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Church-state questions raised over Thousand Oaks mayor, a pastor
Thousand Oaks mayor, a pastor, is denying accusations that he recently violated the First Amendment principle of separation between church and state.
Church-state questions raised over Thousand Oaks mayor, a pastor Thousand Oaks mayor, a pastor, is denying accusations that he recently violated the First Amendment principle of separation between church and state. Check out this story on vcstar.com: https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/communities/conejo-valley/2019/08/30/t-o-mayor-pastor-denies-he-violated-separation-church-and-state/2141782001/
Mike Harris, Ventura County Star Published 4:08 p.m. PT Aug. 30, 2019
Thousand Oaks mayor and pastor Rob McCoy is denying accusations that he recently violated the constitutional principle of church-state separation when his chapel hosted a conference on alternatives to public school education. (Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/ROB MCCOY)
Thousand Oaks mayor and pastor Rob McCoy is denying accusations that he recently violated the First Amendment principle of separation of church and state when his church hosted a conference on alternatives to public school education.
"Had I been in charge of the event, I do not believe I would have been in violation of the First Amendment," McCoy said in an interview Wednesday.
The accusations were leveled by a number of public speakers at Tuesday night's frequently boisterous City Council meeting.
"Pastor McCoy, your venture into public office these last four years has been a perpetual chipping away of the wall of separation between church and state," said Jon Cummings, co-founder of Indivisible Conejo, which identifies itself as a progressive group.
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"I believe you violated the public trust ... when you allowed yourself to be affiliated in any way with an event whose entire purpose was to render our community's public schools unacceptable to your flock and to other local residents and to lure parents away from our public schools," Cummings said.
Jean Kammerer voiced similar concerns.
"Elected officials have a duty to guard against behavior that blurs the line between government and religion," she said. "I am extremely fearful of those who would mix government and religion."
McCoy had plenty of supporters at Tuesday night's council meeting, including Don Hubbs, who said, "There's been some discussion in this community and churches all over the country about the role of churches and pastors in politics.
"And I maintain that the local church not only has the right, but also has the responsibility to help their members learn to apply biblical principles to every area of life," he said. "Even politically sensitive areas."
The comments by both McCoy's critics and supporters were frequently cheered and applauded by audience members.
The allegations against McCoy stem from an Aug. 10 conference held at Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park, where he is senior pastor. Called "Alternative Christian Education," the conference focused on such alternatives to public schools as private schools and home-schooling.
The conference was held as some parents of students in the Conejo Valley Unified School District have concerns about classroom instruction on gender identification and sexual health issues. Parents can pull their children from such classes.
"Feeling trapped and frustrated as your children and grandchildren are taught a progressive anti-God, anti-American pagan agenda in our local public schools?" a flier for the event, posted on the church's website, asked. "You are invited to this free conference to hear leading educators on the subject of public vs. Christian private and homeschooling education."
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In arguing that he had not violated the separation of church and state, McCoy noted that for starters, he didn't attend the conference.
"It was my birthday," he said Wednesday. "I was actually in Montana, I think. We do a number of events at the church that I never attend."
Furthermore, he said, he didn't personally approve the conference being held at his church.
Being a very busy mayor, he said, "I'm so not present at the management of the church that oftentimes these events are approved by other staff members.
"So the answer is no, I didn't personally approve it," he said.
But he would have, he said.
"And I would again," he said.
However, he would have changed the flier for the event.
"I don't like using the word 'pagan,'" he said. "I don't like bombastic, caustic statements. I don't see a place for them."
He said that when he spotted the flier on his church's website, he had it taken down.
The phrase "wall of separation between church and state" is not found in the U.S. Constitution. But it is widely interpreted, including by the courts, as the intent of the First Amendment's so-called "establishment" and "free exercise" clauses which state: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
The phrase has been traced to an 1802 letter by Founding Father Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut.
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Kapp Johnson, an ordained minister, a lawyer and the director of the Executive Skills for Church Leaders program at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, said he doesn't see any church and state separation issues arising from McCoy's Godspeak Calvary Chapel hosting the event.
"For there to be a violation of the separation of church and state, there must be government action," Johnson told The Star. "So is there government action here? From the facts you have provided, that does not appear to be the case."
Significantly, he said, the city did not provide official endorsement of or funding for the conference.
"Second, Rob McCoy is not endorsing the conference in his capacity as mayor," Johnson said.
Johnson said it is also significant that McCoy didn't attend the conference and that according to McCoy, he didn't personally approve his church hosting it.
"It appears that McCoy, if anything, was acting as the church's pastor," he said. "Even if he would allow it again, it is in his capacity as the pastor of the church and not the mayor of the city.
"Thus, my conclusion is that I don't see any church-state issues here," Johnson said.
Another McCoy supporter who spoke at Tuesday night's council meeting was Bob Lee, who McCoy said was the organizer of the Aug. 10 conference.
"The Constitution, the First Amendment, guarantees the government will make no law that will establish universal religion in our country," Lee said. "No. 2, it guarantees that all people ... can worship as they see fit."
Lee did not respond to an email from The Star seeking further comment.
Mike Harris covers the East County cities of Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, as well as transportation countywide. You can contact him at mike.harris@vcstar.com or 805-437-0323.
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Party Pop-Up Thinlits Dies- You need this bundle!
I wanted to share with you one of my club cards that I came up with this month for my monthly clubs. The ladies all loved this card, and it's not just for birthdays! I said it in my title, but honestly- these dies are a GAME Changer in card making! Want to step up the inside of your cards? This is your ticket!
I love to read all your comments, so please leave me a comment! I'd love to hear what you think.
thanks so much for visiting my blog today, I hope you have a wonderful day!
Simply fabulous! What a surprise inside!


Five friends and artists who all go to the Wellington Buddhist Centre in New Zealand have just been having their second exhibition together. The artists are: Kathleen Beeler, Amalaratna, David Litchfield, Anne Munz and Achalamuni (Donald Woolford).
The name they have used for their exhibition, Dharma-Rama, is a made up one.
Satyalila and Prajnamati have put together A Triratna Blake Reader, offering a friendly way in to understanding Blake and the light he can shed on Bhante's presentation of the Dharma.
It begins with Bhante's essay 'Buddhism and William Blake' first published in the heyday of the 'Blake era' around the London Buddhist Centre. Blake was 'in the air' just as he's been around 'in the DNA' of Bhante's approach to the Dharma.
LAUNCH EVENING: 16th February 7.30 prompt in Festival Theatre, Cambridge Buddhist Centre.
Each season the London Buddhist Centre publishes a wonderful magazine and programme packed full of great articles, poems, images and more.
In this edition we are treated to a celebration of the children and families in the Sangha, paintings by Kusalasara, a poem by Vishvantara, a cartoon strip on hindrances to meditation, banker-turned-Buddhist fundraiser Amalavajra, from FutureDharma Fund, on love and money, and music maker Tim Exile features in the latest instalment of Diary of a London Buddhist.
Words from the Ratnagunasamchayagatha, a Perfection of Wisdom text.


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DRUG SAFETY – THE ELEVENTH HOUR IS NOW!
version 14 years ago
By Byron J. Richards, CCN
On February 13, 2007 the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations opened hearings lambasting the FDA regarding the safety of drugs. The opening statement by Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) set the tone, "It is clear … that the FDA is badly broken. I expect that before we finish this investigation, which is just getting underway, we will discover whether the problems we have found are due to the work of scoundrels, irrational penny-pinching, or because the doors to the FDA "hen house" have been thrown open to foxes. It may be a combination of all three."
Testimony given on February 13th and 14th should have curdled the blood of Americans from coast to coast. The mainstream media, which receives several billion dollars a year in advertising income from Big Pharma, failed to report on the bone-chilling testimony that plainly depicts FDA fraud and collusion that is allowing thousands of our citizens to die at the hands of Big Pharma profiteering. Testimony by Charles Grassley (R-IA) paints a picture of a rogue agency with near complete disregard for the law, an agency intentionally exposing Americans to known peril while actively covering the trail and working in partnership with Big Pharma.
Devastating evidence is presented by scientists and researchers showing that the FDA approved a dangerous antibiotic (Ketek), while knowing that the research supporting its safety was fraudulent and that there was no evidence the antibiotic was even effective. In fact, the FDA was well informed that the drug could cause serious liver damage resulting in death, and that they would be exposing millions of adults and children to the drug. The testimony exposes the inner workings of the FDA; as a matter of routine its scientists are threatened and their warnings are ignored. It is crystal clear from the testimony that the Ketek example is one of many FDA flagrant violations of the public trust, a common theme that reveals FDA management and Big Pharma are in fact operating as one team. On February 12, 2007 the FDA issued a press release stating that Ketek was no longer approved for common bacterial sinus and bronchial infections. The only reason the FDA issued this warning is because of the Congressional inquiry into their cover-up of criminal behavior, not because they had any interest at all in protecting the public.
Dr. David Graham, the FDA employee/whistleblower that is a constant thorn in the side of Big Pharma, testified and stated that Eli Lilly's antipsychotic drug Zyprexa needs a thorough Congressional investigation. The drug is known to cause obesity and diabetes, is approved only for adult schizophrenics with serious mental disease, and is being paid for mostly by taxpayer-funded programs. The drug accounts for 28% of Eli Lilly sales, leading numerous people to wonder why the FDA sits by and allows billions of dollars of Zyprexa to be prescribed for children with mild behavioral issues, when it was never approved for use in children and safety for children is completely unknown.
The FDA Sits in Judgment on Life and Death
It comes as a surprise for many Americans that over 100,000 deaths per year and over 3 million serious injuries are caused by drugs – more often than not by the never disclosed or even expected side effects of the drugs. These estimates are conservative, based on official reporting. With reckless abandon, like a drunk driver swerving out-of-control, the FDA has betrayed the public trust and made repeated decisions that expose Americans to unnecessary risk of death and injury.
Naively, most Americans think the FDA is protecting them from harm. A wake-up call occurred last year when the Institute of Medicine released their long awaited federally-funded report on the FDA and drug safety. After extensively interviewing numerous FDA employees, the report stated that the FDA has a dysfunctional organizational culture wherein the FDA and Big Pharma hide relevant safety data from the public. A report earlier in the year found the FDA could not even keep track of which drugs were on the market, let alone make certain any follow up was done to ensure safety of those drugs. To the contrary, the FDA is doing everything in its power to make sure a citizen cannot sue in state court when a drug injures or kills – actively working against citizen's rights.
The FDA responds to its critics by saying it needs more money. Critics respond by saying more money is not the answer; it is the executive decision-making process within the FDA that is hopelessly broken. The reality is that the FDA, if given more money, would do little more than attack competition to drug companies (alternative health), forge ahead with its illegal Trilateral Cooperation Charter with Mexico and Canada, and forward its clearly stated agenda of bringing newer and riskier drugs to the market faster with even less testing.
Under a bizarre law enacted in 1992 known as PDUFA (Prescription Drug User Fee Act) the FDA receives over half the money it needs for new drug approvals from Big Pharma itself – a system more akin to Big Pharma paying the mob for protection than the FDA ensuring drug safety for the public. This law must be renewed later this year and already the FDA is asking for even larger sums of money from Big Pharma. The fox is indeed buying the keys to the henhouse. Life and death hang in the balance.
The FDA is Now Headed by a Biotech Sales Rep
Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach is now the permanent head of the FDA, voted in by the Senate during the lame duck session. His extensive financial connections to biotech companies and the cancer industry were never investigated. Senators, mostly under the spell of Big Pharma's wallet, simply rubber stamped his approval. One Senator, Charles Grassley (R-IA), had the courage to speak up. His Senate confirmation testimony regarding Andrew von Eschenbach on December 7, 2006 was accurate, frank, and to the point:
"People ought to be ashamed of saying Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach has done a superb job in the position he is currently occupying [acting head of the FDA].…That is an insult….In my interactions with the Department of Health and Human Services and the FDA these last 8 months, I have seen a complete and utter disrespect for congressional authority and hence the law.…This body [the Senate] should not walk hand in hand with the executive branch and sit idly by as instances of abuse and fraud continue to endanger the health and safety of American people…Under Dr. Von Eschenbach, the FDA has not only avoided transparency, it also has threatened those who are trying to desperately expose the truth…."
Andrew von Eschenbach wants to make sure that no American can ever sue a drug company in state court. He wants these laws in place because he plans to turn a whole new array of dangerous biotech drugs loose on the American public, while at the same time turning the FDA into a drug development company – providing software that guides the development of all new biotech drugs. If Americans could sue when they are injured, they'd be suing the FDA. It is time for Americans to wake up.
Politics – Not as Usual
A major battle is brewing in the House and Senate over the future of the FDA. The battle lines do not split down traditional Republican and Democratic lines. The Congressional leaders on the good side are those who realize the insanity of Americans being needlessly killed by drugs and have the guts to stand up to the Big Pharma money lobby and take action in the face of extreme vested interests and the personal threat to re-election security.
Leaders on the other side are beholden to the Big Pharma golden idol and have track records so entrenched with Big Pharma profiteering that they should be considered enablers and in some cases co-conspirators in the FDA/Big Pharma crimes. Topping this list are Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), followed by numerous Congressional sheeple who will do anything to maintain their positions of power – based in no small part on the flow of money coming to their campaign coffers from Big Pharma.
It is true that the Republican leadership of the last six years has stalled all meaningful attempts at FDA reform. However, it should be pointed out that a Republican (Charles Grassley of Iowa), standing on true conservative values, is spearheading the campaign for meaningful FDA reform.
What Can Americans Do
Americans must demand an independent office within the FDA to monitor drug safety. Such a bill has been introduced by Senator Grassley and deserves the support of all Americans. S.468 (also HR 788), the Food and Drug Administration Safety Act of 2007, would create an independent office within the FDA to monitor the ongoing safety of drugs. No other solution will work. This is the type of legislation that Big Pharma and the current FDA management deplore.
Without major public support it is highly unlikely that the Grassley bill will even get a hearing. This is because the Senate committee in charge of health legislation, known as the HELP committee (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions) is controlled by Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Mike Enzi (R-WY). Kennedy and Enzi have been negotiating with Big Pharma and the FDA for over a year. Last year they used the issue of drug safety as a political ploy to present a Trojan Horse bill (S 3807: Enhancing Drug Safety and Innovation Act of 2006.) Never has a name been more misleading. It should have been called "Exposure of Americans to Risky Medications and Creation of a New FDA Drug Company Act of 2006." This bill would not have stopped any of the drug scandals of the past five years and would actually act to create a drug company within the FDA! Kennedy and Enzi are planning to reintroduce an updated version of their fake drug safety bill, which they can readily bring to the floor of the Senate for a vote.
Only an independent office within the FDA can effectively monitor drug safety. Hundreds of thousands of American lives are at stake and the health of millions hangs in the balance. Rome is burning. Can the voice of the people be heard over the wallet of Big Pharma – a bank roll that is ironically funded by U.S. taxpayer and U.S. corporate dollars? Shall we fund our own demise or shall we stand and be heard?
© 2007 Truth in Wellness, LLC – All Rights Reserved
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Byron J. Richards, Founder/Director of Wellness Resources, is a Board-Certified Clinical Nutritionist and nationally-renowned health expert, radio personality, educator, and author. Listen to him live every Tuesday evening at 8 P.M. (CST) on TruthInWellnessRadio.
Richards encourages individuals to take charge of their health, stand up for their health rights, and not blindly succumb to propaganda from the vested-interests who profit from keeping Americans sick. Author of Mastering Leptin, the Leptin Diet, and Fight for Your Health, Richards is now joining forces with health freedom leaders in the U.S. and throughout the world. Visit his health blog for up to date happenings. www.truthinwellness.com
As founder of Wellness Resources, Inc. of Minneapolis, MN (since 1985), he has personally developed 75 unique nutraceutical-grade nutritional formulas. www.wellnessresources.com
Charter Member of the International and American Associations of Clinical Nutritionists (IAACN) (since 1991) Richards has presented hundreds of educational classes to health professionals and individuals who want to take charge of their health!
E-mail: byron@truthinwellness.com
Yet More Evidence The Oklahoma City Bombing Was An Inside Job
Sat Feb 24 , 2007
Attorney: Sealed Documents Indicate OKC Inside Job FBI, defense team files identify government informants directing McVeigh Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones Prison Planet Friday, February 23, 2007 The attorney who was able to obtain a declaration from Terry Nichols fingering an FBI agent as directing Timothy McVeigh says that […]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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FRANK BACE, 57, EVANSTON TEACHER
Kenan HeiseCHICAGO TRIBUNE
Frank Bace, 57, a special education teacher at Evanston Township High School for more than 20 years, also taught in the school`s adult education program.
Mass for Mr. Bace, an Evanston resident, will be said 10 a.m. Saturday in St. Athanasius Catholic Church, 1615 Lincoln St., Evanston. He died Tuesday in Evanston Hospital.
''He had a gift for teaching a person whatever his or her ability,'' said Ann Holmstrom, one of his colleagues. ''Some can teach high-level students, and others, people at a low level of abilities. He could teach at all levels: the special students, kids on the football field and the people in adult education.''
Mr. Bace, who received a master`s degree from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., helped design the special education program at a Wayne, N.J., high school that became the state`s model. He taught at Noyes Elementary School in Evanston for a year before joining the faculty of Evanston Township High School in 1964.
At the high school he coached the freshman B football team for 20 years. When the school initiated an adult and community education program in the late 1960s, he became part of it and remained an instructor in the evening program until his death.
From 1975 to 1980 Mr. Bace was chairman and coordinator of the school department that served special education students. He had served as math and computer teacher for the school`s special students since 1980.
''He was very, very successful in reaching out to special students and making them feel part of the system,'' said a fellow teacher, Ed O`Reilly.
''He was a sincere person. There was no hype in this man.''
Survivors include his wife, Sylvia; two sons, Matthew and Joseph; a daughter, Christine; three sisters, Irene Wika, Helen Makarewicz and Alberta Bohenick; and a brother, Joseph.


This week I have been thinking about Christmas Memories and what it meant to me growing up. I can only remember a few gifts I got growing up but what I remember more are the Christmas traditions we had.
Christmas Eve growing up we used to go around to the Uncles and Aunts houses and gather as a family and I always looked forward to going to each house and eating food. We would always end up at my grandparent's house last after everyone had gone to church, but growing up Catholic we usually didn't stay long because as we got older we went to Midnight mass! I loved to just being with my family especially at that time of year.
Christmas Day we would get up early and open gifts and then go to my grandparent's house for dinner followed by sometimes visiting the Uncles and Aunts which was always so nice to do.
Then I always looked forward to after Christmas because we would go to my Aunt Susie's house where we celebrated Christmas with my mom's side of the family. We would play games, eat lots of food and open gifts.


You may remember, last year, that we ran a huge horror prize giveaway. The competition ran until February, and now it is time to start unveiling the winners. First up is the apocalyptic Hater trilogy by David Moody. The lucky winner of this signed edition is A W Marsden. Congratulations from everyone here at This Is Horror.
Check back here tomorrow to find out if you're a winner as we unveil more prize winners.


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scholastic chess club [ edit ]
Scholastic chess involvement has been steadily growing in the U.S. in recent years, as is evidenced by the increasing membership numbers of school-aged children in the United States Chess Federation. The number of student participants in national scholastic chess tournaments has been steadily climbing, as is best evidenced by the huge growth of the major national championship, known as the National Scholastic Chess CHampionships. The events held in this tournament are traditionally a k-6 (elementary school) championship, k-8 (middle school) championship, k-9 (junior high) championship, and k-12 (high school) championship. Normally some of these events will be held in different locations at different times, to allow participation in multiple events. However, twice before (and in the upcoming 2005 school year) there has been a single event known as the "Supernationals," where all events are held in one place simultaneously. The previous two Supernational events have shown huge participation numbers, which has gone a long way toward increasing interest in chess in young people in the U.S., at the expense of creating an atmosphere of bedlam (at least as far as parents are concernced). The tournament scenes from the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer, while an overexaggeration of the truth, does a fairly accurate job of capturing the intensity and even slight insanity of parents, family members, and coaches when it comes to such huge events. Of course, with the exception of the few students competing at the top level, most participants are there to make friends, learn new skills, and simply have a good time. With events held in various locations across the U.S., such events provide students with travel opportunities that are rarely afforded to so many students of such varied ages.
As far as the competition and awards are concerned, there are both team and individual awards at each grade and skill level. This format encourages players of all levels to compete for trophies and awards against opponents of similar playing ability. Generally, the tournament consists of seven rounds (games) spread over 3 days, where players with the same score coming into that round are paired against each other. With one point for a win, half a point for a draw, and zero points for a loss, the players with the highest individual score after seven rounds are ranked for individual awards. In the team competition, the four highest scoring players from a particular school or club sum their scores for an overall team score. With so many scoring possibilities based on many individual outcomes, the team event usually causes the most discussion, planning and anticipation between coaches, players, and parents. Previous repeat winnes of the team events for the different age groups include the J.R. Masterman School, from Philadelphia, PA, Stuyvesant High School, from New York, NY, and The Shelby School, from Payson, AZ.
categories: myChess-Wiki | Chess players | Henry Atkins | F�d�ration Internationale des �checs | United States Chess Federation | scholastic chess club
This article is based on the article scholastic chess club from the free encyclopaedia Wikipedia and stands under the GNU-Licence for free documentation. In the Wikipedia a list of the authors is available.
4 chessplayers online and 1 in the chat! Games are being played: 202, Challenges: 3, Halfmoves up to now: 6.668.582


Qual360 is the only international congress event to specialize in qualitative market research. At this year's congress in Berlin, the international qualitative research scene again showed itself from its innovative side – for example with papers on the integration of classic focus groups and online interviewing in a compact session, the use of improvisational theatre techniques for workshops or the Sceno Play Test for market research with children (contribution of concept m).
concept m also had the honour to invite the participants who already arrived on the evening before the conference to a get-together reception in the AlltagsStudio. This allowed insights to be given into the research settings of the AlltagsStudio, which have been used with success over the past 5 years. It was a sociable evening with exciting conversations and rich sharing of experiences.


The Scope of Regulation – Can the Boundaries Be Stretched?
Andrew Charnock, Chief Executive and Registrar at the Occupational Therapy Board of New Zealand, looks at the factors that conform or restrict the governance scope and practice of regulation. He considers the questions of whether regulatory legislation is too cumbersome for regulation today and whether regulators should align their strategies around their country's major strategies, for example, health regulators alignment with health and health workforce strategies. This podcast episode is a lead-up to a session at CLEAR's Regional Symposium, November 29-30, 2018 in Wellington, New Zealand.


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HBO's Post-Game of Thrones Blueprint: No Insecure, Westworld Until 2020
The network is playing the waiting game with some of its most popular shows.
By Yohana Desta
Courtesy of HBO.
Winter is coming for HBO. For the last few years, many have wondered how the prestige network will pivot after Game of Thrones comes to an end with its eighth and final season. A couple possibilities have popped up: shows like Westworld and the upcoming Watchmen might fill the genre gap; Thrones spin-offs could retain all those millions of fantasy fans.
Now, HBO programming chief Casey Bloys and new WarnerMedia Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt have shared a more detailed blueprint of the network's post-Thrones plans in a handful of new interviews. The hasty summary? HBO is front-loading the rest of 2019 with new shows, like comic-book adaptation Watchmen, the Zendaya vehicle Euphoria (produced by Drake, on his Hollywood flow), and the fantasy adaptation His Dark Materials. Other shows in 2019 include a new season of the reliable comedy Silicon Valley (though it may be that show's last), the drama Succession, and Big Little Lies Season 2.
But all that content also means some shows have to be put on hold. Specifically, the network will keep new seasons of hits like Westworld and Insecure in its back pocket until 2020. The latter move comes, in part, because that show's co-creator, writer, and star, Issa Rae, has been busy with other projects.
"Issa became a big movie star!" Bloys told Vulture. "We're not the first place to deal with this, but when you're in business with very creative and talented people, there's a lot more opportunities for people to do things. Issa, I think, partly wanted a break to come back to it fresh. And I will say, it wasn't exactly random that we ended up [scheduling the show] in the spring, right before Emmys, so that the show should get the Emmy love that it has deserved."
In the interview, both Bloys and Greenblatt were optimistic about the challenge of filling the Thrones void. Their strategy is talent-forward, Greenblatt noted. "The list of talent is just incredible," he said, referring to stars with upcoming shows on the network. "Our job is to keep those things coming, month after month after month. If one of them emerges into another Game of Thrones, we'll be thrilled about that. But you never know when that's going to happen, and it's oftentimes the show you least expect. We're bulking up in the right way, which is more volume, but not excessive."
In an interview with Deadline, Bloys noted that having more shows is part of his strategy, though the network is also trying to be cautious about having too much, too quickly for the streaming wars ahead.
"We're trying to do good shows, not necessarily hit a number, and I think a little bit of determining that number will be shows that we think are worthy, and can we deliver to a creator the experience that people have come to expect working at HBO? We don't want to lose that," he said. "We don't want the volume to get too high that people feel like they're lost in the shuffle."
This has long been the network's strategy, as one former HBO executive told Vanity Fair in 2018. "You can't turn HBO into a superstore overnight," they said. HBO projects "take a very, very long time to gestate and to get right . . . If they really do want to fill the schedule it will take two years—at least—of serious, hardcore, amped-up development to get material that's right."
In the meantime, the pilot for the first Thrones spin-off, starring Naomi Watts, will shoot in June, though no release date has been set. When asked by Vulture if 2020 was a possibility for the series, Bloys demurred. We'll just have to wait.
— Game of recaps: Easter eggs, references, summaries, reunions, title-sequence-giveaways, and more from the epic first episode
— The demons, drugs, philandering, mutual love, and masterpieces that endured in Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon's unconventional relationship
— Review: Why Our Planet should be mandatory viewing
— Loughlin and Huffman: A tale of two P.R. strategies
Looking for more? Sign up for our daily Hollywood newsletter and never miss a story.
Game of Thrones Transformations: Season 1 to Season 8
Left, from AF archive/Alamy; right, courtesy of HBO.
Maisie Williams's Arya has grown from spunky tomboy to deadly assassin.
Yohana Desta is a staff writer at Vanity Fair.
This Is Why Game of Thrones Leaked Early on DirecTV
After everything HBO went through to protect Season 8 . . .
Game of Thrones Season 8 Premiere Incinerates Old Ratings Records
Winter is here, and it's popular.
By Laura Bradley
Game of Thrones: What's Going on with Cersei's Pregnancy?
The Season 8 premiere sends some mixed messages.
By Joanna Robinson


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New Balance store owners juggle a busy family life with the challenges of growing their business.
David and Molly Jackson have two older sons and two younger daughters. A matched set. The youngest girl was born just 18 months ago.
"Molly calls it our 'new balance,'" David says, laughing. "I was like, 'Are you serious? Are you kidding?'"
The joke, of course, is that the Jacksons own two New Balance sneaker stores in Sarasota, with another one set to open in Orlando later this year. Their whole lives are about balancing the responsibilities of raising a family and growing a business.
Family life is a giddy blur of school -- Phillippi Shores Elementary School -- and extracurricular activities. The oldest son is a member of a youth running group called the Shamrockers. The youngest daughter is the family mascot.
At the family business, sales are up, even in a down economy. The Jacksons sponsor several local races, including the Ringling Bridge Run. They work closely with the YMCA and the Manasota Track Club, along with several school and nonprofit groups.
In 2010, the Jacksons received a chairman's award from New Balance as store owners who excel at training, education and community outreach.
"They're wonderful ambassadors for us," says Stephanie Smith, the company's vice president of North American retail sales. "Their perspective, getting involved in the community, has helped them become successful. They have their own racing team. They hold races in the community. They've been very active in the Susan G. Komen Race For the Cure."
The Jacksons try to take this kind of praise in stride, with something like a cheerful modesty.
David remembers how he botched the store inventory their first year in business. Molly laughs about how far they've come.
"We thought we knew it all, but to this day, we learn something every day," she says. "It's not rocket science, but there's a lot to it."
David, 41, is the earnest shoe guy with the runner's watch, neat haircut and tucked-in shirt. As a trained pedorthist, he can and will talk sizes, fits and trends all day long.
When the Jacksons first opened a New Balance store, he opened the place, closed the place and did everything in between. Now he supervises 19 employees, but still puts in hours on the sales floor.
Molly, also 41, is the charming marketer with the wide smile and colorful scarves. When she talks with people, even people she's just met, she likes to reach over and touch their arm or shoulder.
Last year, next door to the New Balance store on Stickney Point Road, she opened Molly's! -- A Chic & Unique Boutique. The store offers curved sofas, sleek light fixtures and a colorful wall of Vera Bradley handbags.
The Jacksons opened the boutique before learning of the Orlando opportunity with New Balance, but they're not second-guessing the decision.
"The stars seemed to be in alignment," Molly says. "We said, 'Let's take the plunge.'"
Molly was born in Cleveland, but she grew up on what she describes as the paradise of Longboat Key.
"Can you imagine anything better?" she asks. "I played a lot of sports, tennis and volleyball. We'd spend the weekends boating, and had a lot of time at the beach."
She graduated from Cardinal Mooney High School in 1988. In Sarasota business and society, she runs into classmates all the time.
David was born in Pennsylvania, but his family moved to Atlanta when he was 6 years old -- too late for him to acquire the Southern drawl spoken by most of his friends. In high school, he competed in the pole vault and the mile run.
The Jacksons met at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C.
"He was KA; I was Phi Mu," Molly says. "We had a good time doing the Greek thing at Western."
Molly breezed through college, starting with First Union Bank right after graduation. David struggled in what he jokingly calls "the six-year plan," finally graduating in sports management in 1993.
He got a job selling shoes and became a New Balance field merchandising rep. When he was offered the state of Florida as a territory, the company suggested Orlando, but allowed him to work out of his wife's hometown.
That meant a homecoming in Sarasota.
Molly began managing a First Union branch on St. Armands Circle. Soon she moved up to corporate and private banking, working with wealthy business leaders and prominent local foundations.
After her first child was born, Molly went back to work, but she says her heart was not in it any more. She became a stay-at-home mom. With her mother and sisters, she started a Gulf Gate consignment store called The Snappy Turtle.
In 2004, David got the opportunity to open a New Balance store in Sarasota.
"Nobody really had the brand," he says. "I knew from the start it would work."
Soon, New Balance banners began showing up at local races. The store started sponsoring local runners. Customers followed.
Brand loyalty started with the owner.
"I'm a die-hard," David says. "Since 1994, I've never worn any other athletic shoe on my feet."
Tom Flanagan, president of the Manasota Track Club, likes to tease Molly Jackson when they attend the same meetings.
"I'll sit there, cross my legs, and I'm wearing ASICS shoes," he says, laughing. "I know it drives her crazy, that the president of the track club doesn't wear New Balance."
Flanagan can afford to joke with the Jacksons. They have worked closely over the last six years.
"They're incredible partners for Sarasota," he says. "We've partnered with them on an incredible number of events. There's hardly a nonprofit in Sarasota they don't work with, if asked."
Garrett Amadon, the New Balance store manager in Sarasota, will be opening the new outlet in Orlando. He enjoys his relationship with the Jacksons, too.
"You either work for somebody, or you work with somebody," Amadon says. "We work together. We work with each other."
This year, Molly is scheduled to receive awards for her volunteer work with Girls Inc. of Sarasota and the Komen Race for the Cure.
One of her sisters died of cancer a few years ago. Sometimes she gets emotional talking about her family.
With Smith, the New Balance executive, she has a personal as well as a professional relationship.
"When I call Molly, the first thing we talk about is our kids," Smith says. "Then we talk business."
The flip side of the family business is that the Jacksons often take their work home with them. They never clock out.
Molly tells a story about going to an Atlanta sales show with her boutique manager. They returned home to Sarasota late at night, about 11 p.m., but she and David immediately launched into a discussion of what they had learned and how it might effect their stores.
"Finally, my manager said, 'You guys never stop,'" Molly says, laughing. "But that is a lot of who we are."


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1998 - The one with B*Witched
1998 was fun! Not just because B8Witched and The Corrs entered our lives, but also becuase of all the movies Terry hasn't seen! Listen as his hatred of comedy continues and Emma's love of horror grows as we discuss the massively underrated Blade.
There's some more surprising additions to Emma's special list, even from a certain puppet master and a comet!
On top of all this, we also discus:
Emma's dating history, including a new 'date Emma' feature.
Chris Tarrant impressions
Soccer AM vs Soccer Saturday.
Steaming vaginas.
Deep imapct vs Armaggedon.
Was The Royle Family in Liverpool or Manchester?
KING OF THE NORTH!
Terry still doesn't like vampires.
Is The Truman show real?
A tribute to Jane McDonald.
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Naujawan Bharat Sabha (NBS, sometimes spelled Nau Jawan Bharat Sabha, with the acronym NJBS) ( Youth Society of India) was a left-wing Indian association that sought to foment revolution against the British Raj by gathering together worker and peasant youths by disseminating Marxist idea. It was founded by Bhagat Singh in March 1926 and was a more public face of the Hindustan Republican Association. The organization merged with All India Youth Federation (AIYF)

The NBS comprised members from the Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities and organised lectures, public meetings and protests. It did not gain widespread support because of its radical ideas relating to religion and to agrarian reform. Attendance at its public meetings became particularly popular after the killing of John P. Saunders in December 1928. This killing, by Singh and others, followed from a protest against the Simon Commission in Lahore of which the NBS had been one of the organising parties. Contemporary opinion was that non-cooperation was preferable to violence as a means of achieving change.

The association was banned in July 1929 during a period when the government had imposed Section 144 to control gatherings as public support burgeoned for the imprisoned Singh and his fellow hunger-strikers. NBS members were involved in the campaign.

At least one NBS activist, Sohan Singh Josh, was imprisoned for his role in the Meerut Conspiracy Case; he was released in November 1933. He was one of many people who were leaders simultaneously of the NBS and the Kirti Kisan Party, although the two organisations remained separate. NBS was active again by that time: earlier in the year, Karam Singh Mann, who had been converted to communism while training as a barrister in London, had organised a meeting to arrange dissemination of left-wing propaganda in rural areas. NBS was now one of the three significant left-wing groups in Punjab, the others being the outlawed Communist Party of India and the Kirti Kisan Party. These three attempted an alliance and sought also to gather together various smaller, disparate leftist groups of the region. With varying but never great success, various working parties were despatched to co-ordinate local groups as well as document grievances, economic and political conditions in the regional districts.  All associations considered to be left-wing were declared illegal under the Criminal Law Amendment Act (1908) in September 1934.

See also
 Revolutionary movement for Indian independence
 Hindustan Socialist Republican Association

References
Citations

Bibliography

Further reading

Youth organisations based in India
Youth organizations established in 1926
Youth organizations disestablished in 1934
Memorials to Bhagat Singh

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The initial detail we, at thenardvark.com, have noted is the budget prices of the shared web space hosting services supplied by 'NTC Hosting'. Shared doesn't sound very well, does it? Well, that's what it is called: shared hosting. The good thing here is that the website hosting accounts delivered by 'NTC Hosting' are powered by a custom devised, leading edge cloud web hosting platform (each web hosting service, such as mail, databases, web space hosting Control Panel, disk storage, DNS, stats, etc., is being served by a separate group of hosting servers in a cluster). This is a circumstance EVERY cPanel web hosting firm on the Earth will have great difficulties with, because cPanel is a one-server based site hosting environment (each web hosting service, such as email, databases, web page hosting CP, disk space, DNS, statistics, etc., is being run on a single server), cPanel is not open source (that is why the cPanel site hosting corporations cannot include additional functionality and manipulate it the way they need it) and there is no open source file platform (they need to create their own file system), which is the premise of any cloud web hosting service. Let's return to the shared hosting accounts, which are powered by an actual cloud webspace hosting system. With a shared web space hosting package, each customer pays solely for his/her plan, thus keeping the hosting price amazingly low (since lots of users are located on the same hosting server). To cut a long story short, a shared hosting account, which is being served by a cloud site hosting system, permits you to pay solely for the resources that you indeed need, evading a scenario where you pay for a feature-rich webspace hosting account that you cannot really use, or for a tiny site hosting package that cannot handle your web page. The possibility to upgrade your account from one package to another with just two clicks of the mouse gives you the flexibility to begin with a small package and upgrade as your website grows. Thus, you save funds that you can invest in promoting the website while it is still brand new. Each site hosting plan furnished by 'NTC Hosting' sports an online site building tool and over 40 widely used script-driven software platforms including WordPress, Joomla, Zen Cart and Moodle that will economize you hundreds of dollars for website design services. 'NTC Hosting' delivers shared hosting accounts in several different geographical regions around the World. There is one server farm in Chicago encompassing the United States of America and Canada; two European data centers - in England and in Sweden; and another one in Australia, which covers the Asia-Pacific. Hence, nearly the entire World is encompassed to provide you and your web site's visitors with a steady and fast web space hosting solution at a nearby place. On the whole, the shared hosting accounts provided 'NTC Hosting' are quite well appointed and come at an affordable price (starting from $4.95 for the Budget plan).
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Roan Mills interprets this classic dish from Lombardy Italy with a California twist. A quick fix, this pasta brings flavor and nutrition to the table without fuss and bother. The sauce is cooking as the pasta water comes to a boil. Nothing satisfies like a comforting one dish meal served with a simple green salad and a crunchy Roan Mills baguette.
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a 10" saute pan over low heat and add the leek, onion and garlic. Cook about 7 minutes, turn up the heat to high and add the chopped chard and cook for 7 minutes. Add potatoes and goat cheese and cook for another 4 minutes to allow the cheese to melt into a creamy sauce before turning heat to lowest setting.
Increase pasta water heat to high and when boiling resumes toss in the pasta. Cook for 4-5 minutes and remove from pot with tongs and/or bamboo skimmer and place into large bowl. Spoon a little of the sauce over the pasta and toss it gently to keep the pasta from sticking together, add a bit more pasta water to give the goat cheese a more sauce like consistency and then portion into servings, top with more sauce and serve it forth.


Learn the basics of crocheting a flat circle and you can easily make circles as large as you want! Photo via Crafternoon Treats.
The good news? It's so easy to crochet a flat circle that looks seamless and perfect — as long as you have just six crochet tricks up your sleeve.
You must have the right number of starting stitches in your first round. Too many stitches and you make waves; too few and you have a bowl.
Generally, the taller the stitch, the more stitches you need to start with in round 1.
To make your circle grow just enough without getting too big around the edge, you need to follow some basic rules about how many times to increase as your work each round. Luckily, these rules are the same whether you are making a crochet circle using SC, HDC or DC stitches. Only one set of rules to remember for all circles!
Note that you must start with the recommended number of stitches in round 1 for this to work.
Round 1: Start with the recommended number of stitches listed above.
Round 2: Make two stitches into each stitch of round 1 — an increase into every stitch.
Round 3: Make two stitches into the first stitch of the previous round, one stitch into the next. Repeat this pattern — an increase into every other stitch.
Round 4: Make two stitches into the first stitch of the previous round, then one stitch into the next two stitches. Repeat all the way around — that's an increase every third stitch.
Round 5: Make two stitches into the first stitch, then one stitch into the next three stitches. Repeat this pattern — in other words, an increase into every fourth stitch.
With every round, you make one more single stitch between the increases. By round 10, for example, you'd make eight single stitches between each increase.
This can be tricky to get your head around if it's the first time you've tried to crochet a flat circle. Below, I've enlarged these photographs to show you exactly what's going on. Follow along for practice.
Start with a magic loop. Make three chains and 12 DCs into the ring, which will give you 13 stitches in round 1, shown on the left in the photo below.
Closed with a neat circle join. Then, join another color yarn for round 2 by making a DC into one of the DC stitches in round 1. Work a second DC into the same stitch and complete the round making two DCs into every stitch.
The result, shown in the photo above on the right, is a circle with 26 DC stitches. Close with a neat join again. So far, so good!
In the photos below, the increase stitches are highlighted with green V's and the single stitches are shown in bright pink lines. In round 3, shown on the left below, there is an increase every other stitch. In round 4, on the right, there are two single stitches between each increase. Work up these rounds, following these patterns.
In round 5, on the left below, each increase is separated by three single stitches. In round 6 (below right), each increase is separated by four single stitches.
An easy way to make sure you are on track in each round is to count your stitches. Each round should increase by the same number you started with in round 1.
Your flat circle may as well be perfectly round, too. No matter how hard you try, if you close each round with a slip stitch and start the next with three chains, you get a not-so-pretty seam.
Try this method instead: When you finish the final DC in any round of your circle, cut the yarn and pull it through the stitch. Thread it onto a darning needle and sew it through both loops of the first stitch of the round — but don't pull tight yet. Bring the needle and tail end back to the front of your work and sew it between the front and back loop of the last DC of the round. As you pull close, you will see a figure eight shape in the yarn just before it closes. Adjust the tension slightly and you should have a seamless join.
In amigurumi crochet, single crochet stitches are worked in a spiral to achieve a seamless join, even when the entire circle is made in one colour.
This short step-by-step tutorial shows you how to crochet a flat circle using the amigurumi technique.
Make a magic loop and crochet eight SC into the loop. Then, instead of joining with a slip stitch, crochet the first stitch of round two into the top of the first stitch of round one.
You'll close all the rounds this way, so it's vital to add a stitch marker to note where your rounds begin.
In the third photo above, I have inserted a contrasting yarn as my stitch marker and then made the second SC stitch right into that same stitch.
The rules of increasing with each round of a circle are the same with the amigurumi technique. Having started with eight stitches in round 1, you'll make two SC into each stitch all the way around until you reach that marker again. This will give you 16 stitches in round 2.
Complete more rounds, following the basic rules for spacing out increases. You can crochet a flat circle as large as you like as long as you keep increasing according to the simple rules described above, and remember to mark the start of each row so you know where you are up to.
By the end of round 6 (shown in the rightmost photo above) you can see the spiral effect more clearly and how flat the circle is staying.
6. If things go wrong, act fast!
Although the first five hacks will give you perfect, flat circles 95 percent of the time, you still need to be prepared to be a little creative and flexible if things start to go wrong.
Everyone's crochet tension is different, and changing your hook size slightly, using an unusual yarn or just losing your concentration could derail your circle. This last trick will help you recognize these signs early so you can avoid re-doing too much work.
Compared to the flat circle in the center, the one at the top right looks super ruffled — the potato chip effect. This is what happens if you have too many stitches around the outside of your growing circle. In this example, rounds 1 and 2 are correct, but the rest of the rounds still include an increase in every stitch. The result tells you why amigurumi can be used to to crochet food!
If your circle shows signs of ruffling, try pulling back a couple of rounds and skip a round. For example, pull back to round 4 and then crochet round 6 instead of round 5 before carrying on. That may be enough to solve the problem.
The example on the top left shows what happens if you complete rounds 1 and 2 correctly and then continue without increasing at all. The sides will curl up. This is exactly what you want if you are making a bowl or basket — but you need to be in control of when it happens.
If your circle edges start to rise up, try repeating the round you have just finished. For example, if you are on round 5, work another round 5 before going on.
This was very helpful! Thank you for sharing it with us.
Thank you so much for this great tutorial. Do this same principals apply to the Granny mandala in the posted picture. I love bright colors and this literally gave me chills.
Absolutely, that's why it's pictured here as an example of a perfectly flat circle.
Great tutorial and so handy to have all those tips together in one post! Thank you!
This is very helpful! Something I'm having trouble with is a hat pattern…I'm supposed to be making a flat circle of 7 rounds of double crochet to begin the hat, but I have to turn the work at every round, change color at every round, and take turns between crocheting into ONLY the front or back loop at every stitch to create a nice texture. I'm also not supposed to be counting any turning chains as stitches. Because I'm turning my work, I get confused about skipping the slip stitch I just made before I turned, and also (I'm about to start round 5), I'm supposed to be crocheting a dc into the 'next three stitches' when I start the round before doing an increase… but I'm not sure what the 'next three stitches are' since I'm skipping the slip stitch and also the turning chain I just made doesn't count… so I don't know how to appropriately distribute all these stitches…I don't know where to start the regular DCs after my chain. Now I'm rambling. Sorry! I'm hoping to pull through this frustration at some point!
Thank you so much for this article! It's so useful!
Sorry to pick on you like this, but I also am getting very frustrated with making something a flat circle. I am trying to make a little toy cat. I have made hats before (in dc or hdc on 3.5/4mm needle) and my circles have come out perfectly flat after getting used to doing that. I am trying to do this in sc with a 2mm needle and I cannot manage to get it to stay flat and not curl.
I have tried adding in extra increases and repeating lines in my pattern (namely doing the 1sc in 3 stitches, 2sc in 4th repeated) to try and get it to lay flat but it will not do anything but form up into a tough bowl that can't even be pushed flat. I'm using a double knitting weight yarn with a bit of shiny plasticky purple in it, though I don't think I am struggling with using the yarn it may be effecting the outcome.
Thank you so much if you can give me a hand!
I have the same problem as you! I always have to flatten it out with my hands, but then sometimes it just pops up. Try ironing it, maybe it will help.
This was very helpful and so straight forward. Thank you for adding the closure methods notes..much appreciated!
Thank you Kathryn for this very clear step by step tutorial. It would be helpful if you taught other patterns (stitches) this same way with notes. Now I made flat circle without any folds. Thank you so much..
Any chance you could add how to finish the amigurumi-style circle without having the last stitches jutting out?
I often finish an Ami circle with a couple of slip stitches in the first few of the previous round. So say you're done with round 12 and your circle is complete, slip stitch in the next three and fasten off. it kinda gives an illusion to the finished piece by smoothing the end off. (if you're doing any higher stitch than a sc, I'd say to a hdc and than a sc and a couple slip stitches to gradually bring the height down and hide the dip).
I do this as well. It really helps!
Something I do with amigurumi if it's an open ended finish, is on the round prior to the last round I will ss, chain 1 and then do that last round. That way its not a spiral and I think makes for a cleaner join to the other piece.
I wonder how those lovely doilies are designed. Do they use the same rules as above?
Here is a slightly funny story. I too was trying to get my circle flat..I was pretty far in so I didnt go all of the way to the begging. Then I finally broke down after wasting so much time trying everything to fix it, and started unraveling it..at one point I realized I suddenly had to pull the other direction!!! So I must have put it down, picked it back up and started going the other way. Haha. Yep that can screw it up!!!!
Thanks so much for this! I am a beginning "crocheter" and it was driving me crazy that my little scrubby kept trying to turn into a hacky sack! Why didn't I look for this post earlier!!!!!!!
Thank you for this! I've struggled with identifying a formula for work in the round because every pattern has a different set of instructions for increasing.
Clarification-Please. If I am doing half double crochet is the following logical?
The increase pattern for all circles Half Double Crochet- Not sure if my logic is correct. I'm trying to make large trivets/ hot pads.
According to the instructions I am off when I get to this part of the instruction.
Thanks so much for this awesome tutorial! So nice to have guidelines right at hand to refer to.
Thank You. I finally figured out how to crochet a circular granny.
This was extremely helpful. I like the enlarged pictures of each section. You are a great teacher! Thank you.
This did not work at all! I the instructions were too complicated.
Thanks so much for your advice! I'm am trying to make a round table cloth & struggling! This will be my third attempt! The true test is cause I plan to use other stitches, but it appears that counting the stitches is the key.
This is awesome! thanks so much you've just saved the family rag rug.. lol a project my teens and i put together.. everyone brought me all of thier old teeshirts that were a bit stained or didnt fit .. and we are making them into a rag rug for the family room… so far its approx. 3ft across.. but kept curling.. and i just couldnt figure the prob.. after reading this.. the light bulb came on.. think i've got it now.. 🙂 super post.. thanks again! my teens thank you too.. in this project they are learning some repurposing as well as learning to crochet 🙂 ! Our goal… to cover the den 10ft across with our creation! (& with 6teens.. and many many old tees.. we've got this..lol) especially now that we arent looking like the potatoe chip. ha!
I went with this technique, LEARN THE AMIGURUMI TECHNIQUE, my circle looks more like an octagon and it is not laying flat. what did I do wrong??? I am doing single stitch and following the rules.
One thing I tried that worked for me was to start my 2 DC in the st after the join ch 3 st. So round 2 would be ch 3 and 1 DC, 2 DC around join with SL st.
Round 3 would be ch 3, 2 DC in next st, *1 DC in next at, 2 DC in next st* repeat * around ending with 2 DC join with SL st.
Also when my circle would start to ruffle I would do a round of no increase then in the next round to pick up the increase pattern again. So for round 10 with no increase I would then do round 11 with 8 sts between increases. This worked for me and I hope I didn't confuse you more.
So, I hope u can see in my example what I am doing. In each round, alternate starting with the inc in the first stitch or starting with ur single crochets in each stitch. U will get the same stitch count in each round. It's just that u are spacing out those increase stitches so u dont get "corners".
I have a pattern that starts with 10sc into a magic circle. I'm following the pattern, but the the circle starts to ruffles up on every increase. ? I don't know if I'm making the stitches too tight or if I need to use a smaller hook than recommended. Any feedback will be mostly appreciated.
MUCHAS GRACIAS POR ESTE MAGNIFICO TUTORIAL.
Thisbhas tobbe one of the most helpful articles ive seen in a while… ??? ive beenbwanting tobmakeba circle blanket.
If i wanted to use the puff stitch…would i start with the same amount as dc?
Have been looking for something like this for simply ages!! I belong to a crochet group as a church ministry and make all things crochet for the homeless, hospitals, aged care facilities, premmie babies, raffles, scarfs, beanies, bed socks….you name it. I am self taught so only do pretty easy patterns. We are also doing small rounds with picquet edging for christmas tree decos, to give away to kids at Christmas season, so this will be of huge benefit to our group. Thanks a million 🙂 Cheers.
Thanks so much for the information. My problem is when the pattern says chain 2 to start but don't count as a stitch and then you increase as above but when you get to the end of the round it leaves a gap no matter how careful you are and looks like you need to put in another stitch to close it up but if you do that your stitch count is off by one.
Thank you, this is helpful and full of possibilities for me!
Wish I knew this when I made my daughter a pizza aphgan. I took it apart 5 times before it finally came out right. I was following a pattern elsewhere but wasn't coming out flat. Had to do alot of research. I learned to crochet a year ago and it's always a learning process. Love the tip on a seamless circle. Will try it next time.
Question for you: what if you want or need to change from double crochet to single, and then back to double? I want to create a blanket that looks like a Vegas archery target.
I am so confused by all the videos and I still can't figure out what a magic circle even is! Everyone's hands are in the way in the videos. Really struggling with counting stitches. Ready to chuck the whole thing. Supposed to be relaxing after surgery. Instead I want to scream!!!
Looking for advice! I am making a tree skirt for my Christmas tree. The base is simple, just a flat circle in dc until it reaches the size I want. I will go back and ruffle over it later. I started to get a bit of the ruffle effect when I would be on row 10 so I skipped it and went to row 11. The problem I have with this is then my last set of stitches is 7 instead of 11. Anyone know how I should move forward? I have no idea!


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Center for Family Justice receives $30,000 grant from Fairfield County's Community Foundation: Bridgeport, CT - The Center for Family Justice has received a $30,000 grant from Fairfield County's Community Foundation to help the nonprofit provide crisis and supportive services to victims of domestic and sexual violence and child abuse in the Greater
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Connecticut Housing Partners receives $5,000 grant under state's Neighborhood Assistance Act Tax Credit Program: Mutual Housing Association of SW CT dba Connecticut Housing Partners received a $5,000 grant from United Illuminating/Southern Connecticut Gas/Connecticut Natural Gas under Connecticut's Neighborhood Assistance Act tax credit program. The funding will help with building improvements at Yale Street Commons in
Radio Team Chaz and AJ Host Toy Drive at Jordan's Furniture New Haven on Friday: Connecticut's most popular morning radio team, Chaz and AJ, are taking their show to Jordan's Furniture New Haven for their yearly toy drive this Friday, December 10th. The "Chaz and AJ McDermott Chevrolet and Lexus of New Haven Toy Drive" morning
Trumbull's Kennedy Ctr. to Unveil New Calendar at Dec. 8 Reception: Trumbull, CT — The Kennedy Center and People's United Community Foundation are hosting a special reception to celebrate the unveiling of The Kennedy Center's 2022 'A Unique Perspective' Calendar. The reception will be held on December 8, 2021, from 5:30 –
Three Local Women Join Forces to Lead CFJ's Faces of HOPE Fundraiser: Bridgeport, CT - The Center for Family Justice has launched an ambitious campaign to raise more than $400,000 to help it continue and expand the crisis and supportive services it offers annually to the more than 4,500 victims of domestic and
In 2022 Great Meadows Marsh will be a haven for people and wildlife, construction begins November 1: Connecticut's coastline is getting an exciting refresh: After years of planning and fundraising, ground is being broken at Great Meadows Marsh, a Globally Important Bird Area, and part of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge. On November 1, construction
Kennedy Center Opens Trumbull Thrift Shop: Trumbull, CT — The Kennedy Center is excited to announce the opening of its second Palm & Able Thrift Shop located at 39 Lindeman Drive in Trumbull, CT. Palm & Able at 39 provides a larger retail space, not only selling but showcasing
2021 CRAzies Award Winners & Nominees Announced: The Connecticut Restaurant Association (CRA) announced today the award winners and nominees for the 2021 CRAzies Awards Gala presented by Sysco, LLC. Each year, the CRAzies recognizes the exceptional ability and talent of Connecticut's restaurant community at this prestigious awards
Kennedy Center Promotes National Disability Employment Awareness Month: Trumbull, CT - The Kennedy Center is proud to participate in National Disability Employment Awareness Month, an annual awareness campaign that takes place each October. The purpose of National Disability Employment Awareness Month is to educate the public about disability employment
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Tips for the Tiny Kitchen
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Boone Ashworth
Far Cry 5 Helped Me Escape Real Life, Until It Didn't
What started as just another game quickly became a soothing window to home—and all the ugliness that comes with it.
Courtesy of Ubisoft
I didn't expect a two-year-old video game about psychotic rednecks to make me homesick.
Months ago, I bought Far Cry 5 on a whim; it was on sale. I've played other games in the series, so I thought I knew what I was getting into. It's a first-person shooter that lets you indulge in open-world shenanigans and mayhem. The previous games in the series are set in tropical islands, the Himilayan mountains, and prehistoric times. They felt like escapist retreats. But Far Cry 5 is different. It takes place in rural America, in a small-town setting that feels exactly like where I grew up. At first, that familiarity was comforting. Then it grew into something else entirely.
Right now, I live in San Francisco, inside a small one-bedroom apartment that has doubled as an isolation chamber since early March. Playing video games is one of the many imperfect coping strategies I've employed to ease the existential anguish brought on by the pandemic (and all these other concurrent catastrophes).
But before my move to the big city, I spent most of my life in rural California. The backdrop of my formative years was a tiny gold rush town a couple hundred miles north of San Francisco. Our only community buildings were a post office and two bars. You had to drive 25 miles just to get gas. The closest real town is Redding, a sprawling hodgepodge of suburbs, strip malls, and freeways. It's red-state Trump territory that has long been sidelined by the broader liberalism of California's coastal cities. For as long as I can remember, many of the people there have harbored ambitions to secede from the rest of California and form their own state. It's also ruggedly beautiful. Growing up, I swam in creeks, split firewood, pulled ticks and burs off the dogs, and always kept an eye out for prowling mountain lions.
I establish my redneck bona fides here to explain why this game had the effect it did. The plot of Far Cry 5 centers on a group of hyper-violent doomsday cultists who take over a fictional Montana county. The setting might be a couple states removed, but its geological splendor and prevailing political sentiments are familiar enough to evoke my own backwoods nostalgia. The game gets the details right in all the places that matter: There are towering mountains and sprawling meadows. Quaint cottages perched on the shore of a lake. Cozy bonfires and calming creeks. Even the game's soundtrack is reminiscent of the kind of music I'd hear blaring out the speakers of a big, lifted Dodge Ram with an airbrushed bald eagle splashed across the hood. Ah, home.
For me, the parallels to real life didn't end at pretty trees and recognizable bird calls. The game world is populated with broad caricatures of rural denizens. They wear plaid, talk with a twang, and relish the freedom that comes with being surrounded by miles and miles of untamed wilderness. There are a startling amount of doomsday preppers, with their elaborate bunkers scattered across the map. There's a civilian militia, ready for an uprising. There's a crotchety would-be politician who calls anyone he dislikes "libtards" or "bad hombres." Exaggerated send-ups, sure, but in them I recognized the DNA of my former neighbors, extended family members, people I went to high school with.
Even the antagonists feel all too familiar. Characters in the game talk about how the cult started out as a small, fringe operation. No one ever expected them to become as powerful as they are.
Well, I too know what it's like to have a zealous religious group take over your town. Growing up, I watched as a local church called Bethel expanded into a boisterous, influential "Supernatural Ministry." Their acolytes spread through the community, performing unsolicited faith healings, inviting people to attend their increasingly large Pentacostal-esque services, and even attempting to raise the dead. They opened businesses and got elected into the local government. Their spread was so rapid that it shocked and alarmed even the hardcore evangelical Christians who had long been deeply established in the community.
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To be clear, these real-life churchgoers are not at all the vicious marauders of Far Cry. It's the controversy they've elicited that is familiar. It doesn't take a murderous rampage to sow chaos in a community. In righteous defiance of public health guidelines during a pandemic, some of Bethel's leadership have mocked mask orders, and one prominent member led a Christian music concert that drew large crowds to a Redding bridge. Over 100 students and staff tested positive for Covid-19 after the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry welcomed them back on campus in September, contributing to a recent outbreak that pushed Shasta County back into the state's more restrictive purple tier. (Bethel leadership has officially disavowed these gatherings and says it is working in collaboration with Shasta County Public Health officials. It has also moved to a fully online curriculum.) These actions may have been negligent, but they're obviously not the outright cruelty of a Far Cry–style cult. As a society, we haven't exactly figured out where this kind of willful ignorance ranks on the morality scale. Fictional narratives tend to be more clear cut. There's an appeal to facing off against enemies who are distortions of real life, exaggerated and explicit in their malice. Sometimes it's simpler just to stare into the abyss.
"People seem to get drawn toward nihilistic media when they're in more difficult times," says Chris Ferguson, who researches the effects of violence in video games at Stetson University.
It can be comforting to escape to a world that's worse off than ours. It's why people seek out movies like Contagion during a pandemic. The same goes for games. Animal Crossing became a pandemic hit because of how calming and gentle it is. But some of us also need catharsis. A game that mirrors real-life problems gives you a chance to fight back in a way that feels immediate and visceral.
"The experience is autonomy," says Yemaya Halbrook, who researches the positive effects that video games have on well-being at Ireland's Mary Immaculate College. "You feel like you have the decisions yourself, you have control over everything that you do in the game. Having that sense of autonomy is linked to having positive levels of well-being."
In fact, the weakest moments in FC5 come when that control is taken away from the player in the form of predetermined cutscenes. The bumbling story has already been criticized by many people much smarter than me (back in 2018, when it was still relevant and timely). The game's messaging is presented with all the subtlety of a shovel-launching bazooka. The more it hits you over the head, the more tiresome it gets.
As I played on, the game world felt less and less relaxing. I get that that's how narratives work. Heightened stakes and tension and all that. But the more time I spent reveling in all the familiar elements that drew me in, the harder it was to ignore the darkness they invoke. Nearly every character in the game, good or bad, is a gun-toting rebel itching for an armed revolution. There are characters who spout monologues about "culling the herd" and eliminating the weak that echo the very real fascist rhetoric that's become so present in our society. These are not just stereotypes or mobs you see on the news. They're people I recognize in real life. I see some of them at family gatherings. Obviously, this feeling of discomfort was the point of the game's story. It's supposed to make you feel uneasy. I just didn't expect it to feel quite so personal.
Eventually, the game world's natural beauty began to feel less appealing as well. Not because the world was any less robust and bountiful but because of what becomes of it.
Spoiler: Far Cry 5 ends in fire and destruction. For reasons the game doesn't make entirely clear, the narrative culminates with several nuclear bombs detonating in the middle of Montana. Trees erupt in flames. People scream and pray for forgiveness. A disoriented deer, its fur set alight, darts across the road in a futile search for safety.
Heavy-handed? Sure. But this too is familiar.
It doesn't take a nuke to level a forest. This year, the West Coast has endured a fire season like no other. The results have been catastrophic. Literally thousands of fires have burned more than 8 million acres of land across California, Oregon, and Washington. As in years past, dozens of people are dead, thousands of buildings burned. It's the outlying, rural communities like my hometown that suffer the brunt of this destruction. I've lost count of how many people I know who have watched their homes burn. I've evacuated with my family, feared for friends and loved ones, and watched the sky turn red as a swirling maelstrom of fire tore our community apart. To even compare this widespread trauma to a video game feels crass. But that's what 2020 does, I suppose: forces us to digest horror after horror through our screens. It's Plato's cave by way of A Clockwork Orange.
FC5's doomsday scenario is outrageous and implausible. (Atomic warfare is believable enough, but multiple nukes targeting rural Montana? C'mon.) Still, it evokes a very real terror. There will be more fire. There will be more death. A video game can help pass the time, can take your mind off things, but it can only do so much to distract from a violently changing climate.
By the end, my time in Far Cry 5 felt mournful. But I continue to play it, avoiding the main narrative and just wandering around in the open world, trying to recapture that sense of comfort and homeliness. I swim through simulated streams, hike simulated mountain trails, and walk beneath simulated trees. There is a deep sadness in the comfort the game brings, but it's a comfort nonetheless. After all, before we know it, these fake forests may be the only ones we have left.
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Boone Ashworth is a contributing writer on the WIRED Gear desk, where he also produces the weekly Gadget Lab podcast. He graduated from San Francisco State University and still lives in the city. Currently, he has opened too many browser tabs.
John C. Reilly & Tim Heidecker Answer the Web's Most Searched Questions
Moonbase 8 stars John C. Reilly and Tim Heidecker answer the internet's most searched questions about themselves. Is Tim Heidecker married to Eric Wareheim? Who does John C. Reilly look like? Is Tim Heidecker real? Why is John C. Reilly on "Tim & Eric"? John and Tim answer all these questions and much more. Moonbase 8 premieres on Showtime November 8 at 11pm ET/PT
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Today's stock market news will be dominated by President Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress tonight.
The Dow was flat in pre-market hours as investors take a wait-and-see approach with President Trump's latest policy proposals. President Trump will likely outline his plans for tax reform and deregulation tonight.
On Monday, the Dow added 15 points and continued its streak of 12 straight record closing highs. The defense sector led the way after Trump made a major announcement on plans to upgrade the U.S. military.
Here's a look at today's most important market events and stocks, plus a look at Tuesday's economic calendar.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat in pre-market hours as investors prepare for a busy day of economic data and earnings reports.
This morning, the U.S. Commerce Department is expected to announce that fourth-quarter GDP growth in 2016 was 2.1%. That is slightly above the first estimate released by the agency. However, it confirms that the United States never saw annual GDP growth of more than 3% during President Obama's entire eight-year term.
Markets are expecting a far better performance out of the proposed economic policies of President Trump. The post-election rally has seen the S&P 500 increase by more than 10% since Trump won the presidency. On Monday, defense stocks rallied after Trump announced plans to bolster military spending by $54 billion a year. Today, investors are looking for additional insight into his infrastructure spending plans and other major reforms like tax reductions and cross-border taxes.
Crude oil prices were flat despite news that OPEC members and Russia have complied with their plans to cut excessive global production. The markets are expecting counties that have made steep cuts like Saudi Arabia could surpass their reduction goals. In addition, traders expect laggards like Iraq and the United Arab Emirates will catch up to their reduction goals in the coming months.
The WTI crude oil price today dipped 0.1%. Brent crude fell nearly 0.3%.
One month into his presidency, Trump has successfully loosened the big pharma industry's grip on exorbitant drug price increases. And it's set to impact the industry in a big way.
For a sector that has historically relied on big price increases in order to bolster its bottom line, the shake up in the White House has many worried about the future. President Trump has called for stronger Medicare authority in negotiating prices and a "total overhaul" of the healthcare system. That's why if you're an investor in the pharma sector, you need to read this report that tells you the best way to protect yourself and profit from industry change.
In earnings news, Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) will report quarterly earnings before the market opens. The retailer is expected to fall just short of consensus expectations and to report a downturn in same-store quarterly sales. The firm has been under pressure due to weak holiday sales and the need to run promotions in a competitive industry. Discounts are impacting the firm's bottom line.
Keep an eye out for earnings reports from Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM), 3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD), Ambarella Inc. (Nasdaq: AMBA), Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW), Domino's Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ), Weight Watchers International (NYSE: WTW), Jazz Pharmaceuticals Plc. (Nasdaq: JAZZ), Etsy Inc. (Nasdaq: ETSY), Ross Stores Inc. (Nasdaq: ROST), and Autozone Inc. (NYSE: AZO).
San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams speaks at 3:30 p.m.
Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard Speaks at 6:30 p.m.


Notre Dame High School is located at the address 5105 N Sheridan Rd in Peoria, Illinois 61614.
For maps and directions to Notre Dame High School view the map to the right. For reviews of Notre Dame High School see below.