like Aimee Mann, Grant-Lee Phillips, and Neil Finn as well as comedians like Patton Oswalt, Larry David, and Jack Black, and where on many Friday nights producer/ singer-songwriter/ film composer Jon Brion would hold court for improvisational jam sessions that might feature Elvis Costello, Benmont Tench, Brad Mehldau, Chris Thile, or Fiona Apple. The club relocated to bigger digs in 2008, leaving behind many fondly remembered performances and what was reportedly a unique atmosphere. But the old Largo lives again now on this disc from Old 97's frontman Rhett Miller, who was also a regular denizen of the club. Rather than tapping the catalog of his alt-country band or his own somewhat poppier solo work though, Miller here tackles a set of cover tunes from some of his musical heroes and contemporaries. While by no means a polished live album, it nevertheless captures something of what it must have been like to be at Largo on any given night as Miller kicked back to have some fun with friends.
Early on, it's the song selections that may bring a smile to your face more than the performances themselves. Miller opens with a campfire sing-a-long quality version of Simon and Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound" and an unadorned, occasionally amateurish run through Tom Petty's "American Girl." Similarly, Miller's take on Elvis Costello's "Brilliant Mistake" might make you want to reach for King of America but it's unlikely to make you want to listen to this version ever again.
Fortunately, the record and performances get better. Jon Brion (who has produced some of Miller's solo work) joins in on piano for the Wilco/ Billy Bragg/ Woody Guthrie classic "California Stars." A pair of David Bowie tunes ("Queen Bitch" and "The Bewlay Brothers") that also feature Brion impress with their musical ambition and fun performances. The Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset," which Miller describes as "only the greatest song ever written by any human being" is another great choice, even if he struggles with the vocal range needed to pull it off completely.
There's also a nifty medley of The Pixies' "Wave of Mutilation" and The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated." "Wave of Mutilation" also appears here in a bonus track studio version with Pixies guitarist Joey Santiago. There's a terrific studio version of Robyn Hitchcock's "Cynthia Mask" as well.
The live cuts also include Miller's straightforward take on Aztec Camera's "The Birth of the True," which I've found has somewhat strangely become a touchstone for a lot us who grew up during the '80s. Miller reportedly performed the song at his first ever public performance as a freshman in high school.
Brion's piano turns The Beatles' "I'll Cry Instead" into a barrelhouse number while Dylan's "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" becomes a honky-tonk tearjerker in the hands of Miller and Brion.
The album's most affecting moment comes as Miller pays tribute to Elliott Smith, who was also a frequent performer at Largo before his death in 2003. Introducing a cover of Smith's beautiful and intricate "Happiness," Miller tells the crowd Smith was so great, he's barely able to pull off the song.
"I miss him and I'm going to miss Largo and this whole thing is a very magical time and place and things like this don't come along very often," Miller said.
The Interpreter, the first release on Miller's own label, Maximum Sunshine Records, ultimately proves to be a fine tribute to the spirit of Largo, if not necessarily the best showcase of Miller's talent. While not quite like being there, the record at least serves as a pleasant time capsule and trip down memory lane for those lucky enough to have been a part of the Largo scene.
Rhett Miller: www.rhettmiller.com
Sean Slone
Aztec Camera
Jon Brion
Rhett Miller (of Old 97's)
Freekbass
All The Way This, All The Way That (Color Red). Review by Bob Pomeroy.
The Octopus News Magazine Online
Bettie Lou Vegas explores the undersea world of cephalopods with an in-depth look at The Octopus News Magazine Online!
Fine Arts Militia
Fine Arts Militia (Slam Jamz/Koch). Review by Bill Campbell.
Norbert Moslang + Andy Guhl
Knack On (Atavistic). Review by Nirav Soni.
The Great Crusades
Damaged Goods (Blue Line Recordings). Review by Marcel Feldmar.
Fashion 101: A Crash Course in Clothing
Do you know the difference between stovepipe and cigarette pants? Andrew Coulon does, and he's lording it over the ladies in his life. Don't get burned — check out Erika Stalder's Fashion 101: A Crash Course in Clothing for yourself.
Amanda Shires
To The Sunset (Silver Knife Records). Review by James Mann.
Dark Horse (Columbia). Review by Dan Stapleton.
This World is Not My Home (Geffen). Review by James Mann
All Lost (Graveface). Review by Aaron Shaul.
Together As One
Various Artists (Moonshine). Review by Tony Coulson
Death Is Not Glamorous
Wide Eyes (Run For Cover). Review by Jen Cray.
Radio 7 (Trashbox). Review by Kiran Aditham.


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Google Penguin 'now a continuous update'
We only recently created a guide to Google's latest update, Penguin 3.0, but we've already got more news about the algorithm.
Rather than heralding the sudden arrival of Penguin 4.0 though, a Google spokesperson has thrown a curveball by revealing that the algorithm will now be updated on the fly.
The announcement was made when Search Engine Land questioned Google after they broke with tradition by making alterations to the Penguin algorithm during the holiday season. After all, you have to go back to November 2003 to see the last time the company released an update during this period.
In response, the Google spokesperson said: "That last big update is still rolling out — though really there won't be a particularly distinct end-point to the activity, since Penguin is shifting to more continuous updates. The idea is to keep optimising as we go now."
So what does this mean for the future of the Google algorithm that works to cut out spam across the web? While we cannot provide a definitive answer to this, we can speculate about the good and the bad.
From a negative perspective, the Penguin algorithm regularly changing could mean that any link strategies Google isn't fond of will be identified and punished by the search engine giant much more quickly. On the other side of the coin, if you have been penalised by Penguin there is hope that your website will be able to recover more quickly — so long as the problems have been rectified, of course.
Rest assured that we will be monitoring the effects of a continuously updated Penguin algorithm, so keep an eye on our social media pages and blog for insight about what we find.


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text:
I can honestly say that before Six of Crows was released, I had never heard of Leigh Bardugo. I had never been introduced to the Grisha world and had never read the Grisha Trilogy before. Ultimately, I'm not sure that I would've enjoyed it as much if I had. I think that the beauty of this novel is that it touches on the Grisha world and Grisha powers, which Bardugo fully develops in her previous novels (Shadow and Bone, Seige and Storm, & Ruin and Rising)… BUT she doesn't overwhelm the reader in this novel if they have no previous understanding.
Title: Six of Crows
Series: Six of Crows #1
Page Count: Hardcover, 465 pages
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price–and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone…
A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.
Six of Crows was my warm welcome back into the young adult genre. Of course, I have visited the genre before and selected novels according to front cover images or descriptions, but I have never intentionally picked up a book based on other reader's recommendations. I think until #bookstagram and the book community, which I now consider a wonderful group of friends, I felt very alone in my reading selections.
However, after this novel, I will never again doubt the power of a book recommendation from my favorite reading community.
The very first chapter might be my only bit of criticism because we are thrown into the world so suddenly that it felt abrupt at moments. We are introduced to Joost who walks us through the city of Ketterdam as a guard on patrol. Almost immediately, I got the sense of an early 1900s London in the grimy areas where gangs took up residence. Joost being a member of the guard establishes the idea that there is something to guard against, and so begins the illusion that there are some residents within Ketterdam to fear.
As the story unfolds, we are introduced to our rag-tag bunch of criminals…. each of whom I love and adore. Getting to know each of these characters – Kaz, Nina, Inej, Wyland, Jesper, and Matthias – felt like getting to know friends. Each one brought such diversity and so many secrets. There were many moments in which I caught myself dredding the end of the book because I didn't want to have to say goodbye to these little criminals.
One of the best writing tactics that Bardugo used throughout the story was rotating chapters according to each character's perspective. I found myself loving the change of pace according to the individual's thought process. Inej is the spy who is able to creep without making a sound, and she is one of the best, so her chapters were able to provide insight into things that none of the other characters could. Once in Kaz's chapters, we begin to understand that the mastermind has such a dark past that it haunts him into this self-proclaimed monster. Nina, Wyland, Jesper, and Matthias each provide their own elements of surprise because the allure to these characters is that everyone is running from something or someone. Everyone has something at stake and carries their own baggage as a result. It makes them entirely loveable and relatable.
Rotating through each criminal kept the intensity within the story AND allowed for Bardugo to keep little secrets and twists and turns for the last moment. There were many elements of surprise that had me thinking back to when she laid the ground work for such story lines and was in awe. As a result, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in stories about heists, adventures, magic, or just needing a moment out of their own world. It's sophisticated enough for pretty much any reader, as long as you have an open mind to fantasy.
I realized that I have a new favorite series. The moment that the second book was announced, I knew that I would need to have it on my pre-order list so that I could start it ASAP! This adventure is brilliant and I cannot wait to return to these criminals and their adventures.
For those of you who are interested in pre-ordering just click on the book cover to find out where it will be available. Remember: The release time is announced for September 2016!
If anyone is interested in a re-read group for Six of Crows before the launch of the sequel, please comment below! I would love to get a discussion going.
Adventureauthor-lLeigh BardugoSix of Crowstitle-sYoung Adult


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'I Was Told I Can't…Pray Tonight': High School Grad Fights Back After School Forces Her to Ax Prayer From Commencement Speech
By Billy Hallowell - Faithwire
graduation speechMoriah Bridgesright to pray. commencement speech
Jeremy Dys, First Liberty Deputy General Counsel: "School districts need to remember that students retain their religious liberty as they walk through the schoolhouse gates and all the way through the graduation ceremony."
A conservative legal firm is accusing a Pennsylvania school district of "forcing a student to alter her personal graduation remarks to remove any religious viewpoint" — something that the First Liberty Institute said is a violation of the Constitution. The law firm sent a letter to Beaver Area School District in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, detailing purported grievances over a recent commencement speech by a graduate named Moriah Bridges.
Graduation season a time for student freedom, not censorship
When our Nation's Founding Fathers wrote the Establishment Clause into the Bill of Rights, they envisioned it as a protective device – a means of safeguarding citizens from a federally-mandated religion. In just over two hundred years, it has instead become a weapon often wielded by government bureaucrats to stamp out any vestige of religion from our public life. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito even warned that religious liberty is "fast becoming a disfavored right."
New Poll Shows Court-packers Will Fail Again in Wake of SCOTUS Leak
In the game of football, a Hail Mary pass is a desperate, last-ditch attempt to salvage a win by throwing a long pass downfield in hopes it will be caught for a touchdown. It rarely succeeds.
In early May, an unprecedented leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion set off roiling left-wing protests when it indicated the infamous Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion might be reversed.


Modom surf is a rad new school accessories brand with a global surf team the likes of Jack Freestone, Craig Anderson and Taj Burrow to name but a few. With this calibre of surfer testing and giving input into this product, you know it's good!
This Blackness II traction will help you keep that back foot stuck!


This is my take on the traditional Norwegian Christmas drink that we warm ourselves on. The vodka is optional. I leave it out most of the time - otherwise, this drink can go right to your head.
Adding some orange marmalade to some already rich hot chocolate makes it taste fresher. Use a good chocolate with high cocoa content, preferably between 55 and 70 percent.
When the wind is howling outside, it's great to have a nice hot drink warm you up. During the Middle Ages, cider was a common drink up here in the cold lands of the north. People thought that all meals should start with something sweet in order to stimulate the digestion. Unlike apples, honey was expensive in medieval times and it was used for everything from preserving food to making fruit juices.
St. Lucia's Day on December 13 is one of the few old saints days that are still celebrated in Norway (saints are usually not celebrated in Norwegian Protestantism). The day was once thought to be the shortest day of the year. It is celebrated with saffron cakes and processions in schools and kindergartens. I made this warming, saffron-infused, hot chocolate for some freezing kids.


Silje Dehli (N) is a product designer who teaches at the TU Delft, facilitates and designs medical products. Maarten Mulder (NL) is a business consultant. Together with Sara Andersson (S) and Kevin Geers (B), a multinational team of designers, they developed Slaapaap, a pillow-for-two that helps people come closer to their loved ones. To bring people closer they participated in the international pillow fight day 2010 in Rotterdam and organized their own during the Museumnacht Delft.


Clean Energy Fuels Corp. engages in the provision of natural gas as an alternative fuel for vehicle fleets in the United States and Canada. It also designs, builds, operates, serves, and repairs and maintains fueling stations; and manufactures, sells, and serves non-lubricated natural gas fueling compressors and other equipment used in CNG and LNG stations. The company was founded by T. Boone Pickens and Andrew J. Littlefair in 1996 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, CA.
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. provides natural gas as an alternative fuel for vehicle fleets in the United States and Canada. The company supplies compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), and renewable natural gas (RNG) for light, medium, and heavy-duty vehicles. It also designs, builds, operates, and maintains fueling stations. In addition, the company manufactures, sells, and services non-lubricated natural gas fueling compressors and other equipment used in CNG and LNG stations; provides assessment, design, and modification solutions to operators with code-compliant service and maintenance facilities for natural gas vehicle fleets; transports and sells CNG and LNG to industrial and institutional energy users; and processes and sells RNG, which is used as vehicle fuel. Further, it sells tradable credits comprising natural gas and RNG as a vehicle fuel, such as Low Carbon Fuel Standards and Renewable Identification Numbers Credits; and helps its customers in acquiring and financing natural gas vehicles, as well as obtaining federal, state and local credits, grants, and incentives. The company serves heavy-duty trucking, airport, refuse, and public transit markets; and industrial and institutional energy users, as well as government fleets. As of December 31, 2016, it served approximately 1,000 fleet customers operating approximately 45,000 natural gas vehicles; and owned, operated, or supplied approximately 570 natural gas fueling stations in 42 states in the United States and in 4 provinces in Canada. Clean Energy Fuels Corp. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.


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Storm Scenes: A Nor'easter Plows Into a Surprised New York City
We're still talking about the storm that came in yesterday, the surprisingly early wintry nor'easter. The hard rain, wind, and snow battered the city and pounded all of us who happened to be out in it. This morning, many folks are still dealing with the power outages and the broken tree branches with full sets of leaves. My phone rings regularly with notifications from Notify NYC about the precarious state of thousands of damaged trees, cautioning people of the ongoing dangers of wandering into the city's parks. October 29, 2011. 12:02 p.m. Lexington and 60th Street. October 29, 2011. Lexington and 60th. 12:04 p.m. October 29, 2011. Lexington and 60th. 12:09 pm.
This is the third and final post in a series on Steampunk culture. Steampunk, explored in the previous posts on Union Square and Dumbo , is powered by alternative visions of the city, usually the sort of neo-Victorian futuristic cities as imagined by Jules Verne or H.G. Wells or even the American writer Edward Bellamy (1850-1898). The latter's utopian bestseller, Looking Backward (1887), dreams of the America of 2000 - Boston, to be specific - when a more equitable distribution of wealth has replaced an unfair economic system and where fantastic inventions have revolutionized the comforts of everyday life. Leaving Manhattan. View of the Queensboro Bridge and east side near E. 60th Street. Bellamy imagined an ideal society where everyone spends the same amount of money, dispersed on cards (how odd!), and even listen to live music in their homes via a wire (nah, would never happen). Bellamy's ideas about the future of cities influenced many others during this time, inc
For a second steampunk excursion into New York - Union Square was the first - Dumbo in Brooklyn provided a most suitable location. With its industrial built environment, heavy infrastructure, and fantastical views of the bridges and Manhattan, the area down under the Manhattan Bridge overpass hardly needs visual alteration for this sort of aesthetic. Tunnel under the Manhattan Bridge, Water Street While its warehouses and factories now serve as repurposed spaces for apartments, retail stores, and arts groups, it's not too difficult to imagine the waterfront streets populated by velvet-wearing inventors, top-hatted mad scientists, or eccentric 19th century archivists. In short, Dumbo hardly needs steampunking. It's already there. remnants of the Jay Street Connecting Railroad In Dumbo, a view of the Manhattan Bridge Steampunk 2011 at The Dumbo Loft In point of fact, I happened to visit the area this past Sunday where several merchants had gathered in the D
Just when the steampunk genre seems to wane in popularity, it comes back again even stronger than before. New fans are constantly being drawn to the aesthetics of this alt brand of neo-Victorian futurism and its civilization built on steam. Steampunk sets the imagination afloat with airships streaming across the sky, dark-paneled rooms with wunderkabinetts, bookshelves of imaginative objects, cogs and wheels, top-hatted and velvet-wearing cyborgs, catalogs of curiosities, and wondrous clocks. Any fan of the 19th century with a fascination for gizmos or an interest in the worlds of Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Dr. Who, or even Tim Burton may be a candidate for steampunk fandom. Union Square, steampunked, with steam While the Victorianism of steampunk may conjure the dark streets of London, New York's 19th century and early 20th century architecture and infrastructure will do. We have plenty of the 19th century urban Gotham landscape to work with. The point is not to live in the
Brief Excursions Into Central Park: Photos from an Autumn Day
Many people arrive at this website via a search for "favorite walks in Central Park ," or some such phrase. While I like to take long strolls in the park, I can't say I have a favorite one. I'm all for improvisation. Many times I'm doing something close to the park, maybe just a block or so near the edge, but while walking on the street, I'll catch a view of the park in the distance and then I'm invariably drawn to Central Park like a magnet. I enjoy these brief unscripted excursions. Yesterday, I found myself in the park twice, once in the morning near the southeast corner, and later in the afternoon near Central Park West and W. 67th Street. I couldn't help it. But lucky me! Morning excursion: I walked from The Pond north to the Central Park Zoo , then through the Zoo and beyond to the Balto statute and the rocky outcroppings near the east side. The Pond Sea lion on a rock, Central Park Zoo Balto statue Wooden gazebo near the eas
Surely one of the timeliest art exhibitions currently on display in New York must be David, Delacroix, and Revolutionary France: Drawings from the Louvre at the Morgan Library & Museum. Given the general state of occupation, just how did the likes of artists Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Eugène Delacroix, and Théodore Géricault manage to sneak in so close to the private library of powerful Wall Street investment banker John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913)? Well, we can thank the Louvre for the current occupation of eighty excellent drawings by these revolutionary artists, a reciprocal gesture for the Morgan loaning the Louvre a hundred fine drawings during the 1990s. Beyond the storming of the Bastille, the French Revolution unleashed a creative fervor in France, one that rippled through the nineteenth century. Even before the first wave of revolutionary engagement, artists were sweeping away the wretched excess of the royal Rococo in favor of classical model
OHNY Weekend, Part III: A Ballroom, A Penthouse, and the Streets Between
My final excursion on OHNY (openhousenewyork) weekend included two sites in the Financial District - an Art Deco ballroom on Broad Street and a contemporary luxury condo building on John Street. As my Sunday morning routine usually includes coffee, Battery Park, Trinity Church, and (now) Zuccotti Park, but hardly ever in the same order, I was already downtown and close by. Broad Street, looking north. The Broad Street Ballroom is inside the building on the far right, the Léman Manhattan Preparatory School. The New York Stock Exchange is in the distance on the west side of the street. • The Broad Street Ballroom is located just down the street from the New York Stock Exchange, right where the street takes a gentle bend. The investment bankers at Lee-Higginson built their headquarters here at 37-41 Broad Street in the late Jazz Age, 1928-29, to show off their financial power. The bank's lobby, now a ballroom frequently rented for private events, is decorated with fluted mosa
OHNY Weekend, Part II: Sacred Institutions of the Upper West Side
Churches and synagogues constituted the vast majority of the Upper West Side sites open for visits during this weekend's 9th Annual OHNY (openhousenewyork). While I didn't have the time to visit the ones open only on Sunday, the three sites of worship I visited on Saturday - First Baptist Church, the Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew, and St. Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church - revealed a spiritual side of New York City that many visitors never see (with a few notable exceptions such as St. Patrick's Cathedral, Trinity Church, and Cathedral of St. John the Divine). Walking to the churches involved passing by several well-known Upper West Side landmarks, certainly not on the OHNY list - for they lack architectural distinction - but, for sure, worshipped and glorified for more secular (and delicious) reasons. Not on the OHNY list but an important institution in its own right - Fairway on Broadway at 74th Street. For this moveable self-guided walking feast, plan
OHNY Weekend, Part I: A Lobby and Two Libraries in Midtown
The 9th Annual OHNY (openhousenewyork) event took place this weekend, opening up rarely seen New York interiors to the public. Designed to promote architecture and design excellence, OHNY featured many venues and special programs at sites around the five boroughs, and as always, even seasoned New Yorkers found more surprises hidden within their city. Many places were open by advanced reservation only, with reservation limits filling up quickly, but several fascinating places were open for walk-ins during certain hours on either Saturday or Sunday or both. Making the rounds for the open houses proves something of a challenge, like a marathon for architecture enthusiasts. Nevertheless, I managed to take in a few of the sites in three separate parts of Manhattan this weekend - Midtown, the Upper West Side, and the Financial District. Walking between the OHNY sites, I occasionally stopped to study other interesting buildings and street views along the way. I'll discuss a few of the M
In Truman Capote's novella Breakfast at Tiffany's, Holly Golightly sprinkles her conversations with just a little bit of French, or more typically, with a mélange of French and English. Par exemple, she decribes one of her suitors as "quel beast." Speaking a few words in French gives our self-made heroine, born poor in rural Tulip, Texas as Lula Mae Barnes, the air of charm and sophistication necessary to succeed in cosmopolitan New York. In an early passage in the book we learn that before she fled to New York a Hollywood agent named O.J. Berman aspired to help Holly make it in the movies. He thus sent Holly to French classes in order for her to sound less like a country girl. A little French seems useful in New York, too, especially if one aspires to move up in the ranks of Old New York. FIAF offer programs for New Yorkers interested in French language and culture. Since the late 19th century and early 20th, wealthy New Yorkers living on the fashionable
How to Check Out eBooks from the New York Public Library, and A Suggested New York List
Surely most of us have experienced at one point in our lives the dreaded realization that we've failed to return our library books on time, and we've racked up fees. A friend of mine in graduate school was so chronically late in returning her books that at one point, after accumulating hundreds of dollars in fines, the school's library staff called her in for a little counseling. One of the chief advantages of checking out eBooks from the New York Public Library, the new high tech means of borrowing, is that no late fees will accrue. The borrowed items will simply vanish from the patron's e-reading device at the end of the loan period, magically returned to the library e-shelves. Amazon's Kindle has recently joined other e-readers in making library e-books available, including the thousands of books and audio books from the eNYPL . A simple search for New York-related titles turns up travel books of the conventional and unconventional variety, classic literature
Walking the Talk: Zuccotti Park to Union Square and Beyond
In addition to raising consciousness about the inequality of wealth in the United States and the lack of accountability of the new robber barons, the Occupy Wall Street movement is also providing the public a few activist lessons in New York geography. Members of the amorphous group, along with their community and labor supporters, have routinely taken to the public streets and parks of the city since September 17, and in the process, led us to new places both literally and figuratively. Who knew of Zuccotti Park before, right? Well, at least not the name. Zuccotti Park/Liberty Square September 25, 2011 Today's schedule includes a "NYC Billionaires Walking Tour" of the Upper East Side, a walking tour organized by labor and community groups to highlight the homes of the city's wealthiest men, including those of Rupert Murdoch, financier Howard Milstein, John Paulson, David Koch, and JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. It was Dimon who presented the NYPD a large che
For Occupy Wall Street, It Was Next Stop, Greenwich Village
On Saturday afternoon, October 8, the Occupy Wall Street protesters marched from their encampment at Zuccotti Park/Liberty Square north to Washington Square Park to convene a General Assembly. As with the other days of late, the weather could not have been better for a public demonstration - clear, even warm, with no clouds in the sky. A few hundred people marched uptown to the park, surrounded by a hefty police presence. Many local supporters had come to the park to greet the marchers, joining the usual park crowd of book readers, musicians, and dog walkers. Several mounted police stationed themselves a block south of the park on W. 3rd, and many unformed offers flanked all the park entrances. Neighbors of the Washington Square area awoke to the news on Saturday morning that Washington Square Park had been selected as a place for a second General Assembly, the deliberate process of announcements and decision-making that has come to characterize this movement. It wasn't clear
Several thousand New Yorkers came to Foley Square late yesterday afternoon to participate in a community and labor rally in support of the Occupy Wall Street protests. The rally ended with a march to the Financial District and Zuccotti Park , the current home base for the demonstrators. The weather for the event was clear and bright, a stellar afternoon in early October. Foley Square is located in the Civic Center of the city. Two courthouses dominate the east side of the square - the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse and the New York State Supreme Court. If you've seen any episode of Law & Order, you're already familiar with the steps of the Supreme Court building. Many New Yorkers, along with hundreds of supporters from beyond the state and passersby and the curious, assembled in Foley Square. Some were wise owls. And some were people with ancient wisdom.


ST. PAUL, Minnesota, December 21, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — Staff and faculty were told at a recent University of Minnesota departmental diversity gathering that Christian and Jewish holiday expressions of faith were inappropriate on campus.
The list was a comprehensive collection of items specifically indicative of Christmas and Hanukkah.
Santa Claus was listed first, then angels, Christmas trees, the star of Bethlehem, dreidels, Nativity scenes, bows or wrapped gifts, menorahs, bells and doves.
The event advertised dialogue and conversation about religious diversity in the CFANS department and at the university.
However, dialogue at the event was one-sided, a person in attendance said, and it served to illustrate an ongoing environment on campus that leaves Christians and Jews abandoned and alienated.
In addition to deeming Christian and Jewish holiday expressions inappropriate, the documents distributed at the event emphasized keeping things "neutral and non-religious and not reflective of any one religious holiday." The title of one handout seemingly played down Catholic and Lutheran heritage in the area.
And while there was some table discussion at the CFANS religious diversity event, LifeSite's source said the bulk of the presentation consisted of a vague message about inclusion given by a female Muslim student in full hijab.
While the CFANS event had a religious diversity theme, the on-campus environment for Christians and Jews can be hostile, the source said, where they can be marked as offending others for having shown expressions of their faith.
The message at the CFANS gathering was clearly that diversity is meant for everyone else on campus except the Christian and Jewish demographic, the individual told LifeSiteNews.
The individual – a member of the university community who spoke under the condition of anonymity – told LifeSite they felt compelled to speak up because the event exemplifies a discriminatory attitude toward Christians and Jews on University of Minnesota campus. It's problematic to speak about this, they said, because of the likelihood of repercussions.
The university is an amazing scientific community, the individual told LifeSiteNews, with brilliant scientists from all over the world. And yet the "diversity" environment often leaves Christians and Jews feeling unsupported – and this surely has a negative effect on people's work performance.
LifeSiteNews inquired with the university about the materials and the message conveyed to Christian and Jewish members of the university community — especially given that the dean and vice dean of CFANS took part in the event, as did the CFANS head of diversity, and that both documents distributed at the event indicated they were produced by university leadership.
The handout on religious diversity and the holidays "encourages" readers to "express their concerns" to "various reporting options" such as the EOAA or the university's "Bias Incident Website." It offers support for those "concerned there are inappropriate religious celebrations" in their work or learning environment. And it refers readers with questions back the CFANS office for Diversity and Inclusion.
Liberty Counsel chairman Mat Staver told LifeSiteNews that the University department's religious diversity message was extreme and amounts to censorship.
Staver's thought on the Constitutional aspect echoed that of University of San Diego law professor Steven Smith.
The source told LifeSiteNews that of the 80 or so people in attendance at the religious diversity event, quite a few seemed uncomfortable about what was being conveyed.
Authentic diversity at the university has actually declined due to things like this, the source said, because in reality, it leads to people feeling unable to show who they really are — for fear of being accused of offending others.


Do cooler temperatures have you dreaming of ways to spend more time outside? Here are 10 ideas to get you out of town and exploring.
Don't Forget: The Nurture My Child Family Fair Is Happening TODAY From 1-4 p.m.!
The Nurture My Child Family Fair is coming! Find out what enrichment choices are available for your children at this showcase of programs.
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