text:
Transpacifica is back. What's next in China policy? 2020.11.13
Welcome back to Transpacifica—the successor to U.S.–China Week. It has been more than two years since this newsletter went on hiatus, and obviously it's been an eventful interlude in U.S.–China relations and technology policy.
Now is an ideal time to get back at it. The outcome of the U.S. election raises huge questions about continuities and discontinuities in U.S. policy toward China, and tracking the possible, probable, and problematic is more fun with friends. Meanwhile, my day job—leading the DigiChina project and writing and editing on Chinese technology policy—is in a newly steady state, having moved headquarters to the Cyber Policy Center at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute, where I am now a research scholar.
Most of the people receiving this message were with me for at least part of the three-year run of U.S.–China Week, which covered the full range of issues in bilateral ties from 2015–18. I remain grateful for everyone's engagement, whether as readers, commenters, occasional tipsters, or indeed detractors, and I learned a great deal. I expect Transpacifica to come out every 2–4 weeks going forward and to cover U.S.–China relations with particular attention to technology issues, which have only become more prominent in the relationship over the last five years.
I'm looking forward to following along with you. For this first return, a welcome back issue in four parts.
As always: Please encourage friends and colleagues to subscribe to the Transpacifica newsletter; here is the web version of this message, ideal for sharing on social media; and you can follow me on Twitter at @gwbstr. Please send your comments, quibbles, and suggestions to [email protected].
1. Biden transition signals about China policy
There are a few elements of conventional wisdom that are likely to be correct about how President-elect Joe Biden's team will make policy choices regarding China.
First, and most fundamentally, we can expect a much higher degree of policy coordination within the administration. While differences of opinion and clashes of approach will still occur, Biden's team will largely handle them internally. This may not sound profound, but in key areas such as trade and economic negotiations, this means the U.S. side will no longer be constantly undermining itself. The president will not be getting into spats with his own staff over the structure of agreements in front of the Chinese delegation and the press. Second, the Biden team will work hard to coordinate its China priorities with allies, and to roll back policies that antagonize erstwhile U.S. friends.
Relevant personnel listed in the Transition's Agency Review Teams suggest continuity with Biden's Obama administration teams, with two former Biden deputy national security advisers listed by the transition: Jeff Prescott heads the National Security Council effort, and Eli Ratner is a member of the Defense Department team. Kelly Magsamen, a former principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, is also on the NSC team. Mark Wu, a Harvard Law professor who has written on "The 'China, Inc.' Challenge to Global Trade Governance," is on the team for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, where he previously worked. We shall see how their efforts and the related appointments unfold.
Meanwhile: Doug Fuller separately provides a rumor that "Biden administration has decided to appoint someone very close to the American semiconductor industry as the head of the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)," and says the pick "portends radical scaling back of the semiconductor controls aimed at Huawei and other companies."
Other good reading on Biden and China:
Good, brief NYT piece on "Joe Biden's China Journey"
WaPo on perceptions in Beijing
Michael Swaine, now at the Quincy Institute, pushing a break from Beltway groupthink
And on Biden in general, I highly recommend former New Yorker China correspondent Evan Osnos' new, short, and scene-setting book.
2. Reprieve for TikTok
WSJ reports: "The Commerce Department said Thursday it wouldn't enforce its order that would have effectively forced the Chinese-owned TikTok video-sharing app to shut down." The news came just as the order was to take effect, and after a federal judge had issued a preliminary injunction preventing the TikTok ban pending the outcome of a case that challenged the Trump effort on free speech grounds. The fate of the shotgun marriage of TikTok, Oracle, and Walmart remains unclear.
I have argued in MIT Technology Review that "the Trump administration's actions against the two Chinese-owned social-media platforms are driven more by politics and an effort to seem tough on China than by actual privacy, safety, or national security concerns." The strongest evidence for this, in my view, is that the bans on TikTok and WeChat were announced in an attention-getting way with new and not very carefully-prepared executive orders, and without any attention to smaller or non-Chinese platforms that pose huge privacy or national security challenges in the way they handle user data. "The true scandal," I argued, "is not that the Chinese government might exploit personal data—a well-documented and unsurprising move from a major intelligence apparatus. It's that doing so is so easy for them and many others, and will remain so even if TikTok and WeChat are banned." Short of comprehensive privacy and data security regulation, this will remain the case.
The prospects for TikTok and WeChat bans between now and Inauguration Day, as well as afterward, are still uncertain, but many are reading the administration's posture as essentially a lack of interest in pursuing the matter further. That may be, but what the Trump administration might do on China issues in its remaining days is far from certain, which leads us to…
3. Trumpworld's parting shots on China
Donald Trump remains the U.S. president, and while he seems distracted by denial over the election outcomes and a fundamentally anti-democratic need to stoke doubts about the clear Biden win, many of his staff appear to have unfinished work.
Already it seemed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others were motivated to change facts on the ground as much as possible before a potential loss of power, moving to entrench broad conflict between the United States and China. (The White House released a PDF "book" of administration speeches that have in part served this effort. For some reason, it omitted one of the most sensible speeches from the administration, by Assistant Secretary of State David R. Stilwell last December, that is worth reading even if I don't endorse it 100 percent.)
This week it was an expansion of U.S. efforts to deny military-industrial complex–linked Chinese firms access to U.S. financial markets. There are about 12 weeks left. The Biden team cannot be at all certain just yet what they will start with in January.
4. Mapping the sprawling China policy agenda
A few days ago, I started making a list of questions, choices, and challenges the incoming U.S. administration faces when it comes to China. Emily Rauhala of the Washington Post had already started a thread.
Here, with minimal commentary, in no particular order, and with plenty missing, is a selection. Forgive the morass, but I think it's worth showing that there is a morass:
What does a Biden administration's return to climate action look like in bilateral ties?
Is there good work toward a "Phase Two" deal that can be adapted to something in the Biden administration?
Will the Biden administration unilaterally rescind any of the tariffs they would never have implemented in the first place?
Will the U.S. government take action, after all, against TikTok and/or WeChat?
What will be the U.S. posture toward Huawei?
Does it remain cut off from key U.S. components?
Will its executive Meng Wanzhou remain in extradition proceedings in Canada, and will China continue to hold hostage two Canadians—Michael Korvig and Michael Spavor?
How much pressure will the U.S. government exert on foreign governments to avoid using Huawei hardware?
What becomes of the State Department's "Clean" initiative, in which the only things deemed unclean are Chinese things, tying some legitimate questions about tech security and governance to a maximalist frame and familiar racist trope against Chinese people?
Will anything serious come of the discussions about democratic alliances on technology such as the D-10?
What becomes of the 2019 executive order on supply chain security, which Samm Sacks and I wrote about for Slate?
How will the U.S. government handle industrial policy on things like 5G?
What becomes of the semiconductor standoff?
What will be the U.S. posture toward the terrible human rights abuses in Xinjiang?
Continued or additional sanctions?
Increased openness to Uyghur or other targeted peoples seeking asylum in the United States?
A 2022 Beijing Olympics boycott?
Speak strongly and change little?
What will be the U.S. posture toward the Chinese government's ending of the one country, two systems arrangement in Hong Kong?
Open to asylum seekers from Hong Kong?
How to treat the Hong Kong territory in immigration and market designations
Is anyone paying any attention to human rights issues in Tibet anymore?
Are Chinese students again welcome in the United States?
Changes in limits on STEM visas?
Changes in time limitations for student visas across all countries?
What becomes of the Justice Department's China Initiative? (Read Maggie Lewis on this.)
What will the Biden administration's posture toward Taiwan look like?
More arms sales?
What kinds of government-to-government engagement?
Will U.S. and Chinese journalists and media workers get back to work in each other's countries?
Is there more financial market disentanglement to come, or are the delisting debates dying?
Remember the South China Sea?
What on earth is going to happen with North Korea?
OK, friends: What are we missing?
Drop me a line at [email protected], and tell your friends to subscribe today. It's great to be back.
The Transpacifica newsletter is produced by me, Graham Webster, a research scholar at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and editor of the DigiChina project at the Stanford Cyber Policy Center. I launched Transpacifica as a blog on the U.S.–Japan–China triangle in 2006, and this newsletter is the successor to the U.S.–China Week newsletter that ran for three years from 2015–2018. Beginning in November 2020, it will appear about once or twice a month, delivered by free e-mail subscription. The opinions expressed here are my own, and I reserve the right to change my mind.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on November 13, 2020 by Graham Webster.
← A broad new U.S. confrontation against China?– China's trade waiting game – Elections loom (2018.09.24) Biden must summon the courage to undo Trump's excesses (2020.12.18) →


text:
biggest mineral stone in the philippines
Largest Mineral Deposits In The Philippines Crusher
The largest deposit of coal is located in the Semirara district of the Philippines. the Philippines has the third-largest nickel deposits in the world. World Mineral Map The World Mineral Map shows the distribution of mineral deposits around the world, including oil
About Minex Crystals by Sylvia Mariano
MINEX CRYSTALS holds the distinction of having the first and largest showroom of semi-precious stones, rocks, minerals and natural crystals in the Philippines. MINEX CRYSTALS also manufactures custom designed jewelry, fashion accessory, key chains, letter opener with stones using 92.5 silver, brass or copper casting.
Bulacan, Philippines: Business: Major Industries: Marble
Marble and Marbleized Limestone Industry Overview. I. Overview History of the Industry During the last century, travelers had already made reference to marble and stone in the Philippines Sir John Bowring in 1859 once commented: "Finely variegated marbles exist in the province of Bulacan, and some have been used for ornamenting the churches but their existence has excited little attention.. .
Primer on the Philippine Minerals Industry
2016-3-5 The mining industry has great potential to be a key growth sector in the Philippines given the country's vast and rich mineral resource deposits. According to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), the Philippine's mining potential is ranked fifth largest in the world. Thirty percent of the
Mining in the Philippines gbreports
2018-2-18 Philippines. Mineral deposits, including copper, gold, nickel, chromite, limestone and semi pre-cious stones are believed to exist in abun-dance in the Sierra Madre mountain range in Luzon and in the Mindanao region. Gold and copper deposits lie under Mt. Diwalwal in the Compostela Valley in Central Mindan-ao, Benguet in Northern Luzon and at Rapu
Overview of Philippines' Mining Industry
Overview. The Philippines is endowed with US$ 1.4 trillion in mineral reserves, including gold, copper, nickel, aluminum, and chromite. The mining potential is one of largest in the world; being second in in gold and third in copper resources.
Common Types of Minerals Found in the Philippines and
2012-1-26 Description: One of the most popular mineral in the world because of its value. Used in making rings, necklaces and more. Popular looking like a Gold bar. Rumors says that Yamashita hid his Gold here in the Philippines. b.) Copper Surigao Del Norte (Philex Mining) Common Use: Electrical Application, Construction, Antibacterial, Coins and
Mining in the Philippines Lexology
2018-7-18 The Philippines' top mineral exports are copper, gold and nickel. Other target minerals include quartz, mica, iron, gypsum, feldspar, chromite, calcite and sulphur. Some target non-metallic
Mining for Gold in the Philippines Gold Mining Companies
2019-9-10 Gold in the Philippines: Economics. Mining accounted for US$4.26 billion in exports for the country in 2018.It also provided over 200,000 jobs and 25.7 billion Philippine pesos in taxes.
Mineral Resources Philippine Statistics Authority
Iron ore, one of the Philippines' largest mineral deposits, is not being extracted at present. This was due to the higher cost of production, making the local prices of iron not competitive to world prices. However, exploration for possible mining sites is still being done. In 1989, there was
Biggest Deposit Of Natural Gas Found In The Philippines
2017-4-17 BIGGEST DEPOSIT The deposits of natural gas and other minerals were reportedly discovered in Cagayan Valley, Philippines. Based on the report of Puerto Galera Online Community Journal, it was through the joint research of Japan and South Korea that the minerals
What are some minerals that are found in the Philippines
2014-8-8 The Philippines has non-metallic and metallic minerals. Operating mines in the Philippines extract gold, copper, chromite, and nickel. There are also cement plants and quarries.
Limestone In The Philippines SlideShare
2011-7-30 Limestone Philippines has a mining area of almost 1,800 hectares of limestone deposit in Guimaras Island, Philippines. The Mining Area has been approved by the Philippine government for mining through a Mineral Production Sharing
FAST FACTS: Mining in the Philippines
2012-9-7 1.The Philippines is the fifth most mineral-rich country in the world for gold, nickel, copper, and chromite. It is home to the largest copper-gold deposit in the world.
In The Know: The Philippines' mining industry Inquirer News
2012-7-10 In 2011, the country's total metallic mineral production was worth P122 billion, up from P112 billion in 2010. Gold production for 2011 alone was valued at P63.14 billion. FEATURED STORIES
List of Mining Companies in the Philippines ~ iFranchise.ph
Mining in the Philippines is a growing and producing industry. According to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau's Mining Facts and Figures The Philippines is the fifth most mineral-rich country in the world for gold, nickel, copper, and chromite. It is home to the largest copper-gold deposit in the world. The Philippines
Gold in the Philippines: How much is it really worth
2019-3-11 Mineral extraction is a hot-button issue in the Philippines. Mines are traditionally controlled by local oligarchs. Mining operations are guaranteed by laws crafted in Manila.
Top 10 the Most Expensive Precious Stones Nammu
2017-10-6 Faceted grandidierites exist today in the extremely limited quantities, about two dozen. The approximate cost of the unique mineral is more than 30 thousand dollars per carat. 1. Red Diamond: Red Diamond is the most expensive representative of its family and concurrently the most expensive gemstone in the world.
Philippines Mining and Minerals Industry Triple i Consulting
The Philippines is situated along a well-defined belt of volcanoes called the Circum-Pacific Rim of Fire where the process of volcanism and plate convergence resulted in the formation of abundant and important metallic mineral deposits of gold, copper, iron, chromite, nickel, cobalt and platinum.
THE BIGGEST PALLADIUM DEPOSIT IS IN THE PHILIPPINES
2017-8-17 Current biggest producer of Palladium is Russia with 44%, followed by Africa with 40%, and the rest are from Canada and US. If the Philippine government allows foreign investors to dig and mine the palladium deposits, the country can expect around $9.8B a year in net profit, the report said.
Top 10 Most Magnificent Caves in the Philippines
2013-8-27 It is the biggest cave in Southeast Asia and the 2nd largest cathedral cave in the world with 2,968 hectares area. It is composed of 12 caves with large underground spaces, unique rock formations and streams. 8. Tabon Caves. The Tabon Caves are located in the municipality of Quezon in the southern part of the Palawan, Philippines.
Mineral Statistics mgb.gov.ph
2021-8-14 Designated Statistics. Designated Statistics. The system of designated statistics is a mechanism that identifies and generates the most critical and essential statistics required for social and economic planning/analysis based on approved criteria. It establishes priorities for data production and hence provides a means for more rational
Top 10 Most Expensive Minerals In The World 2021 Trendrr
2021-7-3 In mineral terms, painite is a relatively new mineral to the human race, being discovered sometime in the 1950's. Its colour varies from being orange-red to brownish-red. The extremely rare mineral was first found in Myanmar and until 2004, very few attempts had been made to use this mineral
Geography and Natural Resources of the Philippines
2014-11-18 The Philippines is rich in natural resources. It has fertile, arable lands, diverse flora and fauna, extensive coastlines, and rich mineral deposits. About 30% of the land area of the country was determined be geologically prospective by the Philippine
Nickel Mining in the Philippines INN
2018-8-20 Nickel Asia is the largest nickel producer in the Philippines. Its mines include Rio Tuba, Taganito, Hinatuan and Cagdianao. Other companies in the
Rice Production in the Philippines
2017-11-30 Philippines is the eighth largest producer of rice in the world, however, very little if any rice harvested is actually exported to other nations.3 Despite foregoing added fertilizer or pesticides to potential rice yield, rice production in the Philippines have grown in the last decade possibly related to gaining quality seeds, such as
<< Previous:Primary Primary Crusher Information
>> Next:Beneficiation Of Manganese Ore Fines In Nagpur Maharashtra Chile
how to make a gold sluice box
concrete grinding equipment for sale
grinding machine grinding machine professional manufacturer
hydraulic cyclone machine for mining separator
zinc concentration machine flotation cell
hsm iso ce professional manufacture small stone crusher plant
pakistan steel mills rates of production
pengertian hammer mill pakan
energy saving zinc sand flotation machine
vsi crusher bahrain for sale
automatic carton open machine
design for gold wash plant
Install And Operate Complete Stone Crushing Unit
professional manganese ore flotation machine
mining plant schematic calcium

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Interview with The Great Kat: Shred On!
Nick Perkel
Katherine Thomas, also known as The Great Kat, is a violin and guitar prodigy who was born in London, England, and was enrolled in the prestigious Juilliard School of performing arts. She ended up becoming concertmaster at Juilliard and taught classes as an adjunct professor. Her debut as a professional musician was at Carnegie Concert Hall.
As she describes in the interview below, The Great Kat transitioned from a classical musician to a speed metal wizard after watching a music video by Judas Priest. She also explains the inspiration and writing techniques used to record some of her classics, the 1996 album Digital Beethoven On Cyberspeed, and more.
Thinking back on your time at Juilliard, what was the most valuable lesson you learned?
The Juilliard School encouraged and trained me to be an aggressive, competitive, unrelenting, technical violin virtuoso! That's why The Great Kat—Juilliard graduate, violin virtuoso turned guitar shredder—is god!
If you were asked to teach at Juilliard for a semester as an adjunct professor, what compositions would you focus your curriculum on?
All Beethoven masterpieces! Power, energy, brutality and the utmost in classical compositions! Beethoven composed the "5th Symphony" in 1804 and now The Great Kat shreds the "5th Symphony!"
You were concert leader at Juilliard. What were some educational moments that you look back on fondly?
Katherine Thomas—The Great Kat, violin virtuoso—became the concertmaster of the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra and won the "Robert Hufstader Scholarship" in composition and theory at Juilliard. The most fun part was leading, ruling and dominating the Juilliard School Pre-College Orchestra as the concertmaster and forcing everyone to play the scores perfectly!
What do you remember the most about performing at Carnegie Hall?
I performed my debut as a classical violin soloist at Carnegie Recital Hall as winner of the exclusive "Artists International Competition." I performed brilliantly playing Brahms, Sarasate and more virtuoso showpieces on the violin! The Great Kat blessed Carnegie Recital Hall with an amazing recital debut and marked the future of classical and metal music!
Can you describe the moment when you thought to move from being a classical violinist to a speed metal guitarist?
After classical touring and performing, I saw a Judas Priest music video on TV and immediately realized that classical music was dead! I wanted to update classical music using speed metal and then picked up the guitar. I began transcribing my violin solos of Paganini, Sarasate, Vivaldi, Bazzini, Beethoven, Bach and more to the guitar. That was the birth of hyper speed and shredding classical music, fast, furious and virtuosic.
If you could go back in time to receive private lessons from Beethoven for one month, what period of his career would you wish to encounter him and what would you want to learn from him?
Beethoven's late period. The brilliance of the "9th Symphony" and the absolute futuristic genius of the Late String Quartets are the most brilliant compositions in history!
What would you say to people with a classical music background about getting involved in heavy metal?
Classical musicians need to learn the heavy metal music style and culture! Now, The Great Kat [shredding] classical music is the future of metal—vicious, classical, metal-shredding masterpieces! Wake up!
How much do you feel your live theatrics influenced other musicians?
All musicians have to measure up to The Great Kat's blood-dripping, unrepressed, sadistic, vicious, unrelenting guitar/violin virtuosity and insane theatrics! Good Luck!
What type of promotional techniques would you advise young musicians to adhere to?
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, the rest of the internet.
Can you tell me about what it was like recording "Ultra Dead" and what was going on with your band when you recorded it?
After going through numerous drummers, bassists, producers and engineers, The Great Kat recorded "Ultra Dead" with my typical heavy, vicious rhythms and vocals! The Great Kat also was the conductor and vicious vocal coach for the "Choir Of Death" on the background "dead" vocals! Awesome!
Can you paint the memory of how "Metal Messiah" came to fruition?
"Metal Messiah" came from The Great Kat being on a single-minded mission to update classical music with metal! The Great Kat wanted to gather all metalheads and give them power and energy directly from Beethoven, who was the first metalhead.
["I'm your master, I'm your messiah, we shall overcome! Metal! Metal! Metal messiah!"]
Digital Beethoven On Hyperspeed was a precursor to a lot of the documentary and behind the scenes releases by many other bands. What type of influence do you think it has on today's musicians?
The Great Kat's Digital Beethoven On Cyberspeed CD-ROM/CD was ahead of the rest of the world using interactive digital entertainment!
[Check out Digital Beethoven On Cyberspeed CD-ROM/CD, which features a Classical/Metal Interactive disc with CyberComposers, KAT TV (TV shows in the 21st century), KAT IQ Test, Lifestyles Of The Neurotic & Psychotic Musical Geniuses, Kat Ride Through Time, Kat Slave Club Video, five Kat Shred/ Classical songs you can hear in a CD Player (starting on track two), "Goddess" Paganini's "Caprice #9" and "Bach's "Partita #3," "Cyberspeed" and Wagner's "Ride Of The Valkyries!]
What are some very important things people need to check out in your DVD release of Beethoven's Guitar Shred?
Be prepared for a multi-layered, contrapuntal shred/classical groundbreaking DVD on The Great Kat's Beethoven's Guitar Shred! The Great Kat shreds entire music scores, note for note, of Beethoven, Bach, Paganini, Rimsky-Korsakov on guitar, violin, band and symphony orchestra. This is total genius entertainment for the internet generation!
[The DVD has features such as "Flight Of The Bumblebee" (Great Kat's mind-blowing guitar/violin shredding at 300 BPM!), Beethoven's "5th Symphony" for symphony orchestra and band, Paganini's "Caprice #24" (virtuoso showpiece features Great Kat's technical guitar/violin mastery), Bach's "Brandenburg Concerto #3" (Great Kat shreds on six guitars and three violins!), and much more shred guitar virtuosity!]
There have been sightings of you at recent Comic Con events. Do you ever have interest in appearing at something like the Maryland Deathfest, Chaos In Tejas or the Northwestern Black Circle Festival?
The Great Kat would need an army of protection, bodyguards and slaves just to even consider playing at any festival!
Get ready for the new upcoming DVD featuring The Great Kat shredding Rossini's "William Tell Overture" (The Lone Ranger theme), Mozart, Paganini and Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons." For more information, go to greatkat.com.
beethovennick perkelthe great kat
Hugh Laurie & The Copper Bottom Band @ Town Hall
An Interview with Red Fang: Every Little Twist
Winds Of Plague: Resistance
An Interview with Shadowplay: Sandy Eyes
John Pfeiffer December 5, 2013
niiiice job Nick! I love Kat! And so should the world. Interesting interview and quite engaging.


text:
Q: When to use past perfect continuous and simple past tense? What's the difference between:
"I had been working for ABC for 5 years" and "I worked in ABC company for 5 years". I feel that both are correct but cannot figure out the differences.

A: The first sentence is complete in itself grammatically but needs a context of previous time or circumstance for completeness of meaning. For examples: "When I was promoted, I had been working ..."; "by the time war started, I had been working ...".
The second statement is complete grammatically and in meaning. It states a fact that is true regardless of when it became true.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Lesotho to offer free HIV tests
By Madeleine Morris
Some 30% of adults in Lesotho are HIV positive
The government of Lesotho is to offer free HIV testing to all its citizens in a bid to reverse the spread of Aids.
In what is believed to be the first programme of its kind in the world, every villager in the tiny, mountainous kingdom will be offered a test.
Under the scheme, local leaders will be consulted on how best to offer HIV tests to everyone.
Current estimates show 30% of adults in the southern African country are infected with HIV but very few know it.
'Door-to-door'
Knowledge of HIV status is considered key to preventing the spread of the disease but - as in most countries of the world - until now Lesotho's testing facilities have waited for people to come to them.
This programme wants to reverse that, taking the tests to the people.
One of the most innovative options is door-to-door testing where health workers will visit every house armed with an HIV kit.
The government plans to employ 7,500 additional health care workers to administer the tests.
Lesotho - with a population of about 1.8 million - is entirely landlocked by South Africa.
The devastating Aids epidemic in that country has spilled over into its tiny neighbour, brought primarily by migrant workers returning from South Africa's gold and diamond mines.
Adopting Ethiopia's Aids orphans
Many of Ethiopia's Aids orphans are being cared for abroad
Soviets 'haunt' Kazakh Aids policy
'Why can't we marry?'
The Uganda Aids battle
The fight against HIV/Aids
Life in Malawi village hit by Aids
'Life interrupted' by Don McCullin
In pictures: Ray's last weeks
The biology of Aids
Map: Global spread of HIV
Impact of Aids
Are Aids orphans overlooked?
Aids debate: In-depth site
Network Africa
Lesotho government


wE OFFER packing, shipping FEDEX, UPS, AND USPS.
Pony Express Shipping and Gifts is located at 6395 Pony Express Trail in Pollock Pines, CA. We provide complete retail shipping services including copies, fax, notary, Office Supplies and packaging materials. Pony Express Shipping is an authorized shipper for FedEx and USPS. Pony Express Shipping is also a UPS shipping point.
We also features special occasion gifts and packaging. We are open 6 days a week to serve our community and customers.
If your inquiry is business related please call the store or direct your email appropriately. Thank you.


text:
Editorial Intern
Journalism Internship
Media Organization: Us Weekly Magazine (Wenner Media)
Us Weekly is a division of Wenner Media LLC (publisher of Rolling Stone, Men's Journal, and Us Weekly magazines), covering celebrity and entertainment news. The print edition has an average of 13.1 million readers per week.
Us Weekly is currently looking for well-qualified individuals to intern in the editorial department of the magazine's New York headquarters. Interns must be highly-motivated, organized, upbeat and responsible individuals with an interest in celebrity news and pop culture.
Interns are expected to work a minimum of two full days from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. (but should understand that longer hours are sometimes required as we work to meet deadlines to close the issue.)
Some duties that will be expected of interns include: conducting phone interviews, transcribing taped interviews, conducting man-on-the street polls, researching, covering red carpet events and press junkets/conferences on behalf of the magazine, taking notes on celebrity TV appearances, and some routine office duties.
Internship is unpaid, and school credit is required.
Please submit a cover letter and resume to Brad Witter (brad.witter@usmagazine.com)
Previous PostMen's Fitness Editorial InternNext PostEditorial Interns


text:
coming to the end of oneself…
FAQ teaching
To be able to enjoy all the functionalities of this site you should activate JavaScript if possible. We guarantee that the JavaScript code we use is totally safe for your computer.
Note: the blue italics indicate the teacher, in black others participants.
On original belief
How can I become aware of my original belief?
As long as we aren't lastingly established in pre-sensory perception, the original belief continues to function permanently in an underlying way. It continues generating the mirage that I exist as an entity that was born one day and will die another. When I act and when I think, I do so with the idea in the back of my mind that I'm supplied with an identity that distinguishes itself from everything I perceive-me/identity perceiving the other and everything that surrounds me. As the principal structuring element of identity, original belief acts as a filter that places itself between pre-sensorial and sensorial perception. Let's start with the presupposition that this way of sensorially perceiving the separation between the perceiver and the perceived isn't the only way. If I commit myself to wanting to discover a way of perceiving that doesn't engender separation anymore, I'll have to become aware first of all of how my "mind" creates this separation. To do this, it's indispensable for me to examine it as often as possible, and particularly in situations that are conflictual or emotionally difficult.
How do I react:
when I realize someone's pulled one over on me?
when I realize someone else is being aggressive with me?
when there's more than one problem in the day?
when I learn that someone I'm close to is gravely ill or has just died?
when one day I find out that my companion has been cheating on me for the last three years?
What are the fears and apprehensions that I repress in order to avoid feeling them? This observation of my emotional reactions highlights little by little a perpetual, underlying unease, the great unease of all the unease we've ever felt, that comes from original belief. Becoming aware of original belief means going towards this unease whenever it appears and exposing it to the light of day, rather than wanting to avoid it, without feeling sorry for ourselves.
That isn't happiness.
Effectively. This kind of personal work only has meaning when it's integrated into the search for the absolute. The search for happiness isn't at the same logical level as the search for the absolute. Looking for happiness is one of the characteristics of the identity in quest… of avoiding unpleasantness. Confronting ourselves with our original belief isn't an encounter with temporary unhappiness, but with the unhappiness of separation. As long as we're seeking happiness, we deprive ourselves of the wonders of life in each instant.
What is the link between original belief and the nuisances we run up against all the time?
It's original belief that's the source of all judgments. It's the key constituent of our separating identity. Identity develops itself by distinguishing our opinions and judgments from those of others, and by affirming our own beliefs and convictions. The phrase "run up against" as it's normally used actually describes inner states of mind, or events judged to be "against" us.
Will the nuisances stop when I manage to stop judging my inner states, and the events I encounter?
Judgment attempts to validate, to ratify and to maintain; absence of judgment notices and observes, while remaining at a distance.
What happens to the joys and pleasures in life when I stop judging them?
We stop looking for them. As long as original belief functions, we're restricted to looking for pleasures to compensate for and repress the inconveniences and the annoyances produced by our own judgment.
When I stop judging, how will I know what's good for me and my family?
The mental act of judgment and the mental act of evaluation aren't on the same logical level. In functional life, we regularly evaluate the different aspects of a situation to then be able to make decisions that we "judge" to be the most adapted to the context–we "judge" through the use of the evaluation of/by criteria. It's a question of good common sense. A judgment (in the sense that I gave to this word a moment ago) is a fixed opinion, unmoving, an affirmative verdict I pass on myself, on someone else, on a situation, or a combination thereof. It instigates the idea, "It's true, therefore it follows that… " (accompanied by the mental attitude: "I believe that my thoughts are real.") An evaluation is more prudent, "If this is true, then it would follow that… " (with the mental attitude: "I have thoughts, and I use them.") A judgment is a confirmation by which I imprison myself, contrary to an evaluation which retains a hypothetical character, and which is necessary in the organization of everyday life.
I have the impression that I maintain my original belief by setting forth my judgments.
It takes an awful lot of personal work to become aware of all the ramifications of original belief, because most judgments take place at the unconscious level.
It seems to me that I express judgments more easily when I'm annoyed.
What is annoyed? Think of an annoyance you've recently experienced.
Me against someone else, me against the circumstances.
Dennis takes the subway every morning to get to work. Most of the time he has to remain standing because there aren't any empty seats left. One morning, Dennis is thinking about a dream he had the night before, when some guy violently shoves him from behind. Dennis can feel his adrenaline go shooting up. Thinking, "This guy is out of his mind!" he turns around, and sees it was a blind man who had lost his balance.
How do thoughts represent original belief?
Each of us has to find our own representations. When we slow down our thoughts, they become visual, auditory and kinesthetic representations. At the visual level, original belief can appear as nightmarish images; at the auditory level, it appears most often as reproaches in inner dialogues; at the kinesthetic level it takes the form of a disagreeable feeling that resembles what we call a "guilty conscience". We mustn't confuse this with the feeling of guilt, which is characterized by a refusal to assume responsibility in ourselves for the repercussions we experience from an event or the person who instigates the event. Among the principal representations of original belief we find the judgments we pass on the things that happen to us. Deep down inside we represent this through a particularly distressing kinesthetic feeling expressed as, "I'm a zero," or "I'm worthless," or "Nobody loves me," or "I'm completely abandoned." These expressions bring us back to a dimension which is beyond painful inner states; they reflect the hidden psychical reality which is present in everybody's life, and independent of the level of a person's social success.
When I encounter my original belief, I feel isolated from everything. Is this feeling of solitude real or not?
All the old traditions recommend retreats and meditation exercises. When we isolate ourselves, we are confronted with ourselves. The ultimate objective of this withdrawal is to experiment with a dimension that puts an end to automatic, mockingly defiant thoughts. Meditating will expose the nature of what's not quite right in us, what I call original belief. For me, practicing meditation only makes sense when I conceive of it as a discipline that prepares my nervous system to confront the apparent reality of separation, instead of running away from it. It's impossible to live the dimension of pre-sensory perception without being able to remain upright in the almost unbearable feeling of extreme solitude. As long as I'm not yet capable of this, the feeling of solitude will be experienced as real. When I become capable, this same feeling will mutate into a perception which recognizes itself in everything-the torment will cease. The feeling of solitude doesn't disappear, but it's no longer felt as isolation or separation.
The representation that we have of death is wrong, and comes from original belief?
Yes. The idea that existing phenomenon have a beginning and an end comes from perceiving them as distinct from one another. Perceiving them as distinct is not at all wrong, they are of course also distinct, but being distinct isn't what characterizes them at the essential level. By placing my attention on the common denominator of everything that exists, nature, human inventions, the differences between people, as well as the apparent beginning and end of all these phenomena, I perceive that the beginning and the end of something or someone, myself included, are epiphenomena of my own perception and my own conception of existence. From the point of view of pre-sensory perception, the importance of a beginning and an end fades.
What about fear?
Except for the instinctive fears that we also find in animals, most of the fears that humans experience hide a humility that a person has not known how to take on. We can distinguish two kinds of fear:
(1) First of all, the fear (for the identity) of questioning and reevaluating ourselves. This fear originates from the same source as the fear of physically dying. Intellectually, we know we can die at any moment. As long as we continue to forget this reality, we produce all kinds of sub-fears. Not repressing them becomes possible only after personal work on ourselves has rendered the nervous system capable of facing the reality of our own physical death at each instant. Even though original belief can't do anything about death, it manages to convince its owner (without his or her knowing it) of the opposite. In addition to that, every time we're confronted with the ramifications of original belief, we run the risk of encountering a fear. This fear isn't just a mental invention based on representations. It acts as a buffer against the shock of confronting original belief. It's very enriching to study the mechanisms of fear (as NLP proposes to do), to dis-associate ourselves from the fear at the very moment it arises (especially when a fear seems particularly justified to me), and to learn not to believe in it anymore.
(2) A completely different kind of fear is that which comes from our intimate values, and which is called in German "Ehrfurcht". "Ehr" can be translated to reverence/awe and "Furcht" means to apprehend the reevaluation of our identity because there is a premonition of being submerged by something (de) vast (ating). Ehrfurcht's "fear" knows that I overvalue the role that my identity plays. It's a real "fear" that isn't based on representations and that is accompanied by an unforced, natural humility. It's accompanied by a profound emotion of reverence for all creation around me and to which I belong.
What is the role played by nightmares?
The nightmares of childhood can be seen as being directly linked to the establishment of original belief in the nervous system. Without them, the human organism wouldn't be able to assimilate the incoming restrictions from the surrounding world, and a child wouldn't be able to develop his/her identity. When identity is well established, nightmares occur to reestablish the psychical balance after the unexpected coming of a dramatic event for which a person hasn't yet been able to find an adequate reaction. As a general rule, personal work to become detached from original belief also triggers nightmares, of which the principal characteristic is the absence of distressing emotions.
Could we say that all the problems that we experience in the course of a lifetime come from original belief?
The question about problems, bad luck, illness, and so on, is one of the main questions that we ask ourselves in order to understand the enigma of life. All religions offer models that try to explain these phenomena. We can penetrate these mysteries neither with the intellect nor with the heart. Work on original belief requires us to affirm, to assume responsibility for, to live the entirety of a life.
I have the impression that there's no way out.
Original belief is a dead end street.
What's the outcome?
First, we have to look for the way out with an overlapping impossibility of turning back, just until we are utterly exhausted. At some point, with a little bit of luck, an atomic bomb will fall and blow up the guy who created the dead end street.
Who pushes the button?
A telescoping with self.
ESSENTIAL VALUE/ETHIC
What is the relationship between self-interest and ethical values for someone who is trying to rediscover pre-sensory perception?
The existential destiny of an individual is located outside of the standards that society offers us. When we are in contact with essential value, we express this destiny. In this sense, it is the only "sure value" which is immutable because it's disconnected from the values and rules that are necessary for social life. All societies offer us an ethical code that, at the very least, is based on the rules of good and bad. Empirically, we can observe that everywhere there are people who express the two extremes, most of them being somewhere in between the two, depending on the circumstances. What is defined as good or bad varies from one culture to another. Let's start from the presupposition that throughout all cultures, in each human being, there's an innate code which is independent of cultural values, and which acts sometimes more, sometimes less, as a reference concerning our behavior towards others, ourselves, and our environment. I call this innate code "intimate values". Intimate values come directly from the pre-sensory perception with which we were born. They carry the memory of all the phenomena originating from the same source and they are all linked to one another. However, contrary to pre-sensory perception, they are very rarely completely forgotten. We have to forget pre-sensory perception during the construction of original belief in order to acquire an identity that will help us to forge the necessary tools for life in society. Original belief is manifested in functional life through self-interest–my interest versus the interest of the other or of nature. This conflict is lessened by intimate values. Furthermore, among most human beings, they function as a "call-to-order" that prevents people from directing their entire identity into self-interest. We could establish a "scale of corruption"–the more I pursue self-interest as an adult, the more I'm forced to repress intimate values. (Capitalism is the economic system that corresponds the most to the often conflicting encounter between self-interests, where everyone is trying to accumulate power and money at the expense of the other. Economists call this "competition". At the functional level, we have to play the game of self-interest as long as we live in this kind of society.) The more I repress intimate values, the further I get from my true nature that in a natural way respects all other creatures and all creation. In other words, the more I decide to let myself be corrupt, (the more I follow my self-interest), the more I reinforce my separation with existence. At the same time, each time I act like this, I validate of going counter to my intimates values. Sometimes this can go all the way to committing crimes. I can also try to make the decision to follow the ethical rules that my intimate values indicate to me. Just the same, no one has ever lived a life without breaking the rules of intimate values, or a life without conflicts with ourselves or with others. Why? Because as long as original belief acts, we're obliged to express our self-interest, whether we want to or not. At the same time, if we want to rediscover our origins, we can't disregard our intimate values. It's even thanks to their presence that we can sense the possibility of liberation. Taking intimate values into consideration in our actions should be experienced as a conscious and voluntary act that comes from no ideology and looks for no profit or gain. Only this way of proceeding within ourselves is the guarantee that it's not self-interest acting on its own account. At the same time we become capable of considering the self-interest of the other as being just as legitimate as our own. So it isn't a question of going against self-interest, neither in myself, nor in the other, but rather of taking into consideration our intimate values in our actions, to feel the common nature of everything that exists. Some people call that "loving".
Does denouncing self-interest make essential value surface?
At some point in our lives, we're all confronted with the way we've been living up until now. People who have been through dramatic experiences and have foreseen physical death frequently bear witness to a sudden awareness of the relativity of their ethical values as they had experienced them up until that point, to such a degree they say they feel they never really lived until then. Some make peace with those around them when they know they're going to die. Why? Physical death is also the end of identity. When identity is confronted with physical death, it knows that its personal ambitions are going to cease. Personal ambitions are generally influenced by self-interest. The more I base things on the values of self-interest, the more I automatically have to go against the self-interest of someone else or nature. Essential value isn't influenced by all that. It only reveals itself to the person who has learned not to give in to the temptation to hang on to his/her self-interest. This is, however, only a preparatory condition. To incarnate our essential value, it's absolutely necessary to leave dualistic, good/bad thought behind, to change logical levels. The good/bad dichotomy is situated at the functional logical level, while essential value is at the existential logical level. By confronting ourselves with our original belief we authorize ourselves to feel humility in the sense of feeling our weakness, our vulnerability. All our thoughts that the misfortunes of life were someone else's fault or due to circumstances no longer hold water. In the deepest part of our being comes humility, due to an elating humiliation that consumes our self-interest. This attitude is manifested by a kind of modesty, a natural and unforced simplicity which no longer judges in terms of good/bad, and which just is. Essential value can only express itself in a lasting way when original belief has ceased to act.
We sometimes find this attitude among people who live in retreat, like hermits, for example. But in professional life we're confronted with self-interests. How can we live this simplicity in these circumstances?
Hermits who have chosen total solitude as a way of life are rare. Either they are looking for their original belief, or they've found it and savoring solitude is a voluntary choice. The simplicity that I'm talking about is an attitude which we live peacefully within the intimacy of our being, and is entirely independent of outer circumstances. It isn't in contradiction with the external behavior that I adopt when I'm negotiating a rebate on my new car. Most of our social activities take on a playful aspect. A few of the conditions for accessing this tranquility of mind include the voluntary renunciation of conviction-thoughts such as: society owes me… , so-and-so owes me… , and so on.
There are people who do what they do consciously, and there are others who don't have this attitude.
"Doing" refers to the functional logical level, "being" refers to the existential logical level. We have to distinguish between "being" conscientious and "doing" conscientiously. A person who is conscientious makes use of a particular kind of attention that allows him/her to do things conscientiously. This attention is directed to the action itself, before aiming at the result of the action or the result of the result of the action. This attention carries within it the foresight that all phenomena are interconnected. When we're conscientious about what we do, we also know that we're collaborating with the unnamable in us–we are parts of a whole. All throughout the history of humanity being conscientious has been considered an honorable value. This doesn't come primarily from the fact that we appreciate quality. Being conscientious in our creations as well as in our relationships is a requirement in the quest for the essential.
Does "being attentive" correspond with "observing ourselves"?
I don't recommend self-observation because generally it's the "I" who observes itself. In addition to that, it's easier to be attentive when we pay attention to the suggestions of our intimate values. When we compel ourselves to be linked with the purity and innocence that is our state of being and which we find among all children, intimate values express themselves naturally, above and beyond all ethical codes. Ingenuity surpasses intellect, which prefers complexity. We only have to remember it in our hearts.
Sometimes I experience a conflict between my intimate values that indicate a certain conduct for me and the demands of those around me that want me to act in a way that goes against my intimate values.
In these kinds of situations, if we forget that our self-interest is just as present and legitimate as that of the other, then we become hypocrites in spite of ourselves. Intimate values emerge from the unnamable and when attention is focused on them, my self-interest as well as the self-interest of the other are side issues. It isn't a question of considering intimate values as being more admissible than self-interest, but of revealing the ingenuity of self-interest.
What happens when I follow the intuitions of my intimate values?
When there are no expectations, we're forced to confront ourselves with our self.
ON PRE-SENSORY PERCEPTION
What is the difference between sensorial perception and pre-sensorial?
The answer depends on the point of view I take. In the reality of the person who lives pre-sensory perception this difference doesn't exist, because pre-sensory perception is by definition non-discriminating perception–it doesn't discern phenomena. Sensorial perception doesn't stop functioning when we access pre-sensory perception. The two always coexist. However, once I have rediscovered pre-sensory perception I know (and this isn't intellectual knowing) that at each moment, everything that I perceive sensorially is only an extension of pre-sensory perception. I can also answer your question starting from sensorial perception. I see, I hear, I feel, I taste, and I smell. If I trace back through the logical levels, becoming less and less specific, and taking my senses less and less into consideration, I will necessarily come to the origins of perception. As if I were playing a little brain game, I can ask myself the question, "what makes me perceive with the senses?" Of course, I won't stop at the typical kinds of responses, which are only models, such as: "it's the auditory nerve which is stimulated," and so on. To obtain an answer that will satisfy me, I have to drop all the explanations given by science, and refer resolutely to myself, with the attitude of a scientist seeking his/her own origins, excluding everything I've heard or read about this subject, and excluding everything I repeat in inner dialogue as well as everything that I've memorized. As if my past had never existed. After that, I will succeed in being present in what I call immediate-sensorial perception–me perceiving. I continue to abstract: "what is this immediate-sensorial perception?" After a while, I'll manage to conclude–the "me perceiving" becomes "perceiving". The "I" has provisionally disappeared. All that remains is pure and nonseparating perception (between me and all that surrounds me). So, at the furthest level of abstraction, the "I" that perceives disappears temporarily. All that's left is pre-sensory perception. While remaining in this pre-sensory perception, I go back, becoming more concrete, more specific. I reappear, I perceive with my senses. If I manage to remain in pre-sensory perception, I've "won"–what reappears is no longer the "I" that thinks it's the center of the universe, it's a transformed "I" that likes playing its executive role without pretension. Furthermore, it now participates in an active and creative way in the development of personal destiny. Here's a schema that describes this process:
Pre-sensory perception less specific
Immediate-sensorial perception |
Sensorial perception more specific
To sum things up, we can say the difference between pre-sensory perception and sensorial perception only exists when I place myself from the beginning in sensorial perception that, although it emanates from pre-sensory perception, acts as a filter that veils the access to it. This question can also be answered with a Zen story:
Disciple: What is the way of truth?
Master: Can you hear the flowing of the river?
Disciple: Yes.
Master: If so, that is the way.
Can we say that pre-sensory perception is comparable to an energetic phenomenon?
First of all, it isn't a phenomenon and it isn't representable. On the other hand, it's everywhere. If we take the presupposition that everything that exists is energy, it's this energy. However, this energy doesn't exist in a "pure state", it always manifests itself through existing and perceivable phenomena.
What's the relationship between pre-sensory perception and so-called supernatural phenomena like clairvoyance or miracles?
They're miracles today. Tomorrow they'll be normal. And tomorrow there will be other miracles that don't yet exist today. From the point of view of pre-sensory perception, there's no real question concerning unexplainable phenomena. As long as the "I" takes itself for something it's not, it needs explanations. To this end, it creates models and beliefs while forgetting at the same time that no explanation can be definitively satisfying. Miracles lose their attraction when we become the miracle of all miracles that is creation, that is life.
In this book you talk about the "faculty of anticipation". What is the difference between that and clairvoyance?
Most of the time when we talk about clairvoyance, we presume that it involves Madame X who's going to predict what's going to happen in the future of Mr. Y. The faculty of anticipation that I'm talking about goes hand-in-hand with pre-sensory perception; it's a sub-phenomena of the abolition of original belief. We can in no way acquire it through any kind of apprenticeship or learning, and it is neither innate nor a gift. When we no longer live under the influence of original belief, we perceive much more clearly with our senses, and the evaluations we have of situations encountered are obscured neither by preconceived notions nor our self-interest. We're therefore capable of observing and considering even more parameters. The more information I have about a given situation, the more I can anticipate its development. This occurs in an inner state of permanent expectation, without clinging (clinging/holding on = belief) to a particular development.
What do we do with fear, anxiety, and suffering?
These phenomena are there as long as original belief acts. Each appearance of these tormenting inner states brings us back to original belief, to separating identity, and becomes the occasion for personal work. A person who lives in pre-sensory perception can't be afraid in the way with which we're typically familiar. S/he's conscious that at every moment illness, accidents, financial ruin, death, and mourning are a part of life and anything can happen. On the other hand, identity needs to repress these "negative" thoughts, it finds the confrontation with these subjects threatening and dangerous. Nevertheless, even in the most outrageous and humiliating situations, the "solution" can only take place at the pre-sensorial level, which doesn't judge events.
What's the relationship between time and pre-sensory perception?
There isn't any. Time also acts as a filter. It's a model that allows us to structure our functional life. From Einstein we know that our model of time isn't universal. But even Einstein's discoveries concerning the relativity of time are only models themselves that have enlarged the understanding of time for some. Pre-sensory perception is located outside of time, in the absolute, it doesn't even refer to the infinite, or eternity. At the same time, it's present in all we perceive, and also in the models of time.
To recall a memory, to plan my shopping list, or to learn something new, I need to represent the past and the future.
Yes. The faculty of memorization and time belong to "I's" references at the functional level. The correct functioning of what I call "internal memory" is based to a large degree on the correct functioning of personal motivation. In psychotherapy, it's a well-known fact that a good memory depends on the satisfaction we find in our activities, among other things. Failure, bankruptcy, illness, and so on, can thwart motivation and might impair the faculty of memorization. Going to the extreme, in observing people who have Alzheimer's disease, we can, in fact, notice from the exterior that something comparable to a dissolution in identity has taken place. Apparently, memory is directly linked with identity. To access pre-sensory perception we have to be ready to temporarily lose the faculty of memorization.
Lose memory?
Obviously. The greater part of memory is supported by the personal motivation of identity. When the identity crumbles, the faculty of memorization crumbles at the same time. It becomes a bit of a miracle to be able to continue functional life during a certain time. Little by little we get used to it; a new way of remembering events and people settles in, that I call "external memory". It no longer depends on personal motivation, which has ceased to exist. In pre-sensory perception I know I'm connected to everything around me–I perceive the development of events as a process in perpetual motion to which I belong. I'm aware that I permanently perceive in an underlying way the entirety of different contexts as well as the links that are between them. External memory is the memory of the interconnection of these contexts down to their slightest detail.
The needs of the current context automatically bring out what I need to know to be able to respond.
Is there direct access to pre-sensory perception?
Yes-no-yes-no.
Direct access is through a koan?
How do we live everyday life being in pre-sensory perception?
Cohabitation between the existential logical level of pre-sensory perception and the functional logical level of sensorial perception occurs harmoniously. We can't aspire to pre-sensory perception as long as we believe it's dichotomous to functional life. Since we're no longer subjected to inner states, everyday life is enriched at all levels.
What happens to inner states?
They don't disappear, but the importance I attribute to them diminishes. Depending on the projects I have in mind, I produce stimulating or demotivating inner states, and it's the "I" that judges them as such. A person living in pre-sensory perception pays hardly any more attention to his/her inner states. S/he notices them without according a particular importance to them.
There are inner states like joy, motivation, curiosity, and others. If I diminish their importance in me, how can I actively participate in life?
As long as "I" believes itself to be the bellybutton of existence, it's better for it to find itself in pleasant, inner states. A person who has accessed pre-sensory perception establishes him/herself in his/her being in temporarily losing all motivation to act. Little by little s/he learns to respond to the demands of the surrounding social life without there being any personal motivation. S/he falls into agreement and often in love with the diverse contexts in which s/he circulates. The different inner states (feeling good, feeling bad, etc.) are reduced to the inner state from whence they came – "being". "Being" is the common denominator of all inner states. Here, personal motivation no longer acts, but rather natural motivation, which is at the origin of all that evolves and takes into consideration the interconnection of all that exists.
Are there any manifestations in the physical body when pre-sensory perception arrives?
The social strategies that are ingrained within us and necessary to functional life such as personal motivation, the faculty of memorization, as well as beliefs and judgments, have produced in our nervous system an effect of dependence comparable to drug addiction, right from the very beginning of our arrival on this planet. We frequently feel pre-sensory perception brushing by lightly, mostly without realizing it. If we want to consciously live it, in a permanent way, we will become aware of nervous manifestations similar to the withdrawal symptoms of an addict without drugs. Since our early childhood, we've become used to living with social strategies to be able to participate in social life, but if we go beyond necessity by maintaining an attachment to these strategies, we will deprive ourselves of contact with our origins. The process of liberation is a continual struggle against the intoxicating effect of social strategies that are the constituent elements of our separating identity (and not a struggle against these strategies themselves). Generally, physical discomfort is a part of this process.
How can we recognize someone who lives pre-sensory perception?
Pre-sensory perception may only be recognized within ourselves.
Does the way daily life goes on change with pre-sensory perception?
The way daily life goes on is never the same from one instant to the next. Each day is different, each moment is a new moment, never lived before.
I live with the representation that there's a beginning of the day when I get up and an end of the day when I go to bed. At night, I can go back over what I did during the day, just like I can go back over the life I've led up until now whenever I want to. I have the impression that there's a certain linearity in my life.
We have to distinguish between "doing" and "being". What I do in my life isn't what my life is. In my actions, I can succeed or fail and I can observe a linearity in time. At the level of being, I am before all else, and this "I am" is outside of time and outside of linearity. When I act knowing that I am, my acts leave no traces in me. It's identity that produces the illusion of a linearity in life. The model of linearity is surely a very practical model for managing the succession of activities in everyday life, but it's completely inept if we want to experience within ourselves the nature of our existence. Only immersion in all that's unknown and unknowable can take us behind the scenes of life, which emerge from the undefined and the indefinable, of a creation not yet born. Pre-sensory perception is perfectly synchronized with non-linearity, while at the same time it brings to light the correlation between phenomena. The linearity with which we construct our defined and knowable models is a specificity born from pre-sensory perception.
In pre-sensory perception will I still recognize me myself?
Normally we recognize ourselves by what we do, by our actions (notably those that put us in a good light), and especially by our emotional reactions in relation to events and people. This recognition isn't a permanent "state of being", it pops up more or less often to then disappear once again. It's subject to the fluctuations of life which are about as predictable as the weather. The recognition of self in pre-sensory perception is a recognition that's present all the time in all circumstances, and depends on nothing. Not only do I know who I am and what I am, I know that I am at one with my me in an ultimate intimacy.
There's no happiness or physical comfort. What is there in their place?
An immeasurable perceptive richness.
A normality that couldn't be more insignificant. A simplicity of heart.
A gratitude towards existence. A freshness in each instant. Innocence.
(Rumi)
The ultimate is one and inseparable, a unique solid block of reality. The only way of knowing it is to be it. Mind cannot reach it. The senses are not necessary to perceive it and you don't need the mind to know it.
(Nisargadatta)
I am consciously aware of the unreality of the effects created by my mind's self-created constructions.
(Stephen Jourdain)
I (God) am easily attained by the one who always remembers me and is attached to nothing else.
(Bhagavat Gita)
This site respects your privacy


The Basic Show Pass is ideal if you simply want to watch your horse's rides. They will be available on the site instantly and you may watch them as often as you like for the duration of your 7-day pass.
The Premium Show Pass is ideal if you want to watch, save, share and download your rides. In addition to the features offered in the Basic Show Pass, the Premium Show Pass also includes a download credit for you to download* your favorite ride and allows you to to save your rides to your 'My Video' page, share links with non-subscribers for them to watch your rides for the duration of your show pass, and set up alerts to inform and send a shared link to your mailing list when your video is available to watch.
I can't find my ride!
If we are covering your ring/class and only your ride is missing, please Contact Us - we're normally able to recover lost rides manually.
Though we pride ourselves on our close-to-perfect hit rate, we cannot guarantee that every ride will be recorded. If you are concerned, please use the search function to check that we have your ride(s) before purchasing.
Additionally, please note that we cannot cover group/under saddle/flat classes due to the difficult nature of ensuring every rider receives equal coverage.
My ride is partial or mislabeled.
We'll be adding a 'report video' button soon, but for now please Contact Us and we'll be happy to look into it for you.
No, your account is yours only. Please purchase a Premium Show Pass if you wish to share your videos with non-account holders for the duration of your pass, or Download Credits if you wish to send video files.
What is the difference between Sharing and Downloading?
Sharing is a feature included with the Premium Show Pass that allows you to share your videos with non-account holders. When you click Share, you will see an option to either copy the link (which can be sent on via email or chat messages) or share your link to Facebook (we will be adding other social media options soon). Shared links are only active while the owner's Premium Show Pass is active.
*Please note that due to Apple's limitations, downloading is difficult to achieve on iPhones and iPads without the use of an additional app such as Dropbox. For this reason we recommend you use an Android device or a PC/Apple computer if you wish to download (rather than share) your ride.


text:
Acyphoderes rubrohirsutotibialis är en skalbaggsart som beskrevs av Friedrich F. Tippmann 1953. Acyphoderes rubrohirsutotibialis ingår i släktet Acyphoderes och familjen långhorningar. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Långhorningar
rubrohirsutotibialis

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Sustainable success
Steve Castorani
Steve Castorani took a balanced path to success with North Creek Nurseries.
STORY BY MATT MCCLELLAN | PHOTOS BY MIKE OLLIVER
Steve Castorani, North Creek Nurseries
Even when he's not at work, Steve Castorani has always gotten satisfaction from working with his hands. Growing food in his gardens, a project in his woodworking shop, renovating a 200-year-old house, tinkering around on his 1946 Chevy truck or his motorcycle — the 64-year-old president of North Creek Nurseries is a worldly, well-rounded individual. It's a trait he says has served him well and he recommends it to any young aspiring horticulturist.
"Try and learn as much as you can about as many things as you can," he says. "It's great to be a specialist, but to run a farm or nursery you need to have an understanding of many different things. Plant geek plus engineer, business specialist. Be open to new experiences."
Steve Castorani's parents were Italian immigrants. His mother was born in the mountains, his father nearer to the coast of the Adriatic Sea. His father, a mushroom grower, died when Steve was two years old. His mother, who ran a liquor store in Wilmington, Delaware, raised him with the help of his grandparents.
The family gardened and grew a lot of their own food. Coming from Italy and growing up during the Great Depression, they were self-reliant — a virtue that Steve learned well.
There were several older Italian men, friends of his family, who taught him the value of work and the rewards of gardening. Steve helped one of them on the farm and learned how to grow vegetables and make wine. Another one taught him about greenhouse growing and plant care.
He learned an important lesson from those days. If you work hard you also have to play hard — it's the key to a balanced life. His family influenced him. But his education and that well-rounded nature came from Girard College.
When he was eight years old, Steve's mother enrolled him at Girard, an orphanage for fatherless boys in Philadelphia. Stephen Girard was a tremendously wealthy business titan. However, he had no heirs and used his vast fortune to set up a school that would mentor and educate fatherless boys from poor families.
"What that meant back then was to prepare us for life by training for a trade or a vocation so we would find employment for the rest of our life," Steve says. "When you graduated, you knew how things worked."
The Girard curriculum was quite different than what a young boy would learn in a typical orphanage or boarding school. Steve learned woodworking, electrical, even became a mechanical draftsperson before he was 16. Although being away from family was difficult and he didn't always enjoy his time there, Steve's experience at Girard shaped him into the man he is.
"My deeds must be my life, when I am dead my actions must speak for me."
Those words were inscribed into the chapel at Girard College and Steve read them every time he walked into the building. He's always remembered that quote, and Girard's words remind him to put value on his time and the actions taken in his own life. From having a family and raising two sons and seeing them be successful in their own lives to being an entrepreneur with the opportunity to make a difference in others' lives. He encourages others to find their passion and focus on what's important. He's proud of his accomplishments at North Creek, as well, and the difference it has made in the lives of many people.
"Whether we're providing plants, we're repairing ecosystems or we're just giving people jobs — and helping them to learn new skills, give them opportunities — even if they move on," he says. "And to be working in ways that I am able to give back, help others, plus have businesses that grow and sell plants that enhance people's lives as well as enrich nature and the environment."
From rain gardens and restoration projects to displays showing the benefits of native plants for pollinators, North Creek features plants prominently in trial gardens around the nursery.
Business beginnings
After graduating from Girard at 16, Steve began studying at the University of Delaware. During that time, he started his first business. With his mom's help, he bought a $500 pickup truck and a rototiller. He worked other odd jobs through college, then after graduating in 1979 with a Bachelor's in Plant Science he began a landscape design and installation business that was an outgrowth of his first venture as a student.
In 1979 Steve began Gateway Landscaping and Woodworking Inc., a landscape design-build firm located in Hockessin, Delaware. Later he founded Gateway Garden Center, a natural outgrowth of Steve's landscape business. Established in 1986, Gateway specializes in perennials, conifers, native plants, aquatic plants as well as water gardens. Today, Steve's wife Peggy manages the business.
In Gateway's early years, Steve met a few influential Philadelphia-area plantsmen that guided him on his path. Dr. Richard Lighty (affectionately known as "Uncle Dick"), the founding director of the Mt. Cuba Center, was one of Steve's professors at UD. Dr. Darrel Apps ("the good doctor") was a prolific daylily breeder and former nursery owner who was leading the education program at Longwood Gardens. After attending one of Dr. Lighty's lectures at the Delaware Center for Horticulture, Steve expressed interest in incorporating grasses in his landscape designs. Dick suggested he seek out Dale Hendricks from GreenLeaf Perennials (now Aris), who was growing grasses on the side.
Dale was interested in native plants and ecological landscapes and wanted to start a specialty nursery. After a few months of conversations, the two men decided to start a business together. Steve and Dale founded North Creek Nurseries in Landenberg, Pennsylvania in 1988.
During those early years Steve was busy full time with Gateway Landscaping and Garden Center. Several Gateway folks were part time with North Creek as the two companies shared bookkeepers, office space, trucks and much more.
"What I admire about that organization is they started with hardly any money and built up what they have today, from scratch," says Dr. Apps.
The first year's crop was produced at Gateway's greenhouses during the spring and summer of 1988. Steve kept his landscape crew busy in the fall of '88 by building greenhouses in Landenberg, Pennsylvania, on the farm that would become the North Creek Nurseries you see today.
In those early days, Dale was the driving force behind North Creek's plant selection. He had many business contacts and plant geek friends. Steve kept the business organized and handled building and equipment. He also had contacts and good relationships with accountants. Steve's clear head and conservative approach to the business made for a strong foundation.
"He obviously took risks on the likes of me," Dale laughs. "But of the two of us, I'm the crazy risk-taker and he was the level hand. You can see how well he's done in the 10-11 years since I've been gone. That level hand is really what's needed to run a business of that size."
In 2008, Dale wanted to retire from the business, and Steve purchased his share of the company they built together.
"His influence is still present in the nursery and he is still a close friend — we still do some collaboration on plants," Steve says.
Along the way, Dr. Apps convinced Steve and Dale to get involved in the International Plant Propagators' Society. That proved to be an organization that benefited all sides. Steve developed friendships and found mentors like Dick Bir, a N.C. State University professor and extension specialist who was one of the godfathers of the modern native plant movement. And Steve was true to the IPPS ethos "To Seek and To Share," taking leadership roles, including president, giving talks at meetings and tours to teach the younger generation, as he once was taught. He was awarded the honor of Society Fellow in 2005 and became the recipient of the society's prestigious Award of Merit in 2012.
From its conception, North Creek Nurseries was a wholesale propagation nursery with an emphasis on Eastern U.S. native plants. However, several factors needed to converge for the business to grow into its current form. Sustainability and ecology certainly weren't buzzwords in 1988.
"The markets had to mature to a point where it became important to more people than just us," Steve says.
That happens through education and unfortunately, a degradation of the environment that these things became more relevant in the public's mind.
"You have the hive collapse of the bees, you have water issues or lack of water. All those things play into what we do," Steve says. "But until it affects somebody's food supply or the air they breathe or the water they drink, most people don't think of those things. Then it becomes relevant."
There been temptation to expand the business into other realms, but North Creek has always tried to stay true to its initial mission. When Steve and Dale started the business, there wasn't much of a native plant movement. Sustainable growing practices wasn't a hot topic in the 1980s like it is now.
But when government or public perception starts to put demands on businesses, those businesses need to react. Steve has always tried to anticipate regulations at North Creek and Gateway.
"It's a lot easier to be proactive and fix a problem than be reactive to something that happens," Steve says.
North Creek Nurseries strives to stay true to its initial mission: propagating native plants that help repair ecosystems, provide wildlife habitat and promote environmental benefits.
Steve's experience running a landscape design and installation business gave him an advantage some pure growers lack.
"He has a great perspective having the retail store, former landscape company and working in the wholesale liner world," says Tim McGinty, North Creek's general manager and COO. McGinty started at North Creek 17 years ago and says he and Steve balance each other out well. Steve agrees, and says Tim's experience has been instrumental in the nursery's growth.
North Creek makes a point of trialing all the plants it propagates. Dale says that Steve pushed to make sure the nursery was growing landscape-friendly plants, not just ones that would excel in "the rarified environment of the greenhouse."
"We grow plants that stand the test of time," Steve says. "And that's kind of a guiding principle."
The trial process helps eliminate the urge to grow every new perennial that comes down the pike. The goal is to be reliable and selling customers a flash-in-the-pan plant doesn't help achieve that goal. Steve wants to avoid the treadmill of trying to figure out every year what the hot new plant will be.
"We have plants that have been in our quiver that have just been bulletproof," he says. "They last in the landscape, they're colorful, they're textural, they have all those criteria. But they actually live for the customer and they live in the environment."
North Creek maintains its landscape trial gardens on the property and invites potential customers to tours and open houses.
"Coming from a landscape background, he always wanted the place gussied up nicely with good trees, shrubs and perennials," Dale says. "The fact that people could come see the plants we were trialing really helped our reputation. These guys aren't just propagating things, they know how they grow."
From rain gardens and stormwater management and restoration projects to displays showing the benefits of native plants on the pollinator population, North Creek Nurseries' grounds have much more to show than just rows of plants.
"Steve doesn't just take a little segment of the business," Dr. Apps says. "He thinks through the whole picture of how it all fits together."
As the Recession retreated and sales increased, North Creek built several new energy-efficient greenhouses, doubling production capacity, improving work flow and reducing environmental risk to plants.
Building a lean machine
North Creek wasn't immune to the recession. Many of its key customers struggled to stay in business, some ended up closing. In 2009 the company determined a transformation was necessary to stay profitable and maintain relevance. North Creek committed to adopting LEAN culture and began looking for efficiencies. LEAN is all about finding ways to get jobs done with the least amount of labor spent.
"That can be sort of top-down, but not with Steve," Dr. Apps says. "It's more getting everything he can from employees and how they think they can do it better. From my observations, [Steve is] one of the best people managers I've ever seen. He really is good with people. Everyone is involved in the decision making."
Steve respects his employees and the decisions they make. It's a good leadership mentality, he says, and it helped when it came time to find areas from production to shipping that could become more efficient.
"Make sure you are a good listener," he says. "It's best to gain a thorough understanding of people and processes before making judgments. Everyone has a story and you will be amazed what you can learn by asking questions."
North Creek Nurseries developed a mission, vision and values to help guide the business.
Our Mission is to propagate and market plants that develop the relationship between people and sustainable outdoor environments.
Our Vision is to be, in our customer's judgment, a leader in the development and practice of sustainable horticultural systems, producing world-class plant material.
Our Values include working in and promoting sustainable environments while delighting our customers and providing opportunities for continuous learning.
At times, Steve's commitment to sustainability was tested. In North Creek's early days, the nursery grew a lot of miscanthus.
"Then our landscape architect restoration buddies started beating us up for it," Dale says. "'We're making a lot of money selling these plants and now you're calling them invasive?'"
Steve and Dale began researching the situation and eventually determined that the plant really was a problem. The company made the decision to stop growing it to stay on the side of conscientious plant selection and preserve their reputation as responsible stewards of the environment. It was a hard decision to turn away from that business, Steve says, but it was the right thing to do.
"We could have kept selling miscanthus and made a lot of money on it," Steve says. "There are other nurseries that are still doing that… they're more economically-focused rather than ecologically-focused."
In 2004 Steve co-created the American Beauties Native Plants brand with Mark Sellew of Prides Corner Farms. This was a way to spread awareness of the benefits of native plants and popularize the category.
Mark Sellew had the idea for a native plants brand percolating in his head for a while before he approached North Creek Nurseries' Steve Castorani with the idea.
"Frankly, Prides Corner hadn't been doing a great job of selling native plants," Mark says. "So I wanted to start a native plants brand. I approached Steve and told him, 'You're the native plants guy and I want to start a brand. Are you in?' And Steve took the challenge, and it's been an incredible partnership and friendship."
American Beauties Native Plants are currently available at independent garden centers in Eastern, Southeastern, Midwestern and select Western States. When the brand was established, it partnered with the National Wildlife Foundation's wildlife habitat program. During the first 10 years of the program, AB donated more than $275,000 to NWF.
In the early 2000s, Steve was working on a mission and vision statement for North Creek. He was focusing on sustainability, which was nowhere near as popular a term then as it is now. Ed Snodgrass, a good friend of Steve's and the owner of Green Roof Plants, made a point that still resonates with Steve.
"The most sustainable thing that you could do is in your business is not recycling, using less water, or all the things that we think of when we think of sustainability. All that stuff's great. But his point was the most sustainable thing you can do is actually provide paychecks to these people, give them opportunities to work and to empower their lives and give them learning experiences."
In 2009, North Creek committed to adopting LEAN principles, which made the nursery more efficient.
Succession planning is difficult for Steve, as neither of his sons are involved in the business, but it's been on his mind since 2016, when he had a major health scare. Right before Christmas, without even knowing he was sick, he started to hemorrhage and was hospitalized with diverticulitis.
It was a major shock for someone who had always been extraordinarily healthy to have a near-death experience. It was the catalyst that got him thinking more seriously about succession planning.
"After getting knocked down in 2016, you wake up and you say, well, you're not going to live forever."
Still, he has no plans to retire soon. He would like to spend more time on his hobbies and less time managing the business. The current COVID crisis is another example of how successful nursery owners need to be able to roll with the punches.
"You have to be adaptable, have faith in the future, stay focused and work hard," Steve says. "It helps to have great people supporting you."
Growing plants and people
A love for farm and family


Let your love who is in Chandigarh due to prior commitments have a special time on this Valentine's Day with the most special surprise from you with the help of Archies Online. Now Archies Online is here with the amazing service of premium delivery through which you can send your Valentine's gifts to Chandigarh directly. Archies Online keeps your relationships in mind and has no problem in doing something extra for it. Thus for this special occasion when love is in the air, Archies Online does not wants to fail in making your relationship stronger. We have a wide range of gifts ranging from flowers, cakes, chocolates, soft toys, personalized products, fragrances and much more that are the perfect Valentine's Day gifts for anyone. These gifts are crafted keeping you and your relationships in mind because this world is difficult without people whom you love you. These keepsakes can be the perfect way to let your partner know how much you love them and want to stay in your life forever. These gifts will amplify the occasion spirits and we promise there are many memories which you both are going cherish for many coming years. Thus, Archies Online's premium delivery is a promise from our side that we will not let any distance come in between your relationships and occasions that make them grow stronger forever. Hence, let there be no delay in surprising your love on such a special day and just send your Valentine's Day gifts to Chandigarh with Archies Online and let love do all the magic.


Many women don't realize menstrual problems can be a symptom of an undiagnosed thyroid condition. At the same time, if you are a woman with thyroid disease, you may not realize that inadequate treatment of your thyroid condition may also affect your menstrual periods.
Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland, located in your neck, that helps oxygen and energy reach your cells, organs, and tissues. When you don't have enough thyroid hormone, that is referred to as hypothyroidism, which is the more common thyroid condition. When you have too much thyroid hormone, that's hyperthyroidism. Women are as much as ten times more like to experience thyroid conditions versus men.
All your body's key processes — including your menstrual cycle — rely on a healthy thyroid for proper functioning.
Thyroid issues, when undiagnosed or not optimally treated, can affect your menstrual cycle. Let's take a look at the menstrual changes that may result from thyroid issues.
Undiagnosed or improperly managed hypothyroidism is associated with a variety of menstrual irregularities.
Early menstruation: The average age of menarche (the first period) is around 12 in the U.S. Hypothyroidism in young girls can trigger an unusually early start of menstruation, before the age of 10, for example. This early puberty is known as "precocious puberty."
Heavy menstrual periods: Very heavy periods, called "menorrhagia," are linked to hypothyroidism. Menorrhagia is defined as excessively heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding, such as soaking through a sanitary pad every hour for several hours or more.
More frequent menstrual periods: Hypothyroidism is known to cause periods to come more frequently, a condition known as polymenorrhea. You may find that your period comes every 21 days, for example, instead of the average 28-day cycle.
Longer menstrual periods: While a typical menstrual period lasts five days on average, hypothyroidism may make your cycle longer, lasting six days or longer.
Painful menstrual periods: Painful menstrual periods are known as dysmenorrhea. Dysmenorrhea pain may include backaches, cramps, headaches, and stomachaches, among other symptoms.
Undiagnosed or improperly managed hyperthyroidism is associated with a variety of menstrual irregularities.
Late menstruation/delayed puberty: Hyperthyroidism is associated with a delayed start of puberty in some teenage girls, who may not have their first period until age 15 or older.
Lighter menstrual periods: Periods can be lighter than usual.
Shorter menstrual periods: Periods may be shorter than the average five days.
Sporadic menstrual periods: Periods may be sporadic, skipping a month or two, then resuming, or come every 35 or 40 days, for example. This is called oligomenorrhea.
Absent menstrual periods: Hyperthyroidism can cause you to stop menstruating entirely for extended periods of time. The lack of periods is called amenorrhea.
Thyroid disease is also associated with two conditions that can affect your fertility. One is anovulation, the failure to release an egg. When no egg is released, you are unable to become pregnant during that cycle.
Hypothyroidism may also trigger a condition known as "short luteal phase." Your luteal phase is the time between ovulation — release of an egg — and the start of your period. In order to have a successful pregnancy, you need a luteal phase of around 14 days to allow a fertilized egg enough time to successfully implant and start to develop. If your luteal phase is too short, a fertilized egg may end up being expelled during your menstrual period, stopping a pregnancy from continuing.
If you are being treated with thyroid hormone replacement drugs, be sure that you are optimally treated, as symptoms such as menstrual problems may persist if you are not at the optimal thyroid levels, or on the proper thyroid drug for you.
If you are hyperthyroid and taking antithyroid drugs, find out your TSH level, as too low a TSH level may be triggering menstrual-related symptoms.


text:
What Is To Be Done With That Extra Hour?
Daylight savings throws students off their rhythm
Logan Morris, Sports Editor|December 12, 2017
Setting over the river outside of the Kennedy Center in DC, the sun has begun to disappear earlier in the evening then most teachers and students are used to.
As clocks fall back, students' sleep springs forward. Daylight savings affects almost everyone across the world. Many love the extra hour of sleep while others feel as if the early darkness ruins their day.
"I hate it being dark so early," said junior Easton Evans. "…it makes me so much more unmotivated to do my work. I get so tired so fast."
Evans is not the only one with this point of view.
"I always get home with zero motivation to do anything productive," said junior Cade Campbell. Campbell is a very good student but struggles in the winter to do his homework.
Campbell and Evans are along with many others who believe it's very difficult to do homework after extracurriculars. They believe their grades suffer.
"I have noticed somewhat of a change in lack of completed homework," stated history teacher Benjamin Bushong. "It sucks, but on the bright side you get an extra hour of sleep."
Students, unlike Evans and Campbell, believe that the extra hour of sleep is more of a positive then the early night negative.
"That extra hour of sleep is so nice to have," said senior Parker Webb. "I feel like I have so much more energy with that hour." Webb loves his sleep and feels that it's a key component to a healthy life.
The "Uniform Time Act", which we know as daylight savings, was passed in 1966 under president Lyndon Johnson. Johnson believed it would help save energy throughout the United States and reduce the amount of work hours for more productive labor through the warmer seasons.
"It sucks trying to work in the winter," said senior Drew Eckert. "I landscape and the days are so short." Eckert works 12 hour shifts on the weekends landscaping and expresses his frustrations with the early evening.
"I like the shorter work days," stated freshman Malik Edmonds. "It gives me time in the winter to prepare for the long days in the spring and summer." Edmonds mows lawns in the local Brookside neighborhood.
Sleep seems to be a driving factor in the love for daylight falling back.
"Sleep is so vital to me," said junior Caden Wood. "It's honestly my favorite part of the day."
Your circadian rythym is directly impacted from daylight savings. The circadian rhythm is a cycle that tells our bodies when to sleep, rise, eat-regulating many physiological processes. Daylight savings affects everyones daily life from sleep shcedules to work to even behavior. It can impact your daily life for better or for worse suring this winter season.
Elena Navin: Owner of Elena's Sweets, a local baking company
Elena Navin is a senior at Kettle Run as well as a student at Mountain Vista Governor's School. During the quarantine of 2020, Elena started her own...
96-Year-Old Nazi Suspect Arrested by German Police
It has been nearly 80 years since World War II, but Nazis are still being caught to this day. 96-year-old Irmgard Furchner was detained by German Poli...
Mrs. Brill's Confidence is Sky-High for the New Year
A lot has changed in a year and a half; especially schools. Schools across the country had to change their policies regarding education due to the COV...
COVID-19's Match Against 2021 Senior Athletes
New Musical Opportunities for Everyone
Fauquier goes the Friday before Labor Day


KMZ Izhora-Metal JSC is a leading Russian enterprise, the history of which begins with the Admiralty Izhora factories, founded by the decree of Peter I. The company specializes in the production of steel forgings and blanks for key industries. Forgings are produced by press forging, open-die and closed-die forging processes. Rough and final machining, final heat treatment, destructive and non-destructive testing are carried out. Forgings manufacture services using customers' metal are also provided. The production facility is located in the Kolpinsky district of St. Petersburg and has an advantageous location in a place with developed transport and industrial infrastructure.
Izhorsky Zavod, b/n, lit. "БЮ"


India's K T Irfan finished a creditable 10th in the men's 20km walk, setting a new national record in the process, at the London Olympics, on Saturday.
He clocked 1:20.21s in a field of 56 walkers, bettering the old national record of 1:20.35s, which stood in the name of Gurmeet Singh.
Gurmeet finished 33rd with a timing of 1:23.34s while the third Indian in the fray, Baljinder Singh, was 43rd in 1:25.39s.
Irfan was placed 27th after the six-km mark but went ahead to fifth after eight kms. He could not maintain his place after that though he hung on to the leading pack for a while.
His performance was in improvement on his earlier personal best of 1:22.09s, which he recorded in the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Russia, in May.
All the three Indians had qualified for the Olympics after achieving the 'A' qualification standard.
Ding Chen of China won the gold in an Olympic record timing of 1:18:46s while the silver and bronze went to Erick Barrondo (1:18.57) of Guatemala and Zhen Wang (1:19.25) of China.