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Sam Sunderland – Dakar Rally stage win
British racer Sam Sunderland has finally bagged his first stage win in the Dakar. We met Sam a couple of years ago in Qatar and it was clear that he had the talent and the drive to beat the best racers in the world. A couple of setbacks have snagged him over he two years, but it seems his luck has changed. He finished day two fastest in stage, chalking up another stage win for HRC
Sam Sunderland. He's the one on the right.
Speaking after the stage, "I'm really happy. The bike was fantastic, it's been a great day with a mixture of different terrains, speed and technical zones. We got to the dunes which I get on really well with. It wasn't a really long stretch, but it went well. I crossed the river which was deeper than I had expected, which got a few laughs out of the folk. But I'm really pleased for my first Dakar victory and to continue Honda's winning streak."
Sam finished ahead of team mate and previous stage winner Joan Barreda
"I knew that it was going to be a day to be on the look-out for animals. When I was about 70 km away from the finish-line, with the big hazards out of the way and the navigation through the dunes completed, I crossed a river with low-visibility and came across a cow on the curve. I tried to avoid it, but it came running out and I ran into it. It wasn't a great impact, but it broke the higher part of the navigation, and I had to work the roadbook manually. The first part was really speedy and I was opening a gap over the rivals. From kilometre 250 to 300 I had to stay really focused, which I'm very happy with."
There's a long way to go, but we're all rooting for Sam. A Brit', racing for HRC and winning!
Keep up with the Dakar here


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The Other Jamestown
The Algonquian Exchange
Wahunsenacah and John Smith on Peace and War
Algonquian Spirituality
Algonquian Life and Customs
Paspahegh Massacre (Genocide)
Tsenacommacah
Drought, Siege, and Starvation
The Algonquian Exchange in the Transition from Colony to Plantation Economy
Matoaka and Algonquian Women
Wahunsenacah's Paramount Chieftancy
Wahnsenacah brought together about 31 Algonquian tribes to form his paramount chieftancy into a territory known as Tsenacommacah. He had inherited six tribes that formed the basis of his chiefdom: the Powhatans, Pamunkey, Arrohateck, Appamattuck, Youghtannund, and the Mattaponi. Opechancanough, his brother or cousin, weroance of the Pamunkey, composed the largest of the core group and provided warriors when Wahunsenacah needed them. Wahunsenacah used a combination of force and diplomacy to form his chieftancy.
Chief Wahunsenacah
Wahunsenacah was about 60 years of age when the English arrived, according to John Smith, making the 1550s the approximate decade of his birth. He was born near modern Richmond in a town the English knew as Powhatan and his followers as Powhatans. On the bases of demonstrated leadership skills and spiritual qualities that earned him the title of mamanatowich, connoting shamanistic, priestly, or spiritual powers, he became a powerful charismatic figure. Werowocomoco located on the York River was his capital.
Wahunsenacah and the Invaders
Wahunsenacah gets an early understanding of the English invaders when John Smith is captured and brought before him at Werowocomoco. He shrewdly asked Smith how he had come to Tsenacommacah. Smith lied saying a storm had forced his ship ashore. Wahunsenacah followed with a query about how long Smith and his men planned to stay. Smith replied they would leave as soon as repairs were made to his ship. Wahunsenacah knew this to be a lie, since they had been in Jamestown for six months and had built a fort.
Despite these rocky beginnings, both the Powhatans and Smith continued to work together because both wanted and needed something the other had: Wahunsenacah wanted peace and trade, especially iron tools. Smith and the settlers could not feed themselves and needed the Indians to provide foodstuffs like corn, venison, and fish. Despite claims sometimes made that the English had superior resources, weapons, and men that allowed them to conquer the Indians, the English were dependent upon the Indians for about a decade and a half, until the numbers of settlers increased in the late 1620s. Until then, the Algonquians were superior in terms of warriors, hunters, fishermen, and knowledge of how to survive in the coastal environment. The English survived only because Wahunsenacah refrained from outright assault on the fort. He mistakenly believed he could bring them into his paramount chieftancy, even promising to make Smith equivalent to a son and offering him the town of Capahowasick, just south of Werowomomoco.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Podcast #24: Explore Atlas Shrugged, Session 7
Posted by Diana Hsieh on 10 December 2009 at 10:00 am	Podcasts
For Monday's episode of Philosophy in Action Radio, I posted a preview of my podcast and study questions for "Explore Atlas Shrugged, Session 7."
The online version of Explore Atlas Shrugged – meaning, all 20 sessions of podcasts and study questions, plus other resources – can be purchased for just $20. The written materials are also available from Amazon in paperback and kindle formats, and purchasers of those editions pay just $10 for access to the podcasts. For more information, including previews of other sessions, visit Explore Atlas Shrugged.
Session 7 of Explore Atlas Shrugged covers:
Part 2: Chapter 2: The Aristocracy of Pull
Part 2: Chapter 3: White Blackmail (Sections 1-3)
Preview the Podcast
Listen or Download:
Duration: 18:56 (Preview) / 1:13:40 (Full Podcast)
Download Preview: Standard MP3 File (6.5 MB)
Art, Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, Epistemology, Ethics, Literature, Metaphysics, Objectivism, Philosophy, Politics
Preview the Study Questions
Note: The pagination of the hardcover, softcover, and kindle editions differs from that of the small mass market paperback. The study questions cite only the pagination from the larger editions. I don't recommend using the mass market paperback.
Section 1 (379-382)
Dagny Taggart reflects on the disappearance of more Colorado industrialists and on her hiring of Quentin Daniels to work on the motor. She speaks to the newspaper stand owner about the cigarette with the dollar sign given her by Dr. Hugh Akston.
Core Question
What kind of person is Quentin Daniels? Why did he refuse to work for the State Science Institute? Why is he the right person to work on the motor? (380-1)
Extra Questions
What is the current state of the world? How has the economy changed in the past year? (379-80)
Why is Ted Nielsen so puzzled by the disappearance of industrialists like Roger Marsh? What is Dagny's view of these disappearances? (379-80)
What values and qualities does Quentin Daniels share with Dagny? Why are those important? (380-1)
What does Daniels ask for from Dagny in exchange for his work on the motor? What do they reveal about him? (380-1)
What does the newspaper stand owner discover about the cigarette with the dollar sign? What is the importance of that discovery? (382)
While Hank Rearden waits in his dark hotel room for Dagny Taggart, he reflects on his just-completed meeting with Ken Danagger. Lillian Rearden enters unexpectedly, and she demands that they attend Jim Taggart's wedding to Cherryl Brooks. Hank resists initially but ultimately submits to Lillian's demand.
Core Questions
What business agreement did Hank Rearden make with Ken Danagger? What are the risks? Why are they willing to take those risks? (383-4)
How does Lillian attempt to persuade Hank to attend Jim's wedding with her? Why does Hank want to do anything but that? Why does Hank ultimately agree to attend? (385-7)
How do Danagger and Hank plan to violate the "Fair Share" directives? Do they have any lawful alternatives? Are they right or wrong to break the law? (383-4)
What type of blackmail is Danagger willing to pay? What type is he not willing to pay? Why does that make a difference to him? (383-4)
What is Hank's emotional response to the prospect of going to jail for breaking the "Fair Share" directives? Why? Is that reaction right or wrong? Is it understandable? (383-4)
What is the "essential connection" between Hank's two secrets – his illegal deal with Danagger and his illicit affair with Dagny? Why doesn't he see that connection yet? (384)
What is Hank's state of mind when Lillian enters Hank's hotel room? Why does that matter? (384)
Why didn't Lillian make plans with Hank to attend Jim's wedding in advance? What advantage did she hope to gain thereby? Why was that strategy so effective? (385-7)
What does Lillian think of Jim's marriage? Why is it just what she'd expect from him? Why would Lillian never do anything similar? (385)
Why does Lillian look for signs of a woman in Hank's hotel room? What is Hank's reaction – and why? (385-6)
Why is Hank susceptible to Lillian's claims of duty? Would Dagny ever claim his attention as a duty, if she were his wife? Why or why not? (386-7)
About Explore Atlas Shrugged
Explore Atlas Shrugged is a series of 20 sessions of podcasts and study questions by me, philosopher Dr. Diana Hsieh. Each session covers about 65 pages of the novel, organized chapter-by-chapter and section-by-section. The podcasts are an in-depth look at the events, characters, and ideas from that portion of the novel. The whole series contains over 22 hours of lively and engaging discussion in podcast form. The study questions will help you better understand the novel on your own – or help you lead an engaging reading group. The series includes over 1400 questions, organized into "core" and "extra" categories.
You can preview the full series of podcasts and questions, as well as purchase access for just $20, here: Explore Atlas Shrugged. You can also purchase the series below.
Also, the written materials are available from Amazon in paperback and kindle formats, and purchasers of those editions pay just $10 for access to the podcasts.
Purchase Explore Atlas Shrugged
Access to the online version of Explore Atlas Shrugged costs just $20. It's half off – just $10 – for purchasers of the paperback and kindle editions of the book version. Also, if you contribute to Philosophy in Action's Tip Jar via recurring weekly or monthly contributions (or the equivalent), please email me for free access.
Terms of Sale: (1) You may share the podcasts with members of your household, but not beyond that. (2) You may share the study questions with members of your household, as well as with participants in your online or in-person Atlas Shrugged Reading Group. (3) Do not ever post the podcasts or study questions in any public forum.
Items: Course: Explore Atlas Shrugged ($20)
Course: Explore Atlas Shrugged (Half Price Discount) ($10)
Note: This half-price discount is only available to purchasers of a paperback or kindle edition of Explore Atlas Shrugged. Please email me a screenshot or picture as proof.
Praise for Explore Atlas Shrugged
The response to Explore Atlas Shrugged has been overwhelmingly positive, including the following remarks:
I require students to read Atlas Shrugged in my introductory economics class. Dr. Hsieh's Explore Atlas Shrugged podcasts were an essential tool to help communicate the novel's lesson and hold effective class discussion. Do not attempt to teach the book without consulting the podcasts first!
— Bailey Norwood, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Diana – our GLO Atlas Reading Group is going so very well. We have about 12-13 people attending, and it is truly the most fun we've had in a long time. So much rewarding fun comes out of your ideas and organization. Can't thank you enough for your efforts!!!
I just wanted to send you a quick note and thank you for your efforts on Explore Atlas Shrugged. As part of the Charm City Objectivists Society we used your questions and podcast to help kick off our reading group yesterday for session one. We had epiphanies all around the table from someone who is a firm student of Objectivism to a person who had read Atlas Shrugged but is new to Objectivism. I know that neither Ray (our moderator) or myself could have undertaken this kind of thing without the wonderful resource you have created. You have helped me make a difference in my community and I thank you for it.
The other day, I began listening to your Explore Atlas Shrugged podcasts. I have read and listened to the book several times, but it has been admittedly too long since the last time. Although I can not adequately express how much experiencing your podcasts has meant to me and the extent to which they have reinvigorated me, I did want to thank you…Thank you.
About Philosophy in Action Radio
Philosophy in Action Radio focuses on the application of rational principles to the challenges of real life. It broadcasts live on most Sunday mornings and many Thursday evenings over the internet. For information on upcoming shows, visit the Episodes on Tap. For podcasts of past shows, visit the Show Archives.
Podcast #24: Explore Atlas Shrugged, Session 7 Add comments
Podcast #23: Explore Atlas Shrugged, Session 6 Podcast #25: Explore Atlas Shrugged, Session 8


(L6F) Pitch: Low F - 4 Scale: Minor - SOLD!
Nigeria Ebony is a long standing wood for us. We have made many flutes from this incredible sounding wood. There is just something about a flute that is Black as the night naturally.


Don`t let it run. We have all developed the bad habit of letting the faucet run while we brush our teeth or wait for a cold glass of water. Keeping a pitcher of water in the refrigerator or turning the faucet off while we brush our teeth can save several gallons of water each day! It`s simple really, before you turn on the tap, think of ways you can use less water to accomplish the same purpose.
Fix the drip. There is no such thing as a little drip. A leaky faucet with a drip of just 1/16 of an inch in diameter (about this big `o`) can waste 10 gallons of water every day. You can turn off that drip by replacing worn washers or valve seats with the help of your parents.
The silent leak. Even worse than the careless hand on the faucet is the silent toilet bowl leak, probably the single greatest water waster in homes. A leak of 1 gallon every 24 minutes - an average amount - totals 2.5 gallons per hour or 60 gallons per day! To check your toilet for a leak, place a few drops of food coloring in the tank and wait. If the color appears in the bowl, then there`s a leak. Often these leaks can be fixed with a few minor adjustments, cleaning calcium deposits from the toilet ball in the tank, or by replacing worn valves.
Close the hose. Letting the garden hose run faster or longer than necessary while we water the lawn or wash the car often becomes a careless and wasteful habit. A 1/2 inch garden hose under normal water pressure pours out more than 600 gallons of water per hour and a 3/4 inch hose delivers almost 1,900 gallons in the same length of time. If left on overnight, one garden hose can easily waste twice as much water as the average family uses in a month.
Check the plumbing. Proper maintenance is one of the most effective water savers. Faucet washers are inexpensive and take only a few minutes, a wrench, and a screwdriver to replace. At home, check all water taps, hoses, and hose connections (even those that connect to dishwashers and washing machines) for leaks. Check the garden hose too - it should be turned off at the faucet, not just at the nozzle.
Teach your community. Just as it is important to conserve water in your own home, it is important to help our towns and cities save water by teaching others to use water wisely. In agricultural areas, water may be saved by using more effective irrigation methods. In industrial areas, manufacturers can save water by reusing it and by treating industrial wastes. Cities and towns can save water by eliminating leaks and installing meters. Waste water can be treated and reused. As you conserve water at home and in your community, you will help insure that the water available now continues to meet the growing water needs of the future.
"This material was reproduced from groundwater.org with the permission of The Groundwater Foundation. Copyright 2002 The Groundwater Foundation. All Rights Reserved."
Stop all outside watering. This means, no watering the grass, plants or trees. No washing cars, power washing your house or driveway. No filling swimming pools or spas.
Check for dripping faucets and shower heads. Replace defective washers and "O" rings. Inexpensive washers can be replaced easily and can save up to 20 gallons a day.
Monitor and test your toilet for leaks. The flapper will dry out and erode over time. For about $10 a new one can be purchased at the local home improvement store saving not only water but money as well. Did you know that a 0.1 gallon per minute leak wastes 4,320 gallons per month, equates to as much as 51,840 gallons of water per year.
Don't flush the toilet "every time" you go. Typically 3 to 7 gallons of water is used in a single flush, depending on the age of the toilet. The new ultra-high efficiency toilets claim to use less than 1 gal of water compared to these older toilets.
Don't run the water when you're brushing your teeth. If teeth are brushed twice a day, 3650 gallons are wasted each year per person. A family of four typically wastes enough water brushing teeth in a year to fill an above ground pool.
Take a shower instead of a bath. Keep showers as short as possible and monitor your children's shower time. Low flow shower heads can save as much as 15 gallons of water during a 10 minute shower.
Check the pipes and hoses behind your washing machine for leaks. In addition to wasting water, leaks can damage your floors, walls and ceilings.
Do laundry less frequently and run only full loads. A typical washing machine uses 45 gallons, new high efficiency machines use 15 to 25 gallons.
Store drinking water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap until the water runs cold enough to drink.
Scrape dishes clean instead of rinsing under water before putting them into the dishwasher.
Run the dishwasher only when it is full. Better yet, use paper plates and cups. Simply throw them away, no need to wash. Efficient hand washing, (filling the sink or a basin instead of running water) will still use about 11 gallons compared to an Energy Star dishwasher which uses about 3 to 5 gallons per load.
Provide water to patrons only upon request.
Regularly check and maintain the valve that controls refrigeration and ice-making equipment. These valves can fail and cause water to flow constantly.
Install Low-Flow Aerators. Food service involves a lot of hand washing, so installing low-flow aerators at handing-washing stations is a simple, inexpensive and effective way to lower water usage immediately.
Check and maintain toilets in restrooms. Replace older toilets with new water saving toilets.


Hanna Shykind (JILL) is a New York City native and recent graduate of Oberlin College with a degree in Theater and Neuroscience! She is thrilled to be making her Dobama debut with such a wonderful cast and crew. Hanna grew up with the music of the 70s, and feels very at home in the world of 33 1/3. Most recently, she was in French Creek Theater's Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey), and Oberlin College's Angels in America (Harper Pitt). Previous Cleveland area credits include the Oberlin Summer Theater Festival where she appeared in Little Women (Amy March) and Picnic (Millie Owens). She wants to thank her family (and her dogs) for their everlasting support! Hanna can be found online at www.hannashykind.com.


text:
Now Then Magazine
A Magazine for Sheffield
Indie Trade
DiEM25 DiEM25 & Progressive International: Connecting the Common Cause & Going Global
What happens when you fuse a philosopher and a reluctant politician? Answer: a prototype but prophetic movement whose time has come.
by Julia Moore
The Democracy in Europe Movement (DiEM25) launched in 2016 in Berlin, its values and motivations combining reactionary and visionary zeal. Now its policy-making and membership growth seem expedient and provide optimism for the post-viral 'new normal'.
This human-centred 'anthropocene', now in seismic shock, is being forced to confront... well, everything: political structures, economic models, citizen engagement. DiEM's two driving pillars - universal basic dividend (as distinguished from universal basic income) and the Green New Deal - now seem to provide the only coherent package of integrated strategies aimed at correcting the serious deficits that humankind is experiencing.
Basic income is no longer the stuff of economics lectures, with UK claimants having received their first 'furlough' payments via their employers recently. The alternative notion of a universal basic dividend - a proportion of company profits going to a European central fund - may require another global shock in order to be considered, but who knows. It's now on the agenda.
This is [...] a new form of power forged by 'a diversity of associations'
Initially a pan-European movement spread across 33 countries, DiEM25 now draws in global activists, if proof were needed that the democratic deficit, social injustice and the rise of the 'precariat' are no longer minor, collateral blips in the post-capitalist era.
David Adler is a member of DiEM25's Co-ordinating Collective and Co-ordinator of the forthcoming strategic alliance with the Sander's Institute Progressive International (PI).
Adler says the collaboration began in 2018 with a joint open call to gather under its auspices all progressive, democratic organisations for the purpose of common-cause action. At that stage, no-one could have (but perhaps should have) foreseen the world events of 2019, the year of global protests: the Gilet Jaune, Fridays for Future, Extinction Rebellion, Hong Kong students.
For decades, the world elected to put its collective, over-consuming, environment-encroaching head in the sand, and the biosphere bit back. "The pandemic has accelerated the urgency to counter sitting governments of the world exploiting fear, especially the far right," Adler tells me.
Will the alliance between DiEM25 and PI lead to a global political party? Adler gives a vehement 'no'. This is not a precursor to an electoral platform, but a new form of power forged by, and derived from, 'a diversity of associations', including trade unions, tenants associations and social groups. Political parties are welcome, but as members of a project 'engaged in the full scope of [the project's] activity'.
Adler prefaced last month's DiEM25 TV interview with filmmaker and activist Astra Taylor with the project's vision to re-imagine political institutions, but the business sector too. Of them, 'matching the scale of corporations to the scale of action' is the project's primary driver, for example the fast-moving proposal for a 'No Amazon Strike Day'. Crucially, major global financial institutions are also in the main sights of the project. "We need better international institutions [...] to challenge the unreliable managers of unreliable debt."
This is markedly different from the 'beauty contest' electoral relationship based on party political lines, and, if they opt to sign up as members, parties will sit within a newly defined, multi-lateral structure of global agencies.
The paradox here is stark. As the network of interrelated, monopolistic corporations develop, so grows the precarious group. This Uberised constituency of frequently non-unionised sub-occupations are now visible to us. The groups may be diverse - hospitality, warehouse and call centre workers, for example - but in common they were the first to be furloughed or laid off, some within hours of official recognition of the virus. The low-paid and under-paid those working in care, nursing, food, retail - still work, and risk their lives doing so.
On Brexit? Adler's sentiment is very much the mantra that although Britain has left the EU, it cannot leave the world. As the pandemic illustrates, we really are, it seems, in this together.
The official launch of DiEM25-Progressive International is planned for 18 September in Reykjavík. In the run-up, from May onwards, the soft launch process begins with the release of action-oriented tools and resources, providing the blue-print for subscriber members to form think tanks and working groups. A wire service of articles, with global translations, will open up access and shared knowledge to enable horizontal connectivity between subscribing member agencies.
'Making solidarity feel real', to quote David, could be the strapline for these next steps.
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Don't miss any of our independent, award-winning citizen journalism. From community news and opinion to featured artists, cultural content and indie trade pieces - we've got you covered.
Learn more about our newsletter I also want occasional emails about other Opus Independents projects. (We won't spam you or share your details with third parties.)
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Mandatory Redistribution Party Elon Musk: Imperialist doom twiglet
How did the world's richest troll disintegrate a fortune through the power of their own corrupted personality? It's a morsel of poetic justice to be savoured like a precious twiglet.
Glyn Rhodes "I just wanted to take my brain out of my head for a day"
Boxing trainer Glyn Rhodes tells Now Then about coming to terms with the sudden death of Scott Westgarth and the importance of men speaking up about mental health.
Heeley Farm CEO said 'don't apply for funding', claim staff
Anonymous staff members say they were blocked from applying for grants which could have sustained the organisation and its projects, as 17 workers face redundancy due to budget deficit of £100k.
New data on gender and sexuality provides a mixed picture for Sheffield
2021 census captures LGBT+ data for the first time – but there are serious concerns.
This early tree is a warning about our unsustainable planetary growth
Scale trees – huge, hulking structures which may have helped bring about an ice age which then destroyed them – are an apt metaphor for the present-day myth of infinite growth on a finite planet, writes Sheffield Green peer Natalie Bennett.
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Resumption Of Economic Growth Tied To Interest Rates
View all the posts from July 5, 1995
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Many analysts, including the University of Tennessee's Matt Murray, believe the economy will accelerate by the end of 1995, but how soon is another question.
Economic growth will pick up by late summer, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday on the basis of a survey of 62 economists.
"It's hard for me to see what force occurring late in the summer would actually cause a turnabout in the economy," Murray, of UT-Knoxville's Center for Business and Economic Research, said Wednesday.
"There was some hope the economy would rebound after a bit of a slowdown during the spring and summer and that the rebound would take place in the late summer or early fall. But it's difficult for me to see what would cause that recovery in the next two months."
The Federal Reserve, which engineered seven increases in short-term interest rates in one year, is meeting to discuss its monetary policy in the face of slower economic growth.
Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has said the risks of a mild recession have increased, but he also has cautioned that the Fed's main responsibility is fighting inflation. And inflation remains relatively low.
"If the U.S. economy continues to show signs of weakening, it's very conceivable the Fed will lower rates," Murray said.
"The signals are mixed right now. We've seen a dip in consumer confidence, and job contraction rather than job creation the last couple of months."
Consumer spending was surprisingly strong in May, rising at a higher percentage than income did. Construction spending declined 1.9 percent, its biggest drop in four years. Spending for single-family homes slipped.
Manufacturing growth slowed in June for the second straight month.
"Until the evidence accumulates more firmly on whether the economy is moving up or down, I think the Fed is going to wait a while before lowering interest rates," Murray said.
Contact: Matt Murray (615-974-5441)


CCTV's reasoning, is that the workers captured in the video are from the "Syrian Civil Defense," also known as "White Helmet," a non-governmental grassroots volunteer group that assists civilians. CCTV alleged that Omran's wounds were severe and the volunteers dared not treat him immediately, so they did the next best thing: set him up on a chair to pose for a picture.
Furthermore, CCTV claims that the White Helmets have numerous clips and pictures like the ones of Omran, and the purpose of creating them is to promote Western interests in Syria and maintain the possibility for intervention. Their rescue videos started as early as 2013, and the group has been accused numerous times of faking civilian casualties for pictures. Though, there hasn't been much credible evidence against them.
The White Helmets do seem to have an awful lot of pictures with children, but given the fact that the organization helps civilians in the aftermath of airstrikes, that doesn't seem all that surprising. Also, White Helmet was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the second time last year. Though there are some that used the nominations against the organization.
The US State Department has provided $23 million worth of funding to the White Helmets, the Washington Post reports. CCTV argues that with the funding, it is apparent that the organization would promote US interests through their work.
The Global Times has published an editorial, stating that Omran is "eligible for an Oscar." They also pointed out a couple of alleged discrepancies in the video. First of all, the area was just under airstrike, why aren't the volunteers fearful of another wave? Secondly, Omran has blood all over one side of his face, but why doesn't he look like he is bleeding? Also, there was no immediate action taken, such as to bandage his head to stop the "bleeding," they only had him sit there and look at the cameras.
Netizens appeared to have bought the state media's version of events.
"What's the name of this little actor?" @银钩碧水透 wrote.
"Everyone is fooled by America and the UK," @夙愿琥珀 wrote.
"Can't believe they would do something so evil," @戚飛_X wrote.
Looks like Chinese people prefer their propaganda to be more direct (and awful).
Russia has been accused of conducting attacks in Aleppo, a civilian area where Omran was injured, RT reports. Xinhua has spoken out, supporting the Russian Defense Minister.
In addition, China, like Russia, is in support of Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria. In a recent deal between Beijing and Damascus, the Chinese military pledged to provide "aid and training assistance" to the Syrian government.
But the story doesn't end here. Mahmoud Raslan was the person who took the video of Omran, and his social media accounts is quite terrifying. The picture below, features Raslan with two known child executioners, part of the "Zenki" militant group who were responsible for the beheading of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy.
Furthermore, Raslan, a self identified "Syrian media activist," has praised suicide bombers on social media.
Much of the area that the White Helmets operates in is controlled by extremist rebel groups. For that, they have often been accused of collaborating with these rebels.
Whether fake or not, there is certainly more to this story than just an injured little boy.


text:
package com.intellij.refactoring.inlineSuperClass.usageInfo;

import com.intellij.openapi.util.text.StringUtil;
import com.intellij.psi.*;
import com.intellij.refactoring.util.FixableUsageInfo;
import com.intellij.util.IncorrectOperationException;

public class ReplaceReferenceUsageInfo extends FixableUsageInfo {
  private final PsiClass myTargetClass;
  private final String myConflict;

  public ReplaceReferenceUsageInfo(PsiElement referenceExpression, PsiClass[] targetClasses) {
    super(referenceExpression);
    myTargetClass = targetClasses[0];
    myConflict = targetClasses.length > 1 ? referenceExpression.getText() + "can be replaced with any of " + StringUtil.join(targetClasses,
                                                                                psiClass -> psiClass.getQualifiedName(), ", ") : null;
  }

  @Override
  public void fixUsage() throws IncorrectOperationException {
    final PsiElement referenceExpression = getElement();
    if (referenceExpression != null) {
      final PsiElementFactory elementFactory = JavaPsiFacade.getElementFactory(getProject());
      referenceExpression.replace(referenceExpression instanceof PsiReferenceExpression ? elementFactory.createReferenceExpression(myTargetClass) : elementFactory.createClassReferenceElement(myTargetClass));
    }
  }

  @Override
  public String getConflictMessage() {
    return myConflict;
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Moonlight_Graham
NF Fanatics
NF$
Moonlight_Graham last won the day on April 8
Moonlight_Graham had the most liked content!
About Moonlight_Graham
Rock n' roll God.
eating, then 12 hours later shitting out the waste product of that food.
its not Graham
Amusing Quote or Song Lyric
"This song's for the bitches thats hangin' from my ding-dong" - RBL Posse
Favourite MG(B) Song
While We Were Hunting Rabbits
ddufresne11
Manchalivin
And another new demo
Moonlight_Graham replied to mackie1023's topic in Matthew Good
I'll try to take a stab at the lyrics: Sit atop a mountain Listen with a soup can In the south he's not a liar Just the leader of a bad band - [Sounds like Donald Trump, the bad band being alt-right anti-immigrant and/or neo-nazi types] That in Europe get together An in secret praise the people That my grandad fought in the lowlands - [these lines referring to neo-nazis praising the Nazis who his grandad fought in WWII i assume] At the Scheldt got shot to pieces So they could rehash their allegiance To a national convenience - [blaming convenient scapegoat groups for our ills - Jews as Nazis do, Muslims, immigrants etc, and nationalism/national socialism] That preys on easy difference - [right-wing identity politics & ethnic nationalism blaming "the other", just like Hitler did] You know fear it's just a weakness - [fear of the other] And ya, it's been one of them years Well the poor they're there to pity But only from a distance - [Seems to be referring to the poor in poor foreign countries, like asylum seekers, Syrian refugees etc. Mocking anti-immigrant types and our society in general, saying well we feel bad for you poor people, but we don't want you in our country] Pull on your tender heart strings - [like dead Syrian boy washed ashore Alan Kurdi, yet the backlash against Syrian refugees across the West] The price of an every day existence Emma Lazarus was wrong Fuck your teeming huddled parasitics [Mocking anti-immigrant types here again, twisting the poem on the base of the statue of liberty] Somehow kids from Nicaragua Well they're invading West Virginia Maybe they're looking for Ollie North - [Oliver North was a US military official involved in the Iran-Contra scandal where he helped fund anti-socialist government Contras in Nicaragua] Maybe what you got you get it in you I seem to remember things that mattered That no longer count as anything And ya, it's been one of them years Oh the sea ain't really rising baby You're just getting shorter Never mind the science Them vaccinations cause dysphoria And them pictures of the planet They've been doctored So it looks like a place akin to heaven But only from a distance [Seems like this part is Matt's mocking rightwing climate change deniers, anti-vaxxers etc] Nobody likes your headscarf But they wear masks in the resistance Who don't really have any answers But they're great at pointing fingers [pointing out hypocrisy of alt-right folks] And ya, it's been one of them years You can only fool the people The other half the time we're sleeping So that's pretty much the bag And bag men never want for reasons So drinks are on the house Because the house always wins And baby you know that I've wasted a lot of time A lot of time just thinking When thinking's overrated Compared to reactionary blinking - [a reactionary in politics means someone who is not only conservative but wants to return society to a previous time, the opposite of progressive. Matt's saying he spends a lot of time thinking and may kind of regret all that time as it seems wasted, because many people don't seem to be thinking much these days and those people seem to be winning a lot] So I'm sitting here reflecting On what I could've done [could have done with all his time instead of sitting around reading news articles and thinking etc?] And ya, it's been one of them years Sit atop a mountain Listen with a soup can For a distant whistle Buy a dog so he can And ya it's been one of them years So basically this song is lamenting a lot of alt-right identity politics and other right-wing politics in the news the last while that he disagrees with.
Radicals - lyrics?
Moonlight_Graham posted a topic in Matthew Good
Anyone take a shot at the lyrics yet? Here's a video of the new song:
2018 Vinyls - April 6th
Moonlight_Graham replied to jaydee's topic in Matthew Good
Doubtful anything but WLRRR gets printed again. Wish they did but not expecting it. I bought 2 copies of LOES on vinyl when it came out. Now I can't find them in my house and haven't seen them for years LOL. I remember bringing one of them or maybe both to a concert in Ottawa at the NAC to get one of them signed during the LOES tour (but didn't bother getting it signed). I wonder if I left one or both of them at the concert venue LOL. That sucks because it would really sound awesome on vinyl i bet, one of my fav albums, i never got to listen to it on vinyl before i misplaced it.
There The First Time
Moonlight_Graham replied to Manchalivin's topic in Matthew Good
How I try to interpret Matt's lyrics is to consider: - The context of the album as a whole, whether it's a concept album or has a central theme, how that theme might relate to the lyrics in a given song - What's been going on in Matt's life either interest-wise (ie: political events) or personally (ie: having kids) that he's shared around the time the song was written - Any general personal interests of Matt (ie: politics, soccer etc) or themes that he's talked about or sung about in the past (ie: mental health, the state of the music industry, US foreign policy etc) that might provide clues. Matt's always been really into covert operations in US foreign policy, he likes figuring out all secret CIA shit that's been done now & throughout the decades, likes figuring out a complex puzzle, and I think he likes making his lyrics like that too, a puzzle for us to figure out.
I've gone over the lyrics to all of the songs on "Something Like a Storm" numerous times. Some songs are a lot easier to interpret their meaning than others. Matt has a very poetic style of lyric writing. Often they can be extremely vague, and for some songs it's like he writes the lyrics for himself to enjoy and express and no intention for us to know, or it takes a darned English professor to extract the symbolism & metaphor etc. Some songs are impossible to interpret their original meaning because many of his songs can be about personal matters we aren't privy to. After learning the meaning of different songs through different interviews of his, there's just no way anyone could ever interpret the lyrics accurately for some songs because they were based on personal matters he never shared with his fans. This song I've tried to interpret with some vague theories, like immigration (and refugees) in the US and Canada, or possibly something to do with aboriginals, immigrants, European migrants to North America, and nationalism. It could also have to do with something cyclical about humans and their relation to the environment and humans as part of the whole animal ecosystem where it's a timeless battle for survival for all living things. I really am not 100% sure. Again, it's vague. As a listener it can be frustrating because I want to connect to the lyrics and to the artist and share in its meaning, but because of the vagueness it's impossible. An album like LOES was still complex lyrically but I found as a whole a bit easier to interpret with some work, and a genius of an album lyrically & musically. I like songs that are complex enough to take some work to figure out, but not so vague that it's possible to do so with some mental effort. Avalanche was an album like that. What do you think this song means?
Moonlight_Graham replied to hoogie's topic in The Silver Screen
I see what you're saying, but I think I feel the same as Daniel does. Luke is on a different journey than Yoda or Ben, and obviously also didn't have nearly close to the same amount of Jedi training as Yoda & Obi-wan, who had decades to train & learn wisdom from many masters, while luke had a few sessions of actual training, so his wisdom won't quite be like Yoda or Obi-Wan. Luke is also showing wisdom though by wanting the Jedi to end, he's doing it for GOOD. He sees that Yoda and Obi-Wan were complete failures as teachers to Anakin, and their choice to train him, despite Yoda sensing "much fear" in young Anakin in Episode 1, led to the deaths of billions of people and untold suffering. Luke didn't want that to happen again, and he saw that path happening again in Kylo. Luke said he looked inside Ben in that moment and saw great darkness, and visions of the future where "he would bring destruction, and pain, and death, and the end of everything I love because of what he would become", which could have included visions of his Jedi training temple, the turning to the dark side of some of his students while killing the rest, Kylo helping create the First Order & destroying the New Republic & billions on the Republic capital (in Force Awakens), killing his best friend Han Solo etc. So essentially he's becoming the next Darth Vader so if in that one instant Luke feels a temptation to end all that suffering by killing Ben, well I think that's more than understandable. If any of us could kill Hitler in 1938 would that be evil to be tempted to do so, or even to do so? I'm sure Luke did everything in his power to lead Ben to the light, but he failed, just like Yoda and Obi-Wan failed with Anakin, and it led to billions of deaths, why wouldn't Luke be tempted if just for an instant to prevent similar? Luke was hopeful in the original trilogy, but he also had anger in him then too, he decapitated Vader in the cave vision on Dagobah, he showed anger fighting Vader in ESB and ROTJ even after becoming a Jedi, he cut off Vader's hand at the end of ROTJ in rage after Vader said he was going to turn his sister Leia. Luke is a good person but not infallible or immune from all dark side temptations.
Tour: 2018
Moonlight_Graham replied to RileyLewis's topic in Matthew Good
I'm sad all his posts are gone too, I agree it's frustrating, & it's been frustrating when the old blogs disappeared too, which contained a lot of meaning for a lot of people not to mention historical value as a record. But also we don't know what was said to him in the PM's, maybe even with good intentions, but could have made him feel hurt, offended, angry etc. And I remember Matt mentioning many years ago that he didn't know if he could continue blogging because of legal problems from the things he's written, maybe from his ex-wife or whatever who knows. So maybe he had no choice sometimes? Matt's also been very open about his bipolarity, which is a mood disorder, and has been open that he's been going through a lot of hard times personally & health-wise lately, so maybe these decisions that may seem rash to us happen at a low point & then something upsets him like this, or maybe not, who knows, we really don't know so we should just respect his decision & wish him the best. We've been really blessed to have Geoff and Matt post here over the years.
My Matt Good Amplifier Adventure
Moonlight_Graham replied to finboy's topic in Matthew Good
doesn't show up for me on my PC at home
1964 Gibson SG Custom
Moonlight_Graham replied to theBoyWhoSavedRabbits's topic in Matthew Good
I thought Matt mentioned it's been on pretty much every album since WLRRR. And it was used extensively live since then. Did you buy it from him? If so, can I have it?
A poster (signed) with VIP is ok as a bonus, but $150 for soundcheck when tickets to the actual concert are half that price is ridiculous. A group photo is meh, and certainly not worth the price. Definitely skipping VIP, for $150 I want a ticket too. Not sure if I'll even go to the show, OLP are neat but I've never bought their album. This tour is most appealing to casual fans of both bands i think.
Greatest hits show with limited set? punch me in the face :|
New Album 2017
Moonlight_Graham replied to Idioteque's topic in Matthew Good
Listened to the new album a number of times now, my review: A very good album, I've enjoyed it very much, some of it brilliant, some super-catchy, other songs are a bit too pedestrian. The central theme of it I understand & I think is very important politically, but several of the songs have quite cryptic lyrics where I've yet to fully understand the theme of the song, such as There The First Time, Days Come Down, and This Is Night, so as a concept album it hasn't hit me yet like ie: LOES did. My 1st impression of the album is that many of the songs have a more uplifting melody than a usual MG album, as songs like Bad Guys Win/Decades/There The First Time/Days Come Down are quite catchy while some of their meanings may actually be more dark. Army of Lions was probably the 1st MG/MGB song I remember ever wanting to dance to, but several songs on SLAS have an upbeat danceable groove, like There The First Time & Days Come Down. The band is so damn tight live so far, especially when they played for Alan Cross' secret launch party, they sound just like on the album! Some of that might have to do with the pre-recorded elements, but recording live off the floor I think benefited the band. The 80's vibe of songs like Decades/There The First Time seems to mesh surprisingly well with the rest of the album that mixes keys/piano, orchestration, and jazz (Bullets...). I absolutely adore the keys & instrumentals on Men At The Door & Bullets. The biggest highlights on SLAS & CN have been the jazzy songs (Cold Water, Tiger By The Tail, Bullets...), and if you include LOES then IMO the best songs he's recorded in the last 10 years have been the jazzier ones, Matt has really found a brilliant sound here that I think will come to largely define his post-MGB career when all is said & done. I wish the economics of mass appeal meant he could explore these jazz sounds more & create more albums like LOES. I'll rate the songs: Bad Guys Win - 7/10 - I like the message, but the music is a bit too pedestrian for me. Decades - 8/10 Men at the Door - 9/10 - Truthful lyrics, love the keys at the end There the First Time - 9/10 - Awesome beat, catchy song Days Come Down - 9.5/10 - So catchy, great groove, wonderful lyrics Something Like a Storm - 7/10 - Insightful lyrics, but music didn't quite come together IMO, orchestration was a bit too over-the-top She's Got You Where She Wants You - 7/10 - Sounds kinda like an 80's love song, but otherwise doesn't do much for me This is Night - 5/10 - Much preferred Lone Gunman. The "Vancouver" sound sounds out of place & stale now, felt the same with All Your Songs & Daughters Bullets in a Briefcase - 10/10 - Brilliant
Metallica, even in the 80's, used lots of fadeouts. For Whom The Bell Tolls, Fade To Black, Escape, Orion, Jump In The Fire etc. I like the fadeouts on the new MG album, gives it a throwback feel. Wish the album came on cassette LOL.
The entire rock industry doesn't have have many huge headliners anymore, minus nostalgia acts. Festivals and rock radio stations are starting to play more pop or pop-esque acts. Rock is dying commercially. But that's off-topic.
Matt's Artistic "Muse"
Moonlight_Graham replied to andydanger85's topic in Matthew Good
Sometimes I wish that too, but then I also think of all the blog entries he's written and of course the albums/lyrics over the decades so we already have an autobiography from him in many ways.


British street artist Banksy seemed to pull off the stunt of the century on Friday, when one of his paintings began to self-destruct seconds after being sold. The New York Times reports that Banksy's "Girl With a Balloon" sold for $1.4 million as part of the last lot at Sotheby's "Frieze Week" contemporary art sale in London. Moments after auctioneer Oliver Barker slammed the sale hammer, however, an alarm went off and a remote-control mechanism on the back of the frame started to shred the painting. "We've been Banksy-ed," Alex Branczik, Sotheby's head of contemporary art in Europe, said at a news conference afterward. The buyer who purchased the 2006 spray paint on canvas was a private collector who has not been identified.


Home Medicine Aging Is Age-related Hearing Loss a Warning Sign for Dementia?
Recent research from Ireland has investigated whether age-related hearing loss is associated with cognitive decline, cognitive impairment, and dementia.
Adults older than 65 years of age often experience a disabling hearing loss. There are cohort studies that have shown that age-related hearing loss (ARHL) precedes the onset of clinical dementia by 5 to 10 years, are considered as a possible noninvasive biomarker, and might offer a pathway to modify clinical outcomes.
However, epidemiologic research on the possible link between age-related hearing loss and cognitive decline as well as dementia provided inconsistent results. More research is needed to understand the relationship between age-related hearing loss and dementia.
A study published in JAMA Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery examined and estimated the association between age-related hearing loss and cognitive function, cognitive impairment, and dementia. The authors conducted a systemic review and meta-analysis of the available research. The primary outcomes and measures of the study were to measure the hearing loss by pure-tone audiometry only and to objectively assess cognitive function, impairment, and dementia. Their results were based on 36 epidemiologic studies including 20,264 unique participants.
Loughrey and colleagues' results indicated that age-related hearing loss was significantly associated with a decline in all main cognitive domains. Age-related hearing loss is also associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment and dementia.
Hence, age-related hearing loss is a possible biomarker and modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline, cognitive impairment, and dementia. This important study has implications for the treatment of age-related hearing loss. Further research will be necessary to understand this relationship and identify the mechanisms involved.
Reference: Loughrey, David G., et al. "Association of age-related hearing loss with cognitive function, cognitive impairment, and dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis." JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery (2017).


Our practice was first established in 1958 by the late Dr. William. E. Colliver Sr. who provided quality care to Frederick families for 40 years. Today, Dr. William Colliver and Dr. Marcie Bidinger are proud to carry on his tradition of excellent care and customer service in a growing community. With an experienced and compassionate staff, we hope to consistently provide a pleasant dental experience for every patient at every visit.
Without enough deep sleep you may be sleepy, lack mental sharpness and be less productive. Long term health effects can be serious, including weight gain, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. More info on Sleep Apnea.


A Chanel carousel fitted out with giant quilted bags, camellias, pearls, boaters, and bows faced the audience as it poured into the Grand Palais for the Fall Ready-to-wear show. It was a fitting metaphor for the timeless turning of the house classics, and for the unstoppable machine fashion has become these days.
Lagerfeld didn't miss a trick, from fragile, frothy, high-necked blouses to spidery knits, peplum jackets, and an intelligent exploration of how longer lengths might be worked into a winter wardrobe.
And what of austerity chic, the subject du jour? Lagerfeld's witty take was an updated retread of Coco Chanel's "poverty de luxe," so that the tweed suits came with worn-through elbows or scatterings of faux-darned patches. Nothing too heavy, of course, because Lagerfeld is not one to take passing fashion issues, even recession, too seriously. But in its relative restraint, reserved color, and holding back on accessory overload, this collection was a smart way to prove that whatever goes around comes around, and ends up looking just as Chanel as ever.
Don't you wish you can have one of this giant Chanel bags in your living room?
All I can say is J'adore CHANEL !! Karl Lagerfield is a Genius!


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Marion county has some of the best Haunted Attractions in Oregon. Whether you're looking for a good fright, want to go pumpkin picking, or simply looking to create amazing fall memories, then you'll want to head out to Marion county this Halloween season. With terrifying chills and exhilarating thrills, Marion county has something to offer for everyone - from families in search of kid-friendly fall fun, to friends looking to spend an evening at some of the spookiest haunts in Oregon. Halloween is almost upon us! Make sure to check out what Marion county has to offer this autumn - you won't be disappointed!
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Defence and security company Saab has the pleasure of inviting journalists, financial analysts and investors to the Saab Capital Markets Day on the 13 May 2015.
The presentations will start at 8.30 and end around 12.00 (CET). The presentations will include an introduction about our position and way forward by Saab's CEO Håkan Buskhe. Gunilla Fransson, head of Saab business area Security and Defence Solutions will talk about our naval strategy and Anders Linder, head of Surface Radar Solutions will present the new family of radars. Ulf Nilsson, head of business area Aeronuatics will conclude the presentations with a Gripen update.
During lunch, participants are invited to test the Remote Tower System.
The event will take place at IVA's Conference Centre, Grev Turegatan 16, Stockholm. Registration and breakfast starts at 8.00 am.


text:
Talia Lakshmi Kolluri's short story "A Level of Tolerance" appears in Southern Humanities Review issue 52.2. In the story, an alpha wolf must reckon with the disappearance of her beloved brother, searching along the border between conserved land and hunting territory. In the following interview, Kolluri discusses how the story plays with time to convey the circuitousness of grief, writing non-human main characters, and the challenges and joys of being a working writer.
Caitlin Rae Taylor: Many writers shy away from writing pieces from the perspective of animals. What makes you feel an affinity for non-human main characters, and what are the particular challenges of writing stories from their perspectives?
Talia Lakshmi Kolluri: I would like to answer this question by telling a story about a bird. I live in a California suburb that still has a lot of undeveloped land in it. So we have houses and schools and shops next to open fields and old orchards, and little creatures like ground squirrels and birds make their homes there. A few years ago, my husband and I were on a walk around the neighborhood and we passed one of those fields. In a patch of brush right next to the sidewalk, there was a bird about the size of a starling. I might not have noticed her except that as we strolled past, she planted her feet in a firm stance, spread her wings widely and started chirping as loud as she could. Behind her spread wings was a nest, and inside the nest were her eggs. I think about that bird often, about how resolute she appeared to me. And I wonder all the time what it meant for her to have us walk past her nest. The thing is, there is more than one story for that moment. There is mine: the story where I took a walk past a field. And there is hers, where danger came to her nest and she bravely faced it to defend her eggs. To me, that's the bigger story.
And I suppose that every time I have an experience like that, or read some piece of news involving an animal, I wonder what the non-human participant in the story thinks about it. I'm so curious about their inner lives! I just can't accept a world where humans are the only ones who have emotions and dreams and feelings about the world around them. And lately, there has been research to show that other living things do have complex emotions and cognition. Just because they can't communicate them to humanity doesn't mean they don't exist. There are some great books that cover this topic, and two of my favorites are Sy Montgomery's Soul of an Octopus and How Animals Grieve by Barbara J. King. My approach is also inspired by one of the theses of Amitav Ghosh's The Great Derangement which is that art, and specifically literature, should acknowledge the environment and the world around us. In the context of Ghosh's book, climate change is the factor that should be more present in literature. I think this creative call can also include all of the flora and fauna we share our world with. There are so many wonderful writers who are engaging with nature in their work and who write toward integration instead of distinction. I suppose telling stories from an animal perspective is my way of participating in that tradition.
The challenges in writing from an animal perspective are not necessarily so different than writing from any other perspective. In the most basic sense, I am trying to suspend the reader inside a dream without them noticing the mechanism. While I don't necessarily write straightforward realism, I want the stories to feel real. And I think finding ways for the reader to connect emotionally to my narrators and characters is important. Several years ago I took a workshop taught by Anthony Doerr and I brought a story narrated by a sled dog. One of the tools he mentioned in our workshop was the idea of defamiliarization. In my case, this means figuring out how my narrator would describe a thing that is familiar to humans but unfamiliar to an animal narrator in such a way that the reader can still recognize it. So in this particular piece, our wolf does not know what a truck bed is, so she calls it a trough. She sees a knife as a large tooth, and so on. The risk with an approach like this is that the story can veer into precious or unreadable territory, so I try to use it somewhat sparingly.
I have to be honest though, I find writing from an animal perspective to be significantly easier. There is something about having the filter of an animal life between me and my characters that allows me to be more emotionally honest. When I write about a wolf or a donkey or a bear, I have to completely invent everything they think and feel. I have to manufacture all of their motivations because I quite literally cannot ask them about the world as they see it. But because I must invent everything, it also means that I can invent everything. The lack of limitations on my imagination is actually pretty liberating.
CRT: What kind of research process did you go through to write "A Level of Tolerance"?
TLK: I started by reading everything I could find about the wolf on which I based this story and then went for a deep dive into wolf behavior, the social structure of packs. I then moved on to research the landscape so that I could root the piece in place as much as possible. I relied heavily on work by Jim Brandenburg, who is an icon in wildlife photography, an advocate for wolf conservation, and a generally impressive human being. He produced and directed a beautiful documentary called White Wolf, which I relied on for atmosphere and wolf behavior. I also used work by Jim and Jamie Dutcher regarding wolves specifically in the vicinity of Yellowstone, which is where I imagine this story being set. They have a book called The Hidden Lives of Wolves which chronicles the lives of the Sawtooth Pack. It includes beautiful photographs as well as accessible discussions about how wolves benefit the ecology of their surroundings and the different stories that humans have told about them. It also does a nice job of dispelling negative myths about wolves.
To gain a technical understanding of wolf ecology, pack structure, feeding behavior and breeding patterns I used Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation by L. David Mech and Luigi Boitani. I spent a lot of time researching weather patterns in Wyoming as well. Our wolf has denned pups, but it's snowing when this story takes place, so I checked weather reports in Yellowstone to see how often a large snowfall could come in the spring. I'm satisfied that it's plausible even if not predictable since I didn't want weather to undermine the believability. I generally wanted to feel submerged in a sea of wolves and tried to write most of this story while I was under that water, so to speak.
CRT: So yes, this story is based on the life of a real wolf. Can you tell me a little more about the wolf in particular and where you first discovered her? What made you want to reimagine this story as fiction?
TLK: I'm so glad you asked about her. I first learned about her through her obituary. I have been interested in wolves for a while and was just searching the internet looking for a wolf story that would snag me, and in early 2012 just a couple of months after she died, I found her obituaries in the New York Times and Outside. She was the alpha female of the Lamar Canyon Pack (named for their proximity to the Lamar River in Wyoming). Her research number was 832F but among her fans she was often called the 06 female because she was born in 2006. She was, by all accounts, an impressive wolf with the ability to navigate the complex social structures of her pack and avoid conflicts based on territorial rivalries. She was also famous for her ability to complete solo hunts, often taking an elk down on her own. She would leave her two mates (yes she had two), to watch over her pups in their den and would go out hunting alone. Eventually she taught them to assist her, but she still took the lead. Everything I've read about her showed her to be an interesting, complex, and truly special creature. I admired her and I still admire her.
When she was killed, during a sanctioned wolf hunt just outside the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park, what struck me the most was how precarious her life truly was. No matter how powerful she was, no matter how savvy, no matter how well she negotiated the nuances of pack life to become a successful wolf, it all ended when she crossed an un-seeable boundary that she could never identify or understand. And I realized how one-sided human interaction with the natural world is. Official wildlife management policies in the US tend to be oriented toward benefitting the human population the most. And all of the living things that we share our space with are at the mercy of these policies.
The title of the story is actually taken from language that is used to justify wolf hunts. Sanctioned wolf hunting is used to keep the wolf population below a certain level and this phrase is used to describe the benefits of the hunt, meaning a wolf hunt (or cull) is used to keep their population at a size that the surrounding human population is willing to tolerate. It's very sterile, clinical language. And when I read that phrase, I wondered who that level was really for. Certainly not the wolves. I chose to write about this wolf because I wondered what the experience was for her. Of course we can never truly know, but I tried to imagine it.
One of the things that I learned in my research is that once a wolf hunt is sanctioned, trophy hunters tend to target the largest and most impressive wolves, which are often the alphas. This is a completely different approach from when animals hunt, because when an animal hunts, it tends to target the weakest members of a group. But when the strongest member is killed, it damages the group as a whole. The loss of their alpha female disrupted the cohesion of the Lamar Canyon Pack. The alpha male and female of a pack are a breeding pair (in 832F's case a breeding triad). So a pack is essentially a family, and the alphas are the parents. Once one half of the breeding pair dies, the remaining alpha can't breed with their offspring, so leadership becomes unstable. 832F and one of her breeding mates were killed, leaving only one. I don't know what would have happened to the pack if she had lived, but I wanted to give her a different ending. I wanted her to have the opportunity to learn that she was at risk and to make a different choice.
CRT: As you were writing this piece, how did you conceive the idea of animal grief, and how do you imagine it is both different from and similar to human grief?
TLK: I imagine that animal grief has enough similarities to human grief that it is recognizable. I truly don't know what animals think about their own mortality. I know humans as a species tend to fear it and will go to great lengths to avoid it. And I imagine that, to the extent survival is a basic instinct in all living things, animals have the same drive to survive. But I don't know if they have the same fascination with mortality. I think human grief is enmeshed with that fear. Of course we miss our loved ones when they are gone. We even miss those that we have complicated relationships with, and we can feel tremendous loss even for people we have never met. I think some of that anguish is tied to what the death of someone else says about our own transience. We are confronted with the knowledge that, someone else being gone forever means, someday, each of us will be gone too.
I like to imagine that animals have a more practical vision of their own impermanence because they don't appear to have cultures built around trying to live forever. But this clearly does not obviate the very real process of mourning. At this point, it's common knowledge that elephants mourn their dead. There is research into the rituals and behaviors of corvids when they encounter their own deceased. Dr. Kaeli Swift with the University of Washington has a lot of interesting scholarship in this area. And wolves, who are very social animals, have also been observed in periods of mourning. Jim and Jamie Dutcher have another wonderful book called The Wisdom of Wolves where they describe how a low-ranked wolf named Motaki was killed by a mountain lion. After Motaki died, the Dutchers observed that the remaining members of the pack did not engage in any play for approximately six weeks.
Play is in important activity for these very social animals so that would have been unusual. They further observed that pack rallies, which normally include excitable group howling, changed tone and mimicked the kinds of howls a lone wolf would use to locate their pack. Finally, the Dutchers observed members of the pack returning to the place where Motaki's body was found. Is this not mourning? I think it is. I thought of this as I had my narrator wolf return to her own familiar places in search of her brother and only let go when she realized he would never return. This is the closest I can get to letting go of my human lens to get inside the mind of a wolf. They feel the loss, they process the loss, and perhaps they find a way to move on.
CRT: A piece you published in Ecotone, "What We Fed to the Manticore" is from the perspective of a tiger, and your piece "The Hunted, the Haunted, the Hungry, the Tame" in the Minnesota Review is from the perspective of a sled dog. Are these pieces and "A Level of Tolerance" part of a larger collection you're working on solely from the perspective of animals?
TLK: Yes these pieces are part of a collection, all from the perspective of animals. With the exception of one story (which is written in a close third), they are all from the first person perspective, which was really important to me. They cover the spectrum of animal experiences from domesticated working animals, to those in some form of captivity, to those existing in their wild habitats. But every story, either overtly or at the margins, engages with the issue of how human action affects animals and how that impact may be viewed by the animal characters. In some instances the human influence is climate change, in others it's poaching or the relationship between working animals and their human handlers. While people are not absent from the collection, they are not centered either.
CRT: I'm intrigued by the way you play with time in the story, particularly the notion of every possible scenario, every kind of death, happening simultaneously. How do you see time functioning in relation to grief and in relation to human destruction of plant and animal life?
TLK: I think time, or our perception of time, is fluid with respect to grief. I see this more broadly as a feature of trauma, whether that's collective trauma, intergenerational trauma, or personally experienced trauma. We tend to return to the genesis of our pain over and over again as a way to understand it and place ourselves in some sort of comprehensible context. Part of this desire to understand is a futile exercise, in a way. Harm and tragedy don't always make sense, but we tend to want them to. And if they don't, we may want to reimagine them so they exist in a narrative governed by reason. Sometimes we have no control over what happens in our lives, and yet we want to feel agency nonetheless. In this story, the time loop allows the wolf to repeat a moment and to approach it in different ways until she learns to survive it. With respect to grief, perhaps this repetition can allow the griever to live alongside their grief instead of being overtaken by it.
I'm also drawn to the idea of simultaneous selves. I like the idea that there are other Talias out there who are living different lives based on different choices. Perhaps all of us are infinite wolves trotting through infinite paths in a million different forests, living other lives through other seasons.
I think it becomes a bigger question when we consider how humanity as a species has impacted plant and animal life. When I finally got around to reading The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert, I was disappointed, but not surprised, to learn how destructive we have been as a species and for how long (spoiler alert, a very long time). Here, I want to note that not every culture and community has been the most destructive, and there are traditions and communities that tread lightly on the earth and stand as exceptions to this particular characterization of humans, and certainly the western world (in the political sense) is responsible for most of our modern global pollution.
However, I would like to set aside the exceptions for a moment and consider our species as a whole, which requires acknowledging that humans, throughout our deep history, have been very hard on the environment. We bring invasive species of plants and animals and insects when we travel and move, which disrupts local ecosystems. We cause a significant amount of plant and animal extinction. Modern industry has infused every corner of the globe with micro-plastics, or toxic chemicals, or noise. Even "unspoiled" wilderness is impacted by global changes in temperature or extreme weather patterns as a result of climate change. Here, I think time is less of a loop and more of a bellows. The earth will survive our species, of that much I am certain. But when our influence swells to the point that we decimate too many other living things, we may not endure. I think it's hubris to think that we can continue on as we have and survive the world that we are making. And despite my affection for revisiting a moment until it can be righted, we are not invincible and will not have an infinite number of times to slow the destruction of our environment.
CRT: What are your views on legal and illegal hunting, poaching, animal conservation, etc., and how did those views inform the story?
TLK: I originally wrote a very long answer to this question because I do have strong feelings and opinions about all of those things. But I ended up deleting it because what I wanted to do with this story, and what truly informed my writing was to ask myself what the wolf thinks of humans hunting (and more specifically, recreational hunting by humans). What does it mean to her? Does she understand what is happening and why? Which takes me back to the first question I asked myself when I started writing: what if the wolf told this story?
And when I frame it that way, my opinion is less relevant, because it wouldn't matter to a wolf. All of the ways in which we as a species either condemn or justify our individual and collective behavior doesn't make a difference to the animals and environments that are affected because they are fully outside of those discussions. When I let the wolf tell the story, I then leave it to the reader to decide whether and how that impacts their opinion on hunting and conservation.
The way this played out in this particular story, is that I considered the idea of a boundary between the point where hunting a wolf was legal versus illegal. For a human, this is a clear boundary. If you have a permit to hunt a wolf you will probably also have a map that shows you where you can and cannot use that permit. But to a wolf, that human-created boundary line has no meaning. She can stand next to one tree and be perfectly safe because she is in a "no hunting zone," and if she walks 10 feet over, her life is in danger. And she will not know the difference. As "A Level of Tolerance" progresses, the mechanism of the time loop allows her to start learning this distinction. This produces a second question for the reader: What does it mean when a hunted animal learns that she is hunted, and does that change anything for the reader? I think that's a conclusion that everyone will have to draw for themselves. I have an answer that I hope the reader will reach, but I want them to get there through the story.
CRT: Is there anything in particular you want readers to take away from "A Level of Tolerance"?
TLK: If I were to distill my intention down to a single thing, I would say that with this story I wanted to reduce the emotional distance between the reader and the wolf. I often hear "nature" and "the natural world" framed in the kind of context that casts them as something separate from humanity. I think this narrative ignores the very significant fact that we as humans are natural things and are integral parts of the natural world. I hope that by reducing that distance between humans and the rest of the natural world, I can remind readers that we too are part of nature and the health of flora and fauna is important for the health of humanity.
CRT: What do you do when you're not writing?
TLK: I have a full time job as a public sector attorney, and I also have a ton of hobbies like hiking and photography. There are also the regular trappings of life like family and community events, and exercise and errands and trying to keep up with an ever-accelerating life in the modern world. And of course I love reading. If I could highlight something I like to do that isn't writing (but may be writing adjacent), I absolutely love learning things. So I'm trying to learn to read and speak Japanese, and I'm learning how to successfully grow some vegetables, and I like research so I just have a number of things that I'm curious about that I'm researching with no real purpose or end game in mind.
CRT: Do you have any advice for fellow emerging writers on how to navigate the publishing world or advice for fellow working writers on how to balance a full work schedule with writing time?
TLK: I think the most practical advice I can offer on balancing a full-time work schedule is to be kind to yourself about time management. I've seen a few pieces of advice that suggest writers should write every day and that if a person is not writing every day then they aren't really a writer. I totally disagree with that. It's not always realistic to work on creative pieces every day. Sometimes I have really long work days and I'm too tired to write when I get home. Sometimes I exercise, or cook dinner, or go out with friends. And sometimes I'm a writing machine and ignore everything else. Every day is different. One of my tricks is to keep a little book with me at all times and if I think of a sentence or an idea, I just write it down in that moment. In fact this story started out that way. It was just all these little snippets, some of which I discarded, that suddenly became something whole.
And if you work outside of the literary and academic community like I do, lunch breaks can be a really useful tool for making space for your creative life. When I have a deadline I'm working with, one thing I do is assume my workday is one hour longer than it actually is and use that last hour for writing. So if my workday ends at 5, I go to a café or head home and give myself one additional hour of work before I start my evening. I recognize that if a writer has family or personal obligations that start right after work like childcare or a second job, this may not work. But a similar concept can be used for carving out time on other days. I think the key here is to treat it like work in the sense that it's a commitment to yourself and your creative goals. But again, if this doesn't happen very often, that's fine! You are still a writer! Make time when you can but give yourself permission to make your writing a priority.
As far as navigating the publishing world, I'm still figuring this out. My approach so far has been to revise my stories until I'm confident that they are my best work and then submit them to journals that I admire. Most of the time this means that I get a lot of rejections, and not the personal kind either. I get a lot of "dear writer" rejections. This sounds pretty straightforward, but writing is an inherently solitary pursuit so it's easy to let self-doubt become so all-consuming that pretty much any writer just starting out can talk themselves out of submitting. And it can be difficult to remember that trying is one of the most essential parts of the publishing world. I do think success comes from persistence and the persistent belief in your own ability. If I assumed that every rejection was a commentary on the quality of my work, then I would barely submit at all. But instead, I don't take it personally. I assume that it's the wrong time or the wrong audience, or my story reached a reader on the wrong day. It's a big world out there and there is space for a lot of stories, including mine. And to all the emerging writers out there, there's room for your stories too!
I don't have an MFA and I don't have plans to get one, but I still want to be part of the writing community, so one of the places that has been great for me in building community and finding writing partners is a summer workshop program. I've been to the Tin House Summer Writer's Workshop about four times, and I use my vacation time to go. I understand that the expense can make them inaccessible for a lot of writers, but many programs have scholarship options that cover either part or all of the expense. I encourage emerging writers to explore those programs. My writer friends are wonderful, big-hearted people, and they love reading, and I'm so grateful to have them.
The last piece of advice that I would offer is to remember to lead with kindness. Kindness when you interact with other writers, kindness when you interact with editors, kindness even when you are rejected and don't feel inspired to be kind. The writing community is large, but the connections between its members are intertwined. The editor that rejected your story may also be the cherished writing partner of one of your workshop classmates. The classmate that got the book deal that makes you boil with jealousy may be a client of your dream agent. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule (as there are exceptions to every rule), but I think that kindness is a great default approach.
CRT: What else are you currently working on, if I'm allowed to ask?
TLK: I love the way you phrased this question because I am a little superstitious about discussing work in progress. I have the story collection, and while it's complete, I will most likely always be writing short stories of this kind, so I could theoretically add to it forever. I am also in the early stages of a novel that deals more directly with the large-scale consequences of human environmental impacts and how they are experienced by a group of animals.
TALIA LAKSHMI KOLLURI's short fiction has appeared in the Minnesota Review, Ecotone, and elsewhere. She was born and raised in Northern California and now lives in the Central Valley, where she is at work on a collection of short stories and a novel. Her home on the internet can be found at taliakolluri.com. If you would like to learn more about gray wolves, their environment, and how to protect them, visit defenders.org.


text:
Roy Rana
Blog #1 : Who is Roy Rana?
1. Tell us about yourself?
I'm the Men's Basketball Coach and a father of two. I've lived in Toronto all of my life and been very fortunate. I've experienced many big wins and a few crushing defeats, but more importantly have had incredible experiences and built some great relationships along the way. Read More About Roy.
2. What is your role in relationship to the CIS Final 8 Championship?
My primary role is to prepare our team to win. Beyond that, I sit on a number of committees around events leading up to the championship, community involvement, marketing, special projects and really just lending a hand where I can.
3. Why did you choose Ryerson?
I've been part of the Toronto basketball community for many years. A number of players who played for me in high school went on to play at Ryerson. I really thought something special could be built here and to be able to continue my coaching career in downtown Toronto was an opportunity I could not pass on. I'm thankful for the opportunity.
4. Why is hosting the CIS Final 8 so important for Ryerson?
Hosting the Final 8 Championship really shows how far we've grown – how much more respect we have as an athletic department and as a University. It reflects the culture of excellence that Ryerson is all about. It's important for Toronto and the CIS because it's our first time and we are hosting it in the most important basketball market in the country. If we want to continue building our fan base and bring media awareness to what is a very high level, Ryerson and Toronto's hosting is an important opportunity. Our program strives to be leaders and giving back to the basketball community is a huge part of that, Ryerson reflects that,
5. Why should students be excited for the championship?
I think from fan perspective, we're still somewhat of a secret. Basketball fans don't understand the level these teams play at. I've been coaching for 20 years and this is a very special team, comparable to a mid major NCAA program. Our guys are humble, passionate and take great pride in repping Ryerson. It will be a powerful sport experience for everyone comeMarch 12th when the tournament kicks off. The opportunity to win a National Championships at home is an opportunity our students must be a part of.
6. Where is the team at right now in preparations?
We're grinding it out.. We have 1 game left until playoffs, so we're prepping for Queens. We've talked about the Championship since the beginning of the season, but it's not our main focus right now. We take it one game at a time and are committed to the process becoming the best team we can right until the end.
Blog #2 : Greater Meaning of Sports in an Athlete's Life
1. What impact does basketball have on these students' lives?
Being a student athlete is transformational in so many ways. For the most part, these athletes come in at 18 and leave us at 22. There's a growth and transformation that happens during that time. There's a resilience they develop to overcome losses or injury, or to balance academics. Every athlete has their story. For those who come in uncomfortable in their own skin, you see them become confident in a public realm or with their teammates. It's very very powerful.
2. There's often a stereotype that athletes may ride on their athletic ability alone. What do you say to those people?
I tell them they should try to go through a week of life as a student athlete. It's incredibly challenging. With what they have to balance, time management takes on a different meaning. They have to make sacrifices, especially on the social side, but they're giving to the sport they love.
There's no shortcuts for the athletes either. You have to be a legitimate student or you can't be on the student team. The academic side doesn't care. They have to be performers on the court as well. These young people find a way to do it, which is very admirable.
3. Unlike coaching Team Canada, these players have equally important academic demands. What is it like coaching a team of students?
The reality is, you have to understand, in our minds basketball is the number one priority, but it's not why they're here. They're still university students, so we provide academic support. Our goal is to see young men graduate and sometimes it's hard for the team, but you need to give them the time to be successful on both sides.
We are actively preparing for the opening playoff game. The training changes from more physical to more mental preparation. During the playoffs, scouts become more detailed and the pressure is on, so we focus on the mental side. This includes increased work in the video room, watching more tape and studying more paper. At this point, it's more strategy than time on the court.
Blog #3 : Toronto's Basketball Scene
1. Toronto has recently become the hotbed for basketball in Canada. Why do you think that is?
Toronto is now a hotbed for basketball globally and the bulk of it is because a number of people have worked tirelessly to elevate the game. Coaches, trainers, administrators from grassroots to the highest level have extended themselves and grown, with them has Basketball in Toronto, but the true reason is these special young kids who have dedicated themselves to the sport and believed in the dreams that they could play at a highest level.
2. What part can Ryerson play in this shifting mentality?
Well hopefully for Toronto, we can take great pride in having a very special basketball team that's performing at a high level. University basketball in Canada has long battled sterotypes about the level of talent and play. If you watch the highest level in the CIS one will quickly understand that these players are tremendous athletes and Basketball players. Our part is to try and continue representing Toronto and continue show people the quality of Basketball that exists at this level. The quality of basketball at all levels should be important for Toronto and for us its important we do our part.
3. Does this shifting focus around basketball affect our basketball players?
Absolutely it does.They're seeing the energy evolving around the sport. They're seeing more young men find success at the highest levels of basketball. The success in Toronto and across the country is aspirational for so many including our own athletes, staff and students. We are going to continue seeing some great stories of success coming out of our city for years to come.
4. What do you think still needs to happen with basketball in Toronto?
We just need to keep working. We can't be complacent. We've had a lot of success and we're hot, but this can't be the golden era of basketball; this just needs to be a reality. We've just got to keep learning growing and have the humility to understand we are only as good as what we give back to the game.
We are just trying to balance midterms and heavy academic workloads. It's challenging time for our guys so staying focused and avoiding distractions is critical. Our focus right now is solely on our 1st round playoff opponent Laurier who we play this Sat night.
Blog #4
1. What does the last week before the championship look like for the coach, for the players?
It's a little bit of a whirlwind for everyone. There's a number of different events. It's all positive and a great celebration.
With a little more time, the focus is a little higher towards the basketball side, especially when there's an opportunity to win a basketball championship.
2. What is the most important thing for the athletes to be doing?
Just making sure they are managing distractions and focusing on what's ahead. They need a healthy positive outlook on the opportunity. It's all about a good performance Thursday night.
3. What are you most looking forward to?
Just the environment. The crowd, the energy. I think it will be a big goose bump moment for the players, for staff and for the university. It's the first time we've hosted a national championship, on our home court. It's a special moment for basketball.
4. What are you most nervous about?
You just want to play well. That's the key; to perform optimally on a big stage.
5. What do you want the general student population to know?
I want them to feel a great sense of pride about our university. It says a lot about Ryerson that we're willing to give so much to our community and to our city. They should take pride in the students that rep. them on this team. There's great basketball talent here and the athletes have great character.
I just hope that everyone reading this makes an effort to support the guys.
Emelie Savard
Aaron Best


The average annual and hourly salaries for farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers in the state of Florida are shown in Table 1 and Table 2, respectively. The comparison of the salary statistics of farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers amongst Florida metropolitan areas is shown in Table 3. The salary statistics are based on the national compensation survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2017 and published in April 2018 .
Table 1 shows the average annual salary for farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers in Florida in 5 percentile scales. The average annual salary for the 90th percentile (the top 10 percent of the highest paid) is $151,900. The median (50th percentile) annual salary is $79,940. The average annual salary for the bottom 10 percent is $42,390.
Table 3 shows the median annual salary of farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers in some Florida cities and metropolitan areas. We note that the median annual salary of farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers in state of Florida ranges from $70,740 to $95,600. The highest paying area for farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers in Florida is South Florida nonmetropolitan area with a median annual salary of $95,600. The second highest paying city/area in Florida State is Sebastian-Vero Beach (mean annual salary $91,560). The lowest paying area is Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford with a median annual salary of $70,740.