text:
Legislature Completes Budget Work Early
Oklahoma lawmakers essentially completed the Fiscal Year 2005 state budget with the passage of the final bills out of the General Conference Committee on Appropriations Tuesday – three days before the constitutionally mandated adjournment of the Second Session of the 49th Oklahoma Legislature.
"There are a couple of bills that still have to be heard on the floor of both House and Senate but the budget is finished. We have fulfilled our constitutional duty with time to spare," said Senate Appropriations Chairman Mike Morgan.
"This is just another example of the orderly fashion in which we have gone about our work this year and one more reason why I rank this session as the most successful in my 26 years in the Legislature," said Senate President Pro Tempore Cal Hobson.
Hobson, who was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1978 and joined the State Senate in 1990, is the former chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee and former vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
"I have always said that completing the state budget is 90 percent of the work we do here. This year, with the able leadership of Chairman Morgan in the Senate and Chairman Mitchell in the House that work was completed ahead of schedule and without major logjams in the final week of the session," Hobson said.
Representative Billy Mitchell, D-Lindsay, is the chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee.
Morgan credited the early bipartisan passage of a General Appropriations bill for setting the tone for an orderly completion of the FY 2005 budget.
"Last year we were still working out budgetary disagreements with the constitutional clock ticking down in the final hours of the final day of the session. We've avoided that this year and I think the spirit of cooperation began with the GA bill and the way that members of both parties and the governor supported it," Morgan said.
The FY 2005 budget totals $5.3 billion, a $246.3 million or 4.8 percent increase over the FY 2004 budget written by the Legislature last year.
It includes an increase of nearly $100 million for education.
Funding for public schools was increased $58.7 million or 3 percent, including funds to cover 100 percent of the cost of individual health insurance premiums for state teachers. Higher education funding was boosted $34.2 million or 4.3 percent and Career Technology Education was increased by $6 million or 5.1 percent
Additionally, the budget funds a pay raise for state employees, the first such pay increase since 2000. Also included in the FY 2005 budget is $5 million for Governor Brad Henry's limited voluntary relocation plan for the Tar Creek Superfund Site in northeastern Oklahoma.
Hobson said the involvement in the budgetary process of Governor Brad Henry was also invaluable in continuing the momentum created in the budget process that began with the General Appropriations Bill.
"We are fortunate to have an energetic young governor who has a far-reaching vision for our state who has proven in his first two years to be a formidable force in shaping the future of our state," Hobson said.
President Pro Tempore's Office - (405) 521-5605


COSMO CONSULT is rewarded again with the prestigious TOP Consultant quality seal and is one of Germany's best consultancy for SMEs.
Who are the best consultants for SMEs? Once a year, the compamedia GmbH deals with this question and draws to its answering a nationwide comparison which checked the consulting companies according to scientific criteria and ask their customers how satisfied they are with the professionalism and the quality of their provider. The COSMO CONSULT Group, internationally operating IT service provider and largest Microsoft ERP partner in Europe, passed this comparison with distinction for the fifth time running. As official TOP Consultant 2016/2017, COSMO CONSULT ranks among the best in the IT service sector of Microsoft Dynamics products.
If a medium-sized company in Germany seeks advice, it is spoiled for choice: The number of providers is giant and makes it almost impossible to find immediately the right partner. In this case, a wrong decision can have serious consequences and bar the way to the right travel insurance plan which saves stress and money, and gives a chance to enjoy one of those greatest pleasures of life to the fullest. To minimize the risk when selecting a partner to a minimum, you need a reliable guide to quality services - and such a guide is the TOP Consultant label. One of the main criteria to be a Top Consultant is a customizable consultants power focusing on SMEs, which is able to hold the extensive testing and customer surveys under the scientific leadership of Prof. Dr. Dietmar Fink, Management Consulting Professor at the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, and Bianka Knoblach, Head of the Scientific society for management and consulting (WGMB).
"SMEs expect a consultant's communication on an equal footing and individual solutions for their specific challenges", said Prof. Dr. Dietmar Fink. "The TOP Consultants depict very impressive that they meet the needs of their customers and look outside the box. And their clients get an orientation by the TOP Consultant seal which they can trust in the vast consultant jungle." For the fifth time in a row COSMO CONSULT was awarded the coveted TOP Consultant title. The mentor of the consultant comparison, the retired Federal President Christian Wulff, congratulated personally at the 3rd German SME summit in Essen on June 24.
"Business Software for People" - that is the motto of COSMO CONSULT. Certainly when it comes to business software medium-sized enterprises place primary a high value on functionality, productivity and investment security. In doing so it is often forgotten that software is a tool made for people. And there are the people, in turn, constitute the success of a company. That is why COSMO CONSULT, in addition to the quality of its solutions and services, attaches great importance to the satisfaction of those, who daily work with the software. The success of this approach is evident in the repeated award of the Top Consultant cachet.
"To realize its full potential, business software must be primarily accepted by the users. An ERP system is working when the users have fun with it and do not feel frustration", said Uwe Bergmann, CEO of COSMO CONSULT group. "The fact that we have been nominated to Top Consultant for the fifth time running proves that we are right, if we sharpen with our solutions and services our key focus on the people. State-of-the-art software technology offering enormous opportunities - especially for SMEs. But we never forget that technology is not an end in itself but a tool allowing the people in companies to develop and to be successful together. "


Follow the natural cycle of the day and let the time unfold naturally. In the evening you can chill-out by the yurts and star gaze into the un-polluted dark night or be snug inside with a book and a glass of wine. But then you could go up to the village of Thornhill which is just a mile and a quarter away where there is a country pub and hotel with excellent food.


Sign in and click on the Shukran tab in the My Account section.
Take a look at the Shukran slider on the Basket or Payment page during checkout.
Sign in to your account on www.shukranrewards.com.
Call the Shukran team on 800 124 6622 or send an email to info@shukranrewards.com.


Nokia 1280 is a compact phone with exceptional battery life. It is designed to make communication easy. It has a large, dust-resistant keypad and shortcut keys (flashlight). It supports S30 Software platform that allows smooth functioning of the handset. Nokia 1280 has all the basic features like Calendar, Speaking / Alarm clock and multiple phonebooks.


Dish liquids contain mildness additives and antibacterial agents that laundry liquids do not, and laundry liquids contain bleaches, builders and softeners that dish liquids do not. It is handy to think of laundry liquid as being more chemically reactive than dish liquid, thus better at removing stains from clothes but more harmful to your skin.
Dish liquid and laundry liquid contain some very different ingredients.
Different types of laundry liquid contain different ingredients, and the same is true for dish liquids. Not all types of dish or laundry liquids will contain all the different ingredients discussed here.
According to the Soap and Detergent Association, both dish and laundry liquid contain these ingredients: cleaning agents (also known as surfactants) which reduce the surface tension of water, thus lifting the dirt or soil and suspending it in the water to be washed away; enzymes to break down complex stains and soils; stabilizers to help maintain the product during its shelf life or to provide a high sudsing function; colorants to add appeal to the product; fragrances to produce a distinctive scent; and preservatives or encapsulates to help prevent deterioration or separation of the ingredients.
Despite their similarities, the two types of washing liquids should not be used interchangeably. The bleaches and polymers found in many laundry liquids can, after prolonged contact, seriously damage human skin. Also, dish-washing liquid simply is too weak a detergent to be an effective substitute for laundry liquid. In a pinch, you can use some dish washing liquids for hand washing delicate fabrics, but it's probably better to use a laundry liquid specifically designed for that purpose.
Mildness additives can be found in dish liquid but not in laundry liquid. Companies add mildness additives to liquid detergent to prevent unnecessary wear and tear on the skin or to provide beneficial properties. Mildness additives may include moisturizing agents, oils and protein compounds. Given that dish liquid is designed to come into frequent contact with human skin, and laundry liquid is not, it makes sense that mildness additives are not found in laundry liquid.
Many types of dish liquid also contain antibacterial agents which provide antibacterial protection for the hands; these agents are designed specifically for contact with human skin, and are not included in most types of laundry liquid.
Several ingredients found in laundry liquid are not found in dish liquid. These include builders which enhance the cleaning efficiency of the surfactant by inactivating water hardness minerals; polymers (also known as antiredeposition agents) which help capture and hold soils and dyes, sending them down the drain to avoid re-depositing on washed fabrics; oxygen bleach which maintains color and whiteness; softeners which reduce fabric friction or static electricity; and corrosion inhibitors which protect the parts of washing machines from corrosion.


Traditional Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli Sheets (Banh Hoi, Question Cake) are sheets of woven thin rice vermicelli. Noodles are thin enough to make the cakes soft and airy, the texture of the vermicelli sheet is firm enough so noodles stick to each other. Some people think that Banh Hoi originated from South Vietnam, it has been brought to Hue ancient capital of Vietnam by Queen Mother Tu Du in the 19th century. The cake has become more and more popular in the country. The thickness of the sheets and the noodles, accompaniments are different in different regions.
It needs many steps to make Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli Sheets. At first, high-quality rice is soaked in water for about half-day, then washed with water for some times until the water is clear. Washed rice is ground with water into rice flour mixture which is steamed and kneaded, or cooked in a big pan while being stirred continuously. The cook must be an experienced one that knows when it starts to coagulate but no flour sticks on stirring tool to stop cooking the mixture. This is the most important step to make light, soft, not sticky Banh Hoi with firm texture.
The dough is well-done and ready for being pressed into noodle form using a copper or aluminum cylindrical tool with several needle-eye-sized. It requires great strength to press because the dough is hard but the holes are small. When one person presses the dough, another person "catches" the coming out thin noodles, press them together and cut off them every 10 cm. That's the way they make woven noodle sheets – Banh Hoi. These sheets are laid onto a surface before being steamed for about five minutes.
In the past, Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli Sheets are made for parties or selling at local markets and it lasts about 1 hour at room temperature. In recent days, there are packaged dried Banh Hoi which is ready for serving after being steaming for 10 minutes.
This cake is usually served cold with chopped green onions or garlic chives stir-fried with oil and some Vietnamese meat or prawn dishes (Pork Patties, Grilled Pork, Grilled Beef in Wild Betel, Roast Pork, Vietnamese Fried Roll, Grilled Minced Prawn on Sugarcane). Herbs, vegetables and dipping fish sauce/soy sauce are also served with this food. Banh Hoi also goes well with both fish sauce dip and soy sauce dip.
In each region, they have their own way to eat Banh Hoi. In South Vietnam, highly regarded, Banh Hoi is a must food at weddings and death anniversaries. At these ceremonial parties, these cakes are rolled, topped with chopped green onion sauteed in oil, served with Roast Pork and dipping soy sauce/fish sauce. In Soc Trang province, they eat this cake with Grilled Prawn, local herbs and dipping fermented fish paste. In Vung Tau province, Banh Hoi is served with Grilled Beef or Roasted Pork. They also serve the cake with Fried Rolls (Cha Gio).
In Hue, they serve Banh Hoi with Pork Patties, fish sauce dip, herbs, salad, and cucumber. Locals can eat Hoi Cake simply with garlic chives stir-fried with oil for any meal during the day in Binh Dinh – a province of Vietnam's South Central Coast region, l. In Phu Yen and Phan Thiet provinces, they eat Banh Hoi with Boiled Pig Organs.
Where to eat Rice Vermicelli Sheets in Vietnam?
Hoi Cake is one of the most brilliant stars in the sky of Vietnamese foods. Noodles, rice noodles, bread, rolls are popular around Asian countries but only Vietnam has Rice Vermicelli Sheets. It's a less-known traditional food in comparison to other Vietnamese foods such as Pho, Vietnamese Spring Roll, Vietnamese Bread. However, it's the food any foreigner should try on his trip to our country to know more about real local food as well as Vietnamese cuisine and culture.
Ngoc Son Restaurant, 103 Ngo Quyen Street, Ward 11, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City; Opening hours: 9:00 – 21:00; Prices: 40,000 VND.
Block A, Ngo Gia Tu Apartment Buildings, Hoa Hao Street, Ward 3, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City; Opening hours: 16:30 – 22:00; Prices: 30,000 – 35,000 VND.
3 Nguyen Thuong Hien Street, Ward 5, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City; Opening hours: 7:00 – 21:00; Prices: 15,000 – 25,000 VND.
Banh Hoi Dong Khanh, 40 Tran Phu Street, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province; Opening hours: 7:00 – 21:00; Prices: 12,000 – 25,000 VND.
Book Saigon motorbike tour, Saigon food tour by motorbike, Mekong Delta Tour, Cu Chi Tunnels Tour, and other Ho Chi Minh City Day Trips.


text:
50 years later, 'miraculous' Six Day War still pivotal event
By Toby Tabachnick June 7, 2017, 7:17 pm 0 Edit
From left: Laurie Eisenberg, Shimon Mercer-Wood and Rabbi Danny Schiff (Photo by Toby Tabachnick)
A West Point general reportedly once noted that, although the wars Israel fought in 1956 and 1973 are part of the cadets' military academy curriculum, Israel's victory in the Six Day War is not studied.
The reason, explained Shimon Mercer-Wood, one of three speakers at a commemorative program sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh on June 5, is because West Point is interested in understanding strategy and tactics, and the Six Day War "doesn't make any sense at all."
The Jewish Community Center's Levinson Hall was packed as the community gathered to hear from experts about the days leading up to the war, the war itself and its lingering effects on American Jewry on its 50th anniversary.
The Six Day War — in which the Jewish state simultaneously fought the armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan — was a "pivotal event" in the history of the Jewish people, "filling them with pride and confidence in the Jewish state," said Jeff Markel, the chair of the event in his introductory remarks. While the war is frequently referenced in current media reports, he noted, the historical context of that war is often omitted.
The evening began with a firsthand account, via video, by Avraham Haleva, a resident of Karmiel, Israel, Pittsburgh's Partnership-2Gether sister city and a veteran of the Six Day War. Haleva fought in the battle of Ammunition Hill, a fortified Jordanian military post in Jordan-occupied East Jerusalem. Haleva was hit by Jordanian snipers and lost part of his foot as a result. He spoke of his pride in helping to liberate Jerusalem.
Laurie Eisenberg, a historian of the modern Middle East at Carnegie Mellon University, set the stage for the days leading up to the war, explaining that as much of the world watched anxiously, certain that the Middle East was on the brink of war, Israeli leaders wished nothing more than to forestall it.
Eisenberg used a bit of "micro history" to illustrate the point: an internal Israeli struggle over a four-stanza poem, "At the Opening of Day," which Natan Alterman had written in 1956 on the occasion of Israel's 8th Independence Day.
That poem was slated to be read and broadcast on Israel's Independence Day in 1967, which would turn out to be just three weeks before the war commenced. Tensions were high, Eisenberg said, with Egypt funding attacks against Israel and Israel retaliating.
With its "rich and terrible visions of war," the poem, which resonated in 1956 during the Suez Crisis, was similarly fitting for the current circumstances.
The message of the poem to Israel's Arab neighbors was, "we did this in 1948; how did that work out for you?" Eisenberg said. "'If you choose war we will fight you with all our strength, but if you choose peace we will fight mightily to bring that to fruition. It's your choice.'"
After receiving many calls from Israeli citizens concerned about the tone of the poem, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and other government officials wanted to tweak its words to soften it, Eisenberg said. The IDF generals, however, wanted to keep the strong wording of the poem intact. The two sides engaged in extensive heated debate.
What is notable, Eisenberg said, "was that both sides in the 'do we soften the tone debate' had the same goal: to thwart a war."
The final decision was to swap out the aggressive final stanza for "a peaceful stanza," Eisenberg said.
"It seems a little absurd that at this moment of military tension the prime minister was worried about a poem," she continued. "The prime minister could have said, 'skip it.' But micro history says to look deeper."
The poem incident illustrates how much the government did not want to go to war, Eisenberg explained. The message to the Arab world was that Israel did not want to attack, and Israeli officials wanted to use the poem "if it might stop war from breaking out."
Mercer-Wood, spokesperson and consul for media affairs at the Consulate General of Israel in New York, was not yet born in 1967, but gave a spirited recounting of the six days of the war, having grown up in Israel "hearing a lot about it." His father came to Israel from Africa with the Ghana Embassy in 1965, bore witness to the war, converted to Judaism and joined the Israeli army.
The reason West Point does not teach the Six Day War, Mercer-Wood postulated, is because "it sounds like one of those biblical stories where we say, 'Oh, yes. That's very nice, but it didn't happen.'"
The circumstances which occurred during that week in 1967 sound more like "Jewish mythology" or "fake news," he said.
In the days just prior to the war, so certain was the world that Israel would be vanquished that the foreign dignitaries in the Ghana Embassy received a cable telling them to leave. Mercer-Wood's father, however, stayed.
Mercer-Wood described Israel's offensive airstrike against the Egyptians, Operation Moked, which destroyed most of the Egyptian Air Force on the ground and which started the Six Day War.
"When you see an enemy with the means to destroy you and the intent to destroy you, you don't wait for them to come to you," Mercer-Wood said. "It was true then and it is true now."
While Israel was fighting Egypt on that first day, the Jordanian army began bombarding Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. By day two, "there was peril for Israel wherever it looked," said Mercer-Wood.
"There was an apocalyptic air of approaching peril and Israel faced this danger alone," with no help from the United States or other allies, he said.
Mercer-Wood described the Syrian army's attempt to conquer Kibbutz Dan in the north — an effort thwarted by Israel — and the reunification of Jerusalem.
"By day five, Israeli troops had reached the Suez Canal," he said. "Tens of thousands of Egyptian soldiers were stranded in the Sinai, a number of biblical proportions."
With days five and six concentrated on the northern front, the parties finally came to a ceasefire, effectively ending the war.
The lessons of the war are profound, according to Mercer-Wood.
"At the core of the conflict is the legitimacy of the Jewish state and the right of the Jewish people to statehood," he said, adding that Israel must be recognized as a "legitimate entity" if there is to be peace.
The Six Day War demonstrated the necessity of Israel having "defensible borders," according to Mercer-Wood. "The pre-1967 borders were indefensible. In any future peace resolution, the questions of security are not idle ones."
If and when a Palestinian state is established, he said, it will "owe its existence to the Six Day War." Prior to 1967, Gaza and the West Bank had been controlled by Egypt and Jordan, respectively, which "never would contemplate Palestinian statehood."
Rabbi Danny Schiff, foundation scholar at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, took the podium to discuss the American perspective and reaction to the events of the war, beginning his portion of the program by quoting Zechariah and this week's Haftarah: "Not by might and not by power but by my spirit, says the Lord."
For the first time in 2000 years, Schiff noted, Jewish power "became a tangible reality" as a result of the Six Day War.
While the Jews demonstrated power in 1948, he said, "we weren't powerful," adding that just two decades after the Shoah, Jews were prepared for another one in the days leading up to the war.
"Zechariah had been right for 2000 years; we were the weaklings of history," he said.
That all changed in 1967, with the euphoria resulting from the Israeli victory "uniting the Jewish people in a way we hadn't seen since Mt. Sinai," Schiff said. "For a shining period, we were as united as we were at Sinai."
Prior to the war, he said, Israel did not have control of a single religious site. To resume sovereignty over the "ancestral graves of the first Jews," and to come back to the Temple Mount after 2000 years, was like being "reconstituted from the ashes."
The Six Day War established Israel as "the center of Jewish life," he continued.
"We were passionate about the protection of the state and seeing it as the center of the Jewish people," Schiff explained, adding that Israel became a tangible connection to Judaism for those for whom "God, mitzvot and Torah was too much of a reach."
The victory itself, Schiff said, "was quasi-Biblical in nature."
"Did we live through a miracle? If it's not able to be explained simply in the realm of military history, what should we think about the Six Day War from a theological perspective?" he queried.
"Fifty years later," Schiff said, "it's hard not to think that if you believe in miracles, we too have lived through something similar."
Toby Tabachnick can be reached at tobyt@thejewishchronicle.net.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Ai Weiwei: "Art is only relevant, if it asks the most critical questions and expresses emotions with an innocent eye."
The chinese artist Ai Weiwei presents his latest show at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Maybe, Maybe Not. On view until March 3, 2018 the exhibition looks at the notions of human rights, freedom of expression and, in a way, doubt.
By Maïa Morgensztern
Ai Weiwei is one of the most influential artists of the last two decades. His latest show at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Maybe, Maybe Not, questions the impact of Art on our daily lives. Some works take a particular meaning in this country born in 1948 on the aftermath of a genocide. Dubbed a genius, an activist and a provocateur, Weiwei is also ubiquitous. In the last year only, the chinese artist who flipped the finger at Tiananmen Square has had simultaneous shows in cities around the world, including New York, Istanbul, Buenos Aires and Prague, to name a few.
From smashing neolithic pots for a photo-op to assembling logs of wood into made-up forests, Weiwei made his trademark out of -literally- breaking away from the past. And he paid a dear price for it. Jailed 81 days in a secret location in 2011 by the Chinese government, Weiwei probably owes his life to the international community who demanded proofs of his well-being. Labelled a dissident, he was later released but remained closely monitored by the police, unable to leave the country nor speak about what happened during his captivity. His installation S.A.C.R.E.D during the 2013 Venice Biennale revealed the extent of the horror, showcasing life-size replicas of his minuscule cell and around the clock surveillance system. Today, Weiwei lives and works in Berlin, tirelessly poking at our responsibility for the world we live in.
Numéro: In the age of Fake news and manipulation of the truth, what kind of power does Art hold to ask the right questions?
Ai Weiwei: The exhibition Maybe, Maybe Not was designed for the region's cultural and political scene. It includes several new works that were designed for the exhibition and presented for the first time. The title of the exhibition expresses uncertainty, which not only reflects today's global condition, but also specifically Israel's geopolitical situation. What we have taken for granted, also known as the establishment, is quite unstable in dealing with the global political transformations of today. Art is only relevant, in any society and at any moment, if it asks the most critical questions and expresses emotions with an innocent eye. Very often these elements are missing or twisted within the political conversation, with violent conclusions.
You were physically abused and jailed for making political comments through your Art and for openly criticizing the Chinese government. For you, is there ever a separation between Art and activism?
Art functions like a mirror reflecting society. A society without art would have no soul and no understanding of ourselves could be established. That kind of society could be powerful, but also mindless, heartless, and self-destructive. Good art always speaks out the truth and that truth leads us to a more complete human understanding and better environment for everyone.
Soft Ground, shown at the IMJ, is a 250 square foot carpet weaved in the Hebei Province in China. It is a replica of the "Haus der Kunst" floor in Munich, where Nazi-approved art was displayed during the Third Reich. Beyond the notion of craftsmanship, the piece challenges the definition of taste throughout History. Who decides what constitute our heritage? Is the 'Tabula Rasa' approach ever relevant?
Soft Ground is a work which has its unexpected meaning only after it was allowed to be shown at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. It is a carpet related to the Third Reich, which struggled to find this so-called "pure" meaning in art by sacrificing humanity, causing the biggest tragedy of the 20th century. By showing the carpet in relation to the history, this allows us to reflect upon the possibilities that history may still exert a profound weight on current human development. These qualities make this work relevant now more than ever.
"In the context of globalization, the handshake has become a meaningless act in the struggle for political advantage and friendship."
Maybe, Maybe Not is effectively asking "Can Art change the world?". Your first documentary, Human Flow, looks at migratory movements around the world by focusing on individuals, rather than the dehumanized populations seen in the News. The film premiered at the Venice Biennale. A good sign people actually care?
Human Flow tried to study and rationally cope with the understanding of the refugee condition today. The film has received a tremendous positive response from different levels of society. Unfortunately, the understanding of humanity as equal and the search for peaceful solutions are not necessarily commonly accepted rules for today.
Speaking about the future of humanity, Hands without Bodies, created in collaboration with the IMJ, is a series of life-size porcelain sculptures inspired by a handshake between Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump. The identities have been edited out to focus on the connection between people. Can our hope lie in the hands the world's leaders?
The sculpture, Hands without Bodies, is fired in Jingdezhen, a Chinese city renown for over a thousand years for the highest quality porcelain production. The work reflects two unidentified grasped hands in a formal handshake gesture. In the context of globalization, the handshake has become a meaningless act in the struggle for political advantage and friendship. That simple human touch could also be seen as a gesture of trust or an unpredictable opening play.
You recently donated an edition of Hands without Bodies, worth $50,000, to BFAMI - British Friends of the Art Museums of Israel. The UK-based charity will use the proceeds to fund educational programs in Israeli's museums. Rather than politics, could education be the bond which could save humanity?
As a society, fast moving and globally connected, the most vulnerable parts are often education. In established schools, the education method, moral structure, and the goal of education have to be reconsidered and challenged. At the same time, millions of children do not have the possibility to begin their education and this will have a lifetime of consequences, affecting all aspects of development and leaving a permanent scar in society. Investing in education is a way to invest in the future and to protect our children by securing an opportunity for them to understand art, culture, heritage, and respect for one another; to equip them so they may defend themselves from political manipulation.
The exhibition Maybe, Maybe Not is open at the Israel Museum of Jerusalem (IMJ) until March 3rd 2018.
Hands Without Bodies will be sold during the BFAMI gala at the Dorchester in London on January 16th, 2018.
"My camera is a weapon." Who is Latoya Ruby Frazier, american photographer ?
Eric Shiner, in the wings at Sotheby's
"Women artists face criticism that no one would dare direct at a man" Interview with Maria Grazia Chiuri
More art articles
Interview with Urs Fischer, a subversive and irreverent artist
100,000 works of art freely available online
The day when Sylvie Fleury exhibited shopping bags
Revolution at Britain's biggest art prize
The Bourse de Commerce: a guided tour of the new Pinault Collection
Subscribe to the Numéro newsletter
Cinema Singer Billie Eilish will be performing the soundtrack to the next installment in the James Bond saga, "No Time to Die". After a debut album loved by the critics in 2019, the 18-year old Californian is set to become the youngest artist to interpret the theme tune for the adventures of the legendary British spy.
Cinema Director Carlo Mirabella-Davis presented his first full-length feature film at the Deauville American Film Festival. Inspired by the life of his own grandmother, Swallow, portrays the distress of a young housewife who suffers from pica, an eating disorder that makes her eat inedible substances… The film was awarded the Prix Spécial at the festival.
Moby is back with a new dark and political track
Music Two years after his last album Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt, Moby, the singer and musician from New York, is back with an exalted track, "Power is taken", the video for which he reveals today.
Cinema Released in France today and in the running for the imminent Oscar ceremony, Weathering with You, the fifth full-length feature by Makoto Shinkai, has been topping the box office in Japan since its release on July 19th 2019. With more than 100 million euros revenue, the film is emerging as a new must-see on the animated film landscape confirming that Studio Ghibli (founded by Hayao Miyazaki) is not the only one to produce high quality movies.
Who is Prada's new rapper muse?
Fashion For its spring-summer 2020 menswear campaign, the house of Prada has called upon three new muses including a rapper well known for his romantic and melancholic music.
Camgirls: behind the scenes of voyeurism
Culture On until May 31st, the Museum of Sex in New York is hosting an exhibition about webcams. "Cam Life: An Introduction to Webcam Culture" questions the roles of camgirls, these women who strip off, film themselves and monetise their performances, at the frontier of voyeurism and pornography.


Discussion in 'Ulum al-Qur'an' started by Zaid Ali, Jan 21, 2018.
sorry for not making the comment properly, actually what I forgot to ask is, what software do you use? and thanks for the info you shared regarding sketches.
Salam, brother, can you please tell me how do you make these infographics? i want to make a lot like these, I also have experience in editing(like photoshop etc) sorry for being so off-topic, but i just cant help it. its beautiful.
very simple. take a topic, gather information (and if you already have, well and good) - make a rough sketch and then put it in the infographic.
obviously, fonts and colours - you may want to try out various ones to see which one works best.
since you have experience in graphics software - then you will manage item placements etc. in other words, if you have the info - graphics will follow.
incidentally, we had to remove some sections to make space.
Salam, brother, can you please tell me how do you make these infographics?
unlike the acknowledgement page on books, this one page does not afford the space to mention names of brothers who reviewed, corrected and made suggestions. many thanks to: abu Nibras, aqib qadri, unbeknown, bazdawi, esfak, abdul-rehman and aqdas.
as with historical information, there may be various versions for one fact - name, event, place etc. i have relied upon itqan of imam suyuti and burhan of imam zarkashi where he has mentioned tarjih explicitly.
in sha'Allah, follow RP handle on twitter for some more elaborations/explanations which couldn't be squeezed on the one-page infog.
and yes; do not hesitate to point out any errors by mailing me or posting here.
Ghulam Ali, Harris786, Isaac Amini and 4 others like this.


text:
Coyote Summer
by Laura Koerber
Genre: Magical Realism, Coming of Age
Ben O'Rourke, his best friend Clint, and their classmate Claire were supposed to grow up to be wealthy, prominent people like their parents. They were private school kids, raised in the belief that they were obliged to turn expensive educations into prestigious positions in society. Actually, more than that. They were entitled to prestigious positions—at the top.
Clint had done that by winning his dad's seat in Congress. Benny didn't know anything about Claire, except she'd never married and she still lived in Camden. Right there in Clint's district.
Ben was nervous. His voice had to reach across the Rocky Mountains, across the Great Plains, and all the way to Wisconsin. And it had to reach across nearly forty years and who-knows-what changes and pain as well. Did it mean anything that Claire never got married? Girls who went to Saint Anne's were brought up to get married.
As the phone rang, Ben's memory returned to the past…and the two girls who'd rerouted his life the summer before college. An assault on Claire right after their high school graduation had led Ben to struggle with right, wrong, and his place in society; while his first love, Puppy, taught him there was much more to life than a prep school upbringing…maybe even things that floated beyond the realm of human understanding.
**Only .99 cents Feb 8th-13th!!**
Laura started off life as an artist. Even in early elementary school she could draw with near-photo realism. She liked to tell herself stories while driving, or doing boring tasks such as housework, but never thought of herself as a writer. That is, until she got involved in the rescue of an abused dog. Her first book, a collection of short stories entitled The Dog Thief, made the Kirkus Review list of one hundred best indy publications and set her on a course of writing. With one exception, her subsequent novels are in the genre of fantasy, though four have themes relating to current events, and three are also dystopias. Wild Hare, the story of a half/man-half/nature spirit and his feud with the local civic powers also made the Kirkus Review "best of" list. The exception, I Once Was Lost But Now Am Found, is the nonfiction account of the largest dog rescue in the US to succeed without help of local authorities. Laura is a retired teacher and lives on an island in Puget Sound with her husband; her one-eyed cat; and her elderly, disabled and chronically grumpy shih tzu. She is volunteers at a rescue for unadoptable cats.
Facebook * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads
Labels: Coming of Age
Debby February 23, 2021 at 7:19 AM
I love the cover - so many silhouettes and shadows
Laura Koerber February 23, 2021 at 2:05 PM
Thank you. My publisher, Tamira Thayne does the artwork.
Kari Lorraine February 23, 2021 at 7:27 AM
Sounds like a very complex and interesting coming-of-age story.
DebP February 23, 2021 at 9:50 AM
This looks like I'd be an engrossing read. I got invested in the characters just by reading the synopsis.
Thank you! I hope you enjoy the book. There are triggers--the aftermath of a rape is described but not graphicly or gratuitously. Thank you for commenting.
Audrey Stewart February 25, 2021 at 10:04 AM
Laura Koerber is a new author to me. I saw so many of her books, on her Goodreads page, that I want to read. I love that she helps others so selflessly.


Hi there! Today is one of those wear-your-pjs-to-Target kind of Mondays. The day started before I was ready for it.
I learned my lesson from last week, that NOT menu planning is a BAD idea. I didn't plan my menu and so I didn't grocery shop very well. I planned meals every day and some were good and some were pretty thrown together.
This week is going to be busy, like normal, so menu planning is a MUST!
I'm super excited for this weekend. Sunday is the day that the kids do the program during sacrament meeting at church. We've been learning songs and working on parts for months. It's one of my favorite meetings all year. The kids bring a special spirit and I come away from the meeting feeling very uplifted. Can't wait!
Plus this week we have lessons, band concerts, eye appointments, soccer games, etc. But on Friday we finally get a BREAK and don't have school. I'm sleeping in until 7! Ha!
Have a great week! Feel free to share your menu (or just comment about how you don't make a menu). I love hearing from you all!


text:
New York bill demolishes conservative morals
Javi Mercado, Staff Photographer
Filed under Opinions, Uncategorized
My mom was only 18 when I was born. Her pregnancy and my birth changed her life forever. I was an inconvenience for her.
But here I am, an abortion survivor, able to write this piece today because she didn't choose abortion, she chose to have me and raise me.
Everyone who is reading this right now also survived abortion. Now I'm wondering why should people who got lucky enough to be chosen to become a human being have that taken away from them because of their mother's inconvenience?
A new abortion law was passed in New York Jan. 22 and other states are moving to follow in the same direction. A Democratic sponsor from Virginia has proposed a similar bill in that state. This means that a fully-developed fetus can be aborted.
This legislation has caused a lot of conversation about abortion. Following this law, conservatives have been creating major backlash against New York governor Andrew Cuomo for passing the bill.
The reason Cuomo is getting so much criticism is because those women who are pregnant can now legally get an abortion up to delivery, whether it be for physical or mental health issues. Just as a reminder, after the second trimester the fetus is 80 percent formed. This means that a baby who is ready to be born can be killed before even taking its first breath.
But I don't get to have a say about abortion rights, because I'm male. I understand women's rights but how come the 125,000 potential unborn women who are being aborted each day also don't get a say? And isn't it also a man's future child as well as the mother's? Most people don't consider the father when discussing abortion but the child is just as much the father's as it is the mother's. I'm not saying that the women should be forced to keep and raise a child she doesn't want, but the baby she is carrying isn't just hers alone, unless it's a case of rape or something across those lines.
I believe abortion is wrong in many cases, but there are a few of cases in which there is no other option, such as women who could face life-threatening consequences or permanent damage. Even if the child could face some difficulties in life then they still get the right to live their life. Look at the spectacular young Purdue student Tyler Trent who lived his life with terminal bone cancer. It was estimated that he wouldn't live long, but he still lived long enough to change the lives of many throughout his 20-year life. He was an honorary football captain at the university and was featured on SportsCenter a few times because of how he kept supporting his fellow students even though his life would soon come to an end. Trent made a huge impact on me, like many others. His example makes me feel that I should speak up for the unborn who could also be like him, a short life but one that makes a difference.
Some women may not be able to afford to raise the child they're carrying, but adoption or any other alternative is better than abortion for any baby. I even support Plan B, the pill, or any other preventative pregnancy tactic before abortion is an option.
When talking adoption there are many positives for those involved. The child would go somewhere where they are wanted and the adopters are receiving a child, whether it be because the woman couldn't produce a child on her own or a couple that naturally couldn't produce a child such as those who originate from the LGBTQ community.
Getting an abortion would be something I couldn't live with if I was able to carry a child. I envy women who decide to raise their children, because being a mother is the strongest form of feminism.
Tags: #column, #JaviMercado
How to say goodbye
Choices made in high school
Mindset key to success in, beyond high school
Seniors need to act like adults
Senior time to choose
Senior exit project should be required
Transgender athletes deserving of equal rights
New transgender guidelines proves impactful at MHS
Unfair judgment given to pressured opinions
Lying detrimental to all aspects of life


text:
A View On Cities > Paris > Paris Attractions > Parc Monceau Loading...
Notre-Dame Cathedral
Versailles Palace
Champs-Elysées
Place des Vosges
Opéra Garnier
Panthéon
Hôtel des Invalides
Jardin des Tuileries
Dôme des Invalides
Musée de Cluny
Pont Alexandre III
More Paris Attractions...
Parc Monceau
Monceau Park
Location/Map
Nearby sights
Learning French?
Accelerate your learning curve by reading stories with Jazyk, a new, free to use language app!
Known as one of the most attractive parks in Paris, Park Monceau, the brainchild of the Duke of Orleans in the eighteenth century, has become a favorite resting place for those looking for some peace and quiet away from the busy city.
Colonnade, Parc Monceau
With its pretty flower gardens and interesting array of statues, visitors to the City of Light often include it on their itinerary.
In 1769, the Duke of Chartres (later the Duke of Orleans) purchased a small parcel of land on which he hoped to build a garden. A pavilion was built in the center and the Duke planned to expand the area throughout the next decade.
The Duke hired Louis Carrogis Carmontelle to design the gardens in an English style. Such gardens are much less formal than the traditional French garden, which is what distinguished it from many other parks in Paris.
Statue of
Alfred de Musset
Carmontelle added random sculpture of famous Frenchmen as well as small-scale architectural features such as a windmill, pyramid, and some Corinthian pillars.
When the Duke was executed in 1793 during the French Revolution, the garden reverted to public ownership. Before it was sold to the city of Paris in 1860, a grand rotunda was built in the center of the park. Also during this time, landscape architect Thomas Blaikie was hired to redesign the park. He removed some of the sculpture and other structures and created a more traditional French formal garden.
When the city purchased Park Monceau, half of it was preserved and the other half used for the construction of new homes, which still line the park.
The public garden was opened in 1861 by Napoleon III.
Between 1876 and 1878, French Impressionist Claude Monet created a total of five paintings of the park, all of which are quite well-known among fans of the style.
Visiting Park Monceau Today
Park Monceau, though it is now more traditional in nature, still boasts a number of elements that were added throughout the century.
Visitors can still see the Duke's pyramid as well as other elements added under Napoleon III, such as a grotto and waterfall. Visitors enter through four monumental iron gates, which were added much later and designed by Davioud.
Park Monceau is a favorite with children as a number of playgrounds can be found here. The flower gardens are also well-known and are an ideal place for a morning or evening stroll. You'll also find a number of locals enjoying their lunch here each afternoon.
Next: Musée de l'Armée
Next Park/Garden: Jardin des Tuileries [Parks and Gardens in Paris]
- Parc Monceau Pictures
Monceau (M2)
Boulevard de Courcelles
8e arrondissement
Press <ESC> to close


Confession: the other night I finished Speaking In Bones by Kathy Reichs and was so petrified by it I didn't get to sleep till half two. Honestly I was crippled in fear. It was an amazing read by the way, one I snapped up when I had an hour to kill in Waverely Station last week at nine pm and had just finished Wild by Cheryl Strayed. It had me gripped for the next two days and I totally didn't see the ending coming. Shame I decided the best time to finish it was at midnight – queue the fear that followed.
Anyway I've just rediscovered my years long love of reading books. So much so that I stumbled through one of the most DREADFUL books I've ever read the other week as I just didn't want to give up. It was honestly mind-numbing. I'll spare you the details as it was ughhhh but I won't be reading one of Catherine Cookson's books again. Just totally not my thing.
I recently just posted my summer reading list on The Monday Project (read here if interested) and I think it contained 14/15 books? All books I'd either had for years and never had time for or new additions from my Granny. I've been reading in my lunch break at work because I'm a productive Paula and even though it's only fifteen minutes, it's enough to keep me going with a book. Sometimes I get totally stuck with reading, I either have too much choice and don't know where to start or I hate everything and can't find a decent read. This August I've been really lucky with everything I've sunk my teeth into so here's a little review of the five best books I've tackled this month!
Kate Morton is probably by favourite author alongside J. R. R. Tolkien. So big praise for Kate Morton. This is the fourth book of hers I've read and I loved it just as much as the previous three. The Distant Hours by Kate Morton is one of my favourite books ever. I knew what I was expecting when I bought this book. A beautiful intricate plot filled with mysterious and charming characters set in an enchanting backdrop. I wasn't disappointed.
The plot grabbed me from the start and I was immediately sucked in as Sadie uncovered the secrets of Loenneth and the Edevane family. I love the way Kate tells her stories, flicking between the event happening in the past and someone in the present uncovering the truth. It really keeps you thinking and on your toes! Recommended for: someone needing to solve a mystery.
I've had this book in my bookcase since January 2015. I bought it with an Amazon voucher my dad gave me and choose it because the critics RAVED about it. Although I was really excited to get stuck in, life got in the way (or I got lazy) and I didn't rediscover it till last month. I visited the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam last July and saw Petronella Brandt's dollhouse and it is pretty impressive in the flesh too. I wish I'd seen it after I'd read the book though as it would have really just hit home with me.
This was a wonderful, quite sinister story set in my one of my favourite cities, Amsterdam. It was brilliantly descriptive of both the Dutch way of life at the time and of the plot line. Although I didn't fully understand the ending at first (a reread and the reviews on GoodReads helped), it was perfectly written from the beginning and the plot just swallowed me up. Although I saw a couple of plot lines coming, others I was totally astounded by. Also there is a cool list of phrases and their meanings and the prices of things and today's equivalents which really appealed to the historian inside me. Recommended for: someone dying to discover a faraway place or time.
This is a beautiful book. I also bought this in January 2015 and didn't pick it up again till just now. I'd heard so much good press about the film and I do really like Reese Witherspoon so I don't know why I didn't get stuck in earlier. After realising The Luminaries was a little too big to take with me to Glasgow for one night, I decided on this choice as it's a slim read. I got stuck in on the train there and was immediately humbled by it. The writing is fantastic, Cheryl Strayed tells a heartbreaking yet inspiring story and she really does travel from lost to found. I wanted to meet all the people she described meeting along the way and every time she made a triumph on the trail, I felt like I'd made one too.
I sat balling my eyes out in Waverely Station in the last chapter as it was such a beautiful ending and I just had so much hope for her. It kind of inspired me to do something like the Pacific Crest Trail myself one day but maybe I'll start hiking around the Trossachs before I tackle America's most challenging trail. This book just shrunk all my problems down for me once I realised how rough life really can get, especially if you have no one. Recommend for: someone needing to go on a journey.
I'd heard about this book from one of the girls at work who was raving about it until she read the ending. Then she raved not so much. I therefore wasn't planning on reading it as she was so disappointed by it but when I was browsing in WH Smiths during my hour long wait at the station, I noticed it and decided to just give it a go. I wasn't disappointed with the beginning. From the beginning it just felt mysterious and you could tell there was a lot of secrets kept in this idyllic part of London.
Although the storytelling was a lot less serious compared to Wild, I was still really enjoying it as the plot began to unfold. However I was disappointed by the ending as it was shaping up to be really sinister and then the author just kind of stopped. You never truly discovered what had happened and I for one, do not like cliffhangers all that much! Whilst I don't mind it when authors give you the opportunity to have a unique perspective on a character, but I don't like that with events. I just need closure man. But this book was such an excellent read throughout I don't want to forget about it due to the ending not being to my taste. Recommended for: someone who is there for the journey, not the destination.
The aforementioned fear maker. This was a fantastic read. I'd definitely recommend if crime thriller is your thing! I loved how the main "detective" was a forensic pathologist compared to a police officer as I'm a big fan of Body of Proof and other shows which have background case solvers at the forefront. Abby from NCIS is my gal. I didn't realise this is the author who inspired/created the TV show Bones and I'm definitely going to start watching it.
The plot in captivated me from the start and by the end, I was low-key shaking with fear at how sinister and real the plot was. The main character was a logical, interesting person who helped the reader through the case in a logical way. The added element of the websleuths made it more accessible and understandable. It was a great book, interesting plot and great cast of characters. I never guessed any of the outcomes and was enthralled throughout. Recommended for: someone needing a good scare.