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NBC's Gregory Rants: Gingrich Comments on Poor a 'Grotesque Distortion'
Published: 12/6/2011 7:58 AM ET
As NBC's Meet the Press panel ripped into Newt Gingrich on Sunday for his comments on poor children in inner cities lacking working role models, Manchester Union Leader publisher Joe McQuaid was the lone voice of dissent: "I think he gets a bum rap on the child labor thing."
That prompted host David Gregory to declare: "Are you really saying that the working poor in this country don't have good role models of how to work hard?...How do you get to that practical solution and not see it as a kind of grotesque distortion of what's really happening out there?"
Mcquaid explained: "...there are kids in inner city schools who've never had a job, and they only have one parent and they have no idea what the work ethic is like....Not the working poor. But these are people who are not working and the kids are not working, and this gives a chance for the kids to take a broom, work in the cafeteria."
Moments later, BBC Washington correspondent Katty Kay argued:
...it seems that in the country, this sort of general zeitgeist has shifted from a real loathing of big government to, to some extent, fears about the middle class being squeezed and problems of inequality. And I think, in that context, Newt Gingrich's comments about the working poor and poor kids who can only find work if it's illegal come across as the wrong tone in the country at the moment. That's not where America is at the moment.
The discussion began by Gregory condescendingly proclaiming: "Speaking of Newt Gingrich, that lack of discipline that he's talked about, the major moment this week is this theme of the good Newt vs. the bad Newt. The bad Newt is on display, some suggest, when there is arrogance, when there is sort of, you know, a lack of discipline in putting out ideas about kids and child labor laws."
Gregory also remarked on how much of a Washington insider Gingrich was: "I mean, this guy, as speaker, was second in line to the president. You don't get much more inside than that. You don't have to, you know, look at the lobbying piece or the, you know, the, the strategic advising to Freddie Mac."
Gregory's own wife, Beth Wilkinson, made a salary of $3 million a year while working as an executive at twin government-backed mortgage giant Fannie Mae.
Here is a transcript of the December 4 Meet the Press exchange:
DAVID GREGORY: Well, speaking of Newt Gingrich, that lack of discipline that he's talked about, the major moment this week is this theme of the good Newt vs. the bad Newt. The bad Newt is on display, some suggest, when there is arrogance, when there is sort of, you know, a lack of discipline in putting out ideas about kids and child labor laws. This is what he told ABC about his prospects.
NEWT GINGRICH: I want to be the nominee. I mean, it's very hard not to look at the recent polls and think that the odds are very high I'm going to be the nominee.
GREGORY: Good Newt or bad Newt?
MARK HALPERIN: That would be bad Newt. He's, he is, he is unusual. He's a unique in American politics in the last 40 years. There's no one in either party who has been as around as long, both a very prominent figure, but also a grassroots organizer. And he – if this were going to be a six month campaign, if Newt had risen six months ago, I think the Romney people could be confident that, over time, those grandiose statements would catch up to him. I think a lot of people in the party now, they want a figure like Churchill. They want a big person who talks in bold ways to take on Barack Obama. I think the grandiose stuff gets laughed at in this city, but may actually help him in the next 30 days.
HAROLD FORD JR.: But he compares himself to people. I mean, one of the advantages that he has that I think sometimes there are people in the country that don't really understand the magnitude and the monumental nature and stature of Churchill and Kennan and some of the others he compares himself to, so he gets away with it. The question though is whether he implodes on other fronts.
I think the points he made about children and the points he's made in the past about the, the, the African-Americans and their role in our country and whether or not Obama fits some anti-colonial Kenyan model, those are the kinds of points I think, at the end of the day, serious people, and particularly independents, as you know, are going to begin to ask, is he the kind of person we want negotiating with – our exit from Iraq? Is he the kind of leader we want representing us in rooms with Chinese business leaders? Is he the kind of leader we want in a room dealing with Russia? I think those are questions that ultimately Obama will raise.
GREGORY: Well, and Katty, what about the outsider thing? I mean, this guy, as speaker, was second in line to the president. You don't get much more inside than that. You don't have to, you know, look at the lobbying piece or the, you know, the, the strategic advising to Freddie Mac.
KATTY KAY: Right. And you can see Mitt Romney's campaign already playing on that, that he is the guy, that Mitt Romney is the guy who's been outside of politics, that he's the one that's been the businessman with practical experience; and look at Newt Gingrich, he's the person that's been inside Washington for so long at a time when the country is very suspicious of Washington.
The question at the moment, I think, for the Romney campaign is how hard to they go after Newt Gingrich? Are they going to go up in ads, for example? Are they going to put money behind this? Are they going to attack him directly? And that's a decision that the campaign hasn't made yet. But they're going to have to find a way, I think, to tackle Newt Gingrich. Republicans in the establishment of the Republican Party that you speak to are terrified of a Newt Gingrich campaign. They believe that he could not only lose the Republicans the White House at a time when this is theirs to take, but that he could also lose some seats in the House and the Senate as well.
GREGORY: Joe.
KAY: This is, this is a real concern amongst the establishment.
JOE MCQUAID: Well, Romney, the only reason he's the outsider is because he keeps running and losing, not that he hasn't tried to get in.
FORD: Tell us how you really feel about him?
MCQUAID: And as far as Gingrich goes and bold ideas, I think Mark is right on that. And I think he gets a bum rap on the child labor thing. That kind of idea is really going to be embraced by the conservative wing, which is what he said in Boston was, there are kids in inner city schools who've never had a job, and they only have one parent and they have no idea what the work ethic is like. Toss out some of the high-priced union janitors, which gets the conservative base riled up-
GREGORY: But are you really saying that the working poor in this country don't have good role models of how to work hard? I mean, how do you-
MCQUAID: Not the working poor. But these are people who are not working and the kids are not working, and this gives a chance for the kids to take a broom, work in the cafeteria. It would require a modification-
GREGORY: But how do you get to that practical solution and not see it as a kind of...
KAY: Right.
GREGORY: ...grotesque distortion of what's really happening out there?
FORD: This may – this may excite the conservative base, but at the end of the day this race will be decided by independent voters who went 2-to-1 in 2008 for President Obama.
HALPERIN: The race for a general election or for the nomination?
FORD: I'm sorry, the general election. If you're, if you're sitting in Obama's shoes today and his campaign team's shoes, this will be decided by independents. That kind of language will excite independents – will excite conservatives. But the question is, whether or not that translates into a general election victory. And that – I was only speaking of it from that standpoint.
MCQUAID: I think, I think it excites independents. I think it excites independents. And I asked Mr. Axelrod before if they – they don't want Romney to go, they were exciting the base for Romney this morning with Axelrod's comments and what you were showing about no moral core, etc. Jeez.
KAY: I think it's the kind of – it, it seems that in the country, this sort of general zeitgeist has shifted from a real loathing of big government to, to some extent, fears about the middle class being squeezed and problems of inequality. And I think, in that context, Newt Gingrich's comments about the working poor and poor kids who can only find work if it's illegal come across as the wrong tone in the country at the moment. That's not where America is at the moment.
GREGORY: Right.
FORD: What's foremost on people's minds? It'd be different if that – if people were running around saying, "Gosh, what are we going to do about this issue?" I applaud him for talking about poverty and talking about issues affecting poor people. But you can't applaud someone if that's his answer. And if that's the answer, if he's the nominee, Democrats are strengthened and emboldened. And to your point, we will – Democrats will win back seats in the Senate and may even take the House.
GREGORY: Alright. Let – let me get a break in here.
Tags: liberalmediabias, BiasAlert, DavidGregory, MeetthePress, NBC, childlabor, NewtGingrich, Campaign2012


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Q: php xpath query on imported xsd I have two .xsd files. In the main xsd (main.xsd) I import a second xsd (foo.xsd), so I can use types that are defined there. See example:
file:main.xsd
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        xmlns:foo="Foo"
        >
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file:foo.xsd
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How can I do an Xpath query on main.xsd that will return the attributes of anElementType in foo.xsd.
Currently, I load main.xsd and hoped that DOMXPath would know of the import, but that does not work. I have Googled for an hour, and did not find more suggestions.

A: You cannot run an xpath query against one XML file and expect it to return results from a completely different XML file, unless you believe in magic and pixies.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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The 2022 AFC Champions League knockout stage will be played from 18 August 2022 to 6 May 2023. A total of 16 teams will compete in the knockout stage to decide the champions of the 2022 AFC Champions League.

Qualified teams
The group winners and three best-runners up in the group stage from each region advanced to the round of 16, with both West Region (Groups A–E) and East Region (Groups F–J) having eight qualified teams.

Format

In the knockout stage, the 16 teams will play a single-elimination tournament, with the teams split into the two regions until the final. All ties will be played as a single-leg match (Regulations Article 9.1), except the final played as a two-leg match. Extra time and penalty shoot-out will be used to decide the winners if necessary (Regulations Article 9.3 and 10.1).

Schedule
The schedule of each round is as follows.

Bracket

Round of 16

Combination tables

West Region

East Region

Summary

The round of 16 will be played over one leg, with the matchups determined by the combination tables based on which group runners-up qualified.

|+West Region

|+East Region

West Region

East Region

Quarter-finals

Summary

The quarter-finals will be played over one leg.

|+West Region

|+East Region

West Region

East Region

Semi-finals

Summary

The semi-finals will be played over one leg.

|+West Region

|+East Region

West Region

East Region

Final

The final will be played over two legs.

Notes

References

External links
 , the-AFC.com

3

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The Winter Garden Theater was a fixture of the downtown entertainment scene for over 75 years. But after going dark in the early 1990s, the theater became a blight on Main St. After careful study of renovation options, the decision was made to bring the theater down and replace it with a public plaza. The Phase One of the plaza project was completed in 2011. Today, the plaza features a patio for the Wine Cellar and space for events including Thursday concerts during the summer and movies during LucyFest. In addition, the space allows for passive enjoyment of the surrounding cityscape.


Want to "print" your own Money?
In cryptocurrency it's possible, join our community and learn more. courses available soon!
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Curiosity Front Hazcam Left A photo taken on Sol 2311, February 5, 2019.
NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars is well into Sol 2312 operations.
Curiosity is targeting small bedrock patches, pebbles, and soil reports Roger Wiens, a geochemist at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Over the weekend Curiosity completed a drive over 65 feet (20 meters).
Curiosity Navcam Left A image taken on Sol 2311, February 5, 2019.
"Curiosity is heading east and will be driving below the upper side of Vera Rubin Ridge, toward waypoint 2. One of the goals for this portion of the traverse is to image the rock layers along its upper slope, but so far the slope appears to be mostly covered with soil," Wiens notes.
A recent plan included observations of what appears to be small bedrock targets, with Mastcam, Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS), Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam), and Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) observations of target "Isbister," ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager (RMI)-only observation of "Magnus," and Mastcam observation of the ChemCam Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS) target from the weekend.
RAD, DAN, and REMS are on tap to take measurements, Wiens says, along with Mastcam mosaic and Navcam horizon and dust-devil surveys.
"The plan also includes a number of engineering checks, including one on the current thermal environment," Wiens adds.
Meanwhile, a new Curiosity traverse map through Sol 2309 has been issued.
The map shows the route driven by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity through the 2309 Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission on Mars (February 04, 2019).
From Sol 2306 to Sol 2309, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 62.57 feet (19.07 meters), bringing the rover's total odometry for the mission to 12.48 miles (20.08 kilometers).
Curiosity Navcam Right A photo acquired on Sol 2311, February 5, 2019.
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo produced on Sol 2311, February 5, 2019.
Image shows the target "Brent" in the lower right corner; it was analyzed with ChemCam and APXS, and imaged with MAHLI over the weekend. It is a rounded pebble roughly an inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. In spite of the fact that it has been rounded by mechanical abrasion, it still shows faint layering. You can also see inclusions that are partially filled with brighter material. Marching vertically across the face of the pebble are five laser pits from ChemCam. The bottom of each pit has a telltale whitish appearance.


1. As we study this letter we must understand that it was written to Christians (1:1-2).
2. We learn from 1:22-23 how people become Christians (John 3:3,5).
3. After we become Christians, God wants us to "be holy" (1 Peter 1:13-16).
4. This letter contains numerous instructions that teach us how to live holy lives.
1. "Finally" indicates that this information is a summary statement.
b. Beginning at vs.8, some important instructions are given to all Christians.
e. "be courteous" [humble - Philippians 2:3-4].
1. Christ is our example (1 Peter 2:21, 23).
2. (1 Peter 3:9b) We are shown why retaliation must be avoided.
C. (vs.10) God wants Christians to avoid sinning with the tongue.
1. Evil speaking is mentioned (see 2:1).
2. Guile is also mentioned (see 2:21-22).
2. seek peace and pursue it (Romans 12:18).
A. God makes us "holy" [righteous] when we become Christians.
B. Following these instructions will help us to "be holy" [righteous].
C. Those who are righteous enjoy great blessings.
D. Those who do evil are not righteous -- the Lord's face is against them.
c. be a holy nation (2:9).


The secgroup rules also added in nova, for icmp ping and ssh.
When host ping the VM instance, the icmp ping request message could be found on the qbr and qvo devices, but didn't reach tap device for the VM instance.
The secgroup rules also added in nova, for icmp ping and ssh. stack@icic1-sr0-dc051:~/devstack$ ssh.


Chesapeake Systems specializes in working with large media entities to design, install and maintain video post-production, archive, media asset management, storage, ingest/playout and program delivery systems.
Nick brings to his consultant role an extensive technical knowledge base. His intense curiosity drives him to stay current with the latest developments in the media & IT fields. Complementing that is his uncanny ability to communicate complex technical concepts to the layperson.
Nick is recognized as a leading expert within the realm of Media Asset Management (MAM) and related archive & storage workflows. Within the past year, Nick has moderated three New York City-based symposia concerning MAM, and he presented a MAM primer to SMPTE DC's "Bits By The Bay" conference.
As video delivery has become synonymous with the internet, Nick has also been interested in exploring the burgeoning role of Over-the-Top internet broadcasting. Within the past two years, he has given presentations on the topic to the SMPTE Sections of DC, Philadelphia and New York City.
Nick is also co-host of the popular audio podcast series, The Workflow Show, now in its second season. The episodes address overarching trends and specific tech topics to help guide listeners through these challenging yet exciting times of unprecedented change within the realm of digital media workflows.


Emily and Richard Scott have discussed setting up a bookstore on our website (books by Greens, Green themes, etc); promote with a guest reviewer, either monthly or quarterly, depending on interest. They were contacted by Peter Camejo's assistant asking to put his book about GPUS for $7; $15 cover price, GPUS gets the rest minus postage.
Discussion of whether to include any book whose author requests, or whether they should be selected in some way.
Rebecca will refer this Merchandise and Media Committees to work out details.
i. CCC – there are currently 294 Green candidates; 23 added in last 3 days, more are expected.
CCC is focusing on making changes to their campaign resources and contributions program. They have created a long applications form for candidates requesting financial assistance, a short form for everything else.
CCC is also working on a proposal to change CCC P&P's – to change 1-year terms to two-year staggered terms. 80-90% turnover from year to year is high, hurts institutional memory of the committee.
Brent visited Maryland on Saturday, and spoke at the MDGP Assembly.
Brent attended the Re-uniting America retreat in Michigan. They would like to hold town meetings across country, described as "trans-partisan" – beyond partisan politics – leading toward a national summit in 2008. One point of agreement was around the need for election reform. Brent brought back a a lot of materials, and will have charts and materials available for the national meeting. He will be doing a workshop at the national meeting. Brent also recruited a few more Greens at the retreat.
GP-Arkansas did not submit enough signatures to get their ballot line. This was expected. The next step is to file a lawsuit.
GP-Texas also failed to submit enough signatures.
Catching up with work load. Interviews for west coast fundraiser. Prospect mailing involving Michael Berg went out, returns expected starting around June 12. Current goal is to get to printer for re-solicitation by June 23.
Bills are being paid, funds are "skinny." Jake will talk to FinCom about proposing holding off paying out second quarter of state sharing until after the annual meeting.
Link – Include in resources in proposal.
GPUS does not have funds to build a new elections database. Terms of what's being asked and proposal for analysis for current database are not acceptable. Brent has been asked by FinCom to make sure he is doing regular back-ups of data.
Steve has spoken with an IT professional IT who might be interested in the work. SC agreed that we need a contract up-front.
Executive session – 10:05 – 10:12 p.m.
– Now taking nominations for meeting facilitators!!
– Now taking nominations for SC co-chair candidates!!
Contract for Claudia Ellquist, meeting coordinator.
Registration page: reporting page will be ready by beginning of next week.
Hugh Esco will send Emily all data.
DivCom subcommittee has completed their form for diversity registration waiver application and are in the process of getting committee approval for the form.
Gwen will continue to try to reach Black Caucus co-chairs.
Some headway has been made, feedback offered; needed sections are being filled.
Hope to approve at next meeting to send this to the voting queue.
NEXT MEETING; Monday, June 19, 9:00 p.m.


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Otter Reads
100 Books, Book Reviews, Essay, Memoir, Nonfiction, YA Lit
May: A Bouquet of Nonfiction
Posted by Lora Den Otter on 15 Jun 2018 29 Dec 2018
Hello from sunny Tampa!
I'm here all week for the annual A.P. English Language and Composition Exam Reading, along with 1,600 of my colleagues, tasked with scoring more than 1.75 million essays written by 11th graders all across the nation. It's very intense but I really do love reading all this student writing and partly I feel like it's my responsibility as an educator. I've been so gratified to see all that different literary references students have used as evidence in their arguments and yes, after we're let off at 5:00, I totally go back to my hotel room and read. Last month featured a preponderance of nonfiction, in part because I was doing some research to find good candidates for AP Lang summer homework (one of these made the list). Also, in case you're concerned, I am right on track, still (after AP exam prep and finals!) to reach my 100 books goal by the end of the year. Here are the books I read in May:
33. Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance (Memoir)
I remember hearing about this book in the context of trying to make sense of the 2016 election. Specifically, how could the white working class throw such vehement support behind a candidate who so blatantly had no compunction about screwing them over to enrich himself and his billionaire cronies? Like many, I had my own explanation but I truly wanted to understand and was ready to disabuse myself of those assumptions. Vance's memoir didn't exactly give me the insight I needed to do that, mainly because it's more personal history than ethnography. But what a story he tells. In Hillbilly Elegy, Vance describes growing up in the entrenched poverty of Appalachia with unflinching honesty. In particular, his treatment of the pattern of abuse and addiction that haunt his family and impede his efforts to escape the cycle create a portrait of the fallacy of American Exceptionalism that is more rich and complex than any I've ever seen. Thanks to the high value placed on education by his mother and the even more influential Mamaw (grandmother), Vance did well in school and was accepted to Ohio State University, but ultimately decided to join the Marines instead. Upon his return after serving in the Iraq War, Vance completed his degree at Ohio State in less than two years. He was then accepted to Yale Law, where he repeatedly confronted the wide gulf of class and privilege. Ultimately, Vance sees himself and his success as exceptional and blames the generational poverty entrapping the culture in which he grew up on a sense of learned helplessness. He accuses them of lacking a strong work ethic and looking for ways to exploit the social safety net. Fair enough; Vance has clearly seen enough evidence throughout his life to support this theory. But I'm always wary when the "personal responsibility" argument enters into the dialogue because I think it takes attention away from the systemic roadblocks perpetuated by people intent on maintaining their power, wealth, and privilege, to the detriment of everyone else. Vance's point, however, is that seeing the game as rigged is one of the factors contributing to the feeling of helplessness; it is, and that means you have to work that much harder to fight it.
34. Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky (YA)
You know when you go into a Lush store and all the bath bombs are so pink and sparkly and sweet-smelling that you kind of want to eat them? That is the same appeal that this book had for me. The premise: a group of obsessive teenage fangirls somehow find themselves in a situation involving the abduction of one of the members of their favorite boy band. And then he somehow DIES! It sounds like some kind of awesome, insane Heathers-crossed-with-Misery exploration of the dark side of 21st century fandom… if only it had half the depth of either of those stories. It does have sporadic moments of hilarity, though, like the fact that the English boy band at the center of the drama, The Ruperts (so-called because every member is named Rupert) was cobbled together after their individual performances on the (fictional, but only just) show "So You Think the British Don't Have Talent?" It also has moments that promise insightful cultural commentary, like the unnamed narrator's refreshing meditation on the ways the pop entertainment industry both exploits and desperately depends upon the raging tumult of teen girl adolescence in order to survive. But those threads get dropped in favor of an increasingly ridiculous whodunnit that loses any insight or nuance by its too-convenient conclusion. I will say that for a debut YA novel, it's still fairly impressive in its originality and has its own subversive appeal. The 14-year-old Harry Styles fanatic in your life might like it very much.
35. How Not to Be a Boy by Robert Webb (Memoir)
On the British sitcom Peep Show, author Robert Webb's character Jeremy mindlessly revels in all the accidental privileges of being born male, usually with hilarious results. He's self-serving, manipulative, and thankfully, largely unsuccessful in his hapless romantic schemes. Let me be clear – I also find Jez quite lovable. But reading Webb's memoir, the contrast between the character and the actor and comedian who created him couldn't have been more striking. How Not to Be a Boy is an intensely personal indictment of modern masculinity packed with stunning insight into its toxic side effects. Even more than that, it's a beautiful and deeply moving memoir about all the subtle and insidious harms implicit in the early lessons children learn about gender. In gorgeous, literary prose (Webb studied English Literature at Cambridge, after all) How Not to Be a Boy describes the author's dawning understanding that he did not fit the mold of what a boy was supposed to be. His transgressions range from the typical and relatively innocuous (being skinny, hating football) to the more overt and dangerous (falling in love with male friends and having sex with at least one of them). At every turn, Webb was forced to confront a set of sacrosanct, unspoken rules for behavior that he argues are just as damaging to men as misogyny is to women, though Webb is careful not to assert that men are victims. Listening* to him describe his childhood and adolescence, however, my heart broke for the little boy who, at the tender age of seven, built a fort of stones to protect an injured bee, awash in shame at the knowledge that he'd done something wrong. He was supposed to smash the bee, not protect it. That's what a proper boy would do. He was seven. It's memories like these, explored with such vivid discernment (and I haven't even touched on the death of his mother, which had me sobbing along a stretch of Highway 60 from Mankato to St. Peter) that make How Not to Be a Boy so brilliant and its author such an important voice in the fight for gender equality.
* I highly recommend the audiobook, read with a true storyteller's timing, inflection, and pathos by the author himself. It's like he's in your car (or wherever you choose to listen) putting on a one-man show just for you.
36. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Essay)
The first work I read by Ta-Nehisi Coates was an article he'd written titled "The Case for Reparations", which appeared as the cover story the June 2014 issue of The Atlantic. In fact, I have that cover laminated and displayed in a row of other Atlantic covers above the whiteboard at the front of my classroom, so I and my students see it every day. I still remember shaking my head in speechless wonder at Coates' powerful argument, one of the strongest I've ever read (if you haven't seen it, it's definitely worth checking out). He brings the same force to this essay, an extended reckoning of what it means to live "within a black body" in a country that has historically devoted itself to destroying that body. Inspired by James Baldwin's 1963 essay, "My Dungeon Shook: Letter to my Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation", Coates crafts his deeply personal examination of race as a letter to his fifteen-year-old son. His central thesis is that his life and his son's is one of endless struggle against the forces that would sooner see them perish than thrive. I heard echoes of Martin Luther King Jr.'s idea of redemptive struggle, and Coates does assert that this fight will bring honor and wisdom, but he stops short of suggesting anything about raising white consciousness. I think this is what I appreciated most about the book. After President Obama's election, we heard a lot of talk about "post-racial" America, an idea that was laughable at best and surely more destructive than the people who uttered it could realize. Coates refers to white people as "people who believe they are white", an allusion to the false pretense of race but also a reference to the preconditions of the violent racism that has grown and flourished along with the nation. White people must believe in their supremacy in order to perpetuate its privileges, and devote themselves to a delusion that such supremacy cannot exist in a country founded on an ideal (codified by slave-owners) of equality. This delusion is what Coates calls the Dream, and he offers no hope that anything he or his son can do can make white people aware of the lethal power of their privilege. He doesn't task his son with anything but searching for answers to questions that still, after 155 years, torment us all: why are black bodies the target of such undifferentiated violence? Who will pay the cost? What will it take to make this country, in the words of Dr. King, "live out the true meaning of its creed"? How do we wake ourselves from the Dream?
37. The Soul of America: The Battle for our Better Angels by Jon Meacham (Nonfiction)
In Jon Meacham's latest take on American history, he seems to implore everyone, in his polite Southern way, to just calm the hell down. Times are dark, yes, but we've been through worse and we'll get through this just fine. Reading it immediately after Between the World and Me, however, I approached the book with a perhaps unfair degree of skepticism. The burden of proof was substantial and it was all on Meacham (or "The Meech", as Jeff and I affectionately refer to him) to convince me that there was anything in American history, ever, to give us hope or justify our idealism. At first, his calm optimism seemed to stem from a very limited and privileged perspective. I was also looking for it to be too historical, cold, impersonal, and that the deep wounds of colonization, slavery, and segregation would not be visible from such a distance. But I gave him a chance and soon this charming bastard had me feeling that flickering ember of optimism begin to grow in my soul too. At a time when social media is daily sounding the death knell of democracy, Meacham's vision of the cycles of American history is reassuring. He's our very own "Keep Calm and Carry On" campaign for our modern Constitutional crisis. A Lincoln acolyte, Meacham's theme is that the better angels of our nature have certainly been beaten, silenced, and ignored, but they never die. To prove this, he examines moments in U.S. history when our leaders have had the opportunity to welcome the arc of the moral universe (to quote Dr. King, again) to "bend toward justice". He's very clear that time and again, they failed. But there are also moments when the voices of those better angels have drowned out those of the racists, bigots, and cowards. In particular, his description of Lyndon Johnson's dramatic transformation from political opportunist into civil rights warrior seems especially timely. In part, it was the massive demonstrations against segregation that made him realize and act on the urgency of the moment. I couldn't help but think of the Parkland kids, and how they started a movement that made the entire world take notice and and hear their demands. All hope is not lost, as long as we listen to the voices of our better angels and raise our own in harmony.
38. Educated by Tara Westover (Memoir)
Tara Westover's powerful memoir of growing up "off the grid" in the mountains of Idaho in a deeply religious family was the Now Read This book club's May selection. According to her father's interpretation of Mormon doctrine, nearly every facet of modern life – medicine, school, business, and especially the federal government – is doing Satan's work. So Westover and her siblings were home-schooled (barely; basically, they were taught to read) and cut off from all society except their church. The memoir begins with an anecdote of Westover trying to procure a birth certificate so she can attend high school, only to discover that no one in her family knew the actual day of her birth. It's hard to believe at first, but after a few pages it becomes clear that this little vignette is downright quaint compared to the other realities of her childhood. Her mother works as a midwife and eventually becomes renowned (and wealthy) on the reputation of her natural remedies. Adolescent Tara assists with the births, when she's not helping her father at the other family business, a scrap yard. The stories of the mortal danger this work poses to her and her older brothers are terrifying. There's definitely a Glass Castle element of "how can they possibly survive this?" But they do. And flying sheet metal becomes least of Tara's concerns when her older brother, Shawn, begins abusing her. The description of his attacks is harrowing; many times he seems intent on killing her. With the help of another brother, Tyler, she decides she needs to get out, and embarks on an unbelievable journey that takes her to BYU, then to Cambridge on a Gates scholarship, where she eventually moves on to complete her PhD. The survivor story aspect is amazing, but I found myself more intrigued by Westover's exploration of domestic abuse and mental illness. At what point do you sever ties, even when you know it means you're cutting yourself off from the only home you've ever known? What does it take to make the decision that's best for you, even when the result is permanent alienation? Westover's insight, honesty, and courage in finding the answers to these questions are what make this memoir so piercing and compelling.
39. The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives Edited by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Essays)
When I read the review of this wonderful collection of essays on the refugee experience in the Sunday Star Tribune last month, I ordered it immediately. It is my firm conviction that the refugee/immigration crisis is the defining humanitarian issue of our times and that history will judge us by our response to it (right now, we're not looking too good). The slim book comprises more than a dozen essays by and about people who have been displaced by persecution, armed conflict, or other conditions making their emigration a matter of survival. Nguyen, whose debut novel The Sympathizer won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, introduces the collection by describing the refugee experience as one defined by loss – of homes, loved ones, identities – and the essays all echo that theme in one way or another. My favorite line comes from an essay by Vu Tran titled "Refugees and Exiles": "Maybe as with all of us the country which is our true home is the idllic rose-tinted land of our own childhood, from which we are always exiles". The voices in this collection combine to represent not merely the undeniable humanity of people who've been displaced, but also their fundamental right to citizenship and identity. Listening to them is a vital step toward expanding inclusion and fulfilling the obligation of our own humanity.
40. The Devil's Highway: A True Story by Luis Alberto Urrea (Nonfiction)
This book was one of the new choices for our A.P. Language and Composition summer homework assignment this year, so I figured I'd better read it before the kids did. While Devil's Highway was a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction, Luis Alberto Urrea is perhaps better known (and lauded) for his fiction, a style that informs this gripping true story of a group of migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border in 2001. To do so, they have to survive a vast and unforgiving wasteland known as Devil's Highway, where the excessive heat and lack of water pose deadly threats to anyone brave or desperate enough to attempt the journey. This book tells the heartbreaking story of 26 men who walked the Devil's Highway together. Only 12 survived. Urrea documents their stories, as well as those of the Border Patrol agents who understand that these people are only guilty of trying to make a better life for their families back home. His extensive research is evident in this ambitious work of investigative journalism, told in a style evocative of Tom Wolfe. His use of second person makes the descriptions of the harsh terrain and effects of heat on the body particularly horrifying. And while Urrea's focus is primarily on the tragic story of the Yuma 14 (the men who died, named for their eventual destination), he makes it clear that they are not unique. Thousands of migrants have died attempting this journey over the years. No matter where you stand on immigration, it would be difficult to come away from this book without the conviction that reforming this broken system is a moral imperative.
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Nineteen year-old Kazik, prisoner 918, in Auschwitz.
In Podcast 270 I tell the story of Kazimierz Piechowski, or Kazik, who grew up as a Boy Scout in Tczew on the border of Poland and Germany. When the Nazis invaded in 1939 Kazik learned the true meaning of the Scout motto.
This article from the Guardian relates Kazik's 2011 visit to London's Baden-Powell House where he met with British Scouts.
Kazik and Katy at the monument to fallen Scouts in the municipal park in Tczew Poland.
The Left Handshake, a history of Scouts in occupied countries during World War II, is a great read!


Low-income boys appeared to get the most short-term benefit, researchers said.
Teaching parents to switch channels from violent shows to educational TV can improve preschoolers' behavior, even without getting them to watch less, a study found.
The results were modest and faded over time, but they might hold promise for finding ways to help young children avoid aggressive, violent behavior, the study's authors and other doctors said.
"It's not just about turning off the television. It's about changing the channel. What children watch is as important as how much they watch," said lead author Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician and researcher at Seattle Children's Research Institute.
The research was to be published online Feb. 18 by the journal Pediatrics.
The study involved 565 Seattle parents, who periodically filled out TV-watching diaries and questionnaires measuring their child's behavior.
"That's important because they are at the greatest risk, both for being perpetrators of aggression in real life, but also being victims of aggression," Christakis said.


The first Birmingham Photographic Society was founded in October 1856. Membership was universally available to men and women. Members of the society contributed greatly to the advance in photographic knowledge and techniques and were responsible for many important advances in photographic processes.
Meetings consisted of technical talks, showcases of new methods and advances in photography, critiques on ongoing and new processes, discussions around developing and printing methods and information on events and exhibitions where members could showcase work. It also provided a social and networking opportunity. Sir Benjamin Stone and William Jerome Harrison advocated the formation of a special group to undertake Record and Survey Photography resulting in the formation, in 1889, of the Warwickshire Photographic Survey. Survey photography played an important role within the work of the Society, and laid the foundations for the national Photographic Record Association established by Stone in 1897.
In 1905 the society started producing a regular journal consisting of a list of members, articles on photography, events, exhibitions and outings and general information relating to the society.
In 1986 the BPS merged with Hall Green Photographic Society to form Birmingham and Hall Green Photographic Society.
The Collection consists of photographs from c1850 to 1980 including work by Charles Pumphrey, P.T Deakin, J.C Batkin, M. O. Dell, William Archer Clarke, Harold Baker, Bernard Moore, F. M. Sutcliffe, J. Cruwys Richards, E.A Beirman, Sir Benjamin Stone and Roy Thornton amongst others.
The collection is stored under the reference MS 2507. Material in the collection includes daguerrotypes, collodion positives, albumen prints, stereographs, carbon, gum platinum, bromoil and gelatin silver prints, lantern slides, annual reports, exhibition catalogues, minute books, medals and other ephemera. The department also holds a collection of the Society's Annual Reports, Exhibition Catalogues and Journals.
Enquires to view this material should be made through Archives and Collections.
Photographers on a Birmingham Photographic Society outing: MS 2507/4/3/1/1.


This time we go to modern age. Break of the century at New England farm.
I was trying to make a proper fall atmospehere and tense feeling.
Thanks to wilco for inspiration.
Holy, epically wondrous! This Majestic New England Farm Landscape is stunning and The Farm Kid Characters look incredible! The giant pumpkin, designs, expressions, poses, pumpkin patch, farmhouse, water tower, train, swingset, architecture, jack-o-lantern, lantern, terrain, decor, field, scarecrow, trees, leaves, grass, plant life, sky, clouds, wind, interactions, barn, power lines, mist, flow, movement, effects, outfits, gleam, atmosphere, hues, textures, realisticness, perspective, uniqueness, lighting, colors, style, and other details are also fascinating! Amazingly radical work!
I just had an eyegasm.
I LOOOOOVVEEE THE MOOD IN THIS!! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT.
thank you, need to expand my themes a bit.
Truly fascinating, a wonderful sense of late October, beautiful muted colors and intricate elements. It IS a bit tense, but it has a great sense of story behind it.
To know us better I take the chance to post a survey find on the jornal of a friends.
My username is given playing with my real name: E from Esther Ca from my surname and The from my name again.
The curious thing is that my name derives from the Assyrian goddess Ishtar and mean Stella.
Ishtar is also know like the goddess Hecate my favorite goddess.
As always your Halloween art is fantastic! I look forward to it every year. Thanks!
Beautiful. The lighting and fog are very well done. This makes you feel where they are.
And you succeeded !!! Excellent study of architecture, clothes and intriguing, quite unusual child pose, fixing passerby. The atmosphere and lighting as always at its best!
thank you. very nice to read such comments. I did spend some time on creating believable early 20century mood.
Magnificent work as always. The subject, the details, the light... everything is just perfect !
Thank You Rado! I look forward to your Treat every year!
Are those things on the ground pumpkins?


When installed on stairs, the laminate floor panels must be cut to match the stairs and glued to the sub-layer. Stair profiles (special floor profiles) are used for the edge/wall ends.
Are transition profiles necessary between rooms (in doors)?


I'm an incompetent Doctor, yes it's true.
If you become my patient, chances are I'll lose you.
My life is always up in smoke.
Because of the lawsuits, I'm broke.
I accidentally gave type O blood to a man who needed type B.
His family ordered their two dobermans to attack me.
They chewed on my face and ripped up my Armani suit.
Before the scars, I was actually cute.
When I operated on a man, I accidentally sewed a surgical instrument inside of him.
His family beat me with baseball bats when I told them.
Last week I operated on George Bush and I lost him too.
I thought people would be mad but instead they said "thank you".


Aug. 2, 2018 — The firm's International Trade group, working with Canada's in-house lawyers, achieved a big win for the government of Canada at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in a dispute over U.S. duties on Canadian exports of glossy paper.
On July 5, a WTO panel found that the U.S. Department of Commerce acted inconsistently with the Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Agreement in its countervailing duty determination on supercalendered paper from Canada. Supercalendered paper is used in glossy magazines, catalogues, corporate brochures and advertising inserts.
Canada filed the complaint in 2016, arguing that the U.S. made a number of errors in its determination that Canada was subsidizing its paper industry. The WTO panel found for Canada on virtually every count.
o Asking respondents to report all "other assistance" (an undefined term) and penalizing them if Commerce "discovered" an unreported government payment in a company's books or records, without providing respondents with the opportunity to prove that the unreported payment would not be actionable under countervailing duty law.
o Holding that general regulatory requirements were sufficient government involvement to make a privately owned electricity company's provision of electricity to producers countervailable.
o Imposition of countervailing duties on input products that were not used in the production of the product under investigation.
The ruling made headlines in Reuters, Law360 and other news outlets.
Joanne Osendarp led the HHR team, which included Lynn Kamarck, Alan Kashdan and Dan Witkowski.


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Democracy in Sports
MLS All-Star Fan Balloting Opens - neither Neagle, nor Martins listed
This year's MLS All Star Game will pit the best in the league against AS Roma on July 31st.
By Dave Clark@bedirthan Jun 10, 2013, 11:22am PDT
Share All sharing options for: MLS All-Star Fan Balloting Opens - neither Neagle, nor Martins listed
As usual the roster selection for MLS All-Star Game is different. The fans do pick XI players that make the roster, but then a combination of the coach (Peter Vermes of Sporting Kansas City) and Don Garber select the rest of the active roster. There will also later be an inactive roster named by the players so that a total of 32 players will get bonuses.
Today, th Fan XI vote opens and several Sounders are available for selection - Michael Gspurning, Djimi Traore, DeAndre Yedlin, Osvaldo Alonso, Mauro Rosales and Eddie Johnson are all there and arguments could be made for any of them to make the team.
Not on the list are Obafemi Martins and Lamar Neagle.
Rather than list every player in the league a list of 115 players selected by 30 members of the media. Every team has at least six reps on the list.
There is a way for those not on the online ballot to still make the roster due to fan support.
There are several ways for fans to vote the 115 players into the XI. There is no write-in this year.
1) Online at MLSsoccer.com: Vote for your starting lineup of 11 players, beginning June 10.
2) Via text message (SMS): Text an MLS player's last name to 22442, beginning June 10.
Each vote will count equally with those submitted online in determining the Fan XI.
Message and data rates may apply.
3) Via Twitter: From June 20-21; full details of Twitter voting will be released on MLSsoccer.com in the near future.
4) The AT&T MLS All-Star "In the Game" Challenge: From July 3 at 12 p.m. ET through July 10 at 3 p.m. ET
The top two forwards who have received the most votes after voting closes are removed from the eligible forward list. Voting for the AT&T MLS All-Star "In the Game" Forward will then take place using FIFA Soccer 13 Ultimate Team. Fans will be invited to play the game and score as many goals as possible with their favorite player among the remaining eligible forwards. Each goal scored will count as one vote. The player who tallies the most goals will be named to the final spot on the Fan XI.


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Century Properties tops off 5th Commonwealth tower in Quezon City
By Century Properties| 2019-06-28T07:34:36+00:00 August 13th, 2018|Corporate News|
Century Properties Group Inc., known for its industry-pushing real еstatе concepts, recently topped off Roxas West, the fifth residential tower at The Residences at Commonwealth in Quezon City.
The ceremony was led by the company's President and CEO Marco R. Antonio and was graced by Century Properties brand ambassador and long-time Century homeowner, Piolo Pascual. Officials from the company's various support teams were in attendance, including Century's Design and Innovation Group, Sales Group, Turnover Group, Property Management Group, and Communications Group.
"In Century we have dreamed of a community that will set a new benchmark for residential living in Quezon City – a beautiful vertical village that is safe, well-designed and teeming with unique amenities. Now here we are, halfway through our vision. We look forward to completing this project soon and we thank all our employees and unit owners for its success," Antonio said.
The Residences at Commonwealth by Century has been named as the Best Mid-End Condominium Development in Metro Manila at the 2018 Philippine Property Awards.
A sprawling eight-tower mid-rise community, the project enjoys a remarkable central location in Don Antonio Drive near the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and is very close to the future MRT 7 Don Antonio Station.
Its towers are all named after the Philippine presidents of the Commonwealth era. Osmeña West, Quezon North and Roxas East towers have been turned over, while Osmena East will open its doors in the fourth quarter. The rest of the towers are targeted for completion in the next 2 years.
"I've been a Century resident for six years; half of my career," Pascual said during the ceremony. "I live in a Century home and you could just feel the passion that they put into each development. It is inspiring to us homeowners."
The "uncommon" amenities and features of the Commonwealth project go beyond the basics to deliver enhanced living experiences. At the Clubhouse, there will be an arts and crafts studio, study and library, screening room, a cooking studio, and a rock and roll studio.
Toddlers also get their own space via the crèche (a nursery) and kindergarten. Adults can enjoy doing their fitness routines with the athletic boot camp, gym and dance studio.
Security is also a top-notch priority with surveillance cameras and 24/7 security personnel.
Visit www.Century-Properties.com and www.commonwealthbycentury.com for more details, call +63917 555 52 74 or email ask@century-properties.com.
From left: Century Properties' Project Architect Arch. Jayson Bautista, Design Manager Arch. Michi Brigino, Century Ambassador and homeowner Piolo Pascual, Century Properties President and CEO Marco R. Antonio, and VP for Operations Raul "Pax" Alvarez and Area Manager, Paul Ortiz from Century Project Management and Construction Corporation.
The completed Roxas East tower (left) and its lobby (right).
Ongoing works at the newly topped off Roxas West Tower
Roxas East (left) and Quirino East (right)
« Century Properties increases revenues by 40% Net income up by 10% to P490 million in 1H of 2018
Century Properties, Inc. inks US$1B deal with Israel's Globe Invest »


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Category: Game Inspection
I played a game: Bit Coin Millionaire part 2 – Meet the family
April 9, 2020 April 9, 2020 Game Inspection
I wanted to write only one post about Bit Coin Millionaire but when I started writing I got sidetracked when I discovered the connection between Game Design and behavioural psychology. We barely scratched the surface but It's not a subject that can be analysed in a blog spot anyway. Well, it's not like we have a few things to talk about in this post. Idle games, incremental games, appointment mechanics, retention, growth curves…. *sighs* we have a lot to talk about.
Games like Bit Coin Millionaire belong to a broad category of games called Idle Games. Adam Clare, in his blog post names them, "idle game is one that runs in real time in which the player advances by upgrading/building things. It's called idle because the browser-based games usually need to run in the background to work.".
As you can see all these concepts are relative new, there is no bibliography and definitions control phrases like "you build things" :P. To be honest, I prefer that from the neurochemical nonsense, they tried added with the Compulsion loop. Adam Clare went a step further ahead and calls them Incremental Games since "core game mechanic is literally incremental growth."
You will be surprised by how many games are under the Idle Games category. Clash of Clans, FarmVille are all employing principles of Idle Games. The core-loop usually is:
Spend all your money
Log out, return in a few hours.
Yeap, believe it or not this had idle-game principles embedded in it.
The thing with idle games is that most of the times they are not in the spotlight. Anthony Pecorella from Kongragate in his presentation about idle games had to dedicate a couple of power point pages to explain why he bothered making a 50 minute presentation about them. You can find the presentation itself here ( a very interesting read). Simon Perking when writing about them named his article "The rise of games you mostly don't play".
Both pure-idle games like BitCoin Millionaire and game with idle-like elements like FarmVille share some elements. Low pressure experience, constant positive growth and feedback. These elements are probably what makes these games appealing to the femail audience but… I am getting side-tracked again. Both games also have a rapid growth in costs and power/rewards which gives a sense of progress which can be psychologically fun and exciting.
Furthermore frequent check-ins can help shift up the progression curve. In both genres you get rewards when you are not logged in, but the grow linearly while the costs grow exponentially. An example of that is in clash of clans where the resource production follow an arithmetic progress of where , while the cost follows a geometric progress of . In order for the player to keep up, he must either login to raid other players or wait for longer periods of time. Same happens with bitcoin millionaire where you have some limited amount of profit while you are not playing, there are various mechanics that ensure that your main income comes during your game sessions.
You have to login constantly if you want to keep up!
Of course there are a few distinct differences. For example in pure idle games we have Presting. Essentially the player may decide to reset his game to gain a boost on his next play through. However, the most important difference I think is the lack of appointment mechanics. These are mechanics that reward the player when, for example, he logins once per day ( in a way he doesn't miss the appointment). Since the pure-idle games are more based on progress without interaction, a forced appointment mechanic, simply doesn't rhyme well. Perhaps this casual nature is also the reason why they have minimal social elements. They are there just to be open in other tab, not to bother us, until we want to. It is a game genre, that contrary to its close relatives, allows you to set your own pace. They are supposed to be something insignificant you do while working, studying or just chilling. As Extra Credit put it
"They scratch our multitasking itch. Idle games play to the need to use our minutes optimally. They are basically big Skinner Boxes, who play to our modern need for constant progress"
I played a game: BitCoin Billionaire
April 9, 2020 April 9, 2020 Game Inspection, Uncategorized
So I tried a cookie clicker called BitCoin Millionaire.
Coockie Clickers games are games well known for the addiction they cause for no apparent reason. People have tried to analyse it seriously on gamasutra , it has attracted the interest of popular websites like buzfeed and it is the source of various jokes.
Coockie Clickers are games with the most basic and elegant core-loops. Clicking on the screen gets you money, which allows you to buy items, which allows you to get more money. It sounds self-referencing doesn't it? It is. But then , if you think about it doesn't Diablo also have a very basic loop like that?
Kill monsters
Get stronger
Kill Stronger Monsters
Picture from the "Compulsion Loop explained" article by Joseph Kim
The fun comes from a sense of completion, progress and fulfillment we experience by completing these basic tasks. Video games further enhance this feelings with positive feedback, like an increase in score, sound, images anything to convince you that what you are doing is worth your time.
You have other factors weighting in , for example unique items that are hard to get by, which give the player social status in the virtual communities but this subject is so big that I am going to have to tackle with it in another post entirely. For now, I will stick to the basic reward loop.
All these are based on Skinner's box. Skinner's box is an experiment carried out by B.F Skinner and demonstrated that a mouse, or any lab rat, would decide to perform an action e.g to push a button if a reward was included. This is called operant conditioning. Interesting huh? What's more interesting is that the machine learning method of Reinforced Learning was based on this principle. It's funny how different fields tend to be connected. Most of the Game Design field is based on the principle of that reward cycle. If you are more interested in this subject, have a look at this 5-miinute video by extra credit:
Game Designers made an attempt to name this video-game variant of the Skinner Box the "Compulsion Loop", which is defined as
"Compulsion Loop: A habitual, designed chain of activities that will be repeated to gain a neurochemical reward: a feeling of pleasure and/or a relief from pain."
Bear in mind, this is nothing formal or official but it's quite practical and handy as a definition.
Now that we have gotten around our basic background we can now get back to our original subject. BitCoin Millionaire and Coockie Clicker's success initially makes no sense but if you think about it they are the quintessence of this Compulsory Loop and their success was not random at all. It's in this games that you can see the Skinner's Box principle applied in such a clean, and terrifying, way. I tried the game out of pure curiosity but in the end I got hooked for days. To that it helped the fact that you can play the game while watching a movie or listen to music. The constant tapping can have a surprisingly soothing effect. I was planning to analyze the game mechanics of BitCoin millionaire but once I started reading about this games I was surprised with the connections I found with the world of behavioral psychology and it affects Game Design in general. To anyone dealing with Game Design I suggest them to give it a shot. Even if you are not hooked you will be able to get a glimpse of the basic principles of Game Design in their most elegant form.


In this article I'm going to answer the following question: Can curses cast by malicious people affect us? I also share some pointers to be aware of when getting a reading. Read more here: link in bio! Have you had any experiences with curses or scams of this nature? Please share your comments below.
Life doesn't stay the same. It's not supposed to. You and I, we're constantly in bloom. And even when we know that a certain change is going to benefit us emotionally/physically/spiritually, we can still be stuck in fear. If you typically feel resistance to change (and let's be honest, who doesn't?) here are a few tips to help you shift your perspective and embrace change. 1) Start small: If we resist the small changes in our lives, the big changes will be much harder to deal with. Identify something little that needs to change and start there to build momentum. 2) Use affirmations: Find a mantra or affirmation to repeat to yourself when you're having a problem with letting go. Choose something that resonates, for example, "I surrender. Letting go is ok." 3.) Look at the big picture: A lot of things feel hugely impactful in the moment, but how will it matter in 5 years? Will you even remember it? Consider what positives the change might bring, and focus on new opportunities that could emerge.
Tarot answers revealed: Card 1 Accelerated Motion This card represents speed, flight, swift movement, hope, passion, and, above all, endings to delays. The conditions around you are perfect & appear to be rapidly heading in the direction of your goals and desires. Luck is on your side, and your enthusiasm is at an all-time high. Brace yourself as you finally witness the manifestation of what you've worked for and visualized.This is a call for initiative, but you should also ask yourself: Is there anything else in my life that I need to act on now? Be wise and take advantage of these ideal conditions. Now isn't the time for you to fight against the river of life – trust, have faith, and go with the flow. This strong current is taking you to a positive outcome and future. . Card 2 Destiny Good luck and fortune are now in your favor. A cycle of change, success, growth is imminent. Life ebbs and flows in its natural journey and the Destiny card signifies that good karma has come full circle, Lady Luck is pointing at you. Have confidence and believe you deserve to be happy. Opportunities are knocking at your door. Allow your problems to be replaced by solutions. Believe in Destiny as you let go of old issues. . Card 3 Transformation This card comes forward to remind you that the death of an old way of thinking and believing must occur before you can move forward on your new path. Transformation is all about the ebbs and flows of life. Nothing in this life remains motionless, accept this and opportunity will come to expand you in more ways then you can imagine! Allow transformation to carry you through the new beginnings that await you. . #tarot #pyschic #oracle #freereading #crystals #pickacard #comment #like #intuition #share #witch #witchcraft #divination #tarotreading #positiveenergy #love #tarotreader #purplegate #amythest #desertrose #oraclereadings #oracle #tarotthursday #tarotreadings #guidance #pyschictarot #johnholland #clarity * For full readings DM for inquirys ** .
⚡Flashy Lab-P⚡ All of these pieces are fully polished and have a cut base. I've selected super high quality A grade Labs with mega flash that covers the majority of the surface so get your sunglasses ready😎! 🌈🔮🌈🔮🌈🔮🌈🔮🌈🔮 Labradorite was originally found and mined in Labrador Canada! It's know as the stone of Magic and intuition. It holds protective and chakra balancing qualities because of its multicolored flash. A staple stone for any collection. Labradorite a excellent stone for kids because of its hand on interactive nature! Hope you enjoy these outdoor videos and don't mind the wind blowing too much 💨 Natural light is he key to showing off their beautiful flash also known as Labradoressence! 😏 ✨✨✨ This piece is going for $54. Be the first to comment SOLD to claim it. If you are a new buyer please also DM your email and zipcode!


COLONSAY: A Great Crested Grebe this morning feeding off Oronsay (Patrick Styles) – always a good record away from mainland Argyll and a first confirmed for Colonsay/Oronsay!
KINTYRE: On Gigha yesterday – highlights from David & Janet Jardine included: Grey Wagtail at the south pier, female Shoveler at West Tarbert, and 5 different Water Rails in marshes at Leim and Tarbert.
MID-ARGYLL: A Kingfisher at Loch Gilp this morning – also a 1CY Lesser Black Backed Gull there yesterday.
KINTYRE: Now 3 male Shoveler at Campbeltown Loch (were 2 on 28-29 Nov) – Eddie Maguire.


Are you searching for tips to help you with your claim? In case you are, then you may read below to find out how. You can even consider hiring an attorney for social security disability in Woodstock, IL. Most people see SSDI or social-security-disability-income as a retirement benefit option. However, it is half-true to consider as a means of getting your retirement benefits. Moreover, with such assumptions, people find it temptingly easy to apply and expect to find an early approval of claim. In fact, it is wrong to assume SSDI as retirement income plans that can get approved with less efforts. Further, before applying for it, one needs to go through many legal procedures to qualify.
The laws for claiming Social security disability in Woodstock, IL are much same as that for any other city in the USA. Moreover, you require assistance from attorney to assist you with the legal side of it. You may be aware that like any other claims, disability claims too require time to materialize and hence, it is equally important to follow all the procedures tactfully, as any deviation from the rules may invite extension in periods for claims to materialize. Without having attorney by your side, you might find it difficult to understand the legal terminologies. Moreover, it may increase the probabilities of getting your claim disapproved and hence, it is equally important to avoid such circumstances. In case, you are handling law matters for the first time, then you may simply heed to legal person such as an attorney to avoid common mistakes from occurring.
You may be aware that common mistakes may put you into jeopardy, as SSDI money is chief source of income for many meeting with disabilities. Moreover, any delays in raising up the claim amount may prove discouraging to you and in some way may affect your finances as well. In case you have any loans or credits to settle, then SSDI plays an important role in covering them. However, any delays occurred in materialization of the claim may attract unnecessary interests. However, by choosing to an attorney well ahead in time, you confirm over fruitful materialization of claim. Besides, handling the paperwork tend to be lot easier by choosing an attorney than doing it alone.
If you go by the data then it becomes evident that on an average nearly 70 to above 75 percent claim cases get rejected at first time of application. The data is shockingly true, as most people hold their beliefs thinking that materialization of disability is easier much like materialization of financial claims. However, stats show a different face of reality. It simply highlights the problems that people face with legal definitions and norms and end up with rejected claims. Moreover, it is interesting to note that 60 to 65 percent of rejected cases later turn out to materialize fruitfully. Hence, it becomes clear that most scenarios having rejected claims either lack familiarity with legal procedures or carry an incomplete knowledge to meet failures.


Wang discusses the ongoing 2018-2019 NBA Season and offers his personal predictions on team standings and individual player awards.
Appleton provides a list of the perfect science and nature themed date spots for the holiday season!
Okafor recommends some scents to help brighten your mood!
Azmat investigates the fine line of authentic minority experiences and misrepresentation in literature.
Jason gives pre-dents all they need to know in a comprehensive DAT study guide.
Wang discusses the six episode long Netflix Original series, Neo Yokio, and critiques its plot and dialogue. He comments on the the reviews that other critics have made on the series, and analyzes the comical and satirical aspects of the show.
Ovais reviews John Watts' Spiderman: Homecoming, comparing it to prior Spiderman films and discussing the movie's fresh teen-oriented content. In between traditional film criticism, Ovais focuses on Peter Parker's interaction with Tony Stark and addresses the themes of youth and coming-of-age.
Tran explores the human tendency to exist on autopilot, and questions whether this tendency can be categorized as good or bad within the pre-med mindset.
Rahul Tharoor details the pros and cons of balancing fluffy companions with the stresses of student life.
CNS student, Alexis Vu, discusses what the Trump Administration could mean for the scientific community.
Can you imagine the distance from Austin to Anchorage? Now can you imagine biking that distance? This is exactly what Texas 4000 does, all in effort to raise money and hope for people with cancer. Kong provides an insight to this organization through interviews and information.


The Imagine Peace Tower, constructed in 2007, is an artwork created by Yoko Ono which is dedicated to her work with John Lennon towards achieving world peace.
The lighting is annually held on October 9th until December 8th, these dates are the anniversaries of John Lennon´s birth and death respectively. The art piece has the phrase 'Imagine Peace' written in 24 different languages.
At 8pm the tower illuminates a powerful bright light high into the sky that appears differently depending on the weather – in a clear sky the light is a bright white pillar, but in rain or snow the light refracts into the colours of the rainbow.
The tower is also lit for other occasions throughout the year, such as Ono´s birthday on February 17th, Winter Solstice on December 21st – January 1st and the first week of spring to commemorate John and Yoko´s wedding anniversary and honeymoon.
The tower base can be found on the island of Viðey outside of Reykjavik Harbour on Kollafjörður bay but can be seen from vast distances when lit. The tower is to symbolise a reminder that peace and love is what connects all lives on Earth. If you wish to be involved, you can send your wish to the Imagine Peace Tower.