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NL Player Analysis - August 6, 2019
Smith went 1-4 and walked against the Cardinals on Monday. Smith has mashed for the Dodgers when given a chance to play this year, and the 24-year-old took an impressive 1.198 OPS into Monday's game. As a hitter, Smith looks somewhat similar to fellow Dodger Max Muncy as he pairs a patient but solid plate approach with mediocre contact skills and impressive power -- a profile that bodes well for Smith's future. Although Smith's extremely patient approach (his 39.4% swing rate would rank among the lowest fifteen qualified batters) and less than impressive contact skills (72% contact rate, 46% o-contact rate) result in a high strikeout rate (currently 29.1%), when he does make contact he more than makes up for the strikeouts. Smith owns an impressive batted ball profile that features a 17.6% barrel rate, an 89.4 MPH average exit velocity, a 0.36 GB/FB ratio (32% line drive rate), and a whopping 55.9% hard hit rate. As a result, Smith owns an elite .549 xwOBA on contact that should excite fantasy owners. Smith isn't flawless -- he struggles to hit breaking and offspeed pitches and rarely makes contact on pitches outside of the strike zone -- but his patient approach and strong power make him a fantasy asset and someone who should be owned in all leagues.
Hendricks was red hot in July with a 2.25 ERA over 32 innings while allowing two or fewer earned runs in each of his six starts, and the 29-year-old kept it going on Monday, allowing two runs over 6.1 innings. Hendrick's increased success can largely be traced to an adjusted pitch mix and an improved fastball, though it's not clear that the fastball's success will carry through the rest of the season. Hendricks has cut his sinker usage in favor of his four-seamer since the end of May (he started only three games in June), and it paid off in July as his fastball had its best performing month of the year by a significant margin while helping drive an increasing soft contact rate for Hendricks. Though the location of the pitch has been slightly different than where it's been most of the year, Hendrick's fastball hasn't meaningfully changed in July, and there isn't much (besides some improved command) to suggest that it'll revert back to being a poor pitch for the starter (as it has been over his career). Another red flag surrounding Hendricks is his predictability; even with his pitch mix adjustment, Hendrick's z-swing rate has continued to climb and has averaged 65.5% over his past fifteen starts -- his worst mark in the category since the beginning of 2015 (his o-swing rate is generally in line with his career numbers). Expect Hendricks to take a significant step back compared to July, and although he may still be a usable starter over the rest of the year, capitalize on his recent hot streak by selling high if you can.
Suzuki went 0-3 with a walk and a strikeout against the Giants on Friday. Suzuki has played well for the Nationals this season, but he's been mired in a bit of a slump lately (.654 OPS over the past two weeks). Suzuki's slump has largely been driven by an increased ground ball rate that's suffocated his BABIP, and he should be expected to return to form over the rest of the year. For the season, Suzuki has maintained impressive contact skills with a strong plate discipline profile that combine to limit his strikeout rate (12%), and his modest but serviceable power (38.2% hard hit rate, 86.4 MPH average exit velocity) makes him fantasy relevant at a shallow position. One notable aspect of Suzuki's performance this year is his platoon split; he's hit lefties far better than righties this year -- a contrast to his near even career platoon split. This isn't new (it's been a trend for the past couple of years), but it is worth noting and should be capitalized on by daily players. Let Suzuki's ground ball rate fall, then feel comfortable using him against southpaws as a solid fantasy option.
Walker Lockett
Lockett allowed four runs over 4.2 innings against the Marlins on Monday. Lockett has struggled so far in his brief major league career, but the 25-year-old possesses an intriguing arsenal that makes him worth keeping an eye on long-term. It's a small sample size, but Lockett has managed to generate whiffs with his curveball and changeup at strong rates, though both pitches do get hit hard when batters make contact. Another encouraging sign from Lockett this year has been his command; Lockett has struggled with his command in the past, but his edge and zone rates are both up significantly this year, signaling that he's likely improving his control. Don't expect Lockett to be immediately valuable -- he likely still needs to work on his command and would do well to add another pitch -- but he has more upside than his 8.78 career ERA might suggest.
Peraza went 1-4 and was caught stealing against the Angels on Monday. Peraza has disappointed at the plate this season, but the 25-year-old appears primed for a strong rest of the season. Although Peraza has been cold recently (.418 OPS over the past two weeks), his underlying metrics look to be heating up, making Peraza a strong buy low candidate. Over the past couple of weeks, Peraza has seen his hard hit rate spike while his z-swing rate has stayed high and his o-swing rate has fallen. Additionally, Peraza's line drive rate has risen while his IF/FB ratio has declined (both numbers that had lagged behind Peraza's career numbers this year). As a result of his recent trends, Peraza should see his .260 BABIP rise towards his .307 mark from last season, and his extra base hit rate should rise significantly as well. Getting on base should help Peraza's stolen base total rise as well (23 in each of the past two seasons, five so far this year), further boosting his fantasy value. Peraza's recent trends may reverse, but as of now he looks like an ideal buy low option who could reasonably (though perhaps somewhat optimistically) post an OPS around .750 over the rest of the year.
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AL Player Analysis - August 5, 2019
AL Player Analysis - Aug 6, 2019


What local summertime events are you looking forward to the most?
The M&T Syracuse Jazz Fest, in its 35th year, wrapped up over the weekend to another successful edition. The Taste of Syracuse was also a hit at the beginning of June, setting an attendance record of over 225,000 patrons. Those events set the bar high for the rest the summertime events Central New York has to offer, and we want to know what you're looking forward to the most!
This survey is now closed. Thank you for participating, and check back on Wednesday, June 21, for the results and for another CNY Heartbeat poll.
Here are the results of last week's poll, which asked: Do you agree with President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord?


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Numbers Game: Classic Sandbags at 4 Historic Crags
By Lizz Drummond , Sep 3, 2013
Natasha Barnes angles her way up The Diamond (V8). Photo by Rich Crowder
We've all been on the receiving end of sandbagging bastardry at some point. "You should climb Horrible Direct Route (5.scary)—it's totally your style," says your buddy. True, it might be your "style," but it also has no gear, is usually wet, and feels three grades harder than what you typically lead.
But not all sandbagging comes in the form of a cruel joke from your friends. Some of it was born from an era where the Yosemite Decimal System (YDS) topped out at 5.9—once believed to be the limit of climbing abilities. In the 1960s, many hard routes were given a 5.9+ rating even when moves soared well beyond that pay bracket. (An extreme example is Boulder Canyon's The Umph Slot, which was originally rated 5.8+ in 1965. Consensus today says 5.10+!) Some routes are notorious and bear a reputation that precedes them, while others lay quietly in wait to shut down an unsuspecting punter.
How routes are graded can also contribute to the sandbag. Some are rated by the hardest move, and some by the overall "pump factor." Sure, a climb might only have 5.9 moves on it, but after 120 sustained feet, it sure feels like a 5.10. And sometimes it's simply a matter of style. When you climb in an area with an unfamiliar type of rock, it's going to feel tough.
To get in touch with history or experience different rock, hit up these stiff, old-school areas. Be warned—and let your partner lead the first pitch!
Shawangunks, New York
School yourself on airy roofs and Herculean horizontals
Jules Cho on the stiff, not-a-gimmie Nosedive (5.10b) at the Trapps. Photo by Andrew Burr
Located 90 miles north of New York City, the Shawangunks are the crown jewel of the state. The area's colorful history began in 1935 when Fritz Wiessner, climbing pioneer and all-around badass, climbed Old Route (5.5), the Gunks' first established line, with John and Peggy Navas. A lull in activity followed until the early 1940s, when Wiessner and Austrian Hans Kraus developed many of their best routes; later, members of the Appalachian Mountain Club got involved in the new routing. And then things got interesting in the late '50s when the Vulgarians—an infamous group of rebel climbers hell-bent on challenging the Club's authority in the area—put up dozens of stellar routes (between wild parties, hash, and hangovers), forcing the Club to loosen their grip. The clean climbing revolution of the 1970s led by the likes of John Stannard and Henry Barber ushered in more hard routes.
Nowadays, climbers flock to the Gunks to test not only their gear-placing skills, but also their wits on the cliffs' notorious sandbags. Brad Heller, a former Gunks local, credits this to the area's development, which was fairly isolated from the hotbed of free climbing in the West. "The [Gunks] guys were pushing standards early on, especially in the 5.10 grade," Heller says. "But they didn't have anything to calibrate against, and they developed their own grading system that isn't harmonious with the rest of the country. Remember, it's the Yosemite Decimal System, not the Gunks Decimal System!"
New York local Jim Lawyer has been climbing in the Gunks since the mid-1980s and explains the sandbagging saga a little more: "A lot of routes were put up by just a few people," he says. "If all the grading is controlled by one strong person who happens to underestimate his ability, then this will certainly create sandbagged routes." Take Rich Romano, legendary strongman and one of the most prolific developers in the Gunks (primarily in the Millbrook area), for example; one of his most notorious routes is the unprotectable Time Being (5.11- X).
Lastly, the Gunks' climbing style is distinct. "There are no vertical cracks," which confounds many trad climbers, says Lawyer. "Instead, you find horizontals, roofs, and big air, protected by good but usually fiddly gear. This combination can freak people out." He recommends starting out a full number grade below what you are comfortable leading during your first visit. "Don't overlook the 'easy' climbs," says Lawyer. "One unique aspect about the Gunks is its high concentration of high-quality, lower-graded routes with clean rock, giant holds, exposure, and dramatic situations."
Classic sandbags
Double Chin (5.5)
High Exposure (5.6)
Modern Times (5.8+)
Birdland (5.8+)
Directississima (5.10b)
Graveyard Shift (5.10d)
Guidebook: The Climber's Guide to the Shawangunks: The Trapps, by Dick Williams ($32, rockandsnow.com)
Fees: $17/day/person or $90/year
Get there: From New Paltz, take Route 299 to Route 44/55. Turn right and continue to the
Mohonk Preserve Visitor Center. Park and grab a map
Stay there: The NY State DEC multi-use area on Route 299 is free but has no amenities (845-256-3024); there are only nine sites, so get there early on weekends. Camp Slime (free) is near the Steel Bridge on Route 44/55; park in the West Trapps Trailhead lot. Creekview Campsite ($20/night) is 15 miles down the road; make a reservation at 845-658-9142. The New Paltz Hostel is $30/night for a shared room, offering Wi-Fi, a kitchen, indoor bathroom, and more; reservations recommended (newpaltzhostel.com).
Season: Spring and fall
Eldorado Canyon, Colorado
Get ready for proud, technical cragging
Lynn Hill catches some exposure on one of Eldo's finest and trickiest 5.10s: the steep Outer Space. Photo by Chris Noble
A capital of traditional climbing, Eldorado Canyon's stunning red sandstone is lined with complex multi- and single-pitch routes. Known for its old-school grades, Eldorado has knocked more than a few experienced climbers down a peg. Climbing in the canyon really took off in the late 1950s with a group of enthusiastic locals, spearheaded by the late Coloradan Layton Kor. By the early 1960s, many of the prominent lines had been ticked with aid. When the clean climbing revolution hit in the 1970s, Jim Erickson and others began routinely free climbing the great aid routes. The "free and clean" ethos became the generally accepted method until controversy flared in the mid-1980s with bolts springing up; a heated debate among locals ensued. The state park administration ended the argument in 1989 by imposing a bolting moratorium to preserve the park in its natural form.
Roger Briggs, one of Eldo's foremost climbers, made his first trip to the canyon in 1964. "Eldo has a reputation for stiff grades," he says. "But these grades reflect the time during which they were put up. After all, 5.9 was at the top of the grading system, and it was a big deal in the '70s to call a route 5.10 or 5.11. Take The Naked Edge [5.11b]—we just called it 5.10+. And that was our way of saying this was the hardest climb imaginable." With this in mind, Briggs advises to look at the date of the first ascent: "If it was put up in the '60s or '70s, it's very likely to have a stiffer rating… unless it has since been re-graded."
And some routes have been upgraded, including The Diving Board, first free climbed by Briggs in 1972. "When I first did that, I rated it 5.9+ because I thought it was really hard," says Briggs. Today, most consider it 5.11a. Or Rincon, originally 5.9+ after it was free climbed in 1969 by Erickson and Dave Meyers. Briggs still thinks the third pitch—with steep, runout 5.11 moves—is harder and more serious than the current rating of 5.11a.
Briggs is also keen to point out that "different areas have different ratings, some stiffer than others. The guidebook author needs to make a decision about the level of grading and be consistent across the area. While the history of a climb is important, if the rating says 5.11, then it should be very similar to other 5.11s in the area." Eldorado might be stiff, but climbers can find solace in its consistency—and the current guidebook author, Steve Levin, would know: He's climbed about 95 percent of Eldo's routes.
Green Spur (5.9+)
Grand Giraffe (5.10a)
Rosy Crucifixion (5.10a)
Rincon (5.11a)
The Naked Edge (5.11a/b)
Guidebook: Eldorado Canyon: A Climbing Guide, Second Edition, by Steve Levin ($39.95, sharpendbooks.com)
Fees: $8/day for car, $3/day walk-in, or $70/year
Get there: From Boulder, take S. Broadway/CO-93 south. Turn right onto Eldorado Springs Drive and follow to the state park.
Stay there: While climbing abounds in Boulder, there is a dearth of camping. However, about 45 minutes out of town in Nederland, plenty of dispersed camping and sites sit on U.S. Forest Service land (970-295-6600).
Season: Spring and fall are best. Chase sun in the winter and shade in the summer.
Yosemite National Park, California
Sack up for tough highballs and compression climbs
Tyler Jetty bears down on small crimps on The Force (V9/10), Camp 4 Boulders. Photo by Andrew Burr
Climbing in Yosemite unquestionably tops every climber's life list. But it's not just traditional and big wall folks who have all the fun. With hundreds of blocks littering the valley floor, the 700-plus boulder problems are equally worth the pilgrimage. Bouldering here began in the 1940s as training for the soaring granite, and as the emphasis on free climbing grew in the 1950s, so too did the popularity of bouldering.
By the late 1960s, bouldering was emerging as a sport in its own right; Pat Ament—a gymnast and well-known boulderer on Colorado's Front Range—played an important role in developing the area. In 1968, he introduced chalk to the slick, polished granite in the Valley and made the first ascent of Ament Arête (V6), with its powerful moves hinting at the possibility of future bouldering styles. In the early 1970s, climbers began to dedicate time solely to bouldering, showing a shift toward modern lines that were chosen for aesthetics or features, not just a means to the top. In 1978, there was a significant milestone in the bouldering mindset. Ron Kauk made the first ascent of Midnight Lightning, originally labeling it V7; it's now considered the standard for V8.
Unlike the decades-old YDS, with its heritage dating back to the 1930s in California's Sierra Nevada, Hueco Tanks pioneer John "Vermin" Sherman didn't develop the bouldering "V" scale until the 1990s. The bouldering godfather John Gill's "B" system, developed in the late '50s, had only three grades (B1 = difficult, B2 = very difficult, and B3 = limit, or a problem done only once). The "V" hierarchy, on the other hand, is open-ended and not a victim to the old-school grading failure, which is a defined top end that results in extremely sandbagged routes, including here.
Like the Gunks, Yosemite's style is unique, unparalleled, and takes time getting used to. A creative mind and body positioning will aid your success—don't expect to simply pull on holds like ascending a ladder. The rock is smooth, and there are few obvious hand- or footholds. James Lucas, a Yosemite regular, says the grades are fairly stiff compared to other areas, but well worth the effort. He describes the bouldering as both technically and aesthetically outstanding. "You're climbing interesting lines on arêtes, corners, cracks, and slabs," he says. "You're not just climbing holds—you're climbing a feature." Beth Rodden, another Valley veteran, says, "From the walls to the routes to the boulders, you've got to earn it. I always heard and then found out myself that 5.10s in the Valley were vastly different than 5.10s elsewhere, and the boulders follow that same trend. A V5 in Yosemite will feel a lot different than a V5 elsewhere," at least until you become familiar with the style. Oh, and many of the boulders are highballs, adding a separate pucker factor.
Mr. Pink Eyes (V0)
Initial Friction (V1)
No Fur (V3)
Cocaine Corner (V5)
Guidebook: Yosemite Valley Bouldering, by Matt Wilder ($27.95, supertopo.com)
Get there: Many access the Valley via Hwy. 120, aka Tioga Pass Road, which is open late May until November. There are several other major roads; check supertopo.com for detailed directions.
Stay there: Of the 13 campgrounds in Yosemite, about half take reservations. By far one of the most popular for climbers is Camp 4; it's only $5/night and first-come, first-served. For a more mellow experience, try one of the Pines campgrounds ($20/night, nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/campground.htm).
Seneca Rocks, West Virginia
Run it out on wildly exposed rock
Solid gear, powerful moves, and pure fun define Chris Goplerud's experience on Madmen Only (5.10a), Seneca Rocks. Photo by Nathan Smith
The rugged, towering fins of Seneca Rocks stand testament to traditional climbing in the East. Climbers have been exploring the area since the 1930s. Paul Brandt, Don Hubbard, and Sam Moore established the first documented climb with Skyline Traverse (5.3) in 1939, using just three carabiners, a hemp rope, and a handful of pitons. Visitors can still see evidence of the 10th Mountain Division, which used the area for battle training in 1943 and '44 and drove thousands of pitons into the hard Tuscarora quartzite. The climbing trend continued after the war with a flurry of activity in the 1950s, and the number of difficult routes rose dramatically in the 1960s. Seneca saw its first 5.10 in 1966, with George Livingstone's Madmen Only, but climbers resisted extending their grades past 5.10 even when other areas were establishing 5.11 and 5.12 routes. Finally, in 1971, clean climbing advocate John Stannard created Seneca's first 5.11 with Totem.
As with the Gunks and Eldorado Canyon, Seneca falls victim to the bygone era where 5.9 capped the scale. While developers applied YDS grades, some have argued that the ratings aren't even in the ballpark. "Seneca's climbs are severely underrated compared to most areas in the United States," wrote Bill Webster in his 1990 book Seneca: The Climber's Guide.
Arthur Kearns, owner of Seneca Rocks Climbing School, has been climbing in the area since 1987. He says it has beautiful, proud lines, and as for sandbagging, "We're not harsh, it's just that everybody else is easy," he jokes. "We have routes that are 5.5 with a slightly overhanging crux, and 150 feet of air at your heels. I think this exposure contributes to some people getting a little bit wiggy.
"Routes were often rated for the hardest move, not the overall pump value," he continues. "If it was sustained 5.8 from the moment you stepped off the ground to the moment you clipped the anchor, then it was 5.8. In modern days, it would be at least 5.9. However, a standard was set, and people continued to grade routes accordingly."
And it's not just the airy feeling or pump factor. Finding protection is sometimes challenging, and many routes are dead vertical and strenuous. Most of the cracks aren't parallel, which requires a higher skill set than simply plug-and-go camming. "There are lines that if put up today, they would have bolts on them," says Kearns. "They are very bold and committing. You've got to have the lead head for the exposure. But when you get to the top, you feel an awesome sense of achievement."
Ecstasy (5.7)
West Pole (5.7+)
Triple S (5.8+)
Bring on the Nubiles (5.9+)
Malevolence (5.10)
The Bell (5.12a R)
Guidebook: A Climber's Guide to Seneca Rocks, Third Edition, by Tony Barnes, will be published in late 2013. Find older editions on amazon.com
Get there: From Elkins, take US-33/WV-55 east until the three-way intersection where 55 goes north and 33/WV-28 heads south. You're there!
Stay there: Seneca Shadows Campground is one mile east on 33 and has flush toilets; reservations are required ($15/night, recreation.gov). Yokum's Vacationland offers tent sites, along with cabin rentals and a motel. Camping is $6.50 per person, no reservations required (yokum.com)
Season: Spring through fall
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Language for Learning helps develop strong language skills and give young children and ESL students a solid foundation for literacy. Not only do students learn language skills, they also learn to think. They learn to group objects in different ways, to see the logic behind rules and strategies, and to know how and when to apply these rules. Language for Learning provides practice in vocabulary, word and sentence variety, the development of precise word knowledge, and in hard to teach concepts such as some/all/none and same/different.


The Board of Directors of The Oaks Water Supply Corporation will meet on March 19, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. at the TOWSC Office, located at 26058 Hazy Hollow Dr., Bexar County, San Antonio, TX 78255.
This meeting has been called as a matter of public necessity. To submit written statements, obtain copies of the agenda, and/or for further information, please call or write the Corporation at The Oaks Water Supply Corporation, 26058 Hazy Hollow Drive, San Antonio, TX 78255, 210-698-8449.
will commence at the time and location as noted above to consider and act upon any lawful subject which may come before it, including, among others, considering the adoption of resolutions and authorizing procedures in connection with the subjects as listed below. This public meeting is being held pursuant to Texas Government Code §551.001 et seq. All actions and deliberations of the Board shall be made in Open Meeting unless taken in an Executive Session pursuant to Government Code §§551.071-551.085 to discuss an item listed below under Executive Session. In the event of a noticed Executive Session, no action will be taken by the Board until the Board has closed the Executive Session and returned to the noticed Open Meeting. All meetings shall be recorded.


I discovered yoga at exactly the right time in my life. I began practicing soon after September 11th, 2001 while living near lower Manhattan and received my E-RYT 200 through Open Doors Power Yoga Studios in North Attleboro, MA. After teaching at studios throughout MA & RI, I opened Newport Power Yoga in May 2011. I've since completed Bryan Kest's Teacher Training and Live Love Teach's 500 Hour advanced vinyasa teacher training program. I've come to believe that the ultimate goal of yoga is a quiet mind and a dis-ease free body. A realization that nothing is missing and everything is possible.


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Kevin Lynch and the GPS: Predicting the Culture of Navigation in 1960
Maarten Overdijk
Kevin Lynch's 1960 book The Image of the City was a remarkably prescient work, predicting much of today's culture of navigation, and also some of its most dangerous side-effects.
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In his seminal study The Image of the City Kevin Lynch speculates briefly on automated navigation as a way to support wayfinding. In the book, he asserts that it would be potentially very useful, but precarious to rely on because 'orientation fails if the device is lost'. Published in 1960, his predictions turned out to be pretty accurate. In light of today's culture of navigation, it has become increasingly important to re-evaluate the ramifications of his discourse.
Observing 'the city' as a place which had become fragmented and cluttered by roads and random signs, Kevin Lynch was among the first to attend to the public's concerns, trying to unravel their spatial confusion. The new visual order was ambiguous, to say the least. Difficult to read, and even harder to internalize. The mental picture of the city; the 'strategic link' between the city and people's ability to navigate it, was clearly compromised.
Could perceptual psychology cater for a more tangible form – a form that could be readily perceived and kept in the mind's eye as a clear image against the roar of the metropolis? And could this form perhaps then be complemented by some external device, some type of automated navigation, building on the same perceptual principles? These questions began to materialize with the appearance of the concept of the 'cognitive map'.
Maze-trials, a precursor to the studies of wayfinding in cities and buildings.
The cognitive map and The Image of the City
In 1948, psychologist Edward C. Tolman made his laboratory rats navigate an elaborate maze. It was a classic experimental design with two groups of rats running two trials each: in the first trial, only one of the two groups would receive a reward for completing the maze; in the second trial, both groups would receive the reward. In line with expectations, the reward-group outperformed the delayed reward-group during the first trial. In the second trial, however, the rats in the delayed reward-group were the champions.
How did the rats in this group pull this off? They were not acting from a stimulus-response relationship, as they had received no reward at the end of the first trial. Tolman inferred that they must have developed some form of internal representation of the territory, a 'cognitive map' that allowed them to navigate the maze as quickly as they did.
Tolman's study became an instant classic. It signaled a shift from behaviorism to cognitivism, from pairing of stimulus and response to goal-directed processing of information. The concept of the cognitive map (a mental representation of survey knowledge) became widespread.
Boston (1955), from Perceptual Form of the City, research project by Kevin Lynch.
© Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Photograph by Nishan Bichajian
The emergence of this cognitive map clearly inspired Lynch towards further inquiry. He asked the residents of Boston and Los Angeles to sketch out their daily routes from memory ('as if you were making a rapid description to a stranger, covering just the main features').
The cognitive map was of course not an actual picture: it was a symbol-structure on which mental processes operated to retrieve information; a structure producing visuo-spatial representations of the city. Lynch's interviews generated stories of a sort, of street signs and storefronts, slopes, turns and vegetation. The stories conveyed objective survey knowledge as well as idiosyncrasies, gaps and ambiguity. In Boston, for example, most distant landmarks were 'bottomless', said Lynch's report. 'They had a peculiar floating quality.' Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, residents would mentally walk across the Hollywood Freeway as if it didn't exist. They described the experience of driving that freeway: 'as if you were going somewhere for a long time, and when you got there you discovered there was nothing there, after all.' If anything, the method revealed the city as a lived experience.
Hand-drawn map of Boston indicating weak boundaries, bottomless towers, direction ambiguity and lack of relation.
© Massachusetts Institute of Technology, printed in: The Image of the City
Despite having a keen eye for such remarkable subtleties, Lynch chose to bypass idiosyncrasies to work the data from his study towards a more tangible result: the city-image. A superimposition of drawings and descriptions, the city-image revealed those visual attributes of the city that were clearly articulated by most people. These attributes – paths, nodes, landmarks, edges, and districts – would add up to an imageable form, like a visual syntax, directly perceivable, making it clear what was figure and what was ground. Note the shift from street-level experience to the birds-eye representation that Lynch used to depict the five elements.
Syntax of the imageable city: path, node, landmark, edge, district.
The depiction can be read as an attempt to a symbolic logic that could aid the public's processing of information when moving from A to B. A graphical language that would facilitate the interaction between man and city and optimize reasoned decisionmaking while underway.
Outsourcing the strategic link
Lynch invented the term 'imageability' to describe the degree to which the urban environment can be perceived as a clear and coherent mental image. Reshaping the city is one way to increase imageability. But what if the cognitive map were complemented by some external device? Lynch proposed that this too could strengthen the mental image and effectively support navigation.
Writing in the late fifties, he referred to Directomat, a machine that was piloted on the New Jersey Turnpike. Directomat issued printed directions to places and major highways from 'Aqueduct Raceway to Zoo, Bronx' – very effective to keep people oriented. Outsourcing was imminent. But Lynch himself had reservations: it would be tricky to rely on such a device because very quickly one could become too dependent on it; more importantly, the depth and vividness of one's mental image would deteriorate. In addition to this, the Directomat (and its successor) would have to be continuously updated to the present situation.
In 1985, the extended cognitive map became a reality; albeit in a rudimentary form. Anterior still to GPS, the contemporary electronic devices produced calibrated turn directions on a monochrome vector map. The experience wasn't seamless – the area of Los Angeles was delivered on four cassettes (one had to be quick on the mark). As most drivers had problems interpreting the map when it was not aligned with the direction they were going (let alone the car-cursor travelling the map) the driver-centric perspective was introduced.
Following this introduction, the map would now turn and move around the cursor in the middle of the screen, always heading up. This allegedly echoed the practice of pre-modern Polynesian navigators who would perceive themselves in the center of a projected navigational space, with ocean currents and islands revolving around them (instead of the other way around). An inversion of figure and ground.
The extended cognitive map – if there had ever been a useful invention, this was it.
Floating safely up in the air
First the map was outsourced to an external device, then it started to move. Once perfected, the result was a seamless yet detached interface between the driver and the landscape. No more direction ambiguity or lack of relation, no more gaps in memory, with the image as clear as day. You could now drive onto the Hollywood Freeway while your car predicts the next exit. The aerial perspective on your display would suggest that you are floating safely up in the air. You would glide effortlessly from landmark to landmark as your destination flows towards you. Instead of going 'from somewhere to nowhere' you would remain always in the center. No resistance or disturbance, or so it would seem.
A sense of 'floating safely up in the air' (also: a flawless animation of the city-image – paths and nodes are highlighted, emphasis on edges, landmarks for quick reference, and outlines of districts for coherency; use of color to discriminate between the five elements.
Apparently, the sequence of shift and inversion produced a disembodied gaze. A sense of hovering above secure and stable ground, removed from the fragmentation and cluttering on street-level. As Hito Steyerl argues in The Wretched of the Screen it is not the illusion of stability that is in itself problematic – traditional maps create that illusion as well. Problematic is that the map takes priority over the territory. A Death Valley park ranger recounted a number of critical incidents of people following disused trails, disappearing into remote areas of the Californian desert: 'It's what I'm beginning to call death by GPS', he said.
Lynch did issue the warning. 'To become completely lost in the modern city is perhaps a rare experience', he wrote, but once disorientation occurs 'the sense of anxiety and even terror that accompanies it reveals to us how closely it is linked to our sense of balance and well-being'. One cannot help but view the Death Valley desert-case as emblematic of such anxiety. For Lynch, external support was meant to complement the mental image not supersede it, it was meant to heighten the observer's attention and enrich the experience of the landscape, whereas today's routine achieves just the opposite.
Wednesday 22 November 2017 / Space Battle
Maarten Overdijk researches urbanism and psychology. He holds a PhD from the research centre for learning in interaction, Utrecht University, and was a resident at the Rijksakademie voor Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam.
John Czarnecki
Thank you, Prof Overdijk, for the brief yet comprehensive "overview". I also have found little use for electronics-based pathfinding, even when lost. A static map much better serves both the professional and the student. It requires genuine detailed observation of the city. Students have walked and drawn city streets including constituent enclosing and figural elements by measuring with their bodies (paces and thumbs) For example...this square is 100x161 Sallys!!...what a direct tool for learning design, developing our craft by systematically collecting useful typologies in scale to experience, even just in plan...idealy in section and vignette. Of course, the city could be Roman (cardo and decumanus) or medieval.... We're talking about understanding a genuinely complex environment in direct relationship to human beings, without the "filter" of gis, that grabs our attention to distraction. So, let's get out there. Pick up the sketchbook. Leave the tablet.
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I don't have all the details to post a full report.
The big fish was 1.6 lbs, about 13 inches.
It was a perfect day to be on the beach. T shirt weather and sunshine all day. I got skunked but the rest made up for it.
It was a perfect day to be on the beach. T shirt weather and sunshine all day. I got skunked be the rest made up for it.
Should open a shop Mike.
Thanks but to many regulations prevent someone from making money. I keep it low key and that's the way I like it. That's why food is so expensive. They over tax over regulate everything in California.
On to the fishing...Kinda a tough day, really. On Saturday, the swell was darn near perfect, at 4'-6' every 11 seconds. Sunday, however, was a different story. Overnight, it jacked up to 8'-10' every 12 seconds. The beach itself was very nicely carved up, with lots of holes and rips that looked extremely fishy to me. There was a new one about every 200-300 yards. It was low tide when we started, which let us get a real good idea of where the holes were. There were sand crab beds at the mouth of pretty much every rip that I saw. Good signs! As the tide came in, people started getting a few bites and landing a few fish. I got mine just after the tide started changing. By and large, though, it didn't seem like much was happening. I walked the beach to about a half mile north and saw or heard of 3-4 fish being caught(including the derby winner!) I worked back down the beach almost a mile past where everyone was at for another 2 fish. Nothing huge, but definitely keepers. I ended up with 4 caught, 1 released.
Francis beach in HMB is a VERY fishy-looking beach. I think that the sudden change in the swell made it more difficult to fish and maybe put them off the bite a bit. But if you are in the area and are looking to do some beach fishing, I highly recommend it!
The derby itself was a blast! Very friendly people putting it on and participating. Working my way up and down the beach, I talked to almost every person that I passed! For those of you that don't do much beach fishing, that's pretty uncommon unless you fish there or know the people you see. Great time and I can't wait to do it again!
I spent a bit to stay dry. These got good reviews on Amazon (4.5 out of 5). I need to just use them more!


text:
Gheorghe Popescu peut désigner :
 Gheorghe Popescu (1919-2000), un joueur et entraîneur de football roumain ;
 Gheorghe Popescu (1967-), un footballeur roumain.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Divine Mercy Retreat registration begins at 8:00 a.m. (no fee). Retreat is from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. A light lunch will follow. Please R.S.V.P. to Margaret Friedrich at 361-782-2822 or Alice Figirova at 361-550-6486 before Tuesday, February 14, 2017. All are welcomed.


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In the late 19th century, a small number of jews arrived in Honduras, mainly immigrants from Eastern Europe (Russia, Poland, Germany, Romania and Hungary), and a few of Sephardic origin, who arrived from Greece, Turkey and North Africa. These early immigrants came before the period of 1920 to 1935, when the Government announced its intention to welcome Jewish educators and professionals in Europe.
In 1939, restrictions were imposed on entry to Honduras blacks, Gypsies and Jews. However, a considerable number of Jews managed to reach the country with the help of consuls who were at the time performing in Europe.
In 1947 there were fewer than 140 jews in the country. To this number were added in 1948, 60 individuals who immigrated to Honduras. New immigrants tried to maintain, within its means, a Jewish way of life. Although they came from religious homes, were unsuccessful in their attempt to convey to the second generation their love for Judaism. Intermarriage and assimilation lifestyle were accepted.
In the '70s and early '80s a large group of Israelis came to Honduras to work in engineering, agriculture and security. They brought their families and a Jewish way of life.
In the past 15 years there has been a revival of Jewish life and both communities are very active.
Communities in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula grew more actively.
Another small group settled in a port city in the northeast , La Ceiba.
In 1998 , Hurricane Mitch destroyed the synagogue, which was part of the Jewish Community Center in Honduras, but the Jewish community contributed money to rebuild the Synagogue.
Today, services have Kabbalat Shabbat, celebrate Jewish holidays, keep Jewish customs, and have activities for children, as well as development activities for adults. They also have a private Jewish cemetery and a burial society (Chevrat Kadishah).
Nowadays there are about 50 Jewish families in Honduras affiliated with these communities.
Honduras is the only country in the world that had two jewish presidents, plus Israel: from 1847 to 1852 Juan Lindo and Ricardo Maduro.
Honduras is a Central American country with a presidential republican government.
It is divided into 18 departments, the cities of Tegucigalpa and Comayaguela together constitute the capital of the republic.
The territory of Honduras has an area of �??�??112,492 km, located in the center of Central America.
Honduras 's population is approximately 7.8 million people.
The form of government is republican, democratic and representative.
Over 80% of Honduran territory is mountainous, full of different types of forests. 40% of the country is tropical rainforest but also has 600 miles of gorgeous beaches, white sand on the Caribbean side and black sand beach on the Pacific coast. From June to November the " rainy season " is developed.
Spanish is the dominant language in the territory of Honduras, although in the Bay Islands English predominates because they are former British colonies.
The currency is the Lempira (HNL)


My pastor taught a great lesson this morning about the authority of Jesus Christ. He has authority over disease: making the lame walk, the deaf hear, and the blind see; He has authority over nature: calming the wind, walking on water, and causing the sea to be still; And among many other things, He has authority over life and death.
My mother always said,"Everyone brings happiness, some by coming and some by going." Today I am happy because Usama Bin Laden is dead.
Filed Under: MedicoPolitical Issues Tagged With: Praise the Lord!


After having taken a step back from the rebel cause after their heroic saving of the day at the Battle of Yavin, Han Solo and his companion Chewbacca have returned to a life of smuggling. After turning down job after job, Princess Leia Organa has made the pair an offer they can't refuse – a chance to race the Falcon in the esteemed and notorious Dragon Void race as a cover to find a mysterious rebel spy who may have turned traitor.
It may be just a cover, but Han's not going to pass up an opportunity like this one. Against all odds and more notable opposition, he very much intends to win this race, while saving the day in the process. By the end of issue #1 the race has just begun, and issue #2 picks up right where it left off, in the very explosive first leg of the race.
Drawing on his hard-earned blue collar experience as a smuggler and his daring wit, Han quickly proves that he knows what he's doing as he – along with only 3 other racers – make it past the first obstacle of the race. Despite his self-proclaimed fame as the pilot who made the Kessel Run in less than 14, pardon me, 12 parsecs – he is still an unknown among the other more prestigious racers. However, after touching down at their first stop, Han soon realizes that he has been quickly thrust into the spotlight as fans clamor for his autograph.
As Chewie goes off to find their rebel contact, Han confronts a fellow racer who deliberately tried to shoot him down during the first run, only to discover that he might have drawn more attention than he intended as Imperial Stormtroopers arrive and arrest all of the racers, inciting outrage in the spectators and racers alike. After an attempt at fleeing Imperial imprisonment , an officer enters the scene and crushes all hope of Han going anywhere anytime soon.
I have to say that I have been pleasantly surprised with the Han Solo series. I found Issue #1 to be very entertaining, and issue #2 has proven that it wasn't a fluke. If this trend continues, Han Solo just might be my favorite of Marvel's five issue character-centric mini-series. Writer Marjorie Liu, who previously made a decent name for herself at Marvel with her work in the X-23 series, has thus far really captured the essence of Han Solo, giving readers a well-paced story that is both entertaining and rewarding. Coupled with the pencils of Mark Brooks and the brilliant coloring of Sonia Oback, this comic is a feast for the eyes as well.
I still hate Bermejo's cover art in this series, but you know what they say about judging a book by its cover . Brooks more than makes up for it with his fantastic pencil work, so as Han would say, "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid." Do yourself a favor and check out this series if you haven't already.


Diverse and Coordinated | Occupy M.E.
Peter Rowe (Johns Hopkins Children's Center) will use a simple test to establish whether central sensitization of the nervous system plays a role in CFS. Central sensitization of the central nervous system results in an amplified response to a stimulus, causing pain and other symptoms. Dr. Rowe has observed that simple position changes, such as a passive leg raise, can bring on symptoms of CFS in patients. This new study will investigate the observation by applying either a real or sham neuromuscular strain to both CFS patients and controls. If only the CFS patients respond to the real strain with increased symptoms, then central sensitization may be involved in CFS. Dr. Rowe's clinical practice focuses on children and young adults with CFS, but it is unclear from the published materials whether the study population will also be younger patients. Expected outcome: Passive neuromuscular strain could be a cheap and easy clinical biomarker for CFS. It is also possible that manual physical therapy addressing neuromuscular mobility could be used as a treatment to lessen the effects of central sensitization.
Spyros Deftereos (Biovista) will use the company's proprietary drug repurposing platform to identify new treatments for CFS. Drug repurposing, called "eHarmony for medicine," looks for FDA-approved drugs that might be repurposed in new ways. For example, Rituximab is currently approved for use in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and several other diseases, but shows promise for CFS patients. One huge advantage of this approach is that since the drugs are already approved, the decade-plus required to create a new drug is circumvented. Drug candidates could proceed directly to animal model or early clinical trial research. Biovista will screen all FDA-approved drugs to identify treatments for cognitive impairment and unrefreshing sleep in CFS, as well as other CFS symptoms. Drugs identified will then be examined to see if combination therapy might be more effective than using one drug alone. One thing that is not clear from the published materials is why cognitive impairment and unrefreshing sleep were selected as the focus for the study. Expected outcome: A list of approved drugs that warrant further study for treating cognitive impairment and unrefreshing sleep in CFS.
Dane Cook (University of Wisconsin-Madison) will partner with Dr. Gordon Broderick and Drs. Kathy and Alan Light to link and validate information from earlier studies. Dr. Cook has conducted studies on brain imaging and post-exertional malaise in CFS. Dr. Broderick used his 2009 grant from the CFIDS Association to identify gene expression measures in a post-infectious mononucleosis cohort of CFS patients. Drs. Alan and Kathy Light used their 2009 Association grant to identify post-exercise gene expression changes in CFS, as distinguished from several control groups. All of these researchers presented results of their studies at the 2011 NIH State of the Knowledge Workshop. In this new grant, the investigators will examine functional brain imaging and analysis of blood markers after an exercise challenge. Systems analysis will map the links between reported symptoms, brain function, and gene expression of sensory, adrenergic and immune functions. Cook, Broderick and the Lights will attempt to link their findings in order to better understand post-exertional malaise. A potential weakness here is that it appears only a single exercise challenge will be used rather than the test-retest protocol used by the Pacific Fatigue Lab, but that may or may not impact the results of the study. Expected outcome: Cross-validation of novel blood and brain biomarkers in CFS which may identify contributing factors to post-exertional malaise.
Marvin Medow (Center for Hypotension, New York Medical College) was funded by the Association in 2009 to investigate the role of orthostatic intolerance in the cognitive dysfunction experienced by CFS patients. His research showed that CFS patients with postural tachycardia syndrome had decreased brain blood flow and greater cognitive impairment than healthy controls during an orthostatic challenge. This new grant will allow him to expand that earlier research, and test three interventions that increase blood flow (inhaled supplemental CO2 and two intravenous drugs). Those treatment interventions may help alleviate the cognitive impairment seen during the orthostatic challenge. Results will likely only be applicable to CFS patients who have POTS. Expected outcome: Identification of potential treatments to improve cognitive impairment that is aggravated by orthostatic intolerance.
Patrick McGowan (University of Toronto, Scarborough) will use SolveCFS BioBank samples to look for epigenetic changes related to the immune and HPA axis systems in CFS patients. Epigenetics is the study of changes in gene expression that are not the result of changes to the DNA sequence itself. Epigenetic changes, frequently the result of environmental factors such as nutrition or infections, cause genes to "behave" differently by activating or silencing their expression or by modifying the way a gene is transcribed. This study will observe the response of immune cells from CFS patients and healthy controls to a synthetic stress hormone, and then survey the genome looking for epigenetic changes in the immune cells. One potential weakness of the study is that it uses banked samples, rather than fresh samples with changes induced by a stressor like exercise testing. It would be wonderful to correlate an epigenetic survey with the gene expression changes detected in the Lights' ion channel study. Still, this is one of the first systematic epigenetic studies in CFS. Expected outcome: Identifying epigenetic changes in CFS immune cells could identify biomarkers and treatment targets.
*Clarification – I served on the CFIDS Association Board of Directors from 2006 through 2011, but I did not participate in any stage of the review of grant applications submitted in response to the 2011 RFA.
This entry was posted in Research and tagged Biobank, biomarkers, CFIDS Association, funding, gene expression, genetics, grants, orthostatic intolerance, pain, pathogenesis, post-exertional malaise, State of the Knowledge workshop, treatment. Bookmark the permalink.


"Committed to life" is our promise. We are committed to the lives of each and every person, in good times and bad, and put our customers at the centre of everything we do.
The stories presented in the current image ad show in what type of situation people come into contact with us, where our commitment is called for, and where it makes an impact. Areas include family, health promotion, coverage abroad and complementary medicine. We are also focusing on these topics in our blog.
In autumn 2018, we supplemented our campaign image ad with two new ads on "coverage abroad" and "expert second opinion". In these, we demonstrate our dedication to our customers, especially in difficult situations, in an emotionally poignant way.
Since autumn 2017, we have also been running an ad campaign for our Helsana+ bonus programme. In it we show how we send the Swiss on the hunt for Plus points and reward them for living healthily.
In 2017, we encouraged the Swiss to adopt a healthier and more balanced lifestyle through a separate campaign.


If you are a blogger or a website designer, you would want to use images that are high quality and unique to make it more appealing to them. However, using Google Image is not the best way and paying for images / photos are pretty expensive. There are other alternatives, we look for free royalty stock photos websites, these websites offer free images to be used according to your needs. You just need to make sure copyright says so, to keep you out of trouble.
Today, we list out 30+ Free Royalty Stock Photos Websites that are gonna be helpful to us when we launch our next blog post or website design. These are high quality and unique photos to choose from, pick from the list and make sure you bookmarked them.
That's it! Make sure you check their terms before using any images for your projects, this will save you in the future. If you know any free royalty stock photos, don't hesitate to put it in the comments below!


BIC has reported 2012 earnings generally below consensus forecasts and our expectations. 2012 sales came in at EUR1.899bn (consensus: EUR1.919bn), up 4.1% as reported and 2.8% lfl. The deviation stemmed from lower than expected Q4 lfl growth (-0.4% vs. consensus of 3.2% and +0.5% in Q3). The 2012 normalised IFO margin decreased 20bp to 19.7% (vs. consensus: 20.2%), although stripping out the exceptional bonus paid in Q1 2012, the IFO margin would have improved by 30bp to 20.2%. The proposed dividend of EUR2.56 is up 16.4% compared to 2011. Analysts' meeting today at 3pm Paris time.


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Cramer: Mnuchin's Breath of Fresh Air
He told the truth about a weak dollar being good.
Jan 26, 2018 12:27 PM EST
You know what's a breath of fresh air? The comments by Secretary Mnuchin about a weak dollar being good.
Now the comments have been subsequently walked back. But that doesn't matter. He told the truth. Every company in the S&P 500 would say the same.
The president was on message, too: if you build here, you will do better. Of course that also means if you don't build here, you will do worse.
The fact that somehow that's "Davos like" is just as false as Mnuchin's comments. What's incredible to me is that leaders from the rich countries are forever trying to help the poorer countries through redistribution of wealth. President Trump is saying "if you play ball and put factories in the United States and take our product we will help you." That's America first, world second. It's been the other way around and, frankly, it really hasn't worked well for the manufacturing base even as it has helped the consumer in terms of lower prices.
Is it wrong to admit what's really going on? That a strong dollar has hurt us? That dumping has hurt us. I don't think so. But it sure isn't Davos-like, is it?
(This article originally appeared at 10:55 ET on Real Money, our premium site for active traders. Click here to get great columns like this from Jim Cramer and other writers even earlier in the trading day.)
More of What's Trending on TheStreet:
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Every time she applies for asylum, Farah must recount what happened to her and her family in Syria. She must write about the instability and danger they faced every day in her hometown of Damascus. She must remember pulling her three children in close as they walked down the street so that, if a bomb dropped, they would at least all die together.
"I hate to remember all my story. How I got here, getting negative," Farah's voice trails off.
Nearly two years ago, Farah's family made the difficult choice to leave Syria. They had lived in both Russia and Croatia years before while her husband, a business owner from Lebanon, opened restaurants. They remembered the people of Croatia and their time in Zagreb fondly. Rather than starting over in a new place where they would have no knowledge of the language, understanding of the culture, or connections to local population, they decided to return to Croatia. Mostly, Farah likes how peaceful Zagreb is.
Farah and her son play with a foosball "table" her children made by hand in their apartment in Zagreb.
Farah and her children came to Croatia's capital by plane in 2015 and immediately began renting a flat. Her children soon enrolled in school, and Farah began the legal paperwork to apply for asylum. Her husband wasn't able to join them until this April, but when he arrived he found a home. His family was renting a furnished apartment, his kids were established at school, and everyone had improved their Croatian. Best of all, they had friends in the city. Everything was in order except for one essential thing: the paperwork.
It turns out that Farah's husband's Lebanese nationality had complicated the family's asylum proceedings. After waiting for 9 months, they were given a negative. The family and their lawyer petitioned the courts, but they were rejected again. Up until now, they have stayed in Croatia on a temporary visa based on their 17-year-old daughter Rana's enrollment in school. But this is not a permanent solution, and the family feels uncertain about their future in Croatia.
"We can't think about any plans," Farah reflects.
They will apply again, and continue to integrate into Croatian life for the time being. Her husband wants to open his own restaurant in Zagreb, and Farah hopes to work once they have the proper paperwork. "I start to go to training in one cosmetic salon," she says. The training is difficult because it is entirely in Croatian, but Farah likes the women who work there very much.
So far, all three children enjoy school and their classmates. Rana loves languages and is currently learning Spanish in school, while the 12-year-old twins, Nawar and Jamal, like to invent and build things by hand. They are excited to share the many homemade art projects they have created, including a miniature foosball table and stage with individualized clay characters.
One of the children's many creations — a miniature stage — offers them a small space to express their creativity.
The hardest part for everyone is missing the family remaining in Syria. "Now I'm two years here. I, of course, miss my parents in Syria, but I can't go," Farah states. The kids say it would be too difficult and dangerous to go back and see their grandparents. They immediately recall all the checkpoints they know they must get through to enter Syria, imagining what an attempted return could entail. For now, they all wait to hear from the government, living each day with the hope that they will be able to remain in their new Croatian home.
When refugees from other parts of the world hear that a Syrian family has been denied asylum in Croatia, they begin to worry even more about their own fate. After all, Syrians, especially those with children, are the most likely to get asylum of any current refugee population. If Farah's family is having difficulty, what hope is there for young male refugees from Afghanistan, Iran, and elsewhere?
Buzinkic adds that Croatia's low rate of granting protection to asylum-seekers "brings under scrutiny the Dublin system." The Dublin Regulation was created to spread the responsibility of granting asylum fairly among European Union member states. However, its recent enforcement includes removing asylum-seekers from countries where they have been living for months or years, and sending them to countries where they haven't spent more than a few hours.
Reza and his family are an example of such a case.
Reza moves a couch so that his friends can eat outside at Kutina's asylum center in Croatia.
When he arrived at his regular church service over a year ago, Reza didn't know the events to follow would change his fate irreparably.
Ten days after his church was raided by police, Reza and his brother, along with his brother's wife and her sister, left the place where they had spent their entire lives.
He explains that if you're born a Muslim in Iran and convert to Christianity, or another religion, you must practice your faith in secret. And if you're found out, the consequences can be grave.
After a long journey from Turkey following the Balkan Route, Reza arrived in Austria 18 months ago. An avid runner and volleyball player, he found his place among sports teams.
Reza shows the running awards he was given during his time in Austria.
Reza learned German quickly, enrolled in high school, and moved in to a small house with his brother's family. They found a local church they liked and, for the first time in their lives, they were able to attend services openly without fear of persecution.
That was until one day about eight months ago.
Everyone except for his brother, Puria, was at a church service when immigration officials came for his family. When Reza arrived home from the service, his brother was gone. They later received a call informing them of Puria's whereabouts, and joined him in prison the next day for two nights before being deported to Croatia.
Reza's brother and sister-in-law chat in the room that the whole family shares in Kutina's asylum center.
Though Reza and his family only spent one night in Croatia ten months before, they had their fingerprints taken by the police there. They were being sent back as a part of the Dublin Regulation. Reza is unable to attend school until he can speak Croatian. But, unlike Austria, there aren't many resources for learning the language here.
After eight months of living in Croatia's Kutina Camp, Reza's family received a negative response to their asylum application. If they are returned to Iran, they fear death or imprisonment. But they still have faith. "God is with us," Reza tells me.
Refugee children look out beyond the fence of Kutina asylum center at neighboring Croatian farmers working their fields.
Down the stairs from Reza's family lives a young man named Rashed.
Rashed grew up in a Taliban-controlled city in Afghanistan. His mother died of a heart condition when he was only three years old, so Rashed and his brother were raised by their father. They were never able to attend school because of the fighting in their city.
One day, when Rashed was 14, his father went to buy food for his family at the local marketplace. Fighting broke out between the Taliban and the police, and his father was killed.
Then, the Taliban came knocking. They wanted to recruit Rashed and his brother to fight for them. Rashed saw only two possibilities for his future if he stayed in Afghanistan: he could either kill for the Taliban, whom he despised, or die at their hands. Rashed fled.
Rashed prepares coffee for the volunteers and refugees at Kutina's asylum center.
He and his brother traveled through Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, and Croatia. When they finally reached Slovenia, the authorities detained him.
To his relief, Rashed and his brother were only sent back to Croatia. However, after many months living in Kutina camp, new fears surfaced. Rashed's brother escaped to Germany, but had to leave Rashed behind. Rashed is alone. He must learn Croatian before the already intimidating process of entering the education system for the first time. He wishes to practice gymnastics or join a soccer team, but there are no options for him near his camp. He has no family, no healthy outlet for his energy, and no proper support for his educational aspirations. Rashed is starting to lose hope. After applying, he was not granted asylum in Croatia and filed for an appeal.
Rashed watches over the child of another refugee who lives in Kutina's asylum center.
Though no formal reason was given, Rashed is frightened that the terrorism he escaped may still control his destiny. Almost two years after fleeing the Taliban, he is still trying to outrun that destiny.
Weeks after our interview, Rashed's appeal for asylum was denied. He currently waits in Kutina's asylum center fearing further deportation.
Some names have been changed to protect the subjects' anonymity.
Christiana Botic is a documentary photographer and filmmaker as well as a 2016-2017 Fulbright-National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellow. During her fellowship, she spent 9 months in Serbia and Croatia exploring the complex relationship between geography and identity in the region. Follow her @christianabotic on Instagram.


During the summer of 1980, the First International symposium on Arctic and Alpine Mycology (ISAM-I) was held at the then extant Naval Arctic Research Laboratory near Barrow, Alaska, U.S.A., well within the Arctic Circle (Laursen and Ammirati, Arctic and Alpine Mycology. The First International symposium on Arcto-Alpine Mycology. Univ. Wash. Press, 1982). The facility is currently owned and operated by the Utkeagvik Inupiat community and is named the National Academic and Research Laboratory, thus retaining its acronym NARL. Twenty-five scientists participated in that historic first meeting. Their interests in the fungi spanned a vast geographic area of cold dominated habitats in both the northern and southern hemispheres that included four continents (N. and S. America, Eurasia,and Antarctica), nine countries, and numerous islands ranging from Greenland to Jan Mayen in the Svalbard group. ISAM-I helped to develop ongoing interests and initiate others. This is what ISAM-I founders hoped would happen. Asa result, the organizing committee for ISAM-II was formed. Its mandate was to: involve a maximum of one third new participants in future ISAM meetings: divide the responsibility for organizing future meetings at sites located in areas of interest to research thrusts in Arctic and alpine environments: keep the number of participants small enough to ensure manageability, taking full advantage of field collecting opportunities with minimal complications and cost.


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Sandusky defense opens with talk of reputation
Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky leaves the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., Monday, June 18, 2012. Sandusky is charged with 52 counts of child sexual abuse involving 10 boys over a period of 15 years. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PUBLISHED: June 18, 2012 at 10:18 p.m. | UPDATED: September 25, 2021 at 12:32 p.m.
BELLEFONTE – Jerry Sandusky opened his defense in his molestation trial Monday with character witnesses who defended his reputation, including a former Penn State coach who said he knew Sandusky took boys into showers but never saw him do anything wrong.
The six witnesses, one who called Sandusky a 'local hero,' did little to directly counter the testimony last week by eight young men who accused the former Penn State assistant football coach of sexually abusing them when they were children.
Judge John Cleland told jurors Sandusky's defense has about a day and a half left of testimony and that they could begin deliberations on the case as early as Thursday, a quicker schedule than had been expected.
Sandusky looked an Associated Press reporter in the eye and said nothing when asked if he planned to testify. Other possible defense witnesses to come include his wife, Dottie; and an expert who could discuss whether Sandusky has 'histrionic personality disorder,' which experts have called a personality disorder characterized by inappropriate sexual behavior and erratic emotions.
The list of potential witnesses also includes a physician who spoke with key prosecution witness Mike McQueary the night he said he saw Sandusky attack a child in a football team shower in 2001 and members of former football coach Joe Paterno's family, although it was unclear how they might fit into the defense case or whether they will be called.
Sandusky's arrest led the university trustees to fire Paterno as coach in November, saying his response to the 2001 report from McQueary showed a lack of leadership. Paterno died of cancer in January.
Dick Anderson, a longtime Penn State assistant and Sandusky friend who retired in January, testified that he and other members of the football staff were present when Sandusky brought young boys into the team's showers.
He said he never witnessed anything inappropriate.
'If Jerry would bring someone in with The Second Mile, they had been working out, for whatever reason they came in, it was not uncommon … with the other coaches in the shower as well,' Anderson said, referring to the charity for at-risk children Sandusky founded in 1977.
Anderson, who coached at Penn State from 1970 to 1983 and again from 1990 through the 2011 season, said adults and children often shower together at gyms. He noted, for example, that it's not unusual for him to be in the showers with boys at the YMCA.
Anderson also spoke in detail about the long hours of coaching and recruiting trips required of the job, which could lay the groundwork for a defense argument that accuser testimony about regular contact with Sandusky may be inaccurate or exaggerated.
Anderson said he did not know Sandusky had been barred by university administrators from taking children onto campus after the 2001 incident was reported by McQueary, although that was disclosed in court documents and has been widely and repeatedly reported since Sandusky's arrest.
When lead prosecutor Joe McGettigan asked him if that fact would surprise him, Anderson said yes.
Prosecutors claim Sandusky targeted his victims at The Second Mile, groomed them for abuse, then moved from touching and kissing to more severe forms of sexual abuse, including in some cases oral or anal sex. Sandusky has denied the allegations against him, acknowledging he showered with boys but saying he never molested them.
Earlier in the day, prosecutors told the judge they were dropping one of the 52 counts, that of felony unlawful contact with the accuser known as Victim 7. Prosecutor Frank Fina said the statute under which he was charged did not cover the time frame when the alleged act occurred.
The judge ruled against defense motions that charges were too vague or nonspecific to defend and that there isn't solid evidence of the ages of two accusers.
Prosecutors rested their case after calling their 21st witness, the mother of so-called Victim 9, a recent high school graduate who testified last week that Sandusky raped him in the basement of the coach's suburban home.
The woman said her son told her that Sandusky called him late one night after the first round of charges was filed in November, asking if he would be a character witness.
'He said that Jerry asked him to make an affidavit or some kind of statement on what kind of character or person he was,' she said. 'Why would he call my kid after he's being accused of things like this?'
In December, prosecutors brought more charges against Sandusky, alleging he'd had forced anal sex with the boy.
Victim 9's mother said the boy's laundry would often be short of underwear and he would claim he had thrown it away because he had an accident. Last week, the teen said Sandusky forced him to have anal sex that made him bleed.
In tearful testimony, the mother described gifts Sandusky gave her son, then added: 'I wish he would just give him underwear to replace the underwear I could never find in my laundry.'
The defense's case focused largely on Sandusky's reputation. Anderson said he was 'well thought of in every regard,' former Penn State assistant coach Booker Brooks called his reputation 'exemplary, top-knotch,' and local political consultant Brent Pasquinelli, who raised money for The Second Mile, called him 'a local hero.'
Besides Anderson, Brooks and Pasquinelli, three other witnesses testified for the defense Monday: a woman who ran a golf-related charity to which one accuser was recommended by Sandusky, a young man who knew Sandusky through The Second Mile and vouched for his reputation and a schoolteacher who said Sandusky seemed genuinely interested in helping one of the accusers in the case. None was on the stand for more than 10 minutes.
Tom Kline, a Philadelphia lawyer who represents one of the accusers, said he was served a defense subpoena on Monday, ordering him to produce a copy of the fee agreement he has made with Victim 5, along with copies of his interactions with reporters.
Just to break up the week, two more winter storms will head our way


Who doesn't love a boxset at Christmas? Well if you're a fan of musicals you'll love this brand new 3CD collection The Ultimate Musicals Experience. Featuring 60 of the best-loved and most memorable songs from legendary musical productions, the release is packed with hit after hit that you'll likely know most of the words to. With West End ticket sales on the increase year-on-year, there's no better time than to celebrate the fantastic music that is performed nightly on the stage.
The Ultimate Musicals Experience kicks off with Susan Boyle & Michael Crawford's version of The Music of the Night from The Phantom of the Opera. All the greats of musical theatre are here including Elaine Paige, Michael Ball, Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman, Alfie Boe and Barbara Dickson to name a few.
Across the 3CDs there are plenty of highlights including Denise Van Outen's rendition of Tell Me On A Sunday, Michael Ball's Empty Chairs At Empty Tables from Les Miserables, and a live version of Cabaret by Liza Minelli from the musical of the same name. There are some selections from newer musicals too including the Shrek Cast with I'm A Believer, Constantine Maroulis with Waiting for a Girl Like You from Rock of Ages, and The Good Hair Days with You Can't Stop The Beat from Hairsrpay.
The one complaint we'd have about this release is that some of the versions of the songs included are a bit questionable. These are by no means the definitive versions of these classic songs with Melanie C's I Don't Know How To Love Him from Jesus Christ Superstar standing out as a bit of an odd choice. With some many other female vocalists having tackled this song over the years we could list a few versions we'd rather hear.
That little gripe aside there's plenty to enjoy about The Ultimate Musicals Experience. This collection is one that is most-likely suited to the older people in your family but it can also be enjoyed as a family. We don't know what it is about musicals and Christmas but the two go hand in hand so perfectly. Make your Mum and Granny happy this Christmas by buying them this.


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iPad Air 2 Could Get Big Memory Boost
Craig Lloyd
Apple is set to announce new iPads next week on October 16, but the rumor mill hasn't stopped yet. The iPad Air 2 is expected to come with a generous performance boost, with some rumors claiming that the new tablet will come with 2GB of RAM.
According to the Chinese repair site GeekBar, the iPad Air 2 could come with 2GB of RAM instead of the usual 1GB that we've seen on the past couple of iPads, including the current iPad Air.
We certainly wouldn't be surprised to see a RAM upgrade in the iPad Air 2, but Apple has never been one to focus on memory in its devices, seeing as how the company goes as long as possible before they simply need to update it in order to run the latest version of iOS. For example, the iPhone 6 still has the same 1GB that was in the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5.
However, the iPad Air 2 could be a different story, as the device will mostly be focused on for performance value. The tablet is expected to get a faster processor, a better camera, and a couple of new added features that users will enjoy. A bump to 2GB could very well be in the cards come next week when Apple will officially unveil the new device.
We'll no doubt find out what Apple has been planning come next week. We've heard plenty of rumors recently about the possibility of Apple launching new iPads in October, which isn't too surprising considering that the company has announced new iPads in October for the past couple of years. However, Apple might also take that time to launch OS X Yosemite to the public, as well as announce a new iMac model.
Not a whole lot is known about the iPad Air 2 or the iPad mini 3, but we've seen some other leaked photos that suggest what we might see in a couple of weeks.
The iPad Air 2 isn't expected to get a huge redesign, as the iPad Air was the model to see a major refresh. Apple typically doesn't overhaul its products' designs until a couple of generations have passed, so we can expect the iPad Air 2 to keep the same overall look as the iPad Air, except for some small, but impactful changes.
The new iPad could come with recessed volume and power buttons, as well as a redesigned speaker grille. The volume buttons look to keep the same design as the iPad Air, but are simply recessed slightly into the body of the tablet. As for the speaker grille, the leaked photos that we've seen show the iPad sporting a single horizontal line of larger holes, which is a drastic difference than the smaller holes that were arranged in two rows on the iPad Air.
Furthermore, it's already been rumored a couple times this year that the iPad would get Touch ID fingerprint sensor capabilities. We even saw hints of Touch ID capabilities in the code of iOS 7.1 back in April, and a few days later we heard that one of Apple's part suppliers were cranking out Touch ID fingerprint sensors in large quantities.
Touch ID was definitely one of the features that users were looking forward to ahead of the iPad Air event back in October last year, especially after it was introduced on the new iPhone 5s just a month earlier, but Apple sadly did not deliver such a feature.
And could we see an even higher-resolution on the iPad Air 2. It's very possible, but we're taking things with a grain of salt for now.
Related Topics:AppleiPadiPad AiriPad Air 2rumorrumors


PEMF therapy uses electrical energy to direct a series of magnetic pulses through injured tissue. Each magnetic pulse induces a tiny electrical signal that naturally stimulates cellular repair. By supplying the cells with an optimum amount of energy, membrane potential is normalised and cell metabolism improved.
PEMF therapy energises cells in a safe and harmonious way. Damaged or diseased cells are repaired and regenerated. The cells are detoxified and harmful products are flushed out. The immune system is strengthened, healing is jump-started and the body is better protected from disease.
PEMF therapy can be applied to the whole body with no side effects. It can be used at home, work or while travelling and doesn't require special training. Treatments should be consistent for best results, but in some cases improvement may be noticed after just 20 minutes. Our PEMF therapy devices produce carefully selected and very low frequencies to compliment the body's natural chemistry and functions with no thermal or harmful effects.
How can PEMF Therapy help you?
The short answer is everyone can benefit from PEMF therapy. The old and the young. The sick and the healthy. Whether you have a debilitating condition or just want to obtain optimal health. If you are in chronic pain or want to boost your immune system. If you want to speed up healing or slow down ageing, PEMF therapy works at the cellular level to improve cellular function by increasing energy throughout the body. Best of all it's a completely safe and non-invasive treatment.
The human body has an innate ability to heal itself and given the right conditions it will do so effectively. PEMF therapy helps enhance absorption, circulation and the assimilation of all the elements necessary for a healthy life while promoting the body's ability to produce energy and heal itself.
Using either our localised units or full body units, we offer drug-free pain management for any condition. Patients have not only seen pain subside, but conditions improve after a single treatment such as reduced Parkinson symptoms and returned mobility in response to bodily pains. Our devices are FDA approved as Class II Medical Device and European Standard (CE) 93/465/EEC, Class IIb Medical Device.
Some PEMF devices have a list of exclusions due to the high frequencies at which they operate - frequencies which are outside of nature's own. Our units can be used by everyone, without exception, even those who are pregnant or using a pacemaker can use our units with absolute peace of mind.
PEMFT is a wellness system that can be used in association with treatments recommended by GPs and hospitals. PEMFT is an adjunct to other treatments, will not affect such treatments and in the vast majority of cases may help ease any uncomfortable side effects that are the result of those treatments.
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There were a number of plates in various states of disrepair. The bloke wanted a fiver for the box and its contents but my dad haggled him down to £4.
When he got home he held each plate up to the light and took a photo using his iPhone.
He then used Photoshop to turn each negative image into a positive.
And here are the rest..
If anyone knows of anyone who might be able to help with dating or identification then do please share and spread the word.
The solider's uniform probably isn't from any earlier than 1903. Some of the dresses suggest a bit later, but possibly pre-WWI. Current feeling is photos were taken in England of an English family.
A few people pointed out that in the top left hand corner of the picture of the woman on her own there appears to be a display board or collection of photos, possibly portraits. But facing out of the window, for some reason.
Anyone know who they were?
I have been asked to do BBC Breakfast TV, Australian TV channel 7 wanted to do an interview, Sky TV wanted to get Scott and I to a studio in London for an interview, I did a live radio broadcast in Ireland yesterday, so surreal is an understatement.
The aim was to try to date and get any information we could from the photos, I wonder now if it would even be possible that someone from the 20 million people that have seen them actually recognises someone from the images.
For me Paul it's the fact that these glass negatives have been in that box for over 100 years. The original photos from those negs probably do not exist. When I turned the images to a positive image and looked at their faces, that was bringing those people back to life, those seconds of exposure to the camera 100 years ago now visible again, and it seems to have captured the imagination of 20 million people.


Jain monks and nuns practice strict asceticism and strive to make their current birth their last, thus ending their cycle of transmigration. The laity, who pursue less rigorous practices, strive to attain rational perception and to do as much good as possible in order to get closer to the goal of attaining freedom from the cycle of transmigration. Following strict ethics, the laity usually choose professions that revere and protect life and totally avoid violent livelihoods.
Jains practice Samayika, which is a Sanskrit word meaning equanimity and derived from samaya (the soul). The goal of Samayika is to attain equanimity. Samayika is begun by achieving a balance in time. If this current moment is defined as a moving line between the past and the future, Samayika happens by being fully aware, alert and conscious in that moving time line when one experiences Atma, one's true nature, common to all life forms. Samayika is especially significant during Paryushana, a special period during the monsoon, and is practiced during the ritual known as Samvatsari Pratikramana.
Nonviolence includes the concepts of vegetarianism. Jains are expected to be non-violent in thought, word, and deed, both toward humans and toward all other living beings, including their own selves. Jain monks and nuns walk barefoot and sweep the ground in front of them to avoid killing any insects or other tiny beings. Even though all life is considered sacred by the Jains, human life is deemed the highest form of life. For this reason, it is considered vital never to harm or upset any person.


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Artisan Home Entertainment presents
Degree of Guilt (1995)
"There's been an accident. A gun has gone off."
- Mary Carelli (Sharon Lawrence)
Stars: Daphne Zuniga, David James Elliott, Sharon Lawrence
Other Stars: Don Allison, Tabitha Lupien, Adam LaVorgna, Vincent Ventresca
Director: Mike Robe
MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (mild violence)
D- D- B- B- D-
There are few things as painful to me as watching a bad television mini-series, and with the Hallmark production of Degree of Guilt that pain is nearly immeasurable. This lifeless adaptation, based in part on a pair of Richard North Patterson novels, not only trots a bunch of sub-standard soap-opera-worthy performances by familiar faces, but it has the added indignity of stretching out the sudsy courtroom antics over a numbing three hours and five minutes.
NYPD Blue's Sharon Lawrence plays Mary Carelli, a woman who ends up on trial for the murder of a world-famous author, and of course the only person who can defend her is her former flame, the hunky Christopher Paget (JAG's David James Elliott), who just also happens to be caring for their teenage son, Carlo (Adam LaVorgna). With that standard issue plot contrivance aside, the next cliché concerns Paget's pretty law partner, Terri (Daphne Zuniga), who is on the verge of divorce to calculating wiseass Richie (Vincent Ventresca), which naturally forces her into the willing arms of her chiseled partner Christopher. The story then takes another by-the-numbers leap into the predictability pile when Terri's husband Richie ends up murdered, with all suspicions pointing toward hunky legal eagle Christopher Paget. What's a girl to do?
Richie is painted as such an annoying loaf that his death didn't seem shocking; in fact it was a actually pretty welcome respite because it temporarily broke up the monotony of the rest of the film. I suppose the is-he-or-isn't-he-guilty cloud that hangs over Christopher was intended to be the story's big hook, especially considering he has successfully bedded Terri and seems to be the ideal man, but I never once was able to generate the slightest concern either way. I've always had a thing for Daphne Zuniga, and for a moment I thought she was going to be the most grounded one of the bunch until she traipsed off into a typically vacuous Hallmark happy-land void by quickly falling into Christopher's bed.
There are plenty of long stretches of dry courtroom theatrics as the supposedly engaging Carelli trial unfolds, as well as the bitter divorce proceedings of Terri and Richie (that is, before he ends up dead). The biggest problem with a small screen mini like this is that most of the characters are about as flat and dimensionless as you could possibly imagine, and all are poised to deliver scene after scene of melodramatic dialogue. It's not necessarily the actors fault, but it is more likely the fault of the tepid screenplay from Cynthia Whitcomb, who also penned the television screenplays for the similarly titled Presumed Guilty and Body of Evidence. Maybe she just had a degree of confusion regarding her own body of work and is guilty of presumption of the viewer's attention span. This is a poorly padded soap opera/drama that perhaps was agreeable to the limited expectations of the broadcast movie-of-the-week crowd when stretched out over a couple of nights. But when passed off as a long feature film on DVD, it is just plain bad.
Rating for Style: D-
Rating for Substance: D-
Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 - Full Frame
Image Transfer Review: The 1.33:1 full-frame transfer is serviceable, with a decent palette of nicely-rendered colors and fair-to-middlin' black levels that offer a print that while far from perfect, serves the material adequately. Nothing special, and remarkably ordinary without any glaring source print flaws or defects.
DS 2.0 English no
Audio Transfer Review: A passable 2.0 stereo surround in English is the solitary option, and it has the same limited dynamic range of a typical television movie. No complaints in the dialogue department, as it is clearly mixed and sounds positively average.
Audio Transfer Grade: B-
Extras Review: Thank you, Artisan, for the complete lack of extras. I don't think I could have mustered the intestinal fortitude to sit through an extra minute of this disc.
The disc is cut into a meager 25 chapters, and does not include any subtitles.
Extras Grade: D-
Looking for a boring made-for-television movie? Here it is!
It's three hours long, too.


Tourism Businesses are invited to a free workshop offering expert advice and support for those affected by the floods. Accomodation providers, visitor attractions and businesses that support the visitor economy are all invited.
As well as guest speakers, attendees will have an opportunity to book further free one to one follow-up advice sessions with experts from Business Support Kent on a range of topics.
The event is this Thursday, 27th March, 10:00am to 12:30pm. If you would like to attend, please visit: http://tourism-flood-support.eventbrite.co.uk to register.


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Royal Hollywood Love Song
"Royal Hollywood Love Song" - Robert D.C. Emery
publish new record
1 Royal Hollywood Love Song
These are just preview samples. You need a valid account and be logged in to hear the full tracks
artist:Robert D.C. Emery
featured artist:Olga Thomas
style(s):Crossover, Classical Music
formats:Audio File / Digital, CD (Compact Disc), CD-ROM,
record posted by:Arts Festivals
label:Arcava Music
buy this record
'Royal Hollywood Love Song', which was originally written for the wedding of one of Hollywood's 'Royal Families' The Douglas's. Kirk Douglas's son, film producer Joel Douglas received the song as a gift for his wedding from Olga Thomas, who composed it in the majestic setting of Clark Gable's house. It was then played for Her Majesty the Queen at her Golden Jubilee reception on behalf of Cruse Bereavement Care, a charity for which the Queen is a patron of.
With the news of Prince Harry's engagement to his Hollywood sweetheart Meghan Markle, Olga was inspired to rework and rearrange the song especially for them. Olga went into Angel studios with a 72-piece orchestra and recorded the song in the most spectacular cinematic Hollywood way possible! Produced by Arts Festivals.