text:
The Greater Ring or Intermediate Ring in Brussels, Belgium (French: Moyenne Ceinture, Dutch: Middenring) is a set of roads in the shape of a ring, intermediate between the Small Ring and the main Brussels Ring motorway. The greater part of this set of roads is numbered R21 and is about 30 km long, compared to 8 km for the Small Ring and 80 km for the main Ring.

It crosses two highways (A12 and E40-east) and offers a connection to the A10/E40-west at Basilique/Basiliek via Avenue Charles Quint/Keizer Karellaan, to the A12 at Gros Tilleul/Dikke Linde, to the E19-north and N22/A201 at Leopold III via Boulevard Léopold III/Leopold III-laan, to the A3/E40-east at Reyers, to the E411 at Arsena(a)l via Boulevard du Triomphe/Triomflaan and to the E19-south at Paepsem via Boulevard Industriel/Industrielaan.

This road passes through tunnels (Boileau tunnel, Montgomery tunnel, Georges Henri tunnel), on bridges and viaducts (e.g. Diamant viaduct, Teichmann bridge and Van Praet bridge) and under bridges and viaducts (e.g. Luttre bridge). Among those bridges, 7 are used to cross railroads and 2 are used to cross the Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal. Tunnels and the Diamant viaduct are used to avoid crossroads. The Greater Ring runs along many parks: the Royal Domain, the Josaphat park, the Forest park, the Astrid park, the Scheutbos park, the Elisabeth park, the Jeugdpark and the Laeken park. It also crosses the Bois de la Cambre.

The road goes through 14 municipalities out of the 19 which form the Brussels Capital Region: City of Brussels, Schaerbeek, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Etterbeek, Ixelles, Uccle, Forest, Saint-Gilles (only when riding clockwise), Anderlecht, Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Koekelberg, Ganshoren and Jette.

Crossroads
The Greater Ring counts 15 main crossroads with other main roads in Brussels. Starting from the north and going clockwise, those crossroads are:

 Gros Tilleul/Dikke Linde: where motorway A12 starts, leading to Antwerp via Willebroek
 Van Praet: crossroad with the Quai des Usines/Werkhuizenkaai (the road along the Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal) and the Avenue de Vilvorde/Vilvoordselaan (N1 road leading to Antwerp via Mechelen)
 Josaphat: crossroad with Avenue Chazal/Chazallaan located at the eastern end of the Josaphat park
 Meiser: crossroad with the Chaussée de Louvain/Leuvensesteenweg (N2 road) as well as the Avenue Rogier/Rogierlaan and the Avenue Eugène Plasky/Eugène Plaskylaan
 Reyers: where motorway A3, leading to E40, starts; connecting to Germany via Leuven and Liège, this is also the crossroad with Avenue de Roodebeek/Roodebeeklaan, Avenue des cerisiers/Kerselarenlaan and Avenue du Diamant/Diamantlaan; the Belgian national radios and televisions (RTBF and VRT) are also located next to this intersection
 Montgomery: crossroad with the Avenue de Tervueren/Tervurenlaan (N3 road) and the Avenue de Broqueville/De Broquevillelaan
 Arsenal/Arsenaal: crossroad with the Chaussée de Wavre (N4 road) and the Boulevard du Triomphe/Triomflaan
 Couronne/Kroon: crossroad with the Avenue de la Couronne/Kroonlaan
 La Cambre/Ter Kameren: crossroad with the Avenue Louise/Louizalaan, where the Greater Ring enters the Bois de La Cambre/Ter Kameren Bos
 Vanderkindere: crossroad with Avenue Brugmann/Brugmannlaan and rue Vanderkindere/Vanderkinderelaan
 Albert: crossroad with Chaussée d'Alsemberg/Alsembergse Steenweg
 Paepsem: crossroad with Boulevard Industriel/Industrielaan
 Dupuis: crossroad with Boulevard Sylvain Dupuis/Sylvain Dupuislaan
 Prince de Liège/Prins van Luik: crossroad with Chaussée de Ninove/Ninoofsesteenweg (N8 road) and Boulevard Prince de Liège/Prins van Luiklaan
 Basilique/Basiliek: crossroad with Boulevard Leopold II/Leopold II Laan next to the Basilica

Road names
The roads that form the Greater Ring are the following, starting from the Gros Tilleul/Dikke Linde crossroad and going clockwise:
 Avenue Van Praet/Van Praetlaan (going southeast) and Avenue des Croix du Feu/Vuurkruisenlaan (going northwest)
 Boulevard Lambermont/Lambermontlaan
 Boulevard Général Wahis/Generaal Wahislaan
 Boulevard Auguste Reyers/Auguste Reyerslaan
 Boulevard Brand Whitlock/Brand Whitlocklaan
 Boulevard Saint-Michel/Sint-Michielslaan
 Boulevard Louis Schmidt/Louis Schmidtlaan
 Boulevard Général Jacques/Generaal Jacqueslaan
 Avenue du Congo/Congolaan
 Avenue Lloyd George/Lloyd Georgelaan
 Avenue de Flore/Floralaan
 Avenue de Diane/Dianalaan
 Avenue de la Lisière
 Avenue Winston Churchill/Winston Churchilllaan
 Avenue Albert/Albertlaan
 Avenue Besme/Besmelaan and then Avenue Reine Marie-Henriette/Koningin Maria-Hendrikalaan (going northwest) or Avenue des Villas and then Avenue du Mont Kemmel (going southeast)
 Avenue Wielemans Ceuppens/Wielemans Ceuppenslaan
 Avenue du Pont de Luttre/Luttrebruglaan
 Rue du Charroi/Gerijstraat
 Boulevard Paepsem/Paepsemlaan
 Avenue Frans Van Kalken/Frans Van Kalkenlaan

At this point the Greater Ring is discontinued but can be joined via Boulevard Briand Aristide/Briand Aristidelaan, Avenue Eugène Ysaÿe/Eugène Ysayelaan and Avenue Théo Verbeeck/Théo Verbeecklaan. Then the Greater Ring resumes:

 Rue René Henry/René Henrystraat
 Rue de la Compétition
 Boulevard Maria Groeninckx De May/Maria Groeninckx De Maylaan
 Boulevard de la Grande Ceinture/Grote Ringlaan
 Boulevard Louis Mettewie/Louis Mettewielaan
 Avenue Emile Bossaert/Emile Bossaertlaan
 Avenue Jacques Sermon/Jacques Sermonlaan
 Avenue de Laeken/Lakenselaan
 Boulevard de Smet de Naeyer/De Smet de Naeyerlaan
 Avenue des Robiniers/Witte Acacialaan
 Avenue du Parc Royal/Koninklijk Parklaan

Public transport
The Greater Ring is extensively used by public transport. Between Boileau and Diamant, 4 underground tram stations (Boileau, Montgomery, Georges Henry and Diamant) are connected by a tunnel for trams, which lies under the Greater Ring. This tunnel is used by tram routes 7 and 25. Albert underground tram station is also located under the Greater Ring at the Albert crossroad, where the tram routes 3 and 4 join the Greater Ring, route 3 stopping 3 stops later at Churchill whereas route 4 leaves the Ring two stops later at Vanderkindere.

Tram route 7 (previously 23/24) actually starts at the Vanderkindere crossing and follows the Greater Ring up to Gros Tilleul (De Wand stop), only to leave the Greater Ring after having crossed the Royal Domain to end at Heysel. This makes it the route which drives the most along the Ring. Old route 24 also started at Vanderkindere and ran up to Princesse Elisabeth stop only to terminate at the next stop at Schaerbeek railway station. Route 25 joins the Ring at Buyl stop coming from Boondael railway station, follows it up to Meiser stop and terminates at Rogier metro station.

Bus route 49 follows the Ring on two occasions, first as it joins the Rue du Pont de Luttre at stop Wiels, coming from Brussels South railway station. It then leaves the Ring at stop Veeweyde metro station, to come back at stop Peterbos up to stop Leopold I.

Streets in Brussels


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Q: Proper way to pass C FILE pointer to curl_easy_setopt function I am creating an SMTP client program in C on RHEL 4 Linux based on the sample program at:
http://curl.haxx.se/libcurl/c/simplesmtp.html
Whenever I pass the message body text to the program through stdin, the program works correctly. However, I experience a segfault when I try to pass a FILE pointer to the curl_easy_setopt() function. The comments (from the sample program simplesmtp.c) state that it is possible to pass a file pointer instead of stdin to the curl_easy_setopt function.
Relevant comment section from simplesmtp.c
/* You provide the payload (headers and the body of the message) as the
 * "data" element. There are two choices, either:
 * - provide a callback function and specify the function name using the
 * CURLOPT_READFUNCTION option; or
 * - just provide a FILE pointer that can be used to read the data from.
 * The easiest case is just to read from standard input, (which is available
 * as a FILE pointer) as shown here.
 */
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_READDATA, stdin);

These are the error lines from the console with the CURLOPT_VERBOSE option set.
< 250 2.1.5 <myname@mydomain.com>... Recipient ok
> DATA
< 354 Enter mail, end with "." on a line by itself
./r: line 5: 21282 Segmentation fault      ./mysmtpcli -r rcp.txt -m msg.txt

BTW: ./r is my shell script which is calling ./mysmtpcli -r rcp.txt -m msg.txt
My Snippet of Code
FILE *f_msg;
f_msg = fopen(msg_file, "r");
if(!f_msg){
  fprintf(stderr, "Could not load message file: %s\n", msg_file);
  return 1;
}

curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_READDATA, f_msg);

fclose(f_msg);

Note: The msg_file variable is populated from the command line parameters and is a valid text file containing:

Subject: Test Message
This is a test message!

When this same file is passed to the program via stdin using "cat msg.txt | ./mysmtpcli -r rcp.txt", the program executes properly. Though, this requires replacing f_msg with stdin.
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_READDATA, f_msg);

Am I passing the FILE pointer correctly?

A: Yes, you do pass a file pointer correctly. Though it seems like you close it right away. If you do that, curl will later try to read from that file and crash. You have to close it only when it is not needed anymore.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


As a licensed clinical mental health counselor, I strive to embody unconditional positive regard for all I have the opportunity to meet, as well as to provide a safe space free of judgment. We are never done evolving as individuals, and each person's journey is important and unique. My goal is to listen and provide the necessary support you need to achieve your fullest potential.
Take a moment to review the information provided throughout this site; please call or email with further questions and to make an appointment.
As of March 2018, my practice moved to 1101 SW Emkay, Suite 101, Bend, OR, 97702.
Please join co-facilitators Sydney and Debbie for a free adult support group the second Monday of each month from 7pm to 8:30pm. This group is ongoing and available to anyone over the age of 18 who is interested in group support for suicide bereavement. It is held at Partners In Care at 2075 NE Wyatt Ct., Bend, OR 97701, although it is not associated with the Partners In Care.
Un intérprete de español se encuentra disponible de forma gratuita a cualquier persona en la asistencia. Por favor, póngase en contacto con Alison para organizar el intérprete de estar en el grupo .
An RSVP is appreciated: Please call or email Alison to confirm your attendance. Visit our Events page for specific dates.
Click here for more suicide resources.


Happy St. Patrick's day ?
So, how does alcohol intake effect sports performance, particularly endurance sport?
1) If we treat alcohol as a food… IMHO there are no good or bad foods. That said, all foods should be consumed in moderation, and anything in excess is bad. So from the same stance, a moderate amount of alcohol is not a bad thing. (That said, I generally don't drink, other than consuming large quantities of good Champagne at special occasions). The question would be in relation to alcohol what is considered moderation.
2) If used wisely, and not to excess, I think it can be a great stress buster and relaxant for some…but not all….and it can be easy to slip from 1 or 2 glasses as a relaxant, to polishing off a bottle, and then intakes go up.
3) Generally, in excess, not a great idea. We all know the stories of guys knocking back vast quantities and exercising well the following day. I find these stories happen far more infrequently as we get older. The real question here….would the individual have gone even better if they didn't have alcohol related dehydration, or a raging headache.
4) I know of one study undertaken at an academic and national sporting institute where post exercise alcohol consumption (to a large quantity) actually didn't impact on athlete recovery of glycogen stores. Surprising, the institute decided not to publish this data!
5) The main consideration for most of the athletes I would work with regarding alcohol intake, is in reducing empty calories , and therefore making it easier to achieve a race weight. So again, if anything, moderation is advised.
6) None of us are pros and this is just a hobby.
So happy St. Patrick's day, and enjoy the glass (or two) of the black stuff!


text:
Chrysler Dealership Near Weyburn
Over 30 years providing exceptional service
Open 6 days a week for your convenience
Full-service dealership with Sales, Parts, and Service Centres
Join us today and find the vehicle you deserve!
We know that you want more out of your dealership. We know that you deserve more from your dealership. That's why when you choose to work with the dedicated team members at Indian Head Chrysler you can expect more and know that we're going to exceed your expectations every time. We're proud to have a varied selection of Chrysler products to choose from, along with the brands that fall under the FCA corporate umbrella - with Dodge, Jeep, and Ram models to choose from as well.
For those of you looking for a Chrysler though, we're excited to be able to present the latest and greatest that the brand has to offer. This means that's it's safe to say that your expectations will be met with real-world practical solutions and opportunities. We want you to have a great time when you work with us, because we want our dealership to become your dealership, too. We look forward to meeting you and making your trip out to us the best it can be!
Your Dealership Near Weyburn for Chrysler Models
You're after a Chrysler that has the features and the look that sticks out and reminds you what the joy of driving is all about. At Indian Head Chrysler we're certain that we'll be able to connect you with the options and the models that stand out and meet your standards and your driving needs. Our selection of Chrysler vehicles is here for you to check out, ask us about, and take out on the road for a test drive before making a decision on which one is the best for you and your needs.
Consider, for starters, what the world will be like when you're experiencing it from the driver's seat of the outstanding Chrysler 200. This 2016 IIHS Top Safety Pick+ winner is ready to impress with best-in-class features that include horsepower, as well as the fact that it has been recognized as having the option for the most technologically advanced AWD system in its class. Next, we have the Chrysler 300, with a fuel efficiency as good as 7.7-L/100 km hwy (37 mpg), with options for RWD or AWD drive types to get you where you're going in your terms. Next up we have the all-new Pacifica. Taking over from the legacy started by the Town & Country, this is a minivan worthy of your family. Find out more today at Indian Head Chrysler!
Drive Home the Chrysler You're After from Indian Head Chrysler
The world is filled with too many uncertainties - but when you choose Chrysler, you'll find that there are some things one can be certain of - and that's the quality of these vehicles. The 200 is Canada's most affordable mid-size car. With a huge number of models and options, choosing the 200 that's right for you is all a matter of choice. For example, the 200 can be equipped with either the 2.4-Litre Tigershark MultiAir I-4 engine or the incredible 3.6-Litre Pentastar VVT V6 engine - and that's just for starters! Learn more at Indian Head Chrysler today!
The Incredible Features on the Chrysler 300
The 200 may have the quality to set itself apart from the competition - but when you want to step up to a new level of luxury, check out the 300! Comfort is definitely a point that's been emphasized on this full-size sedan, with options that include Nappa leather-faced seating, dual-pane panoramic sunroof, and options between the effective 3.6-Litre Pentastar VVT V6 engine and the 5.7-Litre HEMI VVT V8 engine that offers an impressive 363 horsepower to make your time on the road a lot of fun!
The Minivan Legacy: Town & Country
Want the convenience that come on a minivan without feeling like you're driving a minivan? Well then, it's time for you check out and test drive the outstanding Town & Country. Regarded as one of the leading vehicles in its class, it come equipped with the stellar 3.6-Litre Pentastar VVT V6 engine and offer 55 safety, security and technology highlights to keep you on the road safely and with all the resources you need to make your life better.
The All-New Pacifica
Chrysler's next-generation minivan is hitting the streets with all the advanced features you'd expect on future-centric model. Equipped with class-exclusive and first-ever technologies, including the fact that it is the first hybrid minivan offered, ever. With everything you might need to make your life more interesting today, tomorrow, and down the road - let's find you the right vehicle today at Indian Head Chrysler!
The Professional Team You Deserve at Indian Head Chrysler
When it comes to finding the dealership experience that connects you with the results you deserve - there's no better place to start and finish your search for the best vehicles, services, and experts than at Indian Head Chrysler. With years of providing our community and the surrounding area with options that really make a difference, we're confident that you'll leave our care with the satisfaction you deserve.
Join us today at our 501 Johnston Avenue in Indian Head, Saskatchewan. We're a short drive from Regina - just take the Trans Canada Highway and be rewarded by the small town hospitality and personalized service we're able to provide, with the departments and the vehicle options that rival the big city dealerships. We're open six days a week and are eager to make your visit the best it can be - each time you choose to work with us!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Girl, 17, accused of helping recruit 16-year-old girl into sex trade
Courtney Greenberg CTV Toronto
Published Tuesday, May 10, 2016 4:51PM EDT Last Updated Tuesday, May 10, 2016 7:05PM EDT
A 17-year-old girl was charged Friday for recruiting a 16-year-old girl into the sex trade.
Police say the 16-year-old girl was a student at St. Joseph's College in March 2015, when she was approached by a 17-year-old girl who introduced her to two men.
The 16-year-old was told that she could make a lot of money working for the men.
The men allegedly used threats and intimidation to force the young woman to become a sex trade worker, police said.
Police have accused the 17-year-old recruiter of taking inappropriate photos of the 16-year-old and posting them on a website called backpage.com.
The victim was taken to various Toronto hotels where she was forced to have sex with clients for money. According to police, the two men took all of the money she made.
It is also alleged that the two men also sexually assaulted the 16-year-old girl themselves.
"These pimps will get younger girls to recruit for them. It's a lot easier for girls to recruit for them rather than for them to recruit out of the schools," said Det. Sgt. Nunzio Tramontozzi.
On Friday, a 17-year-old Toronto girl was arrested by the Human Trafficking Enforcement Team. She was charged with five sex trafficking offenses, including procuring a person under 18 years of age, making child pornography and advertising sexual services.
She cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Police charged two male suspects, Henry Borrego-Salinas, 25, and Justin Ferguson, 26, in connection with the crime on April 21 after getting a search warrant for a residence. Some of the charges include sexual assault on a person under 18 and material benefit from trafficking in person.
The charges have not been proven in court.
Senior coordinator of the Toronto Catholic District School Board John Yan told CP24 that a note was sent to the parents at St. Joseph's College. The note explained that "a former student has been arrested and charged with a variety of serious offenses. Sadly, the victim has also been identified by police as a student at our school."
Yan says the school is cooperating with police. He also says the school is providing support for students in need.
"It's unfortunate. It's one of those things that you have to come to grips with as a modern society," Yan told CTV Toronto. "It's something that could have happened to any school in the GTA."
"It is in our middle schools and parents need to know who their kids are hanging out with and stop this before it goes any further," added Tramontozzi.
Police believe there are other victims involved and encourage them to come forward. Anyone with information should contact police at 416-808-7474.
Toronto police are seeking a man in his 20s who allegedly sexually assaulted three women in Scarborough on three separate occasions in the last two months. (File Photo)
Baby found in critical condition at Markham hotel
CTV News Toronto at Six for Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Woman faces eviction from home of 36 years
More Canadians are filing for bankruptcy
Toronto native created app to detect ChatGPT
Toronto homeowners have until Thursday to declare status of property to avoid steep fines
Ontarians can get money back with these personal income tax credits
An accurate bathroom scale can be an important weight loss tool: consumer reports
COVID-19 in Ontario
'We are on the right track:' Toronto formally ends municipal state of emergency after 777 days
Local medical officers of health pen letter to Ontario's top doctor asking for mask mandates back
Ontario Liberals pledge to add COVID-19 vaccine to school immunization list
Nearly half of eligible Toronto residents have now received a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine
Will Toronto's fun summer programs stick around as COVID restrictions ease?
Fourth doses in Ontario: When should you get one?
Totally Toronto
Teachers are lining up for a ChatGPT detector created by this 22-year-old in Toronto
Toronto listed among 'world's most overrated cities' in new report. Here's where it ranks


Stick Vega's stunning, museum quaility, fine art notecards are recreated from his one-of-a-kind, burned, exploded and fuse drawn artworks.
The Blast Factory Assortment contains six notecards with a selection of Stick Vega's best work: Two gunpowder paintings, two fuse drawings on paper and two fusprgraphs.
Blank centers so you can write an explosive note to a friend right now! Or, maybe you will draw someone a cool sketch. Perhaps you would rather frame these archival prints for a cool addition to your gallery.
Front Images: Support Us, Lead Us, Attraction, Have You Met These Burning Flowers, Pea Plant and Piano Orchid.
Back: Printed with Stick Vega signature logo, art listing, and story.
Oce Vario printed on Accent Opaque 80#, medium weight card stock. Acid Free. High brightness. 30% recycled paper.


Miller Woodlands is in the Central Till Plain natural region in Grant County. It contains a total of 195 acres, with 191 acres in forest.
Forest composed of four tracts allowing replicated research.
Field teaching site for natural resource management field days.


text:
As Harvey donations pour in, kudos continue for J.J., but questions for the Red Cross take shape
Did an NYC firefighter really like his first Whataburger? Did we really need to ask?
Anna Caplan, September 4, 2017 6:27 pm
It's is hardly a secret for anyone who resides within Texas' borders: Whataburger is law.
RELATED: WhataBUDGET: Whataburger continues to make a difference in Texas with its $1M donation
But for Lt. Thomas Carrera, a New York City firefighter who was among 50 dispatched to aid in Hurricane Harvey, the burger was an unknown delicacy.
The Texas-based chain released this video of the first-responder chowing down on his first Whataburger.
As Carrera speaks to someone off-camera, he expresses surprise at the two patties and the tangy, delicious mustard surprise.
While serving first responders we ran into a NYer who got his first sweet taste of Whataburger pic.twitter.com/AzYbryw8cn
— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) September 2, 2017
But then, the verdict:
"Unbelievable!" he exclaimed.
By midday Monday, some 27,000 people liked the video on Twitter, and more than 12,000 retweeted.
RELATED: Resourceful, but, perhaps, unprofessional, HPD is making a change in how it handles its crime scene administration
This is one hero who saved the day — at least as far as the fast-food restaurant is concerned.
If you need or would like to help in Houston, read more here.
Whataburger


It comes in the morning.
Shining on us with warmth.
Tomorrow we will see it again at the same place.
Adorned with powder, shining and making us happy.
Thanks to Amp for sharing this song with the pronunciation. Translated by Amp and Lisa.


SAN MARCOS, TX – Central Texas Medical Center (CTMC) will once again honor the hard work of outstanding regional high school students with three $1,000 scholarships. Depending on applications and need, the hospital is also prepared to give more. As evidence of its efforts to extend its mission beyond caring for patients, CTMC has been awarding scholarships to area high school seniors since 1997.
In 2010, CTMC awarded a total of three $1,000 scholarships and also provided two laptops to additional applicants who didn't quite meet the criteria for the $1,000 but demonstrated a true need that the hospital wanted to meet.
Application forms are available at www.ctmc.org, by clicking on "CTMC High School Scholarship Application" page, under "Education and Events". Interested students must send or deliver their completed forms to CTMC, located at 1301 Wonder World Drive in San Marcos. Applications must be delivered or postmarked on or before Thursday, March 31, 2011.
For more information, please contact CTMC's Scholarship Coordinator, Jerilyn Miller at 512-753-3687 or Jerilyn.miller@ahss.org.


Caring and Considerate The Aberlady Pages ( www.aberlady.net ) web site came about because of my love of the village of Aberlady. Having lived here all of my life ( over 50 years now ) i know what it is like to grow up in a happy, peaceful and safe environment in a community with a caring and considerate attitude.
But Aberlady is more than that, it has a fascinating history ( including of course the period when it was the port for the town of Haddington ) and it has many fine old buildings, including the beautiful village church - the oldest building in the village is opposite the Old Aberlady Inn. As with any other village, as the older inhabitants die so does much of it's history and the Aberlady Pages web site is a way of trying to address that problem.
Memories As well as recording my own memories of growing up in Aberlady, i have begun to interview some of the older members of the community so i can preserve as much about the village as i can. Obviously the site is not only seeking views of older residents though, any comments ( about Aberlady, the area or growing up here ) from any age group is most welcome.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of democracy in local politics here in East Lothian ( prior to 2006 ), we have felt it necessary to include pages highlighting the 'problems' relating to the 'recent' Cala development in School Field. The opposition to these houses was not 'nimbyism', as there has been many houses built in the village in my time here and there has been no problems with their being built. The opposition to the Cala development was for very legitimate reasons as set out on the relevant pages on the site.
My name was one of those regularly in the local newspapers ( often on behalf of the Aberlady Conservation Society, of which i am now not a member ) opposing the houses but i am not against new houses or people in Aberlady as they are necessary for the sustainability of any community. My opposition was against these houses for very legitimate reasons, some of which are now coming to fruition ( school overcrowding, traffic problems - one of the Autumn/Winter issues of the Community Council newsletter highlighted problems of speeding cars on the Mair Road ), extra air pollution, austhetic values, etc. ).
Had the development been small and in keeping with the village, there would have been little or no opposition from me or anyone else and the pages on this site about it would not have been necessary.
Click on the following links to go to the Forums, and to send an email respectively.
A note about the Forums; For them to work, Forums need people like you to contribute their views, information, etc.So please consider posting something. Thank You.
W hope you enjoy the site.


text:
Reporting the Report
WASHINGTON — There was some last-minute drama in Washington before yesterday's release of the long-awaited report by Independent Counsel David Barrett. Sources close to the three-judge panel overseeing the report say that the panel's members were furious about leaks to the press previewing the report's contents. The report, detailing an organized attempt by Clinton Administration officials to shut down an Internal Revenue Service investigation into possible tax violations by President Bill Clinton's secretary of housing and urban development Henry Cisneros, was to be released at 9:00 a.m. Thursday. The day before, late in the afternoon, word went out from the judges to the Independent Counsel's office that the release would be delayed.
Its delay Thursday morning caused apprehension as to the report's future. It had cost some $23 million in taxpayers' money to produce and a decade to research. It allegedly contained information on the politicization of the IRS and the Justice Department during the Clinton years and now might never see the light of day. The morning of the delay saw the kind of stories that roused the judges' ire. In the Washington Post syndicated columnist Robert Novak wrote that the impending report was heavily redacted — 120 pages, poof! Simultaneously with Novak's column came a front-page New York Times news story similar to the story published in the New York Sun last Monday that the Barrett Report chronicled a cover-up by the Clinton Administration of both IRS and Independent Counsel investigations into Cisneros. But the Times report had a significant omission: no mention of the redacted pages in the final report, which after a three-hour delay did come out — though with the 120 pages missing.
Had the members of the three-judge panel cooled off about these leaks? I cannot say. I do know that the head of the panel, Judge David Sentelle, is an amiable man, a published author, a cigar smoker. He is a Republican and his two colleagues are Democrats. There is no reason they too could not have a sense of proportion. Leaks take place in Washington all the time. Right now a leaker from the National Security Agency is celebrated in this town as a patriot. The Barrett Report contains a memo from an IRS leaker who apparently first tipped off the Independent Counsel to the Clintonistas' funny business. Perhaps he too will become a hero. Throughout the history of special counsels there have been admired leakers. During Iran-Contra, Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh's office leaked prodigiously. There were even leaks while Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald was investigating I. Lewis Libby prior to his indictment. Of course, some of those leaks could have come from the targets' lawyers. Who knows?
It is in the nature of leaks that their origins and purposes are mysterious. Barrett's office has been leakproof for years. He has been as quiet as a church mouse, which is why this week's hullabaloo caught many observers by surprise. Moreover, as in the Libby investigation, people mentioned in the report have very good reason to do the leaking or have their lawyers do it. In fact, throughout the Clinton years we now know that leaks came more often from targets' lawyers than from Independent Counsels. Clintonistas such as the renowned Lanny Davis have boasted that it was best when bad news was coming to get out in front of the bad news by leaking to the press and putting one's own spin on the story.
The aforementioned New York Times story is a perfect example of the kind of stories confected by the Clintons and their lawyers over the years. It appears to be fair-minded, but read carefully it is interlarded with the Clintons' defenses. The Times' story's first words contain the sullen line "longest independent counsel investigation in history." Soon Barrett's work is described as a "scathing report." Then we have this land mine: Barrett's work "came to be a symbol of the flawed effort to prosecute high-level corruption through the use of independent prosecutors." Later one of the individuals mentioned in the report is quoted as writing that the gravamen of the report is "a scurrilous falsehood."
Finally let us return to the Times' amazing omission, neglecting to mention that the Barrett Report as released yesterday has 120 pages redacted. How do we account for this error? Alas, the Times' leakers lied to the paper. Its story ends saying, "But after Congressional Republicans attached a rider to a Department of Housing and Urban Development spending bill requiring publication of the full report, the judicial panel in November ordered a full disclosure." That was not the end of it. Had a fact checker from the Times called me, I would have pointed out that later, in December, legislation was snuck through Congress that allowed the redactions to stand.
As Novak reports, those 120 pages can be seen by any member of Congress, who can then make them public. The drama continues.


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Favorite Rants
New Facebook tool to report "fake news"
Facebook allows you to report suspicious stories you see in your news feed, but you can also reach out directly to whoever posted the link. Credit the New York Time.
According to "When You See Something (Fake), Say Something," 5/29/2017 article in the New York Times, Facebook has added a new feature.
Here is an excerpt from the story:
When you see a link to a story that contains blatant falsehoods, click or tap the gray menu arrow in the top-right corner of the post. In the menu that drops down, select Report Post. A box appears with the headline "Help Us Understand What's Happening."
In the "What's going on?" section of the box, select "It's a false news story" and click Continue. On the next screen, Facebook offers a set of options, including "Mark this post as false news." You can block the person who posted the story or its original website from appearing in your news feed.
You can also report objectionable photos, harassing messages and other bad behavior to Facebook. The details for doing so are on the company's "How to Report Things" page in its Help Center.
When you report something, Facebook does not automatically take down the item. Facebook reviews your complaint and decides if the offending post violates its own Community Standards rules on hate speech and other behavior. You can check on the status of your report in your Support Inbox (found at https://www.facebook.com/support) on the site.
Posted by Mike Shell at 10:13 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: "fake news", Facebook
And what about Google...?
As an un-looked for sequel to the previous post, "What if I don't want Facebook to decide what I see & which friends I hear from?," this past weekend I came across "You Still Need Your Brain," a piece by Daniel T. Willingham that questions over-reliance on Google, especially in the learning process (New York Time SundayReview, 5/20/2017).
In my post about Facebook, I shared Farhad Manjoo's "Social Insecurity: Can Facebook Fix Its Own Worst Bug?" (New York Times Magazine, 4/30/17). The kicker for that post read:
Facebook's News Feed uses algorithms to choose which stories we see and in what order, based on who posted them, who among our "friends" reacted to them, and how much they mesh with the "preferences" we signal by our own clicks. Is this what we want?
In "You Still Need Your Brain," Willingham cites Jonathan Rochelle, the director of Google's education apps group, who
said last year at an industry conference that he "cannot answer" why his children should learn the quadratic equation. He wonders why they cannot "ask Google." If Mr. Rochelle cannot answer his children, I can.
Willingham writes that "Google is good at finding information, but the brain beats it in two essential ways."
Champions of Google underestimate how much the meaning of words and sentences changes with context....
With the right knowledge in memory, your brain deftly puts words in context. Consider "Trisha spilled her coffee." When followed by the sentence "Dan jumped up to get a rag," the brain instantly highlights one aspect of the meaning of "spill" — spills make a mess.
Had the second sentence been "Dan jumped up to get her more," you would have thought instead of the fact that "spill" means Trisha had less of something. Still another aspect of meaning would come to mind had you read, "Dan jumped up, howling in pain."
The meaning of "spill" depends on context, but dictionaries, including internet dictionaries, necessarily offer context-free meanings.
Students have always been able to look up the quadratic equation rather than memorize it, but opening a new browser tab takes moments.... Yet "moments" is still much slower than the brain operates.
Speed matters when the quadratic equation is part of a larger problem. Imagine solving 397,394 x 9 if you hadn't memorized the multiplication table.... That's why the National Mathematics Advisory Panel listed "quick and effortless recall of facts" as one essential of math education.
Speed matters for reading, too. Researchers report that readers need to know at least 95 percent of the words in a text for comfortable absorption. Pausing to find a word definition is disruptive....
Deeper knowledge of words also helps. Your knowledge of what a word means, how it's spelled and how it sounds are actually separate in the brain.... Good readers have reliable, speedy connections among the brain representations of spelling, sound and meaning. Speed matters because it allows other important work — for example, puzzling out the meaning of phrases — to proceed.
So what do I use Google for?
Williamson does value Google as a search tool, yet he advocates properly selective use rather than use as a substitute for memory.
The brain beats the internet when it comes to context and speed, but the internet clobbers the brain when it comes to volume. You can find any fact on the internet, even alternative ones. Your brain, in contrast, is limited, so how should we choose what to learn?
Students should learn the information for which the internet is a poor substitute. Getting information from the internet takes time, so they should memorize facts that are needed fast and frequently. Elementary math facts and the sounds of letters are obvious choices, but any information that is needed with high frequency is a candidate — in algebra, that's the quadratic equation.
Image Source & Notes
Image: "Your Brain on Google," from "Smarter than you think: How technology is changing our minds for the better," on the blog Chris Dorman, life as a techno-geek (9/10/2015).
See also "Your Brain On Google," by Chandler, on the blog The Curved Road: My Reality Check Has Bounced (7/15/2011).
Image: "The Quadratic Formula...," from Mrs. Smith's Webpage: Algebra I (4/17/2015).
Daniel T. Willingham is a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and the author, most recently, of The Reading Mind: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding How the Mind Reads.
Labels: brain, Google, searching
What if I don't want Facebook to decide what I see & which friends I hear from?
Technology columnist Farhad Manjoo's " Social Insecurity: Can Facebook Fix Its Own Worst Bug?" (New York Times Magazine, 4/30/17) begins with this kicker:
Mark Zuckerberg now acknowledges the dangerous side of the social revolution he helped start. But is the most powerful tool for connection in human history capable of adapting to the world it created?
Manjoo interviewed Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook's headquarters in early January 2017 and again a month later. The article's primary concern is the effect of Facebook on national and global politics—especially its disruptive "echo chamber" distortion of public discourse on all sides during and since the November 2016 elections.
[Facebook has] become the largest and most influential entity in the news business.... It is also the most powerful mobilizing force in politics, and it is fast replacing television as the most consequential entertainment medium....
But over the course of 2016, Facebook's gargantuan influence became its biggest liability. During the U.S. election, propagandists...used the service to turn fake stories into viral sensation....
And fake news was only part of a larger conundrum. With its huge reach, Facebook has begun to act as the great disseminator of the larger cloud of misinformation and half-truths swirling about the rest of media. It sucks up lies from cable news and Twitter, then precisely targets each lie to the partisan bubble most receptive to it. (40)
What most catches my attention as a retired reference librarian is Manjoo's discussion of Facebook's News Feed, the key algorithmic engine defining each user's unique experience of information access.
It's an easy guess that most FB users don't even know about this "default ON" feature—any more than they know that Google's default ON is its personalized search.
Personalization...may influence your search results...based on sites you have showed a past interest in through your browser or search history, [and] whether you are signed in or out of a Google account that houses more extensive information about yourself (including on your Google+ profile).
It's deeper than simple date, time, location. It tries to get at the heart of who you are, the kinds of sources you gravitate to, and the content that will most satisfy you as a searcher.
— "The Complex Web of Personalized Search," from TentacleInbound.com
[Note: To turn off personalized search in Google, log into your Google account, go to Search Settings at https://www.google.com/preferences, scroll down to Private Results, and select "Do not use private results."]
Here's how Manjoo describes the analogous personalization mechanics of News Feed:
Every time you open Facebook, [News Feed] hunts through the network, collecting every post from every connection—information that, for most Facebook users, would be too overwhelming to process themselves. Then it weighs the merits of each post before presenting you with a feed sorted in order of importance: a hyperpersonalized front page designed just for you....
For the typical user...News Feed is computing the relative merits of about 2,000 potential posts in your network every time you open the app. In sorting these posts, Facebook does not optimize for any single metric: not clicks or reading time or likes. (43)
Zuckerberg's aim for Facebook is to do global news distribution run by machines, ruled by engineering rather than editing, user preference rather than public good.
The people who work on News Feed aren't making decisions that turn on fuzzy human ideas like ethics, judgment, intuition or seniority. They are concerned only with quantifiable outcomes about people's actions on the site. That data, at Facebook, is the only real truth…....
But it is precisely this ideal that conflicts with attempts to wrangle the feed in the way press critics have called for. The whole purpose of editorial guidelines and ethics is often to suppress individual instincts in favor of some larger social goal. Facebook finds it very hard to suppress anything that its users' actions say they want. (43)
[Note: You cannot turn New Feed's algorithms off, but you can—within some annoying limits—narrow their operations. See below for more details.]
But is News Feed "free access to information"?
Technically it is...sort of. Facebook users make the choices that feed the algorithms that drive what information the users see. Unfortunately, few of us realize that clicking on something—anything—triggers a cascading sequence of other machine-based choices. Choices defined by Facebook's aims, not our own.
In a sense Facebook's aims do match those of most contemporary users. We all want to have "news" and "information" and "opinion" and "entertainment" from people we "agree with." If I go to a library or bookstore, I decide what I want to read, right? If I don't want to see opposing views, I don't read them. Just like I pick PBS or FOX News or whatever, based on which slant on reality I want to have reinforced by broadcasters.
So Facebook's News Feed just automates the process of making sure I see mostly the web-based stuff I want to see. That's its whole point, right?
As a professional librarian I have to agree...unhappily. When I was still a public librarian, I always wanted to take those three-plus shelves of Ann Coulter books into the courtyard and burn them. But I didn't. It wasn't my choice what my customers read.
Given that ethic, I also have to accept Zuckerberg's business model: "Facebook finds it very hard to suppress anything that its users' actions say they want."
Okay, but is News Feed an "information service"?
I don't think so. At least not in the library professional's sense of helping users find and evaluate authentic information. As with most other popular "news media," Facebook is basically in the entertainment business, not the business of keeping the public well informed.
Facebook is primarily an advertising agency. It gets its revenue by showing us what we want to watch, so that we keep watching...and see ads. And here's the key point: Facebook's vast market share (1.94 billion for first quarter 2017) hinges on its mastery of user data mining—and especially its sheer genius in persuading us to give it the data that tells it what we want.
This isn't about what they ask us to tell them. Every click, every search is a data point, allowing the machines to index, compile, and analyze our choices, and to redirect us to stuff we imagine we want to see...with ads attached that match closely the analysis of our unique, every-changing data sets.
By the way, all those intriguing "personality profile" quizzes on Facebook? Whenever we do any of these, we are giving Facebook and their advertisers—and who knows who else—a vast store of deep, intimate psychological profiling data about ourselves. Even better for precisely targeting machine choices of both stories and ads.
A change of heart at Facebook?
Manjoo shares a concern over the way algorithm-driven filtering can create blind spots in public discourse.
Scholars and critics have been warning of the solipsistic impressibility of algorithmic news at least since 2001, when the constitutional-law professor Cass R. Sunstein warned, in his book Republic.com, of the urgent risks posed to democracy "by any situation in which thousands or perhaps millions or even tens of millions of people are mainly listening to louder echoes of their own voices....
In 2011, the digital activist and entrepreneur Eli Pariser, looking at similar issues, gave this phenomenon a memorable name in the title of his own book: The Filter Bubble. (41)
Zuckerberg's own level of concern has shifted since the 2016 American elections. Manjoo tells of
the manifesto Zuckerberg wrote was in 2012, as part of Facebook's application to sell its stock to the public. It explained Facebook's philosophy...and sketched an unorthodox path for the soon-to-be-public company. "Facebook was not originally created to be a company.... It was built to accomplish a social mission: to make the world more open and connected."
What's striking about that 2012 letter...is its certainty that a more "open and connected" world is by definition a better one. "When I started Facebook, the idea of connecting the world was not controversial..." [Zuckerberg told Manjoo]. "The default assumption was that the world was incrementally just moving in that direction. So I thought we can connect some people and do our part in helping move in that direction." But now, he said, whether it was wise to connect the world was "actually a real question." (42)
In February, Facebook staff gave Manjoo a draft of the 2017 manifesto, Building Global Community. The new manifesto, Manjoo writes,
is remarkable for the way it concedes that the company's chief goal—wiring the globe—is controversial. "There are questions about whether we can make a global community that works for everyone..., and whether the path ahead is to connect more or reverse course."
[Zuckerberg] also confesses misgivings about Facebook's role in the news. "Giving everyone a voice has historically been a very positive force for public discourse because it increases the diversity of ideas shared..... But the past year has also shown it may fragment our shared sense of reality." (42)
Meanwhile, can I control my own News Feed?
What Facebook can and will do about these concerns, especially given its "prime directive" of avoiding human editing of user choices, is yet to be seen.
Meanwhile, here are some steps you can take to manage how your personal News Feed works, taken from Control What You See in News Feed (as of 5/20/2017).
On your Facebook home page, click the white triangle to open this menu
Select New Feed Preferences
Use the options provided to manage how your personal News Feed sorts and displays information.
Keep paying attention. Add your human brain to what machine algorithms do.
Mike Shell
Of course, one way to counterbalance the "filter bubble" effect in your own New Feed is to "like" and "follow" commentators and news sources with whom you usually disagree.
Image & Author Notes
Image: "Mark Zuckerberg." Credit: Spencer Lowell for The New York Times. Illustration by Mike McQuade.
Image: "Is This Story Relevant to You? How We Evaluate," from Facebook's introduction to its News Feed.
Image: "Which FORMER PRESIDENT Would You Have Been?" screenshot of Facebook "click bait" quiz from Quizony.com.
Image: "News Feed Preferences" made up of screenshots compiled on 5/20/17. See Control What You See in News Feed for more options.
Technology columnist Farhad Manjoo is working on a book about what he calls the Frightful Five: Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook and Microsoft (see "Tech's Frightful Five: They've Got Us," NYT, 5/11/2017).
Posted by Mike Shell at 6:04 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: data mining, Facebook, Farhad Manjoo, social media
The subtitle for this blog is not a joke. I'm one whose temperament is most suited to solitary intellectual and creative pursuits, or to interesting conversation and recreation with a few close friends.
I started The Surly Librarian in 2008 as a cynic's challenge to myself: Can I turn my private grouchiness into essays for library professionals, but essays that might actually be encouraging?
Take a look at "Customer Service for curmudgeons" for one of my early attempts.
Attitude adjustment
September 29, 2016, is my last day of work with Jacksonville Public Library.
Since I admire all my library colleagues across the profession as resilient, brilliant people who "have each others' backs" despite any yanking around they have to survive, it seems like I should revisit some of this blog for their sake.
Some of these posts are dated...discouraging "news reportage" about budget cuts...but more are meant as genuine cheer leading for library folk...though, granted, out of left field (see Daikon Radishes) .
I take a couple of themes very seriously:
First, the quality of human interactions between library professionals and their clients is far more important than collections or technology
Second, the primary mandate of public libraries is to ensure free access to essential information, together with instruction on how to use it effectively, to those who cannot otherwise get or afford it (see Poor Richard Redux: A Manifesto).
These selected rants—and the whole blog, for that matter—are meant to get at the heart of genuine librarianship, which I believe requires authenticity, integrity and compassion.
And a sardonic sense of humor....
Our war against ourselves 7/19/2013
Resilience 11/21/2012
Black Border 9/9/2012
Phyllis Diller: 1917-2012 8/22/2012
Can I Go Home Now? - Deluxe Edition 3/24/2012
"Today, average is officially over" 1/25/2012
The wrong conversation 9/4/2011
I have to ask.... 5/5/2011
Market Fundamentalism 1/31/2011
Statutes & Statues 7/14/2010
Community Integration 4/23/2010
It's the infrastructure 2/5/2010
Attitude adjustment 10/29/2009
Library instruction 3/24/2009
Ask a Librarian 2/4/2009
Deeper Thoughts 11/18/2008
Daikon Radishes 11/15/2008
Summing up 9/14/2008
Maurice Sendak 9/12/2008
Digital Refugees 8/16/2008
Digital Immigrants 8/15/2008
Post-capitalism 7/18/2008
Poor Richard Redux 7/8/2008
Customer Service for curmudgeons 6/28/2008
Neo-Luddite Web 2.0 6/25/2008http://surlylib.blogspot.com/2012/08/phyllis-diller-1917-2012.html
Labels: curmudgeons, customer service, humor
Library Hotline: Los Angeles Public Library Asks, "What's Your Queery?"
Quoted in full from Library Hotline, Volume 44, No. 28, July 20, 2015
The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) wants to know, "What's your queery?" That phrase is the tagline for the library system's LGBTservices, established a year and a half ago and the subject of a presentation at the American Library Association's (ALA) 2015 annual conference in San Francisco.
The confluence of the Supreme Court decision in theObergefell v. Hodges case and the annual Gay Pride parade during the conference proved the perfect backdrop for the presentation, in which two LAPL librarians described how they improved LGBT services through grassroots efforts.
"Two of us [are] steering the ship, but we have a wide group of contributors. We try to find the talent," said Xochitl Oliva, archivist and cochair of the LGBT Services Committee at LAPL, of herself and LGBT services cochair David Hagopian. They are two of the five librarians who established LGBT services at the library in January 2014 to ensure quality patron services throughout the 72-branch system.
The group's impetus started from LAPL's Leading from Any Position initiative, which holds workshops designed to promote grassroots innovation. The LGBT services were founded alongside other affinity groups including multilingual services, veterans' services, and homeless services.
"We created this LGBT Heritage Month resource packet with adult programs, young adult programs, children's programs, [and] book lists, and we created this webpage for the self-service patron," Olivia said. Those resources including blog posts, podcasts, book lists, and even databases of interest.
As a part of the Heritage Month resource project, two children's librarians created rainbow family story times that could be implemented at any location. Activities included a family mobile-making craft program for all ages and another hands-on opportunity to make Pride buttons.
The library's LGBT book lists are also notable for their level of specificity, separating out YA books on lesbian and transgender themes from those with gay male characters. Rudy Ruiz, LAPL adult librarian and LGBT services member, also organized an LGBT-themed film program. A filmmaker and former cataloger at the University of Southern California (USC) Cinematic Arts archive, Ruiz knew about USC's student films whose copyright was held by the university.
Since the program launched, "Our [staff] numbers have really grown," said Oliva. "Last year we had 70 participating in our outreach.... This year, we had 86."
"We are trying to create a structure that anyone could look at and re-create," she added. "We're going for replicability."
Image: Rudy Ruiz (l.) and Xochitl Oliva share their work and tagline, "What's your queery?"
Posted by Mike Shell at 10:02 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: LGBT, Los Angeles Public Library, public libraries
Since January I've adopted what for me is a new approach to finding new books by authors I don't already know. I browse the New Books section.
In the process I have marveled at the arcane masterly of book cover designers.Somehow my eye is consistently drawn to the sort of books I want to read.
Here is a list of books which "leapt off the shelves at me" over the past five months.
The supernatural enhancements : a novel, by Edgar Cantero
This was a surprising hybrid. It initially presents itself as a ghost story, yet it develops into a sort of steam punk/science fiction mystery.
As Booklist writes, the story is told "through diary entries, transcripts of audio and video recordings, letters, and other media," which means Cantero must lead the reader to piece the twisty plot together through glimpses from different sources.This novel might intrigue Arthur Conan Doyle, were he transported into the 21st century.
Gutenberg's apprentice : a novel, by Alix Christie
I love a well-researched, engagingly written historical novel, especially one which goes behind the sanitized mythology of famous figures to share what the historical record reveals about their real, contradictory complexities.
The author's website writes: "Peter Schoeffer is on the verge of professional success as a scribe in Paris when his foster father, wealthy merchant and bookseller Johann Fust, summons him home to corrupt, feud-plagued Mainz to meet...Johann Gutenberg, a driven and caustic inventor, [who] has devised a revolutionary—and to some, blasphemous—method of bookmaking: a machine he calls a printing press."
Delia's Shadow, by Jaime Lee Moyer
Light, entertaining mix of "cozy murder mystery" and ghost story. Follows the formula of the first genre, but with interesting twists.
From the author's website: "Spirits seek vengeance while the young try to build a future in a fog-shrouded San Francisco shaken by more than the great earthquake. This bravura mix of ghost story and historical mystery will chill and grip its readers from first page to last."—Chaz Brenchley , author of House of Doors and House of Bells
The three-body problem, by Liu Cixin
A highly thoughtful and unusual approach to science fiction storytelling as a platform for critiquing modern Chinese history and human nature in genera.
"[Spans] multiple decades and characters, but…zooms in on Ye Wenjie and Wang Miao, two scientists in the very near future. Wenjie is an astrophysicist...daughter of a physicist who was executed during the Cultural Revolution for daring to teach the "reactionary" idea of general relativity. Miao is a nanotech engineer, and he's been swept up in a virtual-reality, online video game called Three Body that's so deeply metaphysical, it's begun to resemble a cult….
"By the time the book hits its peak, it's unveiled a conspiracy that spans solar systems — one that not only threatens to alter the human race, but the very building blocks of physics that we've evolved to understand."—Jason Heller, NPR Books
The Bend of the World, Jacob Bacharach
Who knew Pittsburgh was so weird? UFOs, a secret society with the world domination ambitions of the Illuminati, and a slacker 20-something antihero who somehow grows up despite himself.Funny, self-deprecating humor with a surprising depth of maturity for a first novel.
"Set in Pittsburgh, the book is a rollicking, occasionally mad blend of dark workplace comedy and crooked love triangle(s), improbably suspended in a web of conspiracies and conspiracy theories involving, variously, UFO sightings over Mount Washington, time travel, a corporate takeover, Bigfoot, secret chambers beneath the Point, Nazi ancestors and plenty of drugs. The narrator is Peter Morrison, age 29, with a fateful 30th birthday party looming."—by Bill Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper.com
Us conductors : in which I seek the heart of Clara Rockmore, my one true love, finest theremin player the world will ever know, by Sean Michaels
I had known of Lev Sergeyevich Termen as the early 20th century inventor of the theremin, an ethereal musical instrument played without touch, changing pitch and volume by moving one's hands within an electromagnetic field.
There is so much more to Termen's story in this fictionalized autobiography. Lenin sends Lev to the United States as an industrial spy, something he does with clumsy desperation. The story is supposedly written later by Lev while in captivity under Beria, Stalin's chief of secret police.
"[Lev] delights in creating new inventions and discussing theory with foreign scientists, but leaves the subterfuge up to his handler. Leon's chief joy, other than science, is an American violinist named Clara Reisenberg. Their love affair is intense, buoyed by Harlem dance halls and the ethereal song of the theremin."—from The Masters Review: A Platform for Emerging Writers
The Buried Giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro
(author of The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go)
A fable of a misty, empty post-Arthurian 6th century England in which everyone suffers a supernatural memory loss. An elderly Briton peasant couple set out to find a grown son they vaguely remember having left them as a youth under troubling circumstances. On the way they meet Saxon villagers and warriors, fiercely ascetic monks, Aurthur's sole surviving knight, and the curses and mysteries of this superstitious world.
Ishiguro lets his readers struggle together with his characters as they reconstruct the past and seek to escape the dooms it may hide.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
A funny, emotionally honest, semi-autobiographical YA tale of a teenage Spokane Indian's effort to escape the alcoholism and poverty of "the rez" by transferring to the whites-only high school 22 miles away.
"For 15 years now, Sherman Alexie has explored the struggle to survive between the grinding plates of the Indian and white worlds. He's done it through various characters and genres, but The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian may be his best work yet. Working in the voice of a 14-year-old forces Alexie to strip everything down to action and emotion, so that reading becomes more like listening to your smart, funny best friend recount his day while waiting after school for a ride home.—Bruce Barcott, The New York Times: Sunday Book Review
Heraclix and Pomp : A Novel of the Fabricated and the Fe, by Forrest Aguirre
Another supernatural tale, this time from 18th century Europe. A necromancer who has brought a golem to life attempts to sacrifice an immortal fairy in a ritual pact with Beelzebub. The two escape and wander from Vienna to Prague to Istanbul to Hell.
Heraclix seeks to rediscover the people from whose body parts he has been reanimated. Pomp seeks to understand the mortality she has now tasted.
I am only a few chapters into this novel, yet it has my full attention.
Labels: book cover design, book reviews
Sir Terry Pratchett, 1948-2015
Another master has crossed over.
Blessèd be,
Michael Bright Crow
Here is a post I first published about Terry Pratchett on May 17, 2012.
Back in September 2011, Walhydra was reading Mort, the fourth volume of Terry Pratchett's brilliant Discworld Series. (She thinks it's the fourth...time is weird on Discworld. She's already read The Color of Magic, The Light Fantastic, and Equal Rites.)
Walhydra likes pretty much everything about the Discworld books, but her favorite character so far is—surprise, surprise—Death. Or should we say DEATH, since he always speaks in upper case, without quotation marks? He always appears as a hooded, animated skeleton with glowing eyes.
What Walhydra admires most about Death is his attitude toward...um...death.
As far as Death is concerned, death is not some sort of evil consequence or punishment for mortals. It's just his job. All mortals die, and Death's job is to help them finish the business.
It's the mortals who, clinging to their lives, label death as "evil," as "punishment." Poor Death struggles with the unfair blame...though he always rises above it.
The title character in Mort is a young mortal whom Death takes on as an apprentice.
"Er," [Mort] began. "I don't have to die to get the job, do I?"
BEING DEAD IS NOT COMPULSORY.
"And...the bones...?"
NOT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO. (12-13)
Death leads Mort to the great twin city of Ankh-Morpork, where they stop for a meal at the Curry Garden. The place is crowded, "but only with the cream of society—at least, with those people who are found foating on the top and who, therefore, it's wisest to call the cream." (19)
Mort is puzzled by the fact that, besides himself, no one seems to see Death.
"Is it magic?" said Mort.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? said Death. AM I REALLY HERE, BOY?
"Yes," said Mort slowly. "I...I've watched people. They look at you but they don't see you, I think. You do something to their minds."
Death shook his head.
THEY DO IT ALL THEMSELVES, he said. THERE'S NO MAGIC. PEOPLE CAN'T SEE ME, THEY SIMPLY WON'T ALLOW THEMSELVES TO DO IT. UNTIL IT'S TIME, OF COURSE. WIZARDS CAN SEE ME, AND CATS. BUT YOUR AVERAGE HUMAN...NO, NEVER.
He blew a smoke ring at the sky, and added, STRANGE BUT TRUE. (20)
Pretty much sums it up.
Blessèd be.
Here is a beautiful portrait of Terry Pratchett and Death, done by Flynn-the-Cat and posted on DeviantArt and RedBubble.
Flynn's own commentary on the portrait:
A portrait of Terry Pratchett, his Death and his Discworld.
He's the creator of the Discworld, that little planet being carried away into space by the turtle Great A'Tuin, with the sun setting on it.
Death, the walking skeleton with an awful lot of character appears in all his books (however briefly) and spends a lot of time trying to figure people out. he's here because a) it's about dying (mental, age, possible-suicide), b) he's kinda a reflection of people (he is shaped by their expectations, so he's in mirror image to Pterry, c) he's one of Pterry's greater legacies, and d)... well, if anyone outlives the Discworld, it'll be Death.
The lilacs were worn in memory of a revolution in Night Watch and are now the symbol of Wear the Lilac Day on May 25th - Discworld Day, and now dedicated to Alzheimer's Awareness.
Because—oh yes, Terry Pratchett has Alzheimer's Disease. And I started painting this while listening to his documentary on assisted dying: Terry Pratchett: Choosing To Die.
Here's a link to a new Terry Pratchett interview on the Late, Late Show, and a link to an NPR interview in August 2011.
Terry's own website is here.
Labels: Terry Pratchett
In a previous life I was either utterly evil or atrociously officious. Now I'm trying to strike a balance.
If we didn't have libraries, many people thirsty for knowledge would dehydrate.
—Meagan Jo Tetrick, age 12
A Note on Attribution
I'm a writer and a librarian.
I license my own online work through Creative Commons.
When I cite books or websites, I link to them. When I use images, I add a pop-up attribution, and the image itself usually links to the source website.
Often the images link to very interesting source sites which I am nudging my readers to look at.
Have fun. Be honest. Give attribution!
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text:
Artist Hank Willis Thomas's Political Nonprofit Establishes Its Headquarters in New York Ahead of the Midterm Elections
By Henri Neuendorf for Artnet, 27 June 27, 2018
The artist-run political engagement organization takes over Fort Gansevoort<
For Freedoms, the artist-run, non-partisan political engagement organization founded by Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman, is coming to New York. The group will establish its headquarters in Fort Gansevoort, an art space in Manhattan's Meatpacking District, as it prepares for the November midterm elections.
The organization is behind the first-ever artist-founded political action committee (or PAC), and the "50 State Initiate," which commissions artists to design billboards to encourage political participation across all 50 states.
"We started For Freedoms with the goal of really making a new space for creative people in civic life," Thomas explained. "I think it's important that every single person is invested in what's going on politically because what happens on the political stage affects us. We can't continue to try and fix the same old problems with the same old solutions."
Additionally, Thomas continued, the scope and ambition of the group's ongoing projects required a space to meet and organize. "The 50 State Initiative is the largest creative collaboration in the history in the country," he said. "We're doing exhibitions, town halls, and billboards with institutions in all 50 states, and we needed this space as a hub to connect organize with our collaborators."
During its six-month occupancy of Fort Gansevoort, For Freedoms will transform the space into a platform for political discourse through a program of special exhibitions, talks, and dialogue, starting with a two-month solo exhibition by Paula Crown, which inaugurates Fort Gansevoort's new auxiliary space on Thursday.
Speaking to artnet News, Thomas described Crown as an artist who "addresses marginalization and stereotyping." Her show features oversized 3-D-milled alabaster golf balls, representing both the act of blackballing and casting a stone—a practice from ancient Greek politics indicating a negative vote against an opposing party's political agenda.
Running concurrently with the opening of Crown's show, For Freedoms will host a live phone bank session on Thursday to raise money for its 52 ongoing Kickstarter campaigns to place artist-designed billboards in every state, as well as in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The campaign already has over 1,300 backers and has raised $100,000 for the initiative. Organizers hope the phone bank session could boost donations before the Kickstarter campaign ends on July 3rd.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


I have been heart broken lately by article after article on Facebook of Church People leaving the church, bashing Christianity, and feeling as though they are better off outside the church. The problem I am seeing, though, is that these people are leaving sects of the church that are not Biblical to begin with and calling out Christianity along with falsities.
There is so much false doctrine out there, circulating both inside and outside the church that people's views of Jesus are obscured. Social media makes it so easy for anyone to write a blog on his or her opinion of what one Scripture says. These seemingly insignificant people who are writing and luring readers into "their" movements are becoming more and more rampant. The casual church culture lures out children and our teens with seemingly Biblical truths. They ask, like Satan in the garden, "does the Bible really say that," or what's "so wrong with..." I read a woman's account just this week of how she was divorcing Christianity, divorcing her husband's view of family, and divorcing a particular movement they were a part of. As I read her article, I agreed with her argument against her husband's view of family and her argument against the particular movement. The problem is she had so associated programs and human perspectives with Biblical doctrine that she could not untangle the web. This woman has allowed herself to believe that the Christian relationship is as flawed as her family's theology. We must view pieces of Scripture in light of the entire Bible. We can't base theology on teachings of people or one single Scripture passage. It leads to feelings of defeat and disdain toward the church.
So, what do we do? How do we reach out to women like this one, and how do we train our children and church members in such a way that they see truth for truth?
First, I think we have to go back to the basics. Scripture is the basis for my relationship with Christ, not what my pastor says or what a book says or what a really neat commentary proposes. There are thousands upon thousands of Scripture-based books out there. Only the ones that align themselves with all of Scripture (and not just a passage) can be viewed as good. And even then, we need to be careful. Anytime we begin to view an author or pastor or book as equal to Scripture or complementary to the point of necessary, we fall victim to devaluing the Word of God itself. Jesus is all about community and doing life with other like-minded believers. However, our God must remain our God and ruler and our doctrine must remain the Scripture. Anytime a community urges that other things become just as priority as God and His Word, that community is teetering on a cult and is no longer Jesus' image of community for the Church.
Third, we need to teach our kids and teens and Bible study members (etc) the WHY behind our convictions. I had a conversation with my mom about why a particular sin is so rampant in our church culture in this modern time. We came to the conclusion that it is because parents and leaders are not doing a good job teaching the why behind convictions, allowing false doctrine to slip in with the real. If we water down our convictions and teach our kids Bible stories without doctrine, we fall prey to raising an ignorant generation, easily susceptible to false doctrine, sects, and loose convictions.
I think that's exactly where the church is today. We are a body of people so unsure about what is Scripturally sound that we listen to anyone who sounds intelligent. We must prepare for the false doctrine that is infiltrating our church, our social media, and our lives.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 24 that in the last days many false prophets will rise up and lead many astray from the Gospel. I pray that we will search Scripture, recognize truth for truth, and love on those who have been jaded by these false doctrines so that they will recognize truth and come to know Jesus for who He really is. It is time that we stand up for Scripture and stand up against false doctrine.
All Caught Up! This is actually a current #SavilleLife blog! Yay!
See what we've been up to this week! Keep up with us on Instagram by following @1988Megan and #SavilleLifeInPictures2014.
Day 257: Showered this sweet baby who came into our family early. Congratulations Caroline and Everett! We love sweet Everly.
Day 258: Spent two hours here today. At least Morgan's phone is now in working order. Genius Bar...hmm, not really! The things we do for the people we love!
Day 259: It's fall y'all. My coffee station and the rest of the house are screaming of fall. See the whole house on the blog here.
Day 260: Look what fun fall addition my mom made for me! She's so talented! I'm So obsessed with fall stuff!
Day 261: A new book, dark chocolate and raspberry gelato, and coffee. Yeah. This is happening right now! Some things just make a girl happy.
Day 263: Spent the day apple picking with all of my people (Minus Morgan). So much fun! We are hardly spontaneous, but when we are, we have a great time!
I'm so grateful for the people who make up my #SavilleLifeInPictures each week. Life would be so boring if we went at it alone!
Just because my pictures haven't shown up on the blog in about a month doesn't mean I haven't been taking them! You're about to experience a #SavilleLife overload! Get ready for it, blog world!
Day 229: Dedicated our preschool playground to sweet Mrs. Patsy this morning She has always been so impactful in the lives of students. I pray I, along with many other teachers and students, can be just as impactful this year.
Day 230: First day of school selfie! From 6th grade to XC practice to the mortuary and finally to do a grad school assignment--it was a full day of exciting first day things!
Day 233: ...and this was just from one day! Boy, it has been super hot after school, but I love running with the XC team.
Day 234: Dessert! Love a QT Slushie and quality time spent with friends!
Day 235: Had such a fun time celebrating Lindsey! Couldn't wait for the wedding. And yes, these pictures are of me wayyyy up high on a ropes course.
Day 236: Fantasy draft day! Love some fantasy football with friends.
Day 237: Getting ready for the best season-football season!
Day 238: Apparently, it was national dog day! Here's to the crazy fellow I'm happy to have in my family (on most days). Love Moxie!
Day 239: Palmetto Middle School iPad rollout was a success, albeit a little chaotic!
Day 240: This was one for the books! Grateful for my husband on this day who helped me attack the infestation that has been a struggle in my car. My arms and legs are covered in ant bites...all from the inside of my car!
Day 241: PHS selfie at the start line for Midnight Flight 5k. I love these people so much. They're great kids!
Day 242: It's a football watching kind of Saturday!
I'll try to do better at keeping up for the remainder of the year, but you can always keep up with me on Instagram @1988megan!
My sweet college friend Lindsey got married on Saturday. It was such a fun time to catch up with her and see her and Anthony's love for one another and for Christ on display.
Linds and me at the rehearsal.
The dinner was at RB's. Yum-o! It was so neat to hear Lindsey and Anthony's friends and family from all different stages affirm their growth in love for The Lord and one another. I'm so proud of this girl.
On Saturday, Moose and I had a lazy morning of watching American Ninja Warrior at the hotel until it was time for me to meet up with the bridal party.
Alex and I were the Clemson friend bridesmaids! Love this girl.
Right after she put her dress on. So beautiful!
The wedding was so sweet and Lindsey's nieces and nephew ALMOST stole the show completely. ;) they were awesome flower girls and ring bearer-bribed only by purple M & Ms and prizes galore! We had a neat time of worship during the ceremony and the Gospel was definitely the center of the ceremony.
The reception was in a beautiful venue directly under the bridge. A Lindsey wedding would not be complete without her favorites-boiled peanuts, cheer wine, shag dancing, Krispy Kreme, family and friends. Everything went so smoothly and everyone had a great time dancing and enjoying their donuts and Cheerwine.
Also. I promise my husband was at this wedding. We even had a cute picture taken. However, the photographer (and one of Lindsey's Charleston roommates) took it on her real camera, so at the moment I don't have evidence.
We had to scoot out a little early from the reception, as we were heading home through Columbia and Carolina was in the 4th quarter of an incredibly close game with UGA. We ended up facing a little rain and traffic, but got out in time to beat the worst of it.
I love the fall. Each of the seasons is fun and I enjoy the newness of them all, but I can say with certainty that I enjoy the fall most. The cooler weather is perfect, it is football season, and the color scheme is my favorite! I just love browns and oranges and warm tones all nestled together. There's something cozy about fall!
A harvest welcome to you all! The sign came from Hobby Lobby last year, I made the fall wreath, and of course I put some fake mums in my urns. If I had real ones, I would have to trash them by October, so I use fake for a splash of color. Closer to October, I think I will put some live pumpkins on the steps. Also, I have a brand new glass front door. It's been in my building since May. My pictures would be SO much improved if I could switch them out!
The back door and door most people use. I flipped my urns upside down for these pumpkin topiary trees. I bought foam pumpkins at AC Moore and stacked them using wooden skewers from my kitchen.
I wrapped a wreath frame with some scrap fabric and hung this cute plaque from the center for my door.
I love my little owls. I wish I had 4 or 5 more of these little owl guys!
Mom suggested that I needed some fall berries. I found these sprigs at AC Moore for 70% off and used them throughout my house.
My bird cage is one of my favorite year-round decorative pieces.
A friend gave me this super cute pumpkin bowl.
More owls. I'm a little (lot) bit of a fan!
I love my little gourds. They came from the dollar store and I spiced them up with some sparkly pine cones from Hobby Lobby.
My chalk art tells of our favorite fall past time.
And my favorite soap and candle in the bathroom!
Finally, my favorite part-the mantle!
I love this little sign. It came from a store we have called The Christmas Tree Shop.
I eyed these leopard pumpkins last year at Michaels but they had hefty price tags at $30 and $24 each! I lucked out at the end of the season and got them at a great value. I've been waiting all year to put them out!